texanrangerdutton

[texanrangerdutton]

DJ sighed leaning into her hands, though he took a second to look behind her to make sure the girls and the Waley boy were still doing alright. It was easier when the twins were solo but seeing a trio made it harder to forget how he'd already raised one trio before. He snorted and shook his head, "Wonder where they got that attitude from, I'll take credit for loud but we all know who taught em to be opinionated," he said giving her a mock glare.

Dahlia did nothing to refute her husband's statement. Ike was, in fact, an idiot. But they were an idiot that was dearly missed. "It does feel strange without them," she agreed, running her fingers through his hair before placing her hand on his neck, brushing her thumb along his jawline. "When it was only us and Eva, it wasn't as obvious, but with Zel and Ian around... It makes it that much more apparent who isn't here." She laughed softly. "It doesn't help that Ike is loud and opinionated. Their absence is clearly felt."

[texanrangerdutton]

DJ bit back a groan, "Ike is an idiot," was all he commented shaking his head slowly with a sigh. Pulling her closer he let out a small sigh, without the kids and the others actually letting his shoulders slump. "I'm glad they're not here, and that someone is still back home but...," trailing off he gave a small shrug, "Everyone's here now almost, and I know how this town is but the selfish part of me almost wishes they'd show up too."

Even before she had married DJ and officially become a (Cruz-)Dutton, Dahlia had seen his three younger cousins as family; it was difficult not to when she had been around for so long that she had practically watched them grow up. She didn't want to go so far as to say that she'd had a hand in raising them, but it takes a village, and she had always been happy to do her part. "I'm going to let it run its course," she declared, tightening her hold around her husband as she leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I try not to meddle unless it becomes an unmitigated disaster. Remember that situation with Ike and Ian when they were in high school? Somebody had to step in."

[texanrangerdutton]

"I was two ration cards short, so mami stomped on papi's foot with her heel," Maya stated proudly, DJ once again rolling his eyes and grumbling a series of words under his breath.

"Hate to see ya in Texas, feel like I'm in a fridge right now by comparison," DJ said nodding his head in sympathy towards his knee. He raised a brow at James theatrics before feeling water against his face, glaring at his daughter he snatched his own bucket to use as a shield. "I will chuck you into the lake and Princess here can fish ya out," he said giving them both a mock glare as he edged towards the lake.

James gasped as Maya held out the massive water gun. "No way! You know how to work that thing kid? Looks mighty dangers." He chuckled as he glanced over to his friend. "Hey, girl knows how to work it. Probably gets it from her mom." The last part was more of a teasing jab at DJ.

He nodded at the question. "Never did like the heat, but I'll take it over the cold any day. Especially now," he indicated to his knee. "But if someone wants to test out the big guns for the skeleton army, I wouldn' say no." Glancing around, James spotted a bucket left behind. Picking it up, he put his fist in and held it out, not unlike a shield. "Commander Maya, should Skeleton Dad join us in testin' our arms?"

[texanrangerdutton]

DJ's gaze softened, "Hey you're talking to the King of Mean when stressed, your mother has dealt with more than my share of outburst," he said shaking his head. He cracked a grin and chuckled, "Kid you're getting married, you can say fuck," he said before taking a sip of his drink. "Look key thing here? You know what you're doing when you act that way and you actually let him know, and you asked your mom for help when you needed it. You had a bump in the road and you worked with him to get past it. It takes practice, but just gotta remember it's not you vs him. It's the two of you vs a problem, which is scary. Took way too many years of therapy to be able to tell your mom, hey I'm angry cause I'm scared, I love you a lot and right now it's scaring me that I'm gonna lose that. I need help."

"it was me," they confessed softly, fingers pulling nervously at the hem of their dress before their gaze lifted to meet DJ's. "i shut down when i'm stressed because everything overwhelms me and i guess my panic response is to just freeze. so i was getting mean because i was frustrated, and in turn that stresses him out." slowly, bella's shoulders lifted up and then fell with a long sigh, eyes panning the crowd until they landed on jerico. "makes me wonder if getting married is even the right choice. i love him so much, but if i can't even handle planning a wedding? who the fuck --- i mean frick --- knows what'll happen after it's all said and done."

