The Ackles Live on Stage Part 5
While Jared enjoyed his time in the kitchen he was ready to get back to his boys. He’d seen the E! coverage and wanted to be with the boys. Chad slept over again that night and they both got up before first light to go to their respective jobs. Jared baked all the bread and did all the prep for lunch but left once Elisha got there. He took a shower and phoned Chad who went to get a present for Jensen during a break midmorning while Jared stopped in at Annie’s office to pick up the legal papers she’d drafted for him. She smiled at him, “Hello, lover boy.”
“Hi, sexy mistress. How are you feeling?”
“I finished puking at about six this morning and ate a salmon sandwich, so y’know: normally scheduled pregnant life. Allison assured me I’ll stop vomiting soon.”
“Good,” he nodded and smiled. “Adoption papers?”
She handed him a manila envelope, “I have marked everywhere you and Jen need to sign. When you’re done send them either registered mail or by courier and I’ll get them processed. It could take a couple of weeks.”
He took them and said, “Thank you so much, Annie. This means so much to me. And you’re carrying my babies. I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”
She studied him, “After Tricia died I was really scared for Jensen. He was depressed for so long. He was like a shell. I worried that one day it was all going to become too much and even though he loves Jamie so much… there were times when I felt like I was dealing with suicide watch. You’ve made him so happy; you brought him back. You don’t need to thank me for anything and you sure as hell don’t need to thank me when you’re giving my nephew and nieces a second parent.” She smiled a watery smile and sniffed. “Fuck, I hate my pregnancy hormones.” He laughed, “Get out: I have work to do.”
He met up with Chad who handed him a black bag with a box in it and said, “Here you go, pervert.”
“Thanks, dude.”
“Whatever, man. Thanks for hanging out with me so much, last night and the night before. You know I don’t do well on my own.”
Jared slept through the flight, he’d been up since four. When he landed he saw Clif with a sign that said Jared, in glittery blue letters and he smiled at the guy, “The boys got bored without me?”
Shrugging Clif said, “I think the sign speaks for itself. Your dogs are in the car.”
Jared felt how big his smile got, “Awesome!” They went out to a covered parking garage where the dogs were waiting in the cooled SUV for him. They reacted as though he’d been away for a hell of a lot longer than forty-six hours but he lavished them with attention too.
When they got to the tour bus and the whole camp he spotted Jamie first and Jamie sprinted to him and hugged him, “We missed you.”
“I missed you too, so much.” He crouched down and pulled things out of the paper bag that had been his only luggage. “Here’s your Kane guitar pick: it was underneath the piano and here is a new shirt from Chad.” On the front it said, “My Sisters Worship Me” and on the back it said, “You Should Consider Worshipping Me Too.”
Jamie laughed, “That’s awesome!”
“He thought you’d like it.” He pulled out the manila folder and said, “These are the adoption papers. We don’t have to do this if you don’t want.”
“You and Daddy can’t get married. But I can adopt you as my parent and that makes us a real family… like, legally.”
Jared hugged him close, “I love you so much, Jamie, and I would be so proud to be your parent.”
Jamie hugged him back, “I love you too, Jared.”
“Is this a hug by invitation or can anyone join?” asked Jensen and Jared released Jamie to turn and hug him.
“Hi,” said Jared before kissing Jensen slowly, enjoying the feeling of home he got from the action. Pulling back he asked, “Did you do something cool and touristy today?” In two days they would hit LA, but today they were still in some small magnet town with a huge arena.
Jamie nodded, “This morning we saw the second largest ball of twine in the continental US.”
“Is there a larger one in Hawaii or Puerto Rico?” Jared asked but Jensen just laughed.
Shrugging the shorter man said, “This place is kind of dead; it was the only place that was even remotely worth visiting. We needed to get out for a couple of hours.”
“Tomorrow,” said Jamie, “Daddy got us all tickets to see a skating exhibition.”
“Cool, like Stars on Ice?”
Jensen started laughing, “Oh my God, and E! thought you could have an affair with a woman.”
“Not like Stars on Ice then?” asked Jared.
“It’s skateboarding, and bikes, and rollerblades and roller skates. It’s like offseason X Games. They’re getting ready because the X Games are at the end of July.” said Jensen.
“It’s gonna be epic,” said Jamie.
