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toxic_cornSeries: Your Boyfriend Snorts Cocaine, Mary Anne
Title: Chapter Six (6/12)
Authors:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
toxic_corn and nutmeg610
Disclaimer: Chad and Mary Anne belong to ABC, Ann M. Martin, and Scholastic Books repsectively. We humbly apologize for this.
Summary: Mary Anne has left Stoneybrook behind to attend UCLA. She loves living with Dawn and Tigger, working at a local day care, and spending time with Logan. But lately Logan's been changing and not for the better. What will happen when Logan's erratic behavior gets to be too much and the older LAPD officer starts getting closer?!
Notes: Sorry for the dreadful summary; I was going for a style. This is a Day Break/Baby-Sitter's Club crossover fic we dreamed up one night because we're insane. If you're brave enough to give this a try, good on you. And if you avoid it, well, we understand. :)
Catch up on earlier chapters at the organizational post.
CHAPTER SIX
A picnic? That sounds great, but… Mary Anne, you don’t cook. Somehow I don’t think your cop will like a lunch of just sandwiches, Jello Jigglers, and boxes of Hi-C.
- snippet of an email from Stacey McGill to Mary Anne Spier
By the time Chad got to the park, Mary Anne was already there waiting for him. He took a moment to really look at her. She was cute, sitting on the hood of her little green VW, swinging her legs, picnic blanket in lap. Her face lit up when she saw him.
“Hi! Could you carry the cooler? It’s a little heavy.” She slid off the hood, making her black and pink checked skirt ride up a little, revealing a fascinating amount of pale, creamy thigh.
“Sure, I’ll be your pack mule.” He smiled to let her know he was kidding and got the cooler out of the back of her car.
They made polite inquiries about each other’s day as they walked through the park, looking for the perfect spot. They found it underneath a tree a little ways away from where a group of children was playing with a big chocolate lab.
After spreading the blanket on the ground, they settled down and Mary Anne started to pull their lunch out of the cooler. Chad watched, bemused, as every bit of food revealed was still in the deli containers from the grocery store.
“My, my, my,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “You must be a culinary magician to make all this food, and get these plastic containers to put them in. And where’d you get the grocery store labels? Nice touch.”
She laughed, embarrassed. “I hope this is okay. I’ve never been much of a cook; I barely passed home ec. If it weren’t for Jello Jigglers, I would’ve flunked.”
He winked at her. “I’m not much of one, either. But my excuse is that in my day, boys didn’t have to take home ec.” He realized he was dating himself and mentally facepalmed.
“Well, not much has changed, really,” Mary Anne said, gently. “They still opt for woodshop, except the ones who realize it’s a good idea to get into a roomful of girls.”
“I probably would have gone for home ec then,” Chad said, laughing. “My friends would have made fun of me, but I’d get to hang out with girls for an hour, so it’d all work out.”
“I don’t know, I think you would’ve regretted it when you got to the egg baby unit. That was a nightmare right there.” At that moment, she handed him a tray of deviled eggs and blushed at the awkward timing.
Amused, he took the tray from her. “I hope no one died to make these eggs.” He opened the plastic lid and popped one of the things into his mouth. “It was a noble sacrifice,” he said with a playful wink.
As he was going for another one, he took a bite out of it and the damn thing fell apart, spilling onto his polo shirt.
“Oh!” Mary Anne grabbed one of the napkins. “Here, let me…” She started dabbing at his shirt, practically in his lap. It was nice having her so close; she smelled fantastic.
Mary Anne glanced up at his face and saw the way he was looking at her. “Sorry, you’re capable of doing this… I’ll just…” She started to scramble away and he couldn’t have that.
“I dunno, you were doing a pretty good job there.” He inspected his shirt. “Missed a spot. You wanna come back and get this?”
She inched close to him, peering at his shirt. “Where?”
Once she was close enough, Chad ducked his head and sneaked in a soft kiss.
Mary Anne’s eyes widened and she pulled away, startled.
Chad grinned at her slyly. “Wow, I can’t believe you fell for the ‘you missed a spot’ line.” His grin faded into a look of concern when she still looked startled. “What’s the matter? I’m not that bad a kisser, am I?”
She shook her head, slowly. “Sorry, you’re only the second person I’ve ever kissed, so…” Her face flushed pink as she ducked her head.
