Chapter Text
Being working parents had become like second-nature to Bruno and Leone. Having four adopted sons all with different individual needs and interests meant that they were usually multi-tasking and strapped for time. It also didn’t help that the concept of self-care was all but lost Bruno.
From the moment he woke up each morning, to the second he fell asleep at night, he was needed by someone for something. And while Bruno adored his kids and wouldn’t trade in his role as their parent for anything in the world, he was still unimmune to experiencing burn-out from time to time.
This time in particular, Bruno felt as though he had no one else to blame but himself for the overload he was enduring. Maybe it was the fact that he agreed to help his paralegal aide review for her upcoming Bar Exam during his lunch breaks at home.
It also could have to do with being woken up in the middle of the night to deal with Pannacotta who had begun sleepwalking due to the stress of studying for his midterm exams.
Or maybe he shouldn’t have promised to take Mista to the fabric store after school when he already had to drop Narancia off at gymnastics and pick up Giorno and Pannacotta since their school let out later in the afternoon.
To top it off, Giorno started sneaking all kinds of bugs (namely ladybugs and grasshoppers) inside the house from the backyard to keep them sheltered from the long rainy spell they had been having.
Leone knew in his heart that Bruno was a better parent than he could ever hope to be, and it killed him to see his husband stretch himself so thin. He was used to hearing the excuse of, ‘Well, I work from home, so I have more time to get more things done’, but Leone knew it was total crap.
Bruno was a senior partner at his law firm and each day he was sent a barrage of emails and calls from associates and clients, needing him to sign off on proposals or delegate case files to his staff. It was by no means an easy task, but he managed to do it damn well. It became all too common for Leone to be waiting up for Bruno in their bed until one in the morning on weeknights, as it was impossible to complete every single task during normal working hours.
The silver-haired man jumped at any opportunity to take over the tasks that Bruno might not have had time to complete during his busy days. He would be there to pick up the boys from their after-school activities, cook dinner, do laundry, and any other chore that needed to get done after he left the office. Though he did his best to shoulder the household responsibilities equally with his partner, Leone knew that Bruno took on more than he could handle, mostly because he was altruistic to a fault.
~~~
Bruno’s eyes reluctantly cracked open in response to his alarm on Thursday morning, stinging painfully from the lack of sleep he received overnight. He had been in his office until two in the morning the previous night reviewing his firm’s quarterly budget which he had gotten sidetracked from completing during the day.
He outstretched his hand and clumsily felt around for husband, letting out a soft groan when he realized he wasn’t there. He stayed still for a moment, ears perking up when he heard indistinct mumbling coming from the hallway.
After pushing himself out of bed and gaining steadiness on his feet, Bruno padded out of the master bedroom and into the hall, confirming that the source of the noise emanated from Pannacotta’s room.
He found Leone knelt beside the head of their son’s bed, gently petting the boy’s messy strawberry-blonde hair while murmuring soft encouragement for the boy to wake up. The sight made Bruno’s heart swell in adoration, especially considering the events that took place mere hours earlier.
The husbands caught Pannacotta sleepwalking in the kitchen at four in the morning, attempting to shove his school textbooks in the fridge, having knocked down cartons of milk and orange juice in the process. The sound of the cartons splattering on the floor was what roused the men from their already light sleep; both of them rushing to the kitchen to find the boy standing in a sticky mess.
It took the parents half an hour to get the boy cleaned up and coaxed back into his bed without waking him; the task being made much more difficult by the fact that Pannacotta was adamant that he needed to continue putting his books away. After managing to get him tucked back in bed, both men stayed with him for another half hour to ensure he fell back into his normally deep sleep.
A long, involuntary yawn brought Bruno out of his thoughts and back to the present where Leone had finally managed to get Pannacotta’s eyes to open. He stepped further into the room, placing a supportive hand on his husband’s shoulder. “Good morning, fellow night owls.”
