John started flipping the pancakes on to plates. He wasn't so sure about these. They were made out of some organic whole grain stuff that Stiles had insisted was good for them. Stiles had a sixth sense for breakfast and he snatched his plate away and went to the table to add peanut butter. John, on the other hand, was stuck with some sorry excuse for butter substitute and low calorie syrup. It was a blasphemy, but he knew it made Stiles happy.
"Stiles, I'm going to need you and Scott to baby-sit Isaac tonight," John said, trying to sound casual.
"Yeah, we can do that," Stiles said. "I thought you didn't have work though."
John was suddenly very focused on the task of making a smiley face out of bananas on Isaac's pancake. "Well…Ms. McCall and I thought it would be nice to go to dinner and a movie."
Stiles flailed in his seat and dropped his fork. "You're taking Scott's mom out on a date?!"
John could feel the tops of his ears getting hot with embarrassment. "It's not a big deal, Stiles. It's hardly a date. It's just two adults who want to go to a nice restaurant and see a movie without kids running around."
"Where are you taking her to dinner?" Stiles asked. He was in full on interrogation mode now.
Isaac shuffled in to the kitchen. He'd insisted he could dress himself and it was very obvious that he had because his shirt was on inside out and backwards. John put Isaac's plate on the table and lifted the child up onto his stack of books. John was hoping that Stiles would drop it, but his oldest son was much too determined.
"Dad, tell me you have a plan," Stiles said. "You have to make this a good date because if it ends up being a bad date then things will just be totally awkward for the rest of our lives." By the end of the sentence, Stiles was talking so fast his words started to run together and he was gesturing wildly.
Isaac stared at Stiles with sleepy confusion on his face. He shrugged and started plucking the slices of banana off of his pancake with his fingers.
"Isaac, use your fork," John said, but he couldn't help but smile. Isaac looked at the table and seemed vaguely surprised that the fork was there.
"Dad, are you listening?" Stiles said.
"Yes, I'm listening, Stiles," John replied. "Don't worry about it. It's really nothing to make a big deal over."
::::::::::
John finished knotting his tie and smoothed it down before looking at his reflection in the mirror. "Nope, definitely not," he muttered to himself. He loosened the tie and threw it on to the dresser. He nodded to his reflection. He hardly ever dressed up and he was just grateful that his black sport coat still fit, but he wondered if maybe it was too much. He hadn't really had a chance to talk to Melissa beyond asking her if Italian food was alright and if she had anything against Johnny Depp. What if he'd overdressed?
He was halfway through combing his hair when he realized he'd already done that. Then why was he in the bathroom? He figured it was because he needed to brush his teeth, but then he remembered he'd already done that too?
John had to laugh at himself. He was such a mess and it made no sense. This was Melissa. He'd known her for years. She'd seen him at some of his absolute lowest points. In all honesty, she was his best friend. There was no reason to be nervous.
::::::::::
Melissa hadn't really let herself overthink things up to this point, which was a miracle, but of course it was now right as she was about to finish getting ready that the full on freak out happened and it was all because she couldn't decide which pair of earrings to wear. She was already dressed in a nice skirt and a pretty blouse and her hair had mostly cooperated with the curling iron. Her make-up was done, a little bit more than her normal concealer-mascara-lip gloss work combo, but not too much. Or at least, she thought it wasn't too much.
What if John showed up in a T-shirt and jeans? What if this wasn't what she thought it was?
John was an amazing man. He was such a good father and he was reliable in a way no other man in her life had ever been. He was the one person she could always count on, no matter what. That wasn't something that would just change over one date.
::::::::::
"How are you not freaking out about this?" Stiles asked.
Scott laughed at his friend, who was pressing his face against the window's glass, watching as their parents drove away. "I dunno," Scott replied. "I think they deserve to be happy."
"Well, of course they do, but…" Stiles couldn't think of a logical argument. He sighed and shoved Scott's feet off of the couch so he could plop down in an exhausted heap. He wasn't really physically tired, but he'd spent all day thinking of every disastrous scenario that could result from his dad dating his best friend's mom.
Isaac was blissfully oblivious to all of it. He was on the floor, laying on his stomach and crashing toy cars into the coffee table. Stiles tilted his head as he watched Isaac. Stiles knew for a fact that the boy wasn't always as oblivious as he seemed. He wondered how Isaac felt about the situation and that got him wondering about what Isaac's life had been like before. He wondered what Isaac's parents had been like together. Had they been loving toward one another or were they as horrible to each other as they'd been to Isaac?
"What're you doing down there, buddy?" Stiles asked, even though it was obvious.
