The Good Wife: A Home For My Heart
Summary: Peter Florrick and Alicia Cavanaugh meet under very different circumstances. Peter is an ASA with a five year old daughter while Alicia works mostly from home, while raising her six year old son. What happens when these two single parents continue to cross paths and how long can they ignore their fate that just maybe, they were supposed to be together? AU.
Chapter 2: Meet The Cavanaugh's
Alicia Cavanaugh was slightly startled awake when she felt an incessant tugging at her arm from where it lay underneath the pillow under her head. She attempted opening her eyes but immediately closed them again as the harsh lighting invaded her retinas and caused her to see spots, even with her eyes shut tightly now.
"Mommy, Mommy get up" an anxious voice gently begged and Alicia could do little more than mumble something incoherent into her pillow.
It was far too early for this.
"C'mon Mom, you promised!" the small voice persisted and finally Alicia lifted her head slightly from the pillow and slowly began opening her eyes, still squinting in the early morning light.
"Zach..." she groaned, rolling onto her back and rubbing a hand over her face. "What time is it Baby?"
"I don't know" her young son simply shrugged his shoulders at her.
"Look at the numbers on the clock" she gently reminded him. He had mastered reading the digital clock by now, but the wall clock was a different story; though he was starting to get the hang of it.
"Um..." the boy paused for a moment as he looked up at the wall. "The big hand's pointing to the three, and the little hand is at the seven" he managed after a moment and Alicia let out an audible groan.
"Zaaaach" she whined. "7:15? Really? On a Saturday?"
"But Mom, you promised we could go to the park today, remember?" he reminded her; once again tugging on her arm.
"Yes, but not before the sun comes up" she joked before leaning over the bed to wrap an arm around his middle and lifting him into the bed with her.
"Come here you" she grumbled playfully as she snuggled him into her side and gave his dark brown hair a quick tousle with her free hand.
"Zach?" she began in a confused tone before pausing for a moment as she pushed herself up slightly on one elbow. "Is... why is your hair wet? Did you take a shower already?" She was more than shocked by the possibility of this. Bath or shower time was never a favourite activity of her son's. He'd rather just be a boy and be dirty all day if it were up to him.
"I knew you'd make me get cleaned up before we could go out" he simply shrugged and Alicia let out a hearty laugh. Only her son, at the age of just six, would have the foresight to have seen that coming and be one step ahead of her already.
"When did you become smarter than me, huh kiddo?" she asked before planting a kiss to his forehead and he giggled in her grasp as her fingers gently tickled his sides.
"Does this mean we can go now?" He asked hopefully;sitting up now facing his mother who was still propped up on one elbow.
"Not this moment, no" she gently shook her head. "And honey, you shouldn't be taking a shower by yourself when Mommy's asleep in case something were to happen, okay?"
"Okay" Zach sighed with defeat. He had a feeling he might get in trouble for that but pressing boundaries was nothing new for him. He was always trying to grow up faster than his mother wanted him to.
"Oh my gosh you're even wearing clothes that almost match!" she teased in disbelief as she sat up a little further looking him over and his small features scrunched up in disagreement.
"These match" he declared, tugging on the hem of his two-tone blue striped rugby shirt.
"Well I think you need to re-think the green shorts there buddy" Alicia stated with a small smirk as she patted his knee. "But can we please just have breakfast and just relax for a little bit before we think about going anywhere?" She asked and he huffed in obvious disagreement.
"Honey it's too early for the park just yet" She reminded him. "There's not going to be any other kids there yet for you to play with"
"Well I told you you should give me a baby brother, then I'll always have someone to play with" Zach mentioned with a shrug and Alicia couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her.
"And I keep telling you, that you are more than enough for me to handle little man" she told him and he scrunched his face up once more before folding his arms across his chest.
"I'm not little Mom, I'm six and three quarters!" he reminded her with a light groan.
"Right, six and three quarters, how could I forget" she gently teased her son with a playful roll of her eyes.
"s'okay though Mom, I like that it's just me and you" Zach mentioned with a grin as he looked back at her with his bright hazel eyes that always reminded her of his father.
"That's right Baby" Alicia replied with a soft smile before pulling him close to her and planting a kiss on his forehead. "You and me against the world, right?"
"Right!" Zach happily agreed.
