Happy Thoughts: The Way Future Edition
So. I'm pretty much willing to talk frat!verse any time, any place, and a few weeks ago, I was commenting back and forth with frogy about Brendon and Cash's puppy, and that led to talk of kids, and how I didn't actually think that Brendon and Cash would have any of their own. But I absolutely see them as the sort of people who take in strays and make their own family. This? Is pretty much the way my brain works when it's tackling an idea and I have people there to encourage/flail with me.
Comment to frogy:
I actually haven't planned anything with them having kids. Not that I don't think they'd be great parents, I just, well. See them as being more of the really awesome uncles. And, like, if they ever did 'have' kids, it might be that one of their nieces or nephews has a teenage rebellion and wants to get away from their parents for awhile, or one of the families moves away right before the kid's senior year in hs, so they come live with Cash and Brendon.
But, like, I see them borrowing kids to take to the zoo or go see Disney movies with, or have for sleepovers or week long visits, but then at the end, they're happy to go home to their dog (and maybe cat and hamster, too).
But I hadn't really thought about it, actually.
Rambling to amy13:
One of Cash's brother's families decides to move away from Illinois, sometime... maybe halfway through the kid's junior year. Like, mom or dad gets transferred. Kid is NOT HAPPY. B&C see that kid is NOT HAPPY and so they offer to let kid stay with them at least until the end of the year, finish it out with their friends, etc. And at first it's weird, having another person in their house, and the kid is on their best behavior for a few weeks, but then they go through a phase of moving from cool uncles to parental figures, which is a little difficult. Maybe they go to the kid's... I don't know. Baseball games? They do parental things. And then it's summer and the kid heads out to wherever his parents are, and at first B&C are sort of happy to have the house back, just to themselves. But then it seems a little bit empty. And then they talk to C's brother's family and say, "you know, if [kid] wanted to spend another year here, we could totally do that." And so kid comes back, and they get to deal with all of the applying to colleges, going to basketball games, going to parents night. And at graduation, the kid's parents are there, obviously, but the kid gets two sets of pictures, one with his parents, one with Brendon and Cash, and maybe he decides to go to Springfield (like his Uncles!) and so while he goes back with his parents after the end of the year, he also comes back to Illinois a little early and stays with B&C until it's time for school, and maybe he rushes FBR? And he always has a room at B&C's, for whenever he needs to get away/'go home'. And maybe he brings his girlfriend over for dinner one night--just a friend! he says, but B&C know better--and then C spends an hour talking with his sister in law about her, promises to keep an eye out for her son. And, I don't know. This is where my brain is going.
And then I was going out of town for a few days to the land of No Internet, so of course the bunnies were biting VERY VERY HARD and I had to txt Amy and tell her to check her email so she could flail with me about all of this before I left.
Email from me to Amy:
This is what I think I want. So, Kid. I will come up with a name at some point. He has a friend a year younger than him that B actually had in school, like, in 2nd-5th grade, and Kid2 was totally a little punk. Brendon was glad when Kid2 moved into middle school. Cue 5/6 years later, and Kid2 ends up being really good friends with Kid while Kid is staying with B&C, spending the night pretty much every weekend, and he's not such a bad kid anymore, but maybe he's having problems at home, getting progressively worse, and maybe during Kid's senior year, he comes to visit Kid, but Kid is out with other people, and B&C invite him in to hang out, 'cause they can see he doesn't want to go home. And then Kid goes off to college and some night in September, Kid2 comes over and stands on their porch and says, SORRY, I JUST, and then he ends up staying. Because they would totally adopt strays.
And now I have visions (where this is not totally set in stone, just my brain tangenting) of word getting out about Mr. Urie and Cash helping kids out if they need it, and so all these kids (maybe 3 or 4 or 5 total) who B had in school actually end up staying with them over a course of 5 years, and Kid actually has a bit of an 'only child' freak out (even though he's a) not their kid, and b) has siblings of his own) but then he sort of becomes these other kids' older brother figure, and they pretty much make their own family, and okay, I'm totally tearing up about this right now.
