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[Open - Gathering - Baby Shower]

They're actually having a baby shower.

Joel is fairly certain his mother wouldn't have let them get away without something, even if he had insisted it be small and consist only of family, but for some reason he and Spencer have allowed themselves to be talked into a real shower. With invitations and food and little baby themed games to play. It's sort of strange, looking at it from his position, given that Erin is the one who's going to be giving birth and therefore is the one in the glowing pregnant woman position at this entire gathering.

She'd sweetly agreed to attend and had even whispered to Joel that she would take the brunt of the attention if she could manage it. He had whispered back that he knew they had picked her for a good reason.

But here they are. Several weeks have passed, the invitations have gone out and the decorations have been put up all over Joel and Spencer's living room. He had agreed to lift the enchantments on the house for the extent of the party, which means that anyone can open the door to their guests, they don't all have to be invited in by either Joel or Spencer, and it makes him a little nervous, but he understands the usefulness of others being able to answer the door. At least for today.

It's the decorations that keep getting to him. Sweet little ducks and zebras and monkeys, little jungle animals all over the walls. The bottle and rattle shaped cookies are pretty cute, but those aren't going to be left when the baby gets here. The animal theme, though, is fairly close to the nearly finished nursery Joel has been working on upstairs and he can't help but grin at the decorations.

Spencer, on the other hand, can't stop coming back round to the center of the living room to stare at the enormous sign that's been strung up above a table already stacked with gifts when a majority of their guests haven't even arrived yet. He'd been worried this morning that the day would overwhelm him, that knowing so many people would be coming into their home would be daunting when just a year ago, he'd never even once invited company over before meeting Joel; but so far, he feels calm, in spite of having had to watch Joel remove the enchantments that act as their security on the house. If someone wishes to crash a baby shower--which he doesn't imagine will happen anyway--then they'll have to face not only the wrath of a room that will be filled with witches and sirens, but the wrath of his mother- and sister-in-law, as well. That's not a sight Spencer thinks would be very pretty to witness.

Still, he feels light, perhaps a lingering effect of the having the chance to fall in love with Joel a second time during the spell that had taken over the town. Certainly, a great deal of his contentment has to do with the fact that he won't have to worry about losing his husband in a crowd but even beyond that, he's excited.

So much has changed in the course of the past year and weeks from now, they'll be holding their newborn in their arms for the very first time without another care in the world but for who they've been looking forward to meeting since they'd decided to take this journey together. There's something a bit strange about realizing that it's all coming to a head, that the waiting will soon be over and they'll be fathers at last, but when the first knock on the door comes, Spencer can't help but smile.

[Baby shower for Joel and Spencer's wee one. Erin, their surrogate, is present and is currently 31 weeks pregnant. If you're even a little friendly with either of them, Joel's mother sent an invitation, but the enchantments have been taken off the house for the event and so it's not an impossible party to crash. If anyone wants to crash a baby shower...]

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It's surprising just how much easier it is to be social when he's attending a party in his own home. Maybe that's where he's been going wrong thse past years, he should have been hosting tons of parties for all the friends he hadn't had instead of nursing a glass of whiskey on his own every night. He rolls his eyes at the thought, remembering how awkward he'd always felt when his mother would have the neighbors over for an impromptu backayrd bbq or the parents of Spencer and Dane's classmates' families over for a game night or the entire library staff over for a potluck. She'd been well-liked, his mother, always involved in community events and making sure that people were taken care of when she could, but she'd never made her sons feel neglected in the midst of all that. Vera Waters had been an incredible woman and an even more awe-inspiring parents, having to deal with one child who'd absolutely despised having to come out of his room to greet people and another who wouldn't stop talking unless someone made him stop talking.

Spencer hopes he can live up the standards she'd set for him, the same set of standards set by Ellie and Brian. Looking around the room now makes his chest swell because he's surrounded by people who believe that he wil, that he's going to be the father he wants to be, and it's almost enough to send tears spilling down his cheeks. Erin is glowing, her hands resting on her belly, and Spencer just can't stop thinking about how in just a few weeks, he and Joel will be meeting their son or daughter for the first time. She's helped to make this possible, she's the very reason why this baby shower is happening at all, and he's overcome with the urge to walk right over to her and gather her in his arms so he can hug her until she begs him to let go.

Instead, he sighs happily to himself, letting his gaze shift across the room and over his shoulder to where the party has spilled out into the library and even to the yard. He'd gotten tentative smiles from people who'd asked if that would be alright, as if even stepping foot back there would send him reeling, but aside from that bit of awkwardness, everything about this party has been enjoyable. He stands near the table of gifts, glancing at Joel every so often with a small smile as he sips his apple juice from a cup shaped like a baby bottle. He hadn't been sure what to expect today but now that they're here, now that guests have arrived and everyone is mingling and congratulating and smiling and laughing, Spencer feels good about it.

