Swoon June Event!

              “Are you sure about this?”

              “You said that you wanted to learn to play.”

              “Yeah, but this is your guitar and for some people their instrument can be their entire life!”

              “Shhh, I trust you mi amor! Now here, put your one hand here on the neck and the other here.”

              Gilby felt a rush of warmth all over as Miranda’s warm body pressed against their back. Even through the fantastic red shirt, Gilby could feel every inch of the beautiful musician and it was both wonderful and frightening at the same time. When Miranda had suggested the lesson Gilby had expected them to sit side by side…not for Gilby to be seated in Miranda’s lap. The musician’s arms snuck their way around Gilby’s body, encasing them as she helped to place their hands on the right strings. With the guitar in their lap and a beautiful woman on their back, Gilby was trapped.

              “And now you give it a gentle strum like this,” Miranda instructed, helping Gilby ease the pic over the strings. The sound that came out was a simple note, but it sent shivers through Gilby’s body sending sensations all over. Gods, is this what toast felt like? Gilby shivered again as Miranda’s warm breath tickled the side of their neck, lips coming ever so close to brush the delicate skin. Miranda chuckled breathlessly as she clearly knew what she was doing. “You are hot mi amor. I’d better be careful not to burn you up.”

              Gilby swallowed hard.

“Are you sure these will keep well enough for us to get to the picnic spot?” Emma questions as she and David prepare a picnic for her date. 

“Yes, it will be just as good now as it will be when you get to the picnic spot,” David assures her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, quickly and squeezing.  “Are you nervous?”

“It’s just different,” Emma admits.  “It’s not really something I ever considered before, but something has felt right ever since that night I almost gave up my powers and it doesn’t hurt to give it a try, right?”

Before he can respond, Snow skips into the room, in a much better mood since she’s finally gotten a handle on the whole being Mayor thing since she’s gotten some help from the other Princesses that agreed to be kind of like a council of sorts to deal with Mayor things but the biggest thing is with Snowflake (Emma hasn’t quite admitted to Snow and David that she’s not all that comfortable with the name Neal) sleeping a bit more than usual and David taking on more of stay-at-home dad role since Emma is Sherriff, again.  He really only does Sherriff things when Emma’s otherwise engaged.

“Oh!” she claps, smiling brightly.  “I’m so excited that we can be here for one of your firsts.”

“I’ve gone on a date before,” Emma replies, trying not to laugh.

“Not with a woman, and a Queen, too,” Snow says, with a smile.

“Not that that matters,” David adds.  “After all, I was only masquerading as a prince.”

Emma laughs.  “You did inherit George’s kingdom, though.”

“I fought valiantly for it, there’s a difference.”

He’s teasing and joking, and Emma can see Snow shaking her head, smiling. 

“Either way, this is exciting,” Snow says, putting Snowflake down in the playpen. 

“Yeah, it is,” Emma offers. 

She is rather nervous, Elsa’s a queen, and she’s probably used to things in her world not Storybrooke.  It hasn’t been that long since she realized that she would have to stay in Storybrooke (although she’s perfectly happy as long as Anna is here) and now has to adjust to the differences that she’d been ignoring before. 

Emma and Snow had helped her and Anna find a place of their own (with Kristoff) and had been trying to help them adjust to things, but it was slow going.  Storybrooke is vastly different to their homeland.

“You’re going to be fine,” David assures her.  “She likes you not because you’re a princess –”

“I’m not a princess,” she interjects.

“Yes, you are,” David retorts, not skipping a beat.  She’s been doing that a lot as of late.  She doesn’t feel like a princess and even though there are still princesses in the world, she was never supposed to be one of them.  “Need I remind you that I wasn’t a prince, either?”

“You married a princess.”

“And you were born one, you just didn’t know it,” David replies as he begins to pack the picnic basket.  “The point is, Elsa likes you for you, and she asked you, not the other way around.  So, you don’t need to be nervous.”

Emma nods and smiles at him.  “Sure, I’ll try not to be.”

