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.

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Posted by

theodorelasso

"Hey, it's alright," Ted says, once they're away from the other two and he can hear Henry asking Kate more stuff about her bow and whether she can do stunts like Hawkeye can.

"You were a bit bamboozled, I get it," he says softly, standing at the door while they talk quietly. "Look, I know it looks weird. People give us guff all the time, it's not like I'm blind. And I know there's some extra challenges her and I have to face." He pauses and sighs. "But she's something real special, Michelle. And I promise, whatever else happens, I'm always gonna put Henry first. So just... have some faith in me, alright?"

Posted by

hawk_shot

Unsure as she might still feel about things, Michelle is well aware that there's little she can do but accept the situation. It's something they've both had to face during and even after their marriage. And it's something she will always be thankful about, how considerate Ted had been even after they were done. Upset as she might feel, she is well aware that she has to loosen her foot.

And so she simply nods, agreeing with Ted, even though 'bamboozled' seems like a very light way to put things into words.

"I know," she says softly. "You're a great dad, Ted." Is he really aware of everything that could go wrong? Of how a family day out will look more like he's taking out both a daughter and son instead of his girlfriend and his kid? It makes her stomach turn, but she doesn't say it outloud. She owes him as much.

"Just... Be very careful, Ted. For her sake too," Michelle states as they make it to the doorway.

With a little hesitation and an awkward, quiet chuckle, she holds her arms out.

Posted by

theodorelasso

One difference between them is that Ted has spent an awful lot of time learning not to care what most people think of him. Their assumptions, their underestimation of him, it's not a reflection of him or his relationship, it's a reflection of them. And that doesn't mean it won't bother him - especially if it might have consequences for Henry, or for himself, or for Kate. It just means that other people's perceptions alone isn't a legitimate reason to avoid something that makes his life, on the whole, so much better.

"I will," he promises. And he is. He's really trying to maneuver this as best he can, and trying to help Kate do the same.

He smiles as she holds her arms out, and he leans in to give her a brief but firm hug. He doesn't linger, but it's a good reminder that they're both on the same side in this.

"Have a good time, alright? Be safe," he says, opening the door for her.

Posted by

hawk_shot

She thanks him quietly, pulling back about the same time as he does, glad to be reminded that they're still a team of sorts, uncomfortable as she can be about certain things or not. "I'll call Henry tomorrow," she tells him. The usual thing, just checking on their little man and how he's doing.

With a last nod and a wave, Michelle leaves, not looking back.

By the time Ted comes back to the living room Kate's picking up the empty plates, ready to take the cake back to the kitchen.

"I used to go rock climbing," she tells him. "Then I started kick boxing and then I took archery classes, yeah." She looks back over her shoulder, Lucky taking the chance to try and sneak a quick bite and take some of the leftovers in the stack of plates she's holding. "I was there during the Battle of New York, actually. We saw it all from our window."

An understatement, really.

Posted by

theodorelasso

"Alright, I know I'll probably become unpopular if I say this, but I think that's enough Avengers talk," Ted says as he walks in on this particular conversation, clapping his hands together.

If Kate has reached the Battle of New York, there is a very real chance Henry's follow-up questions might lead to discussions Ted really doesn't want to have today. He was just a toddler at the time, and most of the consequences of that didn't reach Kansas as much as it did other place, but it was a pretty scary time to be a fresh parent, and it definitely changed some things in general. Henry's grown up where all this is commonplace, while Ted still considers it kind of insane.

"So, Henry," Ted says, focusing on him as he drops down on the couch next to him. "I don't really have anything planned for us tonight, but do you have any requests?"

Posted by

hawk_shot

The smile Kate offers him is a little sheepish, one that silently hopes that she's not already messed things up. At least Ted's his usual chill self, not acting like some suddenly overprotective dad ready to kick her out after she proves to be a bad influence to his kid.

"Don't wanna run out of Avengers stories anyway, huh?" She shrugs as Henry complains, even if the boy still seems in good spirits as his dad takes the spot by his side. Leaving the stack of dishes on a corner of the coffee table, she takes the chance to give her dog a good ruffle and some pettings, wondering if she should stick to the plan and excuse herself too.

"Hmmm..!" Throwing his head back as he pretends to think, Henry points out his one favorite activity to do with his dad. That is, now that most their time spent together is usually online. "Videogames and a movie?"

