Watching
You
(Part
of the Vet Series)
October
8, 2008
Caution,
songfic ahead… but I couldn’t help myself. Inspired by the song ‘Watching You,”
by Rodney Atkins. See complete lyrics at the end of the story.
Warning! Major spoilers for chapters that
haven’t been written yet.
**********************************
Jim
stopped at the red light and looked over his shoulder. Four year old Jacob was
in his booster seat, playing with the toy from his Wonderburger kid’s meal, his
cup full of orange soda planted firmly between his legs. Jim grinned and turned
back in time to see the light change to green.
As
he accelerated and checked the surrounding traffic, the Sentinel considered the
question Blair seemed to ask him at least once a week, did Jake seem to be
showing any signs that he might have enhanced senses?
Both
Jim and Jenny Ellison had tried to be patient with Blair. They had discussed
the possibility that their son may be a Sentinel… or even a Guide, but neither
of them felt it necessary to burden the boy with it as yet. Oh, they were
careful not to expose him to harsh stimuli that might cause him undue pain, but
overall, their philosophy was to wait and see.
Blair,
as the concerned and well-meaning uncle and Guide, wanted to do more. He had
always been proactive in respect to Jim’s senses, trying to show Jim how to
deal with situations that he ‘might’ come across. How to deal with unexpected
assaults on his senses.
Now
Blair felt it was his responsibility to make sure little Jake knew how to
control his senses before he ran into trouble. For Blair, it was a matter of
protecting a Sentinel, even a four year old whose senses probably weren’t
online yet… if he was a Sentinel.
Jim
shook his head and huffed slightly. Fortunately, Blair’s girls were keeping him
busier and the question came up less often now than it had in the past. He saw
the light ahead turn green and quickly checked his mirrors before focusing
forward again.
The
light was red again!
Jim
slammed on his brakes and swore under his breath as the truck swerved and slid
into the intersection. A curse word from the back seat barely graced his
consciousness as he accelerated slowly, pulled off to the side of the road, put
the truck in park and turned off the ignition. Thankfully no other cars had
been going through the intersection.
Jim
undid his seat belt and turned to kneel, leaning between the bucket seats to check
on Jake. “You okay, Chief?”
Jake
nodded, his face screwed up in a grimace. “My orange spilt, Dad. It’s sticky.”
“I
know, kiddo. We’ll be home soon and get you all cleaned up.” Jim grinned
reassuringly. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah,
Dad. Can we hurry? I’m all icky!”
Jim
chuckled and ran his fingers lightly down the side of his son’s face, letting
his senses play over his son as he checked for injuries. “You got it, Chief.
Hang on.” He turned around and got settled back into his seat. “He’s all right.
Thank you, God,” he sighed under his breath. He started the truck, then frowned
as he recalled the word Jake had used during the accident.
Leaving
the truck in park, Jim adjusted the rear view mirror. “Jake?” He wanted to know
which of their friends he needed to take to task for not watching their
language around little ears.
Jacob
looked up and met his eyes in the mirror. “Yeah, Dad?”
“Where
did you hear that word?”
“What
word?”
“Um,”
Jim stumbled, not really wanting to repeat it in front of Jacob. “Well, um, the
word you said when I had to stop so fast, you know, um, shit.”
Jacob’s
face lit up so proudly, that Jim couldn’t help but smile back. “I learned it
from you, Dad!”
He said
I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We got cowboy boots and camo pants
Yeah we're just alike, hey ain't we dad
I wanna do everything you do
So I've been watching you
*****
“I swear, Blair…”
“Obviously, Jim,” Blair
chuckled.
Jim glared briefly then
continued. “I am very careful not to
swear around Jake or the girls. I don’t know when he could have heard me say
that,” Jim said, glancing over to where the kids were playing on the floor.
“Jenny?” Blair suggested.
“Naw,” Jim dismissed. “We
both are pretty careful. I don’t even think I’ve heard her swear at all since
Jake’s been born. Don’t know how she does it.”
