Work Text:
i hadn't heard it in awhile
the house had a brisk chill floating in from the open back doors, child laughter twisting with the whistle of wind. pip watched out the window, sipping her tea while watching her husband and daughter chase eachother through the yard. her hand went to her very pregnant belly and stroked small circles, humming softly.
even though her life was filled with such love and light, pip couldn't help but feel a piece was missing from her family. deep down she knew the piece was ravi, her soul mate. she loved her husband, alec, and would never leave him, but that innocent teenage love called for her in the depths of her soul.
alec walked through the door, panting, flexing his tattooed muscles and made his way to pip. he kissed her forehead, placing a hand to her stomach.
"how are you?", his hand tangled with hers.
a sweet smile spread across her lips, "i'm great, and so is he", she looked to where their hands joined.
they hadn't decided on a name for the new baby, alec kept insisting they name him 'luke' as in luke skywalker. to which pip immediately vetoed.
"mama, the chickens bit me", her little three year old ran over, clutching her hand.
"oh, my poor baby", pip coddled, "daddy shouldn't have left you out there alone", she said with a pointed glare.
her husband cleared his throat and wandered off to find a bandaid. pip tried to comfort her daughter but with her eight month pregnant bump in the way, it left hailey crying, trying to climb in pip's lap.
"look baby, it's a bluey bandaid", alec's tall frame appeared behind pip's chair.
he knelt on the floor and bandaged the girls hand, kissing her finger. pip's heart fluttered at the domestic gesture, her previous thoughts put off until later.
"tank you dada", the three-year-old raised on her tiptoes to kiss her dad on the cheek.
"okay, little love, let's go take a bath", a pair of masculine brown arms scooped up the small person.
"i like mama's bath time better", hailey angrily crossed her arms and pouted.
alec already began walking off, "well daddy's bath time can be just as fun"
"hmf."
pip smiled into her mug, replaying fond memories of hailey's little outbursts. her phone rang, a random number appearing on her screen. she expected it to be something for work, so she answered.
crashing into him tonight
"hello?"
"h-hey pip", the heart stopping voice of none other than ravi mother fucking singh rang through her ears, "i know this is random, but um, i've been thinking about you recently and i- i wanted to know if you'd be interested in, you know... maybe hanging out?"
pip sat with the phone to her ear, trying to pick her jaw up off the floor for long enough to respond, "i- i would love to hang out, but i have to talk to my husband. i'm sure he won't have a problem with it", she paused, "i live in a different state and can't exactly travel right now, so you'd have to fly out here."
"you're married?", his voice was soft.
"um, yeah, i thought you would've heard about it."
"no, i didn't."
she paused for a moment, wondering if she screwed everything up, "oh, well i guess this isn't the best time to mention we have a three-year-old and we're expecting another in a few weeks."
"yeah, maybe not the best time to mention that", he laughed despite the sorrow in his voice and pip sighed.
pip and ravi talked and laughed on the phone for what felt like it could've been hours, but in reality was around forty minutes. they talked until she heard little wet feet running down the hallway.
"mama, all clean", hailey stood before her in a frog towel and dripping wet hair.
"look at you, getting water all over the floor, where's your daddy?"
the little girl pointed to the stairs where her father ran down them, pajamas in hand, "how'd you down here so fast?"
the girl shrieked and tried to hide behind her mother, "no clothes, no bedtime"
pip sat with a smile on her face while watching her 6"0 husband wrestle a toddler, "how are you so strong?"
"mama, help!", hailey dug her fingers into pip's clothes so her father couldn't drag her away.
"let daddy dress you, stubborn child", she pat the little hands gripping her.
"i'm going to let the chicken bite you again", alec threatened. a little gasp from the little child and her grip slacked, allowing her to be pulled into her dad's arms, "ha, i got you."
ravi remained quiet on the other end of the phone, listening in on the family as alec successfully clothed the mini bodybuilder. he didn't want to disrupt something he clearly wasn't apart of.
"go sit in your bed, we'll be up in a minute."
"no", hailey said defiantly.
alec pretended to run after her, causing the little gremlin to run up the stairs, giggling. he sighed and walked to pip, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"who are you talking to?"
"an old friend", suddenly she felt nervous, how do you ask your husband if your ex boyfriend can come visit? "alec, um, can my friend ravi come visit us?"
his eyebrows furrowed, "of course, you don't have to ask."
