Ding-dong! "I got it!" Mal opened the door to see a forlorn M'gann. He looked closer to see her eyes were a little puffy, and her nose was tinted red. "Whoa...Megs, are you okay?" She stepped inside, shoving the bag of groceries into his chest, and sniffled. "No." Mal set the food aside and came over as she sat on the couch next to Karen, hugging herself. "Megan, what's the matter?", Karen asked. "Did something happen at the supermarket?"
Not looking either of her friends in the eye, M'gann said, barely above a whisper, "I ran into Conner." She heard gasps from them both. "Conner? Conner Kent? Here?" M'gann nodded. "He lives here now. He's a local cop." Karen looked up at her husband, smiling brighter than the sun. "This is great! We're going to be neighbors with Conner!" Mal returned her grin before his face fell with realization. "Wait...than why are you upset?"
M'gann wiped her teary eyes. "He's married." Karen stopped smiling, too, stunned. "Married?! Are you sure?!" She nodded, finally making eye contact with her fellow Bumblebee cheer veteran. "I'm sure." Mal sat on the other side of her. "Lemme guess...he was there with his wife." "No...he was there with his kids."
"He has kids?" "Three of them!", M'gann said, holding up the same amount of fingers. "And they all had features of his! There's no way he could have three kids and not be married to their mother by now." Mal shook his head. "I'm sorry, Megan. That sucks." "Still,", Karen said. "It'd be nice to see him again. Maybe I should invite him to the party tonight." "I already kinda did.", M'gann muttered. "I told him you were having one tonight and he said he might swing by."
"I hope he does.", Mal said, getting up. "Hey, the kitchen's all set up. Why don't we start getting the food ready?" "Yeah!", Karen told M'gann. "Cooking always cheers you up!" M'gann shrugged her shoulders wearily, like all the energy had been drained from her body. "I guess." She heaved as she rose to her feet and followed Mal and Karen into the kitchen.
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"Alright! Home at last!", Conner cried, stumbling through the front door, holding the groceries in one arm, and his infant daughter in the other. "Dylan, Becky, go to your room and start on your homework!" He handed the baby to his older daughter. "Here, take your sister with you." The two kids hurried up the stairs towards their respective bedrooms.
As Conner unloaded the groceries, he thought back to the little scene at the market. He still couldn't believe that he had run into M'gann of all people. What was even harder to believe, was that she was still single after all these years. He sighed heavily as he played the scene in his head like a DVD. "I really thought she'd be married by now...maybe I should ask her out sometime."
Just then, he caught sight of something from out of the corner of his eye. It was a large framed photograph of the whole family, minus Molly, at Disneyland six years ago. Dylan, age four, grinned wildly at the camera, wearing a pair of Mickey Mouse ears. Conner had one arm around Summer, who was smiling as she held an infant Becky in a princess dress. Summer had given Dylan her gray eyes and Becky her golden blond hair. They all looked so happy, not at all like the broken mess they were today.
The present Conner shook his head. He couldn't go out with M'gann. Not with everything's that's happened to his family in the past year. Dylan was obviously still hurting over his parents' breakup, and even though she would not admit it, Conner knew that Becky missed her mother as well. He couldn't just hop onto another relationship so soon after announcing his divorce from Summer.
As he put away the last of the groceries, his mind wandered off to the housewarming party that Mal and Karen were throwing tonight. He couldn't date M'gann, but there was nothing wrong with seeing her one more time. He picked up his cell phone and scrolled through his contacts until he came to the one he was looking for. He pressed "Call" and held the phone to his ear.
He could hear sniffles as someone picked it up. "Hello?", a stuffy, feminine voice answered. "Betty? Is that you?", Conner asked. "Are you feeling okay?" "Oh, I'm fine. Physically. Archie and I were supposed to go out tonight, but he just cancelled on me because Veronica invited him to a fancy party at her mansion." "Aw, I'm sorry, Betty.", Conner said. "I don't know why you put up with that guy. You deserve better."
He fiddled with his shirt buttons. "Look Betty, I know that this is last minute, and its probably a bad time, but I'm going to a party tonight, and I was wondering if you could babysit." He could hear Betty blow her nose into something. "Its okay. You know what? I think that's just what I need. To distract me. And Becky's so sweet. She'll know how to cheer me up. I'll clean myself up and be right over, Mr. Kent."
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Conner had just finished fixing his tie when the doorbell rang. He opened it to see a blonde teenage girl wearing an old sports T-shirt, ripped jeans and sneakers. "Betty!" She smiled seeing an ecstatic Becky run over to her. "Molly and I are playing princesses! Wanna join us?" "Of course!", Betty cried.
Conner put Molly into Betty's arms as he rambled on. "Dylan's in his room, if he doesn't come down, don't be surprised. I left twenty dollars on the fridge for you to order pizza, and if you could get them all into bed by eight P.M., that'd be great, but don't be discouraged if you can't. I should be back by ten at the latest."
He grabbed his keys and his cell phone before bending down to kiss Becky on the forehead. "Bye, Honeybee." He kissed Molly on the forehead. "Bye, Ladybug." He took a step out the door when Betty stopped him. "Wait! Are you going to say goodbye to Dylan?" Conner shook his head. "He's going through that stage. Just tell him I said bye. Bye, kids! Be good!"
He blew his girls a few kisses before closing the door behind him. Becky pressed her face against the glass and watched as her daddy got into the van and pulled out of their driveway. As the sound of his car engines faded away, Betty caught her attention. "Now, I believe there was a mention of a game of princesses?" Squealing happily, Becky grabbed her by the hand and led her up the stairs.
YOU ARE READING
Second Chances
FanfictionAfter Wally passed away, Conner went AWOL for twelve years. Now M'gann has been reunited with him, but there's a new obstacle in their way-his kids.
