I had this idea, so thought I'd start it before I forgot it. Please read and review, so I know what you all think )
Baby Steps: Chapter One
"You'll make her sick if you keep that up." Harriet laughed, watching her husband of three years who was lying on their bed, playing with their 14-month-old daughter Madison.
"Aw, you love playing aeroplanes with Daddy, though, don't you, pumpkin?" Matt said, bringing the giggling Madison down so that their noses were touching.
"Daaaaaa"
"That's right. You're such a clever little girl, aren't you?" Matt beamed, lifting her high up in to the air again. "Dada. Come on Madison, say it again for Daddy! Dada!"
"Daaaaaaaaa" Madison screamed, clapping her hands together excitedly.
"Did you hear that Mommy? She said Dada!"
"Do you have to rub it in that she learned to say your name first?" Harriet grumbled, climbing on to the bed next to them.
"Yes! It wouldn't be fun otherwise." Matt laughed, as he lifted Madison upside down over his head, bringing her down for a kiss.
After a couple of minutes of watching them play, the phone rang. Harriet leaned across and answered it."Hello… Hey, Danny… Yeah, sure, he's right here." Harriet said, exchanging the phone for the still giggling Madison. "I don't know what you boys have left to talk about; you only saw each other a few hours ago."
"A lot can happen in three hours, Harriet." Matt explained, as if that should have been obvious.
She laughed, walking into the bathroom. "Come on stinky, you need a bath." Returning only seconds later with a not so happy looking Madison and vomit all down her shirt. "Look what your daughter has just done to me, no thanks to you."
"Hold on a sec Danny. Ha! And you said I'd make her sick."
"You did!"
"Yeah, but on you, not me. I have her well-trained." He laughed.
XxXxX
"Morning, sweetheart." Harriet said, as she walked into their bedroom early the next morning and kissed Matt on the cheek, before laying a sleepy Madison in his arms.
"I love waking up like this." Matt sighed, placing Madison between himself and Harriet.
"Pannne" Madison squealed happily, as she heard an aeroplane outside.
"Why is our daughter so obsessed with planes?" Harriet asked, with a roll of her eyes.
"You're just upset that she learned to say plane before mommy." Matt teased, reaching his hand out to stroke her hair.
Harriet crossed her arms. "I know, how hard is it to say Mama anyway?
"She's just a baby, Harri… A baby who loves her Dada." He teased, quickly responding to the glare Harriet had given him. "Don't worry, sweetheart, she'll say it soon."
"Imagine if she never says it."
"Harri…"
"Fine, I'll let it go. Are you sure you don't mine looking after Madison today? Danny said he'd be over with kids at lunchtime. That will give Jordan and me a few hours at the mall to get everything we need."
"Yeah, that's okay with me. You like playing with Uncle Danny, Rebecca, and Daddy, don't you?" Matt smiled, tickling Madison's neck slightly.
"Daaaaa"
"Okay, now she's showing off." Harriet laughed, leaning down to blow a raspberry on Madison's tummy.
XxXxX
"We're here." A heavily pregnant Jordan called out, as she helped a hyperactive Rebecca remove her coat.
"Hey, guys." Harriet said brightly, taking the sleeping Nathan from Danny's arms. "Matt's in the living room, trying to get Madison to sleep."
"Okay, well I'll let him know I'm here. Becca, honey, why don't you go with Mommy into the kitchen and show Aunty Harriet how you can tie your shoelaces all by yourself?" Danny said proudly, crouching down to Rebecca's nose for Eskimo kisses.
"Okay, Daddy." Rebecca said happily, before skipping off into the kitchen.
"Good girl." Danny said, walking towards the living room, stopping suddenly when he got closer to the door.
Danny stood and watched through the crack in the door. Matt was standing in the middle of the room with a sleepy Madison in his arms, singing quietly and gently swaying to the music.
Beautiful baby from the outside in.
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again.
Go on, take on this whole world.
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl.
Danny couldn't believe how much his friend had changed since becoming a father. It was amazing how easily fatherhood came to him.
He walked back into the kitchen, not wanting to interrupt his best friend while he was trying to get his daughter to sleep.
"What a softie." Danny laughed, as he joined Jordan and Harriet at the kitchen table.
"Aw, stop it. I think it's sexy." Harriet said, defending Matt.
"Mommy, what does sexy mean?"
"Uhh, Danny, why don't you take this one?"
"Rebecca, sweetie, why don't you show Harri how you tie your shoelaces?"
"But I already have, Daddy."
"But I'm sure she'd love to see it again, right Harriet?" Danny said through clenched teeth.
A few minutes later, Matt joined them in the kitchen.
"She asleep?" Harriet asked, as she wrapped her arm loosely around Matt's waist.
