Bright

"You're pretty damn good," Jimmy said, grinning down at the little boy. "I think you might be better than me." He burst out laughing at the look on the little boy's face, as if he would faint from such a compliment. He stood up and lifted the boy up into his arms, looking over at Madison and Matt. "You guys make cute fucking kids. Oops. Bad word." He slapped his wrist. "Bad Jimmy, no bad words." Matt rolled his eyes at him. "You're a goober." He walked over and took Chase from him, pressing a kiss to his forehead out of pure fatherly instinct. His eyes widened in shock slightly at the exchange, and he looked over to Madison, as if asking for her help or something. Like something was wrong with him.

@ anchored lungs.
Madison laughed at Jimmy, shaking her head. She watched as Matt picked up Chase and kissed his forehead, her heart melting at the sight. She raised an eyebrow at the look that he gave her though, wondering what his problem was. "What?" She said, shrugging slightly, seeing nothing wrong with what he had just done. Madison thought it was adorable how Matt was so shocked and looking at her for some sort of help because of what he just did. Chase was looking at him like he was crazy.

Jimmy looked between everyone and let out an exasperated sigh. "This isn't some soap opera!" he exclaimed, walking over to Matt and slapping his arm. "Come on, be mature. You kissed him, big deal. He's your son. It's normal." He huffed and rolled his eyes, walking out of the room. Matt stared blankly at the door as Jimmy exited, blinking and thinking for a minute. He looked down at Chase and smiled slightly. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Jimmy can be a bit wild sometimes." He set the boy down and cleared his throat. "Sorry."

@ anchored lungs.
Madison stared at the place Jimmy once was before bursting into a fit of giggles, not being able to help herself. Chase's eyes widened as he looked over at his mother, genuinely concerned. "Momma, are you okay?" He asked, worried when she wouldn't stop. "Is she broken?" He asked as he looked up at his dad, furrowing his eyebrows together. He's never seen his mom laugh like that before. It was actually really scary and he was worried that they were going to have to take her to the hospital to get her fixed or something.

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Madison?" he questioned, walking over and waving his hand in front of her face. "Are you okay in there?" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her a little until she stopped laughing and looked up at him. His eyes traveled down her face, stopping at her lips before he looked back up into her eyes. He cleared his throat and backed away. "Um, are you okay?" he asked, letting go of her arms. "You're being weird, and you're scaring Chase." He looked down at the little boy to make sure he wasn't too upset.

@ anchored lungs.
Madison let out one more small giggle before she looked down at Chase, nodding. She hasn't laughed like that in a long, long time. "That was great," she said, sighing. "I can't remember the last time I've laughed like that." She leaned down ant picked up Chase, kissing his cheek. "Momma's okay, she just thought that was really funny," she said with a smile, biting down on her bottom lip. Chase gave her a weird look, shaking his head at her. "I'm hungry," he said with a pout, looking between her and Matt. Madison pulled out her phone and looked at the time, nodding. "Yeah, it is getting pretty late. Time sure does fly," she said, frowning slightly. "I guess we better get home and make some dinner, huh?" she said, Chase nodding in approval.

Matt nodded his head and smiled slightly at them. "I'm glad you had a good time today, Chase," he said, leading them into the living room. He sighed softly as he looked over at Jimmy. "Can I borrow those lyrics?" he asked. Jimmy nodded. "Sure, have at it. Just don't fuck 'em up." Matt rolled his eyes. "I would never." He folded the paper and put it in his pocket before leading Chase and Madison to his car. He drove back to their apartment and got out of the car, helping put the car seat back in Madison's car. "Sorry things kind of were weird today."

@ anchored lungs.
Madison grinned and shook her head, sighing softly. "No, today was nice. I know Chase definitely enjoyed himself," she said, looking over at her son who was looking at her impatiently. When he was hungry she had to hurry up and make him his food or else he was not happy camper. "We'll have to do it again real soon, huh Chase?" she said, ruffling up his hair. Chase smiled and nodded, running up and wrapping his arms around his father the best he could. He didn't want him to go, he wished his parents were together and they could be like one of those families you saw on TV who ate dinner together and were both there when you went to sleep and there when you woke up. But Chase would never have that because he knew that his father was with Val for whatever reason, not his mother.

