Parenting

[intheheart]

Title: Parenting
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Nathan and Melanie may be divorced, but they still share a child.
Warnings: Some fairly vicious fighting.
Notes: At least two incidents in this are taken from real life.


Telling Aaron is the hardest part, so hard she lets Nathan do it. She just can't look in his wondering brown eyes and tell him... and say...

"Your mother and I are getting divorced," Nathan tells their son. "Do you know what that means?"

Aaron shakes his head, eyes wide. Melanie flinches.

Nathan glances up at her, expression opaque, and then turns back to Aaron. "It means we aren't going to be married anymore," he says. "We're going to live in separate houses from now on."

Their son looks back and forth between them, his brow wrinkled as he tries to understand. "Me?"

"You'll live with me," Nathan says. He doesn't look at Melanie this time, but she knows he wants to, knows what he wants to say. Your mommy doesn't want you.

And the worst part is that it's true; she doesn't want him. He's her son, he's her baby, but she cannot do this anymore.

Aaron looks at her, his mouth crumpling. "Mommy?"

"You'll still see me," she says, coming to crouch before him, ignoring Nathan stiff beside her. "I'm still going to be there, honey. This has nothing to do with you at all--" Another lie, and she chokes on it. "I love you," she says, at last. "I love you so much."

Nathan's looking at her with hard eyes, and she knows he doesn't believe her.

But that's true too.

--

They're not married anymore, but they still share their son, and for his sake they're being civil to each other. Egregiously so, Nathan thinks somewhat cynically, watching Aaron play happily with his new toy truck. He's really got nothing to say to Melanie anymore, but Aaron will worry if they don't talk.

"Don't hurt yourself," Melanie says, breaking yet another awkward silence.

He blinks, and actually looks at her for the first time in this painful conversation, their first since the divorce. "What?"

She gives him the crooked little saucy smile that made him fall in love with her, so long ago. "You're trying so hard to be civil to me. Don't bother. I know you're furious."

"No," he says, and it's the truth; he isn't angry with her, or at least not on his own behalf. He's just... hurt, and confused. "I'm not, really. I just don't know what to say to you anymore."

"Don't bother," she says again, and turns away, looking at Aaron with a sad sort of fondness. "He won't mind."

"Yes, he will," Nathan says, and can't resist adding, "He's a very sensitive kid. He picks up on these things."

Melanie looks at him for a moment, her expression unreadable, then shrugs. "I suppose he does," she says, and then sets her drink down and walks away from him to squat down by their son. "Hey, kiddo, can I play too?"

Which is just like Melanie. Always walking away.

--

"You're what?" Her voice scales up embarrassingly, but Nathan cannot have said what he just said, and she thinks she's justified in a little surprise.

"Moving to New York," he repeats, and he did just say what he just said, the asshole. "By July at the latest. At this point I'm just waiting until I can find a good apartment."

"You can't," Melanie says.

She can just hear Nathan raising his eyebrows in that deeply, deeply irritating way of his. "Why not?"

How can she say this in a way that might make sense? She decides on, "You can't take my son that far away from me."

He takes a breath, and doesn't speak for a moment. When he does, his voice is very level. "Melanie, you gave me full custody of Aaron. You don't technically even have any visitation rights. You definitely don't have any right to tell me what I can and can't do with him."

She'd never dreamed he'd take her son! "I'm his mother," she says, her voice spiraling up again. "I have every right!"

"I do not," Nathan says in freezing tones, "want to have that fight now."

She grits her teeth, and casts about for another tack that he'll actually listen to. Aaron's welfare-- he'll respond to that. "He'll miss me," she says. "He'll miss seeing me."

"You mean you'll miss him," Nathan snaps. "And you didn't seem to miss him too much when you were off running around Canada or wherever the hell you were."

Rage clouds her eyes, grits her teeth. "I missed him," she says, fighting to keep her voice steady. "He was the only thing I missed, actually, and if you're going to throw that in my face every goddamn time we talk about Aaron..."

