Chapter Text
When he approached the break room, he found Chad lounging in a chair while Kavira spun around rather aggressively in front of him. Robert sighed out loud accidentally, catching the attention of the toddler as she immediately stopped, barreling towards him at top speed, “daddy!” she screamed.
When the girl made it to his feet he scooped her up and nestled her on his hip, giving her a quick peck to her cheek. “Why was she spinning like that?” Robert asked, leaning against the doorframe as Chad made his way over to the two.
“I think she was trying to dance,” Chad shrugged, “either that or she was trying to see how dizzy she could get before she threw up.” Robert hit his husband on the arm gently, “why would you let her do that?” he asked cynically.
The taller man laughed, “she has to learn self control some time,” he pinched his daughter on the cheek and walked out of the break room, but not before giving a light slap to Robert’s ass.
“Hey!” the victim protested, “I can write you up for that.” The fire hero snorted disingenuously, “I’d like to see you try.”
For the afternoon shift, Chad had told Blazer not to worry about filling in for him anymore, as he should try to at least do his job while he was here. She agreed reluctantly, nagging him that he was to come find her if anything happened; that’s an order! the woman had stated.
All of the Z Team members were situated in the hero bay, awaiting their next assignments when Chad heard a voice ring in his ear piece.
“Hi baba!” the tiny voice sounded through, “it’s me!” the girl partially whispered, as if Chad wouldn’t know who it was on the other line.
Chad could only smile, a big goofy grin plastered all over his face when he responded to his daughter, “hi Kav, I gotta work now, so put daddy back on the line,” he cooed sweetly.
”Okay! Bye bye!” the toddler squealed, her confirmation followed by the sound of rustling, what Chad could only assume was Robert putting his headset back on.
A cough was heard over the dispatch, “okay team, let’s have a good shift.” The Z Team erupted into laughter the minute Robert got on the line. “Sure thing, daddy,” Visi said, barely containing her chuckle.
Chad’s voice immediately came through the line, “what the fuck guys? You’re all disrespectful bitches, I was having a heartfelt moment with my child.”
The dispatcher proceeded to blow out the microphone over the line, a high pitch whining causing all of the members to scream in agony.
“Ow! what the fuck?!” Prism screeched, Golem mumbled on the line, “damn… I think you just blasted my ear drums to hell.”
The rest of the members complained intermittently, when Robert cleared his throat loudly. “Are we done acting like children? I know you all love Kav, but let’s not stoop down to her level, understood?”
A yes, mom resounded through the team and Chad whistled over the line, “damn, I like it when you get all controlling like that. Makes me sweat a bit.”
“Keep it in your pants, dude. Your child is on the line,” Sonar chided, making a slightly embarrassed sound. Chad scoffed, “what? That’s how she came to be in the world anyway. You all are such prudes.” Prism responded to Chad on the line, confused, “didn’t you guys use a surrogate for Kav?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t try beforehand.”
Robert rubbed his temples, today had already been a long enough day without Chad talking about their sex life to all of their coworkers. “Okay! Can we please get back to work now? I’m about to report all of you to HR.”
*
The afternoon shift concluded without much to write home about. A few petty thefts here, some traffic stops there, all in all a solid day for the Z Team.
The nap helped Kavira immensely as she was noticeably less grouchy this time around, leading to easy dispatching for her dad.
Chase had come by a couple times throughout the shift, giving her various toys and snacks that Robert didn’t approve of. Galen walked her around the office, pointing out different things to her when he took his break from dispatching.
They visited Blazer, who the toddler drew a picture of on Robert’s sticky note pad. The little girl excitedly handed it over to the blonde hero who almost cried at the unexpected gift, even though the toddler drew her as more of a sack of potatoes than a person.
Waterboy was called back to base early to clean up a leak in the bathroom, and when he was finished he offered to entertain Kavira for Robert.
The unlikely duo sat outside in the courtyard lawn, Herm making small puddles on the ground that the toddler splashed around happily. He also was able to create a sprinkle of rain that casted a rainbow over the girl.
Herm was great with kids, despite what the other members thought. He was definitely the most gentle of the team, which didn’t go unnoticed by Kavira, as she never wanted to leave the hero’s side when they played together.
After about 45 minutes the lanky man appeared next to the dispatcher’s desk, holding Kavira whose pants were drenched.
