Chapter Text
"-and where do you think you're going?"
Frank looked down at himself, wearing his scrubs, still trying to figure out why they felt wrong, before looking at Jack, who was standing between Frank and the bedroom door, looking deeply unimpressed with Frank being ready on time. His head hurt, and there was a slight ringing in his ears, and his body felt like lead, but he was ready all the same.
"Uh, to work."
"Try again, baby boy," Jack ordered, cocking an eyebrow where he stood in his own scrubs, filling the doorway in a stance which clearly meant he was not going to move an inch. "The only place you're going is back to bed, sweetheart." He ordered with complete confidence.
"I'm fine, Jack," Frank grumbled.
"I'll believe that when you don't have a fever of 102°, and you're no longer putting on your scrubs backwards."
So that's what felt so wrong about them, Frank figured it out.
"Sure, baby, you figured it out." Jack agreed, and Frank blushed, realising he was talking out loud. "Now, can you take off your scrubs and get back into bed yourself, or do I need to help your body?"
"Har har." Frank wanted to roll his eyes at the last part of Jack's question, the man using the same phrasing Jack and Robby did with their kids when it was necessary to redirect them from something physically. "I can do it."
"Great, do it now, please."
Jack nodded to the unmade bed where Frank's pyjamas, which were really Robby's pyjamas that Frank stole and had been wearing since that morning after his shower. Frank grumbled but did as he was told, Robby's husband watching him carefully until Frank was sliding back between the sheets of the bed Jack and Robby shared. Robby had bundled up and dragged Frank to the home he shared with his family the moment Santos had snitched that Frank was acting off at work, having to hunt down his former golden resident, who was still trying his best to make himself invisible around Robby, despite it driving the older, bearded man insane. Robby had found Frank sitting on a hospital bed, shivering with the chills despite his flushed cheeks and feverish eyes, wearing the sweatshirt Jesse was wearing five minutes ago, and Dennis checking his temperature with a sympathetic little coo.
Something else that drove Robby a little insane. Frank tried to assure him he was fine, not well enough to work but well enough to drive home and take care of himself. Robby didn't need Frank's positive Flu A test result to decide otherwise. Jack didn't bat an eye when a severe-looking Robby showed up with a sick and bordering on out of it Frank, who wouldn't stop apologising profusely for getting in their way and causing trouble. Frank tried to take the spare room three times, and each time he would find himself back in their bed, sometimes on his own, sometimes one of them carried him.
Tanner and Penny who were also home with the flu, although a much less severe case, would crawl into bed with him and watch tv or just sit and play while he dosed, Frank more then once being woken up by Penny's chubby palm smacking his cheek, the toddler not quite knowing how to control the strength of her movements, and his name coming out as "Fwankie."
Now Tanner and Penny were back at daycare, fever-free for twenty-four hours and fully recovered, leaving Frank alone, without anything to focus on. He needed something to do. Jack finally moved from the doorway with a satisfied smirk. "Who knew all it took was the flu to knock you on your ass to finally get you in our bed?"
Frank was completely exhausted from his efforts to get out of bed and dressed into scrubs, only to get undressed and get back into scrubs. "What?" He could already feel the exhaustion pulling him under towards the warmth of sleep.
"Don't worry about it, baby," Jack assured softly, leaning forward to kiss Frank's forehead. "Robby will be back when you wake up." Frank nodded, too tired to protest, and was firmly asleep when Robby got home. Jack was already letting Shen and Ellis know he would be late, saying Frank was sick, getting knowing looks in return.
"He's asleep," he greeted Robby, with a peck and smirk, earning an eyeroll from his husband.
"You're enjoying this more than you should be, Jack."
"And you're not?" Jack demanded, knowing Robby wouldn't even try to defend himself, that he wouldn't be able to. "We finally get Frankie all to ourselves, and that pretty little shit is too sick to protest us spoiling him. I swear he's going to kill us with trying to stay out of our way. I had to find out from Princess that the bruise on his cheek was a result of a patient punching him.'
