A/N: It's finally happening, the Single Parents AU! This first chapter was probably read by some of you when I first posted it a month or two ago, but there were some minor edits (mostly just timeframe stuff), so I suggest you refresh your memory a little bit!
Madge Undersee jogs briskly in her painful heels down the sidewalks, into an open street where a car aggressively honks at her. She waves in apology, but keeps walking quickly hoping she's not running too late. This isn't the first time she's been late after school in the last few weeks, and she really doesn't want to make a bad impression on the teacher.
Unfortunately when she arrives in the yard of the playground, all the other parents seem to have left and she sees two figures sitting on a bench near the school entrance. Adjusting her skirt and wind-blown hair from her run over here, she approaches them post haste.
"I'm so, so sorry Ms. Trinket, my meeting ran incredibly late," Madge tries to explain, but the blonde woman shakes her head politely and shrugs it off.
"Don't even worry about it, Dakota and I were just talking about what we did today, what our favourite parts were." Madge is so grateful that the kindergarten teacher is fine with her tardiness and doesn't despise her child. Johanna always jokes that it's a good thing Kota took after her mother, and right now Madge hopes it's true.
"Well?" Madge asks. "What was your favourite part, baby?" She's still panting, trying to catch her breath, and when she looks down at her daughter she's swinging her legs back and forth from the seat on the bench.
"Snacktime," Dakota answers firmly, looking at Madge as if she can't believe it's even a question. The two french braids she had tried so hard to put into Dakota's hair this morning have fallen out slightly, and loose strands of thin blonde hair frame the four year old's face.
Madge rolls her eyes and holds out her hand, signalling for the young girl to take it and stand up from the seat. Instead, Kota gives her mom the little backpack she's been carrying around, and Madge swings it over her shoulder to join her purse and duffel bag she's been carrying as well.
"Alright, I think it's time to go, KoKo," she concludes, and Ms. Trinket stands up to in order to bid them farewell. Madge waves goodbye. "Thanks so much, Ms. Trinket. You're a lifesaver."
"It's not a problem for me, darling. It's my job." Ms. Trinket explains looking down at Dakota and back up again. "And if you're ever running extra late, just call me or the school, I can stay back and keep her company in the classroom."
"I hope it never gets to that point Ms. Trinket, but thank you for the sentiment," Madge smiles kindly, knowing the woman really does mean it.
"Please call me Effie, I don't think I can do 'Ms. Trinket' for another eight months," the woman insists and Madge nods quickly, internalizing the name. "Oh and the offer stands for her father as well, let him know."
"I will, I'm dropping her off in a few actually."
"Oh, alright! Well, I'll see you in a week then, Ms. Undersee. Goodbye now!"
Madge and Dakota start walking in towards downtown, mindlessly at first, but after a few moments Kota shakes her mother's hand, begging for attention. "Where are we going Mama?"
"Well I was thinking that you'd want to go get some ice cream from the ice cream store. The one with the cow? And then I'll drop you off at your Dad's for the week. Is that okay?"
Dakota scrunches her little nose. "Dad's?"
"Yup. It's Friday, remember?"
"Oh yeah," the little girl realizes, nodding her head excitedly but then frowning the tiniest bit. "What about my bunny? Where is she?"
"Happy Bunny is in here, all of the stuff you bring back and forth are right in this bag, okay?" Madge explains, gesturing to the large blue duffle. She had to carry the damn thing around with her all day, to work and everything. But the look on Dakota's face when she remembers her little stuffed friend makes it worth it.
"But Daddy said that we're going to eat ice cream and watch movies together, can I really have two ice creams?"
Madge groans. Of course, her attempt at being the better parent falls short once again. She decides to choose her parental battles, and fighting out who gets to buy Dakota ice cream is definitely not worth the effort.
"You can't have two ice creams silly," Madge laughs. "You'll have to wait until you get to your father's then."
So they walk right past the flashy ice cream parlour and Madge sighs to herself just thinking about the mint chocolate chip waffle cone she was planning to buy for herself. It's been such a long day at the office, and the weather outside is on the warm side even for summer. She just wants to unwind, so with Dakota in one hand and three bags flung over her shoulder, Madge pulls out her phone and confirms her plans with Jo tonight with a text.
When they round the corner and arrive at the large apartment building, Madge nods her head greeting the doorman, and she nudges Dakota to do the same. The little one complies, waving one tiny hand at him and giving him a bright smile.
In the elevator, Madge quietly observes her daughter as the little one leans against the glass walls and stares at her reflection in the doors. Kota looks mesmerized, turning her head at all angles and squinting her eyes.
