Chapter Text
Cancer.
That was never a word anyone wanted to hear, and when Maggie Sawyer had gotten the diagnosis for her four-year-old daughter, Jamie, her world had stopped. The doctors had said it was Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, CML, a disease Maggie had known next to nothing about, but over the next few months, she'd become an expert. Jamie's survival rate had been good, but even a 90% chance of living with rounds and rounds of chemotherapy wasn't what any mother would have wanted for their child.
Their best chance for a cure had been a bone marrow transplant. The odds of finding a donor varied by race, and as a Latina, Jamie had had a less than 50% chance of finding one, but to quote Han Solo, "Never tell me the odds." Just two weeks after Jamie's samples had been taken, the call had come. A match, an honest to God bone marrow donor had matched with Jamie. A month later, Jamie had been laid out in a hospital bed, getting a transfusion of life saving marrow.
All Maggie knew was that the donor was female and local. She could have been someone they passed in the store, maybe the lady who got Maggie her morning coffee or the woman in the pharmacy. Still, this stranger was a part of their family.
Maggie wasn't particularly religious, though she had prayed to God for Jamie's sake, and even after all they had gone through, she wasn't sure she believed in miracles. Today, though, they were going to meet an angel.
"You ready, kiddo?" Maggie asked as she opened the back door of the car, and Jamie hopped out, clutching Mr Squidge the stuffie mouse in one hand and her rolled up picture in the other.
"Ready," Jamie confirmed with a bob of her head before she adjusted the peak of her pink baseball cap.
Maggie locked the car then took Jamie's hand (after Jamie had tucked Mr Squidge into her shorts pocket, making sure he could still see where he was going). They set off together through the gates and into the park.
It was a beautiful day, even by Southern Californian standards, and Maggie squinted a little, wishing she'd brought her shades with her. Just as she was contemplating doubling back to go and get them from the car, Jamie pointed. "Is that her? She's pretty."
Maggie followed the gesture of her daughter to a woman who was sitting on one of the park benches, arms resting along the back of the bench, long legs stretched out in front of her and booted ankles crossed in a casual, relaxed pose of someone completely at ease. Her cropped red hair shone a bright copper in the sun. It was a beautiful color, Maggie had to admit.
The woman was also wearing a pair of aviators, and despite the weather, a leather jacket was folded on the seat beside her, along with a black bike helmet. A red t-shirt and a pair of black jeans finished off the ensemble in an aesthetic that was not exactly harsh upon the eye.
"I think that's her," Maggie said after a tug on her hand from Jamie prompted her to give an answer. "She said she would meet us by a bench next to a tree."
"There's a tree," Jamie supplied as she pointed to the only tree close enough to be considered "near" any of the benches.
"There is indeed." Maggie cleared her throat. "Alright then. Let's go say hello."
When they got close enough, Jamie called out, “Are you Miss Danvers?”
The redhead turned in their direction then stood up with a smile as she pulled off her shades and hung them from the front of her shirt. “Call me Alex. You must be the Sawyers?”
“That’s us.” Maggie extended a hand in greeting, which Alex shook with a firm but gentle grip. Her skin was calloused, a little roughened from hard work of some kind, though nowhere near as much as Maggie’s own hands were. “I’m Maggie, and this is Jamie.”
“Wait,” Alex let go of Maggie’s hand, her eyes wide. “You’re not Jamie Sawyer?”
“Nope, I am.” Jamie thrust her own hand out, and despite her wide eyes, Alex took hold of Jamie’s hand and gave it a gentle shake as well. Jamie loved being treated like an adult, and her dazzling smile at having her hand shaken was adorable. Alex’s reaction, meanwhile, was curious, to say the least.
“Something wrong?” Maggie asked at last.
“No, no not at all. It’s just… when they told me I would be meeting Jamie Sawyer, who was the recipient, I just… I dunno. When I saw you coming, I figured it was you. Not…” Her eyes turned down to Jamie, who was still beaming one of her big, toothy grins, dimples on full display.
