The Best Friends You'll Ever Have | 23: Stubborn

[luxken27]

Chapter Title: 23 | Stubborn
Prompt: #058 – Grounded
Universe: Post-canon
Genre: Family
Rating: T
Word Count: 1,076
Summary: There was nothing worse than watching her fear become realized – she’d clutched his hands then much like she was now, as if he was her lifeline as she dangled over the side of some perilous cliff.

Links: FF.net | DW | LJ | AO3

Written for the “fluffy” prompt on my 2016 Summer Mini Challenge table.

I had every intention of writing Bruce/Lila hijinks to fulfill my Summer Mini Challenge this year, but unfortunately - as happens all too often with my flaky muses - that didn't happen. When it came to the “fluffy” prompt, I just didn't have any good ideas for them. Eventually my mind wandered towards domestic fluff - the genre - and voila! Here we are.

I've already written some KI OTP post-canon domestic fluff, so it was basically a matter of choosing another pairing to play with. Charlie and Janine were probably the last choice on my list - mostly because I can't see Janine as a parent, no matter what universe we're operating in :P - but the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became. Plus, I missed writing them, but I didn't want to jump back into my post-canon continuum just yet. I was running out of time to meet my deadline, and knew any effort had to be short, sweet, and to the point.

There's no doubt I was at least semi-inspired by reading paynesgrey's posts about her pregnancy. It certainly set the mood, at least =) I've written a smattering of strong-female-character-dealing-with-pregnancy fic before, but this would be different - more slice of life than introspection or smut, haha.

I can totally see Janine working until the very last possible moment, wanting to put as much into place as she possibly could before her maternity leave. She has a need to control her life, but I can also see her having issues with dealing of the idea of giving birth and being a mother. Unlike her baby-sitting little sister, Janine doesn't have a lot of interaction with kids in the series; she's far more interested in her hobbies and courses. I don't think she'd be dead-set against the idea of having her own family some day, it just wasn't a priority for her in any way.

Her approach to family life is one of the many interesting contrasts between her and Charlie. Charlie is so wrapped up in his own family and he's such a wonderful father figure to his younger siblings than being a father himself would come quite naturally to him. It would also be important for him to prove that he could be a good father despite not having one himself. He has so many issues with Patrick to work out, and this would be a major one: wanting to prove to himself that he is a better person - a better man, a better father - than his own deadbeat father. He would totally be determined to have his own family; I can't see him settling for anything less, honestly.

I don't think he'd have a hard time convincing Janine to have a baby with him. I also think he'd be the sort to hover over her, even though he knows it drives her crazy. She welcomes his mother-hen routine here, however, because she's scared. He knows she's scared, too, but he doesn't smother her, or try to take over. He can balance his need to be there for with her need to be in control of the situation. I don't know, I can just see it working. He's so loving and supportive, in such an understated way.

This was fun to write, and it came out more or less in one piece - a plus when writing against a deadline, LOL. It was refreshing to write this pairing again, and sort of whetted my appetite for more. And it's always a plus to knock off another babysitters100 prompt, considering I've been working on that table for six years now o.O