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Wish babies were rare. Only a handful of people in England had one that Jamie had heard of. When it was talked about in school, it was made out to be some myth. It was never something he was made to be worried about. He doesn’t even know how this is happening to him. Honestly, it was a passing thought. Jamie truly didn’t think that much about it! He just stared for a little, imagined a couple of scenarios, and had a dream or two about it, but that was it! He certainly doesn’t remember wishing for a baby to appear at his doorstep.
Yet, here he was staring at a baby in a carrier sitting on his front porch. A card was placed in the carrier along with a bow on the top. A gift. The baby was staring at him with bright blue eyes, a head of dark hair, and a gummy smile. Jamie turned his head in confusion and stared at the baby for a while.
The baby who suspiciously looks a lot like him, and a lot like Roy fucking Kent.
-
A new guy and his wife on the team had recently welcomed a baby boy, and they brought him along during a team welcome meal. He was being passed around to everyone, his giggles brightening the whole room. Dani held him, Sam held him, and even Jan held him. Will, though, passed him right along to Roy who was sitting next to him. Will had a frightened look on his face, it was obvious he didn’t want to hold the baby, so Roy took mercy on him and grabbed him.
Jamie’s eyes widened when he looked over at Roy holding the baby, and he couldn’t keep his eyes off him. Roy had settled the baby on his thigh, the baby looking up at him from where he sat. Roy did his famous growl at him, and all the baby did was let out a high-pitched giggle. Roy smiled just a little bit at the reaction, and Jamie was practically drooling at the sight. Roy was smiling with a cute baby on his lap, and Jamie couldn’t help but imagine a life where it was their baby.
It’s easy to imagine them bringing their baby to the clubhouse. Maybe dress them in a cute little onesie from the Richmond team shop, a number 9 or 6 placed on the back, or tiny boots for them to wear, the possibilities were endless. He can imagine the team cooing at the sight of them, and Roy being protective by yelling at them not to overwhelm them. He’ll hold the baby against his chest, and their baby wouldn’t even react to the booming voice of Roy. Just will smile right up at him, maybe a couple of teeth poking out from their gums, and Roy will smile right back. Jamie pictures himself to the side, watching it happen just so he can soak it all in. He’ll eventually walk over and join his small family, press a kiss against their chubby cheeks, and then lean into Roy’s side as their baby is set down to explore the locker room. Both of them will make sure they don’t get into anything, Roy’s watchful eyes making sure they don’t shove something in their mouth they shouldn’t. It’s a great scenario, and it warms Jamie’s heart just at the thought of it.
He’s broken out of his daydream by a loud wail filling the room, and Roy is quickly shushing the baby as the mum comes over to grab him from him. Even then, Roy looking a bit nervous that he did something wrong, has butterflies filling Jamie’s stomach. He smiles to himself and sinks into his seat, his eyes remaining on Roy for the rest of the evening as he occasionally wiggles his fingers at the baby to entertain him.
-
The dreams only happened for a few nights. The first dream is about Jamie asking Roy if they could finally start the adoption process. Roy then runs to grab him and then spins him around in excitement. He leaves the room to grab his laptop where there are a hundred tabs already pulled up on how to proceed with it. Jamie remembers dream him smiling brightly at him, and he wakes up feeling good. He reminisces about it the whole day after it happens and even creates scenarios to finish off the dream where it left off. Scenarios where they’re shopping for their future kid, telling their family what they’re doing, his imagination runs rampant.
The second dream happens a couple of days after the first. Jamie is holding his phone and recording their baby. He’s saying to them, “Say it! Dada,” as he slowly says the two-syllable word. The baby is just smiling at them, Jamie can’t remember how many teeth were poking out of their gums, but he remembers there being a couple. They don’t say the word, they just sit there giggling. But, arms wrap around Jamie from behind and press a kiss against his temple. Dream him knows exactly who it is, and presses stop on the record button. Nothing in the dream is even that crazy. After that, they just sit there and watch their baby chew on the teething toy that Roy brought with him when he sat down.
Jamie thinks about both of these dreams for longer than he should. It makes him feel warm to imagine this with someone, especially when that someone is Roy.
-
Jamie picks up the baby immediately after he realizes what’s going on. Slams the door shut, the sudden worry that a paparazzi may have snapped a picture of the sight. He carefully carries the baby to his coffee table and delicately sets them down to not startle them. He sits down on his couch right in front of them so he can get a good look at them. They’re wrapped in a blue blanket which Jamie can only assume means they’re a boy. The bow on top is also a light-colored blue, so it’s pretty clear what it means. The card is sticking up in front of the carrier, and when Jamie grabs it, the only thing it says is, “ Your wish has been granted. ” in a nice, cursive font. He throws it down on the table with a scoff, like he can’t believe this is happening. This seems to set the baby off though, because immediately after, they start wailing. Jamie’s eyes widen in fear, his eyes frantically searching them to see if anything is wrong.
