Work Text:
October 12th
Avery woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of crying.
It almost scared him at first, the sudden unfamiliar noise coming from his room. It took precious moments for the memories of the day before to settle in his head. To remind himself that he knew exactly what the cause of the noise was.
Margaret.
He got out of bed slowly- trying desperately not to wake Derek on one of the nights he was actually getting good sleep- and hurried over to the crib in the corner of the room. He quickly but gently scooped his daughter into his arms, her big brown eyes full of tears that made Avery almost start crying with her.
“Shhh, Maggie,” He whispered, holding her close to his chest. “I know, I know, it’s scary waking up in a new place, but I’m here.” Her crying quieted down to a sniffle, but she didn’t look anywhere close to the end of her meltdown. Avery sighed and got comfortable in the rocking chair they had been gifted by Derek’s grandmother. The woman at the adoption center had told them this would likely be their reality until she had settled into the new environment.
Margaret came into their lives earlier today after getting the call that they were finally approved for adoption and, somehow, already matched with a child. It took months of paperwork and training, but they had done it. Peter was just as happy as they were, celebrating with them about how excited he was to meet his new… well-
“Wait… will they be my nibbling or my sibling?”
“I… don’t know.”
For the rest of the morning, Peter had switched between calling himself “future big brother” and “future uncle” to see which one he liked better. He still hadn’t decided when they picked him up from school (getting him enrolled in the one near them was a pain in the ass), so it was still up in the air what he’d be considered.
Avery rocked the little girl, eight months according to the adoption center. She and her siblings had been given up by their mother after she was widowed and realized she didn’t have the resources to take care of three children. He felt for that woman deeply. She loved her children so much that she let them go when she couldn’t care for them. He swore to himself that he would raise them with love and respect.
Yes, them.
As in more than one.
-
Originally the adoption center called them in for Margaret alone, acknowledging them as fit parents for the infant. They had already prepared for her the day before they arrived, setting up a makeshift nursery in the corner of their bedroom. Their plan was for her to stay with them for the first year and then move into the spare bedroom once she was old enough for a bed.
They didn’t know she had two older siblings until they got there.
A two year old brother, Elijah, and a four year old sister, Alia. They were practically older clones of her; the same dark skin, the same curly black hair, the same big brown eyes. Half of Alia’s left eye was blue however. “Sectoral Heterochromia”, Derek had told him. They were told that the other siblings would be alright and assured that Margaret wouldn’t even remember them.
(Avery had to squeeze Derek’s hand to prevent him from ripping her a new one.)
They weren’t prepared to take in three kids, not at the moment, so Derek volunteered to go home and prepare the spare room for Alia and Elijah while Avery stayed at the center to get to know them. Avery had almost wanted to take them home immediately, but he knew Derek was right that they didn’t have what they needed for a toddler and a preschooler. Learning about them proved to be a huge help in the long run.
Alia wasn’t a very talkative girl, but she spoke up to translate for Elijah, who was partially deaf and didn’t have hearing aids. Avery noted that mentally as something they would need to save up for as soon as possible. They were good kids, if a little closed-off, which he completely understood. Slowly over the hours they waited for Derek to give the all clear, Avery learned as much as he could about the two older siblings while holding Margaret the entire time.
Alia liked finger painting, macaroni art, and making sculptures out of play-dough. Elijah liked the swings, playing tag, and trying to eat his sister’s play-dough sculptures. Alia liked orange, Elijah liked purple. Alia wanted to be an astronaut, and Elijah wanted to be a professional cheese taster.
It didn’t take long for Avery to realize these kids were perfect for them
-
A knock at the door startled him out of his thoughts, and he realized that Margaret had fallen asleep in his arms. Alia was at the door however, her hand held in Elijah’s and Peter behind them. He was confused on why all three of them were there. Did the baby crying wake them up?
“Can we sleep in your room tonight?” Alia asked, her voice quiet and shy. “Elijah had a nightmare and I can’t sleep without him.”
Avery tried to ignore the celebratory feeling in his heart that they were already safe space on the first night, willing himself to just nod and place Margaret back into her crib. He lifted the covers and let Alia and Elijah slide between him and Derek, while Peter kept to his other side.
“If Elijah had a nightmare, why are you here?” He asked Peter, his tone questioning not accusatory.
“I wasn’t gonna miss out in family snuggles,” He whispered back, before spooning him. It took maybe ten minutes at most for the children to fall back asleep. Derek somehow hadn’t woken up during the moment, and the cats had even curled up at the end of the bed. Everyone was asleep, content with the night.
Avery didn’t have that luxury.
He sat awake for another hour, Peter’s words bouncing around in his head. Family. That’s what they were, by definition and by emotional bond. A family. But it was like Peter had said it out and it made it so much more real. They were a family. Derek and Avery were together and now they were dads with two daughters and a son and some weird mix of son and little brother with their own house and seven cats and Avery was graduating in two months and Derek was doing good with his freelancing work and they were a family.
It felt good to have a family.
“Overthinking again, love?” He heard Derek whisper from beside him, reaching a hand over the children’s heads to hold one of his. Avery considered the question for a moment and shook his head.
“Not overthinking. Just happy.” Derek considered him for a second, before realizing he wasn’t lying and smiling at him.
“Good. Now to go sleep.”
“Yes sir.”
“Avery.”
“Fine, fine.”
The next morning he’d wake up late to the smell of bacon and eggs and walk into the kitchen to see Derek teaching Peter and Alia to cook eggs while Elijah played peek-a-boo with Margaret. Elijah would turn to him and spell his name in sign language and Alia would give him the tiniest smile and Margaret would reach for him and Avery decided then and there he really liked having a family.