Chapter Text
Scott Moir is a single dad to his barely 3-year-old daughter, Molly. She was the picture of her father, except for her dark auburn ringlets, which she got from her mother. A mother Scott wished Molly didn't have to remember.
Scott and his ex-girlfriend, Evelyn, had dated on and off all throughout college, but when they were just 21, Evelyn had gotten pregnant. Scott had never told anyone this, but before he found out, he had been considering breaking up with her. He wanted to settle and start a family when he finished college, but he didn't see that with her. But the joy he felt when he found out about Molly had washed away that thought from his mind.
Since a week after Molly was born, Scott knew that this was not the environment he wanted her to be raised in. He and Evelyn were always fighting, not about normal things new parents might argue over, like who got up at 3 am to change a diaper or feed her, but Evelyn thought Scott was devoting too much time to Molly, but Evelyn never fed Molly, dressed her or changed dirty diapers. When Scott finally told her that she wasn't doing anything, she told him that he was calling her useless, and he knew that new mothers had a lot of emotions to deal with, so he let it slide.
It all changed when Molly was 1. She had been driving while drinking, with Molly in the car and they had gotten in an accident, neither of them were harmed, but that didn't stop Scott's temper. "She's just a helpless baby! Not just any baby, your baby Evelyn! Do you have any idea how hard it's been doing this on my own? I've tried so hard with you, so hard.." and he broke down into tears. Evelyn remained emotionless.
A week after the accident, Evelyn left.
Her sister Allie told them she didn't know exactly where she was, but she knew it was outside of the state. Scott had cried and thought that maybe if he had just tried a little harder with her, Molly would have a loving mother. After a while, his family managed to convince him that if Evelyn was going to change, she probably would have done it by now, and Molly was better off without her in her life.
However, Scott soon learned that this was not the last time he ever saw Evelyn. Every once and a while she tried to get custody of Molly, but she always proved unstable.
They were allowed to have supervised visits by the time Molly was 1 and a half, but even at that tender age, Molly made it very clear she did not enjoy her mothers' company. So eventually, the visits stopped. Scott thought it was the last of it, but every once and a while Evelyn would come to their house, demanding to see her daughter, or call the police and act like a neighbor saying that they heard screaming from Scott's house and they thought he was harming Molly. Thankfully, the police always figured it out.
Evelyn hadn't done much since Molly was 2 and a half, but Molly remembered. She remembered how her mother had left her, she remembered police at the door checking her for bruises after her mother had come. Even the 3-year old that she was, knew it was wrong.
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Tessa Virtue is the owner of a cheer gym. They teach beginners from toddlers all the way to people in their 50s. She loves her job and her life, but even with all the friends and support she has, she gets lonely sometimes. She'd never really had a relationship last more than a year, and even though her family constantly told her it wasn't her fault they never worked out, sometimes she wondered if there was something wrong with her.
She especially loved teaching the toddler classes. They were a handful and could sometimes end with a headache, but they were fun. All the kids were so cute, and the joy she saw on their faces every time they learned a new trick was priceless. Even though Tessa did feel for the mothers of the kids, she couldn't help but giggle at how hard the little girls, and even the little boys, tried to convince their moms to buy a new cheer bow every time they left class and passed by the gym's gift shop.
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Since Molly was a baby, she was always dropped off at her grandparent's house on Sundays so she could spend time with them, and so Scott could have a bit of time to himself.
Normally, he slept in, watched TV shows that were too violent for little eyes, and did some shopping. But today he didn't feel like doing that, so he drove around town, got breakfast, and then decided to stop by a little fair with small business stands to see if he could find a necklace for Molly, she'd been asking for weeks.
There wasn't really much there. Mostly just fruit stands and pottery. As he turned his head to go pick up Molly, something caught his eye.
It was a blue sparkly stand, with women under the tent. He couldn't see what she looked like, but he wanted to go see what her stand was for.
As he got closer, he realized he recognized the woman. She had dark wavy hair and emerald green eyes. She was stunning. He hadn't seen her in years, but he would always recognize her.
