Love Me So • •

[gabriel pearce fitzpatrick]

Tonight would be interesting. That much Gabe knew to be true. When Fallon had first brought it up he was pretty sure his eyebrows had gotten lost in his mane of wild, messy hair. As much as he longed to have a few wild, clumsy children running around in milk bottle glasses and sweater vests he knew his fiancée was a little less eager about the idea – and not just because of the sweater vests. He hadn’t brought it up much himself because he knew Fallon needed time to think about it, time to be convinced that she could be an amazing mother if she could let go of her fears. He knew letting go of something that big wasn’t easy though. So when she candidly mentioned babysitting Freddie overnight so Imogen and Benji could go out and enjoy themselves without having to worry about a thing, he was shocked. It was the last thing he expected from Fallon and he knew it wasn’t something Imogen would have asked of her either; she was so stubbornly independent that he had witnessed Benji even having to fight with her to let him take care of something.

Still, Gabe’s curiosity for the human nature stopped him from questioning it further. He just nodded his head, said he thought it was a great idea for the fairly new couple to have some baby free time, and left it at that. There were a million things he wanted to ask, but he didn’t want to give Fallon things to think about that she could turn into excuses to back out of this decision. He just kept quiet and waited until the following weekend when everything was set to happen. He’d be there the whole time of course to lend a hand; this was as much about the two of them as it was about Fallon. He already had a bit of experience with babies and children since his brother was a father, making Gabe a crazy, kooky uncle. He had only seen his nephew three times in person since he was born, but Gabe had adjusted comfortably and with ease to the infant. He hoped Fallon would be the same once Immy wasn’t in sight to swoop in should Freddie start crying or spitting up his bottle. In the past, as far as he knew, she had only ever taken the little boy for an hour or two on her own while Immy ran out to grab groceries, or tidy her apartment.

He came home from the library early to make sure Fallon wasn’t having any last minute meltdowns. He stopped off at their favourite take out spot and picked up their favourite dishes, too. He didn’t know if there would be time to eat before Freddie was dropped off, but if not he would reheat it for them once the little tyke was down and sleeping again. He used his key to let himself in to Fallon’s and kept quiet just in case Freddie was already there. “Fallon? Where are you?” He moved to the kitchen first to put down the bag of food before he did anything else.

• • •

TAGGED! Fallon Alexandra Flynn
WORDS! 528!
OUTFIT! ADORKABLE DORK!
LYRICS! One Great Mystery - - - Lady Antebellum
NOTES!

[Fallon Alexandra Flynn]

Fallon probably shocked Gabe with her plans to babysit Freddie overnight. She wasn't against children, she loved kids but she'd never thought she would be a mom. She had too many issues for that but that was also when Gabe was just her best friend. He wasn't just her best friend anymore, he was her everything. And he wanted kids that called him daddy with her blue eyes and his mop of hair, her love for movies and his insatiable need for knowledge. Fallon was terrified but she was willing to dip a toe in to see if her fears were anything substantial. Gabe told her a dozen times they were just fears and once she faced them, she would realise how silly it had been but he never pushed her to it either. He understood that she needed to get there at her own pace. Having Freddie around may have pushed her a little bit but once Fallon had seen that sweet little face, she'd melted on the spot.

She had no idea if she would be a good mother but she knew without a doubt that despite the cannibalism her fiancé enjoyed learning about and his clumsy behaviour, he would be a good father so she was willing to try. If he turned out to be a married, single dad, well, Fallon didn't know what they would do then but that was still in the future. And one overnight visit with Freddie wouldn't see them, see her figuring it out. It could be an excellent night where Freddie was a total angel, slept through the night and didn't cry or throw up but was instead giggles and smiles and playful or it could be a total nightmare of a sleepover with neither adult getting any sleep because the sweet little baby was fussing, missing his mommy and daddy and god only knew what else. She had toys in a small toy box in the living room for when Freddie did visit for a couple hours and blankets and things just in case. She didn't take him for more than a few hours normally but she had wanted to be prepared and a small corner of her living room had been dedicated to Freddie and everything he might need whilst visiting.