“Oh.” God damn Huckleberry Hound… “Well, hopefully it met your approval. I’m no eighteen year old delinquent but I’m pretty sure I know how to kiss.”
“I didn’t say you didn’t!” Mary Anne exclaimed, dismayed. “You’re a nice kisser, it’s just that I have to get used to… you know. Someone… else.” She bit her lip before inching her head closer to him. “So… let me get used to you.”
“Now that’s a sound argument if I ever heard one,” Chad said, meeting her halfway.
The kiss was sweet and gentle at first with nice, teasing little nibbles here and there. But then Mary Anne made a soft, whimpering sound and started pressing her mouth against his a little harder, getting more and more intense by the second. Her hands fisted in his shirt front and it took every ounce of control Chad had not to lower her down on the blanket and… When she bit his lower lip and gave it a tug, he knew he had to calm her down.
“Whoa, still in public, Mary Anne. Tone it down a bit.”
She jumped off him like she’d been burnt, panting, eyes dilated. “Oh my god, I am so sorry.” Her eyes started to tear up in embarrassment.
Chad went into comfort mode, reaching a hand out to touch her shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m definitely not complaining about your eagerness… just the location. You know, kids and their dogs playing Frisbee and all that.”
“I know, it’s just… it’s been so long and you’re such a good kisser that I just…” She started to crumble but pulled herself together. “Sorry. That won’t happen again.”
“Been so long?” Chad repeated, incredulously. “Huckleberry Hound wasn’t kissing you, huh? Now that’s a crime.” He grinned boyishly. “Besides, I hope it does happen again.”
She blushed and smiled at him sweetly. “Just in a more private location, right?”
“Exactly.”
Mary Anne stared at his mouth for a moment but then tore her eyes away. “So, um, did you want something to drink? I’ve got… uh…” She started to fumble with the cooler.
Chad perked up. “Cherry Coke?”
Sure enough, she pulled out a can. “Of course.” She handed it to him, giggling at his eagerness.
“I like a woman who anticipates my needs,” he joked, popping open the tab.
She blushed. “I just remembered… at the station… when you…”
“I’m not making you nervous again, am I?”
“Oh! No, I’m just trying to calm down. All I can think about is jumping you again.” She looked horrified to have said it out loud, but it was too late to take it back.
Flattered, Chad chuckled. “Seriously? Should I act less appealing or something? Get you to calm down before you pounce again?”
His humor worked to relax her. “Oh yes, men like you need to be protected from vicious little girls like me.”
“I’ll be on my guard then.”
Mary Anne giggled but then froze.
“What? Is a vicious girl sneaking up behind me?” he asked, jokingly. He contemplated her expression a moment. “I didn’t mean I’d be on my guard with you if that’s what--” He stopped when he realized she wasn’t listening to him. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you hear that?” She leapt to her feet, on alert.
“Hear what?” Chad asked, confused.
“Someone’s in trouble.” And with that, she dashed off to the rescue.
“Wait, Mary Anne!” Chad got up to follow. “We can’t just leave all the picnic stuff behind.” He grumbled a little, irritated. “What are you doing?!”
“My job!” she called over her shoulder, not stopping as she ran.
“Your j-! Mary Anne!” He whined a bit as he followed in her wake. The way she was acting, you’d think she’d have a cape flapping behind her, maybe some theme music blaring.
They stopped when they found a little boy crouched under a tree, crying. Mary Anne crossed to him, kneeling down to his level.
“Hi,” she said softly. “What’s the matter?”
The little boy raised his sad, watery gaze up to Mary Anne’s face. “I lost my momma!” Now that he had an audience, the little boy’s crying ratcheted up a few notches, making the hairs on the back of Chad’s neck raise.
“Oh, sweet Jesus,” he muttered, rolling his eyes.
Mary Anne ignored him. “My name’s Mary Anne. What’s yours?”
The little boy sniffled. “Brian.”
“Well, Brian, I’m going to help you find your momma. And the man I’m with is a police officer and he’s going to help you, too.” She gave Chad a look. “Right, Chad?”
He raised an eyebrow but looked at the kid and gave in. “Sure am.” He crouched down next to Mary Anne so he was also at the kid’s eye level. “Now, do you remember what you and your mom were doing here at the park?” He looked to Mary Anne to make sure he was doing okay and grinned at her proud expression.
