Hello Beautiful People!
Sorry for the delay but exams and a horrible cold got in the way.
I hope you'll find the much needed happiness in this fic after all the tragedies that keep on happening to our beloved ship...
Don't forget to review! I like to know what do you think about the story! xx
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Mary woke up to the sound of her alarm. She had to be at the office at 8 a.m. so waking up an hour earlier was a good place to start.
She went to check on Anne's nursery to see if she was still sleeping. Anne was asleep, so Mary closed the curtains more so the sunrays wouldn't wake her. Great, I have time to get ready and wake Sebastian up, she thought.
After showering and getting dressed, Mary went to the kitchen and made breakfast for Sebastian and Anne. She also made several bottles for Anne to take while she was at work. She felt weird, everything she was doing now was different from her past routine. Now she had to think about Anne, and even though she didn't want to admit it, Sebastian, too. The problem was that she didn't have nine months to prepare herself or somebody that taught her how do to motherly stuff. The only thing she could do was try to remember what Lola used to do and read those books about motherhood.
She finished breakfast right before she heard Anne crying. Mary made her way upstairs and grabbed Anne from her crib.
"Good morning beautiful!" Mary told Anne with a smile. Anne yawned in response.
"Let's wake Sebastian, so I can go to work," Mary knocked on Sebastian's door three times, but he didn't open it. She decided to enter the room, but to her surprise, he wasn't there.
"What are you doing?" Sebastian asked Mary raising his eyebrows. He entered the room and took his earphones off. Mary noticed he was covered in sweat.
"Uhm, I was going to wake you up, but you're awake, so," Mary tried to look everywhere but at him. The sweat made his clothes stick to his body, which was in pretty good conditions. He looked young and masculine, but she knew she couldn't think like that. Sebastian was just his partner in raising Anne, nothing more. And besides, wasn't he a total prick?
Sebastian smirked, noticing the way Mary looked at him. She looked professional, like she was on her way to conquer the world or something. He really liked the fact that Mary was independent, that she was strong enough on her own. It made her even more interesting and in a strange way, more likeable, even though that could sometimes make her a pain in the ass.
"So, where are we going exactly?"
"I'm going to work, so Anne stays with you today." Mary replied.
"Wait, you're gonna' leave her with me?" Sebastian eyes widened in surprise.
"No, I'm going to leave her in her room alone to see if she can survive," Mary said sarcastically. "Are you stupid or something? Of course you're going to take care of her, or do we look like we have another choice?"
"But today I have to go to the ba-"
"Sebastian I really don't have any time, I need to go. I left you breakfast in the oven and Anne's bottles are in the fridge." Mary gave Anne to Sebastian and she exited his room. She was about to go outside when Sebastian grabbed her shoulder gently.
"Mary!"
"What?"
Sebastian sighed. He didn't love this idea. But there wasn't a way out, was it?
"Have a good day." He told her sincerely.
"Thanks, you too. If anything happens, call me." Sebastian nodded slightly. Mary finally made her way out of the house. She was a bit worried about leaving Anne alone with Sebastian, but she needed to trust him more, especially now that she was in an important phase of her career.
"So Anne, let's have breakfast." Sebastian told Anne while putting her in the high chair. He went to the fridge and picked one of the bottles. He gave it to Anne, who was still learning how to hold it, so he stayed close to her to help. He grabbed his food from the oven, pancakes with eggs. He sat on the breakfast counter with Anne by his side.
Doing this was just incredible for him. Instead of having breakfast with a lady in his apartment who he might not ever see again, he was sitting in front of a baby, a little girl whose life depended on him, and Mary.
Mary. He never thought that they would be in this position together, ever. Remembering his conversation with her from the past night made him chuckle. They were both scared. He was scared about the future and what could happen with him and Mary. He liked her more than he wanted to admit. Her big, brown eyes demanded attention, her temperament was certainly contrasting from his, but in an odd way, they had many aspects in common.
After finishing his breakfast and helping Anne every two minutes with her bottle, he went upstairs to put her on her crib with some toys so he could take a shower. He finished getting ready and went to get Anne. Unfortunately, to his luck, she needed a diaper change.
"Anne, what happened in here?" He almost gagged at the horrible smell. The poor baby looked very uncomfortable. He took her to the changing table just holding her by the shoulders so his clothes wouldn't smell like baby poop. What has my life become? He thought, laughing to himself.
