Ok so I've had this story done FOREVER... but I was just waiting to catch up on my SMACKED series... so FINALLY more Flack/Angell!!!
I own nothing!
Jess had the TV on especially loud; she wanted to make sure she caught the news. Sometimes Maeli made that particularly hard.
"Mommy!" The little girl cried from the living room.
"What sweetie?" Jess wondered, entering the room.
"Daddy is on TV," The child pointed out. Jess took a seat on the couch and pulled her daughter into her lap. This was what she had been waiting for. Knowing Don was in charge of the investigation, she knew he'd make the news when the bust was over. She was glad to see he was alive. It all hung in the air since he had been called out of bed hours before his shift was supposed to start saying it was time to bust a huge drug ring. He kissed her and then his daughter and left to save the world. She didn't ask him to call simply because she knew he couldn't. His day would be crazy dealing with the aftermath of this ordeal. She stared at the TV intently listening to her husband feed the press the details they needed to know about his successful drug bust. She could see in his eyes it had been a rough morning, she knew he'd need to talk it out later. According to his report, they had managed to arrest all involved except two who had to be taken down because of their lack of cooperation. "What's Daddy talking about?" The four year old wondered. Jess wrapped her arms tightly around the child.
"He's telling the people that he captured the bad guys so they don't need to worry anymore," The mother made the situation PG for her young child. She hoped her daughter didn't pick up on the fact that two people were now dead, but with as smart as Maeli was for her age, Jess never really knew what she learned from these news segments.
"Did he have to use his gun?" Maeli asked curiously.
"I don't know honey; I guess he'll tell us when he gets home tonight," Jess sighed, as Don disappeared from the screen. Maeli was still too young to understand the danger her parents job put them in. They made a point to keep it from her. All the child really knew was her parents protected the city from bad guys and sometimes that involved the use of a gun.
"When's Daddy coming home?" the questions never stopped with this child. Jess laughed.
"Not until dinner, you know that," She replied tickling the little girl. Maeli's laugh invaded Jess emotions; warming her insides and helping her relax.
Don rubbed a hand over his face and took a deep breath. He reached out and unlocked his locker, getting ready to change into his suit so he could get back to work. As he opened the door, his eyes caught on the picture of Jess and Maeli he had taped up a few weeks back. He pulled it from the metal surface and brought it closer so he could see it better. Jess was sitting in the grass with their daughter straddling her lap. Maeli held a daisy in her tiny hands, holding it up slightly so her mother could smell it. Smiles covered both of their faces. Don smiled at the picture, he remembered the amount of fun they had at the park that day. He shut his eyes tightly, the image of the gun he found himself at the wrong end of earlier that day flashed through his head. His eyes flew opened and he looked at the picture once more. Those two girls were the reason he kept his cool through the whole bust, he knew things had to go right so he could make it home to them. He put the picture up and continued to change.
The phone rang through the apartment. As Jess continued to get dinner together as she glanced over at the caller ID. She recognized the number to be Don's cell.
"Maeli, baby, why don't you answer the phone," She allowed since it was only the little girl's dad. Maeli stood up from where she was coloring on the floor and ran to the phone in the living room.
"Flack res-dence," Maeli innocently mispronounced the word as she answered the phone.
"Hey baby girl, it's Daddy," Don said.
"Daddy!" The little girl squealed.
"Yeah honey, tell your mommy I'm on my way home, and can you do me a big favor?" He asked.
"What?" The child wondered curiously.
"Can you give me the biggest hug you possibly can, the second I walk in the door?"He questioned.
"Yeah, I give the best hugs," She announced proudly.
"You sure do sweetheart and Daddy really needs one tonight," He replied. "I'll be home soon," He promised, ending the call. Maeli set the phone down and stalked into the kitchen.
"Mommy, Daddy is on his way home and I'm supposed to give him a hug that's THIS big!" The little girl informed her mother, stretching her arms out as far as they would go. Jess laughed at her daughter.
"That's great sweetheart! Now go put your crayons away so you can be ready when he gets here," She suggested, sending Maeli back out of the room.
Maeli bounced anxiously on the balls of her feet, awaiting her father's arrival. As soon as the door opened, she flew in his direction. Don scooped her up in his arms and held her to his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Her head came to rest on his shoulder. He buried his face in her soft dark curls, taking in the scent of her fruity "no more tangles" shampoo. He readjusted her in his arms and gave her a quick kiss.