Fallon had hoped Gabe would be home by the time Immy and Benji dropped Freddie off but either he was running a bit late, or the happy couple were just a little excited to have a night to themselves because Fallon was left alone with Freddie. Not that it was a scary thought. She'd dragged him out with her numerous times but after about ten minutes, she did start to worry Gabe would get lost in a book or in some research and not find the light of day until the morning. She knew better but she also knew him and knew when he sunk his teeth into something, he could be lost to it for hours. Fallon was actually a little impressed Immy and Benji left as quickly as they had. Immy had been, the whole time, giving Fallon tips and directions and going over everything the blonde producer already knew from the dozens of other times she'd watched her nephew since he'd been born. This time of course was different, for both of them, Fallon would be in charge of little Freddie for the whole night and Immy would be without her little bundle of joy for the whole night. It was definitely new territory they all needed to tread. Fallon and Freddie had been upstairs, Freddie sprawled out on a blanket next to Fallon while she tried in vain to figure out how to open the playpen thing, whatever it was called that would house a sleeping Freddie later that night when she heard Gabe call out. Thank god, too. She didn't have a clue what she was doing. "Uncle Gabe is home. We're saved!" She said to her nephew as she picked him up and carted him downstairs with her, all the while tickling his sides playfully and grinning when he giggled. "We're right here, safe and sound." She said, even though she was well aware he would have heard them laughing first.

Tag || gabriel pearce fitzpatrick
Words || 711
Clothes || Distressed Auntie!
Music || Right Here, Right Now --Maddie & Tae
Notes || <3!

[gabriel pearce fitzpatrick]

Gabe had always wanted kids in his life. He didn’t quite know when he had made that decision, but he knew there had been no question about it for him. He was already an uncle to a scamp of a nephew, but that would never be enough for him; not in a million years. He knew Fallon knew as much, but he wasn’t going to paint it on their bedroom ceiling and start buying nursery furniture until she gave in and relented to her own fears. He wasn’t that type of man. He was patient with her, and would be, though he did hope that he would be able to convince her sooner rather than later that she would be an excellent mother. Sure, it was different than babysitting Freddie for a few hours while Imogen cleaned up or did some shopping, but Fallon was still incredible with that little boy and she was downright fearless when she was playing aunt to him. Maybe she didn’t know it, but Gabe watched sometimes over the top of his book, just smiling to himself while she spoilt the little boy she was quickly handing back over when his mother came a-calling, telling her everything that had happened while she had been away.

He just wanted there to be a day when a baby in their home wasn’t being handed back; because it would be their home, too. In his mind it was the perfect image, even if he was on crutches, if Fallon was stressed, if a baby was crying…it was still perfection. He kept those thoughts to himself right now, choosing not to push any buttons when he could see Fallon was already taking some steps towards that on her own. He was proud of her, but he wasn’t going to say anything just yet. He suspected she wanted to see if she could do this first before she went any further, or said anything and so he would do the same. Gabe already had every confidence in the future Mrs Fitzpatrick though.

Gabe grinned when Fallon emerged with Freddie, and dropping his messenger bag to the floor he reached out for the little guy. He spun him around, making silly faces the whole time. He had done all of this with his nephew, which was where his experience with babies had come from. His mother laughed that he had been a natural adapting to the little Fitzpatrick infant, but his brother had just commented that it was only a matter of time before Gabe dropped him; he was the clumsy brother after all. It had yet to happen, thankfully. “Are you staying with us tonight, champ? Just make sure Auntie Fallon doesn’t introduce you to tequila and bad mistakes. Your mom would never forgive us.” He joked, tossing Freddie lightly and carefully up in the air, catching him each time before passing him back to Fallon. He wanted her to do as much as she could with Freddie tonight, purely so she might overcome even the tiniest bit of her fears. He stepped back to the kitchen counter where he had put the bag of food. “I grabbed your favourite. Do you want me to dish it up now or save it for after bedtime?” He asked, pushing his glasses back up his nose as they slid down.

• • •

TAGGED! Fallon Alexandra Flynn
WORDS! 562!
OUTFIT! ADORKABLE DORK!
LYRICS! One Great Mystery - - - Lady Antebellum
NOTES!