When he was done, he decided he didn't want to see anything related to Anne's diapers ever again. He would have to bribe Mary or something so she could do it.
He grabbed Anne's bag and went downstairs to get two bottles from the fridge. Mary already put everything necessary on the bag, and he was undeniably grateful for that because otherwise he would have been completely lost.
They made their way to the main door. Bash needed to be at the bar at 10 a.m. so he could check everything and make sure the renovation was going well.
The problem came when he saw that Mary took her car, and the only two options left were his car and the minivan. His car was a sports car where only two people could fit.
The minivan. He had to go in the minivan to his work. Wonderful.
He sighed. He kind of hated Mary in that moment for leaving him alone. Who would have thought that he would need her? If somebody told him this in the past he would have laughed hysterically at them for two hours.
Surprisingly, Anne stayed quiet for most of the ride. He arrived to the bar after thirty minutes. The traffic was insane that day.
"Sebastian, finally man! Where have you be- Who is this?" Sebastian's friend Leith exclaimed as he saw Sebastian carrying a baby in his arms. Sebastian entered the bar. The furniture company was bringing the tables and other things today. Leith was Sebastian's accountant, and also his friend since college.
"Long story, man," Sebastian sighed as he sat in a table with Leith. Anne was currently busy in his arms with a pacifier in her mouth.
"Let me guess, you just found out that one of your one-night stands went the not-so-desired way."
"Not at all. A total different story." Sebastian sat Anne over his lap and shook them a little to keep her entertained.
"I'm all up for hearing it, then." Leith crossed his legs. If it wasn't a lost child, then, what could it be?
"Well, remember Francis?" Saying Francis' name was still painful thing to do. Too many good memories were still attached to it, and will forever be.
"The blonde one, right?"
"Yeah,"
"Of course I remember him, he used to come a lot to the bar." Leith said as he remembered that time when Sebastian and Francis had a little too much fun and he had to take them to their houses.
"He passed away recently," Sebastian lowered his eyes, sighing. Leith was taken aback a little. He was not expecting this kind of news.
"What? What happened? Are you okay?" Leith asked Sebastian too fast. Sebastian gave him the slightest smile. He really appreciated his friend's concern.
"I'm okay, I guess. He was in a car accident with his wife, and, you know," Sebastian shook his head a bit and looked await for a moment. "This is their daughter, Anne. Long story short, their wills stated that Mary and I had to raise her in case something happened to them."
"Mary? The girl you told me about?"
"Yeah, her." Sebastian recalled the time when he told Leith all about his disaster date with Mary. He might have said a lot of not-so-nice things about her.
"Wow Bash… I don't know what to say, man. I really admire you, to be honest. Taking this challenge seems no easy at all, and with Mary? I thought you hated her," Leith looked confused.
"I know, but living with her… She's not that bad. She is trying, I hope, just like I am, I guess." Sebastian shook his shoulders lightly.
"Mr. De Poitiers, where do we put these?" A guy interrupted them as he was carrying a box with what seemed like wood pieces.
"Bash, if you want, I can take care of her while you take charge." Leith offered his help.
"Are you sure?" Sebastian felt a bit dubious. He didn't know if Anne would like it.
"I have kids, you know. They call me the baby whisperer for a reason!" Leith joked.
"Alright, alright. Be careful." Sebastian laughed. He handed Anne to Leith.
"So now you're the one telling me to be careful huh? I remember not so long ago when I was the one telling you the exact same thing." Leith chuckled. Sebastian exhaled deeply. He went to check on everything. He heard Anne laughing as Leith threw her up in the air gently and then catching her. He adored Anne since she was born, but now she was the only piece of Francis and Lola he had, and he was going to make sure she felt loved every single day of her life.
After four hours, they finally arrived to the house. Anne cried during the whole ride from the bar. Sebastian was pretty much annoyed and he had to make lunch. When is Mary coming back? He sighed, trying to calm himself down.
"Okay Anne, is time to stop crying, please," Sebastian begged to the inconsolable baby, but it didn't help. She cried harder.
He tried everything, but nothing was working. She didn't want to watch TV, she didn't want to eat… Sebastian rubbed his eyes in desperation. As he opened them, he noticed Anne pointing her finger to the bookshelf behind him.
"What do you want Anne?" He carried her to the bookshelf. She tried to reach something. It was a picture of Francis and Lola.
