Fic: Here Comes My Girl (2/?)
Title: Here Comes My Girl
Author: x_avecia_x
Rating: PG-13
Warning: A few sweary words, a little smut but nothing too graphic :)
Word Count: 6,971
Disclaimer: I do not own Community - although I would totally marry Dan Harmon then claim half in our (inevitable) divorce settlement - that is unless he concedes to my end game Jeff/Annie demands. If you recognize any of it, it isn't mine.
Summary: Annie tries to find her place in the lives of Jeff and his daughter.
Author's Note: Yeah, this is the one-shot that wouldn't just stay a one-shot. I have an idea for another two or three chapters so I'm gonna just roll with it. This takes place about six months after the first chapter.
P.S. I have no idea if there are little league soccer teams for almost-five-year-old girls but it was what seemed to work here. Though that doesn't play any kind of major part in this at all, just thought I should say :)
_____
The first time Sophie unceremoniously told her she was not her mother was six months after she started dating Jeff.
They were still in that honeymoon phase of their relationship and Annie still lived in her own apartment, but she would spend the majority of her spare time away from work with both Jeff and Sophie. She’d agreed last minute as she rushed out of a meeting to once again to babysit for Jeff when he was held back at work trying to finalize an out of court settlement for one of Ted’s newest divorce client’s. He had huffed a little on the phone at the way he felt his boss had been manoeuvring him away from the criminal side of the business to the civil clientele, but Annie had reminded him of how great Ted had been to him in recent years and Jeff had only been able to mutter a rather reluctant sounding ‘yeah, I guess.’
So she’d rushed over to pick Sophie up from kindergarten after making sure Jeff called ahead to let the staff know she’d be there to collect his daughter.
Annie was disheartened though, when upon arrival, Sophie refused to go anywhere with her. She stood there in the middle of the room, surrounded by kindergarten staff, folded her arms and definitively told her that under no circumstance was she leaving with anyone other than a parent. Annie had blushed from the embarrassment of having to explain to the little girl that her dad had been delayed at work but Sophie was having none of it.
It didn’t take long for Annie to uncover that the little girl’s kindergarten teacher had given a lesson that day (on today of all days of course) about Stranger Danger. Jeff’s daughter, who despite acknowledging that Annie was not in fact a stranger and yes she enjoyed spending time with her, had gently reminded her that she was not charged with any kind of parental rights and that apparently equated to a massive problem for both the little girl, and more practically for Annie.
Eventually, and only with a bit of harsh negotiation involving a trip to Dunkin’ Donuts on the way home and an extra hour on top of her usual bedtime (seriously, had Jeff been coaching her since she was capable of talking?) together with an eventual phone call to Jeff to reassure his daughter that Annie was not in fact the child snatcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, did the little girl agree to go willingly with her daddy’s girlfriend.
Ok, so Sophie hadn’t explicitly told Annie that she wasn’t her mother (the far too adult comment from the child about Annie’s lack of parental rights was enough to justify Annie’s view that it all amounted to the same thing), but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. The conversation was far from heated and Sophie had been entirely pleasant (for the most part) during the half hour standoff, but still Annie felt deep down that she was being rejected in some way. She knew it was entirely selfish and in no way did she want to step in as Sophie’s mother, but she wished deep down that maybe, one day, Sophie herself would want her to.
It was 10pm by the time Jeff arrived home and thankfully, this time, Sophie had gone to bed without the shenanigans of another game of stealth hide and sneek (not that Sophie hadn’t tried to dupe Annie into that one). He deposited the bunch of flowers he’d brought home on the coffee table and immediately enveloped Annie in his arms when he found her curled around the cushions on his couch, silently weeping to herself.
‘She’s four Annie, she doesn’t understand...’
‘She said I lacked in any parental rights, I think she understands well enough.’
He didn’t say anymore, hearing the unspoken words (or accusation) that although he’d made it clear to Sophie that Annie was part of his life, he’d perhaps not done the best job in explaining to his daughter that this fact (at least now they’d been together for a while) made his girlfriend part of her life too.
She hadn’t wanted to say it out loud, he’d had a hard enough time trying to tell Sophie that Annie was in fact his girlfriend (at which point his daughter scrunched up her little nose and asked ‘aren’t you too old to have a girlfriend?’ before returning to play with her barbies). All in all, the little girl had adjusted fairly well to having Annie around more permanently, but it was harder making the transition from friend to authority figure. That was going to be more of a challenge. Annie just hoped that this relatively minor incident would get Jeff on board with carving out her role in both his and his daughter’s life.