Jensen snorted, “Stars on Ice,” and started laughing again.
“Hey, I almost married a girl.”
“When you were seventeen and trying not to be gay? How did that work out for you?” asked Jensen.
“Not very well,” Jared nodded.
Jensen laughed again, “Want to play karaoke with us?”
“Have the dogs had enough exercise?”
“The the second largest ball of twine in the continental US is outside, they ran around a lot.”
“Cool.”
So they spent the afternoon playing with the karaoke machine and dancing like idiots. The dogs got pretty into it and were prancing around them. They signed the papers and asked Bobby to send it back. Then it was time for dinner and sound check and the concert and Jared loved it all. That night they went to bed early. Jared was grateful for that. He stripped naked and pulled off Jensen’s clothes. “Brought you a present,” he said and Jensen smiled at him.
“Is it your dick? Because I really missed that,” Jensen said and kissed Jared slowly.
“Kind of actually.” He got the small box from the bag. He nuzzled against Jensen’s shoulder as Jensen opened the box. “You smell so good.” He licked and nibbled at Jensen’s clavicle, “Taste good too.”
“Jay,” said Jensen holding the leather strap with fasteners, “is this a cock ring?” Jared was still nibbling on Jensen’s shoulder and made as assenting noise. “You complaining about my stamina?”
“No, mine. Want to take you long and hard but I come faster than you, I don’t get as long as I want.”
“Yeah, but you have the recuperation time for a teenager. I like marathon sex.”
“I like you,” responded Jared.
“I can’t believe you bought this.”
“You kidding? After yesterday there was no way I was going into a sex store. Chad got it for me. I didn’t want Ryan Seacrest to comment on it.”
“Good call.”
“I want you, Jen.” Jared kissed him gently. “Can I have you?”
“Fuck yeah.” Jensen wrapped his legs around Jared’s waist. “Long and slow. I haven’t gotten laid in over two days.”
“And for long and slow I need a cock ring.” Jensen stroked him to hardness and placed the cock ring firmly around the base of his erection. “Now I don’t have to rush to get into you before I come.”
He proceeded to open Jensen with tongue and fingers. And it could be slow and lingering. Jensen was stroking his hair and moaning low in his throat and the sound made Jared feel hot under his skin. “I love you, Jared, I would marry you if I could.”
“I’m adopting Jamie, it’s very nearly the same thing. In my mind we are married.”
It felt so good to kiss Jensen all over and make him writhe. Jared loved driving the controlled man crazy. Jensen grabbed his head and pulled him up to kiss him needily. “Feels good,” said Jensen, “Don’t stop, Jay.”
Jared really did enjoy Jensen’s mouth and Jared kissed him with abandon, “Oh, God, you’re gorgeous.” When he was ready, when Jensen was begging and moaning, he opened a condom, lubed up and slid into his tight hole. Jensen bit his shoulder and Jared groaned. It was slow but hard and Jensen was just moaning the whole time. Jared made an effort not to babble so that he could listen to the breathy noises. But even though he wasn’t babbling he praised Jensen for being so sexy and awesome and for feeling so good inside.
He pulled back a little and pushed one of Jensen’s legs up to his chest to give him a better angle and Jensen moaned so loudly and Jared was glad, not for the first time, that Jamie was such a heavy sleeper. “Fuck, Jay, tha’s awesome.”
Every time he went to stroke Jensen’s erection the other man would grab his wrist and said, “No, Jay, don’t want come yet. Don’t touch: I’ll lose it.” So instead he stroked Jensen’s nipples which made Jensen jump. Jensen held his ass and pulled him closer. Jensen moaned and begged, for more, more, more. After such a long time Jensen said, “Touch me, wanna come, please.” Jared obeyed him and Jensen came with a groan. Jared popped the fastener on the cock ring and came with a groan. He slumped on top of Jensen who ran his fingers through Jared’s hair and said, “That really was awesome. I think that’s the longest I’ve ever been fucked.” Jared chuckled against his neck, “I need to move my leg and you’re really heavy.” Jared eased out of Jensen and stood on shaky legs. He threw away the condom and grabbed a dirty tee-shirt to wipe them off. He pulled on pants and started to put on Jensen’s for him. He tapped Jensen’s hips and Jensen pushed them up a little so that Jared could pull the pants up for him. “Thanks,” said Jensen. “Come here.” He held out his arms and Jared slid back into bed. He curled up next to Jensen after fastening the lee cloth as Jensen said, “Great present. Seriously.”
