Archive of Our Own

The next morning, Rebecca slipped slowly into consciousness, feeling a hand on her back and another slung around her waist, resting on her hip bone. She craned her neck and inwardly snorted—just as she suspected, Keeley was nestled against her with a small hand on her upper back. 

The bigger surprise, although not really a surprise considering Ted’s confession earlier about physical affection being important to him, was that Ted had slung an arm around Keeley’s waist, and stretched his hand out to grasp Rebecca’s hip. Her little cuddle puddle.

Slowly turning over to face Keeley and co., she accidentally made eye contact with Roy who was laying on the edge of the bed, almost as far away as he could get, but facing the middle. They both grinned at each other, almost in disbelief at what their lives had become. Rebecca tried to ignore her bladder for as long as possible, preferring to remain under the cozy covers nestled in the soft pillows. Finally, she decided to get up as Keeley blinked at her slowly, sleepily, languidly. 

Rebecca drew the covers back enough so that she could slink carefully out of the bed before hastily replacing the covers, keeping the warmth in. Keeley arched her neck up to Rebecca, her eyes widening slightly as her brain came back online and she realized what she’d done.

The other woman decided not to make a big deal out of it, licked her lips unconsciously, and leant down to drop a sweet, lingering kiss onto Keeley’s lips. Rebecca felt Ted’s eyes rake down her body—figured what the hell, she was already in it, and no one ever said she didn’t commit to a bit—and as soon as Keeley drew back, dropping her head back onto the pillows, Rebecca placed her hand on the edge of the bed, leaned over, and her lips connected with Ted’s softly, tentatively.

Ted moaned slightly, and Rebecca took that opportunity to deepen the kiss, shifting her weight on the bed. She could feel Keeley and Roy’s gazes both locked on what was happening right in front of them and a flush spread down her neck, down past the top of her sleep shirt. She drew back, other thumb coming up to smooth down Ted’s mustache as he panted softly, eyes locked on the crimson spreading down her neck.

And then, of course, Roy couldn’t be left out, could he? Fair was fair, and Rebecca shifted a knee up on the bed, awkwardly clambering on the bed instead of just walking around to Roy’s side, and he met her in the middle, crowding Ted in his haste to reach her. She sunk into the kiss, and Roy closed his eyes, almost blissful. She pulled back after too short of a kiss, placing her feet flat on the floor, feeling curiously out of her depth.

Keeley was equal parts enraptured and disappointed, and was pouting slightly, splayed out against her pillow, hand resting on Ted’s stomach. Rebecca raised an eyebrow in question and Keeley huffed.

“The boys got a longer kiss than I did—that’s simply not fair, Rebecca, I’m the one who has been crushing on you the longest,” Keeley said, all but stamping her foot under the covers. 

Rebecca bit back a grin at her adorable, fiery friend. She couldn’t believe that this was happening, that she had—multiple!—people who, well, if they didn’t love her, yet, were committed to exploring whatever the future had in store for them.

As she leant down, Keeley’s head rose from her pillow to meet Rebecca halfway in a languid, slow, searching kiss. Rebecca was assaulted with sensation as Keeley gently bit down on her bottom lip, soothing the sting with her tongue as Ted’s mouth latched onto her neck, teeth scraping, laving his tongue over the sensitive skin. Someone’s hands slid into her hair—Ted? Keeley? She couldn’t tell—and were scratching her scalp so deliciously she wanted to melt straight through the mattress.

She was startled to feel Roy’s hands on her waist—when had he gotten out of bed?—and she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end as he bent down to follow her, attacking the other side of her neck, placing an open-mouthed kiss on the crook of her neck, tracing up, up, up, to lick into the shell of her ear before he journeyed back down, teeth scraping down her neck, just on the right side of pleasure.

Rebecca’s eyes snapped open in surprise and she shivered, the sensations almost too much as Keeley cheekily slipped her tongue inside Rebecca’s mouth, warm, alive, seeking. She pulled away to breathe, resting her forehead on Keeley’s, as the mouths on either side of her neck continued to work in tandem, nipping and sucking and kissing aimless patterns that changed tack as soon as she seemed to figure out the pattern. Roy’s hands lowered to tighten on her hips as she pulled away further, almost regretfully, bladder completely forgotten until this very moment.

“Holy fuck,” Rebecca said hoarsely, in desperate need of some water and also a cold shower. 

She glared at Keeley, rolling her eyes slightly, seeming a bit dazed by the everything of it all. Keeley lounged back on her pillow, smug as a cat who got the cream.

“Good work, boys,” Keeley said cheekily, throwing out her hand to Ted for a high five. “Let’s keep it up.”

“Oh honestly!” Rebecca huffed, choosing to make a hasty retreat to the ensuite bathroom, closing the door firmly behind her. Christ.

She all but ran to the toilet with her palms pressed to her cheeks in an attempt to cool herself down. Sitting down with a sigh, she took stock of how the fuck her morning had started, biting back a hysterical giggle that bubbled out of her chest. 

Smoothing her hair back, Rebecca stared at herself in the mirror in wonderment. Her lips looked suitably kissed, slightly reddened, and her hair was in an absolute state, long, blonde locks tumbling loosely down her shoulders. 

No, what drew her attention in particular, were the faint series of (almost) matching bite marks on either side of her neck. She exhaled deeply, thankful that she didn’t have to leave the house until the end of the bank holiday weekend, which should give the marks time to fade. She glared at herself in censure, shaking her head in disbelief—what happened to taking it slow? She grinned in the mirror and shrugged her shoulders at herself. Some things just couldn’t be helped. 

After swishing some mouthwash, Rebecca adjusted her pajamas and left the relative safety of the bathroom, doing her best to not…freak out, as it were. One thing at a time. And the only thing she was focused on now was crawling back into bed and dozing until her alarm went off in an hour or so. 

She grinned as three heads whipped around to stare at the bathroom as soon as they heard the door open. Rebecca made sure to put a little extra sway into her hips as she sauntered back to the bed, and she smirked internally as she saw Keeley’s jaw drop slightly as she smacked Ted’s leg. Roy was sitting up against the headboard, his arms crossed, but his eyes shone with appreciation as his gaze raked down Rebecca’s body.

She pulled the covers back slightly and plopped back into bed, as gracefully as she could manage. Keeley immediately wrapped herself around Rebecca, a human barnacle if there ever was one, and Rebecca quickly fell back asleep, lulled by the sound of Keeley’s heartbeat against her skin.

Rebecca woke up disoriented, feeling almost uncomfortably warm, and she had a momentary panic when she realized she couldn’t move her legs. The reason she couldn’t, however, was one Ms. Keeley Jones, who had decided to unleash all of her feelings now that she could “properly” snuggle without making it awkward, as she said to Rebecca the day before.

“Babe,” Rebecca whispered, face tilting into Keeley’s hair, inhaling the lingering scent of her shampoo. 

Keeley murmured, re-positioned herself more firmly on top of Rebecca, and snuggled into her chest. Rebecca realized the bed was empty and wondered where the other two had gone. As if she could read Rebecca’s mind, Keeley mumbled something about the boys going to make breakfast, and Rebecca instantly relaxed the muscles that she hadn’t even realized were tensed.

She planted a kiss on Keeley’s head, urging the younger woman to get up, finally resorting to the (true) fact that her legs had since fallen asleep—Rebecca could feel the pins and needles feeling in her feet, and wiggled her toes, rolling her ankles under the covers, trying to get some blood flowing as Keeley hastily clambered off her.

Rebecca grabbed Keeley’s waist, and the two women laid side by side, facing one another.

“Hi,” Rebecca whispered, hand coming up to caress her best friend’s cheek.

“Hi,” Keeley said groggily, her fingers reaching out to trace the bridge of Rebecca’s nose. 

Rebecca squeezed Keeley’s waist and watched as Keeley bit her lip in anticipation. She leaned in for a chaste kiss, one hand coming up to cup Keeley’s jaw while the other splayed around her back, pulling her close.

“Sorry for the morning breath,” Keeley mumbled into Rebecca’s mouth as she scraped her teeth on Rebecca’s top lip, worrying it slightly before letting it go with an audible pop. 

