Well... it's been a little bit (._.) I just finished this this morning, actually. You would not believe how busy the past two weeks has been: exams, two field trips over two hours away, face painting at an elementary school, my sister's piano recital, Graduation, and 8 relatives visiting my family's small 3 bedroom apartment o-o Scary days. I'm now an adult, bound for college in 8 weeks. And here still I sit, writing fanfiction ^-^ I love it too much to grow up.
- Shadow
P.S. OH, one more thing, thank you reviewers! :D I never thought this story would be that big of a hit, but you guys seem to love it! Seeing that little number go up has put a smile on my face through even the most stressful times this past two weeks -_- I love you guys for it!
Disclaimer: You guys know the drill. I write words saying I don't own BTR, you probably skip reading them anyway, blah, blah, blah.
"Claire, don't run ahead."
The toddler jumped into a dead halt at her father's words, bouncing excitedly in place as she waited for him and Lucy to catch up. "Come on, Daddy!" she urged, waiving her arms for emphasis.
Kendall sighed. "How does she have this much energy?" he wondered out loud.
Lucy smiled and shook her head in bewilderment. The three of them were on their way to the park, and Kendall's words were no exaggeration. Since the minute breakfast was over with, Claire hadn't stopped moving. At first they were able to channel her energy into cleaning up her toys, but that didn't take as long as they had hoped it would. It was all each adult could do to entertain Claire while the other showered and got dressed.
"How do you deal with this yourself?" Lucy had asked Kendall when he came out of the bathroom.
Kendall had just rolled his eyes. "Can't handle a three year old?" he taunted.
Looking at the two of them now, Lucy knew that they had an understanding; Claire could do whatever she wanted, so long as she listened to Kendall when it mattered.
"What, can't handle a three year old?" Lucy couldn't help but tease.
"Oh ha ha," Kendall retorted.
Lucy mulled over his tone. "She can do no wrong, can she?"
"Oh she tests that limit every day," Kendall replied dryly in a way that suggested his mind was elsewhere.
They caught up to Claire, who was all but bursting with impatience. The three year old grabbed at one of each of their hands, holding them tightly with her own as she gazed up at Lucy.
"Park be over dere," she explained. "Got cross road. We need'a hold hands. Right daddy?"
Lucy glanced at Kendall when he didn't immediately give an answer, only to find the same brooding expression that he had that morning painted on his face again. She followed his gaze, and it led her to a couple down the street, holding hands and smiling like they were the only two people in the world.
Crouching down next to Claire, the rocker removed her hand from the kid's grip. "You know how to cross the street, Claire?" She used her now-free hand to punch Kendall in the leg behind Claire's back.
"Look both ways!" Claire exclaimed. Next to her, Kendall shook himself back into the present, casting an accusing glare at Lucy, who just shrugged.
"That's right!" Lucy applauded. "Think you can do it?" she added in a challenging tone.
Claire made a big show of looking down the street while Lucy looked up at Kendall over her head, offering him a questioning expression. He answered with an exaggerated mirrored image of her shrug from moments before. The rocker responded with the first thing that came to her mind; she stuck her tongue out at him.
"No cars!" Claire cheered, like she had won some great victory.
Lucy stood up and took Claire's hand again, while both she and Kendall cast a quick double-check.
"Perfect. Let's go." The words had barely left her mouth before Claire was practically dragging them to the other side.
"Park!" she yelled excitedly once they were across the road. Claire dropped their hands and bolted forward, heading directly towards a large wooden sandbox.
"She wasn't kidding about the sandbox," Lucy commented. She watched at the toddler practically dove into the sand, burying her hands up to her wrists, giggling all the while.
"She has a knack for being in the middle of messes," Kendall agreed. Lucy frowned at the hidden meaning in his grimly spoken words.
"How's that going?" she inquired curiously as Kendall led them over to a picnic table setting in the shade. "I mean with Claire and-" Lucy stopped herself before she said Jo's name. "…the divorce," she finished lamely.
