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Andrew enters the kitchen early in the morning, heading towards the coffee pot before noticing a mug already steaming beside it. Even in his bleary, sleep muffled brain, he knew this meant either Neil was back from his run, or never went on one.
Cupping his fingers around the mug, he walked quietly into the living room, peering around.
There, he sees Neil lying completely horizontal on the sofa, a small lump of blankets on top of him. The TV was playing cartoons, practically silent as Charlie and Lola giggled at beetles on their backs on the screen.
Slowly, he grabbed the remote, turning it off before walking with more purpose towards the arm rest closest to Neil’s head. Neil heard him coming, his red bedhead rising off the pillow beneath to greet Andrew.
“Mornin’” Neil whispered, British mannerisms slipping out, rough from sleep.
Andrew responded with a kiss on his forehead, causing a light blush to rise up from Neil’s neck.
“Nightmare?” he asked quietly.
Neil responded with a gentle nod. Andrew lifted his coffee mug up to his husband’s mouth to allow him a sip.
Andrew looked down at the mound of blankets currently perched on Neil’s lap, one of his scarred hands was stroking through a fluff of blonde hair carefully as the lump continued to breathe steadily.
“Should we still take him?” Andrew asked.
“I don’t know, it could all be too much. But…it seemed like he wanted to go?” Neil said, uncertainty leaking through into his tone.
“I don’t- I won’t force him to do anything. Ever.” Andrew said, voice becoming harsh.
“I know, Drew” Neil said, tilting his head to catch Andrew’s gaze.
“You’re good, love. You are.” he continued, leaning forward to place a chaste kiss on Andrew’s lips.
A high pitched whine echoed around the room, whilst the pile of blankets wriggled from its position on Neil’s legs.
Eventually, a head peeked out, two blue eyes sleepily blinking open.
“Morning Schnecke” Andrew said, ruffling Arlo’s messy hair even more.
“Morning?” Arlo said, tiny voice squeezing Neil’s heart.
“Yeah, proper morning this time!” Neil said, a smile on his face as he booped Arlo’s nose, causing him to wiggle.
“Breakfast time.” Andrew said, rising from his crouched position by the sofa, walking back into the kitchen where he started to grab boxes of cereal.
Meanwhile, Neil got up with Arlo, who instead remained attached to the redhead, arms slung around his neck as he sat on Neil’s hip.
Neil stood with him whilst Andrew pulled the milk out of the fridge, rocking him back and forth on his hip, making Arlo burst out in little giggles.
As Neil put Arlo down in his chair, Andrew held up two boxes, frosties and cheerios.
“Osties” Arlo said.
“ Fro sties” Neil exaggerated.
“Fruhsties” Arlo repeated, brows furrowed as he sat concentrated.
“Close enough” Andrew said, sliding the bowl in front of Arlo who happily digged into his cereal.
Andrew turned to Neil, beckoning his head to the cupboard and raising his eyebrows in question. Neil nodded in response, so Andrew cracked to work and pulled out the granola whilst Neil stood up to grab the fruit.
“Arlo?” Neil asked.
“Es?” Arlo answered, a mouth full of frosted flakes.
“Do you remember what me and Andrew said we were going to do today?” he said hesitantly.
“Um…no?” Arlo said, a grimace taking over his face as he stopped eating and sat frozen in his chair.
“That’s okay!” Neil said with a reassuring smile.
“Me and Andrew are going to see our friends from college. The Foxes?” he explained.
“Orange sticks!” Arlo said, the memory of watching them on the TV came flooding back.
“Yeah, the orange sticks.” Andrew said, subtly smirking sideways at Neil.
“Well, we were wondering if you wanted to come with us?” Neil said, putting the washed fruit down as he looked directly at Arlo.
“Uhhh- why?” Arlo looked worried.
“To meet our friends, that’s all. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, I can stay here whilst Drew goes, or the other way around if you want.” Neil said lightly.
