by Kitty Parker
They are led to a small almost cubicle-like box with one metal stool and a phone on the wall. On the other side of the window of glass, there is another stool and a phone and Daisy sees that her brown box has been set down on the small table.
Jack puts a hand on Daisy's back and urges her to sit down. She does and pulls Matty towards her, pulling him up to sit on her lap. Her stomach feels nervous – tightening into knots she has no way of undoing. The door on the other side of glass opens and Cletus Belton in an orange jumpsuit is led into the room by a prison guard. He sees them all sitting there and he gives them a grin. Jack, standing next to her, picks up the phone as Cletus's wrists are freed of the handcuffs and Daisy looks to Matty to see if he's scared.
He's not though – still watching everything with open curiosity.
Cletus settles himself down on the bench and instantly picks up the phone. Jack crouches down next to Daisy so he can hold the phone between them so they both can hear.
"I've been missin' these," Cletus says as flips open the lid on the box.
Daisy swallows the lump in her throat and tells herself that there really isn't a reason to be nervous about this. "It's a peanut-butter filled chocolate cupcake with peanut butter whipped frosting," Daisy tells him, speaking into the phone.
Cletus licks his lips as he picks it up and takes a big bite, getting frosting on his upper lip and his chin. He speaks into the phone as he's still chewing. "Fittin' that you made somethin' with peanut butter," he tells her.
Daisy's forehead wrinkles at that and she looks to Jack for an explanation. She sees that the tips of his ears are turnin' red and Cletus chuckles as he takes another bite, clearly sensing his brother's unease through the glass.
"Cletus calls you peanut butter," Jack explains in a near-mumble.
"Oh," Daisy says, smiling little, not sure why that would be embarrassing to Jack. She has a feeling that there are far worse things that Cletus could use as a nickname towards her. "And are you jelly?" She asks.
"Nah," Cletus jumps back in. "Belton's can never be like jelly."
"Well, then what are you?" She asks, waiting for either brother to answer her.
"Sardines," Jack mumbles. "Or somethin' like that."
"He thinks that," Cletus says, his mouth full with more cupcake. "Been tellin' him that other stuff goes with peanut butter. Not just jelly."
Daisy admits that she's surprised that Cletus Belton would say that to Jack – almost as if he's encouraging Jack to be with her. She admits that she had thought that Cletus would try to talk his brother out of dating a single mom like her. She knows that there are men that think she would only be looking for a dad for her son. She's guilty in thinking that Cletus Belton is one of those men and she's clearly being proven wrong about the whole thing.
"I like your tattoo," Matty speaks up, looking at the tattoo on Cletus's arm.
Daisy looks and she's not too sure what it is but it definitely looks like some sort of symbol. A and N surrounded with some sort of design.
"No, you don't," Jack is quick to say and Cletus just grins, taking another bite of cupcake.
…
On the way home, they drop Matty off at Tavon's house. Michonne had called just as they were leaving the prison, asking if Matty would like to come over for the afternoon – to play with Tavon and to stay for dinner. Mike and Michonne will bring him home after they eat and Jack pulls the truck to the curb in front of their apartment building. Daisy gets out and Matty hops out, running inside and up the stairs with Daisy following behind.
Before she can ring the doorbell or knock, the front door opens and Michonne is there, smiling at them both. "Tavon!" She then calls out over her shoulder. "You can go on, Matty. He's in his room," she says.
"Bye, mama!" Matty calls over his shoulder as he races inside.
"Be good!" Daisy calls back to him. "Thank you for having him over," she smiles at Michonne.
"Tavon was complaining that now that the season is over, he never sees Matty anymore – even though they see one another every day at school," Michonne smiles, amused with that.
Daisy laughs a little and nods. "Matty's been complaining about the same thing."
"Is he going to be playing next season?" Michonne then asks curiously and Daisy knows Michonne isn't asking like the other parents do – more concerned about their chances of winning if Matty is no longer on the team than concerned with Matty himself. Daisy has become close with Michonne during the past football season and she knows that Michonne is asking as her friend who is genuinely curious no matter what Daisy's answer might be.
She sighs softly. "I have no idea yet. I know he'll probably want to but thankfully, I have a few more months to think about it."
Back outside, Jack is still waiting in the truck at the curb, and she returns to it, opening the door and sliding up onto the bench seat.
"Need a drink?" He then jokes with her and she's able to smile – all thoughts of football once again pushed from her mind.
She shakes her head and keep smiling at him. "Let's just go home," she says and she's able to say it so easily. Home. It's so easy to say it and imagine home being with Matty and Jack.
And the way Jack nods and pulls away from the curb, heading towards their own apartment building, maybe this time, he's able to imagine it, too.
…
She had thrown something that morning into the crockpot to cook while they were out and when she steps into the apartment, she smells the meat cooking and her stomach grumbles.
Otter's there, greeting them with a wag of his stubby tail, and Daisy smiles down at him, rubbing him behind his ears. Ever since Matty got injured, it was as if Otter had woken up. He wags his tail now and follows Matty around and generally acts like a normal dog and that makes Daisy's heart swell.
