This one is inspired by my Sue Thomas FBEye fanfic, The Worst Valentine's Day Ever. I've been in a writing rut, but I thought I could Smollisi-fy that Sue Thomas fic to help get me inspired again.
"Mr. Carisi," came the sound of the secretary's voice as she crossed the threshold of his office.
"What can I do for you, Janet?" He asked as he looked up from the stack of papers on his desk. Janet's demeanor was different than usual, and that left him feeling a little perplexed.
"There's an urgent call for you," she began and his brow furrowed. "Perkins Elementary School. They can't reach Detective Rollins."
He was already reaching for the phone before his secretary finished speaking. "What line?"
"Line 3," Janet replied before stepping out of the office and closing the door behind her.
"This is Dominick Carisi," he said into the phone.
"Hi, Mr. Carisi," the voice on the other end began. "This is Susan from Perkins Elementary School. We're calling because you're listed as the secondary emergency contact for Jessie Rollins."
Sonny rolled his eyes, waiting for the woman to cut to the chase. "That's correct. What's happened to Jessie?"
"She took a tumble on the playground. She has a few scrapes and bruises, but the school nurse doesn't think anything is broken or that she'll need a trip to the emergency room. Nevertheless, she's pretty upset and it would probably be best for her to go home early today. Is there another way we can reach Jessie's mother?"
"Her mother is working at Green Haven today and is unreachable. I can be there in twenty minutes, though."
He could hear the woman typing on her computer. "Okay. Yes. It lists you as an approved pick-up person for Jessie. We'll have an incident report for you to give to Ms. Rollins when you get Jessie. She'll need to sign it and return it to the school tomorrow."
Carisi quickly tossed his most urgent files into his briefcase and locked his filing cabinet. "I understand."
Almost exactly twenty minutes later, Carisi was waiting in the front office for Jessie to be escorted out from the back office.
"Sonny," Jessie sniffled when she appeared in the office holding the nurse's hand.
"Hi, cavatelli," he said gently, as he kneeled down to her level.
In an instant, Jessie dropped the nurse's hand and ran over to him. He wasted no time picking her up, and once in the safety of her godfather's arms, she began to cry. "Where's Mommy?" She asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Mommy's working somewhere where she can't have her phone today, but I'll try to get a message to her."
"I'm glad you're a lawyer and not a policeman now. 'Cause if you were a policeman with Momma, you couldn't get me." Her lip quivered.
"Someone will always be here for you, Jessie. I promise. If Mommy or I can't be here because of work, there are so many people who would help you. Like Uncle Fin or Aunt Olivia or Aunt Bella."
Jessie thought about it for a minute. "Uncle Fin's silly and Auntie Olivia gives good hugs and Aunt Bella makes good cookies, but I want Mommy or you when I'm sad."
"I'm sorry you're sad." He gently wiped her tears away with his thumbs and smiled softly at her. "I love you, Jess. What happened to the outfit you had on this morning?" He asked, fighting he natural instinct he had to furrow his brows. Jessie was now wearing a pair of plain black leggings and a blue t-shirt. It was a far cry from the floral dress and green tights Amanda had Jessie dressed in that morning. "Did it get messed up when you fell on the playground?"
"No," she shook her head as the nurse reached out to hand him a plastic bag with Jessie's clothes in it.
"There was a little mishap before the playground," the nurse replied.
"I didn't even get to wear it for pictures." She pouted.
"There will be a retake day," the secretary chimed in. "You can wear it then!" She exclaimed cheerfully.
"Not if it's ruined," she sniffled again. "Tommy and Evan were being bad at lunch. Tommy throwed his chocolate milk at Evan but it missed Evan and it got all over me and my clothes and I had to get new ones. Oh, and Bubbles died, too!" More tears escaped and Sonny reached for his handkerchief from his pocket to wipe them this time.
"An email is going out to all the parents about the passing of the class goldfish," the secretary explained from her desk.
"Oh, cavatelli, I'm sorry."
"I wanna go home."
Sonny nodded. "I bet. You know what always makes me feel better after a bad day?"
"Zeppole?" She asked with a hint of a smile as she arched her eyebrow in a very Amanda-like fashion.
Sonny chuckled. "Well, I was thinking more along the lines of a bowl of Nonna Fifi's pastina, but I think we can take a detour on the way to get some zeppole if you think that would help, too."
