Thursday night, Chicago, Nana's House
Meanwhile, in the kitchen....
Parker
"I found something else I think you'd like," Parker announced, wandering into the kitchen. "I promise I didn't spend too much money on it this time." She held out a manila envelope, looking wildly hopeful.
Inside the envelope were a lot of flowers-- in the form of stickers
Nana
Nana opened the folder and shook the contents out into her hand--and smiled at the stickers as they fell out. "Oh, honey, they're beautiful," she said. "And I know a great place to put 'em, too, if you wanna help me later." She looked up at Parker and felt her heart twist at the naked emotion there. How many times had she seen that expression on the faces of the kids who ended up at her door, tiny half-feral things with a need to be loved warring with a fear that they wouldn't be?
How many times had she seen it on Alec's face? He wasn't entirely free of it even now, though he hid it better, and he'd been the recipient of unconditional love for almost two decades now.
"But before we do that, you wanna sit with me a spell and give me a hand peeling some potatoes for dinner?" Nana had learned early on to never say she wanted to talk. In too many of her children's lives, that phrase only ever meant bad things.
Parker
"Sure!" Parker was beaming at Nana, glad that she'd gotten it right, and found her something she could use that was pretty. "I'm great with a knife." Just not as good as Eliot was, in either of the ways he used it.
Nana
Then why dontcha settle in, babygirl, and give me a hand," Nana offered, heading into the small pantry off the kitchen and pulling the sack of potatoes out to bring over to the table. For a few minutes, they worked in companionable silence, Nana with a peeler, Parker with the paring knife. "Parker, baby, can I ask you something? Why do you keep bringing me presents?"
Parker
Parker's knife didn't slip, but she kind of wished it would. She didn't have an immediate answer, so she kept peeling for a minute, then blurted out, "Don't you like them?"
Nana
"Course I do, honey," Nana said immediately. "They're beautiful and they're given with love, which makes me love 'em even more. I can't wait to wear my new hat to church on Sunday. But do you normally give presents to folks you just met?"
Parker
Parker felt like there was a trap here, somewhere. But she wasn't sure what it was. Conning Hardison's Nana was out, they'd said that from the beginning, so.
"Noooo," she said carefully. "But. It's my first visit. Aren't you supposed to bring something? And then... I just thought of you..."
Which sounded weak to her own ears.
Nana
"Parker, babygirl, you know you don't have to, right?" Nana laid her peeler down and went to cover Parker's hand with both of hers. The hand holding the potato, not the knife, and moving slowly enough that Parker could shy away if she wanted to. "I appreciate the thought, I do, but I need you to know that I like you because of who you are, not because of the things you're bringing me. You don't gotta buy my approval, honeychild, you already have it."
Parker
"You do?" Parker looked incredibly hopeful, just standing there, unsure and a little unsteady. "It's not just that you're really nice and a good person? Because you haven't known me very long. You might change your mind."
Nana
Nana cracked up about that. "Oh, sweetheart, if I didn't like you, you'd know. I ain't that nice, I promise. You can ask Hardison--he's had a girlfriend or two that I didn't approve of. But you, Parker." She squeezed Parker's hands. "You make him happy. I can see it in the way he looks at you, and they way you look at him." And they way they looked at Eliot and he looked back, not that she was going to mention that now. "You're good for him. And you're a good person, too. Not everyone would put everything down to travel halfway across the country cause a friend's Nana got into some trouble."
"I'm an old woman, Parker, and I've spent my whole adult life taking care of people. You learn to read people, to understand them. I can tell a lot about you, sugar, and between that and all the things Hardison's been telling me about you over the years, I know I couldn't ask for anyone better for my boy to have given his heart to."
Parker
"It's just." How to explain this. "You're really, really important to him." The relief she felt that Nana liked her was huge. But she wasn't sure if she got all of it. "I kind of wanted to say... thank you. For being his Nana. I didn't know you all of this time, but. He had a good childhood. Even in the system. Because of you. I kind of want to give you flowers every day, for that."
Nana
"And I'll take flowers for that, darlin'," Nana said, chuckling a little. "I've seen plenty of kids come and go through the system. I know what it's like in there--and what it would have done to Alec to be stuck in there much longer than he was. He wants too much to please folks, even now. It would've chewed him up and spat him out like it does to so many others." She shook her head. "I love Alec like my own flesh and blood. Just seeing the man he became is thanks enough. But, see, the real gift you're giving me, every day? You see how good and special my Alec is. And you love and appreciate him for it. You make him happy and you make him better. And that's worth a hundred flowers to me."
Parker
Okay, now Parker was confused again. Still happy, but. Confused.
"How do I make him better?" she wondered. She could believe she made him happier. And she took pretty good care of him. But. Parker was pretty sure Hardison could find another girlfriend who would love him just fine. Maybe not one that would be so okay with the hacking, but... "Archie had a wife who didn't know what he did for thirty-five years. And he loved her a lot."