Blair’s grin turned to a
thoughtful frown. “Do you think he ‘heard’ you?”
Jim sighed and shrugged. “I
don’t know, Chief. I suppose it’s possible.”
Blair looked at the kids
for a moment, his expression thoughtful. Then he whispered so softly that Jim
barely heard him, “Hey, Jake.”
Jacob stood up and looked
over the back of the sofa. “Yeah, Uncle Chief?”
Blair opened his mouth,
surprised that he was so surprised by the result of his little test. “Um, you
can hear pretty good, Jacob.”
“Uh huh,” Jake agreed with
a nod.
“How long have you been
able to hear so well?” Blair asked.
Jake squinched his face up
in a look that mirrored one of Jim’s ‘thinking’ faces, then shrugged. “I don’know.
A while.”
“I see,” Blair nodded. “Can
you do anything… Teri!” Blair leapt from his seat and dashed toward the stairs
leading up to his and Elise’s bedroom.
Jim gasped and stood to
help, knowing he’d never make it. Little Theresa Sandburg had climbed halfway
up the stairs using the metal rail to keep her balance. She turned when her
father called her name and tottered unsteadily on the stair.
Blair lunged up the stairs
and caught her as Teri started to fall. He grabbed her to his chest and sat
down on the stairs. “Oh, my God, oh my God, oh my God…” Blair repeated, rocking
his baby girl.
On the floor below, Josie,
always sensitive to the emotions in a room, started to cry. Jim picked her up
and held her close. Jacob stood by his dad, his arms wrapped around Jim’s leg.
“It’s okay, Chief,” Jim
tried to reassure his brother. “You caught her, Teri’s fine.”
Blair met Jim’s eyes.
“Jesus, Jim. I thought…”
Jim swallowed hard and
nodded. “But nothing happened, Blair. Everyone’s good.” He held Blair’s gaze
for a long moment until the other man nodded. Jim smiled softly and looked down
at Josie. “I do think we need to consider a one story dwelling for this
accident prone bunch, whatcha think, Jo?”
The curly haired little
girl looked up at her Uncle Jim, her thumb in her mouth and nodded in
agreement.
~~~~~
Jenny shook her head as she
rinsed the last dinner dish and set it on the rack to dry. “Well, we knew there
was a pretty high probability that Jacob would have your abilities, Jim. I
don’t know what all the fuss is about.” She turned to face her husband who was
leaning against the counter.
Jim shrugged and pulled her
into hug. “I know. I guess, I don’t know. Maybe I was hoping he wouldn’t…”
Jen sighed. “We should be
glad that he doesn’t seem to be having any trouble and just… try and be
prepared. We’ve talked about this, pussycat.”
Jim grinned at the nickname
that Jen only used in private. “I know.” He leaned down and kissed her.
“Blair’s already working on a plan to make sure Jake doesn’t have the same
‘issues’ I’ve had to deal with. He said…” Jim stopped suddenly and tilted his
head.
“What?” Jen asked,
recognizing Jim’s listening pose. “Is Jacob still awake?”
Jim nodded, his smile
bemused as he led Jenny to Jake’s room and put his finger to his lips to keep
her quiet. They leaned against the wall outside their son’s room and listened.
“…and thank you, God, for
not letting any cars hit the truck this morning. That was really scary. I said a
bad word. Daddy told me little kids shouldn’t say words like that, but I knew
it was a bad word and said it anyway. I’m sorry. Oh, and thank you, God for
letting Uncle Chief get to Teri fast and keeping her from falling off the
stairs. Josie was so scared. Me, too, but I was brave for them cause they’re
just little girls and I’m big. Anyway, I gotta go to sleep now. Good night,
God.”
Out in the hall, Jenny
grinned, tears shining in her eyes. She looked at Jim and saw his eyes were
overly bright as well. She took his hand and led him away from Jake’s room. Jen
led them past the stereo, paused to turn it on, and then continued on to the
couch.
Jim wiped the tears from
her face. “Where on earth did he learn to pray like that? Talking to God like
he’s talking to a friend?”
