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Phil and Techno have been best friends for as long as they could both remember. Their parents were neighbors and even though Phil was two years older than Techno, they both got along like best friends would.
Ever since they were children, people had mistaken them for brothers. Their childhood was made up of pretty much just the same people, so they only had to correct them once or twice, but it was still a common occurrence. Once they got older and went out into the world on their own, it was free real estate.
People mistaking them for brothers was something they dealt with weekly, almost like clockwork. At this point, Phil was considering asking his parents to adopt Techno or Techno’s parents to adopt him so that they could just say yes and move on.
But sadly, as they had been told many times, they are adults and can’t be adopted. But, if he has to suffer with anyone, he’s glad it's with his best friend.
~~~~~~~~~~
1
Techno had been told that Phil was having a son in possibly the most memorable way ever.
Since Phil and Techno worked together, they both constantly had to go to the other to sign things or get approval on decisions. Phil telling Techno he needed him to sign some things really wasn’t out of the blue in the slightest.
Techno looked at the small stack of papers in front of him and frowned when he saw the first one. “Phil, I signed this last week,” he droned in his signature tone.
Phil said nothing. When Techno looked over at him, Phil was biting his lip. Phil only had a few tells to when he was nervous, the most prominent one being the lip biting. Not wanting to stress him further, the younger decided not to question and instead went back to paging through the documents.
Each one was something that had already been read over and approved by either Techno or someone else. Techno almost grabbed the nearest object and threw it at him for wasting both of their times, when he suddenly noticed the last sheet was not one he had seen before. Attached to it was a tiny box.
Techno went immediately to open it, but Phil stopped him.
“Read the contract first,” he urged.
Techno narrowed his eyes at him with no small amount of snark, but nevertheless obliged.
“This contract is to signify that I, Techno Blades, agree on February 16th to be the godfather of the newest addition to the Craft family. I agree to watch them when their parents are tired and take them for day trips when their parents want a date night. I will love this child unconditionally and smack Phil if he ever tries to teach them how to hide things from Kristin. Sign here,” He read.
It took him a second to process the words and he turned to Phil with shock all over his face. “You’re serious?” he asked.
Phil nodded and pointed to the box. Techno basically tore it open and inside there was a tiny baby onesie that read “will you be my godfather?”.
He would forever deny that he cried as he signed the contract that day. Phil would insist the exact opposite.
9 months passed in a whirlwind of planning, leaving Techno standing awkwardly in front of his best friend's house too anxious to open the door.
He had been out of the country for work when the baby was born but as soon as he got back, Phil invited him to come meet them.
Techno didn’t know the baby’s name or gender. Phil wanted it to be a complete surprise to him when the baby was born. Since Techno wasn’t there then, it stayed a mystery to him for weeks. Now he was outside with a bag full of pampers, wipes, baby clothes, and toys and he couldn’t bring himself to go in.
He was excited but nervous. This is why he hated emotions. They were stupid and keeping him from meeting his godkid.
Eventually, he was able to force himself to knock on the door. Within seconds, Phil was opening it with a wide smile.
“Perfect timing. The guest of Honor just woke up,” he said practically yanking Techno inside. Techno dropped his bags on the table and quickly took off his shoes before letting Phil drag him through the house.
They stopped in front of what used to be a guest room and Phil looked like how he used to on Christmas when they were kids. The man was practically bouncing on his toes.
Techno peeked inside and saw Kristin holding what looked like a bundle of blankets. She looked up at him with clear admiration and love for the bundle in her arms. He couldn’t help but smile back at her.
She motioned eagerly for him to come over and he looked at Phil nervously. The blonde man just chuckled and motioned for him to go. Techno took a deep breath and went inside, stopping far enough from Kristin where he could see the bundle but not touch the little one wrapped within.
“Want to hold him?” She offered.
“Him?” Techno parroted.
