Perspective

[Nicholas Henderson]

It was that weekend again.
Nick was never entirely sure where his reluctance came from when it came to visiting his kids. He loved visiting his kids, he never had anything better to do, it was probably the highlight of his fortnights. He looked forward to it for so long, the second he left he started to look forward to it again and then he was in a much better mood all throughout the day when the time drew closer and closer. He would leave his apartment with a spring in his step and then slowly the good cheer would leech out of his mood, further and further until he had to drag himself along with barely disguised reluctance.
He could not understand that about himself. Unless, maybe, it was the whole formality of the thing, but formal things had never really bothered him all that much.

It was just one of life's little mysteries. The sort of question that just doesn't have an answer, apart from maybe one or two drifting around in the far reaches of the cosmos.
Like, why are we here? Or is there a God? To him, why is my mood so fickle when it comes to visiting hour with the kids?
He should just give up trying to figure it out.

The path to Shelby's house was a familiar one, of course. He walked it all the time, well not all the time. The amount of time it's appropriate for an ex-husband to walk up his ex-wife's path to the house she lived in quite comfortably with his children and her other children and who knows who else.
He didn't know who else. He didn't want to know who else because it would just torment him, more than it already did of course.

No, Nick wasn't the sort to lie awake at night and pine over the good old days where he'd been married with a steady little family and all the rest and become insanely, irrationally jealous of whoever'd taken his place. He lived in the present, barely able to see five minutes into the future where the need did not arise and definitely never, ever looking to the past.
He'd seen the effect that had on greater men than himself, and he didn't want to go down that route. No, just a long, pointless line of trouble.

He reckoned he would stick to this, lovely little prison-esque visiting hour routine. It was sort of nice in it's own way, and he smiled to himself at that thought, rocking back on his heels after knocking lightly on the door to the familiar house. Everything was sort of nice, if you gained the right perspective.

[Shelby Crescent]

"Mum, he's here."
Yes, once again the one hour out of a fortnight Nick was here to spend time with their three children, Zoe, Ashlyn and Isaiah. However, Zoe no longer lived at home seeing as she had her own little family to take care of now and Ashlyn was off with her friends this day. Isaiah wasn't always too particular for these visits though.

What good is an hour out of every two weeks? If he really cared he would try to spend more time with us. was all Isaiah could ever say when Shell reminded them it would be the weekend for their visit with Nick. It usually ended up with Shell having to bribe Isaiah with something from either Honeydukes or the quidditch shop, but at least Nick was happy.

Shell walks to the door and answers it, smiling slightly up at him. "Hey you. I'm sorry, but Zoe and Ashlyn both have plans today, I'm sorry they completely forgot it was this weekend." she lies, biting her lip knowing all too well that he knew this lying habit of hers. "But Isaiah's still here if you want to spend time with him. I was just making dinner actually." she adds with a nod before showing him into the house that they once owned together.

Jenny looks up at Nick briefly and smiles giving him a light hug. "Nice to see you." she says in a questioning tone of voice. Jenny never really bonded with Nick when she was a toddler, as she was always with Logan when Nick and her mother were together, but she still did care about him after all this time. "Anything new as Isaiah comes downstairs to spend time with you, Nick." Shell asks, almost yelling Isaiah's name so she knew he would have heard her.

[Nicholas Henderson]

"Hey hunn." He replied with a vague smile as Shell opened the door.
It was habit he'd always been quite unable to break and had never really got into calling her Shell - even the nickname sounded just a little bit formal considering everything, but he meant nothing by it. He used to call his sister 'hunn', he called his daughters that too.
Well, when he saw his daughters.

He wasn't really surprised and he spotted the lie right away. He doubted they just 'forgot' that it was this weekend again.
The sad thing was, he couldn't say that he blamed them.
He wasn't exactly gunning for father of the year and he knew that, but he was trying and that was all he could do. If he was in their shoes, he'd probably escape too.
Sitting in awkward silence with an estranged parent and straining desperately to make conversation with idle and uninterested 'so, how's it going?' sort of comments really can't be all that fun.

"Ah, I'll just check in briefly if you're having dinner then." He held up his hands in a half-sort of apologetic gesture.
And also small talk with Isaiah was a lot harder than small talk with Ashlyn or Zoe. Nick wasn't sure if Isaiah was trying to be plain with his distaste for him or if he was just really bad at hiding it, but either way it was obvious that Nick was not much welcome in Isaiah's life.
It was more reason for him to cherish what little time he did actually spend with him. He was sure that as soon as his son turned into a legal adult, that would be it, over, no more father-son time at all.
He'd nearly made his peace with that.

"Hey Jenny." His smile strengthened a little bit, returning her hug lightly. It was nice to know that someone was glad to see him, always a little bit reassuring.
Then he shook his head slightly in response to Shell's question. As if there'd be anything new with him. He never really had much going on, as he prefered a quiet peaceful existence these days.

