[sub]Collab between [@Themerlinhawk] and [@lovely complex][/sub]

The blonde man showed his badge to the young mother and a slight relief fell over her. Though she did feel a little uncomfortable with his stare, she wasn’t going to let that ruin her interactions with a man, who so kindly allowed her and her son to sit with him. Nana observed the cop interact with her child and couldn’t help but have a soft smile on her face. At least there were some people who didn’t mind children. 

The man introduced himself to her son (indirectly to her). Her boy couldn’t help but shake his hand excitingly. Turning his head to see his mom, Jude wondered if it was okay to give his name. She nodded and his grin widened, [color=palegreen]”I’m Jude! That’s my mommy. Mommy meet Dehputee!”[/color] Nana couldn’t help but notice her son look at this man with admiration. Shows like Law & Order was some of Nana’s preferred TV content, when she was in the mood to watch something rather than read the newspaper or a good book.  Of course, she didn’t allow her son to watch any of that but she did talk highly about the police force because she wanted her son to always know if there was trouble, he’d have the police to call for help. 

Nana watched Jerry stand up and offer his hand. She grabbed it gingerly, her hands smooth and delicate. By appearance, Nana was always kind of dainty and most people’s first impressions of her were: “fragile, be careful”. It wasn’t her fault she was small… even if she tried stuffing herself with food, her metabolism would dissolve everything almost instantaneously. 

Politely and not yet comfortable calling him by his nickname, her exotic green gaze met his, as she clarified who she was, [color=limegreen]”Nice to meet you, Jeremiah. I’m Nana. Nana Darling.”[/color] He let go of her hand, which brought her back to feeling secure with herself since physical contact made her tense, and asked her about her day.

As she answered, she gave her son half of her pretzel and a napkin, [color=limegreen]”My day off for once. I cherish these days the most…”[/color] Eagerly, Jude grabbed the pretzel and immediately nommed it, but slowed down knowing his mom wouldn’t like him eating too fast. He liked plain pretzels, no add ons. Digging in her simple, black purse, she took out her water bottle and held it just in case her child got thirsty. 

Sitting in between Jerry and Jude, Nana broke a tiny piece of the pretzel’s other half and took an even smaller bite of the piece she ripped off. The woman preferred to eat… more self consciously… when she was around someone new. Her guard was obviously up.

Before she got to ask a question to the stranger, Nana’s ears perked up when Jude’s voice chimed in, [color=palegreen]”Mr. Dehputee, have you caught bad guys today?”[/color] The mother stood silent and let her little man converse with the officer. 

[color=silver]“Not today, Lucky for us Millington is quiet. Which is a good thing since I’m not on duty today.”[/color] Jerry leaned back against the bench and smiled gently as he watched Jude and Nana eat. Turning his gaze back to Nana he cocked his head [color=silver]“You work and take care of the young man?”[/color] It was clear that Jerry was rather impressed. 

Nana looked quite young to be a mom, that being said he had no idea how old she actually was. Turning to Jude he eyed the kid again. Rather young still; she must of had him early. Keeping His face neatly schooled Jerry did his best not to give away his line of thoughts; no doubt she was probably a social pariah because of it. There wasn’t any reason for him to cause any more pain and besides what would have been the point, it wasn’t like there was something to be gained. 

Knowing very well Jude wanted to talk to this man more than her, Nana let the boy answer the question for her, [color=palegreen]”Mommy cleans people’s homes. I miss her EVERYDAY but she works so much! My Titi says mommy is gonna make sure nuthin’ bad happens to me. I love my mommy.”[/color] He leaned his head on her, showing that he too appreciated this day with his mother. 

No longer touching her food, Nana rubbed her fingers on her napkin and gave her son the water bottle, [color=limegreen]”Be careful and drink slow.”[/color] She was trying to get him away from using straws and sippy cups. Turning her attention back to the cop, she added, [color=limegreen]”His Titi is my good friend. She use to work at a homeless shelter but now she works at a daycare, which is helpful. I have little time with him in the morning and little time with him before bedtime… so, we love days off. Am I right baby?”[/color]  Finishing taking a nice swig of water, he nodded with only love on his face and handed his mom the bottle carefully. Peeking his head passed his mom, Jude listened to the new question, letting his big, innocent eyes reveal he was attentive and listening. 

