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“Papa! Papa! PIE!” Jemma cried out, bursting into the room. She ran straight up to Holster tugging on his arm. Ransom and Holster were only a few weeks away from graduation, and Jemma was getting closer and closer to two years old, which was terrifying. Holster had been in the middle of a skype interview. He had asked everyone not to disturb him but he knew first hand how difficult it was to keep Jemma under control sometimes.
“I am so sorry. Just a moment.” Holster told the man with a small smile, trying to hide the panic in his chest. He turned to Jemma.
“What type of pie did Uncle Bitty make?” he asked.
“Chocolate, I helped!” She declared proudly. Holster grinned at her.
“That sounds fantastic, darling. I’m sure you did an amazing job. I simply can’t wait to try a piece.” He promised her, “But Papa’s in the middle of an important conversation right now.”
“Can I stay?” Jemma asked. “I’ll be real quiet.” Her wide brown begging eyes were so similar to her father’s. Holster could never say no to those eyes no matter whether it was his daughter or husband looking at him. He looked carefully over her head.
“Oh, sweetheart, I wish you could-” he started.
“Mr. Oluransi?” His interviewer, a Mr. Garran, said mildly. “I don’t mind if your daughter stays for a moment.”
“Come here then, doll.” Holster murmured hoisting Jemma into his lap. “Jemma this is Mr. Garran, can you tell him thank you?” He asked her.
“Thank you.” She murmured. He nodded with a wide smile.
“Of course little lady.” He agreed. “I take it this is your daughter, Mr. Oluransi?” He asked.
“Yes, this is my little girl, Jemma. My apologies for the interruption. Do you have kids?” Garran nodded, Holster smiled, “Then you know what toddlers are like.”
“I do indeed. Don’t worry about it, I don’t have many more questions.” Garran told him. “So, tell me, why did you choose to apply here?”
“Well, I was looking for something in Boston, we love the city and my husband has been accepted to the Boston University’s Medical school starting this upcoming fall. Your company stood out above all the others by a large margin. I would love to be a part of what you do. It would be a dream come true, honestly.” Holster answered honestly. He wanted this so badly.
“Many congratulations to your husband.” Garran said with a small smile. They had celebrated their one year anniversary not that long ago, and Holster still thought he would never get over calling Ransom his husband.
“I suppose I don’t need to ask my next question on diversity and being accepting to all sorts of people? We do run a very open office, we do not accept discrimination based on race, gender, sexuality, or religion. If you have a problem with that, and I don’t suppose you will, you’d best tell me now because it will become a problem later.”
“No, of course not. Though it is good to know the sort of environment you have. It isn’t always easy as a married bisexual man with a mixed daughter.” He admitted.
“Papa, pie now?” Jemma asked very quietly. Holster brushed a hand over her hair affectionately.
“Darling, why don’t you go ahead? I’ll be down in just a few minutes. Is Daddy down there?”
“Yup!” She agreed. Holster lifted Jemma down from his lap and kissed her on the cheek.
“Tell your daddy not to eat all the pie, I’ll be down soon.” he told her. She nodded.
“Okay, Papa!” She said with a smile before toddling back down the stairs. He turned back to his laptop to finish his interview. When he came down from their room he lept down the stairs victoriously. Then he immediately paused. He knew now why Jemma had so easily escaped upstairs to bother him. Bitty was on the phone with Jack in the living room, he knew Lardo and Chowder were sitting out on the roof, and in the kitchen Jemma sat patiently at the table where a chocolate pie sat next to a thick heavy textbook. As for Holster’s husband, he was curled up in a ball beneath the table.
“Daddy is a coral reef.” Jemma said slowly when she saw her papa walk in. He grinned at her for that.
“That’s right sweetheart. Daddy is a coral reef.” He agreed. While graduation was almost upon them, there were still exams to take before they graduated and Ransom was losing it a little, as always. If he was being quiet honest, Holster was just really impressed that Ransom had managed to balance his damn ecosystem to include the daughter and husband alongside his 4.0 and hockey broness. Still he had to do something. He knelt by Ransom.
“Hey, Rans.” He murmured. “I know you’re stressed, but it’s gonna be alright. I know that anything logical I try to say doesn’t make a damn bit of difference right now, you know all the logical reasons why it’s going to be okay. So have some illogical ones, I love you so it’s going to be okay. Jemma’s hair is perfect today, so it’s going to be okay. You’re beautiful, so it’s going to be okay. The sun is shining, so it’s going to be okay. There’s a chocolate pie that our daughter helped to make for us sitting on the table above us, so it’s going to be okay.” He knew that it doesn’t really matter what he says, just that he says something in a calm reassuring voice. He reached a gentle hand out and rubs Ransom’s back carefully, sitting there for a minute or two rubbing his husband’s back until Rans uncurled slightly.
“I’m sorry.” Ransom murmured, crawling out from under the table and into Holster’s lap. “I should have been watching Jemma and everything and I just got so-”
“Don’t apologize, it’s fine. You had an anxiety attack, it’s not your fault.” Holster reassured him. They’d had this conversation before, but he knew that Ransom could always benefit from being reminded that his anxiety wasn’t his fault.
“I should have been watching Jemma though. She went upstairs didn’t she? I’m sorry, did your interview go okay?” he asked.
“You could say that.” Holster murmured. “Jemma did come up to see me though.” He added.
“Oh I’m sorry.” Ransom sighed.
“No, no don’t worry about it, it went well. It went so well.” Holster insisted. He couldn’t hold back his excitement anymore. “He offered me the job! I got the job! We’re staying in Boston!” He exclaimed. Ransom stared at him in shock and then threw his arms around Holster and kissed him. When he pulled away Holster kissed him again. It was another thing which would never get old. He would never get over kissing Ransom, it was one of the most amazing things in the world.
“That’s fantastic Holst!” Ransom exclaimed when they finally pulled away. “Congratulations!” He got to his feet and pulled Holster up. Holster wrapped him tight in his arms and swung him around in a circle.
“It’s gonna be great, Rans.” Holster said, kissed Ransom again and then swept Jemma into the air twirling her around grinning. She laughed and squealed.
“Is Daddy better now?” She asked. Ransom smiled down at her.
“Daddy, is all better sweetheart. I’m sorry if I upset you.” he told her, hoisting her onto his hip and kissing her on the head.
“It’s fine.” She told him.
“Thanks sweetheart.” he breathed. “I love you. And I love your wonderful, employed Papa as well.” He added, grinning back at Holster.
“It’s a good salary for just starting out too.” Holster said with a smile. “We should be able to find a decent place to live.”
“Oh, god we’ve got to start looking for houses! Oh my god! There’s so much to do! There’s not enough time for everything!” Ransom exclaimed, starting to look panicked again. Holster stole Jemma and held her on his hip easily, leaning over to kiss Ransom on the cheek.
“Love, calm down. We’ll figure this out, we always do.” Holster reassured him. “It’ll be fine.”
“How can you always be so calm about everything?!” Ransom demanded. “You’re even more chill than Nursey these days.” This was definitely true as Nursey was starting to lose his chill entirely. Dex seemed to have that effect on him. He was undeniably happier though, so no one seemed to care much.
“Because I have you, and Jemma, and the best friends in the world. As long as I have all of that, I know it’s all going to work out.” Holster said with a grin. “Plus I’m just really good at keeping all the terrified screaming in my head.” he added chuckling. Ransom laughed. They were gonna figure it all out.