"How about here at the madhouse? Who's in trouble this week?" He glanced surruptiously sideways at Jenny as he said this, slipping his hands casually into the pockets of his jeans, half-expecting her to answer instead.
There always seemed to be something of significance happening here, and there always seemed to be multiple sides to it. Or maybe he just noticed more, because maybe his life really was that dull in comparison.

[Shelby Crescent]

Shell shakes her head a little bit, declining almost at his proposal to leave already. "No, you're welcome to stay and have dinner with the army, if you think you can handle all of them." she says with a brighter smile as Jenny laughs at Nick's comment. "Hey, I don't live here anymore. I can't get in trouble. But Liese and Jessie are the ones grounded this week." she says with a strong nod, causing Shell to shake her head again. "She moved out a couple weeks ago, in a small apartment above the Bookstore." Shell adds to Jenny's sentence.

Hearing Isaiah walking down the steps, Jenny sighs slightly before walking into the kitchen. She didn't want to get in the middle of some kind of argument or anything of the sort. "Hey. I played a game against Hufflepuff, caught the quaffle four times and the score was 315 to 170, we won. That's all that has happened. Nice seeing you, bye." He nods in Nick's direction before turning around and heading for the steps.

Shell sighs and grabs his elbow slightly. "No, you and your father are having a nice conversation whether you like it or not. Now go on." she says sternly, earning her a glare from her son. Shell turns slightly, giving Nick a sympathetic look of concern before hugging him lightly. "Dinner will be done in about a half hour, so enjoy yourselves, both of you." she says looking over at Isaiah with a glare of her own before walking into the kitchen as well.

Isaiah rolls his eyes, as he moves over to sit onto the couch, examining his shoes to avoid looking at him. "Gotta love mum, always persistent and all the rest." he says with a bitter tone as he briefly glances up at him. "Well, how's work?''

[Nicholas Henderson]

"I'm not sure I could actually handle that Shell." He replied with a small grin.
He wasn't sure what his alternative was, but he really did doubt his ability to sit through dinner with so many kids, especially when some - or one, today, were his own.
He didn't try to be a sketchy and inconsistent father, it just sort of worked out that way through things beyond his control.
"Finally flew the nest then, Jenny." He teased lightly, almost immediately after speaking raising his hand in a sort of half-wave goodbye, because now he was aware of Isaiah coming down the stairs.

"That's great, Isaiah, really..." His reply sort of lost all enthusiasm when he realised it was his intention to just turn away and walk back up the stairs. "...great."
He swallowed his embarrassment and unquenchable feeling of inadequacy at this display as he hugged Shell lightly back and then followed Isaiah awkwardly to the couch.

"Work is good." He answered in that way where there's nothing better to say, sitting on the edge of the couch furthest away from him because he thought that it was most appropriate.
"How's school? Besides the whole quidditch match thing. That's really good, by the way, you did well Isaiah."

[Shelby Crescent]

Isaiah glances at Nick slightly before looking at his shoes again. "Studying for owls, grades are at the top, just like Ash's. Sorta have a girlfriend but yeah. That doesn't really matter seeing as you probably feel like you have to be here." he says crossing his arms lightly over his chest.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Shell and Jenny were listening in on their conversation. [colorr=yellow]"He's such a brat. At least his father comes to visit him."[/color] Jenny says with a huff before Shell sighs a little. "I know hun, but you have to see it in his eyes too. I know how he feels in a way with your grandfather." she says before walking into the living room with a couple glasses of water.

"Here you go Nick, Isaiah." she says handing them each a glass as she sat down on the coffee table so she could look at both of them. "Is there anything new with quidditch you two? Brooms, regulations?" Shell asks both of them before biting her lip slightly.

[Nicholas Henderson]

Nick had to force back a slightly snappish response to that. He'd thought that as his children got older they might start to understand why him and Shell weren't together anymore, why he'd been busy with the Order when they were younger, why he didn't want to impose himself on them too much now.
He wanted to tell him that he wasn't here because he felt like he had to be, but because he wanted to be and by some far-fetched reason actually enjoyed the time he spent being insulted and dismissed by his kids. Or maybe just the good moments in between.

"Well, that's all great too." Was all that he actually managed to say, with the same grin he managed to keep on his face throughout the whole visit, rain or shine.
He was trying to piece together a carefully disinterested phrase to question him further and keep the conversation going without appearing unnecessarily nosy when Shell came back.

He took the glass of water from her with a wordless nod of thanks, linking his fingers around it for something to do with his hands.
He couldn't help but be sat right at the edge of the couch, leaning forward slightly as if he was ready to leap to his feet and sprint away.
"Uh...new? Not really."

