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sweeter-innocence-fics · 1 year

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Summer Fic Week 2023 - Day 3: Retracing the Steps That We Took

Pairing: Colin Zabel x Reader

Work Summary:

Set in the Even If It All Comes Crashing Down universe.

It's summertime and you're moving house. Daisy gets an ouchie and Rose surprises everyone.

Rating: General audiences

Word Count: 2686

Read on AO3.

Masterlists.

Summer Fics Masterlist.

Taglist: @mrs-kai-anderson @ang3l1te @missryerye @trashmaximoff @josephines-simps-fics @cursedandromedablack @rottenstyx @totta69 @clowwderr @starmansirius @raincoffeeandfandoms

Taglist info.

Notes:

I just can't quit this AU.

Warnings for very minor injury to a child

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Rose was gurgling in her car seat, trying to put her foot in her mouth. It was a struggle, because of the way she was strapped in. Colin’s mom had thankfully agreed to babysit for the hardest part of the move.

Now it was the final stretch, and the girls were with you. You just had to move the final few boxes, and then you would be in your new home.

Daisy was a little teary-eyed. You were, after all, leaving the only home she’d ever known. It was the home where she’d spent the first five years of her life, where you had fallen in love Colin, where her baby sister had first come home.

Rose, at about eleven months old, didn’t have enough awareness of what was going on to be upset. She stared at her big sister with big brown eyes, not understanding what was wrong.

“Are you excited to see the new house, Daisy? We told you about the garden, right? It’s got a lovely big garden.” You reached back over the back of your seat to stroke her arm.

“I know.” The girls hadn’t seen the house yet, but you’d decorated Daisy’s new bedroom in a way that you were sure she’d love.

Your friend Louise, who was pretty good at painting, had helped you paint a mural onto one of the walls. It was a scene of a jungle, with all her favourite animals featured.

Rose’s room – having separate rooms for your daughters was a big driving force behind moving house – had a mural too, but it was an undersea scene. Colin had taken the girls to the aquarium once, and Rose had sat, transfixed, staring at all the different fish.

“And we’ve got a present waiting for you when we get there,” said Colin, flashing you a grin from the driver’s seat.

“A present?” That had perked Daisy up. “What present?”

“You’ll see. It’s a surprise.”

“A surprised,” said Daisy, quietly. “I like surprisedes.”

You squeezed her hand. “Nearly there, sweetheart.”

The new house was only a ten-minute drive from the old one. It was also closer to Colin’s mom, which was very convenient, since she was always glad to babysit the girls.

As Colin pulled into the driveway, you said, “here we are.”

Daisy stared up at the house. Your old house had only one floor, but this one had two, which was a novel experience for her. The master bedroom also had an ensuite bathroom, which was a big perk for you and Colin.

Colin turned off the ignition and twisted around in his seat. “You wanna have a look around?” Daisy nodded.

You picked up Rose, while Colin took Daisy’s hand. He had a free hand, so he unlocked the front door and pushed it open wide. It opened into the living room. As you tried to walk up the steps, Max cut past you, completely unfazed by the change of scenery. He plopped himself down on the dog bed in the corner, and very quickly fell asleep.

“Rude,” you grumbled affectionately.

“Two sofas,” said Daisy, her eyes wide.

Granted, the sofas weren’t very big, but there were indeed two of them.

Your budget would be a little tight for a while, but Colin had just got a promotion at work, which came with a big bonus, which, along with the proceeds from selling your old house, as well as a gift from his mom, was enough to cover the deposit on this place.

“Come on, Daisy-daze,” said Colin, “Let’s give you the grand tour.”

You followed behind them, much more slowly. Rose kept holding out her hands, trying to touch things, which you let her do (carefully).

She was cradled in your arms as you walked into the kitchen. Colin and Daisy had already moved on. You supposed Daisy wasn’t all that interested in the kitchen. It had a brand new fridge, and in the corner were Max’s food and water bowls.

Rose pointed to the big glass double doors that led the garden, made a questioning noise, but you shook your head.

“Not yet, baby. Daddy’s saving the garden until last.” You hitched her higher up on your hip and headed upstairs. You could hear Daisy talking rapidly in her room – the door of which was marked with a wooden letter ‘D’ that was painted her favourite colour, orange – so you knocked.

“Come in!” came Daisy’s excited reply. You opened the door and she barrelled into your legs, almost knocking you off balance. Daisy was a lot heavier than she used to be, and she didn’t know her own strength.

“Woah there, sweetheart. Be careful, mama’s holding Rose right now.”

“Sorry, mama, I just love it so much.” She pointed at the big painting of the lion. “Daddy said Lulu made it.”

“She did,” you said, shifting Rose onto your other hip. Colin took a step towards you, holding out his arms to take her. Wordlessly, you passed her over. It was a familiar dance by now. Colin lifted your baby daughter up to his face and pressed kisses to both her cheeks.

