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Matt knows he's somewhat of an acquired taste. He's well loved by his family and friends, but they've mostly grown up with him and, as Brady once said, have grown numb to his everything. He tries to tone it down at the rink, to be professional at work. Still, there was an impromptu anger management workshop for the entire staff during his first month on the job, which might've had something to do with him. The kids love him, though, skating after him on their tiny skates and crashing into his legs during drills. Most parents do, too, apart from Bob, 37, who feels like Matt isn't being tough enough on his son Jayden, 6.
And because Matt knows he's not everyone's cup of tea, order of coffee, or sip of juice, it doesn't really bother him. He sleeps just fine at night. In the mornings he sips his own drinks from his I'm not weird, I'm limited edition mug and does so unironically.
He's downed most of his coffee, leaning against the kitchen counter as he blinks the sleep out of his eyes, when there's a knock on his door.
Leon, his neighbor from across the hall, is standing on the other side, his mouth pulled into a thin line. He is holding his fluffy, dark brown cat in his arms.
"Morning guys," Matt says, smiling. He lifts his mug back to his mouth. "How are you?"
"Your cat," Leon says, a gruff tone to his voice as he forgoes any greeting and completely ignores Matt's question. "Is a monster."
Matt swallows his sip of coffee, his eyebrows furrowing. "Sorry?"
Leon pulls his cat a little closer against his chest. He's wearing a blue sweater, the sleeves pushed up halfway up his forearms. "Toffee's pregnant."
"Oh!" Matt drags his eyes away from Leon's arms, smiling at him. "Congratulations, dude! You're gonna be a father."
"No," Leon says, stressing the word. His eyes are piercing as they look straight into Matt's. "There already is a father, and it's him."
Matt looks over his shoulder to where Leon's pointing at, spotting Teddy on one of the chairs by the kitchen counter.
Matt snorts, turning back towards Leon. "No way. Teddy doesn't leave my apartment and he only goes out on the balcony. This is a celibate sanctuary."
"Well, it's gotta be him." Leon ignores Matt's joke, his glare switching from Teddy to Matt. Matt admires the cut of his jawline as Leon continues, "Toffee doesn't go outside of my apartment, either."
"Then either her name's gotta be Mary or she's not pregnant at all." Matt smirks, enjoying the way Leon's scowl deepens.
"That's not funny. She's only two years old. She's not ready to become a mom yet."
Leon looks ready to slap his hand away when Matt reaches up to pet Toffee's head, scratching underneath her chin.
"She looks fine to me," he says, cooing at her when she sticks her chin out farther, her eyes slipping closed.
"That's what your cat thought, too," Leon says, lifting Toffee out of Matt's reach and perching her on his shoulder. "It must've happened during that fire drill three weeks ago. They told us to leave our doors open, remember? And then your cat saw his opportunity."
Matt lets out a laugh. "That's—" ridiculous, he wants to say. But then he remembers that afternoon, how he'd made his way back up to his floor after the drill and Teddy had been sitting on his doormat. Nothing in his face had betrayed anything at the time, nothing that said I just had sex with the neighbor's cat . But maybe he didn't know Teddy as well as he thought. "—possible," he ends up saying. He hastily adds, "I'm sure it was consensual, though. He's good guy."
"That's not the point ," Leon says, his voice clipped. "She's gonna give birth in God knows how many months to God knows how many kittens and I don't know anything about how to take care of all that and neither does she."
"I mean, it's nature, so—" Matt offers, but Leon cuts him off.
"Your cat's gotta do its part, is what I'm saying. I've seen the shows okay, it's not fair to let the girl go through it alone."
"What show, Teen Mom?" Matt asks, an incredulous note creeping into his voice. The jut of Leon's jaw clenches. Matt lets out a sigh, shrugging. "Fine. What do you want? Money for, like, food and beds, or something? I can help you out once the kittens are born. There's probably some of my kids' parents that'll want to adopt them."
"You're a teacher?" Leon asks, momentarily distracted. Matt notices the judgmental tone in his voice.
"Hey, I could be a teacher," he protests. "But no, I'm a hockey coach."
"Hm." Leon's eyes narrow slightly, but there's less antagonism in them. "Fine. We'll see about the adoption stuff when they're born. In the meantime, start by reading this."
Leon pulls a small book out from his back pocket, pushing it flat against Matt's chest. Their fingers brush when Matt reaches up to hold it. He looks down, reading the title.
" How To Take Care Of Your Pregnant Cat: The Complete Guide To Safely Deliver And Raise Healthy Kittens. " He looks back at Leon. "Seriously? What do you want me do to, read it to him?"
"Can't hurt," Leon says, looking the most threatening a guy's able to look with a cat on his shoulder.
Before Matt can get another word in, Leon and Toffee turn around, disappearing into the apartment across the hall.
-
He mostly forgets about it for the rest of the day, writing an essay for his course on sports related injuries and going into work in the afternoon.
It's only when he's eating dinner that night, shoveling a forkful of food into his mouth, that he notices the book on the counter. He pulls it towards him.
