Jennifer walked down the street, her day bag over her shoulder. She breathed in the crisp autumn air and smiled. It was a bright September day and she and her friends were going to meet up at the park. She definitely glad to leave the house when Megatron had called to talk with her dad.
She sighed to herself. She was happy for Dad, she really was. It just surprised her that he went for someone so different from her mom, besides the whole gender thing.
She went to the bench where she and her friends always met up. She sat down just as her phone went off. She pulled it out and saw it was a text from Rea
[Running late. Paula had fun last night and Jess and I gotta bail her out.]
Jennifer rolled her eyes. Ever since Rea's cousin had shown up in town, she'd caused quite a stir, and Rea often had to help get her out of it.
[Kay, we'll be waiting.]
She hadn't even put her phone away when she got a new text, this time from Jack.
[Work called. Gotta go in. Sorry Jen.]
Jen frowned at that. Jack was always getting called in, and with her working at the bookstore, they didn't have much opportunity to hang out except at school. As their first shared day off in weeks, they'd wanted to spend time together.
[It's fine, Jack. Catch you when you get off.]
Outwardly, she sighed and dropped her head into her hands. Jessica would be coming with Rea, Miko and Volatile were grounded for their prank last week and Raf was out of town visiting relatives in Nevada. That meant she was by herself for at least an hour. That was her life too much lately.
"Hey Jen," a voice said and she looked up to see Smokescreen looking down at her.
"Hey, Smokes," she said sitting up with a smile. Smokescreen might have been her brother's best friend, but he was always nice to her, and had even hung out with her when Bee wasn't around sometimes. She hadn't seen him around as much since he and Bee had gotten their own apartment.
"You okay?" he suddenly asked, sitting on the bench next to her.
"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"Because you just did this." Smokescreen dropped his head into his hand, and heaved his shoulders in an exaggerated sigh.
"I did not do that," Jen said with a smile.
"Maybe not, but you still did that sad sigh thing you do." Smokescreen looked at her, obvious concern in his eyes. "What's up?"
Jen met his eyes and sighed in exasperation. She'd never been able to resist those eyes. "Rea, Jack, Jessica and I were supposed to meet up here, but Rea and Jess have to bail out Paula again, and Jack got called into work. This was the first time we could all hang out together in ages and now it's just me again."
"Man. That sucks energon," Smokescreen said. The look didn't leave his face. "That's not all that's bothering you, is it?"
Jen sighed. "No." She thought for a moment and then spoke. "It's just, Dad and Megatron. I never expected them to become so serious."
"Oh?" Smokescreen raised a brow. "This isn't the usual 'I can't believe my dad's gay' thing?"
"Smokescreen!" Jen shoved on his arm. "You know just as well as I Dad's always been bisexual. He never kept that secret. It's just-" She cut off, not sure what to say.
"Go on," Smokescreen encouraged her.
Jen sighed. "It's just that I barely get to see him anymore. I mean yeah, we eat breakfast together, but then he's at work and I'm at school, and then I got work and then he'll go on dates and to spend the night with Megatron, and we keep missing each other." She sighed. "I kinda worry that Megatron's kinda trying to keep Dad for himself."
"You don't really believe that, do you?" Smokescreen asked.
"No. Yes? I don't know! It just... feels that way." She ran a hand through her white hair. "I know I'm probably reading it totally wrong and I'm happy that Dad's could find someone again. I mean, it's been fourteen years since Mom died, I don't expect him to pine for the rest of his life. It's just-" She sighed. "I don't know. Something just feels off."
"You talk to Optimus about this?" Smokescreen asked.
"No. I don't want to ruin anything between him and Megatron."
"Yet you feel like he's stealing your dad!" Smokescreen threw his hands in the air. "You need to talk to Optimus about this. Otherwise it's gonna keep eating you up inside, and you'll probably end up hating Megatron. How do you think either of them will feel about that?"
Jen stopped at that. She never considered it that way, but she really was starting to hate Megatron. It wasn't right but she was. And she could see how they'd react if she let that hate grow. Optimus would be sad that she did and might even break off the relationship for her. Megatron would grow resentful of her and rightfully blame her for the break up. Not to mention everyone else's reactions.
"Oh Primus," she breathed. In a normal voice she said, "You're right. I need to talk to Dad about this."
Smokescreen smiled. "There you go, Jen." He clapped her shoulder. "Trust me, once you and OP have a talk, everything will sort itself out."
Jen smiled back. "When'd you get so smart?"
"I've always been smart."
"Your graduation placement said otherwise."
"Only you would remember that someone was forty-fifth out of a class of one hundred and fifty over four years after the fact," Smokescreen said, giving her a small shove.
Jen laughed and shoved back, and a shove war erupted between them, lasting until Jen was able to push Smokescreen off the bench. Once the two had their laughter under control, she helped him up and they sat and talked until Rea and Jess showed up.
Smokescreen left then, though the girls invited him to stay. The rest of the afternoon the girls spent together, wandering the park and annoying Jack at the coffee shop. It was the most fun Jen had had in weeks, and she was very grateful for it.
Rea and Jessica dropped her up about six and Jen waved them goodbye before she went inside. "I'm home!" she called out, kicking off her shoes at the door.
