Jane Foster (astrosearcher) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2017-04-13 00:35:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !closed, !complete, !completed gdoc, !log, [plot] future kids take 4, ~2017 april, ~25 points, ~~jane foster (astrosearcher), ~~ty johnson (allthingsdark) |
Who: Jane Foster and Elizabet Johnson, and Ty Johnson
What: Good morning you have kids!
When: Kidplot Day 1
Where: Jane’s place
Warnings: Nope!
Status: Closed/Complete
Only four years old, Elizabet wasn’t what one would call self-sufficient. Her mommy could be, as her daddy often said, a little scatterbrained, but that’s why she had her daddy. Who was much better at the everyday sorts of things like looking after them and cooking and tidying up. But it seemed, this morning, that Daddy wasn’t there. He liked to run, Elizabet remembered, would probably be back soon. But in the meantime, she was hungry.
And so she took her little legs to the kitchen, hopping several times to reach the shelf where she knew cereal was kept, completely failing to manage it. She wasn’t even as tall as the counter, much less the cupboard above it. There was only one thing to do. She dragged one of the kitchen chairs over to the counter, noisily, and climbed up. The chair was kicked away from the counter in the process, and she was stuck.
She bonked her head trying to open the cupboard, but stubbornly went on, pulling out a box of cereal that definitely did not look like what she wanted. Turning, Elizabet opened the box, and almost immediately wound up dropping it to the floor. The cereal spilled everywhere, and the little girl, standing on the counter, barefoot in her pyjamas, just stared down at it.
Oops.
***
Jane wasn't completely thrown off by the sounds in the kitchen, but it was enough to rouse her from the light dozing she'd managed at her laptop. This was what happened when she did work in bed. Figuring it was just Lindsay, she pulled her robe on and shuffled downstairs for coffee.
When she got to the kitchen, she stopped in her tracks. There was a small child on her counter and Raisin Bran all over the floor. "You're not Lindsay." Jane could tell that much, but who was she? Her eyes reminded her of Ty a bit, but that was just wishful thinking on her part because any kind of explanation that would work just didn't make sense. Or it's the dome, she thought.
"Do you want to get down from there?" she asked, cautiously moving toward the small child so as not to frighten her.
***
Of course she wasn’t Lindsay. That was a funny thing to say. Elizabet just held her arms out for help. It was obvious that she wasn’t concerned about there being a stranger there. That wasn’t a stranger. That was her mommy!
“Is Daddy going to be mad?”
She knew better than to be climbing on the countertops at all, than to be getting things down for herself. But she was four! She could do it herself!
***
The small child was pretty well adjusted for being in a stranger's house. Jane just made her way over to the little girl, only to step on some Raisin Bran. "I should probably clean this up first. Can you just...sit on the countertop? I think that would be safer." Definitely safer, as she went to go get a broom.
"I don't think your dad is going to be mad, but that probably depends a lot on who your dad is." She was trying to be cautious of being a weirdo because really, no kid should feel scared or anything, even if they were in a stranger's cabinets. "I think most people think Raisin Bran should be on the floor all the time. What were you looking for?" she asked as she swept away the cereal.
***
Obediently, Elizabet sat on the counter, again bumping her head on the cupboard door as she did, just saying ow quietly but otherwise not reacting to it.
“I wanted something yummy!” Not the boring cereal that her mommy had. Something with marshmallows! “They go right here.” A little arm lifted to point to the shelf the cereal had come from. She knew they went right there, because that was where they always came out of. She was a smart girl, she paid attention. To the things that mattered to her. Like marshmallow cereals.
***
Jane had a sneaking suspicion that it was definitely something to do with the dome. No kid was that quiet, especially when they got hurt. She cleaned up the spilled cereal easily enough. "We don't really have kid-friendly cereal here," she told the little girl gently, since she didn't want to disappoint the kid. "But I bet we could find something you like. What about yogurt?"
There were all kinds of yogurt in the fridge, since they were the perfect thing to eat at any point in the day and Jane had a tendency to eat whenever. "Do your parents usually let you have cereal that's yummy?" Yummy here, she assumed, meant with marshmallows or something equally sugary. Wasn't that not good to give to young kids, especially if they were expected to not form bad habits?
***
Elizabet watched her mommy, kicking her legs while she waited for help off the counter. Why was she saying all those silly things? Of course there was cereal. And why did she ask questions about her parents like she didn’t already know the answers.
