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Spamton turned the blue egg over in his hands. This was so stupid. It was a pipis, for Heaven’s sake, they were just little funky packets of code that addisons generated periodically. But Tenna was fascinated by them.
“Are those your babies?”
God, Tenna and his baby obsession. Tenna had protested that it wasn’t an obsession, it was just that his Lightner family had introduced a brand new baby into the family so they had babies on the brain right now, and naturally so did he!
Yeah. Whatever. Spamton knew what Lightner babies looked like and what Tenna saw in that loud, drooling little critter he would never know. Tenna simpered over Kris like he was their father. Spamton couldn’t imagine ever choosing to be responsible for a squirming, helpless lump like that. He was a Big Shot!
But Heaven help him, there was something about the way Tenna’s face softened and the way he spoke about that Lightner family with such great longing that drew Spamton in. Tenna’s longing wasn’t just a fascination but something borne from his deep-seated loneliness—he wanted a family too. He wanted someone to be the focal point of all of the love he felt he had to give. Spamton tried not to be jealous of the seemingly endless outpouring of love Tenna had for his Lightner family—especially because they didn’t reciprocate—but he couldn’t deny that Tenna loved him too.
Spamton had never thought about having a family. Didn’t seem necessary to him. Addisons were generally coworkers with each other at best—usually they were rivals. He certainly didn’t need a family. Or friends. Hell, he’d resisted the idea of a serious relationship for so long. But…
Ah, he couldn’t resist the big dope. After Tenna had admitted that he was in love with him, Spamton had been forced to admit—at least to himself—that the feeling was mutual. Tenna had, without Spamton realizing, become the closest thing that Spamton had to a family.
Which brought Spamton back to the pipis. At this point, Tenna knew they weren’t actually babies. But that didn’t stop him from cooing over them whenever Spamton had to lay one. He acted like a proud father each and every time.
So Spamton had made up his mind—he would gift a pipis to Tenna. Sure, it wouldn’t hatch into a child, but Tenna would appreciate it, and hell, if he wanted to pretend it was a baby, Spamton wouldn’t stop him. Besides, it would be worth it to see the look on Tenna’s face when he gave it to him.
Peeking into Tenna’s office, he tapped on the doorjamb. Tenna, bent over his desk, glanced up and instantly his face lit up—literally. It made Spamton’s stomach do a little somersault. “Spammy! Come in!”
“Heya, Big Guy.” He grinned, feeling some of the tension leak from his body, like it always did around Tenna. He kept the egg tucked behind his back. “Busy?”
“Never too busy for ~you~”
An unknown number of years later…
Even in the depths of his madness, Spamton had never forgotten the look on Tenna’s face when he’d given him the pipis. The TV had cried, actually cried, when Spamton had given it to him. Spamton knew he’d be happy but he’d underestimated the intensity of Tenna’s reaction. He had embraced Spamton so tightly he almost squashed him, but Spamton hadn’t found it in him to be annoyed about it. He’d shown his appreciation in other ways later that night.
But he’d never imagined that all these years later, after the cataclysmic blowup of their relationship over a decade ago now, that Tenna would still have it.
After years of miserable, crippling loneliness, the sight of his ex holding the pipis sparked something in him he hadn’t felt in so long that he’d forgotten it existed.
Maybe… maybe Tenna… still…
“[[TRASH HEAP!]] YOU KEPT IT! YOU REALLY DO CARE!”