Encouragement
Jan. 19th, 2012 04:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
intheheartTitle: Encouragement
Rating: PG.
Summary: Some things, like a plant, need careful tending and a light touch; Olivia helps.
AU: Sunny
Notes: Shipper on deck! First one follows immediately after Sunlight.
"I like her," Olivia says, as she pirouettes down the sidewalk home.
Hugh smiles, watching her. She loves to dance so much, just for the joy of it, that it makes him happy just to watch her. "Like who, Sunny?"
"Miss Amala," she replies, skipping back towards him. "She's nice. How long as she been working for you?"
He has to think about it, but not very hard. "About a week. She is nice, but she's quiet."
Olivia shrugs. "You're quiet," she says. "And you're awesome. So maybe she is too."
"I wouldn't know," he says, but he'd like to.
--
Joanna is about to leave when the head nurse sighs, and holds up a pair of dancing shoes. "Olivia's," she explains. "She's always leaving them here. That girl will forget her own head next. Will you take them over?"
And that is how Joanna finds herself at Dr. Marhenke's door, painfully embarrassed and tongue-tied. "Your daughter left these," she said when he opened the door, and now he's taken the shoes and neither of them knows what to do; they stand in awkward silence.
"Daddy," Olivia says, appearing behind him and startling them both. "Ask her in for coffee. Sheesh."
--
"My piano recital is Saturday," Olivia says, over breakfast one morning. "Don't forget and make any appointments or anything."
"I won't, Sunny," he says, absently.
"Okay," she says. "Also, you should ask Joanna to come."
That startles him; he eyes his daughter, and she looks wide-eyed back. "Olivia, what are you planning?"
"Nothing!" she replies, all injured innocence. "I'm having a piano recital and I want her to come. She said she doesn't get to hear enough live music, remember?"
He remembers everything Joanna says. Still... "Are you sure?"
Olivia rolls her eyes, and that is the end of that.
--
They run into each other at the grocery. It doesn't occur to Joanna to question that coincidence until much later.
"Hi, Joanna!" Olivia says, brightly, hefting her basket. "I heard you got your master's! Congratulations."
"I did," she says, and decides after a puzzled moment that Hugh must have told her. "Thank you."
"You should come for dinner," Olivia decides. "I'll cook. I'm a pretty good cook."
That, she's not as sure about. "If your father's all right with it..."
"Oh, it was Daddy's idea," Olivia says, airily. "I have to go. Let us know when's good for you, okay?"
--
"Should I get her flowers?" Hugh wonders. He's mostly talking to himself, but he really isn't surprised when Olivia replies around her mouthful of toast.
"Of course you should."
He arches an eyebrow at her. "You don't think that's... hmm... implying something?"
Olivia shrugs. "You totally want to imply something, so why does it matter?"
He shouldn't be surprised at that either-- Olivia always could read his mind-- but he is anyway. "What makes you say that?"
She gives him a look. "Please, Daddy."
He hesitates. "That... doesn't bother you?"
Another look.
"All right then," he says, feeling reassured. "Flowers."
--
Dinner goes much better than Joanna would have expected, given that she and Hugh are both shy, quiet people. It helps that Olivia is so bubbly, and so good at drawing people out. Joanna would assume that she'd gotten that from her mother, had she not known far more about Olivia's mother than she would like.
But then there's something in Hugh, too, that's like that, warm and happy. He's just less noisy about it.
Olivia quietens towards the end of the meal, but it seems... natural, somehow.
In fact, Joanna is surprised by how natural the whole thing feels.
--
Hugh is absolutely certain, now, that Olivia is up to something, but he has no idea what it is. He tries cornering her, but all that gets him is a wide-eyed look and a "Daddy, I have no idea what you're talking about."
He asks Joanna. He asks Joanna many things about Olivia, now that his daughter is nearly seventeen, nearly grown up. He gets good answers, he finds.
To this question, Joanna only shrugs. "I wouldn't know," she says. "I don't think you need to worry, though. She's a good girl."
"I'm not worried," he says. "Not about her."
--
Olivia comes into the library one day, unusually solemn. That frightens Joanna enough that she finishes with a patron quickly, and takes her break early.
"What is it?" she asks, when they're outside.
"It's Daddy," Olivia says, forehead creasing. "I'm going to college next year-- oh, I didn't tell you! I got into Smith!"
"Congratulations," Joanna says.
"Thank you. Anyway, I'm going there and it's so far away, and... will you look after my dad for me? I worry. I don't want him..." She hesitates. "I don't want him alone."
It surprises Joanna, how easy it is to say yes.
--
"Olivia," Hugh asks, one day about a year later, "what would you think if I... if Joanna and I..."
She reads his mind again, for which, this time, he is profoundly grateful because it means he doesn't have to say it. "Are you going to ask Joanna to marry you?" she asks, eyes round.
He nods, mutely. What if she takes it poorly? He knows she likes Joanna, but Olivia is his daughter, and they only have each other; there's no telling how she might take an interloper.
"I'd say about time," Olivia says, and startles him into a laugh.
--
Olivia flies home when Matthew is born. It's the middle of the semester, but she has a baby brother, and nothing else matters.
He's gorgeous, perfect, the best parts of her father and stepmother. His eyelashes are smoky half-circles on his cheeks; he's so little she catches her breath for fear he'll break.
"You made this happen, you know," Joanna says softly from her bed, while Olivia sits, holding Matthew.
"What?" she asks, absently.
"This. Us. Your father and me. I know you made it happen."