“Yeah, let’s never do that again.” Leone snorted and turned his head towards his shoulder, placing a kiss on Bruno’s hand. “This one nearly gave me a heart attack; I shit you not.” He licked his thumb and used it to wipe a bit of dried drool from Pannacotta’s cheek.
“M’so tired.” Pannacotta’s voice came out hoarse from sleep, or lack thereof. He had no memory of his sleepwalking incident, so having both his fathers in his room to wake him up was slightly confusing.
“I know ‘Cotta, but we’ve gotta take on the day. C’mon.” Leone took the boy’s hands and pulled him into a sitting position. “Brush your teeth, comb your hair, wash your face.” He instructed and gave the boy’s back a few pats before grunting into a standing position and heading towards the door with Bruno.
“Don’t worry about waking GioGio, I got him up and he should already be in the kitchen with Mis and Nara. Coffee should be ready for you too.” He pressed a quick kiss to his husband’s lips.
“You’re a saint, Leone Abbacchio.” No part of Bruno was joking when he made the statement. He couldn’t imagine going through life without the man, even if he wasn’t parent.
“I’m definitely no saint, amore.” Leone gave a cheeky wink before striding back to the master bedroom to get himself ready for work.
Bruno smiled to himself as he descended the stairs, hearing their other three sons clattering around in the kitchen. Upon his entrance, Bruno was inundated with questions that it was undoubtably too early for him to answer.
“Pops, what happened to the milk? I thought we had a crap ton yesterday.”
“Yeah, and where’s my orange juice? Did someone throw it out?”
“Papa, there’s only one banana left but it’s too mushy and all the blueberries have little wrinkles on them.”
The short-haired man had to take a moment to absorb everything Mista, Narancia, and Giorno had said, but needed coffee before he attempted to formulate a response. He made a b-line for the coffee pot, grabbing the travel mug Leone left out for him, filling to close to the brim before taking a large swig. He winced as his mouth and throat burned from the liquid, but started to feel alert enough to address his kids’ concerns.
“Okay.” Bruno exhaled and turned to face the three expectant boys. “Mis and Nara, there was an incident that took place last night that caused the milk and orange juice to spill out. I’ll pick up some more during my lunch break, but for now you can use my almond milk and there should be some apple juice or something in there as well. And GioGio-bug, if the fruit doesn’t look good, you can just throw it out and have plain cereal today.” The man’s eyes flicked between his sons, hoping that was enough of an answer for them.
But of course, it wasn’t.
“I’m not drinking that stuff. It’s literally nut water. Disgusting.” Mista cringed and walked away from the fridge, opting to grab a handful of cereal directly from the box, shoving some of it in his mouth.
“Papa, the apple juice expired like a month ago. I’m pretty sure it’s like, fermenting or something.” Narancia pulled the juice jug out of the fridge, unscrewing the lid to smell the contents.
“Maybe we can make banana bread with the old banana. Papa, can we do that?” Giorno wrapped his arms around Bruno’s waist, leaning his head all the way back so he was looking up at the man.
“First off, its not nut water. Don’t be gross. Second, why does no one throw out stuff when they see it’s expired? It’s not hard. Just take it out of the fridge, and put it in the trash. Basta. And lastly, we don’t have time to make banana bread so if you don’t want plain cereal, you can make toast.” Bruno took another sip from his coffee before gently nudging Giorno towards the toaster. He heard footsteps approaching from the hall, hoping Leone was done getting ready and could help him with the boys.
However, when Pannacotta entered the kitchen, eyebrows drawn together and jaw clenched in agitation, Bruno felt his posture deflate even more than he thought possible. He knew that if the strawberry-blonde started off the day in a bad mood, it would require an immense amount of patience from everyone to ensure that he didn’t lash out; patience that Bruno wasn’t sure he had enough of at the moment. Nevertheless, he dug deep and attempted to start on a positive note with the boy.
“Morning, Panna-Bear. Want some toast?”
“All my shoes have holes in them. I’m gonna get yelled at if I show up to rehearsals barefoot. I need a new pair by tonight.” Pannacotta spoke through almost gritted teeth. The boy opened his ballet bag, grabbing several pairs of worn out, tattered ballet shoes before forcefully shoving them in the trash can and going to open the fridge.
