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Drabble 4: Peter's Perspective: Unconventional Love
From a young age, Peter understood one thing more than anything else. His parents had an unconventional life. Of course, when he was young, he didn’t understand why his mum was always leaving for weeks at a time or why they were sometimes all traveling to places together, but he was stuck with his grandparents all day.
As he got older though, of school age to be precise, he learned from classmates and teachers that most people's parents didn’t travel all of the time and that they weren’t models for high fashion. Of course, as a child, he did not understand what any of that meant, he just knew that he missed his mum whenever he had to leave.
Besides that, however, he also did understand that his parents, even though they often had to be separated from one another, were conventionally and stupidly in love.
Peter had memories from a young age—since he was able to first start remembering things—of little moments that his parents had together.
There was that time where, even though he was little, he could remember his dad building the new cot that was going to go in his new baby brother’s room whilst his mum watched and sorted clothes. He was too young to understand what they talked about but they looked at each other with such warmth and excitement that Peter knew it was love somehow.
When he was slightly older there was also that time where something had happened while he was playing with his cousin, Paisley, and all of the adults in the room—which had been his parents, and uncles Francis and Alistar—had gone very quiet for a long time. Again, he was too young to know at the time that his mum’s entire identity had been exposed, but even Paisley seemed to know that something bad had happened. But even as a young child, he had watched as his dad pulled his Opie into a hug and reassured him, with words that could not be heard to the rest of the room, that everything was going to be okay.
He also knew that when love came in the form of support that his dad wasn’t the only one doing the comforting. There had been a moment, when he was around two, that his dad had learned that he had more family. At first when his mum had explained this, Peter had been devastated! What do you mean his dad had another family? Apparently what his mum had meant was that his dada had grandparents and parents of his own that he hadn’t seen a long time. When he had nearly fallen asleep on the sofa during naptime the day before his dad left for America again, he had watched with one eye peeked open at the sight of his parents hugging and whispering in the kitchen. It had been his mum this time that reassured his dad that everything was going to go well and this was the next best step.
And he was right. Peter now had memories of his great grandma and grandpa feeding him and Ollie sweets, but he also had a memory of his great grandpa telling his dad something not good that almost put his mum to tears. But afterwards, the four of them had gone to the guest room and cuddled. Peter, only wanting his dad to be happy again, watched his parents share one of those special hugs again before they both scooped him up too.
There had also been the day that his nana, Elizabeth, had talked about for so long that even Peter, at the age of two, understood it was the most important day ever. And that was when his entire family, on both sides and all of his parents’ friends went to Italy and had a pretty ceremony where he and his cousins got to throw flowers everywhere. That had been the highlight of his day then, but he did also recall how his parents had looked at each other that day, standing up near the officiant dressed to the nines with the mediterranean sea as their background. But despite all of the beautiful flowers and water around them, his mum and dad had only looked at each other before sharing a passionate kiss.
Even though it was such a momentous occasion in Peter’s eyes, those lovely moments between his parents never seemed to fade away. There had been many mornings that followed that Peter would escape from his room down the hallway and race to his parents’ room. There he climbed into bed and into his mum’s arms for snuggles and seeing that Peter had joined them, his dad would wrap both of them into his hold with a beaming smile on his face until they all had to get up again.
Mornings like that happened from time to time and when his little brother, Ollie, got older Peter made sure to take him for cuddles too, so that it was all four of them.
But there were also evenings that Peter and Ollie witnessed from time to time of his parent’s quietly giggling with one another in the living room whilst a film played on the television. It was obvious to Peter, who was six now, that they weren’t even watching their movie—such a waste of tv time, if you asked him—but instead they were having more fun talking and keeping their attention on one another, until his mum would lay his head down on his dad’s shoulder and his dad would wrap an arm around his mum.
Things changed a bit after that though, not between his parents as they were ecstatic for some reason and hung off of each other constantly—but in the house in general. His parents had explained to him and Ollie that in a little while, they would get two new siblings. Ollie, being only four, didn’t particularly care and was a bit confused as to what that even meant, but Peter was a bit wary at first. Of course he loved having Ollie around as ever since his mum and dad brought Ollie home, he’s had a playmate ever since, but now there were going to be two new playmates and that seemed like a lot.
