chuck fic: for want of a family dinner
Title: For Want of a Family Dinner [Or, How To Introduce Your Dead Father to Your Mother]
Summary: It's always kind of bugged me that while Alex and Casey have become part of each other's lives, they've never mentioned Alex's mother/Casey's former fiancé.
Words: 1213
Disclaimer: Not mine at all.
Notes: This was written at midnight. I apologize if that is obvious. I think the craptastic title makes it obvious. So sorry.
Alex waits almost a month to tell her mother that one of her regulars is her not-dead father.
(She wants to run home and cuddle under the covers of the twin bed in her childhood bedroom, reach under her mattress and pull out the photo of her parents right after they got engaged, the one she stole from the album in the basement when she was nine because she wanted to know what her father looked like and her mother hated to see him when he couldn't be there. She wants her mother to come home and find her there in bed with the picture and ask what's wrong so Alex has an excuse to just blurt it out. My father's not dead and he lives fifteen minutes away and he loves apple pie and gives nice hugs.)
Instead she waits almost a month and texts her father constantly because she has no clue how to tell her mother or how her mother will react but the one thing she knows is that she wants her father to be there.
It's a nice feeling, wanting her father to be somewhere and knowing he can be.
* * * * * * *
John stands behind Alex, hulking in his little girl's shadow, trying not to blink or grimace under Kathleen's wide-eyed stare. He's come back from the dead, stiffer and cooler than her fiancé had ever been, and her eyes pool with tears because she can't tell if she's happy he's alive or sad that he's so very different than the man she remembers.
Alex is rambling, trying to explain why they waited to tell her, why he did what he did all those years ago; she's afraid her mother is seconds from shouting at them both, ordering her father from the house and from her life. John lays a hand on her shoulder and its weight is so calming she steps aside and lets her parents just stare at each other in silence.
He wants to tell her how much he's missed her, that the decision he made to serve his country was the hardest decision he's ever made in his entire life, that if he'd known about Alex maybe his decision would have been different but there's nothing to do for it now, that even for all the pain this life has caused he's been serving his country and protecting them and he can't, won't apologize for that.
Instead, he holds out his hands and whispers, "I'm so sorry."
* * * * * * *
It isn't quite like Alex imagined.
In the month when she knew and her mother didn't, she fell asleep every night dreaming of the way things would be when they were a real family again. They were dreams recycled from her childhood, when she would imagine her father coming back to life and standing on the sidelines at her soccer games or holding her mother's hand at her school's honor night or having a family dinner after he'd come home from work. She feels silly now, far too old to be dreaming of happily ever afters, but her father is alive and once her mother knows she'll have them both just like she's wanted to all her life.
But after that initial re-introduction, Kathleen has asked for space and John is all too happy to oblige. Alex begs him to come over for dinner but he declines, refuses. Not until your mother wants me there, he insists. So she begs her mother instead, who closes her eyes and sighs and asks for just a little more time, Alexandra, please, this isn't easy for me.
After a while, she just lets it go. She has her mother and she has her father and she has them separately and childhood dreams are for children anyway.
* * * * * * *
It's Morgan, of all people, who starts to fix things.
Alex invites him over for dinner so he can finally meet her mother and somewhere between the pot roast and the green beans, Morgan and Kathleen have become best friends. Alex thinks it's weird and wonderful all at the same time; her mother has never taken to one of her boyfriends this quickly before. Morgan's dorky charm is irresistible to all McHugh women, apparently.
"Y'know, Mrs. M, you should come over for dinner sometime," Morgan offers. He has some mashed potatoes in his beard and Alex offers him her napkin with a smirk. He leans over and bats his eyelashes until Alex relents and wipes his face. Kathleen laughs at them quietly. Morgan thanks her with a kiss to the temple before turning back to her mother: "I'm serious. We do big family-style dinners all the time. I live with my best friend, and his sister and brother-in-law come, and Chuck's girlfriend, Sarah--"
"Dad will be there," Alex interrupts, voice flat. Kathleen's gaze falls to the table and she fiddles with the placemat. Morgan doesn't seem to notice.
