run of the mill.

29th

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time," Shawn said into his phone while he smiled happily in traffic. He rested his elbow against the window ceil and he watched as he slowly progressed down the highway with uncaring.

He'd just come from the airport after a game and he was feeling extra good since they won. And since his new 'lady friend' Selita had been watching from the stands. She made it a point to be at all of his games even though she bought late tickets and had to get less than nice seats. She was still rooting for him.

"Yes, of course," Selita said and Shawn could hear the smile in her voice. It made him smile too. "You did so good baby," she cooed.

Shawn blushed against his will. "It was alright."

"Alright," she said alike she was offended. "Shawn it was amazing! The second interception was the best! Nobody saw you coming! And the blitz was perfect!"

Shawn laughed aloud. She was gassing his head and he liked it. He set his head back on his seat and smiled into the air as his driver weaved to get through traffic. "Thanks babe."

"No problem. So my plane lands at four. Why don't we celebrate?"

Another thing he liked about Selita, she was not tight with the panties. She gave it up just as much as he wanted it. There was no pause to think about it. Shawn looked at his watch again and frowned at the time. He told Beyonce and his mother that he would be at her place at noon and it was pushing one. His flight had a delayed landing and he was gonna pay for it as soon as he got to Beyonce's house.

"Na baby, I wish I could. Maybe later tonight."

"I'ma hold you to that, Daddy."

Shawn grinned as he listened to her voice drop an octave or two. She purred sweet words into his ear for the duration of his ride to Beyonce's house. He'd left his car there for her to use but he doubted she'd used it. She was so damn stubborn about everything.

Shawn slipped on his shades and fought through the reporters milling about in front of Beyonce's apartment complex to get to the front door. He was pleased to see that the number of paparazzi was dying down and he was sure that soon there wouldn't be anyone outside her house and she would be considered 'old news' in the tabloids.

He made his way to the elevator and stepped inside. A young girl, about thirteen or fourteen was standing inside. She smiled up at him nervously with her blue eyes shining brightly. Shawn smirked. "Hi," she squealed.

"Hey, how you doing?" Shawn asked briefly.

"I'm fine. My name is Paige. I'm like your biggest fan. Well apart from my dad of course!" she rolled her eyes dramatically and grinned at him. Shawn chuckled and flicked his eyes at the shining numbers above his head. He only had two more floors of Malibu Barbie. "Can I have your autograph?"

Shawn flashed her a smile and took of his shades. "Yeah, sure." He took the pen and paper she gave him and scribbled his autograph and a heart with Paige written underneath it. She grinned excitedly when she saw it.

"Oh my God! Thank you so much!"

The elevator dinged and Shawn grinned again. "No problem, baby."

He stepped onto Beyonce's hall and he could smell his mother's neck bones as soon as the elevator doors closed behind him. Hearing his stomach growl hungrily, Shawn made his way to the door. He pulled out his key and opened it quietly, trying to survey his surroundings to see what he was up against. His mother was not as pissed at him as the last time they'd spoke but he could hear it in her voice; she was still disappointed him. She still didn't see him like she use to.

Debra was sitting at the small dining table. In her lap was a slightly large bundle, laughing and gurgling at something his mother did that was apparently the most entertaining thing since Saturday Night Live. He grinned and looked around, not spotting his baby's mother anywhere.

"Hey momma," he said closing the door behind him and making his presence known. He kissed his mothers cheek and put down his small carryon bag to reach for Jamie. "Hey quarterback."

Debra shielded the child from him. "Have you washed your hands?"

Shawn looked down at his hands in a childish manner. He looked at Debra and shrugged. "Maybe," he mumbled.

Debra smirked. "Go wash your hands, Shawn. You are not getting my baby sick."

Shawn turned towards the kitchen. "Your baby hunh?" he grinned and turned his head to the front just in time to spot Beyonce bent over reaching in the stove. It was like God loved him especially today to take time out and produce the image he did. She wore nothing special by anyone's means; a simple yellow sundress that was a decent length until she bent over like she was. The smooth backs of her thighs peaked from underneath the thin material in what Shawn's hormones felt was the most suggestive way. She stood, however, and set the delicious looking dinner rolls on the stove in an empty space.

The only thing that kept Shawn from reaching for her was the smells that suddenly wrapped around his head. Somebody was burning down in this kitchen!

"Hey," she greeted in that familiar, monotone manner. Shawn shook his head just a little and moved to the sink to wash his hands.

"Was up?" Shawn greeted.

