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Chapter Text

James climbed up the couch, giggling as daddy cased him. He let out a shriek as the man's large hand found his belly and tickled. James balled himself, trying to get the man to stop, but was quickly attacked once more by Daddy's other hand on his neck.

"Da'diiiiii!" James laughed, finally wiggling away from the man and crawling over the arm of the couch and landing on the floor.

John watched as the boy took off for the kitchen, feet pounding under him the whole way. He had a smile across his face, but was breathing heavily. Hal walked up behind him, kissing his check as he wrapped his arms around the man.

"You okay?" Hal asked his heavily worn-out husband.

John nodded, smiling over his shoulder. "Yeah, just trying to wear him out for a nap later."

"Want me to take over so you can make lunch?" John asked.

"Sounds great." John smiled, and kissed his husband before breaking his hold and walking to the kitchen.

It had been a month since the trail, and several since James had started his new life. After they came home from the court room, it took a few days for James to return to his old self. He was timid and back to the way he'd first been for a while, but fell back into his carefree self a little over a week later.

James laughed as he saw John walking to the kitchen, giving away his hiding spot in the cabinet under the sink, which was already known as his favorite place to hide. So much that his daddies had taken out the cleaning supplies they used to keep there.

"All-righty, bear!" Hal said loudly. "It's time for me to play with you!"

James let out a laugh and crawled out of the cabinet and back to the living room. John nodded at Hal, a silent message of 'keep him over there' being sent.

Hal smiled his understanding and chased after his boy. James ran around the house, Hal laughing and only able to catch him for a few seconds at a time to tickle him.

This carried on until John called them over for lunch, setting the plate as Hal caught up to the boy and carried him, giggling, the table. Hal sat the boy in his chair, snapping him in as he lightly kicked his feet.

"You hungry, bear?" John asked, setting a hot dog on the table in front of him.

James nodded his head and kicked his feet.

"Okay, here's the deal," Hal said, giving the boy a few carrots. "If you can be good and not wiggle too much, we'll get you something sweet to eat afterwards."

James's eyes went big at the aspect of candy and nodded his head. "I can do dat!"

"I know you can!" John smiled. "Eat up, okay?"
James nodded again and picked up a chunk of hot dog.

Hal and John had been trying this at the past few meals under the advice of Carson. The idea was to get him settled little bits at a time and work him up to focusing. It was clear that he did have serious attention problems, but they both refused to make him take medication.

"There are other ways to manage it with out all the side effects." Carson had agreed. He had given them a book about managing children with attention problems and advised they read through it. They had both read it in a night and tried a few tricks as they could.

James struggled with staying still, but he really wanted to have candy. And, even more than that, he wanted to make his daddies happy. He'd notice himself start to kick and would plant his feet on the foothold of the seat. And when he felt himself wiggling side to side, he'd push back and eat another bite.

The men could see the boy trying his best, and smiled at each other. He was doing a lot better than last time they'd tried. And they could carry on a conversation without having to worry too much.

"Have you meet the new neighbors yet?" Hal asked.

"No, not yet. They just moved in, didn't they?" John stuffed a bite in his mouth and chewed.

"Yeah. We should go and welcome them soon." Hal twisted his fork around his plate and looked out the window into the back yard.

"I think it's a woman, isn't it?" John asked, following the man's gaze.

"Yeah, and a boy." Hal's eyes went back to the table and lifted another forkful into his mouth.
"Single mother?"

"Not sure." Hal shrugged.

James wondered what they were talking about but was too focused on his ability to stay still to really follow along. Which, if he had been thinking, would have been really ironic.

Before he knew it, though, he was finished with his hot dog and was chowing down on the carrots. He only noticed when his feet started moving and he looked down to tell them to stop.

"Uun," he said, pointing at his plate.

John glanced over for a second to see what James was going on about and noticed his plate. "Oh, wow! Good job, bear!" He rustled the boy's hair and smiled.

Hal watched the moment before telling James, "Yeah, well done!"

James smiled happily, kicking his feet and hitting the back of the chair.

"Alright, gotta stay calm." John warned.

"How about we go sit down and watch something, instead?" Hal suggested, looking over at John.
"Get ready for a n-a-p?"

"Sounds good!" John smiled and placed his napkin on the table as he stood up. He unbuckled James and lifted him out of the chair.

"Wait! Wait!" James wiggled. "Ca'di!"

John laughed. "Oh, right, I'm sorry!" He jumped and walked back to the kitchen and pulled a sucker out of the top right cabinet and unwrapped it before giving it to James, who happily stuck it in his mouth before leaning into his daddy and letting the man carry him to the couch.

Hal made a bottle of water and walked over to join them after cleaning up lunch. He handed the bottle to John and sat down next to him as the movie started to play.

John let the boy have his sucker for a few more seconds before pulling it away, saying, "You can have the rest after the movie."

James didn't complain as the bottle was pushed against his lips and he took hold, sucking away at it as he watched the movie. It was a lot easier to stay still when he was swaddled by daddy's arms, with baba playing with his hair and a bottle to keep his mouth busy.

It wasn't very long before he couldn't keep his eyes open much longer and he fell limp against his baba's chest.

"He's out." John chuckled at his partner, who was leaning against his shoulder. It was only then that he noticed the man had also fallen asleep. "Or, I should say, you're both out."

John kissed the man's head and leaned onto him, adjusting James in his lap to become more comfortable. It wasn't very long before he was asleep as well.

Chapter Text

James woke up a little bit later, eyes still tired as he rubbed them with the back of his hand. When he looked around the living room, he spotted his sucker on the table and wiggled out of John's arm to grab it before walking over to the DVD player and pulling out the movie they'd popped in earlier. He turned it over I his hand, but didn't see anything he recognized, so he sat it down on the TV stand and stood back up.

He made his way down the hall, crawling mostly because he liked the feeling of the soft carpet on his hands as it pushed up between his fingers. James pushed open the door to the office and found the book shelf where daddy and baba kept all their non-picture books. They were thicker than his, with lots of pages. But James had never know what they said before now.

He pulled a book off the shelf that seemed to have something cool in it, after all, it had a picture of a car on the front, and laid it open in his lap. He flipped through the pages, enjoying his sucker as he pretended to be big and tall, just like his daddy and baba. They would know what all this said, even with all the small text and the words that seemed really big.

