ᴘᴜʀɢᴀᴛᴏʀʏ || indefinite hiatus

* { ~ 06 ~ } *

   She couldn't help the smile while she listened to the blond rant. It was endearing whenever he was like this. Happy and full of life.
  It breathed life into her, and it was certainly never boring whenever he was by her side. After the news of her pregnancy had finally settled over them, things more or less went back to normal. It had taken a little over a month to grow accustomed to the fact that she was pregnant. Not once had she ever thought about bringing a child into this world. It wasn't fair to the child to be born into a world that was broken, much less have a practically deceased mother.
  But Denki seemed excited at the prospect of a new child.
  Regardless if this unborn child wasn't his. It certainly never stopped him from gently caressing her stomach every single night to whisper sweet words to the life growing inside of her whenever he had the chance. It was a beautiful sight.
  He, without a doubt, would have made a wonderful father.
  "Ya know." She met his gaze curiously as he lay back in the driver's seat of the RV, stretching his arms over his head with a wince. "We should go back to the temple."
  She crooked her head. "Why that notion?" She inquired curiously.
  He shrugged. "Why not?" He chuckled, meeting her gaze. "You loved it the last time we went."
  She hung her head, averting her gaze to the photograph taped to the dashboard above the radio. "You nearly died the last time, Denks," she murmured.
  "I'm a ghost, babe," he laughed lightly. "You can't kill what's already dead." He added with a shrug.
  "But Hiro isn't," she whispered and she heard the wince that left his lips when her gaze travelled outside the windscreen.
  The teenager was jumping from picnic table to picnic table, balancing himself with a wide grin.
  "Who's to say he won't be the next person to be injured should we get into another accident?" She continued knowingly, meeting the blond's gaze with a sigh. "He doesn't deserve that amount of trauma, Denks. He's much too young for that."
  His gaze softened. "Then we'll leave when the frost sets in," he promised. "We left too late last year. We won't do that again. Besides, you really wanna keep that experience from him?" He asked, gesturing outside the windshield, and she flinched.
  He made a wonderful point. Hiro deserved the same amount of happiness and serenity she had the first time they'd ventured to the temple lay-by.
  "You're right," she sighed, unable to bite back the smile. She met his gaze fondly. "He deserves that experience just as much as we did."
  "He'll be fine, babe," he promised. "Besides, I have a feeling that he's gonna love it just as much as you did."
   Her gaze softened. "It was truly a wonderful experience," she admitted, meeting his gaze with a knowing smile. She couldn't contain her laughter when he pulled her into his lap. She nuzzled into him on instinct, relaxing in his embrace.
  "Hey," he chuckled, catching her gaze. "We can always use the cabin for the winter. It'd be nice to stay in one place for once. You always talked about living in a cabin anyway. What better place than the one we already know?"
  She couldn't help but giggle when he pressed his lips to her temple. "You're right, love," she uttered fondly, pressing her lips to the underside of his chin. "I suppose we'd need to gather some supplies."
  He grinned. "Hiro!" He called, and the teenager turned with a raised brow from where he was balancing himself on a picnic bench. "Get back inside, bud. We're going on a road trip!"
   The teen beamed, jumping down from the bench to rush inside the RV. "Where're we going?" He asked when he plopped himself into the passenger seat.
  "We're going on a camping trip," the blond chuckled, fixing himself in the driver's seat.
  "It's a place Denks and I truly enjoy," she chimed sweetly, resting her cheek on Denki's shoulder. "We have a strong suspicion that you'd enjoy it too."
  "Buckle up, kiddo," the engineer said fondly, reaching to ruffle the teenager's messy hair. "It's a long drive."
  "We need to stop to grab some gas and extra supplies. There's a cabin nearby where we're heading that we'll use for the winter."
  "No more driving around?" The teenager asked curiously, and the pair shook their heads.
  "Just when we need supplies," the ghost chuckled. "But we won't have to keep driving around. The cabin isn't far from where we're going. It's about 20 minutes away. We'll leave for the cabin when the frost sets in."
  "Why?"
  She sighed. "Because the last time we'd gone, Denks nearly died."
  Hiro's blue eyes widened, staring at them in disbelief. The engineer lifted his shirt to show a nasty scar on his side. "She saved my life," he explained. "Without Anna, I never would've survived."
  "That..." The teenager murmured with wide eyes. "That looks bad."
  "Don't let Denki's modesty fool you, love," she said fondly, nuzzling into the blond's chest when he started the RV and they drove off. "I never would've needed to save his life had he not pushed me out of the way. It was supposed to be me. I only returned the favour given the fact that he saved my life in the first place."
