Fic :: Cook/Archuleta "A Tale of Grace"
Title: A Tale of Grace
Pairing: David Cook/ David Archuleta
Rating: PG
Summary: Archie had always just assumed that any kids that shared he and Cook’s DNA would automatically be musically inclined.
Author's Note: So hormones. Uh. Yes. Hormones are to blame for the fact that I only want to write about babies lately. :) mausi betaed and encouraged me, and I think I officially owe her a kidney now? (She already has my heart. :) ) Any mistakes are still all me. Title from the Norah Jones' song "Seven Years"
Archie had always just assumed that any kids that shared he and Cook’s DNA would automatically be musically inclined. He was shocked though when Addy used her love of music not by singing like her fathers but instead by dancing.
All of America had seen quite quickly that neither one of them were particularly graceful in the dance department. (And if any of them forgot his mother was nice enough to have all those painfully embarrassing moments recorded for posterities sake.) When Addy had asked to take ballet in the first place Archie had said yes, but with a lot of trepidation. She had inherited his perfection streak and he didn’t want to see her drive herself crazy if she didn’t pick up dance immediately.
“Oh come on, “ Cook had laughed, “She is four, I think they count you in the top of the class if you keep your tutu on and don’t cry.”
He went to pick her up after her first class, and his heart lodged in his throat when Ms. Lisa asked to talk to him. He loved his daughter with everything he had but he knew could be a handful when she wanted to be. He had given Addy a kid’s magazine that was on a table by the door and walked to the far corner.
Before Ms. Lisa could start Archie started to ramble, “I am so sorry. I know she can be a little over zealous at times, but if she gets frustrated she kind of turns into a little terror. We are trying to work on it at home …”
“Oh no, Mr. Archuleta that isn’t why I called you over,” she smiled widely. “Adelaide is an angel.”
Are we talking about the same Adelaide? he bit back.
He looked over his shoulder at where Addy had put down her magazine and was standing by the mirror trying her best to do … something he didn’t quite recognize and he turned back and gave her a smile. “Oh that’s good to hear.”
“I think she is going to need to go to a higher level than beginning,” she continued, her smile showing off all of her teeth.
Archie blinked, “Higher level?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I think if we keep her in the beginning level she is going to get bored rather fast. She is really quite quick at picking things up. The decision is up to you, naturally, but we would happily be able to take her into our six class and I would work with her to get her caught up.”
Of all the things that he had expected to hear from her, he had to be honest that he would have never thought that. His daughter was a miracle, her creativity and her talent showed through in everything she did but.. well. She still was their daughter, and he just. He hadn’t been ready for it.
He looked over at her again, saw her smile wide and silly at him when she caught him staring at her though the mirror. She gave a small wave and for a split second he could see so much of Cook in her that it actually almost ached. He waved back at her and with out taking his eyes off of hers he told the teacher they were going to need more time.
“… I really should talk to Cook about this,” he offered.
When she nodded and gave her a card he wanted to take it back. He wanted to tell her of course she would take it. A wash of guilt came over him and he wasn’t sure where it came from. Shouldn’t he want his daughter to move forward? To be the best that she can be? Did it make him a horrible father to have to think it over?
Cook had taken Connor for some Daddy-son time and Archie decided it was only fair to do the same thing with Addy. They got into his car and he locked her into her car seat (he was beginning to realize she needed a booster seat instead, and gosh, where did time go anymore?) and they drove to their favorite ice cream shop. She ordered vanilla with gummi worms and he got mint chocolate chip and they went to their corner booth.
“Did you have fun today?” he asked tentatively.
Addy, in the middle of slurping up a gummi worm (she got her table manners from her daddy, no question) beamed up at him. “Yea, Papi. SO MUCH FUN! We tried to stand on our tiptoes n’ I almost gots it but then I fell. Oh! And we did fillets!”
“Fillets?” he asked, and she nodded.
“You stand and puts your toes facing out and..” she stopped mid sentence and pushed herself off the bench. With in two seconds she was showing him the dance move and he had to actively try not to laugh.