John had woken up the moment James had started to move, he was a light sleeper, and had decided to see what James did when he thought no one was looking. He'd waited until the boy was out of ear shoot before getting up and shaking his much-deeper-sleeping-husband awake.

John put a finger to his lips to tell Hal to stay quite and pointed down the hall. Hal's brow crunched in the middle as he tried to figure out what the man was saying until he noticed James wasn't in the room with them. He nodded and stood up, John following as he walked down the hall and peeked into the office just in time to see James pull a book off the lowest shelf and place it in his lap.

"What do you think he's doing?" Hal asked so quietly, he wasn't even sure if John had heard him.

John shrugged and smiled. "Don't know. But he looks happy enough."

Hal had to agree with that and walked back down the hall to pick up some of the mess in the living room.

John, on the other hand, pushed the door open slightly and slid into the room without James noticing. He sat down next the tho boy, causing him to jump a little when he said, "What 'ya reading?"

James forgot about the sucker as it dropped out of his hand and onto the floor. "Daddy!"

John smiled and leaned back, waiting for an answer.

"Car." He said, pulling back the soft-back book and showing the man.

John had to keep from laughing as he noticed the boy was reading an instruction manual for his Dodge. "Is is good?"

James sighed and picked up his solid sucker, the book in his lap forgotten as he held it up with a pout.

"Awe, bud," John sighed, taking the sucker that was now covered in hairs form the carpet. "We'll get you another soon. Just not right now."

James crossed his arms and let out an aggravated puff of air.

"Bear, it's okay. You gotta be patient." John said, taking the book from the boy's lap and setting it on the floor before taking the boy and placing a kiss on his cheek. "We talked about that, didn't we?"

James sighed again, nodding yes. "Pway game?" He asked, turning his head in an odd angle to see the man.

John smiled. "Yeah, sounds good." He lifted the boy as he stood up, only then feeling the boy's very wet bum. "After we change you."

James laughed as his daddy carried him up stairs to his room and sat him down on the changing pad, keeping one hand on his stomach to keep him from wiggling around. It was a quick change, John never liked taking too long, and James was back into his pants in three minutes flat.

James pulled out a box of Legos they stored by the book shelf and sat down next to John. The man rustled his hair and opened the container, waiting until James grabbed a handful before grabbing some him self.

"What are we building today, commander?" John asked with one of his many voices.

James giggled, and rocked forward to stuff his feet under his patted bum. "Boat!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" John laughed and started on the body.

Legos, Hal and John had found out, were a simple way to keep James entertained for long periods of time. He almost seemed to turn into another kid when he had his hands on some, becoming hyper-focused until whatever was in his head was real in his hands. When they had realized this, John even tried clapping his hands in front of the boy's face to snap him back. But it hadn't worked, and they had to take the bricks in his hands away to get him to realize they were there.

Much like right now, as James fiddled with the blocks to create a rather impressive boat and John sat back, leaning on his hands, watching. A smile lit up his face as James connected the last few pieces and looked up to find John.

"Finish!" He smiled, standing up from his spot to go and sit on John's lap.

John tickled him as he sat down and admired the ship. "Absolutely amazing, bud."

James smiled proudly and hugged his daddy.

"Wow, look at all this." Hal said from the door. He was leaning against the doorframe and John had guessed he'd been there a while. "Having tons of fun without me!"

James looked up and laughed before standing up and running to his baba.

"Oof," Hal joked as the boy tackled him with a hug. He bent down to pick the boy up and sat him on his hip. "You having fun?"

James nodded his head and wiggled to be put down.

Hal obliged and sat the boy back down before mouthing to John, "Dinner?"

John looked out the window, not really realizing how late it was. He nodded his head and stood up to make his way down stairs. "I'm going to start dinner, okay bud. Think you can play up here on your own?"

James thought for a second, then nodded no. He had much more fun when one of them were playing with him. But he'd need a reason. He scanned the room quickly before his eyes landed on the bookshelf. "Read!" He ran over and pulled a book off the shelf and held it up.

Hal took the book and looked over at John. "He's got us playing out of his hand." He laughed and took a seat on the floor. "I'll read with him if you want to start dinner. We'll be down when it's over."

John smiled. "Works for me." He kissed the top of Hal's mop of red hair and walked down stairs.
James climbed into Hal's lap and followed along as the man red, pointing to each word. None of the letters made sense to James, but he liked it anyway.

Chapter Text

When the book was over, they walked towards the stairs, Hal picking the boy up baby style and carrying him down the steps before setting him back down in a fit of giggles. He walked into the kitchen, kissing John before grabbing plates to set the table.

A knock came on the door, making John and Hal eye each other with the same question: "who would that me at this hour?"

Hal put a hand on James's shoulder, telling him to stay put, before walking to the door and opening it.

A woman stood with a forced smile and dark brown hair and eyes to match. She wore a simple blouse with light jeans, somehow making it look very elegant. But her face did not match her clothes. She stuck out her hand and said, "Hi! My name's Maddison Park, and I'm really sorry to intrude so late, but I really need to know if you've seen a girl about this," she held her hand up to her chest. "Tall with short, light-brown hair and blue eyes?"

Hal shook her hand and watched as she went through the description. "Oh, no need to worry about us. I'm Hal, by the way. And my husband is inside. Is your girl lost?"

The woman nodded, her hair flailing at her shoulders. "Yes. She got mad at me and just sort of walked off. But this is a new place and she doesn't know her way around yet."

"Give me just a second and I'll grab my coat and help you look." Hal said, leaving the door open as he walked over to the closet to pull out a jacket and swung it over his shoulders. "John, I'll be right back!" He shouted as he closed he door and met the lady once more.

"You really don't have to do that." Maddison said, secretly hoping he wouldn't change his mind.

"No, I want to help. Your little girl is out there lost and probably cold. I'll search all night if that's what it takes." He nodded his head and started down the path.

John watched from inside, having heard every word, as they made way down the driveway. "Alright, bud. Temporary turn-a-bout. Let's get our coats on."

They were dressed and running down the path in no time at all, meeting up with Maddison and Hal before they hit the end of the path.

"What's all this?" Maddison asked as she noticed the people running behind her.

