Speak Friend and Enter

“I guess all that movement wore them out.” Teddy leaned against the back of couch, bringing the laptop onto his lap.

It hit him again, the simplicity of the scene. He was working on a school paper with his husband in the kitchen and their children upstairs. If someone had told him this would be reality in five years, Teddy would have called them crazy.

With a sudden idea, Teddy followed Billy into the kitchen. “You need any help?” Sure he was slacking off, but he had put 5 good hours into the paper today. A little slacking off couldn’t hurt right?

He grinned at his husband. “Yep, learning to scoot around took it out of them. ‘Course soon we’ll be struggling to keep up with them.”

“That sounds perfect.” With a kiss to the shoulder, a small nudge with his hips, Teddy moved off to get the supplies. After all, no matter what, if Teddy tried to cook them, they would end up blacker than Billy’s hair. 

“Of course she did.” He pulled out enough slices for 4 sandwiches before handing the first two to Billy.

“But they are not. And most never cared to try to understand Human behavior before now. Everything you do fascinates them, even if the acts are within our bedchambers.” His accent still made his words in English sound weird, but he was getting better. Slowly. William was an excellent teacher. A smile touched his lips as he met his husbands gaze. 

“I’m not one of the birds in the menagerie,” he replied, but his tone was lighter, a faint smile flickering on his features. “And I’m not the best to study when it comes to human behavior. I’ve had to change a lot about myself since coming here, but my insistence on privacy will remain. Where I come from it’s… obscene, to consider watching someone else engaged in marital acts.” He looked up, catching Dorrek’s eye.

And then all of a sudden it was over. Thomas leveled him with a glare that would have withered the skin from his bones before leaving the small room. Teddy watched him, taking a deep, calming breath as he ran a hand through his hair.

“You should follow him.” Teddy glanced toward Billy. The adrenaline had his hand shaking, and he ran one through his hair to hide the motion.

“He’s your brother. And we can talk about… this… later.”

As adrenaline wore out of his system, Billy found himself in a state of shock and horror. Tommy would most likely rush to their uncle – the only family they had, since their mother’s disappearance – and then Pietro would likely go straight to Commander Rogers. A daydream become a nightmare, in five short minutes. He looked over at Teddy, hurt and confused and still bitterly angry.

“He’s the worst,” he said, his voice soft. “Ever since we lost Mother. She used to always tell him I was his responsibility. ‘Mind your brother, Thomas. You know he is dear to us’. I think she knew I wasn’t like other boys.” He sighed. “I don’t know why I’m saying all this.”

“Go find him. Sort it out, and then you can come by my room later.” His blue eyes flashed in mischief before they softened again.

“But please talk to him. I know what it’s like to lose your family.” He murmured, the echo of pain in his voice. His father, sister and brother with the first attacks, the near misses he’s had with his mother.

“He is just… so protective. I don’t think he realizes what he’s doing is preventing me from being happy.” His eyes tracked back to Teddy, a sadness echoed in his own gaze. They’d lost a lot, all of them. Here, Billy had hoped he’d finally found something, and it was at stake.

He hadn’t even remembered he was shirtless. The scars of his run-in with the Kaiju at a young age were on full display, a spiral of round marks running all along his arm and chest. There was a tattoo of an odd, flower-shaped mark on his opposite shoulder, a constellation on his wrist, and the designation number for his Jaeger just below his clavicle. Most other pilots knew Tommy had a veritable kaleidoscope of tattoos on his skin, but it was a surprise to most that Billy had a few, himself.

Mainly because he didn’t know if he was there yet. Sure he was attracted to the blond, and he was falling faster than he’d wanted to admit but actually IN love with him? Not yet… though he was probably dangerously close.

“I will talk to my brother. And when that’s done, and I have convinced him you are not going to take advantage of me and leave me to weep the loss of you, I will come to your room and resume where we left off.”

“But they are not. And most never cared to try to understand Human behavior before now. Everything you do fascinates them, even if the acts are within our bedchambers.” His accent still made his words in English sound weird, but he was getting better. Slowly. William was an excellent teacher. A smile touched his lips as he met his husbands gaze. 

“I’m not one of the birds in the menagerie,” he replied, but his tone was lighter, a faint smile flickering on his features. “And I’m not the best to study when it comes to human behavior. I’ve had to change a lot about myself since coming here, but my insistence on privacy will remain. Where I come from it’s... obscene, to consider watching someone else engaged in marital acts.” He looked up, catching Dorrek’s eye.

Hearing the name instantly had the room blurring as a whirlwind of emotions shot through him. She was perfect. Skin still slightly red and the first cusp of dark curls peaking out of the blanket. He couldn’t move, his arms feeling like weights when Billy gently slipped her to his arms.

“How? When? I mean….” Gods he couldn’t even think. He had thought that it would be another uear, two of trying to make the paperwork go through. He bit the inside of his cheek as she stirred, blinking to clear the moisture from his eyes so he could see her clearly.

