Chapter Text

Time Lies

You and I

The decision to have children didn’t happen all at once for Wednesday and Enid Addams. It eased between them at first, this warm little thing that sometimes was there and sometimes wasn’t. It caught in the space between Wednesday’s fingers encompassing Enid’s waist. It was sweet in the breath after their lips parted, sated and delirious in bed on Sunday mornings. It sat balmy against Enid’s chest as Wednesday pressed a hand there, stilling her racing mind after a long day. It was in Enid’s bright voice ringing through Wednesday’s brooding brainstorms. It was each I love you, Bellissima and I love you more, My Dear that was uttered between them. It was there in every tender moment and then, before either could name it, it was sneaking its way through their home. It wound around late afternoon light spilling through kitchen windows while they danced around each other, making dinner. It rode autumn breezes through open doors, brushing their intertwined hands. It lingered in quiet evenings as they lounged in the living room. It snuck up on Wednesday between the clacks of her typewriter keys. It stumbled upon Enid while she watered flowers in the garden. Then, it came to loom in the spare bedrooms, floating in their stillness and begging to be addressed.

When Enid realizes what this is, it almost frightens her. Almost - because being married to Wednesday Addams has made her slow to fear these days. But it does startle her to say the least. Children had once been a given in her adolescence, an expectation less than a want, until she neared and entered adulthood. Then, she was with Wednesday, and plans changed, expectations were forgotten. That is until she realizes this thing and can’t stop wanting it. Knowing this and letting herself really want it is one thing, telling Wednesday becomes another.

They hadn’t spoken at length about the possibility of children. Briefly it was approached in the beginnings of their relationship, when they were still students at Nevermore and newly intimate with each other. That hadn’t been a lengthy discussion. Wednesday had been quick to reassure Enid she would use protection and avoid anything unwanted. Enid had thoroughly agreed. Then, when they married it had been a conversation that ended with it being a possibility someday down the line. Both women were eager to focus on their career and their relationship. They had just built the house. Life was busy.

Enid remembers considering it – newly married and in her early 20s. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a baby with Wednesday? Of course. Her wife was beautiful and wonderful in her unique ways. She was a cool, inky spot that Enid’s warmth and fire could settle in. Her undying devotion and unparalleled loyalty were intoxicating. She may initially balk at the idea, but Enid knew she’d come around and make the best mother. Any child would be lucky to be loved as fiercely as her wife was capable. But then a baby? Raising a person? That idea in general was daunting. Maybe someday, she remembers thinking, we’ll have it figured out. We’ll feel ready.

Now, Enid feels they can’t really be more ready. Their home was magnificent. The moderately sized home was an architectural beauty – a tasteful blend of gothic accents on sleek modern. It was Wednesday's brainchild and point of pride, built for Enid with the money incurred from her bestselling debut novel. I thought of you throughout the blueprint. Every inch of this home is for you. For us. Wednesday had said. And Enid had worked tirelessly to fill it with life and color (where Wednesday could stand it), eternally grateful for the way this home was built with love. Now, Enid can’t help but think of little feet pattering across the dark oak floors. She imagines little hands gripping the frames of tracery windows. It’s the best kind of dream.

And then things between them couldn’t be better. Her career and Wednesday’s have been flourishing. Their marriage is strong. She looks at Wednesday making her coffee in the mornings before work or drawing a warm bath after a long week, and Enid falls in love all over again. This woman is so kind in ways that no one would imagine. She thinks of everything and then prepares for it. She cares for Enid so deeply, it makes wanting more so easy. Everything feels it’s falling into place and now, Enid thinks there is something missing. Someone. So, when Wednesday presses close and then pulls out, she is a little disappointed now. She starts to never take their intimacy for granted. She starts to entertain the idea of if they start trying for a child.

And Wednesday isn’t far behind. Time and love have done well to mellow her over the years. Enid is this brightness in all the dark that illuminates the Addam’s family curse in Wednesday. It’s warmth that ignites her cold heart, makes it a hot beating thing inside her. Loving Enid is as easy as breathing, as inevitable. Despite everything about them that made her think they would never make sense, they do. Her beautiful, perfect wife who knelt in late November, wind whipping her pink cheeks, and asked if she would marry her. It was a yes, it had been from the moment Wednesday realized she loved her. Their future together was a given because Wednesday was dead set on making Enid happy. She was devoted to making every one of Enid’s desires a reality.

Then, she starts to think about those conversations they had in passing. She thinks about the maybes that were uttered and the somedays. Those start to feel like now. Wednesday looks at Enid and loves her so deeply it feels possible to love another part of her. Her heart, that once felt like it could barely fathom loving one person, is needy for more. It feels possible to love a person who is made of both of them, especially if that means more Enid. Wednesday looks at their home and her wife, and she recognizes the thing that has crept up on them. She acknowledges that she wants to have a family with her wife. She starts to want it like nothing else.

