A/N: So apparently, the first time I posted this, the site, for a reason unbeknownst to me, posted Chapter 2 of my other story, "The Good Life". So, I got up this morning, all excited about reviews, and opened them up, and they were both along the lines of "I think I've read this somewhere before ..." Don't get me wrong, I love reviews, but I was like ... darn. So I clicked on the story to see what had posted, and sure enough ... Chapter 2 of "The Good Life" But thanks for the reviews, anyways:) I just hope it's not going to do the same thing this time!
Anyways, this is a little piece I wrote for Valentine's Day. I got the idea from a little funny blurb I read in Reader's Digest WAY back in the day (which was a Wednesday, by the way), and I thought to myself, "Hmm ... that would be cute, Red Eye-style." So, I've taken that, mixed in some Jackson/Lisa goodness, and hope you enjoy the rest! Please let me know:)
--- KMH
Jackson rolled his eyes as Lisa continued her ranting, screaming at times. She was yelling at him for something he did ... or didn't do ... or ... he wasn't quite sure, he had tuned her out a few minutes ago. The argument had started on their way to what was supposed to be a romantic Valentine's Day dinner, and had escalated to such a degree that Jackson had to pull over for fear of taking too much of his concentration of the road and potentially causing a wreck. He'd really never hear the end of it if he wrecked.
"-and you said you'd quit, but you didn't! Why doesn't that surprise me? I thought that-"
"Leese," Jackson interrupted, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I know you hate the fact that I'm still a manager. But face the facts, it's good money. If we're going to be putting money into college funds, then-"
"Don't. Even. Use. That line!" Lisa hissed. "You and I both know that there's more than enough money to put Ryan and Cassie through college, and-"
"Stop, Lisa! Just-" His loud outburst surprised her enough to cause her to quickly shut her mouth. For now. "Just ... stop." He took a few breaths, hoping to calm his anger. He continued at a quieter level. "Let's just get whatever this is, out of our systems right now, lay all of our cards out on the table, get over it, and go to dinner, okay?"
There was a lot about Jackson that Lisa loved. He had turned out to be a great husband, and an even better father, both of which surprised her. She had always imagined that the level of hatred that she had for him after the red eye flight would stay steady, but when he kept her and her father out of harm's way by rescuing them from a nearly-successful revenge attack by the company he worked for, her hatred for him had quickly evaporated. Now, six years after the second attack, they were married, living in Miami, and had two children, Ryan, who was four, and Cassie, who was two.
Lisa had her arms folded across her chest and sent him a glare. Finally, she agreed. "Fine. Here's how we're going to do this ..." She began rifling around in the back seat of his car, searching for the notebook that he always kept in the back. Finding it, she ripped two pieces of paper out, set it back down, and began rummaging through her purse for pens. "Three minutes. You write down what bugs the hell out of you about me, and I'll write what bugs the hell out of me about you. At the end of the three minutes, pens go down, and we exchange what we wrote." Jackson smiled at Lisa's creativity. "Gotta deal?" she asked, holding up two pens.
"Sounds like a plan," he replied, setting his watch timer for three minutes. "Ready ... and ... go." He took one of the pieces of paper and one of the pens from Leese, and the pair started.
Lisa quickly began making a mental list of everything that Jackson did that bugged her. She glanced over at Jackson, looking for anger-fueled inspiration. What she saw surprised her. Instead of the man that had threatened her in her father's house, she saw Ryan's blue eyes, just like his father's, and Cassie's freckles, just like her father's. She saw the man who loved nothing better than going out in the back yard and playing G.I. Joes with Ryan, crawling around in the dirt, grass, and bushes, searching for make-believe enemy soldiers that threatened their makeshift fort at the base of their huge live oak tree in the corner of the yard. She saw the man that liked to sit at night and read the story of Herself the Elf to his daughter in low, soothing tones, while rocking her gently back and forth until she fell asleep, and who wasn't too proud or embarassed to join her for a tea party with her stuffed animals. She tried shaking the image from her mind, and concentrated on the things about him that drove her up the wall. Although she loved Jackson, there were certain things he would do or say that drove her insane. She began writing.
I hate how you nuzzle me with your stubble in the mornings before you shave, to wake me up, and think it's funny when I get pissed about it ...
I can't stand how you'll leave a room and leave the light on ...
I hate how you'll start the car, put it in reverse, and start backing out of the driveway, before you put your seatbelt on. That's not a good example for the kids ...
Jackson looked down at the list he had compiled on his piece of paper. He had filled nearly half of the page with his summation of what he thought of Lisa. And he wasn't even close to being finished. He let his hand recover from the ache of writing at an odd angle against the steering wheel, and took the opportunity to observe Lisa. She was biting the corner of her lower lip, a sign that she was concentrating. He knew the look all too well. It was the same look Cassie would get whenever she would try to piece words together to form sentences.
Lisa suddenly looked up, knowing she was being watched, and turned in her seat suddenly, shielding her work. There was no way he was going to cheat off of her paper! She began thinking of more things that he did to drive her crazy.
I hate it when you put me on speaker phone when you're over at my dad's, with the guys, and he starts telling stories about all the embarassing things I did as a kid ...
You drive me up the wall when you peel your grapefruit and eat it like an orange, section by section ...
