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Leo knelt amongst the flowers, picking only the prettiest, healthiest ones for his bouquet. A couple paces behind him, underneath a still-blooming wisteria tree was his husband and son, likely reading or picking at the remains of their picnic lunch. Leo's ears twitched, he could hear someone toddling up behind him and a slow smile spread across his face.
The brunet turned around and sure enough, standing behind him with a chubby hand outstretched towards his long braid, was Tobias. "Hi Tobi! Did you walk over here all by yourself?". It really wasn't far from where Kal was sitting to where Leo was picking flowers, but it was still impressive that Tobias had walked all the way there. Tobias nodded and let Leo ruffle his cotton-fluff hair. "Mhm!". "Good job!" Leo congratulated his son, swooping in to peck his soft cheek. "I'm so proud of you.".
"What Dada doing?" Tobias asked, playing with the pretty teal glass beads Kal had woven into Leo's braid earlier that day. Leo reached over and carefully extracted Tobias's fingers from his hair before his fingers got tangled -a valid concern considering that it had happened before. "Careful, Little Mouse. We don't want you to get stuck again, right?".
Tobias scrunched up his face like he was thinking hard then nodded seriously before repeating his question. "What Dada doing?". "Picking some flowers for your papa." Leo answered, tilting his bouquet towards Tobias. Tobias's blue-grey eyes widened dramatically. "Ohh! Me too! Me too!". The toddler plopped down beside his father and immediately reached toward a pretty dark teal blossom the very same color as Leo's vest. Tobias's gleeful look denigrated the moment that he pulled his hand away and opened it to reveal a crushed mess of petals.
Tobias stared down in shock, his bottom lip beginning to tremble. "Oh, don't cry Blessing!" Leo said upon noticing Tobias's plight. "Want me to help you?". Tobias looked up with sad eyes and gave a small nod. "Yes please.". Leo couldn't help smiling to himself, Tobias was polite in just the perfect measure, which was definitely a trait from Kal.
"You're going to want to pull it by the stem, the green part." Leo plucked another one of the blue flowers and presented it to his son with a flourish. "Got it, Tobi?".
Tobias nodded again, all hint of tears long gone. "Mhm!" the little blond reached for a blue flower the very same shade of Kal's eyes and succeeded in keeping it mostly intact. A chubby hand thrusted the flower in front of Leo's face, Tobias beaming as he spoke. "For you, Dada!". Leo blinked in surprise, a laugh born of pure delight spilling from his lips as a sheen of unshed tears glossed over his eyes. "Oh! Thank you, Tobi!". Leo took the flower with reverent hands and tucked it behind his ear, planning to press it into one of Kal's books later.
"You like?" Tobias asked with hopeful eyes that reminded Leo of the cats that Kal always gave scraps to. Leo pulled his son close and kissed the top of his lavender-scented cornsilk curls. "I like it very much, Blessing.". "Yay!" Tobias said, squirming out of Leo's grasp so that he could began making his very own bouquet.
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Leo stood up and rubbed his aching calves, straightening out his spine and widening his eyes performatively at the sharp popping noise. The brunet pulled out a spare ribbon from his pocket after finishing his stretches and wound it around the stems of his flowers, tying them all together with a purple silk bow.
Leo felt a tug on his pant leg and looked down to find Tobias holding his own bouquet and pointing up at Leo's. "I need one, Dada." Tobias told his father, looking up at him with puppy-dog eyes that Leo fully denies he learned from him. "Please,". "Hm," Leo said thoughtfully, tapping a finger to his lips; he had only brought one extra ribbon with him. "You're right, you do.". Leo's eyes lit up and he pulled out the ribbon tying his hair, chocolate-brown locks speckled with glittering beads spilling over his shoulders. Leo presented the pale blue ribbon to Tobias. "Would this work?". Tobias nodded enthusiastically and held up his bundle of flowers. "Dada tie?".
