Happy Fucking New Years

"Now you two go to bed. Alex and I will be back in a few hours, just before midnight and we’ll wake you up and celebrate the coming of the new year. Maybe I’ll even let you have some wine to celebrate." Kevin caressed the side of Nick’s face with the pad of his thumb as he tucked him into his Sesame Street bed and sat down on the side of it staring at him.

Nick’s face lit up and he grinned. "Really?! That’s so cool! I love you, Kevin!" Nick grabbed Kevin’s hand and jerked him forward.

"Nick, what are you-"

Nick pulled Kevin’s face to his own and kissed him square on the lips. A lingering and soft kiss, with a little tongue. This surprised Kevin, not unpleasantly so, but he kissed Nick back.

"I love you too, Nicky." Kevin said softly, as he pushed himself up from Nick’s embrace.

------

"Goddammit, Josh, get your scrawny little white ass into that bed." Alex snarled as he chased Josh from the living room into the kitchen, where he was sure he had him cornered so that he could throw his ass into his bed and leave already.

"Don’t know why Kev gives me the hard shit. Nick’s never a big problem like Josh is. Fuck." He muttered under his breath as he spotted his prey hopping from one orange footie-pajama-covered foot to the other on the other side of the kitchen.

"Don’t wanna go to bed! It’s like not bedtime yet." His lower lip lowered and poked out, trying to create the same look that Nick already had perfected, but not quite succeeding.

Alex shook his head ruefully and crossed his arms. "Look, Josh, the quicker you go to sleep the quicker you’ll get to get up and celebrate the new year with all of us." He paused and a grin finally appeared on his strained face. "We might even let you have some booze if you be a good boy and go to bed right now."

"Booze?" Josh asked with a confused expression flittering briefly across his face, making it pucker. "That’s like-"

Alex sighed. "Liquor. Alcohol. We’ll give you wine, Josh." Sometimes Alex wished he could hit Joshua, but he figured that would be illegal considering how ‘simple’ Josh was.

Recognition lit up Josh’s eyes as he stared at Alex. "Oh! Neat-o-riffic." He grinned at Alex and scampered over to him, his pajama’s rustling on the tiles, grabbing him in a big bone-crushing hug.

"Stop it." Alex grunted trying to pry Josh’s arms from around his waist. "Dude, getthefuck off me. Let’s go get you to bed." He started walking them toward the hallway and then down the hall, Josh still attached to him like a baby kitten.

Finally making it through the door of Nick and Josh’s bedroom, he hobbled over to Josh’s orange crayon bed and pushed Josh off of him, making him fall and bounce onto his bed.

Josh stared up at him, confused, his lower lip trembling slightly as he pushed himself back into his bed and shoved his feet underneath the orange blanket. "Didn’t have to push me." He mumbled, his eyes downcast.

Alex rolled his eyes and looked to Kevin who was staring at him pointedly. He sighed. "Look, I’m sorry for pushing you." He begrudgingly said as he stared at Kevin’s hard eyes.

"It’s okay." Josh grinned and laid down in his bed.

Alex glared at Kevin who was smiling at him with amusement clearly written on his face. ‘Fuck you.’ He mouthed to Kevin, scowling.

‘That a promise?’ Kevin mouthed back, licking his lips, making Alex bite back a groan and shift on his feet as his crotch became suddenly tight and confined in his black jeans.

"Yeah, so, go to bed." He said, tucking Josh into his bed, making sure the covers were snug around his body.

"Where are you and Kevin going?"

"Uh..." Alex stopped and looked over at Kevin who shrugged. "We’re going to get more grout for the tiles." He mumbled hurriedly.

Kevin bit his lip and pinched himself on the thigh to keep from laughing out loud. There was only so many times that they could use that excuse, but it seemed to work quite well.

"Again?" Josh’s face screwed up and he pouted. "Why ya gotta go again? Y’all do that like every week."

"Uh...the tiles need to be uh continuously grouted or they uh get moldy." Alex’s eyes desperately silently pleaded with Kevin’s for any help, but the older man just sat there laughing at him, his shoulders shaking with repressed silent laughter.

"Yeah, so Kev, we need to go." Alex gritted his teeth together and walked toward the door.

Kevin stood up from Nick’s bed, and bent down to give him a kiss on the cheek. "You be good for me, eh?" Nick nodded and snuggled down into his covers. Kevin walked to Josh’s bed and bent down to give him a kiss goodbye also. "You be good, too, and don’t let him boss you around. You don’t have to do everything he says."

Kevin walked to Alex, who stood impatiently at the door waiting for him, and turned back to the two snuggled in their beds. "Stay out of the wine, that’s for tonight. The new year’s celebration. Now, go to sleep."

"OK." They both chorused at the same time.

