A/N: Wile E. Coyote is not my creation…
o O o
April glanced at the message for what felt like the hundredth time. Brad was gone again- off to Dallas, so she was free to do as she chose. For some reason she didn't feel free at all. Without the benefit of actually SEEING him, she had only his words to go by. The words puzzled her; she was almost certain she hadn't said… but there they were still, staring back at her. It was disorienting really, to have started down a path you thought you knew, only to find yourself someplace else.
Meet me at the park 2 blocks over – Sunday/2PM. Bring the baby. Spencer
If she was going, it was time to go. She glanced over at Ryan, who was trying to play peek-a-boo with the cat. The cat wasn't at all impressed. She smiled and rose to find his jacket. Oh well. At least it was a nice day; if nothing else, Ryan would have fun playing in the dirt. She buckled him in the stroller and set off for the park.
o O o
Spencer sat alone on a bench, alternately watching for April and keeping an eye on Sam & company on the other side of the park. Sam was restless, and he worried that her discontent would manifest itself in some unexpected and likely undesirable manner. Besides her obvious disquiet over April, they hadn't had more than ten minutes together since Carly's return from the Groovy Smoothie on Thursday evening. The ten minutes, stolen while Carly was in the shower, had only served to stoke her fire. He'd congratulated himself for remembering about the hairbrush – the rhythmic stroking of her hair always calmed her.
For now, she appeared to be under control. He knew she would have preferred today to be just the two of them, but couldn't decide upon a believable approach that wouldn't tip their hand. In the end she'd convinced Carly and Freddie that they'd been spending too much time at the library and were in need of fresh air. The friends were currently using landscaping ties as balance beams, tiptoeing across with eyes closed and arms outstretched, the girls giggling every time one of them stepped into empty space. This wouldn't ordinarily seem difficult, except that Sam had made them all spin around in circles before starting. Surprisingly, Freddie was unerring, placing one foot confidently after another until reaching the end whereupon he stopped and retraced his steps in reverse.
"Show off!" Carly's voice carried across the park. Freddie grinned and bowed. "Thank you, thank you. Come on, I'll push you guys on the swings."
Spencer started to relax. Freddie could handle the girls – he'd had years of practice. At that moment it occurred to him to wonder why he never worried about Freddie with the girls. What was it about Freddie that inspired his trust? Certainly Freddie had done as much growing up as Carly and Sam. He studied the trio thoughtfully. He pictured them on a see-saw, Carly perched on one side and Sam on the other, with Freddie standing at the fulcrum shifting this way or that, always balancing them out. While Carly and Freddie didn't know it, Sam had removed herself from the equation. What would happen to the other two? Simple physics said that the see-saw must tilt away from its weightless end. While Wile E. Coyote could run off the cliff and hover in thin air, his resistance to gravity lasted only so long as he didn't realize his predicament. Likewise, as soon as Sam's "absence" was discovered, Freddie must inevitably rebalance. Did hearts work that way? Probably not, he conceded. Hearts had minds of their own, and were entirely unconcerned with what the rest of the logical universe thought they should do. At any rate, it would be interesting to see the dynamic evolve – nature abhors a vacuum.
He'd been so busy with his thoughts that he didn't notice April until she'd almost reached him. He smiled at the toddler in the stroller; Sam was right – he was a cute little guy. "Hi April. Who is this inquisitive little fellow?" The child was already reaching for the strap of Spencer's camera.
April sighed. "Hi Spencer. This is my son Ryan. Ryan, stop that. Leave Mr. Spencer's camera alone," she scolded.
"Very good to meet you Ryan," Spencer said solemnly, holding out a finger for the boy to grab. "May I take him out?" he asked April.
"Sure,"she said cautiously.
"Come on Ryan, there are lots of fun things to do here." Spencer chatted to the child as he unbuckled the straps, freeing him from the stroller and setting him carefully next to his mother. The boy immediately made a beeline for the monkey bars. Spencer frowned; he wasn't sure Ryan was big enough, but soon realized that it wasn't climbing that interested the child, but the pile of mulch that surrounded the playground equipment. He plopped down on the ground and started digging. Spencer powered up the camera and snapped a few pictures.
"So April," he started, still watching Ryan, "I've been thinking that I may have given you the wrong impression." He'd decided that he wasn't going to call her on her misrepresentation, electing instead to act as though he had made the mistake. In a way, he had. "I'm not actually… in the market for a relationship right now. Your energy is artistically appealing; I picked up on that, and if I came across as looking for something more, I apologize. I'm sure the fault is entirely mine."
For once April was at a loss for words. This was so totally out of sync with what she had hoped would come out of the afternoon; she couldn't immediately formulate a response.
"You know," he continued, "it's really a shame that Ryan's dad isn't around to see these moments. Ryan won't be little forever. So I thought you, at least, will want to remember them. " Spencer picked the boy up and headed for the slide. "He is big enough?" he asked before setting him at the top. April nodded mutely and moved to the bottom to be ready to catch him. "Anyway," he continued, letting go of the boy, "I'm going to do a picture for you –" he moved a few steps to get the perfect angle – "who knows?" he added innocently, snapping the picture just in time to capture the look of simple joy on the child's face as he slid into his mother's open arms. She could not help smiling in return. "Maybe you can show it to Dad and he'll realize what he's missing."
April couldn't decide how she was supposed to feel about this. She heard what he said; she also heard what he meant. He'd called her out without actually laying any blame on her at all. Spencer watched the emotions play across her face until finally, she laughed. "I was right about one thing at least. You ARE a really good guy Spencer." She picked Ryan up and set him back at the top of the slide, holding his hand while he slipped to the bottom, laughing all the way.
Spencer nodded, accepting the compliment. "You'll have to give me a couple of weeks. I have some other…projects underway at the moment. I can probably have it wrapped up by, say, Mother's Day?"
Another laugh. "I'm sure Mother's Day will be perfect."
Having thus agreed, Spencer accompanied mother and son around the park for another half hour or so, snapping pictures but otherwise refraining from interaction with either. When April announced it was time for Ryan's nap, turning away with a murmur of thanks, Spencer watched them go with a small wave and a smile. The wave was for the baby. The smile was for Sam, who outside of April's line of sight, had just blown him a kiss.