A/N: This and the following chapter started as a simple idea, and blossomed into my two largest chapters. I apologize for their length, but I had a blast writing them. I loved FO3 so much, and got a bit carried away with myself.
43. The Family Trip
MacCready POV
Way Back Home by Bob Crosby and the Bobcats
It's been a whopping four months since Beth and I visited the Prydwen last. Vitya is now six months and exploring solid foods—things like crushed mutfruit and, unfortunately, Cram. It's the only thing I can think of that will work right now, Beth had told me. Victoria seems to enjoy it, though—and with her mother's addiction to it while pregnant, it's not that hard to imagine why.
I've been getting a little fidgety recently, and of course, Beth can tell. She's asked me why, but I'm not even sure myself. She offered that we take a week and visit Diamond City, but I don't feel like it would help all that much.
We're sitting up in bed at the moment, preparing to turn in for the night, when she sets her book to the side and looks at me. "I think I know what it is."
"What what is?" I ask, the conversation having ended hours ago.
"Why you've been anxious recently." She takes her eyeglasses off and lays them on her read. Lying her head down on the pillow facing me, she expands. "I wonder if you miss home."
"I'm home right now?" I look around the room, indicating what has been my home for a good, long while.
"No. I meant DC." As I slide down into bed more, she rests her forehead against my arm while wrapping her own arms around it. This makes it sort of difficult to hear her—but I still manage somehow. "It's where you've spent most of your life. It's pretty much all you've known. I bet you miss it—even if you don't realize it." I brush some of the hair from her face in hopes of hearing her more clearly. And so she can maybe breathe a little.
"Well, I've never really thought about it. This is our home now," I tell her, meaning Duncan and I. "I mean, sure. I did live there for over twenty years, but I don't think it's a big deal."
As we lay in silence for a few minutes, I start to feel her head drop and her grip on my arm loosen. Not a couple seconds later, I can hear her soft snores. I chuckle and pull the duvet over her. I've always liked to watch her sleep, this time being no different.
Her bottom lip juts out ever so slightly as she scoots a little closer to me. I pull my arm out of her grasp and wrap it around her back. This wakes her up a little bit, but she falls back to sleep easily after she fits herself against my side.
"You know what?" I ask Beth in the morning as she serves up some Mirelurk omelets for breakfast. The boys are sitting on ready for the grub, seated around the dining table. Beth shakes her head as I spoon Vitya another spoonful of her own breakfast: crushed mutfruit. "I began to think last night after you went to sleep—about me missing DC?"
"Oh, yeah?" She loads up a big plate, family style, and delivers it to the table for Shaun and Duncan to tuck into. "What about it?"
"Maybe—maybe—we can go visit. See if you're right. Think of it as a vacation."
"But what if you do miss it? Will we pack up and move?" She grabs a serving of the fluffy egg stuff herself.
"Oh, no. No, don't worry about that. I guess I'll just… deal with it." I give Victoria another bite.
"I don't want you to have to just deal with it," Beth continues. "I probably shouldn't have brought it up…"
"No. I think it is a good idea. We could go to Megaton, see Kate. I know Duncan would love that." I glance over at the boy, who apparently has been listening in, as he nods wildly, omelet halfway hanging out of his mouth. "What has your mother told you about big bites?" I ask him.
He looks shamefaced as he slowly spits out half of it. "To not to."
"Mhmm." I grin at the saying he'd picked up from Ellis, as much as his expression before continuing. "Shaun's has never met them, and they've never met Vitya. It'd be fun for everyone." I snap my finger at an idea. "We could even see if Danse wants to tag along. It's been so long since he's even left the island, I think it'd do him some good to get away." This causes both of the boys opposite me to nod in agreement.
Out of every objection Beth could make, she goes with, "What if someone from the Brotherhood sees him? It wouldn't go well. He's dead to everyone—except Haylen and Arthur, of course."
"What're the chances of bumping into a random squad of Brotherhood soldiers? Plus, I've never seen them in Rivet City or Megaton. Fat chance," I conclude. "We could ask him and let him decide?" She reluctantly nods. "Alright. I'll go ask after breakfast."
