WHO: Owen, Kevin, and Zef Dearborn WHAT: Chats about things WHEN: December 19/December 31 2017 WHERE: IKEA and the Dearborn home WARNINGS: Everything is fine!! Also this log was done by copy/pasting in the letter w so if there are any missed SORRY.
December 19, 2017
"Is mum going to be home for Christmas?" Kevin asked, turning around from his perch in the back of the shopping cart, standing in the bucket like Jack from Titanic about to declare himself King of the IKEA. Owen felt something flip uncomfortably in his stomach, and he couldn't blame it on the Swedish meatballs yet. The expression on his face probably could've been enough of a response, but Owen felt like he owed his son more of an answer than that.
He steered the buggy into one of the living room displays, then helped Kevin hop out of the trolley so that they could have a seat on the sofa together. "You miss her a whole bunch, don't you?" Owen asked, turning to face his son after glancing around the shop, figuring the place was busy enough (and full enough of muggles) that if they were going to talk in earnest about Zef, that this was the place to do it. No one was going to pay much attention to the father and son testing out IKEA sofas.
"She said we were going to see Coco," was Kevin's reply, which basically was a resounding "yes."
"But I took you to see Coco."
"Daaad I can see it twice. I gotta go with mum."
And that was fair, Owen supposed, his own not-really-repressed trauma with not getting to see movies with the "right" parent bubbling up in the back of his memory. At least Zef was still alive; they'd be able to watch it together someday.
Probably.
"I don't know, buddy. It might be really scary for her to come back with all the bad guys who live by us hanging around," he explained, trying to find a way to explain it to his son that would make sense. "You remember how mean Mr Travers was to me when you were building Bruce outside? He and his friends would be even meaner to your Mum."
"Is it because they're missogymnasts?" Kevin asked curiously.
Owen had been about to continue with his explanation when he stopped in his tracks, looking back at Kevin just as curiously. "Who did you pick that word up from?" he asked, trying to keep himself from laughing. (He didn't want to discourage his son from using it; his mother would be so proud.)
"Auntie Gwen when she was going off on one."
"Auntie Gwen is very smart. I'd say they're misogynists since they only like evil ladies like Bellatrix Lestrange and Ursula from The Little Mermaid, and also they're angry because your Mum's mum and dad aren't wizards. And if mum comes home on Christmas they might be really mean to her and put her in jail."
"But mum's not a bad guy."
"No, your mum is the best guy. And that's why she's doing a long holiday. Does that make sense?"
"She should come back and punch them."
Owen agreed, but. "Kev, we don't want to solve all our problems with punching people."
"You do. And Mr Stabler does and Cap does."
He wasn't wrong. "...But we try to talk things out first, yeah?"
"Yeah okay."
"Yeah okay," Owen replied teasingly, digging his fingers lightly into Kevin's side, turning his son into a giggly mess. "I'll see if we can maybe still talk to her on Christmas though, okay?"
"Yeah, okay," Kevin replied, then rolled off of the couch and ran back behind the shopping trolley before his dad could tickle him again.
******
December 31, 2017
Christmas had come and gone. After Owen's encounter with Rabastan in the lift at the Ministry, and the Death Eater's claims that he'd been fishing around inside of Owen's head, it hadn't felt safe. He'd explained the date change to Kevin as them celebrating Christmas on a different day where his mum was staying -- Kevin absolutely hadn't bought it, but it had been easy enough to distract him for the moment with the lifesize BB-8 robot that Santa had brought him.
A few badly translated English-to-Polish conversations with Zef's relatives later had the date switched to New Year's Eve. It meant only waiting a couple more days, and it meant that they could spend the turn of the new year together, sort of.
He'd managed to get the night off work, and had the laptop and the spare battery charged up and his phone activated as a wireless hotspot, just in case the power went out, and Facetime was ready to go just in case Skype was being dumb. He'd changed his clothes several times, trying to remember which shirt his wife liked the best that was actually clean. He washed his hair, then dried it, then messed it up to make it look like he'd only just gotten out of bed -- Peak Owen hair. He nearly put on cologne before realizing that was stupid -- she wouldn't be able to smell him through Skype.
Eleven forty-seven. Right on schedule, his laptop began to ping with the call coming in through Skype. Owen felt a little like he was going to cry and vomit at the same time, with butterflies fluttering around inside him that he hadn't felt since his wedding day. His hand was shaking as he clicked to answer the call.
And there she was, somehow looking more beautiful than she had the day they'd gotten married, even with the dark circles under her eyes. Owen didn't say anything at first, his voice hitching in his throat, his breath feeling like it had literally been taken away just by the sight of her.
Zef was the one to finally speak.
"Is the sound working?"
Owen exhaled a silent laugh as he nodded, relieved that she'd finally cut the tension, even if he would've been content to sit there in silence until they rang in 2018. "It is, yeah. Hey, Zef."
"Oh good. I wasn't sure how good the connection was going to be and it would've been creepy to just stare at you. Happy New Year, babe. Is Kev asleep?"
"Nah, he's watching Game of Thrones."
"He's watching what?"
"He's watching Attack of the Clones. Star Wars marathon," Owen grinned cheekily.
"That's really not any better," Zef laughed. "Bring me my son, you goof."
Owen nodded, then called, "Hey Kev, can you come here for a minute?" A moment later his son's feet came pattering through the house, his stuffed Porg in one arm and his blanket in the other.
"You're making me miss the love story, Dad," Kevin reported, his hands on his hips in defiance.
"I'm doing you a favour, bud. I've got a surprise for you," Owen replied, waving him over to the laptop.
"Okay, but this better not be grown-up porn," Kevin said.
"I am certainly not porn!" Zef retorted from the screen, still beyond Kevin's vision. Her son's jaw dropped, and he sped over to the computer, where his father helped him up onto his lap. "Hi, honey. Happy new year!"
"You still got..." Kevin began to reply, looking at the clock in the corner of the computer screen, then counting on his fingers, "seven minutes."
"It's been New Years here for fifty-three minutes. I do what I want," Zef laughed. "I'm in the future."
This was mind-blowing information to Kevin, who looked more excited about this than he'd been to see his mother. "Are you the new Doctor!!?? It's a lady now! But she has different hair"
"It's a secret," Zef replied, putting her finger up to her lips; Kevin immediately echoed the motion. "The lady on the show is just acting out all my adventures. Promise not to tell?"
"I promise!" He paused, then looked mildly concerned. "Can I tell Uncle Jermy?" Zef nodded, and Kevin let out an overdramatic sigh of relief as he wiped his brow. "Did you see my Porg?"
"Is that what your friend is?"
"Mum, get with it. Go see Star Wars."
They kept chatting until Kevin eventually started falling asleep on Owen's lap. "I think I can officially wish you Happy New Year now," Zef said, knowing they were a few hours past and into the early morning.
"It'd be happier if it was safe for you to come home," Owen replied, sliding Kevin off of his lap and onto the sofa next to him. "You have no idea how much we miss you, Zef."
"I have an idea. I don't know if I'm hearing everything coming out of there, but it doesn't sound good. Are you okay, O?" The silence before he answered lasted too long for Zefiryn's liking. "You're trying to think of a lie. Don't lie to me, Owen."
She was right; he was terrible at lying to her. A deep breath, and, "So. You've maybe missed a few things..."