Jubal drove them to a local family diner that he had heard Sam and the kids talk about going to when they first moved to Scarsdale. He knew it was somewhere that the kids liked so he was happy to eat there. It wasn't exactly how he had imagined him and Maggie eating out together for the first time but right now he wouldn't change this situation for anything in the world. They had gotten a booth, Abigail had asked to sit beside Maggie so that it was girls one side and boys the other, which meant that Jubal and Maggie were facing each other as the kids sat on the inside of them against the window. They had ordered their food and were sitting waiting
"So how are you liking soccer buddy"?
"It's a lot of fun, it's harder than I thought it would be, but I've made a lot of friends"
"No one warns you about all the running you have to do in soccer" Maggie spoke looking at Tyler
"You played?" Tyler asked surprised, but he was not as surprised as his father who had no idea that Maggie had played Scocer
"I did. My brother wasn't really in to sports so it was up to me and my sister. We both played soccer. I joined thinking Soccer would be easy, but I was not prepared for all that running" Maggie laughed softly keeping her focus on Tyler even though she could feel Jubal watching her, she knew that he had no idea about her playing sports
"Did the running make you quit?" Tyler didn't have any adults to talk to about Soccer as it wasn't something they had played, Jubal had played some Football at school but never soccer
"No, it made me want to get better so that the running didn't feel as hard. And it was thanks to all that running that I was prepared for my physical exam to become a police officer"
"So the running got easier?"
Maggie couldn't help but smile, Tyler was now the one asking all the questions as Abigail was busy colouring a picture that the waitress had given her. She wondered if Jubal realised that the kids sounded like him when he was in the JOC trying to get answers
"It did get easier, it took time though. My sister and I turned it in to fun games so that it was never just running. I can give you some of them to try with your friends if you want"
"That would be so cool. I can tell them that an FBI agent helped us… No other kid can say that"
"I should have them at home on my laptop and if I don't my sister still has them, so I'll get them to your dad to give to you as soon as possible"
"Thank you Maggie, this is so cool" Tyler couldn't stop smiling now
Jubal had watched Maggie win over his daughter quite easily and now his son was doing the exact same thing, he wasn't sure he could handle all the love that he was feeling right now. He raised his eyebrow looking at Tyler and Maggie
"You know your dad is an FBI agent too" he nudged his sons shoulder gently and playfully "And I think I'm going to let my kids question you more they have found out things about you I didn't know"
"You just haven't asked the right questions like they have" she smirked playfully looking at Jubal
"How long have you worked with dad?" Tyler asked Maggie
"I've worked with your dad for five years now"
"I'm one year older than that" Abigail didn't even lift her head up when she spoke which made Tyler, Jubal and Maggie laugh as none of them thought she was listening
"Okay see now that your dad can do, pretend he's not listening and hear everything"
"It's part of my job to do that with having such a large team"
Maggie was about to answer Jubal when she noticed the frown on Abigails face and she tapped Jubal's foot under the table with her eyes going to Abigail and he noticed straight away that his daughter looked upset
"Hey baby girl what's wrong" Jubal reached over putting his hand on top of his daughter's
"I want my hair like that but mummy or Lauren can't do it" She was pointing at the princess picture she was colouring
Tyler looked at his dad "Mum has tried but it never worked"
Maggie turned a little to look at Abigail "You want your hair french plaited like the princess?"
Abigail nodded without saying anything more, Maggie looked at Jubal before back at Abigail "Well if it's okay with you and your dad, I know how to french plait so I can do it for you"
Jubal was convinced his daughter's head was going to fall off it snapped up that quickly when she heard Maggie's words and she looked at her dad "Daddy please?"
Jubal laughed softly, once again Maggie surprising him, he really was finding out more and more about her because of his kids "If Maggie is okay with doing it then you can have it done Baby girl"
"I don't mind at all" Maggie was sure the other diner's looked their way when Abigail let out a sound of joy making Maggie laugh
"You don't have anything to tie it up with" Abigail was close to frowning again
Maggie took out a few spare hair bobbles from her pocket "I always carry extra for work. You want to watch out the window while I do your hair"
Abigail didn't have to be asked twice, she lifted her feet and turned to look out the window as Maggie started to french plait her hair. Jubal was watching them and he couldn't keep it to himself anymore as the question was bugging his mind
"Okay I have to ask.. How do you know how to french plait?"
