Archive of Our Own

The grime of the day’s training swirling down the drain, Roy Kent reached for the faucet, turning the shower off. The last footballer in the building, he relished in the quiet serenity of the empty locker room. This was his church—plus, his kebab place. He inhaled and exhaled deliberately. Rolling out the tension in his neck, he made quick work of toweling himself dry and changing into clean and dry clothes. 

He quickly scribbled down a reminder for himself to switch out the ever-present extra set of clothes in his locker, and then wandered down the empty corridor to Keeley’s office. He leaned on the door frame, sagging slightly, taking his full body weight onto his undamaged leg.

“Ready to go, love?”

Keeley hummed in agreement, holding up a finger as a sign to give her a minute. He ambled into her office, sitting on one of her plush chairs while she finished up the last email of her workday.

“Have you heard from Ted yet?”

Roy grunted, pulling his phone out of his jacket pocket. He winced at the number of missed calls he had from Ted—the first call had been hours ago—and was two seconds away from calling him back when he saw a text from Rebecca in their separate thread.

Blondie ICE 💜: Ted’s okay, he’s with me, I had him bring Hen and Michelle over to the house to stay. I’ll explain later. Can you call me/pick up dinner on your way home? Xxxx

“They’re all at home,” Roy said simply, and Keeley’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly. 

“We’ll give Rebecca a call on our way, yeah?”

He grimaced, locking his phone, eyes softening as he looked at his lock screen—a picture of Ted, Rebecca, and Keeley playing with Phoebe. It was taken not too long ago and quickly became one of his most favorite photos.

Shouldering Keeley’s bag, he turned to offer his hand, and she slid a hand into his, squeezing gently. 

“All set,” she murmured, flicking off her office lights and closing the door behind them, on a mission to go see their partners, and soothe any ruffled feathers or hurt feelings that they could.

Keeley drove home, hands tight around the steering wheel so much so that her knuckles shone white. Roy stretched out beside her in the passenger seat, doing his maintenance knee stretches whenever he could, wherever he could. Physio said it wouldn’t be long now, unfortunately, but he’d be damned if he didn’t do whatever he could do prolong his career. 

They wove through traffic, toward home, and Roy jabbed at Keeley’s phone with his pointer finger, intent on calling Rebecca to find out what exactly they were walking into. He would have used his, but for some reason he couldn’t figure out how to connect to the bluetooth speakers in Keeley’s car, and he figured she would want to hear the conversation too—it would come through better via bluetooth than from the tinny speakerphone.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Rebecca answered quietly, and Roy could tell from the background noise that she had stepped into the back garden, shutting the French doors to the kitchen firmly behind her.

“Blondie.”

“Oh,” Rebecca huffed, volume going louder when she tucked her phone closer to her mouth. “Sorry, darling, thought you were Keeley—is she driving, then?”

Roy grunted in acknowledgment, turning up the volume on the car console.

“Hiya, babe,” Keeley said brightly, barely a hint of tension thrumming through her voice as she expertly navigated through London traffic.

“So,” Keeley said, leadingly, and Roy glared at her, although there was no heat in it. 

“How’s our Ted?”

The sigh was audible, and reverberated through the car speakers. At a stoplight, Roy and Keeley exchanged a quick glance while Rebecca resumed her pacing in the garden. 

“I think he’s okay—doing much better, now that he’s home and in our space, you know?”

Keeley hummed supportively from the driver’s seat. 

“What happened, Rebecca?” Roy broached cautiously, figuring she and Ted would fill in Keeley and Roy at some point, but he wanted to hear it from her, now, before they got home and had to entertain guests, and it wasn’t just the four of them in their sanctuary anymore.

They could practically see her grimacing as she paced in the garden, softly lit from a combination of moonlight and a motion light that Ted had installed when he had officially moved in “for safety, darlin’.”

“He had a panic attack—he’s alright, but Ted called me this afternoon, around half one or so,” Rebecca said distractedly. 

“He was hiding in the bathroom from Henry and Michelle, running his wrists under the cold water tap like Carlotta had suggested—apparently, Michelle had cottoned on to how bare and un-lived in his flat had become, and had asked him if he had moved in with me already, and I think that, plus you know…all of it set him off. Said he tried to call Roy but forgot about training.”

Knowing that it wouldn’t help the situation, Roy bit down hard on his bottom lip and kept his curses rolling around in his head instead of spewing out of his mouth like usual. He had been working on that in therapy with Dr. Fieldstone, and was annoyed that her professional advice was helping. Keeley noticed, and took one hand off the wheel to squeeze his arm gently.

“Will you pick up dinner, though? I ordered at our usual place, already paid for it—it should be ready soon,” Rebecca said offhandedly, and Roy felt jarred by the conversational pivot. He shook his head slightly, and Keeley placed her hand back on the wheel, pulling into the right lane on her way to pick up their dinner.

Roy couldn’t wait to get home—of course he was looking forward to meeting Henry, and Michelle, but the unease building in his gut would only be settled when he clapped eyes on his partners.

Keeley slotted the car neatly between Rebecca and Roy’s cars, putting it in park before turning it off, hand lingering on the ignition. She could practically feel Roy raise an eyebrow at her, even though she couldn’t see him just then. Thankfully, he didn’t say anything, didn’t break the silence, just let them sit there for a moment. 

She obviously didn’t really know Roy the person before all of the soulmate bonds of it all—Keeley had been familiar with Roy the professional athlete, a fiery, foul-mouthed footballer, who, while he was always kind to her during their run-ins at the club, didn’t go out of his way to talk to her otherwise. 

Getting to know the real Roy, the man underneath his football persona, throughout the last few months had been a surprise and a delight. For all her good natured teasing about Roy’s emotional constipation, the short time that the man had been in individual therapy with Dr. Fieldstone and couples therapy with Carlotta had allowed him to bloom in ways that Keeley would have never expected.

