Who: Veronica (with Liam) and Leon (with Chris) What: Liam and Veronica meet Chris When: Early August Where: Leon's place Rating/Warnings: Low. Veronica breast feeds Status: Complete
Veronica hadn’t seen Leon since he returned from New York. With her exhaustion Veronica had been making people come to her lately, but she would make an exception just this once. Even if getting Liam out of the house was a hassle. It’d be good for him. So off to Leon’s they went.
Once they got to his apartment Veronica had to unpack her car. Liam was in a baby carrier that she wore over her stomach - something she never thought she’d be caught dead in, but here she was. There was also a diaper bag full of supplies and toys in her hand. Making her way to his apartment Veronica knocked on the door impatiently.
Leon wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing. He’d had Chris for all of two days now, and while he’d remembered to feed him and the kid hadn’t keeled over yet, he also hadn’t smiled yet. He wasn’t really sure how to talk to someone who didn’t talk back. He had to go to work tomorrow, and while he’d managed to find a babysitter for Chris, he knew there was no way in hell he’d ever be able to afford one long term, especially not on his salary and with his hours. And he was beginning to think he needed a bigger apartment, or maybe a house or something so Chris could run around and play in the yard. At the very least, he needed a place with a second bedroom. Chris couldn’t sleep on the hide-a-bed in the living room forever.
He was looking at a school for Chris. Something like a boarding school just outside of Los Angeles where they worked specifically with kids with psychological problems. It was close enough that Leon could still drive up to visit on his days off, and they’d definitely be able to take better care of Chris than Leon ever could. They’d know what to say and what not to say, they’d coax him back out, and none of the instructors there would be dealing with murder victims every day right before seeing him.
When he heard the knock at his door, he took a swig of his beer and closed his laptop. He opened the door, revealing the small kitchen of his apartment, the sink filled with two days of dishes. Just passed the kitchen, sitting on the couch in a living room and blankly watching the Simpsons, was a six-year-old boy, blue hair and blond hair the same shade as Leon’s, with a striking family resemblance.
“Hey V,” Leon said. “Thanks for coming by. Hello Liam!”
“Shhhhh,” Veronica scolded Leon walking into his place. “What if he was sleeping?” Granted he wasn’t but still. Of course Veronica noticed the kid on the couch right away. “Uh, what’s with the kid?” she asked Leon with a raised brow as she set down the diaper bag. There was definitely a story there. Leon and kids didn’t exactly mesh. Which was why Veronica still hadn’t let him hold Liam. God father or not she was a very protective mother. Other than Logan, Keith was pretty much the only one who had the privilege of picking up her son.
“Well then he’d wake up and I’d get to spend some face time with my godson,” Leon said, a little proud. He wasn’t upset that Veronica hadn’t let him carry the infant yet - frankly, the idea of holding such a fragile, small human freaked Leon out a little, but he did like to play peak-a-boo and make faces at him.
He looked over his shoulder at Chris, who was watching them now. “Hey Chris, get over here,” he said to the boy, waving him over. Chris got up from the couch and obediently walked over. Leon affectionately placed his hand on the kids head when he got close enough. “This is Chris, my kid brother. He’s going to be staying with me from now on. Chris, this is Veronica and my godson, Liam.”
“Hey Chris,” Veronica said in the baby voice she usually used on Liam. A voice she never even knew she had in her before. Even when she was around her friend’s babies. Chris though, he might be a little old for the baby voice. “What are you watching?” she asked glancing over at the TV. “Simpsons? Nice.”
Her attention went back to Leon, although she lowered her voice so Chris couldn’t hear. “Since when do you have a brother?” she asked just as Liam started crying. “Crap, he’s hungry.”
“Since six years ago,” Leon responded lowly, feeling Chris’s eyes on him. “It’s a long story.” One that he wasn’t entirely willing to tell with Chris listening in. It wasn’t the kind of thing Leon normally liked talking about in general, but it seemed like a bad idea now, especially since part of Chris’ trauma was related to learning that their mother had died in childbirth.
“I don’t know if I’ve got anything here for him,” Leon said. What did infants eat, anyway, other than milk or formula? “Hey Chris, why don’t you check the fridge and see if we’ve got anything Liam can eat.”
