Chapter Text
Nathan holds James in his arms as he follows Paige inside the Canter’s Delicatessen. They’ve decided to go on their first family trip, and the sunny California on the other side of the country seems like a good idea. The Troubles have been over for about six months now, and Haven’s rebuilding can survive without Nathan for a few days. James was surprisingly calm during his first flight, which was a relief because Nathan’s Bronco couldn’t have handled a cross country trip (Paige joked during the planning stage that the Bronco would barely make it out of Maine, which Nathan was offended by, but he had to admit she was probably right). Nathan drives their rental car, because even though he’s not quite comfortable with cars that aren’t his Bronco, he is still a better driver than any version of Paige.
When Nathan saw a pancake place, he just had to stop. Their mutual love of pancakes has always been an important aspect of their relationship, and Nathan is curious to see what Los Angeles has to offer on that front. James is just starting to eat solids but it's already clear that he takes after his Dad in his love for pancakes. They find a table quickly, and James gets his own chair and then they start checking out the menu. James gets his own tiny pancakes, while both Paige and Nathan get chocolate chip pancakes and coffee.
As they wait for their food and drink their coffees, Nathan concentrates on keeping James occupied by playing with him. Paige plays with her hair and smiles as she looks at her boys.
“Do you think I should dye my hair blonde?” she asks out of nowhere, looking thoughtfully at a strand of her hair.
Nathan looks up at her, his face is almost unreadable. Paige’s hair is thick and slightly wavy and dark brown. She likes wearing hats and wears her hair in a ponytail or flowing freely. The styles are similar to Audrey’s, but the color and texture differ. She doesn’t match Lucy either, her hair was a lighter brown, thinner, straighter. Sarah had a curly red head. Lexie and Mara were dirty blondes, yet their hairs were still different from each other. All of them were beautiful, in their own ways. Even though he has essentially only loved one woman in his life, his love life is really complicated.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Nathan finally says.
Paige raises an eyebrow, “Because of Audrey?”
“Kinda. And I don’t think blonde is really your style.”
“I have a ‘style’, do I?” Paige asks, sounding amused.
“Yeah,” Nathan says, and then smirks like he had a brilliant idea, “You should dye your hair purple. I bet you haven’t done that before.”
Paige laughs, "Purple? Are you serious?"
"Yeah, I bet your students would love it if you eventually came back from summer break with purple hair," Nathan attempts to sound serious, but in reality it's his 'I'm joking' voice, except you need to know him really well to pick up on that.
Paige looks at him, and she has that look that always means that she has figured him out. He loves that look. He likes being an open book to her.
“Do you mean a ‘demi’ purple?”
Nathan takes hold of the black ring on a chain around his neck. "Maybe." Then he turns to speak to James, "James would love it, too, wouldn't you, James? You'd love it if your Mom had purple hair. It is one of his favorite colors."
"He's not quite old enough to make those choices, Nathan. Tell Daddy he's being silly, James." James seems to agree with his mother and pats Nathan's cheek with his tiny hand and giggles. Nathan laughs in return and gives James a kiss.
He turns to Paige again, "I really think you would look good with any hair color. I mean, I know *you* look good, always. But I don't know, it would be weird for you to be blonde. But I’ll always love it, no matter what color your hair is. And not just because that's how I work. Or maybe that is why,” Nathan ends his slight ramble with a confused shrug.
"I know. It's kinda handy that way. And you're probably right about the blondness," Paige smiles and pulls Nathan into a kiss right before their pancakes arrive.
“You’re always the one for me.” Nathan whispers.
As the whole family digs into their pancakes, Nathan happens to look up and sees a teenage boy, with messy brown hair, sitting at a nearby booth with a blonde girl of similar age, and he seems to be staring at Nathan. Nathan thinks he might have noticed them earlier from the corner of his eye. The boy looks down and away from him when he notices that Nathan caught him. It’s a bit weird, but Nathan lets it go and concentrates on his pancakes.
"So. How do they rank?" Paige asks, humoring Nathan's thought of being a pancake connoisseur.
Nathan takes another bite and chews it with concentration " We have better in Haven, but these are still good."
"Good enough for seconds?"
"Definitely."
Eventually, Nathan notices the boy and girl from the booth leave but he doesn't pay them much mind. Sometimes people just stare at people. Nathan is her to enjoy his vacation with his family. They’ve all earned this.