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The Park, Monday Evening

Portals elsewhere might break, send you to the wrong planet, or leave you hanging; this one was forever faithful to its own schedule.

Sadly, for those denizens of the island who might have grown attached to their children, that meant it was time to say goodbye. The portal popped up blazing purple in the center of the park, calling to those it had taken here just a few days ago.

Time to go, time to go home, children.

[[ for your AU kidlet goodbyes! Sniff. ]]

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Peter had lost both of his girls to their respective co-parents, and he... missed them.

The part that startled him most about that was that he wasn't even so put off by it; he felt a little sad, and a little confused, and a lot proud.

He still had one of them, though. And so when the time came, he led Aindric back to the park, talking to him all the while about things that actually mattered to him, like political theory and the foolishness of world powers in times of war.

Karla came forward slowly, unsure how to say goodbye to this child that she had barely seen and the father that she couldn't stand. She knew what she wanted to do, to say. She wanted to tell him that his mother loved him very much, had chosen to carry him and bear him and raise him up. Wanted to apologize for her distance and her reaction and anything else she might have done that had caused him pain.

But he was a Wiggin. If she said any of those, did any of those things, would he simply be amused by her over-emotional outbursts? Would he give her a long-suffering sigh and point out that he knew all that already? Be embarrassed by her?

And what of Peter? Would he take that moment of vulnerability and use it against her?

She didn't know. Couldn't tell. And so it was a very quiet and subdued Karla who separated herself and walked over to them both.

"Hi," she said quietly, giving them a wan smile.

Oh, grand. Peter looked up at the new arrival, and bit back a snarky comment. He had no real interest in getting into a fight with Karla over this, though the cynical part of him wondered if that was what she wanted.

You know. Let's play 'upstage the other parent'.

He didn't say that either.

"Karla," he said instead, acknowledging her with a brief nod of his head. "Glad you could make it."

Okay, that was a terrible lie, but at least he was trying.

Aindric looked up from past his father's leg. She wasn't getting any snarky remarks from him, either: he could recognize the that wan smile as something unusual from his mother.

So he returned it.

"Hey, mom."

Karla flicked a glare Peter's way, half-amused at the lie, half-exasperated. "I wasn't going to miss the chance to say goodbye," she said neutrally.

She might have avoided the kid a lot this past weekend, but she wasn't going to let him go without a farewell.

She turned towards her--their--son and her smile got a little bigger. Fortunately, almost four years of interacting with Wiggins was standing her in good stead. She knew not to crouch down in front of him, or fuss, or try for any hearty pep talks. Just honesty, as much as she thought she could get away with in front of Peter.

"I...I don't entirely know what to say to you," she admitted softly. "Or how. I know you're probably smart enough to think rings around me and anything I try to say, you've probably already thought of. Do you mind, then? If I say some of those things anyway? I don't want to be tiresome, but..."

Some future version of her called him 'son.' She didn't just want to send him away.

Aindric ignored the hearty eyeroll Peter was indulging in, because that wasn't useful, dad. Instead he sighed heavily, not so much at Karla as at the situation at large.

"I don't mind," he said. She was tiny and gearing up to maybe cough up those platitudes adults liked to indulge in, sure. But she was still his mother, and he was hardly going to object to getting some of her time.

Well, right now, anyway.

"I'm sorry," Karla said. She idly wondered if the future-her felt the same way as present-her did about apologizing and if Aindric knew how rare it was for her to do so, especially so baldly.

"I'm sorry for my reaction," she added, knotting her fingers. "When I found out who--" Her eyes darted to Peter and narrowed as she saw him rolling his eyes. He was lucky she was being mature right now. Ass. "Anyway, I'm sorry this was how your first trip to Fandom turned out. And if you come back next year, I'd like to spend more time with you. Get to know you as you, and more than an extension of...your parents."

Well, one of them. Karla had no idea if there was anything of her in him beyond the Jewel.

Aindric wasn't much used to apologizing from either parent; when it happened, it was almost disorienting. Finally he muttered a "Thank you," which sounded almost petulant when he was really gunning for 'appreciative'.

"I know you have a hard time not kicking him sometimes," he added. For good reason! "So nobody blames you."

Well, he didn't, anyway.

Regular!Karla would have responded with, 'That's because he's a jackass.' But Mature-Parent!Karla simply replied, "Glad to know I'm still mostly me in the future."

And not completely insane. Just insane enough to think that Peter was an acceptable person to have sex with.

Ugh.

While thinking the thing about Peter being a jackass. Really hard.

"Oh, and what a blessing that'll be for everyone involved." Peter had been trying, okay? But there was only so much set-up he could endure before he finally had to give in and say something.

Aindric eyed him. "Stop being a jackass, dad."

Karla was just going to smug at Peter now. Their son had taken her side. Haaaaa ha!

Or, okay, maybe not her side, but whatever. She'd take it.

"Do at least try, Peter," she added sweetly. "We're saying goodbye."

"Are we?" Peter said, though at least he didn't roll his eyes this time.

He glanced back at Aindric. "And remind my older self to wash your mouth out with soap or something," he added. "And that apparently, he's a saint in the making."

"Because if he doesn't boost up his own ego, who will?" Karla added. Sweetly. "And, obviously we are, Peter dear. Do keep up."

Edited 2012-04-04 21:36 (UTC)

"I'm keeping up fine," Peter said testily. "Aindric? Take care." He took a breath. "Don't take candy from strangers. Annoy your mother and help your father. And remember you're capable of great things."

There. That was the important stuff.

"I know," Aindric said, sounding a little long-suffering. Wasn't the first time he'd been told he was special. Not by a long shot.

"He mixed up the thing about your parents," Karla said, "but I think he got the other stuff correct."

He was certainly capable of being a better male than his father was.

...And almost certainly a better person that his mother, sigh.

*I do hope I see you again,* she added for him alone. *And not just because I was such an ass this time.*

*No promises.* He didn't mind it unkindly; he just saw no reason to be anything but brutally honest about it. *But if another portal turns up, I will try to walk away from it at a suitably slow pace.*

Aindric offered her an only vaguely smirky smile. It was a little bit about reassuring Karla, and a lot about messing with Peter, who looked from one to the other and wondered what the hell he was missing here.

Karla turned that smirky smile back to Peter, though her words were directed at his--at her--at their son.

"No dawdling on this side, though. Your parents are probably worried. Or at least impatient to hear about how badly we were thrown for a loop when you showed up."

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The Park, Monday Evening

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