“Hey, hey! It’s okay, please don’t cry,” Jamie says, like the baby has any idea what that means. His little hands are clenched into fists, their face is red from screaming and wet with tears, and Jamie thinks he might look the same in about thirty seconds. He rocks the carrier to see if that will calm him, but the screams just get louder at the movement, “Sorry, I’m sorry!”. He doesn’t think he did anything wrong, but he fucking must have. The wailing just continues to echo in his living room, and Jamie has to put his head into his hands to try and figure out what to do (and calm the fuck down). The only other thing he thinks he can do is pick them up, but Jamie has only ever held a baby twice. His hands are shaking when he reaches towards them and pulls the blanket off. One hand then moves to cup the back of his head while the other goes underneath to lift him out. Jamie brings them into his chest as he cradles him. The wailing eventually comes to a stop, but when Jamie looks down at them they still have eyes wet with tears, along with Jamie. Relief immediately fills his chest when he sees them, and he can’t help it when a smile forms on his face. He laughs from the relief, the baby looking at him when he does it. He brings up a hand to brush against their cheeks to wipe away the tears, and he pulls away from doing it he grabs his hand. His hand compared to his is comical, their fingers only being big enough to clench around one finger. An overwhelming feeling crashes over Jamie, the grip on his hand strong. This is his baby.
Yeah, okay universe, you won this round.
Jamie doesn’t know how long he sits there on his couch holding him. Eventually, he falls asleep against him and Jamie is too scared to move him, and he doesn’t want to stop looking at him. His eyelashes are longer than he thinks babies should be, and their fingernails definitely need a trim. He slowly moves himself to lie back on the couch, a sigh escaping him as he shuts his eyes. Then, they widen immediately, he’s got fucking training, like, right fucking now. He was walking out the door when he was met with the carrier outside. He bets if he looked at his phone, he’d have a million messages filling up his screen. He has to move him, but he looks so peaceful sitting there in his arms, it’s painful to move him back to the carrier. When he reaches for his phone in his pocket, he flinches at the amount of messages and phone calls. Then, right as he’s scrolling through them, a phone call flashes on his screen from ‘Roy Kunt’. The last thing Jamie wants to do is answer this call, but he has to. He hits accept, and as he puts it up to his ear, he’s being screamed at.
“Where the flying fuck are you!” Jamie clenches his eyes together as he rubs his forehead. He didn’t think of a great excuse, so the only thing he could think of is, “Uh, I’m sick?” But, when he says it, it sounds like a question and a scoff is heard from the other end of the line. “I swear it! Got like, a fever and everything,” Jamie opens his eyes and leans just a bit forward when he hears shuffling in front of him, but his eyes aren’t open so he leans back, but keeps his eyes on him just in case.
“You better not be fucking lying,” is sneered at him, and Jamie rolls his eyes. He thinks no one would believe him right now if he told the truth. Especially not Roy and he doesn’t want to think too much about how he was to tell him he accidentally got a wish baby with half of his DNA. The phone is then hung up on him, so that’s the end of that and Jamie doesn’t have to think about Roy anymore. Jamie relaxes further into the couch, his eyes not leaving the sight in front of him.
Which, he can’t not think about Roy. A baby that looks just like him is sleeping in front of him. A baby that is now in his life forever, and Roy is his goddamn coach so he’s also not going anywhere anytime soon. When being taught about wish babies, it’s normally about a single woman or man who wants a child despite being single, and the baby is purely just their DNA. Or, about a couple who are having trouble and desperately are wishing for one. He’s never heard of a wish baby coming to someone with half of someone’s DNA when they weren’t dating, he guesses he’s just fucking lucky. Now, he has to tell Roy about this, which also in turn makes him tell all about his feelings for him. Maybe it’ll smooth things over, Roy won’t be so shocked about Jamie being in love with him if he has to worry about a baby. Granted, a baby he wished for apparently, to that’ll be quite the shock too. But, right now, Jamie has to worry about this sleeping baby in front of him. He looks peaceful sleeping in front of him, and Jamie likes the moment to get his thoughts together.
His shoulders clench though when he realizes he can’t sleep in the carrier forever, he needs to get proper baby shit. Like, right now. He gets up from the couch, shoves on his shoes, and marches his way towards the door. Right as he grabs the door handle, he leans his head against the door and sighs. He turns right back around, grabs his sleeping baby, and then walks out the door.
What Jamie didn’t expect was how long it took for him to strap him in the car. He has to look up tutorials to make sure he’s doing it right and learns the baby has to sit goddamn backward. He’s a goddamn professional football player, but he’s sweating more after strapping him in than he is after a good running session.
“Yeah, you think this is funny?” Jamie asks when he hears giggling coming from the carrier as he adjusts it once again. When he finally gets it in the right position, he looks in the carrier to see him smiling at him with drool coming out at every side. Jamie takes a moment to take it in and runs his fingers through his hair. It’s soft, of course it is, he’s a baby. God, Jamie can’t believe this is his baby (and Roy’s, the back of his mind whispers). He shuts the door and makes his way to the driver's side.
He’s starting the car when he realizes he has no idea where to get baby stuff.
-
Jamie ends up at some boutique twenty minutes away from his house. He also learns that getting the carrier out is just as hard as getting it in. He makes sure he’s okay before he walks into the shop. A bell above the door chimes as he pushes it open, and an older woman walks out from the back just as he walks in.
