Joel Waters-Baker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
just_another) wrote2015-05-05 07:33 pm
just_another) wrote2015-05-05 07:33 pm
[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...]
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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Still, all of his memories from his time with Shea weren't all bad, and he waggles his eyebrows a bit as he nudges Coop's side with his elbow.
He winces slightly at the reference to the demon. It was just before he started growing closer to Spencer and Joel, but he heard of it. Of course he did. He's just glad that everyone is okay.
Coop's eye is still dark and a little puffy, and Davin frows in concern as he reaches up to cup his cheek and lightly run the pad of his thumb underneath it. "Don't ya have somethin' t'heal that up?"
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His expression softens then, becomes a little more contrite, and he nods his agreement. "I do owe you an apology. I'm sorry, man, I was a complete tool and hell, I owe you way more than a fruit basket. You and Joel and Spencer, all of you, three of the people I like the most in this town and you're the ones who had to deal with me at my most dickish."
Funny how it'd worked out like that, except for how it's actually not humorous at fucking all, and Coop runs a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh before batting Davin's hand away from his face with an attempt at a playful roll of his eyes. "I didn't want to heal it. I was serious when I told you I deserved it."
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He was kidding about the apology, really, but he meets Coop's eyes and then flushes a little, shrugging one shoulder and smiling a little. "It's okay. Ya weren't yourself. We all know that."
Coop bats his hand away and Davin feels a bit awkward, shoving his hand into his pocket to keep from touching him again. He looks up at Coop and his expression goes a little stern, and then it's his turn to roll his eyes. "Stop punishin' yourself, man. It's water under the bridge an' no one's mad at ya but yourself."
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It doesn't matter to him that nobody else is pissed off, even though they'd have every goddamn right to be, Davin's right--he is mad. He's mad at whoever decided it would be a good idea to fuck with everyone's minds like that, mad at whatever it is that'd made him the bad guy, the one who'd taken real pleasure in fucking with other people's lives, and he thinks what he's most mad about is that he can still remember how pleased he'd been to touch Spencer the way he had and know that there'd been fear there. It's disgusting, it makes him sick, and knowing that he'd taken pleasure in something like that and actively trying to make Joel's life miserable kind of just amounts to a whole 'easier said than done' kind of thing when it comes to moving on.
He knows it'd been a spell. He knows that, he's not a fucking idiot. But that doesn't change the fact that he'd done what he'd done. He carries those memories now, as clearly as they'd really been his own, and there's absolutely nothing he can do about it because some sick fuck had wanted to make everyone pawns in some stupid, pointless game.
"Maybe I was myself," he counters, crossing his arms defensively over his chest. "Everyone else I saw had parts of themselves intact, why not me? The way I treated you, I liked it. I liked using people, I liked conning people, and I even liked pissing Joel off enough to get him to punch me. So what, I'm supposed to just laugh it off?"
He's being a little too dramatic for a baby shower, he thinks, and Coop takes a deep breath before his voice can get any louder. He's already getting the occasional glance, and he doesn't want to have to apologize to Joel again for something he'd done. "Anyway, fine, okay. Water under the bridge, it's done. Everything's cool."
no subject
"Hey, I'm sorry, man. I wasn't tryin' t'make light of it," Davin explains. And it's true. He didn't mean to try and brush it off. He just wanted to make sure Coop knew that no one was upset with him, but of course that's not the only issue here. "It's fuckin' infuriatin', what she did. It almost killed me an' my boyfriend, so I get bein' pissed, alright? You're allowed t'be pissed."
He can see Coop trying to calm himself and Davin bites his lip, reaching out to lightly touch Coop's arm. "Do ya wanna go out back for a bit? Get some air? We can talk if ya want."