White Collar fic "By your side" Chapter 5
Please read the introductory guide at Chapter 1!
Okay, after all those tears of sadness, I promise you a lot of tears of joy with this chapter.
Again, a huge THANK YOU to all of you out there reading and reviewing my story. Your kind words mean so much to me!
New York, 2020
Christmas
As expected, the door to the bedroom opened very early on Christmas morning and a very edgy boy bust into the room. Startled by Neal's voice, Peter, laying on his back, cracked one eye open and turned his head. He flicked the bedside light on, just in time to see the child running towards the bed and stopping in front of it. Neal seemed hesitate about what doing next, looking back and forth between Peter and Elizabeth. "Neal," Peter moaned. "What's up? It's...," he turned around to check the alarm clock on the nightstand. "...6.30! Why are you up this early?" Of course Peter knew exactly why the boy was in high spirits, but he couldn't resist asking anyway.
"Because Santa Claus was here!" was the immediate reply. "The milk and the cookies are gone!!"
Peter could feel the mattress shifting, telling him that El was awake, too. "Did you spy?"
"Uhm, no?" His answer was completed by a 100 mega-watt smile.
"Then why are you so sure about Santa?"
"Just because!"
"It's still too early. Let's go back to sleep."
"But...?!" The delight in Neal's features was nearly gone, replaced by disappointment.
"Neal, please," Peter tried once more. "It's only 6.30. Since when are you up anyway?" He looked at the boy with a raised eyebrow.
"Um, not long?"
Peter was startled once again, as he felt the sharp pain in his ribcage. Turning around he faced his wife, who threw him a stern look with one of her eyebrows raised as well. This should be considered as a warning, he thought and chuckled. "Alright. Alright." He started to get up. "Why don't you go back to your room and get dressed?" he asked Neal, who still had his pajama on.
It was very obvious that Neal hadn't expected this and his face fell. He seemed to be unsure and chewed on his lip.
"The longer you'll wait, the longer it'll take to go down." Peter said to him while he walked to the dresser. "And wait inside, until we come and get you, alright?"
Neal was about to reply something, but he knew better than to argue with Peter and so he obeyed and left.
"Don't be so cruel to him," El warned him, but was smiling as well while she joined him.
"I'm not cruel," Peter objected. "I just needed him out of the room."
"He's so excited this year," El said and took a deep breath and followed her husband. She was relieved that Neal seemed to adapt well to the situation.
"It's the first real Christmas for him with us," Peter nodded and put on jeans, a white button-down shirt along with a purple pullover. The last Christmas had been terrible for the child, still mourning for his dead parents. Nobody had been in the mood to celebrate back then. But this year would be special, Peter was sure of that as he opened the safe and pulled out an envelope.
Elizabeth touched his unshaven cheek. "I could get used to this," she smirked and winked at him. "You look...sexy."
"Really?" Peter asked and involuntarily ran his thumb and index finger across the stubble. "Although it's getting gray at the chin?"
"Hon, THAT is the reason you look sexy," El replied grinning.
Peter frowned. "Now you're making fun of me," he deadpanned.
"No. It's true. I love it. Makes you some kind of...," she gave him a lopsided grin, "...reckless." To prove her words, she leaned forward and kissed him.
Neal's voice could be heard from inside his room as he shouted, "Are you ready now?"
Peter grinned and looked at the envelope in his hands. "I hope he'll like it." The smile vanished.
"What if he doesn't?"
El shook her head. "Don't worry. He's gonna love it." She embraced him. "I'm getting dressed. I'm curious to go down as well."
~*~*~
El slowly went down the stairs, holding Neal's hand. She wanted to make sure that the excited boy didn't fall down and by doing so, she was also able to distract Neal, allowing Peter to go down first and place the envelope under the Christmas tree. She smiled as they entered the living room. Today would be indeed a special day. Looking outside she realized that it had been snowing during the night. It was a wonderful sight but it also reminded her that the new snowfall put the journey of Neal's grandparents in jeopardy. Although it was still early, she doubted that the elderly couple would like to risk the drive, and she didn't blame them. But that also meant that her and Peter's parents wouldn't be able to join them as well. Entering the living room she could see that Peter also had set the video camera ready. Immediately Neal broke free from her grip and ran towards the Christmas tree, his eyes big and sparkling and his mouth opened in awe.
