Reconnecting

[Shinigami]

Nikolas tapped the eraser end of his pencil against the drafting table with increasing speed. His other hand was busy holding up his head as he leaned his elbow on the wooden surface. He had been working on sketches for an upcoming children's book, but after a few hours he couldn't seem to concentrate.

While Niko's mind was not on the children's book, it was still reeling over another child. His little boy, Rowan. He was so shocked to find out Demeter had given birth to his child, and getting to meet his son all at the same time, that it hadn't truely set in until he had gotten home.

Demeter had given him a ride home from Dion's after all of the excitement of Saiyuri's arrival had calmed. They had exchanged numbers in order to keep in touch and allow Niko to see Rowan. He had been too dazed to call the next day, which had been yesterday, but now he couldn't think of anything else. Maybe he could babysit Rowan for the day... give Demeter and her babysitter a rest.

As Niko's mind wandered the pencil in his hand knocked against the table at an odd angle and freed itself from the vampire's fingers. It tumbled down the desk until the lip at the bottem caught the writting untensil. Nikolas never noticed, however. He was too busy being worried, which was evident when he began talking aloud to an empty apartment.

"Rowan seemed excited to get to know me a couple days ago, so it shouldn't be that bad. And I love kids, always have, and helped raise Chase... But what if he ends up not liking me? It's been just him and his mom for this long, maybe he won't like me and decide he doesn't want me to be his dad"

Niko sighed, growling at himself. "What they hell am I talking about, he's a five year old, and normal children are known to be perceptive about people, let alone being a mix of various species of Dark Ones. He seemed to like me after the initial biting..."

He eyed the phone warily, silently chastizing himself for being such a baby about this.

[Maira]

ooc: sorry, I had to join in, Rowan was begging for me to let him call his daddy =)

Rowan was old enough to read numbers and know what they were. That meant he was old enough to dial a phone. His Mom was at work and the babysitter was looking for him in the back yard. He'd snuck out and waited for her to come out after him before he snuck back in and locked her out. He wasn't being malicious, he honestly didn't really know how to be mean on purpose, he just didn't want to get interrupted.

Checking one more time to make sure the babysitter was locked outside and looking for him, Rowan grabbed a kitchen chair and dragged it over to where the phone was hanging on the wall. Next to the phone was a cork board with different phone numbers on it and Rowan could see the one he wanted. He'd watched Niko give it to his mother and he'd watched his Mom put it up on the wall.

Climbing up on the chair, Rowan stood up on his tip toes to snatch the piece of paper with his father's phone number on it. Once he had it in his little hands, he picked up the phone and punched in the numbers. His Momma had told him that they needed to wait for Niko to call them but Rowan wanted to see him again. Maybe he could get Niko to come over and play. Once he had punched in all the numbers he waited as the phone rang, bouncing in place on the chair.

[Shinigami]

OOC: lol, well I wrote it on a whim and left it open to see what would happen ^^

Niko had finally realized his pencil was missing from his hands and his gaze turned back to the desk to find it, only relieving the phone from his stare for less than a second when the shrill ring started. He blinked and looked up at his phone once more, this time in confusion. He had to force himself out of his fog and run over to answer the phone before the answering machine picked up.

The phone was snatched from the cradle just in time and the soft beep let him know it had answered. He was a bit nervous to know who it was, but immediately berated himself at the thought. It was most likely the publisher wondering when he'd be finished with the illustrations.

"Hello?" He was expecting the soft voice of the publisher, or even the annoying solicitation of some company or another trying to sell him things, but what he heard was the voice of a child. -His- child. "Rowan?"

[Maira]

It took a while for Niko to answer the phone but Rowan didn't mind, he just sang a little tune from one of his cartoons while he waited. He hadn't realized that somebody had picked up, finally, until he heard Niko's voice asking, "Rowan?" Sheer enthusiasm, Rowan yelled, "Yay!!!" and then started talking as fast as his little mouth could manage.

