Work Text:
Robby opens the front door to a peaceful sight. Jack is sitting on the sofa next to Liam, both of them fixated on the TV screen as they hold calmly onto one another. Robby smiles to himself at the sight of his family, taking a moment to appreciate how much he has in life. As he shuts the door, Jack looks up grinning at him as Liam sits up from the sofa and starts running towards him at full pace.
Robby drops his bags to the floor and picks Liam up, swirling him around in the air as he laughs uncontrollably.
"Hey buddy, how has your day been with grandad?" Robby asks as he sits on the sofa with Liam on his lap.
"It was so good! We went to the park and we saw all the people walking their dogs." Liam exclaimed, gesturing with his hands.
As Liam continues to babble on about their day, Robby looks around for Jacobi and notices that he's nowhere to be seen. He shoots a quizzical look at Jack, who gestures towards the ceiling, most likely meaning that Jacobi has shut himself up in his room for most of the day. This was no surprise to Robby. Recently, it's been a nightmare even trying to get Jacobi out of his room, nearly always resulting in some sort of argument. He just wanted to be alone and marinate in his grief, but Robby and Jack knew that this would only end in disaster.
"Well babe I've got to set off for the hospital ready for the changeover," Jack declares, getting up from the sofa and smoothing out the wrinkles in his black scrubs. Robby is nearly drooling at the sight of him all dressed up in his work scrubs.
"Ahh ok, make sure you call me on your break," Robby replies, getting up to hug his husband. Jack nods lovingly, gives Liam a big hug and heads out of the door, ready for his shift. It would be a relief once he finishes as they both had tomorrow off and so could spend some restful time with the kids. Well, as restful as it can be.
Over the next couple of hours, Robby reads with Liam and helps him to do his spelling homework ready for the next school week, hoping to make up for all the time the boys missed during the turmoil of their mother's death. The last thing they wanted was for the boys to be behind in school alongside all of the other issues.
Once the homework was finished, Robby made a quick dinner for them all; relishing in the simplicity of sweet hoisin chicken with rice and vegetables, with Jacobi actually coming downstairs to eat for once, even if he did sit away from them. Progress is progress, which gives a glimmer of hope in the distance.
After he had washed up all of the dishes and cleaned the house up, Robby took Liam upstairs to have a shower and get ready for bed. He and Jack tried to incorporate the same bedtime routine every night to get the boys in a reliable schedule, hoping that this could provide some comfort to them. For Liam, it was helping massively and was key in keeping him calm before bed. However, Jacobi often rebelled against it as expected, creating an inevitable fight every night. It was exhausting.
Yet, after he had put Liam to bed, Robby walked towards Jacobi's room prepared for battle just to find him already tucked up in bed and half asleep.
"Well that was easy.." Robby muttered as he closed Jacobi's door and headed downstairs. He took this momentary watershed of peace to recline on his favourite armchair and read his motorcycle mechanics book. As he continued to read, he felt himself begin to drop off to sleep until he eventually was dreaming about being on the open roads and staying in a remote lodge, with Jack there with him and cooking for him. Wow, they really needed to book another holiday soon.
Robby continued to nap in the lowlighted room, reclined in his armchair and completely at peace. He was unsure of how long was passing, until he was suddenly jolted awake by the sound of screaming coming from upstairs…
Half dazed, he dashed up from the armchair and raced up the stairs towards the sound. Crashing into the banister, he slammed Jacobi's door open in a panic just to find him sat up looking confused, with the screaming still coming from another room.
Robby shuts Jacobi's door and runs across the landing and into Liam's room, where he finds Liam sat bolt upright screaming and wailing, his breath shallow.
"Baby what's wrong? Is everything ok … you're okay I'm here now." Robby says softly, sitting down next to Liam and holding onto him tightly, attempting to soothe him.
Liam continues to cry and writhe around, seemingly in a trance. Robby surveyed him worriedly as the night terrors took over him and he continued to wail, hopefully he would be able to break out of it soon. The best thing was just to hug him and soothe him until he could eventually break through it and calm down.
He held on tight as Liam thrashed his hands around, screaming whilst trying to break free.
"I want my mom, please, please I want mommy!" Liam shouted, while the tears dripped down his face and landed on Robby's arms. He held on tighter, trying even harder to calm Liam down and find some tranquillity.
As Robby hugged Liam and consoled him, he could see a shadow lingering in the doorway. Jacobi stood there, half concealed by the door, watching Robby's helplessness in calming his brother down. He didn't say anything or even move, he just stood there watching with a pained expression on his face. Robby sighed, feeling overwhelmed by sympathy for these poor boys and the drastic change that happened to their life overnight - it would traumatise anybody.
He looked up again towards Jacobi, more obviously this time, which startled him and led to him rushing away from the door and pretending that he was never there.
Jacobi crept back along the corridor and into his room, where he flopped down on the bed. He didn't want to seem like he cares, but he hates it when Liam cries. He's just so little and deals with everything differently, which makes Jacobi feel bad that he can't be there for him like he wants to. He feels responsible. He doesn't want Robby and Jack to take control and steal Liam from him, they will change everything and then suddenly their mom disintegrates into nothing. Forgotten.
While Jacobi tries to go back to sleep, Robby finally manages to calm Liam down and get him to lie back down on the bed.
"Its all okay Liam buddy, I'm here now. Just try and go back to sleep … Grandad Jack will be back soon." Robby whispers, lying down in the bed with Liam and holding onto him. Liam grips back onto Robby's arm, making Robby realise he is probably going to be spending the night in this bed with him. He didn’t mind. He'd do anything to make sure that his grandsons were happy.
Once he was sure that Liam was firmly back asleep, he pulled his phone out from his trouser pocket and texted Jack.
'Sorry I wasn't able to call babe, we had another night terror.'
Jack responded after a couple of minutes passed.
'Oh no! Is everything okay now, do I need to come back?'
'Don’t worry, it's all under control.' Robby sent a selfie of him with sleeping Liam alongside this message, just to ensure Jack that all was well so he wouldn't worry.
'Ahh okay good good, I miss you, can't wait to be back with you..'
Robby smiled to himself and wished Jack goodnight, before snuggling further under the covers with Liam. He breathed deeply and finally relaxed, ready to go to sleep. Yes, it was a difficult night, but at least he was there for his grandson and that was what mattered most to him. More than anything else, he just wanted them to be okay and flourish in life. And with that, Robby dozed off back to sleep for the night.