"We haven't even fully decided if we're going ourselves yet." She takes a drink of her milk. Literally, her milk. Milk is stupid to find these days when a brahmin isn't nearby.
"Sounded like we had to me." I look to Duncan and Shaun, still eating—although I know they're listening. "Would you guys want to go?"
"Yes!" they say in unison around the mouthfuls they currently have.
"See? They want to. I want to. And I think—" I move my head in closer to Victoria. "And… I think Vitya wants to, too. Yeah, she just told me she does."
Duncan laughs. "Dad! Vitya can't talk yet!"
I mock glare at him. "Shh!" He just giggles more. "C'mon, Mom!" I say to Beth. "Can we go? Please? It kind of was your idea in the first place."
She looks at me with a sort of exhausted expression, knowing darn well that I have the boys to back me up on the begging part, if need be. Finally, she rolls her eyes, and says, "Alright. I guess we can head out in a few days." This makes Shaun and Duncan erupt into celebration. They jump up from their chairs and dash upstairs, leaving their breakfasts to get cold. And from the sounds of things up there, they're already packing. Beth just rolls her eyes again. "We can go ahead and ask Danse. I think that was a good idea. I bet he'd love to go."
"Pretty sure he would," I agree. I scoop up a plate of the egg dish myself finally, with Vitya being full.
"Yeah. And what was with making poor little Victoria agree with you?" Beth asks, grinning at me in a snarky way. "You know she doesn't know any better."
"Or does she?" I counter. "Maybe she did agree with me and you didn't hear it. She is a daddy's girl after all." I tickle her as I see her staring at me. "Aren't you? You're a daddy's girl, huh? Yes, you are!" She just laughs under my tickle attack, totally digging it.
Watching Vitya laugh and flail her arms around, Beth chuckles as she gathers the boys' plates up. "That she is. For. Sure. But, I swear—you and your tickling. I'm starting to see a pattern forming. You like tickling girls." She points at me accusingly, earning a guilty grin.
After breakfast, I end up going to Danse's house and asking if he wants to accompany us to the Great Wasteland of Capitals. He obliges, saying he'd be happy to. He's now at our own house, discussing arrangements.
"I think it'd be best if I left my power armour here," he says, shocking both Beth and I.
"But you're more comfortable in it," Beth points out, just as confused as I am.
"True," he responds. "But since I'm going to be in the heart of the East Coast Brotherhood's territory, it'd be best to not wear it. If anybody there would even recognize me now, it certainly wouldn't help if I were to take my X-01. They're so used to seeing me in power armour constantly, it would really throw them off if I crossed paths with them in civilian attire."
"Never thought of it like that," I tell him. "That's actually really smart."
"Well, you know what they say: survival of the fittest. The fit aren't always dumb. Takes just as much brains to make it out here." He goes to pick Victoria up, who is currently sitting in between the three of us on the floor. He rests her on his knee. "You know, I haven't seen her crawl or anything yet. Am I missing out or something?" I swear his tone sounds disappointed.
"Not yet," Beth replies. "I'm telling you, Shaun tried crawling at three months. But Tori? Nothing. She just likes to sit and watch us. Always watching us. It's comical—her facial expressions. She acts like she's soaking up so much info from us, like she's the most absorbent and durable sponge in the world." She laughs. "Whoever's in the room clearly has her attention. And if there's more than one… Well, I'm just glad she can't turn her head fast enough to get whiplash. She can never make up her mind on who to watch."
"Sounds like she's going to be smart." Vitya looks up at him, as if she knows she's the subject of our conversation. "That's right—I'm talking about you. You're gonna be quite the little cookie. What with how much Mom and Dad read. And your brothers." He grins and puffs air out his nose in amusement. "You got it made, Vitya."
Although Beth used to cringe at my chosen nickname for our daughter, she doesn't seem to hate it as much now. The second time Danse had called her that, she gave him a look, earning an, I'm sorry! It's just catchy! To see if she picks it up herself, though, remains to be seen.
Luckily, when we made our trip to Fallon's a while back, we picked up some extra clothes for me—and in turn for Danse. They were always a little big on me, but him? Well… they fit him fine.
We loaded up the boat with a couple extra makeshift cots, plenty of fuel, food, ammo, and took off first thing in the morning. But Beth and her nerves… It took some heavy duty explaining how everything was going to be fine.
