Chapter 1: Drumming in Sleep
Chapter Text
"Who's idea was it to give him a drum set for his birthday?" Vic rolls over, covering her head with a pillow.
"I think it was yours," Lucas mutters, his eyes squeezed shut.
"No, I think it was yours. Because it would help him express his emotions better. Or something." Vic throws the pillow off her face and sits up. "All right, that's it -- I'm going to tell him that no matter how hard his breakup with Alex went, playing the drums at midnight is not going to be a thing."
"Mommy? Daddy? Why is Rian playing the drums in the middle of the night?" Lucas groans and sits up himself. Liv is standing in the doorway, clutching her favorite stuffed dog.
"Honey, don't worry, Daddy is about to make him go stop." Vic pats the bed next to her. "Want to come and sleep with us tonight?"
"I thought you were going to go a minute ago," Lucas mutters, but gets out from underneath the covers.
"I have to take care of our lovely daughter, while you explain appropriate practice times to our teenager regarding the drums you got him." Vic smiles sweetly at him. "Go on, dear."
Chapter 2: Crib Colors
Summary:
Vic is pregnant and Lucas is exhausting.
Chapter Text
"You look exhausted."
Vic sighs and smiles tiredly at Maya. "I am exhausted." She takes a sip of her virgin cocktail and rolls her eyes. "It's all Lucas's fault."
"Oooh." Andy chimes in, leaning forwards.
"And not in the good way," Vic rolls her eyes. "Lucas is so into being a dad, it's cute until it's just exhausting." She takes another sip of her drink. "Listen, I'm really excited to have this baby with him, but if he asks me about what color the baby's crib should be, I am actually going to throw myself out a window." She lays her head down on the table. "We don't even know if it's a boy or girl yet, and he's worried about crib colors. I don't care what color the crib is." Maya and Andy have to fight their laughter, and Vic gives them a dirty look. "Go ahead and laugh," she mutters. Andy and Maya share a look and then dissolve into giggles.
"Aww, but it's so adorable that he's so into it!"
"Yeah, you lucked out, Vic."
"Thanks, guys." She smiles for real this time. "I did, didn't I."
Chapter Text
"Have you ever considered being a tree?"
Lucas looks up from his paperwork at his wife. "A tree?"
"Yeah, like trunk, branches, leaves. Tree." Vic leans on the kitchen counter. "Come on, Hubby, it's not that hard."
"I'm sorry, it's just my wife comes home from getting our daughter from preschool and wants to know if I've ever thought about being a tree." He puts his pen down, figuring he can get back to it later -- like when the kids are in bed. "Did something happen today?"
"No, nothing happened." Vic says innocently -- too innocently. "That said, we're free next Friday morning, right?"
"I believe so." He starts to organize the paperwork to put it back in the home office. He prefers to work out on the kitchen table when the kids are home so he's more accessible, but leaving it out is just asking for a disaster.
He accidentally left it out once -- and will never do it again.
"Why?" He asks, his eyes on claim forms instead of his wife.
“Because that's when Libby's preschool play is."
"Oh, sure -- that's marked on the calendar. We'll definitely be there."
"Oh great! Vic exclaims. "Be sure to wear khakis and a green sweater."
"The preschool has a dress code now?" He comments amused.
"No, but we're in the play."
"Wait - what? We're in the play? I thought the play was for the kids."
"It is! But apparently Ms Sandy thought it would be fun for the parents to get involved as well, and Liv volunteered us to be trees."
"Our daughter volunteered us to be trees."
"Yep!" Vic pops the p. "Remember, khakis or brown pants, and a green sweater!" She sash-shays out of the kitchen.
He stands there watching her leave, his paperwork in his hands, before dropping the paperwork back onto the table, and going after her. "Wait, Vic, what?"
Notes:
Thanks to Mangobutterfly for the title.
Chapter 4: Bringing Home Baby
Chapter Text
"Are we sure we're ready for this?" Vic pulls on her leggings. "I mean, it's life changing."
Lucas bounces their newborn son in his arms, who gurgles. "I think it's kind of late for that, Vic."
"I know, I know." She looks in the mirror and runs a brush through her curls. "It just hit me. Like the last couple of days weren't real, but now we're bringing Adrian home, and we're going to be parents for the rest of our lives. We have a kid."
"Yes, we do," Lucas sing-songs, bopping Adrian on the nose. "A lovely little guy."
"Aren't you worried?" Vic pulls on her jacket. "Like, aren't you the teeniest bit worried that we now have a baby to take care of?"
"Oh, I'm terrified." He sing-songs. "But," he looks up at her, "I just remember one thing."
"And what is that?"
"I have you."
Chapter 5: Keeping Warm
Chapter Text
He walks in their front door, knowing it's late. He expects to find her in bed already, but instead she's curled up on the couch watching something on TV. What catches his eye, however, is that she's wearing one of his hoodies -- the one he has stuck in the back of his closet, that is too big even for him. She's got the hood up around her face, and her legs are hiked up in the hoodie. The sleeves dangle.
"Hey, hubby." She turns to look at him from underneath the hood.
"Hey, Eggy." An oversized hoodie shouldn't be making him feel like this. "I'm surprised you're still up."
"I decided to wait up for you." She yawns. "We have tomorrow off, after all." She sticks out her legs for a moment and it's clear she has very little on underneath it. She pats the couch besides her. "Friends is almost over."
He takes off his jacket and toes off his boots in the doorway. "I mean, we could finish watching Friends."
"Or?" She looks up at him, a coy smile on her face.
"Or I could take that hoodie off of you."
"But I'm cold," she murmurs. "Are you going to warm me up?"
