Chapter Text
It starts with a phone call.
Alex sits in his ‘Lawyering’ lecture (he still can not believe that its the real name - seems like a drunk joke taken too far) when his phone lights up and Henry’s face fills the screen. It’s one of Alex’s favourite photos of him. Lit up in the light of magic hour, his pale skin had been transformed to gold and blond hair into fire.
But he’s in class. And Henry isn’t even in the city.
Alex hits the ‘send to voicemail’ option.
Maybe Hen’s forgotten the time distance from California to New York. Alex quickly does the math. 2pm in the city means it’s… 11am with him? Except that means that Henry should be neck deep in highbrow conversations about some novel written a century or two ago.
Not calling his boyfriend.
Henry has been so excited about this conference. The annual event at UCLA is the meeting of minds of those at the forefront of queer literature. Kind of like the gay academic Superbowl (according to Pez). Henry has never managed to attend, never quite ready to leave Elody in the care of another and jet off across the country. But with Elody now 7 and with plenty of friends to stay with over the two days? Henry had allowed himself to be convinced by Alex and Pez’s not so gentle bullying.
But the fact that he’s now calling in the middle of the final day? Something didn’t sit right with Alex.
As unobtrusively as he can, Alex shoves his laptop into his bag and quietly retreats from the lecture hall. Professor Needs-A-Cough-Drop gives him a reproachful look but doesn’t break his flow.
Once Alex is out in the foyer, an eerily quiet place as the lecture continues on, he calls Henry back. It only rings once before it’s picked up.
“Oh, Christ, Alex. Thank god.”
Alex frowns, taken aback by the harried strain in Henry’s normally unflappable voice. “Baby, is something wrong?”
The laugh sounds high and strained down the line, which does nothing to display Alex’s fears, “Yes, yes you could bloody say that.”
It comes out snappier than Alex imagines Henry intended it, but he doesn’t take it to heart.
“Take a breath, Hen. What’s going on, can I help?”
“Christina’s mum is in hospital - “
Wait, what? Christina from the center, with her beautiful dark braids and a different coloured bead so lovingly weaved in.
“She’s fine!” Henry is quick to reassure Alex before he can panic. “Appendicitis. The operation was textbook and she’s being kept in overnight for observation. Christina’s staying with her grandmother for the night but she can’t take -”
Oh. The penny dropped.
“Was that where Elody was supposed to stay tonight?”
“Yes!” Henry groans. “And I am the biggest prick for complaining about it considering I’m not the one sitting in hospital with stitches in my stomach but now I’m panicking because no one’s going to be waiting for Elody at school. Pez is in England until Sunday and -”
“I can get her,” The words are out of Alex’s mouth before he’s truly thought them through. He’s supposed to be in lectures until 5, then his study group is meant to be meeting at the library to look at this week’s case study. But he doesn’t even think twice about cancelling. “If I leave now I might still make it to her school before the final bell?”
“Alex, I can’t ask that of you!” Henry tries to argue but Alex is already heading for the door. “Your school is important.”
“Nothing’s more important than my favourite Fox!” Alex counters, “Will the school let me take her or do you need to call them? I’ve got my drivers licence if they need ID.”
There’s a pause on the line. Alex wonders for a moment if they’d been disconnected, before he hears a sigh of relief rush out his boyfriend.
“Christ, you’re wonderful, you know that? Alex, thank you. Thank you! You’re a god send! I’ll make it up to you I swear. I’ll -”
“Hen,” Alex interrupts him gently as he pushes through the doors and is hit by the cold air of autumn, “Do you need to call the school?”
“Right. Um… Yes. I’ll need to call to get you put on her approved pick up list. And you still have the key from when you walked David?”
There hadn’t been some grand gesture, giving Alex a key to the Fox apartment. He’d taken David for a walk while Henry and Elody had gone out for the evening to see Swan Lake and he’s never quite gotten round to giving it back.
Sometimes procrastination pays off (just don’t tell Henry he said that).
“Yup,” Alex nods, even though Henry can’t see him.
“And I’m looking at flights just now. If traffic is good to LAX I could-“
“Don’t you dare come home early!” Alex cuts him off. “Henry, you've been excited about this for weeks. It’s fine! I’ve got everything covered. Stay until the end. Isn’t there meant to be goodbye drinks tonight aswell? You can’t miss that. Just fly home tomorrow like you planned. I’ll stay at yours overnight and Elody and I can hang out until you get here.”
“But -“
“When was the last time you had a break?” Alex demands, “Before or after the millennium? I expect to see photos of two different drinks tonight, hear me, Fox? Elody and I will be fine. Peachy. We’ll put David in charge, he’s sensible! Everything is golden. Now call the school so I don’t get arrested for kidnapping and go back to your meeting.”
