Chapter Text
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“They’re trying to get the piano through the front door.”
“That won’t work,” Jesper called from the kitchen, where he was just finishing up the dishes. Just this morning, a moving van had stopped next door and they’d started bringing boxes and furniture inside, and now apparently a piano. He’d heard that someone had bought the house next door, but so far nobody had found out anything about the buyer, which was curious, since Inej was usually able to get that information quickly.
“They should just go through the garden.”
“Do you want to tell them?” Jesper couldn’t stop himself from grinning as he dried his hands on a towel before going over to the living room, where his daughter was kneeling on the sofa, staring out the window as inconspicuously as possible. She’d even put a pillow up to hide behind it.
“Nope. Let’s give them ten more minutes.” Addie turned her head to look over her shoulder at Jesper. She reminded him so much of his mother, that the name fit her even more perfectly. “I saw him.”
“Who?” Now it was Jesper, who was curious. He cast a look out the window, but only saw the two people who’d been handling the furniture all day.
“Our new neighbour.”
Of course she had, staying here all this time to spy on the people next door. Sometimes, he felt like Inej had a bad influence on her, but as long as Addie didn’t start throwing knives around the kitchen, it should be alright.
“Come on, you little monster, you still have homework to do.” With that, Jesper quickly lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder, making her giggle in the process. “I’ll even help you.”
While Jesper hadn’t been the best student, what Addie was learning now at school was still possible for him to do. as a teenager, he’d done a lot of stupid things, had worried his father sick, but he’d also met his best friends like this. Kaz and Inej had been there for him through everything, and while they’d all ended up in a lot of trouble, they knew that they could count on each other. Of course, his father hadn’t been thrilled when the police had knocked on his door to bring Jesper home, Inej and Kaz in tow because they didn’t have a family to go home to. Illegal activities, gambling, breaking and entering - they’d done a lot of things that were wrong in front of the law, but they hadn’t meant to harm anyone with that. Well, not really at least, but when it came to Pekka Rollins, they’d wanted to get him behind bars.
That had been Kaz’s story to tell, and while Jesper and Inej had known bits and pieces of what had happened, Kaz had eventually told the whole story, when they’d sat together around the fireplace in the Fahey farmhouse just outside of town, where Jesper had grown up. He still remembered that day, because he’d never seen Kaz so vulnerable, and he never would again. Not like that. But Colm Fahey had always had a talent to get people to talk, and that had worked with Kaz as well. It had been important for him to understand just why they’d been doing certain things. Not that he’d liked any of that, but he’d understood them better, and he’d even tried to help, even if it was in giving them an alibi.
Colm had been relieved when all that had been over, when Kaz had gotten the money Pekka had taken from him, when he’d gotten even more than that, and Rollins had been convicted of murdering Jordie. That was something they hadn’t even seen, because Kaz had always just told them that his brother had died, and he’d probably not seen the whole picture, but once the investigation had started, they’d dug up everything on Rollins, and he’d never walk free again.
It had taken them some time after that to go after Heleen Van Houden, but it had been a relief once they’d gotten all the evidence they’d needed to go to the police. Joost Van Poel had already taken care of the Rollins case, and had taken them into his office immediately, wondering what they’d had this time. Tante Heleen as she was often called had been friends with a lot of politicians, people in different higher positions of power and whatnot, so he’d had to handle the case delicately, but with Kaz’s help, he’d managed to get everything he’d needed. Trusting someone within the police force had always been dangerous, but Van Poel had proven to be very trustworthy, and he’d always listen to them.
That had been more than ten years ago, but it had been the two cases that had made them grow even closer together, and add two more people to this constellation that was more of a dysfunctional family than anything else, and Jesper had always loved this, and them. Nina Zenik and Matthias Helvar had worked with them on getting Tante Heleen behind bars, because Nina had been in one of her houses before, but had been able to run away just like Inej had done. All the things they’d suffered through, the emotional and physical abuse they’d had to endure, it was something that had brought the two women close, and while Jesper had known bits and pieces, he’d never heard everything Heleen had made them do, and it had probably been for the better.
