There's No Price On Me
Chapter 2: Birth
Pairing(s): Leonard Church/Allison Church, Leonard Church/Aiden Price, Leonard Church/Allison Church/Aiden Price, etc.
Description: Aiden Price has just signed up to move in with Leonard and Allison Church in Austin, Texas. Leonard is a scientist, Aiden is between jobs, and Allison is a soldier. The war gets bad, so Allison goes and Aiden and Leonard wait for her. When she doesn't come back, Aiden signs up for a lot more than just being a roommate.
A/N: I'm updating WAY earlier than I intended to do, but due to people asking questions I felt awkward about answering (I don't wanna spoil too much of the story before I even get to it) I'm updating with the next chapter early. As a result, the next chapter- as it's still uncompleted- will make it take awhile before I update next. Thankfully, I've been more invested in this fic lately, so it should be real soon here. Sorry for the monologue: enjoy this chapter!
Thank God it wasn't the Covvies.
The next day, they learned that it was a malfunction with the spaceships leaving the station just outside of Austin. A ship had exploded out of nowhere, causing a chain-reaction as all of the other near-by ships suffered serious damage, killing almost everyone on-board. Several hundred were injured, even more killed, but still, at least it wasn't the goddamn Covenant. Aiden was grateful for that, yet Allison became... quiet. She'd known almost all of those killed on the ships, and she took it pretty damn hard. Some days she'd refuse to leave her bed, others she'd act like her old self again, but on most she'd act normal until she saw something that reminded her of her friends, then she'd slowly make for her room, where she'd stay until either Leonard got home or until she needed to eat something.
Everyone was affected, especially Leonard. He started staying home more and more, deciding to work almost permanently from home, so that maybe Allison would have someone to lean on while she grieved. It worked, because pretty soon Allison was getting better. She wasn't exactly like her old self, but she was able to begin the process of moving on. Aiden sympathized with her, but didn't know how to help, so he continued cleaning the house and watching Caroline. Speaking of Caroline, she began to ask more questions- difficult questions to answer- and Aiden found it hard to continue raising her. One day, he sat near-motionless at the kitchen table, head in his hands as he considered, for the millionth time, moving out and getting a new job, one that might keep him away from terrified kids and grieving parents.
He didn't bother to look up as Allison walked in, her footsteps softer than they used to be, more calculated and thoughtful. She said nothing as she sat down at the table across from Aiden, looking tired, almost old in this sense. "Been hard, hasn't it?" She announced, opening up room for conversation with that simple statement.
"Incredibly so." Aiden agreed, sounding just as old as Allison looked in that moment. "I'm just unsure of what course of action I should take... she keeps asking me things, Allison. Things most three year old's shouldn't be asking."
"Then answer her." Allison offered, a light that Aiden couldn't quite place as urgency in her eyes. "I know that's difficult right now, but this is war. You might not be reloading an Assault Rifle every five minutes just to make sure you're not caught without any fucking ammunition, or bleeding out in a gutter, but just this... raising a kid... this is a war of it's own right here. Nobody trains you for this shit but yourself."
"I suppose not." Aiden replied, looking deep in thought as he stayed hunched over the kitchen table, worn out by the war Allison was certain existed. "But it's not like I can fight my way out of this sort of war."
"It never really ends." Allison explained further. "This kinda war can't end. Once you got a kid of your own- even if it ain't exactly your flesh and blood- you've signed up for a war. It ain't shooting Dinos, but it's close. Just as terrifying." She chuckled at this, remembering something Aiden probably hadn't been present for. "Ya know, before you showed up... I thought Carol was gonna end up fucked up like me. My mom was a stoner, and my dad... well, I don't know where he was. Not home, that's where. Anyway, I thought Carol was gonna end up screwed up like me, with no parents to trust and have raising her, seeing as me and Leo are always out... but then you showed up."
"I'm not sure if I'm much better, Tex." Aiden admitted, sounding disappointed in himself. "You're a much better parent than myself."