Posted by

theodorelasso

"That sounds absolutely perfect," Ted agrees. A chill day in, maybe order some pizza. Time to catch up without too many activities and stuff happening to distract them.

"And don't worry, we're gonna hang out some more with Kate soon, and you two can nerd out about superheroes. Maybe she'll even let you try one of her bows, huh?" he says, gently elbowing Henry and giving Kate a smile. "Just remember, only with training and only at the shooting range, right?"

Posted by

hawk_shot

"I'm sure Beard would be happy to have you at the range too." Kate offers, aware that Beard has been looking forward to see Ted's boy too. "We'll try with safe equipment too, it'll be fine. Bet you'll do great."

Henry's excitment is obvious, the way he lits up quickly reminding Kate of Ted's own enthusiasm. It's a little surreal, really. First, because she still has to pinch herself just to be reminded that this is happening. That this is actually Ted's son and it's crazy how she does notice little hints of him on his kid. Then what's even crazier: she's met Henry and his ex and the world hasn't come to an end.

With Ted having practically answered one of her questions, Kate reaches out to grab her phone, already gathering her belonginfgs. "You should go get a basketball too," she hints at, reminding Ted of the hoop still wainting to be put up.

Posted by

theodorelasso

That's actually a real comfort, knowing Beard will be there too. He doesn't think Kate will do anything risky, but she probably underestimates how much trouble a 12-year-old can get into. Even a good kid like Henry, who gets into less shenanigans than Ted did at his age. Beard, for all his unpredictability in a social setting, is very clear on rules and safety, and knows both how to communicate and enforce it.

"Riiight," he answers, reminded of the hoop. Maybe he can get Henry's help in setting it up.

"Alright, big guy, how about you take your suitcase upstairs and unpack, huh? And I don't mean all over the floor, I mean in actual drawers," he says, getting to his feet and shooing Henry off. The kid grabs it and starts hurrying, already heading up the stairs before he remembers to yell "Bye, Kate!"

Ted chuckles to himself and goes to follow Kate to the door to see her off. "That wasn't so bad, huh?" he says with a warm smile.

And as much as his heart is warmed by seeing them interact, and he was looking forward to hanging out with her this evening... He really can't wait to get some quality time alone with Henry. That, and he does need to have a talk with him about Kate, before Ted can feel comfortable even holding hands with her around him.

Posted by

hawk_shot

"Bye, Henry!" She calls out, only then remembering to add: "It was - It was nice to meet you!" Was it too much? Oh, God, she doesn't want to try too hard. It'd be so weird to become one of those people who tries too hard.

With her jacket on and her things packed, she puts the leash back on Lucky and lets Ted walk them both out, glad that he sent off Henry to get him distracted. It grants them both a much needed moment of privacy. Enough for her to drop this 'chill' mask and put a hand on her chest as she practically drops back, leaning against the wall.

"Oh, my God!" She says in a hushed voice not that unlike how they had talked back in the kitchen. "Not so bad? I thought I was having a heart attack when I saw them arrive early. You should have seen your face!"

And yet, Ted's not wrong. Nervously laughing at the memory, it's clear she agrees that it all turned out way better than they could have anticipated.

Posted by

theodorelasso

"...Not sure he caught that second part," Ted comments, mostly to himself, looking in the direction of the stairs. At least if you try too hard, sometimes the kid will just fail to notice anyway?

"My face?" he answers with a soft laugh. "Yours was pretty impressive too, by the way."

He looks towards the stairs again, just to check, before he chances giving Kate a brief but extremely happy kiss.

Posted by

hawk_shot

"You were panicking hardcore," Kate insists, even though she is well aware that Ted had to talk her down from the way she was losing it herself back in the kitchen.

Surprised by the sudden kiss, as she is still unsure of what's the line of what's appropiate around Henry or not, she reaches out but doesn't quite manage to cup his face. Her palms linger at the side of his neck as she kisses him back, his lips leaving already.

"I'm so happy for you, baby." It's kind of a shame that she's gonna miss him tonight, but so worth knowing he is enjoying extra time with his kid.

There's so much she wants to ask, specially about those moments when he sneaked up with his ex. It has nothing to do with jealousy and way more about feedback. "Sorry I got carried away with the Avengers talk. I didn't know--" What else to talk about. "And it worked so well."