Despite that though, his parents had never looked more in love and that made the overwhelming idea of two new siblings just that much easier to come to terms with. Though Peter supposes that in those quiet evenings, a few months later, when he woke up in the night to find his mum or dad because he had a bad dream or wanted some water and saw them locked together—swaying in a slow little dance in the kitchen or his dad hugging his mum from behind with his hands on his round tummy—that everything was even easier to understand.
When the twins—Jack and Liam—actually arrived, however, it was the first time that Peter had seen his parents fight. It hadn’t been like the fights on tv or the ones between his mum and uncles, but it was more curt sentences and stressed requests that made Peter question if his parents really did mean it when they said ‘I love you’ to one another at the end of the day.
As he got older though, he came to understand that in relationships, that was known as something called a ‘rough patch’ and it was less of anger and hatred toward one another and more stress and sleep deprivation that caused them to say mean things to one another as opposed to saying what they actually meant. So, in Peter’s eyes, the love never changed or faded and everyone of those annoyed jabs at one another just meant that their relationship got stronger.
At ten years old, Peter is more than aware of the fact that his parents are actually goofballs and are no better than him and his three younger brothers. Peter, Ollie, Jack, and Liam were all old enough now to know that their mum and dad showed their love to each other and their children in various different ways, shapes, and forms. One of those ways being petty fights and competitive endeavors in the grocery store of all places.
There had been so many moments of his dad throwing something silly into the cart, such as a soap dispenser that was shaped like a duck, and his mum had just rolled his eyes and tried to throw the soap dispenser back at his dad. Which resulted in bickering about how the duck could have broken and they would have had to pay for it anyway, but if Arthur didn’t want the duck soap dispenser then he shouldn’t have thrown it, but it hadn’t broken which meant that Alfred just had to put it back on the shelf. Nothing useful ever resulted from this bickering, but it always ended up with his parents’ bursting into laughter and smacking each other in the arm playfully.
There were also moments where Peter thought that his parents could really try out being mature for once—like he was!
In their living room, his mum and dad were now standing face to face with one another, both wearing blankets tied around their necks as capes, courtesy of Jack and Ollie whilst his mum held an empty paper towel tube as a sword and his dad held the lid of a pan as a shield and were seemingly trapped in a duel. Liam, the King of this knighting ceremony it would seem, was calling off the shots, whilst Peter’s other siblings giggled and watched as their parents pretended to fight one another.
Ultimately, neither of his parents won and Peter and his siblings ran away when the two knights—aka his gross parents—started giving each other kisses instead.
Now sixteen, Peter decided that it was about time he rebelled from the norm. A day he knew that his parents had been waiting for. He had long since been exposed to the internet, school social circles, and all of his relatives and he decided that it was about time that he did something crazy.
“Hey, Opie, can I have some water?” He knew he was a genius, throwing his parent for a loop like this.
His mum, or now Opie again, stared at him for a second before chuckling with a bewildered look on his face, “Yes, I suppose so, though you are plenty old enough to get it yourself.”
His Opie stood up from his place at the kitchen island, where he had been sitting with a laptop working on the next Kirkland/Bonnefoy Spring/Summer collection with Uncle Francis. Peter would usually be very interested in what his mum had opened and was planning—as apparently having Arthur Kirkland as your parent was a pretty big deal in his school and in life—but this time he was more ticked off that his parent hadn’t reacted much at all to the new name.
“Thanks, Opie.” Peter tried again as Arthur set the glass down in front of him and went to sit back down again.
Arthur chuckled, “Trying that name out again, are you?”
Finally! Acknowledgement!
“Yup!” Peter beamed, “Are you gonna scold me for it?”
Arthur raised an eyebrow, “Is that what you want me to do? That’s hardly grounds for a scolding, darling.”
Damn! He really thought that this was the start of his rebellious streak. His parents had always joked with one another that it was going to happen sooner or later.