"no, um, we dated, i broke up with before i went to college."
"pip", he put a hand on her shoulder, "you don't have to ask permission to bring friends over."
"so, it's not going to be weird?"
"i mean, maybe a little, but i'm sure i'll be fine", he leaned in the kiss her mouth, "but you do have to say bye to ravi so we can put hailey to bed."
she scoffed, "bye ravi, i can text you our info in a bit."
"bye pip", she could hear his smile.
the phone hung up and they made their way upstairs to put their daughter to bed.
-
"hailey", pip sighed.
"yes mama?", little feet padded across the floor.
"why did you leave a mess on the floor?"
her pigtails bobbed as she looked down at the pile of toys and crayons on the floor, "i'm saving them for w-ater."
"well can you save them for later somewhere out of the way, i almost stepped on your blocks."
hailey frowned, "ok."
"thank you", pip patted her head.
right as she was about to head to the kitchen, someone knocked on the door. she sighed and turned to answer.
"hey", those brown eyes she had only seen in her dreams stared at her.
one slip and falling back into the hedge maze
she blinked and... he was still standing there, staring at her.
"ravi", she noticed alec watching the interaction out of the corner of her eye.
"you're a lot more pregnant than i assumed", his eyes dipped down to her stomach.
pip laid a protective hand over her belly, "yeah, well unfortunately this is how babies grow."
ravi took a cautious step onto the threshold of the door and held his arm out for a hug. no more than a minute passed before pip found herself in his arms, back to the place she used to call home. he still smelled the same, like his coconut body wash and laundry soap. she had a new found appreciation for his warm scent.
after a moment too long, she stepped out of his hold and invited him inside, making eye contact with her husband as ravi rolled his luggage in the house. pip showed him to the guest room and they caught up on the last five years in the living room, alec switching from watching hailey to checking on pip.
the day chilled to dusk and pip accompanied her husband in the kitchen to help with dinner. hailey immediately liked ravi, insisting on him playing dolls with her. they sat outside for dinner, basking in the last moments of sunlight before it disappeared to make room for the moon.
chickens clucked around them and attempted peck at ravi. pip sat next to him while alec sat across the table with the little girl who wanted nothing more than to chase the cats that were running around the yard.
pip sighed, "go on then."
hailey wasted not even a second before getting up and running off to torture the poor cats.
"how old is she?", ravi asked while finishing his food.
"three", alec answered.
ravi took an awkward sip of his drink before devolving into silence. the prospect of talking to his ex-girlfriends husband clearly made him uncomfortable.
"so", pip tried to break the silence, "how is it in fairview?"
ravi waited a moment before responding, "it's the same, boring town. less crimes now that you've left", he smiled to her and she scoffed.
alec cleared his throat and stood from his seat, clearing the plates off the table and pressing a kiss to the top of pip's head. the silence that stretched between them seemed like an entity of its own; leaving a hard, foul, atmosphere in its wake.
"he doesn't like me, does he?", ravi's words ricochetted through the box of air they seemed to have created around them.
"i don't know", pip sighed, "usually when he doesn't feel comfortable he says something, he's never... quiet."
"maybe you should talk to him, i don't want to make him uncomfortable in his own house", their eyes held eachother.
how i long for our trysts
pip's heart stuttered and she was filled with memories of what used to be, memories of late nights home alone or dinners with family. she willed herself not to blush as she turned away from him.
"yeah, i'll talk to him tonight", with that, she got up and went to collect her daughter, "hailey, come on, bedtime."
the little girl whined and tried to evade her mothers grasp but she was thrown over her shoulder and dragged inside.
"must you be so difficult?" she tickled the girls side, pulling a laugh from the wiggling child, "mommy's back already hurts because of your brother."
she met her husband in the kitchen and deposited the creature in his arms, "did you make mommy carry you inside?"
pip heard footsteps behind her, "i wanted to play", hailey grumbled.
"once you wake up, you'll have a whole new day to play", he booped her nose.
"will wavi be here tomorrow?"
both pip and alec turned to look at ravi who was leaned against the open backdoors, watching the scene play out.