“Good and good luck,” he offers as he hands her the basket. 

He gives her a hug and kisses her cheek, before Snow hugs her, too.  “You’re going to do great, promise.”

“Thanks.”

***

Despite the assurances from her parents, Emma is still surprisingly nervous as she lays out the picnic blanket and their little picnic at the spot by the water that she had picked out for their date.  She never had any thought about eating on the ground, but would that be too much for Elsa? 

She can’t imagine that Elsa’s spent a lot of time eating on the ground as a Queen, but before she can consider moving the spot, Elsa appears looking much more dressed down than she’d been previously.  In fact, she’s wearing the kind of summery dress that she previously thought was just a corset when Emma had worn one for her previous first date with Hook that hadn’t gone anywhere. 

The connection with Elsa had just been too strong and ultimately, Emma’s trust issues with men just didn’t lead to a great relationship. 

“Wow, Emma, this is beautiful,” Elsa says, as she joins her at the blanket, smiling brightly, hair still her customary braid. 

“You look beautiful, too,” Emma offers, smiling at her and gesturing for her to sit. 

“Thank you,” Elsa says, smiling.  “It’s quite a bit different – the clothes here, but it’s good that this is – is okay.”

“It’s fantastic,” Emma admits.  The dress looks good on her, and as she sits leaning to one side with her legs tucked under her, she looks a lot less than a badass Queen and more like a young woman that hasn’t gone on many dates herself. 

“Anna helped me pick it out, I – uh, I haven’t gone on many dates and my clothing choices back home were all… very formal,” Elsa admits nervously.

Emma smiles.  “I’ll admit that I’ve been on many first dates – but never with a woman, so,” she picks up the glasses of wine that she’d poured as she waited for Elsa to arrive and offers one to her.  “Here’s to an awesome first date with an awesome woman.”

Elsa smiles, bright and eyes twinkling.  “Cheers.”

...

Sometime ago…

              “Dad’s Saturday pancake house is open! What will it be, little lady?”

              “Pancakes, Daddy!”

              “Coming right up!”

Within moments of the pancake hitting the plate, maple syrup drowned it. Michael Parker chuckled as he watched his daughter pour most of the bottle onto her pancake. He knew as a dad he should be more worried about his daughter’s sugar intake, but then again, it was Saturday and the rules went out the window on Saturdays. And it was all worth it to see the smile on that sweet, sticky face.

              “Daddy, can Teddy get a pancake too?”

              Michael nodded. Teddy always had a place at the counter, sitting next to Gilraen in his own chair (which was stacked high with a few books so the bear could see). “Sure,” he said as he flipped another pancake in the pan, “and will Mister Bear be having maple syrup as well?”

              Gilraen giggled. “No daddy! He wants honey!”

              “Ah, right. My mistake?” Michael fished the honey (which, funnily enough, was bear-shaped as well) from the fridge and placed it, along with the pancake, in front of the bear. “For you, sir, hope it is to your liking.”

              The bear said nothing, just continued to stare with his black button eyes. After a moment of silence, Gilraen nodded and turned to her dad. “He says he likes it, Daddy! Thank you for making it for him!”

              “Well, you are very welcome, Mister Teddy!” Michael said, giving a little bow. “I am so glad to be serving such fine customers this beautiful morning.” Michael smiled as his daughter giggled. But it faded as Gilraen disappeared down the hall to wash up for the day. Michael sighed as he looked at Teddy, tired shoulders falling. “You think I’m doing okay, Teddy? I mean, sometimes I wonder if I’m doing everything I can as a dad.”

              Again, the bear didn’t answer, just continued to stare forward.

              “I mean, I might be losing my mind a little,” Michael chuckled, “standing here talking to a stuffed bear. But honestly, if Gilraen is right, then you are the best listener in the house.” Michael looked down the hallway where his daughter had disappeared. “I just want to make sure Gilraen has everything to be happy, even without her mom here. I want her to continue smiling as long as she can. That’s all a dad can hope for, right?”

              Teddy just stared.

