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Chapter Text

Nick and Teddy entered the school and went straight to the storeroom to collect the flags and the stop sign.  After a few moments stopped at reception sharing small talk with Rosemary in the school office, Nick checked his watch and said goodbye - it was time to set up for the morning.   

He placed his flags in the poles on each side of the crossing, put on his yellow high-vis jacket and wide brim hat – and last of all attached his bi-pride pin to the collar of his coat.  “C’mon Teddy” he muttered to his dog “Your turn to suit up”.  Teddy, an aging Labrador, did not have an official uniform like Nick, but Nick’s son had made Teddy a fluorescent yellow dog coat with ‘School Crossing Dog’ stitched on the side. 

Teddy comes to work with him in the mornings and sits patiently tied to the crossing barriers, accepting cuddles from the children while waiting for Nick to tell them it is safe to cross.  Although all the students are friendly and yell their greetings to ‘Mr Nick’ – Nick is under no illusion that Teddy is the real star of the show and the reason why so many stop for a chat (and a pat) next to the crossing.  At least once a week, however, Teddy finds himself being walked into the school by a particularly upset or distressed child who does not want to be separated from their parent – Nick assuring them that if they are brave enough to go inside, they can walk Teddy into the school office.   Rosemary had quickly learned that the appearance of a child with Teddy indicated a bad morning for someone.  Nick was always pleasantly surprised by the little gifts of chocolate or sweets he often received from the parents of the child in the afternoon, usually accompanied by a quiet “Thank you for this morning – you are a lifesaver”.  He didn’t need the reward – he still remembered from when his own kids were little how heart wrenching it was as a parent to have to leave a distressed child at the school gate and dash off to work feeling sad and guilty.  Parenting was just so hard sometimes – he was always happy if he could help – even in just a small way.

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Nick had retired a year ago.  He did not miss the demands of teaching - preparing lessons, marking work and keeping up with administrative tasks - but he did miss seeing the kids and the feeling of being around a school.  After he returned from an extended and well-deserved holiday, he had applied to the local council to become a school crossing supervisor. 

His grandchildren were thrilled their Grand-papa was a lollipop man – his youngest granddaughter often made him put on the uniform when she visited.  He even helped her to make her own stop sign and they sometimes took it to the park together with Teddy.  If the other children in the park were surprised at having to wait at an imaginary crossing before they were allowed on the climbing equipment, they didn’t mention it.  Nick’s own kids were not surprised by his new role at all – the new job was totally in keeping with their dad’s personality and they were happy he had something to keep himself busy other than the gym and the dog park.

Nick was surprised at how quickly he became a member of the school community.  He enjoyed learning the student’s names (and often the names of their younger siblings who were forced to tag along on the trip to school).  He was continually surprised at how friendly (and even over-friendly) some of the parents were.  One mum in particular likes to give his bicep a little squeeze when she says hello.  This simultaneously makes Nick proud he has maintained the shape of his body after all these years - and also tempted to ask her how a 65-year-old can know more about consent than she does.

Without a doubt, he loves the queer families the best.  He saves his most exuberant greetings and smiles for the parents and kids in the school’s rainbow community.  He loved the way their faces broke into wide smiles the first time they spotted his pride pin, and the joyous feeling in his chest that he always got when he saw queer families together in the community.  Even after all these years, seeing queer love still made him a bit sentimental.  He has yet to top the joy experienced one morning when a dad and his son stopped at the crossing and the boy proudly showed him the bi-pride pin on his school bag “It’s just like yours Mr Nick!”.   

When recounting that story to his daughter on the phone later that night, the first thing she said was “You cried, didn’t you Papa?”. 

“No” he had lied.  They had both laughed at the absurdity of his denying it.

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With a last check to make sure Teddy was secured tightly, Nick straightened up and waited for the first families of the day.  The usual early birds arrived, parents dropping a kiss on top of their kids’ heads as they rushed off to get a bus or a tram to work.  With a blow on his whistle, Nick waved them across the road while holding his stop sign. 

