Many wonderful thanks to Aithusa for editing
Ellie found Tom in Alec's room no less than seven times over the next fortnight after her talk with him. It didn't help her cause that after their talk Tom went upstairs to ask Alec his opinion on the matter and he'd said it was fine with him.
It was Ellie's date night and Alec had come down the stairs using Tom as a crutch. It was the surest sign that Tom had spent the night with him again. Ellie flipped the flapjacks as they took their seats at the island. She had put off telling Alec about tonight until after he was taken off bed rest. As a result he had sulked whenever she was in his presence.
Breakfast was eaten in silence between the adults, however Tom kept up a running dialog, prattling on about a new game Michael had gotten as an early birthday present and how he couldn't wait to go to Michael's house so he could try it. He talked about the coming Christmas break and how he hoped they'd have a white Christmas since they'd gotten a light dusting of snow overnight. He also couldn't pass up the chance to bug his mum about her date. Ellie just suppressed a sigh and an eye roll before she reminded her son to chew his food and not to talk with his mouth full.
After breakfast Ellie told Tom to get Fred dressed in some warm clothes and take him into the yard to play. It was a rare sunny winter day, and the sunlight bounced brightly off the thin layer of snow. Ellie set a cup of tea in front of Alec and sat down beside him with her own cup, settling in to watch the boys for a bit before getting started on the dishes. Alec ignored her, as had become normal over the last week. Ellie mentally prepared herself for talking to a brick wall.
"Nice weather we're having." Ellie commented.
Alec just raised his cup to his mouth and took a sip. Ellie followed his gaze outside.
"What do you think about going outside? Getting a bit of sun after being cooped up for so long?" Ellie tried again. No reply. It was definitely like talking to a brick wall.
"So, tomorrow is the big day." Ellie switched topics.
The previous weekend she had taken the boys out shopping for a new couch. They had ended up with a set instead and they would be arriving tomorrow. Alec opened the morning newspaper. Oh, bloody hell!
"Stop being such an arsehole about this! You're not an angst ridden teenager who's been told they have to cancel their plans in favour of babysitting their siblings." Ellie had to restrain herself from shouting.
"Is that not what happened?" Alec finally spoke his first sentence to her in a week.
Ellie put her hand under her chin and glared at Alec.
"Oh? You had plans for this weekend? With what friends?" She asked. "Tom and I seem to be the only people you're friendly with."
"What about Fred?" He asked.
"Fred doesn't count, he's two. It's hard to not be friendly with a toddler."
"Why are you even going out with Dirty Brian anyway? I know you were flattered before but what happened to 'but it's SOCO. They've had their hands everywhere'?" Alec challenged.
Ellie smirked. "Are you jealous?" She asked.
"No." Alec took another sip of his tea and went back to pretending to read the newspaper.
"Yes you are! You're jealous that I can go out while you're stuck here." Ellie insisted.
Alec remained silent. He turned a page of the paper.
"I don't see why you have such a problem with this. How many times did you give out orders expecting them to be carried out immediately even though I was already swamped? It's about time I get some payback." Ellie said. "Besides I know you don't really mind watching the boys for me."
"And how do you know that?" Alec didn't look up from the paper.
"Come on, admit it. You know you miss it." Ellie prodded.
"What on Earth are you going on about?" Alec asked, bewildered.
"Being a dad." Ellie said. "That's why you told Tom he could sneak into your room after I'd told him not to. Your daughter used to the same thing, didn't she? You miss being needed and relied upon, don't you? That's why you're secretly looking forward to this evening; so you can pretend you're a dad again. You're only angry because I didn't ask you about babysitting first."
Alec was saved from making a reply by a sharp cry from outside. Fred had fallen over and, like most toddlers, had started to cry. Tom had already set his younger brother back on his feet and was trying to stem the flow of tears but Fred was having none of that and started calling for his mummy. Tom looked desperately through the kitchen window at his mother. Ellie set down her cup of tea and went to save her eldest from her youngest.
Alec watched as Ellie picked up Fred and started to rock him, cooing in his ear. In the privacy of his own thoughts he admitted that Ellie was right. He did miss being a full time parent and was glad that Ellie trusted him enough to look out for her children. They were, after all, the last bit of her old life that remained unchanged.
