#bill close

Christine having Glenn when she was 43 brings up so many questions and room for interesting head canons.

Was she a cougar who had a fling with Bill and then regretted it? We know they had conflicting parenting styles and separated fairly early on in Glenn's life. I assume she hadn't been with Bill super long before Glenn was born, because those types of differences feel like something you'd realize pretty early on, and I dunno, I feel like if you're in your 40s, you don't waste your time on that kind of nonsense. Also, was Bill in his 40s, or did he have a thing for older women? If it's the latter, I can see him easily pulling Glenn to his side by labeling Christine as an old woman who just doesn't understand us younger guys.

Of course there's never an easy time to lose a parent, but what I'm here to suggest– not as irrefutable fact but as dearly held and hopefully grounded headcanon– is that Christine's death was Glenn's first major experience with grief and, more importantly, with not knowing how to grieve. And why would he? His mother is dead, he likely doesn't have any friends who have gone through this sort of loss yet, and Bill Close of all people is not going to be the emotional support that his child needs, not only because he hasn't been with Christine for a long time, but because he is absent in every sense of the word and as Glenn says himself:

So Glenn loses his mom and what he learns implicitly from trudging his way through that experience is that the normal way to deal with loss is to Not Talk About It, a lesson he carries with him into every subsequent loss; of Morgan, of course, but also of Nick. To the former, this inability to voice the immense weight on his heart in turn imprints a similar effect on Nick. Not out of any desire to do so! Nor out of a lack of understanding for what Nick is going through or will to do anything about it

But Glenn can't help Nick grieve, because he doesn't know how to, either, all he knows is Don't Talk About It. It's not for nothing that Freddie suggested in Talking Dad that he would have imagined the ending to Glenn and Nick's arc consisting of the two of them visiting Morgan's grave.

As for the loss of Nick (/Nicholas in a different sense) while the pattern persists overall, there is otherwise a very interesting phenomenon that occurs with Glenn, as embedded in small and otherwise inconspicuous moments like these.

Okay so I really do love the Omegadads in this au

They’re actors from the 70s-90s who’ve since gone into retirement. But when they were offered roles as grandpa in a “wholesome father son series” they were persuaded.

She meets Bill some random Sunday when he just shows up at the house looking for Glenn. At first he acts all chill with her, but the moment he learns she's Glenn's girlfriend (or lord forbid they are already engaged) he's not talking to her and pulls Glenn aside to 'talk.'

1. He at least left Glenn with another guardian (Christine)

2. He did not change his behavior just to show Glenn that it's "cool"

3. Bill found a more stable career than Glenn (ie. being a judge)

4. Bill has more charisma, also now I can say happy april fools

5. He tried to help Glenn pursue his passions by giving him a second shot at being a rock star

6. He tried parenting for Glenn