“Yeah, that was great.” Jared ran his fingers through Jensen’s sweaty hair. Jared yawned, “I’ve been up since four. Go t’sleep.”
~~~
Jamie called for him at about seven and Jensen brought him to their bed. Jamie hugged him and Jensen stroked his back as they both fell back to sleep. He vaguely felt Jared climb over them both to get out of bed. At ten Jamie’s watch alarm went off and they got out of bed. The bus was parked and they went to craft services. Jared was there in sweats with the dogs who were panting.
“How was your run?” asked Jensen.
“Fantastic, got the dogs really tired,” said Jared as he ate some pancakes. “How did you sleep?”
“Good,” said Jamie, “can’t believe you got up so early.”
Shaking his head Jared said, “Baby, seven forty-five isn’t the crack of dawn.”
“It is in the summer,” said Jensen.
“You two are so lazy,” said Jared. “Time is the exhibition?”
“Two goes to five. Then we come back and get back on the bus because we’re going to need to drive for a really long time. This afternoon and tonight and into tomorrow morning. We’ll take stops for the dogs but otherwise we’re going to be on there forever.”
“Can we bring the dogs to the show?” asked Jamie.
“Yep, as long as we keep them on their leashes,” said Jensen. “I think it’s going to be really cool.”
They spent the morning bathing, eating and playing music. They played Jamie’s concerto a couple of times with the orchestra and then they went back to the bus and played pop music. It made Jensen smile when Jared joined in the singing.
“What?” asked Jared.
“Nothing,” Jensen gave him a brief kiss, “I love your enthusiasm.”
“Are you hinting at the fact that I can’t carry a tune in a bucket with a handle and written instructions?”
“I didn’t say that,” said Jensen.
“We love you even though you’re tone deaf,” said Jamie hugging Jared briefly before turning back to his guitar. He was looking at his hands and said, “We don’t mind. And we like it when you sing with us because you have fun.”
Jensen laughed while Jared rolled his eyes and said, “Thanks, guys. You make me feel so special.” Jensen laughed some more.
They had a late, light lunch and borrowed an SUV to drive to the huge outdoors skate park. It had eighties punk blasting over the sound system. It was packed to the gills with kids - well teenagers - all of them were laughing and going quiet when they saw Jensen, Jamie, Jared and the dogs. “Why are they staring?” asked Jamie holding Jensen’s hand.
“Because you’re very famous, Jamie. You live in an insular world in Texas and at school but you’re internationally famous and people recognize you. Come on, let’s look around.” There were also a lot of people with kids around so Jensen didn’t feel weird or worried that maybe it wouldn’t be appropriate for Jamie. There were lots of different types of pipes all of which had people in them doing tricks on anything with wheels and having fun.
Jamie and the dogs were completely fascinated but Jensen and Jared were enjoying it too. After about a half hour a guy came over the sound system and said, “Bros, Bro-ettes and people who refuse to self-identity as either please move towards the grandstand bleachers around the vert ramp. There are no assigned seats. Do not run, push, or be a jerk about it. Just walk. We will get started once everyone is in. Pushing will get you kicked out.” The guy sound vaguely amused. “Management would like me to remind you that we have way more families here than usually so please keep the swearing and lewd acts to a minimum. That’s why I said ‘jerk’… tomorrow it will be business as usual.” Jensen was laughing at the guy as they went towards the bleachers. They sat down in the bleachers and the dogs settled at their feet.
Turning to the guy behind them Jared said, “Am I blocking you?”
“Nah, dude, you’re good,” said the guy.
“Daddy?” asked Jamie. “Y’know how you have veto power with Santa?”
“Yeah, that’s why he’s not going to bring you video games until you’re thirteen.” Jensen nodded.
“Will you veto it if I ask for a skateboard?” asked Jamie.
“Will you wear protective gear? Elbows, knees, wrists and helmet?” Jamie nodded. “Promise? No whining? No saying it makes you look lame?”
“Promise.”
“Okay, baby, I won’t veto it.”
“Cool, can we call Santa when we go back to the tour bus?”
