Of Visits and Questions.
Prompt: Five visits they made to the Cobb family and one they made to them.
(Cheesecake for including Cobb having to give an edited the birds and the bees chat when the kids ask why the two of them are sharing a room. Or for one of them asking "Are you going to church today?" "No, why?" "Last night I heard you praying. You were saying: Oh God, Oh God, Oh God!" at the breakfast table.)
One – Halloween.
When Dominic called Ariadne, at a complete and total loss for who this Hannah Montana character was, he never expected her to show up two days later with Arthur in two. They stayed the whole week, getting the house decorated, making cupcakes (which started the conversation "Where did you learn to bake, Arthur?") and Ariadne, that brilliant woman, made James' costume while she helped Phillippa find a Hannah Montana costume. It was great to have help, and the kids loved "Auntie and Uncle", but some things he could have done without. Like this morning's breakfast conversation.
"Uncle Arthur?"
"Yes, sweet heart?"
"Are you and Auntie going to church today with Poppa, James and me?"
The question met silence, as architect and point man exchanged glances with Cobb. When the little girl opened her mouth to repeat the question, Ariadne swooped in to answer.
"Not today, we've got to go back to Paris. Why, do you want us to?"
"No, I just thought since you were praying so hard last night you wanted to go talk to god today."
As shocked silence filled the dining room, Dom regretted letting them share a room. Glaring at the now pale faces of his colleagues and friends, he tried to formulate some way to figure out if what Phillippa said meant what he thought it did.
"No one was praying last night Philla" James piped up; bless his soul with the innocent declaration before stabbing at his happy face pancakes. Blueberries and maple syrup flew across his plate before the precocious tyke's sister smacked at him, scowling.
"Yu huh! I heard them! They were praying! It sounded like this: Oh god, oh GOD, Oh please Jesus! Kind of like those ladies on the television when they get really into a song."
Dom felt a headache coming on. Arthur and Ariadne looked like someone had just shot them and now his children were fighting over whether or not someone was praying last night. His point man and architect left quickly and didn't come by again for a few months.
Two .
The second time Dom saw Arthur, he was alone. Neither really said much, not quite knowing what to say after the Halloween fiasco. Finally though, while wringing his hands, Arthur spoke.
"I want to marry her, Dom."
"Congratulations?" he replied hesitantly, wondering why exactly the usually precise man came to him with this information.
"How…How do I keep her away from dreams? If we get married I mean, if she says yes... I- I don't want to lose her!" The frenzied, concern filled question left out the ending both knew without saying. Sighing, smoothing a hand over his face, Dom tried to find a reasonable answer. When a long pregnant pause filled the room and Arthur's head fell to look sullenly at his hands, the former extractor found his voice.
"If I know anything about Ariadne, Arthur, it is that she is a learner. There is nothing that girl doesn't soak up like a sponge and file away for later use or contemplation. "
A nod and wistful, loving smile pulls at Arthur's lips and it is then that Cobb knows this man is done for. He would do anything and everything she asked of him.
"Even so, you need to be careful. Don't do too many jobs apart; don't suggest pushing boundaries while alone, like it's a hobby. It's going to be hard, because you have faith in her, because you trust her, but don't dream together at home. Just…never forget that this woman will give you everything, children, love, a warmth that when lost you can never get back. Lose sight of the fact she is precious – not infinite but very, very finite, and you'll lose her."
It is then at the end of his somber and pained monologue that James runs into the room. Phillippa pushed him down, his knee is scrapped and the tears just won't stop. Together the men, best friends and co-workers, work to calm the little man, dry his tears and tell him jokes that will undoubtedly turn his kindergarten teacher's hair white.
Three – The Talk.
"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" Cobb's children sing, bouncing to their hearts content on his bed while trying to wake him up the Saturday after Ariadne and Arthur arrive. Their last job had ended with Eames getting shot and the lot of them decided some time off was in order. Why the couple would always choose his house to visit, Dom had yet to figure out.
"I'm up guys. I'm up."
"YAAAAAAY! Daddy I'm hungry!" James squeals, flopping down to sprawl across his father's chest, making the older man smile and ruffle his blonde, shaggy hair.
"Me too, I want apple jacks!"
