#nathaniel capp

It was just another factoid of the village. Like, there were faeries who lived amongst the people and up in the trees and blended in with the evergreen leaves, dancing on the breeze. There was also Galaad, one of a more elusive type of faerie, built like a tree trunk that would never yield to a woodcutter's axe and colloquially named for his shoe size that no cobbler could hope to conquer.

It just so happened that Mr Bigfoot (Galaad apparently took the surname for tax purposes) was the Capp family's personal protector, now approaching Osric on the front path to the home and asking his intentions for visiting. And why not - he was Monty, and a teenaged one nonetheless. The same age as the Capp heiress.

"Galaad! It's okay!" There she was now, calling from one of the many upstairs windows that heaved with flowers. Osric imagined the gardener on a ladder, sweating with secateurs, and had to stifle a chuckle. With the word of Patience, Galaad would have no issue allowing Osric entry, as long as he was the picture of maturity. Turning up in his school uniform was a nice touch, Patience would tell him as she showed off her latest work-in-progress painting. However, nothing more happened that afternoon, even with Patience's parents away and Galaad stepping his big feet out of it. Os figured he was friendzoned but could still see the fun in being secret best friends, crossing supposed enemy lines.

Patience, for her part, saw the same potential. Mummy and daddy were all smiles when they got back from their business trip; there was no need to spoil that, not when there were gatherings to host in their own parlour to keep other Capps happy about the big move. Finally - the main house! It would be so fun to live at the winery, Patience thought.

That's how Nathaniel knew his cousin Ginger wanted to explore campus and meet new people as soon as she arrived to begin her freshman year. She was asking Gavin for the best food spots, then which clubs to join, then which classes had the cutest students. Nathaniel didn't need to hear a word from his other cousin to know that the escalating excited questions were making him nervous - Ginger came from a more rambunctious part of the family and they had a reputation to uphold! For now, she would have to be satisfied with pub patrons to fill her number list.

Then there was the poor lad whose father died, Rocky. Nathaniel heard sobs from his room that were muffled by Gavin's shoulder - the good man could relate and offer support, having grown up in the orphanage before aunt Cordelia knelt down and took his hand. No living parents... Nathaniel mused that his mum and dad hadn't been perfect, but at least he had them. With a start, he remembered that Gavin just lost his step-dad too! Those liberal students who spoke out in class about checking one's privilege could be onto something...

In the end, Rocky got expelled because he couldn't focus on study anymore, poor sod. The Capulet House class performance record maintained its picture of success; nobody could be too hard on a bereaved student, for one, even if the faculty were unmoved. But Daisy Greenman graduated with honours and showed off the Capp family's acknowledgement of, and support for, diverse learners such as faeries.

Well, it sure made breakfast time awkward the next morning. Sunny going for an evening walk, not returning in good time, and being thrown back on the front lawn by a group of misty shadows renewed a fear of the unknown in mum and dad and uncle Woody. This was apparently a more volatile magic they'd never seen before. Grandpa Skye never left any writings on the phenomenon either; perhaps it was easier to look at the rainbows and sunshine of the fae world and call it a day.

"They called me an elf," Sunny had explained to his fussing family members, not caring how he sounded in front of the policeman who had closed the missing teenager case and was taking his leave from the cottage, another job well done. "Like it was a bad thing." And he'd burst into tears, sore from the verbal and physical rejection of the mean shadow beings.

The lesson was learned - be wary of circular flora constructs in the forests of Riverblossom Hills - but the mystery was not solved (despite the policeman's cheerful closing shut of his notebook). Who were those beings? Why were they so displeased with Sunny being an elf? While Penny had plans to resolve this perceived conflict (she could make friends with anyone, why stop at the horrors!), Cyd and Woody took to other occupations: spending time with the handsome Tybalt Capp and the lovely Candy Hart, respectively.

She'd wanted to brave the day to be with him. He'd expressed concern about things like installing blackout blinds, even boarding up the windows in the interim. She'd smiled and slid her hands under his sweater, and layers were peeled off from there, sunlight be damned.

It was a kind of love that Gvaudoin didn't mind being seen by anyone strolling by on the perfect blue spring morning at Mission University. Gavin was graduating so it was like a PSA with PDA: other ladies out there need not apply for this gentleman! A far bolder statement than what Fricorith was doing with Ginger; dating under darkness. They looked so sweet together that perhaps it was about enjoying each other before telling the world.

Still, Gvaudoin liked her way better.

