I've been watching, for a while. Leaning in the doorway with my arms crossed, just thinking about all the things that seem like home to me. It wasn't something I ever thought about before. Or little house in Hutchinson. Preston's car. The playground. All those places were mine, but the feeling of having a home didn't really come 'til later. I never settled there, never stopped waitin' 'til the day I could finally leave all of it behind.
Now, I have, for the most part.
It's been weeks, I figured I'd give her space, let them work things out, but it feels like a part of my home's been missing. Guess maybe I wasn't expecting that.
When she turns, I smile, faint and hesitant, hanging onto that stupid hope that everything, eventually, will be okay.
Apparently, all of Flo's chattering had been aimed at telling Eostre that Uncle Neil had arrived. Flo hauled herself to her feet and toddled in his direction, and, for a moment, Eostre just looked at him.
"Come in then," she said. "You're making the place look untidy."
"You hear that?" I say to Flo with an arched brow, crouching down a little bit and reaching a hand out for her to take, once she's close enough. Still a little wobbly on her feet, but getting pretty damn good.
"Makin' messes wherever I go, huh?" Guess that's about right.
It's become his habit, over months and years (years) to stand and look at her for a short time before he inserts himself into whatever she's doing. Some of it is that after two years he still can't quite believe it. A lot of it is that he just likes to watch her when he's not really there, the way she moves, the turn of her hips and the flow of her hair. He sees it differently when his hands aren't buried in it, cool strands between his fingers.
When he can't stand apart anymore he moves up behind her and settles his hands on her slender waist, leaning down to brush a kiss to her cheekbone.
She'd known that he was there for a few minutes, not least because the girls had started with their 'dadadadadada's. When he came up behind her, she smiled, leaning back against him a little.
She may not have figured out where she fit in yet, but it felt good to have him around again.
"For the love of everything blessed would you pick one of them up before they explode?"
He laughs and steps back again, reaching down to scoop Flo up into his arms. She's the louder one, already reaching up to him and bouncing up and down. He settles her against his chest and kisses her forehead. "Hey, honey."
He leans back against the counter and grins. "Never get used to someone being so happy to see me. It's like having a dog."
Delirium held out some ginger, hiding behind her hair awkwardly. Telling Asher had gone about as well as expected. At least he hadn't thrown anything at her but she still didn't know what to do. She needed her family. No one else knew what it was like to suddenly be expecting something small and fragile and human.
"cAN yOU makE SOmE usinG THis?" Delirium asked quietly.
"I would imagine so, pet," said Eostre, taking the ginger from her and holding it up to her nose, inhaling it deeply. It made her sneeze and she wiped her nose with her finger.
"I was so sick of this when I was expecting the twins. It was all that'd settle my bloody stomach."
"i knoW, it'S ALL THat wiLL SETTLe minE." Delirium said, sitting down tiredly. Luckily she didn't have vomit caked into her hair today or vomit down her clothes, though her stomach still made heaved and trembled inside her. She didn't like this, it wasn't fun and she didn't know why humans thought it was so fun and happy and delightful to be pregnant because it wasn't.
"Dexter," Tom shouted down the hallway, skidding barefoot down the slick floors, muddied hiking boots in one hand, two jungle fowl in the other, and twenty steps behind an equally muddied terrier that had just dashed down the hallway, leaving streaked and spattered pawprints behind him.
"Oh, for godsake, get back here, you're filthy -" he groaned, following him around the corner into the kitchen, blindly tossing the fowl onto a counter. Inside, the girls had already happily shrieked their recognition at the dog, dutifully petting his mud caked back and neck.
"'exter!" one of them said, already streaked with dirt across the forehead. She looked up at Tom with huge blue eyes and laughed. "Dirty!"
"Yes," Tom said wearily, dropping down and dragging the dog away from them. "He sure is, sweetheart. Eostre, I'm sorry, he just got away from me..."
"Just as long as you realise that you're going to be the one giving them a bath this evening," said Eostre, expertly folding sugar on the stove, glancing back over her shoulder at him.
Dexter barked in her direction and she gave him a little courtly nod.
