Sarsparilla Flavor Binge: Fatherhood
Title: Fatherhood
Main Story: In The Heart
Flavors, Toppings, Extras: Sarsparilla flavor binge, pocky chain, hot fudge (at least three segments), caramel (two segments), rainbow sprinkles (most of the segments).
Word Count: 1200
Rating: PG-13 for swearing and some rage-inducing things.
Summary: Fathers and children.
Notes: For Father's Day, and a distant second in my race with Kelly. I changed this halfway through from present to past tense, so if you catch a slip please let me know. Also, Gary is reading the St. Crispin's Day speech, should you be interested.
1. ten-gallon hat
"I want to wear my cowboy hat!" Elena complained, holding the hat in question tightly against her chest.
"And I want to wear my crown!" Vivian added.
"Well, you can't," Felicity told them, from the lofty heights of twelve. "You have to dress well. It's a photo op. We have to make Daddy look good."
"You can wear the hat, Ellie," Daddy said, from behind her. "And Viv, go get your crown." Ellie and Viv squeaked with joy, and ran off.
"Daddy," Felicity began.
"Liss," he interrupted gently, "you girls always make me look good. No matter what you're wearing."
2. cowboy boots
David Foster was a father.
He was a husband, too, and a son, a Christian and a pastor and, he hoped, a good man. But most of all he was a father, to two beautiful girls and one strong son. Amanda and Jacob and Lauren, the greatest blessings (besides Sarah, and his faith) that God had ever given him.
He remembered the enormous shoes his own father had left when he'd died. David hoped he'd filled them well. He hoped his own shoes weren't as big.
He hoped his children had a long time before they had to fill them.
3. spurs
"Dad, I'm bored," Ethan whined.
Gary, who was knee-deep in Richard II, didn't look up. "Read a book," he said. "God knows there's enough of them in the house."
Ethan rolled his eyes. "Books are boring."
Ethan was into shoot-em-ups recently... Gary reached out and plucked Henry V from the bookshelf. He opened it to the right page and began. "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers..."
It was one of Shakespeare's more overdone speeches, but Ethan was wide-eyed by the end. "Cool," he breathed.
"Still think books are boring?" Gary asked, dropping Henry V into his hands.
4. gunslinger / gunfight
"Aargh, you got me!" Nathan staggered around in a circle and then "died" so dramatically that his children burst into uncontrollable giggles.
"We win!" Ivy cheered. Aaron, beside her, cheered just as loud, for all he was sixteen and supposed to be above all this.
"Winners get ice cream!" Ivy added, imperiously.
Nathan propped himself up on his elbows. "Users," he declared. "My children only love me for my ice cream."
"You're dead, Daddy," Ivy reminded him. "We're going to pillage your corpse."
"Fine," he said, and lay back down. "No more than five dollars each."
"Okay," they said, together.
5. tumbleweeds
Some days Frank couldn't remember why he had children.
The boys were entertaining enough when he was in the mood to roughhouse, and Amelia was good about keeping them out of his way when he wasn't. And yes, he supposed someone in his position ought to have some family pictures on his desk at work-- damned if he'd use the failed family. Amelia was photogenic and the boys cleaned up well, so that was fine.
But they were expensive, and noisy, and complicated his life. He loved them, he did, but... well, sometimes he wondered if they were worth it.
6. stagecoach
Gail didn't know it, but he had a bus out of town on Sunday. He had to act like everything was normal if he wanted to get away without her screaming at him, the fucking bitch. Fuck her, anyway. See how she and her precious brat got along without him.
Badly, probably, but Brad didn't care. He was done playing house. He was over coddling the brat. He was finished with Gail's pitying looks. Stupid bitch, thinking getting knocked up would tie him down.
He was stupid, for falling for it.
Oh, well. He was doing the right thing now.
7. sheriff
"Papi!" Thomas announced, clinging to his pant leg and beaming.
"Thomas!" Felipe leaned down, picked up his son and swung him in the air to Thomas's shrieking laughter. "Have you been good today?"
"Uh-huh!" Thomas grinned again. "Mommy and me made fractals. And Daddy and me played cops and robbers."
Right, because it was Zack's day off, the jerk. Felipe reflected that his son was probably the only five-year-old in DC who knew what a fractal is. "Were you the cop or the robber?"
"The cop," Thomas said, giving him a 'duh' look.
"Good," Felipe said, and patted his back.
8. saloon
"Gina," Robert said, in his coldest tones. "Where do you think you're going dressed like that?"
Gina paused in the hallway, smoothed down her red dress, and blinked at him. "To a party."
"No, you aren't. Do you know what the boys will think when they see you dressed like that?"