He feels ready, more than ever, to be the parent he'd never known he was meant to be.

She probably shouldn't be here, but the day had come and she'd turned the invitation over in her hands -- the one addressed to her, for what she thinks might have been the first time in her life, she isn't simply someone's plus one -- and she'd picked up the wrapped set of books she'd bought for the baby months ago and she had forced herself to attend.

If nothing else, she owes Spencer an apology. Any other town and she would have fled after the spell had been broken and she doesn't know how to explain why she's staying here, but she is. She's here. And so she has to apologize.

"Hi," she says when she sees Spencer. "If you want to storm away, you're completely within your rights."

Spencer had hoped she'd come.

They haven't seen each other or spoken since that last evening of the spell and if April is feeling anything like Coop, he imagines she must be struggling a bit with everything that had happened. Just as with Coop, he harbors no resentment for her because the spell had changed people in so many different ways that it would be impossible for him to truly believe that she could be so cruel. The only thing he knows for sure is that the love between him and Joel had been just a real during the spell as it is now--and as far as he's concerned, that's all that really matters.

"I want to do no such thing," Spencer tells her, smiling kindly as he reaches for her wrapped gift to set it on the table beside them. "I'm just glad you came. Thank you for that, by the way, it's bizarre to see how many people turned up for this. I didn't know my husband was so popular." It's a slight jab at himself but a playful, and he rolls his eyes to show that he's being facetious before nodding toward the refreshments. "Can I get you anything?"

It's so easy for him. He dismisses it before she even has a chance to say anything and April blinks up at Spencer, slightly stunned. "No, I owe you an apology," she says and she isn't sure why she's so insistent about it, but she feels like it's necessary. She has to apologize. To make herself feel better if nothing else, and she recognizes that as a fairly selfish act, but she's never claimed to be anything but.

"I manipulated you and I lied to you and I used my powers on your husband and I'm sorry," she says. It comes out all in a rush, but she does find she feels a little bit better.

And when Spencer makes the comment about his husband being the popular one, she casts a glance in his direction and shrugs, surprised by how easy it is for her to fall into the teasing mood Spencer has adopted. "Well, I mean, look at him. I'm willing to bet half the people in this room are seething with jealousy when they see you two," she says with a small smile.

"Only half?" he teases in response, though mostly trying to buy for time as he tries to come up with a way to properly acknowledge her apology. There's no need it for, at least he wouldn't say there is; whether Joel agrees is something else altogether, but April isn't apologizing to Joel right now, she's apologizing to him. Whatever she'd done while under the spell, he can't hold against her because it's nothing like anything she's ever done to him outside of that little fairytale world.

She makes his blush terribly when she makes flirty comments, yes, but even Spencer knows that she does it because she finds it amusing. Even that doesn't come off as malicious, though, and while she always seems to succeed in making him go red, she hasn't ever crossed any lines with him. In this world, her flirting isn't a way to manipulate him because he thinks she more than understands that there's nothing to manipulate. There's absolutely nobody in this world that could hold a candle to his husband, nobody who could tempt him to stray or wonder for even a second what if, so April really gains nothing by doing it except, perhaps, a laugh or two.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll tell you that your apology is accepted," he finally says, shrugging a shoulder because he's still unwilling to let her think that he's in any way upset with her. He's not, no matter how betrayed he'd felt at the time, and he doesn't know how to explain why but that's just the way it is. Maybe it's because he and Joel seem to be some of the few who'd walked away from that spell with a truly happy ending.

"Anyway, you were clearly a rubbish siren in that world because Joel broke out of your hold on him almost instantly." He grins widely. "Power of love and all that, I suppose."

"He did break out with suspicious ease," April agrees and she doesn't really mind, but she can't remember the last time someone was able to do that. When she wants to, she can get people to do absolutely anything for her, but maybe Spencer is right, maybe it's all about the power of love. She sincerely doubts any of the people she'd screwed over in the past have genuinely loved anyone except themselves. And possibly their money.

"Which I shouldn't be pleased about, but I am," she says, relaxing into a smile. "It figures the two of you played out some big romantic love story, though, and I turned into a Disney villain." She's not the only one, she knows that, but she isn't used to feeling guilty about anything she does and it isn't something she particularly likes. She doesn't wear guilt well and she'll be glad to see the back of it.

"And I say only half," she says, her smile growing a little, "because at least some of your guests have to be interested in women and those are the ones who are terribly jealous of Caden."