“No ones making you go, schnecke” Andrew said firmly.
“Will, um- Amaya?” Arlo stuttered.
“Yeah, Amaya will be there, her parents as well.” Neil said, smiling. The two had been inseparable ever since they went round to Matt and Dan’s place for Thanksgiving a few months ago, she really helped Arlo relax and have a good time.
“Kay” Arlo said, before shovelling another spoonful of cereal into his mouth, milk trickling down his soft chin.
“You wanna go?” Neil said, eyebrows raised. He hadn’t expected Arlo to want to leave the house after a night plagued with nightmares, but he seemed surprisingly onboard with the idea.
Arlo nodded energetically, his hair flopping into his eyes.
“Alright then. Finish your breakfast and we can go get ready.” Andrew said, trying to suss out Arlo’s true feelings regarding the days activities, making sure he didn’t feel obligated to go.
But, he didn’t need to prompt Arlo, he’d already polished off all the frosties in remarkable time. A habit that remained due to his mother’s neglect, despite several months in Andrew and Neil’s care.
He climbed down from his chair excitedly, practically running towards the stairs, his hair fanning out slightly with the speed. Arlo hadn’t had a haircut since being fostered by Andrew and Neil, every time they suggested it he shrunk into himself, both literally and emotionally, so to avoid any halt in their progression as Arlo’s foster parents, they avoided the subject.
Neil smiled before walking after the boy, Andrew following him after putting the dishes in the sink.
Arlo stood at the bottom of the stairs, holding his arms up to Neil, who hoisted him back onto his hip as he walked up the steps.
Arlo had become increasingly more comfortable with receiving and asking for physical affection from them, mainly Neil, because he was more available for that kind of contact.
Every time he saw those tiny hands waving above his head, Neil’s chest seemed to cave in. He couldn’t think about it too much without tears coming to his eyes. How a terrified, neglected, little boy now felt safe enough to ask for hugs, permanently tugged at his heartstrings.
He tickled Arlo’s stomach as he went into his room, pulling open drawers of clothes so Arlo could pick.
Putting him down on the carpet, Arlo toddled over to the drawers, pulling out an pink oversized t-shirt and blue shorts. He then ran over to his bed, grabbing the bucket hat off the bedpost and depositing it on the floor next to his clothes.
“Good choice, kiddo” Neil said, Arlo’s face breaking out into a shy grin at the compliment.
“You wanna get dressed by yourself while I get ready?” he asked.
“Kay kay” Arlo said, already moving to take his spiderman onesie off.
“Alright, I’ll leave the door open for you Arlo” Neil said, walking through the doorway and down the hall to his and Andrew’s room.
Seeing no sight of Andrew, he walked into their ensuite bathroom, where the blonde man stood in nothing but a pair of black briefs, shaving in the mirror.
“Wow, going fancy huh?” Neil said, coming up behind Andrew and slowly hooking his arms around his waist.
Andrew grunted in response, leaning back slightly to rest on Neil.
“Right, I’m gonna get dressed” Neil said, stepping backwards after swaying peacefully with Andrew for a few minutes, breathing in the clean scent of his husband.
“Bed” Andrew murmured as he moved the razor across his cheek.
Entering the bedroom, he saw that Andrew had picked out clothes for Neil, all laid out. Similar to how Arlo laid his clothes out earlier.
Thank fuck, Neil thought, he was dreading thinking of an acceptable outfit.
As he struggled to pull on his skinny jeans, Andrew walked back out the bathroom, freshly shaven with damp hair.
He strolled over to their wardrobe, pulling out his clothes and mulling over options.
“Staring” Neil heard, which startled him out of the stupor he had fallen into.
“Can’t help it” Neil smirked.
“Junkie” Andrew scoffed, but he walked over to where Neil was buckling his belt and pulled him in by the belt loops for a kiss that ventured from chaste quickly.
