Hope and Darren

#2 {God i'm uncreative}

Hope awoke slowly that morning, eyes opening and her head turning to look beside her, and a soft smile gracing her features as she did. Beside her lay Darren, cuddled up with their daughter, Evelyn. Darren's arms were wrapped around the young girl, and Evelyn was buried against her father's chest. Hope's smile didn't fade as she slowly shifted closer to them, draping an arm over Darren, and pressing a kiss to the top of Evelyn's head, and another to Darren's cheek. Hope couldn't have asked for anything better than being able to wake up to her husband and daughter every morning. She loved both of them unconditionally, and loved that now they could have the peace she knew Darren had always deserved.

With the Cross Technological Enterprises building collapsed to the ground, the Ant Man suit still in Scott Lang's hands, and the Yellowjacket suit crumbled away into the void, Hope and Darren had nothing standing between them. What Darren had once thought was a crippling need for power and control, was really a need for approval, for someone to tell him that they were proud of him, for someone to want to be there beside him. Hope was more than happy to fill that place. They got married a few years into dating, and adopted Evelyn shortly after. Evelyn, who had been three when they'd adopted her, was now five, and Hope and Darren's lives couldn't be more complete, or happy.

Despite the quite literal tanking of Cross Technological Enterprises, Darren Cross was still one of the wealthiest men in The United States, and the small family could easily skate by just fine on Darren's income alone. This was enough to settle Hope's worries, as she didn't have a job either once the Enterprise was destroyed, but she didn't need a job now. She had Darren, Evelyn, and all the time in the world to cherish them.

Hope's eyes fell closed and her body relaxed, releasing a soft sigh of content. They all lay still, and Hope nearly dozed off before feeling Evelyn's small body shifting against hers. Evelyn's eyes opened, and she looked to her mother with a smile. "Hi, sweetie." Hope smiled, Evelyn shifting to press against Hope's chest, arms around her mother and Hope embracing the young girl in return. The movement beside him was enough to stir Darren, and he looked to the ladies of his life with incredible fondness, "Morning." He smiled, him and Hope kissing quickly as their traditional greeting in the morning. Darren sat up, and ran a hand through his dark brown hair with a heavy yawn. Hope and Evelyn stayed laying against the bed, Evelyn looking up to her father and giggling softly, exposing her missing left central incisor.

Darren chuckled softly at the sight, at how absolutely precious his little girl was. Evelyn's hair was messed up to quite an extreme from moving and kicking Darren in her sleep, something he could always forgive her for. However, the little girl's hair was always large, full of nearly solid black, tight curls. Her eyes were big, and dark brown, her skin dark and freckled. Evelyn didn't look a thing like either of her parents, but her freckles always reminded Darren of Hope, both girls had freckled noses and cheeks, and Darren adored them because of it, and often regretted being the least freckled human being in existence.

"Want anything for breakfast yet?" Darren asked, looking down to Hope and Evelyn, who currently was playing with her mother's engagement ring on Hope's finger. "Yeah, pancakes?" Hope returned Darren's gaze, and Eveyln looked up to Darren as well, excitement on her face at Hope's mentioning of pancakes. Seeing this, Darren smiled lightly, "Sure, I can do pancakes. Anything else?" He questioned. Hope chewed her lower lip in thought, and Evelyn immediatly made her own decision, "Strawberries! And ice cream!" The little girl smiled brightly, and Darren found himself quite literally incapable of saying 'No'. "Okay, Pancakes, Strawberries, and ice cream." He nodded, and Evelyn returned the nod in approval, "Ice cream and strawberries /on/ the pancakes." Evelyn clarified, and Darren chuckled softly, "Okay, baby. Coming right up." He climbed out of the bed despite his reluctance and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

Hope held Evelyn for a few more minutes, the little girl's attention now on the necklace around Hope's neck, and rambling on about a movie she and Darren had watched yesterday while Hope had gone grocery shopping. Hope listened to every word with great care, answering questions when prompted, and smiling or frowning when Evelyn would want a reaction to a shocking moment in the movie she was describing. A few minutes later, Darren came back up the stairs with two plates containing pancakes, and a mug of coffee for himself. He handed the pancakes with ice cream and strawberries atop them to Evelyn, and the other two Hope, only putting syrup on the pancakes, a she knew that was what she liked.

Evelyn's eyes lit up, and she immediatly attacked the pancakes with the fork Darren then handed to her. Evelyn and Hope ate joyously, and Darren drank from his coffee, both Hope and Darren wondering how they got so lucky to have such a perfect life.