3 Days Later
‘Sophie, we have to leave in ten minutes - can you please finish your cereal? I thought Froot Loops were your favourite?’
‘That was last week, Lucky Charms are my favourite this week and you didn’t give me them for my breakfast so I’m not eating them.’
Annie sighed and turned away from the little girl who was sitting in the den, legs crossed in front of Saturday morning cartoons on the television. At this rate she was going to be getting a black mark against her name for Sophie being late to soccer practice - if there was one thing Annie hated, it was being late. She pulled her hair back into a messy pony tail and turned back towards the kitchen where Sophie’s now extremely mushy cereal lay uneaten. She openly glared at Jeff, who had just entered his kitchen, hair all over the place, in a pair of sweatpants. She’d think he was incredibly hot if it wasn’t for the fact his own spawn was making her life that much more difficult recently.
‘What is it?’ Jeff asked, noticing the downward pull of her lips as he pulled her into him, leaving a kiss on the top of her head.
‘It’s nothing, really, Sophie just won’t eat her breakfast and we need to leave for soccer practice in...’ she paused to check her watch, feeling a slight panic wash over her, ‘...eight minutes.’
Jeff looked over to the kitchen island where Sophie’s cereal bowl was sitting, the milk turning a murky purple/grey colour as the colouring faded into the liquid from the loops, and sighed.
‘I told her last night you were taking her,’ he groaned, making the connection that once again his daughter was possibly trying to play on the fact that Annie was not her mother, but he wasn’t going to tip-toe around the subject anymore, Annie deserved better than that, ‘ - I’m going to sort this once and for all.’
‘No Jeff, really...’ she tried to protest, but it was a lost cause as Jeff strode over to block the distance between the television and the four year old who immediately got to her feet in a fury at having been interrupted by her father from watching her cartoons.
The Winger stand-off almost made Annie laugh, considering Jeff had almost four feet on her in height, but that fact didn’t deter his daughter who seemingly was standing her ground, determined to get her own way if the hands on her tiny hips were any indication.
‘Sophie, why didn’t you eat your breakfast?’
‘Because she...’ Sophie dramatically pointed towards the kitchen where Annie so happened to be in the doorway, shocked at having just been pointed out, ‘...didn’t make me my favourite that’s why!’
Annie recoiled slightly at the way Sophie dismissed her like she was paid help, and tried to remember she was only four years old. She didn’t want to get involved in the confrontation and tried to retreat back into the kitchen but Jeff suddenly gave her the side-eye that, without words, told her to stay exactly where she was.
‘And who is she exactly?’ he asked turning his focus back to his daughter who did not look happy in the slightest, ‘You don’t get to talk about Annie like that, and when she tells you to eat your breakfast you do as you’re told ok?’
‘But...’ the little girl’s lip started to tremble and Annie would have been seriously impressed with the way Sophie had her tantrum face down to an art (had she not known that is was all part of a grand scheme of manipulation of course, something that Annie herself had been prone to using in the past).
‘No buts, Sophie. You listen to Annie and you do as she tells you to do. When I am not around she is in loco parentis - and before you even pretend to play dumb, that means in place of a parent ok?’
Sophie was on the verge of tears and stormed off to her bedroom.
‘I didn’t hear you say ok!’ he yelled after her, before turning his attention back to Annie who stood in the kitchen doorway not knowing what to do, ‘are there any problems with the way that was handled?’
Put on the spot, Annie was flustered at how to handle the situation that, had she not said a word in the first place, would not have been a major problem.
‘Well, I guess maybe you could have been a little more sensitive about it. She is only four.’
He raised his eyebrows and moved past Annie into the kitchen where he poured himself a coffee (like he’d intended to the moment he’d come downstairs).
‘Yeah, well, it was about time I had that chat with her. She doesn’t respond well to sensitive, intervention style chats about her behaviour. She gets that from me,’ he smirked, looking rather proud of himself.
Annie could hear Sophie stomping around in her bedroom which was conveniently above the kitchen and looked back at Jeff, pointing toward the ceiling.
‘And that’s responding well? Jeff, I really think...’
‘Annie, she’ll be fine. She’ll circle that room like a shark waiting for its prey before she tires herself out, realizes she’s missed her soccer practice, and come downstairs for a new bowl of froot loops with a health dollop of I’m sorry on the side.’
