Thomas and I spent the remainder of the week with his parents, getting to know each other better. They showed me around the town as well as Theodore’s clinic and I slowly felt as if I was a member of their family, something I wanted to deny, but failed to do. My nausea continually got in the way of certain things we tried to do and on our second to last day there, Thomas had to take me to the hospital to get an IV as I was severely dehydrated as well as Zofran to limit the vomiting. The doctor had tried to convince me to eat meat but I kept shooting this down until he relented and told me to focus on beans and lentils if I was unwilling to eat lean meats. Thomas then fully focused on creating meals that were packed with vitamin-rich vegetables, lentils, and mushrooms. It was nice to have his support, to know that he was doing everything he could to ensure that not only I was healthy but the babies were as well.
Theodore had given me a Doppler monitor and I would sit every night and listen to the baby's heartbeats with Thomas. When he asked why I did this, I told him I was paranoid after what happened with Hannah and wanted to know that they were okay. I had fully embraced the fact that we were going to be parents at 20 and even though I kept it to myself, I was incredibly excited.
“Alright. Call us as soon as you know what day you’re having a c-section,” Killian hugged me gently as we stood outside of the airport, “we will be there.”
“Thank you, Ian,” I patted his back gently before grabbing my backpack from the ground.
“Are your parents going to be in the room?” Theodore patted my head.
Even though I had spent more time with Theodore than anyone during this week, we were still awkward around each other and I realized it came from the fact that we were incredibly similar personality-wise.
“I’m not sure. It might just be Tommy because of sterility reasons. I’d like it if Shiloh was but I can understand why the hospital would say no,” I sighed.
“Well, you’ll have each other,” Killian smiled, hugging Thomas, “let us know when you’re in Idaho.”
“We will,” Thomas kissed the side of Killian’s head before taking my hand, “come on. We’ll miss our flight.”
“Right. Um… thank you, Ian and Theo, for this week. It… it was really nice to meet you and…” my cheeks flared and Killian laughed quietly.
“It was nice to meet you too, Sparrow. Welcome to the family.”
“Right. Yes.”
Thomas pulled me into the airport and I sighed softly, “Baby?”
“Why am I like this?”
“Awkward?”
“Yes. I wanted to tell your parents that I really like them and that I want to come back when we can. But I…”
“They know,” he kissed my cheek, “at least Killian does and will tell Theo that. It’s okay. Don’t worry so much.”
“Right okay… I’ll try not to.”
We boarded our flight an hour later and as soon as we were settled in our seats I laid my head on Thomas' shoulder, yawning loudly.
“Nap,” he whispered, kissing my forehead.
“I was already planning to.”
I fell asleep before the flight had even left the tarmac and once again dreamed of the children. This time, we were hiking through a small forest, Hyacinth on my back in his carrier as Thomas had Phoenix walking in front of him, a small harness on Phoenix’s chest that was attached by a stretched bungee leash to Thomas’ wrist.
“Papa?” Hyacinth whispered in my ear.
“Hm?”
“I sleepy.”
“It’s okay baby,” I turned my head to look at the fluffy, nearly white-haired toddler on my back, “you can rest on Papa.”
“Mmkay,” he laid his forehead on my shoulder and I smiled, catching up with Thomas.
“Babe?”
“Yeah?” Thomas smiled at me.
“How much longer until we’re back to the van? Cinn is exhausted.”
“Half an hour.”
“Alright.”
“Hey?”
“Hm?” I smiled again.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
My dream came to an end and I once again shot up, my chest heaving as I looked around and realized that we were still on the plane.
“Aero?” Thomas cradled my face, trying to get me to look into his eyes, “Hey it’s okay. Calm down.”
Throwing my arms around his neck, I cried softly into his shoulder, trying my best to not draw attention to myself. He slowly rubbed my back, his lips pressed to the top of my head as he whispered calming words.
“Tommy?” I muttered.
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
“Oh,” he gasped before laughing softly, “Oh baby I love you too.”
“I know.”
I spent the rest of the flight cuddled around Thomas’ arm, my heart racing as I tried to figure out where Thomas and I had taken the children in my dream. I never managed to work it out but assumed it was the west coast based on the trees I had been able to see.
Thomas led me from the plane, our hands linked and as soon as we were at baggage claim I was wrapped in a surprising hug by someone I hadn’t noticed.
“Hey, what the fuck let me-” was all I got out before I started to cry, “Violet?”
“Hi little brother,” Violet laughed, squeezing me tightly.
“What the hell?” I kept crying, squeezing her as hard as I could, “why are you here?”
“I wasn’t able to get here for Christmas and was finally able to get a small leave from the school. Pa told me you’re moving back with your boyfriend and I knew I had to be here when that happened so I could… Sparrow.”
