I need some LouStat fix it’s, some making it worse THEN fix it’s, some fluff…. some angst…. A lot of angst actually…. Some fluff then angst’s.. and and angst then fluff’s… and a bunch of whump. Just give it a happy ending. Always a happy ending… ASAP! PLEASE! 🫶
Excerpt: Louis' hand hesitated over the messy array of papers. His eyes darted around the table. Most of it was just stuff that went along with things they'd discussed. One thing immediately stuck out, however. Writing scribbled on a napkin.
Approx. 10 weeks
Louis stared at the napkin for a long time. He knew that handwriting.
"Fareed," he said aloud, barely even a whisper. But. What did it mean?
For the birthday of one of my super special amazing talented awesome friends! One of my g(hole)den girls (iykyk) @judymarch15!
stitches 🪡
A 5+1 Eddie learned to sew in Afghanistan fic!
Read it on ao3 (or below!)
Eddie watches Buck scurry back and forth like a frantic-- well, still fairly new parent. He can't help, nore does he try to stop, the chuckle it causes. One… two… Three whole trips from his truck to the house and back. Bringing in far more than Theo will need for the night. (Far more than he would need for an entire week… maybe even two!) "Correct me if I'm wrong, Buck… but you are coming back in the morning right?" He purses his lips into a smirk at how Buck stops dead in his tracks and glares at him.
"Look… it- it's just--" Buck sighs, shoulders slumping like the energy has just vanished from his body. "This is his first time-- s- since--"
"Buck…" Eddie says, softer now. Less teasing, fully understanding what Buck is trying to convey. He remembers the first time he let Chris spend the night with someone who wasn't his parents, Abuela or Pepa. (Of course that someone had been Buck, so this feels very full circle for them.) "He's going to be fine."
"Yeah," Buck sighs, almost like a question. They hear giggling coming from the living room and look to see Chris and Theo playing a game; more so Theo is playing and Chris is just waving his controller around but not actually moving his character so Theo can beat him. Eddie watches as a smile slowly spreads across Buck's face. A calmness floods his expression, and he nods. "Yeah," he repeats, more confident. "Yeah he's-- he's gonna be fine."
Eddie doesn't give Buck too much hell as he still insists on going over a very detailed list he wrote up for Theo. His likes, dislikes, allergies (just dust-- Eddie does give a bit of hell for the implications his house is dusty) and bedtime routine. He nods along, arms crossed tightly across his chest, with what he is sure is a look of growing annoyance on his face. "I think I got it," he assures. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about. Believe it or not, I have done this before."
Buck looks torn, and Eddie does sympathize with him… so he bites his lips when Buck lingers in his goodbye hug-- a hug he damn near had to pry Theo from the game system for. Eddie has to admit, though, the sight does tug at his heart strings. Buck fell into parenthood very easily, which is not surprising in and of itself, but it's still nice to see how easy it came. He is very happy for him. Things have finally been looking up… even given--
"Love you most, I said it first!" Theo says loudly, with a huge, bright, triumphant smile.
"Ahh, darn… you-- you got me kiddo," Buck says, returning that sunshiny smile as he ruffles Theo's hair. It only takes about ten more minutes of a goodbye before Buck finally manages to actually leave. He is more or less sulking out to the truck, into the truck… as he starts the truck! Eddie watches as he sighs and turns to check behind him, then suddenly throws the truck back into park, reaches into the back for something unseen, and reopens his door.
Eddie is prepared to give him full actual hell this time, but when he rounds the truck, Theo sees what he is holding. The child screeches, "Duck Duckley!" He takes off from Eddie towards Buck and leaps from the porch into waiting arms.
"Y- Yeah you don't want to forget him! It would have been a nightmare!" Buck looks at Eddie more saying this, than saying it to Theo, who has grabbed the stuffed realistic looking mallard duck and is hugging it to his body. Eddie fully understands the convenience that they caught this in time. He has heard all the stories in the month since the child was gifted his current comfort item about how attached he is to it.
Another long hug, and Buck sits Theo down with Duck Duckley and finally (finally) leaves.
