InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "PIVOT "

Alicia Spinnet-Pucey (_alicia_) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2015-06-21 18:56:00

Entry tags:

character: adrian pucey, character: alicia spinnet

RP: Sort-Of-Father's Day
Who: Alicia and Adrian, Isla and Liam [NPC]
What: Father’s Day?
Where: Adrian’s flat
When: Saturday 20th June [Backdated]
Rating: SFW

Adrian was part of her life. Alicia knew that. She also knew that he was an important part of her life, that he was part of her children’s lives, and that he loved not just her, but Isla and Liam as well. That, of course, was good. No, it was better than good; it was amazing, but… They had never had that talk about his role. Was he a father figure to them? In a way, at least he was a male rolemodel, but even if he was ready to have the twins in his life, didn’t mean he was ready to have the label ‘dad’ or ‘father’ attached to him. After all, this was Adrian, the man who up until early last fall hadn’t dated.

Maybe she should have waited until next year, but as it was, Isla had gotten into a fight at school yesterday, and the talk she had had with her daughter afterwards had made her think that, no… this couldn’t wait until next year. So the three of them had done as they always had on this day; gone to Daniel’s grave to light a candle and let the children tell him everything they felt the need to share with him, before going to their grandfathers with cards, drawings and whichever present they had picked for them. Yes, the fathers in the Spinnet and Fawley households were celebrated today.

After a quick stop by Sweet Nothings, the three Fawleys made their way up the stairs, until Isla and Liam could knock on Adrian’s door.

(Post a new comment)

adipucey
2015-06-21 05:09 pm UTC (link)

To say Adrian had been surprised by Alicia asking if he'd like them to come over would be the understatement of his life. They'd been dating for months now, but he was pretty sure he was still basically "Uncle Adrian" to the twins and other than the talk with the kids about Mum dating Uncle Adrian, there hadn't been anything more. But this was Father's Day and Adrian had woken in a cold sweat more than once throughout the night. He'd gone out in the morning to pick up some groceries (kid friendly snacks and juice, things that never really made it to his flat unless the twins were coming over - he was much more of a take out guy, despite knowing how to cook), and then made a floo call to his friend who'd sent his Father his gift.

He spent the rest of the day cleaning and in and out of his potions room, just waiting. When the knock came, he wiped his hands, cast a quick spell to clean off his clothes and make sure there wasn't anything dangerous on him, and then shut the door to his potions room and spelled it locked to everyone under 17.

At the door, he took a deep breath and opened it with a smile.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

_alicia_
2015-06-21 05:31 pm UTC (link)

No sooner had the door opened before both Isla and Liam started talking, barely catching their breaths between sentences, little less waiting for the other to finish before starting themselves:

“Isla punched Stanley Wilmington!”

“He said we can’t make Father’s Days cards because we don’t have a dad.”

“Granddads aren’t dads but they are.”

“He said they aren’t.”

“And Miss Fisher asked the class to write down what a father is, and they say he gives them hugs and says ‘no’.”

“And tells stories before bed and works.”

“And wears a tie and watches footie matches on Saturdays and shaves and-“

“And drives a car, but you don’t have a car, you have a broom!”

Alicia put a gentle hand on each child’s shoulder. “Easy now,” she soothed them, “you’re yappering like Chip and Dale, Adrian can’t understand what you’re saying, alright?” Although basically, that was what had happened, and why they had reasoned their way into Adrian needing to be celebrated today too: he did all of the things the other children had said a dad did.

“Happy Father’s Day,” Liam said, and held out the box from Sweet Nothings. “Miss Melinda says you like these and we like them, too!”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

adipucey
2015-06-21 05:41 pm UTC (link)

Adrian's nerves melted away when the kids starting talking - that was one thing he could always count on them for, he remembered quickly. But what they were talking about concerned him a lot. When Alicia calmed them and then Liam held up the sweets from Melinda, he smiled, softly, a smile he saved for the three people standing in his kitchen.

He hit a knee and took the box from Liam with a thank you and a hug and hugged Isla too before stepping back and asking, "You punched him?" he looked to Alicia and shook his head, knowing he'd laugh about that part later. Standing, he hugged her tightly, whispering, "How are you doing?" - the twins had never known Daniel, and on days like this, Adrian was always concerned with how she was doing with it all.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_alicia_
2015-06-21 06:00 pm UTC (link)

Alicia shook her head, too. As much as she wanted to wring the neck of that Wilmington boy for saying the things he had, she had scolded Isla for punching him. Still, she had had to struggle a bit to keep a straight face, and she hadn’t been too harsh when she had told her that there’d be no dessert after dinner. Well, there hadn’t been dessert after dinner, but they had had ice cream on the way home that afternoon.

She allowed herself to stay in Adrian’s embrace for a long moment longer than what was necessary, her face buried against his neck as she breathed him in. “I’m good,” she assured him, looking up at him with a smile before she leaned up and brushed a kiss to his lips. Did she miss Daniel? Of course she did, but no more than on any other day, and Father’s Day just didn’t have the same impact on her as the twins’ birthday did.

With a wave of her wand she summoned four plates from the cupboard, and handed them to Liam, before she handed Isla four glasses and forks. “Why don’t you go set the table in the living room?” she asked them. “Then we’ll be there in a few, yeah?”

