Work Text:
Dennis heaves a sigh and presses his head against the door, hesitating to put the key in, needing just one more moment to collect and leave work behind. The day was long, and he missed working with his husband, Robby. Though he wasn’t a student anymore, long from it, he missed knowing there was always someone there to back him up. It wasn’t that he wasn’t confident; the constant pressure of a reassuring hand is just something he hasn’t learned to live without yet.
Another sigh, a roll of the shoulders, and he puts the key in the door. He barely has it open when little footsteps echo down the hallway, followed by “Daddy!” and a fit of giggles. The tiny blur crashes into him, pushing them both backwards. He leans down and scoops up the little boy, their son Jonah. He was a little older than 4 now. They had adopted him when he was an infant abandoned at the PTMC.
Big brown eyes look up at Dennis; he remembers why he decided to be a doctor in the first place. Tension simply evaporates when he looks up at him. Dennis squeezes him tight and lifts him onto his hip. He deposits his keys on the table and lets his backpack drop to the floor, continuing further into the home. Jonah chatters in his ear about his day with Papa, Robby, and all the cool things they learned. Dennis can't help but chuckle at his chattiness; he definitely didn't get that from Robby.
Speaking of Robby, he had just rounded the corner, meeting them halfway with a sparkle in his eye. Dennis looks up at him with matching adoration. "Jonah tells me y'all have been learning about numbers and letters." He grins, looking between his husband and son, "Have we forgotten what it means to take a day off now?" There is no real annoyance in his tone, and they share a knowing and tender look; neither of them has ever really learned to relax.
Jonah taps Dennis's cheek, not understanding why his two dads have gone silent. "Daddy? Papa?" The two men are quickly snapped out of their gazes, both looking to the little boy with barely contained grins. "Sorry, little man," Dennis taps his little nose, "your dads are just being silly. You ready for a bath and bed?" The little boy brightens like sunshine, too excited to spend bedtime with his dads to form proper words.
Robby goes ahead of them to start the bath, letting Jonah and Dennis have a little extra time together, he knows the relief the little one brings him. As Dennis heads to the bathroom, listening to his little boy prattle on about bedtime stories, the stress of the day evaporates.