Chapter Text
The sound of baby feet pattering against Roberto’s marble floor of his pent house wasn’t unusual in and of itself. Ever since Sam and Josiah came to live with him because of Izzy and Sam’s messy divorce, Roberto had been woken up more times than not by the two blondes shenanigans. Sam had a habit of singing along to the radio early in the morning while he made breakfast, and Josiah had a habit of being two and not knowing how to control his own volume. Roberto had to groan to himself, rolling over to cover his head with his pillow in hope that his headache would lessen.
Roberto wasn’t angry that they woke him up early; he had never been so productive in his life, actually. Da Costa International was thriving with their CEO’s new found life before noon and the fact that Sam was one to do laundry and cook every meal meant that Roberto was becoming a bit spoiled. His suits had never been so well pressed and his lunch had never been packed for him before. His secretary had even stopped slipping pamphlets on healthy eating in with his mail. Hell, his apartment had never been so clean. When he first picked out the open floor plan and double bedroom penthouse, he had felt a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of having to clean the place (more likely, however, was having to pay someone to come in to clean it). Sam solved that issue with nothing more than a duster and a beat up old apron he brought with him from the farm.
So Roberto was used to baby feet running around his very expensive apartment. He was used to Josiah jumping on him early in the morning to rouse him for breakfast because Sam is a weirdo who likes to eat together, like a family . But Roberto was not used to, however, was multiple sets of baby feet stomping around his abode. One giggle was normal, but an entire chorus of giggles was not.
Roberto was pretty sure that they weren’t also hosting Rahne’s son, as he would have remembered Tier tearing up his favorite loafers, and he was pretty sure that Xi’an did not trust him with her siblings, and there were no other children within the complex, so Roberto was fairly confused as to how the children had multiplied. The only other people within the complex were rich old white men on their third divorces and the occasional middle aged couple who both had their doctorates and firmly believed in not reproducing. Something about there being enough waste within the world, and if they really felt the need for progeny there were enough children needing homes already.
Roberto stayed in bed for five more minutes until he could no longer take the curiosity and pulled on a robe over his sleep pants. No use showing off his scars to children who asked too many questions. Even though they had lessened with the time Sam spent with Roberto, since Sam was a firm believer in skin care and rubbed scar reducing cream on Roberto every night. A nightly ritual Roberto was a big fan of.
…
There was a teenage girl sitting on Roberto’s counter. Not only that, but in her arms was a baby. A brand new baby, and not a baby like Josiah was. Every child still in diapers qualified as a baby in Roberto’s opinion.
Josiah was happily babbling to another girl his age before setting off in another game of tag. A slightly older child watched both of them, making sure they didn’t run into any sharp edges or expensive decorations. Roberto would eat his 2000$ Gucci tie if they weren’t blood related. It made Roberto pause however, because he knew that Sam would never be unfaithful.
Roberto decided that the oldest one had to be around 14 and a fan of gothic clothing. Roberto stifled his own laugh at her extremely spiked hair, knowing that at that age he would have exploded if an adult dared to laugh at his style. The second oldest was a boy and wearing sunglasses for whatever inane reason. He seemed to be dressed up like Keanu Reeves in Inception. Not that Roberto ever watched it, just knew the general plotline from one of Doug’s info dumping sessions. Josiah and the next girl seemed to be so close in age that Roberto truly could not discern which was older. The last was, of course, the baby. Roberto was no expert on babies, but he was fairly certain that that one should not have been separated from their mother. Not that he could talk, since his mother hired a wet nurse and went back to excavating within a week of his birth.
As if summoned from Roberto’s confused thoughts alone, Sam came in the front door, quietly toeing off his shoes while juggling bag after bag of baby supplies. He met Roberto’s eyes and his own widened in surprise. Sam never was good at sneaking in and out, nor being sneaky in general. It was one of the things that totally charmed Roberto, the way that Sam was never able to hide his emotions. He was an open book, and Roberto’s favorite thing to read.
As if on cue, the brand new baby let out a whine that was one part anger and two parts hungry. Sam shuffled to the stove, letting down bags as he went. It reminded Roberto of when Sam was just moving in, leaving card board boxes and toddler toys as he went. It shouldn’t have been as endearing Roberto found it. He cursed himself for digging a hole for himself so deep.
Sam looked right at home digging out a pot and filling it with water. He hummed as he worked, heating a bottle for the apparently hungry baby. Sam was a natural, taking the baby from the teenager and cradling it swiftly. Roberto watched in amazement as the baby immediately started to calm down, guzzling the milk greedily. The only time Sam even paused was to burp the baby. Sam didn’t even look disgusted as spit up ran down his back. Roberto found it unfair how handsome he looked in the early light.
“So, uh,” Roberto started, sipping his coffee, enjoying the show, “What’s going on?”
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