#okito

The next morning, Ruben got up a little late and headed downstairs. Yori was already up making breakfast in the kitchen with Okito on his back, while Dante was passed out face first at the kitchen table. “What the heck's wrong with him?” Ruben asked, snapping his fingers in front of Dante's face. “Hey, wake up! Are you drunk?” “He's not drunk,” Yori said, working on putting chocolate chips in his pancake mix. “He just stayed up all night so he could make sure that Rowan coming out wasn't just a dream.” “So much for… Wait, Rowan what?” Ruben asked, dumbstruck. “You know how we all knew she was probably a girl?” Yori said. Ruben's jaw dropped. “Rowan came out? Like came out came out?!” Yori nodded. “Mmhm. Last night after Okito woke up.” Sniffling started to come from the head on the table, and Dante slowly started to sit up, tears starting to stream down his face. “And she came out to me!” “Why are you crying?” Ruben asked. “Because! She came out to me! Just me!” Dante blubbered. “You're both so much better with the kids than I am, but she was comfortable coming out to me!” Ruben sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah… Well, you probably just got lucky! You were the only one awake! Don't make this about you!” Yori chuckled. “You guys are funny.” Dante reached for Ruben and grabbed him around his waist. “Ruben!” “Yeah, what?” Ruben asked awkwardly. Dante looked up into Ruben's face with sincere eyes. “Our baby came out of the closet!” Ruben exhaled and rubbed Dante's shoulders. “She did…” “What do we do now?” Dante asked. “Do we do something? Do we-do we throw a gender reveal party for her?!” “I mean, isn't that for foetuses?” Ruben asked. Dante shook his head quickly. “No, foetuses can't come out of the closet. It's for trans kids now.” “Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves… We don't know if she's even told Marco and—” That very moment Skylar came barreling down the stairs, dragging Rowan down with her. “I HAVE A SISTER!” she shouted proudly into the kitchen. They'd picked out matching skirts and both had their hair back in hair bands. Their parents couldn't help but laugh a little. “That settles that,” Dante said. Marco came trudging down behind them in a matching outfit as the girls. Ruben raised an eyebrow. “Marco, are we just matching today or…” “Just matching,” Marco said, shrugging. “Skylar said we should.” “Well, you all look great,” Dante said. “Very pretty.” Rowan smiled a little and Skylar beamed at her. “Do a twirl!” Skylar insisted. Rowan put her arms out and twirled on the spot, her skirt fluttering around her like flower petals. She started to giggle and her triplets joined her, twirling about and cheering each other on. “No fair. I want to twirl!” Yori said, putting his mixing bowl down with a huff. “Dante, Ruben! Why don't you own any skirts?” “It's not our fault you refuse to have your own wardrobe,” Dante responded. “Skirts aren't really my thing.” Dante suddenly heard a sniffle and looked up to see Ruben starting to tear up. His partner quickly tried to hide it, wiping his eyes. “Aw, babe…” Dante took Ruben's hand and the other gripped it tightly. “I'm not crying…” Ruben stated. “It's okay. I'm proud too,” Dante said. “I want a skirt!” Yori was saying as he angrily continued mixing his pancake batter. “I want a skirt!” Dante chuckled and sighed getting up. He went over to Rowan and stopped her mid twirl, taking her shoulders gently. “Hey kiddo. What do you think? Should we go clothes shopping today? Maybe get Daddy and Papa some skirts, and maybe a few more things to freshen up your wardrobe?” Rowan beamed up at him. “Really?” “Of course,” Dante said. “Can we get ice cream?” Yori asked excitedly. “You have a meeting, remember?” Ruben reminded. “And you're making chocolate pancakes.” Yori glowered at Ruben. “The meeting will be fast.” His husband sighed. “Okay, maybe after Yori's meeting, we can get ice cream…” Ruben submitted. “Yay!” Skylar swished her hips to make her skirt sway side to side. “Okay, okay. Everyone calm down,” Dante said. “Go…bother your uncle next door until breakfast is ready.” “We gotta tell Zio Lino!” Skylar said, excitedly grabbing Rowan's hand and dragging her to the door. “Skylar, let Rowan tell people when she's ready, okay?” Dante called after them, as the children ran off. He sighed and rubbed his neck. “That kid…” Ruben patted Dante's head. “They'll be fine.” “Dante?” Yori said, slinging Okita around to the front. “Yeah?” “Finish the pancakes. Okito did a poo.” “Ah, okay. Okay.” “I'll set the table,” Ruben offered. “Thank you, babe.” “No problem.”

