Author's note: This is among the schmoopiest things I've ever written. It also contains some non-standard family arrangements. I'm not about to apologize for either of those things. :-P
Coming back to Haven was different than it used to be. No weird Troubles, no promise to keep to his dead jerkass of a father, and a whole lot of good memories to offset the bad ones. Duke disembarked from the Rouge and strolled down the marina, whistling quietly to himself. There were a few new houses, the ice cream parlour had been touched up, but in general, the town looked much the same as when he'd left a year ago.
The Wuornos-Parker house was less than twenty minutes away on foot, and Duke grinned before he'd even entered the gate. It was such a cosy place, with a picket fence and all, even if it was painted blue and the grass beyond grew a little too tall. No porch, though, which he thought was a missed opportunity. Somehow, even though it wasn't a life he'd want for himself, there was a sense of home about the place, and the people in it.
As he stepped up to the door, he could hear a baby crying inside, which stunned him for a moment, his hand frozen half-raised, until he collected himself and made the knock.
A little while later, Nathan opened up, in crumpled pants, dishevelled hair, and with the source of the crying positioned across his shoulder. Most likely, that baby was the cause of his outwards appearance, too.
"Duke!" Nathan said with a wide grin. "Jesus, I wasn't expecting you."
He pulled Duke into a hug that was stronger and more confident, now that he could feel again, even though the baby was caught up in the hug between them and didn't seem too happy about that fact.
"Good to see you, Nate. And, uh, you." Duke looked down at the baby, then up at Nathan with a quirk of his mouth. "That's new. I mean, I'd heard, but... wow."
"Wow just about covers it." Nathan got the dopiest expression on his face and bounced the baby up and down in his arms. The cries were gradually becoming fainter, as if the baby had forgotten the reason for them. Nathan motioned for Duke to come inside. "Been a while. How was Suriname?"
Duke closed the door behind him. The inside of the house was much the same as he'd last seen it, though with more stuff everywhere – a chair by the door with clothes thrown over it, photos on the wall, and on the chest of drawers he saw a wooden darter bird that he'd sent them himself. Not a pricey gift, but it had been hell to wrap, and he was pleased to see that it was still in one piece.
"Suriname was ages ago," he said, memories coming back that had been pushed away by more recent ones. "But good! How have you been?"
"Good. Hectic." Nathan's expression was tender as he looked down at the baby. He angled her so she could see the visitor. "This is Lucy. It's about time you two met."
"Lucy?" Duke said. "Really?" But he smiled at the baby, who had fallen quiet and was watching him with narrow, dark eyes, as if she were judging him. For all he knew, that might be the case. At which point were babies old enough to have opinions? "Hi, Lucy. I'm your uncle Duke, I guess."
Nathan held her out, clearly expecting Duke to hold her, and Duke immediately protested.
"Oh, no. What? Would you entrust me with a baby?"
"Sure."
Without really having any control of the situation, Duke found himself ushered off into the livingroom and with little Lucy positioned in his arms. She wasn't as wobbly as he'd feared she would be, but still really small and breakable, making little whimpering sounds as her daddy got her arranged into this new person's hold. He wondered what possessed some parents to be so ready to hand over their offspring to anyone in their vicinity, but at the same time, this level of trust from Nathan was still a new enough experience that he held his tongue and tried his best to follow the terse instructions in baby-holding.
"Relax," Nathan told him. "Breathe. She's not going to fall off."
Duke swallowed. "She's just so... tiny."
"You should have seen her three months ago."
There was no reproach in the statement, but Duke felt it nevertheless. "Was she a small baby?"
"Seven pounds. About average."
"Seven pounds," Duke repeated, stroking his thumb across one of those little hands. Lucy grabbed hold of it, with a strength that was strangely comforting, and stopped whimpering. Seven pounds was less than a dumbbell, and compared to that, he figured her current size was downright sturdy. "The things I miss. I wasn't even gone that long."
"A year," Nathan pointed out.
"I..." It didn't feel like a year, but there was no denying that it had been August when he left, and it was August now. "I guess I was."
