The girls had woken not long after Eli, but after so much excitement the previous day they were lethargic and just wanted cereal and cartoons. When both were happily seated on the floor and engrossed in Dora the Explorer, Eli doctored two more mugs of coffee and took a seat on the couch next to Astrid, who had opened his laptop and had several internet tabs open.
"House hunting?" Eli asked quietly, slipping an arm around her shoulder as he sipped his coffee. "I didn't know you were planning on moving. Is the place above the coffee shop not working for you anymore?"
Astrid looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. "I don't know about you," she said, "but I'm pretty sure I got engaged last night. My soon to be husband and I are going to need a house much bigger than either of our 1-bedroom apartments if he wants to get started on those children he mentioned anytime soon." Her voice was confident, but he could see the question in her eyes.
He knew she had accepted his words the night before, but he was glad she took them as seriously as he meant them. He pressed a kiss to her temple before pointing at the screen. "He really likes that one - big backyard for a dog and a couple of kids." She grinned and pulled a notebook and pencil towards her, taking down the address and realtor's phone number, and they spent the rest of the morning deciding what they needed in their dream house.
Fortunately, his time so far as VP of the Lightman Group had been successful, and he had managed to tuck away a decent nest egg that could cover their downpayment and then some. The three females had ganged up on him and insisted on viewing houses that day - the moment Astrid told Matilda they needed help finding a house with a nursery for their children, the 6 year old became practically unstoppable. He was inclined to be pickier about the situation - who on Earth buys a house the first day they start looking? - but he couldn't deny that the old brownstone was truly perfect. Right next to a park, it had two stories, with 4 bedrooms, a backyard, and a balcony off of the master bedroom. The sisters loved it, which was a big factor as one of the bedrooms would likely be designated as theirs anyway. He checked with Astrid one last time to make sure she was happy with the decision, before signing the check and handing it over.
Rhone and Dante returned home the next day, and were surprised to find only Eli waiting for them at the airport.
"Wait, wait, let me guess...they ran away to the circus?" Rhone smirked as his husband pulled the taller man in for a hug.
"Oh, no, I finally snapped," Eli told them seriously. "Fed them to the crocodiles at the zoo. It was so nice to finally have some peace and quiet, I don't know how you handle fatherhood full time."
Eli successfully kept the conversation steered away from little girls, guiding them to his car and leaving the airport. It was only when Dante realized they were heading downtown instead of home that he pushed the subject.
"But seriously...where are our kids?"
This time Eli cracked a smile. "See, we have a bit of news for you..."
Loker went in to work three days later, like any other Monday morning, stopping at the front desk to greet Sasha, the receptionist. It was there that Cal, Gillian, and Ria found him, wishing him a good morning, just as the desk phone began ringing.
"Um, it's an Astrid for you," Sasha said, handing the phone over to Loker before she left the desk for privacy. He pushed the speakerphone button and set the phone down.
"We have an audience."
"We have an emergency is what we have!"
Loker and his colleagues looked the the phone with surprise. Astrid's voice was clearly stressed, and for some reason she had slipped into a soft Irish lilt. "She only does that when she's really anxious," Loker said quietly. "You sound like your mother, Astrid, calm down. What kind of emergency?"
"This is as calm as you get when we're both on death row! I'm at my old apartment, packing up, right, when there's a knock at the door. I figure it's Rhone or Dante coming to help for a bit, so I open it right up without looking. And guess who's standing there?"
Loker took a deep breath, getting a strong sense of foreboding as he guessed where this was going. Please be wrong, please be wrong. "Who?"
"Our mothers, Eli! All four of them! So I'm trying to play off all the boxes, Oh I just found a new place, wanted a change of scenery, no big deal. And they buy it, right? So we chat for a few minutes, they can see I'm really busy, and they're about to be on their way. But, because this is me, can we really expect me to actually get away with anything, and really it's brand new so it's not my fault, I've completely forgotten I'm wearing my ring until Mama Jones grabs my hand and starts screaming!"
At this point the dark haired man had dropped his head into his hands. "Please no."
"I cracked, Eli! I'm sorry! I couldn't look your mother and lie and I cracked! They're on their way to you. They're dangerous. Run. Please just run. Remember I love you, and please don't let them kill you." There was a 'click' as she hung up the phone on her end. By now there were three pairs of eyes trained to Loker's left hand, where a white gold band rested on his ring finger.
"Astrid and I may or may not have gotten married at the courthouse on Friday," he admitted, voice muffled by his hands. "And we may or may not have told anyone but Rhone and Dante and the girls. And apparently our mothers just found out. Ria can have my office if I don't survive this."
Before anyone even had a chance to laugh or congratulate him, an Irish accent much thicker than Astrid's rang through the building.
"Elijah Benjamin Loker, if you're not in front of me in 5 seconds you don't want to know what I'll do to you!"
Loker stiffened, before turning to the four women advancing on him through the lobby. He put on a bright smile. "Hi, moms! I didn't know you were coming to town, what a surprise! Hey, why don't we head up to my-"
"Stop."
He immediately shut his mouth, looking down at the redheaded woman who was clearly Astrid's mother. As Loker reached out to guide one of her hands to his face, his colleagues noticed for the first time that her eyes were a milky white. She was blind. But now that Loker had a good look at his mother-in-law, he could tell that his new wife was more worried than necessary. "Yes, mom?"
She let her hand rest against his cheek for several long moments, before finally a tear slipped from her eye and she wrapped her arms around her new son-in-law's waist. "You could have at least called."
He sighed as he returned the older woman's hug. They had always been incredibly close, and her tears were worse than her anger. "I know. I'm not sorry we did it, I'm not even sorry we didn't tell you before we did it, but I am sorry we didn't tell you after."
