The Best Thing ch. 3 {JB}

by Victoria L. on January 11, 19100 at 17:11:13:

Hello everyone! It seems that everyone wants another chapter of this before something else. Between Now and Forever put up a good fight, so I'll post a chapter of it next, and then All They Want. Sound good to everyone? Please leave a reply, knowing what you think means so much to me.
Victoria L.

Chapter 3 {And a reminder, ch. 2 ended in a flashback. Brenda's back in the present, in the comfort of her livingroom}

By the time Brenda finished dressing, she heard an urgent knocking at her front door. She rushed down the stairs and opened the door. Her son Jody came rushing into the house, smiled briefly at his mother, and toddled into the livingroom, seemingly looking for something, or rather, someone. Brenda turned back to the door and smiled weakly at her best friend, Denise.

"Where's the fire, Denise?" Denise Walker had been Brenda's best friend and confidante for the last ten years of their lives. She introduced Brenda to Daniel, and was Jody's godmother. She was African-American, tall, stylish, and confident. In some ways, she put Brenda to shame with her looks, but the women remained the best of friends.

"There's no fire out here," Denise said, coming in with her arms full of groceries. "But I hear there's a fire in here," she said suggestively, making sure Jody was out of an earshot.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Brenda asked, rummaging through the bags and pulling out some Tylenol and giving Denise an "I love you forever,thank-you eternally," look. Denise just went about putting the groceries up and handing Jody a cookie so he wouldn't continue to walk in and out among her legs as she moved about the kitchen.

"It just means," Denise said, "that I don't see how you spend the night with that fine man and a butt load of liquor, getting plastered beyond your mind, and nothing happens. You fell asleep right here on the floor, didn't you? No heavy petting or anything, huh?" Brenda picked Jody up and sat him on her lap, rubbing the top of his head and giving him a kiss.

"Sorry to disappoint, Denise, but no heavy petting. I don't understand why you always insist on me and Jax being a couple." She did know why, though, and Denise knew she knew, but humored her anyway.

"Have you seen the way that man looks at you, because I certainly have, and what I wouldn't give to have Martin look at me that way, but do I? H#ll, no. You should savor it, girl. Besides, he loves you and you love him." Brenda put Jody down and helped Denise with the last few groceries.

"Of course we love each other," she said calmly. "He's my best friend, just like you are. I love him just like I love you."

"Oh please don't disappoint me like that, girl," Denise said, waving a hand dramatically over her face. You can't possibly let that piece of @ss go," she said. Brenda looked up at her wide eyed, made sure Jody hadn't heard, and then burst into giggles.

"Not that I haven't appreciated that piece of @ss, as you so delicately put it Denise, but it hasn't ever gone any further than that. Me and Jax, we like things the way they are. It just works, you know? He's the father Jody never had and I'm the mother the girls never had."

"Where are the girls, anyway?" Denise asked. "I wanted to see them before I go."

"Well," Brenda said, sidling up to Denise with that 'huge favor' look. "You will get to see them if you do me a minor huge bigger than life, tiny favor." Denise rolled her eyes.

"Spill it."

"All right," Brenda said, "Jax asked me to go and relieve the baby sitter, and he's going to get the girls later. I need you to stay here with Jody until I get back."

"Why can't you just take him with you?" Denise asked.

"Because you know how he loves to harass Victoria and Jasmine, he gets so wired when he gets in the car, look at him." Jody was bouncing on the floor, entranced with the latest episode of Gullah Gullah Island.

"You know your boy is addicted to Nickelodeon, don't you? It drove me crazy when he thought he was going to watch Blue's Clues while Bold and the Beautiful was on. I had to set him straight, of course."

"Oh come on, Denise. He's not going to be any trouble, you know that. He needs to go down anyway. I know he didn't sleep a whole lot since he was away from home."

"See," Denise said, feigning hurt and shock, "that just goes to show how little you know about my parenting skills. I'll have you know that boy was down, promptly at 8:00 last night, and he slept like a log--until about 2am." Brenda nodded knowingly, smiling.

"I do know my boy," she said, shaking her head and thinking of how Daniel used to stay up late and sleep until noon, later than even she did sometimes. "Look, Denise, I just have to run over here to the baby sitter's, really quickly, and run by Jax's and pick up a few things, and then I'm going to bring them back here on the double."

"Who's going to open the shop?" Denise asked. Brenda's eyes got as big as saucers.

"Today! What's today? Monday. Damn, it's your day, isn't it?! I didn't even think about it! Oh, Denise, I--" Just as Brenda was beginning to panic, Denise walked calmly passed her, scooped up Jody and smiled at Brenda.

"Taken care of, Mom. Carly's filling in, though she wasn't happy about getting up early and opening on her day off. Plus, her shift's almost up and she's going to have to work two back to back if you're watching the girls today until Jax gets out of that permanent meeting he's always in. I've got the night shift, though I was going to work this morning." Brenda breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank you so much, Denise. I can't wait until Victoria can go back to school. Teacher's work day is a curse. Now I'm more than late, I've got to get the girls, I'll be back here in 45 minutes, tops." She grabbed a bagel from what Denise had brought her and kissed Jody on the top of the head, giving Denise another look of thanks. "You're getting a raise," she said in a sing-song voice as she blew out of the house. Denise shook her head and started up the stairs with Jody when she heard the car honking and nearly jumped out of her skin. She leaned her head out the door, carefully negotiating her long braids out of his pulling hands.

"What?" she asked, squinting in the morning sun.

"Do what you can to put him down, will you? I don't want him to wake Jasmine, she'll be tired. Denise waved an impatient hand at Brenda.

"Will you get on out of here? I know what to do!"

"I know," Brenda said smiling, "And I love you for it!"

"Mm-hmm," Denise mumbled, "you better be loving that raise I'm never gonna get that's long overdue." She smiled as Jody seemed to giggle at what she said. "Come on little man," she said. "Let's get you to bed before those pretty little girls get here."

Author's Note: In case you're wondering why this chapter was low key, it was just a filler to introduce the character of Denise. She'll have a big part in this story and is based on someone I know in real life. I promise the action will pick up! : )
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