Title: 30 Day OTP Challenge – Bering and Wells
Day/Prompt: 10 – With Animal Ears
Rating:
Pairings: Bering and Wells
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended. All use of preexisting characters are covered under the Fair Use bit of copyright.

I was sitting on the floor, much to my back's dismay, hunched over a box of stuff Myka's mother had sent. Myka was flipping back and forth between being happy about having the stuff and depressed that her mother was starting to send all her things here because they were clearing her old room out for her sister's children. She was going through it deciding what was worth keeping and what needed to be thrown away with our limited space and I was putting in my vote as well.

"I remember this." Myka said, she was smiling brightly, the brightest smile I had seen since we started going through the materials. I leaned over to see the slightly faded picture she was holding, a picture of her parents standing behind her and her sister, both of them wearing a pair of round ears on their head. "We went to Disney Land on vacation, I think I was 10." Myka said, her voice was slightly wistful.

I reached into the box and pulled out the pair of ears and placed them on her head, taking care not to tangle her hair in the head band. "You look adorable." Her curly hair hid the head band to give the appearance that the black circular ears were growing out of her head, and it was just as adorable on her as grown woman as it was when she was 10 years old.

She smiled at me leaning into my side so I could wrap an arm around her. "This shouldn't bother me this much."

"Why does it bother you darling?" I asked, my hand rubbing her arm. I had my guesses but I wanted to hear her talk about it.

"It's like they are saying I can never come home again. I am being replaced by my sister's kids." She answered, the smile dissolving from her face.

I pulled her closer trying to shield her from the invisible pain. "I don't believe that is what is happening." I told her.

"It just feels like it. It's not like we are ever going to have kids for me to make new memories with, or to take home to my parents. My sister has just become more important." She shrugged under my hand.

I was taken back. We were never having kids? When was this decided, I wondered, my face crinkling into confusion. I was still torn up about Christina, but Myka was there to comfort me when I woke up in a cold sweat, my mind racing in the wrong century. I wanted kids. I wanted to take kids home to Myka's parents and watch them spoil our children rotten. But that would require us to be honest about our relationship to her parents.

"I want to have children with you Myka." I tried to make it sound like there was no wiggle room, but it came out so hesitant that I am sure she thought I was saying it simply for her benefit.

"Helena." She whispered it, and it broke my heart.

I moved so that I was sitting so she could see in my eyes. "I want to have a family with you Myka Bering. I want to have tiny Myka's running around the house. I want to take little Helena's to Disney Land with you and take adorable family pictures with us all wearing these funny ears. I want it all Myka." I said before leaning forward and placing a light kiss over her lips. Almost so light that it only felt like a ghost of a kiss.

She was blinking fast when we pulled apart, letting me know that she was on the verge of crying.

"Don't cry baby." I whispered pulling her close. "You mean the world to me, and nothing will change that."

"Why are they pushing me away?" She cried, her hands fisting the back of my shirt.

"They aren't baby. They aren't." I whispered, hands rubbing soothing circles over her back.

"Then what is this?" She asked, the sentence broken by hiccups caused by the intensity of her sobs.

"I don't know baby, but I don't think they would push you away. You will always be their little girl." I answered, trying my best to calm her down but failing miserably. Once she fell asleep I was hiding this damn box somewhere she wouldn't look for a while. It was an open wound that was to raw to heal in the light of day. She needed time, and maybe a reminder that I loved her unconditionally. That I would always love her unconditionally.