Hi everyone! Here is the next little bit. I am still writing as much and as often as I can. This is a three day weekend for us, which means that instead of doing grades for my students tomorrow, I can (you guessed it) write! I really like this part. I thought that Kerryanne was really cool and I really wanted a conversation like this to happen. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Reviews are appreciated (ALOT!).
He had no idea how long they laid there, completely taken with each other. It was good to just lay there with her and laugh at stupid thing and play stupid little games and just be together. Fiona was currently using her finger to trace dirty words onto his chest, while he tried to guess what she was writing. It was something stupid, something he completely forgot they used to do in their younger, more carefree days, and he loved remembering now, with her settled on top of him.
"I can't believe these words you are coming up with, Love. I never knew how incredibly dirty your mind was. Not at all ladylike, I tell you!" he mocked her, as she finished tracing the word cunt on his skin.
"What a liar you are! You have always known exactly how dirty my mind is. It's what you love about me," she proudly replied.
"I suppose you're right," he conceded.
"I always am," she lifted herself enough to look him in the eyes, before kissing him quickly and moving to climb off of him. He stopped her almost immediately.
"No," he whined, holding on to her hands. "Where are you going?"
"To start the shower. It takes about six hours to actually get hot. I'm kind of sticky and smell like sex, thanks to you," she looked at him reproachfully.
"I like you that way," he argued, really just trying to make her stay exactly where she was.
"I am sure you do, but I doubt Kerryanne would agree. I would hate for her to need years of therapy because she came in to say good morning and was greeted by this. So come on. Let's go shower, yeah?" she invited him, actually climbing off of him this time and pulling him to his feet.
They showered quickly, though that was not by choice. The hot water in the ancient rectory was very, very limited, and neither of them really wanted to be glared at all day by Kerryanne because she didn't have any hot water. He toweled himself off and redressed, leaving Fiona in the bathroom doing girly things, like her hair and makeup and things that he assumed required her full attention.
He wandered into the small kitchen and began rummaging around the cupboards. He had worked up a pretty healthy appetite this morning. As Kerryanne had hilariously pointed out yesterday, Fiona couldn't cook for shit, so he could not rely on her making him breakfast. No, he was on his own as far as food was concerned. Not that he minded. He had fended for himself for a very long time and was actually a very good cook. He was in the process of pulling some oatmeal from the cupboard while simultaneously looking for a pot to cook it in, when he heard somebody enter the kitchen. He spun around, expecting it to be Fiona, but froze when he saw Kerryanne instead.
She was frozen in place also. She looked barely half awake in her pink plaid pajamas. Her messy hair was thrown up in a sloppy pony tail, and she was missing a sock. She looked like running into her freshly showered father in the kitchen was about the last thing she expected. He was in a bit of an awkward position as well. He wondered if she would believe him is he claimed that he just came over to cook breakfast. Probably not. She seemed like a smart kid. Shit.
"Uh. Good morning?" he said, really hoping that this situation was not actually as awkward as it seemed.
"…hi," came her reply. Yeah. It was pretty awkward.
"Okay. Listen…" he started.
"I guess that Ma knows you are here?" she quickly asked, desperate to avoid whatever was about to follow his request to listen.
"Yeah, she knows," he admitted, feeling oddly like he was being interrogated.
"You've been here all night?" she continued to question.
"Most of it," he admitted.
She continued to look him over, seeming to size him up. He continued to stand there, holding a pot and a container of oatmeal, trying really hard to not look her in the eye. He was sure that he had never felt more nervous, not even as a stupid teenage, being glared at by Fiona's father. This was worse, much, much worse.
"Are you making breakfast?" she casually inquired, taking him by surprise again. She was clearly a master of non-sequiturs.
"Aye," he quickly answered.
"I like oatmeal. Can you make me some?" she asked, with a small smile.
"Yeah. Yes, of course," he stammered, turning to actually begin the process of making the oatmeal. He turned to look at her again, adding "I like oatmeal too."
"I usually eat the instant stuff from the microwave. It's easy," she admitted.
"Yeah, but this tastes better," he told her.
"I don't think I have ever had oatmeal made on a stove. Ma isn't keen on cooking," she informed him, as if it was news to him.
"That I remember. It's a miracle you have managed to survive this long, actually. I fully expected you to weigh 400 pounds due to surviving off of fast food," he told her, only half kidding.
She laughed. "There was a cook. She always came when I was in school to do the cooking, and she always made loads of flavorless, healthy stuff. We're not allowed to eat fast food. Girls need to maintain their figures, you know," she said, rolling her eyes.
He didn't know whether or not she was kidding. She couldn't be serious. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that she probably was very serious. Jimmy was exactly the kind of man that needed to control everything about the lives of his 'family', right down to what they ate. It was a little bit psychotic.
"Are you fucking with me?" he asked, just to clarify. When she shook her head no, he immediately declared, "It's no wonder you are so skinny. I am taking you to McDonald's as soon as humanly possible."
That earned him a laugh. He continued to cook the oatmeal adding several secret ingredients, as he went. Kerryanne busied herself putting the kettle on for tea. They enjoyed a comfortable silence for a few minutes. It was still kind of hard for him to believe that he was standing in the kitchen with his daughter, just making breakfast, while his wife finished up showering and dressing a couple of rooms away. Just a couple of months ago, he would have scoffed as the possibility of this ever happening, but he had never enjoyed being wrong more so than right now. He smiled to himself and kept stirring the oatmeal in the pot.
"Da?" Kerry said softly, pulling him from his thoughts. He stopped stirring. It had been a very, very long time since she had called him that. He loved the way it sounded. He turned to look at her. "You love her, right? Ma, I mean."
He should have been shocked by her question but he wasn't. He had kind of been expecting it since she walked out and caught him in the kitchen. He looked at her, looked right into the eyes that were almost exact replicas of his own, and answered her, "Yeah, Kerryanne. I love her."
She stared him down for a moment, as if trying to determine whether or not he was being honest. Eventually, she nodded at him and smiled slightly. "Okay. It's just…she's my Ma. I don't like seeing her hurt or treated badly, and that's all I have ever really seen. I think she has wanted you to come back for a long time. Just…be better than him, okay?"
He nodded at her. "Yeah, okay. You're a good kid, Kerryanne." Her response was a blush and an eye roll, and she continued to make tea. He had just been given the third degree by his fourteen year old daughter. It was really weird, but he had never been more proud of her in her entire life. She was looking out for her Ma. Not that he would ever purposely hurt Fiona, but still, Kerryanne didn't know that. She was just trying to protect somebody she loved. It was something he would do. He idly wondered if she would be having a similar conversation with Fiona at any point, but maybe that was assuming too much. He was only a little creeped out when she provided an answer to his unasked question.
"I can't wait to ask Ma about what her intentions are! This is going to be so great! Although, you might have to stop her from hitting me, okay?" Kerryanne piped up, the glee evident in her voice.
"Absolutely," he promised, with a laugh. Leaving some on the store for Fiona, he spooned the perfectly cooked oatmeal into two bowls, setting one in front her, where she sat with a steaming cup of tea, and keeping one for himself. He was pleased and grateful to note that she made him a cup as well. "It's good with strawberry jam in it, though I would avoid making out with your Ma for a while afterwards, with the allergy and all. Remind me sometime to tell you about the time I forgot."
"Ew," was her response, but she was smiling.
"And where is my oatmeal?" came Fiona's voice from the doorway. He looked at her and smiled, pointing to the stove. Fiona dished out a bowl for herself and joined them at the table. It was a simple, normal thing, just sitting at the table eating breakfast with his family, but normal was something he would embrace.