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]

"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."

[abrightboy]

He laughed, reluctantly unwrapping that free hand from Raylan's middle to squeeze shampoo into it.

He did love pushing shampoo into his hair, though.

"Maybe when she's a bit older, if that's what she chooses. I mean. We can't do anything about that."

Not give her the kind of Big Girl Bed she wants? Out of the question.

"She's a bit small for one now," he teased.

[tinstar]

Raylan loved that part too - he might help with the hair wetting but he wasn't going to get in the way of the shampoo and conditioner. He chuckled at the assertion, cracking an eye at Malcolm as he idly ran his hand up and down his back.

"Definitely a little small for such a big girl bed. Only other idea I can come up with is a lamp. Maybe one with stars or planets cut out of it." He watched Malcolm's face for any hints that he was right.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm couldn't stop a crack of a smile.

"Ocean waves, actually, and ships that sail around the room," he corrected. "Detective," he added, teasing. "But she can have my books, too, when she's older."

[tinstar]

"Ah!' he sounded in victory with a laugh and a grin. "I hope you get her into all of all the stuff you read. I can handle the fiction section. Plenty of Stephen King and Isaac Asimov. Maybe some Winnie the Pooh in there when she's old enough."

[abrightboy]

"Winnie the Pooh. I didn't think of that one." He moved Raylan under the water, rinsing him out. "I loved that light when I was a kid. It was my favourite thing. I hope she'll enjoy it."

[tinstar]

"I'm sure she will," he assured, tilting his head back to be rinsed out. "I also think it's crazy that you've still got a lamp from your childhood."

He didn't have anything from his; it was a novel idea. Raylan pushed forward, bringing himself out of the the stream so he could kiss Malcolm chastely but deeply, nonetheless.

"She's gonna love you, you know that right," he muttered as the kiss broke.

[abrightboy]

"It's an antique," he explained.

He met the kiss with a faint hum and smiled at that sentiment almost bashfully.

"I don't know what that's going to be like," he admitted. "But I'm also really excited for it."

[tinstar]

Raylan sounded an 'ah' note and found himself smiling again, as he almost always did when they were together.

"Got our whole lives," he repeated with no small amount of pleased awe as he turned Malcolm into the spray and grabbed the shampoo himself. "And a whole lot to look forward to. Tomorrow's just the new first day in making it all happen. We'll knock it outta the park."

They finished their shower shortly after, being well behaved enough to not let their naked intimacy distract them and make them late, and Raylan got dressed in clean clothes and one of his nicer work shirts. His casual didn't feel right at Jessica Whitly's dinner table, so this was his most comfortable option. The hat was slid on though, per and fully because of Malcolm's request, and Raylan was glad for it. He liked wearing his hat, thank you very much.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm liked seeing the Hat. There was something reassuring about Raylan's silhouette that the hat was part of. There was a normalcy to it. He was glad the Marshal had picked up an extra one in New York that time. It wouldn't have been right for him to get back on his feet and not have it. Like Boon had taken something away.

He'd almost taken something away. Malcolm almost felt bad for feeling relieved the psycho was dead.

He dressed in a suit, of course, and when they reached the townhouse, he let them in with his key, walking into the lounge, but not finding her there, so he carried on into the living room.

"Hello, Mother," he said as he spotted her.

She turned around from where she was pouring herself a tumbler of scotch.

"Darling!" she exclaimed with a bright smile. "You've returned. Good. This situation has gotten out of hand; Eve has stopped taking my calls, which is inconvenient, since she's my attorney on this dreadful stabbing matter and apparently there's some sort of form that needs to be filed as a formality to close it out for good and it hasn't been filed..." She turned her attention to Raylan, her eyes sweeping up and down, appraising. "And you're back on your feet," she noted without pausing for breath. "Well, that's a relief, isn't it?" She took a sip of her drink. "Dreadful business, hospitals and... bullets. Come through," she told them, turning to lead the way into the dining room. "Ainsley is already here."

Malcolm looked at Raylan as she turned, his lips pressed together and his eyebrows raised. She was in a state. He tilted his head after her before following. Might as well see it through. At least she wasn't telling either of them off.

[tinstar]

There was a security to it for Raylan, one that he tried to ignore and not acknowledge whenever possible. It was part of his image; what he was known for. If he thought about it, he'd be glad for the spare too.

Still, he felt good next to Malcolm as they came up and into the house. Less nervous or tense than he'd ever been before, though he couldn't say why. Maybe it was because he knew there was nothing that could stop him and Malcolm now. His eyes still swept the house as they moved through it, mind still imagining that anyone could pop up out of the curtains. But Jessica was a better distraction from what he was sure was fine and he gave her a warm squinty eyed smile.

Alright. Malcolm was right. She liked him enough, even if he might not be her most favorite person in the world.

"Sorry to have kept Malcolm down there for so long. We woulda come up sooner, but I was kept in line by the rules." And one very concerned Malcolm who wouldn't let him break them. Sweetheart that he is.

[abrightboy]

"Well, he was hardly going to leave you in that state, was he?" she said with a wave of her hand.

She knew him well enough that, while she had suggested coming to Kentucky, she never thought Malcolm would come back to New York until Raylan was out of the woods. And he was still keeping him where he could see him.

And she was sure Raylan understood that too. If he hadn't before, he must have by then.

"We're going to talk to Eve tomorrow," Malcolm told Jessica. "We'll let you know what we find out."

He spotted Ainsley as they walked into the dining room. "Hey," he said, sliding into his chair.