“I- have. Uh - check on Arlo!” Neil gasped as Andrew kissed his way down his neck, sucking at the space in between his collarbone.
“Off you go then” Andrew murmured, lightly pushing Neil away as he sauntered back over to the wardrobe.
Neil shook his hair out, pulling the graphic t-shirt over his head and grabbing some socks whilst applying deodorant quickly.
From there, he half walked, half pulled his socks on, back over to Arlo’s room.
“Hey kiddo, you ready to go?” Neil asked, peeking his head round the doorframe.
Arlo was sat on his bed, swinging his feet back and forth whilst clutching his stuffed dinosaur.
“Uh huh” Arlo said quietly, not looking Neil in the eye.
“Are you okay Arlo?” Neil said, walking into his room and crouching down in front of the boy.
“Uh huh” Arlo said, even quieter than before.
“You wanna say something schnecke?” Neil said, prompting Arlo to open up a bit whilst throwing in the nickname in the hope it comforted him slightly.
“Ca- can I- t-take dino with me?” Arlo said before wincing and leaning backwards on the bed.
“Course you can Arlo. Is he ready to go as well?” Neil asked.
“Uh huh” Arlo nodded his head.
“Shall we go downstairs and pop our shoes on then? Do you know which ones you want to wear?” Neil started the conversation, trying to distract Arlo slightly from the clear anxiety he was feeling.
“Um, maybe the seekin ones?” Arlo said, still not fully able to pronounce difficult words due to his previous deviations from school early in life.
“Sequin ones?” Neil said.
“That’s a good choice Arlo, you might be the coolest looking person there!” Neil said, offering a grin to the little boy.
A tiny giggle slipped out of Arlo at the comment, and he picked up his pace towards the shoe rack at the front door.
As he plopped himself down onto the floor with an ‘ oomph! ’ Neil reached over his head and pulled the sequin decorated shoes down for Arlo, before grabbing his own converse.
He sat down next to Arlo, tying his own laces as Arlo did up his velcro. Before long, he heard Andrew come down the stairs, his keys jingling in his hands from locking the windows upstairs.
Andrew came down the stairs dressed in loose, ripped jeans and an oversized letterman jacket. Underneath, was a simple fitted, black, t-shirt. Neil stared unashamedly. He looked hot.
As he looked up at Andrew’s face, and the smirk on it, he knew he looked good. Fuck, there was nothing more attractive than his husband feeling confident.
He reached down, grabbing Andrew’s Doc Martins before passing them over with an unnecessary brush of fingers.
“Looking cool, schnecke” Andrew said, giving Arlo’s bucket hat a wiggle as he walked back over the stairs to put his shoes on.
Leaving Andrew to lock up, Neil took Arlo over to the car to put him in his car seat.
"Wait!" Arlo said, stopping halfway to the car. Neil looked down, worried instantly.
"What?" he asked the child.
"Can I bring the jump rope to play with Amaya?" he said.
"'Course you can! I'll tell Andrew to grab it okay?" Neil said, pulling out his phone to text Drew rather than shouting back into the house.
They'd realised, a short time into Arlo's fostering, that he didn't like loud noises, especially if they were sudden. So, after a night of no sleep, Neil yelling to Andrew might push him over the edge.
The two then continued to the car, Neil lifting Arlo into the car, his small size still too little to climb up himself.
“You excited?” he asked, clicking the seatbelt into place.
“Yeah!” Arlo said in reply, waving his dinosaur around.
“It’s a short drive, about 15 minutes, okay?” he said, looking in Arlo’s eyes.
“Okay!” Arlo replied, still making his dinosaur fly through the air in his excitement.
The drive was unproblematic, Andrew and Neil talking to each other whilst Arlo played with his dinosaur in the back.
Before they knew it, they were at Wymack’s house, pulling into the driveway, as the wheels grated against the gravel.
“Here?” Arlo asked, a hand pressed on the window.
