RP: And Becca Makes Three Who: Hans, Becca, and Evie What: A very important official introduction... When: 16 April 2028 Where: Hans' flat Warnings: None Completion Status: Complete
This was entirely new territory for Hans. When Mary had died, he'd been certain that that was it for him. He would raise their daughter on his own and center his life around her and the things she would accomplish. He'd never anticipated that he would find love again, much less want to. But it turned out that his heart yearned for companionship beyond that of the multitude of family connections he had. It still baffled him in the best of ways that he'd managed to find another woman he could love wholeheartedly through a blind date. He appreciated Fiona's interference more than he could say.
And he loved Becca more than he'd thought possible.
That didn't mean it was easy to sort out when it was right and appropriate to introduce her to his daughter. Evie was young enough still, just having turned two in February, that he doubted she would fully understand who Becca was to him, but knowing whether they could have a positive relationship mattered a whole lot for where their relationship would go. They'd both been so transparent about their hopes and dreams, their life philosophies and priorities, and he felt more confident in a future with her than he'd ever felt for anyone before. Including Mary, though he'd not expressed that thought to Becca. It was important to him that she not feel he was comparing them constantly, even if he felt it was human nature to compare current and past experiences.
"Becca should be here any moment," he told Evie. The toddler smiled at him, an impish look slipping into her eyes moments before she darted over to the floo. She picked up a bit of ash and tossed it into the flames, shouting out his parents' floo name, though he thankfully got to her before she stepped into the flames. He scooped her up, mindless of her ashy hands, and settled her on his hip.
"Evie," he chided with a gentle firmness. "We can't block the floo when someone's going to be coming through. And you know you're not allowed to play in the fire. I'll ask Grandma if you can come through the floo for a visit soon, though, okay?"
Evie puffed out a sigh and pouted at him. "But I wanna go!" she declared, the words surprisingly clear.
"Another day. Today, Becca is coming here," he told her again. "Let's get your hands washed." He walked her into the kitchen, nudging a step stool in place in front of the sink before setting her on top of it. She still needed supervision, of course, but she seemed to have fun proving she could wash her hands all by herself. Becca spent so much time with little ones, and had never found herself nervous about that prospect, until today. She was sure she loved Hans, and that they had a future together, and she’d begun to believe that he felt the same (no matter how many times he told her or showed her, it had been hard for her to privately work through her insecurities), but she knew that any potential future could hinge on this meeting today.
She knew that she’d technically already met Evie, back in February, but that was different. Evie didn’t know who she was then, just a nice lady. Granted, at two, Evie probably still wouldn’t really know who she was, but it just... felt different.
She floo’d to his before she could talk herself out of it, though, dressed simply with her hair in a low ponytail, hoping she’d do this right, worrying that her whole future might depend on it. Evie was rinsing the soap from her hands when Hans heard the floo activate, and he grinned, leaning down toward his daughter's ear. "Becca's here!" he told her, his stomach flipping with a mix of nerves and excitement. Louder, he called out to Becca, "We're in here." His own hands were under the stream of water with Evie's, helping her to wash the suds away, and a moment later, he shut the faucet off, reaching down to grab the hand towel from the hook under the sink.
He let Evie dry her hands first, the toddler flinging the towel around as she did before she squatted down and very carefully hung the towel back on the hook. She hopped off the stool, nearly knocking him over with the motion, and Hans chuckled as he plucked the towel back up to dry his own hands.
Since Evie was already rushing toward their visitor, he tossed the towel onto the counter and went after her. The smile was wide and warm when he saw Becca standing in his living room, looking lovely as always. He wanted to go to her, to scoop her in a hug and greet her with a kiss, but he knew there had to be boundaries in front of Evie, especially in the beginning while his daughter was getting used to the woman he loved, and so he held back, reaching down to hold Evie's hand instead.
