Chapter Text
Admittedly, there were many factors of the situation that could be labeled as hypocritical, on his behalf and yours.
So maybe he did kick you out of his house after your first night with him. Maybe he ignored your messages for weeks and once he finally responded, it was just for more sex. Perhaps he did treat you like utter and complete trash and only viewed you as an object. But surely, he thought, that gave you no right to be going on dates with other dads.
At least he wasn’t making a show of his other hookups. You, on the other hand, had been seen hanging out with all the dads at some point. That was all the dads, except for him.
He had seen you exercising with Craig but that was explainable; you had known him for a while and were close. It was just guys being dudes.
When you helped Hugo with some field trips, it made sense; he’s your kid’s teacher.
Fishing is a normal dad activity so Brian and you going together wasn't too difficult to dismiss either.
Going to concerts with Mat was less easy to excuse but so you and he had similar music tastes. Friends go to concerts together. Fine.
Walking around in Damien’s flower garden seemed suspicious but maybe you really liked flowers. Robert wouldn’t know because he never bothered to ask. But at least all those activities were exclusive to you and whatever dad you decided to charm that day.
Now here you were, helping Joseph with his umpteenth bake sale of the year, laughing and staring at him with nothing but adoration in front of the entire neighborhood.
Robert watched you ogle at the pastor for a solid minute before he got fed up with the spectacle.
“How many bake sales does this guy need?” He muttered to himself before he walked up to his door, unlocked it, and slammed it behind him.
You had felt Robert's glare but by the time you got the courage to look up, all you saw was the door slamming shut. You KNEW you didn't do anything wrong but the guilt relentlessly ate at you.
Joseph was talking to Brian about his fishing tactics when he noticed you staring at Robert’s house. Although he didn’t explicitly know your situation with Robert, it wasn’t difficult to figure it out. It was as simple as putting two and two together; your face slumped with sadness and Robert’s tantrum? Something was going on between the two of you. Not to mention, Joseph knew the type of person Robert was so he understood your predicament more than you might have thought.
A slight but sudden pressure on your left shoulder made you flinch back out of fear, causing Joseph to quickly retract his hand and raise it to his chest, his palms towards you as he apologized, “Whoa! Sorry about that, didn’t mean to startle you.”
Upon the realization that you were not in any danger, your face heated up and felt like it was burning. Your eyes, then widened with the initial shock, glued themselves to the plate of cookies in front of you. Yeah, there was no way you could look at Joseph now. Not only had you been caught staring at Robert but you also flinched away from a simple hand on your shoulder. Good job.
Even without sparing a glance, you already knew he was giving you The Look. Somehow, this sympathetic look managed to be specific to Joseph. He was the only one who could pull it off and surprisingly, it worked. It got you to open up once before. Then again maybe that was the alcohol. All you knew, or all you could remember, was that you may have accidentally drank too much at your makeshift Margaritaville and ended up drunkenly crying. Being that emotionally vulnerable with someone wasn’t something you commonly did and you did not plan on making it a habit of yours either. Though the memory was hazy, the embarrassment was deep-rooted and everlasting.
Still, you felt like he hadn’t judged you at all. Although most of the night was lost on you, you could still remember The Look he had when you finally mustered up the courage to look up at him while you were crying. He looked at you with the most sincere and empathetic gaze; his blue eyes, his bright smile, his genuinity, his concern for your well being, everything. He didn’t mind that you had spilled the rest of your drink or that you were a sniveling boogery mess of a man in that moment. It all exuded warm and safe energy. The way he looked at you highlighted how he is the exact opposite of Robert.
And you knew if you looked up again right now, you’d see that familiar gaze and it would just make you fall for him more. You really did not need to develop a crush on two dads. You already fucked up when you picked the emotionally unavailable one. The last thing you needed was to fall for one that was married.
You were already kicking yourself for feeling butterflies in your stomach whenever he’d laugh, or feeling your heart stammer when his gaze lingered on you for a bit longer than normal. Obviously, you could never mention some of the other thoughts you'd had about him. In fact, you were fairly sure you were going to hell for some of those thoughts.
“Are you okay?”
Shit. Of course, he couldn’t just let you dissociate for a second. That would be way too simple and way too easy to suppress. Of course, being the compassionate person he is, he was going to interrupt your inner rambling and make sure you were alright.
It was fine, at least that’s what you tried to tell yourself. Surely all you needed was a few deep breaths to steady your nerves and a quick moment to mentally plead with your eyes to please for the love of God, just stop watering.
After getting some semblance of control over your emotions, you forced out a small laugh and grinned, “I’m fine.”
Though he didn't say anything, he didn’t need to. The look he gave you spoke for him, silently asking, Do you think I’m blind or just stupid?
Admittedly, you had probably wasted everyone’s time with that pathetic first attempt. Determined to prove that you could actually hide your emotions incredibly well, you looked him in his eyes and tried again.
“Joseph, really…I’m okay. I promise.” You smiled widely, partially because you knew this time around was much more convincing.
Joseph sighed in defeat, not wanting to force you to talk to him if you weren’t comfortable. Knowing you weren’t one who was easily swayed, he lifted his pinky up to you, “Don’t think I believe you just yet but fine. You have to pinky promise though.”
There was no way he could have been serious…
You waited for a second, waited for him to drop his hand to his side and start laughing. Waiting for any sign of this being a joke.
