Chapter Text
Sunflower, Vol. 6
Chapter Eleven: Mouth Full of Toothpaste
[Three Months Before]
“You should,” Paisley hiccups lightly. “You should marry him. He likes you a lot.”
Andrew pales as he looks at Neil with a hard gaze. “Soon?” he asks, knowing that it would definitely have to be soon. He had a five year old who would spill everything they were attempting to plan.
She nods her head, “Very soon.”
Their conversation planted a seed in Andrew’s mind and suddenly there was a fully grown tree in his head. He found himself watching movies with weddings and thinking about Neil. And then he looked at rings. And then he wrote a wedding scene.
He decides he’s had enough when he hears someone say “My husband” and his heart drops.
The next day he buys a ring, shoving it in the top drawer of his dresser, vowing to forget about it. But the thought burns a hole in his mind, and he’s worn it out from how much he thinks about himself down on one knee, promising himself to Neil for the rest of their lives. He thinks about Neil walking down the aisle and he thinks about asking Aaron to be his best man and he nearly cries. And then he thinks about Paisley as their flower girl and he does cry.
So he texts Neil.
[Andrew’s iPhone ; 03 May 2020 ; 7:25 p.m.]
andrew: hey. is pais free tomorrow?
neil: yeah! she was asking about you today, actually
andrew: awesome.
andrew: tell her i’ll pick her up at eleven.
neil: okay!
neil: see you tomorrow
Andrew powers his phone off, throwing it to the side of his bed and watching it bounce off onto the floor. He eyes his laptop carefully, bringing it to his lap and powering it on. He clicks through a couple of tabs, biting his lip as he clicks on the skype logo. The ringtone echoes through the empty house and Andrew thinks about exiting out and saying forget it. His cursor is hovering over the ‘end call’ button when Aaron answers, looking worn out with no sign of Kevin around.
Andrew’s curiosity gets the best of him. “Is Kevin around?” he asks quietly.
Aaron shakes his head. “Late night practice,” he answers quickly. Andrew smiles. That means he’s alone.
“I have something… important to talk to you about,” Andrew starts, laughing as Aaron’s expression changes.
“I swear to god, Andrew. If this is like last time-”
“You’ll kick my ass. I know,” Andrew finishes. “But it’s not. It’s so much more important.” Aaron nods along, motioning for Andrew to continue. “You remember Neil, yes?”
Aaron scoffs, “The one with the kid who you wouldn’t shut up about? Yes, I remember him.”
Andrew’s fingers are latched together and he’s twirling the black ring on his thumb as he talks. An old nervous habit he never kicked. “It’s not official yet and I’ll have to ask his daughter first but…” Andrew drawls of and something drops on screen where Aaron is sitting.
“Get on with it,” he clicks his tongue, unsure of what is coming but expecting the worst.
“I’m asking him to marry me,” Andrew says lazily, although his tense shoulders show the lie behind his tone.
“Jesus fuck, ” Aaron curses loudly, the cup in his hand crashing onto the floor. “Why? I mean, I’m happy for you, but it’s not like you to be so… attached.”
Andrew nods along, agreeing with every word Aaron is saying. “I know,” he says quietly, not meeting his brother’s eyes. “His daughter asked me, actually,” he answers and Aaron’s eyes widen. “She asked me two months ago if we were married. And now she wants me to ask.”
Aaron, who always had a soft spot for kids and his brother, smiles. “I’m proud of you. I really am, Andrew.”
Andrew almost cries. “There’s more,” he says quietly, looking out the window across from his bed. The sun is setting quickly, leaving pink and orange strokes in a purple sky, exploding with color. There is a birds nest in a tree directly outside and Andrew makes note to buy a bird feeder. He blinks sluggishly, looking back at where Aaron is waiting patiently. “I want you to be my best man.”
The screen goes black and Andrew gets goosebumps when the disconnect sound rings through the room. Always the same, he thinks, waiting for Aaron to call back so their conversation could resume. Andrew waits five minutes before deciding to make hot chocolate, sitting back down on his bed again after it was made. After another five minutes, Aaron still hasn’t called back and Andrew is draining the last of his hot chocolate into his mouth. He checks the time, doing the math to figure out how much sleep he’ll get tonight if he wants to pick up Paisley at eleven. He laughs to himself at the thought of his schedule moving around hers, but it’s drowned out by the sound of the skype ringtone. He connects rather quickly, trying to make it look like he wasn’t waiting.
