Greased Arches

A/N: Happy birthday to my darling shelikesthesound! This story is for her.

”Daddy, Uncle Em forgotted Sophie in the dugout again,” Sammy told me, ignoring how Emmett was trying to shush him.

“Hey, buddy. Did he? But you remembered her, right?”

“Of course, Daddy. She’s too little to drive a car, so we have to remember to bring her with us home.”

“That’s right.” I sighed and closed the hood on the blue Toyota I’d been working on all afternoon. “Did Uncle Emmett feed you?”

“Uncle Emmett is standing right here and very capable of answering questions,” Emmett said and dumped his sports bag on the floor before putting Sophie down. “Of course I fed them.”

“He gived us a candy bar but told us to tell you that it was a sammich,” Sammy supplied. “Mine had peanuts in it.”




“Traitor,” Emmett muttered as he went over to the fridge to grab a Coke.

I rolled my eyes and picked up Sophie when she toddled over to me. She was already dirty from playing in the park, so a little grease from my overalls wouldn’t hurt. I made a mental note to do laundry later. “Hello, baby girl. Did you have a good time at the park?”

She nodded, curls bouncing, and hid her face against my neck. When Sammy had been her age, I hadn’t been able to shut him up, even if it was mostly babbling that had come out of his mouth, but Sophie rarely said anything. She got by with nodding, pointing, and those big, expressive eyes of hers. And when that didn’t cut it, Sammy seemed to understand what she wanted and became her voice.

“All right, let’s get you two a snack, and then it’s nap time,” I said, bouncing her to make her smile. “Thanks for watching them, Em, even if you did give them candy instead of lunch.”

“Hey, I often ate candy for lunch as a kid, and as you can see, I grew up big, strong, and ridiculously handsome,” he protested. “And no sweat. I love the little monkeys, and so do the guys on the team. They made Sammy mascot today.”

“Really?” I looked at Sammy, who was bursting with pride. “That’s awesome. What does a mascot do?”

Sammy looked at Emmett. Apparently that little detail had been forgotten, and now I could see Emmett struggling to come up with something cool for a little boy, turned mascot for an amateur baseball team, to do. “A mascot, um…well, he fetches water for the players. And he gets to wear the team colors even if he doesn’t play. He also reminds certain players not to use bad words so much. However, his most important job is to watch the mini-mascot, Sophie.”

Sammy frowned. “But I already did that before I was mascot.”

“Um, well…then it was about time you got the title officially, wasn’t it?”

“I guess.” My son did not look convinced, and he got that look on his face that meant he was going to think the matter over very carefully. Despite being only four, he’d been able to win arguments with his Uncle Emmett for a full year. It was difficult to tell if I had a genius son or an idiot brother.

“Gotta run. My shift starts in twenty minutes,” my possibly idiotic brother said. “Catch you guys later.”

“Bye, Uncle Em!” Sammy called out while Sophie just waved.

I took the kids out back to the small room where James and I ate our lunch. Fixing them a sliced apple and some raisins, I hoped that would tide them over until dinner since their lunch had been nothing but a candy bar. Sometimes I doubted my own sanity by having Emmett babysit as much as he did, but all three of them enjoyed it.

“Daddy, what’s a whore?” Sammy asked while carefully dividing the raisins into two piles.

What the hell? “Where did you hear that word?”

“In the locker room after practice,” he replied. “Ben asked Tyler why there was a scratch on his back, and if it was one of his whores who’d done it. Is a whore like a cat? Grandma’s cat scratches, too.”

I coughed and took a sip of cold coffee. “No, it’s not like a cat, and I don’t want you to ever say that word again, okay? It’s a very bad word. I’ll have to talk to Emmett about having you and Sophie in the locker room.”

“But I like it in the locker room,” Sammy objected. “I have my own locker even though I only have Sophie to put in it. And I get to pull out the towels from the dryer when they’re all warm.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” I told him. “Now, you both need a nap, and I need to get back to work before James scares all the customers away.”

I tucked them in on the cot in the corner and closed the door before going back out to the garage. I had a lot of work to do before I could call it a day, especially because I knew Sammy wouldn’t sleep long. James wouldn’t be much help, and I’d be lucky if he hadn’t scared away any customers while I’d been out back.

James was my cousin, and at first I’d only hired him at the garage as a favor to my aunt, who wanted him out of the house a few hours a day after he’d finished whatever school he’d attended. Having Down Syndrome, he couldn’t really hold down a regular job, but he was great at cleaning cars and doing other miscellaneous tasks for me. The only problem was that he was so full of mischief that he scared off the customers by doing Frankenstein impressions or whatever the hell it was he tried to portray when I left him alone. It was funny as hell to watch but very bad for business. And business wasn’t going too well in the first place, especially not since I’d had to buy out my old partner, Jake, when he’d gone to Alaska to work on a crab boat.

“James?” I turned down the radio and looked around. Where the hell had he gone off to? Then I spotted him, sitting on a couple of old tires completely absorbed in an old Donald Duck comic book. “James? Dude, you just took a break half an hour ago. Did you finish putting those new tires on the Honda Civic?”

He grinned. “No.”

It was difficult to get mad when he was always so happy and smiling, but some days I had to be over him like a hawk to get him to do anything. “Well, do you think you could be bothered go do it? Preferably now, as the owner will be picking up the car this afternoon.”

“Sure, sure.”

“Great. Thanks. I need to get on Mr. Sullivan’s rust bucket again. Heaven knows why he keeps that piece of shit car, but I suppose it pays half your monthly salary with how often it’s in here.”

James grinned again and went to work. I glared a little at Mr. Sullivan’s ancient Mercedes before popping the hood and digging in. I needed to at least find out what was wrong with it this time before the job interview I’d set up with a new potential mechanic. I’d been swamped since Jake left, and having James around just wasn’t enough.

There wasn’t just one thing wrong with the Mercedes, and I lost track of time as I worked on it. It wasn’t until Sophie pulled my pant leg that I even noticed how long I’d been mentally unreachable – not so smart when you had little kids running around between dangerous and heavy tools.

“What’s up, baby girl? Did you have a nice nap?” From her adorably rumpled look, it appeared she’d slept soundly.