"Danse more than likely won't be recognized. And pretty much the only defenseless one here is Victoria." I mean, c'mon. Three adults armed with rifles, and two kids armed with a pistol and a combat knife. Who dare mess with us? "So, that takes care of all your worries: creatures, animals, humans—even the Brotherhood. You stress too much." She nodded her head in agreement and tried to think of something else.
A couple days later, we arrive at Rivet City. Since it's after dusk, we decide to stay the night and leave for Megaton shortly before dawn. Thankfully, there's a room with two double beds in it, so it can comfortably fit all six of us—Beth, Vitya, and myself in one, Danse and the boys in the other. But before too long, Beth and I are woken up by someone crying out suddenly.
I hop up and run to the light switch and flick it on. Danse is sitting up, sweating pretty hard, clearly wakened from a bad dream.
The boys are still fast asleep as Beth leaves Victoria on the bed to go and sit next to her former colleague. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just… a recurring dream," he responds. "Thought I'd be used to it by now," he says quietly, as if not wanting her to hear.
"How long has this been going on?" She hands him a small rag to wipe his brow with.
"Not really sure. Few months maybe? A year? I don't know."
"And you haven't told me?" She sounds hurt by his keeping it a secret. I go and sit back down next to Victoria and continue to watch their exchange.
"Didn't think I'd need to. It started out not such a big deal, but now…" He lets his eyes wander.
"You wanna talk about it? Maybe that can help it go away?"
He says, "Maybe it will." After this, I lay down, holding Vitya's soft, little hand as she sleeps in order to give them a shred of privacy. He continues:
"I'm always in the wastes—DC, the Commonwealth—always one or the other. But I'm always in the middle of nowhere. No people are around—no settlements, no Brotherhood patrols. Just me. Until I see this woman. She's standing with her back to me, and all I can see is her hair. She's quite a ways from me, but I'm happy to see another person finally. So, I start going toward her. But every step I take leads me further from her. She suddenly pops up right in front of me, scaring the crap out of me. I'm always expecting it, I just don't know when. But that's not the only reason she freaks me out. She also has the face of a machine—not even like a Gen 1 or 2 synth—but just a machine. An angry one, at that." I hear him move under the sheets a little, uncomfortable with talking about it. "I always wake up then. Like I said, it used to not bother me. But just the fact that it won't go away… I know it has to mean something—just what? I think that's why it scares me so much anymore. I don't know what it means."
I hear Beth pat him on the shoulder. "I don't know what it means, either," she says, "but hopefully you can put it to rest now that you've talked about it with someone." She stands. "Try to get some rest. We have a decent walk ahead of us tomorrow." A moment after she turns the light off, she slides into bed on the other side of Vitya. She knows I've been listening, as she makes a face, not quite sure what to do about Danse's little problem.
However, the rest of the night is peaceful, and we leave for Megaton shortly before dawn, as planned—right after telling security that our boat isn't a problem—much as we had last time we'd come.
Once we left the giant tub of a town, Danse pointed out where three super mutant hives used to be—but thankfully, they were empty. He told Beth that the Brotherhood had been working on eradicating them for years upon years, and that it had finally started to take some effect. We did run into some radroaches and wild curs, but nothing five armed people couldn't handle.
When we finally get near Megaton, Duncan can't take it anymore, and bolts toward the walled settlement. I hand Vitya to Beth and chase after him, afraid there may be some radscorpions around—which, thankfully, there aren't.
He manages to get to the DeLorias' door before I can get to him, so he pounds on it. When I catch up—more out of breath than I'd like to admit—I tell him, "Don't run off like that—you scared me. We left Mom and them behind." About this time, Kate opens the door.
"Hey! You guys are here again! Hasn't even been all that long since last time." She crouches down to give Duncan the hug he's been longing for, literally bouncing in place for. Standing up, she stretches her arms around me. "Good to see you again, Robert."
"Good to see you, too," I smile at her.
"Well, Ellis is at school right now, and Butch started to do hair again on the side, so he's at work. But listen to me prattle on. Don't be shy, boys. This is your house just as much as it is mine when you're here. Come on in!"
