Work Text:
The day John is born his parents are already divorced. Harriet is three years older than he is but she still cries when mummy and daddy force themselves to be civil. John is just a baby so he doesn’t understand it; he just knows that when daddy raises his voice, mummy tends to hold him too tight.
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When he is two he gets a new daddy, one that makes mummy smile and laugh. Harriet is put into a scratchy pink dress and John wears a blue tuxedo and then everybody eats cake and dances.
By the end of the night, Harriet is screaming about the dress and John is cranky but mummy and their new daddy smile and then put them to bed early.
It’s an exciting day.
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John is five when Harriet decides she wants to be called Harry. It’s cute enough that everybody readily agrees.
John becomes Jonny and inherits all of Harry’s dresses. Mummy laughs and takes pictures and makes him wear her shoes.
When daddy gets home he puts Harry in one of his suits and makes her dance with John.
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When John is thirteen he catches Harry kissing a girl in the kitchen. She tells him that he’s going to start kissing girls soon so he’d better not tell mum.
He doesn’t, but she finds out anyway.
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John is sixteen when Harry moves out. Mum and dad don’t disown her, but sometimes John wonders what kind of conversation they had that made her leave.
She still comes over every Sunday for dinner and probably drinks more than she should. She asks John about his girlfriend but he doesn’t have one. He tries to tell her but she keeps saying that he’s just a late bloomer. Sometimes he’s inclined to believe her.
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His first few years of medical school, he’s mostly focused on his studies so he doesn’t have to worry about dating, much to Harry’s chagrin.
His twenty-first birthday he runs out of excuses and Harry sets him up with one of her exes. He’s too nice to say no and too drunk to say yes.
It’s his first relationship and it lasts a week. It ends because he refuses to have sex with her.
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He’s twenty-five when it finally does happen.
At least Harry stops calling him gay.
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John’s only a doctor for a year before he joins the military. He’s not even sure what makes him do it. During training he doesn’t have to think very hard about dates and since not everybody chatters about the girl-talk and the wife-problems, he doesn’t feel as bad about not joining as he did back at St. Bart’s or in the nurse’s lounge.