Chapter Text
Virgil drove into Sanders Academy’s parking lot and checked the time, 2:55pm. It was the start of his husband’s last lesson of the day, on a very special day, and he was teaching his eldest sons’ maths class. It was a very special day for him and Virgil – not because it was a beautiful early June day nor because it was only a few weeks until summer break – but because it was Logan’s birthday. Logan always forgot his own birthday of course, the date was only six days after their wedding anniversary and that date was apparently more important to him. Their wedding anniversary was amazing as always; Roman and Remus were on babysitting duty the whole weekend so the couple could have a weekend away in the city where they went to university together, eat at the restaurant they had their first date at and walk around the hiking trail Logan proposed at when they were a whole lot more in shape.
No-one around Logan forgot his birthday of course. Every year Janus and Virgil bound together to make a big extravagant deal of it. Virgil got up at 3am and tied a ‘happy birthday’ sign to the top of Logan’s car and stuffed the entire car (except the driver’s seat) full of dark blue birthday balloons. He also sewed a happy birthday badge onto Logan’s laptop bag so it couldn’t be removed, making sure his first birthday present was a brand new bag that could only be used after his day of work. Janus’ plan was even more extra, they had planned it the entire week before over text (hidden from Logan, but the two texting each other wasn’t unusual as the two had very similar snarky humour). While Logan was teaching his first class, a senior class that knew it was Logan’s birthday due to the ridiculous festivities that happened the same time every year, Janus wheeled in a triple tiered birthday cake with twenty-seven candles lit while the class sang happy birthday. Once that was over the cake was to be proudly displayed on a shelf in Logan’s classroom with every happy birthday sign Janus could buy pointing to it. Then also every lesson there would be two students with balloons to walk in and give their teacher the balloons and a message from Janus about how old he is now to add some existential crisis. Roman and Remus were tasked with giving the last two balloons of the day and they were very excited to celebrate their Dad’s aging.
And now Virgil was waiting outside the high school, sitting in his car for a moment. He knew the plan was for him to walk in, he had gotten permission from the school to walk in and disrupt Logan’s class for the last ten minutes. He had a purple and blue balloon next to him along with a present of Logan’s favourite sweets (wine gums – they’re usually only available in the UK but Virgil found a store that sold them) and a blindfold. There was a surprise lurking for Logan, which was why Virgil came to pick him up.
With a deep breath Virgil entered the school; walking around the corridors, following his husband’s voice to find his classroom. Luckily he didn’t have to walk too far as all the maths classrooms were near the school entrance, but it still made Virgil slightly nervous. He was transported back to his high school days just by the sight of the lockers; being stuffed into lockers, battling his sexuality as although his family accepted him his classmates didn’t. He was the only gay kid in his high school so the dating pool was non-existent, it was only when he entered college that he knew he had a chance at love and almost immediately he fell in love with the nerdy, nervous British guy he met at the library. High school seemed like a lifetime away, but actually being in a high school hit Virgil like a brick.
“Verge?” Logan mumbled as Virgil entered, a smile and a chuckle escaping his lips as he met eyes with his husband. “This day is just full of surprises. Class, this is my husband Virgil. Virgil do you mind sitting at the back of the classroom next to Remus so I could set some homework?” Virgil nodded, almost saying ‘yes sir’ due to the pressure of the environment making him feel like a student again. He sat at the back next to his son, who smiled at him but was busy trying to understand the work he had been given to do a proper acknowledgement. Even though he knew he could get all the one-on-one help he needed from his teacher at home Remus had said several times he wanted to work it out on his own. Virgil paid attention to the board too, but everything looked like Greek since he hadn’t touched a maths textbook in years.
When the lesson finished the kids walked out and into the corridor to go home. Virgil approached his husband and kissed his cheek, causing the pink tint to appear that he loved to see ever so much. “Thank you.” Logan whispered, grasping both his husband’s hands and holding them, balancing the bridge of his nose on Virgil’s forehead and pulling a soft smile. “You make every birthday the best birthday ever.”
“You’re acting like the day’s over.” Virgil smiled wide, looking up at his husband and resisting joining their lips together. “I have another surprise for you.” Logan raised an eyebrow at the black tie Virgil held in his hand to act as a blindfold. “Blindfold yourself and follow me, you’ll get a wine gum as a reward.”
Logan laughed and did as he was told while Roman and Remus got the school bus home to take care of their brothers. Virgil knew where he was driving to, he had planned this present for months and knew Logan was going to love it. And even though it was a surprise Logan still asked where they were going every five minutes.
Virgil drove onto the driveway and looked over the present he got his husband and their family. It was a very expensive present, he had to have his family’s help slightly but the coffee shop he worked at was becoming really popular so it wasn’t a bad investment that would be regretted in a few years. It was all worth it – and after all, Logan got the same present for Virgil when they graduated college. This was just an upgrade.
“You can take the blindfold off.” Virgil whispered, giving his husband a quick kiss while he helped him out the car and stand in the correct place. Logan laughed softly and took the blindfold off and his glasses on, looking around before processing the present in front of them.
“Wait… YOU GOT A HOUSE?” Logan almost screamed, his mouth wide open while he examined the house. “Or – no – this must be a hotel. This is way too huge for us to have…”
“Nope, you were right the first time Sherlock. This is our four bedroom, three bathroom house.” Virgil held his husband’s hand to calm him. Logan didn’t seem to need calming due to anxiety though, he was rather excited. A wide smile lay on his face. “Do you want to go inside my nerd?”