“Have I mentioned recently that I love you?” Henry’s voice sounds suspiciously thick. It makes Alex smile.
“Once or twice between calling me a plague. Love you too. I’m at the subway so text me once the school is sorted, yea?”
Alex doesn’t quite make it for 3 o’clock, but he’s at the school office by 12 minutes past. He’s buzzed in and offers the woman behind the desk his most winning smile.
“Hi - sorry I’m late. I’m here to pick up Miss Elody Mountchristen-Fox. I think her father called ahead?”
The woman nods and picks up the phone. A few murmurs later and she sets it back in the cradle.
“She’ll be right down, Mr Diaz is it?”
“Claremont-Diaz,” Alex corrects as he fumbles for his ID. The woman only offers it a cursory glance before waving it away with a smile.
“Claremont-Diaz. Sorry. Don’t worry, we get plenty of last minute nanny pick ups here. We’re used to the phone calls, plans are always changing.”
Oh.
Heat prickles up Alex’s neck.
They think he’s Elody’s nanny. Of course they do.
The twist and curling in Alex’s stomach is interrupted by the jumping of little feet just out of sight. The woman is able to see into the corridor while he can’t, and makes a hurry up gesture.
“Come on, Elody. You babysitter’s waiting. Enough of the hopping!”
Oh great. He’s been downgraded from nanny to babysitter.
Elody comes skidding into the room, twin braids flapping against her back as she looks around the room for this illusive ‘babysitter’. When she sees Alex, her whole face lights up!
“Alex!”
Alex has to take a step back as Elody fires herself into him, little arms around his waist in a tight squeeze.
“Hello, my favourite Fox! There’s been a little change of plan, so your dad called me. I’m going to come and hang out with you tonight, that sound okay?” Alex looks down and can’t help but smile at the grin he’s met with.
“Can we get ice cream on the way home?”
Alex, who this morning had considered grabbing a scarf for the autumn wind, laughs. “Of course, princesa.” He reaches out a hand for her to take, “Ready?”
He expects Elody to take his hand but instead she turns back to the woman behind the desk.
“Alex isn’t my babysitter, Mrs Cohan. He’s daddy’s boyfriend.”
Alex almost swallows his tongue. He lets out something between a choke and a laugh as Elody turns back happily and slips her little hand into his.
“Oh, Mr Claremont-Diaz!” Mrs Cohan face turns the colour of beetroot, “Forgive me, I shouldn’t have assumed -”
“It’s fine!” Alex waves the apology away as Elody drags him towards the door. “Mistakes happen, have a good weeken-”
But Elody pulls him out the door before he can finish the last word.
“But Christina’s mum is okay?” Elody asks.
In typical fashion, Alex has finished off his ice cream far before Elody, who’s happily taking her time on their walk. She’s still holding his hand, swinging them as they walk. The walk is taking longer than usual since both Alex and Elody are determined to stamp on every crunchy leaf they spot. It’s become a bit of a competition, who can get there to stomp first.
If anyone asks, Alex would swear he’s letting the 7 year old win, but in reality she’s just that fast.
“She’s fine, little fox. You don’t actually need your appendix, it’s just kind of there, chilling. And if it gets sick the doctors just take it out. Simple.” It’s definitely best that Alex hasn’t shown any interest in studying medicine, it’s not his calling.
Elody nods thoughtfully, “So why does she have to stay in hospital tonight?”
Oh Elody is full of the big questions today. “After surgery her body will be very sore and fragile, so it’s best she doesn’t have to move about too much. Plus the nurses will be there to help her to the bathroom and stuff, which is good.”
It’s half an answer at best but it seems to satisfy the curious mind of the 7 year old.
“Can I make her a ‘Get Well Soon’ card when we get home?”
Alex smiles as they turn into their street, “I bet she’d love that! Why don’t we take David out when we get back, then you can make the card while I sort dinner?”
“Okay.” Elody crunches the last of her ice cream before she drops Alex’s hand and takes off down the street. “Race you!”
“Cheater!” Alex blinks in surprise, before barrelling after Elody’s rapidly disappearing back. “Get back here!”
David’s already had a walk from the petsitter, but is perfectly happy to be harnessed up and trot round the block again with Elody and Mr Not-Henry. He gets plenty of sniffs, especially under one bush where, according to Elody, he’d once discovered a hotdog.
“He ran off before dad could take it off him,” Elody giggles, “and hid under a car so he could eat it.”