"You couldn't have gotten Gary's cat pregnant?" He asks Teddy, who is lying in the windowsill. "You just had to get with the cat of the guy who hates my guts?"
He sighs, flipping the book open. He knows he's being dramatic, but still. Since he'd come back that one night the Blues won the Stanley Cup—completely drunk off his ass and accidentally puking all over Leon's doormat—Leon had only deigned to give him looks that ranged from hostile to downright murderous. Even though he'd bought him a brand new doormat the day after.
And okay, maybe there's other stuff. Like how he keeps forgetting to change his address on his Amazon account and all his packages keep getting delivered to Leon's address. Or when he was redecorating his apartment and had moved most of his furniture out into the hallway, blocking Leon's path to his own front door when he'd come back from a multiple-day business trip, looking tired and worn down and eventually homicidal in his charcoal three-piece suit. Or that time they'd both left their apartments and Matt full on ran into Leon and his cup of coffee as he'd turned around, leading to more yelling in the hallway than is generally considered okay at seven in the morning on a Saturday.
If anything, this pregnancy can be an opportunity for him to show Leon he's not a terrible human being put on this earth to launch metaphorical blue shells at him. Not that he cares about what Leon thinks of him. He's only going to show that their past run-ins are not par for the course for him, but merely unfortunate outliers.
He reads the chapter about the types of food pregnant cats should be eating while he finishes up the rest of his dinner, and drives out to Petco straight after.
The amount of brands of cat food seems to increase every time he's there, so he clings onto an enthusiastic employee who guides him through. He ends up leaving the store with five bags of cat food from a brand whose name he can't pronounce and a fluffy blanket tucked under his arm.
Leon's wearing sweatpants and a hoodie when he opens the door. If it weren't for the weight of the bags of cat food in his arms, Matt would've stopped and taken his time to take in the sight of Leon dressed casually, with his hair looking rumpled and soft. Instead, he pushes past Leon into the apartment and heaves the bags of food onto the kitchen island with a groan.
He bends his neck to the side, hearing the crack. "Hey, I have that magnet, too," he says, pointing at Leon's fridge.
"What's this?" Leon asks, looking both annoyed at Matt being in his apartment and curious. He picks up a bag of cat food, inspecting the label.
"It's the best of the best, the lady in the store told me," Matt says. He walks up to Leon, picking up a bag and throwing it up between his hands. "Hope she likes it."
Leon puts the bag down, his gaze going over his kitchen island. "You bought, like, eight months worth of food. She's only gonna be pregnant for, like, six more weeks. Tops."
"Oh," Matt says. Apparently he should've started reading the book from the beginning, instead of somewhere in the middle. "The lady in the store didn't say anything."
"Yeah." Leon picks up the receipt, unrolling it over his fingers. "Wonder why," he adds dryly.
Toffee walks into the kitchen, ears perked up. Matt bends down to pet her, smiling as her back curves into the touch of his hand. "Who cares," he says, making a kissy noise. "You'll still deserve to eat like like a queen once your kids are here."
Leon looks unimpressed when Matt straightens. "It's poor fiscal management," he says.
He moves to put the bags away in the pantry and folds the blanket over the arm of the couch, so Matt still considers it a win. Toffee is moving around his legs, butting her head against his ankle.
"Do you smell your boyfriend on my pants?" Matt jokes. Leon's face instantly goes thunderous again.
"So, six more weeks you said?" he quickly asks, trying to distract Leon from assessing whether his love for cats exceeds his desire to murder Matt's.
Leon threads a hand through his hair, making it stick out at even odder angles. "Yeah, give or take. She'll get more antsy by the end, so that's how I'll know when it's gonna happen."
"Right, okay," Matt nods. He rocks back and forth slightly, looking around the apartment. The silence stretches between them. Toffee is still walking around his legs, pressing her nose into the cuff of his jeans. He clears his throat, patting the kitchen counter lightly with one hand, before announcing, "Well, um. I'm gonna go then."
He's halfway down the hallway when Leon says, "You can bring him, next time. If you want."
Matt turns around, looking back at Leon. The looks on his face isn't friendly but it doesn't make him fear for either his or Teddy's life. "Yeah, uh," he says, slowly. "Sure. Friday night?"
Leon just nods and Matt turns around, closing the door behind him.
-
He spends the rest of the week reading the book, making sure to start at the first chapter this time. Teddy's on his lap for most of it, offering little response when Matt shows him how big his children likely are right now, inside of Toffee's belly.
It turns out that cats do pregnancy similarly to how they do life--on their own terms. There's relatively little they require humans to do, apart from a watchful eye during the final two weeks and providing an overall comfortable environment for the cat to give birth in. Leon's apartment, while definitely a little sparse on the decoration, seems comfortable enough to Matt. He can always buy a bunch more blankets when Toffee will start nesting. If she doesn't use them, he'll just have more blankets, so. Win-win.
He gets home from practice late in the afternoon on Friday. After a quick shower, he prepares and eats dinner. He doesn't bother putting on shoes before he picks Teddy up in his arms, taking the two steps it takes to cross the hallway to Leon's door.
"Hey, man," Matt says, holding Teddy out in front of him when Leon opens the door. "Ready to chaperone some horny teenagers?"
