A/N: Thanks to 2furious4u, , Running-Wild22, Trickster707, Lou14, tanya2byour21, lady4feet, ..Seraphina.x., AllieKat21, BrandonsGirl07, tattoogirl76, Linoria & my shangri-la for their reviews, and thanks to everyone who added me or this story to their favs and/or alerts.
Oh look. Another long wait for an update. . Sorry. Not hugely exciting, but you know me, I like the little, quiet parts of the story as much as the sweeping drama. I finally know where I want to go with this story, so hopefully that will make it easier to write, but no guarantees on speedy updates, but they will come...eventually...
As always, Review & Enjoy!
"No!"
Splat.
"C'mon kid, cut me a break here."
"Jelly Jelly Jelly!"
"Seriously? With cheese?"
"Yyyyyyyyes! Heeheehee."
Vince sighed, picking up the plate and heading back to the fridge for jelly. Who was he to know kids liked jelly and cheese sandwiches. Maybe it tasted good. He'd sure as hell never tried.
Bella was sitting at the table, whacking Binky's feet across the wood surface and giggling. She seemed to like him well enough, the whole 'I'm your daddy' thing hadn't seemed to change her world much. it might have made him feel a little hurt, but after he'd started playing closer attention to her, he noticed that she actually seemed to like him, even before. Other than Jesse, she'd taken to him more than any of the other guys, and while it had been mildly annoying before, he kinda liked the idea that his daughter liked him not just because he was her father.
Although he had to question her intelligence a little. Grown people who'd known him for years didn't like him. He didn't really understand why a hyper three year old should be any different.
She hadn't taken to calling him dad yet, but in all fairness, this was the first time they'd been along, really interacting one-on-one. For all of five minutes since Mia had dragged Rae off somewhere...he didn't know where...and Rae had decided that it was time for a little father-daughter bonding.
Which still sounded weird to him, even if he was slowly getting used to the idea. The other's hadn't talked about it much, but they'd all been sort of watching, waiting to see what would happen. While he was grateful for the space, he couldn't shake the feeling like they were just waiting for him to screw up.
But Rae wouldn't have left him alone with the kid if she thought he was going to screw up, right? So all he had to do was keep an eye on her until her mom came back and he could relax. How hard could it be to look after a three year old, right?
He was an idiot. She argue with everything. Seemed to delight in driving him up the wall. Had that whole 'selective hearing' thing that drove him crazy. And she could scowl better than he could when she wanted. Then, right when he was getting ready to give up and call Rae to give her a time-out or something, Ella would give him one of those sweet smiles and look at him with those big brown eyes, and he found himself giving in.
And making jelly and cheese sandwiches. At his point, there was only one thing left to ask.
"Strawberry or grape?"
"Jeez Mia, can't you just tell me what this is all about?" Rae sighed, pushing her sunglasses up her nose. "Not that I'm complaining about our little walk."
"It's surprise Rae! As in...you don't know till we get there...you have heard of surprises, right?" Mia laughed speeding up a little as they neared their destination.
Normally Rae would have let it go, but there was a nervousness to her friend that told her something was up, that Mia had something up her sleeve. She was jumpy, and her laughter was a little brittle. She was nervous, and that made Rae nervous too.
When Mia had called and told her they were going out, she'd figured girl's night, or shopping spree, or something other than wandering around the neighbourhood. They were currently somewhere between the garage and the Fort, and as far as she knew, there was nothing but houses in the area. And it was hot, and sticky, and Rae was swiftly losing her patience.
"Mia girl, I swear this better be good...what?" she trailed off, looking at the other girl strangely.
Mia had stopped, and was staring at Rae with a nervous grin. "Ta-dah!" she exclaimed, gesturing at the house they'd stopped in front of.
Rae tipped down her sunglasses, eyeing the run-down three storey house suspiciously. "And just what exactly am I looking at?" she asked, raising one eyebrow sceptically.
"My idea. Now hear me out before you yell, okay?" Mia began, biting her lip.
Rae sighed and crossed her arms, staying silent and waiting for her best friend to explain.
Mia swallowed visibly and nodded. "Okay. So. You've decided to stay in town, settle down and buy a place, right? So I found you one!"
Rae blinked slowly, looking at the two storey house with its attic dormers and overgrown but large lawn. The green paint was peeling off the wood, two windows were boarded and the roof was missing some tiles. "You...found me...this?"
