past_regret (past_regret) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-11-03 08:59:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, athos, sharon carter |
Who: Sharon Carter and Athos
When: Late October
Where: The Agency
What: Back to work after Sharon's Maternity Leave
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
Sharon was glad to be back at work. Now that Viv was three months old, she was up at her job again, going through all the paperwork that had piled up. Thankfully, The Agency had a great child care center, and Viv was allowed to stay on premises with the attendant--so that Sharon could go and nurse her throughout the day, check in on her newborn. Not that Viv was much of a newborn anymore.
Walking back to her desk with a mug full of hot coffee, Sharon smiled and greeted her coworkers as she passed by.
Athos was pleased to see Sharon back, even if he wouldn’t have blamed her for taking more time off. Babies were babies after all but then the child care was a good thing here. And he had heard that new parents could go mad without other adult interaction.
Wandering over he placed a cookie on her desk, “Welcome back” he said with a nod.
Babies were babies for such a short amount of time. Sharon was loathe to miss any of Viv’s early milestones… but The Agency had set it up so that her return to work would be as smooth and seamless as possible. And she was still able to spend time with her daughter. It was great.
“Athos!” Sharon said, and pulled up from her desk chair to give him a hug. “Hi! Thank you. Oh, thank you for the cookie!”
Having the best of both worlds if possible was pretty much the answer so Athos was glad the Agency had been able to help her out. It wasn’t always easy for new moms.
He returned the hug more easily than he used to, D’Artagnan had a lot to do with that, and smiled at her, “You’re welcome. I’m glad to see you back, we’ve all missed you around here”
“I’ve missed you guys, too! I’ve missed work. And having conversations with people who actually speak English.” Sharon said, grinning brightly. She moved to sit back down, motioning for him to take the seat opposite hers. “Really, thanks for the cookie. My tummy was rumbling.” She reached for it and took a nibble.
“I've heard that can happen” he told her with a smile, sitting on the edge of her desk, “You’re welcome. I will happily supply baked goods”
“So, catch me up on everything,” Sharon said, smiling over at her friend. “How beautiful was it?” The wedding that she missed. “How much did Aramis cry?” She couldn’t help but beam at her friend’s happiness. Athos and D’Art made a wonderful couple. And the four of them together must have been magic.
“It was perfect. D’Artagnan was surprised but very happily so and the whole day was a bit of a happy blur to be honest” Athos admitted before grinning, “Oh floods of tears. Like a big baby” he joked, though in truth they had all been quite emotional.
“Aww,” Sharon smiled happily over at her friend. “I hope you got lots of pictures. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t be there for you both. I wanted so much to celebrate with you.” She reached forward and took hold of his hand for a quick squeeze, then released it. “You must just… be walking on air right now.”
“We have plenty of pictures, don’t worry I can bore you to death with them at some point” he promised her, “You were missed but we knew you were with us in thought” he squeezed her hand in return. “Yeah, I have to admit I didn’t think I’d feel much different but I sort of do. It’s hard to explain”
Sharon chuckled softly. “I’d love to be bored to death with beautiful pictures.” She assured him. “I can only imagine. I’m sure it’s wonderful, though. I’m so happy for you. You and D’Art both.” She smiled warmly. “Maybe I’ll get to go through it one day.”
“Then we’ll make it happen” he said, D’Artagnan had taken some beautiful shots and Athos was rather proud of his husband. “I am sure you will. I can’t imagine all the men in the world are blind and stupid” Because Sharon was a lovely person as well as pretty and she’d be snapped up when the right guy came along.
Sharon flushed at his compliment, and smiled a little shyly. She had to come to grips with her new life, and figure out how to fit another person into it. She was feeling a bit on the lonely side--even though she had Aramis and Porthos as her daughter’s dads, and she had Logan, Veronica, Leon, Athos and D’Artangan as friends, and Peggy as her cousin… she didn’t have someone to cuddle with at night. Now that Viv was getting bigger and sleeping in her own crib…
“You’re really kind, Athos. I just… come with a lot of baggage.” She wasn’t expecting anything. Actually, she was pretty convinced she was gonna be alone for a long time. If not forever.
Athos knew it must be hard though he was sure he didn’t know the half of it, Sharon’s life had changed completely and that would be difficult for anybody to deal with. But she had a lot to offer and a big heart full of love to share.
“The right guy won’t mind the baggage” he told her kindly and honestly, “We all have varying degrees of it anyway”
“Well, that’s true.” She gave him a tired smile. Sharon wasn’t convinced it was ever going to happen for her. Not anymore. But she wouldn’t turn away if it did. Sharon was a bit of a romantic at heart. She nodded. “It was a good cookie. Thanks again.”
“Anytime” he said, “I’ll let you get back to work. Let me know if you need anything” he added.
“I will. And you do the same.” Sharon nodded once, then turned back to her paperwork. She was working on getting back into the swing of things, and that, unfortunately, required paperwork.