Kristin smiled and nodded. Techno agreed to hold him and Phil materialized seemingly out of nowhere with a large bottle of hand sanitizer. Techno chuckled and sanitized his hands.
Kristin carefully handed him the baby and positioned his arms correctly. Techno looked down at him and saw he was a carbon copy of his mother.
“What’s his name?” Techno whispered with barely concealed awe, too scared to talk loudly and startle him.
“William. William Icarus Craft,” Phil informed.
Techno smiled softly when he heard the middle name. Icarus was Technos nickname for Phil when they were kids. The older would always try to fly, and always ended up falling and getting hurt. He hadn’t used it in such a long time that he would have thought Phil forgot.
“I couldn’t really name him after you, but the symbolism will do,” Phil said.
Techno chuckled quietly. “It’ll work I guess. But the next kid better be named Theseus,” he joked.
“We’ll see,” Phil teased.
“We’ll see?” Techno parroted. “If you don’t, I’ll tell both of them about how I got the nickname Theseus.”
Phil’s eyes widened. “You’re getting this down right Kristin? Next kid's name is Theseus,” he asked, turning to his wife who looked on in amusement. She simply shrugged and Phil looked even more exasperated.
Techno looked down at the baby. “Your Dad pushed me off the top of his house and made me break my leg when we were 12 and 14,” he said in a light tone.
Kristin turned wide eyed to Phil. “You did what?!”
Phil smiled sheepishly. “I don’t really remember what he said, but he said something and I got pissed and pushed him forgetting that we were cleaning snow off the roof,” he recalled.
Techno smirked at the memory. “Yeah. Our parents made him my butler until I could walk properly again. It was amazing.”
“Humiliating,” Phil said at the same time as him.
Techno shrugged, his grin never leaving his face. “It’s all about perspective. Kristin, remind me to show you pictures.”
If Techno wasn’t holding his son, Phil would have smacked him.
Kristin giggles at their banter and sighs fondly. “You both are just like brothers, you know?”
They both turned to each other with a weird look.
“We’re not…” Techno started before cutting himself off with a laugh.
“No Kris, we’re best friends not brothers. I would never want this idiot as my brother,” Phil explained.
“I know you’re not actually brothers,” She said, rolling her eyes. “You guys just…you really act like brothers do.”
They both looked at each other and then at her before shaking their heads in sync and turning back to the baby in Technos hands.
Kristin rolled her eyes at their stubbornness but refused to refer to Techno as anything except her brother in law from that day forward.
~~~~~~~~~~
2
Techno and Phil were spending the day together for the first time in forever and it was about as chaotic as it could be. Techno joked that it was because he no longer had a small 3 month old watching his every move.
They ate breakfast at Phil's house, giving Phil enough time to deal with the fact that he’d be away from Wilbur and Kristin all day for the first time since Wilbur was born. Then after Kristin basically shoved him out the house, they went roller skating, and they were currently on their way to get lunch.
“Where do you want to go mate?” Phil asked once he got on the highway.
Techno groaned and threw his head back. “I don’t want to be the one to choose.”
Phil rolled his eyes at Technos antics. “Choose or I’m turning this car around,” he threatened.
“Well then I guess we’ll both be hungry and I’ll tell Kristin it's all your fault so she’ll only cook for me,” Techno retorted.
Phil narrowed his eyes at the man, sparing him a quick glance before looking back at the road. “You wouldn’t,” he tried.
Techno shrugged and leaned back relaxed in his seat. “I’d get more time with my godson and Kristin and you’d end up on diaper duty. I see no losses here for me,” Techno smirked.
Phil was quiet for a second considering his options before sighing. “Fine. Want Olive Garden?” He offered.
“Why I would love Olive Garden Phil. Thank you for choosing on your own accord,” Techno smiled smugly. Phil rolled his eyes and got off the highway to go towards the Olive Garden the GPS found.
Once they got there, they switched seats so that Techno could park the car while Phil got them a table.