"Yeah, I mean, okay...you don't need a four bedroom place, but it's a fixer-upper, so it's cheaper than it would be. We'll just get the Team working on it, and have it fixed up in no time! And I can rent a room from you, which'll mean you're making even more money on top of the investment value, so it's really a steal, right? And it's close to the Fort, in a fairly nice neighbourhood that's still on the up, so you can't lose!" she gushed, her eyes wide and hopeful. "I have the keys from the realtor if you want to look inside..." she added, trailing off at Rae's blank stare.
Rae took a deep breath. She looked at her friend. Then the house. She rubbed her eyes under her sunglasses, blinking away the dots and sighing. "You can show me around, but I swear I'm not agreeing to anything," Rae said finally, figuring she might as well let Mia pitch her case.
As they walked through, Rae kept a running tally of the work that needed to be done, starting with the missing boards on the front porch and ending with the separate garage that would probably be safer just torn down completely.
Mia was right about one thing. While there were a hell of a lot of things to be done, and everything needed to be painted or re-tiled or re-carpeted. But there were no major repairs to be done, nothing structurally damaged, it was all just cosmetic. And despite her reservations, Rae could see the potential underneath that had drawn her optimistic friend's attention.
The rooms were nice and large, with good light. The kitchen was large, the layout was good and a lot of the original woodwork remained. I was a good house, really good at the price they were asking for, but Rae was just so blindsided she didn't know what to say.
Luckily, Mia seemed willing to let her be after the tour, and Rae didn't say much on the way back, her thoughts whirling.
He was so out of his depth. This had been a really, REALLY bad idea.
"Faster! Faster horsey! badum-badum-badum," she yelled, patting his head as he ran around the house with Ella on his back. "Wheeeee!"
Vince chuckled under his breath, unable to resist the little girl's infectious good-mood. If this was all there was to being a dad, he was doing pretty good. Although he had a sneaking suspicion it got more difficult as they got older.
Like when they were teenagers, with parties and boys – oh god, boys. He was gonna have to buy a new shotgun or something. "Hey kid, how'd you feel about boys?" he asked over his shoulder gruffly.
"They're stupid. Declan eats playdough. Boys're icky," she stated, her voice disdainful.
"Good. Let's keep it that way," he replied before resuming his tour around the living room.
Ella went back to giggling and patting his head as he tromped around. Heading past the dining room, he met the amused gaze of Jesse, who'd finally disengaged himself from his computer. He'd stopped his wheelchair in the doorway, a couple empty soda cans in his lap.
"Speak a word of this and I'll tell Letty about that time you saw her changing in the bathroom," Vince growled, staring down the younger guy.
Jesse's eyes got wide and he nodded, miming zipping his lips. "Nope, you got it V. Not a word. I don't wanna get killed," he answered.
"JESSEEEEEE!" Ella yelled, making Vince cringe since she was yelling right in his ear.
"Hey kiddo, how you doing?" Jesse asked, waving his fingers at her, black chipped nail polish and all.
"Play horsey Jesse?" she asked, and Vince just knew she was making those puppy-dog eyes at his friend. "Pleeeeeeeease?"
"So are you working tomorrow?" Mia asked as she walked up the front steps and out of the sun.
"Nah, not unless someone calls in," Rae answered, following Mia inside the cool house. "I had a few things to do—"
"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Mia and Rae stopped in their tracks, staring in surprise as Vince came running in, pushing the wheelchair with Bella giggling from where she sat in Jesse's lap. The stopped suddenly as Vince came up short, and Rae would swear she saw the hint of a blush on his cheeks at being caught playing.
"Uh...hi..." Jesse trailed off, and Mia started laughing uncontrollably.
"Momma!" Ella grinned, practically leaping off of Jesse at her.
Scooping her daughter up, Rae grinned, bopping her nose. "Having fun, Munchkin?" she grinned, watching Vince look more than a little sheepish. Ella giggled and squirmed, nodding her head making her pigtails bounce. "Did you have a nice lunch?"
Ella nodded again, pointing a chubby finger at Vince. "We made sammiches."
"Ooooh, you lucky thing," Rae grinned, poking her belly. "Well, I didn't get any sammiches, so how 'bout you guys take the playing outside and I'll be along in a sec."
"You can ride down the ramp with me," Jesse grinned, happy to take Ella with him. Rae once again thanked her lucky stars that she had them all to help her, each of them happy to look out for the little girl.
Vince finished cleaning up Ella's toys, then headed for the backyard, finding Rae watching Mia and Jesse play with her...their daughter out the window. He agreed with what she'd said about things being too complicated. He was having a hard enough time dealing with the news that he was a father, figuring out whatever the hell he had with Rae...it was too much at once.