"That would be John." Hal laughed. "And James is the little one."

Maddison smiled as they all met up. "You all really don't have to come out here."

"No, Hal is right. Besides, the more people we have looking the better chance of finding her." John nodded, agreeing with his own statement before asking, "What's her name?"

"Alex." Maddison closed her eyes for a second to regain control of her heart beat. "She can't have gone far. She's not a fast runner."

Hal and John nodded, James taking hold of his Baba's hand as they walked off, closer to the woods.

They shouted her name every few seconds, making it sound like they were their own echo. James didn't like the cold and he was tired and hungry, but knew better than to complain. They were deeper into the woods that surrounded most of the area, feet cracking branches and roots as they tried to stay up right.

James let go of Hal's hand as he tripped over an out-sticking root and tried to catch himself on a near by tree. When he caught his bearings and looked up, there wasn't anyone near him any more. His heart beat sped up as he looked for his daddy and baba, tears coming to his eyes and falling down his face.

He could hear their voices, distant but audible, but couldn't tell where they were coming from due to the trees taking each sound and turning it another direction. His head started to spin as he looked around, breathing labored. Then a flash of something through the bushes. And another.

He ran towards it, eyes full of tears in the hope it was his daddy. But what he hit was much smaller.

He landed on the ground, the thing he hit doing the same and crunching leaves.

"Watch where you're going!" It yelled.

James pushed himself up, diaper soaked from the shock. "Wh-who are y-you?"

"It doesn't matter who I am because I'm not staying here!" It flopped down against a tree and folded it's arms.

James couldn't tell between the short hair and odd outfit whether it was a boy of a girl, but it didn't look happy. He wiped his face with the back of his sleeve, then asked, "Why?"

"Because it's not home! Dat's why!" It shouted. Tears where in its eyes too and James suddenly felt sorry for it.

"Where's home, den?" He asked, sitting down next to it.

"Back in Portland! In the city! Not in some back-roads town!" It yelled, more tears following it's words. "Stupid Maddy with her stupid ideas! Thought this would be good for me! Well, it's not!"

"Is Maddy your Mommy?" James asked. It's make sense.

It nodded and buried it's face in it's arms.

"You're Alex!" James exclaimed, his own sadness forgotten as he remembered the lost girl.

Alex nodded once more and shivered against the chill.

"Well, I always though home was were da people who loved you were. Not dat I would know much 'bout it. I've never had one 'for now." James leaned over to her and placed his head on her shoulder.

"How com'?" Alex asked, eyeing the boy.

James shrugged and lifted his head. "Doesn't mader now. 'Cause now I got daddy and baba!" He stood up, a lot more effort needed due to the many layers of clothes and wet diaper, and looked around. "We gatta find 'em."

"Are they out here?" She asked, following his lead and standing up.

"Dey with your mommy wooking for you." He glanced around the trees for any flash of his family.

Alex's eyes went big. "She wooking for me?"

James nodded. "She weawy worried." He watched the girl's face turn from a small amount of confidence to teary-eyed and red.

"Wooried?" Large tears feel from her eyes and rolled down her cheek.

James didn't like seeing her cry, and he could feel his own hot tears falling. "We gotta find 'em." He wiped away a tear before it ran into his mouth and grabbed the girl's hand in his.

Alex nodded and they made way toward the setting sun. That's what daddy and baba had told him to do if he ever got lost at night in the woods.
"Alex!" A voice yelled, barely audible.

"James!" Another voice yelled.

The two kids eyed each other with small smiles of hope.

"Daddy! Baba! We're here!" James yelled as loudly as he could.

"Mommy!"

"James! Stay where you are, buddy!" Baba's voice ran out. "We'll come to you!"

"Alex! Stay with James, baby!" Maddison's voice yelled right after.

The two could hear footsteps coming closer, branches snapping and leaves crunching under the weight of someone walking towards them. They stood dead still until a flash of color showed through bushes and Hal's red hair popped over the green.

"Baba!" James let go of Alex's hand and ran straight towards the man, jumping to hug him as tears rushed down his face.

"Shuu, shuu, bear, I got you. It's okay." Hal picked James up and hugged him tightly.

Alex followed as soon as Maddison's brown hair showed, running to the woman and wrapping her arms around the bigger's legs.

It was one big family reunion as they hugged in the middle of the forest, questions like, "Where were you?", and "How's you get lost?" spewed from everyone's mouth.
When eyes dried and questions left to be answered another day, Maddison turned towards Hal and John to thank them.

"No problem, we were happy to help." John smiled, shaking the woman's hand.

"Well, James did most of the work." Hall joked, doing the same.

"Well, I appreciate it all the same." Maddison smiled and looked down at her youngster. "Oh, I guess I should properly introduce this one. This is Alex." She rustled the girl's hair. "Alex, this is John, Hal, and James."

James smiled and wiggled his fingers in greeting.

Alex smiled and waved back. She eyed the boy for a second longer, noticing a small budge around his area. "Mommy, I think he's wearing a diaper." She said more loudly then she meant to.

Hal and John took a second to register the girl's words before both putting a hand on James protectively.

Maddison looked down and saw it to, looking at the two men with curiosity. "Are you guys... Daddies to a little?"

Chapter Text

John forced a smiled and pushed James behind him. It was always a gamble when people found out and he'd rather not have a rock hitting the boy's face.

"No, no, I didn't mean to be mean or anything." Maddison said, trying to recover. He hands waved in the air side to side. "No, because, well, we are too."

John eyed the girl and her mother. "Really?"

Maddison smiled and nodded. "How else would we know that phrase?"

The man had to admit, most people outside of it don't even know there is such a thing. "How long?"

Maddison shrugged. "A while. I've had Alex for about a year, though."

Hal couldn't help it be taken aback. Finding another like them? And so close? How crazy was that! It was the same feeling as when you've lost your parents in the store when you're a teen and you know you'll be okay on your own, but then you find them and there's the feeling like you're no longer alone.

"Well, why don't we go inside instead of freezing our fingers off, huh?" John said, turning around to get James. "Would you all like to come over for dinner? We have plenty and you all must be tired from the move."

"That would be great, actually." Maddison smiled a thank you. "So,e food would do us good, eh, kid?"