"No," Nathan says, interrupting her, and sighs. "No, you're right, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Damn straight," she says, the rage easing off.

"But," he continues, his tone hardening, "I'm still taking Aaron to New York."

She closes her eyes. "I really thought better of you than this," she says, quietly. "Taking him away from me..."

"No," he says, sharply. "I'm taking him to New York because I can actually get a job there. Custody means feeding him and putting a roof over his head, and I can't do that here, okay? It has nothing to do with you!"

"But he's my son, too," she says, voice small.

"Yes," Nathan says. "But I don't see you taking care of him."

He hangs up right after he says that, which is a good thing, because Melanie thinks otherwise she might have cried.

--

When he arrives to pick Aaron up, Melanie pulls him into the kitchen and shuts the door. "So," she says. "Care to explain why I had to find out you're getting married from Aaron?"

He blinks. "I... don't know," he says, and knows how bad it sounds when her eyes narrow. "I didn't mean it as an insult."

"You never do," she says, and he can't tell if it's a compliment or not. "When?"

"Late March," he says, relieved. "Or early April. Sometime in there."

"Hmm." She picks at a nail, the way she always used to when she was thinking. "What does Aaron think about all this?"

She would probably know better than him; Aaron's such a good kid he feels obliged to approve of everything his father does, at least to Nathan's face. Still. "He's excited to have a sister," Nathan says, and shrugs. "I think he's looking forward to getting out of our apartment, too."

"You're moving in with her?" There's nothing but polite interest in her voice.

He answers warily all the same. "No, we're renting a bigger apartment. We'd both only planned for two, so there's just no room." Not to mention that they can afford a safer neighborhood on their combined salaries.

"Of course," she says, and then, "I want to meet her."

His eyebrows shoot up. "You want to meet Gail."

"Of course," Melanie says, impatiently. "She's going to be my son's stepmother. I want to meet her."

Nathan stares at her for a moment, at a loss for words. "You know I'm going to marry her no matter what you say."

"Yes," she says. "I still want to meet her." Then she shakes her head. "No, I'm saying this wrong. Look, she and her little girl-- what's her name, Ivy?-- they're already very important to Aaron. I want to meet the people who are going to be so central to his life." She looks up then and meets Nathan's eyes, almost defiantly. "He's my son. I want to know his friends."

"All right," Nathan says, surprising himself. "I'll talk to Gail."

"See that you do," Melanie says, and opens the kitchen door again. "Aaron! Your dad's here!"

"Dad!" Aaron shouts joyfully, and the conversation is effectively ended.

--

Ben stays longer than she expected him to one Saturday morning, so he's there when Nathan arrives to drop off Aaron. Their thirteen-year-old son is in an uncommunicative phase, so he jogs through the room, backpack bouncing, with nothing more than a "hi Mom, hi Ben." Nathan, on the other hand, pauses in the doorway with an aggravating half smile on his face.

"Hello," he says. "Going to introduce us, Mel?"

She gives him a really foul glare, which just makes him smile more, and says, "Nathan, this is Ben Pierce, Ben, my ex-husband."

Ben blinks at her, but nods courteously to Nathan. "Hello. Nice to meet you."

"You too," Nathan says. "Aaron says you're a... how did he put it? Cool dude."

"Really?" Ben smiles a private little smile, and sipped his coffee. "Good to hear."

"Thought it might be," Nathan says, nodding. "Well, it was nice to meet you. Be good to my kid. Break Mel's heart and I'll break your kneecaps."

Melanie starts up from the table, furious. "Nathan Kendall, how dare you..."

"Bye, Mel," he says, cheerfully, and ducks out the door before she can finish her tirade.

Thwarted, she fists and unfists her hands for a moment, then sits back down, slowly. "I'm going to kill him," she says. "I don't care if he is my son's father, I'm going to murder him, and I'll do it slowly."

