Your Beauty Never, Ever Scared Me - Wintumn Stories

Namesake

"I know you aren't one for emotion or anything, but I wanted you to be the first to know that, um, our little girl, she's called Quinn Autumn Doyle." It took Autumn a moment to process what Sorscha had said to her.

Winter had always been very close with Sorscha. From the first time the two worked together in the rooms they realized they had a very similar style at work. They put the kids first and would square off with parents when needed. Often he would talk about how his best days were working with Sorscha because they worked so easily together. So when she needed someone to look out for her phone, Autumn knew she'd have no problem doing it.

Everyone in the office had been tiptoeing around Autumn since the miscarriage but she didn't want that. She had been putting in the work to heal from this and wanted to get back to normal as soon as she possibly could. She wanted people to feel like they could depend on her again. That's what she had always been good for in the nursery. She wanted to prove that she could handle other's problems again.

Everything seemed to be happen so quickly once Autumn got the call from Clodagh. From running around the nursery to find Sorscha to driving her since her car wouldn't start Autumn didn't even have time to process how anything was making her feel. She cut ten minutes off the drive due to some less than legal decisions just to make sure she wouldn't miss anything.

It wasn't until she watched Sorscha rushing inside, yelling out "thank yous" over her shoulder, that Autumn really took stock of how she was feeling. She hadn't let herself until the other woman was gone in case she got overwhelmed. But her thoughts were only with Sorscha and Clodagh and the fact that not everything that happened here was for the worst. Those bad memories were still there but they weren't drowning everything out like she expected. Maybe the therapy was helping after all.

It wasn't long after returning to the nursery that she was on the phone hearing the announcement of the baby girl who shared her name. She passed the phone back to Marjorie and couldn't help but smile.

Autumn couldn't wait to see Winter that evening. The news of the baby's name was not shared around the nursery and she was so proud to be able to share that with him. When they were in the car she started excitedly.

"My sweet, you'd never believe this but Sorscha and Clodagh named their baby Quinn Autumn."

"Why wouldn't I believe that? It's a lovely name, my darling."

"I guess I just still don't believe it. I know you two are close but she and I never really have been."

"My love, you were such a huge help to them today and though she may not have ever said anything to you, Sorscha has always told me how much she respects you."

Winter told her all about how when they first got together Sorscha was the first one to offer congratulations. In the very beginning of their relationship a lot of the other practitioners were confused about the pairing. Though Autumn had started to come around as a manager, the memories of the old Autumn were still very fresh. How she was less than easy to get along with and how she would make their jobs harder.

Even still Sorscha had seen the changes in Winter and talked to him often about Autumn. That's why they had gotten so close. Though others would joke around about the relationship and listen to his stories when he was telling them, no one but Sorscha would start the conversations. She had taken the time to learn about Autumn from Winter and her opinion was one of the first to change. Winter had a distinct memory of when Sorscha first told him that she saw what he saw in Autumn.

Autumn had been sent to "referee" a disagreement between divorcing parents that had broken out in the rooms and the first thing she did when she entered the room was make sure all the children were being distracted from the situation. Seeing her put the kids before anything else convinced Sorscha that Autumn was not the kind of person everyone had assumed. She told Winter how much she appreciated that Autumn was putting herself physically in harm's way to keep the kids and the employees safe.

"My love, it doesn't surprise me that Sorscha would name her child after you because that name, to her, symbolizes someone so strong, loyal, and protective. Someone who has been through so much but still manages to put others first. I mean, who wouldn't want their child to grow up with a role model like that?"

Autumn couldn't hide her tears as she listened to everything that Winter said. She knew that she had a rough start in the nursery. She often thought about how much she regretted the things she did and said in an attempt to impress her father with her performance and how much happier she was now. Sure, she hoped that everyone knew her change was deliberate and that she would always be there to support them but this was the first time she got confirmation that they did.

In the weeks that followed Autumn and Winter visited Sorscha and Clodagh as many times as they were allowed. They helped with housework and watched the baby to give the parents time to relax. The two women loved having Autumn around and seeing the bond already forming between their daughter and her. There was no one that could keep their family safer than the guard dog, and she intended to do just that.