They All Leave
By: Cheshyre
Title: They All Leave (1/1)
Fandom: Laverne and Shirley
Pairing: None
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own it. I don't make money off of it. I just use it to make other people happy. Suing me will only get you action figures.
Notes: Part of the Dad universe.
Warnings: My angst is pastede on yay.
It was a beautiful spring wedding. The weather was gorgeous and surprisingly enough, the ceremony had come off without a hitch. They had walked into the church Lenny Kosnoski and Amy Babbish and left Mr. And Mrs. Kosnoski. Husband and wife.
Surrounded by friends and family, they had first exchanged vows and then had partied well into the night at their reception. Lenny and Amy had left at midnight that night, driving to San Diego for a short, quiet honeymoon. They returned happier than when they'd left, if it was possible.
During the first few months of marriage, they'd talked often about starting a family. Despite wanting children (Amy longed to be a mother), they came to the decision that it would be best to wait. Lenny's job wasn't paying much at the moment and Amy's part time job was just enough to keep them scraping by. If they wanted to give their child a good life, Lenny would have to earn more money. Simple as that. And, that could take a few years. But, they had time. Plenty of time.
Time ran out just shy of their one-year anniversary. Amy had been sick for weeks. She was having trouble seeing and she would get dizzy if she stood up for too long. She hadn't been able to work and Lenny was in danger of losing his job because he'd stayed home so often to take care of her. Amy wasn't getting better and Lenny was starting to panic. They had to go to the doctor.
It took a week for the doctors to tell them what was wrong. Amy had a brain tumor. She was going to die.
That night, Lenny cried while Amy slept.
They celebrated their first- and last- anniversary alone, spending nearly the entire day in each other's arms. The next day, they started calling people to inform them of the bad news.
Near the end of Amy's life, it was nothing but a blur of pain medication and hospital visits. She was bedridden and in constant pain. Lenny stayed with her, lying in their bed beside her while she slowly wasted away. He'd been fired months ago. Frank and Edna had taken over paying Lenny's bills with help from Laverne, Shirley, and Squiggy. Lenny didn't care if the bills didn't get paid. All he cared about was Amy.
And, it was breaking his heart to see her like this. The pain medication wasn't working nearly as well as it used to. She was barely coherent from the mix of pain and pills. Lenny had gone from praying for a cure to praying for the end to come quickly.
Amy's end did finally come one night when they were both sleeping. Lenny woke up to find Amy cold and her lips blue. He held her and cried and cursed himself for missing her last breath for nearly two hours before he called anyone.
It was perfect weather for a funeral the day Lenny buried Amy. Rainy and cold, a perfect match for Lenny's mood. Despite the many hugs and condolences he received from everyone there, he couldn't feel anything except Amy's absence.
That night, Squiggy helped Lenny pack up the apartment he'd once shared with his wife. He couldn't live there without her. It wasn't right.
"Lenny, there's something I gotta tell ya if you're gonna move in with me," Squiggy had said in the midst of the crushing silence.
"What's that?" Lenny asked quietly. He was tired. Heartbroken and tired.
"Well, I didn't want to tell anyone because I wanted it to be a surprise," Squiggy began. "Besides, I don't think anyone would have believed me if I told them anyway." He paused. "I'm gonna be a dad, Lenny."
Those six words pierced through Lenny's haze of grief and rolled around in his brain.
"You what?" he asked in disbelief.
"I'm gonna be a father," Squiggy repeated.
"How?"
"C'mon, Lenny, you know how babies are made," Squiggy said, rolling his eyes.
"No, I mean with who? I didn't know you were going with anyone," Lenny clarified.
"Her name is Darlene and eight months ago we had a magical night together," Squiggy said, gazing off into the distance wistfully.
"Eight months ago!? Why didn't you tell me?" Lenny snapped.
"Darlene wanted to keep it quiet so being the good man I am, I respected her wishes," Squiggy defended.
A sudden anger surged in Lenny. He wanted to argue. Wanted to tell Squiggy what a dolt he was for not telling him. Wanted to tell him that this girl sounded like she was no good. Wanted to warn him.
But, he didn't.
He just turned his back on Squiggy and started packing again.
A few days later, Lenny once again found himself in a hospital. He was in the waiting room waiting for Squiggy to come out and tell him whether it was a boy or girl. But, it was never Squiggy who told him. He'd fainted during the delivery and a doctor ended up informing Lenny that it was a healthy, if slightly premature, baby girl.
He joined Squiggy and Darlene and the new baby in their room the next day. Squiggy was holding the baby and beaming proudly. Darlene didn't look the least bit interested in either of them. Her indifference made Lenny go cold, but he smiled for Squiggy.
Squiggy had immediately named Lenny godfather and uncle to his daughter and handed him the baby. She was small and pink and had a mess of spikey, black hair on the top of her head. And, she was nameless.
Darlene didn't care what they called the baby and everything Squiggy came up with, Lenny hated and everything Lenny came up with, Squiggy hated. The name debate got rather heated and ended with Squiggy declaring, "This is my daughter and I'll name her what I want!" before storming out of the room.
Lenny was left alone with Darlene and the baby for a couple of hours while Squiggy apparently cooled off. Darlene never once spoke to him or asked for the baby, just kept reading her trashy romance novel. Lenny sat and rocked his goddaughter, watching her as she slept contentedly in his arms.
Squiggy returned, looking quite smug, and waved a piece of paper in front of Lenny's face. Instead of cooling off, Squiggy had gone down and filled out the baby's birth certificate. With his free hand, Lenny snatched it away and read the name on it.
Pearl Amy Squiggman.
Tears filled Lenny's eyes and he looked up at Squiggy.
"It's nothing. I just thought it was pretty," Squiggy said sheepishly, taking Pearl from Lenny.
Lenny smiled a genuine smile for the first time in months.
When it came time to take Pearl home, Darlene left the hospital without a word or a look back. Squiggy was crushed. Lenny could have warned him. They all leave. He could have told him that from experience.
Instead, he took Squiggy home and told him that they could raise this baby on their own. Squiggy would make a great dad and he'd make a good uncle and Squiggy began to recover.
Lenny held baby Pearl, now called Punky because she didn't cry when they called her that, while Squiggy fixed her a bottle.
"Just promise me something," Lenny whispered to her as she smiled up at him. "Don't leave like the rest of them, okay?"
Punky's only reply was to stick a tiny fist into her mouth.
"Good," Lenny said with a smile and kissed her forehead.
To Daughter
To Three Women