Rebecca smiled into the kiss, pushing Keeley into the mattress as she flipped on top of her and watched as all the breath seemed to leave Keeley’s body at once. She ground her hips into Keeley’s slightly, relishing in the way the other woman’s hips jolted as of their own accord.

“Don’t worry about it, darling,” Rebecca said in between kisses, peppering Keeley’s face with them, lingering pecks down her jaw line, down her neck, and then back up to her cheeks.

“It’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

A squirming Keeley stilled under her hands, and Rebecca stopped moving, eyeing Keeley with some trepidation. Fuck. What if she had already fucked this up? 

Rebecca observed Keeley as the younger woman bit her lip, nerves evident, and she raised one hand off the mattress to tuck a strand of hair behind Keeley’s ear, palm coming down to cradle her face, managing to balance precariously on one elbow so she didn’t put all of her weight on the woman beneath her. She raised her eyebrows slightly, delighting in the flush that erupted on Keeley’s skin as she stared up at the ceiling, avoiding Rebecca’s eyesight. 

“What is it, sweetheart?” Rebecca whispered, head dipping down to Keeley’s ear. She pulled back to watch her friend’s—her soulmate’s—face.

“We haven’t experienced morning breath like this, though, have we?” Keeley whispered, gesturing at the almost no space between the women’s bodies. Rebecca softened, humming in reply.

“No we haven’t, you’re right,” Rebecca said quietly, eyes tracing the tiny freckles on Keeley’s collarbone. She placed a small kiss on the tip of Keeley’s nose and then grinned down at her.

“Want to go see what the boys are up to? I don’t know about you, but I’m ravenous—for food, mind you, cheeky monkey,” Rebecca said, eyes crinkling with laughter as she reluctantly got out of bed, offering a hand to Keeley to help her up.

If Rebecca happened to use that small bit of time to trail her fingers around Keeley’s bare waist where her shirt had ridden up during the night, then that was between her and no one else. Keeley barely hid her grin as they sauntered downstairs, hand in hand, following the smell of pancakes and bacon.

Rebecca could get used to this.

Breakfast was surprisingly not as awkward as Rebecca would have thought—the dreaded morning after, as it were. Rebecca and Keeley entered the kitchen hand in hand and Roy’s eyes lit up minutely as he began plying them with cups of tea as they sat at the island. The women grinned at each other. 

Ted was on the other side of the kitchen, an apron looped around his neck, and Rebecca narrowed her eyes in confusion. She honestly didn’t think she owned any aprons—she wondered where Ted had found it or if he had brought his own. He turned around, first stack of pancakes in hand, and Keeley clutched Rebecca’s wrist, startling the other woman.

Pesky tendril hanging over his forehead, Ted was wearing a light-colored apron with a child’s (Henry) handprints all over it, spelling out the words “CHEF DAD.” He grinned as he laid eyes on them, and Rebecca felt Keeley clutch her tighter as Rebecca squeezed her thighs together. Fuck. Might be one of the hottest things she’s ever seen.

“Ted,” Keeley said hesitantly. “With all due respect, and ignoring our decision to go slow here, you in that apron is one of the hottest things I have ever seen in my life and maybe one day…you can wear the apron and…just the apron.”

Rebecca snorted at Keeley’s “slow” comment considering her tongue had been inside Keeley’s mouth not even fifteen minutes ago, but privately she agreed with Keeley’s assessment and from the look in Roy’s eye, followed by the grimace as he shifted on the bar stool, she knew Roy agreed with them.

Ted flushed bright red, crimson stretching down the top of his shirt, and saluted the women cheekily before placing the pancakes on the island and bustling over to the refrigerator for the maple syrup and cut-up fruit he had prepped that morning. 

Roy refilled Ted’s coffee cup with a grumble, grabbing for the milk and sugar to make it basically a not-coffee drink, and Rebecca eyed it in disgust. Ted chuckled when he saw her expression and made a big deal of humming around his first sip of the warm beverage.

They all tucked into a hearty breakfast, the kitchen falling silent except for the scrape of cutlery across plates. Rebecca poured herself another cup of tea, sighing at the first, perfect sip. Ted eyed her thoughtfully, maybe warily, and she was confused.

“Do I have something on my face?” 

She swiped at her cheeks, not finding anything. Ted chuckled a little.

“Nah, I was just making a mental note of your tea situation—third cup, right? Do you usually drink three cups of tea in the morning?”

She knew there wasn’t any judgment or censure in his voice, but Rebecca set her mug down with a clatter, body freezing against her will, remnants of old relationships coming back to haunt her. She swallowed hard and spread her hands on the cool countertop, fingers tracing the intricate marble veining.

“Rebecca?”

She startled, head popping up to gaze at Ted. Keeley brought a hand up to rest on top of hers on the island, silently worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Sorry—what?”

Ted looked stricken, and Roy looked murderous—not at Ted—and a glimmer of understanding showed in the other man’s eyes. Rebecca almost couldn’t bear it—she was sure that Ted had read the tabloids along with practically everyone else in England.

“Honey, I wasn’t…finish your tea if you want,” Ted said tentatively, fingers drumming on the countertop. “D’you want me to warm it up for you?”

Rebecca silently passed him the already hot-to-the-touch mug, and Ted turned around to the microwave, pressing a few buttons, nuking it for 5 seconds just because.

She made a big show of taking the first sip as Ted anxiously watched—perfect. The oven beeped and Ted flinched, the oven completely forgotten. He pulled out a fresh batch of shortbread and Rebecca’s breath caught in her throat.

“How did you—Ted!” Rebecca exclaimed, glancing between Ted and Roy, and then back to Keeley. 

“Fuck, how long did we sleep for? What time is it? Wait…how did you boys get around the proximity requirement? We didn’t feel our tattoos sting at all, did we, Keels?”

Keeley nodded along, and Ted chuckled, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck, tattoo suddenly visible when the fabric of his sleeve shifted.

“Eh, I’ve been up for a while,” Ted said, almost nervously. “I was just lying quietly, after y’all went to sleep the second time, but then Roy and I decided to get a jump on the day.”

“Through some…trial and error,” Ted said, smirking at Roy’s mumbled swears under his breath. “We figured out that we had about a 30 minute buffer, and then our skin started to get a lil itchy, so we took turns in the kitchen and the other one of us crept upstairs to sit on the top step right by your bedroom door, for the rest of it.”

Rebecca’s eyebrow raised slightly. That would explain the precariously perched pillow on the top of the stairs—she had wondered why that was there. She shook her head softly, too busy thinking. She knew that (a substantial) breakfast had been made for her, but was still feeling discombobulated for some reason.

“Wait, did I have all this food here?”

Ted shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, rifling through a drawer to get a knife to cut the biscuits when they’d cooled down.

“You had some of it,” Ted explained, getting distracted by some fancy gadget in Rebecca’s kitchen drawer that he was making a mental note to come back to later. 

“Roy did a Waitrose order for the rest of it.”

Rebecca sipped her tea slowly, relishing in the warmth feeling like it was spreading down to the very tips of her toes. She felt a hand on her wrist. Keeley.

“Hi, babe.”

“Darling,” Rebecca replied, flipping her free hand over, palm-side up so that Keeley could hold it if she wished. 

The casual intimacy between Rebecca and Keeley had always been there from the very beginning of their friendship, but it was beginning to blossom and grow and thrive in different ways now that the soulmate bond had been revealed. The casualness and also the very much not casualness just floored Rebecca, completely mentally flattening her in the last 24 hours or so.

She felt a small hand slide into hers, giving a tentative squeeze, and Rebecca narrowed her eyes, gaze coming up to lock on the other woman’s face.

“What’s up, buttercup?”

Rebecca could hear Ted snort under his breath from across the island, and from the corner of her eye, she saw Roy bite back a grin. Keeley bit her lip, pursing them slightly like she wanted to ask something but wasn’t sure…

“Oh for God’s sake, Keeley, just tell me,” Rebecca said, clutching their hands to her chest. “Or ask me, or whatever.”