“Hello my little angel,” he said, “How do you like the new house?” Rose gurgled happily. “Good.” He kissed her forehead.

The room was set up with a bed in the corner with a bright orange bedspread that had pictures of suns on it. Almost all of Daisy’s stuffed animals, barring the couple that she’d slept with at her last night in the old house, were lined up, waiting for her.

There was also an old chest of drawers you’d managed to get secondhand, and a desk that wouldn’t have fit in her old bedroom. It wouldn’t be too long before she started school, so you thought it was a nice to have. Even if she didn’t need it for homework, she could always use it for colouring in.

“Let’s go see Rose’s room, okay?”

You led your little family into the room with the red ‘R’ on the door. Rose’s room was a little smaller, but it had more floorspace, since it lacked the desk. Her new crib had been set up, with a fish-themed mobile above it. There was a chest of drawers too, as well as her playmat and toybox.

Colin set Rose down on the playmat. She immediately started to crawl, the intrepid explorer of her own new bedroom. She had almost made it to the door when you scooped her up.

“Looks like baby Rose wants to see the rest of the house. Shall we?”

Colin took Daisy’s hand again. She was less interested in the bathrooms, or in your bedroom, but as you walked downstairs, you could tell she was getting excited again.

“Are you ready for your present, Dais?” asked Colin.

“Yes, please, daddy.”

“Okay, check this out.”

You were in the kitchen now, and Colin fiddled with the locks on the back door. As soon as it was open, Daisy bounded out into the new garden. You heard her gasp before you had even made it outside yourself.

“Is that… for me?” she asked shyly, pointing at the shiny new bike that was sitting on the back porch. It was dark orange with a white basket and tassels hanging from the handlebars. It had training wheels for now, but Colin was hoping she would graduate from them soon. You were less sure. In your eyes, she was still only a baby.

“That’s your present, sweetheart,” said Colin, ruffling her hair. She spun around and hugged his legs tight.

“Thank you, daddy!” After a moment, she let go of him and sprinted over towards you. “Thank you, mama!”

With Rose on your hip, you couldn’t quite hug Daisy as well as you were hoping, but you managed to wrap one arm around her.

“Can I ride it, please, mama?”

You looked over at Colin, who was grinning at you. This was precisely the reaction that you’d both been hoping for.

“Rose is starting to get fussy,” you said. “I’m gonna put her down for a nap, if you want to help Daisy with her bike.”

You could tell it was something he was excited about. He stepped over to you and wrapped an arm around your waist.

“You’re the best, baby,” he murmured, and then kissed your temple. Rose made a whiny noise, so he kissed her on the top of the head.

You could hear Daisy’s whoops and shrieks of delight as you carried Rose upstairs to her new bedroom.

“How do you like your new room, huh, baby?” you cooed. “And your new crib. It’s a very pretty crib, isn’t it, Rosie?” You set her down.

Although she couldn’t understand what you were saying, she ran her chubby little fingers over the bars, examining her new bed.

“It’s nice and purple, isn’t it, sweetheart? Do you like the purple? Do you like your new mobile too? I know you like fishies.”

Rose had had a blank but curious expression on her face until you said the word ‘fishies’, at which point she looked at you and her little face broke into a huge grin, revealing all four of her teeth. You grinned back at her.

“Look, fishies,” you said, spinning the mobile. Rose reached up, grasping for them, although they were far too high up for her to reach. “Don’t tell your dad I said this, but maybe when you’re older, we’ll get an aquarium, and put lots of lovely fishies in it. You’d like that wouldn’t you, baby? Lots of-”

You were cut off by a shriek from outside. It wasn’t the playful shrieks that you’d been hearing for the past few minutes. It sounded pained.

Before you had a chance to think anything else, you heard loud sobbing.

Daisy. Shit.

Rose was still wriggling about, so you knew that she’d cry if you left her. For a moment, you wondered if you could leave Colin to deal with the Daisy situation, but you knew you couldn’t. Daisy hardly ever cried out loud. If she did, you knew something was very wrong.

You picked up Rose and made your way back down the stairs as fast as you dared while holding your infant daughter.

The back door was still open. You cradled Rose’s head close to your chest as you stepped outside.

Daisy’s bike was in a heap next to the porch. Daisy herself was lying in the grass, covering her face with her arms. Colin was crouched beside her, doing his best to comfort her, but looking very out of his depth.

“Where does it hurt, Daisy? I need you to show me,” he said, and you could tell that his patience was fraying.

“What happened?” you asked, and Colin’s head shot up. His eyes darted from you to Rose and back, and he grimaced.

“It’s my fault,” he said. “I took my eyes off her for two seconds and she slammed right into the edge of the porch.”