"Just 'cus I'm the birth mom doesn't mean I'm blessed with the wisdom of how to raise a daughter." Allison informed her friend, smirking at him. "Look, I'm just saying... when we finally beat those Covvies, and I'm home permanently with my kids... you better stick around. You're family now." She didn't wait for him to answer. Instead, she stood up, making for Leonard's study down the hallway. "I have a feeling you signed up for a lot more than being a roommate, Price." She announced, before leaving the room.
Well… she was right about that. He was never meant to be a roommate, was he?
And so, life went on. Allison didn't grieve as often, Leonard stopped biting his nails with worry, Caroline got her questions answered, and Aiden stopped worrying about everything around him. It wasn't long until the pregnancy started to really take an effect on Allison, causing her to have mood swings, cravings, and sleeping for ridiculous amounts of time. At night, Leonard and Aiden would be forced to get up, usually to run to the store and get something that sounded completely inedible ("I want peanut butter and jelly covered hotdogs." "Excuse me?") Nonetheless, the two men fulfilled such tasks with little complaint, and seemed satisfied as the pregnancy slowly reached the eight and a half months marker.
It was around midnight when it happened, where Aiden awoke to the sound of loud screaming from the master bedroom. Worried for the couple, he rushed into the room, dressed only in bunny slippers, a pink bathrobe, and blue and white striped boxers. Leonard was out of bed, trying to scoop Allison up, while the blonde woman thrashed and screamed, as if she were dying or being attacked by some unknown entity.
"It's coming." Leonard deadpanned, looking to Aiden with big, terror-filled emerald eyes. "Go get Carol; I'm gonna get Tex to the hospital in the SUV. You take Carol in your car, okay? Bring some of her storybooks, and maybe some other handheld toys or something. We'll call if something comes up."
"Alright." Aiden agreed, watching Leonard leave before heading to Caroline's room, opening the door almost silently. As expected, the girl was wide awake in her bed, awoken by the earlier screaming, and stared up with eyes like her father's. "You need to come with me, alright?" He explained, scooping Caroline out of her bed. "We need go somewhere."
"Is Mama dying?" Caroline asked, shivering as she sobbed, Aiden grabbing her coat and helping her arms into the clothing, zipping it up for her. He then put a bear hat on her head, scooping her up and heading for the sitting room.
"No, Caroline. Your mother isn't dying. She is going to the hospital with your father to have the baby." Aiden explained, feeling awkward, as if he really wasn't the person to explain this to Caroline. "Everything is going to be alright." He added, as an afterthought.
Caroline sniffled, unconvinced, but cooperated with Aiden as he carried her out the door and into his own car, the one he'd been using long before re-meeting the Church's. Buckling Caroline into the passenger seat, Aiden took off, realizing with a heavy heart that he and Caroline wouldn't get to the hospital in at least an hour. Knowing Leonard, Aiden figured he was at least halfway there, which raised the more-or-less butler's mood a good bit, but not enough to completely calm his nerves. Hesitantly, he glanced at Caroline, who was curled into a ball in her seat, shaking slightly as the lights of the solar-powered highway lit up the area, the girl's face now covered by a veil of blue light illuminating from the road.
Aiden couldn't help but be reminded vaguely of Leonard whenever Caroline would look up at him with those big, beautiful, bottle green eyes. They reminded Aiden of long nights spent playing video games and watching sci-fi movies, of buying bags of potato chips and bottles of coke at the drugstore down the street from school, of waking up at sunrise to go to Leo's place to cram in some extra studying time for the test in class, of running around in the sewers even though it wasn't allowed, of climbing onto Aiden's parent's roof and watching the spaceships take off into space so that the marines could go fight the war, of thinking up a whole lifetime with him before those green eyes looked back at him and said 'It's over, Aiden'-
Aiden snapped out of it, shaking his head as he refocused on the highway. But, again, he glanced at little Caroline in the passenger seat. She'd fallen asleep after awhile, peacefully dreaming as she leaned awkwardly on her side, balanced against the passenger door. Aiden pulled the car over for a second, if only to adjust Caroline safely so that she could lean on him. Couldn't have her getting a sore neck after all. Aiden smiled softly at the girl as he started up the car again, sighing in the quietness as the car continued on it's way towards the hospital. He glanced at the GPS in his car, thankful to see that they'd arrive in about twenty minutes or so. Suddenly, Aiden's car phone went off, making Caroline whimper as she awoke.