“It’s only, I’ve never—you’ve always, uh,” Keeley stammered, and Rebecca waited patiently for Keeley to gather her courage, and then…

“Can I try one of your biscuits?”

Rebecca burst out laughing, part filled with sheer joy, and the other part sheer fucking relief that it wasn’t a question™. 

After a leisurely breakfast, they moved as a unit into the living room and Roy, Ted, and Keeley settled on the sofa while Rebecca ran around with a watering can—it was shaped like a cactus, Keeley had given it to her as a joke for her birthday one year—in a desperate attempt to keep her plants alive. It was still fairly early in the morning, just after half nine, and they had the rest of the day, and weekend, to do whatever the fuck they wanted. 

What Rebecca really wanted was a hot shower, maybe a nice bath, honestly, but she didn’t want to have to ask everyone to have to troop upstairs just so she could use her fancy wet room. The downstairs guest bathroom would suffice, she supposed.

“Right,” Rebecca said, hovering awkwardly in the living room, watering can in hand (she meant to put it down in the foyer and had forgotten). 

“I’m going to shower downstairs if anyone needs anything, but in the meantime, make yourselves at home, Keeley, you know where everything is, so…”

Rebecca went to turn around and was stopped by Keeley’s voice.

“Wait, babe, why are you showering downstairs when you have that spa-like experience waiting for you upstairs?”

Rebecca grimaced in reply, shrugging a shoulder.

“It’s alright, darling, I’ll just be a moment.”

Keeley groaned, gently slapping her hand on her forehead.

“Aw shit, babe, sorry, I forgot about the—” Keeley gestured to Ted’s tattoo, being the most visible of the four. 

“”S alright,” Rebecca said, a little laugh in her voice. “Won’t kill me to slum it in the downstairs shower, will it? I wasn’t going to ask you all to come upstairs just so I can shower in my bathroom when there’s a perfectly usable one on this floor.”

The remaining trio exchanged a glance and all hopped up off the sofa, with Roy moving a little slower because he had done his exercises this morning and his knee was always a little stiff before 10am. Rebecca rolled her eyes, matching Keeley’s grin, and led the way upstairs.

Keeley grabbed the TV remote from the nightstand drawer and flopped in the middle of the bed, pulling a fuzzy blanket up nearly to her chest. She patted the sides next to her, gesturing for the boys to come for a cuddle.

Ted looked confused, and Rebecca inwardly snorted as his eyes flitted around the room, looking for a television screen. Keeley clicked a button on the side of the remote, and the giant gold-framed painting that was on the wall opposite began to move, the “painting” disappearing seamlessly into the frame as the screen became visible.

“Holy—what in the heck, Rebecca?”

Ted was gobsmacked by the television screen that was apparently hidden in this not-painting. She grinned, winking at him as he settled on the bed next to Keeley, mouth still slightly open. 

Before Rebecca grabbed an extra couple of blankets for her cozy crew, she reached for a pillow, stacking it under Roy’s outstretched knee, earning her a lingering kiss to her palm that she pretended didn’t affect her in the way that it did.

“I’ll try and be quick,” Rebecca said apologetically, and Keeley waved her off. 

“Please, babe, take your time, we’re just going to be all cozy,” the younger woman said brightly, adjusting her back against the headboard. 

“Maybe we’ll watch a movie, or Royo and I can finally introduce Ted to the glories of Taskmaster. Go take a bath if you want, I know you still have some of those bath bombs that I bought you for your birthday last year.”

Rebecca nodded shortly and stepped into the bathroom, beelining for her wet room on one side of the room, containing a glorious shower and her massive clawfoot bathtub—the latter was custom-made so she could fit all of her nearly 6-foot frame into it.

She decided to take Keeley’s advice and create an experience for herself, turning the tap on as she wandered around the room, collecting various things she would need. She put on a clay face mask, dropped a lavender bath bomb into the now-steaming tub, and dimmed the lights so that they were barely illuminating the room.

Rebecca sunk into the bath with a sigh, feeling the hot water all but seep into her bones, the ever-present tension slowly, steadily, leaching away. She laid back, resting her head against the head of the tub, reveling in the new bath pillow that Keeley had insisted she buy. How gloriously lovely—as long as she didn’t fall asleep, that is. 

Stifling a yawn, Rebecca relished in the quiet, calm oasis she had created for herself, wiggling her toes under the water, languidly stretching her legs out to touch the end of the tub. She would have stayed in there all day, but Rebecca did hate it when her skin began to prune from the water—she found the texture of her skin absolutely abhorrent to her, akin to nails on a chalkboard or something, so she got out relatively quickly.

Stepping carefully out of the bath as soon as the water had ceased to be pleasantly hot, moving into lukewarm territory, Rebecca quickly showered, washed off her face mask, and re-conditioned her hair, sighing contentedly. Intent on digging through her closet, she didn’t even think when she stepped out of the bathroom, wet hair twisted up and held with a clip, her torso wrapped in a small towel that barely grazed the tops of her thighs. 

“Oh—fuck!” She yelped, all but running back into the bathroom and slamming the door shut. 

The back of her head dropped to the door with a thud as she clutched her towel around her, glancing wildly around the room as if something in her bathroom would save her from the awkwardness and embarrassment that coursed through her veins. After a moment to collect herself, Rebecca cracked the door slightly, just enough to profusely apologize for forgetting she wasn’t alone in her room. 

The silence was deafening. 

She hastily grabbed another—longer—towel out of the linen closet, wrapped it around herself, and re-entered the bedroom sheepishly, making sure all of her bits were more covered than they had been previously. She twisted her hands nervously in front of her, not daring to look up at the trio situated on her king-sized bed. 

“Babe,” Keeley said reassuringly, and Rebecca looked up from the floor, bolstered by Keeley’s voice. Ted tapped Keeley’s leg under the blanket and she fell silent. 

“R’becca,” Ted said, voice a bit gravely. 

“I think I speak for all three of us, here, when I say we don’t mind one bit, darlin’,” he said appreciatively, with a measure of respect that she was grateful for as his eyes raked up her body. 

“Whatever you’re comfortable with, I think we’re all on board, with, right, gang?”

Keeley and Roy vigorously nodded in unison. 

A strangled noise came from Rebecca’s throat as she processed the last two minutes of her life, and her face flushed with a mix of embarrassment and arousal that she was adamantly ignoring for the time being.

“O—okay,” Rebecca stammered as she felt three sets of curious and appreciative and not at all judgmental eyes rake down her body. 

For some reason, she couldn’t bear to look at any of them, and swiftly entered her walk-in closet. Disappearing from view just long enough to grab a truly random selection of cozy clothes, and hide her comfiest bra underneath the blush pink cashmere sweater, Rebecca averted her eyes and hightailed it back to the relative safety of the bathroom.

All but collapsing with a thunk against the door, her head dropping to the smooth wood behind her, Rebecca blew out a breath. 

“Okay, that’s enough of that,” she muttered under her breath, hurrying to dress and slip on a fresh pair of cozy socks.

She stared at herself in the mirror, debating what to do with her hair before just releasing her wet locks from the hair clip and roughly toweling her hair semi-dry. Rebecca ran a comb through her hair and secured it back in her trusty hair clip. It would have to do, for now. She didn’t have the patience to dry it.

Rebecca distractedly slapped on some tinted moisturizer, carefully working the cream into her neck, up along her cheekbones, and across her forehead. Rummaging in a drawer, she grinned in triumph as she found one of her favorite lip balms—partial to this particular brand, Rebecca bought several at once and stashed them all over the house, various purses, her office, and so on. 

She knew that the three of them, unfortunately, had seen her makeup-less just a few minutes ago, but she wasn’t ready to parade bare-faced in front of them on purpose just yet. Ignoring the little voice in her head that was reminding her that she had been bare-faced in bed and that had been just fine, she made quick work of swiping the lip balm on, making sure to get the corners of her mouth that always seemed to dry out after a shower.

