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It had been 5 years since Oliver had stepped on the soil of one of the best city he had ever visited. He missed it… he missed the never-ending traffic of Philadelphia streets, missed being shoved by rude businessmen, and especially missed the Philadelphia bagels. He missed everything that was marked with Philadelphia City.
He just so wished that he was coming back to Philadelphia because he wanted to, not because he was forced to be here.
As it turned out, Eve's grandmother was just waiting to see her favorite grandchild one last time before taking her last breath. Eve had been an emotional wreck for the last week because she had lost the only relative she had left; she was so devastated about the death of her grandmother that she tearfully begged Oliver to take over the collaboration project with the Walsh Corporation. So, of course, Oliver had no choice but to nod his head and tell his boss that he would fly to Philadelphia and finish the summer issue.
The apartment in which he was currently living belonged to Eve, and she generously loaned it to him during his stay in Philadelphia. Living in this city is not cheap, so even if he wanted to change his living arrangement, it would take a big toll in his budget. Also, the borrowed loft was near to the public facilities that he and Alexi needed; it was near to his work, to the supermarket and to the hospital.
Alexi, even with her everlasting energy, was actually anemic. She had to be constantly watched over so that she didn't become too exhausted and pass out. There was only one incident that Alexi had lost her consciousness and it nearly killed Oliver to see Alexi lying on the hospital bed; it was like five years ago over again. Oliver couldn't go through that pain again, or he might lose his mind. So he became the over protective parent, but Thomas had advised him not to be too overbearing and cost Alexi her childhood. They still visited the doctor every week and Alexi had to drink her medicine daily to maintain her blood level, and Oliver let her play all he wanted. There was still no guarantee that Alexi would not pass out again, so living near the hospital made Oliver's mind a little more at ease.
One month.
Oliver would be working with Connor for one month. There were still a lot of things left unsaid between the two of them, but he knew this was not the right time. He had planned on rebuilding their broken selves through telephone conversation first, then if they were both ready, they could meet again and start a friendship between them again. That was Oliver's original plan—a very, very long plan, but now as he watched his ex-husband inside the glass room, happily interacting with the other children, he thought that maybe the timing was just right.
One benefit of working in Connor's company was that they had built a day care center inside the building premises for the children of the employees of Walsh Corporation. They had built it four years ago as part of the project of the TOMORROW foundation. It helped the employees—who were parents—to alleviate any worry about leaving their children in unknown places. The day care was free, safe and near, so a lot of working parents had transferred to their company to acquire these parental incentives.
The day care center was one-half of an entire floor, the other half was the employees' lounge. The walls of the day care were all glass so parents who wanted to see their children might watch outside the room without disturbing the class. The walls did not reach the ceiling, so the parents could hear the happiness of the children as they played. The floor was covered with soft colorful foam puzzles, and different kinds of toys were scattered on the long shallow table. The room was built and furnished with the consideration of children in mind. The only thing that was really out of place was the curly man in the grey suit inside the day care room, cradling a yellow puppet on his right hand that oddly looked like him.
The children were patiently huddled around the chair where Connor was sitting, waiting for the puppeteer to start his show. He couldn't help but grin widely as Connor dubbed the puppet's voice; it was really cute to see a thirty-two year old man enjoyed interacting with children. And of course, when he heard puppet-Connor asked for a volunteer, it was Alexi who immediately leaped to Connor's lap - not even giving Connor the chance to choose another kid.
Oliver gave a heartily laugh as he watched Alexi tugging the curly hair from the Connor-puppet and how Connor was trying to explain to Alexi that the hair was stitched to the puppet's body. 'My kid really is obsessed with hair.' Oliver's thought was interrupted when he heard a female voice beside him.
"You really have to stop giving him heart eyes." A black woman wearing the day care teacher's uniform, which was a yellow polo shirt matched with brown shorts and black converse shoes, said.
"Excuse me?" Oliver spluttered and turned his body to face her. 'What the hell is she talking about?'
"You're new here, I presumed. I have never seen your face before." she said, but her eyes were still focused at the day care area.
"Yeah… I just started today."
"Are you single?" the woman asked, and this time she faced him.
"Wh—What?" Oliver sputtered again at the woman's bluntness. "Who the hell are you and what are you getting at?" Oliver demanded.