[texanrangerdutton]

Sometimes DJ thought about how when he'd left for the Coast Guard, Zel and Ian hadn't even been in the double digits, that Dahlia despite not speaking to him had still stuck around. It was part of why it was difficult to try to imagine his life with anyone else other than her. "Right, Phoenix's...whatever he is," he said shaking his head slightly, he knew the kid called him captain but considering how unconventional his own family it wasn't that odd. "Speaking of friends, you planning on meddling about the blonde or we just going to let nature run its course?"

Dahlia's expression went from borderline suggestive to incredibly affectionate in a very short amount of time. "I know you worry about them, Darcy," she said, running her hands from his shoulders down his arm and back up again. "And I do still think it's a good idea having them in there. He is, for all intents and purposes, a good paramedic. I'm a little concerned how he'll fair if we have another situation like the earthquake, but he's managed to make friends in the station, and I think that helps a lot in general."

[texanrangerdutton]

DJ's smirk faded into a fond grin when she used the familiar nickname, anyone else and he'd knock their lights out. "Oh yeah, maybe I need some reminders," he shot back easily, giving her a small squeeze as he held her. He sighed and gave a small shrug, "Ya se, ya se," he mumbled in Spanish, "I just worry about him, glad he at least is working with ya. You still think it's a good idea having him in there?"

Dahlia sighed before levelling her husband with a look that was part affection and part exasperation. "Dumbass," she replied, shaking her head to herself before smiling widely at him. That stupid dumbass charm had worked on her since they were kids. "Yeah, and I worked damn hard to assert that kind of authority around them. At least they know who's in charge. A certain someone could stand to learn that lesson again." She raised her eyebrows pointedly and then kissed him back, pulling him back for another, longer kiss when he tried to pull away the first time. "You know, you really shouldn't call your cousin delulu," she chastised playfully. "It's true, but you still shouldn't say it."

[texanrangerdutton]

DJ let out a sigh of relief, he loved his wife to death and knew everything she was doing was her way of showing her own love, but he also knew it could be a lot at times. "Hey long as you're happy," he said taking a sip of his drink before looking at them in surprise, "Oh yeah? Stress was getting to you that much?" He's more than a bit caught off guard considering he's seen them and Jerico together, practically attached at the hip. "Or was the human possum getting too stressed?"

"hi dad," bella chuckled, shifting in her spot to make room for DJ. being an honorary cruz-dutton had its perks, but getting to spend one-on-one time who was more like a father to her than the man who shared her DNA was very close to the top. "there's no need to reel her in; she's been so freaking helpful to me, and i don't feel like jumping off of a bridge when i think about the wedding. between you and me, i feared for my relationship there for a minute."

[texanrangerdutton]

DJ smirked, "Woman, he says to the love of his life who responds with dumbass," he reminded her. "Right right, possum noodle and ranger noodle," he said nodding his head, "And plant boots." His smirk had only widened as she pressed closer to him, "All 3 of em damn near piss their pants when you shoot them the look, what ya mean they're hard to wrangle?" Raising a brow he glanced around before spotting the pair and rolling his eyes. Glancing back at his wife he gave her a quick kiss and shrugged, "They'll accept it when the 1/2 boy stops being delulu for more than 5 seconds," he grumbled. He understood it was more than that with Zel, more frustrated at the situation and how little they could do for him than any actual frustration at Zel.

Dahlia would riot if anyone else called her woman like that. All she did to DJ was give him a pointed look. "Woman, he says, to his wife and the mother of his children," she teased, shaking her head despite having a smile on her face. "Darcy, you know very well that the noodle fiancé and noodle boyfriend are called Jerico and Cain, and that the Blonde Plant Girl is called Zarina. And I do like when things are efficient. But there is nothing easy about wrangling a bunch of Duttons." She gave him an amused smile as she leaned into his touch. "Also, Zel and Julie are walking around holding hands again. Do you think they're finally going to accept that they're basically dating?"

