A Rock in the River

Drabble- Rose Tea

Author's Note: Yet another drabble from the past. The art for this chapter is of Henry, his partner Marvin, and their daughter Linda. It's by Slipnslideblog (Silver) on Tumblr.

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The steam rose and rose, a gradient more solid at the base of the cup- an aromatic pool in floral china- that diffused halfway through a journey to the ceiling. A finger curled around its handle while a different palm enclosed around the cup, gentle and taking in warmth much like cold men at the end of their travels do at the fireplace.

And indeed, someone was there to light the fire in wait for him.

Mr. Drew smiled up at his son, rocking back and forth in a rocking chair; Henry's eyes were closed, face so still one could believe he was rocking in his sleep...if not for the way he held his arms.

A tinier set of eyes in a yellow bundle were closed, too, until tiny Linda glanced over her father's hold to look over at the old redhead. Lovely, dark eyes- the perfect color to hold every star in them; even a sleepy stare was enough to captivate him. A beautiful sight, it was, to see a head peeking at him with hardly a few wisps of black hair...and a brand new bow atop her head.

One her dear grandpa gifted her not even a day before.

Joey finished turning his head so honey irises greeted hers, warm just like a cup of tea. They crinkled as his smile reached them, as a mouth that didn't open still managed to say "Hello, my darling. Do you know how lovely you are?"

The baby returned that look with a blink that spoke, too, her father unknowing of the conversation across the room. Joey somehow melted even more.

"Do you know how perfect you are?"

He finally broke his gaze to turn his head back to the table, hand released from around the cup.

"How dear?"

Two palms pushed up against the table, Mr. Drew standing with a wordless, quiet sigh before reaching for another cup he left unsipped. He glaced over his shoulder to find the baby still staring, lips in a slight purse in her patient observation.

"How precious?"

He turned, holding the teacup near his chest. The porcelain shined like a pearl underneath pinkish-cream skin. The moisture of tea began to tickle his chin and ginger sideburns as it rose up his chest in the same path exhaling air would do.

"How loved?"

Linda's big, almond eyes widened not with shock but focus as the short man towered over her, Mr. Drew's hand slipping past those of her father to pat her cheek. Another pair of eyes came to see him, too, Joey found, as a very familiar chuckle began to rough a nearby throat.

"That for me, Joey?" Henry inquired, neutral expression of weariness soon becoming a smirk.

"That it is, my boy," the man of that name replied, "I don't suppose you remember saying you wanted a cup as well?"

That tease didn't go by unnoticed, the young man rolling his eyes. "It's been a long day, can you blame me?"

Indeed it had been. Met some investors today; convinced them that a man with the look and craze of a pixie and another so young for his talent both knew that dreams came true. Joey didn't want people impeding on his creativity, of course, but it was a good thing indeed that it was less their money they needed and more so connections; as a result, the shares of the company were largely under the Drew name.

And after a celebration at work, a more private one- one more for family than for company and friends, as good as they are on their own.

Henry snorted a small laugh through his nose, shifting the baby more into the nook on his upper arm to take the teacup into a newly freed hand. "Thanks, Joey."

And just as Joey was about to say you're welcome-

"...For everything," Henry added softly.

And the porcelain stayed between them for a second longer, both holding onto the same cup of rose tea- reddish, sweet, and filling their lungs with something delightful-...or was that something else?

Regardless, the feeling was cherished between father and son, Mr. Drew reluctantly letting the warmth go. The other set of fingers stayed on the baby's head as two of the three people that loved her most showed her that they cared for one another, too.

His thumb stroked her cheek, and finally, the little one smiled, her bow glistening in the evening light right alongside one of the same color around papa Joey's neck.

"Of course," he replied with every drop of love in the world. "I wouldn't have life any other way."

"Not even without us?" a third, bolder voice joined in, the girl's other dad appearing to elbow his father in law in the shoulder. His stubbled smirk rested under a gaze waiting for something just as witty back- and normally such a thing awaited; Joey was a silly man and Henry seemed to attract people in his life with different but matching vigor for their choice of words. But it was a bit too sentimental for that this evening.

Marvin's brow raised as he realized this, the tallest one in the room shifting his shoulders to not so subtly get a better look at Joey's face.

And that he did.

Joey stared at Marvin first- a young sculptor with a penchant for sleepless nights and un-sneaky swigs of Mr. Drew's cooking wine. The tired eyes of a baby's good father- ones well earned and ones the fellow himself admitted he wouldn't give away for anything.

Then Henry, his pale blue shirt stained just a little with the dirtiness of both work and play, doubtless that some of them came from the bundle of sunshine. A...irreplaceable soul- one Joey saw a lot of himself in...more than enough kinship for the two to agree they were long lost family.

Then came the two others' daughter- the baby girl that maybe didn't know her mother but very much would not grow up not knowing she was perfect, precious, and loved. Her tiny cheek tilted into his hand, a coo from her lips.

God, he had a granddaughter. His granddaughter.

As a family adopting one another waited for their patriarch to speak, he finally found how despite the amazement of reality trying to steal his voice. Life was kind, far too kind to be real. And so, his smile stretched as far as could be, magic glinting yellow in his eyes as he saw every future ahead.

"I'd never want it any other way," he told the people his mother surely adored from heaven, almost seeing the legacy she left him drip from his fingertips, "I'd never want to live without you."