All things considered, Robert thought the clothing change would’ve been more involved. He had extra pants to spare, Prism and Mal wouldn’t like it, but he’d have to bring back the blue polka dot leggings.
“S-sorry Rob-Robert… I-I did- I got h-her clothes, um, p-pants- wet,” Herm blurted out, his cheeks dusted pink in apology. Robert reached from under his desk and retrieved the diaper bag with the toddler’s extra clothes. “No worries Herm,” the dispatcher reassured, “there’s extra… the girls might not like it, but it’ll have to do.”
There was only about half an hour left of the shift, so Robert stopped any new calls from coming in and let the team finish their current missions before they returned back to base.
He quickly stripped Kavira of her soiled pants and put on her old leggings, then placed his daughter on his lap.
It was nearly 5 p.m., and Robert couldn’t wait to clock out and just lay on his couch at home. He would just tell Chad to order something for delivery, as he was sure that his husband was too tired from the day to actually use their kitchen.
The toddler on his lap was having a fun time trying to unbutton his shirt, when the clock in the office rang, alerting all employees to the end of the day.
Like clockwork the dispatcher logged out and punched his digital timecard, he shut his computer down and locked all of his desk drawers.
Holding Kavira, he booked it to the break room and put all of the remaining snacks the girl didn’t get a chance to eat back in the cooler bag, along with his and Chad’s washed lunch containers.
He was just arriving back to his desk with the packed bag when he spotted Chad walking out from the locker rooms, dressed in his civvies.
“Miss me?” he asked, motioning for Robert to hand him Kavira, which he gladly did. “As much as we could,” the younger responded, giving his husband a chaste kiss and grabbing all of their essentials to take home.
The rest of the Z Team bounded out of the locker rooms, gathering around the family to say their goodbyes, mentioning how nice it was for the girl to visit and that they should bring her more often. Chad seemed to be down, but Robert thought otherwise.
“We never get to see Kav anymore!” Punch Up complained, drawing up his shoulders animatedly. He rounded behind Robert to make funny faces at the child in the dispatcher’s arms.
Prism smirked, crossing her arms against her chest, “speak for yourself hoes, I see my baby girl all the damn time,” the woman gave a satisfied grin. She moved next to Kavira, shooing away Punch Up so she could get a better view of the toddler.
Malevola shot back, flicking Chad on the forearm, “yeah, that’s because you and Chad are like, best mates. He doesn’t invite any of us ‘round.”
The fire hero took offense to that, scoffing loudly. He raised his finger to protest, “I don’t invite you hooligans to my house because the last time you all came, you broke my goddamn furniture.”
It was true.
The last time all of the Z Team were at Chad and Robert’s house, was for Kavira’s first birthday party. They were playing musical chairs and the game had become rather intense, only Sonar and Coop were left and they were both gunning for the promised prize of that $20 gift card to Target.
As soon as the music stopped, the bat hybrid launched at the remaining dining room chair, but he wasn’t quite quick enough as Coop pulled it out from under him, mercilessly decking the man in the face before claiming the seat as hers.
Sonar retaliated by jumping on the assassin, trying to strangle her for ownership of the only thing standing between him and a new coffee machine.
In the tussle, there was a loud CRACK that echoed through the room. Both parties froze as they had realized that the back rest of the mahogany wood chair that Chad had searched for for literal months, was split in two.
Chad, engulfed in flames, was about to burn the pair to a crisp when Robert had to remind him that their daughter was literally right in front of him, and if he were to roast the two culprits now, their child would be a witness to murder.
They were almost down two members of the Z Team that day.
“And let’s not forget that you all had a bar-style brawl in our living room,” Robert added, he frowned, clearly unamused. “But we were fighting out of love,” Golem objected, “Kavira’s love.”
Hearing her name, the toddler waved to the hero, who gushed with pride that he was able to get her attention.
Robert rolled his eyes, “you’re all going to have to sign a contract promising that you won’t play any more musical chairs in our house.”
Malevola lit up, clasping her hands together in triumph, “so does that mean there will be a next time?” The whole team stared at the dispatcher expectantly.
“We’ll see,” the man said hesitantly, shifting his daughter in his arms.
The Z Team stayed there, chatting away until each member slowly said their farewells and set off for home. The couple decided that it was time to take their leave as well, and moved to grab all of their packed essentials.
After gathering all of their things, Chad called for the elevator while Robert tried to convince his daughter to leave the poor monstera on his desk alone, the plant was already on its last legs without the girl ripping out three more of its leaves.
