Chapter Text
Donovan never thought he would be ashamed of his son, per se. Despite how often Tyler talked back to him, got in trouble with assaulting Nevermore students, less than satisfactory grades…while Donovan was not happy or proud of any of this, at the end of the day he never cast his only child aside. Sure, he might not have been the most present person in Tyler’s life, but he still fed him and put a roof over his head.
The elder Galpin’s own dad had kicked him out as soon as he turned eighteen, stating that now that Donovan was an adult he either had to pay rent or get out. Being done with his fathers bullshit, he had elected to leave his childhood home and build his own life. He never wanted to be like his father, however Tyler had now crossed a line.
The elder Galpin had told his son multiple times that Wednesday Addams was bad news, that Tyler needed to stay away from the girl. Of course, however, this seemed to make Tyler chase after her even more - as if the entire relationship existed just to piss the sheriff off. Sometimes Donovan wondered if that was the truth, if the two of them were pretending to be romantically involved just to mess with him.
However, all of that changed in the timespan of a single afternoon.
Wednesday was set to graduate from Nevermore Academy soon, and the sheriff was beyond thrilled at the thought that the Addams girl would no longer be within arm's distance of Tyler. Long distance would be hard on them and they’d break up, finally. These thoughts were what were keeping Donovan sane recently, knowing that soon the Addams family would be gone from Jericho and out of his life for (what he hoped was) good. And then Tyler mentioned that he and Wednesday had discussed moving in together.
“Shouldn’t she be off to college?” the sheriff asked, trying to keep his cool the best he could at the moment.
“Right now she’s going to take a gap year and decide if furthering her education is worth it,” Tyler shrugged, “She’s already got a good income from her book, and she’s still writing, so…”
“You two are too young to be moving out on your own.”
“Well…” his son said a bit sheepishly, “We were actually planning on living with her parents for a bit, since they have the space. Save up some of our own money so we’re not relying on them so much, find a place we both like, y’know…”
The thought of Tyler living under the same roof of the entire Addams family is what finally set Donovan off. “I’m not letting you move in with them. You’ve been in enough trouble with the law because of that Thorpe boy, and all the Addams’ are good for is causing trouble.”
“I’m nineteen, dad, you can’t exactly tell me I can’t move out. And before you threaten anything else, I already pay my own phone bill, I don’t need the car, and her parents have already agreed to let me live with them. There’s nothing you really say that’ll change my mind.”
Donovan glared at Tyler for a minute, “If you move in with that girl, you better never bother contacting me again. It’s either me or…those people.”
Tyler looked beyond pissed, but instead of saying anything he turned around and went upstairs. Satisfied that he had perhaps won, the sheriff pushed the argument to the back of his mind. There was no way that his son would pick his girlfriend over his own flesh and blood.
Or so he thought until he found a note on the kitchen table the day that the Nevermore students were to leave Jericho for the summer (or in Wednesday’s case, forever).
‘Sheriff Galpin (since I won’t call you dad anymore),
I thought I should let you know that I made my decision, and I’m choosing to be with the only person on Earth that has ever shown me love. Her family is welcoming me with open arms and I know that Wednesday is the person who I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. Meanwhile, I only exist in your life when you need someone to blame for your shitty life.
So, this is the last you’ll hear from me at your own request. Have the life you deserve.
Tyler’
That was over six years ago. And true to his word, Tyler never did reach out to Donovan. At first the elder Galpin hadn’t bothered trying to reach his son either, waiting for Tyler to come running back to him saying he was right. But when Christmas came and he still hadn’t heard anything, he gave in and tried to call.
All he got was an automated message that the number he was trying to reach was no longer in service.
For a while, Donovan had tried to find Tyler online - but he had never exactly been tech savvy, never having a social media account in his life before this. Even with the social media accounts, he couldn’t for the life of him figure out how to find his son in the large populations of Tyler’s. Hell, he wasn’t even sure where he’d be living anymore. Were they still living with Wednesday’s parents? Had they gotten their own place?
Two years came and went, then three, four, and five. Donovan spent every holiday alone, left with the memories of when Tyler would attempt to decorate the house like Francoise used to do. He wondered what his late wife would think of the situation - she certainly wouldn’t have let her son leave her life so easily.
By year six, Galpin had given up on trying to find his son. Even using the resources he had as Jericho’s sheriff, it proved pointless before the department finally told him that they were tired of him using their resources, considering Tyler was technically an adult who had left on his own free will.
Now, before he knew it, the holidays were creeping up on him again. It would be the sixth Christmas he had spent on his own, and it was no easier than the previous ones had been. Yet, this year he decided that maybe he could try to decorate a bit. What harm could it do?
That’s how he found himself walking around the Christmas decor section of the closest Walmart, picking up the cheapest things he could. He stared at the artificial trees, trying to decide if the hassle would be worth it. With a sigh, Donovan decided against it and went to continue with his shopping, but was interrupted by a small child running directly in his path.
“Timothy!” an exhausted female voice called out, “I told you to stay next to me, we’ll look at the trees in just a second!” The woman walked up to him and gave him a tired smile, “I’m sorry about him, he’s just excited.”
