Bickslow got woken up bright and early on Saturday morning to Violet running into the room and jumping up onto the bed. "Bickso! Bickso! Wake up!"
He did so slowly, groaning and bringing a hand up to rub at his eyes. He was used to waking up early to let his dogs out, but… He didn't have any dogs to let out that morning. "Mm, I'm up… I'm up…" he mumbled, slowly pulling himself out of bed. A quick glance to his phone on the bedside table told him that it had just gone six o'clock, and he couldn't help but groan again. Why were kids always up so goddamn early on the weekend?
"Can we go see the dogs?" Violet asked.
"Hm? The dogs?" Bickslow rubbed at his face again before looking to Violet kneeling beside him. She nodded quickly and Bickslow sighed. "How about breakfast first, huh? Then we can go see the dogs." He had to go over there anyway just because he needed to feed them and check up on them.
"Okay!"
Violet climbed off the bed once Bickslow managed to finally get up, and the girl didn't waste any time in running around to intercept him on his way out of the room, just to grab his hand and pull him out to the kitchen. "Okay, okay… I'm coming…" he groaned. For the life of him, Bickslow couldn't ever remember seeing Violet with so much energy. He only wondered if this was what she was like every Saturday morning when he didn't stay over. Once they reached the kitchen, Bickslow only sighed and opened the fridge to see what was available for him to use – which, was a lot, because Lucy had made sure to stock the fridge and the cupboards with practically everything she'd been able to think of. "Alright, what do you feel like for breakfast?"
"Um… Pancakes!" Violet answered.
"Pancakes?" Bickslow began pulling out the milk, butter, and eggs to place them on the counter behind him. "But what kind of pancakes? There's more than one kind of pancake, Vi."
"Oh. Um…"
"You can have strawberry pancakes, blueberry pancakes, or banana pancakes… There's apple pancakes, and chocolate pancakes… Or you can have chocolate chip—"
"Chocolate chip! Chocolate chip!" Violet bounced up and down excitedly.
Bickslow nodded. "Good choice, Monkey." Chocolate chip pancakes were the best, although he did have a fondness for apple ones, too. But, Bickslow didn't often cook pancakes. His breakfast those days usually just consisted of coffee and something from a bakery on his way to work. "Now, how about you find the chocolate chips for me while I start getting the batter ready?"
Violet was all too happy to go in search for the chocolate chips, and while she opened up the pantry to find them, Bickslow just found the frypan to begin heating it up on the stove. He melted the butter in the microwave, and by the time Violet had returned with the bag of chocolate chips held out triumphantly above her head, the batter was just about ready to have them added.
"These ones?" Violet asked.
Bickslow looked down at the purple bag she held and he nodded. "Yup, those are the ones!" he said. He set the whisk down after mixing in the rest of the sugar, and then he turned back to Violet trying to peek over the edge of the counter in the bowl. "You wanna put the chocolate chips in?" he asked, and Violet nodded. "Alright, come on then." He stepped back from the counter then just to reach down and pick Violet up, setting her down on the counter next to the bowl so she could actually reach without spilling too many (he expected some chocolate chips to go elsewhere, just because she was five and five-year-olds were messy). He cut open the purple bag with a knife then, and then handed the bag back to Violet so she could pour them into the bowl. "Now, you won't want to add too many—yep, just add the whole bag. That works too."
"Chocolate chips are yummy," Violet giggled, and Bickslow could only sigh and shake his head. He wasn't even going to think of disagreeing with her.
After having Violet beg him for hours to take the dogs for a walk to the park, Bickslow finally caved and took the dogs for a walk to the park. He'd been planning on doing so at some point in the afternoon. He'd mostly just been waiting for the weather to clear up a little – they'd forecast rain in the afternoon, and Bickslow really hadn't wanted to take his dogs or Violet outside if there'd been a chance of getting absolutely drenched.
When the sun came out from behind the clouds though, he finally gathered up the dogs and the girl and they went for a walk. Bickslow even let Violet walk his beagle, Benji, at one point. Although really, it had ended up being more of a case of Benji walking Violet, but it wasn't like Violet really minded. Hell, she'd fucking loved it.
They'd only gone to the park near Bickslow's house, just a few blocks away. There was an oval there for the dogs to run around on, and even a small playground for Violet to play on. For the most part, Violet hadn't cared to go on the playground, even when Bickslow had asked if she wanted to. She'd been more interested in throwing the tennis ball for the dogs to chase after, so Bickslow had merely stood back and let her have her fun. At one point though, she did end up slipping and falling on the wet grass, but that had been okay, even when Bickslow had needed to drag his dogs off her so they would stop licking her face and let her actually get up.