[Fallon Alexandra Flynn]

Sometimes Fallon wondered what Gabe saw in her. She'd never had the intentions of becoming a mother, instead already deciding at a young age that she would just adopt her friend's children and be the fun and adventurous Auntie Fallon for the rest of her life. And Gabe had know his entire life, or close to it that he wanted a horde of little beings running around with big, inquisitive eyes, sweater vests and obsessions with converse. Fallon hadn't been anything at all like that. But then, she hadn't grown up in a household with siblings, two parents and her grandparents milling about. She had Bernie and Trevor of course, and she loved them to bits and pieces but there'd never been any other kids running around that she could pick on and look out for. Her grandparents were nonexistent, Trevor's mother having past away when Fallon had been three and father at five. She had loads of pictures but no memories at all of them. Or maybe the vaguest of sorts. Ice cream treats, park visits and sandcastles just there in the backyard. But then all those things could have been with Trevor or Bernadette as well so Fallon couldn't be certain of anything.

All it all meant though, was that she was a little on the apprehensive side of having her own children. It wasn't just if she would make a good mother, she knew that even if she failed miserably, Gabe would pick up the slack, it was more that she didn't want to put her hopes into being better than the woman who gave her to Trevor without even blinking about it. The apple didn't fall far from the tree after all and she was deathly afraid that it meant genetically. She wished it meant that she would be more like Trevor but she couldn't be certain and that frightened her beyond anything else. She did not want to be that woman; which probably meant that she would be the furthest thing from her, psychology dictated when someone thought about it enough, they subconsciously stuck to the path they chose. In Fallon's case, she knew that meant she would be more like Trevor, no doubt snapping more pictures than there was space for on the walls, showing her children the clever world of film.

So she was taking baby steps to see just how she would do. Fallon adored her little nephew but she feared she was a little better with him because at the end of the their time together, she gave him back to his mother. And maybe it would be even better knowing the small bundle in her arms was her own flesh and blood. Just watching Gabe with sweet little Freddie had Fallon wanting that all the time. Slow may have been best for her but it was obvious Gabe should have already had a half dozen little munchkins running around at his ankles already. "I wasn't planning on corrupting my beautiful nephew for at least another seventeen years or so." She told Gabe with a grin. Fallon watched Gabe with Freddie for a moment. It wasn't the first time he'd played with their nephew but it always seemed like it for Fallon. Her heart swelled at the sight and she wanted that for him. Little ones of his own but she couldn't quite get over her own irrational fears just yet. She would. She knew she would but it was going to take Fallon just a little bit more time. "Maybe save it. At least until you put that silly bed thing together. We tried, but we're useless, aren't sweetie?" She said, cooing a little at the baby in her arms.

Tag || gabriel pearce fitzpatrick
Words || 620
Clothes || Distressed Auntie!
Music || Right Here, Right Now --Maddie & Tae
Notes || <3!

[gabriel pearce fitzpatrick]

You couldn’t help who you fell in love with. Gabe knew that, and could offer up a dozen or more examples from history to back that up. There was also his brother’s wife – Elaine – who no one in the family quite liked, but she made Morgan happy, so they put on a smile and tried their best to work out what it was he saw in the bottle blonde who revelled in trash TV and wore clothes that were at least a size too small for her. His brother was happy though, and he thought her beautiful and stunning, and maybe she would be if she stopped trying so hard to look like A Real Housewife of Beverly Hills when she lived in Lincoln, Nebraska, in an apartment Morgan had owned since he graduated college. Gabe loved Fallon for all her flaws and if it took five years before she told him she was ready for children then he would wait – even though he was ready right now to have someone tug at his trousers and call him daddy.

Gabe was a patient man. He had been raised that way, and he was doing his best not to make it seem wildly obvious that the next challenge he wanted in his life was fatherhood. He had his PhD now, was technically a doctor by name, but his days of studying weren’t over. He wanted another doctorate to accompany the one he had just forgone sleep to earn, and something new to test him. A baby was just that, but he wasn’t going to tell Fallon in case it terrified her even more than the idea already did. Until she was ready he would have his books, and set about giving his fancy bit of paper a brother to go in a frame alongside it. Books could keep him busy while Fallon planned their wedding, and books could keep him busy afterwards. In the meantime, he hoped Freddie could help Fallon see that her fears were unfounded, and that she would be a wonderful mother, just like Gabe thought she would be.

