There's not really a great way to answer questions on my other fics so hopefully people are reading here- I'll also post The Lost Chapters, but I haven't written anything since then. I could play around w some suggestions, but I have no intent of writing anything new.
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He looks at his sleeping sister in his arms, "she's little," he determines.
The corner of Piper's mouth curls upward, she chuckles with amusement at his observation and the commentary of how small people seem to think her babies are, if only they knew how small they didn't feel on the way out.
Alex cups her hand and cradles her daughter's head in her palm, "she's very little. We have to be careful with her okay?" she tells Jamie, though his arms are so stiff he doesn't need the prompt. She dips her arms down and takes her from him, catching her breath as her arms are filled with the warm weight of her daughter for the first time. She eyeballs the bed behind her briefly for leftover aftermath before sitting back to admire the newest blonde to take over her heart.
"Pipes," her head leans up before her eyes break gaze with Harper's face, "our daughter..." she can't finish the sentiment. She tries to fight her smile for a minute but can't. Nicky's finger hits her camera button repeatedly while Alex admires her little girl's features and Jamie's eyes switch between his mother, who has turned to mush, and the person who is literally doing nothing but being.
Nicky leans in slightly to get pictures that are closer up, "I would've literally broken your neck if you didn't make it," she says as she pulls Harper's hat back slightly and takes another picture.
"Pipes her hair is blonde," Alex says stating something that has already been established. She's still digesting that their daughter's coloring is very similar to Piper's. "And this is before the bath; I remember how much lighter his hair got once we washed it," she says lightly tugging a piece of Jamie's hair.
Piper nods exhaustedly, and looks at Alex with her Bambi eyes and a slight pout.
Alex wrinkles her nose, "what is it, babe?"
"You almost missed her being born."
Alex's eyes harden, she knows and she wouldn't have been able to forgive herself if she hadn't made it, regardless if it had been her fault or not, there was no sign of any impending labor.
"I know there was no way to know," she says staring at her knees, not necessarily to Alex but as something that she needed to get off of her chest, "it happened so fast... like the complete opposite of Jamie."
He lifts his head from staring at Harper when he hears his name, "I wasn't fast?"
Alex and Piper both laugh out loud, "no! You took your time," Piper tells him, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry," she says resting a hand on Piper's knee and rubs it up her thigh, "I could tell Finn was really nervous, so I got back in the car right away," she recalls leaving Philadelphia as fast as possible. "Shi... zzles, I have to call my boss so they can send someone else."
Alex looks back down as Harper squirms; she traces an index finger around her sleeping face, and peppers her with feather light kisses. Nicky continues with her creative methods of how she'd have mutilated and then killed Alex had she missed the birth of her daughter but then reassures her she would have then revived her with her CPR skills. A nurse comes in to ask if they own a black sedan, when Alex mutters "shit," under her breath, "I left it in ER zone." She turns to Nicky and asks if she'd mind moving the car.
"I can't Vause, no license."
"Just circle 'til you find a spot, don't go making donuts in the middle of the street, you'll be fine."
"Can't risk it Vause, I would, I just can't."
"Babe," Piper says touching Alex's arm, urging her not to pressure Nicky to do anything illegal.
"Alright, I'll be right back. You wanna hold her?" she asks Nicky when she notices the plastic bag by her feet for the first time.
The wild haired blonde nods as Alex lowers Harper into her arms careful to support her neck. "What is that?," she points to the bag. Jamie follows Harper's two foot journey and stands right next to Nicky.
"Nothing," Nicky replies and immediately gets lost in the newest Vauseman. "You have water," she says to her confusedly, "can I have one? I'm dying."
Nicky coyly alters her position and tries to nudge the bag back under the chair further but her range of motion is limited with Harper in her arms and Jamie hovering, Alex drags it out.
Nicky throws her head back and Alex starts snorting as she goes through the bag which holds a scissor, a pack of dish towels and bottled water. "... and you were planning to what with this exactly?" she asks her best friend, knowing exactly what it was for.
"You said she was gonna deliver!" she says shrugging. "What if she did it at home? That's what I could find on the corner bodega... I don't know!" she says while sheepishly hiding her face in her hair.
Piper looks at her with sad eyes but can't help but join Alex in her hysterical laughter.
