Chapter Text
Walking along the sideroad, hands entwined. His hand feels somehow enormously large around her tiny one. He watches her walk beside him; she's so incredibly small and delicate. Like a snowflake.
Abed's never been good with emotions but somehow, it's always been different with her. It's not something very easy to explain, but he has become kind of an expert on her little quirks -those tiny details, tilts, and overall demeanors.
"You're worried" He asserts out of the blue, shattering the silence that had started to cover both of them like a bubble.
She shakes her head immediately, as if she had foreseen, he would draw that conclusion, the dark locks of her hair swaying mildly at each side of her face and her lips forming a thin line when she darts her eyes straight to her red, sparkly little shoes.
"I'm alright" she answers, her soft voice a bit shaky.
He doesn't stop their pace but shakes his own head, decisively "You're lying to me." He tilts his head, staring back at her "Perhaps because you can't quite explain nor fully understand what's really happening right now. And you don't want to deal with trying to verbalize it and risk getting me worried" he's being punctual, as always, but he can feel his own voice softening as he continues "Except that there's no need for you to lie to me. It's normal that you feel confused and/or afraid." He says, matter-of-factly.
Her big eyes look at him with a hopeful gleam "Is it?"
Abed has never been good with emotions, but his heart throbs warmingly whenever he looks into those enormous, bright, doe-y eyes.
He nods "Many things are happening. I know I would be both confused and afraid." I am both confused and afraid he thinks to himself but chooses not to admit it out loud. Truth be told, he’s livid with the infinite –uncontrollable – number of possible results that morning might end up having.
“And you’re not?” she asks, cautiously, without deviating her gaze from him.
Geez, he tells himself. Sometimes he forgets the link goes both ways, and that she can see right through Abed just the same as he can see through her.
So, there’s no point in lying. He wouldn’t even dare to try at this point, so he nods again “A little, yes.”
She tenses but keeps walking. Abed notices they have arrived the comic-bookstore, a few minutes away from the hospital.
“Is she going to die?” she blurts out, just like that, her tiny hand squeezing his own subconsciously as she asks her question.
“One day, she will” He says, “Humans are supposed to die, you know” he squeezes back, in a perhaps clumsy attempt to comfort her “But it’s not likely that’ll happen today.”
“How do you know that?” she insists, relentlessly.
“I don’t know it for sure” Abed confesses, trying to ignore the jab in his stomach as he says this “But the odds are in our favor. She had foreseen the current outcome, therefore was prepared for this to happen, and she wasn’t afraid, so we shouldn’t be afraid either.” His explanation is as specific and clear as usual, apart from the fact that he’s repeating it for the fifth time, just this time out loud.
He's not usually afraid for this kind of stuff. The things that typically put him off are seemingly meaningless, but this is different. A part of him feels like he’s on the verge of mayhem, a few steps away from falling into full Christmas clay-doll mode.
He’s playing the last conversation he shared with Annie the previous night. She had looked him in the eye and told him, kindly and articulated as ever “Everything’s going to be fine, Abed. Remember that, okay? It will just be a while, I promise.” He closes his eyes trying to evoke the soft touch of her hand on his cheek, her lips on his forehead, the exact pitch of her voice.
“Daddy?” the calling takes him away from his cavillation, almost violently. He distinguishes the fear invading the sweet sound of his daughter’s voice.
He looks down at those eyes that look a little like his own – just color-wise, though; other than that, they’re just like her mother’s: round, framed by long, dark lashes.
“So that means you’re going to die, too?” the question stings the air, daunted and shaky.
Abed lowers himself so his eyes meet hers at the same height. Her face is perfectly round, a soft, light brown coloring her skin. He’s never shied away from claiming she’s the most beautiful creature ever created in the big, wide multiverse. Right from the moment he knew she would arrive; he could foretell she would be alluring – he knew his sharp features and Annie's harmonical face would surely make the work – but she exceeded any prediction he might had had. She was just plain and simply perfect.
“Yes. But chances are it won’t happen any time soon.”
“You promise?” she asks, looking at him intently.
Abed knows better than to promise things he is unable to know for sure, but if he is going to be fair, the story plot has been pretty clear so far: it isn’t likely everything would go from a sitcom format to a tragedy.
It would be lazy writing.
“I promise” he says, a slight, sincere smile tugging his lips.
