Work Text:
Alex can sense Henry’s presence in the doorway to their shared office long before his husband says anything. He continues to work, letting Henry approach him in his own time. Alex knows Henry’s silences by now, knows when to push and when to let Henry make the first move. This is the latter, based on the complete silence with which he approached the door.
“I got a call from Andrea Millstone today,” Henry says after just a couple of minutes.
Alex stops typing, his brows scrunched together, and turns to face his husband. “From TARE?” he asks cautiously.
“Yeah,” Henry replies quietly, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. Alex knows Delia is in bed already, worn out from a full day of outdoor activities at her summer camp.
Henry and Andrea know each other because last year, one of his students was in foster care and was having a hard time adjusting to being in school. The little boy had never set foot inside a classroom before and had multiple social anxieties and attention challenges. Henry had worked with Andrea and the child’s foster family to find a method of learning that worked for everyone. By the end of the year, the kid had adjusted as well as could be expected and had exceeded all of their expectations for information retention.
“What did she need?” Alex asks, prompting Henry to continue. It’s clear his husband is lost in his head, thinking about the conversation Alex has no knowledge of. It’s important, he knows, and it’s making him itch to be on the outside looking in at the moment. “Hen?” he tries when Henry doesn’t continue.
His husband looks up at him then, bottomless blue eyes both nervous and pleading. “There’s a little boy,” Henry begins. “Jonathan. Johnny. He’s - he’s four.” Henry licks his lips and takes a deep breath and Alex can almost feel the nervous energy coming off of him in waves. “Alex …”
“She thinks he’s a fit for us?” he asks, trying to relieve some of the burden from his husband.
“She thinks we’re a fit for him, yeah,” Henry breathes. He slowly makes his way over and lowers himself to his knees in front of Alex’s chair. “I know it’s a lot …”
“We’ve talked about this, H,” Alex says softly, his hands moving to Henry’s shoulders. “We put our names on their list for a reason. If Andrea thinks there’s a little boy in their care that we can help, we owe it to him to try, don’t we?”
Henry nods, his eyes tearing up a bit. “I should call her back?” Henry whispers and Alex can hear the hope in his voice.
“Yeah, baby, you should call her back.”
. . .
Alex is unable to take time off work because he’s in trial prep mode and there’s no one else who has enough knowledge of the file, aside from his paralegals, to be able to work on it. Stupid Unauthorized Practice of Law statues. Since Henry is on summer break, he and Delia combine their organizational skills and get a room ready for Johnny when they bring him home.
When the three of them enter the TARE office, his daughter clutches tight to his hand. “Is he living here, Daddy?” she asks in a small voice that kind of breaks his heart.
“No, mija , he doesn’t live here now. He’s staying in another family’s home temporarily.”
She turns her attention to Henry. “How old is he again, Poppa?”
Henry reaches down and rests a hand on her shoulder. “He’s four, mon petit chou ,” Henry answers and Alex snorts, trying to keep in a laugh as their thirteen year old rolls her eyes at the nickname Henry gave her when he was trying to teach her some French.
“Not a cabbage,” she grumbles and Henry smiles for the first time that day.
“Henry,” a voice calls and Alex looks up to see an African American woman in a pair of worn jeans and a t-shirt. She looks to be younger than he and Henry but like she’s lived a longer life. It’s striking to him.
“Andrea,” Henry greets, offering a hand for her to shake. “My husband, Alex, and our daughter, Delia.”
Andrea shakes his hand and then Delia’s. “Nice to meet you both. Johnny’s in the playroom with a couple of other children, so we have a few minutes to talk.” She pauses. “Would you like to join us, Miss Claremont-Diaz?”
Delia looks up at him. “It’s up to you, mija ,” he tells her. “We’re probably going to talk about Johnny’s background and it might be a little bit sad.”
Delia thinks about her choices for a moment - something he loves about her - and then holds up her phone. “If it’s okay, I’ll stay out here and listen to my audiobook.”
Both he and Henry nod their agreement before following Andrea into her office.
“Please, have a seat,” Andrea says as she motions for the two chairs in the front of her desk. She goes behind it and sits down, opening a manilla file folder. “I’m glad you were able to come in today.”
“It’s my fault we weren’t in earlier,” Alex says. “My work -”
“It’s okay,” Andrea cuts him off quietly but resolutely. “Johnny is currently with a family who is taking excellent care of him.”