“You alright?”

Keeley sucked in a breath, exhaling roughly, ruffling the hair around her face in the process. She turned to Roy as best she could with her seatbelt still securely fastened even though they had been lingering in the driveway for a few minutes.

“What if Henry doesn’t like me?” Keeley said quietly, an anguished look on her face as she contemplated the unbearable prospect, eyes flicking up to meet Roy’s before she quickly broke eye contact.

“And then we all just took the whole week off to spend time with him for nothing, and—”

Keeley felt a warm hand rest on the top of her knee, and all but nuzzled into the contact as she shut her eyes in an attempt to center herself before they went inside.

“Keeley, listen to me, okay?” Roy said seriously, and Keeley opened her eyes, locking onto Roy’s intense but loving gaze.

“Henry will love you, I promise. He’d be mad not to, and I bet he’s just like his father, too much love to go around. This is going to be a low stakes meet and greet, and we’re going to follow Ted’s lead and it’ll all be fine, sweetheart. If it’s not fine, you can, I dunno, paint my nails whatever color you’d like for match days or something, at least I’ll end my career on a stylish note.”

Keeley snorted despite herself, and she felt Roy’s hand close on her knee, pat a couple times, and then withdraw. 

“Alright, c’mon, I just gave you a pep talk, let’s go get in there before the food gets cold,” Roy said teasingly, and Keeley grinned at him before she checked her face in the mirror, swiping a fingertip along the bottom of her eyelid.

The front door opened, and Rebecca stood in the doorway, illuminated by the light filtering through the foyer, her sleeveless blouse fluttering in the slight breeze. She saluted Roy, who had gone to the backseat to grab the takeaway and she held out a hand to Keeley with a knowing smile.

“C’mon, you,” Rebecca said gently, gripping Keeley’s hand in hers, pulling it up to clasp on her chest. Rebecca bent her head down quickly, dropping a kiss onto Keeley’s knuckles.

“There’s a certain someone who is quite excited to meet you, you know?” Rebecca said rather secretively. “Apparently our Ted can’t stop talking about his new friend Keeley.”

Keeley felt her lips automatically tip up in a grin, almost against her will, and Rebecca pulled her close, wrapping an arm around the shorter woman’s shoulders.

“It’ll be fine, sweetheart, I promise there’s nothing to worry about. We’re just going to have dinner, and I’ve set us all up in the living room so it’ll be a bit more informal. Maybe we can watch a movie later—I daresay Henry’s as obsessed with superhero movies as his father, but I will suffer along if I must,” Rebecca said dryly, and Keeley chuckled at her partner/best friend’s dramatics.

Keeley allowed herself to be led into the bright and cheery kitchen, where Michelle and Henry were seated at the island. She waved awkwardly at Michelle who winked at her in response. Keeley’s brow furrowed in confusion but before she could think too much about it, she suddenly saw a blur out of the corner of her eye. 

Before she knew it, her arms were full of a small child who had enthusiastically thrown his arms around her. Keeley grunted as the full force of Henry collided with her midsection and it was only Rebecca’s hand pressing gently on her lower back that kept her from toppling over.

“Hey there, speed racer,” Ted chided as he entered the kitchen, a bottle of red and white wine in either hand which he deposited on the nearby countertop. Henry quickly ditched Keeley and scampered over to his dad who wrapped him in a hug, ruffling his hair with a grin.

“Hiya, Ted,” Keeley said, nerves suddenly creeping back in amidst this new, uncharted family dynamic. 

“Hey, doll,” Ted replied, voice deepening as he winked over Henry’s head and smirked slightly as he did so. 

“Missed you today.”

Keeley flushed, crimson spreading down her neck as her eyes narrowed. He knew what that tone of voice did to her, and rolled her eyes in response, chuckling dryly. Rebecca’s hands shifted so that she was holding Keeley’s hip loosely, and they all turned as Roy began rifling through the takeaway bags.

“C’mon, aren’t we eating, or what?” Roy said, mouth stuffed full with a garlic knot. They had gone for a mix of cuisine—pizza and garlic knots, burgers and chips, a few side salads, and a couple kebabs from Roy’s favorite place. 

The oven beeped, and Ted slowly extricated himself from Henry’s barnacle-like hug (the Lasso boy and Keeley had more in common than they thought). He grabbed his favorite potholders and pulled a pan out of the oven. 

Keeley caught a whiff of dark chocolate and bit back a moan. That fucker had baked her some brownies, she just knew it.

Michelle sighed appreciatively, joking that the parent-teacher association at Henry’s school was forever lamenting the loss of Ted’s culinary skills in the yearly bake sale. 

Henry yelped as his hand grazed the side of the hot pan in his quest to snag a too-hot brownie, and Ted skillfully grabbed him, lifting him up to the higher sink and turning on the cold tap. Keeley frowned, making a mental note to get a little step stool for the kitchen so Henry could more easily access the sink and the refrigerator.

Unblinking, she stared at Ted, relishing in seeing dad!Ted before her very eyes. Michelle coughed slightly, and Keeley’s attention jolted back to their guests. Shoot. Schooling her face, she politely asked Michelle how their flights had gone, and what they had been up to all day.

“So sorry we couldn’t get out of work earlier,” Keeley said, gesturing to Roy who was still rifling through takeaway bags, in the midst of plating up food for everyone.

“We have a very strict boss, you know,” Keeley said, winking at Henry who frowned slightly. Rebecca’s hands tightened on Keeley’s hips, and she could hear the woman huff behind her.

“Keeley?”

“Yeah, poppet?”

“Isn’t Rebecca the boss of you and Roy?” Henry said innocently, and Keeley grinned as she heard Ted roughly clear his throat on the other side of the island.

Roy rolled his eyes in fond exasperation, and Rebecca chuckled against the soft skin of Keeley’s neck, having bent down to rest her chin on Keeley’s shoulder.

