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“Rowan, sweetie, it’s time to wake up.”
Jean stood above his daughter’s bed, gently brushing her golden curls out of her face. Her eyes fluttered open, and she brought one small fist up to rub at her face. Jean carefully slid his hands underneath her and picked her up, resting her against his side. “Do you remember what today is?”
She yawned, curling herself into his shoulder as he carried her out of her room. She was never a morning person. He could feel her head nod against his shoulder. “It’s my birfday.”
“That’s right!” He hummed. “And how old are you now?”
She held her hand up in front of his face, uncurling three of her small, chubby fingers. “Tree.”
“Wow, you’re getting so big!”
Jean carried her down the stairs, into the kitchen. They were greeted by the smell of vanilla and freshly cut strawberries. Marco stood at the stove, already dressed for the day in a button up shirt and some jeans, wearing his light pink apron as he flipped some pancakes. He glanced over his shoulder as they entered, his freckled face instantly lighting up at the sight of his daughter. “There’s my birthday girl!”
Rowan finally picked her head up, reaching towards Marco with her little grabby hands.
“Sorry honey, Daddy’s cooking right now.” He said as he took the now finished pancake off the pan and added it to the neat stack beside him. He poured the rest of the batter onto the pan, forming a Mickey Mouse head. “Go sit down with Dad, and I’ll join you in a sec.”
Rowan’s bottom lip stuck out in a pout and she put her head back onto Jean’s shoulder. She always favored Marco in the morning for some reason. Maybe it was because Marco was a morning person, and would carry her around in his arms as he went through his morning routine, allowing her to slowly wake up. Jean was very much not a morning person, and most times he would wake her up and start getting her ready right away, since most mornings he was cutting it close himself when it came to timing. He gave her barely any time to fully wake up, leaving her cranky for most of the morning.
Jean headed in the adjacent dining room, where the table was already mostly set with plates, utensils, and a bottle of maple syrup. He placed Rowan down in her seat at the head of the table so she could sit between her two dads, and took his seat to her right.
“So what does my princess have planned for today?” He asked, reaching over and tucking some of her unruly hair behind her ear.
She scrunched up her face, deep in thought before answering. “The zoo!” She exclaimed, holding both her hands up in the air. “To say hi to Mister Lion!”
Rowan loved going to the zoo. Every time they went it was like she was seeing the animals for the first time. She could sit and watch the animals lounge around their exhibits all day if they let her, and forget trying to drag her away from the lions. It almost always ended in her throwing a temper tantrum. Marco usually had to bribe her with promises of ice cream or a new stuffed animal, or they would have to wait until the lions wandered out of sight and tell her ‘Mister Lion went down for a nap, we shouldn’t disturb him.’
Jean frowned. “Sweety, we can’t go outside right now, remember?” Rowan’s expression quickly dropped, her little pout returning. Under normal circumstances, Jean would’ve said yes in a heartbeat. But currently they were in quarantine. Jean had been working from home the past few months, taking care of Rowan by himself while Marco still had to go into work every day. It worried Jean, his husband still having to go into work everyday in the midst of a pandemic, but thankfully Marco was no longer working at the hospital now that he had opened his own pediatric clinic.
“But we can do anything you want today. Promise! Just as long as we don’t leave home.” Jean tried his best to cheer her up. Pandemic be damned, he was still going to give his little princess the best birthday ever!
Jean’s words meant nothing to Rowan, though, as she angrily crossed her arms with a huff. Thankfully, Marco came to save the day. “Actually, I’m sure Dad can figure out a way for you to say ‘hi’ to Mister Lion today,” he said as he placed Rowan’s specially crafted Mickey Mouse pancake down in front of her. It was complete with two heart-shaped strawberry slices for eyes and a row of melted chocolate chips for its smile, just the way she liked.
Jean blinked, confused. Those certainly weren’t the words he thought his husband would say. How was he going to find a way to see the lions at the zoo if the zoo was closed? Marco sat across from him, mouthing ‘figure it out’ as he piled some pancakes onto his own plate. Rowan seemed to have forgotten all about the conversation, her full attention now on the food in front of her. She had already picked up one of the strawberry eyes and was currently shoving it into her mouth.
