Last Call … a Fuzzy Peaches SOA Fanfiction 1
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Last Call … A Fuzzy Peaches SOA Fanfiction 1 CHAPTER 1 "So … how's this? Does Mommy look hot?" Valerie asked, eyebrows raised, peering down at Mickey in his car seat. They'd pulled into a truck stop to freshen up. One thing Valerie had learned; truck stops really did have cleaner bathrooms compared to simple gas stations. And the roomiest stalls. She'd been able to close the toilet seat, set Mickey's car seat on it, and changed from shorts and a tank top to a turquoise sundress with plenty of room to move. Now she was at the sink, Mickey still seated next to her on the counter, chewing on a teething toy and just blinking at her. She's splashed water on her face, put her hair back in a headband, even put on lip gloss, touched up her deodorant and body spray. Overkill, maybe. But this road trip was ending at Teller-Morrow in Charming, and she wasn't leaving anything to chance. They were twenty minutes outside the little town she'd run from. Her stomach was turning, her nerves had her jumpy and anxious, and she felt totally guilty about keeping Mickey restrained in his car seat during this pit stop. But he hadn't messed himself, she'd changed him an hour before, and if she let him out he'd be all over, most likely digging his teething ring out of the toilet and shoving it back in his mouth. Yeah, that had happened once. He was a hellion, all over the place, and almost impossible to get under wraps once he was loose. So he'd stayed belted and hadn't complained. He just watched her, chewing away. There was so much drool she'd put his bib back on after changing him into fancy meeting-new-people clothes when they'd hit the road that morning. She carried him back to her vehicle, securing him in the backseat. Then she settled behind the wheel, gave him a smile over her shoulder, which he returned, and put the Escape in gear. Yes, her fifteen-month-old son smiled back at his mom when she smiled at him. It was just the two of them after all; he was a hell of a team mate. She listened to Audra Mae and the Almighty Sound the rest of the way to Charming. Driving across town limits she felt her pulse increase. When she hit the main drag her stomach dropped. As she turned onto the street that housed the Teller-Morrow garage she thought she was going to hyperventilate. Mickey helped, though. He blabbered along with the music, which was cute since she was singing along, too. He was used to this now. She was, hopefully, raising a man who would be okay with his significant other singing along with the radio. It was an important detail. The compound's chain link fence came into view and she drove past the gate, opting to take one more lap around the block. Last Call … A Fuzzy Peaches SOA Fanfiction 2 Plenty of things scared her, just to clarify. But this … she was terrified of. On the second pass she turned into the lot, parking in the customer stalls. She sat behind the wheel, killed the engine, and concentrated on her breathing. She tried not to look around at her surroundings. So much time had passed. Everything looked the same, but with the changes in her life everything felt very different. She was acutely aware that one very key component piece to this scenery was missing. Tig. Mickey's father. That was what made it all seem strange. He wasn't going to greet her, face breaking into a wild grin, his eyes flashing with heat. He couldn't grab her and kiss her without giving a shit who was looking. She squeezed her eyes shut. She wasn't here to remember Tig, as difficult as that was. She was here to present herself to a man who was here, ready and open to loving her and all her messy attachments. A man who Mickey was already nuts about, too. She checked her hair in the mirror again then climbed out. She circled the vehicle, opened the rear passenger door and unclipped Mickey from his seat. He was smiling, babbling "Momma" to her, grinning like a loon and giving her so much strength. Christ she loved this little monkey and his crazy smile, laugh and eyes. She attached him to her hip, grabbing her purse off the floorboards in front of his car seat, slinging it over her opposite shoulder. "Momma." "I know, baby." "Momma." "What is it, Mickey?" "Momma." "You're adorable, baby. I wish you knew more than one word." "Momma." She kissed his head as she slammed the door, hiking him up a bit then looking around. No one