NO HE CAN'T READ MY

[ELLIOT DELILAH WILDE]

It wasn't often that Elliot wasn't busy with work or in class and even rarer that she didn't have her darling little daughter with her. So it was only once in a blue moon that she had such a day when a certain someone going by the name of James had a day off too. And that of course meant that Elliot was dragging the poor James to coffee with her and, if he was incredibly unfortunate, a fun filled day with her all day.

Elliot had yet to make a lot of friends in Ridgewood, it wasn't just that she was always busy and it wasn't that people often ran away when they found out she had a kid. She had an odd personality and an even odder sense of humor that took a while to get used to and you had to put up with quite a bit of abuse to be her friend so all in all, she didn't need anything but her own 'quirky' self to send potential friends for the hills. She was much better at making enemies than friends and she knew it and yet she didn't really care. It just made her sure that her friends were her real friends. Otherwise they wouldn't put up with her crap.

You couldn't really blame her for being the way she was though, not with a past like hers. She'd hardly had it easy. Not that she would tell anyone more than the obvious. People automatically thought she was a little troubled when they heard her present story, 21 with a 4 year old kid, working 2 jobs and only just paying the rent while she dragged herself through college and that was just the tip of the ice burg. It was a wonder she wasn't one huge overflowing cup of crazy never made a little bit crazy on occasion. Even then she tried to keep it on the down low, people just though she was quite bitter and a nasty piece of work if they didn't know her properly, especially if they'd caught her on a bad day the first time they met her or rubbed her the wrong way.

James had been one of the lucky ones, someone who had met Miss Wilde on an especially good day when she was relatively chipper and he hadn't said anything to get on her rough side. He was stuck with her now. And because he was nice, probably forever.

So they were set to meet in the coffee shop, it was a shame that the only good coffee shop in town was the one she worked at. On the plus side, that did mean she got discount but that wasn't the point. Ellie arrived first, as always, she was always trying to stick to a schedule otherwise nothing happened and if she was late for one thing then it snowballed and before you knew it was like a day behind. Okay, maybe that was over exaggerating a little but you get the picture. Elliot sat down at the small table by the counter and waited for James to turn up. It didn't take the impatient young lady long before she started tapping her bitten finger nails on the cold table top.

Status; Finished
Tagged; James
Word Count; 620
Notes; Here it is sorry its awful, I just can't concentrate.

[JAMES LIAM SCHRAFT]

When Elliot had texted him asking if he would go out to the coffee shop with her he was still in bed with Mason curled up against his side. The little guy had the day off from school so he had come into James' room to sleep beside him. The male had agreed to meet Elliot at the shop, quickly getting up and getting himself a shower. He kept his head shaved so luckily he didn't have to deal with an insane amount of time wasted in the bathroom. Mason went down to Haiden's room and didn't come up, so obviously Haiden didn't have to go to work just yet. The other two were passed out cold in their rooms, being typical teenage boys and sleeping the day away. James shook his head lightly when he checked in on everyone, smiling a bit. Despite the fact that he had such a rough start to life having to raise little kids when he was just a little kid himself, he was a pretty good guy. He was always smiling, always ready for what life would throw at him on a daily basis and had raised some pretty well groomed boys.

There was a time in his life when James lashed out big time at people, more often his classmates. He had gotten into a lot of trouble and had been forced to leave his house to pay for his actions of beating the hell out of a classmate. Haiden had grown up so quickly over that time, raising the little boys in James' absence. When James came home he automatically took up being 'daddy' again and now he was in the position he is now. Still raising teenagers and little guy while working his ass off in order to supply food and such for them. Their parents didn't care how much money the boys wanted to take, didn't give a two shits about them anyway but James refused to take money off of them. They didn't care for them to begin with so he was going to just live in the house, that was about it.

Sighing as he jogged up to the coffee shop, running a little late this time thanks to a very grouchy Haiden coming up the steps. The teenager was all pissed off and not feeling good, complaining about getting sick so James had sent him back to bed with some tylenol. He noticed Elliot tapping her fingers already, which made him laugh a bit and he snuck up behind her. "Ya know, patience is a virtue," he said gently, winking at her before walking over to order himself some coffee. Coffee wasn't a drink he had a lot but when he was hanging out with Elliot he would drink some, just to keep himself awake. "Sorry, love. Haiden decided to crawl out of his hole all pissy and sicky as I was leaving so I had to make sure he went back to bed. Didn't mean to keep you waiting." James sat down beside her gently, quirking his head a bit before reaching over to stop her hand from tapping. Elliot was a quirky little thing, entertaining too, so James naturally had grown to like her...a lot. Yay for having to keep secrets from friends!