Maggie quickly glanced at Jubal before back at Abigails hair "You can blame or thank my sister for that too. She went through a phase of wanting her hair french plaited, it took me watching a lot of videos to learn it and I guess it has stayed with me ever since"
Maggie was concentrating on getting Abigails hair right as she seen how excited the young girl was, Jubal was busy just admiring the woman in-front of him, he was pretty sure that if his kids asked anything of Maggie she would find a way to make it happen all because of what she thought of their dad. That was an almost overwhelming feeling for him, he was pulled out of his thoughts by Tyler
"Dad can I ask something and you won't get mad" he asked quietly but Maggie had heard, she kept her focus on Abigail as she didn't want Tyler to feel uncomfortable
"Of course you can buddy, you can ask anything you want, what's up?" Jubal was surprised about his son asking that he won't get mad, he knew the question was hard for Tyler and one that he wasn't sure if he should ask. Jubal wrapped his arm around Tyler's shoulders to encourage the boy to ask him
Tyler moved closer to his dad as he spoke "Is Maggie your girlfriend.." there was only a few seconds of silence before Tyler spoke again "You've never brought anyone else from work to meet us…I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked"
Tyler had started to pull away from his dad thinking that he was in trouble for asking about Maggie. Maggie had heard Tyler's question and she looked at Jubal and she nodded, it was her way of saying if he wanted to tell his son then she would support him. She knew he didn't want to rush her but she also knew he didn't to want to lie to his kids.
Jubal wasn't sure what his son was going to ask him but he did think that it had something to do with Maggie, he had looked to her when he heard the question because he didn't want to do anything that made her feel uncomfortable or that risked screwing them up but he also wanted to be honest. He was relieved when her nod and her glance his way was her telling him she would support his decision. He wrapped his arm tighter around Tyler pulling him back in close to him
"I should have known that you would have figured out that Maggie was more than just a friend" He kissed Tyler's head keeping him close "Maggie is my girlfriend, I just didn't want there to be any pressure today so that's why I introduced her as a friend"
"That's why you kissed Maggie in the park?" Abigail tried not to turn her head while speaking as Maggie was still doing her head
"How did you even…." Jubal shook his head laughing "Yes… that is why you seen me kissing Maggie's cut"
"We still get ice cream though?"
Now Maggie couldn't help the laugh that escaped hearing Abigail, she wasn't sure how the kids were going to react to Jubal saying she was his girlfriend. Maggie couldn't help the smile as she thought about how much the kids were like Jubal they had picked up on things and caught them out when they thought that Abigail wasn't watching.
"We still get ice cream baby girl" Jubal shook his head laughing and focused back on Tyler "Are you okay buddy with Maggie being my girlfriend?"
Tyler looked up at his dad as he spoke "Maggie's cool, she used to play soccer and she can do Abby's hair. And she wants to help me and my friends so I like her"
Jubal smiled hearing Tyler talk about Maggie he was really glad that his kids seemed to really like her, that was so important to him because he knew that he and Maggie couldn't work if the kids and her didn't get on.
"And it doesn't change anything between me and you and Abby, I'll still be coming to see you guys, you will still come and stay with me some weekends. None of that will change"
It was important to Jubal that the kids knew that just because some things in his life were changing it didn't mean that he was going to be putting them second because they would always come first to him.
Abigail choose that moment to turn back to face her dad and she was smiling brightly "Do you like my hair daddy?"
Jubal had his arm stil around Tyler, it wasn't always that the boy would allow him to sit like this in public so he was making the most of it "You look just like a princess baby girl"
"I wanna see it" Abigail was trying to see it in the reflection in the window but she couldn't see enough
Maggie took out her phone and turned the camera to selfie mode and held it infront of Abigail "You can see yourself now.. What you think?"
Abigail was turning her head side to side trying to see as much as she could of her hair and she kneeled up on the chair and hugged Maggie tight "I love it Maggie thank you"
Maggie was caught completely off guard once again but it didn't take her long to respond by returning the hug with Abigail "I'm glad you like it"
Abigail was still kneeling up and she looked at her dad "Daddy will you take a picture of me and Maggie, and I can take one of you and Tyler.. The girls and the boys"
Jubal wanted to capture the moment he was witnessing in-front of him and now Abigail had just given him an excuse to do so "Of course I can" He slid his phone off his holder on his trousers and he took a picture of Abigail and Maggie, Abigail stayed kneeling up with her arms around Maggie's neck and Maggie had her arm wrapped around Abigail as they both smiled for the picture.
"Okay daddy your turn with Tyler" Abigail leaned over taking her Daddy's phone and Maggie helped her with the phone as Jubal's case made his phone a little bulky, she noticed how Tyler snuggled in tighter to his dad for the picture but smiling so bright. Maggie realised that the kids had missed their dad just as much as he had missed them.
"You got us in the picture right"? Jubal was joking with his daughter as he took his phone back from her
"Yes daddy your faces are in the picture" Abigail sat back down in her seat as their food arrived. They spent dinner listening to Tyler talk about school, his friends, some new friends he had made where they lived and how they were enjoying having a proper garden in Scarsdale. They of course had their ice cream for dessert, no one was going to disappoint Abigail on that one and they were a little quieter in the car on the way back to the house as they were all full after eating so much.