"Love you," He stated.
"Love you too, Daddy," She responded sending him one of her adorable dimple clad smiles.
"Thank you sweetie, how was your day?" He asked carrying her through the apartment.
"It was good, I got to stay home with Mommy!" The little girl replied.
"Really?" Don humored her.
"Yeah! Then I saw you on TV!" She exclaimed excitedly.
"Wow, it has been a good day!" He laughed upon entering the kitchen. Jess stopped what she was doing and approached her husband and daughter.
"Hey, glad you're home," She said sweetly, leaning up to kiss him. She sent him a knowing look, telling him she was sincerely glad he made it home and had been worried about him. He nodded as a promise to discuss it later. "Dinner is almost ready. You, little missy, should go wash your hands," Jess directed, gently tapping Maeli's nose. Don set her down and she ran off towards the bathroom. Jess took the opportunity to wrap her arms around her husband's waist. He gently squeezed her and ran a comforting hand over her back. It felt good to have him in her arms again, just to know he was ok.
"Love you," she mumbled against his chest
"Love you too," he replied. "I'm going to lock my gun up and change. I'll be right back," He announced. Jess reluctantly pulled away and watched him walk into the bedroom. He seemed tense and a little ratted, but he was masking it well. Anyone who didn't know him as well as she did wouldn't notice.
As Jess set the last of the food on the table, Don reentered the kitchen. He had changed into grey sweats and his YMCA coaching shirt.
"This looks great," He mentioned, looking at the meal in front of him. Out of habit, he pulled a small piece of chicken parmesan from the dish and cut it into bite sized pieces. He scooped up some spaghetti and set a small piece of bread on the plate and set it in front of Maeli.
"Thank you, Daddy," she said politely.
"You're welcome , sweetheart," he smiled and filled a plate for himself. So what did you do while you were at home today?" He started a conversation, wanting to hear his daughter's light-hearted babble. He wanted to be reminded there was still innocence in the world. Maeli began to rattle off a list of things she did during her day away from preschool. She made each thing sound so important that Don couldn't help but smile at her.
After dinner, Maeli was helping carry dishes to the sink. As she tried to reach for Don's glass, he stopped her.
"I can get the rest, thank you for helping," he praised her. The father knelt down next to his child. "How about you go put your PJs on, then we can play a game or watch a movie," he suggested. Maeli nodded furiously and took off running towards her bedroom, her socks slipping on the hardwood, sending her sliding into the wall of the hallway. At the noise of her colliding with the solid surface, Don's head snapped up. "You alright, honey?" he called.
"Yeah," she yelled back, then collected herself and hopped into her room.
"So what's the plan?" Jess wondered as walked in from finishing the dishes.
"I was thinking we could play a game or something until it's time for her to go to bed. Make it a family thing," Don shrugged.
"Sounds like fun," Jess smiled. Don smiled in return and bent down to kiss his wife.
"Daddy, can we play the tractor tipping game?" Maeli wondered as she bounded into the room carrying a red box with a picture of Mater, Lightening McQueen and the tractors on the front of it.
"Of course, we can play whatever you want," Don replied, taking the game from her and setting it on the coffee table.
"You think we should put on the movie Cars while we play?" Jess chimed in.
"Yeah!" Maeli was in favor of that idea. The movie started as Don set up the game board. The game was pretty simple, you had to tip the tractors over and not wake Frank the combine. For each tractor you tipped over you gained points and the first person to get seven points won. By the end of the fifth game Maeli had won twice and so had Jess, Don had only won the last game.
"Yay Daddy! You did it!" Maeli squealed excitedly. Jess giggled at her husband.
"Thanks sweetie," He said as scooped her up into his lap. Jess returned from putting the game away and joined them on the couch. She snuggled into her husband's shoulder. They watched the remainder of the movie, just like that.
"Ok kiddo, that means bedtime," Jess noted as the credits rolled.
"Can I have a story before bed?" Maeli wondered. Don and Jess shared a look, silently debating their daughter's question. Jess decided to leave the decision up to him.
"Ok, sure, go brush your teeth and we'll be there in a second," Don allowed, he wasn't in the mood to tell her no tonight. Jess went to see if Maeli needed any help and Don removed the DVD from the player and put it back on the shelf. He then headed for his daughter's room figuring a story would be well underway. Much to his surprise, he found Maeli tucked in bed and Jess sitting next to her.