“Sure, if you like,” Jensen kissed the top of his head. As the poppy, punky nineties music ramped up, eight guys on skateboards dropped into the half-pipe. For the next two and a half hours they watched guys and girls do absolutely incredible things in the pipe. They screamed and cheered along with everyone else. Then they played one of Jensen’s earlier songs. He’d written it at summer camp after Kerr and it was an angry song but also earnest and catchy and totally fit the venue.
“Daddy!” Jamie said excitedly and loudly enough so that some people turned to see what was happening. “This is one of your songs!”
Jensen nodded and smiled, “It’s nice to know that a song I recorded in ’97 is still relevant.”
“Really?” asked Jared. “You think that a song playing at an X Games exhibition is relevant to the general public?”
Jamie laughed and Jensen smiled, “You were a lot less snarky when we first met.”
Jared shrugged, “Yeah, well, I didn’t used to live with you two. I wasn’t used to mockery being an everyday thing without malice: adapt or die, Jen. And I adapted.” Jensen laughed again as they watched some guy on a bike flip over twice before landing upright. “Whoa, that was awesome!”
As it ended they cheered and screamed as much as everyone else. Jensen and Jamie thought the music was really cool. It wasn’t something Jamie had really been exposed to and Jensen always enjoyed exposing Jamie to new music. They went to the merchandise kiosk where Jensen asked to buy a copy of the park’s soundtrack. The kid working there looked nervous as hell when he pulled one off the shelf. As he handed it over Jensen scanned the track list. It was a burned disk with a cover printed off a computer.
Jensen saw the reason for the kid’s nervousness and smiled, “Do you seriously think I’m going to freak out because you have a song of mine on here? What kind of a jackwagon would get angry about a small skate park using their song? Sure, it’s illegal but on a scale of one to a hundred it’s, like, a one and a half. It’s not like you’re Napster. I think it’s pretty cool to be included.” The sticker said five bucks and Jensen slid the money over the counter. “Had a really great time today. Thanks.” He handed the CD to Jamie, “Here you go, baby. So you can remember.”
Jamie smiled, “Awesome. Thanks, Daddy.” As they walked out Jamie was babbling about how cool it had all been and how he wanted to tell Tim and Daniel all about it. But he was yawning widely and looked like the adrenaline was wearing off after three solid hours of excitement.
The car was parked about a quarter of a mile away and Jensen said, “Here, Jamie, I’m gonna give you a piggyback.” He bent down and Jamie climbed onto his back without protesting which showed how tired he was. They walked to the SUV and everyone clambered in.
As they drove Jamie drifted in and out of consciousness. “So Santa is going to bring a skateboard?” asked Jared.
“If he’s good.”
“That was an awesome day out,” said Jared.
“Way better than Stars on Ice would have been.”
“You would have liked Stars on Ice once it started,” said Jared. “Then Jamie would have wanted ice skates for Christmas.”
“God forbid. I think it’s hard enough having gay parents in Texas without being an ice skater as well,” said Jensen with a laugh.
When they got back Jensen carried Jamie to the bus. Jamie blinked awake, looked around and asked, “How long’d I sleep?”
“Maybe a half hour, not long,” said Jared. “Too much excitement.”
Jamie was still blinking and yawning. “Can we still call Santa?”
“Of course we can,” Jensen opened his cell phone and scrolled through his contacts selecting Santa from the list.
It rang twice and then Josh picked up saying, “Hey, bro, what’s up?”
Jensen smiled at Jamie and gave him a thumbs up, “Hi, Santa, it’s Jensen Ackles. Jamie wanted to talk to you about Christmas.”
Josh changed his voice and said, “Ho-ho-ho, hand over the phone.”
Jensen held out the phone and Jensen said, “Santa wants to talk to you.”
Jamie took the phone with a smile, “Hi, Santa.” Jensen could only hear half the conversation. “Yeah, I’m having a great tour… Yeah, I’m being good… Yeah, well we saw these skateboarders today and they were really cool. I want a skateboard and Daddy said he wouldn’t veto it if I wore all the protective gear… Yeah, they were really cool. There were lots of people of bikes and skates but the skateboards were the coolest. And Daddy got me a really cool CD of the music and I want to be able to skate… Uh-huh, I’ll be good… Yep, I promise… Okay, have a good summer, Santa.” He hung up and said, “Santa said yes, if I’m good.”
