Duncan Darling š» Luke Skywalker (rescueyou) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2020-02-06 07:44:00 |
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A year ago today, Dottie had walked to Duncan's old apartment at Pine Ridge with a dozen helium balloons tied to her waist. They'd just returned from an impromptu trip to Las Vegas together, where they'd met a cat from the internet- and then spent a few days lazing out by a resort pool andā¦ very platonically cuddling in a king bed. Though Duncan had nursed a little crush on Dottie for some time before that, he hadn't thought to make a move- and maybe he never would had, either. It was hard to say, in retrospect. But Dottie had taken that first step- along with copious amounts of airborne glitter- and they'd been together ever since. They'd been married for just over three months now, and though one-year-ago Duncan couldn't have predicted anything of what his life looked like now, he wouldn't change a single bit of it. He'd moved in with Dottie shortly before their (surprise) wedding at Halloween, and even though her sisters had (as planned) moved out shortly afterward, heā¦ Well, he liked to think, at least, that he somewhat made up for that loss. (Tessa and Abby were still in Dunhaven, of course, but Dottie had still been sad to see them go- especially Tessa, who she'd never lived apart from.) The adjustments were slow, but he was patient. She was worth it. As with so many of their chosen celebrations, they'd planned to make a pudding today. They kept their pantry well-stocked with the standard ingredients, and Duncan had picked up a few fresh lemons from the store the day before so they could try a recent-favorite lemon recipe. But they hadn't yet moved to the kitchen. Instead, they sat on the sofa, with Dottie's legs across Duncan's lap, and Maple standing atop Dottie's legs. The not-really-little-anymore kitten was chirping and bumping her head against Dottie's hands, even as she made biscuits with her front paws against Dottie's lap. -- She still counted that trek to Duncan's apartment and the ensuing confession one of the bravest things she had ever done. Dottie had put it all on the line before in other situationsā¦she had built a fashion empire with her sister from the ground up, after all. That had been different. With Duncan, it had been a deeply personal confession from the heart, and that had gotten them here. Just a year later, things had irrevocably changed. She had married Duncan, and they both now had her name. Maple had come into their lives, rounding out their gaggle of furry children. Her sisters had both moved out, which had been the hardest adjustment of all for Dottie. Life had shifted, and personal growth was happening all around her. And, perhaps within, too, seeing as she was entirely certain she was pregnant. The small pressures of Maple's paws against her lap as she purred and kneaded against her legs were welcome. All of the cats had been extra attentive to her over the last few weeks, and that had been one of her signs. Dottie smiled and scratched beneath Maple's chin, the kitten flopping soundly against her legs and onto her back, a rumble of a purr sounding, "She's such a love bug and I hope she never changes." -- Duncan couldn't help but laugh as Maple flopped over, seemingly with no fear of showing her stomach to them- a vulnerable position for any animal, and a signal of trust. (Her fur had also regrown well, from her spay surgery, leaving her delightfully fluffy all around.) He couldn't help but reach a hand forward and give Maple a few little tummy scritches, even as he also pressed a kiss to Dottie's temple. "I think we're lucky enough to know she never will. She's been all about us from day one." -- He wasn't wrong. Maple had loved them from the start. Even if she hadn't seemed to be familiar with people, she had been trusting and grateful from the moment Duncan had begun taking care of her. She was more consistently affectionate than either of their full grown cats, though Skye and Pudding each got their fair share of love and attention. "The last few nights that you've worked, the girls have been extra cuddly while I draw. I have to confess that there may be an entire set in the spring based entirely on the shades of pink that come from Skye's toe beans, Pudding's nose, and Maple's lipā¦" she grinned and gave half of a shrug. -- The name tag that Maple had worn that first day, asking Dottie if she'd marry Duncan, had since been moved to a charm bracelet of Dottie's. Now all three cats had matching custom collars and charms made by Dottie herself. "I can't see a single thing wrong with that," Duncan assured her, easily. "Those are three of my very favorite shades of pink, after all." And Duncan had no hyper-masculine aversion to the color. He'd worn a pink shirt to their wedding, after all. -- Duncan was covered in his own appreciation of artistic creativity, splashes of color permanently inked into his skin. Dottie herself didnāt have any tattoos. She considered that she might eventually get one, but she knew that if she never chose to do so, it wouldnāt lessen Duncanās love of her. Heād recently gotten a multi-colored cat tattooed onto himself that she had drawn, and she was still getting used to seeing her work on him. It warmed her heart every time. Maple finally did get up, giving a long stretch, and leapt off of Dottieās lap, presumably in search of a napping spot or maybe a snack, āIām looking forward to putting it into production, but Iām going to be very picky.