Chapter Text
Eleanor Quinn was a spontaneous woman. Maybe that was why she married a guy she met in Trader Joe’s parking lot when she was barely old enough to drink. That marriage wasn’t all bad though, but it produced one of her favorite humans, her son Oswald (Ozzy for short). Ozzy was the complete opposite of her, while Eleanor liked to live life on the edge, Ozzy was cautious, even at six.
For the first few years of his life, it was just the two of them, Ozzy seeing his father on weekends and special events. They were with each other as Eleanor started her tech company which grew rapidly. She was able to give him a better life and enroll him in a seemingly prestigious Kindergarten, even a few Huxleys went there!
Meeting with the principal of the school introduced the pair to Penny, the principal’s daughter and star pupil.
They were in the hallway when the large double doors opened revealing a ginger woman and her son with the same hair complexion. They stood at the doors, the woman standing impatiently while the boy stood by her side with his eyes glued to the DS in his hands. “Penny, Dear, why don’t you give the nice people a tour?” The woman, shrouded in pink, peered down at her daughter, nudging her further in front of the pair and further from the shorter woman down the hall. “Ok, Mommy!” Penny excitedly took the two by the hand and led them away.
Ozzy’s eyes stayed glued to their joint hands only looking up at his mom in hopes of stopping the unwanted physical contact. Eleanor nodded in understanding and smiled at the young girl. “Maybe let's keep our hands to ourselves, ok?” Eleanor gently took Ozzy’s hand into hers while removing Penny’s so that she was in the middle of them as they approached the end of the hall.
From behind her, Eleanor heard the principal speak to the other mother. “Mrs. Montgomery, I wasn’t aware our appointment was moved?” her voice was condescending and strained trying to keep up with her sweet persona.
“It wasn’t. We’re early.” The European accent surprised Eleanor as well as the woman’s cold cadence.
She couldn’t eavesdrop for long because the trio were soon met with the doors to the playground.
“I am so sorry I wasn’t able to accompany you and your son on the tour of our lovely school!” the principal shook Eleanor’s hand fervently when they were able to circle back around to the double doors of the main office.
“Oh, no worries! Penny was a great host.” She looked down at the girl at her side who turned pink at the compliment. They smiled at each other.
“I just had a meeting with a… past potential applicant. She won’t be disturbing us again.” As if on cue, the ginger woman came barling out of the hot pink office with her son struggling to trail behind her.
“Let’s go Montgomery, this woman clearly doesn't know what she’s talking about.” They walked quickly away from the group, the woman making brief eye contact with Eleanor as they did.
They stood in silence together as they watched the two walk out of the door and slam it behind them. “Ahem! Sorry about that Ms. Quinn, follow me please.” The woman gestured towards the open office doors with a forced smile.
Eleanor sat down directly in front of the large desk in the center of the room while Ozzy and Penny sat down with each other at a faux tea party set up on a wooden table in the corner of the room.
“You know, judging by your career and Oswald’s transcript from preschool,” The woman picked up a collection of papers and straightened them in front of her. “I think your son would be a great fit for our school!” The pink woman smiled brightly as Eleanor cheered in her mind, her celebration outwardly was much more subdued. “Thank you so much, ma’am!” She stood up and outstretched her hand towards the principal who gladly took it and stood up herself.
“Of course, Ms. Quinn. Let me walk you out, Penny!” She called after her daughter much louder than necessary, surprising a bored-looking Ozzy and causing Penny to freeze mid-pour of her pink, plastic, teapot. “Let’s walk our guests out, Dear.” she smiled at Penny, a smile that left Eleanor feeling unsettled.
“Come on Oz.” she mouthed to Ozzy, moving her purse to her other hand so he could grab hold of it.
Outside, Eleanor saw the woman again. She was leaning against the bottom of the staircase watching as her son picked up random crap around the school. “Ma’am, you can’t be here!” The principal screeched, Eleanor saw Ozzy flinch out of the corner of her eye. The ginger rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Relax, we’re leaving soon. Monty just wanted to… get some things.” Her accent is much more clear now, German or Dutch she assumes.
