It's the Little Things
Jan. 4th, 2007 07:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morgynleriTitle: It's the Little Things
Word Count:
Status: In Progress
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG13
Commentary: Any
Prologue: One Shot
Seattle, Washington
Jennifer flipped open her cell as she walked out towards her car, a frown on her face at the unfamiliar number. "Jennifer Morgan, may I ask who's calling?"
"Jennifer, this is Diana, from Meany Midd..." The voice on the other end of the phone was choked, and a cold trickle went down Jennifer's spine, settling in her stomach.
"What happened to Susan?" Jennifer interrupted, the thought of the sirens half an hour earlier taking on a horrifying new significance. "Where is she?"
"She's been shot.. she's dead.."
Jennifer fought to draw in a breath, her legs trembling as she struggled to stay on her feet. She couldn't fall apart, not yet. Jeremy. Someone had to take care of Jeremy. "Has anyone called Jeremy's daycare yet?"
"No." Diana took a shuddering breath, hiccuping as she tried to keep her voice steady. "I don't have the phone number, and we're not allowed in her classroom right now. Not until..." She trailed off with a choked cry.
"It's ok." Jennifer heard the tremble in her voice, trying to push the anger and grief down. Not yet. Jeremy needed her to hold together right now. Gods, how did she tell the ten month old his mother would never come home? "I'll get Jeremy."
Closing the phone, she forced herself to move, blindly fishing her car keys out of her purse on the way to her small car. Pick up Jeremy. Take him home. Find out what to do about Susan.
"God, Sus. What am I supposed to do now?" Jennifer rested her hands on the steering wheel, looking out at the bleak winter landscape of Seattle, a silent wish filling her mind that this hadn't happened. That she didn't have to explain to her godson that his mother had died, and not abandoned him. That she didn't have to bury her closest friend.
Chapter 1: Fateful Phone Call
Miami, Florida
"Eric Delko." Eric scooped up the phone as he stepped into his apartment, glancing briefly at the caller id.
"Eric, it's Jennifer. I know it's late, but..." Jennifer trailed off, her voice hitching slightly as if she had bit back a sob.
"Jennifer?" Eric frowned, looking up at the clock, wondering what had her calling him this late. "What's wrong?"
"Susan... the friend with me the summer we met... she's... gods..." Jennifer paused, and Eric heard another strangled sob. "One of her students came into the school yesterday with a gun... she's dead... and now I've got to do what she kept putting off..."
"Jennifer. Jenn, calm down. What are you talking about?" Eric ran one hand through his hair, trying to make sense of the broken string of phrases from his friend.
A long moment of silence followed, before Jennifer spoke again, her voice still rough, but more intelligable. "Susan was shot and killed by one of her students yesterday. I've been trying to get her to find the number of the friend of yours she hooked up with that summer we met, but she's been too shy. And now I've got to find his number, and she didn't keep it where I can find it."
"Speed?" Eric frowned, still uncertain what Jennifer was trying to tell him. "I'm lost here, Jenn."
"Susan came home from Florida pregnant." Jennifer took a deep breath, and let it out in a noisy sigh. "I've spent the last nineteen months trying to get her to call, or write a letter, or something, because she only hooked up with one guy while we were in Miami. Your friend, Speed. And now it's too late for her to do that, and I can't just keep her secret."
Eric sat down abruptly on a kitchen chair, blinking, his mouth working soundlessly for a long moment. "How?"
"Hell if I know." Jennifer made a rude noise, followed by an indrawn, shuddering breath. "I don't think she even figured out how it happened. Just called Jeremy her unplanned miracle baby. Wouldn't listen when I tried to tell her she should tell his father he existed." Her voice dropped, barely audible over the phone. "Gods, Sus, why didn't you listen to me?"
"Is there anything I can do, Jenn? I mean, beyond giving you Speed's number." Eric knew his friend might be skeptical of the news Jenn had for him, but he knew her ruthless devotion to honesty far too well to doubt her.
"I don't know." Jennifer sighed again, and Eric heard the whirr of a blender in the background. "Talk me out of another chocolate smoothie?" She let out a brief laugh, edged with raw grief. "I think I've had three of them today so far."
Eric's lips twitched up in a slight grin. "Maybe you need them." He paused, his grin fading as he thought about something. "When's Susan's funeral?"