  She felt the smile the engineer buried into her hair as they pulled onto the road.
  "I didn't hesitate to push you out of the way of that knife, babe," he uttered into her hair, and she hummed.
  "I know you didn't," she whispered, tilting her head to meet his gaze. "Although, you certainly gave me a bloody heart attack when I woke up."
  He sighed, focusing on the road when they turned onto the highway after making a U-turn. "I know I did," he murmured.
  "Denks," she said softly. "You knew nothing could kill me. You knew I was already dead."
  He shook his head. "That didn't matter to me. You're not invincible, sweets. You can still get hurt," he replied. "I wasn't just gonna let it happen when we crashed. Not when there was something I could've done about it. My first instinct was to protect you."
  "You guys got into an accident?" Hiro's voice caught their gaze.
  "Yes," she sighed. "Denks was driving us through a blizzard when it happened."
  "Oh..." The teenager murmured, a look of regret gracing his features.
  "It's okay, bud," the blond chuckled and adjusted her in his lap. "It happened last winter. We left the rest stop too late. We're not doing that again this year which is why we're gonna leave when the frost sets in. It'll be safer for all of us. Especially you."
  "We still need to stop to grab extra supplies before we make our way to the rest stop," she continued fondly, resting her cheek on Denki's shoulder to meet Hiro's gaze. "That way we'll have enough supplies to last us throughout the winter."
  "What about the..." the teenager made a menacing gesture with both hands that made the blond burst into laughter. He affectionately ruffled the teen's messy hair.
  "Don't worry about the walkers, kiddo," he said thoughtfully. "The temple is secluded enough where we don't have to worry about that. It's one of the reasons why I wanted to bring you there."
  "The temple?" Hiro repeated curiously, his eyes full of excitement.
  Anna couldn't help but smile. "The lay-by leads to a temple on the top of the mountain," she explained sweetly. "It's a wonderful experience," she added fondly before a giggle burst from her lips when she met the blond's gaze teasingly. "If you can survive the bloody stairs."
  The engineer chuckled, pressing his lips to the top of her head. "He'll be fine, babe. If anything, we'll need to keep up with him." He said knowingly, offering the teenager a cheeky wink that made Hiro laugh.
  "You can fly, Dad," the younger laughed, and she yelped, catching her balance in the blond's lap when the RV stopped abruptly.
  "What did you say?" He asked softly with wide eyes full of disbelief.
  "You heard him, Denks," she laughed lightly.
  "I know," he uttered when he briefly met her gaze. "I wanna hear it again."
  "Did I say something wrong?" Hiro murmured, and the blond laughed, shaking his head.
  "Not at all, bud," he said fondly. "You're... You're seriously okay with having a ghost for a dad?"
  The teenager shrugged. "Why not?" He laughed lightly. "It's not the freakiest shit I've seen. You guys brought me into this dysfunctional family of death." He met her gaze with a softened smile. "You guys took me in when no one else wanted a 'bratty teenager'." He continued, raising his hands to use air quotes, and the pair snorted when Hiro deepened his voice mockingly.
  "You're a member of this family, Hiro," she said sweetly, fixing herself in the blond's lap to sit up. "Bratty teenager or not," she added through her giggles. "We've handled far worse."
  "I know, Mom," he laughed, and her heart clenched. Her eyes nearly welled with tears at the sentiment. "I can call you guys that, right?"
  The blond laughed lightly, bobbing his head. "Yeah, kiddo," he said fondly, ruffling messy lavender hair. "You can call us Mom and Dad as much as you want."
  She giggled, pressing her lips to the engineer's cheek. "I suppose we're parents now, hm?" She inquired fondly, and he laughed, bobbing his head.
  "Wouldn't have it any other way, babe," he murmured.
  "Can we grab some snacks when we stop to get supplies?" Their son asked sheepishly.
  "Yeah, bud," the blond chuckled. "We'll see if we can find some marshmallows that haven't gone bad yet too, kay?"
  The teenager beamed, pumping his fists in the air. "Sweet!"
  The sight made her smile as they continued down the highway back the way they came.
  "When we get there I'll race ya to the top of the mountain," the engineer challenged, and Hiro snorted.
  "Fine, but no flying," he replied, and she muffled her giggles behind her hand at the put-out look on Denki's face.
  "You heard him, my love," she mused, brushing his hair from his eyes sweetly. "He can't fly like you can. In this case, it would certainly count as cheating."
  The blond chuckled, pressing his lips to her temple. "Fine," he relented, and she watched his gaze flicker to their son. "Alright, kiddo. You win."