The Road Home

[abrightboy]

Raylan's loose ends had been tied in Kentucky and Malcolm's were as tantalizingly close as they'd ever been. He and Raylan made the trip to New York with the intent of discovering the fate of the girl in the box, so they could head down to Miami without... baggage.

They would have to start with the revelation Jessica and Ainsley had made to Malcolm right before Raylan was shot, sending Malcolm back to Kentucky: that Eve had infiltrated the Whitly family to learn more about the Surgeon's victims.

Malcolm let them into the New York loft - a space he considered theirs now, more than his, since they decided they might weather the hurricane season there after moving to Miami - smiling as Sunshine tweeted greetings. Once the door was shut behind Raylan, he opened the door of her cage. Ainsley would have fed her diligently, but nobody would have let her out to fly. Sunshine took off across the loft and Malcolm grinned, watching her go.

He looked at Raylan. "We can still bring her with us when we leave, right?"

Comments

[tinstar]

"Well, it'll be your shed too so really, I kinda expect you to," he said, grinning properly. "Wouldn't be as much fun without you, anyway."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiled down at Raylan's knees as he let his head rest against his shoulder again.

"You did start our relationship by trying to make me handy," he teased. "I feel like this is a natural culmination. Maybe we can build a pergola, too."

[tinstar]

"Maybe I just instinctively knew I liked watchin' you work.... Should I even ask what that is?"

[abrightboy]

"It's like a sun shade. Sort of four legs with crossbeams. Then you can put a cover over top or not. I was thinking for by the pool."

Because there would be a pool. Swimming laps in the morning sounded like a great addition to his exercise routine.

"So there'd be somewhere shady to sit or set food out. Willa will want to have pool parties when she gets older. That's something kids do, right?" When they have friends.

[tinstar]

"Far as I've been told," Raylan said with a nod of agreement at the question.

"We can do a perugala, if you have plans for it so I know what we're doin'.. You're a little excited to host a party there, aren't you?" Specifically, something Willa-centric, but Raylan had a feeling that Malcolm was going to enjoy being a dad. Even if he didn't know that's the job he was signing up for.

[abrightboy]

"I want it to be an option," he said. "For our wedding reception. For family barbeques. For Willa and her friends."

He hesitated, then looked up at Raylan.

"I've never really had... " He wasn't sure what word to put in there. "Anyone to do that stuff with." He bit his lip, his brow creasing slightly. "I hope it's as fun as it sounds."

Malcolm wasn't even considering the word 'dad' for his role in Willa's life, though he didn't consider the word 'dad' for the role Gil played in his life, either. And Gil was arguably more a dad to him than his own father had been. He could possibly come around to it, once he was more comfortable. He'd only met Willa once. He was largely pleased that he had managed to be helpful and hadn't damaged her.

[tinstar]

That made his smile broaden. These forever things. But as Malcolm continued, Raylan couldn't help a pang of sympathy that he hadn't experienced those kinds of things. But they were on a new horizon now and Raylan could make sure that Malcolm made up for lost time.

"It will be. We'll have barbeques and pool parties and Christmas parties, and we'll fill you up with all of it. I'm almost sorta lookin' forward to Christmas, if I'm honest." Having someone to celebrate it with and the whole gift buying/giving process - he enjoyed the holidays when he had a reason to.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiled into Raylan's shoulder, then looked up.

"Even a snowy New York Christmas?" he asked. "Do you think Winona might let us bring Willa all the way up here the week after Christmas?"

[tinstar]

"Even a snowy New York Christmas," he echoed with a grin. "I'll just buy a heavier coat so I don't have to layer so much." Kentucky's weather changed a little too unpredictably in the in between of seasons to call for such a thing, but New York was a different story.

"And I do. As much as she wants to portray the 'endlessly good mother' facade, she's tired and will welcome us givin' her some peace. She'll go get a drink or cry at her sisters. It'll be good for her, don't worry. Her mother takes her through the ringer over Christmas; she always takes a week off in the middle of January to sleep and recover."

[abrightboy]

"What a relief," he breathed. "It's definitely better if it's a win-win situation. I don't want things to end up in some sort of parenting competition with Winona." A beat. "Maybe we'll not mention to her that Christmas at my mother's will see Willa doted on by both profound loneliness and ultrawealth. I don't know how that dynamic will play out. I might have to lay down some ground rules with my mother, though. I am not working out how to ship a pony to Florida," he semi-joked with a laugh.

[tinstar]

Raylan nodded in agreement. That would be an ugly and painful fight, not just for him and Winona but for Malcolm and Willa too. If he could avoid that, he wanted to. The following point was taken with a little laugh of his own at the thought of Jessica honestly arguing that she just had to buy the pony and of course, Willa should enjoy something that wasn't as lowbrow as her father or something.

"That might be a good idea, at least for the first couple. Winona's just about as prideful as I am and your mother isn't exactly subtle." His mouth curled at the edges with his words; he was learning to not mind Jessica's eccentricities, to embrace them as much as he embraced Malcolm's. "Definitely no ponies... But I wouldn't say no to puttin' her through a course or two once she's old enough. Get her comfortable on the back of a horse. Course, I hope she never needs to ride one, but if she ever finds herself in Kentucky again.."

