Fourth of July (Adrian Chase/fem!Reader)
A/N: This idea had been circling my brain for some time now so I’ve just been working on it in the background, might be a little self indulgent hehe. Also not me lowkey doxxing myself and my sister in this fic but good luck figuring out who lives where !! (Just kidding please don’t doxx me) Thank you to @vigilantexreader for editing this beast! 19.2k!!
Summary: While Adrian is away on a mission a letter from his dad arrives, inviting him, his wife, and their five year old daughter to come visit for the first time for Fourth of July.
Masterlist
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“Thank you!” She said, waving to the bus driver, holding Claire’s hand as the little girl bounced up and down, smiling widely at all her friends as the bus pulled away. “How was school today, baby?” She asked, her six year old looked up at her, her grin missing a few teeth and green eyes that sparkled just like her dad’s as she squeezed her mom’s hand.
“It was great! We worked today on letters some more and at recess I found not one but two rollie pollies!” Claire announced and she laughed, she was truly her father’s daughter.
“I’m not going to find any bugs in your bag, am I Claire Bear?” She asked, using Adrian’s nickname for their daughter which made the little girl smile as she pulled her towards the mailbox, clearly remembering the drill. Mail, snack, homework, and then if Adrian was free they’d give him a call.
Claire and Adrian were the spitting image of each other, so much so that when she had Claire she could’ve sworn she was about to spit out some incorrect animal facts instead of crying. Adrian adored her from the start, she wasn’t sure she would ever see Adrian love anything more than he loved and cared for her, but he took to being a dad like a fish to water. He was obsessed with her, knew what she needed before she could even blink and was always there for her. Despite all his worries and fears, Adrian was an amazing father.
It was hard on all three of them when Adrian was away on missions, but she would never ask Adrian to sacrifice being Vigilante for them, not when he was always so well aware of how his absence was around that house.
“No! I know the rules! Plus daddy said if I follow the rules that we could get a lizard!” Claire said, jumping up and down as she opened the mailbox, pulling out the mail and handing it to her mom as she did every day. Once she had the mail in her hands, Claire took off towards the front door and she smiled following behind her.
“Yeah, we’ll see about the lizard, daddy might’ve said it’s okay but daddy didn’t talk to mommy about that,” she grumbled as she closed the door, Claire already running for the kitchen as she flipped through the mail.
“Uncle Chris has an eagle though!” She complained.
“What does Uncle Chris having an eagle have anything to do with you getting a lizard?” She asked, sighing at the familiar beat of Adrian’s arguments, never really seeing the connections between two clear points.
“Well, daddy says I’m cooler than Uncle Chris so I need a cooler pet!” She said it like it was the most obvious thing on the planet. She chuckled at her daughter's logic that very much matched her fathers.
“Alright, well we’ll see.” She said, handing Claire a pack of muffins before she started going through the mail.
She wasn’t surprised to see the usual junk mail and bills, but one letter that was clearly handwritten caught her eye.
It was addressed to Adrian with a return address, but no name and forwarded from his mom’s house. It had been years since they had gotten anything forwarded from there let alone something looking as intentional as a handwritten letter. She’s not even sure the last time they got a letter like that period.
She spared Claire a look as she watched her hum as she ate her snack, doing a little dance as she enjoyed her sweet treat. Even though it was a little early she stepped out of the room and dialed Adrian’s number.
“Hey, baby! You’re early, is everything okay? Did Claire get off the bus okay?” Adrian answered immediately and she smiled at his instant worry for them. She sat on the edge of the couch, perching where she could still see Claire, but be far away enough that the young girl wouldn’t notice.
“Yeah, we’re both okay. Strange question for you though, are you expecting a letter?” She asked, looking at the letter in her hands.
“I never know what’s coming in our mailbox, you know that,” he answered and she chuckled.
“Okay good point, but there’s a letter here for you and it looks to be handwritten,” she said.
“A letter to me? Like handwritten?” He asked, sounding surprised on the phone.
“Yeah, it’s forwarded from your mom’s. There’s a return address but no name,” she said, turning the envelope over again, but there was really no clue to who it could be from.
“Who the fuck is sending me a letter?” He asked and she laughed.
“No offense baby but that’s what I’m trying to figure out,” she said and Adrian huffed out a laugh. “Can I open it or do you want to wait till you get back?”
“It’s funny you think I can wait that long and that I won’t be thinking of the envelope the entire time till I get back if you don’t open it right now,” he said dead serious and she laughed.
“Alright, alright,” she said, holding the phone between her ear and shoulder as she teared open the letter and pulled out a single handwritten page. “huh,” she said as she looked at the name, her stomach instantly turning.
“What? What is it?”
“It’s a letter from your dad,” she said, skimming the page, “he’s inviting us to his house for the fourth of July.”
“Who?” He asked, voice was tight and she could tell that he was starting to pace, her heart cracked a little picturing the sight of him panicking alone in a shitty room, far away from her.
“Your dad,” she repeated as gently as possible but even over the phone she could tell how even the concept of the letter was affecting him.
“Can you read it all to me?” He asked, sounding suddenly small over the phone and she closed her eyes, wishing either of them had had the patience to wait to do this till Adrian was home where she could comfort him.
“‘Dear Adrian, I hope you’re doing well. I heard from your mom that you got married and you’ve had your first child! I want to wish you congratulations, that’s such a huge milestone and you should be really proud. I know it’s been a while, but I wanted to invite you and your family to come down to visit me in San Francisco for the fourth of July. We clearly have so much to catch up on! I’ve attached my number so we can figure out timing and plans! I hope to hear from you soon. Your dad, Charles Chase.’” She read in a soft voice, her eyes on Claire once she was done reading, the small girl had finished her snack and had already moved onto pulling out her homework. She listened to Adrian breathing on the other end, waiting for him to say anything. “Baby, you there?”
“Yeah, I’m here,” he said softly.
“You don’t have to decide what we do right now, we can talk about it-”
“We don’t need to talk about we’re not going,” he said immediately and she could feel the tension over the phone.
“Adrian-”
“No, why the fuck would we go? Why the fuck would we subject Claire to that? I haven’t heard from him in almost 15 years and you want us to do what? Go to his house and act like nothing has happened? No, we’re not going,” Adrian said and she frowned as he clicked the phone, hanging up on her. She sighed, fidgeting with the phone and the letter as she thought of Adrian, either alone in his room or immediately putting on his Vigilante suit to stop some low level criminals, anything to just feel like this wasn’t happening to him.
God, she should’ve waited the moment she realized what the letter was and who it was from. Getting Adrian to talk about his upbringing at all was like pulling teeth, most of what she had learned was from his mom and even then she wasn’t sure what was really true. It was clear to her that his mom seemed to remember everything with rose colored glasses, especially considering how Gut behaved the one time she had met him.
Her phone started buzzing in her hand and she was met with her favorite picture of Adrian with Claire when she was a toddler. She immediately answered.
“Adrian-”
“I love you,” he interrupted. “I’m sorry for hanging up on you, but I’m upset and I hate this,” he breathed out and she smiled.
“I love you too, baby. I’m sorry for upsetting you.” She said as she stood up and walked back to the kitchen, Clarie immediately honed in on the fact that she was holding the phone. Claire dropped her color pencil and started jumping up and down reaching for her phone.
“It’s not your fault he wrote a letter,” he said, “I just fuck, that’s a lot to unpack.”
“Do you want to feel better about it?” She asked, brushing Claire’s dark curls back, ones that matched her father’s, as she looked down at her.
“I really don’t think there’s anything you can say-” he started and she smiled as she put the phone on speaker, crouching down to Claire’s level.
“Daddy!” Claire yelled into the phone and Adrian’s voice stopped dead in its tracks.
“Hi, Claire Polar Bear! Are you being good for your mom?” Adrian asked, his voice immediately changed, no hint of him being upset remained.
“I am not a polar bear!” Claire immediately said, giving a hard almost fake sounding laugh just like Adrian’s.
“I wouldn’t know, last time I saw you I could’ve sworn you were a polar bear!”
“Daddy!”
“I’m sorry, princess. How was school today?” He asked and she helped Claire back into her chair, placing her phone on the counter so Claire could keep talking while she started moving around.
“It was good, mommy said I could get a lizard,” she whispered into the phone, leaning over the counter.
“Claire Anne Chase, you do not lie especially to your father,” she immediately said and Claire shyly looked away from her mom.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered and she gave her a small smile.
“Yeah, baby you know better. Plus, I hate to break it to you, but daddy knows mommy like the back of his hand so he knew that was a lie,” he admitted and she immediately wanted to comment on the fact that she knew Adrian and she knew even though he was putting on a brave face in this moment he was still struggling internally.
And she had no idea how to make it okay.
“Daddy, when are you coming home?” Claire said, snapping her out of her own spiral as Adrian chuckled.
“I’ll get home tomorrow while you’re at school, okay? I will be home and ready to play when you’re back from school,” he said and Claire frowned, bouncing slightly.
“Will you pick me up from the bus stop?” Claire asked and she chuckled.
“What, you don’t want mommy to pick you up anymore?” She joked and Claire smiled slightly.
“No! I want both mommy AND daddy to pick me up!” Claire said like to was the most obvious thing on the planet.
“Of course, baby. We’ll both be there tomorrow.” Adrian said softly on the phone and she smiled. Moving to get to work on dinner while Claire and Adrian both chattered away, but her thoughts kept drifting back to the letter.
She knew Adrian was not going to address it, in fact the moment he found the letter in the house he was going to get rid of it in some way. He was going to refuse to talk to her about whether it was the right thing or not. It had taken years to truly get Adrian to unpack how rough his childhood was. Between his mom losing it, Gut tormenting him, and his dad just leaving; Adrian’s happy memories were few and far between. He always played it off like it didn’t bother him but she noticed the way little comments would get to him and how he was eager to distance his new family away from his old family, keeping them in a protective bubble.
She was sure that had a lot to do with why Adrian cared so much about Claire’s childhood from day one. Taking lots of pictures, being there for every moment, and as the years went on being at her beck and call. Convincing Adrian to start taking in field missions again after essentially being on two years of training and desk duty just out of fear of being too far away from them took months of talking and begging him to see that both of you would be okay. That he didn’t have to kill himself worrying about them all the time - that he can have his life as Vigilante and them too.
Even then, it took time to get him back into the routine.
However the moment she heard Adrian’s key turn in their front door a few hours before Claire should be home she could feel the tension. She was slow to move towards the front of the house, meeting a very disheveled Adrian at the front door as he dropped his heavy duffle bag.
“Oh baby,” she murmured as she walked towards him, taking him in her arms as he grabbed her tightly. He shoved his head in the crook of her neck, breathing her in with a shaky breath. “That bad?” She asked as he nodded against her.
She stayed silent and steady as he held onto her for dear life and she couldn’t tell if his reaction was because of the mission or because his thoughts were still scrambled from the letter from his dad.
