Okay, so I started writing another oneshot last night but then I saw this prompt on the OTP Prompts tumblr thing and I just had to write it!
"Imagine Person A is a single parent to a child and B is their close friend who often comes over to help. Ever since A's divorce, A has been trying to get back into dating, but none have worked out well. B tries to encourage A and tells them the next person they'll fall for might work out, and may be closer than they think. One day, A sees their child and B playing together happily in the backyard in the most picturesque manner possible and can't help but be amazed at how natural it feels for B to be part of their family. A smiles and wonders if they're feeling giddy because they're starting to fall in love with B until they hear their child giggling "B! Mommy/daddy is making that stupid happy face around you again!""
A bit of a random question but would you prefer all my oneshots to be posted as chapters of one fic or would you prefer me to keep posting them as seperate fics. I posted the first few seperately because I had absolutely no idea how much Fluffy Riain was going to take over my life!
"How'd it go?" Iain asked as Rita walked back into the house, "as good as that hey?" he laughed when he saw the unimpressed look on her face, "kettle's just boiled so why don't I make us a brew and you can tell me all about it?"
Rita nodded, sighing in relief as she slipped off her heels, "that might be the best offer I've had all night" she said, hanging up her jacket and picking up a hair band from the table in the hall so she could tie her hair back from her face, "have I got time to change into something more comfortable?"
"Course" Iain called through from the kitchen, "little man's all settled in his own bed if you want to see him, he went down about 8 and I've not heard a peep from him since."
Rita smiled softly as she made her way upstairs, "thanks Iain."
She came downstairs a while later having changed from a fitted black dress into her favourite pyjamas, blue and grey checked trousers and a plain white top, she'd washed her face clean of makeup and her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, "it didn't go well then?" Iain asked as he passed Rita her tea.
"He spent the whole night talking about star trek, and his two dogs, Kirk and Spock. I mentioned Jack and he told me his dogs don't like children" she sighed and took a sip from her mug, "I might just give up on dating, accept that Jack's going to be the only male that I share a bed with for the foreseeable future."
Rita hated to admit it but she was lonely, ever since her marriage had ended she'd longed to find someone to share her life with, sure, her 4 year old son kept her busy during the day but sometimes, sometimes she found herself thinking how nice it would be to have someone to share it with, someone to laugh with when he said something funny, someone to help her answer his almost endless stream of questions. Someone to snuggle up with and have some adult conversation with once he was asleep.
"Hey no" Iain frowned, "there's plenty more fish in the pie or whatever that saying is. You never know, true love might be closer than you think, you might bump into Mr Right in Asda next week, and until then you've always got me" he joked.
"I have, you're right" Rita smiled. She didn't know what she'd do without Iain, Jack had been distraught when she'd told him they were moving house and it might be a long time before he saw his Daddy again but Iain had sort of filled the hole Mark's absence had left in his life. She'd been introduced to Iain by her best friend on his first day at work, he was a paramedic at the hospital where she was an ED nurse. Once Jack knew Iain drove an ambulance like his Auntie Dixie he'd decided Iain was 'super cool' and the pair had been best friends ever since. He'd been a great help with Jack, he was the strong, positive, male role model that Jack was so desperate for, and he was only more than happy to help Rita out with him. He frequently picked Jack up from nursery when her shift overran, he looked after him on his days off to save Rita money on childcare, took him to play football in the park to give Rita a break and he was only too happy to babysit when Rita went out on a date or a rare 'girls night out' with Dixie.
She'd turned to the internet, to dating websites in the hope of finding someone to spend her life with but nothing ever went further than the first date, she only seemed to attract men who were only interested in one thing whereas she needed stability, for Jack's sake she refused to bring a new man home every week. She needed someone reliable, someone who would be there for her and Jack, someone like… she shook her head, Iain was just her friend, he'd never be interested in her like that.
"You alright?" Iain nudged her gently.
"Yeah, sorry, miles away."
"Yeah" Iain laughed, "you wish, anyway, look at the time, some of us have got to work in the morning, I better be off."
Rita nodded and stood to see Iain out, "thanks for tonight. I hope he wasn't too much trouble for you."
"Not at all, he never is" Iain smiled as he put his shoes on, "couple of stories and he was gone."
"Thanks" she pecked his cheek.
Iain smiled and winked cheekily, "I'll give you a ring in the week, take him over the park for a kick about" he said as he stepped out of the door, "call me if you need anything" he said, flashing Rita another cheeky grin before he headed home.