The woman winced at Oliver's tone. "Oops. Sorry, I did it again. Can we start over?" She didn't wait for Oliver to agree and just introduced herself. "I'm Meggy, I've been working here in the day care since Connor…" she pointed at Connor, who was now playing tag with the children, while carrying Alexi on his shoulders, "…established it four years ago."
"Oh… okay," Oliver just nodded, still puzzled why the woman—Meggy—was talking to him. "I'm O—"
"You were curious why I was talking to you right?" she asked with a knowing smile.
Oliver didn't bother opening his mouth because he knew he would be interrupted again, so he just nodded to her.
"Your smile…" She pointed at Oliver's lips. "You really have to stop watching him before you regret it."
Oliver furrowed his brows at her, still confused at what she was talking about. "Uhmm... Can you be clearer, we aren't really on the same page here."
Meggy sighed and then looked back at Connor. "That guy with the suit, the one who is playing with the kids…"
Oliver decided to play dumb and acted like he doesn't know Connor at all. "Yeah… what about him?"
"That's our boss, Connor Walsh," Meggy whispered like she is sharing the hottest topic of gossip. "And he is bad news."
"Really? Is he a playgirl or something?"
"It's worse than that," she said firmly and gestured to the room they were in. "You see this floor for the day care center? This was his idea. He, alongside with his sister, Gemma—our other boss, tried to make a parent-friendly environment for the employees."
"Isn't that supposed to be adding to his good points and not to his bad ones?" Oliver asked incredulously, he couldn't help but be curious about how being good with kids became Connor's worst point.
Meggy bit her bottom lip and glanced around the room to see if anyone could hear their conversation. "I really shouldn't be telling you this, but when I saw the heart eyes you'd been making to our boss, I really have to warn you about him."
Oliver wanted to protest about giving Connor the heart eyes, but decided against it, and just let Meggy pull him in a more secluded corner of the building's, but not far enough that he couldn't still see Connor and Alexi out of the corner of his eyes.
"Have you heard the TOMORROW foundation?" When Meggy saw Oliver nod, she continued. "There had been gossip milling around that the foundation was dedicated to Connor's ex-husband."
"Wha-what?" Oliver gasped. He knew that somehow that foundation was connected to him, but hearing it from other people just make it so real.
"Yeah… I think it has been years since they broke up but Connor is still hung up on him," she said sadly, tears started to pool in her eyes as she looked at her boss.
"That's impossible!" Oliver protested. 'Connor is not hung up on me, he is just guilty of the things he had done before.' he thought firmly.
"No... It's true," she shook her head frantically, and then gestured to the Connor-puppet that was now placed on the top of one of the bookshelves. "That Connor doll is called Chaw."
Oliver had a slight recollection earlier that the children kept on shouting 'Chaw' when they saw Connor, and the nametag stitched on the puppet's shirt clearly indicated that he was called 'Chaw'. 'What a weird name for a puppet.'
"Do you know why he is named Chaw?" Oliver shook his head to Meggy' question.
"Okay… I'm not really sure about this because I wasn't working here yet when Connor and his ex-husband made out on the lobby years ago..." Oliver felt his cheeks became warm when he remembered the first conscious kiss that he and Connor shared. "… But the employees who had been there and witnessed the whole exchange secretly investigated about their boss' sudden nuptial. Unfortunately, they only found out the husband's name and nothing more than that. The wedding was really a secret."
"I don't understand. What are you getting at?" Oliver asked again, the flow of conversation had begun to be uncomfortable to him.
"I'm getting there, I promise," she said enthusiastically, eyes glistening as she shared the everlasting gossip in their company. "They found out that Connor's ex-husband is someone by the name of Oliver Hampton. When Connor showed up in the day care center every day during his lunch break, with the puppet in tow, we speculated that Chaw stands for Connor Hampton-Walsh." She stated smugly, but also lovingly; she was touched of the depth of Connor's dedication for his ex-husband. "So you see, you really don't have any chance with him because he still cannot forget his ex-husband. You're just in for a heartbreak, honey."
Oliver was dumb-struck about what he had just heard about Connor. 'WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?' He wanted to shout at Meggy. 'You really don't know what you are talking about; Connor cannot be not over me because he was never in love with me in the first place! Please stop saying nonsense to me!' He really wanted to shriek at her, but his body wasn't responding to what his mind was telling him.