Donovan waved her off, “No worries, I remember how they are at that age. Can’t get them to keep still for five seconds.”
The woman suddenly seemed to have a moment of recognition, “Oh my god, Mr. Galpin? Or is it still sheriff?”
“Retired,” he admitted, studying her for a second before giving in, “I’m sorry, I can’t seem to remember you.” She was young, probably around Tyler’s age- oh. Maybe that’s where he knew her from.
“Stacy,” she said with a small laugh, “I dated Tyler for like, maybe two weeks back in high school and worked at the Weathervane with him for a bit. How’s he doing, by the way - have the sleepless nights driven him to the brink of madness yet?”
He gave her a confused look, wondering what that was supposed to mean as well as trying to remember if he had ever truly seen this person before. The name rang a bit of a bell in his mind, but he definitely wouldn’t have recognized her without her prompting. Thinking about it a bit more, he did recall seeing her in the Weathervane frequently even after Tyler had left.
Before he could respond and say that he didn’t know how Tyler was, or come up with any excuse possible to not admit he hadn’t spoken to his son in years, Stacy continued on as she picked up her son and put him in the shopping cart to keep him from escaping.
“The baby’s about, what, two months old or so now, right? Oh…what was her name again…” Stacy pulled out her phone now, searching for something.
Donovan was in disbelief at what he had just heard. The baby…Tyler had a child? He was a grandfather?
A minute later the bubbly girl’s smile brightened, “Saige, that’s it!” she turned her phone for Donovan to see the screen, who stared at in shock. He was looking at a picture of a slightly older looking Tyler, who was smiling brightly. Next to him was obviously Wednesday, who was holding what looked to be a newborn child. So it was true, then. The two were still very much together and had even started a family of their own.
Donovan looked closer at the profile he was being shown, not listening to what Stacy was rambling on about. “I swear I’m not stalking him or anything, by the way,” she said jokingly, “We’re just still friends on Facebook and I see his posts from time to time.” she took her phone back and scrolled a bit more before she seemed to have a realization, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry I’ve been rambling, haven’t I? My husband says I don’t get out enough anymore, and I’ll talk anyone’s ear off who will listen. But anyways, I’ll let you get back to your shopping. Tell Tyler I said hello!” And with that, the woman walked off with a wave as her own child tried to squirm his way out of the shopping cart he was still being held captive in.
The rest of the shopping trip had definitely broken some sort of record for the fastest one Donovan had ever done, him quickly picking up a few more items that he needed before rushing home to try and search up his son's profile for the first time in years. He had given up on the idea of finding him on social media pretty quickly back when he had first tried, realizing how little he had to go on. Now he knew why searches for ‘Tyler Galpin’ never yielded any results - he had taken on his mothers maiden name.
And as if the gods were now on his side, he found him.
His profile was mostly private, which the former sheriff knew he should’ve been happy about, but at the moment he only felt annoyed that the full thing wasn’t available to him.. However, he was still able to see every profile picture and cover photo that had been put on the account. The cover photos were almost exclusively landscape photos - from where, Donovan could only guess.
The profile picture, however, seemed to tell the story of Tyler’s life since he had first made the account years ago. But the ones that interested the older man were those of the last six years - him smiling at the camera in candid shots, one of which was obviously in a cemetery. In the beginning, the profile picture changed often, but slowly more and more time started to pass between the time Tyler would change them.
The first one to picture Wednesday was the first one that Donovan wasn’t prepared, or expecting, to see.
Tyler was in a tux, Wednesday next to him in a black wedding dress. It was dated five years prior- five years his son had been married - only one year after Tyler had left home - and he had no clue. And he looked happy, happier than Donovan had seen his child look in years. That picture remained his profile picture for a while, it seemed, until it eventually changed to another one of him and Wednesday. This one was them dressed in formal wear once again, though in a more I’m-about-to-attend-a-gala look than anything. No doubt an event Morticia and Gomez had put on for whatever reason.
The most recent was a similar picture to the one he had been shown earlier that day - Tyler, Wednesday, and their child, though the baby appeared to be just a bundle of blankets. He stared at it for a long while, the feeling of loneliness returning stronger than before. And while Donovan knew that he missed his son, it took until that moment to realize just how much.
Looking at the page a bit closer, he saw an icon he could only assume meant messaging. Clicking on it, he found that despite not being friends with Tyler on this website, he could send a message to him. This was it, what he had been looking for for about five and a half years now.
God had sent him some mercy in the form of an overly chatty woman in Walmart of all places, and now he could reach out to Tyler. He wondered if he should just say hello, or how to go about reaching out and trying for a conversation. In the end, he settled on writing:
Tyler,
It’s me. I know I’m the last person you want to hear from, but I’ve finally been able to find a way to get a hold of you after all these years. I was hoping that maybe you would be willing to have a conversation with me, whether over the phone or in person. No yelling, no judgment thrown out. Just a father and son catching up after all this time. I know what I said back then, and if I’m going to swallow my pride and apologize I’d rather do it knowing you want to hear it.
-D. Galpin