Peter started the camera and then joined them on the floor while Neal literally ripped all the gifts open. Except for the envelope. He hadn't discovered it so far, because he was totally engrossed with all the other stuff. Little by little Neal had gathered his gifts around him, each discovery was accompanied by cheerful laughter. Among his presents was a baseball glove from Peter, art supplies from El, board games from June, even some small gifts from Jones and Diana, as well as various books that once had belonged to his father. He surely was too young to read them, but Mozzie had wanted to encourage the boy to read as soon as possible. Although Peter already stated that he would carefully watch over the book collection and all the more he would keep a wary eye on the short man and his obscure theories.
With each passing minute where the envelope remained unnoticed, El was getting more and more excited and she looked at Peter next to her.
Nodding that he had understood, Peter cleared his throat, pointed at the envelope and said, "Oh hey, look at that! You missed something, buddy."
Neals' head went up and he looked at Peter with a surprised expression on his face. Then he turned around and saw the envelope. Apparently he hadn't considered that simple brown envelope as a gift for him and seemed doubtful.
"Yeah, that's for you, too. Want to open it?"
If El hadn't known it better, she could have sworn that Neal felt the importance of that envelope. She leaned forward. "Do you want me to help you open it?"
Neal nodded instantly and grabbed it, only to pass it on to El.
"Oookaaay," she tried to make it more interesting for Neal and was rewarded with his full attention as he leaned to her side carefully watching her moves. "Oh, there's some kind of paper in it," she said and pulled it out. "That's a…, " she knit her brows, "…certificate." She could hear her own heartbeat in her ears as her excitement grew.
"What's that?" Neal asked full of curiosity.
Peter rubbed Neal's back. "That's an official document and it's very important."
Neal took it with both hands and studied it. Although he was a smart kid, he had missed much of first grade, because of the known reasons and he had difficulties with reading. "New York…State…Dep-Depar-t-ment of He-heal-th," he read aloud and looked up. His lack of understanding was clearly visible in his face.
"The most important thing about this is," Peter tapped on the sheet, "that you're now officially our son. This certificate says that we adopted you."
It took a moment for Neal to realize the meaning of Peter's words. "Really?" he asked, still a bit stunned with his eyes big from expectation.
"Yes, sweetie," El chimed in. "It's real. The judge approved it. We are a family now. A real family."
"Look, that's your name on the form," Peter said and pointed to the paragraph. "'Name by Adoption: Neal Peter Caffrey-Burke'", he read aloud, never letting the child out of sight.
"Neal Peter Caffrey-Burke," Neal repeated; his voice almost down to a whisper.
"Do you like it?" Elizabeth asked and realized that she had held her breath. She never had felt so excited before.
"Yes, I do," Neal replied happily before he stood and embraced Elizabeth around the neck. "Thank you." After a few moments he did the same with Peter and thanked him as well.
"You're welcome, buddy," Peter smiled proudly and hugged Elizabeth, too. All three of them remained silent while they cherished the moment.
~*~*~
"Oh, dear! Just look at that beautiful sight!" June exclaimed cheerfully and embraced Elizabeth. Both sat on the couch in the living room, drinking coffee.
Elizabeth smiled proudly and watched her two boys plus Mozzie laying on the floor and playing the new games Neal had got. "I’ll take a picture," she said and stood up. After finishing her task she went back to June, who had dropped by earlier this afternoon, accompanied by Mozzie.
"I'm so relieved that everything is official now," June said. "He deserves some happiness. And I can tell that he's happy. More than that. He's delighted. And so are you."
"Oh, yes, I am. After all we've been through…it's about time for a brand new start."
June nodded. "And I'm very proud of you two for what you did for Neal Jr. I understand it wasn't an easy decision to make. You're parents now."
"Sometimes I still think it's a dream," El confirmed. "I mean, having children was never an option for us. And now…," she smiled shyly, "…we have Neal." She stopped as she looked at her, their son. He sat cross-legged next to Peter and held the adoption paper in his hands once more. It seemed that he needed a constant confirmation about it. Just like right now, as he carefully held the letter in his little hands, his eyes glued on every word, with his lips moving silently while he read the lines for the umpteen time. Apparently he had completely forgotten about his surroundings. Her heart just melted watching him.
Just that moment Peter looked up at her and grinned broadly, like he had read her mind. He gently ruffled Neal's hair and went over to them. He sat next to El, hugging her.
She could see the tears in his eyes and couldn't hide her own. "This is the best Christmas ever." Sighing, she said, "It's sad though that our parents can't be here today."
"We have the important scenes on tape," Peter said quietly. "We can Skype with our parents later and given the circumstances maybe we can drive to Richard and Maggie within the next few days."
to be continued...
