Chapter Text
Damien is confused when he gets a random call from Shayne on a Friday night, even more so when he hears a little Courtney giggling in the background.
“What's up?” he asks Shayne when he answers, smiling softly when he hears Courtney.
He hears Shayne laugh to himself before he answers, “Court wanted me to ask you if Spencer and them could have a playdate.” he explains in an attempt at a serious voice.
“Why are you asking me?” he questions as Courtney continues to giggle in the background.
“You his caregiver,” they cut in, “You make plans.”
“I don’t-” Damien starts, but Shayne cuts him off.
“Spencer told Courtney when they were both big that he'd talk to me about scheduling a playdate, instead of them,” he explains, “So Court decided to go over Spencer to you.”
Damien laughs, “What day are you thinking?” he asks, “I’ll have to talk to him to actually plan something, but I can at least do the planning.”
Courtney cheers, running off to play while the two talk about days that work for the couple.
Eventually they hang up and Damien chuckles to himself as he opens his texts.
Dames: What are you doing next Saturday?
Spence: nothin
y?
Dames: Shayne says Court wants a playdate
We were thinking Saturday would be good
The three dots appear and disappear until a phone call comes through.
“They actually had Shayne call you?” he asks incredulously, amusement creeping into his voice, “They said they would, but I didn't believe them.”
“Never underestimate Court,” Damien tells them seriously, “They're an unstoppable force when they want something.”
Spencer sighs, “I can do Saturday,” he tells him, “Are you coming?” he questions, trying to keep the hope out of his voice.
Damien smiles to himself, “If you'd like me to.” he answers easily.
There's silence for a minute before he hears a whispered reply, so quiet he almost doesn't hear it,
“Always.”
.. - ... / .- / -- . / .- / -- .- .-. .. ---
“Playdate with Spence!” Courtney says excitedly in lieu of a good morning as they rush into the living room.
“Good morning to you too,” Shayne jokes, catching the little as they jump into his arms, “Love the look.”
Courtney grins, they're wearing a bright pink Kirby T-shirt with green camo pants, the exact chaos you expect from them.
“Thanks papa, boys come now?” they ask hopefully, pouting when they see Shayne start to shake his head.
“It's too early, princess,” he tells them, “Besides, we haven't had breakfast yet.”
They sigh as Shayne carries them to the kitchen, their annoyance quickly forgotten as they're pulled into making homemade French toast.
.. - ... / .- / -- . / .- / -- .- .-. .. ---
“This feels weird.” Spencer admits as he walks up to Damien’s car, “The door's locked.” he adds when he attempts to open the passenger door.
“You're little,” Damien reminds him gently, “Backseat.”
Spencer rolls his eyes as he opens the door and sits, “Such bullshit,” he groans as Damien drives off towards Shourtney’s place, “13 year olds can sit in the front seat.”
“I agree,” Damien admits, “But the law is for all dropped littles.”
He huffs as he looks out the window, “Usually I make the kids come to me,” he tells his caregiver, “They're quieter.”
Damien laughs, “I figured having Court near their toys and other belongings would make it easier for them.”
“It might, but now they might wanna play like, dolls instead of video games,” Spencer explains, “And I don't play dolls.”
He laughs again before shifting his tone to something more gentle, “Just because they're a little doesn't mean you can't have boundaries,” Damien reminds him, “You are allowed to say no to them.”
“I hate when they're sad,” he admits quietly, “Not just because it's loud.” he adds half jokingly.
“I know it's hard, but they're not upset with you, they're just upset they're not getting to play exactly what they wanna play.” he tells him gently, “If Trev told you he didn't want to play a game you really wanted to play would you be upset with him?”
Spencer rolls his eyes again, “I'm not a little kid.” he grumbles before actually answering, “No.”
Damien smiles, making brief eye contact through the mirror, “Besides, I think they wanna play Mario games with you anyways,” he adds, “Shayne and I will either play with you or do something else upstairs.”
