Work Text:
Lyon stood outside the front door of Sherry’s house, fist raised in mid-air as he worked up the nerve to announce his presence.
It all still felt so surreal, this idea that he had a child, a family he’d known nothing about for fifteen years, might have never known anything about if it hadn’t been for the fierce determination of his own daughter to find him. A determination that Lyon couldn’t help but smile at, readily recognizing it as one of his own traits. While Chelia’s unshakable belief in love reminded him so much of her mother.
Lyon had missed so much of Chelia's life already, and it saddened him even as he also knew that he couldn’t exactly blame Sherry for her decision to keep her pregnancy a secret from him all those years ago. They’d been good friends during high school, but he’d been too caught up in the pursuit of the life he’d wanted for himself to have anything but the vaguest ideas of the feelings she’d held for him at the time.
He still wasn’t sure what had possessed him to sleep with Sherry that one night. And although he didn’t regret what had happened between them, he couldn’t help but feel that his actions had changed her life forever while he’d gone on with his, blissfully unaware of the consequences of their one night together.
And he couldn’t entirely escape the guilt he felt at realizing that he could have been a part of his child’s life if only he’d stayed in touch with his friends. If he hadn’t been so hell-bent on getting away from his own family. Lyon could have seen her grow up and maybe done better for her than his own parents ever had for him.
Instead, he found himself increasingly lost and uncertain as to what was expected of him. He couldn’t help but feel grateful to Ren, who had stepped up in his place and built a family with Sherry. Ren, who had never seen Chelia as anything other than his own kid and whose life Lyon had somewhat turned upside down with his presence and Chelia’s wish for him to be something to her.
“Something wrong?”
Lyon turned to find Ren standing behind him, holding several paper bags from the grocery store and glancing at him curiously.
“No, uhm, let me help you with those,” Lyon grabbed one of the bags and moved out of the way, never sure of how to act around the other man whose expression always seemed slightly disapproving.
“The girls have been waiting for you,” Ren remarked, his eyes lingering on Lyon’s face for a moment before settling on the ground.
“I, uhm, have they?” Lyon replied, wincing at how awkward he sounded, but he had no idea what to say to the other man.
He knew they needed to have a talk at some point. He’d seen this situation play out time and again in his work, usually ending badly. It had to be incredibly stressful to feel like another man was trying to lay claim to your kid, even though that wasn’t Lyon’s intention at all.
Ren fiddled with his pocket, fetching his house key and moving past Lyon, “We should get inside.”
“Wait,” Lyon blurted out before he could stop himself, not even sure of what he wanted to say but feeling like he needed to say something. “I-”
It was almost amusing to find himself suddenly tongue-tied, considering his words were often his fiercest weapon, second only to his knowledge of family law. Still, here he was all the same- head empty and feeling increasingly foolish.
“I -,” Lyon tried again, but what could he really say? That he had no intention of trying to replace him in Chelia’s life? That he was sorry that Ren had had to step up to clean up his mess? That he had no idea what he was doing but wanted to make up for his absence?
He could feel the weight of Ren’s gaze, and it only made him freeze up even more.
“She’s got a big heart,” Ren shrugged, “plenty of room for both of us in it.”
He patted Lyon on the back before opening the door and motioning for him to follow. Lyon placed the bag he’d carried inside on the kitchen counter, still flabbergasted when Sherry came up to greet them.
“Is he here?” Chelia called out from the family room, rushing in and stopping just short of him with a shy smile.
“Hey,” Lyon greeted, his voice wavering a bit, still unsure about whether it was okay for him to have this.
Chelia didn’t seem to notice his uncertainty, immediately grabbing him by the arm and pulling him into the family room, excitedly telling him about the TV show she’d been watching. Lyon looked back towards the kitchen in a slight panic, surprised to find both Sherry and Ren flashing him encouraging smiles. And as the sound of his daughter’s voice filled his ears, Lyon finally relaxed and allowed himself to enjoy the precious gift he’d been given.