“Well, I thought that you wouldn’t like it since it sounds too much like when dad calls you ‘Artie,’ and nana told me that I used to call you that when I was little.” Peter explained, sipping his glass of water in annoyance.
Arthur genuinely laughed then, “Yes, I do recall that you called me that for a while, though it didn’t last long, I suppose nana got to you as she always referred to me as your mum.”
“Do you prefer mum?” Peter asked next, having not known this before.
“Not particularly.” Arthur answered honestly, “Your dad and I went back and forth over who was going to get to be called dad, but ultimately you called him dad first and me ‘Opie.’ Which, at first, I didn’t love, but when you stopped and started calling me mum I missed it as it was my own little unique name that you gave me.”
Peter, having gone into this conversation in hopes of starting his teenage rebellion, had no idea that it would become so wholesome, he smiled, “So you wouldn’t mind if I kept calling you that instead?”
Arthur smiled and shook his head, “Not at all, I’ve quite missed it. Though I can’t guarantee that your brothers are going to understand it.”
“Really? They never called you Opie? Not even Ollie?”
Arthur shook his head, “No, you had long since started calling me mum by the time Ollie learned how to speak.”
Peter smiled then, “Then I’ll keep calling you Opie and confuse the hell out of them.”
“Language, Peter.” Arthur warned with a smile.
“I only said ‘hell’ that’s not bad at all! Plus, thanks to you, dad and Uncle Seamus I know all of the swear words by now anyway!” Peter protested.
“Doesn’t mean you should repeat them!” Alfred chimed in coming into the kitchen with grocery bags in his hands.
“Yes, what he said.” Arthur chuckled, leaning up a bit as Alfred leaned down to press a chaste kiss to his lips as the alpha set the groceries down on the countertop.
Peter rolled his eyes, “But I’m almost technically an adult, I think I should be allowed to swear. I mean I swear when I’m not around you guys all of the time!”
“I don’t doubt that for a second, you’re our child after all, but just don’t swear when your brothers are around, because I do not need another call from your school telling us we have another swearing six year old.” Arthur chuckled, hearing a roaring laughter from Alfred as well. Peter couldn’t help but giggle at that too.
“But Jack is ten now, not six, he would know better.” Peter tried.
“Would he?” Arthur looked over at him incredulously. Peter thought to the louder of his two twin brothers, fondly.
“Nevermind, you’re right.” Peter pouted, but then perked up again, “But when they’re all not around I can totally swear right?”
Alfred and Arthur looked at one another.
“Is this what they meant by ‘sometimes parenting means making hard decisions’?” Alfred asked.
“Yes, I’m sure that statement is reserved for this exact situation.” Arthur confirmed, then looked at Peter again and then back to Alfred.
Peter watched as his parents burst into laughter.
“Oh, all right! As long as we’re around you can swear, but don’t you dare swear in school or around the rest of the family, we don’t need them to know we’re terrible parents.” Arthur laughed, earning a beaming smile from his oldest son.
“You’re not terrible at all, you guys are the fucking best!” Peter grinned, testing out his newfound ability.
Alfred and Arthur burst into laughter and Alfred came around the kitchen island to pull Peter into a hug and ruffle his feathery blonde hair that he definitely inherited directly from his Opie.
In the end, Peter did not achieve his exact goals in his plot to try some teenage rebellion, but he got something much better in the process. It also made him realize that maybe he didn’t have to rebel, since his parents were already just cool as it was.
Speaking of cool. Peter knew that when his school friends and peers in general or online talked about their parents, that they often did not describe their own parents as cool. Most of the time, people his age would say their own parents were too strict or nagging or didn’t do anything fun.
Peter, however, could not relate to the sentiment as, as soon as they had reached summer break, the Kirkland-Jones’ were off to the United States. Of course, it wasn’t just for fun and games, as his Opie often had to work and wherever his Opie went, so did his dad. Peter liked to think of them as a package deal and although his Opie didn’t walk runways anymore, he did run an entire fashion house and occasionally still had a photoshoot here and there, Alfred always went with as a bodyguard.
