HE’S SAT ON THE GRASS, adam balanced on his lap as he does his best to shovel the liquified mixture of carrots and peas into the toddler’s mouth. he’s stuck doing the job usually reserved for earl, who’s had more than enough practice at the task, and each passing moment of adam giggling and spitting up his food onto his clothes is just another reminder to alden why he’s never tried to take over feeding duty. before he can begin bargaining uselessly with adam again, a shadow settles over them, blocking out the afternoon sun and causing both boys to look in its’ owner’s direction.
alden’s heart drops when he sees it’sfrances; while she’s not new to the hilltop, alden’s made good on his word to avoid her. he’d almost DIED to protect her son, who’s still bouncing on his lap, currently transfixed with the buttons on his shirt, and he doesn’t regret it for a second. seeing her now, without the mask of another man obscuring her, she’s even younger than alden once thought. she’s barely older than enid was. still, she abandoned her baby at alpha’s glance alone. her people almost killed him. her people murdered his heart.
he sets down the bowl of mush to pull adam’s hands away from his jacket before he loses another button to the boy’s grip, finally meeting frances’ wide eyes. “if you need something, you’ll have to wait.” he pauses, hesitant to continue as he turns his focus back to adam. he knows why she’s here; he has no excuse to be acting so indifferent. “or you can sit, if you want.”
𝙏𝙍𝙐𝙏𝙃 𝘽𝙀 𝙏𝙊𝙇𝘿 , he wasn’t all that appealing . the little piggy nose , the incessant and meaningless babbling , the fact that 90% of the food meant for his mouth went elsewhere children in general weren’t exactly a prize , and the one which had lifetimes ago belonged to frances was no different . but he felt different . he ( ‘ adam ’ ) was somehow better than all the rest , a beautiful beam of light incomparable to anyone else . a tiny perfect person . alpha would have said that the way frances felt about the little boy was nothing more than nature making sure she wouldn’t smother him in his sleep , but what alpha would or wouldn’t say was no longer relevant .
𝘼 𝙒𝘼𝙍𝙈 𝙒𝙀𝙇𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙀 , or anything even close to one hadn’t been expected . when first approaching the community frances knew she’d have a lot to make up for and that building trust wouldn’t happen overnight , but much to her surprise most of the people within well guarded walls showed her kindness much faster than anticipated , and those who chose not to had a perfectly respectable reason . unfortunately that perfectly respectable reason was exactly why she needed those particular people to warm up to the idea of her being around .
❛ 𝙄 𝘿𝙊𝙉'𝙏 𝙉𝙀𝙀𝘿 𝘼𝙉𝙔𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 , ❜ frances replied , legs folding into a pretzel as she sat down near , but not TOO near the sloppy duo . something needed to be said , whether it be a joke or something more heartfelt , but as she sat there looking at two people who were basically strangers , only facts were coming to mind . ❛ he’s got a really big head . ❜ and if anyone could attest to that , it would be her .
