one
Tom sighed happily as he left the bedroom with his two favorite people, and made his way to answer the front door. He wasn’t exactly appropriately dressed, but he figured it’d be a quick interaction, and he just wanted to get back to his girls. They didn’t have any plans, so they’d probably eat breakfast and watch movies together and play all day, and honestly, it sounded perfect to Tom. Everything was finally starting to fall into place. His little family was everything he’d ever wanted.
Rubbing his eyes and letting out a yawn, Tom unlocked the door and pulled it open. Standing outside, on his front step was a woman in a long coat with shoulder-length dark brown hair and a pair of glasses perched on her nose. Tom was sure he was seeing things, and he rubbed his eyes one last time, pushing his hair out of his face. No, here she was, causing his entire world to come crumbling down before she’d even said anything. He could see in her face a few of the features Maggie possessed, the same ones that reminded him of her every day, though he wished they didn’t. She was here, after disappearing off the face of the earth four years ago, leaving him and their daughter behind.
“Tom, I—” she started to speak, only to be cut off.
“Tom?” your voice called from down the hallway, “Who is it?”
“What are you doing here?” his voice came out harsher than he had intended, cutting her off, but he didn’t really mind. And he couldn’t help that the question was also laced with a bit of shock and confusion.
As much as he wanted to turn around, to say something, to close the door in the woman’s face, he felt frozen. Frozen in shock, in fear, in sadness, in disappointment. And so, before he got a chance to respond to you, you appeared behind him in the doorway, Maggie clinging to your torso. Your jaw dropped as you stared at the woman standing in front of you, “Amber?”
“Oh. Y/N. You’re here,” Amber’s voice was clipped, obviously irritated with the sight of you. She caught sight of the little girl in your arms, Maggie’s head resting against your shoulder, “Is… is that…?”
You immediately turned slightly in an attempt to shift Maggie out of view, feeling protective of her. Holding her up with one arm, your other wrapped around her, resting against her back as you held her close to you. You were afraid that if you let Maggie go, Amber would snatch her up. She still hadn’t said why she was here, but you were certain it wasn’t going to be anything good.
“What are you doing here, Amber?” Tom asked again, not wanting to put up with any bullshit.
“I was hoping we could talk…”
Scoffing, Tom shook his head, “After four years? What the hell is there to talk about? No, I’m not doing this. You need to leave.”
Tom started to close the door, not wanting to deal with whatever Amber had come to say, only to be stopped by her saying something he wouldn’t have expected, “Wait! I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Tom.” Pausing for a second, Tom exchanged a glance with you and nodded towards the kitchen, and you simply nodded in reply, carrying Maggie out of the room. Neither of you wanted the four-year-old to have to hear all of this, especially when it was about her, even though she didn’t understand. Opening the door again, Tom sighed waiting for Amber to continue. “Leaving was a mistake, and I’m sorry. I just… just want to be a part of Margaret’s life.”
“It’s a little too late for that, don’t you think?”
-
In the kitchen, you set Maggie down in a chair at the table, trying not to think about what Amber and Tom might be talking about, trying not to wonder why she was here. Taking a deep breath, you took a moment to collect yourself and then gave Maggie a smile, “What do you want for breakfast, love bug?”
Her little lips pursed as she leaned onto her hands, “Ummm, can I have waffles, please?”
“Sure, baby,” you responded, pressing a kiss to her head as you made your way to the freezer to pull out the frozen waffles that could be made in the toaster. Maggie was singing to herself as she waited, moving her fork around as if it were dancing to the song she was making up. You couldn’t help but laugh as you placed the plate with her waffles in front of her, pouring a little bit of syrup on for her, “Here you go, Mags.”
“Thank you!” she responded immediately, digging into the waffles on her plate. Pouring yourself a cup of coffee, you sat at the table next to her, watching her attempt to cut up the waffles by herself. Suddenly looking up at you, she tilted her head, “Mama?”
“Yes, Mags?”
“Who’s that lady at our door?” she asked, eyebrows furrowing together in confusion.
“Oh…” you trailed off, not quite sure how to answer it, “she’s just an old friend of Daddy’s. We’ll just let them talk, okay?” Satisfied with that answer, Maggie nodded and got back to her breakfast without giving it another thought and you couldn’t help but wish it was that easy for you.
All you could hear was soft murmurs coming from the living room but you couldn’t make out what either of them were saying. More than anything though, you were glad it also meant that Maggie couldn’t hear them either. You tried to put all your focus back on her, making sure there were no stray curls in her face as she ate and doing anything you could to busy yourself. Until you heard the front door close and within seconds, Tom was walking into the kitchen, alone.
“Daddy! Look, mummy made waffles…” Maggie’s small frame jumped up with excitement, a sticky smile spreading across her face as soon as she saw him.
He did his best not to show any negative emotions from the rest of his conversation with Amber toward her, laughing as he bent down to kiss her head gently, “‘S great, love. Are they good?”
“Mhm,” she shoveled the last bite into her mouth and then jumped down from the chair. She immediately held her arms up towards Tom, wanting to be picked up so she could give him a hug. He scooped her up without a second thought, holding her close to his chest as he hugged her tightly. Though she was only four, she was way more observant than either of you gave her credit for. She buried her face in the crook of Tom’s neck and wrapped her arms and legs around his torso, somehow knowing that was just what he needed.
