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Last notes of the the song playing over the credits of Tarzan rang out and Chris used remote to switch tv to play soft jazz as an ambiance.
Rose laid sprawled between them, her upper half resting against Chris' side, while her legs occupied Leon's lap. Good thing that she was still so small, thanks to that Leon wasn't that far from him. Close enough that Chris could put his hand in his hair, to massage his head.
Leon almost purred at the sensations that run through him. They all had stressful day today, and deserved their time to relax. Especially after today's events.
Leon was greeted this morning at the office with the new stupid procedure that required of him to rewrite all of his reports from last two months. He despised paperwork already, but getting an order to do it all over again set his blood pressure sky high.
Chris on the other hand, received a call from his sister in the middle of the day, where Claire informed him that she was following some leads for her case for TerraSave. He'd already had suspicions about how bad the situations is going to be, just for a lone fact that his sister called him before she'd even started her preparations to get out of the country. His intuition had been immediately validated, when she confessed that she will be stepping into the active warzone. Chris instantly got angry, his over-protectiveness taking the wheel and dictating his actions over the phone. The conflict between the siblings only rose in intensity, both of them too stubborn to hear the other side out. It ended with Claire hanging up on him and not picking phone for any of his calls that followed. Couldn't she just understand that he was worried for her?
The last straw that broke the camels back, was when Leon picked up Rose from school, only to witness her red eyes and poorly cleaned up tear tracks on her face. He tried to coax up from her any information on what had happened, but she stayed silent the whole ride home. Rose's behavior had risen red flags in Leon's mind, considering that he left the girl in high spirits this morning, excited to for the new day at school.
She only told them what happened, after she'd unsuccessfully tried to bypass Chris in her single-minded attempt on reaching her room to hole up there. He'd caught her before she could even make her way to the staircase. Chris had been already pent up with conflicting emotions after Claire, so Rose breaking their routine consisting of the hug and her chirp sum up of her day, set him spiraling.
They'd all sat at the kitchen table, waiting for Roesmary to tell them what was wrong. She hadn't looked up from her lap as she repeated what girls from her class told her.
"Nicole said that I had to be really weird, if my mom didn't want to take care of me. That she would rather have two fags raise me than do it herself."
Chris's heart dropped to the floor at what he'd heard, Rose's soft cries twisting his insides. He'd immediately rushed to her side to comfort his small girl, Leon hot on his heels to reach her. No one deserved to hear such a cruel words, especially not his sweet Rosie.
They tried to explain their family situation to her, but it was more complicated than what eight-year old could understand.
Mia has had a really hard time raising Rosemary as a single mother, that also struggled with depression and continued grief over Ethan. When Rose was much younger, Mia would drop her at their doorstep and disappear for sometime, until she could take care of Rose again.
When Rose was four-years old, Leon and Chris worked out a deal with Mia, and got legal documents that confirmed that both of them were Rose's legal guardians, without taking parental rights from the woman.
But how could they explain this to their small girl?
So they tried their best, reassuring her that there was nothing wrong with her. That she was special to them and that they wouldn't change their little family in any way. They reassured her that Mia loved her and that her absences in Rose life, wasn't her fault.
She asked them, what word 'fag' meant, and they explained to the best of their abilities. Chris couldn't believe that homofobia was still so prevalent after all these years.
All of them were exhausted after their talk, so they decided to order pizza and spend the rest of the day, cuddling on the couch and watching Disney's classics that Rose loved.
In the evening, their precious girl fell asleep between them, after inhaling a bowl of strawberry ice-cream, lulled by the voice of Phil Collins.
Chris looked at Leon's relaxed face, fondness filling his heart at the sight. He caressed his head, ruffling blond and silver strands of hair. Leon's beauty never faded, Chris would even say that he'd got more beautiful with age. He loved every single grey hair and wrinkle that he found on his husband, all of them reminding him that he still got to cherish him, even though world tried their best to take him from him.
How did Chris get so lucky, having this soft life with loving husband and precious daughter?
"What are you thinking about?" Leon murmured quietly, his blue eyes barely open.
"How me from twenty years ago would not believe me, if I told him that we finally had the family we wished for."
"Tell me more." Leon encouraged him.
"You remember 2008's Chris, don't you?" Chris asked, not waiting for Leon's response. "Desperate to find Jill, obsessed with Wesker, stretching in all of the directions, running carelessly into danger. This guy had no hope for what he wished the most."
Chris sat up better on the couch, without disturbing both of his companions, "I always wanted the family my parents had. Two people deeply in love with each other, with two darling children to take care of. Your typical American nuclear family." he chuckled. "But then they died, leaving me and Claire alone. It was chaos back then, but this wish stayed with me harder than ever. I was so full of hope, back then. You wouldn't recognize me!" he laughed to his husband.
"Years go by, Spencer Mansion happens and I get pulled into Umbrella's spider-web of bio-terrorism. With the terrors I am witnessing, that family dream gets further from me, with every year I do this job, with every loss, it seems to be more distant. Like a wish of a different man."
"Yet here I am, fifty-six years old, with the best husband I could ever hope for and this amazing, spectacular girl that I can help raise and guide through life. My wish finally a reality that I'll protect with all my might." Chris finished tearfully, his voice breaking at the end.
"Come here" Leon whispered, contradicting himself immediately, by scutching closer to Chris' side.
Chris lifted Rose a little, without disturbing her, to make her rest against his right side, while Leon occupied his left. His husband settled against him, their bodies touching in every place, their legs tangled together. Leon lifted Rose legs, to rest better on their laps, making sure that all of them were comfortably snuggled together. Leon's breath hitched, his emotions going rampant after Chris' confession, because they were almost perfect verbalization of his own wants and feelings. Teary-eyed, he rested his head on Chris' shoulder, his left hand, adorned with the silver band, caressing his husband's bearded cheek, soothing both of them.
Chris squeezed a little bit harder his two precious beings, comforted with the thought that his small family was safe in his arms.