“Let’s try that again. Good morning, Pannacotta. Would you like some toast?” Bruno’s eyebrow was raised, signaling it was time for an attitude check. He remained sympathetic to the fact that Pannacotta was under increased stress studying for midterms coupled with the physical exhaustion that came with rehearsing for his ballet school’s winter production. The man also noticed how the boy’s eyes were slightly sunken in most assuredly due to his less-than-restful sleep the night before. But none of that excused the rude behavior he exhibited right out of the gate.
Pannacotta forced out an exhale and closed his eyes, counting down from ten in his head; a technique Leone had taught him to employ whenever he felt his anger begin to bubble. He let out one more breath, allowing his muscles to release any additional tension that wasn’t resolved during his mental countdown.
“Yes, please. Sorry, Papa.”
“It’s okay, miele.” Bruno set down his coffee mug before joining Giorno by the toaster, sliding extra slices of bread into the empty slots. “As far as ballet goes, I think you should take a break for tonight and catch up on some rest. It won’t do you any good to overexert yourself.” He couldn’t help but feel like a hypocrite after making that statement, as his mental to-do list continued to rack up new tasks:
-Get the kids to school
-Meetings until lunch
-Help Cristiana study for the Bar Exam during lunch
-Pick up milk, juice, and fruit from the store
-Buy new ballet shoes for Pannacotta
-Review junior associate case files
-Pick up Mista and Narancia from school
-Drop off Narancia at gymnastics
-Pick up Giorno and Pannacotta from school
-Drop off Giorno and Pannacotta at ballet rehearsal
-Take Mista to the fabric store
-Pick up Narancia from gymnastics
-Hope to God that Leone is on his way home from work
-Start laundry
-Pick up Giorno and Pannacotta from ballet rehearsal
-Respond to all new emails
-Help with homework
-Have dinner
-Do Giorno’s hair
-Make sure Narancia gets his eye drops
-Tuck the kids in
-Complete any unfinished work tasks
-Get at least five hours of sleep
“…pa.”
“…apa.”
“Papa!”
Bruno hadn’t even realized he spaced out going through his list, until he noticed Pannacotta waving his hand in front of his face to regain his attention. “Huh? Oh. Sorry, tesorino. Ripetere, per favore.” He shook his head quickly to bring himself more into the present even though his mind continued to buzz.
“I said I can’t skip tonight. My class got a new instructor from Russia and he’s a total hard-ass about attendance. That’s kind of why I’m so stressed about the shoes.” Pannacotta reached into the cabinet behind Bruno, grabbing himself a glass before going back to the fridge. “Anyone see where the milk went?”
Before Bruno could address the milk situation for what felt like the umpteenth time, Leone walked into the kitchen dressed for work, long silver hair slicked into a low ponytail. “Morning, rugrats.” He grabbed his travel mug and started fixing his coffee before turning to look at Bruno who presented like he hadn’t slept in a week; which he realized was a legitimate possibility.
“Bruno, c’mere for a sec.”
“Hold on, Leo.” Bruno had busied himself spreading butter and jam on several pieces of toast before setting the plate down on the kitchen table which caused the boys to bicker over who got which piece.
“Mamma, Nara took the one I wanted!”
“How was I supposed to know you wanted that one, GioGio? Just take another one.”
“Mista, you can’t take two of the best pieces! I’m not getting stuck with the end piece! Papa, tell him quit being a stronzo!”
“Shut up, Panna! You always waste food anyways, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Bruno,” Leone tried again, eyebrows drawn together in concern.
“Ragazzi, its literally toast! Just eat it and go get your shoes on. Andiamo!” Bruno clapped his hands loudly, hoping that it would somehow get them to speed up. He soon regretted the action when the sound caused the throbbing tension in his head to ramp up.
All four boys went silent and eyed Bruno in shock before quietly getting up from the table and filing out of the kitchen to the foyer.