They don't know each other particularly well, which is the way Spencer suspects April prefers things between them, but he can say with confidence that he does like her. He knows there must be enormous parts of her life that she doesn't look back on with fondness, knows that there's a mess of things going on even in Siren Cove that nobody would be happy to have to be burdened with, but for all that, she isn't a cruel woman. At least, she's never been to him. The one-sided flirting is harmless, and he's quite certain that even she knows that; besides that, Spencer's never been quick to trust, but there's a level of simplicity in their odd friendship that makes it easier for him to feel comfortable with her.

She doesn't ask many questions of him and in return, he does the same. The primary difference is that Spencer's past has been plastered all over headlines but even then, anyone who doesn't look at him like he might have truly been responsible for the death of his mother and brother is someone he's willing to make an effort to allow in his life.

"At least you didn't try to have me killed?" he offers with a wry, crooked smile. "So not quite a Disney villain. You should just start telling people you were Tinkerbell, what with all the mischief and meddling. Besides, in the end, you only helped bring us together so really, I suppose we ought to be thanking you."

"Well, who knows, maybe the spell broke before I could really get going," she says and it's a joke, but it really isn't all that funny because she's not entirely sure it's not the truth. The woman she is now is capable of having people killed and although she and Robert have never discussed the details, she knows that he's made sure she'll be safe from the people who think her mother owed them money. She'll never ask, but she doesn't need to. She knows what happened to them and why they won't come after her ever again.

Had she been given more time like that, she honestly doesn't know what she might have done. Not even just to hurt Spencer but because April has never particularly liked losing. She can't say it bothers her much in this case, she's relieved she's lost simply because she doesn't want to think about where else she might have been willing to go.

"Well, I'm glad it worked out in the end," she says. "That I turned out to be a shitty siren and an even shittier villain." She's not sure Caden would say the same, but she thinks they've taken the right steps toward mending the things she's done.

Spencer wants to reassure her that she is neither a poor siren nor a poor villain but after rethinking it for a moment, he's not actually sure that saying such a thing would be helpful in any way. Instead, he just shakes his head and smiles, gesturing at the gifts she'd brought for the baby shower before giving her pointed look. "It doesn't matter what kind of siren or villain you are, you're a good friend. It's taken me thirty years to learn this, I can promise you that in the end, that's what will matter."

Granted, he isn't sure that April would actually consider him a friend, and it's alright if she doesn't; but she's always been nice to him, at least comparatively nicer than some of the people in this town, and he's grown inexplicably fond of her. He knows that Joel isn't necessarily her biggest fan, if only because she seems to insist on flirting hardest when his husband is watching, but nobody is asking all of them to be best friends so Spencer supposes there's no harm done.

"Anyway, the fact that you're apologizing to me about it now after bearing gifts counts for a great deal," he says, and he's teasing a bit but there's also a sincerity in his tone that he hopes April can hear. He holds no ill will toward her, not toward anyone changed for the worse under that spell, and he wouldn't want her to go on thinking that there's a part of him that resents her. His alternate self, perhaps, but not in this reality.

It's a bit of a relief to know he isn't holding anything against her and while April knows there are other people who would hold onto their guilt and insist on making amends in as many ways as they possibly could, she isn't like that. If Spencer is going to offer her forgiveness, then she's going to take it. His husband might never forgive her, but she's gone out of her way to make things difficult for him since the moment she arrived in Siren Cove, so she supposes she can hardly blame him. Maybe for a little while, as an apology, she'll lay off flirting with Spencer.

"The gifts are good, but I'm afraid the wrapping looks as if a blind monkey did it," she admits, glancing toward the gifts. All of them look professionally wrapped with the exception of hers, and she has no idea how she managed to fuck up wrapping books, but she has. "I usually pay someone to wrap gifts for me, but I ran out of time."

Then she shrugs, looking amused. "I guess it's not like your baby is going to know that I did a piss poor job of wrapping its gifts, right? So which of you unwraps the gifts? You two or your pretty little surrogate?"

April recognizes her from somewhere, feels drawn to her in a way she can't explain. She has some source of power, but she's sure Spencer and Joel already know about it and so she says nothing.

She isn't necessarily wrong about the wrapping, but Spencer thinks he would have at least found a more tactful way to describe it. April's gifts do stand out against the rest, though, the other gifts that he suspects had been taken to be professionally done for the occasion but in some way, that makes what she's given them all the more endearing.

