Work Text:
Nursey is coming home from his editor’s office when he hears it; a soft mewing from the alley next to him. He can’t just keep walking, so he turns and goes to investigate. What he finds is a brown cardboard box with a little kitten inside, fur matted and dirty, with wide blue eyes it blinks up at him.
“Mew,” it says, its little pink mouth opening around the noise. Nursey melts.
“Oh, who left a beautiful kitty like you all alone out here? Come on.” He bends down and picks up the box. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
After a minute of searching on his phone, he finds a vet in the area and starts walking. He reaches it in just under twenty minutes. The vet inside takes the box from him and checks the kitty out to make sure she is healthy. After washing the dirt from her fur, Nursey learns that the kitty has soft white fur and a pink little nose. He’s smitten and there’s no way he’s not going home with this cat. Dex is going to be pissed, he thinks, but screw that. This kitty is his little buddy.
“The cat has a small bacterial infection in her right eye,” the vet says after the check-up is through. “She will need a round of antibiotics and a lot of TLC. Now, are you adopting this cat?”
“Yeah,” Nursey says, “is there any paperwork I have to do?” The vet shakes her head.
“No, just take her home and take care of her.” She starts listing things the cat will need, basic cat care tips, all the things a cat owner should know before embarking on a cat-owner friendship. Then the vet’s eyes suddenly go hard and fiery. “You will promise me that you will love this cat like she is part of your family.”
“Of course.” Nursey looks down at the kitty, curled up in her carrier, snuggled under the blanket the vet put in there. He smiles, picturing him and Dex on their couch with this little fur ball between them. This kitty will definitely be part of the family. The vet nods, satisfied with Nursey’s sincerity.
“Alright, we’ll get those antibiotics for you and then you’ll be ready to go.”
Fifteen minutes later, Nursey and the kitty who remains unnamed are walking out of the vet’s office.
“I think we have fish or something at home,” Nursey tells the kitty. “But we should probably head to a pet store just in case.” The kitty mews back, so Nursey takes it as assent. There’s a pet store about a block from his and Dex’s apartment, so he walks there and buys everything he needs. He didn’t realize that cats required so much stuff. There’s the food- Nursey buys the most organic looking thing he sees, there are even some carrots and pumpkin in this stuff!-, the litter box- he gets a really modern looking thing that claims it’s easy to clean-, and then the toys-there is a little ball with a bell in it that’s going to drive Dex fucking insane-, scratching post, and cat beds.
Nursey pays the store for one of their carts because there is no way he’s getting all of this home without some kind cart. He puts the cat carrier in the kid holding part of the thing and meows back at her whenever she makes a sound. They get home and Nursey opens the carrier and leaves it in the living room as he sets everything up. As he’s attempting to find the best placement of the cat bed in his and Dex’s room- for aesthetic purposes, of course- he’s so focused that he doesn’t hear the front door open.
“Nursey?” Dex calls from the hallway. “Why is there a cat staring at me?”
Nursey rushes to the foyer and gives Dex a wide grin. “This is our new kitty.”
Dex blinks at him. “When did we get a new kitty?”
“Um.” Nursey checks his phone. “About an hour and a half ago.”
Dex’s eye twitches. Nursey always feels extremely proud when he gets Dex’s eye to twitch. “Nursey,” he says, as calm as the tide before a tsunami. “I don’t even like you getting new house plants without consulting me. How did you think I’d feel about a cat?”
“The cat is staying,” Nursey says firmly. He will not be chill about this because he wants this cat more than anything else at this moment. He is bored at home all day, writing by himself as Dex goes and builds a company up from the ground. They’ve been out of Samwell for a year and Nursey is tired of working from home, alone, without any company. It’s time for a change.
Dex must see this determination in Nursey’s eyes, because he sighs and nods. “Fine, we have a cat.” Dex consider the little fluff ball on the ground. “What’s her name?”
“Uh, I kind of don’t have one yet. It’s been a busy hour and a half.” At this, Dex rolls his eyes, but his expression has gone fond and Nursey grins back.
“Alright, Mr. Creativity. Find the fluff ball a name.” Then he turns to head into the bedroom to take off his work clothes. As he’s a fancy company man, he has to wear suits or suit-adjacent things every single day. Nursey, whose eyes follows Dex all the way into the bedroom, is extremely pleased with this development.
“Mew,” the kitty says.
“Yeah,” Nursey sighs back. Then he realizes that the cat is probably not talking about Dex’s ass in those slacks. “Oh, yeah, right. A name. Uh.”
