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“What kind of mother just leaves their kid?!”
“Liam, shush! He’s asleep, but with your shouting he might not be for long.”
“Sorry,” he muttered, crossing the bedroom floor yet again as he continued to pace. “I just... She didn’t answer when I called, and what if she’s just off somewhere and not back home? What if he wants to go home and I can’t take him there?”
Fallon sighed, her hands closing around each other more tightly atop her lap, and she watched him from her perch at the end of the bed. “She knows we can afford to give him everything,” she began slowly, trying to understand it all herself. “I don’t know if she saw how scared you were, considering even I didn’t really get it. But maybe we can figure something out with her once she calms down. Give it a couple days, maybe.”
He turned to look at her, his feet halting, and the expression on his face was one of both confusion and hope. Hope, Fallon presumed, that she was right and Heidi would return. Fallon wanted that for Connor, too, but maybe not entirely for the same reason.
As Liam finally decided that the best thing to do was sleep and be ready for whatever the next day brought, Fallon got out her computer and went into the living room in an effort to get some work done that she had set aside upon learning of Connor and Heidi’s arrival. She settled herself at Liam’s writing desk, feeling oddly like an intruder in his chair, and began sifting through emails. After a time, the light in Liam’s — their? — bedroom went off.
It wasn’t until around eleven that she heard something besides her own typing and the quiet muttering she unintentionally did while thinking up replies. Fallon turned her head to find Connor standing in the hall towards the room he had been offered, looking half asleep but openly upset.
Though unsure of herself after everything he’d been through since meeting his father, Fallon shifted towards him in her chair. “Did you need something, Connor?” She asked gently, noting that he had already spotted her.
He shrugged. “I tried to sleep but something feels... weird. When is Mom coming back?”
Oh shit. Why hadn’t she talked through this part of the plan with Liam? Well, obviously because she thought they had time. But he was clever, like his father, apparently. Maybe more a gamer than a writer, but who could tell so early on?
“I’m not sure, exactly,” Fallon managed after a moment of tense consideration. “But you don’t need to be upset. I know we’re new to your life but we really do care about you, Connor. Nothing to be worried about here, okay? I promise, we’ll plan fun things to do tomorrow so you can see more of Atlanta. How’s that sound?”
He shrugged again. “Yeah, okay. Is Liam— is Dad asleep?”
“Want me to go get him?” She asked, though she knew it perhaps wouldn’t go extremely well.
“No, that’s okay. Can you just tell him I said goodnight? I don’t think I did, earlier.”
“No problem. We’re all tired, I think. I’m off to bed now, too,” she claimed, shutting her laptop and standing up. “Why don’t you think about what you want for breakfast tomorrow and me and Liam will make it happen?”
He smiled a little at that and nodded. “Night, Fallon.”
“Goodnight, Connor.”
She had thought of waiting for him to leave and just getting back to work, as she had stopped mid-email, but the stress of the day and the need to awake refreshed the next morning to help Liam take care of things was starting to settle on her shoulders. So they both went to their rooms and Fallon climbed into bed beside a sleeping, but still restless, Liam. As she curled into his side, the quiet fidgeting slowed to a stop, and she regretted not being there the whole time, even if some space may have done him good.
—-
The next day went well enough, but by the time dinner rolled around and Heidi wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and refused to answer her phone, Connor was growing suspicious.
“Liam?” He asked as his father moved through the kitchen to prepare something that Liam assumed kids might like. “Where’s Mom?”
“Um...” Liam stopped, his hands attempting to gesture something vague but just sort of hovering instead. “I’m not... I’m not sure, buddy. I think she needed to go somewhere, so that’s why she asked us to take care of you.”
“How long? I don’t have any of my stuff, and what about school?”
Liam sighed and pulled out two chairs from the table after turning off the burner on the stove. Dinner could wait. “Well, Fallon is looking into getting you some things, for you to have here. As for school, I’m not sure about that yet, either. But we will figure it out as soon as possible, okay?”
Connor sized up his father, taking his time before responding. “You seem angry. Mom said you and Fallon wanted to meet me.”
“We— we did, Connor. I’m glad we have. But the thing is, we have to get to know you, and I’m... I’m afraid of doing something wrong. I honestly haven’t spent that much time around kids your age before. I don’t want to mess this up or make you unhappy, y’know? I want you to be comfortable.”
