Work Text:
"Mommy?" Shelley turned away from the stove to smile at her oldest daughter, Claire, as she stood just inside the doorway. "Mom," Claire repeated again, coming to sit on one of the kitchen chairs, "Can you help me with something?"
"Sure sweetie. What do you need help with?"
"I want to make Dad something really special for father's day. But I don't know how."
Sitting across from her, Shelley knew there was a deeper meaning behind this request, "What did you have in mind?"
"Well," Claire fidgeted with the edge of the tablecloth, "At school, we made our dads these pencil holder things but Dad doesn't have a desk to put his on so it's not really special. So I thought maybe we could make something for him here." As she told her mother her idea, Shelley shook her head in disbelief. Children saw so clearly sometimes.
"I'll help you Claire," she promised, "We'll start right after lunch. Now go get your sisters – they can help too."
~o~
Lying awake in bed, Wordy couldn't help but run the last few days over in his head. He couldn't ignore the signs that Toth had brought up anymore. His only worry was how this would affect his family. He'd tried to keep them from noticing but sooner or later, he would have to tell them. Rolling over, Wordy glanced at the clock. 5 to midnight. He sighed – this was definitely not the best start to a father's day he'd ever had. Hearing soft footsteps and giggles in the hall, he perked up his ears but didn't move. What were his girls doing up so late? Keeping still as his bedroom door opened, he was prepared for the gentle touches of 3 pairs of tiny hands.
"Wake up dad," Claire whispered to him. As he sat up, Allie and Lily took his hands, pulling him up out of bed. Smiling down at them, he subtly clenched his arm muscles, willing his hands not to shake. The 3 girls led him down the stairs into the kitchen where Claire began to collect glasses out of the cupboard, milk out of the fridge and a plateful of cookies from the counter top. Spotting a bag sitting in the middle of the table, he began to reach for it, only to have his hand pushed away by 7 year old Lily. "Not yet," she told him. Smiling indulgently, he sat down at the head of the table, watching the 3 girls interact.
Claire began to pour out glasses of milk and handed them to her sisters. Wordy smiled to see her steady their hands, making sure they had the glasses securely before letting go. Claire was the best older sister; always had been. The smile dropped from his face as he reached for his own glass, seeing the barely discernable shake in his fingers. Claire handed him his glass and, almost unconsciously, steadied his hand until the milk no longer sloshed against the edges. Wordy followed Claire back to the table, dumbstruck. How much had she seen? How much did she understand?
Tasting one of the cookies, Wordy grinned, questions pushed back for the moment. These were the family's favourite – some of his best memories of his girls came from sharing an afternoon snack of these cookies and a tall glass of milk. Finishing his cookie, he reached again for the mysterious bag in the centre of the table but wasn't surprised when Claire pulled it out of his reach. Setting it in front of her, she glanced nervously at her sisters before beginning to talk.
"I, well, we," she gestured to her sisters, "wanted to get you something really special for Father's Day this year, Dad. All the dads at school have different jobs but they're all easy. They aren't like yours. We made pencil holders in my class but I know you don't have a desk to put it on..."
Wordy interrupted, "That doesn't matter! You know I would still love it."
"But it's not special," Claire emphasized. "We wanted it to be special. So we made this for you instead." She pulled something out of the bag, handing it to Allie. "Mom helped," Lily added, looking over his shoulder. Turning in his seat, Wordy could see Shelley, her robe pulled around her, leaning against the door frame. Coming over, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he leaned forward to take the present from Allie.
Absolutely speechless, he gazed at the photo he held in his hands. Taken only a few months ago during a Team One barbecue, this was his favourite photo of his family. Wordy and Shelley sat together in a deck chair, the 3 girls gathered around them, the afternoon sun lighting up their faces. Wordy felt tears gather in his eyes as he felt the sturdy cardboard backing, the laminated front. Turning it over, he read the messages of love from his family, printed neatly by Shelley and signed in childish handwriting by each of the girls. Grown nervous by his silence, Claire started to babble,
"Dad, we know you've been really worried. And we know that you've gotten hurt at work. But you don't have a lot of photos of us at work so we wanted to give you this."
"Because family always makes it better!" piped up Allie with her 4 year old assurances. "Just like a kiss makes a hurt better!"
He blinked away his tears and smiled at the best people in his life, "Thank you so much guys. I love it. It's the perfect size for it to it in my shirt pocket so I will always have it. C'mere." He gestured to them to come closer and wrapped all 3 in his arms as they slipped off their chairs and ran to him. "I love you so much. Always remember that."
Sensing his need for a moment alone, Shelley spoke up, "I'm proud of you girls. Now, give your dad a kiss and go on back up to bed. We'll be there in a minute to tuck you back in."
Obeying their mother, Claire, Lily and Allie returned to their beds and Wordy stood up, pulling Shelley into his arms. Hugging him tightly, she whispered, "Happy Father's Day."