It's the age of princesses and pirate ships...
He wasn't there. She had looked through the whole entire house, twice, and the J-man wasn't in it. That happened, sometimes, when he went out to run with Teddy, or to go buy things, or sometimes when he and Mummy left together, like for the roses day, but it wasn't any of those things, that she could tell, and he wasn't there.
Trekking down the stairs, again, Tess made her way into the kitchen to see if Mummy was dressed already and having her coffee. The telltale clicking of her pointy shoes on the hard floor said that yes, she was, and Tess rounded the counter, frowning.
"Mummy? Where J-man? He not here."
Gaze drawn from the paper, Gwen's lips turned up to see her little one in the doorway. "He went to work today. Remember how we talked about that? He was on vacation for a long time, but now he'll be at work during the days, darling."
"No talk about," Tess countered, going over to stand with her elbows on the table, chin set in her hands. "You say vay-casin', not goin' back today. He not say so yessaday. Why he not tell me? He 'pose be here."
Frowning in earnest now, she added, "He work catchin' bads like zap my Daddy. He get hurted and not come home. I want back! You make give him back!" Two red spots formed high in her cheeks and spread, her eyes wet a moment later. "I want back. He 'our'. He 'pose come home to Mummy and Tess."
Setting her coffee and paper down on the counter, Gwen moved across the room and scooped Tess up. "He'll come home, little love. Just like Mummy; he'll go to work and then come home when he's done for the day. He'll come home to you and I." She reached up then, brushed away a tear that escaped.
"No!" Tess wailed, clinging desperately to her Mummy. "You go to stady and fly... no bads there. He gonna get hurted and go'way for always and not come home! He not tell me, I not say bye!" She always made sure to tell all of her new people that she loved them, just in case, and she had not told the J-man that day, or even 'bye' when he left, because she had not been awake yet.
"I go to stady with Mummy... I see you there. Not see J-man, not go to work with him, and I not say bye," she wept. "He go'way and think I not love."
Gwen pulled Tess closer until the little girl was crying into her neck and her thoughts turned quickly on what it is she should do. She understood now what frightened Tess, at least; her own father had died at the hand of the 'bads' and now Jonathan was out to get them. She did not know, for sure, the specifics of Tess' attachment to Jonathan, but it was obvious she considered him hers, part of their family, and the sobs wracking her tiny frame were testament to the trauma from both the past and the current situation.
"How about we go visit him at work before I go to the Stadium, hmm? You can see that he's alright in his office and say you love him," she suggested, hand rubbing soothing circles over Tess' back.
Nodding and sniffing back her tears, Tess agreed. "Yes. You give back. Go to office and give back, then I say love," she hiccoughed, wiping at her face.
Glad it was so simple to quell the tears this time, Gwen pressed a kiss to Tess' damp cheek and set her down. "Collect your shoes and jumper and wipe your eyes, darling, and we shall go and tell Jonathan he is to come home tonight, hmm?"
"'Kay," Tess sniffled, heading for the stairs to do as she'd been bid.
She returned with shoes and jumper on, a beret perched precariously atop her head. "Now go get J-man," she requested, winding herself around her Mummy's leg.
Gwen didn't try to argue that they would just be visiting Jonathan; soon enough he could tell her himself.
Wand in hand, she Apparated them both to the Atrium in the Ministry and even as Tess looked about wide-eyed at all the people, Gwen sheathed her wand, snatched up the girl and made for the lifts. It didn't take long to get to the second floor despite the Ministry's temperamental magic, and not long after she'd checked her wand in with Ms. Potts, Gwen clipped down the hall towards the MLE's smaller atrium, the central traffic area that led to all the other winding halls, and Jonathan's office.
Craning her head around at all the people in odd clothes who were hurrying to and fro around them, Tess patted her Mummy's shoulder, asking, "Who all this people is? They work for J-man?" Most everyone at the stady-flying-place worked for her Mummy, but this was a lot of people, and she could not quite see J-man talking to all of them at once.
"No, darling. They work with Jonathan," Gwen clarified, heels tapping steadily as she clipped across the large open area.
"There!" Tess called, pointing, wriggling in her Mummy's arms as she spotted J-man in a doorway across the room full of people. The person who had been talking to him walked away, and she squirmed harder, slipping free as they reached the edge of the hallway and darting around the billow of a set of green robes.
"J-man!" she demanded, running up to where he stood and curling her hand into his to give him a good tug, "You not leave Tess! You come back!" She peered up at him, looking as thunderous as is possible for a tiny person in pigtails.