However, Ellie was also wrong about him too. He hadn't been 'acting like a teenager who'd been forced to cancel their plans', as she put it, because she'd volunteered him to watch the boys. He would gladly do that any day, because he did miss being a dad. That had been part of the reason why he had offered to look after the kids while she was at work in the first place. No, the reason why he was sulking was because of who she was going out with. Dirty Brian.
For Christ's sake, the man had made a pass at her while she'd still been 'happily' married and hadn't been bothered by that fact. If Alec knew that had Ellie and Dirty Brian would been meeting up with others at the pub he wouldn't have a problem with Ellie going out and having fun, but the fact of the matter remained that it would just be Ellie and Dirty Brian.
Alec noticed Tom sneak off and gather a small handful of snow with a wicked grin on his face. Ellie was still bouncing Fred on her hip, who was now only sniffling. Alec got up and started to collect the dishes to wash them. A smirk that probably matched Tom's tugged at his lips as Ellie's shriek pierced the otherwise quiet morning. He wondered if Ellie would 'posh up' for her pub night.
x-x-x-x
Alec was startled from the book he was reading by the sound of a car door slamming and the car driving off. He noted that it was half past eleven and went back to his book. There was no way that it was Ellie. He had only gotten Tom in bed two hours ago. But then he heard the front door open and close. Alec got out of bed and walked to the top of the stairs to meet Ellie.
"What are you doing up?" She asked upon spotting him. She had nearly walked past him as her head had been down.
"What are you doing back so early?" Alec answered her question with one of his own. "Date not go well? Did he start flirting with other women? Or did he get pissed that quickly?"
"You're doing it again." Ellie said as she moved past him to her room.
"What?"
"The list of questions, you're doing it again." Ellie said.
"Why are you home so early?" Alec pressed.
"I don't want to talk about it. Good night Alec." Ellie tried to shut the door but Alec stuck his foot in the way. Ellie glared at him.
"You're sleeping with me." Alec told her.
"Excuse me?" Ellie tried to keep her voice low. "I'm not that...!"
"You have five minutes to change." Alec made to turn away but Ellie stopped him.
"Why would I want to sleep with you?" She asked.
Alec frowned. "Because you've had a bad night and could use an ear and a comfortable bed." He said as if it was obvious.
"Oh."
"Oh? What, did you think I meant to shag you?" Alec asked. "How much did you have to drink?"
"I've had a rough night, alright?" Ellie said.
"Obviously." Alec dead panned. "Five minutes."
Ellie glared at his back as he walked down the hall to the master bedroom. She shut the door and changed into her night wear once he was out of sight. She would go to his room because he was right; she did need a friend to talk to after the evening she'd had.
The evening had started all right but things went downhill pretty fast. Either Brian was a real light weight or he'd drunk too much too fast as he got pissed fairly early on. By eleven o'clock Ellie had paid her tab and was waiting outside for a cab. She hadn't been able to take another minute of Brian unsubtly suggesting she return with him to his hotel room. When he didn't have any luck with Ellie he even started to flirt with other women in the pub.
Ellie had almost felt like she was doing the walk of shame as she walked up the stairs and had been thankful everyone else had already gone to bed. Or so she thought until she saw Alec waiting for her at the top of the stairs. His habit of making demands without explaining what he meant had sent her mind reeling in the wrong direction. She'd had a man trying to get into her pants all evening, the last thing she had expected was for Alec to try the same once she got home. Thank goodness he was just being a good friend and lending her his ear.
Alec was already lying on the left side of the bed so Ellie crawled onto the right side.
"Under the covers." Alec said.
"What?" Ellie looked at him.
"I said you were sleeping here tonight, so get under the covers."
Ellie wiggled under the covers and stared up at the ceiling. Why did this feel so much more awkward at home than at the Trader's? Maybe it was because her boys were just across the hall, or because this wasn't just about getting a good night's sleep. Maybe it was because Alec was waiting for her tell him about her disastrous evening.
"Are you going to talk?" Alec prompted.
Ellie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She told him everything. From Brian getting too drunk and trying to get in her pants to him flirting with other women once he realized he would be unsuccessful with her. When she was finished Ellie turned on her side to look at Alec, who had been silent the entire time and let her get it all out of her system.
Alec said the first thing that came to mind. "'Dirty Brian' takes on a whole new meaning now."
Ellie reached out and lightly slapped him on the shoulder but she couldn't help the smile that made its way onto her lips. Alec, surprisingly, gave her a small smile back.