When he returned to his post at the crossing barrier, he noticed Jo and Robin were waiting.  Robin was a huge fan of Teddy and was currently crouched next to the dog giving him a gentle scratch under the chin.    

Nick had a lot of time for Robin, a slight, quiet boy with huge blue eyes and the most adorable black curls framing his face.  Even though he only shared a brief interaction with him before and after school, he could tell how kind the boy was – he was always gentle with Teddy and never pushed to get to the front of the crossing like some kids.   

“Good morning you two!” Nick exclaimed cheerfully. 

“Hi Nick, how are you?” replied Jo with a big smile. 

Robin’s “Good morning, Mr Nick” was much quieter.

While waiting for some more cars to pass they shared their usual morning conversation. 

“Not long now, eh?” Nick asked, “You’re leaving on Saturday, right?”

“Yep” replied Jo in an excited tone “We cannot wait!  We haven’t been away on a holiday for so long”- ‘without the kids’ they silently mouthed at the end. 

Nick chuckled – he hadn’t forgotten that feeling either!

“My dad is coming to stay to look after Robin next week” Jo continued “Robin has already been talking Teddy up – he is pretty keen to introduce his Poppy to the dog – I think Dad imagines it is actually Teddy running this school crossing - don’t worry though, I told him that you were a pretty nice guy too!”  Jo laughed.

“Well, I look forward to meeting him!” Nick replied with a smile, blowing his whistle and sending them on their way “Have a great day at school, Robin”

“Bye” they both called back.

Chapter Text

Monday morning arrived with a clear and bright sky.  Although Nick had always been an early morning person, now that he was stuck outside no matter the season, he truly appreciated fine mornings like this.  He whistled a little tune as he set up the crossing.

This particular Monday morning was also notable in that it was the day that Nick revisited feelings he had not experienced in many years.  Feelings that did not feel completely appropriate for 8.30am at a school crossing.  The cause of the emergence of these previously dormant feelings was the arrival of Robin and his Poppy. 

One moment Nick had been smiling, waving and wishing kids a lovely day – and the next he had found himself staring at a man who took his breath away - literally.  He felt like his brain had emptied itself of its contents and he had lost all control and function.  Robin’s Poppy was scandalously handsome.  While Nick knew he was in pretty good shape for his age – Robin’s Poppy seemed more like a fine wine that had improved with age.  He was wearing effortlessly stylish clothes and was quite tall, with the same slender frame as Robin.  But where Robin’s curls were black and wild, his Poppy’s were luxurious and gloriously silver, tamed somewhat at the top by a loosely pulled back bun.  Some short silver spirals around his face had escaped the bun by design or by accident and teased the edges of the man’s wire rim glasses and curled up around his ear lobes despite what had obviously been an effort to tuck them away. 

His reaction to the handsome man surprised him.  He felt….moved.  It was not uncommon that he saw someone he thought was attractive – he was old, not blind - but for the first time in a long time he felt like he would like to act on his attraction – to do something about it – starting with running his fingers through those silver curls.  He shook his head slightly and inwardly chuckled.  Gosh imagine the poor man’s reaction if his grandson’s lollipop man hit on him. 

“Poppy, this is Teddy!” Robin was doing the introductions.

Nick watched as the man knelt and introduced himself to the dog “Hello Teddy, I’m Charlie, Robin’s Poppy.  Aren’t you a handsome chap!”  Teddy obliged by giving the man a lick on his chin.  

“And this is Mr Nick”

The man, Charlie, stood up and offered Nick his hand to shake.  “Hello Mr Nick, I’m Charlie.  Robin has been telling me you are the owner of the dog in charge of this crossing?” A little smirk appeared on the man’s face.