Alex nodded her head. "Yeah! No more Microwave food!" She cheered, throwing a fist in the air.

Maddison rolled her eyes with a smiled and pushed her back lightly as John and Hal started walking.

They got to the house quickly, the walk back much less stressful than the one there. Hal was the first one to walk in, going through the back door and having the others follow. John quickly warmed back up their dinner of chicken and rice with steamed broccoli. Hal set two more plates out and asked what their guests would like to drink.

"We have wine, if you would like that. And milk and juice are pretty much all that the little guy drinks, so we have plenty of both." Hal laughed as James smiled proudly, like drinking milk and juice was the greatest accomplishment ever.

"I'll just do water, but she's love some juice." Maddison rustled the girl's short hair as she greatfuly accepted an offered bib and tied it around her neck.

They sat down, James in a chair next to baba instead of his normal booster seat. But he didn't really mind, after all, he was still with his daddy and baba. Maddison and Alex sat on the other side of the table, sending over smiled as they dug into the food.

"This is really good." Maddison smiled.

"Yeah! Second to only mommy!" Alex sent a grin up to the much taller woman and then went back to her plate.

"Well, thank you, Alex." John nodded and lifted another bite to his mouth. "So, how old is she?"

Maddison looked at e girl, then at John. "Physically or mentally?"

"Both, if you don't mind." John wiped his mouth with a napkin and placed it back in his lap. "We've did a lot of reading before we met James, but never really met anyone before now."

"Oh, well, she's 20. But right now she's five or six." She looked at the girl and rushed her hair playfully. "What about yours?"

"Younger on both accounts. 18 and about two." John said, having to take a second to finish his bite before he continued talking. "We've had him for about six months now, too."

"That's amazing. Back in Portland, we only knew a few others. But they weren't all that sociable." Maddison smiled. "It's nice to met another family whose not in it for all that weird stuff."

Hal widened his eyes and let out a light, one syllable laugh. "Yeah, defiantly."

They talked for a little longer before James's legs go the best of him and he pushed back from the table with an announcement of, "I done!" And running to the living room.

John let out a laugh, saying, "Well, I guess we better start cleaning up."

"Bit of a busy body, huh?" Maddison laughed.

"That's a bit of an understate." John laughed, pushing up on the table and standing to take his plate into the kitchen.

"Oh, here, let me help." Maddison taking her plate and carrying it to the kitchen behind John.

"No, don't even worry about it." Hal smiled, taking the plat from the woman and handing it to his husband.

"Oh, well, okay then." Maddison smiled and looked over her shoulder at Alex who was staring at James.

"Mommy, I play?" She asked hopefully.

"Uh..." She started, then turned to John, asking, "Is it okay if she--"

"Oh, yeah, go right ahead." John smiled to the girl, who beamed and took off for the living room.

"Cute kid." Hal smiled as the girl plopped down next to James and started playing with him.

"When she want's to be." Maddison sighed light heartedly. "The move's been really hard on her."

"Really?" John asked, leaning against the counter to converse and watch the kids at the same time.

"Oh, yeah. That's why she took off. She's never been really good with her emotions and understanding them. So, when she's mad, she can't handle it and I end up chasing her down of an hour and a half." Maddison let out a sigh. "I thought moving out here would be good for her, you know. Some fresh country air and peace and quiet.

"She's just stressed, and I know that. But I still don't quite know how to tell her this is not the way to handle that. Running away isn't a solution."

Hal took in a deep breath and glanced over at John before saying, "Well, I'm not really sure about her, but with James, just being there is the most important part. Holding them and letting them cry it out is juat as important as trying to make them happy afterwards."

Maddison looked up to the much taller man and smiled a thank you.

It was different, hearing something first-hand compared to a sight or something. Hearing them say, "I understand," and not, "Well, you're just not doing it right," was nice for once.

They watched the kids play for a little bit, listening to their whispered words before John said, "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I wanted to ask. You did say Alex was your daughter, correct?"

"Oh, yes." Maddison said. "Today, anyway. Sometimes I have a little boy, and sometimes I have a little girl. Though, in all honesty, it's the same thing."

"Gender neutral?" Hal asked. He didn't know the exact word for it, but that seemed as close as any.

"Yeah." Maddison smiled. It was typically very hard for people to under stand that. But, she guessed, a gay couple would know a few things about the other side of LGBT world. "I don't really care which she or he is. She loves me and she needs me and that's what matters."

John smiled. "You're amazingly understanding."

Maddison had to hold down a blush. "Not really. I had no idea what it was until I met her. But she taught me that gender really doesn't matter. So long as you have a heart, and can love, you're human."

Chapter Text

After Maddison and Alex had gone home, Hal picked up James and tousled him around playfully. James let out a laugh as he was moved side to side, kicking his feet lightly.

"Alrighty, bud." Hal said as he sat James down in a fir of giggles on the couch. "Time to start getting ready for bed."

James dramatically stuck out his lower lip in a pout.

"Oh, none of that," Hal said, playfully running a finger over the boy's protruding lip and making him smile and pull his face back. "There we go. Now, bath time!"

Hal picked the boy back up, throwing him over his shoulder and saying, "Ho, ho. ho!"

"Santa, what are you doing with my little boy?" John played along.

James let out more giggles as Hal replied, "I see no little boy! Not under all that icky stuff from not having a bath!" He swung the boy around and headed up the stairs. "This bag needs to be cleaned!"

"Well, you do that, Santa. But, if you happen to find a little boy in there, make sure he gives his daddy a kiss before he goes to bed." John tickled Jame's belly fully exposed as the waist band of his shirt hung from his arms.

"Will do, daddy, sir!" Hal saluted, then walked the rest of the way to the bathroom, finally flipping the boy around and setting him on his feet on the bathroom tile before starting the water.

The bath didn't take very long, James keeping himself entertained with the plethora of toys they now had for him. Even Hal had to admit that they had quite a collection now. When Hal was finished washing the boy's hair, he gave him a few more minutes before pulling him out of the tub and wrapping him in a towel.

"What PJ's you thinking of today, bud?" Hal asked as he carried the boy burrito into his room ans laid him down on the changing mat.

James though for a second, then pointed to his bear.

