terribly sorry, officer (baelfiery) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-11-05 21:08:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, lina inverse, neal cassidy (baelfire) |
Who: Neal and Lina
What: There's important news to share
When: Tonight?
Where: Lina and Pete's townhouse
Rating/Warnings: It's low, just lots of FEELS and pregnancy hormones
Status: Complete
If there was ever a real-life example of the definition of deja vu, Neal was experiencing it now. Seemed like not too long ago, Lina had shown up at his place - fresh from a life changing trip to New Orleans, armed with souvenirs and one very important cheesy component announcing her pregnancy in a subtle way - to give him good news. Took a minute to click, but Neal couldn’t even describe the happiness he felt for her; she was like a sister to him, was family (no questions about it) despite not being related by blood, and he knew that she’d be a great mom when she finally popped out that mini-human. She was already doing great, taking care of herself, and she was happy from what he could tell - maybe all the puking and sore breasts and hormone changes weren’t fun, but the miracle of life was some amazing shit. Now, to add to that? Emma was pregnant too, something that had been revealed amidst a flowing river of bittersweet tears. Only a month or so behind Lina - it was kind of excellent timing, because now their kids would be close in age. She was a good aunt figure for Henry and with the addition of two other babies, they’d just be one big dysfunction-junction family. There was nothing he wanted more, honestly. He showed up at her and Pete’s place one day after work, arriving fresh from a shower and going through Regina’s supply orders, invoices, and updating all her specially color-coded spreadsheets (he still was the only one who knew how she liked them). With him, he had a gift bag of some presents he brought back from him and Emma’s beach trip to celebrate her birthday, and also one extra important item. Also cheesy, sure, but Lina’s newborn would grow into that onesie and neither of them really cared about boy-girl colors. Blue worked for everyone and everything, in his opinion. Handles of the bag over his wrist, he knocked patiently on the door. Naps. Glorious, glorious naps. It was a regular thing ingrained in her routine now, especially after work - which is why she had her heels on still, face planted into the throw pillow on the couch with a liiiiittle bit of drool, Guess curled up beside her (because all cats do is sleep and be dicks, let’s be real), and snoooooore. Keeping her eyes open at work was tough enough, a short slumber also had a habit of easing random mood swings that reared its ugly head every now and again, and evening naps were officially her favorite part of the fucking day. It used to be breakfast, lunch and dinner but the little chimichanga baking in the oven wasn’t agreeing to her usual food choices. Bummer. But the second trimester was in the horizon - the beginning symptoms should ease, hopefully bringing the barfing to an end. Neal’s arrival coincided with the time she should be waking up (though it didn’t mean she necessarily wanted to), and she awoke with a groggy whine. Pete was - wait, where was Pete? Did he tell her where he was going? Was that dream sequence he had about almost hitting him in the face because she was trying to sleep actually not a dream? Uhhhh… Well, damn. Hair still a frazzled mess, crimson eyes still sleepy, she rose from the warmth of the sofa to the door, cracking it open, all crankyfaced until she registered who it was. “Oh, heeeey,” Lina’s voice was thick with sleep, and she opened the door wider to grant him access. “Come in, come in. Good timing. I needed to be woken up anyway.” Damn, it was like a zombie-walk in here. Neal chuckled, giving Lina’s bedhead an affectionate ruffle as he headed into the townhouse. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt your slumber. Get a good nap in?” he asked, then went to set the gift bag on the coffee table - the onesie was folded on the bottom, but on top there were a couple of fun things (and useful, he hoped). A handmade, stoneware coffee mug he’d gotten from a market nearby (for Lina’s decaf coffee and/or healthy tea) and also a pretty set of soothing wind chimes - maybe if she hung them up near the window it’d help her sleep, when the rotundness got to be a little much in later months of the pregnancy. “Just wanted to drop off some presents from the beach trip. It was pretty awesome to get away, even for a weekend. But we got in some good time at the local markets and craft places or whatever. Built a sand castle or two, baked a cake.” Had a lot of sex, really, but what else would you do on vacation? Especially a birthday getaway? Oh, fuck it. It was Neal, her hair