Kendall sat down on the bench, leaning his elbows back on the table. Lucy sat on the table next to him, her combat boots resting on the bench while her elbows rested on her knees. From their spot they had a clear view of the sandbox, and that's where the both of them were looking.
"She's three," Kendall sighed. "She asks about mommy, I distract her, it won't enter her mind again for a while."
"That's not going to work for long," Lucy pointed out, picking at a hole in the knee of her black skinny jeans.
"Well it's working for now," Kendall replied forcefully. Lucy caught onto the finality in his voice and grudgingly dropped the subject for now. From the angle she stood at, it looked like Kendall was just avoiding the problem all together. The rocker grimaced, remembering that as one of his greatest flaws.
"How's your team doing?" she eventually asked after spending a few minutes groping for a new topic.
Kendall's response was spoken with relief, though she suspected it had nothing to do with his wanting to talk to her. "We've only had one practice, but it seems well-rounded enough."
Lucy smiled. "With good coaching, I'm sure they'll be great." She looked at him with an innocent expression. "Know any good coaches?"
Kendall elbowed her. "You're hilarious."
Across the park at the sandbox, Claire was joined by a boy and a girl about her age. Lucy hid a laugh as Kendall tensed, visibly going into over-protective dad mode.
The rocker nudged him with her knee. "You know, you make a pretty good dad."
"It's easy when she's this young," Kendall replied with a modest shrug. "And she doesn't have a mom now," he added, bitterness evident in his tone. "I have to do twice as good of a job."
Lucy crossed her arms. "You're doing the best you can," she said sympathetically, "and your best seems to be pretty damn near perfect."
Kendall's only reply was to lean forward. Claire was running up to them, smiling broadly.
"Daddy, I wanna swing," she informed him.
"Well then go swing," Kendall smiled.
Claire huffed with the impatience of a child. "You gotta push me!"
"Maybe if you ask nicely," her father bantered teasingly.
Claire looked up at him with her perfect green-eyed puppy-dog face. "Pweeeese?" she begged.
Kendall rolled his eyes, but Lucy could tell he was sold.
"Fine, I'll go push you on the swing." Kendall got up as Claire squealed in delight. "I'll be back," he told Lucy.
Watching the two of them walk off, Lucy wasn't aware of anyone approaching her. So she jumped when she realized someone had.
"You're not Mrs. Knight, are you?" came a voice at her shoulder.
A woman with sun-streaked brown hair met Lucy's gaze with a weird expression once the rocker turned her head. Lucy gave the lady a look that said she thought she was nuts. "The former Mrs. Knight? Definitely not. I'm Lucy Stone." She held a hand out and the other woman shook it. "Kendall and I are really good friends."
The woman smiled. "That works. Ah, my name's Brittany Newvine. I have two boys on the high school hockey team. My husband and I have kind of unofficially run the team's fundraisers ever since our oldest started five years ago. He's graduated now, but his brothers wanted to follow in his footsteps, so Mark and I just stuck with it."
Lucy listened to her, trying her best not to let a 'just get on with it' look show.
Brittany ducked her head. "And this is where it kind of gets embarrassing," she explained. "You see, Mark and I usually collaborate with the coach about dates and events and what not, but the only time we see him is at the park. But he usually sits over here by himself all moody-like…" she trailed off.
Lucy had to restrain herself from laughing. "You're scared," she supplied with a disbelieving smirk, "of Kendall. Don't you see him at practices, though?"
Brittany crossed her arms self-consciously. "See? embarrassing. We tried to catch him at practice a few times, but he's gone right after he dismisses the team." She shrugged. "I just thought, since you seem to know him, that you could give him my number and tell him to call me?" She held out a slip of paper.
Poker face installed, Lucy took the paper. "Sure," she shrugged. "I'll make sure he calls."
