A/N: Your guys' support makes me keep writing this! Thank you for all the lovely reviews, I read each one. I do take suggestions and tidbits out of your reviews to slip in. I think this will live up to your standards! :D
By Tuesday morning the bliss of their bed spent weekend had faded. Derek was bottle feeding Mia on the couch. She was still in her pink zebra feetie pajamas looking up at her daddy with amazement in her blue eyes. She was tearing through the bottle without stopping and Derek thanked his lucky stars that his wife was a cow, constantly pumping milk so that Mia wouldn't ever go hungry.
"Babe, I think she's going through a growth spurt." Derek said, as he marveled at the nearly empty bottle. "She's eating like a horse."
"Nine weeks. Sounds about right. We'll see at her appointment on Friday." Casey said as she came into the living room. She was fussing with her bun. She had put on a leotard with her pink yoga pants over it. Make-up, earrings, and even pale purple nail polish.
"Wow, foxy lady." Derek let out a lot appreciative whistle.
"What? What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"
"Nothing, it's great! I haven't seen you look...girly in a while."
"Well, I got tired of being a frumpy housewife. And this is my first day back at class since Mia. I'm determined to lose this chub." she gripped at her belly roll and grimaced.
"Can we keep to boobs?" Derek whined. "We like the boobs. The boobs are wonderful!" Mia cooed in apparent agreement.
"Der-ek. Is it always about sex with you? You're like a pig headed fifteen year old."
"You love me." he scoffed.
"Whatever." she walked over and picked up Mia. She gave a gummy smile at her mama. "How's my baby girl? You drank all your milk? You're growing so fast!"
"Casey, you're going to be late."
"Aww...but can't I just stay home with you two?" she cuddled her baby girl to her chest. Mia tried to worm her way to her breasts. Casey went to the fridge and grabbed another bottle. "What are you two doing today?"
"Errands. Out to lunch with an old friend. Not much."
"Wow, errands. Didn't know you knew that word. Can you grab that hypoallergenic laundry detergent from the store. I think Mia is allergic to the kind we use. She keeps getting little rashes after we do laundry." Casey handed the bottle and baby back to her husband. After kissing him on the head, wishing them both a good day, and tearing up a little, Casey grabbed her coat and left her tiny family to their own devices for a few hours.
"She didn't even ask who I was going out with." Derek mused. Mia looked up at him as if to say Maybe she just trusts you that much. But actually she was just warning him that she was going to spit up all over his favorite jersey. "Really, Amelia? Yuck…"
One wardrobe change later, he set to work tidying the house while Mia sat in her froggy bouncer watching the least irritating kids program he could find. Vanessa and him had been texting since Casey left. He tried to text Casey a few times but to no avail. Around eleven Derek got Mia all gussied up in a pretty blue dress and white tights which were deceptively difficult to put on. She had little black mary janes and a big blue flower headband. So cute he felt less manly after looking at her.
To kill time Derek went to the discount grocery store. He got a few necessary items, including the specialty detergent for Mia that Casey insisted on. All the while he had to beat off strangers ooing and ahhing at his daughter. Every couple feet another person told him how sweet she was or asked how old she was...couldn't a man just buy antacids in peace?
It was a little after noon thirty when he showed up at a tiny little cafe near their home. Vanessa was already there with a table and a high chair. In the high chair was a toe-headed little boy. He was giggling and smashing crackers. Vanessa looked very different than she did in the store. Her jeans were looser and faded, she wore an oversized purple sweater, and her hair was thrown up unceremoniously in a ponytail.
"Hi, Derek." She said when she spotted him.
"Hey, Nessa." he grinned and put Mia's carseat in the empty chair. "Who's the little man?"
"My son...your wife wasn't too far off. But he's only two. Jackson, can you say hi to Derek?"
"Hi, hi." he said without looking up from his crumb pile.
"He looks just like you." Derek complimented. Vanessa sighed.
"Yeah, mostly. Except for those dammed freckles and dimples. All his fathers." her voice was bitter like burnt coffee. But she quickly recovered. "Show me the baby!"
"Here, is my Princess." Derek unbuckled Mia and cradled her in his arms. She had snoozed nearly the entire time over and was still asleep. "Mia, this is Vanessa. Daddy's very old friend."
"Hey, I resent that!" Vanessa laughed. "She looks like Casey. Very pretty." She gingerly reached out to stroke a dimpled hand.
"Yeah, Casey doesn't see it. Everyone else does." he paused to give the waitress who appeared his simple order. "How have you been?"
"Really good for a minute. I was a history major running the Egyptian section of a museum working on my masters until about three years ago. Fell in love. Got married. Turns out he was a douche weasel. Got hit. Got pregnant. Got kicked. Had Jackie. Got divorced. Got fired. Dropped out of school. Now I live in a tiny one bedroom apartment with my baby and I have an ex husband who won't pay child support. And after I missed too many days of work because I couldn't pay the babysitter, the museum wouldn't let me come back. Which is why you saw me at Lust and Lace." She said all of this with no inflection. In fact she was wiping her son's nose through some of it. It was as if she had been over her situation so many times in her head, it just didn't affect her anymore. She knew times were hard, there was no point in crying over it.
"Wow...Vanessa…" Derek sighed, unsure of how to console. "That…"
"Sucks? Yeah, I know. But it is what it is." she shrugged. "How are you?"
"Good. Really good." He said slowly, but this wasn't a trap. Bragging about his life when hers was so awful. "I play hockey on a semi-professional league. And I coach it at the high school. Casey and I got married about three years ago. She teaches dance at Missus Clementine's. It's a cute little studio. We have a nice apartment and finally aren't hurting for much." He was quiet, realizing how good he had it. They sat quietly for a moment. Mia was beginning to stir and Vanessa was digging for cheerios in her diaper bag. The waitress dropped off their food and left.
