Aren't you freezing? who: Declan and Fable what: Howdy Neighbor when: Afternoon where: Declan's Home warnings: Bikini!!
Fable let out a relieved sigh as she stood on the edge of the dock, looking over her lake. She had had a long day at school as her students were never cooperative on Mondays. All she had wanted to do was come home and swim so the moment the bell rang she had been out the door and made it home as soon as possible to strip off her clothes, get into her bikini and headed out to her lake. It was pretty cold to be swimming, but Fable found the temperature never bothered her. Once she was in the water, she was fine. She dove in, relishing in the feel of the water surrounding her.
As Fable swam she couldn't help but notice movement on the other side of the lake. There were only a few houses that sat around her lake and with the exception of hers, the rest were summer homes. Curious, she swam toward the house. It looked like someone was moving in. She continued to swim, swearing she recognized the truck in the driveway. Then she saw who came out of the house. "No fucking way..." She swam over to his dock and hopped out of the water, still not quite believing it.
Declan had picked up Briar after school and took him over to his grandparent's house so he could grab the boxes from there and head over to their new place without having his son underfoot. He might keep bugging about how he could 'stay out of the way', but Declan knew his son all too well and put his foot down until the boy finally agreed to stay with Grandma and Pops. With his truck loaded down and a tarp pulled over the boxes to keep the rain from getting in, he headed over to the new place to get some work out of the way.
Sure it was raining, but the carport at the house allowed for easy moving between the truck and the house without worrying about any more damage from the rain. He was just coming back out to get another box when he saw the girl on his dock heading in his direction. He arched a brow at her and immediately started taking off his jacket. Who the hell swam in weather like this? Well aside from him, but he was a water elemental for crying out loud. When she got close enough, he closed the gap between them and slipped his jacket onto her. "You're Ms. Chaplain from the high school, right?" he asked. "And from the pancake fire. I remember you."
Yes, it was him. The fire fighter who had put out her kitchen fire and had come to the school for career day. Fable smiled as he put his jacket on her when she walked up to him. The cold and rain had never bothered her, but most people thought she was crazy and would freeze to death. "Yes. Fable. And you're Declan, right?" She posed it as a question, but she of course remembered. He had been on her mind a lot the past month and now here he was, again. Her daddy would say it was a sign from the Goddess, but she wasn't as much of a believer as he was. Of course, it was one hell of a coincidence.
"Yeah." he said with a little nod and a smile. "Aren't you freezing?" he asked her. He had noticed the bikini for sure and with so little fabric he was surprised she wasn't in need of an ambulance at that point, but he was more than willing to perform CPR if needed.
Fable laughed and shook her head, her long dark hair hanging in wet strands around her face. "Not one bit. Wait till winter sets in and the lake is half frozen and I go for my morning swim. You'll really think I'm nuts then." she said, her eyes dancing. "So, looks like we're going to be neighbors." she said, nodding her head toward his house.
He chuckled a little. She must have lost her mind. Good thing she was pretty gorgeous when she was wet. Or anytime at all really. Not that he was going to blurt that out just yet. "Yeah." he said with a nod as he looked back to his house and then at her. "Guess so. Just getting moved in really." he explained.
"Well, welcome to the neighborhood. I would be the only neighbor for now. Summer time the other families come, but that's it." she said, her eyes flicking over him as the rain began to soak his shirt. "You're gonna be the one getting cold soon." she said, holding his jacket back out to him as some thunder rumbled in the distance.
He shrugged. "Oh well. At least I have you." he smiled. "You can come in." he offered. "I can get you a towel and maybe something dry to wear. Even if you're not cold, I'm still going to mother you." he sighed, nodding in the direction of his house. "So what do you say to something warm to wear and maybe some hot chocolate. Always have it in the house."
Fable tilted her head a bit as she looked up at him. "You're not a serial killer, are you?" she asked, though she smiled when she did it. "Cause if you're not, no girl will say no to chocolate in any form."
He rolled his eyes at her. "No, I'm not a serial killer." he assured her as he led her towards the house. Once inside, he found a towel from one of the boxes and offered it out to her before showing her where the kitchen was and letting her sit down. While she made herself comfortable, he went to his room to look for something for her to wear that wouldn't swallow her up. He returned with one of his long sleeved shirts, figuring that would be long enough to cover down to her knees practically. "Here you go." he said as he handed it to her and then went about making the hot chocolate.
Fable smiled to Declan when he handed her the towel and dried herself off, not wanting to get his nice kitchen chair wet. "Thank you." said she to him when he returned with the shirt. It was big on her, but she kind of liked the idea of wearing his shirt, which was weird. "Your place already looks better than mine and you jut moved in." she said with a grin.
He smiled at her comment. "Thanks." he said. "Though your place isn't that bad. Even if the last time I saw it, it was on fire." he teased. Collecting a couple of mugs, he sat them on the counter top and went about boiling some water. "I did most of the moving over the weekend." he explained. "Just got a few little things left to go."
"That was my first and last attempt at cooking." she said, her eyes dancing. Fable watched him as he got things set for the cocoa, unable to keep her eyes off of him. "I was at my father's all weekend or I would of come to help."
