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[31 Jan 2013|08:21pm] |
"I don't think it's such a good idea," Eames says, rubbing his son's back to try and make him burp. He's six months old, now. Eames has him for another week, now that he's finished and posted Arthur's passport to him, which was his all consuming work for a while. He'd come home to London, had Ben for a week, been sent to Russia for three weeks, touched down in London long enough for one night in his bed, went to Turkey for a fortnight and then came home to work on Arthur's task for him. It's now two months since they saw each other. The wedding is penciled in for next month, roughly, and Eames isn't going to go. He's pretty sure he can swing having Ben that week as well, but Miles has him cornered.
Miles, Mal's dad. Old friend of the family. Small world. And wasn't that a conversation. Of course Miles knows about Eames going into the dreamshare and he seems to know a lot about Percy and Arthur, though that's also probably because Mal was with Percy for so long.
"You were invited," Miles says. "As the father of the bride I might take it personally if you don't turn up."
Eames gives him a look. "I know you won't."
"You're just avoiding Arthur."
"And?"
"And? That's not how life works," Miles says. "You can't just run constantly and hope for the best. Because what, you're scared?"
"Scared?" Eames repeats, holding Ben up to his shoulder where the baby burps and Eames coos some praise to him. "What is there to be scared of? Arthur and I couldn't possibly have a future. I'm a medically-certified-kind-of-fragile ex-soldier with a baby born out of wedlock with a woman who doesn't like me and he's...I don't know. He's complicated."
"Or you're both brilliant boys and you need someone to appreciate you. You both fight too much. Consider a ceasefire, Daniel. And stop using Ben as an excuse."
Eames wants to act affronted and say that he would never use his son like that, but he is. Evidently. So he grumbles and rubs Ben's back until he begins to whine.
"You're coming to the wedding with me. I'm an old man, Daniel. I don't fly well on my own. And if I don't fly then-"
"Then you drive."
"And you'd let an old man drive all that way on his own?"
Eames knows he's beaten. He sighs, pressing a kiss to Ben's soft, baby hair. He smells like talc and milk and the infant shampoo Ellen insists he uses. "Fine."
"Pack for sunshine!"
A month later Eames and Miles touch down in Monaco. There's another hour in a car (Eames drives because Miles is an old man) before they reach the resort in Menton where Mal and Dom are getting married. It's beautiful, of course, because Mal would insist on it. They're getting married on a pier that juts out into the sea. And it's hot. Not dangerously hot, because there is a sea breeze, but it's hot and Eames worries about Arthur. He'd like to say he hasn't thought about Arthur in the three months they've been apart, but that's a complete lie. They're all booked into the same chalet as well, because Miles wants to be with his daughter and Dom wants Percy with him, so Percy is there and Arthur has to stay too and Miles has told Eames he'd better not even think about disappearing to a different hotel.
"You know, I had a teenage daughter who had crushes on boys," Miles says as Eames carries his bags into the chalet, because Miles is an old man. "She was more sensible than you're being now."
"Well, thank your lucky stars you won't have a thirty year old son who crushes on boys-"
"It feels like I do," Miles retorts, taking his bag from Eames outside the door of the room he's going to be occupying, as per Mal's email. Eames is on the floor above.
He has a nice view from his balcony. And it's been a while since he's been able to just relax. Miles is going out with Mal tonight so Eames is going to really get into that relaxing thing.
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Dream a little bigger, darling