2-24: Broken Wing

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Xavier opened the front door to the house he shared with what was left of his family, and the silence was almost deafening. It had been quiet a lot lately. Storm had her pregnancy to plan for, and a new apartment to get ready for the incoming baby. He still wasn't used to the thought of being a grandpa.

And the fact that he never knew that he could have been one from his youngest daughter, still was inconceivable. 

If anyone should have seen Thorne for what he was, it should have been her own father.

The soft sound of crying reached his ears as he sat his stack of papers from the hospital on the kitchen counter. But it wasn't the ones he was used to. Rain's. Usually from somewhere upstairs.

Those cries only one person knew how to answer to. And that person wasn't him.

These were tears he hadn't heard in a long time. But he'd know them anywhere.

He followed the hallway to the living room, not prepared in the least for what he walked into. Eden was on the couch, her head in her hands, an open bottle of vodka on the table.

"Eden?"

She jumped a little, looking over her shoulder at her husband.

"Not now, Xav. I'm fine."

Her words were slurred, her makeup all over her face. She still tried to lie about her emotions, and he still knew it was a lie every single time.

"You're not fine. First of all, you're drunk."

He sat beside her, pushing the almost empty bottle across the table. 

"Why are you crying? What's going on?"

She leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on top of her head. 

"I promised myself that I would never let this happen. Our family falling apart."

He brushed his fingertips through her hair, feeling the weight of her body on his.

"It hasn't Eden. It's a little broken, we both know that. But we still have a family. You still do."

Eden shook her head, tears spilling onto his arm.

"We don't. Thaddeous is gone. Rain isn't herself anymore. Storm is having a baby with a man who doesn't love her.

It's like they are living all the same mistakes I've seen before.

And I can't fix any of it."

She stilled as he pressed his lips to her forehead, her breathing evening out.

"I know."

His sigh was soft.

"I know all of that. But I'm still here. Storm and Rain are still here.

You're still here.

And Thaddeous is somewhere where I'd like to think he's happy now."

The words were heavy on his tongue, and so was the feeling in his chest.

"I don't have magical words that can fix any of this. I don't have anything that I can say that will make this easier on either one of us.

But I can tell you that I love you, Eden. Your daughters love you. 

And so did our son."

They were both quiet for a while, the silence stretching between them. Eden's chest stopped hitching, her words barely shaking when she finally spoke again.

"It's never going to be okay, is it?"

Xavier looked down into her eyes, the depth in them was something he wasn't sure he'd ever really become accustomed to.

"Not completely. But it will get better. He'll always be here with us."

He placed his hand on her chest, her pulse strong under his touch.

"Right here."

He pulled her closer to him, tracing his fingers down her arm in the silence until she fell asleep.

He glanced up at the pictures of their children on the walls, swallowing past the lump in his throat.

His whisper was quiet, vanishing in the room like smoke.

"Right here."

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Storm leaned against the wall outside of her room, both of her hands on her swollen stomach. She was a little over halfway through her pregnancy, and the spring months had passed in a blur. 

Rain seemed like she was getting better, but it was hard to tell. She still wasn't speaking much, and when she did, it was only to Ryan. Storm wasn't sure what it was about the male Hunter twin, but it was something. He ignited something in Rain no one else seemed to be able to.

And she was thankful for it. Even if his little brother was an ass who followed every move of her pregnancy like she was incapable of taking care of herself.

He appeared every day. Checking up on her. Seeing if she took her vitamins, was making it to her appointments.

Which he knew happened once a month, and he'd been to every single one. But he still asked. Like she was going to keep it from him.

A baby. A baby girl. Storm was only 23, and it might not be too young for some people, but for her it was. She'd had an entire future planned. College, a career. An apartment in New York City.

And she'd vacated it all when Thaddeous died, thinking she could return when everything seemed better.

And now she was pregnant. And things still weren't really better. If anything, they were worse.