Theo waves until the truck disappears down the road. Then he stares in the direction it disappeared for long enough that Eddie worries there might be a meltdown over the separation after all. He holds his breath as Theo finally walks back to him, but then Chris wins a battle on his game and the victory music distracts him, causing him to race back inside and request to play again.
All good things come to an end, however and eventually Chris was tired of (not) playing the game against Theo. Plus he had already made plans to hang out with some friends that night, and so he needed to get ready. Which leaves Eddie as Theo's entertainment and before Eddie can suggest a calm, non destructive game, Theo smacks his arm and yells "Tag!" Then he takes off through the house.
A very intense chase, if Eddie— more so Eddie's knees— says so himself, ensues. Through the house, almost every room, and eventually out the back door. Eddie knows damn well he is faster than a four year old, but the little speedster is small and gets through spots Eddie just cannot. It comes to a point Eddie is a little offended (with himself) he is still the 'tagged' and not had a chance at being the 'tagee'. But a loud gasp followed by immediate and loud wailing stops him in his tracks and makes him completely forget about the game.
"Theo?!" Eddie calls looking throught the hedges along the back of the house the kid disappeared into. "What happened?Are you hurt?!" Dear God… Buck is going to kill him if so.
The hedges tremble as Theo makes his way back out of them. He is covered in dirt and if Eddie can't get it out of his clothes… Buck just might kill him anyway. However, he doesn't look hurt. No scrapes, no blood. Theo is still sobbing, though, so Eddie walks over and kneels down to better inspect him.
Turns out Theo doesn't have the injury… It's Duck Duckley. Theo holds him up, sniffling pitifully as he reveals the large gash down his belly. Stuffing pouring out. Very gruesome sight, actually. Eddie understands Theo's reaction. "It- it- it was an accideeeeeent!" Theo wails.
"Hey…" Eddie says, fully snapping into Tio Eddie mode. "Hey, buddy, it's okay. I know that!" He wraps an arm around Theo and pulls him into a tight hug.
"It- it- it's not- it's not o- okaaaaaaay!"
"It will be," Eddie says softly. He carefully takes the duck from Theo's grip and turns him over, pushing the stuffing back inside the tear. "I can fix this."
Theo sniffles, wipes his eyes, and looks up at Eddie. "You- You can?"
"Heck yeah. No hay problema!"
"No- No hay—"
Eddie laughs, ruffling Theo's hair. "No problem," he translates, and the child smiles up at him.
They walk back into the house, Theo hot on Eddie's heels, to where he keeps his "sewing kit". (A big ziploc on the top shelf of his towel closet… One would think after all this time he would have a more organized container, but no.) Theo follows him from the towel closet to the kitchen table, and he climbs into a chair right beside the one Eddie slides into.
"Ooo! Blue, blue…" Theo insists when Eddie goes for the white thread.
"You got it kid," Eddie laughs and switches the spools.
Theo watches, with his little arms propped up on the table, and his chin resting in his hands. It reminds Eddie of Chris in a fairly similar situation, actually. Eddie laughs to himself, and says "Believe it or not, this is not the first time my sewing expertise has saved the day…" Theo looks up at him and lifts his brows, listening— maybe not fully understanding… but Eddie continues anyway.
—
Not long after he'd come home, before Shannon left… Chris had been playing in the yard and his jacket had caught on something. Ripped right down the back. Chris was devastated, and Eddie didn't understand it— "It's a jacket," he'd said to Shannon, after she'd managed to calm Chris down and he'd finally fallen asleep. "There isn't even any characters on it."
"He just likes it, Eddie…" she sighed in return. "I don't know why. Maybe because it's worn in and soft, or maybe he just likes the color… or how it fits." She sighed again, and Eddie couldn't help but feel like he just couldn't do anything right. He said the wrong things, did the wrong things. Even when the issue wasn't directly his fault, it felt like it was just added weight to the rest he carried. "He will be fine, " Shannon said. "Like you said, it's just a jacket. We can find him one just like it. Don't— Don't worry about it."
