Daisy left her last class and walked to Phil's classroom. For her, school ended at two-forty-five. Phil worked until three-thirty. As she walked slowly down the hall, she heard someone yelling her name. She turned around and saw the girl from her English class, who also happened to also be in her health class, walking toward her. She waited for her to catch up to her.
"So loner, where you headed?
"To Mr. Coulson's classroom."
"Mr. C. He's a pretty cool guy. Everyone likes Mr. C. How come."
"He's – uh – he's – he's my – uh – my father."
"I didn't know Mr. C. had a kid."
"Yeah there's a lot of that going around."
"So you some kind of long lost kid recently found?"
"Something like that."
"You just got a ton more interesting Johnson."
"Great. So what's your name anyway? Or is that classified?"
"Natasha Romanoff. My friends are allowed to call me Nat."
"Well Nat, I have to go. Guess I'll see you in the morning."
"You're not gonna give details?"
"Not today."
"Fair enough. Maybe at lunch tomorrow. Sit at our table. I'll introduce you around. Even loners have to eat."
"I have second period lunch."
"I know. I saw you. You were sitting alone."
"So you have a table with friends?"
"Something like that."
"I'll think about it."
Nat smiled. "You do that. Later." And with that she turned and walked away from Daisy.
Daisy turned around and started down the hallway, and saw Phil standing in the doorway to his room.
"I'm fine Phil. I was talking to someone."
"I saw. Natasha."
"Yeah. You know her?"
"She's in my third period class."
"And?" Daisy walked into the room followed by Phil who sat down at his desk while Daisy plopped into a chair.
"She's smart. Not much of a team player. Prefers to not be called on. Never raises her hand. Gets perfect test scores."
"I like her."
"Why am I not surprised?"
"She seems to like you too, Phil."
"I'm a likable guy. How were your classes?"
"You want a simple answer or details?"
"I'd love details but than again so will Melinda. Maybe the short version now and at dinner a longer one?"
"I liked Miss Walters and Miss Smoak. Health class is boring. My CS classes are amazing. English is okay. I'm probably gonna fail Algebra and Biology, Mrs. Foster's class is alright and so is she. Spanish is gonna be tough. I literally know zilch about it."
"Nada. No sabes nada."
"Yep. Add that one to the fail list. And you can speak Spanish too?"
"A little. Conversational mostly to get by if needed. I was Air Force too. Melinda can help you. No problem with history class?"
"Nope. Mrs. Foster said she'd give me a lot of time to catch up and take everything into consideration."
"Well, I have to finish this up, so maybe you could do homework? I'll be here another half hour at least."
"Sounds like a plan." Daisy pulled out her 'Catcher in The Rye' book and started reading.
They saw the car as they pulled into the driveway. It was actually a red SUV.
Phil frowned. "I wonder who's here."
"Whoever it is, has great taste. That's a really nice vehicle."
They both got out and as they did, Melinda came out the front door. "Hey, how was your day?" she asked as she got closer.
"Pretty good."
"Who's here Mel?" Phil asked.
"No one."
"Who's SUV?"
"Oh that. It's mine. I bought it today."
"Seriously?" Daisy grinned at her and walked over to it.
"It's a Honda Pilot."
"It's a sweet ride. Nice color."
"I thought so. Look inside."
Daisy opened the door and climbed in the driver's seat. "So um – this is the tank you meant huh?"
"It is. I'll teach you to drive once you get your permit."
"Sweet."
"You bought a brand spanking new SUV?" Phil moved closer to the SUV.
"I did. Needed a vehicle to drive to work and this one will do the job. Plus, it's four wheel drive for Chicago winters, and as Daisy said is a sweet ride. Plus, Daisy will be safe learning to drive this as it has a great safety rating."
"It's very nice. But expensive."
"They are all expensive Phil. It's fine. I make a decent salary and have plenty of savings."
"Okay. But you just put a substantial amount of that savings down on the house. I wouldn't want to see you run short of money."
"I did put half my savings down on the house. And still had enough to pay cash for this. Like you Phil, I had minimal expenses and amassed a large amount of savings since we last saw each other. I still have plenty. Oh, and I'm going back to work next Tuesday. No need to stay out of work since Daisy is in school now. I will be working shorter hours though, then I had been. Regular hours, seven-thirty to three-thirty. Plus, I can use the rest of my time off I have accrued for winter break when Daisy's off from school."
