Bring You Home

November 1st, 2005 2021

Most parents crabbed about those sleepless nights in the first couple of months. Winced admissions to others who’d gone through it, grumblings of crawling from bed five times a night, the ear piercing screams, the uh-oh pat on the tooshie checks when that squirm and mini-grunt came, necessitating not just a change of baby but a wardrobe change for the parent when it was a real uh-oh. Theo would’ve had it a thousand times tougher and still not crabbed. He’d nearly not been able to help with this.

How would it’ve been hovering there while Freyja shuffled in to the baby, grief and sleeplessness nights pooling shadows beneath those fierce green eyes? Unable to sweep his wailing daughter up out of her crib, to nestle with her sucking sleepily at the bottle, his hand patting lightly at her small back as it did as he now watched her momma staggered out of their room.

They’d both seen the future bleak, him forever trapped on the other side of an invisible wall, Freyja here raising their daughter alone – and it would have been in a way, despite all the people in their lives who would’ve gathered around. A scant handful of sleep and a new found tolerance of body fluids in comparison to all of that was worth it. A life, with the woman he loved and their daughter, so much more on the horizon, promise now there to grab in both hands. So much more than he thought he’d ever have. It left Theo grinning at Freyja’s single minded dive for the coffee he held out to her. This was all he’d wanted and now he had it, caffeine-deprived grouching and all.

Theo clucked his tongue lightly, glancing down into those heavy lidded hazel eyes that were just like his. He ducked his head slightly, whispering straight into the baby’s ear as he wrapped his hand carefully around his own single cup now. ”I don’t think she believes me. Such a doubter,” he chided lightly. His lips were curled against hers though. ”Hey, her daddy’s got great taste. It got him this little future opera singer after all.” Dipping slightly, he offered her up her momma. Two fingers peeled off of the cup he tugged lightly at a lock of mussed blonde hair before he smoothed it down with his knuckles. ”That just proves how deep my love is, and – I think – I’m getting pretty immune to all the mess. She’s gonna grow up of the nuclear waste stage eventually right?” Humming lightly, he squinted at his daughter. Stages to it all, none to be missed even if mommy and daddy weren’t exactly your textbook parents.

Normal was overrated – even if he continued to want a taste of it.

Making a light buzzing sound with his mouth like a jet engine, Theo swept Hazel down into the stroller. Practised by now he got her all strapped in, kicking feet covered by the drape of a blanket, a kiss pressed to a fuzzy head as those near invisible brows and that little mouth puckered like a protest was about to be thrown out. ”I think I’ve got enough for both of us,” he promised. Backing up, he’d opened the door, guzzled coffee on the way down to the street.

He didn’t think twice about throwing a right as they left the apartment building, or about any turn after. Just random choice, no plan here to see at all. The corners of Theo’s mouth curved as he watched Freyja suddenly bloom like a flower put out into the light. Head stretching back, smile growing, mama glowing. ”We better keep her in the light, we don’t want her growing up like her Uncle Nixon, all pale and wormy, yuck.” Theo pretended to shudder as he eased in close to Freyja’s side, his arm eased around her shoulders as she came back up from charming their daughter. ”The only squishing she’s getting is with all those smooshing hugs, you’re too adorable otherwise kiddo.” Just like her momma and in the weeks since Hazel had been born he’d been glad to be holed up with the two of them. Precious time given to settle into his miracle with the two of them without work pulling at him.

A tilt of his head indicated the next turn, a guiding hand on the handle of the stroller. They were heading towards the edges of town, stretches of green growing between the houses, bigger lots, scattered signs of kids in abandoned bikes and jungle gyms peeking out around the fringes of yards. ”I’ve been thinking about that,” Theo said lightly, guilelessness filling hazel eyes. ”How adorable she is … how I’d do this a half dozen times over. About how incredible she is.” He slipped his hand into his pocket, closed them around the bunch of keys in his pockets. ”The apartments would be a little too small for that, right? Like you’d end up the old woman in the shoe?” They’d end up the old couple in the shoe, kids stacked high because he wanted this with her so bad – kids stacked, thousands of mornings watching Freyja staggering out of the bedroom, ready to slaughter with that razor tongue and those eyes. His love.

He tugged at the handle of the stroller, turning it with a bump of the heel of his hand onto the path leading up to one of those houses. Low, ranch style, sprawling back from the road with that spread of garden around it and a swing already visible at the side of the house.

