One Shot Prompt from AO3: cdt1234 and maryellen590
16th of June, 2027
It was 10:15 in the morning when a five year old girl with long dark brown hair and blue eyes snuck into her father's room to wake him up. She had a slight mischievous smile on her face as she saw her target. She snuck up to his bed before carefully getting on and jumping onto her father,
"Wake up, daddy!" She giggled.
Ian woke up suddenly and looked up to see his daughter smiling down at him with anticipation. He smiled sleepily,
"Good morning, sunshine."
"Morning daddy!"
He chuckled and ruffled her soft dark hair before he had her get off of him so he could get up,
"Wanna go get some breakfast or do you want me to make you your pancakes?" He asked.
The little girl put her hand to her chin in thought before making her decision,
"Hmm... I want pancakes!"
He smiled and kissed her head, "Alright, let's get to the kitchen then."
Ian lived in a two bedroom apartment for him and his daughter. Mickey wasn't in the picture and hasn't been in it since their daughter, Delilah, turned three years old. Ian was quite grateful that Mickey had left when she was that young because he didn't really expect that she would remember much of that worthless bastard.
"You want chocolate chip pancakes or blueberry?" Ian asked Delilah as he got out a bowl and some ingredients for the pancakes.
"Blueberry!"
Ian began making the pancakes. As he stirred the ingredients in the bowl, he got a text notification on his phone. He looked over at the screen that was on the counter beside him and saw a contactless number that he didn't know.
(872)595-6347
Hey Ian it's Mickey
Ian's heart sank, but he chose to ignore the message and his sullen emotions and continued to make his daughter breakfast.
"Daddy!"
He snapped out of his troubled thoughts and looked up at Delilah,
"Yes, sunshine?"
Delilah sat on a stool at the breakfast bar and was playing with her Barbie doll,
"Can you make bacon?"
He smiled, "Of course."
After breakfast was made, Ian sat next to Delilah and began to cut up her pancakes for her before adding the butter and syrup. Ian got another notification on his phone, but this time it was from Mandy.
Mandy
Hey have any plans today?
Ian picked up his phone as Delilah began to eat her pancakes,
Ian: Nope, don't have any at the moment.
"Wanna go meet up with mommy today?" Ian asked Delilah before taking a bite of his food. Mandy was the surrogate of his and Mickey's daughter. They were still on good terms because Mandy was on Ian's side on the whole Mickey leaving situation.
Delilah smiled, "Yay! Let's go see mommy!"
Ian picked his phone up to text Mandy again,
Ian: Wanna meet up downtown with Delilah? She wants to see you
He soon got a text back.
Mandy: Sure! I would love to see her
Ian put his phone down and tried to finish his breakfast. He then put his dishes in the sink before taking Delilah's as well because she had just finished.
"Alright, go get ready so we can go see mommy."
The little girl's face lit up, "Okay!" She got down from the stool and ran to her room to get dressed.
Ian's smile faded slightly after she left and he got his phone again to look at the text from Mickey.
(872)595-6347: Hey Ian it's Mickey
Ian sighed shakily as he stared at the letters that looked so foreign to him. He was debating on if he should text back or not. He bit his lip before he began typing,
Ian: What do you want?
After sending what he thought was a risky text, Ian went to his room to get ready.
Ian and his daughter were on the train that was going towards downtown. They were going to meet Mandy at the Noodles & Company on South Clark Street near Michigan Avenue.
"So, where do you wanna go after lunch with mommy?" Ian asked Delilah. They were sitting in the seats that were along the windows. Delilah was turned around, looking outside the window they sat in front of,
"Can we go to the faces that spit out water?" She responded as her blue eyes observed the Chicago land they passed by.
"Yeah, we can do that." He said with a soft smile.
The train soon came to their stop on Monroe and Wabash.
"Okay, let's go. Hold my hand." Ian said as they stood up to leave the train. They started to walk towards Clark Street and Ian's phone rang.
"Hey Mandy, we're almost there. What's up?" He said when he answered.