“Bruno,” Leone kept his voice low while coming up behind his husband, placing his hands on waist to turn him around so they could face each other.
“Cristo, what? What is it, Leone?” Bruno didn’t mean to come off as agitated as he did, but whatever patience he started out with when he woke up was now completely depleted and he was ready to snap at the next person utter his name, whether it come out as ‘Bruno’, ‘Papa’, or ‘Mamma’. He had officially reached his limit.
“You need to stop.” Leone stared him dead in the eye, keeping a firm hold on his waist to make certain the younger man understood how serious he was.
“Stop? What the hell are you talking about? I’m trying to get them ready for sch- ”
“No, no, no. Ascoltami. You’re going to call off from work today and take the rest of the week off.” Leone spoke softly and slowly, positive that Bruno was already sporting a migraine by the way his normal bright eyes appeared dull and glazed over.
“Call off from work? No. I’m not sick, I’m fine. It’s gonna be a busy day, but I can handle it.” Bruno made quick work of folding his arms defensively, choosing not to meet his partner’s gaze because deep down he knew he was a mess.
“You say that like it’s an option. It’s not.” Leone took hold of Bruno’s now clammy hands, pressing a tender kiss to the back of them. “You need to take a break starting today.”
“Honey, it’s fine. I work from home, so I have plenty of time to-” Bruno tried to ignore how his throat tightened when Leone cut him off again.
“Stop it. I don’t want to hear that excuse anymore. It’s bullshit. I know for a fact that you haven’t used any PTO since we brought Pannacotta home. That’s over a year, Bruno. And it doesn’t matter if you work from home, because we have four kids. You cannot stand here and tell me that you’ve had more than ten minutes to take care of yourself during the day.” Leone felt bad for reaming his husband like this, but it came from a place of deep love and respect for someone he knew was doing too much.
“So what, I’m just a horrible parent, then? Is that what you’re saying?” Bruno averted his gaze to the ceiling, partially to avoid looking directly at Leone but also to keep the tears that blurred his vision from spilling out of his eyes. He knew that wasn’t at all what his husband was getting at, but he’d be damned if he didn’t try to pull every possible defense for himself.
“What? Bruno, I’m saying the exact opposite. You are an incredible father, husband, lawyer, mentor, and so on. But if you keep pushing yourself like this, I guarantee you will burn out and it won’t be good for anyone. I know you love the gremlins more than anything, but in order to take care of them, you need to take care of yourself.” At this point, Leone had enveloped Bruno in warm embrace, taking care to cradle his head against his chest and run his fingers gently through his black bob.
“You can’t be everything for everyone all the time, amore. It’s not humanly possible.”
After hearing this, Bruno let his final guard down and sobbed quietly into Leone’s chest. He wanted so badly to argue back, but he was just too tired. Being a serial overachiever meant that he always needed to be on top of every task set in front of him, taking on more whenever he thought he wasn’t doing enough to stay busy.
It was generally an advantageous life strategy for him, as it got him to the top of his class in law school, recruited to one of the country’s top law firms, and now a senior partner at said law firm. But now with four adopted kids, Bruno always felt like he was perpetually dead last in a marathon; doing anything he could just to stay in the race.
“W-what about the boys? I’m supposed to take Panna and GioGio to school after you leave with Mis and Nara.” Bruno had somewhat collected himself, wiping the tears from his now splotchy cheeks.
“I’m taking the rest of the week off as well, so I’ll handle everything with the kids. But I think it’d be best for you to pack a bag and go stay at your mom’s place for a couple nights, capito? Just to have a little peace and quiet.” Leone separated their hug to look at his husband, giving a sad smile as the man came to terms with his assignment.
“Vabbè.. I’ll call and let her know I’m coming over.” Bruno hummed reluctantly and tucked a lock of his hair behind his ear. He couldn’t help the feelings of guilt that arose from the relief of knowing that he would have a little time away from the kids to relax.