"Actually," I start. "We should probably stay out here for a minute. See, Duncan here sprinted ahead, making me run after him, and we left our group."
"You have a group?" Kate asks, casually placing her hand on her hip in disbelief. "Since when does Robert Joseph MacCready travel in groups?"
"Ever since my family expanded tenfold," I laugh. I hear Danse boom out about how dumpy the town is and chuckle. "Speak of the devil," I say under my breath. "They there are."
A second later, Beth—still holding Vitya—walks around the corner of the house, Danse and Shaun on her tail.
"As I live and breathe!" Kate exclaims, practically running to the new guests as they walk up to the door. Giving Beth a hug, she says, "Mrs. MacCready. Robert told me you two had gotten married last time he and Duncan were here—practically shoved his ring in my face." She laughs. "I believe last time we met, you two were just starting to get serious." She turns toward me and winks, making me chortle quietly. "And who is this precious little thing?" She pretty much rips the baby from Beth's arms—gently, but still. "He told me you were pregnant, see. I just couldn't wait to meet the new MacCready. And here she is!"
"This is our Victoria," I tell her as I walk up behind her, chuckling from her exuberance. Vitya stares at Kate, studying her features long and hard—not having a fit or causing a disturbance from her being a stranger.
"She's beautiful," she tells us. "Has her mommy and daddy's blue eyes. And gorgeous strawberry blonde locks. Wonder which way it'll swing when she's older—redhead or blonde?" She shrugs, looking down at her. "Guess we'll just have to wait and see." She kisses her forehead and passes her to me before asking who the other two unfamiliar faces are.
"This is my son, Shaun," Beth says, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Took a while to find him, but I think it payed off. He's a great kid."
Shaun stretched his hand out to Kate. "Shaun MacCready. Nice to meet you." Kate shakes his hand then looks at me, like, MacCready? "I went ahead and took his last name, like Mom did when they married. He's my dad to me, so it made sense."
"How old are you?" Kate asks him.
"I'm eleven. Going to be twelve next month."
"Wow. You're so mature for your age, young man." She turns to the silent man in the back. "And you are?" She shakes his hand as well.
"Danse."
"With an S," Beth clarifies, "not a C. Don't make the same mistake I did when I first met him. Why, he was so mad, he chopped a bus in half."
"I did no such thing. Irritated, sure. But not mad. Either way," he turns his attention back to Kate. "I've heard good things about you. From both Beth and Robert—the Brotherhood as well."
"You have ties with the East Coast faction?" Kate asks, seeming surprised.
"Had ties. It's… a long story."
"I like stories," Kate smiles. "How about you all come in and you can tell me about it, Danse."
Once Beth tells Kate that Shaun is actually synth Shaun, and Danse is done telling his autobiography—of how he got into the Brotherhood, that he's a synth as well, and how he got out of the Brotherhood—she's baffled. "I'm surprised Arthur let you go. Ever since becoming Elder, he's kept adamant rules. When he was a kid, not so much, but now… With you being a synth and all…"
"We were surprised, too," Beth chips in. She laughs, changing the subject. "I was actually surprised to find out that Maxson knew you back before you had Ellis."
"Oh, yes," Kate laughs. "Had an infatuation with Sarah Lyons, that boy did." Her grin disappears. "Well… back before she was killed." She clears her throat. "Anyway, he's a good kid. I refuse to see him as an adult or Elder—I've always known him as a Squire, so that's what he'll always be to me," she chuckles. About this time, Ellis crashes through the door, Butch not too far behind him. "Look who's here, honey!" Kate says excitedly.
Butch smiles and jokes in a playful and obvious tone, "I don't know half these people!"
So, with that, we go through the whole introduction thing again. Except this time around, Beth mentions how Danse is like an uncle to the boys, and how he's Vitya's godfather. Of course, they thought Vitya was a weird name—but who hadn't once they'd been told it?
Duncan is super excited to be with Ellis again, and proudly introduces Shaun—his big brother—to him. The two stranger boys shake hands and the three of them run upstairs to Ellis's room to play with who-knows-what. After they're gone, and Victoria doesn't have the kids to watch anymore, she just about folds herself into pretzel formation trying to reach for me from Beth's lap. Beth just laughs and hands her to me, making her content immediately as she plays with nothing but the hem of my shirt.
