HIATUS

Ryan wanted to shrink in on himself a bit under her gaze, feeling like a scolded child. But his husband sat upright, firm. Ryan knew about raising kids, caring for them. He had to, for Sarah.

But given that history, and the history of all their trauma, it might count against them extend of in favor of them. Dylan gently laid his residual limb on Ryan's outer thigh, a silent signal.

Ryan laid his hand over it, allowing Dylan to take the lead.

"So have we." He swallowed. "I know you've read our files, did your research. I know you're skeptical and you want the best for Opal and Theo. We will do everything to be that for them. We can relate to them, we can help them learn to cope, and grow, and be happy."

He paused and Ryan swallowed hard before he continued for them both. "We have a lot of love...and a safe home we worked hard for, ma'am. And we wanna share that with the twins."

She closed a file that was in her hands. "Alright. I'll let you meet with them."

The lovers couldn't help but smile. Dylan's grin wide and toothy, Ryan's shy and close-lipped, but full of unbridled excitement.

"It is just one visit. For now. Understood?"

"Yeah! "Of course!" Their words stumbled over each other as they both speak at the same time, nerves and joy filling them in equal measure.

They meet in a playroom, with soft toys and comfy couches and a table with coloring books and more. Both of the twins are shy, of course, unsure of the two men that join them at first.

The social worker gave a small introduction, warm and cheery, before leaving them to interact and to observe from afar.

Theo got back into his coloring sheet, which Ryan joins him there, showing him how to blend the colors of the crayons to make new, vibrant colors. Opal struggled with putting together a tower with odd shaped blocks, but Dylan helped her construction something taller and grander than ever before.

When the hour is up, it took everything for Dylan not to cry. He had to keep it together and Ryan helped him do that. The social worker said with little inclination one way or another, that she will be in contact.

A week from then they get a call. A month from that, their home gets an inspection. Then they're buying beds and toys and childproofing things and soon...soon...they're picking up Theo and Opal, strapping them into their car seats.

"Can we play with blocks again?" Opal asked while her brother chirped up. "Are you going to teach me to color more?"

"Of course." Dylan said, letting out a shaky sigh as Ryan patted his knee, before pulling onto the road.

"First lunch." Ryan chuckled. "Then you'll see your new rooms."

"Wow!" "So cool!"

"What's up, bug?" Ryan popped from out of the kitchen where he had been making them dinner. He always encouraged Sarah to try and do all her school work independently first before asking for help. But, of course, if she needed help, she could always ask.

She asked for help less and less since they had gotten to their new apartment and her new school. As far as he knew, she was thriving.

"Need help!" That was his cue, so he slid the casserole into the oven, set a timer, and rushed to her side. Science homework, he quickly recognized based on the color folder she had sprawled out.

But when he looked over her shoulder, he get dizzy. Was this even in English? "Uuuuh..."

"I'm not sure about this, right here." She pointed halfway down the page. Which, frankly, was impressive to Ryan. He was still stuck on the first paragraph explaining the set up.

Science was never his strong suit. Art, English, and History? Sure! Even some math. But this...?

"Lemme just check something." He reassured her as he pulled his phone out his pocket and started Googling a few things. He got as far as 'angular acceleration' and 'undergraduate physics study sheets' before he felt angry.

What the hell was shit? Someone setting her up for failure? That...that was fucked. She was in fourth grade, for fuck's sake!

"Ryan..." Her soft voice and a tug at his sleeve snapped him out of his fuming stance. "...did you figure it out?"

"Y'know, I think you're done with homework for now." He texted his boss at the art gallery, quickly informing them he would have to leave work a little early tomorrow. "How about you help me set the table for dinner and we can ask your teacher tomorrow, hmm?"

"Oh, yeah!" She nodded eagerly. "Science is my last class." Sarah grew quiet and giggled. "It's my favorite."

Her favorite class despite having an asshole teacher. She was just too sweet for this world. Well, whatever old, cranky, mean old hag that was teaching her would get a mouthful from Ryan tomorrow, that was for sure.

Normally Sarah would take the bus home and it would give Ryan an extra half hour, but with him picking her up, he left 40 minutes early from work that next day.

Older kids hung around for afterschool clubs while younger kids got on the bus or rushed to their parents' cars. He always felt a little awkward. Sure, he was Sarah's guardian. But he wasn't her dad. And people always commented he looked young. Because he was. He was only 23. after all.

He checked in with the office and got quick directions from them, before trailing through the vibrant walls, decorated with awards and art created by students. He even saw in some of the classrooms that teachers has pride flags and 'Everyone is Welcome' signs.

It was a good school. So why the hell did they employ an asshole?

Finally, he made it to the fourth grade wing and before he could even hesitate, he heard Sarah's bubbling, excited voice down the hall. "Now I get it!" She exclaimed.

Heated now, Ryan rushed through the rest of the hall and into the open door and froze. No, there wasn't some old hag with glasses hanging off her nose and a scowl on her face.

There was a man, smiling down at her, nodding encouragingly as she completed the rest of the very complicated looking formula he had started on the chalkboard.

He was, well, to be frank, a fucking beautiful man. Tall with big brown eyes and pretty pink lips, a mop of fluffy hair and a t-shirt with a stupid science pun underneath a pink cardigan. Glinting through one sleeve was a prosthetic, shiny and gleaming with stickers on them, no doubt placed on by his students.

Vaguely, something about 'half-robot teachers' excitedly shouted from Sarah at the start of the school year rose to the surface of his memory.

"H-Hey, uh..." Ryan cleared his throat, the teacher and Sarah snapping upright at him.