Annie wasn’t entirely convinced but conceded that if his daughter did inherit anything of his, it was both his sarcasm and stubbornness - anytime they would have a disagreement he would huff a little for an hour or so before coming to apologize, ‘well I guess the apple doesn’t fall that far from the tree.’
‘Exactly,’ grinned Jeff, who leaned over to give her a proper kiss.
Annie melted a little at the way Jeff’s hands lingered over her hips, feeling the way he backed her up against the kitchen island. But the lack of noise from the floor above distracted her as she pulled away and stared at the ceiling while Jeff groaned, leaning his forehead on her shoulder.
‘Sophie’s gone really quiet.’
‘She’s probably just sitting watching cartoons upstairs instead. Now, where were...’
‘Or maybe...she’s talking a pair of scissors to your favourite Armani suit,’ Annie murmured before she felt the lips on her neck immediately stop their movement up towards her jaw, Jeff freezing around her. A second later he released her and made a quick dart for the staircase.
‘I’ll call Sophie’s soccer coach then shall I?’ Annie called after Jeff, smiling to herself.
Ten minutes later, just as Annie was finishing up loading the dishwasher, Jeff came strolling back into the kitchen with Sophie in tow.
‘Well, that peace treaty was forged pretty quickly - everything ok?’
Jeff looked down to his daughter who sombrely nodded her head and made a run for Annie, attaching herself around her legs, prompting Annie to crouch down beside her.
‘Oh sweetie,’ she soothed as Sophie quickly locked her arms around Annie’s neck in a hug, prompting her to pick the little girl up, gently resting the extra weight against her hip, ‘don’t be upset.’
‘I’m sorry Annie - daddy told me I was to say that.’
Jeff groaned as Annie moved her way towards him, balancing the four year old in her arms.
‘Oh, did he now?’
The little girl nodded emphatically, ‘Yup, but I wanted to say it anyway.’
‘And why’s that?’
Jeff leaned over to take his daughter from Annie but she shook her head as Sophie’s grip of her tightened into another hug that Annie wasn’t sure she could extricate herself from even if she tried.
‘Because I don’t want you to leave.’
Annie’s eyes shot up to meet Jeff’s as he stood there with his hand running through his hair and a pained smile on his face. She had no idea how to promise the little girl that she wasn’t going anywhere, Jeff equally out of ideas with a pathetic shrug of his shoulders.
Annie decided that side-stepping the issue was best for now.
‘Well, how about we make a deal - you keep me updated on what your favourite cereal is when it changes and that way I won’t give you the wrong cereal when I make your breakfast. Does that sound acceptable to you Miss Winger?’
The little girl pulled back from the hug and, ignoring Jeff who was standing beside them, completely focused her reluctant looking smile directly at Annie.
‘What if we’re out of my favourite cereal?’
‘Then I’ll go to the grocery store to get it...?’ Annie replied, warily unsure if this was the...
‘We have a deal,’ Sophie thrust her little hand into Annie’s, shaking it vigorously.
It was the way she then laughed and planted a kiss on his little girl’s head that kicked Jeff’s brain into gear as he pulled both Annie and Sophie into his arms.
‘Ok, since Sophie obviously missed soccer practice and didn’t eat her breakfast how about we go to Dennys and then spend the day at the beach?’
‘I thought you had to go to the office? It’s why I offered to get up and take Sophie to practice,’ Annie questioned in a whisper, the little girl wriggling between them to get free.
‘Yeah, well, spending time with my family is more important...’
Annie swooned a little at the way he included her as part of his family, the first time he’d ever done that since they had started seeing each other again.
‘...that and the fact I’m in the mood for some Moons over My Hammy™.’
Rolling her eyes at Jeff having somewhat spoil the moment, she let him give her a kiss on the cheek and put Sophie on the floor who immediately ran off to gather all the toys she needed to take to the beach.
‘So...you see me as family then?’
‘You’ve always been family to me Annie, but I’m kind of a package deal you know and I guess you’re family to us now. It’s about time you knew that too.’
Annie pulled Jeff toward her and kissed him tenderly.
‘Thank you, you’ve no idea what that means to me.’
‘Yeah well, maybe I’ll get a better idea of what it means to you if later you thank me by wearing something bordering on scandalous to the beach?’
Annie laughed and pulled away from him to go get changed into something more appropriate for sandy adventures, ‘with a four year old for company? It’ll need to wait until we’re home and your daughter’s in bed.’
‘I’m holding you to that!’ he hollered down the hall, smirking to himself at the image in his head of Annie in that hot little red bikini he knew she kept at the back of her top drawer.
