Dedicated to: fairysums , rqseystars , kaylazieglando , kinkykenzie and Jenziendgame <3
✰ 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎 ✰
As the sun rapidly started falling down the sky, painting a picturesque scene over the city, I walked. I walked through the throngs of people streaming at me from all directions, I walked across roads and footpaths after waiting at traffic lights, and I walked between the skyscrapers that slowly emptied out more and more people; people who were ready to go home.
Even though it is approaching nighttime, newspaper vendors still yell out the latest headlines, Starbucks is still doing a steady trade selling people coffee, and buskers line the street corners, filling the streets with their beautiful voices. It is my most favorite part of the day. I get to relax, calm the workday jitters with a walk and a train ride, and just observe.
As I reach the train station and stand at the top of the steps, I look left and right, searching the crowd for a familiar face. After a while I spot my younger sister Lauren, curled up on a bench seat with a book cradled in her hands; absolutely oblivious to the world around her. Smiling a little to myself at her antics, I head down the steps towards her, calling out her name.
"Lauren!" I yell out, waving.
She looks up, confused at first- but when she recognizes who I am she smiles kindly and waves back, stuffing her book in her bag.
"Hey." She greets when I am closer.
"Hey. How was your day?" I ask. We start to wander to the train station we arrive to and depart from daily.
"Good. I helped a really nice couple find their dream home. It was really cute. How was yours?"
"Same old, same old." I smile wistfully. "Gave screaming babies their shots, referred kids to the hospital, prescribed some medicine... fun times."
Lauren wrinkles her nose. "Sounds like it."
I laugh.
Packing up her bag, she stands, and we walk slowly over to the right train, making more small talk as we go. When we arrive, I scan my card and walk to our usual seats. It's quite crowded already, so we were lucky to get to sit down.
As per our custom, Lauren watches what's happening out the opposite window and I put in my airpods and start listening to music. The world seems to drift away, and after the busy day I've had, I start to let all of my tension go.
That's until some screaming baby enters the train on the next stop.
Lauren subtly leans forward to look at where the noise is coming from, and I sigh, my peace and quiet being interrupted. When she doesn't lean back in her seat after a while, I take an airpod out and look too. What I see surprises me, and I immediately feel bad for cursing the screaming baby a few seconds earlier.
A young woman is desperately trying to console a very tiny but very loud baby, shifting her weight from side to side and rocking the bundle. From my own knowledge, the baby looks to be young- only a couple weeks old- and my brain whirrs. If it's that young of a baby, they probably just want to be changed or fed, and if the woman is in public, she won't want to do either of those things. Another young girl that looks to be about five (and obviously is her daughter, as they look exactly alike) holds onto her elbow, trying to hold her Mother's attention by chattering away but failing desperately.
The woman herself is embarrassed, cheeks flushed as if she knows everyone is watching her, and she looks about ready to burst into tears. I feel terrible on her behalf, but that's not why I can't stop staring. I can't stop staring because she's absolutely beautiful, and not in the conventional way.
She's slender, has slightly browned skin, and wears clothing that isn't quite from this time; a long stripy long sleeve shirt and black dungarees over the top. Her brown hair is streaked with gold and falls partway down her back, arranged in a messy ponytail. Her features are soft, and everything about her seems blurred at the edges, as if her whole being was sad.
"You think she's pretty, don't you?" Lauren says out of nowhere.
I slowly look back at Lauren, not entirely sure I heard her right, but blushing anyway. "I- what?"
"You heard me." She smiles. "Go talk to her." She then prompts.
"No." I whisper back, still looking at the woman out of the corner of my eye. "She's way out of my league, probably married, and what would I say anyway?"
"First of all, you're rich, successful, and decent-looking- so no she's not out of your league, second of all, she's not wearing a ring so that's that, and thirdly, you're the pediatrician here, so talk to her about her screaming kid, I'm sure she'd appreciate it." Lauren huffs.
I look over at the two girls and the baby again, then sigh. "She's pretty, but I'm too shy." I say quietly.
"Shy my ass." Lauren retorts, zipping up her bag. "I'm going to talk to her, because if somebody doesn't then she might well burst into tears."
I watched, shell-shocked, as Lauren left her seat beside me and sat with someone else for the first time in months. She introduced herself, and I was just out of earshot to hear their conversation. The woman seemed shy as they talked, and sat there blushing more by the second as she frantically tried to calm her baby and talk to Lauren at the same time.
