Counting the Days [Chase/Ari]

Spring.

Ari snorted in disgust. A time where the flowers were all in bloom and things came back to life. A time he was beginning to hate. Everything was full of life and he just couldn't stand it. He stood outside, leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed over his chest. He sneered at the sight of the blooming pink flowers on the tree in his yard--Dylan had always loved that tree, making a comment almost every day during the spring about how beautiful they were and he would reply that it didn't compare to herself. She would giggle and playfully smack him and he would kiss her and well, other stuff usually, but Ari did his best not to think about it too much.

Lucky for him, Scarlett had been sleeping peacefully for the last few days--she was a really good kid. Was this the life of a single father? Just another bachelor, but with children? He sighed; everything was so different now. Soon Jethro came running outside and clung to his father. Ari did his best to remove the scorn from his face and replaced it with something that was a bit happy. The little boy told him that he would be going over to Clara's to play. Ari nodded simply and told him to have fun.

Clara was rocking back and forth on the front porch. She whispered a song under her breath, and the spring breeze gently whisked it away, letting it get lost in the wind. She turned to look at her father with wide eyes. "Daddy, when will Jethy be here?"

"I don't know, Clara," her father replied with a weary, detached voice. He was looking with tired eyes at his neighbor and best friend's house, and could make out two figures on the porch. Two, where there should have been three. "I'll go over there. Stay here," he instructed his daughter. Briefly disappearing into the house, he reemerged with two bottles of beer. "I'll send Jethro over." He started the walk over to Ari's house.


He didn't wave as he approached, perhaps because his hands were full. "Hi, Jethro," he said, managing a smile. He felt pity for the small child, losing his mother so early, and Ari was grieving himself, so it might be hard for him to devote all of his attention to Jethro. Especially with the new baby.

"Hey, Ari," he said in a low voice, standing next to him and offering him one of the beers. He popped the cap off of his own and took a swig, wiping his mouth off with his sleeve after he swallowed. He didn't say much more than that; he assumed that Ari wasn't in a very talkative mood, anyhow.