Her son, Monty, inspected the air vents closely, taking a few things stashed in there and pocketing for himself. Eleanor smiled at the curious child before the shrill, sickeningly sweet, voice of the principal interrupted her thoughts. “Do not make me call security, Mrs. Montgomery!” She shook her fingers in front of the woman’s face.
The woman, Mrs. Montgomery, scowled and took a step back. “We will leave once he is done.” Her piercing gray eyes stared daggers into the pink woman.
The principal huffed and began to storm off, grabbing Penny by the wrist and dragging her back inside the building. The two women looked at the girl's fleeting form with a mixture of emotions.
“That poor girl.” Eleanor was the first to speak up, looking back in front of them to where Ozzy moved up the lawn closer to Monty. Mrs. Montgomery just huffed in response, looking in the distance at her son.
“Soooo,” Eleanor was never the best at flirting, often making a fool of herself in front of her crushes throughout high school and college. But no one could ever say that she didn’t put herself out there! “What’s someone like you doing in a town like this?” God that sounded corny! What is this, a cheesy, hetero, romcom?
The ginger looked at the brunette with genuine confusion, tilting her head to the side in a way that made her look adorably clueless. “What do you mean?”
“I just mean your accent, clearly you’re not from here!” She was scrambling and laughing nervously.
Finally getting what Eleanor was implying, Mrs. Montgomery nodded in agreement. “Um, Monty and I wanted a fresh start. There wasn’t much in Germany for us.” Ah, so she was German. Eleanor celebrated her small victory in correctly guessing the woman’s accent. The woman says the last part is quieter than normal, but Eleanor decides not to ask. At least not right now.
The conversation quickly turned stale as the two women looked at their respective children as they “played” on opposite sides of the lawn. “Hey um,” Eleanor turned to face the woman with a raised eyebrow. “What’s he doing?” The ginger boy in question sat down on the grass and repeatedly jabbed a screwdriver into the back of his DS with an intense focus.
“Oh!” The woman’s eyes lit up at the chance to talk about her son, Eleanor thought it was cute. “Montgomery loves taking things apart and putting them back together, he must’ve done that little game about four times now.” That was certainly impressive, especially for a small child, but that was not what caught Eleanor’s attention.
“Montgomery?” She chuckled in confusion, tilting her head to the side. For the first time in the conversation, the woman smiled timidly.
The expression didn’t quite suit her face, her steely gray eyes crinkled at the sides as her nose scrunched up. “Same as our last name, don’t ask.” She says the last part while looking intently into Eleanor’s eyes. Not quite a demand but certainly not not one.
Eleanor laughs, feeling not an ounce of terror with the other woman. “Well, Mrs. Montgomery-”
“Christina.”
“…what?
“Call me Christina, it's my name.”
“Eleanor.” She held out her hand for the woman- Christina- to shake. She takes it and lets it linger for a moment too long.
“Mooom, can we go nowww!” Ozzy ran up to his mother and fisted her pant leg into his small hands. On the other side of the field, Monty looked up judging the other boy’s childish actions.
Eleanor dramatically groaned, for both Christina and Ozzy who giggled at his mom’s goofy actions. “Alright Oz,” she picked him up and held him with one hand. “Let’s go, your dad's probably waiting on the porch.”
Christina’s smile faltered as she looked away. “Yeah, we should probably go too…” She straightened her back and turned her body to face Monty.
Finally getting the shift in energy between them, Eleanor opened her mouth quickly to explain. “Oh! I’m not-” Christina shouted something in German to the ginger boy who quickly stood up, gathered his stolen things, and broken (?) DS and made his way over to the car that was parked illegally in front of the school. Christina began to walk to her car, fumbling with her car keys. “Wait!”
Eleanor gently set down Ozzy and jogged toward the ginger woman. “Let me get your number, my ex has Ozzy this weekend and I’d love to continue our conversation.” Nice, smooth El.
Christina looked at her with both amazement and understanding before taking her phone out of her purse and handing it to Eleanor. “I’d like that.”
In all of the months Eleanor has known Christina Montgomery she has discovered facets of her elusive backstory. She moved to America almost a year ago now after divorcing her husband. She was a lawyer but her true passion was orchestra, mainly piano, and her son Monty was the most important thing in the world to her. While he was on his first playdate with two boys from his Kindergarten, Christina sat by her phone for nearly three hours, her leg bouncing in place. At the time Eleanor saw her habit as endearing but wholly unnecessary. But now, as the three of them stared vacantly across the hospital waiting room, Eleanor understood each one of her concerns.
