Aramis is an alcoholic. Sorry. (amongthebravest) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-11-27 19:35:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, aramis, sharon carter |
Who: Aramis and Sharon Carter.
When: Thursday morning, Thanksgiving.
Where: Cafe.
What: Conversation.
Rating/Warnings: Low/Mentions of pregnancy.
Status: Complete.
Sharon was beside herself with worry. And confusion. She wasn’t sure she was strong enough to do the single mom thing, but she wasn’t sure that she could abort. And now that she was starting to think of the little baby growing inside her as a “he” or a “she”... she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to give him or her up for adoption. The crazy boyfriend bolted at the first sign of drama, so Sharon was on her own. She’d sort of been expecting it, though. He was a sociopath.
She had to tell Aramis, though. She had to talk to him about all of this, see what he thought. She had time to think about it, time to come to some sort of decision.
So she arrived to the cafe, got in line for a chamomile tea (oh, god, no caffeine? She was gonna die) and kept an eye out for the handsome man who was the father of her unborn child. Fucking weirdest Thanksgiving morning ever.
Hearing that Sharon wanted to meet had surprised Aramis a bit, given the day, but of course he was happy to oblige. While there was a lot to prep for the evening, Aramis was more concerned about desserts than anything and Porthos seemed more than happy to spend the day slaving away.
Still, he’d asked for them to meet earlier in the morning rather than later, and when he walked into the coffee shop he looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. He grabbed a coffee, loaded it with cream and sugar, and spotted Sharon. “Good morning. Happy Thanksgiving,” Aramis said, smiling as he sat.
“Good morning. Happy Thanksgiving,” Sharon responded, attempting a smile. She looked more put together today than she’d looked or felt the past week or so. At least she finally had a reason for why she felt so crappy. And that reason was what she wanted to talk to Aramis about.
No beating around the bush. She shifted in her seat as the smile faded, then she cleared her throat and said, “I’m pregnant.”
Fortunately, Aramis was schooled in the art of not flinching. He was mid-sip into his coffee, and he watched her over the edge of his cup until he set it back down.
“Congratulations,” he replied. There was a careful edge to his voice, though. Aramis was very good at picking up on situations without too many clues given to him.
"Congratulations to you, too." Sharon responded, quietly. She hoped that he could put two and two together on his own and figure it out without her having to say it. This was the part that made her the most nervous. She still hadn't decided what she wanted to do--how she wanted to handle things. She felt he had the right to know, too give input. They could talk about this like adults, right?
Aramis sucked in a breath and exhaled through his nose, dropping his hands to his lap. In his life, how many one night stands had he had? What were the chances that this one, this one, would result in this?
“Are you - It’s absolutely mine?” He had to ask. She did have a boyfriend, after all.
Sharon nodded. “I’m absolutely sure. You’re the only… in the last three months.” God, did that make her sound pathetic? How was he supposed to believe that? The idea that she was making her boyfriend wait for sex, that was just preposterous, wasn’t it? But it was the truth.
“I’m flattered.” Aramis raised his eyebrows and his head tilted a bit to the side. “I mean, I’m - Wow.” Unable to keep still, he brought up a hand to run through his hair. He was shocked, of course, but he wasn’t displeased. A small part of him felt almost excited. Aramis had toyed with the idea of having children before. Not so much toyed as much as knew he wanted them, but he never really suspected he’d be good at being a father. It was a pleasure he’d expected to be denied throughout life.
“Um. Is it … Is this just a courtesy? You telling me.” He supposed he shouldn’t get ahead of himself. Sharon might not even want him to be acknowledged as the father. “Because I understand if you and your boyfriend would rather just keep me out of the picture. I … I guess that’d make me a bit sad, though.”
“Oh, um.” Sharon’s cheeks went rather pink, and her face fell. “No. The boyfriend’s not in the picture anymore. He wasn’t all that happy about me being pregnant with someone else’s baby.” She started picking at the cardboard cuff on the cup on the tea. “Even if he was… I wouldn’t want to keep you out of the picture. I couldn’t … that’s not fair, is it?” She cleared her throat.
“I mean, I still haven’t decided what I’m going to do.”
His brow creased with a slight frown. He supposed it made sense. Aramis knew he'd be upset had he been in the man's shoes, but then he also figured he had a bit more compassion at the end of the day.
"Of course. If you - If I can do anything, just ask. I'll do anything you need from me." Though Aramis wouldn't hold Sharon's ultimate choice against her. "And I'm sorry." A pause. "And ... I'll need to tell Porthos. If that's fine with you." Aramis was already dreading that conversation.
Sharon thought about that for a moment, then chose her words very carefully. “...we can keep this between us. If you don’t want to be a father. I’m not sure I can do this on my own, and… well, I don’t want to cause problems with Porthos.” She swallowed. Just the idea of aborting the pregnancy made her chest hurt. She wanted to have this baby. She wanted to share parenting responsibilities with Aramis, and for it not to ruin things with Porthos. She was just scared.
It was a tough stop to be in. Aramis knew that for all he felt nervous or scared, Sharon felt it worse, and he looked at his coffee. God, he figured, worked in mysterious ways and this wouldn't have happened if it wasn't meant to.
"Porthos is ... Whatever happens, happens." Though he believed that somehow Porthos would embrace this situation as much as any man could. "This is more important. I trust his discretion. I'll tell him and know that he won't say anything. Then whatever happens there is out of our hands."