"Yeah, Casey comes, too. He makes these great little quiche things. But anyway, there's a whole big group of us and it's really fun. Isn't it, Alex?"
"It really is," Alex says and tries not to sound desperate.
"We'd love it if you came, Mrs. M," Morgan smiles.
Alex is stunned when her mother asks if Friday night is okay.
When they get home, Alex pulls Morgan close and kisses him breathless. "Thank you," she whispers against his lips and she loves him for not asking why.
* * * * * * *
It's awkward, sure, but everyone is so welcoming that the awkwardness is easy to ignore. Ellie asks Kathleen for some help in the kitchen and Devon rearranges places at the table to make sure that Alex is sitting in between her parents. Alex can tell her father is making an effort to smooth things over when he turns down Chuck's well-meaning offer of alcohol.
Chuck offers a toast, to family and friends and togetherness, and just when it starts to get really cheesy, Sarah pulls him back into his seat but Alex doesn't miss the wink he throws at her. Everyone is too busy laughing at Chuck to notice that her parents are trying not to look at each other but are stealing glances anyway.
When Kathleen offers compliments on the quiche and calls him "Alex" instead of "John," no one says a word. Sarah seconds the compliment and soon everyone is discussing Casey's culinary skills and Alex is surprised to find that her father can blush.
Morgan kicks her foot under the table. You look like him when you're embarrassed, he mouths and she wants to kiss the smile off his face.
At the end of the night, John asks if he can walk Kathleen to her car.
When she says yes, Alex sinks to the couch, Morgan's hand at her elbow. She waves him away, she's fine, and as she calls goodnight to her parents as they hover in the doorway, her chest feels tight and her grin too wide. The moment the door closes, she pulls Morgan down on the couch next to her, the sleeve of his shirt tight in her fist, and whispers, "I love family dinners."
Summary: It's always kind of bugged me that while Alex and Casey have become part of each other's lives, they've never mentioned Alex's mother/Casey's former fiancé.
Words: 1213
Disclaimer: Not mine at all.
Notes: This was written at midnight. I apologize if that is obvious. I think the craptastic title makes it obvious. So sorry.
Alex waits almost a month to tell her mother that one of her regulars is her not-dead father.
(She wants to run home and cuddle under the covers of the twin bed in her childhood bedroom, reach under her mattress and pull out the photo of her parents right after they got engaged, the one she stole from the album in the basement when she was nine because she wanted to know what her father looked like and her mother hated to see him when he couldn't be there. She wants her mother to come home and find her there in bed with the picture and ask what's wrong so Alex has an excuse to just blurt it out. My father's not dead and he lives fifteen minutes away and he loves apple pie and gives nice hugs.)
Instead she waits almost a month and texts her father constantly because she has no clue how to tell her mother or how her mother will react but the one thing she knows is that she wants her father to be there.
It's a nice feeling, wanting her father to be somewhere and knowing he can be.
* * * * * * *
John stands behind Alex, hulking in his little girl's shadow, trying not to blink or grimace under Kathleen's wide-eyed stare. He's come back from the dead, stiffer and cooler than her fiancé had ever been, and her eyes pool with tears because she can't tell if she's happy he's alive or sad that he's so very different than the man she remembers.
Alex is rambling, trying to explain why they waited to tell her, why he did what he did all those years ago; she's afraid her mother is seconds from shouting at them both, ordering her father from the house and from her life. John lays a hand on her shoulder and its weight is so calming she steps aside and lets her parents just stare at each other in silence.
He wants to tell her how much he's missed her, that the decision he made to serve his country was the hardest decision he's ever made in his entire life, that if he'd known about Alex maybe his decision would have been different but there's nothing to do for it now, that even for all the pain this life has caused he's been serving his country and protecting them and he can't, won't apologize for that.