Well, it might come in handy but frankly, Raylan liked the respect and power it brought. Respect for the animal that allowed someone to get from point a to b so swiftly, and the confidence of learning. Both important things, to his mind.

[abrightboy]

"She might get curious about her roots," Malcolm noted. He looked at Raylan. "You know how to ride a horse?"

That shouldn't have been a surprise, the way Raylan dressed. And yet.

"Where did you learn?"

[tinstar]

"Summer work as a farmhand before I got into the mines," he replied with a smile. "It's quicker to bring in a horse by riding it, so I had to learn. But I liked it. Horses too. Never really ridden outside of that, so I am not callin' myself skilled. Just know how to not fall off," he finished with a grin.

But riding in the fields was likely something Malcolm could imagine, he'd seen those exact type of fields.

The grin faulterd as he continued. "I hope she does get curious. But I ain't eager for her to learn the truth of it all. I'd rather keep it a little rosier for her... til she's old enough to understand."

[abrightboy]

"You get to decide that," Malcolm told him. "You get to decide to keep the good parts for her."

[tinstar]

Raylan's gaze was lost on his foot, ruminating in his own thoughts. Didn't she have a right to know where she came from? Did it matter? He wasn't sure.

"And make more good parts," he answered, opting to focus on that than give voice to the thoughts in his head. "With both of us."

He took a deep breath. "That'll hold too. I got time to figure it out." Though he'd likely need Malcolm's help, and he was okay with that.

[abrightboy]

"You're a good father, Raylan. Listen to your own instincts; you know how to take care of people you love," Malcolm assured him. He smiled. "But I'm honestly delighted to help."

[tinstar]

"Well I'm gonna need it so I'm glad." Raylan leaned over and pressed a kiss into Malcolm's hair.

"I should also go ahead and shower, put on a clean shirt for your mother, hmm?" Dinner had to be soon. "Suppose I'll leave my hat here this time.." Never supposed to wear it at the table and all, though it was a rule he often ignored arbitrarily.

"Promise to still be here when I get back or do you wanna join me?"

[abrightboy]

He started to nod acknowledgement of Raylan's plan, but perked up at the invitation, getting up, looking delighted.

"I'm going to put the chain on the door and then I'll be right behind you, but if I get a vote on the hat, I think you should wear it."

[tinstar]

"You always get a vote," he laughed as he pushed to his feet and headed that way, slowly undressing as he went. Boots were kicked off and his tie thrown on the bed as he started on his shirt and got into the bathroom to turn on the shower, stripped down to nothing by the time Malcolm got there.

"Best image I've got in my head is you walkin' around here naked in nothin' but my hat," he continued. That memory came to him often.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm grinned happily, shedding his own clothes in a need to catch up.

"I did leave you a souvenir of the moment," he admitted. "Maybe I knew what I was doing."

He hadn't considered cementing the image itself when he slipped that affirmation card in Raylan's pocket, but whatever worked.

He gave Raylan a lingering kiss before stepping into the shower.

"I can't tell you how happy I am to have you with me when I had to come back here this time."

[tinstar]

"I think you did," he replied with a smile as he collected the kiss and followed into the shower after Malcolm to slide his hands around his waist and pull him close against him. Raylan's smile broke easily into a grin as Malcolm continued.

"Now that I'm done with Harlan, you don't ever haveta come up here alone again, unless we can't help it. You're lucky you're a good road tripper, makes the drive up a lot more comfortable."

Malcolm was a good everything, for the most part and Raylan had somehow known early on that putting Malcolm in the trunk wasn't ever really going to happen. Raylan still wasn't sure why Malcolm's chatter didn't bother him, but he'd had some 8 hours of it on the way up and he still wasn't tired of the sound of Malcolm's voice.

"And even if we do have to make some separate trips, we've got all the holidays to make up for it."

[abrightboy]

"No more double lives. Just the odd business trip," Malcolm said before humming into a kiss. "And our life."

They were bringing Sunshine home with them; this was not a drill.

"When we're at my mother's, don't let me forget to pick up the thing from my old room that I want to give Willa."

He hadn't said what, exactly, it was, but Raylan would find out soon.

"When we find the house, I want her room to be great."

[tinstar]

Raylan hummed back before laughing softly to himself. How was it even possible that he was this happy and secure? He nodded at Malcolm's reminder.

"Still ain't gonna tell me what it is? I'm findin' being patient harder and harder." They were supposed to be showering, but Raylan was selfishly enjoying the bare contact and intimacy of that. He squinted.

"You're not gonna get her some four poster princess bed, right?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smirked up at him.

“Deputy Marshal Givens,” he said with playfully false indignation, “are you suggesting that I - as a child - slept in a four poster ‘princess’ bed?”

He stepped back so Raylan was squarely in the spray and reached for the shampoo with one hand, the other arm still wrapped around him.

“Because I know I did ballet but I was actually still a boy.”

[tinstar]

"We could call it a prince bed if you want," Raylan said with a grin as he tilted his head back and carded one hand through his hair, getting it wet and ready for the incoming shampoo.

"But I was thinkin' more of what you might consider when you're talkin' about makin' a little girl's room great. A princess bed seems to taste."