“Sorry,” Aaron apologizes as soon as his face is less pixelated. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
Andrew barks out an unexpected laugh, and both himself and Aaron jump back. “Imagine how I felt.” There’s a comfortable silence blanketed over the two as they sit and look at each other, and then Andrew decides to break it. Well, decides is a bad word. He doesn’t give the mental go ahead for the words to come. Instead, they spill from his lips without any further thought. “What do you say?” he asks, “Will you be my best man?”
Aaron is silent, and Andrew is afraid he’ll refuse. And then his planning will have to restart and all of the thought he put into it would have gone to waste and-
“Yes.” Aaron’s reply is breathy and Andrew almost misses it. If it weren’t so silent, or if he had his normal documentary up, he wouldn’t have heard it. “I can’t believe you’re getting married before me.”
Andrew nods, agreeing. “I never thought I’d have it in me,” he admits, leaning back and stretching his arms over his head. “And yet here we are.” Aaron nods in silence and Andrew checks his phone in response.
Aaron notices his nervousness, of course he does, and starts to worry. “What’s wrong?” he asks, checking his own phone to see if there would be an answer there.
“I’m talking to Paisley, Neil’s daughter, tomorrow,” he explains and Aaron hums in response. “I know she’ll say yes but… We’ve never had one-on-one time together like this.”
Aaron nods in understanding. “I, for one,” Aaron starts, “think you will be an amazing dad. You shouldn’t let your past define you like that.” Aaron’s voice is so much lighter than his own and he struggles to wrap his mind around how they can be identical yet so different. “Does this mean I’m an uncle?” Aaron asks with a wide grin and Andrew would throw something at him if he were in the same room.
But then he starts to think. Well, he isn’t quite sure what will happen with Paisley. “I’ll ask her tomorrow. Spoiler alert,” he says lightly, “she’s going to say yes.”
“Awesome,” Aaron says with a glint in his eyes. His phone buzzes beneath him and he smiles even wider. “ Kevin’s on his way home. I have to go,” he says quietly.
Andrew hums, tapping the edge of his laptop. “Alright. Have fun, lover boy. I’ll text you tomorrow.”
“Whatever,” Aaron sighs. “Goodnight. I love you.”
“Love you too,” Andrew says and then he cuts the call.
He moves around his house, jumping at any loud noises and sighing when he realizes it’s nothing dangerous. He’s sitting in his dining room and he’s holding a spare key in his hand, thinking of how he wishes Neil was there.
He puts it in the drawer full of clutter, shutting it securely and forgetting about it like he was supposed to forget the ring. Except this time he does what he intends to and shuts the thought out of his mind.
He has far too much to worry about.
He doesn’t fall asleep easily that night, instead tossing and turning until the blankets are tangled around his legs and he feels like he’s suffocating.
Andrew doesn’t sleep for more than three hours that night, waking up at ten the next morning and panicking as he hurries to get dressed. The purple circles under his eyes are disregarded as he pulls on a black turtleneck that ruins his already disastrous hair. “Okay, fine,” he mumbles to himself, running his hands through water and patting down his hair. He looks fucking ridiculous. He decides to just say fuck it as he grabs his keys, wallet, and phone. He’s one step to the door when he looks down and realizes he doesn’t have on shoes.
Or pants.
Andrew closes his eyes and clasps his hands together, breathing deeply before letting out a high pitched scream. Walking quickly to his room, he pulls on a pair of jeans and neon green socks. He digs his feet into a pair of vans, decides he looks decent enough, and walks out of his house.
And then he walks back in, slamming the door shut and leaning against it. He runs up the stairs, grabs the velvet box and pockets it, deciding for the third and final time that he is ready to go. This time when he leaves the house, he gets into the Maserati and he heads straight to Neil’s apartment, arriving at exactly eleven. He gets out of his car, leaning against it and waiting patiently, trying not to feel weighed down by the box in his left pocket.
He doesn’t have to wait more than five minutes before Paisley is running out to his car, pink rain boots over top of floral leggings and a light pink shirt floating around her. She jumps into his arms and he lifts her easily. “Hey, bug,” he says happily. “Where’s your dad?”
“Right here,” Neil says, appearing beside him and holding a jacket out to Paisley. He monologues for a moment about how she needs to be good before he kisses her on the cheek and tells her to have fun. Andrew buckles her into the car seat he invested in a few weeks prior and looks at Neil.
