(no subject)
Title: Pictures of Houses [1/1?]Author:
more_awake
Rating: K
Pairing/Character: baby!Addison, Archer
Summary: Four year-old Archer meets his new baby sister
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Pictures of Houses:
Nice to Meet You
He doesn’t understand why all of the adults are talking about the new baby as if there is something wrong with her-as far as he can tell, his sister seems perfect.
“The doctor said that she’ll grow out of it,” he overheard his mother tell a few visiting friends. “No one in either of our families is overweight, so he insisted that she wouldn’t be either, but I worry because Archie was so tiny, while this one was so big that I needed a Caesarean,” she sighed. “I mean, she isn’t hideously large, but at nearly nine pounds, she isn’t exactly a dainty little doll-like thing either, and with that red hair of hers... Goodness knows where it came from, but it’s going to make her stick out like a sore thumb when she is around other children, so I just hope that the poor child doesn’t end up being fat, too.”
Personally, four year-old Archer likes the baby’s red hair. It’s different from anything he has seen before in his short, very sheltered life, and he kind of wants to reach into her bassinet and touch it. It’s sparse on her head, but it looks soft. As for her size, Archer has never seen a smaller person. Her little hands make his own look large, and he is pretty sure he could pick her up all by himself if he tried. She is anything but big.
And while his mother is concerned with the baby’s physical appearance, his father seems to be disappointed by the fact that his youngest child is not a second son.
“There hasn’t been a daughter born into the Montgomery family in the last five generations, so the possibility of her being a girl seemed so extremely slim that we didn’t even consider it,” he watched his father say into the telephone in the kitchen, obvious discontentment in his voice. “It’s certainly going to take some time to adjust. I expected to call my son ‘Addison,’ not my daughter, you know? It’s a strong, masculine name.”
Archer doesn’t mind a sister. He expected a little brother, but it didn’t faze him much at all when his parents walked through the front door with a pink bundle instead of a blue one. He rarely sees other children and spends the majority of his time with a nanny in a big lonely house, so any company at all is welcome. He has only known her for a few hours, but already, her presence makes him feel less alone. From now on, he will always have someone else.
She has been sleeping for a while, and really, he is supposed to be napping, too, but his curiosity led him into the pale blue nautical-themed nursery. Too short to see into her bassinet, he used all his strength to push and pull an upholstered chair over from the corner of the room so that he could climb up and properly watch her. He now sits on the armrest, completely fascinated by his new sibling.
At first, she makes no sound, but after a few minutes, she begins to stretch in her sleep, her tiny fists opening and closing near her face. When she yawns, she makes a soft noise, and when she finishes, her deep blue eyes slowly flutter open.
“Hi,” he greets warmly, watching as her arms and legs make short, uncoordinated movements.
The baby blinks in response, her eyelids still heavy. Archer offers her his biggest smile, and though he knows he probably shouldn’t touch her, for fear she might cry, he suddenly can’t help himself.
Carefully, he shifts his weight so that he can slowly lean over and grasp her hand, but just as he is about to reach her, a voice comes from the open doorway behind him and nearly startles him enough to fall over.
“Archie! What did we say about standing on chairs?” His nanny, Margaret, scolds gently as she strides over to tend to the baby. “And what are you doing out of bed?”
He quickly sits back on the arm of the chair, hoping that if he is obedient, he can avoid a time-out.
“I just wanted to look,” he explains innocently. “And I can’t see her that good without the chair.”
Margaret throws a soft blue blanket over her shoulder and then lifts the baby into her arms, cooing to the little girl softly. For a moment, Archer feels forgotten, but before he can even begin to feel jealous of his sister, Margaret turns to him.
“If we sit down on the floor, you can see her.”
He nods eagerly and climbs off the chair, seating himself cross-legged on the plush carpet next to his nanny and sister. He hasn’t been this close to the baby before, and he looks up at Margaret for permission to touch.
“Wow,” he murmurs in awe as he runs a hand over the baby’s little arm. He is amazed at the softness of her pink skin and at how she doesn’t seem to mind his presence.
“What do you think?” Margaret asks.
“She’s really small,” he observes, now lightly running his fingers over the little girl’s rosy cheek. He can’t believe that it’s possible for someone to be so tiny. “Bizzy said she was big, but she is really not big.”
“You were small like that, too, you know.”
“No, I don’t think so. Not this small,” he insists. He pauses to think for a moment and then looks up hopefully. “Do you think she likes me?”
He really hopes she does because he sure likes her.
“Of course she does. You’re her big brother,” Margaret assures him, freeing up a hand to ruffle his sandy-blond hair. “Here. Try letting her grab your finger.”
Cautiously, he extends his index finger, and as soon as he presses it into the baby’s palm, her little fingers close around it. He gasps in excitement, “She’s holding it!”
“See? She loves you,” Margaret confirms, kissing the crown of his head. “You are very important to her, Archie. She is going to need you to watch out for her and set a good example because she’s going to want to be just like you.”
He nods slowly. It seems hard to believe that he could really be that important to anyone, that anyone would want to be like little four year-old him, but he wants to do the best he can with this new responsibility. He wants to take care of her and show her everything he knows about the world.
“Would you like to hold her?”
His eyes widen in surprise. “Can I?”
“Yes, but you have to be very gentle. She’s very small, so I’m going to help you,” she tells him. “Now, see how my arms are? Can you put your arms like that?” He nods and folds his arms in his lap to mirror Margaret, who looks at him with approval. “Good. Now, she’s too little to hold her head up on her own, so be careful of her neck and sit very still, okay?”
He holds his breath in excited anticipation, and slowly, the baby is transferred into his waiting arms, causing his face to break out in a proud grin. He is holding his little sister, and he feels very grown up.
She is a little heavier than he anticipated but still very tiny. Her body is warm, and she wiggles at first in his arms. “It’s okay,” he tells the baby softly. “I’m your brother."
He studies her for a while once she settles in, looking over the white frilly dress that she is wearing-the one he helped Margaret pick out at a store yesterday while his parents were away at the hospital-and her matching lace-trimmed socks. Her hair smells nice, and when he delicately kisses her head, he finds that the red fuzz on top is even softer than he imagined.
“How do you say her name again?” He asks, looking back up after a few minutes. He's only heard her name spoken twice. Everyone keeps calling her “the baby,” and when his mother briefly introduced them, he was too caught up in the moment to remember.
“Addison,” Margaret replies, clearly enunciating each syllable. “You can probably call her Addie, though. That’s easier to say.”
He smiles and tries to think of what to say to Addison first. There is so much he wants to tell her, but with all the fuss over her appearance and gender, he feels like she needs to be reassured that she is just fine the way she is.
So he decides to start with that.
“Hi, Addie,” he addresses her thoughtfully, giving his baby sister the closest thing to a hug he can manage with her situated somewhat awkwardly in his arms. Smiling, he turns his head to one side so that his cheek just barely skims the top of her head. He then gives her another kiss and whispers to her comfortingly, “I think you’re pretty.”
A/N: I’m a little stuck on Expand, Contract, but parts of this have been sitting in my hard drive forever, so I decided to make something of it. For now, this is a one-shot, but it may turn into a little series of vignettes about Archer and Addison growing up because I really wish we knew more about their childhood and could have seen more of their relationship. Thank you for reading! :)