Jensen smiled, “Awesome.” Taking the CD he put it into the sound system and said, “Let’s see what we’ve got.” Simple Plan blasted out at him and Jamie lit up.
~~~
CONTINUE
“Hi, sexy mistress. How are you feeling?”
“I finished puking at about six this morning and ate a salmon sandwich, so y’know: normally scheduled pregnant life. Allison assured me I’ll stop vomiting soon.”
“Good,” he nodded and smiled. “Adoption papers?”
She handed him a manila envelope, “I have marked everywhere you and Jen need to sign. When you’re done send them either registered mail or by courier and I’ll get them processed. It could take a couple of weeks.”
He took them and said, “Thank you so much, Annie. This means so much to me. And you’re carrying my babies. I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”
She studied him, “After Tricia died I was really scared for Jensen. He was depressed for so long. He was like a shell. I worried that one day it was all going to become too much and even though he loves Jamie so much… there were times when I felt like I was dealing with suicide watch. You’ve made him so happy; you brought him back. You don’t need to thank me for anything and you sure as hell don’t need to thank me when you’re giving my nephew and nieces a second parent.” She smiled a watery smile and sniffed. “Fuck, I hate my pregnancy hormones.” He laughed, “Get out: I have work to do.”
He met up with Chad who handed him a black bag with a box in it and said, “Here you go, pervert.”
“Thanks, dude.”
“Whatever, man. Thanks for hanging out with me so much, last night and the night before. You know I don’t do well on my own.”
Jared slept through the flight, he’d been up since four. When he landed he saw Clif with a sign that said Jared, in glittery blue letters and he smiled at the guy, “The boys got bored without me?”
Shrugging Clif said, “I think the sign speaks for itself. Your dogs are in the car.”
Jared felt how big his smile got, “Awesome!” They went out to a covered parking garage where the dogs were waiting in the cooled SUV for him. They reacted as though he’d been away for a hell of a lot longer than forty-six hours but he lavished them with attention too.
When they got to the tour bus and the whole camp he spotted Jamie first and Jamie sprinted to him and hugged him, “We missed you.”
“I missed you too, so much.” He crouched down and pulled things out of the paper bag that had been his only luggage. “Here’s your Kane guitar pick: it was underneath the piano and here is a new shirt from Chad.” On the front it said, “My Sisters Worship Me” and on the back it said, “You Should Consider Worshipping Me Too.”
Jamie laughed, “That’s awesome!”
“He thought you’d like it.” He pulled out the manila folder and said, “These are the adoption papers. We don’t have to do this if you don’t want.”
“You and Daddy can’t get married. But I can adopt you as my parent and that makes us a real family… like, legally.”
Jared hugged him close, “I love you so much, Jamie, and I would be so proud to be your parent.”
Jamie hugged him back, “I love you too, Jared.”
“Is this a hug by invitation or can anyone join?” asked Jensen and Jared released Jamie to turn and hug him.
“Hi,” said Jared before kissing Jensen slowly, enjoying the feeling of home he got from the action. Pulling back he asked, “Did you do something cool and touristy today?” In two days they would hit LA, but today they were still in some small magnet town with a huge arena.
Jamie nodded, “This morning we saw the second largest ball of twine in the continental US.”
“Is there a larger one in Hawaii or Puerto Rico?” Jared asked but Jensen just laughed.
Shrugging the shorter man said, “This place is kind of dead; it was the only place that was even remotely worth visiting. We needed to get out for a couple of hours.”
“Tomorrow,” said Jamie, “Daddy got us all tickets to see a skating exhibition.”
“Cool, like Stars on Ice?”
Jensen started laughing, “Oh my God, and E! thought you could have an affair with a woman.”
“Not like Stars on Ice then?” asked Jared.
“It’s skateboarding, and bikes, and rollerblades and roller skates. It’s like offseason X Games. They’re getting ready because the X Games are at the end of July.” said Jensen.
“It’s gonna be epic,” said Jamie.
Jensen snorted, “Stars on Ice,” and started laughing again.
“Hey, I almost married a girl.”
“When you were seventeen and trying not to be gay? How did that work out for you?” asked Jensen.
“Not very well,” Jared nodded.
Jensen laughed again, “Want to play karaoke with us?”