It’s easy for him to smile at his little girl. It may have to do with the fact that she’s almost all Annie, with little traces of his own here and there.
Both of them enter the comic-bookstore. They always go there when they need distraction. It’s one of their many special places together since Abed realized his daughter shares his passion for that specific format of storytelling – as well as movies and T. V. – Plus, the two of them can use the distraction.
They purchase an Adventure Time number they still don’t have in their collection and walk back to the hospital when Abed receives a text from Shirley saying a nurse told the doctor would be out of O. R soon.
“What about Jaddy?” Leah throws the question candidly as they step out of the store, a slight tone of distress in her voice “Is Jaddy going to die too?”
Abed takes a moment to think about it. It’s true his father is now getting closer to his sixtieth birthday, but he’s energetic as ever and still kicking.
He nods “Yes but given that he’s in good health it might take a long while.”
She slowly nods her head in response, with a reflexive glare before asking “And auntie Shirley?”
“Same goes for her. Good health, so we don’t have to worry.”
“What about auntie Britta?” she asks, her eyes getting bigger with concern “She smokes! Mommy says is bad for the lungs!”
Abed sneers for himself a little “Well, maybe she doesn’t have as much time…” he stops himself as he notices the fearful gleam in the big brown eyes staring at him in full concern “However, she’s still pretty young for her health to deteriorate badly. I would label her as moderate risk. And at long term, if so.” He asserts, thoughtfully.
This doesn’t seem to placate his daughter’s concern about Britta’s wellbeing, but she decides to check on the rest of her list “Uncle Jeff? He’s old!”
Abed nods in oblivious agreement “True, but if anyone has the ability to talk his way to immortality, that’s him.”
Leah seems to think about it for a while before smiling a little “Uncle Troy says we go to Candy Crush Village when we die” she chuckles “But if that were true no one would be afraid to die, right?”
Abed shrugs with the hint of a smile lighting up his face “You’re not worried about Troy dying soon?” he asks, tilting his head towards her.
She shakes his head “He promised he would take me to Tokyo Disneyland on his ship before he died, so until then I guess it’s okay. Uncle Troy always keeps his promises.”
Abed allows himself to smile. There’s no secret Troy’s her favorite. That, he thinks, she took after Abed.
They walk quietly for a few minutes and right before they re-enter the hospital, she squeezes his hand, rather anxiously.
“Daddy?”.
“Hm?” he answers, looking down at her terrified expression.
“Are Mommy and Hana going to be okay?” she asks, looking up at him.
Abed stops fully as he lowers himself to her level “They will be fine. And soon we will be back at home, the four of us. And we’ll teach Hana how to play in the Dreamatorium with us. And then we’ll go back to movie nights and buttered noodles. And the next adventure that happens to us, we will face together, with a bigger team this time.”
This seems to pacify her concerns a little and she bobs her head in affirmation “I’ll have a baby sister.” She says, excitedly.
He smiles as widely as he’s ever smiled “That’s true. We’ll all take care of her together.”
Leah beams and suddenly Abed’s chest is full of warmth. He finds himself hoping for Hana to beam just the way her sister and mother do; in a way that makes the whole world seem brighter –better.
“That means I get to be the sibling with superpowers, like Elsa; she’s the older one, and she has ice powers.” She reasons, with a smile.
Abed gives it a long thought “We’ll see. If that’s the case, make sure you don’t shoot her with an icy blast. You know how Mommy gets when it comes to magical mishaps.” He says, thinking of the many times said mishaps had involved him and his toddler getting themselves and the floor dirty during their little endeavors.
“Oh, Abed” Shirley’s mellowly voice breaks into the scene. He looks up and finds her walking towards them in all her righteousness “Doctor Castello is looking for you.” Abed freezes with fear for a moment, then notices his friend’s little smile and knows it can’t be a bad thing at all. So, he relaxes immediately “Come with auntie Shirley, sweet angel. Daddy’s gotta talk with the doctor so you can see Mommy.” She holds out her hand to the little girl, the tenderest smile curving her lips.
Abed nods at her and Leah takes Shirley’s hand happily “C’mon, little Biscuit. Auntie Britta’s on her way with some sandwiches… mediocre, hospital-cafeteria-not-as-good-as-auntie-Shirley’s sandwiches, but who’s complaining.” He hears her sulking under her breath as they walk towards the waiting room.