When he turned around, looking for her answer, he was not surprised to find that she was gone and he was indeed alone in the kitchen. Shawn inhaled, trying not to become upset. After all of it, she still acted like she hated him. Even after it was all over and Shawn had said he was sorry and gave up on them, she still hated him. He wondered if it was going to be like this forever. Was she going to hate him until Jamie graduated from high school? Shawn couldn't bear the thought.

He stepped from the kitchen and back over to the table where he plucked Jamie from his mother's arms. "Was up daddy's girl?" he sat her on his hip and smiled down at the giggling infant. "You miss me?"

"How was the trip?" Debra asked looking up at him. He leaned down and kissed her cheek again, sitting in the seat opposite Beyonce. Shawn stood Jamie up on his legs and smiled at her balance.

"It was alright. You catch the game?"

Debra nodded. "Beyonce and I sat down to watch it. It was good."

Shawn looked at her and then at the woman sitting across from him in her reading glasses sipping something from a cup. "You watch my games?" He was shocked.

Beyonce flicked her gaze in his direction and attempted to detach it but Shawn held her eyes fast. He looked at her intently. Beyonce started to whither under his stare and then she finally looked away, shrugging a response to his question. "Sometimes," she muttered.

Shawn glanced at the TV. There was nothing on in particular now but he was still shocked and very pleased that she'd watched him play. It sort of meant something to him. Something he didn't really want to shake off and forget like he forgot about what they once had.

"Well if the rolls are done," Debra said in a quiet tone. It was an awkward moment. "I'll make plates."

"No thank you mommy," Beyonce said. "I'll make my own."

"You sure? You know I don't mind!" she yelled from the kitchen.

"Yes, I'm fine."

They sat there and waited for Debra to finish up. Beyonce sipping at her glass and training her eyes on her cup like looking up and Shawn would be the very end of her. Jamie spoke, like anyone knew what she was saying, and got louder when Shawn didn't respond. "Oh really?" Shawn said with fake enthusiasm to placate her. Debra came back with a hefty plate of neck bones, mixed greens, macaroni and cheese, two rolls, and some candied yams. Shawn shook his head and handed Jamie to Debra.

"You can go fix your plate Beyonce. I'ma feed my baby," Debra said sitting Jamie in the high chair next to her. Beyonce grinned and plopped a loud kiss against the side of Jamie's head. The child didn't even look, simply focused her eyes on the food her grandmother was holding in front of her face.

"She got an appetite like yours," Debra commented at the shine in the babies eyes.

Shawn smirked and picked up his fork. "I need something to dri-."

Before he could even finish the words, Beyonce sat a tall glass of ice in front of him. Next to it she put two bottles of vitamin water. Before he could even say thanks she disappeared back into the kitchen.

Debra looked at the glass and then her son in the corner of her eyes. Shawn saw it. He sighed and stabbed into his greens with his fork. "Don't," he said simply.

"I didn't say a word."

Shawn ate the food with vigor. It was so good. Every taste was seasoned perfectly and it was sure that his was about to explode from the plate his mother had made him but he couldn't seem to stop eating. He hunched over his food earnestly and bit into things with greedy enthusiasm.

Beyonce sat down in front of them a moment or two later with a plate that looked nothing like his. Hers was a small palate of white rice, a single breast of what looked like lightly seasoned baked chicken, and stark green asparagus. She set a plate of neck bones and greens along with other delicious foods down in front of Debra and then settled in to eat her own meal. Beyonce took the top off her water and poured it into a glass of ice.

Shawn looked over her food with disdain and before he could stop himself he spoke around the food in his mouth greedily. "What cho eatin'?" he asked blatantly.

"Boy chew that damn food," Debra scolded distractedly.

Shawn glanced at her and started to chew what was in his mouth as he looked from Beyonce's pretty face to her lame meal. She glanced down at and back at him. "Baked chicken and rice."

"Why?" he pressed with a confused face and a fork full of greens hanging in mid-air.

Beyonce scooped up some bland rice with her fork. "I'm on a diet," she said before taking a bite.

"Why?" he asked again around the food his was still trying to chew.

"Because I just am Shawn," she said scooping up more rice.

Shawn looked at the food on her plate again. "Don't look like you need no diet to me..."

Beyonce fork of rice stopped in the air for just a second and then she continued to her mouth. She ate the food with a little less... Shawn didn't know what but he didn't seem as eager as before. He put his head back into his food and continued to shove things down. He didn't know if he should have said that or not but he didn't particularly regret it. She did look extra good nowadays.

