Chapter Text
The night started off calm, as he swiftly wiped off tables and reset the tables with the appropriate amount of napkins and sugars that was required to assure his customers would indeed come back.
Every once and while he would look outside at the sight of the slowly falling snow and realize how much older he had truly gotten or at least how old he’s felt he’s gotten. His arms were already growing tired along with his back that was slowly starting to ache with the amount of running around he had did throughout the day.
He really needed to hire some more employees.
Preferably ones that actually wanted to work instead of the lazy teens who preferred scrolling through their social media pages than restocking the stirrers on the tables and counters.
He sighed looking at his bakeries display case and made a mental note to bake some fresh muffins and put the ones on current display on discount, apparently no one likes bran muffins, even though he had added his own special tweak to it to make it a little be more ceremonious.
He was so caught up in what to bake next to put up on display he almost didn’t hear the bell indicating someone had came in.
“We’re closed.” He sighed rolling his eyes at the fact that he once again forgotten to lock the door.
“Then you should really learn how to close your doors Galpin.” The voice replied swiftly causing him to immediately freeze in his tracks.
He hadn’t heard that voice in what seemed like forever.
But it pierced his heart all the same.
He found himself gripping the towel he held in his hand tighter as his body refused to turn around to see the woman that even after all these years, weighed on his mind greatly.
“Why? Because there’s some real sick people out there?” He found himself saying before he could even process what his next move should be.
“Good to see your memory is still in tact.” Her voice sounded almost relieved, not condescending in the way he had expected.
Silence enveloped the room for a split second as he still refused to turn around and see the woman that now for some reason had to decided to seek him out after all of these years.
Until a sound tore though the room like a runaway freight train.
The sound of what was undeniably a baby crying.
Tyler had never turned around so fast in his entire life.
And what met him was a sight he never thought he would’ve seen.
There stood Wednesday Addams in all of her 5’3, grim reaper barbie glory holding a baby who couldn’t be more than a few weeks old wrapped in a black blanket. His eyes was so focused on the baby he almost didn’t notice the black tears that were stained upon Wednesday’s face until he came a bit closer towards her.
“Wednesday..what’s going on?” He said warily, a incredibly bad feeling suddenly shooting through his veins faster than any drug he had ever been given.
Her lips pursed into a tight thin line as she looked between the baby and him.
“Tyler..” Her voice shook with the type of uncertainty and overall tiredness he didn’t even know she possessed.
Until now.
He immediately felt himself shaking his head not knowing anything about the situation, but every fiber in his body seemed to know exactly where this conversation was headed and he didn’t know of his heart or stomach could tolerate it.
He didn’t know if his heart ached at the sight of Wednesday’s black tear stained face, the crying baby she held in her arms, or if his stomach was nauseous because something in him knew, that his life was about to take a drastic turn.
As it always did when Wednesday Addams was involved.
“Wednesday..what is going on?” He repeated his eyes searching through hers almost frantically.
The uncertainty flickered on and off in her eyes until she straightened her posture and bounced the little bundle in her arms a little bit to calm it down.
And then she said the words that shattered every previous perception he once held upon her.
“I need your help.”
-
Tyler brings a cup of black coffee to the table as Wednesday places the baby into the carrier she had fetched from her car and places the baby next to her to her.
She takes the coffee immediately and sips it as Tyler sits down across from her, finally having a chance to observe her more closely.
Dark circles were placed under her eyes and he knew that had nothing to do with the black tears that had previously lined her porcelain like face.
Her hair was in a messy one sided braid a few untamed strays framed her face.
Overall she looked exhausted.
And he had a feeling the little bundle next to her was the culprit.
“Tolerable still?” He asked her suddenly catching her slightly off guard, something very few people used to be able to do.
She looked at him oddly until she finally realized her was referring to the coffee and she sat it back down on the coaster shooting him a nonchalant look.
“Glad to see not all of you has changed.” Was all she said as she looked around the cafe.
The faintest smirk almost crossed her face until she stilled remembering why she was here in the first place and immediately drew a deep breath in while intertwining her hands to rest formally, like this was the beginning of a transactional deal between two business partners.
“Wednesday, what are you doing here, and who’s baby is this?” He immediately asked before she could even get a word out.
His patience had completely thinned over the lingering bad feeling that continued to flow through him.
She seemed to wince at the questions only for a second before straightening her posture once again and meeting his eyes directly for the first time since she had arrived.
“She doesn’t have a name yet, and I need you to take her.” She said swiftly and bluntly and completely unapologetically.
But there it was.
The vindication that he had every right to feel uneasy about her sudden appearance.
He felt the uncertainty wash out of his system only to be replaced by something stronger.