Peter, as a teenager, was well aware now how his parents had met and the story of how they got together. He had heard it from hundreds of perspectives by now, but he always loved the way his parents themselves told it.
Regardless, his parents’ careers meant that he often found himself traveling alongside the two of them on summer breaks along with the rest of his siblings, and right now they were in New York before they took off to New Jersey to visit his great aunt and uncle.
So while most of the day had been his Opie in meetings and not doing very exciting things, it meant that his dad had taken him and the rest of his siblings on an excursion through New York.
His dad had given him, Ollie, Jack, and Liam the ‘All-American-Tour’ a million times by now and he loved to ramble on and talk about how he spent the majority of his youth in New York and how he and Arthur still loved to visit even though England was home. Which meant that for the millionth time, they were sitting in central park eating hot dogs and watching people play with actual dogs.
“You know when you were barely a year old we tried to teach you to walk here?”
Peter turned his head to look at his dad, after all these years, the American man still looked as young as ever with not a spot of gray in his hair, though Peter did suppose that he was barely forty, maybe he had some time before that.
“You did?” Peter questioned, wiping his hands on a napkin before handing it off to Ollie to do the same.
“Yeahp! You were so small and cute, but you always got grass stains on your pants.” Alfred laughed then stopped and paused for a moment, “That’s so crazy actually, I was barely twenty-five, which means you’re closer to the age I was then, than I am now.”
“Weird.” Ollie squinted, making Alfred laugh, “Do you have any stories of me when I was little?”
“Let’s see…” Alfred hummed, then laughed, “Oh yeah, you and Peter went with us to pick out our wedding rings, but you refused to ride in the stroller so Arthur and I were forced to carry you all around the city. That was the only way you’d both fall asleep too, if you were in your mom’s arms.”
Ollie smiled, as Alfred took the napkin from him and placed it into the paper bag that their food had some in to throw away later. He then ruffled Ollie’s hair and smiled.
“What about us?” Jack asked, curiously, beaming.
“That’s easy! I’m sure even Peter and Ollie remember it, you both pulled the fire alarm in Aunt Alice and Aunt Ameila’s apartment building while playing hide and seek when nobody was looking and we all had to evacuate the building.” Alfred laughed, “I thought it was hilarious, but the fire department did not agree with me.”
Alfred and the four boys shared a laugh then, only to be interrupted by another presence.
“What are you all giggling about?” Arthur asked, joining them with a smile as he took a seat next to Alfred.
Alfred beamed at him and wrapped an arm around his waist, “That time that Jack and Liam pulled the fire alarm in Alice and Amelia’s apartment.”
“Oh god, that was mortifying.” Arthur reminisced, though there was a hint of a smile on his face too.
“I also told them about the time when we picked out our wedding rings at the place on fifth ave, and when we tried to teach Peter how to walk in this very part of the park.” Alfred caught him up.
Arthur hummed, “Yes, we did, didn’t we?”
Arthur looked around and then at Peter, “That was certainly a long time ago now. It’s hard to believe that it went so fast.”
“I mean, it’s going pretty slow for me.” Peter said sarcastically.
“That’s because you’re a teenager and everything sucks for you.” Alfred joked, laying down in the grass with one arm behind his head and the tracing patterns onto Arthur’s waist. His parents shared a laugh, which made their children giggle as well.
“It’s quite interesting how many little things we have memories of here now.” Arthur smiled.
“Not just here. Remember, Rome?” Alfred asked, happily still laying on the ground in the sun.
“What happened in Rome?” Jack asked.
“Also was that before or after Peter? Sometimes we can’t really tell with your stories.” Ollie chimed in.
“After.” Arthur laughed, “Quite literally a month after he had been born, I immediately went into fashion week and he was left with Uncle Seamus and Aunt Tori. Of course though, with Seamus nothing is ever normal, and it was mostly just you and Victoria. Seamus managed to join us in one of the nightclubs in Rome—”
“What, Artie, not the nightclub! We have kids here!” Alfred sat up a bit and pinched Arthur’s hip.
