And so it began…
The first morning of course was strange one for all of them, Missy in particular.
She got up as normal;, having a quick cuddle in bed with Emily, before they headed into the kitchen to grab some breakfast. Leaving Emily for a couple of minutes while she watched cartoons, eating her little bowl of cheerios with her mouth wide open as she did so, Missy hurriedly took a quick shower, before getting dressed in a smart navy blouse and dark grey pencil skirt and heels. Missy then took the time to get Emily changed, this morning, taking more time to pick out the toddlers clothes than hers.
Rifling through her bureau, she pulled out a cute little orange and white dress with tigers on, some little navy leggings and matching boots, before turning back to her gorgeous little daughter and smiling at her.
Emily was sat up on Missy's bed, playing with a cuddly stuffed rabbit, gabbling at it as if she was talking to a person.
Missy crouched down in front of her, caching her attention long enough for her to look up.
"So you excited about spending the day with Wade?" Missy asked a little apprehensively.
It was a big deal, passing her onto the merc every day. She had barely gotten adjusted to leaving for day-care. But at least now Missy was safe in the knowledge that Emily would be happy.
She enjoyed spending time with Wade, Missy could certainly see that. The two-year old's face would light up whenever Wade came into the room.
But part of her worried about relying on him too much…
Missy told herself that this was only a temporary solution.
She was already looking and applying for other jobs. She wasn't terribly over-qualified, but she knew that if she really put her mind to it she could find a job that paid better than this one currently did.
Then they could properly get back on their feet again. Just the two of them…her and Emily.
She couldn't rely on anyone else to take care of them. Period. So Missy would have to make sure she was able to support them both, and that was how it would stay.
Emily looked up at her Mom, gaping a little.
"Waydee tak me to feed duks," she said in a quiet voice.
Missy smiled. "Is he now? Well we'll have to remember your mittens and your hat then won't we?" she uttered in a kindly voice, as she began to get Emily dressed.
Was all of this ok? Wade looking after her child when it should be Missy doing that? How she wished she could go with them today..to the park or wherever…
Missy thought back to the early hours of this morning when she had woken on Wade's couch, her head resting on his shoulder.
She had pulled herself up gently, trying not to wake him, before picking Emily up and heading back over to her own apartment and clambering into bed.
She knew she had already gotten too close to him, but she couldn't help herself.
She was so desperate to be close to him, to feel his strong arms around her, to breathe in that musky, cotton-candy scent that lingered around him…
Every thing he did drove her crazy. She wanted him….but more importantly she wanted to be with him…
But all this…it was hard for her. To allow herself to open up as much as she already had…it was tough.
But she was frightened. Petrified even…of showing even the slightest hint of vulnerability. Especially after what had happened to them the last time.
It hurt her to even think about that…
Missy and Emily were silent for the next ten minutes until the pair of them were finally stood before the front door.
The caramel-haired woman was trying to squeeze her wriggling daughter into her little red coat.
"There," she finally murmured, grasping up her own handbag as well as Emily's hat and mittens and popping them into a separate diaper bag. "You ready baby? Shall we go see if Wadey's up?"
Emily gave a nod, looking up at Missy.
"Wen wil yoo be home?" she asked in a tiny voice, placing her tiny digits into her mouth.
Missy gave a soft smile. "At four o'clock sweetie," she said stroking back Emily's little tuft of brown hair, currently tied up with a red bow. "It won't be long."
Emily made a little worried noise, causing Missy's heart to break, but she knew that there was nothing she could do.
Giving the smallest of internal sighs, Missy stood up straight and tugged open the door….
Only to find Wade Wilson stood on the other side, his hand raised aloft, as if he had been about to knock.
"Hey!" said Missy, a little surprised. She blinked a couple of times, staring up at him. He was today dressed jeans and a white t shirt with a black and white picture of a chicken with sunglasses on and thrown over the top was a grey hooded sweater.
"Hey," he replied, gazing at her with the strangest look upon his features, as if he was seeing her for the first time.
A short silence fell between them, as Missy felt her face flushing.
"We shee duks, Waydee?" came a sudden tiny voice from their feet.
The two of them instantly looked down.
"Well hey there, baby-girl," said Wade leaning down and scooping Emily up into his arms. "You want ducks, then we are gonna find you some ducks."