Nick took Charlie’s hand and instantly felt a fizz of energy flood through him – a little swoop in his stomach.  Their eyes met.  Charlie had the same striking blue eyes as Robin, but they were not unwary and curious like the boy’s.  Charlie’s eyes were intelligent and perceptive.  They sparkled with humour and experience, and they were extremely disarming.  Nick felt like he was being examined under a microscope.    

“It’s nice to meet you Charlie”, he smiled. 

Nick reluctantly let go of Charlie’s hand as he became aware of several parents and children gathering at the crossing.  For some reason he felt a need to extend their conversation, wanted to interact with this handsome man a little longer - but he could think of no way to do that in this current scenario.  Would Charlie even want to keep talking to him anyway? 

“Well, ah, have a great day” Nick managed to say, and went out to stop the traffic.  When he blew his whistle the gathered group of students and parents crossed the road and went into the school.  As they walked past on their way to the school gate, Nick gave Charlie and Robin a little nod. 

“See you this afternoon, Mr Nick” Charlie said with a smile and gave a small wave. 

Now that Charlie’s discerning eyes were no longer studying him, Nick found himself staring shamelessly at the way the man’s trousers hugged his legs and arse.  Nick could not remember feeling this instantly attracted to someone in years.  Almost immediately he berated himself for acting like a horny teenager.  What the hell, Nick – pull it together man! 

It wasn’t until Charlie reached the other side of the road that Nick saw the pride pin on the satchel that was slung over one of Charlie’s shoulders.  Nick sucked in a tiny gasp of air. 

He didn’t think any of the other parents or kids would have noticed anything different about his behaviour for the rest of his morning shift.  He still smiled and chatted and blew his whistle in the usual way, but the appearance of the beautiful queer man had captured his attention and ignited something inside.  He found himself wanting to know more.  

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By the time he pulled up at the school to set up for the afternoon, he had finally decided the jittery sensation he could not shake was, in fact, anticipation. It was coursing through his body, and he liked the feeling.  It was like coming alive again.  His body twisted in his car seat as he stretched his shoulders out.  Nick examined his face in the rear-view mirror, inspecting himself thoroughly for food in his teeth and errant nose and eyebrow hairs.   When was the last time he had looked at himself critically like this?  Caring about how he might look to another person?  He shook his head with a smile.  It was Charlie.  Charlie had awoken something in him that he didn’t know he was missing.  Somehow, he had let this part of his life go.  Or perhaps, lapse was more accurate.  He wondered when he had stopped thinking about the sensual parts of himself - when had he stopped feeling that those parts deserved to be nurtured too?

When his family was young it had definitely surprised him how tiring working, parenting and adulting was.  On top of the exhaustion, from the moment the kids were born he had carried a layer of anxiety.  It wasn’t a debilitating type of anxiety - it didn’t prevent him from living his life.  It was more like a small bundle of fear he carried around with him whenever his family was not near him.  His worry for their safety was ever present - just under the surface.  Even when his kids were young adults out late at night, he would lie in bed awake, only drifting off when he heard the door – signalling they were home.  Safe. 

His children had been his responsibility, his purpose and his priority.  Enveloping them with every ounce of his love and affection had felt like the only fitting way to ensure they felt as safe and secure as his own mum had made him feel.  And now he was a Grand Papa.  Staring in the mirror, perhaps for the first time since he retired, Nick realised he had some emotional energy to spare and, just maybe, it was time to the think about doing something for himself.

__________________ 

Afterwards he wondered if it was this new realisation that was responsible for the brazen flirting he engaged in that afternoon.  He would never have believed he would even remember how to woo somebody – but there was really no other way to describe his conversation with Charlie as anything but flirty.

Charlie had come back up to the school to collect Robin with around half an hour to spare.  Nick had not even put the flags out yet.  Much like his grandson, Charlie made it his first point of business to crouch down and spoil Teddy with some scratches.  The intervening 6 hours had done nothing to dampen Nick’s attraction. 