Posted by

theodorelasso

Ted shrugs and smiles at her insistence, more or less admitting as much. They both were, for a minute there.

When she apologizes for the Avengers talk, he reaches out and squeezes her arm reassuringly. "You don't have to impress him. Just talk to him like a person. Ask him about his hobbies and his interests," Ted tells her. "As long as you don't talk about stuff that's inappropriate, kids like being treated like human beings."

Posted by

hawk_shot

As much as they both panicked over the surprise, Kate's glad she's not the only one caught completely by surprise by that early arrival. "Thanks for like, sort of guiding me through it." It had meant the world, how he had calmed her in the kitchen.

Reaching up, she puts her hand on his as he touches her arm. "I feel so stupid. Like my brain stopped functioning and I don't know how to talk, you know?" Was it really that bad? Maybe not. But she's a bit of an overachiever, something that shows in the ammount of trophies she collected and even her grades, chill as she pretends to be.

It's hard to focus on anything but her mistakes sometimes.

"I'll text you goodnight."

Posted by

theodorelasso

Ted smiles warmly when she thanks him. Another good experience from coaching and generally being a support person right there, being able to talk someone down from freaking out even when you yourself are kind of freaking out.

"You did fine, don't worry about it. I think Henry thinks you're pretty awesome," he reassures her with a warm smile. Michelle is a bit harder to convince, obviously, but her opinion doesn't matter as much as Henry's.

"How 'bout I facetime you after he's gone to bed?" Ted suggests instead. "We can talk properly. And then I still get to see you before I go to sleep," he adds sweetly.

Posted by

hawk_shot

Adjusting the strap of her bag to her shoulder, Kate looks at him in the way she does whenever he actually manages to make that knot in her chest feel a little less tighter. When a sigh eases off her anxiety and she smiles with nothing but gratefulness.

"He doesn't hate me, at least," she agrees, offering it with clear playfulness. Kate's aware that even if she could have broaden the conversation, at least she did manage to nail some parts of it. "Tell your little army man I'm sorry, by the way."

At least she nailed the coin trick.

"Really?" Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, Kate instantly seems to brighten up at Ted's suggestion. "I mean, I'd love to. I just thought--" She shurgs, tilting her head towards her shoulder as that lock of hair sneaks from behind her ear to fall over her face again. "Maybe you would be too tired or whatever. It's an exciting day. But I'd love to, obviously."

Posted by

theodorelasso

"Of course," he answers when she tells him to apologize to the army man. Obviously he's gonna do that.

"Well, maybe not a super long conversation. And not. Well, you know," he adds, raising his eyebrows at her. (It's not like their late-night facetime conversations always turn dirty, but it's definitely been known to happen.)

Posted by

hawk_shot

"Thank you, Captain," she salutes him, a gesture she's done before whenever she is reminded that he is Team Captain America.

Even though he doesn't clarify, there's no need to. With one of those smiles that reminds him that there's not an innocent inch in her body, she nods in agreement. "Damn. And now that you're literally a DILF..."

She wasn't really expecting to go into dirty territory since plans changed, really. A videocall is already plenty. "Anyway..." She glances at the door. "I'll walk Lucky a little and then we'll take a car. You... have fun, okay?" She takes a moment, almost savoring every last moment she has looking at him. "I'm so happy for you, Ted."

Posted by

theodorelasso

He snorts gently at her gesture - he's both Captain America and Hawkeye, isn't he special? And then when she calls him a DILF, he jokingly puts a finger to his lips, even though he hasn't heard Henry come downstairs yet.

"I will. Thank you," he answers, warmed by how happy she is for him, and how she wants to make sure he knows that so he doesn't feel guilty for their plans changing. "I'll talk to you later. Have a good night," he says, and gives a goodbye kiss.

Posted by

hawk_shot

Sticking out her tongue as the term slips out, Kate apologises quietly.

"Okay, baby. Have a good time," she tells him, getting on her tiptoes to quickly steal a chaste peck to his lips, patting his chest before she steps back. Readjusting her hold of Lucky's leash, Kate leaves his place, looking down a few steps away to wave at him.

Even though he comes to mind because, well, Ted's become a huge part of her life, Kate doesn't stress over the change of plans. She spends the rest of her hours having a lazy day, changing into her pyjamas at an early hour and catching up on some texts or social media. Watching trash Netflix shows and only taking pauses to work on some of Lucky's tricks. Or rather, his behavior.