“Yes.”
“Why are you dating yourself?” she looked at Thomas confused before laughing, “Holy crap. You’re so cute.”
“Thank you,” Thomas laughed as well, “it’s so nice to meet you. Tommy Williams,” he held his hand out and Violet shook it quickly, “you’re prettier than your pictures. You look just like your Aunt Juniper.”
“Oh I know,” she smiled, “now. I have to ask something serious,” she turned to look at me, her eyes narrowed, “Why are you hugging me weird?”
“Because… because I didn’t want you to feel…” I stuttered, looking at Thomas.
“Sparrow is… pregnant,” Thomas whispered, “we’re having twins.”
“I…” was all that came from Violet before she hugged me again, “you let someone close,” she whispered in my ear, “I am so proud of you.”
“You’re proud of me for getting pregnant at 20?”
“Yes. Because it means you realize you’re worthy of affection. That what happened doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with you. I… oh I can’t wait to meet them,” she patted my stomach with one hand as she wiped a tear away, “hi babies,” she whispered, looking at my bump.
“You’re so mushy. You’re worse than Tommy,” I huffed.
“Hey! I like talking to our babies,” Thomas poked me in the side.
“Yeah, I know. It… It’s pretty cute,” I blushed, “can we please leave? You two are making a scene.”
“Fine, grumpy ass,” Violet smiled, “come on. Let’s go.”
We followed her to Shiloh’s car and after I climbed into the passenger seat, Thomas climbed into the one behind me, rubbing my shoulders gently.
“Is Pa home?” yawning, I turned my head to look at Violet as she started the car.
“Nah he’s working. That’s why I came to get you.”
“It’s Sunday. The shops aren’t open Sundays.”
“I never said he was at work. He’s finishing up something.”
“At the shops?”
“My god be patient Sparrow. You’ll see soon.”
Crossing my arms across my chest, I huffed softly, staring out of the windshield. Thomas snorted gently, his hand still on my shoulder as he rubbed small circles with his thumb.
“I thought you said he wasn’t working at the shop?” I looked at Violet confused when she parked in front of my parent's bookstore and cafe.
“He’s not,” she pointed to the window above the shop and Shiloh poked his head out, waving.
“He’s not supposed to go up there!”
“He has his prosthetic and Dad. He’s fine,” Violet rolled her eyes at me as she climbed out of the car.
We followed her around the back of the buildings after grabbing our backpacks and into the door that had the stairs to the apartment above the shops. The staircase was nestled between the storage room of both businesses, invisible to anyone who didn’t realize that it was there. My parents had soundproofed the floor, meaning that when anyone was walking around the apartment or even playing music you couldn’t hear it in the shops. It was a peaceful area that I would retreat to for a few years before I went to college.
“Pa!” Violet yelled when she opened the door, “they're here!”
“My baby!” Shiloh suddenly appeared from the kitchen that was set to the left of the front door, his arms tight around me.
“Jesus I was gone for like a week,” I grumbled, hugging him back.
“You were gone for almost 3 months. Seeing us for half an hour in the airport is not a visit,” Kai called from his spot near a window in the living room.
The apartment was closer to a loft space than anything. The living room and kitchen were essentially one massive room, making up the first third of the space. All of the walls were cream except for the biggest wall behind the couch which was stripped with a deep teal. There was a door on that wall and when you opened it you were let into the larger of the two bedrooms that held the bathroom. Across the living room was another door that held the smaller bedroom, this one having the larger of the closets. The walls being cream carried into both bedrooms but around the window in the larger bedroom, Shiloh had painted the frame an ivy green. In the smaller room, it was a soft periwinkle blue. They had put a lot of work into the apartment, fully furnishing it in grays with pops of color everywhere. There were hanging lights above the island in the kitchen as well as beautiful ceiling fans that were soft gray, with LED lights attached to them. My favorite feature of the apartment had always been the scattering of mirrors everywhere to make the space look bigger.
“I love it here,” Thomas whispered, looking around, “wow.”
“Welcome home,” Shiloh giggled.
“Well yeah. We’ve been gone forever,” I rolled my eyes as I fixed my backpack.
“No,” Shiloh reached into his pocket and handed me a key with a small star cover over the top, “welcome home. This is yours for now. Oh and Tommy,” he handed him a key with a small sun, “that’s your key. Juniper’s house isn’t quite ready yet.”
“Why don’t you have Cal stay there,” I wiped a tear away, "Cal and Hannah. They’re not going back to Philadelphia until Elijah is like 1 right? We can stay here until we move into your house. Plus, we’re planning to travel with the kids when they’re two. With us working in the shops, it makes sense. Tommy can check on me easier once I can’t work anymore if I’m here anyway.”