“Yes.” Whether or not they actually did all the time was debatable, but it happened sometimes. Enough that she knew it should be there. “I want yogurt.”
Bored of waiting for help, she just held out her arms.
“Can Daddy make fancy toast when he comes home?”
***
Jane looked at the child, assessing the validity of her 'yes'. Stephanie wasn't old enough to talk yet, but she knew kids sometimes didn't fully understand the truth. She tossed the cereal in the trash bin and set the broom aside so she could pick the little girl up. "Yogurt we can do, and maybe some fancy toast can happen, but how about we play a game first?"
Jane set the little girl down so she was standing on the floor and then swiped her phone from the counter. She had photos from Steve and V's wedding on there, plus some snaps of her and Ty, Lindsay, and some of the other Avengers. She quickly snapped a photo of the small child and then got out the yogurt.
"It's an easy game. I show you some pictures and you tell me who's in the photos okay?" It would hopefully be easy enough to get some answers. Once the yogurt was mixed enough, she helped get the girl situated on the chair with a spoon.
***
“Okay!” Elizabet crawled up to sit on her knees, shoving yogurt into her mouth only about as neatly as a girl her age could manage to do.
She liked games! And it was a good way to spend time with her mommy while they waited for Daddy. There was probably hidden thinking in it, there usually was, but she didn’t mind. She was a smart girl! Both her parents said so all of the time.
***
It was actually kind of adorable how she was acting. Jane was hoping 'Aunt Jane' was going to pop up on her photo. Once the little girl was settled, she selected a photo of Darcy and Stephanie to show her first and held it just in front of her so that she could see, but wouldn't put the phone at risk of getting dirty.
"Do you know the people in the photo? What are their names?"
***
“Auntie Darcy!” Elizabet answered immediately. She didn’t know who the baby, was, though. Stephanie was older than her and not a baby so it wasn’t her. It didn’t really matter.
She eagerly went along as her mommy scrolled through the pictures, picking out all the people. It was a really easy game but it felt really good to get everything right and her excitement just rose the more they went through.
Finally, a picture of her daddy appeared, and Elizabet threw her arms in the air. Her spoon went flying. “Daddy!”
She definitely won.
***
Aunt Darcy. Okay. She could work with that. She scrolled through photo after photo, taking mental notes with the way she addressed each person. Everyone was correctly identified, with various Aunt or Uncle tossed in. When the girl very excitedly declared the current photo to be Daddy, Jane all but held her breath as she flipped to the next photo, which featured both her and Ty.
The photo after that would be of the little girl herself, and hopefully, all the questions would be answered. Except for the very important one of what the hell was going on?
***
Well now the game was just even more easy. Elizabet pointed to both of her parents in turn. “That’s Mommy and that’s Daddy.”
Duh.
The photo changed again and the little girl laughed delightedly, yogurty hands going to her cheeks. “That’s me!”
She absolutely loved pictures of herself, the way most little kids did.
***
Well. That answered that question. Jane shot off a quick text to Ty in the vein of get over here now and then set her phone aside.
"That is you! Great job," she replied, picking the little girl up to give her a hug, totally uncaring anymore about the yogurt mess they were making, since she definitely hadn't lifted her daughter up high enough to clear the cup. Yogurt was an easy mess to clean. She had zero clue what she would have named her daughter, but she could figure out a way to ask. That was easy.
"Do you know our proper names? Like Aunt Darcy?" she asked, hoping she'd be able to get the little girl to say her name along with her's and Ty's.
***
She won! Yay! Mommy hugs were the best kind of prize, too. Especially because Daddy would come home and just sigh at them about it because he was always just sighing and smiling at them. Except Daddy didn’t smile like other people. Elizabet had had to learn that sad didn’t always mean sad on Daddy. Sometimes sad meant happy.
“Yes!” She was doing so well with this whole game. She was very proud of herself. “Mommy and Daddy and ‘Lizbet!”
She hadn’t exactly mastered her own name yet. Nor was she old enough to really comprehend that her parents had names other than Mommy and Daddy.
***
Elizabeth then, or Elizabet, given that she was more likely to drop the 'e' than the 'h'. "You got it! Yay!" That had been the most important part of asking the question, after all. Jane rubbed her nose against her daughter's in an Eskimo kiss, grinning widely. The only thing left was how old she was, but that could be for later.