In January, Enid decides she’ll bring it up. She prepares this whole speech and waits until a snowy Saturday evening. She makes two cups of tea, Wednesday’s favorite, and wonders into her office. The room is dark save for the desk lamp. The large window has the curtains pulled back, but the snow fall is so thick and constant it obscures most of the sunlight. The room smells like leather, paper, and sweet like Wednesday. Enid stands in the doorframe and breathes it in, savors it. Seeing the back of her wife’s head inclined toward her work almost makes her lose her nerve, but when she steps in and Wednesday hears her, she stills her hands over the typewriter in an instant. Seeing the way Wednesday’s blank expression softens to her is all the encouragement she needs.

“Hi, baby!” Enid begins brightly. She presents the steaming mugs and crosses the threshold into the room. “I made your favorite!” She deposits the cup on the desk.

“How thoughtful,” Wednesday observes. She takes the mug and holds it to her nose, breathing in the steam. Then, when she notices Enid lingering, she lowers it. “What is it, mon amour?”

“Do you have a moment?” Enid asks with a tight smile. She grips her bright pink mug with both hands, warming her palms. “I don’t want to interrupt...”

Wednesday blinks. “I always have a moment for you. I can be done with this anyway. I’ve been rewriting the same page for the last hour.” She scowls at that. Then, she stands and holds out a hand that Enid takes, allowing the shorter woman to pull her close. “What is it?” She asks again. Wednesday’s dark eyes trail across Enid’s face lazily, searching and admiring.

Enid sips her tea then sets it on the desk. When she looks up and sees Wednesday looking at her so intently, she smiles. “What?”

“Nothing. You came to me,” she says simply.

Enid cups her wife’s face and presses her smile to Wednesday’s lips. She responds in kind, hands resting on Enid’s waist. Then, the speech she had spent time rehearsing feels like too many words. It’s not that complicated, what she wants to say. So, when they part and Wednesday has that soft, contented little smile for her, Enid folds. “I want us to have a baby,” she blurts.

Wednesday’s eyes tell Enid she caught her off guard. She is something of a Wednesday expert, so she sees the minute widening and the twitch of an eyebrow. Then, the expression melts back to the usual blank slate. “You do?”

“I do, I really do,” Enid says, perhaps a little desperately. She strokes Wednesday’s jaw by her ear. “What do you think?” They’re standing so close that she can see each freckle across Wednesday’s nose, spots that inevitably form despite how vehemently she avoids direct sunlight.

Wednesday’s hands remain firmly on Enid’s waist. She can hardly think. Enid, sweet, perfect Enid, wants to have a baby with her. Of all the things she thought they were going to talk about, this was surprisingly not it. But gods, if this is what Enid wants too, of course she’ll make it happen. She should say something. “Yes,” is all she gets out.

“Yes?” Enid’s contagious smile gets impossibly brighter. “Wow, I thought I was going to have to give you this whole speech and convince you! I just know it’s not something we’ve ever really talked about, and I didn’t want you to feel like I was springing it on you. Obviously, I care about what you want too! So, I wasn’t sure-”

“Enid.” Wednesday interjects, stopping her wife’s rambling. “Mon amour, I need no convincing.”

Enid takes a deep breath, centers herself, then leans in to kiss Wednesday again. The hands holding her tighten. She can’t stop smiling and she swears she can feel one of Wednesday’s own – it makes the kiss all the sweeter. She leans further into it, gasping softly at the reciprocated eagerness. She pulls away to Wednesday’s lashes fluttering open, lips parted and pink. Her head feels fuzzy.

Wednesday is equally dazed, chest warm. “Enid,” she breathes again, softly this time. Their hips are pressing together, begging for more, but she wants to finish this conversation. “I love you. I’d like nothing more than to procreate with you.”

“When you put it like that it’s so romantic,” Enid teases. But then when Wednesday blinks, like she didn’t say it right, Enid kisses her quickly. “I love you too. And I was kind of hoping this is how the conversation would go, so I might have cancelled my suppressants for this month...” She blushes at her own forethought. “So, you know, we could start trying... Whenever.”

At that, Wednesday gets a conspiring smirk. “Presumptive.” She runs her hands up Enid’s back, encouraging a pleased sigh. She licks her lips.

The things this woman does to her. Enid feels like she’s melting. “Is that okay?”

“More than okay.” Wednesday suddenly steps away. “Bedroom. Now.”

Enid gives an excited, high-pitched sound at the implications, which makes Wednesday roll her eyes though they both know it isn’t serious. The blonde grabs her wife by the hand and tugs her along after her. Their cups of tea remain on the desk, cooling and forgotten.