With these two people locked up, they had all been able to sleep a little better, and Colm as well, because he’d thought that the criminal activities had ended with that - but they hadn’t. They’d just gotten better and more cautious, so they hadn’t gotten caught. In fact, they’d all gotten proper jobs after some time, but that didn’t mean that Kaz didn’t still use his contacts to get dirt on some people. It didn’t mean that Inej didn’t sneak around anymore, listening in on private conversations, but they used their skills for the greater good so to say. They used them to feed Joost van Poel with information, and if Jesper hadn’t become a Dad, he'd probably still do that as well, but having little Aditi had changed his life completely.
Aditi hadn’t been planned, not at all, but that didn’t mean that he hadn’t loved her from the first moment on. Ruby had been a good friend, and after another drunk night at a party, they’d ended up in bed together. Just this once. They’d both laughed about it at first, because they hadn’t ever been interested in each other like that, but they’d been lonely, had both craved company like that, and so it had happened. A couple of weeks later they’d realise what their night together had led to.
Colm had stared at Jesper when he’d told him, and then he’d left the house to take a walk. When he returned after an hour, he’d sat down with Jesper to talk to him properly, tell him that he’d take care of this child no matter what. Jesper had quickly promised him that he would, that he’d never walk out on a child, and while he’d been scared like hell, he never wanted this child to have to grow up without him, especially because he’d lost his mother so early on, and he’d missed her. His father had done an amazing job, and he’d always looked up at him, but at certain times, he’d just missed his Mum.
What nobody had expected, had been Ruby’s passing while giving birth to Aditi. One minute everything had been alright, and all of a sudden, everything had been turned upside down. While Jesper had held his baby girl in his arms, he’d wept out of joy because of her, and out of grief for the friend and mother of his child he’d lost. The memory still sent chills down his spine, and he had to take a deep breath.
“Dad, you’re not even paying attention.” Addie shoved the papers right in front of his eyes, heaving a sigh.
He’d drifted off completely for a moment there, so he needed to regain his focus. Addie’s birthday was coming up, so he kept thinking back time and time again, to the time before her, her birth, no matter what painful memories that brought back as well. In the end, it was mostly wonderful memories, though, because he could also think of her first steps, the first word, stuff like that.
“I’m sorry, I’ll try to do better.” Leaning his head down to place a kiss on the top of her head. Sometimes, he got distracted by looking at his daughter, because she looked so much like his mother, especially with that stern expression on her face when she was reprimanding Jesper - he was sure that she’d learned that kind of behaviour from Nina. When it came to her hair that fell in waves over her shoulders, though, she came after her mother. What she’d gotten from Jesper, was the colour of her eyes and that cheeky grin as his father always put it. Oh, and she could definitely wrap pretty much everyone around her finger, no doubt about that.
They managed to finish Addie’s homework, so she could go back to the sofa to watch the moving van through the window. Biting back a grin, Jesper cleared the table and put Addie’s backpack next to the staircase so she’d just have to grab it the next morning on her way to school.
Granted, Jesper was curious as well, and a tiny bit jealous that she’d already seen their new neighbour, but he’d never admit that. He’d get his chance at one point. After all, good neighbours introduced themselves, right? They wanted him to feel welcome here, but first he should be able to settle in.
“They still haven’t brought the piano in,” Addie called over to him, her voice slightly muffled, because she was holding the pillow right in front of her face.
“You wanna tell them now?” Jesper asked, leaning against the doorframe, watching her like this. She’d learned quite a lot from Inej and Kaz, but she still had some room for improvement. Not that Jesper necessarily wanted that for her, but on the other hand, she could never go wrong with being able to vanish into thin air, right? As long as she didn’t do that to get away from him. But she’d also learned a lot from Nina and Matthias. In fact, Nina was the person she went to, when she needed some female advice. Sometimes, Jesper really didn’t know what to say or do, so Nina was his saviour. For Addie, it felt like she had a very big family, instead of just a Dad and a grandpa. She had her godfather and godmother in Kaz and Inej, and then there were Uncle Matthias and Aunt Nina, all of them ready to take her in and care for her if anything ever happened to Jesper - which hopefully wouldn’t, especially because he’d gotten a lot more careful since becoming a father.