"Daddy, it's your turn," Jess pointed out, explaining the situation. Don nodded.
"Ok, well, what book am I reading?" He asked.
"Can you tell me how you got the bad guys today?" Maeli questioned sweetly. Don quickly met Jess's eyes. She shrugged and gave him no objections. He thought for a minute.
"I think we can do that," He decided. Maeli grinned wildly. Don had her scoot over so he could lay down next to her opposite his wife. "We had been watching these bad guys for a long time and we knew we needed to catch them to keep everybody safe. So, I was in bed and my phone rang and it was the captain telling me he knew exactly where to find the bad guys," He began. Maeli nodded. "I got dressed and I went to the police station so we could figure out the best way to catch the bad guys. All of the policemen got together and we put on our vests and grabbed our guns and headed to where the bad guys were," Don paused briefly to catch his breath.
"What kind of bad guys were they?" Maeli asked curiously. Don tried to figure out a way to explain a drug dealer to a four year old.
"Well, they were guys that sold bad medicines to people. Medicines that make people very sick," he came up with finally. She seemed to understand. "So we got to the big building were the bad guys kept all their bad medicines and it was still dark so we couldn't really see. We set up all our stuff and waited until we got the signal to go inside. Finally the signal came and we ran into the building yelling 'NYPD put your hands up!'" Maeli giggled as he mocked how the policemen yelled. "some of the bad guys put their hands up, but most of them took off running all around the big building. We chased them all over and put cuffs on every single one of them." He decided to leave out the part where he came face to face with a gun barrel and had to shoot a guy. "After that we sent them all to jail and collected all of their bad medicines and talked to the news people to tell them we had got the bad guys,"
"I saw that!" Maeli interrupted excitedly. Don smiled.
"Yep, then Mac and Hawkes collected all the extra evidence and I came home to you!" Don finished leaning down and kissing her forehead.
"You saved the day, Daddy," Maeli concluded. Jess smiled as her husband blushed.
"Well, I don't know about all that sweetie, but thanks," He replied. "Now, it's time for bed, goodnight baby," He added, kissing her.
"Goodnight daddy, love you," Maeli smiled.
"Love you too," Don responded.
"Goodnight mommy, love you," Maeli added.
"Goodnight honey, love you too," Jess said, kissing her daughter. As they left the room they clicked the light off. "So, do I get the non PG version?" She asked. Don released a deep sigh. "You don't have to tell me everything, just the parts that are clouding up those pretty blue eyes of yours," She compromised. He sent her half a smile. "Ok, come on," She prompted, taking his hand and leading him to their bedroom. Don threw himself on the bed, the truth was he was exhausted, he had been going pretty much non-stop since about four AM. The time he spent at home in the evening was the most like downtime he had all day. Jess slipped out of her jeans and the old YMCA t-shirt of Don's she put on that morning.
"If you want to talk, I'm going to need you right here next to me," Don mentioned. Jess looked up at him and smiled.
"Ok baby, just a sec," She replied sweetly. She tossed on a pair of plaid pajama shorts and a light pink tank top and hopped up on the bed next to him.
"Why did you keep Maeli home today?" Don asked. Jess stared at him momentarily, trying to figure out where he was going with his question.
"Well, uh, I guess I just didn't want to be alone," She shrugged.
"You were scared," he assumed, reaching up and tucking a curl behind her ear. She only nodded. "I'm sorry," he whispered and kissed her softly.
"So, how is everyone else?" Jess figured she'd let the conversation flow as it may, knowing he would get to big stuff when he was ready.
"Everyone is ok, Mac doubled up security at the doors of the lab and decided to not send anyone to the warehouse that had been involved in the Irish Mob fiasco," he explained.
"And how was Mac?" She wondered, having talked to Stella shortly after the news cast.
"He was Mac, you know, facing anything head on, but he did come up to me right after the bust and tell me things couldn't go down like the Irish Mob bust. He said he had a wife and baby to get home to," Don finished with a nearly sad smile.
"Yeah, Stella called to check on me after you were on the news. She said she really didn't care what happened as long as Mac came home to her and Aaron in one piece," Jess interjected. A companionable silence fell between them. Don stared at the ceiling.