The weeks passed and Rita found herself spending more and more time with Iain, for Jack's sake obviously, and she found that, on the days she knew Iain was looking after Jack, she couldn't walk home fast enough.
She stood in her kitchen, leaning against the open back door. Iain and Jack were running around her garden together, both dressed only in their shorts, their t shirts discarded on a chair on the decking, both wearing matching blue baseball caps that Iain had bought when Jack had announced he was never wearing a hat 'because Iain didn't have to'. Iain had turned up the next day with the matching baseball caps and now Rita had no arguments from her son about wearing his hat whenever he was out in the hot summer sun.
She couldn't help but smile as she watched them, there were toys everywhere, Jack's bike was on it's side by the shed, Jack had obviously been practicing after Iain had promised he'd teach the boy to ride his bike without stabilisers before the end of summer. His slide had been moved so he could slide into the, now half empty, paddling pool and several balls, a toy golf set and two tennis bats laid forgotten about on the lawn as the two now chased each other with water pistols, "I'm gonna get you Iain, I'm gonna catch you and then I'm going to empty my water pistol on your head."
"Nope, you're never gonna catch me Mate, I'm the fastest ambulance driver in the world me."
"No you're not" Jack poked his tongue out at Iain, "Auntie Dixie's waaaaay faster than you are."
"I'm going to get you for that" Iain warned Jack before squirting him with his water pistol, the stream of water hitting the four year old on the stomach causing him to squeal with laughter and begin running away from Iain, squirting his own water pistol over his shoulder in the hope of getting Iain back.
Rita was glad they hadn't noticed her, she loved watching Iain and Jack interact. Iain was such a natural with her son, she thought Jack had been close to Mark but the way he'd bonded with Iain was completely different, they'd known him for a little under a year but Rita couldn't really remember what things had been like before him. It was then it hit her, she'd been so busy looking for her 'Mr Right' that she'd failed to see he was right under her nose. Jack loved him, and she loved seeing him with Jack, he'd fitted into their little family so perfectly that Rita wasn't sure she ever wanted to find out what life would be like without him.
She was broken from her thoughts by Jack taunting Iain, "nu-uuh, you're never going to catch me, I'm superJack and you're just a smelly old man."
"Old man?" Iain raised his eyebrows, "who's told you that?"
"Auntie Dixie" Jack giggled, still running in circles around the garden, trying not to be caught by Iain even though Rita knew Iain could catch Jack in a second if he really wanted to.
"Did she now, right, well, for that, when I catch you I'm going to throw you in the paddling pool, and when I next see Auntie Dixie I'm going to throw her in the paddling pool too."
"No you're not" Jack told him, "she'll shout at you and make you cry."
"No she won't" Iain laughed, "she'll shout at me but I won't cry."
"Cos you're big and strong?" Jack dropped his water pistol and held his arms out to Iain, suddenly feeling tired.
"Yeah, cos I'm big and strong like you" Iain smiled as he too let his water pistol fall to the floor so he could lift Jack onto his hip. It was then that he saw Rita and he couldn't stop the grin that spread over his face, "Mummy's home mate" he said softly
Jack looked up at Rita and smiled, "you make her happy" he nodded knowingly, Rita once again lost in thoughts about how adorable Iain and Jack were together.
"How do you know that?" Iain asked Jack, he'd be lying if he said he didn't find Rita attractive, but he knew she was putting Jack first. He loved being around the two of them and if being friends was the only way he could do that then that was fine with him, he'd never want to try and force their relationship into something else and risk losing the woman and child who seemed to make every day a little brighter.
"She only has that stupid happy face when you're here" he nodded, Jack might only be four years old but he knew his Mummy, he knew she smiled more when Iain was there, he knew she loved him coming round just as much as Jack did himself.
"Does she?" Iain smirked as he walked the final few metres to Rita, her cheeks flushed pink after Jack's words had pulled her from her daydream.
"Yep" Jack smiled before gasping as he had an idea, "you should ask her to be your girlfriend!"
"Should I now?" Iain asked and Jack nodded excitedly. "How about it Reets? Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
Rita blushed, "say yes Mummy" Jack encouraged, "pleeeeeeease" he pleaded.
Rita dropped her gaze to the floor, "I erm, I could ask Dix to watch Jack if you fancied going out sometime?"
Iain shifted Jack to hold him with one hand, using his other to lift Rita's chin so he could place a gentle kiss to her lips, "you're on" he whispered, "it's a date."