#thedevilsbckbone; 005

[amomentxofhappiness]

Adam did not expect the teacher to be so cute. He also didn't expect to find someone he would call cute attractive. Actually, he didn't expect to ever use the word "cute." Clearly he was spending way too much time with the kid. Not that it was a bad thing, to compensate for all the shit he saw day in and day out at work really but still. He had to keep himself in check not to come off like a complete and utter asshole.

Ollie explained that of course she was the coolest teacher and that Adam was the coolest uncle so that naturally (she had been reading something or other with the word naturally Adam realized, and she was using it on every other sentence now) they needed to meet, to share their coolness.

"I'm your only uncle," Adam added a little offended at the thought though he had to admit that being considered the coolest of Jack's friends with access to Ollie was definitely the highlight of this day--make it of his week. "So Miss Maxine, you run this trail every day?" Wow that sounded almost as lame as asking her zodiac sign. He was extremely rusty at speaking to women it would seem--at least in this environment (during the day with his goddaughter next to him). Not to mention, he couldn't fuck this up for Olivia. She adored Miss Maxine and he wasn't about to make things awkward with her teacher by hitting on her. He had to have some boundaries.

Maxine stood there, pulling the earbud out from her ear that she'd been using to listen to some music before the young girl had approached her. Her eyes all the while moved between the girl and the handsome man who had joined them as the two interacted. It was obvious by their mannerisms and how they spoke to one another that they seemed to know each other well. She couldn't help the small chuckle that left her at the child's sassy comment towards the man and for a moment the brunette speculated on the man's relations to Ollie.

The question was quickly answered though as Olivia introduced him as her uncle Adam and Max's eyes went a bit wide when she realized this must have been the famous uncle Adam that the little girl was so dead set on always telling Maxine about, obviously trying to play matchmaker in her childlike ways. Maxine had always just entertained the little girl during their conversations and would always make comments about how she couldn't wait to one day meet him but she never actually thought it would happen. Nor did she actually think the man in question would actually look like that.

It caught Maxine off guard and she found herself feeling embarrassed at how unprepared she was for this moment. Her mind thought back to all the talks she had with Ollie about her uncle and wondered just what the little girl had relayed back to him — especially when he mentioned that she spoke of her all the time. "Oh yeah, that's me." she said as she waved her hand, smiling awkwardly and then wrinkling her nose up at herself for a split second as she realized how fucking cringy she was. "It's nice to meet you too, and hopefully it's only been good things -- right, Ollie?" She said, as she looked back at the little girl with a smile. "Like how I'm the coolest teacher around?" The playful comment made the little girl giggle as she nodded her head.

[amomentxofhappiness]

"Ollie come here," Adam said quietly knowing fully well his goddaughter will do whatever she goddamn please and he'd let her, pretty much like his mother used to do. Meanwhile the little girl ran around, up and down and started climbing a tree with him dillingently near to catch her and avoid fractures--Jack would fracture him if that were to happen and his own guilt would drive him to a bottle of single malt that he was trying to avoid drowning into. Ollie was one of the very few things in his life he felt positive about. He wanted Ollie to have a long, happy life and no regrets so she'd go straight up with her mom when she was very old and grey, he'd do anything in his power to see that through.

The little one got him out of his head when she went down the tree in two seconds, jumping and falling with her two feet in front of him and sprinting towards the running trail towards someone. Barely jogging, he made it behind her, "Olivia you gotta stop running away for fu--dge's sake," he quickly corrected himself as he made it to them.

The little girl was all grin when meeting her teacher and she explained she was there with her handsome uncle Adam who wasn't at all grumpy even though he looked a bit like an ogre right now. Once the man made it next to the ladies, the little one scolded him for saying a bad word and that she'd tell on him with her dad. "No you won't cos you won't get any chocolate cake if you do," he retorted before giving the teacher a small smile with his pursed lips. "Adam Milligan, nice to meet you miss Maxine right? Olvia talks about you all the time."

It was a lazy Saturday for Maxine, with no real plans for the day so the brunette had decided to go for a jog. She tried to get a jog in at least once or twice a week, which was just enough to keep her feeling good about herself without overworking her leg and causing herself too much pain. She'd was just finishing up her first lap around the mile and a half long stretch of park when she'd began to pass the playground.

She didn't pay it much mind at first, until she heard her name being called out in a small voice. Quickly that small voice became clearer as she whipped her head over to see the familiar smile of her student Olivia bolting over toward her. "Oh, hey sweetie! How are you doing?" She asked the little girl with a warm smile. "Are you here with your dad?" She glanced up to look around for Jack but did not see him.

Instead, she noticed a tall blonde man right behind the little girl also making his way over. She didn't recognize the guy but damn was he handsome she couldn't help but think as she looked him over. "Oh hi --" she said in surprise as she looked from the man to the little girl again, trying to get any hint as to who the stranger was. "And who is this Ollie?" She asked her, partly to make sure she was okay (her teacher brain always on) and partly because she couldn't help but be genuinely curious.

closed starter for @amomentxofhappiness