Friend's Daughter (Sebastian Stan Story)

Chapter 80

July 2026

Since having kids, both Willow and Sebastian took a kind of break from working. Willow used to do work with magazines and designers all year round but as soon as she found out she was pregnant with Aaliyah she cut back on work a lot and started only working for Fashion Week. Sadly since their first pregnancy was unplanned Sebastian missed a big chunk of it. Once Aaliyah was born he only really took small roles or did interviews or photoshoots. He took the occasional movie role but was never gone for very long.

Willow was still not working very much, she now put more thought into which jobs she took. Sebastian was working but not as much as he used to. Other than his work with Marvel, he was only taking smaller roles that only require a few weeks away from home. He did miss working as much as he used to but he learned from the last time that this was a discussion he needed to have with his wife.

"Hey Will, can I talk to you about something?" Sebastian asked nervously.

"Of course," she said turning to face him on the couch. "What's up?"

"So I've been thinking. Since Aaliyah will be starting school next month, maybe it's time for me to go back to work."

"You mean like working more?"

"Yeah," he paused. "What do you think?"

"I mean, if that's what you want to do I'll support you one hundred percent."

"Really?" he asked surprised.

"Of course. Sebastian, acting is your passion. I would never want you to stop doing that just because we now have kids. Sure, it'll be a little hard without you here but we'll manage."

"I love you so much sweetheart," he kissed her before standing up. "I'm going to go call my agent and let him know!"

Willow chuckled at his excitement. She was really happy that he was going to get back to doing what he loved but she also knew it was going to be hard being with the girls without him. Both of them were such daddy's girls that she already knew that they were going to have a hard time with him being gone for months at a time like he used to do.

About an hour later, Sebastian came back down smiling. "So I already have a few auditions lined up."

"Wow that was quick."

"Well apparently they've been waiting for me to request more work, so they already had some scripts for me."

"Will you just promise me one thing?"

"Anything."

"Just please wait until after Aaliyah's first day of school. She'd be crushed if you missed it."

"I wouldn't even dream of missing that."

"You know you're going to have to talk to them about you leaving. Especially Lia, I know Thena won't understand much."

"I know. I'm definitely not looking forward to that conversation. I'll wait until I actually get a job though, that way I can know exactly how long I'll be gone."

Willow was not surprised when just two weeks later Sebastian got offered a role to star in a new movie. She knew how talented her husband was, so she knew it wouldn't take long for him to get an offer. He would be leaving for three months. As of now, the longest he had been gone from the girls had been a month, so three months was going to be rough.

Willow was trying her best to encourage Sebastian. He had been so excited when he got offered to star in a movie but his excitement quickly turned into sadness. He had been crying all morning since he talked to Willow about telling the girls the news. She was helping him prepare to talk to them but he was having a really hard time. He was looking forward to going back to work but definitely not leaving his family for so long.

The girls were playing in the living room when they were joined by their parents. "Lia, Thena," the five year old and one and a half year old looked up to their mom. "Can you put the toys down and come sit on the couch with us? Daddy has something he wants to talk to you about." Athena stood up and was pulled onto Willow's lap while Aaliyah settled in between her parents.

Sebastian took a breath before he started talking. "Girls, you know how daddy is an actor and sometimes has to go away for a little while for work?" Athena didn't really know what was going on but Aaliyah nodded in understanding. "Well I got a new movie to go film and I'm going to be leaving for a little longer than usual." He looked at his three girls, trying to hold back his tears. "I'm going to be gone for three months."

"What?" Aaliyah said sadly. "Yo- you're leaving me?" she asked as tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

"No sweetheart, come here," he said as he pulled her onto his lap. "I don't want you to ever think that I'm leaving you. I would never leave you. But daddy has to work and sometimes that means being away from home and you girls for a little bit. But mommy will still be here with you and I know your grandparents and your aunts and uncles will come visit you."

Aaliyah wrapped her small arms around her dad and let out a sob. "I'm going to miss you so much daddy."

Sebastian held her tightly into his chest and couldn't hold back his tears anymore, "I'm going to miss you too my love. I'm going to miss all three of you very much."

"Even Bucky?" Aaliyah's voice was muffled by Sebastian's chest.

"Yes, even Bucky," he chuckled.