"Bear PJ's it is, then!" Hal smiled after following the boy's finger. He grabbed the shirt and matching pants from the dresser and made quick work of dressing James.
They made their way down stairs for a bottle and snuggling time, Hal sitting on the couch with James and John heated up a bottle of milk and settled in next to the two.

James happily accepted the bottle and let baba hold it to his lips as he watched whatever show it was they had turned on. He knew they'd purposefully put on something he didn't know so he wouldn't try to keep himself up watching it. But that didn't make it any less successful. The long day wasn't hard to forget as he closed his eyes and let himself fall into dreamland, only temporarily woken from the sudden movement of being picked off before he drifted off once more.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Hal woke up before John and without an alarm, which, in-an-of-itself was a rarity. Add to it that James was still asleep and Hal was half tempted to look out the windows to see if aliens were roaming the Earth. Instead, he walked into the kitchen and brewed a pot of coffee, enjoying the simple silence that came over the house.

He took a set at the island in the kitchen and pulled out his laptop, sorting through emails and other such for work. When he hit the end of the new emails and saw the ones he had marked from James before they'd meet, he couldn't help but laugh. How much their lives had changed since that fist message had been sent so long ago was amazing. If you had asked him this time last year that this was going to be his life soon, he would have died of laughter. Not because it was crazy to be taking care of James or having such fun doing it, but because he'd never had much luck in life. And getting something he'd wanted for so long just seemed ridiculous.

But, here he sat. In a house that he'd thought he'd never be able to afford, with a husband he loved more than life it's self that he'd never thought he'd be able to find, and a little boy who meat the world to him that he never would have dreamed of having. It was storybook-perfect, so much so that he had to often pinch himself.

There were very few advantages to having strict parents like he had had. Devout Catholics that dressed in their best every Sunday and drove to church, who took Hal to every Sunday school meeting, even on Wednesdays. Who kicked him out of the house the second they found out he was gay, claiming him an unholy person who would only bring his devilish ways to his younger brother.

So many years of hatred. He'd followed every word the "Lord" had ever written for his whole life and becomes a follower of Ciel in one day. So he shoved his bible into the trash and drank his way to stupidity.

John had been there one night, at a bar trying to get over a breakup with some guy and Hal decided he wanted something fun that night.

"Well, hello there, spunk." Hal said lazily, already on his second beer and feeling a good buzz.

John spun his head around to the man leaning against the bar and felt his face tighten. "Who are you?"

"Name's Hal, but that's not important right now, hunk." Hal wiggled his but into the stool next to the man and smiled at him. "If you're looking for a shoulder to cry on, I'm right here."

John looked the man up and down once more. "I'm sorry, but a drunken ball of hate is not what I need right now." He stood up and headed for the door.

Hal followed him with his eyes, suddenly very sober. It took him a second before he stood up and ran after him. "Hey! Hey!" He yelled.

The other man stoped and turned around, watching the red-head's hair bounce around as he ran.

"How-How'd you know all that?" Hal asked when he caught up.

John let out a sigh and stepped to the side of the sidewalk to get out of the way. "I've seen you here before. Mostly drinking alone, but sometimes talking to other guys."

"Okay, that explains the drunk part." Hal said. "How'd you know about the hate?"

"Nobody drinks that much with out a reason. You're not a vet, you're hair is evidence of that. And you're too young to really have suffered too much. So hate. Blaming the world for your problems. Trying to find solace in the bottom of a bottle instead of the world around you."

Hal stood, dumbfounded, staring at the man in front of him like a deer in headlights. "What are you, some kind of Sherlock Holmes?"

"No, I'm just a person who's had to deal with a person like you my whole life." John let out an aggravated sigh and ran a hand through his short hair. "So, if you don't mind, I'd like to get home."

Hal grabbed the man before he could walk away forever. "What's your name?"

John's face was fierce at he said, "John," and yanked his arm out of the man's grasp.

Hal shook his head at the memory. It had taken him a long time to find him again after John had walked off. And even more time to convince the man to go on one date with him.

Two years later, they were married. Hal quit drinking and John lightened up. They really were a good match.

It was only at the man's funeral that Hal realized many years later that the person John was talking about was his own father. Hal had never know John to be a particularly gushy man, but he was a man with a soft heart. But that day, not a single tear was shed by John as his father was lowered into the ground. Hal held his hand tightly and didn't let go until long after the funeral.

Hal read over the first email they'd ever gotten from James. It was simple, just two sentences:

Hello my name is James I am 18 and like bears

Well, it would have been two sentences had the boy used punctuation.

That was his profile's line, and when John and Hal had sent a request, that's the email they got. The later ones where more detailed, but written in the same un-punctuation-alized way. It often took them more time to understand what they said than anything else.

But when they had figured it out, it was simple enough to reply quickly and, soon enough, they were talking every day. They only day they hadn't talked over email was the day they meet him.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Hal got up to check on James once more before waking his husband. The boy was half awake in his crib, rubbing his eyes and tilting his head as baba's recognizable figure walked in. Hal let out a small laugh, unable to keep a smile off his face. He couldn't help it, the boy was just too cute in the morning.

"Hey, bear." He said, lowering the bars. "Wanna help me do something?"

James looked up at his baba and smiled. "A miss'n?" He asked.

Hal nodded as he sat the boy down on the changing mat. "Yeah. Mission: Wake Up Daddy!"

James nodded his head happily as baba changed him quickly, lifting him up when he was finished. They walked down the hall, Hal puting his finger onto his lips to tell James to stay quiet as he pushed the door open and tip-toed in.

John woke up to a sudden weight being dropped on the bed and laughter. "What's all this?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

James let out a screech as daday's hand found his neck and tickled. "Baba's idea!"

"It was not!" Hal said in the most offended voice he could muster, putting his hand to his chest and pulling a very dramatic face.

"Well, if we don't figure this out soon, we'll never be able to make pancakes!" John threw the blanket on top of James as he got up, sending the boy into another fit of giggles as he kicked his way out.

"Baba! Baba di' it!" He crawled off the bed and ran behind the man.

Hal shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, so maybe I made the plan, but James was the one who put it in action!" He turned around keeping his shoulders on the boy and he now stood in front of him.

John let out a long sigh jokingly. "Fine. Tell you what, if baba agrees to watch you, I'll make pancakes."