She turned and left him there, alone with the ruined jacket draped across the kitchen counter. Eddie picked it up and looked at the tear. It had ripped straight down the back, but it had ripped straight, which was good.
The next morning Eddie surprised Chris (and Shannon) with the fixed jacket. Chris' eyes lit up happily, and Shannon gasped in awe. She took the jacket and inspected the stitched line, impressed. "Since when did you know how to sew?" She asked, teasingly.
"I am a man of many talent," Eddie told her, wrapping a hand around her waist and pulling her into a kiss, that Chris very loudly objected to.
—
Then… there was another time when Chim had taken Jee out in her nice new dress Maddie had bought for a special occasion. But Chim was (and still is) soft, especially for a pair of Buckley grade puppy dog eyes. Jee had begged to wear it, and he'd been sure he could keep her from messing the dress up.
How wrong he had been.
He'd come running to the station, in a panic. Rightfully so, Maddie was definitely going to kill him! "Well Chim," Bobby had said, pursing his lips, trying to hold back laughter. (The rest of the team was not trying to hold back at all.) "This isn't really the type of emergency we handle here."
Eddie could have immediately told him he could fix the rip in the dress, but he let him stew on it for a few minutes. He let him make several, gradually more desperate phone calls around the area. Waited until he'd offered the last one an extra hundred bucks if they could just get to it today. Then— "Hell, if you're offering those rates I'll do it." Chim shot him a glare and rolled his eyes. Eddie laughed, but plucked Chim's phone out of his hand before he could commit to the tailor on the line.
"What the hell, Diaz!?"
"Seriously," Eddie said to him. "I'll do it."
"You can fix it?"
"I can fix it," Eddie quipped back with identical sass.
And he did! Chim looked ready to cry when Eddie handed the dress over and he couldn't even find the location of the tear. He thanked Eddie, and scooped Jee up and they left.
And Jee told Maddie all about it that night!
—
Another time.
Mara had been living with Hen and Karen for a while. So long that she'd really stopped even needing the comfort of the blanket she'd kept so near and dear to her. Which was probably for the best as it was old, and worn, and tattered. But it was special and she loved it.
Eddie had been making a plate of food, at one of Bobby and Athena's cookouts (held at the Han residence while the future Grant-Nash house was still being decided on), when he felt a gently tug on his shirt. He turned to see Mara standing there. "Hi…" she said, almost nervously.
Then she proceeded to explain that Mama Hen had told her he was a pretty skilled seamstress. Eddie nearly choked on a bite of hotdog, but agreed he knew his way around a needle and some thread.
Mara explained her blanket is falling apart around the edges, and she wanted to preserve at least a part of it. Eddie hummed, following along as Mara pulled out her phone and showed him an image of a throw pillow with a patch of fabric sewn onto it. "Can you do something like this?"
"Can I do something like this?" Eddie repeated back to her. "Of course I can do something like this!"
—
"Hey Eddie," May said softly. Her voice was soft as always, but worn down and tired. Night of crying tends to do that to the vocal cords. "It— It's in the backseat…" she continued, tipping her head towards her car. The silent plea there, begging him to not make her go retrieve the item.
Eddie swallowed and nodded. He welcomed her into his— well, Buck's— house. Offered her a drink, she declined. Then he walked her to the couch and told her it wouldn't take him long at all.
He walked out to the car, and looked through the back window. To the garment bag laid out on the seat. The bag of material he would need for the repair needing to be made. He sighed. This sucked.
Back inside he carefully unzipped the bag, and he took out Bobby's uniform. The rip in the seam where the sleeve connected to the body wasn't even very noticeable just hanging on the wire hanger. But it was there, and Athena knew it was there. And Bobby was worth far more than a few minutes of his time, a potentially pricked finger or two, and an unnoticeable alteration so his uniform was fully intact as it hung on the back of the engine.
Eddie stared ahead as they made their way down the street, his eyes locked on the uniform. He blinked back tears and marched on.
