Chapter Text
“Are we sure that shelf is straight?” Sam asked, eyeballing it from where he sat with Michael at his kitchen table. “We used a level, I know, but it doesn’t look right.”
“No, I think the shelf is fine,” Michael said, squinting at it. “I think it’s the picture under it that’s crooked.” He stood up, trying to straighten it. “Better?”
“Oh, yeah, I think that did it.” Sam stared at it a moment more before nodding, apparently satisfied. “Thank you for coming over to help me with this. I love Cass, of course, but she’s never been the greatest with power tools.”
Michael very nearly asked him for the story behind the statement, though Sam’s wince following it quickly deterred him; whatever had happened, it didn’t look as though it had a happy ending. “Oh it’s no problem,” he said instead, “Gerry’s off on a work trip right now anyways, so it’s nice to have the company.”
Nice to take his mind off of worrying as he hunted down another Leitner, more like. Nice to sit here, in his neighbor’s perfectly ordinary kitchen, pretending that there was little more to life than hanging shelves, work trips, and accidents caused by mundane things like power tools, and not monsters.
Not that he could have told any of that to Sam. So, “nice to have the company” it was.
“Oh, I wanted to ask you –“ Sam said, and Michael felt that all-to-familiar spike of anxiety that the question always caused him, though he did his best not to show it. “I know Lena has taken to calling the two of you ‘Uncle.’ Are you ok with that? I can tell her to stop, if you’d like.”
“Oh no, please, don’t worry about it.” Michael said, relief washing through him at the inconsequential question. He didn’t think there was anything Sam could ask him that was worthy of the amount of stress the question had caused, but some things couldn’t be helped. “Gerry absolutely loves it.”
“That’s a relief. Honestly, I think she would be devastated if I told her to stop. She really likes you two.”
“We like her too, I have to admit. She’s a sweet kid.” Michael stirred his tea contemplatively. Abruptly, before he could think about it too much, he asked, “Is it worth it? Parenting?”
“Yes,” Sam answered, without hesitation. “It’s not always sunshine and rainbows – Lena’s on her best behavior when you two are around – but I love my daughter. Cass and I…we didn’t really plan for any of this,” he gestured vaguely around their flat, and at the drawings hanging on the fridge, “but I wouldn’t change any of it for the world.”
Michael nodded slowly, still staring into his teacup. “You know,” he began, “I’ve always wanted kids. I’ve never really brought it up with Gerry - I won’t go into detail, obviously, but he didn’t really have the best parents. I know it’s always worried him, and I didn’t really want to drag up the past.”
Sam didn’t say anything, nodding at him to continue. Michael hesitated, tempted to just drop it, tell Sam to forget he had said anything. It was strange, talking about this; he’d never really mentioned it to anyone, not even Gerry. But it had been on his mind a lot, lately, and if Sam was willing to let him talk…
“Plus, I’ve got my own doubts,” he laughed nervously, “and having kids has just never really seemed like a viable option, you know? But lately, after seeing him with Lena, and the party, well, I’ve been kind of wondering how he would feel about adoption.”
Michael wasn’t quite sure what kind of response he’d expected, but a massive grin certainly wasn’t at the top of the list. “I think you should go for it.”
“What?”
“I’ve seen you two with Lena, and at her party. I think the two of you would make amazing parents. You should go for it.”
“Well, yeah, but…” Michael floundered for words, trying to think up a good response. He was very much starting to regret bringing the topic up at all.
Sam couldn’t possibly understand; the institute, the powers, any of it. Gerry would never want to bring a child into their lives, not when the both of them regularly fought things most people could barely imagine. Michael didn’t want to either; he couldn’t stand the thought of someone he loved, someone he was responsible for getting hurt because of him.
He couldn’t tell any of that to Sam, though; he really shouldn’t have brought this up.
“I don’t know,” he said finally, “like I said, I’ve never even mentioned it to him. He might not even want children.”
“Aww, come on,” Sam said, punching his shoulder lightly, “There’s only one way to find out. Talk to him when he gets home – I’d bet he’s a lot more willing than you realize.”
“Maybe you’re right,” he said, if only to appease Sam. Changing the subject, he said, “Don’t you have another shelf to hang? Maybe we should try and get that done before Cass and Lena get back.”
Sam looked at his watch, making a face. “You’re right. Come on, it’s in the living room. We should have enough time.”
Michael quickly drank the rest of his tea as Sam left the room. He sighed as he set the cup back down, then smiled softly. Adopting a kid - maybe it wasn’t something that could happen, but it was still nice to imagine.