Anger and disbelief.
“Wednesday, no one has seen you in 10 years.” He felt his voice raise but he immediately lowered it when he saw the baby starting to stir next to her.
“That’s the way I wanted it.” She curtly said, but he could tell there was a lot she wasn’t saying.
He almost parroted the same word he asked her all those years ago when the only thing that stood between him and death was her and a axe. But he choked it down and shook his head in disbelief of the audacity that Wednesday Addams had.
He had a million questions in his mind, but at the moment only one seemed important.
“Is she yours?” He asked softly not sure if he really wanted the answer, because that would truly mean she had cut all ties from the past and chose to have forgotten everything.
She didn’t have to answer because he already knew the truth, the necklace she wore holding a ring that spoke louder than anything she could’ve possibly said.
“Where’s the father?” Tyler reluctantly asked.
“Deceased.” She breathed out her face contorting into something too real, almost painful, only for a split second until she immediately replaced it with her default unreadable expression.
He felt his heart clench at the sight.
“Wednesday I’m-”
“No..it’s fine, because she’s going to stay with you.” She said cutting him off.
He shook his head again, “Wednesday, I don’t know anything about kids, especially babies, what’s going on?” He asked her searching her again for any kind of explanation as to why any of this was happening.
Wednesday didn’t know if it was the exhaustion of the past few weeks she had experienced, the guilt of everything raining down on her harder than anything she had every experienced, or the way Tyler’s eyes held so many questions that she knew he was refusing to ask, but she felt herself snap as her hand hit the table and break a plate next to her, immediately causing her hand to start gushing out blood.
“Tyler I don’t have time for this, just please take the kid!” She barked out her voice cracking in the process.
Tyler was immediately stunned before quickly getting up and grabbing the first aid kit as the baby next to her began wailing.
Tyler quickly rushed back over to her and began working on sterilizing and bandaging her hand as he could feel her shaking. He didn’t know if it was from anger, stress, or fear, but it unsettled him all the same.
This was not the same Wednesday Addams he knew 10 years ago.
This was a concerned, broken, and tired mom that looks like she hadn’t slept in weeks.
He continued to bandage her in silence until he finished and Wednesday gave the baby a pacifier to quiet her down.
He rejoined her across the table and the two of them just sat there for a minute before he sighed and asked a question he was sure to regret.
“How long do you need me to watch her?” His voice low.
The question lingered through the air stronger than any of the pastries he had baked that day.
Until she softly said.
“For the foreseeable future.” She said.
He almost laughed before he realized she was completely serious. “Wednesday you literally see the future, how long is that?” He asked his tone short and weary.
“Look.” She said curtly, “All I know if as of now, she’s not an Addams.” She said.
“And why is that, wouldn’t your parents love to see their grandc-”
“She’s not an Addams, end of story.” Her tone ripped through the air like a bullet, sharp and precise.
He let it sit, until he looked at her curiously, “Then who is she?”
“She’s a Galpin, and whatever you decide to name her.”
“You’re really asking me to adopt her?” His brain could not process what he was hearing.
“Not asking, telling.” She said her voice displaying that same conviction that had gotten them into so much shit throughout the years.
“You are going to adopt this girl, protect this girl, raise this girl, and help this girl until I say otherwise.” She established her tone leaving no room for argument.
But Tyler was no longer a teenager, and he refused to sit back and let anyone else tell him what to do, not when he had been free of that for 10 years now.
“And why the hell is that?” He asked challenging her.
“Because..” She said softly. “You owe me, remember?”
And there it was.
Wednesday Addams had come to collect, he knew it was only a matter of time, but he had no idea it would be like this.
“Wednesday this is low even for you.” He spat.
He could see something akin to agreeance flash in her eyes for the briefest second but she completely shook it off and continued.
“Maybe so but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s true and that you still need me as well.” She said coolly.
“Wow So now you’re resorting to emotional blackmail?” He dryly laughed.
“Nothing emotional about it, it’s just blackmail.” Wednesday argued.
He almost laughed.
Almost.
The baby’s pacifier suddenly popped out and her cries rang through the cafe once again, breaking whatever tension was festering around them.
Wednesday picked up the baby carefully before handing her over to him.
“Congratulations Galpin, your a dad.” He saw a small smirk crossed her face before he looked down at the little bundle.
“She looks just like you.” Tyler noticed, only darker in complexion the features stayed the same.
“Don’t worry, she’s nothing like me, she’s a dove.” Wednesday clarified.
He looked at her suspiciously but said nothing as he rocked the little bundle carefully, soon the baby eyes opened staring directly into his and he felt his heart clench again.
And that’s when he knew for certain that this little girl, and Wednesday was going to be the death of him.
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