Who's at the park? Ready to find out?
Enjoy!
Chapter Four: Sam's Not Alone
Sam turned around. "Spike! What are you doing here?"
Spike studied Sam's expression. "My nephew's having his birthday party today at one of the pavilions. I just dropped his present off." Crossing his arms over his chest, Spike continued talking. "Now answer my question; what are you doing here and why are you staring at a playground full of kids?"
Sam immediately got defensive at the accusation in the last part of Spike's question. "Okay, first, don't EVER allude to an accusation like that again and second— "
Before Sam could finish what he was saying an adorable, blonde Tasmania devil slammed into his legs, surprising both Sam and Spike.
"Daddy, I'm hungwy."
Sam looked down at Maddie before looking back up at Spike. The shocked expression on his face would've made Sam laugh on a normal day, but the current circumstances were anything but normal.
Sam reached his hand down and stroked Maddie's hair while Spike looked on, flabbergasted. "Uh, I'm sorry, I think I misheard. Did she just say daddy?"
Sam sighed quietly and picked up Maddie. Holding her in his arms, Sam angled her to where she was facing Spike. "Maddie, this is Spike. Can you say hi?"
Maddie looked up at her daddy, then looked to Spike. Never one to be shy, Maddie smiled her adorable little smile and waved at Spike. Spike, unable to resist Maddie's adorableness, immediately smiled and waved back. "Hi Maddie."
Spike looked away from Maddie and back to Sam, confusion clear on his face.
"Maddie, Spike." Sam repeated the introduction. "Spike, this is Maddie. My daughter."
Even though Sam had just confirmed his suspicions, Spike was still shocked, but that wasn't the only emotion he was feeling. He was ashamed for assuming the things he did when he first saw Sam watching the kids on the playground. He was angry that, even though Sam had been a part of the team for over a month now, he apparently knew nothing about him. Spike also felt bad for the way that he, and the rest of Team One, had been treating Sam because there was clearly more to him than meets the eye.
This moment of reflection also made Spike think of one important question: does the rest of the team know?
"Um, wow." Spike said, still a bit taken aback. "Does the rest of the team know about Maddie?"
"Uh no." Sam answered as he adjusted Maddie on his hip. "You're the only one who—"
Before Sam could finish what he was saying, Maddie interrupted him again.
"Daddy!" She whined in over-dramatic toddler fashion. "I'm weally hungwy!"
"I hear ya munchkin, just give me one second, OK?"
Maddie nodded and laid her head down on Sam's shoulder.
Sam looked back at Spike.
"Apparently she's really hungry…" he said with a smirk.
"So I hear," Spike said with a small smile. "I'll let you go and get her something to eat…"
Spike started to turn and walk away, but Sam stopped him. "Spike. I know you have more questions about...all of this," Sam said, gesturing at Maddie and himself. "Why don't you join us for lunch? If you can, that is. I don't want to keep you if you have plans..."
"Uh no, actually I'm free until this afternoon; that's when I'm taking my nephew to see the Lion King as my second birthday gift to him."
"Gotcha. Well, I was thinking about doing lunch at the diner a few streets down. Meet you there in about 10 minutes?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure." Spike replied, a bit awkwardly. "I'll see you there, both of you."
Sam nodded, then turned and walked with Maddie towards the park's entrance. Spike watched as he left and noticed that Sam's posture was off, and it wasn't just because he was carrying a toddler in his arms. Sam's posture seemed tense, awkward and maybe even a little anxious-three emotions Spike was sure the confident, if not slightly cocky, former soldier was NOT used to feeling.
...
As Spike began walking towards the entrance himself, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw it was a text from Lou, confirming their plans for later that night. As Spike He found them at a booth near the back. Maddie was by the wall in a booster seat, coloring furiously on the kid's menu in front of her, and Sam was next to her by the aisle.
Spike slid into the other side of the booth and a waitress placed a menu and glass of water in front of him almost immediately.
This particular diner was one that Sam and Spike had both frequented several times, so they both knew what the menu had to offer. The waitress was able to take all three orders almost immediately and, after collecting Sam and Spike's menus, left them to talk.
A few awkward moments of silence passed before Spike finally bit the bullet and started asking the multitude of questions that were still on his mind. "How old is Maddie?"
"She just turned two a few months ago."
Spike quickly did the math in his head. "Two? So she was born while you were still in Special Forces?"
"Yeah. She was born during one of the very rare times I was on leave during my second tour. For almost the first year of her life, any contact she had with me was through a computer screen over Skype."
Spike's heart went out to Sam. Leaving your newborn baby behind while you go off to fight in a war, unsure whether or not you'll make it back alive, had to be hard. "Who took care of her while you were gone? Her mom?" At Sam's confirming nod, Spike continued. "Where's she at now?"
Sam sighed. "She left when Maddie was eighteen months old. She, apparently, found a 'new calling' in her life-one that did not involve her being a mother."
