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Ashleigh remembers the first time she ever met Newton. A Thursday full of paperwork that was just going to be her and Mary fighting over which music they wanted to listen to. Ancient Earth jazz for Mary, and whatever had caught Ashleigh’s ear for the day before she inevitably gave into the sweet tones of Mary’s jazz. But around 1:15 Mary received a call and quickly left Ashleigh alone before returning with Newton.
He was holding onto her hand with his old and worn, but sturdy backpack slung over her shoulder. He gave Ashleigh a big smile and a wave before he took his bag, jumped onto the plush sofa, and pulled out his tablet.
"Why is he here?" She asked once Newton was nestled comfortably in the corner of the couch with his homework.
"School was closed down, another child in a grade above him came to school with Desert Flu and they ended up closing down to keep it from spreading. Why,” Mary challenges, an eyebrow arching, ”is something wrong with him being here?"
"Ah, no, nothing is wrong."
Mary laughs after looking at her closer. "You're afraid of kids aren't you?" Evidently, Ashleigh had not hidden her fear well enough.
She didn't say anything and kept staring at Newton. While he had become familiar to her the past two years, as Mary spoke of him any time she could, she had never been around kids before. And the more she talked about him, the more Ashleigh realized he wasn’t like any stereotypical kid.
"Come on!"
Ashleigh gasps as Mary grabs her wrist and pulls her over to the couch and sits her across from Newton, before introducing each other.
He waved happily at her and politely put his tablet aside to focus on the two of them.
"Do you like my mom?" He scrutinized her in a way only a 5-year-old could.
"Yes, she is a good coworker and a brilliant scientist."
He gave her another look before going back to his tablet with a simple, "good."
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"Mommy's birthday is soon." He had gotten too comfortable with her too fast. Newton was his mother's son and was advanced in math, doing normal high school calculations as a 5-year-old, and when he would finish a worksheet he would ask one of them to check it. And since Mary was at a weekly department meeting, she was the person to help.
"How old will she be?" Ashleigh was just as smart as Mary was, so she checked his work with ease, marking a problem or two that he had calculated right but had followed directions wrong.
"Uhhhh, old?" She saw his face screw up out of the corner of her eye and laughed quietly at him.
"How old is old, then?
"How old are you?"
"Younger than your mother..." She looks at him, "She's really old."
He giggles like she told the funniest joke ever and falls into her side. He wraps around her arm like a monkey, laughing his head off. His infectious toddler laughter makes her laugh as well and they fall back against the couch, his math tablet forgotten as it falls off her leg.
"Dr. Ashleigh," he always calls her that for some reason, "I like you."
"I like you too, Newton."
She didn’t remember falling asleep on the couch with him on top of her until she woke up the next morning with a thick quilt tucked around her and a message on her phone. She pulls it from the charge, which she definitely didn’t plug in last night, and opens her phone to see a photo message from Mary with a few pink hearts next to it.
The picture was dark but she could make out Newton curled up on her chest with her hand securely on his back. She swipes to the next photo with a fond look on her face and her chest grows warm. The blanket that is currently wrapped around her was laid over her and Newton and Ashleigh could just barely see the blondish red tufts of hair peeking out under the cover.
Another message pings her phone. ‘I took him home and I would’ve taken you, but both of you were a bit too heavy for me to carry.’ Her face reddens at the winky face emoji at the end.
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"Dr. Ashleigh!" He runs up to her and hugs her legs and looks up at her. "Where’s Mommy?"
"She's being held up at the lab and asked me to pick you up and bring you home." She spins his soft hair between her fingers, wrapping his curls around her fingers and watching the light catch the blond highlights he has.
"Piggyback?" His watery blue eyes have become a weakness for her and she gives in, crouching down to let him leap on her back.
She stands up and his arms tighten around her neck before they loosen as he remembers what she said the last time as he nearly choked her. His head falls into the crook of her neck, shoving his messy curls into her face before she brushes them back and he shivers a little as her fingers touch the ticklish spot on his neck. A whispered 'sorry' has him wiggle more comfortably into her back and adjust his legs around her waist as she starts walking to the Somers’ apartment.