After a little while though, the dogs got a little tired so Bickslow only decided to put them all back on their leads and take them over to one of the benches to let them rest for a little bit before he walked them all back home. Violet climbed up onto the bench next to him, sitting on the edge so she could still pat Pip's fluffy golden ears.
"Why don't you go play for a little bit?" Bickslow suggested, nodding towards the playground just on the opposite side of the wide path. Kids were supposed to play, weren't they?
Violet hesitated for a moment, looking between the dogs and the other children playing happily on the swings and the slides, before hopping down from the bench and slowly making her way to the playground. Bickslow watched her carefully, just out of fear of losing her if she randomly decided to walk off somewhere – he knew she wouldn't, but he was responsible for her so he still worried anyway. She went on the jungle gym first, playing on the rope bridge and the giant tic-tac-toe rollers for a moment. Bickslow couldn't help but chuckle quietly to himself and praise the fact that Lucy had raised a child with a brain when he watched Violet head for the yellow slide next, but change her mind on going down it when she realised it was still wet from the rain earlier in the day.
"She yours?"
He turned at the voice to find the woman on the bench next to him smiling towards him. "Excuse me?" Bickslow asked politely.
The woman nodded towards Violet. "The girl," she laughed. "I saw you sit down with her. How old's your daughter?"
"Oh! Uh…" It was, of course, the first time that anyone had assumed he was Violet's father. He felt his face heat up slightly, mostly out of embarrassment over the fact that he was going to have to correct the woman next to her, but partly because he actually kind of loved that she'd assumed he was Violet's dad. He reached down to rub Inky's belly when he rolled over on the pavement, smiling nervously as he corrected the woman next to him, "She's five"—well, in like three more days she was—"but she's not mine. She's my girlfriend's kid."
"Oh, I see! Well… That one's mine." Bickslow looked up to where the woman was pointing. She pointed to a boy that looked to be Violet's age, stomping on a sandcastle before he sat himself down and picked up a handful of the sand to shove into his mouth. "He's… smarter than he looks," the woman sighed.
"Hey, it's only sand. He'll be onto dirt next."
She let out another sigh before she got up from where she sat, bidding goodbye to Bickslow before she went to collect her sand-covered child. Bickslow could only be glad that Violet wasn't eating any sand – or, well, he hoped she wasn't. What Violet was doing, though, was sitting on the edge of the merry-go-round by herself, digging her feet into the sand as she spun herself around slowly.
Bickslow frowned. There were so many other kids there, yet she was sitting by herself. That really just hurt to see. Come on, Vi. Go talk to someone. She was supposed to be having fun, not sitting there by herself looking completely miserable. He saw two other girls head towards the merry-go-round, and he felt his heart soar when Violet looked up with a smile. The other girls climbed onto the merry-go-round, and for a moment, all three of them were spinning around on it happily, trying to hold onto the metal bars and not lose their grip on the slippery metal.
But then they stopped. The girls went off to the swings, laughing and shouting at each other, and Violet's face fell once more. Bickslow knew that Violet wasn't that great with other kids. Adults were fine, but not so much people her own age. She was so horribly shy when it came to talking to anyone her age that the school had called Lucy in more than once to talk about getting Violet into some after-school programs to try and make friends. Bickslow had never really seen it before though. Violet had always been so excited and happy whenever he'd seen her, so he'd had a hard time believing that she was shy and reserved around almost everyone else. But Bickslow could see it then, and honestly, he hated it.
It had really only been a few minutes, but Bickslow didn't want to see Violet be uncomfortable anymore. He got up from the bench with his own dismal sigh, and took the dogs over to the other side of the playground to go and get Violet, holding his hand out for her to take. "Vi, come on. Let's go home." And when Violet was all too happy to run over to him and the dogs, it just made his heart break even more.
She may not be his daughter, but he still cared about her as if she was his own.
After sending a quick message to Lucy in the afternoon to ask if it was okay, Bickslow finished tucking Violet in and then climbed up to sit next to her on top of the duvet. "Alright… Story time, Monkey."
They were staying at his house that night. Bickslow had originally been against it, but Violet had been asking him all afternoon after they'd gotten home from the park, and Bickslow just hadn't been able to say no – not really, at least. Lucy had said it was fine though, so Bickslow had just caved and let it happen.
It had been a little frustrating, though. He'd ended up having to go back to Lucy's apartment anyway, just to give Violet her bath and get her some clothes for the night, as well as for the morning and some other things to keep her occupied at his house, but Bickslow had considered it worth it just because Violet was happy, and keeping her happy was a must considering it was the first time she'd been away from Lucy for more than a single night and Bickslow knew that she missed her.