              Michael’s smile returned as he gave the stuffed animal a pat on the head. “Thanks, Teddy.”

…

Years Later:

               Teddy’s kitchen was small but homey. He didn’t do much cooking in it, given that he spent a lot of time outside in the world. Even so, he still managed to learn how to cook a pretty descent meal. But this was Saturday and only one meal could come on Saturday. “Another Pancake? Teddy asked, spatula in hand.

              “Yes please,” Gilby answered from their seat that the kitchen table. They picked up the nearby honey container (which was still, funnily enough, shaped like a bear) and chuckled. “Love that you still get the same honey too.”

              “What can I say, I’m a person who enjoys the simple things, and nothing simpler than honey and pancakes.” Teddy placed the pancake on their plate before settling back down in his seat next to them at the table. As they started in the fluffy circles of goodness, Teddy couldn’t help but watch Gilby. For a moment he was taken back to days of maple syrup and stick faces. Of course, now the person sitting across from him was no longer a child but a full grown amazing person who Teddy loved so dearly.

              Gilby caught him watching. “Is there something on my face?”

              “Oh no, just remembering things, like how your dad used to make us Saturday morning pancakes each weekend.”

Gilby/s eyes grew sad a moment at the mention of their father.  “Yeah, I remember. It was his favorite day, or at least it seemed to be.”

Teddy’s smile was gentle as he placed a hand on their shoulder. “It was his favorite day, because he got to spend it with his wonderful child, just like I am doing right now.

Gilby’s nodded as their smile returned just bit. “Thank you again for doing this Teddy. I am glad that I have someone to remember my dad with, especially things like pancakes.”

Elizabeth entered her quarters at half past midnight. She finally finished the paperwork that was due with tomorrow's report to Earth.

Six death reports and personal messages to families.

A Wraith attack. Two survivors. Two.

There was a knock and she opened the doors to find John. He must have been waiting. Immediately, she went into his arms, the tears she'd been holding back escaping.

"I shouldn't have-" she began.

“Shh…” he soothed. “You did the right thing. Come on.”

He led her into the bathroom and started running a bath. She was silent, only moving when required as he undressed her. Gently, he sat her down in the tub.

She hugged her knees and stared straight ahead. She could see steam coming up from the water, curling and twisting in the cooler air.

“I should have-" she tried, her mind going over and over the events. The briefing before the mission. Sending reinforcements after the emergency call.

“You did what you could,” he interrupted, dipping a cloth in the water and running it over her shoulders.

“Did I?” she asked, resting her chin on her knees as a sob escaped. “We've lost so many.”

“We're in a war,” John said simply.

"I used to help prevent wars,” she reminded him, turning her head to look at him. “What happened?”

He didn't reply for a long moment. Instead, he ran the cloth up and down her back. It began to soothe her.

“You went from mediator to the one making the tough decisions,” he finally said.

Carefully, he poured some water over her hair. It hung wet and loose in her face, but she didn't bother to move it.

He was right. Before, she'd do her best but ultimately things weren't up to her. She also hadn't been privy to all the information. Now? Now she knew all the gritty details. Now it was all up to her.

He worked shampoo into her hair, his fingers firm. He was massaging more than necessary and she sighed.

“That's nice,” she admitted, closing her eyes. He focused on the base of her skull for a few moments and she felt the tension leaving.

“I know. Lean back.”

She tilted her head back and he rinsed her hair with warm, fresh water.

“Here,” he said, handing her the cloth and disappearing into her room.

She quickly washed the rest of her body. He returned and held up a large towel.

“I didn't know Wrath were that close to the planet,” she said uncertainly. They couldn't have known.

“No,” he replied, wrapping her in the towel and rubbing her arms. “We didn't know.”

We. Reminding her that they were in this together.

She leaned her forehead against his until he stepped back and helped her out of the tub.

Dry and in pajamas, she climbed into bed.

“Stay?” she asked. 

“Scoot,” he replied, undressing to his underwear.

It was a tight fit on the small, single bed, but they made it work.

