Chris was used with Guine's input and approval.
Set on Saturday, November 22nd, 2014


Word Count: 1112

It wasn't that Paris didn't have the normal questioning thoughts that often came to people considering having a baby.

“Am I really ready for this?”

“Is this the right time?”

“What if something goes wrong?”

In fact, she had additional concerns most prospective parents didn't have to dwell on. After all, most parents (as far as she was aware) weren't caught up in a magical war that spanned centuries. Most promised their children that monsters weren't real, blissfully ignorant to the reality of what occurred in Destiny City. Rumors and hearsay weren't enough to convince everyone.

Despite what Chris and her mother might assume, Paris did think about it. She thought about it every day. She thought about what it would be like to have a family, and then what she would have to do to juggle that and the war. Even if she didn't let them deter her didn't mean she didn't have any second thoughts, they simply weren't enough to sway her decision. Her memories of the future were stronger than whatever doubts she might have had, and they presented as many questions.

“What happens if we put it off until the war is over?”

What if we wait too long?”

Won't we regret it?”

She and Chris had come to something of an agreement. They would take Lilah a couple of days a week, keep her overnight, and operate on her schedule to see how things went. If the results led Chris to feel comfortable about agreeing, they'd begin the process whenever it was possible for them to do so.

Paris hoped it was soon. If internal clocks were real, hers would be working overtime. It didn't matter to her that most people would insist that she was too young. She didn't feel young anymore. She hadn't since around the time she'd gone Eternal—and soon after, when her father had died. She was ready, whatever anyone else might think.

But she went along with Chris's proposition regarding Lilah without prodding at him or complaining. That wouldn't work, and certainly it wouldn't prove to him that she was serious, that she was grown up enough for the responsibility. After they'd agreed, she hadn't mentioned it at all. Rather, she made every effort to show Chris what it would be like.

Whenever Lilah stayed overnight, Paris made her chocolate chip pancakes the next morning and cleaned up the inevitable mess without a fuss. She played with Lilah in the piles of leaves outside, picked her up to let her grab for the apples in their small orchard, took her on walks along the paths that wended through the trees. She dressed Lilah in sweet clothing, changed her pull-ups whenever they were soiled, encouraged her to use the potty, praised her when she succeeded, and told her it was okay to mess up a few times when she didn't.

She did all of this around regular dance classes, therapy sessions, and scheduled patrols at night. It was, admittedly, a great deal of work, and Paris was always tired when she finally rolled into bed at night. But during the day she felt energized. She felt excited. She was happy, and confident that she was handling the adjustments well.

Finally, the Saturday before the week of Thanksgiving, Chris came upon Paris and Lilah in Paris's studio—dancing, as they had been repetitively in recent weeks, to a bit of Taylor Swift.

“Jus' shay shay shay shay shay, shay off,” Lilah chirped.

For now, dancing for Lilah was nothing more than jumping and bouncing around the room. She did so with a big smile on her face. Paris emulated her instead of dancing how she usually might. She'd broken a sweat either way.

Taking care of her little sister might make Paris feel energized, but Lilah took energy to a whole knew level—like the energizer bunny on steroids.

“Kiss Kiss Kiss!” Lilah chanted when she spotted Chris standing in the doorway. She toddled over, making grabby hands at him until he picked her up and pretended to eat her cheek. She squealed delightedly and giggled, putting her hands against his face.

“Scatches,” she said.

“You can thank Paris for that,” Chris said. He shot Paris a look, like she was responsible for the hair on his face.

She was, but she made herself look innocent. Besides, No Shave November really was for a good cause, and Chris liked good causes.

“You gonna join us,” Paris asked, wiping sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand.

“No, thank you,” Chris said. “I'll leave the dancing to the professionals.”

“I dance,” Lilah announced importantly.

“I know. You're very good at it.”

“I show you,” Lilah said.

Chris looked like he might refuse. His expression was torn, caught between wanting to please Lilah and the instinct to spare himself the embarrassment. Paris said nothing to sway him either way, simply stood there and continued to look innocent.

Inevitably Chris caved. He might be able to say “no” to Paris, but he never seemed to be able to say it to Lilah.

Unless she was misbehaving, of course.

“Okay, you can show me,” he said, and set Lilah down. She took his hand and led him to the center of the room, where she went right back to bouncing.

“Pay pay pay pay pay an' hay hay hay hay hay,” she chirped again.

Chris held onto both of Lilah's hands and did a bit of shallow bouncing, but otherwise didn't make much of an effort. Lilah didn't seem to mind at all.

It was when their eyes met during the transition between songs that Paris knew Chris was going to agree. He seemed to see something in her eyes that he must have spent the last few weeks looking for, and his expression grew warm when he saw it there. Paris watched the look in his eye shift from cautious to hesitantly confident.

Paris didn't know what she'd done except to stand there and watch them fondly.

“You think we can do it?” Chris asked her over the music. He was smiling at her the way he did when she woke up with messy hair and sleep lines all over her face.

Like everything was perfect despite how messy life could be.

“Yeah,” Paris said.

She felt as if she should have said more, maybe about how exciting she found it, or how happy it made her, or how much she wanted a family with him.

But she didn't, and that was alright, because Chris smiled at her and said, “Okay.”