Even though Duke was the one officially holding the baby, Nathan was close enough to let a hand rest on her tuft of hair, a gesture that seemed to come naturally to him. His fingers played with the dark locks.
"So is this everything you dreamed of?" Duke asked, keeping his tone light and slightly mocking.
There was none of that in Nathan's voice, however, when he replied, "Yeah."
"And Audrey? How's she taking to motherhood? Where is Audrey, anyway?"
"Grocery shopping. She'll be back in a moment – and thrilled to see you, no doubt. And yeah, she's taking to the role."
"Nothing like you do, I bet," Duke teased.
Nathan smiled, and there were madonnas in churches that didn't look half as beatific. "Well, this little sweetheart is impossible to resist."
"I guess," Duke said. Lucy was still watching him with a serious intensity, and he added, only half joking, "Babies all look like little old people to me. You know." He sucked in his lips and squinted.
"She's got Audrey's mouth," Nathan said.
"Does she? I hadn't noticed."
"And chin."
Nathan touched Lucy's jaw, and her lips curled into a smile.
"Oh, look at that," Duke said, fascinated by this familiar expression on someone else's face. "That's Audrey's smile all right."
"Told you. Apart from that, though, she doesn't really look like either of us." Nathan sat back, and added, softly, "For one thing, she has brown eyes. Audrey and I both have blue."
"Yeah," Duke said.
"Had them right from the start. That's pretty rare." His gaze was almost as steady as Lucy's, and he seemed to be waiting for some kind of reaction.
"No baby blues for her, huh?" Lucy's eyes were a pretty deep brown, too, like baby pictures of... Remnants of his education returned to his memory, and the thought was so unsettling that he swallowed before he asked the question: "Didn't they teach us in biology that that was next to impossible? Two blue-eyed parents and a brown-eyed child?"
"Yup," Nathan said, his face impassive.
"Shit," Duke breathed, fighting the wave of panic that rose up in him. "No. Oh, no. Jeez, Nathan, I'm so sorry."
"Why?" Nathan asked. He wasn't smiling, but there was a hint of it round the edges, just waiting to break through.
"Why!? She's m... I never... I swear to you, I never wanted to cause any trouble between you two."
"And you haven't. Calm down."
"Calm down? She's my kid! Isn't she?"
"Yeah, and you're scaring her." Nathan resolutely took Lucy back, rocking her again to take away her discomfort from Duke's raised voice.
Duke stood up and watched them both, hands hanging helplessly. This was the right way around, Nathan holding the baby, Nathan being the father and the husband. He wasn't supposed to feature into it.
"I'm so sorry."
"Stop saying that." Nathan glared at him, though the hint of a smile was still present. "It's not like you did anything behind my back. We asked you to join in. I should remember, I was there." The smile broke through into a full-on grin. "I had a pretty good time, too."
"Yeah, but... she's your baby." Were those his eyes, in that baby face? His eyes and Audrey's mouth, on a whole new person, why hadn't he ever considered that possibility? After Helena, you'd think he would have learned. "You're the one who was there, who went to the classes, who saw the delivery. You're the one who's married to Audrey. You're supposed to be the dad."
"I am the dad," Nathan said. "It's my name on the papers. If you want to sue for paternity..."
"No! Of course not." That came out a touch too quickly. He didn't want to be a deadbeat dad either. Were those his only choices? Deadbeat dad, or home wrecker?
"Good." His hold on Lucy became firmer, more protective. "And if you're thinking of her as any kind of misfortune..."
"No. No, she's... she's perfect."
"All right, then. We're on the same page."
Duke sat back down and sighed. "I don't think we're even reading the same book."
"Listen to me." Nathan sat down as well, leaning forward so that Lucy once again was close enough for both of them to touch. "This is our baby. Audrey's and yours, and mine. Blood isn't everything."
Duke bit his lip. "But can you really... for someone else's kid?"
"That's what my dad did."
The truth of that hit close to home. As difficult as Nathan's relationship with his father had been, Garland Wuornos had hands-down been better than Max Hansen. Or Simon Crocker, for that matter. And Nathan was better than either one of them, no doubts about that. Still, where did that leave Duke?