“So,” he starts slowly, leaning up to look at Neil.
“So,” Neil repeats slyly. “Do I need to tell you to be good, too?”
Andrew rolls his eyes and kisses Neil slowly. “I’ll bring her back at around three. Is that alright?” Neil laughs and nods. “I assumed so,” Andrew admits. “Mama Neil needs a break.”
Neil pushes him away. “Go have fun and leave me alone,” he teases, stepping away from the car and crossing his arms over his chest. "Love you!" Neil yells as Andrew opens the car door, and the smile he wears is wide. Andrew is sure he's fallen in love all over again.
Andrew gives him a two finger salute, getting into the car and looking back at Paisley. “Ready?” he asks.
“Yes! We’re gonna have so much fun!” Paisley squeals, and Andrew grimaces as he drives away from where Neil is standing.
“Whatever you say, bug.” Andrew looks at her through the rear view mirror, smiling gently and reminding himself of the questions he’s planning on asking her. But first- “What do you want for lunch?”
Andrew knows that this is a dangerous question, of course it is, but he doesn’t mind. Paisley’s eyes light up and she kicks her feet against the seat. Andrew scowls to himself, knowing he’ll have to clean the scuff marks later. “Pizza!” she yells, and he’s reminded of Neil’s rule against pizza.
Ah, he thinks, makes sense. “Pizza it is,” he says and she giggles softly. He can already hear Neil’s future nagging but he pushes it away. “This is a very serious day for us, okay?” he asks, looking at her through the mirror. She nods, putting on her serious face and Andrew smiles. “I have very serious big girl questions to ask you. Can you handle it?” Andrew tries to phrase it like a challenge, knowing just how much she was like her father, someone who would never back down on a challenge.
“I can! I promise, Drew.” Andrew’s cheeks warm like they always do when she calls him that and he nods, mumbling a response as he pulls into the local mall’s parking lot.
“Alright, bug. Ready to go?” Paisley nods excitedly and Andrew is quick to get out and unbuckle her. He holds her on his hip, looking at her expectantly. “Up or down?” he asks, feeling overly generous. She thinks for a moment before curling her arms around his neck. Up it is then.
He walks quickly against the brisk air, colder than it should have been for May. Once they get inside, Andrew moves her to his side and holds her hand loosely, making sure she doesn’t wander. The two walk in and instantly her eyes catch every detail of the restaurant. Andrew shakes his head, realizing once again just how similar she is to Neil. They get seated and Paisley starts jumping against her seat. Andrew eyes her carefully and her movements stop. Andrew orders a cheese pizza for them to share, a lemonade for Paisley and a Sprite for himself, and as they wait for their food, he decides to ask her.
“You know how you have Aunt Dan and Uncle Matt?” Andrew starts off casually, and Paisley’s eyes light up. “What do you think about having another Uncle?” Paisley shrugged, sipping on her drink and not fully understanding. “I have a brother. He wants to meet you,” Andrew tries again, and this gets Paisley’s attention.
“I want a brother!” she all but yells. And then she quietly adds, “When can I meet him? Is he tall? Is he pretty? Is he old ?” she asks with a disgusted look on her face and Andrew can’t help but laugh.
“I want to marry your dad,” he says, and Paisley’s cup starts to tip and Andrew catches it easily. “I’m letting you say yes or no because he’s your dad but… I really like him.”
Paisley nods, serious look back on her face. “Do you love him?”
“So much. More than you can even count.”
“Okay,” she shrugs. “Do I get a brother now?”
Andrew snorts. “That’s a conversation for a different time. I’m not sure your dad wants another kid around.”
“But I do!” she says rather convincingly and Andrew, for whatever reason, starts to think about it.
“That’s not up to me, bug. I think our pizza is here,” he says, glad for the change of subject.
He wasn’t sure what he got himself into, but he isn’t quite upset about it. In fact, he’s rather pleased to have such a warm family to surround him.
He holds out his pinky to her and she latches hers onto it. “You can’t tell your dad, okay? Pinky promise?”
“Pinky promise,” she says with a smile, and Andrew feels content.
For the rest of the day, the box in his pocket doesn’t feel like a dreadful weight, but instead a reminder of how far he had come and the family he had gained along the way. It is simply a reminder of the future he finally had, the future he thought was impossible, made possible by a little girl and her very enthralling dad.
Fin.