"Sounds good. I heard back from the contractor. He's able to send a crew to start on November fourth. Says it should take at most two weeks. He's going to do the new flooring in the two bathrooms, all new rugs like we agreed in the bedrooms, put down a hardwood floor in the living room, hall and dining area, fix some of the walls and replace a few windows. He wanted to do the painting, but I said no. I figured we'd do like Bobbi suggested and ask for volunteers. But that means we need to pick out colors and order the paint and ask everyone so we can paint before the rugs and flooring are done. That way we don't have to cover anything up."
"We could do that this weekend. Pick out everything and order it and then paint next weekend."
"That's what I thought. We still need to pick out rug colors for the bedrooms upstairs. We can coordinate the colors unless you just want to go with a beige or tan color for all the bedrooms? We can sit down and look everything over this weekend and call to order everything, then go to the store to pick out paint. So looks like we can move in around November fifteenth if everything goes as planned"
"Good. It's getting a little crowded at times here. Though don't get me wrong, I appreciate Bobbi's hospitality a lot."
Daisy who had gotten out of the SUV spoke up. "Well, you guys could go back to your apartments you are paying for. I know, I know, you don't want me out of your sight. But it makes sense. I mean I could stay with Melinda and you'll still get to see me a lot Phil at school."
Melinda looked at Phil. "Well I do need to start packing my stuff up and so do you. We could stay at our places and do that next week. Give us all some breathing room including your sister and her husband."
"I don't know. I mean I have the extra bedroom. You don't. Wouldn't it be better for Daisy to stay with me?"
Daisy looked at the ground and said nothing.
Melinda sighed. "Yeah maybe. But, Daisy's right. You see her in school, and I won't. How about we do what she suggests, Daisy will stay with me, but you can drop her at my place every day after school and we can have dinner together. I'll drop her at school in the morning."
"That would work. It's just temporary anyway, right?"
"Right. A couple weeks at the most."
"So why not do that now, or tomorrow?" Daisy questioned.
"Because my parents are going to be here this weekend and they'll want to spend a lot of time with you." Melinda sighed. "And they will be staying over there." She pointed to Grace's house, Bobbi's neighbor.
"Oh yeah, they worked together, didn't they?" Phil asked.
"Yep. I'm not sure how long they intend to stay, but at least for this weekend, staying here will be better in the long run."
Melinda looked over at Daisy and smiled. "So come on, tell me all about your first day of school."
"Well technically it's not my first day of school. It's my first day at this school. It was okay."
"Just okay huh?" Melinda grabbed her arm and the two moved toward the front door. "You make any friends."
Phil watched as Melinda and Daisy walked away and saw the grin on Daisy's face and the ease that she allowed Melinda to hold onto her arm. A flash of jealousy overtook him. Daisy seemed downright enthralled with her birth mother. He knew she talked to her, and yet, Melinda had shared very little about those conversations up to this point. The two seemed to speak to each other without difficulty, Daisy allowed Melinda to tease her and their closeness seemed to require little effort. He, on the other hand, could barely draw out answers to questions let alone a spontaneous conversation. He didn't begrudge Melinda the closeness, he just wished he had it too. He wondered again why she seemed to distant herself from him at times. He glanced at the new vehicle Melinda had purchased, recalling her words that she would teach Daisy how to drive, and Daisy's joy, and he felt another gut punch of envy engulf him.
Dinner that night was just the three of them, Bobbi and Hunter had a poker night with some of their friends. Daisy had offered to go along and count cards for them, and everyone had laughed it off, except Hunter who was interested. That is till he received three sets of annoyed eyes on him, then he'd dropped it. Phil had made spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread, while Daisy and Melinda had made a salad and set the table.
"So anyway, she seems pretty cool, so I might take her up on her invite to sit with her at lunch. Kind of curious about who her friends might be. Although, gotta say I'm not at all looking forward to the barrage of questions about being Mr. C's kid. How come they call you Mr. C anyhow?"
"I guess it's just shorter. Dunno really. I know some of the students call the bio teacher Mr. R. His names Radcliff."
"I guess it's better than being called Mr. Rad." Melinda scoffed.
"Or Mr. Coul (she pronounced it cool)." Daisy cackled after making the comment and Melinda joined in laughing.
"Very funny. I'll have you know many of my students think I'm cool."
