Round Ten - Darwin - Aftermath

Harvey Darwin is trying to deal with being an elderly single father after the death of his girlfriend Esther Pasang. Thankfully he has his son and future daughter-in-law to help him look after Milo, but will he ever recover?

 

Miranda tried to reach out to Harvey, but it was difficult. He rebuffed all her kind words and she felt a little resentment. She was basically acting as Milo's mother after Esther's death, why couldn't he appreciate that?

She didn't let her resentment get in the way of actually looking after Milo though. She saw him as her own baby boy, so it was strange to think this helpless, sweet little baby would be her brother-in-law once she and Lee were married. Still, she could understand why Harvey wanted to distance himself, even if she couldn't sympathise - Milo looked quite like his mother and was just already as kind.

It didn't help that, in some ways, it didn't feel as if Esther was actually gone. Sam had felt a strange presence in the house lately. He'd never been superstitious but he was beginning to think the house was haunted.

"I'm sure you've felt it too," he said to his father at breakfast. "Like, her spirit is so sad she couldn't have the life she wanted, so she's hanging around to make sure Milo is looked after."

"That's nonsense," snapped Harvey. He slammed his coffee cup down on the table and walked off. Sam was a good guy but sometimes he lacked tact. It was a family trait.

Milo wasn't going to stay the baby of the house for long, though. Despite being busy and tired looking after a toddler, Miranda and Lee still found time to have a bit of fun and soon the consequences became apparent. Miranda got increasing cravings for grilled cheese, and a pregnancy test confirmed it. She and Lee were married at the court house and she became Mrs. Darwin, waiting for a baby Darwin.

She tried to take it easy during her pregnancy but she still played with Milo whenever she could.

Milo started school shortly afterward. He was quite shy around people he didn't know but was forever babbling on at his family members, asking questions and trying to figure out what was going on.

"We're gonna have a new person in the house soon, aren't we? Because you're having a baby. Well... aunty Miranda is."

"That's right," said Sam indulgently.

"Will I have to share my room with the baby?"

Sam laughed. "Of course not. You'll have a room of your own and the baby will get the nursery."

"Phew!"

Once he was sure he wasn't going to have a baby in his room with him, Milo started getting really excited about the concept of a new friend. He didn't quite get how this baby would be his niece or nephew, not his sibling or his cousin, but he'd always talk to the baby whenever Miranda came in to read his bedtime story.

Milo's excitement seemed to be rubbing off on everybody. Miranda was startled (and overjoyed) to find Harvey dancing his son around the kitchen. It seemed like the cloud over the family was finally lifting.

Good thing too - the baby wasn't waiting any longer.

"Go get Sam and your daddy," shouted Miranda as her contractions started. Milo ran off and soon the whole family set off to the hospital.

Miranda told Milo he could stay home with his father, but neither of them were having any of it. "There's no way I'd be able to sleep, I wanna see the baby!" yelled Milo.

And that was how Lee Darwin entered the world, into a loving family. He looked just like his father!

"Can I talk to the baby some more?"

Sam smiled. "OK, but just for a little bit. He needs feeding and you need to get to school."

Now things had begun to settle down, Miranda could finally get on the career ladder in her chosen field of marine biology. She had a great new job at Sim City Aquarium, although she wished she could change into her wetsuit when she got there rather than before she even got in the car pool...


Harvey finally reopened Darwin arts in the front room of the house. It still made him sadly nostalgic, though... and now their family was getting bigger, having half the house taken up by their business seemed a little much. Maybe he could get into the real estate market?

Notes: Argh! I didn't mean for them to even get married so soon, let alone have a baby, but I forgot I had Unmarried Try For Baby on after Esther's wants so they had to get married straight away to keep the Darwin name! Lee is named after Lee Adama from Battlestar Galactica.