Jonny leaned over and whispered to his triplet brother, “There's somethin' wrong about playing school when we really hafta go to school.”
“Jonny, shhh. We're in class,” the child prodigy reminded his brother.
Frowning and clapping her hands together, Lulu, in the role of the teacher, said, “Little Danny, no talking.”
“But ...”
Little Danny sighed as Lulu stuck out her hand, pointing to the corner of the living room. The child prodigy glanced back at his innocent-looking brother and made his way over to the point where the counter and patio doors met.
“Now, one plus one is ...”
As the class continued on behind him, Little Danny found himself sneaking peeks outside where his older father was puttering around. What had peaked the little boy's curiosity was the thoughtful expression on Jack's face and the way he kept looking around. His curiosity climbed when Jack finally laid down. While this in itself wasn't particularly unusual, the fact that Jack had chosen to lie down on his abdomen right in the middle of the deck was.
~What's Dad doing?~ Little Danny wondered.
“Little Danny, take your seat, please,” Lulu instructed. “Next, we have history.”
“When's recess?” Jonny whined.
“When Dad comes back in the house,” Lulu answered.
Little Danny bowed his head, trying not to laugh out loud. Playing school wasn't Jonny's favorite game, but Lulu enjoyed it, and it gave her confidence with her reading.
“Why are you laughing?” Jonny asked a tad grumpily, but his brother simply looked at Lulu with a smile on his face.
“I like history,” Chenoa spoke, eager for the lesson to begin, as was Jenny.
====
“Lulu, Dad's been outside a long time,” Jonny whined a bit later. Hearing the middle Munchkin laughing again, he turned and asked, “Little Danny, what's so funny?”
“Dad's asleep on the deck.”
“Class dismissed,” Lulu said, hurrying over to the door with her siblings.
The children all laughed as they watched their father, lying on the deck. He'd shifted a bit, his head resting a bit on his elbow.
“I think he and Daddy didn't sleep last night,” Chenoa opined.
“Daddy's still asleep, too,” Jenny pointed out.
“I wonder why they're always so tired after their date nights,” Jonny commented innocently.
Suddenly, JD giggled mischievously. He toddled over to the blackboard and took one of the pieces of chalk Lulu had used when teaching her class.
Unaware of his youngest brother's actions, Jonny suggested, “Let's dad-sit.”
“Dad-sit?” Chenoa questioned.
“Yeah,” Jonny confirmed. “We'll make sure he doesn't fall off the patio.” Silencing the giggles with a warning 'shush', he said, “Let's go.”
Quietly, the children took their places on the patio, all seated or standing in various parts of the wooden patio deck.
“JD, you'll wake Dad,” Lulu whispered as the little boy moved towards their father.
Jonny took a step forward to intercept the youngster when he stopped, realizing that JD had no intention of waking their sleeping father.
“What are you doing, JD?” Little Danny asked as he watched the littlest Jackson-O'Neill take the chalk he'd picked up and start drawing on the deck.
“Dad won't like that,” Jenny warned.
JD giggled some more, and then Jonny realized what the boy was trying to do.
“JD, can I help you?” the oldest Munchkin asked, grinning.
“Jonny do,” JD agreed, holding out the chalk.
“It's a great idea, JD,” Jonny praised. Seeing that the toddler hadn't quite mastered the steady hand, he asked, “You help me, okay?” and then patiently helping the youngster to complete their task.
“Oh!” Little Danny gasped lightly, seeing what the sandy-haired boy was doing and then grinning himself.
“What's he doing?” Chenoa asked her dancing sister.
Lulu shrugged, but Jenny piped up, “It's like on the news.”
“Like what on the news?”
“When people are sleeping on the ground and ...” Jenny began.
“Oh, a sleeping circle?” Chenoa asked.
“Yeah. Wonder why they do that?” Jenny asked with a shrug.
====
“When's he gonna wake up?” Lulu wondered as the children waited for Jack to open his eyes.
“We need help,” Jonny said, looking all around.
“I know!” Jenny exclaimed. “Mittens!” When the family's cat obediently walked over, she said, “Wake up, Dad. He has a treat for you.”
The cat wasn't all that interested in the treat, but she looked over and saw Jack's inviting back. Deciding it was time for a catnap, Mittens walked over to the general and settled in on the hollow of his back. While the children chuckled, the cat began purring peacefully while 'making dough', as Jack sometimes called the feline's kneading of his body.
Jack began to rouse, the feeling of cats' paws drawing him from his slumber. The children gathered closer, all kneeling down in front of him. Finally, his eyes opened.
“Why are all of you staring at me?” Jack asked without moving.
