Omega Dennis who at the end stage of his pregnancy, starts to Nest.
Nesting, when it comes to City perceptions is seen as well, backwards. A relic of a bygone era and something that could be done safely after the pup or pups arrive, not before. If it is done, it's with both parents deciding and it's more, keep the house tidy, learn how to cope with the baby, than what it used to be. It's better this way, everyone knows a story of someone who knew someone where traditional nesting has ended badly.
Nesting, to more rural communities, even different countries or different cultures, is still prominent, traditional, mostly accepted, expected and celebrated. The few weeks or days before the birth with the omega staying in the nest, a nest. Not a bedroom. But a cozy warm nest filled with safe pack scents to welcome the pack pups into. Not concerning themselves with the outside world.
The idea of being so in touch with your instincts, mate and pack that no words are needed. All signs of a good mother, omega and healthy pups according to traditionalists.
In the modern world however, lack of time, space and even lack of mate bonds and pack bonds put Nesting out of fashion - especially as medical support became more needed over the decades. Every so often the news will have a sad story of lost pup or poorly omega blamed solely on traditional nesting and how even omegas, known for easy births, can have things go so wrong if they're so far gone they won't accept medical help.
At the start of the pregnancy, when their pup was still more of an idea to the both of them, Dennis once commented that unlike his brothers, he was premature enough that his mother couldn't/didn't nest. Too much farm work to be done, that she casually said how Dennis was the surprise child, not even expected to live so what would be the point in having a Nest with the pup. To Robby it sounded like his mother in law had some serious post natal depression that was never treated. Given his own parental issues it seemed unfair to bring this up with Dennis so he just moved the conversation on.
Robby would later wonder if this is where the need for Nesting came from and if it was as impulsive and instinctual as seemed.
Dennis gave Robby a hell of a shock when Robby returned home after day shift only to find Dennis has transformed the bedroom into a giant nest. All the furniture has been removed and the bed has been replaced with a circular floor bed with just enough room for a crib attachment and a changing table with small drawers at the corner of the room.
Robby at first doesn't know what to do so staying by the door seems like the safest solution. He's wracking his brain trying to remember any conversation with Dennis that would have indicated this would be a thing.
Dennis is barely visible, comfy in the nest, clearly intent on going nowhere but when Robby takes a step into the room, his mate growls at him.
Well shit.
Robby moves back and fires off a text to Jack. Eyes never leaving the nest. Logically he knows not to be hurt but that alpha hindbrain can't help but chafe at the idea his very vulnerable mate doesn't want him around.
Text to Abbot
Dennis is nesting. Actually full on nesting, he growled at me. What do I do.
Delivered 18:50
It's about 15 minutes later when the door goes.
Dennis lifts his head above the nest in response and blinks slowly, head tilted, waiting. Robby is prepared to do something. Horror stories of feral omegas and tales of violence in the name of protection flying through his mind.
"Jack", Robby calls down the stairs to the movement.
"No, Trinity, Abbot is on tonight, what's wrong"
The beta looks, more like a stereotypical alpha when she demands an answer from Robby and her mood doesn't improve when Robby helplessly shrugs and gestures to the transformed bedroom.
As Trinity slowly approaches the nest, Dennis startles when Robbys phone rings. Trinity quickly coos and attempts to sooth him back into his original position.
Robby can hear her asking Dennis, how her niece is doing as he answers the phone to Abbots brisk voice.
"He is 38 weeks, is he in labour?"
"I don't think so, he seems settled." It's partly true, Dennis whilst now non verbal still shows signs of recognition, it's not reached a danger point yet. Robbys skepticism is apparent as Jack takes the time to think over a plan.
Trinity meanwhile has been bodily moved further into the nest and while Robby would be amused at this on any other day, jealousy then shame are the prominent emotions.
He takes a step towards the room only to be met with another growl. Trinity's eyes widen as she hears a sound she's never heard from her best friend.
Dennis looks at her incomprehensibly and shoves her right back down to the nest.
Jack lets out a low, "Okay." Clearly having heard the noise.
"Santos, can you check." -
"He's fine", she replies and as if to affirm how fine he is, Robby can hear Dennis purring.
There's a pause and she says, "He's lying on top of me. Another pause and then, "I do have a shift tomorrow morning."
"No you don't" Robby states as Dennis growls low and soft clearly displeased at the idea of Trinity going anywhere.
Jacks voice comes through the phone, "Okay so it's not the most ideal but he's medically fine for now. Go shower and try to calm down, you panicking has likely made him on edge, he's not communicating typically but maybe once you relax, he'll let you near."
Robby sighs at that, the last thing he ever wanted was his mate to be upset because of him. Especially in the last weeks of pregnancy, everyone knows omegas become more sensitive to everything and everyone during this time.
As he moves to step away from the bedroom doorway he's confused to hear another growl from the room. Trinitys voice is muffled from inside the nest but he can hear her ask Dennis if his mate can come inside once he's showered and changed from the hospital. There's a pause and then a high pitched chirp in response and Robby feels some tension finally release. Dennis still wants him.