"Can I hold her?" Vanessa asked after a moment.
"Yeah, of course." He gently passed the baby to the woman across from him.
"She is precious."
"Thanks, I designed her myself." Derek laughed.
"Oh my word, look at those big blue eyes." Vanessa cooed. "She is a doll."
"Mama?" Jack asked. "Baby?"
"Yes, Jack. She is Derek's baby. Isn't she pretty?"
"Pretty baby." Jack gently stroked Mia's curls and Mia grasped his finger. "My finger!" he giggled loudly.
"They're like old friends." Vanessa said. Derek laughed. The four sat awhile longer. Vanessa told Derek about weird customers. Derek told Vanessa about freaky high school talked about their children and compared milestones. Vanessa complained about her ex husband. Derek beamed about his wife. They talked until the kids were refusing to stay calm. Jack's naptime and Mia's diaper time. They parted ways and promised to do it again soon. As Derek loaded Mia into the car he saw Vanessa bundle her son up and stick him a stroller with three blankets to fight the freezing wind. All she had on was a thin coat and pair of old gloves. They were walking back to her apartment several blocks away. Derek's heart hurt as he drove home. Once back he put Mia in her crib for a nap and started a load of laundry. He had just sat down on the couch when Casey came in, glowing the way she did after an intense dance session.
"Hi, love!" she said as she flounced to the couch. She gave him a long kiss. She dropped her gym bag on the floor and went into the kitchen to make a berry blast protein shake. "How was your day?"
"Good. Not much happened." he shrugged. He wasn't lying about Vanessa, but more omitting because even as innocent as it was Casey would not like him being alone with her...
The night they went to Lust and Lace, after two rounds of sex, she laid in his arms trying not to cry. She was snuffling against his bare chest looking at the empty crib.
"Princess? What's wrong?" Derek asked, upon realizing she was actually crying and not just clearing her nose.
"I miss my baby." Casey moaned and threw her face down in the pillow. Derek shushed her and rubbed her bare back in between the shoulder blades like she liked.
"I know, me too. But she will be back soon! I promise, sooner than you realize." he tried to soothe. "We will be covered in poo and up all night again in just two days."
"She won't even remember me." Casey wailed. "She already likes you better anyways!"
"Oh, dear lord Casey Jane." Derek groaned, knowing he was talking to a fresh batch of hormones and not his wife. He scooped her up and placed her in his lap. "Stop this. Knock it off right now. You are her mother and you love her more than anything. And she loves you right back. So none of this nonsense about your daughter not loving you."
"Oh-o-okay." Casey whined, trying to get her breath.
"I'm going to go get you some water." Derek kissed her head and left the bed to the kitchen. When he got back Casey was looking at her phone, on Facebook. "Here, babe."
"Thanks, Derek." she took a sip and looked up at him. "Do you think Vanessa is prettier than me?"
"What the hell?" Derek asked, almost afraid to get back into his own bed. He might as well skip the middle man and get his spot warm on the couch.
"Well, look at her." she held the phone up for him to see. "She's gorgeous. And talented. I had forgotten she was on my dance team in college. She was the best one. And she loved you. Hell, everyone loved you."
"Casey...you're going to a dark place. Stop that, sweetheart." Derek got in bed and took the phone from her, ignoring the fact that she had hunted down a woman on the internet just to creep on her pictures. Right now it was like trying to talk to a wounded deer so you could help banage the dumb thing before it ran off. "I married you. I had a baby with you. Not Vanessa or Trixie or Matilda or Katie."
"I know but am I just your bronze medal?"
"You are my gold medal dipped in chocolate, wrapped in bacon, deep fried, with a side of whisky." he kissed her nose and laid her down. "Go to sleep, you crazy woman."
"I'm not tired, Der-ek." she protested, but her voice was already far away. Casey was always amazed at how smoothly Derek could talk and get himself out of trouble. He stroked her hair until he was sure she was asleep. Then he put on his robe and went out to the living room to watch an old action movie from 1993. The clock told him it was only 1:25, how lame was he.
"Well, that's good." Casey's voice snapped him from his was taking off her shoes and pants, down to just the leotard. She let her hair down from the bun and sighed in a way that made his insides twitch with desire. "Did you get the laundry detergent like I asked?"
"Yeah, babe. I did." he said. Casey sat down next to him and pointedly put her feet in his lap. He began to rub them and she looked at him with thanks. "How was your first class back?"
"Good! I missed my kids. I missed dancing...though one cruddy thing did happen."
"What was that?" Derek was only half listening, an art he had perfected. On the TV a monster truck rally was playing out. Mentally rooting for Gravedigger while taking notes on Casey's day in case she questioned him later.
"My assistant quit. She and her husband are moving away...so now I have a class of twenty with no help. It's just frustrating because I need to start looking for someone new."
"Bummer." Derek said automatically. It didn't click with him yet, but it would in a few days. The rest of the day was lazy with a fresh snow drifting to the earth. Derek and Casey napped on the couch. Mia played on the floor mat. It was perfection.
Across town, Vanessa had her son playing in his room, fighting sleep. She was on the phone arguing with bill collectors, begging for just two more weeks. She couldn't ask her mom for anymore and she had already taken out too many loans. She rested her head on the kitchen table and tried to fight the tears. Making two dollars more than minimum wage wasn't going to cut it for much longer…
A/N: Well? I hope that you like what I did to Vanessa, she might not be the bad guy after all. Thanks for reading! Review and respond please! Much love, Little Crickett. :)