katrisims | Myshuno: All kinds of families

Prompt: Dirk and Eric (biglenny)
Words: 795
Universe: could be considered canon Alphabetia I guess, for example while Cho and Nicholas were on their Twikkii trip
Warnings: Other than a slight cuteness attack, none that I can think of

This was surprisingly easy. It just came out of my head in just about one go. At least this year I'm not starting on a gloomy note!

"Daddy?" asked Dirk Bookacy, while he and Eric were sitting in Eric's kitchen and eating spaghetti, Dirk's current favorite food.

"Hmm?" said Eric, trying to swallow the forkful he'd just put in his mouth.

"Why aren't you and Mommy married? Mommies and Daddies are usually married."

Eric smiled and sighed a little. "Well, you see, it's not always that simple. Most Mommies and Daddies are married, yes, but that's just not always the case. You remember Daniel, from your class, right? Daniel Thayer?"

Dirk nodded.

"Well his parents aren't married either."

Dirk's brow furrowed. "But Daniel's Dad still lives with him."

Eric nodded. "Yes, he does. I suppose it's a slightly different situation. Clarissa and Glen are otherwise almost", Eric paused at that word, thinking about the open relationship that he knew at least Glen was occasionally taking advantage of, "like any other parents, but they just haven't gotten married. Me and your Mom, on the other hand, tried to get married, but it didn't work out."

Dirk nodded. He knew that. "But why?"

"It's kind of complicated, kid. I liked your Mom a lot, and I think she liked me, but at the last moment I started feeling like maybe we didn't like each other quite as much as we should have, or in the right way. And if that's how you feel, then maybe it's better not to get married after all. Your Mom was a little bit mad at me for a while, but I think she understands now what I mean."

Dirk nodded thoughtfully. These things didn't seem to as much bother him as puzzle him. He wanted to understand. "But you still had me."

"Yes. And neither me or your Mommy would change that for the world." Eric thought of a quick way to change the subject, since he realized that this one could easily lead to questions that were perhaps not yet fit for Dirk's age. But Dirk seemed to have something else in mind.

"Not all Mommies and Daddies are married", he said, with a sporkful of steaming spaghetti stopped mid-air.

"No", confirmed Eric, waiting.

"And not all children have a Mommy and a Daddy, either. There's a boy in our school, on first grade, who has two Mommies, but no Daddy at all."

"Oh, you mean Cory Mendoza?" Eric asked, thinking of the little boy Aadam had helped his daughter and her wife conceive. "Yes, I've met his Mom's."

"Yeah, Cory seems nice", nodded Dirk. "But can then someone have two Daddies and no Mommy, too?"

Eric nodded in turn. "Yes, that's not very common but it can be. Remember aunt Claire?" Claire wasn't technically Dirk's aunt, but a first cousin once removed, but for simplicity's sake, Dirk called her 'aunt Claire'.

"Yeah?"

"Well she's got two Daddies. You might meet them when you next go to play with your cousin Dory."

Dirk seemed to be digesting the new information and didn't say anything, so after a while Eric continued:

"All kinds of things are possible, Dirk. You just met Devon a couple of days ago at school, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, Devon and his siblings have two Moms and a Dad, and they all live together, with his grandmother and grandfather." Eric was rather happy that he'd taken the time to get to know Cho's family a bit. They were nice folks, and it felt good to be able to explain these things to his son.

Dirk thought about Devon and his three parents for a moment, then said thoughtfully: "Well that's not too differen't from our family, is it?"

"What?" Eric was slightly lost in thought.

"Devon has two Mommies and a Daddy", Dirk explained, "and I have two Daddies and a Mommy, don't I?"

Gladly Eric was well aware of Cho's relationship with Nicholas so this came as no surprise to him, but had Cho herself heard what her son had just said, she would probably have been mortified. For absolutely no reason, he thought.

"Well, yes, I suppose so", Eric said and smiled. "We might not all live together, but yes, you could think of it that way."

"Well you're my real Daddy", Dirk explained, as if worried that Eric might feel insulted, "and Nicholas is not my Daddy yet, but he could be, later on, right?"

"Maybe, he could be", said Eric and smiled. He was genuinely happy to hear that his son's thoughts were developing to this direction. He put his fork down.

"Now, if you're done with the spaghetti, what do you think about some nice baked alaska for dessert and then maybe a round of SSX3 before your Grandpa comes to pick you up?"

"I want to pick the fastest board!" exclaimed Dirk, and jumped up to clear the plates.