Chapter Text
Sometimes, when I look at John, I think, Holy fucking shit, I’m so damn lucky.
He’s mixing a large pot of ramen for the family. And by family, I mean me included. He said so the other day. He called me family. It was just a casual thing, slipped into the middle of a sentence, but he has no idea how much it meant to me.
Lily is drawing on the kitchen floor, a huge poster board spread out. I helped John out with the money and we bought her a giant two hundred pack of markers. She’s working on her latest project of patterns, her new Toothless the dragon plushie backpack still strapped on. She hasn’t taken it off since her birthday.
“I washed your clothes,” John says, bringing my attention back to him.
“Huh?”
“Your clothes. They’re on the bed.”
I have clothes here. I also have a toothbrush here. I also have a free hook by the door for my jacket specifically for when I come over.
“Thanks,” I say.
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted to take them home or leave them. I cleared a drawer for you.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, it’s no problem.”
I smile, looking over at Lily on the floor once again. “Why don’t you clean that up, squirt? We’re going to eat dinner soon.”
“Okay.” She obeys me the way she would if John ordered her to do so. She packs her markers away and sets her things against the wall before joining me at the table. Then she leans close to me, doing a horrible job at whispering, “Are you staying for dinner?”
“Duh,” I reply with a smirk.
“Will you stay tomorrow too?”
“Probably.”
“Will you stay forever?”
I gulp, and now I really wish she actually could whisper. I look over at John, but he’s just staring at the dinner he’s still trying to cook. I think he heard though. Turning back to Lily, I search for words.
“Maybe,” is all that comes out.
“Will you marry my daddy?”
John immediately pipes up. “Let’s eat!”
The TV in John’s room is playing news in the background. I’m not really paying attention to it. I’m just sitting back in the pillows against his headboard, watching him out of the corner of my eye as he changes for bed.
When he finishes, leaving his shirt off, he crawls onto the bed and sits right down on my lap, his arms running up my bare arms. It’s hard to think straight with him like this.
“She asks that, you know,” he says.
“Hm?”
“Lily. Asking if I’ll marry you. She asks that a lot when you’re not here.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
John shrugs. “I feel like everything is going perfectly.”
“Me too.”
“Maybe one day.”
“Maybe sounds really good to me.”
He smiles and leans in to meet my lips. I cup a hand to the back of his head, the other resting on his hip, and I love how this is just… okay. That we’re like this. That I have someone that I can do this with, that I love. I wouldn’t do it with anyone but him.
Things heat quickly. Maybe he’s thinking the same lovey-dovey stuff that I am. My hands travel and play with his chest, my mouth moving down to his neck as his fingers clench in my hair. He’s trying to keep quiet, even though Lily has been asleep for hours in her own bedroom now. I know he wants it, though. I know him all too well.
Eventually, my hands are fumbling with the tie on his pajama flannels. He gasps lightly, moving to catch my wrists. “Dave, no.”
“Are you seriously going to cockblock me every time I try to do it with you when Lily is here? It’s, like, three hours past her bedtime, John. You already tweaked my nipples, and I’m on a mission here, and that mission is to achieve Egbert ass.”
“You sound just like you did when we were kids.”
“Probably a good thing. Everyone swooned for kid Dave. Now shut up and let me take your pants off.”
“Look at this, we’re already fighting like an old married couple.”
“An old married couple would get tired of fighting by now and skip straight to the sex. So hurry up and strip, sweet cheeks. You can not quell the raging boner that is Strider right now.”
“Oh, so that’s what’s poking me, huh?”
“If you stopped this meaningless chatter, I could do a lot more than poke you with it.”
He slams a hand on my chest, shoving me back into the bed again. “I think I’m going to do the poking tonight.”
Oh God, he’s hot. “You’re going to kill these years of cool I’ve built up on by topping me, John? Do you really want to kill my image?”
“You were never cool and we both know it.”
“I was obviously kind of cool if you used to be so in love with me.”
“Low blow, Dave.”
“You’re the one cockblocking.”
“And now I’m the one who changed my mind and wants to top the fuck out of you while praying my daughter stays in the deepest sleep ever. Now do you want to continue this rambling, or do you want to be sucked off and pounded?”