Robby's frown was deep and immediate. "What?" Frank, brushing off the bruise when Robby asked about it a couple of days ago, was pulled away by Dennis before Robby could ask him any further questions.
"Al-Hashimi took care of the paperwork."
"Of course she did."
Robby nodded. It had been four months since Robby came back from his sabatically, taking the time to get the help he needed, to step back and spend three months with his babies, to rediscover his hobbies, to finally get some sleep, but most importantly, he took the three months to figure out why he was so angry with Frank, why the lack of trust hurt so badly, why instead of helping Frank, he kicked him to the curb and cut him out of his life, living one day to the next for ten months not knowing if Frank was okay, if he was getting help, if he was even alive.
It was the worst ten months of his and Jack's marriage, and they were still recovering from it, but finally Jack sat him down, and laid it out plainly, his own feelings for Frank and the situation, and how he still felt about Frank. Robby didn't talk to him for close to a week before finally breaking down to his husband, he felt the same way and tried so hard not to. Something Jack had known for years. Four months of Robby and Jack slowly putting in the work to fix things with Frank, who was now doing everything he could to not be trouble, to stay out of Robby's way and not disappoint him again, to finish his residency with his head down and nothing more.
His relationship with Al-Hashimi was still cool, but professional and Frank worked primarily with her now, and Jack talked more than once to Robby about stealing Frank to the night shift in a small snit of possessive jealousy. Jealousy that both men shared and only grew when they realised Frank had been growing closer to Jesse and Dennis, the pair's own relationship developing in the ten months Frank had been absent.
A jealousy it also seemed their children shared, running into Frank at the park by accident on a day Jack and Robby both had off, only to find Frank babysitting Dennis' son, Theo, the blond toddler clinging to Frank with a combination of stranger danger and typical toddler possessiveness. Penny had toddled right over to Frank, who was sitting on the grass with Theo and tried to shove him out of Frank's lap with a jealous "my Fwankie," and Tanner clung to Frank and refused to let go. Robby and Jack ended up having a long talk with both of their children, not letting the behaviour slide, even though they silently felt the same way anytime Jesse or Dennis or both came towards the man.
Jack finally asked what they were going to do about it, snapping their current plan into action, which was everything they could to get Frank back and keep him. Operation Frankie Trap, Tanner declared it, after watching The Parent Trap for the first time, the four-year-old deciding that's what they needed to do to Frankie and his daddies. Jack had approved immediately, and Robby was reminded how much Tanner was Frank's son, besides the physical similarities.
"I'll approve his transfer to the night shift tonight."
Jack beamed at him. "Finally." Jack beamed, and Robby rolled his eyes. "By the way, he's wearing your pyjamas. His are in the wash, I thought you wouldn't mind."
Robby didn't bother to look anything but smug. "I'll text you and let you know how he's doing."
"Please do, Love you."
"Love you."
Frank awoke a couple of hours later to the smell of something cooking, the man dragging himself out of bed and lurching down the stairs, only to be greeted by the sight of Robby at the stove, he turned around when he heard Frank.
"Hey, sweetheart." He greeted Frank, Jack and Robby fully dropping any pretence of wanting to call Frank anything but the pet names they had long to call him for so long. "Jack told me you tried to go to work."
Frank just gave a grunt in return with a pout that made Robby melt, "Come here." Robby gently ordered, wrapping his arms around Frank, who rested his head on Robby's chest. "I'll get you sick."
Robby kissed the top of his head, with a soft smile, "I'll risk it. Now lets get you to the couch," Frank could hear the sound of Tanner and Penny playing in the living room happily. "The kids missed you, and I'll bring you some soup."
Frank just nodded. "Good boy." Robby praised, steering Frank to the couch, before going back to cooking his Grandma's matzoball soup.