Jean sat through most of breakfast brainstorming any possible way he could manage to allow Rowan to see her beloved Mister Lion while Marco talked to her about what else was on her agenda for the day. Apparently, she would be hosting a tea party after lunch, and then they would eat her cake while they watched Frozen.
Soon, breakfast was finished, and Marco was bringing the dirty dishes to the kitchen. Jean sat on his phone, searching the internet and still trying to come up with a solution to his problem. He supposed they could always give Rowan her birthday present early instead of waiting for the cake.
Marco returned to the dining room and scooped Rowan into his arms. “How about we go clean up while Dad works a little bit, hm?” He said, wiping at his daughter’s face with a napkin. She tried to push his hand away, but eventually gave in and allowed her face to be cleaned as she was carried out of the room and upstairs.
Jean finally stood from the table, shoving his phone in his pocket. He didn’t need to work today… but maybe Marco was hinting at something? Besides, searching the internet on his computer would be easier than using his phone.
Once in the study, Jean turned his computer on and listened to the soft hum of the fan as his two monitors came to life. He opened his web browser and searched up the local zoo. Maybe he could just find some pictures of their animals on their website?
Once on their homepage, Jean was met with the answer to his prayers.
“Check out our new live cams!”
Live cams? Of the animals? How had he not heard of these sooner? He scrolled through the list. They had a little bit of everything - some monkeys, the elephants, the penguins, and most importantly, the lions. Jean quickly started opening up new windows for all the different animals, arranging them between his two screens so they could all be viewed at once. Once everything was set up he ran upstairs to Rowan’s room.
Rowan sat in Marco’s lap, now dressed in her light purple sundress. Marco was just finishing up with her hair, somehow managing to tie her messy hair into two pigtails on top of her head. “All done?”
“Yeah. C’mon sweetie, let’s go say ‘hi’ to the animals.” He held his hand out for her, and Rowan scrambled out of Marco’s lap, taking his hand and following him down to the study.
Jean sat at his desk with Rowan sitting in his lap. Marco stood behind them, his hands on Jean’s shoulders, a soft smile on his face. They both watched as Rowan’s face lit up once she saw the sight in front of her. Her eyes darted back and forth between the different windows, trying to decide which animal cam to look at. “Monkeys!” she cried out, pointing at the top corner of the monitor. Jean watched as two lemurs jumped and swung around their enclosure in what looked like a game of tag. Eventually her attention switched over to the other monitor, where a camera was set up underwater in one of the penguin exhibits. They watched as the aquatic birds zipped through the water, no more than black streaks dashing across the screen.
Marco leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Jean, and Jean leaned back into his embrace, smiling happily to himself. “I’m glad we got to go to the zoo today.” Marco said, pressing a soft kiss to his temple. Jean leaned into the touch.
“Anything for my girl.”
They sat there in silence for a while, listening to Rowan’s comments about the different animals, her attention drawn to whichever camera angle had the most motion on it. Everytime she giggled Jean couldn’t help himself from smiling; her laughter always brought a warmth to his heart.
Suddenly she grew very quiet.
“Where’s Mister Lion?”
Jean leaned forward, scanning the different windows. He could’ve sworn he opened the lion cam. He quickly began clicking on the different windows, frantically searching for the correct one. It was right there, in the middle of one of the monitors, but after examining it Jean’s heart dropped.
The scene in front of him was empty; the camera showed part of an open field, with some bushes and a tall tree off in the far corner, and some large rocks framing the opposite side. Jean could’ve sworn there was a lion laying out in the sun when he had opened up the window. It must have moved into the shade or something.
“I think Mister Lion went to go take a nap.” Marco spoke up from behind him, his voice gentle.
Jean looked down at Rowan. That pout was back on her face, but now her bottom lip was quivering. Oh no , Jean thought. She was about to start crying. Jean had to think of something quick to stop the incoming tantrum.
