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The problem was that Loona’s apartment was so small. There was nowhere to go if one wanted privacy, or wanted to allow privacy for someone else. And Stolas wasn’t complaining, really he wasn’t. He’d made a concerted effort not to complain about much of anything for the past few months, at least until he was better accustomed to his situation. However he was going to manage that.
It was simply that it was clear from the moment they had knocked that Moxxie and Millie had chosen to speak with Blitz* outside of the office because it was a personal matter. He didn’t really feel like he had any place being present for that so he would have loved to been able to discretely step farther away.
His suspicions were confirmed when they announced Millie’s pregnancy. Loona made what must have been an involuntary yelp; looking for all the world like she would have loved to escape into the her room for the remainder of the conversation if that wouldn’t have drawn more attention to her at this point.
Blitz blinked. “I hope you’re not fucking, asking my advice on whether you should keep it ‘cause that’s kinda over the line even for me-”
“Yeah, no, I’m not asking your permission to have an abortion, sweetie.”
“What? I said that’s weird. We’re on the same page! Back me up, Loona.”
“You’re on your own for this one, Dad.”
“Alright, to be clear. We’re havin’ the baby. That’s been decided outside of the confines of this room.”
“Well, cool. Congrats, I guess? Do you…should we have a party? I mean, drinks? I guess, not for you, but-”
“Sir-Blitz!” Moxxie cut in with what Stolas now recognized as a very familiar air of barely concealed panic. Millie rested her hand on his and continued. “We’re tellin’ you this right now ‘cause we want to talk logistics. I want to keep workin’ but I’m gonna have to take some time off-”
“Oh! This is about maternity leave!” Blitz seemed visibly relieved to be on more solid ground now. “Yeah, I mean, I’ll keep payin’ you. How long is standard, like a year?**”
Moxxie coughed. “That’s…very generous, Sir. But, well. Millie and I…ideally, we’d both like some time in the beginning. And even after that, we uh, well her family is so far away and mine…obviously not, uh, an option, so…and then even after that-”
“What are you saying, Mox?” Stolas could see the tension return to Blitz’s shoulders.
Millie interjected again. “We’re not sure what we’re saying, Blitz. We’re trying to figure that out with you. Because…I.M.P. is your baby but it’s ours too. We’re in this together. And I don’t want…neither one of us want to leave our dreams behind or put you in a bad position, so we came here…just to sorta…brainstorm, I guess.”
“Oh…” Blitz was looking away, thoughtful. “That is a problem…”
“I could start doing more fieldwork.” Loona shrugged.
“Yeah, I don’t love that, Loon. Besides, I don’t think that’s gonna make up for both of them being gone.”
Stolas coughed. “Sorry.” He flushed a little under the sudden attention as all four sets of eyes turned to look at him. “Yes, well. I really wasn’t trying to…ehm, pry or anything. But um, I am right here. It’s a small space and…well. If you’d have me, I’d be honored to be of assistance. I’m…I did raise a child, you know and…up until recent events, I was, dare I say…rather good at it.”
There was a moment of silence while Stolas wondered if they’d truly forgotten he was there and then Loona broke it with “Yeah, but, you had like…professional help with Via, right? Like an au-pair or something? Not exactly the same.”
“Hey!” Blitz interjected. “Easy, there-”
“No, no.” Stolas could feel his face flushing. What made him think he had a right to intrude on this? Still, he was going to carry on anyway, because why not, really? “She has a point. I was certainly an involved father, as fathers go, but I’ve always had professional help and quite a bit more than usual when Via was a chick. That is, sort of my point, though. Infants take a good deal of work. I think Stella even broke a sweat once or twice. You will need support of some kind, especially if you intend to continue contributing to the business. And I’m quite willing to do the proper research. I’ve got the time.”
There was another beat of silence.
“Say yes.” Blitz made a ‘hurry it up’ gesture with one hand. “Prince fucking Stolas wants to be your manny, so you say yes.”
Millie exchanged a look with her husband before piping up. “Well, of course we will. Stolas…I. It’s just such a generous offer, I’m a little floored. I mean, we’d have to figure out what that would mean. It’s our baby. I don’t want you…or any of you…to feel like they’re your primary responsibility especially at the drop of a hat.”
“Yes, I understand that. But please believe me that you’d be doing me a favor as much as the other way around. I’d feel much more useful doing this than answering phones…oh…apologies Loona. I meant no offense.”
Loona rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. I get it.”
“And like Millie said, we’d have to work out the specifics but we wouldn’t expect you to work for free.” Moxxie favored him with a smile.
“It might feel even feel a little better to get a check from us than from Blitz, right?” Millie was all out grinning, seemingly very warmed up to the idea.
“Oh, definitely.”
“Oh, is that weird for you, Stols? I can’t imagine what that’s like.” Blitz huffed, playing up the grumpiness. “Reminder that I sign their checks too, so it all comes from the same place.”
“I mean.” Moxxie pointed out. “Technically I sign them…”
“Yeah, but it’s my name you’re forging, so…”
He couldn’t believe this was working out. He was going to have a purpose now, instead of relying on Blitz’s charity and stewing in everything he’d lost and all the ways he was letting everyone down. He had a reason for being here! And what a wonderful reason it was!
“Well, I’m…thank you for accepting my proposal. I know I was little more than eavesdropping but-”
“Stolas!” Millie frowned. “If we weren’t trying to include you, we could have pretty easily arranged to talk to Blitz elsewhere.”
Blitz pulled him over to the couch, grinning and curled up on his lap. There was barely room for them all there, but they managed. Even Loona inched close enough to loom over them.
“Face it, buddy. You’re part of this fucked up little family now.”
And when he kissed him, he felt for a moment like that might be.