"Tessa?" he said, he hadn't meant to say it out loud, but he was glad he did. He approached her stand.
"Hello, sorry but do I know you?" she asked, hoping it wasn't someone she knew, and they were thinking of a different Tessa. But as Scott took his sun glasses off, she recognized him immeadetly.
"Scott!" she exlaimed with a smile. She ran out from behind her stand and gave him a hug, and he returned it with a famous Scott Moir hug.
Once the hug was over, they both seemed quite unsure what to say or do, exept smile.
Scott and Tessa knew each other in high school. She was a cheerleader, (she did all star cheerleading as well as high school side line) he was on the foot ball team. Like a perfect love story. All through out high school, Tessa's friends tried to convince her that Scott was into her, but she didn't believe them. All Scott's friends tried to convince him that Tessa liked him back, but he would tell them that he probably wasn't her type.
"So, what are you up to these days?" Tessa asked.
"Well, I'm working at the fire station, I'm on there back up crew, but I take the phone and clean the trucks sometimes. And I've got a daughter now" He said, smiling as he though about Molly.
"A daughter?! Scott! That's great. How old is she?" Tessa said, at the back of her head she might have been a little sad. If he had kids, he had already gotten married and settled down. There was no chance of her high school friends theories still being true.
"She's just turned 3, her name's Molly. She's great." Tessa smiled, she was happy for him.
"What about you? What've you been up to?" Scott asked.
"Well, not too much, but I opened my own cheerleading gym! I hope that explains all the glitter" Tessa said proudly as she giggled.
Scott smiled as he asked for her to tell her more. "We're hoping to start competitive coaching in the next few years, but I just don't have the time or staff to do it now. We do classes for all levels and ages, too many people think they're too old to start something new, but that's not true. I love it though, it's super rewarding. Firefighting must be too."
"Yeah" Scott mumbled as he realised he had gotten lost in her smile, as soon as he realised it, he scolded himself mentally and tried to snap out of it.
"Do you have classes for toddlers?" He asked her.
"Oh yes! I teach them myself, actually. Do you wanna sign Molly up?"
"If you have room in your classes, for sure. I've been wanting to get her into some sport or activity, she's pretty shy, so I thought it could help."
"Definetly." Tessa agreed. "I can't sign you up here, but you can at the gym anytime. I'll keep an open spot for you. Take a free cheer bow for her, it might make her more excited" she handed him the pale blue sparkly rhinestone bow.
Scott laughed. "Thanks, Tess" she blushed at the nickname. "I'll stop by tomorrow. It was great to see you again, I've missed you." That last bit came out by accident, so he waved and quickly walked away, hoping she didn't think he was a creep and deny Molly a spot in class. But his worries were replaced by playful butterflies when he heard a quiet "I missed you too" as he walked away.
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"Molly!" Scott called as he entered his parents house that afternoon. He began to think that maybe they weren't home, a house with a toddler was never this quiet. His confusion was awnsered when his mother Alma walked in with a very sleepy girl in her arms. "Your fathers out, I planned to have a girls day with miss Molly, but she would rather sleep than have time with grandma, I guess" Alma joked. Scott chuckled softly.
"What's that?" Alma asked, eyeing the bow in Scott's hands. "It's for Molly, from an old friend". Alma laid Molly down on the couch as Scott told her about his afternoon at the fair.
"I remember Tessa. She was quite the cutie." Alma said with a smile that she only used when she was about to embarass her son. "And if I recall you had quite the crush on her. "
"Mom." Scott said firmly as he blushed.
"Oh, don't deny it. I don't blame you, she was quite pretty. Seemed nice. I think she had the hots for you too" Scott blushed again, eyes wide as he prepared to lecture his mother into never saying 'the hots' again.
"Well, you don't still like her, do you?" Alma exclaimed as she noticed her sons blush.
"Of course not!" Scott practically yelled. Alma laughed.
"But you don't really think she could have liked me back, right?"