“I did the best I could,” she finally said, hugging him and resting her head on his chest. “We did the best we could.”

“That’s fun part about being a dad, you can’t take that away from me,” Severide counters, teasingly.  He and Casey typically just let the boys come to them, though they enjoy speculating about their interests and love teasing the boys about some of their possibilities.  Especially now that Griffin’s in high school. 

“You said I didn’t have to share if I didn’t want,” Griffin retorts, groaning slightly because Severide’s pace might be just a bit too fast.

He slows slightly as they make another turn. 

“We mean that, but I – I could give great advice –”

“It took you five years to tell dad you liked him, and you didn’t even do it – he just kissed you and you just went with it,” Griffin counters, tease in his voice.

“Alright, smartass,” Severide says, with an eyeroll.  “It might interest you to know that I used to be quite the ladies’ man.”

“It doesn’t,” Griffin retorts with a cheeky grin, before he has a burst to run ahead, clearly wanting to beat him. 

Unfortunately for Griffin, Severide’s much faster from years of running.  “Nice try, bud,” he pants as he catches up to him less than one house-length later.

He huffs but says nothing focusing on the run and avoiding the people walking the other way by running around them. 

“I’m just saying that I could help –” he starts when Griffin doesn’t reply.

Griffin rolls his eyes, still breathing heavy.  “Five years, dad.   Five years.”

“There were – it was – I’m not usually that bad, and to be fair, it’s not my fault your dad didn’t realize I was flirting with him.”

The look of exasperation on Griffin’s face is enough for Severide to know that he’s never going to convince his kid that he’s not that bad at flirting or with relationships when he thinks about how obvious things should’ve been with him and Casey.  Especially since he had been flirting with Casey the entire time and he just… ignored it. 

It was not his fault.  That was all on Casey, and he’s sticking to that theory.

“Is it his fault or were you just really bad at it?” Griffin teases as they slow to head to the back of the house where Casey and Ben are hanging out.

“I’m not bad at it, tell him, Case!” Severide says, as he sees Casey and Ben with photos and a book open that they’re clearly working on. 

“Before I answer that, I want to know what it is,” Casey states, giving him a questioning look.  “Because there are certain things that a kid –”

“Not that,” Severide interjects when Griffin makes a gagging face with a muttered, “Gross.”

“Then?”

“Flirting.”

Casey tilts his head in clear confusion.

“Dad was trying to claim he could help me if I had a crush and give me advice, but it took him five years to tell you and –”

“Oh,” Casey says, getting it.  “To be fair to your dad, the first couple of years we were just friends with no romantic feelings.”

Severide snorts.  “I don’t think that was true… we just didn’t realize the feelings were different.”

Casey looks like he wants to argue the point, but then, huffs.  “You know what, kiddo, I think you’re right – we’re probably not the best to go for dating advice.”

“I disagree,” Severide states.  “I give great romantic advice.”

“Going to you for advice on romance is like going to Mouch for fitness advice,” Casey teases.

Both boys burst out laughing.

“I think you’re wrong,” Severide huffs.  “But clearly, I’m outvoted here.” 

He eyes the photos and book as Ben uses glue on the back of a photo and sticks it on page that reads Dads and Babies.  The photo is amongst the pictures of Andy, Casey and himself holding Ben as a baby.  The other page has pictures of them holding Griffin as a baby.  “What’s this?”

Casey hums.  “Ben found the box of photos that their Aunt Melissa dropped off the other day and we decided to make a scrapbook.”

Ben smiles as he looks up at him.  “Look how tiny we were!”

“You’re still tiny, bud,” Severide teases causing Casey and Griffin to laugh.

“I’m not tiny, anymore!  I’m big enough to ride the big rides at Six Flags now,” Ben counters as he sifts through some photos that they’ve taken since the boys came into their custody including one from last summer, which is taken in front of the American Eagle ride. 

“No, no, you’re so right – you’re not tiny anymore,” Severide assures him.

“You’re just always going to be tiny compared to the rest of us,” Griffin teases.