"Papa, you're home! Wanna come over and play? I locked the babysitter outside, she's looking for me in the back yard," he giggled. "Babysitters are soooo boring huh? Did you ever have a babysitter? Will you make mine go away? I'd much rather play with you or Mama but she won't be home until late tonight. At least that's what the babysitter said." He took a small breath and continued, "Mama said we had to wait for you to call but i begged and begged, she still said, 'Wait Rowan, he'll call when he's ready.' Are you ready? Do you wanna come play with me? We can have hot dogs for dinner, or or, maybe ice cream? Pleeeeeease! I want you not stupid Mylie, she's boring."

*****

At that moment, as if on cue, Mylie (the semi-reluctant babysitter) had realized Rowan wasn't in the back yard, or front yard or even at the park. No, he was locked inside talking to somebody on the phone! She could see him through the back door, standing on a kitchen chair talking on the phone. Gods, ifRowan called China or something Miss Demeter would not be happy. It had happened before.... She shuddered at the thought.

"Rowan! Let me in you little monster!" she yelled loud enough for the boy to hear her on the other side of the door. Likely all the neighbors heard too but it wouldn't really be anything unusual. Rowan was a handful and had gone through more than his fair share of babysitters.

Mylie just happened to be studying child developement at the local college and when she'd seen Miss Demeter's ad for a part time nanny, Mylie had jumped at the chance. When she found out Rowan was of mixed heritage, Mylie was even more thrilled. She herself was a mix too, Wolven and Vampire. She'd thought she could handle the little guy but.... Ugh. Miss Demeter was not going to be happy. "Please oh please let the call be local!" she whimpered to herself as it had become relatively obvious that Rowan was ignoring her and had no intention of getting off the phone or letting her inside...

ooc: and yes, Mylie will be getting a bio shortly.... she's been peskering me =)

[Shinigami]

Niko cringed when Rowan gleefully yelled into the phone, then found himself trying hard to keep with the boy as he chatted away. The first thing he picked up was the fact that Rowan had called him 'Papa'. A goofy grin had taken over his features as he listened to Rowan, but wait.. he had locked the babysitter outside? He couldn't help but chuckle at Rowan's antics.

When he asked if Niko was ready to go see him he felt his heart clench, feeling bad for not having called the day before. Once Niko was finally given the chance to reply he was happy to agree to see Rowan. "Well, I'm not sure about ice cream for dinner, but maybe after?" He heard someone yell in the background, and figured it was the babysitter yelling to be let back in. Niko had to chuckle again. "Rowan, why don't you let the babysitter back in until I get there. I'm sure your mom wouldn't like the fact that you locked her out. I'll be right over. I'm leaving now okay?"

Nikolas smiled and shook his head as he got Rowan to hang up the phone. He could only hope the little rascal had let the poor woman babysitting him back into the house. He slipped on his shoes and grabbed his wallet and keys before slipping out the door. He couldn't help but be thankful that he had paid attention when Demeter was telling him where they lived as he set out for their house.

It took him longer than he thought to reach the house, but he didn't hesitate when he got to the door. The least he could do was give the poor woman watching Rowan the rest of the day off. He knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer.

[Maira]

Rowan jumped off the chair and shouted with joy and triumph after hanging up the phone with Niko. "Papa's comin over, Papa's comin over!" he shouted as he did a little victory dance. When he heard pounding on the back door again, Rowan was reminded his papa had said to let Mylie back inside. Reluctantly he walked over, flipped the deadbolt and opened the door, letting it swing in on its own.

"Rowan, please say you were calling a friend or somebody who lives nearby, if your Mom finds out you were on the phone and it was long distance she's not going to be happy with either of us," Mylie said as soon as she noticed the door was open and as she walked in. When she had shut the door and re-locked it she turned to look at Rowan who was now being abnorally quiet. "What? Why are you smiling like that? Just who -did- you call Rowan?" Mylie's heart was sinking and sinking fast. He'd called China again. Giving up in defeat, Mylie waved her hand in the direction of Rowan's bedroom and said softly, go play while I tidy up before dinner okay?" The boy grinned wickedly and dashed out of the room. The crashing and yelling she heard moments later told her Rowan was safely ensconced in his room terrorizing his toys instead of her for a change.