“She sure is, babe, but since her and Ted skived off work early to go greet you and your mum after your travels, someone had to hold down the fort at Nelson Road, didn’t they?”

Henry all but melted under Keeley’s gaze, and she chuckled to herself thinking that Henry was maybe a little bit in love with her, just like his father. Her gaze swung up to meet Ted’s across the kitchen and she flushed as he waggled his eyebrows salaciously at her. Point for Ted, then.

Roy carefully carried his plate, and a plate for Ted—with the mild sauce, of course—and set them on the low coffee table in front of the sofa. He was about to move Ted’s plate to the end of the table, figuring he’d want to sit down there near the armchair that Henry had apparently commandeered in the short time since his arrival, when the man himself strode into the living room with his son hot on his heels. 

He resolutely ignored the burst of pleasure that ignited in his chest, thrummed through his veins, at the sight of Ted’s soft smile that was reserved only for his partners. 

“Why thank you, sunshine,” Ted murmured, voice rumbling low, too low for Henry’s ears. Roy flushed crimson, and rolled his eyes immediately, ignoring Ted’s knowing wink and amusement.

“Henry, bud, why don’t you sit by me and Royo?” Ted said brightly, turning to Henry who had started to flag a bit, eyes drooping a little. 

“Then your mom and Rebecca and Keeley can have the other half of the couch, alright?”

Henry all but collapsed next to Ted on the couch, boneless after a long day of intercontinental travel. Michelle seated herself in the empty armchair near the sofa, and Keeley and Rebecca settled themselves on the other side of Henry, plates momentarily forgotten on the coffee table.

Roy was thankful for the momentary reprieve from polite small talk as everyone tucked into their dinner, and faintly thought that Ted coaxing a sleepy Henry into eating a few bites reminded him of doing the same with Phoebe. 

He resolved to ask his sister if he could bring Phoebe over for a kickabout sometime with Henry, maybe invite Jamie along—he was basically at the same intellectual level as the children, after all. Ted took that moment to accidentally elbow Roy in the side, as if he knew Roy’s uncharitable thoughts about Jamie.

“Buddy,” Ted murmured, and Roy realized that Henry had fallen asleep on the other side of Ted—lucky bugger, he was nestled in between Keeley and Ted.

“Ope—I got him,” Ted said, waving off Michelle who had half-risen from her armchair in an attempt to shepherd her child off to bed.

“Y’all be good, now,” he said, winking at Roy as he picked Henry up from the sofa, settling the child in his arms. Roy gripped his thighs, trying to hide how much of an effect Ted’s words had on him, nails digging into the muscle beneath his joggers.

Heavy-footed because of Henry, they listened to Ted shuffle down the hallway on his way to tuck the boy in. Roy heard the guest room door hinges squeak open and mentally noted to oil those hinges at the weekend.

Roy shifted awkwardly in his seat, and Rebecca, god bless her, jumped in to act as the perfect hostess. He would have to remember to kiss her for it later.

While Rebecca engaged Michelle in some polite small talk—the women had chatted a bit via FaceTime in the weeks leading up to the visit—Roy and Keeley could sit back and relax, as it were. Keeley took advantage of Ted’s absence to slide away from Rebecca on the sofa, and snuggle up to Roy, and he slung an arm over Keeley’s shoulder as she nuzzled into his side.

Ted re-entered the room shortly after and chuckled at the sight before him, quipping about how his seat had been stolen right out from under him, as Roy had settled in between Rebecca and Keeley on the sofa. Roy passed Ted his drink, and Ted reached for it before freezing slightly as his wrist tattoo became visible when his shirt sleeve inched up his arm. Shoot.

Instinctively all four of them made eye contact before warily glancing at Michelle. They obviously were all going to let Ted take the lead on the conversations with the mother of his child, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t worry in the meantime.

Ted was taken aback by the soft smile on Michelle’s face…maybe she…didn’t see the tattoo, then? His daydream was quickly disabused when Michelle opened her mouth.

“Nice ink, Ted,” she said with a sly wink, and Ted’s face shuttered momentarily. Michelle clocked it immediately, frowned, and waved her hand toward the quartet on the couch.

“Ted,” Michelle said calmly, although Ted couldn’t really hear it over the ringing in his ears.

He felt as Keeley pressed herself closer to his side and Roy stretched a leg out to hook their ankles together while they rested on the floor. Rebecca stretched out an arm all the way on the back of the sofa. She brought her hand to rest gently on Ted’s neck, playing with the fine hair at the back of his neck, swooping her thumb in soothing circles at the top of his spine.

“Uh—y-yeah,” Ted replied with a bravado that he absolutely didn’t feel. He wasn’t sure he’d been this terrified since the day Henry was born and this mewling little newborn was placed in his arms.

He saw Michelle tilt her head curiously out of the corner of his eye. Ted remained silent, waiting for his ex-wife’s inevitable judgment, which is why he could have been knocked over with a feather with what actually came out of her mouth.

“To be honest, part of the reason I came here was to see how you would feel about signing divorce papers, and I…I just wasn’t expecting all of this, you know? But I’m so happy for you, if this is what I think it is, that you—that you found a soul bond over here,” Michelle said quietly, focused intently on Ted’s face. His eyes had fallen shut and he had resolutely kept them closed for so many reasons.

“Am I…am I right in assuming that the soul bond is…with more than one person, Ted?”

Ted wrenched his eyes open, staring at Michelle with not a small amount of trepidation. 

Rebecca extended her elbow, resting the top of her hand on Ted’s leg, and in doing so, made her tattoo visible—she had made an effort to hide it from view as much as possible. Ted and Keeley wouldn’t stand for her covering up her perfect action figure-y arms, unless she wanted to, obviously. She let Michelle stare at it briefly as Ted turned his wrist over, displaying his own matching tattoo.

