Author's Note: This is a sequel to Nunethical; it can be read as a continuation of Nunethical, or as a separate entity. I decided to somewhat incorporate the ideas I had and write this, hopefully it'll live up to its predecessor. Set several years after Briarcliff was run into administration by the State of Massachusetts; Timothy has left the Church, Eunice had already renounced. I also need to give thanks to Anissa for helping with a bunch of things during my writing!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and the FX network.
Rising early, as he did every morning, Timothy rolled over, slamming down the button on his alarm clock before he groaned and heaved himself into an upright position, tilting his head side-to-side, feeling each of his vertebra cracking. The four or so hours sleep he was wracking up was simply not enough, but he was functioning, for now. He had a long day ahead of him, before it all began again.
After, showering and dressing, Timothy drove over to her place. The same house she'd be relocated to when she'd been somewhat forced to leave Briarcliff with the baby, Magdalene. He had been making the same journey almost every day for the last couple of years. Turning out of the parking lot of the bar he was residing above, he took the second left, then the third left and finally the second right, and before long he pulled up outside of the McKee's, honking his horn. When his daughter didn't rush out, Timothy decided on going in to find her.
Rapping his knuckles on the door before he turned the doorknob, Timothy smiled, peeking around the edge of the door. Glancing inside, he saw a petite blonde wisp flying along the hallway towards the door, arms outstretched before he pushed the door open wide, bending slightly, with his arms outstretched also. Timothy chuckled, lifting his daughter and steeping inside the house, glancing around as he pushed the door closed behind himself, kissing Magdalene on the cheek.
It was then he heard the pots and pans banging together, clanging from the kitchen. Timothy gently set his daughter back on her feet and smiled to her, raising a brow in question as to what the commotion was. Before Magdalene could respond, out rushed their little boy, Matthew. Timothy shook his head, amused as he saw Magdalene giggle when she realized her brother was naked from the waist down. The toddler scampered over to his father, still clanging the lids together like military cymbals, behind him, Mary Eunice finally appeared looking bedraggled until she saw Timothy, he had scooped both of their children and was gazing back at her from his spot in the hallway.
"...I didn't hear you come in..." Mary Eunice finally spoke up, fixing the collar of her dress as she felt her cheeks flush.
"My apologies, I did knock first..." Timothy responded, glancing between their children, slowly letting Magdalene down before he winced and allowed the now wriggling toddler to escape, "Maggie, do you have everything? Run and get your coat..."
Mary watched their daughter flit away to grab her satchel and coat, and she sighed, "Timothy...don't call her that. Her name is Magdalene..."
"Yes, I'm aware of that, Mary...you look exhausted, perhaps we should...cancel tonight."
"No." Mary responded almost too swiftly. She cleared her throat and glanced down, allowing a shaky breath to hiss out, "No, I-I'll be fine...later..." she nodded.
As Timothy made to respond, Magdalene rushed back to his side, reaching up for his hand, "I'm ready now. Take me to school?" she glanced up expectantly, smiling angelically at him. She looked so much like her mother when she did that. Squeezing at his hand, Magdalene urged her father onward, "Come on, time for school!" she exclaimed excitedly, ushering Timothy out of the door, leaving Mary alone with a wormy toddler.
It did not take Timothy long to drive to the school. Once they arrived however, there were cars backed up, trying to allow parents and school buses to park up and drop the students at school. Glancing around, Magdalene tried to spy any of the friends she had made at Kindergarten, waving to students from the other homerooms. Timothy made sure to park outside the gate for the Kindergarten class, gently patting Magdalene's head and she unbuckled her seatbelt, and skipped off with the small group of girls she had become friends with.
Timothy watched as her blonde pigtails disappeared in the throng of gingham and paisley, before he started up and drove on towards the high school site. Once there, he made his way to the classroom he had been allocated for his seminars. He was leading the abstinence classes. Even though his devotion to God had ended with his renouncement of his vows, Timothy still held onto some of the values the Church considered sacred. After his consideration of suicide, Timothy had realized his priorities were all wrong, and decided providing for Magdalene was of more importance than his devotion to the Lord. He could do that from his bedside, or in his car.
The students soon began to pour into the classroom as Timothy was still setting up. This was his first seminar of the academic year. He had done this for a whole year already, working with the Sophomore students of '68. He always began a new programme with the Sophomore students, the Freshman were always still too young to be truly thrown into any sexual education practise. Glancing up and over his glasses, Timothy nodded to his students, greeting them and offering seats.
"Welcome, welcome back all. As this is a new academic year, with some fresh faces among us, I would like to give you all the opportunity to pose any questions you deem fit for discussion..." Timothy nodded, smiling before he turned to his notes, missing the face of the student who spoke up.
"Who was the child you were taking to Kindergarten this morning?"
Timothy swallowed and glanced up at his students, his eyes darting around the room, all the expectant faces staring back at him as they seemingly waited on baited breath for an answer. He cleared his throat, "That...that was my daughter, Magdalene." he nodded and stiffened, "Now, are there any questions relating to the material of study?"
"Considering this abstinence class, you don't really practice what you preach...Father."
This time, he caught the perpetrator; a pretty little thing, yet sassy. He could see that much already, her attitude was awful. Clearing his throat, Timothy raised his brows and rested himself against the desk behind him, nodding, "You're entirely right, Ms...?"
"Meg Hart..." she made sure to annunciate every syllable in her name as she glared back at him, challenging him.
"Ms. Hart...the act itself was one full of regret...on account of both parties, but...we were..."
"Who's 'we'...?" Meg pushed him further.
"Mary Eunice..." a gentle voice chirped. A simple girl glanced up, and across the room from behind heavy horn-rimmed spectacles until she caught Timothy's gaze and saw his narrowed eyes.
"You are, Ms...?"
"Leder. Roberta..." she smiled up at him cautiously, and she realized he recognized her, he was studying her face.
"Yes, Ms. Leder...Ms. McKee is Magdalene's mother..." he sighed gently, getting lost in his thoughts, "Another former servant of the Lord..."
A few chortles echoed around the room before silence overtook everything once the students finally realized what Timothy had said. Hearing the silence, Timothy was startled from his reverie and glanced around the room, more expectant faces. He didn't know what else to say. Within several minutes of the seminar beginning, he had admitted to not abstaining from intercourse, he had a child and he had had sexual relations with another member of the clergy; vows had been broken.
Holding up his transcript, Timothy finally broke his contact with the students and glanced to the booklet, "We're ready to begin..." he stated hesitantly, "Everybody please turn to page two..."
The rest of the day dredged on, like a rowboat in murky waters, pushing hopefully through lily pads and spawn. Timothy swiftly packed up his briefcase and made his way to the Kindergarten yard, ready to collect his daughter. In the yard he saw Roberta, collecting her younger brother, he nodded in acknowledgement before he turned to see his daughter rushing across the yard, coat flapping behind her as she beamed, ready to go home to mother and brother.
Parking up outside the house, Magdalene barely gave Timothy enough time to turn off the ignition before she flew out of the door and raced inside the house to greet her mother and younger brother, Matthew. Timothy followed, carrying her coat and school satchel over his arm, placing them on the dining table before he turned and came face-to-face with Eunice.
"Timothy...th-there's something we need to talk about..." she moistened her lips before breaking eye contact and glancing to the floor.