Meggy saw that her companion had frozen and she frantically shook his body to relieve him from his stillness. "Hey… uhmm… Shit! I don't even know your name. Are you okay?"
Oliver didn't respond to her, but he managed to make his muscles respond when he heard Alexi shout his name and hug his knee.
"Papa! I miss you Papa!" Alexi shouted and made grabby hands to Oliver so she would be lifted up by her father.
"I miss you too." Oliver then lifted his daughter to his arms and kissed her cheeks. "Did you have fun?" Oliver asked Alexi even though she was only half paying attention to him.
"Lots and lots… just like this," Alexi said giddily and stretched her tiny arms as far as possible so she could let her Papa see how much she had fun with Curly.
Oliver laughed at his daughter and kissed her cheeks again. "I know you did."
"Awww…" Meggy broke the father-daughter moment. "Is that your kid?"
Oliver then remembered his companion and preened at how Alexi had also influenced her with his cuteness. "Yeah… This is Alexi."
"Hello!" Alexi waved at her. "I'm Papa's Alexi," she said automatically.
"Awww… You two are really cute." Then she remembered how he accused Oliver earlier. "Oh my god!" she shrieked, startling Oliver and Alexi. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I just accused you of crushing at our boss when you already have a kid and a partner. Oh my god! Oh my god! I'm so sorry…" she apologized sincerely.
Oliver, again, didn't have the time to respond to her because he heard his name being shouted on the other side of the room.
"Oliver!" Connor shouted breathlessly as he hurriedly run towards Oliver and Alexi. "How long have you been here?" Connor asked when he stopped in front of them and patted Alexi's head, which is covered with a black Trilby hat.
"Just now." Oliver didn't know why he lied to Connor.
"Ooo… Oliver Hampton? As in the Oliver Hampton?" Meggy asked wide eyed. She didn't expect Oliver to really appear in front of her and tell gossip about him. 'Oh my God! What did I do?'
"The one and only." Oliver said truthfully, he really couldn't lie to her, not when Connor was standing in front of him. He saw the woman beside him hyperventilating, and he knew that she was just realizing that she could be fired for the story he had shared with him. He took pity on the woman, so he leaned to her ear and whispered, "I won't tell a thing."
Meggy thanked him with watery eyes and hurried to go back to the play area to continue her work. She was grateful that Oliver had promised to not tattle on her, but she still couldn't help but imagine how their relationship would progress from here; seeing that Oliver had another family now.
"What was that about?" Connor probed as he eyed the woman who kept on stealing glances at them.
"Oh… nothing… just a fan…" 'A very weird fan…' he added in his thoughts.
"Oh… okay…" Connor started rubbing his neck; a habit Oliver was very familiar with when Connor wanted to ask something, but was very nervous about it. "Uhmm... Have you had lunch yet? Alexi keeps saying that she is hungry," Connor started rambling. "There's this great diner near our building and their coffee is great, but if you don't want to, it's also cool. I just really wanted to start over again, but if it makes you feel uncomfortable, I understand. So… uhmm,… do you want to go?"
"You're funny!" Alexi laughed at the older man's rambling and lifted her arms towards him so he could now be lifted by Connor.
Oliver transferred Alexi to Connor. "That was a really long speech just for a meal," Oliver giggled but still accepted the offer. 'It's lunch, co-workers had lunch together,' he reasoned out.
The short walk between the building and the diner wasn't awkward as Oliver and Connor thought it would be because Alexi was the one who was doing all the talking; she was non-stop in telling Oliver about her and Connor's adventures in the day care. Alexi only stopped talking when she saw the cake display beside the counter and wiggled her body so Connor would let her down. She pressed her face and palms to the glass pane as she admired the colorful decoration of the desserts in front of her.
"Next please," the barista announced. When she saw Connor in the line, she automatically punched the tanned man's usual order, but still asked him out of politeness. "Your usual order, Mr. Walsh?"
"Yup… but do you just sell only milk for the toddler over there?" Connor gestured to Alexi who still had her face pasted to the glass display.
"Yes sir," the barista answered with extra giddiness.
