Who: Leon Orcott and Sharon Carter When: Today! Where: New York! What: Visiting Chris Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
It was one of those trips where everything seemed to go wrong. The people on the plane had commented on what a beautiful daughter Leon and Sharon had, which Leon obviously had to refute because he didn’t have any daughter and he wasn’t planning on having one any time soon. Perhap he had protested a tad too vehemently, because the flight attendants seemed to give him the cold shoulder after that and he hadn’t even been able to flag them down for a third beer.
When they checked into the hotel room, they’d discovered that, instead of giving them two twin beds like they had requested, instead they were stuck with one queen bed. Leon had immediately offered to give the bed to Sharon and Viv and take the floor instead, though he wasn’t entirely happy with the arrangement in general.
But despite all of that, Leon couldn’t help but be in a great mood. He hadn’t seen Chris in months, and he was excited to get to spend some time with his kid brother again. He knew that Sharon had felt the same. Leon had originally been thinking of asking if Chris wanted to stay at the hotel with them - he’d even made sure to book a hotel with a waterslide for that express purpose - but with only one bed and already two-and-a-half people in the room, Leon wasn’t sure if that was the greatest idea anymore. Still, it didn’t mean that he couldn’t still spend every day with Chris.
The house the cab driver pulled in front of was every but the perfect American home. A perfectly manicured lawn surrounded by a white picket fence, a vibrant flower garden under the windows. The house itself was two stories, painted white, and while the owners of the house were not likely to be millionaires, it was still fairly obvious that they were well off. The house always made Leon feel a little uncomfortable, though he was glad that Chris was being brought up in such a nice place.
“How excited do you think Chris will be to see us?” Leon said, after he’d paid the cabby and got out of the car.
Sharon was able to brush off most of the stress of the travel (with Viv freaking out a bit in the plane, having to nurse the baby under a blanket in the middle seat on a plane was ridiculous, adding in that she kept banging her elbow into Leon’s only made things worse) and laughed off the comments about how they made a beautiful family. Watching Leon go red and protest too much was also quite amusing. Poor Leon. Though it was a little weird for two unrelated people to be traveling together like this. They weren’t on a work trip, they weren’t in a relationship… it was just two best friends on an adventure together. People didn’t seem to comprehend, and it would take too long to explain over and over. So, Sharon gave up trying.
Then the hotel. And Jeez, one bed? At least they had the portable crib, so Viv would have a comfy place to sleep. Sharon was going to insist they take turns. Friday night she’d take the bed, Saturday Leon could have it, etc. Sharon wouldn’t mind if Chris wanted to come and sleep over with them. There was a sofa thingy. And the floor. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d cuddled up with the kid, either, if they wanted to share the bed. (Honestly, Sharon and Leon were two grown adults. They could share a bed without it being weird. Right?)
“Oh my God, he’s gonna freak.” Sharon said, pulling the carseat out of the cab. She’d picked up on Leon’s enthusiasm, and was wearing a bright smile herself. Viv had fallen asleep on the way, and she wasn’t about to wake the baby for this. “I can’t wait to see him.”
Leon gave an honest attempt to temper his smile before he started up the walkway, but he soon decided it was a futile effort. Besides, why would he bother to hide it? It was a beautiful day, with the sun shining and the birds singing from their perches in the trees. He was in New York and for the first time in a long time he didn’t need to worry about getting phone calls in the middle of the night about a murder. It was just four days of spending Memorial Day with his little brother.
He rang the bell, and after a couple of moments, Josie, Chris’ eighteen year old sister, came to the door. “Leon!” she gasped when she saw him, and after the intial surprise wore off, she broke into a smile. “I don’t think we were expecting you! Or your… girlfriend? Is this Peggy?” she asked, turning toward Sharon. Leon wondered how Josie knew about Peggy, but then he remembered that he had mentioned her to Chris once when Chris had asked him if he had a girlfriend yet (at the time, Chris had had a girlfriend named Sophie, but they’d broken up only two weeks later).
“She’s not my-” Leon started, his voice raised, and though he realized that it wasn’t something worth yelling about. “I wish everyone would stop assuming that.”
But Leon’s voice had attracted someone else’s attention, and from within the house the sound of a child’s feet rushing down the stairs could be heard. Chris skidded into the front hallway, and gazed at Leon, eyes wide.