"You 'pose stay, come home and play with Tess! No bye, no say love for if bads get, you jus' go'way," Tess added, precariously close to a whine, her chin starting to tremble as she thought about it again. "I love! You not go'way..."
His eyes were still wide as he looked down at Tess. Hearing her name for him being called across the hallway had been a shock, as had the vision of Tess running up to him in the middle of the MLE. Jonathan had only been back to work for a few hours, several of those spent filling out paperwork certifying that he had indeed taken his sabbatical and enforced time off and not continued to work on his cases outside of the jurisdiction of the Ministry.
Visits to his office since then had been frequent, most people stopping just to say 'hello' and 'welcome back'. Jonathan was fairly sure he'd talked to more people today than in the whole of the year he'd been back from the Americas.
Tess' visit, however, was the most shocking. Curling his fingers around hers, his eyes darting up quickly to catch Gwen making her way through the crowd, Jonathan knelt beside the little girl, frowning slightly. "I'm not going to go anywhere, Princess. You were asleep when I left and I didn't want to wake you up."
"You wake," Tess insisted, climbing into J-man's arms and clinging tightly. "You wake, and I say love for if bads get." A few tears appeared, and she smacked her palm lightly against his chest. "You be stupid knight. No armor out for catchin' bads, no come home to princess and Mummy."
"Tess," Gwen warned gently, "watch your words, please," Gwen said when she finally came close enough to hear what the little girl was saying. She was not unaware of the several sets of eyes turning their way. She'd meant the privacy of his office, for his sake, but there was nothing to be done for it now.
"We're just coming by to say good morning, and for Tess to remind you that you're to come home tonight," Gwen reminded, gaze shifting from Tess to Jonathan, unsure what he would have of her, them, exposed as they were, though it did not show in her face.
"Well of course I'm coming home," Jonathan said, eyes rolling from where they'd been looking at Gwen to the small urchin clutching at him. "I'm wearing my armor, Princess, it's just invisible. If everyone knew I was a knight, they'd be chasing after me all the time. This way, they don't know that I'm the good guy, that way they can't hurt me."
His hand rose to sweep away the tears that had fallen from Tess' large eyes, thumb brushing along a cheek pinkened with crying. "I'll be coming home to you and Mummy, love, I promise."
Entranced by this new idea, Tess poked experimentally at J-man's chest, trying a few different spots. "Armor invisba? How you do this? More zap?" She sobered at his vow, leaning into his touch on her face.
"Promise?" she echoed, laying her small hands on him, one on each cheek, and peering into his eyes. "You keep, J-man. I love. You come home to princess."
"I will. I'll be home later tonight." Wrapping his arms around Tess' shoulders, he hugged the girl to his chest, eyes locking on Gwen's across the small distance.
He didn't seem to have a problem handling this in front of his co-workers, despite that some were staring, quite agape, others trying not to look. She could never let her own guard completely down in such a gathering, but that it didn't seem to bother him did relieve some part of her.
"We can't stay with Jonathan all day, love, not like you do with me," Gwen said gently, hand reaching up to pet down Tess' back.
"Why not? I be good," Tess said hopefully. "Give colors. I make picture and be quiet, like at stady-flyin'-place."
"This isn't the kind of place you want to be," Jonathan said, giving the girl a smile. "I'll make you a deal. You be good for Mummy, and when I get home later tonight, we'll have dinner and then take Teddy for a walk. After that, we'll read and then Mummy and I will tuck you in. How does that sound?"
Placated, but not buying, Tess pointed out, "We do this all nights you home. I be good, though. You do Alice and I say 'deal'."
Jonathan held his much larger hand out to hers. "We'll shake on it, hm?"
Nodding, Tess put her hand in his big one, shaking, then twined her arms about his neck again, giving him a squeeze and kissing his cheek. "You remem promise, for all days," she prompted, just making sure.
Gwen's lips twitched over Tess' head, eyes warming a bit for the first time. It was difficult for her to show anything when they were so surrounded by people, but Tess was hers and she felt at ease letting at least that show on her face, if not anything else.
"All days," he repeated, dark eyes steady on Gwen's as he hugged the small girl to him.
Jonathan was well aware of the many sets of eyes on them, the open and outright stares some were setting in their direction. This wouldn't stay in the MLE for long, not with the number of mouths and whispers witnessing what was happening. Part of him knew it was dangerous. Before, being seen with Gwen could be written off to a torrid affair, something that people would readily dismiss as nothing more. This? This was a small girl wrapped around his person. It couldn't be played off as anything but what it was.