"Okay, thanks. A junior burger too, and add a slice of that carrot cake," Connor pointed at the cake which Alexi was eying, Then he turned his head to ask Oliver what he wanted, but he felt self-conscious when he saw two brown eyes staring at him.
"Wh—What? Is there something on my face?" he asked and quickly wiped one side of his cheeks.
Oliver was impressed that Connor thought of what Alexi needed without telling him. He grinned at him and shook his head. "Oh nothing… uhmm I'll just get a spaghetti and meatballs… thank you…"
"Is that all?" the Barista asked.
"Yeah…" Connor answered and took his wallet from his back pocket.
"That will be $45.76."
Connor paid the barista and led Oliver and Alexi to an empty table, but before he could sit down, he asked one of the cleaning staff for a high-chair for Alexi.
"I'm sorry. We've used all of our high chairs."
"That's cool," Connor calmly said and lifted Alexi to his lap, so the little girl could enjoy his snack without bumping his chin to the edge of the table.
"Ei… don't trouble yourself, I can hold Alexi," Oliver offered, still wary about Connor's mind game. He was now second-guessing if interacting outside the office was a good thing for them. 'Damn you, Walsh!'
"Nah… it's okay… I'm not really bothered by it," he said and snuggled Alexi more tightly.
Oliver was about to protest more, but the waiter had called Connor's name, indicating that their order was ready. He offered to get it for them and stood up, walked to the counter, and got back immediately with their order on the tray in his hands.
Oliver placed the three plates in front of the appropriate owner and put the two plates of dessert in the middle of the table. Walking to the counter to return the tray, he came back to sit across from Connor and Alexi.
If they would have been in a different situation, Oliver would have smiled when he watched Alexi and Connor open the wrap on their burgers and pressed their palms to flatten the meat and the bun. That habit was not new to Oliver, he had seen Alexi doing that several times now with his meal. He had subconsciously done that only once in front of Alexi, and the girl had already adopted that habit. Alexi had always complained how his her burger is too big to eat, so he kept flattening it before eating.
'Oh god! I hope Connor didn't notice that!' Oliver wished desperately.
"Oooh." Connor's eyes formed a saucer when Alexi had the same habit as he did, but he didn't think anything more than that; he was too enthralled how the little kid was eating the burger just like he had been for years.
Oliver breathed a sigh of relief when Connor didn't ask why Alexi had the same habit as he did. He continued to silently watch Connor spoon feed Alexi with the carrot cake. Oliver's phone vibrated in his pocket, so he took it out and when he saw the caller ID is Dr. Meggy—Alexi's new doctor whilst they are staying in Philadelphia—he excused himself and took the phone call just outside the café.
Connor watched Oliver walked out of the café, and he seized this opportunity to ask Alexi something important. "Hey Alexi," he said to get the girl's attention, then moved the girl slightly to his right arm so he could look at him while talking.
"Hmmm?" Alexi glanced at Curly.
"What are the things that your papa loves?" he asked the small girl. Connor knew Oliver's stay in Philadelphia would only be for a month, even shorter if Eve decided to finish the project herself, so he needed to know what Oliver liked so he could buy a farewell gift for him when he goes back to New York… and back to Thomas. Alexi was his only source of that information. He knew Oliver's likes and dislikes before, but things might have changed and Oliver certainly had changed, so he needed to update his information about Oliver Hampton 2.o.
"Papa loves me!" Alexi exclaimed. Connor couldn't get enough of how the young girl had shown her love to her father.
"I know that, silly," Connor grinned and tapped Alexi's nose with his pointer finger. "I mean other than that, Alexi, what does your papa love? I mean what are the things that your papa loves… things, baby… not people," Connor clarified for him. It was easy to just buy some kind of designer's clothes, but he wanted to give Oliver something more special, something Oliver would really like that he cannot refuse the gift from Connor.
"Uhmm.." Alexi thought deeply and put her pointer fingers on either side of his temple."Uhmmm… uh…" he thought while rocking her body sideways, making Connor realize how comical her actions were. "I know! Papa loves pics!" Alexi exclaimed.
"Oliver loves pics?" Connor wished that Oliver really liked clocks and the girl just didn't mishear some adult time between Oliver and Thomas.