“Big Brother!” Chris exclaimed, and then threw himself into Leon’s arms, who lifted him up and spun him around once before setting the boy’s feet back on the ground. “Holy crap Chris, you’ve gotten big.”
Poor Sharon. Leon kept protesting, kept arguing, like the idea of Sharon being his girlfriend was a ridiculous one. It'd been amusing at first, when Leon protested in disgust. Then it'd been a little insulting. Now Sharon was used to it. She got it.
When Leon started to correct the girl--Chris's fake sister, Sharon assumed--about their relationship, something that Sharon had completely given up doing, Sharon leaned forward to introduce herself. "I'm Sharon. Not Peggy." She said, and held out a hand to the girl. "Just a friend of Leon and Chris's." She shook hands with the girl, but then...
Sharon brightened considerably at the sight of Chris on the other side of the door. She laughed and clapped her hands (having set down Viv in her carseat in a safe place slightly out of the way). "Oh my god. Look at you!" She stepped forward to push Leon out of the way and steal a hug from Chris herself.
Had Leon known he was insulting Sharon, he would have stopped. Unfortunately, Leon very rarely paid attention to how his attitude affected other people. He hugged Chris until Sharon spoke, and then Chris looked up as if he had just noticed her. He pulled himself away from Leon as quickly as he could, and then threw himself at Sharon. “Sharon! Hi!” Chris said, wrapping his arms around Sharon’s waist instead. Leon watched them fondly, not the least bit insulted that he’d apparently been cast away.
“Oh, Sharon!” Josie exclaimed. “Chris has said so much about you. So then, that must be Viv,” she said cheerfully, stealing a glance at the sleeping baby. “I think Mom and Dad will be really happy to finally get to meet you.”
Chris and Sharon seemed to have the same idea about shoving Leon out of the way so they could embrace. Of course Leon went first, but Sharon got a hug filled with the warmth that came from her close relationship with the boy. She ran her hand over his hair in a very matronly way. She almost felt like crying. It'd been so long since she'd had a Chris Hug! "How are you?"
She turned to look at the sister, and nodded, beaming brightly. "Has he? Have you?" She asked, turning to Chris. Then back to the sister and Viv. "Oh, yes. This is Viv. She fell asleep in the car on the way here. I’ll be happy to meet them, too!"
“I’m great!” Chris said cheerfully. “School’s almost over, and I’m really excited for summer vacation! I mean, I like school, but it sure seems like summer vacation is still really far away.”
Chris blushed a little when Josie mentioned how much he talked about Sharon, and it was Josie who answered her. “He did. You were one of his favourite people in California. Why don’t you three come in?” she said, stepping away from the door. Leon walked through the door.
Sharon refrained from asking Chris how his grades were doing. She knew he was a smart kid, but she didn't want to put too much pressure on him where his grades were concerned. Grades weren't everything. Just seeing the grin on his face made Sharon grin even more. "You'll get there. Try to enjoy the days you've got. It's gonna go really fast."
She reached over and ruffled Chris's hair, then wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "He's one of my favorite people ever." Then she grabbed Viv's chair, and followed Leon through the door into the house.
Chris was more than happy to walk into the house alongside Sharon, and he lead her and Leon into the living room, while Josie went to the backyard to fetch their parents and other sister.
“How long are you guys staying?” asked Chris excitedly. “And were you staying here, or are you staying somewhere else? I wasn’t expecting to see you guys!”
Sharon walked in with wide eyes, looking around at the house where Chris lived. She was excited to be there, happy to be in his company again. And she kept one eye on Leon, too, knowing that this must be an emotional trip for her friend. “We’ve got a hotel not too far from here,” Sharon explained. “Though, we want to spend as much time as possible with you while we’re here! Think you might want to come to the zoo with us? I want to show Viv all the animals.”
Jeez, look how big Viv was getting. It wasn’t until Sharon imagined Chris holding the baby that she realized how big the baby was in comparison to the other kid. Wow.
The last time Chris had seen Viv, she had still been a tiny baby who didn’t sleep for long and he knew how much Sharon had enjoyed getting some downtime when the infant was sleeping. He wanted to hold Viv right now, but he also knew babies needed sleep and so he didn’t ask, though his gaze still strayed to her carrier once in awhile.
