WHAT: Marlena gives Adora a gift for Finn and soothes some parenting worries WHERE: Tavern in the forest WHEN: This morning WARNINGS: Nah STATUS: Complete
Adora knew something was going on with her mom. She wouldnât say what she was doing, but she kept acting shady. She would brush Adora off when she asked what was going on, what she was working on, and when sheâd finally gotten something out of her, it was still evasive. All she would say was it was a surprise.
It was getting easier and easier to see where Adora and Adam had gotten their lack of subtlety. Even Randor shook his head fondly at his wifeâs antics, laid a hand on his daughterâs shoulder, and said, âLet it be, sweetheart.â
So, she let it be.
They still went for their morning walks together, every day. The little tavern where theyâd picked up breakfast the first time had become a regular spot. The servers had started recognizing them and would have a cup of whipped cream ready for Spirit. They would tuck themselves into a corner booth and have coffee and biscuits, spending time getting to know each other away from the audience on Darla.
Adora loved every minute of it. Having a real mom, someone who cared about her instead of just her potential, the possibility of what she could do for them. She was comfortable with her being here, some of that fear that sheâd lose her at any moment ebbing more and more as each day passed and her parents remained here. A part of her still wished she could have had these parents all her life, but she knew sheâd been through what she had for a reason. Her life would have been so different if Light Hope hadnât pulled her into Despondos. In the end, she had a life that made her happier than sheâd ever imagined sheâd be growing up in the Horde, but the thoughts still lingered.
Today, Marlena had this oversized bag with her, and Adoraâs curiosity was getting the best of her. She eyed where it hung off the back of Marlenaâs chair as she poured creamer into her cup of coffee.
âOkay, I have to ask,â she said at last, âwhatâs with the giant bag, Mom? Itâs definitely new, Iâve never seen it before.â Her blue eyes lit up, mouth splitting into a smile, eagerness written all over her face. âIs there something in it? For me?â
âFor you to use,â Marlena corrected, fondly rolling her eyes. Yes, she had been up to something for a bit now, and perhaps it had become this obsession she worked on in the middle of the night. Randor helped, sort of. Mostly by holding up the phone while she watched videos on this YouTube website, their shared bed covered in rolls of yarn.
It was an aggressive project, and she had been determined to complete it.
Unfortunately, her patience was a little thin and she was upset at herself for not being a professional master when it came to the fine art of knitting, but she did her absolute best.
âOr toâŠâ Marlena grimaced, grabbing the bag. âTo burn, possibly. Here. Take it. You can definitely purchase something nicer at a store but I wanted to try something out, anyway.â
Adora accepted the bag with raised eyebrows. She wasnât completely sure what to make of that description, but she knew that nothing in the world would make her burn whatever her mother was giving her, no matter how weird it may be. The misshapen cake Catra had rescued hadnât scared her off, nothing was going to now.
Spirit looked up curiously as she set the bag on the table between them and began pulling out the soft knitted material. It wasnât very big, maybe half Adoraâs size, and it was a bright rainbow of color. The knit stitches were definitely imperfect, but it was clear that a lot of effort had gone into it, and Adora was quickly treading into full-on sparkly eyes mode.
Then, she saw the white stitches in the corner of the blue and purple stripe. The shapes were a little clumsy, but the word was easy to read: Finn.
âMom, itâs beautiful,â she breathed, looking across the table at Marlena. âI love it. Finnâs gonna love it, because itâs coming from their grandma.â She clutched the blanket to her chest. âThank you.â
âYou can tell me itâs ugly, Adora,â Marlena laughed softly, nonetheless appreciating the reactionâshe wasnât blind to her own handy work. âIâve never been the crafty sort even when I was on Earth. Engineering and fuel adjusters and space travel, I can handle. And I guess I was too ambitious to think knitting couldnât be that hard.â
Oh, how sheâd been proven wrong. There had been a lot of foul language in the process of making this, and Randor was delighted to watch her in amusement. Men.
After taking a sip of coffee, she waved her hand to the side. âIâll work on getting better,â she vowed. âMaybe I can figure out hats, or baby bootiesâassuming theyâll tolerate those? Your wife has strong opinions about shoes and I donât know if thatâs hereditary.â
It wasnât the most objectively beautiful blanket Adora had ever seen, it was true. But this reaction was in no way an act. It may not be perfect, but it didnât need to be. Just knowing that Marlena had put so much effort into this for her future grandchild meant the world to her. It was sturdy enough to wrap around Finn when they came, she was sure of that, so it would be put to good use.
