Jack

“Am I going to need a tetanus shot after this?” I grunted harshly, eying the grime and gunk all over the grounds, the tents, and the people. I was out of the car, afraid to put my feet on the ground.

“Oh, stop it.” Julia was in an unusually cheerful mood, swinging her legs off of the driver’s seat. Once she got out, she stretched. It’d been a shock to me when Brady and I went to pick her up. It was a shock that she had her ringlets of red hair down. It, however, was not a shock when she demanded the keys to my car.

“There’s a twinkle in that eye of yours, Julie!” Brady exclaimed, cramming his long legs out of the back seat once the back door was open. We had stuffed Brady in with Sarge, resulting in his knees jabbing me in the back the whole ride.

“Yeah,” I muttered, waiting for Sarge to leap out after Brady to clip his leash and vest on. “He’s right, you know. You might want to get that checked out.” Just as fast as the words had came out of my mouth, Julia’s twinkle was gone, replaced by bared teeth and a clouded brow.

“Oh, how cute,” She replied with gritted teeth. “Jack’s concerned about my health.”

“I’m concerned for all of our health. God, half these people have gangrene. Encephalitis, poliomyelitis, yellow fever...”

“The kids are asleep,” Julia noted, choosing to ignore me. We had brought three brats named Michael, Summer, and Cooper with us. Cooper and Summer were still in diapers. They were Julia’s sister’s.

“Too bad they’re not—-”

“Awake! Too bad they’re not awake!” Brady answered for me, quickly. He shot me a look, running a hand through his mop of blond hair.

Fifteen minutes later, the four of us, along with the three walking fetuses, entered an old town carnival.

“FORTUNE TELLERS!” Michael, the oldest one, screamed, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. “FORTUNE TELLERS!!!! C’MON AUNTY!!!”

“Here, kiddo,” Brady threw in, suspiciously fast. “I’ll go with you.”

“Will you be okay with him?” Julia threw out to Brady’s retreating back. His tall frame was slightly hunched to hold the short juvenile's hand. He shot a glance over his shoulder and a slight nod as he approached a line of diseased tents.

“Dad would enjoy this.” I threw out awkwardly, once Brady had retreated. I casually placed my hands on my hips, my eyes trying to scope out any possible pick pockets. Sarge opened his jaw to pant, lifting his snout a little to sniff the air. I absent-mindlessly scratched the top of his head.

“That’s a lie. Your dad would think this is as much of a cheesy con market as you do. You just wanted to bring the subject up.”

My jaw tightened, keeping my eyes on the dirty, sickly faces of the carnies. I almost flew ten feet into the air when I felt a soft touch on my shoulder.

“Jesus, Jack, you’re wound up like a spring.” Julie gently squeezed where her hand was.

“Yeah,” I grunted, almost embarrassed. I shook off Julia’s hand and met her eyes, sharply. “And I’m about ready to snap.”

“You’re off duty right now, Dr.Daniels.”

I shifted my gaze and added sarcastically, “Doesn’t give you an excuse to cough on me.”

Julia, out of the corner of my eye, flashed a smile. The smell of fair food and dirt was almost unbearable to me at this point. In one of her arms, she shifted Summer.

Only two more hours here, Jack.

“Oh,” Julia chimed, stepping over to a rack full of dirty looking rags. A dark skinned elderly lady with very, very few teeth grinned behind a wooden table. I watched in horror as Julia raised an arm to stroke one of the fabrics, a blue one. “These are cute. I wonder if they made these by hand.”

“Let’s hope not,” I muttered, briskly flying into place beside her. Sarge momentarily coughed, taken aback by the sudden jerk of his leash.

“These are beautiful.” Julia had whispered in awe, her soft eyes widening. Her lips were slightly parted as she studied and counted each fabric.

“Yeah,” I said, intently watching her. My voice was a murmur. “They are beautiful.”

I was looking at her when the words left my lips.