He grinned, casting his eyes over the innocent baby who was oblivious to their conversation and the plans that anyone had for him. No doubt he would have a hectic life with the way Imogen and Fallon ran around the city with their shopping trips and lunch dates, frazzled with life and yet excited by whatever gossip or plans they had coming next. Gabe didn’t know how women did it, nor did he want to know. It was one of the few areas of knowledge where he was happy to stay in the dark. “If he’s not corrupted already. Somehow, I don’t think you and Imogen would be friends if your high school days were all ‘yes, sir, no, sir, thank you, sir’.” He said with a knowing smile. He hadn’t heard too many stories, but he had caught snippets in passing between the pair and suffice to say he understood enough to realise that they were not the innocent girls in the corner keeping their heads down. “Thankfully, working out how things come into existence is my area of expertise.” He said as he moved to leave the kitchen. “Though it’s normally gods, monsters and ancient civilisations no one can remember.”

• • •

TAGGED! Fallon Alexandra Flynn
WORDS! 559!
OUTFIT! ADORKABLE DORK!
LYRICS! One Great Mystery - - - Lady Antebellum
NOTES!

[Fallon Alexandra Flynn]

Fallon didn't actually have a real reason for her fears regarding children. She'd had a wonderful childhood with excellent role models to look up to. Sure, her life hadn't been the average upbringing, she didn't really have a "mother figure" though Bernie had been wonderfully close to perfect. But knowing your mother just couldn't stand looking at you, even before you were born, hurt and put some serious scars on her heart. It hadn't mattered before, whether or not she had an opinion on children because she hadn't had anyone in her life she could see a future with so clearly. And maybe that more than anything else was what freaked her out the most. She could picture so easily a bunch of little Gabe's running around calling him daddy. And okay, so she wasn't quite there in picturing those same kids looking a little like her and calling her mommy but she was close. Either way, there was really no one to blame but herself for her issues and she was working through them. A little more time with the cutest little boy in the world and maybe she would get there sooner rather than later.

The apartment was already full of children's toys suited for Freddie's age group. She had wanted to be prepared for the visits when she was able to steal the baby away from his mama for a little while. Right now, he might have been more interested in chewing the corners of the soft cotton blocks or laying on his back on the play blanket in the middle of the living room than actually playing but that was just fine, too. It made her see the space in a different light, with sweet little babies running amok, causing chaos everywhere they went. And any children belonging to her would cause tons of chaos, that much could be certain. She'd been a devil of a child, always getting into things that had never concerned her. When she was on sets and still young enough to play by the rules and stick around said sets, she played with the prosthetics in the makeup trailer, worked with the clay that was brought in to teach her how to make them. She learned to sew costumes and fabricate props. She learned how to work in the sound booths, mixing and editing and then she became a teenager and decided her freedom was a little more interesting. Then the games began, trying to lose her bodyguards, of which she eventually had four, a minimum of two at any given time she wasn't with her father.

She could only hope any children she and Gabe had in the future would take after him more. And in the meantime, she had sweet little baby Freddie to get her used to the idea of having little monsters around constantly. Fallon grinned, lightly kissing the top of Freddie's head. "Only when the cops were involved." She told him with a chuckle. She and Imogen had gotten into some interesting situations as teenagers. None of which Fallon would take back for anything at all in the world. Those memories were all part of that time in her life where she'd been able to go to school like a regular kid and not have tutors in trailers with the child actors. "Well congratulations! Today is your lucky day where you get to be a manly man. Want a tool belt?" She asked, unable to help herself from teasing her scholarly love. There were some days she could have sworn he loved his books more than he loved her but at the end of the day, he pulled her close to him and slept peacefully by her side.

Tag || gabriel pearce fitzpatrick
Words || 622
Clothes || Distressed Auntie!
Music || Right Here, Right Now --Maddie & Tae
Notes || <3!

[gabriel pearce fitzpatrick]

Gabe pretty much wanted to recreate his own childhood, but in the city. He wanted a house full of animals with kids to keep them occupied. It wouldn’t be quiet or peaceful, but then he planned to have library excursions for that, or even just work through the night like he had become accustomed to since his first year of college. He had loved that wild nature, the never knowing what was going to crash through the door next, even when he had been likely to fall through it covered in blood and mud, shouting that something bad had happened. A dog would bark for someone to come running, and his brothers would be groaning that – once again – Gabe had fallen over, or crashed into, or fallen off something. Really, when he went home these days the same things happened. The only difference was that this time there was more yelling from the three brothers who were no longer boys, but actually three grown men. Their mother only reminded them that they ought to know better than to run around the ranch like little scamps again, but they brought out the worst in each other.