“Baby, baby, baby,” Grey chanted as Ruben opened the door for them. “Baby, baby!” Amused by the little chant, Ruben smirked. “Hey, come through. Okito's in the backyard with everyone.” “Baby!” Grey said excitedly, now bouncing in his dad's arms. “Let's calm down a little,” Dusty said, putting him done. “You don't want to spook him.” “Baby.” Grey stated this softer, pulling his dad by the finger through the house. Ruben led them outside to the back where people were just hanging out. The triplets were in the pool splashing around with Lino and Dante while Kidd sat on the edge of the pool watching them. Yori was lounging in a deck chair with Okito curled up asleep on his chest. As soon as Grey saw him, he let go of Dusty and ran over. “Hey, no running on deck, little man,” Lino called to him from the water. Grey was already by Yori, peeking over the arm of the chair to look at the baby. Yori smiled to him and pet his head. “You wanna see Oki? Come sit on my lap.” While Grey climbed into the chair with Yori, Dusty made his way over to stand by the pool. “Hey, Dusty!” Dante said, noticing him. “Do you wanna hang out for a bit? Ruben's barbecuing.” “Uh, no that's alright,” Dusty said. “Naw, come on, have some dinner!” Lino insisted. “Have you eaten yet? Has Grey eaten?” “I don't really need to eat—Dante can I just talk to you and Ruben for a minute?” Dusty asked. “Oh! Sure, lemme just…” Dante climbed out of the pool. Lino followed him out as well. “You're coming too?” Dusty asked hesitantly. “Yeah, why not? Unless this is like, really private,” Lino said. “In which case I really want to know, heh heh.” “Shouldn't someone watch the kids?” Dusty said. “Vi'll watch them,” Lino said. “Where's Vi?” “Playing lake monster.” Lino pointed into the pool and only then did Dusty notice the blue form floating at the bottom of the pool. The kids were swimming around at the surface and Vi appeared to be swimming about the bottom, with his eyes closed, searching for their little flailing legs. Any time he found a foot, he gave their ankle a little tug and the kid would scream like only a child having terribly good fun ever did. They were all laughing and screaming, seeming to have the time of their lives. “Grey should play,” Lino asked. “He'd love it.” “Ah, shoot. I forgot to pack his swim shorts this time,” Dusty said. “I knew I forgot something.” “It's cool, he can borrow one of Kidd's old pairs,” Lino said. “I don't know about this game though,” Dusty said. “His swimming isn't great yet.” “We got some water wings,” Dante said. “And Vi'd never let anything bad happen to him.” “I mean, sure, I guess as long as you keep an eye on him,” Dusty said. Ruben waved them over by the barbecue which was back on the patio by the door. He had a couple hamburger patties and hot dogs on the grill, as well as a few fish fillets. “What did you want to talk about?” “Uh, well…” Dusty was nervous to ask. “At work, Fay recommended me to apply for this position that opened up at APID. It’s a field agent position, and at first I didn’t think I was qualified, but he said I would be great. So I applied anyway…” “Nice! Did you get it?” Lino asked. “Yeah, actually,” Dusty said. “That’s great Dusty,” Ruben said. “Congrats, you’re moving up.” “Don’t field agents travel around though?” Dante asked. “Yeah, they do.” “You have Grey though. You’re gonna take him all over the place?” Dante asked. “Um, no, that’s the thing…” Dusty rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m supposed to train on the job with a pro, and the first mission is in Europe, and I was wondering if you could watch Grey while I’m away.” Dante blinked. “How long will you be away?” “It’s two months.” “Two months?” Dante furrowed his brow. “That’s a bit long, don’t you think?” “Honestly, I’m a bit scared to be away from Grey that long,” Dusty admitted. “But this is a big opportunity for me, and it’s much better pay, so I can support Grey better.” Dante pursed his lips. “Are you sure it’s for you, though? I mean, what even does the job entail?” “Uh, it’s mostly investigating any, like, supernatural occurrences,” Dusty said. “If there’s any alternative persons who need APID services, then field agents also escort them.” “And this extends outside of Canada?” Ruben asked, looking a bit concerned. “Don’t other countries have their own governments working on this kind of stuff?” “Oh, they do, but APID here in Canada is kind of the front runner. The flagship, you could say,” Dusty said. “They assist a lot and if the mission is related to any of our cases, they send our agents.” “Is the job dangerous?” Ruben