He could handle his name being bandied about in the papers as Gwen's beau in whatever context they decided. However, he did not like the idea of Tess being brought into the gossip, and she undoubtedly would.
They'd need to do something to make sure whatever privacy they'd had before could be ensured. "It's a deal, then."
"Which means, my little love, that it is time to sweep you home to your sister so I might go to the Stadium," Gwen informed Tess, holding out her hand. She wasn't unaware of the heavy thoughts from Jonathan, but now was not the time to speak of such things. It would have to wait until they were home, after Tess was tucked in.
"'Kay," Tess acquiesced, giving J-man a last peck and wriggling free, going back to her Mummy. "Regan, she say we go i-skatin' again, if nice outside," she chirped, happy at the thought and hoping she wouldn't fall as much this time.
Vaguely amused at how easily pleased children were, and how quickly their happiness flitted from one thing to the next, Gwen adjusted the small girl on her hip before shifting to press her lips to Jonathan's lightly. She might have refrained, but it was too late to keep everything from prying eyes; her name and Jonathan's would be in the gossip pages on the morrow.
His face was pleasantly blank when Gwen pulled back, but he knew she'd be able to read his eyes. He would never be upset that Tess had wanted to see him, had wanted to make sure he knew she loved him and wanted him to return to their home as soon as possible, but it did change things in a very real way. It could be dealt with rather easily, something Gwen had said a few nights prior springing to mind; it would just take a bit of time. Until then, they'd be extra careful.
"I'll see you both at home," he murmured, leaning forward to press his forehead against Tess'. "Now, let me go be a knight. There are other princesses who need my help."
Watching J-man cannily, tipping her face to touch her nose to his, Tess dug, "I most special princess?"
"The specialest," he said, corner of his mouth turning up in a smirk as his eyes darted to Gwen's, knowing she and Regan loathed it when he encouraged her horrible grammar.
Gwen's lips were pursed slightly, brow raised in a pointed arch. "Say goodbye, Tess, love."
"G'bye, Tess, love," Tess parroted, grinning up at her Mummy. She turned back to J-man and blew him a kiss to do it right, "Bye-bye, J-man."
"Bye Princess. Be good for Regan," he reminded, smiling at the little girl.
"Good this," Tess sighed dramatically, "good everything. I know. I smart girl, not puppy." She blew him another kiss and then held on to Mummy, ready to go home.
SUMMARY: Tess is upset that Jonathan's gone back to work. Gwen takes her to visit him at the Ministry and they are publicly outed.
Trekking down the stairs, again, Tess made her way into the kitchen to see if Mummy was dressed already and having her coffee. The telltale clicking of her pointy shoes on the hard floor said that yes, she was, and Tess rounded the counter, frowning.
"Mummy? Where J-man? He not here."
Gaze drawn from the paper, Gwen's lips turned up to see her little one in the doorway. "He went to work today. Remember how we talked about that? He was on vacation for a long time, but now he'll be at work during the days, darling."
"No talk about," Tess countered, going over to stand with her elbows on the table, chin set in her hands. "You say vay-casin', not goin' back today. He not say so yessaday. Why he not tell me? He 'pose be here."
Frowning in earnest now, she added, "He work catchin' bads like zap my Daddy. He get hurted and not come home. I want back! You make give him back!" Two red spots formed high in her cheeks and spread, her eyes wet a moment later. "I want back. He 'our'. He 'pose come home to Mummy and Tess."
Setting her coffee and paper down on the counter, Gwen moved across the room and scooped Tess up. "He'll come home, little love. Just like Mummy; he'll go to work and then come home when he's done for the day. He'll come home to you and I." She reached up then, brushed away a tear that escaped.
"No!" Tess wailed, clinging desperately to her Mummy. "You go to stady and fly... no bads there. He gonna get hurted and go'way for always and not come home! He not tell me, I not say bye!" She always made sure to tell all of her new people that she loved them, just in case, and she had not told the J-man that day, or even 'bye' when he left, because she had not been awake yet.
"I go to stady with Mummy... I see you there. Not see J-man, not go to work with him, and I not say bye," she wept. "He go'way and think I not love."
Gwen pulled Tess closer until the little girl was crying into her neck and her thoughts turned quickly on what it is she should do. She understood now what frightened Tess, at least; her own father had died at the hand of the 'bads' and now Jonathan was out to get them. She did not know, for sure, the specifics of Tess' attachment to Jonathan, but it was obvious she considered him hers, part of their family, and the sobs wracking her tiny frame were testament to the trauma from both the past and the current situation.