"Seriously," she says to them and pulls Jamie's head against her leg and covers his topmost ear, "eff you both, could've left you to have this baby in the cab," she says to Piper, "and I'm pretty sure she would've torn your nipple off by now if I hadn't shown up. Am I right?" she asks Piper who agrees, "at least one of them."
"Aw c'mon we named our kid after you," Alex says while caressing her daughter's face and planting a kiss on her nose.
Nicky pinches the sensitive flesh of the brunette's triceps.
"Ow! Sonofabi...what the hell?"
"That's for leaving her so late in the game," she says and winks at Piper.
Alex frowns slightly, pecks Piper and heads back to the waiting area where she sees Finn playing with his tablet.
"Hey kid, wanna come with me? I gotta move the car," she says, moving the key around her hand.
He shuts down the tablet and stands up, still seeming somewhat solemn. She hooks an arm around his neck, "someone shit in your Cheerios? What's up?"
He laughs, but shakes his head: nothing.
"Why so serious?" she sings in the tune of P!nk.
He still shakes his head, "I've never seen her cry."
Ah. "It hurts babe, she's alright. You should see her now." She looks up, slightly awed, thinking of Piper.
"She was scared," he clarifies that he doesn't think it was the pain. "I didn't know what to do."
"Hey," she says and removes her arm from around his shoulders. She hits the button for the ground level in the elevator, "you did great kid. I'd take you out for a beer and say you became a man today but I'm pretty sure your mom would kick my ass." He smiles big, she tousles his hair.
"Really," she says in a more serious tone, "I would've missed it if you hadn't called me." "You know she threatened to kill me when I wanted to call you the first time."
"She's all talk," she drawls, "... but me? I would've really done it."
"Yeah, no shit," he looks at her judging if it was cool if he slipped in the words he wasn't normally permitted to. She opens her mouth to tell him to watch it, but shuts it and re-hooks her arm around his shoulder as they walk through the hospital and exit. They get outside and walk toward the abandoned car, the security guard who had followed her to labor and delivery stands beside it.
"Did you make it?" he asks.
"Just barely, thanks," she says after eyeballing the windshield wiper for a ticket.
They climb into the car that's parked in the loading dock of the emergency room. She parks a block from their apartment and stops upstairs to grab the bag of big brother stuff from Harper to Jamie along with the big brother shirt/little sister onesie Piper insisted on having for pictures. She returned the little brother onesie to the shopping bag and grabbed a couple of other items to bring back to the hospital. She settled on a sundae for Finn for the moment and got one to go on ice for Jamie.
After finally getting in touch with Polly, she came to meet them at the hospital. Shocked to the core at how fast this baby came, she walked quickly through the hospital and squealed excitedly as she walked in the room. Finn ducked from her flailing arms and snuck up next to Jamie in hopes to not be effected by the estrogen overload as she practically crawled underneath the covers holding held her namesake close to her and listened on as Piper, who was fading out, tried to recount the day.
On their first night home, Jamie watches Alex bounce her weight on the co-sleeper attached to Piper's side of the bed making sure it's secure.
"Is she sleeping in here?" he asks.
"Jamie, we've already gone over this. Mommy needs to feed her during the night." "I want to sleep in your bed."
"James, you're too big to be in our bed, you won't get a good night's sleep."
"But, I'm only this big," he reasons looking down at his body.
She sighs as she turns down the comforter of the bed, "fine, just for tonight though and if...," she stops as he scampers off the bed and runs out the room. He comes back in his pajamas and crawls into their bed, and breathes in her face to show he brushed his teeth, before settling himself in the middle, under the sheet. Piper walks in with a sleeping Harper, her eyes scan over the lump under the sheet next to Alex.
"Just for tonight," she whispers to Piper before she starts with her. Jamie's head emerges from the sheet, and pushes back behind Alex's arm hoping she'll defend her decision to let him sleep with them.
"You're such a pushover," Piper tells Alex while settling Harper on her back in the co-sleeper. Jamie crawls over towards the baby, Piper brings her hand up to block him, "please don't wake her up, I just got her to sleep."
He nods, "can I give her moochies?"
"Yes, gentle ones."
He leans over her face and plants a gentle kiss on her cheek, "goodnight baby."
