Chapter 9

Ana set her tray down on the back counter before untying her apron. The last customer had finally left - after being escorted out to his car - and it was time to lock up. She set the apron on the tray and turned to pull out a rag and small bucket. For her first night, she didn't do so bad. Although, she could understand what Jack meant by being exhausted - she was so tired and her arms felt heavy, that wiping the counter felt like exercise.

However, she wasn't planning on admitting that to her brothers.

"Don't worry," Hannah came by and helped her wipe everything down, "you'll get used to it. In time, we'll get to that point where everything is wiped down, chairs are up and the floors are done in under ten minutes."

"Ten minutes? I think I'd have a better chance at finding a dinosaur than cleaning this place. I feel so drained," Ana commented as Hannah and Felicity - the other waitress working - both laughed lightly.

Alice - an older woman - who worked in the kitchen came out and smiled at the three of them. "Do you think that you all could lock up tonight," she had some food stains on her apron as she untied it and placed it in the cleaning bin. Ana was told that every three days, one of the waitresses are assigned to take that to the cleaners. It was her turn next.

"Sure thing," Hannah smiled cheerfully.

Ana knew that Hannah was an optimistic person. She was a few years older than Ana - the same as her brother Jack - but Ana had always seen the Fields girl around. In fact, she remembered Hannah coming over the house a lot, her and Jack were spending an awful lot of time together those days. Then their father died, and little by little, she noticed that Jack stopped spending time with Hannah. She couldn't dwell on it too long because Hannah and Felicity gestured for her to come over.

Ana threw the rag into the dirty bin before following after them. Felicity went over the procedures for closing out the register. Johanna had just gotten a new system since a lot of things were turning electronic or 'Skynet' as Gus - the head bartender and unofficial security guard - would call it. Alice didn't like the new system either.

Everything looked simple - or maybe it was just the way that Felicity did things. "Tomorrow night, we'll have you close register," Felicity said as Ana nodded, eager to take on any task that they'd give her. She didn't want to appear lazy.

Hannah pulled out a plastic jar from under the counter that was filled with dollar bills and coins. "This is our tip jar. Normally, we split it evenly," she stated. "But Felicity and I were speaking earlier and we thought that you should have it."

Ana was taken aback for a moment. Surely they didn't mean the entire jar. "No, there's got to be at least a hundred dollars in there."

"Two hundred, I think," Felicity replied with a small nod. "And we're not taking 'no' for an answer, JoyAnna Summers," a smile formed on her lips.

She couldn't help but smile in return. She hadn't been called JoyAnna Summers in a while. But being with people who knew her family, who she had seen around in Amity - it felt natural, it felt right. She could only assume that to them - she was and probably would always be the daughter of Jonah and Jubilee Summers. Come to think about Johanna had called her 'Wildflower' - a nickname that her mother had christened her with because she wasn't like the other girls her age when she started school. The other girls used dresses. She used her brothers' hand-me-down clothes. It touched her heart to know that this community was still home - and that everyone in it was going to keep it that way for her and her son.

"Take it, buy your son some new toy," Hannah insisted as she shoved a small brown paper bag filled with the cash into her hands. "If I see you trying to give this back, you'll have to take the clothes to the cleaners when it's my turn," she pointed at her playfully.

"Alright," Ana smiled.

"For a year," Hannah added on, which caused the three of them to laugh.

"Alright, I'm taking it," she hugged the bag close to her and looked at the two young women. "Thanks. I mean it. This means a lot." Her eyes became filled with tears and she shook her head to stop from crying. Hannah wrapped her arms around her and brought her in for a hug. "How can I repay you guys?"

"The next time your brother Jordan comes into town, you need to bring him by here," Felicity gave her a cheeky smile before closing the cash register. "Dropping a hint that I'm still single by the way."

"Didn't you and my brother go to homecoming together," Ana asked as Felicity nodded before rolling her eyes.

"Then I had so planned on asking him to the spring formal," Felicity waved her hand before donning a serious face, "but Prissy Andrews asked him first."

She was about to reply that this wasn't the first time she heard one of her brothers speak about the Andrews sisters. In fact, Josh had recently hung out with Jane. However, she looked over at Hannah and saw a saddened expression on her face. She would have to figure out one day what happened between Jack and Hannah. Probably another time, because right now she was still a little upset with Jack.

