Emergency Medical Dad

LXXIV: present, late november

JORGEN

I don't think either of us have paid any attention to what I put on TV. I'm just sort of laying there, legs hooked to allow her to settle perfectly comfortably across my chest, looking absently up at the ceiling and enjoying the feeling of her tracing hundreds of little circles all over my chest. She's doing just that, paying attention to the way she can get a muscle or two to contract under my skin when she hits a ticklish spot. She's found at least a few but I'm sort of hazed out, half sleeping, half not, so I don't really count.

It's weird, with her. I've spent most of my life absolutely hating it when people touch me or get too close when we're in situations like this, I don't think I've ever platonically cuddled with anyone, no matter how much Luka tried, and I don't think I've ever laid around like this with someone I've hooked up with in the past, not even people I was in somewhat established relationships with. Raja tried but it made me uncomfortable.

And now Jessie's laying there, head on my collarbone, hair tickling my neck, her whole body stretched out over mine, and I like it. It feels nice. She's warm and soft and Ron always mentions that weighted blankets are good for anxiety, so it's doing a wonderful job of calming me down and keeping my head out of it's normal trains when I'm being quiet. I'm just focusing on her, not thinking much, not doing much, just realizing I'm breathing in when she's breathing in, out when she's breathing out, that if I shift my arm and loop it around her back I can pull her a little closer, end up with our legs tangled up too.

"Jay?" She mumbles, sweet and soft. It would be good to tell her that I've never liked that nickname, but somehow every time she mumbles it my heart does a little jump and I can't stop a smile.

"Mhmm?"

"Can you grab my phone off the side table? I think I just heard it buzz."

"Yeah, totally," I stretch, long arm batting around behind me until I hit her phone, then pick it up.

"Thanks," she yawns, taking it from my hand and clicking it on. "Dad texted."

"What did he say?"

"He... huh," she looks up at me, worry creasing her eyebrows. "He says be on the watch for a call from Mom."

"Oh," I shift, breaking out of my half asleep state. This is going to need more than me being drowsy to handle. "Are you okay with that? Why would she call?"

"I don't know," she looks back down at her phone. "He says that he's just gotten off the phone with her for what he hopes is the last time, settling something down with a lawyer and she mentioned that she needed to talk to me about Connor."

"That's not good," I shift, pushing myself up onto my elbows, thef irst thing that come to my mind is something that's been bugging the back of my head for weeks, "do you think she's going to fight with us over custody? We've made a lot of odd moves in the last three months with him and it might, it might allow for a case."

"I've been worrying about that too," she mumbles. "I don't know how she's going to argue that she's a better option without Dad but she might be able to put up the whole like no school, new location thing if... if she wanted to."

"Which isn't good," I scrub a hand down my face. "Do we have anything against her if it does go legal?"

"Word of mouth, that's about it," Jess looks at me with the same sort of wide eyed look I've seen maybe a few times since the start of the summer. She's honestly, truly, terrified. "We'd lose."

"Well, hopefully she won't take us to a judge," I bite my lip. "She doesn't know about me, though, which is probably good."

"She'd lose her mind," Jessie scrubs her hands down her face. "Probably not a good time to tell you that any time you'd come up in conversation she took it as an opportunity to point out what bad decisions, like the one that led to Conn, would make someone end up, which is truly hysterical because look at you," she gestures at me, clearly trying to be a tad funny but the stress is taking it out of her voice. "You work a really respectable job, have your own house, you're always working on yourself, healthy relationship with your mental health, everything she didn't have."