He smiled at the look of delight on her face when she stopped. “That is a plie, Addy. Plie.”
“OH!” she nodded. “We did plies! It was so much fun! And Olivia from SCHOOL was there!”
Olivia’s mom had been the one to gave them the number for the school in the first place. “Is that so? Well, did you have fun playing with Olivia?”
“YES!” she cheered. “Do I get to do this every Tuesday?”
Archie nodded, though he thought maybe he should tell her it might change, who knew when the sixes class was? But that wasn’t something he was going to explain to her yet. So he just leaned back against the booth and let her happy retelling of the hour long class continue while they finished their ice cream.
*
Archie didn’t bring it up until after the two kids were asleep, after they had done the dishes and picked up all the toys off the living room floor. They curled up on the couch to watch whatever was on and Cook laid his head face up in Archie’s lap.
“You have been suspiciously quiet tonight, what’s up?”
Archie bit his lip. “Ms. Lisa asked me to talk to her when I picked up Addy this afternoon.”
“That is fairly ominous,” Cook half smiled. “What did my half of the genetics do wrong this time?”
Despite himself Archie chuckled. “Nothing, actually. In fact I don’t know which genetics were at fault. They want to bump her up to the sixes.”
“They want to what?” Cook moved so that he was sitting up and looked at Archie skeptically. “She is four, why would they put her in a classroom with kids two years older than her?”
Archie shrugged. “She is good apparently? She caught on to all the dance moves and Ms. Lisa thought that she would enjoy the challenge. She offered private lessons to get her caught up.”
Cook frowned for a second, “What do you think?”
“Well,” Archie paused. Cause he had been thinking about it ALL AFTERNOON and it was somehow a jumbled mess in his head. “I think… I don’t want her to.”
“Yea?”
Archie nodded. “Yea. Does that make me a horrible terrible father? I mean, I should want to see her succeed, right? I should want her to be happy and healthy and enjoy what she is doing. And you should have seen her, I watched the last few minutes of class and she was just beaming the entire time. She was so happy and…”
“…and?”
“I can’t do it,” Archie finished miserably. “I can’t. If we put her in the sixes she is going to know NO ONE and she will always be the smallest and she would always be playing catch up and what if it just ruined it for her? What if she felt like she had to keep going and then she stopped liking it. I can’t take that away from her…”
Cook put up his hands. “Archie, breathe.”
He obliged. “Sorry.”
“She is four. She has been to a grand total of one dance class and who knows what she will want in two weeks let alone for the rest of her life. Three weeks ago she wanted to be a vet. Three days ago she wanted to be a Power Ranger. It isn’t like she has to make any decisions right this minute.”
Which, Archie guessed, was true.
“We don’t have to put her in the sixes right this minute, and maybe she will want to go eventually, I assume this isn’t a one time offer.”
Okay, that probably is also true, he hadn’t even thought to ask about it.
“And lastly? That doesn’t make you a horrible father. You want her to be happy. That is a good thing.”
Archie sagged back against the couch, the tension that had been building in the pit of his stomach slowly uncoiling. Cook leaned over to give him a chaste kiss on the lips. He was really lucky in that Cook always did know how to put things into perspective. He sighed and moved his head to lay on Cook’s shoulder.
“I kind of over thought it again, didn’t I?”
Cook laughed, “Just a little bit.”
“Sorry.”
Cook took his hand and held it. “Don’t be.”
The next morning Addy woke him up to tell him she really wanted to be a firewoman. He smiled and listened to her reasoning. (Which was entirely based off of the idea of saving kittens and keeping them but he didn’t mind not telling her that was not what firewomen did exclusively.) By the time the next Tuesday came around he was confident in telling Ms. Lisa that while her offer was sweet, Addy would stay in the fours class as long as possible.
As he walked out the door to the car he caught Addy’s smile in the mirror again. He winked at her and she waved at him and he knew he had done the right thing. Anything that got his daughter to smile like that was entirely worth it.
