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“Hey buddy, you ready for a weekend with the aunts?”
“Yeah yeah!”
Petra smiled widely as Bronx jumped excitedly. The boy nearly bolted from Ash’s house the second the door opened.
“You’d think I don’t treat him well by the way he runs from the house.” Ash sighed as he leaned against the door frame.
Petra shrugged and slowly backed down the walkway after her son.
“What can you do, he’s five years old. Anyway, I’ll have him back on Monday. Take care Ash.”
“You too, Petra.”
Bronx was already in his car seat by the time Petra made it back to her car. She laughed as she reached over and buckled him before sliding into the driver’s seat.
“Alright little dude, we’ve got a fun weekend ahead of us. You think you can handle it?”
The boy’s curly blond hair bounced as he nodded rapidly.
“Is Aunt Trish gonna be there too?”
Petra laughed loudly, turning onto the highway towards the recording studio. The boy’s love for the vocalist was amazing.
“She sure is. Jo and Andi will be around too.”
Bronx’s eyes lit up and his bouncing continued as the thoughts of how much fun he was going to have this weekend flew through his head.
Petra was glad he was so excited, but she was also pretty terrified deep in her gut.
Because, this was the weekend she was going to tell her son about her engagement to her best friend. And while that wouldn’t be much of a deal to anyone who had seen how Petra was around Patricia, it changed the whole world to a five year old.
Hopefully it would all go well.
Hopefully….
(~~~)
Patricia sighed as she ran the sample of her vocals over and over again. It just didn’t sound right to her ears, but she couldn’t place the source.
Jo sat on the couch plucking casually at her guitar, waiting patiently for Andi to come back from her food run.
Both girls nearly jumped out of their skin when the door to the room burst open and a whirl of curly blond hair launched itself up onto the couch.
“Aunt Jo! Aunt Trish!”
Jo quickly lifted her guitar and placed it safely away before getting a lap full of hyper five-year-old.
“Whoa! Hey little man! It’s been a while.”
Patricia removed her headphones and turned to the boy with a smile.
“Hello, Bronx. Where’s your mom?”
“Right here! Sorry, he’s really excited today.”
A flustered Petra leaned against the doorway, her dark hair sticking up in twenty directions and a backpack slung over her shoulder.
Patricia laughed, cutting off with a huff as Bronx flung himself at her for a hug.
“Oof! You’re getting so big!” She chuckled and lifted him up onto her hip.
“Are you running your mom ragged already?”
Bronx chuckled and shook his head, obviously lying.
“I told him if he behaved while we worked today, we’d take him to Disney tomorrow.” Petra said as she flopped down next to Jo. She raised her voice a little so her son knew it was directed at him. “So he better make good on his end of the bargain.”
The five-year-old’s face went comically serious as he nodded. “I’ll be good Aunt Trish, I promise.”
Patricia laughed lightly and set him back on the ground.
“Well that’s good, because we’ve got some important recording to do today. Did you bring something to do?” She thought they still had some coloring books or something around the studio.
Bronx nodded and ran over to Petra who handed him the backpack. He settled down in front of the couch and pulled out a box of crayons and what looked to be a brand new Star Wars coloring book.
Patricia raised a brow at Petra with slight accusation, to which the bassist shrugged and smile sheepishly. She never really could deny the boy anything, so that often ended with a new coloring book when he still had five or six that had barely been touched.
A sudden bang on the studio door made all of them jump. A muffled, but obviously exasperated voice called through the door.
“I’ve only got two hands and if the door doesn’t open in the next ten seconds, one of them is going to be used as a weapon.”
Patricia rolled her eyes good naturedly, and opened the door, allowing a food-laden Andi to enter.
“As fun as that sounds, I doubt the company is age appropriate.”
Andi looked confused before looking around and spotting Bronx.
“Oh hey, little dude. Glad I got an extra pizza, ‘cause your mom can demolish one by herself.”
Petra pouted but stood up to help take some of the load off her friend. At the same time, Bronx jumped up excitedly, ready to hug Andi as soon as she was ready.
Andi shuffled back a little, not expecting to be surrounded by the mother and son.
“Okay! Okay! Lord, get the Wentz child away from me.”
Petra looked insulted.
“Hey! Bronx is a good kid! You know that.”
Andi stared her directly in the eyes.
“I wasn’t talking about Bronx.”
Petra’s pout returned full force as Patricia snorted and Jo broke out into full blown laughter. Bronx laughed too, though not entirely sure why. Petra just looked at him with a fake scowl. “Traitor.”
(~~~)
True to his word, Bronx was on his best behavior the entire session, save for the few minutes Gabrielle, Cobra Starship’s energetic vocalist, decided to pay a visit and rile the youngster up.
Luckily, the day wore him out, so the ride back home was nice and calm.
Petra lifted Bronx from his car seat as Patricia grabbed his bags and their own, following the two into the house.
Bronx had decided it was nap time, so Petra tucked him into his bed upstairs and quietly closed the door behind her.
Patricia had her arms elbow deep in suds by the time the bassist got downstairs, finally deciding to get rid of their growing pile of dirty dishes.
“He asleep?” She asked over her shoulder.