Email from Amy to me:
I just. They so WOULD! Because they're both fixers - and it's like. It's not like they end up as FOSTER parents, but they're like. Adults who understand that it's hard to be a teenager, sometimes. They understand what it's like to feel like no one gets you - because B&C have both always had friends, but they were the first to fully GET each other, in all the little ways. And B would totally open the door to 2 and see him there with his cheeks pink from knowing that he just CAN'T cry and be upset, and he'd totally battle with himself to NOT hug the kid, cause he so clearly needs it, and it's just.
OMG - MY HEART OVER THIS ENTIRE CONCEPT!!!
CAN YOU PICTURE CHRISTMAS AT B&C'S WITH ALL THEIR "KIDS"???? AND THEIR "KIDS" LIKE, SO's AND B&C'S DOG AND C'S MOM AND I JUST CANNOT STAND THIS!!!!
Email from me to Amy:
Okay, I'm totally going to send you another txt that basically says this (except shorter!) but OMG, AMY, CHRISTMAS. CHRISTMAS WITH THEIR KIDS AND THEIR KIDS SOs AND THEIR 'GRAND KIDS' AND I AM TOTALLY ALL HANDFLAPPY FLAILY JOY AND I WANT THIS.
Like, usually B&C go to Christmas at C's mom's house, and sometimes they have it at their house, but after 2 comes to stay with them, they decide to do a "family" Christmas, because they don't want to shove C's family (a few siblings, lots of cousins) at him when he's not doing so well with his own family. And so they open presents, do their thing, and then C's mom shows up late that afternoon with, like, the traditional Christmas cookies and something for 2. Maybe he's into skateboarding? Like, skateboard decals or something (maybe not even ones that he'd want to use? but it's the thought that counts, right, and he'd use them ANYWAY and if any of his friends ask, he'll be like, shut up, they're from Cash's mom. They're awesome.) And then he's going to, like, a community college around there--'cause B&C can help a little bit? But he's mostly having to do college by himself (plus, he gets an apartment) and so when they ask him what he's doing for Christmas, he gets sort of punky again, like he thinks that it was just for one year? That B&C will want to go back to Cash's mom's? Their real family? And they're like, dude. We're doing Christmas at our house. You need to be there by 3 o'clock on Christmas Eve. And so he goes. And on Christmas Day, Kid1 comes over with C's mom and spends the evening and it's the start of their "family". And then the other kids start coming, and soon, there's, like, 8 or 9 people in their family (and B&C are totally going to have to have gotten a bigger house at some point, sigh) and then there are the significant others, and some of the kids actually fly in from out of state for the holidays, and it's not that the grandkids call B&C "grandpa" or anything--it's totally Brendon and Cash--but they do things like send report cards and for the ones that stay in the area, Brendon goes to their school recitals and ballet programs and Cash will play basketball with them in the driveway and (oh, *sniff*) on their 40th wedding anniversary, after everyone's sort of gone their separate ways? 2 organizes this big huge party for them (because he's maybe the MOST their kid), and of course Jon and Ryan and Spencer and their families are there, C's siblings and some of Brendon's, and ALL of their kids come, ALL of their families, and they get a family photograph of just their "family" with, like, 30 people in it, some of the grandkids on B&C's knees, and Brendon's still making silly faces at the camera and then there's another photo of C leaning his forehead on B's shoulder and they're both smiling, and it's just. Them.
And then I had to give Kid2 a name. And more back story. So we have The One With the Moose.
In second grade, Devon went by the nickname Moose. Brendon hadn't had any idea why that was, except that the kid seemed more inclined to charge down hallways than walk, but really, what second grader wasn't? The next year, it was Mr. Mills, because as Devon'd told Brendon on the third day of school: 8 years old was totally a grown-up, Mr. U. Fourth grade, though, led to the nickname 'D', which stayed through fifth grade and apparently stuck, since when Devon shows up on Brendon's front porch, Kevin greets him with a "D! Get the fuc--I mean, *hell* in here!"
Kevin's been there for all of three weeks, is still trying to be on his best behavior, which in turn have put Brendon and Cash on their best behavior, given that they're suddenly taking on the role of Parental Units and all, but that doesn't mean that Cash doesn't snort in the kitchen, or that Brendon doesn't hear him and go investigate. "Hell," Cash says. "Heck! That's just too precious for words."