“You saved my daughter’s life.” Telling people that she and Jamie were going to meet the woman who had saved Jamie’s life was easy. As easy as saying they were going camping at the weekend or for a mini vacation with Maggie’s aunt. Actually saying it to the very woman herself, the woman who had saved Jamie’s life? That was a lot harder to do, especially with this huge lump in her throat. “I… I don’t know how I can ever thank you.”
“I made this for you!” Jamie waved the rolled up bit of paper in front of Alex, allowing Maggie a brief reprieve to compose herself and swallow down the lump as Alex sat down on the bench and Jamie hopped up to sit beside her.
Despite the swell of emotions she was silently warring with, Maggie was also eager to see what her daughter had drawn. Jamie had kept the image a secret, refusing to show Maggie and even going as far as making Maggie pinky swear that she wouldn’t look at the picture after Jamie had gone to sleep.
Edging round behind the bench to get a better look, she glanced over Alex’s shoulder as the other woman carefully unrolled the construction paper to reveal a bright crayon drawing of a stick woman with a blue body, red triangle skirt, and a mass of yellow hair. The image was standing in the classic ‘superhero pose’ with stick hands on stick hips and a bright red square trailing down to her feet.
“This is you,” Jamie pointed to the stick figure. “But I didn’t know what color hair you had, so I guessed. Now I know you have red hair, I can color it properly from now on. You have pretty hair.”
“This is me?” Alex said. “It’s… it’s…” She cleared her throat. “Ahem. So, what’s this bit?”
“Mama says you’re a hero, and heroes wear capes. That’s your one. Because you’re my hero.”
Everything blurred, and Maggie had to turn away, drawing in several deep breaths and thumbing away the tears from her eyes. Wow. This was so much harder that she ever thought it would be.
“Mama? What’s wrong?”
Maggie sniffed, dabbed at her eyes one last time, then turned with a big smile to find Jamie kneeling on the bench, elbows leaned on the back of it as she stared up at Maggie with concern. Alex was dabbing at her own eyes with something suspiciously like a tissue.
“Just… something in my eye, baby,” Maggie said.
“Do you have something in your eye too, Alex?” Jamie turned and sat back down on the bench again as Maggie walked round to stand in front of it.
“Uh, yeah. Yeah, there must be a lot of, um, stuff… in the air today.”
“Oh. That’s not good.” Jamie jumped down and pointed. “Mama, can I go play? Please?”
Across the way, a children’s play area was teeming with kids of all ages. It was a large wooden fort with rope swings, slides, monkey bars, nets to climb and hoops to swing from.
“Alright.” Maggie sat down on the bench in Jamie’s recently vacated spot. “But don’t go running off. Stay where I can see you and be smart. Your head isn’t a hat rack.”
“Yup!” Jamie was already blazing a trail towards the nearest set of steps up into the fort.
“She, uh… she’s a great kid,” Alex said, tucking something into her pocket then smoothing out the picture in her lap as she examined it further. Jamie had drawn birds and fluffy white clouds at the top of the page and tufts of grass beneath Super Alex’s feet at the bottom of the page as well.
“Yeah. She’s the best. I don’t know what I’d ever do without her.” Maggie cleared her throat, though she couldn’t look at Alex, for fear that the lump would well in her throat and choke her again. “And thanks to you, I won’t have to find out.”
“I know the transplant worked because… well.” Alex waved a vague hand over towards Jamie, who was hanging upside down by her knees on the horizontal bars. “But she’s okay, right? I mean, really okay?”
“She’s better than okay.”
“And… It was leukemia?”
“Yeah.”
“How old is she? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“She turns six in two weeks.”
“Six?” Alex let out a low whistle. “So she was five when…?”
“Four. Just turned five.”
“Fuck.” Alex’s eyes widened. “Sorry! I mean, um—"
“It’s fine,” Maggie laughed, shaking her head. “No little ears around. You’re safe.”