She nodded and pointed over to where Sammy was talking to a blond guy who’d come in without me noticing. How many times did I have to tell him that he shouldn’t talk to strangers? I wiped my hands and picked up Sophie before I went over to them.

Before I had taken two steps, James came running. “I finished with the tires. Can I play with Sophie now?”

Sophie wriggled in my arms and held her arms out for my cousin. She adored James. “Sure. But keep her in the back so she doesn’t get hurt.”

“Sure, sure.”

I gave Sophie a kiss and handed her over. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I realized that I wasn’t just late for the interview, but I also had to check the tires on the car James had worked on. He usually did a great job, but it was my name on the sign outside, so I needed to make sure that everything was in working order before any cars left the lot.

Before I could decide what to do first, the guy Sammy had been talking to came over. “Hello, I’m Jasper Whitlock. I’m here for the interview.”

“Hi, I’m Edward, the owner. I’m really sorry to keep you waiting. I just need to check something on a car that’s being picked up, and then I’ll be right with you. You can have a seat over there,” I said, shaking his hand. “Sammy, can you get Mr. Whitlock something to drink from the fridge?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

I hurried outside to check the car, but I could still hear what was going on inside.

“Here you go, Mr. Willuck,” I heard Sammy say.

“Thank you very much. You can call me Jasper, though.”

“Jazzer,” Sammy said.

“Ah, no. It’s Jasper. Jas-per.”

“Jazzer,” Sammy said again, for some reason not able to pronounce it properly.

Jasper Whitlock did not give up, though. “Can you say ‘Jas’?”

Sammy was prompt. “Jas.”

“Per.”

“Per.”

“Excellent. And now together. Jas-per.”

“Jazzer,” Sammy said.

“No, Jasper. Jas…”

“Jas.”

“Per.”

“Per.”

“Jaaaas-peeeer.”

“Jazzer.”

There was a moment of silence before Jasper Whitlock figured out Samuel Cullen. “You’re totally doing it on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Yup,” Sammy replied.

I snorted to myself. Not only did my four year old son talk to strangers, he also pulled their leg. I didn’t know whether to worry about him or be proud. When I heard Jazzer laughing, I knew he only had to be a decent mechanic to get the job. Personality-wise, he’d probably fit in just fine if he could handle Sammy.

So, an hour later, I had myself a new mechanic. Jasper’s references were fine, he’d treated James like he was a person and not a freak, and he’d patiently answered every question Sammy had asked him. Hell, he’d even supplied me with the number of his girlfriend, who he claimed liked to babysit. It didn’t get any better than that.

“Daddy, can we have turkey like on Christmas?” Sammy asked while I hauled him and Sophie through the grocery store on the way home. I hated grocery shopping, and it didn’t help that every elderly person in town seemed to be in the store. These people didn’t work, so why the hell couldn’t they shop during the day and let the people who worked all day shop in peace in the evenings? And why did they have to stop in the middle of the aisle to gossip with their neighbors?

“No, buddy. Turkey is for Christmas and Thanksgiving. We’re having…” I looked around. “We’re having hotdogs.”

“Again?”

Did we just have hotdogs? I couldn’t remember. “Well, then what do you want? And don’t say turkey.”

Sophie pulled his sleeve and pointed to something behind me. Sammy smiled. “Me and Sophie wants French fries. With catsup.”

“All right. French fries with ketchup it is.” I swallowed the sigh. That meant I had to turn the cart around and navigate through a group of gossiping ancient people again.

Finally back home, I unloaded the groceries and threw in a load of laundry. Then I cooked and sat through what could have been dinner or a scene from a horror movie in a slaughter house. Red stuff was everywhere. Bath time was a battle and so was getting Sammy into his pajamas, since he’d recently gotten it into his head that pajamas were for babies.

“And I’m not a baby, Daddy. Sophie is.”

“Am I a baby, too?” I asked. “I wear pajamas to bed.”

He giggled. “You don’t look like a baby, but Uncle Em says tha--”

“Don’t listen to what Uncle Em says. You’re smarter than he is. You’re not smarter than me, though, and I say that you need to get into those pajamas right now.”

“But Daddy! I don’t wanna.”

“Sammy…” I sighed. “Now, please. You need to go to sleep, and for that you’re wearing your pajamas. End of story.”

“Okay,” he muttered. “But then I wants two stories!”

I thought about the laundry I needed to get through, the kitchen that looked like a disaster, the bills I needed to pay, the paperwork I’d brought home with me from the garage… “Sure,” I said.

“Yay!” Pajamas battle forgotten, Sammy was dressed and under the covers faster than ever before. I hoisted Sophie, who had been patiently waiting for Sammy’s pajamas crisis to be over, onto the bed so she could crawl under the covers. I’d carry her back to her own bed once she was asleep, which would be approximately halfway through the first story.

“Daddy, read the one with the animals. And do the funny voices!”

Two stories and a lot of funny voices later, both kids were asleep, and I could tuck them in. Sophie buried her little face in my neck when I carried her over to her own bed, and I wished I could just sit with her in my arms all night while she slept. Becoming a dad had changed my life, and sometimes I still felt like I hadn’t recovered from that overpowering feeling of vulnerability that had hit me right in the heart the first time I’d held Sammy.

I often blamed Leah for taking the easy way out and leaving me alone with a toddler and a sick infant, but I had never for a second wished that things had turned out differently. Leah and I had never been meant to be, but we’d coped for the kids. And while I grew from an irresponsible boy to a responsible man the moment I found out that I was going to be a father, Leah had always partied too much to be considered for a Mom of the Year nomination. She’d done alright until Sophie got sick when she was only a few months old. In the midst of the chaos that followed Leah’s overdose, I’d had to postpone her funeral until after Sophie’s operation. There was no way I could focus on a selfish woman when I had a gravely ill daughter.

And I’d been angry. It had eaten at me for a long time, but it had also kept me going at times when I’d just wanted to take a timeout from life and let someone else deal with everything. It wasn’t until Sophie was out of the hospital with a clean bill of health that I started to deal with the anger. And it was then I’d realized I couldn’t be angry with Leah. I could blame her for her selfishness and her shitty timing, but not for disappointing the kids when they were too young to know it instead of waiting until it would give them painful memories. As for being left without a mother, it left me no choice but to just do my best as a father and hope that it was enough.