Beyonce's heart shaped face seemed to smile at him even when she wasn't. Her gorgeous eyes shined as she looked at Jamie and laughed at the food on her face. Her smooth skin seemed to glow even then, just sitting in front of him at the dinner table. Her breasts, a cup bigger in his eyes, sat high and pillowy in the dress. Her thin little waste disappeared under the table and he was willing to admit that she had gotten bigger than what she was when they met. But that was when she was eighteen. Before she stopped working out every day. And before she stopped living in special diets during championship season. And before she'd had a healthy baby girl. Before she turned twenty. Now she was a woman. A damned good looking woman, he might add.

They sat and ate until everyone was finished and then Beyonce got up and cleared the table. She disappeared into the kitchen and emerged minutes later after having washed the dishes they used. Beyonce sat on the floor next to the couch he was sitting on and Debra sat on the next couch.

"Ma," he sighed as he rubbed his stomach. "You put ya foot in that."

Debra fanned her hand at him in a dismissing manner. "Boy I ain't cook that. Beyonce wouldn't even let me butter the bread."

Shawn rounded on her. She sat with Jamie in her lap slapping her hands as though she and her mother were a part of some fun game or something. "I didn't know you could cook."

Beyonce didn't look at him. Instead she just shrugged and continued to offer Shawn her profile while she watched Jamie play. "Yeah," she said flatly.

He was not put off. "How long you been cookin'?"

"A while now. Use to cook every night."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Shawn. I had to eat." She made it seem like has dumb but Shawn was use to her kind of standoffish manner so it went unnoticed.

"I know but I always thought you bought it."

Beyonce smirked. "When you're pregnant, and you can never find the right thing at a restaurant, you make it yourself."

Shawn nodded like he understood. He couldn't say that he did entirely but he wasn't going to tell her that. Shawn touched his fingers to his forehead and sat back into the cushions, training his eyes on the TV. He loved it over here when Beyonce wasn't feeling her particular animosity. It was always warm. His apartment had so much space and all that damn AC it got cold frequently and stubbornly. Beyonce always kept it the perfect temperature in here for Jamie. And it always smelled like... like some sort of berry and vanilla or something. She had the filtered air fresheners that were child safe and smelled so fresh. She kept a window open so light would burst into the living room and the tree's just outside the screen would make the air in the apartment smell fresh and crisp.

And every day, no matter where she had been or what she had been up to, it was always clean. There wasn't a great deal of space to get dirty but what she could clean, she did. Floor boards shined so that Jamie wouldn't get sick. No dust, no trash, no misplaced items. Nothing. It was a peaceful place to be. A place to shut out the world. And the four of them had done that until Shawn's phone started to ring in his pocket.

Beyonce snatched her eyes away from Debra and put them on the TV. Shawn glanced around and answered it. "Hello."

"Hey baby. My plane just landed."

Shawn looked around again and shied away from his mothers prying eyes and avoided Beyonce's knowing one's even harder. She wasn't looking at him but she could tell. Beyonce could always tell. That was how she'd found out he'd been cheating. She just knew certain things. Sometime she wasn't sure of stuff but other times, she just knew. He stood and stepped over Beyonce and Jamie to get to the front door.

"I'll be back," he mumbled. "I gotta take this."

He closed the front door behind him and leaned against the opposite wall. "Hey baby," he said coolly. "How was your flight?"

He could hear the smile in Selita's seductive voice. "It was ok. I hate flying coach though. It's so crowded."

Shawn nodded in understanding and smiled at the wall opposite him. "Yeah, I know."

"So you ready to come and see me? I'm on my way home and my roommate is out of the house..."

Shawn grinned until he remembered where he was. His fingers scratched his head and he tried to reason between the two options he had. They were both equally good options. Then again, Selita's promise of pussy was a little better than the promise of Beyonce's cold shoulder.

He didn't know what he was doing with his life at this point. He had no idea where he was at. On one hand, he still wanted to continue to fight for Beyonce. He had been trying for almost nine months now and it seemed like he was getting nowhere. He was kind of tired but he tried his hardest to stay in the game. He loved Beyonce and he missed her but it didn't seem like she was ever likely to forgive him. He had lost hope and he was losing enthusiasm with every snide remark.

And besides, he technically already had a girlfriend. He had in fact moved on he just needed to fully accept it rather than thinking that there was still something in store for him and Beyonce. She hated him and that was the way things were going to be. Shawn thought for a second that maybe she would appreciate the fact that he finally gave up and come back to him. But then he was reminded that when he'd angrily ignored her for those two weeks she'd been content and never called, like she was happy or something. He had to practically steal Jamie every time he was angry with her mother. Anyway, Selita's like was hanging in the equation now, he couldn't just leave her.