“I was playin’ on the toys but then I went potty and I came out and…” Brian’s lip wobbled. “I don’t know where the toys are!”
“I know where the toys are, Brian,” Mary Anne said quickly. “We’ll take you there and find your momma, okay?” She turned to Chad. “The bathrooms here have both a front and back entrance; it’s easy for a little kid to get confused.”
Chad nodded, not really caring. “Right. Okay, let’s go.”
The three rose to their feet. Brian looked up at Chad, cautiously. “Are you really a p’liceman?”
Chad pulled his badge from his pocket. “Yeah, see my badge here?” He showed it to the boy and winced when he tried to get his grubby fingers on it. Not wanting the kid to go into hysterics again, he let him take it. “You can hold onto that for me until we get back to your mom, okay? Don’t drop it now, I’m counting on you to keep it safe.”
Brain nodded gravely. “Okay.” Then his face lit up. “Can I shoot your gun?”
Chad’s expression darkened. “No. Now don’t you want to find your mom?”
The boy pouted. “Yes.”
“Ok, then, let’s hop to it.” He started to lead the way along the path, Mary Anne and Brian just a few paces behind him, hand in hand. Then he thought it would be a better idea to let them lead, so he could keep an eye on them, so he stopped and let them walk around him.
Only, Brian wasn’t walking. He was hopping.
Chad rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but chuckle.
Mary Anne gave him a mischievous look and started hopping too.
“If you think I’m going to start hopping, you have another thing coming,” Chad said, dryly.
Mary Anne laughed hysterically, swinging her and Brian’s joined hands. The little boy started giggling as well, trying to keep his hops in unison with hers.
Chad looked on, thoughtfully. She just might be the woman for me… If she could get over the worst of her shyness, at least.
“Brian!” A panicked looking woman ahead of them waved her arms.
“Momma!” Brian dropped Mary Anne’s hand and ran lickety split to the woman, who swept him up in her arms, dropping kisses all over his face as she wept.
“Don’t ever wander away like that again, do you hear me?” the woman exclaimed.
Brian submitted to her kisses with the air of someone long used to putting up with that sort of thing. “Mary Anne and P’liceman Chad saved-ed me!”
The mother hugged Brian tightly and gave them a grateful look. “Oh, thank you so much! I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t found him.”
“No problem.” Chad put his arm around Mary Anne. “It was my date who found him.” He nodded at Brian. “By the way, I’m gonna need my badge back now, buddy. Good job holding onto it for me.” He did the ‘hand it over’ wave.
Brian handed it back reluctantly, not wanting to let the bit of shiny go.
“Well, thank you Mary Anne,” Brian’s mother said. “We’re new to the area so I can see how Brian could’ve gotten lost. I tend to do it myself.” She laughed in self deprecation. “I’m still trying to find daycare for Brian…”
“Oh! I work at a daycare!” Like a pro, she pulled out a card and handed it to the woman. Did she carry those everywhere for just such an occasion? “It’s a nice place and I think Brian would be happy there.”
The mother accepted the card and set Brian on the ground. “Thanks, I’ll look into it. Say thank you to the nice people, Brian.”
“Thank you,” he said obediently, then reached out to Mary Anne. “I gots a secret!”
“What?” Mary Anne knelt down in front of him.
In a loud stage whisper everyone could hear, Brian said, “You’re pretty.”
Chad watched in amusement as Mary Anne blushed. Not much of a secret, really, when Mary Anne being pretty was common knowledge.
“Thanks again,” the mother said, sounding amused. “See you around!” She led Brian away as the little tyke started chattering all about his adventure.
“Well, I’m impressed,” Chad said as Mary Anne rose to her feet. “You handled that like a pro. You’ll make a great teacher.”
“I’ve been babysitting since I was twelve,” she said. “I was in a club and everything.”
He chuckled. “A club? Wow, was it no boys allowed?” He slipped his arm around her shoulders and led her back to where their picnic (hopefully) still was.
“No, Logan was in it as an associate member.” She winced at the mention of her ex and added lamely, “We were equal opportunity.”
“I see,” Chad said, keeping his inner grumbling silent. “Let’s see if anyone took off with our meal.”
