Jonsme + Cici Vs Disney!

[Esme Russel]

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Was it selfish and irresponsible to just up and leave because you got upset at your husband? Possibly. But it wasn't like Esme was leaving for good! She wasn't going to just spend the rest of her life at Disneyland with Cici and Jon; she just needed some time to think and clear her head and just... just have fun with her best friend in the world and their daughter who was clearly enjoying the fact that she was being showered with attention at the happiest place on Earth for a child. "Cici! Careful! Don't spill..... just have fun."

It was hard for Esme to not want to control the mess but she'd made it a personal goal to just let her young daughter be a kid for a day.

Maybe they should all just find their inner child for the day and just have a good time together. "Jonsey, doesn't she look cute? I don't think I've ever seen her this happy." She was kind of giddy at the sight of her baby so happy and excited about something. Sure Disneyland was wicked expensive, crowded and kind of headache inducing for an adult but it was obviously fun for a child especially since this was Cici's first time going and she got to share it with both of her parents which was something that Esme had always worried that she would resent not being able to do. Children of separated parents give up a lot, don't they? This was one of those rare things that she wouldn't have to give up and enjoy with just one parent.

Avery and Hudson were permanent fixtures in her life but they would never be able to replace a parental role. Speaking of Avery.... How in the hell did Jon manage this? "So, was the wifey upset?" She actually really enjoyed calling Avery his wife but only because she wasn't and probably wouldn't be for a long long time.

Maybe never.

[Jonathan Russel]

Jon hadn't been to Disneyland in... well, twenty-years. And he didn't really remember much of the last time he went because, well, he had been three. And he was happy to be there now, even as an adult. Disneyland wasn't very fun unless you were a kid, tourist, or with your significant other. But he was there with Esme and Cici, finally getting a chance to spend a day together as a family, which would be good for them, he was sure.

Squinting upon hearing the word 'wifey' to describe Avery, Jon chuckled, "She's completely fine with it," he scratched the back of his head, biting his lip, "Well, mainly because she doesn't think it's just you, me, and Cici here..." he looked down, "I might've told her Hudson was coming?"

Jon knew lying to Avery wasn't a necessarily good thing to do, considering all the things lying/hiding things from her did to their relationship... but it wasn't like he was cheating or anything! Jon and Esme were completely over... sometimes lying just made it easier not to upset her... kind of...

"Speaking of Hudson... how is it with you two?"

[Esme Russel]

"Bad Jonathan! I hope she.... bites you and not in the good way that you like." Esme teased as she tried to think of a way to possibly answer his question on how her and Hudson were doing. How were they doing? Well.... they weren't divorcing and neither one of them had said that they hated the other so that was alright but how were they really doing? She could be honest with Jonathan.

He was the father of her baby for crisps sake!

"I don't know... I mean, I told him that I want another baby and he said that he wanted to wait until he was done with school and I accused him of not loving me anymore and he said that he loves me. So I guess... I guess we're in love but I don't know. I love him and you know how much I love him but sometimes I feel like he's so determined to get his family to approve of him that he doesn't even care about me and the fact that I approve of him." She cleared her throat to try and make the lump disappear.

There would be no crying at Disneyland!

"What about Avery and you? Is she angry about you having that other kid or is it because she still doesn't believe that we can just be friends and not have sex or do anything bad along those lines? Is that why you felt like you needed to lie about Hudson coming along? I wouldn't want to risk messing up your relationship with her just because I needed a break from my life." She nodded before bending down to pick Cici up since they were heading near a crowd of people. She didn't really want to lose their daughter in Disneyland even if that would be an interesting story to tell after they found her safely, of course.

[Jonathan Russel]

"I'm normally against baby leashes... but part of me thinks we really need one," Jon joked as he watched Cici trying to wander around.

Jon shrugged, looking down, "Well, I kind of see where Hudson is coming from, trying to get approval from his family and all that..." he stuck a hand inside his pocket and adjusted his aviators with his other hand, "I'm sure he's totally appreciative of your approval of him. And besides, it's Hudson. You're like his world." he reassured with a smile.

Referring back to Avery, Jon looked down, "Ave and I are good, she's definitely trusting me a lot more nowadays..." he cocked his head to the side, "Kind of. I'm not completely sure why I lied other than, well, force of habit," he let out a breath, "I've taken advantage of her trust too much to completely gain it back, even if it's been five years... but it makes sense. Considering I'm sure I did about ten years worth of damage to our relationship." he shook his head. Jon loved Avery, he did. Half the time, he just didn't know where they stood. One minute they're good, but the second he fucks up, even a little, he feels like he completely ruins everything. Which, most of the time, in their case, it did... he just felt lucky she even stayed with him.