"How about we go visit him at work before I go to the Stadium, hmm? You can see that he's alright in his office and say you love him," she suggested, hand rubbing soothing circles over Tess' back.
Nodding and sniffing back her tears, Tess agreed. "Yes. You give back. Go to office and give back, then I say love," she hiccoughed, wiping at her face.
Glad it was so simple to quell the tears this time, Gwen pressed a kiss to Tess' damp cheek and set her down. "Collect your shoes and jumper and wipe your eyes, darling, and we shall go and tell Jonathan he is to come home tonight, hmm?"
"'Kay," Tess sniffled, heading for the stairs to do as she'd been bid.
She returned with shoes and jumper on, a beret perched precariously atop her head. "Now go get J-man," she requested, winding herself around her Mummy's leg.
Gwen didn't try to argue that they would just be visiting Jonathan; soon enough he could tell her himself.
Wand in hand, she Apparated them both to the Atrium in the Ministry and even as Tess looked about wide-eyed at all the people, Gwen sheathed her wand, snatched up the girl and made for the lifts. It didn't take long to get to the second floor despite the Ministry's temperamental magic, and not long after she'd checked her wand in with Ms. Potts, Gwen clipped down the hall towards the MLE's smaller atrium, the central traffic area that led to all the other winding halls, and Jonathan's office.
Craning her head around at all the people in odd clothes who were hurrying to and fro around them, Tess patted her Mummy's shoulder, asking, "Who all this people is? They work for J-man?" Most everyone at the stady-flying-place worked for her Mummy, but this was a lot of people, and she could not quite see J-man talking to all of them at once.
"No, darling. They work with Jonathan," Gwen clarified, heels tapping steadily as she clipped across the large open area.
"There!" Tess called, pointing, wriggling in her Mummy's arms as she spotted J-man in a doorway across the room full of people. The person who had been talking to him walked away, and she squirmed harder, slipping free as they reached the edge of the hallway and darting around the billow of a set of green robes.
"J-man!" she demanded, running up to where he stood and curling her hand into his to give him a good tug, "You not leave Tess! You come back!" She peered up at him, looking as thunderous as is possible for a tiny person in pigtails.
"You 'pose stay, come home and play with Tess! No bye, no say love for if bads get, you jus' go'way," Tess added, precariously close to a whine, her chin starting to tremble as she thought about it again. "I love! You not go'way..."
His eyes were still wide as he looked down at Tess. Hearing her name for him being called across the hallway had been a shock, as had the vision of Tess running up to him in the middle of the MLE. Jonathan had only been back to work for a few hours, several of those spent filling out paperwork certifying that he had indeed taken his sabbatical and enforced time off and not continued to work on his cases outside of the jurisdiction of the Ministry.
Visits to his office since then had been frequent, most people stopping just to say 'hello' and 'welcome back'. Jonathan was fairly sure he'd talked to more people today than in the whole of the year he'd been back from the Americas.
Tess' visit, however, was the most shocking. Curling his fingers around hers, his eyes darting up quickly to catch Gwen making her way through the crowd, Jonathan knelt beside the little girl, frowning slightly. "I'm not going to go anywhere, Princess. You were asleep when I left and I didn't want to wake you up."
"You wake," Tess insisted, climbing into J-man's arms and clinging tightly. "You wake, and I say love for if bads get." A few tears appeared, and she smacked her palm lightly against his chest. "You be stupid knight. No armor out for catchin' bads, no come home to princess and Mummy."
"Tess," Gwen warned gently, "watch your words, please," Gwen said when she finally came close enough to hear what the little girl was saying. She was not unaware of the several sets of eyes turning their way. She'd meant the privacy of his office, for his sake, but there was nothing to be done for it now.
"We're just coming by to say good morning, and for Tess to remind you that you're to come home tonight," Gwen reminded, gaze shifting from Tess to Jonathan, unsure what he would have of her, them, exposed as they were, though it did not show in her face.
"Well of course I'm coming home," Jonathan said, eyes rolling from where they'd been looking at Gwen to the small urchin clutching at him. "I'm wearing my armor, Princess, it's just invisible. If everyone knew I was a knight, they'd be chasing after me all the time. This way, they don't know that I'm the good guy, that way they can't hurt me."
His hand rose to sweep away the tears that had fallen from Tess' large eyes, thumb brushing along a cheek pinkened with crying. "I'll be coming home to you and Mummy, love, I promise."
Entranced by this new idea, Tess poked experimentally at J-man's chest, trying a few different spots. "Armor invisba? How you do this? More zap?" She sobered at his vow, leaning into his touch on her face.