The girls bid her goodnight and Ana got into her car to drive home.

At every stop sign, she debated about pulling over to call Eric or send him a text - letting him know that she was coming home or to ask if Jonah was okay. But it was late and perhaps they were both sleeping now.

She hadn't fully thought this through when he offered to watch Jonah last night. And then this afternoon, when he showed up, she had completely blanked on the matter. Of course, Ana had made dinner for the two of them. She had Jonah take a bath early and slipped into his pajamas. Still - she'd never been away from Jonah for so long, she hadn't been away from Jonah ever.

Before she knew it, she was parking the car in the front of her house. Eric's truck was there. A smile formed on her lips. She felt secure coming home and seeing his truck. Then her smile someone disappeared. The lights looked like they were off inside the house. She was slightly disappointed at that. Secretly, she was hoping that Eric would wait up for her.

He did call her once - to let her know that Jonah had gone down to bed. She had sent him a text several times to check up on things and in response she had gotten a picture of the two of them eating, the two of them watching a movie or the two of them reading a story. Other than seeing him, it warmed her heart to see that Jonah was happy in all the pictures.

She walked inside and flicked on a side lamp, illuminating the living room before walking down the hallway in search of where they were. Jonah slept quietly in his room. And she stayed there, sitting on his bed for a while. She loved her son. She hoped this job would work out because he needed a few new things. There were a lot of women who did it - 'mother' wasn't their only job title. He was growing so quickly. He would need new shoes. And then there was the thought of his future.

Ana wanted to send Jonah to preschool. He was so bright, that she was certain he'd do wonders if someone was there to help teach his young mind. At once she felt like a disappointment for not finishing college. She remembered her brothers never said anything about it. She had fought them to go. And she knew that one of the reasons why money was scarce was because they had sent her to college, only for her to get pregnant and quit.

She wiped her eyes quickly before the tears could leak out. Ana didn't regret Jonah, not one bit. She loved her son with all of her being. Jonah was her world. She just wanted to protect him from the circumstances that she had placed on her life and her brothers.

A soft noise behind her caught her attention and she jerked slightly until she spotted Eric standing in the doorway. He had on pajama pants and a white t-shirt that made him look delectable.

Unconsciously, she started to smooth the fly away strands of her hair in an attempt to look decent and slowly got up.

"Hey," she whispered walking over to him. "Thanks for watching him. How was everything? Was he okay? Did he..."

Eric leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Everything was fine," his hands came to rest on her shoulders. "How was your first day? Did any customers give you a hard time?"

She shook her head, found delight that despite his drowsy state, he managed to ask about her. "Just one, but it wasn't anything that I couldn't handle," she answered, thinking about the coffee incident. His eyebrows knit in frustration. "It was okay," she smiled, comforted by the fact that he was concerned. "The girls helped me out."

"You get along well with the other girls there?"

She nodded as he took a step back, allowing both of them to exit Jonah's room. "I didn't necessarily grow up with those girls, but I know them. And Alice and Gus have known my family, known my parents," she shrugged as she felt concern light his eyes at the mention of her parents.

He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"I helped an elderly man named Mr. Branch. He knew my grandfather, told me stories about my grandparents. It was nice to hear about them."

"I'm so glad that you had a nice night."

"It wasn't like I went out, cruised around town - that sort of thing," she smiled, "but I did have a nice time."

"Good," he kissed her forehead before stepping back. "I hope you don't mind, I brought extra clothes so I could sleep here."

"Oh, that's fine," she waved away his statement. "You were watching Jonah and you needed the rest, too. I was thinking that you might be asleep when I got home." Or that you were waiting up for me, she thought but didn't feel like teasing or flirting with him just now. "I didn't wake you, did I? I tried my best to be quiet."

Eric gave her a smile. "You tried to. Unfortunately, all that training at the Dauntless academy has me alert for everything."

She nodded and suddenly felt a bit braver than she thought she would. She took a step forward and leaned up to give him a kiss - a gentle one on his lips. Both of their breaths caught and she could have sworn that she heard him groan with desire. It had been quite some time since she had that type of affect on a man.

"Are you going home now or are you staying the night?"

"That depends," he whispered in response.

"On what?"