Right after Addie’s birth, after losing Ruby, he’d fallen into old habits, had gotten drunk and ended up at a gambling den. Luckily, he hadn’t had that much money on him, and they’d kicked him out once his pockets had been empty. Kaz had picked him up that night, had taken him home and stayed. Inej had been watching over Addie while Kaz had given Jesper his piece of mind and had talked to him until he’d agreed to go back to therapy. He’d been there before, had promised it to his father and it had helped, but he’d fallen off the wagon, which had been understandable in his situation, but it hadn’t just been about Jesper anymore. By now, he hadn’t gambled in nine and a half years, which was something to be proud of.
“Yes!” The pillow was flying, and Aditi was off to the hallway to swap her bunny slippers for proper shoes.
“Will you be alright on your own?” He watched his daughter for a moment, leaving it up to her whether he should come with her or not.
“Yes, Dad. I’m a big girl!”
You really are . She would turn ten in a couple of weeks, which was so hard to believe sometimes. He still remembered when she’d taken her first steps in his Dad’s garden.
“I know you are. I’ll be right here.” Nobody would stop him from watching her at least. Together, they stepped out onto the porch, where Jesper stayed, but Aditi hopped down and went over to the next door property where the movers were just coming out of the front door again.
“You should go through the garden,” she said immediately, making Jesper bite back a laugh, because of the confused faces she earned.
“Hello, where are you coming from?” One of them asked, while the other looked around.
“Didn’t know Mr. Henriks has a daughter.”
“My Dad is over there,” she pointed towards Jesper, who simply raised his hand in greeting. “I’m just trying to help. Open the gate and carry the piano through there!” She pointed to the gate she meant, because there was a double-door gate at the side of the house, just like there was at their own house as well. Opening the doors would give them enough room to carry the piano through it and onto the terrace in the back. There was a sliding door that they could open wide enough to carry the piano through.
Mrs. McAllister, who had lived here before, had been wonderful, and had treated them almost like family. Her own children had hardly ever visited her, but Jesper had loved spending time with her. Every time she’d told them a story, Aditi and Jesper had both listened intently, because her stories had been so enchanting. Some of them had been taken from her own experiences, others had been completely made up, but all of them had been amazing. They’d spent so much time in that house that they probably knew it inside and out. Well, Addie at least, because Mrs. McAllister had stepped in as babysitter every now and then, when Jesper had had to work. Usually he worked at Matthias’s veterinary practice, but he also worked some evenings at The Current , Nikolai Lantsov’s bar that he’d grown to love. It was some extra money that he could put aside for a vacation with Addie, or to give her something that she really wanted. Of course, his Dad always told him that he could chip in, and so did Kaz and Inej as her godparents, but it was different, when he was able to afford it all by himself.
“You’re welcome!” he heard Addie call after the two men once they’d gone down the way she’d told them to. The big grin on her face made Jesper smile in turn. Oh, she was so proud of herself for helping out.
“Hello there.”
The voice came out of nowhere, startling Jesper a bit, but then he saw the young man take a step towards Addie. He’d just gotten out of his car, which was parked behind the moving van. Either he’d been standing there fo a while or he’d just pulled up while Jesper had been lost in thought, which was definitely a likely scenario.
“And who might you be?”
“Addie! I’m your neighbour.” She introduced herself, reaching out her hand for their new neighbour to take.
“Nice to meet you Addie, I’m Wylan.” He crouched down to be eye level with her and took her hand, shaking it.
Jesper couldn’t take his eyes off him. The way the afternoon sun was hitting his hair made it look almost golden, but when he tilted his head, Jesper could see that it was actually red. He was pushing his glasses up his nose and laughed at something Addie said to him, which Jesper hadn’t heard over the quick and loud thudding of his own heart. There was just something about his new neighbour that made him react this way. A reaction he hadn’t had in a long, long time to anyone. Did they know each other? He looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
“Dad!”
That brought him back to the here and now, and shaking his head, he focussed back on his daughter, who was beckoning him to come over to them. Jesper took a deep breath and stepped off the porch to walk onto the front lawn of his neighbour’s property where he was standing with Aditi.
“Dad, this is Wylan. Wylan, that’s my Dad.”
When their eyes met, Jesper thought he saw something like recognition flash in Wylan’s eyes, but it was gone so quickly, that it might just have been a trick of the light.
“Jesper. It’s nice to meet you,” he managed to say, no matter what his heart was doing in that moment, because he just ignored it. That was something he’d gotten very good at most of the time.
“Likewise,” Wylan said after a moment of silence, as if he was putting some pieces together in his head.
