Who: Alaric Saltzman and Jenna Sommers What: Getting ready to take Annie out for Halloween When: October 31st, evening Where: The Gilbert house Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
TRICK OR TREAT
Ric and Jenna get ready to take Annie to the Disney Halloween thing.
Rated F for Feels and A for Adorbs.
Ric missed Jenna. You would think being around her would lessen the ache that he carried around with him constantly these days, but it almost made it worse. Seeing her face, hearing her laugh- all it did was make him want to touch her, to kiss her. Sometimes the urge was almost irresistible, but he reminded himself that they’d separated for a reason and even if giving into those impulses might feel good at the moment, it would probably be a bad idea. Besides, it didn’t seem like Jenna felt the same way he did. She seemed to be doing very well for herself. No, Jenna wasn’t the wreck he was on the inside, he told himself constantly. She was probably totally fine with them just being friends now and the last thing he wanted was to do anything that might make her uncomfortable.
Staying away completely just wasn’t an option with Annie in the mix. They shared a daughter and while they were doing a pretty good job of alternating weekends and all that, this was one holiday they’d agreed to do together. Ric wouldn’t deny Jenna her tradition of taking Annie to the thing at Disney and he wasn’t going to keep his lingering feelings for Jenna keep him from seeing his little girl all dressed up in her costume and having fun. It felt like he missed too much already since his wife and daughter had moved out of their house and into the Gilbert place.
Ric didn’t spend too much time on his costume. He ended up in a white t-shirt, jeans and a leather jacket. It was an homage to James Dean or that’s what he planned to pass it off as, anyway. Ric wasn’t big on costumes and Halloween wasn’t even a holiday he’d be celebrating if he didn’t have a 6 year-old daughter who LOVED it. He showered and dressed quickly and after a quick splash of cologne, he was off. Minute later, he was standing on Jenna’s doorstep, ringing the bell and waiting for someone to come let him in.
Over the last nine months Jenna figured out a way to put on a brave face. The pain and the loss still clung deep inside her soul but it wasn't holding her under anymore. Jenna was finally beginning to feel like she could breath again. She'd also been seeing someone for the last several months to work through her issues and try to become the person she was before. There was a little girl who was still here that depended on her and she knew she had to do her best to put all the pieces back together for her.
Those feelings were not one sided. Jenna thought about Ric constantly. She missed him and loved him more than she could express and it wasn't just because he was the father of her child. She didn't want to put him through any more of her issues or to take him along for the ride while she tried to find herself again. It just didn't seem fair. They had spent plenty of time arguing because of her. Her moods had been unstable. She'd started drinking more. She had been depressed and they just seemed miserable together. He deserved to be happy even if she couldn't be the one to do that anymore. And just because they weren't together or they were arguing…she didn't want that to interfere with his relationship with Annie or Katherine, Elena and Jeremy. It wasn't fair to them.
When Jenna had been looking at costumes she had thought it would be fun to let Annie pick it out. That had been a mistake. Annie had chosen Jenna's costume because the hair color matched! She opened the door to see Ric standing on the other side of the door. Seeing him there brought a smile to her face that she didn't try to hide. She still enjoyed spending time with him even if things were different.
"Don't you dare laugh," Jenna warned him, dressed like Anna from Frozen. "Annie picked it," she defended, motioning for him to come in.
"Annie has good taste," he said as he took in the sight of Jenna dressed as a preincess. "You look great, Jen." Beautiful, amazing, there were a hundred other adjectives he could use to describe her. Suddenly, he found himself wishing he'd put more effort into his own costume. Next to Jenna, he felt plain. Then again, she always had outshone him, ever since the day they'd met, and he really never minded. To him, Jenna was the most beautiful thing in any room.
"I'm surprised your costume didn't come with any weapons, though," he added. There was a joking twinkle in his eye. They both knew their daughter's penchant for weapon-wielding characters well. After all, Annie would be carrying a battle axe as a part of her costume this year and last year she had dressed up as Thor.
Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Ric stepped over the threshold and into the house. He looked around before shifting his gaze back to Jenna. "Speaking of, where IS our little Viking?" He asked with a soft chuckle.
"Thank you," Jenna said, though she felt a little bit silly being a Disney Princess. It just was not her. She looked over his costume, silently nodding. "Loving the look," she told him. "And that jacket." He honestly could have skipped the costume and Jenna wouldn't have cared. He was with them still taking part in their little tradition in spite of everything.
"Me too! I said I was just going to be Black Widow again...but apparently I was last year and I couldn't be this year." Who was she to argue with a six year old? Or that there was rule to Halloween apparently.
Every time he came over or they met one another she had to resist greeting him the way she had been used to. After months you might think she had gotten used to it but truthfully she hadn't.
"Our little Viking is obsessed with looking at her costume in the mirror," she explained. She pointed to the end of the hall where Annie was partially in their line of sight. There Annie was posing and pretending to be Astrid. "I guess she's getting into character," she joked.
Ric personally thought Jenna made a great princess. She was beautiful, she was charming, and that dress looked great on her. A little too great. It was hard for him to actually focus on their conversation, but he caught the compliment on what he'd thrown together and he smiled. "See, I told you I could dress myself," he teased her.
Ric laughed at the supposed rules of Halloween. "Oh, yeah, absolutely unacceptable." He wouldn't have minded seeing her in that costume again, but then again he thought she'd look amazing in anything.
Talking with Jenna like this felt awkward and comfortable at the same time. They bantered easily, but at the same time he had to fight the urge to hold her hand, to touch her cheek, to pull her into his arms and kiss her. He had to constantly remind himself she wasn't his anymore. And, oh, how he hated it.
Clearing his throat softly as he stuffed down those annoying emotions, Ric nodded. He could see Annie from here, practicing her fiercest poses and expressions. "We won't have to worry about all the scary demons and things out here," he joked, "our little angel will protect us."
"So it would seem. I'm surprised you decided against the history teacher idea," she responded with a teasing tone. "Maybe next year I'll suggest that she picks out yours," Jenna added, grinning at him.
Attempting to reclaim a friendship with Ric was still new and Jenna felt like she was fumbling her way through it. Everything seemed vastly different and yet exactly the same. It was still kind of scary how easily she fell back into their banter even after many months of arguing. Jenna was making a concentrated effort to not argue with him all the time. Before, whenever she had been hurting or angry it was easy to come home and pick a fight with him. It was much easier now that they have been living in separate residences.
Before Jenna could say a word Annie was rushing past her to get to Ric. She couldn't help but laugh. It was moments like these that made her forget the last several months that happened. She really wished she could just forget them. Wouldn't it be nice if life had a rewind button? Better yet a do-over.
The conversation was cut off as the world’s most adorable (and fierce) six-year old launched herself at Ric. Suddenly, all of his attention was for his little girl as she chatted excitedly about her day and about all the candy she was going to eat. An adoring smile crossed Ric’s features as he listened to her babble on and after a moment he looked over at Jenna and grinned. He didn’t even need words to tell her how much he was loving this. Whatever had gone wrong between the two of them, Annie remained the best thing they had ever done together.
Soon enough, they were ready to go and Annie walked between the two adults, holding their hands with each of her much smaller ones as she practically skipped out to the car, singing a made up song about Disney and Mickey and Halloween. Ric couldn’t quite keep up with the words since a lot of them didn’t even make a lot of sense, but he still couldn’t help smiling.
“Are you ready for this?” he teased Jenna as he glanced over at her.once they’d reached the car. Annie was amazing, but she could also be kind of a handful. Ric knew without a doubt that he and Jenna were probably going to be exhausted by the time they got back home.