But, it was just a little past seven forty-five. Violet usually went to bed closer to seven, but with all the running around to get everything she needed, they were running a little late. It was fine though.
Violet tucked herself under Bickslow's arm as he opened up the book he'd picked up from Lucy's. The dogs were all curled up on the bed around her, and she held back a yawn as Bickslow began to read through the rhyming story.
"…And then I'll look at you, and you'll look at me, and I'll love you, whoever you've grown up to be."
As he read the last line, Bickslow closed the book and looked back down to the girl tucked under his arm. She was already asleep, and he couldn't help but smile to himself. It wasn't the first time he'd read Violet her bedtime story – he'd read that particular book, The Wonderful Things You Will Be, more than once – so he knew that she always managed to fall asleep by the time he was finished. He still found it adorable though.
The dogs were resting peacefully as well, so Bickslow stretched to put the book on the nightstand, trying to move as little as possible. He had a fuck load of work to do, but for a little while, Bickslow just wanted to sit there and enjoy the peace.
He felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket and he struggled to pull it out without disturbing Violet much. He saw Lucy's name pop up on the screen and Bickslow glanced back down to Violet before he answered and brought the phone up to his ear. "Shhh, hold on for a minute," Bickslow whispered. He could just make out Lucy mumbling a cautious 'okay?' before he brought his phone back down, and then went about carefully separating himself from the girl using him as a pillow, and climbing off the bed. The dogs stayed put, only stretching themselves out now that they didn't have a six-foot-four body taking up all the room, and Bickslow quietly crept out of the room after switching off the lights, leaving the door ajar. "Sorry," he said softly once he was back in the hall and heading for his kitchen. "I was just putting Vi to bed and she'd just gone to sleep. Didn't want to wake her."
"Oh. I see. Did you have any trouble?" Lucy asked. She knew Violet could be a pain to get to sleep sometimes. She could be so stubborn when she wanted to be.
"Getting her to bed? Nah. She was tuckered out anyway," Bickslow said, leaning against the kitchen counter as he pressed the button on the top of the kettle and waited for it to start boiling. "Got her into bed, read her a little something, and she was asleep by the end."
"Well, I'm glad."
"Anyway. What are you up to now? It's, what, eleven o'clock there?"
Lucy let out a little sigh. "Yeah, a few minutes past now I think," she said. "I'm just getting back to my hotel though. I got dragged out to a bar with some other people I met at the conference after it ended for the day. God, it was just so noisy there. All I wanted was to be back in bed where it was warm."
Bickslow chuckled as he poured the hot water into the mug, dissolving the fine coffee granules at the bottom. "Sounds like you had a busy night then. Why don't you get into bed and get warm then?"
"I will in a minute. I'm waiting for my burrito to reheat in the microwave."
"Please don't tell me you bought it from the gas station."
"It was the only thing open! And the food at the bar just looked horrendous…"
Bickslow chuckled again, rolling his eyes that time. "Well, I hope you enjoy your crappy gas station burrito that will make you sick for the rest of the night."
"I will, thank you very much," Lucy responded. Although really, she knew it'd probably end up making her sick, but she'd survive. Probably. She just wanted something warm and filling to eat. Thankfully, the microwave beeped and she got up from where she'd been sitting on the edge of the bed and taking off her shoes, to go and collect her food. "Speaking of food though… What'd you give Vi tonight? Please don't say it was another cheeseburger and fries."
"Dinosaur shaped nuggets and vegetables. She rather enjoyed it, too."
Lucy dropped her burrito down onto the small table in the room and sat herself down again. She could visibly see the steam rising from it, so she decided it would be best to leave it for a few moments before trying to lift it from the paper plate. "Well, at least you gave her vegetables…" she mumbled. "What about you, though? I'm assuming you didn't eat dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets."
"Um, yes, of course I did."
"Bix…"
"What's wrong with dinosaur nuggets? They taste better than normal chicken nuggets, you know," Bickslow pointed out. "Besides, they're cheaper than normal nuggets most of the time anyway."
"I guess you have a point…" Although really, a grown man eating dinosaur shaped food? That was just weird. Then again, Lucy was guilty of doing so herself. There was really no point in cooking different food. Finally lifting her greasy burrito up from the plate, Lucy blew on it softly before putting Bickslow on speaker so she could eat and talk at the same time. "What did you two get up to today though?"
Bickslow was just sitting down at his desk in the living room then, setting his black coffee aside and out of the way so he didn't knock it over and spill it all over the floor or even the manuscripts piled on his desk. He'd gotten a little behind with his work from the day before, and all the reading and marking-up he had ahead of him that night and the following night was just a little daunting. The only upside was that he was working with an author whose work Bickslow had loved for years, so editing his work was always a blast compared to some others.
