Chapter Text
Stan didn’t know whether to be angry or to not be surprised at what Jacob told him what had happened the day before, he knows that Kyle wasn’t at fault for what had happened but he couldn’t shake of how much his blood boiled seeing Jacob cry himself to sleep squeezing a teddy bear that was wearing his hat as he held onto him until sleep overtook them.
It’s been a day since that happened and Jacob was picking away the mixture of chicken and vegetable in his bear shaped bowl with his blue plastic spoon to only eat the meat while Stan is trying to get him to eat as much of the carrots and spinach even with an empty stomach. He was used to eating one or less meals in his daily life but this day had been particularly bad with only eating a leftover dinner roll a customer decided not to eat at Bennigans.
Stan tried not letting Jacob spill anything in the staff’s room at the bar, since neither his parents or friends could babysit tonight he had to bring Jacob to the bar tonight. Being a responsible parent, he went in from the staff’s entryway so his four year old couldn't see the ‘entertainment’ the bar provides.
“Jacob please, just eat the vegetables. I need to work.” Stan begged a stubborn Jacob but he did not budge. “I don’t want vegetables, they taste bad.” “You have to eat them Jacob or you’ll not be healthy.” Stan took Jacob’s spoon and scooped up a portion with carrots and tried to push it inside Jacob’s throat despite his son clamping it shut.
Just then Red, one of his coworkers, walked in to see Jacob and him fighting about their dinner. She was wearing a trench coat over her usual revealing outfit when she danced in and had her hair loose. “Hey Red.” Stan mumbled to her, he was thankful for her agreeing to be interviewed by Wendy for the trial despite them mainly having a professional relationship.
“Hi Stan.” Her voice changed into baby talk once she saw Jacob slapping the spoon away from his face. “Hello to you too, you little cutie!” she started squishing Jacob’s cheeks until Jacob wailed at her to not touch his face. “My shift is starting soon please can you just eat your food?” Stan was not fond of begging in front of his colleague but he was desperate at that point.
“Can I babysit him, Stan? He’s just so cute!” Red begged, hands together and slightly hunched. Stan sighed, “Just don’t kidnap him.” She squealed and hugged the screaming Jacob describing how much fun they’ll have while Jacob yelled at her to stop squishing his cheeks. Stan groaned when he saw Kyle sitting alone.
“I was expecting to see you here.” Kyle watched Stan make a drink for a customer while trying to ignore him. This kept on until Kyle had to pull him by his sleeve which caused Stan to spill some of a drink’s contents. Stan pulls away and goes to clean the spilled liquor. “You know it’s not my fault Stan. I didn’t know that they would be there.”
“I never said that I blamed you.” Stan growled “It would just be better for us to be separated for a while.” Kyle seemed to go quiet for a while before asking when they could talk. “I already dealt with my parents, this time I'm making sure that they won't see Jacob until you say they can.”
“Can we just talk later? I have work to do.” Stan coldly said, “Jacob’s in the staff room, tell them I gave you permission to let you in.” Kyle stood up surprised “You brought him here? He’s four!” Kyle tried to keep his voice low. “I obviously don’t let him see the entertainment here, I got in from the backdoor from the staff’s only room.” Stan replied calmly “Just make sure he ate his dinner.
Kyle didn’t say anything and left to go to the staff room to not bother the other man. He opened the door to the staff room to see Red and Jacob playing tic tac toe on a piece of paper, “Kyle!” Jacob squealed “You wanna play?” Red smiled at him politely and grabbed her bag. “I guess this is my que to leave those guys alone, have fun.” and with that she went out the staff room leaving Jacob erasing the original paper to play with his father before deflating.
“I’m sorry I was bad.” he muttered looking down at his fingers that were thumping each other. “You get angry after I hit the mean lady.” Kyle shook his head and went over to place his hand on his shoulder and kneel to his level. “I was never mad at you Jacob, I was mad at the two people in the hotel room. They were saying bad stuff about your dad, but it was still wrong to resort to violence.” Kyle tried his best in his first pep talk with his son.
Jacob nodded, “I won’t hit people with dolls anymore.” the boy looked up at his dad “Was she angry?” Kyle tried not to shake from anger, even though the night before was filled with screaming and curse words thrown at each other he was still furious about what they did but he can’t really deal with them right now.
