Hurt My Knee

And Robby is so sweet, better prepared than he was nearly three years ago. He’s brought books and crosswords, reading aloud and asking Dennis for answers to the puzzle, try to distract him from the pain as much as possible.

Unfortunately, Dennis has another distraction currently deployed, and it wasn’t even intentional. Having a toddler means a lot of tv programmes for little kids. The two of them are old school with what they show their kid - nothing modern and overstimulating - largely relying on dvds of old tv shows from their childhoods. He’s probably seen more 90s and early 2000 programmes now than he did when he was a kid himself.

Which leads him to now, lying in a hospital bed, his amazing partner doing the best he can to help him through the pain, and all he thats running through his head is one of those cute little theme songs for the old tv shows from their kid loves.

OKAY SO

I love the idea of him getting the letter and them writing back and forth. I think they have a little girl (GIRL DAD POPE) and of course they name her Julia, though people call her Juju or Jules. She’s not wary or scared when her Papa comes home. Daddy has shown her pictures of him from the minute she opened her eyes.

This is your Papa, Juju. Some bad people made him do bad things and it hurt his heart so he’s not always happy, but he’s a very good man. He loves you more than anything. He’s coming home to us soon. Those were the words she grew up with. He mailed her cards, all handmade and gorgeous, and always kept a picture of her and Dennis near him.

So when he gets out and arrives in Pittsburgh, you better believe she is screaming and rocketing her teeny legs into her Papa’s arms. He barely has time to drop his duffel before his little girl is finally, finally in his arms. Her first words spoken to her father are I missed you, Papa! and suddenly every moment leading up to right now is worth it. He weeps as he holds her and Dennis.

His Juju is glued to his side the entire ride home and for weeks after. She said it herself, she missed her Papa.

Hey, so, are you in my fucking drafts or something??? Like. I have a longer piece that I'm working on based on that post, and I named the baby Julia Grace Whittaker (God knows Pope will be glad to get away from the Cody name), and they call her Jules.

I tried to do the maths on it, and baby Jules is likely gonna be a bit over 2 when she properly meets Andrew, but she knows his voice from phone calls, gets soothed easily by his deep voice, and knows how much he loves her from the letters Dennis has been reading aloud to her throughout her life.