Chapter Text
AYEEEEEEEEP. AYEEEEEEEEP. AYEEEEEEEEP.
Adrian groaned, rolling over laboriously to silence the offending alarm. It was a grating noise, much more annoying than necessary so early in the morning. He supposed it was meant to be loud enough to wake them up, but of course Carter slept through the thing. He didn’t doubt that Carter could sleep through a hurricane if Adrian wasn’t around to rouse him.
He felt around blindly and punched the ‘sleep’ button. This only meant that he would hear the same noise in exactly three minutes, but he was too busy waking up to care about that just yet.
They had made the unfortunate decision of staying up rather late last night. Carter had had a long day at work, and Adrian a long day of running errands, yet they still had partaken in rather vigorous activities well into the night within the confines of their bedroom…
He was still a bit sore, but one thing at a time.
Adrian groaned again, scrubbed his hands once over his face, and sat up. The thick blanket pulled along with him, shielding his otherwise exposed lower half. He supposed he should change the comforter now, since spring had already descended on them. Not that it was sunny here often, for it always seemed to be raining no matter the season, but the air was more humid in the warmer months. His eyes wandered to the window, expecting to see the usual clouds and gloom.
But they were absent. Instead shone a cheerful sun, against all odds. He smiled slightly, knowing of a little boy who would be delighted to finally break in his new bicycle, one that he had discovered under the tree last Christmas from ‘Santa’.
That guy got all the credit. Santa wasn’t the one who had to struggle through the door with the thing, trying to be quiet so as to not wake the sleeping boy…
Adrian recalled then trying to wrap the bike, after which they gave up and just put a bow on the handlebars. But then his gaze fell from the window to a blatantly naked, and still snoring, Carter. He rolled his eyes.
Yes, this was the elegance of his husband. The sprawled form, completely bare of all clothing, spread out on his stomach above the blanket for the world to see. Limbs were thrown haphazardly and at odd angles. He slept like an eggbeater. This was the man that got up every day, put on his $250 business suit, and commanded a boardroom on occasion or haggled with clients in a professional setting. They had no idea that their beloved Mr. Brooks slept with all the elegance of his five-year-old son. No wonder Vinny’s bed always looked like a powerful force had ravaged it during the night. Carter had somehow transferred that trait over through his DNA and corrupted their child.
At least he had inherited those beautiful blue eyes, which made up for Carter’s genetic habits.
AYEEEEEEEEP. AYEEEEEEEEP. AYEEEEE –
“Eurgh, alright,” he said agitatedly, slapping the proper ‘off’ button this time. It shut the alarm up for good, until it had the chance to annoy him tomorrow.
It was going to be another long day.
“Baby,” Adrian mumbled, his voice still rough with sleep. He leaned over and kissed the side of Carter’s face.
No reaction.
“Carter, baby, wake up,” he said a bit louder, nudging more insistently against Carter’s cheek. His response was to mutter something incoherent and scrunch up his nose in annoyance. But when Adrian put a hand in his dark hair, ruffling it to get his attention, he reluctantly opened his eyes.
“Mmm…” Carter whined, closing them again.
Adrian laughed, pushing himself up to lean back against the headboard.
“Don’t pretend you’re not awake, because I saw you,” he said, smirking. “If you’re tired, it’s your own fault.”
“Can’t help it,” said a sleepy voice from around his navel. “Can’t resist…sexy…”
Adrian snorted and looked down to see the disheveled man beside him, tufts of black hair sticking up at random and splayed out on the pillow. He could remember only last night, running his hands through those silky strands…
Adrian cleared his throat and moved to get up.
“Don’t go back to sleep, okay?” he said firmly, standing from the bed. Carter made a noncommittal noise, which meant that Adrian would no doubt be prying him from the mattress in twenty more minutes. He shook his head and stumbled across the room to find his clothes.
After some searching in the semi-darkness, he found his discarded pyjama bottoms on the floor. Carter had managed to throw them pretty far in his haste, apparently…
He pulled on a Zelda T-shirt as well, and shuffled out into the hallway to head towards the kitchen.
Despite the fact that it caused a slight bump to his pride, Adrian was the one who stayed home. While Carter was off being a big important banker guy, he was the one who cleaned the house, did the dishes, made meals and kept the framework standing for when his family got home. He picked Vinny up from school, drove him to his adorable little soccer games, made snacks for gaggles of little boys that turned up for various reasons, and juggled all of his housework on top of that. Sure, he only managed to fit in an audition every once in a while, and sure, he didn’t know what would happen if he actually got a part somewhere. But, despite the blow to his ego and masculinity, it was all very…nice.
He liked the fact that Carter couldn’t cook worth a damn, and that Adrian was the one who was able to bring them all together at dinner. He liked the fact that Carter would come home, give him an amorous kiss, and ask how his day went. He liked being able to care for their child and be home when they needed. It all brought him a weird sense of fulfillment that he hadn’t anticipated. When they worked out that Adrian would stay home for Vinny's first few years, he had been reluctant. But no, here he was, enjoying the role he had accepted so hesitantly. He was the caretaker, the one who ran everything behind the curtain. He was the foundation for their family.