"Well," Kate chuckles. "Looks like you've got yourself a daddy's girl." She smiles at me.
"Little bit." I kiss the top of her head, gaining her attention. She looks up at me and smiles real big, showing her two bottom teeth that's been working on poking out for the past couple weeks. She buries her head in my chest, still smiling.
"She seems like a good kid," Butch notes.
"She really is," Beth answers. "She rarely cries unless something's just absolutely wrong. But she's mainly a watcher. Like, she watches what we're doing constantly."
"I was noticing that when the boys were down here," Kate comments. "She was so enthralled in their every movement."
"She's like that all the time," I tell them. "She hasn't started crawling yet, and she only babbles a little bit. Usually when we're talking to her. Couldn't ask for a better baby." She looks up at me, as if she knows I'm talking about her. "Yes, you," I tell her, chuckling a little.
For a minute, we all sit in silence, happy to be in each other's company. But then Beth speaks out. "So, guess whose birthday is in a few days?" I mentally facepalm.
Danse sort of waves his hand in the air, jokingly saying, "Oh, I know the answer!"
"Shh!" Beth hushes him. "Let them guess," she laughs.
"Um…" Kate puts her hand up to her chin, going through the full motion of thinking this out. "Could it possibly be the other man in the room? Besides the one who was flapping his arm a second ago?" She chuckles.
Beth nods. "Turning twenty-four."
"Wow," Kate chuckles again. "You're getting old, Robert."
"Am not," I mumble, burying my face in Vitya's hair in order to hide the small blush forming due to their talk of me.
"Well, maybe you guys can stay long enough so we can celebrate with you? You know I'd love that."
Beth nods at Kate. "We did make the long trip here—might as well stay for a while." Both Danse and I nod at her, showing we're fine with this. "And I'm pretty sure the boys won't mind with how they're carrying on." We all turn our attention to the ruckus coming from upstairs. I hear how they're playing a game—Hunt the Mutant. I used to play that when I was a kid back in Lamplight. Hm. Lamplight…
"Hey, babe?" Beth looks at me curiously. "Would you want to see where I grew up?"
"You mean Little Lamplight?"
I nod. "I'm sure it's all different now, but I know you're curious about it," I tell her. "And, to be honest, I wouldn't mind seeing it again myself. It's been a long time."
Kate asks, "You said you left when you were fifteen?"
"Yeah, that's when Lucy and I left. She was only fourteen. Still amazes me that she went with me, considering she had almost two years left down there."
"So, I'm in the dark," Danse says suddenly. I look over to see his thick brows knitted together. "What's a 'Lamplight?' What are we talking about?"
I laugh, forgetting he's the only one here who's clueless about the town. After explaining the basics of the underground community to him—with the help of Kate, for the most part—he says, "So, it's like a city for kids." He chuckles and says under his breath, "Kid City…"
"That's pretty much what it is," I laugh. "You nailed it."
"How come I never heard of it? I grew up here. Or… at least I think I did…" He sighs. "Guess that's why I've never heard of it."
Beth reaches over and puts her hand on his knee in understanding. Butch, having noticed a few exchanges like this over the past few hours we've been here, says, "You three are pretty close, aren't you?"
"We're all we have," I answer. "We all live on the same island, and we don't leave very often now that we have the kids. We're family—so, we have to be close." Butch nods, grasping what I'm getting at.
More time goes by with the five of us talking—and nobody's noticed how late it's gotten. So, rather suddenly, it's time for bed.
Kate stands and starts to move around the living room, looking for something. "I think there's enough room in Ellis's bed for Duncan and Shaun to sleep with him. We have the couch—and I assume Danse will be talking that." She opens a cabinet and makes a noise of approval as she takes out several blankets. She tosses Danse one, and practically throws the rest at me. I hardly have enough time to shield Victoria from the fluffy impact, mainly in fear of waking her. Kate just laughs at my angry expression. "I suppose you two can have our bed. Butch and I can make a pallet out of these blankets. That's okay, right?" she asks him.
He simply replies, "Of course."