“Have the dogs had enough exercise?”
“The the second largest ball of twine in the continental US is outside, they ran around a lot.”
“Cool.”
So they spent the afternoon playing with the karaoke machine and dancing like idiots. The dogs got pretty into it and were prancing around them. They signed the papers and asked Bobby to send it back. Then it was time for dinner and sound check and the concert and Jared loved it all. That night they went to bed early. Jared was grateful for that. He stripped naked and pulled off Jensen’s clothes. “Brought you a present,” he said and Jensen smiled at him.
“Is it your dick? Because I really missed that,” Jensen said and kissed Jared slowly.
“Kind of actually.” He got the small box from the bag. He nuzzled against Jensen’s shoulder as Jensen opened the box. “You smell so good.” He licked and nibbled at Jensen’s clavicle, “Taste good too.”
“Jay,” said Jensen holding the leather strap with fasteners, “is this a cock ring?” Jared was still nibbling on Jensen’s shoulder and made as assenting noise. “You complaining about my stamina?”
“No, mine. Want to take you long and hard but I come faster than you, I don’t get as long as I want.”
“Yeah, but you have the recuperation time for a teenager. I like marathon sex.”
“I like you,” responded Jared.
“I can’t believe you bought this.”
“You kidding? After yesterday there was no way I was going into a sex store. Chad got it for me. I didn’t want Ryan Seacrest to comment on it.”
“Good call.”
“I want you, Jen.” Jared kissed him gently. “Can I have you?”
“Fuck yeah.” Jensen wrapped his legs around Jared’s waist. “Long and slow. I haven’t gotten laid in over two days.”
“And for long and slow I need a cock ring.” Jensen stroked him to hardness and placed the cock ring firmly around the base of his erection. “Now I don’t have to rush to get into you before I come.”
He proceeded to open Jensen with tongue and fingers. And it could be slow and lingering. Jensen was stroking his hair and moaning low in his throat and the sound made Jared feel hot under his skin. “I love you, Jared, I would marry you if I could.”
“I’m adopting Jamie, it’s very nearly the same thing. In my mind we are married.”
It felt so good to kiss Jensen all over and make him writhe. Jared loved driving the controlled man crazy. Jensen grabbed his head and pulled him up to kiss him needily. “Feels good,” said Jensen, “Don’t stop, Jay.”
Jared really did enjoy Jensen’s mouth and Jared kissed him with abandon, “Oh, God, you’re gorgeous.” When he was ready, when Jensen was begging and moaning, he opened a condom, lubed up and slid into his tight hole. Jensen bit his shoulder and Jared groaned. It was slow but hard and Jensen was just moaning the whole time. Jared made an effort not to babble so that he could listen to the breathy noises. But even though he wasn’t babbling he praised Jensen for being so sexy and awesome and for feeling so good inside.
He pulled back a little and pushed one of Jensen’s legs up to his chest to give him a better angle and Jensen moaned so loudly and Jared was glad, not for the first time, that Jamie was such a heavy sleeper. “Fuck, Jay, tha’s awesome.”
Every time he went to stroke Jensen’s erection the other man would grab his wrist and said, “No, Jay, don’t want come yet. Don’t touch: I’ll lose it.” So instead he stroked Jensen’s nipples which made Jensen jump. Jensen held his ass and pulled him closer. Jensen moaned and begged, for more, more, more. After such a long time Jensen said, “Touch me, wanna come, please.” Jared obeyed him and Jensen came with a groan. Jared popped the fastener on the cock ring and came with a groan. He slumped on top of Jensen who ran his fingers through Jared’s hair and said, “That really was awesome. I think that’s the longest I’ve ever been fucked.” Jared chuckled against his neck, “I need to move my leg and you’re really heavy.” Jared eased out of Jensen and stood on shaky legs. He threw away the condom and grabbed a dirty tee-shirt to wipe them off. He pulled on pants and started to put on Jensen’s for him. He tapped Jensen’s hips and Jensen pushed them up a little so that Jared could pull the pants up for him. “Thanks,” said Jensen. “Come here.” He held out his arms and Jared slid back into bed. He curled up next to Jensen after fastening the lee cloth as Jensen said, “Great present. Seriously.”
