fandomhigh | Library, Sunday

"Evan?" Sholeh called for him, softly. "Evan?"

She made a whole circuit of the library without finding him.

"Evan, I know you're here. It's Sunday and Ozzy's here. I--Are you really that mad at me for having to share the dance with my sisters?" Her shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry. I just--it's part of who we--never mind. I'll go."

Oh, Sholeh. Sholeh, that wasn't why Evan was hiding at all. But he didn't want her to think that she'd done anything wrong - she hadn't - and her assumption that he was somehow angry at her just made everything hurt more.

"I'm over here," he said, sitting up a little and pulling in a deep breath as he wiped at his cheeks with his hands. "It's... I'm not angry, I promise."

Just miserable and scared.

"Evan?" Sholeh followed the sound of his voice until she found him. "If you're not angry, then..."

She caught sight of his face. Even if he'd managed to scrub the teartracks off his cheeks, he still looked utterly woebegone. "Oh, no!" she cried, sinking down to her knees beside him and pulling him in for a hug. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Evan shuddered as he leaned against her, wanting to squirm out of her embrace, and not having it in him to do so.

"It's... no, I guess I'm not. I just..." He sighed and buried his face in her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her and clinging back. "It hasn't been a good weekend."

Hi, yeah, understatement.

"Umm..." Sholeh bit her lip. "Would this be a bad time to introduce you to someone?"

The childish giggle coming from the front of the library probably gave him an idea of exactly who he was going to be introduced to.

Not that he really had time to answer that, as the giggle gave way to the padding of little feet and happy barking. Merry and Ozzy didn't have the trouble locating Evan that Sholeh had, coming around a bookshelf and racing down the aisle.

"Hi Dad! Hi, Dad, hi!" Merry said, beaming at him. "Look how little Ozzy is! Just like you and Mom! Everyone's so tiny this weekend! We went looking for you yesterday, but Mom couldn't find you, but now here you are!"

...Anytime you wanted to bounce up and fling her up into a big hug was a-okay by her, Evan.

"... And now here I am," Evan echoed, blinking up at the little girl who actually seemed happy to see him. That was... really not something he'd expected. And shame on him for that, he supposed. "I..."

He swept the back of his arm across his face again, and then gave the little girl the best smile he could muster.

"Hi, it's good to see... you."

You? Who? Who you? Ozzy seemed to like her, at least.

"She's who I wanted you to meet. Well, they." Blushing, Sholeh stood up and slung one arm over the little girl. "This is Merry. Umm, well, this aspect. I guess that in the future we have kids together?"

The blushing was getting worse.

"May I introduce you to your children, Jacqueline Merrybeth a Wade?"

"Hi, Dad!" Merry said brightly, not willing to give up the body until she got a hug. "Are you pretending not to know us, too? Mom's doing the same thing!"

Silly grownups.

"Oh? Um... Yeah. It's a game we're playing," Evan replied, biting his lip and holding out his arms to her. "I'm going to need proper introductions, from all three of you."

Because of course there were three.

...

...

"a Wade?"

"That one is completely on you," Sholeh said, arms crossed. She had feelings about this name. "But, yes. This is the a Wade Tryad."

Dumbest. Name.

Merry was only too happy to give her dad a big, squishy, snugglesome hug. The kind of hug that was kind of like a homecoming. She threw herself into it, into that hug, with eyes wide and brimming with love.

"Dad, I missed you! We looked for you all yesterday but you weren't anywhere we could find you!"

"Oh... I'm sorry," Evan apologized, and he meant that. He was sorry about a lot, these days. "Yesterday was... weird."

Weird. Horrible. Heartbreaking. It was hard to put a finger on any one word for it that he felt okay telling to a small child, really.

"But I'm here, I'm right here, see?"

"Yay!" Merry said, snuggling closer. "Mom was getting worried, but we knew that you were probably just off with Pop somewhere."

Even if this wasn't the Jean Grey School, the a Wage Tryad knew their dad wouldn't let anything happen to it.

::Hey, no fair hogging! It's our turn to hug Dad now!::

Merry sighed. "The others want a turn now." And in seconds, another little girl was holding him tightly. "Hi, Dad! Hi, Dad! Didja miss us? You look different. I mean, all our mothers look littler, but you look different."

"I do?" Evan glanced up at Sholeh, over the girl's shoulder, blinking. "How different do I look?"

Do tell... little girl?

"You're all skinny and little!" Jackie said, giggling. "You look more like Pop, except for the coloring, of course. And not on fire."

Enjoy that crazy tidbit of information, Evan.

"Normally you're really, really big!"

Evan was now giving Sholeh a slightly lost 'who is Pop anyhow, and why is he on fire?' look.

"Really, really big? How many of me do you think it would take to make... me?"

He really had no idea what to think of his apparent future tendency to bulk himself up to look like that guy he was trying desperately not to become.

Sholeh was returning that look with one of blank confusion, honestly.

"Two sideways and another half of you up!" Jackie decided. "Which is why you always give the best piggyback rides! To a buncha us at once!"

*My turn! My turn!*

"Ugh." Jackie rolled her eyes. "Wade's turn. Love you, Dad!"

And once again, another child, another clingy hug. "Hey, Dad. Were you out bein' cool and catching bad guys yesterday?"

"Uh, hi, Wade." Well. At least Evan knew who he had named these kids after? That had to be worth something, right? "I wasn't being all that cool. I did get a bad guy out of some girl's room, though."

In that he'd packed his things and moved out. He wasn't going to be volunteering details.

"Of course you did," Wade said, beaming up at his dad. "You don't stand for any bad guys coming around and messing with people." He turned a proud face to Sholeh. "See, Mom? We told you."

"I...guess you did," Sholeh agreed. "But, Evan, I still don't understand. Why was all your stuff gone? I mean, your side of the room was bare."

"I don't know," Evan admitted, sounding a little more tired than he cared to. "I woke up yesterday morning, and everything was gone. My books, my clothes, all of Ozzy's things, Ozzy. Nobody told me, it was just... somewhere else."

A beat.

"I found Ozzy, though."

And now the dog was following him everywhere. Forever.

"Oh, Evan," Sholeh said, coming up to his other side to give him a hug. "That must have been so worrisome!"

Wade took that opportunity to snuggle between his mom and dad. He wouldn't ever tell, but they gave the best hugs of all his parents.

"Poor Ozzy must have been so scared."

"He was sleeping when I found him," Evan sighed. "I think he's harder to worry than anyone I've ever known."

That wasn't going to stop him from cuddling up against Sholeh and Wade and clinging for dear life.

"Bet your dad doesn't get worried easily either though, huh, Wade?"

Evan was still not completely convinced that he was going to be whoever that guy was. It wasn't that he didn't want to be, but wow, he really didn't seem to be off to a good start.

Edited 2014-02-22 18:49 (UTC)

"Umm, well, kinda?" Wade said, looking up at his dad in complete earnestness. His dad seemed all...sad and not at all Dad-like. "You do kinda worry a lot. There are lots of bad guys that come and attack the school and even when they're not trying to hurt us, you and Pop go off and fight 'em sometimes, and you worry that you're reaching your students because it's tough to be a mutant sometimes, and you worry when we're off visiting Uncle Lee and Grandma when you can't come with us, and..."

He trailed off, realizing he could keep going on and on. "You have lots to worry about because you have so many people to love. That's what you say, anyway."

Pop had a different take on it, but Ma and Pop liked to pretend they weren't worried even when they were.

Library, Sunday

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