"Absolutely not," Beth refutes. "No, no—we can't kick you guys out of your bed. There's more than enough blankets here for us to be comfortable. You guys just go ahead and sleep upstairs."
"We appreciate the offer, though," I tell them, to which Beth nods. "But there is enough here for us. This will be just fine."
"Are you sure?" Kate asks, seeming worried about it.
"Kate." I look her square in the eye. "We'll be fine."
The set in her mouth tells me she's not happy about it, but she nods, tells us goodnight, and goes up the stairs. A moment later, Beth tells me that she'll go tuck the boys into bed—or rather let them know that it's time for bed. Danse helps me spread out the blankets on top of each other on the floor, since I'm still juggling Vitya in my arms, trying not to wake her. But she does anyway, and doesn't look too happy about it.
Danse starts laughing quietly at her tired, angry face. "She looks like she could kill right about now," he jokes.
"Not for another few years, she's not," I tease back. "So, she wishes."
Beth comes back down and lays on the pallet, reaching up for me to hand Vitya to her. But once I start to lower her down to her mother, she starts making a fuss, and grips that much tighter to my shirt. Beth chuckles. "Well, I guess I see who her snuggle buddy is tonight. As usual."
I somehow miraculously make it down onto the pallet myself without dropping or even scaring Victoria from the odd angles I put myself into. Once I'm down—and laying on my back—Vitya spreads herself out on her stomach right on top of my chest, making herself at home. Not a minute later, she's sound asleep. I grin down at her, placing my arm behind my head to keep it held up.
"Here," Danse says, tossing Beth and I a couple small pillows off the couch. With thanks, I place it in its respective place. I lay here, thinking about today's events, and dreading whatever Kate has cooking up in her brain for my birthday "celebration," as she called it.
The big birthday bash wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. Kate got the help of Beth in making a cake, and all we did was eat it and talk as we sat around the DeLoria family's living room. That is, until Kate decided to bring out the box.
"Open it," she demands.
"No," I tell her. "You're not supposed to have gotten me anything. We talked about this, Kate. If anything, get something for Duncan," I say quietly, in hopes of him missing it.
"I already did." Kate beams as she winks at me. "You just didn't see me give it to him. Anyway, stop stalling! Less talking, more opening." She gets a sort of twinkle in her eye, scaring me about what she could have possibly bought. I know she's the type of person that won't stop pestering you until she gets her way, so I open the damn box.
I take out the item inside. "A flip lighter?"
"A gold plated one," Kate says, about bouncing off her seat in excitement. "Duncan had mentioned before about how you smoke sometimes. I don't know how many lighters you have—or if any are gold plated—but I thought it was a nice gesture anyway."
"It really is," I tell her. "But…" I put the lighter back in the box. "I've been trying to kick my smoking habit. You know all those warnings on the back of the packs and cartons? About how they could be dangerous to the smoker and those around them?"
"Oh, you don't believe those warnings, do you?" Kate asks. "Butch has smoked for years. Like, his whole life—almost as soon as he could breathe as a baby, he had a smoke hanging from his lips." She laughs. "Nothing's wrong with him." He quietly agrees.
"Well, the health people back before the War couldn't make up their mind. One day, it's fine—the next, it'll kill you. I just don't want to take the chance anymore. I don't want to hurt my kids, and I want to be around to raise them. So, I've been trying to be good." I chuckle, "There's one department in my life where I'm trying to behave."
"Got that right," Beth agrees. She jams her thumb at me. "This guy—can you believe him?" Vitya latches onto Beth's thumb from her lap, suddenly interested in it. We all laugh at her abrupt fixation.
"Well," Kate starts, "if you're trying to give it up, then that's on you. It's hard to do, so more power to you if you can. Butch tried for about a week." She chuckles. "That didn't go so well."
Butch speaks up, having been quiet for a while. He usually is quiet—lets Kate do the talking. "Sure you don't want to put that lighter to use at least once? I could use a smoke right about now, and it'd be cool if you joined me."
I think about it for a minute. Sighing, "Okay, I'll use it once. Wait." I pat my pocket where I used to keep a pack of cigarettes. "I left my pack at home since I've been trying to quit."
"Oh, don't worry about that. I have plenty." He gets a pack of the wrapped tobacco off a shelf and holds it out to Danse. "Want one with us?"