"Hey," she said distractedly to Malcolm, her eyes doing the same concerned assessing sweep of Raylan that her mother's had. "How are you feeling?" she asked him. "The story on the wire made it sound bad. Said you got shot in the head, which..." She leveled her gaze at her brother. "Malcolm didn't mention," she finished pointedly.

Jessica's eyes widened. "In the head?"

"It was a glancing blow," Malcolm said, holding out his hands for everyone to please calm down.

[tinstar]

Raylan couldn't help but duck his head down with a smile. Fair enough; no excuses needed. It was just as odd to have them accept it was it was for him to accept it - Life rarely slowed down because he'd been injured and yet.. But he was starting to understand how far and true Malcolm was when it came to him. How steadfast and reliable. Sickness and injury were always a test and not one he'd been eager to hasten on.

"And I'm healed up now," he assured to follow Malcolm's gesture and clarification. "Sounds worse than it is. I'll keep my hat on durin' dinner tonight though, if it's all the same to everyone." No one needed to stare at him or the hair that was still short enough to be obvious in his mess of salt and pepper.

He focused on Ainsley with a smile. "I'm okay." He couldn't help but glance at Jessica too, extending the comment to her as well. "And done with Kentucky for good now."

The Danger of it had passed.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm's smile in the direction of the table betrayed his delight at that. He looked at Raylan and it hadn't left his face.

"Done with Kentucky? You haven't shown me the fabled hills," Ainsley reminded him with an impish smile.

"Ah, yes," Jessica said, looking less delighted. "Then it's off to Miami with you, I suppose. When do you leave?" she asked crisply, setting her napkin across her lap.

Malcolm looked at her with a soft sigh. "Mother, I'm going to see this through first. That's why we came."

[tinstar]

"Yeah well.. They're blowin' the tops off those, so I'm afraid, they're done with Kentucky too," he said with a regretful tone and a look as he took his seat, looking over at Jessica.

"He's right. Miami doesn't happen until his business is settled too. Be awfully selfish and rude of me to try and ask him to leave it, right?" He pulled out his napkin and set it over his knee, returning his eyes with a serious look at Jessica. "We don't leave til he's good and done here. Then we're back for hurricane season. Maybe the holidays, if things go that way."

the point was, while Raylan was focused on the future, it didn't discard the now or the needs the Whitly family. He might not be married in yet, but they were important and he would begrudgingly admit he'd taken a fondness towards both of them. They deserved the same support Malcolm got, as best as he could provide.

[abrightboy]

Jessica's feathers seemed somewhat smoothed by that.

"Hurricane season. Do they have that every year?" she asked.

"Yes, mother. Every year. Actually..." He glanced at Raylan. "We were thinking... maybe between Christmas and New Year this year.... we could bring the baby up for a visit." He watched her for a moment. "Raylan's daughter."

Her expression brightened warily, like it was something she wanted, but it could easily blow away. "Really? You'd bring her here?" she asked. Then her expression suggested she didn't know why she was asking Malcolm and she looked at Raylan instead.

[tinstar]

Raylan glanced over as Malcolm glanced to him, the starts of the silent communication that all married people had, looking over at Jessica to see how she took it. They'd talked about it enough between themselves that he wasn't nervous about what her reaction would be, but he was curious.

The tentative, almost smile was a good sign and Raylan smiled softly, crookedly back at her. "If she's welcome, I'd like to. Winona will have her on Christmas, her mother's already claimed that time, but afterwards.." He gestured at the table with a small motion, suggesting the house in whole as their secondary stop. "She's gonna be with me and while I don't really do Christmas the same way, I know that's gonna have to change too, so it'll be good practice for all of us and a good time for you two to meet her."

[abrightboy]

"That is a cheating change of subject," Ainsley told them as Louisa brought three salads and a soup to the table.

Malcolm shook his head at her and Jessica waved the comment off with her hand, her attention still focused on Raylan.

"So you're thinking the week after Christmas, she clarified, clearly already making plans in her head.

Malcolm looked at her sternly. "Don't go crazy," he warned. "No... ponies or giant dollhouses or... pets of any kind."

"How old is she?" Jessica asked Raylan, sweetly ignoring her son.

[tinstar]

He couldn't help but chuckle at Ainsley's protest as Louisa set his salad down, picking up his fork as he looked back over Jessica.

"She'll barely be 10 months by then. She won't even remember it, if we're honest about it." Which was to say that Jessica shouldn't go spending large on someone who won't even remember being here. "But I want you to meet her anyway. I hear that babies have this terrible habit of gettin' all grown and independent on people in a blink of an eye. Can't go missin' the small phase."

He also couldn't help eyeballing the very grown, very independent children sitting with their mother. He was now officially a doting father and holding a baby had done something to him somewhere.

[abrightboy]

"You certainly don't," Jessica assured him, picking up her own fork. "At that age, they even listen to you now and then," she explained, giving Malcolm a significant look.

He spread his hands in a 'what?' gestured.

"You wanted me to settle down," he reminded her. "I'm settling down."

"On the other side of the country, in a cocoon of perpetual law enforcement," she retorted. She looked Raylan over. "But you could have done worse," she admitted.

[tinstar]

Raylan smiled at that, stabbing and taking a bite of his salad, bobbing his head at her assessment and glancing over again with a faint passing look of surprise before glancing at Malcolm.

"It's only a few hours on a flight. And it'll give you a reason to come down on vacation, see the beaches. There is a world outside of NYC worth seein' every once and awhile. When's the last time you left the city?"