"Evie, this is Becca. I know you've met her before, when you were out shopping with Aunt Anabelle, but I wanted you to meet her again here," he told her simply, not dumbing down the language even though she was certain to miss the nuances of it all. How would she learn if he wasn't clear? "And Becca, this is my daughter, Evie. Becca hoped her nerves weren’t too obvious on her face, but she also knew better - Hans could read her so well. She bent down a bit - not to be condescending, but just like she did with all of her own kids every day - put out her hand to shake, and with a small smile said sincerely, “Hello Evie, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m Becca Ollerton.” She wasn’t sure if the girl would remember her - some of her kids were sponges for things like that, but some weren’t just yet - but she wanted to make a good impression either way. “How are you, today?” she asked, and then looked up at Hans and straightened up. “And how are you today?” She blushed lightly. She’d been fully open and honest with Hands from moment one, but she still found herself sometimes so shy around him.
Then again, she was still convinced he was the world’s most perfect man and couldn’t understand what he would see in her, so maybe the shyness was merited. Twisting her body around a bit, as if it was physically impossible for her to stand still in that moment, Evie reached her own hand out to shake Becca's. It was always funny when grown ups did that, because it felt like her whole body shook instead of just her hand. "Hi Becca!" she chirped, smiling widely at her. She looked familiar, but not necessarily from that day shopping. It might have been from the pictures on daddy's phone that she'd caught him looking through recently. "I wanted to floo but daddy said no," she said with a pout. The words were mostly clear, though there was a bit of slurring between some of them.
"It's been a good day. Better now," Hans answered. Unable to resist any longer, he leaned toward her and brushed a kiss against her cheek. Perfectly acceptable in front of the toddler at this stage, he rather thought. "And how are you?" he asked a bit cheekily, bringing the question around full circle. Becca giggled at the enthusiastic greeting and gave a shy smile to Hans. “Well, thank you for not flooing,” she said, facing Evie again, though now she stood straight, still smiling. “It would have made it hard for me to come through and meet you, and I was looking forward to it.”
When Hans spoke, she felt her face warm and her gaze turn loving, her day was already better, too, though it had been a good one thus far anyway. He kissed her cheek and she couldn’t help the way her body unconsciously leaned into him as he did, her head tilting lightly to reach his lips. “Doing well, got some extra work done this morning and the weather seems to finally be turning to spring. I love my sweaters but I can’t wait to put them away.” She looked down to Evie. “And what have you been up to today?” The toddler frowned at the thanks, scrunching up her face in thought. "But I wanted Mimi!" Evie declared, clearly not understanding why she couldn't floo to see her grandmother when they were expecting a visitor. Hans was perpetually astounded by how rapidly her vocabulary was expanding.
He couldn't help but think he wouldn't mind seeing her in lighter summer clothes. Was she the sort to wear those flowy dresses? Or was she a trousers and blouse sort of woman? While he wasn't obsessed with fashion by any means, he wanted to learn everything about this woman he'd fallen so deeply in love with. "We're quite excited for warmer weather too, aren't we Evie? You're enjoying the warmer days when we get to go to the park, right?" he asked, reaching down to tug on his daughter's hand lightly, and she giggled and nodded in response.
"Snuggled kitties today!" Evie told Becca excitedly. He'd had to go in for an hour or so this morning, though his manager was at the helm today, and he'd let Evie come along and play with the cats, something she enjoyed doing on occasion, though she tended to get bored if she was there too long or too often. Becca raised her eyebrows, “Who’s Mimi?” She asked the toddler, “Do you want to tell me about her?” Sometimes it could help a thwarted little one to talk about the thing they were thinking about, instead of simply shutting the idea down. Becca could privately admit that she used it as a distraction technique at work sometimes.
Smiling along with Evie’s giggle, she added, “That sounds like fun,” when Evie talked about the kitties. Becca assumed she meant they went down to the cat cafe. “Kitties are so soft!” Her voice mimicked the excitement in the little girl’s, a habit of hers.