But that didn't stop him from wondering, or from watching her as the light silhouetted her face. It didn't stop him from vividly remembering the two nights they'd had together, or for wishing for more.
"You want a beer?" he asked, getting one out for himself.
She turned and looked at him in surprise, apparently unaware he was there, then nodded with a half-hearted smile. "Sure, why not."
He handed a bottle to her in silence, leaning against the counter and sipping his beer, still watching her as she watched Ella. He wondered at the frown on her face, knowing it wasn't because of worry over Ella. Something else was bugging her, and he's bet it had something to do with wherever she'd gone with Mia at lunch.
"So did you have fun?" he asked, trying to prod her into spilling.
"Hmmm? Oh, I guess," she answered absently, glancing at him then back outside, biting on her full lower lip.
"Rae...what's wrong?" he asked frankly, setting her bottle down and crossing his arms.
"What makes you think anything is wrong?" she answered evasively.
"Give up Rae. You only get all silent and moody when you're pissed about somethin'," he pointed out.
"Oh, you know me so well, huh?" she replied, but there was a hint on laughter in her voice. "So how come you always end up on your ass when I get pissed if you're so good at gauging my moods?" A smile tugged at her lips as she raise the bottle to take a sip.
"Practise," he grinned, not missing a beat.
She laughed at that, giggling and spilling beer a little; ungraceful, sure, but he was just glad to see her smiling.
"Come on, tell me what's up," he added, tossing her a mostly clean dish towel to mop up.
She sighed and nodded. "It's...I don't know. Mia showed me this place today. A house. She thinks it would be perfect for me," he answered, mopping up slowly before tossing back the towel.
"And would it?" he asked carefully. If she was planning on staying around, he was damn happy about it, or a lot of reasons.
"Yeah, it kinda would," she admitted. "It would need a lot of work though. It's not that, so much..." she trailed off, biting her lip again.
"You don't want to stay," he finished for her.
She looked at him with wide eyes. "No! I mean, I want to but—"
"You're not ready then," he interrupted.
"No, would you just...gah! How am I supposed to answer when I don't know!" she growled, glaring at the ceiling.
He shut his mouth and waited for her to speak, figuring he'd pushed enough for now.
"I..." she sighed, pushing herself up onto the counter and looking at her fingers. "My brother is back in Chicago. Viv...my new niece or nephew. All my friends from the past three years. The life I made for myself. Don't get me wrong Vince, I love this place...the Team...I never want to lose that again," she sighed, looking up at him. "And I'd never encourage you to get close to Ella just to take her away."
She leaned back against the window frame, still watching him. "I'm staying Vince, I said I would. And I want to, and I'm ready to. It's just a big step for me, and a huge change. I'm just having a little trouble adjusting, but that doesn't mean I've changed my mind. I guess the house just brought it...well...home, so to speak."
She grinned at her own lame pun, and he felt himself relax again. "Cute," he groaned, shaking his head. "You're such a dork sometimes."
She shrugged, her bright smile not fading. "I try."
"So other than the freak out, you think it's the house you want?" he asked, taking another swing of his beer.
"Maybe," she replied hesitantly, biting her lip on a grin. "Don't tell Mia, she'll never shut up about it. I just have to figure out if it's worth it. I mean...my folks left us money and stuff, so I have enough in the bank, but I don't want to just throw money at it, it has to be worth the investment. And the time, I don't want to spend forever fixing it up only to hate it when it's done, y'know?"
He nodded, scratching his jaw and thinking hard. "Anything I can do to help?"
"Well actually..." she grinned. "I need someone to look over the place and figure out how long any work would take."
He frowned a little, not sure why she was asking him that. "I ain't a builder, Rae. If it ain't an engine..." he trailed off, shaking his head.
"Aw, come on V! You guys built that ramp for Jesse, and I know you're good with your hands...." She stopped, her eyes going real wide and a red flush touching her cheeks. "Ugh, that came out wrong..."
"So I'm not good with my hands?" he asked softly, not able to resist teasing her a little, even if it only intensified the less-than-innocent thoughts he'd been having about her.
"No...yes...I just meant," she replied, flustered as squeezed her eyes shut, only to snap them back open at his low chuckle. "Jerk," she scowled. "What I meant was that you're good at fixing things, and I'd appreciate your advice."
He smiled, nodding slowly. "Alright, I'll take a look with you."