"Nothing much. Just wanted to let you know that I'm at Noodles. Want me to make our order or do you want me to wait?"
"If you want you can. We're about to turn right on Clark."
"Oh, alright. I'll just wait then."
"Okay, sounds good." Ian said before hanging up.
They soon made it to the restaurant and went inside. Delilah let go of Ian's hand when she saw Mandy and ran up to her,
"Mama!" She said in glee as she hugged her.
Mandy chuckled and bent down to hug her daughter back, "Hey, munchkin!"
Ian smiled and walked up to the counter with them to order.
"Hello, welcome to Noodles. What can I get for you today?" The cashier greeted.
"Um, I'll have the penne rosa with grilled chicken and-" Ian looked down at Delilah, "You want your mac and cheese?" Delilah nodded, "My daughter would like a small mac and cheese as well and a chocolate milk."
"Alright and are you all together?" The cashier asked as she looked over at Mandy.
"Yep, all together." Ian confirmed.
"What would you like miss?"
"I'll get the Japanese pan noodles."
The cashier put in the order, "Regular or small bowls for the adults?" She asked.
Ian looked over at Mandy, "Regular?"
Mandy nodded, "Yeah, let's get a regular."
"Alright, your order will be out soon. The total is $23.14. Here's your drinks." The cashier said as she got out two regular cups. Ian grabbed the chocolate milk from the cooler near the registers.
After he paid for the meal, Ian went with Mandy and Delilah to get their drinks and then they went to find a table to sit at.
"So what have you been up to, munchkin?" Mandy asked Delilah, "You been doing good in school?"
The little girl nodded, "I'm good at math!"
Mandy raised her eyebrows, "Like uncle Lip?"
Delilah nodded.
"Yeah, Lip got her a math workbook for her fourth birthday." Ian chuckled, "I'm glad she got Lip's smarts. She's a pretty smart cookie."
Mandy beamed proudly for her daughter's academic success, "I'm glad too."
Delilah tugged lightly on her father's sleeve, "Daddy, can I colour?" She asked as she looked over at the small backpack Ian brought with him that held their things.
"Of course, sunshine."
He got out her Disney princess colouring book with crayons and handed it to her. She flipped to a random page that had Princess Jasmine and Aladdin. Mandy observed her as she coloured the couple on the page.
"She looks just like you... She has your facial features." She said to Ian as she continued to watch their little girl colour.
Ian smiled, "Yeah, everyone tells me that." He looked down at his daughter as he moved her hair from her eyes and tucked the strands behind her ear, "Though, her dark hair and blue eyes... I swear they're the same shade as... Um..." He looked back up at Mandy and mouthed, "You know who". He tried his best not to mention Mickey in front of Delilah. So far he hasn't said that name in front of her at all since Mickey left.
Mandy nodded, "I know what you mean..."
Ian sighed shakily. His emotions were starting to come back to him, "He texted me this morning..." He said in a quiet tone, hoping Delilah wouldn't pick up on what they're talking about. Mandy's eyes widened slightly,
"What did he say??" She asked at the same voice level as Ian.
Their food was soon brought up to their table and the waitress took their table number. After Ian thanked the server, he pulled out his phone and saw a notification from Mickey.
(872)595-6347: Nothin. Just wonderin if you wanted to grab a beer and catch up
Ian's cheeks were ablaze with anger. He showed Mandy the messages. She furrowed her eyebrows,
"Why the fuck does he wanna talk all of a sudden?? It's been two years!"
Ian mouthed, "I know!" before setting down his phone on the table in an aggravated manner, "What's he gonna expect? That he can just fuckin' pop up and act like everything is fine?"
Mandy shook her head in amusement from Mickey's stupidity, "I don't know, Ian. I'd tell him straight up what you're feeling about this."
He nodded as he looked back down at his phone.
Ian: Honestly Mickey? Fuck you
He stared at the words he typed with his thumb hovering over the send key. He sighed and shook his head in frustration before deleting the draft,
Ian: Sorry, can't. Got plans with Delilah and Mandy.
Ian hit send before he could rethink his response again.