James looked up at the mush taller man, smiling.

"Oh, alright." He rolled his eyes, smiling. "I guess I can do that."

James cheered and ran out of the room and towards the stairs, going down them slowly until daddy came up behind him and picked him up, carrying him the rest of the way and setting him back down a the bottom. John watched the boy run off into the living room as his husband walked down the stairs.

"Getting him worked up before he's even fully awake?" He asked with a smile.

Hal shrugged. " At least he'll go down for a nap more easily."

John just shook his head with a laughe and went to the kitchen to start on breakfast.

Chapter Text

James was realitivly calm through breakfast, surprising both men as they eyed each other, brows raised in question, across the table. They would then shrug and smile at the boy and go back to their plates, Hal spooning bites into Jame's mouth when he would open his mouth, wanting the other to feed him.

After breakfast, they sat him down on the floor, where he smiled brightly and took off for the living room.

"Well, that's new." John thought as he watched the boy'd blonde hair from the dinning room.

"Maybe our exercises are working?" Hal smiled as he picked up a plate from in front of John and kissed his cheeck on the way back up.

John shrugged with a smile and helped his husband clean up before looking at the laptop sitting on the counter. "Get some work in this morning?"

Hal laughed. "No, not really. Was just looking through some of the emails James sent us before he got here."

John smiled. His husband really was a bottle of mush. "Gosh, trying to decipher those took longer than it should have." He took a seat at the island and opened the lap top, typing in his husbands super-secret password that he'd know for three years.

"So nosey." Hal laughed, whipping his husband lightly with a hand towel before sitting down next to him and throwing the towel over his shoulder.

John glanced through the folder of saved emails, a question suddenly popping into his head. "Hey, Jame's can't read, right?"

Hal glanced over at his husband with a cocked head and furrowed brows. "Yeah."

"Then how did he send emails? Isn't it hard to look things up without knowing how to read?" John said, opening an email and glancing it over.

Hal thought for a second. "That would make it difficult. How do you think he did it? Maybe a friend read it to him or something?"

"When did you ever hear him mention having a friend?" John said, glancing up and towards the living room.

Hal just shook his head and shrugged. "Well, who knows. Clearly he did it though."

John nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's all that matters." He let out a sigh and closed the laptop, pushing it back from the edge so James wouldn't be able to get to it.

They smiled at each other before sharing a kiss and getting up to carry on with their day.

In the morning, Hall would sit at the table and finish work while John took base in their home office, running his own business from home.

James would play mostly in the living room, but when he was more active he would jump all around the house. He'd be up and down the stairs bringing and taking toys to and from his room. John didn't like him being on the stairs so much without one of them watching him, but Hal said they should just let it happen. It usually burned him out a lot quicker.

But today, James stuck to the living room and stayed oddly quiet. When Hal looked over to see if the boy had fallen asleep, he could see the bright blonde curls of his head leaning over the arm of the couch as he reached for a toy he had dropped. Hal stood up, a concerned look on his face as he walked to the living room and glanced around.

By now, James would have usually pulled out every toy he owned and scattered it around the room. Today, it was still as clean as the night before when he'd put them all back before bed.

"Hey, Jay Bear." Hal said as he rustled the boy's hair lightly.

James looked up at the man and rubbed his eyes. He'd woken up not feeling too well, but didn't want to bother the two men. It could just be nothing, so there was no point in brining it up. But now he really wasn't feeling good and his stomach was all in knots and he hurt all over. It had taken everything he had to not cry as he dropped his toy. A simple thing that would have set him over the edge. But now, it was the sight of baba standing over him with caring eyes.

James let out a small, pathetic cry and reached up for the older man, latching on to his shirt as he was picked up and rocked.

"Shuu, bear, shuu. It's okay. You gotta calm down and tell me what's wrong. I can't read your mind." Hal said as he stepped forward and back on his heals, creating a rocking motion James always seemed to like. But it was doing nothing for the boy as he cried out.

John heard the crying and waited a few second to see if Hal could handle it on his own before standing up and walking out of the office. "What happened?" He mouthed to Hal as he walked into the seen in the living room, placing a hand on James's head to rub it lightly.

Hal shrugged before seeing John's face turn as he moved his hand from the back of the boy's head to the front, where he left his palm on his forehead.

"He's burning up." John said, taking his hand away and glancing at his husband with a worried look before taking off for the medicine cabinet in the kitchen.

Hal let out a slow, calming breath and pulled the boy closer, pushing their cheeks together.

John returned quickly with a bottle of fever reducer and kissed James's head before pouring some out and setting the bottle on the table, holding the cap out to the boy's lips. His crying had died off a little, but that didn't mean he wanted to take any of the nasty medicine. He felt like crap and he just wanted to be held. No icky stuff was getting in his mouth!

"He won't take it." Hal said as the boy's brow furrowed and his lips became a taut line on his face.

"He has to." John let out a sigh to try and calm his initial panic but it wasn't working.

"It's alright. Let's just calm down." Hal said, walking into the kitchen. "Here's what we're going to do. You're going to take him, I'm going to make a bottle and you're going to sit on the couch and make him drink every last drop. Okay?"

John listen to his husband as he breathed in and out slowly, taking deep, controlled breaths. Instead of trusting his words, he just nodded his head and took James.
"There we go. Now, couch. Please." Hal commanded and pointed towards the living room.

John followed orders and grabbed a spot on the couch, pressing kisses into James's temple as he tried to control himself. "I'm sorry, baby boy." He whispered into his ear. "I just don't like when people I love get sick."

"It happens when someone you love passes away from something that easily could have been avoided." Hal finished as he walked into the living room, handing John a bottle of milk he's mixed with some medicine. "But there's nothing wrong with it."

John looked up to his husband with a small forced smile, thanking him until Hal pointed to the bottle then the boy, telling John in their own form of sign language to feed the kid. John nodded and adjusted his hold on the boy, getting a sound of complaint, and holding the bottle to his lips.

James didn't want to drink anything, but the look on daddy's face when he twisted his face away the first time told him he should probably try. So, even through his current funk, he drank as much as he could.

"There we go, that's my good boy." John forced a small smile when he saw James's eyes open. "It's okay to fall asleep, bear. Soon, you'll wake up and we can run around and have tons of fun, okay?"