Pairing: David Cook/ David Archuleta
Rating: PG
Summary: Archie had always just assumed that any kids that shared he and Cook’s DNA would automatically be musically inclined.
Author's Note: So hormones. Uh. Yes. Hormones are to blame for the fact that I only want to write about babies lately. :) mausi betaed and encouraged me, and I think I officially owe her a kidney now? (She already has my heart. :) ) Any mistakes are still all me. Title from the Norah Jones' song "Seven Years"
Archie had always just assumed that any kids that shared he and Cook’s DNA would automatically be musically inclined. He was shocked though when Addy used her love of music not by singing like her fathers but instead by dancing.
All of America had seen quite quickly that neither one of them were particularly graceful in the dance department. (And if any of them forgot his mother was nice enough to have all those painfully embarrassing moments recorded for posterities sake.) When Addy had asked to take ballet in the first place Archie had said yes, but with a lot of trepidation. She had inherited his perfection streak and he didn’t want to see her drive herself crazy if she didn’t pick up dance immediately.
“Oh come on, “ Cook had laughed, “She is four, I think they count you in the top of the class if you keep your tutu on and don’t cry.”
He went to pick her up after her first class, and his heart lodged in his throat when Ms. Lisa asked to talk to him. He loved his daughter with everything he had but he knew could be a handful when she wanted to be. He had given Addy a kid’s magazine that was on a table by the door and walked to the far corner.
Before Ms. Lisa could start Archie started to ramble, “I am so sorry. I know she can be a little over zealous at times, but if she gets frustrated she kind of turns into a little terror. We are trying to work on it at home …”
“Oh no, Mr. Archuleta that isn’t why I called you over,” she smiled widely. “Adelaide is an angel.”
Are we talking about the same Adelaide? he bit back.
He looked over his shoulder at where Addy had put down her magazine and was standing by the mirror trying her best to do … something he didn’t quite recognize and he turned back and gave her a smile. “Oh that’s good to hear.”
“I think she is going to need to go to a higher level than beginning,” she continued, her smile showing off all of her teeth.
Archie blinked, “Higher level?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I think if we keep her in the beginning level she is going to get bored rather fast. She is really quite quick at picking things up. The decision is up to you, naturally, but we would happily be able to take her into our six class and I would work with her to get her caught up.”
Of all the things that he had expected to hear from her, he had to be honest that he would have never thought that. His daughter was a miracle, her creativity and her talent showed through in everything she did but.. well. She still was their daughter, and he just. He hadn’t been ready for it.
He looked over at her again, saw her smile wide and silly at him when she caught him staring at her though the mirror. She gave a small wave and for a split second he could see so much of Cook in her that it actually almost ached. He waved back at her and with out taking his eyes off of hers he told the teacher they were going to need more time.
“… I really should talk to Cook about this,” he offered.
When she nodded and gave her a card he wanted to take it back. He wanted to tell her of course she would take it. A wash of guilt came over him and he wasn’t sure where it came from. Shouldn’t he want his daughter to move forward? To be the best that she can be? Did it make him a horrible father to have to think it over?
Cook had taken Connor for some Daddy-son time and Archie decided it was only fair to do the same thing with Addy. They got into his car and he locked her into her car seat (he was beginning to realize she needed a booster seat instead, and gosh, where did time go anymore?) and they drove to their favorite ice cream shop. She ordered vanilla with gummi worms and he got mint chocolate chip and they went to their corner booth.
“Did you have fun today?” he asked tentatively.
Addy, in the middle of slurping up a gummi worm (she got her table manners from her daddy, no question) beamed up at him. “Yea, Papi. SO MUCH FUN! We tried to stand on our tiptoes n’ I almost gots it but then I fell. Oh! And we did fillets!”
“Fillets?” he asked, and she nodded.
“You stand and puts your toes facing out and..” she stopped mid sentence and pushed herself off the bench. With in two seconds she was showing him the dance move and he had to actively try not to laugh.