The bright fluorescent lights blared down on them. Ozzy squirmed in his seat, his face distorted with uncomfortability. “Oz, you wanna go to the children’s waiting room?” Eleanor gave him a crooked smile, offering him a way out. Ozzy considered it for a moment before shaking his head and staring deeply into his mother's eyes.
“It’s too loud, too bright.”
“And these lights aren’t?” El laughed at her son and nudged him lightly with her shoulder. Christina watched this interaction, the corners of the lips lifting ever so slightly. Her fervent worry for her own son was temporarily forgotten.
The doors to the operating room opened revealing a doctor covered head to toe in blue scrubs. Christina purposely averts her eyes from the small smear of blood on the bottom left of her torso. The couple stand immediately, Christina faster than Eleanor who slightly stumbles at the change in position.
“He’s ok.” The doctor places her arms ahead of her body. The tension visibly drains from Christina’s shoulders. Eleanor lifts a hand to her partner's back. “You may see him now, but there's something else we must discuss, Mrs. Mont-” Christina barrels past the woman and into the room where her son was. Eleanor followed after her, mouthing to the doctor 'Later.' in warning not to disturb them.
Ozzy and Eleanor join Christina, crouching by Monty’s bedside. His glasses were cracked and blood-stained on the bedside table next to him along with an I.V. drip in front of it. His mother clung to his small hands, probably applying an uncomfortable amount of pressure but the small boy attached was too delirious to mind.
“Hey, Bud?” Eleanor spoke quietly. Monty’s head turned slightly, his eyes still closed, barely noticeable to Ozzy. “You ok?” What a stupid question, of course, he wasn’t ok he was stabbed repeatedly . Eleanor winced, chastising herself in her mind.
Ozzy moved closer to the bed, poking the ginger boy in the cheek. Christina’s eyes widened in terror. El had a similar reaction, she opened her mouth to lightly chastise Ozzy that his light touch could hurt Monty but the ginger boy’s face didn’t show signs of hurt he did turn his head further and opened his eyes to make eye contact with Ozzy.
“Are you alive?” Ozzy asked, looking at Monty’s bandaged face with confusion.
“No.” The other boy responded, his voice was scratchy from hours of being unused.
“Oh,” was Ozzy’s only response. He rested his arms on the thin sheets covering the hospital bed. “You sound alive.”
“You don’t.”
“What does that mean?”
“Guess.” Monty chuckles. The movement causes him pain but he doesn't let it show, as to not worry his mother.
The couple looked at the brotherly exchange between the two as they continued to bicker quietly about nothing. Eleanor looked up when she heard Christina snuffle. Tears welled up in her eyes but refused to let them fall.
The door to the small room opened. A different doctor this time peered his head into the door. “Mrs. Montgomery?” He looked down at his clipboard and up back to the couple's gaze. Christina got up on her knees, lightly dusted the dirt off her pants, and walked over to the doctor to shake his hand. Eleanor got up as well as her partner and the new doctor made their way out of the room.
“Ma’am, there’s no easy way to say this…” His eyes darted over to Eleanor momentarily before going back to the woman directly in front of him. “But Montgomery’s injuries on his lower body are so severe that the muscles won’t fully heal until very late in life.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” Christina crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the man in front of her.
“Montgomery will most likely need mobility aids for the rest of his life.”
Her screams of anguish could be heard throughout the hospital floor.
They moved in with each other shortly after Monty was discharged from the hospital, wheelchair in tow. It felt only natural, seeing as though Eleanor held a sobbing Christina in her arms all night after getting the news that her only son might never walk again.
Modifications needed to be made to the house, a wheelchair ramp in the front of the house as well as the back and a stair elevator for the stairwell. Eleanor was willing to shell out for these modifications and more, in a way she already saw Monty as a second son.
Ozzy was quiet, more the usual. Typically, at dinner, he would talk excitedly about his day. Gesturing with his hands when talking about Madison or Ron. But that was when there were just two of them. Now another woman was taking his mom's attention and a kid sharing his space. Eleanor wanted to give him space and not force another family on him. They still spent time alone together away from the house and Ozzy even started to feel comfortable speaking to Christina without El present.