"Hey, hi!" The teacher took wide strides to meet Ryan halfway across the classroom, offering his hand. Ryan took it, the hold firm, fingertips soft. "...Dad?"

"No, no!" Ryan said almost too loudly. "Guardian. Older brother, um...name's Ryan."

"Got it." He grinned and fuck, even his smile was beautiful. No. Stop. This guy is an asshole, focus. "So you're the infamous Ryan. She adores you, you know? Oh, so rude of me. I'm Mr. Lenivy, science teacher for grades one through four. You can call me Mr. Lenivy or Dylan. Whatever you prefer."

"Okay, Mr. Lenivy." Ryan said quickly, trying to keep his voice low to not tip Sarah off about his frustration. "I want to talk about this science homework you sent home last night. It's wildly inappropriate, you know that, right?"

"Science homework?"

"Yes, the science homework with freshman college level physics." He bit out, looking over at Sarah, relieved to find her deep in her backpack, not paying them any mind. "Are you trying to flunk these kids?"

"Absolutely not. Not that I could flunk Sarah, even if I wanted to or tried to." Mr. Lenivy laughed, folding his arms over his chest. Ryan decided it absolutely wasn't hot. "She's a certified genius, man."

"W-What?" All the fight melted out of Ryan, replaced with confusion.

"That wasn't homework. Well, not homework for a grade. Guess you would call it extra credit." Mr. Lenivy stepped behind his desk, pulling out a binder, and showing Ryan Sarah's grades. All perfect scores, across the board. "I was going to wait until the parent teacher conference to have their conversation with you, but...it's similar for all her classes. Science is her best, though."

"Oh." Ryan had no idea. "...science is her favorite."

Mr. Lenivy smiled in response, flashing a cute simply, before he continued. "I'm not saying she skip a grade, at least yet. After all, socialization is important, but...the work I gave her was to challenge her. Because nothing grade appropriate I give her does."

"Wow, I just, I'm sorry, man..." Ryan felt a bit embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just assumed, y'know, some teachers have a complex."

"No apology needed, man." Mr. Lenivy, Dylan, said softly. "I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner and gotten your permission for this, admittedly, very advanced work."

"Permission granted." Ryan shrugged. "I'm...sorry, this is a lot. Things were hard for a long time and I'm just happy she's doing so well-"

"It's because of you she is."

"What, no, no, I don't...I mean, dude, I don't know shi-...I mean anything about science or anything like that."

"Eh, that's why I'm here." The teacher reassured him, laying his prosthetic on Ryan's shoulder and giving him a light squeeze. "But you love and care for her. Keep her fed, get her to school everyday, and support her. Seriously, I can see it. She's doing so well because she has you."

"I-I..." Ryan nearly jumped when he was offered a tissue from Dylan, but then it hit him. He was crying. "...oh, shit, shit, sorry, I..."

"It's okay, you and her are safe here. Always. I mean that." He reassured him, this soft, kind eyes giving Ryan this warm, unreadable expression. "I don't wanna keep you both too late, but please, if you have any questions, if you're every worried about something...call me. Email me. I'm here for her...and for you, Ryan."

As he and Sarah left the school building, holding hands, Sarah hummed. "I really like Mr. Lenivy."

"Yeah." Ryan sighed. "Me too."

"Dude." Dylan said firmly, but he had that soft, understanding smile on his face that made Ryan feel warm to his core. "It's not weird. Anything you need to have fun on our sick ass first date is just that: what you need."

"T-Thanks, um..." He popped them in. "Don't worry, I can still hear you. It's just to..."

"Drown out some of the noise?" Ryan nodded as Dylan offered his single had. They trailed into the arcade, the large screens and flashing lights and playful tunes and smell of greasy pizza was like heaven.

Having Dylan with him really made it heaven, though. They had been dating since basically that night, but this was their first proper date.

From shooters to racing games to dancing games, Dylan was up for all of it. And Ryan had never had so much fun. He loved arcades, always had and always will, but there was something special about Dylan egging him on when he was close to the high score. Or seeing that big, goofy smile and Dylan flailed to Dance Dance Revolution.

As they waited for their pizza to be made, Dylan tugged him in front of the claw machine. "Pick one." He grinned.

"Huh?"

"Which one do you want?" Ryan figured these things were always super rigged, but Dylan was insistent, almost hopeful.

"Hmm, there. The stuffed bunny."

"Easy." Dylan popped a couple tokens into the machine and worked his magic. It was both hot and cute to see him so deep in concentration, biting on his tongue, eyebrows knitted together.

A few more flicks of his wrists and the adorable plushie stumbled through the chute. Ryan stared in surprise and amusement and Dylan pulled the bunny out of the machine, placing it in his hands.

Ryan hugged it tightly. "Thank you. I, it's perfect, it's..."

"Anything for you." Dylan leant down and kissed his forehead. Before they could do anything else, the employee called their number for pizza.

They sat down at one of the booths, farther away from the excitement. Normally, Ryan wouldn't do something like this, but he slid onto the same side of the booth as Dylan. On one end he had the bunny firmly in his arm, the other reaching for pizza, as he leant heavily on his boyfriend.

"Good first date, babe?" Oh, that pet name. Ryan could get used to it.

"Best first date." He offered, taking a bite of a pizza offered to him from Dylan. "Pretty sure it'll be my last first date, like, ever."

"Shit." Dylan choked on his soda. "Smooth."

"Yeah?"

"Super smooth." Dylan grinned and Ryan arched up just a little bit more, stealing a small peck on the lips. For the first time ever, Dylan was shocked silent for a moment, pale face turning bright red, clearly very happy with that little kiss.