He smiled at the look of delight on her face when she stopped. “That is a plie, Addy. Plie.”
“OH!” she nodded. “We did plies! It was so much fun! And Olivia from SCHOOL was there!”
Olivia’s mom had been the one to gave them the number for the school in the first place. “Is that so? Well, did you have fun playing with Olivia?”
“YES!” she cheered. “Do I get to do this every Tuesday?”
Archie nodded, though he thought maybe he should tell her it might change, who knew when the sixes class was? But that wasn’t something he was going to explain to her yet. So he just leaned back against the booth and let her happy retelling of the hour long class continue while they finished their ice cream.
*
Archie didn’t bring it up until after the two kids were asleep, after they had done the dishes and picked up all the toys off the living room floor. They curled up on the couch to watch whatever was on and Cook laid his head face up in Archie’s lap.
“You have been suspiciously quiet tonight, what’s up?”
Archie bit his lip. “Ms. Lisa asked me to talk to her when I picked up Addy this afternoon.”
“That is fairly ominous,” Cook half smiled. “What did my half of the genetics do wrong this time?”
Despite himself Archie chuckled. “Nothing, actually. In fact I don’t know which genetics were at fault. They want to bump her up to the sixes.”
“They want to what?” Cook moved so that he was sitting up and looked at Archie skeptically. “She is four, why would they put her in a classroom with kids two years older than her?”
Archie shrugged. “She is good apparently? She caught on to all the dance moves and Ms. Lisa thought that she would enjoy the challenge. She offered private lessons to get her caught up.”
Cook frowned for a second, “What do you think?”
“Well,” Archie paused. Cause he had been thinking about it ALL AFTERNOON and it was somehow a jumbled mess in his head. “I think… I don’t want her to.”
“Yea?”
Archie nodded. “Yea. Does that make me a horrible terrible father? I mean, I should want to see her succeed, right? I should want her to be happy and healthy and enjoy what she is doing. And you should have seen her, I watched the last few minutes of class and she was just beaming the entire time. She was so happy and…”
“…and?”
“I can’t do it,” Archie finished miserably. “I can’t. If we put her in the sixes she is going to know NO ONE and she will always be the smallest and she would always be playing catch up and what if it just ruined it for her? What if she felt like she had to keep going and then she stopped liking it. I can’t take that away from her…”
Cook put up his hands. “Archie, breathe.”
He obliged. “Sorry.”
“She is four. She has been to a grand total of one dance class and who knows what she will want in two weeks let alone for the rest of her life. Three weeks ago she wanted to be a vet. Three days ago she wanted to be a Power Ranger. It isn’t like she has to make any decisions right this minute.”
Which, Archie guessed, was true.
“We don’t have to put her in the sixes right this minute, and maybe she will want to go eventually, I assume this isn’t a one time offer.”
Okay, that probably is also true, he hadn’t even thought to ask about it.
“And lastly? That doesn’t make you a horrible father. You want her to be happy. That is a good thing.”
Archie sagged back against the couch, the tension that had been building in the pit of his stomach slowly uncoiling. Cook leaned over to give him a chaste kiss on the lips. He was really lucky in that Cook always did know how to put things into perspective. He sighed and moved his head to lay on Cook’s shoulder.
“I kind of over thought it again, didn’t I?”
Cook laughed, “Just a little bit.”
“Sorry.”
Cook took his hand and held it. “Don’t be.”
The next morning Addy woke him up to tell him she really wanted to be a firewoman. He smiled and listened to her reasoning. (Which was entirely based off of the idea of saving kittens and keeping them but he didn’t mind not telling her that was not what firewomen did exclusively.) By the time the next Tuesday came around he was confident in telling Ms. Lisa that while her offer was sweet, Addy would stay in the fours class as long as possible.
As he walked out the door to the car he caught Addy’s smile in the mirror again. He winked at her and she waved at him and he knew he had done the right thing. Anything that got his daughter to smile like that was entirely worth it.