(no subject)

[x-mactaggart.livejournal.com]

Moira's relaxing after a full day when Davey comes to pay a visit. It's been quite a while since they've seen each other.



Moira allowed herself to lounge, just a little bit, on the couch in her office. It had been a long week and with Rachel finally sleeping in her crib nearbye, no medical emergancies or paperwork to contend with, she could afford to relax a bit. And enjoy the huge mug of her coffee she had cradled in her hands at the moment. It was so nice to be able to drink this on a regular basis again. First was the ulcer, then she was carrying Rachel, and then she was breast feeding.

She nearly crowed. Ray had taken to the bottle only after a little pleading and now it was back to coffee on a regular basis.

There was a brief flash of motion behind her partially opened door, as of a face taking a quick look and before darting back, then a hesitant knock. "Umm, Moira," came a familiar voice, "are you busy?"

The coffee cup nearly tumbled out of her hands as she twisted around. It only took a second and then she was laughing, her mind quickly and effecinately telling her who exactly had come calling. "For ye, Davey, I'm always free," she responded, warmly, putting her coffee on the table and getting up to greet him.

Davey edged himself around the door. He hadn't seen Moira in a long time. Not as long as he hadn't seen Charles, but long. "Hi," he said, grinning nervously as he stepped into her office. "Um. Charles said you were down here. Nice office," he added, glancing around the room. "It's big."

Planting her hands on her hips, she gave him a look. "'Tis been a verra lon' time," she reminded him. "Wha', nay hug?"

"Well, I -- I just got here!" Davey protested, blushing a little. It had been a really long time. He moved up and hugged her, a little gingerly. The proximity only confirmed his suspicions with Charles. "I'm really bigger than you now," he blinked, from the vicinity of her hair. "I mean, more."

Chuckling, she returned the hug. "Aye, ye've grown quite a bit since th' last time ye were out. Must be a wee bit odd, though ye always did 'ave me in th' 'eight department." Pulling away a little bit, she gave him a once over much like she had when Jim had arrived but Davey hadn't 'been' there. "I'm startin' ta feel old."

"You're not old," Davey insisted automatically, pulling back. She and Charles had always been Older, but not Old. Or not really. And almost everyone was older than Davey. "Or you don't look old, anyway. You look the same. Except for your hair. You cut your hair."

"Cut it, grew it, amazed there's nay grey." She gestured for him to sit as she went digging through the drawers on her desk. "I've missed ye, ye know. 'ow are ye likin' bein' back?"

"It's good," he said, folding himself onto her couch. "I missed you. Jim did, too." He spotted the mug of coffee on the table and made a face. "Ergh. You still drink that stuff?" He'd tried coffee once. That had been enough.

"Th' day I stop drinkin' tha' is th' day tha' th' eart' ends," Moira teased, clearly remembering the day he'd snuck some of her coffee. She'd always told him no, knowing what his reaction to the taste might be and knowing what the caffeine would do to him. But would he listen? Noooo, of course not. "I'm glad yer all 'ere at th' Mansion, we never really were able ta do tha' before."

He grinned. "Yeah, it's neat to have you and Charles both be here. I hardly ever get to see both you two. And I'm not banging myself up or anything, even." He caught sight of the crib and blinked. "Oh," Davey said, craning his neck to see if it was occupied. "Is that your baby?" He caught himself and lowered his voice, a little guiltily. "Is she asleep? I didn't see her."

"Sleepin' like an angel, for once." Finally, Moira found what she was looking for and handed it over. Once she had heard about Jim's arrival, she had stocked up on a few things which included Davey's favorite candy that was a little hard to come by these days. But she knew someone who still made it in Scotland and had them ship it over here. "Want ta see 'er in a minute?"

"Sure." He did a double-take at the candy. "Oh -- thanks!" He accepted the offering with an enormous grin. The candy was good, but he was happier that Moira still remembered what he liked. He glanced down at it, then giggled and peeled back the wrapper. "I better eat this now. Jim doesn't like grape. And he kind of forgot to buy stuff for me because I wasn't out much, so I don't get to eat it anymore. He was busy," he concluded glumly.

