Wonder Woman
Rpns Heroic Father Figure
Juliette Parker
(Julie)
22
Cashier at Grocery store
Rayna Parker
4 (going on 5)
Chan
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Ben was busy stocking a newly added department for hours upon hours as the day ticked on by; he viewed the job as only temporary and that’s the only hope he had of making it through the day, despite somewhat disliking the job he was always good with customers and very familiar with talking to people.Juliette wasn't really in the mood for this right now, but her daughters soccer league started the next day and of course they left her cleats at the old ampartment. Driving up to the sports store the girl shook her head with a sigh, parking a getting out. She hoped no one she knew saw her, especially dressed like this with a baseball hat, hoodie and leggings. Being a single mom was rough, even just to run errands after work she needed to have a babysitter for the four year old.
Making her way into the store she looked around but couldn't find what she needed, the store seemed huge compared to how it felt in highschool. So, Juliette made her way up to an employee who had his back turned to her. "Excuse me? Um... I need some help" the woman had always been shy, especially in highschool which meant she was pretty low on the popularity scale.
Ben couldn’t help but glare into her grey eyes as she spoke, he could somewhat recognize the nervousness in her voice as she spoke. He tried to remain attentive as her voice echoed but even minutes after seeing her again he was flooded with feelings of young love and how he had missed her. Eventually he noticed she stopped talking and smirked for a moment just before replying.Juliette froze in place when the man turned and she finally saw his face. Ben. When he went in for a hug the girl weakly returned it, being a bit overwhelmed by it all. She knew she might run into him at some point but her first week in town?
"I-I've been good" the girl cleared her throat to calm her nerves before speaking again "I uh, just moved back to town actually... how've you been" looking at Ben she could see the features of him that Rayna received and just the thought of that made her thankful she never brought the small girl, she wasn't ready for that chat just yet. "How have you been? Working I see"
She glanced around the store with an eyebrow raised, she assumed he was in school but she also knew him well enough to know he must've hated it there.
Ben listened to her intently as she asked the question about her niece. He was so jubilant about her agreeing to go out to eat that his job for just a moment wasn’t so boring... all the hours spent doing mindless work was worth it to meet her once again; he walked up an aisle of cleats and pulled out a neutral black pair that could work with any colored uniform, “Here you are these are perfect for beginners; they are similar to what I wore when I played.” Ben smiled as he handed her the cleats.Juliette couldn't help the smile that pulled onto her lips as she listened to him talk about school and his job, seeing the very familiar charm that caught her in high school. He was still Ben, nothing seemed to have changed.
"Oh, uh... thanks" the girls face turned bright red as she looked down at her feet, God she felt like she was 17 all over again, hearing him compliment her like that. Then, when he brought up getting food sometime she nodded "I'd like that, wouldn't mind catching up" it was then she remembered what she had come to the store for, before she got wrapped up in romantic nostalgia. "Oh I need soccer cleats for my niece..." the girl smoothly lied, not read ready to pull out the whole 'I had your kid 4 years ago' thing quite yet. "She's four about a size 9 kids I believe"
It was a relatively chilly day that Ben and Juliette decided to get together at their old favorite mom and pop diner to recollect about the past and reconnect after 4 or so years. The two sat at the same booth they frequented after all the football games, late night parties and hangouts they had. Ben missed those times deeply and as he sat seeing Juliette sitting across from him he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if they had stayed in contact.The girl giggled lightly as she watched him enthusiastically get the cleats for Rayna, but she also couldn't help but feel a little sad and guilty. He was missing out on things like picking out cleats for Rayna, going to her soccer games, first day of school. All because she didn't have the heart the ruin his life by telling him she was pregnant when they were in high school.
When they got up to the counter the girl took out her wallet and quickly paid for the cleats, biting her lip with a shy smile as he man said it had been good to see her. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you" she smiled and took a napkin out from her purse. "Um... you don't happen to have a pen do you?" She asked nervously before she got a pen and wrote her number down. "Why don't you call me, maybe we can get lunch or something?" She smiled and adjusted her hat before heading out of the store.