Author: x_avecia_x
Rating: PG-13
Warning: A few sweary words, a little smut but nothing too graphic :)
Word Count: 6,971
Disclaimer: I do not own Community - although I would totally marry Dan Harmon then claim half in our (inevitable) divorce settlement - that is unless he concedes to my end game Jeff/Annie demands. If you recognize any of it, it isn't mine.
Summary: Annie tries to find her place in the lives of Jeff and his daughter.
Author's Note: Yeah, this is the one-shot that wouldn't just stay a one-shot. I have an idea for another two or three chapters so I'm gonna just roll with it. This takes place about six months after the first chapter.
P.S. I have no idea if there are little league soccer teams for almost-five-year-old girls but it was what seemed to work here. Though that doesn't play any kind of major part in this at all, just thought I should say :)
_____
The first time Sophie unceremoniously told her she was not her mother was six months after she started dating Jeff.
They were still in that honeymoon phase of their relationship and Annie still lived in her own apartment, but she would spend the majority of her spare time away from work with both Jeff and Sophie. She’d agreed last minute as she rushed out of a meeting to once again to babysit for Jeff when he was held back at work trying to finalize an out of court settlement for one of Ted’s newest divorce client’s. He had huffed a little on the phone at the way he felt his boss had been manoeuvring him away from the criminal side of the business to the civil clientele, but Annie had reminded him of how great Ted had been to him in recent years and Jeff had only been able to mutter a rather reluctant sounding ‘yeah, I guess.’
So she’d rushed over to pick Sophie up from kindergarten after making sure Jeff called ahead to let the staff know she’d be there to collect his daughter.
Annie was disheartened though, when upon arrival, Sophie refused to go anywhere with her. She stood there in the middle of the room, surrounded by kindergarten staff, folded her arms and definitively told her that under no circumstance was she leaving with anyone other than a parent. Annie had blushed from the embarrassment of having to explain to the little girl that her dad had been delayed at work but Sophie was having none of it.
It didn’t take long for Annie to uncover that the little girl’s kindergarten teacher had given a lesson that day (on today of all days of course) about Stranger Danger. Jeff’s daughter, who despite acknowledging that Annie was not in fact a stranger and yes she enjoyed spending time with her, had gently reminded her that she was not charged with any kind of parental rights and that apparently equated to a massive problem for both the little girl, and more practically for Annie.
Eventually, and only with a bit of harsh negotiation involving a trip to Dunkin’ Donuts on the way home and an extra hour on top of her usual bedtime (seriously, had Jeff been coaching her since she was capable of talking?) together with an eventual phone call to Jeff to reassure his daughter that Annie was not in fact the child snatcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, did the little girl agree to go willingly with her daddy’s girlfriend.
Ok, so Sophie hadn’t explicitly told Annie that she wasn’t her mother (the far too adult comment from the child about Annie’s lack of parental rights was enough to justify Annie’s view that it all amounted to the same thing), but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. The conversation was far from heated and Sophie had been entirely pleasant (for the most part) during the half hour standoff, but still Annie felt deep down that she was being rejected in some way. She knew it was entirely selfish and in no way did she want to step in as Sophie’s mother, but she wished deep down that maybe, one day, Sophie herself would want her to.
It was 10pm by the time Jeff arrived home and thankfully, this time, Sophie had gone to bed without the shenanigans of another game of stealth hide and sneek (not that Sophie hadn’t tried to dupe Annie into that one). He deposited the bunch of flowers he’d brought home on the coffee table and immediately enveloped Annie in his arms when he found her curled around the cushions on his couch, silently weeping to herself.
‘She’s four Annie, she doesn’t understand...’
‘She said I lacked in any parental rights, I think she understands well enough.’
He didn’t say anymore, hearing the unspoken words (or accusation) that although he’d made it clear to Sophie that Annie was part of his life, he’d perhaps not done the best job in explaining to his daughter that this fact (at least now they’d been together for a while) made his girlfriend part of her life too.
She hadn’t wanted to say it out loud, he’d had a hard enough time trying to tell Sophie that Annie was in fact his girlfriend (at which point his daughter scrunched up her little nose and asked ‘aren’t you too old to have a girlfriend?’ before returning to play with her barbies). All in all, the little girl had adjusted fairly well to having Annie around more permanently, but it was harder making the transition from friend to authority figure. That was going to be more of a challenge. Annie just hoped that this relatively minor incident would get Jeff on board with carving out her role in both his and his daughter’s life.