"We want a real ceremony," cut in Loker's own mother. "It's bad enough Rhone and Dante did this to us, now you. You're all just determined to break our fragile hearts."
Introductions were quickly made before the four mothers had to leave. They were only in town for two days for a continuing education course. They left for class after eliciting a promise of a very nice dinner on his dime that evening. When the door had finally closed behind them, Loker let out the breath he had been holding for what seemed like hours and turned back to the others.
"That wasn't that bad," Gillian said, eyes glittering.
"Yet," Loker insisted. "I may be paying for dinner, but Astrid and I are definitely the ones on the menu."
Cal smirked at the man. "Take the day off, mate. Spend time with your wife."
Loker immediately resisted. "You don't have to do that. We both knew we wouldn't get more than the weekend, we'll take some time later this year."
"Y'know, just for that, take the week," Cal said, clapping his shoulder as he walked off to the elevators. "I don't wanna see your face for the next seven days, or you're fired." He grinned and waved as the elevators doors closed in front of him. Gillian and Ria turned to the younger man, who looked shocked but pleased.
"You heard the man," Gillian grinned. "Out."
Two months later, the mothers got the ceremony they wanted, in the backyard of the happy couple's new home. The guest list consisted of Eli's friends from the Lightman Group and all four sets of parents. Rhone and Dante stood with them, Matilda and Claire threw flowers and carried rings, and Emily had happily agreed to become ordained online to perform the ceremony. Eli wore khaki pants and a new button down, and Astrid wore a short green dress and had forgone shoes. The whole affair only lasted a few minutes, whereupon the party moved inside. They had been drinking and eating for an hour or so when Emily's voice carried across the room.
"Wait, what?" She had been talking to Rhone's mother Elaine, but now turned to Eli and Astrid. "Did you guys really win Battle of the Bands three years in a row at Georgetown?" Astrid giggled.
"Yeah, we did actually. I forget how much fun that was sometimes."
"Do you not play together anymore?" Ria asked.
"Not really," Dante said, smiling. "Sometimes just for fun, but it's never anything formal. We hardly ever have all our instruments together."
"You know," David Loker said thoughtfully. "If I used that Cloud thing like you told me to, Eli, I should have the video from when you guys won your senior year. Do you have one of those smart TVs?"
"This is Eli, Dad, of course we have a smart TV," Astrid deadpanned, to the room's amusement. Eli had already picked up the remote and was accessing his father's information. In a few moments he had found what he was looking for. There was white noise at first, before a close up of a much younger Rhone at a very bad angle. It panned out quickly to show all four or them, Eli and Rhone carrying guitars and Dante with drumsticks in hand. They were helping each other check and secure their wires and earpieces, harmonizing quietly as they did so. The sound and video were surprisingly clear.
"You guys ready for this?" came a disembodied voice, sounding like a younger David Loker. "Only three days to graduation, this is your last chance to go out with a bang!"
"What makes you think we're not organizing a flash mob to crash graduation?" young Eli asked with a straight face.
"Oh my gosh did you?" Emily gasped out.
"No, we didn't, honey," Astrid smiled.
The screen cut to white noise again, and then they had a view of the stage close enough to see all four of the young adults' faces clearly. Eli, apparently the frontman, was introducing the song, when they unexpectedly slipped from conversation into 4 part harmony from one word to the next.
"Well, this is a clap along, so feel free to participate. This is really different than you're used to from us, it's easily the closest thing to a hoedown that we have ever written, but something tells me you won't mind. I think plenty of you might even relate to it, it goes
Nah, nah, honey I'm good
I could have another but I probably should not
I got somebody at home
And if I stay I might not leave alone
Nah, honey I'm good
I could have another but I probably should not
I gotta bid you adieu
To another I will stay true"
The four who had only heard of these performances in passing were stunned. Not only was Eli much more talented than they thought, but the four together were an impressive thing to behold. There was no doubt that they had, in fact, gone out with a bang.
"Well dammit Loker, you could have warned us," Cal complained, running a hand over his face as the video ended. "That was bloody brilliant."
"As if you would have believed him without seeing it for yourself," Gillian said.
"Yeah, well. Fair."
After all the guests had gone, Astrid's parents were the last to depart. Her father was carrying their things to the rental car, they were headed straight for the airport to get home to their retirement in New York. Astrid took advantage of a quiet moment alone with her mother on the front porch swing.
"Why're you so sad, Mum?" She slipped back into her soft version of her mother's accent, the one she'd learned not to use in her youth to avoid being picked on, but was still as natural as breathing.
"I don't mean to be sad, luv," her mother insisted. "I just wish I could have seen you today." Her mother had lost her sight long ago, during Astrid's earliest years.
Astrid frowned, taking her hand. "But you did see me today, Mum, in all the ways that matter. You were there for me today, with Dad. It was perfect."
Chloe, however, wasn't appeased. "It's not the same, luv. Can you just tell me one thing?"
"Of course, Mum, anything."
Her mother was silent for a long time. Eli and Astrid's father, James, approached quietly and leaned against the porch railing nearby.
"What color green is your dress, luv?"
Astrid's tears spilled over that moment, and she reached over to grasp both of the older woman's hands. Her accent thickened, nearly identical to her mother's now. "It's the color of our eyes, Mum." And her mother gasped and drew her daughter to herself, holding her tightly as they both cried.
It was the only color she could still remember.
I really enjoyed this one, I hope you did too :)
I don't own Lie to Me or Honey, I'm Good by Andy Grammer. I strongly recommend finding a video on youtube of an in concert performance, that's the kind of energy I envision for this. Reviews are appreciated, as always.