Seeing Red
By Postcard
Rating: - PG. Humour. Romance.
Pairings: - Fraser/Thatcher.
Teaser: - To Poppy's delight, Meg has an accident with a football.
Spoiler: - None.
Disclaimer: - The Due South characters in this story are not mine and anything else Due South isn't mine either. I do not mean to infringe on copyrights held by any copyright holders for Due South. Also, I do not mean to cause offence to anyone mentioned in this story. I only put you in the story because I like you. <G> The story and Poppy are mine (copyright April 2000 by Postcard on all original story content.) Please do not reproduce for anything other than personal reading without the written consent of author. This story is not written for profit and the author does not give permission for this story to be reproduced for profit.
Author's note: - This story is a sequel to 'My Girl Poppy' and it is in the series called 'Crackerjack Parents.' I'd like to point out that 'football' in this story means 'soccer.' BTW, some of the football players in this story no longer play for Manchester United. This story is dedicated to MUFC. Hope you enjoy the story and any constructive comments are welcome at postcard@manutd.com
Meg donned her black, red and yellow, Manchester United football cap and sat down next to her daughter on the sofa, to watch the football match. In Poppy's arms was cradled Man Utd's mascot, the 'Red Devil' and Meg's hands were clutching a Man Utd scarf. Dressed in black jeans and their red Manchester United T-shirts; they both definitely looked the part of 'die hard' football fans.
The match kicked off and Meg reached impulsively for a swig of her Man Utd beer. And Poppy chomped contentedly on her favourite chocolate bar, a 'Fred The Red, Super Reds Bar'. It was only moments into the match when Man Utd striker, Eric Cantona, scored a terrific goal from the edge of the box, causing Meg to jump out of her seat and clap her hands in celebration. "YES. What a goal! Woo Hoo! 'King Eric.' Go Reds. Ah, ah, Go Reds." Meg spun her scarf around in the air above her head.
Poppy jumped up off the sofa too, in an attempt to copy her mother. Hearing the crowd sing, "Oooh, arh, Cantona. I said 'oooh, arh, Cantona,'" Poppy joined in the chant and Meg started to laugh.
"That's my girl!" Getting hold of her daughter's hands, Meg did a victory dance around the sofa with her. "One nil, one nil, one nil."
Settling back down together on the sofa, Meg and Poppy continued to cheer their team on together. "Come on you Reds!"
The opposing team dodged past the Man Utd defenders and kicked the ball at the net. Both Meg and Poppy were on the edge of their seats in suspense. However, the striker was no match for the Man Utd goalie, Peter Schmeichel. The 'Great Dane' leapt into the air and gracefully caught the ball. Meg and Poppy clapped their hands in unison. "YES. All right! Nice save." Meg praised the goalie.
Half time quickly came around and Meg knew that the Man Utd Manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, would have something to say to the team about letting the opposing striker get so close to the net. Yes, she imagined that he would throw a few teacups at some of the defenders during half time. Smiling, Meg thought that she might try that approach on her own staff in the near future! It seemed to have a positive affect on the Man Utd players, because they always came out onto the pitch for the second half of the game, raring to go. Yes, he was a 'man after her own heart.'
During the second half of the match, one of the opposing team did a nasty back tackle on Nicky Butt, bringing him crashing down onto the pitch. "You fuc…" Realising that her daughter was sat at the side of her, Meg quickly put herself in check and stopped swearing just in time. To Meg's disgust the Referee let the match play on and didn't book the player. "No way! Ref, are you blind! That was an obvious foul." Meg shouted at the TV screen.
Nicky Butt apparently thought the same as Meg, because he went up to the Referee and started to argue with him. To Meg's outrage the Referee reached into his top pocket and produced a 'red card.' "WHAT! " Meg sprang to her feet in annoyance. "You should be giving the other guy a card, not him. There's no way he should have got a 'red card. At a push, maybe a 'yellow card,' but RED! NO WAY."
In a rage at seeing the referee produce a 'red card,' Meg spied the Man Utd football at her feet, and she kicked it, hard. 'WHACK.' The ball soared through the air and to Meg's complete and utter horror, headed straight for the living room window. The sound of shattering glass filled the room. Meg's body froze. Poppy started to laugh.