I choke on my words after that. Holy shit, I love adult John and past John so fucking much. I must have waited too long to answer, because John smiles and leans in, about to spread his tongue over my neck. “I’ll take that as the latter,” he whispers, and holy shit, he’s fucking great.
More than just a few changes of shirts show up in the Egbert household. Undergarments join in, pants join in, along with socks extra pairs of shoes. John hangs up some of my artwork in the hallways and starts making space in his closet and dresser for my things.
In the mornings, John and I take turns driving Lily to school. On days that I do, I go to my studio and work until lunch before driving back to John’s. On the other days, I take Lily with me when I pick her up so that she can hang out in my studio with me while I work.
One day, I’m working on a new piece of jewelry as a pass time. It’s an abstract shape of a dragon, and I plan on giving it to Lily. On that day, Lily calls me Pa. Not Strider. Not Dave. Not Mr. Strider. She calls me Pa.
I stare down at her through my safety glasses since I was in the middle of buffing my medal. After pushing up the glasses and stepping away from the machine I ask, “What did you say?”
“Do you like my picture?” She holds up said picture once again for emphasis. It’s fingerpainted and I think it’s supposed to be me. And John. And her. And we’re all holding hands, just like the kid pics out of the movies.
“What did you call me though?”
“Strider?”
“No.”
“Pa?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
“Why’d you call me that?”
“’Cause. Should I not?”
“No, no. It’s okay. You can. And your picture is beautiful, Lily. Is that us?”
“Mm-hm. My family.”
I pause, looking from her to the picture. “I love you. You know that, right Lily?”
“Yeah!”
“Good. How about we hang that up in here?”
“Really? But I thought you only hung up all your good stuff.”
“That’s why I’m hanging up yours.”
She beams brighter than ever.
When I’m done with my metal piece, she wears it proudly around her neck on the way home, humming to herself and going over ideas on what to name it. She holds my hand when we go in, and I can already smell that John is making dinner.
“I hope that’s pizza,” I call, kicking my shoes off and helping Lily take her jacket off.
“You wish,” John’s voice laughs from the kitchen.
Lily takes off, wanting to show John her new dragon necklace. Then she disappears again, probably to go play with her toys. I step into the kitchen, seeing John leaning over the counter to read the newspaper, probably waiting for the oven to finish cooking whatever he’s got in there.
I wrap my arms around him from behind, kissing his neck. “Hey.”
“Hi. Welcome home. Did you have fun?”
“Yeah… Lily called me Pa today.”
He turns around, leaning back on the counter instead. “She did?”
“Yeah.”
“She was asking about that.”
“Asking about what?”
“She asked me what you’re supposed to call the other daddy if you have two of them. I said maybe Pops or Papa, I wasn’t sure.”
A lot of things have been touching me emotionally lately, ever since I’ve been pulled into this family, but this one was one of the best. “She thinks of me as another daddy…?”
John grins. “Yeah.” His arms wrap around my neck, and he kisses me passionately out of the blue. I accept it though, tilting my head into it and kissing back again and again. Sadly, we have to stop when the oven goes off.
One day, while John is at work, his dad comes over to pick Lily up. He’s keeping her for the night so that I can take John out on some cliché date. I’ve met him multiple times before, but this one has me all the more nervous.
Being the father, he has permission to enter without knocking. Lily and I were in the middle of playing Dance Dance Revolution, so I’m caught a bit on the embarrassed side that Mr. Egbert saw me jumping around like Michael Jackson on an arrowed platform.
“Quite the moves you’ve got there if I do say so myself, Dave,” he says with a chuckle, taking his fedora off before Lily jumps on him with a cry of, “GRANDPA!”
“Why thank you, sir. Although the little one keeps kicking my butt.”
“He’s a bad dancer,” Lily whispers.
Mr. Egbert laughs again. I clear my throat awkwardly, approaching him to shake his hand after he puts Lily down. “Lily, why don’t you get your things and then find that picture you drew to show your grandpa, huh?” I say.
“Okay!”
After she’s gone, I nervously knead my fists against my jeans. To be more polite, I take my shades off, trying to ignore the way he’s studying my eyes after.
“So you know about John and I,” I start.
“Yes, I do. He tends to talk quite a lot about you when he visits.”
“He does?” I try not to sound too excited. “Well… I think I’ve moved in? I mean, we didn’t exactly say I did, or talk about it, it just kind of happened. And well, I…” Ugh, how do you say this to a guy’s dad? Fuck… “I, kinda, well… I love your son.”
