hawk_shot | for @theodorelasso

Kate's barely been able to sleep these last few days. It's a huge milestone, after all. It's been months since she and Ted started dating and, even with a werewolf in the mix, the prospect of meeting his son has been both the most surreal concept and the thing Kate has feared screwing up the most. It's just strange, being aware that they are into something serious and that would make her ~~a step-mom~~ part of this kid's family. Is she ready? Geez, according to her own mother it's surprising Kate can even look after a dog.

Remembering how Ted introduced himself to Lucky, Kate decides to bring a little something that hopefully will excite Henry even if he turns out to hate her guts. It's certainly more than just a steak. Getting out of her Uber, Kate's got her arm wrapped with Lucky's leash as she makes room to pull out the box they somehow managed to fit along in the back of the car.

"Ted? Can you give me a hand?" She calls out the second she sees her boyfriend step out of the house to come greet her.

The basketball hoop is not terribly heavy, but when a retriever is super excited to mee his own step-dad? Yeah, it becomes a bit of a challenge.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

Posted by

theodorelasso

"What on.." Ted asks with both confusion and amusement, hurrying down the steps and over to the car. He gives Lucky a very brief pat of acknowledgement, before he helps lift the box out of the car, managing to set it down on the sidewalk. Has Kate already tipped the driver? Probably, but suddenly Ted feels a little guilty on his girlfriend's behalf, with the both the box and the dog, so he makes sure to tip the driver himself too.

"You bought me a basketball hoop?" he asks, still baffled but definitely grinning as he goes to give her a hello kiss.

Posted by

hawk_shot

Adjusting the backpack hanging from her shoulder and with Lucky still tugging on his leash, Kate still manages to thank the driver one last time before closing the door. "Thank you, Bernard! Have fun with the concert," she waves him goodbye before Ted claims her lips in a greeting.

"Yeah, I mean--" It's not like Henry is coming and that might be something nice to do and have around. "We always talk about playing and stuff but we never get around doing it." It's true too. "Thought you and-- You know, that Henry might like it too?"

Still clearly excited, Lucky stands on his hind legs to try and reach Ted's face and lick him.

Posted by

theodorelasso

"He'll love it," Ted answers immediately, beaming with pride and delight. He doesn't want Kate to feel like she has to buy his affection, but what he loves about this gift is that it's not some fancy toy he'll take home with him to Kansas. It's an activity for the three of them, right here.

He gives her another kiss, but then Lucky turns insistent, and Ted laughs, letting go of Kate to lean down and give Lucky a proper human-type hug, the dog's paws over Ted's shoulders as he squeezes him and ruffles his fur.

Posted by

hawk_shot

"Oh, God, Lucky's becoming even needier than I am," Kate points out, not lacking in amusement. "Come on, boy. You want a treat? We gotta get inside first."

It's like a magic word, Lucky instatly getting down and focusing his attention on her as they head into Ted's home. She loves it, just how close they have become, just how much Ted adores his dog and is always indulging on spoiling him too. Whether its a treat or even something as sweet as a bear hug.

"How are you holdin' up? Excited?" That sure goes without saying.

Posted by

theodorelasso

Ted grabs the box, following the two of them inside. He sets it aside for now - they've got time to put it up later, before Henry and Michelle arrive tomorrow.

"Oh, gosh," he answers. "I can barely sit still." There's remnants of a baking project in the kitchen, which hasn't been tidied up properly, as one example of that.

Obviously he's excited. He's always over the moon when he gets to see Henry again. But it's also the first time seeing Michelle since he started dating Kate, and he knows he's gonna have to have a conversation about that. He's excited for Kate to meet Henry, but he doesn't want to spring it on Michelle.

Posted by

hawk_shot

"I bet," Kate agrees, warmth in her voice despite of how cautious her own enthusiasm is. She's not exactly sure about how things are going to play out. She needs to go back home tomorrow morning, dropping Lucky before she heads to the office. Henry should arrive by then and, well, she and Ted had not made proper plans past tonight. Maybe he wants time on his own with his kid? She couldn't blame him.

But knowing Ted she's pretty sure he'll be happy to have her coming over.

Disattaching Lucky's leash from his collar, Kate drops both her bag and varsity jacket on Ted's couch, quick to go through her belonging to grab a snack for her dog. Lucky catches it in the air smoothly.

"This place smells amazing. What have you been working on?"

Posted by

theodorelasso

"Oh, uh, apple cake," he answers, glancing towards the kitchen. "But Henry doesn't like the texture of the apple bits, so I shred the apples to put it right in the mix. Makes the cake more moist, y'know. Uh, I actually burnt the top of the first one, but the bottom half is delicious, if you wanna help me eat some of that."