Tucking Sophie in, I gave her a kiss on the forehead and looked at her as she snuggled further down under the covers. She had to be the cutest thing in the world. I went back to Sammy’s bed and bent down to kiss his forehead, too. I hoped their dreams were happy ones.

Bedtime was still far off for me, and after getting a beer from the fridge, I started tackling the million chores I needed to do. I pushed through until a little before midnight when I put the laundry in the fridge and tried to tell the time by looking at the TV remote. Then I figured that going to bed was my best option.

I’d only just fallen asleep when the alarm on my cell phone blared – at least that’s what it felt like. I groaned and buried my face in the pillow, deciding that five more minutes wouldn’t hurt anyone. Except, then a little bouncy monster started jumping on the bed next to me, narrowly missing some vital parts of my body. Sammy giggled when I playfully tackled him and pulled him down to lie next to me. His hair was sticking out in all directions, and a faint impression from the pillow could still be seen on his cheek. Despite that, his eyes sparkled, and he looked ready to face the new day head on.

“Morning, Daddy!”

“Morning, bouncy boy. Is Sophie awake?”

“Hmmmm…” He tapped a finger against his chin as he pretended to think. “Yup!”

“Rascal,” I said and tickled him. “Let’s go get her, and then you can make breakfast. I want pancakes.”

He giggled loudly. “But Daddy, I’m not big enough to make breakfast. You have to!”

“I have to? But I did it yesterday, so it must be your turn,” I objected, stretching before getting out of bed.

“Nope. It’s Sophie’s turn,” Sammy claimed, chortling.

I picked him up and swung him over my shoulder while he kept giggling. “Then we better go get her out of bed so she can feed us men.”

I took the time to make pancakes, and that meant that we were so late that Emmett had to come pick up the kids at the apartment instead of at the garage, which was closer to where his very ambitious, but utterly talentless, baseball team spent the mornings practicing. They all worked together, doing afternoon or night shifts for the local cab company, so their mornings were free.

“Uncle Em! You forgotted Sophie!” Sammy yelled as they rushed out the door to make it to practice in time.

Emmett turned around. “Crap. I mean damn. Shit. Argh! Come on, Soph, wave bye bye to Daddy. We need to hurry!”

Sophie waved obediently to me when Emmett carried her out the door, and I even got a dimpled smile that made me wish I was the one spending the morning with her and Sammy. Unfortunately, I had to get to work and show Jasper the ropes on his first day. Being the boss sucked.

***

“Daddy, I gots two toys in my Happy Meal and Uncle Em almost forgotted Sophie at McDonna’s!” Sammy’s eyes widened as he slowed down and came to a stop in front of me. A look at Emmett told me why. “Oops. Sorry, Uncle Em.”

“Kid, you’re killing me,” Emmett complained as he put a wriggling Sophie down onto her feet. He held out a hand, ready to catch her, as she wobbled a little. Then she beamed and toddled over to me.

“Candy bars and McDonald’s, Em? I think I’ll have to start packing lunch for the kids again, but last time I did that, you ate it.”

“I told you - I was hungry, and it was an emergency. What if my blood sugar had dropped, and I’d fainted while babysitting the kids?”

I snorted. “Yeah, because that happens so often.”

“You never know…” he muttered and took his usual route to the fridge so he could grab a Coke. For his blood sugar, no doubt.

Sophie pulled my pant leg and lifted her arms. When I picked her up, she pointed at Sammy, who was playing with his McDonald’s toys. “Me!”

She rarely omitted any sounds besides giggling and crying, so hearing her say a real word made me smile. But then it hit me what she meant. “Where’s Sophie’s toy?” I asked, looking at Sammy.

“Um…” He looked at Emmett. “She didn’t got one. Uncle Em said she’s too little to eat burgers, so she got some of his french fries. I gave her some of mine, too. I did.”

“What about sharing your toys with her, too?”

His eyes widened and he clutched the plastic toys. “But they’re mine, Daddy. I gots them.”

I sighed and kissed Sophie’s cheek. Of course Sammy was going to choose now of all times to stop being the amazing big brother he usually was. And, of course, Emmett hadn’t bothered to consider the fact that if one kid got toys while the other didn’t, it might cause problems.

“Can she at least borrow one?”

He shook his head, looking like he might start crying. “Mine.”

On my arm, Sophie’s bottom lip quivered. “Me,” she repeated, pointing at Sammy again.

“Come on, baby girl. Let’s go find you some toys out back,” I told her, hoping that would make her smile again. I’d made a vow when she had been so sick and almost died that I’d keep her happy and smiling if only I could keep her. God, or whoever ruled the universe, had heard my plea, and every day since, I’d done my best to make my baby girl smile.

None of the toys under the cot in the back room pleased my little girl, and it became clear that I had a trip to McDonald’s to make. If it had just been Sophie throwing a tantrum, I would have let it be, but I remembered what it was like to be the younger sibling. Growing up, I’d felt what it was like seeing my big brother receive an extra toy because he’d been “old enough” for it, and I never wanted Sophie to experience that – not even when it was just a stupid McDonald’s toy.

First, however, I needed her to take a nap. Sammy, too. It wasn’t easy, and when they were finally asleep, I’d been gone from the main area of the garage for a little over an hour. Way to leave Jasper hanging on his first day. Hopefully James hadn’t scared him off with one of his funny stunts. Emmett had left to start his shift, so I’d have to deal with him later.

It was a busy afternoon. Jasper was a great mechanic, but James had found it hysterically funny to sneak around and put the tools in all the wrong places. With him gleefully laughing and Jasper not knowing where things belonged, it was up to me to restore order. Sometimes, I felt that I was running a kindergarten and not a garage.

Mr. Sullivan picked up his rust bucket, and I introduced him to Jasper as I was pretty sure I’d be delegating next time it came in for repairs. Being the boss was awesome. We then worked out a schedule so I didn’t have to open and close every day, but could get a little more time with the kids – that had also been a big part of the reason for hiring a new mechanic. It seemed like Jasper was fully capable of getting James to stop goofing around, so that part didn’t worry me either.

I was doing paperwork in the small office when Sammy woke up and came to find me. “Daddy, can we go home now?”

