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Patience had been key in dealing with Rosemary Winters up until this point. She was a child born into misfortune and the way she was so emotionally guarded off at the ripe age of eight showed it plainly. Trying to protect Rose from the truth of why her mother wasn’t around, her dad was plagued with nightmares and most noticeably of all, the reasoning behind his lack of fingers had been futile in the end; mostly because of the constant BSAA check-ins that continuously reminded the child that there had been an accident.
Chris Redfield had been the one who’d tried to gently explain to her that her dad was just being a good husband, trying to protect his wife and child as best as he could. After that there was no talking little Rosemary out of her thought process- husbands sacrifice everything for their family and her dad didn’t need to suffer anymore, which would be avoidable so long as he wasn’t a husband again.
She was immensely protective of her father, and ended up being the youngest person to ever deliver a shovel talk to the great Leon Kennedy upon finding out he was dating her dad. Leon had been understanding, nodding and offering reassurance as she told the agent that her dad didn’t need any trouble. Watching how gentle and kind the agent was as he received threats from a child (after telling Ethan he didn’t need to step in, that she deserved to express her feelings) was probably the event that solidified Ethan’s love for Leon, and it also had been the start to a more family-like dynamic.
Rosemary slowly put down her walls, Leon growing on her. She liked the way he’d always attend her tea parties when he was at the Winters household, and the way her dad was always so happy whenever the agent was even just on his way over. She’d even started expressing that she missed Leon whenever he was away on missions for what she deemed as being too long, to which Ethan would always smile softly and agree that he felt the same.
Gradually Leon spent more and more of his time at Ethan’s place when he wasn’t away at work, and eventually he moved in completely. Rosemary had been fine with all of that, excited about it even; something which had been important to both of the adults, neither wanting her to feel uncomfortable within her own house. Her calmness with everything up until that point was why both men were caught off guard by her outburst at just the mention of marriage.
Tears were immediate, Rose angrily telling Leon he absolutely could not put Ethan through ‘that’ again. Her voice had cracked as she yelled that she’d trusted him, a look of betrayal evident on her face. She left the table, storming off to her bedroom without paying any mind to the way both Leon and Ethan tried to call after her. Her door slamming shut was the cue for both Ethan and Leon to turn to each other with equally bewildered looks.
Leon was quick to ask Ethan if it was okay that he go talk to the child first, and with her father’s approval he got up and knocked on her door. At first he was told to go away, but after expressing from the hallway that he just wanted to understand what had upset her, finally he was granted permission to come in.
Leon awkwardly stepped into the room, plopping himself down in the chair sat in front of Rose’s homework desk. He was being fixed with a glare from the blonde sat on her bed, but it wasn’t enough to shake him. The agent simply offered a little smile as he spoke in a gentle tone.
“Hey, Rosie. Is everything okay?”
“Does any of this look okay to you?”
Leon had to hold back a laugh, always finding amusement in the way she managed to sound like her father whenever she caught an attitude.
“I don’t know what I did to upset you, can you explain it to me?” Leon’s blunt, if Rose didn’t want to beat around the bush than he was more than willing to get to the point- in fact, it was preferable for him.
“Dad can’t be a husband again,” Rosemary’s words are filled with conviction, and Leon can’t help but furrow his brows as he tries to see the situation from her perspective. Did this have to do with her thinking he shouldn’t remarry?
“Husbands protect their wives, and dad has already been through enough! If you care about him then why would you want him to do it all over again?”
Tears started to roll down Rose’s cheeks once more, meanwhile everything suddenly clicked into place for Leon. The assumption was clearly that if Ethan were to take another life partner that he’d end up right back in another situation like Romania; Leon playing Mia’s role. Except, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
“Rose, I’d be the husband. Your dad and I aren’t planning on getting married anytime soon, but if we do I’ll be the one to protect you both; neither of you would have to worry about a thing, just like the way it is right now.”
“Really?” The girl raised her wrists up to her face, the sleeves of her sweater collecting the drops of moisture that speckled it. A soft sniffle could be heard, and Rose fixed Leon with a hopeful look.
Leon nodded, “Of course. I know your dad has been through a lot, I was already thinking that it was about time he got to be the wife.”
The agent held back his chuckle once again, mind wandering to the idea of Ethan being his bride. Undoubtedly the man in question would later pout when he found out they’d need to set Rosemary straight when it comes to the logistics of gay marriage and the fact that neither would be considered a wife. That’s an issue for another time though, right now all that matters is Rose understanding she has nothing to worry about; and if the way she ran up to Leon for a hug meant anything, it’d seem that the agent’s method had worked.
“Is that why you come home with bruises sometimes after being gone? You go out and protect us?”
“In a way… I go out and handle problems before it becomes something you two need protection from.”
“Am I interrupting something?”
Ethan’s voice was soft, a sort of relief bleeding into the tone as he made his presence known from where he stood in the doorway. Leon turned to the man with a smile, standing as Rose power walked to her father and threw her arms around him this time.
“Not at all, I think we’ve cleared up the misunderstanding.”
“Mhm! You don’t need to worry dad! Leon said he’ll be the husband; he’ll take care of you the same way you took care of mom!”
“That’d make you the wife, Eth,” Leon snickered, sticking out his tongue as he stood back where only Ethan could see him.
“Dad already knows that, Leon! He’s smart!” Rose snapped, silencing the agent’s teases and only leaving behind his wide grin.
’Explain later,’ Ethan mouthed with a confused look; Leon simply nodding in response as he sauntered over for a group hug.