"This weekend. Saturday." Jennifer caught herself on a sob. "Do you have the time to make it up to Seattle for the weekend?"
"Yeah. I'll let H know in the morning."
"Thank you, Eric." Near silence came over the phone for a long moment. "I really should make that call to your friend soon. Before I loose myself in a movie and another smoothie."
"Yeah," Eric agreed quietly, waiting until Jennifer had something ready to write on before rattling off Speed's number.
"I'll talk to you later, Eric. Call me when you know what flight you're taking up here?"
"Yeah. Later, Jenn."
"Bye."
~ ~~ ~
Speed looked at the clock when his phone rang, hoping it wasn't the lab calling at this time of night. Or someone with bad news.
"Hello?"
"Is this Tim Speedle?" A woman's voice came over the phone, sounding vaguely familiar.
"Yeah. And you are?"
"Jennifer Morgan. We've met a couple of times, but not really talked. Two years ago, in the summer, I was in Miami with a friend of mine, Susan Graham. She hooked up with you for the summer. And ten months ago, she had a son. As far as I know, the only person who could be the father is you."
Speed blinked as the woman finally stopped for breath, trying to decipher the rapidly spoken words. "Ma'am, could you repeat that? Slower, this time."
"My name is Jennifer Morgan. I had a friend, Susan Graham, whom you met two years ago during the summer. She had been looking for a summer fling, and when we came back to Seattle, she came back pregnant. You're the only person she slept with that summer. Susan had a son, ten months ago. Jeremy. Your son."
"What?" Speed shook his head, wondering about the woman's sanity. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"Not unless the joke's on me," Jennifer snapped. "And with her dead, I can't ask her if she might not have had some one-night-stand I'm not aware of to muddy the question of who's Jeremy's father is."
"What?" Speed frowned, giving up on the idea of getting sleep any time soon. "Miss Morgan, why don't you start from the beginning..."
"The beginning." Jennifer's voice was flat. "July, Miami, two years ago. A club, Susan doesn't dance much, I had met Eric out on the dance floor. I come back to the table, you were sitting with her, and the two of you were talking. You and Susan have a summer fling, something she'd wanted to find. August, Susan and I return to Seattle. She finds out she's pregnant, despite being careful about such things. Middle of April, Susan gives birth to a son, Jeremy. She doesn't listen when I tell her she should tell the father, you, about Jeremy. Yesterday, a student shoots Susan, and now I have a ten month old child on my hands, whose father isn't even aware he exists. Do I need to repeat it again?"
Speed closed his eyes, staring at the inside of his eyelids for a long moment. "Look, Miss Morgan, why don't I call you back in the morning? It's after eleven, and I have to work in the morning."
"I've classes to teach tomorrow morning. Eric knows my schedule this semester, if you ask him."
"Fine. Good night, Miss Morgan."
"Good night, Mr. Speedle." A click announced her hanging up from her end, and Speed dropped the phone back in its cradle, sighing.
"This is not funny."
Interlude 1
Seattle, Washington
Jennifer sat down at her desk, resting her hand in her hands for a long moment, trying to compose herself before her class. She couldn't show up like this, even though her students would know about Susan's death already, with it all over the news. A knock on the door made her look up, raising an eyebrow at the student who stood there.
"Yes, Vivica?"
"Hey, Prof." Vivica settled onto the chair next to the desk, studying her face a moment. "We met up last night, the class. We can work on those short stories today, and you take the day, if you'd like. None of us really expected you to be here, anyway."
"Then why are you in my office, if you didn't expect me to be here?"
"Because I volunteered to see if you were here, so none of us would be marked late, since we're all at the library." Vivica shrugged, the corner of her mouth quirking up in a lopsided grin. "We got a sign-in sheet so you know who showed up to the class today, too. So go get your god-son and go home, Prof."
Jennifer regarded Vivica silently for a long moment, turning over the idea in her mind. She could take the morning, and return for the afternoon class, if they didn't follow the example of the morning class, and take the decision out of her hands.
"I expect to see that sign-in sheet in my box when I stop by my office tomorrow." Jennifer gave Vivica a small smile, the younger woman letting out a sigh of relief. "Class will occur as usual next week."
"Gotcha, Prof." Vivica nodded as she stood up. "I'm gonna get back to the others, and let 'em know you approve. See you on Tuesday!"
Jennifer let herself slump onto her desk again after Vivica left, the tears she'd tried to lock away slipping down her cheeks.