“Are you hurt?” She asked as gently as possible and he sighed, finally prying himself just far away enough from her that she could see his eyes.
“I’m not hurt,” he said, voice scratchy and she kissed his cheek, content in the knowledge that at this point Adrian knew to always tell her if he got hurt. No more bleeding out alone in his car while he napped, hoping his body would mend.
“We’ve got about two hours before Claire gets home, you want to take a shower and I’ll make you something to eat?” She said, holding his face between her hands as he gave her a lazy smile.
“Shower with me?” He asked and she gave him a light glare before nodding.
“Go put your bag away and I’ll get the shower ready,” she said, giving his cheek a pat before heading towards the bathroom. She immediately turned the shower to probably way too hot and undressed.
“My favorite view,” he teased in a sleepy voice as he dragged himself into the bathroom, she smiled looking over her shoulder at him as she moved over to help him take off his clothes. Her fingers traced over old scars and a few new bruises that would probably be gone by time they were out of the shower.
“I thought you weren’t hurt?” She demanded, hand ghosting over the bruise as Adrian tensed, not from pain but from being caught.
“It’s old?” He tried and she looked at him and he immediately crumbled. “It’ll be healed before Claire gets home, it’s not a big deal.”
“It is to me, Ade. Anytime you’re hurt is a big deal, even if it’s a paper cut, okay? I want-” she doesn’t get to finish because Adrian’s hand came to her chin and lifted her gaze up to his eyes. He had the smallest smile on his face before he leaned in for a soft and gentle kiss.
“I love you,” he murmured against her mouth as she clicked her tongue.
“Don’t think that gets you off the hook, mister,” she said, pulling away to check the temperature of the shower, Adrian holding her other hand as she gave him a small tug as she stepped into the warm water.
When they picked this house Adrian had made sure that almost every room had the space to allow them to do typically separate tasks together. They had dual sinks to brush their teeth together, their kitchen was big enough that they could easily cook together (her cooking, Adrian sitting on the counter claiming to help), and that their shower could easily fit them both under the large spray of water. Even in her office, Adrian had his own chair, one that recently got a smaller matching one for Claire.
She moved slowly as she started washing his hair, careful to untangle any knots. Adrian hummed as she scrubbed, but other than that he wasn’t his normal chatterbox self. Normally by now she would’ve heard all about the mission, all the animals he’d saw, and-
“I missed you so much,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her, tighter than normal and forcing her to stop her washing. A deep frown on her features as she wrapped her arms around him, careful to not get any conditioner on her as she kissed his neck.
“I missed you too, baby,” she whispered. “Let me finish and then we can rest before Claire gets home.”
“Can we order dinner tonight?” He asked, pulling back just enough so she could continue to work but his hands stayed put on his waist, rubbing circles with his thumbs. She finished washing his hair and pulled apart just enough to get to work on cleaning his body. She knew he could do this himself and normally he’d put up a fight on the fact she was taking care of him and he wasn’t doing anything, but he was so off he just went through the motions as she worked.
“What are you in the mood for?” She asked, as she scrubbed him down.
“Anything you and Claire want,” he said immediately and she smiled.
“You know exactly what she’s going to ask for, so are you sure you want to do that?” She teased gently and Adrian let out a small chuckle.
“Her obsession with Italian food should be studied.”
“Makes sense, when we first got together we were eating Fennel Fields like every other night,” she said as she moved to turn off the water. “Plus before I came around you pretty much only liked butter noodles,” she teased.
“Okay, that’s not true. Just because that was my favorite doesn’t mean it was all I liked,” he said frowning and she smiled as she pulled on her robe and grabbed his to help him put on. “Plus now I much prefer chicken alfredo and mozzarella sticks.”
“Yeah your palate has really matured,” she muttered with a smile. “Do you want me to put curl cream in your hair and diffuse it?” She asked and Adrian shook his head no.
“Let’s go nap,” he said and she led them back to the bed, where Adrian immediately collapsed face down. She laughed and joined him, curling into his side with one hand and leg thrown over him and her face pressed against his shoulder. Almost like his own personal weighted blanket. She felt Adrian sigh underneath her as she played with his damp hair.
“Was the mission that rough?” she asked gently and Adrian took a minute, the air around them wasn’t necessarily tense but she wouldn’t call it comfortable either. She continued playing with his hair, her concern rising the longer it took her normally blabbermouth husband to talk.
“No, it was fine,” he finally answered.
“Are you okay?” she tried, playfully tugging his hair so he would turn his head just enough to make him look at her. He’s got a look on his face that she has a hard time reading, like he wasn’t fully sure if he wanted to talk. “Adrian,” she pressed.
“Did you get rid of the letter?”
“No,” she said gently. “I put it up, but you don’t have to look at it if you don’t want to.”
“Can you go grab it?” he asked and she nodded and slowly moved out of the room. Pulling the letter out of the junk drawer, knowing Adrian rarely actually looks in that drawer rather he just throws random stuff in it for her to find later. As she walked back in the room, the letter held in both her hands Adrian had sat up, still in his robe.
“Here,” she said, handing it to him. To offer him some privacy she moved around their room as slowly as possible getting dressed in some comfy clothes, keeping her back towards him. When she finally turned around to look at him he’s still holding the unopened letter in his hands.
“Did you tell Claire about the letter?” He asked softly, catching her eyes as she walked back over towards him. She climbed back on the bed, moving behind him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned against him.
“No, baby, just you,” she said as he nodded. Those words seemed to snap him out of it as he pulled away getting out of bed, shoving the letter in his nightstand as he started getting ready to get Claire off the bus. “Ade, we’ve got a couple hours so you can relax, you don’t have to get ready just because I did.”
“I think I’m going to go on a run,” he mumbled as he pulled on his underwear and moved for his work out clothes and she was quick to get up and stop him from getting any further.
“Hey,” she said gently, her hands cupping his face. “I’ve missed you, please don’t come home and just shut down on me.”
“I’m not trying to,” he murmured, leaning towards her, almost a subconscious movement.
“We don’t have to talk about the letter now, let’s just get you rested and ready for the tornado that is our daughter, okay?” she asked and Adrian cracked a smile at the mention of Claire.
“Okay,” he relented. The next few hours went by slowly as she finished helping Adrian get ready to at least pretend to be normal. Together they unpack his bag, she moves to start his laundry as she he makes his way to their basement to put his gear away.
Her mind kept drifting back to the letter, shoved in his nightstand. She would tell it was weighing on him and Adrian never did great with addressing things that bother him. He’d much prefer to cut whatever was bothering him out and ignore it. It had been a slow progress to get Adrian to address issues head on instead of hiding them and he had made great progress once he finally had a listening ear, but when it came to his family and childhood he would just shut down.
She had dragged some information out of Chris early on, mainly about Gut and just how awful he was towards Adrian when they were both in high school and the first time she saw a picture of younger Adrian she had to fight back tears thinking about the hell his own brother put him through and the fact he had no one to defend him.
She had her arms wrapped around his middle, chin resting on his shoulder as they both stood at the end of the driveway waiting for Claire’s school bus. Adrian's arms holding hers against him, she loosened her grip the moment she spotted the yellow bus heading towards their house.
“Daddy!” Claire shouted from the moment the bus stopped. She covered her mouth to stifle a laugh as she listened to Claire practically scream as she ran off the bus. Adrian was already on one knee as Claire threw herself at him, he lifted her up and spun her around, his laugh loud and carefree.
“I missed you baby girl!” He said as she waved to the bus driver as they pulled away. One of her hands came to rest on Adrian’s shoulder as she kissed Claire's cheek.
“We have so much to do!” Claire immediately said squirming out of Adrian’s grip, Adrian put her down and the little girl grabbed his hand and started pulling him up the driveway. “I checked out a new reptile book for us and we still have to finish our clay animals! Mommy said they’ll be dry now that you’re back!”
She smiled as she followed the two up the driveway while Claire blabbered about everything Adrian had missed while he was away. She gave them their space and let Adrian enjoy some decompressing time with Claire. She handled dinner, not even bothering to interrupt them as she knew their orders like the back of her hand.
“You do dishes, I’m going to get her ready for bed,” she said softly, kissing Adrian’s cheek as he hummed in agreement.
“Don’t start a book without me!” He called after her and she laughed, shaking her head but at least happy that Adrian was seeming to be coming around somewhat normally.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Chase!” She said back as she ushered Claire into her room and started going through her nighttime routine, pajamas, brushing her teeth, and resetting her room. One that Claire was moving slower than normal through, especially considering she knew Adrian would be coming to read to her and according to Claire ‘Daddy does the story voices way better than Mommy.’
“Daddy is being weird,” Claire whispered, her little hang tugging at her shirt to bring her closer. She gave her daughter a small smile as she cupped her little cheeks.
“He’s had a weird day,” she said softly. Claire frowned, worry etched on her little features, an expression she had seen a thousand times from Adrian. Sometimes her heart ached with how much Claire was such a mini Adrian, imagining him when he was small and alone.
“But he’ll be okay?” She asked and she felt her heart clench. She was glad Adrian wasn’t in earshot of this conversation because it would shatter his heart to hear how worried Claire was for him.
“Yeah, baby, he’ll be okay,” she said, pulling her daughter in for a much needed hug. “He has us.”
“I vote for the Grumpy Lady Bug tonight! What do you think, Claire Brown Bear?” Adrian said, clapping his hands as he walked into the room, a smile plastered on his face.
She let Adrian handle putting Claire down as she wrapped up the household chores and shutting the house down for the night. Normally, Adrian would come out and at the very least sit on the counter and yap while she worked, but tonight all she heard was him wrap up with Claire and head to their bedroom.
When she finally joined him, he was sitting up in bed in his pajamas but his nightstand light was still on and his eyes were on the ceiling. She moved around the room, getting herself ready for bed before climbing into his arms in the bed. He was quick to wrap her up and press a kiss to her forehead.
“I’m so glad you’re home,” she said gently, sighing and pushing herself closer to him. Adrian squeezed her.
“Me too,” he murmured. She let the silence take over the room as she listened closely to Adrian’s heart beat.
“Did you read the letter?” she finally asked after Adrian made no movement to turn off his light.
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh.
“And what are you thinking?” she asked, looking up at him as he pulled off his glasses and sat them on his nightstand, his hand coming back to play with her hair. Her gaze returned to the wall in an attempt to give him some space.
“Same thing I said on the phone,” he muttered and she frowned.
“We could go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium," she whispered against his chest as he tensed underneath her. “We could go see Alcatraz, I’m pretty sure San Francisco has a killer science museum too.”
Adrian hummed, but didn’t say anything. She moved her head so her chin was resting on his chest, her eyes locked on his face as he looked at the ceiling. She could feel his heart racing underneath her.
“It’s one week, one chance, Ade.” She insisted.
