Visitation Rights.

Mark Prentiss pulled up in his ex-wife's driveway to drop off their sixteen year old daughter Chelsea, the only evidence of their marriage and divorce so many years ago. He had a few regrets, but Jessica had kicked him out, not vice versa. He didn't fret too much about it. It was an old scab that he'd rather not pick at. The divorce had ended surprisingly well under the circumstances, mostly because time had allowed their tempers to cool a bit and the need to think of their little girl had overridden all other concerns.

Still, a small part of Mark hated the way that Jessica had sent him packing. It was very abrupt, one-sided, unfair, aggressive, etc. After six years, he'd dealt with it mostly by staying out of the normal dating life. He'd acquired a jaundiced view of marriage and traditional life, seeing both the sexual and financial benefits of being a free agent.

So it was a bit of shock and had Mark on edge when Jessica didn't just watch him kiss Chelsea on the forehead and go. She indicated with a gesture that she wanted to talk to him about something. He just had no idea what in the hell it could be. He could deal with almost anything, as long as Chelsea wasn't in trouble.

He never worried about his ex's dating life, though he heard more than he liked about her various boyfriends. It was a revolving door of serial monogamy, not his cup of tea. Jessica never was the sort to be alone for any serious length of time. She needed a man in her life for too many things, above and beyond sex. Mark remembered the "honey do" lists all too well.

OOC:

Need a Jessica, naturally. PM me if interested.
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Jessica had always been in love with Mark Prentiss. They had simply been too young when they married, too young when they had their daughter, and too young to know how to make their marriage work. She had just turned 30 when she filed for divorce, her anger and frustration at her situation growing until she resented Mark with a great passion.

Still, he had been the only man that ever really understood her. She had been through a string of relationships since the end of their marriage, men who would be around for a year or two until she decided that it just couldn't work out. She would watch Mark be a fantastic father to their daughter and she would kick herself for pushing him away.

At 36, she still thought of herself as attractive. She was tall, blonde, more womanly then she'd been in their high school days. Her blue eyes were still clear and bright. It was everything any man would have ever wanted. Lately, though, she'd been thinking about how Mark was the man that she really wanted and needed.

After he had kissed Chelsea goodbye, she motioned for him to follow her. She wanted to be away from their daughter where she wouldn't hear them talking. She entered into the garage of all places, waiting until the door was shut before she turned to look at her ex with her arms crossed over her chest.

"So...I've been doing a lot of thinking lately." She said softly. "And I think I owe you an apology for the way that things ended between us."

Mark Prentiss

Mark hadn't known what precisely to expect from Jessica, and to a large extent, he had anticipated it being another litany of complaints about something. To hear an apology over something that she had done six years ago was unnerving, because it never occurred to him that she might even considered that she had been wrong about something. It was truly stunning to him....as stunning as her continued beauty, which was admittedly a ravishing sort.

"Well...um...thank you. Apology accepted. I admit that I never thought that it would happen, but thank you for making it. Perhaps I should meet you halfway here and say that I not only forgive you, but also apologize if I have been in any way rude or bad-tempered toward you in the past six years, or called you any names during the divorce," Mark decided to make some sort of gesture to help bury the hatchet, since she had offered him an olive branch of sorts.

He still wasn't sure what was behind the apology and how sincere she was, but it was a start....now he would just have to take things slowly and see if they could at least prove a better team of parents as far as exes could go.

He also had to admit to himself that he still felt desire when he was around her, actually more now that she had done something to mollify him and he wasn't around her on a daily basis to get frustrated with her somehow. What the fuck was he supposed to do about that lust....even a little residual love that popped up despite his trust issues and his cynicism, not to mention his bitterness?

"The name calling went both ways." Jessica said softly as she let out a long sigh, thinking back on the bitter negotiations they had between their lawyers in order to hash out a custody agreement.