James nodded his head and sleepily closed his eyes. Sleep sounded really good. A nap with daddy didn't happen all that much. He usually worked until after he was asleep, so this was a special treat. Even if he had to be sick to get it.

Chapter Text

James held tightly to John for most of the morning as it waned into afternoon, sucking at a pacifier. Hal had turned on the TV and let B rate shows play as he rubbed James's back softly. There wasn't much more he could do and it was eating him from the inside. He did think to grab the boy's favorite green blankie made of the softest fabric either man had ever known. It was wrapped tightly around the boy, tucked under him to keep him warm.

"We'll have to wake him up. Change him and get something in his stomach." Hal said. He was resting his head on John's shoulder, eyes caught between James and the TV, shifting between the two.

John nodded with a sigh. "Better sooner than later."

Hal nodded and forced himself to sit up so his husband could stand. John shifted his weight so that he was sitting with his butt on the edge of the couch before he stood, taking James with him.

James, on the other hand, was perfectly happy we're he was. And the twist in his stomach from moving so quickly emptied everything he had on him down his daddy's back. He felt like he was floating, though. He could feel John rock lightly, then stop when the boy chucked more up.

He could feel as Hal rubbed a large, comforting had down his back, the other resting on his forehead. James leaned into the touch, liking the coolness it had to it. It felt nice against his similtaniosly fire hot and ice cold body. His brain pounded in his head as the started moving once more, words reaching his ears as nothing more than odd noises. He let out an aggravated moan and shifted as his daddy walked.

"I know, baby, I know." John cooed, trying as hard as he could to keep from moving the boy too much.

"I'll try to clean this up, if you want to get him changed." Hal said, trying to rub down his husband's back and get most of the puke off him. "I'll try and get him to eat something while you wash up."

John nodded and sat James down lightly on the floor.

James let out a cry at the lose of touch, wanting to be held and rocked and all the good things that his daddies did to make him feel better. He swung his arms haphazardly, trying his best to make it clear he was not happy. He could hear baba's voice and then daddy's, trying to calm him down.

But James didn't want to calm down! He wanted to be held! His head hurt,and his stomach was all twisty, and his nose wouldn't stop running, and his chest hurt from coughing, and lights only made it all worse. He didn't want to sit on the floor and he didn't want to feel all icky and he just wanted to be better!

"Baby bear, please calm down. I will pick you right back up once you're out of your icky clothes, I promise." John said, trying his best to keep the boy from hurting himself in his flailing. "Hal, we're going to have to tag team this."

"Just tell me what you need me to do. I'm right behind you." Hal said, shifting his weight around to scoot closer.

"You change, I'll hold?" John asked, moving so that he was sitting closer to James's head before pulling the boy's upper half into his lap.

"Sounds like a plan." Hal pulled the boy's pants down, happy that they had thought to put him in a onesie that snapped between the legs. Hal undid the buttons and tried to steadily pull the diaper off and wipe the boy down, no easy feat with a wiggling little body.

He quickly wrapped the boy back up in one of his nighttime diapers, applying an apple amount of baby powder. When he had the diaper taped closed, he tugged at the onesie, pulling it over the boy's head as best he could. He voted on wiping down his front with baby wipes instead of a bath before putting on a fresh onesie and snapping it closed, vetoing pants.

"There we go, bear." Hal said, nodding at John to pass the boy. "Come here, let's get you something good to eat, yeah?"

James calmed down a little, tears still running down his face and leaving trails. He held tightly to Hal's shirt, not wanting to be let go.

"How're you doing, bear?" Hal asked, standing up. The answer was pretty clear, but Hal felt like he should ask.

"Icky." Was the only word James could think of, so that's what he said.

"Yeah, we'll get you some more medicine after we get something in your belly." Hal rocked a bit as he walked out of the room, into the hall way and down the stairs. John grabbed his shoulders, squealing lightly before he turned for their room to wash up.

James tucked his face in between Hal's neck and shoulder.

"How about we warm up some soup, huh? You love chicken noodle soup." Hal rubbed the boy's head lightly as he rummaged through the cabinets.

James shook his head no and wined. He didn't want to eat, his belly hurt too much.

"You gotta eat something, bear." Hal said lightly, more to himself as he looked through the fridge. "How about some apple sauce?"

He pulled out the large jar before James had a chance to say no, pouring some into a bowl with the boy still leaning against his chest. Hal took the bowl and a spoon over to the table, letting James sit in his lap as he sat down.

"Alright, open up. Let's get something good to eat." Hal sing-songed, shifting James so that the boy was leaning against his arm and his face was showing.

James stared at the spoon, keeping his mouth firmly shut. His face was flush, nose running and making him sniffle every few seconds.

Hal let out a small sigh, and held the spoon up higher. "Please bear, I know you don't feel good, but not eating won't help."

James felt a tear fall down his face, and leaned into Hal's chest, pushing himself into the older man.

They sat like that for a little while, Hal's hand running up and down James's back and pressing kisses into his head. It must have been longer than Hal realized, because, soon enough, John was making his way down the stairs.

"He eating anything?" John asked with a light voice, more mouthing it than anything.

Hal shook his head no, pointing to the still full bowl of apple sauce.

John's lips became a tight line across his face. He reached out for James, taking him lightly from Hal's arms and sitting down next to his husband at the table.

James settled into his daddy's lap and let out a shaking sigh.

"You know," John said, reaching for the bowl and pulling it closer. "When I was a kid, about ten, I guess, I had a sister who got sick a lot."

Hal looked at John curious. He knew the story, but John didn't talk about it much. It wasn't really a happy story.

"Her name was Mary. She was a pretty little thing, and about two years older than me. I loved her so much, and I hated her at the same time. The way you can with a sibling. I loved her because everyone loves her. She was amazing, great at everything she did without even trying. So much natural talent it was crazy. But she caught man near everything that would pass through our school."

James suited in his daddy's lap and looked up at the man. This wasn't a story he'd ever heard before. And if there was something James loved almost as much as his daddies, it was a story.

