Chapter Text
“I want you two to meet. Come over, and we’ll have lunch. You, me and George. Or I’ll take you out.”
There was no response on the other end of the phone and Dream waited patiently for his mother to answer. It was late, and George was laying next to him, scrolling through his phone in a nice moment of peace.
Alex went to bed an hour ago and while the two had planned to stay up a bit longer, they were both too tired.
Dream was staying at George’s place more often than at his own place at this point, but neither of them brought it up. His clothes were slowly migrating into George's small bedroom, where there was barely room for the bed and the closet in the first place.
They made it work, without a word uttered between them about it.
“I want you to meet him.”
He tried to get an answer out of his mother. He knew she would come around once she met him, but for that his mother had to get out of her head and actually meet George.
“I don’t know, honey..”
It stung, it really did. He knew his mother wanted what was best for him, but this was the best he had ever felt with anyone he had been with. She was getting used to the idea, in her own words, but it had been months since their first talk. She was being stubborn, but Dream learned from the best, and he was equally stubborn.
George looked up from his phone when he heard Dream take a deep breath, a tell tale sign of him getting annoyed. He rolled onto his side and put his phone down. Dream knew he found amusement in the way Dream’s brows furrowed and how he worried his lip with his teeth. They had talked about meeting Dream’s mother a lot, because Dream couldn’t just let it go like that, especially after the mixed reaction he got from George’s parents.
George propped his head up on his hand, his free hand found a place on Dream’s chest and he just knew that wasn’t a good sign.
Dream narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend, who looked at him with big brown eyes, feigning innocence.
“Mom, look. I know you’re not sure, but he is part of my life now. And I want you to meet each other. Because you’re both important to me.”
George next to him awwwed, as his hand started running over his chest, to his side and Dream glared harder at him.
“You’re on holiday at the moment, right?”
Dream’s eyes were firm on George’s hand on his upper body, but he nodded, despite the fact that his mother couldn’t see.
“Yeah, we’re both on a break at the moment. So just let me know what day would work and I’ll take you both out for lunch.”
“Okay. Next Tuesday would work best for me.”
Dream lifted his phone from his ear and looked at George, whose hand was now down at the hem of his shirt. “Is next Tuesday okay?”
“We’ll have to find a babysitter,” George reminded him and Dream nodded.
“I know. We’ll find someone.”
“Then Tuesday is fine.”
Dream put the phone back to his ear, grabbing George’s wrist before his hand could move into his pants, like he clearly wanted. He held onto his wrist, even when George smirked and tried to pull his hand free from him.
“Tuesday’s fine, mom. I’ll pick you up around lunch time.”
“Alright, can’t wait to see you again. It’s been forever.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
George grumbled at him, moving to sit on his lap instead, making Dream raise his eyebrows at him.
“It’s okay. You’re a busy man! I will see you on Tuesday. Love you.”
“Love you, too, mom.”
Before she could say something more he hung up, putting his phone on his nightstand.
“What the hell was that about?” He asked his boyfriend, who just looked comfortable sitting on his lap, as if he did not try and distract Dream in the most idiotic and cliche way he could come up with.
“I dunno, it was fun,” George grinned down to him.
“Of course it was fun to you.”
George just shrugged, not looking like he wanted to move anytime soon. He had a weird sense of humor and sometimes Dream wondered why he put up with him. But the way he sat there, wearing one of Dream’s favorite T-Shirts, tapping a random pattern on Dream’s stomach, and looking utterly pleased with himself, made Dream realize he put up with him, because he was utterly gone for him.
He grinned, putting his hands on George’s hips, and then in one fast motion flipped them over so he was leaning over George, who was now laying on his back, and blushing darkly. Dream hummed amused at the reaction and then put his head on George’s chest, closing his eyes.
“Goodnight, Georgie.”
George stuttered underneath him, trying, admittedly in a very weak attempt, to push Dream off. “What the hell! You can’t do that.”
Dream grabbed the covers and pulled them over them, not moving from his place on top of George. He was laying between his legs, with his head on his chest, feeling smug about still making George turn red.