I seemed to be the only one to notice that the woman's daughter had slipped out of her line of sight and had begun using the handrails at the top of the subway as monkey bars. I chuckled to myself as the young girl tried with all her might to make it from her Mom's end of the train to my own, almost kicking multiple seated people in the face.
She'd almost reached my seat when she began to get in a bit of trouble- she didn't quite grab onto one of the rails, and dangled with one arm. She screamed, quite frantic, and looked around for people to help so that she didn't have to drop all the way to the floor.
I didn't even think about it. I was out of my seat and had caught her before her Mom and Lauren had located where she was.
The girl stared at me, wide-eyed, as I gently sat her down on the ground and crouched down beside her. "Are you okay?" I asked gently.
She nodded, looking up at the bars she'd been hanging off and then down again. She looked around once more before turning back to me, a little shell-shocked. "I don't know where Mommy is."
"It's okay." I tell her, standing up and offering my hand to her. "I know where she is."
The little girl clasped my hand and we walked down the aisle together towards her Mom and Lauren. She broke away from me when she saw her Mom, running up to her and climbing in her lap. Lauren was holding the still crying baby.
The woman let out a huff and a laugh as her daughter plonked herself on her. The little girl promptly started chattering away to her Mom about how she was pretending to do the monkey bars and a 'nice man' helped her. As I approached them, Lauren raised an eyebrow at me and I felt my cheeks get hot once again.
"Who was the nice man? Is he on the train?" The woman asked, and the little girl looked around and pointed at me.
"Hey." I said sheepishly as the three girls started at me. I locked eyes with the woman I'd been crushing on for the last ten minutes, and she smiled shyly back at me. "I'm Lauren's brother, so I was watching out for your little one when I saw you two together. She almost had a wee fall." I chuckled.
"Oh, thank you!" She said sheepishly. "I really should have been paying more attention but with miss scream-the-house-down here I forgot." She sent a pointed glance towards her baby, who Lauren was currently rocking. "I- I'm Mackenzie, by the way." She stuttered, averting her eyes from my own.
"Johnny." I greeted her, sitting down next to Lauren.
Lauren turned to face Mackenzie. "Is it okay if I give the little one to John? It's kind of his thing, after all."
Mackenzie frowned, confused. "His thing?" She looked at me curiously.
I blushed profusely. Trust Lauren. "I'm a pediatrician." I finally said. "I work with babies... like, a lot."
"Oh, I see. Go ahead." She said kindly, adjusting her other child in her lap.
Lauren carefully handed me the bundle of blankets and I pulled the baby to my chest, supporting it's head with one of my hands and tipping it slightly upright. "Is it a boy or girl?" I ask Mackenzie without taking my eyes off of the blue-eyed baby.
"Boy. His name is Oliver."
"Can I show you a trick to maybe stop him crying?" This time I looked at her.
Her mouth fell open. "There's a trick?"
I laughed. "Sometimes. C'mere."
She picked up her little girl and moved from her place beside Lauren to the seat beside my own. Once she sat down, she leaned in beside me, close but not quite touching.
"This sometimes works after babies have had a quick checkup and are crying, but we'll see." I said, tucking little Olivers arms into his chest and carefully un-swaddling him, passing the blanket to Lauren, who also watched curiously. "Once you've unwrapped him, you're going to hold the back of his nappy with one hand, and his chest with the other hand, put him upright... and gently rock him up and down."
After a few long seconds, Oliver finally, finally stopped crying.
When I looked up again, I found that Lauren, Mackenzie and what felt like the whole train was staring at me.
"Woah! He stopped!" Mackenzie's daughter observed, shocked.
Mackenzie herself looked close to tears. "I could seriously kiss you right now."
I laughed out loud, warmth flooding through me.
"I'm serious!" She exclaimed. "You're good with babies, you helped little Evie, and you're just so nice."
I laughed again. "Don't worry about it. Kids... they're just second nature to me."
"Clearly." I met her eyes, and was glad to see she didn't look sad anymore. In actual fact, she looked extremely happy.
The announcement overhead ruined our moment, and we both looked away as the voice chimed out, telling us that the strain was to be stopping in thirty seconds.
"Oh!" Mackenzie exclaimed. "That's our stop."
My heart sunk . "Here." I said, handing her baby Oliver. Lauren passed me his blankets, I passed them to Mackenzie, and she busied herself bundling him up. Evie jumped up, ready to go.
