TITLE: Dying Wish
AUTHOR: Clairisant
CLASSIFICATION: AJ/Mac
FEEDBACK: Would love to hear both good and bad feedback but please try to be kind and constructive.
CREDITS: A special thank you to my beta readers Qupeydoll and Unicorn.
Chapter 1
The baseball season that year had been amazing! In actuality, the games had not really been any better than any other year. There hadn't been any records broken, or truthfully any players that had really stood out from the rest. What had made this season so amazing was that retired Admiral AJ Chegwidden had spent it with his daughter.
Over the last several years he and Francesca had gotten reacquainted. The twenty-six years they had spent apart because of AJ's divorce from her mother, had been bridged and father and daughter discovered they enjoyed spending time together. However, until he had retired from the Navy in May of that year, that had been rather difficult since he lived in the US and Francesca lived in Italy.
During their tour of the ballparks and sight seeing around the cities the parks were in, Francesca had remained on the look out for an appropriate woman from her father. She maintained that he needed female companionship in his life, other than herself.
At first, he had given her skeptical looks, as she persisted, the looks became rueful, but when she actually started trying to 'chat up' potential companions for him, he vocally protested.
Francesca just smiled at him and promised to behave. But, it seemed that her definition of 'behaving' was to strike up the conversation with a woman out of his sight, usually on a trip to the ladies room or at the concession stand, and then bringing her along when she returned to where he was sitting at the time. When that happened three times during one two hour game, AJ finally and firmly put his foot down. He told her quite clearly that if she didn't stop, he was going to cut their trip short and return home.
"I just want you to be happy, Papa!" Francesca protested.
"I am happy spending time with you," he answered.
"But you won't always be with me, Papa! You will return home to that empty house, having only that dog with the silly name for company."
Without thinking about the consequences of his statement before uttering it, he admitted, "I might not even have Dammit when I get home. A family down the road from me has been taking care of her. They have two young children that have become very fond of Dammit and I don't know if I have the heart to take her from them."
"Then you will truly be alone!" Francesca exclaimed.
Cursing under his breath that he had given her that information, AJ finally told her the truth. "Listen, Francesca, I tried for a relationship without love, one that was for companionship and you know how that ended." His daughter was the only one he had told about finding Meredith with her Professor.
"So why not find someone you can love? You need to find someone that you can give your heart to!" she insisted, displaying the stubbornness she had gotten from both of her parents.
"I have already given my heart, Francesca, but the circumstances make anything coming of it impossible."
Light dawned in her eyes and she covered her father's hand with hers. "It's that lovely Marine you worked with isn't it? Sarah McSomething…" Seeing the look of protest on his face, she rushed on, "Don't bother to deny it, Papa! It's as clear as day! I don't see what the problem is. You are no longer her boss, why don't you tell her how you feel?"
"Because I was her 'boss' until just a few months ago, but the fact that I no longer am does not change the fact that I am too old for her."
"Pft!" she snorted. "Age does not matter to the heart!"
"Francesca, Sarah is only a few years older than you!"
"So? You are worried that I would be jealous of a stepmoma so close to my own age? Papa, the only concern I have is if she makes you happy, and I am somehow sure that Sarah would!"
"Francesca, no one said anything about a stepmother! Nothing is going to happen between Sarah and I, so you have a choice to make. Either drop this subject now, or I will return home once the Series is over instead of going back to Italy with you."
She considered the options for a moment and then agreed to drop the subject. She figured that once he was in Italy he wouldn't be so quick to leave over a little talk, and the topic could be reopened without that threat.
With her promise made, AJ relaxed and enjoyed the Series, as well as looked forward to spending the holidays in Italy with his daughter.
To be continued…