This IS my beautiful 'life' (Thomas, James, Mara)

[suave-thomas.livejournal.com]

James was, quite possibly, the easiest child to travel with in the entire world. He never complained, and he was always cheerful, eager to see things other three-year-olds would have no interest in, and he had an angel’s composition, so he didn’t get tired as quickly as other three-year-olds might.

Spectre had headed off to the Anaheim convention centre along with the rest of the band, fresh from a good night's sleep, as opposed to stumbling off a plane hours before needing to be somewhere. Caitlin was watching Deirdre's twins, but Thomas, Mara and James had headed out 'on an expedition' in James' words. They had taken a taxi to Hollywood Boulevard and it was Mara's mission to find the Hollywood walk of fame outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

They had located it fairly early on, and Thomas had taken dozens of photos of the kids with their hands in various famous people's hand prints. And James standing in the hand prints of John Wayne, looking seriously moody though it was all an act.

The troop continued down to a hot dog stand, where James insisted that he was starving and needed to eat right then. Thomas wasn't about to argue. He was pretty sure he could use some food himself. They went inside and Thomas treated them all to hot dogs and shakes and James and Mara looked like they were in heaven.

"Where to next?" Thomas asked, finishing off the last of his shake. He slurped through the straw to suck up the stubborn bubbles that remained at the bottom of the glass. Someone turned to glare at him and he tossed them a cheeky grin in return. James copied his father, slurping his shake as well, and Mara laughed at him.

"Can we go to the Ripley's place, Daddy?" James asked, kicking his little legs against the booth.

"Sometimes those places can be kind of scary, Angel." Thomas reached out and he wiped a bit of mustard from James' cheek. "I don't know..."

"I read all about it already," James informed his father with all the seriousness he could possess in his tiny body. James may have been three, but he was also an angel And an extremely gifted and intelligent one at that. He could read already, though the Ripley's information had been a little difficult and he had had to ask for help from his godfather, Flynn. "They have mummies and I want to see them very much. Please, can we see them?"

Thomas couldn't help it. James could have asked for a freaking airplane with those eyes and that serious little voice and Thomas would have said yes, despite the sheer impracticality and his inability to afford it. He honestly couldn't understand how anyone could harm their children. James just had to look at him and Thomas would have done anything to make him happy. "Well....I don't see why not. But we'll just ask if there are any exhibits which might be too frightening, okay, kiddo?"

James nodded, and he picked up a chip which was now quite cold, gripping it with tiny fingers. "I heard they took mummy's brains out their noses!" he announced, before chomping down said chip. "Is that true, Daddy?"

Mara giggled and she looked over at Thomas, who was staring at his three-year-old in utmost incredulity. "Yeah, Thomas, is that true?"

Thomas chuckled and he stood from the booth so he could crouch by James' side. "Who told you that? Why don't we go and see if we can find any information there, hmm? Though I don't know if they'll talk about brains so much... Have you had enough? Are you all full?"

"Yes, Daddy!" James reached out and he wrapped his arms around Thomas' neck. Thomas stood, lifting the little boy into his arms. Then he extended a hand to Mara, who happily took hold of it and let him help her out of the booth.

"Alright. Onward we go then." He had a distinct feeling he was going to find the things in Ripley's Believe it or Not more terrifying than James was. In the end, they spent the next few hours perusing exhibits on weird world records, earthquakes and volcanoes, a mermaid skeleton (Mara particularly liked this) and yes, even mummies. James lit up as they walked through what looked like an actual tomb. He squealed happily when a mummy seemed to move, and he read most of the placards out loud (much to the surprise of the fellow Ripleans who seemed to think the literate three-year-old was an exhibit himself) with the occasional help of Mara.

When all was said and done, Thomas thought James and Mara would have been exhausted. No dice. They dragged him to a wax museum before finally admitting that maybe it was time to relax. The trio headed off to Venice Beach for a swim and then a picnic dinner and while Mara and Thomas relaxed on the sand, James darted after seagulls and dug holes in the sand to hide the seashells he kept finding.

With an eye on his son, Thomas turned to Mara. "Are you having a good time, Sweetheart?"

"I am," Mara said, sounding surprised. "Today was awesome, Thomas."

"Maybe tomorrow we'll find something else to do," Thomas said with a laugh. "We seemed to chew through a lot today."

"There's always the Getty," Mara said simply. Apparently she had done her research as well! "It's on the top of a hill and I want to see the paintings. Do you think James would mind?"

"I think James would do anything to make you happy, Mara." Thomas watched his son as the little boy squealed and began to build a sandcastle. "He doesn't get bored by grown up things like some little boys would. I think it would be just fine."

