Nice To See You (Tad)

[Krystal Carey]

Krystal had called Tad and asked him to meet her in the park today but since it went to his answering machine she was not sure that he would get the message. However Krystal did not want Tad not to be able to see Jenny and she was already so excited about going to the park so she headed down there. She had to be back at the restaurant in a few hours so she tried to cherish the time she had with her daughter.

"Go on baby you should go play on the swings. I can push you if you would like."

"I can push myself Mommy! Is Daddy gonna come to the park and play too?"

"Maybe. We will see okay?"

Jenny just ran toward the swings and Krystal looked down at the book she brought. She really did not want to read. She put her book in her bag and went over to the swings and sat down next to her daughter.

"Mind if I swing with you?"

Jenny shook her head but then jumped off the swing in mid air landing nearly perfectly. Krystal looked on worried as she did so but then saw Tad and smiled knowing why she had done it.

"Daddy! You made it!" Jenny hugged her father.

[teamluv08]

Thaddeus had been rendered speechless when he heard Krystal’s message. He was so shocked that she finally called him, that he missed the reason of her call. Well he pretty much knew it would have something to do with their daughter, but he still missed it, leading him to replay it. When he heard her asking if she could meet she and Jenny at the park he smiled and nodded. As if she could hear him some kind of way he whispered, “I would more than happy too.”

He hadn’t hesitated getting himself ready and to the park. The twins were with their grandparents, Kathy had yet to come home from her sleepover and Dixie well more than likely she was out shopping, with her friends or with Opal. He still left her a message letting him know where he was going though.

As he was walking up to the play area he could feel his heart beating like crazy. Just thinking about his little girl whom he hadn’t had much of a chance to hang out with had him going nuts.

When he finally gotten himself calm he was coming up toward mother and daughter. The moment his and Jenny’s eyes connected he smiled and watched her jump off the swing and dash over to him. He swooped her up and held her tightly in his arms. “Well of course I made it! What kind of man would I be if I turned down a date with my little girl?” He asked, pretending to be appalled that she would even think such a thing.

Jenny started laughing. “Stop it!” She giggled.
“Stop what?” He asked, raising a brow and snaking a hand around to her belly. Before Jenny could even say anything or jump down and run away he was tickling her like crazy. “Stop what? Stop what?”
“Daddy! Daddy!” She giggled, screamed, trying to catch his fast hands.
“Daddy what?”
“Daaaaaaaaady!” She let out.
When she started slipping because she moving around like a worm, he stopped and set her on her feet.
“I’m gonna get you back,” Jenny promised.
“I’d like to see you try,” he taunted, gently tugging her hair and running away from her.
“Argh!” Jenny stomped her foot and soon ran after him.
Tad ran all the way to Krystal and used her sitting form as his shield. “Gotta get through her first.”

[Krystal Carey]

Krystal smiled as she saw Tad and Jenny interact. When she was thrown into the middle though she looked up at Tad with a smile. "Hey stranger. I am glad to see you made it."

Krystal looked behind her at Jenny. "You know what would be fun is to show Daddy and me how you make it all the way up that slide over there. Then I am sure we could play a game of tag."

"Okay! Watch me slide down!" Jenny took off.

"Listen Tad I am so sorry it took so long for me to call. Things have been busy but that is no excuse. Jenny has missed you and Kathy..even Dixie and the twins..and Opal, especially Opal so much. I should have brought her by sooner."

[teamluv08]

“Hey,” he greeted giving her a knowing smile. “I’m glad you called,” he added before looking back up at Jenny.

Krystal must have took notice of his heavy breathing because before he knew he was watching Jenny run to the slides. Completely letting him off the hook. “Thank you,” he breathed leaning against the poles that held the swing set together.

Once Tad caught his second wind, he raised his head and eyed his ex-wife and the mother of one of his beautiful daughters. “It’s okay. And no, being busy isn’t all that good of an excuse , but I do understand,” he replied standing straight up. “And the feeling is mutual baby. I’ve missed her too. More than both of you know.”

“Hey, how about we go over there and take a seat. Talk a bit,” he said gesturing to the benches not to far from them nor where Jenny was now playing with a few other kids. Before they made it over Jenny called out to them and waved. They waved back and watched as she went down the big slide and ran around to do it all over again. The thing that stuck with him was the smile she had on her face as she came down and looked up to see him present. He really missed seeing that beautiful smile on a daily basis.

