Nick hushed Jack with a finger to his lips as they approached Solana’s home. Their first view was of Rosalie running around in circles, making herself dizzy and falling into a giggling heap. The next view was of Solana’s Gizzardhiney, er…bottom sticking up in the air as she tended to her garden. Much nicer view.

Jack giggled, as only a Gigglebrain can and slowly got off his bike, following Nick’s lead. They quietly walked along her front path to where she was working and just stood and silently watched her pick weeds, toss them into an awaiting wheel barrow and begin again. Finally, Nick broke the silence.

“So! Whatcha doin’ Snotty Gizzardhiney!?”

Jack was almost on his butt laughing. Nick played into his sensibilities perfectly. Yeah, it was silly. Isn’t that what being an 8 yr. old boy is all about? He remembered. He loved that age. Missed it. Might as well capture some of its fun through Jack. He seemed willing enough to share.

“What!? What’d you call…” Hiking up on her feet, Solana turned around, making a quick check for Rosalie. “Oh for God’s sake…it’s you!”

“Yep…Zippy Gigglebuns at your service.” Nick saluted her and bent over to pick up Jack who had indeed fallen on his behind. “You’re no help here, Poopsie.”

“Poopsie!? And what’s Poopsie’s last name?” Solana looked at Jack whose laughter immediately stopped. Poopsie Gigglebrains. How stupid.

Nick knocked Jack’s arm and laughed. “Come on, Poops…tell her your name.”

Mumbling, Jack finally fessed up. Whose idea was this anyway? “Gigglebrains.”

“Hmm?? I don’t think I heard you, Poopsie.”

“Gigglebrains! Gigglebrains, Gigglebrains, Gigglebrains! There…I’m Poopsie Gigglebrains.”

Trying not to crack up herself, Solana looked up to Nick and put two and two together. And smiled at the sum. “He’s Gigglebrains and you’re Gigglebuns!? Oh that’s perfect!”

“Oh shaddup, you. At least I’m not a chicken stomach butt.”

Shaking her head, Solana took off her gloves and tossed them on the porch. “You here for any real reason or just out to torment people?”

“Just torment. Jack here thought you’d like your name. Dared me to use it.”

“Ah, and what did you win for the dare, Jack?”

His eyes popped open when he realized they hadn’t put anything on the line. “Uh…I didn’t think of that!”

“Wait…now, I did the dare…he doesn’t get anything. I should win something for humiliating myself.”

“How ‘bout a glass of lemonade?”

The boys looked at each other and quickly accepted. It was damned hot and she lived at the top of a slight incline. They were pooped. Poopsie and pooped.

“Come on guys. Rosalie! Time to go inside, baby.”

Rosalie fell to the ground one more time, still giggling at her dizziness and tried to get up a bit too soon. Falling again, she no longer saw the humor in the situation and started to cry. Hard.

“I’ve got her, Miss Romero.” Jack took off without blinking an eye and scooped up the small child. “Oooh…you’re heavier than Amy.”

“She’s older, sweetie…you sure you’ve got her?”

“Yep…just don’t stop. Open the door!”

“So, boys. Besides reading Professor Poopypants, what have you been doing this afternoon?”

“Just that. Ben ditched Nick.”

Nick shot a glare over to Jack, hoping to keep that little tidbit from her. When Jack shrunk back, thinking Nick was seriously angry, Nick retracted his minor frustration with a wink. Everything was major with these kids. Frustration was seen as anger. Mild humor was wickedly funny. A small meal was a great feast. General affection was cause for a lifetime love affair. It was interesting to watch. And frustrating to remember.

“He ditched you? You had an appointment and he skipped out, Nick?” Looking to the kitchen chairs to invite them to sit down, Solana brought over a tray of lemonade and a plate of cookies. Miss Domesticity. Nothing like the tight-lipped business woman he saw at the center. Of course, neither was the writhing sex pot he’d seen at the club either. He loved the complexity. Beat the dim bimbos he’d been prone to be drawn to as of late.

“Uh, yeah…I was gonna take him to IMAX. Maybe he just forgot.”

“Ben wouldn’t forget IMAX. He loves the movies. Never gets to go.”

Nick shrugged trying to play it off, and Jack sat in silent amazement. Nick was lying for Ben. He’d been nothing short of a jerk every time Nick was around, slashed the man’s tires, and yes, Jack saw the size of check Nick had to write to pay for it, and he even promised not to tell Miss Romero if Ben would simply cooperate and work off the money. Nick should have been slamming him up against a wall and here he was lying for him. Jack wasn’t sure to be impressed or incensed. He figured impressed was probably the right way to go. No one stood up for or lied for any of them before, especially not for Ben.

“Well, we’ll talk to him about it. That’s not acceptable behavior. You’ve wasted your afternoon because of his irresponsibility.”

“I don’t see it as a waste, Lani.” Well, that felt nice. Seeing Jack’s face change again as he called her by her informal name was almost worth anything. Let his little mind wander. “I’ve been with Jack and now…I’m havin’ lemonade with you. Doesn’t feel like a waste.”

“I appreciate that, but…I can’t allow it. I’ll speak to him.”

“Lani, please don’t. He’s angry with me already. We’ll work it out alone.”

“What’s he angry about?”

“Don’t worry about it…we’ll work it out.”

“Nick…”

“Lani…”

Looking to Jack for some help, the boy simply shrugged. He wasn’t going to rat on his brother. Not unless he saw some personal benefit in it and right now, there didn’t seem to be any. “I know nuttin’.”

Solana did not like the feel of this. Ben had obviously done something stupid. Why was Nick covering for him? She needed to get to the bottom of this. And honestly, it might be the door she needed to get into his head about with this situation with another man Nick had mentioned. She couldn’t break the trust between them and just ask him. It had to be eked out in a benign conversation. This might be her key.

“Jack, why don’t you take Rosalie into the room and find Sesame Street or Blue’s Clues on TV. Nick and I need to talk.”

“Yeah, sure…” Jack looked to Nick apologetically, knowing from first-hand experience that whenever Miss Romero wanted something, she got it. Now, she was going to get Nick to fess up. Picking Rosalie out of the high chair, he yakked away as they made their way into the family room.

“He’s a neat kid. I don’t know how they can be so together in such a broken place.”

“They have no choice. At his age, he’s still wanting to make adults happy. He and Liz both. But once puberty starts, like with Ben and Kitty, they don’t care so much. They see adults not caring, so they don’t either.”

“But, Ben’s good too. He just…” Nick stopped, not sure of his words…not sure if he was completely convinced of them. Realizing that they applied to him as well, he had to admit it.

“He just what, Nick?”

“He just doesn’t know it yet.”