“You don’t know that,” Ben huffs.  “I could grow up taller than you.”

“Yeah, right,” Griffin says, sarcastically.   

Casey laughs as the boys begin to argue about their heights and he shares an amused look with Severide, who leans over and kisses him. 

“Maybe we can all work on it together.”

Casey smiles, nose crinkling.  “Only after you take a shower.”

Severide rolls his eyes.  “Fine.  Fine.  I’ll be back.”

“Good.”

***

It’s actually kind of fun going through old photos. 

Not just the pictures they’ve taken since they’ve had custody of the boys, but pictures from before – before the boys were born, before Andy was married, since the academy.  Even some of Andy and Severide in high school. 

But it’s the pictures of them and Andy that makes him the most nostalgic.  He’s been gone a long time now, but he’s still a presence in their lives as the boys grow older, looking more and more like him. 

When he thinks about Griffin’s teasing that he isn’t as great as he thinks he is at flirting, he could almost imagine Andy teasing the exact same thing.  In fact, he used to tease that every time he got shot down when the three of them would go out while he was dating Heather. 

Andy and Casey loved to tease him that he wasn’t as smooth as he’d liked to think (which, of course, he disagrees with). 

“Hey, look at this,” Casey says, nudging him and handing him a photo. 

It’s a photo of the three of them, first day at the academy.  Andy had seen Casey all alone, and looking nervous, which makes sense.  He’d been a lot shyer back then.  Less confident, maybe a little afraid of someone bringing up his mother.  It didn’t help that he was all alone in the world.

Andy had nudged Severide and told him that he looked like a lost puppy and Severide had grinned and said and you can’t resist adopting a stray. 

That was all it took before Andy was pulling him towards Casey and ironically, his future. 

He looks up at Casey, who’s grinning at him.  “Never thought we’d end up here, eh?”

“Definitely not, but I couldn’t imagine being happier anywhere else.”

He kisses his cheek, and Casey moves to kiss his lips.  Quick, but sweet with their boys sitting across from them working on the book.  “Me either.”

“Good.”

***

By the time the book is finished, they’ve told at least a dozen silly stories about Andy, their friendship, and the boys when they were little. 

Like the first time they babysat and somehow ended up making a complete mess with their little paints that Casey thought would be fun to paint their parents a picture while they were gone.  Or the time Severide had gotten them a little too hyped up on sugar on purpose just to drive Heather a little crazy, but they didn’t make it home that night (decided to spend the night elsewhere) and Severide had to deal with it instead. 

They told stories about their first day at the academy, at 51, them celebrating becoming lieutenants.  They talked about the wedding and the silly things that they teased Andy with and the prank he replied with (pretending to runaway to Vegas) which caused Casey to tease him about Brittany. 

It’s after the boys have gone to bed and Casey’s coming down the stairs after checking on them, that he finds him flipping through the book. 

The book of memories of their lives together.  From friends to fiancés, from friends to parents. 

He still misses Andy, sometimes, but he knows even with his teasing sometimes about locking them in a closet when they’d fight (Casey had really grown in confidence enough to stand up to Severide and hold his own) to get them to figure their shit out that he wouldn’t be here with Casey if he was still here.   

… and the life they’ve built over the years has been one of the happiest times of his life.  He can’t remember ever being this happy with anyone else.

Though, sometimes, he wonders what would’ve happened if Andy had done that. 

“You okay?” Casey questions as he sits beside him on the couch, an arm around Severide’s shoulders.  “You seem a little… lost in thought.”

Severide smiles and nods.  “Yeah, I just – all the stories today makes me wonder about things.”

“Like would we be here if things… were different?  If Andy were still here, would we have gotten together?” Casey questions.  “If he’d ever follow through with his joke about locking us in a closet?”

Severide laughs.  “Yeah, exactly.  If that would’ve made a difference.”