For a while, things were calm around the house. The four of them became a tight-knit unit.
But then the boys started school again.
With Monty still getting used to using a wheelchair, as well as the new environment, and Ozzy’s closest friends abruptly moving schools… tensions were high between the two of them.
Ozzy blamed everything on the new kids. He tripped on his shoelaces? The new kids. His favorite toy is out of batteries? The new kids. Madison being dropped from the ‘smart class’ and moving schools? The new kids, but more specifically, Monty .
The four of them sat in the dining room in tense silence. Ozzy’s eyes stayed trained on the ginger boy in front of him as he picked at his food. Eleanor and Christina gave each other a look before returning their eyes to their kids. The boys were home from school for another week due to the principal’s abrupt absence and the couple wanted to nip whatever the boys were fighting about now before it ruined their break.
“Monty, did your friend get home safe?” Christina asked, turning to her son, fork still in hand.
“Yeah, she left an hour ago.” He responded, taking a big bite of his food and keeping his head down. Ozzy scoffed. “What?” Monty looked up from his plate and glared at the boy across from him.
“You know what.” Ozzy sneered.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Monty stared at the boy, unblinking. The two of them communicated silently leaving their mothers looking on in confusion. “…what are you guys talking about?” Eleanor shifted her eyes back and forth between the two children.
“Mom, Christina, Monty is-!”
“Ozzy!” Monty screamed across from the table, silently pleading with him with his eyes. “Please?” He mouthed.
“Ugh, never mind.” Ozzy rolled his eyes and went back to picking at his plate.
“Uh, no? Nonono, what is Monty doing?” Christina didn’t take her attention away from the kids. The boys in turn refused to meet her intense gaze.
“Christy,” Eleanor took her partner's hand and rubbed the back of it with her thumb. “Just leave it.” She laughed softly at the boys’ antics.
A few hours after dinner, the boys sat their parents down in the living room prepared to make an announcement. Eleanor was thankful the two of them were speaking again, Christina on the other hand was much more suspicious considering what happened during dinner.
“Moms,” Monty rolled his wheelchair over the carpet closer to where the two women were sitting. “We-”
Ozzy loudly cleared his throat from behind him. Monty rolled his eyes “- I have been hiding something from you two for a while now.”
“Oh?”
“Montgomery what did you do?” Christina narrowed her eyes at the boy and pursed her lips in suspicion.
“Nothing!” He gestured to Ozzy who walked to the basement door and opened it.
The couple turned their heads to see what Ozzy was doing. And there stood a blonde girl with her hair tied with a blue ribbon in a loose bun on the top of her head. It was Penny! The daughter of the missing principal. Eleanor wasn’t laughing now, her eyes were now wide and her mouth agape. “Oz…” She slowly turned to her partner to gauge her reaction. Christina was pissed . And Monty seemingly knew it.
Christina, sternly, said something in German to him while gesturing to the scared girl a couple of feet away from him. “She needed help!” He argued but his mom just sighed and soothed her temples with her fingers.
“Where did you even find her?” Eleanor stood up to rush to her side. Her dress was torn and covered in smudged green goo. She looked down timidly with her hands folded in front of her. El propped herself down on her knees and reached out to inspect the girl's face for any injury. Penny flinched but soon melted into her touch.
Her head was relatively unharmed in contrast to the rest of her body but that did little to quell her rising motherly instincts. “Oh, you poor girl! Where’s your Mommy? Everyone is looking for her!” her voice raised a couple of octaves when talking to her. She soothed a few of the flyaways in her hair with her other hand.
“I- I don’t know.” She whispered, dropping her gaze back down to the wood floors.
Christina looked back at her son who was looking real guilty. “I told him to tell you guys.” Ozzy shrugged while Monty glared at him.
“Shut up, Oz.”
“Monty!” Christina gritted out through her teeth. “Where did she come from?”
Ozzy and Monty shared a look before, in unison, saying, “Found her.”
“What do you mean you ‘found her’?” Christina’s eyes bulged out of her head in both anger and bewilderment.
Ozzy looked at Monty for help but the two adults could see the gears turning in his head. “I… found her while Ozzy and I were walking home?” He framed it as a question, testing the waters to see if the adults believed him.