"Come here." He said as he lifted the duvet between them.
Ellie scooted forward into Alec's embrace. His arm was draped around her waist, and after a few moments Ellie wrapped her arm around him too.
"I guess this means there won't be a second date." Alec spoke into her hair.
"Oh God, no!" Ellie buried her face into his chest. "I'm already dreading Monday."
Alec chuckled, startling Ellie. She looked up at him.
"Did you just laugh?" She asked incredulously.
"Shut up and go to sleep."
Alec shook his head and pressed her head back down so he could rest his chin atop it. Just before sleep claimed her, Ellie swore she felt Alec's lips press into her hair.
x-x-x-x
Ellie woke up on a lazy Sunday morning feeling more relaxed and content than she had in long time, which in a way was odd as she had a slight headache from the pint and a half she had imbibed the night before and was a tad on the warm side. Tom had come in at some point but she hadn't woken because her sleep was so deep. She had managed to completely wrap herself around Tom and even if she wanted to, she couldn't let him go because Alec had wrapped himself just as tightly around her.
Closing her eyes, Ellie could almost pretend she had her life and family back. Almost, because the scratchy feel of Alec's beard on her neck was a constant reminder that the man holding her was not the father of her children. That, and Joe had never clung onto her quite as tightly as Alec did. It briefly flashed across Ellie's mind to wonder if he had always slept like that or if itwas a new habit formed out of a want to never lose someone he cared about again.
Ellie opened her eyes. The only thing that could have made the morning more perfect was if a ray of sunlight shone through the crack between the curtains, but judging from the slim sliver of sky she could see, it was to be an overcast day at best.
Fred started to fuss in his room across the hall and Ellie sighed; time to get up. Before she could figure out how to extract herself from the middle of the human sandwich she was in, Alec groaned. He disentangled himself from her and rolled off his side of the bed and left the room. Ellie sat up and stared after him. Fred's cries eased as she heard Alec's low voice murmur to the toddler. A few minutes later he returned to the bedroom with Fred on his hip.
"Lie back down, Miller."
Ellie wordlessly obeyed, lying down on her back. Alec placed Fred on her chest and crawled back into bed. He wrapped an arm around her waist and he used her shoulder as a pillow. Tom rolled over in his sleep and cuddled up to her other side. Forget about the sun shining through the curtains, this was the perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday morning, in bed with the three most important people in her life.
Eventually full bladders and empty stomachs forced them all out of bed. By noon Tom was standing guard by the front room window waiting for the delivery lorry to arrive. He was pacing to and fro across the length of the room, his eyes never leaving the street. Alec sat at the island with the Herald in his hands, glancing up at Tom every time he made a noise. Ellie sat across from Alec with Fred on her lap and a children's book open in front of them. She too would look up every once in a while, but it wasn't just Tom she looked at. She would take a peek at Alec too and noted a small smile on his face.
The whole morning had been ridiculously domestic but she couldn't recall a time since Danny's death that she had been so happy. Added to it was learning new things about Alec without his knowing. She had wondered what type of father and husband he had been when she found out about his family. At the time she couldn't imagine him in a domestic setting, what with how much of a hard arse he was at work, but she could see it now. His daughter must have been 'Daddy's Little Princess,' judging by how attentive he was to her boys. She wondered what had made his ex-wife willing to risk losing such a man.
"It's here! The lorry's here!" Tom shouted and ran to open the front door. The lorry hadn't even pulled up to the curb yet.
Alec and Ellie stood up. Alec took Fred so Ellie could wrestle Tom out of the doorway and give the delivery men room to move through the narrow hallway. Ellie directed the men to place the love seat against the front window and the couch on the adjacent wall. Once they were gone Tom jumped onto the couch and buried his face into one of the throw pillows.
"It smells funny!" Tom said, his voice muffled.
Ellie moved his feet and sat on the end of the couch. She rubbed his calves.
"That's because it's new. Give it a few days and it'll begin to smell like us." Ellie explained.
"Hmm," Tom hummed in reply.
He hugged the pillow tighter and rubbed his cheek against it. Alec took a seat on the love seat and let Fred crawl out of his arms. The toddler reached for a cushion and face planted into it, his little bum wiggling in the air as he mimicked his big brother. Ellie and Alec shared a smile.