“We shouldn’t bother you on your moving day, but at least we wanted to welcome you.” Granted, Jesper hadn’t wanted to do this today at all, give him some time to settle in, but here they were now.
“Thank you, that’s very kind. Once I’ve settled in a little bit, I want to introduce myself properly anyway. And definitely not looking like this.” Wylan huffed a laugh, but Jesper couldn’t complain about the way he looked. Grey sweatpants and a dark green shirt that had some splotches of paint here and there looked really good on him, but Jesper understood where he was coming from. He wanted to give a good first impression, which Jesper had wanted to do as well when they’d moved here.
“You look great, don’t worry,” Jesper said before he could stop himself. Wylan’s mouth opened, then closed again without a sound coming out. There was a faint pink hue on his cheeks, or maybe it was the light again? Jesper couldn’t be sure, but it was a good look. Wylan raised his hand to push his glasses up once more.
“Anyway, we should let you get back to unpacking.” Jesper put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder.
“But you’re always welcome to come over!” Addie added enthusiastically. taking her father’s hand. She’d learned that from Mrs. McAllister, who’d always brought the neighbourhood together, who’d been the person to initiate their neighbourhood festival in summer, and who’d started the BBQs, even if she hadn’t stood at the grill herself anymore. She was truly missed here.
“Thank you Addie, I really appreciate that.” Wylan smiled at her before looking up at Jesper again, his smile faltering a little, but then he nodded. “Thank you as well.”
“If you need anything, you know where to find us.”
Whether Wylan would really come over or not remained to be seen, but Jesper meant it. He remembered what it was like to be the new one here, but he’d quickly been accepted in the neighbourhood, which maybe also had something to do with Kaz and Inej already living around the corner.
“He’s very handsome.”
Speaking of which, it was probably no surprise that he found Inej sitting on his sofa when he returned. Yes, it had been foolish to leave the door open as Kaz would tell him, but he hadn’t been far away from the door. In addition, Inej would have gotten inside whether the door had been locked or not.
“If I die of a heart attack one day, I hope you know that you’ll be taking care of Addie,” he said, trying to calm his racing heart. By now, he should expect something like this to happen, but he’d been too distracted by their new neighbour to really think of Inej paying him a visit. Even Addie hadn’t seen her, because she’d gone straight up to her room to look for Wizard, their cat.
“I think there are worse fates.” With a chuckle, Inej got up from the sofa and walked over to the window to look outside again, cast a glance through the curtains at Wylan, who was carrying some canvases inside. “Still, I’d prefer it if you stayed alive.”
“You’re not the only one.” Considering that they’d had a brush with death not just once when they’d been younger, it was a miracle that they were all still alive, but Jesper didn’t question it. They were all carrying their scars.
“So, your new neighbour,” Inej started the conversation up again, turning towards Jesper. He knew that look she was giving him. It meant that she finally had some information, and Jesper wanted to know everything she could tell him. After all, it was important to know whether there was some criminal moving in next door - not that he was one to judge considering his past and the stuff Kaz still did every now and then - or someone who needed help, was on the run from someone. Not that Wylan seemed the type the way he’d immediately talked to Addie, how friendly he’d been.
“Sounds like you’ve got some information for me?” In a way, Jesper dreaded hearing from her what she’d found out, because Wylan had seemed like a very nice person - and handsome, Inej was totally right about this. Still, his curiosity outweighed everything else, and it was his obligation as a father, wasn’t it?
“I do. Took us a while to figure out who had bought the house, and then we had to do some digging. The buyer’s name had been under wraps until yesterday.” Following Jesper into the kitchen to grab some coffee, Inej kept filling him in. “Remember Jan Van Eck?”
“Of course.” Jesper’s eyes widened slightly at the mention of the name. He hadn’t been properly involved because they’d handled Van Eck when Addie had just been a year old, which meant that Jesper had been living with his father at that time. Losing Ruby and being the sole parent for Addie had been difficult, but Colm had helped him a lot, and with Kaz’s and Inej’s help, he’d found a good home. By now he knew that Kaz had bought the house, and was keeping the rent low so that Jesper was able to afford it. They’d never really talked about it, but he was more than grateful to Kaz.