[texanrangerdutton]

DJ rolled his eyes even if he was grinning, the usual gruff look replaced with an easy grin as he wrapped his arms around his wife's waist. "What do you want from me woman, we make them tough in Texas," he said, "Least they can handle the sun, little worried bout the noddle boyfriends, might need to get Blonde Plant Girl to premake some aloe vera." Chuckling he brushed his lips against her forehead, "You complaining? Thought you liked when things were efficient, made it easier to wrangle em."

WHERE: Lake Party WHO: DJ Cruz-Dutton ( @texanrangerdutton )

"Hey, don't go too far away, okay?" Dahlia called out, watching Maya and a surprisingly excited Alexa run off with JJ in tow. Taking a deep breath, she picked up a water bottle and had a hefty sip from it before turning to her husband. "They take after you more than me, you know," she commented with a pointed look and a grin, still watching the three children out of the corner of her eye. "Even Alexa. The only one who doesn't is Bella." She set the water bottle down and slipped her arms around DJ. "Speaking of, remind me to ask her and Jerico about their wedding headcount. Sadly, it's not nearly as convenient as our wedding. Your entire wedding party lived at the ranch."

[texanrangerdutton]

WHERE: Lake Party WHO: James (@detectivegoldstein)

"Princess James!," Maya yelled before clutching onto James's better side still conscious of his knee. "The skeleton army now comes with gun," she said proudly when she pulled back and showed off her water gun that was almost too big for her.

"Yeah only cost a months worth of the swear jar," DJ grumbled, Alexa had run off with her mother, something about boy talk that he had to fight the urge to roll his eyes over. "You handling the heat alright?" he asked turning his attention to James and giving him a subtle once over.

[texanrangerdutton]

WHERE: Lake Party WHO: Bella (@exmcrtis)

As much as DJ loved his twin girls, they were also incredibly exhausting, "Getting fucking old," he grumbled under his breath. Thankfully Zel and his friendgirl, as Alexa had dubbed her, had taken over for him. Plopping into a seat next to Bella he held out a drink to them, "Dahlia ain't driving ya crazy with wedding planning is she? Can reel her back in if you need me to," he said taking a sip of his beer.

[texanrangerdutton]

DJ Lake Party 2024

[texanrangerdutton]

"Gotta keep the spark alive somehow," DJ said, giving his own half hearted shrug while grinning. Tilting his head back in thought before humming, "Think Fox bitched about bringing him into the station a couple times a while back, but think he's gotten better about staying out of trouble," he mused out loud. Chuckling he shook his head, "Not sure what kind of kid Sutton is fully, but the stereotype for a dad telling their kid not to go for the bad boy is usually they want to do it even more. Worst I've had is Alexa telling some boy to get out of her school." Glancing back up in thought he finally shrugged again, "Never hurts to ask, worst she can tell you is it's too early for her."

"Oh you guys get very specific with it, huh?" He chuckled a little to himself but shrugged. "Okay, yeah, but not like that. His name is Jäger Drake; you ever encounter him? I've asked around a little without being too obvious, but he just sounds like the type of kid I wouldn't want my kid involved in. But I can't really tell her what to do." Tricky paused. "Well.... I guess maybe that is a normal thing to do. I don't know if it's too early to ask that... Though they seemed to always be hanging out anyway,"

[texanrangerdutton]

DJ paused giving Tricky a brief once over, "Eh you're a solid 8.3, makes up for any awkwardness you got going on. Dahlia might put you at 7.8, but she's biased," he quipped. Laughing he shook his head, "Oh yeah? I ain't much better for that kind of stuff. I'm lucky I got a second chance." He gave Tricky a sympathetic look, "You know some would say you're a troublemaker, ain't that a thing? Kids date their parents or whatever. Was raised by tough latina and now look at me, married to an even tougher woman. You gonna ask if you can meet the kid, might be good to do something normal with her, whole meet your daughter's boyfriend."