Alex sat forwards, elbows resting on her knees as she smiled over in the direction of the play area. Jamie had made some new friends, it would seem, as she and a group of girls chased a group of boys, all of them laughing and calling to each other.
Maggie took the opportunity to study Alex properly. She was lovely in profile with a straight nose and a slight curve to her lips. When she smiled, it stretched up the sides of her mouth until her cheeks rose with joy. Her chin, with its small cleft, was surprisingly dainty given the strength she exuded. When she brushed hair behind her ear, it revealed her strong jaw and double-pierced ears. Probably the most striking thing about her were her eyes. In some lights they were a rich brown like they were mined from deep within the earth, whilst at others they were a golden whiskey color that twinkled as her gaze stayed fixed on Jamie.
“Take a picture. It will last longer.”
"Oh, sorry." Maggie looked away, her cheeks burning at getting caught staring. She chanced a glance and Alex was studying her, a smile twisting the corners of Alex's mouth. "I didn't mean to stare. It's just... Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" No sooner had the words escaped her lips then Maggie wished desperately she could take them back. The earlier embarrassment couldn't hold a candle to Maggie's current desire to dig a hole, jump in, and bury herself.
On the other hand, Alex's smile only grew. She twisted in her seat, brow raised. "Gee. I've never heard that before. Have you also lost your phone number and want mine?"
"It's not a line!" Maggie swore under her breath. Yes, it was a line Maggie had used in the past. And yes, in other circumstances, if they had met in a club before Maggie's life was all about juice boxes and PTA meetings, Alex was exactly the type of person Maggie would have tried it on. That life was long past, and if Maggie was going to hit on someone it certainly wouldn't be the person who saved her daughter's life. She had that much self-respect, at least. "You really do look familiar. I swear, I've met you before."
"I don't think so," Alex said, turning back toward where Jamie was playing and mumbling, "I'd remember."
“Yeah, me too,” Maggie muttered under her breath.
“Mama, Alex! Watch this!”
Saved by the bell. Or rather, Jamie and her acrobatics on the horizontal bars again. The silence that fell between the two women wasn’t uncomfortable. But it didn’t last for long either.
“Why did you do it?” Maggie asked. When Alex turned again, head tilted and a curious expression on her face, Maggie clarified, “Sign up to be a donor, I mean. Were you trying to match for someone in your family?”
“Oh.” Alex dropped her head, and a shy smile painted her face as she looked up at Maggie again. “I wish it were that noble. It was a dare.”
That was not exactly the heroic story Maggie had created in her mind. ‘Imagination Alex’ was a hero, riding in on a white horse to save the day, not some kid playing double dog dare you.
The disappointment must have shown on her face because Alex quickly added, “I was a senior in high school, barely eighteen, and one of the girls on my sports team dared us all to do it. It was just a cheek swab, and I’d honestly forgotten all about it until I got the call that I was a match.”
“Ah.” Maggie had been young, dumb, and full of… herself once too. Growing up and having a fragile, little life depending on her had changed all that quickly. “That must have been a shock. I’m surprised you didn’t tell them that you gave at the office.”
“What? No.” Alex shook her head, brows pressed together fiercely. She shifted closer to Maggie, and a light breeze blew through, carrying the scent of Alex’s perfume, or maybe it was body wash, to Maggie: mmmm… vanilla. “I didn’t hesitate. My sister was a little apprehensive, but she passes out if she sees someone else get a needle. My mom is a doctor, and she was nothing but supportive of my decision.”
Maggie nodded along. She’d been there for every harrowing moment of Jamie’s procedure and the recovery process, but to be honest, she’d never really considered what it had been like for the donor… until now. “How long did it take, the actual medical procedure, I mean.”
“Oh, only three hours, piece of cake.” Alex ticked her chin up and looked over at the kids in the play area. “I don’t think I was ever that young. What about you?”
Maggie had been a parent too long not to recognize a subject change when one veered in front of her. “Yeah, that seems like a lifetime ago, which I guess it was,” Maggie admitted, grabbing the reins of the conversation and steering it back to the earlier subject. “How many needles?”
