Chapter Text
With Samantha settled on her blanket with her toys in front of him, Freddie started to wrap her presents while thinking through the list of tasks he had left before guests (and the band) would arrive. He needed to finish wrapping, needed to hang up decor, set up the food, Roger needed to come in with the rest of her gifts, and Phoebe needed to come back with the last of the decor. Right, and he needed to still get his parents from the airport.
And, of course, he needed Joe to finish her birthday cake.
Which meant, naturally, that Samantha would start crying, probably feeling bored or lonely or uncomfortable from teething, and Freddie could feel his stress and anxiety bubbling. Panic clutched at him as he looked around, trying to figure out how he could manage this and her at the same time.
"Darling, darling, darling," he said, putting the piece of tape he’d pulled on her nose instead of on the paper and shifting fully to face her, "my love, Papa needs to get all of this together before everyone comes over."
And, to Freddie's surprise, Joe came into the room and picked her up and put her on his hip.
"Don't worry about it," he said, heading toward the kitchen as she stopped crying and curled into Joe's shoulder.
Freddie felt the anxiety ease before it rose right back.
Joe still didn't know.
Joe still had questions, he knew, and he didn't have the time to explain before her birthday party started. Not really. He needed to...
"You've got a lot to worry about," Joe said. "Get the presents wrapped and the decor up. She can help me in the kitchen. At least until Phoebe comes back. Besides, she likes me. That's good enough, right?"
"I... I suppose," Freddie said, watching them and trying to stop the hesitation.
With Samantha taken care of, Freddie didn't feel nearly as stressed or panicked while he finished wrapping all of her presents. Which made him feel more at ease to start decorating.
He stood, going to the small kitchen of his New York flat and paused in his quest to get the last of the decorations from the kitchen.
Joe had Samantha sitting on the counter and was talking gently to her about what he was doing.
"Here ya go, sweet girl," he said, handing her a small bowl while Freddie reached for the cameras on the table, "why don't you take this frosting and enjoy it?"
But she didn't put her hand in the bowl and eat it, the way Freddie expected her to. Instead, she took a fistful of the frosting and patted it gently onto the cupcake closest to her. Freddie watched as she spread the frosting onto the little cupcake and clapped her hands, giggling.
Joe, too, seemed quite surprised, watching her with a gentle smile as she did the same thing again.
Taking a step to the side, Freddie lifted the polaroid and snapped a photo, hoping not to disturb her as he shook it out, and then several with the other camera, making sure that he'd have more photos so that when he was able to finally talk to Joe, he’d have photos of the two of them together.
"Oh, look at you," Freddie said, stepping closer and smiling at her, "trying to be just like Joe, aren't you?"
"Just like me?" Joe asked, voice a bit dazed.
Looking at him, Freddie nodded, "Obviously, darling. Look at her. She's trying to decorate a cupcake, just like she's watched you do half the morning."
Joe's smile softened and he tilted his head to the side, "Yeah, I guess she is."
Joe's expression shifted to contemplative and he looked at Freddie, "How long do I have before the party?"
Checking his watch, Freddie looked at Joe with uncertainty, "About three hours."
Nodding, Joe smiled, "Okay, then she's getting the extra cake. One she can decorate herself. That way she can participate extra. I made an extra one."
"An extra cake?"
"Mhm. It was a backup, just in case one of them didn’t turn out." He turned around in the kitchen and grabbed a dirty-iced cake from the counter, "Here, sweetpea. I'll get you some more colors, too."
Shifting, Freddie took more photos while Samantha took as much frosting as she could and started putting it on the extra cake in uneven splotches and then she started to put the frosting on her hand and smooth it out as best she could.
After a while, Freddie accepted he needed to go back to his own tasks, looking around and giving the two of them some space while he put out balloons and streamers.
Once he was satisfied with the decor, Freddie pulled out extra rolls of film and then looked at the polaroids he'd taken of Joe and Samantha together and his heart clenched.
Their expressions were the same, the way they were looking at the cakes the same. Joe looked at her so fondly that Freddie's heart just ached.
Stepping back into the kitchen, Freddie smiled at the two of them. Samantha still on the counter, hands and face covered in brightly colored frostings, Joe standing with his eyes focused on the evenness of the frosting on the cake.
“I think someone needs a bath,” Freddie said as he stepped next to her and kissed her temple. “And then a nap before our guests arrive, hm?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Joe said. “Can’t believe Phoebe hasn’t gotten back yet.”