âMy wife has strong opinions about all kinds of footwear, which is weird for someone who runs cold,â she scoffed affectionately. In the warmer months, Catra running around essentially barefoot wasnât an issue. In the colder months, she had no choice but to wear shoes or boots, and Adora was sure that would be true for Finn, too. âBooties will probably be good for the first year or so, right? Gotta keep the body heat in, and they say it all escapes through the feet.â
Marlena nodded. âBooties, then. And youâll have to tell me what kind of hats youâll both want for them - should it cover their ears or should there be slots for their ears?â
Oh, wait, she should take notes! Her phone was pulled up, and she had a lot of things already noted from prior discussions (like family bonding events with some brief detail), and she was beginning to have notes specific for grandbaby. âAnd promise me if either of you feel like Iâm being overbearing with anything - I never thought Iâd ever do the grandma thing, and now that Randor and I have taken a sabbatical from monarchy Iâm excited to try and do grandma things?â
Like knitting, she supposed. It involved pointy things and the motion of slow stabbing, and Marlena was good at pointy things and stabbing. In sword terms, anyway. It was slightly relevant.
âYou never thought Adam would have kids?â Adora asked curiously. It took her a moment for what sheâd said to fully sink in before she grimaced apologetically. âSorry, I know he wasââ She cleared her throat. âBut before? Or after? I kind of figured he and Teela would eventually get it figured out.â
Her brother was sometimes really dumb, but she had that going for her, too. Somehow, sheâd still managed to snag a wife, one who had forgiven her for all the stupid choices sheâd made and wouldnât hold it against her. She was sure if Catra could do that, so would Teela.
âWellâI had hoped theyâd figure it out down the road, and Iâm sure they will, given how they are here,â Marlena replied thoughtfully, setting her phone down so she could cross her arms. âBut I also donât want them to think having children is something that I expect from them, either. Itâs an important decision to makeâthe choice of creating other people that you have to protect and raise, and you give up certain liberties of your life for it. If they go down that path, Iâll be thrilled. If they donât, Iâm thrilled for them regardless.â
Life had been chaotic and full of strife, and there was so much to be done back home; she knew it was a difficult time to double-down on any attempts at normalcy. Whatever Adam chose to do with his life, sheâd be his number one supporter, always. âIâll be honest, I never thought Iâd have kids after crash landing on another planet,â she chuckled. âI didnât see Eternia as a permanent home, and then I met your father andâas you know, here the two of you are.â
âI never thought about it before here,â Adora admitted. âBut I didnât even think Iâd live through the war, to be honest, so thatâs probably why.â Kids were not even a blip of a thought in her mind back on Etheria. She thought they probably would be, eventually, when everything had settled down. The last thing she remembered at home was the immediate aftermath of the war â reviving the Fright Zone and banishing Horde Prime, hopefully permanently.
Here, everything was different. There was bad here, but it was handled, not only by the Outlanders but by the locals. She didnât have to be the Big Hero here, and it left room for her to want and pursue normal things. A relationship, marriage, a baby (and more in the future, supposedly). It was all available to her here, and sheâd gone for it.
âI donât think I really thought it through here either,â she continued after a moment, wincing as the words left her. âI want it so much, I want Finn, and Iâm happy weâre having them. I just⊠Iâm realizing now that itâs kind of taking away from my time with Catra?â She flushed and lifted her coffee to her lips to gather herself for a moment, embarrassment heating up her face. âGods, that sounds horrible,â she muttered, lowering the cup again. âIâm sorry. Ignore me.â
It really did feel horrible to say, but it had all just spilled out. Those thoughts had been on her mind lately, wondering if maybe they should have waited longer. Theyâd only been married a year, and they were closing in on having a baby within the next six months, and as much as she wanted that, she realized more and more that it meant her private time with Catra was going to be compromised. And not by friends she could steal her from â by a baby, their baby. She couldnât work around that.
âNo no, listen,â Marlena leaned forward instead, clasping her hands before her as if she were some newscaster about to relay the weekâs highlights. âI can only speak from experience but Iâm almost certain every new-to-be parent has that realization. I definitely did, and I was spoiled with the option of nannies at every whim.â
Not that she took advantage of that oftenâafter losing Adora, she had kept Adam close. There were few people she trusted her son with. That meant her time with Randor had suffered too, but their situation wasnât a typical one. Theyâd lost a child so soon after having her, and then they had to adjust to being new parents to the one they had left. It was emotional and difficult; equal parts of love and grief.
Her wish was for Adora to have a more normal experience with this journey, full of the typical good and uncomfortable things that can come with it.
âA lot of things are going to change, and being worried about it isnât going to make you love Finn any less. Youâll adjust because thatâs what parents tend to do â you make it work,â she said firmly. âThereâs truth to the âit takes a villageâ saying. If this place allows it, youâll have us. Youâll have your friends. When the two of you feel like you need the timeâor just want the time to yourselvesâyouâll have people to help you balance things out. Itâll just take some extra planning. But itâs also okay if the two of you are happy with date nights being after the baby goes down to bed, some takeout and a movie in the living room.â
The red faded from Adoraâs cheeks slowly as she lifted her gaze to watch Marlena as she spoke. The reassurances she was given certainly worked, and the idea of having them â her parents, her babyâs grandparents â around to help was nice. It made her feel hopeful, especially so soon after Glimmer had disappeared. Her parents were still here, and maybe there was a chance they would stay. She wouldnât mind that at all.
