thepicketfencecliche | spamalot } { of forgiveness and moving on

Isaac: [and eventually proud daddy will come home from work, bringing dinner from the diner with him because it was easier than cooking]

Malia: [good plan. Cameron is sitting on the living room floor, smashing his toys around, but he looks up at the sound of the door and flashes his dad a toothy grin as he babbles at his appearance. Malia appears not long after, following the smell of food] Someone's happy to see you.

Isaac: I see. [food on the table, he's leaning down to scope his son up in the air] And how is my little walking boy doing?

Malia: [there's a happy shriek as he kicks his arms and legs through the air] Apparently only doing it when Grandpa is in wolf form. Or unless we get him a puppy to chase.

Isaac: I'm pretty sure a puppy will make the house more chaotic, but I'm not opposed to the idea. [leans over to kiss his wife] Peter gloating that he got the first walk?

Malia: [smiles into the kiss as she nods] Of course he is.

Isaac: Well, we'll just have to make sure that we get Gavin's first steps to even it out.

Malia: Sounds fair to me. [she kisses him again] I'll get the plates for dinner.

Isaac: Great. I'm going to go change and I'll take this one with me. [and he's going to superman fly Cam through the house to the bedroom]

Cameron: [which he is thrilled with, laughing as his arms and legs flail in response]

Isaac: [which of course ends with a "crash" landing on the bed, Cam on Isaac's chest as they "land". he then leave the toddler on the bed while he quickly changes clothes]

Cameron: [yep. this is the best day. there was a puppy and then he was Superman and now he's just going to bounce around on the bed and babble while he waits for his dad to come out again]

Isaac: [such easy standards that he can accomplish for his son. but once he's changed, he will carry Cam back downstairs and once they are on the main floor, put his son on the ground and hold onto his arms] Alright, Cameron, take me to Mommy.

Cameron: [he shifts for a moment as his feet set on the floor, making as though he's going to take a step forward to where his mom is setting the table before pulling his foot back and looking up at his dad again]

Isaac: No, you can do it. I'm right here.

Cameron: [he looks dubious for a moment before taking one tentative step forward, then another, then another.]

Isaac: [and he's going to follow, holding onto his hands] Malia, you want to catch?

Malia: [turns and glances to him with a wide smile before nodding and crouching down so that she's Cameron level] Yeah, I got him.

Isaac: [and he's going to keep his son's pace, but very slowly he's going to open his hands and instead of holding onto him, his hand will just be hovering against the back of tiny toddler's hands]

Cameron: [Isaac lets go and he's back to making unsure faces again. Nope he doesn't like this plan this is a bad plan. He takes a few more steps before he's dropping forward onto his knees and crawling the rest of the way to his mom]

Malia: [sighs as she scoops him up] Well, we got a couple steps without a puppy.

Isaac: We're going to wake up one morning and he'll be running everywhere and we will miss these days.

Malia: [she nods as she kisses the top of his head] Yeah, well those days can take their time getting here. I'm good with this right now.

Isaac: Me too. [and he's going to go and get dinner out of the boxes and set up]

Malia: [and she will get Cameron in his high chair with his dinner which is much softer and less appetizing than what his parents are going to eat] So how was work today?

Isaac: Quiet. Parrish checked in with me today. Sheriff tried once again to convince him to come back.

Malia: [she frowns] He's taking all of this really hard and I'm not really sure I blame him.

Isaac: It feels like Stiles and Cora all over again in a way.

Malia: Yeah, unfortunately. [she glances over before reaching over and giving his hand a soft squeeze] I'm glad that was never us.

Isaac: Yeah, me too. I guess we're smarter than the rest of our friends. [grins]

Malia: [she laughs] By a landslide.

Isaac: [laughs as well, then sighs and nibbles on a fry] But the Sheriff has Parrish down in the books on an extended leave of absence. He's hoping he can convince him back once things calm down more.

Malia: [she nods] Maybe he will. We probably won't know until Lydia is out of Eichen House though.

Isaac: Probably not. Though he's not even in California at the moment. He was in Nevada when he called.

Malia: What's he doing in Nevada?

Isaac: He said he was following a lead. I think the final straw was that with Lydia having killed the guy, there was no trail back to try and find out more about his motive origins. He just can't let the case go.

Malia: He can't just accept that the guy was insane as a motive?

Isaac: You know Parrish. He needs to understand the details.

Malia: [sighs] I just hope it doesn't drive him crazy.

Isaac: You know, if the year of not knowing what kind of creature he is hasn't done that, I don't think this will either.

Malia: Then I guess we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

Isaac: Guess so. [mmm, burger]

Malia: [om nom nom. and they'll all eat their dinner, and get Cameron down for the night which means mom and dad snuggle time on the couch is go. Malia settles next to him and curls into his shoulder as she does] But other than all the Lydia and Parrish stuff, everything was okay?

Isaac: Yeah.... well... except... [sighs] Do you think God would set me on fire if I stepped into a church?

Malia: [her brow furrows for a moment, before looking up at him with a very confused look] No?