saw her yet, which was fine with her. She headed for the office, hoping her former assistant was still working there. Last Call … A Fuzzy Peaches SOA Fanfiction 3 Before she got much closer to the stairs the door swung open. She saw Teresa, blonde and vibrant, stalking down the stairs in a killer blush-coloured pencil skirt, kitten heels and a gauzy white summer blouse. "Happy!" she was shrieking. The Son she was shouting for was in a bay, working on a vehicle. "What?" he bellowed back. "What the hell does this even say?" Valerie stopped, morbidly curious as to how this played out. "Christ Blondie, how long you worked here?" "How long have you been writing?" she volleyed back. "We could avoid this if you'd just take your time and print legibly." Valerie winced. If there was one Son she'd always be cautious around, it was Happy Lowman. "I ain't got time, Blondie. You do what you do and I'll fix cars, okay?" "Just tell me what this is. I'll help you with your printing skills later." There was a stare-down in front of a Ford Mustang, then Happy cracked a grin. "Jesus Blondie, you're a ball buster." Then he pulled out a pencil to rewrite the form she had been waving at him. Ummm … what? Teresa waited, arms crossed, while he rewrote the offending information, then snapped it back from his grip. "Thank you," she said sarcastically. "No no, babe. Thank you." Teresa stalked away, head held high, starting towards the office which brought her around to face where Valerie stood, Mickey on her hip. She stopped, her face lit up, and she shrieked, literally squealed "Val?" and ran at her. Valerie stayed where she was, feeling her face break into a grin. When Teresa got to her she was wrapped in a tight hug, half-way because of Mickey. When she pulled back she was beaming, then she looked to Mickey. "Oh. My. God." She gasped. "Valerie, he's … beautiful." Last Call … A Fuzzy Peaches SOA Fanfiction 4 Val couldn't say her heart didn't swell with pride. She studied her son, who was jawing away on his teething ring but staring at Teresa, wide-eyed and fascinated. "Teresa," she returned, hearing the emotion in her voice. "I missed you." Teresa looked at her, face crumpling. "Val, I missed you sooo much!" They hugged again, holding each other tight. Mickey eventually fussed, bringing them apart with a chuckle. "Umm, Teresa," Valerie said, voice still thick with emotion. "This is Michael Alexander. Mickey, this is Teresa, a friend of your Momma's." "Momma," Mickey echoed, making them both laugh. "My God, Val," Teresa muttered, staring at him. "He is … gorgeous." "I think so too," Val agreed, kissing his baby head. "Hi Mickey," Teresa said, smiling. Mickey smiled at her, then turned away and pressed his face against Val's shoulder. "Mickey!" Val exclaimed. "Are you playing shy right now?" Her son had never played shy before. There wasn't a woman he met he hadn't made eyes at. "Awww," Teresa cooed. "Are you flirting with me?" "Better not be," came the confident declaration from the stairs. Valerie smiled up at Juice while Teresa turned. The baby-faced Juan Carlos Ortiz jogged down the office stairs, approaching Val and dropping a kiss on her cheek. "Val," he greeted her warmly. "You look fantastic." "Thanks Juice," she returned, kissing his cheek in return. Seeing him made her feel more confident; Juice liked her. Juice was cool with her being here. "And by the way you two, congratulations!" "I am so glad you're coming to the wedding," Teresa gushed, eyes still on Mickey. "It means so much!" "I have to admit, that invitation shocked me," she shared, making Teresa giggle. "I know. I can't imagine how surprising it was." Last Call … A Fuzzy Peaches SOA Fanfiction 5 "But I'm happy for you, honestly." Teresa had tears in her eyes. "I am so happy." Val nodded, smiling at her then Juice. "Good. You guys look really good together. I never would have guessed this in a millions years, but it's … fantastic." Juice and Teresa smiled at each other, Juice winding an arm around the blonde's shoulders and she tucked into his side was familiarity. Val saw it, plain as day; they were ridiculously, deliriously in love. It actually hurt to be around. "Can I hold him?" Juice asked suddenly, shocking Valerie. "Sure," she said, heart softening as his tanned arms came out to take the bundle from her. Mickey let himself be handed over with a still face and wide eyes, staring at this new person who was giving him a trademark amazing smile.