“Yeah, this is Grandpa’s house, remember?” Neil said, turning around in his seat to see Arlo.
“Oh yeah!” he replied.
Neil unbuckled Arlo from his seat before placing him on the gravel outside the car. The boy was bouncing up and down on his feet, flapping dino around as he gazed towards the house.
Andrew walked round from the other side of the car to them, shutting the door and locking it with a click of the key.
“Dad?” Arlo said, stopping Andrew in his tracks as he headed towards the house.
“Yeah, schnecke?” he replied, turning around to face the boy.
“Can I hold your hand?” Arlo whispered.
“Yes, you can Arlo” causing Arlo to jump in place once, before running over to where Andrew was and holding his hand, pulling him slightly towards the house.
Neil smiled, sneakily hanging back and slipping his phone out his pocket. He was forced to buy a more modern phone, and he was going to use the camera feature for this moment if it killed him.
Jogging to catch up with his family, he reached out and rang the doorbell, glancing down and seeing Arlo’s hand still in Andrew’s.
The door opened to reveal Abby, a smile on her face as she welcomed them in, pointing them in the direction of the living room, where everyone was gathered.
Arlo walked slowly, gazing around the house curiously, this only increased when he walked into the living room, being affronted by all the new people he’d never met before.
He clutched Andrew’s hand slightly, who squeezed back reassuringly.
Thankfully, he saw Amaya playing with building blocks in the middle of the room, so he ran over and gave her a hug before settling down to play as well.
“Ah! You guys! He’s adorable !” Nicky squealed, causing Arlo to look up concernedly before turning back to Amaya, helping her build a castle.
"Need's stick on side" she babbled, lifting herself up unsteadily before dumping a bunch of blocks in Arlo's lap.
"Of course, princess Amaya" he said, smiling at her giggles that the name produced. He discovered his love for Amaya at Thanksgiving and ever since, he felt at ease in her company.
So much of his life was stressful, plagued with anxiety, but with Amaya, he could just sit and play. Like a normal boy.
“Aren’t you gonna introduce him to everyone?” Aaron said.
Neil shrugged in response.
“He seems happy playing with Amaya right now.” he said dismissively.
Arlo was happy playing at the moment, the castle had successfully been built and Amaya was currently pretending her barbie was being attacked by Arlo's dinosaur, which he flew through the air above the castle.
However, after a few minutes of the adults saying hello and making small talk, Amaya let out a tired cry. She was a few years younger than Arlo, her tolerance for long playtimes still low compared to him.
Matt went over to her, picking her up and rocking her gently.
“Shh shh, seems like somebody needs a nap!” he says.
Matt went upstairs, off to lay her down for a sleep as Arlo sat in the middle of the room, looking at his dad’s as if to say, ‘where’d my playmate go?’ .
Something started to build up in his chest, he noticed everyone around the room, strangers. Amaya was gone, what should he do? He couldn't play alone, he was too big for that!
He walked over to Neil, sticking his hands in the air before making grabby motions. In response, Neil gave his drink to Andrew and raised Arlo onto his hip.
Renee, who they were currently speaking to, let a small smile overcome her face as she continued talking.
Neil rocked himself from side to side, soothing Arlo who seemed tense, as if he realised his situation of a room filled with strangers.
“Dad” he hears, muffled where Arlo’s face is smushed into his shirt.
Andrew leans over to look at Arlo.
“Schnecke?” he says quietly.
Arlo holds out a hand, which after a second, Andrew takes, rubbing his thumb over the child’s hand.
The boy seemed to relax minutely as Neil continued to rock him and Andrew rubbed soothing circles onto his hand.
Eventually, he removed his face from Neil’s shirt, looking around the room shyly.
Suddenly, he freezes, having spotted Aaron. Arlo hadn’t met Aaron yet, since him and Katelyn moved states shortly after he finished med school, being sent away on placement.
