by Kitty Parker
Jack's pretty sure his own heart has stopped and he wants to go onto the field and look at Matty himself even though he doesn't know anything and he'd be just another useless body crowding around him. He looks to Daisy and she looks so scared, her face drained of all blood, and he reaches for her hand. This time, Daisy takes it, clutching it as tightly as she can.
It seems as if the entire Gators stands exhale a breath as Matty slowly sits up and T-Dog unclips the helmet from his head, pulling it off. The coaches and Johnathan and Shawn all stand up and then slowly, holding his hands, Shawn helps Matty get to his feet. There is relieved applause as Matty is slowly led off the field and Daisy then takes that as her signal to rush down from the stands to the sidelines.
"Think he just got the wind knocked out of him," Adam murmurs as he still watches the scene. "That #74 on the Bulldogs is a tank. There's no way that kid is six."
Casey nods in agreement. "We should run his birth certificate to make sure it's not a fake."
Daisy comes back after a few minutes and the game has started once again. "He just got the wind knocked out of him and was left dazed but he's fine. Daddy says no concussion but he's going to sit out for the rest of the game," she informs them all and both Annette and Maybelle hug her at the same time.
They are all so relieved that Matty is going to be okay, none of them seem to even notice when the Bulldogs shut the Gators down completely and the Gators lose their first game of the season.
…
Matty is on strict orders to take it easy the rest of the weekend. When Jack comes over that night, later for dinner, he's lying on the couch, in his pajamas, watching Jurassic Park and he doesn't come running over to greet him as he usually does.
"I brought pizza," Jack tells them both, holding up the pizza box in his hand. "And Morris. Figured he might make you feel a lil' better."
Matty smiles as Jack comes over and sets the black cat down on his lap. "Thanks, Jack," he says and strokes a hand down the cat's back.
"How you feelin'?" Jack then asks.
"He's sore and he's got a few bruises," Daisy answers. "Coach Douglas was saying though that he expects Matty to be at practice on Monday. A few bruises never hurt anyone," and she's frowning as she says it.
She bends down and kisses Matty's head and then turns, heading back towards the kitchen. The counter is covered, once again, in cupcakes and she's in the middle of piping them with icing and he can see the rigidness in her body and he knows she's pissed.
"He'll be a'right," Jack tells her in a quiet voice even though the T-Rex on the movie is roaring and Matty can't hear them.
"He's six and it's stupid youth football and my son is not going to get a concussion from it," Daisy fiercely says as her hands squeeze around the bag and too much icing squirts out onto the cupcake, ruining it, and without a word, she picks it up and hands it to him. She then exhales a deep breath and turns, leaning back against the counter. "And he absolutely loves playing. He just loves it and he's so good at it." She sighs again.
And Jack has absolutely no idea what to say. He doesn't know how to be a boyfriend and offer encouragement and say just the right thing when the situation calls for it.
He doesn't know how to do much of anything but Daisy is here and she's forgiving him for all of the dick things he's done to her over the past year. She's not off with Spencer or some other guy. She's here and she wants him here and he has to figure out what to do now.
The only thing in his mind he can think of doing is hug her so he sets his cupcake down and does exactly that, pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her and she sighs softly and hugs him back and it seems to be exactly what she wanted him to do.
…
Daisy and Matty go to church every Sunday with her family and he hears them leaving in the morning. He's not stalking them but he admits that he has been waiting for them.
"Hey," he says, opening his apartment door and catching them before they can head down the stairs.
"Hi, Jack," Matty grins at him and the kid seems just fine now considering how quiet and tired he had been the day before.
"Looking good, kid," Jack smiles at him and Matty grins. He then looks to Daisy. "You gonna be back here after church?" He asks.
"We go to my parents' afterwards," she says. "You can meet us there, if you want."