In that moment, Sebastian wanted to sob himself. His heart shattered into a million pieces for the girl in his arms. She missed her parents, her family. He couldn't do anything for her in that moment. He hugged her tightly and whispered soothing words until she finally gave up and fell asleep.
"Hello?" Sebastian picked up his phone. He was watching TV while waiting for the pizza he ordered.
"Hey Sebastian, is Mary. How's everything?" Mary was currently at the office. She decided to call him during a break. Surprisingly, she missed both of them, but that was something not to say outloud.
"Hey, everything's alright. Anne is asleep and I ordered a pizza. When are you coming?" He realized what he just asked too late. Now Mary was going to think he needed her or something. Which might be true, but he didn't even want to admit that to himself.
"Why? Do you miss me that much?" Mary teased. She was glad they were talking by phone, otherwise he would have seen her blushing.
"Not at all, just a vague question." He tried to sound as casual as possible.
Mary was a bit disappointed at that reply. Well, what did you expect? He wasn't gonna' say "I miss you Mary, please come soon!" Get your shit together! She scolded herself.
"I'll be there in about an hour, see you." She hanged up abruptly. He sighed. Things with Mary are always too complicated.
"Hello baby girl! How are you?" Mary exclaimed excitedly as she entered the kitchen and saw Anne in her high chair. Sebastian was currently given her mashed potatoes. Mary pinched Anne's cheek gently.
"Hello Mary," Sebastian said without looking at her.
"Hello Sebastian," Mary said with a tight smile.
"I left you pizza in the oven."
"Thanks," She took out the pizza and put it in the microwave. She turned around to watch Sebastian and Anne. "How did everything go today?"
"Good I guess, I went to the bar and she was calm, for the most part." He replied while Anne opened her mouth to eat.
"You took her to the bar?" Mary said with an angry tone. How could he take her to one of those places? Was he mad? She thought.
"Calm down, princess," Sebastian rolled his eyes and turned around to look at her. "I took her to the bar I'm renovating, so there's not alcohol, yet. And, what are you complaining about? You didn't give me much options." He scolded.
"Still Sebastian, you shouldn't take a baby to those places!" She exclaimed.
"Whatever Mary,"
"We should do a schedule, so this won't happen again," Mary stated. The microwave made a sound. She grabbed the pizza and sat on a chair in the breakfast counter.
She waited for Sebastian to finish giving Anne her food, so they could give her a bath.
"Now it's time for a bath!" Mary took Anne out of the high chair and tapped Sebastian on the shoulder. "You're coming too, to help," He nodded.
They went upstairs to Mary's bathroom. Mary gave Anne to Sebastian so she could turn on the tap from the bathtub.
"How do we do this?" Sebastian asked Mary.
"Well, first we have to undress her. I should go get her soap and shampoo," Mary said quietly. Those items were in Francis and Lola's bathroom. If there was a place in the house where both of them didn't want to go, it was their friends' bedroom.
She entered the room slowly. It still smelled like Lola's perfume. She settled that it was better to just get the things quickly, without thinking about it too much, otherwise it would have been too painful.
She returned to the bathroom as quickly as possible only to find Sebastian's shirt wet and a naked Anne.
"What happened?" Mary tried not to laugh.
"She peed. On me." Sebastian sighed, he wanted to laugh too.
Mary burst out a laugh. Sebastian narrowed his eyes at her. "You wouldn't think it was funny if it had happened to you." He deadpanned.
"Let's just get her in the tub before I laugh again." Sebastian put Anne slowly into the tub. The water was warm to the touch. Anne started to kick rapidly and water splashed everywhere.
"Okay baby girl, calm down a bit," Mary poured the liquid soap in her hands and started washing Anne. Sebastian was besides her sitting in the edge of the tub.
"Could you pass me the shampoo, please?" Mary turned her head only to find Sebastian's face near hers. She could feel his warm breath as he looked at her intensely. His eyes were the most beautiful blue-green color, like a waterfall she could look at forever. Sebastian noticed the perfect shape Mary's lips had. He moved closer and closer to her, without caring about anything else, until he felt a dash of water on his face. Mary turned her attention to Anne precipitously and begun to rinse the soap off Anne. Sebastian looked at her for a moment before he stood up to get the shampoo from the sink. What just happened? He thought.