Fidelity
Her funeral was today.
Garet lies in his too big bed in his too big home filled with memories of her: her smile, her laugh, her bright eyes and midnight hair. He turns his head left and there is the vanity where she would brush her hair. He would steal the brush from her fingers and she would chase him around the room and her laugh would be like bells tinkling through a bright blue sky. He turns his head right and there is the window she loved sitting at. She would greet people as they walked by. Garet spent many afternoons watching the way the sun would illuminate her face.
She is everywhere, Garet realizes. He sees her smile in the blindingly blue sky and hears her laugh in the singing of birds. On his finger is the ring he doesn't have the heart to pull off. The bed sheets still hold her scent.
Garet throws an arm over his eyes, quietly overwhelmed.
But just as Garet is about to lose himself in strikingly vivid images of the most beautiful woman in the world, there is a cry. Garet's arm falls limply to his side as he turns his head to the right where the source of the crying is.
With all the willpower Garet can muster, he lifts himself up and stumbles to the cradle. The red-haired warrior peers into it and sees before him the whimpering form of his son. Bright blue eyes (just like hers! his heart screams) blink up at him as his son cries helplessly. Chubby arms reach toward him and tiny fingers grab at the air. Garet places one finger into his son's hand and the tiny baby grips it with all the strength the little guy can muster.
Tears slip down his cheeks unheeded as the infant grabs ahold of his finger and Garet reaches into the cradle to gently stroke his son's crimson hair.
Garet thinks of bright blue eyes and hair the color of midnight and holds his son gently in his arms, whispering promises into the oblivious child's ear.
"I'll raise you, Tyrell. I'll raise you the best I possibly can. For her."
Garet holds the child a little closer as he slowly falls asleep in his father's arms.
"For her."
Garet enlists the help of Jenna and Isaac to help him raise his child. Unsurprisingly, the couple is more than willing to help out.
It is strange, Jenna thinks as she watches Garet carefully hold the bottle to his son's mouth, to see such a large man like Garet hold something so tiny.
She cannot deny, however, the sincerity of his feelings when he looks at her and asks, "Am I doing it right?"
Jenna grins in response. "You're doing it perfectly."
Garet smiles gratefully at her before looking back at his child and Jenna has this very intense feeling that the only people in Garet's world right now is him and his son.
Isaac enters Garet's house to drop off some diapers when he hears a sound coming from deeper into the house. Isaac peers into Garet's room where he sees the large Mars Adept gently hold his child as his rough voice softly sings a lullaby off-key.
Tyrell sleeps soundly in his father's arms.
"Garet? What are you doing here?"
"H-he's pooping everywhere!"
Tyrell's an annoying little brat. Even now, he's crying as if he has absolutely nothing in the world.
"Shut up, little brat," Garet says as he gently lifts the young boy from his cradle and into his arms.
He has no reason to cry, not when Dad's here.
Mia eventually comes to visit.
She says a brief hello to Isaac and Jenna, then immediately heads over to Garet's place despite her friends' reassurances that Garet is fine. After all, Garet has a child to raise and no woman to help him with it. Mia knows how clumsy he can be. What if he neglects him? What if the poor baby is starving? What if Garet drops him? Mia shudders at the thought of it. She increases her pace.
When she arrives at Garet's home, she knocks frantically on the door, calling his name.
Almost immediately, the large man opens the door and with a harsh, pleading whisper says, "Hey, could you be quiet? Tyrell's sleeping right now."
There are dark bags growing beneath Garet's eyes so sometimes Jenna worries that Tyrell might be too much for him.
Then, she remembers her friend's large grin whenever he holds his son in his arms and Jenna thinks that he's just fine.
"Alright, Tyrell. Here's your food."
Mia watches, smiling, as Garet carefully feeds his son. Garet is hardly ever careful about anything, except when it comes to Tyrell. With his son, Garet's just a big teddy bear.
"Stop making a mess, brat, you're wasting all your food," Garet says, but his voice is gentle and he's smiling fondly at his son as he feeds him. He looks over at Mia and asks, "Is this right?"
Mia can't help the tiny giggle when she replies, "Yup."
Garet turns back to feeding his son, saying proudly, "You're gonna grow up to be as big as me, alright, kid? It's in your blood!"
And Mia laughs because if Tyrell becomes as big as Garet, she knows it's only because he'll need a big body to hold a big heart, just like his father.
Tyrell makes noises and he's annoying as hell when he does. Garet doesn't find it fun when the brat goads him into joining in.