Nursey decides to make a list. He wants to be original, so he stays away from the internet for inspiration. It takes him about half an hour with a pen and piece of paper to come up with a few ideas and many scratched out names. Dex has changed into his comfortable clothes (a pair of Nursey’s sweatpants and a soft t-shirt from his high school years and damn he shouldn’t look better in comfy attire than he does in a suit but Dex all stretched out on their bed is doing Things to Nursey) and watching something on the television. Nursey gets a little distracted when he sees the TV, remembering the fight that got it there (“We don’t need a TV in the bedroom, Nurse” “We can watch movies in bed together!” “Why can’t we just go in the living room?”) and he gets sidetracked just in wonder of how they ended up here.
A year ago, they were in the Haus attic, more often than not squished together on one of the bunks. They had been dating for two and a half years and, though they argued constantly, they cared about each other no matter what. When Dex told Nursey that he had some offers from some investors in New York to get him to start a computer company, all of a sudden Nursey saw his future taking hold. And now they were living in an apartment in New York, getting under each other’s skin in a way Nursey wants to for the rest of his life, and, well. He wishes he always knew that his life was going to turn out this great.
“Nursey?” Nursey is snapped out of his reverie by Dex’s inquiry.
“I’ve written down a few names.” Nursey walks over to the end of the bed and Dex pauses his show, ready to listen. “Alright, so I have Fluffy.”
“No.” Nursey nods, crossing that out; it had been a bit of a reach.
“Uh, Princess.” Nursey looks up to see that the cat has joined Dex on the bed and they are both giving him the same unimpressed look. “That’s a no.” Nursey goes through all of the names on his list, ranging from clichéd to obscure literary references that Dex doesn’t get. “Well, that’s all I have. Maybe you should contribute to the list.”
Dex looks down at the cat, who has now curled up on his stomach, and gives her a considering look. “Um, how about Ice or Rink. ‘Cause, you know, she’s white.”
Nursey blinks. “I like Ice. Let’s call her Ice.”
The cat, now named Ice, purrs and promptly closes her eyes, falling right asleep.
*~*
Nursey walks into the house, a scene in his head taking place, and he’s just getting to the pinnacle point of the dialogue when he steps on something slippery. He looks down to see one of Dex’s extra fancy ties on the floor. It’s one that Nursey bought him, green with a white floral pattern on it. It looks wonderful on Dex and Nursey loves it when he wears it, for ridiculous reasons, such as he’s providing for Dex or he’s marking Dex as “his”. He frowns, confused that this tie is on the floor and not in the back of Dex’s extra-special tie drawer, and then he realizes.
“Ice!” Nursey looks around the living room to see Ice is curled up on a couch pillow with another one of Dex’s fancy ties strewn around her like a scarf. “Ice, what did you do?” Ice remains asleep. Nursey sighs and walks over, taking the tie back, and heads for the bedroom to put the ties away. He finds two more on his walk to the closet, grumbling about cute cats that think they can get away with anything.
Nursey pulls open Dex’s tie drawer, all ready to put the ties away in nice, neat lines, when he sees a little velvet box tucked into the back corner. His heart starts pounding, so loud that the blood rushing is all Nursey can hear. Is that? He reaches out to open it but then stops. If this is what he thinks it is, he doesn’t want to see it when he’s alone in the apartment. He wants Dex to be the one to open it. He wants to see what Dex has planned.
Nursey folds up the ties, puts them back in neatly, and closes the drawer. Then he ignores it for the rest of the afternoon and types up the scene he had been writing in his head. If his mind wanders slightly to thoughts of rings and weddings, well, Nursey and Ice are the only two who know.
*~*
“You are so boring,” Nursey says. In his hands, he’s got a cone filled with vanilla bourbon bacon ice cream. It’s salty and delicious and running down his fingers a little bit, but it’s the perfect ending to the date he and Dex just went on. Dex, on the other hand, ordered plain chocolate ice cream, like a nerd.
“I’m classic, not boring. There’s a difference.” Dex licks at a stray drop about to get on his hand. He glances over at Nursey and snorts. “There’s more ice cream on your hand than there is in your mouth.”
“It’s a snack for later.” Dex rolls his eyes and wraps his fingers around Nursey’s wrist, pulling the cone towards him. He gives it one good lick around the bottom, catching all of the rebellious drops. Nursey gapes a little as Dex licks his lips clean. “You just Mom-licked me.”
“Dude, you were getting ice cream everywhere. It had to be done.” Dex looks way too smug, grinning around his own treat.
Nursey shakes his head. “I can’t believe my boyfriend just Mom-licked me.” A few seconds go by without a quip from Dex, so Nursey looks over at him to see Dex is wearing a frown. Well, more of a frown than he usually wears (Dex’s default expression is a frown and Nursey, sappily, loves trying to turn it into a grin). “Dex? Something wrong?”
