just_another | [Open - Gathering

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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She had to swallow hard around the sudden lump in her throat. Essie knew it wasn't his fault, none of it was his fault and she certainly couldn't blame him for not understanding. Hell, she was an adult, and adult witch, and she barely understood what had happened, but it didn't stop the stabbing pain in her heart, or the tears she had to fight.

"Isaac, you know that was all a... like a dream, right? When we were in that house all together? It wasn't really real." She wanted to hug him, to hold him and rock him back and forth, but she knew that would only make things worse. Right? She totally shouldn't do that. "Your Dad and I, we aren't... that wasn't really us."

"He knows it. I tell him again and again that you two hadn't even met before dreaming all of that up." It was cruel to say, painful to feel his song stutter, but the message had to be driven home. "The lack of puppy around has been bothering him as well."

"But if .." Isaac looked up at her. "Make it not a dream? We can bring Alfred! Yes?"

"Isaac.." Bach shouldn't have brought him. "Don't be silly. Essie is just another woman. She is the one we got your guitar from, remember? That's real." Only that.

Ouch. Essie wasn't sure what was worse, Bach calling her just another woman or the realization that it more or less was true. In theory, he was going to start working at her shop (if she ever got the guts to talke to him about it) and they'd slept together, but that didn't make them... something. Did it? Honestly the whole thing was giving her a headache. There was no solution to this that didn't end in tears for someone. Probably Isaac. She only wished that idea didn't break her heart as much as it did.

"I'm just a friend, Isaac. And you can't make dreams real just by, I dunno, asking for it? I'm sorry, sweetheart, it just doesn't work that way." She really shouldn't do what she was about to do, but the words were coming out before she could stop them. "But if you come by my shop sometime, I'm sure Dan would like to see you." The dog had been mopey since everything returned to normal, she should have realized why sooner.

Bach was getting an enormous headache fast. Essie shouldn't be hurt, Isaac shouldn't be hurt, damn didn't even he himself deserve some happiness? "Essie, we can leave, if you want. I was mostly just here for the food anyway, and that's kind of disappointing if I'm honest. I didn't know you knew these guys. Or like.. Either of them?"

"Dan!" Isaac tried to find Bach's hand now as well. "We see Dan? See him now? I don't - I don't - old people here", he added in a mutter. "Strangers."

He accepted Isaacs hand with a sigh. "Some time, she said. It's probably close to your bed time, mister. Time for pyjamas and songs, not dogs."

"No, it's okay, I mean, stay if you want. We can't... plan each other's lives solely to avoid running into each other." As much as she may want to for the short term. Maybe it was better that they just handled these things now, without putting them off. It wasn't that big of a town after, all, they were going to run into each other.

Going back to Isaac was hard, especially since he looked so excited about the idea of playing with Dan again. God, this hurt. More than anything she'd ever experienced except maybe when Grandy passed. "Maybe not tonight, kiddo, your dad says it's bedtime and that means it's bedtime, not puppy time." She wanted to give him a hug, but didn't. There were so many things she wanted but couldn't do. Her head was so screwed up about all of this.

"I'm not doing that. Too busy with keeping him .." He couldn't talk about Isaac over his head, that wasn't fair. Bach closed his eyes for a second and regrouped. "Bedtime. You can tell me which one of the happy parents you know another time. Joel for me, by the way. Don't even remember how we got to know each other, but he's a good guy."

"Don't want bed." Isaac let go of his hand to grab Essie's leg. "Puppy time. Please?"

Bach squatted down and slowly peeled the boy's grip on her body, making sure to touch Essie as little as possible. "Puppy time is another time. I really promise, no need for tears. You can say good night to Essie and we're going to go home."

"You heard Daddy, bedtime now, puppy time later." She helped Bach as much as she could, getting him detached from her and reattached to him. She noted that he was careful not to touch her, like she was radioactive or something. Well, maybe she was in a way. Just being this close to him and remembering all the things they'd done....

It shouldn't have been as awkward as this. She picked him up at a party and had sex in a spare bedroom and that was how they met, but she couldn't get over how different everything had been when it was all fairies and happy endings. Stronger, maybe even better? She really didn't know and she was too tired and buzzed to untangle it now. Maybe she just needed to go find someone to sleep with, get Bach's taste out of her mouth, so to speak.

There had been so many jokes about which one of two was allowed to call him daddy. Bach took a deep breath before getting up, Isaac sullenly dangling in his arms. Verbal protest hadn't worked, so now he was acting like a wet blanket.

"Uh." He risked a glance at her face. "That's us for tonight. At least it's warm enough outside to save us the struggle of putting jackets on."

"I guess it is." She stood awkwardly, watching Bach juggle his son and haunted by the memory of doing the same. If anything the feeling was getting worse with them here, not exactly what she'd been hoping for with time.

And yet? Part of her, the part she was stuffing down with a vengenace, was happy that the memories were there.

At the very least she was probably going to need therapy. That or her liquor bills were going to be astronomical.

Reaching out, she took Isaac's hand and gave it a little squeeze. "I'll see you soon, okay? You and your Dad can come by the shop anytime. 'Specially if Dad still wants to work there." There, she'd said it. Maybe not directly to Bach, since it seemed they were communicating through Isaac tonight, but the invitation was extended. Banishment, such as it was, was lifted.

"Fuck." It slipped out before Bach could catch it because yes, he had still set eyes on that job but didn't want to expect anything after this entire mess.

"Dirty word!" Isaac yelled gleefully. "Mama Ess-" reality sunk in again. "He said a dirty word. Don't tell Dan. He doesn't like them." He nodded. "The shop. Yes. Please."

"Really showing my best parenting side tonight", Bach muttered. "Look out for yourself, okay? If I get a job, I need a boss around as well."

"I will. You... you take care, too." Taking a half step towards Bach, she had to haul herself back. It had seemed so natural, Bach was leaving, he needed a goodbye kiss. The instincts were still there. She hated it. Absolutely HATED it.

"What are you-" He didn't have to ask, heard it, saw it, felt it. Bach caught Isaac, put a hand over his mouth before he could point out the obvious. That that wasn't an ordinary people goodbye.

"You too. With the - all of it. Store and things. Yeah."

[Open - Gathering - Baby Shower]

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