And then Ted sneaks into her mind again. Through photos on her phone or just awareness that he's enjoying something he's longed for. She's genuinelly thrilled for him.

Posted by

theodorelasso

Ted waves her goodbye before he heads upstairs to check on Henry's unpacking. He definitely started doing it properly, but then halfway seems to have gotten distracted by a magazine, so Ted helps him out with the rest of it. Then they head downstairs and play video games for quite a few hours, just chatting about all sorts of stuff. Ted texts Kate a photo at one point of Henry doing some sort of victory celebration dance, with Ted in the foreground playfully rolling his eyes, clearly having been bested at whatever game they were playing, along with the comment: "Still needs to learn something about being a gracious winner. 😜"

Then when they're winding down with pizza later on, Ted takes the opportunity to talk to Henry about Kate. It goes way smoother than he could've imagined. Of course, he's already gone through the same thing with Dr Jacob, so it's not like any of it's groundbreaking. And Ted still reassures him that this doesn't change anything, and how Henry is still the most important person to him.

After that they watch a movie, and while Ted is in the kitchen fetching drinks, he takes the opportunity to text Kate again.

Talked to Henry. He says he's glad I'm happy and not lonely. Also he says you're "pretty cool", which is high praise from a 12-year-old. 😘

Posted by

hawk_shot

It's something she's surprised by the mere fact that she finds it surprising in the first place. Because it's such a very Ted thing to do, wanting to share his happiness with the people he cares about. And Kate is so proud of herself to be part of that priviliged group of people.

The photo manages to steal an outloud and warm chuckle out of Kate. But that doesn't make her hold back when the chance to tease him a little bit is practically set on a silver platter. "At least you had the chance to get used to losing after playing with me. 😜"

Maybe it's a bit of an exaggeration, but her competitive self will never let him forget about the many rounds she's won on anything they play, even if that's not always the case.

Hours pass and even though she manages to distract herself with TV and making some Mac & Chesse, Kate's well aware that 'the talk' would sure happen soon. How can she avoid thinking about him when she's wearing one of his sweaters she's borrowed? It's, of course once she's cuddling Lucky in the couch and finally getting sucked into some murder mystery show that Ted texts back, Kate's heart practically skipping a beat the second she sees his name on her notification.

And he comes with the best of news.

After all this time of shitting herself over this.

It happened. And it went well. So far it went well.

I knew your kid could only be sweet and amazing, but that's so crazy awesome, baby.🥰
LOL I feel like printing that to put on a wall next to my trophies and stuff. 🏆🥇🙌

Posted by

theodorelasso

Ted hearts the message of her teasing him, not minding that as long as it's obviously in good fun. Ted obviously isn't without a competitive streak himself, but no matter how into it they get, they never get nasty or aggressive about it, so it never becomes a problem. Either of them potentially being sad or disappointed about it can usually get solved by some attentive cuddling.

It's funny just how much she can get competitive about too, as proved by her accomplishment at getting a compliment from Henry.

You could get him to sign it, though I think that might just land you in the "trying too hard" category.

Posted by

hawk_shot

Cocky as she can get, it never quite crosses the line of things getting nasty between them. Even if Ted taking the lead in some game has Kate cursing or raising her voice in frustration, that usually turns into her pouting for him to maker her feel better. Of course, when the tables are turned she's the first one to offer finding other ways to raise Ted's spirits.

Only official competitions seem to have the power to make things truly sour if things don't go as planned. Even then Ted (or even Beard somtimes) still has the ability to make it better.

More like cringey terrotory, you mean?
Territory*

She wonders how the talk went. Henry is old enough to sure have figured things out, or even that the conversation was happening, before Ted even brought it up. Kate's been there too.

So, how did the rest of the day go? Does he like your new place?
Did you guys set the hoop?
Is he in bed now? Are you free to talk?

Posted by

theodorelasso

It doesn't generally take a lot to raise Ted's spirits, nor it is often required. Except if he thought he lost because he played badly - Ted's main competition is really himself. Trying to be the best he can be, and if that's not enough to win, then so be it. But even if it's not really necessary, Ted will always happily accept cuddles or whatever Kate chooses to do to make him feel better.

Give me an hour or so. is the only reply that comes back from Ted at the moment.

Then, in just over an hour, he finally calls her on facetime, figuring that's easier than answering her messages, now he's free.