Once they were off, she looked back up at Adrian. “I swear, one minute I think they’ll grow up Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, and then they pull something like this.” From her purse, she pulled out the list that Liam had copied down onto paper, where most of the sentences had an X next to it. “They checked you off against the list yesterday and determined that they had someone to make a Father’s Day card for.”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

adipucey
2015-06-21 06:10 pm UTC (link)

If Adrian thought he couldn't be surprised in this life, he'd just been proven wrong. The kids saw him as a father-figure. Someone deserving of a Father's Day card. True, most people knew when they'd become such a figure, and receiving such a card probably didn't come as a surprise, but here he was, with his first Father's Day, out of the blue, and his heart melted more than he'd thought possible before Alicia had come into his life. He swallowed thickly. "The only thing that comes to mind is that I'm clearly not worthy of such art, but if they say so..." He grinned at her and leaned in to kiss her soundly now that the kids weren't in the same room.

Pulling back a little he asked, "Are you ok with that? They seem to have taken certain things into their own hands," he laughed.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_alicia_
2015-06-21 07:01 pm UTC (link)

Alicia almost cooed when she saw the effect this had on Adrian. Then again, she too had to swallow down a little, because it was a big step, and not one she had wanted to force, neither for Adrian nor for the children. It was huge, but she kept in mind that Isla and Liam were just six years old, their father had always been the man in the picture and the one whose tombstone they talked to, so she didn’t fool herself into thinking that they saw Adrian as a father. Was he important to them? No doubt about it, but from there and to calling him dad was still a huge step. It was a start though.

“Mm, well, Father’s Day’s so much easier to say than Mum’s Friend Turned So Much More Day,” she chuckled against his lips, opting for the lighter approach to this. “I am okay with this,” she assured him, threading her fingers through his, savouring these last minutes they had alone before their presence was requested in the living room. “Are you?”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

adipucey
2015-06-21 07:08 pm UTC (link)

Adrian nodded and mirrored her smile and small laugh. "I'm a tourist here, very much along for the ride," he joked, "whatever those two cruise directors tell me to do, I'm doing it," he laughed more loudly this time. Kissing Alicia in this moment felt more right than nearly anything in the world, and so he did just that.

And then with a sigh, he moved his hands to her hips and turned her, moving both of them toward the living room. "So what sweets did you bring me?" He asked, breathing the words lightly into her ear just before they moved from one room to the next, timing it perfectly to leave her frustrated as Isla came bounding up to them asking if they could start serving.

When Adrian took a seat on the couch, he was surprised to find himself flanked on either side by Isla and Liam, and he looked up at Alicia with an amused, slightly confused, happy smile on his face.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_alicia_
2015-06-21 08:16 pm UTC (link)

Alicia grinned at Adrian; this was life with children, more or less. Sure, as an adult you had the final say, mostly, but anything you did came back to what was best for the kids. She purred, loving the feel of his hands on her hips, and she was certain he knew exactly was doing to her. Said certainty became fact when his words made his warm breath caress against the sensitive shell of her ear. Again her hands found his, giving his fingers a loving squeeze, wanting so much to let him know that whether it was here with the children asleep on the sofa Transfigured into a bed and heavy sound proofing wards on the bedroom or back home on Sheffield Terrace, she had a whole night worth of sweets for him.

Instead, she grinned at the kids and asked “What did you get Adrian at Miss Melinda’s?”

“Coffee Claires and Salty Cupcakes,” Isla informed them and proudly showed off the coffee table, now set with plates, glasses, and napkins folded into hard squares.

Once they were seated, Alicia wished she’d had her camera with her. The look on both Adrian’s and the kids’ faces were priceless. But at least she had the memory and she had access to a Pensieve should she ever want to revisit this moment. “Mmm, this looks delicious!” she said, taking a seat on the floor across the table from the three most important people in her life.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

adipucey
2015-06-21 08:44 pm UTC (link)

"Coffee and salt? it's official, you're growing up too fast," Adrian joked with Isla, pinching her side lightly to make her laugh. He looked to Liam, "What's your favorite at Sweet nothings? And how did you know mine?" He asked.

They all dug in he offered the kids a walk around the neighborhood (to work off some of the sugar) but looked out to see rain. "Well, looks like that might be off, what do you think?" He looked to Alicia for wisdom.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_alicia_
2015-06-22 08:25 pm UTC (link)

Isla squealed with delight and made to reciprocate Adrian’s teasing tickling. “Caramel cupcakes and JoJo Cakes,” both Isla and Liam told him. Alicia kept an eye on Liam to see how he would respond to Adrian’s question, and wasn’t entirely surprised when her boy simply shrugged and reached for a salted caramel cupcake. Liam paid attention and noticed things and details that most people didn’t, so really it could have been anything from a throw-away comment to an actual statement from Adrian that had led to Liam knowing his favourites. The point was, he knew, and apparently he knew what to do with that information.

Alicia looked at Adrian, meeting his eyes and holding his gaze for a while as she considered the options. Going outside in the rain was a potential disaster waiting to happen, or at least four very wet people. On the other hand, it was a sure way of having the twins burning off loads of energy which made them more or less passing out tonight a given… and that would leave her with a lot of undisturbed time to share her sweets with Adrian tonight. “Well…” she said with a small smirk before she looked to the kids. “We have wellies and raincoats in the bag, so…”

“PUDDLE JUMPING!” they both cheered and a moment later tore out of the living room only to return a moment later with Alicia’s bag. One by one, she unshrunk the small bundles that when enlarged turned into a bag with just about anything 6-year-olds could need when going anywhere.

Looking back to Adrian she smiled at him. “Wellies and raincoat or brolly?” she asked him.

(Reply to this) (Parent)