“Hi” Nick said

“Hi” said Charlie, standing up.

Nick realised that until that point Charlie had only seen him in his uniform – and now, without the bulky high-vis jacket, he was seeing his body for the first time – a body that had never failed him so far.  He had kept up the gym for his whole life and the layer of muscle that had developed during his rugby days had remained firm and strong for the past 40 years.  Clearly his jeans and t-shirt were doing a lot to demonstrate this to Charlie now.  When Charlie finally looked up at his face again, Nick quirked an eyebrow.

“Oh fuck” Charlie said flustered to be caught “Shit, I shouldn’t swear here – fuck I did it again.  Damn – sorry Nick, I’m sorry, shit…..”   

“It’s okay Charlie” Nick took pity on him and interrupted what was fast becoming a babble of unintentional swear words.  “It’s hard isn’t it – when you finally get used to being able to swear in front of your kids and then you have to restrain yourself again around your grandchildren!”

“Right!” Charlie began, “So…..you have grandchildren too?”

“Yep, five” replied Nick.

Without planning it, both men asked at exactly the same time:

“Are you….?”

“Actually, I was wondering if you were…?”

They looked at each other a little sheepishly, but again answered simultaneously:

“I’m divorced”

“I’m widowed”

This time the look they shared was braver, and more hopeful.  There was a lot more confidence and intent in their voices when they spoke together for the last time:

“I’m single”

“I’m single”

Charlie laughed “I’m tempted to say ‘jinx’”

Nick, who could think of no other reason why they had just disclosed their availability to each other, hoped that might mean the attraction was mutual.  He decided to brave something more suggestive.

“Ah, so it’s been a long time since I was in the game, but it felt like you may have been checking me out a little just earlier.  Did I misread that?” He wanted to send Charlie a message that he was interested - but also to say something Charlie could retreat from gracefully if needed.  He need not have bothered.  Charlie did not make a graceful retreat – in fact his response was decidedly ungraceful, but adorable all the same.  He appeared to be completely floored – his mouth was gaping open and closed – obviously trying, and failing to respond to Nick’s question. 

The little bubble they were lost in was burst by other parents arriving to pick up their children.  Like a teenager caught in a compromising position, Nick hastily and somewhat awkwardly put his uniform on and set the flags up.  Between his face and his stop sign he felt like his face was probably the redder of the two.  He stopped the traffic to send them across and belatedly replied to all their greetings.

Realising he only had a few moments left with Charlie before the school bell went, he asked him quietly.  “Are you busy tomorrow after you drop off Robin?”

“No” Charlie said quickly “My whole day is free”

“Would you maybe be interested in getting a coffee or some lunch then?” Nick asked shyly, doing a quick calculation and realising the last time he had asked someone out was over 45 years ago. 

Perhaps Charlie was in the same situation, since he asked with a quizzical look on his face “Um, can I just ask, do you mean like a friendly catch-up or like, a date?  Both sound great - but I think I would like to know which one it is”

“Been a long time for you too?” asked Nick, with a smirk on his face.

“Long enough that if you say ‘date’ right now I am going to have to go home and take a good long look at my wardrobe options” Charlie laughed, “and probably put ‘things to talk about on a first date’ into a search engine”

Nick inwardly thanked Charlie for being much smarter than he was.  If Charlie hadn’t mentioned looking things up online, Nick might have sat home all night guessing the answers to the approximate 6 million new questions that had arrived unbidden in his brain.  Was it outmoded to pay for your date’s food?  Should he tell his kids he was going on a date?  How much body hair was too much?  How long did you wait before you kissed someone?  What about with tongue?  Did he even remember how to kiss?  Would his back still be strong enough to hold someone up against a wall?  Would his back still be strong enough to hold someone at all?  What if he needed to use Viagra?  God, had dating always been this stressful?  Telling himself sternly to not get ahead of himself, Nick realised he hadn’t actually responded to Charlie’s question.  Despite his new dating anxieties, he realised the one thing he knew definitively was that he did want their meet-up to be a date. 