“It doesn’t seem like there would be much to mess up while I’m visiting.”
The front door opened and Fallon walked in, several bags on each of her arms. She looked out of breath but proud of herself for doing it all on her own. Liam looked her way and she caught on almost immediately to the tension in his face and posture. The bags were abandoned on the couch, and Fallon almost felt bad about it all when she caught Connor’s look of surprise, as if he had ever seen so much shopping done by anybody ever.
“Everything okay?” She asked, walking towards them hesitantly.
Liam reached for her hand, stood, and gestured for her to take his place. Once she did, he crouched between their chairs. “Connor... buddy, this may seem a bit unbelievable at first, or maybe a bit scary, but please hear us out, okay?” Liam waited for his son to give a nod, even though Connor looked very nervous indeed. “The thing is, I’m not sure how long you’ll be staying with us. Your mom... she wanted you to have a better life. She thought we could provide that. And I know how much you love her, so I’m doing everything I can to get ahold of her and see if we can work out a way for us both to be involved more regularly in your life. Well, all three of us, I should say,” he corrected, squeezing Fallon’s hand.
“She... she just left?” Connor asked slowly, wide eyed and looking between the two of them in shock.
It was the hurt in his eyes that made Fallon start crying.
“I’m sorry,” Connor said to her quickly. “You obviously didn’t want me to—“
“—No!” She gasped, reaching her free hand forward to pat his upper arm. “Connor that’s not— no. I just... My mom left when I was young, too. And it was really, really hard at the time,” she explained, wishing she had left herself with an empty hand to wipe at her cheek as a tear began tracking its way down. But Liam took care of that for her, his eyes soft and apologetic. “But, y’know what?”
“Hmm?” Connor asked, eyebrows lifting at the sudden positive note in her voice.
“My mom came back. It took time, and it wasn’t easy, but she did come back. And while I won’t make you a promise I can’t keep, and guarantee that your mother will, or say how quickly it might happen, I just don’t want you to lose hope. Hope is very important to hold onto. Especially when you’re hurting the most.”
Connor nodded slowly, his little brow furrowing in consideration. Fallon drew her hand back as Liam brushed his thumb over the back of her hand.
“Listen,” Liam began, “...Why don’t you see what Fallon brought for you while I finish up dinner?”
“For me?”
Fallon’s smile was a little watery, but still there, as she nodded and stood. “All of those bags are yours if you like them. If not, we’ll trade them for something else. I’m not trying to buy favor or anything, but you obviously need clothes and things so I figured we may as well get started.”
His surprise morphed into curiosity as he jumped down from his chair, and as Fallon started to follow him, she was caught by Liam’s arm curling around her waist. By his lips pressing just below her ear.
“I love you,” he reminded her quietly, before leaning back to meet her eyes. “I didn’t realize how hard this would be on you, too.”
“It’s okay,” she assured him, her hand brushing once through his hair. “I know this isn’t perfect and it’s scary and it isn’t what you planned for or wanted. But that’s not Connor’s fault. You know that. When Alexis left, I had a support system, as weak as it was. He has nothing without you. Without us. So we will do what we must, right?”
Liam nodded seriously, earning him a brief kiss before she slipped away to go talk to Connor.
As Liam resumed his meal prep, he could hear Connor’s surprise, and Fallon’s laughter whenever a shirt turned out to be too big, or shoes were too small. He glanced over his shoulder to see Connor jokingly stomping around in shoes that obviously didn’t fit him, and realized a moment later that he had started to smile a little while ago. Fallon definitely had a point, he decided: Connor didn’t ask for any of this, or any of the people who he found surrounding him. So that meant, until some better plan could be made, that this was on him. And, apparently, on the fiancée he had been lucky enough to win over.
Despite himself, he wondered if perhaps this would be the first time he would experience a positive mother figure. If perhaps Fallon had another really excellent point: that it could be possible to break away from the toxic nature of their childhoods and create something better for a boy who deserved more.
After dinner, Connor showed his dad all the things his future not-evil-stepmother had gotten him. Liam showed Connor his book collection, attempting to convince him to read something instead of finishing his video game before they could find him something new to spend his time on. And at the end of the night, he tucked his son into bed, then allowed the woman he loved more and more each day to lead him into their bedroom, where she slid into bed beside him and - to his slight surprise - just smiled at him. Proudly. Approvingly. And most definitely lovingly.