Alex’s gaze locked back onto Maggie’s. “Excuse me?”
“I’ll admit to being a mess that day, most of the year, to be honest, but I do remember the doctor telling me it wouldn’t be as many needles for Jamie as for her donor, so how many needles?”
Alex smiled and shrugged, but Maggie remained on course. There was something here, some little bit of information being kept from her, and she intended to ferret it out. Maybe if she hadn’t become a contractor, in another life, she could have been a detective.
Finally, Alex muttered something - more like a petulant child than an adult - and Maggie cleared her throat. With a heavy sigh, Alex admitted, “Eighty-two,” and while Maggie sputtered hurriedly added, “but it wasn’t that bad, honestly.”
Maggie kept her voice steady, the same ‘not giving you shit but not taking any either’ tone she used when Jamie thought she could get away with something. “Okay, here’s how it’s gonna go. I’m going to ask you a few questions, and you’re going to answer me honestly. There will be no more subject changes or shrugs. Understand?”
Alex blinked, but her smile returned. “Wow, you really are a mom, aren’t you?” She leaned back against the bench, smile cocky and posture relaxed, looking more like she was enjoying a first date - and Maggie was going to immediately remove that thought from her head - rather than suffering through a maternal interrogation. “Do your worst.”
“How long was your procedure?”
“I told you, three hours from start to finish.”
“And how long were you in the hospital?”
“In and out same day, no big deal.”
The words ‘no big deal’ sounded suspiciously like something you would say when there was a big deal somewhere. Leaning forward, Maggie watched Alex carefully as she asked, “How long was your full recovery after the procedure, how long until you didn’t have restrictions?”
Alex stammered. Gotcha.
“Fine,” Alex grumbled. “It was a month but—”
“A month?” Maggie frowned. “You gave up a month of your life?”
Alex shrugged. “What’s a month of your time compared to someone’s life?”
It was true, definitely true for Maggie when that someone was Jamie, but it did nothing to quell the stir of heat, the tiniest ember of something to which Maggie had no intention of giving a name, inside her. Eighty-two needles, three hours, and a month of her life later, Alex had saved Jamie’s life.
It was Maggie’s turn to lean back on the bench and let that all soak in like the rays of the California sun. “Was it painful?”
“I’ve had worse.” Alex shrugged again. “It was nothing compared to being kicked in the ribs by a horse. Now that was agony. I wouldn’t wish that upon my worst enemy.”
That was entirely honest, and it gave Maggie a bit of a respite from the growing guilt, well, maybe not guilt but something about the situation Alex had undergone for Jamie’s sake. “I hope your work was understanding.”
“It was medical, so they didn’t really have a choice, but it was fine. My work is very flexible. Even if it hadn’t been, after meeting Jamie today, seeing how bright and happy and healthy she is, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.”
Maggie had to agree. As badly as she felt about what Alex had had to endure, if Jamie needed it again tomorrow, Maggie would be knocking on Alex’s door, asking for help once again. “I don’t know how I can ever thank you for what you did.”
Alex shook her head, her eyes glittering with moisture as she turned to Maggie. “Knowing that she’s alive and well is more than enough already. Though, there is one thing…”
“Anything,” Maggie said without hesitation. “Name it.”
“Let me buy her an ice cream.” Alex thumbed towards the pop-up stand nearby, the vendor selling all manner of frozen goodies, perfect to combat the hot weather.
“She’s going to love you forever, if you do that.” Maggie dug into her purse for some change but Alex stood and waved a hand at Maggie’s actions.
“No, no, they’re on me. I insist. I assume she’s okay with everything? No allergies?”
“The more chocolate and sprinkles the better as far as Jamie is concerned.”
“She sounds just like my sister.” Alex grinned, then headed off towards the cart, just as Jamie hurried over, her cheeks flushed and a huge grin on her face.
"Hey, Titch." Maggie brushed a sweaty strand of hair behind her daughter’s ear.
