Oh, How Lovely~ Lams

14.

Things get good in this chapter 😋

"Aye, Mary, girl!" John said as he walked in his mothers house. It was about seven in the morning. "Surprised you're up this early." He said, sitting on the couch with his eight year old sister.

"Who says I went to sleep?" Mary smirked to her older brother.

"Aye, you're turning out just like me!" John laughed, giving her a high five.

Eleanor shook her head, leaning over the couch and kissing Mary's head. "Please do not turn into him." She said, causing Mary to laugh.

"Aye!" John said, standing up. "You love me mama, don't lie!"

Eleanor sighed and stood next to John, putting his face in her hands. "Only because I have to, hijo." She brought his face down and kissed his head.

John laughed softly. "Where's my boy?" He asked.

"In my room, hijo, still sleeping. He is very much your son. He could sleep all day if you let him." Eleanor laughed.

"Mhm. Some Sundays we just be sleeping until one in the afternoon." John laughed before walking to his moms room, where Philip's bed stayed.

John picked him up, waking him from his sleep. He started to whine before realizing it was his father, just closing his eyes and halfway sleeping on John's shoulder as he swayed with him gently.

John rubbed his sons back gently, closing his eyes a bit too. He didn't get much sleep the night before, not getting to Alex's until around two thirty and not falling asleep until an hour after that, leaving him with only a few hours of sleep. It wasn't unusual for him to get such little sleep, since most nights he didn't get off until two or three in the morning and then had work around nine.

"I'm just gonna lay down right here. I don't think Nana will mind for a few minutes." John mumbled, laying down on his moms bed, putting Philip on his chest, still rubbing his back as he slept.

Philip slept for about an extra thirty minutes before he woke up, ready for the day.

"Mmm." The toddler mumbled, rubbing his head on John's chest before sitting up, looking at his father. "Night, night Papa." Philip said tiredly, kissing his fathers cheek. He watched him sleep for a moment before rolling off of John and crawled to the end of the bed. He looked down, not wanting to fall. He began to cry, needing help down.

Mary tossed her head back on the couch when she heard him cry. "I'll get him." She mumbled, getting up and going to Eleanor's room, shaking her head at John and picking Philip up.

Philip stopped his crying immediately after being picked up by his aunt, sucking on his thumb. Mary carried him out, going to the kitchen with Philip and sitting at the table, putting Philip in his booster seat.

"There's my baby boy." Eleanor smiled, kissing his head as she gave him a sippie cup of watered down apple juice. Philip grabbed his cup, drinking it immediately . "Do you want breakfast?" She asked him, having made a breakfast for everyone already.

Philip nodded, so Eleanor made her a plate.

"Papa's sleepy." Philip said, picking some of the scrambled eggs up with his hand and putting most of them in his mouth, a few falling on his lap.

"Yeah, Papa's tired, mi amor." Eleanor said, sipping her coffee.

"I give Papa a night night kiss." Philip explained, enjoying his breakfast. He never ate much, since he was only two and ate mostly in snacks throughout the day.

"That's so sweet, baby." Eleanor smiled, rubbing his back.

Eleanor put Philip with a few of his toys- which were most of Mary's from a few years back. She took care of some laundry and put breakfast away, leaving a plate for John in the microwave so he could eat. She noticed the time and shook her head, sighing. "Come on, Pippy. Let's get your Papa up." She said, picking him up from his toys.

She carried him into her room, shaking her head at John on the bed. "Here, wake him up, baby." She said, sitting Philip on top of John.

Philip giggled and nodded, shaking John. "Papa wake up! Papa!" He squealed, ready to see him. He hadn't actually spent time with him in almost a day and a half, since he had worked all three jobs on Thursdays. He spent the whole day with his mom, getting frequent phone calls from John throughout the day though. He missed his father and really loved when they got to spend time together.

John groaned as he woke up, letting his eyes. "Aight, aight I'm up, I'm up." John sat up, holding Philip so he wouldn't fall.

"Papa!" Philip said happily, hugging his father tightly as he stood on his legs.

"Lil man!" John laughed, hugging him back.

Eleanor smiled sweetly. "You only have about forty minutes before work, hoji."

"God- I slept that long?" John mumbled, tickling Philip's stomach.

"Mhm, you looked worn out when you came in this morning so I let you sleep." Eleanor said, smiling at Philip's giggles.

"I left you some breakfast in the microwave, honey. Make sure you eat before work." Eleanor said. "I need to go shower. If I'm not done before you leave, just call Mary down and she can watch him for a bit."

"Aight mama." John sad, getting out of the bed. "Love you."

"I love you too, hijo." Eleanor patted his cheek and he kissed hers.

John went to the kitchen, eating the breakfast his mom and left for him, hanging with Philip as he did. Once done, he played with him for a bit until he actually did have to go. He left, with much reluctance from Philip. He went to work, changing in the bathroom into his shirt before clocking in. It wasn't too busy but he knew it would pick up around noon, since it was a shitty fast food joint.

His shift ended at two thirty, which John had to leave immediately after since his mom worked at three and he needed to get Philip. He grabbed a couple of meals for him and Philip, since his general manager wasn't working so they could steal food. He then clocked out, walking to the subway and riding to the stop next to his mothers apartment. Once there, he didn't stay long, just getting Philip and leaving since his mom couldn't be late. He didn't work again until nine, at the bar, and didn't have anyone to watch Philip so he was just going to come to work with him. This wasn't super uncommon, usually Philip would come to the bar with him once a week. His boss was pretty cool and John wasn't the only single parent so he slept in a spot in the back office. John would check on him every ten minutes or so, just worried.

"Dino is hungry, Papa." Philip said, holding the stuffed dinosaur close as John carried him down the busy street.

"Yeah? Well, I got Dino some food he can eat." John said, entering the building. "What you wanna do tonight, lil man?"

"Umm... movie night!" Philip said as John entered the elevator, pressing their floor. "Movie night? What movie you wanting?" He asked.

"Umm.." Philip thought. "Finding Nemo!" He said as the elevator door opened.

"Finding Nemo is dope. Good choice, lil man." John smiled, looking for his keys in his pocket as he walked to his door, grabbing the handle and feeling it be unlocked. He furrowed his eyebrows as Philip continued to talk about how much he loved the movie.

John sat Philip down. "Hey, stay right here, Pip." He mumbled. "Be quiet, baby." He said before opening the door, holding Philip back a bit, just so if someone was in the house, they wouldn't hurt him. He heard some noise in the kitchen area and looked in that direction, dropping his keys when he saw her.

"Martha?"