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Ray breathed in a deep whiff of the hazelnut scent flowing off of his coffee before taking a long sip, trying to convince his brain that it was time to start the day. He had never been much of a coffee drinker before this year...then again, before this year he hadn’t believed in ghosts and magic either.
And before this year he had two kids, not six.
He knew he could have slept in today, but he woke up buzzing with excitement, like Christmas morning. It was his first Father's Day as a father of not only his two kids but four phantom sons. Last year, his first Father’s Day without his wife was harder than he could have ever expected, full of memories of Father’s Days pasts and Rose helping the kids make him breakfast or taking him to the beach. It didn’t really feel like a celebration at all, and he spent most of the day trying his best to hold it together for the sake of the kids.
This year, he had four new kids to celebrate with. Their crazy, odd, makeshift family had a lot to celebrate and be excited about, but Ray knew the day carried a lot of weight for them all.
For Luke, it would be his first Father’s Day without his dad, and though he knew the phantom usually kept his grief about his parents pretty quiet he could tell over the past few days that it was a harder milestone to face than he was letting on. The guitarist had been wearing what the other phantoms lovingly called Luke’s “Gone Haunting” flannel, apparently usually reserved for haunting his parents or days when dealing with the memories of his mom and dad were a lot harder to handle. He had felt a little guilty, that the kids were getting ready for their first Father’s Day as a new family while Luke was still grieving his own, but Julie had promised him they had talked about it and he was okay. If Luke disappeared for a few hours later this evening, they would know where he went.
For Alex, it would be his first Father’s Day since basically being disowned by his family when he was alive, and Ray wanted nothing more than to make sure the drummer understood how absolutely accepted, wanted, and loved he was in his house. It was a little harder to bond with him than the others- he was, after all, still working through trauma left over from Caleb- but he was also much more independent than the others, not exactly looking for a father figure or guardian at all. And Ray could respect that, he didn’t take offense. Still, he would be keeping a close eye on the drummer today, knowing how holidays like this could sneak up on you when dealing with grief and trauma, even if you aren’t expecting it to. All that mattered was that Alex knew he could come to him, if he needed to.
For Reggie…the bassist had been bursting with excitement about today for days, practically giving him whole a Father’s Day week. They’d gone on runs together, binged watched through Star Wars, cooked dinners together. Reggie had even detailed his car (…with ghost magic, but still!) and written him more than one country song about fathers and sons. He was pretty sure Reggie was making up for a lifelong deficiency of Father’s Days. He had helped the bassist work through a lot of pain from his traumatic relationship with his biological father, and Ray felt proud to be able to give him his first real Father’s Day.
For Willie, who never really had a family, who had been a ghost for almost as long as Ray had been alive, he was pretty sure the phantom didn’t have a clue what to expect from Father’s Day. Willie was a lot like Reggie in that he was often “on”, making jokes and just being as much of a goofy kid as he could be as a ghost, he put up a lot of walls that only Alex was usually allowed to peer over. Ray had slowly been getting to know the skater more- it turned out he had a love for art, drawing, and even photography, but it wasn’t like Caleb allowed him to have many hobbies. He had been joining Ray on shoots, even teaching him some tricks with lighting that he hadn’t thought of. Ray was proud, to have been able to offer this kid a safe place to figure out his afterlife and find peace after years of Caleb and his cruelty. He was pretty sure he was the only real adult Willie had ever had to look up to, and he was excited to get to show him what it meant to be a part of a family.
Ray knew his phantom kids were excited about today, but he wasn’t sure they had any idea how excited he was. He knew the phantoms were sent as guardians for his family, but turned out they needed a guardian too, and taking on that role had been life changing in the best way. Turning back to the counter, he jumped, letting out a surprised laugh when sure enough, Reggie, Luke and Alex were leaning over the other side of the counter waiting for him.
“Happy Father’s Day!” They sang in unison.
Reggie presented him with a ‘world’s best dad’ coffee mug, which he accepted in stride, but his eyes brightened even more when he saw the design on the other side of the mug. It was a drawing of three little ghosts, each representing the guys and holding an electric guitar, bass, and drum.
“It’s perfect,” Ray beamed, blinking away a tear as he admired his gift. “Where’s Willie?”
On cue the skater poofed into the room, holding his own mug gift out for him. This mug also had a design: a ghost riding a skateboard. Ray couldn’t help but to burst out laughing, overwhelmed with love and pride.
“I love it,” he promised, and Willie couldn’t have looked prouder.
“Okay, out, before anyone starts crying!” Luke instructed, shoeing Ray out of the kitchen.
“Leave the kitchen to the experts,” Reggie announced, poofing over to the fridge to take out breakfast food.
“Alright, alright,” Ray agreed, backing out and letting the guys take over, “if you need me-“
He couldn’t help but to linger in the hall before slipping away to his bedroom, admiring the sight of the phantoms working together, all buzzing with excitement over their Father’s Day breakfast. These kids never seized to amaze him with their strength and love, he couldn’t have been more grateful that for all of the phantoms out there in the universe, these were the ones sent to his family.