The Parent Trap (one-shot, Drake x Amara)
Pairing: Drake Walker x Amara Suarez
Rating: PG, unless my foul mouth couldn’t help itself and let some bad words slip through the cracks :p.
Notes: This is my first time doing a one-shot. I’ve been working relentlessly on my thesis lately and haven’t been able to sustain the rhythm of a series as well as before (but I’m still very much writing That’s not why I’m staying, though!! Just with little breaks in between…). So, I’ve been having ideas for one-shots. I don’t want to spoil anything in terms of the end of Book 2, so my one-shots will have very minimal context, just enough for you to read them :) This is set in the future, about 2 years or so after Book 2. I hope you like!
‘Let me carry this,’ Drake frowns.
Amara sighs. ‘I’m fine. Seriously.’
Drake nods but intercepts her carry-on anyways. ‘Sorry babe. Not taking any chances.’
Amara snorts. ‘Fine. Carry it all, if that is your wish!’
Drake hoists Amara’s bag on his shoulder. ‘Yup,’ he says, planting a kiss on her cheek. ‘You tired?’ He asks.
She shakes her head as she looks for her phone, buried deep in her purse. ‘I’m fine, I watched a few movies and dozed off right after you.’
‘Good.’ He eyes her oversized purse. ‘Are you sure—‘
She stops in her tracks. ‘Drake. Please don’t ask me if I want you to carry my freaking purse. Is it massive? Yes. But come on. I can manage one thing.’ She unlocks her phone and finds her dad’s contact info. ‘So glad we didn’t check any luggage. Nothing better than just hopping off a plane and into the sunset.’ She presses on her phone. ‘Alright, calling my dad. He should be in the cell phone lot.’
Drake smiles. ‘I’m so excited.’
‘Hi Dad,’ Amara says into the phone.
‘Sweetheart!’ Jorge’s voice is incredibly excited. ‘Did you land?’
‘We did. Walking towards the exit. Terminal A, Dad. Are you around?’
‘Yes, I’ll be there in five, amor.’
She hangs up. Drake takes her hand and strokes it. ‘Let’s go?’
‘Amara, Drake!’ Jorge screams as he gets out of the car.
Amara runs into her father’s arms, and he lifts her up, just like when she was little. Jorge twirls her around and she faces Drake, noticing his worried face. She frowns at him. He catches on and acts as if nothing had happened.
‘Drake, mijo!’ Jorge yells, wrapping his son-in-law in a tight hug.
Drake hugs him right back. He only sees Jorge every three months or so, but in just a couple of years, he has become a father figure to him. His father-in-law’s hug is everything his own father has never overtly given him: warmth, support, blatant love.
‘It’s good to see you, Jorge,’ he says. ‘Sorry we’re a little stinky. Long flight.’
Amara playfully elbows him in the side. ‘Speak for yourself, Walker!’
Jorge laughs heartily. Something else that Jackson never did. But Jorge Suarez doesn’t shy away from emotion. He laughs, he cries, he tells his loved ones he loves them.
He lives. He has to. Because his son can’t anymore.
Drake shakes the thought away. He’s been thinking of Sergio a lot lately. Not just because Michael is taking new steps in his life, not just because he and Amara are here in Philly where the Suarez siblings grew up.
‘Alright, honeys, let’s go. Nancy is preparing lunch, she made spaghetti carbonara, so we don’t want to be late.’
The four of them sit at the kitchen table, happily exchanging stories and eating spaghetti.
‘When are your parents getting to Philly, Drake?’ Nancy asks, between two sips of homemade lemonade.
‘They’re checking into a hotel as we speak,’ Drake answers.
It always made him feel weird when anyone referred to his mom and Barry as ‘his parents’. But again, that was Nancy speaking, lovely Nancy who thought of Amara as her own daughter and did not make a difference between her and her own son Matthew. Inclusivity was the main word with Nancy, which Drake loved, partly because it forced him to confront his own hangups about his mom’s husband.
‘I still wish you’d told us, mijo, we could have put them up here,’ Jorge says, shaking his head in disapproval. ‘Family doesn’t stay at hotels!’
Amara smiles. ‘Dad, the hotel is very close, they can hang out with us and have their own privacy. Best of both worlds, relax.’
Drake takes his wife’s hand, and absentmindedly plays with her rings. His thumb moves around her engagement ring, his grandmother Adelaide’s. Then, it finds her wedding band, made of yellow gold, just like his own. ‘Jorge, don’t sweat it, we already really appreciate you guys cooking for all of us tonight.’
‘Of course, honey,’ Nancy responds. ‘Jorge and I are so excited to see Bianca and Barry, we haven’t seen them since your first anniversary. I hope they like enchiladas, we’re honoring Marisol’s recipe tonight.’
