#dad!virgil

“You know what granny thinks about it. You get too hyperactive and are not able to sleep if you eat any before your bedtime.” Virgil left different containers next to the candies.

Patton hummed, “…is already past my bedtime tho”

Virgil blinked and looked at the clock. Halloween was an exception to bedtime of course, but he didn’t actually expect Patton to find a slip on his mother’s words. He looked back at his son with a half smile, “you know what? I think you’re right.”

Patton gasped and smiled widely, “I am?!”

Virgil placed a finger on his mouth as a silence sign. His parents were asleep and they weren’t supposed to wake them up. “You are, and you can have one after we put them away. Only one, and it’s gonna be our little secret okay?”

Patton nodded excitedly. He copied Virgil’s gesture “a secret,” he giggled.

“Now, you know what to do right? Chocolates, hard candy, soft candy, and the ones you don't like.” Virgil pointed to each container as he spoke. Some of them still had candy so they had to make sure to throw out the expired ones.

Patton nodded and started separating the candies with his father's help. They were done after a couple of minutes.

Patton had moved to sit on his father's lap. Virgil noticed he was quite tired already. The kid leaned against his chest and yawning through the whole categorizing process.

“We’re done!” Patton looked back at Virgil, “can I have one candy now?”

Virgil nodded, “you can. You won’t get more until tomorrow so choose wisely.” He booped the kid’s nose.

Paton giggled and looked at the containers. He reached into the cocolates one and took out a chocolate covered marshmallow. He unwrapped it and started eating it.

Virgil stroked his son’s hair, “great choice buddy.” He kissed his head and took another marshmallow out for himself, “let’s go to our room, and we can watch a movie before sleeping.” He picked Patton up.

The kid rested his head against Virgil’s shoulder and nodded, “can we watch the Alvin Halloween?”

“Of course we can.” A movie was the best way to keep Patton entretained, Virgil could clean the face paint of his costume off and help him get into hos pjs. He turned off the lights on the kitchen and walked downstairs.

Their room was originally a basement where they used to keep old stuff, they moved all of that to Virgil’s old room once Patton was born so they could have the extra space. They were already making plans for when Patton wanted to have his own room, but Virgil hoped it took him a lon long time to decide that.

Virgil set Patton down on the bed and went to put the dvd on. Once the movie was running, he sat down next to Patton with some makeup wipes and started cleaning his face. “You were the cutest werewolf today,” Virgil kissed his cheek once it was clean.

Nor him or his parents were that good with costumes and make up, but Patton was really getting into it so he did the best he could. Of course there were kids who had way more elaborated costumes, and it was most likely the parental instinct kicking in, but Patton would always be the cutest kid.

Virgil helped Patton get changed as the movie went on. They moved from the end of the bed to lay down under the covers. Virgil was holding a half asleep Patton, who was fighting to stay awake to finish the movie, and stroked his hair.

It did raise some questions and a protective instinct flared in his chest.

The door was shut before the light inside was flicked on. He winced a bit seeing the brightness from underneath the door, before sitting up himself. Rubbing his hands down his face, he then let them push his hair back and resting on the nape of his neck.

A sigh escaped him. Even when he thought everything was going to be alright and Virgil would be able to return to bed soon, the sound of retching in the bathroom punctuated just how wrong he was.

Was it the flu? A cold? He wasn’t really sure and until he was able to ask some questions, Logan was just going to have to guess.

Reaching over to the bedside table, he searched blindly for his glasses before slipping them onto his face. The room was still dark, but it wasn’t nearly as blurry as it had been.

He pushed the blankets off of himself, yanked down his night shirt—as it had been pulled up sometime throughout the night—and shuffled towards the washroom door. He was honestly exhausted. He had unfortunately gotten to bed late that night because their kids had kept him up and then he had spent another hour or so reading, trying to tire himself out.