“I hope not. That little adventure’s made me-” Her belly gurgled. “Hungry.”
Laughing, they were happy to see that everything was just as they’d left it.
“Hey, whaddya know, it’s a miracle.” Chad sat back down and tugged her down beside him. “Were we at dessert yet?”
She gave him a teasing smile. “I thought you wanted to save that for a private location?”
Impressed, Chad realized that their adventure had done more than make her hungry. It seemed like now she was more confident and in her element. “I guess I was talking about the wrong kind of dessert. What location did you have in mind?”
Mary Anne shrugged. “Well, if you wanted normal dessert, I packed pie…” She rummaged in the cooler.
Chad perked up. “Cherry pie?”
She pulled out the cherry pie, giggling uncontrollably. “Anticipated your needs again!”
“Wow, you sure did.” He cut himself a large piece and she scooped some Cool Whip on top. Then he happily tucked in, no doubt making a pig of himself.
“You’re so charming,” she teased but her smile was sincere.
“I do like to make a good impression on people,” Chad said, not knowing he had a bit of cherry filling on the corner of his mouth.
Mary Anne’s eyes darkened and she leaned forward, licking the filling away. “Well, you’re successful.”
Chad grabbed her chin as she was pulling away. “I am. I wear a suit and everything.”
This time, when he pulled her in for a kiss, they were both able to keep themselves under control. Mary Anne was the first to pull away, reluctantly.
“It’s getting late,” she said, her tone heavy with regret.
“Ah, of course. The ‘lick me and leave me’ routine.” He pouted a little.
She pouted back. “I’m sorry. Jan asked me to come over today; there’s been an issue at the daycare I need to help her out with.”
“Okay, I guess if it’s for work then I understand. I can be a workaholic myself.”
She frowned. “You can?”
“Well, yeah, sometimes. I mean, not all the time, but if there’s a big issue in IA, I’m the one who’s got to take care of it and that means staying late… I don’t mean that I do that a lot but sometimes things come up.”
Mary Anne gave him a comforting smile. “I understand. Help me pack this stuff up?”
“Sure. It’s the least I could do after all the hard work you did to cook- I mean buy it.” He grinned, devilishly, and was pleased when she laughed and slapped his arm.
They walked back to their cars in silence, her arm looped through his. It was a nice, comfortable silence and neither really felt the need to fill it. He put the cooler in her backseat for her and then they stared at each other a long moment.
“Thank you for coming out with me today, Chad,” she said, softly.
“Are you kidding? Thank you for asking me; I thought I’d blown it with you.”
She smiled and shook her head.
“So,” Chad said. “When can I see you again?”
Mary Anne frowned in thought. “I’m not sure. I have some quizzes and papers coming up that I’m going to have to work on, and Jan’s planning a new schedule for us that won’t be ready until the end of the week.” She peeked up at him through her eyelashes. “Maybe… can you call me then and ask?”
“Sure.” He smiled back at her.
“I’ll just give you my cellphone number…” she opened the backdoor and rummaged in a cardboard box full of puzzles and stickers and other kids things until she found a magic marker. “Give me your hand…”
She wrote her number on his palm neatly and capped the pen. “There you go.”
“All right. Thanks. So I’ll call you soon.” He dipped his head down and gave her a soft goodbye kiss.
“Okay,” she whispered. He held her car door open for her and shut it when she was safely inside.
He stood and watched her pull out of the parking lot and waved back when she wiggled her fingers at him. He didn’t climb into his own car until hers had faded into the distance.
~*~
Several hours later, Mary Anne got home from work, exhausted from having to assemble crib after crib after crib. It didn’t help that the instructions had started in English, changed to French, and then concluded in Spanish.
An envelope with her name written on it was taped to her front door. It was in Logan’s handwriting.
What could he possibly have to say? A better question: Did she care? She pulled it off and stared at it a moment.
No, she didn’t. She ripped it up and let the pieces scatter in the wind, hoping Dawn wouldn’t find one of them in the parking lot and start complaining about people not caring for the earth.
< Chapter Five : Interlude 1 >
Title: Chapter Six (6/12)
Authors:
toxic_corn and nutmeg610Disclaimer: Chad and Mary Anne belong to ABC, Ann M. Martin, and Scholastic Books repsectively. We humbly apologize for this.
