R.I.P to Alan Rickman. You will be dearly missed. Thank you for being a part of my childhood and making my laugh, cry and hang on to the edge of my seat in anticipation. You will always be in my heart and mind. You were a part of me. I raise my wand to you.
Hope you are enjoying the book! Up above is the outfit Ailbhe will wear. I'm really excited for the upcoming chapters. Lots of fun stuff. Enjoy!
Ailbhe's day started off with a bang. Literally. A huge bang woke Ailbhe up from her sleep. Wiping away the hair in her eyes, she climbed out of bed and went to investigate.
She heard muttering and strings of curses come from downstairs. She groaned as she fumbled down the stairs, trying not to look like a drunk.
The noise she was making made the muttering stop and Tom's head popped around from the corner, making Ailbhe scream and fall down the rest of the stairs and lay flat on the floor.
She eyed Tom from the floor, who was bent over laughing. "What's so funny mister? A teenage girl falling down the stairs is funny to you!" She stood up carefully.
Tom saw the gleam in her eyes and started to run. Ailbhe chased after him. "You get back here, when I get to you Hiddleston, I'll smack you so hard you'll regenerate!" She yelled.
Tom slid to a stop, making Ailbhe crash into his tall form. Tom grabbed her shoulders so she wouldn't fall. "Did you make a doctor who reference?" He asked, making one of his eyebrows go up.
"Maybe."
"So you are a...what do they call you?" He questioned, letting go her shoulders.
"Fangirl." She answered.
"Yes! Fangirl." He said, snapping his fingers.
Ailbhe smacked him in the shoulder. "Ow!" He cried. "What was that for?" He rubbed his shoulder.
Ailbhe headed for the kitchen. "That was for scaring me at this god forsaken hour." She turned around, her hair flying across her face. She started spitting and sputtering. "God! I hate my hair, always gets in my mouth." Tom smiled at his daughter, he couldn't believe that she was finally with him. He thought she'd never go with him.
~Memory~
Tom was so nervous walking up to the Neu's ( pronounced Ni) house. He had no idea what Alibhe's reaction would be like. He took a deep breath as he rang the doorbell. The door opened and Megan Neu, the mom, greeted Tom with a kiss and a hug. "Tom, it's been so long!"
He smiled and kissed her cheeks. "Too long. How are you?"
She ushered him in. "Okay, been a few hard days, but you know. Gotta deal with everyday life." She shrugged.
"There's the man we've been waiting for!" Adam announced as Megan and Tom walked into the kitchen. Tom and Adam greeted each other with a handshake. "How's London treating you? "
"Great, bought a house awhile back, I finished some work and I'm free for a few weeks. " Tom answered.
"That's awesome. " Adam replied.
Then it was an awkward silence as everyone stared at their feet.
Tom opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted as the front door opened and closed.
"Mom? Dad? I'm home, who's car is that out front? " Ailbhe's voice cried out. Tom gulped, never in his life has he been this nervous.
Megan walked out to the entrance. "Hi honey, how was school?"
"Usual." Came the reply, their voices getting closer.
"Uh, we have someone that we want you to meet." Megan and Ailbhe entered the kitchen.
Tom's breath was taken away. Ailbhe looked just like her mother. The auburn hair, green eyes, the mouth and nose too. She had her mother's traits. The ears, hands, and cheekbones she got from him.
She definitely half Irish half British.
Ailbhe's face looked like she met a celebrity, which technically she did.
"Why is Tom Hiddleston in our kitchen?" She whispered loudly.
Tom laughed nervously. "We've know him since you were born, he decided to drop in since he was in the neighborhood." Adam explained.
"You guys have known Tom Hiddleston since I was born?! Why didn't you tell me!" She exclaimed.
"Because I asked them not to." Tom spoke for the first time.
"Oh, might I ask why." She questioned, leaning against the counter.
"Because I didn't want you to know who I was." He told, his voice cracking.
"Okay, you guys are scaring me, what's going on?" Ailbhe's voice quivered.
"I'm so sorry, Ailbhe." Tom's eyes filled with tears. "I-"
"Ailbhe, I'm sorry we never told you this, but you're adopted." Megan said softly.
"I'm what?" Her voice became cold and hard.
"You're adopted and I'm your father." Tom sputtered out.
"Excuse me, I thought you just said you're my father." Ailbhe laughed coolly.
"I did." Tom said, looking down not wanting to see the hurt in her eyes.
"Excuse me." Ailbhe fled from the kitchen and up to her room. Slamming the door, she slid down the door, Ailbhe sat against it and sobbed. Her whole life was a lie and she didn't know what to do.
A soft knock on her door made her jump. "Go away!" She screamed, not caring who it was. "I hate all of you!" She finished.