Alex decides it's probably for the best that he’s kept David on the lead. The fluffy little ninja is not to be trusted even if his innocent little eyes promise that he’ll be good.
Once the boy has had his fill of the sniffs of New York City, Alex lets Elody take hold of the lead and march ahead. He takes the opportunity to snap an illicit picture of the pair and sends it off to Henry.
Alex ‘the bi guy’
16:40 IMG063.JPG
16.41 we inspected the hotdog bush. no luck.
David’s mean dad
16:45 My heart <3
16:45 Christ, when did she get so tall?
16:45 It’s not allowed.
Alex ‘the bi guy’
16:45 baby your huge.
16:46 shes your genes
16:46 im not sure you have a choice
David’s mean dad
16:48 Bea isn’t as tall as me.
16:49 She’s like 5ft 6ish?
Sometimes Alex forgets that, biologically speaking, Elody and Henry only share around 25% of their DNA. She’s like a mini-me of Henry in so many ways.
David’s mean dad
16.50 Can I facetime you both after dinner?
Alex is grateful for the change of subject.
Ales ‘the bi guy’
16:54 Of course. Im just about to raid your fridge just now
16:54 E eats escargot right??
David’s mean dad
16:55 Oooh, French. Talk dirty to me, sweetheart.
16:55 I think there’s nuggets in the freezer.
There are, in fact, nuggets in the freezer.
Elody gets creative at the kitchen table with pens and glitter glue while Alex sorts dinner. From the bits that he catches as he cooks, Christina’s mum is going to have a very sparkly card that even a drag queen would be proud of.
“How do you spell appendix?” Elody asks, pen clamped thoughtfully between her teeth.
Alex raises an eyebrow as he chops up some carrots in an attempt to have something healthy on the menu for dinner. “What are you writing?”
“I hope you feel better soon and don’t miss your appendix.”
“Oh…” Alex supposes it’s not the worst sentiment for a get well card. “A-P-P-E-N-D-I-X.”
Elody scribbles down the spelling with a nod, “You’re so smart.”
“Your dad’s the smart one,” Alex returns to chopping.
Elody’s nose wrinkles and it’s so like Henry, Alex can’t help but smile. “You need to be smart to be a lawyer.”
“Well I’m not one yet,” Alex points out, “I’ve only just started law school.”
“But you’re still smart,” Elody apparently has as little patience for Alex’s self depreciation as her father. The emphatic tone is definitely one of a 7 year old who has the world completely figured out.
Alex misses life being so simple.
The beeping of Alex’s phone signals that the nuggets and fries - or chips as Elody had corrected him - are ready.
“Can you grab us some drinks, Little E?” Alex asks as he slides on the oven gloves.
It’s early, very early, for Alex to be having dinner but he doesn’t want Elody to eat alone so he fixes his own plate. Nuggets, chips and carrot sticks, Alex can feel his Latino ancestors judging him from beyond the grave. Had he had known he’d be feeding a 7 year old, Alex could have shopped. But it doesn't matter. He can show off his culinary skills another time. Nuggets and chips will keep Elody alive and that’s all he needs to do until Henry gets back from UCLA.
The pair chatter away over their dinner, Elody telling him all about her week in school, Alex nodding at the right moments and asking thoughtful questions. He learns that she likes her teacher (Mr Florian) and her two best friends at school are Amira and Cleo. Elody tells him about the book her class is currently reading - The City of Ember - and that after Christmas she’s going to start learning the flute.
It’s different, hanging out with Elody alone. Sure, they spent plenty of time together during the summer program and he’s often hanging around at the weekend, but apart from the day after Callie had arrived, Alex has never been the solo charge of the little girl.
But it feels good. Easy. Of course, it helps that Elody is a little legend but working side by side with her as they clean the dishes feels natural. When he boops her nose with soapy suds, she giggles and returns the favour and they’re probably only saved from a full on suds fight by Alex’s phone ringing.
Elody, with the mildly dryer hands, taps the answer button with a bright smile. She doesn’t pick up the phone up from the counter and instead just looms over the camera like some disembodied giant.
“Hi, daddy!”
With Elody’s head blocking the screen, Alex can only hear the surprise in Henry’s voice that his brown, curly haired boyfriend has morphed into his blond 7 year old angel.
“Oh - Hi, Angel! Are you having fun with Alex? Where is he?”
“It’s lord of the flies!” Alex shouts as he grabs the tea towel to dry his hands, “Elody’s taken over and tied me to a chair! Help!” Elody giggles as Alex reaches over and grabs the phone, “I had to gnaw myself free!”