“How about,” Jean said, looking over at Marco, “we play peekaboo. Maybe Mister Lion will come out.” He looked between Marco and the box in the corner of the room, hoping his husband would get the message he was trying to send him telepathically.
Rowan sniffled and nodded her head, giving a tiny “okay.”
Jean moved his hand over her eyes. “Okay, ready…” Marco was giving him a confused look, so he tried to give a more obvious hint by jerking his head at the box. “Peekaboo!” He moved his hand, and Rowan sniffled again when she saw the screen still empty. He quickly covered her eyes again.
‘The present,’ Jean mouthed, and he watched as Marco connected the dots, his mouth forming a little ‘oh’ as he realized what Jean was trying to tell him. He quickly went over to the box in the corner of the room, silently trying to dig the birthday present out of its hiding spot as Jean continued his game of peekaboo. He uncovered her eyes once again, and she whined and began to fidget in his lap, still distraught that she couldn’t see any lions.
“One more time, and if you wish hard enough I’m sure Mister Lion will come out and play.” He said, placing his hand over her eyes one more time. Marco returned now with her birthday present, placing it gently on the keyboard, careful not to make any noise.
“Peekaboo!” Jean removed his hand one last time, and Rowan gasped, screaming out in joy. Sitting in front of her was a plush lion, its fluffy mane sticking out in all directions. She quickly scooped him up, hugging him tightly to her chest and shaking him back and forth.
Marco placed a hand on Jean’s shoulder, smiling down at her excitement. “Are you going to give Mister Lion a name?”
Rowan held the stuffed lion in front of her, her face deep in thought as she thought of the perfect name.
“Porco.”
“Porco? But that’s-” a pig's name , is what Jean wanted to say. But Marco was giving him The Look - the one that meant he knew exactly what Jean was about to say, and he definitely should not say because it may upset someone. “... a lovely name,” is what he settled on instead.
They continued to watch more live cams, Rowan hugging Porco tightly to her chest. Jean would occasionally make one of the windows full screen if there was something interesting going on. They watched the giraffes eat some leaves off their tree, the polar bears play with a barrel floating in their pool, and some pandas roll around their enclosure.
---
After lunch, it was time for Rowan’s tea party. Jean helped to carry her plastic tea set outside, where a small, toddler-sized table and chairs were set up in their backyard. Marco was already sitting in one of the tiny chairs, his knees up by his chest. A small plate of cookies sat in the middle.
Rowan placed Porco in the seat next to Marco and began to set the table as Jean sat down next to his husband. He shifted around in the tiny chair, trying to make himself comfortable, though when the chair was smaller than your butt it was sort of hard. He would probably be better off sitting on the ground - the table was low enough - but Jean was a gentleman and would use the proper dining etiquette for his princess’ tea party.
“Daddy, I need my crown!” Rowan exclaimed once the table was set.
“Ok sweetie, why don’t you go pick some of those flowers over there.” Marco hummed, pointing to the other side of their small backyard where Marco had a small garden planted to help the pollinators.
“Okay!”
Jean watched as she trotted across the yard, careful not to trip on her dress. Jean always envied Marco and his ability to make flower crowns. One time, when Marco wasn’t home for one of her tea parties, he had tried to weave some flowers together to make her crown, but he couldn’t get it to stay together once he had placed it on her head. The tea party was almost a disaster, but Jean had saved it by coloring her a paper crown made to look like her favorite flowers. Since then, Marco has attempted to teach him, but the stems would always fall apart once he took his hands away. He could never get the right technique down.
Rowan returned with two fistfuls of flowers. Most of them were dandelions she had picked from the lawn, but mixed in were a few coreopsis and yarrow flowers from the garden patch, their yellow petals matching the dandelions. Jean watched as Marco took the flowers and began to separate them out. He worked quickly, his fingers carefully weaving the dandelions together. As he went, he added a few coreopsis flowers, being sure to space them out evenly, their brown stamen sticking out in contrast to the mostly yellow headpiece. Once he was finished, Marco carefully placed it atop Rowan’s head, arranging her pigtails so they stuck through the opening.