Tyrell blows a raspberry then claps his hands in delight. His bright blue eyes stare up at his father as if expecting something back. Garet hesitates before blowing a raspberry back. The little kid's responding grin seems to light up the whole room. Garet can't help the smile that creeps onto his face.
Nope. This isn't fun at all.
Garet's proudest moment is when he's bouncing a growing Tyrell in his lap and the little tyke grins up at his father and says, for the first time, "Dada!"
Whenever Isaac or Jenna enters Garet's home to check up on the two of them, the warmest, cutest sight welcomes them; their big, lumbering, clumsy friend plays with his tiny little boy, the brightest grin on the warrior's face as he light-heartedly teaches his son how to walk.
Soon, Sheba comes to visit as well. And with Sheba, comes Felix and Piers.
"Sheba was worried about Tyrell," Felix explains to Jenna's confused expression when the three of them walk through the door of her home.
Piers chuckles. "She begged for us to come visit so she can check up on them."
"So how are they?" Sheba says, ignoring her companions and looking eagerly at Jenna. The pink-haired Mars Adept chuckles at Sheba's concern.
"I know this is totally counter-intuitive, but Garet's actually a great father. You don't have to worry, Sheba. Isaac and I are helping him out. Mia comes to visit often, too, so Garet has a lot of support."
Sheba still looks uncertain and gives Jenna a quick peck on the cheek in farewell before running out the door in the direction of Garet's home. Felix and Piers follow her soon after.
When they arrive at Garet's home, they barge through the door and immediately freeze in their tracks.
Garet is on the floor of their home, laughing, as he allows his son to crawl all over his body. The red-haired baby claps in delight as he wriggles in Garet's arms. The Mars warrior glances over at the three people who are now staring at the two of them as if they were aliens on a different planet, but the large man takes no heed. Sitting up and placing his son between his legs, he greets them.
"Hey, guys. What are you doing here?" Garet's grin is wider than the galaxy as his son, giggling, tries to grab at Garet's face. "Tyrell, say hi to your auntie and uncles!" Garet lifts the baby's arms and makes a waving motion towards his visitors. Tyrell throws his arms out and roars toward their guests and Garet laughs.
"Sorry, guys. Haven't taught him manners, yet." But Garet doesn't look very apologetic at all because Tyrell is wriggling against him causing Garet to burst out laughing at his antics.
Piers smiles fondly at the pair. "Maybe your fears were unfounded, Sheba." Felix grunts in agreement.
Sheba doesn't answer, only moves toward the pair and calls, "Let me play with him, too, Garet!"
And on that day, Tyrell gets two playmates.
Tyrell wants to play with Daddy, but he's across the room, sitting on his armchair. The little boy tries to crawl, but progress is slow and he wants to get to Daddy faster. Grunting with effort, Tyrell places two hands on the floor and tries to do the thing that Daddy always tries to makes him do.
Garet looks at his son in confusion, wondering what the weird little booger is trying to do now, when his eyes nearly pop right out of his sockets. Tyrell, tongue sticking out in effort, stands on two shaky legs before reaching his arms out toward his Daddy and takes a clumsy step forward before falling back down onto the ground.
Garet is there to catch him though, and the large warrior's grin can light up the whole of Angara as his laugh reverberates deep within his chest. "You took your first step without me, Tyrell! Great job!"
The red-haired little boy doesn't understand what Daddy is saying, but he blows a raspberry and claps anyway.
Isaac, Jenna, and Garet watch their two sons play together. Tyrell is a lot more animated and loud than Matthew is, but they can tell the two boys are having fun.
Garet's face is unreadable when he says, "I hope Tyrell doesn't grow up to be like me."
The couple glances at each other, concerned, before looking back at their best friend. "Garet…" Jenna starts, but trails off because her husband lays a hand on her shoulder.
Isaac thinks of journeys across continents and laughter under the stars and the warmth of his best friend's back against his own.
"If Tyrell ends up being just like you," Isaac says with a smile, "as a parent, I think that would be your greatest accomplishment."
He never does this when anyone else is around because everyone will complain and shout that he'll drop his son.
Garet throws Tyrell into the air and the little tyke giggles with pleasure. Garet grins and does it again, throwing him just a little bit higher, but he catches him and the boy is safely in Garet's arms once again.
Garet doesn't know why everyone is so against him doing this.
Drop Tyrell? Garet thinks as he catches Tyrell smoothly and the brat laughs and laughs and laughs. Impossible.
When Ivan comes to visit, he brings his daughter and the three of them, Karis, Matthew, and Tyrell, play together as if they never knew any different.
"They're going to be best friends," Jenna says with certainty as she watches the way Karis hands Tyrell the stick they were playing with.