Jack shifts a little on his feet as if nervous. He actually has no idea how she'll respond to what he's about to suggest. "I usually go huntin' on Sundays. In the mornin' 'fore I go see Cletus. Was wonderin' if you wouldn' mind if I took Matty with me today? Jus' to get his mind off football for a while."
Matty gasps and looks up at Daisy with wide hopeful eyes and Jack thinks, for a second, she'll be pissed that he asked in front of Matty and put her on the spot but Daisy, instead, is smiling at his suggestion.
"I think that sounds wonderful," she says. "Come to the farm in about an hour. Is it alright if you use the woods near my parents' house?" She asks.
"Woods is woods," Jack shrugs and then looks to Matty. "Maybe we'll catch your mama a rabbit," he then says and Matty gasps again at even the mere idea of that and Jack smiles a little and when he looks to Daisy, he sees her smiling, too.
…
He was taught how to hunt when he was four. Was really the only thing his old man did for him though when the Beltons hunt, it was because they had to. Learning to track animals and hunt them was important to their very survival.
He never thought he would have anyone to teach; hadn't dwelled at all on that fact either. But now there's Matty and he finally has someone he wants to pass things onto. Matty isn't his son and maybe it's not his place to because he has his uncles and his grandpa to show him things in this world but now, he has Jack, too, and he can't show him a lot but this is something he's damn good at.
He's waiting for the family on the front porch of the steps and Matty is the first out of the car before Johnathan can even turn the engine off.
"Jack!" The boy exclaims when he sees him and comes running towards him as Jack stands up from the steps. "I'm gonna go get changed!"
Jack nods. Matty's wearing khakis and a sweater and he doesn't want the kid to get his church clothes dirty. "Take your time," he tells him. "'m not goin' without you."
Annette smiles at him as she passes and she goes to unlock the front door, Matty disappearing inside.
"He barely sat through service," Daisy says as she approaches him and Jack smirks at that.
"Thanks for lettin' me take 'im," he says to her.
"Thank you for wanting to take him," she says. She opens her mouth to say something else but it's as if she decides against it because she closes her mouth then and looks away. Her hair is pulled up in its usual braid and a few loose strands blow in the breeze. She busies herself, tucking them behind her ears.
"Wha'?" Jack asks because he's not smart but he knows Daisy wants to say something.
She shakes her head and quickly looks back to him. "I just… I'm not pressuring you into spending time with him, am I?"
His frown was immediate. "What the hell you talkin' 'bout?" He asks because he honestly has no idea. He feels like he came in the middle of a book and he's lost and trying to figure out all of the earlier pages.
"I just don't want you to think that you're obligated-"
"I don't think anythin' like that," he swiftly cuts her off because he more than gets it now – just from that short sentence she's started to say. "I know you ain't lookin' for a daddy for the kid. I'm doin' this 'cause I think he's a cool kid and I wan' to show him."
Daisy looks at him for another moment – as if she's studying him to make sure that he's speaking the truth – and once she decides that he is, she gives her head a small nod.
"Thank you, Jack," she then says in a soft voice.
"Jack!" Matty comes tearing out of the house now in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. "Let's go!" He exclaims as he goes running straight towards the woods without waiting for him.
&nbs
p; Jack lingers, looking at Daisy, waiting to see if she wants to say anything else but she just gives him a soft smile.
"Have fun," she tells him.
And Jack doesn't think about it or give himself a chance to talk himself out of it.
He leans down and gives Daisy a quick kiss on the lips. "We won' be gone long," he says and turns, following after Matty, not looking back to the smile on Daisy's face but just knowing that it's there.
…
Jack means it. Matty really is a cool kid. And he's eager to learn how to do this. When Jack shows him how to quiet his steps, the kid does exactly how he shows him and he's constantly looking to Jack for approval that he's doing it right.
Jack shows him different signs on the ground – prints or the way leaves have been disturbed and the scratches on tree trunks from when a buck has rubbed his antlers against it. Matty listens to it all with alert eyes and rapt attention. He holds his breath when Jack pulls his crossbow and takes aim and a second later, he's fired his bolt into a rabbit.