[ELLIOT DELILAH WILDE]

Of course Elli loved loved her daughter, she's be completely lost without out that blonde, bubbly ray of mischefious sunshine and she'd be a totally different person without her but Elliot couldn't lie either, the odd break was blissful. Issy went almost everywhere with her mommy, the only times the little girl wasn't around was when Elliot was in class, otherwise her daughter came with her to work, Elliot didn't send her to daycare unless she had to and because they were in a new place, Issy still hadn't settled properly and spent most of her nights in her mothers bed because she was scared on her own in her new room.

Issy was currently at one of her friends that day, unlike her mother she was a social butterfly, well for a 3 year old she certainly made friends quickly. Elliot sometimes envied her daughters naivity, she wished she could just put herself out there like Issy did, and not worry about getting hurt or left behind. There was one thing she had promised herself thought, that her daughter wasn't going to be like her, she wasn't going to push her fears of people walking out, of being let down on her baby girl. She wanted her to be everything Elliot hadn't been and never would be. But that didn't mean she was going to wrap her in cotten wool but she was going to give her any reason not to trust people.

Elliot didn't see James come into the shop but she didn't flinch when she heard him behind her either. She turned and glared at him jokingly "Not acording to the samsung advert. Maybe if you were on time?" she said with a raised brow but a hint of a smile on her lips. "Fine then, I suppose I'll let you off then." she sighed with a sip of her coffee "So what are we going to do today then mister? You can stay out all day right?" She said sounding hopeful. She had only chose the coffee shop as a meet up point where they could have a catch up. "Because Issy's at one of her little friends until 5pm so unless you have a good reason you don't have much choise. I'll be kidnapping you for the day" She warned him.

Status; Finished
Tagged; James
Word Count; 458
Notes; :)

[JAMES LIAM SCHRAFT]

James could only smile when Elliot picked on him about being late, typical Elli. She was always messing with him about being late or not directly on time to the minute. James had this habit of being behind no matter how early he got up to make sure he was going to make it to his destination in a reasonable amount of time. He figured he got that from his mothers side because she was always late, his dad was always half an hour early to wherever he had to go then bitched about having to wait. At least his brothers had gotten the being on time gene, for the most part, but James got stuck with the always being late gene. He had gotten up to go to the doctors three hours ahead of time and still had been late for his appointment. "Well I'm sorry, missy, but I do have four younger brothers that I have to take care of too," he smiled a bit as he spoke, knowing that Elliot understood for the most part. James loved Issy, she was this adorable little thing with the stark blonde hair and the cutest infectious smile out there. He just had a thing for little kids, he loved them and they seemed to like him a bit.

Thinking for a moment he finally shook his head. "I'm free all day. The sick boy can get himself something to eat and he'll take care of Mason even if he is sick. The other two monsters are sleeping so unless I get a text message saying the house is burning down, I'm free." Now when James said about the house burning down most people thought he was joking, that his brothers wouldn't do that. Little did they know that Sam had once set Ramen on fire in the microwave because he didn't put water in it. His brothers weren't always the brightest people in the world when they were sleepy because when they were actually awake they made good decisions. James had never been lucky enough to be able to know how to make good decisions as a kid. He had always made bad ones, getting in trouble and hurting people both physically and mentally. Luckily enough he had been able to turn his life around into something better after a nice little stint in juvie. James remembered the day he told Elliot about his past, she was much more calm about it all than most girls he told and lucky for him she stayed his friend.

"Hmmm...well, I still have to finish with some Christmas shopping so we can either go to the mall or we can just have a nice day walking around. Or we can go to my house and annoy my brothers. Watch a movie or five but I'm kind of tired being in the house," he sipped his coffee lightly and made little faces as he threw his ideas at her. He was a huge joker, loved to make people laugh so if it meant making faces he would. "I dunno, what would you like to do Elli?" James raised his eyebrows a bit and looked over at her, just admiring her. She was so damned pretty. He didn't know of anyone else that was as pretty as Elliot was and her personality fit her well. Over the years he had grown a nice fat crush on her but he would never tell her, too afraid to ruin a good friendship. "You and Issy can come over for dinner if you'd like. I was going to make my famous burgers and I think Haiden was going to make homemade fries if he was feeling ok."