"I killed a man," he blurted, not removing his eyes from the ceiling.
"Don," She breathed.
"I know, I had to he would've killed me, but it still doesn't sit right. Why couldn't he have just given up?" He sighed, finally looking at her.
"I guess death is more honorable to his street cred than going to prison would be," She mention, knowing it wasn't really a good enough answer, but it was all she had. She moved so she could rest her head on his chest. He pinched his eyes shut, the image of the gun muzzle flashed across his eyelids once more. His breath caught in his chest and he threw his eyes back open. "What baby?" Jess gasped, feeling his body jerk.
"Sorry, every time I close my eyes I see the muzzle of that huge gun in my face," he explained. Jess climbed on top of him so she was straddling his hips.
"Look at me," she urged. "I know that's scary, hell, it's terrifying to have a gun in your face and know the only way out is to shoot the person holding the gun. Unfortunately that's part of our job and it doesn't get any easier. I also know you feel guilty for killing that man, to be honest, I would be sacred if you didn't. Feeling guilty only makes you human. Maeli was right you know, you did save the day. Not by yourself necessarily, but you guys captured those criminals who were out there killing people and letting drugs leak into our neighborhoods. In my book that's a good day. I know right now it doesn't feel that way, but none of the good guys got hurt and I'm sure the world won't miss the bad guy that's gone," Jess lectured. "You need some sleep, you look exhausted," she added. Don wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest.
"I can only sleep if I get to hold you all night," he whispered in her ear.
"You know you do and tomorrow we both have the day off and I'm sending the kid to school," Jess mentioned with a laugh. Don smiled and tucked them both under the covers.
Don woke up to the smell of coffee. He slowly made his way to the kitchen to find his wife in his academy sweatshirt and a pair of shorts. She was cleaning up what he assumed was the remains of Maeli's breakfast.
"Did you sleep good?" She asked with a bright smile. He answered with a nod. "I'm glad, you needed it. You didn't even move when I left to take Maeli to school," Jess commented. She offered him a cup of coffee.
"Thanks, babe," he smiled, kissing her softly. He settled against the counter, sipping from his mug. "So I never asked, how was Maeli yesterday?" He wondered.
"She was fine. I don't think she really understood what was going on. She was excited to see you on TV," Jess answered. Don sent her half a smile. "She did ask if you used your gun though," she added, nibbling her lip. Her husband sighed heavily.
"Things like that make me worry about her," Don said, staring into the brown liquid in his cup. Jess took two steps in her husband's direction. She gently brushed his bangs out of his face and set her hand on his cheek.
"Honey, she's your daughter. It's natural to worry about her," she tried to consol him. Don laughed dryly.
"That's not what I mean. I worry about her innocence. I'm somewhat afraid of how our jobs are affecting her," Don admitted. Jess's brown eyes connected with his blue ones. She took a minute to piece together something to make him feel better.
"I know it's not normal for a four year old girl to see her dad on TV and immediately ask if he had to use a gun, but I think we do need to keep her somewhat informed about what we do. Now we don't need to be telling her you shot a man yesterday. You're her daddy and her hero and at this point she doesn't need anything blurring her image of you. I just think she needs to know some things about what we do in the event something were to happen. We both know it can. We will eventually have to tell her more when she gets old enough to understand the news segments," she stated. Don nodded. He slipped his arms around her waist and kissed her slowly.
"Thank you," He whispered against her lips.
"No problem, that's what I'm here for," She grinned. "So besides that, how are you feeling today?" She wondered.
"Much better, drug busts are always such a downer, sorry," Don answered.
"I completely understand, oh and I forgot to tell you I came to a decision,"Jess replied with a cheeky grin.
"Oh really, and what decision is that?" Don's face lit up with a smile. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I want to have another baby," she whispered in his ear. Don pulled back to look at her.
"Really? After all that went down yesterday, you still want another one?" He laughed.
"That's what helped me come to this decision, I figured if I could get through being as worried as I was yesterday and still want another baby, then I was ready to have another baby," Jess shrugged. "Don't you want another one?" she checked.
"You know I do," he smiled. He tugged the oversized sweatshirt from his wife's body, leaving her in only a cami and shorts. "I say we get to work then," Don laughed, lifting Jess off her feet and carrying her to the bedroom.