"Wan' me to take him out?" Jack asks as she goes to the crockpot to check on the roast.
"Oh, you don't have to," she shakes her head and looks back to him but Jack's already taking the leash down from the wall and clipping it onto Otter's collar.
And Otter lets him because the dog knows that Jack's here and is a part of hers and Matty's life and the dog seems to have let him into his, too. Otter doesn't even let Shawn or Maybelle even think about walking him.
The roast has a few more hours still and Daisy goes into her bedroom to change from her dress into something more relaxing for a lazy Sunday afternoon with Jack. It definitely sounds appealing to her. The visit with his brother had gone well enough – as well as meeting someone in prison could go – and Matty was spending the afternoon with his best friend over at his apartment and it was just going to be her and Jack for the next few hours. It's not as if she expects anything to happen with Jack. She's not ready for something like that – at all. She used to be ready but too much had happened and it feels as if she and Jack are back to square one. But that's alright because being back at the beginning with him, it already feels so much different this time around.
It feels stronger somehow.
Her stomach flutters as she changes into a pair of black leggings and a red sweatshirt. She hadn't been expecting to let him back in like this. Perhaps they would only stay friends this time. That's what she had planned on anyway. But being around Jack, he's always been able to affect her whether she wants him to or not.
The other night, when they had been in the kitchen and Jack had offered to the store to get her parmesan cheese for their spaghetti dinner that evening, and Matty had run off to get his shoes, Jack had stood there, fiddling with his keys.
"Need anythin' else?" He asked and he seemed to have a hard time meeting her eyes.
She smiled a little. It always amazes her how shy this man can be sometimes around her – even with all of the things that he has done and that has happened between them.
Sometimes, he acts as if he has no right to look at her.
"I'll get you anythin' you need," he says in a low voice.
And even after everything, he still makes her
chest clench. And that scares her so much because she feels as if she's put so much of herself out there already with little reward for it but she stood in the kitchen and looked up at this man and she loved him. She still loves him – despite of everything – and he's trying. This time, he's really trying. Everything just feels so different this time around and she can't put her finger on exactly why. Because it feels different in the sense that it feels better and she's not sure why.
All she knows is she looked up at him after he said that and she was tired of battling herself. Life is short and she's not the only girl to ever get her heart broken and he's not the only guy to have ever done something he regretted.
The truth is, despite everything, she's happy with him and when she's with him and maybe a psychiatrist would have a field day with her but she doesn't care because she knows what she thinks and feels and she knows she missed him so bad when he was gone.
So, she didn't think about it when she rose on her toes and put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him in her kitchen.
And this thing between them has just gone from there.
Daisy is just finishing popping a bag of popcorn when Jack and Otter come back in.
"Startin' to drizzle a lil'," Jack says as he takes Otter's leash off and hangs it up once more on the hook on the wall next to the door.
"I made popcorn," she tells him with a smile. "I figure we can watch some Friends episodes."
He nods and smiles a little. "You mind if I bring Morris over? Been leavin' 'im alone so much lately, 've been feelin' bad."
Daisy smiles at that. "Go get him. He and Otter will have to meet one another eventually."
And when she says that, he smiles. An actual smile. And she smiles, too.
…
Otter proves to not really care about Morris.
When Jack brings the black cat over, Daisy kneels down beside the pit bull, her arms around his thick neck, and she waits with bated breath as he sees the cat in Jack's arms for the first time. Otter's eyes narrow slightly as do Morris' as the animals look at one another. Morris lets out a quiet hiss and Jack squeezes his arms just a little bit tighter around the feline and Otter lets out a huff and then yawns.
And both Daisy and Jack breathe a little easier with that.
Otter lays beneath the coffee table – as has become his usual spot – and Morris curls up on top of armchair and Daisy and Jack sit on the couch and begin watching episodes from the third season, having already slowly made their way through the first and second. She leans into him and rests her head on his chest and his arm is immediately around her shoulders.
She's missed feeling his arms around her.
She's missed his warmth and firm chest and muscular arms and his very masculine scent of car oil and the woods. It's raining a bit harder outside now, the drops tapping against the window panes and the roof and she can hear the wind pick up in speed but inside her cozy apartment with Jack, she feels safe.
"Huh," Jack says after Ross and Rachel have just broken up.
Daisy pulls her head back and looks at him, waiting for his opinion.
"She said it herself. They were on a break," he then says and Daisy almost laughs.
"Yep," she nods her head. "It's a running joke for the rest of the show."
"Not sure how he was able to get it up for the copy girl though with Rachel bein' the love of his life and all that," Jack continues to muse. He sighs then and leans his head back, resting it against the top of the couch, his eyes blinking up towards the ceiling. Daisy pushes herself up a bit more, looking at him, studying at him. "Not sure how I got it up with Carolina," he then says in his mumble.
Daisy's not too sure what to say to that but she feels a warmth spread across the back of her neck. She's never thought that this would be a conversation they would have – especially a conversation started by him. She just has thought that perhaps Carolina and Spencer bother were lying in their past where they would never acknowledge them out loud.
