Title: Old Children's Movies and Pop Corn
Author: Bru Cardoso
Summary: A sequel to 'Old Cartoons and Chocolate Ice Cream'. Fluffy. One shot Lit
Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, just the plot... you know the drill.
A/N: A sequel to "Old Cartoons and Chocolate Ice Cream."Thanks to Selina for the beta.
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Old Children's Movies and Pop Corn
"I can't believe you're still watching The Lion King."
She ignored him and kept humming the lyrics while shoving a hand-full of pop corn in her mouth, "Hakuna Matata. What a wonderful phrase. Hakuna Matata..."
He rolled his eyes and sat on the couch by her side, "You got our daughter addicted to this stupid movie, ya know? Last week she was singing this ridiculous song while having breakfast."
Rory throws a pillow at his head. He moves his head to the side, missing the pillow by an inch, but rubs his forehead as if it had hit him, pretending to be hurt and annoyed, "Hey, what was that for?"
This time she throws a hand-full of pop corn at him and some hit his face.
"Do not ever, under any circumstances, say that The Lion King is a stupid movie!" She says offended.
He rolls his eyes again but then becomes serious, "What are you doing here, watching an old movie, in the middle of the night?"
"I just couldn't sleep, and Lora was watching it this afternoon. The song kept repeating itself in my mind, I just had to watch it."
"So, it has nothing to do with Lora going on her first day of school in a few hours?"
She looks at him, pretending to be surprised, "Oh, that! I had even forgotten about it! What? Do you think I'd be worried about leaving my baby at a strange place, full of mean children, with some old weird woman that looks like she just popped out of a horror movie? Of course not!" She says throwing some pop corn in her mouth.
"Of course," he mocks back.
She lets her head fall on his shoulder, whining, "And I can't even discourage her on not going... I mean, school is good, it's for her future"
"It's kindergarten, the only thing she is going to learn is how to paint some horrible clown, that she'll probably paint out of the lines. It's unnecessary"
"Jess..." she says in a warning tone.
"Don't worry. I've tried to talk to her about the subject and apparently she's all excited and happy about going to school. She's really her mother's daughter."
Rory smiles, proudly. "It's the best for her. We can't simply keep her at home, reading, until she turns 18 and gets a GED."
"Why not? It's such a good idea. How come I hadn't thought about it first?"
"Jess..."
"See, that way she won't meet any of those idiotic boys or even have to socialize."
Rory laughed, "Come on, she's five. I think it's safe to say we won't have to worry about boys for at least a few more years. And it's good for her to socialize."
"Hey, I never socialized, look how well I've turned out."
"Exactly my point."
Now it was his turn to throw a pillow at her head.
"I don't want her going to school. I want to keep her here all the time with us," he admits.
"Me too," Rory agrees.
"But damn, that girl is stubborn. When I suggested she miss her first day she threw a tantrum, saying it was the most important day in kindergarten and that she had to go and how wonderful school would be..."
"That's my girl." She says, pushing the bag of pop corn to his side, quietly offering him some.
"Not something to be very proud of right now."
"She'll be the best student in her class."
"I wouldn't bet on that. She's still a Mariano."
"Hey, you had unused potential."
"And I'm still happy I've never used it," he says, while taking some pop corn and throwing them one at a time in to his mouth.
She hits him playful, then stops, pensively. "I feel old."
"Don't even get me started. I feel like she'll be the end of me sometimes. I mean, I'm always worried about her nowadays. I feel like I've aged at least 10 years since she was born."
"I thought it was supposed to get better with time, but every now and then I feel guilty for leaving home to go to work." Rory admits.
"Man! I don't know about you, but no one told me it was a life-time job. Until she was born I hadn't realized she would be this constant thing in my life and that I'd always worry about her."
Rory looked at him, a little concerned by what he said, but trying to hide it, "Do you regret it?" she asked in a small voice.
He sighed, "Not for a second," he answered, looking down at her.
They fell into silence, watching the movie again.
"Jess..." she started hesitantly, staring at the screen.
"Yeah?"
"Do you ever think about having another?"
"Having another?" he repeated.
"Yeah. Another baby."
He stops watching the movies and looks at his wife with huge eyes, "Is there something you should be telling me?" he asked.
She giggled and shook her head, "No, nothing to tell so far. I was just wondering...It just- sometimes I think I want another baby. Lora is growing up so fast, she's already in school! And work is good, I could just start writing my articles from home again, just like I did when I got pregnant with Lora. And you're doing fine at your job. You seem to be happy with our family...and you're a great father. We can do it again...and I think I want to."
"You think?" he tilted his head to side and asked.
She nodded.
He shook his head from side to side, a small smirk playing on his lips. "Rory, you don't think, you know. If you came to me because you 'think' you want another baby it's because you've already analyzed every little detail, made a pro/con list and you're sure that it's what you want."
"Well, if you don't want to, we don't have to... I mean, we're fine and I love our family. It's just something that I've been thinking about for the last couple of months. But it's no big deal, really. I just thought I'd talk about it to you. And now we've talked."
She looked at her lap, playing with her hands. He reached for her chin and lifted it, looking her in the eye, "I didn't say no."
"I don't want you to say yes just because I want to do it. If you don't want to be a father again, I understand it. I just don't want you to say yes and then regret it."
"Hey, I wouldn't do that. We're a family, we're together for everything."
"Yeah, I know. This is just me, freaking out about wanting another child and unsure if you want the same."
"Then we'll sit down, talk and figure it out. Okay?"
She nodded and paused, "So...do you?"
He looked pensive and serious, as if he was thinking about some important matter of business or something just as formal.
"I'm thinking...how about a boy this time around. How about a Jess, so people wouldn't have to wonder. They'd be sure we're really a couple of freaks who name their children after themselves. Or maybe-"
He was cut off when Rory kissed him, hard and full on the lips.
"So, we're having another baby?"
"If you're crazy enough to want another after having carried Lora inside of you for nine months, having morning sickness, throwing up all the time and then going through labor, then the least I can do is impregnate you."
She looked at him strangely, "How sweet of you," she said sarcastically.
"I just never thought you'd want to go through that again, that's why I've never mentioned anything."
"So, you wanted one?"
He smiled, "Maybe."
She smiled too, eating her pop corn again. "We'll have another baby."
Jess pushed some pop corn into his mouth too, "Yes, we will."
"I love you."
"Same here," he says, putting an arm around her. After so many years he started to think the actual words are overdone even though that's what he feels, so he always try to find another way to say them. "Hey this pop corn tastes funny, like it's old," he half complains, half comments.
"Just like us," she says.
He looks at the closed door to his daughter's bedroom wondering how much truth there is in her sentence. Willing to find out, he turns off the TV, stands up and gathers her into his arms, carrying her to their bedroom, "Just like us, huh?" He challenges and she laughs, thinking they are definitely going to have another baby.