"Are you supposed to put pressure on your stomach like that? Will it hurt the baby?"



Storm looked up at the red headed father of her child with disdain.

"If I can sleep on my stomach, or have sex, I'm pretty sure that me touching my stomach isn't going to hurt the baby. Jesus, Discord. I'm not going to break the baby."

He raised an eyebrow, glancing at her swollen stomach.

"Sorry. I don't know much about human pregnancies."

She scowled, pushing herself off of the wall.

"Clearly."

She walked over to the staircase, and he followed right behind her. Followed her to the kitchen, watched her get water from the fridge.

"Discord, I don't need a babysitter. I'm sure you'll be doing enough of that in four months. Can you give me a break here?"

He glanced at her stomach again, and then at her face.

"I just want her to turn out okay."

She twisted the cap back on the bottle, her hand traveling to her stomach as a tiny push came against it.

"The baby's fine. She's moving right now."

Discord's face brightened and he came over to her, studying her stomach like it was a science experiment.

"She is?"

Storm nodded, feeling the baby push again with a laugh.

"I'd say so."

She looked at him, at the way his face lit up at her words.

"You can feel it, you know. Breaking up with me doesn't equate to you not being able to touch me. At least not like that."

He hesitated for a second, looking at her eyes.

"Okay..."

He put his hand against the fabric of her shirt just in time. The tiny baby girl in her stomach pushed against his touch like she knew he was there. And being half vampire, she probably did. Contained some kind of voodoo Storm didn't understand.

"Happy now? She's fine. Can I eat cookies and watch Netflix and be alone?"

Discord removed his hand, something weird in his expression.

"I guess so, yeah. I'll be back tomorrow."

He was gone in the blink of an eye and Storm let out a breath, looking towards the front door.

"Yeah... Can't wait."

But really, she was thankful for Discord. Thankful that he cared at all. She had a feeling he would be exactly what Ryan had said he would.

A real father to their baby. Even if they weren't together.

She could deal with losing him.

But not her daughter losing him. Their baby was going to need him more than Storm ever could.

And at least she was sure of one thing. 

Discord was capable of love. Even if it wasn't for Storm, it was for his child.

And that was all that mattered to her.

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Rain laid on her bed, her head in Ryan's lap. Some song was playing through the speakers of his phone, but she didn't know the band. His music taste was completely different than hers, but better for her moods.

Less depressing.

"Don't you get annoyed with how upbeat this is?"

Ryan stopped absentmindedly touching her hair for a moment, looking away from his phone and down at her.

"No. I kind of think I prefer it to the stuff you're always listening to. Lyrics about how much life sucks can really wear a person down."

He grinned, bending down to touch his lips to hers. She sighed, taking the phone from his grip.

She knew one, maybe two, bands he listened to. And he was right, it was far from the genre she surrounded herself with.

"Maybe that's why you always seem so much happier than me.

Your music doesn't make you sad inside."

He laughed again, sitting his phone beside them on her bed. Rain closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the rain outside.

"I'm sure there are other reasons I'm happy now."

She didn't know how to take credit for that. She hadn't done much. She'd been in therapy since the week after they had went to her old ballet studio. But it wasn't just therapy, it was Ryan too. 

They were something now, but she didn't know exactly what. Something that deserved a label, but hadn't received one.

"I love you, Ryan."

She said the words with confidence, a real smile on her lips.

"I know. I love you too, Rain."

He kissed her again, his fingers in the length of her hair.

"Always."

She laughed, nodding as she replied.

"Always."

Rain had found something in Ryan. She couldn't really place exactly what it was, but she knew it was something she had needed. 

He hadn't fixed her. He had stayed with her while she worked on fixing herself.

And she wasn't quite there yet... But she was getting there.

More and more every day.

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And with a broken wing
She still sings
She keeps an eye over the sky
With a broken wing
She carries her dreams
Man you oughta see her fly