Rowan hugged Marco’s leg in thanks, then turned and grabbed Porco, holding him up in front of Marco’s face. “Porco too! Porco too! He’s my prince.”
“Of course! Anything for my little princess.”
“Woah, woah, woah! Prince?” Jean cut in. “Let me talk to him first. No daughter of mine is running away with some prince she just met today.” He made a point to lean into the lion's space, furrowing his brow in an expression of mock anger. “What are your intentions with my daughter?” He asked, pointing an accusing finger right in Porco’s face.
As expected, he was met with silence, but Rowan burst out in a fit of giggles, now used to her fathers’ act since it happened any time she called her stuffed animals ‘her prince.’ Behind him, Marco was covering his mouth with his hand, trying to hold back his laughter. He soon returned to work on Porco’s crown, making quick work since the lion’s head was smaller than Rowan’s.
Jean sat back, crossing his arms, still staring down the offending lion. He pretended Porco gave him an answer, something along the lines of ‘to take her on a date,’ before he answered “Make sure she’s back for dinner. We have a movie date tonight.”
“Dad!” Rowan continued laughing. Marco had finished the crown, and once it was placed amongst Porco’s mane Rowan put him back in his seat adjacent to Jean. His stoic expression finally broke, and he laughed softly to himself.
“I think the king of this table needs some decoration himself.” Marco said, picking up the remaining flowers. He shifted onto his knees and positioned himself behind Jean. Jean closed his eyes and leaned his head back slightly as Marco ran his fingers through his hair, gently detangling a couple knotts before creating a few braids, intertwining the small flowers as he went.
Once he had finished, he moved back to his seat, admiring his handiwork. Jean’s long hair was now braided into his own version of a flower crown. Two long braids circled his head, meeting in the middle, the small yarrow flowers separating the coreopsis in a similar fashion to Rowan’s own crown. “There, all done. Just don’t shake your head too much, or the braids might fall out. I didn’t have a hair tie.”
Jean smiled, bringing a hand up to lightly trace his husband’s handiwork. “I’m sure it’s beautiful.” He hummed, leaning over to kiss Marco on the cheek. Marco let him, then turned to return the gesture, softly planting a kiss on his lips before turning his attention back to their daughter. She had already helped herself to the cookies, breaking off small pieces and pretending to feed them to Porco, crumbs now littering their sides of the small table.
Jean continued staring at his husband lovingly, his chest filling with warmth. How had he gotten so lucky as to marry a man like Marco? Ever since that time in the arcade, when the mysterious MB appeared, Marco had always been surprising him, starting with accepting a date from his fated tetris opponent. Once they started dating, the surprises continued, usually in the form of small gifts or spontaneous dates. Hell, he had even surprised Jean by proposing first, even after Jean had gone through the trouble of planning the perfect proposal, just for his lover to beat him to it. Even in marriage, his husband was still surprising him with moments like this, where he seemed so perfect it was like he was glowing, all full of warmth and smiles and laughter. There was no one else he would rather spend the rest of his life with than Marco.
Gently, Jean untangled one of the flowers - a small cluster of yarrow flowers - from his hair, careful not to undo the braid, and gently balanced the stem behind Marco’s ear while his head was turned away.
Marco turned, confused, before Jean spoke, “My king deserves to look beautiful, too.”
Jean moved his hand to cup Marco’s cheek, gently brushing over his freckles with his thumb, and Marco brought his own hand up to rest on top of his, absolutely beaming.
“You’re too good to me.”
“That should be my line.”
Marco laughed softly to himself, turning to kiss Jean’s palm before interlacing their fingers.
Jean was brought out of the moment by a tapping at his knee, and he turned his head only to be met by Rowan trying to shove a cookie in his mouth. “Dad, eat! Before Porco eats them all!”
Marco began laughing again as Jean tried not to choke.
“I knew he was a little piggy!”