“Welcome! Looking for anything specific, love?” She sets a box down as she says it, and smiles over at him. Jamie looks down at his baby, looks around the shop, and immediately is overwhelmed. “Um, everything?”
The lady laughs, then looks at his face, “Oh dear! You’re serious. Let me help you.” She takes him through everything. Talks through all the crib options, and all Jamie can think is why so many? He stacks endless amounts of onesies in the cart, diapers on diapers, wipes, goddamn everything. A copious amount of formula takes up half the cart. He gets a bassinet, and a mat for ‘tummy time’, whatever the fuck that is. He grabs a couple of parenting books and puts them in the already stacked cart. She laughs when he does it, and puts all but one back, “They all say the same thing, dear.”
By the time he’s done, he’s racked up a hefty bill, but he doesn’t even blink when he taps his card against the machine. She helps him take everything to his car. He shoves everything in his trunk, some of it also going in his front seat and next to the baby. His car is packed full, and he’s dreading putting it all together at his house.
“Wish baby, huh?” The lady asks when he shuts the door after strapping him in. He freezes for a second and then nods his head. She smiles sweetly at him, places a hand on his arm, and squeezes, “You got this.”
Jamie smiles at her, and nods his head, “Thank you.” It’s what he’s needed to hear all day, and hasn’t been able to tell anyone about all this yet. He actually really needs to call his mum.
-
Jamie has successfully turned one of his spare rooms into a nursery. It definitely needs redecorating, but he’s just thankful he’s set up the crib and changing station with some fancy trashcan. He changed his first diaper, and then second in the span of one hour after setting it up. He’s down for the count, and Jamie can finally catch his breath. He lays on his bed, takes a deep breath, and calls his mum.
She’s obviously shocked when he tells her why he’s calling, but she always knows exactly what to say. It calms him down immensely, and he wishes she was here right now.
“So, what’s his name?” She asks towards the end of the call, and Jamie freezes.
“I haven’t gotten that far yet,” His eyebrows furrow, the thought didn’t even cross his mind. He’s just been calling him ‘baby’ in his head. When the call ends, he grabs his laptop on his bedside table. He looks up ‘boy names’ and is bombarded with thousands of them. None of them sound right, and some of them are fucking awful. He’s interrupted by a cry coming from the hallway and also heard from the baby monitor. He quickly walks to the nursery and sees him letting out small whimpers just for it to be known he’s awake. He grabs him for where he’s laid and leans his small head against his shoulder.
“So, what kind of lad are you? A William?” He hears no response and just keeps listing names that pop into his head.
“Theodore? Some lists said that, but I can’t name you after my old gaffer, sorry baby. Honestly, half the names listed were the names of someone on the team. Can’t imagine naming you Isaac or something, he’d get a big head about it,” Jamie keeps pacing around the room, not a peep coming from his baby on his shoulder. But, he’s also not crying so he must like this.
“C’mon, give me something. Joel? We could have matching initials, but maybe when you’re older you won’t think that’s cool. We could do an ‘R’ name too, Reid or something,” Oliver still gives no reaction, and he sighs as he keeps rattling off names.
“Peter maybe, are you a Spider-Man fan? That’s Roy’s favorite superhero, but mine is Thor. Naming you Thor would get a couple of head turns, so I won’t do that,” Jamie sets him down in his bouncy chair so he can see him. He just chews on his hands, saliva covering them, but he’s been doing that all day, so it’s not a reaction. Jamie thinks he must not be a Spider-Man fan.
“Thomas? Cool nicknames with that, Tom, Tommy. Or, what about Fletcher?” He stares blankly at him, and Jamie has to lean back and think of more names. All the ones listed were kind of shit, and normally people have months to think about possible names, and also someone to bounce ideas off of.
“What about Oliver?” He sneezes at the name, and a snot bubble comes out. It’s disgusting, but it makes Jamie laugh. He leans forward to get in his space and uses the bib around him to wipe it off. He giggles at the fabric running around his nose, and Jamie takes it as confirmation.
“Okay, Oliver it is.”
When Oliver is fed and settled for the night, Jamie realizes there’s no way he’ll be able to go to training tomorrow, probably the rest of the week too. He’s thankful they don’t have a match until next week, but it’s still not going to make Roy happy that he’s missing. Especially since he didn’t believe his excuse of being sick, he’s not sure how well that’s going to work for the rest of the week. He knows at some point he will have to tell everyone what’s going on. He’s going to want to take Oliver to the away matches, even bringing a travel bassinet for it. He doesn’t trust anyone to care for him overnight, and he doesn’t want to have him out of his sight for right now.
But, he doesn’t have time to deal with this right now. So, he just sends a text to Roy saying he won’t make it to training again tomorrow. Even throws in the sick emoji to really sell it. Roy reads it, but he doesn’t respond. He throws his phone on his bedside table next to the parenting book he’s been reading and makes sure the baby monitor is turned up before he closes his eyes.
He’s startled awake by crying. He has no idea what time it is, and he doesn’t check before he rushes down the hallway towards Oliver. He scoops him up and calms him down. He bounces him up and down, rubs his back, and hopes it’ll comfort him. When he’s settled, he changes his diaper and goes downstairs with him to warm a bottle. It’s in the microwave when his eye catches the clock on the oven. He lets out a shocked laugh, and Oliver blinks up at him as he waits for his bottle.
