Chapter 1
Matt’s awaken by his alarm, repeating in the same robotic voice, that it’s time for him to get up and start his day.
He turns off the alarm and opens his eyes. Matt’s greeted by the same sight he’s had since the accident. Nothing. Well, except for his world on fire and the assault on his senses that he has come accustomed to.
Honing in his hearing, he searches for that small steady heartbeat in the room next to his. That heartbeat that has been his lifeline for nearly 5 years.
*Thump-thump, thump-thump*
He breathes a sigh of relief, sitting up in his bed as he rakes a hand through his hair. He listens for a moment longer to the steady rhythmic beat and thanks God that the little heartbeat is still there.
Matt wouldn’t know what to do if one day he couldn’t hear that small heartbeat anymore. It brings him comfort and gives him a reason to come back home alive, every time he goes out.
(Granted, he does come back most of the time beaten and bruised, but not too badly.)
That little heartbeat reminds him to be careful and to work harder to give a better life for his child. His daughter. His little Jackie.
Surfacing from his thoughts, he starts his day by going to the bathroom and getting dressed in one of his suits. After that he navigates the apartment and collects some of the paperwork he was going through last night for a case.
When he’s done he walks to the familiar room next to his. Pushing open the door, reveals a smallish room with white painted walls. There’s a brown toy box next to the doorway that has the name ‘Jackie’ painted on in sandy yellow. It was a gift from Foggy’s family, for Jackie’s second birthday.
Next to the box is an old wooden dresser, that also serves as a bookshelf for a few children’s books, both in brail and not. There is a soft circular yellow carpet in the middle of the room.
(Of course he wouldn’t know how everything looked, without the help of Foggy and his master describing skills)
Then in the far corner is a small, low to the ground, bed. Matt can hear the soft rustling of sheets and Jackie’s slow breathing.
Jackie was still fast asleep, tucked cozily under her covers. Matt crouches down beside the low bed and lightly strokes her head of dark coppery hair.
“Jackie…Jackie, come on honey it’s time to wake up,” Matt whispers softly. She stirs, slowly waking up, but trying to stay asleep grumbling a soft, “Nooo…”
At this, Matt snorts and says a bit louder, “Hey, don’t go back to sleep, we need to get moving. Foggy’s going to be here soon, come on.”
This gets her awake, jumping straight up, yelling, “ ‘M awake!” She almost falls out of the bed and onto the floor.
Luckily Matt catches her in time. “Careful there,” he chuckles hoisting her up so that she is situated on his hip.
“Uncle Foggy coming here?” Jackie asks sleepily, rubbing at her eyes.
“Yep, but first you have to get dressed,” he says placing Jackie onto the floor.
Matt turns to the dresser opening it and searching for the brail labels on the clothes as he tries to at least find an outfit that will match. After about a minute he turns back to where Jackie is standing.
“Wanna to take the earplugs out today?” he asks her.
Having inherited his senses, Jackie has to wear earplugs, because she doesn’t have full control over her senses yet and can’t block out sound all that good especially when she is trying to sleep.
At first, when Jackie was still a baby, she didn’t get much sleep and she cried a lot of the time. When Matt finally figured out what was wrong, he felt so guilty about it, he still does sometimes, especially when Jackie gets overwhelmed by her senses.
Back then it was a huge learning curve for Matt, being now not just a single father, but being a single father of a baby with his senses. Foggy, was a big help during this time, helping him figure everything out and then still standing by him to this day.
Jackie scrunches up her face, tilting her head to the side, thinking for a moment.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Matt says quickly.
“I wanna try,” comes her response, soft but with determination apparent in her voice.
Matt nods and says, “On three. One, two, three.”
Carefully he pulls out the earplugs. After giving her a moment to get used to all the noise around them, Matt asks,“How do you feel, honey?”
“I think I’ll be okay, Daddy,” Jackie says slowly as if evaluating every word. Matt smiles at this, finding it extremely adorable.
“Alright then, let’s get you dressed.”
——
After getting Jackie dressed, they moved to the kitchen, where Matt was scrambling some eggs and Jackie sat one of the chairs drinking some orange juice.
It was one of those rare peaceful moments they had, and Matt cherished everything single one. Having a 4 year old running around can become quite… hectic.
Don’t get him wrong, Matt loves Jackie to bits, he wouldn’t trade her for the world. It’s just…
Being a blind lawyer is no easy task, Matt knows that, now throw in the fact that he’s a secret crime fighting ninja vigilante, on an irregular basis, things get complicated.
And if you add in that, he Matthew Micheal Murdock, has been a single father for about 5 years now, complicated turns into a big hot mess.
But it’s his big hot mess, and he will fight tooth and nail to protect it.
——
Matt’s busy with the dishes, after they were done eating, he’s humming a tune of a song he can’t remember the name of and Jackie’s busy drawing (scribbling) at the coffee table in a colouring books. Suddenly Jackie tilts her head to the side, listening for something or someone.
Matt smiles. He hears it too. Next thing he knows, Jackie is jumping up from her place in front of the coffee table and is rushing towards the door. Matt gives a quick, “Don’t run inside the house!” as is his parental duty.
Matt then hears Jackie’s excited squeal, “Uncle Foggy!”
Then comes Foggy’s startled squawk at being caught off guard by a hyperactive 4 year old.
“Kid, don’t do that to me. I’m gonna have a heart attack one day,” Foggy wheezes as he raps Jackie in a tight hug.
“Now where’s your dad?” Foggy asks.
“Morning Fog. I’m just in the kitchen,” Matt answers as he drys his hands with a dishcloth. He hears Foggy and Jackie shuffling into the kitchen.
“Hey, I brought coffee,” Foggy says as he holds up a cardboard tray with three cups in.
“Foggy, you're a saint and I love you,” Matt says as he steals one of the coffees.
“Don’t I know it,” he hums back at Matt, “Now are you two ready to go?”
“Yep!” Jackie squeals, popping the ‘p’ at the end.
“Give me a minute to get my coat and Jackie’s bag and then we can go,” Foggy nods as Matt quickly strides through the apartment.