"I can't be that awkward if my sex life was thriving up until recently," Tricky mumbled, but it's not like there was anyone to actually impress. "I guess there's at least that. But.... I don't know. Living here, I know a lot of the kids around here too. The one she picked isn't exactly...." He paused, trying to figure out a nice way to say it. "He's sort of a trouble maker, by the sounds of things. But I hope to god she doesn't ask me for dating advice. It'll be shit."

[texanrangerdutton]

"Got one of mine getting married in September, but hell I ain't a hypocrite. Me and Dahlia moved at lightning speed or iceberg speed depending who you ask back home," DJ mused out loud. He brought a hand up and scratched at the side of his face, "Sounds like Zel, says the same shit about being a burden, tell you the kid thinks he's cursed? Anyways you always been a guy of action, just keep showing her you want her around. Probably still have her bad days where she doubts it but might at least be honest about it with you." All things considered Tricky was handling it a lot better that most, at least in DJ's opinion. "Tricky I love ya, but you're kind of awkward bud. Stands to reason your kid would be too. Least the boyfriend gives you something to talk about that's suppose to be awkward."

"Tell me about it," Tricky huffed. "Though it's not really like I have much room to talk after... everything. Maybe having a boyfriend is better than being decked for sleeping with someone, who's to say?" He let out a soft sigh. "I am trying. Neither of us really know how. She feels like no matter how many times I tell her, she'll still be a burden. She gets along well with Adds, though. Who doesn't? They're far more personable than I am, anyway." He shook his head. "I wouldn't even know how to rush things. Everything just feels a little awkward. That's the only thing I wish I could rush. Things just feeling.... normal."

[texanrangerdutton]

Grabbing a sticky note DJ crumbled it into a ball before tossing it in Tricky's direction, bouncing off his shoulder. "Ey, with the amount of bullshit this town pulls, Dahlia prefers seeing you running around than not." His gaze softened if only slightly, "She's had 20 years to imagine what you'd be like, gonna take a sec for her to wrap her head around you being a real person," he raised a brow at the boyfriend comment. "Huh, kids today move fast," he mused, "But hey, she wants to keep meeting with you. Father figure, brother figure, weird uncle whose couch she crashes on, whatever you end up for her, long as it works for both of you don't have to rush into anything."

"I don't know, maybe Dahlia wants a Tricky free zone. I wouldn't blame her." He chewed on his lower lip in thought. "It's... I don't know. She came here and laid it out pretty clearly she isn't looking for a father figure. Things between us are just a little weird. As it would be with someone you just met after twenty odd years of not even knowing they exist. She's doing okay, mostly, after the whole.... whatever the fuck that was. She was at the dance hall with her new boyfriend, so that's one less thing for me to worry about."

[texanrangerdutton]

Now it was DJ's turn to stare, brow furrowing as he sat back down at his seat, "Course you are, come on Trick, you're basically family. You took your hits like a man, now you get beer, food and good company," he replied. At the mention of Sutton he smiled, "Eh if they can't, can grab one of mine to do it if it'll make you feel better," leaning back in his chair to cross his arms over his chest before he said, "How's it been going with the two of you? Addison stills seems pretty excited over it."

He wanted to snap his teeth at DJ, but decided to play nice since DJ was. "I fuckin' guess. Literally and figuratively, too." Tricky paused for a moment - he knew DJ was making a joke but he was still a little unsure. "Am.... I still invited to that? I figured after all this, the last thing she'd need is my dramatic ass rolling up with all these bruises... maybe my kid can show me how to use makeup to not look so fucked up." It was still sort of weird to say, but he felt weird just referring to her as Sutton without any context as to why he knew her.