Trying to hide a groan, Aiden clicked on a button on the car's screen. "Hello?" He asked, petting Caroline's hair to relax her again.
"Hey, Aiden." Leonard answered, sounding worn out. Aiden could tell that he was close to passing out, much like Caroline. "Just wanted to call and let you know that Tex and I made it to the hospital. She's in a room now, but they don't expect the baby to come out for another hour or so."
"Understood. Do you still want me to bring Caroline?" Aiden inquired, feeling it was good to ask Leonard before he drove all the way there.
"That's up to her. Carol, honey, do you still wanna come?" Leonard directed his question at Caroline, hoping to hear it from her. "It's okay if you don't wanna. Mommy will bring the baby in a day or two if you wanna wait and see the baby then."
"I wanna see 'em!" Carol exclaimed, hopping up and down in her seat, a new burst of energy keeping her awake. "I wanna meet my new sibling!"
"Alright, alright." Leonard chuckled, sounding more upbeat as his daughter renewed his spark of endurance. "You can bring her on over then, Aiden."
"Got it. We'll be there in about fifteen minutes." Aiden confirmed, before shutting off the car phone. He sighed, glad to hear that Leonard and Allison had gotten to the hospital in one piece. "See, Carol? Everything will be just fine."
"I can't wait to meet 'em..." Caroline mumbled, hugging the stuffed unicorn Aiden had grabbed for her on the way out of the house earlier, seemingly content now that the air was cleared. "Do ya think they'll like me?" She asked Aiden, looking a bit worried again.
"I'm sure your sibling will adore you, Carol." Aiden promised, smiling to himself as he continued down the road.
The baby arrived not three hours later, at exactly 2:53 AM, while a thunderstorm outside rung loudly throughout the hospital. Aiden was near-silent as he carried Caroline down the second floor hallway of the hospital, taking the girl to go meet her new sibling. Caroline was fatigued again by that time, her head resting on Aiden's shoulder, but a soft smile was still on her face as they went towards the room, an excited look in her half-lidded, bottle green eyes. Aiden entered the room with a smile of his own on his face, taking in the heartfelt picture laid out before him. Leonard was passed out, snoring softly as he grasped the blankets of Allison's bed in his sleep, while in Allison's arms was the baby, equally as tired and sleeping as their father.
The infant had a small, fluffy tuft of blond hair on their head, their eyes squeezed shut to hide their colorization from view. Allison looked worn out, eyes half-lidded as she held up the small baby, occasionally toying with the tuft of hair on their head. She suddenly noticed Caroline and Aiden at the door, and gave them a toothy grin, confirming that she was perfectly fine to the duo. Seeing this, Aiden set Caroline down, allowing the fiery haired child to run full force to her mother, jumping onto the bed. This made Leonard shoot up, fully awake as he stared at the baby in Allison's arms with wide eyes, amazed by the child. Aiden stayed in the doorway, momentarily feeling awkward in the family scene.
"Come on over and meet the baby, Aiden." Allison offered, sitting up with Leonard's help to give Caroline and Aiden a better look at the baby. "He's a boy, by the way." She added, smirking at Leonard. "What should we name 'em?"
"Shit, I dunno. I just... he looks just like ya, Tex." Leonard commented, Allison handing the baby carefully to him to be cradled by the father. "Maybe we should give him a name like your's? Like Alex or Adam."
"Naw, he doesn't look like an Adam to me." Allison muttered, not even commenting on the name Alex. "If you can't think of something, I will." She thought about it, smirking deviously at her daughter. "What do you think we should name him, Carol?"
"Bunny!" Caroline exclaimed, making Aiden snort while Leonard huffed childishly and rolled his eyes. "That way we can call him Bun for short!"
"While that's the perfect name for a college graduate, I dunno if 'Bunny' is that great a name for the baby." Leonard explained, earning a halfhearted punch from Allison. "Ow! Shit, don't strain yourself! Doctor's orders!"
"And since when have I listened to a doctor?" Allison pointed out, before looking to Aiden, a soft looking entering her gunmetal blue eyes. "What name do you think fits him, Aiden?"