[ELLIOT DELILAH WILDE]

Elliot hadn't always been so good at the whole time keeping thing, back before she had to sort herself out, before Issy arrived, she hadn't ever been bothered about being on time. She was always late to classes, always late coming home which was never fun when you were living in the orphanage, they were strict on time and she always got herself in trouble with that, and well, everything else. She had always made an effort of being a complete menase when she was at the home. She was a model student at school but when it came to life in the orphanage she was always the one causing everyone trouble. Starting fightes, refusing to do anything that was asked of her, sneeking out, playing loud music at night. She once even smashed the TV up in a rage, she wasn't exactly the most popular there to say the least, especially after the TV insident.

"Pfft, sounds like a breeze compared to my 3 year old with the energy of 60 balled up into one tiny little girl" She laughed. She wasn't saying she would rather look after James' brother, nothing of the sort, she was terrible with boys, especially teenage ones so she'd stick to he barrel of energy daughter. She waited patiently (for once) while he considered how long her had before he had to return to the mother ship "Yay" she grinned when he finally came to the conclusion that he could stay out.

Elliot remeber the first time she'd met James, and she remebered the first time he had told her about his past and the bemused look on his face when she srugged it off and simply said 'cool'. Who was Elliot to judge though, she kept most of her past a secret, she had yet to tell James that she was an orphan who had spent her whole life in care but the fact that she had a three year old kid and he hadn't ran for the hill was much more shocking than her not being bothered that he had spent time in juvinal hall. Even so, Elliot couldn't care less about what he had done in his past, it was history, long gone and not coming back. Sure she knew that it shaped you into who you were but she always lived in the now, it stopped her looking back and feeling miserable or upset about everything she'd done and as for the future, she'd take it as it came.

"Well shopping sounds like a good idea, I have a couple more bits to get Issy now I've been paid and once we've done that we can go back to mine and watch a movie if you like? Save you being at your place for a little longer and I'll get to see my own apartment in the day light for a change" She smiled. Her apartment was tiny and nothing to shout about but it was a roof over hers and issys heads and that was all they needed, the creature comforts, she'd managed to score a reletivly good flat screen tv from a dodgy sales guy, clearly off the back of a van but she didn't care really.

James funny face just made her shake her head at him a little but a smile hiding a laugh lingered on her lips. He was such a sweetheart, she couldn't help but think of how it would be if they were more than just friends, but everytime she did she stopped herself, knowing she couldn't do that, she didn't want to mess up what they had with a romantic relationship no matter how good she thought they could be, and no matter how hot he was. She considered his offer for dinner and nodded her head "Yeah alright, otherwise she'll go in a huff that I've been out with you all day and she didn't get to see you." She laughed though she wasn't joking one bit. Issy loved James as much as he loved her, he just had this way with kids, with Issy, whenever he was around she was constantly giggling. Yet another reason he would be good as a boy--- 'stop it elliot, it's not going to happen'

Status; Finished
Tagged; James
Word Count; 791
Notes; ---

[JAMES LIAM SCHRAFT]

"I would take that adorable ball of energy you call a daughter over a teenager any day...actually I'd take Issy no matter what," he chuckled, shaking his head. He didn't know what it was about Issy that he loved, maybe it was the fact that she was a girl or maybe it was just his father instincts kicking in. James always took Issy if Elliot couldn't find a baby sitter or if she just needed a few hours to herself. James had practically raised four boys so a three year old wasn't that hard to watch. "I have to finish getting Mason's gifts, him and Kevin are all I have left since I got the rest earlier in the month." Haiden was easy, anything music related was usually what he liked and Sam liked art. Kevin was a pain in the ass and Mason, well James had an idea for Mason.

"Oh hey, I'm getting Mason this gigantic Crayola box that has everything in it, I mean crayons, the twisty crayons, markers, paper, literally everything. Would you mind if I got Issy one?" James had found the Crayola box awhile ago but hadn't had the time to grab it. Now that it was Christmas time, if he could find the boxes he would get them since Mason was always coloring something. Thank god Mason had never been the kid who drew on the walls, if he had been James would have killed the little guy. Ok not literally but he wouldn't have been happy having to repaint the walls like he had to with Sam. That had been hell, repainting the rooms every so often because Sam would color with the Sharpie paint markers that Haiden had or the other permanent markers. The marker would come off to a certain point but it would remain stained after that.

