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Mickey watched as the boy sat down on the pavement, taking a long drag of off the cigarette in his hand. He wondered if he should snatch it away from him, 12 is definitively too young to smoke. At least thats what he guessed, since he himself smoked since he could remember. Hell, he was having a smoke right now as well, and was probably not that good kind of role model. He decided to talk to Ian about the boys smoking habits first, before he would intervern.
Speaking of Ian, he hoped his husband would come back from work earlier today, bad enough he had to work on a saturday, because, even though Mickey didn‘t want to confess it, but he was completley overwhelmed with the kid that was currently killing his lungs after a failed try to run away. He gets it though. Why he tried to sneak away. Hell, Mickey wasn‘t that much different at that age and the social worker explicitly told them that he was a troubled boy.
That‘s why they were choosen. The perfect family for a rebellious boy who needs a steady environment and who would be better than two former troubled part time criminals who changed their lives to the better to lead the 12 year old on the right path again? Mickey couldn‘t take the social worker seriously when she said that. Yeah, he and Ian lived on the brigther side of the city now, had steady jobs and haven’t been to prison since that time when they reunited. It was going well for them. But still, they were and would always be some kind of southside trash. What they were looking for, for the boy, sounded more like a christian suburbian white picket fence family who would just simply disagree with everything the boy does. But Mickey, he couldn’t do that. Because that would be a clear case of double standards and he wasn’t too big of a fan of that. That’s exactly what he told their social worker. She immediately disagreed with him and told him that’s exactly why they are perfect. They won’t judge him, they get what he’s going through and even though their youth was similiar, they now have this wonderful, calm live. That could make him want that too. Ian was on board immadiatley. The thought of somehow saving that little boy thrilled him and after some long late night talks, he was convinced. They decided to take a foster kid into their home.
And now he’s leaning against the door of the house in which their apartment is in, while watching said foster kid, who’s name is Jonah, and thinking about the very intense fight they just had right after Ian left to go to work. It was their first morning and at first it was okay. Sure, a bit awkward, no one really knew what to say and Jonah especially didn’t know how to behave in this new home so he just shuffled around his chair while listening to whatever they said and eating a pop tart. He and Ian had a good connection though. Ian was in far more foster homes than Mickey, because most of the time he went straight up to Juvie, instead of a foster home, so Ian knew how Jonah was feeling. Ian has always been the one who was better with kids anyway. He was way more empathetic, in Mickeys humble opinion. But it was Mickeys idea to adopt a child though.
They talked about it over and over again since they got married, never being too sure if they should or if they should not. But everytime Mickey saw Ian playing with Fred or Franny he knew for sure; he wants a kid with this man. But since the adoption process was a very long and very intense procedure, especially if both of the parents used to be prison, they decided to go for a foster kid first. And the thought of helping a kid out, who was in a similiar situation as they both were when they were kids, made Ian so ridiculously happy that Mickey was happy with the situation as well. That’s how they ended up with Jonah, who at first seemed like a shy, reserved boy who was just glad to be out of the orphanage, but was definitively of a different kind, which Mickey had to realise pretty fast in the morning.
Once Ian left, Mickey awkwardly tried to get Jonah to talk with him, maybe find out what he likes and what he wants to do with their free day, before Jonah would start school on Monday. The small boy just starred at him, with his big green eyes that looked somehow sad, that were partly covered by his uncombed dirty blonde hair. That he didn’t want to talk about his deepest wishes and passions yet, that was fine with Mickey. Completely. But he wasn’t okay with the fact that, once he went to his and Ian’s bedroom to get his phone, Jonah tried to sneak out of the appartement. Which lead to Mickey screaming at the kid that he’s being pretty ungrateful right now and also makes everything harder for them than it should be. He regretted doing that immediately, because Jonah just looked at him with even sadder eyes now. And now they are here, outside, both smoking and probably also both hoping that Ian would come home soon.
„I’m sorry.“, Jonah suddenly said, turning around to look at Mickey.
„I didn’t want to seem ungrateful. I like it here, i really do.“ Mickey had a hard time hiding the suprised look on his face, so he just raised his eyebrows while taking another long drag of his cigarette.
„But?“, he asked, since Jonah just continued to look at him, a little bit lost, a little bit sad.
„I was afraid that you would send me away again. I don‘t want to get used to this new, nice life, if I have to go back to the shithole that is the orphanage.“
„Language.“ Mickey rolled his eyes at himself for being such a dad already. But he had to admit, it did touch him that Jonah was already opening up. Sometimes it just takes a smoke in silence to relieve the tension. Definitely not a good parenting choice, but you have to build a bond somehow.