Jacks voice comes over the phone assuring him that he will be round tomorrow morning and that he'll get someone to cover Trinity's shift. How between them, they can help Dennis nest and keep the nesting period safe for mom and pups.
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Still not got much energy or motivation (yay disabled) but I'm on a train with nothing better to do sooo...
Obligatory - UK adult not American let me know of any glaring errors.
But here's Rabbot as parents and a delicious coming of age.
Feel free to expand/use... Name the child please (I seriously suck at names) tag me.
Also before reading - we don't know much about Jack's opinions on the military in general, we know he served, at some point lost his leg, now still runs around with SWAT (which is still damn impressive for a lower limb amputee, do any Americans know if it would actually be a real thing - I figured no liability insurance would cover that?.)
Believing in you doing a job you know you do well and know only certain people are suited to, is vastly different from other people - especially your kids joining the military. So here's my take.
It started with Jack firing the first shot.
"The hell you will"
It became some fucked up cold war with his son at this.
"Ha, a lot like grandpa right now dad"
Jack has seen a lot of regrets in his life, his own, others. When you end up at the dying moments, what they don't tell you in med school, is that however willing or unwilling, belief or no belief, you still end up a priest. Regret is a big o
His son right now, looks regretful. Almost embarrassed at what's just been said despite the sheer venom barely seconds ago.
Jack feels very far away. That feeling doesn't leave even when he watches his son walk out the door. There's a name for it. That feeling. There's tools to make that feeling fade into the background and fuck it right now none of those things will work so fuck everything
He's on autopilot as he goes to the bedroom, dumping his crutches on the floor. His phone is on the bedside charging and he's tempted to turn it off. Ignore everything. Ignore his crappy life and terrible parenting and why does he have to fuck up this much. He wants to run but all he can here is his old man slurring 'You face your problems like a man Jackie.'
Whenever his sisters like to reminisce about their childhood Jack always gritted his teeth, laughed along about how scary dad could be. Bark worse than bite, his youngest sister would say and Jack would pretend like he didn't know how that bite really felt. Therapy helped. It let him officially choose to go low contact with them instead of the usual, just busy life, excuses. To give him control. To choose to be better, to give his kid better. That included never really knowing Jacks parents.
It's only when Robby comes home that Jack realises he should be in work by now.
"Shen is an attending now remember, he has his Dunkin and it was all calm when I left", Robby explains as he moves into the en suite.
Jack can't help bristle at that, is that a shot at him. Calm. Ha.
"Where's your son."
Michael finally turns and raises his eyebrow and maybe if it were any other day Jack would apologise for snapping, but it's today.
"Left him bugging Shen about some new video game." Michael pauses before saying "He uh, showed up at handover upset."
An automatic grumble came out "He's got nothing to damn well cry about." Before Jack even finishes the sentence his stupid body is flinching.
His son is right. He really is his father.
He can't look at Michael and there's something stubbornly burning at his eyes.
Michael moves the abandoned crutches to their usual spot next to the bed, and then joins Jack sitting.
"Recruiters", Jack ground out, "Army".
"Yeah, he said." Jack hates the way Michaels voice is, it's his - angry/upset patient voice.
The angry part of Jack wants to yell, 'I'm your husband not some hysterical patient', or maybe a spiteful, 'He's your son too why aren't you angry, don't you care', but that would only make him more concerned which is stupid because the only concerning thing is their son.
"What the hell are we paying that school for, for them to go pull this shit." Jack can feel everything in him tense alongside the words, it's almost vibrating through him.
"He's not signing up." Why does his voice sound far away, his husband is right there, close enough to touch and hold but not, just watching him. He has to make him understand.
"Our kid is not going anywhere near the army, he's not joining."
"Did he say he wanted to" Michael asks.
It's like cold water has been dumped on him, because maybe no, he didn't say he wanted to. He didn't say much when he came in from school, he starred and then there's a skip, and then a door slam. And somehow it's nearly 8pm, he's just woke up and he's not on shift.
There's still that feeling he won't name as he tries to argue his case with Michael, a still frantic edge as he justifiably says "But he didn't say he wouldn't either."
There's no response to that and it pisses Jack off, "and another thing, the way he spoke to me" -
"No." His husband says firmly. He reaches for his hands and holds them in his as he says "You both said things and yeah he shouldn't have said what he said" -
"You don't even know what he said," Jack protests
Michael sighs as he says "I know enough to know you're both in the wrong."
Michael never lets him get away with his crap, and same for him. It's taken a lot of trial and error, a lot of therapy for both but they're usually pretty functional, and then today happened.
Jack should be wide awake, he should be on shift, he's tired. He's just so damn tired today.
Before he knows it, his husband is holding him, in bed and there's the angry part that wants to shove him away but he can't keep arguing with his husband either. Can't have another person hate him.
So he lets himself be held, feels his breathing finally even the fuck out. Then Michael starts speaking, "I think you should call Linda tomorrow, and then, we'll go into that school in person
"Mmm need an appointment." Both therapy and school have the same notice policies.
"Emergency, Linda will fit you in." Michael sounds certain, "And we pay that school enough that they absolutely will be seeing us in person tomorrow."