"Fudge," Brendon says, grinning and pressing a kiss to Cash's ear.
*
Devon still calls him Mr. Urie, though. Calls Cash Mr. Colligan. At least until the eighth time he's been over in the last three weeks and Brendon says, "You do realize that I'm not your teacher anymore, right? That I haven't been for a good five years? I think you can call me Brendon." Devon sort of stutters over it the first few times, but by the end of the school year he's barely knocking at the back door to the house before swinging through the kitchen, saying, "B, C, what's up?"
*
Back in second (third, fourth, fifth) grade, Devon was a punk. He liked to push his limits, to bang the tambourine when they were supposed to be doing the xylophone, to play the cat in a field full of rabbits hopping around the room to a Bunny Song; he fake-snored during meditation time, giggled during practice for the holiday program, and tried to echo the mating call of the parakeet with his recorder. Which is to say: Brendon was not so sad when he moved up to 6th grade, out of Brendon's school.
He never actually expected to *miss* him. But: Devon was over at their place nearly every weekend from February to June, then September to June the next year, eating pizza and watching wrestling with Cash (while Kevin and Brendon rolled their eyes) and actually washing his dishes off in the sink even though Kevin told him to just stack them. So, once Kevin goes to Boise for the summer, Devon stops coming over, and the house pretty much feels empty. But while Brendon wouldn't mind seeing him every once in awhile, that's not to say that Brendon wants him to show up at their door at eleven o'clock at night, looking about one heart beat away from tears. He's not a small kid--larger than both Brendon and Cash--but he's got his arms wrapped around his chest and he's kicking at the boards of their porch and when Cash opens the door, Brendon can hear Devon say, "I'm sorry, I'm fucking sorry, I just. I couldn't--"
Cash just says, "Come on in," and looks at Brendon, asking if Brendon's with him on this: the problem, the quick fix for tonight.
Brendon nods, stands up and says, "Do you want to stay the night? Kev's not even here to make you sleep on the floor this time."
Devon snorts wetly, tries to smile. He lets Cash offer him food, but he's turned in by 11:30.
Later, Brendon will wonder if he knew then that Devon wasn't ever really going to move out.
*
They don't tell Devon, but one morning in June, on a holiday they've never celebrated before, Cash wakes Brendon up with a card. Happy Father's Day, it reads. On the front there's a cartoon moose.
Comment to frogy:
I actually haven't planned anything with them having kids. Not that I don't think they'd be great parents, I just, well. See them as being more of the really awesome uncles. And, like, if they ever did 'have' kids, it might be that one of their nieces or nephews has a teenage rebellion and wants to get away from their parents for awhile, or one of the families moves away right before the kid's senior year in hs, so they come live with Cash and Brendon.
But, like, I see them borrowing kids to take to the zoo or go see Disney movies with, or have for sleepovers or week long visits, but then at the end, they're happy to go home to their dog (and maybe cat and hamster, too).
But I hadn't really thought about it, actually.
Rambling to amy13:
One of Cash's brother's families decides to move away from Illinois, sometime... maybe halfway through the kid's junior year. Like, mom or dad gets transferred. Kid is NOT HAPPY. B&C see that kid is NOT HAPPY and so they offer to let kid stay with them at least until the end of the year, finish it out with their friends, etc. And at first it's weird, having another person in their house, and the kid is on their best behavior for a few weeks, but then they go through a phase of moving from cool uncles to parental figures, which is a little difficult. Maybe they go to the kid's... I don't know. Baseball games? They do parental things. And then it's summer and the kid heads out to wherever his parents are, and at first B&C are sort of happy to have the house back, just to themselves. But then it seems a little bit empty. And then they talk to C's brother's family and say, "you know, if [kid] wanted to spend another year here, we could totally do that." And so kid comes back, and they get to deal with all of the applying to colleges, going to basketball games, going to parents night. And at graduation, the kid's parents are there, obviously, but the kid gets two sets of pictures, one with his parents, one with Brendon and Cash, and maybe he decides to go to Springfield (like his Uncles!) and so while he goes back with his parents after the end of the year, he also comes back to Illinois a little early and stays with B&C until it's time for school, and maybe he rushes FBR? And he always has a room at B&C's, for whenever he needs to get away/'go home'. And maybe he brings his girlfriend over for dinner one night--just a friend! he says, but B&C know better--and then C spends an hour talking with his sister in law about her, promises to keep an eye out for her son. And, I don't know. This is where my brain is going.
