Work Text:
Some things never change.
When Jeff first came back, the family decided to spend some time at the ranch a little R&R, a chance for everyone to breathe, and for Jeff to get used to being home again.
He’d expected his sons to be completely different older, more serious, changed by everything they’d been through.
And they were, in some ways. But in others… they were exactly the same.
And one of those ways was their love for roughhousing.
It didn’t matter which brothers were involved or what time of day it was, if someone said something, even half a joke, it usually ended in some kind of wrestling match.
---
Jeff sat out on the porch, rocking slowly in one of the old wooden chairs.
A cup of lemonade sat on the small table beside him, a blanket draped over his lap. No matter how warm it was, he couldn’t quite shake the chill.
Virgil had told him it was because of what happened, the temperature difference between deep space and home taking time to readjust. Jeff hadn’t argued; he just accepted it.
Out in the yard, it was three versus one Gordon, Alan, and John against Virgil.
He had no idea how it started. One minute it was quiet, the next there was yelling, laughter, and all four of them rolling around in the dirt.
Jeff just shook his head, a small smile tugging at his lips. They were caked head to toe in mud, and it was complete chaos.
That’s when the door beside him swung open hard enough to bounce against the wall.
Scott came charging out, his son Aiden perched on one hip, eyes narrowed in on the group of boys.
He stormed down the porch steps, grabbed Gordon by the ear, hooked John by his shirt, and reached out to scruff Alan like a kitten.
“What in the world,” Scott said sharply, “are you boys fighting over this time?”
Jeff raised an eyebrow. He thought it was just playful fun. Apparently, he was wrong.
Immediately, everyone started talking at once. Gordon was shouting about something Virgil did, John was defending himself, and Virgil was arguing right back. Alan just sat there in the dirt, looking like he regretted every life decision that brought him to this point.
Scott raised a hand. “You know what? I don’t even want to hear it. Go inside. All of you. Clean up, and then we’ll talk about whatever this is.”
Virgil got up first, muttering as he stomped off. Gordon grumbled something under his breath and walked in the opposite direction. John nodded once, quiet as usual, and Alan just looked up at his eldest brother with wide, guilty eyes.
Scott sighed. “You too, mister.”
Alan gave a mock salute, trying not to grin, and started trudging toward the house.
---
Jeff watched it all from the porch, and for a moment, it was like looking back in time.
He remembered a day just like this one many years ago, when Gordon was still a baby and the older three had been roughhousing in the same patch of dirt. She had to break them up too, in almost the same way. Baby on her hip and all, yes they had been younger then these men are now.
Back then, he had been on the porch shaking his head with that mix of amusement and exasperation.
And now, all these years later, it was Scott looking so much like his mother it almost hurt.
For a brief moment, Jeff could see Lucy’s calm and tired demeter in his eldest’s face. The way he handled his brothers, the tone in his voice, it was all her.
He smiled softly. He saw pieces of Lucy in all his boys, but right then, in that moment, he saw her through Scott.
Scott adjusted his grip on Aiden and started back toward the house. He paused at Jeff’s side, resting a hand on his father’s shoulder.
“Dinner’s almost ready,” he said quietly.
Jeff nodded, watching him go.
---
It wasn’t long before the peace shattered again, muffled yelling carried out from inside, followed by Scott’s voice cutting through all of it.
Then silence.
Then something that sounded suspiciously like a chorus of “sorry!”
The door creaked open a few minutes later, and Jeff looked up, expecting one of the boys.
Instead, a tiny three-year-old stood there, staring up at him with sleepy blue eyes.
“Food,” Aiden mumbled, then turned and bolted back inside before Jeff could respond.
Jeff huffed a quiet laugh, pushing the blanket aside as he stood.
“Should be fun to see what they’ve done,” he muttered, heading in after them.