Chris looked up at him incredulously, but whether that was because he didn’t expect to find anything Liam could eat in the fridge, or whether he didn’t expect to find anything other than beer in the fridge, Leon couldn’t tell. Still, the kid shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the fridge.
“Did you want to sit?” he asked belatedly to Veronica. Now that Veronica had come safely through childbirth he was less likely to mother hen her, but every now and then he remembered to be courteous.
Veronica couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Obviously he’s been alive for six years but Leon had never once mentioned him to her. However, she knew better than to press him for information in front of the kid. It was not something he needed to hear. But if Leon though Veronica was going to drop it? He must have suffered a concussion in New York.
“He can’t eat anything in your fridge.” Veronica replied going over to the couch and taking a seat. She was already removing the baby carrier and picking Liam up. “Luckily I always have his food with me. Bring me the diaper bag, will you?” There was a covering cloth in there for at least some modesty.
Chris was already turning from the fridge to grab the diaper bag and bringing it over to Veronica, and Leon followed after grabbing another beer from the fridge. “You have a bottle in the bag?” Leon asked, really hoping that that’s what she meant by always having his food. Chris offered the bag to her, holding it a little awkwardly with both his hands.
She hadn’t meant for Chris to bring her the bag. She’d boss Leon around sure. But not a little kid. “Thanks, Chris.” Veronica gave him a warm smile accepting the bag with her free hand. Liam was cradled in the other.
“Not exactly,” she said pulling out the cloth and pulling it over her. Situating Liam she pulled up her shirt so he could attach.
Chris didn’t exactly smile, but the corners of his lips did twitch in an upward direction in response to Veronica’s thanks, which Leon took to be a good sign. Though, before he could comment on it, Veronica was already pulling up her shirt. He dashed forward to cover Chris’ eyes with his hands (perhaps a meaningless move given all the topless models that decorated Leon’s walls), and he looked at her aghast. “Really, Veronica? I don’t think Logan would appreciate you flashing your tits at us.”
Not that Leon was ever really opposed to people flashing their tits at him, but this was Veronica. Besides, the idea of them being filled with milk was something that kind of grossed him out.
Veronica just rolled her eyes. “I think Logan would be perfectly fine with keeping our child alive and fed.” She wasn’t going to apologize for something that was completely natural. And she definitely wasn’t going to be embarrassed by it.
Once Liam was happily fed Veronica pulled her shirt back down removing the cloth. She kept Liam in her arms, because as sweet as Chris seemed to be she sure as hell wasn’t going to let him hold the baby. Leon wasn’t even allowed yet. However, she did give the kid some attention. “So, Chris. Do you like dogs?”
“If you say so,” Leon said, though he realized that Veronica was right. Still, the whole thing weirded him out. He was relieved when she stopped feeding Liam and covered back up. At least she’d had that weird blanket thing with her.
Chris seemed to consider her question for a moment, and then gave a decisive nod. He’d never had a dog of his own, but he liked it when other people would let him pet their dogs.
Veronica couldn’t help but smile at the boy and the way he timidly answered her question. “If I had known you were here, I would have brought Backup.” No not backup like she need backup to be around a kid. It was actually the name of her dog. She did give Leon a pointed look though. It was his job to tell her these things after all.
Leon chose to ignore Veronica’s look. It wasn’t like he could be expected to mention every little detail in his life. Chris gave Leon a curious look, which Leon could pretty easily interpret. He was already getting better at reading Chris’ looks than he was when Chris had first shown up. “It’s her dog. I know, it’s weird name for a dog, isn’t it?” He saw Chris’s gaze light up a little and smiled slightly. “But she’ll bring him next time, won’t you, V?”
Chris wasn't exactly a little detail. Plus they had discussed Veronica paying him a visit. You would think the fact that he had a house guest of the child variety would have come up.
The thing about Backup’s name was that could be used perfectly sometimes. Right now was one of those times, so child or not she couldn't resist the opening. “Yes,” Veronica promised the kid. “Next time I promise to bring Backup,” and there she was doing it again a small smirk on her face. “He’s good with kids,” she assured. Well he honestly hadn't been around that many children other than Liam and Amelia, but he was good around people in general.