"Where's Alex?" Jamie's little head swung left and right wildly. "Did she go already?"
"Relax," Maggie chuckled. "She's gone to buy something. She'll be back in a bit."
"Phew." Jamie jumped up onto the bench, her legs swinging back and forth. "She's nice."
"Yeah, she is." Maggie agreed as she glanced over in Alex’s direction. "She seems kind of familiar, too. Like I've seen her before, somewhere."
"Maybe you kissed her once?" Jamie shrugged.
Maggie chuckled. Her dating life had never been a secret to Jamie, for the simple fact that Jamie was the most important person in Maggie’s life, and she wanted Jamie to be comfortable with the women she chose to bring home… if any of them made it past the first date. Truth be told, not many did.
And even if they did, Jamie's opinion of them soon decided whether Maggie asked them out again. If Jamie expressed a dislike, no matter how trivial (she hadn't liked Maggie’s last girlfriend Emily because Emily wore "stinky perfume" that made Jamie sneeze, but when Maggie voiced a concern, Emily had just laughed it off), if Jamie wasn't comfortable, then Maggie ended things. Simple as.
Maggie wasn't the only person who stood to get hurt in any relationship she chose to invest in, after all. The perils of being a single mom. And yet she wouldn't have it any other way.
"I'm pretty sure I'd remember kissing someone like Alex," she said.
"Oh. So maybe you fixed her house?" Jamie shrugged as she pulled Mr Squidge out of her pocket and sat him on the bench beside her.
"Maybe." This was perhaps the more likely of the two scenarios, though still, Maggie was sure she would have remembered someone like Alex. Those whiskey eyes and that dazzling smile were an unforgettable combination.
"Alrighty, who wants a double scoop, sprinkle covered, chocolate mess?" Alex said as she arrived back at the bench with three ice cream cones, one of them pretty much exactly as she'd described. A mess.
"Me!" Jamie's hand shot up eagerly and Alex handed the cone over with a grin. "Thanks!"
"You're welcome. Maggie?"
Another cone was held out to Maggie this time. Whilst this one had chocolate sauce and sprinkles on it as well, it was much less than Jamie's one. "Thanks."
Alex sat on Jamie's other side with her own cone, one elegant leg folded over the other as she leaned back to enjoy her frozen treat.
Jamie was quiet for several minutes as she ate the ice cream, licking any stray droplets as they melted down the cone. She was extremely careful not to get any on her hands, though the amount of chocolate smeared around her lips was apparently an afterthought.
Once done, she was off again, ignoring her mother’s warning not to hang upside down so soon after eating and heading straight for the horizontal bars to do just that.
Maggie sighed and dabbed at the corner of her eye with the tip of one finger.
“You okay?” Alex’s voice was gentle, concerned even.
Maggie smiled and nodded. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I just get emotional, even a year later, whenever I see her playing like that. Like every other kid. Before the transplant a year ago, she was achy, tired, and she bruised so, so easily. Hanging on monkey bars like that wouldn't have been possible. Yet look at her now.”
Alex nodded but said nothing. She popped the last of her ice cream cone into her mouth and studied the drawing that was once again spread out in her lap. Her eyes kept turning to it, and a finger would trace the bright red cape every now and then. “How much does she know about what happened?
“Not much, to be honest. I’ve tried to explain as best I can, but she’s still young. For now all she knows is that she was really ill, and you made her better. You’re the reason she gets to play with other kids again.”
Before her emotions could get the better of her once more, Maggie swallowed back the lump, refusing to let it form. Then she said, “So aside from being a lifesaving hero, what else do you do?”
As Jamie played nearby, the two women talked about the more trivial things in life, the conversation light and friendly.
Maggie was a self-employed contractor who was currently fixing up the apartment building that she and Jamie were living in, though her dream would be to one day own her own home, do it up and live in it permanently instead of having to keep moving when the property was ready to be sold. The place they were in now was the longest home Jamie had had, simply because Maggie couldn’t face the prospect of moving on top of all of Jamie’s treatment when she was ill or her recovery after. But Maggie longed for the day when Jamie could have her own garden to play in, with her own swing set and maybe a dog to keep her company.