"In the kitchen, Jen," Optimus said, his voice carrying despite its softness. Jen went in to see him setting the table for dinner, three places instead of the usual two.
"Someone coming over, Dad?" Jen asked.
"I invited Megatron over. I tried to text you, but it didn't go through," Optimus said, looking up at her.
"Oh, yeah, my phone died and Rea didn't have the right charger in the car." Jen played with her bag straps then took a deep breath. "Actually Dad, I wanted to talk to you about Megatron."
Optimus paused in passing out the silverware, then set it down a straightened. "What is it?" he asked, sitting in a chair.
Jen sat across from him. "It's just that- you and Megatron have been spending a lot of time together lately."
"Yes I suppose we have."
"And I know it's what couples do but it-" She stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. "It almost feels like you don't have time for me anymore."
"Oh, Jennifer. You really think that?"
Jen nodded. "I mean, we have school and work and in the little free time that we share, lately it seems you and Megatron are together, either here or at his place or out and about. I just-" Another breath. "I feel like I'm alone a lot."
"I had no idea, Jennifer." Optimus took both of her hands in his. "Why didn't you say anything before?"
"You were so happy to be with Megatron," Jen said. "I mean, you never really dated after Mom died, and then you and Megatron finally got together and I didn't want to come between you two. And then Megatron started taking more and more of your time and I just- I don't know, I just-"
"Oh Jen." Optimus pulled her out of her chair and into his lap, wrapping his arms around her. "I am so sorry I never noticed. I'm sorry you felt this way and that you felt you couldn't come to me about it."
"I didn't want to ruin everything." Jen's hands gripped Optimus's shirt. Now that it was out she was close to crying.
"It's okay, Jen. My little gem." Optimus squeezed her tight, then patted her shoulder to have her sit up. "Tell you what, I'll call Megatron and retract the invitation, and then we'll have a Dad-and-Daughter Night, like we used to."
Jen smiled and wiped at her tearing eyes. "That'd be great Dad."
Optimus smiled back. "And we are getting some more student employees at the library, so I'll try to schedule some more time off for us to spend together."
"Really? You'll trust the library to the students?"
"Alpha Trion will still be there, and your grandfather can make anyone behave, even someone like Megatron."
Jen's smile turned to a grin. "Alright. Let's do this." She hugged Optimus again. "I love you Dad."
Optimus hugged her back. "I love you too, Jen." He kissed her head and released her. "You get what you need, I'll call Megatron."
Jen nodded and ran upstairs to her bedroom, tossing her bag down and digging in her closet for her dad-and-daughter night kit. A quick look inside showed everything was there; nail polish, face masks, kid's makeup, vhs copies of her and Optimus's favorite movies, a few old CDs and their game book. The kit was first made when Bumblebee was invited to a sleepover and Jen felt very left out, so Optimus had given her a sleepover at home of just the two of them. They became tradition that whenever Bumblebee would be out with his friends, as well as before her birthday and a few other random times, they'd have Dad-and-Daughter Nights. The last one had been for her birthday, a few months before.
She changed into her special occasion pjs, green and white fuzzy pants with sheep and a matching white tank top, then picked up the kit and went back downstairs. Optimus had put the dinner in the fridge for another day and was bringing out their big futon. Jen set down the kit and helped him set it on the ground before moving the coffee table. Within fifteen minutes they'd transformed the living room with extra blankets and pillows thrown on the futon, couch and floor. Bowls of snacks and juice bottles sat on the coffee table and the vhs player was pulled out from it's box in the closet.
"We're all ready," Optimus said dropping down on the futon, changed into his own pjs. "Would you do the honors of starting Dad-and-Daughter Night?"
Jen smiled, put her wrist to her lips and blew a raspberry. When they'd started, Optimus would give her tummy blows, but they changed it as she got older.
"I declare this Dad-and-Daughter Night started!" she said, tossing one of the pillows in the air while Optimus did the same.
"What movie do you want to watch first, Jen?" Optimus asked.
"Lilo and Stitch," Jen said immediately. It was her absolute favorite movie and she moved quickly to put it in the player.
It was with good reason, she realized later as she and Optimus settled down to sleep several hours later. "Family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten." She needed to reaffirm that to herself and with Optimus.
"Dad," she said, snuggling up next to him.
"Yes, Jen?"
"I love you." She gave him a big hug
He squeezed her back. "I love you too, my little gem."
Jen smiled and let sleep pull her down, cuddled in her father's arms.
Something I realized as I wrote this, Jen actually has abandonment issues. In her (unpublished) fanfic Amiald Pax, her mother is killed when she's young, she's sent away from Cybertron by her father for her own safety, and her adopted mom on Earth went on a trip and was killed. In her subconscious, they all abandoned her. Makes the Darkmount arc even more angsty with that perspective. But that's not here or there.
So here we go, we got Optimus's daughter Jennifer and Smokescreen. Yes, Bumblebee is her bro and Optimus's kid. He'll hopefully appear sometime soon. And no, it was not a typo. Jen has white hair. Let's imagine people have that here, like how ordinary people name their kids Smokescreen and Bumblebee in this world.