FIC: The Baby Class
Title: The Baby Class
Pairing(s)/character(s): Walt/Ray, Skip/Malarkey, OC, OC
Rated: PG-15
Disclaimer: I do not own, etc
Words: 2,132
A/N: Fandom crossover: Generation Kill/Band of Brothers. This is an AU. Be warned of slash and swearing and baby goo and sadly, a homophobic character (or two).
Also, I was a little worried about uploading this. I’d rewritten it a few times and I can only hope it doesn’t turn into a load of crap :S
Feedback is love!
The Baby Class
Walt hoisted Harriet onto his hip, Ray stood beside them, glancing around at the other babies and toddlers. There was a slight frown on his face.
‘Why are we here again?’ he asked. Walt smiled.
‘So, Harriet can socialize. The book said socializing is an important part of a child’s development.’ They walked into the big room where the moms and dads and noisy infants were gathering. Walt’s eighteen-month old girl was dressed in a green summer dress, which clashed a little with her purple jelly sandals. Her blond curls were pulled into pigtails and there was a pacifier in her mouth.
A woman came over with a big smile; a graying lady.
‘Hello, there!’ She greeted, reaching out to stroke Harriet’s cheek. ‘Oh, she’s adorable! Look at those curls!’ Harriet flashed the woman a frown, sucking furiously on her pacifier before pushing her face in the crook of Walt’s neck. ‘Are you two brothers?’ she continued, looking between Walt and Ray.
‘More like lovers,’ Ray winked in return.
Watching the smile fall from the woman’s face would have been funny if it wasn’t so offensive. She blinked, gave a weak smile and walked away.
‘Ah, don’t you just love the community’s homophobes,’ said a voice behind them. They turned to see another male couple grinning at them. One had red hair and was struggling with a little boy who kept trying to race off.
‘Skip, she’s not a homophobe,’ the redhead scolded, but looked fondly up at the other man as he lifted the boy up. ‘She’s just struggling to keep up with the times.’
‘Did you not just see her face?!’ Skip protested. ‘She was devastated that another gay couple arrived at Baby Class.’ He looked back at the two with a grin and thrust out a hand. ‘Skip Muck. This fine looking man here is Don Malarkey.’
‘Walt Hasser,’ the blond smiled in reply, shaking his hand.
‘Ray Person,’ Ray greeted. ‘Is he your son?’
‘No,’ laughed Skip. ‘He’s my nephew. My sister, Ruth, wanted a relaxing afternoon, so she dumped him on us.’
‘Have you adopted?’ asked Malark, with a nod in Harriet’s direction. The little girl was now watching the boy with interest.
‘She’s my daughter,’ Walt explained. ‘But, Ray adopted her as my partner. She’s from my last marriage.’ Before any more could be said, the woman from before called for attention. She deliberately didn’t look in the direction of the four men.
‘Okay, well, if everyone wants to sit down on the mats, we’ll get started.’ The group found themselves mats and sat down, cross-legged.
Harriet clutched her pink bear close, before moving over to Ray and sitting herself down. ‘Mine,’ she said promptly.
‘Okay, today we’re going to be working on friendship. I want mommies and daddies to talk, but keep a watchful eye on your children playing. Try not to intervene; they’re socializing and forming friendships.’
‘Go on, Charlie,’ urged Don, but the three year old, who’d been so eager to escape before, gave a shy shake of his head and hid his face between his hands. Harriet, on the other hand, clambered off Ray’s lap and tottered off, as fast as her little legs would carry her. Walt watched her go, the small girl weaving between the other mommies and daddies, to the sand pit in the corner of the room.
She clambered in and plonked herself down, setting her teddy aside.
‘Charlie does this all the time,’ Skip smiled, picking up his nephew and brushing his hair out his eyes. ‘He’s always excited to come; babbling on about all the things he’s going to do, but as soon as we get here, he just hides.’ Ray grinned.
‘Tell him to watch out for Harriet; she’s a beast.’
‘Our daughter is not a beast,’ Walt said indignantly, but smiled lightly.