"Promise?" she echoed, laying her small hands on him, one on each cheek, and peering into his eyes. "You keep, J-man. I love. You come home to princess."
"I will. I'll be home later tonight." Wrapping his arms around Tess' shoulders, he hugged the girl to his chest, eyes locking on Gwen's across the small distance.
He didn't seem to have a problem handling this in front of his co-workers, despite that some were staring, quite agape, others trying not to look. She could never let her own guard completely down in such a gathering, but that it didn't seem to bother him did relieve some part of her.
"We can't stay with Jonathan all day, love, not like you do with me," Gwen said gently, hand reaching up to pet down Tess' back.
"Why not? I be good," Tess said hopefully. "Give colors. I make picture and be quiet, like at stady-flyin'-place."
"This isn't the kind of place you want to be," Jonathan said, giving the girl a smile. "I'll make you a deal. You be good for Mummy, and when I get home later tonight, we'll have dinner and then take Teddy for a walk. After that, we'll read and then Mummy and I will tuck you in. How does that sound?"
Placated, but not buying, Tess pointed out, "We do this all nights you home. I be good, though. You do Alice and I say 'deal'."
Jonathan held his much larger hand out to hers. "We'll shake on it, hm?"
Nodding, Tess put her hand in his big one, shaking, then twined her arms about his neck again, giving him a squeeze and kissing his cheek. "You remem promise, for all days," she prompted, just making sure.
Gwen's lips twitched over Tess' head, eyes warming a bit for the first time. It was difficult for her to show anything when they were so surrounded by people, but Tess was hers and she felt at ease letting at least that show on her face, if not anything else.
"All days," he repeated, dark eyes steady on Gwen's as he hugged the small girl to him.
Jonathan was well aware of the many sets of eyes on them, the open and outright stares some were setting in their direction. This wouldn't stay in the MLE for long, not with the number of mouths and whispers witnessing what was happening. Part of him knew it was dangerous. Before, being seen with Gwen could be written off to a torrid affair, something that people would readily dismiss as nothing more. This? This was a small girl wrapped around his person. It couldn't be played off as anything but what it was.
He could handle his name being bandied about in the papers as Gwen's beau in whatever context they decided. However, he did not like the idea of Tess being brought into the gossip, and she undoubtedly would.
They'd need to do something to make sure whatever privacy they'd had before could be ensured. "It's a deal, then."
"Which means, my little love, that it is time to sweep you home to your sister so I might go to the Stadium," Gwen informed Tess, holding out her hand. She wasn't unaware of the heavy thoughts from Jonathan, but now was not the time to speak of such things. It would have to wait until they were home, after Tess was tucked in.
"'Kay," Tess acquiesced, giving J-man a last peck and wriggling free, going back to her Mummy. "Regan, she say we go i-skatin' again, if nice outside," she chirped, happy at the thought and hoping she wouldn't fall as much this time.
Vaguely amused at how easily pleased children were, and how quickly their happiness flitted from one thing to the next, Gwen adjusted the small girl on her hip before shifting to press her lips to Jonathan's lightly. She might have refrained, but it was too late to keep everything from prying eyes; her name and Jonathan's would be in the gossip pages on the morrow.
His face was pleasantly blank when Gwen pulled back, but he knew she'd be able to read his eyes. He would never be upset that Tess had wanted to see him, had wanted to make sure he knew she loved him and wanted him to return to their home as soon as possible, but it did change things in a very real way. It could be dealt with rather easily, something Gwen had said a few nights prior springing to mind; it would just take a bit of time. Until then, they'd be extra careful.
"I'll see you both at home," he murmured, leaning forward to press his forehead against Tess'. "Now, let me go be a knight. There are other princesses who need my help."
Watching J-man cannily, tipping her face to touch her nose to his, Tess dug, "I most special princess?"
"The specialest," he said, corner of his mouth turning up in a smirk as his eyes darted to Gwen's, knowing she and Regan loathed it when he encouraged her horrible grammar.
Gwen's lips were pursed slightly, brow raised in a pointed arch. "Say goodbye, Tess, love."
"G'bye, Tess, love," Tess parroted, grinning up at her Mummy. She turned back to J-man and blew him a kiss to do it right, "Bye-bye, J-man."
"Bye Princess. Be good for Regan," he reminded, smiling at the little girl.
"Good this," Tess sighed dramatically, "good everything. I know. I smart girl, not puppy." She blew him another kiss and then held on to Mummy, ready to go home.
SUMMARY: Tess is upset that Jonathan's gone back to work. Gwen takes her to visit him at the Ministry and they are publicly outed.