Chapter 2
Crossposted:
AO3, LiveJournal, my website
Word Count:
Status: In Progress
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG13
Commentary: Any
Seattle, Washington
Jennifer flipped open her cell as she walked out towards her car, a frown on her face at the unfamiliar number. "Jennifer Morgan, may I ask who's calling?"
"Jennifer, this is Diana, from Meany Midd..." The voice on the other end of the phone was choked, and a cold trickle went down Jennifer's spine, settling in her stomach.
"What happened to Susan?" Jennifer interrupted, the thought of the sirens half an hour earlier taking on a horrifying new significance. "Where is she?"
"She's been shot.. she's dead.."
Jennifer fought to draw in a breath, her legs trembling as she struggled to stay on her feet. She couldn't fall apart, not yet. Jeremy. Someone had to take care of Jeremy. "Has anyone called Jeremy's daycare yet?"
"No." Diana took a shuddering breath, hiccuping as she tried to keep her voice steady. "I don't have the phone number, and we're not allowed in her classroom right now. Not until..." She trailed off with a choked cry.
"It's ok." Jennifer heard the tremble in her voice, trying to push the anger and grief down. Not yet. Jeremy needed her to hold together right now. Gods, how did she tell the ten month old his mother would never come home? "I'll get Jeremy."
Closing the phone, she forced herself to move, blindly fishing her car keys out of her purse on the way to her small car. Pick up Jeremy. Take him home. Find out what to do about Susan.
"God, Sus. What am I supposed to do now?" Jennifer rested her hands on the steering wheel, looking out at the bleak winter landscape of Seattle, a silent wish filling her mind that this hadn't happened. That she didn't have to explain to her godson that his mother had died, and not abandoned him. That she didn't have to bury her closest friend.
Miami, Florida
"Eric Delko." Eric scooped up the phone as he stepped into his apartment, glancing briefly at the caller id.
"Eric, it's Jennifer. I know it's late, but..." Jennifer trailed off, her voice hitching slightly as if she had bit back a sob.
"Jennifer?" Eric frowned, looking up at the clock, wondering what had her calling him this late. "What's wrong?"
"Susan... the friend with me the summer we met... she's... gods..." Jennifer paused, and Eric heard another strangled sob. "One of her students came into the school yesterday with a gun... she's dead... and now I've got to do what she kept putting off..."
"Jennifer. Jenn, calm down. What are you talking about?" Eric ran one hand through his hair, trying to make sense of the broken string of phrases from his friend.
A long moment of silence followed, before Jennifer spoke again, her voice still rough, but more intelligable. "Susan was shot and killed by one of her students yesterday. I've been trying to get her to find the number of the friend of yours she hooked up with that summer we met, but she's been too shy. And now I've got to find his number, and she didn't keep it where I can find it."
"Speed?" Eric frowned, still uncertain what Jennifer was trying to tell him. "I'm lost here, Jenn."
"Susan came home from Florida pregnant." Jennifer took a deep breath, and let it out in a noisy sigh. "I've spent the last nineteen months trying to get her to call, or write a letter, or something, because she only hooked up with one guy while we were in Miami. Your friend, Speed. And now it's too late for her to do that, and I can't just keep her secret."
Eric sat down abruptly on a kitchen chair, blinking, his mouth working soundlessly for a long moment. "How?"
"Hell if I know." Jennifer made a rude noise, followed by an indrawn, shuddering breath. "I don't think she even figured out how it happened. Just called Jeremy her unplanned miracle baby. Wouldn't listen when I tried to tell her she should tell his father he existed." Her voice dropped, barely audible over the phone. "Gods, Sus, why didn't you listen to me?"
"Is there anything I can do, Jenn? I mean, beyond giving you Speed's number." Eric knew his friend might be skeptical of the news Jenn had for him, but he knew her ruthless devotion to honesty far too well to doubt her.
"I don't know." Jennifer sighed again, and Eric heard the whirr of a blender in the background. "Talk me out of another chocolate smoothie?" She let out a brief laugh, edged with raw grief. "I think I've had three of them today so far."
Eric's lips twitched up in a slight grin. "Maybe you need them." He paused, his grin fading as he thought about something. "When's Susan's funeral?"
"This weekend. Saturday." Jennifer caught herself on a sob. "Do you have the time to make it up to Seattle for the weekend?"