James looked up at her for a second before nodding, sipping at his coffee again. "That works for me, staying out of the house would be wonderful," he smiled, liking the idea of going to Elliot's. James didn't like being home, he did in a sense but he liked to be out. His parents always made the place an unhappy place to be and whenever he could he took the boys out for dinner, or they would go see a movie. Anything that kept them going, kept them active and not sitting at home in front of a TV playing video games. Yes they had that huge game room but sometimes that wasn't enough to entertain yourself. "I think we've watched every movie you own so if you want, we can stop at my house and grab a movie or two. That way we're not watching another movie over again-oh wait, I have a shitload of movies in my car that I keep forgetting to take inside."

See, James Liam here had a bad habit of putting things in his car and forgetting that they were there. He worked a pretty hard job so by the time he got home he would forget they were there and he would remember when he was in bed that they were in his car. It was just James weird thing that he did, but sometimes he got in trouble because he forgot bills in there. "I think I have about ten movies in my car." James laughed gently before reaching over to gently brush some fuzz off of Elliot's shoulder. Sometimes he did that because he just wanted to touch her, he couldn't tell her how he felt. Maybe one day, not soon though since he wanted to keep her as a friend as long as he could.

[ELLIOT DELILAH WILDE]

Elliot adored her daughter but she had a lot on her hands 24/7 so it was nice to get a break every once in a while and she really appreciated it when he took her for a while so Elli could have a break, it was even refreshing to just be with him and her duaghter, they buzzed off each other and even though Iss seemed even more hyperacvtive than even when she was around James, she focused it all on her and once she'd been around him for a while she was out like a lamp as soon as her little blonde head hit the pillow and Elliot got to catch up on her college work without having 'mommy, mommy, mommy!' whined down her ear until Elliot gave up and played. Usually barbie to tom boy Elliots dismay.

"As if you don't spoil her enough as it is" She smiled shaking her head a little. "I suppose she'll love it so I can't really say no but I'm telling you now, if she draws on my walls, you can come paint over her "Beaudiful micasterfiest"" She laughed with another gulp of hot jo. "Anyway, shall we drink these on the move and get the shopping out of the way. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can put our feet up and watch a movie" She said not giving him much chance to object before she stood up and tucked her chair under the table.

Elliot missed being home, even though it was just a tiny apartment that she had done her best with the money she had to decorate but it was still their home and if she was there then she wasn't at work and she wasn't at uni. "Oh just rub in that I have no movies why don't you?" she joked shoving his shoulder a little. "Well that saves us a journey to yours doesn't it. Got any cheesy romantics I'm feeling sappy mood" she pouted out her bottom lip and tried to look sweet and doe eyed but it just didn't look right on her and she laughed befor he could even contemplate that she wasn't lying. "Kidding, got any good action movies?" She smiled. For such an angry girl she had a very sunny look from a far, she had a skip in her step and a smile on her lips. She was always like that when she was around her daughter because she had to be. But she was always this way when James was around too, he just made her feel like a lot of the weights on her shoulders were lifted a bit and he was the first person she had let even slightly close to her since she was 18 years old.

That was probably the main reason she liked him as more than a friend, the way he made her feel and the fact she knew he was a nice guy and that he wouldn't mess with her her didn't hurt. But it did hurt, she could never break down the walls at all, for one, she was too scared to put her heart into something again just to have it pulled away. And she was afraid that he might not feel the same and their friendship would go awkward, and that even if he did, then things might go pear shaped and they'd break up and she'd lose him as a friend. Still, she couldn't help but get the odd butterfly flutter in her stomach when he touched her. "Thanks" she said almost shyly looking down for just a minute before she snapped herself out of it.

. Status; Finished
Tagged; James
Word Count; 688
Notes; ---

[JAMES LIAM SCHRAFT]

James couldn't help but smile at the thought of Issy drawing all over the walls in the apartment. He could just picture her drawing something silly in the markers and then Elliot attempting to scrub the marker off. "You do realize they call it washable marker for a reason," he laughed gently, only picking on Elliot. "If she colors all over the walls I will repaint your apartment for you. I told you if you get your landlord to approve it that I would paint your walls anyway." James had just painted the boys' rooms in the house so he had a bunch of paint left over and plus, he enjoyed painting for some reason. Even if the smell of house paint was noxious and could get you high within a few hours of sitting in a room, he enjoyed the work. He enjoyed being able to work with his hands, which is why he was planning on going to tech school to learn how to work with wood so he could do carpentry work. He was odd, yes, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing that he liked to work hard.