Chris actually did smile then, which made Leon grin. It was the first time he’d seen his brother smile since he’d seen him after the accident. He quickly suppressed his smile though, and said in an almost gruff tone “You are going to get covered in so much dog slobber, kiddo.”
“It’s true,” Veronica commented with a smirk. “Backup is a slobbery one.” She was kind of looking forward to bringing him to meet Chris now. But she turned her attention back to Leon. “So Orcot, anything else I should know about?”
Leon frowned to himself, wondering just how much he should tell Veronica about the new situation with Chris. After a moment’s contemplation, he realized that Veronica had shared some pretty deep stuff with him. Stuff she likely didn’t like talking about, and Leon realized that it would only be fair to return the favour.
“Hey Chris, why don’t you go and play with your iPod or iPad or whatever it is in my bedroom?” he asked his kid. “Listen to music or something?” Chris looked at Leon as though he wanted to protest, but he seemed to see a look at Leon’s eyes that made him decide not to. So he grabbed his iPad and a pair of headphones and went to Leon’s bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Once he was there, Leon leaned back on the couch and ran his hand over his face, a tired look now far more evident around his eyes than it was a moment ago. “How much do you wanna know?”
Good idea to not talk about these things with the kid in the room. Veronica had assumed Leon would tell her later, but having Chris leave the room was an even better idea. Her curiosity was definitely getting the better of her.
“All of it,” Veronica replied refraining from adding ‘have you met me?’ This was clearly a difficult topic for Leon to discuss, it was best she kept the quipps to herself.
Leon sighed again. No matter how many times he had to repeat this, it didn’t get easier. Still, his job meant that he was good at delivering bad news, and his voice didn’t waver. He did keep it low in case there was a certain six-year-old trying to listen at the door. It wasn’t that Chris didn’t already know all of this, but he imagined it couldn’t be easy for the kid to hear.
And so he told Veronica about how, when he was eighteen, his mother, who’d always had poor health, had ignored the doctor’s advice and had given birth when she was fifty years old. He said how his aunt and uncle had adopted him, to raise alongside their two daughters. How he’d gotten into a fight with the sister closest to him in age during a car trip, where she’d told him that he was adopted and had killed his mother, and the accident that had killed his aunt and uncle immediately after, presumably as they tried to break up the fight. And how Chris evidentally thought he was responsible for the death of all of his parents, and hadn’t spoken a word since everything had happened.
“Josie - that’s his oldest sister - is only eighteen. She’ll have enough trouble taking care of Sam as it is. She can’t raise both of them, especially since Sam still blames Chris. The whole living situation was making things with Chris worse, so I guess I’m his legal guardian from now on.”
Maybe he should have been from the start. Josie was willing to take care of her little sister at eighteen. Leon should have too.
Veronica hadn’t expected to hear all that. The poor kid. No wonder he was silent. Veronica may have a baby now but that didn’t necessarily mean she was good with kids. She had no idea how to help a kid with that much trauma. Not that Leon had asked but still she wished she could help.
“I’m sorry,” Veronica said sincerely. It was all she could think of to say. “Have you tried taking him to a psychiatrist?” It was clear he needed professional help.
“It’s not like I know a lot of numbers for child psychiatrists,” Leon said. “But I have been looking at schools. There’s this school just outside of LA that’s apparently good for kids with psychological problems. Around the clock care from trained professionals, that kind of thing. They’ll do a better job than I will, that’s for sure. It’s expensive, but I think I can make it work.”
“I’m sure you could find one.” The school sounded like a good idea. She hoped it would be at least, maybe what Chris needed was to be with his brother. But that wasn’t Veronica’s place to say. “That’s a lot to have dumped on you.” Because it was. Leon wasn’t exactly the most adult person she knew either. It was a lot of responsibility to take on. But still she knew her friend, knew he would do his best.