So the blonde man sat up, grabbing his oldest and rubbing his whiskers across her cheek, laughing when she slapped at him to get away. For a while he let them play on the bed, jumping and talking like pirates before declaring it breakfast time. Together the trio trudged the walk to the kitchen, passing the still closed door of the double "A" couple (as Dom had started to think of them).
Again, it was Phillippa who brought up a question her father hadn't thought he would hear for another year or five at the very least.
"Dad, why do Aunt Ari and Uncle Arthur share a room? Are they married?"
Groaning mentally, Dom spared a backwards glare at the guest room door. Getting James into his booster seat (one that was significantly more high tech than the death traps Restaurants use), and his late-wife's look alike seated next to him, Dom pondered how best to broach this subject.
"Daddy."
"They're getting married very soon, sweetie."
"Then why don't they have their own rooms?"
'Oh Mal,' Cobb mentally groaned 'You would have handled this a thousand times better.'
"Because they like to…cuddle at night."
"Like me and James and you do?"
"Exactly like that."
"But, dad they have to go to sleep, right? So why do they have one room?"
'This is pay back isn't it, my love?'
"They can't sleep without with them, and because Aunt Ari and Uncle Arthur love each other, they would rather stay together at night then apart."
"Oh. I guess that's o.k."
Four – Christmas.
Its nearly a full year before the duo show up again, and this time it is bearing gifts, sheepish faces and Egg Nog. Dom never questions their timing, or scolds them for not calling before hand, he just gives them a look, smiles and lets them scoot by him into the warm and welcoming house. His children are thrilled to see their adopted Aunt and uncle, Miles and his mother are warm and welcoming as well, but something just seems – off- about their visit.
Cobb is polite and doesn't ask questions until Christmas eve. Ari knitted stockings with Philla and James on them, brought the long forgotten traditional oranges to fill them, and Arthur has probably spent a small fortune on toys neither will play with for more than a month. It's just the three of them, sipping hot chocolate, watching the tree lights, and on the lookout for impatient little ones.
"Thank you."
The sound of Ariadne's voice startles him, and the blonde looks up to see her staring at him, nestled against her fiancé.
"You know you're always welcome here, Ariadne."
"I know but, thank you all the same. It's nice to be wanted."
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing. Nevermind. Just – thanks for being our family, Dom."
The former extractor doesn't know what to say to that, so settles on a nod. They stay up until late into the night, all lost in their respective drinks, happy to keep the others company. A few times one mentions need to go to bed, and the other two echo an agreement. No one moves however, and in the morning, Miles finds them sleeping exactly as they were sitting. It brings a smile to the Professor's face, and he thinks that just maybe, Dom isn't without people who love him.
Phillippa and James wake them up, screaming about Christmas gift and the gift giving begins. Ariadne gets a boxer puppy, Dom and Miles get books on architecture, Arthur gets a new tie and engraved cufflinks and the children are lost in a sea of toys. A few hours later, the men are cursing the puppy that brings the tree toppling over, while Ariadne and the kids are laughing.
Five.
Ariadne turns up first this time, no luggage, no call, no happy greeting in her eyes when Dom opens the door. Arthur arrives two days later in a similar state and neither will speak. It is another week before Dominic practically breaks their door down, demanding to know what happened.
It is then that Ariadne breaks down, clinging to both him and Arthur, gasping out about a job gone terribly, terribly wrong. The mark had set a trap. Arthur had nearly been killed, Eames and Yusuf got the hell beaten out of them, and Ariadne had to watch it all.
They stay for two months. Cobb keeps the kids away until they look less haunted.
Six.
Ariadne and Arthur have been married for six years now. They live in San Francisco and have opened an extraction deflection firm. After the last job, no one could go back in the field, and especially couldn't go more than a layer deep without fractured projections of that day came barreling after them.
It is safe now, for Dom and the kids to visit. So they do, frequently, but this time is special. Ariadne is having a baby today, and Arthur is beside himself with worry. Together father, daughter and son, watch the wrinkled, disheveled man pace. Sixteen hours and a wail is heard – they all rush in together to meet Adrianne Darling, 8 pound five ounce wonder who has finally made her way into the world.
"You know," Phillippa quips, now nearly fourteen years old. "I'm surprised we haven't met sooner little Adrianne, you mom and dad prayed for you a lot when they visited us."
The babe's birth is rung in with laughter amongst a family of friends.