"Oh, that." She touches Matthew's cheek. "No, I didn't. I just... sped things up."
Rating: PG.
Summary: Some things, like a plant, need careful tending and a light touch; Olivia helps.
AU: Sunny
Notes: Shipper on deck! First one follows immediately after Sunlight.
"I like her," Olivia says, as she pirouettes down the sidewalk home.
Hugh smiles, watching her. She loves to dance so much, just for the joy of it, that it makes him happy just to watch her. "Like who, Sunny?"
"Miss Amala," she replies, skipping back towards him. "She's nice. How long as she been working for you?"
He has to think about it, but not very hard. "About a week. She is nice, but she's quiet."
Olivia shrugs. "You're quiet," she says. "And you're awesome. So maybe she is too."
"I wouldn't know," he says, but he'd like to.
--
Joanna is about to leave when the head nurse sighs, and holds up a pair of dancing shoes. "Olivia's," she explains. "She's always leaving them here. That girl will forget her own head next. Will you take them over?"
And that is how Joanna finds herself at Dr. Marhenke's door, painfully embarrassed and tongue-tied. "Your daughter left these," she said when he opened the door, and now he's taken the shoes and neither of them knows what to do; they stand in awkward silence.
"Daddy," Olivia says, appearing behind him and startling them both. "Ask her in for coffee. Sheesh."
--
"My piano recital is Saturday," Olivia says, over breakfast one morning. "Don't forget and make any appointments or anything."
"I won't, Sunny," he says, absently.
"Okay," she says. "Also, you should ask Joanna to come."
That startles him; he eyes his daughter, and she looks wide-eyed back. "Olivia, what are you planning?"
"Nothing!" she replies, all injured innocence. "I'm having a piano recital and I want her to come. She said she doesn't get to hear enough live music, remember?"
He remembers everything Joanna says. Still... "Are you sure?"
Olivia rolls her eyes, and that is the end of that.
--
They run into each other at the grocery. It doesn't occur to Joanna to question that coincidence until much later.
"Hi, Joanna!" Olivia says, brightly, hefting her basket. "I heard you got your master's! Congratulations."
"I did," she says, and decides after a puzzled moment that Hugh must have told her. "Thank you."
"You should come for dinner," Olivia decides. "I'll cook. I'm a pretty good cook."
That, she's not as sure about. "If your father's all right with it..."
"Oh, it was Daddy's idea," Olivia says, airily. "I have to go. Let us know when's good for you, okay?"
--
"Should I get her flowers?" Hugh wonders. He's mostly talking to himself, but he really isn't surprised when Olivia replies around her mouthful of toast.
"Of course you should."
He arches an eyebrow at her. "You don't think that's... hmm... implying something?"
Olivia shrugs. "You totally want to imply something, so why does it matter?"
He shouldn't be surprised at that either-- Olivia always could read his mind-- but he is anyway. "What makes you say that?"
She gives him a look. "Please, Daddy."
He hesitates. "That... doesn't bother you?"
Another look.
"All right then," he says, feeling reassured. "Flowers."
--
Dinner goes much better than Joanna would have expected, given that she and Hugh are both shy, quiet people. It helps that Olivia is so bubbly, and so good at drawing people out. Joanna would assume that she'd gotten that from her mother, had she not known far more about Olivia's mother than she would like.
But then there's something in Hugh, too, that's like that, warm and happy. He's just less noisy about it.
Olivia quietens towards the end of the meal, but it seems... natural, somehow.
In fact, Joanna is surprised by how natural the whole thing feels.
--
Hugh is absolutely certain, now, that Olivia is up to something, but he has no idea what it is. He tries cornering her, but all that gets him is a wide-eyed look and a "Daddy, I have no idea what you're talking about."
He asks Joanna. He asks Joanna many things about Olivia, now that his daughter is nearly seventeen, nearly grown up. He gets good answers, he finds.
To this question, Joanna only shrugs. "I wouldn't know," she says. "I don't think you need to worry, though. She's a good girl."
"I'm not worried," he says. "Not about her."
--
Olivia comes into the library one day, unusually solemn. That frightens Joanna enough that she finishes with a patron quickly, and takes her break early.
"What is it?" she asks, when they're outside.
"It's Daddy," Olivia says, forehead creasing. "I'm going to college next year-- oh, I didn't tell you! I got into Smith!"
"Congratulations," Joanna says.
"Thank you. Anyway, I'm going there and it's so far away, and... will you look after my dad for me? I worry. I don't want him..." She hesitates. "I don't want him alone."
It surprises Joanna, how easy it is to say yes.
--
"Olivia," Hugh asks, one day about a year later, "what would you think if I... if Joanna and I..."
She reads his mind again, for which, this time, he is profoundly grateful because it means he doesn't have to say it. "Are you going to ask Joanna to marry you?" she asks, eyes round.
He nods, mutely. What if she takes it poorly? He knows she likes Joanna, but Olivia is his daughter, and they only have each other; there's no telling how she might take an interloper.
"I'd say about time," Olivia says, and startles him into a laugh.
--
Olivia flies home when Matthew is born. It's the middle of the semester, but she has a baby brother, and nothing else matters.
He's gorgeous, perfect, the best parts of her father and stepmother. His eyelashes are smoky half-circles on his cheeks; he's so little she catches her breath for fear he'll break.
"You made this happen, you know," Joanna says softly from her bed, while Olivia sits, holding Matthew.
"What?" she asks, absently.
"This. Us. Your father and me. I know you made it happen."
"Oh, that." She touches Matthew's cheek. "No, I didn't. I just... sped things up."