Matt smiled, kneeling down and wrapping his arms around Chase, hugging him tightly. "I'll see you again soon, okay?" he murmured. He pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead and pulled back to look at him, running his fingers through his hair. There was something at the back of his head, nagging him, making him not want to leave. He wished he could just take the little boy home with him and keep him forever, but that wouldn't be fair to Madison, would it? He hugged him tightly again, inhaling his scent and sighing softly. He stood up and looked over at Madison, smiling. "I'll call you sometime soon," he said.

@ anchored lungs.
Madison watched Matt with their son, just loving the sight of it. It made her so happy. She nodded, taking Chase's hand. "Alright. Bye, Matt," she said, Chase pouting and waving bye before they both turned and headed inside the apartment. Madison could tell that Chase didn't want Matt to leave, but there wasn't anything she or he could do about it. Maybe once Val knew, Chase could spend the night at Matt's. That's only if Val actually accepted Chase. Madison had this horrible nagging feeling that things just weren't going to go well with Matt telling Val and her and Chase were going to get the bad end of the stick.

Matt sighed softly and got in his car, driving home. He walked inside, smiling as he walked into the living room, sitting down next to Val. He kissed her temple and pulled the paper Jimmy let him borrow, showing it to her. "Wow, this is really good, Matt," she said, smiling up at him. Matt chuckled. "It was pretty much all Jimmy," he said. "He wrote it." He read over the lyrics again, making a mental note to show this to the rest of the guys when they went back into the recording studio. This was going to be an amazing song, he had a feeling about it. He took the paper back and sat it on the coffee table before wrapping his arms around her and kissing her lips. "I love you."

@ anchored lungs.
Madison cooked her and Chase both dinner before having him take a bath and get ready for bed. Her little boy was totally worn out from the days events. Madison helped Chase into bed, tucking him in and kissing his forehead softly. She turned to leave when she heard him call his name, furrowing her brows together and turning back around. "Since I have a dad now, are we going to be like the families on TV?" he asked her, playing with a loose string on his blanket. Madison frowned, leaning against the doorway and sighing softly as she thought about how to answer that. "I don't think so, buddy," she said softly, biting down on her bottom lip. She wasn't going to stand here and lie to him. "Get some sleep. I love you," she said, stepping out of his room and closing his door halfway. Madison went into her own room, getting into her pajamas and climbing into bed after washing her face. It felt so good to be in bed.

About two weeks had passed since Matt had learned about Chase and it was finally time for the four of them to have dinner together: him, Madison, Chase, and Val. Val and Madison had been getting together, doing girly shit or whatever, and it had Matt extremely on edge. He knew Madison had good control over what Chase said in front of Val, but it still worried him that something would slip out one day. But Val had invited the two over for dinner and Matt was feeling awkward as ever. He bit his lip as he set the plates down on the table, his hands a bit clammy, and his skin dampened in a thin layer of sweat from the anxiety. He walked into the kitchen, watching Val. She turned and looked at him, a frown on her face as she asked what was wrong. He let out a small breath and forced a smile, shaking his head. Nothing was wrong. He had to remind himself of that.

@ anchored lungs.
Madison glanced back at Chase in her rear view mirror, letting out a small sigh. She had been telling him over and over again that he couldn't call Matt Dad or mention anything about Matt being his father at dinner tonight. Even though Chase was usually pretty good about this, they were going to be around Val for a lot longer then usual. Madison got out of the car once she pulled up at Matt and Val's, pulling her dress and fixing herself a bit before walking around and helping Chase out. She made sure that the both of them looked very nice for dinner tonight, especially herself. This was her chance to dress herself up and make herself look nice for a change. Plus, she had bought so much new make up on her countless shopping sprees with Val over the passed couple of weeks, Madison had to put it to good use at some point. Madison's eyes widened as she followed chase up the walkway to the front porch, the little boy just opening the front door and making his way in like he owned the place. "Chase Matthew, you have to knock first," she scolded, shaking her head at him. Whenever Val wasn't here they usually just walked right in, which lately had been a lot.