“You can play with us,” he says quickly, “If Court wants you too,” he amends sloppily, embarrassed by his own excitement.
Neither of them acknowledge the moment and the duo talk about the new Fortnite season until they reach the front door to the apartment, Courtney ripping it open before either of them can knock.
“Spence! Damien!” they shout excitedly, dragging the two into the apartment, “Was waiting for you.”
Damien chuckles as they try to climb up him, helping by lifting them into his arms, “It's been too long, Corgan. How's the family?”
They giggle, hugging him tightly, “Bones hit Papa face last night,” they answer, “Was funny.” they add before turning to focus on Spencer, reaching their arms towards him.
“Hug?” Courtney asks hopefully, grinning when he rolls his eyes and opens his arms for them.
Wiggling out of Damien's arms, they crash into Spencer, wrapping their arms around him happily, “What Mario we playing?”
He shrugs as the trio walk into the living room where Shayne is waiting, the two saying hi to him before Spencer answers, “Depends on whether or not the old men are playing.” he answers with a small smirk.
The littles laugh at the caregivers faux indignation, Courtney picking up their Switch controller and looking between the three boys, before focusing on Spencer.
“The kitty one?” they ask him as they pull him and Damien to the couch, “Four people.”
Spencer hums thoughtfully, “Super Mario 3D World?” he clarifies, continuing after their nod, “I'm cool with that.” he answers easily, pulling out his own controller to connect to the Switch.
Damien copies him and quickly the four are loaded into the game.
“Toad!” Courtney yells, quickly claiming him before anyone else can.
“Jokes on you, I wanna float a little bit,” Damien jokes when he's left with Peach; Spencer and Shayne picking Mario and Luigi respectively.
Courtney giggles before beginning to flick through the levels to where they left off, “Let’s-a go,” they murmur in imitation of Mario as they select the level, earning a surprised laugh from Shayne.
The four make their way through the levels without issue, who reaches the flag pole first switching between the three boys every time.
They play through a few more levels and Spencer is running towards the flag with Courtney hot on his trail, only a couple rock monsters in the way.
He glances over at their hopeful face and purposely jumps at the wrong time, landing on the spikes and stunning his character long enough to let them reach the flag first.
“I win!” they shout excitedly, hopping up to run a lap around the living room, “I did it!”
“Good job dude,” Spencer compliments, “I almost had it too.”
Damien nods proudly at him, and he ducks his head, a light blush on his cheeks at the non-verbal praise.
He looks back up, and Courtney is laughing loudly as Shayne pretends to drop them from where he'd picked them up in the middle of the living room.
“Nooooo,” they call out through their giggles as he slowly leans them back again, laughing when he pretends to drop them again.
“Dame help!” they call out unseriously, “Gonna drop me!”
Damien chuckles and stands, holding his arms carefully under where Shayne is pretending to drop them, “I'll catch you!” he assures them, “He can't get away with this.”
Shayne carefully drops Courtney into his arms, only letting them fall an inch between the two of them.
Courtney laughs as Damien returns to the couch and sits them peacefully in his lap like nothing happened, “More Mario?”
“For sure,” Spencer responds, sliding closer to them as Shayne attempts to sit back down, “Seats taken.” he adds cheekily, making him sit on Damien's other side.
Which didn't do anything besides make Courtney laugh again.
“Boys funny,” they say happily, leaning over to hug Spencer from Damien’s lap before leaning the other way to kiss Shayne's cheek, “Love guys,” they add, leaning back into Damien as he wraps his arms around them.
The two caregivers echo Courtney while Spencer simply says “same” before reaching forward to press start on the other little's controller, ending the emotional moment.
They play until lunch, Shayne dropping out a couple levels early to make sandwiches and set everything up.
“Thanks papa!” Courtney says happily, sitting in the seat that's clearly set for them with a Barbie sippy cup and monster truck plate.
“Yeah, thanks,” Spencer mumbles, taking a bite of his food, “It's crazy how hungry I am when I'm little,” he adds, taking another bite.