"Your Daddy should be on his way home soon. He just had to go get something," Jane explained, so that way she could prevent any crying or temper tantrums. Although, Elizabet seemed very well behaved. She couldn't be more than 5 or 6. A moment later, she noticed the yogurt had spilled all over the chair.
"Oops, look like Mommy made a mess. Do you want more yogurt?" she asked.
***
Shrieking delightedly at her mother’s response to her amazing success at their game, Elizabet flailed a little, very nearly avoiding hurting both of them. Only when she was asked about yogurt did she stop and sit still again.
“Yeah.” A beat. “Please.” She was in the process of learning to use all her manners all of the time. Her parents prompted her all the time, and she looked very pleased with herself for remembering, expecting praise. “And then when Daddy comes home toast!”
Not just any toast. Daddy’s toast was fancy, and he was the only one in the whole world who could make it.
There was an urgent knock on the door, and the little girl jumped off her chair. “I’ll get it!!”
***
Jane was completely and hopelessly in love with her little girl. She remembered a moment after Elizabet went scrambling for the door that she'd texted Ty, so this was going to be fun. It took a few steps to overtake her daughter and then she was able to at least give her a bit of warning.
"I think that's Daddy," she said before she opened the door, pleased to see that she was correct. Jane grinned widely at Ty and let him in, forgetting that she'd essentially told him 911 in text. "Morning!" She even leaned in to give him a quick kiss.
"Looks like your chances for fancy toast are pretty good, Sweetheart."
***
Ty had answered Jane’s text fairly promptly, wondering what was wrong, but had gotten no response. Obviously, in a situation like that, he’d dropped everything he was doing, and gone over to see what was going on, to make sure Jane was okay. Despite the rocks their relationship had been on recently, he was still hesitant to let it go, waiting for her to change her mind and go to Thor at any time, anticipating having his heart broken, he did still care for her very much. And he was worried about her.
Apparently for no reason, given the greeting she gave him. “Morning,” he said slowly, obviously confused. “What’s going on?”
“Why did you knock, Daddy?” Elizabet giggled, poking out from behind Jane’s legs. “You’re silly!”
Ty’s attention immediately shifted to the little girl, who did nothing to ease his confusion.
***
"It's a game we're playing," Jane told Elizabet easily, covering for the time difference. She was obviously from years and years into the future, but it made her hopeful. "Would you go wash your hands? Then we can see about making some toast. Fancy toast," she corrected, still smiling. Then she'd have a few minutes to talk to Ty, to fill him in.
Once her daughter had scurried off, Jane tugged Ty into the apartment properly. "Hi sorry. So, that's Elizabet. Or Elizabeth. She calls herself Lizbet, and she's our daughter from sometime in the future. I showed her a bunch of pictures on my phone and she named everyone except Stephanie, so far enough into the future that Steph isn't a baby. But she's been asking for you and fancy toast for breakfast, and I have no clue how long this is going to last."
***
Ty only stared at her while she talked, soaking in her words, turning them all over in his mind. Their daughter? He didn’t mind the sound of it but how she’d have come about was a question. Ty was careful and condoms were a vital part of not hurting the woman he was with. Or at very least her not feeling how cool he was. That was likely to just kill a mood completely.
And why was she asking for fancy toast? What even was fancy toast?
And how was any of this happening at all?
In the end, he just said simply, still kind of in shock: “Elizabet. It’s probably Elizabet. My...that was my mother.”
The mother Ty had loved more than anyone, who he’d almost gone to war with his father over at a very young age, who’d been so used by the bastard that she’d had to go off and become a tree. Ty didn’t even know where that was, wasn’t sure if he’d have tried to visit even if he did.
***
Jane had zero idea how they'd managed to have a daughter, but she would have been lying if she wasn't encouraged by it. Their week being happily in love was great, but Elizabet was proof that somewhere, somehow, they'd figured it all out. There had to be a way.
When he said that Elizabet was his mother's name, she reached over to give his hand a comforting squeeze. "It's a beautiful name," Jane told him quietly, knowing it was a lot to take in and a lot more to reconcile right now. They would figure it out together though, of that she was certain.
"Daddy! Mommy! I'm ready!!" Elizabet called loudly for them.