But, while his night was undoubtedly going to be busy – he knew he wouldn't be making it to bed before midnight – his day had been rather pleasant, and that was what Lucy was asking about. Taking a small sip of his coffee and burning his tongue in the process, Bickslow sighed and said, "Nothing much, I suppose. She wanted to see the dogs after breakfast so we came here this morning, and then we just watched cartoons and played a few games indoors while waiting for the weather to clear up a bit."
"Did you go anywhere?"
"Yep. Took the dogs to the park this afternoon for a little bit. Vi kept begging me to go, of course…"
"Oh, duh," Lucy agreed, laughing around a full mouth.
"But, uh…" Bickslow hesitated then. Lucy sensed it, but decided it was better to wait and let Bickslow continue when he was ready. And, glancing back up to where the mouth of the hall was just opposite where his desk was in the living room, Bickslow finally continued, "We stopped at the playground for a bit as well, and Vi just…"
"She did that thing where she just kind of keeps to herself and looks miserable?" Lucy guessed.
Bickslow sighed. "Yeah. Is she always like that? I didn't… I didn't think it was that bad, but I guess I've never really seen her around other kids… God, I feel awful for telling her to go play while I let the dogs rest. I just didn't know."
"Don't feel bad," Lucy said. "Like you said, you didn't know." Lucy herself was guilty of trying to get her daughter to play with other kids her own age at the park sometimes, too. She'd just been waiting for the day where Violet actually went up to another child and got along with them, even if it was just for a few moments. "But yeah… That's basically how it goes."
"It really worries me. Is that weird?"
Lucy smiled softly to herself. "I don't think it's weird." It meant Bickslow cared, and she loved that. "Anyway, I'm just hoping she'll get a little better once she starts kindergarten next summer… If not, well… I should be able to afford putting her in some kind of after-school activity now," Lucy mused. "Although I don't really know what she'd even be able to do. I guess she could take ballet lessons or something… Then again, she's not the most coordinated so that would probably be a terrible idea anyway."
Bickslow tried not to laugh. Violet doing ballet? Yeah, it wouldn't happen. "Hopefully she gets better then," he sighed. "I'd hate to see her grow up like that."
"Me too." That was one of her worst nightmares. For the time being though, Lucy was just trying to do her best to give Violet space to grow. "Anyway! What are you up to for the rest of the night, now that Vi's asleep?"
"Work. So. Much. Work," Bickslow groaned.
"Long night ahead?"
"If I'm done by midnight, I'll consider it a miracle."
"Well, don't push yourself too hard. I know you have deadlines, but still. You need to try and get some sleep," Lucy said. "You know Vi gets up early."
Bickslow groaned into his palm that time. "She got up at like six this morning. Who the hell gets up at six on a Saturday?!"
"Small children do," she giggled. "Just wait until Christmas. She's up before the sun comes up then."
"Oh god… Please don't tell me that."
"Sorry."
He dropped his head to his desk. Thankfully, the stack of paper in front of him softened the blow. Considering Lucy had already invited him over for Christmas (and, of course, he'd accepted because he didn't really have anywhere else to be anyway), Bickslow was realising he should've at least remembered that kids were always excited on Christmas morning. It was some kind of rite of passage to wake up before the crack of dawn to open presents. But, it had been close to two decades since Bickslow had last felt the need to do that himself, so he'd definitely forgotten what it was like to be up that early all for the sake of presents.
But, as much as he was going to hate getting up early, he was looking forward to spending the holidays with Lucy and Violet. He knew Erik would be around for Christmas as well – although he apparently couldn't make it to Violet's birthday that year, in just a few days. Lucy hadn't managed to tell Violet that yet, just because she hadn't been able to bring herself to. That just meant Bickslow had to do his best to keep a straight face when Violet started talking about her birthday again, and telling her that he'd finally be able to meet her dad and that they were going to be the best of friends (although Bickslow was doubtful of the latter). Still, Christmas was going to good, and Bickslow was definitely looking forward to seeing Violet open all of her presents.
Letting out a sigh, Lucy said then, "Well, I honestly just want to sleep. I already feel sick and I've only had a few bites of this stupid thing." It tasted good, sure, but her stomach disagreed. "I guess I'll just let you get on with your work then."
"Yeah, okay," Bickslow said. He kind of wished he could speak to Lucy for a little longer, but he really did have a lot of work to do, and after spending nearly two full days at a work event, he really didn't blame Lucy for just wanting to sleep. "Get some rest. I'll call you tomorrow so Vi can talk to you."