"Works for me," he smiled and tucked his chair beneath the table. Following Elliot out of the coffee shop into the colder air of town, he shivered a bit before tucking his empty hand into his pockets. "I can't figure out what to get Kevin. He's so damned picky about things that I never know what to get him. I'm about ready to just give him two hundred bucks and say 'Go find something!'." He shook his head a bit with a smile. As much as he loved his brothers they could be the most annoying bunch of people in the world. Kevin never knew how to make up his mind and made the rest of them decide things, or he would be difficult about what he liked. Day to day he would decide he liked something and the next he would say he hated it. James would get over frustrated sometimes and yell at the teenager which tended to help Kevin decide on something.

Thinking for a minute, he gave a shrug at her question. "Well, I have no idea what is in there. We'll have to look because I know I have the Bourne series at home and I think I have that Mark Wahlberg movie Shooter in the car but I dunno. You've seen my car, I'm lucky if I can find a seat in there sometimes." James hated to clean his car out, he didn't know why he hated to do it but he did. Usually he got Kevin or Sam to clean it out and he'd give them some money for it since neither of them had a job yet. It worked out in James' favor because he got to avoid cleaning but sometimes the two would find something in his car that he really didn't want them to. For example, about two years ago Kevin found a pack of condoms in the car when James had been dating a girl from back in Ocean City. That was an interesting conversation at the dinner table because Kevin thought it would be hysterical to put the condoms all over James' room. That taught him quickly though.

When Elliot did her little bashful thing James couldn't help but smile brightly. She was so damned cute and when she acted all shy he couldn't help but feel more attracted to her. "Welcome," he said lightly and looked up, spotting the toy store. "Wanna try there first?" he asked lightly, sipping his coffee. Going into the toy store may not be the brightest idea in the world because James was very silly sometimes. He would have sword fights with his brothers in the middle of the store regardless of where they were. He had bought a big Christmas present last year for everyone that they used frequently, Nerf guns. They had Nerf gun fights constantly in the big house they lived in and every so often James had to go buy more bullets because they went missing. It was a fun time in the house when they had the fights and James had even gotten Issy into the fights. He let her win, of course, and she seemed to enjoy it. "While we're here I had better pick up more Nerf gun bullets, we're down to like twenty," he chuckled gently, opening the door for her.

[ELLIOT DELILAH WILDE]

Being a stubborn and overly independant girl, Elliot would never take help, not when it came to things from money to manly jobs like lifitng heavy things and decorating. She had got by all her life with just herself to rely on and every time she did ask for help she was let down so even when people ment well she'll digs her heals in, she doesn't like feeling useless. "Last time I checked crayon was a bitch to get off, and I say that with previous experiance. She argued back sarcastically. "And thanks but I can manage... it's just having the time and being bothered" She shrugged with a week smile.

The cold air didn't take long to get under Ellie's skin and make her cheeks flush ruby red. She pulled her jacket tighter around her crossing her arms over her ribs and bunching her hands together in an attempt to keep them a little warmer. "Well I'm not really much help on that, I'm no good with teenagers in general, nevermine teenage boys" She shrugged looking up at him forcing her teeth not not to chatter while she spoke. At least it wasn't far into the mall. It'd be nice and warm in there. She hoped.

Elliot shook her head when she spoke about his car and the state it was always in "How could I forget, I'm always worried when you drive me places that somethings under all the crap. You know you could always... you know, clean it" She giggled teasing him. She wasn't the tidiest person around, she still liked to keep on top of thing, if she got something out she put it back and Issy was well trained too. "But shooter looks good if thats in that rolling trash can you call your car." she couldn't really talk, she didn't have a car to trash, hell she couldn't even drive, had never had the need too. Never seen the point when she couldn't aford a car to drive whats the point in knowing how to drive?

Elliot, deep down, was a big kid, she had never really got to act like a little kid, she was always too busy keeping her guard up and protecting herself. And it wasn't like she had much to play with or anyone to play with the way she pushed every0ne away. Still, she was living her childhood over again with her own little girl. She wanted her little girl to be a little girl for as long as she possibly could. Elliot had been an adult before she had ever even been a kid, something James knew about too. Not that he knew they had that in common.

With another shake of her head she walked into the colourful wonderland of dolls, games and every mannor of toys. "Alright... race you there." it was random impulsive moments like this that were a reaosn she wore sneakers most of the time and the ellement of surprise meant she got a head start as she sprinted down the isle toward the boys guns and stuff.

