As requested by Darryls Cherokee Rose
Takes place in the Tig & Jamie AU without giving away where I'm going with "Final Wisdom." This was kind of tricky to accomplish but ...
Dawn Trager pushed the cooked peas around her plate, slouching in her chair with one arm across her stomach. Startling her, her father kicked her under the table.
"Sit up. And eat your meal," he barked pointing at her plate like there might be confusion on which food was hers.
"I am," she whined back, knowing she sounded like a brat but also not caring. Christ, the things she had to do to get money out of him.
"What grade are you in?" the weird kid in glasses asked, looking at her with great interest.
She caught how her father covered the smile that question brought out. "I was in the eleventh grade," she said begrudgingly. There was no reason to be totally rude.
"You're not in school right now?"
She sighed, rolling her eyes a bit. "No, I'm not."
"Are you working?" the woman at the table asked.
Dawn studied her again for about the eightieth time since arriving. She had no idea what her father was doing here with this one who called herself Jamie. It seemed ludicrous. She was quiet, unbelievably polite and downright kind, pretty, and a hell of a lot younger than her dad was. Dawn wasn't suspicious of her motives or anything, she was actually assuming something was very wrong with her.
"No, I'm not," Dawn answered, disinterested. Her father kicked her again, and she overreacted. She jumped, squawked and kicked him back. "Stop kicking me!" she shouted. She was very aware of how unbelievably loud she was but this house was so fucking quiet it was making her nuts.
"Watch your tone," her dad snarled, grabbing her wrist. "You're behaving like a real bitch."
Dawn yanked her hand away, glaring at him. "Why am I here?"
He tilted his head, a posture of challenge. "You tell me, honey."
She sighed again, putting her fork down. "Look, I'm just here for money, okay?" Then she watched his face, because his expression was one she hadn't seen for a long time. He looked … hurt.
That's when Dawn remembered she was in someone else's house, and being rude. There was a bit of shame to that, and she looked quickly to the kid, then this Jamie woman. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, dropping her eyes to her plate again.
There was a long pause. Dawn could feel her father seething, and her own embarassment added a tension to the room. The kid was just eating, waiting for the adults to fix the discomfort of this meal. When she looked back at her dad, he was staring at his plate but that look was still there. Shit. Sometimes she forgot that he still managed to care, even if all he had to offer was the odd cash donation.
"What time do you have to go in tomorrow?" Tig Trager asked Jamie. Again Dawn's attention was snagged by his tone. He was concerned, downright worried for this woman.
Dawn watched as Jamie tucked some hair behind her ear. "Eleven," she said simply.
"Perfect. I'll stay with you during treatment."
Now Dawn was startled as the woman replied, "Good," with a sweet smile before turning back to her dinner.
Dawn's study went from Jamie to her dad. Her father's face was reverent, attentive, and … in love. Holy shit, her dad was over the moon for this one.
Well that was interesting.
"So, Jamie," she began, leaning forward, suddenly interested, elbows on the table. "Where do you work?"
"I'm off work right now. Medical reasons."
Dawn frowned. "Really? You look okay to me."
"Dawn!" her dad snapped.
"What?" she shot back, defensive. "I'm just asking."
"It's okay, Tig," the woman said in that sweet way of hers, and if Dawn hadn't been seeing it she would never believe it. Her dad calmed his shit down and went back to his pork chop. "I'm going through my second round of chemo for breast cancer," Jamie explained, comfortable saying it and making Dawn lean closer to her at the same time.
"Really? That sucks shit. I mean it though, you look good to me. Didn't your hair fall out?"
Jamie giggled, pushing at the hair next to her ear again. "Oh, this is a wig actually."
"It's a fucking good one," Dawn admitted, her dad making a sound that suggested he didn't like the language. Whatever.
"Thank you Dawn," Jamie said, smiling at her. Dawn couldn't help it; she smiled back and picked up her fork again.
"The chops are good too," Dawn added to the sudden quiet in the room. "Thank you, Jamie."
"It's good to have you here, Dawn."
Dawn looked up to see if she was being sarcastic, but she wasn't. Jamie was still smiling at her, then her grin was directed across the table. Dawn took in her dad's response to the grin and felt something warm in her chest. She had no idea what it was about this Jamie woman, but she was … good for Tig Trager.
Dawn smiled down at her plate at that thought. Her dad was happy, and knowing that made Dawn happy, too.