“I’m not going to go into detail, you oaf!” Arthur protested, pinching Alfred in the chest.
“Regardless, Uncle Seamus started a dance battle and proceeded to end up at a party with—”
“Valentino, yeah we know.” Peter finished.
“You know?”
“Yeah, he tells everyone this same story at Christmas every year.” Ollie laughed.
“He really does.” Alfred confirmed.
“Yes, I suppose he does.” Arthur laughed,
“Tuscany was fun though, and Rome a year earlier.” Alfred started instead.
“What happened a year earlier?” Peter asked.
“Yes, what happened a year earlier?” Arthur questioned.
“Well first of all, ouch Artie, you should know this.” Alfred pouted, “I proposed in Tuscany—”
“I know that, but I thought this was going somewhere else.”
“Oh, well, it is! While I was proposing, Uncle Francis was out exploring Tuscan wine country and by the time we all met up again he was so hungover that he couldn’t even tell that Arthur was wearing an engagement ring.”
The kids laughed at that as drunk Francis was yet another fun facet of Kirkland Christmases.
“And in Rome, I got pulled into doing a cover shoot for Vogue with Arthur and they put a bunch of body oil all over me and told me I was the most beautiful guy they’d ever—”
“That absolutely did not tell you that.”
“Not but I did make the centerfold spread with my oily abs.” Alfred laughed, making Arthur roll his eyes in exasperation.
“You’re lying, you don’t have abs, dad!” Liam laughed.
Alfred straightened up in protest, “Well, no! But I did, I swear! I was hot stuff, I’ll have you know!”
Arthur was positively in fits of laughter then, “You sound like my dad now.”
Alfred’s face dropped, “Oh my god, I do! Does this mean you’re mom won’t find me hot anymore either?”
Arthur burst into laughter, “I would certainly hope she never did!”
Alfred laughed back, “I’m kidding, very kidding. But that does remind me of that t-shirt that Seamus got for Alistar with the Queen’s face on it.”
Arthur rolled his eyes, “Right, yes, that.”
“Righttttttt, and did nana thinking you were hot come before or after my birth, because I definitely think I would have remembered that.” Peter chimed in.
“Before, that was when your cousin David was still a baby. Alfred had been learning how to feed a baby so that we could prepare for you and David spit up all over him. It was quite funny, but to add insult to injury the only shirt choices available were either a tight blue shirt or one with the late Queen’s face on it.” Arthur explained.
“You should have gone with the shirt with the queen's face on it. I did not need to have the image of nana thinking you were hot put into my brain.” Peter shuttered.
“That was simply a running joke then, we’re not serious, love.” Arthur smiled, adjusting Peter’s shirt collar with a fond look on his face.
“Good.” Peter laughed.
Alfred laughed and laid back down on the grass, “Hey Artie?”
“Yes, Alf?” Arthur questioned, watching as Liam and Jack followed Alfred’s lead and laid down on the grass a little ways away.
“Do you have a favorite memory from back then?”
Peter watched as his Opie looked down at his dad, he seemed thought for a moment, genuinely going through things in his head.
“There are plenty.” Arthur answered.
“Yeah, but what’s one that sticks out?”
“Madrid.” Arthur answered, “That was the first place we ever got to know each other. We hadn’t known each other long when you decided to get me away from all of the cameras and schedules just so that I could have a nice time.”
“Yeah, that was nice. I think I started falling in love that night.” Alfred chuckled softly, as if it was just a private conversation between the two of them, though Peter was still close enough to catch every word.
“I suppose LA will always be special as well.” Arthur continued.
“Yeah, I can’t believe that was like, seventeen years ago already.” Alfred sighed, a dreamy smile on his face, “Man, if you would have told me back then that I would have been happily married to you for like fifteen of those years, had three more kids, and found my birth family, I think I would have had an aneurysm.”
Arthur laughed and laid back with Alfred, “Me too.” He laughed.
Peter watched as his parents laughed with one another with a fond smile, knowing that out of all of the things that were slightly unconventional about their love, their family, and their choices, that something about their gentle, bright, and quiet love was anything but.