didn’t need to be in pristine condition - though she did comb her fingers through the curls and waves to tame the wildfires, for her own peace of mind. “Presents, you say? Magical words there, Cassidy,” she grinned wide. “But before we sit and you can tell me all the PG-13 details of your trip, you want a drink? There’s still alcohol in here for Pete’s sanity, but everything else is water, milk, and sweet tea.” It’d be rude not to play hostess! Plus she was thirsty - and here was an itty-bitty sonogram picture magneted to the fridge from the previous doctor’s visit (her least favorite part of the entire thing, she just never liked the sanitizer smell a doc’s office had). Demon baby was still very much bean-sized but there. Even had an arrow pointed at it that said ‘baby.’ Lina would have to show it to him; it was cute. Neal felt kind of bad about chugging alcohol in front of Lina (he assumed Pete did too), so he assured her, “Sweet tea sounds great, actually.” Though he did follow her into the kitchen, casually, without hovering - which meant that he saw the picture on the fridge and broke into one of those blinding smiles of his. “No way, that’s the Mexican eggroll?” he asked, stepping closer to get a better look - of course it was fuzzy, not like Baby Ifraimov-Wisdom would be perfectly photogenic at the size of a bean, but still. He’d never really seen anything like it before, not in person, not a good friend friend. Or himself. One of the best (and most bittersweet, knowing he’d missed it all before) aspects of having a baby now too was that he’d get to be with Emma throughout everything. Lina wasn’t the lush she used to be but goddamn, did she miss having a beer or a sip of liquor here and there. No more nights of drunken debauchery, no more killing her diet with all things terrible to the cholesterol. No more Shagmobile, no more getting into adrenaline-pumping situations (which was the hardest thing to surrender; she was a trouble magnet, she liked the rush of excitement), no more actions based on impulse - which meant the pranks that could potentially piss off an entire county needed to stop, sadly. Parenthood meant sacrifice, and as the one birthing the damn spawn, she was forced to give up a lot. Which was fine, really. She wanted this. The transition was just...a challenging adjustment, one that sometimes brought frustration. “You start calling the baby that when it’s out of the womb and it’ll be really confused on its ethnicity,” she giggle-snorted, slipping the square photo of the inside of her womb and handing it over. In between that, she grabbed dumped ice in two glasses, poured the tea and handed him his drink. “But that’s it, yeah. Already into the third month. We’ll tell people soon, I think.” Keeping it from Romany was killing her, considering Pete’s sister also lived in the area and how could she not want to tell one of the aunts? Patience, though. A sip of her drink was taken before motioning her head back into the living room. “Mmm, anyway, I wanna see what you got me. Bringing each other presents after trips is gonna be a thing, isn’t it?” “Three months already, huh?” Neal whistled - man, time flew when you were having fun. Or having a baby. He hoped that the general unpleasantness passed for Lina soon - pregnant women were supposed to have that glow, right? It was about ninety percent ‘I hate my life and what this is doing to my body’ and ten percent ‘I feel so voluptuous and sexy and maternal now,’ he gathered. Emma was about six weeks along, so still very early - they recently had an appointment with the doctor to make sure everything was going fine and Neal was nervous. Happy too, but definitely nervous. He sipped from the glass of sweet tea, enjoying something refreshing. Better than alcohol, which just dried you out - and of course he’d be cutting back too, all for Emma’s sake and in a show of support. “I haven’t told anyone, kept the secret, but did I mention I’m excited for you?” Back to the living room, and he plopped down on the sofa. “Basically, yeah, expect trip presents everytime I go somewhere. Which really isn’t that often, come to think of it.” “Ten weeks, technically, and you have - I’m happy to make you an uncle,” she chuckled against the rim of the glass, passing a fond glance to the little picture that was all darkness and white fuzzies; seeing that is what made things extra real. Made the whole ‘barfing my guts out every morning’ aspect of it worth it. Anyway, to the couch - she slipped into the spot next to him, heels kicked off, feet tucked beneath her, and she snatched the giftbag to sift through it. Stoneware mug first! Lina twirled it in her hands appreciatively. “Awww, it’s for all the stinky hot teas Pete hates,” she mused. Lack of excessive caffeine is also what probably had her tired. And cranky. All those energy