Mara smiled and she dug her feet into the sand, the warmth of it bringing a smile to her face. "I'd really like to go. You know...you hear about all these places in school. Not necessarily the Getty but...Los Angeles and Venice Beach and Hollywood. People would talk about them like those places existed in their world. When I was younger they just...they didn't exist in mine. They were like Fairytale Places. Places I would never see. My world was my home and sometimes it expanded to include school and church. That was it."

It was strange to hear Mara talk like this. Thomas had always known there was a highly mature young woman lurking behind her eyes somewhere. The things Mara did to make others happy just weren't possible without that maturity. Like the time she had gone to FAO Schwartz and been told she could get anything she wanted. Instead of getting something for herself, she had gotten a toy for every single child at a childrens' home in Africa she had been pen palling with. She had been ten at the time and in every other way she had seemed like a happy little girl, perfectly pleased to be just that. She had not indulged the more mature side of herself in such an obvious way. Until now. Two months ago, she had been baking princess cookies and chattering about ponies and how boys had cooties. Now she wanted to talk about life and pain...it was strange, but Thomas had known it was always there. Trauma had a way of making people show their hands.

"Does this all feel like a fairytale then?"

Mara didn't answer, looking down at her feet with her hair falling into her eyes. "I used to lie awake and think of places like this. Think of going there. I was always so jealous because I knew my big brother got to go anywhere he wanted."

Thomas' lips curled into an involuntary smile at the mention of his husband. That was just what happened when people mentioned Spectre's name, be it his real name, or his chosen handle. "You thought Spectre got to do that?"

"Yeah. I my mind he was some sort of hero who had broken free. He was living in a castle on a hill, or sometimes a mansion in the city. He had horses, of course. And rooms and rooms full of costumes, because I used to hate the clothes Belinda and Samson dressed me in."

"I think Spectre agrees with you there," Thomas added. His husband was very picky about his wardrobe now because when he was growing up, it had all been chosen for him.

"I think so too. No one ever hurt him and he had lots of friends...that last part is true, of course. When I was really hungry, I would imagine the banquets he would be giving."

Thomas frowned as he felt a twinge of sympathy deep in his belly. He reached over to pat Mara's shoulder and to his pleased surprise, she moved over to lean against him. She hadn't been that openly physically affectionate with anyone who wasn't Spectre since being returned to them. Thomas wrapped his arms around her and he kissed her head, thrilled when she smiled gently.

"I used to read his journal from school, which was strictly forbidden of course. I did it anyway. I wanted so much to meet him and get him to take me away. That's why I snuck out that one time he played in Glasgow and you were with him? I wanted to ask him to help me but when I saw you both, you just looked so...normal. And I guess it didn't help that I didn't understand the whole 'gay' thing. You see, in my day dreams, Adrian was married to this beautiful princess."

Thomas chuckled and he tossed his hair back. "And I'm not a princess? Ouch, Mara. Way ouch."

Mara giggled and she bumped up against him to get him to be quiet. "Samson always said he was gay, but he didn't say it in a way that seemed to mean...actively so. And I read things, and everyone talked about him at school because people love him in Glasgow, but I had never really seen gayness before. So you were there holding my brother and my brother wasn't some kind of prince, and I was scared...and then he tried to calm me down with his powers and I panicked."

"I remember," Thomas said sadly. Mara had been so frightened she had run off and they hadn't known then that she was Spectre's sister. Only that she was a little angel girl who seemed quite distressed indeed. "We tried to find you, but we couldn't."

"I went back to my little world because as shitty as it was, I knew it." Mara looked out at the water. Out at James who was happily making mummies out of seaweed for his sandcastle. "I never thought I'd see places like this."

Thomas gave her a gentle squeeze as she said, "and now you're here, and it's not so much a fantasy?" He understood what she was getting at. She had escaped that horrible place where Samson made her endure terrible things. She had escaped to the fairy tale, even if it wasn't like she had dreamed it. After going though nine years of Samson Mors, anything would feel like a dream come true. Mara had lived her life as if she was in a fantasy and now it had been shattered by the unforgivable actions of a demon.

"Pretty much," Mara said quietly. "Still. I'm glad these places are real. That I got to see them."

"I'm glad too, Mara."

Mara looked up at him, pure adoration in her eyes. "Want to go help James with his sandcastle?" Mara couldn't live her fairy tale any more, but she could help keep James' intact.

"I would love to," Thomas said with a smile. "Come on up, Maragirl." He stood and he helped her to her feet. Once they were up, he wrapped his strong arms around her, giving her a tight hug. "I love you so much."

He could feel Mara smiling against his stomach as she embraced him back. "I love you too, Thomas."