Chapter Text
“Can we go see Nick now?” Shaun asked from the doorway.
Sunny groaned and pulled the blanket up over her head. She hadn’t even climbed out of bed yet.
Hancock walked around Shaun with two mugs of hot coffee. “Hey, champ, give mom a few minutes to wake up, huh?” He sat on the edge of the bed and set one mug down so he could pass the other to his wife without spilling it.
Shaun sighed. “It’s been a week since Ellie’s radio message aired. She said it was urgent.”
“We’ve only been home a week,” Sunny reminded him. They were still recovering from the chaos and fun of Nuka World.
“Shaun, Nicky’s been at his job at least sixty years. If this job is really urgent, he would have started it already.” Hancock rubbed the lump under the blanket. “Mornin’, Sunshine.” A nickname he’d given her out of sarcasm when they met, now the only name she responded to. Hancock only used it out of affection anymore. Sleepy hazel eyes met his as he pulled the blanket down. Hancock leaned down to kiss his wife and wrap her cool hands around the warm mug.
The first frost had rolled in with the fog during the night. The Old State House had warmed up since the wood stoves were lit, but the morning chill made them appreciate hot coffee that much more.
“But Ellie was calling for mom,” Shaun insisted.
“That’s ‘cause mom’s the one who rescued Nick from Vault One-Fourteen.”
“Nick can handle most things by himself,” Sunny mumbled with the mug at her lips. “Ellie worries like she’s his mom.” She made a noise of appreciation through the first sip of hot coffee. They were lucky they had it. Actual coffee was uncommon anymore, most people used substitutes of teas, coyote tobacco, or select mushrooms, all imported from the Crimson Caravan out west. When they found actual coffee, it was more of a treat saved for cold days.
Shaun groaned with slumped shoulders and teetered in the doorway. “But it’s Diamond City.” As if everyone wanted to visit Diamond City.
“Shaun, Diamond City is just a baseball stadium people live in. There’s nothing special about it,” Sunny told him.
“And they still don’t like ghouls,” Hancock reminded.
“But mom’s famous there.” Shaun’s eyes bulged.
“Dad is infamous there.”
“Shaun, you don’t even like any of the kids there,” Sunny reminded him.
“But I want to see Nick again.”
“Why do you want to see Nick so bad?” Hancock asked. He rubbed his wife’s arm through the blanket and drank his own coffee. Even though it was hotter than he liked, the heat blossomed through him as it trickled down his throat.
“He doesn’t know I’m a synth, too.”
Hancock looked at his son. The truth about Shaun’s origin had come out in their recent vacation to Nuka World. Shaun hadn’t taken the revelation well, but learning Sunny and Hancock still loved him had helped him cope. Nick Valentine already knew, but Shaun didn’t know others had kept the secret. And Shaun found Nick fascinating because Nick was a prototype Generation Two synth who was self-aware, unlike the robotic Gen Two’s from the Institute.
It seemed being synthetic was the bridge that connected Shaun to the detective he idolized.
“You can’t just write Nick and tell him you’re a synth?” Sunny asked.
“Like a letter? Who’s going to deliver it?” Shaun asked.
Sunny sighed, eyes closed with the steaming mug at her face. “I guess us.”
“Yes!” Shaun grinned. “Thanks, mom!” He ran back towards his room.
“But not till I finish my coffee!”