Matt walked to the front door, raising an eyebrow when he saw Chase just walk right on in. "Oh, hi," he said, looking up at Madison as she followed him inside. "You can come in the living room. Val's just finishing getting dressed." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and walked into the living room with them, looking towards the staircase before he pulled Chase into his arms and kissed the top of his head. He smiled down at the boy, pressing his finger to his lips. "Sh," he whispered, grinning at him. He chuckled softly and let Chase sit in his lap, looking at Madison. "How are you?" He figured he should ask, since he hadn't really spoken to her all too much about her personal life.

@ anchored lungs.
Madison bit down on her bottom lip, closing the door behind her as she followed the two into the living room. She sat down on the couch, letting out a small sigh as she ran her fingers through her hair. She honestly would be glad when Matt finally told Val the truth, which hopefully was soon, for Chase's sake. Madison's eyebrows rose in surprise when Matt asked her how she was doing, honestly not really sure how to answer that. She never talked about herself, she always talked about Chase, especially with Matt. "Uh, I'm alright. How about you?" She asked, curious about how he was holding up lately. Val had been talking her ear off about their relationship problems. Well, Madison wouldn't really call it problems. Val was just super sensitive to anything Matt did and it was just crazy.

Matt shrugged his shoulders and sighed softly. "I'm okay, I guess," he said. "Just a lot going on, you know?" He looked over when Val walked downstairs, grinning at them. She walked over and took Chase off Matt's lap, pressing a big kiss to his forehead. "Hi, Chase," she said. She had practically fallen in love with the boy ever since she met him. She wanted a family with Matt so badly, but he just kept putting the subject off. They weren't getting any younger. Her whole life, she'd dreamed of having a family and she loved Matt so much, she wanted one with him. Matt stood up, scratching his neck. "Let's eat, yeah? I'm starving." He headed to the dining room, closing his eyes and sighing heavily. They were just this much closer to Val finding out about Chase and it was driving him crazy.

@ voltage oblivion.
Madison bit down on her bottom lip softly, letting out a small sigh. She got up and grinned at Chase when he looked over at her, giving him a tiny wink. He was being such a good boy and she was so proud of him. Madison could tell that Val really wanted a baby with Matt, but Matt just found out about Chase. How was he supposed to bring another baby into the world when he just found out that he had already? Madison furrowed her brows at her thoughts, shaking her head a bit. It wasn't her place to even worry about it, or even care. If they wanted to start a family then they should be able to, it was none of her business. Madison looked up when she felt someone tug on her hand, seeing Chase standing there. She smiled, bending down and picking him up before walking into the dining room where Matt was putting food on the table. She put Chase down in a seat, kissing his cheek and letting out a small giggle when he made a face.

Matt glanced over at Chase and Madison, chuckling softly. He watched as Val sat across from him and he gave everyone their drink of choice before he sat down himself, ready to eat. He was starving. He began to fill his plate and passed the bowls around so everyone could get what they wanted. He'd made sure that the meat was cooked well enough so that Chase could chew it if Madison decided to give him some of it. He'd feel really guilty if the boy ended up choking because of him. But he wasn't a baby either, so maybe he could handle the food a little better than a toddler, per se, but still. He began to eat, looking awkwardly between Val and Madison, wondering what they were going to talk about. He wasn't even sure what to say without sounding like he was totally anxious and scared for his life.

@ voltage oblivion.
Madison made Chase's plate, cutting it up so he could eat it and handing him a fork. She then made her own plate, sitting down and beginning to eat. Though she began pushing her food around after a while, the silence beginning to become a bit unbearable. Madison started watching Val with Chase, biting down on her bottom lip. Madison had a date tomorrow night, which made her come to realization that she didn't have a babysitter. "Hey Val, if you're not busy tomorrow, would you mind watching Chase for me? I have a date," she asked, saying the last part rather quietly. It was the first date that she's had in a very long time, but she figured that it was now or never.