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"Sir, your son's out of surgery and just waking up if you'd like to go in and see him."
Herc stood and rubbed his hands down the legs of his trousers. "Come on then," he said as Raleigh pushed out of his chair. "Let's go see the brat."
"Sir, just one –" The nurse stopped when Herc just looked at her. "Yes, sir, just through those doors there."
"Raleigh, put the phone away."
"Sorry, sir, can't do that," Raleigh replied with a grin when Herc looked at him. "Have you seen the videos of people coming out of anesthesia?"
"Have you stopped to think about what he's going to do to you when he sees that video?"
Raleigh took Herc's amusement as a good sign. "I'm sure he'll give it his best shot, sir."
"Stop sirring me," Herc said as they stepped inside the recovery room.
Chuck was half-propped up on a pillow, green hospital gown dark against his fair skin. His hair was mussed (likely from the surgical cap they'd put on him before his appendectomy) and sticking up in about eighty different directions. The first finger of one hand was covered with a monitor while the other arm sported a blood pressure cuff, and Raleigh could see an IV line still in the crook of his elbow.
But the thing that drew Raleigh's attention was the Saltine cracker in Chuck's hand.
"Son, how're you feeling?" Herc asked quietly as they drew closer.
Chuck's eyes rolled beneath his eyelids for a second before he forced them open and peered up at Herc. "Dad? M'hungry."
"Eat your cracker then."
Chuck looked at the cracker in his hand like it had just miraculously appeared there. Oh, yeah, this was going to be absolutely priceless. Then Chuck took a bite and winced. "Loud," he said. "Ow."
There was a small pause before he rolled his head to the side. "Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww."
Raleigh couldn't help it. He snickered.
The noise was enough to pull Chuck's attention in his direction. Raleigh just grinned and kept the phone steady, recording every second of Chuck first blinking rapidly and then peering at him with a dumbfounded look. "Who're you?"
"Raleigh," he replied. "Eat your cracker."
"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaleigh," Chuck slurred, then giggled. "Raaaaaaaaaaaaleigh."
"Yeah," Herc sighed and shook his head as he shot a look at Raleigh. "His mum was just like this."
Chuck giggled again and took another bite of his cracker. His eyes slipped closed, then opened again as if it was a great effort to even blink. "Do I know you?"
"You do," Raleigh replied, unable to hide his amusement. He ignored the dark look that Herc gave him, choosing instead to focus completely on Chuck.
"Are you a model? No?" Chuck frowned and shook his head, trying unsuccessfully to guide the cracker to his mouth again. He lost it and spent a few seconds feeling around his chest before finding it once more. When it was securely in his grasp, he pointed it at Raleigh. "An actor. You gotta be something, because you're fucking gorgeous."
There was a few seconds of stunned silence as Raleigh bit his lip to keep from laughing. Then he heard the snort of muffled laughter from Herc. "Well," Raleigh said, voice thick with suppressed laughter, "I'm glad you think so."
"I do," Chuck nodded, flashing wide eyes in Raleigh's direction as he nibbled at the cracker in his hand. "Am I dead? Are you an angel?"
"No, you're not dead and I'm definitely not an angel," Raleigh laughed. He reached out and tried to guide Chuck's hand back to his mouth. "Eat your cracker."
"I am. Who are you again?"
"I'm Raleigh," he repeated, trying his best not to laugh. "I'm your boyfriend."
"You're my..." Chuck blinked a few times, then his eyes went wide. "Holy shit, I hit the fucking jackpot! Boyfriend?"
"Yeah," Raleigh laughed. And yeah, okay, Chuck was totally going to kill him, but this shit was going online just as soon as Raleigh could manage it. "We've been dating for about eight months now."
"Holy fucking shit," Chuck repeated, looking like he'd been hit between the eyes with a pole. Which, to be fair, was how he'd looked for most of the conversation. "So I get to kiss you? And fuck you?"
Raleigh snorted out a laugh even as his cheeks got hot. He could hear Herc practically strangling, but there was no way in Hell he was going to look at the man. "Yeah, you do."
"Wow," Chuck breathed. He stuffed the rest of the cracker in his mouth and let his head fall back against the pillow. One hand came up to cover his eyes, but Raleigh could see a hint of green peeking at him between Chuck's fingers. "Wow. I'm the luckiest fucking man in the world. You're gay?"
"Bi, yes," Raleigh laughed.
"Wow. I'm gay?"
"Bi also," Raleigh answered, still grinning as he handed another cracker to Chuck. "Here, eat your cracker."
Chuck obediently took a bite and chewed as he stared at Raleigh. "You're my boyfriend," he said, still so wide eyed that Raleigh was hard pressed not to laugh. "D'you fuck me?"
"Sometimes," Raleigh managed to say, feeling his face get even hotter as Herc made a pained noise from his left.
"Wow." Chuck stared some more, the cracker in his hand apparently forgotten for the moment. "Are we getting married?"
Raleigh shook his head and Chuck's face fell. His stricken expression was pure gold. "Why not? We should get married. You should marry me. I wanna marry you. I want to have babies with you. Holy shit, we should do that. Will you marry me and have babies with me?"
"We can't have babies, Chuck," Raleigh pointed out, still trying not to laugh.
"Why the fuck not?"
"We're both men."
"Oh." Chuck frowned because that thought clearly hadn't occurred to his still drug addled brain. "We could adopt! Holy fucking shit, Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaleigh, we could adopt! Marry me and adopt babies with me!"
"Ask me again when you're sober." Raleigh couldn't help the laugh that slipped out then. This was definitely going online as soon as he left the hospital.
Then Chuck blinked. Without having to ask, Raleigh knew that a light had just turned on in his head. He also knew that they'd find out what that light was in five, four, three...
"Dad! Dad, have you met my boyfriend, Raaaaaaaaaaaaleigh...wait, what's your last name?"
"Becket," Raleigh supplied, then pressed his lips together hard because Herc looked like he was in actual, physical pain.
"Dad, have you met him? Raaaaaaaaleigh Becket. He's my boyfriend..." Chuck's jaw dropped and he stared at Herc for a minute. Then his gaze shifted to Raleigh. And to everyone's shock, he started crying. "Holy shit, I have a boyfriend. Dad, I have a boyfriend. He likes me."
"Loves," Raleigh said quietly, stepping closer and taking Chuck's hand as Herc reached out and patted him awkwardly on the shoulder. "I love you, 'roo."
"And he has a nickname for me," Chuck sobbed, overcome with the combination of the anesthesia and emotions.
"Several, actually," Raleigh said with a soft smile.
"Oh." Chuck hiccupped and looked at Raleigh through teary eyes. "I love you, too. I do, right? We should get married and have babies. Adopt them. Something. Holy shit, I'm so fucking lucky."
He brought Raleigh's hand to his mouth and kissed it – well, more accurately, he slobbered on it, but Raleigh wasn't going to point that out – and then looked at Herc. "I love you, too, Dad."
Herc looked so constipated that Raleigh had to duck his head to keep from laughing out loud. As it was, his shoulders shook and he knew the video was going to be blurry as hell, but he never thought of stopping the recording.
"I love you, too, son," Herc finally said as he patted Chuck's shoulder again. Then he looked at Raleigh. "You're going to delete that part."
"Of course, sir," Raleigh blithely replied, having zero intention of deleting anything.
Chuck just beamed at them both, and Raleigh couldn't do anything but shake his head, laugh softly, and urge Chuck to finish his cracker.