Tagged: FREYJA DAMASCA * Word Count: 932

November 1st, 2005 2021

Nixon had been locked in a cold war with him ever since they’d been graduate students. Locking horns with every chance for reward or progression, blue eyes narrowing behind the milk bottle lenses of his glasses, mouth pinching thin. Suspicion rolled off of the guy thick enough for them to have made him King of the Tin Foil brigade but the moment he’d gotten back and Freyja had waddled into the office with him, both of them moving as though they were fragile enough to shatter the look he’d fixed them with had changed. Frank had told him about the interrogations while he was gone, hoarse laughter tinged with hysteria rolling out that night they’d sat in the living room to tear down the lies that had hidden this other world from him for so long. Nixon had tried to get to the bottom of things but as he had in every other way somehow Theo had continued to thwart him.

Undoubtedly there was still suspicion roiling in the man’s gut when he brought in some sort creepy ‘traditional to his family’ toy for Hazel – ’you really didn’t have to get her … is that a doll?’ – but it’d settled to the point where the cold war had gone stale and Nixon had actually come for dinner twice. Hazel, the glorious little stinker she was, throwing up on him the second time. Theo shrugged, rolling his eyes as he did. ”Creepy uncle Nixon, who we never leave her on her own with,” he adjusted. Making a low sound of agreement at the observation, Theo smacked a kiss against her temple. He kept his lips there a moment as he walked, footing sure enough he wasn’t about to drive them straight into the side of a car. ”She’s got your nose, your ears, your voice. She’s gonna be just fine taking after her mama that way too.” A reassurance he felt he needed to hear daily, or at least repeat to himself like a mantra.

Life wasn’t about to be lived in the fear of what lay outside the little bubble they’d carefully rebuilt since Cory had brought him back. They would shield Hazel – with copious amounts of sunblock and the abilities of two parents who had seen what the world could do if you had inherited things stranger than hazel eyes or dimples – but they wouldn’t let their kid live in the sort of fear the two of them had while he’d been gone.

Don’t let life pass you by, not when tomorrow wasn’t ever guaranteed. Don’t avoid grabbing those chances that came your way. Tell the people you loved that you did often, take those moments with your fiancée and daughter. If some part of you felt a little breathless while you were doing these things – all the better.

Theo felt it now as he settled his hand on the stroller, that tingle rising up from his feet to settle in his chest as he started to explain. The lead in tumbled out slower than they were walking, timed with the block they still had to go. He laughed, those nerves growing teeth sharp as Freyja’s as she bent down for a nibble. Theo clucked his tongue, flicked a finger from the handle of the stroller to snare Freyja’s. She listened for a moment, green eyes lifting to his, filled with that warmth and love that’d shone through even that wall that had been between them like rays of the sun. He could bask in it for an eternity, smiled at it now as he felt like it like sun on his skin. ”How we’d do it a half dozen times over,” he adjusted with a drawl. There was a hitch to his smile, a wince at what he knew had gone on down there to bring their daughter into the world. ”We’re waiting til I get you down the aisle huh?” Theo clucked his tongue like they’d been stymied but it was all laid out in front of him, each step just willing to be taken together.

The first down the path to the house was his, the protest instantly going up from Freyja. Theo pursed his lips, brows hitching as he nudged the stroller and Freyja a little harder, fighting the tide of her trying to put on the breaks. ”Now you’re worried about a little jail time?” he asked. He laughed, tipping his head out towards the woods where Frank’s house lay now that much further away. ”Six to nine months for B and E might not be so bad. We’ll get some sleep at least and I’m pretty sure Frank couldn’t screw her up too bad before we get let out on good behaviour. Anyway, she’s good cover, aren’t ya kiddo?” He craned forward, looking down at the dozy little bundle all nestled in the stroller.

He finally stopped at the door, letting go of the stroller to step in front of it. Pulling the keys from his pocket, Theo made a show of picking through them slowly. He looked up, feigned confusion in his eyes for a moment before he plucked the key out. His smile went sharp, looking at her through his lashes. ”I’m pretty sure that having the keys means you can. Bring her inside in the stroller, I’m not sure how safe the neighbourhood is with all these thieves poking around.” The key slipped easy enough into the lock, the door swinging open to reveal the living room beyond. It was still set up like the family was living there but come tomorrow the family who’d sold up for something smaller with two of the kids flying the nest now would start packing up, carefully peeling away the layers of their lives here to make room for theirs. ”There’s some toys set up out back, four bedrooms and a home office that might do for another if they’re not willing to share. Kitchen’s through there …” Turning in the space, Theo felt those nerves spark in his stomach. Any minute now the wheels spinning away behind those sharp eyes would engage and she’d threaten to kill him at the very least.