Casey hums.  “I’d like to think that it could’ve made a difference.  There’s a lot of what ifs involved… we wouldn’t have been fighting for nearly a year.  Vargas would’ve gone to your team, so we might’ve still had Mills…”

“Andy would’ve pranked Mills so hard for … what was it you told him – don’t be a crow – being a crow,” Severide offers.  “Though, I don’t know that Mills would’ve joined Squad, then, part of the reason…”

“I probably wouldn’t have tried anything with Dawson,” Casey states.  “He would’ve told me that it was dumb to rebound like that after losing Hallie.  That I was rushing into things stupidly and I needed time to heal over something like that.”

Severide laughs.  “Is that why you agreed with Griffin that he shouldn’t take dating advice from us?”

“Yes, absolutely,” Casey states.  “Between some of chaos you got up to after Renee and the stupidity with Pridgen’s Ex-Wife and Dawson, neither of us can really give the best dating advice.”

“But now we’re dating each other,” Severide counters. 

“Yeah, by accident,” Casey teases. 

“Accident?” Severide scoffs.  “How – what – are you serious?”

Casey laughs and shakes his head.  “We fell in love completely by accident.  We were so focused on the boys and our family, and we just… fell into being together.   Something felt right about us being together, and it made it easy to fall in love – just by sharing a life and a bed and kids.  But it wasn’t intentional.  It’s not like we actively pursued each other –”

“Excuse you, I was definitely pursuing you,” Severide interjects.  “Didn’t we talk about this months ago?  I absolutely was flirting with you, trying to get you interested and for the record, it worked.”

“It did not –”

“Yes, it did,” Severide counters, closing the book and focusing on him.  “My flirting with you absolutely contributed to your interest, you just didn’t do anything out of stupid fear that I didn’t like you that way.”

“I think that proves my point,” Casey teases, running his hands through Severide’s hair as he shifts into his lap.  “I didn’t realize what you were doing –”

“Because you were an oblivious idiot,” Severide says, eyeing Casey’s new positioning, curiously.  “You –”

Casey kisses him, still soft, still sweet, still short.  He pulls back, just enough that their noses are still brushing. 

“Just because it was accident, doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing, Sev.”  He kisses his nose, and lets his hands glide down his face to his chest.  “In fact, I think it’s a great thing, it makes our story that much more fun.  Falling in love and not realizing it while raising our boys makes for a hell of a love story.  And I can’t wait for all of the inevitable teasing at our wedding.”

Severide laughs, staring into his eyes.  “Yeah, I guess it will.  People are going to love teasing the hell out of us at the reception.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Casey agrees.  “But it’ll make it much more fun – won’t it?”

“Absolutely,” Severide agrees.  “And I can’t wait to marry you.”

“Me either.”

“Good.”

Hero was going through a box in the attic. Griefer's place needed cleaning, and Brad claimed he was "too tired," so Hero was left to do it. In the box was a lot of unnecessary stuff, and then.. a photo album! Hero flipped through a few pages and found pictures of them from when they first started dating.

They were young and had never been dating someone before. It was.. an experience for both of them. The fun they had, the embarrassment after their first kiss, all of that. It was amazing.

>'I remember this.'

>'Brad wasn't..'

>'A plant.'

>'He really shouldn't have.'

>'But I understand.'

They flipped through a few more pages and saw more pictures of them. This was a memory that was actually worth reliving. The time when Griefer wasn't.. a plant. He didn't have to go outside all the time, but.. that wasn't good for him. They needed an excuse for him to go outside, but the plant stuff is still really confusing at times. Photosynthesis, watering, and.. fertilizer. Well, he didn't need fertilizer that often it just kind of worked as a treat system.

But Brad was still a plant either way, and Hero had to take care of him. His father was elderly and obviously needed help, and Hero was willing to help. They've known each other for a while, and they would do anything for him, especially now that they're dating.

Then, the attic hatch opened, and Hero quickly closed the book.

>"Hello?"

Hero looked behind them. It was Griefer!

>"Hey, Brad!"

>"H3Y, H3RO!"

>"WH4T'R3 YOU DOING UP H3RE?"

>"Just cleaning."

>"..."