Moira paused to ruffle his hair, grinning at the way he flailed a bit. "Aye, he was, love. But I think ye'll be out more 'ere. He feels safe an' tha's normally th' best times tha' ye come out in. "Once yer done wit' tha', we'll see th' wee one over there. She's tuckered out from today's activities so she probably willnae be all tha' active."

"How old is she?" Davey took a bite, frowning. It was hard to believe Moira had been pregnant, or that he hadn't seen her in so long he'd completely missed it. Sometimes he really didn't understand Jim. "And yeah. I already came out way more than I did in -- a while. And that's healthy," he said, remembering what Charles had told him. There was a good kind of in and a bad kind of in. Lately it hadn't been the good kind.


"She jus' turned 6 months old." There was a warmth that flowed through her words at that and she smiled. "Wee devil tha' she is." An eyebrow hiked up. "She'll get alon' wit' ye verra well then, considerin' some o' th' trouble ye got yerself inta." It had taken some adjustment when she first had started to deal with Davey on a regular basis, the fact that despite David's age and physical development, he was still a little boy. And, as such, acted like one. It...had made her heart break with loss for Kevin and she knew, even know, she'd doted on Davey when she had the chance.

"I don't draw on stuff anymore," Davey said defensively. Then, because the other person he was most out around was Charles and Charles always knew when he was lying, he added, "Mostly." He grinned sheepishly and swallowed the mouthful he was chewing. "Not on walls and stuff anyway. I'm done!" he announced, folding the wrapper in half and sticking the rest of the candy in his pocket. He'd eaten lunch with Charles anyway, and if he got back to his room without Jim coming out and forgetting he could put it somewhere for later. And anyway, he wanted to see Moira's baby.

"I picked up a few supplies for ye, as well, ta save our walls." Moira winked and then slid an arm around him when he stood up. Davey was quiet when they approached the crib. "Davey, this is Rachel Kinross."

Rachel, sensing the approach of her mom and a stranger/not stranger, opened her eyes long enough to peer up at them. Waving her fists in the air, she yawned and drifted off to sleep. "Normally she's a wee bit more active at this time but she wore herself right out."

"Her hair's really red," he said, marvelling. He'd already sort of known, but it was still a surprise to actually see it. She was very small. He found himself wondering how you were supposed to hold babies. He blinked. "Is Kinross her middle name?" he asked, remembering something about that. Not what, though. Just that there was something.

"Nay, Kinross was me maiden name, remember? Ye used ta tease me sometimes 'bout bein' a _lady_ an' all." Reaching down, Moira stroked the baby's cheek gently. "Nathan doesnae like his last name an' MacTaggart was Joe's, though I still use it because o' work. So we decided tha' she should be a Kinross."

"Ohh." He was dumb to have forgotten that. "That makes sense. Does she have a middle name?" He didn't. He was still kind of jealous of David's. But he was pretty sure Moira remembered that, too.

She smiled and used her other hand to ruffle his hair again. "Aye, she 'as one. 'Tis Fiona." They were quiet for a few seconds as they stared down at her. "Would ye like ta 'old her for a wee bit? It willnae disturb 'er all tha' much."

"I -- dunno. Uh." Davey didn't want to break Moira's baby. That would be bad. He chewed on his lip. "Maybe I better not. It feels weird." He frowned again, unable to understand the feeling in his head. "She makes Jim sad."

"Sad?" Moira asked softly, not pushing the issue of him holding Rachel. It would happen in time. "In a bad way or...well, in nay such a bad way?"

"In a . . . both way." What was that word Charles used to use? Oh, yeah. Ambivalent. "He likes her. A lot, I think. But it hurts." Davey rubbed his forehead, frustrated. "I don't get it."