Status; Finished
Tagged; James
Word Count; 588
Notes; ---

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[JAMES LIAM SCHRAFT]

"Last time I checked you were the most stubborn girl in the world," he smirked and poked her in the side lightly. James always poked at Elliot about her being stubborn but he could be just as blockheaded, so it was only meant in good fun. They would have conversations about things and James would become indignant with his choice, but he never really meant to piss people off, especially Elliot. "You had better learn how to handle teenagers, that gorgeous little one of yours is going to be a teen one day." It was a long way off yet but someday little Issy would be a brat, not necessarily in a bad way though. As much as James loved little kids he couldn't stand teenagers, he couldn't stand himself when he was one. Although, he did have to say that his brothers were very very well behaved for the most part and he couldn't complain about them.

He noticed her shiver and try to curl up a bit, so he reached over to slide an arm around her. No matter how stubborn Elliot could be he wouldn't allow her to be cold, to tell him to let her be because he didn't like to be cold himself. He had on a heavy Carhartt jacket that wasn't ripped or stained with all kinds of stuff from working. "Who knew it was going to be this damned cold this week?" James shook his head, ducking his head a bit when the wind blew and they managed to get to the toy store. When Elliot said she would race him he took off at a run after her, laughing and dodging customers as he did. Of course Elliot won, he'd tell her that he let her win but she beat him good this time around. Slowing down as they reached the Nerf guns, he shook his head and gave her a light push. "Cheater," he said while looking at the bullets they had.

It took him a few minutes to choose which bullets to get, whether they should be the stick on ones or the new ones that bounced off of you. He grabbed a packet of each since that would give the brothers 200 extra bullets to split between one another. That would last them a few weeks, maybe, depending on how many fights they got into with them. It wasn't too out of the ordinary for the brothers to have Nerf gun fights just about everyday or at least every other day. Picking up all of the little foam bullets was a pain in the ass but having the fight was the best part. As they walked through the store, James spotted the Crayola section and the big tubs he had been telling Elliot about. "Hey, Elli, these are the Crayola tubs I mentioned," he said as he crouched down to pick up one of the tubs. Looking at it gently, he made sure it had all of the things he had said were in it and then noticed there were more. "Oh hey, it has those paints that work on paper but not everything else in it too."

James had bought those for Mason the first time they came out, but Mason had gouged the paint out instead of using his fingers. The next batch of paints worked better because he realized he couldn't take chunks of the paint and smear them across everything. "Another thing that we can do with Issy when you guys come over is the Crayon maker. Sam and Kevin got it for Mason but Mason found it so we gave it to him early. It is the coolest thing ever but Mason and Issy can't do it alone. It gets pretty hot." He looked down at Elliot lightly, thinking for a second just how pretty she was. What James would do to build up the courage to tell her how he felt. Maybe one day he would be able to tell her, maybe.

[ELLIOT DELILAH WILDE]

"A title I pride myself on" Elliot grinner. The girl knew who she was and though not everyone liked her she was more than comfertable with herself, well most of herself anyway. Sometimes she did with she was a little more, normal. But her past hit any hope of that on the head. And she wasn't going to try and pretend to be someone she wasn't, sure she was pretty miserable most of the times but that wasn't going to stop her trying to have fun between the horrible moments of the monotonouse life. "True, but she'll be a girl teenager, I have excperiance with the stroppiest, angriest teen of all time, myself, so I'll know how to handle it." I guess that was one of the few up's on being a new mom, you weren't that far ahead of your kids so remebered how it was to be their age.

Accepting help was one thing, and had it been any other guy she would have probably rejected the attemot to warm her up a little but it was James and it wasn't just that she couldn't make herself push him away, she didn't want to. It just felt right, his arm around her, she even snuggled into him a little without even thinking about it. She wasn't making things easy for herself was she? It would have been safer to go by a no physical contact rule but he seemed intent in initiating it and she wasn't doing much to keep up her side of her own rule either. "Well it is winter. I just left my big coat at Emma's." she shrugged.

Elliot laughed when he accused her of cheating "Like I need to cheat, I'm like a whipit, always have been, I was regional champion at the 200m sprint" She bragged, she had 2 things going for her, she was inteligent and good at track, otherwise she was quite floored, but at least she had something going for her.

"Awesome she'll love it!" Elliot said, she wasn't going to love it with the crayons, and lovely as her daughter was, she had picked up a few traits from her mother, one being a habit for mischife and trouble. Issy liked doing things she wasn't meant to, a 4 year old rebel. Anything that Elliot told her not to do, she did. Thankfully she wasn't so defiant that she didn't listen when he mom told her to do something and meant it, but the small things mattered.