3 Days Later
‘Sophie, we have to leave in ten minutes - can you please finish your cereal? I thought Froot Loops were your favourite?’
‘That was last week, Lucky Charms are my favourite this week and you didn’t give me them for my breakfast so I’m not eating them.’
Annie sighed and turned away from the little girl who was sitting in the den, legs crossed in front of Saturday morning cartoons on the television. At this rate she was going to be getting a black mark against her name for Sophie being late to soccer practice - if there was one thing Annie hated, it was being late. She pulled her hair back into a messy pony tail and turned back towards the kitchen where Sophie’s now extremely mushy cereal lay uneaten. She openly glared at Jeff, who had just entered his kitchen, hair all over the place, in a pair of sweatpants. She’d think he was incredibly hot if it wasn’t for the fact his own spawn was making her life that much more difficult recently.
‘What is it?’ Jeff asked, noticing the downward pull of her lips as he pulled her into him, leaving a kiss on the top of her head.
‘It’s nothing, really, Sophie just won’t eat her breakfast and we need to leave for soccer practice in...’ she paused to check her watch, feeling a slight panic wash over her, ‘...eight minutes.’
Jeff looked over to the kitchen island where Sophie’s cereal bowl was sitting, the milk turning a murky purple/grey colour as the colouring faded into the liquid from the loops, and sighed.
‘I told her last night you were taking her,’ he groaned, making the connection that once again his daughter was possibly trying to play on the fact that Annie was not her mother, but he wasn’t going to tip-toe around the subject anymore, Annie deserved better than that, ‘ - I’m going to sort this once and for all.’
‘No Jeff, really...’ she tried to protest, but it was a lost cause as Jeff strode over to block the distance between the television and the four year old who immediately got to her feet in a fury at having been interrupted by her father from watching her cartoons.
The Winger stand-off almost made Annie laugh, considering Jeff had almost four feet on her in height, but that fact didn’t deter his daughter who seemingly was standing her ground, determined to get her own way if the hands on her tiny hips were any indication.
‘Sophie, why didn’t you eat your breakfast?’
‘Because she...’ Sophie dramatically pointed towards the kitchen where Annie so happened to be in the doorway, shocked at having just been pointed out, ‘...didn’t make me my favourite that’s why!’
Annie recoiled slightly at the way Sophie dismissed her like she was paid help, and tried to remember she was only four years old. She didn’t want to get involved in the confrontation and tried to retreat back into the kitchen but Jeff suddenly gave her the side-eye that, without words, told her to stay exactly where she was.
‘And who is she exactly?’ he asked turning his focus back to his daughter who did not look happy in the slightest, ‘You don’t get to talk about Annie like that, and when she tells you to eat your breakfast you do as you’re told ok?’
‘But...’ the little girl’s lip started to tremble and Annie would have been seriously impressed with the way Sophie had her tantrum face down to an art (had she not known that is was all part of a grand scheme of manipulation of course, something that Annie herself had been prone to using in the past).
‘No buts, Sophie. You listen to Annie and you do as she tells you to do. When I am not around she is in loco parentis - and before you even pretend to play dumb, that means in place of a parent ok?’
Sophie was on the verge of tears and stormed off to her bedroom.
‘I didn’t hear you say ok!’ he yelled after her, before turning his attention back to Annie who stood in the kitchen doorway not knowing what to do, ‘are there any problems with the way that was handled?’
Put on the spot, Annie was flustered at how to handle the situation that, had she not said a word in the first place, would not have been a major problem.
‘Well, I guess maybe you could have been a little more sensitive about it. She is only four.’
He raised his eyebrows and moved past Annie into the kitchen where he poured himself a coffee (like he’d intended to the moment he’d come downstairs).
‘Yeah, well, it was about time I had that chat with her. She doesn’t respond well to sensitive, intervention style chats about her behaviour. She gets that from me,’ he smirked, looking rather proud of himself.
Annie could hear Sophie stomping around in her bedroom which was conveniently above the kitchen and looked back at Jeff, pointing toward the ceiling.
‘And that’s responding well? Jeff, I really think...’
‘Annie, she’ll be fine. She’ll circle that room like a shark waiting for its prey before she tires herself out, realizes she’s missed her soccer practice, and come downstairs for a new bowl of froot loops with a health dollop of I’m sorry on the side.’