Leon had also sometimes thought that Chris could probably use his brother. But on the other hand, Leon had nothing to offer him. He’d never been good with kids, he’d never had to care for another living thing before, and he had to work weird hours where he’d witness untold horrors. He couldn’t come back to Chris and be a positive influence in his life when he was coming home from grisly crime scenes. “It’s not that much,” he said glibly. After all, it wasn’t him he was particularly worried about right now. “I was never very close with my aunt and uncle. They didn’t exactly approve of my lifestyle. Besides, it’s not like he’s a baby. I can leave him to do his own thing most of the time.” Though, most of the time his own thing was hanging out with Leon.
Speaking of babies, Liam chose to give his two cents on the matter… in the form of crying. Veronica lifted him up holding him against her shoulder, slightly rocking back and forth. “Probably not the best attitude to have towards a child,” Veronica replied. “He might need time with you after all he’s been through.”
“I don’t know what kind of attitude I’m supposed to have,” Leon snapped, and then forced himself to take a deep breath. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees and face in his hands. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, then laced his fingers together, and rested his chin on his intertwined knuckles, staring directly in front of him, trying very hard to tune out the crying baby. “I can’t do it, V,” he said after a moment. “I can barely take care of myself, how the hell am I supposed to take care of a kid? Especially one I can barely communicate with. He needs people who know what they’re doing. If I do this on my own…” he sighed. “I just don’t want the kid to be messed up for the rest of his life, and that’s definitely what’ll happen if he’s stuck with me.”
Leon’s snapping did cause Liam to cry a little bit louder. Well great. Veronica considered leaving for a moment but then Leon broke down. “You’re not going to mess him up.” That wasn’t exactly what Leon had said and to be perfectly honest Veronica had no idea if everything that had happened would mess Chris up for the rest of his life. But that wasn’t Leon’s fault. “You can do this.” Since when did she become a cheerleader? “You’re his brother. He needs his family. Someone that loves him no matter what. All the rest, it will be difficult but you can handle it.”
“He needs a professional,” Leon said firmly, not sure if he was trying to convince Veronica or himself. He shot Liam a guilty look, feeling bad about his outburst. “See, I can’t even stop myself from making babies cry,” he said, a little more gently. “Sorry bout that, Liam.” Not that Liam could understand him, but it was better than apologizing to Veronica. “Can I get him anything?”
“Maybe, but he still needs you too.” Veronica knew what it was like to be abandoned by family. Well, her mother. But she always had her father. With everything that happened in her past, both dreams and real life, she wasn’t sure she could have gotten through it all without Keith. Chris probably needed someone like that too. And that someone was Leon. “Liam’s fine,” Veronica assured continuing to rock him. He was already starting to calm down.
Leon pursed his lips together, his eyebrows coming together. It wasn’t as though he would be completely absent from his brother’s life. He would be close enough that he could go up and visit on his days off, and Chris would obviously be able to come home for holidays and stuff. And he’d get bullied to all hell in a public school, whereas at the special school he’d be around a lot of kids who’d probably better understand him. And besides, wasn’t Leon giving up the a huge chunk of his paycheque to send his brother to this stupid school? He was not giving up, no matter what the feeling in the pit of his stomach was saying. He decided to quiet it down by finishing off the rest of his beer.
“Good,” Leon said, in regards to Liam. “Sometimes I forget how easy it is to set kids off. How’s he been treating you guys?”
“You’ll learn. If I can do this whole mom thing you can handle being a guardian,” she assured Leon. It was true. Now that Liam was born, Veronica was pretty maternal, but most people herself included never would have thought Veronica would be a mom. “Other than the sleep deprivation? It’s been good.”
Leon snorted. “I guess that’s true enough. I never pegged anyone less likely to have kids than you.” Leon himself had always wanted kids of his own too, even if holding babies scared the shit out of him and actual children annoyed him. “But I’m glad to hear that it hasn’t been a complete nightmare. You know if you ever need to nap Uncle Leon’d be happy to watch Liam.” Even if it was just watching him. Veronica had never let Leon hold him and Leon wasn’t going to push the matter, but if the kid was lying in a playpen it wasn’t like there was much Leon could screw up.
“So far only my dad has that honor.” And Logan of course. She was sure eventually she would let Leon watch Liam, as long as Veronica was still in the house. Hell she was getting close to letting other people hold him too. But the protective thing was definitely still strong. “But don’t worry, some day I’ll take you up on that offer.” Even if it was when Liam was Chris’s age.