Who: Gally & Kendal Crane What: Who let them have a kid? When: Monday afternoon Where: A park Warnings: Two PTSD teenagers not freaking out Status: Completed GDoc
To say that Kendal had a massive freakout the day before would be really putting it mildly. Having a small child show up, calling her mom and asking for daddy was just… so far out of the realm of possible, that she could even imagine it yet. Not that she didn’t want kids, but dammit, it was going to be years from now.
After K-Mart finished laughing explaining things to her, Kendal had calmed down some, but it had still taken a lot of the morning before she finally texted Gally. The newest arrival from his world was already shaking things up for him, and she couldn’t imagine what this news was going to add to it.
Alby, and she really did name her child after him, was just sweet and adorable though. She knew the chances of him actually happening would probably be slim (because she and Gally were just friends), but she loved having him around all the same. And of course, there was introducing him to Gally.
Kendal opted for the park between K-Mart’s house and Wade’s apartment, because it was easiest for all of them. And she was at the swings, pushing Alby while they waited for Gally, and it was actually a lot of fun, making him laugh.
Of course, her heart dropped out of her chest when Alby jumped out of the swing and went running across the grass the moment he caught sight of Gally. It wasn’t hard for Gally to figure out who he was either, with Alby yelling ‘daddy’ the whole way.
****
Gally wasn’t quite sure what Kendal wanted, had a feeling it wasn’t good. Or at least, wasn’t the normal definition of it. Then again, things hadn’t been normal for either of them in a very long time, so… he’d just have to see. And it couldn’t possibly be weirder than some of what was going on, anyway. And there was no way it could be weirder than Newt.
So there he was, meeting Kendal at the park. He felt surprisingly relaxed, despite the concern -- and that feeling of being relaxed as soon as the small child came sprinting at him as fast as a small, not entirely coordinated child could go. Gally tensed for a moment, his fight-or-flight instinct trying to kick in, before an entirely different instinct kicked in and he was moving to catch the little boy, sweeping him up in his arms. “Hey, kiddo,” he said, shifting the little boy so he could avoid dropping him. “You’re not supposed to run off like that.”
He looked to Kendal as he made his way over to her, giving her a distinct look of “wtf”. Not that he could be blamed, really, if you asked him.
“I take it this is why you wanted to meet up here?” he asked, setting the little boy down. “He’s… kinda cute, actually. But why is he ours?”
The question made a surprising amount of sense.
***
There was a shrug from Kendal, even as she was smiling at Alby and Gally together. “K-Mart says it happens. She’s had kids with friends show up.” The chaos the day before should have prepared them all for it, but it really didn’t.
“Daddy, Daddy, I’m thee!” Alby told Gally excitedly, holding up four fingers.
There was a laugh from Kendal and she nodded. “Yes, Alby is three, and very excited.”
***
Gally looked at her, startled. “Alby?” They’d named their son after one of his friends from home. One of his dead friends. It… made sense. It did. And yet, it was surprising to him, anyway.
“Well, at least this isn’t entirely surprising,” he said after a moment. “I mean, I’d be more worried if this had never happened before.”
Which really made him wonder what people had thought about it the very first time.
***
Kendal was just glad that somewhere, she was going to have a normal, or a somewhat normal, life.
“I thought I wasn’t going to get to join in on the latest bit of town fun, and then he woke up me and K-Mart this morning.” She had been surprised as hell, and wasn’t afraid to admit that she’d hid in her room and cried some.
“We had bacon, and pancakes!” Alby just seemed excited by everything that was happening, and just wanted to have fun. “Push!” he yelled as he ran for the swing again.
“Oh man,” Kendal sighed. “He hasn’t stopped since we got here. He’s nothing like the Alby back in my world.”
***
“Or the one in mine.” Gally smiled wryly. “At least he’s… happy. And healthy. I think that’s all I’d ever want for my kid, honestly.”
Not that he really wanted kids. He was pretty sure he was one of those guys who shouldn’t ever have kids. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t want the best for any kid who had the misfortune of ending up with him as a father.
“And it’s a really good thing he showed up at your place and not at mine. I’m pretty sure Wade would’ve just handed him a grenade or something.”
***
There was an amused look on Kendal’s face at the mention of Wade with a kid. Not that she thought that Wade would actually hurt him, but it was still funny to think of what he would do with a kid. She followed Alby to the swings, helping him into the toddler one and pushing him gently.
“Well, maybe not a grenade, possibly a diffused bomb.” She figured that Wade would start any kid off small at least.
“It’s good to know that somewhere, in the future, I’ve got my life together enough to have a good kid.” Because so far, Alby was good. Just really energetic.
“You know, if you want,we have extra bedrooms if you want to stay while he’s here.”
***.
Gally looked at her cautiously. “I mean, if you’re sure K-Mart wouldn’t mind…” he said, trailing off. The last thing he wanted was to impose when it was already going to be a pain in the ass having a small child around that wasn’t hers.