Leon rolls his eyes, but he does open the door further to let Matt in. He's still dressed in his suit. Usually Matt only catches glimpses of Leon in a suit when they leave their apartments at the same time in the morning, but since he's barely awake at those times, he makes sure to enjoy the view as Leon walks down the hallway ahead of him.
There's a steaming plate of food on the coffee table and the TV is on. Leon walks around the couch, looking up at Matt. "I think she's in the bedroom. Can you keep him with you? I don't want to scare her with him walking around."
Matt tries not to be offended by the way Leon says him while looking at Teddy as if he's done him a personal offence—which he maybe did—and just nods, sitting down in an armchair and setting Teddy down on his lap.
Leon disappears into the bedroom, coming out a few seconds later with Toffee in his arms. Matt can see her perk up when she sees Teddy and scoots a little towards the front of the chair.
"Should I put him down?" He asks, looking up at Leon.
Leon shrugs. "Yeah, okay. We'll see what happens. Just, keep him within reach, I guess."
Matt puts Teddy down, giving him a few long strokes down his back. Teddy moves towards the coffee table, his nose in the air as he smells the food. Leon sits down onto the couch and sets Toffee down onto the cushion next to him.
"I'm not liable if she kills him," Leon says, his calm monotone contrasting with his words.
Matt laughs, meeting Leon's eyes. "Okay, lawyer. I get it."
Leon's brows furrow slightly. "You think I'm a lawyer?" At Matt's nod, he asks, "Why d'you think that?"
"Um, I don't know." Matt gestures at Leon. He can't say that the piercing green of Leon's eyes makes him want to admit to crimes he's never committed, so he goes with, "Like, the clothes. And everything."
Leon gives him a bemused look. "There's more jobs that require suits, you know. Like accountant, which I am."
"Oh, that's—" incredibly boring, Matt thinks, realizing that it weirdly only makes him want to climb Leon like a tree even more. "—nice."
Leon looks thoroughly unimpressed at Matt, but he's saved from having to dig a deeper hole to explain how accountancy is nice because Toffee decides to jump down from the couch to bump noses with Teddy.
Matt holds his breath, watches them as they briefly rub their heads against each other. Leon has gone completely still on the couch.
After barely a minute of greeting each other, Toffee walks away and jumps onto her perch on top of her scratching post. Teddy does a lap around the living room before lying down against one of the potted plants by the TV.
Matt feels his shoulders sag as he breathes out. "Well," he says, clearing his throat. He brings a hand up to push his curls away from his forehead. Leon's already looking at him when he looks up. "That was, um. Anticlimactic."
Leon lets out a breath that's almost a laugh, leaning forward to pick up his plate from the coffee table.
As Leon digs into his food, Matt looks at Teddy, who's looking unbothered. If they were at home, he'd tell him out loud to go up to Toffee and show interest so Leon knows you're not a slut . He tries to convey the message with his eyes, quite unsuccessfully.
The commercial break on TV ends, then, and he perks up. "You're a hockey fan?" He asks, watching as the Oilers and the Flames come out onto the ice.
Leon hums around a bite of food. "Yeah. Played it when I was younger, back in Germany. Got my degree in Edmonton, so. It stuck around."
Matt snorts. "Oilers suck, dude." Leon's eyes fix back on his face, his mouth thin. "They're, uh, getting better, though?" Matt offers.
Leon turns back to his food, watching the anthem on TV. The crowd is already into it, the cheers coming through the speakers. Matt feels his phone vibrate in his pants, knows it's Hanny wanting to FaceTime while they watch the game.
As far as he knows, Leon could've forgotten he's here. He's finishing up his dinner, his intense stare only directed at the TV for the past ten minutes. Matt shifts in his seat, looking at Teddy.
He's about to get up, say, well, that was fun! and go back to his own apartment, when Leon asks, "What do you think of the Oilers defense compared to last season?"
And so he stays, sinking back into the chair and drawing his legs up.
-
Leon becomes marginally less hostile over the next two weeks every time Matt brings Teddy over. The cats mostly ignore each other, but Leon insists it's important they stay familiar with each other, especially as Toffee gets further along her pregnancy. So Matt keeps going over three times a week and spends the evenings watching hockey with Leon while their cats are on opposite sides of the room.
They've just finished eating a bunch of Thai take out—a wonderful move on his part, if Matt says so himself, because it earned him his very first smile from Leon—when Leon asks: "Do you want to come along to the vet tomorrow?"
Matt folds up his container, putting it down on the coffee tables. "Yeah, of course. Is Toffee okay?"
Leon nods, sinking back against the cushions of the couch. He stretches his arms over his head, the fabric of his shirt going tight around his upper body. "Yeah, they're gonna do a scan. I've read some articles that it's good to know how many kittens she's gonna get."
"Oh," Matt nods, his eyes lingering briefly on Leon's midriff before straying back to the TV. "Yeah, makes sense. What time is the appointment?"
He barely remembers what Leon had said, but the answer should've been way too fucking early, because it's eight a.m. on a Sunday morning and Matt is standing in the elevator. Leon's leaning against the mirror with his eyes closed, holding a carrier with Toffee inside.