Aiden stopped, staring at the gathered family with big, confused brown eyes. "E-Excuse me? You want... me... to name your newborn son?"
Leonard laughed, just as certain as Allison on the matter. "Well, you have been, like, an awesome fucking friend to us for over a year now. Least we can do is ask for your say in naming our fucking son." He winced as Allison punched him again in the same spot for cursing.
Aiden seemed to think about it, brow furrowed in deep thought. "You know... the name David has always been appealing in my mind." He admitted, looking hesitant.
That really made Allison's eyes light up. "David, huh?" She stared at her son, who was still fast asleep as he curled in closer to the mother. "David... I think that's perfect." Leonard nodded his acceptance to Allison, liking the name as well. "It's settled then. We got ourselves a David."
"Can I hold him?" Caroline practically begged, bouncing up and down on her knees with excitement. "I wanna hold David!"
"Alright, alright." Leonard agreed, very carefully handing the baby to Caroline, who was extremely careful as she held him on her lap. "Easy with him, okay? He ain't a toy."
"I know, Daddy." Caroline assured her father, her eyes suddenly going huge as she drew in her breath. "Mommy, Daddy, look! He opened his eyes! He's looking at me!"
David stared blankly up at his sister with big, gunmetal blue eyes that matched his mother's pair, grabbing at her until he had a clump of her shirt in his tiny fist. He pulled on it only once, not strong enough to really hurt her or anything, but it seemed absolutely amazing to Carol. "Would ya look at that." Allison muttered, grinning at her two children fondly. "Looks like he likes you, Carol."
"I'm gonna be the best big sister ever, David." Caroline promised her brother, giving him an almost worrying, toothy grin. "Just you see, I'll take good care of you."
"Should we be scared?" Leonard asked the room, slightly concerned now for his newly born son. "As much as I trust Carol, I know what she did to that damn teddy bear..."
"I think it will be different with David." Aiden explained, smiling fondly now at the two children on Allison's bed, a sense of pride filling his chest. "And besides, I'll be there to make sure she doesn't hurt him."
"Let's hope so." Leonard yawned, resting his head on Allison's bed again, looking absolutely exhausted. "I'm wiped... wake me if the doctor comes in."
"Will do." Aiden promised, watching as both Leonard and Allison fell asleep, leaving him to make sure Caroline didn't drop David. She never did.
And so, two days later, they brought the baby home. It became... louder. Aiden hadn't thought it humanly possible- Caroline was loud enough on her own- but now it seemed David was always crying about something. Aiden wondered if all babies were like this, as he'd never had any of his own, and hadn't been around when Caroline was an infant. So, they worked in shifts, as Allison couldn't handle the little fucker alone. Leonard took time off from work to stay with David and Allison, and really, it became necessary. Watching Caroline and keeping the household in order became damn near impossible with David around, causing Aiden to begin relying on Allison and Leonard to focus on the baby most of the time. It was for the best though, since it gave the couple an excuse to raise their newly born.
Caroline's impression of the baby- despite the almost constant racket- ceased to change in the slightest. In fact, if anything, she became even more interested in the infant, causing the adults to go as far as being on watch duty, in-case Caroline tried to sneak into the baby room to pester David. Besides the screaming and crying though, David wasn't so bad, and when he wasn't losing his shit about something bothering him, he was eerily quiet, watching the world around him with those big, gunmetal eyes he inherited from his mother. Allison swore that he'd make a great ODST one day, as he was quiet as a mouse when he observed things, while Leonard would roll his eyes and chuckle, amused by his wife's sureness of the matter. He supposed it was a Tex sorta thing.
Eight months passed after what felt like centuries, the family feeling as if it was a huge milestone to have crossed, for whatever reason. Caroline turned four around that time, and had her hopes up, wanting to get into school as soon as possible, but that wouldn't be for another year. Aiden kept up with her, and soon found himself with another fairly solid schedule for each day, as David cried less and less, beginning to crawl without anyone daring to stop him. This, of course, led to Caroline interacting with him even more than before, which also led to far more chaos than anyone had ever suspected she and her brother could get into. One lazy afternoon, with Allison long having been reinstated into her training and with Leonard in the office downtown for once, Aiden was watching Caroline and David.