ā Dottie gave a small stretch herself, and then grinned, āWe were going to make pudding, yes?ā -- āThere's nothing wrong with being picky,ā he added further reassurance, not that Dottie likely needed it. She had always been self-assured and confident, long before Duncan had come along. "I think so, yes. At least, I'd picked up some lemons from the store, so we could make that one we did last week that you really enjoyed? I think we might still have vanilla wafers, too." -- There was a small smile on her lips as she considered that delicate, tangy lemon pudding. Theyād crushed some vanilla wafers to go with it. It had been absolutely delightful, and...and just the thought of it was enough to sour Dottieās stomach. She couldnāt even pinpoint if it was the idea of the cream or the lemon itself, but her stomach suddenly rolled and she pushed the thought of it out of her mind, shaking her head. āOh, no. No...I canāt do the...I think itās the lemon?ā She had - in fact - eaten the majority of the recipe yield last week quite happily, but maybe that was now the problem. Sheād over-indulged and what had been good then now sounded...well, gross. -- His brow furrowed a bit in confusion, if only becauseā¦ Well, in the now one year that they'd been together, Duncan didn't think that Dottie had ever outright refused any sort of pudding. It wasā¦ kind of their thing. "Iā¦ alright. You do want to make pudding, though?" Yes, she'd just said as much a minute ago, but Duncan wanted to reconfirm. "We should have the general basics about. Vanilla, chocolate." -- It took Dottie all of a few seconds to decide, āYes. Vanilla. Maybe with a few butterscotch chips, if we have them.ā That sounded good. She could think of it without instantly wanting to run for the trash can. She didnāt know that sheād ever experienced quite the same kind of aversion to a food before...especially something she had liked last week. āMaybe you can find some other use for the lemons. Itās not the season for it, but lemonade?ā The thought of that also turned her stomach, and her brow quirked at her own sudden inner-workings, āItās definitely the lemon.ā -- "We should have some left. I don't think I bought any more after we made scotchies a few weeks ago, but we didn't use to the whole bag then." He could see her face turn even at the idea of lemonade, and Duncan shook his head. "I'll just bring the offensive citrus to work." Lemons were pretty standard fare among bartending accouterments, so they'd get used there, and they wouldn't otherwise offend his wife's sensibilities. -- Treats were a commonality in their house. Not just puddings, but a variety of desserts. While the kitchen sometimes didn't have enough ingredients to put together a proper dinner, there were almost always enough supplies for baking and sweets, "That sounds right." Dottie gave a small, apologetic smile and leaned in to brush a gentle kiss to his lips, "Sorry. I really did enjoy that recipe last week. I just wasn't as pregnant then." She patted his knee, as though that were a perfectly appropriate thing to mention off-hand. -- He was just distracted enough by that kiss- still enjoying the ease with which such affections and gestures occurred between them- that Dottie's words didn't quite reach Duncan's ears in the timely manner they ought to have done. "It's o-wait." The word was exhaled. "What?" -- Dottie was a whimsical sort of person, but she knew that this was a serious moment, no matter how casually she had approached it. It wasn't every day that you found out you were going to be a parent. Especially when that moment had not been planned, though they had one time agreed that they would be good parents, whenever the time came. "I'm pregnant," she repeated, a small smile easing her expression, "I mean, I haven't taken a test, but I'm entirely confident. The symptoms have all been adding up, though I don't think I'm very far along because I had a normal cycle in December. I've only been certain for a day or two, but I wanted to tell you today because it's our date-iversary." Dottie paused the length of a heartbeat, "Should I not have said it like that?" She was usually either all nonchalance or all grand gestures with little middle ground between, and sometimes it might have suited her to try to strike a balance between. -- She was pregnant. With a baby. Well, of course, obviously with a baby. That wasn't where kittens came from, they both knew that. "No, theā¦ saying it is fine," Duncan offered, though he still sounded (and felt) somewhat dazed. "I'm justā¦ processing." Another slow exhale, and, finally, a nod. "You're pregnant." Maybe he needed to say it aloud, too, just toā¦ solidify the fact in his mind. "With a baby. With- our baby." His eyes widened, then, and Duncan gave a little laugh. "Holy shit, our baby." -- He was allowed to take time to process. Dottie sat patiently as he seemed to work through whatever thoughts and emotions he was having. This wasn't really their plan. Not that they had a plan, per se. Kids had been on some distant horizon that they hadn't quite considered for the immediate future, but the moment Dottie had realized the truth, she had accepted it as whatever was meant to be. "Our baby," she agreed with a brighter smile, the claimed phrase making her chest feel a little tighter, "In my head I've been calling it kitten. I