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Neil stood in front of Matt and Dan’s apartment building, wringing his hands as he stared up the side of the building as though he were going to be able to pinpoint the unit his friends were in by sheer force of will alone.
“Relax.” Andrew huffed, stepping up onto the cub beside him. For his part, he didn’t look at all nervous about this whole situation. Neil didn’t get it.
“What if it doesn’t like me? Or what if I hurt it?” Neil looked over at the shorter man who didn’t return his gaze in favor of picking at his peeling black nail polish.
“It is a human child, not a bomb or fine china.” Andrew retorted, taking the first step toward the building, forcing Neil to follow.
Matt and Dan lived in a unit on the fourth floor that overlooked a well-maintained courtyard. Matt signing on to a pro team had afforded them a comfortable lifestyle. Dan’s coaching job didn’t bring in quite as much, but she seemed more than happy with the position nonetheless.
Andrew knocked on the door before Neil could have any kind of crisis about the small life form they were going to be greeting on the other side of the door. He was not cut out for this.
Matt and Dan had a kid. A whole human child, as Andrew had put it. Her name was Ada and she was about six months old. Allison and Renee had come down to see Dan the weekend after she was born to help Dan adjust and heal but with their pro schedules, Andrew and Neil couldn’t get away until now.
Neil had never been around children and was worried that he would somehow screw this up. Ada was important to Dan and Matt, and therefore the rest of the team. After all, she was an honorary fox, now. Though she would never qualify for the Foxes’ line.
Even Wymack and Abby had been able to take time away from Palmetto to check in for a week. They’d helped Matt install a car seat and drill the furniture into the walls to keep them from tipping when the baby got to the age it (she) could wander around on her own.
A few moments later the door was thrown open by a happy but exhausted Matt who immediately gathered Neil up in a bear hug. He smelled vaguely of vanilla.
Next Matt held out a fist to Andrew who reluctantly bumped it. You would have thought Andrew had handed him a stack of gold bars with how his face lit up.
“Hye, guys! It’s been a while, huh? Come on in. Dan’s in the living room with Ada. She just fell asleep so try to be quiet.” Neil and Andrew shucked their shoes off in the entryway and followed Matt around the corner to the living room.
Dan was sitting on the couch staring down at a swaddled infant in her arms. She seemed so relaxed and happy-- happier than Neil had ever seen her. Motherhood suited her.
“Hi,” Dan whispered when she heard them come in. Andrew nodded in greeting but Neil was too busy staring at the tiny little face peeking out of the blankets to even think of saying anything. Dan smiled when she followed the line of his gaze.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” She whispered. Neil nodded helplessly.
“She’s just a baby, Junkie,” Andrew huffed softly behind him, “she’s not going to explode.” Neil glared at the blonde who gave him an unimpressed look in return.
“Oh, like you aren’t freaking out?” Neil snarled softly. Andrew raised his eyebrows and Neil had to concede the point. Andrew was not freaking out.
“You know how to handle babies?” Matt asked, sounding surprised.
“Foster care,” Andrew said like that explained everything. Matt looked at Neil who shrugged.
“Right, anyway…” Matt trailed off, at a loss.
“You can hold her when she wakes up, if you’d like, Andrew,” Dan offered, her face relaxed. Neil blinked in surprise. Andrew and Dan had never had the best relationship. It had improved greatly after Neil’s freshman year, but Neil wasn’t under any delusions that the two were close. This was a huge show of trust on Dan’s part.
Andrew nodded in agreement. If he was at all surprised by the offer, he didn’t show it. Maybe things were better between the two than Neil had thought. Though Matt seemed equally surprised, so maybe not. Either way, he wasn’t going to question progress.
The four of them sat in the living room talking softly about what had been going on in their lives, Exy, politics, and memories from their time at PSU. Throughout it all, little Ada slept peacefully.
After about two hours, Matt sneezed and woke Ada who immediately began crying.
“Matthew!” Dan scolded him as she tried unsuccessfully to soothe her daughter. Matt apologized profusely and scooted closer to his wife to coo at Ada to try and help calm her down.
“Hungry crying,” Andrew noted after a moment. Dan nodded in agreement. Matt and Neil shared a bewildered look, but Dan took it in stride.
