the tortured poets department | lucky & gunner AU

Ear-splitting bickering from the back seat forced Lucky to split his focus. One hand stayed on the wheel, guiding the cream Anglia down the road while the the other moved between the transmission and the collar of his son's shirt to pull him off of his sister. That kid never listens. As soon as Lucky thought he'd settled their squabbling, they'd go back at each other again. His wife, restless with her hand to her forehead in the passenger seat, was under instruction from the doctor to take it easy, and that meant no wrangling the children. Lucky worked double-duty with the kids, something he hadn't been acclimated to since they had their second four years ago.

"Stop pinching me!" … "You're so gross!" … "And you're ugly!"

The car jostled between the children's fighting and Lucky's dwindling patience. His hand reached toward them, swatting them away. "Raymond Marshall, you keep touching your sister and I'm gonna beat you when we get home! Elizabeth, you keep calling your brother nasty words and I'll wash your mouth out with a bar of f-"

"Lachlan!" His wife, Elaine, threw her hand to the wheel and turned it. Lucky's eyes returned to the road where another car narrowly dodged their path. His foot jerked the brake as they swerved, moving safely (albeit uncomfortably) to the side of the road. Elaine squeezed his arm and shot him a glare as the man in the other car jeered him. By the time he unrolled the window, the time to give that man a piece of his mind had passed. The church's noon bell rang from behind, keeping the God fucking Damnit stuck between his teeth.

He turned, gently this time, toward Raymond and Elizabeth in the back seat. The glistening of tears in their eyes forced a tender apology. "Please be nice to each other in the car." Tense, both his hands returned to the steering wheel. "I'm sorry for yelling. Daddy needs to focus, and it's hard to do that when you misbehave." The kids apologized shortly after. Perhaps it was Pastor John's morning sermon on forgiveness that croaked apologies between them. Elaine got him back onto the shirt-and-tie church kick a few months ago. Back to old habits after straying due to his work overseas. A child's path to heaven starts with a mother and father's dedication to the church according to Pastor John. He gave it his best shot at being a man of faith again. God brought them together, and He'd keep them together for decades to come if he put in the effort.

As the pounding in his chest slowed, Lucky shifted the car back into gear and continued driving. The silence he caused tortured him.

* * *

"Share your toys." He instructed the kids as they ran inside to play. "Your mom made sandwiches in the fridge for a snack. Elizabeth– Elizabeth!" Lucky's voice grew to get his daughter's attention. He was stuck by the car, helping his wife exit the passenger seat. "Leave the ham and cheese sandwiches for Raymond, please. He doesn't like the peanut butter and jelly ones."

Whether she'd listen or not, Lucky didn't know. But contrary to his buddies' criticisms of him, he remembered things when they mattered.

"Are you okay, sweetheart? Take it slow." One hand held hers and the other rubbed her back. The doctor said two more months but neither of them believed that for a second. He was just trying to get another check from Lucky's wallet in advance of a few more visits.

"Lachlan, look! The new family is moving in."

"Hmm?" Elaine pointed next door. A black car parked in the driveway next to theirs, overflowing with cardboard boxes filled with clothes and dishware.

"The new family I told you about. The Azarovas, I think." It slipped his mind. It wasn't something he thought mattered. Lucky nodded disappointedly. He was surely going to miss the quiet in the yard. But what he was going to miss more, perhaps, were the nights the kids spent with Lucky's parents so he and Elaine could have a night alone. Lucky was untameable at night when no one next door could hear him. Elaine straightened his tie and guided him in the direction of the Azarova's house. "We should go introduce ourselves."

"Can't we say hello later? I wanted to go relax."

"Relax? In a house with Raymond and Lizzy?" He looked ahead. Fine, fair.

His arm in hers, Lucky climbed up the porch behind and to the left of his wife. She would do most of the talking, of course, he was just there for support. Elaine rang the doorbell unceremoniously before whispering in Lucky's ear about how he'd need to go to the grocer to pick up the ingredients for pumpkin bread as a housewarming present.

He was never going to relax today, was he?

The door creaked open, and Elaine greeted the woman at the entrance. "Hi there! My name is Elaine, and this is my husband, Lachlan." He waved sheepishly, unable to muster up the courage to masquerade joy like his wife. "We live right next door and wanted to welcome you into the neighborhood. Is your husband home? We'd like to introduce ourselves to him as well."

Lucky's body settled at the frame of the door. His hand fidgeted in his pants pocket, anxiously waiting to offer a handshake to the woman's husband.

"Welcome to the magical suburbs," he said, filling the tortured awkwardness. How did he end up with the one woman in the world who made him appear so shy and docile?