It had always been just the two of them since Zach was born and although it may not be the ideal family tree, she was proud of what she had managed to do on her own. It was far from easy and there were certainly times where she wished that Zach had a father in his life and she had a man in hers, but at the end of the day, they were enough. Zach had always been very strong and independent since he was small and although he used to ask questions from time to time about why he didn't have a "Daddy" like all the other kids, it has started to get easier and he's come to embrace the fact that all they'll ever need is each other.
She held him in her arms for a few more seconds before he started to squirm slightly. She knew he was starting to get too old to want to be held by his mother for anything longer than a quick hug so with a sigh she gently pushed him back and flashed him a quick smile.
"Okay my little monster, how about we get some breakfast into you and then we'll go to the park in a few hours okay?"
"Oh-kay" Zach sighed heavily with defeat before climbing off the bed.
"Go put on cartoons and I'll be out there in a few minutes okay?"
"Okay Mom" her not-so-little guy agreed before scampering off from her bedroom and out towards the main living room.
"I'm gonna watch Power Rangers!" Zach called out as he rushed excitedly down the hallway. "I'll be the blue one, you can be red this time!" he shouted and Alicia chuckled lightly as she shook her head.
"Okay" she called after him; exhausted even just thinking about having to run around the living room with her overly energized child. At least the park would do him good; hopefully tire him out by the time they got back home.
Alicia let out a heavy sigh before allowing herself to fall back into her nest of pillows underneath her. She was hoping to sleep in until at least 8:00 this morning but she should have known that Zach would have none of that. She couldn't help but chuckle to herself as she thinks of all the mornings she all but has to drag him out of bed to get ready for school; yet on a weekend or during Summer holiday he gets himself up at the crack of dawn with no trouble whatsoever.
She had had a late night the previous evening; working from home as she tended to do as much as possible. Being an interior decorator was hard work; despite what her Mother may say about it, which she often did. Sure she may not be in the elite class of decorators in New York or even Los Angeles, but Chicago was no easy feat, that was for sure. Her clients were usually high-business-class people who can be incredibly particular when it comes to the image they want to project for themselves. She had been up until the early hours of the morning putting together a new collection of fabric samples for her latest client who seemed to change her mind faster than Alicia could even blink.
If there was one thing that Alicia knew however, it was style. Sure it wasn't the career she imagined for herself when she enrolled in law school nearly a decade ago at the age of twenty; but life doesn't always play out the way we expect it to and when she got pregnant with Zach during her second year of law school she hadn't had much option but to take some time off. She always meant to go back, but studying law was hard work and would take a lot of time away from Zach; not to mention how time consuming it is for a young lawyer starting out in the working world. She'd be lucky if she even saw Zach enough to tuck him into bed at night so she had put the notion of that lifestyle away a long time ago.
She wouldn't change a thing though, she muses to herself as she looks over to her nightstand at a framed photo of her and Zach at his birthday party last year. She remembers the day fondly, as if it were only yesterday. There weren't many guests, just a few family members and a couple of Zach's closest friends from school. His Uncle Owen had gotten him a giant red firetruck which Zach was holding in his small arms in the photo with a ridiculous grin on his face. Owen had muttered some comment to Alicia when Zach had opened it how he wished he had gotten the firemen to go along with it and Alicia rolled her eyes at her insufferable brother, but couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. She couldn't complain though, Zach loved the gift and it was far more appropriate than the one her Mother, Veronica, had given Zach; an advanced chemistry set designed for kids nearly twice his age. On the up side though Zach wasn't terribly upset when his mother had taken it away from him because he hadn't had much interest in opening it anyway. Veronica had never really been great at picking gifts.
"Mom, come on it's starting!" Zach called out from the living room, pulling Alicia out of her reverie and back into the present as she heard him signing along to the Power Rangers theme song.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming" Alicia sighed; a silly grin playing on her lips as she listened to Zach singing what were for the most part incorrect lyrics that he thought were the right words, belting them out at the top of his lungs.
Her life might not be what she would have pictured it to be ten years ago but somehow, it managed to turn out even better than she could have imagined. She had Zach; the most incredible, beautiful, and smart six-and-three-quarters year old kid there was. And she was certain that was all she'd ever need.
A/N: Thanks for all the love on the first chapter, and I hope you liked this one as well! Again, we'll hear more about the history of Alicia and Zach's father in a later chapter. Up next, a little more insight to Peter and Grace before we get to see the first encounter between Peter and Alicia. Stay tuned, and reviews are love! xx