“You’re just like him,” Jamie whispers.
The clock reads 4 am.
-
Jamie has never even been left alone with a baby before, and he thinks he might have to call his mum to thank her because he knows he was a little shit as a baby. Oliver was an angel yesterday, but today he’s not. He’s been crying since 4 am after his bottle, his nose is running a little bit (no fever after he looked it up, just a lot of answers saying babies are snotty), and when he looks up how old wish babies are when they’re dropped off, teething isn’t an option either. He’s desperately been rocking him, putting him in his bouncer to look at all the toys, he’s fed him, changed his diaper (multiple times), he’s goddamn done everything.
“Oliver, please, what do you want?” Jamie doesn’t know what else to do, and he knows Oliver can’t answer him, but he wishes desperately he could. He’s been holding him for a while, and it calmed him down yesterday, but it certainly isn’t today. There are diapers on the floor and his coffee table, soft music is being played throughout his house on his speakers, and Jamie is rattling toy keys in front of Oliver’s face. He ordered food ages ago, so when a knock is heard through the house despite Jamie leaving instructions to leave it at the door, he’s not startled. He sets down Oliver in his bouncer, making sure he’s strapped in okay, and walks to the door pulling out a couple of notes for a tip. He doesn’t even look up when he opens the door, but when he does, his eyes go wide.
“You’re not my delivery driver,” Jamie spits out, he needs him to get out of here fast.
“You don’t look fucking sick,” Roy glares at him, and Jamie’s mouth drops open in surprise. He didn’t think Roy would come up and goddamn check on him. But, Jamie also knows despite not looking sick, he still looks like fucking shit. He’s in an old t-shirt, probably saliva on it somewhere, and his hair hasn’t even been brushed. Jamie’s never been good at coming up with lies on the spot, so he just tries to slam the door in Roy’s face. Roy’s just a bit too fast and shoves his foot in between the door. Jamie just pushes harder, tries to move it out of the way with his foot, but goddamn Roy must have used his good leg.
“I swear I’ll cough on you if you don’t leave!” Jamie knows it’s only a matter of time before Roy will be able to hear Oliver in the other room. He’s been quiet for a few minutes, but a scream is in the future and he knows it. He’s finally able to squeeze his foot out of the doorway and then slams it shut. He immediately locks it behind him and collapses against it with a sigh. When he looks out the window right beside the door, he sees Roy glaring at him. Then, he also sees a delivery driver come up with his food. Jamie is shocked when Roy takes the food from his hands and salutes it with a cheers form to him before he leaves to get into his car. Jamie lets out a groan, he wanted that goddamn sesame beef and crab rangoons. He stomps back to where Oliver is sat, and he’s finally decided to be quiet which he guesses is a win in the situation. He’s relieved that Roy didn’t find out about Oliver today. Jamie hasn’t even fully wrapped his mind around what’s happening, he hasn’t gotten his footing in this situation at all. He’s just not ready himself, and he’s also not ready to tell Roy, or anyone for that matter, what’s going on. He lays on the couch beside Oliver, on his side so he can watch him slobber on his colorful keys. His stomach growls angrily, and Oliver smiles at the noise of it. It’s sudden how much he reminds him of Roy, even though his looks are a constant reminder, he also acts like him. All day today when being fussy, he gets this scowl on his face that is eerily similar to Roy’s. And just now, giggling at Jamie’s suffering of getting his Chinese food stolen, it’s too much and he can’t handle it.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Jamie says to him, and then gets up to make himself a sandwich and Oliver a warm bottle trying to distract himself from Roy’s presence even when he’s not there.
-
Jamie spends the rest of the day looking up trustworthy nannies. He has to go to training tomorrow, he can’t have Roy stopping by again to ‘check’ on him. He also can’t just bring Oliver to training with him, despite the urge so he won’t be out of his sight. He picks the woman with the highest ratings on the website, calls her, and asks if he can come as early as today to meet Oliver. She answers with an enthusiastic yes, and Jamie immediately starts cleaning up the diapers from the coffee table. He tells Oliver to please be on his best behavior, and that he must listen because both of them smile at her when he opens the door.
Bethany is nice, and she has the recommendations to back her high ratings up. The old family she worked for just moved, so it works out perfectly for him. Oliver likes her, and her pay is whatever because Jamie can afford anything, so it’s perfect. Jamie lays out his schedule, and her eyes widen at it, but it doesn’t seem to sway her from accepting the job. She just asks for a little more pay, and Jamie agrees easily. She says normally she wouldn’t start this soon after meeting a family, but she must see the frantic energy radiating off Jamie because she says she’ll be at his at 8 am tomorrow. Jamie is relieved, thanks her endlessly, and pays her for her time. He makes Oliver wave goodbye to her, and Bethany smiles and waves back.
It’s one less thing he needs to worry about, and he has weeks to tell Richmond about Oliver. There isn’t an away match until late next month, which should give him plenty of time to catch his breath.