“Imagine all of our surprise,” Rebecca said dryly, huffing a laugh as Keeley’s head moved to rest on Roy’s shoulder. 

“When we woke up one morning with tattoos that hadn’t been there the night before.”

“And then spent days freaking out about it and wondering who the hell we were bonded with,” Keeley added, voice partially muffled in Roy’s jumper.

“Speak for yourself,” Roy grunted. “I wasn't freaking out.”

“Alright, big man, tell me you didn’t have a meltdown when Jamie was the one to point out your new tattoo and the similarities to mine,” Ted grinned, staring at Roy across the sofa, daring him to contradict him. The man in question just grumbled and deliberately picked up his cup of tea, taking a nice long sip.

Ted zoned back into the present, chewing absentmindedly on his bottom lip as he considered what to say next.

“Ted, relax—it’s alright, I promise,” Michelle jumped to reassure him, and Ted felt grounded by the touch of Rebecca next to him. 

“I’m just trying to get the lay of the land here, is all,” Michelle said soothingly. “Look, I wanted to come visit for a couple reasons, our divorce papers being one, but also because Henry’s been talking more and more about wanting to spend time over here with you, in London, and I think it’s an idea that has some merit.”

Ted sucked in a huge breath, holding the breath in until his lungs burned with effort before slowly exhaling. 

“He’s also been talking about meeting Dad’s new friends, and obviously with the…soulmate bond of it all, that’s something we all should probably discuss. I’m happy to tell Henry as much or as little as you want, Ted—Roy, Rebecca, and Keeley can just stay “Dad’s friends” or you can explain as you see fit. If he’s going to start spending school breaks in London, I want him to be as comfortable here as he can.”

Ted heard a slight buzzing in his ears and felt the sofa move as Keeley slowly detached herself from Roy to wrap her arms and legs around Ted.

He opened his mouth to say something—anything—and quickly shut it, wheels still spinning in his brain. This was everything he ever wanted, Henry coming to visit for longer, Henry meeting his dad’s new partners, Henry and maybe Phoebe running around in the back garden as the four of them made dinner before they watched an animated movie and tucked the kids into bed. Ted just couldn’t get his brain on board, and after all the anxiety that had sat heavy in his stomach for weeks, and all of that was maybe—probably—for nothing?

God bless her, Rebecca quickly took charge of the situation, giving Ted a moment to breathe, snuggle with Keeley, and re-calibrate. She drew Michelle into a conversation about Henry’s next school break, and anything tourist-y that they’d like to do in London while they’re visiting, and Michelle rattled through a list of things that she and Henry had both thought of on the flight over. Should have known one of the first things on the list would have been Abbey Road.

The next morning passed pleasantly enough. Henry didn’t seem to notice that his dad had three extra sleeping partners, and at any rate, they were up well before the jet-lagged child arose from his bed around noon and blearily stumbled into the kitchen. 

Roy’s sister had gotten called into emergency surgery, so Keeley had gone to collect Phoebe and make sure she had a change of clothes and everything needed for a sleepover. If the young girl showed up covered in powdered sugar with donut remnants all over her, that was their business and no one else’s.

Ted raised an eyebrow, chuckling under his breath as Keeley declared herself to be the fun aunt, thank you very much! All the grown ups hustled the children into the garden after a spot of breakfast, and Jamie showed up around the same time—Henry couldn’t stop staring at the star striker, going out of his way to all but lay his coat down in at the muddy entrance to the garden (Rebecca had always meant to get it re-landscaped) so Jamie wouldn’t have to step into a mud puddle. 

Jamie and Roy entertained Henry and Phoebe in the garden while Michelle and Ted settled in Rebecca’s study on the top floor. He was comforted by the innate smell of Rebecca that permeated the room, her perfume, her reading glasses tossed haphazardly on the desk, her most recent book with a Waitrose receipt for a bookmark laying on the nearby table. 

Keeley and Rebecca remained downstairs, pacing holes in the floor of the living room (Rebecca) and settling on the couch with a fuzzy blanket (Keeley). 

“Babe, did you switch to water yet?” Keeley asked an increasingly frenetic and caffeinated Rebecca, who had been nursing a seemingly never-ending cup of tea since the morning.

Rebcca grimaced, and grabbed Keeley’s water bottle to chug some water to balance out some of the caffeine in her system before she switched back to her lukewarm teacup.

Up in the study, Ted signed the various papers that would officially dissolve his marriage of more than a decade, and tried not to ruminate on it too much. Michelle signed the last sheet of paper, dotting her i’s carefully before looping the L on Lasso, the last time she would use her married name. She had already started the paperwork to revert to her maiden name, but it was already becoming a hassle, and she had to restart her DMV paperwork due to an incorrect filing system or something. 

He leaned back in his chair with a sigh, and shared a chuckle with Michelle. 

“Surreal, isn’t it?”

Ted hummed in acknowledgement, staring at the top of the stack of papers that read petition for divorce in bold, block-y letters. He had expected to feel different, to feel something, but all he really felt was a cold wave of relief wash over him as he realized he didn’t have to pretend anymore or try and shrink himself down to be more palatable to the one person who was supposed to love him forever. 

And he was happy, too, for Michelle—all he’d ever wanted was for her to be happy, and it sucked that it wasn’t with him, but he was glad they called it what it was and weren’t trying to force anything for the sake of their son. Michelle would always be important to him, they would always be linked because of their beloved Henry, but now they were free to find happiness elsewhere.

“Should we—d’you wanna tell Henry today, or let the dust settle kind of a thing?”

Michelle shrugged a shoulder, contemplating as she dropped back in the adjacent armchair.

“I—he’s been asking a lot of questions,” Michelle said with a grimace and a flicker of pride all in one. “We got a smart kid, Ted. I think…we’ve already had initial conversations with him, and we’re only here for the school break, so it might be better to rip the bandaid off, you know? What do you think?”