Petra nodded and moved to wrap her arms around Patricia’s middle, resting her chin over the smaller girl’s shoulder. “Out like a light. I blame and thank Gaby for that.”
Patricia hummed and pulled the plug from the drain, letting the water out and grabbing a dish towel to dry her arms off. She turned in Petra’s grasp so she was facing her.
“When do you think we should tell him?”
Petra pursed her lips and sighed. “Tomorrow? Tonight? I don’t know. It’s just…what if he takes it bad? I know he was really young when me and Ash split, but he really likes you and…”
She trailed off, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, staring past Patricia, lost in her thoughts.
The feeling of Patricia’s hand on her cheek and the cool touch of the engagement ring brought her back to focus on the woman in front of her looking at her with a small smile.
“I think you’re over thinking, just like always. Bronx is a great kid, and I don’t think he’ll have much of a problem having me as a step-parent instead of an ‘aunt’. And if he does, well, we’ll just work through it together.”
She leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of Petra’s mouth, not being surprised when the older girl turned slightly and pulled her into a real kiss.
It was soft and sweet, but Patricia could feel the anxiety working its way from her fiancée’s body and she smiled into the kiss.
Petra pulled back with a deep sigh and rested her forehead on Patricia’s.
“You’re right. You’re always right, but that’s nothing new. Thanks, Trish.”
Patricia smiled.
“Of course. Now help me make dinner. Bronx is going to be hungry when he wakes up. He always is.”
“Like mother, like son.”
(~~~)
The next day was overcast, but warm, leaving the park not too busy.
Petra had decided that it might be easier to tell Bronx if he was happy and having fun.
Bronx practically begged to go on the Matterhorn Bobsleds, to which Patricia smoothly opted to wait as Petra excitedly agreed.
Patricia sat on a bench near the ride’s exit and casually watched the park goers. Once or twice, she was approached by excited fans and asked for pictures, and she happily obliged.
At least they were kind enough to wait until Bronx wasn’t around. Even if she loved the spotlight herself, Petra would rather have Bronx out of the public’s critical eye, especially after her divorce.
It wasn’t long before the giggling Wentz duo emerged from the ride’s exit. Petra had Bronx lifted up on her shoulders and a huge smile on her face.
Patricia smiled as she stood and met them.
“You guys have fun?”
Bronx nodded with a smile that looked so similar to his mother’s, it was a bit odd.
Petra laughed and nodded as well.
“Hey Trish, think we can get some lunch? Little dude’s stomach could be our new lead singer.”
Bronx giggled as Patricia put on a mock hurt look.
“Replacing me so easily, I see how it is.”
(~~~)
The drive home was quiet. Bronx nodded sleepily in his car seat as Petra drove.
Not too long after they started off, Patricia leveled a look at Petra.
The dark haired girl looked back with her own confused look, but got the message when Patricia raised her brows and jerked her head back toward Bronx.
“Right…uh, hey buddy, can I ask you something?”
Bronx lifted his nodding head and blinked at his mom.
“Whassat, mama?”
Petra took a deep breath, glancing back in the rearview mirror when she could.
“Well, you know how me and Aunt Trisha live together now? How we’re really close?”
Bronx nodded. “Yeah, I like Aunt Trisha.”
Petra smiled and saw Patricia smile out of the corner of her eye.
“I’m glad you like her, buddy. I really like her too. In fact, I love her. And I asked her to marry me.”
Bronx blinked again. “You mean like how you and Dad used to be?”
Petra nodded.
“Yeah, like that. Well, a little different than that. We just wanted to tell you and make sure it was okay with you.”
Bronx was quiet for a while and Petra’s heart started to sink.
But before she could open her mouth Bronx beat her to it.
“So…Aunt Trisha is gonna be my new Dad?”
Petra’s mouth dropped open as Patricia snorted loudly and silently laughed into her hand.
“Uh,…n-no buddy. Aunt Trisha is gonna be your step-mom. Your Dad is still your Dad kiddo.”
Bronx nodded seriously.
“Okay. Do I have to call her mom, too?”
This time it was Petra’s turn to snort.
“Nah, I’m still Mom. You can call her like…Megatron.”
At that point, Patricia smacked Petra in the shoulder with a glare, ignoring her fiancées giggling. She turned back to Bronx with a smile.
“You can still call me Aunt Trish if you want, Bronx.”
Bronx nodded and yawned, settling with a sleepy smile.
“Okay, Aunt Trisha.”
And with that, he nodded off to sleep.
(~~~)
“So I take it Bronx took the news well?”
Andi stood with Patricia in her and Petra’s kitchen, watching the bassist tumble around the living room floor with her son.
Patricia nodded and sipped at her coffee.
“Yeah. I thought he would, kids are pretty accepting of a lot of things. He was more worried about what he was going to call me now.”
Andi chuckled.
“Yeah, having two people to call ‘Mom’ would get confusing.”
“Yep, so I’m still Aunt Trish.”
Bronx’s high voice cut into their conversation as he spoke to Petra.
“Hey, mom. Can we get ice cream after lunch?”
“Hmm, I dunno, kiddo. Go ask Megatron.”
“Petra Louise Wentz!”