At her pathetic whine, Matt leans forward and looks through the small gate. "Yeah, I know. Your dad sucks for getting an appointment at this ungodly hour."
Leon opens his eyes to give Matt a moody glare. "It was the only open slot."
The elevator bell dings and the doors open on the floor of the vet. Matt follows Leon up to the front desk, making sure to stand in front of the carrier to block Toffee's sight of a particularly large dog. They're directed to the empty chairs to wait for the vet. Matt sits down in one of the chairs, picking up a booklet on cat pregnancies from the table beside him. He holds it up for Leon to see, only getting a small nod in return.
They're familiar enough by now that Matt can tell when the clench of Leon's jaw is tighter than normal, so he leans in and asks, "You okay?"
Leon shrugs, tugging the carrier a bit further up on his lap. "Yeah, fine."
Matt doesn't ask any further because the vet comes into the waiting room, calling Leon's name. They get up, following her into a small room.
While Sandra prepares Toffee for the scan, she talks about the behavior Toffee can start to exhibit once the birth will get closer. Leon's listening intently, nodding along.
"There," Sandra says, pointing at the screen. "Looks like Toffee here is gonna give birth to four kittens, in… I'd say, three weeks, maybe four."
Matt feels a grin split his face, his eyes briefly meeting Leon's.
"In two weeks, I'd begin making sure your home is prepared for the birth and the kittens," Sandra continues. "During the birth, she should be able to figure everything out herself but it's important to keep a close eye on her."
Leon looks pensive, slowly stroking Toffee's belly. "I remember my mom staying with our cat when she gave birth, like, through the entire night."
Sandra nods. "That's possible, if the cat is comfortable with someone around then I see no problem in that. But they're very self sufficient, so it's also possible she'll want nothing to do with you and wants to be left alone during the birthing."
They stay for a little while longer as Sandra does some tests, confirming that Toffee is completely healthy, before they head back to their building.
Leon is quiet during the drive, muttering in German to Toffee, who's in the carrier on the floor.
"Cats are awesome," Matt states, trying to curb the slightly heavy and worried vibes coming off of Leon. "Right? I mean, she's gonna give birth to four cats by herself. That's badass."
Leon has his arms crossed, giving Matt a look. "I'm gonna be there for the entire thing. My friend's cat had one of her kittens remain in the birth canal and she almost died."
Matt feels a tug in his chest. "Oh, shit. Yeah, I guess that's why they advise to check up on your cat every thirty minutes."
"Screw that," Leon says, his voice hard. "Like I'm gonna leave her alone while she's going through that? I think I know my cat better than Sandra does, and she'd want me there."
Matt pushes his lips together, moving his hands slowly up and down the steering wheel. While they're stopped at a red light, he offers, "You know cats, man, they're their own boss. And who knows what Toffee will get like when she has to give birth, she might not want any company."
Leon lets out a frustrated noise between his teeth but doesn't answer, moodily looking out of the window at the rain coming down. Matt resists the urge to roll his eyes and turns up the radio instead, music filling the car.
They're silent for the rest of the ride. The sound of the car doors slamming shut echoes in the garage. They ride the elevator back up to their floor together. Matt pushes a finger through the gate of Toffee's carrier, feeling her nudge her nose up against it, giving him a small lick.
"Well, um, see you on Tuesday, right?" Matt says, once they're both back in front of their doors.
Leon responds by letting the door to his apartment fall shut in Matt's face.
"Dick," Matt mutters, letting out a sigh as he lets himself into his apartment.
He tries not to dwell on the fact that Leon’s apparently reverted back to acting like an asshole towards him after things had been going better for the past few weeks. It’s not his fault that he'd rather follow the instructions of actual professionals, rather than get wrapped up in Leon's overprotective spiral of emotions when it comes to Toffee.
Still, it'd suck if Leon didn't want him and Teddy to come back over. Not only do Matt's Instagram pictures of Teddy and Toffee cuddled up together do amazingly well, he actually likes spending evenings together with Leon. Leon's smart and his dry humor is actually kind of funny and he always lets Matt decide what they're watching, which are all important traits wrapped up prettily in a banging body.
He doesn't have a lot of time to mope, fortunately. He finishes an assignment for one of his courses and cleans up his apartment. Hanny is coming over around five for video games and take-out, so he makes sure to go to the grocery store to pick up some beer and chips.
He mostly gets obliterated by Hanny as they go through multiple rounds of Mario Kart and NHL20 and today is no different.
After he dies yet again by Hanny shooting him through the head from point blank range, he flings his controller across the couch and gets up. He picks up his bottle of beer and drains the last of it, before picking up Hanny's bottle and doing the same.
"Dude, c'mon," Hanny chides. He aims a kick at Matt's ass.
"Relax," Matt says, moving out of reach from Hanny's foot. "I'll grab you another one."
He goes into the kitchen and takes out two bottles from the fridge. There's a knock on his door right when he's about to take the caps off.