I hoisted him up on my lap. “In a minute, little man. I just need to finish this. Did you have a nice nap?”

He nodded and leaned back against my chest. “Can I please keep my toys, Daddy?”

“Yeah, you can keep your toys. We’ll stop by McDonald’s on the way home and get Sophie some of her own.”

“Can I have nudder one? Please?” He accompanied the request with a big smile and pleading eyes, but I just laughed and ruffled his hair.

“No way. You already got two today.”

“Aawww, Daddyyyy…”

“Save the pout, buddy, and go get your jacket,” I told him, trying not to smile. He was going a little overboard with the pouting. “Oh, and find Sophie. I need to show Jasper how to lock up.”

“Bye, Jazzer!” Sammy called out a little later when we left the garage. I’d hit the jackpot with my new mechanic, because he was eager to work. How rare was that shit? That meant that I could leave early and get the toy crisis resolved.

I couldn’t with a good conscience let the kids eat both lunch and dinner at McDonald’s, so I purchased two Happy Meals and gave Sophie the toys and the food to a homeless dude outside. Sophie cheered up immediately and looked at the toys like they were sacred treasures instead of pieces of plastic. Sammy, on the other hand, started acting up even before we’d gotten back outside.

“Daddy, it broke. I want a new one!” he cried. “I only has one now, and Sophie has two! It’s not fair.”

When Sammy threw a tantrum, which wasn’t often, luckily, I’d learned that it was best just to let him get it out. Granted, I would have preferred it not be in public, but I knew he wouldn’t budge until he’d realized that no one was going to give him the attention he wanted. So I shared a juice box with Sophie while Sammy punched holes in the air and complained about how he had no toys at all.

“Excuse me,” someone said next to me. Great. It was a McDonald’s employee, who no doubt wanted me to take my screaming kid somewhere else. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help but overhear…and um, well I know how easily the Happy Meal toys break sometimes, so…they’re cute kids, even with the screaming and all…anyway, I just wanted you to have these. They’re the toys for next week.”

“Thank you. That’s very sweet of you,” I said. That was not what I’d expected.

She smiled shyly. “You’re welcome. Have a nice evening.”

“You, too.”

I watched her as she walked away. It was rare to meet friendly people like that, and it was a minor miracle that Sammy’s tantrum hadn’t made her reconsider giving him toys. Sure, he was cute – he was my kid, so he had to be – but mid-tantrum he wasn’t very charming. Sophie, however, had the ability to look cute even when she cried. I was pretty sure it was a female thing.

Sammy had run out of steam and was now sitting on the ground, letting Sophie pat his hair. With an affectionate sigh, I picked up Sophie and offered Sammy my hand. He looked up at me for a moment, no doubt wondering if he should let the toy thing go or not, but then stood up.

“I’ve got more toys at home than Sophie does because I’m older,” he said as if that made everything all right in his world.

“No need to get you any new ones until Sophie has as many as you then,” I commented.

He looked up at me, horrified, but then he giggled. “Stop teasing, Daddy.”

I snorted and squeezed his hand. Then I looked around when I heard someone swear.

“You fucking piece of shit!”

It was the generous McDonald’s employee, and she was talking to her car while kicking it. I considered covering the kids’ ears, but they’d heard worse – much worse – from Emmett. In fact, one of the first words Sammy had ever said was something that sounded an awful lot like “fuck,” and I fully blamed my brother.

Never one to enjoy seeing a car being abused, I went over to her. “Hey. Anything I can help you with?”

She turned abruptly, wincing when she saw us. “Um, sorry about the colorful language around the little ears. My car died on me. Again. I’m just telling it what I think about it flaking on me.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I heard. Want me to take a look? I specialize in dead cars.”

“I think it’s a waste of time. Last time I had it in for repairs, my mechanic told me not to bring it by again as it was giving him gray hairs.” She sighed and scraped off a little paint on the rusty hood. “I’m just being sentimental holding onto it.”

“I still have my first car. It doesn’t run, and it’s not worth a damn thing, but I still have it,” I replied. “Mind if I pop the hood and take a look?”

“Go ahead, but please don’t trouble yourself.”

“I won’t.” Making sure that the kids weren’t going to run off, I dived under the hood. I could see all kinds of things that were wrong or would be wrong soon.

“My name is Sammy. I’m four years old,” I heard Sammy say, and I knew he was holding up three fingers. He could count, but he hadn’t mastered the art of applying it to how many fingers he held up. “My sister’s name is Sophie. She’s only one, but she’s not as little as she was before. Do you know my Uncle Em?”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Sammy and Sophie. My name is Bella. And I’m afraid I don’t know your uncle. Is he nice?”

“Yes!” Sammy replied, enthusiastically. “He says he knows all the pretty girls, and I think you’re pretty.”

I was pretty sure I heard her splutter, and that made me chuckle. Sammy was a suave little dude, and he didn’t even know it. “Thank you, Sammy,” she said.

“Maybe you’re one of Tyler’s…um, Daddy says I’m not spose to say that word, but Tyler says that Uncle Em doesn’t knows all the pretty girls ‘cause he has some, too. And Ben says they’re whores. Oops. Sowwy, Daddy!”

I turned my head to look at him. “Sammy!”

“I’m sowwy. I didn’t mean to, Daddy,” he apologized, jutting out his lower lip for maximum effect.

“I never want to hear that word coming out of your mouth again,” I told him sternly before apologizing to the woman. A slightly sheepish Sammy apologized, too, and luckily she didn’t look offended.

Sighing, I returned my attention to the engine. My imbecile brother was making me look like a bad father. On the positive side, I’d figured out what was wrong with car. “I have good news and bad news,” I said, standing back up and turning around. “The good news is that I can fix what’s wrong and it won’t take more than half an hour, but the bad news is that I can’t do it here. I can arrange for your car to be towed to my garage tomorrow morning, and then you can pick it up before noon.”

She stood up and brushed her pants off. “If you think there’s hope for it yet, I’d really appreciate it. Will it be expensive?”

I smiled, partly because I knew what it was like to be sentimental about a car, and partly because Sophie stood up, too, and mimicked Bella’s movements. “No, it’s nothing major. Less than fifty bucks in total. But you know yourself that it’s just a matter of time before something else needs work.”

She sighed. “I know.”