Jon took a glimpse around at the scenery; Disneyland was supposed to be a place filled with happy memories and fun. Stopping in his tracks, he turned to face Esme.

"Look, I'm here for you. And Cici." he smiled again, "I think we both need a break from our lives. I want today to be fun, just you, me, and our little family." Realizing how familiar that sounded, he laughed, "That's something I haven't said in a few years."

[Esme Russel]

Our little family...

Esme hadn't heard that in years and she couldn't believe that it took her back like it did. She was suddenly seventeen and head over heels over this boy again... Woah. She was seventeen and she believed that they were meant to be just because they were having a baby.

"Yeah, we do both need breaks from our lives. I think we should go into one of those shops and buy you a pair of mickey mouse ears, what do you think Cici?" She asked in an actually pretty relaxed happy tone; why wouldn't she enjoy herself? They were at Disneyland! Everything was fine at home so there was absolutely no reason to worry.

"Daddy does need ears! I want Minnie mouse ears like those!" Cici declared as she pointed her little finger at a girl with crown ears on, very princess-y and definitely very Cici. "What do you think, Jon? Does the little peanut deserve ears?" There was absolutely no way that Cici was leaving the park without those ears and everyone knew that.

Esme never allowed her baby to go without even when she probably should because it was teaching her the wrong things to just constantly buy her things without expecting her to behave at all to earn them herself.

[Jonathan Russel]

Mickey ears?

"Mm, I think our little princess has definitely earned some ears," Jon picked up the crown ears, placing it on top of Cici's head. They still needed to pay for it, obviously, but it wasn't like that mattered. Picking up a pair of Mickey ears for himself, Jon placed it atop his head, then took a differently styled pair of Minnie ears and handed it to Esme, "We can be the Mouse family for today,"

Mouse family... did Mickey and Minnie even have children? Did they have a family? Oh well, didn't matter to Jon. He took out his wallet, "I'll pay for all the ears," he offered, "Anything else you want?" he was feeling generous, and Jon didn't get very many opportunities to show off how good a father he at least tried to be in front of Esme.

[Esme Russel]

"I don't think Mickey and Minnie have kids..." Esme teased as she slipped the ears on her head, they were just the cutest little family. "We need to pay and then take pictures because I don't have any pictures of us all together." She knew how strange that it likely was to want family pictures when you technically aren't a family? But weren't they? A mommy and a daddy and a daughter... They were just separated and with other people now.

"Are you sure you want to pay? Because I can if it's too much." She figured that if she paid then he would still technically be paying since he paid child support. "Cici, want anything else?" She slowly placed her young daughter back down on the ground and she immediately began looking at various things before grabbing a Minnie Mouse hoodie that she wanted.

"Pleaseee? I won't ask for anything else ever!"

She was five and they all knew that she didn't mean that but it was still pretty damn adorable when she said it. "What do you think, daddy? Can she please have it?" Esme was having fun with this and just being playful mostly because she wasn't the one who was going to buy the hoodie that would outgrow her in six months or say no and break her young heart.

[Jonathan Russel]

"Nothing is too much if it's for my little girl," Jon smiled down at Cici, getting down on one knee and kissing the top of her head. This was nice. Sure, people were looking at them as if they were the cutest little family ever, even if in reality, things weren't always like this -- it made Jon feel all giddy inside. He liked peoples', 'aww, look at that cute family over there, I want that!' types of reactions when they looked at them.

"We definitely need to take pictures," Jon nodded in agreement, "I don't think we've taken a single picture of all of us together," he said as he thought about it. He and Esme had broken up before Cici was born, so on the day of her birth, they didn't really take any pictures together. Just one another, with the baby. "It's kind of funny how we always talked about how we were going to have such an amazing family together, seeing how we are now."

As Cici asked for the hoodie, Jon chuckled, "Well, anything for you, baby."

[Esme Russel]

"Yeah.... If we knew then what we know now then....then we would probably still do exactly what we did back then because it might not have lasted but it was real." Esme nodded as she glanced over to Cici who was looking at toys which she didn't need since she had a billion at home but whatever.

Cici always got what she wanted because well everyone knew the story of the twin who didn't make it.

"You know what? I wonder if they have any of those hoodies in a larger size because I bet that auntie Morgan would love one." She was trying to change the subject to anything that wasn't about what a wonderful perfect adorable family that she and Jonathan would have been. Wouldn't that have been simple? Her and Jonathan and their daughter....

