Peanut Butter Revelations [Marton/Angel]

[palaceangelina]

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Again it was the act of rolling, of coming to rest on the cold side of the bed that woke Marton. He sighed, flipped onto his back and peered at the clock on the bedside table. God! He'd only been asleep for little over an hour and he knew damned well that he'd never get back to sleep now. He grumbled to himself as he got out of bed, tugging on a pair of sweats and a jumper, he padded barefoot to the window. No. He wasn't going to stand here staring out at nothing all night. Not again. Surely to God, someone would still be up. He checked his com and smiled at the listing, switching screens in order to call. "Angel? It's Marton."

"Hey bud." Angelina said after finding her com, eyes still on the vid screen. "What the hell you doing up?"

Marton's smile grew at being called 'bud'. "Can't sleep." he told her. "Fancy some company?"

"Sure, sounds great. I'm just piled up on the sofa watching - " She paused and frowned at the screen. "I'm not sure - it's either really bad porn - or possibly cartoons. Ohhh can you bring some peanut butter? I'm out - and - well - I'm out." She said with a laugh.

"Be right there." Marton told her. "With peanut butter." He disconnected, still shaking his head with amusement at the way Angel treated him. I am a delivery boy for pregnant women now, he reflected as he did as he was told and raided the huge upstairs kitchen. Mission accomplished, he headed downstairs and within a few minutes he was knocking on the door. "Delivery for Ms. Jolie."

"Yay!" Angelina said as she opened the door. "Bubba and I thank you there Daddy." She walked into the living area with Marton in tow. "What'd you want to drink? Juice, coffee - hey - I've even got a few beers in here." She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Beer?" Marton quirked his eyebrow right back at her, his eyes laughing. "For your guests, I assume." He gave her stomach a pointed look.

"Yes." She said grinning. "It's here for when Guy and Will come hang out."

Marton's smile dimmed a little but he took a seat on the couch in front of the vid screen and tried to ignore the hollow feeling the mention of Will's name had engendered. "I don't want a drink, just company." He patted the seat beside him. "Maybe a cuddle too, if you're in the mood?"

"I think I can do that, 'course you may have to show me how." She laughed and moved to sit next to him, as she started to tuck her feet under she stopped and looked at him. "Uh how do you feel about feet?"

"Feet?" Marton slid an arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her closer to rest in the crook of his arm. "I'm all for feet, I think. Put 'em where you will."

She wiggled until she was snugged against him, a little surprised, but pleasantly so, at how easy it was to get comfortable with him. "Just asking. Guy was here and he rubbed my feet and it was great - oh!" She sat up and looked at him, eyes wide. "Guess what?"

"What?" Marton had been trying to make head or tail of what was on the vid screen. But, whatever it was, it was not very interesting, so he turned his head and concentrated on Angel instead.

"Well first I was pretty pissed - not at you - and I thought it was gas, but Guy said - " She stopped and grinned. "You know he knows a whole hell of a lot about being pregnant." She shrugged and continued. "Anyway - he said Bubba was kicking me. The pissed part was when he explained about my cat getting too big for my box. I told his sorry ass that you better bring on the fuckin' drugs. But anyway - that's beside the point - the point is it moved." She grinned and pointed at her stomach proudly.

Marton was still working on digesting the incredible notion that Guy, Guy, knew anything about being pregnant and his reaction to the rest of the words was therefore delayed. His smile grew into a grin and then into outright laughter as they sank in. "They do that." he managed an agreement through bouts of the giggles. "Babies. Cat. Box. Yes."

She poked him in the arm. "Don’t laugh - you aren't the one with someone doing the mamba on your bladder." She said with a sniff and then turned back and settled against him, taking his arm and pulling it over her shoulder.

"No. No, I'm not." Marton apologized by kissing the top of her head. They sat for half an hour or so, watching the end of a movie Marton found by flipping channels and, when it was over he turned off the screen, letting out a soft sigh in enjoyment of the relaxed silence.

Angelina stretched and pointed her toes, letting out a yawn, not wanting to move from the comfortable nest against Daddy’s side. "Okay, you officially have better taste in movies than I do, or just better luck finding them." She leaned her head back and looked at him. "You ready for a drink yet? Or do you want to just hang?"

"Just hang." Marton let his hand drift across Angel's hair. "Unless you want to go to bed. Alone, I mean." he added with a little smile.

She laughed with a snort. "Thanks for clarifying that." She sat for a minute, enjoying the feel of having someone there. "Speaking of sleeping alone - Will left huh?" She said, waiting quietly.