The train stopped. Mackenzie looked at us both and smiled wistfully. "Thanks for helping with Oliver and not thinking I'm a crazy lady. You're both great people."
Lauren smiled back. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you would have done the same."
"Oh no way." Mackenzie laughed. "I would have been much too shy."
I laughed at that, for I had been to shy to approach her in the first place.
"It was nice meeting you." I finally chimed in.
She nodded. "Same goes, to both of you." And with one last, very sincere smile, she was gone out the train doors.
She was barely out of earshot when Lauren demanded me to go after her.
"What? Why?"
"Oh come on. You were so in love with her."
"I told you, she's probably married!" I argued back.
"When you stopped her baby from crying-which was cute as fuck by the way- she literally said she could kiss you."
"And?"
"Take a clue for fucks sake! Johnny Vincent Orlando, if you don't get off this train right now and go ask for her number then you are going to regret it for a very. Long. Time."
I realized she was right. I realized the train doors were closing. I ran.
I got out the doors, then looked left and right. The train whizzed past and to the next station. I didn't care. There would be another train, but there wouldn't be another Mackenzie. I frantically searched the immediate crowd, but I couldn't catch a glimpse of her anywhere. Going out on a limb, I ran for the exit, hoping she would be on the steps or the street above.
By the time I'd found her, my pulse was racing. "Mackenzie!" I yelled out, running up the steps to where she was holding Evie's hand and helping her up- all while balancing Oliver on her hip.
She turned around, looking for who had called out her name. When her eyes rested on me, who was running through the crowd, she looked surprised.
"Hey, John." She greeted me. "What's up? Did I leave something on the train?"
"Uh, no actually, nothing. Nothing at all." My heart was pounding in my chest.
"Oh?" Confusion was etched on her features. Evie swung their intertwined hands around, but Mackenzie took no notice.
"I was actually wondering, um... Do you want to go out for coffee with me sometime?"
Mackenzie's face cleared, and then brightened even more, an absolutely gorgeous smile taking over her face. "As a date? As in like, not friends, but like, a couple?"
I smiled sheepishly. "Yeah."
"I'd love to." She grinned, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank God." I laughed, and she did too.
"What about me?" Evie chimed in. "Can I come?"
Mackenzie looked at me, a questioning look on her face.
I bent down to Evie's height. "Of course you can. Maybe we would go to the beach and go swimming, or something?"
I looked at Mackenzie for confirmation. She was smiling. I took that as a yes.
"Maybe, if you're extra good for Mom, I'll get you an icecream." I told Evie, unable to keep the smile off my face.
"Really?" Evie gasped, looking between the both of us.
I nodded, standing back up again. "Really. Hey, can I get your number then?"
Mackenzie nodded, and as I opened up a new contact she rattled off a series of numbers. I successfully typed it in, and then read it back to her. She nodded when I'd finished, saying it was correct. I put my phone in my pocket and grinned, there was no other words for it. She laughed at me.
"When was the last time you asked for someone's number?" Mackenzie teased.
"A long time ago. It's been an even longer time since somebody said yes." I said.
She laughed again. "I find that hard to believe."
"Why?" I prompted curiously.
"You're good-looking, kind, and good with kids. I mean, for me anyway, that's all I want in a guy."
"Nothing else?" I smirked suggestively, raising an eyebrow.
Her mouth dropped open before she collected herself and replied. "I have no preference on the matter. They all do the same thing."
I let out a hoot of laughter, and she narrowed her eyes at me, but she was smiling too.
"Mom, what are you talking about?" Evie asked, still holding onto her Mom's hand and swinging it around.
Mackenzie looked me right in the eye and continued to grin. "Nothing, lovely."
I couldn't help it. I smiled right back, because I'd finally found someone who I could actually see myself with after years of being alone.
The future was looking brighter- and I couldn't wait for our date.
AUTHORS NOTE
far outtt it's been ages since i've been on this account!
anyways let's get down to business xxxxxxxx
1) should i write a part 2? i have an ideaaa and a backstory;)
2) you know the drill, VOTE N COMMENT XOX
3) add this to your reading lists??
4) MESSAGE ME OMG HAVE MISSED YOU ALL SO MUCH
5) I FINISH SCHOOL IN LIKE 3 DAYS SO I'LL BE ON SUMMER HOLIDAYS WHICH = MORE WRITING FROM ME
6) if you have read this far thank you and i love you and i will post again soon x