Summary: Mary Anne has left Stoneybrook behind to attend UCLA. She loves living with Dawn and Tigger, working at a local day care, and spending time with Logan. But lately Logan's been changing and not for the better. What will happen when Logan's erratic behavior gets to be too much and the older LAPD officer starts getting closer?!
Notes: Sorry for the dreadful summary; I was going for a style. This is a Day Break/Baby-Sitter's Club crossover fic we dreamed up one night because we're insane. If you're brave enough to give this a try, good on you. And if you avoid it, well, we understand. :)
Catch up on earlier chapters at the organizational post.
A picnic? That sounds great, but… Mary Anne, you don’t cook. Somehow I don’t think your cop will like a lunch of just sandwiches, Jello Jigglers, and boxes of Hi-C.
- snippet of an email from Stacey McGill to Mary Anne Spier
By the time Chad got to the park, Mary Anne was already there waiting for him. He took a moment to really look at her. She was cute, sitting on the hood of her little green VW, swinging her legs, picnic blanket in lap. Her face lit up when she saw him.
“Hi! Could you carry the cooler? It’s a little heavy.” She slid off the hood, making her black and pink checked skirt ride up a little, revealing a fascinating amount of pale, creamy thigh.
“Sure, I’ll be your pack mule.” He smiled to let her know he was kidding and got the cooler out of the back of her car.
They made polite inquiries about each other’s day as they walked through the park, looking for the perfect spot. They found it underneath a tree a little ways away from where a group of children was playing with a big chocolate lab.
After spreading the blanket on the ground, they settled down and Mary Anne started to pull their lunch out of the cooler. Chad watched, bemused, as every bit of food revealed was still in the deli containers from the grocery store.
“My, my, my,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “You must be a culinary magician to make all this food, and get these plastic containers to put them in. And where’d you get the grocery store labels? Nice touch.”
She laughed, embarrassed. “I hope this is okay. I’ve never been much of a cook; I barely passed home ec. If it weren’t for Jello Jigglers, I would’ve flunked.”
He winked at her. “I’m not much of one, either. But my excuse is that in my day, boys didn’t have to take home ec.” He realized he was dating himself and mentally facepalmed.
“Well, not much has changed, really,” Mary Anne said, gently. “They still opt for woodshop, except the ones who realize it’s a good idea to get into a roomful of girls.”
“I probably would have gone for home ec then,” Chad said, laughing. “My friends would have made fun of me, but I’d get to hang out with girls for an hour, so it’d all work out.”
“I don’t know, I think you would’ve regretted it when you got to the egg baby unit. That was a nightmare right there.” At that moment, she handed him a tray of deviled eggs and blushed at the awkward timing.
Amused, he took the tray from her. “I hope no one died to make these eggs.” He opened the plastic lid and popped one of the things into his mouth. “It was a noble sacrifice,” he said with a playful wink.
As he was going for another one, he took a bite out of it and the damn thing fell apart, spilling onto his polo shirt.
“Oh!” Mary Anne grabbed one of the napkins. “Here, let me…” She started dabbing at his shirt, practically in his lap. It was nice having her so close; she smelled fantastic.
Mary Anne glanced up at his face and saw the way he was looking at her. “Sorry, you’re capable of doing this… I’ll just…” She started to scramble away and he couldn’t have that.
“I dunno, you were doing a pretty good job there.” He inspected his shirt. “Missed a spot. You wanna come back and get this?”
She inched close to him, peering at his shirt. “Where?”
Once she was close enough, Chad ducked his head and sneaked in a soft kiss.
Mary Anne’s eyes widened and she pulled away, startled.
Chad grinned at her slyly. “Wow, I can’t believe you fell for the ‘you missed a spot’ line.” His grin faded into a look of concern when she still looked startled. “What’s the matter? I’m not that bad a kisser, am I?”
She shook her head, slowly. “Sorry, you’re only the second person I’ve ever kissed, so…” Her face flushed pink as she ducked her head.
“Oh.” God damn Huckleberry Hound… “Well, hopefully it met your approval. I’m no eighteen year old delinquent but I’m pretty sure I know how to kiss.”
