Chapter 24
"Where is AJ?" Aaron asked the next night after dinner. Amanda had been home dealing with everything after AJ left them stranded....she was tired. The baby missed him too....they all did. After AJ took off she had spent an hour calming Nick down, who insisted it was his fault and said he should have died in his car accident...that everybody would be better off.
"I don't want to hear that again, Nick." Amanda had told him. She hated to hear him think like this...but she knew it was partly because of him being weaned off of his medication.
"AJ isn't here, Aar. I don't know where he is." Amanda said, her voice tired as she took Celine out of her highchair.
"Uhhhnnn uhhhnnn" the baby said, her face scrunched up. She looked around and then buried her head into Amanda's shoulder.
"I know, you miss uncle AJ.....don't you?"
"I wish he would come home..." Aaron said as he helped Amanda clean up. The boy had been a big help taking care of things since AJ left....but it was becoming too much. She felt horrible that it had come to this. They had never forced AJ to do anything he didn't want to do, but she felt that maybe they relied on him too much lately and it was taking its toll. She decided to call in reinforcements.
"Brian?" Amanda said, after he picked up on the third ring.
"You sound tired. Everything okay?" he asked.
"AJ has been gone for two days...I can't find him or get a hold of him." Amanda explained finally. He could hear the baby crying in the background.
"Do you want me to come and help you?" Brian asked, concerned.
"Just bring him back, Bri. Bring AJ home....I feel like this is my fault...we relied on him too much and made him feel used. I hate myself for this." she explained.
"Don't worry, I will find him." Brian promised before hanging up. After spending half of the night tracking him down, Brian found AJ in a hotel in downtown Miami. He sat at the bar with three or four beer bottles near him on the counter, looking tired as Brian walked in.
"What do you want?" he snapped when he looked up.
"You don't want to be here, Jay. Come home." Brian said as he sat down.
"She sent you, didn't she? She needs her nanny back?" AJ snapped.
"No, she wants her friend back. Nick thinks he should be dead, there is a crying baby and a depressed twelve year old boy that miss you." Brian replied.
"Bullcrap. They only want me to take care of the kids. I'm not doing it." AJ said before swigging from the beer bottle....Brian grabbed it from him.
"This is not the answer. Go home....you belong there." he pleaded again.
"They don't need me there, she can do fine without me." AJ said, looking down at the counter. He was not drunk but he hated himself for what he did and how he left.
"You really hurt Nick's feelings saying he was a burden." Brian told him.
"I know I did....that's a sore spot for him."
"You're right. Kevin's family told him that back in high school. He always thinks people are annoyed by him.....he didn't mean to piss you off, AJ....he's lonely. Imagine being stuck in that room all day for a month and not being able to go anywhere."
"I would probably go nuts. So he wasn't trying to annoy me? He was having fun?"
"Probably. Nick's bedridden. He wouldn't be an asshole on purpose." Brian said with a small smile. AJ grinned back at him.
"So are you coming home?"
"I guess so." AJ chuckled. When he got to the house Aaron answered the door.
"AJ!!!" the boy exclaimed, immediately wrapping him in a huge hug.
"Hi, kiddo." AJ said wearily. He walked up to Nick's room where Amanda was with the baby. Celine was laying on Nick's chest and had fallen asleep there while he held her with his good arm.
"You're home!" Amanda exclaimed, hugging him. AJ smiled.
"I'm sorry about what I said the other day....its just that I am so tired and I don't have a life anymore...this became too much for me. I love you guys....and I'm sorry." he said.
"I'm sorry too. I should have said thank you." Nick whispered as he stroked his daughter's face with his thumb.
"No, I was a jerk. You're not a burden, Nick. I was tired."
"We all are, Jay. I understand....if you had a problem you could have told me. I can make arrangements. Nick and I could always hire a nanny to help out." Amanda offered as she took Celine from Nick.
"Celine needs a rest and so does daddy," she added wisely.
"I can't wait to get out of this bed, baby." Nick replied.
"You'll be out of here soon enough, I can tell because you're getting restless." AJ laughed. He was glad to be home and knew that it wasn't going to be much longer until Nick was out of the bed and walking again...everything would be back to normal. However, there was a sinking feeling telling him something else would come up.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Back with a new chapter, enjoy!