„But why would we send you away? We wanted this. We chose you, Jonah. To be a part of our family.“ He kneeled down so he could look the kid in the eyes, eyes that didn’t seem so sad anymore. But still a bit hesitant.
„I‘m trouble. I don’t behave half as good as other kids. And most couples want babies by the way.“, Jonah mumbled while playing with the stub of his cigarette, his eyes still focused on Mickey.
„And so what? Then you are a bit troubled and you aren’t a baby, that’s nothing we can’t handle or wouldn’t want. We can make this work out Jonah, but you have to help us with that.“
„What can I do then?“ „Let‘s start by telling me...um...what’s your favorite food? We can go grocery shopping until Ian gets back.“ A smile appeared on Jonahs face, probably the most genuine smile Mickey got from him since he entered their home.
„Burgers and cherry ice cream.“
A few months later, he and Ian were sitting in their car, Ian having one hand on the steering wheel, and the other one on Mickeys thigh. They were sitting in the school parking lot, picking up Jonah. After what Mickey labelled as a successful parent/child interaction, it all went uphill.
Jonah decided that Mickey and Ian seemed trustworthy enough and told them about his worries and his fears. He told them about the time his heroin addicted mom left him at McDonalds when he was just 6 years old. He told them about the couple that promised him they would keep him but threw him out once they were expecting their own biological baby. He was afraid they would do the same, if they ever decided to have a baby as well, but they were able to calm Jonah down pretty fast. Ian jokingly said that he is their baby now, doesn’t matter that he is 12, it will stay this way. Jonah acted embarassed by being called a baby, but they noticed how relieving that comment was for him. He told them about being teased by the other boys in the orphanage because he’s smaller than they are. That he smoked since he’s nine years old. And that he likes to draw.
And they listened. Told him more about their own youth, Ian leaving out some more details that aren’t „proper for kids“, in his words, than Mickey. But Jonah appreciated it anyway. They grew together, especially after they found a routine. Mickey would get Jonah to school in the morning and Ian would pick him up. They always had dinner together, because Jonah once mentioned that growing up, he knew he didn’t have a real family because he always had to eat alone. When Mickey heard that, he made sure that dinner would never fall out. They also watched tons of movies together, because Jonah obviously hadn’t seen a lot of them considering how disturbing his childhood was.
And Jonah‘s most weird but also loveable passion was probably going grocery shopping. The boy just loved going to supermarket and always begged to come, even when they just needed bread. Ian said that’s probably because he never really had the chance to chose the food he likes in a store while growing up, but that made Mickey quiet sad so they just act like the kid is very passionate about food and stuff. He did stop shoplifting though, so always going grocery shopping with him was probably a good thing. Mickey loved how good they got to know Jonah, with all his habits and quirks that made him so adoreable. And so did Ian. And the most precious thing to them, Jonah started calling them by Dad and Papa. They were his dads, and Mickey really knew no better joy than this and loving Ian.
„What are you thinking about hm?“ Ian gave Mickey a quick peck on the cheek, pulling him out of his thoughts.
„I‘m not telling, it’s sappy.“, Mickey grinned at Ian who gave him a kiss on the other cheek for the response.
„What about now?“ Their laughs filled the air of the car and after getting a final kiss on the lips, Mickey mumbled, “I’m happy.“
„Thats good to hear. Any particular reason for that?“ Ian raised his eyebrow while smiling at his husband who just shook his head, a grin still on his face.
„Not really.“ Before Ian could ask him to elaborate on that, the door of the backseat was being opened and Jonah slided on the seat behind Mickey, throwing his Star Wars backpack on the other seat.
„Hey Dad and...Papa? Why aren’t you at work?“ Jonah asked, but they saw by the way his eyes lit up that he was excited about being picked up from school by both of his parents.
„I’m off today. We wanted to suprise you.“, Mickey told the boy who just smiled brightly.
„How was school?“, Ian asked while starting the engine of the car, but not before he turned around to ruffle through Jonahs hair.
„It was fine. Are we going grocery shopping now?“ Mickey looked at Ian, who looked at his husband at the same time. They shared a look full of love and laughter with each other before Ian mumbled something about their son being obsessed with groceries instead of video games like other 12 year olds, but Mickey only really registered the words „our son.“ and his heart immediately filled up with joy.