"That sounds good. Night then, Bix," she hummed. "I love you."
"Love you, too."
Setting his phone down out of the way, Bickslow only sat quietly for a moment, taking another sip of his coffee, before grabbing a trusty pen and getting to work.
He was just sitting down with his second cup of coffee when he heard quiet footsteps patter softly in the hall. He looked up just to see Violet sleepily heading for where the light was, carrying her penguin plushy (the one named Royo, as Bickslow had come to learn) by the flipper. It was a ratty old thing, but Violet loved it all the same. Laxus had supposedly given it to her when she'd been born, according to Lucy.
"Vi? What are you doing up?" Bickslow asked softly. It was nearly eleven, judging by the time on his phone. Violet should be well and truly asleep by then. He swivelled in his chair as she walked around the side of his desk, and helped her climb up onto his lap. "Bad dream?" he asked then. Violet shook her head. "Just can't sleep?" She nodded, and Bickslow let out a quiet sigh. "Well, that's okay then." It was hard to get to sleep in a different bed sometimes.
He let Violet stay out there with him for a little while, just because he didn't think it had been worth trying to get her to go back to bed straight away. He'd still had work to do though, and that had proved to be just a little difficult with a five-year-old on his lap, but he'd managed. Bickslow had even needed to explain what his job was at some point when Violet had asked what he was doing – and short answer, he made stories better. That had been good enough for her.
Before long though, Violet managed to fall back asleep. Bickslow hadn't wanted to move her for a while, so he'd just left her and stopped work for a little while, just so he could sit quietly. But after a while, he managed to carefully move her over to the lounge, letting her rest on one of the small pillows and letting a blanket fall over her.
One by one, the dogs all came out and collapsed down in front of the lounge, and slept there for the rest of the night.
Lucy decided to cut her trip a little short and arrive home a few hours earlier. Her plane had originally been due in at a little past midnight, but Lucy just hadn't really wanted to stick around any longer than necessary. She'd had her time away, both for work and just to unwind a little, but Lucy had just wanted to be at home.
She hadn't told Bickslow that she'd changed her flight. She'd wanted to surprise him (and Violet, of course).
When she got back to her apartment at a quarter to seven, she half expected it to be in shambles. She'd expected it to be something close to a riot, too, but when she opened the door, lugging her suitcase in with her, it was quiet. So quiet that Lucy almost wondered if Bickslow had taken Violet back to his house after picking her up from school. It wouldn't have surprised her if that was the case. Violet liked to see the dogs whenever she could.
"Hello…?" she called into the too quiet apartment. A groan was heard then, and Lucy turned to face her small living room off to one side just to find the two people she'd been looking for, slowly waking from their apparent nap.
Violet sat up slightly, rubbing her eyes before she set her sights on her mother leaving her suitcase behind. Her face lit up instantly with a bright smile, and she quickly clambered off her human pillow to hug Lucy. Bickslow only groaned again as he struggled to sit up – a five-year-old jamming her knee into his stomach was not nice.
"Mummy!" Lucy crouched down just as Violet reached her, quickly wrapping her arms around her daughter to give her a tight hug. "I missed you," Violet said.
"I missed you too, sweetheart," Lucy said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and reminding herself not to go too overboard. Seriously though, three-and-a-half days without Violet had been more difficult than she'd expected. The only reason she hadn't been panicking or worrying the entire time was because she'd known her daughter had been in capable hands. Leaning back just enough to hold her daughter's face between her hands, Lucy's mouth twisted into a firm line before she asked, "Have you been playing with glitter again?" Tiny specs of pink, green, and silver glitter were on Violet's forehead, in her hair, and even on her nose. Lucy was sure her hands would be covered in it, too.
"No…"
"My fault," Bickslow mumbled from the lounge. He was sitting up now, making a face as he seemed to pull a piece of glitter from his tongue. "I forgot glitter was the devil of craft supplies." He'd really just been trying to keep Violet occupied instead of just letting her sit down in front of the T.V. and watch cartoons. In his mind, doing a little craft project with her had been a great idea.
Well, until he'd knocked over a jar of glitter and it had gone everywhere. The newspaper laid out on the coffee table had done nothing to stop the spilled glitter from getting in the carpet, in his clothes and hair, or on the couch cushions. Lucy's vacuum was now full of rainbow glitter.
