Summary-: charles dates a single mom, whose daughter completely despises him. And he couldnt understand why. Hes trying!! He really is!! Until one night after a nightmare he understands why shes been so scared of letting him in.
Warnings-: death, descriptions of car crash, children involved in said car crash, guilt, nightmares, complex feelings.
Charles had never minded children.
He'd always liked them, actually.
His nieces and nephews adored him. Fans often brought their children to races and he always made time for them. Kids were easy.
Usually not actively trying to ruin his day.
Grace, however, seemed determined to be the exception.
The first time Charles met her, she was five years old and hiding behind her mother's leg.
Y/N had spent weeks preparing her.
Explaining that Mommy had a friend she'd like Grace to meet.
Charles had been nervous.
More nervous than he wanted to admit.
Meeting a girlfriend's child felt significantly scarier than standing on a Formula One grid.
Because if Grace hated him...
Nothing else would matter.
At first everything seemed fine.
Grace peeked around Y/N's leg.
Just enormous eyes staring at him.
"I've heard a lot about you."
The little girl continued staring.
The bluntness nearly made him choke.
Charles found it hilarious.
And for a brief moment he thought everything would be okay.
The smile slipped from his face.
The little girl looked genuinely confused.
"We don't ask people that."
Unfortunately, things only got worse.
The second visit ended with Grace staring at him from across the dinner table.
Charles had spent the evening trying.
Asking about her stuffed rabbit.
She answered every question with one-word responses.
The little girl crossed her arms.
Charles managed a small smile.
Y/N immediately sent Grace to her room.
Charles could hear her crying from down the hallway.
And suddenly he felt guilty.
Like he'd caused it somehow.
Y/N returned a few minutes later looking exhausted.
Charles reached for her hand.
Charles wasn't entirely convinced either.
For months, Grace remained stubbornly opposed to his existence.
She tolerated him on good days.
"I'm having dinner with your mom."
"We're going to the park."
"You don't have to come."
And his personal favorite:
"Mommy and I had more fun before you got here."
Each comment landed like a tiny paper cut.
Not enough to seriously hurt.
Y/N always corrected her.
But it never seemed to make a difference.
Then do it again tomorrow.
Charles never told Y/N how much it bothered him.
Because what was the point?
But understanding something didn't stop it from hurting.
One evening he was driving home after dinner.
Grace had spent the entire meal pretending he didn't exist.
And suddenly Charles gripped the steering wheel tighter.
The thought surprised him.
He attended dance recitals.
He sat through animated movies.
Helped assemble ridiculously complicated toy castles.
And somehow he was still the enemy.
The realization left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Immediately guilt followed.
Because she'd lost her father.
Because none of this was actually about him.
But feelings weren't always rational.
And some nights Charles went home feeling rejected anyway.
Months turned into nearly a year.
Tiny cracks in Grace's walls.
One afternoon she scraped her knee at the playground.
Without thinking, she reached for Charles.
Only realizing halfway through.
The look of panic on her face would've been funny if it hadn't been heartbreaking.
Charles simply cleaned the scrape.
And never mentioned it again.
Another day she fell asleep in the car.
Y/N asked Charles to carry her upstairs.
Then rested her head on his shoulder and went back to sleep.
The next morning she acted like it had never happened.
There were dozens of moments like that.
Things most people wouldn't notice.
Because he was paying attention.
Because beneath all the anger and resistance, Grace wasn't mean.
Though Charles didn't fully understand why.
The nightmare happened on a rainy Thursday.
One of those quiet evenings where the world felt sleepy.
Charles and Y/N were already in bed.
The storm tapping softly against the windows.
Y/N was curled against his chest.
Charles absentmindedly played with her hair.
Grace stood there clutching her stuffed rabbit.
Charles immediately noticed something was wrong.
Grace didn't move immediately.
The answer shattered Charles a little.
A six-year-old shouldn't have to apologize for needing comfort.
Y/N's voice softened instantly.
