cruiscin_lan: (Waffles? - Hiro)
cruiscin_lan ([personal profile] cruiscin_lan) wrote2008-12-12 12:32 am

FIC: Noah's First Birthday

Title: Noah's First Birthday
Characters/Pairings: Elle/Gabriel, Noah Gray
Rating: G for gooey
Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes or any of its characters
Word count: 810
Spoiler alert: lil' bit spoilery for Episodes 3.08 and 3.11
Summary: It's baby Noah's birthday!
A/N: [livejournal.com profile] candlewaxdreams asked me to write a fic where Elle and Gabriel get a happy ending. There's nothing happier than a birthday party! I hope this fic causes intense glee.

Putting Elle in charge of the balloons was a bad idea, in retrospect. Even without trying she seemed to have an electrical charge, and each balloon clung to her clothing once she had inflated it. Ten balloons, twenty, thirty - varying colors, varying shapes and sizes.

"He's not even going to remember this," Elle muttered as she stood up; she had been sitting cross-legged on the floor. The balloons rose up with her. "He's too young."

"We're going to take tons and tons of pictures," Gabriel replied. "It won't matter whether he remembers it now, he'll have something to look back on when he's older."

"Well, next year, you're in charge of balloons."

"And let you bake the cake? You're no Betty Crocker."

"You know, they make perfectly good cakes at the bakery on the corner of Roosevelt Avenue."

"I'm not going all the way there to get something I make better at home."

Elle decided to drop the issue; it was no use arguing with a perfectionist. She strode up to the counter, the balloons rubbing and squeaking against one another as she moved, trying to catch a glimpse of the cake that Gabriel was currently decorating. He turned his back towards her. "You can't see it yet! It's not done!"

"I just want a taste!" she laughed, sneaking her arm under his and sticking her finger into the creamy vanilla frosting. She leaned forward, trying to lick the icing from her finger, when Gabriel grabbed her wrist and put her finger in his mouth. He wiggled his eyebrows, looking seductively over his glasses at her.

"Not right now!" she laughed softly. "Noah's still asleep."

"You started it," Gabriel pointed out.

As a couple, the two had had a rough start. After all, she had pushed him into a life of crime and he did almost kill her on a beach in California, had it not been for a last minute crisis of conscience. She had been reluctant to forgive him, but she was by nature so needy, so reliant on someone else to justify her own existence that she clung to him in spite of her fear of him. They hit the road together, independent finally from Pinehearst and Primatech and anyone who had once called them family or friends - they were free of all that.

When they realized they were going to be parents, Gabriel thought they should move back to Queens - it was large enough that they could easily be lost among the crowds, among the streets confusingly numbered. They found a cozy two-bedroom in Flushing near the Botanical Garden, where Elle took their infant son in his stroller while Gabriel worked two jobs as a mechanic (he was good at knowing how things worked, after all).

There were times when they realized they weren't well-matched for each other, or well-suited for the life they chose, but those times didn't matter when compared to the joy they got from hearing their son sigh in his sleep, watching him wiggle as he got comfortable in their laps, or combing his soft, blond, wispy hair away from his smiling face.

Today was his first birthday.

Neither Elle nor Gabriel were particularly adept at making friends, so the celebration was going to be strictly family-only: the three of them. The lack of party guests certainly wasn't going to stop them from making it the best birthday they could. It was going to be the kind of party they never had - cake, balloons, presents, photos.

Elle starting tying ribbons to the knots in the balloons, then tying them to the dining chairs in groups of two and three. "What kind of cake did you end up making?"

"Chocolate," Gabriel told her, adding a little flourish to the icing of the cake telekinetically.

"Chocolate?" Elle groaned. "Do you realize what a mess he's going to make? I told you either vanilla or yellow cake. Vanilla or yellow. Gabriel, he's going to ruin his birthday outfit, and if any crumbs get smushed into the carpet..."

Gabriel rolled his eyes; Noah started to cry in his crib. Elle stopped talking for a moment, but her glare reminded Gabriel that she was still mad at him. She went over and reached into his crib, lifting him up and cradling him in her arms. "Hey there, birthday boy," she cooed.

Gabriel draped a festive tablecloth over their tiny dinette table and set it with paper plates and plastic silverware while Elle changed Noah's diaper and dressed him in the outfit she'd picked out for him. Gabriel pulled Noah's high chair up to the table and Elle gently strapped him in. With a flick of her finger she lit the one candle on his cake. Gabriel set the timer on the camera and placed it on the edge of the table.

When it went off it captured the image of a still-sleepy twelve-month-old flanked on either side by his almost-ordinary beaming parents.

[identity profile] dragynflies.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 05:41 am (UTC)(link)
Awwww. I died of cute.

And this: She had been reluctant to forgive him, but she was by nature so needy, so reliant on someone else to justify her own existence that she clung to him in spite of her fear of him. While not the POINT of the fic, was dead on.