-
Jamie walks into training the next day acting like he didn’t just get four hours of sleep total. He’s dead on his feet but tries to play it off like he’s fine. He smiles at everyone’s reactions when he walks in, and ignores Roy’s lingering gaze on him. He just gets ready for the day and smiles at his phone from a picture sent by Bethany of Oliver during his tummy time.
It’s only been three days since Oliver showed up on his doorstep, and he never thought about having kids this early in life. It’s shocking to him how connected he feels to Oliver in such a short amount of time. He’s only been at training for an hour before he really starts missing Oliver. He’s been around him for forty-eight hours straight, he even dragged the bassinet into his room last night so he could watch him while he slept. He had kissed his forehead about twenty times before he left this morning, Bethany had to wave him off so he wasn’t late.
It’s Wednesday too, so it’s an extra-long training day. They have regular training, film, and lifting, and then the team usually likes to do something together afterward. Jamie is already trying to come up with an excuse to skip out on it, can’t say to them ‘Sorry, have to let the babysitter go for the day,” because that would make for a lot more questions. He could just say he’s busy, but Isaac is nosy as a captain and he’ll get fined at the end of the season. He also doesn’t want anyone to think he’s going back to his old days to brush them off for no good reason.
He doesn’t mean to, but he doesn’t chit-chat with anyone during training. During film watching, his eyes wander to the side of the clock. It’s a little after noon, so Oliver should be having another bottle right now according to the schedule he left for Bethany. They’re not supposed to have their phones during film watching, but Jamie has sneaked him into his pocket just in case Bethany texts him that something is wrong. When he slides it out, there’s nothing from Bethany, but he sits there trying to come up with something to ask her to. Something that won’t make it seem like he’s overbearing and watching over her shoulder today.
“Jamie!” Roy is yelling into his ear, and he jumps in surprise and quickly switches off his phone so he won’t see the text thread. He’s glaring at him when he looks over at him, and the rest of the team has their eyes on him too. “Get your head out of the fucking gutter,” he sneers, which is fair. Jamie nods and slides his phone back in his pocket and looks back towards Nate who’s handling the film. It starts back up, and Jamie’s leg shakes up and down for the rest of the film session. As soon as it’s done, Jamie quickly walks back to the locker room to pack up for the day. He’s shoving off his boots, sliding on his sweatpants, and shoving everything back into his duffle bag.
“Sorry guys, got a hot date tonight!” Smiles off, doesn’t stay around long enough for questions, and walks out the door. He shoves everything into the back and rushes back home. He smiles at Bethany when he walks in, and Oliver is already reaching out to be held by him. Jamie hugs him close, and Bethany says to him, “He was very good today, but he missed his daddy.” He cradles Oliver’s head and his eyes sting just a little bit. He hasn’t called himself a dad yet, and it should be shocking and scary that he is, especially since it came out of goddamn nowhere. Yet, it makes him feel warm inside, proud, and incredibly happy. He smiles at her and wishes her a good night as she packs up to leave.
Oliver wishes him a nice warm welcome when he unwraps his diaper and pees all over his kit. Jamie lets it happen while Oliver giggles in return.
The rest of the week goes by smoothly. He and Bethany create a routine, and Oliver is getting used to it. It’s the best feeling ever to come home to a happy squealing baby who wiggles excitedly in his arms when he picks him up. Every day he shows his personality more and more, and Jamie lets the guilt fill him every time that he’s keeping this from Roy. Oliver looks so much like him, and he has traits that remind him of Roy. The fear though of how Roy would react to this keeps him from just walking up to Roy’s door while holding Oliver and spilling his guts. He just tells himself he needs more time.
The day it happens, it’s just a regular Monday morning. Bethany seemed a little stressed in the morning, but she said it was alright and her husband was handling what it was. Jamie didn’t think much of it, he just wished her well and to let him know if she needed anything. He told her he’d send her lunch so she wouldn’t have to worry about it, and to text him what she wanted. He kissed Oliver goodbye, waved as he walked out the door, and then went to training. He was only there for thirty minutes on the pitch when Will was waving to him from the side of the pitch, and he jogged over there with confusion evident on his face. Will looks nervous, and he’s stuttering as he tries to start the sentence, and he can’t seem to get anything out so he drags Jamie with him back into the facility.
“Is something wrong? Did my kit like stain all the others or something? I swear I usually put the blue with the blue, but sometimes it accidentally goes in the whites when I throw it!” Jamie is rattling off as he’s led back in. Will is shaking his head and just points to the hallway, and he looks down to see Bethany and Oliver in his carrier. His eyebrows furrow, and he leaves Will standing there bewildered. He jogs down to the hallway, Bethany meets him halfway there and she’s frantically trying to explain herself.
“Jamie, I’m so sorry to show up here, but I have an emergency and I can’t watch Oli. I tried to call you, but, you were on the pitch,” Bethany is handing him Oliver and slides the diaper bag off of her shoulder. Jamie grips the handle and looks down at Oliver who’s sitting down there like nothing is happening. He’s got no idea he’s just about to throw a wrench right into Jamie’s life, once again. He’s just drooling down his chin, and Jamie can’t help but smile as he sees it. He looks back up and tells Bethany not to worry about it. She thanks him profusely, and then she’s practically running down the hall the leave. He looks down at Oliver, then looks over at Will down the hallway, and smiles at him.