Her piercing cries wake them all in the middle of the night, Piper's hand finds her in the dark and rubs sleepily in hopes she'll settle at the touch. Jamie turns over and Alex leans up squinting in the dark unable to see anything. She puts on her glasses, and walks around to Piper's side of the bed to lift their screaming child. She bounces her, rocks her, ensures her diaper is dry, lets her free hand roam over her body to soothe her, sings her words of encouragement to fall back to sleep, but nothing.
"She's so loud," Jamie whines sitting up. Her lips find Alex's knuckle and start to suck, "Pipes," Alex says trying to wake up the blonde.
"Mommy!" Jamie says in frustration, "all she does is cry," he says to Alex as he gets up and trudges off to his own bed. Alex chuckles and sits at the edge of the bed, "Pipes, I'm sorry babe," she flips on the side light, "she heard there was a buy one get one sale on breast milk but she can't find it in the dark."
Piper turns the light back off, and sits up with her eyes closed. She extends her arms to receive a wailing Harper. She half consciously rests her lips on the crown of her head, "alright muffin," she says and gets her latched on; the room goes quiet other than the occasional break in suction. She feels the bed dip down and Alex curl along the length of her leg,
"Where's Jamie?" she says looking down at Alex's face pressing into her hip.
"Unimpressed with the acoustics," she mutters. She leans up some to look at Harper with the little light from the street lamps that shine through the window.
"She's good?" her voice hums over the miniature blonde, still husky with sleep.
"Mmmhmm."
Three hours later, her whimpers wake Piper and she gets up to nurse her before the hollering starts. Another three hours later, Jamie walks in and leans over the co-sleeper to watch Harper wiggle. Her fingers wrap around his index finger, "mommy look!" he yelps, tearing the blonde from her sleep.
"What?!" she looks up and around alarmed.
"She's holding my hand," he shows her raising Harpers arm up slightly.
Her head hits the pillow and sighs relieved, "that's great baby," she says realizing she doesn't sound genuine. She props herself up on her elbows, slight guilt in her chest, "she loves you," she rubs her hand over his head, "where's mama?"
He shrugs his shoulders. She sticks her finger in Harper's diaper and removes it, wet. She pulls a clean diaper from the bottom of the co-sleeper and changes her and hands Jamie the dirty one and tells him to bring it to Alex.
He takes it and finds Alex who's measuring out the coffee grounds, and hands it up to her. "What're you giving me this for? Throw it in the trash."
"Mommy said you need to bring it in the hall.
She takes it, weighing it in her hand for a moment, the no 'Diaper Genie Vausian Guarantee' only stands for shitty diapers she reasons on roughly three hours of sleep; she smirks and throws it in the trash like a basketball.
Just shy of 6 weeks after Harper's born, the sounds of saxophone playing Peruvian Nights plays through the apartment. Jamie, who's crouched in front of Harpers swing, pokes his sister's cheeks to see if he can get her to smile each time her swing comes forward. Piper is setting a pot of water onto the stove to start dinner, when Alex comes home after returning to work 2 weeks before. She shuts the door, but no one comes to meet her. She walks closer to the music and finds herself in the living room. She extends a foot knocking Jamie over.
"What am I, old news?"
"Hey!" he whines and looks up and sees it's Alex. "Mama!" She gets down on her knees and he gives her a hug.
"And what were you just doing?"
"Nothing," he lies.
"Hi hi hi hi," she leans into Harper and rubs her tummy before she turns the swing off and picks her up.
"Were you good today?" she asks him while bouncing Harper and looking at the trail he's left all over the living room.
"Uh huh," he pauses sliding his hand up and down Alex's black pencil skirt as if she's a new unique specimen that he's never seen before. She smirks at him, and asks him to start picking up; he asks her why when he's going to use the same toys tomorrow. He's met with a glare over the top of her glasses. He looks back at her, waiting for a response, when she lifts her glasses atop her head and squints slightly peering into him. His eyes widen slightly as he takes a step back and begins picking up his stuff.
"Don't mess," she tells him as she walks into the kitchen, her rasp startles the blonde. "What is this Kenny G shit?"
"Kenny G," Piper says with a chuckle. "It's sensual," she tells her as Alex kisses her cheek and rests her chin on her shoulder.
"Mmmm, water," she says looking into the pot while she slinks her hand around Piper's front and meets her mushy skin. Piper frowns and pushes her hand away, "I hope she clears me and says I can start exercising again, I hate this, it's all saggy."