Isaac: Dad wants me to go to church with him.

Malia: There are Christian werewolves out there. We're not, but some people use it as their anchor. [she pauses] Do you want to go?

Isaac: I don't know. I mean... it's a big thing to him. It's kinda his anchor. He wants me to learn about it, but I don't really feel the desire to become religious.

Malia: Well, you could still go with him if you want to share the experience with him. But you should say before you go that you don't plan on converting.

Isaac: Oh, I plan on it.

Malia: [she nods] But it sounds like you guys are ... bonding more?

Isaac: A bit. I mean, we're never going to be close like you are your dad. I don't actually really want that.

Malia: But you want him around?

Isaac: [nods] Kinda. I mean, there's still a lot there that I can't have with anyone else. A connection to my mom. My brother... someone who shares those memories, and has memories I don't about them.

Malia: [she nods again] Do you want him near Cam?

Isaac: [he thinks a moment] Not alone. But I think we can trust him as long as one of us is there.

Malia: I would not trust me alone with him. [she's just saying]

Isaac: [chuckles] I know. And he will never get my trust back enough to leave our children with him. That will never be on the table. Just so you know.

Malia: [she nods, leaning into his shoulder more]

Isaac: But do you want me to bring Cam around him? Because I won't if you don't want me to.

Malia: [she closes her eyes for a moment, focusing on his heartbeat] I don't know. I don't trust him, which makes it hard for me to want to bring Cam around him, especially when he's this young. But if you're not going to cut him out completely it would seem kind of cruel to keep him from his grandson.

Isaac: We can wait. I mean, it's only been what, six months now?

Malia: [she nods] We'll see what happens.

Isaac: I just want you to be comfortable with this all too.

Malia: I'll be comfortable if you're comfortable. I'm more worried about you in all of this.

Isaac: Well, Peter's been more of a father to me the last ten years than my own. I don't need him to be my father. I just... I need to find some peace, that's all. Something good to have on that side of my life

Malia: Have you told him that?

Isaac: Not outright.

Malia: Maybe you should and see what he says?

Isaac: [nods] Yeah, maybe.

Malia: [nods as she leans up to kiss him] You don't owe him anything, okay? You're doing what you need to do for you and that's it.

Isaac: [he just leans into her kiss, and then pulls her closer] I know. I just feel like I'm letting people down again.

Malia: [she shakes her head] You'll never let me down. Not when it comes to this.

Isaac: I know. But it's more my mom. She'd want me to do this. Cam too. But there are days that I wonder if it's worth it because of how it's affecting us.

Malia: [she shifts a bit so that she's looking at him more, rolling up and moving so that one leg moves between his] Hey, we are fine. We are rock solid. [they're doing what they need to do and making sure they make the right choices for them] Also, you can't let people down when they're already dead, hun. While they may have wanted you to try and reconcile with your dad, I think they'd also understand the reasons why you'd want to keep your distance.

Isaac: [he looked up at her, and there's a moment where he's that scared teenager again, not sure what to do] You sure?

Malia: [her hands come up softly to brush at his cheeks, before she nods] I really doubt they would have been okay with what he did to you. And while yeah, I think forgiving him will probably be good for you so you can let all that go, just because you forgive him doesn't mean he has to be around if you don't want him here.

Isaac: I think that's the part I can't separate.

Malia: [she sits back a bit so that she's more at eye level] Forgiving him versus having him around?

Isaac: Yeah. If I don't want him around, have I really forgiven him? And if I have, is it wrong not to want him around.

Malia: The way I see it forgiveness ... it's not about how you feel about the person. It's about letting them not have that power over you, you know? Like I forgave my mom for abandoning me a long time ago. Does it mean I'm inviting her for Christmas dinner? Hell no. But I'm not letting what she did to me influence how I see myself.

Isaac: [he just closes his eyes, leaning his head back] I don't know what to do.

Malia: You'll figure it out. [she moves to curl in next to him again, tucking herself in against his side] Just take your time. There's no rush on this, okay?

Isaac: [nods, nuzzling her neck] I know. But I know we've put something on hold because of it.

Malia: [she closes her eyes, nuzzling him back] We have time for that. All you have to do is focus on this, and the rest will work itself out.

Isaac: I know we do... but I'm kinda missing having a baby around.

Malia: [smiles a bit, one hand moving to rub his side gently] Me too. But we'll get there soon. There will be so many babies.

Isaac: Yeah, but all the good looking ones will be ours.

Malia: I meant ours.

Isaac: Oh. Well, still the point stands. [leans in to kiss her]

Malia: [kisses him back with a soft hum, one hand sliding up to curl her fingers into his hair]

Isaac: [grins in that kiss, pulling her on top of him more] Want to try and see what happens?

Malia: [laughs a bit at that, before leaning in kiss him again as she moves closer] Well, I will never say no to trying.

Isaac: [and he will totally sex her up and give her all the love and attention he has in him]

Malia: [which she is happy to give right back, and just soak up some time with her husband]