North (A Robert Downey Jr Fanfic)

"Fix You"

"What are you doing here?" she squealed and threw her arms around him.
"Surprise!"
"Aren't you afraid someone's going to recognize you?" Vanessa hissed.
"Yes, that's why I'm wearing sunglasses and this hat. I had to come. I've been worried sick."
"You have no idea how relieved I am. Just having you here makes everything better. Let me go pay and we can get out of here."
"Ahem--" he cleared his throat and gestured to the woman at the register, she was holding up a giant shopping bag, swinging it triumphantly in the air. "Already took care of it."
"You're--you're..."
"The best, I know."
"Okay, okay. Slow your roll. Did you get the right sizes?"
"I'm fully confident. I've studied you down to the last detail," he said as he slowly raised both hands toward her breasts.
"Hey!" she swatted his hands away and flushed crimson, "isn't that your son? You know, the one that's standing here staring at you, me...us?"
"Yes it is." he took the bag off of the counter and handed it to Vanessa.
"Thank you miss."
The store clerk nodded and smiled widely.

Robert scooped up his son and took Vanessa's hand and led her out of the store.
"Ex, this is Vanessa. Remember when you talked to her on the phone?"
"Yeah. Nanessa?"
She crouched down to look at the little boy on his level. His son had blonde-ish hair, the color of peanut butter. He had his fathers brown, puppy dog eyes and perma-pout too.
"It's nice to meet you mister," she said and stuck her hand out, looking for a high five. He wound up and gave her a good SMACK.
"Yeah!" he cheered.
"Good one," Robert said as he scooped him up again and they walked through the mall to meet up with Penny and Taylor.

"Robert!" Penny screeched and ran to him at first sight. She hugged him tight and a wide smile spread across his face.
"Pen this is my son, Ex."
Penny crouched down just as Vanessa had and she introduced herself. His son looked enamored with her immediately.
"Hi Penny. I'm Mister Ex," he proclaimed proudly.
"Nice to meet you, Mister Ex."
The two of them slapped hands and they all left the mall together.

"Marta is on her way to the hotel in Baytown. Is that close to the resort?"
"You just got dropped off at the mall? How did you know I'd be there?"
"Well, we landed in Duluth right before I called you and you happened to be in town. Talk about perfect timing."
"You're right about that. And that bag of stuff?"
"I called ahead. I was going to grab it and you just happened to be in that store. Everything went better than anticipated. What are we doing now?"
"We're bringing the girls back. I still have to take pictures for the insurance company and then send a claim in. Today. I have to do it today."

He quickly dialed a number on his cell phone,"Marta. Where are you? Great...put this address in your gps," he ordered and had Vanessa relay the address to Dawn's house.
"She's going to pick up Ex. Hey Ex? Wanna go swimming?"
"Yeah!" he shrieked from the back seat.
"Marta's our nanny. She's with my daughter. They're all going to go swimming."
"So I heard," she eyed him from the drivers seat, marveling at his capacity to completely take her by surprise and simultaneously make her troubles fade away.

They pulled up to Dawn's house and Robert suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He hadn't seen her since the day she ambushed him in Vanessa's kitchen.
"Is everything...cool?" he asked as they piled out of the car.
"Yeah. I'm sure she'll apologize to you too."
"Mom, can we go to Baytown too? It's not like we have to be anywhere."
Robert pulled her close to him so the girls wouldn't overhear,"they are welcome to go with Marta. Maybe it would be good for them to get away from all this chaos."
"You're right," she kissed him on the cheek and went to deliver the news to her daughter.

***

"Holy shit. This--"
"It's terrible, right?"
He said nothing, just grabbed her and folded her into a hug. She heard a little sniffle and she knew he was upset too.
"I'm so sorry this happened to you," he whispered into her ear and planted a kiss on her cheek. He pulled away and cupped her cheeks then looked her square in the eyes. "Whatever we have to do, whatever I can do, I will."
"You're here. That's what's most important. Just keep me from going off of the deep end, ok?"