"We were too young, Mark. I tell Chelsea every day that she has to be careful with those boys at school because she's just too young to know what she wants." She had no idea why she was talking about their problems again, but it felt good to get everything out in the open. "And I'm sorry that I didn't at least talk to you about how I felt before I filed the papers. I know that you deserved so much more than that."

She went quiet then, letting the silence stretch between them as she thought about what she really wanted to tell him. "I still love you, Mark. I think about all of the good times that we had together and I can't help but want all of that back. Does that make me crazy?"

She knew that he had certainly thought that she had lost her mind during the divorce. There were times when she thought that herself, wondering if she were making the right choice and charging ahead in an effort to be free from what she thought was wrong in her life. It turned out that the problem was all hers and she had thrown away the best thing that she had ever had.

Mark Prentiss

Mark was thunderstruck by this admission on Jessica's part. He didn't quite know what to say.....was this possible? While a large part of him still felt the hurt and anger from the past, and while he enjoyed the single life these days, a lot of him missed the many good things about his marriage to Jessica. He missed the things that she did for him, the gestures that she made, the mannerism, the different small ways of showing affection and gratitude. Even at her worst, with some of the pressure on the "honey-do" stuff, she had shown that she could be grateful...not using sex as a weapon, but rather surprising him with some initiative there.

"Uh....Jessica, are you serious about this? What brought this on, exactly? I mean, I admit that there are times when I notice things missing in my life from being single. Things like Thanksgiving and Christmas together, all three of us. Being there from day to day, little moments that we used to photograph....still, we had real issues in our marriage.... How do we know that we won't be stepping right back into that?" Mark thought aloud.

He was truly shaken, as he thought that Jessica had moved on with her life.....what if she had not lasted with those other men because she had not moved on, and frankly neither had he....he enjoyed other women in bed, but he had never let any of them get close to him. The pain had made it hard to trust and also he didn't want to have to invest in a new relationship what he had already invested and lost in his marriage to Jessica....and now she wanted to bring that back, to invest in it again? Was that even feasible?

"I don't know. I've just been thinking a lot about this." Jessica admitted. "You're an amazing father to Chelsea. She is completely in love with you and I know that she resents me sometimes for ending our marriage. And there hasn't been a man in my life that even came close to what I felt with you."

"We did have a lot of issues. You had issues and I had issues. I wasn't happy but I know now that I wasn't happy because of things I was doing." She said softly. "And I miss not having you in our lives every day."

Jessica turned and walked away from him for a moment to gather her thoughts before she turned back towards him. They were both older and hopefully wiser then they had been six years ago. He was the man that she wanted and she would have done anything in her power to take back all the mean and nasty things that she had said and done to him during their time together.

"It's been almost six months since I was in a serious relationship. It gave me time to think and grow and realize what I want in a partner. I'm not asking for a relationship right now. I'm just asking you about us maybe being together again. We could at least try."

Mark Prentiss

Mark was once more floored at the serious, earnest way that his ex-wife was talking of even the start of a reconciliation. It was a dramatic change of attitude for her, and while his pride and pain wanted to hurt Jessica still, his empathy and nostalgia for what they had meant to each other made him feel a new rush of affection and desire for her.

So many conflicting feelings, so little time, Mark thought. Well, what was the harm in at least giving her something of a chance? If it failed, they would know for sure that they weren't right for each other and could move on with their lives. If it worked out, perhaps it was just that they were both more mature and reasonable these days....at least he liked to think so.

"Oh, hell, why not? God knows that I miss you, Jessica. I don't know if we can make it work any better this time than last, but perhaps if we take small steps, we can see how good our chances really are before making the final plunge," he smiled at her.

Jessica was nervous as she waited for Mark's answer on their relationship. She had hoped that he would say yes. She hoped that there was still a spark there that he wanted to explore with her once again. She let out a deep sigh as he agreed, giving her a smile that completely warmed her heart and made her belly clench.