Jean nibbled at the cookie as Rowan finally served some tea - it was really just water because she didn’t like the taste of actual tea, and she wasn’t a fan of drinking imaginary tea either. The three of them sipped at their ‘tea,’ sharing in light conversation about the happenings of the Bodt-Kirchstein Kingdom. Once they finished, Marco dug his phone out of his pocket.
“Before we go inside, let’s take a picture. Rowan, come here, and bring Porco, too.” He gestured for Rowan to come stand between them, and she excitedly grabbed Porco before getting into position.
“You’re letting him be in our family portrait?” Jean scoffed, donning his ‘protective dad persona’ once again.
“Well, he is our daughter’s prince, afterall.” Marco shot back, readjusting Rowan’s flower crown so it was perfect for the picture.
She turned to look up at Jean, sporting her best puppy-dog eyes. “But Dad, please?”
Jean pretended to think it over for a moment. Obviously he was going to say yes - you’d have to be the devil himself to say no to that face. “Well, alright. Since you asked so nicely.”
“Yay!” Rowan cheered, hugging Porco tightly to her chest.
Marco held his phone up in front of them, trying to find the perfect angle. “Ready? One, two, three!” He took the picture, then brought his phone down to where the three of them could see. Jean had his arm wrapped around Marco, his other hand resting gently on Rowan’s shoulder. A soft smile sat on his face, one corner of his lips pulling up higher than the other. He was facing in slightly, showing off part of the braided flower crown that Marco had beautifully crafted. He was glad it had held up this long, still looking perfect for the picture. Next to him was Marco, his smile wide, the corners of his eyes crinkling up from how big it was. The arm not holding up the camera was wrapped around Rowan’s waist. Between them stood their daughter, her smile mirroring Marco’s. Stray strands of her golden hair curled around the flowers adorning her head. Porco was clutched tightly to her chest.
“It’s beautiful,” Jean said, pulling the two closer into a tight embrace, “Just like you.” He leaned his head on Marco’s shoulder, brushing his nose against his neck.
“Hey!” Rowan cried from between them. “What about me?”
Jean chuckled, bringing a hand up to pat her head, mindful of her delicate crown. “You, my dear, are the prettiest princess in all the realms.”
Rowan swooned, turning in his grasp to hug him. Marco pulled one of his arms free, resting his hand on Jean’s head. “How about we go inside?”
---
Their bellies now full of cake and ice cream, it was time for their movie. Rowan picked out Frozen, her favorite movie ever, and of course she and Marco sang every song. Jean knew all the words, too, but he was perfectly content to sit back and listen to the two reenact the scenes as they sang. By the time they reached ‘Let it Go’ Rowan was yawning every few minutes, and her eyes began to droop, so Marco pulled her into his lap, letting her rest in the crook of his arm as she cuddled up with Porco as she fought the urge to sleep so she could see the ending of the movie.
“Let me get in here, too.” Jean said, sliding closer to Marco. Marco lifted his free arm and draped it over Jean’s shoulders as he pressed himself close, their legs tangled on the footrest. Jean rested his head on his husband's shoulder.
“Thank you, for today.” Marco whispered, kissing the top of Jean’s head. “I thought it was going to be a huge disaster after she asked to go to the zoo. But you turned it around, and gave her the perfect birthday.”
Jean smiled to himself, reaching over to brush Rowan’s bangs away from her face. She had already fallen asleep, her face soft and content and partially hidden behind Porco’s fluffy mane. “Just doing my job as the best father in the world.” He said, bringing his hand now to rest on Marco’s chest.
“Then what does that make me?”
Jean tilted his head back to look up at Marco, leaning up to kiss at his jaw. “That makes you the most perfect husband in the entire universe.”
Marco chuckled softly to himself and leaned down to kiss Jean’s nose.
Jean returned his head to Marco’s shoulder as the two turned their attention back to the movie. Soon the day began to catch up to Jean, and he found his eyelids growing heavy.
“Hey Jean?”
“Hm?” He answered, barely keeping his eyes open now.
There was another kiss at the top of his head. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Marco.” He mumbled, just as his eyes finally closed shut and he drifted to sleep.