Honey, I'm Home

[Gareth Knight]

Gareth blanched as he landed. He really did hate long distance apparation but it was the quickest, easiest and by far the cheapest way to travel. The young man looked up at the building in front of him and smiled. He could just imagine the family inside. The small girl with big eyes and curly blonde hair, the baby boy who would be running around now that he had learnt how and their mother. Nina. The most beautiful person he knew, inside and out. He grinned as he made his way to the door, happy that he had chosen not to tell Nina he was returning today. He wanted to see her face when she saw him.

For the two months that Gareth had been in Australia with his fathers side of the family he had constantly written to the women he loved but they both agreed it wasn't the same and she often told him how she missed him. It was that which spurred his decision to go straight to her house instead of going back to his own apartment and dropping off his bag and maybe having a shower. She had missed him, that much he knew but he had missed her and his children horrendously. He honestly hadn't imagined being a father of two so early in his life but he wouldn't change that for the world. Isadora and Augustus were his life along with Nina and the small family they had together.

Gareth knocked on the door and waited patiently for it to be opened. He had a small moment of panic, maybe surprising her wasn't the best thing to do, what if she was busy or annoyed that he didn't tell her. Those feelings washed away when the door opened and his cheshire cat grin returned to his face. "Honey, I'm home."

 

[Nina Patrokov]

Nina was tired taking care of her two children on her own although she knew it was no fault of Gareth's. She was getting a little anxious, however. Poor little Gus was missing out on having a father around and Issy... well she was just beside herself. As much as she knew that Gareth had to help out with his sisters she didn't know how long he would be gone and not seeing him reminded of her when he was gone for the first few years of their daughter's life and often made her feel sick to her stomach, like she would never see him again but she had to trust that the letters he was sending would continue until he came back to her.

With all this in mind Nina felt lonely even as she hugged her little boy tightly in her arms and held the hand of her daughter as they walked into the kitchen to get something to eat before sending everyone to bed. Nina put Augustus in his high chair and kissed his cheek and said, "Mommy will be right back," and smiled down at Isadora who was scrambling in a chair too big for herself but was certain that she was all grown up and could sit in a "grown up chair" as she called it. They were growing up so fast and she wanted time to slow down more so she could enjoy every little moment and every discovery in their personality and most of all she hoped that Gareth would be back to feel this all with her.

Nina sighed to herself, knowing that it was useless to wish for all of these things so badly because it only affected the way she ran her day-to-day life. She looked into the fridge and grabbed what she needed to make dinner for the three of them when she heard Isadora stop singing to herself and squeal with delight. "Issy?" she asked and walked over to see that her six year old had ran up to Gareth and was hugging his legs tightly. Nina froze in complete shock at seeing him after she had decided that it ought to be pushed away from her mind until there was a definite date he would come back home.

Knowing that Augustus wanted to see his father too, Nina walked over to his high chair and picked him up, holding him on her hip as she walked over to Gareth who she loved so dearly. "Gareth," she whispered quietly and wrapped her free arm around him, relishing in his touch that had been too long gone. As they embraced Nina kissed his cheek lovingly, wanting to feel closer to him but also knowing that they needed to be appropriate for the children and that she also wanted to talk to him for hours upon hours like they did when they were first dating because there was so much to know even through the difficult time that he was having to hand over the care of his sisters to his family.​

 

[Gareth Knight]

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<COLOR color="#000">Gareth waited a moment before realising that it was the childrens tea time and Nina would most likely not hear him knock. Instead he simply opened the door and peered inside. Isadora was the first to notice him in the doorway and stopped her singing to squeal with delight at his arrival. Gareth dropped his bag onto the floor as the small blonde child wrapped herself around his leg. He heard his partner, and the mother of his children, call after the girl but focused on picking her up. "Hey there beautiful." He spoke as she grinned up at him.

Once Gareth had Issy in his arms he looked up to see Nina walking towards him with baby Gus in her arms. He shifted Issy around so that he could hug her back with one and arm. The man tried his best to cement this moment into his memory. His little family together all at one point. It was the happiest he could possibly be right now. "Hey there." Gareth said before kissed Nina's cheek after she had kissed his and felt ever so slightly annoyed that they had to remain appropriate with their behaviour in front of the children.

"Have they eaten yet?" Gareth wondered aloud. If they had then it meant bed time and then he could curl up with Nina on the sofa and talk about everything. He was always so open with her about everything, he loved it. Nina was one of the few people in the world Gareth felt he could tell anything to and she would stand by him. He often wished they had not missed out on the years he had been gone for but quickly threw those thoughts from his mind as he reminded himself to look to their future together instead of his past mistakes.

Gareth had half of him hoping the children hadn't yet eaten though. He loved helping to feed them and felt ever so guilty that he had left Nina to do it by herself the past couple of months. He knew it would be tough on her even though he constantly wrote. He had no doubts she was making comparisons to the last time she had to raise a child alone, he only hoped that this time she was certain he would be back and he wasn't leaving like that ever again.​

 

[Nina Patrokov]

Nina smiled lovingly as she saw Isadora in her father's arms. It was something she'd wanted to see when the little girl was born and missed seeing for the past two months. It was great to see her family together again and she was close to melting in Gareth's arms as she had missed him more than anything in the world. She had missed going to bed with him at night and waking up to him in the morning when they'd both decided that he would stay over and missed being held by him, sometimes at inopportune moments, but all the same. She was so glad that he was home and as he inquired about the food she remembered that she had been preparing it, as she'd forgotten in the excitement.

"No, I'm making it right now. Did you want something to eat too? It's nothing special... Grilled cheese," Nina said, almost feeling bad that she didn't have a proper meal prepared but she was tired from work and taking care of their little ones, especially now that Gus was moving around a lot more and getting into things, although the entire place was baby-proofed. However, she remembered the last time the two had ate grilled cheese on their own and smiled fondly on the memory as she tended to think that it was an intimate one because they had a long conversation as they looked out onto the rainy day that it was. She wondered vaguely if Gareth remembered it but she didn't ask, instead she held his hand tightly in hers while balancing their son on her hip who was all smiles as he looked up at his father just as Issy was.

Nina planted a kiss upon her son's head as she walked with Gareth further into her home so she could feed their children and then put them to bed so she and her lover would have a chance to catch up, to talk face-to-face instead of through letter which didn't reveal enough and didn't give her the opportunity to hug him or kiss him when she wanted to.

 

[Gareth Knight]

Gareth smiled as she said she was making grilled cheese, he of course remembered the lovely night in they had together, eating grilled cheese, watching the rain and talking about very private and intimate things together. "That's good, I always loved your grilled cheese." He gave her another kiss on the cheek as she went to walk away before picking up the bag he had dropped with his free hand and carrying both it and his daughter through to the kitchen area.

"No, I ate before I left, I'd love to help you though." Gareth had once before told Nina how he enjoyed helping out with the children. It didn't feel like chores to change nappies, bathe the children or prepare dinner, it felt like a privilege. After what he had put Nina through at the beginning of Isadora's life he still felt he shouldn't have been forgiven so any chance he had to help out was almost a dream come true for him.

Gareth put his bag down by the doorway of the kitchen, just out of the way, and progressed to the table where he set down a protesting Issy. "Don't worry honey, you just sit there and I'll be back in a minute." He gave his daughter a kiss on the forehead and she settled slightly. Gareth turned back to his partner, ready to help out in any way he could.​