“Is there a reason he’s not being placed there?” Henry asks as he folds his hands in his lap.
“Yes,” she answers. “They’ve already got four children placed with them and two of their own. It’s too chaotic of an environment for him. They’re always willing to take in emergency fosters and they have room, but Johnny’s struggling a bit with the noise and activity.”
“We have a dog,” Alex says. “A beagle. He’s getting up there in age but still acts like a puppy sometimes. And, you know, a teenager.”
Andrea laughs. “I’m sure neither of them will be detrimental to Johnny. But if you’re unsure …”
“No!” Alex cuts in, probably a little too loudly. “No, I just … don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up if it’s going to be a problem.”
Andrea smiles at him and Alex feels kind of like a bug being observed under a microscope or something. “Johnny hasn’t really ever had a stable home life,” she tells them. “He’s been in the system for the majority of his life. His parents went to jail when he was an infant, he went to a grandparent who passed not long after. No one else in the family would take him so he started bouncing from foster to foster. He needs some stability and a lot of patience and care. He’s a quiet little boy. Smart but very reserved. It might not be easy for him to open up to you.”
Alex nods in understanding. “Will he be eligible to start school in the autumn or will he need a daycare program?” Henry asks. “Not that it matters; if it’s school, I’ll be able to bring him with me to Zilker.”
“He’s registered for Kindergarten at Andrews next year but I’m sure you wouldn’t have any problem getting him into Zilker since you work there and he would be living in that district,” Andrea tells them, flipping through the folder. “There’s some concern that he won’t be communicative in a classroom setting, but we both know that you’re well-suited to help in that department. Obviously he’s too young to be in your class but with you at home …”
Henry nods. “We’ll see. It may be different once he settles into a routine.” He clears his throat. “Violent outbursts or self-harm concerns?”
“None that have been reported,” Andrea tells them, her eyes moving from Henry to Alex and then back. “But I won’t say it’s not possible. Particularly if he’s getting comfortable with you.”
“Why would he be violent if he’s getting comfortable?” Alex asks. He feels a little stupid for it but this is his first conversation with TARE about a specific child, so he doesn’t really know what different things could mean. He wants to, though, and he’s not afraid to look dumb for a second if it means he gets the information he needs.
“Because I don’t think he’s ever gotten comfortable somewhere and been allowed to stay,” Andrea tells him matter-of-factly. “But it’s all speculation at this point.” She pauses and then glances back to the file. “No health concerns at this point, he’s due for an immunization in a few months - you can either stick with the doctor his foster families took him to or switch to whomever you’d like. We’d obviously be checking in from time to time, see how things are going, how he’s settling in, how your family is handling everything.”
“Right,” Henry agrees and Alex nods along with him. It’s just so much but not enough at the same time.
“When can we meet him?” Alex asks, shifting a little in his seat.
Andrea chuckles and shares a smile with Henry.
“Alex was born to be a father,” Henry tells her. “It’s one of the things I love about him.”
“And the chin dimple, I’m sure,” Andrea retorts with a wink. “We can go meet him now, if you’d like. But we don’t want to bombard him or confuse him, so we’ll take it slow.”
“Should have brought David,” Alex mumbles to Henry as they stand and head out of the office.
“Perhaps,” Henry agrees as he nods for Delia to join them. She turns off her book and shoves her phone and air pods into her pocket. “We’re going to go meet Johnny, if you’d like to come.”
She’s on her feet in an instant. “Yeah.”
Alex wraps an arm around his daughter and they head down the hall into a room that looks somewhat similar to what a preschool or kindergarten classroom looks like. There’s a wall of books with bean bag chairs, poofs and tables with plastic chairs around them on one side. On the other are more tables and chairs with puzzles and various games on them. There are three kids in there: one little girl with long blonde braids, and two little boys. One of the boys looks to be seven or eight and is sitting in the book area. The other is sitting at a table with paper and crayons in complete disarray. It has to be Johnny.
The boy’s skin is pale, though not as pale as Henry’s is when he sets foot on English soil for longer than a couple of days. His hair is a bright, coppery red and his face is nearly covered in freckles. His tongue is poking out of the corner of his mouth as he colors frantically on the page in front of him.
Alex is immediately in love.
While the adults seem content to stand and observe for a moment, Delia takes matters into her own hands. She walks over to the table and squats down beside the little boy. “Hey,” she says. “I’m Delia. Can I color with you?”
