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“Dad, please? Pretty please? I’ll hide it in my schoolbag, nobody will notice,” Clémence all but purrs, her voice so sweet it’s practically dripping with honey.
Charlie briefly closes his eyes to hide his eye-roll in front of his daughter and rolls in his lips to keep his smile from growing. The fact that she has Nick’s warm amber eyes which can smoothly morph into pleading puppy-dog-eyes whenever needed definitely doesn’t help his case of being a stern parent. But he should keep his daughter from taking her self-made unicorn with her. He knows how much she loves it - it took her several visits to her aunts Tara and Darcy to sew her adorably slipstiched rainbow-coloured soft-toy.
Sensing his hesitation that clearly isn’t a straightforward no, she keeps going.
“Dad, it would be soooo awesome to have it with me!” She tries again, her voice growing agitated. She’s using all her nine years of height to look up at him as convincingly as possible, her arms crossed in front of her, her left foot slightly put in front of her as if ready to fight any moment. Holding in his grin becomes harder for Charlie by the second.
“And when we crafted it, Darcy said-”
“I know Darcy said you’d be the coolest, but you know you’re not meant to take your own things into school. I-”
Charlie stops when he feels familiar arms snake around his waist from behind, holding him close to a broad, muscular chest. He immediately melts into his husband's embrace and closes his eyes.
“Ma petite, you don’t need to roll your eyes at us,” Nick says, puffs of air tickling Charlie’s neck as Nick chuckles fondly at their daughter’s antics.
“But you’re-! Eww!” Clémence loudly groans, gesturing broadly into their direction, her face pulled into a grimace that doesn’t quite hide her smile. “Please, don’t kiss,” she adds with an adorable scowl.
Charlie feels warm lips brush against his skin, leaving a trail of featherlight kisses along his hairline and even after more than 20 years of being with Nick, he’s still unable to stop his heart from beating out of his chest at the display of affection.
“Papa! I said no kisses!” Clémence shrieks furiously and Charlie has to press his lips into a thin line.
“Oh, I thought you just meant kisses on the lips,” Nick mumbles innocently into Charlie’s skin with such a treacherous tremble in his voice, Charlie almost snorts.
After a kiss against his pulse point, Charlie feels Nick straighten up behind him before asking, “What was the commotion about anyway? You’ve startled Puddle and now he’s hiding behind a cupboard. And you know, Finn wants to play with him be-”
“Yes! Papa, tell them!” Finn’s voice suddenly appears next to them in the doorway to Clémence’s room, sounding as annoyed as only a seven-year-old can muster. “You know I need my kitty-cuddles before school!”
Charlie feels one arm uncurl from his waist and looks down to where Nick is running his fingers through Finn’s dark curls in a comforting manner and suddenly, he’s overwhelmed with emotions. It’s been a chaotic morning; the New Year has just begun and with it being the first day back to school for Nick, Finn and Clémence, their routine’s still in holiday-mode. He feels so much love for his family, his chest is aching under its weight in the best of ways. He puts his hand on Nick’s still resting on Charlie’s stomach and squeezes tight, earning him another brush of lips against his neck before they watch Finn trudges off in determined pursuit of Puddle.
“My unicorn? Dads?” Clémence tries to catch their attention again and for a second too long, Charlie has trouble understanding what she means.
“Unicorn?” Nick asks and, sensing her chance, Clémence explains it with a lot of imagination and promises, puppy eyes and broad gestures and he practically feels Nick’s New Year resolution of being a stricter parent crumble under her convincing little speech.
“Didn’t Dad already say no, ma chère?” Nick says weakly and Charlie knows their daughter’s won. Affection washes over him even though Nick is already breaking their resolution on day 3 of 2032, especially when he sees the same realisation dawn on Clémence’s face.
“No, he didn’t actually say no,” she says triumphantly, “You interrupted us before he could say it.”
Already back in her room, she throws a cheerful, “Thanks, Dads!” over her shoulder and Charlie can’t help but laugh at their little menace who’s too bright for her own good and at his husband who’s still an adorable softie.
Now alone in the corridor, Charlie turns around in Nick’s embrace, looking up. He whispers, “Nick, I lov-” at the same time as Nick says, “Char, I’m so sor-”
They smile at each other, smitten meeting bashfulness.
“I didn't mean to undermine your authority. She was just so convincing and I didn’t-”
“Nick,” Charlie interrupts him, “Please, love, shut up, I was trying to confess my love to you. I’m not mad at you!”
He sees relief flash over Nick’s beautiful face which is soon replaced by a teasing smile.
“Confess your love to me? I remember quite well you doing that when I was in the shower and that was 22 years ago. It isn’t a confession if I’m already aware of it.”
Before Charlie can roll his eyes in mock-offence, Nick adds, “And you said you loved me not even an hour ago,” with such a tender smile, Charlie can’t help but return it with a searing kiss.
An argument between their children about toothpaste lets them break apart, chests heaving.
“I love you, Nick,” Charlie murmurs into their shared space, his eyes searching Nick’s. “You’re a wonderful papa, an amazing husband and my best friend. And I love our family more than anything in this world.”
Nick’s about to close the distance once more when there’s a voice - laced with an adorable mixture of exasperation and fondness - interrupting them.
“DADS, hurry it up! We’re gonna be late for school!”