(Maybe timeskip a little to when they hang out?)
Ben scribbled down math on the side of the ticket trying to calculate proper tip. He always covered the bill no matter the situation, Juliette always did so much for him that he felt as though it was something he should do. As he scratched he spoke softly, “Finish what your were about to say before the waitress came.” Ben smiled at her not truly sensing who she might be.As they sat in the diner chatting and catching up Juliette would rub her hands together, or gently rub her arms nearly always being cold, especially in the chilly weather. Once they got thier food the girl gleefully dug in, feeling pretty good about it all since they had been getting along fairly well.
Then, when he asked about her home screen the girl nearly choked, moving to get a sip of water. "I guess she kinda does..." the woman bit her lip at the mention of how much her daughter looked like bens sister, sighing. "Ben I-" then, Juliette was cut off by the waitress who returned to gather their plates. "Here why don't I cover the bill"
Ben finally finished his chicken scratch as Juliette’s sweet voice filled his ears again, “Yes that sounds fantastic.” Ben had become an avid fan of coffee as college became more and more strenuous; he always joked of he and Juliette being old and sipping coffee together but only a few years later it would come to be true.A small adoring smile crossed Juliette's lips as she watched him work out the tip. Even just something as simple as that brought her back to high school. Even back then, she had been surprised that a guy who was as popular as Ben had noticed her enough to ask her out.
She was about to speak again when he reached over and wrapped his jacket over her shoulders, his eyes catching hers for a moment. The jacket was warm and instantly made her slight shivering stop. "Why don't we head back to my ampartment? Get some coffee?" She realized that maybe the best thing was to talk about this in private, Rayna should be out on a play date anyways so that wouldn't throw him off. She'd be able to explain it all and he could decide if he wanted to meet his daughter.
Ben paid little mind to the decorum of the apartment as he sat holding the mug of coffee tightly for a tad of warmth. “Of course I won’t get angry I promise you Julie.” That was the first time he had called her by that age old name since they had reconnected, only those closest to her ever used that nickname. “Whatever it is I won’t be mad.”The way back to her ampartment was pretty quiet, the shy girl amping herself up for what she about to do; tell the father of her child about her child.
Once there she took her time leading him through the old, dingy, building. The woman was near broke, working for minimum wage plus having a young daughter so the place wasn't exactly the nicest, but it was a roof over their heads. Making her way to the kitchen the girl instinctively hugged the mans coat closer to herself since they couldn't afford heat all the time Juliette just kept it off until Rayna was home.
"So, you gotta promise you won't get mad ok? Or at least that you'll hear me out before you get mad"
Ben paused absolutely shocked by every word that came out of her mouth. Why didn’t she tell him? Would the girl care for him after being this old? Question after question raced through his thoughts as he held his head in utter shock. He couldn’t even look Julie in the eyes as she became sad.Juliette smiled at the old yet familiar nickname, gently touching his arm for a moment before pulling back and letting out a breath tapping her fingers off the ceramic mug. "the girl that you saw in the photo is my daughter Rayna, she's 4 going on 5..." she was hoping the man would already kindle pick up on what was going on but the girl continued anyways, not looking at the mans face the whole time she spoke. "When we were in high school you had a lot going for you, you still do. I was just the shy kid that you managed to pick out from the crowd and for some reason ask me out. Remember that house party, around Christmas senior year? We had gotten drunk, fought about something stupid but then your parents weren't home so we brought the fight there and one thing led to another and we made up?" The girl walked around the word 'sex' as best as she could, taking a breath. "A couple weeks later I got sick, then I missed my period. So I took a pregnancy test and it was positive... I wanted to tell you, I was going to tell you but my parents caught me first..." the girls parents were strict, her father being a pastor making the rules even tighter. "We moved the next week. They didn't want their dirty daughter to ruin anyone else's life.... there have been plenty of times I wanted to tell you I-I just didn't know what to say." The girls voice began getting caught in her throats as tears built, still not looking the man in the eye. "I-I'm sorry Ben..."