It took a moment, but Logan raised a hand and knocked against the door gently enough not to startle the male inside. “Virgil?” He called, laying a hand on the doorknob and twisting it slightly. “Are you alright?”

As he started to open the door and there was no voice telling him to stop, he creaked it open the rest of the way and peered inside.

Virgil was hunched over the toilet, his head in his hands as he just breathed in and out. He looked tired and cold, but also as if he were overheating at the same time. When he heard the first few footsteps enter the washroom, his attention shifted to look towards Logan, and then there was such a pitifully sad expression.

The answer to his question obviously didn’t need to be vocal. Logan could see it on his features clear as day. The pale face and the damp forehead. He was probably sick. But what had done it? He had been fine when they had gone to bed those few hours ago.

Logan stepped forwards before dropping to his knees and laying a hand against his husband’s back, rubbing a soothing circle. “Do you want me to get some water?” Possibly some Advil as well to help him get back to sleep.

He could see just how tightly Virgil was holding onto the edges of the porcelain throne, as his knuckles were nearly a pure white.

Definitely will need Advil if he’s hurting.

He was answered with a nod just as he leaned back over the toilet and heaving whatever was left.

He winced, more in sympathy than anything. “I’ll be right back.”

It wasn’t very often that either one of them got sick. It was more either Roman or Patton and even then, the two kids barely let their fathers leave them. It was a comfort thing, he assumed.

Leaving the washroom, he left the bedroom altogether. He was careful when he passed the boys’ bedroom, really not wanting to have either of them wake up at this time of night, knowing how impossible it was to get either of them back to sleep.

If they were to wake, and found out about Virgil’s current state, it would be more than likely that they would try and help, whether they would actually be helpful or not.

The quiet of the kitchen held as he moved around with a practiced precision. Knowing exactly where the cups were, even in the darkness. There was a little night sneaking from the streetlamp just outside the house, but it wasn’t enough to really give him a full look of the kitchen.

After getting some cold water from the tap, he went to the medicine cabinet and began to dig through everything they had. Pain killers, medicines, cough syrups, gummies, vitamins.

Logan worked quickly, picking the Advil out of the bunch and taking two pills from the pack. Everything was set back into its place before it was replaced in the cabinet.

With the glass of water in one hand and the pills in the other, he was able to nudge the door open with his foot before closing it again. The bathroom light was still on and when he returned, Virgil was still hanging onto the seat like it was a lifeline. He hadn’t moved positions, Logan noted silently, before resuming his own after getting back down onto his knees.

Being there didn’t bother him so much as it did Virgil probably. This was just normal, well not normal as in a day to day basis, bodily functions. There was nothing wrong with being sick, you usually couldn’t stop in anyways unless you catch it just in time.

A few more minutes passed as his partner hurled, before he sat back on his haunches, letting his head rest against his forearms.

“Before that starts up again, drink some water and replenish yourself,” he offered the glass out, but Virgil made no move to grab for it. Which was worrying. Logan shifted a bit closer, before setting the glass down on the tile and resting a hand on his shoulder. “How do you feel?”

“Shitty,” he groaned, turning his head just enough to see his partner. There was that sad look again. “Go back to bed Logan, I can deal with this. It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine if you’re throwing up,” was his answer. “Do you think it’s a stomach flu?”

Virgil shrugged his shoulders. “I felt fine going to bed, I don’t know where this is coming from.”

Which made him think. As he turned back to hurl, Logan’s mind wandered. What had they done in the past couple of days for this to have happened? Had he touched something and then had those germs transferred? It didn’t really sound too logical, but it would make sense if that’s what happened. Or perhaps this was the first of the illness that would sweep through the household in time, which meant that cleaning everything would be a good idea.

But he felt like there was something missing. Something that he wasn’t picking up on. It felt like it was blatantly obvious.

Yesterday had been a good day, at least up until this point. It had been their nine year wedding anniversary.

So, he ran through the previous day.