“Sure I can. Now shut up, I’m tired.”
“I hate you,” George grumbled but stopped trying to push Dream away, he settled his hands in his hair instead.
“Yeah, yeah. Tell me something new.”
“I’ll kick you out.”
“Awwww, you will? Then I will have to take that shirt you’re wearing back, I’m afraid. And my hoodies too.”
“I’ll make you sleep on the couch.”
Dream hummed thoughtfully, but stayed put, too comfortable to leave. And he knew George was comfortable as well, by the way the man was running his fingers through the blond curls.
“You know, I never gave you a key.”
Dream lifted his head, turning it so his chin was resting on his hand, so he could get a better look at George.
“You don’t have to.”
“But you would like one.”
He shrugged his shoulders, poking George’s cheek. “Stop worrying your pretty little head over shit like that and go to sleep.”
George looked unsure, but Dream kissed his cheek, resting his head on his chest again. “We can talk about that another time. When we don’t have to get up early.”
“Okay.”
“Goodnight, Gogy.”
“Goodnight, asshole.”
Dream chuckled, but closed his eyes and with the fingers in his hair getting slower, but not stopping, he fell asleep.
Waking up next to George was a feeling still unbeaten, but when he heard tapping of little feet coming closer to the bed, he couldn’t help but smile in his half asleep state. He had rolled off George while asleep, but they were still facing each other.
Quackity climbed into the bed, managing to get up after three tries, and crawled over to Dream. George was still fast asleep, so Dream turned around and smiled at the boy.
“Good morning, Q.”
“Good morning!” Quackity greeted excitedly, louder than necessary, and Dreamed winced at the noise. He pulled him closer and rolled over again, tugging Quackity between himself and George, pulling the covers over them again, up to Alex’s chin.
He put his finger to his lips and Quackity understood instantly, copying the gesture.
Dream stroked Quackity’s hair, and then moved to rub his belly for a bit, knowing the boy enjoyed being coddled. And sure enough, Quackity’s eyes dropped and he dozed off once more, making Dream smile. He dared to close his eyes for a bit as well, but never fully went back to sleep.
Morning routine when Dream was around was waking up, having a small breakfast for Dream and Quackity, since they would eat again in nursery, and larger breakfast for George, who admitted begrudgingly to barely have time on some days to even have lunch. Then they would use the bathroom, either for a quick shower (Dream) or for daily fights about brushing teeth with a three year old (George).
Getting dressed was easy in George’s case. He had to wear semi formal clothes, putting on a white button down and slacks, while Dream had to hope the clothes he had at George’s were still clean enough to be used.
Quackity was getting into the age where he wanted to choose his own clothes, which always led to happy adventures in the mornings.
But ultimately they always got ready in time, even if a morning routine that could be half an hour, turned into an hour or more with a toddler around.
When it was time to leave, they had decided it was easiest and more efficient if Dream would take Quackity in the morning and leave George a bit more time to get to work.
But with the nursery being on summer break, Dream and George were off work for two weeks, and Quackity was more than excited to spend all day with his father and Dream.
The days went slow, and lazy, even if Alex had more than enough energy for all three of them, and Dream and George would try their very best to make sure he burned as much of that energy as possible.
Some days, Dream would go home and sleep at his own place, even if it was just to wash clothes and return to George’s place with more clothes a day or two after.
He would normally spend at least half his time with Sapnap, Karl or Niki, but Niki was traveling for her break and Sapnap and Karl were planning their wedding, which was getting closer and closer as well. They used most of their freetime to plan flowers and tables and venues and more and more.
The phone calls Dream would get in the middle of the night, of Sapnap mumbling about how he hated cake more than anything now, amused Dream to no end.
He was in the middle of one of those phone calls, when Dream asked Sapnap: “Are you free on Tuesday?”
Sapnap, who was in the middle of ranting about the different benefits of paper and fabric serviettes, stopped. “What?”
“Next Tuesday. Are you free?”
“Depends when. I have a short early shift. Why?”