Out of ideas or plans or anything, really, that would keep her in the bathroom for much longer, she stared at herself in the mirror and gave herself a little mental pep talk. Rebecca re-emerged into the main bedroom where she huffed, a gentle smile unfurling almost immediately at the sight before her. She hadn’t even been in the bathroom that long, she thought.

The television volume was barely audible, and her three soulmates—still so weird—were snuggled together in bed, dozing quietly, curled into one another like an adorable pack of puppies. She stifled her own yawn, remembering in her cursory soulmate tattoo research that the proximity requirement was accompanied by low-level exhaustion as the tattoo settled beneath the skin. Lovely. Rebecca slipped under the covers closest to her, nestled up to Ted’s back, and was asleep almost instantly.

As was starting to become a pattern, the next time that Rebecca woke up that morning, she found herself unable to move, trapped by wayward limbs and a snuggling Keeley who had her arms wrapped around Rebecca’s middle. She snorted softly, eyes closing briefly, pained by the thought of her past touch-starved self. It seemed like a different person, a different life entirely. 

She felt eyes on her and turned her head to the other side of the bed to see a wide-awake Roy nestled behind Ted, albeit not touching—yet. He grinned hesitantly at Rebecca, and Rebecca threw him a cheeky wink, feeling honored at the flicker of vulnerability that crossed his face. Ted and Keeley were in the middle, snoring softly, and Rebecca frowned at the tiredness that still weighed down her very bones.

Roy hummed and Rebecca’s eyes flicked back to the bearded man on the other side of the bed. He waved his phone in his hand. 

“Can’t sleep, been readin’ about it while these two are rattling the windows with their snoring, apparently the first 48-72 hours are the most intense,” Roy said, squinting at his phone screen. “You’ve got the proximity requirement, heightened sensation and hunger—good thing Ted can cook for us—and crippling exhaustion as the tattoo bond settles. They recommend you stay put for that time, take it easy, no operating heavy machinery and the like.”

Rebecca sighed, sinking back down into the pillows the best she could without dislodging her incredibly tactile people.

“Time’s it?” Rebecca mumbled through a mouthful of Keeley hair—the other woman had picked that moment to turn her head, nuzzling into Rebecca’s chest.

“Time for you to get a watch, Blondie,” Roy smirked as Rebecca kicked her foot under the covers in fond annoyance. She glared at him playfully. 

“It’s half 12,” Roy said, a hint of wonder threading through his voice. “Haven’t gotten this much sleep in decades.”

She murmured in response, not sleepy in the slightest, but content to remain cozy a while longer. Before too long, the other two started to stir, and everyone was sleepily awake. Keeley decided she wanted to follow Rebecca’s lead and enjoy a decadent bath, and Ted and Roy followed suit. It was decided that Ted would use the shower first, followed by Keeley luxuriating in the bath. Roy chose to meander over to the upstairs guest bathroom, wanting some space, but not too much. 

After a quick shower, a towel-clad Ted bashfully ducked out, grabbing his bag and his phone on the way, and disappeared into the adjacent guest room. They had all silently agreed to have a little space and time alone to recharge, while still staying relatively close due to the pesky proximity requirement. Rebecca stood alone in her empty bedroom—but it didn’t feel so empty anymore with Roy’s orthopedic pillow strewn on the side of the bed, Keeley’s lip balm on the top of the dresser, Ted’s ever-present little green soldier on her nightstand.

She remade her bed the way she liked it, fluffing up the decorative yet functional pillows that Rupert had always hated. During her marriage, she had stubbornly clung onto her bedroom throw pillows as a way of asserting some control in her wildly unbalanced marriage. Rupert just used it as an excuse to stray more often, usually sleeping in the downstairs guest room, knowing that Rebecca would wait up for him, falling asleep alone most nights.

Breathing out slowly, Rebecca grabbed the thermos and settled in an armchair by the window, enjoying the soft light that spilled in through the filmy curtains. Maybe this recharging time was necessary, indeed. Keeley and Rebecca had talked about it separately, about how Rebecca was feeling slightly unmoored with going from being physically alone in her house to having three other people just there all the time. To Rebecca’s dismay, Keeley was going to make them all talk about it later on that day.

“Babe, communication is important,” Keeley said seriously, as she slathered on Rebecca’s fancy night cream the night before. “I don’t want to fuck this up, not if I can help it. I know it makes you itchy, but we gotta, alright?”

In the midst of drying her face, Rebecca groaned into the hand towel, but grudgingly acquiesced. She knew that it was the right thing to do, that she should verbalize her feelings and not let them fester. Her therapist would be so proud, and she wrinkled her brow at the thought.

So for now, Rebecca sat in her cozy armchair and did her best to not spiral, to keep her usually-impenetrable walls at knee-height so the others wouldn’t have as hard of a time, figuratively speaking. Rebecca and Keeley had been (best) friends for years, and the younger woman knew there were some fences she had left to scale, but that Rebecca was working on it the best she could.

Ted had brought that up once, when they were all gathered in the living room, and he had said that he knew from the start that Rebecca had some fences built around her heart, but that he had decided to just hop over them. She remembered that she had been secretly delighted that all of her didn’t seem to faze Ted in the least.

The polycule was a very new thing, and they had decided to do some hard work of talking about feelings and past relationships before jumping into any other relationship aspect. They had all unofficially moved into Rebecca’s house—at first, because of necessity with the proximity requirement. When that faded finally, to everyone’s quiet relief, Keeley had conducted a poll, nestled in an armchair in the living room like it was a throne or something. 

“We don’t have to live together, you know, it's a lot happening in quite a short amount of time, but I figure we should at least talk about it,” Keeley said primly, flipping through her glittery notebook with relish. 

Ted cracked a joke about warp speed, but Rebecca noticed that his leg was going a mile a minute, knee bouncing up and down with ill-concealed anxiety. She was surprised when Roy, of the pair of them within reach, was the one to place a solid, steady hand on Ted’s knee, squeezing gently as Ted’s ears turned red with embarrassment. On the other side of the mustached man, Rebecca slid closer, dropping her head to rest on Ted’s shoulder while she snaked her arm around his back, connecting with Roy on Ted’s other side.

Keeley grinned to herself, turning to her notebook as to not draw too much attention to the fact that Roy and Rebecca were clearly letting themselves be more affectionate, like they’d been holding back from the beginning and now, all bets were off, so to speak.

“I think we should keep all of our current places, but maybe we make Rebecca’s house our main base, if you will?” Keeley said slowly, eyes flickering to the three faces on the sofa opposite her.

“You just want me for my massive bed,” Rebecca smirked as Keeley winked at her. 

“Certainly a plus of living here, Rebecca, and you know it—that bed is absolutely lush,” Keeley retorted, scribbling something in her notebook before her gaze snapped up to eye Rebecca mischievously. 

“Oi—my eyes are up here, Keeley Marie Jones,” Rebecca joked, happy to fill the room with banter and give Ted a bit of a break from feeling like he had to constantly perform and lighten the mood. The recent more overt flirting had been a welcome change of pace, and honestly, some of the most fun that Rebecca had had in years.

Moving her arm down from the back of the couch, Rebecca snuggled into Ted’s side, bringing her legs up beside his, stretched out on the nearby ottoman. Ted’s arm came around Rebecca’s shoulder, pulling her close, and his other hand slotted neatly on top of Roy’s, still placed on his now-still leg. 

Rebecca saw Keeley pout briefly and snorted out loud at her girl’s antics. 

“Keeley, darling, will you get on with this impromptu meeting that you’ve called? The sooner we’re done, the sooner we can kick back and relax,” Rebecca said, voice slightly muffled in Ted’s shirt as she turned her head into his chest.

“Right, so, living arrangements, check,” Keeley said, glancing down at her notebook once more. “All those in favor of moving in with our Amazonian blonde bombshell?”

Rebecca rolled her eyes as Roy smothered a laugh with a fake-cough.

“Yes, yes, we’ve decided that, it seems,” Rebecca said, careful to keep the irritation out of her voice. She really was excited to have a full house, but was secretly mourning the loss of her sanctuary. Something to discuss with her therapist at her weekly appointment in a few days’ time. Rebecca’s eyebrow raised, and Ted glanced at her, noticing the minute movement.