Missy worried at her lip, staring at the pair of them as Emily pressed a little wet kiss to Wade's stubby cheek.
Missy's heart thudded in her ribcage…feelings bubbling up inside her…feelings she was desperately trying to push away.
The more time she spent with him….saw him…spoke to him…fell asleep on him….the more she realised how hard she had fallen for him.
He stomach lurched as his eyes flickered up towards her once more.
Missy tore her own eye away, staring instantly down at the items in her hand.
"If you're taking her out, she'll need this," she said handing him over the stripy diaper bag. "Her mittens and her hat are in there, and there's also an extra couple of pull-ups and a change of clothes which will save you lending her your t shirts."
She looked up once more, as Wade gave a chuckle, peering into the pack.
"Oh and I've also put some snacks in there for her, in case she gets hungry, Oh, and a couple of microwave pouches of mac and cheese, she likes those, but you've got to wait for the cheese to properly cool first-"
Suddenly Wade placed his hand to her shoulder.
"Listen Yummy-Mommy," he said in that same old cheeky Wade Wilson tone. "We'll be fine. If I survived yesterday, I can survive anything."
Missy looked at him carefully.
"Well, you have my cell number if you need to call me," she said, watching as Wade jiggled Em in his strong arms, causing the toddler to giggle.
"Noted," he said turning back to her, his eyes flashing teasingly. "Now you should go, otherwise, YOU are gonna be late."
Missy rolled her eyes, hitching up her purse a little on her shoulder.
She took the hint.
"Okay, okay," she murmured, leaning forwards and pressing a quick kiss to Emily's head.
"So does this mean I get a goodbye kiss every morning, too?" Wade suddenly asked, grinning over at her.
But Missy tutted and turned away, before he could see her face redden.
"In your dreams," she said in a sarcastic tone, shaking her head and pulling closed her front door.
"Bye baby," she said turning back to the pair and stroking the top of Emily's head before strutting quickly away.
It hurt every time she had to leave Emily, but at least today she knew that the toddler was in, hopefully, good hands!
"Soooooo, what's your favourite colour?" asked Wade.
"Pwink," uttered Emily, staring up at him as he spoke.
"And what's your favourite drink?"
"Milk," replied the toddler once again.
"Damn, I was hoping you'd say Vodka," he said a sarcastic tone as Emily gazed at him.
They had had a great day so far.
Wade had made the little girl a second breakfast of pancakes, they had watched TV for about thirty minutes until Em had become bored and began to get fussy.
Neither Wade nor Missy had really thought any of this through... Emily had no toys of her own at Wade's, and Missy had locked her own apartment door shut. So Wade had somehow managed to keep the two-year old entertained by giving her some of his dusty old, collectors-edition action figures to play with, but within about twenty minutes, they too had been abandoned, and the toddler had waddled about exploring the nooks and crannies of his apartment instead.
Although Wade had soon been forced to yelp out a 'Nope!' and pick the squirming girl up into his arms, after she had almost immediately come across a large cache of ammo, he kept in a low drawer.
He knew that he really needed to start kid-proofing his apartment!
So now, after grabbing a little lunch of a grilled cheese (of which Emily had only eaten the middle of, leaving the crusts, smushing them into piles on the table) at a little diner Wade loved, the pair were now walking hand-in-hand through the park. The same park they had been to several weeks ago with Missy.
"What's youuuuur…..favourite food?" asked Wade, trying his hardest to engage Emily in conversation. But he had the feeling she found it difficult to hear him while they were walking, so he pulled her to a slow stop over by a large duck pond.
She thought for a second before answering.
"Chwolat?" she said, looking up at him. And Wade was certain it was more of a question than an answer.
He grinned.
She really was just the cutest thing, wrapped up well in her coat, mittens and white bobble hat, and his heart swelled with pride as he thought of the idea of anyone seeing them together and presuming that she was his kid.
He could only dream of having anything in his life as amazing as this little girl…
He gave a sigh, crouching down beside her and following her gaze out across the pond.
Wade wondered if he was doing a good job. It was only day one and he had already exhausted all of his kid-amusing ideas.
He was going to have to goggle the fuck out of 'activities to keep kids entertained', later tonight…
"How abouuuuut…who's your favourite person?" he asked her, trying to get her attention back after a moment or two had passed.