And then I was going out of town for a few days to the land of No Internet, so of course the bunnies were biting VERY VERY HARD and I had to txt Amy and tell her to check her email so she could flail with me about all of this before I left.
Email from me to Amy:
This is what I think I want. So, Kid. I will come up with a name at some point. He has a friend a year younger than him that B actually had in school, like, in 2nd-5th grade, and Kid2 was totally a little punk. Brendon was glad when Kid2 moved into middle school. Cue 5/6 years later, and Kid2 ends up being really good friends with Kid while Kid is staying with B&C, spending the night pretty much every weekend, and he's not such a bad kid anymore, but maybe he's having problems at home, getting progressively worse, and maybe during Kid's senior year, he comes to visit Kid, but Kid is out with other people, and B&C invite him in to hang out, 'cause they can see he doesn't want to go home. And then Kid goes off to college and some night in September, Kid2 comes over and stands on their porch and says, SORRY, I JUST, and then he ends up staying. Because they would totally adopt strays.
And now I have visions (where this is not totally set in stone, just my brain tangenting) of word getting out about Mr. Urie and Cash helping kids out if they need it, and so all these kids (maybe 3 or 4 or 5 total) who B had in school actually end up staying with them over a course of 5 years, and Kid actually has a bit of an 'only child' freak out (even though he's a) not their kid, and b) has siblings of his own) but then he sort of becomes these other kids' older brother figure, and they pretty much make their own family, and okay, I'm totally tearing up about this right now.
Email from Amy to me:
I just. They so WOULD! Because they're both fixers - and it's like. It's not like they end up as FOSTER parents, but they're like. Adults who understand that it's hard to be a teenager, sometimes. They understand what it's like to feel like no one gets you - because B&C have both always had friends, but they were the first to fully GET each other, in all the little ways. And B would totally open the door to 2 and see him there with his cheeks pink from knowing that he just CAN'T cry and be upset, and he'd totally battle with himself to NOT hug the kid, cause he so clearly needs it, and it's just.
OMG - MY HEART OVER THIS ENTIRE CONCEPT!!!
CAN YOU PICTURE CHRISTMAS AT B&C'S WITH ALL THEIR "KIDS"???? AND THEIR "KIDS" LIKE, SO's AND B&C'S DOG AND C'S MOM AND I JUST CANNOT STAND THIS!!!!
Email from me to Amy:
Okay, I'm totally going to send you another txt that basically says this (except shorter!) but OMG, AMY, CHRISTMAS. CHRISTMAS WITH THEIR KIDS AND THEIR KIDS SOs AND THEIR 'GRAND KIDS' AND I AM TOTALLY ALL HANDFLAPPY FLAILY JOY AND I WANT THIS.
Like, usually B&C go to Christmas at C's mom's house, and sometimes they have it at their house, but after 2 comes to stay with them, they decide to do a "family" Christmas, because they don't want to shove C's family (a few siblings, lots of cousins) at him when he's not doing so well with his own family. And so they open presents, do their thing, and then C's mom shows up late that afternoon with, like, the traditional Christmas cookies and something for 2. Maybe he's into skateboarding? Like, skateboard decals or something (maybe not even ones that he'd want to use? but it's the thought that counts, right, and he'd use them ANYWAY and if any of his friends ask, he'll be like, shut up, they're from Cash's mom. They're awesome.) And then he's going to, like, a community college around there--'cause B&C can help a little bit? But he's mostly having to do college by himself (plus, he gets an apartment) and so when they ask him what he's doing for Christmas, he gets sort of punky again, like he thinks that it was just for one year? That B&C will want to go back to Cash's mom's? Their real family? And they're like, dude. We're doing Christmas at our house. You need to be there by 3 o'clock on Christmas Eve. And so he goes. And on Christmas Day, Kid1 comes over with C's mom and spends the evening and it's the start of their "family". And then the other kids start coming, and soon, there's, like, 8 or 9 people in their family (and B&C are totally going to have to have gotten a bigger house at some point, sigh) and then there are the significant others, and some of the kids actually fly in from out of state for the holidays, and it's not that the grandkids call B&C "grandpa" or anything--it's totally Brendon and Cash--but they do things like send report cards and for the ones that stay in the area, Brendon goes to their school recitals and ballet programs and Cash will play basketball with them in the driveway and (oh, *sniff*) on their 40th wedding anniversary, after everyone's sort of gone their separate ways? 2 organizes this big huge party for them (because he's maybe the MOST their kid), and of course Jon and Ryan and Spencer and their families are there, C's siblings and some of Brendon's, and ALL of their kids come, ALL of their families, and they get a family photograph of just their "family" with, like, 30 people in it, some of the grandkids on B&C's knees, and Brendon's still making silly faces at the camera and then there's another photo of C leaning his forehead on B's shoulder and they're both smiling, and it's just. Them.