"I think it would," Jessie answered seriously.
"Amanda, hey." Carisi greeted softly, hoping not to disturb the sleeping six-year-old curled up beside him on the couch when he answered his phone.
"Dominick," she breathed. "I-I just got all my messages. From the school. From you. How's Jessie?"
"She'll be okay. She has some scrapes and a few bruises, but nothing major from her tumble on the playground. I think she was more embarrassed about falling in front of everyone than she was hurt physically, but, uh, there was more than that."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"There was a food fight between two other kids in the cafeteria at lunch, and Jessie and her outfit were caught in the crossfire. I guess she didn't even get to wear it for pictures. She's afraid its ruined and that she won't be able to wear it for the retake day. And on top of all that, the classroom goldfish died."
"Oh, no," Amanda sighed.
"I know," Sonny agreed with a sigh of his own. "She had a bowl of pastina and two zeppole before she crashed out on the couch. I think she's just exhausted mentally. You know, she told me she thinks this is the first time she ever had a bad day and she doesn't like it."
Amanda was silent for a long moment.
"Amanda? You still there?"
She swallowed, willing her voice not to break while she was in the car with Velasco. "Yeah...it's just my daughter is having a bad day, and I'm not there for her. I'm a terrible mother."
"Hey," he said firmly. "You are not."
"Am too."
"Only the best mothers worry about being terrible mothers. Jessie thinks this is her first bad day ever. She's six years old, and this, is the only time she remembers being unhappy and upset. It means you're doing everything right. You've given her this beautiful and amazing life where she's safe and happy, Amanda. You did all that."
He smiled as Jessie nuzzled closer to him and he adjusted the blanket over her. "What's your ETA?"
"Maybe about an hour and a half? Velasco can wrap up everything for the case, so once we get back to the precinct, I can get my car and go get Billie from daycare."
"Or why don't you come straight here after you get your car, and I can get Billie from daycare and we can pick up some dinner while you spend some one-on-one time with Jessie?"
She marveled how somehow, he always seemed to know just exactly what she – and her girls – needed. "That sounds perfect."
When Amanda arrived home, she found Sonny and Jessie on the couch reading a book together. Jessie's cute little voice was reading her favorite book, If the S in Moose Comes Loose, and occasionally Sonny would chime in to help her sound out a word she was uncertain about.
"Hi, guys!"
"Mommy!" Jessie exclaimed as she scrambled down from the couch. "I came home from school early."
"Yeah, I heard you had a rough day." Amanda said as she lifted Jessie into her arms.
Jessie nodded.
"Do you want to tell me about it?"
Jessie nodded again, chewing on her bottom lip.
Sonny closed the book, placing it on the end table, before standing up from the couch. "I'm going to go get Billie and get some dinner on the way home. How does pizza sound?" He asked.
"Good!" Jessie nodded enthusiastically.
Sonny closed the distance between them and gave Amanda a quick kiss. When they pulled away, he could see in her eyes all the things Amanda wanted to say but she couldn't find the words for. He ran his thumb along her jawline and then winked at her. "I'll be back in a little bit. Save some zeppole for me and Billie," he added as he made his way to the door.
"So, what happened today?" Amanda asked as the two of them settled on the couch.
"I had a bad day. I don't like it."
"No one likes having a bad day, but they're only temporary. It will get better."
"Bubbles died this morning. Teagan went to feed him but he didn't move or eat the food. Then at lunch time, Tommy and Ethan throwed their milk at each other in the cafeteria. It got all over my clothes so the lunch aid told me to go to the nurse to get new clothes. I had to take my pictures wearing this! Then we went outside for gym class and we were playing jump rope and I'm not so good at that. I got twisted up and I fell and I cried. I scraped by elbow and my knee, so I had to go to the nurse again. I kept crying so then they tried to call you but you didn't answer and I cried still. So, then they called Sonny and told me he was comin' to get me. So, I stopped cryin' a little bit."
"I'm so sorry I couldn't answer my phone today when you needed me." She kissed the top of Jessie's head.
"You was workin'," Jessie shrugged. "Sonny said you'd be here as soon as you could."
"Yeah," Amanda swallowed, "but I'm still sorry."
