#caleb weir

It was amazing how full the house could be whenever everyone was over. From Will and John taking up a couch cuddled together, to Sally trying to chase Caleb as he ran off after Dogmeat again. It could be loud and chaotic, but it was something that Sophie learned to work through. The first few times were needlessly hard, but it was a learning process. The wasn’t bad noise, it was good, it was… her family.

She was trying to finish up a picture before dinner, but she knew her efforts were in vain. It wasn’t something she really minded, it was kind of annoying, but she still had some more time left over regardless. There was no rush to get it done, she could take a break. By the time she decided to get up John had left Will to go help Emra in the kitchen, leaving Will pouting on the couch. Sally had managed to finally catch Caleb, them building legos in his playroom now.

“You don’t have to look so sad, I’m sure he’ll be back soon.” Sophie said as she sat down on the couch next to her dad. That was another thing she was still getting used it. Having people who acted as parents again was strange, to say the least. She still felt like she was walking on a thin wire between her being okay and them starting to hate her, but she was learning. Slowly but surely she was finding herself being more comfortable.

“They won’t even let me walk in the kitchen, they act like something will go wrong as soon as I’m in there.”

“I mean to be fair, I’m pretty sure you being around any uncooked food is uh, trouble.” She leaned back against the couch, pulling her knees up to her chest. “Or active kitchen appliances, they see you and just want to explode.”

“Maybe that’s my superpower, if there was a villain in your kitchen I’d be able to take care of it, no problem.”

“Okay, if someone breaks into the kitchen, you’re allowed to work your magic.” They both laughed, Sophie feeling more relaxed now.

They sat quiet for awhile, Sophie listening to the idle conversations. Caleb was going on about ghosts again from what she could gather, Emra was talking about the cupcakes that she had made earlier today for tonight.

“It still feels fake.” Sophie spoke quietly, not wanting Sally and Caleb to pick up on her words. “I keep expecting to wake up, for this all to be a dream.”

“I get that.”

“There’s times where I’m so scared and I just, I know this has to be real, that it is. That I have something I really shouldn’t and don’t deserve-”

“After all you’ve been through? You deserve this. Don’t question it, I’ve found it’s pointless. There’s answers you’ll never get.” She knew he was right, that trying to think against this was pointless. It was hard to just accept it, but it was something she needed to do.

“Yeah, all is great until I fuck up.” She leaned against him closing her eyes.

“You won’t.” His answer was almost firm enough for her to believe, she wanted to, but it was hard. He hugged her, she was happy to rest her head on his chest. It only lasted a few seconds before John let Freya and Currer in, the border collie instantly running to his dad, upset when Sophie was in the way.

Sophie took that as her cue to go. Both Currer and Freya now trying to climb into Will’s lap. Even the little bit of talking she did made her feel better, more sure of things.

She walked into the kitchen, tapping Emra on the shoulder before wrapping her arms around her back and kissing her neck.

“Everything okay?” Emra asked, taking her hand and kissing it.

“Mm, couldn’t be better. Smells great in here.”

“Still wearing your painting shirt, really?” Emra asked as she glanced over her shoulder.

“I just stopped ten minutes ago! I’ll change!” She said before sneaking a kiss onto the other’s lips.

“Good, go do that now.” Emra said, even though she kissed her again after words.

“Fine, fine. I’ll go.” Sophie said breaking the hug, rolling her eyes.

“Sophie? I-”

Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by Dogmeat running through the kitchen with something in his mouth, it looked like a stuffed animal.Caleb was running behind him trying to grab it.

“Dogmeat has mothman!” He yelled, causing nearly everyone to laugh.

“Never a dull moment.” Sophie mumbled.

“Never.” Emra answered, shaking her head.

He wasn’t sure why out of all people Sophie had asked him to babysit, but here he was watching over the sleeping toddler. He glanced over the note that was left again, it was typed. Sophie had been getting a lot of use out of the braille keyboard it seemed.

‘He’s... very sensitive, there was a lot of him hiding behind Emra before he warmed up to me. If he’s shy that’s why, just take it slow, okay?’

There were probably hundreds of people Sophie could’ve hired, that probably would do a better job. Yet she insisted that he would do fine and she had no worries.

After nap time was lunch time, the note said all he had to do was heat up some pre-made food.

‘Surely I can trust you with a microwave to not start a fire I hope.’

He had to laugh, he wasn’t even sure if that was something he was capable of. At least it wasn’t something impossible, he could try his best.

Nap time was about two hours according to Sophie. So he had some time to relax, watch tv, not worry about dealing with a kid that was seemingly horrified of him. He had turned the tv on to find some rerun of a sports game, it was good enough to watch. Somewhere along the line Princess jumped on the couch, laying down next to him. He scratched the goat between the horns, at least she didn’t seem to be scared of him.

Thirty minutes had gone by, if that, and he was suddenly greeted by Dogmeat running out, whimpering. The dog bit gently onto his sleeve, as if he was trying to pull him somewhere. Curious, Weir followed him. The dog lead him to the steps of Caleb’s room. Of course something had to go wrong, why wouldn’t it.

He took a deep breath before walking up the steps, he didn’t know what to do if something was wrong. What if he was hurt? Or sick? There was no way he was cleaning up throw up. Though what he was greeted by was a surprise, Caleb was curled up in a ball, shaking. He could guess that was crying, Weir had to assume he had a nightmare. He sighed, this was probably harder than the other situations.

He walked up to the bed, looking down at the child who was curled up the other way. “Hey Caleb, you okay?” He tried to be quiet as he spoke, not to scare the child.

He quickly shook his head in response, not moving otherwise. Weir had recalled something about Sophie saying he knows how to ask for what he wants, he just won’t out right say it.

“What do you need me to do?” He tried, Caleb instantly responding to that.

He rolled over, green eyes full of tears, and reached his arms out. “Pwease?” He asked so kindly.

Weir sat down next to him, Caleb instantly climbing into his lap. Tiny hands gripping around his neck, his shirt getting a wet spot from where Caleb pressed his face against. Weir held him gently, rubbing his back. He clung on, the fear he had before seemingly gone.

“My moms aren’t... they won’t...” His voice was cracking. Weir was confused for a few moments then he remembered. There was a story in the news about two parents dying in a car crash, they had a kid around Caleb’s age. Probably in the same preschool together.

“No, you don’t have to worry about loosing anyone bud. We’ll all be here for a long long time.”

Caleb was quiet after that, it seemed to calm him down. Weir assumed he was falling back asleep.

“Grandpa? I love you.” He said in a tired voice before he slipped off back into sleep.

Weir didn’t respond, he didn’t want to wake him again. Plus it was hard to not only deal with being called grandpa still, but dealing with the part after. It was the first time Caleb had said it to him, and really this was the first time they held an actual conversation alone.

alternative title: William Weir is a BAD influence