“He doesn’t deserve it.”
“Okay, maybe that’s true, but don’t you think Claire deserves it?” She pressed and she could see Adrian’s argument weaken on his face.
“He’s just some guy! She has no idea that she even has a grandfather!” He complained and despite herself she laughed.
“You think that she just thinks you came out of nowhere with no parents?” She said with a chuckle. “Baby, I know she’s five but she is starting to understand the world around her and she knows we both have parents. I know she’s not asking questions now, but trust me one day she will.”
“She can ask questions, that’s different from meeting him,” he retorted, sitting up and the moment she sat up too he scooted away from her, a pained look on his expression.
“Adrian, I’m not trying to upset you. I’m just making sure you fully understand what you’re saying.”
“I do understand! It’s him that doesn’t understand; he left! He doesn’t just get to come back into my life now because he wants to!”
“Okay,” she said gently, watching as his chest was rising and falling fast, clearly on the verge of a breakdown. She moved closer to him, as if he was a spooked animal. Her hand came to rest on his cheek, moving his face to look at her. His green eyes were wild and filled with unshed tears. “Baby, it’s okay. I understand. I just want you to understand what you’re saying no to, okay?”
“I do understand and I just can’t-”
“Is Daddy okay?” Both their heads whipped around to see Claire standing in the doorway, her teal baby blanket clutched tightly in one hand as her eyes were on Adrian. Her eyes filled with tears to match Adrian’s.
“Oh baby,” she said gently and the little girl quickly ran over to them, pulling herself onto the bed and wrapping her arms around him. Adrian closed his eyes and held her tight as the young girl started sobbing.
“We don’t have to go to ‘Francisco! Don’t cry, daddy!” she said and Adrian tensed and looked at her.
“You told her?” he accused, eyes wide on her.
“No!”
“I heard you guys talking, but we don’t have to go on a trip! I love Evergreen, we don’t ever have to leave!”
“It’s a little more complicated than that, baby,” she said gently scooting closer to them both, hand resting on Claire’s back as she let out a cry.
“I don’t understand!” Claire cried, pulling at Adrian’s shirt. She gave Adrian an apologetic look.
Before pulling back Adrian, wiped away his own tears so Claire wouldn’t see. Something she hadn’t seen Adrian do in a long time, always feeling comfortable with her and Claire. He had even remarked on multiple occasions on how important it was for Claire to see people cry and be vulnerable.
“Daddy’s dad wants to meet you and mommy, but me and my dad don’t get along like you and me do. I haven’t seen him in a very long time,” Adrian said gently, eyes locked on Claire. “Mommy thinks we should give him a chance, but I’m not sure because it's been a really long time. What do you think?” He asked Claire who genuinely seemed to ponder the question.
“And he’s in ‘Francisco?"
“San Francisco, baby. It’s a city in California,” she added gently and Claire looked at her. Her little eyes searched her face for an answer she didn’t have.
“If we go, will you be sad? I don’t want to go if you’ll be sad,” Claire said and her heart clenched, for such a young girl to have such high empathy and worry for her father, it was both sweet and devastating. Adrian shrugged, his hands fidgeting slightly.
“Maybe a little, but over anything I want to make sure you’re happy and if you want to meet him then we can do that,” Adrian said and she gave him a soft smile, knowing just how much he was sacrificing.
“Are there cool animals in San Francisco?” Claire asked and Adrian let out an unexpected laugh.
“Yeah, baby. Mommy was just telling me there’s an aquarium we could go to,” he said gently, his eyes went to hers and he nodded at her.
“I think we can try San Francisco and if we hate it we never have to go back,” Claire said with a shrug and Adrian smiled at her.
“Alright, then mommy and daddy will figure out the details, but let’s get you back to bed!” Adrian said, grabbing Claire and making her laugh as he spun her around. He was quick to move her so he was holding her upside down as her laugh filled their home.
“Oh yes, get her riled up before putting her to bed, that’s smart,” she said dryly but couldn’t help the smile on her face as she caught Adrian’s green eyes. He gave her a small smile and a nod, a moment just for them to realize that even if he wasn’t sure he’d go through it if it was something his family wanted for him.
The next few months passed slowly, she could tell it was always on the back of his mind as she handled all the communication with his dad and booking their flights. His dad was ecstatic to hear from her, even more excited when she sent over a family photo of them to help with airport pick up, immediately commenting on how much Claire looked like Adrian when he was her age. She tried to talk to Adrian about what his dad was saying and the plan but every time he would get a sick look on his face and get fidgety, so she decided not to push it. Even Claire seemed to be aware of how weird Adrian was being and kept her excitement about the trip to a minimum.
But even that fact seemed to be weighing heavy on Adrian, the idea that his family felt like they had to walk around eggshells around him was causing a growing ache in his bones.
“Is this a good idea?” he murmured the night before they were supposed to leave, head resting on her chest while her hand played with his hair, as she used her other hand to check in for their flights.
“The flights are non refundable, Ade.” she whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “It’s one week and I’ve already got us tickets for stuff for just the three of us to do. I’m sure your dad will understand you need space.”
“What if he doesn’t?”
“Then I’ll tell him? Adrian, I know this is stressful and it might not feel like it but at the end of the day you’re still an adult and at any point the three of us could go take a walk or go to dinner. Hell, you could even go by yourself if you needed some time.”
After that Adrian didn’t say anything more about it, opting instead to press sweet kisses to her neck before she put her phone down, laughing as he pulled himself on top of her smile plastered on his face.
“I love you, you know that right?” He murmured against her ear as he pressed a kiss to the side of her face.
“I don’t think you’d ever let me forget you,” she said, hands running through his curls. “My lover boy,” she purred. Adrian smiled before pressing a firm but open mouth kiss on her lips.
“Is the door locked?” he asked, looking at her with a slight twinkle in his eyes and she laughed.
“Bold of you to assume this is going the way you want it to go, but yes our room door is locked,” she teased, having zero intention of telling Adrian no. She let out a sharp laugh as he blew a raspberry on her neck. “You better get to work, because Claire is still going to wake up at six even without school.”
“I’ll wake up with her,” he murmured, licking up her neck before going to pull off her sleep shirt.
“Yeah and that’ll last five minutes before you both end up missing me so much that you feel like you have to wake me up,” she said, a small gasp escaping her as Adrian got to work.
“Come on, you know last time it was at least twenty minutes,” he teased and she giggled. “Besides, it’ll be our last chance till we get back.”
“Then you better make it last, Chase.”
Adrian’s good mood lasted through the morning, but once it was time to head to the airport and Chris had come and got the three of them to drop them off he was back to being shut down. Chris couldn’t even get much out of him, outside of a small promise that Chris would score some more appliances for the two before he got back from California Adrian’s expression was unchanging. Despite her concern she let Adrian just…feel what he needed to feel and simply just held his hand, giving him a comforting squeeze as they navigated their way through their first out of state vacation as a family.
The airport was surprisingly a breeze and Claire did a great job making sure she either had her hand or Adrian’s. Her plane backpack filled with a few of her favorite books and some art supplies, however she spent most of the time looking around the airport and all the different people. Only crinkling her nose when she had to take her shoes off for security, matching Adrian’s expression.
Once they were on the plane Adrian had taken the aisle seat, Claire in the middle, and her in the window seat.
“Ade, we gotta talk about something before we get there,” she said looking over Claire, who had her headphones in watching Bluey, to Adrian in the aisle seat. He looked over, looking exhausted, despite the fact that it was only eight in the evening.
“What?”
“How are we going to introduce him to Claire?” She asked softly and Adrian tilted his head.
“What do you mean?”
“Like he’s your dad she knows that, but is she going to call him by his name, Poppop, gramps, something else?” She asked and Adrian furrowed his brow.
“We’re mommy and daddy, why would he be anything other than grandpa? She calls my mom grandma,” he said, shuffling in his seat and she nodded.
“Okay, that works, I just…wanted you to be prepared.”
“I don’t think I could be prepared even if I wanted to,” Adrian muttered, clicking on the seat TV and groaning when he realized they only had 45 minutes left of the flight. “Is it too late to go home?”
“Ade…”
“I know! I know!” He grumbled and she reached over Claire and awkwardly grabbed his hand. He immediately squeezed it back. “I’m glad you guys are at least with me for this.”
“Adrian, of course. We both love you, I love you. I’m always happy to be there for you,” she said, emphasizing her words hoping that Adrian really heard her and understood what she was saying. He smiled before leaning back in his seat.
The rest of the flight passed in silence, Claire falling asleep during the last twenty minutes and Adrian opted for carrying Claire off the plane instead of waking up, only pouting slightly when she grabbed their bags since his arms were full. It became clear his ulterior motives of carrying her once they finally bumped into his dad.
If his arms were full, his dad couldn’t hug him.
She wanted to roll her eyes at the action, but she knew him being here was enough of a struggle.
“Mr. Chase! It’s so nice to meet you in person!” she said, offering the man the hug that he was clearly expecting to get from Adrian. He was shorter than she was expecting considering how tall Adrian and Gut were, his eyes were also a sharp blue, nothing like the dark green of Adrians. In fact the only thing that looked remotely similar between the two men were the gray curls on top of his head.
“Call me Charles! It’s so nice to meet you too and oh my goodness is this Claire!” he asked, pulling back and looking at Adrian who shifted uncomfortably, but at least moved so he could see her sleeping face, her carseat clenched tightly in his freehand. “Adrian, she looks just like you were at that age!”
“It’s past her bedtime, so we probably should go back to the house and get her down,” Adrian said looking at her and she nodded.
“It was her first time traveling and I think all the new people really wore her out,” she said, smiling at the older man who nodded, clearly fighting the defeat on his face from Adrian’s lack of a reaction towards him.
“Of course, of course. Here let me take one of those bags! The car is just in the garage, probably a five minute walk!” he said and she nodded letting him take her bag as she readjusted Claire’s backpack on her back and pulled Adrian’s suitcase as they followed his dad. She was closer to him than Adrian who seemed perfectly content staying a few paces behind them.
“We haven’t gotten to use these since our honeymoon,” she said, making conversation with Charles since Adrian wasn’t going to step up.
“Oh! Well, I’m excited you guys decided to come out then. Where did you guys honeymoon?” He asked and she couldn’t help the small laugh that bubbled out.
“We went to Indianapolis actually,” she said, turning to look at Adrian briefly, remembering the two weeks they spent in the midwest. All their friends had teased them about their location choice, but she would go anywhere with Adrian and when he had brought up the random city with his research she couldn’t say no. “They have this really famous steakhouse that had been on our list for a while and they’ve got some really cool museums, a zoo, and a lot of bookstores.”
“We actually stayed at a hotel that used to be a Coca Cola bottling plant!” Adrian said, piping in for the first time with a smile. “It was also right next to a Duckpin bowling place with like thirty different pinball machines!”