A few weeks prior to that day, Leonard, Allison, and Aiden had become worried for David, as he had yet to say even one word. As a result, they became determined to have the boy learn a word by the end of the month, a task Aiden took very seriously, after all, he wanted David to be able to speak soon, so that Aiden might finally understand what half the shit he wanted was. Caroline, that afternoon, entered the kitchen near-silently, with David equally as silently crawling behind her. She grinned up at Aiden, pulling on his pants leg to earn his attention. The man glanced down from where he was preparing that day's dinner, giving the two children his full attention. Caroline's grin grew, and she turned, popping out the pacifier that had been in David's mouth.
"David can say a word now!" Caroline explained excitedly, grinning from ear to ear. She'd lost one of her front teeth recently, the gap noticeable in her smile.
"Really, now?" Aiden wiped off his hands on a towel before turning around completely, crouching down to be at eye-level with the four year old. "Alright then. Show me, please."
Caroline nodded, turning to look at David, who was eagerly grabbing at his stolen pacifier, whining loudly at it's loss. "You can have it back later, Davy. Go on, say the word!"
This seemed to spark something in David, who ceased his grabbing to finally speak his first word. "Fuck!" He whined rather loudly, surprising Aiden. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
Aiden stared at David with wide eyes, trying internally to figure out why in God's name 'Fuck' was David's first word. "Caroline, why is your brother's first word a swear word?" He asked, trying to keep from snapping at the red-head.
"He said it yesterday after Dad said it, but I wanted to tell you first 'cus I thought you should know first!" Caroline explained, proud of her little brother. "At least he knows a word now, right?"
Aiden groaned, head hung as he hoped against hope that Allison and Leonard wouldn't freak out too badly. "I suppose so... it's just something I wasn't prepared for." It really should've been, he mused, considering who David's parents were.
So that night, once Leonard arrived home, Aiden stood by the door, swallowing a lump in his throat as he internally cursed himself for being afraid. "I'm home!" Leonard announced as he entered through the front door, giving Aiden a surprised look. "Oh... hey, man. Didn't expect to see ya waiting for me. Everything alright?"
"I... suppose so." Aiden replied, looking away from Leonard nervously. He really would've preferred to tell Allison first, as she was more likely to just laugh it off than Leonard. "David has finally said his first word."
This made Leonard's eyes light up, excitement filling him as he grinned from ear to ear. "Holy shit, really? The fuck he say, Aiden? Was it papa? God, I hope it was papa!"
Aiden, again, looked away awkwardly, not knowing how exactly to phrase it without pissing Leonard off. "Um... well, it's certainly not 'papa', though, he did learn it from you." He finally looked Leonard in the eye, trying not to back down. "It's best you see for yourself. Caroline, you can bring your brother in now."
Caroline entered the room, more or less dragging her baby brother, who, with his ever-increasing size, had become too heavy in recent months for the four year old to carry around the house. "He's heavy!" The daughter whined, but still, she seemed hopeful as she released her grip on David, once again taking his pacifier away. "Alright, Davy. Say the word again!"
Leonard crouched down, much like Aiden had earlier, and gave his son a big, excited looking grin. "Go on, buddy. Tell Papa what word ya learned!" Aiden almost felt bad for Leonard as he watched from afar.
David smiled, no teeth in his mouth as spoke the word again. "Fuck!" He cheered this time instead of whining, smiling even more as Caroline returned to him his pacifier.
There was a long, intimidating beat of silence, before Leonard let out a loud, terrifying boom of laughter, a huge grin on his face as he scooped David up, hugging the baby close. "That's my boy!" He laughed, throwing David into the air and catching him with ease. "What a sly little fucker you are! Just wait 'til Mama finds out, she'll be so happy!"
Aiden simply stood there, utterly confused, but soon smiled nonetheless. It was a Leonard kinda thing, he mused, chuckling to himself as he continued to watch Leonard smother his son with love and affection.
A/N: Yeah, way earlier than expected, but hey, what ya gonna do? Please R&R!
~CabooseHeart.