Chapter Text
Lewis wakes with a cramp in his neck to the sensation of being watched. He hadn't planned on falling asleep or he would have chosen a more comfortable position and that cramp is making him wish he had.
Daniel stares back at him with that familiar smirk when he finally opens his eyes properly, rubbing his hands over his face. "You look like the boys went down easy." Daniel muses sarcastically, a stupid little twinkle in his eyes.
"Shut up," Lewis groans into his hands, sitting up a bit more, earning himself a huff from Roscoe who's fast asleep at his feet. "How did you even get in?" He says, then pokes Roscoe with one of his feet. "You're a terrible guard dog." Roscoe doesn't even move.
"I still know the code to the little key box," Daniel hums. "You think I would let my children stay somewhere I can't get to them?"
Lewis chuckles, shaking his head fondly. "Your children?"
"Shut up." It's Daniel's turn to say it, and he throws Lewis one of the decorative cushions from the other couch. "You know what I mean."
"Hmm," Lewis hums, sitting up straighter and stretching out his back with a sigh.
"That bad, huh?" Daniel asks, getting a bit more comfortable as Lewis goes about telling him how their day went, Daniel's face getting more frowny by the minute.
"So, yeah." Lewis finishes with a soft little sigh, then checks his watch. "They're hitting the two-hour mark though, I'm glad they're both getting a good nap in. They needed that."
Daniel nods, chewing on his bottom lip for a second. "I probably should have rescheduled." He says, a little bit of guilt audible in his voice.
"Hey, no." Lewis shakes his head, leaning forward and catching Daniel's eyes. "We're not gonna do that, they were in dire need of that nap whether they'd have been with you or with me. And I know what I signed up for, Daniel. I'm not spooked by a little bit of naughtiness, nothing I couldn't handle. And they both got plenty of loving after, I hope you don't doubt that."
"I don't," Daniel rushes out. "Doubt that, not at all. I hope you know that." He adds, sincerely. "Lando adores you, Lewis. And I'm pretty sure Oscar is getting there pretty quickly."
"We did have a nice cuddle." Lewis smiles and then goes to say something else but falls silent when they hear a voice coming from upstairs. It's gentle footsteps first and then there's a tentative little step at the top of the stairs.
"Uncle Lew?" It's almost a hissed little whisper, stuck between wanting to be quiet and wanting to be heard. "I'm awake."
Lewis gets off the couch quickly, unable to stop the smile on his face as he moves out into the hall to go and face whoever's woken up first. When he gets to the bottom of the stairs Oscar is still standing at the top step, seemingly waiting for permission to come down.
His face is adorably dusted with a soft pink flush from sleep, his hair tousled, his jeans and presumably socks messily bundled up together into his arms that are holding everything close to his chest, including Louie.
"Hi, sleepy." Lewis hums quietly, figuring Lando is still asleep if it's just Oscar out here at the moment. "You all done with your nap?" He asks as he walks up towards Oscar, gently taking his clothes from him.
It gets him a soft little nod, a hint of uncertainty in his eyes as he blinks at Lewis. "Awake." He repeats.
"Good boy, Oscar. You had such a good nap, I'm proud of you sweetheart." Lewis reassures, leaning forward to press a soft kiss to Oscar's head that seems to give the boy the confirmation he needs as the uncertainty disappears from his eyes.
"Let's get you dressed, huh? Uncle Lew'll help you." He hums, still mindful of his volume at the top of the stairs as he gently guides Oscar down onto his bum, putting his socks back onto his feet before slipping the now socked feet into his jeans, helping Oscar back up again and pulling the jeans up. "All done," Lewis says, brushing his hand through Oscar's hair in an attempt to get it in place a bit more. "Wanna go see who's downstairs?"
There's confusion on Oscar's face for a second. "Lando sleeps." He says, a questioning tone in his voice.
"Hmm.." Lewis nods, taking Oscar's free hand and gently helping him down the stairs. "So who else could it be?"