Ted stroked his mustache, eyes focusing on a speck of dust on one of the bookshelves in front of him. He made a mental note to go and dust both the study and the library later—he couldn't abide dust on bookshelves, it made him absolutely nuts.

“I think Henry’s a good kid, and I’d like to be honest with him. And we can just reiterate that his daily life won’t change too much—he’ll go to school and be with you in Kansas, and I’ll FaceTime him every day and help him with his homework like usual, and the only thing that might change is that he’ll come and visit me in London more often. And…”

Ted pressed his lips together, cutting himself off mid-sentence, and he could see Michelle looking at him with a mix of fondness and concern.

“I dunno how to—when to bring up my situation with Henry, you know? Like, throwing the divorce news at him, and then the fact that his daddy’s got a whole new set of partners is a lot for anyone, let alone a little guy, and I…”

Ted felt a hand on his knee, and realized he had closed his eyes during his restless ramble.

“Ted,” Michelle said firmly, and Ted took a deep breath in through his nose, exhaling through his mouth as he attempted to calm his increasingly racing thoughts.

“You can share as much or as little with Henry as you want—there is no rush, here. I know you want to be honest with him, but you can wait a bit to tell him about your fresh ink,” Michelle said with a cheeky grin, and Ted groaned, throwing his head into his hands as he choked on a laugh. 

“Why don’t we just tell him about the divorce now, have some reassurance time and some family snuggles, and then take it from there.”

To Ted’s utter relief, the “hard” conversation with Henry wasn’t actually hard at all. Their child stunned both Ted and Michelle with the laid back attitude and way that he handled the news of his parents’ impending divorce. Henry seemed to be completely unbothered, and Ted wasn’t sure if this was the calm before the storm and they would be facing some more complicated feelings from Henry later on, but he would take what he was offered.

After that conversation with Henry, the Lasso boys had found themselves in the garden. Roy, Jamie, and Phoebe had swanned inside to go viciously attack each other during a raucous game of Mario Kart in Rebecca’s media room, and Rebecca and Keeley were having a mini spa-day upstairs, grateful that the proximity requirement had since expired. Michelle had gone to meet Beard at the pub for a quick drink, and would return later in the day. 

Henry had wanted to toss a football (American) around, having played a few pickup games at school and developing an interest in all things sports, both kinds of football included. Ted was glad that he got to show his kid how to throw a perfect spiral, just like his own dad had taught Ted decades earlier. Lost in his memories, Ted was unprepared for the next thing that came out of Henry’s mouth. 

“Dad?”

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“Why do you have a tattoo?”

Ted blanched, all but dropping the football in his haste to pull his shirtsleeve down. He sputtered, eyes darting around for something—anything—to help and/or distract Henry from his perfectly innocuous question. 

He sighed, shoving his shirtsleeve up again, on purpose this time, and he chucked the ball lightly at Henry, directing them to a nearby bench that Rebecca had set up near the back wall of the garden beneath a massive tree.

“Well, bud,” Ted said, resting his wrist on the top of his thigh, feeling inquisitive little eyes rake down his forearm.

“You know how your mom and I are getting a divorce? And that has absolutely nothing to do with you, best kid ever, you know? Well, I…this tattoo just kind of appeared overnight a while ago, and that means that I have a soulmate out there somewhere.”

“A soulmate who isn’t mom?” Henry asked carefully, eyes flickering up to meet Ted head on.

“Yeah, buddy.”

There was silence for a moment, the Lasso boys just basking in the secluded garden when Henry suddenly startled.

“Wait a minute—dad!”

Ted was jolted out of his thoughts, and for a hot minute, he thought something was wrong with his son, that he had gotten hurt just sitting there or something, he didn’t know.

“Whew—alright, Hen, what’s up, chucklebutt?”

“Is this soulmate thingy like what Nana and Pop Lasso had?”

Ted heard white noise, a dial tone sounding in his head, and struggled for a response that wasn’t what the fuck?

“Uh—why do you say that, kiddo?”

“Because they were soulmates! Nana told me so, last year, ‘cause I was helping her with yard work but then she fell and tore up her butt on the gravel driveway so she asked me to help her up and get her inside the house, and then anyway she cussed lots ‘cause she had to get her pants off, and the gravel out of her butt, and she had a little mark that I thought was just gravel, but it didn’t go away and then I asked her about it and she told me it was a soulmate tattoo and I didn’t know what that was ‘xactly, so she had to explain,” Henry said, all in one big long breath that had his father marveling at his boy’s lung capacity. 

“Daddy? Why do you look kinda pale? Didn’t you know about Nana and Pop’s bond? She said that’s part of why she never got remarried. I’m kinda glad, ‘cause I don’t think I would have wanted a Pop 2.0,” Henry said very seriously. 

Ted exhaled roughly, his whole world turning on its axis in the span of a few moments.

“I…did know, Henry, but thank you for telling me, and for taking good care of Nana. That must have been scary when she fell,” Ted said reassuringly. 

He had not known about this—and he had…approximately seven million questions for his mother but he couldn’t call her now because she was currently at boozy breakfast with her book club and wouldn’t be home for four more hours. Goddamn.

“Hey, dad?”

Ted shook himself out of his thoughts. He could ruminate later. He rubbed a hand over his face, suddenly exhausted. 

“Yeah, kid?”

“Can I go inside and play Mario Kart with Phoebe and Jamie now?”

Ted was thrown by the abrupt change of pace, but really shouldn’t have expected anything less from Henry.

“Sure, no problem, bud, let’s mosey on inside,” Ted said absentmindedly, picking up the football by their feet and spinning it in his hands. 

Henry ran inside, eager to play with Phoebe and spend time with his idol again. Ted followed at a slower pace, feeling the sparse London sun warm his back, and he focused on the slight breeze that ruffled his hair, the barely-audible noise from the street nearby, the glint of the sunlight on the French doors leading from the garden. 

