DISCLAIMER
This fan fiction is based on the characters on the NextGen RPG forum run by my uber awesome friend Hanna (Mesteria). Ophelia Lancaster (face: Emma Stone) belongs to Bree (breeutiful), and Jace Fender (face: Jensen Ackles) belongs to me. Just saying here that this is not an age-gap / cross-gen fic. Jace is like Ophelia's uncle, so don't even think about anything beyond that.
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He wearily runs a hand down his face, because although he is tired, he doesn't want to take a break. Looking after Ophelia is one of the joys of his life. Usually.
"No, no, no," he calls out when he finally notices what the little girl is up to, but he's already too late. She bounces back towards him, triumphant grin on her face and fairy floss in her hand. He sighs again. "What did mummy say about sugar, filly?"
She sticks her tongue out at him, before saying petulantly, "Mummy's not here, fossil." She proceeds to chew off a bit of the candy, eyes daring him to say a word against her, but of course he doesn't, and she knows he wouldn't.
Instead, he groans. "I wish you wouldn't call me that, filly. Curse your mother for calling me a fossil."
Her eyes widen comically, and her mouth drops open in an O. "You're mean!" she cries out. "You're mean for cussing out mummy. You're mean mean mean, and I hate you!"
To his intense surprise, real tears start to come up in her eyes. He's known her long enough to know when they're real tears or crocodile tears, and he can tell by the set of her mouth and the V her eyebrows form that this is real, and she's really upset. Without another word, he crouches down next to her, his arm instantly going around her small form.
"Aw, don't cry, filly," he says, a little bit desperate. He comforts her, not only because he's scared what her mum would do to him if she found out he made her little girl cry, but because he hates seeing her cry, because to him, she is one of the most important people in his life, and he thinks of her as his own daughter. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to cuss out your mummy, I swear. I'm sorry."
She looks down at the ground, candy forgotten as the tears start to drip down her cheeks. "Some girls at kindy are mean to me. They—they say I'm stupid, 'cause I got no mummy, and mummy isn't my real mummy, and that make me stupid and nobody wants me. Is it true, fossil? Does everybody really hate me?"
She hiccups, and her spare hand fists as she wipes away the tears. She doesn't see the angry set of Jace's jaw, or the hard glint his eyes take, because he smooths it all away by the time she looks up. He strokes his thumb gently on her shoulder as he thinks up his reply.
"Filly," he starts, ignoring her use of his annoying but endearing nickname. "First thing I want you to know is that your mummy and your daddy and even your old uncle fossil loves you. Okay? Don't listen to what those kids say. You've got the best mummy and daddy around, yeah?"
He nudges her a little with his palm, soft grin on his face as he tries to lighten up the little red-haired girl up. She obliges him with a small smile in return, her eyes brightening a little.
"Second," he continues, "You're not stupid. You're pretty damn smart. And don't let nobody tell you any different, okay, baby?"
She nods a little at that, smile widening and bright eyes returning. He sighs as he continues on his little impromptu speech, "Third, they're all just jealous of you. I mean, they don't have a cool as uncle fossil, do they?"
The smile she gives him now is full-blown and dimpled, and he grins back, and the little pensive mood is broken as her hand twirls the fairy floss stick. She leans forward to give him a little hug. "I love you, fossil," she says softly.
The arm still around her tightens as Jace returns the hug. "I love you, too, little filly." He says it with utmost conviction and the softest tenderness and most honest truth, because he loves the little girl in his arms more than his own life.
She pulls away, attention already back to the candy, and Jace smiles a little wistfully as he realises she's already growing up, and soon, she'll be off and away and exploring on her own, and she wouldn't need her old uncle fossil anymore. But he'd be damned if he didn't try to hold on to what time he had left.
"Oh, and fossil? I told the fairy floss man that you're paying."
No matter how he spent it with her.
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