A Good Not-Quite Morning

Who: Jesse and Jessie
Where: The James' Apartment
When: Mid-Afternoon

Jessie hummed quietly to herself as she hopped up the steps leading to the doors of her apartment building. She couldn't stop grinning, buoyant as she was on the thrill of coming home and the sense of victory: she'd finally finished replacing the transmission on her car! She was one step closer to getting it out on the road, and boy was she looking forward to that. Jessie bounced again on sheer joy, waving cheerfully to the neighbors as she let herself in the door and practically ran up the stairs. She couldn't wait to tell Daddy the good news - maybe they could go celebrate.

"I'm hoo-oome!" Jessie sang, sweeping through the door. It was a relief to be back. As much as she loved her family, with three of her aunts as well as Grandma and Grandpa there, her grandparent's house seemed pretty crowded sometimes. She liked it better here at home, with just her and Daddy.

...Who was still sleeping on the couch. Jessie frowned and checked one of the working clocks. 12:34pm. She frowned again and dumped her overnight bag by the door as she made her way towards the sofa. This was way too late to be sleeping. So. How to best wake the papa? A decidedly grin made it's way across Jessie's lips. She backed up a couple of steps for momentum, then pounced.

"Daddy-kins!"

Jesse had been asleep. Had been having weird dreams about some serial he'd taken Jessie to a while back, or at least the dream had felt something like it. Only with less announcers asking everyone to tune in next week. And then he was being pounced. He groaned, the weight of his daughter on his back, since generally speaking, Jesse's manner of getting to sleep was to walk over to the couch and flop face first down onto the thing. It was old, a hideous green color, but also happened to be the most comfortable thing in the known universe.

Groaning, he reached up to grab one of the throw pillows that had fallen onto the floor and he flopped it over his head. "It's too early to get up!" he told her. Even if her being home probably meant it was at least afternoon....

Jessie avoided the pillow easily, and shifted so she was sitting on her father where he'd most feel her weight.

"Is not," she retorted, snatching the throw from him and smacking him with it lightly. "It's way past noon, it's not raining for once, AND I finished fixing the transmission in the Roadster! And that means all good Daddies have to get out of bed so they can go to sleep properly tonight. Tomorrow's a weekday."

He chuckled a little, and propped himself up on his elbows, craning his neck to look back at her. "Because I have to get up early for my day job?" he asked doubtfully, but it was a playful sort of tone. "But seriously? Good job! I'll have to swing by and check out your work soon...with you so you can point out what the hell you did and I can be suitably impressed instead of just looking at a bunch of parts and smiling and nodding." he said, flashing a grin. "And you know, I heard something the other day. Something about little monkeys who sit on their fathers getting tickled..."

Jessie shrieked and scrambled off Jesse's back, already giggling as she hid around the other side of the couch.

"Noooo, no tickling!!" she mock-whined. "It hurts my tummy!" The teen stuck her head back over the top of the couch, grinning. "And yes, I'm all done. It looks gorgeous, and I'll be happy to show you. There's not too much to it from the outside, though."

Jesse knew a lot of people would probably not be encouraging their daughter to work on a car. Because as soon as it was finished--she'd have a car. But Jesse figured that it kept her out of trouble, was a positive outlet for her creativity, and hey. If she rebuilt the car she was driving? She was one hell of a lot more apt to take care of it and not get herself trashed and wreck it within the first week. If ever. He sat up and stretched, cracking his neck as he did so. "Okay okay, I won't tickle you. Promise." he told her, though he was also grinning at her with an expression that could only be referred to as 'untrustworthy'. "How're the grandparents and everyone?" he asked, since he hadn't been by in a while. She really spent more time at home than he did nowadays. Though some of that had directly to do with what had happened to him. The getting shot thing? That hadn't been a good time, and he really hated the looks he'd got there. The looks that said 'I'm Not Asking But You Should Tell Me Anyways'. Yeah, those sucked.

Jessie puffed her cheeks out at him, clearly not believing him. She was staying well out of tickle range.

"They're good," she replied. "Grandpa finally got that new radio he's been wanting. I dunno why, I fixed the old one, and it's worked fine all these years." She pouted. "He's forbidden me from touching this one, too. I hate that; it's one of the brand-new models and everything. It'd only take me a couple days to go through it and put it back together. Aunt Ruby got a new job at a tailor shop and Aunt Evelyn thinks I need to be more ladylike - though I guess that's nothing new. Um... Aunt Virginia finally figured out how to get car grease out of cotton, and OH! Grandma got this new recipe for gingersnaps, and they're incredible!! I brought some home, you've gotta try them!"

Jesse sat back and smiled as his daughter rattled things off, absently rubbing at his thigh where he'd got shot. It still ached sometimes, especially when he was just getting going in the morning--or what served as morning to him, anyhow. "Maybe, if you keep yourself out of trouble for the next two weeks, I'll see if we can't find you a new radio." he offered. Really, he liked getting people things. Just in general, he was the type who enjoyed giving. And he wanted to give people things that they'd really like, and his daughter liked to take things apart and put them back together again. Newer things were just new challenges to her, something she enjoyed. So, if she wanted a new radio to take apart so she could work out how it ticked? He was good with that. It was the little things in life.