“Had to work today then?” She looked up at Hans, slight concern skirting over her face, “I hope my visit isn’t getting in the way?” She didn’t mean in general, but that she was always happy to reschedule as needed, and he knew that about her. She could be as patient as needed when it came to Hans and his life, as much as she was all in - and knew he was, too - even if she sometimes had to battle her own insecurities to let her patience win out. She hadn’t discussed her insecurities or worries with him; they were ‘a her problem’ and he’d done absolutely nothing to stoke them or poke them, and so she couldn’t make them his problem, as much as she hated keeping anything at all from him, even after only a few months of dating. "Mimi is Mimi!" Evie said, not understanding what Becca was asking. Hans chuckled and quietly chimed in that Mimi was his mother, so Becca would know without his running over Evie answering her other question. "Mimi's the best! We bake cookies!" She did a lot more than baking with her grandmother, but clearly cookies were on the toddler's mind.
Evie nodded enthusiastically in agreement before darting away. Hans watched her head toward her bedroom with furrowed brows, though he assumed that his daughter was on a mission to get something she wanted to show Becca.
Hans shook his head at her questions. "Just for an hour or so to take care of some inventory paperwork," he assured her. He had to sign off on orders, and he'd forgotten to do it yesterday, so he'd wanted to make sure his manager was able to send the order in today. "Your visits could never get in the way," he assured her. And since Evie had left the room, he slipped an arm around her waist and ducked his head for a proper, if slightly reserved, kiss. The desire to get carried away was there, but he knew he had to be a parent first and didn't want to freak Evie out when she returned from her bedroom. Becca gave Evia a small, indulgent smile. That was exactly the sort of answer she usually got from her kids. “I bet she is!” She replied, and couldn’t help but grin at the mention of baking cookies.
When Evie ran off, she watched her go (somewhat out of habit) and when Hans pulled her close for a real kiss hello, she grinned into it and held herself back from naturally deepening the contact. Her hand did move to lightly lay on his chest, a soft touch that had become a habit of hers - as if they had always kissed hello like this, and always would.
“I’m glad I didn’t interrupt anything, then, though it does seem cookies with Mimi may be the goal of the day and I’d hate to get in the way of Nana time,” she said, as they parted. “And you’re wrong on that, though, I’m always happy to reschedule if things come up, you know that,” and she knew that Hans understood her also-chaotic job, too. They were so in sync that sometimes she wondered when the other shoe would drop. Okay, so maybe she nearly always wondered that, even if she hadn’t admitted to that out loud.
She had an idea then, though, “Should we bake cookies today?” She asked. She wasn’t sure if that was too... domestic for a first meeting, but it did seem something his daughter liked to do and wanted to do, though maybe she only wanted to do so with Mimi. Hans chuckled softly at that, shaking his head again. "You aren't getting in the way, I promise. We didn't plan on visiting my mum today. I just told Evie that you would be coming through the floo, and usually we use the floo to go to my parents' house, so she associates it with them." It concerned him a bit that Becca seemed so concerned about being an interruption. Did she think she was an inconvenience? He couldn't fathom that, not with how strongly he felt for her. He wanted her in his life, wanted to meld their lives, though he knew it was likely still a bit soon to propose considering she'd just met Evie.
"I mean it when I say you're not interrupting. I love you, and I want you here," he told her firmly, leaving no room for misinterpretation. He lifted a hand, stroking his knuckles gently over her cheek before ducking his head to brush his lips lightly over hers once more. "And I think Evie's going to love you too." His daughter had a curious nature and huge heart; he couldn't imagine her not loving Becca.
The idea was a fantastic one, and his smile grew at it. "I think we would love that. I'm pretty sure I've got all the staples in the pantry." And it would go a long way toward making Evie forget that she'd wanted to go to Mimi's today. She took him at his word, then, and gave him a slightly chastened smile. “And I want to be here,” she said, with a look that conveyed how much she meant it. She sighed into his quick, soft kiss and then smiled more fully, just relaxed and happy to be in his presence, even if those stupid insecurities of hers had reared their ugly heads for a moment.