The little boy looks up at her and doesn’t say anything for a long minute before he nods. “I’m using the red.”
“That’s cool,” she tells him and stuffs herself into one of the chairs, picking up a purple crayon and dragging over a blank piece of paper. “What’s your name?”
“Thor,” the boy answers and Alex has to choke back a laugh. Thor indeed.
“That’s a super cool name,” their daughter replies. “I wish my dad had named me Thor.” She looks over at him. “How come you didn’t name me Thor, Daddy?”
Alex smiles and takes the opening for what it is. “Couldn’t spell it,” he answers. “So you got stuck with Delia.” He makes his way over, noticing in his periphery that Henry isn’t moving. He considers asking why but something inside of him knows. He’s nervous and he wants to give himself a few minutes to get ready for this. Another child is something Henry’s wanted for longer than Alex knows; he’d only gotten up the nerve to say something once Delia moved to middle school, but Alex knows it’s been longer than that.
After they got married, he and Henry had a lot of conversations about whether or not he should adopt Delia. They spoke to each other, his parents, June and Nora, and even Laney. He knows Henry also had more than one conversation with his therapist about it. In the end, they decided to let Delia decide.
That Christmas, she presented Henry with adoption papers and asked him to be her Poppa for life.
So, yeah, they all cried a lot that day.
Henry’s been a parent to Delia for half of her life and now they’re hoping to bring another child into their home. A child who’s younger than Delia was when they’d met and one who’s been through a lot of emotional upheaval. So, yeah, Alex gets his husband needing a minute or two.
“You can’t spell Thor?” Johnny asks as he looks up at Alex. “It’s easy! T-H-O-R!”
Alex grins and lowers himself to sit criss cross applesauce on the floor. “That’s not hard at all!” Alex tells him. “Sorry, D. Guess you missed out.”
“I guess it’s okay,” she says as she shades in a big purple flower.
“What’s your name?” Johnny asks as he puts down the red crayon and turns to Alex.
“I’m Alex,” he answers. “And the tall guy over there is my husband Henry.”
“You have a boy husband?” the little boy asks, eyes switching to focus on Henry. “He’s really tall.”
“I do have a boy husband and he is tall. Which is kind of annoying, isn’t it?” Alex asks.
“But it means he can reach the yummy food at the market.”
That apparently is all it takes to get Henry to join them. Alex can tell by the set of his shoulders that he’s still nervous but his face is clear and open. “I can,” Henry agrees. “What’s your favorite yummy food that you can’t reach?” He squats down beside Alex, leaving some space between him and Johnny so he doesn’t make the little boy feel boxed in or claustrophobic.
“Lucky Charms,” Johnny says without missing a beat. Alex sees Delia wrinkle her nose but she doesn’t say anything in reply. Henry doesn’t either but he knows his husband is mentally preparing himself to have the single most unhealthy cereal in their home for the foreseeable future. “I like the marshmallows best.”
“Marshmallows are great. When it’s cold out, we put the little ones in hot chocolate,” Alex tells him.
“Really?” Johnny asks, eyes wide with something Alex thinks could be wonder. “That sounds yummy. I’ve never done that before, I don’t think.”
It’s an opening that Alex doesn’t know how to take advantage of. He’s unsure what to say to tell the little boy that he and Henry will give him all of the hot chocolate with marshmallows that he wants.
“We can have some later today, if you’d like,” Henry says and Alex and Delia’s heads whip up to look at him. “If you’d like to come stay at our house.”
Johnny blinks up at Henry. “For how long?” he asks, looking past them and to Andrea.
“For as long as you’d like,” Henry answers, gently redirecting the little boy’s attention back to him. “We’ve got a bedroom set up for you with a desk and some art supplies.”
“And a bed?” the little boy asks and something inside of Alex splits open, making him think that maybe this child hasn’t always had one of those.
“A really cool one,” Delia tells him. “I helped pick it out. And the coolest thing is, even though I didn’t know your name was Thor …” She trails off and lets the implication hang in the air. A bright smile starts to form on Johnny’s lips as he figures it out. “That’s right,” she adds. “Totally got you sheets with Thor on them.”
Johnny lets out a bright laugh - and god, Alex is in love again - and looks past them. “Miss Andrea, can I go?”
