Chapter 1: Apple-Pie Life
Being married to a man that served in the military was a surprise for Skyler. If you'd told her as a little girl that she'd marry a fine young man that served his country on the front lines, she gasp and say "No way! He'll get blown up!, I want my future husband alive." But she did.
At age sixteen, she met Nate O'Sullivan in high school, and the two fell in love. They married in a quaint ceremony, surrounded by friends and family - nothing too fancy.
As she rolled over in her cozy bed, Skyler let out a tiny laugh at the thought of her younger self. She'd never wanted a casual, Apple-Pie Lifestyle as a kid. Now, she wouldn't have it any other way. She had Nate, their newborn baby Shaun, and their Mister Handy robot Codsworth. Their small little family.
Skyler got dressed into a blue button up blouse, tucking it into a white pair of pants. Damn it where is Nate? she wondered. He has his speech today.
Walking out of the bedroom in a pair of short heels, she padded down the hallway of their home, calling out Nate's name. As she went further down the hall, she could hear his voice coming from the bathroom. Opening the sliding door as quietly as she could, she could see her husband standing in front of the mirror, muttering lines from the speech he'd prepared.
"War... War never changes," Nate mumbled, letting out a sigh as he wiped off the post-shower fog from the mirror.
Skyler walked up to Nate, wrapping her arms around him from behind. "Feeling nervous, honey?" she asked.
Nate let out a breathless chuckle. "Just a tad."
Skyler chuckled as well, letting go of her husband and making her way to his side. He looked away from the mirror and met her green aqua eyes with his blue hued ones.
She could never get over just how handsome he was. Dark hair, sun kissed muscular skin with hazel blue eyes to boot. He was a looker. When he came home from the military, Nate had worried what she'd think of the scars that stretched across his nose, stretching half-way across his left cheek. The second a cut on his eyebrow. She'd told him he looked badass and he laughed away all his anxieties. That was the thing about Nate and Skyler; they loved each other despite the flaws. He loved her even though she had a gap between her front teeth and a ridiculous laugh. She loved him despite his hilarious addiction to Sugar Bombs and his habit of overthinking.
"You're gonna be great, Nate," she comforted him with a smile. "The Veteran's Hall won't know what hit 'em - now can I use the mirror please?"
Nate nodded, grinning and ducking his head in embarrassment as he backed away from the mirror. "I'm gonna go grab a coffee," he informed her, kissing her on the cheek before he left the bathroom.
Smiling to herself, Skyler gazed at her reflection.
No matter how many times she and Nate made trips to the beach, she could never get a tan; "His sexy pale lady," he'd call her. The light dusting of freckles across her face were more prominent when she was a child. Taking the hair tie off her wrist, Skyler worked on putting her short auburn hair into a small bun at the back of her head. No matter how hard she tried she could never do one of those buns that sit on the top of a woman's head. Once that was done, she did her regular makeup routine - berry purple lipstick, some eyeliner that wasn't too flashy, and some dark eyeshadow.
"Okay, I'm all set," she mumbled to herself. "Now, coffee or I'm not going to function for the rest of the day."
Skyler made her way out the bathroom and into the kitchen. Front and center, taking care of the coffee was of course, Codsworth. "Ahh, good morning Mum!" he greeted her in his usual posh, perky British manner. "Care for some coffee? I've already made Master Nate some."
"Some coffee would be great, thanks Codsworth."
Codsworth got to work on the coffee. With a few movements of his robotic arms and some flailing about with a coffee pot, it was finished and ready to go. Whirling back around, he set the coffee on the counter. "Here you go Mum, and do be careful not to burn your tongue - it's 173.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Brewed to perfection!"
Skyler took the mug by the handle and took a wary sip. The coffee was indeed hot, but like Codsworth said, "brewed to perfection." It made her still sleepy form very happy. "Thank you Codsworth! It's great."
Codsworth waved a robotic arm in a dismissive manner. "Ahh, you're most welcome!" A few moments later Shaun started to cry. "Sounds like someone made a stinky! You two relax - I've got everything under control!" And with that, he floated up the hallway and into their baby's room.
"You know, at first I wasn't so sure how Codsworth would be with Shaun," Nate admitted from behind the newspaper he was reading. "But's he's doing really great with him."
"I told you he would be," Skyler replied, chuckling quietly at a Grognak comic Nate left on the counter. "Codsworth is a sweetie."
Nate opened his mouth to reply when suddenly the doorbell rang. He rolled his eyes. "It's probably that guy again," he grumbled.
"I'll shoo him away," Skyler teased.
She went and answered the door. A very bright, chirpy man in a light brown trench coat with a matching fedora stood at the doorstep with a big smile on his face that screamed Customer Service.
"Why hello there Ma'am!" he greeted her in an equally chirpy voice. "My, I've been trying to get hold of you for the past three days!"
Skyler grinned an awkward toothy smile at him. "I'm sorry Sir, I've just been terribly busy with uh, work. And my baby. Lot's of sleepless nights."
Nate choked back a laugh from the sofa. Skyler shot him a look, raising her eyebrows as if to say "Don't you dare, smart ass". He grinned at her playfully in response.