—
"Which brings us back to now," Eddie says, tying off the blue thread, and cutting off the excess. "Wahlah! Good as—" He looks over to Theo, whose head has gone from propped up, watching to resting on his now crossed arms. Soft little snores coming from him indicate he is asleep. Eddie chuckles quietly to himself and turns the duck to look at him. "It couldn't have really been that boring of a story," he says to it, then makes some Donald Duck-esque noises back at himself.
Theo wakes up from being lifted out of the chair by Eddie, and immediately realizes Duck Duckley is in his arms. He turns him over to see the line of blue stitches down his belly and gasps. "You saved him!"
"Told you I could!"
Eddie smiles as Theo wiggles around to wrap his arms around Eddie's neck. "Thanks Eddie!"
"Absolutely no problem, kiddo."
"No hay problema!"
Eddie laughs, and squeezes Theo a little tighter. "No hay problema!"
The moment is cut short by his phone ringing, Eddie puts Theo down to pull it out of his back pocket, and his smile spreads. He turns the screen so Theo can see the caller's picture— it's of him and Buck… and Tommy; the three sitting together on a teacup ride, Buck and Theo looking like they are having a ball… and Tommy looks like he's about to be sick. "Let me, let me!" Theo squeals, reaching for the phone.
He opens the facetime and squeals as Buck's face appears on the screen. "H- Hey Theo," Buck says, smiling. "Someone wants to say hi to you."
He turns the phone towards a hospital bed. Towards Tommy, who is looking into the camera with half opened eyes. "Tommy!" Theo squeals happily. "You're awake now!"
"I am," Tommy says, tiredly.
"I missed you, big dude!"
All three men laugh at that and Tommy replies, "I missed you too, little dude."
Eddie steps away and lets them talk. It has been a long week, and he is sure Theo has a million things to fill Tommy in on from it. Which he does, talking about a hundred miles a minute. Eddie laughs, and listens, neither Tommy nor Buck are able to get a word in. Until finally Duck Duckley comes up.
"Eddie fixed him! Look!" Theo holds the duck up revealing his stitches. "He saved his life just like he saved Tommy!"
—
They were taking it slow this time, Buck had told Eddie. Even slower since Theo was in the picture. Buck didn't want to confuse him. He didn't want Theo to get attached to Tommy and then it not work out. So they were taking it slow.
Maybe a little too slow, and so the universe— that Buck always swears is constantly screaming to people who refuse to hear it— took matters into its own hands and sped up the process. A multiple unit emergency. A collapsing building. And a way too deep, too wide, and too long cut to wait out back up. Eddie doesn't even know how long Tommy had been trapped, bleeding out before he got to him. All he could hear was Buck's teary voice as Chim and Ravi held him back pleading to anything listening to not take him when he'd just got him back. For it not to take him, too.
Unfortunately the universe did not have the means to close up a severe wound. But Eddie did.
—
"Aww man…" Tommy says with a pout. "Why didn't I get cool blue stitches, Diaz?"
Eddie snorts. "Next time I'll make sure to have a variety of options for you to choose from."
"O- Or maybe we don't have a- a next time…" Buck chimes in, and Eddie watches Tommy's face soften, as he carefully tugs Buck down for a kiss and agrees.
Theo quickly loses interest in standing still and talking so he tells Buck and Tommy he loves them, before quickly correcting to, "I love you most I said it first!" Both men groan in defeat, both smiling as Theo blows a kiss then takes off, shoving the phone into Eddie's hand.
Buck thanks him for fixing the duck, and Eddie insists it was no big deal.
"It's another crisis averted from something you learned in Afghanistan," Buck tells him, and Eddie sees Tommy's brow quirk, intrigued in the story that is definitely there. But he also looks so very tired, and there is plenty of time once he is fully healed for him to share it— maybe while Eddie is kicking his ass at Muay Thai.
A dirty rotten liar… that lies. He knows this… He is shady. He has secrets.
And for many years he has been able to keep one particular secret locked away– Okay, fine… for many years he has kept LOTS of secrets locked away. Particularly from those closest to him. (Most specifically, and importantly, Louis. This is all besides the point.)