“Wow, I mean that sounds like…fun,” he said, not sounding convinced and out of the corner of her eye she saw Adrian deflate slightly.
“It really was,” she said confidently. “I wouldn’t have picked anywhere else. How many people get to say they pet a shark on their honeymoon?”
The rest of the walk to the car was quiet, but at least not as awkward as she thought it would be. Adrian was quick to get Claire’s carseat situated and the girl in her seat, closing the door slowly but firmly so as to not wake her.
“It’s about an hour car ride,” Charles said as she got into the front seat, already knowing Adrian would want to be in the back with Claire. “Do you guys have any music preference or we can just chat on the ride?”
“We probably shouldn’t talk so Claire can sleep,” Adrian said immediately, his hand snaking between the passenger door and her shoulder to rest on her arm. She patted his hand and gave Charles a look, trying to convey an apology for Adrian, but the man just sighed and didn’t even bother looking over at her before he started driving.
Adrian kept his hand on her, even if it was an awkward angle. She could tell he needed to be grounded, but there was not much she could do in the car. The hour passed slow and steady, she kept her phone out just in case Adrian wanted to send her a text. He didn’t but at least once they got to the house Adrian let her carry Claire as he carried their luggage.
“I’ve got you guys set up in the guest room and if you’d like the couch pulls out so Claire could sleep there that way you guys can have some privacy!” Charles offered as he opened the door to a beautiful decorated room, filled with an almost retro vibe and a huge window that overlooked not only the neighborhood but she could see the ocean in the distance since they were high up on a hill. She couldn’t help the smile on her face, she loved Evergreen, but San Francisco was starting to steal her heart.
“No, she’ll stay in here with us,” Adrian said immediately, putting their luggage on the bed as Claire rubbed her face on her shoulder, still passed out from the long day. She watched Adrain as he kept his back towards his dad as he started unpacking, clearly done with the conversation.
“We’ll talk about it, but for tonight we’ll keep her in here just so she doesn’t wake up and get scared,” she said gently and Chalres nodded.
“Let me go get some extra blankets then so you can make a pallet for her,” he said before leaving the room and Adrian physically sagged. She walked over and leaned against him, exhausted from the travel, Adrian placed one hand on her back and the other starting running through Claire’s hair.
“You okay?” she asked gently and Adrian pressed a kiss to her head.
“Always better with you by my side,” he murmured right before his dad came back with a huge stack of blankets. Adrian was quick to grab them and start making a little bed for Claire.
“She’s normally an early riser but we brought snacks for her and stuff to do so the whole house doesn’t have to wake up on her schedule,” she said, giving Charles a small smile.
“No worries at all, I figured you guys would want to sleep in a little, but I can make breakfast around nine?” he asked and she nodded. “The bathroom is just across the hall and there’s nightlights to light the way.”
“That sounds great, thank you so much,” she said and he nodded and left the three alone. Adrian immediately got up and locked the door and took Claire from her to tuck her in. She sighed and stretched her arms, the five year old getting too big for her to carry around so much. The last time she made the comment to Adrian he had looked at her, horrified, and told her she would never get too big.
She started unpacking, throwing Adrian his pajamas as she put hers on and left the room to get ready in the bathroom. She wasn’t sure if Adrian was going to calm down or if this was going to be the entire week, but she had no idea how his nervous system was going to handle an entire week in fight or flight. Especially considering he had no outlet to just go out as Vigilante.
“Adrian, unlock the door,” she said, knocking gently and he immediately unlocked the door, as he quickly looked behind her and the side clearly looking for his dad. She fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Is this going to be all week?” she asked, pressing a kiss to his cheek before making her way to the bed. Claire’s soft snores filled the room.
“Maybe,” he said, following her into the bed and immediately wrapping her up in his arms.
“Well, maybe to help with that tomorrow after breakfast we go to the aquarium?” she said and Adrian kissed the back of her head. “It’s about a two hour drive, but I already told your dad it would probably be one of the first things we’ll want to go to do.”
“Please, Claire is going to go nuts!” He yell whispered directly in her ear. She cringed but let out a small giggle before leaning back against him even more.
“Yeah, Claire is going to go nuts,” she teased, setting her alarm for the morning, knowing they won’t even need it because Claire will most definitely wake them up. “How are you feeling so far?”
“Like we’re in a strangers home and I don’t even know all the exit points yet,” he murmured after a beat.
“Adrian…” she said and he sighed.
“I know,” he grumbled. “I’m trying.”
“I know you are and I’m so proud of you,” she said, gripping his arms and he sighed. “Get some rest baby, because Claire is definitely going to be awake in five hours.”
“Maybe six if we’re lucky,” Adrian said, leaning back to turn off the light in the room and she sighed, letting the exhaustion of the day finally catch up with her. Adrian’s arms stayed firm around her. Which she appreciated considering how cold the house felt. It didn’t take long for sleep to claim her, Adrian not far behind her.
Unfortunately, they didn’t get lucky and she woke up at five in the morning to Claire peeling her eyelids back. She groaned and turned towards Adrian, he let out a low chuckle as she pressed herself hard in his chest.
“Good morning, Claire Bear,” he murmured, hands rubbing her back. “Can you let me and your mom get a little more sleep?”
“Lost cause,” she said into his chest.
“But I’m not tired anymore!” Claire said at a volume way too loud for how early it was. She groaned and Adrian pulled himself out of bed. She whined at the loss of his warmth.
“Can you play quietly for a few minutes while I get dressed and we’ll go take a walk?” he asked and Claire must’ve agreed because she felt the girl retreat to her pallet, snagging her backpack on the way. Adrian pressed a firm kiss to her forehead. “Before you doze off, can you text me the address?”
“Just look outside,” she murmured. “Or use my location, I’m not going anywhere.” He let out a small chuckle as she threw the blanket over herself to try to block out Claire and Adrian’s version of being quiet. Not a single quiet bone in either of their bodies.
She’s not sure how long she was asleep before she made her way down the creaky stairs, but after checking Adrian’s location and seeing that he and Claire still seemed to be on their walk she got ready and made her way downstairs towards the sounds and the smells of the kitchen.
She’s immediately greeted by what one would say is way too much food for four people. There were homemade waffles with all the fixings, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, some fresh fruit, chocolate milk, and what appeared to be fresh squeezed orange juice.
Charles really had a spread going, one that she couldn’t wait to dig into.
“Oh wow,” she said and Charles' eyes flew to hers as he gave an awkward chuckle.
“Sorry, I didn’t know what you guys would like and we can go to breakfast if-”
“No, no! This is perfect, Adrian’s favorite breakfast is waffles with peanut butter so he’ll be excited,” she said quickly smiling at the older man as the front door swung open.
“Mommy!” screamed Claire as she came barely into the room and straight into her legs. She winced but smiled as she ran a hand through the young girl's hair. “We found three ant hills!”
“Hey baby,” Adrian said softly, kissing her cheek before taking in the spread for himself.
“Three! That’s so many, I bet you worked up an appetite! Look what Grandpa made us for this morning!”
“Oh, is that who you are?” Claire asked, head tilting as she looked at Charles. Internally she cringed, in all her worry for Adrian she forgot to prep Claire on the trip past that they were visiting Adrian’s dad in San Francisco.
“I…um yes,” he said, cringing slightly. “I’m your grandpa.”
“Nice to meet you,” Claire said after a pause, moving so she was closer to Charles, holding out her little hand for him to shake. He laughed but took her hand and gave it a hardy shake which made Claire giggle.
“It’s very nice to meet you too, Claire.” Adrian looked over at her, his lips pulling slightly up more. After a beat, he cleared his throat. “Well, let’s not let this food get cold!”
“God, you don’t have to tell me twice, this smells amazing!” She said, sitting down as Adrian helped Claire into one the seat next to her, the small round table leaving Adrian with no choice but to sit next to his dad. She stood up with a plate and began adding food to Claire’s plate before Adrian waved her off, brows furrowed as he grabbed the plate from her.
“I’ll serve her, you get your food,” he murmured immediately and she smiled at him, putting her hands on her hips as she watched him from behind dipping Claire’s plate.
“I even got chocolate milk, Adrian! You used to drink so much growing up,” Charles said with a smile as he handed Adrian the glass jug of milk.
“I don’t drink chocolate milk, I'm not a child,” Adrian grumbled as he accepted the jug to pour Claire a glass. “I’ll have orange juice like an adult.”
“Adrian, you regularly drink Sunny D, so hush,” She teased as she planted a kiss on his cheek before finally deciding Adrian didn’t need her help for Claire’s plate and she grabbed hers and started loading up her own. If he was at all annoyed at her selling him out his expression doesn’t show it, instead he looks at her like he always does when she kisses him; like she’s hung the stars and the moon in the sky.
“We can pick up some Sunny D at the store if you’d like,” Charles said immediately.
“Orange juice is fine,” Adrian grumbled.
“I like chocolate milk way more than Sunny D,” Claire chimed in and she laughed.
“Yeah but that’s because you don’t have a refined palate like your dad!” Adrian teased, blowing a raspberry at her as he sat her plate in front of her, immediately digging in.
“So, Adrian. What are you doing for work these days?”
“I have a business with some friends,” Adrian said as he focused on dipping his own plate.
“A business?” He said, blinking as he sat his own fork down, clearly not expecting that answer. She watched Adrian closely as she kept eating, his eyes were fixed on his plate as he slowly started to dig in. To be fair, the last update he must’ve gotten from Adrian’s mom was that he was a busboy. Both her and Adrian had tried to explain Checkmate to his mom a thousand times but she still thought it was just another restaurant.
“Yeah,” Adrian said.
“Doing what?”
“Working.”
“It’s a covert operations agency,” she chimed in, knowing Adrian was going to keep dodging it. “They’ve been at it for about six years now, very successful.”
“Daddy goes on missions once a month!” Claire chimed in happily. “But we still talk, don’t worry.” She couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of Claire making sure that Charles knew their routine.
“Missions? So you’re like a spy?”
“An agent,” he said tensely. “Where’s your husband? I thought you got remarried or did that go south too," Adrian said, turning the subject against his dad and she can tell immediately in his tone that he’s doing this on purpose. She kicked him under the table but he didn’t react at all to her.
“Oh,” he said, clearing his throat. “We thought it was best if William wasn’t here while you guys visited. We didn’t want to overwhelm you guys so he’s actually visiting his family in North Carolina right now.” She watched the way Adrian flinched at the words and she knew immediately what he was thinking. He was being treated like a fragile child like he couldn’t handle anything, but by how he was reacting at simple questions it’s exactly how he was being.
“That’s very considerate of you,” she said. “Maybe next time we can meet him.” Adrian’s eyes lock on hers, his brows furrowed and for a second he looks legitimately angry at her before he looked almost ashamed that he’d even start to look mad at her.