"Well, that's probably the best thing I've heard in a while." She said with a smile on her own features. "And I promise you that I will work to make everything up to you, Mark. I'm going to show you that I've changed."

The silence stretched between them for a moment. She was unsure how to proceed from there. Did she kiss him? Was that too forward? What in the hell did a divorced couple who was rekindling their relationship do?

"Would you like to stay for dinner? Chelsea is making lasagna. I'm sure she would love to have you stay a little longer." Jessica offered.

Mark Prentiss

Hearing that his beloved daughter...their little girl, was now grown up enough to make a full-course supper made Mark feel a certain pride in his only child. It pleased his soul to hear this and he wouldn't miss that, even if Jessica and he hadn't been discussing a reconciliation, of course.

That reminded him, however. He did have one concern. It was vital that Chelsea not know until things were decided, one way or the other, on the reconciliation issue. He didn't want her confused and disappointed all over again if it didn't happen. He didn't want her heart broken again, as it was six years ago when her parents divorced.

"Very well. I wouldn't miss our little girl's cooking for the world. I want to be here for that. I'm very proud of her, you know. Let's just keep this on the down low, if you don't mind, honey. I don't want her hurt again if this doesn't work out for us, Jess," Mark shared his worries.

"If it does, of course, it will be a very nice surprise for her, I think. I just want to spare her any further pain, you know. Besides, I don't want us to feel pressure and rush things before their time. If we get back together, it needs to be for the right reasons....in other words, that it is because we want to reconcile."

"I agree. Chelsea doesn't need to know any of this until we are ready to announce something." Jessica said, knowing that their daughter had been through a lot with the divorce.

Chelsea had hated her mother for a long time after her parents had split up. That anger had been multiplied ever more when Jessica had been awarded custody with visitation for Mark. Chelsea wanted to be with her father and had begged to be able to see him more. She had allowed weekends for Mark, holidays, summer vacations, anything to make Chelsea happy. As she had gotten older, she had calmed and come to understand that the two of them were doing their best for her.

"She'll be excited that you're staying for dinner. I'm surprised that she hasn't cooked for you while she was staying over. She keeps telling me she wants to be a chef when she graduates." Jessica said, leading him from the garage and back into the house.

The house was filled with the smells of a delicious dinner by the time they walked back inside. Chelsea was busy over the stove, stirring a pot of sauce as they walked into the kitchen.

"Chel? Daddy's going to stay for dinner tonight." Jessica said, Chelsea's wide blue eyes turning towards the both of them.

"Really?" She asked, looking at her father with a wide grin on her features. "Daddy, you've never stayed for dinner before."

Mark Prentiss

"Well, she has cooked, just not on this grand of a scale. It will be good to see her take pride in a very grown-up achievement. I love to see the smile on her face when she aces a test or gets a trophy in sports. I think that she inherited your talents and mine, so I wouldn't be surprised if she does well in the kitchen as well. I'm sure that she'll make a great chef if that's the path that she takes. I just hope that she knows that we're proud of her, either way," Mark beamed with a father's pride and love.

"So, it will be good to eat together like this, just like old times, won't it? Everyone at the dinner table," Mark waxed a little sentimental, as he missed those days badly.

Mark took a second to admire Jessica physically before Chelsea noticed him and showed her usual enthusiasm.

"Yes, I'm eating here tonight. I hear that you've cooked up something really nice. Do we have a future celebrity chef on our hands?" Mark half-seriously teased his daughter before kissing her forehead and giving her a bear hug.

"Daddy..." Chelsea says, a little embarrassed by her father's praise as she turns back towards the tomato sauce she had been working on. "Mom and I were talking about maybe doing some cooking classes at the college. Maybe you should come with us sometime. It'll be fun."

Jessica glanced towards him as Chelsea suggested that, unsure of what she should say. Ordinarily, she would have told Chelsea some other time, but things were a little different now. She still needed to be guarded and watch what she said around her daughter. She didn't want her heart broken all over again.