Tad smiled himself as he finally took a seat next to Krystal. “So how’s everything?” He asked. “I can tell by Jenny’s face she more than happy at the moment. But, how have you gals really been?”

[Krystal Carey]

"We have been really good. We saw Dixie the other day thinkin' you were home and Jenny has been delighted now knowing she is gonna go to the same school as AJ and Kathy when she starts kindergarten. But she likes preschool too." Krystal nodded.

"And I am back at the restaurant and workin' for Jack so life is a little busy but it is good to have a lot going on."

"What about you? Dixie was just beamin' sunshine when I saw her. She looks so happy and..you do too." Krystal nodded at Tad after looking at his smile.

[teamluv08]

"Dixie told me you stopped by," Tad said with a smile as he glanced across the area at Jenny who was now playing with another kid. After a while he turned his attention back to her. When Dixie told him about Krystal visiting Tad could have hit the roof, but it was only after his wife told him that she came by for him but realized he wasn't home did he calm down. He thought for minute that Krystal was avoiding him. Only wanting their daughter to play with her sisters and brother and hang with her step-mother and not her father. But to be honest he had reasons to believe she was avoiding him. Mean after all they hardly talked or saw each other after she left and when she returned he had to find out about it through the grapevine.

Hearing that she was also back at the restaurant, Tad began to wonder if that was such a good idea. Working with Jack seemed to be enough to him; picking up something else seemed to have been pushing it a bit. "You can handle all of that and take care of Jenny?" Tad curiously asked giving her a look. Totally letting her question about him and Dixie go over his head. It wasn’t that he didn’t care because he did, he was just wondering.

When Krystal didn’t answer immediately answer him, it was then he really realized what he said. How he said it. Looking away, he sighed and tried to rephrase it. "I meant… I’m… Krystal I really didn’t mean it like that,” he quickly assured, looking back up. “I was just asking if… Is this what you want to do?” He asked. He wasn’t sure how else to clean up what he said just seconds ago. “Because if it’s supporting our girl, I… I’m just wondering. Okay.”

[Krystal Carey]

"Tad..I have to. I love the restaurant but it does not make enough money for Jenny and me. I want to give her the life I couldn't give Babe and I never had the chance to give Marissa. I want her to have not only a great father but a great mother too. One that she can be proud of." Krystal said after a moment.

"And yes it can get a little hectic but Jack is great letting me work until Jenny is done with school and some nights when Jenny is with Opal..or she could be with you. And she goes to the restaurant with me and has the best time..we are busy but we love each other and she lives without worrying which is exactly what I want for her." Krystal nodded.

"But how would you like to have her some of the time? I know you have three little ones at home but I also know how much you love her too.."

[teamluv08]

Seeing that Krystal pretty much had her mind up about the way she would support she and Jenny, Tad let it go. But he hoped she knew that when it came to supporting Jenny and even herself he was more than willing to do it. Just in case she didn't... “Just tell me you know… I got her and I got you. Tell me you know that much. You don’t have to work both of those jobs because I can take care of you the same as I do for Dixie and ours. So tell me you know that you can come to me… Anytime!”

When asked if he wanted to spend some time with Jenny, Tad scoffed and looked toward their daughter. “If you know how much I love her, how could you even ask me that,” he said teasingly. “You know better than anybody else how much she means to me and how badly I want to be with her and her to be with me.”

[Krystal Carey]

"You cannot take care of me Tad because I am no longer your wife. I know you can take care of Jenny though and I know how much you love her. But I do not want to have to depend on you Tad. I just want to be able to give our daughter the best things and let her know that I can hold my own." Krystal explained to her ex husband. "Thank you for saying that but I really have to take care of this myself."

"I..I know I just saw how much you and Dixie had with the twins and Kathy and I did not want it to be too much. But seriously. We don't have a custody situation worked out because we don't need one..so anytime. I know you have a lot of time to catch up on and..I also know a lot of that is on me. So let me make this up to you. Anytime you want to take her..even out for ice cream or to see Kathy do something after school. Anytime." Krystal gave Tad a little smile and a nod.

[teamluv08]

Thaddeus sighed and nodded. “Okay… It was just… Alright fine.” He was going to leave it at that, but that didn’t mean the offer was being taken off the table. Whenever Krystal felt like she needed to take a break from anything he wouldn’t hesitate to jump in and help her out. Not just because they shared a little girl but because he cared for her. In the friendly sense.