“He’d love to meet you guys!” Charles said, clearly just happy that things seemed somewhat positive at least from her. “So, I know we talked on the phone about the plans for the trip, but were you guys still thinking about the aquarium for today?” Charles asked.
“Yes!” Claire immediately said and both her and Adrian laughed.
“Maybe let’s plan for tomorrow, spend today watching a movie and just hanging out. We could go tomorrow if the two hour drive isn’t too much to ask,” she said.
“Not at all, it’s been a while since I’ve been myself. I was more concerned that you guys might be too tired. Are you sure you guys will feel rested enough to go tomorrow? We can always push it off! The only thing with a real date is the fireworks in a few days.”
“These two? Too tired? I would love to see the day,” she teased and Adrian cracked a smile as he and Claire made eye contact with the same knowing grin on their faces.
The rest of the breakfast mainly her and Charles chatting with Claire chiming in through mouthfuls of food occasionally. She offered to help wash the dishes when everyone was done but Charles waved them off telling them to go get ready for the day. Adrian was quick to leave the table, picking Claire up, and taking her with him. She followed quickly behind and the moment Claire had wiggled free to look around the room they had stayed in she cornered Adrian.
“Hey, listen to me,” she said putting a hand on his shoulder and he looked at her. “You can’t be a dick.”
“Me? A dick?” He looked at her like he couldn’t believe what she was saying, green eyes wide in disbelief.
“Adrian, he’s trying and you don’t have to be overtly nice, but we’re in the man’s home and you’re setting a bad example for Claire.”
“A bad example? I’m the bad example? He-”
“Adrian, listen to me,” she said, taking his head between her hands forcing him to look at her. “I love you, I love you so much my bones ache and I want nothing more than to be by your side always and I understand that this is hard and it’s probably bringing up a lot of difficult memories from your childhood, but we are actively making memories for Claire. All I ask is if you want to have a more direct conversation with him we have it not in front of Claire, okay?”
His expression fell at her words and he looked clearly ashamed at his action.
“Do you think…do you think she’s upset with me?” he asked, in a small voice and she smiled gently at him before pulling him close enough to kiss the tip of his nose.
“She has no idea what was happening at breakfast other than the fact that you seemed upset,” she said gently. “But that doesn’t mean if the behavior continues she won’t pick up on it.”
Adrian sighed as she rubbed the apples of his cheeks.
“It’s hard,” he murmured.
“I know,” she said back. “Believe it or not, I think you’re doing good,” she said and a ghost of a smile crossed his face.
“Really?”
“Yes, this is hard. There’s no doubt in my mind that this is feeling impossible and daunting for you, but you’re doing so good.”
“I love you,” he said, pulling her in for a tight hug, one that she was happy to return. Her cheek pressed firmly to his shoulder while her eyes went to Claire, who was watching them closely. She gave the small girl a wink and she giggled before running over and throwing herself into hugging her parents legs.
“Can we watch a movie and color today?” Claire asked and she laughed, pulling back from Adrian to crouch down to Claire’s level. “Maybe go bug hunting?”
“That sounds good to me, baby. What do you think daddy?” She asked looking up at Adrian and he smiled with a small nod.
The rest of the day was calm and quiet, Charles always in the background of activities and asking them questions. Adrian never seemed fully comfortable and relaxed but compared to the morning he had calmed down a lot.
She was pleased with the fact that Adrian never seemed to get upset the rest of the day and had even given his dad a strained, but small smile.
It seemed both her and Charles would take the win.
The following morning, Claire was up early and ready to go to the aquarium, waking them up by squeezing herself into the bed between her and Adrian. Where she kept loudly sighing over and over again until they admitted defeat and got up.
“Can we go now?” Claire asked, the moment their eyes opened, making both her and Adrian laugh. One track mind with that girl the moment animals were involved. Claire managed to keep them on schedule yelling “chop chop!” whenever they slowed down too much getting ready.
When loading back up the car, Adrian had given her hand a squeeze as he sat in the back of the car with Claire. She took the front seat again with his dad, but at least this time the energy didn’t feel as tense in the car.
“Do you think they have sea otters?” Claire asked Adrian and she smiled from the front seat as Charles kept driving. She knew this was about to be the next hour of the drive.
“They sure do,” Adrian said and she could hear the smile in his voice.
“Okay what about jellyfish?” she asked him.
“Yes ma’am!”
“Black rays?”
“Pretty sure they do!"
“Isopees?”
“Isopods, and yes!”
“What about puffins?”
“They have tufted puffins!”
“The parrots of the sea!” Claire said proudly and Adrain laughed, clapping his hands making her smile from the front seat.
“Good job, baby!”
“What are you the most excited to see, daddy?” she asked gently.
“I’m the most excited for the life on the bay exhibit, you get to see the animals in their natural environment like-”
“Like harbor seals!” Claire said with a loud laugh.
“Yes! What are you the most excited for?” He asked her.
“Hmmm, probably the octopus!” she announced.
“Do you remember how many suckers they have on each leg when they’re born?” Adrian asked, Claire took a moment to ponder.
“14?”
“Good job!”
“Wow, you guys sure know your sea creatures!” Charles said with a chuckle.
“It’s like this all day,” she teased. “Sometimes they quiz each other. I can’t even begin to describe the amount of animal books and those ‘who would win’ books we have.”
“Hey! Those books are good,” Adrian complained and she laughed.
“Yes, the first time you read them.”
“Have you read them, grandpa?” Claire asked and she watched Charles tense slightly.
“Oh, I umm I haven’t,” he said gently, glancing at the review mirror.
“Hmm, that’s okay. Daddy did you pack any?”
“I did, I brought hammerhead shark versus bull shark and whale versus giant squid,” he listed.
“Okay, see we can read some together!” Claire suggested and she watched Charles grin.
“I’d like that!”
The rest of the ride to the aquarium was filled with soft music and Claire and Adrian babbling back and forth about all the different animals they were expecting to see. She smiled as she leaned her head back, eyes closed, just listening to them talk gently with each other. Being around Charles had started to make her wonder if young Adrian was like this too; just never ending facts and wanting to talk to people all day long. She wondered if anyone actually talked to him or at the very least listened to him.
Based on Adrian’s very few stories, she figured the odds were low.
Once they finally got to the aquarium, they were all quick to get out of the car to stretch. Both Claire and Adrian were quick to get out and take in the outside of the building.
“Hey,” she said, pulling Adrian close into her as he kissed her cheek. “Remember the rule, gift shop at the end and be strong. One educational and one fun thing.”
“We’re on vacation, maybe two fun things?” Adrian tried and she smiled as he winked at her. “Plus must fun toys have some educational bearing!”
“This is one of many stops and gifts ships, trust that her backpack will be full by the end,” she said, giving him a light pat on the cheek as he leaned in to kiss her, accepting the small peck as an agreement to the rules.
Claire and Adrian ended up leading the four through the aquarium, both of them chattering through every exhibit. Sharing fun facts back and forth and Adrian picking her up to get a better look at various things.
It’s honestly the most relaxed she’s seen Adrian ever since the letter arrived from his dad and she knew it was mainly because he was able to focus on Claire, but she’d take it. She couldn’t help a laugh bubble up the moment Claire and Adrian found a tunnel to crawl through that puts you right underneath a waterfall. She couldn’t help but snap a picture of the two of them, identically large grins looking like they are in animal nerd heaven.
“Do you guys have any pets at home?” Charles asked as the two watched Adrian and Claire count the amount of starfish in one tank.
“God no. Even though Adrian’s schedule has gotten better I will not be the one who ends up taking care of a five year old and whatever pet those two wind up bringing home,” she said with a laugh and Charles nodded.
“Growing up Adrian always brought home every stray animal he could find. Even animals that aren’t stray, one time he tried to bring home a chipmunk.”
“Oh my god, yeah I could see that,” she said, covering her mouth as she laughed, watching the two of them. “Did…was he happy as a kid?” she asked softly, almost shyly like she didn’t want to know the true answer. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him flinch.
“It’s not that answer you’re looking for, but I don’t know,” he murmured and she closed her eyes and sighed.
“He’s a good man,” she said, her body feeling tense as she watched Adrian beam at Claire as she must’ve said a correct fact about some animal as he gave her a high five. “A really good dad and an amazing husband.”
“I can see,” he said, voice sounding small. Her brain is still circling around the idea of young Adrian all on his own navigating everything, clearly needing help and just not wanting to be on his own but having no choice. No one to turn to. She always understood when she first met Adrian that something was going on in his life, there was a misconnection or some kind of fundamental lack in his life. The way he clung to Chris when they first met like he was the only person who could really know Adrian. It hadn’t taken her long to break through his shell once he realized she wasn’t kicking him around or had any plans to be mean to him. Adrian still looked at her like he did in those early days, just with pure love and joy wanting nothing more to make her happy even if it came at his own expense.
It took time and work to get him to start doing stuff for himself. It took even more unpacking to realize that he was scared if he didn’t do what she wanted she would leave.
And he was willing to sacrifice everything that made him happy for her to stay.
“He did it on his own and he deserved better,” she said before wiping away a few tears before standing up to join Adrian and Claire. Adrian tilted his head as he looked at her, an unspoken question on his face as she shook her head but pulled him in for a quick kiss. “Lunch?” she asked gently.
“Yeah, let’s get lunch,” Adrian said in a low voice, eyes still on her with worry. “You okay?”
“I’m okay, baby. I think I'm just hungry,” she said.
“Then let’s get you some food!” Adrian said happy to solve any problem she brought to him. She couldn’t help the extra twinge in her heart from his eagerness to make sure she was happy.
The rest of the visit Charles kept his distance, respecting that she had gotten upset with him, and even though she knew she should talk to him and include him she had a hard time separating her attention from Claire and Adrian. In all her worry about Adrian and how he was handling things she neglected her own feelings. Adrian was her person, her guy, her soulmate. Of course it was going to hurt for her too.
Adrian definitely picked up on her weird mood shift and the rest of the trip holding her hand and frequently checking on her. And each time she gave him a small smile and gentle reassurances that yes she was okay. However she was happy once they finally reached the last exhibit of the day and made their way slowly but surely to the gift shop.
The gift shop came with an added challenge.
As expected from an amazing aquarium the gift shop was loaded, leaving Claire running from aisle to aisle with all three grown ups trying to play catch up and help her decide.
“Claire, how about a stuffed animal and a book?” she tried.
“But did you see the pencil case?” Claire immediately said back, eyes wide at all the options. She spared a glance at Adrian.
“Claire, honey we got five minutes and then we gotta pick and if you can’t pick daddy will pick for you, okay?” Adrian said, his tone barely stern but for Adrian to Claire, she’d take it. Claire pouted but picked up a sea otter plushie (one she felt she could’ve picked out the moment they walked in and saved them twenty minutes) and the pencil case that was covered in different marine animals.
