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His birthday fell on a Monday this year, so it meant he had to go to training. Both he and Roy had to be at the facility all day, and all Jamie could do was ask for a copious amount of photos of Oliver from Bethany. There’s something about his birthday that has him wanting to be wrapped up with Oliver today. When he left this morning, Oliver had cried extra hard, and it took Jamie everything not to say he couldn’t come in. He should have just turned to Roy and said, “I can’t come in, I’m sick,” so he could have stayed with Oliver today. Jamie has gotten better at being away from him, especially with the long hours and the occasional day trips where they can’t bring Oliver.
But today, Jamie is counting down the seconds until he gets to wrap up his baby boy in his arms, get snot and drool all over his face, and then get soggy Cheerios fed to him from his tiny hands for a birthday treat. Oliver is getting so much bigger now at ten months old, and Jamie wishes it would all slow down. That’s probably what he’s going to wish for when blowing out the candle on the cupcakes Roy picked up from him yesterday, since they wouldn’t have time to get them today.
Jamie is practically vibrating in his seat as he watches the clock in the room while they go over film. There are only fifteen more minutes until they wrap up for the day and can head home. He’s already asked Bethany for ten photos of Oliver, and he thinks if he asks for another, she’s going to send one with both their middle fingers stuck up. He tries to pay attention to what’s on screen, hoping that will make the time go by quicker. Thankfully, it works, and as soon as Beard is dismissing them, Jamie is rushing to the locker room.
He’s shoving everything in his bag, toeing off his shoes as fast as he can, and is about to call Bethany to tell her they’re on their way, when Colin asks, “So, any big birthday plans, boyo?”
Jamie turns to smile at him, and is about to say how excited he is to crawl around the floor with Oliver, something he just recently started doing, and Jamie can’t get enough of. Roy has been focused on baby proofing the house and stressing out about the fact that soon he’s going to start standing up. His mouth is open, all of this about to spill out, when Roy walks out of his office and says,
“I’m surprising him with a nice dinner out.”
Jamie’s head snaps towards where he is, and he hopes the shock plays off as positive, even though it’s not. Roy is standing there with his arms crossed and a slight smile on his face as he looks at Jamie. He shakes off the negative energy and smiles brightly at him.
“Guess we’re going to dinner,” He laughs as he still packs his things up. They’ll have to go home before dinner, so Jamie will still get to see Oliver for a little bit, but he’ll likely be down for bed when he comes back. He has to get as many hugs and kisses as he can for the small amount of time he’s going to get with him.
But, he must have missed the bag in Roy’s hands when he was trying to play off the emotions, because Roy sets it down next to him and says, “Extra clothes so we can go right there.” He straightens up from where he’s shoving everything in his bag, and has to muster up enough happiness as he turns to Roy with a small smile on his face. He leans up to press their lips together, groans fill the room, and Jamie pulls back with a bigger smile after that. It never gets old grossing out his teammates like that.
“Oi, get over it, lads! It’s been months. You’ve seen much worse,” Jamie yells as he walks to the shower.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. It’s like watching my mum and dad kiss,” Isaac jokes. Jamie lets out a loud laugh as he keeps walking, trying to play off about how happy he is, but he’s alone in the shower when he walks in, so he lets his shoulders slump. He turns on the water and stands there sadly for five minutes until someone else comes in.
-
Roy packed him a black button-up with black pants, so Jamie knows they’re going to a nice place. He has to hold himself back from begging Roy to see if they have highchairs for Oliver, and the only thing that holds him back is that he knows they wouldn’t. He walks out to see Roy waiting for him by the car, and he greets him with another kiss before they get in the car. He looks at his phone and sees a message from Bethany with a picture attached. Oliver has smushed carrots in his hand, diced chicken on his plate, and the biggest smile on his face. Underneath the picture is a message that says, ‘Oliver is wishing a very happy birthday to his daddy, and hopes he has a good night!’
Jamie almost starts crying right then and there. Oliver’s dark hair is a complete mess by the end of the day, but Jamie can tell Bethany tried to smooth it down for the picture. His bright blue eyes are vibrant, but Jamie can see the tear marks on his cheeks. His chest aches with the thought of his son wondering where he and Roy were, because they always try to be home for dinner.