The rubbing the forehead thing was a sign of aggitation. Bending down to press a kiss against Rachels forehead, she stood up and once again looped an arm around Davey's shoulders. "'Tis okay, love, I'm bettin' tha' he doesnae get it 'imself sometimes. Tha's how we all work. Sometimes we do thin's or feel a certain way an' dinnae really know why."

Davey made a face. "Jim's just weird. It didn't used to be this confusing." He sighed and rested his head against Moira's. His ear came up to around the top of her head. "You still have time to be my mom too, right?" Where Charles and Moira were concerned, Davey didn't really care what he said that could embarrass Jim. He'd been here first, after all.

Something knotted up fiercly in Moira's throat but she still managed a smile. "Ye already know th' answer ta tha', silly goose. I always 'ave time ta be yer mum, as well. 'Tis been a verra lon' time since I 'eard ye call me tha'. I'll say again, ye've been missed." Oh, what she wouldn't give to have David not have to have gone through everything. But what was done was done and there was nothing that wishful thinking could fix. And there was nothing wrong with enjoying what good came out of the situation.

"I missed you, too." A lot. Even Jim couldn't disagree with that. His hug was spontaneous, but fierce. "I don't want to go away again," Davey blurted, his voice cracking. He buried his face in Moira's hair. "No one knows me out there. Don't let Jim make us go away. I want to stay with you and Charles. I want to stay here."

"Shh, shh. Oh Davey." It was still startling to have to reach up this much to hug him, he'd had one hell of a growth spurt since she'd last seen him. But she held him as fiercly as he clung to her, trying to reassure him with her presence that she wasn't going anywhere. And for that moment, neither was he. "Ye'll be out more now, love, now tha' yer 'ere. Jus' ye wait an' see. An' Charles an' I always want ta see ye, ye understand tha'?"

"Yeah." And he did. It was just he couldn't always see them. Davey sniffled a little. "Jim's stupid," he said, though his heart really wasn't in it. He liked Jim okay. It was just that some of the stuff he did didn't make sense sometimes. Like taking them away from Moira.

Moira chuckled a little bit. "Will it make ye feel better if I asked 'im about it?" she asked softly. "If I asked if I can see ye more often?"

"Maybe," Davey said grudgingly. He knew Jim would probably be okay with it. Jim liked Moira, too.

"Maybe? All I get is a maybe?" Pulling away just enough, she tickled his ribs, knowing exactly which spot to hit.

Davey shrieked, jumping so high he almost banged his head on the ceiling. "Stop it!" he sputtered between giggles. In desperation, he resorted to blackmail: "You're going to wake up the baby!"

Laughing she did pull away but kept her fingers at the ready. "My darlin' wee one can sleep like th' dead when she pleases," Moira said with a grin. "But I got ye ta laugh."

He was having a really hard time catching his breath. "I'm not Jim," Davey complained, shielding his ribs against another assault. "I'm not serious all the time. Tickle him."

"Oh, I do, trust me. But ye need ta laugh more as well. An' I remember somethin' 'bout me nay bein' able to make ye laugh once before." She ignored his shrieking protests about how that was years ago and only stopped when he lay giggling on her couch.

"Why do I even like you?" Davey gasped, collapsing after one last flail. "You're mean."

Snickering slightly, she raised an eyebrow. "Because I always remember yer favorite candy an' favorite drink flavor?" she suggested.

Davey stuck his tongue out. "And make me clean the walls." That had stopped being funny once David had figured out how to keep him outside for punishment, really fast.

"There's a reason I 'ave a stack o' colorin' books," Moira said, dryly. "Among other things. 'ow're ye feelin', by th' way?" It had been a while since he'd been out, though she'd heard from Charles about his visit to the older man after it had happened. She wanted to make sure everything was still okay.

"I'm okay." Still kind of annoyed with Jim, but okay. He made another face at her. "I'm the okay one, remember? One of us has to be," he pronounced matter-of-factly.

It was kind of scary when you considered the age that Davey was. "This is true. But ye know me, I'll always worry 'bout ye."

"Yeah." He grinned. "'Cause moms always worry."