"Everything from a small cold to chicken pocks. If a kid in the school had it, she'd catch it. It was a bit of a joke when we were younger. 'If there's some new illness, Mary'll be the first to know.' 'Don't even pretend to be sick, or Mart'll catch it!' That kind of thing. Kid stuff, really. But even with all her sick days, she'd still have the best grades in her class. Which was odd because she must have missed three-fourths of the school year.

"Then, one time, she got sick and just wouldn't get better. My parents didn't really notice, my dad a drunk and mom working to keep us all together. They knew she was sick--we all did--but none of us understood how much. And when we did, it was too late."

Hal watched as John's face twisted with so many emotions, Hal didn't know which to address first. Instead, he just sat his handon John's knee and squeezed lightly.

John forced a smile and nodded, clearing his throat before starting once more. "It turned out that it had started as a cold and because we could t afford the medicine to make it better, it snowballed into a full-blown pneumonia. She was coughing so much that she cracked a rib and was crying so hard.

"Soon enough, I had to watch everything I love fall apart. My father was never home. My mom hardly left her room. And I was, suddenly an only child." His voice hitched a small amount, forcing him to stop and take in a large breath of air. James's grip was causing his knuckle to turn white as he held to John's shirt. "I'm okay, I promise. But I want you to get better. I don't want anyone I love to go through that again. So when you're sick, or feel yucky, please tell us. Don't make us guess and don't say it's not anything to worry about. Because it is. Because you matter and because I don't want you to be sick."

James nodded, tears falling down his face as he tucked his face back into John's strong shoulder. "I so'ry."

John let out a sigh and rubbed the boy's back before wrapping both arms around James and squeezing lightly. "I'm not mad, I promise. Let's just eat something and take your medicine and then we can snuggle up on the couch. Okay?"

James nodded, sitting up a small bit and waiting as his daddy filed the spoon once more and held it to the boy's mouth. James opened wide and let the spoon into his mouth, closing and swallowing quickly. It was sweeter than normal on his simi-dry tongue and mushy. He took in a few more bites before deciding he couldn't eat any more and shaking his head.

John looked down at the half full bowl and at James, lips tight. "Alright, I'll let you finish if you will drink a bottle for me. Think you can do that?"

James shook his head. A bottle sounded really good, actually.

John smiled and stood, handing Hal James for a second. "Alright, let me clean this up and I'll be right there."

Hal nodded with a smilie smile, standing with James in his arms. His kissed John, light and deep all at the same time as emotion pushed its way from Hal's lips to John's. "We'll be on the couch."

Chapter Text

John quickly filled a bottle three-fourths of the way with milk before adding several scoops of whey mix. It would give the boy some calories as well as help settle his stomach a small amount. Next came the mix in of medicine before he put the lid on the bottle, shook it, and took it into the living room.

Hal sat on the couch with James balled in his lap, curling on his baba's arm and opening and closing his hand over and over again on his baba's shirt. James liked the way it felt in his hand, but when he tired to move to put his hand in his mouth, he was being move into his daddy's lap, and had to release his grip on baba's gray shirt.

"Alrighty, bear," John smiled a small amount as the boy settled into the larger lap. "Let's drink some milk, okay!"

With that, the bottle was held to James's lips and pushed gently into his mouth. James gave a few test sucks, then settled into a rhythm and wrapped his hand around one of his daddy's thumbs. John didn't seem to mind as James repeated his earlier task of squeezing and then releasing over and over again, sucking at the bottle as he did so.

It didn't take long for James's eyes to get the better of him, closing and sending him into simi-sleep, hand still squeezing his daddy's thumb.

"He's about out," John said softly, nudging the bottle the see if the boy was awake enough to drink a little more. James gave a few haphazard sucks before stopping once more. "Can you get get me a pacifier?"

"Yeah," Hal smiled down at the pair as he stood up, then walked over to the kitchen and plucked one of the many pacifiers from a drying rack and walked back to the living room. He handed the pacifier to his husband as John worked the bottle gently from the boy's mouth. John quickly replaced it with the plastic nipple.

"He looks like he's doing a little better." Hal said, running a hand through the boy's hair.

"Yeah, he's not as hot. But I think sleep is what he really is going to need." John wiggled his hand lightly, squeezing the small hand wrapped around his thumb. "Not sure what this is about, though."

Hal shrugged and sat back down on the couch, feet tucked under him as he leaned to the side a bit. "He was doing it to my shirt too. Not really sure why, but it kept him entertained, so I didn't stop it."

John laughed a little, more blowing air out his nose than anything. "Fair enough." They sat in silence for a moment, just enjoying the company of their family mixed with the additional sound of James coughing every now and then.

"It's getting late. Think we should put him in his room?" Hal asked, already knowing the answer.

John let out a small sigh, looking over at his husband with large eyes. He opened his mouth for a second, closed it, then opened it again. "Can we--"

"Already set his PJ's in our room." Hal smiled, lightly slapping John's knee before getting up. "Breaking your own rule," he shook his head with a smile as he walked to the kitchen and up the stairs.

John followed along, picking James up as softly as he could and walking him up the stairs and to his shared room.

Hal was sitting on the bed, pajamas at the ready for a quick change before James could wake up. John sat the boy onto the bed and got to work, pulling off his onesie.

James was little more than putty, medicine, illness, and exhaustion sending him into an almost unreal deep sleep. Then men worked to put him into a footie and zip it closed before sliding him up the bed and onto the pillows. When he was tucked in between the men with Hal's hand running through James's curls, John spoke.

"That rule was put into place for nights when he wasn't sick." He said defensively, one hand wrapping around James's waist.

"Uh-huh," Hal said with an amused smile. "And you're definitely not going to ever do it again, right?"

"Of coarse not." John said sternly. "Not unless he's had a bad night or is sick."

"Or just wants to." Hal added. He didn't often get to pick on his husband for something like this--usually it was Hal breaking rules, not John. But it was fun. John had said, before they even had a little to look after, he or she would have to sleep in their own bed. And so far, he'd stuck to that pretty firmly, save for that time that James broke out in a bad rash. But John had lost a lot of his sharper edges since James came along, and Hal enjoyed it.

"Yeah, that too." John said sleepily.

Hal smiled, lightly kissing the top of his husband's head over James before lying back down. "Good night, love."

John moaned a goodnight back and was asleep almost immediately. Hal took a little longer, but fell quickly enough with the warmth form the small body as his side.