And then I had to give Kid2 a name. And more back story. So we have The One With the Moose.
In second grade, Devon went by the nickname Moose. Brendon hadn't had any idea why that was, except that the kid seemed more inclined to charge down hallways than walk, but really, what second grader wasn't? The next year, it was Mr. Mills, because as Devon'd told Brendon on the third day of school: 8 years old was totally a grown-up, Mr. U. Fourth grade, though, led to the nickname 'D', which stayed through fifth grade and apparently stuck, since when Devon shows up on Brendon's front porch, Kevin greets him with a "D! Get the fuc--I mean, *hell* in here!"
Kevin's been there for all of three weeks, is still trying to be on his best behavior, which in turn have put Brendon and Cash on their best behavior, given that they're suddenly taking on the role of Parental Units and all, but that doesn't mean that Cash doesn't snort in the kitchen, or that Brendon doesn't hear him and go investigate. "Hell," Cash says. "Heck! That's just too precious for words."
"Fudge," Brendon says, grinning and pressing a kiss to Cash's ear.
*
Devon still calls him Mr. Urie, though. Calls Cash Mr. Colligan. At least until the eighth time he's been over in the last three weeks and Brendon says, "You do realize that I'm not your teacher anymore, right? That I haven't been for a good five years? I think you can call me Brendon." Devon sort of stutters over it the first few times, but by the end of the school year he's barely knocking at the back door to the house before swinging through the kitchen, saying, "B, C, what's up?"
*
Back in second (third, fourth, fifth) grade, Devon was a punk. He liked to push his limits, to bang the tambourine when they were supposed to be doing the xylophone, to play the cat in a field full of rabbits hopping around the room to a Bunny Song; he fake-snored during meditation time, giggled during practice for the holiday program, and tried to echo the mating call of the parakeet with his recorder. Which is to say: Brendon was not so sad when he moved up to 6th grade, out of Brendon's school.
He never actually expected to *miss* him. But: Devon was over at their place nearly every weekend from February to June, then September to June the next year, eating pizza and watching wrestling with Cash (while Kevin and Brendon rolled their eyes) and actually washing his dishes off in the sink even though Kevin told him to just stack them. So, once Kevin goes to Boise for the summer, Devon stops coming over, and the house pretty much feels empty. But while Brendon wouldn't mind seeing him every once in awhile, that's not to say that Brendon wants him to show up at their door at eleven o'clock at night, looking about one heart beat away from tears. He's not a small kid--larger than both Brendon and Cash--but he's got his arms wrapped around his chest and he's kicking at the boards of their porch and when Cash opens the door, Brendon can hear Devon say, "I'm sorry, I'm fucking sorry, I just. I couldn't--"
Cash just says, "Come on in," and looks at Brendon, asking if Brendon's with him on this: the problem, the quick fix for tonight.
Brendon nods, stands up and says, "Do you want to stay the night? Kev's not even here to make you sleep on the floor this time."
Devon snorts wetly, tries to smile. He lets Cash offer him food, but he's turned in by 11:30.
Later, Brendon will wonder if he knew then that Devon wasn't ever really going to move out.
*
They don't tell Devon, but one morning in June, on a holiday they've never celebrated before, Cash wakes Brendon up with a card. Happy Father's Day, it reads. On the front there's a cartoon moose.