“You do?” Becca’s eyes lit up at the thought that he believed that. She hoped it with all of her heart and soul, truly. “She’s a remarkable little girl - I knew that just from what you've told me of course but even meeting her in the street confirmed it fully for me.” She wasn’t just saying it to compliment him (and Evie), she believed it, and couldn’t wait to get to know her better.
“I’m probably a little rusty at baking, I’ll admit, so you may have to guide both me and Evie, if you don’t mind,” she said with a little bit of sass thrown in. "I do," Hans confirmed with a small nod. He didn't want Becca to ever doubt his confidence in her. She was a wonderful woman, kind and soft and generous, similar to his mum in some ways, and so of course Evie would love her. Besides, Evie was young enough still that she would likely be more receptive to bonding with a potential step-mum now rather than when she was older. It wasn't his motivation in starting to date again, but it was a thought in his head now that he knew that Becca was his future, that she was, without a doubt, the woman he wanted to build and share the rest of his life with.
He chuckled softly at that, but before he had a chance to respond, Evie came running back into the room, clutching a stuffed animal, the cat striped and fluffy. "Kitty!" she declared as she reached Becca, holding the stuffed animal out for her to see. "Stipy!" she said, having named the animal Stripy but having trouble pronouncing the 'r' in it. Becca grinned at Evie’s return, “OH! Stripy is so pretty!” She reached out, “May I pet Stripy?” and when Evie nodded, she gave the stuffie a proper head pat and introduced herself to him. “Thank you for letting me meet Stripy, is he your friend?” She would put money on a ‘yes’, but she definitely made a mental note that stuffies were something Evie liked.
She bent down and stage whispered conspiratorially, “I asked your Dad if we could make cookies. Do you want to?” Evie smiled proudly at the compliment, and she nodded at the question, her own little hand patting the stuffie's head after Becca did. "Yes! Stipy's my best friend!" she said, the last word not very distinguishable, but she did try.
The toddler cuddled the stuffed animal against her chest as Becca bent down again. Her eyes went big, and she bounced up and down in excitement. "YES! Daddy, can we?" she asked, barely able to contain herself and not even really trying to.
Laughing out right now, Hans nodded his head. "We can, indeed, lovebug," he told her. "Why don't you go put Stripy down for a nap and meet us in the kitchen?" he suggested. The toddler nodded with wide eyes, clearly agreeing that Stripy needed a nap. As she ran off again, Hans took Becca's hand, bringing it to his lips to brush a kiss over her knuckles before twining his fingers with her and leading her to the kitchen.
Hans went to the pantry first, pulling a binder out that was deceptively thin. Opening it to the table of contents, he tapped his wand against one of the entries, and the pages started flipping quickly until falling open to his mum's chocolate chip cookie recipe. He set the binder up on a stand. "All right, ladies, let's get the ingredients!" he declared when Evie returned. "Evie, will you get the sugar and chocolate chips? And Becca, will you get the refrigerated ingredients?" The ingredient list on the page was separated by dry pantry ingredients and cold refrigerated ingredients, so it would be easy for her to sort out which ones to get. Both his fridge and pantry were meticulously organized, and the pantry staples were almost all stored in airtight canisters that Evie would be unlikely to be able to open on her own for a few more years, at least. Becca’s heart soared - as it always did - when Hans kissed her knuckles. She couldn’t help it, everytime he did that she had a flash daydream of the future, of him kissing two rings absentmindedly, love shining in his eyes as he did so. She blushed lightly and gave him a smile as he guided her to the kitchen. It felt good knowing that so far, it seemed at least, she was doing well with Evie.
At least, Evie didn’t seem to hate her or hate the idea of her father having a friend. Even if friend was only the word they were using for the 2-year-old.
She knew he hadn’t dated, but she wondered for a moment about what adults Evie may know that aren’t family. Was she the only one? Besides teachers or babysitters?