The morning had started like any other morning. They had made breakfast, got Patton and Roman to school without too much hassle, though they did need to convince Roman to leave his foam sword in the car as that wasn’t acceptable at school. There had been a bit of a fit about it, but he had eventually listened.

Then Logan and Virgil went home, made some coffee and sat on the porch recliner and relaxed. Chatted about what they were going to do to celebrate that night. For the most part, both of them had been more than content to stay home and spend their anniversary with their kids.

Picked the kids up from school after 3.

After deciding that they would be going out for dinner, they weren’t able to get the boys a babysitter—that and they wanted to be there when their parents got to celebrate or else they would feel left out. At least, that’s what Patton had said—and ended up going to a family friendly restaurant. Though, having the kids there actually made it more special.

That’s when it clicked. “Food poisoning,” Logan spoke his mind, a gentle hand resting on Virgil’s back as he trembled. “You must have gotten sick from dinner last night.”

Virgil tossed his head back, groaning in agony. “Fucking great.”

Well, he could sympathize with the unhappiness, but there was also a point in time where they needed to accept that this was happening and then just deal with it as it came and went.

They went through a few more rounds of Virgil leaning forwards and throwing up and Logan never left his side. But after sitting a little while and nothing had happened, Logan deemed it safe enough to return to bed.

His hand stayed on Virgil’s lower back, however. “Feeling any better?”

“I guess,” he shrugged, “just tired.”

“Alright.”

He took a few extra minutes, helping his husband clean himself up before making sure he took the medicine and then assisting him back to bed.

Logan took a bit more time when it came to cleaning up the bathroom, at least putting everything back in it’s place before flicking the light out. He had grabbed the trashcan from the bathroom and a clean bag from underneath the sink and set it on Virgil’s side of the bed, before moving to his own and getting under the covers once more.

After removing his glasses and setting them back on the bedside table, he settled back against the pillows, tuned into the soft noises his partner was making. Not that he was meaning to listen, but it was hard not to in the silence of the bedroom. The most noise that would be heard would maybe be a car passing outside their window at such an ungodly hour but even then, that was a faint sound.

So, he rolled over onto his side and let an arm rest gently around Virgil’s middle, allowing for a place to feel a bit safer and offer more comfort if needed. It took a moment, but his husband relaxed into his arms and Virgil’s back was pressed directly up against his chest.

It wasn’t that that he needed to be babied necessarily, but there was that instinct again.

That protective instinct that he had never really felt for another person before. Felt it for himself, yes. Self preservation of course. He hadn’t felt it towards another person until he had first met Virgil in their second year of high school.

Then the instinct had never seemed to leave and had, indeed, followed him not only into his married life, but into fatherhood as well. Which was arguably the best time to have it. Especially when both of their boys managed to get themselves into trouble time and time again. It was a never ending cycle of mischief and shenanigans.

While Patton and Roman were very much worth it, sometimes it got tiring. The two adults usually retired to bed exhausted.

He felt Virgil’s breathing slow down until it was a steady rhythm, showing that he had finally fallen asleep and Logan was left alone to his thoughts. While he was tired, there was just something that was keeping him up.

Perhaps it was all the thoughts that refused to leave him alone.

The sound of a door opening and closing down the hallway caught his attention and he sighed.

Or perhaps it was the fact that one of his children—or God forbid both of them—was now awake.

Wonderful.

The handle to their bedroom door jiggled and Logan’s attention shifted to watch as the door was cracked open. It was obvious that whichever one was doing it was trying to be as quiet and careful as they possibly could. The soft light of the hallway filtered into the room, just enough to illuminate the silhouette of one figure.

It took a moment, but the figure slipped into the room after moving between the slight opening in the door and shutting it silently as he could behind him.

This night just kept getting better and better, didn’t it?

The sound of bare feet quietly pattering against the wooden floors caught his attention next.

“Dad?”

And that was Patton.