(“Oh great, get me involved”
“Shut up, Oz.”)
Neither Christina nor Eleanor truly believed him but decided to shift the subject back to the wellbeing of the young girl.
“Can we keep her?” Monty’s eyes perked up at Ozzy’s suggestion. He clasped his hands together to beg his moms to allow them to “keep” the girl.
“Please-”
“Montgomery, she is not an animal! We cannot keep her.” Christina reprimanded the boy before he had the opportunity to fully sneak.
Penny started to panic. If she couldn’t stay here would she be sent back to her mom? Penny didn’t even know where she was and judging by Monty and Ozzy’s moms’ reaction, they didn’t know either.
Eleanor, seemingly sensing what the girl was fearing, placed a hand on the girl's trembling shoulder. “You can stay here for the week, or until we find your Mommy ok?”
“Really!”
“Really?” Christina looked at her partner with a surprised expression on her face.
“Yes, really. Boys, can you show Penny to the guest room?” She smiled at the boys who looked ecstatic. Ozzy began racing up the stairs, dragging Penny along by her arm. This surprised El, seeing as though her son was a notorious germaphobe and the blonde girl was covered in an unknown green fluid. Monty made his way over to his chair lift and followed after them leaving the adults alone downstairs.
“El what the fuck was that?!” Christina walked over to where Eleanor was standing. She wasn’t yelling per se but her tone was hushed and stern to not concern their children (and guest).
“Look, I know it's a big decision-”
“Eleanor, we are not keeping her!”
“And why not?” Eleanor grabbed her partner’s hands and held them gently in her own. “We were talking about extending the family, and that girl’s mom doesn’t care about her enough to take her daughter with her when fleeing the country!” Eleanor Quinn was a spontaneous woman. So adopting a little girl didn’t seem too out of character for her. Christina Montgomery, on the other hand, was a practical woman. Each move she made was calculated and thoroughly thought through.
“We were talking about it last week !”
“And this perfect opportunity has fallen into our laps!” She smiled brightly at the woman in front of her. She squeezed her hands and leaned in for a kiss, Christina accepted it without a second thought. “Come on Christy, live a little.” She said as they parted.
She thought about it, really. About how quickly her and Monty’s lives had changed in the course of a few months. She thought about the clear fondness the boys had for the girl and how this girl had nothing after her mother’s disappearance.
“I- fine, El.” Eleanor jumped in place, celebrating outwardly in the comfort of her own home. “But!” Christina continued, stopping her girlfriend mid-celebration. “I want to give her a bath and take her to a doctor before going to the police, we can’t just take her in without proper documentation.” Christina had that look in her eyes, listing all of the things that needed to be done to properly adopt the girl in her mind. She walked away, probably to get a notepad.
At the top of the stairs, peeking down at them, in between the bars laid a hunched-over Penny with her bright green eyes staring down at Eleanor. The woman looked up at the child and smiled at her, leaving her with a wink before the child scurried away to rejoin the boys.
They say when you have kids, the days are long but the years go by fast. Well, that couldn’t be more true for Christina Montgomery and Eleanor Quinn. One day they were tucking in their six-year-olds for bed and picking out paint for their daughter’s bedroom, and the next they were getting ready for their last year of high school.
“Ozzy, have you seen my hair ties!”
“Who moved my shoes? They were here yesterday!”
“It’s too early for this!”
Eleanor sat down at the kitchen counter, sipping her coffee and listening to the chaos going on upstairs. She heard Monty’s crutches getting progressively closer to her. “Good morning, Love.” Eleanor smiled sweetly at her son as he moved past her to the cabinet where the family kept their coffee. She thinks he mumbles ‘morning’ back to her but his face is turned away from her so she can’t tell. He was the first of her children to come downstairs but he was far from ready to go. He was dressed, she’ll give him that, but his hair was a mess and he was barefoot. Monty was never a morning person, needing coffee to just function throughout the day. Eleanor was the same, probably due to the long nights that crossed over into the early morning that she spent working.
(Like mother, like son apparently)
The two sat in comfortable silence before being joined by a frantic Penny. “Mom, have you seen my butterfly clips? They're not in the bathroom.” She turns to face her brother and makes a face. “Why aren’t you dressed?”