*****

Mylie was just about to start dinner when there was a knock at the front door. More than a little curious just who would be coming around at this time of day Mylie put the hot dogs back in the fridge and went to answer the door. First she looked through the little peephole in the door, the man on the other side didn't look that threatening so she opened the door as far as the chain lock would allow. The chain lock wasn't so much to keep other people out as it was to keep Rowan in...he had a bad habit of sneaking out when you weren't looking. "Can I help you?" she asked the strange man curiously.

Just then she heard a loud excited screech from Rowan's room and barely had time to move before the boy came barreling out to the door yelling, "Papa, papa, papa!!!" He was bouncing and jumping trying to get at the chain lock so he could let Nko in but Mylie was in his way. Mylie looked curiously from Rowan to the man outside and back again. There was deffinately a resemblance but Miss Demeter had never said anything about Rowan's father being in the picture...

Not sure what to do, Mylie pulled Rowan aside and asked him quielty, "This is your Dad Rowan? Are you sure?" She knew it sounded silly but she had to ask. If Miss Demeter came home to find a strange man in her house it would be a million times worse than the phone call to China Rowan had made earlier that afternoon.

"Yeppers Mylie! He's my Papa, I called him while you were outisde. Mama said we had to wait for him to call us but I wanted him to come play with me. He said you could go home when he got here so you can go now. Just let him in!" Rowan was bouncing and trying to drag Mylie back towards the front door to get her to undo the chain lock. When she finally did, he tore open the door and flung himself at his father's legs. After a quick squeeze, Rowan grabbed Niko by the pants pocket and dragged him into the house. "Come on, I'll show you my room and all my toys then we can have ice cream!" Mylie just stood to the side looking rather uncertain of what she should do.

[Shinigami]

Nikolas had his hands stuffed in his pockets, taking the short wait to look around the street a little, trying to work through a few of his nerves. He was hoping this wasn't going to be awkward, either with Rowan or later that night when Demeter got home.

When the door opened Niko turned back around, smiling at the woman who had appeared in the gap between the door and jam. When she asked is she could help him he figured Rowan hadn't told her anything. "Hi, I-" That was as far as he got before he heard Rowan running toward the door and yelling 'Papa' the whole way. He chuckled at Rowan's antics, jumping to pull the chain off the door and let him in.

Niko was patient when the babysitter pulled Rowan aside and questioned him. Of course he could still hear her, but he didn't blame her. Demeter most likely hadn't said anything about him, and if Rowan hadn't said he was coming then his appearance would of course be a surprise. He was grinning the whole time as Rowan finally convinced the babysitter, Mylie as Rowan had called her, to let him in.

Once he was in the door his legs were bombarded and squeezed by the young boy, he reached down and patted the boy on the head, which was all he got to do before the same little rascal pulled away and tried to drag him into his room by his jean pocket. He chuckled again, only letting Rowan pull him a few steps before turning to the babysitter with an look of apology. "I'm sorry about this. My name is Nikolas." He extended his hand for a quick shake before Rowan pulled him a few more steps.

Niko turned back to the surprisingly strong little boy when ice cream was mentioned and dinner was not. "Hey now, did you have dinner yet? I agreed to ice cream after dinner. What happened to having hot dogs? I like hot dogs."

He smiled, taking the brief break in Rowan's movement to turn back around and couldn't help apologizing again. "Sorry, Mylie was it? This must be strange, but Rowan wanted me to come over and I figured you could use a break from this one." He motioned towards Rowan. "You don't have to leave if your uncomfortable with leaving us alone."