The relationship he had with his brothers was what he hoped for his own kids someday – if he got the chance to be a father. His brothers drove him crazy when he was growing up, but if he needed them, they were there in a heartbeat. They could go from teasing the ever loving crap out of one another to being at their side in a split second, no questions asked. It was love, and it was how it was supposed to be. Gabe couldn’t remember a time when it had been any different between the three of them. As the youngest he suffered the brunt of the teasing, but he was also the clumsiest, had the thickest lenses in his glasses, and had a habit of setting himself up for the jokes his brothers liked to make. Without them, he’d have been completely lost though. He’d have been a different man entirely by this point in his life, and Gabe wasn’t entirely fond of that idea. He liked who he was, and he liked that his brothers had played a role in that, even if it was just stupid little things, like showing him how to how to pitch a baseball when he was twelve. He’d never done it again, but it had got him through one awful gym class, and that was all he had needed.

Gabe shook his head. Fallon was a handful, but he loved her anyway. “And now you’re best friends with a cop who would never fall for that act.” The other tiny blonde in Fallon’s life wasn’t stupid. He didn’t care how many Californian officers had been duped by Imogen and Fallon when they were still young enough to get away with murder, Gabe knew Devon wouldn’t be tricked by them for anything. She knew them too well for that, even if she had been MIA for a little while now. Either that, or he had been spending too long in the company of his books. “I’m sure you forget I grew up on a ranch. I’ve done my fair share of handy work.” He said with a roll of his eyes, adjusting his glasses as he headed in the direction of the unassembled crib. Gabe figured that the sooner it was up the sooner the night would progress, and there was no risk of Freddie falling asleep then and leaving them racing to get the thing together in record time.

• • •

TAGGED! Fallon Alexandra Flynn
WORDS! 607!
OUTFIT! ADORKABLE DORK!
LYRICS! One Great Mystery - - - Lady Antebellum
NOTES!

[Fallon Alexandra Flynn]

Fallon knew Gabe was putting a lot on the back burner because he loved her. He might not want the white picket fence but he did want the two point four children and the farm load worth of animals. What she could give him now were only the animals and a library big and full enough to make him weep. She was working on the accepting parenthood part, she was but it was something she'd never thought she would have to work out. Fallon wished she wasn't so messed up because Gabe deserved so much more than what Fallon was at the moment; which was why she was working hard on overcoming her fears. She wanted to be someone who wanted children for Gabe. She wanted to make him happy and that would eventually mean children. She was warming to the idea, of course, because she loved Gabe and he wanted little monsters calling him daddy and she wanted him happy but it was a long road.

That road was getting shorter though, so she just needed a little more time. Spending time with Freddie was helping immensely in that department. Having the baby around was calming Fallon's erratic thoughts on motherhood. She wasn't so scared of messing up anymore. Now it was just that she had to remember that she is most definitely not the woman who gave her up, that she did come from a very loving home with two parents, even if it was a very unconventional home. Fallon had a good sense of self-worth in most aspects of her life so why the thought of her becoming a mother was so distressing was beyond her. It would probably take a decade or more on the couch of a shrink to really work it through but Fallon didn't see the point in spending all that money on sitting on someone's couch when she wouldn't get the answers she was after. Only she could really work through it and that was exactly what she was doing.

Fallon laughed, shaking her head. "A girl can dream, can't she?" She asked, grinning. Fallon had been such a troublemaker and could still be one. The difference was that she tried to stay away from trouble that could actually be serious and land her in the drunk tank or worse. She didn't think she would ever completely lose that wild child attitude she'd had growing up but with the responsibility she'd taken on from the studio and as a professor, she was more mature than she'd been. She took thinks more seriously than when she'd been a teenager and thought the world needed to watch out for her. "Of course, how could Auntie Fallon forget Uncle Gabe is a big strong man capable of lifting many trucks over his head." She teased, tickling the sweet boy in her arms. "He could set this thing up blindfolded. Should we get him a blindfold Freddie?" She continued with a grin on her face. It was one of those travel things, supposedly easy to set up but that was probably if you had a PhD in mechanical engineering or some such nonsense.

Tag || gabriel pearce fitzpatrick
Words || 527
Clothes || Distressed Auntie!
Music || Right Here, Right Now --Maddie & Tae
Notes || <3!