North (A Robert Downey Jr Fanfic)

"Hold You in My Arms"

He sat with her, twirling her hair in his fingers until her eyes finally gave in to sleep. She didn't wake until late morning the next day, when she heard a commotion outside. She assumed it was her daughter returning.

Vanessa lay still as a statue, eyes fixated on the ceiling fan swirling overhead, it's whooshing sound muffled by the pillows around her head. At first, she thought it had been another dream-all of it-that Robert's presence had simply drawn everything out of her with some form of magic. He'd seen right through her veil of secrecy and she'd exposed something she'd sworn to never tell a single soul.

A little while later, after drifting in and out of sleep, Robert appeared in her bedroom and handed her a mug of coffee.

"You're still here," Vanessa whispered, sitting halfway up in bed.
"Did you think you'd scare me off that easily?"
"To be honest, yes. I don't know what came over me, my history has haunted me for so long, maybe I just couldn't hold it in anymore."
"Ok, let's talk backstory a little bit," he sat down on the edge of her bed, "Let's talk about reconciliation of one's past. If you'll recall, I spent a large portion of my thirties on drugs. I also spent a considerable amount of time locked up. Ness, there's not much that scares me. You'd have to have quite the closet of skeletons to make me run."

She nodded as a tear crept out of her eye and ran down her cheek. He swiped it away and kissed her where the tear had been.
"Don't be scared, I'm here for you ok?"

***

"Make sure you drink enough water, it gets hot in there," Vanessa said as she adjusted the red bow tie on Robert's costume.
"You're lucky you're so cute," he responded, kissing her on the nose.
"Not as cute as you, Uncle Sam."
He grinned and attached the white goatee and mustache to his face with spirit gum.
"Lady Liberty? Where are you?" Vanessa called up the stairs.
"Mom! Come help me with this makeup!"
"I'll be right back," she turned to go but Robert grabbed her hips, pulling her in for a kiss. She melted into him and returned it with pleasure.
"MOM!"
He released her and she scurried up the stairs of the Big Cabin. Penny was in the bathroom with half of her face smeared with pale green makeup.
"Mom, I'm already sweating it off and we're not even outside yet," she whined.
"Just go without, Pen. It's too hot out there."
"How come you don't have to wear a costume?"
"Because I want people to see me in the parade, it's good for business, dear. Robert is dressed up too, you know."
"He has to be, or we'd get ambushed," Penny said with a laugh.
"You're right about that," Vanessa replied as she went to her bedroom to change. She pulled on a pair of short, red denim cutoffs, reserved for patriotic holidays and a faded blue denim sleeveless collared shirt that she knotted at the waist, showing just a sliver of her stomach. She piled her hair up atop her head and wrapped it with a white bandana.

"Penny, come here."
Her daughter appeared in the doorway and Vanessa handed her a small box that she'd wrapped in plain pink paper.
"What's this?"
"It's just because. You need one."
She unwrapped it to find a new cell phone of her own. Her eyes bugged and she squealed with joy. Vanessa laughed at her excitement as her daughter took it out of the package and switched it on. Vanessa had already set it up and had all of the proper restrictions in place. She had asked for one for so long, she decided it was finally ok for her to have it.
"There are rules that go along with that. And just so you know, I will know everything that happens on that thing."
Penny nodded enthusiastically and yanked her mother into a hug that threatened her with oxygen deprivation if she held on too long.
"Go get your bags ready for Taylor's," Vanessa said as she herded her daughter out of her room. She smoothed her bedding and went down the stairs to find Uncle Sam standing there with a hand on his hip.