"That was awesome!" Matty expels on a rush of breath and then rushes off to go college both the animal and bolt.
And Jack smiles to himself. He's relieved that Matty seems to love hunting and the outdoors as much as he does.
…
He's been here before but now it's a little different. He's sitting on the couch in Daisy's apartment, The Great British Bakeoff, on the television but this time, Daisy is curled up against him and Matty is asleep in his room. Jack never would have thought he would like a show like this but there's something about British competition or reality shows compared to the ones aired in the US. For one, they're a hell of a lot calmer and it pulls Jack in.
"I almost have enough money," Daisy says as the bakers are working on their breads. She pulls her head from resting on his chest and tilts it up, looking at him. "There's a little store on Court Street. Really little but I don't need something big and fancy. Just enough room for at least one case and enough room to bake in the back."
"Tha's great, Daisy," Jack says and completely means it.
"I think I'm going to go see it by the end of this week and make an offer on it," she says.
"Tha's really great," he says again and is smiling a little.
She's smiling, too. "Will you help me? Make a sign out front for it – like the one you made for my chalkboard that you gave me for my birthday?"
Jack blinks at her for a moment. "How'd you figure out that I made that for you?"
She smiles and shrugs and she leans back into him, her head finding a resting place on his chest once more and her eyes return to the television. "It seems like something you would be able to do and I don't know. I guess I was just able to tell."
Jack looks at her again and she just keeps smiling. He wonders how the hell he got so lucky as to have a girlfriend like her; someone who knows him pretty damn well and seems to like getting to know him and doesn't hate what she finds. She has every right to. She has every right to let him nowhere near her and he wouldn't be able to argue or fight with it. He's been too big of a dick to her too many times now. And he knows how lucky he is that Daisy is able to look at him and find it in herself to forgive him.
He doesn't deserves her and there's no way – no matter how long they're together or what they go through – that he'll ever deserve her. He wonders if she knows that, too. He wonders if he should point that out to her.
But honestly, all he wants right now is just this. Him and her on the couch, watching some baking competition show and not talking. Knowing that they don't have to talk and they can just sit there together and enjoy one another's company. He'll never ask for anything ever again if he can just have this with her for as long as possible.
…
It's Halloween again and he's at the grocery store, picking up some stuff for himself and he's sure to grab a bag of candy and toss it in his basket. No Ding-Dongs this year.
And at seven o'clock that night exactly, there's a rapid excited knock on his door and he goes to answer it, his lips twitching the instant he sees Matty standing there. He almost expected the kid to go as a football player but he should have known that Matty would go for something more creative. This year, he's wearing brown sweatpants and a brown sweatshirt and Daisy has painted his face brown. And from his head, there are two antlers.
"I'm a buck!" Matty informs him, obvious pride shining in his voice.
Jack actually grins this time and he grabs the bag of candy. "You look real good."
"Wait!" Matty stops him before he can drop the candy into his orange bucket. "Trick-or-treat!" He then exclaims and Jack chuckles before dropping the whole bag of candy into his bucket and Matty gasps. "Thanks, Jack!"
"Wasn' gonna forget this time," Jack tells him. He then looks to Daisy. "You wan' some company walkin' 'im 'round the neighborhood?" He asks her.
And Daisy doesn't hesitate. She smiles and nods. "That would be wonderful."
Jack tosses the empty candy bag on the kitchen counter before grabbing his leather jacket and he steps out to join them in the hallway. After closing the door and locking it, Matty skips down the stairs and Daisy reaches, taking his hand in hers. He gives it a squeeze. He decides right then and there that this is something else he wants, too. Hopefully, Daisy wants it, too and Carolina isn't right.
…
She's still trying to be so careful in regards to him but that's getting harder and harder because the more time they spend together – and it's been so much more lately – she finds herself falling even more for him.