Drake smiles. ‘They will love that.’ He looks at Amara, suddenly worried. ‘Babe, will you be ok with um…’ he thinks of the best, most innocuous way to ask what he wants to ask. Judging from her annoyed face, he knows he has to reroute. ‘With a big family dinner? I mean, um… you might be jetlagged. You didn’t sleep much on the plane.’
Phew, good save, he thinks. Until he sees her eyes roll back into her head.
‘I love that you’re so protective with my daughter,’ Jorge jokes, clapping Drake’s back.
Amara walks into her and Drake’s bedroom. He is already in there, folding her clothes into the dresser. He turns his head to look at her upon hearing her footsteps. ‘Hey there,’ he whispers.
She walks up behind him and wraps him in a hug. ‘Relax, babe,’ she whispers back. ‘You’re the one who needs to breathe.’
Drake sighs. ‘I know. Sorry about my tiny freakout at lunch.’ He turns around and kisses her deeply. He sits down on the bed and guides her on his lap. ‘I don’t mean to be a pain in the ass. I just want you to be as comfortable as possible.’
Amara strokes his hair tenderly. ‘I know that. And I appreciate it so much. But Drake, you have to remember that, first of all, I’m not sick. I can walk, and carry stuff, and eat enchiladas. I’m half Mexican and half Puerto Rican, since when can’t I handle a little spice? Chill out. And second of all, your little anxiety fits will blow our cover. We invited Bianca and Barry for a reason. It would be a shame to be discovered before everyone gets here.’
Drake nods, and plants a kiss on Amara’s hand. ‘You’re right. I need to calm my tits.’
‘Exactly. You think your tits can remain calm, hmm…’ she looks at her watch. ‘Another three hours?’
Drake laughs and buries his face into Amara’s chest. ‘I don’t know if I can keep it in. It’s not just the anxiety. It’s just that… I’m so fucking excited.’
Amara gently kisses the top of her husband’s head and smiles. ‘Me too, babe. Me too.’
‘Hi, lovely lady,’ Bianca whispers as she hugs her daughter-in-law tight. ‘How are you?’
‘Good, thank you, Bianca, how about you?’
She lets go of her and grabs both of her hands. ‘I’m great, especially since I get to spend time with my amazing children. And your parents!’ She opens her arms wide for Nancy, who gives her a warm hug. ‘Thank you for having us, honey, we’re so excited to be here!’
Barry walks around giving hugs and handshakes, mostly silently as usual. Bianca is the outgoing one in the relationship, while he’s more reserved. Bianca is all crazy, curly hair, turquoise rings, flowy white tops, and expansive declarations of appreciation. Barry is more of a quiet presence.
After the two sets of parents met for the first time before Drake and Amara’s wedding, Jorge had told Drake that he really liked Barry. Drake thought it was sarcastic at first, because well… Drake has never understood the appeal of Barry. So, he laughed. Then, Jorge said to him, ‘Why are you laughing? I’m serious, mijo. Barry is a solid guy. You can see right away that you can count on him. He doesn’t say much, and he’s probably annoyed at how much I talk, but I like his calming presence. It’s hard for a person to join a family in mourning, and Barry doesn’t want to take anyone’s place. So, he doesn’t even take his own.’
This made Drake realize how much he’d overlooked his stepdad. So, he tried a little bit more.
He could do better. That’s for sure. But it’s a start.
Nancy had served champagne flutes with the appetizers. Amara sits down at her spot, and notices Drake’s panicked face at the sight of the champagne. She makes eye contact with him and gives him a firm look. Soon enough, he silently laughs at her annoyed face.
Jorge gets up and raises his glass. ‘Nancy and I are thrilled to have you all beautiful people here. Thank you all for coming, and we love you all.’
‘Aw, thank you Jorge, we love you too,’ Bianca says, about to take a sip.
That’s Amara’s cue. She takes Drake’s hand and squeezes it, her heart jumping out of her chest. He looks at her, and she sees tears forming in his eyes. That’s it. That’s the moment they flew here for.
She gets up, raising her own glass. ‘If you can wait just a little bit before you take a sip, I’d like to say a few words.’
Everyone nods and smiles. Drake squeezes her hand again and wipes away a tiny tear. Amara’s gonna need to keep it together for the two of them.
She continues. ‘Dad, Nancy, thank you for going with the flow when I told you we’d like to come here for a few days. Bianca, Barry, thank you for being so flexible and coming all the way here just to see us. I promise it’ll be worth the trip.’ Drake chuckles. Amara smiles and continues on. ‘I know we saw you just a couple of months ago at our anniversary in Ramsford, but we couldn’t wait until our next visit.’ She takes a deep breath and shakes her flute. ‘I’m not going to drink this, but my heart’s in it.’
She looks at Drake, and they share a knowing look. A look of excitement, of love, of fear maybe, just a little bit. But, as long as they have each other, their family, biological and chosen, they’ll be fine.
Amara takes another breath and fights back tears. She smiles widely and says, ‘I’m pregnant.’
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