Emily turned and looked at him, her face questioning.
Had she heard him? She wasn't usually this unresponsive.
He repeated his question, when her eyes were on him and she answered almost immediately.
"Mommy," she muttered in a quiet tone, causing Wade to chuckle.
He stopped for a moment, thinking.
"And how about your Daddy? You ever see him?" Is he your favourite too?" he asked in a light tone.
Wade knew he was probably over stepping the mark, but it was unlikely Missy would ever tell him anything about Emily's father…
"I don' havv a Daddy," said Emily shaking her head, looking straight at him. "Onwy a Mommy. 'Ovver chwildwen get Daddies but I don'."
Wade stared at her hard, her heart almost tearing two at her words. He wanted to reach out and take her in his arms but Em's attention was suddenly caught by a large duck waddling past.
"Ish Duk!" she said pointing at the nonchalant bird, strutting by. "Ish Duk, Waydee!"
Wade gave a smile and got to his feet, taking her by the tiny mittened paw.
Jesus Christ, he wished he could be there to be her Daddy. He wanted that more and more, with each and every day that passed.
But he couldn't force a relationship with Missy, he knew that.
But he could still do this…take care of her…take care of both of them, as much as he possibly could…
Suddenly, he glanced down to see Emily pulling grilled cheese crust after grilled cheese crust from her pocket with her gloved hand, before holding them out towards the brown feathered duck.
Wade gave a laugh.
She really was the cutest thing….
It wasn't long before the pair were headed home.
Emily had complained about being cold and so Wade had turned on his heel, coming back the way they had come.
They weren't that far from their apartment building before he heard a sudden voice calling his name from across the street.
Emily hadn't noticed, so he gave her a slight tug, pulling her to a stop as he turned to gaze around, staring over at a familiar face crossing the street towards him.
"Hey, I thought it was you," came the low drawl of Vanessa, the dark haired woman from Weasel's bar.
He knew that she worked at a strip-joint a block or two from here, so it was really no surprise that he should bump into her.
She smiled up at him with her pretty elfin features, before her gaze suddenly travelled down to where Emily was attached at the hand.
"Hey, cutie!" she said in a warm voice, but Emily hid almost instantly behind Wade's leg, going shy.
Wade grinned, glancing up at Vanessa.
"Nice to see you in the daylight for once," he said cheerily.
He in fact had never seen Vanessa anywhere but Sister Margaret's and the strip-joint.
She gave a chuckle. "Yeah, I know, weird right? I feel like Bella Swan," she said taking a step closer to him. "So, you babysitting?"
Wade nodded.
"Yeah, although she is waaaaaay more of a responsible adult that I am," she teased, trying to pull Emily out from behind him, but she refused to budge. "Aren't you Chicken Little?"
There came no response.
He let out a puff of air, his eyes meeting with Vanessa's once again, as her lips curved up into a wide grin.
"Listen," she said, moving another inch closer to him. "If you're free later, my shift finishes at eleven, if you wanted to….maybe…"
Wade stared at her for a moment as he trailed off.
I mean, Vanessa was nice….no, more than nice, hot and sexy and everything he should want in a woman…
And as far as Missy was concerned it was a no-go between them…she had made that clear.
But part of him couldn't help but waver slightly. If he met Vanessa tonight then that would mean that he and Missy would never be a thing...
But Missy had made it clear that she didn't want him. She had pushed him away and if Wade was honest...it hurt.
He gazed into Vanessa's dark eyes- that matched his to perfection.
"Uhhhh….yeah, why not…" he said forcing a smile. No, giving a smile.
He tried to relax a little.
Seeing Vanessa tonight….well, it would be good for him…
"Ok, then," she said flashing him a grin. "Well, I guess I'll see you tonight... big man."
And with that, she sauntered back off across the street, throwing the pair of them one last wave as she did so.
Wade gave a sigh, before glancing down at Emily...but to his surprise, Emily was already staring back up at him...
...an angry scowl plastered across her scrunched up, little face...
Thanks to jeffhardyluvsme, dancindonna, starrat, Legolas Girl 31, TheHappyKitty, avidfandomlover, jonstar1034, Momochan77, Smaug the golden, Carlypso and AngiMk for reviewing.
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