“Hello, welcome to Olive Garden. How many in your party?” The hostess greeted as soon as Phil walked in.
“Hi,” he smiled, coming up to her desk. “Could I get a table for two? My friend is with me but he’s currently parking the car.”
The hostess smiled and typed something in her computer before nodding and grabbing two menus and utensil packs. “Would you like to wait for him to come in before you're seated or can I take you and he can sit with you when he finds you?”
Phil went to answer but Techno coming in answered for him. The hostess smiled and led them to a table before saying that a waiter would be out with them and going back to her post.
They weren’t waiting long before someone came up to them. It was a man with green hair and freckles adorning his pale cheeks. He smiled and brought out his pen and pad. “Hello my name is Sam and I’ll be your server today. Can I start you off with some drinks?”
Phil smiled up at him and nodded. “Can I have a ginger ale and he’ll have a-“
“Sprite lemonade mix,” Techno cut in.
Phil grimaced at his choice in drink. “I still don’t understand how you drink it. It sounds like it’d be either too sweet or too sour.”
Techno shrugged at him. “You’d have to have taste to understand,” he teased. Phil just rolled his eyes.
Sam chuckled and they both turned their attention back to him. “Do you need more time for your meals or would you like to order now?”
“We can order now,” Phil decided. “What do you want?” He asked, looking at his menu.
Techno looked at him incredulously. “I get the same thing every time Phil, you know that.”
Phil shrugged and put his menu down. “I was just making sure. One of these days you might decide you want two meatballs.”
Techno rolled his eyes and whacked Phil with the menu. Phil chuckled and snatched it from him before getting his revenge. Techno simply glared at him. “If we weren’t in a restaurant with a waiter standing here, I would toss you out a window,” he threatened.
“And you would be changing Wilbur’s shitty diapers until I get out of the hospital,” Phil retorted. Techno scowled but relented.
Phil turned to Sam who was watching the interaction with amusement, and gave him their orders. “I’ll have a Tour of Italy and he’ll have the build your own pasta with penne, the type with ridges preferably, three cheese marinara, and one meatball.”
Sam looked taken back by the last part. “Just one?” He wondered.
“Just one,” Techno confirmed.
Sam shrugged and wrote it down. It wasn’t his job to judge. “And would you like a soup or salad with that?“
“He’ll have a salad and I’ll have whatever spicy soup you’ve got,” Phil hummed, handing him the menus back.
“Alright. I’ll be right out with your food and drinks.” Sam smiled.
Phil and Techno talked about redecorating Wilbur’s room while they waited. They had discovered recently that acoustic music put him right to sleep so they’re considering making his room music themed and putting a radio near his crib.
As Techno was trying to convince Phil to put a giant picture of Techno in the room, Sam and someone else came back with their food. “Here is your food and drinks. If you need anything else just let me know,” Sam said with a smile.
Phil thanked him and started eating. About 5 minutes in, he noticed Techno was picking with his food and hadn’t eaten a bite. “What’s wrong Techno?”
Techno shrugged and kept picking with his food. “I know you’re hungry mate and you love Olive Garden. Why aren’t you eating?” Phil pressed.
Techno just showed him the plate and Phil saw the problem. They had given him Alfredo sauce instead of Marinara and Techni hates Alfredo. “Are you gonna say anything?” Phil asked.
“Well…no. I was just gonna eat it anyway. Waiters are busy and I don’t want to bother them,” Techno admitted sheepishly.
“Techno…you hate alfredo. It makes your stomach hurt every time you eat it,” Phil deadpanned.
“But they’re busy,” Techno muttered.
Phil sighed annoyedly. “Just- here give me your food. Sam!” He called snatching Technos food from him and catching the attention of the waiter as he passed.
Sam stopped in his tracks and turned back to them. “What’s up?”
Phil showed Sam the plate. “He ordered three cheese marinara and you all brought him alfredo. He’s just too polite to say anything about it,” he explained.