“Dad, why are you sleeping on the deck?” Little Danny questioned.
“The deck?” Jack asked, not yet realizing what he'd done. Feeling the paws on his back, the silver-haired man jerked up, twisting around just in time to see Mittens jumping off. “Listen, you little furball ...” Then he saw the chalk drawing. “What the ...”
The brood stood up and walked to the railing, laughing as they did so.
Jack jumped up, rubbing his right hand against the side of his head as he moved to the steps that led from the deck to the grass. He stared at the outline.
“Did I die?”
“That's a sleep circle, Dad,” Chenoa pointed out. “Like on TV. When people are sleeping, they draw a circle around them.”
“Sleep circle,” JD echoed, full of pride in his artwork as he held up the chalk pridefully.
~Okay, maybe it's time to tell them the truth about that,~ Jack thought, not wanting the children to appear silly when talking to their friends. ~I need to talk to Danny about it first, though.~ He sighed and then asked, “Did you do this on your own?”
JD nodded, but admitted, “Jonny help me.”
“But it was his idea,” Jonny stated, wanting JD to get the credit for the idea since their father didn't seem particularly angry about the chalk on the deck.
“Sleep circle,” Jack repeated thoughtfully. “Okay, JD, let's see what the old man can do. Lie down.”
As the children giggled, Jack drew a sleep circle around the youngest child, who had spread his arms and legs wide, as if making a snow angel.
“Do us, too, Dad,” Jonny requested as he lie down and motioned for Little Danny to join him.
Having retrieved more chalk and some additional colors as well, Jack proceeded to outline as his children had requested, enjoying spending time just playing with the brood and listening to their laughter.
====
“Pretty ingenious,” Jack praised the kids for their 'sleep circle' idea. “Where's ... JD, what are you doing?” He got up and saw the boy was now drawing circles. “Okay, let's try this.”
JD laughed when his older father began to color in the circular shapes. He added eyes, a nose, and a mouth to one.
“Hey, how about this?” Jack asked, drawing antennae on top of the shape. “My favorite Martian,” he mused.
“Are there Martians?” Jonny asked curiously. “I thought it was an Asgard.”
“Ears,” Jack reminded, since the kids were being silly and rambunctious, and neighbors could easily be in their backyards. It wasn't usually a concern, since the family's backyard was quite large, but then Jonny could be loud, for some reason Jack just couldn't fathom. “Let's draw Thor,” he suggested in a quieter tone, throwing caution to the wind.
====
A while later, Daniel, now awake as well, walked into the living room at about the same time Jeff was returning from playing basketball with some friends. They talked for a bit before laughter on the deck drew their attention.
For a minute, Daniel just stared, watching as Jack and the 'class' finalized a drawing of a jet fighter.
“It's a good thing chalk washes off,” Jeff commented with humor as he stood by his younger father's side.
“You know, I never doubted Jack's ability to be a good father. I mean, he'd already been a father when we met, but these moments, they really say a lot,” Daniel opined, his love for the older man shining through.
“Someday, I hope I can be half the father that you and Dad are to us,” Jeff replied, getting a pleased look from Daniel.
Daniel patted the young man on the shoulder and then went outside, greeting his family with a contented, “Hey.”
“Daddy, we're making sleep circles and stuff,” Lulu called out excitedly.
“I see.”
Jack shrugged sheepishly in response to his husband's look, but quickly realized Daniel wasn't angry. In fact, he seemed more amused than anything else.
“Daddy, lie down, and we'll make a sleep circle of you next to Dad,” Chenoa suggested.
“JD draw,” the youngest child offered, toddling over to get a new piece of chalk from Jonny.
Jonny handed the toddler a piece of white chalk.
“No, Daddy blue,” JD reminded his older brother, causing the other children to giggle, Daniel to roll his eyes, and Jack to smile proudly at their son.
**I know it's silly, Love,** Jack communicated with the couple's special non-verbal ability.
**That's what I love about us, Babe,** Daniel responded. **I mean, this is what life is about.**
**Drawing 'sleep circles'?**
**Not exactly. It's about silliness in the suburbs because this is just plain silly,** Daniel replied.
**Wouldn't change a thing, would ya?** Jack challenged knowingly.
**Not one thing. Just don't get the chalk on my pants,** Daniel warned teasingly.
**Now there's a warning I don't know if I can resist,** Jack responded with a leer.
**Jack! Your children are all around us. Save it for later,** Daniel answered, with a look of love and utter contentment.
Though there would be lots of cleanup happening later, right now there was too much playful silliness happening to worry about cleaning. The Jackson-O'Neills were having fun, and that was all that mattered.
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