"My brother was horrible at wrapping gifts," he says suddenly, and maybe his dead brother isn't the most appropriate topic to bring up at a baby shower but it's a fond memory so Spencer supposes there isn't harm in it. "The last gift he gave me was for my twenty-seventh birthday, the night before because he was always so impatient even for things that weren't for him, and he'd resorted to just rolling it in newspaper and taping it down in random places that barely kept it together."

He ducks his head to laugh, painful though the memory may be because it's the last one he has of his brother alive, but even so, he'll never forget the look of anticipation on Dane's face as Spencer had easily plucked apart the newspaper to find the leather jacket that still hangs in his closet upstairs.

"Anyway, Joel and I will be unwrapping the gifts and sending out the thank you cards. Some people have brought gifts specifically for Erin, as well, though, which is lovely. We're sending her on an all-expenses paid spa day after the baby is born, one of the ones that serve champagne and the like? Hopefully she'll like it." He pauses, frowning. "Do you think she'll like it?"

April wonders what her sister would wrap like. Her real sister, not the half-siblings this town has given her. The only tie she's ever really care much for in her entire life. She wonders what she would wrap a gift like and she has an idea that would be perfect. Angela's life, as far as she's been able to establish, had turned out pretty well and April doesn't resent that, she just wishes they hadn't been separated. Maybe all sorts of things would have been different if they'd been able to stay together.

"Any human who doesn't like being given the chance to get drunk on champagne while getting pampered on someone else's dime has to be crazy," she says with a laugh and while she doesn't know Erin personally, there's definitely something about her that April feels like she knows anyway. She's a siren most likely and she grins a little at that, wondering how that will work once the baby is born. Half-siren and either half-human or half-witch, but either way that makes for something of an interesting combination. She hopes the two fathers have an idea what they're going to do with a baby who can sing them to sleep if he or she chooses.

"That's sweet of you two, not that I'm surprised," she says, her grin turning teasing again. "Are either of you capable of being less than adorable? Most people have flaws, you know. They get angry or annoying or they're terribly rude like me. I'm not sure either of you are capable of that and it leads me to believe that you're probably both robots. Some kind of android anyway."

It's not the first time someone's made a comment like that, about him and Joel being adorable, but it still makes him flush because even after all these months of being told what he already knows--that he and his husband are perfect for one another--Spencer isn't used to hearing the compliment. What it means to him is that they're being observed, not in a bad way or in a way that makes him feel uncomfortable, but people notice them. What's more, they're being noticed as a couple, as a unit, and it doesn't surprise Spencer that this is what it's taken for someone to see past the fact that he'd once been the town librarian accused of murdering his own family.

Of course Joel is the reason people look at him differently, the reason people have realized that Spencer is capable of smiling out of more than just mere politeness, and his marriage hasn't weeded out all the awful people who still think he's guilty out of his life but at least for the most part, he's been left alone. He owes it all to his husband, his incredible husband who'd shown Spencer what it's like to be truly happy, and he can feel April's eyes on him as he realizes he's been watching Joel from across the room rather than answering anything she's had to say, and he lets out an awkward, nervous laugh.

"We have flaws," he protests, though it's about a full minute too late if he's trying to cover for the fact that he'd gotten distracted by his own husband. "I'm terrible in the kitchen, and I'm far too meticulous when it comes to our shelving system in the store. And Joel, he-- He..." Spencer trails off, squinting as though he's trying to think of something negative to say when really, there's no point. "Well, I suppose you're right about at least one of us, Joel is most definitely without any flaws whatsoever. And some of the people of this town think humans in relationships with witches is bad."

"Spencer!" She can't stop the way she smiles up at him as she just sort of hugs him tight without a huge preamble. She's so proud of them both - okay, so they didn't do a huge amount to make the baby be almost born, but the rest of it-- from the moment she'd been on his doorstep until pretty much right this second, they've done so much, she's just so incredibly proud of them.

She'd managed to find a second that he'd not been speaking to anyone, but she pulls back after just a second. "I have a feeling that between your guests, yourself, and the grandparents, you'll never have to go shopping again," she said with a laugh. "And your kid is going to be super stylish."

Occasionally, it still catches Spencer off-guard to be hugged so suddenly by anyone who isn't Joel, but Raleigh is one of the few people he can easily relax with when it comes to unexpected touch. He'd long ago accepted that she's simply the kind of woman who expresses herself in that way, and he knows that being able to be comfortable with being touched isn't indicative of how strong a friendship is but it seems to have made for a relatively good form of measurement so far. He's only just started feeling more comfortable with reaching out to Davin, though he's very grateful that Davin lets him decide on the terms for himself; with Raleigh, though, anything goes, and he doesn't think she takes for granted how rare that is for him.