They had been fostering Arlo only a few months, the early ones of which were quite difficult, not the time to bring in an Andrew lookalike. Since then, their schedules had never lined up, meaning Aaron, along with most of the Foxes, hadn’t met Arlo yet.
“Arlo?” Neil asked, before noticing his gaze towards Aaron.
“Drew” he murmured, nodding his head towards Aaron so Andrew understood.
“Schnecke, you remember that I told you I have a brother?” he said, looking into Arlo’s blue eyes as he nodded in response.
“Well, he’s actually my twin, which means that we look really similar, don’t we?” another nod.
“Nothing to be scared of, Arlo.” Neil said comfortingly.
“Meet” Arlo whispered.
“You want to meet him?” Neil asked.
Arlo gestured towards the room.
“Everyone?” Andrew said.
“Okay then, you want us to do it or you?” Neil asked, Arlo pointed at Neil in response.
“Alright, you wanna get down or stay up for it?” Arlo wiggled off Neil’s hip, answering the question.
“So guys, this is Arlo!” Neil said, placing a hand on the head that still wore his bucket hat.
“Hey Arlo! It’s very nice to meet you.” Dan said, Matt with an arm around her waist.
“Do you remember me buddy?” Matt said, crouching down to Arlo’s level.
“Matt” Arlo said firmly. He liked Matt, he was Amaya’s dad and blew bubbles at him when they visited for Thanksgiving.
Matt’s face broke out into a grin at the recognition, standing up again next to Dan.
“Right, so you remember Dan and Matt. Then we have Renee, who me and Andrew were chatting to, Allison, Nicky, Kevin, Grandpa, Abby and Aaron.” Neil said, pointing to each person so Arlo knew who he was talking about.
“Awon looks like dad” he said to Neil.
“I know, that’s because they’re twins. But, they’re very different, I promise you ” Neil said, smirking up at Aaron at the last comment.
Nicky squealed again at Arlo calling Andrew dad, causing Arlo to turn towards him, looking very concerned. Nicky shut up, due to Arlo’s face, but also due to the glare he was receiving from Andrew.
Arlo walked over to Aaron.
“Hello Awon” Arlo said, looking up at him.
“Um, hi?” Aaron replied with a nervous smile, not really knowing how to talk to kids and also freaked out by the extreme expression Arlo was staring at him with.
“Dad smiles nicer” he said before walking away, causing Aaron to break out in scoffs.
“You fucking told him to say that you dick!” he exclaimed to Andrew.
Allison was cackling in the corner, even Renee let out a polite giggle.
“Aaron! Language.” Abby scolded.
On his way back to Andrew and Neil, Arlo noticed Kevin and gasped before running over to him.
He threw his hands up in the air, grabby hands returning again as Kevin hoisted him up so he was sat on his knee.
“Kevin!” Arlo squealed.
“The fuck!” Aaron said. “He likes Kevin and not me?”, causing Katelyn to reach out and soothingly stroke his shoulder.
“Kev gave him a dinosaur.” Andrew said, a slight smirk on his face as he looked at his twin in despair.
“Dino!” Arlo cheered before looking around.
He became slightly panicked as he clambered down from Kevin’s lap, looking around the floor for his dinosaur.
“Dino?” Arlo asked, eyes becoming wide as he frantically searched for his toy.
"Dad where's dino?" he continued, running around, peeking behind pillows and chairs desperately trying to look for his toy.
Tears started to flow down his face as his hands began to flap and he sat down on the carpet. He rocked himself back and forth as he started to let out whines and whimpers.
Neil saw this, also seeing that his dinosaur had disappeared from the room despite Arlo bringing it in from the car.
He looked to Andrew, who was walking forwards to Arlo and sitting down opposite him on the floor.
“Schnecke.” he said calmly.
“Uh- uh, h- hug?” Arlo sobbed, pulling at his hair after knocking his hat off.