[Maira]

No matter what Rowan or the stranger said, Mylie was uneasy. Some guy she'd never met, nor even been informed was part of Rowan's life, just showing up at the door and offering to relieve her for the night... Nope, not gonna happen! Instead of giving in to her unease and grabbing him and shoving him out the front door, Mylie just looked at the man for a minute. The shrugging she answered, "I wouldn't mind the night off as midterms are coming up but I would need to call Miss Demeter and get the okay from her first."

When it seemed the man wasn't going to argue with her, Mylie made her way to the kitchen and the phone. Rowan was practically climbing the man's legs and she couldn't help but smile. The kid may be a handful but she'd come to care for him a lot during the months she'd been watching him.

It was only two rings before Demeter answered her phone and Mylie cleared her throat a bit unsure of what to say. Not wanting Demeter to think it was a prank call though, Mylie said quickly, "Miss Demeter, its Mylie." She knew that a look of panic was likely crossing the woman's face so she added cheerfully, "Don't worry Rowan is fine, we both are." Then, her voice more nervous she added, "A man who Rowan claims is his dad is here, he says Rowan called him over while I was locked out of the house by the munchkin. Anyway, he's offered to take over for the rest of the night but since I don't know him or what you want I thought I'd call...." Her voice trailed off uncertainly as she waited for Demeter's reaction...

[Demeter]

Demeter, thankful for the chance to escape from Miss Ironfist, scuttled out of the meeting room and flipped open her cell phone. When Mylie started talking a mile a minute, Demeter nearly started to hyperventalate. "Okay, I'll be right home." Demeter hung up the phone, cutting the sitter off, and hurried back into the room where she started to pack her things up. "So sorry, problem at home. I'll call to reschedule this little meeting."

Out on the street, Demeter waited for a taxi to the parking garage where her car sat. Once she was in her own car, with radio drowning out the sounds of other drivers around her, Demeter snickered. Rowan hadn't been able to wait. When she pulled up to her driveway, Demeter eased out of her car and went inside. After reassuring Mylie that she would take care of everything and if she could just start dinner that would be great.

Demeter walked down to her son's room and leaned against the doorframe watching as Rowan showed his toys off to an amused Nikolas. "Rowan, what did I say about calling Nikolas?" she asked as she entered the room and crouched down in front of her son. "Weren't we supposed to wait until he called us?"

[Shinigami]

Nikolas really didn't want Demeter to have to be bothered over all of this but he could understand the sitter's concern. While he had been talking to Mylie, Rowan had practically climbed his leg in order to get a better tug on his pants pocket, still trying to drag him toward his room. Niko chuckled and picked the boy up, giving him a little toss into the air before catching him and settling Rowan against his hip and heading off to his room.

Rowan was excited to show him all his toys, and Niko was just as excited to be spending time with the boy, so he was certainly having fun. He was having so much fun, in fact, that he hadn't heard when Demeter had come home and was surprised when she walked into the room. He hadn't heard Mylie call Demeter, so he wasn't expected her home until later.

Niko didn't want Demeter to be angry with the boy, or even disappointed, so he spoke up. "It's alright, Demeter, really. I was going to call today anyway, thinking I could give the babysitter a break. In fact, another few minutes and it would have been your phone ringing and not mine."

[Maira]

Mylie shook her head and sighed in defeat as Demeter cut her off and then hung up the phone. The woman had a tendancy to do that when she was meeting with certain clients so she just hoped for Rowan and his father's sake that they'd gotten her out of the meeting soon enough. While she waited for Demeter to get home, Mylie left Rowan and his father to themselves in Rowan's bedroom and she tidied up the living room and kitchen. Hurricane Rowan was a daily occurrence and she normally didn't have much chance to put the house back together before Demeter got home, since Rowan was preoccupied though she decided to take advantage of it.