"It actually speaks rather well for him, I think," Ben says, smoothing out the morning paper. "That he still cares that much about you. I like to think I'd be the same way about my ex-wife."

"If you had one," Melanie says, "which you won't." Assuming he's going to marry her, that is, but since he's asked her twice already, she doesn't think that's too much of a stretch.

"Which I won't," he agrees. "Still, he's protective."

"It's insulting," she says, frankly. "It implies I can't take care of myself, and he only does it because he knows it pisses me off."

Ben shrugs, smiling just a little. "Well, I don't intend to hurt you, so I suppose it's a moot point."

That's true enough. "I'm still going to kill him," she says.

"Don't kill Dad!" Aaron yells, from his room.

In the startled silence that follows, Ben comments, "I think, my dear, you may be a little predictable."

It's hit him or laugh, at that point.

--

She's stuck on a sentence-- goddamn line edits-- so she jumps at the distraction when the phone rings. "Melanie Newman Pierce."

"Hi, Mom."

She smiles. "Hi, kiddo. What's up?"

"Not much," he says, and she can hear him smiling that sheepish smile, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. "I just wanted to let you know I'm graduating on the sixteenth and I'd like you to come."

"Aaron!" she says. "Of course I'll come. Where is it?"

"The gym," he says. "Of course. Like every other important event at my school."

He sounds so bored and teenagery that Melanie can only laugh. "Is your father coming?" she asks, after a minute.

"Yeah," he says. "Gail and Ivy and Summer too. You should see Summer, she's so big now. She's talking in sentences already!"

Melanie laughs again. The last time she saw Summer, the little girl was only a baby, with huge blue eyes and an unusually fussy manner. "Has she stopped crying when you bounce her?"

"She's almost two," Aaron says, with remarkable calm. "She outgrew it a while ago. She's actually really quiet now."

"She's a cute kid," Melanie says. "I'll look forward to seeing her."

"And Dad?" he asks, his tone rather shrewd.

She raises an eyebrow at the phone, but doesn't let it into her voice. "I'll look forward to seeing him too. You know, I don't hate him anymore."

"I didn't think you ever did," Aaron says, sounding a little surprised. "I just thought you weren't compatible."

"Not at all," she said. "Certainly not like me and Ben. Or like he and Gail, for that matter. Actually, I think I'm looking forward to Gail the most." She realizes how that sounds and adds, quickly, "After watching you graduate, of course."

"Nice save," Aaron says dryly, sounding so like his father that she catches her breath. Then he adds, "Seriously, Gail?" and she relaxes.

"Seriously Gail," she says. "She's a lovely woman. Better than Nathan deserves."

"Mom," Aaron says, repressively.

"I'm joking," she says, laughing and rolling her eyes a little. "Chill out, kiddo." She pauses for a moment, wondering if she should continue. "She was so good to you, after all."

Aaron clears his throat. "Yeah, she's great," he says, and Melanie bits back another laugh-- he just sounds so embarrassed. "Um, well, I'll see you then."

"See you then," she says, still amused, and smiles for the rest of the afternoon.

--

Three hours before midnight on New Year's Eve, Aaron turns up at his father's door, looking nervous.

"Dad," he says. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," Nathan says, and opens the door for him. "What's on your mind?"

Aaron doesn't answer right away; he heads for the living room and paces back and forth for a minute. "Where is everyone?"

"Summer's at a party and Gail's at some work thing," Nathan says, puzzled. "She should be home in about an hour if you..."

Aaron shakes his head. "No, no, that's okay, I wanted to talk to you, actually." He wrings his hands for a moment. "I just don't... really know where to start."

"At the beginning," Nathan recommends. "You want a cup of tea?"

"No thanks," Aaron says, and apparently decides to go for broke. "I'm going to propose to Clara."

Nathan freezes, then makes himself smile. "Well! Congratulations!"

