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Carlos always knew that TK was a little bit of a child at heart.
Hell, it was no secret to anyone in the 126 that he was always up to no good.
But when he came home from work to find the living room transformed into a fortress of blankets and couch cushions and kitchen chairs he had to sigh.
Perhaps TK had gone a little too far this time.
“Papa!” But then he heard the sound of a little voice from inside all of the chaos and he suddenly didn’t mind the mess. “Come inside! Quick!”
He dropped his stuff with a chuckle and kicked off his boots, dropping down onto his knees and crawling through the fort’s tiny doorway.
The sight that greeted him was shocking.
Not only had TK and the kids managed to construct a rather sturdy structure, but they had somehow managed to decorate the inside with fairy lights.
“Do you like our fort papa?” He couldn’t help but smile as he moved to sit down, his eyes taking in the fact that probably every pillow and blanket from their four bedroom home was now on their floor.
“I love it mijo.” He watched as Clara tumbled to her bottom in an attempt to get to him, crawling over both her brother and sister to reach him. “Where’s your father though?”
He had yet to see TK and that worried him.
Had the kids constructed the fortress and then locked their father away?
They were smart and all, but that seemed a little much for their almost six year old minds.
“I’m right here.” Carlos looked up just as TK crawled through the entrance, stopping to press a kiss to his husband’s lips before settling down next to their oldest daughter. “What do you think babe?”
“This is impressive.” And it was, he had never seen anything like it. “When did you guys do this?”
“About an hour ago.” TK shrugged with a smile. “We were gonna go to the park, but it started raining, so we got creative.”
Creative was an understatement and Carlos wondered just how many YouTube tutorials TK had to watch in order to make this happen.
“Daddy said we can have a sleepover in here tonight!” The excitement in Olivia’s voice was enough to make his heart flutter and while he knew that it wasn’t the best idea for a sleepover on a weeknight, he could never say ‘no’ to that smile.
“If Papa says it’s okay. He’s the one that has to deal with you three in the morning.” After TK had returned to work a little over six months ago thing had been a crazy, but they had both done some juggling and now they seemed to be in a pretty good routine.
A routine though that left them both having to wrangle three kids alone before school at least twice a week.
“I think a sleepover is a wonderful idea.” In fact, it sounded quite amazing, especially judging by how gross the weather was outside. “How about we make it extra special and order pizza for dinner?”
TK’s eyes grew wide at Carlos’ suggestion and he couldn’t help but chuckle.
If there was a parent out of the two of them was more focused on good eating and home cooked meals, it was him, not TK.
“Yay!” Lachlan clapped excitedly before throwing his arms around his Papa’s neck and Carlos knew that he had just made the little boy’s night.
“Can we wear our PJs and watch a movie?” The twinkle in his daughter’s eyes was enough to get her whatever she wanted and she knew it. “Please daddy? Please Papa?”
“Of course we can.” TK pressed a kiss to his daughter’s head, watching as Clara just looked between them all with a mixture of confusion and excitement.
He loved the toddler stage, but he couldn’t wait until she was just a tad bit older and could actually understand what was going on around her.
“Papa.” She giggled as she said the word for the first time and Carlos felt his heart stop. “Papa! Papa!”
Her brother dissolved into a fit of giggles as TK just chuckled.
“She’s been saying that all day.” He said softly. “We wanted to call you, but I thought it would be sweeter if you heard it in person.”
Carlos couldn’t stop the tear that rolled down his cheek as he lifted the tot up in the air a little, watching as she giggled, the word leaving her lips over and over again.
“Best day ever!” Olivia squealed excitedly, jumping up from TK’s lap to wrap her arms around Carlos’ neck too.
He certainly wouldn’t argue with her on that.
“Best day ever indeed.” He offered TK a smile as he set Clara down and then wrapped his arms around all three of the kids, dropping kisses to each of their heads as he went.
Sure, meeting TK had been great, and dating him and marrying him had been dreams come true.
But finally becoming dads together, that had been the icing on the cake.