His sweet, innocent voice fills the fresh air around them as he chatters about his field trip to the Hydroponics labs to learn about all the science behind it. She’s able to answer most of his questions from back in university as the things he learned were geared toward younger kids with no background in agriculture. She let him speak the entire time during their 3-mile walk back from school but it was Olympus, the safest place on Psamathe. By the time she could see the apartment building, Newton’s small fingers had stopped scratching along her scalp and his breathing had deepened as his energetic words slowly stopped. She tries poking his leg when she sees the bright shock of red hair come out of the main doors but he still doesn’t wake, the field trip certainly sucking all of his energy out.
"I guess someone will have to skip his favorite dinner and go right to sleep." Mary’s face was almost too close to hers, filling her senses with her fading perfume and something that was just Mary.
Newton's head nearly collides with Ashleigh's as he shoots up.
"Mommy!" Normally he would immediately jump into her arms but he seems to have other plans. "Can Dr. Ashleigh stay for dinner?"
"I don't know, can Dr. Ashleigh stay for dinner?" A perfectly shaped eyebrow quirked up as those beautiful watery blue eyes drift to hers.
She sighs dramatically and he giggles knowing what the sigh means. "If I must."
He yelps in happiness and his arms tightened before quickly releasing. He places a big wet kiss on her cheek, laughing again as she grunts in disgust, using his shirt sleeve to wipe the slobber away.
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“Mama!” Ashleigh’s head shoots over from where she’s looking at another couple across the park pushing their twins on the swings, and her legs are sprinting her over to Newton before her eyes can even register he’s laying crumpled on the ground.
“Newt?!” She panics and slides over the woodchips, ignoring the pain as they tear through her slacks. She rolls him gently and his arm is under him at an odd angle, immediately calling paramedics to the park within the second as it robotically locates her.
His sobs tug at her heart and she gently lifts him into her lap, cradling his clearly broken arm. She quietly soothes his cries before calling Mary, worrying that this accident will make her keep Newton from seeing her.
”Ashleigh?” Her confused voice filters through the phone.
“He fell off the monkey bars, I’m so sorry, I told him to be careful, his arm… I’m so sorry.”
The wind of the hovercar kicks up her hair and her coat behind her and paramedics rush out and come to her side.
“Ash!?”
“They’re taking us to Peck Memorial. I’m so sorry.”
“I’ll be right there.”
It was the most nerve-wracking 10 minutes of her life as she waits for the doctors to x-ray and check out Newton. A doctor came back and informed her that his arm was a simple greenstick break, a common break in kids and that all they needed to do was give him the medicine to reduce swelling and once the 20 minutes passed, they would give him a cast. Newton was rolled back into the room by a nurse and they set up a holder to keep his arm straight before giving him a small cup of purple liquid and leaving the room.
Mary rushes into the room at the same time as the nurse leaves. “Newtie?”
“Mommy!” His tears had long faded as the paramedics gave him a calming, pain-reducing medicine that left him perfectly fine.
She was too nervous to do anything more than hold his hand, too careful of jostling him and disturbing his left arm. “What happened, Ash?”
“He was playing on the monkey bars and after I looked away he cried out and he was face down. They said he had a common fracture.” She couldn’t bear to look at Mary and see the disappointment and anger on her face.
A shuffle of feet and a shadow leaning over her crouches in front of her. Two warm hands tightly grab her own and squeeze, drawing her gaze up. There is no anger and disappointment.
“Ash, these things happen. 50% of kids break bones, I’m sad it happened but it happened, with Olympus’ medicine he’ll be back to normal and healed in a week. I’m not mad.” A hand wipes the tears from her cheeks. “I don’t blame you. Put on a strong face for him, yeah? We’ll talk more tonight, love.”
He chose a bright blue cast when the nurse from earlier comes back, and as tradition he wants them to sign it and they laugh and sign it in a silver sharpie. He wants them to sign it as well, “Mom, sign my cast,” he holds his arm out to Ashleigh and she avoids looking at Mary as her head jerks over to her. She agrees and she nearly writes ‘Ash’ until he urges, “no, Mom,” and she writes ‘Mom’ in blocky letters high on his forearm.
They take a hover taxi back up to Olympus, as Peck Memorial Hospital lies directly under the floating city, near the main port out as it was the most convenient location for the main hospital for Olympus. Newton falls asleep in Mary’s arms and they don’t talk for the 15 minutes it takes to get there and land, but Mary leans into Ashleigh’s shoulder, her warmth a balm to her fried nerves.
