Lucas Friar (lucasfriar) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2017-04-13 00:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !complete, !completed gdoc, !log, [plot] future kids take 4, ~2017 april, ~25 points, ~~riley matthews (windownow) |
WHO Lucas Friar & Riley Matthews
WHAT very tiny bb
WHEN Thursday morning
WHERE Lucas' bedroom
WARNINGS Freaked out teenager
STATUS Closed | Completed Gdoc
Barbie was very confused. Grandma and Grandpa looked so young and they were busy, so she went in search of her dad. It wasn't often that they stayed over with Grammy and Grampy, but when they did, they tended to stay in Daddy's old room, so that was where she tried first, Barbie doll tucked under her arm. Daddy had his covers up over his head and Mommy wasn't there, so she climbed in to lay down next to her Dad. He was young, too.
"Uh oh."
Lucas woke up to being bopped on the nose lightly by a small child. It startled him so badly he flailed and fell out of bed with a loud thud.
Barbie just giggled and crawled under the covers to peer at her Daddy sprawled out on the floor. "You're funny, Daddy. Where's Mommy? Is she young, too? Like you, Grammy and Grampy?"
Lucas' eyes went comically wide. What in the heck was happening? Did she mean she was his daughter? Was she talking about Melinda and Cam? Who was her mom? It was too early for all of these questions - questions that were so impossible there had to be something weird going on.
She just sighed. "Can you call Mommy on the magic box?" Barbie asked, reciting off Riley's cell phone number by heart in a little sing-songy voice.
Lucas just nodded and blindly reached for his phone, calling Riley without even really looking. "Hey, can you come over? Like now? Please." He sounded half asleep and very confused because that was exactly how he felt.
"HI MOMMY," Barbie yelled, grinning brightly at her dad.
***
Riley hadn’t been properly awake when she’d answered the phone, choosing to stay in bed and hide from the crazy when she’d heard unfamiliar voices in the house, at least one of which who was little. She knew exactly what these things were, it had happened before, it had happened to her before, but she was blissfully alone in her bedroom and she wasn’t ready to be a fun, happy aunt yet. She needed some alone time first. So she’d dragged her blankets over her head right up until the phone rang.
And then, Lucas didn’t sound any more awake than she was, and wasn’t making any sense, and there was a little voice in the background there too.
“Lucas? What-?” She didn’t need a what. “Is there a little kid there?”
***
"Yes," he whispered, very afraid and hoping he wouldn't encourage the little girl off the bed. There was a very safe distance between them and Lucas wanted to keep her that way. "She says we're young." He paused. "She called Cam and Melinda Grampy and Grammy." Panic was rising in his voice even though he kept to a whisper.
Barbie found all of this kind of hilarious. Daddy only ever got that way when he was in trouble, or when Grammy Panga - she had the nicest hair of all - looked at him in the same way she looked at her when she reminded her not to call herself Barbie. Oops. She scared Daddy.
"Don't worry Daddy! Home is being weird again," she explained, hoping to reassure him as she climbed down from the bed and onto his lap so she could talk into the magic box, too. "Mommy! Daddy's not old enough. Are you old, Mommy? Home is really weird sometimes." Barbie sighed dramatically as she situated her doll on her lap.
"Can we have pancakes for breakfast?" she asked, brightening up again.
Lucas just blinked and then looked at his phone, hoping Riley had all the answers.
***
Riley actually found that kind of hilarious too, if her muffled giggles were anything to judge by.
“It’s okay,” she soothed. “This has happened before. Right after Maya and I got here. There’s going to be a lot of them, everywhere. From different futures and stuff. It’s kind of fun, but really weird and only for a couple of days. Maybe a week? Not that long. It’ll be okay; I promise.”
They had their parents to help them, and Riley herself was pretty good with children. She loved children, thought like she was one of them a lot of the time, and in her normal at home life there was Auggie, so she knew what it was like, at least.
She laughed again at the little girl’s exuberance. “I’ll come over, okay?”
***
Lucas heaved a pretty big sigh of relief. At least Riley knew what the heck was going on because he was not ready to be a dad. "Okay," he replied, already sounding a bit better. He could do this. It couldn't be any more or less difficult than hanging out with Auggie for an extended period of time. At least they had plenty of adults to rely on.
Barbie clapped excitedly when she heard Mommy say she was coming over. "Hurry Mommy! I'm hungry!"
"Please hurry," Lucas agreed, sounding a little less panicked, but definitely needing some support. It didn't even dawn on him that there might be more children, either of his or Riley's in different couplings. He also didn't even think that this could possibly affect Cam and Melinda. He was very much absorbed by this small child in his lap.
Barbie looked up at her Daddy. "Is Grammy Panga here? Pappy Shawn? Aunt Maya?"
Lucas just nodded. They were all gonna kill him. The little girl was delighted though and cheered.
***
Riley just giggled into the phone, took a brief pause away from it to talk to someone at her house before returning.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay? Just...maybe tell Colonel Mitchell what’s happening? He probably knows. It’s probably happening to him too. It happens to most people. You can ask for help.” She was as cheery as ever, the way her voice carried changing as she put the phone on speaker to get dressed.
“She sounds really cute. What’s her name?” Did he even think to ask her what her name was?
She should probably tell an adult where she was going, remembered how upset Uncle Shawn had been when she’d disappeared without saying anything before and didn’t want to be in trouble, but between promising to say hi to Maya’s kid, Maya’s, and needing to go rescue Lucas, she thought it would be okay.