"Babe it's really not that bad, you're so hard on yourself. I'm saggy too and I didn't carry either of them! What's my excuse?"
"You're not even close to saggy."
Alex turns Piper around to face her and grabs a boob with her free hand and pulls it upward, as high as she can, "this used to be here."
Piper laughs, "they were not at your clavicles. The first thing I'm doing once I'm cleared is going for a long run."
"La deuxieme chose," she tells the blonde with a look that says she wants to eat her alive. "Mmm, that sounds so sexy."
"Yeah? Just wait; I'll speak French between your legs."
A choking noise escapes from the back of Piper's throat as her knees start to go weak. They stare each other down until Harper squirms breaking their focus. She brings the newest blonde love of her life up above her head and settles her down above her face and kisses her all over. "Tomorrow," she says leaning back into Piper who's turned around to start chopping a zucchini.
"Leave this, I got it, what were you making?"
"Just pasta and vegetables, sorry."
"Perfect, go sit."
"You've worked all day."
"You haven't? Was this a vacation?" Alex asks her, not waiting for her response. She leans down to switch off Piper's music not being able to deal with the jazz and be expected to keep her hands to herself, she switches on System of a Down's, BYOB and head bangs marching gently around with Harper. She deepens her voice and sings along, "la la la la la la la la la wooo."
"Ahhhh soothing," Piper says stretching her arms out for Harper.
"Noo," she says, pulling her away from Piper, "you've had her all day," she says grumpily.
"Fine."
"Please sit."
Alex goes to change and returns in leggings and a tank top with Harper moby'd to her chest. "Hot as balls," she says to Piper, "I'd imagine."
"And wearing our daughter, much cooler," she nods on.
"All day, I've been away from her all-day."
Alex doesn't care. She welcomes the heat as she's waited so long to feel the weight of a tiny nugget along her frame. She cooks their dinner gladly with Harper snug against her body; she glances over her shoulder to see Piper shut her eyes.
Six months later, Jamie sits at his table of four working on a craft to bring home for the holidays. Michael Louison asks, "what does your mom do?"
"She has a soap store."
"What about your dad?"
"I don't have a dad."
"Oh."
"I have another mom?," his voice raises up slightly.
His classmate tilts his head to the side and asks curiously, "you have two moms?"
He nods not understanding why he's asking.
"Who fixes stuff or puts stuff together?"
He's confused, "like what?"
"Like... the T.V. or the light bulb when it doesn't work anymore, or...who cuts the grass?"
"Well they both put in a new light bulb. Or we get another T.V. or we call the T.V. guy. And we don't have grass."
Michael Louison shrugs his shoulders and says "okay," satisfied, "can you pass me the glue?" He wrinkles his mouth and thinks, is that what dads do?
Alex and Jamie come through the door; she follows her nose to the smell of demolished plaster and wood shavings. She stands in the doorway looking stressed, "Piper!"
Weeks before Piper relished in watching Alex eat her words, as they decided to re-model the bathroom that had seen better days. Piper meets her in the doorway holding a babbling Harper, "it'll be done soon," she says trying to ease the brunette's stress. Jamie's mouth drops when he sees the mess that used to be their bathroom.
He looks at Alex's expression and then looks over her body, in her dress and tights. He turns to look at Piper, who looks like a hot mess, having been home all day.
Alex goes to talk, but all that comes out are a series of disturbed sounds.
"It'll be done in a few days, relax, we have ours," Piper says in reference to the bathroom in their bedroom.
"Ugh it's just everywhere, "Alex says stressed, "I don't want the dust around her," she takes Harper from Piper and walks away.
"Just move her away from it, it's not dusty in here, I've had her in other rooms all day. The guy'll be back Monday to clear all this out and he said the tiles should be in early in the week."
"It's gonna be like this all weekend?!"
"Well... yeah but-we-have-ours, what's the big deal?" Alex slinks down on the couch overwhelmed. A teething Harper gnaws on her finger, she feels a sense of calm at the nibble and takes a deep breath, big picture Vause.
"Whatever, as long as it'll be done in time for the holidays, I'm already freaking out about making dinner for everyone."
"It will be," Piper reassures her.
"Couldn't you clear it out?" Jamie asks the room.
"Clear what out?" Alex asks him.
"The bathroom."
