MHA #2 | Tuesday Afternoon

[defenderofdesmoines]

Someone around here had been neglecting her plants.

They were alive still, of course; not only had Annie not been so distracted for the last month as to not kill her plants, but she also knew Diego watered them when he remembered, too. But Annie had noticed earlier that they were a little dusty, and more than a few were still clinging to some dead leaves or a withered flower, and they were -- neglected. It was the only word.

Annie even found a string of lights wound through one -- along with a knife, but there were knives in most of these pots -- leftover from the Christmas rager. Damn. She'd been kinda checked out on this kind of thing for awhile, huh?

And while she was working on this, a text message came in to confirm an appointment she'd set up a long time ago, way back before Wanda had ever come asking her for help, and Annie stopped with her little leaf trimmers and read it.

...and then stayed stopped, to think about it, before ultimately setting her phone aside and deciding that needed to be a discussion, and resumed tending to her nearly-self-uprooted aloe while humming to herself.

[for the husband! contents of conversation NFB, please!]

Comments

[knife_bender]

"It's gonna be a nightmare," he said fondly, wrapping one of his arms around her waist. "Maybe we hire someone to clean for us the first couple months with the kid...s."

It was hard not to just assume things there.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"That's a good idea. And it's not like we don't have a lot of help available as it is," Annie noted, leaning against him. "Though on that note -- I'd rather not tell your siblings we're...trying, if that's okay."

Partly because of the pressure that she was sure she'd feel, but also because she didn't want to force them to think about their brother and his wife having all kinds of sex. That was what that meant, when you told people that.

[knife_bender]

"More than okay," Diego said. "We generally like to pretend we don't have sex."

Unless you hooked up with someone with cool powers. That's different. That's...research.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie was going to remember that you said that, Diego.

"Thank you," Annie told him with a giggle, leaning in for another kiss. "And in turn, I won't tell my mom until we've got, like, an ultrasound."

Annie could hold her off for awhile, but there was no doubt that Donna was about to be way more up in their business than she had been prior to now.

[knife_bender]

"Oh you wouldn't be doing that just for my benefit." It would quite possibly even more annoying for you, Annie.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Almost definitely.

"Fair point," Annie acknowledged, trailing her fingertips along Diego's neck. "At least she's probably all we'll have to deal with, from my side of things? Though we'll have to find a really discreet hospital."

[knife_bender]

"For sure," he said, leaning into her touch. "I don't think my siblings would be all that interested, to be honest. You've met them. They care about us, but they're all kind of involved in their own stuff, you know?"

Then it occurred to him, "I've never even met my niece."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"That's kind of sad," Annie decided, frowning a little bit. But he did make a very good point there, and it was exactly the kind of reassurance Annie needed right now. "Do you think if Claire existed in this timeline, that'd be different?"

It mostly seemed like a product of not being in contact with Allison for Claire's entire life, and that was different, now.

[knife_bender]

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I never really met 'mom' Allison, so I'm not sure if she would be all into family stuff or not."

Allison right now seemed content on being alone and snapping at everybody.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Content might be a strong word?

"I mean, she's still mom Allison," Annie pointed out, more than a little aware of these kinds of things after the last month. "But I get what you mean. And that's a good point -- I'm still so used to being like, a public commodity. It's nice that this just gets to be...ours."

At least, for as long as Annie's little frame might allow for discretion.

[knife_bender]

"Yeah," he said, nuzzling against her neck. "I didn't think about that. Just you and me, building our little family."

If you think he's gross now, just wait until you were actually pregnant, Annie.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Um, she loved his grossness.

"Oh, I love that," Annie said softly, her breath actually catching a little. Family was gonna hit her, in this context, the same way Mom had. "Our little family. I can't wait. You're going to be such a good dad."

She just had a feeling. No evidence whatsoever to back it up, save for the couple of times she'd been four years old for a weekend and he hadn't allowed her to die.

[knife_bender]

"I hope so," Diego said. "Just do the opposite of whatever my dad did, right? Easy."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"And I'll just do the opposite of what my mom did, for the most part." Annie's mom still had some redeeming qualities, like affectionately referring to her adult daughter as 'Jellybean' and actually telling her she loved her on occasion, so she got that caveat. "So many worse, dumber people than us have been parents. We'll be great at it."

At the very least, they were both more than committed to trying their best for these kids (this kid?), and that probably counted for a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.