Jane could admit that she already loved it. "Do you have any idea what fancy toast it? French toast, maybe?" If they focused on what was right in front of them, they could figure out the rest of it soon enough.
***
Ty just shrugged helplessly, heading toward the kitchen. “Fairy bread, maybe?”
Whatever was going on, he would go with it for the child’s sake. He wouldn’t just withdraw completely from her, wouldn’t hurt her in the process. And yeah, it was easier to focus on the details first, the fancy toast and breakfast. They could talk about the rest later.
How old was she, even? Too old to nap? When did children stop napping?
For the first time since coming to town, Ty really wished Mike was around.
“Elizabet,” he called the girl over to him, crouching down to look her in the eyes, careful to keep his hands to himself. He didn’t touch children for good reason. “Can you tell me what fancy toast looks like?”
“The one with the noodles!” Elizabet said like it was the most hilariously obvious thing in the world, and Ty actually laughed, looking up at Jane.
“Spaghetti on toast,” he explained. There was absolutely no question that this child had been raised by, if not him, a Kiwi. He couldn’t imagine any of the Americans he knew thinking that would be a good idea.
***
Jane watched him with Elizabet with utmost fondness. He was great with her, although when he said spaghetti on toast, her jaw dropped. That sounded gross, so she would probably be sticking to her Raisin Bran, but if that was what the kid wanted.
"I think we have spaghetti?" she ventured, moving toward the cabinet to find where the pasta was kept. She always had pasta on hand because it was easy to make, but she couldn't say spaghetti was her favorite. "Is this really a breakfast food?" Jane wondered, only a moment later she was triumphant in her search. "Found it!"
Elizabet clapped happily. "Yay Mommy!"
***
“No, more like tea. For students.” It was that kind of cheap and easy food that students lived off of anywhere. But it was also a pretty common food that children enjoyed, something a lot of people grew up on and continued to like even as adults. Ty liked to think he had more refined tastes, but taking the spaghetti from Jane, peering at it and glad that she hadn’t just handed him a package of noodles but rather an actual can of spaghetti in sauce, he had to admit that did sound kind of good right now. Comfort food when he really could use some comfort.
“This’ll do, yeah,” he nodded. It wouldn’t be quite the same as he remembered, everything was just kind of slightly different in America, but it would be close enough, and was probably exactly what Elizabet was hoping for. “Got some cheese?”
That was also just slightly different. He was getting used to that.
***
Well, if that was the case then it was perfect for Jane. She was generally a very good example of 'broke college student' even if she wasn't a student anymore. Being a scientist without funding was pretty much the same thing and she'd gotten into some habits that were proving difficult to break. Pasta already in a can was way easier than cooking the two separately.
"Um." Cheese was more hit or miss. Jane went over to the fridge, Elizabet hot on her heels. The little girl kept one arm around Jane's leg as they peered into the fridge together.
"There Mommy!" Elizabet pointed to the container all the way in the back of the shelf that was closest to eye level to the toddler.
Jane crouched down and moved things around to get to what she was pointing to. "Yep, that's cheese," she replied, pulling the container from the fridge. Best to check the date on that. "Does this work, Ty?" She held the shaker up so he could see.
***
Cheese in a shaker. Only in America.
Ty eyed it for a moment before just shaking his head, clearly defeated. “It’ll have to do.” But she really did need to buy food that was, you know, food. “Remind me to do your shopping for you next time.”
Maybe he could convince her to eat something that wasn’t just chemicals in a container. He didn’t even mind if it meant he’d have to come by and cook it for her. They were trying to do the dating thing again, a little more real this time than the last, and Ty liked to cook for people.
***
Jane was very confused as to why he was looking at her cheese like that. It was perfectly acceptable cheese! "What's wrong with my cheese?" she asked, a little offended.
Elizabet just laughed. "Mommy never does the shopping! Don't be silly, Daddy!" She loved going grocery shopping with her daddy because she got to ask all the questions ever as they went up and down all the aisles.
Jane frowned. "I'm not that bad," she replied, although if Ty was going to do her shopping, maybe he'd do her cooking, too. That wouldn't be a bad thing.
***
The problem was that it wasn’t cheese. But Ty didn’t say as much. It was what was available, so he’d make do and make the little girl the toast.
“You are,” he said with a faint smile, and just waved his hand at Elizabet. “Have a seat, miss. Spaghetti on toast, coming up."
***