Alex was also self-employed but worked very closely with her sister, though Maggie noticed that Alex never stated what the two of them actually did. Instead, she went off on a bit of a tangent revolving around her sister Kara and how Kara had been adopted by Alex’s parents when Alex was fourteen, but the two had become close friends and even closer sisters. Alex’s mom was a doctor and her dad had been a doctor before he’d died in a car accident ten years ago.
Maggie found herself slightly envious of Alex’s relationship with her parents, who were nothing but supportive of her in every aspect of her life, unlike Maggie’s own who had kicked her out when she was fourteen for being gay. Her aunt had taken her in and raised her from then on, but money was often tight. As things broke or went wrong about the house, Maggie had often found herself researching how to fix them herself. That way, her aunt didn’t have to call out an engineer, or a plumber, or any other kind of tradesman who would charge them a small fortune for things that Maggie quickly found that she could do herself, once she knew how.
That was how she’d started up her career as a contractor, and she loved every second of it.
When Maggie glanced at her watch, she was stunned to find that three hours had passed. “Jeez. Time really does fly when you’re having fun.” She stood up and stretched a little, then began to gather up the assortment of items that had gathered on the bench throughout the day, including Mr Squidge, Jamie’s baseball cap, a blue feather that Jamie had insisted she was keeping, a skeleton leaf and three acorns. Maggie had no idea why Jamie wanted three acorns, but she wasn’t going to stop her daughter from having fun or hobbies, and if collecting weird and wonderful things was one of Jamie’s hobbies then good for her. Maybe Maggie could fix up a shelf in Jamie’s room for her to display them all on.
“Are we going?” Jamie’s pouting face appeared by Maggie’s elbow, and Alex smothered a chuckle as she looped her leather jacket over one arm.
“Yep. Mom’s got house work to do still, and you need to find room for your new stuff. Say goodbye to Alex.”
“Hope you like the picture.” Jamie beamed up at Alex, who held the picture up proudly.
“I love it. It’s going to take pride of place on my fridge door.”
“And you are coming to my birthday in two weeks, aren’t you?”
Alex blinked. Maggie was sure that in that moment, Alex’s facial features were a mirror image of Maggie’s own.
“Uh… well… I mean I guess I could?” Alex looked from Jamie to Maggie.
“Yes, you can!” Jamie nodded eagerly. “Can’t she, Mama? Tell her she’s got to come to my birthday because I really, really want her there. Please, please, pretty please can she come?”
Saying no to Jamie was virtually impossible sometimes. Especially when she employed her big puppy dog eyes and, oh lord there they were. She’d unleashed the dimples. There was no chance in hell of Maggie saying no now. Digging into her purse, she pulled out one of her business cards and handed it over to Alex. “I guess you’ll be needing my number after all.”
“Thanks.” Was it Maggie’s imagination, or did Alex’s cheeks color a delicate shade of pink as she took the card and their fingers brushed briefly? “I’ll text you my number too. If that’s okay?”
“Sure. I’ll let you know the time and place once it’s all been finalized.”
A moment of awkward silence passed between them all, before at last Jamie threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around Alex’s waist. “Thank you for today! And thank you for being my hero.”
“God damn it,” Alex mumbled, fanning her face with one hand, even as with her other hand, whilst still holding Jamie’s picture, she returned Jamie’s hug.
Maggie chuckled, even as she fought back the fresh swell of her own tears. “Right, come on, kiddo. Home time. And you are absolutely going in that bath before bed tonight. Look at the state of you.”
“Woo hoo! That means bubble mountain! Bye, Alex!” Jamie was streaking down the gravel path back towards Maggie’s car before Maggie could even blink. With a sheepish shrug and a quick farewell of her own, she started after Jamie and wondered (not for the first time either) how she had once again ended up carrying all Jamie’s stuff like a glorified pack mule.
Kids.