She likes when he comes over for dinner and stays afterwards and once Matty is in bed, he'll sit with her on the couch and watch her baking shows with her. And with her head on his chest and his arms around her shoulders, he doesn't seem to expect anything more than that. When he kisses her goodbye every night after she walks him to the door, the kiss is sweet and gentle and she never gets the feeling that he wants to push her back to her bedroom. And he probably has no idea how much that means to her; that he's not pressuring her into giving him something more that she's not ready to at the moment.
She hasn't had sex since before Matty was born. There have been times when she's wanted it, her body tight and aching for it, but she takes care of herself because there are no guys in her life and she hasn't wanted anyone. A part of herself is still a little scared of sex. Her only experience is what she had with Jimmy and they were young and had no idea what they were doing and they got a teenage pregnancy out of it. Daisy supposes that might make any girl a little weary of having sex.
She's had fantasies of Jack over the past year. Of him coming over once Matty is asleep. She's already in bed but not sleeping. She's waiting and then he's there, filling her doorframe in the way he had that night he came to check on her after her accident. She smiles and his lips twitch in that way they do when he's smiling, too, and then stepping into the bedroom, he'll close the door behind him as she pushes the covers from her body.
And then, he's on top of her and he's kissing her and they aren't like the kisses they've shared before. This kiss is hungry and hard and she can feel his body coiled tightly on top of hers, ready to spring apart. She feels his tongue tangling with hers and she knows he just has two hands but suddenly, she feels them everywhere on her body and she's on fire and moaning and like the way of dreams, one scene jumps to another without explanation or it seeming strange and then she finds them both naked and Jack's inside of her.
Matty can sleep through a freight train roaring through their home but in her dreams, she always does her best to keep quiet as Jack's between her thighs, ramming himself into her. In her dreams, he's rarely slow and gentle and it's surprising to her because she thought she would have wanted that. But Dream Jack knows exactly what Dream Daisy wants and it's to get a good hard pounding.
And Daisy can't imagine anyone else pounding her between her thighs except for Jack.
But she's not ready for that and Jack knows that without her telling him becaus
e maybe he's not ready for it either.
…
As soon as the knock comes on the door, Daisy knows exactly who it is and she only merely glances into the peephole out of habit. Coach Douglas stands there and he gives her a small smile when she opens the door.
"Evenin', Daisy," he tilts his head towards her. "I'd like to talk with you if you have a minute." He doesn't explain what he needs to talk with her about but he doesn't have to.
Daisy doesn't say anything. She simply opens the door and steps back, allowing the man to enter. Once the door is closed once more, she then leads him further into the apartment. Matty is sitting at the kitchen table, doing a worksheet from his workbook for school.
He smiles the instant he sees T-Dog. "Hi, Coach!" He greets excitedly.
"Hey, Matty," T-Dog smiles in response. "Doin' your homework?" He asks.
"Yep!" The little boy exclaims with the same wide smile.
"Good kid," T-Dog smiles first at him and then at Daisy but it slowly fades.
Daisy looks to Matty. "Matty, can you take that into your room, please? I need to speak with Coach Douglas for a moment," she says and the boy nods without argument and taking his pencil and workbook, he slides off the chair and giving his coach and mama one more grin, he goes down the hallway into his room. Daisy follows behind him and closes the door behind him because she's not quite sure what T-Dog wants to talk about though she has an idea and she's not sure whether or not she wants Matty to overhear.
Coming back, she sees T-Dog still standing between the kitchen and living room, looking a bit uncomfortable. She's never see the man quite look like that before. On the football field, at practice and on game days, he's shouting and yelling and celebrating and grinning and he's a man who seems to always know exactly what to do in any situation he's in.
But not right now. Right now, he's in the apartment of one of his players, about to deal with a very angry mother. She's not angry at T-Dog necessarily but he definitely has some of it directed towards him. After spending the weekend with Matty and making sure that he truly was well and alright, her fear was replaced with anger – anger that is still simmering.
