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Little feet hit the splash park pavement and delighted giggles fill the air as Julian runs up to his mom, his little chest heaving. “Mommy! Mommy! Uncle Jacob’s chasing me!” Julian hides behind Janine’s leg, laughing as he spots Jacob bounding towards them.
“Come here you little booger,” Jacob says, scooping him up and tickling his sides, making Julian cackle even louder. Jacob puts him down so that they can both catch a breath and Janine picks Julian right up.
“How about you drink some water and then you can go chase Uncle Jacob and get him back,” Janine offers.
“Juice?” Julian sticks out his bottom lip and widens his eyes, something he had learned from his Gia Ava, and adds a small quiver for good measure.
“Water.”
“But mommy, it's my birthday!” Janine rolls her eyes and reaches for a juicebox out of the cooler. “Thank you!” Julian wiggles down from Janine’s embrace and runs to chase after Jacob.
“Be careful please,” Janine yells after the both of them. Gregory walks up behind her, sliding a hand in hers and squeezing.
“Now you know in about 10 minutes, I’m going to have to wrangle him again to lather him in sunscreen.”
“Make it 5, Jacob is starting to get pink.”
“I don’t know which one is going to fight us more,” Gregory says with a small smirk.
“Eh, we’ll take Julian and make Melissa or Barbara get Jacob. We take our son, it’s only fair that they take theirs.” They both laugh at that for a moment before Janine smiles up at her husband, laying her head on his arm.
“Hey lovebirds, I’d hate to break up a moment, but my food is gettin cold over here. This carbonara wasn’t made to sit all day,” Melissa complains. Gregory and Janine sigh, knowing they're going to have an even bigger fight on their hands pausing playtime for the boys and tan-time for Ava.
“I got this,” Gregory assures. “Julian! C’mere lil man!” Julian stops his play and runs towards where he heard his name come from.
“Yes daddy?”
“Go tell Uncle Jacob, Nana and Gia that Nonna says it’s time to eat.” Julian nods his head and dashes back towards the splash park, doing as he was told.
——
Janine had been through a lot as a child and even well into her adult life with having an absent father and a terrible mother. Before Julian, she was terrified of becoming a mom herself as she was afraid her child would suffer like she did. Her main fear was that she would end up like her mom and not give Julian everything he needed. Luckily, she had a husband that was a very present father, and both of them striving to be better than their parents made them the best ones for Julian.
Of course they had help too. Barbara and Melissa being their pseudo-moms in and out of school made for a Nana and a Nonna that spoiled him endlessly but were seasoned in the discipline and development areas. Uncle Jacob was the fun one, always down to be a part of some shannanagin but also found ways to teach Julian about the world around them. Then there was Gia Ava, the long-time partner of Nana who refused to be called anything close to grandma, so she settled on a mix of grandma and tia. Gia was Julian’s favorite (behind mommy and daddy of course) because she gave him anything in the world that he wanted. Having a rough day? Go to Gia and Nana’s house. Want candy? Go to Gia’s office. Don’t want to go outside for recess? Go find Gia.
Julian is loved inside out upside down and sideways. Janine only hopes that when he’s older he understands just how much. While deep in her thoughts, she doesn’t notice that she’s being called.
“Janine!”
“Huh? What? Yes? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, Sweetheart,” Barbara says, patting the seat on the bench next to her and Ava. Janine sits down and allows herself to be brought into the conversation. She looks around at this beautiful family of hers and gets overwhelmed for a second. She doesn’t understand just how she deserves it all, and she feels like any moment something could happen and it all gets taken away from her, but Barbara extends a hand on top of hers and smiles. “We all love you, baby girl. We’re not going anywhere.”
Janine smiles, the touch and reassurance calming her. “Thanks, mom.” Barbara’s gaze softens, as Janine has never dared to call her that before (outside of that one time in the hallway but that was an accident). Barbara pulls Janine in her arms and kisses her forehead gently.
“You’re welcome, honey.” And as Janine sits in the arms of her mom, recalls all the times she holds her son just like this and it’s all surreal. And some kind of wonderful.