General Hospital OC One-shots

Dublin

August, 1955

     "I'm sorry about this Mrs. McKean, but I had to bring my son today. He'll just stay out of the way and read his book, but it won't happen again. Dublin is a good boy." Dublin's mother tells Veronica, pulling her son in, holding onto his hand tightly. "I understand, Mrs. Holmes. I've been home with my son for the last few months. Uh, Dublin can go play in the sandbox in the backyard."
     Dublin smiles at his mom and goes back outside, running to the backyard. "Don't bring him again, Ireland." Veronica warns, disappearing into the kitchen. "Yes, Ma'am." Ireland mumbles, looking around the already clean house. "Why does she ask for me to come when she already cleaned the house?"

     Tom pulls himself out of his bed and goes to the window, watching the boy in his sandbox, playing with his truck. He looks around his room, a dismantled Mr. Potato Head on the ground, surrounded by parts. He gathers up the pieces and puts them inside, closing it up. He tucks it under his arm and leaves his room, heading downstairs.
     He sneaks past the kitchen and out the backdoor, into the backyard. The boy in the sandbox looks up at him, his eyes widening. Not in fear of being seen, but in fear of seeing the stitches up the other boy's neck and head. Tom looks down and drops his toy, turning to go inside. "Wait, I want to play." Dublin says, sitting on his knees.
     Tom smiles and climbs into the sandbox, opening the Mr. Potato Head and dumping out the parts. Dublin pushes the toy truck closer to Tom smiling and the stranger. "My name is Tommy. What's yours?" He asks. "I'm Dublin. I know it's kinda weird."
     "I don't think it's weird, I think it's cool. I wish I had a cool name like that. Mine's boring." Tom says. "If you think it's boring, let's make a nickname." Dublin suggests. Tom nods. "What's your full name?"
     "Tomas Donavan McKean." He says. "Hmm, maybe Tod. It's kinda like Tom and Don." Dublin says. "I don't like my middle name. It's my dad's name and I don't like him, be did this to me." Tom tells him, turning his head to show the stitched side. "He did?"
     "Yes, and he did other things too. I got stitches in my side, my arm, and some on the inside. Mommy says I was asleep for two weeks, but I don't remember much, just a lot of pain. But it's okay now, cause he's gone. Mommy said he's never coming back." Tom says. "Why did he hurt you? He's your dad."
     "I dunno, maybe he's just evil. It wasn't the first time, it was just the worst. Do you have a dad who's nice and loves you?" Tom asks. Dublin nods. "My dad is the best. He's my hero. But so is my mom. Do you have a hero?" Dublin asks. "No."
     "No brothers or sisters?" Dublin asks. "No, but I wish I had a brother."

Later

     "But Mommy, I wanna keep playing with Dub. Can they stay for dinner?" Tom asks, pulling on his mother's sleeve. "Tomas, no."
     "Why?" Tom asks, hanging off her arm now, his legs dragging on the ground as she walks. "Because we don't have dinner with people like them." Veronica tells him, shaking him off. "What kind of people?" Tom asks. "Tomas, not now."
     "Why? Is it because they're different?" Tom demands, running in front of her, starting to wobble. "Tomas, you know you can't move like that." Veronica says, going to catch him. Tom pulls away, glancing over at Dub and his mom. "Tomas is welcomed to our house for dinner any time." Ireland tells Veronica. "We always have plenty of food left over. We make extra incase the neighborhood boys stop in for a bite."
     "That's very nice of you to offer but we were given a roast and I don't think it'll be good tomorrow." Veronica ways, looking at her son's tearfilled, blue eyes. "But maybe Friday, if you are busy."
     Ireland puts her hand on her heart. "We'd love have him." She says, looking down at Dublin, who's got the biggest smile on his face.

Friday evening

     Tom a spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth, hardly finishing that one when he goes to put another in. He looks up and stops, wiping his mouth. "Sorry, it's so good." He says, giving the biggest, cheesiest smile he can. Ireland laughs, putting another spoonful on his plate. "Does your mother not take food like this?"
     "Not really. We eat tuna and noodles a lot. I don't really like tuna, or noodles. We almost never have chicken, and when we do it's no where near as good as this. This is the best food I ever eaten. Well, my Nana makes a really good turkey, but I haven't had that since a few thanksgivings."
     "You eat as much as you want, Tommy." Dublin's father says. Tom stares at him, watching the gentle way he feeds Dublin's two younger brothers, a set of twins. A quick twinge of jealousy hits Tom, he wanted a family like this.
     "Mr. Holmes, what do you?" Tom asks. "That's a good question, and you can call me Scott if you want. I'm a doctor. What does your daddy do?" Scott asks. "My daddy's in prison cause he tried to kill me and Mommy."
     Scott drops his fork and looks over at his wife. She glances down and keeps eating. Dublin's three older brothers stop eating too, everyone staring at Tom, who's still eating. It had become such a normal thing for him to say that he didn't react anymore. Still, the family's stare makes him uncomfortable. "What?"
     "Nothing, dear. Keep eating." Ireland prompts, trying to reassure him with a smile while simultaneously giving her family a warning glare.
     Dublin's oldest brother, Belfast, is the only one who doesn't start eating again. He keeps staring at Tom. He was seventeen and about to graduate high school, with honors. The Holmes were a smart and fairly well off family. Much better off and well educated than Tom's. Belfast was on the fast track to a promising future in optometry.
     Galway was only twelve but already knew that he wanted to be a nutritionist. Seeing how skinny Tom was didn't sit well with him. It didn't sit well with any of the Holmes, but it really struck a nerve with Galway.
     Derry, who was eight, still had a long time to figure out what he wanted to do. Like his family, he was incredibly smart. But Derry had a passion for outdoors. Not just playing in the street and back yard like any kid his age, but playing as deep in the woods as he could go.
     Cork and Bray were the newest members of the Holmes family, and Dublin's favorites of his brothers. The twins had both been staring on and off at Tom the whole meal, bewildered by this stranger.
     Ireland taps on the boys' highchair trays to get their attention. Bray smiles at Tom, showing off his toothy grin. Tom smiles back, for the first time showing his missing teeth.