"Yeah, it was hard. She was so excited about all the fun we're going to have later." Matt said, scooping Rebecca in to his arms.
"Can we play salon?" Rebecca asked, clamping her chubby little hands on to Matt's cheeks, so he was looking at her.
"Urm."
"Daddy likes to play salon with me."
"Oh really?" Matt smirked, sitting Rebecca on the kitchen counter.
Danny laughed uncomfortably. "She means we play saloon."
"Let me get this straight." Matt said, crossing his arms. "You pretend to work in a bar and serve drinks with your four year old daughter?"
Danny swallowed hard. "Yes"
"That's not what we play, Daddy." Rebecca told him in a matter of fact tone. "It's when I make you look pretty."
"How do you make Daddy look pretty?" Matt asked, loving every minute of it.
"Mommy lets me use her makeup on him. I make his lips and cheeks pink, and sometimes we make his nails pretty as well." Rebecca told them excitedly. "And sometimes, he lets me put glitter in his hair."
"That sounds like fun. If you're a good girl, maybe Uncle Matty will play salon with you later." Harriet smiled, smacking Matt's butt playfully as she walked past.
"I don't think so. I'm pretty enough, right, Becca?" Matt teased, wiggling his fingers at her, edging them towards her ribs.
"You're so funny, Uncle Matty." Rebecca laughed hysterically, as she threw her arms around his neck.
XxXxX
"No, Daddy, you do it like this." Rebecca moaned, showing him what she wanted him to do, by jumping around the room erratically to Hilary Duff.
"I did that."
Matt covered his mouth to keep from laughing. "No, you didn't."
"Yes, I did."
"No, you didn't."
"Shh, boys, and watch me." Rebecca exclaimed bossily.
Madison and Nathan sat on the couch, both still half asleep from their nap.
"Uppy Daaaaaaaaaaa." Madison cried, as she lifted her arms up to be picked up.
"You said Uppy! You are such a clever girl, Maddy! Mommy is going to be so proud of you!" Matt praised, picking Madison up, so she could dance with him. "We'll call Mommy in a minute, and tell her what a big girl you are!"
Danny stopped dancing and walked over to Nathan, scooping him up in his arms. "When are you gonna start speaking buddy?" He asked, gently rubbing noses with the 14 month old.
"What the hell is the matter with you people? First, there's Harriet and her 'She won't say Mama, she must hate me' and now you. They'll talk when they're ready, talk about pressure."
"You're right…"
"I know I am." Matt agreed, before picking up the phone excitedly. "Harriet, guess what? Madison just said a new word… No, not Mama…. She said uppy! I know she is! She'll say it soon; I promise... Okay, I love you too."
XxXxX
"Sleep well, baby." Harriet said, kissing Madison goodnight, before laying her down in her crib.
"Is she asleep?" Matt asked, patting the bed next to him when Harriet walked into their bedroom that evening.
"Yeah, she was exhausted."
"Well she did have a busy day; learning to talk must be tiring." Matt smiled, rolling towards Harriet so he could kiss her neck.
"Mmmm, this is nice." She moaned.
"Let's have another baby." He mumbled, as he nibbled her neck.
"Okay." Harried sighed, as she relaxed into the kiss.
Matt rolled on top of Harriet, and began tugging at her clothes. "No time like the present." He said huskily, as he removed her pants.
"Wait, did I just agree to have sex with you?"
"Well, how else do you think we're going to make a baby?" Matt said, as he gently removed her shirt and trailed soft kisses down her tummy.
"Mmmm… wait, what?"
"You just said you wanted to try for another one." Matt told her, as he rolled over on to his side.
"Don't ask me that when you're sucking on my neck. You know it makes me hot."
"You don't want another baby?"
"That isn't what I said, Matthew. But why now? Is it because Jordan and Danny are having one?"
"No, I want another baby, Harriet, because I love you. I love how Madison has changed our lives." He told her, as he leaned over to kiss her neck again.
"Okay, you really need to stop that." Harriet groaned, as she rolled them both over, so she was straddling Matt and pinning his hands down.
"Mmmm."
"Okay, you were not meant to be enjoying this." She sighed. "Matthew, we need to talk about this seriously."
"Hear me out, okay? You and Madison are the most important people in my life. Don't you remember how amazing it was when she was born? How cute and tiny she was. We might have a boy… I could teach him to play catch or I could share my knowledge of girls with him when he's older… Or we'd have another little girl, someone for Madison to play with; they could grow up and be best friends, and they'd live with us for forever…"
"Forever?" Harriet asked curiously.
"You think I want some horny teenaged guys taking advantage of my daughters? I don't think so!" He exclaimed.
"Aw, well, good thing we don't have to worry about that for a while, huh?" Harriet smiled, releasing her grip on his hands.