Sharon nodded. Now that she didn’t have a boyfriend to worry about, she was worried about his. Porthos worked with them, things were going to be awkward no matter what, but she trusted that Aramis knew what he was doing. As well as he could in such a weird circumstance, anyway.
She paused for a long moment, looking down at his chest. The buttons or design on his shirt. Whatever. She felt bad about putting all of this on him right before Thanksgiving, but that’s the way it went sometimes. “...what do you think I should do? We should do?” She meant about the baby. Did he want to keep it? To be a father? Or did he simply want it to go away?
After a moment, Aramis reached across the table to touch Sharon’s arm. He felt like she needed it right now. “I think you should do what you feel is right.” It was easier to handle the news, at least at the moment, when he felt like he had to be some strength for her.
“We can look at this as a problem, and we can deal with it like a problem, or we can look at this like something exciting. We’ve got a blessing or a curse, and I’d rather like to believe in blessings rather than curses.”
Aramis was right. Sharon needed the support right now. More than anything. Actually, more than anything, she wanted someone to wrap his or her arms around her and tell her that everything was going to be okay. That’s what she wanted. She attempted a smile at the hand to her arm. It was tired, but genuine.
That and to not have to make this decision on her own. Though, if she was completely honest with herself, she’d already made up her mind.
“I like to believe that babies are blessings. But we’re not married. I’m not even… you’ve got Porthos. It would be unconventional at best.” Sharon said. “But if you want to do this--if you want to be a father, and have this baby together… nothing would make me happier.”
“I gave up trying to be conventional a long time ago,” he replied, his lips quirking up in a slight smile. “And I’m a terrible Catholic. I think my mother will just be happy I have a bit of stability suddenly in my life.” Obviously he was teasing. More or less. He gave Sharon’s arm a firm but gentle squeeze.
“So I guess we’re doing this. Porthos is … Well. Either he can be happy for us, and he can understand my decision, or he can’t. And if he can’t then I suppose it wasn’t meant to be.”
Sharon’s smile spread a bit, and though it was still a little tired and sick it was genuine. She was comforted by his smile and the squeeze to her arm. “That’s me. Sudden stability.” And then she nodded once. “I hope it’s the former. I don’t want to cause problems between you and him.”
“Don’t even worry about it. Really.” Aramis was nervous about it, though. He did a good job at hiding it, but he knew that Porthos was going to be at least a bit upset. Aramis took another drink from his coffee.
“Are you busy tomorrow? We’re making enough food to feed the entire United States’ Army. I can bring you some leftovers and some pie, if you’d like.”
“I can’t say no to free food,” Sharon kidded, grinning softly. “Especially when it’s you and Porthos’ cooking. I’m headed over to Veronica’s Dad’s place for dinner tonight, not sure how much leftovers there’s gonna be.” She was visibly a bit more relaxed now. She knew what she was going to do now, and having Aramis’ support and excitement to back her up was such a relief.
“Are you going to tell him tonight?” She shouldn’t ask. It wasn’t really her business. But Aramis’ happiness was now entwined with her life. Permanently. They made a child together. At least, the beginnings of one.
He nodded, glad that she had a place to go - though he wasn’t sure he could invite her to come over to share in theirs. It wasn’t that he didn’t think she should, but it would be a lot for both of them, and the elephant in the room would be absurd. At her question, Aramis hid behind his coffee a little.
“I - … No.” He shook his head. “Not tonight. Tomorrow. I can’t … I need to wrap my head around it, still, a bit, you know? And I don’t want to - Not ruin it, of course this doesn’t ruin it. Porthos hasn’t had a lot of chances in his life to have a real holiday experience. Today is for him, and tomorrow I’ll tell him.” Because Aramis would have to tell him. There was no getting around it this time.
“There’s no rush,” Sharon said, shaking her head. She looked nervous, mostly for him. “I mean, I’m only six weeks in. Really early. The chances of miscarriage drop at the second trimester, so… I’d prefer to keep things quiet until twelve weeks. Not that you shouldn’t tell him until then, I just… there’s no rush,” she repeated.
“The longer I wait, the more upset he’ll be. Not at the situation,” Aramis clarified, not wanting her to worry, “but at me not telling him. It’s just … If he - He’s going to be a part of the child’s life, isn’t he? He should know. He’ll be fine.”
“Okay.” Along with her worry that this news was going to cause problems between Aramis and Porthos, she was terrified that he, Porthos, was going to hate her for it. Sharon had no interest in Aramis that way, but now they had something that tied them together for the rest of their lives. “You’re right. I guess I’d be upset the longer it took to find out news like this.”
“Better to just get it over and done with.” Aramis put on another smile. He finished his coffee and checked his watch. “I … Should probably get going. Lots of pies and side dishes to prep, you know.”
“Yes, right. Sorry.” She hadn’t meant to keep him so long. “I should get going, I’m driving up to Malibu.” She stood and picked up her own tea cup. “But I’ll see you sometime tomorrow? I’ll be packing, so I’m home all day.”
Aramis stood as well, and stepped around the table to pull Sharon into a hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Remember, if you ever need anything, I’m here. I want to know everything that happens.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek, friendly in the gesture, and stopped to grab two more coffees before heading back home.