I swear I'll write something other than Gabrian for Thanktival. Eventually.
This is surprisingly light on the "hurt" for me...
Fandom: Bill (Gabrian)
Day 4 prompt: Hurt/Comfort
They'd taken the kids out for the day, to give both Anne and Bill a much needed break. The twins spent much of their outing vying for Gabriel's attention, asking her questions that she was all too happy to answer, though she did have to sugarcoat a few details when the questions brought up her old job. Meanwhile, Susanna had walked alongside Ian a few steps behind, both of them content to watch the chaos unfurl ahead of them. Lovingly, of course.
They were almost home again and Susanna took Hamnet and Judith's hands to run on ahead, giving Ian and Gabriel some privacy. At first, they were just talking about the events of the day, but eventually the conversation lulled into a comfortable quiet. Just enjoying each other company.
Ian was looking down at Gabriel with a soft smile, "They love you," he said with a quick glance towards the children.
"I love them."
"That's clear. You're so good with them," he trailed off, hesitant to continue, "... You'd be a wonderful mother..."
Gabriel froze, staring at him, her mouth slightly agape. Shocked. Hurt.
"Don't. Please," she shook her head, then kept walking, barely waiting for him to catch up, "This isn't worth discussing. You know I could never give you children."
He shouldn't have said that. At least not in that way. There were so many other ways to open this conversation, and he had to choose that.
"Gabriel!" he took her by the arm and turned her around, and faltered when he saw her expression. Stone-faced. The way she always hid her vulnerability. She'd softened so much since they had met, even moreso through their courtship, she would normally let him in so easily, but this was a sensitive subject, it seemed. He had to choose his words carefully, "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, I know you couldn't. That isn't what I meant."
"What else could you possibly mean?"
There was something about the look in her eyes, the way she was holding herself. She was trying to shut the idea down too quickly, and Ian suspected she had said all this to herself before.
This isn't worth discussing.
Ian took her hand in his, and cupped her chin in the other, tilting her head up to look at him, "Would you want to be a mother? If you could."
After a pause, she nodded, "Yes."
"Well, think of all the children out on the streets who've been orphaned by the plague or any other means. They need parents and homes."
A glimmer of hope flashed across Gabriel's face, "You're suggesting we would take a child in? Adopt them?"
"If we wanted to. When we wanted to."
They were still living with Bill's family. It would probably be too much to ask them to bring another child into their home. But when the day came that they would find a home of their own...
"You're serious?"
"Of course. I admit, I never really thought about being a father before I met Bill's children. Before I saw how you are with them-"
Suddenly beaming, Gabriel rose up on her toes to pull him into a kiss, and when they parted, she sighed happily, "I love you."