Forgive her, Nana. Sometimes the thoughts are outside her head, and sometimes they stay inside.
Nana
Nana wasn't sure who Archie was or what his wife didn't know, but she could answer Parker's first question easily enough. "Ain't nobody in the world who can force someone to be a better person than they want to be," she explained. "But they can inspire them, make them want to be better. That's what you do to Hardison, sweetheart. He never want to let you down, so he pushes himself to be the man he thinks you deserve."
Parker
"Ohhhh. Like he does for me. But he's already way better at being a good person than I am," Parker admitted. "... I probably shouldn't have said that
Nana
Nana's laugh was rich and warm, like molasses poured into a cup of dark coffee. "It's all right, honeychild. I understand what you mean. Alec is a special kind of boy, and I'm not just saying that cause I raised him. I'm glad I got him when I did. It would have been a real shame to see his spirit get twisted and broken in the system. It takes a special kind of strength to survive that. Not everybody's got it." She reached out to cover Parker's hands with her own, but slowly so Parker could move if she wanted to. "That strength can make you hard, make you different. But there ain't nothing wrong with that. Sometimes you gotta survive first, learn to be a good person later. The learning is the important thing."
Parker
How Nana got it so well, had to be because of all the other kids she'd taken care of for so long. "Archie took care of me. After I got out of juvie. He accepted me, just like Alec does." But the difference was... "He didn't care if I was a better person or not. He inspired me to learn, and survive, and achieve things-- but Hardison. Hardison's even better. And he built me a little robot, to help me."
Nana
"That's one of the ways Alec shows he cares," Nana said. "He builds you something to be helpful. I can't tell you the number of times he tried to build me a robot to do the dishes or wash the floor or help vacuum." She chuckled and shook her head. "Fortunately, he got better as he grew up. And he was always good about replacing the things his robots broke."
Parker
See, like that. Nana got it. This really was like family, wasn't it?
"I still want to bring you things, though." Parker smiled a little. "If Hardison can build you robots, I can find you nice things. Because... I just want to."
Nana
"As long as it's just because you want to," Nana said, leaning forward to brush a kiss on Parker's forehead. "And as long as you remember that your place in this family doesn't come from what you can do or what you can give. It's yours, sweetheart, just by virtue of being you."
[ooc: Preplayed with the lovely age-of-the-geek and with the help of Ana's Happy Preplay Coder! Clearly NFI & NFB, but OOC is welcome.]
Parker
"I found something else I think you'd like," Parker announced, wandering into the kitchen. "I promise I didn't spend too much money on it this time." She held out a manila envelope, looking wildly hopeful.
Inside the envelope were a lot of flowers-- in the form of stickers
Nana
Nana opened the folder and shook the contents out into her hand--and smiled at the stickers as they fell out. "Oh, honey, they're beautiful," she said. "And I know a great place to put 'em, too, if you wanna help me later." She looked up at Parker and felt her heart twist at the naked emotion there. How many times had she seen that expression on the faces of the kids who ended up at her door, tiny half-feral things with a need to be loved warring with a fear that they wouldn't be?
How many times had she seen it on Alec's face? He wasn't entirely free of it even now, though he hid it better, and he'd been the recipient of unconditional love for almost two decades now.
"But before we do that, you wanna sit with me a spell and give me a hand peeling some potatoes for dinner?" Nana had learned early on to never say she wanted to talk. In too many of her children's lives, that phrase only ever meant bad things.
Parker
"Sure!" Parker was beaming at Nana, glad that she'd gotten it right, and found her something she could use that was pretty. "I'm great with a knife." Just not as good as Eliot was, in either of the ways he used it.
Nana
Then why dontcha settle in, babygirl, and give me a hand," Nana offered, heading into the small pantry off the kitchen and pulling the sack of potatoes out to bring over to the table. For a few minutes, they worked in companionable silence, Nana with a peeler, Parker with the paring knife. "Parker, baby, can I ask you something? Why do you keep bringing me presents?"
Parker
Parker's knife didn't slip, but she kind of wished it would. She didn't have an immediate answer, so she kept peeling for a minute, then blurted out, "Don't you like them?"
Nana
"Course I do, honey," Nana said immediately. "They're beautiful and they're given with love, which makes me love 'em even more. I can't wait to wear my new hat to church on Sunday. But do you normally give presents to folks you just met?"
Parker
Parker felt like there was a trap here, somewhere. But she wasn't sure what it was. Conning Hardison's Nana was out, they'd said that from the beginning, so.
"Noooo," she said carefully. "But. It's my first visit. Aren't you supposed to bring something? And then... I just thought of you..."
Which sounded weak to her own ears.