"I think I can manage that." He replies as he stalks over to her. "Let's give it a try."
Chapter 6: Age is Just a Number
Chapter Text
"Mom, Dad, can you stop it?" Liv sets the groceries on the table. "It's embarrassing."
"I'm not sure what's embarrassing about it," Lucas says, leaning over to kiss his wife of over thirty years.
"Yeah, hon, it's just your dad and I kissing." Vic replies, holding him close.
"Mom, you guys are old, and it's weird to walk in my elderly parents' kitchen and see them making out."
"I'm sorry, did our daughter just call us old?" Vic gasps. "Your dad, maybe, but I'm sixty."
"Hey!" He mock elbows her. "I'm not old." He pauses. "Well, very old. And it doesn't matter how old I am, it matters how old I feel -- we feel."
"Oh come on, Liv, giving Mom and Dad a hard time?" Adrian says, carting in another load of groceries. "Bethany is coming in with the last load, by the way."
"Of course she is." Vic replies, looking at her son affectionately.
"Yeah, Liv -- they've been making out in the kitchen for our entire lives, I'd think you'd be used to the embarrassment now."
"Adrian!" The three cry out.
"You two should be glad your mother and I are still so very much in love." Lucas replies, putting his arms around Vic's waist.
"We are, Mom, Dad, we are."
Chapter 7: Something in the Way She Moves
Chapter Text
"I can't believe you have a record player." Vic looks over the records stored underneath it. "And so many records."
"It was my parents' actually. One of the things I kept after they died." Lucas calls over his shoulder as he continues to prepare dinner. "Go ahead and put something on."
She pulls out Abbey Road and sets the needle down.
"Abbey Road?" He muses, with a quirk of his eyebrow.
"Yeah, I grew up in a Beatles loving family, thank you very much." She walks over to him and kisses his cheek.
"No, it's great. They're great. Just not what I was expecting you to play." He turns his head from the frying pan and kisses her on the lips.
"And what did you expect me to play, Mister?"
"I don't know." He turns off the heat from their dinner as "Something" comes on. "Come on."
"Ready to eat?" She asks, as he takes her hand and brings her to the table -- and then past that, into the living room. "The table's over there."
"I know." He puts his other hand on her waist. "I just want to dance with you."
"Ahh." She smiles, "well then, I'm not much of a dancer, but lead on."
"I will." He pulls her tightly against him, and she leans her head on his shoulder as they dance.
Chapter 8: Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Chapter Text
“If we get caught, it's your fault.” Vic hisses as Lucas steps on the one step that creaks.
"He's been out since ten, and Libby can't get out of the crib by herself yet." He reassures her, continuing to tip-toe down the stairs.
"I know, but I want the magic to continue for a few more years. He's only six after all." Vic follows after him.
"It'll be fine." Lucas reassures her as he steps over the baby-gate blocking off the bottom of the stairs...and lands on the talking plush dog.
"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas! Rocking around the Christmas Tree -"
"LUCAS!" Vic hisses. She practically vaults over the baby gate and lands in a spot clear of toys. "Hand me the presents quickly!"
"Mommy? Daddy?" They hear coming from upstairs.
"Now you've done it," Vic sighs, taking the armful of presents Lucas gives her. "You go up and deal with Adrian, and I'll play Santa."
"Hey, save a cookie for me." He pouts. She laughs and pushes him back up the stairs.
Chapter 9: First Steps
Chapter Text
"Why are we whispering?" He asks, lowering himself down on the couch besides her.
"Because look!" She points towards their eleven-month-old son. He looks and sees Adrian standing with his walker, eyeing his stuffed dog -- three baby sized steps away on the armchair.
"Do you think -- ?"
"Shh, don't disturb him!" Vic fishes out her phone and turns on the camera. "I want to record this if he does it."
Lucas reaches for her free hand and gives it a squeeze. "Come on, Rian," he says under his breath, you can do it."
Adrian scrunches up his face, lets go of his walker...and takes the three steps to the chair to grab the dog.
"YES! HE DID IT!" Vic whoops. Adrian turns to his parents and grins, waving the dog in the air.
"Good job, Rian!" Lucas holds out his arms...and Adrian tries to walk the distance, but falls after a couple of steps. "I got that too!" Vic stops recording. Lucas gets up to swoop up Adrian, hugging him tightly. "You did good, little guy, really good." Adrian just giggles.
Chapter 10: Toytown
Chapter Text
Lucas is a wonderful father, but shopping with him is something else. “Look at this!” He waves around a toy with lots of buttons that make lots of noise, and Vic just winces at the idea of how loud it would be at home. “Rian would love this!”
“That says ages three and up – Rian isn’t even one yet.” She takes it out of Lucas’s hands. “We’re looking for age appropriate toys, not stuff he would need to grow into.”
“I don’t know – it doesn’t look like it has any small parts.” Lucas reaches for another one on the shelf and presses a button. A loud song erupts from it “Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb, Mary had a –”
“Yeah, no. Not that one, hubby.” She shudders. “He has enough toys that play music.”
“You can –”
“If you finish that with ‘never have too many toys,’ I’d like to state that yes, you totally can. He already has a ton of toys, and he’s eleven months old. And honestly I think if we gave him a box of wrapping paper, he’d be happy enough with it.”
“It’s his first Christmas, Vic.” Lucas looks at her with a pout. “We have to celebrate it.”
“And we are. Just…not with toys that are too developmentally advanced.” Vic sighs. “Let’s try the toddler section.” She starts walking towards the end of the aisle.
“All right.” He starts to put the toy in the cart.
“Lucas Ripley, don’t think I didn’t see that.”

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