Regardless… This dreadful secret has finally caught up to him in a most unfortunate manner, it seems. Suspended about five feet above the floor of the hotel room Louis had booked for them. Frustratingly only moments before Louis is due to arrive.
And he will find him here, frozen in the air, and he will surely have questions. Questions Lestat can probably avoid— give his most devastatingly seductive smoulder, take Louis by the hand… and then what? He very well can’t bring Louis into the air too… that would only create more questions. And he very well can’t come down. Not until he knows that the filthy evil little creature is gone… and that would require him knowing where it has even gone in the first place.
Which leaves him no other option but to remain where he is… and wait for inevitable, complete and utter humiliation to arrive in the form of one Monsieur Louis de Pointe du Lac.
—
Louis is unaware he is humming as he makes his way through the hotel lobby until it is pointed out to him by the girl at the front desk. “You seem to be in quite a good mood, sir,” she says with a cheeky little grin, as she hands him a key to the room. He wonders if she is the one who gave Lestat his key. He wonders if gears are turning in her head; dots connecting, sense being made of why might be about to go on in room 1301 once he gets up there.
He only gives her an equal cheeky grin back, and a wink, tapping his key card on the table as he wishes her a goodnight. The girl giggles and returns the sentiment, teasingly adding how she truly hopes he enjoys his stay.
Louis leans himself against the wall of the elevator as it ascends. Takes the brief moment to adjust his cuffs, and his collar. Smooth down the front of his shirt, and take a few steadying deep breaths. Always nervous— more than a century passed and he’s still always nervous meeting with Lestat, as if it’s the very first time all over again.
The elevator doors open and he steps out. Just a short walk and he will be there. They will be together again. After such a long time apart. (It’s only been a few weeks and they have called nearly every night between… regardless—)
Louis listens. Waiting for the beating of Lestat’s heart to reach his ears. Waiting for his own to sync with it. But when he finally does hear the familiar thudding… it’s fast and panicked. This causes Louis to speed the remaining steps to the room door. He smacks the key card against the sensor until it finally registers and throws the door open to find—
To find Lestat levitating in the center of the room.
He is not stretched out in a standing position. He is sitting (but on air) legs pulled up to his chest, and a look of— Louis isn’t sure if the look on Lestat’s face is one he’s ever seen before. Humility, perhaps.
Lestat swallows, licks his lips and says, “Hello, Louis.”
“Hello?” Louis repeats back, and Lestat nods. “Les… what are you— why are you—” He sighs. Because it’s really always something with Lestat, and he means that as affectionately as humanly possible.. but he means that nonetheless. “Why?”
“Well. You see… I just—” Lestat fidgets, causing his body to wobble in place. He dips a little lower, and immediately rises back to the previous spot. Louis can feel a brow arching, his stare hardening in confusion. Lestat sighs. “There was— o- or, well… there is– somewhere; though I’m not sure where– a… s- spider.”
—
Louis blinks up at him from the floor.
Lestat wonders if he can use the levitation— higher altitudes or something of the sort— as an excuse to why his face is most definitely turning bright red. He can feel it in the way his face feels like it’s on fire; like he is not only staring at the sun… but pressing his entire head right into the cursed death star.
“A spider?”
Lestat hesitates, and contemplates redacting his admission and lying. “Oui,” he confirms instead.
A long pause. A few more slow, taunting blinks as Louis stares at him with the oddest look. “Okay…” he finally says. “And?”
“And what?! You ask why I am… up here. I have told you. What more should I—”
“W- Wait,” Louis interjects, and damn him Lestat sees his lips twitch the slightest bit upward. “Wait wait wait… are you—” Lestat tenses his jaw, and waits for the humiliating blow. “Lestat are you afraid of— of spiders?!”
And Lestat wants to snort and laugh and chortle… and cycle through all the other forms of how one expresses humor. But Lestat feels so silly now, with Louis here, staring up at him, fighting off his own laughter. It’s like all the pride drains out of him— “Ou- Oui…” he quietly admits.
Instantly the look dissipates from Louis' face. “Hey, Les… it’s okay, you know. It’s okay to be scared of—”
“Oh my god, please do not repeat it again!”