"And Aunt Evelyn is the girliest girl known to man. I'm pretty sure everyone ever could be more ladylike in her eyes." he said, disarming that, even if he was positive his sister just wanted Jessie to act more like a girl. She tended to be a tomboy, and he knew Evie wanted her to meet nice boys and grow up to be a lady. Which...really was a pipe dream as far as he was concerned. Jessie was her father's daughter, that was for damn sure. He grinned brighter when she mentioned cookies, though. "Gingersnaps? Sweet, sounds like breakfast to me." Now he just needed coffee and painkillers and he was all good.

Jessie stuck her tongue out, already heading for her bag to get the cookies Grandma had sent back with her. "I stay out of trouble," she told him. "I just happen to be standing in the wrong place a lot. And you can only have two cookies; you need to eat real food, too. I'll make you eggs or french toast or something, then you can have the rest."

She brought the bag back to the couch and handed it to him with a stern, "Remember, only two. I'll go start the coffee and breakfast. What do you want?"

"Two." he promised, again looking untrustworthy. But he took two out and showed them to her for inspection. "Annnd. French toast." he opted for. His daughter made pretty good french toast, and really, she was right, he probably shouldn't survive on cookies for the day. Real food was probably the way to go, and he knew she liked making him breakfast. He liked eating it, it was win-win. "Any news on the school front?" he asked, leaning back against the arm rest and munching on a cookie.

Jessie shrugged, stepping around a dismantled record player on her way to the kinchenette. She she should probably get around to putting that back together. It'd been in pieces for nearly a month.

"Nothing interesting," the teen answered, starting the coffee maker and getting things out for french toast. "It's been vacation, after all. I think Mr. Higgins is getting out of the hospital soon, though. I guess the surgery for hip went okay. Cathy - that's his niece; she works a night shift at Nighthawks, so you might know her - she said he's looking forward to getting back to school. I'm happy for him, I guess, but I really like our substitute. She makes math more bearable. Mr. Higgins always just puts me to sleep."

"You finished off the rest of your vacation homework yet?" he asked. He knew how he'd been with it when he was in school. That shit didn't get done until he absolutely had to. But then again he'd been far too busy out being in ten kinds of trouble and not getting caught when he was her age, too, so schoolwork was pretty far down on his list of priorities. With his daughter, he'd attempted to make school important, but not life consuming. So far that worked out pretty well, considering she was a very good student, and didn't seem to completely flip her shit when she didn't ace something. He still remembered friends who seriously considered running away as opposed to going home with a D on their report cards. That shit so wasn't going to fly in his house. "You had a report in there somewhere, if I'm remembering correctly."

"Mm-hm. I finished it yesterday while the rain was still bad," Jessie assured him, dipping a slice of bread into her egg mixture and laying it on a sizzling frying pan. "I've got maybe half a chapter left to read for biology, but I'll take care of it tonight before bed. How many pieces do you want?"

"Two." Jesse said, voice slightly muffled because he spoke around the bite of cookie he'd taken. He had the good sense to finish that before speaking more though. "And cool, you get that done, and we'll hit up a movie later, and maybe go wander around the thrift stores, how's that sound?" he asked. It was part of their tradition, something they had quite a lot of. They'd go see a movie, and they'd go looking around at flea markets, and thrift stores, buying very small, random things for pennies. Sometimes they'd have a theme, like they occasionally added to their 'ugliest figurine in the store' collection, which lined the apartment along the floorboards.

Jessie set another piece of bread to cooking and pulled down a mug for the coffee just as it signaled it was ready. She poured the cup, added a healthy amount of sugar, then brought it to the couch to hand to her father.

"That sounds fun," she agreed. "Except for the finishing my reading now part. You sure I can't wait 'til bedtime? That stuff bores me to death anyway."

Jesse hummed, eyeing his daughter with narrowed eyes as he made a show of considering. "I suppose." he said, as if he were really conceding something huge. He also gratefully took his coffee, and dunked his second cookie into it. "Just so long as you promise you'll get it done." he added. But whatever, who was he kidding? He was a pushover at the best of times when it came to his daughter. It was probably a good thing she either hadn't figured that out? Or just didn't take advantage all that often.

"I will," she promised cheerfully, sweeping back over to the stove to check the french toast. "How else will I keep my As? Aunt Ruby said if I did if I passed with all As and Bs that she'd get Aunt Evelyn off my back about learning embroidery - no way am I gonna pass that offer up."

Jesse smirked at that. "Maybe you should start spending more time with your Aunt Dorothy and your cousin Lucy." he suggested. "I'm petty sure they won't have your free time all planned out with girly passtimes they're far too enthused about." Though really, he knew that his sisters all had his daughter's best interests at heart...they just didn't always know when to quit, or when to give up the ghost of an idea that just wasn't going to fly.