"Why don't you and your dad do the classes together? I don't need to be in the middle of things." Jessica suggested as she set about setting the table for dinner. "Besides, I know how much you like spending time with him."

Mark Prentiss

Mark hadn't thought of such an idea, but it had a certain appeal to him. He could learn a new skill, but even better, he would get to know more about his daughter....that and chase the boys off, too....he snickered.

Winking slyly at Jess, he smiled and answered, "Well, I would not oppose such an idea, come to think of it. What are your thoughts on it, Chelsea?"

He caught himself realizing just mature his daughter was......how would she handle the real world and college, however? Culinary school or whatever.

"I think it would be fun, Daddy." Chelsea said in her normally cheerful voice that she used when talking to her father. "And you can finally learn to cook something that doesn't come out of a can or isn't baked to a crisp."

Jessica laughed at that, knowing that her ex was a very capable cook. They had shared many late night dinners together during the early months of their marriage, before Chelsea came along and the pressures of parenthood and work got in the way.

"Then I'll give him a schedule of the classes and you two can pick what you want to go to." Jessica offered as she came to stand beside Mark to watch their daughter cook.

She couldn't help it as her hand came to rest on his waist lightly, a simple gesture that she had missed so much. She had touched him like that throughout the early years of their marriage and it was that contact that she missed so much.

"I would like that very much, thank you. So, Chelsea, any new boyfriends for me to scare away?" Mark joked with his daughter.

He shared a knowing glance at Jess, recalling their past, the dinners, the good times....even finally taking Chelsea home from the hospital after a premature birth and keeping her in the NICU. She had grown much stronger after that and was now a quite healthy, normal teenage girl, if a bit smarter and harder-working than some.

Mark also wondered what it would have been like if they had given Chelsea a baby brother or sister, but somehow, it just never happened. In a way, that was good. No other children had suffered from the divorce. Still, a baby brother or sister would have been good company for their daughter. He noted that none of Jessica's boyfriends had stuck around long enough to give her a half-sibling, either.

Meanwhile, Mark felt a rush of desire and a reminder of how much he missed Jessica's casual touching like that when she touched his waist. He didn't call attention to it, but he did brush aside a stray hair of hers from her face. He had missed doing that for her, too.

"Daddy..." Chelsea said in that little warning tone that she had learned from her mother when he was about to step over the line. "I'm not going to talk about boys with you."

Jessica had to laugh as Chelsea put her father in his place. She didn't even talk to her about the boys in her life. She knew that she had some friends that were boys but no one serious. She was focused on school and life after her at the moment and that suited Jessica just fine. It was better than rushing head first into a marriage right after graduation.

Glancing at Mark, she wondered when things had started to go wrong. They had been so incredibly happy. They were the only ones married out of all their friends. She was the only one married as a freshman when she started college. She was the only one pregnant through the holidays. She was the only one terrified of losing her infant when Chelsea had been born so early. That certainly had been stressful, but Mark had been wonderful to her always.

She supposed the problem was all hers. She had wondered what else was out there. There was pressure to have another baby, pressure to do well at her job, pressure to be the best mother. She had never had the drunken college parties or slept around. Perhaps that's why she had been so mean and nasty to Mark during the divorce. She knew now that she had been incredibly wrong.

She glanced up at Mark as he casually brushed aside a stray lock of blonde hair from her face and she let out a soft sigh. God, she had missed him. Why had it taken her so long to see that?

Mark Prentiss

Mark chuckled at Chelsea's typical teenage, embarrassed tone at the idea of discussing the opposite sex with a parent. It was so much like him at that age. He could remember his reaction all too well when grown-ups wanted to talk to him on his level or threaten away the girls, that kind of thing.....not that it worked at all, anyway, once he met Jessica.