There was silence for a moment. When there wasn’t so much of a movement from Virgil’s side of the bed, Logan knew that he was next. It took a second, but just as he predicted, the sound of clothing shifting was now closer to his own side of the bed.

“Papa?” Patton tried again, he could hear the worry clear as day in the young voice and Logan sighed.

Releasing his arm from around Virgil’s middle, he rolled onto his back before turning his head just enough to see the form of his oldest son. “What’s the matter, Patton?”

He watched as the little boy seemed to shuffle nervously on the balls of his feet, rocking back and forth. “I-I heard—” He took a breath, dropping his eyes to the ground, unable to hold Logan’s gaze. It was obvious he felt bad for getting up this late and waking, at least he thought he was, Logan up. “I just wanted to…”

“Make sure Dad was alright?” He prompted after a moment, seeing the startled look cross his features, before a gentle nod. He kept his voice low enough so that he wouldn’t disturb the delicate sleep Virgil had finally fallen into. Logan pushed himself up onto his elbows before checking the time. 3:06 am. “He’s just a little sick right now, but he’ll be okay.”

While he was a bit irritated that Patton was awake at this time of night and that when he had just been drifting off he had been woken up again, he couldn’t really let it show. The boy was emotional and when he felt something, he felt it hard.

He watched as Patton gave the tiniest nod in response, before using a hand to rub at his eyes. “I’m sorry for waking you up.”

And there was the sound of emotion building. He could hear it clear as bells.

Logan needed to dissuade the situation. “No, that’s alright,” he rubbed a hand down his face before reaching over and grabbing his glasses for the second time that night. “Is Roman awake too?”

Patton shook his head. “Just me.”

“Alright,” he took that answer in stride before eventually sitting up completely and turning his attention to the young boy looking up at him with such sad brown eyes. Distressed and concerned. “Let’s get you back to bed.”

“B-but …”

“No buts, Patton, it’s too late for you to be awake,” and he was staying firm in that. The latest he ever let the boys stay up was just after midnight and that was to celebrate New Years. A normal sleep schedule is very important, especially for growing children. Though, trying to explain the importance at this time of night and he wouldn’t be listened to. With some resistance, he moved to get up.

Only before a hand on his wrist stopped him. He turned to look over his shoulder and Virgil was peering at him through half-lidded eyes, the grasp on his wrist wasn’t to keep him in place, but a plead. Stay, was in his face, but the soundless whisper on his mouth was what was heard.

His attention flickered between his husband and his son, both looking so helpless. He almost didn’t know what to do with it.

The moment was soft, but the mood was ruined almost instantly when Virgil jolted and grasped for the trash can that had been set by his side of the bed and heaved into it.

A gentle gasp escaped Patton.

It wasn’t very often that the boys saw their parents ill. Both Logan and Virgil made sure that they didn’t. They could usually keep Roman and Patton away from their bedroom when the other parent was sick. However, there wasn’t much Logan could do at this point.

So, he got up and moved past Patton before kneeling on the ground in front of his husband. The glass of water, he realized belatedly, was still in the washroom on the counter. He watched as emotions flickered over the kid’s features, he was obviously unsure of how to react because it was always the other way around. When he got sick, it was always his dads taking care of him.

Seeing his Dad sick was startling and Logan could see that on his features. So, he waved Patton over.

After a minute of hesitance, he came over, his eyes never leaving the form of his dad hunched over on the bed.

“I want you to head to bed, okay?” Logan instructed him. “I can come and tuck you back in after Dad’s feeling a bit better.”

“I want to help,” Patton spoke up, eyes wide and watering.

The sound of another retch filled the bedroom and Logan winced a bit, Patton remained almost completely unfazed. Determination flickered over his features.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Logan told him, a hand moving to rest on Patton’s shoulder, trying not to let that sad look hit him too hard. It really shouldn’t in the long run either, he had been faced with many disappointed expressions and nothing had ever fazed him. But his children were almost always different cases.

The small whine that that statement created made him sigh gently.