She felt him slip his large warm hand into hers. Looking up into his eyes and feeling his body this close sent an electric wave through her. It had never felt like this with her husband. Silently cursing herself for comparing the two, she gasped when he brought her palm up to his face and pressed his lips to it.

"If you want me to stay."

Jonah licked his lips and took a hold of the wrench with both of his hands. He pulled it towards his body with such determination that his eyes furrowed in concentration - making him look a bit like his mother more than his Uncles. Eric had been studying Ana's expression for the past few days and found that he enjoyed watching her get excited, confused, deep in thought or even flirtatious.

He had been sleeping over at their house - in her spare bedroom, mind you - every night for the past week. Granted, she had only gone to work for three of those nights - one of them being last night - but he found that he couldn't leave. He would hear her come in and walk to Jonah's room. He'd glance out the door and would catch her figure standing in his doorway, too. She'd stay there as he pretended to sleep before she'd walk away.

Eric had wanted to say something else, do something else. He wasn't sure what, though. This was the first time, he had been so uncertain about a woman. Not that he wasn't uncertain about his attraction to her. But he was nervous, anxious and maybe just a little bit afraid of making a move and being rejected.

"Now what," Jonah asked.

"Sh," Eric replied. "Try to keep your voice down. Your mom is still sleeping."

"Now what," he repeated but in a quieter tone.

"Now, we flip this thing over and see if it's balanced." Jonah got ready to cheer but looked at the back door before doing so. He leaned in to Eric and quietly clapped his hands before offering him a fist bump.

He gave the kid a fist bump before ruffling his hair. Fuck, he really wanted this.

Eric enjoyed allowing her to sleep a couple extra hours in the morning, when Jonah was up and at it. The first morning was hard on her - he could tell, despite her protests that she was fine. He had a feeling that she didn't want to look tired because then it would prove her brothers correct. And so he volunteered to stay in the morning, letting her sleep while he watched Jonah.

One morning turned into two mornings - and the next thing you knew he just stayed over completely.

Most mornings he'd just make breakfast and then look around the house for small projects to occupy his time until Ana woke up. Eric had ventured through the tool shed two days ago - examining what was there, while still trying to explain to Jonah that none of this was his. He had slowly been cleaning that out, fixing things that were broken and organizing every thing else.

This first morning, in the back of the shed, he found a bike, which Jonah proclaimed he had gotten from Christmas.

"You got that for me," Jonah looked up at him, while sliding his tiny hand into Eric's. "That's what mommy told me."

Christmas was only four months ago. Eric Carter couldn't have brought it for his son. So his only assumption was that Ana had used whatever insurance money she had got to buy the bike.

"Why is it in here?"

"Because I'm still too small for it. And the training wheels are..." Jonah paused and Eric looked down at him. Jonah moved his hand like a see saw through the air.

"They're not balanced," Eric finished for him.

"Balanced," Jonah asked.

"It means that it isn't lined up, or isn't the same on both sides," Eric gestured to the right side and the left side of the bike.

Jonah shrugged and looked outside at the yard. "Mommy doesn't know how to make them line up."

Eric felt his heart constrict and so he had pulled that thing out form the shed, determined to get it aligned for the little three-year-old who had been calling him 'Daddy' all week. And so he and Jonah had been working on that thing since they had woke up this morning, making sure the wheels, handle bars and everything else was good on the bike.

He played around with the handles, spun the wheel and tested the brakes on the handle bar. When he pushed the thing forward and saw how easily it rolled, a part of him felt ecstatic because next to him Jonah was excitedly watching the bike move, too.

"It looks good. Go and grab your helmet, then meet me in the front," Eric commented as Jonah jumped up and down, pumping his fist in the air before taking off into the house through the back door.

Once they got it into the front, Eric motioned for Jonah to get on the bike. He was so excited that he was barely listening to Eric as he gave him last minute instructions and safety rules.

"Hey buddy," Eric cautioned him as Jonah was about ready to take off, "were you listening?"

"You said to use my brakes," he tilted his head.

"You're just guessing," he said in a serious tone, letting Jonah know that he had to pay attention when someone was telling him something. "This is important. Your mom and I want you to be safe. There are lot of dangerous things out there, you hear me?"

Jonah looked out at the road before glancing back at Eric. He didn't like how the little boy's chest sighed in defeat, but he wanted the boy to play it safe. The incident of the SUV from the memorial was still fresh in his mind - and no doubt, Ana's. There was barely any traffic going into Ana's lane, but anything could happen.