“Yeah, that was great.” Jared ran his fingers through Jensen’s sweaty hair. Jared yawned, “I’ve been up since four. Go t’sleep.”
~~~
Jamie called for him at about seven and Jensen brought him to their bed. Jamie hugged him and Jensen stroked his back as they both fell back to sleep. He vaguely felt Jared climb over them both to get out of bed. At ten Jamie’s watch alarm went off and they got out of bed. The bus was parked and they went to craft services. Jared was there in sweats with the dogs who were panting.
“How was your run?” asked Jensen.
“Fantastic, got the dogs really tired,” said Jared as he ate some pancakes. “How did you sleep?”
“Good,” said Jamie, “can’t believe you got up so early.”
Shaking his head Jared said, “Baby, seven forty-five isn’t the crack of dawn.”
“It is in the summer,” said Jensen.
“You two are so lazy,” said Jared. “Time is the exhibition?”
“Two goes to five. Then we come back and get back on the bus because we’re going to need to drive for a really long time. This afternoon and tonight and into tomorrow morning. We’ll take stops for the dogs but otherwise we’re going to be on there forever.”
“Can we bring the dogs to the show?” asked Jamie.
“Yep, as long as we keep them on their leashes,” said Jensen. “I think it’s going to be really cool.”
They spent the morning bathing, eating and playing music. They played Jamie’s concerto a couple of times with the orchestra and then they went back to the bus and played pop music. It made Jensen smile when Jared joined in the singing.
“What?” asked Jared.
“Nothing,” Jensen gave him a brief kiss, “I love your enthusiasm.”
“Are you hinting at the fact that I can’t carry a tune in a bucket with a handle and written instructions?”
“I didn’t say that,” said Jensen.
“We love you even though you’re tone deaf,” said Jamie hugging Jared briefly before turning back to his guitar. He was looking at his hands and said, “We don’t mind. And we like it when you sing with us because you have fun.”
Jensen laughed while Jared rolled his eyes and said, “Thanks, guys. You make me feel so special.” Jensen laughed some more.
They had a late, light lunch and borrowed an SUV to drive to the huge outdoors skate park. It had eighties punk blasting over the sound system. It was packed to the gills with kids - well teenagers - all of them were laughing and going quiet when they saw Jensen, Jamie, Jared and the dogs. “Why are they staring?” asked Jamie holding Jensen’s hand.
“Because you’re very famous, Jamie. You live in an insular world in Texas and at school but you’re internationally famous and people recognize you. Come on, let’s look around.” There were also a lot of people with kids around so Jensen didn’t feel weird or worried that maybe it wouldn’t be appropriate for Jamie. There were lots of different types of pipes all of which had people in them doing tricks on anything with wheels and having fun.
Jamie and the dogs were completely fascinated but Jensen and Jared were enjoying it too. After about a half hour a guy came over the sound system and said, “Bros, Bro-ettes and people who refuse to self-identity as either please move towards the grandstand bleachers around the vert ramp. There are no assigned seats. Do not run, push, or be a jerk about it. Just walk. We will get started once everyone is in. Pushing will get you kicked out.” The guy sound vaguely amused. “Management would like me to remind you that we have way more families here than usually so please keep the swearing and lewd acts to a minimum. That’s why I said ‘jerk’… tomorrow it will be business as usual.” Jensen was laughing at the guy as they went towards the bleachers. They sat down in the bleachers and the dogs settled at their feet.
Turning to the guy behind them Jared said, “Am I blocking you?”
“Nah, dude, you’re good,” said the guy.
“Daddy?” asked Jamie. “Y’know how you have veto power with Santa?”
“Yeah, that’s why he’s not going to bring you video games until you’re thirteen.” Jensen nodded.
“Will you veto it if I ask for a skateboard?” asked Jamie.
“Will you wear protective gear? Elbows, knees, wrists and helmet?” Jamie nodded. “Promise? No whining? No saying it makes you look lame?”
“Promise.”
“Okay, baby, I won’t veto it.”
“Cool, can we call Santa when we go back to the tour bus?”
“Sure, if you like,” Jensen kissed the top of his head. As the poppy, punky nineties music ramped up, eight guys on skateboards dropped into the half-pipe. For the next two and a half hours they watched guys and girls do absolutely incredible things in the pipe. They screamed and cheered along with everyone else. Then they played one of Jensen’s earlier songs. He’d written it at summer camp after Kerr and it was an angry song but also earnest and catchy and totally fit the venue.