It's precisely for that reason that he smiles so widely and tightens his arms around her, leaning down to rest his chin on her shoulder for a beat longer than he usually might because today, everything just feels so right. They're celebrating the ever nearing arrival of his and Joel's baby, this child that they've been waiting ages for and god, it really does seem like it's been forever since they'd made the decision to move forward with finding a surrogate. Erin has been an absolutely gift to their lives, offering comfort when they get overly nervous or tips on parenting or even just texting them to let them know that the baby's kicking again. They'd gotten so lucky with her, and Spencer knows they couldn't have asked for anyone more suited for them.

"Oh, I'll still go shopping," he tells her, laughing as he pulls back while keeping one hand on her shoulder. "There's absolutely no way I'd ever be able to stop, shopping for baby things has turned out to be the most addictive thing I think I'll ever do. I'm just glad I have a husband who's willing to sift through all the things I bring home so he can return the things we definitely don't need duplicates of."

To be fair, Spencer had thought they'd needed duplicates of those things at time of purchase, but that's not something he's very keen on telling Joel. Instead, he prefers to feign innocence, claiming to forget he'd already bought certain things when in fact, his mind is of the sort that quite literally can't forget.

"In any case, we do have quite a lot piling up, don't we? I don't know where we're going to put it all."

Spencer, for her, is always the exception. Always. He's just... he's family. He's just like Matt, her brother, and it's-- that's why she just hugs him, why she can't restrain just how happy she is for him and Joel, to have found this happiness together, and to see Erin - glowing, practically, and that's their baby.

Their baby. It was amazing, that they'd come this far, that they'd found this, together. Him and Joel, just such a- they were such a strong foundation with the two of them. They were so strong, together, and it just was right.

"I know you will," she said wryly as she looked up at him. "And you don't need to stop, because that's the thing about babies. He's just going to get bigger, and then he'll need baby things instead of newborn things, the whole deal." She's said for a while that she thinks it's a boy, and she's been calling it he for a while. "And you can totally store it all.... everywhere. Attic. Cupboards. Basement. You'll totally find room," she says with a laugh. "And if you need too? You can build on an addition, or something."

"Oh, god, don't even suggest building an addition to the house," he says, laughing as he scrubs his hands over his face. "If Joel hears that, he might just start planning, and he's worked so hard already on the nursery and the house itself, he deserves a very long break from anything that has to do with a hammer."

Running a business and renovating a house are two very timely tasks, and it comes as no surprise to Spencer that Joel wouldn't even consider taking a considerable break from one to focus solely on the other, but he's done such an admirable job.

The walls that had been destroyed when the demon had taken over are rebuilt, whole stretches of the house repainted and refinished in a way that still makes Spencer stand in awe of just how much his husband has been able to accomplish. The pièce de résistance, of course, is the nursery; but as a whole, Spencer is nothing less than proud of how much work his husband has put into making their home distinctly theirs. Remnants of his mother and brother still exist, of course, as they always will, but it's not just a Waters residence anymore.

It's a Waters-Baker residence.

Raleigh laughs. "Oh, you have a couple of years before you need the addition. I mean, unless you want kids to share rooms," she raises her brows with a smile, because it's her way of asking if they might want more kids than just this one in the future. She already knows that they'll be great parents-- that's what this whole thing was about, this whole party.

"I think he really likes it, though. I mean-- you saw the table and stools he made for me as a housewarming gift, right? They're beautiful, and he just... he made them." She shakes her head, amazed that Joel had somehow made them. To her, it was like... conjuring, almost. Magic.

Just with hard work. "But definitely having it not be with a short time span would probably be good," she admits.

Spencer lifts an eyebrow right on back, though he suspects his smile is more of a giveaway than anything. "Maybe one day," he says vaguely, shrugging a shoulder, and he and Joel haven't come to any official decisions but the subject of having more than one child has already come up between them. He personally likes the idea of giving their baby a sibling, and he knows that Joel understands how important a bond like that can be if the relationship is right. Spencer's own brother had been his best friend and even though he'd been younger, Dane had always looked out for him.

"We'll have to see how we do the first time around, obviously, but we've got one more room up there besides ours and the nursery so who knows, maybe we'll decide it needs to be filled."

When she practically waxes poetic about how incredible Joel's carpentry is, Spencer can't help the way his eyes drift over to where his husband is talking to his sister, both of them seemingly in a competition over who can make each other roll their eyes more within a single conversation, and he laughs softly to himself. "He likes it, yes, otherwise I suspect he wouldn't bother doing it at all, but he does have quite a talent for it. I don't mind much watching him do it either, which is about all I can do other than hand him his tools when he asks for them."

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[Open - Gathering - Baby Shower]

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