Daisy grinned and stuffed another piece of garlic bread in her mouth. "Schwur Pril," she mumbled back.
"Well Daisy, how about I help you with Spanish after we do the dishes and then maybe I can go over your other classes with you and we make a game plan how to help you catch up?"
"I'll do the dishes Mel. You two can get started with that."
"You made dinner Phil, and worked all day, I can do the dishes. It's not a problem. I should help out anyway."
"Daisy we've been over this. You can help out yes, but you don't have to do chores to repay us. And Phil's right. The sooner we get started, the better. Are you sure Phil?"
Yes. I did clean up as I cooked so it's not big deal anyway. Last piece of garlic bread, anyone want it?"
"I'll take it." Daisy put it in her mouth and headed to her room to get her backpack.
Melinda and Phil cleared the table by the time Daisy returned and as Phil started on the dishes, Melinda tried to help Daisy with her Spanish work. It was going okay at first, but after over a half hour, Daisy was just getting more and more frustrated.
"I'm never going to be able to get this, am I?" Her face held defeat. "And if I can't do this and get caught up, how will I be able to handle bio, algebra and the rest of them."
"Hey take a breath. You don't have to do this all in one night. I know it can be overwhelming. But let's break this down in steps."
"That won't help. I'm just too stupid. I thought maybe this time I'd be different."
"That's not you talking, Daisy." Phil walked over to her. "That's other people talking. Melinda's right. If you look at the whole picture it is daunting. But attacking smaller pictures is doable. Hard yes. But doable. Look how much of that book you read while you waited for me and in the car on the way home. Two chapters."
"Reading a good book is different than learning a new language. Or algebra. Or biology. Or memorizing history dates."
"You do know we won't get upset if you don't get straight 'A's', right? Just do your best and try. That's all anyone expects," Melinda said.
"I'm more worried about just passing everything."
Melinda shrugged her shoulders. "If you don't, it's not the end of the world. But...I think you will be fine. You are a very smart kid. Seems to me you just need to learn some organizational and prioritizing skills."
"It's hard to focus sometimes. I don't know Melinda. My head feels too full. "
Melinda laughed. "So let's take a break. How about you get up and move around, maybe do something else for a while and we come back to it?"
"But there's so much to do. I'll never get it all done if I stop."
"You will. Like I said, we need a plan. How about tonight we just focus on this first Spanish lesson, maybe you read another chapter in your book, and Phil can help with history. I bet he can make his lesson fun."
Phil smiled at her. "Without a doubt. Cause I'm a cool teacher, remember."
Daisy bit her bottom lip, shook her head. "But what about bio and algebra, and I didn't even look at the Health syllabus yet."
"Steps Daisy. You can't do everything in one night. Let's focus on Spanish, History and English tonight. Tomorrow we can do some of the others. But first, get up and move. Maybe even go outside for a few minutes."
She looked at them both and nodded. "Haven't really seen the neighborhood. Maybe a short walk would help clear my mind. Melinda would you come with me?"
"Sure." She smiled at Daisy while noticing Phil's disappointment. "Maybe Phil would like to tag along. He probably needs the exercise."
Phil frowned at her but perked up when Daisy spoke.
Daisy shrugged. "Sure. He can come too."
The three were sitting in the living room watching a movie. Phil had suggested it so Daisy could wind down from all the work she'd put in. After their neighborhood walk, she'd come back inside with a better attitude and they'd gotten through half the first chapter of Spanish, and then she read another chapter of her book, while Phil puttered in the kitchen baking a strawberry cobbler. It helped that the book was really good, according to her, and then they'd tackled history. Melinda was right about Phil. He made the information interesting and instead of reciting it to her, he told it as a story. She found herself immersed in the stories of the Native Americans and the first explorers who set foot on North American soil. Phil had worked out a beginning timeline with dates for her that she could add to and went over early maps of the country and how to read them. Daisy grabbed another handful of popcorn, as they watched a Bourne movie.
"Oh for pete's sake no good spy would do that. And no one is stupid enough to fall for that trick, even if their IQ is minimal."
Daisy giggled. Apparently while Melinda watched spy movies, she criticized them thoroughly. It was hilarious. Every few minutes, she'd sigh with disgust or comment about what was wrong, or simply just call them all idiots. Daisy looked over at Phil who was grinning. She smiled at him and offered him the popcorn bowl across Melinda's lap.