He couldn't help but grin a little at her comment on her cooking skills. "I used to suck at cooking too." he admitted. "Kinda had to grow out of that though." he shrugged. When you had a child, you had to know how to cook something more than just in the microwave. Briar practically thought he was a taste tester for some fancy restaurant or something with the things he came home wanting Declan to cook.
"Considering I set my kitchen on fire, I'll leave the cooking to you." she said with a chuckle. "I'm more of a take out kinda girl. Ever want anything delivered, let me know. They won't come all the way out here for just anyone."
He grinned at that. "Well you're more than welcome to come eat dinner with us any time you want." he assured her, taking the pot of water off the stove and pouring a bit into each of their mugs before adding the chocolate from the packages to each cup. Giving them both a few stirs, he moved to sit at the table with her, offering out her cup and a spoon before settling in with his own. "Do you live by yourself?" he questioned.
Us. She looked to his hand and saw no ring, so girlfriend. Maybe fiance. Fuck her luck. "Thanks." she said, trying to hide her disappointment. "And yea. Just me and my fish." She had a huge aquarium in her living room. It took up a whole wall.
While she didn't hide her disappointment entirely, he wasn't really sure what she was disappointed in. "We don't have any pets." he shrugged. "I think that'll probably change around Christmastime. Probably going to buy him a dog." he chuckled.
Him. Oh my god, he was gay. Well, he was insanely good looking and rather svelt. She let out a nervous giggle. "Sorry." she said, blushing. She had actually never met anyone gay as far as she knew. "So, is your partner at work?" she asked curiously.
"My partner?" he said, blinking and assuming like work partner. "Firefighters don't have work partners..." he commented, but then the giggle registered and he flushed. "Oh god." he said, brushing his hand through his hair. "I'm not gay." he told her. "When I said 'he', I meant my son." he explained. "He's five, about to be six. And he'll be the one getting the puppy." he told her, laughing a little. "Do I really look gay?"
Fable literally facepalmed and groaned. "I feel so stupid." she said with a shake of her head. "And I dunno, what does gay look like? I mean, you are good looking and built, which is what I guess gay guys look like?"
Declan shook his head a little and facepalmed himself. "Thanks for the vote of masculine confidence." he told her. "Though I guess there was a compliment in there somewhere, so thanks. You're not bad looking yourself. Definitely not what a gay guy looks like." he smiled. Failed attempt at flirting. Oh well.
She looked at him as she took a sip of her cocoa like she was trying to figure him out. "Sorry, let's just say I'm bad at talking to men who are good looking." There was her attempt at flirting, which wasn't much better than his.
That got a smile from him as he picked up his own cup and took a slow sip. Replacing it on the table, he wiped his mouth. "Guess I'm out of practice talking to pretty girls." he admitted. "I don't get out much between work and raising Briar." he explained. "You'll have to forgive me if I'm completely out of practice being social."
"I spend my days among teenagers, the most retartedly social creatures on the face of this planet so don't worry about it." she said with a chuckle. "So you're son is named Briar. That's a cute name. I wish I worked with kids his age."
"Picked it out myself." he told her with a little smile. "He's a sweet kid." he said. "And I'm not just saying that because he's mine." Even though that was part of it, Briar really was a great kid. He never got into that much trouble at school and he was bright. He'd overcome more in his five years than any kid should have to go through. "I commend you for being able to deal with teenagers. I didn't even really like them when I was one."
Fable found the more she talked with Declan the more she found she liked him. He seemed like a devoted father. Much like her own. "I'm sure your son is wonderful. Young kids usually are. It's when they're teenagers they turn into little hormonally charged assholes you want to slap." she said with a shake of her head. "Being a high school teacher was definitely not my first choice. I wanted to work in an elementary school or with special needs children, but being a mathematician, I took what I could at the time to pay the bills."
He too found that the more they talked, the more he liked her. Especially when she said she wanted to work with special needs children. "Well you're going to love Briar." he told her. "He's partially deaf so definitely special needs even if he likes to think he's bulletproof." he smiled. "You'll get used to the sign language." he told her, signing along with his words. "Hell, you might even pick up a few words here and there after a while."
She raised her eyebrows when he explained Briar was partially deaf and began signing to her. God, could this man be more perfect? "I think Briar and I will have no trouble communicating." she said as she signed what she spoke as well, smiling at him.
Serendipity. "This has to be kismet." he told her, shaking his head a little. "I don't think I've met anyone that wasn't directly related to teaching Briar or working with him that knew sign language." he admitted, still signing, mostly out of habit. "You're more amazing than I thought."
A blush came to Fable's cheeks once more as she sipped her cocoa. She found she was drinking it very slowly, to prolong the visit. "Thank you." she said as she set down her mug. "I took it as a foreign language requirement in high school and in college I volunteered at a school for deaf children so I kept the knack for it."
"Now I can't wait for you to meet him." he told her, reaching for his wallet like he often did when talking about Briar. Like he could resist a chance at showing off a picture of the kid. "That's him." he explained as he let the row of pictures flip open into a long strand. "Sorry, doting dad. Can't really help it."