"Ah, I see," said the chirpy man. "Well, I am a representative from Vault-Tec, and I'm here to tell you that the world has gone to heck in a hand-basket! And thanks to your family service in the military, you have gotten a spot in our local Vault!" He waved a hand in a dramatic manner. "Vault 111."
"Will there be enough room?" She queried, gesturing to her husband.
"Oh of course! You and your family will have plenty of room - now of course, the robot cannot enter, but you guys are totally fine." He pulled a pen out of the front pocket of his coat and clicked it. "So, shall we get some details filled out? Then we're all prepared for - ahem - the Big Kaboom."
Skyler nodded. "Okay, let's get this over with."
It took a minute to fill out the registration form. Gosh this guy's definitely a character, Skyler thought to herself. Once the signing was over, the Vault-Tec Rep took a step back.
"Excellent! I'll run this over to the Vault now. Your family is now officially, 'Prepared for the future!'" And with that he took off.
"Uh... thank you?" she called out, confused. Shaking her head, she closed the door.
"Hey, it's peace of mind Sweetheart," Nate said comfortingly.
Skyler smiled at him, reaching to stroke his cheek. "Anything for my boys."
Shaun's crying had started up again. Codsworth came floating from down the hallway. "Miss Skyler, Shaun has been changed but he won't stop crying. I believe some of that 'maternal affection' would be recommended."
Skyler chuckled and headed up the hallway into Shaun's room. In the blue crib that was gifted by Nate's parents was the crying little bundle of joy, waving his arms about, tiny fists clenched. Bending over the bar of the crib, she gently stroked her son's head. "It's okay Sweetie," she crooned in a soft voice, "Mommy's here."
"Is my boy behaving for his mother?" Nate's voice came from behind her. He wrapped his arms around Skyler's waist as she had done earlier. "I fixed the mobile above his crib, give it a spin; he loves it."
So Skyler gave it a spin. Tinkling nursery rhyme music came from it, settling the boy down. His cries became faint whimpers.
"There we go, on his best behaviour just like his dad - well, most of the time, at least," Nate added with a chuckle.
Skyler turned around, still in Nate's arms. The pair gazed at each other lovingly, and then kissed. It always gave Skyler a strange sensation; she felt her heart flutter but she also felt calm, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Nate's hands pulled her closer to him, their bodies pressed together, Skyler's hands reaching up to wrap themselves around his neck. After a couple minutes they pulled away, both of them grinning.
"You know," Nate began, his voice husky. "I was thinking we could go to the park later today. The weather's nice."
Skyler smirk and pressed another kiss onto Nate's lips. "The park? With you? Right, because I want to get pregnant again."
They both giggled and kissed each other again, this time more gentle.
"Sir? Mum?"
"Codsworth? What's wrong?" Nate asked, the lovebirds pulling away.
"There's something you both need to see."
"We... we have confirmed reports. Yes. Confirmed reports of nuclear detonations in New York and Pennsylvania... My God."
A short silence followed after the television went dead. Skyler, who looked at Nate holding Shaun, took a shaky breath, "We need to get to the Vault, now!"
"I've got Shaun, let's go!"
Nate went out the door first. Skyler's eyes darted around the room, her eyes landing on a Polaroid photo. It was of her, Nate and Shaun. Taking it and hastily putting it in her pocket, she took one last glance at Codsworth. "Take care Codsworth," she said tearfully.
"You too, Miss Skyler," Codsworth replied, sounding equally emotional.
Skyler bolted out the door, sprinting after her husband and son. When she caught up with them, they were standing behind the Vault-Tec Rep, who was arguing with a soldier.
"I AM Vault-Tec! I'm going in!"
A soldier in Power Armour behind the first soldier revved up his minigun, making everyone scream. Skyler pushed herself between the Vault-Tec Rep and the soldiers. We're wasting time! Either we stand around arguing or we're all dead. "We need to get in, we're on the list!"
"Name?" the soldier asked.
"O'Sullivan," Skyler replied quickly.
The solider checked the clipboard. "Alright, you three go through. Hurry."
Skyler and Nate wasted no time, rushing past the soldiers and people and sprinting up the hill to the vault. They stood on the platform, surrounded by a few of their neighbours.
"Is Shaun okay?" Skyler asked, staggering to her husband and clutching onto him.
"He's fine," Nate replied breathlessly. "We're gonna be okay. I love you."
"I love -" Skyler was cut of by a loud boom.
Up ahead, was a large, mushroom cloud from the bomb. It billowed up toward the sky.
"Send them down!"
"Yes Sir!"
The breeze picked up and the mushroom cloud dissolved. The winds became faster, and Skyler swore she could see the deadly nuclear shock wave coming. The platform started going down... down... the shock wave coming closer and closer. People were screaming. Nate wrapped an arm around Skyler and they both knelt down, clinging to each other and Shaun. Skyler closed her eyes as she felt the world shake, as everything she'd ever known above her was wiped out by the bomb.
I would just like to say thank you to random guest Bob that commented and pointed out to me how much of an absolute fuckery the file I uploaded was.
So hopefully now that people can read this, you'll maybe like it!