"Yup… papa really loves pics. He always carries one with him."
"Clocks…? Carrying with him?" Connor questioned and then it hit him, of course the girl was just little, her vocabulary was not as extensive as Connor's. "Oh you mean a picture?" he asked and pointed at the silver wrist watch he was wearing.
"No… not that kind," Alexi scolded him and wiggled down to the floor, walking over to Oliver's seat to get her papa's bag. She walked back to Connor and was automatically placed on the short man's lap. She put her papa's bag on her knee and rifled through it to search for papa's pic.
"Aha!" Alexi shouted and took the locket from Oliver's bag.
It's was not just any locket, it was the gift that Connor had given to Oliver on their first dinner date.
"Oh my god…" Connor couldn't help but whisper. He took the watch from Alexi's grasp and turned it around. Now he was 100% sure that this is 'their' pocket watch. The 'TOMORROW' engraved on the back was still visible. "He still has it…"
Alexi ignored Connor when he was whispering something he couldn't understand, so he just continued to explain why Papa loves this pic. "If Papa is sick or sad, he will hold this, and it will make his pain go away."
"Really? He really holds this when he is sad and he will be happy again?" Connor asked, hope glistening through his eyes.
"Yup." Alexi nodded. "Papa said that grandpa will make him happy again."
Connor deflated with Alexi's added answer. 'Of course it was because of his father that he had kept the locket, not because of me… FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!' Connor belittled himself inwardly; he really couldn't curse when a kid was around.
Connor put it back sadly into Oliver's bag and put the bag on the table, pushing it far away from him, hoping that Oliver would forget where he had left his bag before.
Just as he settled on his own seat, Oliver came rushing back to the café and gestured for Alexi to come to him.
"Sorry, Connor… Alexi and I have to go to the hospital," Oliver apologized and took his bag from the table and took hold of Alexi's hand.
"Is something wrong?" Connor asked worriedly, and stood up from his seat to follow Oliver to the exit.
"Ah.. oh no… no no no… This is just Alexi's weekly check-up and the switchboard operator made a mistake in booking my schedule with Alexi's new doctor. We really have to go now, so we can catch our appointment with Dr. Meggy." Oliver explained and opened the door of the café.
"Uhmm.. Do you want a ride or something?" Connor asked Oliver, but his question was in vain because Oliver had already hailed a taxi cab.
"No… we're good. I know there is a lot of work that you really need to finish," Oliver smiled at Connor. "Okay, Alexi… say goodbye to Connor now."
"Bye bye…" Alexi waved to Connor and pressed his fingers to his lips and gave Connor a flying kiss even if they are just one foot apart.
"Awww… what a cute family…" Connor heard a young couple's reaction to Alexi's flying kiss as they entered the diner.
'Family… we really looked like one…' Connor thought lovingly. He has no one left, but he could still imagine that this was his family. He chuckled at the young girl as he caught the kiss Alexi had thrown at him, and mimicked him. Connor also pressed his fingers to his lips and gave Alexi a flying kiss. "Bye Mochi! I love you!" Connor said happily, but it was only when he saw the glare that Oliver was giving him that he realized what he had said wrong.
"Shit," Connor cursed quietly.
"Let's go Alexi," Oliver ordered, greatly emphasizing Alexi's name, and hurried to get inside the cab, not even giving Connor time to apologize. "She will never be Mochi!" Oliver growled before closing the cab's door.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Connor cursed loudly. Just when he thought things were getting better between him and Oliver, he had to ruin it again.
Chapter Title: Big Daddy
Story Outline:
-Grande non fat mocha incident
-Connor playing with Alexi
-Cheesecake recipe (deleted)
-awkward conversation about Thomas
-Connor visiting Alexi in the playroom (modified)
-date rejection (deleted)
Scenes Included:
-Oliver's heart eyes at Connor
-Connor doing Oliver's interests and Alexi doing Connor's habits
-Parent-friendly Oliver environment
-Doctor's appointment
-Connor introduced himself with Hampton (modified)
Trivia:
(1)Alexi's original name was Marcus Alexi, not Jean Alexi… but I watched the DIVA episode, then boom, an idea came up about 'Bring Him Home'.. hehehe..
(2) This is the only chapter where I didn't use a scene break because the scenes are continuous.
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