Work Text:
Crrrrrreak, crrrrrreak
Keith was instantly awoke and silently cursed to himself. Whenever one of their kids ever woke up to go to the bathroom, or get a drink in the middle of the night, he was always woken up because of those damn creaky floorboards. Keith’s envied his husband’s ability to sleep through anything.
He stayed in bed, though. He rolled to the bedside, his back pressing against Lance’s warm and toned back. Keith reached for his phone and winced when the bright light nearly blinded him. His phone shone an image of his three kids. Alex, the oldest at fourteen stood tall with her arms around her younger siblings. She was very tall and thin with very dark skin. Her younger sister, who was almost as tall as Alex, was named Sophie. Her skin was the same caramel color as Lance. She was only eight, but she had the thickest head of hair that Keith had ever seen. It was always a pain to comb through the rat’s nest in the morning. Finally, the youngest at seven years old was Jasbir. They adopted him only a few years ago but he warmed up ever so quickly, especially to Lance. While Keith talked to the girls about school or sports while they watched something on TV, Lance was in the other room with Jasbir, helping him with homework or showing him how fuses and light bulbs worked using a set meant to teach children those things.
It was always fun to watch from the couch, Jasbir’s eyes lighting up in amazement when he finally got the lightbulb to light, or when he managed to get a small box to play Mary had a Little Lamb out of tune. He’d run into the living room, holding up the mess of wires and metal clips up to his ear so he could hear the soft tune. He’d always chuckle and smile when Jasbir did that, though he wasn't sure if it was because of Jasbir’s excitement or the smirk he was from his husband at the kitchen table.
Keith couldn’t lie. He definitely did become jealous, even a bit mad. Jasbir adored Lance. Looked up to him like he was the most amazing person he’d ever looked at, which wasn’t far off in Keith’s opinion. Besides the point, Jasbir looked up to Lance. Keith loved Alex and Sophie, no doubt about it, but Jasbir didn’t look at him like he looked at Lance. He looked at Lance with a sense of appreciation and awe. None of Keith’s kids looked at him like that. They adopted Alex later in her life, when she was around eleven and was starting to realize how difficult things were. She was way past her ‘everything amazed me’ phase. Sophie was apathetic ever since they adopted her when she was seven. She never showed any emotion, much like Keith as a child. The fact that Jasbir was young and amazed about everything, yet showed none of that to Keith, hurt.
Back to the creaking.
Keith assumed it was one of the kids simply getting something. He saw the light shine through the small crack through the door as whoever was out there flipped on the light. The creaking continued on and on, and Keith grew a bit worried, but shrugged it off as he pressed his back into Lance’s slowly being soothed by Lance’s warmth. Keith could feel the small raised bumps on Lance’s back, as well as the hair on his back sticking up a bit. Soft words left Lance’s mouth before he gradually settled back to bed, the bumps slowly disappearing from his skin.
Crrrrrrrrreak, crrrrrrrreak.
Again! This time, though, Keith heard soft whimpers from the hallway. “Sophie?” Keith called out in concern. It definitely didn’t sound like Alex, nor was it something Keith could see Alex doing. It had to be Jasbir or Sophie. Keith decided on the latter.
No response, just silence. Well, except for heavy, pained breathing.
“Jasbir?” Keith called out this time with more worry strung through his voice. He sat up a bit, staring at the light through the door.
“Yeah?” A small voice replied. It was definitely Jasbir’s with the high pitched tone of it.
Keith didn’t even hesitate when he heard Jasbir’s small cry, “C’mere, bud..” Keith called out, trying to take the worry out of his voice. “Are you okay?” Keith sat up, careful to not wake up his husband. Soon enough, Jasbir slowly opened the bedroom door, causing the bedroom to flood with the bright light of the hallway. The young boy stood with his hands on his stomach on his head on the floor. Keith moved to the end of the bed and held his hands out.
“Does your tummy hurt?” Keith asked, his eyebrows narrowing in concern. Before he got an answer, Jasbir crawled into Keith’s arms, his small and scrawny body fitting perfectly in Keith’s wide and toned frame.
“Mhm..” Jasbir mumbled weakly into Keith’s shoulder. He put his short arms around Keith’s body, clinging onto his dad like his dear life depended on it. “C-can I sleep in here?” Jasbir sounded and looked like he was unable to do anything, too weak to form complete sentences without stuttering.
Keith put his arms around Jasbir’s tiny frame and slowly pulled him into the small, but warm space between him and Lance. “Of course..” He hummed softly and couldn’t help but smile as Jasbir needily curled into curly mess of a head into Keith’s chest. Keith chuckle, the thin wisps of hair tickling him.
“Thank you, daddy..” Jasbir mumbled, a few more whimpers leaving his lips before he relaxed and fell asleep in Keith’s arms.
All the thoughts from earlier quickly washed away. All the doubt that Jasbir didn’t like him were gone. The tone in Jasbir’s voice made Keith’s heart and stomach flutter like a field of wheat in a cool breeze. Being called daddy by his child made him so happy, the childishness of it made him smile like no tomorrow. Despite the fact that Keith didn’t help him with his little science experiments, or show him how to throw a baseball, Jasbir stilled loved Keith all the same.