When she pulled back a little, Tom gave her a kiss, “I love you, Maggie. You’re my girl.”
She smiled at him brightly, giving him a kiss back, “I love you too, Daddy.” Cupping Tom’s cheeks between her small hands, she giggled as she squished them together, “Where did your friend go, Daddy?”
Tom looked at Maggie for a second and then his gaze flickered to you, looking directly at you as he answered, “Oh, she had to go home. I might meet her for coffee at some point, but it’s just us now.”
You nodded, practically letting out a sigh of relief as you quickly changed the subject, “What do you think we should do today, Mags?”
-
Though you’d initially planned to spend the day in with Maggie, both of you needed a distraction and decided to take her to the park for a bit. The whole thing was weighing heavily on both of your minds. You were worried that this was going to screw everything up, especially since it seemed like your life was finally falling into place. It also worried you about what it meant for Maggie and your relationship with her. What if she found out that Amber was her real mom, and no longer needed you? You weren’t sure that was something you could handle, especially after everything that had happened.
It was on your mind all day, but you’d managed to avoid the topic until after Maggie was in bed, and it was just the two of you. You were getting ready for bed yourself when Tom finally brought it up again. “Y/N?” he called from the bathroom as you were putting on your pajamas — still only one of his shirts and your underwear.
“Mhm?” you replied, wandering into the bathroom. He was at the sink, toothbrush in his mouth, and you leaned against the doorframe to watch him through the mirror. Tom had just taken a shower, so his curls were still damp against his forehead, and all you wanted to do was pull him in close and gently brush the soft hair out of his face so you could kiss him.
As soon as he was done, he turned to you, a soft look of concern taking over his face, “How… how are you?”
You lifted your shoulders into a shrug, “I’m okay.”
A look of slight amusement crossed Tom’s face as he moved closer to you, his arms sliding around your torso, his voice firm but gentle, “Okay, and now actually tell me what you’re feeling.”
Letting out a sigh, you averted your gaze from Tom’s as you shrugged your shoulders again, “I… I don’t know. Just feeling anxious right now, I guess. I’m scared.”
Tom nodded as his hand lifted to cup your cheek, the pad of his thumb brushing over your cheekbone slowly. “Hey,” he whispered, gently lifting your chin so you were looking at him, “it’s okay. We’ll be okay.”
“I know,” you murmured as you looked at your best friend again. As worried as you were about everything, Tom made you feel safe. He was looking at you intently, his thumb still rubbing slow circles over your cheek. You gave in to his touch, leaning your head against his chest. He was so strong underneath you, and warm as always, his scent bringing you the comfort you needed. “How are you?” you asked, voice muffled by his shirt.
“I don’t know, honestly,” he sighed in response, not wanting to totally break the facade he was putting up for you.
Taking his hand in yours, you walked over to the bed, tugging him behind you carefully. You let go of his hand to get in bed, slipping underneath the covers. You didn’t lay down, though, and sat up against the headboard, patting the spot next to you. He gave you a small smile as he got into bed next to you, laying down and placing his head in your lap.
“Talk to me, baby,” you murmured once he was comfortable, your hand rubbing over his shoulder; he didn’t need to put up an act, especially in front of you. As worried as you were about the whole situation, and what it might mean, you knew Tom needed you right now. He needed his best friend.
Tom let out a soft sigh as he tried to collect his thoughts; he’d been thinking about it the entire day, but that didn’t mean he had coherent thoughts. Mostly, he was just angry. Things were finally starting to go right, and she just had to show up to ruin it all. Amber didn’t deserve Maggie. Not in a million years. “I’m… I’m just angry. Fucking furious, actually,” Tom finally muttered, hot tears filling his eyes.
“You have every right to be,” you affirmed, hand rubbing small circles against his upper back.
“She can’t just— she can’t just fucking show up and ruin everything,” Tom continued, trying to avoid crying as he swallowed the familiar lump in his throat. “Hasn’t she already put me through enough? Hasn’t she put Maggie through enough? If I’ve learned anything these past four years, it’s that we’re better off without her. I don’t know if I should even meet with her.”
You could feel Tom’s tears drip onto your legs as he let out another frustrated sigh. Your heart was nearly splintering at the sight of him so upset. You’d only ever seen him this upset one other time… when Amber had left. Knowing that nothing you could say would fix anything, you settled for slowly and gently running your fingers through his messy curls, “You need to do what’s best for Maggie. And what’s best for you. And I’m gonna be here to support the both of you, no matter what decision you make.”
The two of you sat in silence for a while after that, after Tom turned his head to leave a soft kiss on your leg to let you know he heard and that he appreciated you. You continued to soothe him in any way that you could, even though you were kind of falling apart yourself. He’d been your rock so many times before, and now you needed to be his.
Eventually, you moved down in the bed so you were laying, too, but you scooped Tom back up into your arms, letting him lay his head on your chest. He was practically on top of you as he hooked his arms around your waist and rested his head just above your heart. You didn’t mind, though. One of your arms wrapped around his shoulders to hold him close as your other hand ran through his hair slowly. Your fingers twisted into his curls gently, your lips pressing a soft kiss to your forehead.
“Y/N?” Tom spoke softly, breaking the silence as he looked up to you.
“Yes, baby?” you replied, brushing your fingers through his hair to push it out of his face so you could see his pretty eyes.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, Tom.”