“Oh I’m so sorry. I’ll have it changed right away,” Sam said.
Phil turned to Techno. “See, was that so hard?” Techno just flipped him off.
Sam chuckled at their antics. “You’re a great brother. My own brothers would’ve let me suffer. My sister was the one who did all the order corrections in my family.”
Phil and Techno both frowned and turned to him. “Oh no, we’re not-”
“We aren’t…we’re just-”
“We’re best friends, not brothers,” They both finished at the same time.
Sam looked surprised but quickly put a kind smile back on his face. “Well you act just like it. Your rectified order will be out in just a minute and you’ll get a free desert for your trouble.”
Once Sam was gone, Phil and Techno both looked at each other. “We don’t act like brothers,” Techno frowned.
“Yeah, that guy is just…weird,” Phil agreed.
After they left, they both agreed to keep that between them.
~~~~~~~~~~
3
If there was anything Techno and Phil loved about the fact that they’d been friends since they were in diapers, it was that they didn’t always have to talk to understand each other.
It made getting work done easy, they could change a diaper in record time, and they knew what the other wanted at a restaurant before they even knew what they wanted. It was great.
Times like this though, Phil hated it.
Techno was off to drag Phil out of the house early this morning presumably at Kristins request. He had been hiding in his and Kristin's room for the past week avoiding being near Wilbur.
At first, Techno had thought that Wilbur had some type of cold again but Kristin told him that wasn’t the case. Apparently, Phil was chasing the one year old around and neither had been paying attention and Wilbur ran into the wall. He hit his head so hard they had to make an emergency trip to the ER.
Wilbur had been fine but since then, Phil had been too scared to even go near the kid. Kristin was tired of having to calm down Wilbur because he wanted his dad but nothing she said could convince Phil that Wilbur getting hurt was not his fault.
So she called in the one person who knew Phil better than she did and hoped he could knock some sense into him.
Techno made his way to the Watson household and burst open the door. Wilbur looked up from where he was playing with his toys on the floor and quickly ran to greet Techno once he realized who he was. “Uck Tah-no!” He screamed.
Techno lifted him up and placed him on his hip. “William!” He screamed, matching his enthusiasm.
“Wilbrrrrr,” he corrected, pointing to himself.
Techno chuckled. For some reason, when Kristin and Phil were trying to get him to learn his name, he decided he hated William and insisted that everyone called him Wilbur instead. Apparently it was the same name as one of the characters from his favorite show. Well, when he first said it, it sounded more like “Wib”.
“I’m sorry. Wilbur!” He corrected. Wilbur smiled satisfied and then wiggled to get down out of his arms. Techno smiled at him as he ran off to toss his blocks around some more then turned to Kristin, who was watching fondly from the couch.
“Where is the sad man?” Techno asked, getting straight to the point. Kristin pointed in the direction of their bedroom and Techno was off to knock some sense into his best friend.
He stood in front of the door that he had never seen closed before today and knocked softly. “I already ate and did the dishes Kristin,” he mumbled, “I’m not coming out til Wilbur is asleep.”
Techno sighed annoyedly and burst the door open without warning. Phil jumped up from his position on the bed with a startled expression. “Techno!” He breathed.
“That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” he smirked.
He expected Phil to say some stupid retort but he just stood there frozen. Techno narrowed his eyes at him. He looked decently dressed so he grabbed his arms and dragged him towards the door. That broke Phil out of the trance he was in and he promptly planted his heels to prevent being dragged.
“Woah! What are you doing?” Phil wondered.
Techno glared at him. “What does it look like I’m doing?” he challenged, “I’m dragging your sorry ass out the house and knocking some sense into you.”
Phil sighed and gave him a resigned look. “Kristin put you up to this I assume?”
Techno shrugged. “It doesn’t matter who put me up to this. You are coming with me to the park and you’re going to like it. Or I will call your mom.”