"You stay right here in front of the house. The mailbox is too far," he commented on the lane that Ana and Jonah lived in. "Don't go too fast or a rock might get caught in your tire or your chains. That might cause you to fall down." Eric knelt in front of Jonah and tapped his knee pads and elbow pads. The little boy didn't like it, but Eric brought it for him anyways when they went to the store after Ana had gone to work. "You always need to ride with these on and with an adult supervising you - especially out here in the front."

"Okay Daddy," Jonah sighed, "can I ride now? Please," he begged, drawing out the 'please' part.

Eric shook his head and gave Jonah a smile. "Give it a go," he stood up and watched as Jonah began to paddle the bike with his feet.

"Look at me, Daddy! Look at me," Jonah shouted as he went half-way down the lane before turning back around. Jonah lifted one hand to wave at Eric.

"Keep both hands on the handles," Eric called out.

But then a presence next to him made him turn his head. Ana was standing there by his side, smiling at her son - waving back at him. "You two got his bike to work," she commented. She didn't sound upset that Eric had done it. He knew he should have checked with her. "Thank you," she interrupted his thinking and turned to smile at him.

"It's no problem, really," he smiled back at her, before impulse caused him to take her hand in his. He hadn't kissed her since that night she had asked him to stay, though there were moments he wanted to and could sense that she wanted to, also.

"Look Mommy! Look!"

Their moment ended as she released his hand and knelt in front of Jonah as he used the brakes to come to stop in front of her.

"We fixed the bike! Did you see me riding?"

"I did. Don't go too quick now. I don't want you to fall and get hurt. And this," she tapped his helmet. "You can't ride unless you have this on."

"I know. Daddy brought it for me," he replied proudly.

"Did you thank him for the helmet and for fixing your bike?"

Jonah turned towards Eric and beamed up at him. "Thank you, Daddy."

"Your welcome, buddy," Eric replied before Jonah paddled away. His little legs going as he made engine noises.

Ana turned towards him. "How long did I sleep in?"

"Not long," he wrapped his arm around her waist without a second thought and pulled her close. "Hey, I was thinking that tonight we go out and eat," he offered, "perhaps catch a movie or something?"

He didn't miss how shock entered her eyes before her face brightened with excitement. They had gone to the park for lunch a couple times - allowing Jonah to run around on the playground. Lieutenant Rossi's wife, Maddi and their daughter Carol-Anne had joined them once. Maddi and Ana had become fast friends. Carol-Anne didn't like dinosaurs, but she loved bugs. So, she and Jonah were friends - not best friends, because she still didn't like dinosaurs. Eric could tell that Ana enjoyed getting out of the house. Hopefully, she'd like going to the movies with him.

"I'd like that," she nodded, before turning to look at Jonah, "I think Jonah might enjoy that, too."

"Great," he smiled in return, unable to hold back the anticipation of taking her out. Of course, Jonah was going to be there, but he didn't think he'd have it any other way. "I'm going to get my phone and look for movie times."

"Alright," Ana replied. "Jonah?" She called for him and he came 'buzzing' around to them. "Daddy is going to take us to the movies, so don't get too dirty."

"Yay," Jonah cheered as he rode in a circle around them. Eric looked over at the two of them. Ana's smile was contagious as she watched Jonah on his bike. He felt lighter, less anxious and more relaxed than he had in a while with her standing by his side. "What movie?"

"Probably the new Jurassic Wor... oomph," Eric grunted as Jonah lept from his bike, wrapping his arms around Eric's legs.

"The new movie," he asked, lifting one hand and holding up two fingers, "Jurassic World number 2?"

"Yes," he smiled, ruffled Jonah's hair, "number two."

"Yes, yes, yes," Jonah let go and started to dance and jump around excitedly. "I'm going to get ready now," he grabbed his bike, making engine noises as he took it into the yard. Ana shook her head and followed after him.

He smiled and did the same. Glancing at Ana as she bent to take off Jonah's helmet and patted his back, ushering him in the house, he realized just how right this all felt, how perfect this woman and her son had fit into his life - or how perfect he had fit into theirs.

It wasn't until they walked into the house, did he realize that Ana referred to him as Jonah's 'daddy' also.