“I need a babysitter for Alex. Me and George have a lunch planned with my mother. And I thought I should ask you first, before I pay someone to take care of him.”
Sapnap hummed in approval and walked around, from what Dream could hear. “Well, Karl is on holiday, as you know. And his calendar is free. So I’m sure we’ll make it work.”
“Yeah?” Dream sighed relieved, leaning against the wall in his kitchen.
“Yeah sure, Alex is my buddy!”
Dream laughed. When Sapnap had met George and Alex for the first time, the boy had used Sapnap to climb all over him. And Sapnap had let him, showing him some trickshots with a football and playing ball with him most of the time. And since then Sapnap would always joke how Quackity had taken the spot of his best friend from Dream.
“You’re the best.”
“I know!”
Dream laughed, but turned quiet again.
“So I’m assuming your mom still isn’t on board?”
Dream shook his head, knowing Sapnap couldn’t see him. “I forced the lunch onto her.”
“She’ll come around, dude. Don’t worry.”
“I hope so. I don’t know what I would do if she didn't.”
“You don’t have to think of that, because she will come around. Don’t tell Gogy I said that, but he is a good guy. And if she doesn’t, remember it’s your life. You get to choose what makes me happy. And I have known you for so many years, Clay. You’re happy, like you haven’t been in quite a while.”
Dream looked out of the window of his kitchen, staring at his car, which now had a child booster seat in the back, like it had always been there.
“They’re my family, Sap…”
“I know. And your mom will love them, because you do.”
Dream took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “You’re right.”
“I always am.”
“I’m pretty sure you asked me yesterday-.”
“Goodbye, Dream.”
Dream laughed loudly. “Thank you, Sap.”
“No problem. I’ll tell Karl, I’m sure he’ll be excited as well. Just drop him off around 10 or something, and we’ll take care of him.”
“Thank you.”
“You already said that.”
“Well, I mean it.”
“I know. But it’s no big deal.”
“Alright. I will see you Tuesday then.”
“Yeah, see you!”
They hung up and Dream turned away from the window, looking into his apartment, which didn’t feel like home anymore. Not really.
It held all his stuff still, his Computer, his collectables, his books, his pictures, but it didn’t hold his heart anymore. And it was a scary realization. His apartment had always been his safe spot, his place of retreat, where he could be himself without a second thought, where he was comfortable and home.
But he felt those same emotions have left him, looking at his bedroom. It was not the place he wanted to go to anymore, after work. It was too empty.
Dream sighed softly and pulled his phone out, to text George that Sapnap and Karl would babysit Alex for them on Tuesday. He got a thumbs up in return and the question what he wanted for dinner. Dream’s smile creeped on to his face all by itself.
To Georgiepoo [2:59pm]: “I didn’t know I’m having dinner with you tonight :P”
From Georgiepoo [3:01pm]: “You’re not..?”
Instead of going through the hassle of texting he called George who picked up.
“Hey,” Dream greeted, humming.
“So you have plans?”
“No, no. I’m coming over.”
The tone George used was relief, but not the kind he used, when he needed help with Quackity, this was different, but Dream couldn’t place it. “Okay. Okay. Cool. Any dinner wishes?”
“Nah. Just ask Q what he wants.”
“He always wants Pizza, you know that.”
Dream laughed, “fair point. How about you make him veggies and rice and I will bring us take out?”
“Okay,” George hummed, and Dream could hear the smile in his voice.
“Bring some more clothes home. Don’t want you to leave just because you keep running out.”
Dream laughed softly. “If I do that, I won’t have any more at my apartment.”
If George noticed the way Dream avoided calling his own apartment home in return, he didn’t comment on it, and Dream was grateful for that.
“Just do it, silly. And come over before Q is going to bed. He misses you.”
“Aye aye captain.”
Going over to George’s apartment that day, with a bag of clothes, that landed in George’s closet right away, ended in them eating dinner after putting Alex down. And when George pulled out a set of keys and pressed them into Dream’s hand before kissing him and refusing to talk about, then it was between them.
As Tuesday rolled around, Dream woke up to a body bouncing on the bed, climbing over him and onto George.