"Can you grab that?" He tells Hanny, jerking his head at the door. He manages to get the caps off the beers, putting the bottles down on the coffee table. "The money's in my jacket pocket."
Hanny's getting up, walking down the hallway and opening up the door.
"Um."
Matt can hear Leon's deep voice, feeling his stomach do a flop. He walks into the hallway right as Hanny's walking back. "It's not take out."
"Yeah, I can see that." Matt swatts at him after Hanny bodychecks him into the wall.
"Sorry, hey," he says, once he reaches the doorway. He hopes Leon's not here to dump all the cat food and proclaim their tentative friendship being over. He tries a smile. "Everything okay?"
Leon's eyes are somewhere above Matt's shoulder before they settle on him. "Hm? Oh, yeah. I didn't know you had company."
"Yeah, uh, that was Noah," Matt says, quickly. "He's the one to blame, actually, for me puking on your doormat a year ago. He didn't walk me up like a proper date. Whatever happened to chivalry, right?"
"Right." Something shutters in Leon's eyes. "I wanted to ask, well. Never mind. I just wanted to apologize for this morning. I was being a dick."
"Oh," Matt says, feeling a smile tug at his lips. A happy feeling expands in his chest. "It's fine, don't worry about it."
Leon hums, nodding. He pushes his hands further into the pockets of his jeans. "Okay."
"So, uh, we're still on for Tuesday?" Matt asks, trying not to sound too hopeful. "Blues against the Oilers. Could be the game where they prove your claim that they can actually defend this year."
The glare Leon sends his way lacks any of the usual sharpness, a reluctant smile beginning to tug at the corners of his mouth. "Yeah, okay."
Matt grins back. "Awesome."
-
The days go quicker, the further Toffee gets along. Her belly is getting rounder, more pronounced. She gets more cuddly too, even getting up into Matt's lap one night while he and Leon are sitting at the dinner table, ordering stuff for her nest on Amazon.
Leon has a meeting in Boston one week before Toffee could start giving birth. It's a short flight but the meeting is accompanied by dinner with several senior partners, so his flight will land past midnight.
Right before he leaves, he wakes Matt up at the crack of dawn and presses his key into Matt's hand and instills the fear of God into him should anything happen to Toffee while he's in Boston.
Matt doesn't have classes or practice that day, so he spends it curled up on Leon's couch with his laptop, keeping an eye on Toffee as she moves about the apartment.
When the sun starts setting between the buildings, shining in his eyes through the window, he gets up off the couch. He makes some food in his own kitchen and brings his plate back over, gently nudging both Teddy and Toffee away from his food.
There's no hockey on and he keeps scrolling mindlessly through Netflix. Toffee and Teddy have both settled down onto the couch, fast asleep, and it doesn't take long before he scoots down and closes his eyes as well.
He wakes up sometime later to the sound of keys dropping onto the kitchen counter. One of the lamps in the corner had gone on automatically, bathing the living room in warm light. He twists around on the couch and sits up, spotting Leon standing by the kitchen counter.
Leon's got Teddy draped over one of his shoulders, stroking gently down his back. He looks tired, his hair lying flat on one side of his head. His suit jacket is flung over the handle of his suitcase.
Matt's throat goes dry, just looking at him. "Hey," he says, his voice sounding slightly raspy.
"Hey," Leon says, quiet. "Sorry for waking you. The flight was delayed."
"No, it's fine," Matt says, a yawn bubbling up his throat. He rolls his eyes at Leon's small smile. "Seriously, I'm good. I couldn't have slept on your couch through the night anyway."
Leon briefly looks like he wants to say something, but then Toffee stretches on the other end of the couch, making a noise.
"Nothing new with her?" Leon asks. He walks over, setting Teddy down onto the couch and scratching Toffee's belly gently.
"Just like in the other fifteen texts you had me send to you today, no. No baby alarm yet." Matt gets up off the couch and stretches his arms above his head, letting a groan escape through his lips. "C'mon Teds, let's go."
Teddy jumps off the couch, walking into the hallway. Matt uses his toes to turn over his slides, slipping his socked feet into them before he turns to follow.
"Matt," Leon says.
"Hm?" Matt turns around, looking back at Leon.
Leon's shirt is rumpled and the top few buttons are undone. His mouth twitches briefly, but then he says, "Thanks. For looking out for her."
Matt smiles, bending down to lift Teddy up in his arms. "Of course," he says. "She's carrying my grandchildren."
Leon snorts, shaking his head slowly. "Yeah, sure. Go get some more sleep."
"You should, too," Matt says, lifting one of Teddy's paws to wave. "See you tomorrow. Could be baby day." He has to laugh when he sees the look of mild panic flash over Leon's face. "Sleep tight, Leo."
-
The kittens don't end up being born the next day, but they do the day after.
Matt is in class when he gets a text from Leon that's either part German or part keysmash, but he deduces the meaning easily enough. He promptly gets up, his chair scraping across the floor and begs out of the rest of the class by stating a family emergency. An hysterical giggle escapes him as he hurries out of the building, realizing it wasn't even a lie.
Leon's already standing in the hallway by the time the elevator doors open up, shepherding Matt into the apartment.