"So KoKo, I won't see you until next Friday, okay? Are you going to miss me?" Madge jokes. Of course, her daughter nods vigorously and doesn't say anything more, but Madge mostly asks the question for personal confirmation. She wants to know that she's doing a good job, or is at least trying to.
When they get to the 20th floor, Kota skips out of the elevator and knows the way to her dad's. Madge lags behind, and by the time she gets to the door Dakota has already knocked, waiting patiently for the door to open.
It takes longer than usual, and when Gale opens the door he's in boxers and a t-shirt, hair still wet and towel draped around his neck. His daughter extends her arms towards him, so he dips down to pick her up and give her a hug.
"Hey KoKo, how's my lovely lady doing today?" he asks brightly, bouncing her up and down and causing the girl to giggle and squeal.
"Good, Daddy," she replies while being placed back down on the ground. Immediately she runs into the apartment towards her room, most likely to go play with the toys Gale kept around here.
She passes him their daughter's tiny blue backpack and the duffel that they've appropriately named "the weekly bag.". It's not that heavy, just filled with some of Kota's essentials, favourite toys and some shoes. Which leaves Madge standing in front of his doorway, waiting for him to say something. He looks tanner than when she last saw him, probably from spending busy days out surveying constructions sights.
"You can come in if you want, you know?" Gale teases, but Madge shakes her head.
"No, I'm meeting Jo for drinks in half an hour, so I better be on my way. If I missed packing anything in the weekly bag, just text me."
"I know the drill, happens every Friday, Undersee," he mentions offhandedly, and Madge is slightly embarrassed; she was just trying to be a helpful reminder.
"Oh also, the teacher, Effie Trinket? She told me that if you're running late or can't pick her up right away to just call her, because she's offered to watch after Dakota if we need it. Kind, isn't she?"
"Uh-huh, but that won't ever happen on my end. Thanks, though." He's being cold, he obviously is trying to point out how punctual and perfect he is.
Madge sighs. Because she doesn't want to stand there and let Gale verbally abuse her, she begins to walk away feeling unburdened by that huge duffle and happy to only be holding her purse. But Gale halts her, "Wait Madge, I meant to ask you something."
She turns on her heels and gives him an exasperated breath "Sure, Gale. What is up?"
"My family wants to have dinner next week, on the Saturday."
"And I have Dakota that week, right?"
"Yeah, I'll have just dropped her off"
Madge sighs, but nods. "Text me the restaurant you choose and I'll make the reservation."
"No, they um, want us to go over to the house."
"What? Why? It's not a holiday or anything, a restaurant in the city is convenient to me, you know that."
"They don't live that far away," Gale points out and Madge rolls her eyes obnoxiously. They're both acting a bit like children, but the predicament they find themself in happens to be a childish one.
"You know I hate the suburbs, Gale." In the suburbs everything is spaced out and it feels fake. Madge much prefers busy streets and places that are close by, walking distance for her. A trip to the suburbs means taking a cab, which Madge would rather not pay for.
"Well not everyone grew up in an uptown mansion like you, Undersee," he grumbles under his breath, and Madge takes two steps closer to him.
"I'm doing you the favour, remember? You're the one who can't bare to tell your family that we aren't together anymore. We haven't been together since college, I can't believe we're still keeping this up."
"It's just dinner, Madge, don't make big deal out it," Gale points out, somehow implying that Madge has a temper. She doesn't, she just doesn't know when these fake dinners and phone calls with Hazelle will end, and at this rate Gale's mother is going to expect him to propose in the next few months.
In the beginning Gale's height used to intimidate her, make her nervous or inferior somehow. That was before they'd gotten together in college and started dating in third year. Then his height started to comfort her, it made Madge feel protected and looked after, but ever since they split Madge is indifferent to Gale's height. She barely notices it anymore, and looks him straight in the face with no regard to her chin, jutted upwards to meet his eyes.
"I'll be there, okay? We'll take a cab."
"No," he interjects. "I'll pick you and Dakota up from your place. We can't show up separately, Madge, are you crazy?"
Madge rolls her eyes again, choosing her battles for the hundredth time that day. "Fine. But wear something new, so we can pretend I bought it for you."
"Are you coaching me on how to see my family?" Gale asks with a playful smirk, and all Madge can do is shrug, already walking away from their dysfunctional relationship.
"I don't know, Hawthorne. All I know is that this is your mess, not mine."
"He's such a coward," Johanna remarks in distaste, taking another sip of beer and placing her glass down on the wooden bar table. "I can't believe that he's been lying to his family for Kota's whole life. That's four whole years of pretending to be a happy family."