Alex catches sight of Henry from the corner of his eye. His adams apple bobs and he sniffs, turning his head away. Alex reaches out and puts a hand on Henry’s back as Andrea joins them. “Is that something you’d like to do?” she asks him.
“They have marshmallows and Thor sheets and a bed,” Johnny says, as if that’s enough explanation. Alex supposes it is.
“I guess if they have all that ,” she answers with a grin and Johnny claps his hands together. “Would you like to go pack your bag up?”
Johnny nods and hops off the chair, speed-walking across the room to where a backpack is resting on a hook.
“He has some clothes in there,” Andrea says quietly, “but not much. You might want to get him a few more things.”
“We’ve got some,” Alex answers as he stands, wincing as his knee pops. Delia laughs loudly and he shoots her a look that has her snorting. “Grounded forever,” he tells her before turning back to Andrea. “A few pairs of pajamas and stuff. We thought maybe tomorrow we’d go to Walmart or Target and let him pick some stuff of his own out.”
“Sounds like you’re ready,” she tells them, placing a hand gently on Henry’s arm. His eyes are on the little boy across the room, who’s excitedly whispering to the girl he’d noticed earlier. She gives him a hug and then gently shoves him in their direction. “Her family will be here shortly,” Andrea says under her breath when she sees the sad look on Henry’s face. “Today’s a good day for all of us.”
Johnny joins them again, his backpack just a little big for him. “Want me to carry that for you, Thor?” Alex asks.
Johnny laughs and shakes his head. “No, it’s okay, I can do it.” He reaches out and clutches Delia’s hand and Alex feels himself get emotional. He glances at Henry who’s looking away again. “Can we go get some marshmallows now?”
“We sure can, bud,” Alex agrees, his voice thick. He clears his throat and nods to Andrea. “Thank you.”
She smiles and tells them she’ll be by the house in the next week to see how everything is going.
“We’ll warn David there’s going to be guests,” Henry says with a smile.
“Who’s David?” Johnny asks curiously as they start walking towards the front of the building.
“Our dog,” Delia confides.
“ We have a dog ?” Johnny asks and the word hits Alex like a punch in the gut. We. This little boy has been moved so many times but he’s so open and willing to accept that he’s joining a new family.
We.
“We do,” Alex says. “He’s a beagle and he’s seven.”
“That’s older than me,” Johnny whispers. “Wow,”
“He’s the best boy,” Delia tells him. “He’s a lot of fun to play with and he gives great cuddles. Especially if you’re mad or sad.”
His daughter’s words ring through his ears. She’s never been through what Johnny has, but she knows what it’s like to be in a unique family, knows that everything isn’t always easy even when your home is filled with love. She’s going to be a fantastic big sister.
Once they’ve said their goodbyes to Andrea, they head to the car. Henry helps Johnny get in and buckled into the car seat he and Delia picked out yesterday, and then climbs into the front seat. “Ready?” he asks the car at large. He’s met with a chorus of agreement. “Then off we go.”
They’re quiet for a few minutes, each inside their own heads, when Johnny speaks up. “I needa tell you something,” he says softly. “My name isn’t Thor.”
“It’s not?” Alex asks as he turns in his seat to look back at the little boy. “What is it?”
“It’s Johnny,” he says.
“Like Johnny Cash,” Alex tells him. “My sister’s name is June, like June Carter Cash.”
Johnny’s mouth forms a little “o” as he stares back at Alex for a moment. Then he smiles and nods. “June,” he repeats. “Does she like marshmallows too?”
For the rest of the ride home, Alex tells Johnny all about June, with Delia commenting when she has a story or quip to share. Henry drives silently, tears in his eyes, and Alex reaches out for his hand, gripping it tightly. “Alright, baby?” Alex whispers as Delia and Johnny giggle over something in the back.
“Yeah,” Henry whispers back. “I’m just … he’s wonderful, Alex, and I love him already.”
“Me too, baby,” he replies. “Me too.”
Alex knows it won’t always be this smooth and easy, but families never are. It’s clear that Johnny is already bonding with Delia and she’s stepped into the role of big sister seamlessly. Alex has never been more proud.
As he glances to the back seat, their daughter listening to a very passionate argument about, he thinks, which dinosaurs would have liked marshmallows, Alex feels a warmth settle in his chest and spread through his body. It’s way too early to feel this way, he knows, but there’s something inside of him telling him that their little family is complete. That Johnny’s going to be with them from now on.
And fuck if that doesn’t feel amazing.