“Got somethin’ you wanna share with the class, boss?”

All gazes swiveled curiously to Rebecca, and she felt a flush rise on her face. Clearing her throat slightly, she sat upright, and Ted’s hand retreated back into his lap before she impulsively grabbed it, clutching his hand as if it would steady her. 

“I…well,” she cleared her throat again, feeling the steady squeeze of Ted’s hand, and seeing the kind curiosity in the faces of Roy and Keeley. 

“If no one objects, I think we should add therapy to the list,” Rebecca said quickly before she lost her nerve. “Both individual, and group therapy, I think.”

“It could only help,” Keeley hummed in agreement. Both Roy and Ted looked less than thrilled at the prospect, but they grudgingly agreed that “talking about this shit” (Roy) would benefit them all. 

Rebecca had reached out to a very discreet therapist that she saw shortly after her marriage to Rupert imploded. To her amazement, Rebecca had continued to see her weekly, perpetually surprised at the results and how much she was learning about her middle-aged self in these sessions. 

After some discussion, Carlotta Kelly—a no-nonsense Italian who had fallen in love with an Irishman after moving to London for some of her training—had agreed to make some house calls for double her usual fee. 

They had thought it would have been less conspicuous to have Carlotta come to Rebecca’s house rather than all four of them show up to a therapist’s office. Goddamn press would have a field day. So they were working on themselves, together, and separately. Keeley had elected to see Dr. Kelly privately and in their group sessions, while Rebecca would continue with the same.

Dr. Kelly had recommended a sports psychologist for the club that she had known since uni, Dr. Sharon Fieldstone, and Rebecca had brought the woman in for an interview, been pleasantly surprised by the woman’s no-nonsense approach and overall demeanor, and had hired her on the spot. Roy and Ted, for convenience sake more than anything else, had chosen to see Dr. Fieldstone because they could easily access their appointments when she was set up at Nelson Road. 

Keeley and Beard had managed to convince Roy and Ted, respectively, by appealing to their positions within the club and the example they would set for the players and other AFC Richmond staff. Dr. Fieldstone began holding office hours for any of the club’s players and support staff, and had quickly filled her schedule with weekly and bi-weekly appointments.

After a few weeks of therapy, settling in, and kicking off the football season, things came to a head in the most unexpected of ways. Keeley was working in the stands that day, needing a change of scenery before deciding to bundle up and work outside for the afternoon. Mid-email, she suddenly winced, and it threw her for a loop since the proximity requirement had long since been satisfied. Her eyes narrowed onto the pitch, catching Ted rubbing his wrist methodically. He glanced her way, and they both shrugged their shoulders. 

Coach Beard called the players in for a word about the set piece they were working on, nudging Ted next to him. Ted snapped out of it, and called Roy aside for some important captain business. He didn’t care if anyone believed him. 

The boys had known about the soul bond a month or so after it had initially happened as Rebecca called a meeting in the locker room to address the situation, any issues of favoritism that might pop up, and to answer any questions if needed. No one had any, although Jamie did sneak a cheeky note in the suggestion box about the idea being mad fit and hot as hell and respectfully thanked them for adding to his fantasies (respectfully).

Roy led the way up to Rebecca’s office, stopping the group in their tracks as AFC Richmond’s former owner, Rupert Mannion, exited the stairs and left the sporting complex. He didn’t see them, but Ted and Keeley were secretly touched that Roy had done the “parent” thing and put his arm out wide in front of them, as if they were driving and needed additional protection in the passenger seat. 

All three tattoos flared again, causing them to wince slightly—whatever this was wasn’t good. Roy swore under his breath and hustled up the stairs as quickly as he could, Ted and Keeley hot on his heels. The group stilled as they reached the landing, and Ted took it upon himself to gently knock on Rebecca’s closed door when it looked like neither Roy nor Keeley were about to.

Silence. 

Ted knocked again, louder this time, almost relishing in hearing his knuckles crack against the door frame.

“Higgins, I’m in a meeting, come back later,” Rebecca replied faintly, and they could hear the emotion and the anger in her voice. Oh fuck.

“R’becca,” Ted said, mouth pressed against the door as Roy and Keeley waited behind him with baited breath. 

“It’s just us, darlin,’” Ted said hesitantly, and Keeley prodded his back, silently urging him on. “Is—is everything alright? Our tattoos are stingin’ something awful, so we just wanted to mosey up on here and check and see if you’re okay.”

They heard a sniff, a sigh, a muffled swear, before the door creaked open slightly. With some trepidation and a whole lot of concern, the trio entered, eyes searching for Rebecca in the sun-drenched office. Roy gently closed the door behind them, and the click of the lock made Keeley smile at him grimly as she nodded her head in approval. Nobody in or out. Not until they made sure their girl was taken care of.

The woman in question was standing with her back to them, at her drinks station, preparing a steaming cup of tea and a stiff gin and tonic at 11:30 in the morning. Ted winced, and Keeley’s eyes widened. Roy bit back a growl as they watched Rebecca, still with her back to them, wipe her eyes with a napkin and discard the mascara-smeared thing in the nearby receptacle. 

Rebecca sucked in a deep, steadying breath in an attempt to feel less fragile than she actually was feeling at the moment as she busied herself with her drinks. She didn’t offer anything to her partners. 

“Babe?” Keeley said tentatively, spurred on by a silent Ted and Roy, grimacing as their stinging tattoos intensified.

Rebecca spun around, drinks in hand, and situated herself behind her desk like a queen on her throne. 

“I’m fine,” Rebecca said brusquely as she cleared her throat and took a nice, healthy swig of her G&T. She put it down on the desk, changed her mind, and chugged the rest of the drink, coughing a little at her heavy-handed pour.

“Was there anything you needed?”

Hovering awkwardly near the desk, the other three paused briefly, unsure of their next steps. Then Roy moved forward, fists balled up at his sides, visibly making an effort to unclench his jaw.

“Saw the twat up ‘ere—what did that miserable shriveled old ballsack want? I thought he was banned from the premises.”

Rebecca’s eyes lit up briefly in amusement before they clouded over and she clamped her bottom lip between her teeth, shaking her head once.

Slowly as if approaching a wild animal, Roy crept around Rebecca’s desk, coming close enough to touch but leaving the ball in Rebecca’s court to close the final gap if she wanted. 

Throughout the weeks that followed their tattoo reveal, Ted and Keeley were keenly aware that Roy and Rebecca had their own complicated history. Roy had been a peripheral witness to Rupert’s constant belittling and abuse, had seen how his boss had chipped away at the blonde Amazonian until she was forced into a smaller shape that was more palatable to a quietly vindictive Rupert. 

Roy had helped Rebecca sift through the wreckage of her life post-divorce and had offered a quiet ear, a steady shoulder to lean on, a warm body to use, kept her safe so she could put herself back together.

“Hey, blondie,” Roy said gently, considering his next words carefully. “We can’t help if we don’t know what’s going on.”

He sucked in a breath, and could see Ted and Keeley clutching each other out of his peripheral vision. He was glad they had stayed over there, that they had given the two of them a moment. Any other words died in the back of his throat as Rebecca spun in her chair, turning to face Roy, as she resolutely raised her eyes from where they’d been burning a hole in the top of her desk.

Rebecca cleared her throat roughly, locking eyes with Roy who had his hand raised, wanting to cup her cheek but waiting for permission which she reluctantly granted. Almost against her will, she nuzzled into his hand, and Roy bit back a shit-eating grin.

He brushed his thumb over her cheekbone, catching a few stray tears that had started to fall.

“Ted can help me bury the body, you know,” Roy said, rather conversationally as he felt Ted start on the other side of the desk. “Keeley can help too—she’s scrappy, and she’d probably have a whole PR strategy to get us off with only house arrest or probation, right, Keels?”

If the others replied, he didn’t hear it, too focused on the shaken woman in front of him. He gave her a moment, and then another, letting the heat from his palm sink into her chilled skin. Roy frowned—Rebecca’s office was usually kept at optimal temperature, which meant she shouldn’t be chilled in the first place, and then his eyes flicked to the open window behind him. Ah. 

