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English
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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
Words:
470
Chapters:
1/1
Kudos:
1
Hits:
412

A Nearly Empty Nest

Summary:

Eric reflects on his little family as 21 year old Scot opens a Christmas present

Work Text:

"Oh wow! Cool!" came Scot's excited voice as he ripped off the wrapping paper, discarding it haphazardly to the side. His eyes were big as nimble fingers worked on the tape that held the drone's box shut, and seconds later, the box top met wrapping paper, both discarded and gently kicked under the tree.

It honestly didn't matter how old Scot was; any Christmas morning, be it his first one with Eric and Sam, or this one, his ninth, was greeted with the same amount of enthusiasm. It's what made their time together as a family that much more precious to Eric.

Leaning into Sam gently, Eric drops a kiss onto Sam's shoulder, who glances up with as big a smile on his face as Scot was sporting. "You got him a drone?" he asks, voice barely above a whisper.

Before Eric can answer, Scot is on his feet, heading towards the door. With the drone barely out of the package, he announces, "I'm going outside!", the door slamming shut in his boisterous wake.

"Yeah, well... The kid needs some fun, Sammy," Eric says as he gets to his feet. He goes to the window where he grins at the sight of Scot standing barefoot in the snow, the drone now unpackaged and sitting on the rail, as Scot grips the controller tightly. "All those law school classes he's taking have turned him a bit serious."

Sam comes up silently behind Eric, enveloping him in his warm embrace. Eric squeezes the arms that find their way to his waist, and then turns back for a quick kiss. And he can't help it when his voice breaks gently when he asks, "Is it bad that I don't want him to graduate?"

"Why?" Sam asks. After another gentle kiss to the side of Eric's face, Sam adds, "He's going to be a great lawyer some day. He'll find someone. Settle down. Maybe give us some grandkids..."

"Yeah, yeah," Eric says. "But... I'll - I'll miss. You know, stuff like this." And as if on cue, Scot's laughter comes through the walls as the drone lifts off. "I mean once he graduates... I don't know. He may move away."

Eric would never admit it, but having Scot move out for college left far too big a hole in his heart. Mildred called it empty nest syndrome, and told them both that they should be happy, though even she admitted it was nice when George Junior had moved back home. And now with Scot in his senior year, there were even more changes coming for their little family.

"He may get older," Sam says as he rests his chin on Eric's shoulder, "but I don't think he'll ever truly grow up."

Leaning back into the embrace, Eric sighs. "Well at least he'll always be ours."