"Oh my God!" Meg put a hand to her mouth. "Your father's going to kill me." Meg looked at her daughter rolling around in hysterics on the sofa and frowned. "It's not funny, you little devil. "
Getting over the initial shock, Meg couldn't help but to see the funny side and her own face started to form into a smile. Walking to the window, she peered out of the hole. Spotting the football in the middle of Ben's prized flowers on the front lawn, she began to laugh along with her daughter. "Oh, of all of the places it could have landed, it had to go and crush your father's flowers."
* * *
From the broken window, Meg saw Ben, in his red uniform, and Dief walk down the garden path towards the front door. She moved anxiously to the front door to greet them. "Now then, Poppy, when your father asks who broke the window, what do you say?"
"You did." Poppy smiled impishly at Meg.
Meg shook her head at her daughter. "No. Whatever you do sweetheart, please don't say that."
Ben opened the front door and stepped into his home. Smiling, he kissed both his daughter and wife on their cheek. Picking Poppy up and hugging her, he turned to face his wife. "Meg, erm, the living room window appears to be broken!" He raised his eyebrows questionably at her.
Meg bit her bottom lip. "Ah! Yes. Some, erm, boys were playing football outside and they…erm…accidentally smashed the window," Meg lied.
"Really! So why is the broken glass on the outside then, my love?" Meg visibly squirmed at his keen observation. "Furthermore, if the football has come through the window into the house, then why is it sitting in between my flowers on the front lawn?" Poppy started to giggle and Ben looked from his wife to his daughter. "All right, what happened? Which one of you broke the window? "
"Mummy did." Ben looked at Meg. Trying to fight back her laughter, Meg admittedtly nodded her head. "I'm sorry, love. It was an accident."
"I'm sure it was. But really Meg, after what I told Poppy about playing football inside! I would have thought that you'd have known better!"
"Technically I wasn't playing football inside. I accidentally kicked the ball and…" Meg gestured to the broken window. Placing Poppy on to her feet, Ben walked over to his wife and smiling he hugged her.
"Never mind, my love. We can fix it."
Poppy's little voice suddenly said, "No way. Are you blind!" Astonished, Ben spun around to look at his daughter. Before he could say anything to her, she giggled and ran off to play with Dief.
Turning back to his wife, Ben looked at her reproachfully. "Meg? Has she learned that from you?"
"I…erm, may have said something along those lines during the football match."
"You may have?"
"Ok, I did. I got a little carried away, all right! However, I'd like to point out that I did stop myself from swearing. You can at least give me some credit for that!" Meg fixed him with her best 'injured look.'
When she looked at him as she was doing now, he couldn't stay angry with her for long. Yes, he thought that she absolutely knew how to play him and get what she wanted. So did his daughter too. He was definitely a soft touch where they were both concerned. But he didn't care one bit; he loved them. Smiling, he pulled Meg towards him and kissed her on the lips.
* * *
That night Ben tucked Poppy into bed. As he placed her 'Red Devil' cuddly toy into her arms and pulled the covers up to her chin, she crinkled her forehead and stuck out her bottom lip at him. "What's the matter, my princess?"
"Daddy, you wouldn't kill mummy would you?"
Ben looked at his daughter in shock. "Of course I wouldn't, my flower. I love you and your mummy very much. I would never hurt or let anyone hurt either of you. Whatever gave you that idea?"
"When the ball went out of the window, Mummy said that you were going to kill her."
Ben started to chuckle. Stroking her dark hair, he said, "Well, I'm not. So don't you worry yourself about that. Now, get some sleep." Lightly kissing her forehead, he turned out the light and left the room.
Hearing Ben walk into the living room, Meg quickly took her glasses off and squinted at her book. Ben noticed and smiling, he shook his head as he sat down next to her on the sofa. "Meg, I know that you wear glasses. I'm your husband. You don't need to hide your glasses from me."
"I know. It's just, well, I think that they make me look...unattractive."
"Meg! They do not make you look unattractive. In fact, I think that they make you look intellectually sexy."
"Really? You do? You're not just saying that?"
"Would I lie to you, my love?" Meg smiled at him and shook her head. "Also my darling, I really do think that you look cute in your Man Utd T-shirt. I love seeing you in red. It really does suit you, Meg." Meg blushed and smiled at him. Placing her glasses back on her nose, she kissed his cheek and snuggled into his arms.
The End