"And then, Momma..." Jessie sighed. "Then I cried again when I saw Sonny in the office, but he hugged me and I felt better. I wasn't scared anymore. He made me feel safe."
"Yeah," Amanda agreed. "He makes me feel safe, too. He's good at that, huh?"
"Mmhm. He loves us."
"With his whole heart."
Jessie nodded in agreement.
"Can I see where you got hurt?"
Jessie rolled up her sleeves and pant legs. "Sonny got me some more princess band-aids for later when we got zeppole. He let me pick 'em out."
Amanda frowned at the nasty bruises that were already forming on Jessie's delicate skin. "Do you want to take a bubble bath before dinner? That might help you feel better."
"Yeah, I feel yucky. I think there's chocolate milk in my hair, too."
"A bubble bath will be just what you need then. Ready for one now?" Amanda asked, but Jessie made no attempt to move. Instead, she clutched the fabric of Amanda's shirt tightly in her hands. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"I...I.." Jessie started, lip quivering. "I might have done somethin' bad." She ducked her head.
"It's okay. You can tell me."
"I think I told a lie."
"A lie? What kind of lie?"
"Emma's mommy was in the office when I was waitin' for Sonny and she asked if my mommy was coming to get me, and I said no...I said my daddy was coming to get me...but...but that was a lie 'cause he's not my daddy, right?"
Amanda pulled Jessie completely on to her lap and held her as tightly as she could. "Things like this are complicated, Jess," Amanda began carefully. "Sonny isn't the person who helped Mommy make you, so biologically, he's not your dad, but he's like a daddy in all the other ways that matter, huh? Like he helps me take care of you and Billie and he makes us all feel safe. Those are important things. Those are the things a daddy should do. So, I don't think you lied when you said your daddy was coming to pick you up."
"I didn't?" she asked, her voice still timid.
"No."
"So, um, do you think that maybe I can, like, call him that instead of Sonny? 'Cause I know we don't call him Uncle Sonny any more 'cause he's your boyfriend," she giggled at the word. "But he should have a special name and I think he'd be the bestest daddy in the whole wide world."
"He would be the best daddy in the whole wide world," Amanda agreed wholeheartedly. Perhaps if this was anyone else, she would have talked with him about it before she granted Jessie permission to give him the title of "daddy," but she knew that he loved her girls as much as she did. She believed it with every fiber of her being. He deserved that title and he proved it every single day.
"Sonny loves you and Billie so much, and he would want you to call him whatever you're most comfortable with, so if you want to call him "dad" I think that would be more than okay."
"Really?" The relief that flooded through Jessie's features was instant.
"Yes, really. We're a family, and families are made in all kinds of ways."
A short while later, a pajama clad Jessie waited anxiously at the door for Sonny and Billie to come home. It was reminiscent of that New Year's Eve not all that long ago when Jessie was waiting to greet Uncle Sonny, yet, so many things had changed.
Tonight, Sonny entered the door with the pizza boxes in one hand and Billie's hand in is other along with an Old Navy bag, too. Amanda quickly reached to take the pizza boxes away from him and placed them on the island. Next, she grabbed the bag from him and when she glanced inside, she was nearly moved to tears. He went out and bought a replacement dress for Jessie that was identical to the one that was soaking in the bathroom sink and probably wouldn't come clean.
"Daddy's home!" Jessie exclaimed, running over to hug his legs as if she hadn't just spent the entire afternoon with him.
Sonny's eyes darted between Jessie and Amanda, and Amanda could see that Sonny was trying to keep his expression neutral until he got her approval. After she gave him a small nod, mouthing that they'd talk later, Sonny let his smile shine through. He swallowed twice before he was able to find his voice again.
"I wasn't gone all that long, but I hope you didn't eat all the zeppole," he teased.
Jessie laughed. "I didn't, Daddy. Mommy gave me a bath and washed my hair and we put on my new band-aids. We didn't eat any zeppole without you."
"Well, that's good. That would have been a felony, Little Lady."
"Nuh-uh." She shook her head, crossing her arms. "It woulda been a mis-meaner."
"A misdemeanor, huh? You hear that, Rollins? I think we have a little lawyer on our hands." He declared proudly.
"Of course, we do," Amanda grinned. "She takes after her daddy."