Work Text:
Laurent had his hands deep in cookie dough when his phone buzzed. He glanced at it, and a smile grew on his face when he saw who it was from.
Damen (4:42 p.m.) : i miss you
“Hey Siri, send ‘You saw me this morning’ to Damen”
The answer was immediate.
Damen (4:43 p.m.) : i still miss you
Damen (4:43 p.m.) : what are you doing?
Laurent cleaned the dough off his hands and washed them before taking his phone to answer.
Laurent (4:44 p.m.) : Cookies for your son.
Damen (4:44 p.m.) : oh he’s MY son now? what’s he done to deserve being called that?
Laurent could imagine Damen smiling as he typed that.
Laurent (4:46 p.m.) : Bullied me all morning because he wanted cookies but didn’t leave me alone long enough so that I could bake those cookies. I’m only able to do it now because I let him play in the garden. You’re distracting me, let me finish my cookies and I get back to you. Don’t you have work to do anyway?
He put his phone back down, screen against the countertop, before going back to making cookies. He heard his phone buzzing five times as he was separating the dough into little balls on the baking paper and putting the cookies on the oven.
He took his phone, and went to sit on the couch, reading Damen’s messages.
Damen (4:46 p.m) : save me some cookies, the things you bake are always so good
Damen (4:47 p.m.) : except that weird apple cake you made when Theo was a baby. that was disgusting
Damen (4:47 p.m) : and i’ve done all my work but i can’t leave until it’s 5
Damen (4:47 p.m) : i wouldn’t be texting you if i had work to do
Damen (4:48 p.m) : you think i could take you out tonight
Damen (4:53 p.m) : forget that, i wanna stay home. i’ll take you out another day
Damen (4:56 p.m.) : sweetheart?
Laurent (4:57 p.m) : Can’t survive 10 minutes without me?
Damen (4:57 p.m.) : no
Damen (4:57p.m.) : is Theo still outside?
Laurent (4:58 p.m.) : Yes. He’s playing on his slide.
Damen (4:58 p.m) : we made a good investment when we bought that thing, he loves it
Damen (4:58 p.m.) : i’m gonna leave now. see you soon. love you ❤️
“I love you too,” Laurent answered out loud, locking his phone and tossing it next to him on the couch.
…
Theo had just finished stuffing his mouth with cookies and was playing in his room when the front door opened. Laurent automatically turned his head to look at Damen, giving him a small smile, that he quickly lost when Damen didn’t smile back. It wasn’t usual at all.
Laurent frown as Damen leaned down to take his shoes off. He let Damen put his coat on the rack to say, in a voice a little softer than usual “Come here.”. He patted the empty space next to him on the couch, and quickly, Damen was here, but not sitting like Laurent thought ; he had lain down, his head on Laurent’s lap and his feet on the opposite armrest. He closed his eyes when Laurent slid his hands on his hair, playing with the brown curls. “Bad day at work?”
Damen nodded.
“What happened?”
“Nothing really serious. The coffee machine isn’t working, someone stole my only functioning black pen, and to make it all worse, Erasmus didn’t come today so I had no one to talk to. I think I just need a break.”
“Can’t you take a few days? I doubt Auguste would refuse.”
“I don’t want to use the brother-in-law card to get privileges at work, you know that.”
“It’s not a privilege if you’ve earned it. You work your ass off all the time, you’re one of the best members of the firm. You deserve a few days for yourself.”
“Um, if you say so,” Damen hummed, moving his head a little to be more comfortable.
His face was now pressed against Laurent’s stomach. He took a deep breath and the familiar smell of their laundry and of Laurent soothing him. It smelt good, it smelt like home.
“I saved you cookies by the way. They’re waiting for you on top of the fridge.”
“Had to put them there so that Theo wouldn’t steal them, huh?” Damen smiled.
“Yeah, you know how he is. That little troublemaker. He drives me crazy, just like his dad,” Laurent says fondly, leaning in to press a kiss on Damen’s temple.
Damen hummed in pleasure. “Oh, do I drive you crazy?”
“Always.”
“But where would the fun be if I didn’t?”
Laurent laughed, the sound muffled in Damen’s curls. “Oh yes, how boring my life if my husband and son decided not to be a pain in my ass for five seconds.”
“Keep your sarcasm for yourself, sweetheart, you love it.”
“Of course I do. Want me to call Theo so that you two can team up against me?”
Damen nodded, and only a second after Laurent straightened his back and directed his head at the stairs. “Theo! Daddy’s home!”
“Daddyyyyyyyyy!” They heard, first faintly and then more and more loudly as their son ran down the stairs, from his bedroom to the living room. They barely had time to see him arrive that he was jumping on Damen’s stomach, knocking the air out of him.
Not that Damen would complain. When he could catch his breath, he laughed, circling Theo’d little body with his arm and holding the giggling child close to his chest. “Hello, my Theo,” he whispered softly.
“Hello. Papa come, family hug,” Theo decreed, reaching out with his arm to tug on the sleeve of Laurent’s shirt.
“Yes, Papa, come on, family hug,” Damen said, laughter in his voice as Laurent leaned in again, one hand still on Damen’s hair, and the other rubbing Theo’s back.