Who: Jessica and Veronica What: Jessica meets Liam... and Keith... and Backup When: Third day of tethered plot Where: Logan and Veronica's place Rating/Warning: Low! Some baby poop Status: Complete
Being bound to Jessica actually wasn’t the worst thing in the world. And honestly? Of all the people Veronica could have gotten stuck with, she was glad it was Jessica. So far the two had teamed up on all their individual cases, and although the workload was more it seemed like they were getting them done in less time. Two heads better than one and all that. Or in this case two PIs.
But it had been two days now and Veronica missed her son. Not only that, but she wasn’t sure she trusted both her dad and Logan to take care of him for more than twenty-four hours and it had been well over that now. Luckily Jessica was cool going to her place to spend some time with the little guy.
The second she walked into the door of her home she was greeted by Backup. He practically knocked her over when he jumped up on her for kisses. “Hello to you too,” Veronica said with a laugh.
“Honey, I’m home!” she called out jokingly knowing perfectly well that it was only her dad and Liam at the house.
“About time you showed up,” Keith called back from the couch not even bothering to get up. However, little Liam did make his way towards his mother. The almost two year old walking around quite easily now.
“Mama!” Liam called out happily. Backup moved from Veronica to Jessica giving her a big lick. The dog was smart enough to know it was time for his mom to give her other child some love now.
“Hey buddy,” Veronica replied just as happily bending down to pick up her son and give him a big hug. “I want you to meet mommies friend, Jessica.” Still holding Liam, Veronica turned so her could get a look at the other PI.
Jessica hadn’t exactly been happy when she’d realized she couldn’t get away from Veronica. Veronica was probably the closest thing to a friend Jessica had here - aside from Yondu, and quite possibly Peter who, for some reason, had latched right onto her - but that didn’t mean that Jessica was very fond of the idea of being stuck to anyone. It had been two days, and Jessica was getting tired of it, but she admitted it could have been worse. Veronica, at least, seemed to understand the need for space and was willing to give Jessica as much as she was able.
And Veronica was actually pretty good to work with too. She was smart, and she didn’t miss much. Jessica could almost get used to it. At least, she could have if she wasn’t dead set on working alone when she had the choice.
Jessica wasn’t in the business of stopping mother’s from seeing their kids, which is why she didn’t protest when Veronica finally asked if she could go see her son. Honestly, Jessica probably should have suggested it earlier, but she was actually pretty grateful that Veronica had held off for so long. It wasn’t that Jessica didn’t like kids, it was just that she knew that she was the last person on the planet that should ever be let around them. Especially with her newfound strength, which she hadn’t quite gotten a hold of yet.
Jessica allowed herself to be attacked by the dog, only passively holding him off from greeting her, again worried that she might accidentally hurt it. It seemed friendly enough though, and she gave it a gentle scritch behind the ears.
“Hey,” Jessica said, raising a hand in a casual greeting. “You must be Liam.” And then she turned to the other man in the room. Definitely too old to be the boyfriend, which meant, “you must be Keith.”
“Backup down,” Veronica instructed her dog who of course complied. He was good like that. Jessica was handling everything pretty well though for someone who lived and worked alone. Which was partly why Veronica had held off on going home to visit her kid for a few days.
“Hi,” Liam replied in his cute little baby voice. It was one of the few words he knew. Most were food related.
“Sorry,” Veronica apologized carrying Liam over to keith, Jessica of course being forced to follow. “Dad this is Jessica, Jessica my dad.”
“Nice to meet you, Jessica,” Keith replied only looking at the other woman for a minute before his eyes were back on the TV. “You like basketball?”
Jessica had to admit that she was impressed at how well-trained Back-up seemed to be. She followed Veronica in the house, and glanced briefly at the TV. “Not especially,” she said to Keith, not rudely but not especially polite either.
“What about beer?” Keith asked. He didn’t care at all that she didn’t like the sport. He did like that she was blunt about it without being rude. Reminded him a bit of Veronica in a way. He did raise his daughter to always speak her mind.
Veronica put Liam on Jessica’s lap temporarily while she grabbed three beers from the fridge, picking up on her dad’s hint. She handed one to Keith, one to Jessica and kept one for herself taking a seat next to her dad she placed Liam back on her lap.
“I do like beer,” Jessica conceded, on the far side of the couch. And suddenly, before Jessica knew what was happening, there was a child in her lap. Her head snapped to Veronica to tell her what a terrible idea that was, but before she could say anything Veronica was already headed to the fridge. She turned back to Liam and stared at him, not quite sure what she was supposed to do in this situation.
And then, blessedly, the toddler was replaced with a nice, cold beer, and she cracked open the top, taking a healthy swig from it.
Liam began wiggling around on Veronica’s lap, reaching towards Jessica. “I think he likes you,” Veronica commented. “You want to hold him?” Of course Jessica had already held him briefly, but Veronica hadn’t even really thought about it when she put Liam down or picked him back up. It was just automatic the nearest lap available. It could have been Jessica’s lap or her dad’s for all she cared.
“Not-” Jessica started, but by then the kid had already crawled halfway onto her lap. She tried to keep the look if distaste and mild panic from her face, and then lifted him a little so that he was seated more comfortably on her lap. Apparently he had his own ideas. And now that he was comfortable, he didn’t look like he was about to hurt himself. “I guess it doesn’t matter what I think,” she said, a little amused.
Liam let out a sudden giggle, presumably at what Jessica had said, and she had the thought that maybe this wasn’t as bad as she had built it up to be in her mind. And then the smell hit her. “Did he just…” she started, and then “Oh gross,” as she quickly tried handing him back to Veronica.
Veronica couldn’t help but laugh at Jessica’s reaction. She barely even noticed the smell anymore she was so used to it. She took Liam back from Jessica and stood up. “Alright let’s get you changed.”
Veronica made her way to Liam’s room where the changing table was, which of course meant Jessica had to follow. Though she had a feeling Jessica was going to stand as far back as possible while Veronica changed him.
Veronica had that right. Jessica reluctantly got up from the couch, keeping as far back as she felt comfortable. Frankly, if she could have, she would have stood further back still, but it had been bad enough crashing into Veronica the first day, let alone now that Veronica had her kid in hand.
She leaned against the wall, next to the door of the room, and took a gulp of her beer.
After getting the poop filled diaper off Veronica held it out. “Can you throw this away for me?” she asked Jessica. Not really because she needed the help, but more so because she wanted to see Jessica’s reaction.
Jessica reluctantly took the proffered diaper, wrinkling her nose as she did and holding it out away from her body. She looked around for a garbage can, and managed to spot one… right near the changing table. She shot Veronica A Look, and made her way to it, dropping the soiled diaper inside.
“Thanks,” Veronica smirked and finished cleaning up Liam. She put on the fresh diaper and picked him back up. “I’d call your first time meeting the little guy a success.”
“If that was a success, I’d hate to see what a failure looked like,” Jessica muttered to himself. Though, maybe as far as terrible things that could have happened while Jessica was around a toddler, being shat on was pretty far down the list.
“You didn’t drop him. It’s a success.” And other than the poopey diaper Jessica hadn’t seem all that repulsed by him either. “Once it’s time for his nap we can head out.”