“Wake upppp!”
George grumbled. “Q, it’s too early for this.”
“I see Sapnap today!” The boy cheered loudly and bounced on the bed more, waking up the two adults properly. George sat up and caught his son before he fell off the bed.
“I know, love, but it’s still too early to go and see Sapnap.”
“But…”
“He’s still sleeping, you know?” Dream tried to stop the wobbling lip, poking his nose.
“Oh…”
“We’ll have breakfast, and then we can go through some of your toys to take, okay?” George offered, and pulled his boy to his chest, feeling Quackity nod against him.
Having experienced many different children already, Dream was in awe of how energetic but how cuddly Alex was.
They got out of bed only half an hour later, and Dream and George tried to get the morning over with as fast as they could, because Quackity was highly energetic and would ask every five minutes if it was time to leave yet.
When it was time to leave, Dream scooped the boy up, and George took his backpack, bringing everything downstairs to Dream’s car. They drove to Sapnap and Karl’s house.
George kneeled before Quackity, before letting him out of his seat, to talk with him about some ground rules about visiting Karl and Sapnap.
“You’ll listen to them, alright? No breaking stuff. If you need to be picked up, I will pick you up. But you’ll be nice, yes?”
“Yes daddy! I like Sapnap and Karl!”
“I know, baby.”
George unbluckled him and let him run to the door of the small house the two had purchased after getting engaged. Quackity waited and then knocked politely, waiting with both his hands on his back.
George took out his phone and took a quick picture of that before Dream tugged him forward. Karl opened the door and Quackity hugged him around his legs, until Karl picked him up.
“Hello there!”
“Hi Karl! Where is Sapnap?”
Karl laughed and explained that he was still at work, but he was coming home soon. George handed Karl the backpack, explaining that they were currently potty training Alex, but he had packed diapers and a change of clothes, just in case. Quackity had already turned to wave at George. “Bye bye Daddy! Bye bye Dream!”
George looked a bit heartbroken, so Dream wrapped his arm around his neck. “Awww, look at that, Georgie. We’ve already been replaced. He doesn’t need us anymore. Maybe we should leave him here.”
Quackity laughed. “Nooooo! You come back later.”
George nodded. “Of course we will!” He stepped closer and pressed a big kiss to Quackity’s chubby cheek. “Who would wake me up in the morning otherwise?”
Alex giggled and wrapped one arm around Karl’s neck for support, waving at the two other men again. “Bye bye!”
“See you later, Q.” Dream grinned and waved back, taking George’s hand, who looked less than pleased with how easy his son was willing to leave.
“This sucks.” He mumbled once they got back into the car.
“He is supposed to cry! And ask me to stay,” George groaned.
Dream smiled amused, putting his hand on his leg, after he started the car and got onto the street to drive to his mother. “Try and appreciate that he is happy.”
“Urgh… But what if he doesn’t even miss me?”
Dream laughed loudly at that, squeezing George’s thigh. “Oh George. Let’s be real here. He still doesn’t go to bed without you.”
“Yeah…”
“He’s just getting older. Don’t worry. You’re still his number one.”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s not talk about my horrible separation issues. I already heard it all during settling in in nursery.”
“And from yours truly as well!”
George rolled his eyes dramatically, pushing the hand off his thigh, only making the other laugh even more. This was the kind of mood he wanted to be in before the meeting, the light hearted teasing between friends.
When he didn’t put his hand back to George’s leg, the older one grabbed it, to place it there himself and it was hard for Dream to focus on the road and try not to laugh at his stupid boyfriend being weird and needy right next to him.
George’s phone notified them about a new message and he pulled it out to check. It was from Karl and Dream noticed that George tensed up momentarily next to him. It was a voicemail he had gotten, and he played it.
The end was crackling and then the voice of Alex sounded through the speakers. “I love you, daddy and dweam! Muahw!”
The last part sounded like he had directly kissed the phone microphone and the message ended. Another message came in, George read it out loud: “He said you looked sad, so he wanted to say that.”