The moment they strapped Claire into her seat she passed out in the car, causing both Adrian and her to share sleepy smiles as they looked at each other. Sharing an almost knowing smile as she kissed his cheek.
“Do you want the front seat this time?” She murmured and she watched him as thought about it before nodding. He opened her door and helped her into the backseat with Claire as Adrian took the front with his dad.
The day had finally caught up with her and it didn’t take much for her to fall asleep, the gentle hum of the car and foggy view encouraging her to close her eyes. She was somewhat aware of the fact that Adrian was speaking to his dad in a low voice.
She woke up at least three hours later in the bed at Adrian’s dad’s house. Claire passed out beside her tucked in on the side Adrian had been sleeping in. She stretched and checked the time. Claire would probably wake up hungry soon, but in the meantime she gently made her way downstairs, finding Adrian sitting on the floor alone on his switch. She smiled as she slid down the wall next to him, placing her head on his shoulder as she watched him play his game. He spared a single second of attention to place a kiss on her forehead.
“Did you carry me upstairs?” she murmured.
“Duh,” he said softly. “My dad’s ancient, you think he carried you?”
“Alright, meanie,” she huffed out. “How was the drive back?”
“Fine,” he said and she sighed.
“Are you going to make me pry everything out of you?” Adrian sighed and paused his games. He leaned his head back and it thumped against the wall.
“It was fine, we just did small talk and then listened to music.”
“What kind of small talk?”
“Like how we met, me proposing, stuff about Claire, our relationship with my mom, if we want more kids,” he listed off and she slapped his arm playfully.
“That’s not small talk!”
“I don’t know. He just asked questions and I answered them!” he said and she pulled back, hand on his shoulder as she moved to look at him. A smile on her lips.
“I’m proud of you,” she said and Adrian rolled his eyes but there was a small smile playing on his lips.
“Well I can talk about you and Claire all day, that’s fine; it’s my favorite subject.”
“Trust me I know, I’ve seen the photo albums on your phone. Albums plural,” she insisted and he let out a sharp laugh, one that was infectious.
“I love you two, you’re my world.”
“You’re mine too,” she said, leaning to place a gentle kiss on his lips. One that Adrian eagerly accepted and pulled her closer to him. “What did you say to if we wanted more kids?”
“That I’m working on getting you to say yes,” giving her a small peck as she laughed.
“Absolutely ridiculous,” she teased, rolling her eyes.
A gentle throat clear, took both of her and Adrian’s eyes off of each other and to his dad who was smiling down at them. He was leaning against the wall, looking at them like he had caught a couple of teenagers, but both of them were too old and too in love to even care about being caught.
“If you two wanted, I could watch Claire tomorrow night so you guys could have a date night or even tonight if you’d like,” Charles offered the two and she immediately smiled, accidentally ignoring Adrian’s tension.
“No, that’s okay,” Adrian said immediately and she snapped to look at him, brow furrowed as he pretended to be more interested in the carpet.
“Adrian, we haven’t gone on a real date in years. Your dad can handle Claire for an evening,” she said.
“We can go on a date whenever we want, John could watch her!”
“John Economos? You think John is equipped to watch Claire? John can barely watch Eagley!”
“Okay, then Chris!”
“Sorry, are you purposefully picking the worst people to watch our daughter?” She joked and Adrian tensed.
“My friends are not the worst people to watch our daughter,” he said, sounding frustrated. She sighed.
“Adrian, I didn’t mean it like that, but come on. They feed an eagle lunch meat, I don’t necessarily expect them to be able to take care of Claire with no issues,” Adrian’s eyes snapped to her face. “We’ll talk about it, maybe tomorrow for an early dinner so that way we can put her to bed.”
She said and Charles smiled, clearly happy with the possibility of them saying yes.
“I hate when we do early dinner, then we have to get a sweet treat,” Adrian whined.
“Yeah, but we can get dinner and then come back and take Claire to dessert. Win win!” She said and she watched Adrian roll his head in a circle, grimacing as he thought about it.
“Okay,” he said and his eyes snapped to his dads. “We’ll only be gone for a little while, like three hours tops.”
“Four,” she said, kicking him slightly. Eyes wide and bottom lip pouted out. “We can get dinner and take a nice walk.”
“Four hours,” Adrian conceded and she smiled at him. “But let’s take Claire to the park first tomorrow, I don’t want her to get all bummed we’re hanging out without her.”
“It’s not hanging out without her Ade, but alright we can do that.” She said and she looked up at Charles. “Want to come with us to the park tomorrow?”
“That sounds great,” he said. “I guess I’ll leave you to it.”
She giggled as Charles awkwardly left the room, only for Adrian to immediately tackle her, still careful that she didn’t hit the carpet too hard. He was quick to land his lips on hers, holding his body above hers. She chuckled slightly as they continued making out, Adrian smiling against her lips.
“You’re not getting lucky on a living room floor,” she teased and Adrian laughed, the sound music to her ears and caused her own lips to twitch even further up.
“I don’t need to get lucky, I already am,” he murmured as he kissed her underneath her chin and she laughed. He lifted himself further up so he could look at her, green eyes wide behind his glasses that were starting to slip off his nose. Adrian had used that line on her at least a hundred times, but every time there was a force to his tone that told her that he truly fully believed that. That he was the lucky one and not her.
“Do you remember our first dinner at your moms house?” she murmured, pushing his curls behind his ear only for them to spring right back to where they were before. He chuckled as he rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, when she spoiled that I was going to propose to you in the first ten minutes of meeting her,” he said and she laughed.
“I already knew, you weren’t exactly subtle.”
“That wasn’t the point,” Adrian whined and she laughed, leaning up to give him a peck on the lips.
“You just hate that she technically beat you to it, but Ade I wouldn’t change a single aspect of our life together. None of it,” she said gently and he smiled.
“I wouldn’t either, every moment led me to you and I still can’t believe I have you,” he said, pausing for a moment. “Come on, let’s get some food and take it upstairs for Claire.”
She nodded as Adrian slowly got up, holding out both his hands to help her up. Once she was up she paused before wrapping her arms around her husband. He was quick to sweep her up.
The rest of the evening passed in quiet, small noises throughout the house but everyone was so dead from the aquarium. Claire barely ate anything for dinner, but she was glad she ate something and was willing to take a bath, before passing out for the rest of the evening.
“The park and then dinner tomorrow?” she said softly as she laid down in the bed. Adrian was still puttering around the room, picking different things up just to sit them back down.
“Yeah, sounds good to me,” he murmured before finally making his way to the bed. “Do you think Claire’s having a good time?”
“Yeah, baby. I do.”
Adrian left it at that, not poking anymore as he sighed, pulling her closer into him. She couldn’t force herself to stay awake any longer, despite her nap earlier in the day she was still exhausted and wanted to take advantage of the quiet as much as she could, knowing that Claire was still going to wake up super early and ready to go. So she gave in, letting Adrian’s soft breath in her ear lull her to sleep.
The following day Charles had made breakfast again and she had helped him pack a small picnic for them all for the park. It had been his idea, figuring keeping Claire outside and running around will make things easier for her and Adrian to sneak out for their date night.
“You guys are really cute together,” he said while she was packing a few different types of chips for everyone and making sure Charles had the kind of mustard Adrian liked for his sandwich.
“Me and Ade?” she asked, brows furrowing as she turned towards the man. He was smiling at her, hands pausing over the desserts he was packing, some sweets from a local bakery he had raved about the day before.
“Yeah, I mean. You don’t see too many married couples still so in love like you guys are. Makes me happy that he found you,” he said and she felt her lips twitch as she leaned against the counter.
“Yeah, we're both lucky to have each other,” she murmured, looking down as she smiled. “What’s it like meeting us?” she asked, head tilting.
“It’s…nice. Gut’s come to visit a few times, but it’s normally when he’s just down on his luck. I can’t even put into words how nice it is to see Adrian and not only knowing he’s doing well, but also to see it with my own eyes.”
“I can’t imagine what it’s all been like,” she said gently and he shrugged.
“I made a lot of bad choices and a lot of good choices. It’s led me here and I wish I could change some things but I can’t. I have to live with my choices.”
“Well, even if Adrian won’t say it I am glad you reached out. He never would’ve done that on his own,” she said and Charles nodded.
“I’m glad you answered,” he said and silence fell between the two of them as they returned to packing up for the picnic. After a few minutes Adrian and Claire came barrelling into the kitchen, Claire giggling as Adrian chased her.
“Ready?” He asked, pecking her forehead.
“I am,” she said, patting the cooler and Adrian smiled as he grabbed it. “Hey, I can get it.”
“Nah, I got it. Dad, are you ready?” he asked.
“Of course! What about you Claire?”
“For the park?” she asked, looking up.
“Yes, baby,” she said and Claire smiled.
“I was born ready!” she declared and they all laughed. Adrian picked Claire up and set her on his shoulders while she giggled. Little hands pulling sharply at his hair, but as always Adrian didn’t complain.
The four of them walked slowly towards the park, Claire not lasting long on Adrian’s shoulders before she wanted to walk on her own. Claire bouncing back and forth between whose hand she was holding. She yapped the whole way, asking questions about the park, and how it’ll compare to the one back in Evergreen that they frequent. She felt lucky it wasn’t a long walk, since she was unsure how to keep answering Claire’s questions that she didn’t have the answer to.
Once they got to the park, Adrian reminded Claire of the rules of staying where the adults could see her and being kind to the other kids. The moment Adrian said the last rule Claire gave them all a salute before she bounded off laughing towards the playground. She stood between the two men as she watched Claire run around the park, smiling as she clearly had no trouble making new friends. She turned to Adrian who had his eyes on the parking lot, watching everyone who walked up. She smiled as she noticed Charles doing the same thing but with everyone sitting on the bench.
She elbowed Adrian gently and his eyes snapped towards her as she tilted her head towards his dad who was doing the same thing he was doing. The expression on his face was hard to read, it wasn’t as guarded as he had been the whole week, but there was still something unsure in it.
“What are you doing?” Adrian asked him, leaning forward as his dad's eyes snapped to him. The older man chuckled.
“Oh, old habits die hard, I guess,” he said, gesturing to all the people at the park. “Your mom would give me a hard time whenever we took you boys to the park because I’d watch the people more than I’d watch you guys, but you can never be too careful.”
She watched Adrian’s face carefully, there’s something there that she can’t help but smile at.
“Sounds like someone I know,” she said, knocking into her husband since he didn’t seem like he was going to say anything to his dad.
“I’m going to go play with Claire,” he muttered as he walked away from the two, she frowned but didn’t say anything as he walked off.
“Here let’s go sit, he’s got this,” she said, gesturing towards an open bench that still gave them a decent enough line of sight to everything happening around the playground.
“He’s…really good at this,” Charles said, gesturing towards Adrian and Claire as they played, the two focused intently on skipping from raised lilly pad to lilly pad as they made their way towards the top of the jungle gym. She couldn’t fight the smile that came across her features.