Louis quickly throws his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay…” he says softly; kindly, even. “But baby… you have to come down.”
“I cannot come down Louis! It’s—” he sighs, because well it’s still so silly! “It’s g- gone! I lost sight of it and— and I can’t—”
“So… you’re going to just stay up there? All night?”
“I— No. I don’t know,” Lestat pulls his bottom lip between his teeth and contemplates options.
All options, however, swiftly go out the window when he looks back to Louis, and find him staring— not at Lestat, past Lestat. Up at the ceiling. “Uhhh… Les– Lestat. You need to come down. Now.”
Lestat feels his brows knit tightly together. “What is it Mon Cher? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
“It’s not a ghost…”
And. Oh. Oh…
—
Louis will tell Lestat later that he resembled a spinning disco ball, or a sparkly piñata after being violently swatted— the way he frantically twirled midair when he looked up to see the spider above him… just as the spider fell right onto his face, before quickly darting into his mess of untamed blond locks. Louis thought he was going to claw his own scalp off.
As he runs his fingers through the since washed (rewashed… and then rewashed AGAIN) curls, he thinks he might feel some spots that he may have clawed some of it off. A soft, affectionate smile spreads across Louis face and he moves his hand down to Lestat’s shoulder and tugs him just a little closer.
He’s asleep. Finally. And the spider is (hopefully) somewhere far, far away.
The spider could have been eternally far away but once Lestat had managed to fling it out of his hair, right into the path of Louis’ waiting foot, he had a change of heart and requested it just be taken out of the hotel room, not taken of existence. And Louis has never liked senseless killing… he was not going to pass up on a time of Lestat not wanting it either.
He grabbed a glass (Lestat pouted that it was one of the glasses he’d brought for wine, but he waved his hand nonchalantly and allowed Louis to use it anyway) and a piece of paper, and upon closer inspection… the spider was fucking massive. He will give Lestat that.
Louis shuddered as he scooped it up, and took it outside.
When he returned to the room he scooped Lestat up, and took him first to the bathroom, then to bed, where he held him– kissed him and assured him he was now safe… always safe with him– until he fully calmed down and finally their hearts were back to beating in sync.
congrats on 300! do you have any pregnant Tommy things to share?
I can probably come up with something on the spot! 🙂↕️🙂↕️
Likeeeeee…. Hmm ok.
Buck and Tommy hook up shortly after Theo comes to live with Buck.
~~
Tommy lies in bed after Evan has fallen asleep and thinks nothing will come from this and maybe he should just be gone before Evan even wakes up… But he steps on Theo’s toy firetruck trying to escape this new house he doesn’t know the layout of (not like he was paying attention as he was walked through it to the room hours earlier).
The toy goes off, and also causes Tommy’s foot to fly out from under him and he falls— and by falls he takes a whole decor table out with him. It’s very much chaos. It’s very much them.
It obviously wakes Evan up. He comes out and asks Tommy if he was really just going to leave and Tommy can’t deny it because he has his shoes on and his keys still clutched in his hand.
His face feels like it’s on fire and there are stupid I’ll timed tears prickling his eyes… and he really wishes this whole thing would have made Evan angry. Maybe if he yelled at him it would have confirmed the stupid nagging voice in his head saying this meant nothing and leaving (again..) was the smartest move.
Evan isn’t angry, though. He is hurt… which is worse. So much worse. But more than that he just looks tired. He tells Tommy he is tired of this dance. He tells Tommy how he feels… and asks Tommy if he feels the same… to which Tommy can only stare back at him completely dumbfounded.
They talk.
They finally talk about everything.
About Tommy’s insecurities and Evan’s abandonment issues. About Tommy’s past and Evan’s past and their future… they both want one… together!
“So… the donor baby returns?” Tommy teases, turning over the thankfully not broken toy engine in his hands after being filled in on the latest detail to Evan’s never ending (dramatic) story.
“I think you’ll like him,” Evan tells him showing Tommy a picture. Tommy looks at that identically bright smile with those identically mischievous but sweet eyes and yeah… he’s sure he will.