It sooths that fire in Jack knowing Michael is just as unimpressed, it's like his brain has finally powered down enough to realise his husband isn't happy with any of this but Jack has never lost faith
"From what I know, they could only ask for contact details directly from the kids, not get them from the administration and he's our kid, if they really pushed he'd have told them exactly where to go."
That gets a smile from Jack before he asks, "Should I call him"
Michael kisses his cheek before saying "No, he knows to be back before 11, you can both apologise to each other in the morning."
Michael is still holding him and things finally feel a little bit less angry, he can't let himself feel good right now but it doesn't feel as frantic so whatever. He'll take it, he'll lay here in his husbands arms and they'll deal with everything else tomorrow.
Trying to work up the motivation and energy to write a full fic of parents Hucklerobby but here's an idea anyone is welcome to use in the meantime - just tag me
Also I'm terrible with names so feel free to name the baby. Could be mpreg, trans, abo whatever takes your fancy.
Contrary to belief and a hefty betting board, Robby did not freak out during the 9 month pregnancy or even the fraught year learning curve of having a newborn. It was Dennis who struggled back then. Postpartum depression was rough and everyday he silently thanks his husband and their makeshift family and Carole, his therapist, for getting him through, what he thought was the darkest time in his life.
Their daughter is 5 now and the light of their lives. She was funny and a bundle of energy but had Robbys gentleness and Dennis's kindness and he tried not to cry everytime his baby did something just so cute. She has her Abbas eyes and smile and Dennis was weak, she wasn't a demanding kid either so whenever she did ask for something Denns always gave in.
Robby had taken up a lecturing post, he'd tried going part time at The Pitt but Gloria and the other administration staff never seemed to respect the part time, part of the contract and even though he would no longer be chief of the ED, they never managed to adjust their expectations.
Luckily for Dennis, his husband did and finally seemed to find the balance he had been looking for, in the birth of their daughter.
Robby had been to therapy on and off over the years, none of them had stuck long term but it had been enough over the years, to help the worst of his demons but sometimes, those demons come back unexpectedly.
Their baby had come home from school with a picture. The teacher had asked them to draw their family. The class had been learning about the different types of families. Their daughter proudly drew a picture of all her family, Tita Trini and Aunt Yoyo, Auntie Dana, Momma, Abba, Uncle Jack and Aunt Sami, Aunt Tori, Aunt Mel and Uncle Frank.
Then the teacher had asked innocently, about if she had any grandparents and so when she came home from school the first thing she did was ask her favourite person, her Abba, about his mommy and daddy.
Dennis and Robby had spoken about it before, it was partly the reason his PPD was triggered, the idea of his family (not family, blood) refusing to have anything to do with his daughter, a baby that never done a single thing wrong. It was hard.
In the early morning hours after a long night trying and mostly failing to sooth the baby to sleep, Robby whispered how she looks more like my side of the family. Dennis didn't know what to do. What could he do. Thinking back, he should have done more - more than hold his husband and daughter, more than just reassure Michael that this was their family now. Maybe if he'd done more back then, this wouldn't have happened.
He looks at Michael, sitting on Jack's couch clearly drunk, clearly miserable. Jack wisely giving them space pretending to do something in the kitchen
Dennis takes a breath and sits. Despite the best effort at avoiding him Robby still looks up and before he has the chance to look away, Dennis grabs his hand and spoke firmly
"This cannot happen again."
Robby looked and started to speak, not before Dennis interrupted.
"I'm serious Michael, you can't just run out on us like this. She is five years old and you are her world. She didn't do anything wrong."
"I know", Robby blurted out, "I know, Den. I'm so sorry." I - Robby stopped and Dennis took the silence to pull him in close. Robby sunk in and despite the size difference somehow managed to look smaller than Dennis.
Dennis clung on tightly and began to speak
"You need to see someone again"
"It doesn't work, not fully"
"Maybe," Dennis conceded, "but you need some help now, it's worth a try for now, anything is better than the way you are feeling right now, isn't that what you said to me."
At his words Robby holds on tighter, Dennis was right. Robby had said those words, on a night similar to this, hell even Trinity was watching their baby, just like she did the night Dennis called her and left, was willing to throw it all away because his mind was screaming at him ridiculous thoughts. Robby had found Dennis on the hospital roof and it's 5 years later and he has his amazing husband and perfect daughter, the family he always wanted.
"I'll see someone, I'll make an appointment"
The moment was broken by the phone notification.
Robby let out a laugh and called out "I think I saw him a couple of years ago."
Jack stopped at the living room door leaning on his crutches and said "Yeah brother you said he was decent enough, could be worth another go of it."
"I'll call in the morning," Robby reassures them both.
"Is she okay", Robby asks looking at Dennis.
"She's fine, Dennis hums, "Trinity has her so it's all good, she said she didn't mean to make you sad."
Robby closes his eyes at that, "she could never make me sad, she's my world, you're my world."
"She's so much like you", Dennis responds, "she tries to hold everyone in her heart."
Dennis shifted and held out his hand for Robby, "Come on, our girl needs her Abba to tuck her in."
