Left Behind

Chapter 5

"Another book! Please?" said Stanley excitedly.

"That's enough for tonight mister. You gotta go to bed," Jesse told him.

Stanley made a sad look and said, "Aw..."

"Hey, you need your sleep. You're going to have lots of fun tomorrow when it's your birthday party," said Jesse.

"Will Uncle Jack come? And Auntie Olivia and Uncle Axel?" Stanley asked excitedly.

"They will," Jesse said, smiling at the child.

"Yay!" said Stanley.

The two heard someone walking over to them. It was Lukas.

"Come on kiddo. I'll take you to bed. Say goodnight to Jesse," said Lukas.

"Good night, Auntie Jesse!" said Stanley.

He sat up and gave the hero a hug. Jesse smiled and hugged Stanley back. A few seconds later, they let go of their hug. Stanley rushed up to Lukas, and followed the blonde upstairs. Jesse giggled a bit as she watched the hyper little kid follow Lukas.

Stanley was already four years old, and he was learning so fast. Already he could talk a fair bit, and was running around like a typical little kid.

Jesse was doing everything she could to give Stanley a normal life. And now that she and Lukas were married, they could feel like a real family. Stanley still called Jesse "auntie" and Lukas "uncle", but they still treated Stanley as if he was their son.

Jesse sat up from the floor. She stretched a bit and put the book that she read to Stanley back on the bookshelf in the living room. As she started to head upstairs, she walked up to Radar.

"Hello Radar," she said.

"Hi Jesse! Did Stanley go to bed yet? I wanted to tell him goodnight, but after I ask you something really quick," said Radar.

"Lukas is taking him to bed in just a minute. What do you need to talk to me about?" asked Jesse.

"Well... is it okay if Nell comes to Stanley's birthday tomorrow? I uh... want you to get to know her..." said Radar, smiling nervously.

Jesse chuckled and said, "Radar, it's alright. You don't have to act like you need an approval for dating Nell. She's my friend and your girlfriend. I'm not your mother, and you're an adult just like me. You are free to do what you want with your life."

"So... can she come tomorrow?" asked Radar.

"Yes Radar, she can come. There's always room for one more for Stanley's party, especially since we don't really have any children to invite," said Jesse.

"Hopefully when he starts school, he'll make some friends," said Radar. "Anyway, I better go tell him good night. Night Jesse."

"Night Radar."

Jesse headed to the bathroom and the intern headed upstairs to tell Stanley goodnight. After shutting the door behind her, Jesse let out a sigh.

'I almost forgot that I want Stanley to go to public school rather than have him homeschooled. He understands that he can't use his powers at school, but even so, he's still a child. He doesn't understand who is father was,' she thought.

Jesse let out another sigh. She looked at herself in the mirror. She had bags under her eyes, because she hadn't been getting enough sleep. Almost every night, she was starting to have dreams connected to Romeo and Stella. It was already hard enough to look after Stanley, even though he wasn't a baby anymore, but now Jesse was being reminded of her failure to save Romeo and Stella in her sleep.