"You're not interrupting anything."
Grace looked toward Charles.
And to his surprise she whispered:
Something twisted painfully in his chest.
His voice came out gentle.
Then climbed onto the bed.
Settling directly between them.
Y/N immediately wrapped an arm around her.
Only then did Charles notice the tears.
Grace's cheeks were soaked.
And suddenly she started crying again.
"What happened?" Y/N asked softly.
Grace buried her face against her mother's shoulder.
Then she recovered immediately.
Pulling Grace even closer.
"What happened in the dream?"
Y/N immediately corrected her.
"No. You have nothing to be sorry for."
"This wasn't your fault."
"This wasn't your fault."
Y/N's voice remained steady.
"This wasn't your fault."
The same words repeated over and over.
For fifteen straight minutes.
Charles listened quietly.
Watching a conversation they'd clearly had many times before.
Eventually Grace's crying slowed.
Her breathing became even.
She fell asleep still tucked against her mother.
One hand gripping the rabbit.
The other gripping Y/N's shirt.
Like she was afraid to let go.
"Why does she keep saying she's sorry?"
For a moment Charles thought she might not answer.
"Because she thinks it was her fault."
Y/N stared at the ceiling.
Rain tapping softly outside.
"The day it happened she wanted ice cream."
"She threw a huge tantrum."
Charles listened carefully.
"We weren't planning to go anywhere."
"But she wanted ice cream. So i told her dad to take her, just to get her to stop crying."
"So she and her dad got in the car."
Charles suddenly understood where this was going.
Y/N looked down at her sleeping daughter.
"She remembers everything."
"No, her brain erased the after part, the people crowding the car pulling her out. Me showing up half an hour later.. the funeral that all is blank. But She remembers crying."
"She remembers him driving."
"She remembers the crash."
"Her dad died instantly."
The words barely came out.
"Grace was in her car seat."
Charles looked at the sleeping child.
Charles couldn't breathe.
The room felt unbearably heavy.
"She was like barely three, and i- i thought she would forget- like how she forgot the rest. but she remebers it so vividly"
"Her brain decided it was her fault."
At the little girl who spent months pushing him away.
At the little girl who constantly expected people to leave.
At the little girl who apologized for existing.
And suddenly every piece clicked together.
She wasn't afraid of him.
Terrified of loving someone.
Terrified of losing someone.
Terrified that if she cared enough, something bad would happen again.
Ashamed of every frustrated thought he'd ever had.
Every moment he'd secretly resented her.
Because she wasn't being difficult.
The words escaped before he could stop them.
Not because it was funny.
"She wakes up every day."
"She still believes in magic."
A small smile appeared on Y/N's face.
"She still loves people."
Y/N's eyes filled with tears.
Charles reached for her hand.
"What if she never gets over it?"
Charles squeezed her fingers.
"What if she always blames herself?"
"Then you'll keep reminding her."
A tear slipped down Y/N's cheek.
"You'll remind her every day."
"And eventually she'll believe you."
"You sound very confident."
"That doesn't answer my question."
Then his expression softened.
He looked directly at her.
"She has the best mother I've ever met."
Y/N immediately started crying.
The kind that came after years of carrying too much.
Charles shifted carefully.
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
Just listened to the rain.
Listened to Grace breathing.
Felt each other's presence.
Because he knew what those words cost her.
How much trust they represented.
He squeezed her hand tighter.
Not just the woman he'd fallen hopelessly in love with.
But the little girl sleeping between them too.
The little girl who had spent a year trying to push him away.
The little girl who wasn't mean.
And for the first time since meeting her, Charles understood.
Some walls weren't built to keep people out.
They were built to keep pain in.
And once you understood that, you stopped trying to tear them down.
You simply sat beside them.
Until the person behind them felt safe enough to open the gate themselves.
As rain continued falling outside, Charles held Y/N's hand.
And Grace, even asleep, held onto both of them.
For the first time, they felt a little bit like a family.