“You and Ozzy are hogging the bathroom.” Monty took a loud sip of his coffee while staring daggers at his sister.
“Well, it’s free now, and hurry up! We can’t be late,” He groaned in response. He slotted his arms into the metal crutches on his sides and made his way out of the kitchen.
“By the way, your clips are in the dining room!” He yelled after her from the safety of the staircase. Penny groaned loudly and stomped off in the direction of the dining room to finish her hair.
“Why does he do that?” Christina walked into the kitchen. Her orange hair fanned around her shoulders, contrasting against the blue of her ironed shirt.
“He’s your son.” Eleanor stood to kiss her fiancée on the cheek as a greeting.
“Ew.” Ozzy scrambled into the room, stopping only to gag at his mothers’ display of affection. “Mom, Monty moved my shoes again!”
“No, I didn’t!” His brother yelled from the upstairs bathroom, presumably running a comb through his messy hair.
“Yes he did, he already hid my butterfly clips!” Penny yelled back.
“Oz, I moved your shoes. They were dirty so I washed them.” Christina pointed in the direction of the living room. “They’re by the door.”
Ozzy breathed a sigh of relief. He ran out of the door and towards the living room. “Thanks, Mom!”
Christina turned red and started inspecting nothing at all on her sleeves, trying (and failing) to contain her smile. Eleanor doesn’t know how many times Ozzy or Penny can call her ‘Mom’ before her partner will stop reacting this way. El secretly hopes she never does.
Soon the family congregated in the dining room. Eleanor and Monty ravished their eggs while Penny and Ozzy ate their respective cereals slowly. Christina sat drinking coffee while her family ate their meals, basking in their company. The only sound coming from the room was the clink of ceramic and silverware and whispered conversations between siblings.
“Mom, Maddie was wondering if she could come over for dinner tonight.” Ozzy took a spoonful of cereal into his mouth while turning to face Eleanor.
“Oh, Ted was wondering the same thing,” -
“Why don’t they both come over!” Eleanor looked at Christina. “We could make a special dinner and Monty you could invite-”
“Nope.” The teen stood up from the table and hobbled to the dining room exit where his crutches were. Christina often scolded him for this habit, saying that it would put him back weeks of physical therapy, but Monty usually just scoffed and reassured her his doctor told him it was fine, and that exercising his joints could help speed up the recovery process.
“Oh come on, it'll be fun!” Eleanor called after his retreating form. She settled back down into her seat. “What time do we need to leave?” She took another bite of her eggs.
“7:40, maybe?” Penny stood and collected her and Christina's dirty dishes and brought them into the kitchen where her brother was hiding from their mother.
“Oh!” He almost ran back into the dining room. Christina opened her mouth to tell him to slow down but Monty beat her to it. “Jerome and Buggs are gonna pick me up. They should be on their way.” He grabbed his phone to check the time.
Eleanor was on board but Christina was weary. “Are you sure? It’s just… Buggs just got his license.” She looked at Monty with apprehension in her eyes.
“Chrissy…” Eleanor softly put a hand over her wife’s own and smiled at her. “The school’s five minutes away, I doubt they can get into trouble in five-ten minutes!” She reassured her partner. Christina’s shoulders dropped as she released a breath, a small amount of worry left her body.
Monty looked at his moms’ and mouthed to Eleanor a ‘Thank you’. Eleanor smiled and winked at him.
The ginger teen grabbed his crutches from the door frame along with his bag. He made his way to the front door, calling out to his moms in the dining room. “Bye Mom, I’ll see you after school!”
“Wait, can I get a ride-”
The door slammed shut.
“Dick…” Ozzy muttered under his breath grabbing his bag as well. Penny laughed as she made her way to the door.
Eleanor Quinn was a spontaneous woman. Maybe that’s why she moved in with a woman and her son after only a couple of months of dating. Maybe that’s why she adopted a little girl who she was 90% sure was a robot. Maybe that’s why she got married to the love of her life after being engaged for only 6 months.
But as she stood up to take her remaining 17-year-olds to school, Ozzy fumbled with his school laces while Penny fixed her hair anxiously in the dark reflection of the television.
For once she was thankful for her impulsivity.