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Leon stared at the surprisingly thin stack of papers laid out on his beat up dining table like they had all the answers to his ever growing problems.
They didn't.
Not exactly at least.
For one very specific and not at all major or life altering problem, they could help.
"You're a fucking moron, Kennedy." Leon sighed to himself, rubbing his hand down his face and covering his eyes as he rocked backwards in his chair- his head titling up towards the ceiling.
Why couldn't he have just asked? Like a normal person would do? Instead of wordlessly walking into his nearest court house and just-
Leon sighed again and threw himself out of his chair, marching out of his kitchen and away from the ill-advised, yet still tempting, stapled stake of papers.
He should just call Grace, have a conversation with her about it, get her input on the whole thing.
But what if she hates it? What if it ruins the stability they've found with each other?
What if-
What if he couldn't just stop by for a movie night or to surprise them with breakfast anymore?
Leon paced his living room as he waged a war in his own head.
Technically he was already her emergency contact, it wouldn't be too far of a push right?
Grace wouldn't view it negatively, he KNOWS she wouldn't.
I mean, he could probably just hand her the papers and she would just sign them- no problem!
No awkward 'Hey I want to not just be your meteorical dad but your legal one too, and no this isn't me trying to replace you mom. I just love you like a daughter.' talk.
Leon paused his pacing, looking back at the papers that still laid innocently on the table.
That- wasn't a bad idea actually.
×××
It was a terrible idea.
Leon was nearly sweating bullets as he opened the front door to Grace's apartment, the papers tucked under his leather jacket.
This was such a bad idea!
Grace peaked around the corner, her hair in a loose ponytail and bangs curling around her face, and beamed at him, "Morning! Emily is determined to make pancakes." She grimaced at him.
Leon relaxed and smiled, chuckling at her disgruntled look, "Looks like you could use some backup." He joked.
Grace nodded quickly, mouthing a 'Thank you' before she spun around back into the kitchen.
The sound of something metal falling to the floor shortly followed her disappearance, Emily muttering a soft apology.
Leon quickly slipped his shoes off at the door and walked into the kitchen. It wasn't too bad of a mess, aside from the batter on the floor where a fork had fallen- which Grace was already rinsing off in the sink -and a light dusting of flour on the counter, the kitchen was clean.
"Coffee?" Leon offered, smoothly slipping the papers out of his coat and sliding them onto the little round table Grace had to eat on face down as he passed it.
He felt a bit better now that he wasn't holding the incriminating documents.
Grace had moved on to the cutting board, dicing up some apples to put in the pancakes, she looked up at him and smiled appreciatively, "Please, I haven't had the chance to make any yet." She sighed tiredly.
Leon hummed with a soft smile as he stepped up next to Emily, who stood on a little turtle shaped stool Grace had gotten for her. "Hi Leon." Emily didn't look up from her mixing bowl, her brows furrowed as she diligently mixed the batter together- looks like it already had some fruit in it, and was that bacon bits?
"Morning Emily, how was school yesterday?" Leon asked as he started making the coffee. She's been going for almost a month now, a bit later than the other kids but she seems to be adjusting well- it probably helps that she's going to the same school as Rosemary Winters, a girl Chris had apparently started looking after.
Emily grinned, "Good. Rose punched Brett in the face during lunch, Mrs. Anderson got upset but he totally deserved it."
Leon could see Grace shaking her head as she scooped up the bits of apple and dumped them into the batter. He chuckled and punched a few buttons before the coffee machine beeped to signal it was making the coffee, "And why's that?" He asked her.
Emily looked up at him with her nose scrunched up, "It's Brett, why wouldn't he deserve it?" She huffed, going back to her mixing.
Leon blinked at his granddaughter before he looked at Grace for further information. She offered a sheepish smile, "He called Rose a 'Glow bug freak' and Em a 'Small Yeti'."
The two adults both stared at each other, trying not to laugh. Children.
"That's-" Leon cleared his throat when he almost broke his composer, "That's really mean of him." He nodded with a deadly serious face.
Grace hummed and covered her mouth when she also almost started laughing, "It is." She squeaked out.