Annie wasn’t entirely convinced but conceded that if his daughter did inherit anything of his, it was both his sarcasm and stubbornness - anytime they would have a disagreement he would huff a little for an hour or so before coming to apologize, ‘well I guess the apple doesn’t fall that far from the tree.’
‘Exactly,’ grinned Jeff, who leaned over to give her a proper kiss.
Annie melted a little at the way Jeff’s hands lingered over her hips, feeling the way he backed her up against the kitchen island. But the lack of noise from the floor above distracted her as she pulled away and stared at the ceiling while Jeff groaned, leaning his forehead on her shoulder.
‘Sophie’s gone really quiet.’
‘She’s probably just sitting watching cartoons upstairs instead. Now, where were...’
‘Or maybe...she’s talking a pair of scissors to your favourite Armani suit,’ Annie murmured before she felt the lips on her neck immediately stop their movement up towards her jaw, Jeff freezing around her. A second later he released her and made a quick dart for the staircase.
‘I’ll call Sophie’s soccer coach then shall I?’ Annie called after Jeff, smiling to herself.
Ten minutes later, just as Annie was finishing up loading the dishwasher, Jeff came strolling back into the kitchen with Sophie in tow.
‘Well, that peace treaty was forged pretty quickly - everything ok?’
Jeff looked down to his daughter who sombrely nodded her head and made a run for Annie, attaching herself around her legs, prompting Annie to crouch down beside her.
‘Oh sweetie,’ she soothed as Sophie quickly locked her arms around Annie’s neck in a hug, prompting her to pick the little girl up, gently resting the extra weight against her hip, ‘don’t be upset.’
‘I’m sorry Annie - daddy told me I was to say that.’
Jeff groaned as Annie moved her way towards him, balancing the four year old in her arms.
‘Oh, did he now?’
The little girl nodded emphatically, ‘Yup, but I wanted to say it anyway.’
‘And why’s that?’
Jeff leaned over to take his daughter from Annie but she shook her head as Sophie’s grip of her tightened into another hug that Annie wasn’t sure she could extricate herself from even if she tried.
‘Because I don’t want you to leave.’
Annie’s eyes shot up to meet Jeff’s as he stood there with his hand running through his hair and a pained smile on his face. She had no idea how to promise the little girl that she wasn’t going anywhere, Jeff equally out of ideas with a pathetic shrug of his shoulders.
Annie decided that side-stepping the issue was best for now.
‘Well, how about we make a deal - you keep me updated on what your favourite cereal is when it changes and that way I won’t give you the wrong cereal when I make your breakfast. Does that sound acceptable to you Miss Winger?’
The little girl pulled back from the hug and, ignoring Jeff who was standing beside them, completely focused her reluctant looking smile directly at Annie.
‘What if we’re out of my favourite cereal?’
‘Then I’ll go to the grocery store to get it...?’ Annie replied, warily unsure if this was the...
‘We have a deal,’ Sophie thrust her little hand into Annie’s, shaking it vigorously.
It was the way she then laughed and planted a kiss on his little girl’s head that kicked Jeff’s brain into gear as he pulled both Annie and Sophie into his arms.
‘Ok, since Sophie obviously missed soccer practice and didn’t eat her breakfast how about we go to Dennys and then spend the day at the beach?’
‘I thought you had to go to the office? It’s why I offered to get up and take Sophie to practice,’ Annie questioned in a whisper, the little girl wriggling between them to get free.
‘Yeah, well, spending time with my family is more important...’
Annie swooned a little at the way he included her as part of his family, the first time he’d ever done that since they had started seeing each other again.
‘...that and the fact I’m in the mood for some Moons over My Hammy™.’
Rolling her eyes at Jeff having somewhat spoil the moment, she let him give her a kiss on the cheek and put Sophie on the floor who immediately ran off to gather all the toys she needed to take to the beach.
‘So...you see me as family then?’
‘You’ve always been family to me Annie, but I’m kind of a package deal you know and I guess you’re family to us now. It’s about time you knew that too.’
Annie pulled Jeff toward her and kissed him tenderly.
‘Thank you, you’ve no idea what that means to me.’
‘Yeah well, maybe I’ll get a better idea of what it means to you if later you thank me by wearing something bordering on scandalous to the beach?’
Annie laughed and pulled away from him to go get changed into something more appropriate for sandy adventures, ‘with a four year old for company? It’ll need to wait until we’re home and your daughter’s in bed.’
‘I’m holding you to that!’ he hollered down the hall, smirking to himself at the image in his head of Annie in that hot little red bikini he knew she kept at the back of her top drawer.