Gina laughed. "Don't worry, Dad," she said. "There won't be any boys. Just girls, and they won't hit on me."
"Oh," he said, taken aback. "Well. All right." He settled back in his chair, and tried not to think about the look on her face when she'd said that.
9. mustang
Olivia laughed aloud, heels drumming against his ribs. "Faster, Daddy, faster! Giddyup!"
Hugh neighed obligingly and shifted his pace from a walk to a 'trot,' jouncing his daughter gently, more for his back's sake than her own. She wasn't a small child by any means, and she was getting heavy. Soon he'd have to stop these games.
Which was why he was giving her a ride any time she asked. Maybe he could get her a hobbyhorse, to ease the sting.
Or a real horse...
Olivia screamed "Faster" again: he put the thought away for the moment, and sped up.
10. cattle ranch
Seven children. What possessed them, to think that seven children would be a good idea?
Well, all right, it was supposed to be six; Elliot and Elisa had disobliged their parents by being twins. And it wasn't that individually they were bad. Henrik adored his children individually. It was just that all together...
"Elliot! Elisa!" he roared. "Stop fighting! Chrissy, get Anna, please, and find Lars. Theodore, what do you think you're doing? Mortimer Warmind, you get downstairs this minute!"
Some days he felt like he was nailing jello to the wall just trying to get them out the door.
11. rodeo
Aaron never understood the concept of child leashes. They'd always looked like a shortcut for people who either couldn't or wouldn't bother to pay attention to their children.
That was, of course, before he became the father of twins. Very active, very fast twins.
Billy at least stayed on his leash without protests. Molly had sat down and screamed like she was being boiled alive the first couple times he tried it. She seemed resigned to it now, though...
"Daddy." Billy tugged on his sleeve. "Daddy, Molly's gone."
What?
...she'd figured out how to undo her leash.
God help him.
12. home on the range
Chris felt bad, sometimes, for wrecking the family. But he couldn't do the husband thing anymore. Waking up every day to the same exhausting woman... Kayla had nothing to do with it. He just couldn't take it.
He'd have stayed, though, if leaving meant losing his kids. If Cecily would take Tyler and Rachel away otherwise, he'd have stayed. He didn't love Cecily and didn't know if he ever had, but he loved his kids so goddamn much he didn't know what he'd be without them.
The divorce didn't change that. Kayla didn't change that.
He hoped they knew that.
Main Story: In The Heart
Flavors, Toppings, Extras: Sarsparilla flavor binge, pocky chain, hot fudge (at least three segments), caramel (two segments), rainbow sprinkles (most of the segments).
Word Count: 1200
Rating: PG-13 for swearing and some rage-inducing things.
Summary: Fathers and children.
Notes: For Father's Day, and a distant second in my race with Kelly. I changed this halfway through from present to past tense, so if you catch a slip please let me know. Also, Gary is reading the St. Crispin's Day speech, should you be interested.
1. ten-gallon hat
"I want to wear my cowboy hat!" Elena complained, holding the hat in question tightly against her chest.
"And I want to wear my crown!" Vivian added.
"Well, you can't," Felicity told them, from the lofty heights of twelve. "You have to dress well. It's a photo op. We have to make Daddy look good."
"You can wear the hat, Ellie," Daddy said, from behind her. "And Viv, go get your crown." Ellie and Viv squeaked with joy, and ran off.
"Daddy," Felicity began.
"Liss," he interrupted gently, "you girls always make me look good. No matter what you're wearing."
2. cowboy boots
David Foster was a father.
He was a husband, too, and a son, a Christian and a pastor and, he hoped, a good man. But most of all he was a father, to two beautiful girls and one strong son. Amanda and Jacob and Lauren, the greatest blessings (besides Sarah, and his faith) that God had ever given him.
He remembered the enormous shoes his own father had left when he'd died. David hoped he'd filled them well. He hoped his own shoes weren't as big.
He hoped his children had a long time before they had to fill them.
3. spurs
"Dad, I'm bored," Ethan whined.
Gary, who was knee-deep in Richard II, didn't look up. "Read a book," he said. "God knows there's enough of them in the house."
Ethan rolled his eyes. "Books are boring."
Ethan was into shoot-em-ups recently... Gary reached out and plucked Henry V from the bookshelf. He opened it to the right page and began. "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers..."
It was one of Shakespeare's more overdone speeches, but Ethan was wide-eyed by the end. "Cool," he breathed.
"Still think books are boring?" Gary asked, dropping Henry V into his hands.
4. gunslinger / gunfight
"Aargh, you got me!" Nathan staggered around in a circle and then "died" so dramatically that his children burst into uncontrollable giggles.
