DIRECTORS CUT!!!! FOR CHAPTER 10 OF MIRACLE!!!! YESSSSSSSSS PLSSSSSSS
THANK YOU JAS I HONESTLY WASN’T EXPECTING ANYONE TO ASK ANYTHING. 💜💜💜💜Honestly I had to go back and reread this chapter because I’ve been working on Chapters 40 and beyond. (Quite embarrassing but I guess it happens right?) Here’s the link to Miracle (it’s updated to Chapter 15 on Tumblr but on Ao3 it’s to Chapter 28).
Under the cut!
Okay so basically this was the first chapter I wanted to introduce and emphasise the fact that Nathan is a father. That was the entire reasoning for him to go back in time to try to kill Russell Collins in the first place, because the kid eventually becomes a villain and kills both his (ex in my fic)- wife and daughter in an act of revenge against Cable for not being able to capture him the last time.
So enough backstory for the plot, but really I wanted to create more content where Nathan can be seen as a father, the fics out there always have him as the “Dom Daddy” and as much as I can agree that he can be, I also like to remember he is literally a daddy.
^^^^
So Chapter 10 has interactions with his daughter, and from the flashes and glances we got to see of Hope in the movie, I took the liberty to say that she was about 5-7 years old roughly, I chose 5 for the initial part. And “Try not to get her hopes up will you?” is his ex doubting that he’ll uphold yet another promise to be there for the family.
You see, Nathan being a soldier and defender in the future means that a lot of the time he will be out for days on end chasing down the next target or bad guy that comes his way. Initially his wife understood, that he was keeping them safe and protecting the area that Hope would grow up in, but after years and years of missing anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, (beginning with the smaller things like missing Hope’s first steps, or her first words), and the overall lack of time that they were having together as a family she began to feel lonely and doubt his words anymore.
She would confide in a friend from her childhood, and he was very comforting for her and in comparison in her mind a life with him sounded appealing and stable, Chet (the man she confides in) is a promise that won’t be broken yet again, he has nowhere to run to and his job would never endanger them. She divorces Nathan and ultimately marries the new man in her life (who is also closer to her age, another discrepancy between her and Nathan) and they’re about to start a family together “extended belly.” says it all, she’s pregnant.
So to stick to the topic once again whoops, Nathan as a father!!! He was completely devastated and had no idea that his wife was ready to divorce him after yet another long trip. And since they’re both alive, he wants to try and amend things, especially with his little girl. “Try not to get her hopes up will you?” - it’s actually Hope’s birthday soon, she’s turning 6 and she is excited by the promise that her dad will be home in time for the day. She is not a fan of her step-father, and her mother is focused on the new baby on the way and on starting a new life. She only really got custody of Hope because Nathan didn’t have residence in safe places, if he even stayed long enough, and being away for most of the week Hope would not be under parental care but by herself at such a young age.
So I wanted to focus Nathan on a domestic side of things, especially how loving and caring he can be, why else would he break down if not for the hurt he experienced with losing his family, his little girl? His baby girl that he promised he would see on her 6th Birthday, and for her smile to make his now empty life somewhat better, who loves him despite how little she sees him.
I have more scenes planned with Nathan being a parental figure, and how he doubts himself to be a good father when in actual fact he’s brilliant, he was just deprived of the chance to be just that. I’m adamant that he loves his daughter more than anything else, and that he is willing to work hard at repairing and developing a stronger bond with her, simply because he loves her. He’s never been more determined in his life to succeed at something than when he realises that Hope needs him so that she can feel loved and understand that she is loved.
My OC Hayden suggests doing anything in the present that parents do with their kids (because she never had her own childhood, so she has no better suggestions than that) and she decides that she’ll participate later in the activities because she wants that experience too. So both Hayden and Hope experience the joys of playing and being silly and having fun for the first time together, thanks to Nathan.
And I’m ready to fight anyone who says that Nathan can’t be soft dammit.