A look of nervousness flashed across Phils face and he quickly relented. Techno smiled satisfiedly and continued to drag him to his car. “I’ll have him back by dinner!” Techno called to Kristin on his way out. She smiled and yelled something back that Techno didn’t hear over the slamming of the door.
The car ride to the park was quieter than a car ride with the both of them has been in a while. At first, Techno tried to strike up a conversation but Phil kept giving him short responses so eventually he gave up and turned on some music.
Techno had originally planned to grab ice cream and then head to the park but Phil didn’t seem very talkative and Techno could never remember his order for the parlor near the park so they just went straight there.
Once they arrived, Techno dragged Phil out the car and they walked around for a while, neither of them saying anything. Eventually, Techno got tired of the silence and sat Phil down on a park bench near the pond.
“What’s wrong with you?” He asked bluntly. Phil would’ve been surprised but he’s known Techno for years.
“Noth-”
“Don’t tell me ‘nothing’, Phil,” Techno cut him off with an annoyed glare, “I’ve known you for decades. What’s wrong?”
Phil sighed and slumped on the bench. “It’s Wilbur,” he admitted, “I was playing around with him and he got hurt and we had to go to the ER.”
Techno frowned and turned to him. “What’s that gotta do with you avoiding your only son to the point where your wife called me to come talk some sense into you?”
Phil shrugged and shrunk in on himself a little more. “It’s just…what if I hurt him again?”
Techno sighed and lightly smacked Phil upside his head. “Hey!” Phil frowned, rubbing the part Technos hand collided with. “What was that for?”
“That was for you being an idiot,” Techno deadpanned.
“But-”
Techno cut him off by putting his hand up and shaking his head. Phil frowned further but stopped talking. “Phil, I have never met a little kid who doesn’t do stupid stuff and get themselves hurt.”
“But-”
“Phil,” Techno said sternly, cutting him off, “Kids will get hurt, okay? He’s gonna run into walls and hit his head and scrape his knee. He might even push his best friend off a roof and have to pretend to be their butler,” Phil chuckled lightly at the mention of their own childhood, “You can’t shut him out. He misses you.”
Phil sighed defeatedly. “But what if I’m not a good dad?” He asked.
Techno didn’t know Phil could say anything to make him so angry. He grabbed the man by his shoulders and looked him in the eye. “You are a great dad Phil. You’ve been acting like my parent most of our lives. No parents are perfect either. You will make mistakes. But the Phil I know fixes the mistakes he makes and learns from them so that he can be better in the future.”
Phil laughed and hugged Techno. Now Techno didn’t particularly like hugs and Phil knew this but instead of pushing him off like he usually does, he patted Phils back awkwardly and smiled.
“Thanks mate,” Phil smiled.
“Anytime,” Techno muttered.
They didn’t realize someone could hear them until an old lady walked up to them and patted Techno on the shoulder. Techno jumped and turned around, startled by the new presence, and slightly calmed down when he saw it was just an old lady.
“Can I help you?” Techno asked politely.
The old lady smiled warmly. “Oh no. I just heard some of what you were saying and I wanted to tell you you’re a good brother. Reminds me of my own a little bit.”
“Oh, uh thanks but we aren’t brothers. Just friends,” Techno informed.
The lady simply hummed, smiled, and walked away.
“That was weird right?” Techno whispered to Phil as he watched her walk off.
“Yeah but let's not worry about it. I want some ice cream,” Phil decided.
Techno laughed dryly, grabbing the keys and got off the bench. “Fine but you’re paying.”
Phil rolled his eyes but agreed because he wanted ice cream.
~~~~~~~~~~
4
“Phil. Put the corn costume down,” Techno deadpanned.
Phil frowned. “But he would look so adorable,” he whined.
“No godson of mine would be caught dead in an outfit that ugly,” Techno scoffed.
Phil pouted as he put the corn costume back. “At least I didn’t grab a potato sack costume,” he muttered.