"Now look at that. Who the hell would hide there?"
Phil raised his eyebrows at Daisy and then responded to Melinda. "It's a really dumb place to hide. He could have crawled over to the dumpster. Far more cover there."
"The freaking truck was right there, Phil. You jump on the truck and crouch down and it's perfect. The dumpster leaves too much space."
"The truck's moving Melinda. Wouldn't he fall off?" Daisy joined in.
"Not if he was in shape. Of course, I'm smaller so it would be easier for me. Sometimes being small has advantages."
"So you've actually done something like that? For reals?" Daisy's eyes were wide as she looked at Melinda.
"Once. A mission in Prague. Worked fine. Oh look. Now he's trying to shoot that kind of gun aiming at – there is no way he can hit those targets with that much accuracy while running."
Daisy laughed. "You're really not enjoying this movie, are you?"
Melinda looked at her in surprise. "Of course I am. I love these kinds of movies."
Daisy raised her eyebrows at her. Melinda shrugged and turned back to the movie.
"Oh you idiot! Why would you do that?"
Daisy grinned, and sat back, stuffing her face with popcorn, as Melinda continued to yell at the TV. She enjoyed Melinda's running commentary far more than the movie itself.
Daisy had gone to bed shortly after the movie ended and Melinda quietly read while Phil prepared for his lessons the next day. Bobbi and Hunter soon came home and went to bed and shortly after both Melinda and Phil decided to call it a night.
"Daisy was enjoying your comments about the movie. Seems to me that you sensed that and really stepped it up a notch."
"Maybe."
"I mean I know you like to talk back to the TV, but I guess that was her first encounter with it."
"Yeah. She was a bit stressed out. I guessed maybe she needed a few laughs. Besides that, the movie was so off realistically."
"I think they call that creative license."
"Well I call it piss poor research."
"Maybe you could consult on the next movie. Set them straight."
"Haha Phil. Although it would at least be accurate if I did."
"You seem to have tapped into that intuitive thing with Daisy. She really likes you Mel."
"She likes you too Phil."
"Yeah. But we haven't really connected much yet. Not like you two. She's doing Tai Chi with you. She wants you to teach her stuff. She talks to you."
"Phil."
"I mean that's fine. You're her mom. She should want you to teach her stuff. And talk to you."
"She enjoyed your history lesson Phil."
"Yeah. I think she enjoyed it more cause you stayed and listened too."
"Phil."
"It's okay, Really."
"Phil. Listen to me. I know you've been a little down cause Daisy hasn't been as forthcoming with you. I can see the looks. What you can't let happen is to let Daisy see them. Because she already has enough pressure on her with this whole thing."
"Melinda I'm not going to put pressure on her to like me."
"Phil she already likes you. She laughs at your stupid jokes and thinks the world of you."
"But?"
"Seriously? Please tell me you haven't seen it. She's wary of men. All men. She passes by them and shies away subconsciously mostly but knowingly at others. It's a learned response. Men have hurt her in the past."
"I get that Mel. But woman have hurt her too. She's wary of most people."
"Yes. And she understands that none of us are going to hurt her. In her head. But her heart, her emotions are not easy to shut off, or change. It's going to take time. She's not fond of me touching her all the time either. She's shrugged me off Phil. You do understand though that you, or more specifically men, present another threat to her right?"
"Oh my god. Mel she knows I'd never – how could she – I'm her – oh god."
Melinda got up and sat next to him on the air mattress. "Phil she isn't thinking that you would do that. It's just built in. You've had the training, like I did in the Air Force. Probably more with being a teacher, right? The signs. The symptoms. She isn't thinking you will do that to her, she's just reacting on instinct."
"Like when I grabbed her arm. Or tried to."
"Yes. Or when you invade her space just a tad too closely. Or yell. Or any other number of small things we normally overlook that could set her off. You have to be more careful. I have to be more careful. Everyone around her has to be. It isn't going to be cured overnight, maybe never. She already has learned coping skills for her panic attacks. Maybe, once she opens up more to Jemma or me or you or Bobbi, she can heal and be able to see those coming too. To be able to understand that a hug is nothing more than a hug. A pat on the shoulder is just that and being in her space will not mean she needs to be terrified."
"I'm sorry Mel I haven't been thinking. I've just been so happy our daughter is home and back with us, I haven't – I've been a terrible dad, haven't I?"