“The elevators here, let’s go,” the older man held the door for the rest of his family. They all crowded inside, Kavira reaching on her tip toes to push the lobby button, and descended back down the building.
As they walked out of the front doors, Kavira turned around and waved at the SDN, “bye bye!” she declared excitedly. Robert couldn’t help but gush at how adorable his daughter was, lifting her into his arms to head back to their car.
After securing Kavira in her car seat, Robert slid into the passenger side for the second time that day and attempted to keep his eyes open, lest the rhythmic movement of the car pull him to sleep. “Sleep, babe,” Chad whispered; which was all Robert needed to let himself doze off silently as his husband drove them home.
The familiar curve of pulling into their driveway awoke Robert, he shook his head to wake himself up further when he heard a distant yapping coming from their front door.
Beef was waiting by the window, paws up on the sill and tail wagging happily when he saw his owners arrive.
“Long day?” a woman’s voice sounded from over their fence, a short older lady with graying hair and burgundy glasses shuffled up to them, opening her to allow for Kavira to run into them, which she did.
The dispatcher scratched the back of his head, yawning a little in the process. “Like you wouldn’t believe, Maxine,” he offered a genuine smile at the woman.
“Well, then I won’t keep you three. I’ll see you all tomorrow anyway, have a good night. Especially you, sweetheart,” she booped Kavira on the nose. The girl giggled in response, hugging their neighbor one last time before running into their house.
The rest of the evening was uneventful, which was idyllic in the parent’s book. They ordered Chinese takeout and opted to sit on the couch to eat.
Normally, Chad would rather eat their food off the ground than risk staining their suede couch that was a wedding gift from Blazer, but both of the men were too tired to care at this point. And the couch did offer that extra comfort that their wooden dining chairs did not.
They watched old re-runs of Survivor, and Kavira happily slurped on her chow mein noodles as Chad commented how easy it would be for him to complete the challenges the contestants were faced with.
“You call that a challenge? Making a fire with some stupid sticks? I don’t even need those things, easy win for me,” he barked out a laugh. The man on the couch next to him responded with a mouthful of orange chicken, “that’s because you have fire powers, you dummy.”
Chad rolled his eyes, standing by his comment from earlier, “whatever, the point still stands.”
When they were finished, they played a game of rock, paper, scissors to determine who would wash the dishes, Robert won two to one.
As the night came to a close, the dad and baba bathed and tucked in their daughter by 8 p.m. sharp, leaving them ample time to do whatever the fuck they wanted before sleep overcame them as well.
“Up for a quickie?” the older man suggested, wiggling his eyebrows seductively. Robert thought about it, but he was sure that he would probably fall asleep before his husband even prepped him, so he opted for another time.
Instead, they showered together to “save water”, but also so that Chad could fondle Robert’s ass in lieu of fucking him into the couch.
The pair continued with their nighttime routine, Chad applying eight different moisturizers and Robert slapping on the closest thing he could find as pyjamas, which happened to be one of Chad’s old band shirts. He didn’t like to sleep in pants, as his husband was always burning at at least 75 degrees.
Climbing into bed, Robert assumed his claimed position in the king sized mattress as little spoon as Chad snuggled up next to him, his broad chest pressing against the back of the latter’s head.
“I’d say that it wasn’t too bad of a day at all,” the fire hero admitted, breathing in the scent of his husband under him.
Robert only hummed in response, not wanting to outright admit that his husband was right (because then he’d always be reminded of it), but also wanting to give him his flowers where it was due.
He shifted a bit, “yeah, I can agree with that,” he reached up to squeeze Chad’s arm, subsequently bringing the man close to himself. The heat radiating off of him was divine.
The man above him laughed, “so you’re saying that I was right?”
“I didn’t say that,” Robert contested.
Chad chuckled, kissing his husband on the head.
“Uh-huh, sure. Whatever you say, Bob Bob.”
As they settled in for the night, Robert couldn’t help but feel completely content with his life.
It’s not that being content was a bad thing. It’s more like Robert had been subjected to such a traumatic childhood that he couldn’t fathom simply being content.
Everything that could go horribly wrong in his life did, up until he met Chad. And it had only gotten better after they had chosen to start a family.
Never in a million years could Robert ever imagine that he would be able to live the life he has with Chad and their daughter.
He simply couldn’t be happier.