‘She likes to bite,’ Ray warned with a laugh. ‘Shit, homes, there she goes again.’ The four looked across to the sound of wails coming from the sandpit. Harriet had another girl pinned under her, teeth set firmly in her arm. ‘What’s that? Like two fucking minutes? It’s a record, dude!’
Their laughter followed Walt as he moved over to lift Harriet off. ‘No,’ he said firmly, setting Harriet on her feet and looking directly at her. ‘We don’t bite. No.’
‘She stole Teddy! My teddy, not hers.’ Her bottom lip began to wobble and she covered her face with one hand. Walt picked up the pacifier from the sand, wiping it on his jeans and pocketing it.
Picking up the teddy and Harriet, Walt moved back to where the others were still chatting.
‘... and that was the first time I went to a brothel in Thailand,’ Ray was grinning, now in deep conversation with Skip. Don was still speaking softly to Charlie. The little boy looked a little more curious about the busy room.
‘It’s alright; the limbs were still intact,’ Walt said as he handed Harriet down. Ray took her, lifting her up in front of him.
‘Biting again, Hari? What are we going to do with you?’ But, he smiled fondly and sat her on his shoulders. She squealed, kicking her legs.
‘Up! Up!’ she demanded, tugging fistfuls of his hair. Ray got to his feet, ready to say something else when another voice got there first.
‘Your daughter just bit my Chloe.’ The words were gruff and Walt turned to see a big, beefy man, tattoos scrawled over his muscles arms. At his side was the little girl, still sobbing.
‘We’re sorry about that,’ Walt gave an apologetic smile, but Ray stepped defensively to his side. ‘She’s going through a phase.’
‘A phase? Probably just you two having a bad effect on her.’ Ray frowned, glancing at Walt.
‘What, homes?’
‘It’s obviously, with you two being little fucking queers, that she’s a little confused. Two daddies? The poor kid’s gotta grow up with that!’
‘Do you have a problem with two dads?’ Walt replied, finding it hard to keep his cool.
‘If she had a mom, she’d been normal.’ Ray pulled Harriet off his shoulders and handed her to Don. Malarkey and Skip had both gotten to their feet too.
‘She is normal,’ Ray growled, stepping forward. Walt grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him back, but the older man shook him off.
‘Ah, come on then. Give me your little pansy slaps.’ The man was taunting now, laughing and leering, but he fell back with a grunt when Ray’s fist connected with his jaw.
Harriet squealed, clapping her hands together as Ray leapt at the other man, the two toppling to the floor. A crowd was gathering as the two scrapped, Skip and Walt moving forward to haul Ray away, while Don struggled to hold the two young children.
‘You fucking homophobic little bitch,’ Ray was yelling, struggling to get another hit. The woman was earlier came forward, annoyance flaring in her expression.
‘You lot stop it now! This is a baby class and we’re supposed to be teaching the children how to socialize!’
‘Prissy little gays,’ the man muttered, but he’d come off worse. He grabbed his little girl and walked away, hand over a bloody nose.
‘Ray-Ray! Ray-Ray!’ Harriet was laughing.
‘Come on,’ sighed Walt. He knew the man had touched a nerve with Ray; just because he was happy being a family with Walt and Harriet, didn’t mean that Ray liked his sexuality being yelled about in public. He liked to keep it to himself.
Walt was the opposite; he wanted everyone to know his love for Ray; how his heart fluttered when he saw him; how his stomach did little flips whenever they touched.
Gradually, the other parents moved off, while Ray cooled down, still flashing glares to the other dad.
‘We should probably just go,’ Walt said, glancing at Skip and Malarkey.
‘Wait,’ Don said, before looking at Skip and back again. ‘Do you want to go for a drink or an ice cream or something?’ he asked. Walt smiled.
‘Yeah,’ Skip agreed. ‘We don’t want to mix with people like that,’ he said, loud enough for the couples nearby to hear them. They gathered their things and departed quickly into the hot street outside.
‘I want a big, big, big ice cream!’ Charlie grinned, holding Skip’s hand as they walked down the street towards the park.
‘Me too!’ giggled Harriet, tottering alongside Walt. ‘Big!’