[color=silver]“So how old are you, Jude?”[/color] It was a dirty trick to get an idea of how long Nana had been a mom but Jerry was curious. That and it would have been rude to pry in public about an almost complete stranger. Hopefully she didn’t notice but it was better than asking her out right about a delicate subject, in public, knowing so little about him. 

Jerry’s gaze wandered a little as he scanned the crowd at the food court. The usual habits kicked in as he watched for anyone doing something unusual. Best to simply keep an eye on things, people were strange. One minute they could be totally normal the next people were throwing punches. You could never tell how people were going to be and the best defense was to simply not be caught unaware.

Not alarmed at the question, she nodded again giving her son permission to give his age, the boy answered kindly, [color=palegreen]”Mommy says age is nuthin’ but a numba. I’m a big five, Mr. Dehputee.”[/color] After he answered the question, Jude went back to his pretzel which begged for his attention. 

Rather than letting the man ask another question, Nana decided to take initiative this time, [color=limegreen]”What brings you to the mall?”[/color] She brought her attention to the food court where he was staring and sighed, [color=limegreen] “I prefer avoiding… big places like this, but my little man wanted a new book.”[/color]

[color=silver]“Clothing actually. I just moved to Millington and of course of all the stuff I brought with me my non work clothes weren’t included other than the backpack I packed. I should be moved in within a day or two so that will be good.”[/color] turning back to Nana he gave her face a more thorough look. She was quite attractive that was for sure and she certainly appeared delicate but looks were oh so deceiving and she was raising a five year old. 

[color=silver]“I understand that feeling, I use to work in Southern California so lots of big open places.”[/color] Jerry gave a shiver, [color=silver]“It’s uncomfortable too many people all packed together. In all honesty I was raised in a town like Millington, guess I feel more at home here than SoCal.”[/color] The nickname slipped out, he’d lived there quite a while and picked up the terminology but it dawned on him that it wasn’t always apparent what that meant to other people. 

Leaning past Nana a bit to look at Jude, Jerry smiled, [color=silver]“You are absolutely right young man age is only a number. That being said make sure you don’t go getting into any trouble over it okay? Just because I agree with you doesn’t mean you don’t have to wait for somethings.”[/color] Jerry gave Nana another half smile [color=silver]“Bet you two can’t guess how old I am.”[/color] With a smug smirk Jeremiah folded his arms and leaned back against the railing. Nana’s reaction might give him an insight into how old she was. It was totally prying but the cute mother son pair had piqued his interest to say the least. 

The mother narrowed her eyes, in a playful manner. A guessing game huh? Jude gave the cop a thumbs up, knowing very well that he still had a long way to go before he could be a big, strong man that protects his mother. At this point, his mouth was completely filled with pretzel and he didn’t want to be rude. Nana shifted her body, her legs reaching near his, but not touching them, as she analyzed his features. She had a feeling… he was going to be hard one to figure out. 

[color=limegreen]”Let’s see, Deputy Richman. Based on your appearance and your occupation, I’d assume you're middle aged. However, you’re far more approachable than most older people I’ve met. Of course, this is purely based on my own experiences. You look young but you hold yourself in a mature light. Part of me wants to think you’re older, but the mere fact you immediately wanted to start on a nickname basis with me, makes me think you’re younger. It’s hard to say, because you’re sweet to my kid and the whole nickname thing could have just been you making my child’s life easier.”[/color] Her eyes stared at his face, long and hard, and her expression was in full concentration. When she came to a decision, she hesitated while answering, [color=limegreen]”24...25?”[/color]

[color=silver]”Almost, in four months you’d be correct. I’m actually 23, I’ll be 24 in july. I was quite the hard worker in college so I got a lot of things done very quickly. Did a year and a half in LA and now I’m here. They took me as investigations which is unheard of but of course it's a smaller town.”[/color] Jerry grinned at her. [color=silver]“You’re pretty young yourself aren’t you?”[/color] He finally broached the topic. Might as well since they were already on the subject. Before she could answer he held up his hands [color=silver]”Not gonna make assumptions about anything, you won’t find any ridiculous judgements from me so no worries.”[/color] Jerry smiled at her and looked at Jude before returning to her face. 