I fished out a business card from my pocket and handed it to her. It was a little wrinkled, but it would have to do. “I’m Edward Cullen. If you’ll trust me with your keys, I’ll have your car towed first thing tomorrow and then fixed. You can pick it up at that address sometime after eleven am.”

“Thank you. I have the afternoon shift again tomorrow, so that’s perfect. And my name is Bella Swan, by the way.”

“Well, Bella. Can we give you a ride home?” I asked.

“I wanna drive!” Sammy interrupted with a cheeky grin and turned to Bella. “I can drive you all around the whooole world!”

She laughed. “Well, how can I resist that? If it’s not out of your way, I’d love a lift. My feet are killing me.”

It wasn’t until we were in the car and on the road that I realized I was having a hard time focusing on the road. Sammy was making both Sophie and Bella giggle with his little one man show, and I kept glancing over at Bella. It was like she got prettier every time I looked at her, which would explain why she had seemed like every other person when she’d first approached us with the toys. I couldn’t even put my finger on what it was that made me keep looking.

Her uniform was hideous, and she smelled of French fries. The polite way of describing her figure was curvy, while slightly overweight was the less polite way, and her hair didn’t look like it had enjoyed a shift in a greasy kitchen. Yet, when she smiled and laughed at Sammy, she lit up from within and went from being just another face to being kind of beautiful. It fascinated me to no end.

“And then…and then…” Sammy was laughing too much to get the words out. “And then Uncle Em felled over the rug because he was making funny faces at Sophie, and Grandma said that he was a clown like they have in the circus. I went there with Daddy once when I was littler. Did you go to the circus, Bella?”

“Yes, I went a couple of times when I was a little older than you,” Bella replied. “What did you like the best? The clowns? The animals?”

“I liked the elephant!” Sammy said, grabbing his nose with one hand and putting the other arm through the loop, trying to imitate an elephant. Sophie tried, too, but couldn’t figure out how to hold her arms. Bella laughed merrily, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Bella didn’t live too far from Emmett’s apartment, so I didn’t have any problems finding it. However, I hadn’t expected the feeling of regret as she got out of the car and thanked me for the ride with one of those magic smiles.

“Bye, Bella!” Sammy called out, waving with his whole body as much as he could, strapped into his car seat and all. Sophie waved, too, and I was surprised to hear her talk. “Buh bye!”

Bella waved back. “Goodbye, Sophie and Sammy.”

“I like her, Daddy,” Sammy declared as we drove home. “Can we drive her home twomorrow, too?”

I chuckled. “Bella won’t need a ride home tomorrow. I’m going to fix her car.”

He thought about this a moment. “Do you have to?”

“It’s my job,” I replied. “I have to.”

“You can get a new job,” he suggested eagerly. “Like Uncle Em.”

“You want me to drive a cab? But then what about the garage? And what about Jasper and James? What should they do?”

“They can drive a cab with you. Or work at McDonna’s like Bella.”

I glanced at his little, serious face in the rear view mirror. He had it all figured out. Next to him, Sophie looked like she was about to fall asleep. “I think I’m just going to stay at the garage if it’s okay with you, buddy.”

“Okay…” He sighed, as if it was a big sacrifice, and then started humming as he looked out of the window.

I managed to avoid thinking about anything except the chore it was to herd a sleepy Sophie and a hyper Sammy through dinner, bath time, and a goodnight story that turned into three. But when both kids were fast asleep and all I had left were mindless chores and even more mindless TV, I couldn’t help but think about Bella with the magic smile. Even if she did smell of French fries. And French fries weren’t bad. Neither was grease, even if it was a different kind than what I worked with. We could be greasy together.

I groaned at my thoughts. Where the hell was all this coming from? Just because a woman had an amazing smile didn’t mean that I had to obsess over it. I didn’t even know anything about her except that she had a shitty job and an even shittier car. Determined not to think about her anymore, I went to bed, also determined not to dream about her.

The following morning I woke up late. Sammy didn’t want to get dressed, and Sophie was cranky because of a runny nose. On top of that, Emmett had neglected to tell me that he’d picked up a morning shift and therefore wouldn’t be stopping by to pick up the kids. That meant they’d have to spend the whole day at the garage with me since my mom, who sometimes watched them, was in Reno with her canasta club. I was looking forward to summer being over so Sammy could spend his days with kids his own age, but I still hadn’t figured out who’d take care of Sophie.

“Daddy, it’s too hot for clothes. Uncle Em says--”

“Sammy, I don’t care what Uncle Em says. Put your clothes on. It’s not hot – in fact, you’ll need your jacket as it’s raining outside.”

“Stupid Daddy,” Sammy muttered.

I was okay with being stupid as I helped him get dressed. At least I wouldn’t be a shitty dad for letting my kid walk around naked in public.

When I arrived at the garage, I wasn’t about to let the kids be cooped up in the back room all day, so I let Sammy sit in Bella’s car while I worked on it. Sophie was being babied by James…or maybe James was being babied by Sophie. It was hard to tell, but Miss Cranky became Miss Giggles, so I didn’t question it.

“I wanna fix cars like you when I get big,” Sammy announced. “Then I can fix Bella’s car. And Sophie’s when she gets big and gets a car, too.”

“I thought you wanted to become a fireman,” I said, remembering him saying that just the week before. The week before that it had been a cowboy, because then he could wear boots in the summer.

“Nope. I wanna be a chanic like you.”

I smiled at him, knowing that next week he’d want to be something else. And that was what I wanted for him – a world full of opportunities. Sophie, too.

When I’d finished with Bella’s car, I did the paperwork. After considering it, I ended up leaving out everything but the price I’d paid for the part I’d used to fix the car. I refused to admit to myself why, though. Since Sophie wasn’t feeling well, I put her down for a nap before I went to deal with a new customer. Sammy was playing Chutes and Ladders with Jasper, who was on his break. After a little while, when both Jasper and I had returned to work, Sammy found a screwdriver and started working on a toy car. I couldn’t help but stop what I was doing and snap a picture with my cell phone.

Just as I was slipping the phone back in my pocket, the sound of James howling made us all stop what we were doing and look up. I’d heard him howl before – one day he’d decided to play werewolf right behind a female customer – but I went to check on him anyway. He came running to meet me, eyes wide and blood flowing freely from his hand.