‘With lots of chocolate and sprinkles.’
‘Spinkles!’ Harriet stomped her feet happily, Teddy being dragged along the floor. They entered the park, walking down the big gravel path that weaved its way through. They were shaded by the trees and they allowed Charlie and Harriet to run ahead.
‘I’m sorry, homes,’ Ray finally said, ‘about the Baby Class. I shouldn’t have fucking lost it like that.’
‘Don’t worry about it.’ Skip waved it off. ‘The guy had it coming to him.’
‘So much for socializing,’ smiled Don. Harriet was waddling after a squirrel, which shot up a tree and disappeared. She stared up into the branches, her little face screwed up. Charlie came over with a stick and proceeded to hit the trunk, yelling at it to come down.
They stepped across the grass to an ice cream van that was parked up, getting in line. Seeing this, the two children hurried over.
‘Ice ceam!’ laughed Harriet, raising her arms up at Ray. He lifted her up, grinning.
‘What’re you having, dude?’ Harriet pondered this for a moment.
‘I want a rocket!’ Charlie grinned, running around their feet in excitement.
‘A rocket! Me too!’ Harriet yelled.
‘Rockets all ‘round!’ laughed Skip, as Don’s arm crept around his waist and they leaned into each other. Walt glanced at Ray, wishing he could do the same. Ray looked back, then without a moment’s hesitation, he leaned in and kissed him. His mouth tingled with the familiar taste of Ray, a shiver of want running through him.
Walt grinned into the kiss, pressing himself into Ray and almost forgetting where he was.
Skip cheered and Don grinned.
‘Ice ceam rocket!’ Harriet said, bringing them back to the present. They broke apart with shy smiles, before turning to the ice cream man who was watching them with an odd expression.
Well, you couldn’t please everyone.
After ordering the six rockets, they continued across the grass towards the pond. The sun beamed down at them in a happy way as they took a seat. Walt unwrapped Harriet’s ice-pop and handed it to her.
‘Look! Ducks!’ she cheered, rocket forgotten for a moment as she watched the ducks glide past in the water. Then, she licked the lollipop, cringing slightly at the cold.
‘How long have you two been together?’ Malarkey asked after a moment, sucking the tip of his rocket and looking at the two curiously.
‘We met in the Marines,’ Ray replied.
‘Marines? Don and I met training as paratroopers,’ Skip grinned.
‘I was going to be a Marine,’ Don added, thoughtfully. ‘How did you come to have Harriet?’
‘I was engaged,’ Walt replied. ‘I’d known her since junior high. She was my Prom Queen. She was almost ready to pop when I went off to Iraq. I got back from the war to a stressed wife and a newborn baby girl.’
‘I sort of fucked things up for them,’ put in Ray, but he didn’t look sorry about it. ‘Yeah, dickface here turned up on my doorstep and basically wanted me to leave Melissa for him. Mel flipped when she found out what we’d been doing together behind the humvee.’
‘I still have the scars,’ smiled Ray.
‘She took the baby and left and no matter what I said, she wouldn’t come back to me.’
‘So, we became a couple.’
‘Well, about a year later she turns up on my doorstep, telling me that she couldn’t cope. She was this thin, stick-like girl. A druggie, I later found out. Fuck,’ sighed Walt. ‘Little Harriet was unwashed, wearing over-sized clothes.’
‘It was fucking sick, dude,’ Ray said, a serious tone to his voice now. ‘And she just disappeared.’
‘It’s just us now,’ Walt said. ‘But, we’re a family.’ Don smiled, lifting Charlie onto his lap as the little boy continued to finish his rocket.
‘Well, our story seems much less complicated,’ Skip laughed. The afternoon was coming to an end, the sun disappearing behind clouds every now and again. They chatted about family, friends, work. Harriet fell asleep against Walt’s chest, her teddy clutched close.
As evening set in, they finally rose, stretching and shaking hands.
‘It was nice meeting you,’ grinned Walt. Don smiled.
‘See you next week,’ Skip winked, before the two families went their different ways.
Until the next Baby Class, that was.
.