He assumed Rebecca had opened it for some air after Rupert had left her office. That would explain the temperature change, and the fact that none of them had noticed until now, too intent on figuring out what the fuck was going on with their partner to mind the chill in the room. Roy’s eyes darted to Ted who was already swiftly and quietly moving toward the window to close it.

Rebecca jerked forward, turning her head to the left, pressing her cheek against Roy’s stomach as she locked her arms around his middle. Roy gingerly touched her head, lightly holding her to him, ignoring the shuddering shoulders and the sudden wet that was seeping through his shirt. She mumbled something inaudible, and Roy bent his head as if it would help, straining to hear her with no success.

“Rebecca, sweetheart, I can’t hear you,” Roy murmured, stroking his hand through her hair while his other hand cradled the back of her head. 

She pulled away quickly, head tilted away from Ted and Keeley as if she couldn’t bear to let them see, even after all this time. His heart clenched in his chest at the sight of her tear-stained face, and he took a few tissues from the box that Keeley had shoved across the desk, dabbing ineffectually at her face as she sniffed, bringing a hand up to her face to swipe at her nose.

“Don’t you have training to get to? ‘M fine,” Rebecca said unconvincingly as she avoided eye contact with the others.

“Bullshit, Rebecca,” Roy scoffed. “Talk to us. You’re freaking me out.”

“Hey, babe,” Keeley said quietly. Everyone, including the woman in question, turned to stare at her.

“Wanna come snuggle on the couch? I think I’m feeling a headache coming on,” Keeley said convincingly.

Roy knew that the younger woman was lying through her teeth, but they all knew Rebecca would put any one of them before herself at any time. Rebecca frowned, glassy-eyed, and rummaged through her desk drawer for her emergency stash of pain relievers. Roy stepped back as Rebecca moved to stand from her desk, stocking feet firmly on the floor, and they met Ted and Keeley on the sofa. 

Rebecca wordlessly handed Keeley the pain medication and a glass of water, and Roy made a desperate joke that had Rebecca closing her eyes in a giggle. It bought just enough time for Keeley to slip the pills to Ted who stowed them in the pocket of his khakis. Keeley sighed in (fake) relief.

“Thanks, babe,” Keeley said, moving to wrap her arms around Rebecca’s middle as they snuggled in the corner of the sofa. 

Ted gently lifted Keeley’s legs off where they were splayed across a section of the sofa, and placed her legs gently down across his lap as he snuggled down into the plush sofa. Roy was on Rebecca’s other side, sitting as close as he could comfortably get, stretching his knee out under the coffee table. Everyone waited for someone else to speak, and then—

“Rupert and Bex are having a baby,” Rebecca said softly, and everyone visibly winced. Oh.

There was more to explore there, but Rebecca had very hesitantly brought it up after Ted had FaceTimed Henry one day last week when the boy got home from school. She had been quite interested in hearing about Henry’s day, peppering Ted with questions that halted suddenly when Ted had very innocently asked if Rebecca had ever wanted children seeing as how she seemed to be so good with them from the times he had observed her interacting with Phoebe and the Higgins boys.

Roy and Keeley had entered the house seconds later, Roy carrying some of Keeley’s things from her own house, and they both stopped in their tracks at the stricken look on Rebecca’s face.

“Ted, what the fuck?”

“It’s not his fault,” Rebecca said, holding a hand up toward Roy. “Just some…lingering things that I wanted to discuss with Carlotta before I burden you all with my baggage.”

“Babe, remember what we talked about—you’re not a burden, you’re a human,” Keeley said gently, snuggling up to Rebecca’s side, softly kissing her on the cheek. Rebecca smiled softly, ready to change the subject, and they all allowed it for the meantime.

Snapped back to the present, Rebecca dropped her head back to rest on the back of the sofa and blew out a heavy breath, willing her voice not to crack as she explained.

“He said he wanted to tell me in person,” she said blankly, staring up at the ceiling. “Didn’t want me to have to read about it in the papers. When I—when I pressed him on it, that he had said he never wanted children, he said he didn’t want any before.”

She huffed out a mirthless laugh in the otherwise dead silent room.

“I don’t know if I want to talk about it yet, but I—I’m sorry for not…” she sniffed, closing her eyes as her head tipped back farther, resting on the sofa cushion. 

“I’m sorry for not controlling myself more,” she explained, feeling Keeley’s arms tighten around her waist, as Roy connected his shoulder with her own and Ted’s foot slid over to rest near hers.

“I’m sorry that your—that the tattoos started stinging because I couldn’t keep a lid on all my shit,” Rebecca said in a monotone voice, emotionally spent and so very tired. “I hope they didn’t hurt too badly.”

Keeley clucked at her supportively, nuzzling into her chest in the way she knew would make Rebecca laugh. 

“Let’s go home,” Ted said quietly, and Rebecca’s head slowly wobbled upright to stare at him in confusion. 

“Ted, it’s only noon,” Rebecca said, wrinkling her nose.

“So lunch time, then—an impromptu half day, I think,” Ted said firmly, brushing off any of Rebecca’s objections about their jobs and training. 

“Beard can handle training for the rest of the day—Nate’ll give him a hand—and I’ve already taken the liberty of clearing your schedule with Higgy Smalls over there. He says everything will keep until tomorrow,” Ted said kindly but sternly. 

Rebecca watched as Ted squeezed Keeley’s legs, gently raising them so he could stand up from the sofa. He stretched slightly, causing his sweater and undershirt to rise above his hips for a moment, and the other three were briefly struck dumb at the sight. They had all collectively decided to take physical intimacy rather slowly, apart from a few heated early-morning makeout sessions, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t look and be appreciative. From the tinge in Ted’s cheeks, Rebecca thought that he had caught on.

“Why don’t Keeley and I go get our things, and Roy, we’ll grab your bag, and you can stay up here, do what you gotta do, and then we’ll all meet downstairs. Sound like a plan, stan?”

Rebecca couldn’t suppress the bubble of laughter that rose up at yet another one of Ted’s hokey sayings that she had come to (unwillingly) love, and she quickly shooed them out of her office, telling them she was ordering lunch from Mae’s and they’d pick it up on the way home.

And if the quartet spent the rest of the day snuggled in their massive bed working their way through some top tier ‘90s rom coms, that was no one’s business.

The next day, Rebecca was still feeling out of sorts—and the baby news was plastered all over every tabloid in the country, with a few shoved under her front door for good measure—so Ted, of all people, encouraged all of them to call in sick to their various jobs. 

Keeley was in between clients at the moment, so it was no problem for her; Roy’s knee had been acting up so physio wanted him to rest which unfortunately meant no training; and Ted was confident that Beard, Nate, and Higgins could hold down the fort at Nelson Road in the meantime. 

The quartet spent the morning lounging around the house, taste-testing the various baked goods that Ted was about to bring into the club for a spin on “secret sandwich switcheroo” that apparently involved the entire club and no sandwiches.

“Oh fuck me, Ted,” Keeley moaned through a bite of a chocolate lava cake. 

The kitchen fell silent, not oppressively so, but enough that Keeley flushed as she realized what had just popped out of her mouth. 

“That could be arranged, you know,” Ted said with a laugh, over-exaggerating his cheeky wink.

“Theodore Lasso, do not,” Keeley exclaimed, making a show of fanning herself as she sat at the kitchen island.

“Well, you know, it’s maybe not on the table, but it’s not not on the table,” Ted said quietly.

His eyes flickered over to Keeley, Rebecca, and Roy, who were seated opposite the ovens where Ted was testing the temperature for each of the various baked goods—he might have bit off more than he could chew, in every possible way, but baking was one of his love languages, and Ted was determined to personalize bakes for each of the players based on their interests.

“Something to add to our Carlotta list this week, I think, yes?” Rebecca said, almost business-like, pulling her phone out of the pocket of her dressing gown to jot that down in their shared note of therapy topics. She liked to be able to organize their thoughts and make better use of Carlotta’s time, whereas the rest of them just tended to ramble on.

Nearly there.