Despite your best efforts, Rose kept twisting around to try and see what was going on with her sister. At the sight of Daisy’s sobbing form, Rose began to wriggle and cry too. Hearing this, Daisy looked up at you. Her tearstained face broke your heart.

“Hey baby,” you said, squatting down next to her. Behind you, you heard Colin going back into the house. “What happened? Where does it hurt?”

Sniffling, she held out her hands. Her palms were badly grazed, and bleeding a little bit.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. That looks really painful. Anywhere else?”

“Knees,” she said, quietly.

“Here, show me.”

She shifted so that her legs were right out in front of her. There were fresh holes in her tights right at the knees, which were grazed too, though not as badly as her hands.

“Poor baby girl,” you said, stroking her hair. “You’ve had a bit of a shock, haven’t you?”

Rose had quieted by now, but she was wrigglier than ever. She was reaching for Daisy. You had to keep shifting her position.

“Hey,” came Colin’s voice from above you. He knelt down on Daisy’s other side, holding out a first aid kit. “Daddy’s gonna fix you up, okay sweetheart? I’m so sorry.”

“Not your fault, daddy.”

He didn’t argue, but you could tell he didn’t believe her. You knew how he felt. For the first couple of years, you had tortured yourself over every miniscule bruise and skinned knee, convinced that you were a terrible mother.

“We’re gonna give these cuts a little clean, okay?” said Colin soothingly. “It’ll sting a little bit, but then it’ll feel better. You need to be a brave girl right now, okay?”

Daisy’s lip wobbled, but she nodded.

“Mama and daddy are right here for you, okay?” you said, stroking her hair again.

“And Rose,” she said.

“And Rose.”

Always trusting, she held out her hands to Colin. He poured a bit of antiseptic onto a cotton pad and dabbed at the graze. She winced, but didn’t pull her hands back. After a moment, it was done.

“Good girl.” You wrapped your arm around her shoulders and squeezed gently. “My brave, brave girl. You know, mama kisses have special healing powers, right?”

You kissed her palm very gently. She giggled. “I know, mama.” You kissed her other palm.

“What about daddy kisses?” asked Colin.

“I hear they’re pretty good too,” you said.

He lifted Daisy’s hands up to his face and kissed both palms. She giggled again, harder this time. “The hard part is over now,” he said. “Your knees shouldn’t hurt as much.” You helped Daisy take her tights off so that Colin could clean her up more easily.

After checking that they were, indeed, a write-off, you tossed them in the general direction of the house. They would be going in the bin.

Colin repeated the process with Daisy’s knees. She kept her eyes screwed shut, her little hand in yours, for the whole procedure.

“All done,” said Colin. He leant in to kiss her forehead. “Well done, Daisy.”

“Well done, Daisy,” you agreed.

“Daisy,” said Rose, nodding.

You were stroking Daisy’s hair back from her face, and you froze. You turned to look at Rose. “What did you just say?”

“Daisy.” Rose pointed with her whole hand at her older sister. She was wriggling so much that it was hard to keep a grip on her. She wanted to get to Daisy.

You looked at Colin. He looked just as dumbstruck as you felt.

Daisy’s face split into a grin. “She said my name!”

“She did,” said Colin. He laughed, all trace of anxiety gone.

You let Rose crawl towards Daisy. She planted herself firmly in her sister’s lap. She flailed around for a moment until she managed to grab Daisy’s arm. You all watched as she pressed her mouth against Daisy’s hand in a facsimile of a kiss.

“She’s trying to heal you,” you said. “That’s the secret, actually. Rosie-kisses have the best healing powers of all.” Colin met your eye over Daisy’s head. Your heart had never felt so full.

“Thank you, Rose,” said Daisy. She stroked her baby sister’s hair.

“Why don’t we go inside and have a snack, huh, Daisy?” asked Colin. He stood up and dusted himself off. Daisy glanced over at where her bike lay, crumpled on the ground, and her smile faltered.

She looked as though she was about to start crying again.

“What’s wrong?” you asked. “Does it hurt?” She mumbled something you couldn’t hear. “What was that?”

“I breaked my bike.” Tears were rolling down her face again. “It was a present and I breaked it!”

Colin stood up and went to go investigate the damage.

“It’s not broken, sweetheart, look,” he said, standing it up. “It’s just a bit of mud, you see? It’s just dirty. We can give it a little spray with the hose and it’ll be as good as new.”

“Really?” asked Daisy shyly.

“Really.”

“Come on my love,” he said, picking her up, careful to avoid her grazes. “Let’s get you that snack.”

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Notes:

Preview of tomorrow's fic: Set in the 'I'll Paint You Wings'-verse. Going to the carnival with your boyfriend Eddie and your girlfriend Chrissy.

#colin zabel x reader #colin zabel x you #colin zabel fluff #evan peters x reader #evan peters x you #summer fic week 2023

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