“Shit! What did you do?” I asked, quickly grabbing a towel and pressing it against the wound.

“I was helping!” he wailed. “I was just helping, I swear.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. We’ll get it fixed. Hang on,” I said, looking around wildly. I wished I could have asked Jasper to take James to the ER, but my aunt was going to kill me as it was – not going with James would just make it worse. And even after a year, I wasn’t sure I could handle seeing Sophie back in the hospital. “Jasper, could you--”

“I’ve got the kids. Don’t worry about it,” he interrupted.

“Thanks.” I steered James toward the door, but then turned around again. “I don’t know how long I’ll be, and I didn’t have a chance to pack the kids’ lunch. Just grab some cash from the register and--”

“Edward, go! I’ve got it covered,” he said, picking a wide-eyed Sammy up on his arm.

“Right. Sammy, be good, okay?”

I saw him nodding solemnly out of the corner of my eye. When I returned my attention fully to James, he was trying to write his name on the wall outside with a bloody finger. “James, don’t so that, man. Come on, we need to get you to the ER.”

It wasn’t a long drive, but it felt long – especially since James kept wanting to check if it was still bleeding. “No, keep the towel on,” I told him. “And press down as hard as you can stand it.”

“Sure, sure,” he replied. “Are you gonna call my mom?”

Shit. I’d have to. And she would be mad as hell and blame me. “Yes, I’ll call her as soon as we get you in to see a doctor, okay?”

“Okay.” He was quiet a moment. “I just wanted to help. I like helping you. But then the…the thing…it slipped and cut me.”

“I know. And you do a great job of helping me.”

“So, I can come back after I see the doctor?” he asked.

“Yes, of course. Well, not today and maybe not for a while, but when your hand is healed,” I replied. The parking lot outside the ER was almost full, but I managed to find a spot. “Come on, James.”

Inside, when they saw all the blood, they fortunately didn’t make us wait long. I went with him to make sure he was okay, but the doctor was really nice and I could stand in the corner while James chattered happily about what had happened. He didn’t even appear to be in any real pain. When the doctor was stitching him up, I slipped outside and called my aunt. She yelled at me for a while before telling me that she was on her way.

She arrived before the doctor was finished with James, and she yelled at me a little more before going in to see her son. I knew she’d calm down as soon as she saw for herself that he didn’t need open heart surgery or a kidney transplant, but for the time being, I’d been thoroughly dismissed. And I couldn’t even blame her. I’d been a mess when Sophie had been sick, and with Sammy getting older and more adventurous, I’d figured out that it didn’t take more than a bruise to make me imagine all kinds of horrible things. And fuss. I fucking fussed. I’d hated my mom fussing when I was a kid, and now I was doing the same thing myself.

When I got back to the garage, Bella’s car was still parked outside even though it was after noon. I hoped she hadn’t flaked on her car. Jasper had apparently tried to remove the stain where James had been writing his name on the wall with blood, but it was still tinged red, and I knew I’d have to paint the facade. With how things were going, the best I could hope for was my kids still being alive.

Inside, I discovered that they indeed were very much alive, and I smiled when I saw both of them sitting on the dirty floor covered in finger paint, but apparently having the time of their lives. Between them sat Bella in her hideous uniform, which would definitely not be clean by the time she got back on her feet. I hoped she had a spare at work.

I watched them for a moment, but then Sophie noticed me and lit up with a smile. A little clumsily, she got on her feet and came over to me, hugging my legs and smearing pink paint all over my overalls.

“Hey, baby girl. Having fun?” I picked her up and kissed her cheek.

She nodded, impatiently brushing away her curls from her face so she got a little paint in her hair, too. Bath time was going to be fun.

“Hi, Daddy!” Sammy yelled.

“Hey, buddy. Why did you paint your nose green?”

“Cause I wanted to.”

I chuckled. “Of course. Hello, Bella. It’s brave of you to sit that close to someone who paints body parts just because he wants to.”

She smiled as she stood up. “Hi. I’ve already got a green finger to match his nose, actually.”

“That’s cause we’re friends,” Sammy stated. “Right, Bella?”

She nodded. “That’s right.”

“Sophie didn’t wanna have a green finger or a green nose,” Sammy said, frowning at his sister before sitting back down to paint.

Bella sent a smile Sammy’s way before she looked back at me. “I should probably get to work. Your colleague, Jasper, gave me the bill, but you’ve only charged me for the part, not the labor or the tow, so I decided to stick around and see if I could catch you before I had to leave for my shift. Jasper said you worked on my car and that he didn’t know why you’d forgotten to put the rest on the bill.”

“I didn’t forget,” I replied and put a wriggling Sophie back on the ground so she could join Sammy.

“I don’t understand. That can’t be good for business,” Bella said, frowning.

I shrugged. “I could tell you that it’s a ploy to get you to come back next time you need a mechanic. And we both know that you will unless you get a new car. But, the truth is, you went out of the way to give two kids you didn’t know toys.”

“But they were just free plastic toys,” she objected.

“Free plastic toys that will make my kids smile. And the point is that you didn’t have to give them anything, but you did.”

She shrugged sheepishly. “They’re cute kids.”

I glanced down at them, half-covered in paint, and smiled. “Most of the time.”

Bella looked down at the bill in her hand. “How long did it take to fix my car today?”

“Twenty minutes, tops,” I replied.

“Do you promise to let me pay for everything the next time it dies on me?”

“Maybe.”

“You’re supposed to say yes.”

“I don’t want to lie.”

She smirked. “Then say yes and mean it.”

“Only if you say yes and mean it, too,” I bargained, shakily testing my long-buried flirting gene.

She narrowed her eyes but couldn’t suppress the smile – the magic smile. “Say yes to what?”

“A date,” I replied, feeling the flirting gene fail me. “With me, I mean. If you want.”

She looked surprised, and too late I started thinking about the fact that I had no idea if she was even single. Or interested. Or straight. But then she smiled. “Yes.”

I was surprised, too. Well, kind of. “Yes?”

“Yes. So now it’s your turn. Say yes and mean it.”

I chuckled. “Yes.”