drinks were also removed from her daily routine, siiiigh. Then the chimes, which were pretty, and she was about to make a comment about them until her hands found something soft, like - A onesie? Is that what it was? It was so little! It was somewhat of a secret that she’d been already online shopping for baby attire (the tiny shoes, good god), she hadn’t bought any yet, but it was surreal to see how little it was in her hands. So fucking itty-bitty. There might have been an ‘awwww’ that was softly squeaked out, an expression of excitement. “Baby’s first onesie,” she gushed. And then she observed the writing. Cue in some confusion. “Is this about Henry?” She and Neal were siblings at heart - no surprise her kid and his would be cousins, but something about the way this was presented meant another meaning. Hell, it was the same way she announced to Neal that - Oh. “Wait. Waitwaitwaitwaaait. Is this--?” No one could resist the adorable allure of baby clothes. Just how fucking small they were - small things were cuter for some reason (see: Lina) and don’t even get Neal started on the baby shoes and the baby socks. The socks. They could fit over his thumb, and were supposed to slip on a tiny baby foot, it was unreal. But moving along, he focused on Lina’s hilarious confusion - now the tides had turned, right? Before, he was the one firing brain cells to put it all together. “Could be about Henry, but in this case it’s not,” he grinned. “Remember when you told me you were pregnant and then I said you were going to jinx me? About...similar things?” He’d just let her take it from there. “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Words usually uttered in rage, but oh, it was far from that - it was screeching excitement that caused Guess to dart upstairs in fear, an inhuman and enthused squeal that followed, and an (affectionate) assault with a throw pillow - all before she (finally) did the normal thing and embraced Nealbear, her arms small but fuck were they fierce. And likely felt more like strangulation than a hug, but don’t hold it against her, she was very much the definition of excitable. Eventually the grip loosened. Somewhat. Because was she understanding right? “You’re gonna be a daddy? Again? And know about it?” And be there and do everything he always wanted to do, everything he always missed out on? Holy fuck, was that not the best news she had ever heard!? “Neal, you were made for this! How far is she? Is she okay?” Maybe he’d talk better if you weren’t squishing his cheeks, Lina, but that was neither here nor there... Neal was pretty certain he’d seen Lina strangle someone once or twice, back in their days of criminality, but this was an overload of love and affection which he’d gladly take. All while jokingly gasping for air, yet he hugged her back anyway. It was a proud, happy moment to share with someone who was a member of his family that put the ‘fun’ in dysfunctional. “Mmmhmm,” he hummed, and that was all he could merrily do while he was being cheek-assaulted. Oh, good, yes - blessed oxygen, he’d take it. “I’m gonna be a daddy, again, and this time I’m going to hover obnoxiously until Emma tells me to fuck off,” he said, sounding cheerful. How could he not be? It was the best news ever. “She’s good though, she’s good. Judging by how, uh, late she is...she thinks she’s about six weeks pregnant? She peed on two sticks, both were positive. I’ll definitely update you more though.” That was a promise he’d for sure keep. “I’m so stupidly happy for you,” she told him, all cheeky smiles and full-blown ecstatic honesty, because she knew how much he had wanted this. Fatherhood was ingrained into his very bone, his instincts were so high that he was willing to travel across the country on a hunch for a boy he didn’t even know was actually his flesh and blood. And to have this, after his dreams led him to basically being six feet below ground? No, the glassy-eyed look was a total trick of the light, you shut the fuck up. Time for Lina to fully release him and give him space. Hands excitedly clapped together, her loot of presents all nestled in her lap. “Promise you’ll let me know how it goes? And you know what this means, right? Our little chimichangas are gonna grow up together. How fucking adult are we?” Damnit, they both got a little overcome in these types of situations, didn’t they? Well, Neal because he had dust in his eye (and was going to be a father again), and Lina because...hormones. But, hey. Ain’t too proud to be ejaculating from the eyes just a little. It was more misty than anything else. “I promise,” he assured her. “Our chimi’s will be really close in age, so they might just have to be best friends by default. We’ll have dysfunctional Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday dinners together and shit. It’s crazy