Dream glanced over to George, who bit his lip and typed something back to Karl, before putting his phone away. He pointedly didn’t look at Dream, probably to hide the shimmering tears Dream knew were there.
Alex was a highly empathic child. He wasn’t the best in speech, messing up his words and the grammar, he also wasn’t the best in motorial situations, having trouble climbing by himself, and balancing. He had fun doing all that, but he wasn’t as secure as other kids his age, which was completely fine. Every child aged differently, and he would get there sooner or later.
But one thing Alex was perfect at was reacting in situations. In nursery as well as at home, Dream noticed that he was the first to grab tissues or cooling packs for kids who were hurt, he helped other children clean up, or if they needed help with their shoes or coats. And if he thought his dad needed help at home, he would go out of his way and try to help George. It wasn’t always what was needed, but knowing the background of his actions made the chaos worth it.
Dream didn’t comment on anything that he had heard. He parked his car outside of his childhood home, texting his mother that they were outside, waiting for her.
Dream watched George as he composed himself and put a smile on. Dream leaned over and stole a kiss from him, like he did so many times these days. It helped brighten up George’s demeanor.
A petite woman joined them in the backseat, and Dream turned to her and smiled. “Hey mom. I would hug you. But we have a table and I would hate to miss the reservation.”
She smiled amused and waved him off. “Later.”
George looked back at her. “Uh… Hi. I’m George.”
She smiled politely and nodded. “Nice to finally meet you, George. I’m Emilia, Clay’s mom.”
“Yeah, he told me a lot about you.”
“Has he now? He was always a mama’s boy, my little Clay.”
Dream whined and swatted at George, because he couldn’t do that to his mother. “Stop. Both of you. You have enough time to embarrass me later.”
George chuckled softly, but Dream didn’t miss the way he gently pushed his hand from his lap. In the corner of his eye, through the mirror he could spot his mother watching the motion with interested eyes.
She was protective of Dream. But she had never outright disliked any of his girlfriends before. She had been fair and given them a chance. He had come out to her for liking boys when he first realized it, because she was his mother, one of his most trusted people. And she had reacted wonderfully! She had been supportive, so he really didn’t understand her behavior right now.
They arrived at the restaurant and Dream opened the door for his mother, hugging her close. “Give him a chance..” He mumbled to her and she sighed, but didn’t comment further.
She shook George’s hand, and kept her polite smile that resembled a customer service smile, more than it did that of someone who met their child’s partner for the first time.
Dream tried to keep his composure, walking to George and putting his hand on the small of his back as he led the two of them into the restaurant.
He stated his name and they were led to their table. It wasn’t a fancy restaurant by any means, he just felt it was easier to reserve a table, so they wouldn't have to awkwardly look for one. The silence on the table was deafening, as his mother didn’t make any efforts to ask George any questions at all.
His boyfriend was stiff beside him, but he shook it off enough to start questioning his mother instead, showing that he was interested in getting to know her better, showing that he cared about Dream’s family. And his mother was making it difficult.
Dream put in his two cents every now and then, telling his mother about something impressive George had done at work, with Alex or one of their dates. She replied in one of three ways, everytime: “that’s nice”, “sounds fun” or “that’s lovely, honey.”
George excused himself to the bathroom half way through the meal and Dream turned to his mother after watching his boyfriend walk away without another word.
“What the hell is your issue?” He snapped, in a hushed tone, he didn’t want this drama to end up with every other guest around.
“Don’t swear at me, Clay.”
“Then talk,” he said sternly, losing his patience with her, “he has done absolutely nothing to deserve being treated like that by you.”
“He’s just soo… loud. Not your usual type at all.”
He looked at his mother with wide eyes and a raised eyebrow, like she had grown a second head. “What…?”
She sighed, and had the audacity to look upset and a bit guilty. “The girls you brought home before were all very different from George. They were more polite, too, waiting for me to ask questions and wouldn't interrupt you to add on something.”
“You don’t even talk to him, is he supposed to sit here and pretend like you don’t treat him with a cold shoulder out of nowhere?”