Aaron stops pacing and peers at him. "You're not happy," he says, with the unnerving ability to read minds that he's inherited from his mother. "Why aren't you happy?" He goes a little pale, suddenly. "Is it Clara? Do you not like Clara?"

"I love Clara," Nathan says promptly, and he does. Clara is a very sweet girl, and clearly head over heels in love with Aaron. There's nothing to dislike. He says as much, and then adds, "But you're right, I'm not completely happy. I'm..." He hesitates.

Aaron bites his lip. "Is it me then?" he asks, and a moment later, "Or Mom? Because you and Mom didn't work out? Is something wrong with you and Gail?"

Nathan blinks, taken aback. How Aaron got there from his first marriage failing... "No, not at all. And it's got nothing to do with your mother." Or not much, anyway-- he never wants Aaron to go through what he and Melanie went through. "No, it's just that you're growing up." He smiled, with a little effort. "It seems like only yesterday you were a baby."

The look Aaron gives him is pure Melanie, exasperated but affectionate. "Dad, you may have noticed that I'm thirty-five."

"Yeah," Nathan says, "but you're still my son." He shakes his head. "It doesn't matter. I am happy for you. Clara's wonderful, and the two of you will be very happy."

"If she says yes," Aaron says, back to nervous. "What if she doesn't say yes? I've got this whole thing worked out but maybe she doesn't want to marry me. Maybe it's too soon. When did you ask Mom to marry you?"

"About a year," Nathan says, and shrugs. "I think that's fairly standard."

"Okay," Aaron says. "Okay, okay. A year. That's good, we've been dating a year." He inhales, and starts pacing again. "But what if she says no?"

Nathan, at a loss, suggests, "Why don't you call your mother?"

"I did," Aaron says, and for a wonder, laughs. "She said just don't telegraph it like you did."

He rolls his eyes, and shakes his head. "I don't know what she's talking about."

"She said you'd say that," Aaron says, and sits down. "I don't know, Dad. I don't even have a ring or anything."

"Oh," Nathan says, reminded. "I can help with that. Stay there, I'll be right back."

He has to rummage through his closet for a moment before he finds it; the smooth gold circlet, a single small diamond on top. He brings it back to Aaron, still fidgeting on the couch. "Open your hands," he says, and drops the ring in his palms.

"Whoa," Aaron says, and holds it up, turning it in the light. "It's beautiful. Where did you get it?"

"It was my mother's," he says, and shrugs. "Your grandmother. She and my father were..." He falls silent, for a moment, remembering; his mother sitting on the couch next to his father, her feet tucked up beneath her and her head on his shoulder, arms around each others' waists. "They were really happy together. Anyway, I can't use it, so you might."

Aaron drops his hands to his lap and folds the ring carefully between them. "Thanks, Dad," he says, quietly.

Nathan crosses to him, ruffles his hair. "You'll be fine, kiddo," he says, and smiles.

--

Ben is dancing with Gail, the pair of them executing a graceful polka around the dance floor, so it seems only natural that Nathan should ask Melanie to dance. For old times' sake, he says; for old times' sake, she agrees, and they set off.

They're not nearly so graceful as Gail and Ben, but they're having fun nonetheless.

"You know," Melanie says, about halfway through the dance, "I'm really glad we're not married anymore."

Nathan coughs to cover a laugh, and looks sternly at her. "Oh, really."

She smiles seraphically back at him. "Well, yes. If we were still married I'd probably hate you."

This time, he laughs openly. "Yeah, I have to say, I'd probably hate you too. No offense."

"None taken," she says, cheerfully. "Spin me." He does, and she adds, "We're just not meant to be married, I guess."

"No," he agrees, and dips her somewhat clumsily. "But we're great parents."

She smiles over his shoulder at Aaron, rocking side to side with his new wife in his arms, their eyes locked, their expressions utterly besotted. "We did raise a great kid. I guess that's the same thing."

"Close enough," he says, and spins her again.