*****

Rowan practically squealed with delight when his father picked him up and headed back toward his bedroom. Once Niko set him down on the floor, Rowan waited only long enough for Niko to take a seat then he went about his bedroom in a flurry. He had never been so excited to have somebody over to play and now he had a couple years worth of time he had to catch up on with his father. Those two things combined sent Rowan into over drive.

He like his father never noticed when Demeter came home and made her way through the house to stand in the bedroom doorway. Only when she spoke did Rowan realize they had company. At his mother's words, he couldn't help but flinch. He managed to look slightly shame faced as he said softly, "Sorry Mama..."

When Niko spoke up and explained that he was going to call anyway, Rowan practically beamed. He couldn't help but turn to his father and ask excitedly, "You were? You were really gonna call today? You wanted to play with me before I called?" Not waiting for an answer, Rowan turned to his mother, stuck his tongue out at her, then flung himself into his father's arms.

*****

When Demeter got home and asked Mylie to start dinner she just nodded and did as she was asked. It didn't take her long to get the hot dogs started that Rowan had asked for earlier. Not knowing what else to do, Mylie made her way down the hallway to where the other three people were. As she walked silently down the hall she couldn't help but smile at Rowan's words, the little boy was such an imp! She didn't want to interrupt the family moment but dinner would burn if she didn't. Softly Mylie knocked on the door and said, "Dinner is ready if you guys are."

[Demeter]

Demeter cuddled her son close and sighed. "Very well, imp. But next time, you do what I say even if you don't want to. What if Nikolas had been busy, what would you have done then?" When her son squirmed away, Demeter turned and looked up at Nikolas. "I'm sorry if he disturbed you earlier, even if you were going to call. Rowan has a tendency to act on his own."

When Mylie appeared in the doorway, Demeter smiled. "Thanks for that, Mylie, but I think I will wait on dinner. I have a lot of things to get started on and well, you know the heads of advertisting, communication, and the entire company of TalkDirect. They like their changes to happen overnight. Nikolas, Rowan, go enjoy dinner. And Rowan, remember that at seven you are in the tub and eight-thirty you're in bed. Mylie, would you mind sticking around for a while. I imagine that Rowan has enough people watching him but Nikolas only met him yesterday. He doesn't know the amount of trouble Rowan can cause."

Demeter picked up the bag she'd dropped at the door to Rowan's bedroom, swung it over her shoulder and headed down the hallway to the smaller, third bedroom of the small house that she'd turned into an office. Once she had the door closed, Demeter leaned against the wood and sighed. The sight of Nikolas being shown Rowan's toys by the little boy had done something to her heart. She didn't really like but she supposed seeing her child's father interacting with the boy made her heart ache.

Demeter shook her head and wandered over to her desk. TalkDirect wanted a complete overhaul of every aspect of their site. Grumbling, Demeter pulled out the laptop she'd taken her notes on out the bag and flicked on the costly system she'd taken out a loan to purchase.

[Shinigami]

Niko sighed when Rowan stuck his tongue out at his mother, but was distracted when the boy threw himself at him, letting huff of breath when the boy collided with him. He chuckled a bit, looking up when Demeter spoke. He smiled when Dem addressed him, standing with Rowan seated on his hip. "It's fine. I work for myself mostly anyway, so it usually isn't a problem. And my work is pretty portable."

Nikolas smiled when Mylie mentioned dinner, but a little disappointed to hear that Demeter wouldn't be joining them, at least until later. He snickered a bit at Rowan's time schedule, and while he could be a big kid at heart, he'd make sure the little rascal was where he was suppose to be. They were the rules after all. As he turned to walk out to the kitchen with his arms full of Rowan he caught the comment about the trouble Rowan could cause. "Hey, now. I practically raised Chase by myself because my father was too busy with council responsibilities. And let me tell you, that boy was no angel. In fact, he was a hellion. At least Rowan can't light things on fire yet..."

The memories of having to save their family home from being burnt to the ground on numerous occations were brought back. He shuddered, hoping he didn't have to run fire duty quite as severely for his own son.