“It's because you're a 13 year old boy,” Shayne reminds him, “Your stomach is basically a pit.”
“And yet I always have to remind you to eat,” Damien adds teasingly, preemptively dumping half of his chips onto his little’s plate.
Spencer huffs as he takes another bite of his sandwich, “I don't forget,” he pushes back, “I just can't be bothered.”
“Eating important,” Courtney tells him seriously, “Gotta grow big, strong.”
He opens his mouth to correct them, that they aren't going to grow anymore, but Shayne quickly shakes his head.
“Sure kid,” he says instead, “Vegetables and shi- stuff.” he adds, catching himself at the last second.
The four eat their lunch jumping from topic to topic, the change usually initiated by Courtney, until everyone is done eating.
“Don't wanna nap,” Courtney whines as Shayne cleans their hands, “Wanna play.”
“I know princess, but they'll still be here when you wake up,” he assures them, “We’re gonna do yucky grown up work while you sleep.”
They pout, reaching towards Damien to be picked up, “Super Court?” they ask hopefully.
Damien happily obliges them, lifting the little into his arms and holding them horizontally to fly them to their bed.
“They'll be bummed if you don't come up too,” Shayne tells Spencer as he leaves to follow Damien, “Unless you're not down for that.”
He stands and follows Shayne towards the stairs, “I don't know why, but I like the little brats,” he admits quietly in case Court can hear him.
Shayne chuckles, “Probably shouldn't call them brats then,” he tells him jokingly, lightly pushing his shoulder, “Courtney adores you,” he adds, “They think you're really cool.”
Spencer blushes, ducking his head and walking past the caregiver into their bedroom. Inside, Court is giggling face down on the bed, seemingly just thrown by Damien.
They wiggle their way under the covers, grabbing their stuffed lobster Horsey before looking between the other three in the room.
“Still no wanna nap,” they grumble when Shayne sits beside them, running his fingers through their hair.
“I know,” he murmurs as he leans down to kiss their nose, “But papa is so proud of you for doing what's best for your body,” he praises, “You're such a good kid, Court.”
Courtney beams at him, settling further into the bed, “Promise still here?” they ask Damien where he stands behind Shayne.
“Promise,” he says firmly, looking to the doorway for confirmation from Spencer.
“I can't promise I'll be little,” he admits, walking over to the bed, “But I'll be here somehow.”
Spencer awkwardly reaches his hand down to pat their shoulder, “Good to see you kid,” he mumbles.
They grin at him, “Love you Spence! Thanks come play.” they chirp, letting their eyes flutter shut as Shayne scratches lightly at their scalp.
The two guests head out of the room quietly, returning to the couch as they wait for Shayne to put the littlest one to sleep.
“I'm proud of you Spencer,” Damien murmurs as he wraps an arm around his shoulder, “You’re doing great.”
He huffs, leaning into his side with a faint blush and a proud smile, “I’m having fun,” he admits quietly, hesitantly resting his head on his caregiver’s shoulder, “I think I'm growing up.”
Damien hums, tapping a pattern on Spencer's shoulder, “Good to see you bud, I love you.”
Spencer closes his eyes, “Love you,” he mumbles almost inaudibly. It only takes him about a minute to raise his head and slide away from Damien.
“Are we actually working?” he asks incredulously, “Or were we lying to the baby?”
“A bit of both,” he answers, “I had a suggestion for Games and wanted to show it to you and play it with you guys,” he explains, “So work, but also just video games.”
And that's exactly what happens when Shayne comes down the stairs. Damien briefly explains the game to them before they load into the game, R.E.P.O., and he dives deeper into it.
The three play through a bit of the game as Courtney naps, quietly communicating about what to do as well as discussing how well they think it could work as a video.
With it being a horror game, they also all have to keep themselves from screaming, not wanting to accidentally wake the sleeping little.
As it gets closer to when they should wake up, the trio close the game. Both not wanting Courtney to accidentally walk in and get scared, and not wanting them to feel left out.