added. “It…Well, it can be, but they’re going to train me well,” Dusty explained. “I know the guy training me. He’s the best they have.” “I don’t know…” Dante said. “That’s a lot really quickly. They’re really just throwing you into it?” Dusty inhaled. “Korsy, er that’s the guy training me, said that usually it’s pretty smooth sailing, and I just need to watch; he’ll do all the work. They don’t expect me to do anything but observe, and if at the end of it, or at any point in the trip, I don’t feel like the right guy for the job, I can back out. They’ll fly me right back home and I’ll have my job with Fay waiting for me.” Dante took a deep breath. “Have you already accepted the job?” Dusty shook his head. “I told Korsy I needed to make sure my son would be well looked after before I made any decision.” Dante looked at Ruben who just shrugged. Dante sighed. “Dusty, I… I dunno, the timing is a bit bad, you know. We just had a baby and the room situation—” “Then I’ll watch him,” Lino said. Dusty looked at him surprised. “Really?” “Yeah, he’s my nephew after all, and clearly my brother’s too much of a coward to watch his own son…” “Lino, that’s not even fair,” Dante groaned. “Five kids are just a lot! Ruben…” Ruben sighed, knowing he was expected to be the tie breaker. “Grey is a part of the family, so I have no issues with him staying with us. I’m more concerned about Grey and Dusty being apart that long. You were already so worried about him when we went for the unbinding, and that was just a few days. Are you really comfortable with being away from him for two months?” Dusty crossed his arms. “It is daunting to me… But the thing is, when we did that, it felt a bit like…like practice. Grey had never slept overnight without me until then, but he did, and I did, and we were fine… And I’ll still be able to call every night to talk to him. Not to mention, this could be good for him to get to know his siblings even better.” “The triplets are obsessed with him, and he’s clearly all about Oki right now,” Lino supported. “They get along great.” Dante rubbed his neck. “Alright. Two months… At least the triplets will be back in school for most of it.” “Should we run this by Yori first?” Ruben asked. “I’m fine!” Yori called from his deck chair. “Dog hearing,” Dante sighed. “Okay, alright, we can do this.” He looked to Dusty, smiling gently. “And I am happy for you, honestly. Just a bit overwhelmed.” Dusty nodded quickly. “I understand! I’m rather overwhelmed myself. If you said no, then I don’t really know who else I could ask. I’d ask Syd, but they don’t like kids, and then Fay has even more kids than you, so I just couldn’t ask him and Dari… And I don’t really have any other friends.” “Maybe this’ll be an opportunity for you to meet some people,” Dante said. He raised his eyebrows in suggestion. “Or maybe to meet someone?” Dusty blushed. “Uh, I don’t know, maybe…” “I’ve met that Korsy guy,” Lino mentioned. “He’s hot. Have you tried your demon charm on him?” Dusty shook his head quickly. “Been there… He is not right for me. Emotionally unprepared for a committed relationship.” “I’m just talking about fucking him, not marrying him,” Lino said. “He said he’s not interested,” Ruben warned. Lino looked at Ruben suspiciously. “Okay? Chill… Concentrate on your grilling, big man. Don’t burn my hot dogs.” Ruben rolled his eyes and just flipped his patties. Dante patted Dusty’s back. “You should still stay a bit. We can figure out the semantics over dinner. Does Grey know you’re going away yet?” “No, I didn’t want to tell him until I was sure,” Dusty said. “That’s honestly the scariest part…” “Well, like you said,” Dante said. “The other trip was practice. He’ll understand.” Dusty nodded. “Okay…” “So, do you like hamburgers? Hot dogs? Fish?” Ruben asked. “Oh, uh… No preference,” Dusty said. “Alright, everybody go sit down at the table,” Ruben said. “Get the kids. Dinner’s ready.” “Sweet, I am so hungry right now,” Lino said. He ran back to the pool, ignoring his own deck running rules, and splashed the water a bit. “Lake monster! Dinner! Larry, Curly, Moe! Out of the pool!” The triplets each clambered out of the pool, and Marco started a hot dog chant. Vi surfaced and then waved to the newcomers. “Dusty! I didn’t know you were here. Welcome,” he said pleasantly. “Are you staying for dinner?” “Seems I am,” Dusty chuckled. He went over to get his son from Yori. “Grey, let’s go sit.” “Baby,” Grey said, placing his hand on Okito’s head. “You’ll have a lot of time to get to know Okito later, okay?” Dusty promised, pocking him up. “Let’s eat.” “Okay.”