"Great," Brittany beamed. "Thanks a lot. I'll see you later."
After a nod from Lucy, she left. The rocker covered her mouth with a hand to hide her laugh.
Scared of Kendall? she asked herself. Then she paused. Well… She pondered the idea for a bit. Maybe…
Lucy's thoughts were interrupted by Kendall himself sitting back down.
"You know," the rocker started, waving the piece of paper in his face to gain his attention. "It's a dark day in this world when someone is more afraid of you than they are of me."
Kendall cast her a skeptical look as he took the slip. "Who's scared of me?"
She tapped the paper with a finger. "Brittany Newvine, apparently."
Lucy told him about the woman.
"So I told her that I'd tell you to call her," she finished.
Kendall raised an eyebrow and let out a half-genuine laugh. "I'll have to do that. But, do you honestly think that you're scarier than me?"
Lucy scoffed. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm scarier. Rockstar. Dyed hair. Black nail polish." She wiggled her fingers at him.
Kendall copied her action mockingly. "Okay, fine. You make a good point."
"Daddy, daddy!" Claire joined them once again. "Wanna swing!"
Kendall groaned over-dramatically. "Claire Bear, you just got off the swings."
"Wanna swing again," she clarified.
"Why don't you ask Lucy?" Kendall said with a wave of his hand. The toddler's eyes lit up.
Claire grabbed at Lucy's legs. "Push on swing?" she asked.
Lucy feigned ignorance. "You're going to push me on the swing?"
Claire broke into a fit of giggles. "No no no, silly," she laughed. "You push me on swing."
"Oh, I see," Lucy nodded with understanding. "You push me."
Claire shook her head vigorously. "No. You push me."
Lucy and Kendall shared a smile, though his disappeared once she looked away. "That's what I said. You push me."
Claire put her face in her little hands. "Come on," she sighed, lifting her head and taking Lucy's hand. "I show you." The rocker got off the picnic table and followed her with a laugh.
.:.:.:.
After the swings, Lucy spent the rest of the morning chasing a tireless Claire in an endless game of tag. About the time they were getting hungry, the pair noticed that Sarah had joined Kendall at the table, and a picnic basket now sat between them.
Lucy also noticed that the phone in her back pocket had begun to vibrate. She pulled it out and checked the caller ID before rolling her eyes and hitting "accept".
"Claire, go over to daddy and Sarah," she told the toddler as she brought the phone up to her ear. "They have lunch ready. I'll be over in a second."
"Baby sitting, I see," came the voice from the other end of the line. "That would mean that we've gotten to at least Phase Two. Excellent."
Lucy leaned against a tree and watched Claire head back to the table. 'What do you mean 'we've'? I've done all the work.
"It's my plan!"
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Why do we even need a plan?"
"Nevermind. How are things going?"
Lucy moved her gaze to Kendall, who was reaching into the picnic basket and trying to hold off an excited Claire at the same time. "That depends. I mean, the apartment's clean and the fridge is stocked. But Kendall just isn't… Kendall."
"Do we need to go over the Plan again?"
"No," Lucy snapped. "I don't need a plan. I'm a big girl, I can handle this by myself."
"Fine. I'll call you later then."
"Oh I'm sure you will."
There was silence coming from the other end.
Lucy sighed. "Sorry. I'll talk to you later."
"That's better," was the cheerful reply she got before the line went dead with a click.
Lucy pocketed her phone, chewing on her lower lip, before shaking herself back into now and joining everyone at the picnic table.
"Who was that?" Kendall inquired, without any real curiosity, when the rocker sat down across from him.
Lucy shrugged with a smile. "Oh no one really important."
Ooooo... Who could that be? Looks like you'll just have to wait to find out. Any guesses? And like the last chapter, any plot ideas are welcome ^-^ I really liked the wedding idea ( i'm already working on a plan for that :D) and the whole Claire-calls-Lucy-mommy thing will work in nicely too ^-^