Becca nodded, “We got this, right Evie?” She said with the attitude of a solider taking orders, and then raised her hand near Evie’s level for a high five. Evie gave her a curious look before slapping her hand to Becca’s and then squealing excitedly and heading to get her items. Becca looked through the perfectly arranged fridge and took out what was needed from her portion of the recipe. This might be going well... This might just be going perfectly... There was a part of Hans that hoped that she would always have moments when his attention caused her cheeks to flush so prettily. He wanted them to have the kind of love that still gave them butterflies 20, 40, even 80 years from now. And from how deep their conversations were early on to how much he still wanted to know more even though it felt as though they'd known one another forever, Hans was confident that this was a love that would do so.
He chuckled as his girls high fived each other, watching as Evie ran into the pantry, following after her only a moment later. Her comprehension levels and ability to follow multi-step instructions never failed to amaze him, he thought as she studied the canisters very carefully before correctly selecting the one with sugar. The toddler curled her arms around it, holding it against her chest before going back out to the island, only just seeming to realize that she couldn't reach the counter. She squatted down and set the canister on the floor, went to the sink and moved the step stool to the island counter. Picking up the canister again, Evie climbed up and carefully slid the canister onto the counter. And then she jumped off the step stool and ran back to the pantry for the chocolate chips.
In that time, Hans managed to collect the rest of the dry ingredients, letting his hand stroke over Becca's back as he passed her by. He could just imagine her here with them full time, the casual intimacy they would share, the brush of his lips against her temple rather than a discreet hand over her back. Would that interest her, he wondered. Would she want to move in here? The flat wasn't small, certainly, but it wasn't quite big enough for a growing family, either. But he supposed he was getting ahead of himself. All in good time.
Hans started pouring dry ingredients into a bowl, but Evie stopped him. "Daddy, wait!" she shouted, jumping off the step stool again and rushing back into the pantry. "Help, please!" she called out moments later, and Hans groaned, certain he knew precisely where his daughter's mind had gone. He followed her into the pantry and, sure enough, she was trying to get his apron, a gift from his own dad, down from the hook. Since her dad was there now, Evie turned her attention to the other apron hanging in the pantry on a much lower hook.
After securing both their aprons, Hans went back into the kitchen, his own cheeks a bit rosy. His apron was well-loved, with hints of stains that had mostly been removed magically, and a little bit of fraying at one corner of the lower hem. "We certainly couldn't bake without our aprons. I'm afraid we haven't got an extra one at the moment. We should fix that, shouldn't we, Evie? Don't you think Becca should have an apron, too?"
Evie's head bobbed, her little cheeks dimpling as she smiled. "Yes! Sparkles!" she said, pulling her own apron away from her chest, though it wasn't clear if she was showing Becca the sparkles or deciding that Becca's future apron ought to have sparkles like hers. Hans’ casual brushes never failed to make Becca feel warm and loved in the most private sort of way. She sent a small smile his way as they continued setting things up at the island counter.
When he came back in his apron, Becca couldn’t help the laugh that burst from her. Darth Baker! It was brilliant! Becca was grateful her father had made her watch those movies as she grew up, so she got the joke, even though it was a muggle one. And then her eyes grew big and she nodded and exclaimed happily, “Sparkles indeed! It’s lovely!” Hans’ suggestion that they get a third apron made her cheeks warm again and she could just picture it - her apron hanging next to his and Evie’s in the pantry, three together, ready for any time they wanted to gather in the kitchen and make memories over the scent of baking cookies. She could picture it all, right there in the idea of three aprons. Baking cookies was quite the success. Hans had enjoyed stepping back and letting Becca step in with guiding Evie through the process, giving them the opportunity to interact without him as a direct buffer. And when the time came to make dinner, Hans had enjoyed listening to Becca and Evie playing a game while he cooked. Although he didn't always insist on eating meals at the dining room table, sharing the meal there with his girls was a heartwarming experience. It was all too easy to imagine what their future would be like as a family, and there was no doubt in his mind that he wanted it.