“Do you now?”
“Yes.” Oh God, I’m going to throw up. I really suck at being cool these days. I meet his eyes, those blue ones that look like John’s, and I straighten myself to try and stop looking so anxious. “It’s only been three months. But it’s been amazing. And I love him, and I love Lily. I love them both more than anything. And heck, I really pray things keep going this well, and I think they will. I do. And I don’t know exactly what our future holds and stuff, but—”
“You want my blessing.”
I suck in a deep breath, and then nod. He grins, a sparkle appearing in his wrinkled eyes. “I want to be with him longer,” I continue, a bit less nervous now. “But at the rate things are, I wouldn’t mind being with him… forever, ya know? So I guess I’m asking for your blessing ahead of time. So that I don’t throw up on your shoes later when I’m ten times more nervous than I am now.”
He chuckles, and I feel like a weight has been taken off my shoulders. Then he holds his hand out, smiling and waiting. I take it, and his grip is firm, but he keeps on smiling, and that causes me to smile right back.
“I’d be honored to have you as my son-in-law someday, Dave,” he says. “I’ve never seen John look better since you came back. Lily adores you, and I myself am quite proud of what you’ve done with your life.”
“Thank you so much.” I shake his hand, trying not to do it too vigorously from my excitement. “Thank you, sir.”
He pats my back with another laugh, just as Lily runs back in with her backpack and drawing supplies. “I’m ready!”
I kneel down and open my arms. “Do I get a hug goodbye?”
She grips me tightly around the neck, then kisses my cheek once. “Bye, Pa.”
“See ya, squirt.”
I shake Mr. Egbert’s hand one more time as he leaves with Lily. I stay in the doorway to wave goodbye to her as the car pulls away, and I’m still going over everything my head twenty minutes later when John’s own car pulls up in the driveway. I’m already outside, so I hop down the steps to meet him.
He’s in the middle of getting out of his car, smiling at me. “Hey, Dave. What are you doing outside, it’s kind of cold out—”
I randomly cup his face, kissing him hard. He squeaks in surprise, but I feel his body melt under my touch, gripping back onto me as our lips move together. Neither of us could care less about neighbors seeing. I just care about kissing him as deeply as I can, making him let out small noises of pleasure that I’m soon following suit in.
When we finally part, he just smiles widely and pants a bit. “What was that for?”
“Nothing,” I mutter. I brush some hair back from his face, just studying how great he looks. How soft his skin is. “I just love you.”
“I love you too, Dave. Something happen?”
“No. But I’m making you dinner tonight.”
“I—”
“No pizza. Promise. It’ll be a real dinner. Then we can even watch Next or something. Sound good?”
“You’re willingly watching a Nic Cage movie with me?”
I grin, then laugh and kiss him again. “Yeah, I am.”
“What am I going to do with you, Dave Strider?” He laughs at my own laugh, his hands caressing my cheeks as he leans in to press more kisses back against my own lips.
“Nothing. Just keep me.”
“I think I can do that.”
For a night alone, one would think it’d be full of bed-rocking moans. Instead, we just hold each other. Before he gets into bed, I watch him unbutton his shirt and let it fall to the ground. I realize he’s not wearing Rose’s ring around his neck. It’s in the little bowl on the dresser. He actually hasn’t touched it in days.
He crawls in through the dark, pressing himself into my side, his head nuzzled in against my neck and shoulder. His fingertips are idly drawing soft designs against my bare chest, my own hand playing in his hair.
“Remember when we first met?” he whispers.
“You caught me making stuff on the wheel after school,” I chuckle softly.
“You tried to kick me out.”
“How is it that I never could get rid of you?”
“I’m like a leech.”
“I’m not complaining.”
He lets out a soft scoff that’s supposed to be a laugh, kissing my neck a few times. “Where do we go from here?”
“What do you mean? Like, life in general?”
“Yeah.”
“Does it matter?”
He doesn’t reply. I close my eyes, listening to his quiet breaths against me and the warmth of his body radiating on my skin. I think about tomorrow, when I’ll come home and kiss him, when I’ll tuck Lily in and tell her bedtime stories. When I’ll crawl into bed once more. And how I’ll fall asleep with him for every night to come.