"Okay, barbie isle" Elliot smiled before dragging him into the pinkest row of toys in the store, "Recently she's become obsessed with pony's so this" She lifted Barbie, her pony and her stable of the shelf "Is her gift, this a bunch of other little things and a bunny, I finally convinced the landlord to let me have a pet, just not a dog" she sighed. Issy had been desperate for a dog since a friend of hers got one a year ago, and sure a bunny wasnt a puppy but Issy would still go mad for it.

Status; Finished
Tagged; James
Word Count; 599
Notes; ---

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[JAMES LIAM SCHRAFT]

Elliot mentioned about knowing how to handle Issy as a teenager and then her experience with herself. From what Elliot had told James she had been a pain to deal with when she was a teenager but never told him the true reason why. He hoped with some time she would eventually tell him but for now, he settled with what he knew. "Well, I hope to be around to help when I can as well," he smiled gently. James would be around Elliot for as long as he could be and nothing, he meant nothing, would get in his way of being her friend. Even if by chance they were to get into a relationship and they broke up, he would stick around simply for Issy. Of course it might be a strain for both Elliot and himself but hell, he wouldn't hurt Issy like that. He had a strong enough bond with the little girl that if he were to disappear all of a sudden it might break her, send her into the wrong direction. In essence James treated Issy as if she were his own daughter, letting her crawl into bed with him when she slept over and she pretty much seemed to look at his brothers as her own.

"Well you had better get it, it's only going to get colder," he scolded her gently with a laugh. He could never be stern with Elliot, even when they were fighting over something. It was just impossible for him but he was serious about her getting the coat. Of course that whole conversation didn't last long because they were racing through the store. Damn, she was like a whipit, fast as hell that was for sure. James was never one for being a fast runner, he had played soccer and basketball which required a little bit of speed but not much. Soccer was all tact, out-thinking your opponent and basketball was the same, only there was some talent involved with dropping a ball through a hoop. Now there was where he had shined, being one of the leading shooters at his high school in Ocean City. When they moved to Ridgewood he had held a pretty high record but nothing spectacular, he didn't get a lot of playing time. Stupid coach never put him in.

Thankfully Elliot liked the idea of him getting the giant tub of coloring stuff for Issy. He carried the two as they went to the barbie aisle but he had to shake his head. "How is she your daughter? Barbies? Really?" James shook his head with a roll of his eyes, not understanding how Elliot could produce such a girly girl of a daughter. Elliot was a tom-boy for the most part, a more feminine one but still she had a boyish side to her. She would wrestle and mess around with him and the boys, but she did it with a certain flair that made it known she was still a girl. Issy liked dolls and makeup and such, the complete opposite end of the spectrum from Elliot. Whatever the little girl liked, though, she would get. "I can't believe she likes barbies and dolls, but I guess every little girl has a girlish phase." Shrugging lightly he let Elliot pick out the doll, having no clue about them. He raised boys, not girls, so dolls were a strange world for him.

"Bunnies are pretty cool, at least a rabbit will be easy to take care of," he nodded, agreeing that a rabbit would be better for Issy. A dog was a lot of work and may not work out too well for Elliot and her schedule. This way the rabbit could go until Elliot got home to take care of it with the water in its bottle and food in its bowl. Dogs had to be let out and walked and fed and fresh water constantly, just too much work for a college student with a little girl. Looking down at Elliot softly when she found a barbie doll he nodded with a smile, still confused about the whole doll thing. He probably would never understand why girls were so fascinated by dolls and babies when they were little. "I'll stick to boys for now, maybe I'll have a little girl in the future but god I've got a lot to learn."

[ELLIOT DELILAH WILDE]

A smile that Elliot couldn't hold in no matter how much she might try slipped onto her lips. No one had ever been there for her, no one had ever even tried nor had they wanted to so it meant more than he could ever imagine when he said he wanted to be around to help. It made her feel a little weird, she shook the feeling away and went back to her regual self. "You better be around, what would I do without you!" she said and shoved him in the shoulder with a smirk.

She shrugged, Emma had been well... MIA recently, she might have to get a new one, at least the January sales were coming up so it wouldn't knock her back too much. She had always been quick her skinny little legs moved so fast she was sure if she tried she might even be fast enough to run on water. That was a secret thought though, and one she would never acutally try.