It had been just another day when Trisha called out to Tina in a tone she'd never heard before - a wobbly, weakened cry that sent her running to find her mother off-kilter and teetering to the ground. The doctors said it was quick but it felt like a lifetime to Tina; Taylor had howled like the wolf he was and she could still hear it in nightmares. His tail didn't wag for days, only revving up again when Teddy stuck his arms out for a doggy cuddle after the funeral. So yes, it was Teddy who brought joy back to the house; Tina just wished his nana could experience it too.

Continual support from Woody as a co-parent was very welcome. Penny and Sunny jumped in to look after Teddy too from time to time, when Tina needed to just go sit on the beach and sob. When she did this, she would smell the high-end cologne of a gentleman lowering himself to the sand beside her and hear the unbuttoning of a wool cardigan that would be laid over her shoulders.

Tina wondered if they considered her family, too. The secret of Woody being the baby daddy only broke when her water did, which made the belated baby shower Penny hosted just a little awkward. How could they just accept that? Was a cute baby really all it took?

Woody pulled Tina aside in between Penny's party games (she was in the kitchen spooning soft foods into nappies for guessing what was in them by feel only, and very enthused about it). He gently led her to her room by the hand, then let it drop as dew gathered in his black hole eyes. Cooing and oohing and ahhing and laughter wafted in from the lounge and made the silence between them more pronounced.

"So why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Tina took a breath and expected words to come, only to disappoint herself. She cleared her throat to reset. "I'm sorry," she began. "It's just - we were casual. I don't want - oh god! I didn't want to make you feel like you had to marry me."

Woody slumped with a sigh, as if he'd slipped off a giant rucksack at the end of a hike uphill. "Oh. Tina!" He looked up at her and his eyes were wide and bright as the grin on his face. "We don't have to! That's not us. In fact - " He shifted as if he was going down on one knee - "Tina Traveller, will you NOT marry me -"

"Oh my god, Wood, stop!" Tina was laughing and pulling him upright. Then she wiped an unexpected tear from her eye. "Thank you," she said, quietly, and they embraced.

Later, paperwork would be drawn up (Tina learned from her parents) and the co-parenting agreement was official. Teddy would travel between Riverblossom Hills and Desiderata Valley to spend time with dad and mum respectively. He would swim in the sea and frolic in the forest (the latter was especially important, as it transpired he was a faerie). Tina and Woody wouldn't get married, and that was okay.

Returning to the party, Tina spent time with her step-sister Juliette and step-cousin Nathaniel. The latter loosened up a bit, in contrast to his signature wound-up tie, and made very educated guesses in Penny's nappy game. Something about the way he scrunched up his face in thought over something so silly made Tina feel all light and fluffy.

It was just a little black box. A little black box that Nathaniel had placed on the dining table earlier that afternoon with such reverence, such care, that he probably should have worn his white art-handling gloves. But the box was even less important than what it contained - something that meant so much to so many happy couples all over the world.

Something that Tina could never wear.

"Oh, Nathaniel" - she'd struggled to find words in the moment, too - "I love you. I do. But I can't..." Her fingers reached out to touch the velvet material of the little black box, and she retracted them into her palm instead, nails digging in to the skin. "I saw what this did to my parents..." Her words, oft repeated in therapy, felt lame, and the look on poor Nathaniel's face was such a pity. It wasn't visible for long; he threw his face into the crook of his elbow on the table and sobbed, not caring that his chin was squashing a half-eaten sandwich.

Now he was gone. So were his suits and ties, sitting in the back of car headed from the beach to the Capp family vineyard, and Teddy had a one-word query for his mum: why?

Eventually, the response boiled down to 'sometimes relationships end'. Again, Tina felt lame, especially with the elephant in the room of Nathaniel only just having moved in to get on with an official relationship. But Woody was going to come over the next day, and Teddy was excited to see his dad, and life would go on.

Regan released a sigh of relief when she first overheard her son enjoying the company of the new dog in his room. While Uncle Kent and poodle Portia's exit from the household was necessary to ensure Nathaniel had a proper bedroom in childhood, it left a hole of enrichment that the boy had become rather accustomed to. Now, he flew off the school bus to announce stellar test results and ask if they could take Hannah to the park to celebrate.

"Of course, darling," Regan would say. "Go get your coat on."

When the boy and his mum and his dog returned, cheeks pink and lungs filled with fresh air, dad would heat up hot chocolate for the humans and spoon up meatloaf for the pup.