“Hey Will,” Jamie is already walking over to him, and Will has nowhere to go, his eyes go wide when he sees Jamie pull out his strap body carrier for Oliver from the diaper bag and clip it onto him. Will is saying, “No, I don’t think,” but Jamie is already putting Oliver into it, and he’s smiling so sweetly at Will he can’t stop it.
“I haven’t told anyone about this little lad, well except my mum, Bethany, and this old lady at a baby boutique, but this is Oliver. He’s a wish baby, who showed up outside my door last week. That’s his nanny, Bethany, but it looks like today you’ll be his manny!” Jamie smiles like he isn’t freaking the fuck out on the inside. “All you have to do is the same thing you usually do. Just hand us water, but this time with a baby strapped to your chest. When we walk back onto the pitch, you don’t even have to acknowledge anyone. I’ll tell everyone what’s going on after training,” Jamie is trying to tug on Oliver’s coat, which he probably should’ve done before putting him on his chest. He gets his hat and gloves from the diaper bag and pushes them on despite Oliver trying to wiggle away from them. Will just stands there perfectly still, which works out well for Jamie and Oliver. He shoves the diaper bag to the side, he’ll get it when he comes back out.
“Okay, here we go Kitman,” Jamie pushes him lightly on the back and they make their way back to the pitch. Oliver just seems like he’s happy to be there, and doesn’t notice the way Jamie is panicking on the inside. His hands are shaking, and he’ll just say it’s from the cold when he gets back outside. There are eyes on them as soon as they walk back out. Jamie just ignores everyone looking at him and makes his back into the drill. Will has his hands wrapped around Oliver, even though he doesn’t need to, and walks over to the water table. Beard has pulled his sunglasses off his eyes as Will stands near them and looks at the baby, his eyes flickering across Oliver’s face, then over to Jamie’s, and then flicks them over to Roy standing next to him. Jamie can see his mouth drop open in shock, and he can’t help but facepalm himself. He fucking wishes Beard had a better poker face, especially in situations like this. Roy has barely looked at Oliver, but he’s glaring at Jamie like his life depends on it.
“That your kid, bruv?” Isaac breaks the silence from behind Jamie, and Jamie is next in the drill so he uses that as an excuse not to answer him. It’s easy to keep dodging questions because Roy doesn’t let up on training despite the elephant in the room. And when everyone filters off the pitch, Jamie goes to Will and can avoid the conversation for even longer. He grabs Oliver from his chest, and Will finally lets himself take a breath. Jamie is shaking when he holds Oliver, his nerves starting to overtake him.
He thought he had more time to figure this out, it’s only been a goddamn week. And if Beard can figure out in less than thirty seconds that some of him is made from Roy, then at least some of the other players will. Fucking, Roy will too, he’s not fucking stupid.
“It’ll be okay. I mean, everyone is probably going to ask invasive questions, but it will be okay. Does Roy know?” Will tries to comfort him, and the first part is pretty good, but the other part makes him groan.
“I haven’t told him. He came over to check on me the other day, or rather catch me in a lie about not being sick, and I slammed the door in his face before he could see him,” Jamie smiles at Oliver as he sets him back down in his carrier. It’s been a very busy and bustling day for him, so it’s no surprise when he lets out a yawn and closes his eyes as he’s settled in. “Do you think he’ll realize he’s his?” Jamie and Will start to make their way in where he knows everyone is waiting for him. Will lets out a laugh and then starts stuttering out apologies, “Sorry, Jamie, but he looks like his twin.”
The conversation comes to a stop, and Jamie takes a deep breath in before he walks into the locker room. The conversations all stop, and all of them are looking at him with wide eyes. He can see Roy sitting in his office, his arms crossed over his chest as his eyes fall to where Oliver is sleeping peacefully. Jamie has to look away before he sees the look on Roy’s face once he realizes who he goddamn looks exactly like. The only part of Jamie is the blue eyes, but Oliver just had to be sleeping right now.
“So?” Isaac starts, looking for an answer to the question he asked on the pitch. Jamie sits down at his cubby, and all the rest of them stay stock still, all their eyes on the baby.
“This is Oliver. He’s an accidental wish baby. My wish baby,” Jamie slowly states. He feels like he could hear a pin drop by the way everyone stays still.
“That is a very nice name,” Jan breaks the silence, and all of them turn their heads toward him. Jamie lets out a laugh and is thankful for Jan’s bluntness, and also the compliment. “What? It is!” Jan throws his arms out. Then, the questions start pouring in. Will was right, invasive questions were all that were being thrown at him.
“Wish baby?”
“He doesn’t even look like you! Wait, who the fuck is the other half?”
“I thought they were myths!”
“How long have you been keeping this a secret?”
“Did Will know before us? That isn’t fair!”
Jamie is overwhelmed, and he just can’t stop thinking about how he thought he was going to have more time to figure this out. He tries to answer as many questions as he can. (“No, Will did not find out before you! Okay, well, I guess kind of. His nanny dropped him off, and I told Will then. So, technically he did.”). After everyone gets their answers, they all start cooing over the sleeping baby in front of them. And Jamie finds himself looking towards Roy again who hasn’t changed his position since he walked in. He grabs the carrier with Oliver, and while ignoring the protests from the team he makes his way into Roy’s office. Beard turns the blinds for them, and then walks out with a wave. It’s barely been thirty seconds before Roy states the obvious.