"He's not a coward, it's just a lie that was taken too far for us to turn back now," Madge tries to justify. What started as Gale not being able to bear telling his family that his perfect relationship with her had ended before Dakota was born became a complex lie about them still living together, raising her together.
"And you! Why do you put up with this? Dinner with your ex-boyfriend and the father of your child's family? I would die." Johanna's exaggerating of course. Madge knows it's been a long day for the both of them, and they both need to let off some steam.
Madge shakes her head, with no idea what to say. "I don't know how to explain myself okay? It's not that big of a burden, it's just dinner every few months for me."
"What about your kid, Undersee? Don't you think she'd be confused if Mommy and Daddy don't live together but pretend to be in love four times a year?" Johanna's always been the brutally honest one, and although most times Madge appreciates it, right now she just doesn't want to hear it. She knows no one understands her relationship with Gale, and the truth is that it's complicated, more complicated than she would like.
"I'm not letting this go on forever," she promises, but her auburn haired friend raises a brow. "Really, I won't! I'm just doing him a harmless favour. But when Dakota gets old enough or either of us find partners, it has to end. I know that, Jo."
"Okay," the woman sighs, giving up on their endless argument over Gale Hawthorne. "I just don't want you to be pushed over."
Madge appreciates her concern. "Okay, now can we please talk about something else?"
"Sure. We need to paint the walls in the apartment."
"Something other than our unappealing and overpriced apartment in desperate need of repair," she begs, but in the middle of her sentence Jo strains her head to look at someone coming in through the bar door. Then she waves, motioning the person over.
"Delly is here, I hope that's okay."
Madge widens her eyes in delighted surprise. "Of course, I thought she was busy and couldn't make it."
"Change of plans," Delly explains, coming up from behind them and offering two hugs. "Thom is working late as always, the date was cancelled. Anyways what are we talking about?"
"The apartment, some things we want to change-"
"We're talking about Gale, Madge's baby daddy who won't stop using her," Jo counters, clearly happy to get back to that conversation.
"Oh, I love Gale!" Delly exclaims naively, taking off her coat and scarf placing in on the back of the seat. "He's so nice and also gorgeous. Has he got anymore tattoos lately?"
The redhead rolls her eyes. "How would any of us know, Cartwright?"
She shrugs innocently and smiles weakly. "I don't know, maybe he told Madge or something."
"No, the only things we talk about are his parents, my parents, and like, Dakota's new favourite colour."
Delly turns her head in curiousity. "And?"
"Still love me even though they shouldn't, still hate me even though they give me a lot of money and… orange," Madge lists off, scrunching her nose in distaste and her daughter latest colour choice.
Johanna pipes up. "Your parents are still sending you money? Why doesn't it show, the dryer has been broken for weeks."
"It's not for me. It's to send Kota to school, they didn't want her going to an inner-city daycare." It's ridiculous and overpriced, but Madge won't object to it if her parents insist on paying for a private school. Dakota's school goes from preschool to grade 12, and the plan is for her to stay there based on her parents contributions. "And we won't fix the dryer because I calculated out the cost of getting that thing fixed. It's cheaper to go to the laundromat every week, our washing machine and dryer are a sham."
"Um, no," Delly responds, shaking her head. "Baby private school is definitely more of a sham."
"I'll drink to that," Joanna snickers, downing the rest of her beer in one go.
After another round and some solid conversation, Madge is warmer again and happy she decided to come out tonight. She needed to just catch up with her best friends and let loose. She's so stressed out with work and Dakota all the time that sometimes she appreciates the fact that Gale takes care of their child half of the time. It gives her some space to just put her life into perspective and concentrate on herself every now and again.
"Delly, how's everything with Thom?" Madge brings up further into the night. They've been dating on and off for years, and now is the most stable they've ever been.
"Okay, he's just working a lot lately," she nods, obviously having not given it much second thought. It's been smooth sailing, and no one questions their own relationship until something goes wrong anyways.
Johanna notices this and snorts. "He is cheating on you, is he?" It's a facetious joke, but Delly laughs anyways.
"I'm afraid not. Besides, whenever he gets home he's always sore from his repair jobs."
This only makes their friend widen her eyes even more and look directly at Madge. "That's kinky. I wonder what he and his mistress are up to."
"Shut your mouth, Mason," Delly insists, playfully throwing a peanut at her. Johanna just shrugs.
"I wish I could, but I don't know how to. The evidence is all there!"
"Okay, I think it's time for us to head out," Madge decides, putting on her coat and grabbing her purse. Her friends do the same while still bickering about the silly idea of Thom cheating. Johanna's just jibing Delly, she likes to make people angry for fun, and Delly falls right for it every time.