"I love her more than anything, and I am every bit her dad. So are you. But we're not forcing you into anything. If you want to leave, that's fine too."
"No." Duke patted down Lucy's hair, touching that little head to make sure that it was real. "Are you kidding me? I already failed one kid, I'm not gonna do it again."
"Yeah, I know the feeling," Nathan said quietly. He turned to his – their – daughter. "So, Lucy, reintroduction. This is your bio dad. He's a good guy, even if he's a bit dumb."
"Thanks for that," Duke said, and leaned in closer. "Hey, kid. If you ever get in any kind of trouble, I have your back, okay?"
Lucy blinked at them both, yawned, and closed her eyes.
"You were always a part of this family," Nathan said, and after a moment's hesitation added, "We love you."
Duke swallowed hard and put his hand over Nathan's, on top of the baby. He stood up abruptly and asked, "Do you have anything to drink? I think I need it."
"Cupboard," Nathan said. "I'm afraid we're all out of champagne, but there's a bottle of red."
Duke fetched the wine and took down two glasses, pouring them full and handing one over to Nathan. He drained his own and filled it again before putting the cork back in. Only then did he manage to say, "I love you too. Always have. But she'll be so messed up, you realize that, right?"
"Lots of kids have more than two parents," Nathan said. "We all care, that's a good deal."
The door slam was unexpected – Duke hadn't heard anyone approach, and his breath hitched as Audrey called cheerfully from the hallway:
"Incoming bags!"
Duke stood up, while Nathan, arms full of baby, remained seated.
"Never mind, I can handle them!" Audrey called again. Duke wondered whether to join her in the kitchen, but he wasn't sure what to say, and Nathan made no move.
After a while, Audrey ducked her head into the living room. "Is Lucy... Duke!"
Her head was followed by the rest of her body, and she hurried over, throwing her arms around him and spinning him around in a hug.
"It's so great to see you! How have you been? Are you..." Seeing his expression, she turned to look at Nathan, and noticed the glasses on the table. "You told him, huh?"
"Didn't seem fair to wait."
She smiled at Duke, the smile that had looked so sweet on a baby yet made him weak-kneed when placed on Audrey. "Congratulations."
"Are you sure you're fine with this?" he asked her, still holding on to her arms.
"Of course I am, don't be silly. You're family." She loosened herself and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder before going to get another glass. "Well, if everyone's celebrating, I will too."
"Should you be drinking?" Duke asked.
"I'm not pregnant anymore. Lucy's not going to be boozed up on breast milk just because I have half a glass of wine." She poured the wine out and clinked her glass against his. "Drink up, sailor. You look a bit pale-gilled."
"You should have seen him before I talked him down," Nathan said. "I never thought Duke would be the one to have a massive meltdown over this."
"It's not a massive meltdown," Duke protested.
At the same time, Audrey said, "To be fair, we've had more time to get used to the idea. And remember how that hospital nurse kept giving me suspicious looks?"
"She had a lot of sympathy for me," Nathan said drily.
They exchanged mischievous grins.
"So are you staying for a while?" Audrey asked, snaking an arm around Duke's waist.
"For a while, sure," he said, watching his sleeping daughter. "I hadn't planned on making it permanent, but now... I don't know."
"You're always welcome here." She leaned in and kissed him on the jaw. "All the way welcome."
His stomach filled with butterflies like nothing he'd felt since his high school year and a certain lanky kid behind the gym bleachers. "Oh, yeah, because that's not going to traumatize her."
"We'll lock the door," Audrey said, undeterred. "Send her on a sleepover, when she's old enough. Parents having sex is one of those things kids just don't want to know about. The number of parents doesn't really matter."
He laughed quietly and touched Lucy's little button baby nose. "At least she escaped my nose."
"I like your nose," Audrey said, kissing it. From there, she moved to kiss him again, straight on the lips, and he opened his mouth to welcome it.
Nathan coughed. "If you're going to be frenching my wife..."
"No," Duke said, backing off. "Of course not."
Nathan's eyes glittered. "I want in." As an afterthought, he added, "Just let me put the baby to bed, first."