But then again, K-Mart was used to this stuff, wasn’t she?
“He’s used to having both of us around, it seems like,” he said, smiling a little. “I don’t want to screw him up by not doing that. Yeah, okay, maybe it wouldn’t. But still…” An awkward shrug, because words were far from his thing. You wanted something built or fixed? He was your guy. Well-articulated thoughts? Not so much.
***
“I don’t think she’ll mind at all. Because you’re, well, his dad.” She’d beg K-Mart if she had to, because Alby needed both of his parents, right? Right.
“Besides, we don’t have a lot of close neighbors, so you could probably get Thomas to come over too, it’s quiet.” She knew that they probably did better in quiet, and without others watching them all the time, because she did.
“Maybe get some sort of ball game going with him, and wear him out before bed?” Because she didn’t want to worry about him being up all night, and cranky all day the next day.
***
“I think he’d appreciate that,” Gally said, giving Kendal a genuine smile. “He’s having an even rougher time adjusting to this place than I did. Not that I’m all that adjusted to it sometimes, but let’s pretend that I am. You know what I mean.”
He watched for a moment as she pushed Alby on the swing. “You know… I wish I could remember if my parents had ever done anything like this with me,” he said quietly. “If they loved me, if they… wanted me.”
Okay, not that they wanted Alby, exactly. But some version of them had, and that would absolutely count for this.
“And… y’know, if I’ve gotta have a kid with someone here when I’m completely and wildly unprepared for it?” That smile again. “Definitely glad it’s you.”
Because she just got him.
***
Kendal smiled, thinking of her own parents. “I’m sure they did, I mean, you couldn’t be who you are if they didn’t want you. You would have been totally different if they hadn’t.” She firmly believed that, and nothing was going to shake that belief.
“Yeah, same here. I’m glad it was with a friend and not a complete stranger.” She wouldn’t have handled that well. “And you know why I do some of the things I do.”
***
“Well, I mean, I wasn’t exactly the greatest guy before I ended up here. Just ask Thomas.” Though they were starting to get along better. He wouldn’t exactly say friends, though. Friendly, maybe. It was hard to tell with the two of them. They were… complicated on a good day.
“But at least I’m… I don’t know… mellowing. I fully blame you and Liz for that, by the way.”
He was pretty okay with it, though.
***
She kept pushing Alby, thoughtful and quiet while listening to him talk to them about something only he knew about. Or maybe he was talking to the rock in his hand, she wasn’t sure.
“I wasn’t what this place would call good before either.” She’d killed people to survive, killed a friend to survive, so she doubted that anyone could call her good. “I did whatever I had to so that I could live and to save Alby.”
She just knew that K-Mart was helping, and being friends with Gally and others was helping too.
“I’m just glad that his parents are good people too.” That was the most important part.
***
“Sometimes even the best people do what they’ve gotta do in order to survive.” He rested a hand lightly against her back, reassuringly. He knew that sometimes she was just as jumpy as he was when it came to being touched, if not moreso; all the same, it was the kind of comfort that just made sense.
“And really? Selfishly? Kinda glad you did it. Means now I’ve got you.”
Because he didn’t know his family, didn’t know who they were or how big it’d been, and he’d cling to every scrap of anything remotely resembling family that he could find for himself.
Especially this.
***
Alby chose that moment to start saying he wanted on the slide, but Kendal took a moment to smile at Gally. “You, and now Thomas, are the first friends I made because I wanted to, not because I didn’t have anyone else.”
That meant something to her. Yeah, she cared about Dean and Gabriel, but for so many years, it was just the three of them, taking care of each other. There hadn’t been anyone else to be friends with.
She let Alby down, and stood by Gally, watching the little boy run to the slide. “Weirdly enough, I kinda want to be the kind of person that has a kid like that one day.” A future she’d never thought of back in her world.
***
“Yeah,” Gally said after a moment, wrapping an arm around Kendal and hugging her against him. “I know what you mean. I don’t know if I actually want a kid or anything, but… I want to be the kind of person who could have that happy little guy and be part of the reason he is that happy little guy.”
Oh, look at that. He really does have a heart!
***
Kendal leaned into the hug for a moment, glad she actually had a chance to have this without the constant fear. She kept telling herself not to get too attached, because this place liked to take people away, but it wasn’t really working.
“Wanna come back to the house with us? It’s almost snack time, and you can help keep him entertained until dinner?”
Basically, she wanted her friend there, but also, she needed help. She wasn’t going to push this all on K-Mart.
***
“Yeah, sure,” Gally said without even really having to think about it. He didn’t really know how much time they had the kid for -- maybe K-Mart knew -- so he wanted as much time as he could get. Absolutely as much time. Because even if he didn’t necessarily want kids or even know if he was the kind of person who should have them?
He still wanted to remember the time he had with this one.