Kevin and Alex left the house, hoping when they came back that it wouldn’t be burnt to ashes. They couldn’t get a baby-sitter, because, frankly, Nick and Josh were too old, but they figured they should’ve taken the initiative to find someone who would watch those two while they were gone. Too late now, though.

------

2 hours later....

"Ducky? Are you awake?" Nick whispered in the glowing atmosphere of their bedroom.

Josh moaned and turned over in his bed. Nick bit his lip and pushed his covers off of himself.

"Ducky!" He whispered louder, creeping out of his bed and tip-toeing across the 6 feet that separated their two beds. He squinted, wishing the night-light was brighter, at Josh who lay breathing with his mouth open, snoring loudly, his feet on top of the covers from where he’d kicked the blankets off of him earlier.

Nick tripped over a rubber ducky that lay in the floor and it squeaked loudly in the silence of the room. He froze, then relaxed and then grinned to himself.

"Ducky!" He screamed jumping onto Josh’s sleeping form.

"Aaahhhhhhh!" Josh screamed bolting upright in bed, and slamming his forehead into Nick’s who was leaning closely over him.

"Ow!" Nick yelled, grasping his forehead in his hands and glaring at Josh. "That hurt."

"Well, yeah, it hurt me too! What are you doing?" Josh whispered rubbing his own forehead with the back of his hand, staring up at Nick with sleepy eyes.

"Oh, uh...I couldn’t sleep." Nick said, leaning back and sitting on Josh’s legs.

"Aahhh...Puppy, you’re heavy! Get off me!" Josh struggled to move out from under Nick, but not succeeding because Nick was too heavy.

"Ducky, stop." Nick chewed on his lip, with his hand rubbing his chin, appearing to be in deep thought. "Hey! Why don’t we go to the kitchen and get uh something to drink or something?"

Josh’s eyes widened and lit up and he grinned with glee. "Yeah! I’m thirsty."

The two walked into the kitchen, Josh dragging his orange blankie along the floor with him. Nick stopped in front of the fridge and opened it and looked inside.

"Umm...juice. Milk. Dr. Pepper. Mountain Dew." Nick ticked off things and Josh shook his head at each one. "That’s all, besides Kevin and Alex’s wine stuff. And we can’t have that..." He chewed on his lip as he grasped the fridge handle in his hand. "Well, maybe we could just have a little? They’d never know."

Josh looked at Nick and thought about what he said. "Well...maybe just a little bitty bit..."

Nick grinned and pulled the wine bottle from the fridge and slammed the door shut. "Go turn the light on so I can see, Ducky." Josh did as he said as Nick tried to figure out how to open the wine bottle.

"Hey, I thought this was wine? It says...uh....wa....wee...ni...nee...eeee. Weenie?" Nick’s lips puckered as he held the bottle in his hands, turning it this way and that, staring at the label in confusion.

"Weenie wine? Huh?"

"Maybe it’s like the name of it or something?" Nick shrugged and began to try to pull the cork from the bottle. After a few tugs he knew it wasn’t going to come out. "What do Kevin and Alex get this cork thingy out with? It won’t come out!"

"Uh...rip open the foil stuff." Josh peered closely at Nick’s hands as he set to work on the foil at the neck of the bottle.

"Hmm..." Nick tucked his tongue between his teeth and ripped at the foil, tearing it, and finally ridding the bottle of it. "Ok, so like...I push on the cork?"

"I don’t know." Josh shrugged, clutching his blankie to his chest as he watched.

Nick pushed, and grunted from the exertion. His thumbs began to hurt and he whimpered in pain as the cork began to slide slowly from the lip of the bottle. "Hey, it’s moving!" Nick said excitedly, as the cork slid more and more out of the bottle.

"Yay!"

Nick moved back a little from Josh and pushed hard once more on the cork. The cork made a loud popping noise and Josh screamed and jumped as the cork flew from the lip of the bottle and sailed straight for his eye. Before he could duck out of the way, the cork hit him square in the eye and he fell to the floor crying in pain.

"Aaaaaahhhh! It hurts! It hurts! Puppy, it hurts!" He clutched at his eye, his blanket underneath him, as he writhed on the floor and cried loudly.

Nick quickly set the bottle down on the table and kneeled in front of Josh, the coldness of the tiles creeping through his green footie-pajamas. "Oh God, are you okay, Ducky? Please say you’re okay. I’ll be in trouble if you aren’t. Kevin and Alex will punish me. I don’t wanna be punished again." His lower lip trembled as he tried to get Josh to remove his hands from his eye so that he could see it.

Josh hiccuped, his good eye watering and staring up at Nick. "It hurts." He whimpered quietly, still clutching at his eye with both hands. "So bad."