mean, obviously it's a human baby. But it was easier, if I said anything without thinking it through. It was familiar." She took an even breath, "I know you're still processing, but initially, howā¦do you feel about it?" -- "Weā¦ probably shouldn't call it- them- singular them- a kitten," Duncan offered, "if only because it would confuse our actual kittens. Not that I know what name we should use, now, either. I mean, we could call it a pancake or an apple, if that made any kind of more sense." Heā¦ wasn't entirely certain that it did, but his mind was still whirling. How did he feel? Duncan puffed out his cheeks with the next exhale, but a smile lingered on his features even as the breath left his lungs. "Overwhelmed. Confused. Happy? Terrified. All the things, I guess." -- "I like pancake," she said with a grin, "It doesn't have to make sense right now. It's just something other than baby or it. Not that anything is wrong with baby, anyway, but I just want some point of reference just for us." "Those are all valid feelings," she agreed after a moment, glad that he was smiling at least. She reached up, letting her fingers linger against his cheek, "You will be the best dad, Duncan. I know it's a lot...and we didn't really talk about it happening anytime soon. I'm not sure exactly what happened with my birth control, butā¦I'm surprisingly fine with it?" -- He leaned toward her touch, glad for and comforted by that extra little bit of contact. "You're going to be the- the most incredible mom, Dottie." That much, at least, was an easy fact to embrace. She was already the most unique and captivating person he'd ever met. Adding mom to that would only enhance things, in the end. "I'm not upset," he added, quickly, just in case any such worries might have started to form. "I mean, yeah, we were using birth control, but- well, I guess there was always going to be that risk that we're not in theā¦ 99% efficacy rate." He turned his head just to kiss her fingertips. "But we know how to make the best out of unexpected situations." -- She smiled even wider when he said she was going to be an incredible mother. She loved their cats, but this was going to be different. She had watched Abby as she walked the new path of motherhood, and while it would be different doing it herself, she thought she could handle it. Everyone had a different way of doing things, and they would make their own choices for themselves and their child, but it was a journey she was looking forward to. "At least we aren't in a bad situation. We have a house, and we're married. We don't have to worry about anything financially. The skills will come along with time. The whole last year has been unexpected and indescribably wonderful. I couldn't have imagined this for myself last year, but now - with you - I know we're going to be just fine." It was easy for her to take a logical approach, perhaps because she had so much of Luna in her, "There will be adjustments, but I'mā¦ready, I think. Well, we kind of have to be." -- Though Duncan's feelings about his own parents were complicated at best, the financial security that Riordan Kane had left both Duncan and his sisters wasā¦ probably the best thing that man had ever done. And being able to take that money and put it toward things that Riordan would have hated... well, that was its own sort of kismet, to Duncan. "We'll be ready. I mean, we've got the time to make sure we'll be ready, once Pancake gets here in," he tried to do the math in his head, "September? September." Leaning over, Duncan kissed Dottie again- slowly, but no less sweetly. "My life was always going to be a giant, unknown, sometimes unplanned adventure, but adding you to it was the best decision I ever made, Dottie." -- A little thrill went through Dottie when Duncan used that requested nickname for their still very small child. Maybe it even couldn't really be called that yet - Dottie was a believer in science - but that was why it was good to have something like Pancake. It was uncomplicated. It had fewer implications, "We'll do what we can to prepare and the rest we'll learn as we go. September sounds right. I imagine we'll get an official date at the doctor's office." She smiled a little into that kiss, happy that he finally knew and it seemed agreed upon that this was something they would happily do together. "I don't always see the point in making and stressing over plans when life is so unpredictable that it can all change in an instant and you have to readjust your whole view. My view got infinitely better with you. You are the person I want every crazy adventure with." -- "And it's only going to get even more unpredictable, from here on out." At least, if he knew anything at all about kids- and, admittedly, most of that experience had been gleaned out of being aā¦ well, not a parent, but at least an older-sometimes-responsible figure in his sisters' lives. He hadn't done a very good job of it with Morrighan, but he tried a bit harder, with Maeve. The topper on their wedding cake had been copper wire, bent and curved to read you are my greatest adventure. They had that same metal decoration hanging up in their home, and it was perhaps even more true now than it had ever been before. "You've got me," Duncan assured here, even if there hadn't really been any doubt. He wore a very colorful wedding band on his left hand, after all, and that meant everything to him. "For adventures big and small." |