It took almost an hour after Bella had left for work before it hit me for real. I had a date. A date. I hadn’t dated since…well, I’d never really dated Leah. We’d had a one night stand after a party, and then after a while, we’d met again and just kind of…been together. So it had been at least five years since my last date. Where the hell was I supposed to take Bella? Dinner maybe, but where? A movie, but which one? Something more original, but what? One thing I did know, and that was that I was in over my head.

But then I remembered her magical smile. I’d just have to come up with something good. Or do some research. Ask someone. Hell, I had no idea. But I was determined to do my best to make it a good date.

A few days later, the date was planned and organized – dinner in what my mom had called a semi-fancy restaurant and an open air concert – and I’d just called Bella to ask for her address so I could pick her up. I’d asked Japer if his girlfriend could babysit, but they were having dinner with his parents. My mom had a performance with the choir she sang in, and there was no way I was leaving the kids in my dad’s care since he’d been showing signs of what we were pretty sure we was dementia. So, I’d been forced to bribe Emmett to switch his shift.

I explained to Sammy that he and Sophie got to hang out with Uncle Em Saturday night. Of course, then I was foolish enough to mention that I would be having dinner with Bella.

“I wanna go too, Daddy,” Sammy stated. “Bella is my friend.”

“I’m sorry, buddy, but you can’t go. It’s just for grownups. Maybe we can go to McDonald’s soon and see her.”

“But I’m growed up. Sophie’s the baby.” He pouted and looked at me with his best puppy eyes.

“Not this time, Sammy,” I said, ruffling his hair. “You get to watch cartoons with Uncle Em instead.”

“But I don’t wanna! He laughs so loud that I can’t hear the TV,” he whined before suddenly looking pensive. “Can we have popcawns?”

“Yes, you can have popcorn. And you also get the remote so you’re in charge of what you watch. Last time Uncle Em decided, he showed you movies you’re eleven years too young for.”

“They shooted each other in Uncle Em’s movie,” Sammy told me, all thoughts of going on the date with Bella and me forgotten. “And then a man was on top of a car while it drived. He felled off.”

“You’re watching cartoons on Saturday. Uncle Em is not allowed to pick a movie, okay?”

He nodded. “Okay, Daddy. Don’t forget the popcawns.”

I chuckled. “I won’t. I promise.”

When Saturday arrived, I woke up to a cranky Sammy and a fussy Sophie, who clearly wasn’t feeling well. I took them out shopping as I’d realized that I didn’t have a decent shirt to wear. There were two in my closet, and one was too small while the other had some kind of mystery stain. To try and cheer the kids up, I took them to the toy store, but not even that could capture their interest. Sophie started whimpering, and when I lifted her up, Sammy also wanted to be carried. Struggling to get them back to the car, I started fearing for the night ahead. I hoped lunch and a nap would make Sophie feel better and Sammy snap out of his funk.

Lunch didn’t do anything but make both of them crankier, but I managed to get them to sleep. And then my nerves set in. It had been so long since I’d last been on a date, and maybe I hadn’t chosen the right things for the night. Maybe Bella would prefer another restaurant, and maybe she’d think the open air concert was lame. I didn’t really know her, after all.

“My tummy hurts,” Sammy complained when he woke up and shuffled up on the couch next to me, burying his face in the crook of my arm.

I hoisted him up on my lap and cuddled him. I hated when he or Sophie were hurting because there wasn’t always something I could do. Once in a while you just had a stomach ache or a cold. When Sophie woke up from her nap, she was just as clingy, and we spent the afternoon on the couch where I unsuccessfully tried to distract them from how bad they were feeling with cartoons. I was already debating leaving them for the night when Emmett called, saying that he’d had to take a colleague’s shift and couldn’t babysit.

My date with Bella was officially fucked. And it never even got the chance to begin.

Sammy was wailing in my ear and Sophie was doing her best to suffocate me when I called Bella to cancel. It wasn’t until I heard how understanding she was that I realized how disappointed I really was.

“Maybe we can reschedule when the kids are doing better?” she asked, and I didn’t know if it was just wishful thinking, but I was pretty sure I detected a little hope in her voice.

“I’d like that very much,” I replied. “Can I call you next week?”

“Please do. And I hope the little ones recover soon. Being sick sucks.”

Sophie wriggled in my arms, and I put her down. As soon as her feet were on the floor, she threw up all over herself and started crying.

“Bella, I gotta run. Sophie just threw up, and--”

Sammy pulled my sleeve and tried to reach for the phone. “Can I say hi to Bella?”

I sighed. “Sure, buddy. Bella, Sammy wants to say hi. I’ll call you next week, okay?”

“That’s fine, Edward. Go take care of Sophie. I’ll talk to Sammy.”

I handed Sammy the phone and gingerly picked up Sophie. She was a mess, but my heart broke for her. She looked so miserable. “Come on, baby girl. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

I carried her to the bathroom and put her in the bathtub where I removed her soiled clothes. From the living room, I could hear Sammy tell Bella all the gory details about his sister’s vomit. Putting Sophie in her little plastic tub, I turned on the water and filled it. While she splashed unenthusiastically, I rinsed out her clothes.

When I’d washed, dried, dressed, and cuddled Sophie, Sammy was only just saying goodbye to Bella.

“Bella telled me that I can call her if I want to and you say it’s okay,” he said and snuggled down under a blanket on the couch.

I put Sophie down next to him. “She did, huh? You’re a lucky one.”

“Daddy, can me and Sophie have owange juice?”

“Sure you can,” I replied, hoping that there was enough left in the carton for them both. I’d have to mix in some water anyway, so it wasn’t too strong for their stomachs. If they weren’t doing any better tomorrow, I’d have to get either my mom or Emmett to help me out so I could get some groceries.

Sippy cups in hand, I settled down on the couch between them. Sophie dozed off, and Sammy crawled onto my lap while we watched Cars. I was lamenting my cancelled date and really hoped that we’d get a second chance. I still didn’t know what it was about Bella that had me so intrigued. Well, apart from her smile. It turned her from ordinary to stunningly beautiful. And she was sweet and thoughtful.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts, and with Sammy clinging to my neck, I went to open. Outside stood Bella in a black dress and black heels, her hair shiny in the light from the hallway and falling in waves down over her shoulders. Someone had obviously gotten ready early for the date that wasn’t to be. She smiled nervously, and at first I didn’t even question what she was doing there, I just focused on the fact that she cleaned up really well. The hideous McDonald’s uniform didn’t do her any favors.