Jacob grabbed his little bag and pulled out the teddy bear from yesterday. “I still have Mr Teddy from yesterday. You wanna play?” The bear was at least a third of Jacob’s size and it takes him two hands to carry the toy and it was the most adorable thing to Kyle. “How do you wanna play?”
Jacob spent the next three hours playing businessman with Kyle and Mr Teddy. Although he got a lot of things wrong about the business world Kyle didn’t bother to correct him as he was happily playing with Kyle playing as his advisor and Mr Teddy as his client. When Stan finished his shift he, Kyle, and Jacob walked into his car and Jacob was told to stay in the car while they talked. He didn’t seem to mind and kept playing with his doll.
“First of all, you got him a Terrence doll!?” Stan yelled at Kyle “Dude, that was because he wanted it and-” “It doesn’t take a genius to know that a four year old can’t watch that show, I spent years trying to make sure he doesn’t see shit like that until he’s at least thirteen!” He yelled. “Dude, you sound like our parents.” Kyle tried to joke “Here’s a little something to know Kyle, I AM A PARENT!” Stan lost his cool.
“And if you want to be one too, you better start doing better.” Stan snapped, Kyle tried to placate the situation “Look, I’m still new to all this parent stuff alright. I don’t know what to do and I would appreciate some help here.” “Alright, fine. First of all, I will be supervising anytime you are going out with Jacob. Secondly, you are going to help me with that stupid bake sale.” Stan left for the car.
Bake sale? Kyle went to follow Stan and sat at the driver's seat and Stan didn’t even let him talk “Jacob’s school is having this bake sale that everyone has to attend because some arrogant jerks think that the school equipment is not good enough for their kids. Even though they are completely fine and those sons of a-” “Okay calm down Stan, do you know what to bake for the sale?” Kyle rubbed his knee.
“I don’t know, Tweek’s already making cupcakes so I guess we’re making chocolate chip cookies.” Jacob interrupted. Both parents looked at him and were surprised. “Well whatever you want kid, you already have what you need Stan?” “Do I look like I have a platinum card?” Kyle could feel the coldness in Stan's voice but chose to ignore it. “Okay, to the bakery we go.”
“We need to bake them ourselves, Richie Rich. The theme is homemade.” Stan's voice was patronizing and it kept the other man on his toes to not anger him. “Okay to the grocery store then.” Kyle suggested. They spent the whole ride not talking to one another with Stan opting to instead talk with Jacob about his teddy.
When they arrived Stan had Jacob strapped to the shopping cart’s seat and tried to keep a low profile despite most of the customers there recognizing them from their case all over America’s TV. Both of them tried to not let the whispers get to either of them despite Jacob not even paying attention and playing with his bear.
Kyle recognized his partner’s distress despite his calm face and tried to buy the ingredients as quickly as possible. Stan appreciated that and Jacob was mostly just happy to see Kyle and his dad be civil with each other until they got to Kyle’s hotel room again. He was weary to go in until Kyle promised him no one was there except them.
He ran to the bed after ripping off his shoes, jumping on top of it “It’s so bouncing and soft! Daddy, for my next birthday can I have a big bed like this?” Jacob cuddled into the comforter and nuzzled his head into the pillow. Stan went over to the kitchen aisle and grabbed a kettle. “Hey dude, pass me the milk?” He asked Kyle like he was going to show him some cool trick he just learned.
After Kyle obliged Stan heated the milk and pulled out more comfortable looking clothing from his work bag. He calmly walked over to his son and caught him midair. “Can I use your bathroom, I need to give Jacob a bath.” Kyle nodded quickly “Of course dude, it’s by that door.” Stan gave Jacob to Kyle and took off his vest as well as rolling up his sleeves. Kyle helped by carrying Jacob over to the enormous bathroom and smiled when he squealed at the sight of the bathtub.
“Kyle, help me make bubbles.” Jacob tried to reach for the assortment of items in the shelves that were too high for his height. “First we need to fill up the bathtub, kid.” Kyle pressed a button near the tub and water started to fill the tub much to Jacob’s excitement. At that point Stan had followed them in and Kyle tried not looking at his shirtless chest. Stan looked a bit uncomfortable with Kyle being there which leads to him leaving however. Once he shut the bathroom he saw through his reflection in the window that he was blushing deep red. Kyle placed his mouth in his hand to cool his cheeks and went to the stove to remove the kettle.