He smiles fondly at the scene. Britta and Shirley were the first ones to arrive when he texted them with the situation. Troy’s on his way there in one of his many private jets, and according to his call about an hour ago, Jeff was arriving later in the afternoon, stuck in a flight with none other than Craig Pelton and the obscenely gigantic flower arrangement he had gotten for them.
It's nice. To have most of the Original Study Group™ reunited there in such an important day, just like it had been five years prior to that, when Leah was born. He knows it means a lot to Annie and quite honestly, it means the world to him.
He finds Doctor Castello in the hall, a clipboard in his hand. Abed gets closer and Doctor Castello stops before smiling politely at him “Oh, Mr. Nadir.”
It’s weird to be referred as such, but he’s kinda getting used to the sound of it “Ms. Nadir’s delivery went just as planned. We were slightly scared that her blood pressure was a bit high when she arrived, but there were no major setbacks.” He resolves with a bright, white smile and Abed has to blink twice, trying to take in what he just heard.
“Mr. Nadir” Doctor Castello calls, the smile remaining in his eyes “Mr. Nadir?” he repeats, concerned as instants go long and he gets no answer.
Abed forces himself to blink a third time and shake his head, slightly “So Annie’s alright?”
Doctor Castello nods, joyfully “That’s right. She just woke up and might be ready to feed the baby, but she was asking for you.” The man widens his grin as he says, with a heavy sense of victory in his voice “You’re the father of a perfectly healthy and beautiful girl, Mr. Nadir. Congratulations.” He seals his words with a grin and a pat on his shoulder, getting going towards whatever whereabout he was heading beforehand.
Abed just nods, eyes wide open and monotone expression “Cool. Cool, cool, cool.” He stammers for himself, heart pounding fervently inside his chest, for Doctor Castello has already walked past him.
He had been the father of a perfectly healthy and beautiful girl twice now. It might have been expected from him that, being experienced in the subject, he would be past the overwhelming euphoria that came at the realization that everything was fine. For a moment, his life was a perfectly timed story, with a satisfying, fulfilling ending. Except it wasn’t an ending at all, but the opposite thing; a perfect beginning: enthralling and altogether flawless, like all the beginnings he had had since the first time he gathered the courage to fight against the logical flow of the plot and kissed Annie, just this time like himself. Like Abed, who had waited way too long to do it.
Abed takes a deep breath to himself.
Annie is alright he thinks to himself, closing his eyes in the middle of the corridor, breathing in. Relief washes out his whole body for one moment. He had been somehow estranged from that specific type of fear he had experimented today; even though he always tried to visualize every possible outcome, considering the worst scenarios, he tended to believe in the most plausible one, which often involved the most unnecessarily complicated but light-hearted procedure with a satisfying, oddly heartwarming conclusion. But after how Doctor Castello had reacted to the last ultrasound, commenting on an unusually high arterial pressure, he had ended up constantly fidgeting at night, unable to sleep, just dwelling on everything and nothing at all. To the point Annie herself had to comfort him, as if she wasn’t the one in danger in the first place, which had led to more fidgeting and overall anxiety. He hated – hates – how little control he had over those chaotic emotions, but in his defense, it certainly is pretty darn scary to even begin to ponder the possibility of losing her. Abed’s not good with change – had never been–, but that he knew he wouldn’t be able to handle. Not in a million years.
Annie, on the other hand, hadn’t shown any sign of weakness. Being the natural lead she always had been, she took the whole situation with iron grit. And although Abed knows her well enough to be certain she might have been a bit frightened; she never showed any.
Abed smiles to himself with a sense of pride, thinking about how awesome she is. Little Annie Edison, but also the most badass person he’s ever known.
It’s odd for him, trying to understand how happiness – this thing called “joy” – works. And how permanent it can get. Maybe too much, in a way that gets startling when a part of you is always kinda waiting for people to leave, and happiness to banish.
But he can get used to it. The permanence of happiness. It’s all he’s ever known since Annie said “yes”, even before that, since she kissed him back.
He looks at her watch and realizes he should get going to Annie’s room.
That’s all he actually wants to do. He’s just a bit anxious, just in a good way this time.
He’s going to see Annie and meet his other perfectly healthy and beautiful daughter.