And Theo LOVES Tommy.
Evan introduces him slowly. Just as a friend… but one night Theo catches them kissing and asks if they are gonna get married. If Tommy is gonna adopt him too and … well he definitely would.
Everything is perfect.
And then everything comes crashing down with a long string of constant nausea and two pink lines. Tommy sits on the bathroom floor staring at the test so long he’s lost track of time. It’s only been a few months. It’s way too soon to expect Evan to move him in— shit moving in was the match that set their whole relationship up in flames in the first place.
He cries for a while… then hides the test until he can think of what to do.
Uhhh. TBC? Maybe? Because I ran out of break time! 🫶
Me: Okay time to start on chapter two
Also me: delete the entire fic and start over
See for me it’s ok time to start ch 2 … opens a new doc and starts an entirely new fic instead!
Also I have this condition where once I write something I get emotionally attached to the writing and can’t cut it even if the direction decides to go a different way … then I end up stuck 😭
Haha! I love that all the fics requested have been my mpregs. If I’m gone tomorrow put it on my stone “she will be remembered by her love of knocking those men up!” 🫶🙂↕️ but anyway! Of course if I stumble into a new fandom imma very quickly have at least something written for it 🤣 and that something will likely always be mpreg !
Here’s a bit of it! 🫶🫶
Louis picks up on the first ring. Which is surprising, given… everything. He even sounds worried, as he repeatedly calls Lestat's name.
"Lestat? Lestat!"
"L- Louis…" he finally manages to respond, voice shaking along with his entire being.
"Lestat? Hey. What— What's wrong? Are you—"
{Aren't ya gonna tell him? What 'cha waiting for?"}
Lestat shakes his head as if it will fling her voice out of it. He thought distance would help. It had proved in vain. "Lestat? Baby, you're scaring me…"
The endearment helps. Maybe more than it should. He is far to weak for one Louis de Pointe du Lac… he knows. He cannot help it. {"Your mind is wandering' now, uncle Les…"}
"I need you, Louis. Please, I— Come to- to me."
There is a long pause. Long enough Lestat puts another few blocks between himself and his house. Long enough he is answering for Louis in his head. You sent me away Lestat, now you expect me to just come running back. "I can be there by noon tomorrow…" is what is what is said instead. "If I leave now. If— If that's really what you—"
"Oui, Louis! Yes please. I want you here with me." I do not wish to raise this child alone…
"Wait… what?"
"I said I want you here with me." Lestat repeats. "I need—"
"What child, Lestat? You— You said you don't want to raise this child alone."
Lestat stops in his tracks. "I did not say that." He thought it, sure… but—
"How could I have heard it if you only thought it— and besides… why would you think that?!"
The giggling— Claudia's giggling— rings throughout his head. {"Uh oh…"} "L- Louis I—"
"What the fuck is going on Lestat? What did you do?!"
"I did nothing!"
"What child, Lestat!?"
And perhaps it was a combination of Claudia's torturous giggling and her snide inserted comments. Perhaps it was the repeated Ba-dum Ba-dum Ba-dum… Because instead of leading with an explanation… all Lestat is able to get out before his voice abandons him like everything else manages to do, is; "O- Our child…"
Another long pause. "So that is your plan, huh?" Louis' voice is flat and distant. Lacking any emotion, much less the warmth that just filled it when he first picked up. "You're mad. I get that. But this— this is… How could you even suggest this?"
Lestat stands, frozen on the sidewalk, unable to move; unable to speak. Unable to explain now. Through the phone Louis scoffs. "Our child is dead, Lestat." The words are sharper than any dagger's blade to ever have sliced his skin. Their child… is dead. As if Lestat doesn't know this. "She is gone and you don't get to call me up, and toss out the idea of a new one— as if that would fix anything. You don't get to just replace her!"
"No!" Lestat finally manages and it comes out a broken sob. "Ne- Never, Louis. I— I'm—"
"This is low, Lestat…" Louis continues, cutting Lestat off before he can explain. "Even for you." Then he hangs up, and the next call Lestat attempts goes straight to voicemail.