Logan could only nod excitedly, following his husband’s hands and looking everywhere he could. The front door lead to an entranceway with two doors, one to a large living room and the other into a dining room – which gave Logan a large shock. “You’ve got to be joking Stormy… Only rich people have dining rooms.”
The kitchen was a lot bigger than their small tiled room in the other house. And it lead to a side garden bigger than they had before. Upstairs were all the bedrooms, enough for each family member as Roman and Remus wanted to share a room. Logan and Virgil’s bedroom even had a small balcony that overlooked the street. “And your school is there – and Bean There, Expresso That is just behind…” Virgil said, pointing across the many houses they could see. Logan wrapped a hand around his waist, a smile still on his face while he listened to his husband’s soft voice. “So… Shall we put down the deposit to move here in September?”
Logan chuckled, enjoying the silence for a moment to hear the birds chirp. He then turned to his husband, goofy smile and eyes full of love for the person in front of him and held him closer. Virgil only chuckled and held onto Logan’s shirt while he received a kiss on the forehead. Only three words could be said, and they were the only words that he could think of to describe his feelings and adoration. “I love you.”
*****
“I don’t want you to stop being our dads.” Patton mumbled, leaning into Virgil who he was sitting next to on the bus. The family took the bus together, Patton and Virgil sat on the two seats available with Emile on Virgil’s lap, while Logan, Roman and Remus stood around them. It was a big day, it was the kids’ last social worker meeting so they would figure out where they were going next. They’d either be allowed to legally become Crofters children or go into foster care. And they already knew what they wanted.
“I’m sure there’s no reason to worry.” Logan said clearly to all his kids, even though he was worrying himself. The police could make a stupid decision and decide Virgil and Logan were unfit parents. They were young and they were gay, and both could be used against them. “We’re so proud of all of you, you’re our kids whatever the police say and we will fight for that.”
“I’m going to tell them that you’re the bestest amazing dads ever!” Emile giggled, looking up from his animal noises toy to smile at Logan. Logan smiled back while Virgil hugged Emile tightly and blew a raspberry on his cheek.
“I never knew Mr Crofters could be such a softie.” Remus smiled, holding onto the bus pole while listening to music. The twins were very concerned about how this social worker meeting was going to turn out. They didn’t want to go back to being the sole providers for their brothers, once a while babysitting was fun and good when their parents wanted a date but they couldn’t go back to worrying about money and food and balancing school on top of that. They wanted to stay being kids. “He’s like a big teddy bear.” Remus gave Logan a small hug after that, before listening to his music again.
Roman was silent, just listening to his Disney songs. Life had finally gotten good, and he was excited for the future. His plan before used to be to just graduate high school and perform in small church amateur dramatics groups to get enough money to help his brothers. Now things were different, teachers were telling him he could go to college for musical theatre, and his dads wanted to help pay for it. And just like that it could all go again.
“Roman sit down.” Virgil said quickly as he stood, walking a few steps over to his son. He was crying quietly so Virgil hugged him. “Hey kid… It’s alright Ro, everything’s fine.”
Roman just held his father, crying into his hoodie until he was sat down next to his brother. Logan and Virgil talked softly to him, Roman vented his anxieties, and he was calmed. Everything was fine, everything was going to be fine. Mr Crofters would always be there.
“Hey, I’ll tell you what.” Logan smiled, looking over all his kids with a smile. He didn’t want to say goodbye. “If you get to be in our family – we’ll get a dog for our new house! Remy deserves a brother or sister too!”
*****
“Hold my hand Lo.” Virgil whispered, sitting next to his husband in the police station where his children met their social worker once a fortnight. Logan grasped his hand without a word, and Virgil kept his eyes on it to calm himself. He didn’t want to be scared but he was, he wanted this family, he needed to be Papa, he was so happy being a husband and father. “We’re only twenty seven…” Virgil mumbled, and Logan raised an eyebrow confused. “If this doesn’t happen…”
Virgil couldn’t finish what he was saying before he covers his eyes. Logan sighed, understanding exactly the feeling, and held his husband close. “We have time.” Logan said softly. “If this doesn’t happen I’ll get all the paperwork ready to adopt a child with you, and this time next year we’d be dads again.”
“I’ll miss them though…” Logan could only nod, watching the police officers walking around with stacks of evidence or on the phone to a coworker. Virgil calmed his tears and leant his head on Logan’s shoulder, resting his nose on Logan’s neck for the extra warmth and the weak smell his husband omit – a smell of faint flowers and blueberries.
After a while a police officer came out of a small office, the police officer Logan met before and that was assigned to the Ray-Feliz boys. He held a small smile on his face, going to the front desk and possibly telling a joke as there was a shared laugh. This laugh caused Virgil to look up and also watch. The police officer met eyes with the couple, the smile widening then continued his conversation with his colleague.
“DAD! PAPS!” A scream came from a nearby door with the four Ray-Feliz boys running happily over. The couple got hugs from all of them and they seemed overjoyed, speaking too quickly for either of them to understand even though they were trying to calm them.
“Congratulations.” The police officer walked over with a small nod, and immediately the couple’s eyes glowed and expanded.
They were a family. Roman Crofters, Remus Crofters, Patton Crofters and Emile Crofters.
“So where’s our dog Dad?”