Doctor Dash

Chapter 7

Dash sighed as he strolled through the grocery store to pick up a few ingredients for that night. Maybe he made a mistake offering to bring dinner over when dropped Xander off at Fenton's house for a sleepover. He was starting to second guess his agreement to that, too, but Xander was bouncing with excitement after hearing about the sleepover. Dash could hardly take it back after that. It was still strange to him that his son got along so well with Fenton's son. He never would have dreamed of things turning out this way, but he was happy that Xander finally had someone in class that he liked.

Picking up a red bell pepper, he turned it around in his hand, checking for any signs of rotting or bruising. When he found it satisfactory, he added it to his basket. How long had it been since he shared a meal with someone other than Kwan, Dash wondered? He looked over a few more bell peppers in colors green, red, and yellow. After Xander landed on his doorstep, Dash didn't bother much with dating. His line of work didn't exactly lend him much of a chance to meet anyone to ask on a date. Most of the parents of his patients were married, and the single parents weren't exactly looking to date either.

"Daddy!" Xander appeared at his side, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he held a box in his hands. "Can we pwease get this?" He wore a hopeful smile as his blue eyes sparkled.

Dash frowned down at the box with a ridiculous cartoon bear on the front, advertising the tasty jelly filled cookie crisps. It was one of the reasons he preferred leaving his son at home with Kwan watching him whenever he went to the grocery store. When he came along, Xander always found something sweet to beg to be added into the basket. Dash tried not to keep too much in the way of sugary treats within his house, but he supposed every once and while it would be okay. This was a special occasion as well, with it being his son's first sleepover at another boy's house.

"Just this once," Dash said as he lowered the basket enough for Xander to drop the box into it.

"Your boy is just the cutest thing."

Dash glanced up when he heard the woman's voice. She stood before him dressed in far too short denim shorts and a loose white shirt that slipped down one shoulder to show the strap of her bra. The basket she carried held a bottle of wine and few selections for making sandwiches as well as a small pizza. She smiled at him as she twirled a lock of long blonde hair around her index finger of her free hand. Xander immediately ducked behind his father's leg, his hands curling around the rough fabric of one pant leg.

"Thanks," Dash said awkwardly, reaching down a hand to rest upon his son's head. He never considered using his son in some ploy to get a date with someone. His son wasn't some tool to use to get someone's attention, gain their sympathy, and lure them into a date with him. Before Xander became a part of his life, Dash probably would have eagerly gone on a date with the woman standing before him. She was beautiful. But currently in his life, he simply didn't have any interest in a woman randomly coming up to him in the grocery store while he was with his son.

"Daddy," Xander said in a whiny tone as he tugged on the pant leg he held. He turned his pout up to his father. "Can we go? I want to see Lex."

"Just as soon as I pay for this," Dash explained as he held up the basket. When he turned back to the woman, he offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry. We're on our way to meet up with his friend's family."

"Oh, well," she said, still smiling as she dug around in her purse. When she pulled at a pen, she grabbed hold of Dash's hand. "Give me a call sometime when you're free." She quickly jotted down her phone number on his forearm, not even bothering to give a name of any sort, which didn't make Dash feel all that willing to actually phone her at any point in time.

"I'll," Dash struggled to keep the fake smile on his face, "do that." He nudged his son toward the checkout lines, which were thankfully fairly short.