Tagged: FREYJA DAMASCA * Word Count: 1030

November 1st, 2005 2021

It had been a risk, just the first in a long line he was planning on taking. Taking out a mortgage without a word to his fiancée, a financial weight that was gonna hang over his head like an anvil until he moved out of the apartment and put it on the market. Putting his aesthetic taste and practical mindedness on the line here. Theo had considered dragging Frank in on this just to have another set of eyes on it but Frank’s taste was … functional … at best. His place was neat, maybe to the nth degree, but it wasn’t exactly the kind of home you’d be raising half a dozen kids in. He’d wanted a home for them, some place they could fill with the life they’d almost had taken from them.

Nerves bit under the amusement as he finally picked the right key out, unlocking the door as Freyja seemed to dart another anxious glance around. Exhaustion had made him a little more reckless with this maybe but the minute he’d scrawled his signature across the dotted line in the real estate office something had clicked in his chest. Of course, he thought, with an inward wince, something – someone – could end up roasting the same spot if he’d misjudged all of this.

Theo stood out on the threshold as Freyja manoeuvred the stroller in, not risking waking Hazel up by scooping her out. A shrieking baby would put a sharp edge on his revelation rather than the silky glide he’d hoped it would be. His teeth sank into his lower lip as he stepped in after her, studying Freyja as she studied the place that would be theirs – if it didn’t end up straight back on the market because he’d gotten this so damn wrong. He’d gone through it a half dozen times before that final yes. It needed work, there were things they’d change to make it theirs but the bones were there and that had seemed like all that would matter really.

Holding his breath, anticipating a whack to the back of his head – gentle enough that it wouldn’t wake the baby – Theo eased past the two women in his life to lead the way into the kitchen. This was where some work had already been done but he’d jiggle it, making it Freyja proof at least. ”Ow!” Theo let his mouth hang open as he turned on that near silent yelp. He pouted, somehow managing to keep the expression up as he pretended to clutch at his arm. His brows hitched at the snapped curse, hazel eyes cutting pointedly to their namesake. ”I was gonna argue but …. I’ll take it …” he said dryly, tipping his head back and forth like he was considering it. ”Lucky you love me and you’re halfway there on liking the house too.” A risky observation but Theo knew how that flash of temper was going to progress. Was almost sure of it.

He strolled close behind her, hands finding his pockets. She was getting there on the house, touching those bones, already putting together the meat she planned to put on them. Theo hummed lightly, nerves easing. ”With everything else happening I thought maybe I could shoulder a little something for us, find us a place that would be ours.” Shifting back and forth between the apartments as needed, trying to squeeze a baby into two spaces that had been great for singletons but they weren’t going back to that, not now. Pursing his lips at the unfamiliar name, Theo nodded. ”Correll plates, absolutely. I’m sure Frank’ll take anything we want to leave behind. He’s probably still eating off of metal trays and drinking out of canteens.” Bullshit, Frank had settled in his own way here but they’d find a home for it all as they dovetailed their lives together entirely.

Bingo.

Grinning like he knew he’d done right, Theo eased in, leaning down on the counter opposite so he was face to face with her from just a few inches away. He winged a brow, casting another glance at their sweetly sleeping future opera singer. ”How many are we planning on having? I figured we could probably double a couple up. Do twins run in your family anywhere?” That was all on Freyja, identical twins not an inherited thing and his part in the proceedings not affecting how many eggs popped at one time – all those years of studying biology made that bit clear at least. ”There’s a pretty big attic up top and room out back. We could keep tacking rooms on, turn it into a real Weasley type thing.” He hadn’t been entirely immune to the lure of the Harry Potter stuff as a kid, there’d been as much mania for it on base as there had been anywhere else. ”You like it.” No question there, just a certainty that Theo turned into a smiling kiss. He’d done right, even if there was still likely a little punishment to come for it.

Tagged: FREYJA DAMASCA * Word Count: 839