"yeah, but he's mommies friend, not hailey's", alec responded before heading to the stairs.
pip looked to ravi again before following her husband. images of his hands trailing her body appeared in her mind, followed by the sounds of his moans. what was wrong with her? why was she imagining another man when she has a perfect husband right in front of her?
hailey was resistant about bedtime and managed to drag a second story out of her parents before her body betrayed her with sleep. once the small figure was sleeping, alec pressed a kiss to pip's lips and took her hand, leading her to their room instead of back downstairs.
these fatal fantasies
he sat her on the bed and pushed a stray hair out of her eyes, "you love him, don't you?"
her eyes blew wide, "what? what are you talking about?"
"ravi, i see the way you look at him, the way he looks at you. that's how you look at me", her fingers were absent mindedly tracing shapes on her knee.
"i-", she had nothing to say, because he was right and she refused to lie to him.
"pip, it's ok, i'm not mad."
"you're not?", her voice shook.
he shook his head, "we can work something out", his free hand reached up to cup her face.
they stayed in the haven of their room for only long enough to talk through their feelings and all that mushy shit before joining ravi in the living room. he was sat on the couch watching whatever reality tv bullshit he enjoyed.
"ravi", alex said.
pip whipped her head to him, "you- you're doing this now?"
ravi's brows creased as he looked between the two of them, "well when did you want to have this conversation?", pip leaned into the couch, not responding, "ok then, ravi, we have something we want to ask you."
pip could see the tension on ravi's face and could practically feel him itching to scratch the back of his head, "ask away", he cleared his throat and shifted into the couch.
crashing over my grave
"pip and i wanted to know if you'd be interested in having a relationship with us."
pip slipped further into the couch and fought the urge to bury her face in her hands. she couldn't bear to look at ravi.
"oh, i- what?"
"i think we could try having you as our boyfriend, if you're interested in that."
ravi was silent for a considerable moment, "like... dating both of you?", alec nodded, "and you'd be ok with that?"
"ravi, i'm the one who is suggesting it."
"how would that work? you guys are parents, wouldn't that... confuse hailey?"
"hailey thought dinosaurs were still alive until three days ago, i don't think that's going to be a problem", pip laughed despite her current state of embarrassment.
ravi laughed too, "you're serious about this?"
"yeah, you two deserve another chance to be happy; i could never deny pip of anything", pip and ravi looked to eachother and smiled, "go on, you can kiss."
they don't know how you've haunted me
pip looked to her husband, hesitating, before she pulled ravi to her and attached their lips. his mouth was just as soft as she remembered them, his touch just as gentle. kissing ravi didn't feel like as much of a betrayl as she thought it would be. the kiss was nothing but a rush of nostalgia all at once, reminding her of her first love. the kiss was gentle and loving, almost hesitant under the watchful gaze of alec. the reunion of two lovers.
pip pulled away when she felt alec's presence creeping closer to them. he set a hand on pips shoulder and leaned in to kiss her. ravi's watchful gaze burned into the side of her head while alec's hand slipped into her hair.
he kissed her sensually and with purpose, sewing his love into the shape of her lips. alec pulled away only to give ravi the same affection; ravi didn't hesitate to kiss him back and the sight of them turned her on. she tried to control her breathing but it was hard with the sight before her (but not as hard as ravi and alec).
"i need you both to stop, i'm too pregnant to be getting horny", she put one hand on each of their shoulders.
alec pulled away with a smile on his face, "there's other ways i can service you without sex."
pip rolled her eyes, "yeah, you can start by sitting down and turning on grey's anatomy."
her husband sighed, but relented, "yes ma'am."
alec obeyed her orders and ravi watched with a grin on his face that said he was trying to hold back laughter. rain pattered on the window as it began to fall, pip curled into her boyfriend and rested her feet on her husband, a hand laid on her swollen belly.
she was content to lay like that all night, with ravi's fingers rubbing soothing circles and alec rubbing her feet. with her eyes half closed, she heard little feet on the stairs and saw a small figure standing in front of her.
dried and fresh tears streamed on her chubby cheeks, glistening in the dimly lit room, "i had a n-nightmare", she choked.
alec pulled her into his lap and shushed her, pip reached over to hold her hand with her head in ravi's lap. her missing puzzle piece was returned to her and as pip laid on the couch with her family, she closed her eyes and smiled at the full feeling in her heart.
am i allowed to cry?