He ambled into the living room, and whatever Roy saw on his face caused him to pick up his phone and tap out a quick message. Ted felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and assumed it was from the group chat. Rebecca and Keeley quickly came downstairs, faces shiny and freshly scrubbed, and sporting matching pink fuzzy headbands left over from Keeley and Jamie’s spa night.

“What’s up, babe?” Keeley said, surveying the men curiously, and Roy shrugged his shoulders, looking at Rebecca for help.

The women stepped into the living room and settled on either side of Ted and Roy on the sofa. Keeley grabbed a large fuzzy blanket and threw it over all four of them. She loved to be cozy at all times. 

Ted…didn’t even know where to start, honestly. He sat on the sofa, hands hidden under the blanket but crossed around his torso, all the same, fingers digging into his sides, scratching lightly at the material of his sweater. He took a slow breath in and out. 

“Today’s been…Henry noticed my tattoo—I’m so sorry,” he said, throwing an anguished look at Roy and Keeley as Rebecca gently stroked his back. 

“I didn’t mean for him to find out just yet, not until we had a plan, and I didn’t say anything about us, but I didn’t really know how to handle it, and then Henry told me that my mom and dad had a soulmate bond, and I can’t believe I basically lived my entire adult life without knowing that little nugget of information, and man, I have so many questions for my ma, you know?” Ted said rapidly, the words tumbling out of his mouth one after another until he was momentarily sated.

“Breathe, gaffer,” Roy said roughly, clamping a hand onto Ted’s blanket-covered knee.

Ted relished in the firm surety of Roy’s hand, and used the sensation to ground himself. Fuck. He was so tired all of a sudden. 

He rubbed a hand over his face, the heel of his palm digging into his eye sockets, and exhaled a heavy breath. 

“I just—we just told Henry about our divorce, you know?” Ted said unsteadily, head lolling back on his neck to rest on the back of the couch, suddenly too tired to even hold his head up.

“I’m worried it’s gonna be too much, too soon, on him, you know? Like, hey kiddo, mom and I are getting a divorce and you know that new tattoo I have? Well surprise, I have three soulmates instead of a measly one, here let me introduce them to you all, like it’s some fucked up Dr. Phil episode or something,” he said quickly, becoming more and more agitated as his knee not being held by Roy began to bounce up and down. 

There was complete silence for a second, and then—

“Who the fuck is Dr. Phil?” Roy asked, and then grunted as Keeley flicked him hard on the side of his head. 

“What?” An indignant Roy growled as Rebecca fondly rolled her eyes at him.

Ted busted out laughing, like a pressure valve loosened on his rising anxiety. Keeley snuggled into his side, and he matched his breath with her own, slowing down the lingering panic until he felt somewhat back to his normal self again.

Rebecca, Keeley, and Roy had separately made an effort to bond with Henry over the week, still as “Dad’s friends.” They hadn’t talked amongst themselves, but there was some general apprehension about Henry’s reaction to the soulmate news, nerves be damned. So far, the trio stayed calm, cool, collected, and engaged in their surroundings all week.

To Rebecca’s sheer delight, Henry showed an interest in her morning tea routine, and they spent the week experimenting and trying different varieties. So excited to be in London with his dad, apart from the first day of jet lag, the boy woke up fairly early, so he would creep downstairs to have tea and some toast with Rebecca in the brightly-patterned breakfast nook just off the kitchen. 

Just for fun, Rebecca bought some Marmite, which she usually didn’t keep in the house, and had Henry try it. The resulting scowl made her choke on her tea and caused Roy to come skidding in from the kitchen, concerned that he was needed to do the Heimlich or something of that nature.

Henry had become fascinated by Keeley’s elaborate skincare routine, and her never-ending nail polish changes, and the two would spend hours experimenting with brightly-colored nails as Keeley introduced him to the wonderful world of the Great British Bake-Off. 

Henry even persuaded Roy—not that he needed much persuading—to let him paint one of Roy’s fingernails, which quickly turned into an impromptu pedicure that delighted Phoebe the next time she saw a barefoot Roy padding around the house.

Roy was the least apprehensive about bonding with Henry because as he explained to Rebecca and Keeley the night before Henry was due to arrive: “most adults think kids need to be constantly entertained...truth is they just wanna feel like they're part of our lives. Little idiots.” 

Henry was instantly in love with Roy over his football legend status, and the two spent hours playing the latest version of FIFA, and having a kickabout in the garden. They also bonded over reading the Percy Jackson series which fed both of their fantasy and Greek mythology interests.

Toward the end of the week, Ted made the decision to speak to Henry—time was running out if Ted wanted to tell Henry in person before he flew back to Kansas with his mom in a few days’ time. Michelle had taken herself up to the study, wanting to spend the afternoon quietly with a book and a cup of tea. 

Jamie—bless him—and Phoebe were ensconced in the media room, swept up in another Mario Kart battle, and Ted could hear the volume all the way downstairs which reassured him that they wouldn’t be overheard. He climbed the stairs to the second floor and knocked on Henry’s bedroom door but left it closed.

“Hey, Hen?”

“YEAH, DAD?”

Ted winced at the sheer volume but was also mildly impressed. A+ lung capacity on that kid, jeez. 

“Can you c’mere downstairs for a sec? I’ve got something important I wanna talk to you about—nothing bad, promise.”

Ted headed back downstairs, stopping in the doorway to the living room as he quietly surveyed the scene in front of him. On one end of the sofa, Rebecca was painting Keeley’s toenails and chatting about some neighborhood gossip as Keeley stopped her every so often to thrust her phone at Rebecca and show her an Instagram reel that she thought was funny. Roy was sitting in the middle with Keeley’s outstretched legs over his lap, holding his book up to his face intently as he silently mouthed some of the words he was reading.

Ted grinned widely, feeling his heart practically stutter in his chest at the sheer joy and sense of completeness he felt when looking at his partners. Roy was the first to notice his presence, leaning against the doorway, and made a quip about a cowboy holding up the wall real nice.