“And maybe you can show us the best places to get pizza and hot dogs,” Leon said, grinning. It had been a long time since he’d last been to New York, and back then Chris had been too young to really show Leon his favourite places, but that wasn’t a problem now.
“Of course I do!” Chris said excitedly, looking between Sharon and Leon. Part of him was worried this was just a dream, but it seemed very realistic for a dream. Still, he pinched his arm just to be sure. “And I know all the best places for pizza and hot dogs! Josie’s showed me all the places she hangs out with her friends, isn’t that right Josie?” he asked, turning toward the older girl when she walked into the room. She was followed by her parents.
Sharon caught Chris looking over at the car seat, and then reached for his arm. She wrapped a hand on his shoulder and gave him a smile. “When she’s awake, I’m sure she’ll love to see you.” After she woke up a bit. Sleepy babies often were a bit fussy when they first woke. At least, Viv was.
Then her attention was drawn back up and over to Chris’s “sister” and her parents. Sharon stood from her spot on the sofa and broke into a smile. She sure knew how to make a good first impression.
Leon had never gotten along well with his aunt and uncle. At least, not since his parents had died. His aunt seemed to think that Leon was wasting his life. That it was unseemly that he still lived in a messy apartment, a perpetual bachelor. She was convinced he’d be a bad influence to Chris. But their relationship had improved somewhat since Chris had come back to New York. He still didn’t go out of his way to talk to her, but the criticisms had stopped and she had even apologized to him after she’d come to pick up Chris.
“Leon, you cut your hair,” his uncle said.
“You actually look like you could pass for a professional,” said his aunt. At a sharp look from Josie, she added “It looks very nice.”
“Thanks,” muttered Leon, taking the compliment.
Then she turned her attention to Sharon. “And you must be Sharon. It’s a pleasure to finally get meet you.” she said, stepping toward the blonde woman to clasp her hands. “I’m Susan, and this is my husband Charles. Our oldest, Josie.”
“I brought juice!” said another voice from the kitchen, and sure enough, Chris’ other sister, thirteen year old Sam with the blonde, curly hair, came out of the kitchen with a tray laden with a pitcher of cool looking juice and enough glasses for all of them.
“And our middle child, Samantha,” she said, sending a fond smile at the girl.
Sharon could tell there was tension between Leon and his aunt and uncle. She reached over and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. See? I told you your hair looks nice. Though, now that it was said by his aunt, she was sure he would never believe it.
Then Sharon gave an award-winning smile to Susan, and reached forward to shake her hand. Or hands. That was a surprise. “Hello, Susan. Charles. Josie.” And she smiled warmly over to Samantha as she came in. “Samantha. It’s so nice to meet all of you. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Samantha blushed a little and looked at her feet when Sharon mentioned she’d heard of them all. Sam had been the one to tell Chris he was adopted, that he’d killed his mother, and she was the reason he’d left to stay with Leon. They’d made up, and were closer now than they ever had been before, but she still felt guilty about the whole thing.
Sharon had obviously made a good impression on Susan, who smiled warmly at Sharon. “Were you two needing a place to stay? We do have an empty guest ro-”
“We’ve got a hotel, thanks,” Leon cut in. He smiled at Sam as she set down the tray, and then went to pour himself a glass of juice. “We’re only in town until Monday. But we were hoping we could have Chris for the weekend.” He turned to his brother. “Assuming he’s okay with that.”
From the smile on Chris’ face, he obviously did want that, and he turned to his parents with the unvoiced question in his eyes.
Well, to be perfectly frank, Sharon couldn’t remember if Chris had ever mentioned his family to her. He wasn’t talking all that much when he first started staying with her after school, and she liked to think that she brought him out of his shell a little. But it was the polite and proper thing to say when meeting a loved one’s family.
Sharon glanced between Sharon and Susan, smiling warmly. She nodded. “Thank you so much for your kindness, Susan, but we’ve got a hotel room already set up with the portable pack-and-play. Chris is welcome to come and stay with us for a couple of nights--if he wants to. I’d like to take Viv to some museums and to the central park zoo. It’s a bit closer from our hotel.”