Nana
"Parker, babygirl, you know you don't have to, right?" Nana laid her peeler down and went to cover Parker's hand with both of hers. The hand holding the potato, not the knife, and moving slowly enough that Parker could shy away if she wanted to. "I appreciate the thought, I do, but I need you to know that I like you because of who you are, not because of the things you're bringing me. You don't gotta buy my approval, honeychild, you already have it."
Parker
"You do?" Parker looked incredibly hopeful, just standing there, unsure and a little unsteady. "It's not just that you're really nice and a good person? Because you haven't known me very long. You might change your mind."
Nana
Nana cracked up about that. "Oh, sweetheart, if I didn't like you, you'd know. I ain't that nice, I promise. You can ask Hardison--he's had a girlfriend or two that I didn't approve of. But you, Parker." She squeezed Parker's hands. "You make him happy. I can see it in the way he looks at you, and they way you look at him." And they way they looked at Eliot and he looked back, not that she was going to mention that now. "You're good for him. And you're a good person, too. Not everyone would put everything down to travel halfway across the country cause a friend's Nana got into some trouble."
"I'm an old woman, Parker, and I've spent my whole adult life taking care of people. You learn to read people, to understand them. I can tell a lot about you, sugar, and between that and all the things Hardison's been telling me about you over the years, I know I couldn't ask for anyone better for my boy to have given his heart to."
Parker
"It's just." How to explain this. "You're really, really important to him." The relief she felt that Nana liked her was huge. But she wasn't sure if she got all of it. "I kind of wanted to say... thank you. For being his Nana. I didn't know you all of this time, but. He had a good childhood. Even in the system. Because of you. I kind of want to give you flowers every day, for that."
Nana
"And I'll take flowers for that, darlin'," Nana said, chuckling a little. "I've seen plenty of kids come and go through the system. I know what it's like in there--and what it would have done to Alec to be stuck in there much longer than he was. He wants too much to please folks, even now. It would've chewed him up and spat him out like it does to so many others." She shook her head. "I love Alec like my own flesh and blood. Just seeing the man he became is thanks enough. But, see, the real gift you're giving me, every day? You see how good and special my Alec is. And you love and appreciate him for it. You make him happy and you make him better. And that's worth a hundred flowers to me."
Parker
Okay, now Parker was confused again. Still happy, but. Confused.
"How do I make him better?" she wondered. She could believe she made him happier. And she took pretty good care of him. But. Parker was pretty sure Hardison could find another girlfriend who would love him just fine. Maybe not one that would be so okay with the hacking, but... "Archie had a wife who didn't know what he did for thirty-five years. And he loved her a lot."
Forgive her, Nana. Sometimes the thoughts are outside her head, and sometimes they stay inside.
Nana
Nana wasn't sure who Archie was or what his wife didn't know, but she could answer Parker's first question easily enough. "Ain't nobody in the world who can force someone to be a better person than they want to be," she explained. "But they can inspire them, make them want to be better. That's what you do to Hardison, sweetheart. He never want to let you down, so he pushes himself to be the man he thinks you deserve."
Parker
"Ohhhh. Like he does for me. But he's already way better at being a good person than I am," Parker admitted. "... I probably shouldn't have said that
Nana
Nana's laugh was rich and warm, like molasses poured into a cup of dark coffee. "It's all right, honeychild. I understand what you mean. Alec is a special kind of boy, and I'm not just saying that cause I raised him. I'm glad I got him when I did. It would have been a real shame to see his spirit get twisted and broken in the system. It takes a special kind of strength to survive that. Not everybody's got it." She reached out to cover Parker's hands with her own, but slowly so Parker could move if she wanted to. "That strength can make you hard, make you different. But there ain't nothing wrong with that. Sometimes you gotta survive first, learn to be a good person later. The learning is the important thing."
Parker
How Nana got it so well, had to be because of all the other kids she'd taken care of for so long. "Archie took care of me. After I got out of juvie. He accepted me, just like Alec does." But the difference was... "He didn't care if I was a better person or not. He inspired me to learn, and survive, and achieve things-- but Hardison. Hardison's even better. And he built me a little robot, to help me."
Nana
"That's one of the ways Alec shows he cares," Nana said. "He builds you something to be helpful. I can't tell you the number of times he tried to build me a robot to do the dishes or wash the floor or help vacuum." She chuckled and shook her head. "Fortunately, he got better as he grew up. And he was always good about replacing the things his robots broke."
Parker
See, like that. Nana got it. This really was like family, wasn't it?
"I still want to bring you things, though." Parker smiled a little. "If Hardison can build you robots, I can find you nice things. Because... I just want to."
Nana
"As long as it's just because you want to," Nana said, leaning forward to brush a kiss on Parker's forehead. "And as long as you remember that your place in this family doesn't come from what you can do or what you can give. It's yours, sweetheart, just by virtue of being you."
[ooc: Preplayed with the lovely age-of-the-geek and with the help of Ana's Happy Preplay Coder! Clearly NFI & NFB, but OOC is welcome.]