A Cute Phone Call (Peter/Aly) Rating: PG

[father-peter.livejournal.com]

Peter had driven back home early so he could bring Petey the dog back and make the house seem at least a little more homey before he had to go pick up his family. He'd had a nice chat with Robert and then he'd gotten a phone call from Liz saying they were going to be late. Peter had to remind himself that them being late didn't mean they'd been flayed alive. It wasn't easy.

When his phone rang again, Peter immediatley lost the composure he'd just happened to gain with Robert's help. "Peter, you have to answer it. It's allrigh' they'll be fine!" Robert said, wandering away so Peter could have privacy.

Peter stared at the phone for a second before he finally answered. "Hello?" he asked, his voice slightly shaky.

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[ghost-within.livejournal.com]

Aly had spent about an hour talking herself into this. It wasn't cheating on her husband and it wasn't wrong and Peter wasn't going to think she was a lunatic. Well-he might think that if she babbled. She'd have to make sure she didn't babble.

When he answeres, however, he sounded upset and all of her nervousness just faded away. She went into Mum Mode. "Peter? This is Aly. Is everything alright?"

[father-peter.livejournal.com]

Peter let out a sigh of relief. "Hello, Aly. Everything's fine. My family are coming home from Dublin today and I got a call to say they'll be later than expected so I suppose I'm a little on edge is all."

And then he realised who it was he was talking to. Aly. Gorgeous. Beautiful eyes. Perfect Arse. Notthathewaslooking.

"Uh. Er. How...how are you then?"

[ghost-within.livejournal.com]

Aly smiled. She liked it that he mentioned his family and that he was worried about them. She didn't like that he HAD to be worried about them, but it showed he cared!

"I'm fine. I have a day off today, so Caleb and I had a walk and then a nice lunch. He fell asleep about an hour ago."

Well, what to say now? She hardly knew Peter, except that David approved of him, which was of course the main thing that made her interested. David was an excellent judge of character. She knew she wanted to get to know him better. But how did you do that over the phone when yo couldn't think of anything to say?!

"So. Er..what was your family doing in Dublin then?"

[father-peter.livejournal.com]

Peter hesitated. Had she called just to talk. Just to chat? When was the last time someone not related to him had done that? It felt very odd. In a nice, incredibly nervous making way.

He cleared his throat. "Well, I-I thought it would be nice for my girls to get away. And it seemed like the right time to do it with everything that's going on. We have friends that live in Dublin, so they visited them and saw castles and things. Apparently I'm getting a present." He paused. He hesitated. He stuttered. "S-s-so...how's David?"

[ghost-within.livejournal.com]

"David's well! He sounds happier than he has in a while. He'd been looking for someone named Mary and he said he found her which is good."

She suddenly felt so sick she had to say the next sentence very fast. "Do you think you might like to come over for dinner sometime with your girls?"

[father-peter.livejournal.com]

So David had found what he was looking for. Excellent. He'd have to call him and speak to him about it.

Of course Peter hadn't expected the next question at all. "W...er-yes. Yes, I'd love to." Not right away. He needed to not have distractions with Renee still missing. Was this a...date thing? Was this how single parents dated, by having dinner at each other's houses? It seemed so normal. And WAS she a single parent? She still wore a ring. Probably best not to bring that up.

"I think Lydia and Anna would love to meet Caleb. And...I definitely wouldn't mind seeing the two of you again."

[ghost-within.livejournal.com]

Oh, Phew.

"Okay. Great! Yes, Caleb likes having other children to play with. He'll be a perfect gentleman to your girls, I promise." She added, her voice laced with amusement. Caleb was a perfect gentlemen compared to the boys he was in childcare with who put bugs in girl's hair and ran away cackling. "Is...is next weekend okay?" She asked, knowing his girls were in summer classes...or they had been...and they probably shouldn't be out on a school night.

[father-peter.livejournal.com]

Next weekend. He felt guilty for making plans for next weekend when he could be needed. But could life be put on hold?

That wasn't fair, Deirdre's life was on hold. Kait's was, and Pierre's was. But they might find Renee tomorrow, no one knew. If they hadn't by next weekend, he could always politely change the plans. He hoped she wouldn't mind that.

"Next weekend sounds wonderful. I'm looking forward to it." And he was.

[ghost-within.livejournal.com]

Aly smiled. "Me too. So...I guess I'll talk to you later, and I'll be seeing you soon. So...it was nice to speak with you. Bye!" She said cheerfully.

[father-peter.livejournal.com]

"It was nice to hear from you as well, thank you for calling. Goodbye, Aly."

He hung up and let out a breath. He didn't know if he was ready for this, but there was no better way to find out, was there.

He glanced at the clock. He still had an hour before he had to leave for the train station. He bit his lip. "Robert! Come back, I need you to calm me down again!" He called out and he smiled when he was answered back by Robert's booming laugh.