“Molto bene. Remember to call your assistant and let her know you’ll be out too.” Leone pressed a kiss to Bruno’s forehead and handed him the house phone before sending him off in the direction of the stairs.
“Abba, are we going?!” Narancia called out from the foyer, where all four boys were waiting to leave for the day.
“Raggazzi, go sit on the couch! We need to have a quick chat.” Leone called back and grabbed his coffee cup before heading to the living room, waiting for all the boys to take a seat.
“What’s going on? Are we still going to school?” Mista was hopeful that they would somehow get the day off so he could avoid taking a history test that he may or may not have studied for.
“Yes, but that’s not what this is about. Your Papa is going on sabbatical for the next few days, so I’ll be staying home and taking care of you myself.” Leone looked at each of the boys as they sat in silence, letting the message sink in.
“Papa’s leaving?” Giorno’s eyes swam with tears as he stood from the couch, ready to look for Bruno himself.
“No, no, no. Sit down, GioGio. Let me explain.” Leone was quick to redirect the boy back to the couch.
“Wait… I thought Papa wasn’t religious. And Sunday is like… four days away.” Narancia had to pause to complete the mental math, his confused expression not wavering.
“He said sabbatical, not sabbath, idiota.” Pannacotta rolled his eyes and rested his chin on his palm.
“Funny, I don’t remember asking you, cazzone.” Narancia retaliated by giving a hard pinch to the back of Pannacotta’s arm.
“OW!” Pannacotta hissed and smacked the side of Narancia’s head with his palm.
“Senti! That’s exactly what’s not gonna happen while your Papa is away.” Leone barked at them, making Narancia switch seats with Mista to separate the bickering boys.
“Bruno works insanely hard to keep things running smoothly around here and he needs a break. He’ll be staying at Nonna Bucciarati’s house until Saturday, so I need all of you on your absolute best behavior, or else.” He wasn’t quite sure where he was going with that last statement, but he figured maintaining an air of authority was the most important thing at the moment.
“Or else what?” Mista snorted while flicking through his magazine. It wasn’t that he didn’t respect his Abba as a parent, but he discovered that it was much easier to get away with bad behavior in Bruno’s absence.
“Or else I’ll ground you, or whatever. It doesn’t matter. Just behave, is all I’m trying to say.” Leone waved his hand dismissively, getting irritated from the pushback. “Giorno, where are you going?” He stepped in front of the boy before he could leave the room.
“Bathroom.” Giorno avoided making eye contact while wringing his hands and bouncing his leg impatiently.
“Vabbè, but make it quick. We need to be out the door in five.” Leone hummed and moved aside, watching the boy sprint up the stairs. “The rest of you, get in the car. Mista, start it up for me, I’ll be out with Giorno in a minute.” He fished the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to his oldest.
“Shotgun!” Narancia shouted and raced Mista and Pannacotta out of the house to get to the car first.
Leone sighed and took a couple minutes to chug what was left of his now lukewarm coffee before jogging upstairs to check on Giorno.
“GioGio, hurry up. Mis and Nara are gonna be late.” The silver-haired man knocked on the door to the bathroom Giorno and Pannacotta shared, frowning when he didn’t get a response. “Giorno?” He cracked the door open, being met with darkness and an empty bathroom.
When he heard murmurs coming from the master bedroom, he briskly walked down the hall, already having an inkling as to what it was. As soon as he swung the door open and took in the scene in front of him, his stomach felt like it dropped to his feet. There was no way Mista and Narancia would get to school on time.
Leone saw Bruno’s suitcase sitting open atop the bed with several articles of clothing flung onto the floor where the short-haired man was sitting on his knees, looking under the bed and speaking softly.
“What’s going on? Where’s Giorno?” Leone stepped further into the room, placed a hand on Bruno’s shoulder to get his attention.
“Come see for yourself.” Bruno hummed, beckoning his partner to come down to his level.
Leone sighed when the realization struck him and lowered himself to his knees before bending his torso downward to look under the bed. As expected, a pair of watery green eyes stared back at him.
Already off to a great start.