While Kate is maybe a bit more cautious, Ted has maybe a hint of something frantic about him. Not overwhelmingly so, but there's a bit more nervous energy to his chattiness today.

Posted by

hawk_shot

She lights up instantly as he describes his process, the way he simply adores his boy and will take care even of the smallest of details to please him something that makes Kate's heart swell. "I think I can put myself through eating some of your amazing baking, yep."

Stepping away from the couch, she stretches her arms and, almost in what could pass for slow motion, Kate holds onto his neck, leaning into Ted. "It's gonna be so hard, you know. Eating what you bake. A total commitment."

He knows what a huge fan of it she is.

"You're such a sweet dad," Kate whispers, showing nothing but adoration in the way she looks up at him.

Posted by

theodorelasso

"I mean, I could always throw it out instead," he answers teasingly, steadied a little by her presence and her sweet playfulness and the comfort of her touch.

He smiles down at her, looking touched and grateful, his nerves slowly settling. "Come on, then," he answers softly, giving her a peck of a kiss, then turning to take her to the kitchen.

Posted by

hawk_shot

"Don't you dare," Kate states, her tone a mocking warning.

It helps, messing around, pretending this is almost like an ordinary day. But, nervous as Kate is, she's also incredibly excited for him, for how clearly blissful Ted sure feels to have his kid back, even if it's for a brief time.

Weaving her fingers with his, she holds his hand as they head to the kitchen, the smell of freshly baked apple cake so much stronger there. "Anything else you need to get ready for tomorrow?" She pauses. "I mean, aside from the hoop and your ass ready to get kicked."

Posted by

theodorelasso

"Nope, it's pretty much down to those two things," Ted answers with a chuckle, cutting off two pieces of Disaster Cake and plating them, handing one to Kate.

"And, you know, cleaning up this mess," he adds, gesturing not just to the kitchen, but the entire house. It's not a major job, but there's definitely more things strewn around than there should be. (And there will likely be way more again, once Henry arrives.) Though the basement is locked, and anything Adult™ is buried deep in a closet, so the most important child-proofing has been taken care of.

Posted by

hawk_shot

Thanking him for her plate, Kate takes it towards the dining table just as Lucky walks past them both, heading to the water bowl always waiting for him in Ted's kitchen. Maybe the signs are not massive, but there's little signs here and there that sure remind him every day of Kate's presence.

Following his gestures, not only does she notice the mess he's left by the sink, but gets what he means about the rest of his home. "Well, between the both of us we'll get things done in no time." She might not keep her place immaculate, but Kate's capable of doing a very good job, specially when helping him cleaning up. "You know, with a spoonful of sugar and stuff?"

Posted by

theodorelasso

"Or a forkful," he says with a twinkle, joining her at the table and handing her a fork. And as he sits down next to her, he shakes a can of whipped cream he just got out of the fridge, giving her plate a nice big dollop of whipped cream, and then one for himself.

"What about you? How was practice?" he asks conversationally, always interested in hearing about her day.

Posted by

hawk_shot

The second she sees him coming with the whipped cream, Kate pulls back on her chair to give him an arm's lenght of room. The sound she makes as she crowns the cake being simple obscene. "Oh, that looks so good!"

Of course, the second Ted sits down Lucky settles between the both of them, staring up at the table as he silently hopes to get a bite of whatever it is they're having.

"Practice was good. Lots of cardio and then Beard forbid me from using my right hand as the domiant one." That could have ended up as a total disaster, but her coach knew how to guide her. "He's reading more about fencing lately, I think he's gonna accept my offer to coach me on that too."

Posted by

theodorelasso

"When we get the hoop up, I can start coaching you in basketball," he answers, half-serious. Serious in that he'll absolutely do it, but not-so-serious as in they won't have any specific athletic goal in mind.

He takes a single bite of cake, before he pops to his feet again, noticing Lucky begging at the table. He grabs a bag of dried fruit dog snacks from a kitchen cupboard, then gently slides Lucky's pillow over towards the table with his foot, and spends a few moments getting Lucky to actually lie down on it, before giving him a treat as reward. It'll probably only work temporarily, but hey. It's better than either of them buckling and giving him cake.

Posted by

hawk_shot

"Don't be your usual great self or I might end up super disappointed once you turn down my offer for a job," she quips right back at him, only half serious herself. Her coaching team has been going through changes and, knowing how well she works with Beard? Asking him to take over and train her in more than just the one discipline had felt natural. Now, working with Ted too? That would be at least interesting.

Digging in, she watches him take a moment to actually try and get her dog to behave. Sure, Lucky might not obey for long, but compared to how things were when they started dating? Her dog would practically put his paws on the table to see if he could steal a bite. "You're so good with him," Kate points out through a mouthful of cake.