“He just isn’t someone I can see being with you.”
It dawned on her and he shook his head. “It’s because he is a guy.”
“No! No, of course not, love!” She said, sounding panicked, but he knew it was part of the reason.
Dream leaned against his chair, crossing his arms before his chest. “Then tell me exactly what you don’t like about him, without comparing him to my ex-girlfriends.”
His mother looked for words, holding her napkin in her hands, her gaze lowered under Dream’s intense staring.
“Honey, he is a man with a son-”
“I fucking knew it,” he said breathlessly, shaking his head.
“Listen to me please. He has a son. You two can never have children of your own. Honey, you always wanted to get married and have kids on your own, and I’m just worried about you giving up too much for some man. I want you to be happy, and I don’t know if you could be in the long run! This takes so much away from you.”
He leaned forward, over the table and looked at her. “I love him.”
And like all those months ago, she asked him: “is that enough?”
He nodded softly, this time more sure than he was at christmas. “He is my family. George and Alex are my family. And I will not give that up, just because you cannot accept not having biological grandchildren, okay? You better start accepting that this is the life I chose, and really really want.”
George returned to the table after 5 more minutes of silence between Dream and his mother. There was nothing left for him to say, and he was done fighting. Why did everyone always think they knew better? He knew what he wanted and it was George. It was Alex. He wanted this little family he found and he wanted to stay and watch Alex grow and watch George struggle leaving his son with babysitters, watch him learn along with the small boy.
When he saw George come back, phone in hand, and a smile on his face, he knew this was what he wanted.
“I’m sorry it took so long, Sapnap called me, because Q found this big big bird and wanted to tell me about it right away,” he chuckled, but he looked like he was holding something back, like he was hiding something else. But Dream decided not to ask..
Spontaneous phone calls, voice messages, a load of pictures and a small body waking them up in the morning, a bright smile on George’s face and every argument about stupid stuff like scrabble words, and which paw patrol dog was the best, this was where he wanted to be.
“It’s fine. I’ll just pay the check and we’ll be on the way home anyway,” Dream explained and George did a great job not looking surprised or shocked. He just nodded and smiled.
Dream’s mother looked uncomfortable across from them and Dream paid the check, taking George’s hand on the way out.
Emilia looked around and sighed, looking at them. “I’ll have to do some shopping anyway. I’ll just call your sister to pick me up later.”
Dream nodded, knowing it was just a cover up to not drive with them. Much to his mother’s surprise he went in and hugged her, and like before the lunch, he mumbled to her: “Give him a chance.”
He pulled away and George offered her his hand. “It was really nice meeting you, Emilia.”
She shook his hand, nodding slowly. “Yeah, it was nice meeting you, too.”
They let go and Dream led George back to his car, slipped in in silence and waited for a bit, before he hit his steering wheel several times. “Fucking- She is so- ARGH.”
George looked over as tears pooled in his boyfriend’s eyes and Dream aggressively wiped at them to get them away. George took one of Dream’s hands, slowly peeling it from the steering wheel, because seeing how white his knuckles turned couldn’t be healthy.
“You want to go after her?” He asked carefully, running his thumb over his knuckles.
Dream shook his head. “No. No, I don’t want to talk to her for a while.”
“You want to talk about it?”
Dream shrugged and stayed silent, and George waited, his thumb never stopping rubbing over Dream’s hand. Dream’s shoulder relaxed a bit and he let go of the steering wheel with his other hand as well. He just wasn’t sure where to start, and he didn’t want to upset George.
“Everyone always thinks they know what’s best for me, instead of considering what I want!”
George hummed thoughtfully, his eyes tracing up his arm to his head, taking in Dream’s face, looking him right in his green eyes.
“Well what do you want?”
There was no moment of hesitation, Dream put all his earnisty in the next statement, to make sure it came across the right way. “You.”
George smiled, shaking his head slightly at the cheesiness of the statement. “You have me.”
“I think we should move in together,” Dream blurred, holding eye contact with him still.
“Yeah, we should. It would make a lot of things easier.”
“You… You agree?”
