WHO: Thomas and Nerd Subculture {Serenity} WHAT: A Talk about parenting WHEN: Backdated to yesterday WHERE: Thomas' hospital room WARNINGS: I am really tired so this will be short and shit.
Thomas had asked Serenity to visit him, though he was still surprised when she actually showed up, poking her head around the door to his room. If he was honest, he still expected her to disappear again. It was probably some form of self-protection, so that if she actually did leave, he wouldn't have his heart broken a second time. Sure, he wasn't in love with her any more, but there was a part of his life that belonged to her. She was the mother of his child. He wanted her around so much it was scary.
"Hey- Jesus, Tommy," Serenity frowned as she entered the room more fully and went to sit beside his bed. "You- You look like-"
"Shit, I know," Thomas nodded. He was still in a great deal of pain and to make matters worse, he seemed to have gotten a cold somewhere along the line. He felt miserable and scared knowing there was something wrong with his brain. Something he might not recover from. Sure he was young and healthy and the odds were in his favour, but not completely. It was still brain surgery. It was still serious. "I feel...numb and horrible and sick and upset all at once," he admitted. "And I need to talk to you."
"Okay?" she asked, the frown now seemingly a permanent feature on her face.
"I don't know-" How the hell should he start this? "Look, I don't know if I'm going to come through this, okay? I mean I should, but things happen and... I don't want Jamie to just be alone. He's had me his entire life. I need to know if things go badly, you'll at least try to be there for him? You don't have to pretend to be anything you're not. He'll understand if being there just means being a friend. Just...please."
Serenity shifted in her chair, clearly uncomfortable. Thomas knew she wasn't motherly. She had made that readily apparent when she had ditched them the day her child was born. He just hoped she wouldn't disappoint him twice. "Thomas, you're going to be fine."
"Serenity, this isn't about me," he said firmly. "Whether I am or I'm not, I need to know Jamie will be okay. Also...look he'll need financial support too. He wants to be an artist and I don't know how much money that will bring it, at least at first. I've been trying to set up an emergency fund for him, just in case. Knowing he won't go without anything he needs...I just really need to know that."
That, at least, was something Serenity could do easily. "Of course, Thomas. That's not a problem. I'll make sure he's comfortable." She groaned and ran her fingers through her hair. "Look, I'll try my best to be there for him if this goes tits up. And I'll probably fuck it up, but I'll give it a shot, okay? He's a good kid. I like him."
Thomas chuckled at that. "Well, he's incredibly likeable. He's the best person I know and he deserves to be happy. I just...I want to know he'll have people there for him. People who won't leave, no matter what. Do you understand? He shouldn't lose both his parents. Especially not after finally having both of them."
"I won't disappear," she promised. "And I know you might not necessarily believe that right now and I can't blame you. But I won't. And there's Joss too. Joss loves family and he'll be really excited to have Jamie around. He'll have people who won't leave."
He took a deep breath and smiled at her. "Doesn't matter if I believe it. I have to. Thank you, Serenity. It's one less thing to freak out about. I appreciate it. And I'm really glad to have you back. Just...in case it's my last chance to say that."
"You need to stop being fatalistic," she informed him with an arched brow.
"Sort of hard not to be," he said with a shrug. "But I can feign optimism. Want to watch some bad hospital television? I think Days of Our Lives is on."