Danse stands and grabs one from him. "Sure, why not."
The three of us leave the house to have a smoke outside.
Beth POV
"Well, now with the men gone, us women can talk." Kate chuckles.
Shaun makes a noise in the back of his throat. "Ugh. Can we go play outside or something? Ellis, Duncan, and I aren't women."
"Obviously," I tell him. "Sure, you can go outside. Go check out Megaton. But do not smoke with them. You hear me, Shaun? Duncan?" They nod. "Okay. Have fun." The three of them leave the house whooping and hollering, already rambunctious as only boys can be in an open space.
"Are you hungry?" Kate asks me.
"A little," I admit.
"We have plenty here, if you like any of the stuff we have. Or we could go get some food down at the Noodle Stand, if you want."
"You know, some noodles don't sound too bad right now." I stand from my seat and head toward the door, before being stopped my her.
"Would you mind if I held Victoria again? It's been a while since Ellis was that small—I kinda miss it," she smiles.
"Sure." I give over my daughter to her. Victoria just looks up at her, studying her face like she had when she first held her. "I'm surprised she isn't freaking out," I tell Kate. "She hasn't met too many strangers, so for her to be this calm…"
"Well, you and Robert said so yourselves: she's a good baby."
As we head out the door, we see Robert, Danse, and Butch sitting on some chairs not too far from the door—about twelve or so feet away. Robert looks up at me curiously. "We're going to go get something to eat. Be back later." He nods and continues to say something to Danse.
Once Kate, Tori, and myself are at a table inside the Noodle Stand, our orders are taken, and eventually delivered. I take one bite of my noodles and laugh. "What's funny?" Kate asks.
"Robert told me about your guys' argument last time I was here. He said the noodles in Diamond City are better."
"And?" She adjusts Victoria on her knee as she stabs her Mirelurk cake with a fork.
"Takahashi's noodles are better. Just sayin'."
"Nuh-uh," she disagrees. "Jenny's are better."
"Annnd here we go with the noodle argument, two point oh," I chuckle. "Agree to disagree?" She nods, grinning.
After a minute, she asks, "So, have you and Robert talked about when you'll take off to Little Lamplight?"
"Not really," I say. "Maybe later, maybe tomorrow?" I shrug and take Tori from her, as she had started reaching for me. I cut some of the noodles into small pieces and give her a spoonful of them. She eats it happily. "Why do you ask?"
"I was thinking about asking if I could go with you guys. But… I changed my mind."
"You know you can if you want." I spoon Victoria another bite into her gaping, waiting mouth—reminding me more of a baby bird than a human child.
"Yeah, I know. I haven't been there since before Robert left, so I thought I'd like to see the differences—who's the occupants, so to say. But, I mulled it over, and decided he'd probably want to go with just you guys. I know I tend to be a little overbearing at times."
"Nonsense. Robert loves you."
"I know, I know." She takes a bite of her cake. "But," she says around it before swallowing. "I've already thought it through, and in case you didn't know, there's no changing my mind."
I chuckle. "I know how it goes. I'm the same way."
"Sounds like we have a lot more in common than just being vault dwellers," she grins.
Once we make it back to the house, the men are inside, chatting up a storm still. The boys are nowhere in sight, so they must still be out and about.
When Tori sees her dad, she immediately starts reaching for him. I hand her to him as he starts to say, "I was talking with Danse earlier. Do you think we can head out in the morning? Lamplight isn't exactly close."
"Yeah. Sounds fine to me." I look to Kate. "You sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Sure about what?" Robert asks.
I grin, pat Kate's shoulder, and sit down next to him. "Nothing. Just something we were talking about a while ago."
"Oh, okay." He completely drops the matter and turns his attention to Victoria, playing with her hands as she stares up at him in adoration.
Morning comes quicker than it seems to back home. We gather up our two boys, what possessions we brought with us, say goodbye to the DeLorias, and the six of us head out into the wasteland. And as Robert had said last night: Lamplight isn't exactly close. We make the trek in a shorter time than expected, but it still takes all day to get there. It's dark by the time he says we're nearing it.
But finally—finally—we make it to the caverns.