“At balancing?” She asked, brows furrowed as she turned to the older man who let out a chuckle.
“No, I mean, at being a dad,” he said softly and she hummed, her eyes locked on the back of Adrian’s head no more than twenty feet away from them.
“Can I tell you a secret?” She said low enough Adrian wouldn’t overhear them as his dad nodded. “He took to it so well that I thought something was wrong with me. Like don’t get me wrong, I love my daughter with my entire heart. I would do anything to make sure she’s safe, but every moment still felt…suffocating. Especially right after we had her, I mean there’s so much you can just fuck up, but not to Adrian. He just looks at her and knows what she needs. He’s known since she was born. He’s known what she needs just from the smallest babble, a quiver of the lips, just anything. He’s freakishly in tune with her.”
“It’s impressive…I mean I wasn’t…you have to understand there was a lot going on in general. Especially internally and me and Adrian just had nothing in common,” she nodded.
“Adrian just doesn’t know how to half ass anything in his personal life,” she said with a shrug. “He still struggles some days. He gets frustrated when things don’t make sense in his mind, but he’s gotten better at trying and growing. It’s all you can ask for most days,” she said gently and his dad nodded.
“I’m proud of him,” he said. “But I’m not sure if he wants to hear that from me.”
“Tell him anyway, I’ll talk to him about it.”
“Daddy, do you need a hug or some deep breaths?” She heard Claire’s voice from across the playground and she immediately locked in on the two. Adrian was standing near the middle of the jungle gym, his eyes were locked on them, but the expression on his face made it so she wasn’t fully sure he was actually seeing them. Claire’s hand tugging at his shirt, begging for his attention, she starts to get up to check in on them, but her movement seemed to snap him out of zone out as he turned back to Claire. He moved to start chasing her as the young girl screamed and continued climbing up the jungle gym.
“Is he okay?” Charles asked and she looked over at him.
“Yeah, he’s okay.”
The rest of the time passed in a comfortable silence with her and Charles watching Adrian and Claire play. Occasionally letting out a chuckle as the two did something funny or a small comment when a thought popped up in either of their heads, but for the most part it was just a calm afternoon and once Claire was hungry the four of them found a shaded spot to sit and eat. Adrian sat close enough to her that she leaned on him and then once they were done eating she laid in his lap while Charles pushed Claire on the swings. His hands were playing with her hair.
“What were you guys talking about earlier?” he asked, voice low.
“You,” she answered honestly, adjusting so she was on her back and looking up at Adrian. She watched him purse his lips, his eyes staying locked on Claire. “I was talking about how great of a dad you are, how you took to Claire quicker than I did.”
“Baby, postpartum depression is really serious. We’ve talked about it, you don’t have to feel bad, it’s okay. We got you the help you needed and everything was okay.”
“No,” she said laughing slightly despite herself. “I just mean like when we first came home from the hospital you were immediately in tune with her. Waking up slightly before she needed anything and you were just…so happy to help, never seeming too tired. Even now, you’re quick to know what she wants or you know exactly what to say to get her to stop pouting before dinner.”
“Oh,” he said gently.
“Yeah, you’re a good dad, baby.”
“I love you,” he said gently, finally looking down at her with nothing but love in his eyes and she smiled.
“I love you more,” she said and he laughed, shaking his head.
“Absolutely impossible, my heart-”
“My heart beats for you too, you know,” she whispered. Throwing the words Adrian frequently said to her back at him.
The rest of the time at the park passed without any big incident, Adrian stayed calm and enjoyed just sitting with her watching Claire. After another hour the four of them packed up and headed back to the house where her and Adrian got ready for their date.
She opted for a simple summer dress she had packed and Adrian was in khakis and one of his better fitting polos. Charles had offered them to borrow his car, but Adrian insisted on leaving it in case they needed it to go to the hospital. Adrian also ran through every emergency number for his dad to call if something happened. His phone, her phone, and their friends back home. When she pointed out she wasn’t sure what they could do being so far, Adrian just gave her a pained look that made her nod and let him keep going.
Once she actually got Adrian to leave the house, the dinner was really nice. They had walked hand and hand for about 25 minutes before arriving at one of the few restaurants open early enough for them to have dinner. She smiled as they made easy conversation and finally got seated, Adrian pulled out her chair for her.
“Ugh, I’m so excited,” she said as she looked over the menu, everything looking so good.
“We’ve been to dinner since we’ve had Claire. Multiple times, you’re acting like I never take you out,” Adrian said, complaining, but there was still a smile playing on his lips.
“Yeah, but we’re on vacation! We’re in a new city and it’s just us. It’s nice,” she said and he nodded, looking at her with a smile on his lips as he leaned forward just a tad.
“It is nice,” he repeated. They both placed their orders and she watched Adrian fidget slightly with his glass of water.
“Ade, can I guess a question you’re going to hate?” she asked and he nodded, eyes flickering away from hers. “What was it like when he left?” her voice was soft but it didn’t stop the look of being struck that crossed his face.
“Why?”
“I just…I know this week’s been hard for you and I know how reluctant you were for us to even come in the first place. I just…want the missing puzzle piece,” she finished, voice soft as she grabbed his hand from across the table, he immediately intertwined their fingers together and gripped her tightly.
“When my dad left, things just…got worse overall. It’s not like he nor my mom really stopped Gut growing up. With my healing factor…I was just the boy who cried wolf so it didn’t really change too much when he left, but it clearly affected Gut because he just got…worse, meaner. He pushed limits and just seemed to make it his life mission to make my life hell,” Adrian said before taking a sip of water. “And I hated them all so much growing up. I always thought ‘why me,’ like what did I do that made me so…hateable so hurtable. It just became easier to shut myself off from all of them, pretending their relationship to me didn’t matter because no matter what it was going to hurt, but at least this way I got to pick how it hurt.”
“Oh, Ade.”
“And I don’t regret it. Without Gut torturing me, I might not have become Vigilante and if I hadn't become Vigilante I wouldn’t have met Chris or you and who knows what my life would be. Probably awful, still bussing tables and living in my moms basement with no plans or a life. I think for a long time I was angry at him for leaving me in that house like he just didn’t care. And I get it, I get he’s sorry and I get why he wanted to meet you and Claire, but I think there’s still this part of me that sees that’s what he wants and wants to deny it because it’s mine. It’s something I built and found and have loved and cherished. Not him, he shouldn’t get it just because I’m his son.”
“That’s not what’s happening. It’s not just getting this because you’re his son. You built this and you are making a very mature decision to share this. You’re being the bigger person in allowing him to see this and to show him what you built despite everything that happened growing up.”
“Yeah, well I hate it,” he mumbled, leaning back in his chair, eyes on the ceiling and she laughed.
“I couldn’t tell,” she teased.
“Hey!”
“Ade, it’s fine! You’re allowed to not like this too! You can be angry or as upset as you want with him. They’re your feelings. I’m not trying to make you feel one way or the other.”
“I know, I just…I’m ready to be home. I miss our bed, I miss work.”
“Do you think you’ll want to come visit again?” She asked, head tilting as he seemed to ponder it.
“Not fully for it, but not fully against it.”
“Once your mom hears we came out she’s going to beg us to come over again you know that right?”
“Jesus fuck, don’t remind me. It’s going to be impossible, the moment we land we’ll be lucky if she’s not outside our door already with cookies,” he complained and she laughed.
“Well, it’s not like Gut is going to be bringing around any grandbabies anytime soon,” she said as the waiter sat down their appetizer. Adrian grabbed his fork and snickered.
“At least not a legitimate one,” he joked and she snorted.
“Hey, you can’t judgemental like that. We had a close call before we got married,” she warned and Adrian smiled.
“Yeah, but that’s different, we always knew we’d get married. Gut’s going to be lucky if a girl gives him the time of day for longer than to just put his dick in her.”
“I’ll give you that one,” she said after a pause and Adrian smiled at her, digging in. “Our next trip as a family, maybe we see if Chris and the others want to go somewhere,” she suggested casually as Adrian smiled.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, I bet they’d be down for a resort somewhere and Claire would have a blast with all her aunts and uncles.”
“Oh my god, we can take a cruise!” Adrian said, slapping the table and she grimaced and shook her head.
“Tempting since Claire would be confined to a ship, but I fear if we took Chris onto international waters we might just be asking for trouble,” she said and Adrian pouted. “We’ll figure something out. Let’s survive these last few days and then we’ll start making plans."
“Barely a few days, tomorrow night fireworks and then we leave in the afternoon the following day,” Adrian said looking excited.
“Still, let’s wait to plan our next trip till we get back,” she said and Adrian smiled and nodded. The rest of the evening passed with just the two of them talking back and forth, the conversation staying much lighter after Adrian’s confession. She knew, just from knowing her husband, that just because he’s admitting to some of what was bothering him about the trip didn’t mean it was all solved. Adrian had a habit of holding onto things, she was just glad that he had voiced something, clearly up a fraction of what he must be feeling every time they walked back into his dad’s house.
Throughout dinner she debated circling back and telling Adrian about the conversation she had with him at the aquarium, how upset she got on his behalf, but by the time dessert comes out she decided it was best to just leave it, knowing Adrian would eventually ask her once they were home.
When they got back to the house, they walked into complete silence and she felt the way Adrian squeezed her hand nervously. She continued to lead them into the house, only to find Claire passed out on the couch and his dad sitting in an armchair continuing to watch Bluey as if Claire was still paying attention.
“She fell asleep maybe twenty minutes ago. I didn’t know if you wanted me to keep her awake to take her for dessert or what,” he said gently and she smiled.
“We had dessert at the restaurant, we’ll just put her to bed and get her something special tomorrow so she’ll forgive us,” she said and Adrian smiled as he picked her up. The young girl’s head rolling on his shoulder as her eye lashes fluttered slightly. He walked past her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before carrying Claire to the room.
“Did you guys have a nice date?” Charles asked, getting up and stretching from his chair.
“It was really nice, thank you for watching her.”
“Of course, it’ll be weird to go back to a quiet house. Don’t get me wrong, me and William love the quiet but it’s been really nice having you guys here,” he said softly and she smiled.
“Your home is beautiful but I fear if Claire is here any longer she will destroy it. You should see her room back home, we’re going to have to repaint it and recarpet it whenever we decide to move,” she said as Adrian came back downstairs. His arms wrapped around her middle as he laid his head on her shoulder.
“Well, that’s easy we’re not moving,”
“Okay, Ade. We’re not doing this conversation again,” she said, patting his arms and rolling her eyes. “This is a common fight-”
“Debate,” Adrian corrected gently.
“That I think we should move and Adrian thinks we should just remodel the house, but we need a bigger space as Claire grows and-”
“Which we can get by remodeling, we have an acre in our backyard and we can expand,” Adrian complained. She looked over at Charles and shrugged. He sat back down and put a hand on his chin.