They had the laziest, most lovely day, spent entirely in their pajamas, snuggled up on the plush sofa, covered in fuzzy blankets as was Keeley’s preference. Ted’s phone rang in the early afternoon, and it was Roy who grabbed it from the side table as Ted extricated himself from a Keeley-Rebecca sandwich. He perched on the sofa on the other side of Roy as Keeley and Rebecca gravitated toward each other in Ted’s absence. 

Ted swiped to accept the FaceTime request, his stomach sinking to his knees as soon as he saw who was calling as he mentally did a time zone calculation.

“What’s wrong?” Ted said quickly—too quickly, as he saw Michelle’s eyes soften.

He felt Roy gently press at his clenched fist, slowly but surely pressing his fingers into the stiff muscle, making Ted relax bit by bit until his fingers unfurled in Roy’s lap. Roy kept a solid, steady hand over Ted’s hand, splayed out on Roy’s thigh. 

“Gosh, Ted, sorry to worry you, I shoulda texted—we’re just at home for the day. Hen has a mild fever, and he’s napping now, so I just wanted to call and update you, and maybe we can catch up in the meantime?” Michelle said, almost hesitantly, and Ted’s heart stuttered back to normal rhythm. 

He pulled his hand away from Roy, and scratched the back of his neck nervously.

“Sure thing, Billie Jean King,” Ted joked, and Michelle snorted before she could stop herself.

“How have you been? I’ve been following the Premier League rankings—Henry is newly stats-obsessed, so watch out!—and Richmond sure kicked off the season with a bang, didn’t they?”

Ted grinned, feeling the solidness of Roy’s thigh next to him, the heat seeping through his joggers, making Ted feel all warm and fuzzy.

“We sure did—sorry for talking shop on our day off, guys,” Ted said to the sofa snugglers, and he saw Michelle’s eyes narrow in consideration. 

“Oh no, I’m so sorry—did I interrupt anything? Are you hanging out with Rebecca again? Hi Rebecca, if she can hear me,” Michelle said, a little flustered. Rebecca remained silent on the sofa, unsure if she should interject, content to let Ted do his thing.

After talking it over with his partners, Beard, and Drs. Sharon and Carlotta, Ted had decided to sort of soft launch his new relationship, when it came to Michelle. So far, this just meant talking about all three of them very casually, sending photos of the four of them spending time together, and so on. He hadn’t actually shared anything of substance with Michelle—yet—but he could tell her mind was whirling and knew that she might have started to put the pieces together. 

His hand came up to the back of his head once more, scratching at his scalp, sighing in contentment as Michelle gave him the lowdown on Henry’s illness that had taken out half of the third grade.

“It only started a day or two ago with a cold, and then he spiked a little fever, but the doctor wasn’t too worried and said Hen just needed some rest and sleep and he’d kick this bug real soon,” Michelle reassured, and Ted’s heart rate spiked as he noticed her eyes narrow on the tiny screen, looking intently at his bare wrist with his very, very visible tattoo. Shoot.

Ted quickly lowered his wrist out of view of the camera, and Roy carefully laced their fingers together, squeezing reassuringly in support, before moving a hand to Ted’s bouncing knee, stilling the limb gently.

“I did want to talk to you about a potential visit with Henry, if you’re up for it, Ted,” Michelle started, teeth coming down to worry her bottom lip. Ted immediately perked up.

“That’d be great, Michelle—when were you thinking? I know his next school break isn’t much time, so that might be out,” Ted said, mentally scanning his son’s school calendar for any potential times that could work for everyone.

Michelle grinned, and Ted found himself trying to suppress his excitement at the thought of his son coming for a visit. It’s the hope that kills ya, etc. etc.

“Well, I spoke with Henry’s teachers, and they’ve agreed to give Henry a longer break as long as he completes his schoolwork over the break and hands it in when he returns to Kansas,” Michelle explained. “I think we can manage a whole week in London, if you’re up for it.”

Joy bloomed in Ted’s chest and this time he was unable to stop it. He sniffed, feeling unexpectedly emotional. Summer break seemed like forever ago, and now he was going to have his boy in the flesh in London for a whole week.

“Aw Michelle, that sounds great—will you text me the dates? I have a bunch of air miles I can give ya, and we can book something real soon, alright?”

Michelle smiled softly, promising to text him the details, and ended the call with saying how she was looking forward to being in London again, and to co-parenting in 3D.

Ted placed his phone on the coffee table with a clatter, and sat back on the sofa, letting the plush cushions all but envelop him into the furniture.

“Ted—” Rebecca began, exchanging worried looks with Roy and Keeley after the mustached man continued to sit silently on the sofa.

“I think she saw my tattoo,” Ted said shortly, trying to keep his heart from hammering through his ribs, focusing on his breathing. 

Keeley crept around the other side of the couch, tucking her smaller frame around Ted’s side carefully, wanting to anchor him and provide any support that she could.

“Babe, it’s going to be okay,” Keeley said, words muffled by Ted’s shoulder as she turned into his side. “We promise.”

Ted took another deep breath, feeling bolstered by his people around him, and let it out slowly, methodically. 

“What if—”

Rebecca stopped the spiral in its tracks, turning to him, reaching across Roy’s lap to place a hand on Ted’s thigh.

“Absolutely not, Ted,” Rebecca said, just this side of stern that made him pay attention, grasping onto her words like a lifeline in a storm. 

“This will not impact your relationship with Henry, we promise you. Let’s take it one step at a time, alright? You can talk to Michelle in person when she arrives for Henry’s school holiday, and we’ll all be here to help you through it. Then you both can decide what to tell your sweet boy. There’s no rush, no pressure here, you’re the one in the driver’s seat,” Rebecca said firmly, before cracking a joke about driving on the wrong side of the road that caused the tightness in Ted’s chest to loosen infinitesimally. 

Just then, Ted’s phone chirped on the coffee table, and he eyed it warily, half expecting Michelle to take back her travel offer. He shrugged one shoulder, and Keeley leaned forward to pluck his phone off the table, handing it to Ted screen side down, before she rested her chin on his shoulder and closed her eyes to give him some privacy.

Roy and Rebecca began talking about some random things, seemingly not paying attention to Ted, although he knew that they were keeping an eye on him all the same, and he was grateful.

Michelle Keller: Here’s what I was thinking of—haven’t said anything to Henry yet, but I know he will be so pumped, so just take a look at your calendar and lmk. I’ll book something in the next weekish? ps. did you get a wrist tattoo?? I couldn’t tell, but if you did, it looks awesome?! Ttyl <3

Michelle and Henry’s flight landed at Heathrow just after 11am local time, and Ted had been tied in knots all week about it. They were here to spend Henry’s school break in London, and it would give the bi-continental co-parents some time to talk, not through a screen, and not have to constantly calculate time differences. 

Ted knew that Michelle had seen his tattoo on their last FaceTime when he had accidentally scratched the back of his neck. She probably only saw a blur, but it was enough to send him into a spiral for the rest of the day. He felt unmoored, an itching under his skin that wouldn’t cease as the visit got closer and closer.

He had shown up at Nelson Road early that morning, hoping to distract himself with some paperwork, and Beard had texted Roy, Keeley, and Rebecca—apparently they had a group chat now?—and they had all lovingly coaxed and/or bullied Ted into going home. 

Shortly after he had sat down in his office, Keeley had sauntered down to the coaches’ office when the boys were all out on the pitch with Coach Beard. She pulled Ted out of his chair, grasping him by his shoulders and holding him close for a long, full-body hug. She had recently regaled him with the fact that apparently a hug should be held for at least 20-seconds for maximum effect because hugging released all the feel-good hormones.

Ted exhaled roughly in Keeley’s hair, feeling some (not all, of course) tension leach out of his body at the physical contact with one of his people. They all agreed on taking it slow, wanting to build a solid foundation with all of these different people so they hadn’t done anything past first base, which was a concept that Ted had to explain to his trio of bemused Brits. They were talking about it in therapy, though, and Ted thought it wouldn’t be long—they were nearly there.