She head a broken sigh from behind the door. "I understand Ailbhe, I'm so sorry for all the hurt I've caused you." Tom's voice filtered through the door.
Ailbhe stood up and swung open the door. "You have no idea what hurt you've caused me." She yelled, poking a finger at him. "Did you expect me to welcome you with open arms?!"
"No, I didn't. But I hoped you would forgive me." Tom whispered guiltily.
"That's never going to happen Mr. Hiddleston. You will never know what pain you just brought me. You will never hear me call you father." She spat.
Tom's reaction to the words almost made her feel guilty for saying those words. But she swallowed her guilt and backed up into her room and slammed the door.
"I'm sorry, darling."
~End of Memory~
"Anywho, what's for breakfast?"
Tom's frown turned into a half guilty smile, he coughed softly. "I may or may not have either burnt it or dropped it." He admitted.
"Oh my god, Hiddleston." Ailbhe shook her head. "What were you trying to make?"
"Cereal."
"Wait? How the hell can you burn cereal?" She cried.
"I may have put it on a burner that was still hot and its melted." He laughed.
Ailbhe shook her head as she poured her cereal into a bowl. "How are we going to make dinner tonight then? "
"Technically, I can cook, it's just that I haven't cooked for awhile. I'll figure it out." Tom told her, grabbing a new bowl of cereal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ailbhe sat in the midst of her closet. She had hung all of the clothes she brought, which were just flannels and trench coats. She walked out of her closet and opened her second suitcase. Books, old and new, were stacked neatly together and filled the entire suitcase.
She dragged the suitcase carefully over to her bookcase. Grabbing the first series, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, she set them on the shelf and bent down to grab the next. J.K. Rowling's series Harry Potter was set next to Tolkien's books. Then Game of Thrones books were set on the next shelf.
Sherlock Holmes took up the rest.
The rest of the early afternoon was setting up her books on the shelves. After she finished assembling most of her room together to make it more her, she headed down to the kitchen to see what Hiddleston was doing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tom felt Ailbhe's nerves radiate off of her as the day ticked closer to 5. "What if they don't like me?" She questioned, nervously.
"Ailbhe, they will love you." Tom replied. "They are two of the nicest people I have ever met."
Ailbhe looked at the clock in the kitchen. It read 4:30pm. She quickly wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing and picked up the two pans of cookie dough. (The only thing she can make without burning) Tom opened the oven for her and she set them in before setting the timer for fifteen minutes.
"I'm going to go get ready right now." She told Tom, taking the apron off.
He hummed in reply, too busy finishing the dinner that he made, without burning.
Ailbhe scampered up the stairs to her room. She opened her suitcases and dug around until she found some clean skinny dark blue jeans. She pulled them on, with a lot of jumping, stretching, and a few splits. Huffing, she found her grey sweater and her blue, red, and grey scarf. Pulling the sweater on, she smelt her armpits. She dug around some more before finding her deodorant, which she put some on. Throwing the scarf around her neck, she put some mascara and a little eyeliner on before looking at herself in the mirror.
She agreed on her looks and threw the clothes she was wearing earlier, baggy sweatpants and sweatshirt, onto the bed. Because as soon as Ben and Sophie left, she was putting those comfy clothes on and sitting on tumblr.
She flew down the stairs as the doorbell rang fifteen minutes early, announcing the arrival of Ben & Sophie. Skidding up next to Tom, she put her best smile on and greeted the couple.
"You look like Tom, Ailbhe!" Ben complemented, giving me a hug. "You can see the resemblance between you two."
"It's very nice to meet you, Ailbhe. " Sophie said, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
"Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Hunter." Ailbhe greeted.
Sophie laughed. "Please call me Sophie, I feel like I'm back at the theatre when you call me that."
Ailbhe's eyes widened. "You work at the theatre? Oh, I've always wanted to go to an official play." Ailbhe pulled Sophie to the couch so they could talk more.
"What plays are you directing?" She inquired as they sat down.
Ben and Tom watched as the two women conversed together. "She's definitely has some of your looks Tom." Ben said.
Tom nodded in agreement and looked at Benedict. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner. I just didn't want to lose my best friend. " he explained.
Ben looked at him with sincere eyes. "I understand, I probably would have done it too." He slapped Tom on the back.
"Want to help me set the table so they can talk?" He asked Benedict.
Dinner went smoothly, nothing got burnt this time, even the cookies turned out. Ailbhe had an amazing time talking with Sophie about theatre and Sophie said that she could come some day and follow her around.
Tom loved having days off so he could spend time with his daughter. But soon he'll have to back to work. Ailbhe would start school and they'd hardly ever see each other.