“I didn’t say you didn’t!” Mary Anne exclaimed, dismayed. “You’re a nice kisser, it’s just that I have to get used to… you know. Someone… else.” She bit her lip before inching her head closer to him. “So… let me get used to you.”
“Now that’s a sound argument if I ever heard one,” Chad said, meeting her halfway.
The kiss was sweet and gentle at first with nice, teasing little nibbles here and there. But then Mary Anne made a soft, whimpering sound and started pressing her mouth against his a little harder, getting more and more intense by the second. Her hands fisted in his shirt front and it took every ounce of control Chad had not to lower her down on the blanket and… When she bit his lower lip and gave it a tug, he knew he had to calm her down.
“Whoa, still in public, Mary Anne. Tone it down a bit.”
She jumped off him like she’d been burnt, panting, eyes dilated. “Oh my god, I am so sorry.” Her eyes started to tear up in embarrassment.
Chad went into comfort mode, reaching a hand out to touch her shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m definitely not complaining about your eagerness… just the location. You know, kids and their dogs playing Frisbee and all that.”
“I know, it’s just… it’s been so long and you’re such a good kisser that I just…” She started to crumble but pulled herself together. “Sorry. That won’t happen again.”
“Been so long?” Chad repeated, incredulously. “Huckleberry Hound wasn’t kissing you, huh? Now that’s a crime.” He grinned boyishly. “Besides, I hope it does happen again.”
She blushed and smiled at him sweetly. “Just in a more private location, right?”
“Exactly.”
Mary Anne stared at his mouth for a moment but then tore her eyes away. “So, um, did you want something to drink? I’ve got… uh…” She started to fumble with the cooler.
Chad perked up. “Cherry Coke?”
Sure enough, she pulled out a can. “Of course.” She handed it to him, giggling at his eagerness.
“I like a woman who anticipates my needs,” he joked, popping open the tab.
She blushed. “I just remembered… at the station… when you…”
“I’m not making you nervous again, am I?”
“Oh! No, I’m just trying to calm down. All I can think about is jumping you again.” She looked horrified to have said it out loud, but it was too late to take it back.
Flattered, Chad chuckled. “Seriously? Should I act less appealing or something? Get you to calm down before you pounce again?”
His humor worked to relax her. “Oh yes, men like you need to be protected from vicious little girls like me.”
“I’ll be on my guard then.”
Mary Anne giggled but then froze.
“What? Is a vicious girl sneaking up behind me?” he asked, jokingly. He contemplated her expression a moment. “I didn’t mean I’d be on my guard with you if that’s what--” He stopped when he realized she wasn’t listening to him. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you hear that?” She leapt to her feet, on alert.
“Hear what?” Chad asked, confused.
“Someone’s in trouble.” And with that, she dashed off to the rescue.
“Wait, Mary Anne!” Chad got up to follow. “We can’t just leave all the picnic stuff behind.” He grumbled a little, irritated. “What are you doing?!”
“My job!” she called over her shoulder, not stopping as she ran.
“Your j-! Mary Anne!” He whined a bit as he followed in her wake. The way she was acting, you’d think she’d have a cape flapping behind her, maybe some theme music blaring.
They stopped when they found a little boy crouched under a tree, crying. Mary Anne crossed to him, kneeling down to his level.
“Hi,” she said softly. “What’s the matter?”
The little boy raised his sad, watery gaze up to Mary Anne’s face. “I lost my momma!” Now that he had an audience, the little boy’s crying ratcheted up a few notches, making the hairs on the back of Chad’s neck raise.
“Oh, sweet Jesus,” he muttered, rolling his eyes.
Mary Anne ignored him. “My name’s Mary Anne. What’s yours?”
The little boy sniffled. “Brian.”
“Well, Brian, I’m going to help you find your momma. And the man I’m with is a police officer and he’s going to help you, too.” She gave Chad a look. “Right, Chad?”
He raised an eyebrow but looked at the kid and gave in. “Sure am.” He crouched down next to Mary Anne so he was also at the kid’s eye level. “Now, do you remember what you and your mom were doing here at the park?” He looked to Mary Anne to make sure he was doing okay and grinned at her proud expression.
“I was playin’ on the toys but then I went potty and I came out and…” Brian’s lip wobbled. “I don’t know where the toys are!”