"I was just gonna hose them down with Dexter in a bit..." he said, grabbing a washcloth off the counter and getting the worst of the mess off Dexter and the girls. He sat down cross-legged against the cabinets beside Eostre's knees, dog and toddlers making needy noises and squabbling into his lap.
"Probably staying out of trouble like a good dog," Tom said severely, giving Dexter a hard look. Sighing, he hoisted Mack onto his lap, tickling Flo's belly until she shrieked with laughter. He laughed to himself, quietly amazed. "God, they're more beautiful every day, aren't they?"
"They look more like Mike every day," she said, turning her attention back to the sugar in the pan. "And they get a little bit more mouthy every day. Lords help me when they actually start talking."
Bill smiled at the familiar sight of Eostre in the kitchen, making her famous sweets. He made sure his knives were secure and unable to be pulled out by tiny hands before going to the Lady of the Dawn and pressing a kiss to her temple.
"Hello, love," he said warmly, then bent and swept Flo high into the air (which was really quite high, given his height), eliciting a squeal of pleasure.
"I'll take that under advisement," Bill replied with a chuckle. He lowered Flo carefully back to Earth, then did the same lifting motion with Mack. After all, it wasn't fair to have done to one but not the other.
"What flavours are you making today?" he asked, as he scooped Flo back up so he had one girl in each arm.
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Now, I have, for the most part.
It's been weeks, I figured I'd give her space, let them work things out, but it feels like a part of my home's been missing. Guess maybe I wasn't expecting that.
When she turns, I smile, faint and hesitant, hanging onto that stupid hope that everything, eventually, will be okay.
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"Come in then," she said. "You're making the place look untidy."
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"Makin' messes wherever I go, huh?" Guess that's about right.
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She'd told Mike that she was tired of it all, tired of being lonely, tired of being angry, tired of missing. Sh smiled at Neil when he walked in.
"We're making sweets," she said. "Well. I'm making sweets. I'm pretty sure that the twins are just making a mess."
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When he can't stand apart anymore he moves up behind her and settles his hands on her slender waist, leaning down to brush a kiss to her cheekbone.
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She may not have figured out where she fit in yet, but it felt good to have him around again.
"For the love of everything blessed would you pick one of them up before they explode?"
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He leans back against the counter and grins. "Never get used to someone being so happy to see me. It's like having a dog."
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"Did you just compare my beloved children to a dog?" she said, one eyebrow firmly raised. "And, anyway. We have two dogs and you hate them both."
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"cAN yOU makE SOmE usinG THis?" Delirium asked quietly.
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"I was so sick of this when I was expecting the twins. It was all that'd settle my bloody stomach."
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"How long have you known, pet?"
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"Oh, for godsake, get back here, you're filthy -" he groaned, following him around the corner into the kitchen, blindly tossing the fowl onto a counter. Inside, the girls had already happily shrieked their recognition at the dog, dutifully petting his mud caked back and neck.
"'exter!" one of them said, already streaked with dirt across the forehead. She looked up at Tom with huge blue eyes and laughed. "Dirty!"
"Yes," Tom said wearily, dropping down and dragging the dog away from them. "He sure is, sweetheart. Eostre, I'm sorry, he just got away from me..."
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Dexter barked in her direction and she gave him a little courtly nod.
"Hello, dog. Where's Walt?"
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"Probably staying out of trouble like a good dog," Tom said severely, giving Dexter a hard look. Sighing, he hoisted Mack onto his lap, tickling Flo's belly until she shrieked with laughter. He laughed to himself, quietly amazed. "God, they're more beautiful every day, aren't they?"
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"Hello, love," he said warmly, then bent and swept Flo high into the air (which was really quite high, given his height), eliciting a squeal of pleasure.
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"When they won't eat dinner because they're vomiting with excitement, I'm leaving it at your door, Bill Weasley."
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"What flavours are you making today?" he asked, as he scooped Flo back up so he had one girl in each arm.
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She smiled up at him, brushing a strand of sweaty chair back from her cheek with the back of her hand.
"All the usual suspects."
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