And for those who want to know what image I had in mind when I wrote about Peter...here's the picture.
Okay, after all those tears of sadness, I promise you a lot of tears of joy with this chapter.
Again, a huge THANK YOU to all of you out there reading and reviewing my story. Your kind words mean so much to me!
New York, 2020
Christmas
As expected, the door to the bedroom opened very early on Christmas morning and a very edgy boy bust into the room. Startled by Neal's voice, Peter, laying on his back, cracked one eye open and turned his head. He flicked the bedside light on, just in time to see the child running towards the bed and stopping in front of it. Neal seemed hesitate about what doing next, looking back and forth between Peter and Elizabeth. "Neal," Peter moaned. "What's up? It's...," he turned around to check the alarm clock on the nightstand. "...6.30! Why are you up this early?" Of course Peter knew exactly why the boy was in high spirits, but he couldn't resist asking anyway.
"Because Santa Claus was here!" was the immediate reply. "The milk and the cookies are gone!!"
Peter could feel the mattress shifting, telling him that El was awake, too. "Did you spy?"
"Uhm, no?" His answer was completed by a 100 mega-watt smile.
"Then why are you so sure about Santa?"
"Just because!"
"It's still too early. Let's go back to sleep."
"But...?!" The delight in Neal's features was nearly gone, replaced by disappointment.
"Neal, please," Peter tried once more. "It's only 6.30. Since when are you up anyway?" He looked at the boy with a raised eyebrow.
"Um, not long?"
Peter was startled once again, as he felt the sharp pain in his ribcage. Turning around he faced his wife, who threw him a stern look with one of her eyebrows raised as well. This should be considered as a warning, he thought and chuckled. "Alright. Alright." He started to get up. "Why don't you go back to your room and get dressed?" he asked Neal, who still had his pajama on.
It was very obvious that Neal hadn't expected this and his face fell. He seemed to be unsure and chewed on his lip.
"The longer you'll wait, the longer it'll take to go down." Peter said to him while he walked to the dresser. "And wait inside, until we come and get you, alright?"
Neal was about to reply something, but he knew better than to argue with Peter and so he obeyed and left.
"Don't be so cruel to him," El warned him, but was smiling as well while she joined him.
"I'm not cruel," Peter objected. "I just needed him out of the room."
"He's so excited this year," El said and took a deep breath and followed her husband. She was relieved that Neal seemed to adapt well to the situation.
"It's the first real Christmas for him with us," Peter nodded and put on jeans, a white button-down shirt along with a purple pullover. The last Christmas had been terrible for the child, still mourning for his dead parents. Nobody had been in the mood to celebrate back then. But this year would be special, Peter was sure of that as he opened the safe and pulled out an envelope.
Elizabeth touched his unshaven cheek. "I could get used to this," she smirked and winked at him. "You look...sexy."
"Really?" Peter asked and involuntarily ran his thumb and index finger across the stubble. "Although it's getting gray at the chin?"
"Hon, THAT is the reason you look sexy," El replied grinning.
Peter frowned. "Now you're making fun of me," he deadpanned.
"No. It's true. I love it. Makes you some kind of...," she gave him a lopsided grin, "...reckless." To prove her words, she leaned forward and kissed him.
Neal's voice could be heard from inside his room as he shouted, "Are you ready now?"
Peter grinned and looked at the envelope in his hands. "I hope he'll like it." The smile vanished.
"What if he doesn't?"
El shook her head. "Don't worry. He's gonna love it." She embraced him. "I'm getting dressed. I'm curious to go down as well."
~*~*~
El slowly went down the stairs, holding Neal's hand. She wanted to make sure that the excited boy didn't fall down and by doing so, she was also able to distract Neal, allowing Peter to go down first and place the envelope under the Christmas tree. She smiled as they entered the living room. Today would be indeed a special day. Looking outside she realized that it had been snowing during the night. It was a wonderful sight but it also reminded her that the new snowfall put the journey of Neal's grandparents in jeopardy. Although it was still early, she doubted that the elderly couple would like to risk the drive, and she didn't blame them. But that also meant that her and Peter's parents wouldn't be able to join them as well. Entering the living room she could see that Peter also had set the video camera ready. Immediately Neal broke free from her grip and ran towards the Christmas tree, his eyes big and sparkling and his mouth opened in awe.