Ted relished whatever physical contact he could get, and he found himself seeking it out. He wanted to hold hands with them forever, wanted to hug them, wanted to sit next to them on the sofa at movie night and feel their solid presence beside him. Keeley dragged him up to Rebecca’s office, waving away his feeble excuses about how he had to get to training and so on. 

Rebecca was on the phone as they entered her office and her eyes crinkled with amusement at the image of Keeley all but pulling Ted through the door. They sat down on the sofa in Rebecca’s office, and Keeley pulled a plush pillow from the side of the sofa, tossing it at Ted. He grabbed it with both hands and tucked the pillow on his lap, hands tracing patterns in the fuzzy material while he was bolstered by the heat of Keeley’s leg next to his.

Keeley giggled slightly and Ted’s eyes rose to observe Rebecca, sitting all mighty and powerful and glorious behind her desk. Winking at them both, Rebecca rolled her eyes as the potential investor on the phone droned on and on about how great he was. She quickly hung up the phone, and grinned at the occupants of the sofa before her face flickered from boss!Rebecca to partner!Rebecca.

“Right,” Rebecca said, getting up from her desk to amble on over to her bar cart to make another desperately-needed cup of tea. 

“Ted, I have a car coming for you at 10am—Walter will make sure you get to Heathrow alright, and he’ll be waiting to take the three of you back to your flat,” Rebecca said very business-like, and Keeley marveled at her nerves of steel.

Everyone was handling the impending visit very differently. Keeley was just excited to meet tiny!Ted and Michelle. Roy didn’t care either way—so he told everyone—but he was glad for Phoebe to have another playmate for a bit. He had been minding Phoebe this week while Ruth pulled double shifts because of an emergency coupled with a chronic NHS shortage.

They thought Rebecca was the real wild card; she told Ted separately that she appreciated how everyone was trying their best to tiptoe around her this week, but it wasn’t necessary. She was excited to meet Ted’s little boy, finally, and to meet Michelle in person. She was actually feeling quite at ease, excited, joyful about it. Rebecca had met Carlotta multiple times a week during the lead up to Henry and Michelle’s visit, and it had helped her sort out some of her feelings. 

She had told the others the day before that she finally wasn’t feeling as fragile as she had been after Rupert’s unwelcome visit to Nelson Road and subsequent tabloid hell. Surprisingly, it was little Henry Lasso who had helped with that. 

Ted had been FaceTiming Henry in the comfy living room, and Rebecca accidentally became visible in the background when she tried to sneak into the living room to grab her book and her favorite reading glasses, and retreat without drawing attention to herself. But when a child says hello, and asks you if you could be any flower in the world, what would you be, you can’t exactly say ignore them. She wasn't a monster.

This set off a lively debate about the merits of sunflowers vs. roses vs. peonies, and which one was better—Ted, ever the romantic, was team roses, Rebecca (surprisingly) was team sunflower, and Henry decidedly chose peonies, “only ‘cause Nana always has me dip ‘em in water after I bring her a bouquet from the garden ‘cause if you don’t get the petals wet, you could have some ant stowaways and that would be bad.”

Rebecca bid a hasty retreat, or tried to, wanting to be mindful of Ted’s time with his son, and returned upstairs to settle into her favorite armchair by the big window in their bedroom. She flicked the nearby light on and was lost in her book until she happened to hear Ted’s footsteps on the stairs. Ted entered the bedroom at the same time Keeley came out of the bathroom, clad in a short towel, calling for Rebecca.

“Rebecca, babe, do you know where I put my Tuesday pajamas?” the younger woman asked, focused on scrunching her wet hair with a towel, and keeping the other towel wrapped around her torso.

“Oh, hiya, love,” Keeley said brightly, ignoring her state of undress. “D’ya have a good chat with Henry tonight?”

Ted leant against the doorframe with his hands shoved into the pockets of his khakis. 

“Sure did, Keels,” Ted said with a bashful grin, his eyes flicking over to Rebecca, who smirked at him. “Henry says hi, and he says to remind Rebecca to drown her peonies if she ever starts bringing ‘em in from the garden.”

Keeley blinked, confused, and Rebecca snorted out loud at the thought. She shook her head, and smiled affectionately at Keeley. 

“Doll, I think your Tuesday pajamas are unfortunately in the wash,” Rebecca said, drawing out the last syllable. Keeley pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I expect you both think it’s silly, but I’ve grown accustomed to my days-of-the-week pajamas, so if I don’t have one day, it throws me off,” the younger woman whined.

“Will something of mine act as a sufficient Tuesday replacement?” Rebecca said teasingly as she watched Keeley’s eyes light up at the thought of getting her hands on a new-to-her Rebecca garment. The towel in her hair dropped to the ground as Keeley made “gimme” hands, and Rebecca smiled, leaving her book on the chair, and sweeping Keeley into their shared closet.

Rebecca kept a close eye on her phone over the course of the morning, wanting to be there for Ted for anything that he might need. Around half one, her phone began to ring, an obnoxiously endearing ringtone that Ted had set for himself, one day—it never failed to make Rebecca smile. Finishing off an email to the Richmond board of directors, she closed her laptop firmly, reaching for her phone. 

“Hello, darling,” Rebecca said, grinning into the phone. She heard a shuffle, and then a door closing. The sound sounded echoey—was Ted in the bathroom or something?

“Ted?”

She heard a heavy exhale through the phone and could practically see him running a hand through his hair, as ever trying to tame his wayward tendril that both Rebecca and Keeley encouraged him to “free,” as it were.

“R’becca,” Ted said, sucking in an unsteady breath. Her blood ran cold.

“Hey, darling, it’s okay, talk to me—are you in a safe place? Sweetheart, answer me,” Rebecca said, tamping down her own anxiety.

Ted grunted over the phone, and Rebecca heard the sound of a tap turning on—cozy bathroom in his flat, then, got it. That explained the echo.

“Are you running your wrists under the cold water, love? There’s a good boy, you’re doing so well, angel,” she crooned, getting up from her office chair to pace slowly around her office.

Rebecca kept up a stream of nonsensical praise and encouragement, wanting to tether him to the earth while his head quieted somewhat.

“Sorry, I—sorry to call,” Ted said, distracted, and Rebecca’s heart clattered in her chest. "Couldn't get ahold of Roy, forgot he's at training. Didn’t know who else to—”

“Absolutely not, Theodore, no apologies necessary,” she said sternly, and then softened her voice. 

“Want to tell me about it?”

“She knows.”

Rebecca wrinkled her brow in question but stayed silent, wanting Ted to say more on his own time.

“We, uh,” Ted stuttered before taking a deep cleansing breath. Rebecca murmured encouragement into the phone, proud of him for returning to his breathing.

“Walter and I picked up Henry and Michelle on time, stopped for a quick bite at the pub—Mae says hi, by the way—then went back to the flat, and I didn’t even think about how un-lived in it looks now, and Michelle clocked it immediately and when Henry was in the bathroom she asked me if I had moved in with you yet, if that was why my flat looked so empty and why I didn’t have any food in my fridge and dangit I forgot to order groceries yesterday why did I do that?”

“Ted!”

Ted hummed into the phone and Rebecca heard the tap turn off.

“Darling, why don’t you ask Michelle if she and Henry want to come stay at ours—Lord knows we have the space, and I already have the guest rooms downstairs made up because I wasn’t sure what…you know,” Rebecca said slowly, thinking out loud. 

“It’ll all be okay, sweetheart, I promise,” Rebecca soothed as best she could. “I’ll leave the club right now, and head home just in case. If not, then we will all see you for dinner at the pub, yes? Make sure you give Walter a ring, okay?”

Rebecca reluctantly hung up the phone as Ted realized he had been in the bathroom hiding from his son and ex-wife for far too long. She quickly grabbed her things, rummaging around in her purse for her car keys, and was home in a flash. Rebecca anxiously puttered around the house, wiping down the already-clean kitchen counters as the car pulled up out front 30 minutes later, and a boisterous Henry burst from the back seat, running up the front walkway.

She opened the door and grinned widely, enthusiastically, lovingly.

“Hi, Henry.”