He saw that the other man had left his wrinkled shirt and vest on one of the dining table’s chairs as he poured a good amount from the kettle into a decently large cup. He decided to spend the next half hour trying to prepare for his and Stan’s baking session by pulling out the ingredients from their shopping bag and taking out what he thought was needed for making cookies.
As he was pulling out the electric scale from the cupboard, Jacob walked out first despite his hair being soaked with water dripping into the collar of his sleepwear to reach for the milk. His fingers brushed the bottom of the glass and he pulled it down only for the glass to lose its balance and spill all over him before Kyle could grab the glass.
Milk doused Jacob’s shirt, the milk slowly expanding across his shirt and dripped onto his pants. Stan rushed to grab a towel before Kyle while the other man grabbed a random shirt from his nearby suitcase, took the wet one off his son and wiped the snot and small tears forming in his eyes. “S-sorry Kyle.” he croaked out.
“Hey, it’s okay, it's okay. I can clean it later.” Kyle was still on his knees trying to calm Jacob, he pulled him in, running his hand on his back like how he used to when Ike was little, he heard Stan come back with a towel and nudged him away from Kyle, softly pulled up his oversized shirt and wiped the liquid off him. When he was done Kyle awkwardly tossed a soft hemp t-shirt to him.
The two parents went to the bathroom again. Stan had Jacob on a stool while he dried his hair after putting on the shirt as Kyle washed his milk stained shirt. Stan and Jacob walked out before Kyle finished however and from the door he saw Stan tucking Jacob into the sofa. He immediately stopped what he was doing and told Stan to let Jacob sleep on his bed, saying he would take the couch tonight.
Stan couldn’t even argue before Kyle told him he would personally carry Jacob and him to his bed if he had to. He plucked up his son and tucked him into the big bed. The black haired man was sure this bed alone costs more than a month's worth of rent for him. “Daddy, I want your lullaby again.” Jacob demanded.
“Jacob we’re in someone else's place, we can’t just sing in an open space like this.” Stan explained softly so Kyle wouldn’t hear. “Please daddy.” Jacob clutched a fistful of his dad’s cotton shirt, Stan shook his head quietly “I can sing to you tomorrow when we get home okay.” Jacob looked bummed out as he pulled the blanket closer to hide a portion of his face. “Stay with me daddy?” Stan kissed his son's soft cheeks “Always love.”
When Kyle walked out after hanging Jacob's shirt he just quietly stared as Stan laid on his bed looking away from him, patting their son on the back to soft snores coming from his direction. He couldn't shake the want to come over and watch over them. Be there to be both a parent and a partner to their family but he knew his place in the situation.
To them he was just the other dude that left before Jacob was born and he didn't know how Jacob would react when he found out, he feared his son thinking that he didn't love him the most because even with only one day of knowing him Kyle couldn't help but love him, Jacob was now one of the most important people in his life and the one he had failed the most.
He didn't realize that he was walking toward the middle of the room where the bed was pushed to the wall before Stan looked up. He had a soft look on his face where he knowingly lifted himself off to go to the counter to make the cookies. He started by placing the butter in the microwave before he started measuring the dry ingredients. Kyle walked next to him and pulled the butter out after he heard the ding.
“So, what exactly happened in here that made Jacob cry?” Stan broke the awkwardness between them which took Kyle back. “I need to hear your side too, Jacob said that you had bad people talking about stealing him away from me. That you tried to protect him and got scary but he still thinks you're a brave soldier who fights the bad guys.” Kyle looked a bit relieved with his shoulders slumping while fighting a smile. “My parents went here without me knowing since I forgot that I gave them the card and tried to force me and Jacob to have a family dinner. My mom said some stuff about you and Jacob attacked her head with his doll.”
Stan chuckled, “That's payback for what she did to me.” Kyle poured the brown sugar into the butter and started mixing with a spatula. “Sorta, you raised a good kid.” Stan went quiet on that part “I had a lot of help from Kenny and the fatass, I would probably be living in a shittier place if he didn't negotiate a better deal for me and Kenny and Butters are my designated babysitters.” He paused for a while “They're trying to adopt and start a family, apparently they got baby fever after helping me raise Jacob.”