"Dude, calm down," Matt says, like the complete hypocrite he is. "Where'd she go?"
They'd spent most of yesterday evening moving around the apartment on their knees, finishing up the nests underneath the dining table and in the bedroom, padding them with blankets and laundry that smelled like Leon.
"Bedroom," Leon says, gesturing with his hand in the general direction of the door. "She's whining a little and her belly is moving, so. It's happening."
"It's happening," Matt repeats, grinning.
The pale tinge to Leon's cheeks makes him look five minutes away from fainting so Matt tightens his hands around his biceps and sits him down onto the couch. He takes a can of coke from the fridge and sits down next to him. He cracks the can open, handing it to Leon.
"Okay, so," he says, trying to visualize everything he'd read about feline birth over the past month. "We'll set a timer, okay? We'll go check up on her every thirty—", Leon makes a noise of protest, still gulping down the coke, "— fine , every fifteen minutes."
Leon lets out a harsh breath after he's emptied the can, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "We've got to have the hot water bottle ready."
"You can go look," Matt says, nodding in the direction of the bedroom. "I'll go heat up the bottle."
There's a nervous tingle underneath his skin as he gets up off the couch and goes to the kitchen. Leon goes into the bedroom while Matt leans against the counter, waiting for the water to start boiling. Once it's done, h e makes sure to add some cold water, bringing the temperature of the water down before adding it to the bottle and screwing the top shut.
The door of Leon's bedroom creaks slightly as he pushes it open. Leon's crouched down in front of the cardboard box they'd cut open and covered in a blanket. He looks up when he hears Matt.
"There's one already." His smile is the widest Matt's ever seen it and he instinctively mirrors it on his own face. "It is kinda gross, though," Leon adds, sheepishly.
Matt grins, holding out the hot water bottle. "Birth isn't gross."
Leon gets up off the floor to take the bottle from him, their hands briefly brushing together. He sends Matt a challenging look, his eyebrows slightly raised. "She's eating the placenta."
"Oh." Matt tries to keep his face neutral, looking back steadily as Leon watches his reaction. "Beautiful. That's what my mom did too."
That gets a laugh out of Leon, the worried lines around his eyes getting taken up into the crinkles of his smile. "Man, I sure hope not."
They get out of the bedroom once Leon's placed the bottle into the box with Toffee. The line of Leon's shoulders is visibly less tensed now and Matt feels himself relax, too. He sets the timer again and turns on the TV. He opts for a rerun of Friends instead of hockey, figuring that they'll need to keep their brains still mostly occupied with Toffee instead of the score.
After fifteen minutes, the timer goes off again. Matt looks to the side, giving Leon an encouraging smile, but Leon's not getting up.
"Do you want to go look?" Leon offers.
"Oh." Matt swallows, looking down at his lap. A warm feeling spreads down his spine, fully aware that Leon's sacrificing half an hour by letting him go check on Toffee. "You sure?"
Leon nods, shooting him a smile. "Wouldn't wanna deny you the sight of a cat eating her own placenta."
Matt laughs. "Of course. Wouldn't want that."
He gets up off the couch and walks over to Leon's bedroom. The bed is made, looking soft and inviting. There's a bunch of pictures hanging on the walls, a suit hanging on the closet door. He lets his eyes drop to the box on the floor, getting down onto his knees.
Toffee is making soft noises, their eyes meeting as Matt lowers himself onto his elbows. She's in the middle of giving birth to the second kitten, her stomach convulsing.
"It's okay, baby," Matt mutters, feeling his heart swell fifteen sizes. He swallows down the lump in his throat, looking down at the kitten that's already cradled against her body, suckling on a nipple. "You're doing really good."
He reaches out his thumb, rubbing the pad of it softly between Toffee's eyes and across the bridge of her nose.
Leon looks up when he goes back into the living room. "And?"
Matt smiles. "Second kitten on its way. She looks good. Just, chilling." He sits back down onto the couch, briefly hesitates, and pats Leon's thigh. "She doesn't need you, but she's lucky to have you."
The smile Leon sends his way makes his cheeks flame again, but it's worth it for the way Leon presses their shoulders together.
The other two kittens are born within the next hour, closely together. Matt orders takeout and they watch some more TV, Leon getting up every fifteen minutes to do a quick check.
All four of them are drinking from Toffee by the time Matt goes to look one last time. "You're a badass," he tells her, pressing his index fingers against one of the pads on her paw before getting up.
"You're gonna be okay?" he asks Leon, putting his coat over his arm and hitching his bag onto one shoulder.
"Yeah," Leon nods. "I've got a camping bed set up in the other room, so I'll crash on that."
He looks tired, his hair flopping over his forehead. He'd changed into sweats and a t-shirt while Matt had put out the takeout boxes onto the coffee table. They'd sat close together throughout dinner, a kind of warmth emanating from Leon's body that Matt just wanted to wrap himself up in.
His fingers twitch along his sides, now, wanting to reach out. He doesn't know what makes him do it, maybe it’s the fatigue or the evening they’ve just had, but he steps in and brings his arms around Leon's neck, pulling him into a hug.