Oscar's brain is still starting up, Lewis figures, as he watches the gears turn with a soft chuckle, he doesn't push for an answer, just guides Oscar to the opening to the living. "Who's there?"
The gasp that leaves Oscar is all too adorable, and the "My Dandy!" mix between Danny and Daddy that follows is sure to give Lewis cavities.
"Hi, sweet boy." Daniel hums, opening his arm for a hug that Oscar is struggling to get to, his feet wanting to move too quickly for his body.
Eventually, Oscar gets himself crushed into the hug he wants, a content little sigh leaving him as he climbs out of Daniel's hold onto the couch and snuggles into his side, squeezing Louie somewhere in between. "You're back."
"I'm back," Daniel smiles, wrapping an arm around Oscar, and pressing a kiss down into his messy hair. "You feel a bit better? That was a good nap, buddy."
The mention of the nap has Oscar looking up at Daniel through his eyelashes, a little bit of tension in his shoulders. "I cried."
Daniel holds him a little tighter. "I know, sweetheart. Uncle Lewis told me, you and Lando had some big feelings, huh? That's why naps are important, aren't they? Uncle Lewis also told me you had such a nice cuddle to help you feel better before your nap, and you were such a good boy holding Roscoe's leash on your walk!" Daniel adds, changing the subject a bit. "Dandy's so proud of you, baby boy. You know that?"
"Know that," Oscar nods gently, the tension in his shoulders disappearing quicker than it got there, a soft sigh of relief leaving his body.
They fall into quiet conversation, Oscar, to Daniel's surprise, eventually abandoning his cuddle spot next to Daniel to squeeze himself next to Lewis shyly when the elder had asked about Louie, bashfully showing him off.
Not too long after Oscar woke up, there is another thump coming from upstairs and some more jostling. Most times Lando naps significantly longer than Oscar does but since Oscar got a long one in today Daniel's not surprised there's a little less time in between them waking up. Unlike Oscar, Lando doesn't wait for permission to come down the stairs, knows that he doesn't have to, and rounds the corner into the living with two fists rubbing his tired eyes. "Uncle L-"
He stops midsentence when his fists fall from his eyes, eyes landing on Daniel and having an opposite reaction to Oscar as he just... chokes out a sob. "Danny."
It sounds wrong in all the ways imaginable, Daniel's face twisting into one of confusion and worry. "Lando, baby, what's wrong?" He can barely get the sentence out before Lando sort of crumples to the floor, the floodgates open and his words stop making sense.
Daniel wastes no time getting up from the couch, racing over to where Lando has folded himself onto the floor and hoisting the boy up, grateful Lando doesn't seem to fight being picked up even if his unintelligible cries mingle with a bunch of "no's".
Daniel starts moving out of the living, needing to get Lando somewhere a bit more private where he can calm him down and also hopefully prevent Oscar from getting upset. He hopes the look he gives Lewis conveys that and feels slightly better when Lewis gives him a nod and already starts tending to Oscar.
Daniel tries to take the stairs two at a time, decides against that quickly when he realizes he's carrying Lando's body weight with him too, and goes about them a little more carefully, still managing to get them into the spare bedroom he knows the boys use for naps and sitting down on the bed, cradling Lando into his chest.
"Lando... Hey, Poppet—Danny's right here, buddy. You're okay, you're safe." Daniel tries to sound reassuring even when he's not sure what has gotten Lando so distraught. He briefly wonders if Lando's not fully awake, possibly stuck in a bad dream.
"Lando," his voice is a little louder now, trying to be heard over Lando's wailing. "Baby, what's wrong? Are you awake, buddy? You're safe, sweetheart." He tries tipping Lando back to get a good look at his face, but Lando nearly howls when he feels Daniel trying to create space between them, so Daniel quickly lets Lando bury back into his chest, breathing ragged.