“...If you want to look at the menu,” Jamie looks up at Roy, only getting the tail end of his sentence. Jamie pretends he heard what he said, and smiles as he nods as he goes back to look at the picture of Oliver. Roy and Bethany must have planned this, because Jamie knows he didn’t buy carrots this week. They’re Oliver’s favorite vegetable, and they’re trying to get him to try other ones, and he had them all last week, so Jamie bought broccoli instead. They must have given him carrots to help smooth over the fit they knew he was going to throw.
It’s a short trip to the restaurant, and Jamie just follows next to Roy as he leads them in. It’s not one Jamie has been to before, and that’s probably why Roy told him about the restaurant in the car. He likes to look at the menu before he gets to the place and pick out what he wants.
“Do you know what you’re getting?” Roy asks before they even open the menu, and Jamie has to shake his head.
“Couldn’t get the website to open in the car,” Jamie quickly excuses. He kicks his foot against Roy’s in assurance when he sees his eyebrows start to furrow. “Kind of in the mood for meat, though,” He smirks as he opens the menu, an attempt to throw Roy off and try to have a good time. He and Roy are busy all the time, but when they’re not busy with football, they’re with Oliver. They don’t get a lot of date nights or alone time together, so Jamie does want to enjoy this, especially since Roy set this up. He feels Roy kick his foot and smiles at the contact.
“Remember your meal plan,” Roy states as they look over the menu, and Jamie looks up at him. Roy is simply reading the menu, but Jamie can see a glint in his eyes at the comment.
“Twat,” Jamie mutters under his breath, “It’s me birthday, I’m getting fucking potatoes.”
-
Although it’s a Monday, the place is surprisingly busy. When they put in their order, they tell them it’s going to be a little bit of a wait. Jamie feels his stomach tighten. He was hoping they’d be able to get everything as soon as possible. The sooner they get their appetizers, the sooner they get their entrees, and the sooner they get home. But the restaurant is packed, and Jamie’s leg is shaking under the table as Oliver’s bedtime ticks closer and closer. His phone is faced upwards so he can see if Bethany texts him, even though his ringer is on and he doesn’t need to do that.
“Jamie, are you alright?” Roy asks as he puts his hand on his knee underneath the table to stop it from shaking the table any further. Jamie’s eyes glance up from his phone, and he deflates at the confrontation.
“Roy, I love that you’re taking me out, letting me get potatoes with dinner, and we’re getting some private time together, I really do. But,” Jamie sighs as he drags his hands down his face.
“But you miss Oliver,” Roy finishes for him, and Jamie can’t do anything else but nod rapidly. He takes his hands away from his face and sees Roy with a bright smile on his face. “Fuck Jamie, I miss Oliver too. I made reservations for the earliest we could get here so we could get home sooner, but everyone and their fucking grandmas are here today. It’s a fucking Monday, what the hell are they all doing here?” Roy states as he looks around at the packed restaurant. Jamie lets out a shocked laugh and feels like he can breathe easier.
“We’ll get everything to go,” Roy stands up and goes to find a waiter to tell them Jamie sees him slip an extra tip into his hand, probably to put a rush on it. Jamie smiles as he sees it happening. He sees a text from Bethany light up his phone, and sees it says, ‘Oliver is not happy about getting ready to go to bed!’ with a picture of him pouting in his bedroom. He texts back, ‘dont worry bout it, we’re getting our food to go. roy misses oli.’ Bethany sends back a smirking emoji with a laughing one along with it; she knows the truth.
-
Jamie doesn’t even try to act cool when he gets home. He runs inside and takes two stairs at a time up to Oliver’s bedroom. He can hear him blabbing to Bethany, and he almost cries at the sound. He calms down before he goes into the room, and when he enters, he sees Oliver’s eyes light up. He’s dropping the block he’s playing with and crawling towards him with lightning speed. Jamie kneels to the ground to pick him up, and Oliver is giggling as he fakes how heavy he is when he picks him up. He pulls him into a hug and feels relief spread through him as Oliver’s saliva-covered hands grip him. He pulls back so he can press kisses all over his face to continue to hear the giggles that he’s letting out.