Leo grinned and ruffled his son's hair, tucking his own bouquet under his arm and taking Tobias's with gentle hands. "Of course, Tobi.". Leo tied the ribbon in a bow and offered it back to Tobias. "Here you go.". Tobias clutched the little bouquet tight to his chest with a grin that very nearly mirrored Leo's. "Thank you, Dada!".
"You're very welcome, Blessing." Leo looked up at the sky which was beginning to flush pink then back down to Tobias. "Let's go give these to your papa now, yeah?". Tobias nodded and happily took Leo's offered hand. "Okay!".
Hand in hand, father and son walked through the meadow and up the small hill to the wisteria tree. Beneath the tree sat Kalceran reading a book, the setting sun casting a halo on his golden hair which was speckled with fallen pink petals. Leo swallowed and sucked in a breath, a strawberry-colored flush painting his freckled cheeks, and he had had the gall to think that Kal couldn't possibly get any prettier than he already was -though to be fair, Leo thought that every time he saw his husband.
Leo gently released Tobias's hand at the little boy's squirming insistence and dropped to his knees behind Kal, covering the blond's eyes with his free hand. "Guess who?". Kal jolted at Leo's warm breath on the back of his neck then laughed, leaning back against Leocoril's chest. "Hello Treasure, I trust you haven't lost our son.". Leo lifted his hand from Kal's eyes and smiled down at him, cheeks still flushed. "I'd sooner die.". "Look Papa, look!" Tobias exclaimed excitedly, drawing two shades of blue eyes toward him. "For you!".
Tobias presented Kal with his bouquet, a wide grin spreading across his face as bright as sunshine. Kal let out a gasp, hand coming to cover his mouth, lake-blue eyes glistening. "Oh! Thank you, Tobi!". Kal gathered his son up on to his lap and hugged him tight, cupid's bow lips pressing a heart-shaped kiss to Tobias's forehead. "I love it, sweetheart. Thank you so much.".
Tobias beamed and curled up on Kal's lap, soft cheek pressing against the fabric of a sky-blue corset as his storm-blue eyes drooped. Kal cupped a hand over Tobias's head and began to gently stroke the cotton-fluff curls as he turned back to look at his husband, a soft laugh bubbling from his lips at the sight of Leo tilting his own bouquet at him.
"Do I get a kiss too?" Leo asked, tilting his head with a mischievous grin. Kalceran laughed again, bluebell eyes crinkling at the corners as he took the two bouquets and set them on top of his discarded book.
"You cheeky thing." Kal cupped his free hand under Leo's chin and pressed his soft lips to his, smiling into the kiss. "You can always get a kiss.". Leo smiled so hard it hurt, even after all these years he was still unbelievably smitten -and how could he not be with Kal the way he was? "Always?" Leo asked though he already knew the answer and just wanted to hear Kal say it again, leaning over until his long hair formed a curtain around them.
Kal gave Leo another peck. "Come on Treasure, you know the answer to that.". Kal leaned in close and whispered, voice as sweet as honey, into Leo's ear. "Always, you don't even have to ask.". Leo flushed lobster-red, his ears perking up happily as his hands flexed unconsciously at his sides. Kal chuckled lightly at Leo's reaction, twirling a long brown curl around his finger as he waited for his husband to recover.
"What happened to your ribbon, Cori?" the blond asked once Leo no longer looked like he was being boiled alive. Leo nodded at Tobias's bouquet in response, indulging in fidgeting with one of Kal's sunshine-colored locks.
Kal smiled and pecked Leo on the cheek. "Aren't you sweet.". Leocoril smiled and tucked his face into the crook of his husband's neck, nuzzling his nose against the smooth scar there. The two sat in silence for a moment longer until their son let out a small kittenish snore, causing the two husbands to exchange a knowing look. "I guess we better get going, hm?" Kal said, a small smile curling his lips. Leo grinned and swooped in to kiss Kal's cheek. "Yeah. I'll get the stuff if you get him?".
Kalceran reached over to tuck Leo's unruly bangs out of his eyes, brushing his thumb along the brunet's cheekbone before gathering Tobias into his arms and getting to his feet. "Fair enough.".