“Bella!” Sammy greeted her, enthusiastically.

She smiled at us. “Hi. Edward, I hope I’m not overstepping and butting in, but I brought you some stuff from the drugstore. For the kids, I mean. I had the lady give me anything that was good for sick kids. I just…well, I wanted to help if I could. Your address was on the back of the business card…”

I finally got past my surprise and smiled at her. “Hi. And thank you. It’s really nice of you after I canceled at such short notice and all. Come on inside.”

She stepped inside and handed me the bag she’d brought. Before I could take it, however, Sammy threw up all over both himself and me.

“I’m sowwy, Daddy,” he sniffled and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. It was clearly shower time. For both of us.

“Excuse us for a few minutes. Please make yourself at home,” I said to Bella, grimacing when I heard Sophie start to cry in the living room.

“Go wash up. I’ll say hello to Sophie,” Bella said and started in the direction of the sound.

I took Sammy into the bathroom and put him in the tub. I took off my t-shirt, as that had gotten the worst of it, and struggled with a very reluctant boy, who despite being covered in vomit, didn’t think bathing was a good idea. Getting dressed was also not high on his list of priorities, but I told him that it wasn’t polite to run around naked when you had guests over. That won him over, and when I’d gotten him into clean pajamas, he went out to Bella while I showered.

Thinking about how she’d brought stuff over – I didn’t even know what was in the bag – for the kids made me smile. She seemed to genuinely care about other people, and in my experience, that was rare. And the way she looked in that dress and those shoes had me thinking some not entirely appropriate thoughts. There were curves under that dress, and I was suddenly a big fan of curves.

When I’d rid myself of both vomit and inappropriate thoughts, I went back out to the living room. Sammy and Sophie were both curled up with Bella, who had taken off her sinful shoes. They were watching Cars while Sammy told Bella about the movie’s plot. Sophie looked like she had fallen back to sleep.

“Hey,” I said, wishing the flirting gene from the other day would kick back into gear. “Um, can I get you something to drink, Bella? Coffee, soda, beer?”

“I wanna have a beer,” Sammy said, lazily and giggled.

Bella ruffled his hair and smiled up at me. “I’ll have a beer, too, thanks.”

Drinking beer and watching Cars and Finding Nemo with two sick kids was not how I’d imagined my date with Bella to go, but at least I’d gotten to see her even though I’d had to cancel the official one. I’d taken a peek into the bag from the grocery store Bella had brought, and there was everything from cough syrup and Baby Tylenol to orange juice and a couple of small toys. She really was amazingly sweet and thoughtful.

Sammy soon fell asleep, too, and I carried him and Sophie to bed, hoping that the rest would do them some good. I switched on the baby monitor that I hadn’t used in a while so I could hear them if they woke up.

Back in the living room, the cartoons gave way to the kind of trading life stories that would have taken place during a first date. I learned that she was saving to go to college. She’d used to dream of becoming a chef, but after starting to work at McDonald’s, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to work in a kitchen again. She told me about growing up in South Carolina with her mom and how she’d come to Washington after graduating high school to be closer to her dad, who she’d not really gotten much of a chance to get to know while growing up. In turn, I told her about how I’d come to be a single dad, about my business partner deserting me for a crab boat so he could be on Deadliest Catch, and how grateful I was for my mom and brother helping me out with the kids.

Talking led to kissing, and her lips welcomed me home like a beacon on top of a cliff in a dark night. She tasted like beer, but so did I in all likelihood. While hungrily kissing, we had a difficult time coordinating where our hands went, and after the second collision, we broke away laughing.

“We probably just need some more practice to get it right,” I suggested.

“It’s worth a try,” she agreed.

So we tried again. And again. After a while, we could probably have gone pro. I’d been right about the curves. She felt heavenly beneath my hands, and there was not even the faintest smell of French fries when I buried my nose in her neck and kissed the delicate skin there. She did still smell good enough to eat, though, but just in a different way.

We tumbled back on the couch, her underneath me. She wove her legs with mine, and there between two glorious thighs, every ounce of desire I’d been suppressing bubbled to the surface. I could feel her claim every nerve ending in my body, and while my mouth explored hers, I couldn’t help but seek out friction, cradled between her legs and as close to heaven as I’d probably ever been. My hand slid up a smooth thigh, and between that and my erection rubbing against her, I made her call out both profanities and for her supposed creator. I clearly hadn’t forgotten this sex thing even though it had been a while. A long while.

“Whatever you do, don’t stop doing that,” she begged when my fingers reached under her panties.

So I tried not to – even when she tugged to get my t-shirt off and I clumsily pulled down the top of her dress and her bra. Her breasts were pale and full, and in one second flat, I became a breast man. Completely unashamed, I feasted on them while I slipped a finger into her and worked her clit with my thumb. She was so slick and warm, and another part of me started dreaming about joining my fingers.

In another uncoordinated move, Bella tried to unfasten my jeans. Letting her do so easily meant losing the friction, and I couldn’t do that. She felt so amazing under me, and when she arched her back and came apart – moaning my name in a way that I wished I could get on audio and listen to on repeat – it only took her hand brushing my cock to come violently. My jeans were undone, but I was still in my boxers. And when I moaned and shuddered, I didn’t give a damn, because apparently there was still a teenage boy inside of me.

My head dropped down on her shoulder, and when I came down to earth, I felt her fingers in my hair. And humiliation at my lack of control knocked on my door, but I refused to let it in. I was busy basking in Bella.

“Shower time again?” she asked after a while, not doing a very good job of containing her laughter.

I winced and suppressed a smile. “Pretty much.”

She looked entirely at home on my couch, glossy hair splayed out over a pillow and a mischievous and satisfied smile on her face. “Need a hand scrubbing your back?”

“My back’s not dirty.”

“That’s too bad.”

“It really is,” I agreed, hoping that there were shared showers in our future. I could see them. Practically feel them.

I looked into her eyes and saw much more than I was prepared for. “Permission to fall in love with you?”

She smiled and tugged my face down to hers again. “Permission granted.”

The End