Emily looked between them with a confused face before she shrugged and went back to cooking. "That's still not a good excuse to hit someone Em." Grace got ahold of her close outburst, pinning the girl with as stern of a look as she could.
Emily nodded, "I know, that's why I didn't hit him." She smiled innocently up at Grace. Leon couldn't help it, he chuckled into his shoulder as he looked away from the two- trying to keep it together because this really should be a learning experience for Emily.
...but it was so funny.
They finished up cook breakfast and started playing their food when the adoption papers came into topic.
Grace was sitting down with her full plate, Emily at the head of the table and Leon across from her, when she noticed the papers. "What's this?" She asked, grabbing them before Leon could stop her- not that he planned to.
Leon grabbed his cup of coffee so he wouldn't have to see her expression as she flipped them over and read them, "Just some paperwork I was hoping you'd fill out." He swallowed thickly, his nerves making the coffee he gulped down slosh around uncomfortably.
Grace skimmed them, taking a sip of her own coffee. Leon looked up in alarm when she started choking, he reached over and patted her back hard until she stopped.
"S-s-sorry. Um, yeah. I-i can uh, yes. Okay." Grace nodded quickly, her face bright red as she got back out of her seat and went to the small dresser where she kept her extra pens.
Leon felt his face split into a wide smile, "Really?" He asked just to be sure. Grace walked back over and nodded her head, "A-as long as you are. I mean- I am an adult so uh. Yeah, if you are." She held her hand over where she needed to sign, pen at the ready, waiting for his confirmation that he wanted this.
"I-" Leon sighed and smiled at her, "They're really just for legal purposes." He shrugged.
Grace's eyes watered and she nodded again, she was starting to look a bit like a bobblehead, "Okay." Grace beamed at him, even as tears dripped down her chin. Leon felt like he was suddenly on top of the world as he watched her sign the adoption papers and slide them back over to him.
He hadn't realized he was also crying a bit until a wet drop blotched the corner of the page. Leon whipped his face and tucked the papers safely back into his jacket. "Okay." He sighed.
"Does this mean I can call Leon Grandpa now?" Emily asked suddenly.
The father and daughter laughed brightly at that. "Yes, if he's okay with it." Grace chuckled, reaching over and ruffling her daughters hair.
Emily whined and swatted at her hand, Leon immediately took the chance and replaced Grace's hand. "Grandpa!" Emily cried as she shoved at his hand next.
Leon laughed when the kid reached over to ruffle his hair back.
They continued their breakfast on a good note, joking and catching up on anything they could think of while they ate.
Eventually Leon was leaving, he had promised Sherry he'd visit today. Grace was walking him out, Emily having ran off to call Rose so they could play Roblox together.
"Still planning to come over this weekend? Emily has been extremely excited about watching the Shrek movies with you and Rose." Grace chuckled.
Leon snorted, neither him or Emily have seen any of the Shrek movies, he is looking forward to it too. "Yea, I'll be there. Still want me to bring chips?" He asked.
Grace nodded, "Yeah, I've got dinner covered and Chris is bringing soda." Leon could see the cogs turning in her head as she planned out anything else they would need.
"Got it. I better go, Sherry might actually bite my head off if I'm late." Leon sighed dramatically.
Grace snorted and crossed her arms, "Alright, bye dad." She smiled at him.
Leon stared at her, his eyes getting watery again. He yanked her into a hug before he could stop himself, squeezing her tightly as his emotions swirled around too fast for him to label them properly. Grace hugged him back just as tightly, "Thank you." She breathed into his shoulder.
And, yup, that did it. Leon was actually crying again as he held his second daughter- and she was ACTUALLY his daughter. Like legally! Well, soon she'll legally be his daughter.
Not that it much matter, she was his kid for the moment he handed her Requiem back in the Care Center.
With more effort than Leon would normally need, he pulled out of the hug and backed up to the door. "Bye kiddo. I'll let you know how the paperwork goes." He said a bit thickly; fuck he needed to pull it together.
Grace smiled, "Sounds great!" Leon smiled back and waved as he left the apartment, his hand coming to rest over the papers under his jacket as he walked down the hallway towards the exit.
Maybe if he was quick he could get these turned in before his visit with Sherry in an hour.