Daniel frowns and starts gently rocking Lando to get him to calm down. When that doesn't work either, Daniel gently scoots himself off the bed and onto the floor, scooting over to where he already spotted all of Lando's stuff discarded and out of his little backpack quickly sorting through the mess before finding a little plastic container, figuring that both of Lando's hands that were currently fisted tightly into the jumper his was wearing meant the younger could not get the soothing benefit of sucking his thumb and fishing out on of the pacifiers he kept mostly for emergencies.
It's a little bit of a struggle to get his hand in between them, gently encouraging Lando to take the pacifier and breathing a sigh of relief when the younger briefly emerges to take it before burying himself back into Daniel.
"You're okay," Daniel repeats, gently swaying them from his position on the floor, pressing soft kisses into Lando's messy curls, feeling his heart rate calm down when Lando's wailing finally stops and his shoulders don't shake as much. "There we go." Daniel breathes.
Daniel holds Lando for a little while longer, scratching one of his hands up and down Lando's back before he carefully creates a little more space between them, barely holding back his pout as his eyes lock onto Lando's wet ones.
He presses another soft kiss onto Lando's forehead before he gently tugs the pacifier out of Lando's mouth. "What's gotten you so worked up, sweetheart?"
Lando frowns and exhales a shaky breath before he brings his thumb up to his mouth, gladly replacing the plastic that Daniel just took from him.
"Lando," Daniel hums, wrapping his hand around Lando's wrist and tugging his thumb out too, entertaining their fingers before Lando can tug his hand back, ignoring the wet digit. "Gotta talk to Danny, bub. Do you need a little more time?"
There's a sad little noise that leaves Lando's body, a big inhale, and then a whimper of a statement. "I was a bad big brother."
It's followed by a fresh wave of tears that leak out of Lando's heart and an "I made Oscar cry."
The sadness laced throughout the statements shatters Daniel's heart, unable to resist bringing Lando impossibly closer.
"Oh poppet, you were not and never are a bad big brother." Daniel rushes out immediately, feeling terrible for having put such emphasis on that earlier today. "Listen here," he releases his hold on Lando and sits him up properly.
"You are never bad, Lando. Remember how Danny tells you that sometimes we make bad decisions, and sometimes we make mistakes, but that does not ever make us bad. Just means we have to make different decisions, buddy. You made a decision today that got you in trouble with Uncle Lew, and then you and Uncle Lew sorted that out didn't you? And Uncle Lew told me all about how you made sure Oscar had his Louie. Do you think a bad big brother would remember to give Oscar his Louie?"
Lando's staring at him with big wet eyes, gently shakes his head, chewing his bottom lip. "No?"
Daniel gives him an encouraging smile. "But you did because you're a good big brother, buddy. Danny knows, Uncle Lew knows and I know Oscar thinks so too."
"Are you sure?"
It sounds so vulnerable that Daniel wants to cry a little.
"I'm super duper sure, Danny knows best, bug. I promise. Does Lando know?"
Lando chews his bottom lip a bit more, then gives Daniel a soft nod.
Daniel bounces him gently. "Gotta hear it, sweet boy."
Lando squirms a bit before there's a soft. "I'm a good big brother."
"A little louder?"
Lando sighs a big sigh and wipes at his eyes after tugging his hand out of Daniel's hold. "I'm a good big brother."
It earns Lando a big smile from Daniel and he wraps his arms back around the boy in a tight hug. "Good boy, Lando. Danny loves you so much."
"Love," Lando mumbles back into Daniel's shoulder, rubbing at his eyes.
Lando doesn't fight it when Daniel breaks the cuddle first, helping the younger back into his clothes and Daniel doesn't comment on Lando finding the pacifier again and putting it back in his mouth, figuring if that's the comfort he needs right now he'll let Lando have it. He knows his boy is good though when Lando insists on bringing the plastic fork that Daniel isn't sure of its origin back downstairs, giving Daniel such big manipulative puppy eyes that Daniel allows it.
They'll be okay.