Patton was a gentle soul, empathetic and caring, sometimes to the point where it may be physically draining. He had seen the boy helping other kids on the playground if they got hurt, or talking to them happily if their friends were ignoring them. He was the voice of reason, even at such a young age.

So, when Patton turned his attention back onto Logan, he could see that getting the kid back to bed before his father was feeling better was going to be a bit more of a fight than he anticipated.

That and he really didn’t want to deal with this at this time of night.

So, he relented and let the boy stay for a little while longer.

A few rounds of Virgil emptying his stomach passed again before he was rolling onto his back and breathing heavily.

“Patton, go get the water from the bathroom. The glass is on the counter.” His instruction was met with a nod and the boy was off, flicking the bathroom light on.

Logan instead laid a hand against Virgil’s forehead, feeling a fever slowly beginning to rise. Which meant a cold cloth would help keep the temperature down, at least for now.

When Patton returned with the glass, he placed it on the bedside table, before looking sadly towards his sick parent. That look of sadness was turned back onto Logan.

In all honesty, Logan knew how Patton felt. He felt helpless in this situation and, really, the both of them were. There was only so much either could do and he’d have to let the fever come down on its own. There wasn’t really anything to fret about, but that didn’t stop the seed of worry from gnawing at him.

“Alright kiddo, I think you’ve been up long enough,” Logan finally instructed, causing Patton’s eyes to widen and a quick shake of his head. The boy was answered with a nod of the adult’s head. “Yes. I think it’s time you get back to bed.”

He could only thank God that it was Saturday tomorrow. If there had been school, Logan wouldn’t have let Patton stay nearly as long. If anything, he would have picked the kid right back up at the first sign of resistance and taken him directly back to his bedroom.

“I want to help,” he tried again, using the same prompt as before.

Logan reached forwards and grabbed Patton by the hands, lowering his tone as he heard Virgil groan a bit. “I know you do and you’ve done a lot of helping, but it’s really late now,” he reasoned. “You’re going to be really tired tomorrow if you don’t get back to bed.”

It took only a moment, but then there was that pout. The one that would usually make his resolve waver. Not right now. He had already done enough wavering tonight.

“Don’t start with the pouting, it’s bedtime and I’m not changing my mind on that. I’ve already let you stay up this late. You need sleep just like your dad and I do.”

Patton turned to look over his shoulder. Seeing his dad in such a sickly state—so tired—hurt. When he turned back to Logan, he pushed his glasses back up before finally nodding.

“Okay.”

Satisfactory. “C’mon, then, up we go.” It took Logan no time at all to pick the boy up, but when he started to squirm, that’s when he needed to tighten his hold a little bit more.

“No, wait, Papa,” he pushed at his father’s chest, trying to get out of his arms as best he could, “I wanna say goodnight.”

Well, he couldn’t really take that wish away from him. So, he set Patton back down on his feet and the boy quickly went right over to Virgil’s bedside. “Dad?”

“Patton—”

“Yeah, Pat?” It took a moment, but Virgil was looking at his son, and Patton beamed at the attention, but the happiness fell almost instantly when he registered the pain behind his eyes.

“G-goodnight Dad.” It was easy to hear the waterworks building behind his voice and it was only a matter of time before there were tears. “I love you.”

A gentle smile spread across Virgil’s face and he grasped Patton by the hand gently, giving a light squeeze. “I love you too.”

He sucked in a gentle breath, trying to fight back the urge to cry and he leaned forwards, and very carefully hugged his dad. He needed to be careful, not wanting to be the cause of any discomfort.

Patton then pulled away and went back to seek some refuge with Logan, who picked him back up. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he voiced his plan.

“Mhmm,” was the response he got back.

As soon as Logan had stepped foot outside of the bedroom and shut the door behind him, a small gasp caught his attention before he felt wetness against his shoulder, soaking through his night shirt. He sighed a little bit, but said nothing as Patton’s hands tightened in the back of his shirt. He knew that he couldn’t bring the kid back to his room when he was this visibly upset. The sound would wake Roman and he didn’t need two kids awake.

