The odds against us • a Scott and Allison fan fiction

30 • The Zoo

Monday- 8:00 am
Scott's pov:

I stand next to the closet beside the front door of Allison's apartment, twiddling my thumbs as I wait for Emma to get ready. Allison had let me in, and told me that Emma was still getting dressed, but would be done in a few minutes. I was taking her to the zoo for the day.

"So, I have her hat, sunscreen, a few snacks, and two water bottles in here." Allison says, passing me a beige cloth bag. I swing it over my shoulder, and smile.

"Thanks again for this. I really appreciate it."

"Of course. So, if you guys finish before 4, you can drop her off at your mom's house. She wants to see her."

"Could I take her to my mom's house, and then drop her off here before dinner? Give you an hour or so to yourself." I offer.

"If you don't mind, that'd actually be nice."

"I'd love to."

"Oh, here she is!" Allison exclaims, as Emma sprints over to me and jumps into my arms. I swing her around before placing her back on the ground.

I tuck a piece of dark brown hair behind her ear and admire her. "You're so grown up." I say, hugging her again.

"Mommy, before we go, can I show daddy what we did to my room?" She asks.

"Of course. Be quick, though. I have to leave soon."

She grabs my hand and drags me to her room, which looks much different from when I left. The walls are painted light purple, instead of pink, and she has new furniture. Her crib has been replaced with a single bed, with a white ruffled duvet covering it, and the rocking chair is gone.

"Wow. You really are grown up." I sigh, wishing I had been a bigger part of the past eight months of her life. "So, should we go see some animals?"

"Yes!"

~

I push Emma around the zoo in her stroller, and occasionally let her walk around until she gets tired again. She's so bubbly, and entertaining. She's smart, too. Let's just say that I've never been so proud to call her my daughter. Around 1 o'clock, after we've seen a large majority of the animals, we decide to head over to my mom's house, as promised.

The two of us stand on the doorstep, her little hand in mine, and I swear I could live in this moment forever. She stares up at me with her big brown eyes, a smile across her face, as she watches me knock on the door. Within a few moments, the door swings open to reveal my mom standing in her scrubs.

"Emma!" She exclaims, taking her granddaughter into her arms. "Hi, Scott."

"Hi, mom."

"Come in! I just finished my shift at the hospital, but I have cookies in the oven." She informs us as we both follow her to the living room.

"Cookies?!" Emma grins, hopping around in excitement.

"Yep. Your favourite, peanut butter."

"Yay!"

"You know, those were your daddy's favourite when he was your age, too. Then he started to like chocolate chip when he was four." She recalls, sitting next to me on the sofa and grabbing my hand.

"To be fair, Claudia's chocolate chip were amazing." I take a big gulp as the few memories of Stiles' mom I can remember fill my mind. Until Stiles and I were five or six, everything seemed fine. She was an amazing person to be around, always laughing, and taking us to do fun stuff when my mom was at work. She baked a lot, which is why I remember her cookies. When I turned six, I remember sitting in Stiles' living room with him when we heard her yelling and screaming. Then, we heard something shatter. We were both scared and I confused. Stiles turned to me and told me it was happening a lot lately, but his no one would tell him what was wrong. Luckily, his dad came home right as she started coming downstairs. She started shouting at me, saying I shouldn't be here and have to go home. Stiles' dad apologized, and told Stiles to take me to the backyard. My mom was at work, so I couldn't leave. Eventually she calmed down, and went to bed. A few months later, she passed away. When Stiles and I were old enough to understand (around 10), John explained it to us. She had Frontotemporal dementia for a while before she died. That's why she was acting so different.

"Well, she was amazing. Her baking was some of the best I've ever come across." Claudia was the only really close friend my mom ever had in her adult life. "I should go check the cookies."

"Who's Claudia?" Emma asks.

"Uncle Stiles' mom."

"Oh." She replies. "Will you play dolls with me?"

"Of course."

~

Around 5:30, I text Allison to let her know that we're here. She meets us in the hallway with Max trailing behind her. She greets Emma and I, and Max steps forward.

"Emma, this is mommy's friend, Max."

"Hi." Emma says quietly, half-hiding behind my leg. She was shy around strangers sometimes.

"Hi." He smiles.

"Scott, this is Max. I know you've met, but it wasn't... Proper, so."

"Nice to meet you." I lie, shaking his hand.

"You too."

"Well, I better get going. See you in a few days, Em. I love you." I say, kissing her cheek.

"I love you too." She responds, following Allison and Max back to the apartment.

~

Later that evening, I get a FaceTime call from Allison. It takes me off guard, but I answer right away.

"Hey." He smiles.

"Hey. What's up?"

"I just put Emma to bed, and I was thinking. We're still... Friends, right?"

"Yeah, yeah of course."

"Okay, good. I was worried that it was weird because of Max and stuff."

"No, not at all. So, things are pretty serious between you two?"

"I don't know, I guess. Anyway, what's your plan for the next little bit? I'm assuming you don't want to live in a hotel forever." She laughs.

"No, definitely not. I was thinking about getting myself a place here. Im thinking about doing an apprenticeship in construction. Start an actual career."

"That's great! You should go for it."

"You think?"

"Totally. Anyway, I should probably go."

"Yeah, me too. Goodnight, Alli."

"Goodnight, Scott."

•

Author's note:

This chapter is kinda boring and somewhat irrelevant, but whatever. The next one's gonna be better! By the way, Rowan Blanchard is Emma :)