I want someone to make a manip of the picture they took in this fic.

[identity profile] cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Me too! I need to work on my intimidation skills and strong-arm someone into it.

[identity profile] catyuy.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 05:52 am (UTC)(link)
Cuteness.
And why when reading these kind of happy fics do I want Peter or someone else to come running in yelling Sylar, then being all confused by the cuteness.
Like in I am become death.
Cause that was awesome.

[identity profile] cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:12 am (UTC)(link)
Now I can't stop imagining Peter come running in at important moments in history before he realizes what's going on.

Like the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Wow. That'd be awesome.

[identity profile] catyuy.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:19 am (UTC)(link)
Jefferson is fumbling over words that fit.
Self Evidentiary, Self Evidence.
Peter: Self Evident.

[identity profile] catyuy.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 10:11 am (UTC)(link)
Nathan: You helped Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence!?!?
Peter: It was an accident. He kept asking for grammerical help. Also did you know Benjamin Franklin had an ability?!?!
Nathan's eyebrows shoot up.

[identity profile] lteagleeyes.livejournal.com 2008-12-13 05:36 am (UTC)(link)
LOL!
I just read this little thread, and the visual image of Peter running in on the Declaration of Independence, and Ben Franklin having an ability had me cracking up! :D

[identity profile] catyuy.livejournal.com 2008-12-13 05:42 am (UTC)(link)
According to the Graphic Novels, Franklin had an ability.
And I can see Peter freaking out over interrupting historical events.
But Hiro just asks for directions.

[identity profile] celeste1104.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 05:26 pm (UTC)(link)
I completely agree

[identity profile] killbot.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 05:54 am (UTC)(link)
That was just the right amount of fluff and awesome. You have the recipe for awesome. THAT WAS SO CHEESY OMG WHY DID I TYPE THAT.

[identity profile] cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:13 am (UTC)(link)
THAT WAS SO CHEESY OMG WHY DID I TYPE THAT.

That was pretty much my thought process writing this one...
ext_47157: (Default)

[identity profile] faded-facade.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:10 am (UTC)(link)
So much cute in this story. I loved reading every word of it.

[identity profile] cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:13 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks :)

[identity profile] sellthelie.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:17 am (UTC)(link)
Just love the last sentence, I love the cuteness. :)

[identity profile] cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:20 am (UTC)(link)
Sorry you didn't like the rest of it. ;) Thanks for reading!

[identity profile] sellthelie.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:26 am (UTC)(link)
Oh no, I liked it all. :D

[identity profile] ageless-aislynn.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 08:35 am (UTC)(link)
Aw, I love that! \o/ Sweet and cute and fluffy and just the thing I needed to help *handwave* recent unmentionable events (grrrrr >:[ ;) ) away! Thanks for that! ♥!

[identity profile] cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:44 pm (UTC)(link)
I think this is the most emoticons I've ever received as feedback. Awesome :)

[identity profile] di-elle.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 10:28 am (UTC)(link)
We all need happy ending for them right now, so thanks both: you for writing this cute and fluffy piece and [livejournal.com profile] candlewaxdreams for her prompt

:)

[identity profile] cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks for reading :-P

[identity profile] princessbella24.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 12:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Absolutely sweet!!, loved the last line because that´s how it would have been. Great work.

[identity profile] cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks for reading :)

[identity profile] lil-orli.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 01:59 pm (UTC)(link)
one word awwwwwwwwwwwww tis so cute and i love how squabbly and adorable they are as a couple loves it

[identity profile] cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks L)

[identity profile] candlewaxdreams.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)
This was a balm to my poor shipper heart! I think I'm drowning in the fluff, and that's okay :D Thanks so much for writing this!!

[identity profile] cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Next time I'll make sure to write some smut in there as well. Everyone could use a little... smuff.

[identity profile] candlewaxdreams.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Always! Smuff is the best ;D
Edited 2008-12-12 19:14 (UTC)

[identity profile] celeste1104.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 05:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Cute! I liked it!

[identity profile] cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com 2008-12-12 06:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks!

[identity profile] mrstater.livejournal.com 2008-12-13 05:22 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, awesome; I don't feel bad about writing happy family fluff for [livejournal.com profile] sylelle_chall now. ;) I love Sylar/Elle angst, but every now and then babyfic is awesome, too. And amidst all the aw moments -- of course they'd both be totally doting parents that want Noah to have everything they didn't have -- you've got just the right amount of conflict -- how wrong they are for each other in so many ways, how prone they'd be too squabbling, their less-than-fluffy past, their social issues -- that keep this very much Sylar and Elle even though their situation itself is happy.

Also, mechanic!Gabriel in greasy work clothes? Yum.

[identity profile] lteagleeyes.livejournal.com 2008-12-13 05:36 am (UTC)(link)
Awww!
Soo sweet, I loved it! :D
Great job! :)