“How?” He asked again, looking to his husband. He barely heard the noise of the airport, the baby girl feeling like air and the heaviest weight of his life at the same time.

If he’d thought Sarah was tiny before, she looked utterly miniature in his husband’s thick arms, the yellow blanket stark against his MultiCam. She made a soft sound at being shifted into new arms, but settled right down, a fist close to her face.

“Last week,” he admitted, leaning close to Teddy to keep the blanket close to the top of her head, to keep her warm. “Her mother was the best girl – high schooler in trouble, wanted a good home for her. She let me in the delivery room, I even have video.” He kissed Teddy’s dry, rough knuckles. “We forgot to cancel the application when you shipped out. I got a call six months ago, and then… well, you see.”

That title was the one that broke him. He huffed out a laugh, the tears finally breaking through to slip down his cheeks.

He was a dad. A father and this little tiny human in his arms was suddenly the most precious thing in the world to him. He leaned against Billy, the smile threatening to split his face in half. He never thought he could be this happy. Not after the world of hell he saw.

His head leaned against Billys, his eyes unable to tear away from their daughter.

Billy’s arms looped around them, his head resting against Teddy’s shoulder, slightly off to one side so he wouldn’t crush Sarah. “I love you too.” He stood there a long moment, rubbing Teddy’s back, soaking in the moment he would remember for the rest of his life.

Finally, the silence was broken by the rest of their merry band insisting the pair get 1) out of the way of people trying to get out of the terminal and 2) moving so they could go to the dinner they’d planned after picking up the soldiers. Reluctantly, Billy moved away from his husband and  their daughter to collect their stuff -- at some point either Eli or Tommy had grabbed Teddy’s bags and taken them out to Clint’s ridiculous SUV that, while they usually criticized it, at least managed to fit everyone plus Sarah’s carseat. He slung a battered leather satchel over his shoulders and picked up her carrier off a chair.

Christopher Robin and I walked along,

Under branches lit up by the moon…

[x]

Hearing the name instantly had the room blurring as a whirlwind of emotions shot through him. She was perfect. Skin still slightly red and the first cusp of dark curls peaking out of the blanket. He couldn’t move, his arms feeling like weights when Billy gently slipped her to his arms.

“How? When? I mean….” Gods he couldn’t even think. He had thought that it would be another uear, two of trying to make the paperwork go through. He bit the inside of his cheek as she stirred, blinking to clear the moisture from his eyes so he could see her clearly.

“How?” He asked again, looking to his husband. He barely heard the noise of the airport, the baby girl feeling like air and the heaviest weight of his life at the same time.

If he’d thought Sarah was tiny before, she looked utterly miniature in his husband’s thick arms, the yellow blanket stark against his MultiCam. She made a soft sound at being shifted into new arms, but settled right down, a fist close to her face.

“Last week,” he admitted, leaning close to Teddy to keep the blanket close to the top of her head, to keep her warm. “Her mother was the best girl -- high schooler in trouble, wanted a good home for her. She let me in the delivery room, I even have video.” He kissed Teddy’s dry, rough knuckles. “We forgot to cancel the application when you shipped out. I got a call six months ago, and then... well, you see.”

When they stepped back and really looked at it, their life together had always been sort of ‘living by the unexpected’. They’d long since learned not to rely on the status quo, because it could change at the drop of a hat – or, in recent cases, at a threat that drew the best and brightest special forces off leave and into active duty. Two years after his last extended deployment, they’d made the mistake of getting too complacent. Planning too far ahead.

The adoption application process was going beautifully smoothly when Teddy got the call that yanked the floor out from under them again. Yet this time, instead of devastated tears, they both simply shrugged, smiled, and agreed to try again when he got home. When, not if.

Neither would accept he could be defeated. It simply wasn’t a consideration.

~~*~~

He stood at the gate, all smiles, surrounded by family and friends waiting anxiously for the plane’s occupants to disembark. Nerves were all afire – Cassie was already sort of crying, having her back rubbed by Jonas, while Kate stood quietly with Clint wringing her skirt. Eli was on that plane too, and from what they’d heard, it had been a rough eighteen months in God-knew-where.

He nodded to the people thanking him for his service, wanting nothing more than to get out of the hot uniform and see his husband. Of course he was expecting Billy and Tommy to be there, Kate as well. But with Eli’s grin, Teddy couldn’t help but be concerned when he saw them all there. And billy was…

Holding a new born.

Teddy almost stopped but he kept going as Eli ran ahead to scoop up Kate and twirl her around.

“Hey.” He grinned, setting his bags on the ground to free up his hands.

Grinning, the brunet adjusted his grip on the baby in his arms, opening the soft yellow blanket to show its sleeping face in spite of the noisy terminal. “This is  your daughter. Sarah Abigail, this is your Daddy.” His throat closed up a bit, and he looked back up with a slightly watery smile.