I can't stand it when you leave-
Jackson glanced down at his watch, seeing that the three minutes were nearly up. "Twelve seconds," he called out. The duo wrote furiously until the watch started beeping, signaling the end of their three minutes. "Time's up."
Lisa finished her last sentence and held out her list in front of her, inspecting it carefully. Jackson sat expectantly next to her. He held out his list and she took it from him, noting the smirk he had on his face. She handed him her piece of paper and began reading through Jackson's list.
Jackson looked at Lisa's neat, curvy penmanship, and read through the list of his supposed faults, smiling at each one.
I hate how you nuzzle me with your stubble in the mornings before you shave, to wake me up, and think it's funny when I get pissed about it.
I can't stand how you'll leave a room and leave the light on.
I hate how you'll start the car, put it in reverse, and start backing out of the driveway, before you put your seatbelt on. That's not a good example for the kids.
I'm ready to strangle you when I'm sound asleep in the middle of the night, and you feel the need to wake me up with your cold feet.
I hate it when you feel the need to tap along to every song on the radio when we're in the car.
I don't like it when you don't wipe the mirror off after it gets all fogged up when you're in the shower.
I hate how you wait until almost noon before you bring the trash cans up after the trash has been picked up in the morning.
I can't stand the way you fold your newspaper in the mornings when we eat breakfast.
I hate it when you put me on speaker phone when you're over at my dad's, with the guys, and he starts telling stories about all the embarassing things I did as a kid.
You drive me up the wall when you peel your grapefruit and eat it like an orange, section by section.
I can't stand it when you leave the toilet seat up, and I nearly fall in when I have to get up in the middle of the night to pee.
I-
Jackson looked up as he heard Lisa's strangled sobs. "You're such an ass, you know that?" she asked with a watery groan.
Lisa looked down at the list Jackson had written, and felt absolutely horrible.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love the way you look at me when we wake up in the mornings.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love the way you feel in my arms when I hold you at night.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love the fact that I see your smile when Cassie laughs.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love the way I immediately think of the look on you had on your face at the Tex-Mex whenever Ryan turns his nose up at something.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
You drive me crazy, I can't stop thinking about you.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love how you almost cried when I said I wanted Cassie's middle name to be "Josephine", to honor your dad.
I love you. I love you.
I love the little sighs and moans you make when I make love to you.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love seeing you sign "Lisa Rippner" on all of your paperwork, because it reminds me that you chose me to be your husband.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love how you cried and kissed me when Ryan and Cassie were born.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love how our sheets and pillows smell like your perfume and shampoo.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I loved it when you would put my hand on your belly at night, when you were pregnant, so that I could feel the babies move.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love watching and listening to you sing and dance around in the kitchen, when you're making supper, and you think no one's watching.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love that you said "yes" when I asked you to marry me.
I love you. And nothing could ever change that.
-JR
Lisa dropped the paper in her lap and let out a heart-wrenching sob, covering her face with her hands. She felt Jackson's arms wrap around her and pull her body against his. She suddenly threw her arms around his neck and held him tight.
"I'm so sorry, Jackson!" she cried, her eyes burning with tears.
"Shh, Lisa ... it's all right," he soothed, rubbing his hand up and down her back comfortingly. "It's all right."
Lisa pulled away and shook her head. "No, no ... it's not alright!" She wiped her eyes. "I look for stupid little things to fight over, and to argue about, and you go and-" She held up the paper filled with Jackson's handwriting and gestured wordlessly. Another batch of tears began spilling down her cheeks. "God, I feel so horrible for all that stuff I wrote down."
Jackson reached out and brushed the tears off her cheeks with his thumbs. "No, I do a lot to drive you crazy." He suddenly smirked. "But that comment about the way I eat my grapefruit was low." Lisa hiccupped a laugh and nodded. Jackson cupped her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. Then her eyelids. Then her nose. Then, he finally pressed his lips against hers. Lisa thought she could die happy, right then and there.
"I'm sorry, Jackson. I'm so sorry," she mumbled after they had broken the kiss. "I don't even remember what the fight started over." Jackson shrugged.
"It's okay, I tuned out most of it." Lisa laughed and paused, before giving him a shy smile.
"Did- ... did you really like it when I put your hand over the babies when I was pregnant? I thought that weirded you out?" It was Jackson's turn to give a sheepish laugh.
"Yeah, I really liked it, Leese. Those were some of the few times I felt like I could bond with my kids before they were born." He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Although ... I'll admit, the first time you were pregnant, when you were pregnant with Ryan ... when I felt him kick for the first time, I got a little freaked out." Lisa smiled. "But, after that, I was okay. I think it's neat, feeling the way they move." He looked out the window before continuing. "Ever notice that Cassie still has to shove that one hand out, when she's sleeping?"
Lisa nodded. "Yeah, just like how she always did when I was pregnant with her ..." she reminisced. Jackson sighed and took her hands in his.
"So, what do you say? Truce? Can we go to dinner now?" Lisa smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, truce." Jackson gave her a wink and they both turned back in their seats as he started the car. "Jackson?" When he looked over at her, she leaned over and threaded her fingers through his hair, pulling him down for a kiss. She felt him smile against her lips. "Happy Valentine's Day, baby." Jackson pulled back and smiled at her.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Leese."
A/N: Ta-da! Hope you all enjoyed it! This was my little one-shot, for Valentine's Day. Please review and let me know what you think! And Happy Valentine's Day to all! 3
--- KMH