Fix Me, Fix You: A Jesse Pinkman Story

Chapter Eleven

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who has read/reviewed/voted! Not only does it mean the world to me, but it gives me great motivation to write up the next chapter(s)! &*

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"Now you gotta be gentle," Coop directed as he hovered over Jesse, showing him how to work with a new type of wood. "Cypress is pretty delicate."

The smell of the cypress board filled Jesse's nostrils as he softly smoothed out the uneven surfaces. He tried to keep his pressure as light as possible as he pushed the sander across the wood.

Coop watched as Jesse worked, noticing how much effort Jesse put into his pieces. Though he wasn't quite a skilled carpenter yet, Coop was proud of how much his employee had improved since he first started. And he knew Jesse would never half-ass a project; he put all of his energy and effort into his work.

"Ah, jeez, kid, why don't you take the lead on this project?" Coop asked.

"Me?" Jesse wondered as he looked up at his boss.

"Yeah, you know, I'll supervise everything and help when needed, but I think it's time you take on a project alone," Coop answered.

Jesse looked at all the large pieces of cypress wood in the shop. Suddenly, the project seemed very daunting and exhausting. "This is a big project, Coop," he pointed out. Go figure his boss would give him the lead on the biggest project they've done since he started working there.

"Nothing you can't handle," his boss defended. "Look, you're not going to screw anything up. I'll supervise everything you do, but I want you to do most of the work on your own to get a good feel for this. I want you to have a little more responsibility in the shop."

Jesse looked at all the wood once more then back at his boss, wondering if this was his way of preparing him to run the shop; he wondered if Coop changed his mind about letting him take over. "Okay," he replied, nodding. "I can do it."

"Of course you can," Coop agreed, patting him on the back.

The crunching of gravel could be heard as a car, presumably Jolie's, rustled up the rocky driveway. The late September air breezed into the shop through the open garage door as Jesse looked up to see Lia jump out of Jolie's car and rush toward the shop. Her backpack bounced all around her back as she gripped a piece of paper in her hands.

"JESSE!" Lia yelled as she ran into the shop. "LOOK WHAT I GOT!" She stopped dead in her tracks and held up the paper proudly.

Jesse put down the sander and walked over to her.

"What is that?" He asked as he leaned over to read the paper.

It was a certificate from the spelling bee. Lia had won.

"You won?" He asked with wide eyes.

Her smile stretched from ear to ear as she nodded proudly. "I won! I won the whole entire spelling bee!"

Happily, Jesse picked up the girl and threw her over his shoulder just as Jolie was walking into the shop carrying Lucy on her hip. "Look out, Jo! I found the smartest girl alive! Her head is so big because she has a ginormous brain!"

Jolie and Coop both smiled at the sweet interaction as Lia giggled wildly over Jesse's shoulder.

"Heeey, I don't have a big head!" Lia protested with a laugh.

"Well you should," Jesse said as he slowly put the girl back on her own two feet. "Because your brain is HUGE because you're a GENIUS."

Lia giggled again and put her hand on her hip. "You're just saying that."