"Phil." Melinda shook her head. "Stop. This – this is a learning process."
"Well apparently I'm a slow learner cause you aren't having much trouble having it click for you. You are on the same page with Daisy, while I'm two or three behind."
"Nope. I still feel so very out of my element. This – this whole experience so far, I lay awake at night wondering if I'm doing this right. Wondering if anything I said or did took Daisy backwards or hurt her in any way. I watch her every chance I get. I can't stop watching her. I am so afraid she's going to slip out of my sight again. I'm so afraid of losing her. Phil I don't think I could live through that again.
You took her to school today and it took every ounce of my strength to not grab her and make her stay home. As it was, I texted her four times. She ignored them for a few hours and then texted me back at lunch. You know what I did for those couple of hours Phil? I paced across the lawn debating on coming to the school and demanding to see her. I fantasized about grabbing her and running somewhere safe and never ever letting her out of my sight again. I have no idea how to do this Phil. I've been holding my emotions in check cause I'm afraid of completely falling apart. And her seeing that, that's the last thing she needs right now. So no Phil I am not one step ahead of you, I am not okay with any of this. I'm terrified."
He reached his hand over to her and cupped her chin. "Well you are certainly fooling me Melinda. I was jealous cause it seemed like you had it all together. Seemed like I was being left out. I'm an idiot."
Melinda gave him a soft smile. "No Phil. You're not an idiot. You are sometimes oblivious, that's all. It's why I was always better at undercover than you."
"Yeah but you hated undercover."
"Yes, but I was damn good at." Melinda moved closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder as he snaked his arm around her shoulder. "It's killing me to know how much pain and hurt she went through. Do you know I almost drove to Naperville, after we read her full file Bobbi gave us that second night we were here?"
"To beat up that jerkoff foster guy?"
"Yeah. I wanted to hit someone so badly. That night I left here to go the gym at work to beat the hell out of a punching bag. I borrowed your car by the way."
"I know."
"You knew?"
"Yeah I figured you wanted to be alone. Maybe just to chill at your place. You were back before Daisy got up. Hey don't look so surprised. I may be a teacher now, but I always knew when you got up in the middle of the night. Guess I still do."
"Guess so. How weird is this yet for you Phil?"
"Super weird. It's like sometimes I need to pinch myself to make sure it's not some dream. Everything is moving so fast and yet I am super focused on all that is happening. Does that make sense?"
"Yes. You're taking it all in, feeling it all, but not completely processing it all yet."
"That's exactly right. You've gotten very perceptive in your old age Mel."
"I've always been perceptive Phil. It's what made me a good specialist. And stop calling me old. I'm only forty -three."
"I know. You look even younger. Hardly as thought you're old enough to have a teenager."
"She's fifteen Phil. All those years missed."
"Mel - don't."
"She's strong. Confident. Smart."
"Funny too. And a wise ass just like you. She's beautiful. She get's that from you."
Melinda smiled. "She's perfect."
"Yeah." He wrapped his other arm around her. "She's gonna be okay. We're gonna make sure she is okay and that no man, no one, will ever hurt her again."
"Damn right. Or I'll kick their ass."
He smiled and stayed silent for a few moments and then reminded her, "We probably should get to sleep. It's late."
She pulled away from him and got up. "Yeah. It's a busy day tomorrow. You two have school, and we have our first counseling session together."
"You have any plans for tomorrow while we're at school?"
"I have a date with a punching bag."
"You do know there are other ways to handle stress and anger, right? For example, the counseling session tomorrow will work far better if you actually talk. And when I say talk – I mean share your feelings."
"I thought we were trying to get Daisy to talk?"
"Group session. Pretty sure it means all of us."
"You were always better at talking for us than I was. Look, I'm trying. With all of this. For Daisy. I will keep trying for Daisy. I will always put her first."
"I know. Me too. So you're not seeing anyone right now?"
She stared at him. "This. You want to do this now?"
"I was just curious. You haven't mentioned anything, and you know I was supposed to meet someone at Bobbi's picnic, so you know I've been kind of dating, and I was just wondering if you..."
"No Phil. I haven't dated anyone for a very long time."
"Oh. Why not? I mean it's really none of my business, but I would think men would be beating down your door to ask you out."
"You're right. It's none of your business. And getting later. Good night Phil." She laid down on the couch and pulled the covers up turning away from Phil.