“I’ll go feed her, then.” Dan made to get up but before she could, Andrew stood. Dan frowned at him and Neil froze in confusion.
“Stay,” Andrew said before turning and walking down the hall in the direction of the kitchen. That’s when Neil got it.
“Andrew’s right,” he stood to leave, “it would take more work for you to move than it would for us to go to the kitchen. Let us know when you’re done.” Matt blinked in surprise.
“Yeah, what they said. Want me to grab you anything, babe?” Neil didn’t hear Dan’s answer, already moving into the kitchen where he found Andrew starting the process of making a pot of coffee.
“Oh, good call, man,” Matt agreed when he joined them. He started rifling through the fridge, presumably to grab Dan whatever she’d asked for. “Do y’all want anything to drink? Hell, you’re family. Just take what you want from the fridge.” Neil grabbed a water bottle and eyed Andrew’s creamer-beige coffee distaste.
“So, Andrew,” Matt started. Andrew didn’t turn, but Neil could tell by the set of his shoulders that he was listening, “How did you come to know what a hungry cry sounds like?” Andrew tensed and Neil knew immediately that the answer wasn’t going to be pleasant.
“Lots of hungry babies in foster care,” Andrew said, stirring even more sugar into his mug. Matt winced and wisely didn’t push the subject.
20 minutes later the trio rejoined Dan in the living room with a much happier Ada. Andrew traded a coffee mug for Ada and sat in an armchair just watching the little girl smile up at him. He was incredibly still, but Neil could see his eyes darting around her face with interest.
Ada also seemed to be enamored with Andrew, giggling and reaching up at his face as if trying to grab at his piercings. Andrew was careful to keep his face out of reach, just in case. He let her grab onto his pointer finger and used her grip to move her arm around, causing her to break out into gargles that were probably supposed to be giggles.
Neil was completely at a loss. He’d never seen Andrew so at peace or so focused on anything that wasn’t him. Andrew adored her. There was no question about it.
When Neil looked over to Matt and Dan, he saw them watching the scene just as intently as he had been. Dan had a knowing gleam in her eye and a satisfied smile on her face. Matt was just in awe.
Neil watched as Matt took a photo of Andrew with the baby on his phone.
Andrew frowned as he heard the shutter sound, but he didn’t do anything more than shoot an unimpressed glance at Matt before turning his attention back to the baby.
Eventually, the spell of the moment wore off and the three people not holding Ada went back to talking amongst themself, occasionally shooting looks at Andrew and the baby. If Andrew felt eyes on him, he gave no indication of it.
The time came for Ada to go to bed and Neil and Andrew to make their way back to the hotel. Matt walked Neil to the door while Dan stopped Andrew in the living room. The pair were speaking in hushed voices and whatever Dan was saying made Andrew tense.
Neil was about to head over there but Matt put out an arm to stop him. Neil sent him a wide-eyed look but Matt just smiled.
“Dan’s asking Andrew to be Ada’s godfather,” Matt smiled. Neil blinked.
“She what?”
“Yeah, he’s just so good with her, you know?” Matt glanced back at his wife and smiled, “And he sure as hell wouldn’t let anything happen to her. We were going to see how this meeting went to ask him. It was between Andrew and Wymack but Wymack is a bit old for a child. And no offense, but you were never going to be an option.”
“That’s probably for the best,” Neil agreed. After a moment he sighed, “I hope you know he’s going to spoil that child.” Matt laughed, but quieted when both Dan and Andrew glared at him pointedly. He waved at them sheepishly.
Andrew said something to Dan, they shook hands, and Andrew turned to meet Neil by the door. Neil waved at Dan as Andrew pushed past him and out into the hall. She told them to drive safe and Neil got one more hug from Matt before he followed Andrew down the stairs and out of the building.
“What did you tell Dan?” Neil asked once they’d pulled back out onto the main road. He was pretty sure he knew, but he was curious to see if Andrew would admit it.
“I told her yes.” Neil smiled and opened his mouth to tease Andrew but the blonde was faster, turning the radio way up. Neil cackled and Andrew rolled his eyes, but Neil knew he was secretly pleased.
Ada Boyd-Wilds was, and always would be, in good hands