"I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Ducky. Have some of this wine stuff. Maybe that’ll make you feel better." Nick scrambled up from the floor, his slick footie soles sliding against the slick floor, he grabbed some glasses and poured some wine into them, then moved back to Josh who was still crying on the floor.

"Here. Drink this. I’m so sorry." Nick was close to crying himself. He hadn’t really meant to hurt Josh like that.

Josh took the cup Nick offered him, having finally removed his hands from his burning, aching eye. Nick gasped aloud, seeing how angry red it had become. He hoped it didn’t turn into a black eye. Kevin would really have his ass if it did. If it would just fade, Kevin would never know.

"This is good." Josh said finally, having gulped down half the cup already.

"Yeah." Nick agreed, taking a drink and then another and another until his cup was empty. "Uh...maybe a little more?" He suggested, bringing the bottle down to the floor and setting it in between them.

"Yeah." Josh’s eyes were a little glazed as he stared at Nick. "Little more."

------

20 minutes later, Nick and Josh had polished off the entire bottle and lay staring at the kitchen ceiling, giggling at nothing.

"Wiiiiiiiine is soooooo good."

"Uh huh. Yep. Me like. Uh...more please?" Josh haphazardly lifted his hand, which still held his glass, toward Nick.

"Hold on." Nick moved, cackling when the world slid and slipped around him. "Pretty colors. I’m on a roller coaster!" He reached for the bottle and shook it. He pouted. "Gone gone. No more. Aww." Throwing the bottle to the other side of the kitchen, it clamored loudly and spun as it struck the dishwasher and finally settled in front of the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Nooo! I want more!" Josh pouted, whining, his face screwed up in a pout as he stared wildly at Nick.

"No more. Tol’ you. Uh...les’ go play uh....somethin’." Nick tried to push himself up but ended up falling on his face, giggling like an idiot. Josh laughed at him like it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen in his life. "Sop laughin’ a’ me." Nick scowled, finally managing to pull himself up by the kitchen counter.

"Help me up, Pup...hehe Pup. Pup Pup Pup PUP!" Josh giggled, and grasped Nick’s hand as he offered it to him. He scooped up his blanket on the way up, and leaned hard into Nick as the world spun and pitched around him. His head felt fuzzy.

"What do now, Duppy?" Nick slurred, his glazed eyes staring down into Josh’s own glazed ones.

"Uh....dunno." He slumped against Nick, who in turn slumped against the counter top behind him.

They stayed that way for a good five minutes, just staring into space and rocking back and forth because their heads were spinning.

"Hey! We could pay with this fuck!" Nick said, picking up a fork and gazing at it as it shone under the kitchen lights.

"Ohhh. Pretty." Replied a dazed Josh, he too falling into a trance watching the sparkling lights play off the shiny metal.

A few more minutes passed by, and they continued to stare at the fork, until Nick blinked and tossed it to the floor. It clattered and settled, and he grinned down at Josh. "Les’ play a game."

Josh looked up at him. "What kinda game?"

Nick’s face puckered in concentration, his thoughts floating in a liquored bliss. "Uh...Christmas tree!"

"Wha’s that?" Josh scratched his head.

"I’ll show you." Nick gave Josh a lop-sided grin and pushed Josh away from him. He lead him out of the kitchen and into the living room.

------

"Puddy, are you sure ‘bout this? I uh don’ think this is right. Kevin and Alex will-"

Nick glared at Josh. "Shut up. They ain’t here. This is fun! Be still so I can finish." He tucked his tongue between his teeth and continued to walk around Josh at a slow pace, trying to make what he was doing perfect.

"But-"

"Shut up, damn it!" Nick growled tightening the chord around Josh.

Josh squeaked and held still. Nick was scary sometimes. But, he still didn’t want to do this. Kevin said he didn’t have to do what Nick said. But, the saying ‘no’ thing didn’t and wasn’t working.

Josh pouted and stood as still as he could. His arms were at his sides and his feet were planted close together as Nick continued to walk around and around him, winding the chord around his body.

"Aha! All done." Nick stood back to admire Josh, and then went to an electrical outlet to plug in the chord. It took him three times before he finally got the prongs into the outlet, but when he finally did, his eyes widened with glee as he watched Josh light up.

"So pretty." He breathed, unable to take his eyes from Josh’s prone form.

"P...Puppy...is it supposed to...to sting?" Josh’s voice was small and strained.

"Sting? What?" Nick sat down on the floor and stared up at Josh.

"It’s like-" He was interrupted by the chiming of the clock. It was 11:45. 15 until midnight. Kevin and Alex were supposed to be home soon. "Ow!" He howled as an electrical current swept through his body, making his hair stand even more on end than it normally did. "It bit me!"

Josh could hear the hiss of the wires as they came into contact with his body. He didn’t like it. The chord was shocking him, it didn’t really feel good.