Mary guided her to the couch, letting her stew in fear, sadness, and nervousness as she puts Newton in his pajamas and puts him to bed. She comes back out of the dark bedroom and wordlessly pulls Ashleigh into a hug. Sobs ring out loudly before she realizes they’re hers, and it's the first time she’s truly cried in years. She really feels their height difference as her tears streak across Mary’s collarbone and her hands tighten in the thick sweatshirt she wears.
Her legs grow weak under her and they fall to the couch, the only light in the apartment being the neon lights showing up from Psamathe. Her tears finally dry and she pulls away to rebuild her walls, trying to keep Mary from seeing too much of her. She knows she must look horrible to Mary but she takes a bit of Newton’s bravery to face her.
“I don’t blame you,” she reinforces, “it was an accident, remember that.”
“I guess, but it doesn’t mean I don’t blame myself. I looked away and wasn’t watching him, it wasn’t forever but it was a few minutes too long.”
“A mistake, it would happen with me too. I still trust you and would like you to be a caretaker for him.” A sly smile splits Mary’s face. “Obviously he wants you as a caretaker too, I heard him call you mama.”
“I didn’t encourage him, I could never imagine I could take your place. You’re too amazing.” She catches what she says after she says it.
“I think you’re pretty amazing too.” Mary’s arm that had been laying on the back of the couch had fallen off and her hand cups her face. “He wants you in his life. We want you in our lives. I want you in my life.” Those watery blue eyes fall to her puffy lips, bitten and worried from her cries.
They meet in a kiss that tastes like stale coffee and waxy lipstick. It's sweet and shallow as they finally give into long-awaited feelings.
Mary pulls slightly away, "you deserve this Ashleigh." She wipes the tears away from her still closed eyes, in fear Mary will pull away forever, saying it was a mistake and that she should never have done this. "You deserve our love."
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It was a long-awaited day for all of them. She was filled with nerves and she finally understood what they said about cold feet. Her suit felt restrictive and uncomfortably tight around her neck, and her hands shook as they tried to peel her collar away. Too many negative thoughts swam in her head, what if something goes wrong, what if she leaves her alone, what if-
"Mom?" The door creaks open and her head jerks towards the voice.
Her son stands there, looking as dashing as a 10-year-old could. He wore a matching suit to hers, the same sky blue coloring his bow tie that speckled the wedding venue and matched her own. Worry colors his face as he sees her almost descend into one of her panic attacks. He rushes to hug her and ground her and he rests his head on her shoulder just like he used to when she could carry him.
"Are you alright mom?" He feels her bury her head into his thick hair and her arms wrap around his back. Her quick shallow breaths smooth out as he lets her smell his hair. He remembers her telling him that she loves the smell of his hair, ‘a typical baby scent’ his mama told her.
"Yes," she finally breathes out, "yes, my son. I am alright now thank you." She kisses his head and gives him one more squeeze before she pulls away.
He's grown a lot, enough so that he is chin level to her, so he doesn't have to reach far to wipe her face dry.
"Aunt Lilian won't be happy if she has to come back in here and redo your makeup." He wipes his hands on his pants and looks up at her, maturity furrowing his brows. "She loves you and you love her. I love you too so let's go and make it official, let's make you a Somers. Don't cry again, mom! I'm not fixing your makeup! I don't know how."
His maturity is gone as she lifts him up in a hug and squishes the laughter out of him. She puts him down and he huffs.
"You wrinkled us. Mom won't be happy if you go out there looking like a ragamuffin." He sounds so much like his other mom when he says it.
"A ragamuffin, hmm? Alright," she reaches out to fix his tie and he mimics her doing the same to hers, "let's go make me a Somers."
She makes it to the altar in time and they stand there, Newton as his mom's best man. He notices her leg start to bounce and he grabs her hand as the wedding march starts and all of the guests stand.
The doors open and he hears his mom gasp next to him as his mama is revealed. He thinks she looks so pretty in her perfectly white pantsuit, the sheer lace sleeves are wrapped around Dr. Gibraltar's big arms and he can see she looks so happy.
Newton slips his arms out of his mom's as his mama gets closer to the altar and Dr. Gibraltar drops her off before sitting next to Aunt Lilian. His mama gives him a kiss on the forehead and he resists the urge to scrub his forehead with his sleeve as his moms turn to the officiant.
He cheers and claps louder than anyone else when his mama dips his mom into a kiss.