"Yeah, yeah I can swing through. I'm cool with that."

He ended his conversation and stepped back into the apartment solemnly, not knowing how all of this would turn out for him. He knew it wouldn't end pretty, he just hoped he was ready. His mother was now sitting on the couch with Jamie standing unbalanced on her legs. His mother clasped the baby's hands in hers to help her and grin at her progress. Beyonce was still sitting on the floor where she had been and they were watching the main menu for a movie, making Shawn assume they were waiting on him to play it.

"Ma," he breathed. "Look I'm about to take off."

Debra's eyes switched up immediately. "You're what?"

He sighed. He felt like a child asking for permission to go to a friend's house on a school night. He was a grown man, damnit. "I'm running over to a friend's house."

He didn't like the disappointment he saw in her eyes and the silence that followed. Jamie squealed once in delight at her progress and threw her head back slightly to look around. Debra almost shook her head at him but she didn't. He could feel the condemnation reeking off her of her and he didn't want to see her physically do it. His eyes, against his better judgment, risked a glance down at Beyonce.

She wasn't even looking at him. Her eyes were trained in the TV but he knew she'd heard. He'd been speaking over her. He couldn't directly see her glittering orbs but he saw her hands reach for the remote and start the movie.

"But Shawn you just got here," Debra stressed.

"I know but I been here a while and there are people that want to see me."

Debra pressed. "People more important than your family?"

"You know that ain't the case."

"What about Beyonce? She cooked that big meal for you and-."

"Let him go," Beyonce said in a placid tone. She stood and plucked Jamie out of Debra's arms carefully and then sat on the couch where Shawn had previously been sitting. It let him know that she had been waiting for him... had been.

"Beyonce, baby it's not right." Debra pointed at him harshly. "I know you don't think you can just leave whenever you-."

"Debra, he's a grown man," Beyonce said letting Jamie slap her hands again. "Let him go."

Shawn hated to have her argue his case. Especially since she still had yet to actually look at him. He didn't know what was going through her mind right then and he hated it. "I'll be back tomorrow," he said looking back at his mother. "I'll take you guys out then."

"I'm busy tomorrow," Beyonce declared quietly. "Your mother and Jamie will be here though."

"Beyonce, I kinda had this set up for the four of us. I know you'll like-."

"I can't."

He said nothing. Just sighed and walked around the couch and kissed his mothers cheek. She accepted it begrudgingly. He supposed he had Beyonce's decline coming. He had just screwed her over but... what the hell was he suppose to do? Maybe it was time he took her advise and came to grips with what Beyonce had been tell him. Maybe they were really over.

He moved to kiss Jamie, who was nestled in her momma's lap. "Wanna give daddy a kiss?" he asked leaning down. "Muah," he said, using the term she knew as a kiss. Jamie put on her concentrated face and when his head was in arms length, grabbed his face in her hands and directed his face to her unpuckered lips. She pressed her tiny lips to his and smiled. "Muah," he said to make her smile again. She grinned and kissed him again. "Muah!" Jamie laughed a little and Shawn only chuckled, pulling her little hands from his face and getting ready to lean away.

The whiff of perfume he smelled halted his actions and he looked up, realizing for the first time how truly close to Beyonce he was. His hand was braced on the back of the couch beside her head and his other was just beside her thigh. Her face must have been mere inches from his and he relished in the smell of her... wonderful perfume and sweet body wash with that home-washed vanilla scent on her hair. She smelled perfect, nearly edible.

She stared at him with concentrated eyes that fixedly with a look that was unreadable. It could have meant anything but he was willing to bet it didn't mean the same thing that was on his mind. He looked into her beautiful hazel eyes and relished at the green just around the pupil and the amber color surrounding that. He addressed the smooth, silky blemish free skin and the hot pink, perfect, slightly parted lips. His eyes and nose were filled with her beauty.

"What about you?" he whispered over the TV credits so only she could hear him. Shawn bore into her eyes intensely. He heard her suck in a breath. "You wanna give daddy a kiss too?"

Beyonce didn't blink. Her eyes stared at him with even more intensity and she leaned forward until Shawn could feel her breath on his lips. He moved a hair closer and his lips brushed hers ever so slightly as she spoke and Shawn finally realized she was teasing him.

"Kiss my ass."