She looks at him as if he's the newest escaped mental patient; her head rests back on the couch, while Harper still goes to town on her finger. "The mess is ridiculous. We're not touching it. We're paying this guy a zillion dollars to do it... and when it's done," she says leaning up and looks at Piper, "it better be spotless- no flecks of paint or plaster on the mirrors, no dust behind the toilet. Spotless."
"He'll be back on Monday! He's going to come back and clear it up and then you can see the new tiles and fixtures."
"But could you do it? If you wanted to?" he asks both of them looking back and forth.
"What? I don't want to," Alex tells him
"But you know how?"
"No I don't know how," Piper chimes in, "that's why I hired this guy. Can you please get a jar of food from the fridge before your mother only has 9 fingers?"
He gets it and puts it on the table; he rests his head on his palm.
"What's up with you?" Piper asks as she takes off his hat.
"Michael Louison said that his dad fixes stuff."
"What?" Piper asks barely above a whisper.
"That his dad can build things or when...when something breaks in his house his dad fixes it."
Well fuck Michael Louison, Alex thinks to herself.
"Hey I can do stuff!" Piper says defensively.
"Like what?" he challenges, thus far unimpressed at how this conversation is going.
"Hey!" Alex says giving him a look that relays he needs to watch his tone.
"We turned your room into a kid's room, it's used to be a grownups room," Piper lists.
"It's just paint," he rebuts.
"And we," her eyes wander, flustered, as she tries to think of something she's fixed and can't think of anything, "we put together your sisters crib!"
"And Uncle Pete helped mama bring it up from the store!"
"So? She could've done it herself."
"But she didn't!"
Alex stands up, shoving a spoon of food into Harper's cheek completely missing her mouth, "and I built that tree that's in your room and installed it!" She wipes the food off her daughters face and licks it off her hand, causing her face to contort in revulsion.
"Yeah and Steve always says that he helped you every time he comes over and sees it." Alex always hated when her colleague that helped her did that.
Count? Jamie: 3, Moms: 0.
"Ugh, this is disgusting," she passes Harper to Piper and uses the cuff of her sleeve to wipe off her tongue, "I think your food is better," she says to Piper.
Piper's eyes widen, "Yeah! Yeah! I make my own food! Let's see Michael's dad do that!"
"That's gross!"
"Well she," she says pointing to Harper, "doesn't have any complaints and you didn't either so meh," she says sticking her tongue out. She wanted to say she "pushed the two of you out of my vagina, UNMEDICATED," but held her tongue.
"I'm gonna finish this bathroom," she said with a determined stomp towards the disaster zone. "Piper the baby!" Alex said as Harper's head bobbed up and down in rhythm with Piper's stomp. Jamie skipped over towards her, "you're gonna fix it?!" he says excitedly.
"Yeah," she looks at the room, "yeah I am."
Alex steals back Harper, "no you're not and were supposed to host Christmas dinner with our whole flippin' family- with what, no bathroom? It'll take months!"
"Well then it'll take months, and they'll use our bathroom...or they'll pee in the street." Jamie jogs in place at Piper's contagious moxie.
"Piper, your temper," Alex warns, "can you take her to your room?" she asks Jamie. "Use the boppy to help her sit up, or she'll throw up."
Alex bends down to hand her to Jamie and watches him barely able to walk with her. "Piper you don't know what the hell you're doing! We have two kids and no bathtub!"
"He can shower...and she... she can shower with one of us or well just fill up her little tub- solved." She holds onto the doorframe and bends her neck to look at what used to be their shower. Alex looks at the room like it's Mt. Kilimanjaro after a tornado.
"We can do it, Al. We fixed stuff in Litchfield."
"We?! Oh no. I'm not doing this. If you want to be Piper Joe construction worker that's all on you."
"Do you want him growing up thinking we can't do anything? That he would've been better off with a man to fix things?!"
Alex opened her mouth. Piper cut her off, "do you?!"
"I know we can do stuff," Alex says already sounding defeated, "but we fixed dryers and lamps Piper, this is a whole bathroom."
"We're doing this... well I am. It would be nice if you backed me up."
"Don't you do that!"
"What?"
"That thing!"
"He's just our son, if you're fine with him viewing you as someone who's not capable of doing something a man can do then that's just fine."
"This is bullshit, she says. "Alright I'll help you but it needs to be established that just because we can do this, doesn't mean we're also not above having someone do this crap in the future."
"Deal."