Fable beamed as he broke out the pictures and lifted the strand to look. "He's beautiful. He looks just like you." she said, looking up at him. "You're very blessed." Fable wanted children of course, but she had never met a man she could see herself raising a family with. Until Declan.
"I am." he agreed. "He can be a handful sometimes, but he's worth every second." Too bad his mother hadn't thought so. Briar needed a mother and it wasn't right that his own didn't even care about him enough to phone or visit or send a damn card on his birthday. If she even remembered it.
Fable sat back in her seat and smiled softly. "Children are always worth it. It's just a damn shame when parents can't see that." Her eyes darkened for a moment, as she thought of her own mother, a woman who just left her on her father's doorstep. Lucky for her she had the best father in the world.
"You're right." he agreed. "Briar's mother left about a week or so after he was born. Not even that but I try to be nice enough to say a week. She never wanted him in the first place and I really have to be thankful he's here at all." he admitted, letting out a little sigh. "She came by with him and asked me to watch him while she did some errands and she's been gone ever since. Honestly I'm glad it happened so soon after he was born because I wouldn't have wanted to pick up the pieces if she'd waited until now."
She blinked as he told of how he came to be a single father. It was so similar to her own story. "Me and Briar have something in common then." she said. "My mother left me on my father's doorstep in a basket the day I was born." she said as she looked toward the window to the lake. "I was lucky my father is like you. A kind man devoted to his child."
Declan frowned a little at her story. "I'm sorry you had to get to him that way. But I think he did a pretty good job on his own so maybe I can do the same." he smiled.
She looked back to him and smiled softly. "With a dad like you, I think Briar is going to do just fine." she said, reaching out and patting his hand.
"Thanks." he told her, letting the hand she wasn't touching come over to rest atop hers. "I appreciate that. Did your mother ever come back?" he questioned, tilting his head a little. "I worry about it constantly, wondering if she'll show up and demand him or something." he admitted with a little sigh. "Guess I worry too much, but it could happen..."
Fable shook her head as she smiled softly. "No...She never did. I never knew her. My dad said she was a woman he had met at a bar...Her name was Annabelle. It was just a one night thing but I guess I came out of it and she didn't want me. But I don't mind. My dad is wonderful..." She looked around the house a bit before looking back to him. "I don't think Briar's mom will come back...But even if she did, I'd kick her ass myself."
He was frowning as she talked about her mother, but he couldn't help but smile at that last bit. "Oh will you now?" he asked. "You'd break her in half." he assured her. "She always was a teeny little thing. Looking back I don't really know what I saw in her. Guess I saw Briar..."
Fable chuckled and found their hands together comforted her, even when she spoke about the mother she never knew and hated fiercely. "That's the important part, Briar. For as crap as everything can be, children are a gift no matter what. That's what my daddy always said anyway. Said I was the best thing he ever got in his life."
"I think I'd like your dad." he smiled. "Because I feel the same way. All the drama and all the fights were worth it in the end because I got to keep the best thing that we ever did together." he shrugged. "Pretty sure she's the one missing out and it's her fault. I can't say I feel bad for her because I don't. She should have stayed and she chose to leave instead. If she's losing out, she has no one to blame but herself. Same goes for your mother."
She smiled at him then and with every passing word she was growing smitten with him. Maybe even more. "Thank you. I swore to myself when I have children I'm going to be there for them no matter what." she said. "Now it's a matter of finding someone to have children with."
"You'll find someone." he assured her. "Honestly I'm surprised you haven't already. I know at least half your class has the hots for you. You're gorgeous." And she had a nice rack, but he was being a gentleman here, damn it.
Fable laughed and shook her head. "Unfortunately I'm the romantic type. True love and all that. Finding a guy with a like mind is pretty impossible." she said. "And how would you know who has the hots for me, hmmm?" She was teasing him a bit, but she found him so....damn perfect.
"We're pretty similar." he told her. "So must not have been looking hard enough." he teased, flashing her a smile And obviously it wasn't because she lived right across the lake from him now. "And I know what it looks like to have the hots for someone." he shrugged. "The staring for one. And the smirky little smiles they give you when your back is turned."
Fable laughed. "Guess I just had to wait a bit then just look across my lake." she said, her eyes dancing. They were definitely flirting now. "And yea, they do it while my back is turned because they're probably afraid I'll beat the crap out of them if they do it to my face."
"Well see now you're going to give me a complex and make me all scared to give you the smirky little smile because you'll just beat me up." he told her with a little laugh.
"Nah, I wouldn't beat you up. You don't have acne and a constant raging boner." she said with a grin.
"Well I don't have acne." he said, trying not to smile but failing horribly.
Fable burst out laughing, grinning at him. "Declan, I do believe you and I are going to be great neighbors."
"I think so too." he agreed. "I just gotta make sure I talk you into coming over for dinner. But hey, if you do try to cook at least you know I'm only a swim away." he teased. Yeah, the day was definitely looking bright, even if it was still raining outside.