Jenny pulled her feet up
onto the couch and leaned into her husband’s embrace. “I don’t know, but I’m
glad. I never could figure out how to instill ‘real’ faith in someone. I know
it doesn’t just come from going to church, it’s something you just have to have.”
“Yeah.” Jim tilted his head
to rest on top of Jen’s. “Thank you, God. That’s one less thing we have to
worry about.”
Jen looked up sharply,
causing Jim to jerk his head back.
“What?” he asked.
“You.” Jenny smiled. “He
learned it from you, Jim.”
He said
I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We like fixing things and holding mama's hand
Yeah we're just alike, hey ain't we dad
I wanna do everything you do
So I've been watching you
*****
Several
days later
Sandburg
Loft
A smirk found its way to Jim’s
lips as he leaned his back against the wall just inside Blair’s door. He
crossed one foot in front of the other and crossed his arms as he waited for
his partner to finish saying good-bye to his family. Beside him, Jake copied
his pose.
The three boys were heading for a
camp out, a guys-weekend out. And as usual, Blair was running late. He did have
a good excuse though. Josie and Teri kept asking him questions the way only two
precocious, three-year old twins could.
Jim chuckled and heard Jake echo
him. He opened his mouth to hurry Blair along, but the voice he heard wasn’t
his.
“Shake a leg, Chief, we’re
burnin’ daylight.”
Blair froze, Josie hanging over
his shoulder and Teri hugged up against the other hip. He turned his head to
stare at Jake.
Jim glanced down at the serious
look on his son’s face and pressed his lips together. I won’t laugh. I won’t laugh. He cleared his throat and looked up
innocently at Blair. “You ‘bout done there, Chief?” he said, knowing exactly
how similar he and Jake sounded.
Blair blinked, shook his head and
then nodded. “Yeah, uh, just a minute. Okay, you monsters. I expect you to be
good for your mom.” He kissed Teri on the forehead and put her down, then
pulled Josie off his shoulder, gave her a kiss and set her down as well. With a
soft pop on each girls’ rear end he sent them in the direction of the door. “Go
next door, I’m right behind you,” he growled menacingly.
Blair and Jim chuckled as the two
girls ran, still a bit clumsy at their age, giggling and shrieking. Jim
motioned for Jake to go ahead and shared a look with Blair as they exited his
loft.
“It’s kinda scary, Jim, how much
he sounded like you.”
Jim just laughed.
Cause I've been watching you dad, ain't that
cool
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
By then I'll be as strong as superman
We'll be just alike, hey won't we dad
When I can do everything you do
Cause I've been watching you
The end.
I’d love to know what you think…
about the story<G>. JudyL
webhosting
Watching You
By Rodney Atkins
Driving through town just my boy and me
With a happy meal in his booster seat
Knowing that he couldn't have the toy
Till his nuggets were gone
Green traffic light turned straight to red
I hit my breaks and mumbled under my breath
His fries went a flying and his orange drink covered his lap
Well then my four year old said a four letter word
That started with "s" and I was concerned
So I said son now where did you learn to talk like that
[Chorus one]
He said I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We got cowboy boots and camo pants
Yeah we're just alike, hey ain't we dad
I wanna do everything you do
So I've been watching you
We got back home and I went to the barn
I bowed my head and I prayed real hard
Said lord please help me help my stupid self
Then this side of bedtime later that night
Turning on my son's Scooby doo nightlight
He crawled out of bed and he got down on his knees
He closed his little eyes, folded his little hands
And spoke to god like he was talking to a friend
And I said son now where'd you learn to pray like that
[Chorus two]
He said I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We like fixing things and holding mama's hand
Yeah we're just alike, hey ain't we dad
I wanna do everything you do
So I've been watching you
[Bridge]
With tears in my eyes I wrapped him in a hug
Said my little bear is growing up
He said but when I'm big I'll still know what to do
[Chorus three]
Cause I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
By then I'll be as strong as superman
We'll be just alike, hey won't we dad
When I can do everything you do
Cause I've been watching you