“Hi babe,” Keeley said cheerfully, holding out a hand to him. Ted crossed the room and linked their fingers together, brushing a soft kiss over her knuckles. He secretly delighted in the shiver that wracked Keeley’s frame when his mustache ghosted over the back of her hand.

Rebecca chuckled when Henry was heard stomping down the stairs and likened it to a herd of elephants thundering across the savanna. Ted reluctantly unlinked his hand with Keeley, and used the same hand to place his thumb square on Roy’s chin, pressing in slightly as Roy visibly swallowed and scowled at him.

“Not fair.”

Ted winked, and moved on down the line to Rebecca who smiled softly at him as she twisted the bottle of nail polish closed to set it on the nearby end table. 

“Hey darlin’,” Ted whispered, his voice dropping low as a flush rose up Rebecca’s neck. She scowled in a near-perfect imitation of Roy and clicked her tongue against her teeth, a flash of pink showing from her mouth. 

“Not fair,” Rebecca whined, parroting Roy from a moment earlier. 

“Who said anything about fair, baby?” Ted said slowly as he slid his hands into his pockets, rocking back on his heels. Rebecca stared at him in disbelief, and then blinked heavily, exhaling and rolling her eyes at him. 

“You are a menace, Theodore,” she said slowly, and now Ted was the one to roll his eyes as he shook his hands out and Henry bounded into the room, prompting Ted to remind him to not run inside the house. 

The boy plopped down in an adjacent chair, and sat with his back against one arm, slinging his legs over the other arm. Ted sat down in the chair next to him, and Keeley straightened up her legs, reluctantly pulling them off of Roy’s lap, curling them next to her on the rest of the sofa. The room was quiet except for the low tones of classical music drifting through the speakers.

“Dad?”

Ted started, lost in thought, and saw Roy smirking out of the corner of his eye.

“Yeah, sorry, bud, I just—”

He shifted in his chair, turning to face Henry, who saw something in his dad’s face that made him straighten up in his own chair and properly turn to face Ted.

“You said it’s nothing bad, right?” Henry said quickly, anxiety threading through his voice, and Ted quickly reassured him that it wasn’t bad news at all, breathing a quick sigh of relief as he watched Henry’s face visibly slacken, calmed by his dad.

“So I wanted to—” Ted stopped, frustrated with his inability to get right down to it. 

“Ted?” Rebecca said softly from the other side of the room, and Ted’s head snapped up to meet her eyes. “Breathe.”

The man rolled out his shoulders, breathing deeply, and he felt his son’s small hand creep into his, and held on tight. 

“Okay, I’m just gonna say it, Henry, and we can talk about it later, alright?”

Henry nodded, squeezing Ted’s hand once more.

“Y’know when you saw my tattoo earlier this week, and we talked about soulmate bonds and how unfortunately your mom and I never had that experience?”

“Yeah, dad,” Henry said matter-of-fact, and the tone in his son’s voice grounded Ted even further. 

“Well, it turns out, I bonded with more than one person when this tattoo appeared,” Ted trailed off nervously, and Henry’s eyes widened.

“No way! I didn’t even think that was possible, Dad, but…that’s kinda cool, right? I mean, instead of just one person, you get…” Henry’s brow wrinkled in confusion.

“Three,” Ted said quietly, waiting to see if Henry would connect the dots on his own.

“Three? Holy smokes, Dad, that’s two more than Nana had,” Henry said excitedly before his brow furrowed once more.

“Wait…I mean,” Henry said, before swiveling his head to look at the sofa. 

“We’re at Rebecca’s house. We’ve spent a lot of time with Rebecca and Roy and Keeley this week, and Mom didn’t seem too surprised by how empty your flat was when we got here, and like…your shoes are all over this house, and the kitchen is full of your old baking things that you brought from home, and no offense, Rebecca, but I kinda thought that you didn’t like being in the kitchen that much, that it wasn’t fun for you, which is okay ‘cause there are some things that I don’t like too,” Henry said all at once, his brain whirring a mile a minute. 

“Yeah, kiddo, you got it—imagine all of our surprise, you know? Was a real big shock, and I wanted to be able to tell you in person and answer any questions that you might have, and let you spend time with Rebecca, Roy, and Keeley this week.”

Henry twisted his mouth to the side, considering something carefully. 

“Can I ask a question?”

“Sure you can, buddy.”

“Not to you, Dad,” Henry said, rolling his eyes slightly, and Roy’s mouth twitched at the sight. Henry looked over at the trio sitting quietly, intently, on the sofa, waiting for whatever came next.

“What do I call you guys? Dad always says it’s important to treat people with respect, and I’ve been calling you by your first names this whole time, y’know, Ms. Rebecca and Ms. Keeley, and Mr. Roy, but like…do I have to call you mum and dad? What does Phoebe call you?”

Ted’s eyes widened. Shoot, they hadn’t even discussed that amongst all of the potential questions they tried to think of.

“Well wait, I think Phoebe calls you “Uncle Roy,” right? Which makes sense,” Henry said carefully. “Would it be okay if I called you Aunt Rebecca and Aunt Keeley and Uncle Roy, too?”

The trio silently nodded on the sofa, and Keeley sent Henry a cheeky little wink in reply.

“Okay, cool, that sounds good—was there anything else, Dad?”

Ted was somewhat taken aback by how quickly the conversation had moved and how chill Henry seemed to be about it all. He felt a little unhinged, and squeezed Henry’s fingers in his own. Henry squeezed back three times—I love you.

“Nope, bud, that’s about it, promise,” Ted said slowly, waiting to see if Henry had anything else to say.

“Can I go play with Phoebe and Jamie now? Jamie said he’d teach me a Mario Kart hack,” Henry asked cheerfully, and Ted unlaced their fingers, allowing his child to run off upstairs without a backwards glance, yelling for Phoebe and Jamie all the while.

