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A~N: Hello wonderful reader! Thank you for picking this story to read. I really REALLY love Annie’s character in the show. And I always want more of her, This is my way of getting what I wanted. And Who else thinks Mick and Annie would be a chaotic duo? (no, just me? That's fine)
Mick is having a bad day and decides to give Annie a lesson in false positivity.
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“All I am trying to say is that you were really good with the baby, man.” Annie gestured to him. “Trying to pay you a compliment.”
The surprise in her voice caused him to raise an eyebrow at her. He would be happy to take it as a compliment if she wasn’t so shocked by it. Leave it to the sassy short one to catch him off guard, again. There she was book cover judging him, again. And on a good day, he would just stare her down until she was uncomfortable enough to look away. But today, Today it got under his skin.
Today he was off his game and he couldn’t pinpoint why. Maybe it was the teacher at the school that morning, she shot him with such a dirty look as he dropped off his nephew. Or the older white guy at the gas station who muttered, “Thugs” as he passed. Whichever it was it had his mind dwelling on the negative, and nothing good ever came from that.
He was used to the judgemental looks of her sister and friend, those happened everywhere he went. But the surprise in her voice rubbed a nerve that he had forgotten about, he thought he had buried it down deep. Yet here it was exposed and being poked at.
She was the odd woman out of their trio. Always had been from what he saw. And the conversations he had eavesdropped on. It made it easy to have a soft spot for her. Birds of a feather and all that. She was a leap without thinking girl, and damn if he didn’t find parts of her fascinating.
“You think because of my line of work I can't be good with kids?” He asks. The words falling out of his mouth before he can stop them.
He watches her face closely, first the hurt then confusion. He had gotten proficient at reading her face, even with her war paint on, it was way easier to read than her sisters. Only Rio knew how to read Beth, the two of them having enough silent conversations. (Often filled with a fuck ton of heat, but hey he wasn’t judging)
“No, I mean, No one, not even Beth is that good with Babies.” She explains. Her face is open. Eyes wide, hands spread out to her sides. No doubt she believed her big sister to be good at everything.
It takes him a moment to determine that she isn’t judging him. She is impressed by him.
The exposed nerve settles into place back inside him. He takes a steadying breath. He was so certain that the need to impress anyone left when his ex-wife did. But here it is still within him. Maybe impress wasn’t the right word. He rolls his jaw looking for the right feeling and drawing a blank. What did it matter if Baby girl understood him or not?
He opens his mouth to say thank you, but he must have waited too long because she cuts him off with a disarming smile and a “ Don’t be so Negative.”
And with those words, his brightening mood turned sour once more.
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She knew the moment the words left her month that it was the wrong thing to say. Mick pulled back from her both figuratively and literally. He scooted his chair away from the table and hooked his ankles together. Now stretched out before her. He rests his hand atop his belly. To anyone else, he would appear to be relaxed, but Annie knew him well enough to know better.
They had been early to meet with everyone and she thought it was a good idea To engage in conversation. She was never one to sit quietly. And She didn’t do well at being alone.
“What did I say?” She asks, ignoring the little voice in her head that tells her to shut up. “Because pissing off a gangfriend might mean leaving in a body bag.”
“That false positivity bull shit.” He replies grumpily, looking at his hands and not at her.
“What the hell is that?” She huffs. Because the concept that there was a false positive outside of a pregnancy test eluded her.
“It's like when you say, “Good Vibes Only” And “Oh You’ll get over it” Things like “Always look on the bright side.” He actually used air quotes. Annie had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.
“It’s Toxic Positivity. That does more harm than good, with some people. I had a kid that was conditioned to believe that any mistake he made meant failure. It took me the better part of the six months he was in the program with me to get that out of his mind.” His voice was level until he got to the point about the kid, then it swelled with something like pride.
Compared to how he normally was, that was a speech. Annie couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face. Did she just make a friend? This was a huge step, getting him to open up like that.
“So what do you say? How do you avoid those Toxic phrases?” She asked. She was genuinely curious as to what the answer was. She also thought that she could use this less to help Ben. Annie only ever wanted to do what was best for her child.
She watched as his face spread into a real smile, and could feel her lips turn to meet his. His smile transformed his whole face. Lighting it up. Or perhaps it was the subject they were talking about.
He leaned forward a little. “Like everything.” He began. “You have got to start with a little bit of common ground. You have to say “I’m here for you,” then prove that you are here for them.” He had been rubbing his hands together and now spread them wide. “Then remind them that failure is part of growth. And really believe in that. You are proving hope and validation to a young mind.”
She sat there for a minute rolling her words around in her head. She looked away from him around them and thought of the things that she wanted to hear from her mother, or Beth, or Ruby. And the things that they had said that had provided hope. Helped with her confidence. He gave her time with her thoughts not pushing for more conversation or further elaboration on what he had shared.
Looking back at him. She found his eyes on her already. She opened her mouth only to close it and press her lips together. “That was very zen of you man.” She smiles at him and kicks her heels against his boots. “What else do you got?” she asked.
He leans forward again, scooting closer to her. The same light in his eyes. “Fuck” Annie thought. Maybe she wasn’t the only one about to be mixed up with a gang member.
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“Change how you phrase things, sometimes it comes down to the wording.” He coaches.
“Like what?” she replies head tilted.
“What if you give one of the common things you say, and I'll transform it.” He suggests. That inner child that Annie has popped up, game time? He smiled at the picture his mind made.
“Stay positive.” she smiled ready to play the game.
He snorts at her. “Generic. But I can work with it.” He looks at her from head to toe. He lets out a breath and thinks about what he would say to one of the kids in the after-school program he volunteered with. It didn’t start that way. Ten years ago when he was a regular fuck up it was one of his mandatory community services. And now he went for the kids.
Looking her in the eyes he says, “ I’m sure it feels difficult to be positive in a situation like this, but I believe you can get through it.” If he wasn’t watching so closely he would have missed the emotions in her eyes.
“Damn,” She whispers and looks away. “That was great.” she bumped her shoulder with his. He nodded, still looking at her. She pulled herself out of whatever dark emotion the words found her in.
He leaned in as if to share a secret. “Even adults need a reminder once in a while.”
She smirked at him, “Touche”
He opened his mouth to say more only for Ruby to plop down with a heavy sigh and a very pointed look. He huffed again and turned to look up. The break in the clouds allowed some sunlight to filter through. And he thought that this moment with Annie was worth all the stormy clouds from the day. He was happy to know that Annie wasn’t there Book Cover Judging.