though, right?” He swiped at some moisture, squeezing the bridge of his nose, nope, not at all choked up! “Seemed like not too long ago we were scrambling to get our lives together and now there’s this. There are babies.” Sunrise, sunset and all that. “Good timing, busting a nut in her,” smirked the redhead, knuckles hitting his arm in jest. A little joke to break through the sappy sentimentality of it. Her hormones were a mess, Lina didn’t often get teary eyed, but nowadays she really didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. “So what’s the plan for you guys? Who’ve you told? Does Henry know?” Him and Emma, they already had a family going on. Son, the dogs, a madhouse of testosterone (filled with smelly boy flatulence, she was sure). They had a couple more things to juggle than she and Pete did, though she liked the idea of having someone else go through the same motions of childbearing - meant that they could complain about their feet together in the future, when their stomachs were the size of watermelons. “Just told you so far,” Neal laughed, especially at the busting a nut reference. How eloquent, yet true. According to his calculations, the baby was likely conceived around the time he got his dick back after the oh-so-hilarious genderswap. Having sex with those returned parts was a good way to celebrate, no? “We’ll tell Regina and Mary Margaret too but for everyone else I think we’re going to wait for a little while, after things are just...safer? After those crucial weeks pass.” He would be far less anxious once Emma entered the second trimester, but overall really thrilled to be around for everything - even scary mood swings, cravings, and soreness, massaging those tired feet when they were carrying wide loads. “Though we’ll also tell Henry soon, before everyone else, I don’t think we can keep it from him for very long. Since his birthday is coming up, we’ll have to do something extra nice for him too - you know, so he doesn’t feel left out or anything.” The kid would be turning twelve, so older and somewhat mature, and he’d probably be looking forward to being a protective big brother - but just in case. Neal wanted him to feel just as loved too. “I know you’re not the pregnant one, but you’re pretty much glowing,” she snickered, elbow propped against the couch, temple pressed against her hand. Waiting was good though - that’s what she and Pete were still doing, though it was safe to say he was the more cautious one of the two. “Henry’s gonna be an awesome big brother, I’m sure. Hell, he adjusted to this place and everything that’s come with it just fine - brotherhood should be cakewalk.” Though with siblings sometimes came some complications (her relationship with her sister was both solid with love and filled with a lot of dislike for one another), but she couldn’t imagine Henry being anything otherwise. And both Neal and Emma were good influences, it’d all be fine. “Your lady okay with being congratulated this early on? I figured since we’ll both sharing the woes and joys of baby carrying, it’d be nice to bond over sore boobs and the vomiting.” Right, sore boobs and vomiting. All the fun stuff. “Nah, go ahead, she knew I was going to tell you,” Neal promised. “I think she’ll like having someone to share all the experiences with too. Especially now. Before, she just...was alone.” And that had to have been scary as fuck, for a young and very pregnant woman. Neal felt a twist in his gut at everything, in fact, but he was here and that was what mattered. No way would he be anything less. “Maybe later you can even register at the same place or whatever. We’ll do a baby shower. Gifts and people cooing over how tiny the socks are.” Really though! How fucking amazing was that?? “She’ll be far from alone here,” Lina assured, ticklishly poking at his side to pep him up a teeny bit. It segued into some guilt he had for not being there the first time - and how that situation panned out wasn’t anyone’s fault - but he was here, both of them surrounded by people that cared, and there was nothing better than a second chance to gain what had been lost. “We’ll have a preggo support group; she and I can bitch about our ribs being kicked, you and Pete can stress about the complications of crib building, and soon the four of us will mourn the loss of our precious sleep.” Crazy months were ahead, no doubt about that, but it was nice going through it with someone else, too - didn’t make her feel so lost sometimes. All she knew was she already had some weird unconditional motherly love for a faceless bean in her belly, but as far as how to install a car seat, how to change a diaper, all the technicalities of it, Lina had no fucking clue. She’d learn. Hell, they’d all figure it out at some point, no need to stress too much about it, right? Fuck, she could use a beer. |