Andrew opened his arms, Arlo crawling into them, still crying and grabbing at his hair. Andrew took deep breaths and rested his hands on Arlo’s, stopping them in the attack of his hair.
“Deep breaths, schnecke.” Andrew said, whilst exaggerating his own breathing for Arlo to follow.
“N- no! No!” Arlo cried, aggressively rocking back and forth, hitting his head onto Andrew’s chest.
Neil was in the hallway, looking for the dinosaur before the foxes filed out one by one, to his question.
“Just giving them some space.” Renee said with a nod. “I’ll check upstairs.”
Neil nodded thankfully before going back into the living room.
Arlo was still hitting his head into Andrew, sobbing heartbreakingly into his shirt.
“Shh, shh, shh” Andrew started to rock him back and forth, letting out soft noises.
“Drew?” Neil said, feeling helpless.
“Ah, ah uh” Arlo cried, gasping for air as his sobs came from deep within, he didn't know how to handle the emotions he had succumbed to.
“Sit and do the breathing.” Andrew said firmly.
Neil, thankful for the instruction, sat in front of them, narrating himself taking big, deep breaths.
Andrew continued to rock them, humming softly as he covered Arlo’s ears, applying pressure to help him relax.
Eventually, Arlo seemed to burn out, tears drying on his face as he let out only occasional whines.
Andrew turned him around in his lap so he was balanced almost like a baby would be, his arm around Arlo’s head, his other rubbing soothing circles onto his back.
Arlo’s eyes were starting to close, he moved his thumb up to his face, sucking it into his mouth.
This wasn’t the first time Arlo had a meltdown, they had a few previously, meaning they knew how to handle them partially. But, every time they happened, Neil still felt an overwhelming urge of helpless overcome him.
Andrew lifted the sleeping boy into his arms as he stood up, leaving the living room and walking out to the car.
Neil followed, Renee catching his arm before he walked through the door.
“Amaya must have grabbed it as Matt took her upstairs.” she said softly, pressing the dinosaur into his hands.
“Thanks” Neil said tiredly before following Andrew out to the car.
They both knew Arlo was neurodivergent, having been diagnosed after a previous foster family became concerned. It was simply difficult to know what to do in situations like this, but they knew there was nothing to prevent it.
The meltdown had been building, after a rough nights sleep and overexcitement, paired with a room full of strangers. The missing dinosaur was the last straw.
The drive home continued to soothe Arlo as he slept in his carseat, Andrew holding Neil’s hand across the gearstick.
They put the boy to bed, before heading downstairs themselves.
“Junkie” Andrew said, his voice vibrating against Neil’s head from where it was lying against his chest.
Neil sighed, Andrew knew he had something on his mind.
“I just, I worry we’re not doing enough for him sometimes.” Neil said quietly.
“We’re doing all we can” Andrew said.
“I know, it’s just something on my mind recently.” Neil said before turning to the stairs, having heard feet padding.
Arlo stood at the bottom of the stairs, dino in one hand, the other rubbing across his face.
“Arlo?” Neil said, sitting up slightly so he could see the boy.
The boy in question padded around the sofa.
“Nightmare?” Andrew asked.
Arlo nodded, face still jaunt from the terrors he had seen in his dreams.
“Cuddle?” he said, looking at Andrew.
“Yes” Andrew replied.
Neil lifted Arlo on top of them, he fitted in the gap Neil left on Andrew’s chest, Andrew placing an arm over Arlo’s back to secure him.
He may not always feel secure in his parenting skills, Neil thought, but they must be doing something right if Arlo trusts them enough to seek comfort after a nightmare.
Andrew leaned his head down, pressing a kiss onto Neil’s forehead, then Arlo’s.
“Sleep” he said.
Arlo shuffled downwards, arranging himself for sleep, Neil reached back, pulling a blanket over the three of them before he too closed his eyes.
The three of them, comforting each other, from the worries of the world.