It's Ted's patience that's proving to make a difference.

"How was work?"

Posted by

theodorelasso

There's been several days where Ted has dog-sat Lucky where he's made some effort to make him behave. Which, yes, did take many hours. But it made it a bit easier to maintain those things whenever Kate was also there, and led to overall improvement.

"It was alright. Didn't really get much done, honestly," he answers, getting back into his chair to enjoy his cake. "No practice since most of them were off on a field trip, so I tried to do some paperwork and planning, but, you know. Couldn't stop thinking about tomorrow." He smiles and shrugs.

Posted by

hawk_shot

The loud tapping on the pillow is a sign that Lucky is tempted to sit up again and double his efforts on begging for some cake. Kate holds a finger at him. "Bud? Behave. Down," she says firmly until her dog finally lowers his head, properly laying down.

Taking another bite of cake, she listens to Ted, reaching out to give his arm a squeeze as he once more proves just how excited he is about Henry's visit.

Nervous as she is, Kate knows she ought to ask her question, see what's waiting ahead.

"So... You've made any plans for tomorrow? I mean, out of the obvious. Like, are you taking him to Central Park or something? Legoland?"

Is she gonna be part of some of those plans?

Posted by

theodorelasso

Ted smiles warmly as he watches Kate, proud of both her and Lucky. They've come a long way.

"Tomorrow's probably gonna be pretty relaxed, no big plans except for hanging out. But, after that..." he says, leaning his elbows on the table as he leans forward a little. "One of the next few days, I'd love for you to come along for something. Like a show, or, sure, Legoland."

He's alluded to it enough by now that he figures she'd know he'd want her to. But he hasn't had a chance to make specific plans. And he just wants that chance to talk to both Michelle and Henry about it first.

Posted by

hawk_shot

It just makes sense. It's not like they have too many chances for this, for Ted just to decide when it's the right time to introduce them. But this is a big deal. It's been months already, but they're serious enough for Ted to want to introduce her to his kid.

For all they know there might be months before they have another chance.

"That's cool." Nervous as she is about this whole deal, she can't deny that at the same time she's pretty touched by the whole situation, by how Ted wants to make it official. "Yeah, I was't sure if you wanted..." She shrugs, focusing on slowly digging into the cake with her fork, how it cuts through the cream. "Like, if you just wanted time with him. It would be totally understandable."

Posted by

theodorelasso

"You're both really important to me. I want you guys to meet each other," Ted says sincerely, putting his fork down and focusing entirely on her. "Doesn't have to be a big deal. Just... spending some time together." He pauses, watching the way she's stabbing the cake. "How do you feel about that?"

Posted by

hawk_shot

Noticing how Ted's put his fork down, she turs to face him, well aware that they both know about the many unsaid things related to Henry's visit. Kate puts her fork down too.

"Sorry, I didn't want to worry you or anything," she chuckles, clearly a little flustered. "I was honestly wondering like... When it would happen and, you know, how." She knows Ted won't make a big deal of it, for both her and Henry's benefit. "It is a big deal. But..." He will make it as easy as possible for all three of them.

No. Not just that. It won't be only Ted's doing.

"But I know we'll make it work."

Posted by

theodorelasso

Ted smiles warmly and nods in agreement. "We will," he agrees. "And, you have input here too, you know. On how you think we should handle it. Like.. if you want to have a proper chat with him about it, or if I should do it and then introduce you... What we should tell him. And what we should get up to together. Stuff like that, yeah?"

If they're gonna be together for the long term, there is a solid chance Kate will be an important figure in Henry's life as well. Potentially she'd eventually become his step-mom. And while they're nowhere near that, he does want Kate to feel like she has a say.

Posted by

hawk_shot

Finally addressing the elephant in the room is not as terrifying as Kate had expected it to be. She's well aware that Ted knows what a scary situation this is for her ad he's supporting him the best way they can manage.

Chewing her lips, she leans back on her seat, slowly exhaling a very deep breath as she smiles nervously at him. There's responsibilities with this too, it's something Ted has warned her about since they started dating.

"I think you should probably warn him at least. Me having a chat with him and being all like 'hey, I'm your Daddy's girlfriend' is just cringey. Just ask Jack." Jacques, boyfriend to Kate's mom. Who Ted is well aware that Kate can barely stand. "Do you have any idea of what he told me the other day?"

Posted by

theodorelasso

Ted chuckles at her example, picking up the fork again to continue eating. He definitely agrees with that. He's gonna have a conversation about it with Henry, both before and after.

"No, what'd he say?" he asks curiously, popping a forkful of cake and whipped cream in his mouth.