“That’s a deal, Ms. Carey,” he teased, giving her a wink before getting on a more serious note. “Thank you. Really.” He was not only saying thank you for what she said about him being there with Jenny more often but a thank you for not going the legal route. He wasn’t sure if he could handle having some paper tell he couldn’t spend but a certain amount of time with his daughter. Nor would he be able to watch his daughter go through sometime like that. Having to adjust here one minute and then next she has to adjust to something else. No, Jenny didn’t deserve to be put through that.

Leaning back and propping his arms against the back of the seat. “So catch me up. What I need to know about Jenny so I can still be the cool parent?” He asked, trying play as if he was just too cool for his own good. “I mean I’m still cool and nothing’s going to stop that. But you get the idea.” When a smile appeared on Krystal’s face Tad laughed and nodded. “What?

[Krystal Carey]

"Well thank you too Tad. I think it will not only help me out a little but it will really be good for her to spend time with you and Dixie and the kids. She really loves her brother and sisters and being around them more will make her very happy." Krystal said with a nod. She was sort of sad she did not have another little one for Jenny to play with but with her schedule it was really for the best.

"Cool huh? Okay Mr. Martin..if you say so!" Krystal teased. "Jenny is really into this new Pet Shop phase. She has all of these little figurines she plays with and I think she even smuggled a few to the park in her pocket. And Dixie was teaching her how to braid so now she wants to style my hair all the time. Maybe she can give you a new hair-do too!"

[teamluv08]

“I say so,” Tad replied, giving her a look as she explained what their daughter liked. “Pet Shop?” He asked just to be sure he heard her right. He may have seen the little critters at the toy store and occasionally on TV but he honestly had no idea what it was they did or anything. Guess I have to figure this out, he thought and was all set to ask Krystal for some insight when she joked about Jenny giving him a new hair do. “Ha!” He laughed, throwing his head back. “You’re really funny.”

Leave it up to Dixie. Kathy was already talking about giving his hair some color and all this other mess. He dodged her as much as he could, but with Jenny in the mix he was going to have a hell of a hard time trying to win this crazy battle… “Highlights,” he muttered and then shuddered.

[Krystal Carey]

"I am just sayin..maybe it will do you some good." Krystal teased and laughed lightly with him.

"What about highlights? You want Jenny to let me know you want some? Who knows maybe Dixie and Kathy could help her out..you might end up with purple hair!" Krystal continued to laugh. "But in all seriousness. She loves it..and I am sure that Dixie would not mind helping her out..but she is also really getting into swimming and I know that maybe that is more up your ally. She loves being outside and playing..I wanted to take her on a hike up to the lake but there is just not enough time for me right now. She might have a better time with you and Dixie and the kids though." Krystal suggested to her ex husband.

[teamluv08]

Tad cut his eyes toward Krystal and made a face. “Oh who asked you!” He stuck his tongue out at her and turned his attention back to Jenny. “And you better not say that to them either. Before you know it I’ll be coming out the house looking like one of those troll doll things.” He shuddered, just seconds after the image popped up in his head.

“Ah yes, swimming. That I can definitely handle,” he assured as she mentioned that she was wanted to take their girl for a hike and suggested that Jenny would probably have a better chance at going with him than waiting on her. “Sounds like a good idea… I’ll uh… talk with Dixie. See if she can fit sometime into her busy schedule for a weekend of fun.” The words slipped before he had a chance to catch them. Shaking his head, trying to figure out a way to remove his foot from his mouth. “Sounds like a really good idea,” he repeated and leaving it at that.

[Krystal Carey]

"Hmm..personally I think you would look good with blue streaks in your hair." Krystal kidded and then looked over at her daughter who seemed to find another little girl to play with. She was glad that Jenny was so young and carefree and was not worried about who she was seen with. If only Krystal felt the same way.

"What?" Krystal looked at Tad who looked like he said something wrong? "Are you worried about Dixie being busy or Dixie going with you? Listen. I get it. I want Dixie to be in Jenny's life..she is going to have to get used to having another woman in charge when she is with you. And hopefully she will accept someone else in charge when she is around me too..if that happens anyway." Krystal shrugged. "If you are worried about her being too busy I get that too. I am not even able to do things with Jenny I wish I could. That is why I thought this would be a great idea. Anyway you look at it Jenny is going to be excited to do something with her dad and her mother is fine with anything they decide to do..especially if it involves giving you a new hair style." Krystal winked at him letting him know she was fine with whatever he and Jenny decided to do.