***
Lucas didn't mind so much that Riley was laughing at him. This really wasn't the worst thing in the world, all things considered. "You really think it'll happen to him and Mom?" That would be good. Melinda had moved in after the whole weird week where he and Melinda had thought she'd married Cam. He was a little sad that they weren't getting married, but he was happy they were still a family.
"My name's Barbie!" she replied, chirping up to answer her Mommy's question. "Well," she said, frowning,"it's Barbara May, and Grammy Panga and Grammy Melinda say I shouldn't say Barbie 'til Barbies represent all sorts of women. But they're so pretty." It really was quite sad that she couldn't use her preferred nickname. Barbies were fun and had lots of friends, and she wanted that to hold true for her, too.
"Barbara's a pretty name," Lucas decided, kind of glad they'd picked something neutral. Her middle name could totally count for Melinda and Maya, which was great. He put his phone on speaker too, but he'd be okay in his flannel pants and tee. They'd have to go shopping for new clothes for their daughter, though.
"Thank you Daddy!" Barbie said, flinging herself around Lucas' neck to give him a big hug. He naturally hugged her back and held her so she wouldn't fall or anything. It did feel kind of nice. "Grammy and Grampy are definitely up. They were talking to Brayn, so I came up to look for you!"
Well, that answered that question.
***
“Barbara’s a very pretty name,” Riley agreed, equally chipper. Kids were so much fun. She didn’t always love what they represented when this happened, as if she’d lived it more than once, as if she’d even been that affected by it, but she loved getting to hang out and play with them.
“Ooh! Barbara! Do you know your cousin Matthew?” It would be really nice if she did. Having felt distant from her best friend for a while, Riley looked forward to a future where she and Maya raised their kids together.
***
Barbie squealed in delight when her Mommy complimented her name. She had the best name, it was true. She nodded at her Mommy's question and then realized that she was in the box and couldn't see her. "Yes! I know Matthew!" She made a face that made Lucas laugh. "Sometimes he's annoying, but mostly I let him play with my Barbies if he's nice to them. And we play with his toys too!"
Lucas had no idea who Matthew was, and it showed on his face. "Aunt Maya and Uncle Briar's son. He's only one year older than me!" She was kind of annoyed that he was older, but he also looked out for her sometimes, so she supposed it was okay.
"Maya and Briar have a son?" Well, at least Mr Hunter wasn't going to kill him. At least not first. That was definitely a good thing.
***
“Yep!” Riley didn’t know how she felt about that now, but one day in the future she could definitely imagine being so, so happy for her friend. “He’s here too! At our house. That’s good. They can play together.”
It was no surprise that her child and Maya’s got along. They never would have had it any other way. Riley and Maya were the very best of friends, the best who had ever lived; of course their children would be friends too. Even if they were a little different in age.
***
"How many kids are there do you think?" Lucas asked, almost absently. He was a little curious, but more so because it would probably cause a couple of problems here or there, depending on who had kids with who. He wondered if Cam and Melinda had a kid together, and then he wasn't sure where that would leave him, so he didn't bother thinking about it anymore.
"Hopefully lots of kids!" Barbie piped up. "I want to make lots of friends and we can play lots and it'll be so much fun!" She was grinning so broadly her cheeks were starting to hurt, so she tapped her cheeks with her hands. That totally helped with everything.
***
“Don’t know!” Riley chirped. “Last time there were a lot.” But not too many that they had to look after themselves, and so that was okay. “I’m sure there’s going to be lots again.”
She hoped so anyway. Like Barbie, she wanted for the little girl to make lots of friends and play lots and have fun. That was important for everyone, not just little girls. Riley wanted that for everyone she knew. Friends and fun and love.
***
Lucas gulped audibly. He didn't want there to be more kids, not for him, not for Riley, hopefully not for a lot of their friends. This could get super awkward really fast, knowing how Madison Valley liked to mess with all of them.
"Yay!" Barbie was at least super excited, so Lucas tried to focus on that. While his daughter jumped up and down excitedly, he took Riley off speakerphone.
"So, you're almost here, right?" He was definitely so far out of his depth. Lucas stood up and turned so his back was to his daughter, who was now jumping on the bed. "You don't have any other kids with you?" 'With anyone else' went unsaid, even though it was right there, plain as could be.
***
“I’m leaving right now.” She wasn’t that fast, and she was on foot; it was going to take a while. “No other kids though.”
Riley doubted there would be any more for her. She hoped not anyway. Nor should there be more for Lucas. It was okay if they had one together, they were together and that was hope that they’d stay together for a very long time. But for either of them to have kids with anyone else, that didn’t feel right.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. I promise. Just...keep her busy until I get there, okay?”
***
"That's good," he replied, not even capable of disguising the relief in his voice. Lucas did not want to deal with weird or complicated or anything else. "Yea, I'll keep her busy. We'll go see what's up with Cam and Melinda," he decided, because there was no way he wanted to be alone with Barbara any longer than he strictly had to be. "I'll see you soon." Lucas took his time hanging up and then took a deep, fortifying breath.
"Ready to go see Grandma and Grandpa?" he asked his future daughter.
"Grammy and Grampy, and don't forget Brayn!" Barbie chirped excitedly as she reached for her father's hand.
"Right," Lucas agreed, and although he was still nervous and uncertain about all of this, he could admit that it felt pretty okay to hold her hand as they headed downstairs. Maybe it wouldn't be all that bad.
***