Lucy rolled her eyes. It had to be some kind of rite of passage for every parent to learn how horrible glitter was. Lucy had learnt that when Violet had been three. Erik had seemingly learnt when Violet had taken one of his shirts and drawn with glitter-glue all over it (he still had the shirt, as far as Lucy knew). And now Bickslow had learnt, too. Lucy couldn't even be mad, even if she knew she'd be finding glitter everywhere for the next six months. The mess of paper, wood glue, popsicle sticks, and various glitters on the coffee table suddenly made sense, though.
"Well, I guess that's okay then." Lucy gave Violet a smile as she looked back down to her daughter, and she refrained from frowning when she picked a piece of glitter from Violet's eyebrow. "Now, have you eaten dinner yet? Or were you too busy making"—she looked closer to what was sitting on the table—"popsicle stick ornaments for the Christmas tree?"
Violet shook her head. "Not yet. But I'm hungry!"
"Right. Well, how about we all go out to get something to eat then? Will that work?"
"Oooh! Cheeseburgers? Please, Mummy?"
"If that's what you want, sure," Lucy laughed. She looked to Bickslow then. "What about you, Bix? That suit you?" She wouldn't have blamed him if he'd said he wanted to just go home and try and get the glitter out of his hair – the tiny flecks of purple and silver looked so good though. He'd spent the better part of four days with Violet, and he wasn't even her parent. He had to get sick of her at some point.
Bickslow only nodded and gave a small smile. "Sounds good to me." He'd given the dogs plenty of food that morning, right after he'd dropped Violet off at school. He knew they'd be fine for a couple more hours. "Just let me go get the rest of this glitter out of my mouth…"
He wasn't even sure how it had happened, but it wasn't pleasant.
Christmas morning came around, and by the time it was 7:30 a.m., Bickslow was already feeling dead on his feet and in desperate need of coffee. So much coffee. He'd been up late helping Lucy finish wrapping the last of Violet's presents (and helping her eat all of the cookies), and after just a few hours of sleep, Violet had come running in at a half past five shouting about Santa.
Granted, Bickslow had really enjoyed getting to watch Violet open all of her presents. All but one of the presents he'd gotten for her had been labelled as being from Santa. The only one that hadn't been labelled as from the fat man in the red suit, had been the robotic toy dog he'd bought three months earlier. It was fluffy and it was white and it was going to drive Lucy insane, so it had been perfect.
He'd even gotten a few presents himself, much to his surprise, including a horribly offensive and inappropriate coffee mug that pointed out all the correct usages of 'their', 'they're', 'there' and similar such words (since Lucy had definitely heard her fair share of complaints about future-authors who still don't know the difference between 'your' and 'you're'), and then a handmade picture frame that Lucy had helped Violet make. Apparently he'd needed a picture of Violet in a popsicle stick, felt, and glitter picture frame on his desk.
After presents though, breakfast and coffee had been in order. Lucy had needed to pry the robotic dog away from Violet just so she would sit down at the table and eat her breakfast.
When there came a knock at the door, just as Bickslow finally got his coffee, Violet jumped up before Lucy could turn away from the stove. "Daddy's here!" Violet shouted as she ran off to the door, and Lucy could only sigh and turn off the hotplate to finish dishing up the last plate and then the leftovers.
And indeed, it had been Erik standing just on the other side of the door. "Hey, kiddo, Erik said as soon as he looked down to find Violet opening the door, and he lifted her up with just a little effort to give her a big hug.
Seeing his daughter was always a good thing. He almost wished he could do it more often.
He managed to get himself into the apartment eventually, only gently kicking the wrapped box by the door through. Violet clung to him so tightly that Erik couldn't really help but chuckle quietly to himself when he went to go put her down again but failed. He got that she was always clingy at first whenever he visited, but she wasn't that bad. But when he felt something wet against his neck, where Violet was hiding her face, he lost his smile and began to worry. "Vi? Kid, what's wrong?" he asked. He tried pulling her away from where she had her arms wrapped around his neck but she wouldn't budge.
"J-Just… Miss you…" Violet sniffled.
That was the only thing Erik hated about their arrangement – that he knew his daughter always missed him. And he missed her too, naturally. But it was at times like that, where Violet cried over how much she missed him, that Erik wondered if it was all worth it.
"I know you do. I'm sorry, kiddo," Erik whispered. He managed to pry Violet away from his shoulder just enough to kiss her forehead and swipe his thumb across her cheek, wiping away the small tears. "Now come on. It's Christmas. No tears on Christmas. You got that?"
Violet gave a small nod, and Erik was finally able to get her back on her own feet just as they reached the kitchen. Violet quickly sat down at the table again, just to have Lucy quietly crouch down next to her and ask her what was wrong – she didn't have a clue what she'd been crying over and what Erik had said, but Lucy noticed how red her eyes had become. But once Lucy was sure Violet was okay, she only sighed and looked to Erik with a strangely menacing grin on his face, and then back to Bickslow still at the table.