She hoped that in adding her two cents, Susan and Charles would be willing to let Chris come out and stay with them.
Susan pursed her lips together, looking uncertain about the whole thing, and then Charles placed his hand on her shoulder. He smiled at Sharon - no doubt it was her intervention that stopped Susan from straight out saying no after Leon had cut her off, and then turned back to his nephew. “We’re having a Memorial Day barbeque at one on Monday. Just make sure he’s home for that. Of course, you, Sharon and Viv are more than welcome to come join us.”
Susan turned to her husband as if to argue, but before she could get a word out, Chris was hugging both his parents. “Thank you!” Chris said cheerfully. “I promise I’ll be home for the barbeque! And I’ll make sure I get all my homework done! Does the hotel have a water slide?”
Leon couldn’t quite suppress the smile on his lips before he nodded at Chris’s question. “We’ll take good care of him,” he assured his aunt and uncle. “I think we can probably stay for a bit of the barbeque before our flight, right Sharon?”
“We’ll definitely have him back by one,” Sharon said, and grinned over at Leon. “Absolutely. Our flight doesn’t leave until eight.” The red-eye back home. Thank Goodness. Flying with the baby was difficult enough as-is, so an overnight flight was the best idea. Sharon could just put her in the sling against her chest and let the baby sleep the whole way. It was easier for nursing, too.
“I don’t think there’s a water slide, but… I didn’t go down to the pool. I brought a swimsuit, though.” Sharon said, lifting an arm to wrap around Chris’s shoulders. “And you’ll help me show Viv all the animals at the zoo tomorrow, right?”
“There’s a waterslide,” Leon said gently to Chris before the kids look of disappointment had time to settle. “I made sure of it when I booked.” He smiled when Chris beamed at them both.
“Well?” Chris’ father said, turning towards the boy. “What are you waiting for? I’m sure that Leon and Sharon don’t want to wait all day for you to pack for the weekend.”
Chris, having never packed anything by himself, was even more excited by that. “Okay!” he said cheerfully, and ran towards the stairs.
“I’ll help!” Sam added, and followed after him.
With the kids gone, Leon started to feel a little awkward and he shifted in his seat, suddenly feeling like a child again himself under the look from his aunt. Not that she’d been too judgemental this visit so far, but he was waiting for it to come.
Instead, Susan took a seat across from them, her husband sitting beside her. “So, Sharon, what is it you do? Chris was never very clear about that.”
“I work for a private security company,” Sharon said, folding her hands across her lap. One eye stayed on Viv’s car seat the whole time they sat together in the living room talking. She didn’t often lie (especially not to Chris) but the Agency had secrecy and protocol that she was supposed to follow. Besides, Chris was upstairs packing for their weekend together.
“I was working for Law Enforcement, but I got out of that gig ages ago,” she kidded, wearing a pleasant, jovial smile. “After Viv came along I had to make sure that I wasn’t going to go off to work and never come home.” Always a risk when it came to strapping the gun onto her belt.
Susan gave Leon a pointed look after Sharon made the comment of never coming home, which Leon pretended not to see. Susan kept up with the small talk while the children got Chris’ bags ready, asking Leon and Sharon general questions about how things were going. Josie asked Leon more personal questions, though Leon’s answers were short. Not because he was still annoyed with his family - if anything, this was one of his better visits - but because Leon just generally wasn’t very forthcoming when it came to his personal life. Even as far as his lovelife went, he usually told people when he started seeing someone, and until he mentioned getting his heartbroken, things could generally be expected to be considered good.
Then Chris came back down the stairs, beaming. “I’m all ready!” he said cheerfully.
Sharon answered questions politely, giving longer answers than Leon but not really giving much information about herself. It was one of those things that she’d been trained to do--make it sound like she was being personable without giving too much information about herself. She spent time turning the conversation around and asking Susan, Charles and Josie questions about themselves. It made her seem more attentive, which was a plus. She was trying to get on their good side.
When Chris came back downstairs, Sharon stood and gave him a bright smile. “Wonderful!” She took a few steps around to pick up Viv in her carseat, and then wrapped an arm around Chris’s shoulders. “Thank you so much, Susan, Charles, Josie and Samantha.” She used each of their names, making eye contact. “It was nice to meet you. And we’ll see you on Monday.”