[color=silver]Sorry, I know you’re never suppose to ask a woman’s age so I won’t offended if you slap me[/color] He gave her a playful grin[color=silver]”I’ll just be forced to arrest you for assaulting a police officer.”[/color] 

Rolling her eyes to the [i]officer[/i] jokingly, Nana shrugged, [color=limegreen]”Asking someone’s age is normal. I’m not offended at all, though man, hitting police officers was my favorite past time”[/color] she stuck her tongue out, when Jude cut in, [color=palegreen] “Mommy, you’re a liar.”[/color] The boy had finished his pretzel and was wiping his face up with the napkin, [color=palegreen]”Mommy likes cop shows. She says I’m too small to watch it but I would like it. I like you, Mr. Dehputee, so I like mommy’s shows too.”[/color] Jude took the book out of the bag and showed the officer, not realizing he was preventing his mother from answering the question, [color=palegreen]”I also like this. The pictures are pretty. Mommy says these are scary, nuthin’ like Disney, but we made a deal. And no Darling breaks deals!”[/color] The kid opened the book and then began flipping the pages.

This was Nana’s chance to answer Jerry’s question before her son wanted to start walking somewhere, [color=limegreen]”I’m 21, Jeremiah.”[/color] Her gut feelings were a little nervous dropping the bomb of her age, but she felt like this man wouldn’t judge her too harshly, right? 

Jerry cocked an eyebrow but didn’t say anything immediately. It was quick mental math. [color=silver]“So you like cop shows?”[/color] It was a clearly tactical change of topic. Not because he wasn’t curious about the age of the son and mom but simply because it was clearly something sensitive and it wouldn’t have done any good to dig at it. Jerry smiled at her [color=silver]“Kind of an odd taste. Law and Order? or are you more of a White Collar kind of person?”[/color] Rolling his shoulders he sat back against the bench again eyeing the food court once again. The pretzel had sort of been lunch but it really hadn’t done it for him. Atleast not fully. 

[color=limegreen]”I like to know about the world, but to answer your question, Law and Order.”[/color] Nana began cleaning up her son’s mess and putting the garbage in the paper bag that the food came out of. 

Jerry looked over at Jude. [color=silver]“Is that pretzel gonna be enough for him? I haven’t exactly eaten today and there is delicious food like thirty feet away from me. Can I get you two lunch? I personally am going to go get something to eat and it seems like you two are winding down your day.”[/color] He gave Jude another peek around Nana. [color=silver]“And it looks like he’s enthralled.”[/color]

Surprised at his offer, she graciously declined, [color=limegreen] “No, that’s fine… we had a big breakfast and--”[/color]

Closing his book loudly, Jude gave the large thing to his mom and jumped off the bench, [color=palegreen]”I WANT NUGS.”[/color] Nana sighed. This man had to bring up lunch… she was trying to make her child wait until they got home…

[color=limegreen]”I guess I’ll take you up on that offer, but I won’t allow you to pay.”[/color] She put the book back inside it’s shopping back and stood up. The garbage can was right next to the bench, and so she dealt with her trash near immediately. Jude ran to his mom’s side and grabbed her hand. Offering his other hand to the officer, Jude gave a cheesy grin. 

Jerry smiled and stood up taking the kids hand he nodded. [color=silver]“My only request is that there be vegetables involved, I was on the road for two days and it was fast food for three meals a day. Absolutely gross. I mean don’t get me wrong I like a burger now and then but three meals a day is just not good.”[/color] We gestured. [color=silver]“I think you should let your mom choose, she knows better than I do what it's okay for you to eat.”[/color]

Jerry gave Nana a rye shrug over Jude’s head turning slightly he mouthed over the little guy [color=silver]“let me pay for half?”[/color] in a normal tone [color=silver]“I’m sorry I intruded on your day, the lunch thing came out of left field I’m sorry about that it just seemed rude not to offer.”[/color] Jerry gave her another half hearted smile.