After dinner, Evie begged for a movie, and thankfully her attention span was still short enough that her favorite movies were only about an hour long. After the movie, it was time for Evie's bath. Having clearly decided that Becca was not a stranger, the toddler had grabbed the woman's hand and dragged her to the bathroom with them, showing her all of her favorite bath toys while Hans ran the bath. And then the toddler stripped down and climbed into the water with no sense of self-consciousness.
Before long, Evie was in her pajamas, pushing Hans into the rocking chair next to her bed before picking a book. "You stay?" she said to Becca, reaching up to grab her hand and pull her over as well. "Daddy read!" She handed him the book before climbing onto his lap. Evie’s taking to her had Becca’s heart feeling far too big for her chest all night long. She delighted in every little thing and marveled at Evie’s ease with her. When she pulled Becca toward the rocking chair and then curled up on Hans’ lap, Becca stooped and sat casually on the floor just to the side. She smiled wide, listening to Hans read, as Evie nodded off in his arms. It was such a lovely, soft scene, and Becca couldn’t believe she got to see it. Such an intimate moment between father and daughter and somehow, she’d thought it impossible, her heart felt even more full than before.
After Hans stood to put Evie in her bed, the tyke snuggled into his arms, Becca stood and quietly made her way out of the room, not wanting to disturb the sleeping little girl. One of their mottos at work was “Never wake a sleeping toddler,” after all.
She waited for Han out of the room in the small hallway, hoping he would want her to stay a bit, feeling too wound up with love and amazement to imagine heading straight home by herself. Evie having successfully been put to bed, Hans backed out of her room and quietly closed the door. He turned, smiling at his girlfriend as he reached his hand out for hers. "Shall we?" he said, leading her back out to the living room. He sat on the couch before tugging her down to join him.
"I think today was a success," he said warmly, curling an arm around her shoulders and dipping his head to brush a kiss against her forehead. "Not that I worried, but it feels good to have the initial introductions out of the way." And it thrilled him that Evie seemed to enjoy Becca so much. He suspected she would adjust to Becca having a more prominent role in their lives quite well. Becca sighed into his soft, special forehead kiss and melted against him on the couch, feeling all the emotions and the anxiety and fear just sort of melt out of her now that Evie was safely asleep and the ‘meeting’ was over with. She really liked Evie, and had really enjoyed her time with her and in a way it had been like spending time with any 2-year-old; but Evie wasn’t any 2-year-old and she had known the future of her relationship with Hans may have hinged on this day.
“I’m glad you think so,” she said, looking up into his eyes to smile. “She’s everything I thought she’d be and more.” Hans gave her another light squeeze before relaxing his arm and letting his fingers glide up and down her upper arm absently. "She is rather extraordinary, if I do say so myself," he said, cheesing it up a bit. He was wildly proud of her, though, and didn't care to hide it.
"Gives me hope that when we do decide to move in together…" When, not if. "...she'll adjust without any big issues." It was absolutely an eventuality, in his mind, and he hoped it was in hers as well. Although he knew that they hadn't been dating quite long enough to move in together or for him to propose, it truly was only a matter of time for him. She was it for him. Giving him a cheeky grin, she shimmied a little in his arms and replied, playing around, “Well, I hear at her age it’s more than likely she has a pretty amazing dad...”
Her heart fluttered in her chest when he said when and her smile turned from playful to full of love and excitement. He wanted her to move in? Well, eventually, at least. And sure, she wasn’t entirely surprised by the idea, but still to hear him say it so surely, made her throat feel a little tight.
Unable to fully form sentences thanks to her jumble of thoughts, she instead leaned up to kiss him soundly, pretty sure he could feel her wildly beating heart just from touching her lips. The kiss wasn't a surprise. He knew that sometimes she became overwhelmed with emotion to the point she couldn't find words, and the physical affection spoke plenty. He kept the kiss light in case Evie got up, though his arm around her was firm, holding her close. Even without words, he felt affirmed that moving in together would be in their future.