Leon goes stiff in his arms, making his blood run cold. He wants to step back, pull away from the hug, but. Leon’s arms tighten around the smallest part of his waist, tugging their bodies close together. Matt lets out a breath between his lips, resting his chin on own bicep, the top of his head leaning against Leon’s temple.
“Thanks,” Leon mumbles, the fabric of Matt’s shirt the only separation between his shoulder and Leon’s lips.
“Yeah,” Matt nods, slowly stepping back from the hug. Leon’s arm drop away from his waist, the pleasant weight of them gone. Matt clears his throat. “I’m getting Teddy neutered next month, by the way. So don’t worry. No more Tkachuk-Draisaitl children.”
Leon laughs soundlessly, his shoulders shaking a little. “Good to know.”
Matt nods again, rocking a little on the balls of his feet. “Yep. So.” He points at the door behind him. “I’m gonna go. Sleep tight.”
“Okay,” Leon says, smiling. “You too, Matt.”
He lets his bag slide off of his shoulder once he’s safely inside his own apartment. It falls to the floor with a thud. He kicks off his shoes and hangs his coat up. Teddy walks up to him, winding his tail around Matt’s ankle.
“Hey, bud,” Matt says, picking his cat up into his arms. Teddy butts his head against his nose, a low purr starting up from his chest. “You’re a father now, hm? How ‘bout that?”
The curtains make a loud noise as he tugs them closed, enveloping his apartment in the cozy light of the overhead lamp. He lets Teddy down onto the couch before taking his cellphone from his pocket. He sends the couple of pictures he’d taken into the family group chat, grinning down as the heart eyes emojis come streaming in.
Taryn sends him a direct text that only says, wait that’s the other baby daddy?👀
Matt looks back at the pictures he’d sent, noticing he’d also sent one along with Leon in the corner of the frame, crouched down by the box.
technically teddy is the baby daddy , he sends back.
He gets ready for bed, brushing his teeth as he sends all the pictures he’d taken to Leon. He gets a heart emoji back and there’s not a lot of room for denial when he can see his blush straight up manifest itself onto his face. He turns his back towards the mirror, thumbing through his messages with one hand.
Taryn had sent back , he can be your baby daddy then, which Matt promptly deletes.
-
The kittens grow pretty steadily through the first week, their ears unfurling and the umbilical cords coming off their bellies. At the start of the second week their eyes are still closed but they’ve started moving more. Matt spends a lot of time with Leon, hovering over the box to watch them wriggle around.
He also starts up his quest to find the kittens a home for when they’re old enough. He skates around at practice to ask some of the kids whether they’d want a tiny baby cat as their best friend. Unsurprisingly, he gets twenty kids gathered around him, all clamoring for a kitten. Most of the parents say no, when he goes up to them after practice. There’s one mom, though, who’d like to adopt two of them.
Leon looks wary when Matt tells him that night, during the second intermission of the Oilers game. He does eventually acknowledge that there’s no way he can have someone adopt all four of them, even if he might want to. Matt convinces him to come to practice the next day, to meet Anna and quiet down any worries about her being a possible psychopathic kitten murderer.
He’d told Leon that practice ends at four, but he’s halfway through explaining a drill when he sees Leon sitting in the stands. It makes him feel on edge for the rest of practice, a tingling feeling going down his spine whenever their eyes meet across the distance.
“Okay, little lions,” he announces after the last four-on-four scrimmage. “I’ve had enough, get out of here!”
The kids make their way off the ice, their noise echoing around the mostly empty rink. Matt skates around, gathering the pucks and clearing the ice for the Zamboni to come on. He’s sitting on the bench, taking off his skates when he notices Leon talking to Anna. They’re pretty far away, but Leon doesn’t seem to be interrogating her, so he figures it’s probably going alright.
If Anna ends up taking the two kittens, there will only be two more left. People love kittens, Leon will find homes for the other two in barely any time at all. And then Matt won’t have to come over anymore. The thought makes him tug off his skate hard, almost kneeing himself in the head.
He doesn’t want to stop hanging out with Leon. Leon’s built like a tree and his mouth always quirks up whenever he’s trying not to smile at something Matt said. He’s also funny, kind of mean, and basically exactly what Matt wants in a guy.
He takes longer than usual getting his skates off and his shoes on, packing up his stuff into his bag. Leon’s standing along the glass by himself when Matt walks up to him.
“How did it go?” Matt asks, trying not to let his gloomy thoughts show through his words or on his face. “Did she drop any hints that she likes making necklaces out of baby kittens?”
Leon pushes his palm flat to Matt’s face, pushing him away. “No,” he says, rolling his eyes. “She’s normal. Unlike you. She’s coming by in three weeks to look at them. Said she has some friends who might like a cat too.”
“Oh. Okay.” Matt looks at his feet, shoving the door to the rink open with his shoulder. He doesn’t say anything else, ignoring the look Leon sends him. “I’ll see you when we’re back, okay?”
He pushes his bag into the trunk of his car and gets behind the wheel, driving out of the parking lot. The roads are quiet as he drives home, a contrast to the thoughts running around in his head.