Elliot laughed a little when he said every girl had a girly phase "Not really, the closest I got to ever to being a girl who liked pink and did peoples hair was when I threw pink paint all over someone or pulled someones hair out" she smiled. She sometimes wondered why he was even her friend, sure she was never mean to him, how could she be, there wasn't much he did that she could get angry at him for. But she did have her horrible moments, it didn't take a lot to piss her off and she wasn't the nicest when people did. But she always foregave him quicker than anyone else.

"My thoughts exactly, I love dogs but like I have the time to look after them." she shurgged she didn't have a second to herself as it was, the addition of a dog would leave her with even less time in bed in the morning and more money to spend on dog food and vet bills and everything else that came with a dog.

Status; Finished
Tagged; James
Word Count; 405
Notes; Sorry this took soo long!

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[JAMES LIAM SCHRAFT]

"Honey, I'm not going anywhere for a long time," he laughed gently, looking at some things as they passed. Thinking of Elliot being a girly girl was a funny thought since she was such a tom boy in a lot of ways. "I can't picture you ever playing with someone pink, or having a princess bed, or screaming about a bug on the wall." He shook his head lightly as they walked, watching her closely. Elliot was pretty, the boys loved having her around and Issy had really worked her way into James' heart as well as the boys'. That reminded James that he had offered to watch Issy in a few days so Elliot could get some stuff done and have time to herself, which he still planned on doing but he had an idea. "Hey, I was thinking. When I watch Issy for you, mind if I take her with Mason to the indoor water park?" He asked, looking over at Elliot. Mason loved the water park, he loved water in general and every chance James got to take his little brother over he did.

"Wait, you barely have time to take care of yourself let alone a dog," he shook his head sharply, having voiced his opinion on Elliot's schedule multiple times. He had work himself and it kept him busy but he always found time to just chill out. The boys came first no matter what so he made sure he was home for a good five hours a day just to see them all. Elliot barely had time to breathe, according to James, so he was always trying to devise a way where she could at least get some time to chill out. Other than take Issy for her of course. "I think the rabbit idea is the best, this way Issy could even help take care of it." He nodded gently. His family used to have a big lab a few years ago, back when they moved to Ridgewood but the poor thing had passed away last year. That had been James' dog, Mighty Moose, and Moose went everywhere with him. Most of the time Moose even went to work with James, the dog would sit in the truck and just doze all day unless it was too hot or too cold.

Thinking for a second he realized he had to stop off at the store to get stuff for dinner. "I forgot that I have to get the stuff for dinner before I get home," he shook his head sharply with a sigh, angry at himself for forgetting that. There were a million brightly colored post it notes all over the kitchen telling James to go get the food for tonight so he wouldn't forget, and yet he did. Then again, he tended to forget things when he was around Elliot, all of his attention went to her because, well, she had that affect on him.

[ELLIOT DELILAH WILDE]

Elliot just let the true smile sit on her lips and the feeling of knowing she could have someone to turn to and rely on was over her, even though she didn't like to think she ever needed to lean on anyone, just the fact she knew she had one was a fresh and welcomed feeling. She basked in the feeling so much she let herself lose control of her words and before she knew what she was saying "I love you, you know that right" It came out so suddenly even she looked shocked at what she had said. There had only ever been 2 people she had said that to in her whole life before that moment, Izzy and Izzy's father. It was so random she didn't even know how she meant it, as a friend, as something more, that was the though that would keep her up the following night but she pushed it aside at the moment so she could act cool and cover herself emotionally the way she always did. "Your like the big brother I never had" she quickly regretted saying that too but she would just have to roll with it now.

"Sure!" Elliot replied when he talked about taking her darling daughter to the water park, part of her wished she could go with them but she didn't voice that, she was a big kid through and through but she didnt have time and she knew how much Issy loved swiming and slides and all of that so James taking her was one way to get her daughter where she loved even if it wasn't her mummy who was taking her there.

Elliot laughed and nodded with agreement "Besides, I think she'll like a bunny better, it's much more girly and her kind of think, rabbits dont slobber or anything, you know what she's like" she said with an eye roll. It wasn't just Issy who wished they had a dog, Elliot was, under her rough exsterior, a big animal lover, it was one of the few outlets her loving side had but it wasn't possible, maybe one day, when she had the right money to care for her daughter in a way she wanted to be able to, One day they would have their own nice house and she would have one job with regular hours and a good wage but she just had to suffer through the student era before she got to that point.

Status; Finished
Tagged; James
Word Count; 486
Notes; I'm baack! Sorry I've been gone for so long.

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