“At least I was joking,” Techno retorted. Phil rolled his eyes and pushed the cart away from the costume section of the store.
They were in the store looking for clothes for Kristin and Phil’s new son. They just found out the gender of the baby so while Kristin and Wilbur put together his room, Phil and Techno were out looking for clothes.
Techno is starting to realize that Kristin must have done all of this for Wilbur because Phil was terrible at it.
“What about this?” he asked, holding up a onesie with a horrid color scheme. Techno’s face must have conveyed what he was thinking because he put it down without waiting for an answer.
“You know what Phil, let's split up. You get diapers and toys, I get the clothes,” Techno suggested.
Phil sighed defeatedly. “I know when I’m not wanted. To the diaper section I go.”
Techno rolled his eyes at him as he walked away and turned back to the clothes. He looked at all the shirts and got some ones with cartoons, some with patterns, and a bunch that had phrases like “I’m my uncle's favorite” and “Godfather and godson, best buds for life”. He got a couple with mom phrases too, just so Kristin didn’t kill him.
He checked his phone in time to see Phil text him telling him what register he’s at and to hurry up before Techno pays for it himself. Techno looked in the cart and saw about 30 outfits and decided that should be enough so he went to meet Phil at the register.
Once he got there, Phil was starting to get his stuff scanned. Thankfully, Phil was the last one in the lane before it closed so he didn’t have to explain to people that they were together.
“Sir, this lane is closed,” The cashier said to Techno when he noticed him putting the stuff on the conveyor belt.
“He’s with me,” Phil clarified. The cashier relented and let him come in the line, putting a cone behind him so that nobody else came in.
As the conveyor belt brought the shirts closer to Phil, he finally had a chance to read them. He liked the first few that had the nice designs on them and he giggled at some of the ones with “momma’s little ___” phrases on them. Then he started seeing an abundance of uncle and godfather ones but none with anything mentioning dad.
“Hey!” he exclaimed, turning to Techno.
The younger turned to him with an innocent look and a slight smirk. “What’s wrong Phil?”
Phil glared at him and held up a couple of the already scanned shirts. “Why do you have a bunch of ‘uncle’ and ‘godfather’ and ‘mom’ shirts but none with ‘dad’ on it?” he accused.
“Because as his favorite uncle and only godfather, little baby Theseus will simply love me more than you,” Techno said matter-of-factly.
Phil scoffed. “And what makes you think that?”
“Well,” Techno drawled, “you’ll be disciplining him with Kristin and I’ll be taking him out for ice cream afterwards to make him feel better, and I’ll buy him whatever toys he asks for, and I’ll be the one distracting you and Kristin from scolding him. I’ll be a saint in his eyes.”
Phil narrowed his eyes at his best friend. “I don’t like you,” he mumbled. Techno chortled out a laugh and moved around Phil to put the bags in the cart while he paid.
“Are you two brothers or something? I did the same thing to mine,” The cashier asked amusedly.
Phil chuckled and shook his head. “Not brothers. He’s my best friend,” he clarified.
“You aren’t the first one to ask that though,” Techno added once he saw the cashiers' embarrassed look.
“You could’ve had me fooled,” The cashier chuckled, “Now that’ll be 89 pounds.”
“Techno! What happened to no more than fifty-”
~~~~~~~~~~
5
Techno was anxiously pacing the waiting room waiting for the doctors to come out and give him news. He had been over Phils house yesterday and they were putting finishing touches on the baby's room when Krisitn went into labor.
Phil and Kristin took their car and Wilbur and Techno rode in his since Wilburs car seat was in his car after they spent the day together. Wilbur had long fallen asleep in the chairs but Techno couldn’t sleep.
This was the first time he got to wait in the hospital for news on the newest addition to the Craft family. Last time his best friends had a kid, he was away on a business trip and had to wait weeks to meet him. This time he only has to wait a few hours and it somehow feels longer.