Peter started the camera and then joined them on the floor while Neal literally ripped all the gifts open. Except for the envelope. He hadn't discovered it so far, because he was totally engrossed with all the other stuff. Little by little Neal had gathered his gifts around him, each discovery was accompanied by cheerful laughter. Among his presents was a baseball glove from Peter, art supplies from El, board games from June, even some small gifts from Jones and Diana, as well as various books that once had belonged to his father. He surely was too young to read them, but Mozzie had wanted to encourage the boy to read as soon as possible. Although Peter already stated that he would carefully watch over the book collection and all the more he would keep a wary eye on the short man and his obscure theories.
With each passing minute where the envelope remained unnoticed, El was getting more and more excited and she looked at Peter next to her.
Nodding that he had understood, Peter cleared his throat, pointed at the envelope and said, "Oh hey, look at that! You missed something, buddy."
Neals' head went up and he looked at Peter with a surprised expression on his face. Then he turned around and saw the envelope. Apparently he hadn't considered that simple brown envelope as a gift for him and seemed doubtful.
"Yeah, that's for you, too. Want to open it?"
If El hadn't known it better, she could have sworn that Neal felt the importance of that envelope. She leaned forward. "Do you want me to help you open it?"
Neal nodded instantly and grabbed it, only to pass it on to El.
"Oookaaay," she tried to make it more interesting for Neal and was rewarded with his full attention as he leaned to her side carefully watching her moves. "Oh, there's some kind of paper in it," she said and pulled it out. "That's a…, " she knit her brows, "…certificate." She could hear her own heartbeat in her ears as her excitement grew.
"What's that?" Neal asked full of curiosity.
Peter rubbed Neal's back. "That's an official document and it's very important."
Neal took it with both hands and studied it. Although he was a smart kid, he had missed much of first grade, because of the known reasons and he had difficulties with reading. "New York…State…Dep-Depar-t-ment of He-heal-th," he read aloud and looked up. His lack of understanding was clearly visible in his face.
"The most important thing about this is," Peter tapped on the sheet, "that you're now officially our son. This certificate says that we adopted you."
It took a moment for Neal to realize the meaning of Peter's words. "Really?" he asked, still a bit stunned with his eyes big from expectation.
"Yes, sweetie," El chimed in. "It's real. The judge approved it. We are a family now. A real family."
"Look, that's your name on the form," Peter said and pointed to the paragraph. "'Name by Adoption: Neal Peter Caffrey-Burke'", he read aloud, never letting the child out of sight.
"Neal Peter Caffrey-Burke," Neal repeated; his voice almost down to a whisper.
"Do you like it?" Elizabeth asked and realized that she had held her breath. She never had felt so excited before.
"Yes, I do," Neal replied happily before he stood and embraced Elizabeth around the neck. "Thank you." After a few moments he did the same with Peter and thanked him as well.
"You're welcome, buddy," Peter smiled proudly and hugged Elizabeth, too. All three of them remained silent while they cherished the moment.
~*~*~
"Oh, dear! Just look at that beautiful sight!" June exclaimed cheerfully and embraced Elizabeth. Both sat on the couch in the living room, drinking coffee.
Elizabeth smiled proudly and watched her two boys plus Mozzie laying on the floor and playing the new games Neal had got. "I’ll take a picture," she said and stood up. After finishing her task she went back to June, who had dropped by earlier this afternoon, accompanied by Mozzie.
"I'm so relieved that everything is official now," June said. "He deserves some happiness. And I can tell that he's happy. More than that. He's delighted. And so are you."
"Oh, yes, I am. After all we've been through…it's about time for a brand new start."
June nodded. "And I'm very proud of you two for what you did for Neal Jr. I understand it wasn't an easy decision to make. You're parents now."
"Sometimes I still think it's a dream," El confirmed. "I mean, having children was never an option for us. And now…," she smiled shyly, "…we have Neal." She stopped as she looked at her, their son. He sat cross-legged next to Peter and held the adoption paper in his hands once more. It seemed that he needed a constant confirmation about it. Just like right now, as he carefully held the letter in his little hands, his eyes glued on every word, with his lips moving silently while he read the lines for the umpteen time. Apparently he had completely forgotten about his surroundings. Her heart just melted watching him.
Just that moment Peter looked up at her and grinned broadly, like he had read her mind. He gently ruffled Neal's hair and went over to them. He sat next to El, hugging her.
She could see the tears in his eyes and couldn't hide her own. "This is the best Christmas ever." Sighing, she said, "It's sad though that our parents can't be here today."
"We have the important scenes on tape," Peter said quietly. "We can Skype with our parents later and given the circumstances maybe we can drive to Richard and Maggie within the next few days."
to be continued...
And for those who want to know what image I had in mind when I wrote about Peter...here's the picture.