He remembered Inej telling him about the Van Eck situation back then. They’d come out to the Fahey Farmhouse together so that they could get Jesper’s piece of mind. It was a safe space for all of them, because they’d lived here together for a time. After their first run-in with the law, the time they’d gotten caught, Colm had offered Kaz and Inej a place to stay. A room for each of them, a warm bed, food in exchange for some help around the farm until they’d figured out what to do. Colm had been a father for all of them in a way, so they’d often gathered there - even today - to talk and spend the evening together, which always ended in a sleepover like in the old times. Addie loved it the most, because she got all of her favourite people gathered in one place.
Kaz had crossed paths with Van Eck even before that, and he’d looked for some dirt on him - but he’d found more than he’d expected. The plan had been to find something to blackmail him with, maybe another woman, or embezzling money, but once he’d gone down the rabbit hole, he’d uncovered more and more. The tragic loss of his wife a few years before that had been suspicious - even to Joost Van Poel - but there had never been anything that had tied Van Eck himself to her death. Inej had dug a little deeper upon what Kaz had uncovered, and they’d found evidence that Jan Van Eck had paid someone to murder his wife. Something like this always left a paper trail, you only had to know where to look for it. His wife Marya had threatened to leave him, had wanted to go to the police and tell them everything about his schemes and especially his violent nature towards her and their son. He’d promised her to change, had promised that he’d make it up to her, that she just had to give him a chance. Whether she’d believed him or not, they’d never know, but soon after she’d been dead.
Once Kaz had brought all of the evidence to Van Poel, it had all happened rather quickly. Van Eck had been living with his new wife and their child, his first son already living somewhere else, but it had been all over the news.
“Your neighbour Wylan Hendriks is actually Wylan Van Eck.” Inej raised her coffee cup and took a sip from the steaming hot brew. Now, that was definitely not what Jesper had expected.
“I guess that’s why he looked familiar.” Still, he felt like there was something more to it, like he’d met him in person before.
“He’d moved out before we got to Jan Van Eck, tried to cut all ties, but he was still around to be there for his stepmother and his little sister.” Pulling up a barstool to the kitchen island, Inej settled down. With her hands wrapped around her coffee cup that Addie had decorated for her, she looked up at Jesper. “Van Eck died a very tragic death in prison a couple of months ago.” Jesper could see just how sorry Inej was that this had happened. “The people he’d fooled eventually got to him. Can’t say that he’ll be missed after everything he’s done to them, his wife and Wylan as well.”
“Wait, didn’t he hit his son as well?” It was a bit difficult to connect all this in his head after he’d just met Wylan, but he wanted and needed to know, needed to remember it correctly.
“He did. Punished him for all kinds of things and the scars on his back prove that.”
“Son of a—”
“Language!” Inej had to hold back a chuckle, but with a little kid around, they’d all learned to watch out a little bit. Jesper had failed a couple of times, and he would also fail in the future, but he was trying his best.
“Sorry, but a child should be safe with their parents and not…” He trailed off, waving his hand in the air, not wanting to repeat what they’d just talked about.
“He’s a painter, you know? A really good one, just in a bit of an art block for a year now.” Leaning forward, Inej cocked her head to the side. “That’s probably why he moved here. A bit more privacy, a quieter neighbourhood.”
While Jesper had no idea where he’d lived before, he could understand these motives to move here. He asked: “And you think, he’ll have his privacy here?”
“Well…” Now, Inej really had to laugh, before she emptied her coffee. “We’re just looking out for our friends and our neighbourhood, and we won’t be harassing him about his father and everything he’s done.”
“No, because you already know all that.” Jesper leaned his behind against the counter, crossing his arms. He was smiling, because they were always doing this, checking out the new neighbours to make sure nobody was coming to live here who was looking for trouble.
“And you do, too. He’s a good guy, that’s all I can say.” Inej shrugged her shoulders, before she got up from the barstool.
“I take it you’re not staying for dinner?” Jesper asked, knowing that Addie would love to have Inej stay.
“I’d love to, but I told Kaz I’d be back at six, and you know how much he hates when someone is late.”
“Oh yeah, that’s never going to change.” With a laugh, Jesper pulled Inej into a hug, before he walked her to the door to wave her off.
Now, that had been a rather eventful late afternoon, but now, he had to make some dinner for the two of them. Even though he knew about his neighbours past, where he was coming from, he was looking forward to getting to know the person he was now.