Chapter Text
One Year Later
Donovan took a deep breath as he pulled up to his son's house. It had been roughly a year since they had started communicating again, but the time hadn’t gone without its ups and downs.
The day after their first meeting at the restaurant, he had been allowed to meet his granddaughter. The second he saw Saige he knew that he would do whatever it took to be part of her life, to be fully welcomed back into the life of the only family he had left. But of course, it wasn’t possible to repair the burned bridges overnight.
After Donovan had returned to Jericho, he tried to make it a point to check in with Tyler once or twice a week, even if just a simple conversation to know that everything was going alright. A small argument broke out when the elder Galpin pointed out that Tyler never reached out to him, that he wasn’t putting in the same effort. Tyler countered with the fact that Donovan’s lack of effort was what caused their rift in the first place, and that he was busy in general. And naturally, a comment was made that had the young couple once again avoiding him.
“Is it really that hard to give your old man a call every now and again?” Donovan said, “Surely you can’t be that busy.”
“Yeah, running my business and taking care of my child allows me to have so much free time.” Tyler scoffed, “I’m not retired like you are. Remember when I was still living at home and you rarely found time to talk to me? Think about it like that.”
“Wednesday can watch her own child long enough for you to make a phone call. She doesn’t work, does she? What is she doing all the damn time that she can’t give you a break? You’re not a single parent like I was.”
At that moment, Tyler was glad that he was hours away from his father. “Wednesday spends the entire day watching Saige, our child. She deserves a break too. And she does work, she’s an author. I know you didn’t give enough of a damn to look her up at all, but I thought you would’ve paid enough attention by now. I don’t want to hear any excuses about how she works from home, either. And it’s not like I never have free time, but I do like to spend time alone with my wife, or even just enjoying some peace and quiet from time to time.”
Tyler hung up before anything else could be said, mind going on about if his dad had viewed his mom in the same light - as someone who just watched the kid and kept the house clean. Wednesday was a busy person with her work alone, much less also watching Saige while she did so. Of course he was going to step up and parent when he was home, whether it be a day off or in the evenings.
Any calls or texts that came through for the next few weeks were ignored until eventually Wednesday answered one of the calls. Donovan got another earful from his daughter-in-law, but this seemed to be what was needed to reopen communication between everyone.
Not every disagreement was between father and son, not completely. At one point it was Wednesday who had started it by claiming she would never step foot in Jericho again. Donovan had made a comment about how he was getting older, and driving the long distance every time wasn’t exactly fair. Tyler saw his point to an extent, pointing out that once Saige was a bit older there would be no reason for them to not be the ones to go visit.
Wednesday had never been a fan of the town, claiming the only good thing that came out of being forced to live there was meeting Tyler and her few Nevermore friends. With none of those people being there anymore, there was no reason to go down memory lane. She wasn’t like her parents who wanted to relive their high school days every chance they got.
Tyler had decided to not get involved any further with this, understanding where his wife was coming from as well. He himself didn’t have the best memories in that town, or even in his childhood home. So, he let Wednesday and Donovan yell about it while he kept his daughter distracted in the other room.
“Saige being older when you want us to make the trip doesn’t matter,” Tyler heard Wednesday say, “If we have another child, they’d still be too young. You cannot use her age alone as a leverage point.” He couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation, only her response to whatever had been said. “I don’t recall ever telling you our plans of how many children we plan on having, or that being any of your business. No trips of that distance will be happening if any of our children are too young in my eyes.”
Tyler wasn’t sure how to take this particular point of hers. They hadn’t really talked about having any more children - technically, they hadn’t even planned the daughter they did have. If this was how he was finding out that she wanted more, he wasn’t sure if he should thank Donovan or be even more irritated with him.
That incident did not result in any loss of contact, though no face to face visits happened for a while - not that Tyler or Wednesday really cared about that. They both knew that Donovan was trying to be petty and prove a point that he wouldn’t always come to visit them, however he was the one to once again give in first.
It did, however, result in Donovan asking if Wednesday was already pregnant again when tensions had calmed down. Saige wasn’t even a year old yet, and while there was nothing wrong with having children close in age, he didn’t see her as the type of woman who would want to be pregnant back to back like that. The answer of which was no - she wasn’t expecting another child.
There were many other small things that were said over the course of the year, insignificant things that were resolved within one call with no negative consequences. He had even been invited to celebrate his granddaughter's first birthday, a small party that Tyler had apparently insisted on them having. It was the first time he had seen Morticia and Gomez since well before Tyler and Wednesday had left Jericho, but he wasn’t going to let fear of how that might go stop him from being there.
