Work Text:
“Shh, hey darling...there’s no need to cry, eh? It’s all good, Grandad’s here.” A loving smile on his lips, Tom padded around the room, the little girl safely in his arms as she kept crying and sniffling and sobbing.
The full moon was shining brightly into her bedroom, her wooden cot illuminated by the light. Her tiny fingers were clenched around a fold of his woolen cardigan and her small body heaved with every new breath she took.
How often he had done this before, staying up late or getting up in the middle of the night to soothe one of his own children. He had sung numerous lullabies, read story after story about princesses saving knights and dragons hoarding treasures. He had danced through their bedrooms, had watched London’s empty streets with each and every one of them when they refused to sleep.
More often than not his wife, his darling, gorgeous wife, had teased him because both were sure that at least one or two of his munchkins were crying just because being held by Daddy was so much nicer than lying in a cot surrounded only by lifeless, silent cuddly toys.
And maybe that was the reason why Sophie and Max had loved to keep him awake at night. In the end, he didn’t mind. He would have stayed up all night, every night to make his children happy.
He’d be damned if he didn’t do the same for his grandchild now.
For a moment, Marie’s cries subsided and he looked down at the little tod just as she looked up at her grandad with her big, grey eyes.
“Was that it now, darling? Have you had eno-” Before he was able to finish his sentence, she started wailing once again and he sighed with a gentle smile.
“Of course you haven’t had enough yet...Well, what shall we do about that, hm? Maybe we could have a little dance around your room, eh? You have a wonderful room, my love. The cot you’re sleeping in belonged to your Mummy once, did you know that?”
Talking to her quietly, Tom danced around the room, his granddaughter still resting against his chest.
It was still a bit surreal to have her here now, little Marie Lucille, when her youngest uncle was barely seven.
Quietly humming a melody, he moved over the carpet in silence, thinking of the moment Emiliana had told him he’d be a grandfather. Oh how he had cried. How happy and excited he had been for her, for his little girl. Now she wasn’t his little girl anymore. She was a mother now, a wife - no longer living at home but a few houses down the road with her husband, James.
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I’m trying to please to the calling
Of your heartstrings that play soft and low
And all the night’s magic
Seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight
Seems to shine in your blush
Can I just have
One more moondance
With you,
My Love
He continued to sing as he danced, slowly so as not to disturb the baby girl in his arms, and after he while her crying ceased and so did her sobs. Her tiny fingers relaxed their hold on his cardigan and her grey eyes closed themselves for now.
“There we go,” he whispered with a smile and placed her carefully into her bed before covering her with her plush duvet. For a moment, he remained standing next to the cot, watching her sleep, her features now relaxed and even as she dreamed the night away.
“You used to dance with me when I couldn’t sleep.”
Turning around, Tom looked into the gorgeous but somewhat tired eyes of his daughter as she was standing in the doorway. He nodded with a smile and quietly, Emmy took a few steps towards him.
“Do you think we could repeat that?,” she whispered with a loving smile and Tom nodded before briefly lowering his gaze. He had always been prone to showing his emotions as they occurred and seeing Emmy stand in front of him now brought back so many memories. Memories of Ellie, of Emmy when she was little, of her in her gorgeous wedding dress as he walked her down the aisle.
“It’s okay, Daddy. I’ll always be here and you’ll always be a part of my life, of our lives, no matter what,” Emiliana breathed into his ear as she took his hand and lead him slowly for their dance.
Tom could only nod and pulled her closer as the young woman leaned her head against his shoulder.
“I love you, Emmy,” he whispered after a while, almost a little overwhelmed by the surge of emotions running through his body.
“I love you too, Daddy. And I always will.”