“That’s what we were thinking but we wanted you to decide what you wanted to do,” Kai smiled, coming over to hug Thomas, “how was Indiana?”
“Really good. Sparrow got to meet my Papa Lucas. He was lucid the entire time we were there. It was… it was nice. We added the twins to his notebook too so when he’s having a bad memory day he can see that,” Thomas sniffled, “oh, and Sparrow already named the babies,” he laughed.
“Really? You’re 12 weeks. Already picking names?” Shiloh laughed.
“I had a dream about them and… I liked the names that Tommy used in it. They’re perfect. Hyacinth and Phoenix Williams.”
“Oh!” Shiloh smiled, “I wanted to name you Hyacinth at first. But I decided on Sparrow and Dad agreed.”
“You never told me that,” Kai looked at Shiloh confused, “I would have been on board for Hyacinth.”
“I know but Sparrow looks like a Sparrow. Not Hyacinth.”
“My name was going to be Osian. After my grandpa on Killian’s side. Instead, they went with Thomas Adrian. Killian’s middle name is Thomas and Papa Addi of course,” Thomas smiled.
“I meant to ask but I… didn’t want to assume. Where are Killian’s parents?” I rubbed the nape of my neck.
“They died when he was 16 in an avalanche. Freya and Osian Flynn. It was also when he lost his hand. I guess he was on a snowmobile trying to outrun the snow but it hit him and he flipped, the snowmobile blade landed on his arm and amputated it. It’s also how he got the long scar on the side of his face. He smashed into a tree or something. He woke up in the hospital a week later with his hand gone and the news he was now an orphan. He had no other family. So he graduated high school, went to college, got his heart broken, moved to the United States, and met Theodore.”
“That’s… awful,” I whispered, “I… I am so sorry that happened to him.”
“Me too,” Shiloh wiped a tear away, “I understand how it feels to traumatically lose a limb. I fell from four stories and tried to land on my feet when I was twelve. It shattered everything to my knee and I bled out. Severely. Because of my condition, my blood wouldn’t clot and I technically died. Isaac saved my life. Twice actually. I got shot by my ex the same day that Kai went to Boston to bring Callum home. Isaac donating blood is the only reason I’m still here.”
“Everyone seems to live such hard lives,” Thomas whispered.
“How did your Papa lose his eye? Or was he born like that?” I hugged Thomas around the waist.
“The oven exploded in their house. Adrian happened to hear it and went down to see what was wrong. Glass got embedded deep in his eye. They couldn’t save it. He’s also massively scarred along his back, chest, and thighs. Just before he was with Luca, he was with this… abusive guy. He would cut him when he did anything wrong. Lucas has a twisted scar under his collarbone from being stabbed by that same guy. But he’s dead. My great great uncle was a sheriff and when James -that’s his name- showed up, he shot him between the eyes when James stabbed Lucas. Adrian and Lucas got married two years later, adopted Theodore the day after their wedding and Cecilia is Adrian’s older brother Michael’s biological daughter but Michael… lost to his own brain after his ex left him. He uh… gun in the bathroom. My grandparents had a rough beginning, Theodore had a hard life as well with his ex-wife Mia. She was mentally and verbally abusive to him and Kennedy. She fell asleep behind the wheel of her car with Kennedy in the backseat and crashed into a semi-truck. She died on impact and Kennedy almost lost her arm. That’s why she has so many scars. It traumatized Theo. He hadn’t been with anyone after that until he met Killian. Technically, Killian is the only person Theodore ever dated. He only married Mia because he thought he had to after they found out about Kennedy. He was 17 when Mia got pregnant, 18 when Kennedy was born. He didn’t accept being bisexual until he was in his thirties.”
“Your family is insane,” Violet laughed, “I just had a druggie mom. But my Daddy came back and saved me and Cal from that,” she kissed Kai on the cheek.
“So is Killian bi too?” I laid my head against Thomas’ shoulder.
“Nah. He’s gay. Addi is pansexual, Lucas is bisexual, Jace is demi, and Gabriel is pan. Kennedy is a lesbian. I’m… pansexual I guess.”
“I’m gay.”
“I know. What about?” he gestured to my parents.
“Gay,” Shiloh smiled, “Kai is bi.”
“I’m bisexual as well,” Violet smiled, “hey is your sister hot?”
“She’s 10 years older than you,” Thomas laughed, “she’s 37.”
“Plus you have a partner,” I huffed.
“I like to keep my options open,” Violet shrugged.
“Well… is everyone ready for family dinner?” Shiloh smiled.
“Yeah,” I nodded.
We’re home.
This is our home now.
We get to raise the babies here.
I have such wonderful parents.
If only I could tell them that.
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