"I know... I haven't seen them in a while. It's just harder to get over there, for some reason. It's weird," Jessie told him, and shifted the finished french toast to a plate. She set it on the table, then went back for silverware and syrup. "Breakfast's ready, Daddy. Come eat at the table; you'll make a mess if you eat on the couch."

...And here's where she realized she'd been spending way too much time with Grandma. Jessie sighed to herself and set the syrup beside Daddy's plate. As much as she loved the old woman, she didn't want to sound like her - but she was right. Dangit.

Jesse actually chuckled at that. "Okay, mom." he said teasingly, getting up and dragging his fingers through his messy hair. Then he headed over, listening, of course. Sitting down, he kicked the other chair out for her so she could join him. "Thank you." he said, after he took the first bite. His stomach gave a growl, pleased to actually be paid attention to. Jesse got distracted sometimes, forgot to do things like eat regularly. Sometimes he thought it was mostly Jessie that kept him moderately healthy.

Jessie made a face. "I'd just like to point out that if I were Grandma, you'd have never even seen those cookies before you'd eaten a full meal." She leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her father's cheek. "And you're welcome. Who knows when the last time you ate a real meal was. You should come by Grandma and Grandpa's next time, you know Grandma will stuff you to the ears. She thinks you're a stick."

"I know, I know...on all counts." Jesse agreed with his daughter. And he did need to hit up the parent's place soon. He hadn't seen them in a while, he'd been kind of busy. Well, that and he didn't exactly want to go into explaining the limp. So far, they didn't know he'd been shot and he wasn't eager to tell them. Sure, that might be fairly gradeschool of him, mentality-wise, but it would bring up way too many questions he flat out didn't have answers to. The thought of it inevitably led to thinking about Eddie, and Jesse looked down a little, a light shadow coming down behind his eyes. He concentrated more on eating for a moment, hoping to shake it soon. She didn't need to deal with that shit.

A faint frown crossed Jessie's face. She'd seen her father's face darken, and she didn't like it - Daddy wasn't supposed to be sad. Not when he was the Best Daddy Ever. He didn't seem to want to talk about it, though. She'd have to rely on the next best thing to cheer him up: distraction.

"So, what movie did you want to go see today?" Jessie grinned impishly and poked at Daddy. "A really mushy-gushy cheesy romance?"

He laughed a little. "If that's what's playing, we don't have much choice." he said, going with the distraction. He needed it. Part of him wondered how Eddie's woman was doing, if he shouldn't go see her sometime here. He'd suffer through a romance if that's what the theater happened to be showing today. Really he hadn't put much thought into what was actually showing. He probably should have, hopefully it wasn't something wholly inappropriate for Jessie.

"If that's what's playing," Jessie replied, "then I say we skip the movie for the shops."

She hated romances. They were so ridiculously sappy, and completely unrealistic. Not to mention all the leading men were morons, and not all that good-looking. Her dad was better than any of them, but putting him in one of those romances was more than a little disturbing. She wanted him to have a girlfriend and be happy and all, but that was totally different.

Jesse made a dramatic sigh and grinned. "Thank god." he said, playing up the relief at not having to sit through something he wasn't going to enjoy by any stretch of the imagination. Romances...he knew the ladies seemed to like them and such, but they weren't his thing. Probably because romance in his own life never went anything like that. Not by a long shot. "So yes, we'll just...skip that then if that's what's playing, and I'll get you something when we're out." What, he didn't know. Or if he could really afford anything, but he'd find a way to.

"You don't have to, Daddy," Jessie told him. She knew how tight money was, and she didn't want it wasted on something silly. Especially not since she'd heard from Mom this weekend - she was short on cash again. Jessie was pretty sure she'd taken care of the problem, that it wouldn't reach Daddy, but it was better safe than sorry. "I don't really need anything. Maybe we could go look around that new orphanage, though - if we don't go to the movie, I mean. The architecture is pretty neat, and I want to see what it looks like cleaned up."

"Planning on finding a new brother or sister while you're at it?" Jesse asked, winking at her as he finished up his breakfast. "Yeah, we can go look." Even if the idea made him a little nervous, because of who the orphanage was connected to. He hid that entirely, though, making sure that Jessie didn't pick up on it at all. He stood, bringing the dish to the sink to rinse off, then he came back over and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "Thanks, Baby J." he said affectionately.

Jessie beamed up at her father adoringly. "Anytime. And if it's all the same to you, Daddy, I think I'll stay an only child. I don't want to have to share you with any other kids - I'm pretty selfish that way." She kissed Jesse's cheek, then shooed him off towards the bathroom. "Now go get ready so we can go have fun while I show off my amazing papa. And make sure to dress warm; it's cold out and the puddles from yesterday's rain are everywhere."

He laughed again as she did that, heading towards the bathroom. "Sure thing, Ma." he said again, chuckling as he entered the bathroom and shut the door. He was good with their life too. He was fine with not having any other kids, and while deep down he really wanted to find a female to fill in the mother role and complete the family, it wasn't a desire that ruled him. Things were good with just he and his daughter.

"I'm not Grandma!" Jessie yelled after him, making a face behind his back before setting about cleaning up the kitchen. Daddy made such a mess when she was gone.