Grand Theft (The Umbrella Academy)

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX: Haddy

October 1, 1989

"Happy birthday." Haddock yawned and ruffled his bedhead.

"Happy birthday to you too." Connor kissed him on the cheek then got up to open the curtain, lighting up the dark room. She thrummed her fingers on the window border overlooking a cobblestone street and a slow river. "The old man's gonna start gathering the Academy up today. Almost wish I could do something about it, but none of us would've met if I did." Connor sat back down on the fluffy white bed.

"Can't have that." He smiled then pulled her back into his warmth.

"Yeah, I kinda enjoy being married to you." She smirked. "Ready to meet your mom shortly? We can head over to the Academy any time now." Hadd snored. Connor huffed and flicked him on the forehead. "Were you even listening?"

Hadd rubbed his eye and sat up so that he couldn't fall back asleep. "Yeah, yeah, I'm up. You're right. Give it a few days for him to gather up our information?"

"Yeah. We can spend a couple days in the city. Get a hotel. I've got a feeling that things have changed a bit since we were last in America."

"Prolly." He chuckled. "What was it? 1964?" They'd moved to Scotland after a time of traveling the world. Inverness just felt like home.

"After the Beatles concert."

"How could I forget?" He smiled as he played with her hair.

"Wouldn't surprise me given the fact that all you could think about was leaving." Connor chortled.

"Hey, I was just really excited to check out our new home town. Also, I was totally right about coming here. Living here with you has been the shiznaz." The two of them smiled into a kiss.

Connor folded up a blanket for the trip while Hadd finished getting ready. "Ready to go?" Haddock stuck out his arm. She took it and they made headway for the car.

•••

Connor sat back into a blue cushioned seat on the plane, Hadd at the seat next to her. Haddock touched his hand to hers and looked away. She laughed. "Are you trying to hold my hand?"

Her husband held her eye contact with a smirk—something he couldn't do back when they first held hands without his face turning beet red. She thought it adorable how he still fought it after all these years. "I just figured your hand was cold 'cause your hands are always ice." It was the same line he'd used back then too.

Connor lightly chuckled as she rolled her blue eyes then held his hand. "Better?"

"Much." They giggled.

"You're such a dork." She tittered some more.

"Well I'm your dork."

"That you are." They leaned in for a kiss.

"I remember being so nervous the first time we flew together," he reminisced about their time in the Commission with a goofy look on his face. Life there wasn't all bad.

Connor furrowed her eyebrows with amusement at his slightly pinking face. "Why's that?"

He tenderly sighed. "You."

"Am I that scary?" She chuckled. "Never mind. Scratch that."

"My feelings for you were. If I told my past self that I love you more now than I did then, there's no way I would've believed it," Haddock said with a smitten grin.