>"Hey, didn't you say you were tired?"

>"TH4T WAS H0URS AGO!"

>"Well, since you're awake, how about you help me clean?"

>"F1NE.."

Griefer saw the book labeled photo album in Hero's hands. He snatched out of their hands and opened it.

>"0H!"

>"1T'S.. US."

>"YOU W3RE SO H4PPY THEN."

>"..."

>"4ND I GU3SS I WAS."

Brad closed the book and gave it back to Hero.

>"WHY C4N'T WE B3 HAPPY L1KE W3 US3D T0 BE..?"

>"I- the-"

>"Shedletsky wants me to get the swords."

>"..."

>"W3LL, IF YOU S4Y SO.."

>"But I love you, Brad."

>"And if you ever want to spend time together,"

>"Just tell me."

Quietly, she went inside their temporary shared living space. What she saw stopped her in her tracks.

Callisto hadn't seemed to notice her arrival yet, fussing over what looked like a small fancy dinner set-up. On a little table with some candles were freshly heated rations she'd told Evangeline she was "saving for later." Richer food they didn't tend to eat themselves these days, instead splitting it among the rest of the camp.

They also happened to be rations that Evangeline favored.

But what surprised her most were-

"Are those… spice cakes?" she asked, looking from the small plate with what appeared to be her favorite desert up to Callisto.

Her wife started, then gave Evangeline a bashful grin. "Um, hi, yes." She fussed a bit more over the table before she stood and came over to Evangeline. "I wanted to surprise you," she said as she took the avian's hands in her own. "Since it's your birthday, I figured we could have a special dinner tonight. If- if that's okay with you?"

Evangeline blinked.

Her birthday?

Oh.

Oh.

Now she was the one with a heated face and flustered smile. "I may have forgotten what today was." she said with a small laugh.

Callisto snorted and leaned down to kiss her nose. "Well, then it's a good thing for us I keep track of these things." she teased with a smile.

Giggling, Evangeline wrapped her arms behind Callisto's neck. "Yes, I agree." Then she smirked. "But you didn't kiss the right spot. If we're keeping with tradition, that is."

"Hmm, if I recall, you forgot that, too."

Her eye roll to Callisto’s shit eating grin set them both off into snorting giggles.

"Oh, just shut up and kiss me." she said when they'd both calmed enough to speak. "Properly this time!"

Callisto pulled her closer, running her fingers up along Evangeline's ear and into her hair. "With pleasure," she murmured before doing just that.

Their Sacred Vow Taglist:

@melpomenelamusa, @writinggremlin, @lesbianwords, @whump-ohmy

Casey rolls his eyes.  “Of course not.”

“Good, then, let’s go.”

They let Griffin and Ben lead the way because the boys love to prove that they’ve learned a lot from them after all this time. 

They yell gleefully as they lead the way, sometimes yelling back to Casey and Severide about little streams and careful steps.  Casey’s still eyeing the clouds, which has Severide teasing, “Come on, Case, I know you’re not afraid of a little rain.  Or have you forgotten our weekend getaway and –” he glances ahead to make sure the boys can’t hear him because they’re too far ahead.  “– having sex in the back of your pickup while it rained on us.”

Casey flushes.  “The rain wasn’t intentional, and it was not nearly as hot as I thought it would be.”

“You still didn’t melt,” Severide offers with a knowing grin.  “Unless you count melting into goo afterwards.”

Casey rolls his eyes.  “You’re a dumbass.”

“A dumbass you love,” he offers, a step ahead.

Casey pulls on their joined hands and kisses him as he’s pulled back to him.  Severide brings a hand to Casey’s hip with the hand laced with his hand behind his back, pulling them flush together.  Casey brings his free hand to his hair, running it through his hair, down his cheek, and landing on his jaw, where he can already feel his stubble of his beard that he loves and rarely gets to feel. 

Unfortunately, he can’t fully get lost in the taste of Severide for two reasons: one, they’re in the middle of a trail and their boys are getting way too far ahead, and two, he’s feeling … water. 