Bethany is already gathering her stuff as Jamie basks in the presence of his son, and he waves bye to her as he sees Roy coming up the stairs. She lets herself out as Roy makes it up, and Jamie finally has exactly what he wanted for his birthday. He and Roy are quick to change out of their clothes into sweatpants and t-shirts, and then they make their way downstairs.
“We’re gonna have cake, Oli! Roy got us vanilla with chocolate frosting, me favorite. You’ll like it, and I’ll even let you blow out the candle,” Jamie talks as they make their way downstairs, “Remember, this is a treat for daddy’s birthday. You can’t stay up this late all the time.” Jamie warns as he sits down in the chair with Oliver in his lap, as Roy grabs the cupcakes from the fridge. Roy opens up the box for them and takes a seat next to Jamie as he sticks a candle in one of them.
“Watch this, Oli,” Roy says as he flicks on the lighter and lights the candle. Oliver makes a little ‘o’ with his mouth and seems entranced by the fire emitting from the candle. Jamie can’t help but smile brightly at his boyfriend, beaming at their son’s reaction.
“Next, daddy will make a wish as he blows out the candle,” Roy explains as he pushes the cupcake closer to Jamie. Oliver’s eyes widen as it comes closer, and Jamie can feel him squirming as it does. He tightens his hold on him and leans forward as he closes his eyes. Right now, he can’t think of anything else he wants more than this, so he just wishes for more of this. He wishes for more memories with his son, he wishes for him and Roy to be happy, and then he blows out the candle. Jamie opens his eyes and pulls back to look at both Roy and Oliver. Oliver has started to clap with Roy, and Jamie rolls his eyes at their antics. He pulls the candle out of the cupcake and wipes the icing left on it. He puts his finger in front of Oliver, and he lets him get the icing off of it. It takes a minute to get a reaction, but his eyes widen.
“Mmm,” Oliver finally says, and Jamie nods in agreement.
“I told you that you’d like it,” He states before he takes a bite of the cupcake, but Oliver’s eyebrows furrow, a look eerily reminiscent of Roy, and he grabs Jamie’s hand that’s holding the cupcake. Jamie can tell he’s trying to get the cupcake closer to him.
“Nuh uh, you got your little taste,” Jamie laughs as he takes another bite. Oliver furrows his eyebrows even further, and a pout is starting to form. He does the sign for “more,” something Jamie regrets that he taught him. Roy chuckles from beside him. He’s getting ready to give Oliver some of his, but he doesn’t notice since he’s only focused on Jamie’s cupcake.
“More!” He yells, and it feels like time stops. Jamie lets his mouth fall open and puts the cupcake back on the table. Oliver is reaching for it before it’s fully down, but Jamie is picking him up and looking him straight in the eyes before he can reach it.
“Did you just talk?” He’s breathless as he says it, but Oliver doesn’t focus on what Jamie is saying. He’s wiggling, trying to be let down to get more frosting.
“Holy fuck,”
“Roy, we can’t curse anymore! He’s gonna start saying it!” Jamie looks over with panic in his eyes, and Roy just rolls his.
“He’s already heard it, I bet it’ll be his next word,” Roy states, and Jamie glares at him. Their interaction is interrupted with a whine, and another exclamation of, “More!”
Jamie looks back at Oliver, and he can see the frustration across his little face. Jamie sets him down, grabs the cupcake, and grabs another small amount on his finger for Oliver to go to town on.
“You can have whatever you want! You just made daddy’s birthday a hundred times better,” Jamie smiles as Oliver manages to get chocolate all over his face. He places the rest of the cupcake back on the table and makes room for Roy to scoot in even closer. Both of them watch him go to town on the chocolate icing. Jamie fully leans his body on Roy and basks in the moment, until it’s broken by Roy asking, “Is he allowed to have icing?”
(“Roy! Roy, look it up right fucking now if he can have icing, oh my god! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”
“I thought you said no cursing in front of him now.”
The glare Jamie sends Roy’s way has his hands shaking just a little bit as he types in the question to Google.
“Yeah, he’ll be fine.” Jamie lets out a sigh of relief. “Though, we probably shouldn’t give him anymore. Google is telling us we’re the worst parents alive.”)