He wasn't generally a relationship person until then and after it, but Jessica was, well, Jessica. She was unique and irreplaceable. On some level, he had never seriously even tried to replace her. He wasn't interested in anything serious with another woman. Truth be told, he was just subconsciously marking time, though his conscious self would never believe it, until Jessica came to her senses and took him back.....6 years later, why else would he still be single? No real girlfriends to show for it. No real interest in the dating scene, which he explained by railing against its phoniness (which probably made Jessica think that he had been dating, but then again, who knew for sure....a few questions asked to Chelsea would have cleared that up).

To be perfectly blunt, Mark had never loved anyone in that way except Jessica. No one else even came close and he didn't even try to give others false hope when they wouldn't measure up. As angry and bitter as he had been, nothing but purely physical arrangements had ever even been considered seriously. He didn't even want to look for Ms. Right. She was already there in his life....he just had to get her back.

Now, as much as it had hurt him and he had struggled with accepting the reality of it coming true and actually believing it would work after all of this time, Mark was eager....too eager? He hoped not. He didn't want to push her away by being too aggressive too soon. Then again, he also wouldn't stand idly by and let her just walk out of his life again.....not on his life.

"I would say penny for your thoughts, but I must confess that they have much greater value to me than that. What is on your mind?" Mark found himself blurting after Chelsea ran to get something from her room.

Jessica wasn't prepared for him to ask her what she was thinking about. If this was going to work and if they were going to get back to what they had before, she had to be honest with him. She had to be honest with him about everything. She glanced towards the doorway that Chelsea had scurried through on her way to her room upstairs.

"I'm just thinking about us. I'm trying to figure out how things went so horribly wrong." She said softly, turning her gaze back towards Mark with a soft sigh. "I wanted so badly to hate you, Mark. I thought that I needed you out of my life because you were holding me back. I know how much of a bitch I was to you and I honestly don't know if I can ever make that up to you."

"I should have told you that I wasn't happy. I shouldn't have assumed that you could see it." She shook her head slightly and pulled away from him, walking towards the stove to stir Chelsea's sauce. "How can I have regrets about something that gave us a beautiful daughter? We were just so young and I couldn't cope."

Mark Prentiss

Mark nodded and smiled as he lightly touched her cheek with his right hand.

"I could have been more perceptive, too. I think that we both went into this young and blind. When the initial spark was gone, we didn't build enough to keep it going, either. Both of us made assumptions. I assumed that everything was just fine and you assumed that I knew that it wasn't.

"It's easier for men to just settle into a routine more. I think that the routine is comfortable and relaxing, but it risks complacency and discontent. It makes people lazy about relationships and marriage, too. In a way, whatever regrets you have about the past and despite my bitterness in the past about the way it ended, there was some good that came of it in that we have come to appreciate what we lost. Both of us have. I can't take you for granted any more than you can with me. We both know that we've lost someone dear to us and we know that it's not as easy to start over.

"But, as you said, I do not regret Chelsea. She's the one person that made me happy still while I was wallowing in self-pity, anger, and pain. She could take me right out of that and remind me that there are more important things that what I've lost. She has made me very proud to be father and feel that whatever mistakes I made as a husband, I at least got the fatherhood done decently enough," Mark reflected on the recent past.

Jessica laughed softly as he talked about the state of their marriage and about Chelsea. She was what made the both of them incredibly happy. It was why she didn't fight hard on custody, even though she had ended up with a majority of it. They had always had a united front when it came to their daughter.

"I wish she would have had a brother or sister growing up, but it was probably best that never happened." Jessica commented as she turned back towards Mark.

"Listen, if dinner goes well tonight, why don't we agree to meet for drinks on Saturday? I know that this is a lot to handle and we both have a lot to think about. We could go down to Sam's Place, have a good burger and talk." She suggested as she heard Chelsea scurrying back down the stairs.

"Sorry! I got distracted." Chelsea exclaimed as she hurried back into the kitchen, her cell in her hand as she got to work on building the lasagna before she popped it into the oven. "Daddy, what kind of vegetable would you like to go with your meal?"