“Oh, he phoned earlier. He’s going to pick my parents up from the airport since he was over that way,” Freddie said and he stepped in, picking up Samantha. “Let’s go get cleaned up, shall we?”
She giggled and kissed Freddie’s cheek.
Once he’d gotten her down for her nap, he came into the kitchen. With the polaroid in his hand tapping his nervous energy, he knew what he had to do.
"Joe, dear, can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked.
Joe glanced up from the piping he was doing on the last of the cakes, "Can it wait... five minutes? I'm almost done, I promise."
Nodding, Freddie sat at the counter and watched as Joe finished the design on the cake and he looked at Freddie, brushing his hands on the apron.
"What's up?"
"I... I wanted to give you this," he said, handing Joe the photo.
Looking at it, Joe's expression softened, "Thanks. She's adorable, y'know?"
"I do," he said. He hesitated, feeling the nervousness clutching at his throat. "Joe, we... we need to talk about it. She... Joe, she's a year old now. She was early, too."
"She was?"
Freddie nodded, too nervous to elaborate and hoping he could wait for Joe to put the pieces together.
Brows furrowing, Joe looked at the photo and then at Freddie, "Wait... are you saying..."
"She's yours, Joe. I..."
"I..." Joe interrupted Freddie's thought.
The words just started tumbling out of Freddie's mouth in a nervous stream, "I didn't mean to not tell you anything, I... I tried, really. I phoned you, your parents, I even tried going back to New York and Boston and couldn't find you and with the policy at EMI, I couldn't have the baby without getting married so Roger suggested that we just get married to each other and then... and then when I saw you holding her at the show the other night I panicked and asked Roger to get her from you and then I didn't know how to tell you when you came back to the room and you offered to do her cakes and left the next morning so..."
"Hey, hey, hey," Joe said, stepping into Freddie's space and putting his hands on Freddie's biceps, squeezing gently. "Hey, baby, it's okay. I'm not mad. I get why you did it the way you did. I get it. I'm not mad. I promise. But I do gotta go get candles. I'll be back before the party starts. Everything else is finished. I promise. We're gonna be just fine."
Freddie's heart was pulsing in his ears and he felt the stress and panic clouding over his eyes that went with this level of a panic attack.
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely, baby," Joe said, pulling Freddie into his chest. "I know, I know, I never leave you like this. I promise I'm not mad. Just gotta run to the sotre. I'll be right back."
When Joe was fully out of the building and Freddie could see him walking down the street, he couldn't help but notice the pink candles sitting on the counter.
Fuck.
Joe did uphold his promise, he was back before the party started, came around to give Freddie a hug and looked awkwardly around when he realized that Freddie's parents and sister were in the room, Samantha sitting on Jer's lap, squirming to try to get to Bomi.
"Oh, hello, dear. My parents’ flight got in a little early so they decided they wanted to spend some extra time with her," Freddie said. "Everyone else will be here soon. Roger, Dom, and Felix are on their way. Would you help me finish setting up the dining room?"
Freddie didn't wait for Joe's response, just grabbed onto his forearm and started pulling him toward the kitchen. Once they were in the room, Freddie shut the door behind them and turned on the kitchen sink to wash his hands and rinse off the fruits and vegetables he already knew had been washed.
"Are you sure you're not angry with me?" Freddie asked, not looking at him.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Like I said, just needed to get candles," he answered.
"Candles were on the counter. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner and maybe we can tell your parents soon?" he said, looking nervous. "We can fly them in tomorrow and they can stay for a couple of days. My parents will hate it but---"
"Freddie, really, it's okay," Joe said, grinning, "I'm not angry. I just needed to get her a little something special."
Tears burned in Freddie's eyes and then he started laughing and reached forward, wrapping his arms around Joe's neck, trying to relax.
"It's okay, really,” Joe said, rubbing Freddie’s back as he spoke, “I know my parents would love to be here but we just just fib a little. I promise. We’ll tell them… Okay well, we’ll tell them part of the truth and that we wanted to wait to have them over so that the party was more manageable. How’s that?”
Freddie looked Joe in the eyes, taking a deep breath and nodding, “Alright. Alright, dear. Thank you.”
With a smile, Joe handed Freddie a package of glittery pink candles, “And I did get new candles. Noticed she liked the pink frosting best.”
The air caught in Freddie’s lungs and he smiled at Joe fondly.