Kyle's neck snapped to look at him “They never told me that? Did I really miss so much while I was gone?” Stan nodded “I can't really say anything since I also just found out when they were visiting me in the hospital. Wendy's been helping them with the legal process, last I heard apparently they found some pregnant girl in college due a few days from now. She wants to give her child to a proper family, it's funny ‘cause she's also blonde and has blue eyes.”
Kyle hummed in acknowledgement, “You never really went into detail about what you had to do to raise him.” Stan looked away, all the stress, suffering, and hardship from the past brought back in a minute, he gulped down and started to explain “It wasn't really anything but the bare minimum for what anyone with a kid should do, I got used to everything by the time Jacob was two. Bills were coming in, having to take up a bunch of part time jobs here and there until I can hold some down and baby stuff needed to be paid.”
Stan laughed a little “For the most part of when Jacob was, I think two to three I had him strapped to my chest as I worked. One time I worked as a chauffeur for three months I think and Jacob was sleeping one me all the time when I was driving to different places. Then I got fired because customers are complaining about Jacob being loud when he wakes up, someone even tried calling CPS on me but nothing really came through.” Kyle listened without saying anything. “How was the first day of kindergarten for him?”
“Went as well as you expected, I had to force him off me even if it hurt to see him go. I still remember being at least the part where he tried to eat his own lunch so I need to bring him with me to work because he won’t have anything to eat.” Stan poured the dry ingredients into the butter. “Well, what did you do?” Kyle cracked an egg and started to mix the cookies “I gave Heidi my lunch to give it to Jacob when recess started. I didn’t eat anything until like, eleven a clock when Jacob was asleep but it’s either that or he starves in recess.”
Kyle sighed solemnly “I mean it when I said I would’ve helped you Stan, I’m surprised you didn’t sue me for child support after I just gone and left you after we spent the night together. I was stupid and thought I made a mistake that wrecked our relationship forever but I guess I ruined it anyway.” Stan poured in the chocolate chips “Dude I think that’s too much chocolate.” Kyle looked bewildered at the chocolate chips covering the light brown batter.
“The more people would want to buy them then.” He took the spatula from Kyle’s hand and started folding in the chunks of chocolate. “God this looks so good. I’m starving.” “You haven’t eaten dinner yet?” Kyle asks “Haven’t eaten for 17 hours with only a chunk of bread someone didn’t eat.” Stan joked.
He didn’t even register Kyle running down to the fridge to grab something out of it before turning around to see him pulling out a wrapped burger and fish sticks and shoving them into the microwave. “I was saving that for another day but you need it more now.” Stan decided to not argue with that and it was nice to finally have someone taking care of him after years of his parents only sending money for Jacob and not really anything else.
When they finished the batter Kyle placed it into the fridge and joined Stan in the dining table as they both sat in silence minus Stan’s chewing. “I’m sorry for going crazy on you at the bar, you weren’t really the one to blame.” Kyle nodded “It’s okay dude, I was pretty angry too when that happened, I wasn’t really happy when you told me Jacob thought I was scary.”
The rest of the meal went on with them to start making small talk about Kyle’s life in Boston and on his law firm and right in the middle of that conversation Stan had a bad realization “So what happens when you leave after your vacation?” Kyle didn’t see his eye “I don’t know honestly.” He changed the topic pretty quickly. “You should get to bed, it’s late.”
Stan went to the sofa and started to cozy up “Dude, I’m taking the couch tonight.” Kyle approached him “Fine, then you're sleeping with me here.” Stan didn’t even try to fight and neither did Kyle. “Just like old times, right?” Kyle looked beside him to see that Stan was already in a deep sleep. He didn’t say anything else and cuddled into his friend.
While they were asleep however they didn’t see that Jacob woke up to go to the toilet and saw his daddy’s head buried under Kyle’s shoulders and had his arm over him. Jacob started to think, his daddy said that he was going to have another daddy very soon, a lightbulb turned on in his head. He had to make sure his daddy was taken care of somehow and he will be the man behind the scenes. Jacob smiled wickedly to himself while his imagination started to go wild when he went back to the big bed.