Matthew nudges Tyrell with a clumsy arm and Tyrell throws his arms around Matthew, screaming, "Matt!"
The blond boy sits there, already used to Tyrell's affections. Tyrell turns to Karis. "Karis!"
The green-haired girl giggles and shrieks in delight.
Ivan's grin doesn't leave his face when he watches the three of them get along. "I agree."
"Hey, hey, Isaac!" Garet calls to his best friend. "Watch this!" He turns to his red-haired son and extends his fist toward him.
Tyrell immediately bumps fists with his dad, grinning and giggling like a fool.
Garet turns back to Isaac and his face could literally light up the whole universe. "Isn't my son the coolest?"
Isaac just laughs and laughs.
"Daddy, what was Mommy like?"
Garet smiles gently, pulls the little kid onto his knee and asks, "Didn't you ask me that question yesterday?"
His son only demands, "More stories!"
Garet laughs and says, fondly, "Whatever you say, brat."
"Daddy, Daddy!" Tyrell screams, crying, as he runs into Garet's arms. He points to his knee, big, fat tears rolling down his chubby cheeks, and says, "Boo-boo!"
Garet looks and says, "Awww, Tyrell, that's barely a scratch! Can't hurt much, can it?"
His son only continues to sniffle pathetically. Garet grumbles as he gathers the little boy in his arms. "Alright, alright. Let's get Auntie Mia to fix you up, okay?"
Tyrell doesn't reply, but his crying does seem to slow down the longer he stays in his father's embrace.
Whenever Piers and Felix come by, Garet and Isaac always end up going to the tavern, leaving Tyrell and Matthew with Jenna and Sheba.
But Garet's already tipsy when they see Tyrell standing right behind them.
"Tyrell! What are you doing here?" Isaac exclaims. "Go back to Auntie Jenna!"
But Tyrell refuses. "No! I wanna be with Daddy!"
Garet laughs lightheartedly at this. "Awwww! C'mere, kid!" And Garet places the giggling toddler onto his lap.
Isaac looks disapprovingly at his best friend. "Garet, you're drunk."
"Drunk or not, I'm still the coolest Dad!" Garet exclaims after downing a jug of beer. "Isn't that right, Tyrell?"
Tyrell only giggles and exclaims, throwing his hands in the air, "Coolest Dad!"
Isaac can't help it. He smiles.
Garet gets drunk during a festival the town held in celebration of the coming harvest. Mia is the one who volunteers to help him home, a young Tyrell, exhausted and tired from the day's festivities, following closely behind her.
When they get home, Mia puts Tyrell to bed and then proceeds to help Garet get into his own. She is about to leave when Garet grabs her arm and says, "I used to think you were the most beautiful thing in the world."
Mia stops, abruptly, and chuckles bitterly to no one in particular. "You should have told me that ten years ago, Garet."
But the large warrior doesn't hear her, lost in his own drunkenness. "But do you know who I think is the most beautiful thing in the world, now?"
Mia pries Garet's fingers off her arm and gently lays his on the bed. "Yes, I know. Your wife. You've told me so countless times before. Now go to bed."
"Her, too."
Mia stops to stare at Garet, surprised. His eyes are closed and she knows he's going to fall asleep soon. But right before he slips into unconsciousness, he mumbles one word, barely audible, but Mia hears it.
"Tyrell."
Tyrell grows up into a young man who can inhale platefuls of food without effort. He is clumsy and hotheaded and stubborn, with a grin that lights up the universe and a laugh that rings across continents. He never thinks before acting and finds great pleasure in showing off. He is perpetually the headache of the village.
He brings a smile to the depressed and a laugh to the perplexed. He is never ashamed and always optimistic. He grows up knowing that the grass is always greener whenever he takes the time to make it so.
Garet could not be any more proud of him.
Watching the back of the young Fire Adept as he takes the first steps of his journey across Weyard, Garet feels that familiar worry bubble up his chest. Because if there's anything about adventures, it's that the adventurer always gets hurt. His body will scar. His heart will break. His soul will bend and twist. He will not remain the same kid who left his old man behind.
Garet thinks of a chubby baby whose cries could break windows, of an energetic toddler who laughs at the world, of a rambunctious teen with fire in his eyes. Of a young man who, no matter how old he may get, will always belong in his arms, a perfect fit in a way that only sons are.
Garet's vision becomes a little blurry but he continues to watch Tyrell disappear over a hill across the bridge, knowing that his love can burn through worlds if he let it try.
The sun climbs slowly over the horizon and, soon, his son is gone.