Finally, Phil came out with a giant smile on his face. Techno turned to him excitedly and Phil basically bounced over. He kneeled in front of Wilbur and shook him softly. “Wil, wake up,” he said. Wilbur blinked and rubbed his eyes before groggily looking at his father.
“Do you want to meet your little brother?” he offered.
Wilbur immediately perked up, his energy returning to him, and he nodded his head so fast, Techno was almost scared he would get whiplash. Phil smiled and grabbed his hand. “Let’s not keep them waiting then.”
Phil led them down the hallway and to the room Kristin and the new baby were in. He opened the door to go inside but Wilbur refused to move. Phil frowned a bit and kneeled down so that he was face to face with the 6 year old. “What’s wrong bud?”
“What if,” Wilbur paused worriedly and looked between Techno and Phil, “what if the baby doesn’t like me? What if I’m a bad brother?”
“Wilbur,” Phil started but was cut off by Techno putting a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at him and Techno sent him a look that told him he would handle it. Phil nodded in understanding and backed off.
Techno put Wilbur up and put him on his hip. “You know, when you were first born, I thought I would be a bad uncle,” he recalled.
Wilbur gave him a baffled look. “But you’re the bestest uncle ever!”
“Yeah, well I had never done it before and I was scared and I didn’t think I would be able to be that great at being an uncle,” he explained.
“How would you know if you’d never even tried it before?” Wilbur challenged.
Techno shrugged. “How will you know you’ll be a bad brother if you’ve never done it before?”
Wilbur thought about it for a second before smiling. “I guess I’ll have to try!”
“That’s the spirit!” Phil smiled, coming back into the conversation. “So,” he took Wilbut off Technos hip and set him on the floor, “are you ready to meet your brother?”
Wilbur nodded enthusiastically and grabbed onto the door handle, going inside the room. Before Phil and Techno could go in, they were stopped by a passing nurse.
“Is something wrong?” Phil asked nervously.
The nurse shook his head with a small smile. “No, I just wanted to say you handled that really well. You guys are great people and I’m sure your kid will look up to you and your brother and shape their relationship based on y’all,” he complimented.
Phil smiled brightly but waved him off. “We aren’t brothers, but thank you.”
The nurse gave a doubting look. “From the way you interact, I would never know. Don’t let me hold you up. Go meet your nephew, king.”
Phil and Techno waved goodbye to the nurse before going inside the room. Wilbur sat beside his mom's head peering down at the baby in her arms. He looked up when he heard the click of the door and smiled brightly. “Daddy! Uncle Tech!” he greeted in a quiet tone, “Look!”
They followed his pointed finger to the newest addition to the family. Phil immediately melted. “He’s a carbon copy of you,” Kristin smiled fondly.
Phil leaned over next to her to get a better look and gave the newborn a kiss on his head. “I have a feeling he’s got your smile.”
Techno took in the scene of the happy family in front of him and smiled as he leaned against the door. “So what’s his name?”
Kristin and Phil smiled at each other and went to say it but Wilbur cut them off. “Can I say it? Can I say it?! Please,” he begged.
Kristin smiled at him. “Go ahead.”
Wilbur turned excitedly to Techno. “Thomas Blade Craft.”
Techno froze. “Blade is my middle name,” he muttered.
Phil shrugged and stood up straight. “Yeah well ‘Thomas Techno’ or 'Thomas Theseus’ seemed like too many T’s.”
Techno would forever deny the tears that fell from his eyes that day as he gave his best friend a hug. He couldn’t be happier.
~~~~~~~~~~
+1
Techno looked through the fridge with a frown as he wondered what he could make for him and Tommy to eat.
He was babysitting the 4 year old since Kristin was out of town on a day trip with Tommys best friend's mom and Phil was out with Wilbur trying to decide what he wanted to do for his 11th birthday.
Tommy was bouncing up and down on the couch while he waited for Techno to get them some food. Techno made a note to himself to have some words with Phil about stocking the fridge before he leaves the house.