Donovan did get a few looks from the two, realizing they definitely had heard negative things about him in the past couple of years. After all, his own son did run away to their home as soon as he could. But overall, interactions remained pleasant and civil. He hoped that maybe Tyler had said a few positive things since coming back in contact.
All of that is what led to this moment - the holidays having come around once again. Donovan had been a bit shocked when he learned that the Addams’ did in fact celebrate Christmas, though of course with their own special twists to it. The previous year, their reconciliation had happened too close to the holiday for him to even consider entertaining the idea of spending it with his son. This year, however, he had been invited to spend a few days in their home. It would be the first time the former sheriff would actually stay at their house, usually having to stay in a hotel instead at Wednesday’s request.
She had finally given her approval for longer stays in her home, around her child, and he was beyond grateful for this. For the first time in years, he wouldn’t be facing the holiday alone (even if it was a bit different than he was used to).
A knock on his driver's side window startled the older man, who had been lost in his thoughts of everything that had led him to where he was now. Wednesday watched him, “Are you just going to sit here all day?” she asked, “Or should we expect you to actually come inside?”
“Was just gettin’ my thoughts together,” he answered, “I’ll be inside in just a minute.”
This seemed to be good enough for his daughter-in-law, who just looked at him for another second before turning and walking back into the open front door. Donovan took another second to get himself together before grabbing his overnight bag and making his way inside.
“Tyler’s getting Saige in bed,” Wednesday said when she heard the door shut, “The guest room is at the end of the hall. Also, my family will be here tomorrow as well if you feel you need to prepare yourself for that.”
By the time Donovan returned to the main living area of the home, Tyler had joined Wednesday on the couch.
“It’s just a Hallmark movie, Wens.”
“No, it’s torture. And they all have the same plot. I feel like you’ve forced me to watch this exact one at least three times, just with a different location. But they all start and end the exact same.”
“Where’s your holiday spirit?”
“Have you ever known me to have any holiday spirit?”
“Don’t be such a Grinch.”
“...don’t make me watch that movie again.”
“Okay but between the Grinch and Hallmark-”
Donovan cleared his throat to let them know he was there without straight up walking into their conversation, but contributing regardless, “Not a fan of Christmas movies?”
“Or most movies.” Tyler said, nudging her slightly, “It’s always a challenge to find something she’s willing to watch.”
Wednesday rolled her eyes, “There are plenty of things I’m willing to watch. You just don’t want to watch them.”
“Or you talk through the entire thing.”
“Then pick something that isn’t full of misinformation.”
The older man couldn’t help but let out a laugh watching the two bicker. While he had seen the more domestic side of Wednesday over the year, this was one of the first times he had seen her fully relaxed and having such a mundane disagreement. It was hard to imagine that this was the same girl who he had to arrest for grave digging, who cleared her fathers name of murder, and who attempted to outsmart the police department at every chance she got at just sixteen years old. The fact that she preferred darker shows shouldn’t have been that shocking, but it was amusing nonetheless.
When the couple seemed to remember his presence, they turned the conversation to something else. “How was the drive?” Tyler asked.
“Not terrible, wish I could’ve gotten here a bit sooner. How's Saige doing? I saw she’s started walking now.”
“She’s picked up on it quickly,” Wednesday confirmed, “Still stumbling of course, but she’s able to take a decent amount of steps at a time.”
“Only a matter of time before we’ll be chasing her around the house,” Tyler said teasingly, “If she’s anything like her mother, she’ll learn anything and everything faster than everyone else. And she’ll definitely use that knowledge for mischief.”
“I don’t cause mischief.”
“So you say.”
“When have I ever-”
“I could name so many times.”
Wednesday looked like she wanted to retort that, but closed her mouth before she said anything. Instead, her mouth twitched upward in an almost smile before she finally spoke, “Well, then I hope you’re prepared to deal with her supposed mischievous ways along with the baby.” she stood up, “I have to be up early to prepare for my family’s arrival in the morning, so I’ll be heading to bed now.”
Donovan looked over at Tyler, seemingly registering her words before her own husband did. He could tell the exact moment it dawned on his son.
“Wait- Wens?” he called after her, jumping up and following her to their bedroom, “Wednesday? What do you mean…what baby?”
Donovan couldn’t help but laugh at the scene. That night when he was in bed, he thought back to where he was a year ago. He had been alone, nobody seemingly caring about him or how things were going in his life. So much had changed since then, and while Jericho might’ve still remained lonely…at least now he had some semblance of a family again. People who cared, even if they might pretend they don’t.
Maybe leaving Jericho wasn’t such a bad idea after all.