He would never choose school over her and their family.

He would never make her feel unloved and let her go six long months without sexual contact.

He would have given her a baby years ago!

[Jonathan Russel]

Jon smiled. What he and Esme had had was, good. It was meant to happen... just not meant to last, and honestly, it just made them all the better friends. Even if it was a little harder to raise Cici being separated and all.

"I could see Morgan wearing something like that," Jon agreed, half-laughing, "Or maybe a mini Morgan... you think she and Gavin are gonna be expecting anytime soon? I hear they're engaged." The idea of marriage kind of scared Jon, to be honest. He hadn't put a ring on Avery yet, meanwhile everyone around him was tying the knot as if the world was going to end. He didn't want to marry her because he felt obligated to, or because it was the new "fad" or something, and honestly, Jon just wasn't ready.

Shaking his head and picking up the hoodie, Jon approached the counter to pay, then turned back to Esme, "You know, I don't think I'll ever fully understand marriage and all of that..." his lips began to curve up in a smile as he reminisced on the memories, "I mean, we almost got married. And we were so young."

[Esme Russel]

"Oh our almost marriage... How could I ever forget the fact that you were... You were almost the one." Esme smiled a bit too much as she said that as if she was wondering how much better that life would have been had they actually gotten married. "I can't believe how young we were and how convinced that we were that we were going to end up together just because we had a baby together." She didn't regret him and she definitely didn't regret Cici.

They were both parts of her past, present and future that she would never remove.

They kept her sane.

She reached over to hold onto Cici's hand and she found herself wondering if he was unhappy with Avery and maybe that was why he hadn't put a ring on it yet. "You know... I know that Avery probably really wants you to propose and make babies with her but if you aren't ready then you can't propose. You can't pretend to be ready if you aren't and marrying her when you aren't sure isn't good for anyone. It won't make her happy and it won't make you happy either and adding babies into that? It's... Marriage is a lot of stress on a relationship as is and you can't go in because you feel obligated to. It needs to be like Carol and Wyatt or Gavin and Morgan or Hudson and I.... It needs to happen when it happens and if she ever ever pressures you then you should call me, okay? I will always be your almost wife and best friend oh and baby mama."

She felt like he needed to hear some of that.

[Jonathan Russel]

"We were teenagers," Jon looked back on the memory with fondness, it was almost amusing, how carefree and in love they were. They were just trying to grow up a little too fast... but they still managed to have fun doing it, "It's funny, how we thought we were trying to be adults. Part of me still feels like a seventeen year old."

Carrying the bag with the hoodie he'd just bought for Cici, (as they were all wearing their Mickey/Minnie ears now), Jon looked at Esme for a second, before finally smiling again, "That means a lot, Meme." Meme? He hadn't used that nickname in a while, but it felt appropriate. They were having somewhat of a moment, and he just wanted to take a mental picture of all of it. "I just.. I feel bad for making her wait. I remember Avery and I were watching that one movie, He's Just Not That Into You, or whatever -- this guy was with his girlfriend for seven years, and she broke up with him because he didn't propose." Jon stared straight ahead, a little torn, "It turned out he didn't even believe in marriage, and I don't think it's that I don't ever want to get married, I do... I just, I don't want her to get tired of waiting if it does take that long, you know?"

[Esme Russel]

"Jonsey, baby, you're still young and if you aren't ready for marriage then she should wait because marriage is a two person thing and if she can respect why you aren't ready then maybe that should be something for you to think long and hard about before taking that step. It's different for you and I because we have Cici to think about, too and you have that other kid now." Esme liked how he called her 'Meme' again but she wasn't going to think too terribly much of it.

Why would she? They were just best friends now who were enjoying a day out with their daughter. "I love Avery and she's one of my closest friends but you are and always will be Cici's father so if I have to choose between your friendship and her's then it'll always be you." She lifted Cici back up and onto her hip and glanced around at the crowded area.

"Let's pretend that Avery and Hudson don't exist for the day. It's just you and me and our daughter and let's pretend that we're the adorable awesome family that we always wanted to be."

[Jonathan Russel]

Jon nodded in agreement, "I think that's exactly what we need for today." Sometimes, he really needed to take a break from his life. It's not like he didn't love his little routine, it was just nice to take a breather every once in a while, you know? Jon could get pretty easily overwhelmed.

"So," he grinned, his face lightening up, "where to? Wanna go on the rides or get food?"