Mark Prentiss

Mark smiled as he thought of the dates that they once had at Sam's....it sounded like just the sort of casual place to let them relax and not feel so much pressure to do more than enjoy other's company....

"Sure, that works. A low-pressure environment, wouldn't you say? Very relaxed. Assuming that tonight goes well, as you say," Mark grinned.

Right then, Chelsea showed up and posed her question.

"I think that some asparagus sounds good. What about you, ladies?" he beamed at the idea of a family dinner for the first time in six years.

Jessica couldn't help the happy smile on her lips as Mark agreed to meet her at Sam's. Sam's Place was nothing but a greasy spoon diner, but it had always been their spot. They went there in high school. They went there the morning after their wedding. They went there when they found out they were expecting Chelsea. They went there when they brought Chelsea home from the hospital for the first time. It had always been their happy place and the idea of going there with him again made her heart swell.

"There's some asparagus in the fridge, Chel. I'll help you make a salad too. Mark, maybe you could pour the drinks? There's some lemonade in the fridge and some wine in the bar." Jessica said as she moved to help Chelsea get what she needed.

Her little girl didn't need much help anymore. It was a long way away from the days when she would help her make cookies at the kitchen counter. She didn't have to watch over her should anymore. She didn't have to help her measure. Chelsea was most definitely grown up and that made Jessica both proud and sad at the same time.

Mark Prentiss

Mark winked discreetly at Jess as he got out the pitcher of lemonade, correctly guessing where it would be placed in the fridge, along with a bottle of a fine Shiraz to match the lasagna. He also got out the glasses for each of them, plus a regular glass for Chelsea, smiling with pride as she worked with her mother and he uncorked the bottle of Shiraz and poured a glass of the red wine for Jess and himself, as well as the lemonade for Chelsea.

My little girl, Mark thought with bittersweet pride.....all grown now. She is more and more a woman, less and less a little girl at all. I just want the best for her.....but I also want the best for Jess and me....I can't tell her yet, but I already know what she would think. If this works.....she'll be bouncing off the walls with joy.

Jessica couldn't help the smile that came to her lips when Mark winked at her discreetly. He had a way about him that would turn her into a blushing mess in a matter of moments. It was what had drawn her to him when they were teens. That smile was always blazing. That confidence made her melt. She had missed that so much.

"Mom, can I use some wine in the asparagus?" Chelsea asked, breaking her out of her thoughts as she turned towards her daughter.

"There's some white wine open in the fridge. You can use that." She said as Chelsea gave her a bright grin, much like her father, and went to get what she needed.

It only took a few more moments for everything to be done and soon the three were sitting at the table like a happy family yet again. Jessica didn't feel tense around her ex-husband. She felt hopeful for their future together. She could smile easily, she could laugh at her daughter as she shared little jokes with her father. This was the way that it should have always been.

"So, daddy...what do you think?" Chelsea asked, sitting on the edge of her seat as she waited for his verdict on her home cooking.

Mark Prentiss

Mark had missed this kind of thing so much since the divorce. The family together. Jessica, himself, and Chelsea, all together at the supper table. The lasagna, asparagus, and salad were great as well, so he didn't have to try to spare any feelings. Chelsea had grown up just like that, right under his nose. Time had flown by....and now she was becoming a woman herself. She was almost one already....and Jessica, Jessica was like the woman that he married, only more reflective and considerate than before. Still had the same spark to her, the same lively nature.

It just plain felt....right. They were a family and they should be together again, all of them. Man, wife, and daughter.

"You did an amazing job with the lasagna and asparagus, and you and your mother together with the salad, baby. I'm very proud of you. Great wine here, by the way, dear," he spoke first to Chelsea and then to Jessica.

Mark smiled at both of them, realizing how much he loved them both. He was just glad to see that they loved him back.