Crossing the room, Ted slumped on the sofa next to Keeley who all but climbed into his lap for a snuggle, managing to turn herself around so she was facing the other occupants of the sofa. He sighed into her hair as she nuzzled into his neck, nose brushing the slight stubble on his jaw. Roy slid further down the seat toward Ted, pulling Rebecca with him, so they were all clustered on one half of the sofa.

Ted exhaled heavily again, his eyes fluttering open, meeting Roy’s gaze head on. Roy’s lips turned up slightly, his eyebrow raised in question. Ted waved him off. He was fine—mostly. He felt fine about it. Relieved as all heck, but fine, maybe a little numb but not in a bad way? He’d have to journal it all out in the note in his phone to discuss with Dr. Fieldstone next week.

Rebecca was the first to carefully break the silence, and she crossed her long legs in front of her, foot coming up to neatly rest on Roy’s thigh.

“That…I don’t know what I was expecting, frankly, but Ted, your child is a marvel. That went much better than I ever expected,” Rebecca mused out loud. “Not sure I would have taken big news like that as well as he did when I was Henry’s age.”

“Well, my darling,” Keeley quipped, voice slightly muffled in Ted’s neck so she pulled back a bit, turning her head to face Rebecca. “You were a posh only child, you know? That is not surprising to me in the slightest.”

Rebecca huffed in fond exasperation and playfully reached over Roy with an outstretched arm to swat Keeley with, but Ted grabbed her splayed-out hand, turned it over, and placed a featherlight kiss on her palm that made her shiver with anticipation. Roy shifted uncomfortably in his seat, eyes locked on Rebecca’s hand and Ted’s mustache, listening to Keeley’s soft snuffles as she zoned out, leaving the rest of them to their shenanigans.

A few more moments of silence, and then heads turned toward the foyer as they heard Michelle pad down the stairs, heading for the kitchen. She soon emerged with a fresh cup of tea, finished book in hand.

“How was your cozy reading afternoon, Michelle? Ted asked, stumbling over the sentence, grateful for a distraction, and Michelle stilled, cocking her head at her ex-husband and his new partners. Aw, heck.

“Finished this thing,” she replied, brandishing the book in her hand. “How’d it go with Henry?” Michelle said with a slight smirk, settling herself into the armchair that her son had vacated some minutes prior.

Ted’s jaw dropped slightly and Michelle chuckled.

“Ted, please. We may not be together anymore, but we’ve known each other for decades, c’mon now. I know that look on your face. Am I allowed to say “I told you so,” or should I wait a bit?” Michelle said, voice laced with amusement, eyes sparkling as she surveyed the scene in front of her. 

Ted frowned slightly, head falling forward to briefly rest on Keeley’s shoulder.

“Hey, breathe, will you? I told you Henry’d be fine with it, you know he just wants us to be happy. He’s a good kid.”

Ted grinned into the curve of Keeley’s shoulder, popping his head up to stare at Michelle who was examining her nails, unbothered.

“Okay, is no one going to tell me how it went, then? There are four of you, c’mon, give me something to work with here,” Michelle said, pretending to be aggravated. The effect was slightly spoiled by her lips twitching as she spoke.

“It…went well,” Ted mused slowly, and Michelle rolled her eyes, properly exasperated by the little information she was getting out of them.

“Much better than I think any of us ever expected,” Rebecca chimed in, and Michelle grinned in response.

“Well yeah, he’s his father’s child, got a good head on his shoulders, you know?” Michelle said contemplatively, winking at Ted as she did so.

“It was…Michelle, he basically figured it out on his own, and then he asked what he should call them, settled on “aunt” and “uncle” just like Phoebe calls ‘em, and skedaddled on out of here to go upstairs and play Mario Kart,” Ted explained to Michelle’s rising amusement.

“Told you he’d be fine with it is all I’m saying, Ted,” Michelle replied, nestling further in her chair as she grabbed a blanket from a low basket nearby.

“Rebecca, do you have any more book recommendations for me?”

Everyone sans Michelle was thrown by the abrupt topic change, and after a moment, Rebecca replied, eager to recommend another book that she thought Michelle would love as much as the book she just finished. 

“You can take it with you if you like,” Rebecca mused out loud. “It’s quite long, and I’m not sure you’ll finish it before your flight home in a few days. You can keep it, and bring it back with you the next time you visit, yes?”

The rest of the afternoon soon devolved into a passionate debate on genre fiction, the pros and cons of not finishing a book that you weren’t vibing with—Roy didn’t see a point in continuing on if he wasn’t hooked by the first few chapters, and Rebecca was committed to finishing whatever she started—and general thoughts on reading book series out of order (horrified everyone except for Roy).

Before they knew it, dinner time had rolled around, and Rebecca placed a Deliveroo order for some pizzas while Roy cajoled the mighty Mario Kart drivers down from the media room with the promise that Jamie—with help from Phoebe and Henry, of course—could pick the movie that they would watch after dinner.

“Jamie, some of your belongings are still in the other guest room, and there’s a spare toothbrush in the en-suite if you want to sleep over,” Keeley said through a jaw-cracking yawn as she stretched her arms over her head. 

The resulting bickering over sleeping arrangements—Jamie and the children decided to make a blanket fort in the living room—went on until the pizzas arrived and everyone tucked in to dinner before they settled in the living room to watch whatever Disney and/or Marvel movie that was decided upon. Henry had passionately campaigned for watching Captain Marvel, and Phoebe delightedly agreed. 

Keeley fell asleep on Ted 30 minutes into the film, and snuggled into his lap with a sleepy sigh. In a few days’ time, Michelle and Henry would be shuttled to Heathrow by Walter, and Phoebe would go home to her mother, and Jamie would shuffle back to his apartment with a promise to come over for dinner the following night—and then there were four.