"Yeah." Marton fell silent, not knowing what to say. Eventually he ventured, "I miss him." in a quiet voice.

"I emailed him but he hasn’t answered me.” Angel shrugged and worried her lip, thinking a moment before asking the next question. “Why?" She continued quickly when she felt him stiffen a bit. "I don't mean why you miss him - I mean why is he gone - if you're gonna miss him?"

Marton shrugged. "Because . . . I didn't stop him." He startled, surprised by the words that had come out when his intention had been to say something entirely different. He should have said, well, all that stuff about duty and belief but he hadn’t. He spent a few moments trying to figure out not what he should say, but why he was going to say it! "I could have." he said softly. "It would have meant asking him to give up something he believes in utterly, that he was raised to. But I could have."

"Why didn't you? And shit Daddy - kids grow up believing in the Holiday Sprites too, but at some point you grow up and realize that your chain was being yanked when you were a kid." She got quiet for a second, chewing on her lip. "If you had asked, he'd of stayed ‘cause he wanted too, not cause he had too - right?"

"Oh, he'd have stayed. Will is not . . . strong on denial. He feels obligation very keenly. That's why he went home. As to why I didn't . . ." He went quiet again. "I wasn't sure." Tipping his head back and staring at the ceiling, Marton tried to arrange his thoughts into cohesion. "See, I love Will. I know that. I love the cheeky kid who got Christian into so much trouble, the grin he used to give me when he got caught, the young man who came home from the Border. I love all those. As a family friend." he added. "And that's the hard part, you see? Sorting out the old from the new. I can't afford to get it wrong! I don't want to get it wrong." He lifted his head and looked down into her face. "I feel so . . . hollow now, no matter what I do to try and fill it, it doesn't go away. Does that mean I'm in love?" He shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, you're talking to someone that wouldn't recognize it if it bit her in the ass, and I'm fine with that." She said decisively. "But why are you so worried about getting it wrong? Are you worried about you - or him?"

"I . . . I guess I'm worried that I'm ignorant." he said after a pause. "I don't know that much about love either, to tell you the truth. Catherine, certainly and there was Sean . . . " his shoulders lifted and fell and he bit his bottom lip. "If I'm wrong and it hurts him worse than he's already been . . ." Marton stopped, shook his head.

"He's grown right? He can make his own decisions if you and his mother would let him. Fuck Marton." Angel glared at him and continued. "Why do you get to decide what's best for him? Sounds to me like you're hurting both of you 'cause you're scared. But what do I know?" She settled back down again and sighed, snuggling down again. "Peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwich sounds damn good. Mmmm."

Jesus Christ she was right! Marton was slightly shocked but grateful. What gave him the right to decide what was best for Will? That made him every bit as bad as Ellen! Damn! What he really ought to be doing was concentrating on what he felt and then offering that to Will, not taking the entire thing on his own shoulders! He squeezed Angel tight for a moment. Who would have thought, eh? She freely admitted to abjuring such emotional contacts, in fact he wasn't sure she was capable of such things, but damned if she wasn't a most excellent sounding board.

But it wasn’t only that and Marton realized instantly that Harry was going to hate it, but he truly had a firm opinion of Angel now and it was a positive one. He wasn’t so foolish as to be thinking he could save her, she was simply too much herself for that, but there was a real chance that something could be salvaged.

She was smart, damned smart, as evidenced by how quickly she had picked up on his ‘guidance’ in manners and deportment. And she was slick too, her beauty, allied with her innate cunning, made her a possibly valuable tool. He result he could achieve would be twofold; Angel could have a home, have her ‘daddy’ and some small measure of stability and she could be useful.

It was, she was, the perfect package or had the potential to be. And Marton liked her. Understood how her mind worked, her motives, but liked her anyway. And that was at least one decision made, he thought. He’d do his best to encourage Angel to stick around which could only be of benefit them both in the long run.

For the first time in ages, Marton felt a bit more confident. Maybe he'd even be able to sleep. "Want a sandwich?" he asked, his smile bright. "Let me make it."

"Ohhh a man that does kitchen duty. Bubba and I think you're a keeper Daddy." She said with a laugh and wondered at the ease and comfort that she felt being with this man. As she looked at him she suddenly realized that he was smiling at her, and had just offered to make her a sandwich – because he wanted to. There wasn’t any ulterior motive other than a simple gesture of pleasing her, it caused a strange flutter inside – or that could just be Bubba. She smiled as Marton stood.

"I certainly hope so." Marton got to his feet. "Cause you're stuck with me."