"I'm making crashes," Isaac said with a bored sigh. "I want pizza."
"What kind?" Stiles asked.
"Cheese and pepperonis," Isaac answered. He stood up and got a running start to jump on the couch right between Scott and Stiles. "And I want ice cream and soda too."
Stiles rolled his eyes. He knew Isaac shouldn't have so many unhealthy things in one night. He'd been reading up about the correlation between processed foods and childhood cancers, like how a kid who had 12 hot dogs a month was 9 times more likely to get leukemia. Stiles had increased his efforts on the health food campaign in the house and he didn't want to undo it all. But Isaac was smiling and his eyes were wide and his curly hair was a mess and Stiles was a pushover.
Exactly thirty minutes later, their pizza arrived and the three of them devoured it in no time. Afterward, they made ice cream sundaes out of the things they managed to scavenge from the kitchen and it turned out Isaac was a culinary genius because his vanilla ice cream with crumbled up potato chips on top was actually one of the best things Stiles had ever tasted. The three of them took their ice cream to the living room and Scott dug all the way to the back of the DVD cabinet to find Monsters Inc.
Halfway through the movie they were all sleepy eyed just because of how comfortable they were. The bowls had been piled on the coffee table and all the pillows and blankets they could find were on the couch with them. Stiles looked over at Scott and Isaac and smiled at the fact that Scott was just as enthralled with the movie as the four-year-old.
Stiles was starting to think that maybe he'd misjudged the situation before. As much as Stiles loved his mom and missed her, his dad didn't deserve to spend the rest of his life alone. Really, this was the best situation he could hope for. Ms. McCall had become like a second mom to him and well Scott was already practically his brother. He started drifting off to sleep and he let himself dream about all of them together as a family.
::::::::::
John hadn't been on a first date in…what was it, twenty years now? He was anxious, but Melissa looked absolutely beautiful and he was so thankful he'd managed to ask her out. He pulled out her chair for her at the restaurant and couldn't help but lean in to smell her perfume as she sat down.
The restaurant was illuminated by candlelight and in the soft glow Melissa's smile took John's breath away. She laughed and spread her napkin over her lap. "Sorry, I'm trying not to be awkward," she said.
John smiled back at her. "That makes two of us. I'm glad we did this though."
"I am too," Melissa said sincerely.
John took a deep breath, swallowed down his nervousness, and said, "Melissa, you look lovely tonight."
Her cheeks turned pink at the compliment, but he could tell she was happy. "Thank you. It's not often I have a reason to look nice."
"You always look nice," John replied. He was worried he might be laying it on thick, but it was the truth so he had no regrets about saying it.
Melissa blushed even more and took a sip of her wine as soon as the waiter set it down in front of her. "Thanks, John. You're too kind. I'm so glad you asked me out tonight. It's been so long since I've been taken out on a date."
John looked at her with a satisfied smile as he moved a breadstick from the basket on to the tiny plate in front of him. She'd just confirmed that it was indeed a date and John had to have something to distract him from the urge to pump his fist in the air to celebrate. "I'd definitely love if we could do this again," he said. "It'd be nice if we could spend more time together without the kids. It's nice to be able to just focus on you."
"I'd like that," Melissa said. "The kids are fun, but they're a handful sometimes." She laughed to herself. "I think Scott was really excited to hear that we were going out."
John grinned. "Scott's a great kid. I'm glad I have his approval."
"Of course you do," she said. "You've been a great role model for him. I've always been really glad that he spends so much time around you and Stiles."
"We're always glad to have him over. Plus, he's really good with Isaac."
Melissa beamed with pride. "That's great to hear. How is Isaac doing, by the way? He seems so happy."
John nodded and smiled fondly as he answered, "Isaac is great. He still has his difficulties sometimes, but he's come really far."
Their food arrived and they spent the rest of their meal sharing stories about work, parenthood, and life. They talked about the places they wanted to travel to one day and the crazy things they'd done in college. That led to them laughing at the ridiculous fashion trends and embarrassing confessions about parachute pants and leg warmers.
After dinner, they drove to the movie theater and walked to their seats arm in arm. Somewhere between the title screen and the ending credits, they ended up holding hands. They both had permanent smiles on their faces when they arrived at the McCall house. All three boys were asleep on the couch. Stiles stirred as soon as the lights turned on, but Isaac was out and John had to carry him out to the car.
The boys waited in the car while John walked Melissa back inside her house. Under the porch light, they hugged and neither of them wanted to be the first to pull away. After a while, John reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear.
"I had a good time tonight," he said.
"I did too," Melissa replied softly. "Let's do this again next week."
John smiled. "It's a date."