She never loved Spencer. Felt nothing close to love for him. She had liked him and for the most part, she was happy with him – when she didn't feel like perhaps she wasn't good enough for him. Her feelings for Jack cannot even be compared.
Yet, she's always gotten the feeling – an inkling that she's kept deep down and has never even really allowed herself to believe – that perhaps, Jack has been jealous of Spencer.
She knows that she's been jealous of Carolina. She can't hide nor deny that.
"Usually just thought of your face," he then admits, still staring up at the ceiling.
Daisy's pretty sure her heart has stopped in the middle of her chest. "What?" She manages to ask in a whisper, as if afraid to raise her tone above that.
Jack keeps his head on the back of the couch but he turns it towards her, looking at her. "It's always been you, Daisy," he then said quietly, his eyes with the utmost seriousness.
Daisy still feels as if she's not breathing. Her heart has stopped beating, her lungs are no longer drawing in air, and all she can do is stare at him as his own eyes stare into hers.
It's always been you.
The words echo in her mind over and over again, tumbling in there as if she's mixing ingredients for one of her cupcake recipes, and she then leans forward, almost falling down against him. Jack's hand slides up her arm, slipping up to cup the side of her neck and her lips drop down to his as if she can no longer hold them back on her own strength.
She closes her eyes and kisses him again and again, her lips barely lifting from his even though both her heart and lungs are both working once again and they're burning for air. Daisy really doesn't care though and Jack doesn't seem to either as his hand lifts from her neck and slides to the back of her head. She wishes she wasn't wearing her hair up, pinned up in a braid as she always wears it because she wants to feel his fingers through her hair.
It's always been you.
She hears the words once more replay in her mind and she can't help but giggle against his lips as she realizes something. Jack pulls his lips back, looking at her quizzically, and she giggles again, her entire body feeling light, and she leans into him, resting her forehead to his. She loves that they can do this. Be close and kiss and have things to giggle over.
"You stole that line from Ross," she then teases and he thinks about it for a moment before realization slowly crawls across his face and he smirks, making her giggle again before pressing her lips to his for another kiss.
"'s a good line," Jack murmurs against her lips and she opens her eyes because she can feel his settled on her. And they are – staring deeply into her face. "And I mean it, Daisy."
She smiles faintly and leans in, brushing her nose affectionately against his before settling herself more comfortably against him. Her heart is thumping and her stomach is fluttering around – just like it used to whenever she saw him and she became house to a million butterflies. And she's both so happy and relieved that she's still getting butterflies with him.
…
Matty returns home just as Jack and Daisy are sitting down to roast, small red potatoes and carrots. Daisy thanks Michonne for letting Matty over and for feeding him – Cordon bleu chicken, which Matty hadn't thought he would like but it turned out he had two helpings of – and Jack gets up to pour Matty a glass of milk.
It's raining even harder now, the wind howling and the rain coming down in torrents, and Sunday evenings have always been Daisy's favorite time of the week but being inside like this, with her family in the cozy and warm apartment with a rainstorm outside, she feels particularly content tonight.
Matty doesn't eat but he sits at the table with them as they do and he drinks his milk. "Are you going to sell special cupcakes for the Super Bowl?" Matty asks her.
Daisy pauses for a moment. "I haven't even thought of it. Do you think I should?" She asks and she has no problem asking her seven-year-old son business advice; especially when that business comes to football.
"Mama," Matty gives her
a look as if to say that he can't believe she just asked that. "You have to. It's the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos. Everyone in Georgia is going to be rooting for the Panthers."
"Don' know 'bout everyone," Jack comments. "Like horses more than panthers. What are the team colors?"
Matty gasps at that. "You can't root for a team because of what their colors are, Jack."
"Well, if I'm going to make Super Bowl cupcakes, I need to know colors," Daisy points out to him with a smile.
Matty gulps the rest of his milk and then hurries from the table, going into his room and returning a moment later with a magazine in his hands. The newest issue of Sports Illustrated and as he flips through the pages, Daisy's brow furrows.
"Where did you get that?" She asks because she certainly hadn't bought it for him.
"Uncle Shawn," Matty replies, still flipping.
Daisy suppresses a sigh. She can't be angry at her brother. Matty loves football and is an amazing football player and Shawn loves football and was an amazing football player, too. He's just sharing the same love with his nephew and there's no reason for Daisy to be angry about it. She likes Matty having males in his life with whom he shares interests.
She just doesn't like how it seems to be only about football between Shawn and Matty all of the time and she wonders if they're somehow putting pressure on the boy to keep loving it just because he's good at it.
…
Matty's right – not that Daisy has doubted him.
She makes special cupcakes for Super Bowl Sunday and she's surprised at how many people in the area are having Super Bowl parties that weekend and places orders. And she just doesn't make Caroline Panther cupcakes but Bronco cupcakes, too, and though they don't sell as many, she still sells plenty of those, too. She's sure to save some for the party she, Matty and Jack will be attending that Sunday. Casey is holding one and though they hadn't asked, Daisy is going to be bringing a plate with both teams.
Shawn goes to Atlanta to watch it with friends in some bar and no one else in her family really cares this year about the two teams though Annette says she'll be watching the commercials – like most people, it seems.