Once a upon a time there was a little amusement park on a coast that had been home to many rides and distractions. There were bumper cars, carousels, Ferris wheels, roller coasters and mirrors to distort your appearance. There were hot dog stands, cola and cotton candy carts. There was a grassy area that had plants in the shape of dolphins and penguins and flowers that were all the colors of the rainbow. The park was next to the ocean and from the top of the roller coaster you could see nothing but water. This is where our story begins.

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"Unkk-el Kwis. Cawee me. I tie-red." The little boy's voice cried out.

Chris scooped Harry up into his arms. Ten sticky fingers adhered to his neck and another little hand took hold of his on his right side.

"Holly, honey, let go of my hand for a sec so I can grab my phone and call your dad and see where the heck he is." Chris said as he reached on his belt for his cell phone. After he flipped the phone open he pressed the number 2 and then 'send', it was Toby's preprogrammed number. "Pick up the phone Toby..."

"Hey, this is Tobias Beecher. I'm sorry I can't get to the phone right now, but your call is important to me. Please leave your name, a number where I can reach you and a short message and I'll call you back within 24 hours. Thanks."

"Thanks my ass. Toby where the fuck are you? Call me back, this is the third time I've called. We're at the amusement park and I need you!"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Holly suddenly disappear from his view and unexpectedly Chris heard laughter behind him. He quickly turned around and saw Holly with her hands covering her mouth trying to be quiet but Harry couldn't do that, he was giggling.

"Uncle Chris said some bad words didn't he?" Toby said. He had been standing behind Chris, arriving just as he had begun talking into the phone. Toby's phone had been set to vibrate and he felt the pulsation on his belt but regardless of who it was, he wasn't going to answer it because nothing was going to ruin the rest of their family day. The men were now facing each other and Toby leaned in and snatched a quick kiss before Chris could think. "Uncle Chris needs to apologize for something doesn't he?"

"Shame, shame on Uncle Chris." Holly said as she rubbed her right index finger over her left one.

Chris let sticky Harry kiss his father and Harry excitedly reached for his dad. As soon as Toby felt Harry's fingers he took him from Chris's arms and placed him on the ground near his sister and said, "Honey please take your brother and help him wash his hands. Daddy and Uncle Chris are going to figure out what to eat for dinner."

Holly took Harry's hand and together they skipped off to the bathroom. Once they were out of earshot Toby said.

"Chris, I've asked you to watch your potty mouth around the kids."

"My potty mouth? Toby I'm not one of your kids. It's not the first time and I can't promise you that it will be the last time I swear in front of the kids."

"Bite me."

"Daddy, what did you guys decide that we're going to eat for dinner?" Holly asked as she and her brother returned from their little mission.

"Well, I'm having a corndog and Daddy just said that he wanted to take a big bite out of it." Chris sarcastically said and smiled at Holly and once again picked up Harry whose hands were now clean.

Holly clapped her hands and said, "I get a bite too."

"No, I'm going to buy one just for you and Harry gets his own corndog too." Toby said glaring at Chris.

"Hey, where were you all afternoon? Didn't you get my messages?" Chris said as he put Harry down but held onto his hand. This time there was genuine concern in his voice.

"I was tied up with McClain in a discovery meeting and today was the only day everyone could get together. You know how involved these cases can get. The time sort of got away from me I guess, but I'm here now." Toby said smiling.

"Aww Toby. Please. The kids are a handful as it is but here in the park..." Chris whined.

Toby exhaled loudly then put his hands on his hips and said, "Chris, I'm doing the best I can. One of us has to stay home with them and since my skills were more marketable than yours we agreed it would be you. So don't bust my balls."

Holly's eyes got big. "Are we going to play ball?"

Chris stooped down to Holly's level. "No Holly, Daddy meant we were going to throw balls into the clown's mouth over there and see if we can win a stuffed animal." He said while pointing over to the clown booth.

Harry was getting restless, "Can we go on a wide?"

Now Holly got excited and chimed in. "Yeah, lets go on the bumper cars!!"

"Bump pee-pee's." Little Harry responded.

"Harry, where did you learn that?" Toby reacted in a shocked fatherly way because he was really starting to get irritated. He looked at Chris who was pretending to be taken aback at Harry's latest vocabulary feat.

"Don't look at me Toby, that's not an expression I use." Chris said innocently.

"Yeah well, you're with him all day." Toby griped.

But before he could say anything else Chris came back with, "You know what? We've been here for hours and we've already gone on lots of rides. And since Daddy's tired from working all day, let's go home and I'll barbeque some hamburgers and we'll have some baked beans and potato chips and then I'll read you guys a story before we tuck you in for the night, ok?"

Holly grabbed onto Chris's leg and said, "I love you Uncle Chris 'cause you always read to us."

Chris looked at Toby and just beamed. Then he turned his face towards her and said, "I love you too, Hol. Okay," Chris paused and quickly clapped his hands a few times. "Let's get this show on the road."

As the family of four headed towards the parking lot, Toby saw a multi-leveled-mirrored wall on his right.
"Hey guys, wait a sec. Let's all go stand in front of those mirrors, you know the ones that make you look funny." Toby said pointing to the wall.

Everyone agreed and Chris walked in front of Toby with Holly hand in hand while Toby and Harry walked a few paces behind them. When all of them arrived at the mirrors they suddenly burst into peals of laughter. Holly and Harry were pointing at each other because they were looking into a mirror that reduced their size to about one foot tall and three feet wide. Toby stared and pointed to Chris's distorted body as the two men eyeballed a mirror that enlarged the middle of their bodies.

"What are you laughing at? Is that your cell phone or are you just glad to see me? " Chris asked.

"Of course he's glad to see you, Uncle Chris. He gave you a kiss didn't he?" Holly naively asked.

"What'cha got there, Chris? Are you hiding some kind of package from me?" Toby asked.

This made both men laugh all the more and Chris had to sit down. He was tired and getting slaphappy. People walked by and gazed at the happy little family and it made them smile.

Holly turned around to look at them with a confused look on her face. "What are you guys talking about?"

Toby started laughing harder. "This is it Chris. It's the laughter that keeps us coming back for more." He walked over to Chris and planted a big kiss on top of his head then he kissed both his kids. "Let's go home gang."

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The Space Between Everyday

The Dave Mathews Band

You cannot quit me so quickly
There's no hope in you for me
No corner you could squeeze me
But I got all the time for you, love
The tears we cry
Is the laughter what that keeps us coming back for more
The space between
The wicked lies we tell
And hope to keep us safe from the pain
But will I hold you again?
The fickly, fuddled words confuse me
Like 'Will it rain today?'
We waste the hours with talking, talking
These twisted game we're plain'
We're strange allies
With warring hearts
What wild-eyed beast you'll be
The space between
The wicked lies we tell
And hope to keep us safe from the pain
Will I hold you again?
Will I hold...
Look at us spinning out in
The madness of a roller coaster
You know you went off like a devil
In a church in the middle of a crowded room
All we can do, my love,
Is hope we don't take this ship down
The space between
Where you're smiling high
Is where you'll find me if I get tickled
The space between
The bullets in our firefight
Is where I'll be hiding, waiting for you
The rain that falls
Splash in your heart
Fan like sadness down the window into...
The space between
Our wicked lies
Is where we hope to keep safe from pain
Take my hand
'Cause we're walking out of here
Oh, right out of here
Love is all we need here
The space between
What's wrong and right
Is where you'll find me hiding, waiting for you
The space between
Your heart and mine
Is the space we'll fill with time
The space between...