WHO: Tobias Parker, with brief cameos of Emi and Hana Parker WHEN: Evening of July 29 WHERE: His home SUMMARY: Tobias has the girls for the night and he and Hana make significant progress. WARNINGS: Just feelings
When Tobias had officially made the move to Dunhaven and into his new house, the first thing he had done was order furniture for the bedrooms that would eventually be his, Emi's, and Hana's. While he would have preferred to have built the bedframes and dressers himself, he was unwilling to wait the amount of time it would have taken for those particular projects to be completed for the girls to be able to stay at the house. It was difficult enough knowing that they would be spending most of their lives sleeping in the house that used to be his, only a couple miles across town. He didn't want to create any additional reasons for them to be away from him, not if he couldn't help it.
But even after he'd first arrived back in town, it had taken a while before Tobias felt comfortable broaching the topic of an overnight visit with Rei. They were his daughters and he knew that his ex-wife would never keep the girls from him, but he also knew that their situation was unique. While Emi was older and could recognize her father for who he was, he had been largely unpresent from Hana's life. Though he had understood his younger daughter's trepidation when he stepped back into her life and her need for time and familiarity to grow before she would be just as excited to see him show up in the park or at their home, Tobias couldn't pretend that it didn't make his heart ache. He loved his daughters more than life itself and it had been his choices that had left him a stranger.
Tobias had been patient, though. His currently being unemployed meant that he could dedicate much of his free time to his daughters. It wasn't that unlike when he would have been on leave, except this time he had no intention to go back to Virginia Beach, except for a visit or vacation.
The first attempt of an overnight had been a disaster. Hana had been inconsolable as soon as bedtime came and she realized Rei wasn't coming to get her. Tobias, unable to stomach seeing her so upset, had packed the girls up into the car and taken them home. It was disappointing, but not unexpected.
The second attempt had been better. There had been a few crocodile tears from his youngest, but when he lifted her into his arms and bounced her around, she eventually calmed and fell asleep. Come morning, it was like she hadn't even remembered being upset the night before.
This time, a couple attempts later, there had been no tears at all. Emi and Hana had fallen asleep on the couch watching Moana and though Hana had woken briefly when Tobias had lifted her to take her to her bedroom, she had simply rolled over, held her teddy bear a bit closer, and drifted back to sleep. The sight had warmed Tobias from the inside out. When Emi woke as well a few minutes later as Tobias placed her into her own bed, wishing her father a good night with a quiet, "Love you, Daddy," he could have burst.
It was only about an hour later before Tobias found himself retiring to bed, too. He'd cleaned up the kitchen before the night's macaroni and cheese could turn to cement on the dirty dishes, then trudged back up the stairs to his own bedroom where he planned on reading until he fell asleep; the girls had been a good distraction from everything else that was happening in his life thanks to another life entirely, but he needed to keep his mind active without them or he might sink into thinking about it all. Pausing to send Rei a text message with an update on the status of the girls, he changed into pajamas and crawled into bed, the lamp on the nightstand illuminating the room just enough for his reading plans.
Just as he was about to crack his book open, Tobias's attention was caught on his bedroom door. He had purposely left it ajar, in case he needed to hurry out to help one of the girls, and now it was slowly opening, revealing Hana, sleep on her face and her teddy bear clutched to her chest, standing in the threshold.
"Hana?" Tobias asked, immediately straightening up and concerned. "What's wrong, honey?"
Hana gave no response, instead padding across the room in her footie pajamas before starting to make the climb onto his bed. Tobias leaned forward, giving her the boost she needed to make it up and onto the tall bed, then watched as she crawled under the blankets and made herself comfortable right next to him. He wasn't sure what Rei's rules for bed-sharing were, but he also wasn't sure he could have followed any in that moment, even if he did.
Shifting on the bed, Tobias's book was forgotten as he looked down at his daughter. Smiling to himself, he asked, "Comfy?"
Nodding, Hana let out a soft sigh, her eyes obviously growing heavy as she struggled to keep them open. Her free arm extended, reaching until her hand landed on his arm. In a soft voice that was laced with sleep, she murmured, "Night night, Daddy."
It didn't escape Tobias in that moment, as he watched her lose her struggle with sleep and didn't bother fighting back his very happy tears, that it was the first time Hana had called him that.