Instead, he holds out his hands and whispers, "I'm so sorry."
* * * * * * *
It isn't quite like Alex imagined.
In the month when she knew and her mother didn't, she fell asleep every night dreaming of the way things would be when they were a real family again. They were dreams recycled from her childhood, when she would imagine her father coming back to life and standing on the sidelines at her soccer games or holding her mother's hand at her school's honor night or having a family dinner after he'd come home from work. She feels silly now, far too old to be dreaming of happily ever afters, but her father is alive and once her mother knows she'll have them both just like she's wanted to all her life.
But after that initial re-introduction, Kathleen has asked for space and John is all too happy to oblige. Alex begs him to come over for dinner but he declines, refuses. Not until your mother wants me there, he insists. So she begs her mother instead, who closes her eyes and sighs and asks for just a little more time, Alexandra, please, this isn't easy for me.
After a while, she just lets it go. She has her mother and she has her father and she has them separately and childhood dreams are for children anyway.
* * * * * * *
It's Morgan, of all people, who starts to fix things.
Alex invites him over for dinner so he can finally meet her mother and somewhere between the pot roast and the green beans, Morgan and Kathleen have become best friends. Alex thinks it's weird and wonderful all at the same time; her mother has never taken to one of her boyfriends this quickly before. Morgan's dorky charm is irresistible to all McHugh women, apparently.
"Y'know, Mrs. M, you should come over for dinner sometime," Morgan offers. He has some mashed potatoes in his beard and Alex offers him her napkin with a smirk. He leans over and bats his eyelashes until Alex relents and wipes his face. Kathleen laughs at them quietly. Morgan thanks her with a kiss to the temple before turning back to her mother: "I'm serious. We do big family-style dinners all the time. I live with my best friend, and his sister and brother-in-law come, and Chuck's girlfriend, Sarah--"
"Dad will be there," Alex interrupts, voice flat. Kathleen's gaze falls to the table and she fiddles with the placemat. Morgan doesn't seem to notice.
"Yeah, Casey comes, too. He makes these great little quiche things. But anyway, there's a whole big group of us and it's really fun. Isn't it, Alex?"
"It really is," Alex says and tries not to sound desperate.
"We'd love it if you came, Mrs. M," Morgan smiles.
Alex is stunned when her mother asks if Friday night is okay.
When they get home, Alex pulls Morgan close and kisses him breathless. "Thank you," she whispers against his lips and she loves him for not asking why.
* * * * * * *
It's awkward, sure, but everyone is so welcoming that the awkwardness is easy to ignore. Ellie asks Kathleen for some help in the kitchen and Devon rearranges places at the table to make sure that Alex is sitting in between her parents. Alex can tell her father is making an effort to smooth things over when he turns down Chuck's well-meaning offer of alcohol.
Chuck offers a toast, to family and friends and togetherness, and just when it starts to get really cheesy, Sarah pulls him back into his seat but Alex doesn't miss the wink he throws at her. Everyone is too busy laughing at Chuck to notice that her parents are trying not to look at each other but are stealing glances anyway.
When Kathleen offers compliments on the quiche and calls him "Alex" instead of "John," no one says a word. Sarah seconds the compliment and soon everyone is discussing Casey's culinary skills and Alex is surprised to find that her father can blush.
Morgan kicks her foot under the table. You look like him when you're embarrassed, he mouths and she wants to kiss the smile off his face.
At the end of the night, John asks if he can walk Kathleen to her car.
When she says yes, Alex sinks to the couch, Morgan's hand at her elbow. She waves him away, she's fine, and as she calls goodnight to her parents as they hover in the doorway, her chest feels tight and her grin too wide. The moment the door closes, she pulls Morgan down on the couch next to her, the sleeve of his shirt tight in her fist, and whispers, "I love family dinners."