Work Text:
If you were to see Lucas furiously scrubbing at his reddened face in a public bathroom you'd probably be more than a little concerned. Lucas, however, could care less. Only concerned about the vibrant scribbles on his face.
"Washable markers my ass" He grumbled. Looking up he sees that most of the dye had been washed off but the damage had been done, faint rainbow squiggles stained his pale face.
This was his punishment for letting Theo draw all over his face in the car.
He finally decided he didn't want to irritate his skin even further so he dries his face off and leaves.
His husband meets his eye, greeting him with an overly cheery "you're back!"
Lucas could only squint at him. "You said they were washable".
"I swear it said it was!"
Lucas groaned. "Great, now I'm gonna look like a fuckin' Jackson Pollock painting for the whole day"
Eliott laughed and gave his husband a quick peck on the forehead. "It's not that bad. Our son's an artist just like his papa"
Eliott beamed with pride, bobbing up and down on his heels to keep the toddler in his arms amused.
"Your son if he keeps being a little shit like you" Lucas grumbles while pulling out a baby bottle from the heavy baby bag strapped to his back. "Hey bubbie, open for dada?" he cooes to Theo and the toddler gladly accepts the bottle.
They spent the rest of the day walking around the mall with Theo in Eliott's arms. Theo would occasionally point at random things from the mall saying "dada". Eliott would laugh and say "No dada's right here" while pointing to Lucas.
They stopped at a restaurant, deciding to sit near a window.
With Theo still secure in his arms, he watched Lucas frown with furrowed brows at the menu. He couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous his husband looked. "Theo look, dada's angry" Theo laughed at his funny voice. "I'm never giving him markers in the car" Lucas frowned.
He called for a waitress who swiftly arrived. "Welcome, what would you like to order for today?"
"Yeah, can we please have the-"
"You look a little too young to be a dad"
Lucas looks up from his menu, a little caught off guard from being cut off so abruptly. The waitress before them seemed to ignore his existence all together, her lipsticked smile only plastered on for his husband.
"Yeah, it's the best though" Eliott smiled politely.
"Well if you ever need a babysitter or company you can have my number" she winked. Lucas felt his left eye twitch. Irritated, he brought his right hand out to grab Eliott's, letting his golden wedding ring shine on full display.
"Hope he doesn't look too young to be married" He gave her the sweetest, most passive-aggressive smile he could muster on his, admittedly, rather ridiculous face.
She turned bright red before stuttering out. "I-um, oh, okay. Uh sorry. Wh-what would you guys like to order?"
Lucas and Eliott ordered their food and watched her scramble away. "Possessive much?" Eliott raised a brow.
"You kind of have to be when you're married to a model"
"You look like a piece of art yourself"
Lucas rolled his eyes. "Haha very funny"
"Its not that bad. You can't even see it from afar. Besides, it's not your first time being covered in color" Eliott let out a wicked grin. Lucas could only look at him in confusion. "Remember that one time we were painting the nursery and we ended up-"
Lucas cheeks flared up. "Sh, not in public Eliott!" he scolded.
"My chest was blue for days" He grinned.
The food arrived but a different waitress served this time. Lucas guessed that the last one was probably too embarrassed to come back. He watched Eliott feed Theo little bits of mashed potato and he felt himself slowly deflate at the display.
Eliott looked over. "What's wrong Lu?"
"I think I'm a shitty parent"
Eliott's eyes softened. He fed Theo one more spoon before reaching across the table to caress Lucas' hand. "Lucas, we're new to this"
Lucas pulls his hand away, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed. "I know but I just--I dont know. He clearly likes you more and he brightens up whenever you're around and he stops crying when he sees you. I'm actually jealous of you and-" He sighs and avoids his husband's gaze. "I know this is ridiculous but I'm just not good at this. What if I end up like my dad?"
"Hey, hey! You can do other things better than I do! You took care of the adoption papers, you give him all these fun educational activities, you baby proofed the entire house!" He reaches for Lucas' hand again. "We're a team, it's not a competition, love"
Lucas smiles at this. "Team" he echoed.
"Yep, we're the ultimate team" Eliott grins.
___________
The next morning Eliott hears a faint "Sh, be careful you'll wake up papa"
He wakes up to his own face full of Theo's little scribbles. "Payback!" Lucas laughs, running away with Theo giggling in his arms.
Laughing, Eliott chases them down pass the kitchen where a little drawing of a raccoon, a hedgehog, and a little squirrel hang on the fridge.