"Bit you? What do you-"

"Nickolas Gene Carter!" Came a booming voice from the entrance of the living room. Nick and Josh’s heads swiveled around to stare at Kevin and Alex.

"Uh oh."

"You’re damned right, ‘Uh oh’. What the fuck is going on here? Why is Josh wrapped in the Christmas tree lights?" Kevin’s voice dripped venom as he stood there fuming, his hands tightening as if they longed to be wrapped around Nick’s neck.

"I...he...we just wanted to play. We were boreded. We drinked some uh stuff and like...we were boreded. We couldn’t sleep." Nick’s eyes started tearing over and his lower lip folded into a pout and trembled as he stared at a very pissed off Kevin. He was still sort of drunk, at the moment though, so he was really scared at what Kevin was going to do to him now.

Alex stood behind Kevin, his hand covering his mouth, biting his lip. He knew something would happen. It always did with those two. He stood back, waiting for Kevin to blow a gasket. He’d seen the mess in the kitchen. He knew what Nick and Josh had done, and so did Kevin. This was one hell of a New Year’s Eve.

Kevin’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Nick. "Get those lights off of him. You know, you could’ve burned down the house or electrocuted him or something? How could you be so thoughtless? I told you not to do anything while we were gone, Nickolas. Why couldn’t you just listen for once. It’s like you’re trying to piss me off." He raked a hand through his long disheveled mane of hair and sighed helplessly.

"I’m...sorry." Nick bit back a sob, as he stared at Kevin from his position on the floor.

Josh looked from Nick, to Kevin, to Alex, who was still laughing silently behind the big imposing angry figure of Kevin, and his eyes watered as he tried to hold in a sneeze that had been a long time in the coming. His eyes shut, and he sneezed loudly, falling backward onto the floor, the lights shattering underneath him, and shocking him again.

"Aaaahhhh!" He squealed, his body electrified from head to foot from the lights.

"Shit." Kevin ran to Josh, picked him up from the floor, and quickly unraveled the chord from his shaking body. "Nickolas, go to your room, now. I’ll come talk to you later about what you did tonight. Until then, I want you to think about what you’ve done." Nick scurried off into he and Josh’s room, his cries heard down the hallway, then fading.

Kevin sighed, and looked at Josh’s hair. It stuck up all over his head in odd angles. "Oh, Joshua, why’d you do what he said? I told you that you didn’t." He caressed the hair, trying to make it lay down properly, trying to comfort the shaking man.

Josh’s lower lip quivered. "I don’t know." He whispered, his eyes tearing over.

Kevin stared at Josh’s face. "What happened to your eye, Joshua?"

Josh gulped, staring at the floor, his fingers twitching nervously against his orange covered thigh. "Uh...Puppy accidentally did it. Don’t get mad at him! He made it all better with the yummy drink he gave me."

Kevin’s back tensed as he remembered the empty bottle of wine he and Alex had found a few minutes before, lying in the kitchen floor.

"Oh, yes, the drink that Nickolas gave you. The drink we all were supposed to have for New Year’s Eve." His lips tightened into a scowl and Josh stared up at him fearfully.

"I’m sorry."

Kevin stared down at him, sighing. "It’s OK. It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t really even Nick’s. I shouldn’t have left you alone. I knew better, and yet I still did it." He patted Josh on the head, "Go ahead and go to bed."

Josh stared at him. "OK. I love you, Kevin." He mumbled softly, standing on his tip-toes and kissing Kevin softly on the mouth before scurrying out of the room and down the hall to his room.

Kevin sat down on the couch, shoved both hands through his hair and put his elbows on his knees. "Where did I go wrong, Alex? They always do this and they never learn. It’s like...fuck, I don’t know, but this shouldn’t be this damned hard."

Alex moved from the doorway over to the couch, sitting down next to Kevin and taking him in his arms. "It’s OK, Kev. They don’t know any better. You know that. They just need us to watch over them more, that’s all." He rubbed Kevin’s back thoughtfully. "You have to admit though, that was pretty fuckin’ funny. Josh draped in all those Christmas lights." He chuckled in remembrance.

Kevin looked up at him, a half-smile on his face. "Yeah. I guess it was." He looked down at Alex’s hand which had laced with his own. "Next year, though, we’re putting the tree and all the Christmas shit up the day after Christmas."

"Good plan." Alex murmured laughing.

The clock began to chime again. This time signaling the end of the old year and the beginning of the new one. When the last chime sounded, Kevin and Alex sat silently for a few minutes, just sitting there staring at each other.

"Happy fucking New Year, Alex." Kevin said softly, leaning over and kissing Alex deeply.

Alex reciprocated the kiss whole-heartedly, lacing his free hand into the dark shaggy mane of Kevin’s hair, as his other hand clenched in Kevin’s.

"Happy fucking New Year to you, too, Kev."