"Well, I guess I should introduce you two now," she mumbled. "Bickslow, this is Erik, Vi's dad. And Erik, this is… Well, Bix."
Of all the times that Lucy could've introduced him to Violet's father, it had to be when he'd been shoving a piece of bacon into his mouth.
"Ah, of course. I finally get to meet the guy who's been fucking my best friend. Excellent."
"E-Erik!" Lucy screeched. She'd never seen Bickslow's face so red, and quite frankly, she was sure her own was just as bright.
"What's fucking?" Violet asked.
Lucy could only gape at her daughter while a hand flew to her mouth. Bickslow, on the other hand, choked on the bacon he'd been trying to swallow. And Erik had to refrain from giggling like a child. "A bad word," Erik managed to explain as Lucy scowled at him. "A very, very bad word, that you must never say."
"Why not?"
"Because it's a horrible word, and Daddy shouldn't have said it anyway," Lucy cut in. The last thing she needed was Violet saying that at school.
Bickslow finally managed to clear his throat and breath normally once Violet had merely shrugged and returned to her breakfast. "It's, um… Good to meet you," he mumbled. Truthfully, he was nervous as all hell, because Erik was Violet's dad and the last thing Bickslow wanted to do was make the guy think that he was a horrible role-model or anything.
But since Bickslow had never even seen a picture of him, he had to admit that he was surprised by Erik's appearance. He hadn't exactly known what to expect, but the spiked hair and the long scar over his right eye was not at all what Bickslow had anticipated. But originally, he'd thought Violet looked like Lucy. Now he could see why Lucy insisted that she looked more like her father – the resemblance was clearly there.
"Oh, I'm sure it is," Erik snickered. Really though, he had a feeling that Bickslow was fucking terrified right then. Sure, he didn't really want it, but he was in a good mood that day, just because he got to spend a few days with his daughter, and strangely enough, making his best friend's boyfriend squirm was going to just a little amusing.
Erik walked back into the living room after tucking Violet into bed, just to find Lucy standing with his jacket held in her hands. "Sick of me already?" he asked.
Lucy tried not to roll her eyes. "You know that's not it," she mumbled.
"Then what?"
"I want you to go and talk to Bix."
Erik raised an eyebrow at her. He'd been expecting Lucy to say that she needed him to pick up some ice-cream or just random food or something. He definitely hadn't seen her asking him to go talk to her boyfriend. "Uh… And why the fuck would I do that?"
"Because I'm asking you to," Lucy said. She wouldn't be doing it unless she thought it was actually necessary, though. And right then, she did. Erik would be leaving in a couple more days since it was already 29th, and talking to Bickslow was something that only Erik could do. She'd barely heard from him herself since he'd left not long after lunch on Christmas Day, right before Gajeel had visited as he did every year. He claimed that he'd just been busy trying to get work finished, but really, Lucy knew it wasn't the entire truth. She knew that Bickslow was keeping his distance because Erik was in town, and she hated it. "I need you to just… I don't know, to tell him you don't hate him."
Erik scoffed as he planted himself right in the middle of the lounge. "Why would he think I hate him?"
"Because he spends more time with Vi than you do."
"So? So do you. I certainly don't hate you."
"I'm her mother. It's different."
She has a bit of a point there. Still, Erik didn't really know why Bickslow would think he hated him. He didn't really have a reason to. He barely knew the man himself, but he trusted what Lucy and Violet said about him – which had been a lot. Reaching for the T.V. remote, Erik shrugged. "Either way, I don't hate him. I'm not going to bother going out just to tell him that either. That's his problem."
Lucy snatched the remote away and switched the T.V. back off, just to shove the jacket onto Erik's lap. "Erik, please," she said softly. "I need you to do this for me. Just take him out somewhere and convince him that he has nothing to worry about. Please."
He hesitated for a moment before sighing through his nose and getting up from the lounge. "Fine," he muttered. Had Lucy been anyone else, he would've just told them to fuck off. But it was Lucy, and she was his best friend and he'd really do anything for her. It didn't help that she had one hell of a puppy-dog face when she wanted to get her way. "Give me his address."
When Erik had shown up at Bickslow's door just before eight, he'd quite frankly been speechless. Erik was the last person Bickslow had ever expected to visit him, and when he'd opened the door, he'd only thought that Erik was there to tell him that he and Lucy were done and that Lucy was getting back together with the father of her child. Lucy having told him time and time again that he had zero reasons to worry about Erik just hadn't mattered.