Dex hums. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Sound of what?” The little part of Nursey’s brain that tells him his writing isn’t good enough and that the stretch marks on his thighs are ugly screams he’s breaking up with you. It’s ridiculous and irrational, as they have bene dating and living together for a while and Nursey doubts that Dex would take him on a date to break up with him, but that little insecure part of Nursey’s brain has never been rational.
“Boyfriend. I don’t like the sound of it.” Dex looks over at him, his frown gone and now he’s wearing a soft, tentative smile. Nursey’s heart starts pounding, just like when he found the little velvet box. “I’d rather have you call me your husband.”
This is not happening.
“Dex.”
Dex smiles a little wider, his free hand digging into his pocket and pulling out that little velvet box that Ice led Nursey to just a few weeks ago. He flips it open with his thumb and there it is, a simple silver band, the perfect size for Nursey’s left ring finger. “Will you marry me?”
“Shit, Dex, of course. Fuck, yes, yes.” Cold mouth and all, Nursey leans in and presses a kiss against Dex’s lips. They both have numb lips and tongues from the ice cream, but Nursey doesn’t care. He’s probably crying and Dex is laughing against his mouth and all Nursey can think is I want this forever.
*~*
“Mew,” is what Dex and Nursey hear the second they walk into their apartment. They’ve been away for a week, on their honeymoon, and they are sure that Ice is angry at them for leaving. She charges at them the second they close the door, rubbing up against their legs and stepping on their feet. She’s not a kitten anymore, basically a cat, but in Nursey’s mind, she’ll always be their baby.
“Ice, Ice, baby,” Nursey coos, bending down to pick her up. When he’s standing again, Ice curled in his elbow and nuzzling into his neck, Dex is rolling his eyes.
“When will you stop saying that?” Dex is tanned from the sun, as they spent most of their time in Spain on the beach, so he’s sun-warmed and smiley and doesn’t quite pull off the annoyed look he’s going for.
“Never. She is my baby and will be called as such.” Ice purrs loudly in Nursey’s ear, agreeing.
Dex reaches out to scratch lightly at Ice’s head. She closes her eyes and pushes into it. “You’re gonna make our kids jealous, calling our cat the baby.” He probably meant it as a chirp, but all Nursey can focus on is the “kids” part.
“You want kids?” he asks. Dex looks up from where he’s smiling warmly at the cat and blinks.
“Well, yeah. I-I want a couple.” He seems hesitant, like Nursey is going to be upset, so Nursey grins as widely as he can manage back.
“Me too.” They smile stupidly at each other, like blissful idiots.
Suddenly, Dex says, “Fuck, I’m so glad you’re my husband.” Dex flushes as he says it, still embarrassed to be so emotional out loud. Nursey’s grin softens.
“Husband, damn, I’m gonna call you that all the time.”
“You fucking better, for all that wedding cost me.” Dex is still smiling widely.
“Shut the fuck up,” Nursey says around a laugh. Dex tucks a hand behind his neck and pulls Nursey in for a kiss. A few seconds into it, though, Ice meows between them, annoyed that she isn’t getting attention. They laugh into each other’s mouths.
*~*
When they bring the baby home for the first time, they worry about how Ice is going to react. She doesn’t like sharing their attention, so she might just hate the baby on principle.
They bring Jemma Poindexter-Nurse home from the hospital and, after two weeks, Ice doesn’t seem to notice her. Both Dex and Nursey are incredibly relieved that Ice doesn’t instantly hate their daughter.
Three weeks after they brought Jemma home, she can’t sleep. They have both tried everything to calm her crying, from rocking her to feeding her to changing her diaper. Nothing has worked. Now they’re lying on their bed, the both of them shirtless because apparently skin-contact helps, Jemma in just her little diaper, lying on Dex’s chest. They are both exhausted, begging for sleep, and Nursey is extremely close to crying.
Ice jumps up on the bed and climbs up onto Nursey’s chest. Her nails dig in a little, but Nursey is long used to it. She sniffs the air curiously and peers down at the wailing Jemma. Both Dex and Nursey freeze, waiting nervously to watch what Ice does. Ice bends down, sniffing Jemma more intently. Then she purrs, pressing her face against Jemma’s arm. Almost instantly, Jemma stops crying. As Ice continues to “pet” Jemma, she quiets down into whimpers, then nothing. A few minutes later, Jemma is fast asleep. Ice, looking proud of herself, curls up on Nursey’s chest.
Nursey starts laughing, softly so as not to wake up Jemma or disturb Ice, and Dex beams back, wanting to laugh but not enough to risk waking his daughter.
The exhaustion takes them all very soon. Dex falls asleep with Jemma on his chest and Ice falls asleep curled up in ball. Nursey looks at his family and smiles, happier than he ever thought he could be.