“I know where the toys are, Brian,” Mary Anne said quickly. “We’ll take you there and find your momma, okay?” She turned to Chad. “The bathrooms here have both a front and back entrance; it’s easy for a little kid to get confused.”
Chad nodded, not really caring. “Right. Okay, let’s go.”
The three rose to their feet. Brian looked up at Chad, cautiously. “Are you really a p’liceman?”
Chad pulled his badge from his pocket. “Yeah, see my badge here?” He showed it to the boy and winced when he tried to get his grubby fingers on it. Not wanting the kid to go into hysterics again, he let him take it. “You can hold onto that for me until we get back to your mom, okay? Don’t drop it now, I’m counting on you to keep it safe.”
Brain nodded gravely. “Okay.” Then his face lit up. “Can I shoot your gun?”
Chad’s expression darkened. “No. Now don’t you want to find your mom?”
The boy pouted. “Yes.”
“Ok, then, let’s hop to it.” He started to lead the way along the path, Mary Anne and Brian just a few paces behind him, hand in hand. Then he thought it would be a better idea to let them lead, so he could keep an eye on them, so he stopped and let them walk around him.
Only, Brian wasn’t walking. He was hopping.
Chad rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but chuckle.
Mary Anne gave him a mischievous look and started hopping too.
“If you think I’m going to start hopping, you have another thing coming,” Chad said, dryly.
Mary Anne laughed hysterically, swinging her and Brian’s joined hands. The little boy started giggling as well, trying to keep his hops in unison with hers.
Chad looked on, thoughtfully. She just might be the woman for me… If she could get over the worst of her shyness, at least.
“Brian!” A panicked looking woman ahead of them waved her arms.
“Momma!” Brian dropped Mary Anne’s hand and ran lickety split to the woman, who swept him up in her arms, dropping kisses all over his face as she wept.
“Don’t ever wander away like that again, do you hear me?” the woman exclaimed.
Brian submitted to her kisses with the air of someone long used to putting up with that sort of thing. “Mary Anne and P’liceman Chad saved-ed me!”
The mother hugged Brian tightly and gave them a grateful look. “Oh, thank you so much! I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t found him.”
“No problem.” Chad put his arm around Mary Anne. “It was my date who found him.” He nodded at Brian. “By the way, I’m gonna need my badge back now, buddy. Good job holding onto it for me.” He did the ‘hand it over’ wave.
Brian handed it back reluctantly, not wanting to let the bit of shiny go.
“Well, thank you Mary Anne,” Brian’s mother said. “We’re new to the area so I can see how Brian could’ve gotten lost. I tend to do it myself.” She laughed in self deprecation. “I’m still trying to find daycare for Brian…”
“Oh! I work at a daycare!” Like a pro, she pulled out a card and handed it to the woman. Did she carry those everywhere for just such an occasion? “It’s a nice place and I think Brian would be happy there.”
The mother accepted the card and set Brian on the ground. “Thanks, I’ll look into it. Say thank you to the nice people, Brian.”
“Thank you,” he said obediently, then reached out to Mary Anne. “I gots a secret!”
“What?” Mary Anne knelt down in front of him.
In a loud stage whisper everyone could hear, Brian said, “You’re pretty.”
Chad watched in amusement as Mary Anne blushed. Not much of a secret, really, when Mary Anne being pretty was common knowledge.
“Thanks again,” the mother said, sounding amused. “See you around!” She led Brian away as the little tyke started chattering all about his adventure.
“Well, I’m impressed,” Chad said as Mary Anne rose to her feet. “You handled that like a pro. You’ll make a great teacher.”
“I’ve been babysitting since I was twelve,” she said. “I was in a club and everything.”
He chuckled. “A club? Wow, was it no boys allowed?” He slipped his arm around her shoulders and led her back to where their picnic (hopefully) still was.
“No, Logan was in it as an associate member.” She winced at the mention of her ex and added lamely, “We were equal opportunity.”
“I see,” Chad said, keeping his inner grumbling silent. “Let’s see if anyone took off with our meal.”
“I hope not. That little adventure’s made me-” Her belly gurgled. “Hungry.”
Laughing, they were happy to see that everything was just as they’d left it.
“Hey, whaddya know, it’s a miracle.” Chad sat back down and tugged her down beside him. “Were we at dessert yet?”
