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"Robby!"
That high-pitched yell was the group's only warning as Tanner flew across the park, running hard, arms already outstretched as he barreled towards Robby, giving the man just enough time to take a deep breath and crouch low enough to catch Tanner as he hurled himself at Robby, nothing but confident the doctor would catch him.
"Humph," Robby caught the four-year-old with a grunt, picking Tanner up with a playful frown. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
Tanner's familiar blue eyes went wide, and his bottom lip stuck out in a pout, looking at his favourite person in all the world. "Put me down." He demanded. "Jack loves me..."
"Yup." Jack snickered, reaching out to ruffle Tanner's mess of dark locks, "You're Frank's kid, alright. Where's dad, kiddo?"
Tanner shifted in Robby's arms, where Frank was walking towards them at a much more sedate pace, following Penny, the almost two-year-old's stocky legs taking sure steps, grunting in impatience at Frank. "She wanted to walk." Tanner lamented looking at Robby.
"Daddy says she's learning. She should learn faster. Hi! I'm Tanner, I'm four," he held out five fingers towards Victoria, "Who are you? I've missed you. Can we have cake?" He had turned back to Robby before Victoria could answer Tanner's question on who she was.
Victoria blinked, unsure how to process everything she was witnessing, "Um...I'm Victoria...I work with your dad."
"Oh, that's cool," Tanner's eyebrows came together. "Do you give Robby and Jack grey hairs, too?"
"Right." Robby put the boy down, earning another pout from Tanner, forcing Robby to actively resist picking Tanner back up and holding him the rest of the afternoon. "Yeah, I think your dad will yell at us both if you get cake before food."
Tanner rolled his eyes, looking at Victoria like Robby was an idiot, before turning back to Robby. "Daddy won't yell at you. He loves you. Plus, cake is food." Victoria watched in fascinated horror as Robby blushed.
"Tanner Alexander Langdon." Frank's sharp tone cut across the last few feet between them. "What did we talk about before we got out of the car? It's important to give people space." Penny gave a large grunt of annoyance where she now sat in Frank's arms, reaching out towards Jack, scowling and actively making 'gimme' hands towards Jack.
"Please, it would destroy Robby's whole world if Tanner gave him space. Now shut up and give me my kid."
"Y-your kid?" Victoria stuttered out, Penny happily going to Jack's arms, resting her head against his chest, looking at Victoria with the same unimpressed look she had seen Jack wear more than once on shift, despite her being another copy and paste physical version of Frank, minus her eyes, which were more green then blue, Abby's one physical claim on the little girl.
"Damn right." Jack nodded. "Going to have her running the Pitt by the time she's an M4."
Robby groaned at the thought. "My kid isn't going anywhere near the Pitt." Frank retorted, with a look at Victoria. "Jack's been pushing her towards Emergency Medicine since she was three weeks old."
"Um...."
"Francis Langdon, stop letting those men hog my babies, and get some food in them," Dana demanded, yelling from the picnic table, with a glare at the small group.
"Hi, Auntie Dana!" Tanner yelled out, running towards her, wrapping his arms around her in a hug.
Jack snickered at the small pout that formed on Robby's face at losing Tanner to Dana. "Sucks for you."
"Give me Penny," Robby demanded, reaching out to Penny, who scowled, grabbing onto Jack's t-shirt.
"Mine." She declared.
"Oh, my god." Victoria breathed out. "She is your kid."
Jack smirked, "Come on, munchkin, let me introduce you to the rest of the Pittlings."
Frank, Robby, and Victoria watched as Jack walked away, none of them moving for a moment. "So..." Victoria began, unsure how to proceed. "I'm going to go get food," and quickly retreated, leaving the men alone.
"You know there's a huge chance that one of them will think Penny is actually his kid..."
"Yeah...I should get over there...." Frank muttered, observing his daughter try to stare Trinity down while Dennis watched in horror, and Jack continued to look proud of her.
"You don't want to, do you?" Robby laughed. "Kids are a lot."
"My kids are a lot." Frank countered. "Thank god they're cute."
Robby kept his mouth shut, the apples of his cheeks a little red. "Do you think Jack will survive if Penny doesn't go into medicine?"
Frank thought about it for a moment. "I don't think there's a chance Penny isn't going into medicine. He'll be fine as long as she doesn't decide to follow Garcia." Robby chuckled at the thought.
"Come on," he directed softly, his hand going briefly to the small of Frank's back without thought, Frank following the prompt with just as little consideration, relaxing just a fraction into the touch, neither of them registering their actions, "let's go get food, before Tanner decides to eat two hot dogs again and make himself sick."
Frank groaned at the memory but nodded, reaching the picnic table, grabbing a plate, Cassie smirking at the man from the other side of the table, also grabbing a plate. "Whatever you're thinking, stop it." He commanded, pointing at Cassie with a paper plate.
"Not saying anything." Cassie shook her head. "Hey Tan-Tan?"
Cassie called out, interrupting Tanner's chatter to an amused Dennis and a wide-eyed Trinity whose eyes kept darting from Tanner to Penny to Frank. Penny now holding Mel's hand and moving towards the picnic table, Jack looking vaguely betrayed behind them. "Yeah?" Tanner asked wide-eyed and excited.
"You still want to be a dino when you grow up?"
"Nu-uh." He shook his head. I'm going to be a doctor-ninja."
Cassie's smirk grew. "Do doctor-ninjas eat cake?"
Tanner's eyes went impossibly wide at the question. "You should ask your dads if you could have some.
Jack’s eyebrows drifted upwards at Cassie’s implications while Robby muttered a mortified “McCay.”
“Daddies, can I cake?” He demanded, looking to the three men, not bothering to correct Cassie in his excitement.
“Wait, what?” Trinity demanded, sharing a look with Dennis, who looked as lost and terrified as she felt.
Frank shrugged and looked at Jack and Robby. “I have them all week, and I am not above dropping him off at 9:00 tonight when it’s an hour past bedtime, and you two can have him for the night.”
Frank knew in that moment he had made the wrong fucking move.
Jack’s smirk was instantaneous. “You need to eat some non-cake food first, Tan.” Frank whirled around to find Robby speaking, “and we can decide if you want a corner piece or a middle piece.”
Tanner thought about it, looking at Trinity for help. “What one has more frosthting?”
“The corner piece,” Dennis answered with a bright smile at Frank’s tiny clone. “Always the corner piece.”
“Not helping Whitaker,” Frank called out. “At all, man.”