By the time he’s parked his car in the underground garage and made his way to the elevator, an idea has fully formed. Leon’s car had passed him on the road, so Matt is walking down the hallway right when Leon’s opening up his door to his apartment.
“Leo,” Matt calls out. “Hold up.”
Leon looks up, meeting Matt’s eyes as Matt walks up closer. “Hey. You okay? You got out of there kinda fast.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Matt nods, quickly. “I was just thinking about something.”
“Alright.” Leon opens the door, holding it open for Matt. Matt walks inside, taking off his coat and hanging it up. Leon closes the door behind them, also shrugging out of his coat. “Wanna share what you were thinking about?”
Matt nods again, walking into the living room before turning around. Leon walks up to him, looking slightly bemused.
“So,” Matt starts. “I think you should keep the other two kittens here. You should tell Anna that she doesn’t need to, like, recruit any friends. Because you’re keeping them.”
Leon’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “You know I can’t, right? I mean, I’d love to, but. There’s a two pet limit for these apartments. And I don’t think I have enough space for three cats in here, especially with the kittens tearing this place to shreds.”
Matt holds up his hand, triumph spreading in his chest. “I know that,” he says. “I already thought of that. And that’s why I can adopt one of them, and they can, like, have playdates. And Teddy won’t be so lonely while I’m away during the day. Problem solved!”
A laugh escapes Leon’s lips and he shakes his head at Matt. “That’s. We can’t do that. You’re not gonna get another cat just so I won’t have to break them up.”
“It’s not just that,” Matt protests, a fluttering feeling filling up his stomach. The words come bubbling up from his throat as he continues saying, “C’mon, I freakin’ love those little dudes. I basically birthed them myself--”
“You really didn’t.”
“—and I just want to keep being able to see you!”
Leon closes his mouth, looking straight at Matt. “What?”
Matt swallows, feelings like it’s a little too late, the words already out there now. “Um. You know,” he says.
Leon frowns, looking confused. “No, I don’t think that I do.”
Matt bites down on the inside of his cheek, the fluttering feeling being swallowed up by the sudden pit in his stomach. If only he could’ve presented his plan like a sane person, instead of blurting out the one thing he didn’t want to say. Leon’s eyes are still fixed on him, his eyebrows raising expectantly.
“You know ,” Matt insists again.
“I actually don’t,” Leon fires back.
“You don’t like me! At least not in the way that I like you,” Matt says. He takes a deep breath, tries a smile. It probably ends up looking more like a grimace. “I know we, like, gave it our best shot. For the cats and everything. But I know we’re not actually friends, let alone anything more. So.”
“You—” Leon’s voice breaks off. He walks up closer to Matt, stopping when he’s only a few inches away. “You don’t think we’re friends?”
The direct way Leon asks the question makes something defensive rise up inside of Matt. “You never said anything to make me think we were.”
“Neither did you!”
“Well, I’m saying something now,” Matt states, raising his eyebrows in challenge.
“Yeah?” Leon asks, stepping even closer. Matt can see the freckles that cover the bridge of Leon’s nose, his eyes straying back to Leon’s. “I gave you a key.”
Matt huffs. “Because I had to babysit your pregnant cat. That doesn’t count.”
“Didn’t ask to get the key back yet, though, did I?” Leon counters.
Matt opens his mouth to reply, but he comes up empty. He presses his lips together, narrowing his eyes at Leon. Their close proximity makes his heart thump rapidly in his chest, nervous anticipation building in his stomach.
Leon’s eyes do not waver when he adds, “And I went to ask you out on a date.”
He halfheartedly pushes at Leon’s chest with his hand, not allowing himself to get swept up with the surprise. “No way. You didn’t.”
“I did,” Leon insists, holding onto Matt’s hand and using it to tug Matt in closer. “That afternoon after we went to the vet.”
Matt wracks his brain, trying to remember the moment. If Leon really did ask him out on a date and he didn’t notice it, he’s definitely gonna fling himself out of the window. It’s hard to think, though, with Leon pressed up so closely against him, the faint scent of his cologne present in the air between them.
“Wait,” he says. He gives Leon what he hopes is a thoroughly unimpressed look, even though his heart is still stuttering. “When you came to the door to apologize? That was you trying to ask me out? No wonder you’re this hot and still single, if that’s your way of asking people on a date.”
“Shut up,” Leon grins, moving one hand to the back of Matt’s neck and pulling him in.
Matt allows himself to get tugged in closer and meets Leon halfway, pressing their lips together in a kiss. Leon’s lips are firm and warm against his own, his arm winding around Matt’s waist. It makes his spine go liquid. He lets himself sag a little against Leon’s chest, bringing a hand up to Leon’s shoulder, feeling the muscle beneath the fabric of Leon’s sweater.
The fingers of Leon’s other hand wind into his curls, tugging a little to tilt his head. Leon deepens the kiss and gets them moving, walking backwards towards the couch.
“I hope this means,” Matt says, in between kisses. “I’m still getting that date.”
Instead of answering, Leon lets him drop unceremoniously onto the couch. Any protests promptly die on his lips as Leon captures his mouth in another kiss.
the end.