Spike's face portrayed the shock he was feeling. "She just left?!"
"Yep." Sam said, popping the 'p' at the end. "Packed her stuff and headed out. I tried to find her, keep her up to date with what was going on with Maddie, but after a few months I received custody papers in the mail. She gave me full custody and signed over all of her parental rights... It's just been me and Maddie ever since."
"If it's just you and Maddie, who watches her while you're at work?"
"She goes to daycare. It's a special 24/7 daycare geared towards parents who work jobs that have unconventional hours like law enforcement, fire fighters and people in the medical field." Sam paused. The waitress had returned with their meals. After making sure Maddie was happily eating her grilled cheese sandwich, Sam continued. "It's not the best option, but with my family in Ottawa, it's the best option I have."
"Wow. I would not have pegged you as a single dad."
Sam looked up from his hamburger to Spike. "Yeah, well, there's a lot you don't know about me."
The sadness in Sam's voice was easily picked up by Spike.
Spike studied the man in front of him. All of Team One had let the way Sam joined their team cloud their judgement of him. They let his rough-around-the-edges, former soldier persona and his shoot first, ask questions later mentality get in the way of seeing him for the man he really was. Yes, his negotiation skills desperately needed to be developed, and he had a knack for taking unacceptable risks, but his skills with a sniper rifle were the best in the entire SRU and his talent for tactical planning rivaled Ed's. There was much more to Sam than anyone knew, and the guilty feelings Spike was experiencing about the way not only he, but the entire team, had treated Sam were quickly overwhelming him.
"Sam, I'm sorry." Spike said sincerely. "I can't apologize for all of Team One and their actions, but I can apologize for mine. The way you joined the team was unconventional; Team One didn't get to pick you, you were just placed with us-something we weren't used to and I guess still aren't. None of us even gave you a chance or offered to help you out if we saw that you needed it. We just yelled at you, as if you were automatically supposed to know what you did was wrong..."
"You never yelled at me Spike." Sam said, trying to ease some of the guilt he knew the man across from him was feeling.
"No, but I never defended you or tried to help you out and for that, I'm sorry. You're good Sam, really good. The other snipers in the SRU, including Ed and Jules, have nothing on you and you give Ed a run for his money when it comes to tactical planning."
Sam smiled the most genuine smile Spike had seen since knowing Sam. "Thanks Spike, I appreciate that."
"That's why you haven't told anyone about Maddie, right? You feel like they won't care?"
"It's one of the reasons. I'm extremely protective of Maddie, as I'm sure you can understand, and I'm not going to introduce her to a bunch of people who could probably honestly care less. She's been through a lot in her two years of life and I don't want her to get use to people who might not be around for the long haul."
"I understand." Spike said, truly getting where Sam was coming from. "Well, I want you to know this: you belong on Team One, whether the others have realized that or not, you do. And you're not alone anymore. If you EVER need anyone to watch Maddie for you, I'm available."
"That means a lot Spike, more than you know. Thank you." Sam smiled again. He moved his hand to Maddie's head. "Now I have a favor to ask. Can we keep Maddie a secret between us for now?"
"Sure," Spike agreed. "But you are going to introduce her to the team eventually, right?"
"Of course, but I want the team to like me first before I introduce them to her." Sam gave a quick chuckle.
Spike laughed as well and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that sounds like a good plan buddy."
...
After lunch had been finished and the meals had been paid for, Spike, Sam and Maddie made their way out of the diner.
Outside, Sam was holding Maddie's hand and Maddie was holding the picture she had been coloring during lunch.
"Alright munchkin, we need to go," Sam said, looking down at Maddie. "Can you say goodbye to Spike?"
Maddie immediately let go of her daddy's hand and surged forward, wrapping her arms around Spike's legs. Spike smiled and bent down, allowing Maddie to give him a real hug. When Maddie pulled away, she held the picture she colored out to Spike. He took it from her.
"Is this for me?"
Maddie smiled and nodded.
Spike smiled back. "Thank you Maddie. It's very pretty."
Maddie smiled at Spike then went back to Sam's side. Spike stood up, said goodbye to Sam and Maddie and went on with the rest of his day-taking his nephew to see the Lion King and meeting up with Lou for beer and pizza before tomorrow's shift.
Sam and Maddie made the most out of the last bit of their day; they saw a movie and got ice cream (with extra toppings, because why not?).
...
Later that night, after Maddie had gone to bed, Sam was up packing his bag for work tomorrow and found that he wasn't dreading it nearly as much as he usually did. Yes, it was going to suck being away from Maddie, but he had found a friend in Spike and hoped that everything the spikey-haired man had told him earlier wasn't a lie.
Only time would tell with all that, but Sam finally knew he wasn't as alone as he thought, and that was a good feeling.
I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with it being Spike in the park and not Wordy or Ed!
Shout out to missblueeyes63 and fanfictionfan63 for being the only two to guess Spike. (:
Next will be a real SAMTASTIC update! Stay tuned!