[Shelby Crescent]

Isaiah sighs a little and looks towards the direction of the kitchen. "I'm going to go help Jenny with the rest of dinner Mum. Nice seeing you Dad, see you in two weeks." he nods with a straight face before getting up and walking into the kitchen. Instantly you could hear the two of them bickering and fighting about Isaiah's behavior towards Nick has been since he got there.

Shell puts her hands through her curls and closes her eyes as if that would make them stop. "I'm sorry Nick. It's my fault they're arguing, why the girls aren't here and why our son is acting like that." she says glancing over at him as she shifted her hands to fold lightly in her lap. She sighs lightly before looking back up at him, her eyes clouded from being upset about the whole situation. She was partially to blame for this. If she waited for him to return they might still have been together and then the children would care for him, but she just moved on after five months.

[Nicholas Henderson]

"Okay." He answered lamely. "Alright then."
He watched Isaiah leave with a strange, almost pained expression as if he could barely sit there and do nothing about it. He wondered how long he'd bee faced with his son's retreating back - physically and metaphorically. Since he'd hit his teens? Before then?
Maybe the last time they'd been on good terms had been when he was so little he barely remembered.

"Don't be ridiculous, Shell." He half-reached out a hand to touch her lightly on the shoulder in reassurance, but thought better of it and reclasped his hands in his lap.
"It's...it's not your fault." He shrugged half-heartedly.
Not for one second had he ever blamed Shell. He'd resented her slightly at times, but nothing that came close to real blame. It wasn't her fault that he'd been too late coming home, that the ministry had made a mistake. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't the ministry's fault, even. Just an unfortunate series of events.

[Shelby Crescent]

Shell shakes her head lightly. "It is and it's both of ours I guess. Me giving up too soon and you well I'm not getting started" she says glancing up at him with a frown. "Maybe if the girls and Isaiah spend a day with you at your apartment or out somewhere together just the four of you things might be better?" she suggests with a shrug before biting her lip.

"Nothing is ever new with you is there?" she asks with a faint sympathetic smile on her face. "No changes at work, your apartment your love life even?" she laughs lightly before letting a thought escape her mind. He had to think of this as well or so she hoped. "I have to admit I wonder what would have happened if I did wait long enough for you to come home though. If the kids would get along with you better, if we would have had more kids, if the twins would still be here..." she trails off softly averting her eyes to the floor between them.

[Nicholas Henderson]

"That might work." He nodded, grateful for the suggestion but at the same time already dreading it. He doubted he could get Zoe, Ashlyn and Isaiah to agree to spend some time with him. And what would he do even if they did agree?
He knew very little about entertaining three teenagers. He spent most of his time at work, asleep or with a book. He didn't think that his kids would enjoy that...somehow.

Then he blinked a couple of times in surprise at the next comment.
Ouch.
Talk about hitting where it hurts.
No, nothing was ever new with him. Well, some things were new with him. There was a huge order of brooms just floating around the office at the moment because no one in the whole department seemed to know where they were going or what to do with them, but that's not something you say when someone asks you how work is because no one really wants to know. His power had gone out in his apartment for about 36 odd hours earlier this week, meaning that the ice in the freezer had melted and now his kitchen resembled a swamp because he hadn't the time or energy to clean it up properly yet. His love life was as bland as ever, but he had noticed a woman in his department a few times over the past couple of months.
So, yes, there were things new with him, but nothing he needed to say because they weren't interesting things, and Nick very much liked to say things only when they needed to be said.

He was still smarting over the love life comment when she continued to speak without time for a response.
Double ouch.
That was really rubbing salt into the wound. Of course he wondered, of course he did. He used to think about it every damn day until he'd decided that he should just get over it and settled into an uninteresting existence where he consequently hardly ever went out with another woman again.
And then the twins...Nick was dangerously close to hanging his head and slinking out of the house like a kicked dog.
He thought the twins would still be here. He barely knew anything about the other guy...or guys, but he was sure he could have taken better care and he would have made sure nothing happened. That was the one thing he was stubbornly immature about.
"I've wondered." Was all he managed to get out after that hugely long and extended thought process.

[Shelby Crescent]

Shell frowns a bit, feeling that he wasn't too thrilled about the idea but at the same time he would be glad if it would actually work. "Maybe just take them to get ice cream or go to some quidditch event. You know all of them would enjoy that." she says softly giving him a reassuring smile.

"You have? All of it or just some? You know my life wouldn't be as exciting if it wasn't for all those kids. I just go to Hogwarts, teach kids about astronomy and then come home to take care of them. When I do get free time, I find myself catching up on sleep or reading a book that I've set aside for the time being."

Jenny and Isaiah walk out of the kitchen before calling down the rest of the kids. "I guess it's dinner time. You can sit at the head of the table like you used to or you can sit next to Liese and Violet if you want. There's no real assign seats." Shell smiles at him before the kids all rush to the table. Shell watches Nick for a second before taking a chance and kissing him lightly on the cheek as she just as quickly walked to an open spot at the table.