Goodbye

3

Lin got over his cold fairly quickly, only having to take a few days to stay in bed. His sons would play doctor with him and 'help' him get better by placing bandaids all over his face and arms. He had woken up one morning, not being able to see. He was afraid he had gone blind, but turned out his boys had covered his eyes with bandaids while he slept.

Pippa on the other hand, had gotten the violent morning sickness. Steve had stayed home for a few days making sure she was going to be alright for a bit before going back to rehearsals. Thank goodness everyone at the theatre was sympathetic for him.

"How bad is it?" His director asked.

"I think it's just normal right now... She can't keep anything down... It's awful.." Steven sighed. He was glad to have a female director, One he could actually go to for advice on these things. Yeah, he had a kid before, but times were different now.

"It'll pass soon enough. Some women hardly get sick, some get so ill they have to go to a doctor for weeks just to get what they need in their system. And their babies came out perfectly healthy." She explained. "Who all knows?"

"Me, you, Lin and his wife. That's it." Steven answered. "We're keeping it very closed off until she's gotten to her first trimester... We don't want to say something then something happens..." He frowned. "And in all honesty, I wasn't planning on telling you either. But since I took off.. I figured you needed to know.."

"Right, right." She nodded in agreement. "If you need anything, just ask. I'm not going to be angry." She smiled.

"Thank you." He whispered. He was one of the lucky ones. A boss who was this understanding was hard to find. He couldn't help but feel like he owed her something. He thought of little gifts he could give her, but in reality, the best gift he could probably give the director was to have a great show. That was the ultimate gift. So he decided to help his cast mates run lines and help them remember them. Just little tips and being helpful.

Something not everyone would do.

"Sorry I'm late!" He yelled when he got home. The apartment was quiet, something he was already used to. Pippa was a casual quiet person when she was left alone. He shut the door and locked it behind him, walking into the bedroom to see Pippa curled up in the fetal position on the bed. She was fast asleep and he wasn't about to wake her up either. "My babies..." He whispered with a smile.

He knew how tired she was, and it was probably going to be the only time she slept today. He felt awful for everything so he decided to cook a little dinner for him and made up something light for her when she got up. He wanted her to relax as much as possible. Even if that meant learning how to cook better and clean the entire house a little more than normal.

He was going to do it all for her.

===

Vanessa watched her boys run with Lin in the park. She rarely had days where she could just sit and relax like this. She was usually chasing one of them out of something dangerous.

"I'm going to get you!" She heard Lin laugh while chasing Sebastian around.

"Daddy's a monster!" He giggled. Fransisco came running up to her, squealing.

"Mommy is the safe spot!!" He yelled while tagging her.

"Why am I the safe spot?" She laughed.

"Because you keep us safe." He smiled. She couldn't help but feel her heartstrings being ripped out of her. It was one thing to hear it from another parent, but hearing it from a tiny child is another thing.

"Oh I love you so much." She said while hugging him.

"I love you too mommy!" He giggled. "Now I'm extra safe." He smiled up at her.

"Daddy's coming!" Sebastian yelled while running towards Vanessa. He tagged her leg and stuck his tongue out at Lin.

"Oh no... Where did they go!?" Lin laughed. "I can't see them!" He gasped. "All I see is this beautiful woman sitting down!" He smiled.

"Where?" Vanessa joked with him. Lin laughed and sat with her, breathing heavily from all of the running. "You should exercise more." She laughed.

"I do. Chasing these children around." He smirked.

"I meant more than that." She smiled. "Or they're going to be pushing you in a wheelchair soon. You'll end up breaking a leg."

"That doesn't sound too bad in all honesty." Lin joked. Vanessa playfully hit his arm, wishing he had a normal sense of humor. But he didn't. She had to marry the one guy on the planet who didn't have a normal sense of humor.

But she loved him because of that.