With his pinky finger still in the air after a moment, it was confirmed that this grown man was absolutely 100% serious about making you, another grown man, pinky promise that you are okay. It was such a dad thing to do but better yet, it was such a Joseph thing to do. He definitely made his kids do this before too.
Through the giggling, you lifted your pinky as well and curled it around his, making the pink promise official. He smiled, clearly content with ending that conversation there for now. He reached his hand out above your head before hesitating, “May I?”
A moment of confusion passed before you realized he was asking for permission to touch you after you flinched away the first time. Somehow stifling your embarrassment long enough, you only gave one affirmative nod. Even as he ruffled your hair a little bit, his touch was so gentle. You wondered if he was always this light-handed or if he was just this gentle with you? Your heart stammered with glee as your gut wrenched with guilt at the possibility of the latter.
Once again, this was the absolute last thing you needed.
Joseph was your friend and only your friend. A great loving friend who made you question your previously established morals but also a friend with a wife and quite a few children.
With that in mind, you tried to realign your focus on the bake sale. Somehow that situation hadn’t escalated further. Suffice to say, you were extremely grateful to whatever higher power that kept him from asking if you were okay again because you weren’t sure if you could have kept your composure. A bake sale isn't the most opportune place to have a mental breakdown. The thought of that much vulnerability in public was enough to make you shudder. But you couldn’t help it. Someone who wasn’t your daughter genuinely caring about you was something you hadn't experienced in years. Not since before you became a single dad.
His voice brought you back to the here and now as he spoke just low enough for only you to hear, “Get ready! Here comes Craig. You got him last time but do you have any new tactics? I’m afraid he’s growing wise and learning your mind tricks.”
“No way, I’ve known Craig for years. I’ve still got this.”
Craig’s twins ran up to the table, eyes wide with excitement as they scoured the table of treats. He effortlessly jogs to catch up to them and laughs at their excitement before greeting you as well.
Joseph beams back at him, “So nice to see you and the kids again! It’s a wonderful thing you’re doing; supporting the church when we have these bake sales.”
“Glad we could help but I don’t think we’ll be buying anything today.”
His daughters immediately turn to him and whined, “But daaaaaaaaaad!”
“Don’t ‘ but daaaad’ me, you already had Fruity Pebbles for breakfast this morning.”
It seemed as if he had a valid point because instead of retorting, Hazel and Briar glared up at him in silent defeat. They were giving up way too easily and there was no way that glaring would have ever worked. It looked like they needed some help from the wise master himself.
“Hey!” You whispered loudly to the girls, "A little pro tip: Don’t glare. Puppy dog eyes always work on him, trust me.”
At first, they didn’t even turn to acknowledge you and for a moment you were wondering if they had heard you at all. That was until their expression switched simultaneously and you became quite impressed with his kids. They really knew how to lay on those puppy dog eyes. They even had that pouting lower lip thing going on. They were really milking this act and just as expected, Craig absolutely melted. Just like he would in college when you pulled the same trick on him.
He sighed and told the girls to choose what they wanted before placing the money in your hand, “That was cold-hearted, bro. Now they’re going to use that against me constantly .”
He looked genuinely distressed for a moment and your heart dropped. Understanding that being a single parent was already hard enough and realizing you gave his kids a way to make it more difficult, you frantically apologized, “Craig I didn’t mean to. I just- I'm sorry I-”
Thankfully, your pathetic attempt at an apology was interrupted by Craig’s laughter,
“I’m 100% joking but wow, you should have seen your face, dude!! I didn’t know you were a sucker for the sad puppy dog face too!!”
Damn, he got you. He got you good. Really weren’t sure how you fell for that one but you still had his money and had succeeded in getting him to buy sugary treats again so you accepted this loss. You rolled your eyes at him, but still smiled, “Y'know, it’s too bad you didn’t milk that bit longer. I was ready to throw in a free cookie for River. I guess we can call it even now, dude. I told your kids your weakness and you discovered mine.”
He shook his head, smirking at you as he declared, “This isn’t over. This means war, bro.”
After discussing how you’d battle this out and ultimately not being able to decide between your many options, Craig realized he was running late for some fitness thing and promised he’d message you on DadBook to hash out all the details.
You turned to Joseph and handed him the cash you just earned from the healthiest guy you know.
“My gosh…You actually did it! Again!”
“Hey, don’t so surprised! Wait, Joseph, did you doubt me?” You feigned being offended as best as you could and you succeeded. He totally believed it.
“Goodness no! I didn’t doubt you, Craig used to be so difficult to convince so it’s surprising. It had nothing to do with your ability. It’s more to do with Craig’s ability to say no which-”
“Joseph,” He hadn’t stopped to breathe during his little rant and you had a feeling if you didn’t stop him soon, he would have talked forever. “Please calm down. I was joking.”
It occurred to you that maybe you shouldn't mess around with Joseph like that but you couldn't help it; being around Craig for just a few minutes really put you into such a mischievous mood.
“O-Oh, ha.” His face flushed red as laughed nervously before he handed the money to someone else helping at the sale.
Before you could censor your own thoughts, you caught yourself silently acknowledging that even when Joseph was flustered and red, he still managed to look unbearably handsome.
This bake sale was gonna feel a lot longer than you thought.