“That baby is mine,” Roy breathes out, there isn’t even a hint of a question hidden in there. Jamie freezes, he thought maybe they’d work their way to that conclusion, but this works too. He nods, obviously Roy knows, he doesn’t need to explain that part.
“You wished to have a baby with me so much, one showed up on your fucking porch?” That’s the question Roy asks, and he finally looks away from Oliver so that he can look at Jamie.
“I didn’t,” Jamie pauses, that’s not the truth. “I wished a little. I don’t know. You held Maxwell’s baby, and then my imagination went wild. I was having dreams and everything, and I kept thinking about it. Then, Oliver showed up,” Jamie explains. He knows eventually Roy is going to ask why it was him who he wished to have a baby, and he’s going to have to explain he’s wildly in love with him. Oliver saves the day though because his eyes blink open and he starts crying. Jamie exits the conversation and moves to grab Oliver out, but Roy is reaching out faster than he is. He makes it look easy grabbing him out there, and Jamie imagines it’s because he held Phoebe a shit ton when she was a baby.
It’s like Oliver knows who he is when Roy picks him up and looks at him. His crying halts as soon as he registers who he’s being picked up by, and his mouth curls into a smile. Roy looks like he’s in awe, Jamie imagines this is probably how he looked when he first looked at Oliver too. It’s like magic seeing them together, the way both of them are looking at each other, and the way Roy is holding him. It’s breathtaking, and Jamie has to step to Roy’s side before it gets too much. He instead just looks at Oliver, who’s looking at both of them with stars in his eyes. It’s a known fact that wish babies have some sort of sense of who their parents are, and Jamie thinks back to the day when Oliver was acting off until Roy stopped by their house. Like, maybe he knew who exactly was at the door and it calmed him down a little.
“He looks just fucking like you,” Roy softly states, and Jamie’s eyes furrow.
“No the fuck he doesn’t. Beard and Will both clocked he was yours when they laid eyes on him,”
“He has your nose,” Roy breathes out and softly brushes his fingers against it. Oliver scrunches up his face and tries to push Roy’s hand out of his way. “Look, he even has the same mole as you do on your middle finger,” Roy grabs the hand and shows Jamie. Jamie looks over at Roy, kind of surprised he would even notice that. It’s the kind of thing that Jamie notices about Roy, but not the kind of thing he’d expect to be noticed by him.
“He acts like you though, little lad wakes up at 4 am every night,” Roy lets out a laugh but his eyes never leave Oliver’s. It seems like he’s taking it all in, and Jamie did the same thing so he can’t blame him.
“No wonder you looked like shit when I came over. And now it explains why you bruised my fucking foot trying to get me out of your driveway,” Roy brushes his hand through Oliver’s hair when he says it, it’s a delicate touch as he swirls around his fingers. Jamie shrugs, he doesn’t know if Roy can see him from where he’s positioned. He doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t want to have this conversation here where Nate or Higgins could walk in at any time. But, Roy is holding Oliver so delicately he doesn’t want to pull them away from each other. So, he chooses not to say anything.
A silence overtakes the room, just the occasional noise coming from Oliver. Jamie doesn’t know what to say, and Roy isn’t asking anything, so he’s not going to start a conversation right now. But, it pains him when he can see Oliver start to get restless and has to take him from Roy. He bundles him up in the carrier and turns toward Roy as he gets ready to leave.
“You can come over, so you know, we can talk about this,” Jamie lifts Oliver a bit even though he doesn’t need to signify what he’s talking about. Roy nods at him, and then Jamie leaves. The locker room is empty when he walks out and he’s thankful. He grabs his duffel bag and leaves. He gives Will a wave when he sees him, and makes a note to himself that he needs to bring him a pastry or something as a thank you. He takes a deep breath when he sits in his car, and finally realizes what the fuck happened today. It’s out there, everyone knows he goddamn wished for a baby with Roy fucking Kent. The car ride back is quick and quiet, and the first thing Jamie does is put Oliver in his crib. He’s had a long day meeting everyone and off his usual routine. Jamie sits down next to the crib in a position where he can see his chest moving up and down. He reaches his hand through the bars, it barely fits but he wants to be touching him. He grabs his hand and brushes his fingers against it.
“I hope you liked everyone,” Jamie whispers. “And meeting Roy was good for you, I bet that made you happy. You being next to him makes it so obvious you’re half of him,” Oliver doesn’t give any reaction, obviously, but Jamie can’t bring himself to leave the room just yet. He’s nervous about the conversation he and Roy are going to have later. Roy could show up at the door any minute now, and Jamie is going to have to spill his goddamn guts out. But, he’s relieved Roy finally knows. And maybe now things are going to change.