George laughed, finally breaking eye contact, as he closed his eyes and shook his head again. “I gave you a key to my apartment, Dream. You think I never thought about it?”
“I… Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.”
George let go of his hand in favour of taking his cheeks into his hands, like he liked to do. He squished his face a bit, giggling at the sight, but he took a deep breath and smiled.
“We’ll talk about this soon, okay? When you’re not upset. How about we drive to Sapnap’s and pick up our baby.”
Our. our. our. our.
The words circled in Dream’s head for a while and he didn’t dare speak, scared he would ruin it, scared George didn’t mean it and misspoke, scared he would take it back. So Dream nodded and started the car.
George turned the radio on, singing along loudly and completely out of pitch. And Dream felt his body relax more sitting beside this crazy man. He was so far gone for George, that not even a terrible rendition of whatever song George was singing could change that. George had a nice singing voice if he actually tried. He knew, because he would sing whatever kid’s song Alex had stuck in his head from nursery with him.
They arrived at his best friend’s house and got out. George rang the bell and already laughed when he heard loud squealing at the other end of the house. Sapnap opened the door, holding a very dirty Quackity in his arms.
George laughed. “Hi, Q! You… look like a mess.”
“I made cake!” Quackity babbled excitedly, not even asking to be transferred to his father’s arms. Whatever he had on his shirt and face and hands, Sapnap had it all over himself now for sure.
“Come in. Come in. The cake is still baking,” Sapnap laughed. He turned to the boy in his arms. “You wanna tell them what else you did today?”
“I used the big potty!” Quackity exclaimed, opening his arms to show that it was in fact the big toilet he used!
George gasped. “No way! No accident?”
Quackity shook his head. “No!”
“I’m so proud of you! That’s great, honey!”
Quackity giggled and then struggled to get down to run to Karl in the kitchen, who upon further inspections looked worse than Quackity did. He was top to bottom covered in flour and chocolate.
“We… got a bit carried away,” Karl laughed.
Dream hummed. “Yeah, I can see that.”
Quackity ran around the kitchen, still full of energy as expected and Sapnap ran after him to catch him. “We have to change!”
“No!” Quackity giggled and kept running from his best friend.
Dream leaned against the kitchen counter and watched them run around, as George chatted with Karl. He was home.
Then he felt a small body run at full speed against his leg. “Dad! Help!” Quackity giggled and held onto his leg tightly.
It kind of stopped everyone in the room from talking, looking at the boy and Dream. Dream chuckled softly. “Daddy is over there, “ he hummed, ruffling Quackity’s hair.
Quackity looked up, confused, big brown eyes melting Dream. “I know.”
Dream kneeled down and grinned at him, messing his hair more, making Quackity giggle again.
“You said dad, silly.”
Quackity nodded, looking unsure why he was being corrected. “Yeah.” He turned to George: “Daddy,” and then he turned to Dream: “dad.”
Dream’s eyes widened and he looked at George who didn’t look nearly as surprised as he should be.
George shrugged. “During the phone call, he asked if you taking care of him meant you’re his mommy. Apparently he talked to those two," pointing at Karl and Sapnap, "who said they would be daddies if they ever had a child. And he was confused by that, so he wanted to ask me what it would make you. And he decided he didn’t want to call both of us daddy, because it was too confusing. I... I hope that is alright..?"
Dream’s eyes filled with tears. “Wait. Hold on. Hold on. Wait. Pause.”
Quackity noticed the tears immediately and turned to his father. “Did I do bad…?”
Dream pulled Quackity against his chest and shook his head. “No. No, baby, you didn’t. You didn’t do anything bad at all. You made me very happy.”
Quackity hugged Dream back, letting himself be picked up and rested his head on Dream’s shoulder. He smiled peacefully, as Dream pretty much sobbed his soul out. He waved George over, who joined easily, wrapping both arms around his waist.
Home. This was what home felt like. “I love you so much..”
Karl and Sapnap joined the cuddle circle and Dream laughed, making Quackity giggle, which made everyone else laugh as well. He really was blessed with his little family. His. His. His.