“Alright Tommy. What do you say to pizza for lunch?” Techno called into the living room grabbing the house phone and Phils emergency debit card.
“Poggers!!” The young blonde screamed in response, running into the kitchen to see what Techno would order. Techno stopped and glanced fondly at him. He looked more and more like Phil each day in everything except his smile. Phil has great intuition. Tommys smile could light up an entire room, just like Kristins. He was definitely his parents' child.
“What do you say to cheese and meat lovers?” Techno offered. Tommy nodded enthusiastically and Techno picked up the phone to order. Once he was done, he dialed Phil.
He picked up the phone almost instantly and started frantically asking questions. “Is something wrong? Did Tommy get hurt? Did you get hurt? Do I need to come ho-”
“-Phil!” Techno cut him off from worrying before he dragged Wilbur home for no reason. “Everyone is fine. What’s not fine is the fact that you guys have literally nothing to eat and I had to order pizza.”
Phil sighed in relief and Techno put the phone on speaker since this was just a casual conversation. “I am so sorry mate. I hope you used the emergency card. If you didn’t, I’ll pay you back as soon as I get home.”
Techno went into the fridge and grabbed two apple juices, one for him and one for Tommy, before walking towards the cabinet to get one of Tommys training cups to pour it in. “Nah, I used the emergency card. And even if I didn’t, you’ve paid for my lunch too many times for me to be okay with you paying me back.”
He could practically hear Phils eye roll. “That’s different mate. It’s not like you're paying for lunch for you and me, you’re paying for lunch for you and my kid. I can’t ask you to do that,” he said sincerely.
Techno shrugged and handed Tommy the cup that was now filled with apple juice. “He is my godson. I have no problem paying for him, really. I just left my card at home today.”
Phil sighed knowing they would get nowhere if they kept arguing on the matter and relented. “Alright. I’ll make sure the fridge is stocked next time. I’ll call you back when I get to the grocery store so that you and Tommy can give us an opinion on what we should stock the house with.”
“Sounds good,” Techno hummed.
Tommy jumped up to reach the counter and grabbed the phone. “Bye Daddy!” He shouted.
“Bye Tommy,” Phil reciprocated fondly.
The familiar hang up tone let Techno know that they were gone and he put the house phone back in its charging station. Then he went to the couch and plopped down next to Tommy. They sat in silence with just the TV playing for a little while before Tommy tugged on Technos sleeve wanting his attention.
"I wanna be just like you when I grow up," he declared.
Techno raised his eyebrow at him wondering where the topic came from. “Oh?” he said curiously, “why is that?"
Tommy sipped more of his juice from his training cup then grinned at Techno. “Because Wilby wants to be like dad when he grows up!"
Techno stared at Tommy for a little bit trying to decipher what he was saying. He wanted to be like Techno because Wilbur wanted to be like Phil? It wasn’t making any sense to him.
“What do you mean bud?” Techno questioned.
“Brothers!” Tommy clarified as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Techno thought about it again, this time more carefully. Tommy wanted to be like him because Wilbur wanted to be like Phil…and brothers?
He gasped as it clicked. “You want to be as close to Wilbur as brothers as me and Phil are?” He asked for clarification. Tommy nodded enthusiastically.
Techno…he thought the kid knew they weren’t related. “Tommy…” he started. Tommy turned to him with a hum to let him know he was listening. “Do you think me and Phil are brothers?”
Tommy nodded again with a big smile.”You are. Right?”
Techno looked down at his godson. He had a curious sparkle in his eyes and had just told him that he was modeling his relationship with Wilbur after Phil and Technos. As much as he hated lying to the kid, he would hate to crush his dreams even more. “Yeah,” he finally answered, “Yeah I guess we are.”
Tommy smiled satisfied and turned back to the cartoons on TV. “Brothers,” Techno muttered to himself as if testing out the title. “Can’t wait to tell Phil that one.”