"But just think about it okay? I know you said you missed breast-feeding Maddy; you could do that all over again… I know I've missed it." He grinned mischievously, lifting his hands up and gently caressed her breasts.
Harried arched her back. "Okay, you really need to stop touching me." She sighed.
Matt smiled, pleased with himself that after three years of marriage, he could still turn Harriet to Jello. "So, is that a yes?"
"How about, it's not a no? We'll just see what happens." Harriet suggested as she played with Matt's wedding ring.
"Okay, I can deal with that." He said, as he flipped her over.
XxXxX
"Are you sure you don't mind dropping her off at daycare this morning?" Harriet asked, as she applied the finishing touches of her makeup in the bathroom mirror.
"Of course not. You like spending the morning with Daddy, don't you?" He said, as he washed Madison's hair in the shower.
"Don't forget you have that meeting with Jack at 10."
"I'll be there. Just tell Danny I'll be a little late, okay?" He asked, as he poked his head out of the shower for a kiss goodbye.
"Bye, baby." Harriet said sadly, smothering Madison's wet face in kisses.
XxXxX
"Okay, is everyone happy to rehearse the clown sketch?" Simon asked the rest of the cast that morning.
"Clown Annabel Scott," Simon read out, pointing to Harriet. "has been asked to perform tricks to cheer up miserable monkeys, chimps and gorillas at a San Diego zoo."
"Everyone know what they're doing?" Danny asked, as he walked on the stage.
"Yeah, we're just going over some of the new sketches Lucy and Darius have worked on. We'll show Matt when he gets in." Tom chipped in.
"Oh that reminds me, Matt will be a little late this morning Danny, he's dropping Madison off at daycare. He said to let you know he'll be here for the meeting with Jack."
"Okay, no worries. Keep working on those sketches, so you have stuff to show Matt this afternoon." Danny said as he made his way up the stairs to his office.
XxXxX
Matt had just dropped Madison off at Kiddenbrook's Daycare and was on his way to the studio. He sat impatiently tapping the steering wheel of his BMW X5. It was already 9.45 A.M. There was no way he'd make it in 15 minutes; all he could do was sit and wait in traffic. He then remembered he could get on to Sunset Boulevard by turning left on Selma Avenue. As he got to the intersection, he stopped and waited for the lights to change. As soon as they turned green, he pressed down on the accelerator. All of a sudden he could see a car speeding towards him. They had tried to beat the light change, but hadn't managed to cross the intersection in time. It all happened so quickly; Matt tried to steer the car out of the way, but it was too late, and he felt the full impact of the car hitting the passenger side door, and spinning his car around. He felt a shooting pain go down his back, and he could see that he was bleeding heavily from the face. He could see the cars around his had stopped, but when he tried to get out of the car, he couldn't.
"Are you okay? We've called an ambulance." A voice said.
Matt turned to see a man of about the same age as him standing by his window. "They'll have you out of there in no time." He smiled reassuringly.
XxXxX
"You definitely told him 10 A.M.?" Jack asked, slightly irritated at having to wait 25 minutes for Matt before they could start.
"He must be stuck in traffic. Give him 5 more minutes."
As he said that, his cell phone rang. "It's Matt." Danny told him.
"Hey, where the hell are you?" Danny asked, annoyed at his best friend for making him wait so long before calling.
"Danny, please, help me!"
"Matt, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
"Someone's hit my car. I can't get out."
"Where are you? I'm coming!"
"Hollywood and Sunset… Danny, I'm scared, I can't get out."
"Matt, I'm leaving now."
"Tell Harriet! I have to speak to Harriet!"
"Matt, you have to calm down okay? We're coming."
"Danny, I can't get out. I can't feel my legs." Matt panicked.
"What the hell's going on?" Jack demanded.
"Someone's hit Matt's car."
"I'll grab Harriet and we'll meet you by your car." Jack said, as he ran out of Danny's office.
"Harriet! Harriet!" He called, as he made his way down on to the stage, taking two steps at a time.
"Jack, what's wrong?"
"Harriet, you need to come with me. Matt's been in a car crash." He explained.
"Oh my God!"
"He's talking to Danny, so he seems fine, but we're going to see him now, okay?" He told her, taking her hand and leading her out to Danny's car.
"Danny, is he okay?" Harriet cried, as she ran towards him.
"Matty, we're putting you on loudspeaker, okay? Harriet, Jack, and I are coming to get you." Danny reassured him.
"Baby, are you okay?"
"Harriet, I can't feel my legs!"
It broke Harriet's heart; she could hear the fear in his voice.
"We're on our way baby." Harriet said, as she tried to calm him down.
"Please, hurry!"
"We'll be there in two minutes, buddy."
"Fuck!"
"Matt, what's wrong?" Harriet cried. "Matthew…"
"I can smell gas!"
TBC