Henry’s wearing his ‘I love my idiot’ expression which Alex wants to tattoo on his chest. Or maybe his ass. He hasn’t decided yet.
“How are you fairing love?”
“Great, we’re grand aren’t we, Elody?” Alex flicks the camera round to the girl who’s doing quite the impression of that British nodding dog. He turns the camera back, “See? All good. How’s the conference?”
“Very informative. A woman in my last workshop had this fantastic take on ‘Death in Venice’. I might try to find her later to bend her ear if she stays for the closing drinks - why are you looking at me like that?”
Like what? Alex flicks to the bottom of the camera and is met with the sapiest soft-boy face he thinks he’s ever made.
Sickening.
Alex quickly schools his face into something more socially acceptable. “It’s just nice to listen to you talk about something you’re so passionate about.”
“Oh…” Alex notices pink creeping up Henry’s neck, “Well then…”
“You should speak to your daughter,” Alex breaks the spell before they get ridiculously disgusting. “And if she tells you about ice cream for dinner, she must have been dreaming. No idea what she’s talking about.”
Alex laughs as he watches Henry’s brow arch in disapproval. He tosses the phone to Elody with a laugh before he can be told off.
“What’s this I hear about ice cream?” Alex hears the question as he turns back to the dishes. Elody, the wonderful little snitch she is, begins to tell Henry all about their walk home from school, ice cream included.
Bathtime is uneventful. At 7 Elody doesn’t need Alex’s help beyond checking the water isn’t scalding. 20 minutes later Elody plops down next to him in a pick pyjama set and brandishes a hairbrush at him.
“Can you help?”
“Can I help…” Alex scoffs and motions for Elody to sit down at his feet, “I am a sensational hairdresser. My sister June used to make me learn so I could sort her hair for school.”
Elody sits herself down and crosses her legs on the thick carpet. Alex begins to expertly brush through her long blonde hair, holding the tension like June showed him as teenagers so it didn’t tug at the scalp.
“Didn’t your mum do her hair?” Elody asks.
“Ma was good at it too, but she used to work a lot. She wasn’t always there in the mornings so June would make me breakfast and I’d sort out her hair. We were the dream team.” It’s a simplification, the story has much more nuance than that, far more tears and arguments than he’s letting on.
But Elody doesn’t need the full version.
“What about your dad?”
Oh Elody and her big questions.
“He lives in California now, not all that far from June and her girlfriend, Nora. We all lived together in Texas when I was a kid but he didn’t come to New York with mom, June and I when we moved.” Alex explains as he works through the knots from the bath water, “He still has a lake house in Texas though and I usually spend a couple of weeks out there with him in the summers.”
Elody twists to look at with a frown, “But you didn’t this year. You were at the center all the time.”
Alex gently turns her head so he can continue his work. “Well there’s always next year. Besides I was having fun at the center, got to hang out with you and Christiana and Shauna and all the rest of the crew. How can a boring lake house compete with that?”
Elody seems to accept that as an answer, but isn’t finished with her interrogation.
“So where does your mum live?”
“Mom moved out of the city a few years ago,” Alex begins a tight braid which will keep hair out of Elody’s face while she sleeps, “I have a stepdad, Leo, who’s pretty cool. They have this little house in Buffalo so they aren’t too far away. I’ll probably go there for Thanksgiving, maybe… I’m not sure about the plan just yet.”
It occurs to Alex that Henry and Elody may not do much for Thanksgiving, being English and all, and he’s about to ask when the air is knocked out of him.
“I have a mum too.”
Alex blinks.
And fuck. What does he say to that?
Alex realises, with the clarity of plunging through ice into a frozen lake, that he has no idea what Elody knows about her heritage. A glaring oversight he now realises.
In the end he thinks back on his safeguarding training from the center. Open ended questions. Let her lead.
“Oh?” Alex tries to keep his voice light, “Do you want to tell me about her?”
Elody nods, almost tugging her braid out of Alex’s hands, and continues. “Daddy’s sister. Her name is Bea but we call her my tummy mummy.”
Tummy mummy... The phrase was so sweet it curls around Alex’s chest with a squeeze.
“Because I came from her tummy, even though I don’t get to see her.”
Oh Elody…
“How do you feel about that?” Alex twists the hair tie around the base of the braid and gives her a gentle tap on her head to signal she’s allowed to move again.
She shrugs by way of an answer, which truly isn’t much of one. “I have a book about it, do you wanna see?”
And that’s how Alex finds himself perched on the edge of Elody’s bed, the little girl tucked in his side, the handmade book in his lap.
It’s a beautiful book, made of thick cardstock and held together with thick gold rings as the binding.