“Why don’t you want to remodel?” he asked her, she pulled out of Adrian’s grip as she moved to sit on the couch. Adrian followed her.
“Well, it’s a lot of work and money-”
“Which we have plenty of,” Adrian reminded her. “Checkmate is doing great, we can spend a little to make the house more comfortable without risking too much. It’s not like Claire’s going to college tomorrow, there's time to make these changes while still being comfortable.”
“And time to be out of the house or in a house with a bunch of construction,” she finished and Charles turned to Adrian.
“Why don’t you want to move?”
“It’s our house, I want us to live there forever. We moved in six months before we had Claire. It’s the only home she’s had, I think we should keep it that way.”
“Well, Adrian, forever isn’t realistic,” his dad said gently so as to not upset Adrian. She could feel him tense beside her but he didn’t say anything. “But also, moving just because a few things are wrong doesn’t mean you should,” he said to her and she sagged a little, looking over at Adrian.
“I do like our house,” she said, this time focusing more on Adrian who smiled. “I just worry that construction is going to take too long and be too much.”
“Well, you two don’t have to decide today or hell even tomorrow,” Charles said and Adrian nodded.
“That’s what I say, we’ve got the time,” Adrian said and she fought the urge to say something about how there were two of them now, knowing that might set Adrian off. “Thanks for talking to us about it, but we should get to bed,” he said standing up and the moment Adrian’s eyes were off his dad she saw tears well slightly in his eyes before he wiped them away so Adrian wouldn’t see. She couldn’t help the smile at the realization that without a fight Adrian at least heard his dad out on one of their arguments, which felt like a much bigger win than if she were to convince him to finally start looking at new houses.
The three adults said goodnight and slowly made their ways to their respective rooms. She smiled, pulled Adrian in for a kiss the moment their door was closed.
“We can remodel the house,” she said gently against her lips, feeling him smile. “But not right when we get back, give it a few months and then we’ll start figuring it out, okay?”
“Okay,” he said gently, smile almost blinding.
“And if we’re remodeling I want a clawfoot tub!” She said and he laughed, she threw a hand over his mouth so he wouldn’t wake Claire up.
“Deal,” he murmured against her hand. She smiled and kissed him one more time before the two finally made their way to bed. Relaxing together before sleep claimed them both.
Most of the morning and afternoon was spent getting ready for the evening. The firework show they had picked was at a different park, one they had to drive to, but they were having a farmers market and food trucks there so at least they didn’t have to worry about dinner. Plus Claire wasn’t too happy when she woke up and realized she was cheated out of a dessert. Consider it was their last full day she was completely surprised by Adrian’s unusual chipperness.
They had gotten their blanket spread out for the firework show, Claire sitting between her and Chalres with Adrian on her other side.
“Oh wait! Claire, I brought you these!” Charles said happily pulling out of his tote bag some industrial noise blocking headphones, one that reminded her of what one might find at a construction site. She smiled as Claire happily accepted them, her expression being more of ease the moment the sound cushions were over her little ears. It was almost a comical sight with how big they were, but she knew Claire was thankful for them, her attention back on the night sky waiting for the fireworks to start.
The next part seemed to go in slow motion for her. One second she’s smiling looking at her happy daughter, the next she’s turning her head to make a comment to Adrian about it, but when she turned fully he’s not next to her right anymore. Instead he’s running away.
“Watch her, Claire stay with grandpa,” she didn't wait for either of them to answer her as she chased off in the direction Adrian went. She was lucky that for the most part he didn’t seem to move very fast, not as fast as she knew he could go. She followed him all the way to the parking lot and she was glad he didn’t have the key because she wouldn’t be surprised if Adrian drove off if he did.
He had done that once before, back before they first started dating, while Task Force X was still getting their grounding after saving the world from butterflies. She had figured out pretty early on that Adrian liked her, but she was still unsure of him and what she wanted. Chris had gotten into Adrian’s head about her and her expectations and he had become a mess every time they were around each other, clearly unsure if he should be himself or who Chris said he should be to earn her love. He had said one dumb thing after another, spiraling until he finally squeaked out a goodbye and physically ran away from her.
At least this time she was able to catch up to him.
“Adrian, you can’t just run off. The last thing we need is Claire getting…” she stopped dead in her tracks when she took him in, hand over his mouth as tears raced down his face. He was crouched on the ground, leaning against his dad’s car. “Ade?”
“Just give me a minute,” he gasped out, shoeing her away with his hand as she shook her head and fell to her knees in front of him.
“What’s happening, are you hurt?” she asked, checking him over. Hands flying over him as she tried to make sense of what was happening to him.
“I’m okay,” he said, pushing her hands gently off of him.
“What’s going on?” she asked again and she watched Adrian force himself to look up, bottom lip wobbling as he seemed to debate telling her the truth or not.
“Claire, she just looks just like me,” he said, eyes squeezed shut. “And it’s hard to see him being so…fatherly to her. I mean, fuck baby she looks just like me, she has my personality, your genes didn’t even try!” She couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out as a few tears escaped her eyes at Adrian’s clear pain.
“Yeah, she’s your spitting image,” she said and he let out a shaky sob.
“Why wasn’t I good enough for him?” At those words she practically threw herself at her husband, wrapping him in her arms as a harsh cry left his lips.
“Baby, no no no,” she murmured, pressing a kiss to his temple as his arms circled around her tightly. “That’s not what’s happening. He’s not suddenly being nice because he likes Claire more than you, he’s being nice to Claire because he feels bad about how he treated you as a kid. He’s trying so hard to make you see that he's changed and he cares and he’s doing that by showing you the way he thinks you’ll be the most comfortable with. He knows you don’t want to have a direct conversation, but baby he’s trying to make you see he loves and cares about you and he is sorry.”
“But why wasn’t I enough?” He begged her, begging for an answer she simply didn’t have and she felt her own tears starting to fall.
“I don’t know, baby, but it wasn’t fair to you at all and I’m sorry. But you deserve good things and you deserved a good dad who was there for you,” she whispered, holding his face between her hands, wiping his tears as quickly as they were falling.
“It’s hard,” he murmured, calming down.
“I know,” she said gently. “And it’s not fair either, but you’re doing such a good job. This time tomorrow we’ll be home and if you don’t want to talk to him ever again we can do that.”
“But what about Claire she’s having a blast with him!”
“Ade, we’ll figure it out and yeah she’s five but she’ll understand if that’s what you pick,” she said and he sighed, his body sagging against the car. “Come on, let’s buy Claire some cotton candy, okay?” She said and Adrian laughed, it was watery but at least he was starting to sound back to normal.
“So she’ll be up all night?”
“Yeah, we’ll make your dad watch her so we can get some rest before the flight tomorrow,” she joked back as she stood up and held out a hand for Adrian. He was quick to accept it and pull himself up but before she could start leading him back he quickly brought her in for a kiss. She smiled as one of her hands went to cup his cheek.
“I love you,” she said and he smiled.
“I love you too.”
The two made their way towards the cotton candy stalls, Adrian clutching her hand tightly.
“Stupid California, $12 for a bag of cotton candy,” Adrian mumbled as he pulled out his wallet, wiping his nose on the back of his hand as the stall clerk took his cash and looked at him with concern. She felt lucky that at least the clerk didn’t say anything.
Once they made it back, Charles gave her a questioning look and she simply shook her head as Adrian handed Claire the cotton candy, making her squeal in joy.
The rest of the night passes with silence from the group, even Claire, who’s attention is on the sky and slapping her dad’s hand away from stealing her cotton candy. They didn’t get back to the house till almost 1 in the morning, Claire passed out as Adrian carried her around the park and back into bed. Before passing out, she and Adrian made quick work of setting out Claire’s outfit for the flight back and packing up the majority of their stuff.
“Ready to leave tomorrow?” she asked gently, eyes almost blurry with sleep as she finally pulled herself into the bed. Adrian followed behind her.
“More than ready,” he murmured as they both fell asleep.
Both unfortunately and fortunately Claire slept in longer than they were anticipating. Normally the young girl was up early no matter what time she went to bed, but the joy of the fireworks and sugar crash kept her sleeping till almost eleven in the morning. Which meant they were rushing to get to the airport and say their goodbyes. If Charles was disappointed with the lack of a last morning he was careful to not show it on his face which she appreciated, knowing Adrian probably wouldn’t react well to any comment from his dad about them ruining their last day.
“Thank you for inviting us,” she said, hugging Charles once they made it to the airport. Adrian standing behind her.
“Of course, don’t be a stranger. You guys are welcome back any time,” he said and she pulled away, looking up at Adrian as he sighed, but awkwardly gave his dad a hug.
“Yeah, we’ll see,” Adrian mumbled.
“Seriously, Adrian. I’m really proud of you,” his dad said, giving him one more squeeze of the shoulder and Adrian nodded.
“Bye Grandpa!” Claire announced, interrupting the moment between the two men, but she can tell on Adrian’s expression that he’s thankful for it.
“Bye Claire, it was very nice to meet you!” he said and she giggled.
“Of course it was, I’m cool!” she said hands on her hips making both her parents laugh.
“Claire, what do you say?” she pressed her daughter.
“It was nice to meet you too,” she grumbled and Charles laughed, giving Claire one last hug before the three of them started making their way through the airport and on their way home to Evergreen.
The whole flight and ride home Adrian was quiet, this time she gave Claire the window seat so she could watch and play with the window shade as she rested her head on Adrian’s shoulder. Occasionally she could feel him turning and pressing a kiss to the top of her head as she squeezed her leg. The moment they got back into their home, Claire was quick to run to her room to check in on all of her toys.
“I’m sorry for pushing you into this,” she murmured as she pulled him into a hug, the moment they were alone in their bedroom. She felt him sigh against her as he swayed them slightly. The hug felt familiar and comforting, as she let herself melt in his arms.
“No, I…I think this was good. I’m glad he got to meet Claire and you got to meet him,” he sighed. “I’m not going to forgive him at least not fully, but I think sometimes I worry that because he was my example of a dad that maybe I would be a shitty father and-”
“Adrian you’re the best dad!” She said immediately pulling back and looking at his face with a pained expression on her face, but Adrian let out a small laugh.
“No, I mean,” he looked down suddenly looking bashful. “I know I am a good dad and I think it was good for me to see him because now I’m positive I’m way better at this than he ever was. It’s so easy to love Claire and it hurts that…that I wasn’t for him, but that’s his loss.”
“It is his loss, Ade,” she repeated and he smiled.
“Yeah, it is,” he murmured.
“Daddy! Are we going to play with my new art kit from Grandpa! You promised when we got home we’d use them!” Claire said, busting into their room.
“Besides, I have the best family in the world right in front of me,” he said, pulling her in for a kiss just long enough for Claire to start making fake gagging sounds.
But god, she wouldn’t change any part of her family for the world.
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