closed starter // @mutatedangels merrick & jody.
the first day of kindergarten.
it was an important moment, and one she had vaguely had a twinge about jody seeing - helping lucas pick out his favorite outfit to impress the other kids with, stealing grapes as she packed them into his lunch, giving their son a pep talk.
things were....better, now, she supposed. he knew, and he had stayed in touch. luke still didn't know who jody was, but she'd even let them meet for the first time after jody's last season was over and he came home to visit - it had taken months for her to trust them to meet, but she wasn't prepared for the this is your father conversation. not yet.
still, as she made sure his bag was double packed for the next morning, she was surprised to hear a knock at the door - the hour was late, lucas fast asleep in his room with the soft sounds of his radio playing quietly to help lull him into dreamland, and she was nervous enough about the next day without the added responsibility of inviting anyone over. she presumed it was her mother - three streets away but not far enough some days, probably coming to check in on her and make sure that she was handling her sons first real day of school as best she could.
instead, jody was there - her brow furrowed in confusion, because she was 99% sure he was supposed to have a game the next night in denver, but she didn't slam the door shut as quickly as she might have even a few months ago. "what are you doing here?' she asked instead, curious instead of accusatory, her head tilted to the side. "isn't your coach going to kill you for skipping like, what, the third game of the season?"