âYeah, that actually sounds like a really great date night.â She grinned, giving her momâs hands a squeeze. âCatra always says that weâre, like, spiritually forty after all that bad stuff we had to deal with on Etheria. I like going out sometimes, but just getting to have some alone time at home is enough. More than enough.â
It would be tough, but she also realized she might be overthinking. She had a tendency to do that. And it could be cold feet. she hadnât had them for the wedding, but a baby was an even bigger deal than getting married. That made sense. She didnât want this any less, but it was a very big deal, and she didnât think sheâd properly absorbed that before it started happening.
âDo youâŠwant to stay?â she questioned next, the words tentative. She felt like she was asking for trouble bringing the topic up, but she needed that reassurance, too. âIf you can, do you want to?â
Marlena softened. âIn Vallo? Thatâs not even a question; of course I want to stay.â That was something that she had even told Randor behind the privacy of their doors. That if they were given a choiceâshe would stay, and he was welcome to stay with her. Eternia would have versions of them there (or so she assumed, from what people told her). He agreed with her easily. âSign me up for permanent residency if the choice were mine. Your father and I would probably find a place of our own, though.â
Her hand reached out to give hers a comforting squeeze, and then released it to pick up her mug. âNot very far,â she mused with a smile. âWe could have family sleepovers, of course. But I think those first few months with a baby are crucialâyouâre figuring out what your new dynamic is, and itâs hard to do that when thereâs so many people under your roof all the time. But weâd be around to help clean up, and cook, and weâd watch them while you two got actual sleep.â
âWeâd love that,â Adora enthused with a big grin. âAll of that, it sounds amazing. I⊠never imagined Iâd have parents around when I started parenting.â She had never even dreamed it, when theyâd first started talking about it and Finn had first come into their lives. She hadnât known what to expect, if anything. She hadnât known anything about her family.
Now, she did. Adamâs stories had given her a little more room to imagine, but now sheâd actually lived with her parents. Sheâd actually been a part of the family that had wanted her, even if it was twenty-two years later than it should have been. And she wanted it so much, more than she ever could have imagined she would.
âI couldnât ask for a better mom, you know. Youâre everything Adam said and more. And everything I could have asked for.â She was getting emotional and teary-eyed here, but that had been at least half of the conversations sheâd had with her mom. She didnât regret any of those conversations or any of those tears, not for a single second.
âDonât put me on a pedestal, Iâm not perfect,â she laughed, and she may have gotten a little choked up at the compliments she was being showered with but, again, that had a habit of happening. âAdam may also have a bit of prejudice since heâs always been closer to me, too, donât forget about that.â A âmamaâs boy,â definitely. Marlena may have coddled him a bit when he was a child but how could she not.
âAnd I know this parenthood thing isâdaunting, and youâre young.â Much younger than Marlena had been at the cusp of motherhood, though she knew Adora and Catra had to grow up fast. They really did function like an old married couple (with the touchiness of newly weds still, she noticed). âBut youâll be fine. You love your little family enough already to be anything but, darling.â
That was true, Adam definitely had waxed poetic about Marlena. He had always spoken less fondly about Randor. Not badly, but it was easy to see they hadnât really connected in the same way. Adora probably would have dealt with him better; she could see where her perfectionism and need to play hero came in when she looked at her dad, trained with him. But he seemed to be trying to be better, softer.
âI know.â She smiled across the table and gave Marlenaâs hands one last squeeze before pulling them back to bring her coffee to her mouth for another drink. âAnd I really am using that blanket. Iâll bring it to the hospital and wrap them up in it as soon as theyâre born.â
Marlena smiled broadly at that declaration. It would make for a bit of an unsightly photo, that blanketâbut she was sure the baby would make up for it. âTheyâll need a little hat, too,â she reminded her daughter. âAnd I really, really want to knit a hat that will fit little magikitten earsâso Iâll make both, I think. One to fit and the other one with little slits so they can be free.â
She could already imagine how adorable it could be in her head, but in reality it might look a bit weird. Ah, well. Sheâd at least make it functional.
âTwo hats it is,â Adora laughed. She was sure theyâd be a little bit of a mess, too, just like that blanket. But the fact that her mom wanted so badly to make it for her grandchild meant the world to her. She could make all the oddly knitted items she wanted for Finn, and Adora would make sure they were used.
And maybe, just maybe, Marlena would still be here to see it for herself.