But then Erik had told him to just get a jacket and get in his car so they could go to a bar. He'd tried getting out of it naturally, partly because he still had work to finish off, and partly because the idea of actually going somewhere with Erik had terrified him. But then Erik had quite literally dragged him away from his desk once he'd gone back inside, and after a short drive, they'd been sitting at a quiet bar downtown, and mostly in silence. Bickslow simply hadn't known what to say, and Erik had just been trying to put talking off for as long as possible.
Well, at least until he'd finished his first drink.
It wasn't like Erik was comfortable being there either. But Lucy had asked him to do it, and that meant he had to try.
"She's worried about you," Erik finally said. "Lucy, I mean."
Bickslow glanced up for just a moment. "What for?"
"You kind of disappeared on Christmas." Of course Erik had noticed it as well. From what he could tell, Bickslow was almost always at the apartment if the girls weren't visiting his house. For the most part, Erik just hadn't thought much about it.
"Yeah, well… Had stuff to do," Bickslow mumbled.
"That's a fucking lie. Even I know that."
Bickslow frowned. It was half a lie. But the fact that Erik was calling him out on it meant Lucy knew too, and he didn't really like that. He ran his finger around the edge of the glass tumbler before admitting quietly, "Didn't really want to get in the way. Figured it was just easier to stay away for a few days."
"Why?" Erik asked, despite knowing the answer. He just wanted to hear Bickslow say it.
He gave a small shrug. "It's the holidays. It's your time with Vi. I didn't want to ruin that or make anyone uncomfortable."
"The only one uncomfortable with any of this shit is you."
Bickslow scoffed into his drink as he lifted it from the damp napkin. "Yeah, sure," he muttered. "I believe that."
Lucy hadn't mentioned anything about Bickslow being frustrating. But really, Erik didn't blame him for being like that. It was annoying, but it made a little bit of sense, even when Bickslow was barely saying anything. Still, Erik had to refrain from hitting the guy over the back of the head. "Look, I don't know where the fuck you're getting it from," Erik began, "But I don't hate you."
Bickslow didn't think Erik hated him… "You just don't like me," he mumbled. "Don't worry. It's fine. No one expects you to."
Erik rolled his eye. "You're a frustrating son of a bitch, you know that?"
"I… I don't mean to be…"
"Well, you are."
"Sorry…" It wasn't like Bickslow wanted to be frustrating. But that's just the way it was. "But seriously, it's fine. I never expected us to get along. I mean, I spend more time with your kid than you do. Any normal person is going to hate the guy who does that." If Violet had been Bickslow's daughter, and it had been Erik that was dating Lucy, then Bickslow knew he'd sure as hell want to hate Erik. There was a fear of being replaced, and that was what Bickslow had been trying to avoid. That was why he'd kept his distance. He didn't want Erik to think that he was being replaced.
"I'm not exactly a normal person though, am I?" Erik said. Bickslow only spared him another glance as he took another sip of his drink. "I accepted a long time ago that someone else was going to raise Vi," he continued softly. It was a rare tone with him. "As far as Lucy's concerned, you're that person. You're part of the family whether you realise it or not. Lucy wants you there, and so does Violet. That's all that matters."
He'd missed a lot of Violet's life. And while it hurt sometimes, whenever Erik remembered that he'd missed all of her firsts, he still knew that it had been for the best. He wasn't cut out for being a parent. He wasn't stable enough for that. Lucy had given him an out because she'd known that, and if Erik hadn't known that Lucy was capable of doing it all on her own, then he wouldn't have agreed to it.
Still, he wasn't going to hate the person who did decide to step up and be the responsible parent that he could never be. Bickslow was that person, whether he knew that already or not. Even then, he'd heard a lot about Bickslow from Lucy and Violet (mostly Violet), and as far as Erik could tell, he didn't really have a reason to hate Bickslow. He cared about them both. Erik knew that. And Lucy made good judgements that Erik trusted.
Of course though, that wasn't to say that Erik wouldn't hunt the man down if he ever hurt them… Because he would. He just hoped he'd never have to do it.
A/Ns: OOC Cobra, I know. Oh well. Anyway, lots of Cobra writing lately. It's made me want to start a CoLu chapter fic... A super weird chapter fic where Cobra may or may not be an elf (he is). Of course there's Bix in it too, because it's me and I can't help myself. I'm pretty excited to plan it all out. But I have other stories to write and finish then... Like BixCo week. And then the pirate AU. And other chapter stories and there's just way too many.
Anyway. There's probably one one more chapter after this. Two at most, if I decide to do a follow-up to Dawn, since this story was designed to go up to Dawn, not beyond it. I'll have to see what I think works.