Sharing the news!

[shimmerandsing]

The knock at the door came almost exactly fifteen minutes after Alison had hung up the phone with John. He had said fifteen minutes, after all. It was little wonder which parent Robbie took after. The boy was almost -- almost -- never late.

Alison grinned as she swung the door open and smiled at her husband's adoptive father. To her eyes, John didn't really look old enough to be Robbie's father. Let alone Longshot who was a fully grown man. But, it worked for them and it made Longshot happy. Ultimately, that was what mattered the most to her.

"Hiya, John. Come on in." She stepped back to let him in. "Longshot's in the living room. Robbie and Miyuki are off doing something top secret for the clan. I don't even ask anymore." Actually, she did know. They were working on plans for Longshot's birthday and adoption celebration with the jonin. But, she wasn't going to say that while her husband was within hearing range.

"Everything okay?" He looked at her curiously as he shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on a hook by the front door. She eyed the gun holsters on his forearms. She could use guns, she just didn't like them. Too unpredictable for her.

"Yup. Just wanted to tell you something." His perplexed look made her giggle. "It's a secret. Go on in." She nudged him toward the living room and followed after.

Comments

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot was in the living room, reading a magazine upside down. The magazine was actually held right side up, it was the Mojoworlder himself who was upside down. He was situated on the couch so he could hold the magazine easily. His bare heels were pressed against the wall as he hummed and wiggled a little.

He heard Alison answer the door and the murmur of people talking but paid it little attention. There was a turtle hidden in this picture somewhere. When footsteps came into the living room, Longshot forced himself to raise the magazine to eye the entrants' ankles.

The Mojoworlder paused only a moment before setting the magazine on his chest. He grinned up at John. "Hiya, Dad!"

[clericpreston.livejournal.com]

John laughed and waved to the upside down blond. "Hey, kiddo. Sorry to interrupt your reading. How are things going?"

He flopped down on the couch to take a more conventional seat beside the Mojoworlder. It was interesting to him that most of the time, his perception of Longshot's more abnormal behaviors didn't even register them as unusual.

'Normal' was a sliding scale, anyway.

"Alison says you have some big news."

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

"Oh, they're going pretty good," he said conversationally before he carefully rolled off the couch and onto his toes. He sprang up, caught the magazine that had been on his chest, and then flopped down beside his adopted father.

"Big, good news," Longshot agreed with a nod. "Hope you like being a grandpa in less than a year."

Mojoworlders could not possibly take longer than nine months to premier. Or at least not that Longshot remembered.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

"'Round about nine months, we figure." Alison said as she made her way over to the couch and sat down on Longshot's other side. She curled up to him and smiled over at John.

"We'll start calling you 'grampa' in about eight months or so. Just to get the practice," she teased.

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot slipped an arm around Alison and tilted his head a bit. "Guess that would make Robbie an uncle and Lisa an aunt, too."

Though he was not figuring out how that worked with Alison being Robbie's pseudo-mom.

[clericpreston.livejournal.com]

John broke into a wide grin and reached over to hug Longshot. "A baby?! That's great news! I'm thrilled for you two."

When he was done smushing the daddy-to-be, John reached over to hug Alison next.

"You can call me grampa all you want. You may confuse my other kids, though." He chuckled and shook his head. "Lisa is with her tutor, but as soon as her lessons are over I'll go get her so you can tell her the good news, too. A monkey, a puppy, horses, and a baby? She won't ever want to leave..."

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot's grin matched John's as he got smushed. He did eye the hug to Alison to make sure the important belly part was not smushed. Considering they were being careful and all.

"Well, we are a castle full of fun. Throw some ninjas on top and you get stealthy fun." He paused and realized that wasn't where he wanted to go with that. "Or something. Anyway, yay us! And woohoo to you for being a grandpa!"

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

Alison was happily unsmushed after being hugged. She was all smiles, too. "Thank you. I can't even describe how happy I am about it." She spoke the better part of three languages and she still didn't have enough words for 'happy'.

"You and Lisa are always welcome here, you know that."

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot nodded in agreement with his wife. "Yep. The more people in the castle, the happier it is. You should hear the floors cry after Rogue, Dakota, and the kids leave. Missing the patter of feet just about everywhere. Sadie and I can only make up so much."

[clericpreston.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure you two do your best."

John smiled. He understood the sentiment, though. Having a lot of family around is a feeling he craved and enjoyed immensely, for all the rare occasions it had happened.

"I'd actually been thinking about bringing Lisa around for an extended visit sometime. If you were interested. Her summer vacation from lessons is coming up soon."

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot blinked. In surprise. Because it was unexpected. Then a slow grin spread across his face. "We'd like that a lot."

Somebody around his own age! Yay! Waitaminute...

He glanced at Alison to see if she didn't mind the guests.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

"That sounds like fun. It's always nice to have Lisa here. And Longshot needs someone like you around to do crazy things with him, since I'm supposed to be taking it easy now." She grinned, teasing.

The more family the better. That was why they had all been given rooms in the castle, after all.

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

"My princess and I can plot many, many things..." Longshot looked around shifty eyed. Then he realized he had just mentioned this in front of two responsible adults. Oops!

He shook himself a little and grinned. "Robbie will probably like the visit, too."

[clericpreston.livejournal.com]

John shook his head and smiled. It was never in any doubt that Longshot and Alison were completely devoted to each other. But, it was always interesting to see. Pure affection was something he hadn't seen hardly at all in his life.

"I think it's worth a try. We can go looking before we take this sake trip."

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

"Good idea. We wouldn't want to end up buying chinchilla food instead. I don't know if aramdillos would find that tasty." Longshot nodded with all due seriousness.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

"If you do happen to toll in a chinchilla, grab it for me. I've never held one." She chuckled and shook her head. It did occur to her that now she had said that, it would probably happen.

It was alright. There were worse things.

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

"I'll see what I can do for you, buttercup." If she hadn't done it before, he would make sure she got a chance to do it. Though maybe only like a petting zoo thing. Maponos would get jealous, and Longshot would be finding dead grasshoppers in the weirdest places. Like his underwear drawer.

[clericpreston.livejournal.com]

"Whatever a chinchilla is, please don't mention it around Lisa. She will want one. Even if it has razor sharp teeth and claws." That was only a slight exaggeration.

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

"It's a little fuzzy thing. Sometimes they're fed nothing but coffee beans, and then when they poop it out, it's ground up into coffee." Thus another reason Longshot will never drink that vile liquid.

Also, the internet was great for learning things.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

Alison grimaced and shook her head. Sometimes, she was amazed by the information her husband came up with.

"I'm so glad I prefer tea."

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

"I don't think tea would work as well. It wouldn't come out as little beans anyway." Longshot nodded with a momentary look of all knowing. Or at least knowing enough of the all of his world.

[clericpreston.livejournal.com]

John's expression wavered between baffled and horrified. There was a coffee fact he'd never heard before. It might be time to rethink his morning dose of caffeine. The delivery system, anyway.

"That's... revolting."

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

"Coffee is revolting all by itself. I'm definitely not gonna touch any now. Chinchilla pooped or not."

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

"Now I see why you hate it so much." Alison chuckled.

"You look a little green, John. Want some genuine Japanese tea to take home to replace the coffee?" She smiled sympathetically.

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I disliked it by taste alone before I ever learned that." It was icky and patooie for sure.

"Tea's good," Longshot recommended. "And it comes in other flavors than yecch."