“Daddy!” Jamie said excitedly and loudly enough so that some people turned to see what was happening. “This is one of your songs!”
Jensen nodded and smiled, “It’s nice to know that a song I recorded in ’97 is still relevant.”
“Really?” asked Jared. “You think that a song playing at an X Games exhibition is relevant to the general public?”
Jamie laughed and Jensen smiled, “You were a lot less snarky when we first met.”
Jared shrugged, “Yeah, well, I didn’t used to live with you two. I wasn’t used to mockery being an everyday thing without malice: adapt or die, Jen. And I adapted.” Jensen laughed again as they watched some guy on a bike flip over twice before landing upright. “Whoa, that was awesome!”
As it ended they cheered and screamed as much as everyone else. Jensen and Jamie thought the music was really cool. It wasn’t something Jamie had really been exposed to and Jensen always enjoyed exposing Jamie to new music. They went to the merchandise kiosk where Jensen asked to buy a copy of the park’s soundtrack. The kid working there looked nervous as hell when he pulled one off the shelf. As he handed it over Jensen scanned the track list. It was a burned disk with a cover printed off a computer.
Jensen saw the reason for the kid’s nervousness and smiled, “Do you seriously think I’m going to freak out because you have a song of mine on here? What kind of a jackwagon would get angry about a small skate park using their song? Sure, it’s illegal but on a scale of one to a hundred it’s, like, a one and a half. It’s not like you’re Napster. I think it’s pretty cool to be included.” The sticker said five bucks and Jensen slid the money over the counter. “Had a really great time today. Thanks.” He handed the CD to Jamie, “Here you go, baby. So you can remember.”
Jamie smiled, “Awesome. Thanks, Daddy.” As they walked out Jamie was babbling about how cool it had all been and how he wanted to tell Tim and Daniel all about it. But he was yawning widely and looked like the adrenaline was wearing off after three solid hours of excitement.
The car was parked about a quarter of a mile away and Jensen said, “Here, Jamie, I’m gonna give you a piggyback.” He bent down and Jamie climbed onto his back without protesting which showed how tired he was. They walked to the SUV and everyone clambered in.
As they drove Jamie drifted in and out of consciousness. “So Santa is going to bring a skateboard?” asked Jared.
“If he’s good.”
“That was an awesome day out,” said Jared.
“Way better than Stars on Ice would have been.”
“You would have liked Stars on Ice once it started,” said Jared. “Then Jamie would have wanted ice skates for Christmas.”
“God forbid. I think it’s hard enough having gay parents in Texas without being an ice skater as well,” said Jensen with a laugh.
When they got back Jensen carried Jamie to the bus. Jamie blinked awake, looked around and asked, “How long’d I sleep?”
“Maybe a half hour, not long,” said Jared. “Too much excitement.”
Jamie was still blinking and yawning. “Can we still call Santa?”
“Of course we can,” Jensen opened his cell phone and scrolled through his contacts selecting Santa from the list.
It rang twice and then Josh picked up saying, “Hey, bro, what’s up?”
Jensen smiled at Jamie and gave him a thumbs up, “Hi, Santa, it’s Jensen Ackles. Jamie wanted to talk to you about Christmas.”
Josh changed his voice and said, “Ho-ho-ho, hand over the phone.”
Jensen held out the phone and Jensen said, “Santa wants to talk to you.”
Jamie took the phone with a smile, “Hi, Santa.” Jensen could only hear half the conversation. “Yeah, I’m having a great tour… Yeah, I’m being good… Yeah, well we saw these skateboarders today and they were really cool. I want a skateboard and Daddy said he wouldn’t veto it if I wore all the protective gear… Yeah, they were really cool. There were lots of people of bikes and skates but the skateboards were the coolest. And Daddy got me a really cool CD of the music and I want to be able to skate… Uh-huh, I’ll be good… Yep, I promise… Okay, have a good summer, Santa.” He hung up and said, “Santa said yes, if I’m good.”
Jensen smiled, “Awesome.” Taking the CD he put it into the sound system and said, “Let’s see what we’ve got.” Simple Plan blasted out at him and Jamie lit up.
~~~
CONTINUE