Ben knelt down as if to break the initial nervousness the little girl had; she had many of Ben’s features although she mostly resembled Juliette... he couldn’t help but smile uncontrollably as he asked the girl about her day and what she did in school. As he spoke he occasionally glanced at Julie smiling at what they had made together.Juliette was confused when she heard him laugh, looking up at him with furrowed eyebrows as he came over and kissed her. She didn't press back into the kiss being forzen in pure shock, this was a lot for the quiet girl in a short amount of time. "O-of course! She should be home any minute-" as she spoke she heard the knock on the door, making her way over as smiled at her neighbour. "Thank you so much"
"Oh anytime Hun, she's not a problem" the woman was a little bit older but she had a daughter the same age as Rayna so it made things a little easier. Once the woman was gone, Juliette got onto her knees helping the small girl out of her jacket.
"How was your day?"
"Fun! First, me and Anna went to the park and we met a dog..." Juliette nodded with a smile, listening to her daughters rambles as she took off her boots.
"Ok love come up" Juliette scooped the girl up into her arms with a slight grunt, making her way to the kitchen and giving ben a small smile before looking to the four year old. "Mommy wants you to meet her friend, this is Ben"
"Hi Mr.Ben!" The small girl gave the man a wave before leaning a bit on her mom. Juliette wasn't sure if the girl was ready or would understand just yet that ben was her father plus Juliette would rather figure out if Ben would want to stick around before letting him into thier daughters life that way. She understood that it would probably be a lot, going from just being a collage kid to having a 4 year old so she wouldn't blame him if he wanted to take a step back.
Ben had a look of deep disappointment as she spoke, he was almost never deflated but at this moment the wind was completely gone from his sails. As Rayna walked away he stood up turning his back to Julie and when she finished speaking a slience fell over the room for what seemed like an eternity. Trying desperately to hold back tears Ben kept his back turned not wanting to show this side of him.Juliette listened as her daughter comfortably spoke with Ben, that's one thing Julie had been glad the girl got from her father and not from her; her talking skills. Ben had always been outgoing and charming while Juliette was meek and shy so seeing how easily Rayna could talk to anyone made the woman happy.
Then, as Ben began to hint at the whole father situation Juliette's eyes went wide, shaking her head. "Ok! Rayney why don't you go play for a bit ok? I'll make you hot cocoa and a sandwhich?" The small girl nodded with a grin, getting down off the chair (with some help) and running out of the kitchen with a stumble. "I want you in Ranyas life I really do, but I want to do this on my terms... slowly...." Juliette had lost a lot of trust in people when she had been pregnant and even after since her parents quickly kicked her and her daughter out when Juliette turned 18. "I've been raising her on my own for her whole life... this is a lot for me too.... I just need this so go slow"
Ben was momentarily comforted by her words and touch but it went away soon after it had come; the reality was that he was hurt deeply that she felt as though he could, in the wildest outcome, so something to hurt either Julie or Rayna. His eyes remained full of pain as he shook his head feeling depleted. “I’m sorry Julie, I wish we could’ve stayed together and loved like we were 17 all the way until now. I could’ve helped you raise her and everything would’ve been fine.”Rayna listened to the man, her chest heaving as he revealing his parents weren't his birth parents, biting her lip. She shook her head as he began to cry, tears building in her own eyes. "Hey hey shhh look at me..." her voice was gentle and quiet as she spoke, trying her best to get him to lock eyes with her. "You never knew about Rayna, and that's on me but I'll let you be there for her now just I don't know if I'm ready to put my trust in someone enough to let them be my partner in raising her. I just need this to go slowly. You can see her whenever, you can hang out with her, get to know her. You haven't missed out on her" she smiled lightly a squeezed his arm, hoping he'd know her distrust wasn't in him specifically but in people in general she'd been independent so long that it never seemed like Rayna would have a father figure or father in her life.