A drop on his cheek, easily dismissed at first, but then another one and another, and before he knows it, they’re breaking apart and looking up at that ominous sky that has opened up and started to rain.

“DADS!” the boys yell.  “IT’S RAINING!”

“Really?  Had no clue,” Severide responds, sarcastically. 

Casey elbows him and yells, “Come on back, we should be able to make it back to the cabin and not get too soaked if we run.”

***

Unfortunately, they did get quite soaked. 

All four of them look like they’ve been swimming in the lake by the time that they get back to the cabin, but they had thought to bring extra clothes and blankets.  So, while Severide starts a fire in the fireplace, Casey wraps them all up in blankets (after they all change). 

Severide joins him on the couch as the rain turns into a full-blown storm with lightning and thunder, putting an arm around his shoulders.

“So, we didn’t melt,” Severide teases.

Casey laughs and ruffles his wet hair.  “Little longer and you might have.”

Severide shakes his head like a dog, getting him all wet on purpose.

“You – you,” he wants to call him an asshole, but he tries not to in front of the boys, even though they’re both old enough to have started cussing themselves. 

The boys are giggling and laughing and following Severide’s example, so Casey rolls his eyes and follows suit.  Severide’s mouth opens in surprise because he clearly wasn’t expecting that.

“Asshole,” he says, playfully. 

“You started it and seriously?” he jerks his head at the boys, who roll their eyes. 

“Come on, dad,” Griffin says, with an eyeroll.  “You can’t be serious.”

“I’m trying to be a good role model.”

Severide leans over and whispers, “Then, you picked the wrong person to co-parent with.”

Despite the growing pains of their life together from co-parents to dating, Casey couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone else. 

“Nah, I lucked into the perfect person.  Wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else,” he assures him, looking into those deep blue eyes and brushing his nose with his own. 

“Aren’t you sweet?” Severide teases before he closes the gap and kisses him.  He tastes the salty sweat from the hike mixed with the rain, and before he could think of taking the kiss further, their boys remind them that they’re not alone.

“Oh, gross,” Griffin groans and Ben makes an icked out sound.  Then, before they break apart, they’re hit with the boys using the rain in their hair to stop them.

“Okay, okay!” 

They shift to look at the boys who have returned to their seats on the other couch with annoying grins that have clearly adopted from Severide.

“What are we going to do now?” Ben asks.  “Board games?”

“I think we’ve got Jenga here,” Severide offers.  “That might be fun.”

The boys nod, and Griffin gets up to go get the game, when Ben goes to the radio and start some music.  Gives Casey a chance to kiss Severide, again, and quickly.

The boys set up the game with the thin little wooden blocks – alternating three going across, and three going perpendicular to those across until they have a little tower on the coffee table.

“Alright, Ben, you first,” Casey offers as they all surround the little tower. 

Ben chooses a random middle piece to knock out and place on top.  Then, Griffin goes.  Casey and Severide follow suit. 

And then, Ben goes again. 

The rain pours down, lightning and thunder shake the cabin, but it’s somewhat masked by the laughter and attempts to distract each of them on their turn with funny faces and jokes but not touching because that’s cheating.

“Ohhh, that was close, Dad,” Griffin says when the tower, which has become unstable nearly tumbles as Casey places his piece.

It’s still a little wobbly as Severide takes his turn. 

“Careful there, Sev, I wouldn’t wanna lose,” Casey teases, but Severide does nothing more than stick his tongue out at him as he carefully places his piece next to Casey’s piece on top.

It’s as he’s tapping it into place that a particularly loud clap of thunder sounds and Severide jumps, knocking the whole tower over and causing all of them to burst out laughing.

Severide huffs as he loses the game.  “I blame the storm.”

Casey laughs.  “’Course you do, play again?”

“Yeah!” the boys cheer.

As the boys set up the game again, Severide leans over to him to give him a kiss and says, “Don’t worry, I won’t lose this one.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll still love you even if you do.”

Severide rolls his eyes.  “You better.”