Usually it was just her and Juliet at the park. None of the other parents in her neighbourhood seemed to go out to the park, preferring to stay at home, or maybe they were all at the country club she thought with amusement. Kept in a comfortable lifestyle by their wealthy husbands. Betty didn't have such luxury, not since He had left her, no word where he was going, no note, no nothing. She has spent her savings on a private investigator to try and find him, at least make him take on his responsibilities where Juliet was concerned, but there was nothing found and Betty had had to adjust to life as a single parent, moving back in with her parents when she could no longer afford the mortgage.
She still struggled every day to find the balance, her heart ached when she had to leave her little girl during the day with her own mum, while she went to work, but she needed to work, it was a necessity. But days like today where she had a day off made up for them. When she could dedicate herself solely to her.
She was surprised when she saw a little boy, about Juliet's age running into the park, a lone figure strolling carefully behind him, carrying a monkey backpack in his hand.
Juliet was near the boy within seconds, Betty admired her daughter's social skills and confidence in herself. It was one of the things that made her proud as a mum, made her feel like she had done something right along the way.
The man approached the park bench where she was sitting, leaving a generous space between them. Betty stole a glance at him. He must have been around her age, handsome, but not in the classic meaning of the word. There were a set of beauty marks dotted along the side of his cheek, high cheekbones, and soon she found her gaze lingering on his lips.
A laugh from Juliet caught her attention and she shifted her gaze back to the playground. She mentally scolded herself for being so obvious, but she hadn't even been on a date since He left.
"Are you giving mum a day off?" She found herself breaking the silence between them.
"Not exactly," he replied giving her a sad smile. Betty scolded herself for going and putting her foot in it. She had a habit of saying the wrong thing.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said sympathetically.
"What about you? Giving Dad the day off?" There was a slight teasing in his tone as he asked her and she offered him a small smile.
"Not exactly." She replied with a quirk of her eyebrow. "It's always my day."
"Yeah I know that feeling." He leant back further on the park bench, relaxing.
They continued to sit on opposite ends of the park bench watching as the two toddlers, chasing each other through the playground. The blonde girl with her hair in pigtails chased while laughing maniacally, as Betty put her hand over her face in mock embarrassment.
"I think it's cute," he said as he watched his son hiding behind the slide, waiting for her to come and find him and upon doing so she let out a loud shriek which had both parents laughing.
"I'm Betty by the way." She held out her hand casually across the bench and he took it eagerly.
"Jughead." She looked at him quizzically as if he must be joking.
"Yeah, it's a nickname but trust me it beats the alternative." He said with a mischievous wink, which made a heat flush Betty's cheeks.
"Which is?" She challenged, shifting a little closer on the park bench.
"You would have to get to know me better before I divulged something like that." Betty was sure that he was flirting with her, she thought she could remember what flirting was like and that this was it.
"You live around here?" She hadn't seen him before.
"Just moved here, from New York City. Pretty embarrassing but I moved in with my kid sister." She shot him a sympathetic look.
"I had to move back in with my parents." Her eyes glancing towards Juliet who was picking up stones and arranging them on a piece of play equipment, the boy soon began copying her.
"Thought there might be more people here."
"People tend to keep themselves here."
"Well good thing I ran into you then." He leant towards her slightly and she felt the flush running up her neck, scolding herself for such a reaction, she was a grown woman for God's sake.
"Yeah." She breathed out meeting his eyes.
"Mummy." Juliet was running over to her, break neck speed as usual, the smaller boy trying desperately to keep up with his new companion.
"Hey Honey," She said as she leant over to capture her daughter's hands in her own.
"Slide." Her daughter exclaimed, before pointing over to the yellow slide in the middle of the playground. She pulled herself up, continuing to hold Juliet's hand, as she turned to Jughead.
"We still need help going down the slide," she explained. As she followed her daughter to the big yellow slide, holding her as she climbed up the structure to the top of the slide. She could see that Jughead was at the bottom, pointing up at her, his son, holding onto him as they both watched. Betty put Juliet on her lap as she sat on the slide, pushing herself off, making a 'whee' sound as Juliet laughed as they whooshed down the slide. As they landed at the bottom, Juliet clapped her hands in delight, as Betty set her down on the ground, as she stood up from the slide.
"See Jackson, that looks like fun doesn't it?" The small boy looked at his dad, sceptical of what he was saying. He then looked up at the slide before looking at his dad again and shaking his head. "I'll come with you." He crouched down low to his level, taking his small hand in his own, stroking it gently with his thumb. The little boy shook his head again, and Jughead nodded, and put his arms out for a hug which Jackson quickly accepted, wrapping his arms around his dad's neck.
Betty watched the exchange, feeling like she was intruding on a private family moment but also felt the ache for Juliet to have something like that, to be able to have her own dad to wrap his arms around her. She blinked back the tears that had started to form and smiled at Juliet, who she felt tugging on her arm ready to move onto something else.
"Would you like to go out for coffee?" She blurted out. It was like her mouth had a mind of it's own sometimes. Apparently all she has to do is have a handsome stranger talk to her and her brain takes a vacation.
"Um, yeah, sure." He was nervously shifting from foot to foot, and Betty was glad she wasn't the only one who was nervous.
"There's a diner near here, I'll give you the address." He looked nervous, "Juliet loves the milkshakes there," she added, trying to make it sound more like a play date then, a real 'date' date.
"Do they do dinner?" He was adjusting the beanie on his head as he asked.
"Yeah?" Her eyes narrowing as she wondered what he was asking.
"Well how about we change coffee to dinner, tonight?" She could hear a hopefulness in his voice and she eagerly nodded her head, before replying casually.
"Yeah sure, I'll just text my mum. Right after the swings," she said quickly as she ran after Juliet who was already running for the swings on the other side of the park, with Jackson soon heading in the same direction.