“I would really like to take you out on a date, Charlie.  I will most likely say or do something embarrassing on said date – but I would really like to get to know you better”

Charlie’s face lit up with a big smile that showed the most amazing dimples in his cheeks and deep laugh lines around his eyes.  It occurred to Nick that he had a sudden desire to be the person to make Charlie smile like that all the time.   

“Great” Charlie replied confidently “That’s really great – I was really hoping you would say that”. 

They were startled by the sound of the school bell and they both suddenly remembered they were there for a purpose.  With a quick goodbye smile, Nick stopped the traffic so Charlie could go and pick up his grandson. 

10 minutes later Charlie and Robin re-appeared at the crossing, joining the rest of the children and parents waiting for a more exciting part of their day to begin.  They were swinging their arms together while Robin recounted some tale from his day.  When Nick was in the centre of the crossing and had given the signal, the two of them crossed with the rest of the large group.  When Charlie walked past Nick he looked back over his shoulder and gave him a subtle wink.  The crossing supervisor’s whistle fell out of Nick’s mouth.  Charlie noticed and snickered.

So, thought Nick, Charlie is a cheeky one.  His imagination played him a scene of the two of them teasing each other with playful banter.  In his mind the scene began in a café – but it didn’t take long for the location to change to Nick’s couch – and include playful banter AND running his fingers through Charlie’s hair.  From there it was just a small leap for him to imagine them in Nick’s bed – playful banter AND him putting his cock in Charlie’s mouth.   It was like the floodgates of Nick’s sex drive, dammed up for so long, had suddenly been flung open.  What had happened to him since he woke up this morning?  How had he gone from a homely Grand papa deliberating between plum or strawberry jam for his toast, to picturing himself in compromising positions with someone he had only met hours before? 

Honestly, he didn’t know.  What he knew was how to be a solid, stable pillar for the people in his life to lean on.  What he felt in this current moment, with a strength of conviction almost unrecognisable to him, was that meeting Charlie was going to be like a second awakening for him.  A second chance even.  A catalyst that would reinvigorate his body, shake him out of his routine and reignite a spark in his soul.  God he was looking forward to that.    

He looked over to where Charlie and Robin had stopped to say goodbye to Teddy before heading home.  Nick noticed the way Teddy was leaning with all his weight against Charlie’s legs while getting an ear scratch.  Teddy clearly liked Charlie too.   Charlie looked up and caught Nick staring at him.  He grinned widely and the dimples reappeared.

Several days later in Spain…….

Jo Spring, currently sat by the pool sipping a mojito, took the opportunity to check in with the family.  They sent a message to their Dad and attached a couple of pictures of a spider they had seen that Robin would enjoy looking at. 

Just before they put the phone away, they noticed that the school parents What’s App group had been blowing up.

“Does anyone know if Mr Nick at the crossing is single?”

“Why? Pretty sure you are a bit young for him! Lol”

“Just wondering – there has been a very handsome silver fox at the crossing every day this week – they kind of looked like they were together.  Is that his partner?”

“I asked him recently if he had a partner and he said ‘no’”

“I SAW THEM TOO! MAYBE THIS IS A NEW PARTNER?  THERE WAS A LOT OF HEARTEYES”

“I’ve seen them arrive in the same car together a few times before afternoon pick-up”

“Jealous, frankly, they both look pretty fit”

“What the hell, Imogen!! (They did look pretty cute together, ngl)”

“It’s pretty rude to speculate about people’s relationships! Please keep personal comments like that out of the group chat!  Thanks”

“True - sorry – but it makes you believe in romance, doesn’t it?”

Jo gulped the rest of the cocktail and signalled to the waiter to bring another.

Before putting the phone away, they shot off one last text.

“So Dad....the lollipop man? Well done, then”