A photo is stuck to the front. Elody looks about 2, wonderfully chubby and all smiles. Her face is covered in ice cream, even some specs in her blond curls as chunky fingers reach out to the person behind the camera. Henry? Probably.
In beautiful cursive, the words ‘The Story of Elody’ are written in metallic sharpie, accompanied with stars and swirls.
Alex can just imagine Henry putting this book together, sitting at a table and crafting his heart out to create this one of a kind gift for his daughter.
With a little nudge from Elody, Alex opens the book and clears his throat.
“My name is Elody Mountchristen-Fox. My birthday is on the 4th of December and I was born at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in London. It was snowing at the hospital. Someone built snowmen at the entrance.”
Below the same loopy handwriting were two photos, one of Elody as the littlest baby Alex has ever seen, barely visible between the white swaddle blanket and pink knitted cap. All the camera can sees the softest little lashes and half a button nose. The other photo is of the hospital entrance, along with three snowmen someone had built to make patients smile.
He turns the page and is met with a smiling woman whose eyes are the exact same as those he hopes to see every day for the rest of his life. Unlike Elody and Henry, Bea’s hair is strawberry blonde with wisps of gold. She sits in a hospital bed, face free of make up and tired but clearly very happy as she cradles the little bundle which must be Elody.
“This is Beatrice Mountchristen-Fox although she likes being called Bea. She’s my tummy mummy. I grew inside her for nine months until I was old enough to come into the world. She loves me very much.”
The next page shows Bea wrapped up in a huge woollen coat, sitting on a park bench with the tiny baby bundled up against the English winter.
“She kept me safe for all the time I lived inside her and wants me to have the most amazing life.”
Elody turns the page and Alex is met with another photo of Bea. This time she’s asleep on a drab looking sofa, Elody propped on her chest.
“Even though my tummy mummy loves me very much, she is not well and can’t look after me. Because she loves me so much, she made the best plan in the world.”
The next page tightens Alex’s throat. There’s Henry, his Henry, but younger. Hair floppy, cheeks slightly rounder, baby Elody in the crook of his elbow like she was always meant to be there.
“This is my daddy. His name is Henry Mountchristen-Fox and is my tummy mummy’s brother. Since my tummy mummy is sick, Henry became my daddy.”
In the next photo Elody has gone from little slug to full on baby, sitting up and looking round at the world as Henry bounces her on his knee.
“I am daddy’s favourite person in the whole entire world. He calls me Angel because he says I’m a gift from Heaven.”
Alex recognises the next photo, it’s the same one he’d seen inside one of Henry’s collector’s editions. Two year old Elody and Henry, faces pressed together and beaming outside some faceless courthouse in London.
“It was not always easy, but daddy never gave up. When I was two a judge signed special papers and made me daddy’s daughter forever. He says it was the happiest day of his life.”
Elody doesn’t seem to notice the slight hitch to Alex’s voice as he reads the words.
The next photo is of Elody being held by Pez, a chunky little hand curled around a gold chain around his neck.
“I have lots of people in my life who love me. This is my fairy god-mother, Percy Okonjo. I call him Auntie Pez and he calls me Obim. It means my heart in Percy’s family’s language.”
The next photo is one which, Alex assumes, is of Henry’s family. It’s been taken in front of a huge Christmas tree. A man and a woman, one with familiar blonde hair and the other with those beautiful blue eyes. In front of them are three children, a blonde boy, a girl with strawberry blond hair, and a dark-haired older boy who’s not smiling at the camera.
“My Grandma and Grandad live in heaven but are always looking out for me. They help keep me safe even though they are not alive anymore. They loved my daddy and tummy mummy very much and would have loved me too.”
Alex turns the page but the rest of the pages are blank. He blinks in surprise.
“Daddy said we will fill the rest of the book with photos,” Elody explains, “We just haven’t had time yet.”
Oh… Alex can just imagine it. Pictures of David and Elody, one of Callie. Maybe even one of him -
That thought surprises Alex with the intensity of how much he wants that. He wants to be in ‘The Story of Elody’. To be part of the little Fox world.
It feels right.
“Okay you, that counts as the bedtime story,” Alex sets the precious book down on her bedside table as Elody settles down. “I’ll be here all night, okay? It’s an Elody/Alex party until your dad’s back. If you need anything I’ll be in your dad’s room. Don’t be afraid to wake me up if you need anything.
“Kay,” Elody says around a yawn, “Love you, ‘Lex.”
The words prick at Alex’s eyes. To be so accepted by the little figure in the bed, it’s everything.
“Love you too, little fox. Sweet dreams.”