She gave him a teasing smile. “I thought you wanted to save that for a private location?”
Impressed, Chad realized that their adventure had done more than make her hungry. It seemed like now she was more confident and in her element. “I guess I was talking about the wrong kind of dessert. What location did you have in mind?”
Mary Anne shrugged. “Well, if you wanted normal dessert, I packed pie…” She rummaged in the cooler.
Chad perked up. “Cherry pie?”
She pulled out the cherry pie, giggling uncontrollably. “Anticipated your needs again!”
“Wow, you sure did.” He cut himself a large piece and she scooped some Cool Whip on top. Then he happily tucked in, no doubt making a pig of himself.
“You’re so charming,” she teased but her smile was sincere.
“I do like to make a good impression on people,” Chad said, not knowing he had a bit of cherry filling on the corner of his mouth.
Mary Anne’s eyes darkened and she leaned forward, licking the filling away. “Well, you’re successful.”
Chad grabbed her chin as she was pulling away. “I am. I wear a suit and everything.”
This time, when he pulled her in for a kiss, they were both able to keep themselves under control. Mary Anne was the first to pull away, reluctantly.
“It’s getting late,” she said, her tone heavy with regret.
“Ah, of course. The ‘lick me and leave me’ routine.” He pouted a little.
She pouted back. “I’m sorry. Jan asked me to come over today; there’s been an issue at the daycare I need to help her out with.”
“Okay, I guess if it’s for work then I understand. I can be a workaholic myself.”
She frowned. “You can?”
“Well, yeah, sometimes. I mean, not all the time, but if there’s a big issue in IA, I’m the one who’s got to take care of it and that means staying late… I don’t mean that I do that a lot but sometimes things come up.”
Mary Anne gave him a comforting smile. “I understand. Help me pack this stuff up?”
“Sure. It’s the least I could do after all the hard work you did to cook- I mean buy it.” He grinned, devilishly, and was pleased when she laughed and slapped his arm.
They walked back to their cars in silence, her arm looped through his. It was a nice, comfortable silence and neither really felt the need to fill it. He put the cooler in her backseat for her and then they stared at each other a long moment.
“Thank you for coming out with me today, Chad,” she said, softly.
“Are you kidding? Thank you for asking me; I thought I’d blown it with you.”
She smiled and shook her head.
“So,” Chad said. “When can I see you again?”
Mary Anne frowned in thought. “I’m not sure. I have some quizzes and papers coming up that I’m going to have to work on, and Jan’s planning a new schedule for us that won’t be ready until the end of the week.” She peeked up at him through her eyelashes. “Maybe… can you call me then and ask?”
“Sure.” He smiled back at her.
“I’ll just give you my cellphone number…” she opened the backdoor and rummaged in a cardboard box full of puzzles and stickers and other kids things until she found a magic marker. “Give me your hand…”
She wrote her number on his palm neatly and capped the pen. “There you go.”
“All right. Thanks. So I’ll call you soon.” He dipped his head down and gave her a soft goodbye kiss.
“Okay,” she whispered. He held her car door open for her and shut it when she was safely inside.
He stood and watched her pull out of the parking lot and waved back when she wiggled her fingers at him. He didn’t climb into his own car until hers had faded into the distance.
Several hours later, Mary Anne got home from work, exhausted from having to assemble crib after crib after crib. It didn’t help that the instructions had started in English, changed to French, and then concluded in Spanish.
An envelope with her name written on it was taped to her front door. It was in Logan’s handwriting.
What could he possibly have to say? A better question: Did she care? She pulled it off and stared at it a moment.
No, she didn’t. She ripped it up and let the pieces scatter in the wind, hoping Dawn wouldn’t find one of them in the parking lot and start complaining about people not caring for the earth.
< Chapter Five : Interlude 1 >
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Date: 2006-12-28 12:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 11:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-29 03:35 am (UTC)Thankyou :D
Y'know, I have wonderful friends :) I'm feeling much better today, although that could be because I have new ugg boots that the soles are quite firmly attached to.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-29 05:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-29 06:48 am (UTC)Did you know this is the coldest December in Brisbane in over a century? It snowed down south on Christmas Day.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-29 06:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-29 06:59 am (UTC)Besides, the old ones, the right boot had the sole hanging on by about an inch either side of the ball of my foot.