Delly decides to take a cab home, she lives a bit further away than Jo and Madge, and says goodbye to them as they walk out the doors. They hug and say goodbye, planning to meet up next week to if all of their schedules permit. Destressing at the bar with her friends is quickly becoming one of Madge's life essentials, and she doesn't know if she can last the week without it.
Which leaves the two friends walking in the summer night the few blocks it takes to get to their apartment. They had moved in together after college for economic reasons and because of their friendship, but never did the thought of moving out ever cross their minds. Living with a roommate is just a better way to exist for Madge; she'd go crazy if it was just her and Dakota in a place by themselves. Johanna keeps her grounded and out of her head, and Madge keeps Johanna humble.
And Kota loves Johanna too. Sometimes when Madge needs to run an errand Johanna helps to look after her daughter and they have fun times roaming around the city. Even though Madge knows Jo takes her to places she would never think to bring her daughter - the dingy record store on Queen and to the top of a random office building to look at the view - she knows that her daughter loves it; KoKo and JoJo hitting the town together.
The place they share is big enough for all of them but it's by no standard luxurious. They pay for it with their own money, there's no elevator or doorman like at Gale's place, but it's home.
As they trudge up the stairs, Madge lets out a big yawn that makes Johanna chuckle.
"God knows how you're still awake while handling your work life, home life and romantic life all at once."
"Sorry, romance? I'm not familiar with that idea anymore…" she jokes, failing to rack her brain for the last time she was in a stable relationship. "I have another date on Monday. Hopefully it's not pitiful and unbearable like the others."
"You're a catch, Undersee," Johanna assures as they reach their door, fumbling . "Where are you finding these clowns you call men? I fail to comprehend."
Madge shrugs hopelessly, entering their drafty apartment and dumping her bad on the couch. "We're compatible! That's what all the apps say."
She knows that it's unlikely she'll find the love of her life on a dating app, but the statistics exist, surely it's worth a shot. Honestly, it's just a way to convince herself she's putting herself out there, making an effort in dating. Madge knows Gale is seeing some girls, having his own fun, and she just doesn't want to make it seem like she has too much on her plate to make room for romance too.
Madge thanks her past self for making the bed this morning and falls back onto the mattress, finally relaxing and revelling in that feeling. Her feet have been aching all day, and she makes the mental note to buy a pair of comfortable work heels sometime soon.
"Do you think Gale has ruined me?" she ponders out loud, knowing that Johanna's across the hall, starting her own nighttime ritual.
As expected, Jo appears at her doorway with a toothbrush in her mouth. "Why, because you fell in love with an Adonis who's smart, funny and everything you ever dreamed of except for emotionally present and now you have to see him every week and be reminded that your expectations of love will never be fulfilled the way you imagined they were back in college?"
"Yeah, that," Madge nods, contemplating her romantic future as more of a tragedy than anything else.
"No," Johanna shrugs, answering her own question. "I think that you just need a guy who will pay attention to you and understand your needs and that would be 100% better than anything that Gale gave you. And that's not too hard to find, Madge. It's just not something someone would write on their dating profile, you know?"
"Okay," she concedes, putting her insecurities aside for now. Changing into her pajamas and heading to her own bathroom she methodically washes her face and brushes her teeth, feeling more clean and less grimey than before.
Madge wonders if Gale and Dakota are still up watching TV, or whether her little girl in already sound asleep in her own little blue room. Gale had set it up for her when they started alternating weeks, when Kota no longer had to be breastfed and he insisted on moving on through the rest of their lives.
When KoKo's here, she just sleeps next to Madge, snuggling up beside her and keeping her warm. Madge knows she'll have to clean out the spare room for her someday, but Kota likes it better and frankly so does she. Perhaps, Gale is a better parent with having fun and giving her things, but Madge would like to think that Kota knows how much her mother loves her, how much she wants her to be loved and love everyone else.
My biggest fault was never knowing how to love, she thinks to herself as she tucks herself in under the covers. She was never paid attention to by her parents, she didn't know what love was, so when Gale came around it hit her like a ton of bricks. She fell endlessly and impossibly in love with him, and she didn't realize that love wasn't all it was made out to be. Hopefully Dakota is cherished and pays it forward when she's younger, so she'll be smart and sparing with love when she grows up.
Madge can only hope, and those are her last thoughts before her busy, busy day knocks her dead. She's asleep in minutes.
A/N: I hope you guys liked the first chapter! Please let me know what you thought in the reviews, and feel free to give the fic a follow so that you don't miss my updates. I'm so incredibly excited to be starting this new story!