"We win!" Ivy cheered. Aaron, beside her, cheered just as loud, for all he was sixteen and supposed to be above all this.
"Winners get ice cream!" Ivy added, imperiously.
Nathan propped himself up on his elbows. "Users," he declared. "My children only love me for my ice cream."
"You're dead, Daddy," Ivy reminded him. "We're going to pillage your corpse."
"Fine," he said, and lay back down. "No more than five dollars each."
"Okay," they said, together.
5. tumbleweeds
Some days Frank couldn't remember why he had children.
The boys were entertaining enough when he was in the mood to roughhouse, and Amelia was good about keeping them out of his way when he wasn't. And yes, he supposed someone in his position ought to have some family pictures on his desk at work-- damned if he'd use the failed family. Amelia was photogenic and the boys cleaned up well, so that was fine.
But they were expensive, and noisy, and complicated his life. He loved them, he did, but... well, sometimes he wondered if they were worth it.
6. stagecoach
Gail didn't know it, but he had a bus out of town on Sunday. He had to act like everything was normal if he wanted to get away without her screaming at him, the fucking bitch. Fuck her, anyway. See how she and her precious brat got along without him.
Badly, probably, but Brad didn't care. He was done playing house. He was over coddling the brat. He was finished with Gail's pitying looks. Stupid bitch, thinking getting knocked up would tie him down.
He was stupid, for falling for it.
Oh, well. He was doing the right thing now.
7. sheriff
"Papi!" Thomas announced, clinging to his pant leg and beaming.
"Thomas!" Felipe leaned down, picked up his son and swung him in the air to Thomas's shrieking laughter. "Have you been good today?"
"Uh-huh!" Thomas grinned again. "Mommy and me made fractals. And Daddy and me played cops and robbers."
Right, because it was Zack's day off, the jerk. Felipe reflected that his son was probably the only five-year-old in DC who knew what a fractal is. "Were you the cop or the robber?"
"The cop," Thomas said, giving him a 'duh' look.
"Good," Felipe said, and patted his back.
8. saloon
"Gina," Robert said, in his coldest tones. "Where do you think you're going dressed like that?"
Gina paused in the hallway, smoothed down her red dress, and blinked at him. "To a party."
"No, you aren't. Do you know what the boys will think when they see you dressed like that?"
Gina laughed. "Don't worry, Dad," she said. "There won't be any boys. Just girls, and they won't hit on me."
"Oh," he said, taken aback. "Well. All right." He settled back in his chair, and tried not to think about the look on her face when she'd said that.
9. mustang
Olivia laughed aloud, heels drumming against his ribs. "Faster, Daddy, faster! Giddyup!"
Hugh neighed obligingly and shifted his pace from a walk to a 'trot,' jouncing his daughter gently, more for his back's sake than her own. She wasn't a small child by any means, and she was getting heavy. Soon he'd have to stop these games.
Which was why he was giving her a ride any time she asked. Maybe he could get her a hobbyhorse, to ease the sting.
Or a real horse...
Olivia screamed "Faster" again: he put the thought away for the moment, and sped up.
10. cattle ranch
Seven children. What possessed them, to think that seven children would be a good idea?
Well, all right, it was supposed to be six; Elliot and Elisa had disobliged their parents by being twins. And it wasn't that individually they were bad. Henrik adored his children individually. It was just that all together...
"Elliot! Elisa!" he roared. "Stop fighting! Chrissy, get Anna, please, and find Lars. Theodore, what do you think you're doing? Mortimer Warmind, you get downstairs this minute!"
Some days he felt like he was nailing jello to the wall just trying to get them out the door.
11. rodeo
Aaron never understood the concept of child leashes. They'd always looked like a shortcut for people who either couldn't or wouldn't bother to pay attention to their children.
That was, of course, before he became the father of twins. Very active, very fast twins.
Billy at least stayed on his leash without protests. Molly had sat down and screamed like she was being boiled alive the first couple times he tried it. She seemed resigned to it now, though...
"Daddy." Billy tugged on his sleeve. "Daddy, Molly's gone."
What?
...she'd figured out how to undo her leash.
God help him.
12. home on the range
Chris felt bad, sometimes, for wrecking the family. But he couldn't do the husband thing anymore. Waking up every day to the same exhausting woman... Kayla had nothing to do with it. He just couldn't take it.
He'd have stayed, though, if leaving meant losing his kids. If Cecily would take Tyler and Rachel away otherwise, he'd have stayed. He didn't love Cecily and didn't know if he ever had, but he loved his kids so goddamn much he didn't know what he'd be without them.
The divorce didn't change that. Kayla didn't change that.
He hoped they knew that.