So, instead, he carried the boy into the living room with him and took a seat into the big reading chair in the corner and just let Patton cry it out on his shoulder.

Withholding emotions, as he knew, would only cause more trouble in the long run, so it was better now that he was getting it out.

He let a hand stroke up and down the heaving back, the cries were quiet, but still very much there. The hiccups and the sobs and the breaths in and out, in and out, in and out, in an unsteady and quivering pattern.

No, Logan still wasn’t great with emotions or helping someone through something like this, but he did know enough. Most of his experience came from helping Virgil through panic attacks. Logan’s mothers were much better when it came to emotional support.

“Are you alright?” He asked, when he finally heard the sobs quieting down a bit more.

Patton nodded his head a little bit, pulling away from the tight embrace. Logan took it upon himself to pull Patton’s glasses off, setting them on the armrest of the chair, before using the hem of his own shirt to wipe the tears away. A look of concern never left his face.

“M’sorry,” he sniffled, blinking the tears from his lashes.

Logan only shook his head. “Don’t apologize. It’s alright.” And it really was.

After he had helped clean the boy up a bit more, he watched as Patton leaned into his soothing touch and there was something deep in his chest that said this was good. The warmth in his core said that this was really what fatherhood was.

Patton hiccuped after a moment, before letting his eyes slip shut and he leaned against his father comfortably.

Logan kept the steady motions moving up and down his back until he was positive that Patton was finally asleep.

He let a noise of relief escape him before he slowly stood up, adjusting the kid so he was holding him bridal style, his head lent against his chest. He snatched the glasses off of the armrest as an afterthought and carried the boy back to his bedroom.

He nudged the door open, double checking that Roman was still sound asleep and to his luck, he was. He took lighter footsteps through the bedroom and laid Patton down into his bed. The glasses set into their case on the bedside table.

He brushed the curls away from his forehead, a fond look crossed his features before he tucked his son back into bed.

Which left him with the task of sneaking back out unnoticed. It took a little bit, but he managed to do it within five minutes. He had frozen a bit when Roman had shifted on his bed, but nothing had come of it and he had made it out.

Logan went back to the kitchen, grabbed a cloth and turned the tap on to run some cool water over it. His eyes read the clock on the wall: 4:10 am.

He rubbed his own eyes before squeezing out the excess water and carrying the damp cloth back to their bedroom. The door was shut and he flicked the bathroom light back off. Logan pulled his own glasses off before crawling into bed.

The steady breathing from his partner said that he was still semi-awake. So, he moved a bit closer and accepted Virgil back into his arms, but made sure that the cool cloth had been placed in a spot where it would do some good. Virgil had winced at it at first, but sighed soon afterwards.

Finally, after all of that commotion, he was able to settle down with his loved one, even as sick as he was. They were there together and that’s what mattered the most.

Logan had one arm under Virgil’s neck, the other rested over his middle, but light enough to keep from applying pressure. His partner’s hands were clung onto the one over him. He needed to keep him on his back for a little while, enough to help cool him down. After that it didn’t matter too much.

“Th-thanks, Lo,” Virgil croaked out, it was obvious his throat was sore.

Tea with honey should soothe it, if he can keep anything down at all, he made a mental note for the morning.

Logan let his hand move to rest gently in Virgil’s hair, before playing with a strand absentmindedly. He felt the tense body relax further against him and a gentle smile spread across his features at the trusting motion. He knew what Virgil liked and he knew how to relax him.

He had done the same motion many times before. When his husband came home from work after having a bad day, or when he was stressed out.

Logan knew how to make Virgil relax and give into the loving embrace of his partner. While their relationship was touch heavy, it was also very spacious and understanding.

But right now, he needed that closeness and Logan would provide the comfort and shelter that he craved.

He always would.