"Yeah. I'll let H know in the morning."
"Thank you, Eric." Near silence came over the phone for a long moment. "I really should make that call to your friend soon. Before I loose myself in a movie and another smoothie."
"Yeah," Eric agreed quietly, waiting until Jennifer had something ready to write on before rattling off Speed's number.
"I'll talk to you later, Eric. Call me when you know what flight you're taking up here?"
"Yeah. Later, Jenn."
"Bye."
Speed looked at the clock when his phone rang, hoping it wasn't the lab calling at this time of night. Or someone with bad news.
"Hello?"
"Is this Tim Speedle?" A woman's voice came over the phone, sounding vaguely familiar.
"Yeah. And you are?"
"Jennifer Morgan. We've met a couple of times, but not really talked. Two years ago, in the summer, I was in Miami with a friend of mine, Susan Graham. She hooked up with you for the summer. And ten months ago, she had a son. As far as I know, the only person who could be the father is you."
Speed blinked as the woman finally stopped for breath, trying to decipher the rapidly spoken words. "Ma'am, could you repeat that? Slower, this time."
"My name is Jennifer Morgan. I had a friend, Susan Graham, whom you met two years ago during the summer. She had been looking for a summer fling, and when we came back to Seattle, she came back pregnant. You're the only person she slept with that summer. Susan had a son, ten months ago. Jeremy. Your son."
"What?" Speed shook his head, wondering about the woman's sanity. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"Not unless the joke's on me," Jennifer snapped. "And with her dead, I can't ask her if she might not have had some one-night-stand I'm not aware of to muddy the question of who's Jeremy's father is."
"What?" Speed frowned, giving up on the idea of getting sleep any time soon. "Miss Morgan, why don't you start from the beginning..."
"The beginning." Jennifer's voice was flat. "July, Miami, two years ago. A club, Susan doesn't dance much, I had met Eric out on the dance floor. I come back to the table, you were sitting with her, and the two of you were talking. You and Susan have a summer fling, something she'd wanted to find. August, Susan and I return to Seattle. She finds out she's pregnant, despite being careful about such things. Middle of April, Susan gives birth to a son, Jeremy. She doesn't listen when I tell her she should tell the father, you, about Jeremy. Yesterday, a student shoots Susan, and now I have a ten month old child on my hands, whose father isn't even aware he exists. Do I need to repeat it again?"
Speed closed his eyes, staring at the inside of his eyelids for a long moment. "Look, Miss Morgan, why don't I call you back in the morning? It's after eleven, and I have to work in the morning."
"I've classes to teach tomorrow morning. Eric knows my schedule this semester, if you ask him."
"Fine. Good night, Miss Morgan."
"Good night, Mr. Speedle." A click announced her hanging up from her end, and Speed dropped the phone back in its cradle, sighing.
"This is not funny."
Seattle, Washington
Jennifer sat down at her desk, resting her hand in her hands for a long moment, trying to compose herself before her class. She couldn't show up like this, even though her students would know about Susan's death already, with it all over the news. A knock on the door made her look up, raising an eyebrow at the student who stood there.
"Yes, Vivica?"
"Hey, Prof." Vivica settled onto the chair next to the desk, studying her face a moment. "We met up last night, the class. We can work on those short stories today, and you take the day, if you'd like. None of us really expected you to be here, anyway."
"Then why are you in my office, if you didn't expect me to be here?"
"Because I volunteered to see if you were here, so none of us would be marked late, since we're all at the library." Vivica shrugged, the corner of her mouth quirking up in a lopsided grin. "We got a sign-in sheet so you know who showed up to the class today, too. So go get your god-son and go home, Prof."
Jennifer regarded Vivica silently for a long moment, turning over the idea in her mind. She could take the morning, and return for the afternoon class, if they didn't follow the example of the morning class, and take the decision out of her hands.
"I expect to see that sign-in sheet in my box when I stop by my office tomorrow." Jennifer gave Vivica a small smile, the younger woman letting out a sigh of relief. "Class will occur as usual next week."
"Gotcha, Prof." Vivica nodded as she stood up. "I'm gonna get back to the others, and let 'em know you approve. See you on Tuesday!"
Jennifer let herself slump onto her desk again after Vivica left, the tears she'd tried to lock away slipping down her cheeks.
Chapter 2
Crossposted:
AO3, LiveJournal, my website