Closed Needing Some Help

[Diana Hollis]

Diana's life had been a whirlwind of crying babies, diapers, lack of sleep and lack of time for herself for the past few months. Since her mother had started helping it had gotten significantly better, but Diana truly started to think the whole concept of twins was some sort of cruel joke by the universe. Every time one fo them was done crying, the other one would start. If she changed Dahlia's diaper, Dylan would think that an excellent time to crap himself and cry about it. Diana loved her kids, more than she even knew she could love. But sometimes they made her want to tear her hair out.

Her mother had taken the twins out for a little outing, as a surprise. For the first time in what felt like ages, Diana was well-rested and clean. She had showered, done her hair, and even put on some make-up. Now... she wasn't sure what to do. But before she could really consider her options, the doorbell rang. Diana headed to the door with a slight frown, one that deepened when she saw that it was her dad through the little window. Her mum taking the twins suddenly seemed less like a nice gesture and more like the setup of a trap. Diana had no doubt this had been something they had discussed. She sighed softly, then opened the door. "Hi, dad." She said tiredly. "I suppose you're here for a talk?"

 

[James Holland]

If Phoebe and Charlie eloping had been a surprise, Diana and Delaney eloping had been alarming, and the arrival of the twins had been.... well, something else entirely. James still wasn't sure he had wrapped his head around the whole thing. He felt far too young to be a grandfather, with one of his own daughters still in school. But it was real - holding each of the twins for the first time and seeing them so precious and perfect, exactly as Diana had been when he had held her for the first time so long ago... it had cemented things in his mind. He had always been a man defined by his love for his family, and now that family was a little bit bigger. Two more babies to spoil, right as Lucy was leaving the nest for Hogwarts.

While being a grandfather was a new adventure for James, being a father was without question the job that never ended. It didn't matter how old his girls got, he knew he would always have a role in their lives, protecting and supporting each of his daughters through whatever came their way. And in the last few years, a lot had come Diana's way. Anyone with eyes would be worried about her, and James felt sick with it at times. A rushed spur-of-the-moment elopement with a man she hadn't been dating for long at all, and now twins, when out of all of his children he had always thought Diana was the one least likely to become a mother... it was all a lot, all at once, and James knew his petal was struggling, however hard it would be for her to admit. This was going to be a two-pronged parenting mission, and Claudia had taken the far easier prong. His wife had taken their grandchildren out for the afternoon, and James had bided his time, giving Diana a while to herself before he approached, knocking on the door. He had hoped the visit would come across subtle, but should have known better than to expect Diana wouldn't clock him immediately. give a small shrug, keeping his smile soft and open. "I just want to check in, petal. It's been a while, I've missed you. Besides, Lucy's off to school so now I'm a bored old man with nothing to do." He added with a cheeky smile. "Brought a gift." He added, bringing a hand from behind his back to reveal the block of chocolate he had kept hidden.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana wanted to be angry about this ambush, but she couldn't muster the energy. She sighed softly, giving her dad a weak smile at his excuses. "Sure." She said softly. She knew her parents thought she needed help, and while a part of her rebelled at that thought, deep down she knew she did too. How her parents had ever survived four young kids, she didn't know. "Thank you." She said softly, as she took the chocolate. Then she sighed, voicing the question in her mind. "Dad, how did you do it? You had four of us running around, I feel like I'm dying with just two." She admitted, though she still did it in a joking, casual way. She wasn't ready to admit just how hard it had been. She closed the door behind her dad, leading him inside.

 

[James Holland]

James had expected some pushback on this visit, and the fact that Diana welcomed him in without so much as a snappy comment really drove home just how badly she was doing. He didn't comment on it as he came inside, handing her the chocolate without a word. While he had always been a safe person for his daughters to talk to at all times without questions, Diana was the one who never seemed to take him up on it. While he was proud of her independence, he had always worried about his most closed off daughter. The moment she asked for help though, something inside James broke. He had never seen her so vulnerable before, and he knew in an instant that he would fight the whole world to get back a daughter so assured in her own independence that she would never need to be this open. Part of what made Diana who she was was gone, and he wondered how this had happened. "Oh petal, we were dying too." He said softly, putting an arm lightly around her shoulders. "Your mum would be a better person to ask, she was staying home full time. I did as much as I could though, we tried to split the work the best we could. We loved all of you so, so much, but we definitely struggled. Asking for help is so important, especially in these early years..."

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana tensed as her father put his arm around her. He didn't even pretend to buy it had been just a light, casual joking question and went all serious, which Diana hated. She looked down at the chocolate instead of at her dad. "Right." She said with a sigh. She decided to ignore his comment about splitting the work, that was kind of impossible with a husband who was never here. But she didn't want to bring that up, as she knew her parents already disapproved of Delaney and despite everything, she wanted them to like him. She rolled her eyes. "There's no point in asking mum, she has like... freakish parenting superpowers. She took one look at the twins and they were sleeping peacefully, after they did nothing but cry when it was just me." She huffed. "And I also just don't want to ask her." She muttered petulantly.

 

[Ainsley Lynch]

Ainsley was NOT present for this heartwarming father-daughter chat, no matter how much she kept trying to insert herself into Holland family moments

 

[James Holland]

James could see Diana starting to shut down, and he was glad to see she at least had that much of herself left, as much harder as it made her to reach. He shook his head, rubbing her arm softly. "There's no such thing as parenting superpowers - those are grandparent superpowers. You should have heard the screaming matches Rose and Phoebe would get into when they were around that age. It could go on for hours, and they'd keep setting each other off just when we thought we had one of them settled. Merlin only knows why we decided to have you after all that." He added with a slight teasing smile, before turning more serious. "It's okay to ask for help." He said gently. "It's important. Nobody does this alone, especially not with twins. It takes a village."