-
Eventually, Jamie leaves the nursery and waits downstairs for Roy to show up. He fiddles around making sure all the bottles are cleaned up, organizes the toys that were thrown on the floor, and paces anxiously while the baby monitor sits on the table. When the knock finally echoes through his living room, he shakes his hands out to get rid of the nerves. It doesn’t work, because his hands are still shaking when he opens it. Roy is standing there, he also looks nervous which is not something Jamie sees often. Roy doesn’t offer a ‘Hi’ or ‘How are you?’, he just walks past Jamie into his house.
“Were you ever going to fucking tell me?” Roy is sitting on the couch when he makes his way to the living room. Jamie stops in his tracks but wills himself to take steps towards him. He sits next to him on the couch, leaving space between them.
“I was,” Jamie answers, and that’s the truth. “Eventually,” he finishes, because that’s the full truth. Neither of them is facing each other, but Jamie can see their reflections on the TV screen. Roy is bent forehead with his head in his hands, and Jamie is nervously biting at his nails.
“Me?” Roy says it like a question, and Jamie finally looks over at him with a confused expression on his face. Roy grunts to himself, he must know it doesn’t convey what he’s trying to ask. “You wished for a baby, with me,” Roy looks over at him too. Jamie’s breath hitches at the eye contact. He nods.
“I’m in love with you,” Jamie rushes out, they might as well get to the meat of the conversation instead of just poking around it. He figures Roy must have some sort of idea that he does, why else would he wish for a baby with someone? Certainly, they wouldn’t have granted his wish if it was just because he admired Roy, then everyone with a celebrity crush or idol would have a baby showing up outside their door.
Roy doesn’t say anything, but Jamie hears him take a deep breath. He lets the confession settle over both of them. He knows it’s not the biggest piece of information Roy has received today, maybe second. He leans back against the couch and watches for any reaction from him. He wishes Oliver would make a noise, but he doesn’t get the luxury of the conversation being interrupted again.
“Jesus Christ, Jamie,” is what Roy chooses to say, and Jamie squints at him with anger on his face.
“What the fuck do you want me to fucking do here Roy? We’ve got a fucking baby upstairs with our DNA. You think I wished him up because I think you’re such a great friend? Get fucking real,” Jamie sneers. He thought this conversation was going to go better than this, but Roy is giving him nothing. He crosses his arms over his chest and scoffs as Roy just gapes at him.
“Jamie,” Roy whispers, and he can’t bring himself to look at him while his eyes are stinging. “I was fucking wishing too,” Jamie whips his eyes towards him. “You with Phoebe when you were playing 1v1, I fucking thought about it for weeks. Then, fucking Maxwell brought the baby and you were playing fucking peek-a-boo with him,” Roy explains, “It wasn’t just you.”
It’s Jamie’s turn to gape at him, Roy looks so earnest saying it, and this isn’t what he was expecting to happen. Jamie thinks he should probably say something, talk more about this, but he can’t help himself. He pushes himself forward and presses his lips right against Roy’s. He curls his hands around his neck and pulls him as close as he can. The angle is weird, Jamie is on his knees on the couch and Roy is sitting forward, but they make it work. Roy’s scruff is prickly against him as they move their heads with each other, but the softness of his lips makes up for it. Roy’s hands are digging into his hips where he’s sitting up, and the press of them is perfect.
The baby monitor on the coffee table is what breaks them apart, just a small cry from Oliver. Roy goes to check, but Jamie keeps him there, “He’s just moving around, he’ll stop himself,” and he’s proven right once because once Oliver settles, he stops crying. Roy still looks towards the baby monitor to see him on the camera, and Jamie feels guilty that he kept this from him. It’s only been a little over a week, but Jamie knows what Oliver’s cries mean, whether it’s because he wants to be held or wants a bottle. He knows the way he pouts when Jamie pulls something out of his mouth, and the scowl on his face when he gets upset about it. Roy doesn’t know any of this stuff, and it’s Jamie’s fault.
“I’m sorry,” Jamie whispers, and Roy looks away from the baby monitor. “I kept him from you,” he explains. Roy starts shaking his head.
“Don’t. We can’t worry about it now, and I’m not going to hold it against you,” Jamie smiles at him lightly. Jamie then gets up from the couch, places his hand out for Roy to take, and then drags him upstairs. He quietly turns the knob to Oliver’s room and makes sure the door doesn’t creak when he pushes in. His small night light illuminates the floor, and he pulls Roy over to where he is. He looks in the crib to see his sweet face relaxed as he sleeps.
“He came with a fucking card, and it said, “Your wish has been granted.” I thought it was a fucking joke at first,” Jamie brushes the back of his hand against Oliver’s cheeks. He looks back to see Roy standing still a couple of steps away from the crib. He rolls his eyes and moves away so he can push him towards it. Roy moves hesitantly, and he freezes again when he sees him lying there. Jamie steps so they’re standing side by side as they look at him together. It’s much more intimate than it was in Roy’s office.
“We’re repainting this room. I’ll hire someone,” Roy doesn’t look away from Oliver when he says it, and Jamie lets out a surprised laugh. He leans his head against Roy’s shoulder and presses himself further in when Roy wraps an arm around him.
This moment is exactly what Jamie had been picturing, and he can’t believe this is exactly happening. Roy wrapped against him and their baby sleeping in front of them. Fuck, his wish really has been granted, the universe knew exactly what they were fucking doing.