He was a soccer mom.
Adrian grimaced, mostly at himself, as he took a carton of eggs out of the fridge. He set them on the counter, gathered his other ingredients in the same manner, and set about making breakfast.
He knew eggs were a perfect source of protein, and liked to make sure that Vinny was able to concentrate during the day with a good breakfast in him. Bacon was also good for giving him the energy he needed for running around like any boy tended to do, and Carter definitely liked having meat at any meal, really. Adrian never did reveal that what he actually cooked was turkey bacon, and Carter couldn’t seem to tell the difference. It had been incredibly hard to conceal the fact and not rub it in his husband’s face, since Carter has been insistent that he could most definitely discern between the two, and he wanted ‘real pig, not that other stuff’.
Adrian smirked, laying down the thin strips onto the frying pan. This ‘other stuff’ had much less fat, and with the way Carter always horfed down so many pieces at breakfast, it was safer this way.
He stirred the eggs in their own pan, staring idly at the wall. His own mind was still waking up, trying with great effort to remember what he had to do today. The tires on his car needed replacing, so he had to take it into the shop and probably wait three hours. Also, the bathrooms could use a good wash. They were having company tomorrow, and Adrian always hated when the house wasn’t clean with people over. It was almost a bid to prove that he himself could handle raising a child. He could handle making a house presentable while being married to another man, proving his parents wrong in their assumptions that they never really voiced, but that he knew were there. They were waiting for him to fail. Well, not tomorrow. Dinner would be yet another chance to prove them wrong, and with Maria as a witness.
He glanced over at the calendar, wondering if he had written anything on it as a reminder. It felt like something else was nagging at his mind, something that he either had to do today or this week…
His eyes caught sight of disjointed handwriting in orange crayon. Vinny had taken it upon himself to mark the calendar for today, but what did it say? He squinted, making out the scribbled words ‘woRk’ and ‘dAy’.
“Oh, right,” Adrian mumbled, speaking to an empty room.
He had forgotten about the school closing today. A newsletter had been sent home, diligently delivered to him by Vinny, that had explained a ‘Career Experience Day’ for the kids. There would be no class scheduled for this particular Wednesday, and instead the parents were to bring their children to their workplace in order to experience what a job was like. The children would then share about it the following day in class. It was a good thing Vinny had written it on the calendar, otherwise he would have been waiting outside the deserted school due to his idiot father.
Adrian turned the stovetop to ‘low’ and retreated back through the hallway. Carter was no doubt still asleep, and he didn’t want breakfast to get cold while everyone was still waking up. He entered their bedroom first, shaking Carter awake and demanding that he get up. Adrian knew the only possible way to ensure that Carter was awake was to watch him physically get out of the bed and begin to put on clothes, so he did just that.
“I’m going, I’m going,” Carter said blearily, shuffling over to their closet. He threw open the door and stepped inside, rummaging around for one of his suits, no doubt.
“I believe you,” Adrian laughed, standing outside the door. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, speaking loudly so that Carter could hear. “Don’t forget that today’s career day at school. I’m gonna go ask Vinny who he wants to be with today, though I don’t need three guesses to figure it out.”
Carter laughed, though it was muffled.
“Yeah, okay. Ouch, goddammit, can you turn on the light?”
Adrian flicked the switch before heading back out into the hallway, this time down two doors to their son’s room. On the outside of this particular door was a large dry-erase board, which had a badly crafted picture of a monkey and the words ‘Carter wuz here’. He shook his head and opened it softly.
Of course, the boy was out like a light. It took so much effort to get him to sleep on time, sometimes even with a bit of bribing, but when that kid’s head hit the pillow, he was out for a solid nine hours minimum. Adrian watched, unable to prevent that bubbling sensation in the pit of his stomach. That feeling of pure love for his son, for the child he and Carter raised. The little boy who was currently drooling on his pillow and sprawled out on his bed, just like his Daddy.
Adrian walked over, crouched down, and ruffled that already mussed hair.
“Vinny,” he said lowly, trying not to startle him awake the way he himself so hated. “Bud, wake up.”
Vinny opened his large blue eyes, though barely. His face was smashed against the pillow, making his cheek push out in a humorous way. But then, he lifted his head and rolled over, rubbing his eyes slowly.
“Mnnnnnnnn, Papa,” he whined, blinking slowly.
Adrian laughed, knowing the tone as one he heard every weekday morning. Twice, if he counted Carter.
“Don’t wanna go to schooooool,” he continued, kicking out his little leg half-heartedly. “Do I have to?”
“Actually, not today,” Adrian said, and Vinny looked momentarily confused. Usually he never budged on anything so early in the game, especially when school was concerned. Adrian laughed again, standing up from his crouching position. “Remember what day it is?”
Vinny’s eyes wandered to stare off in the distance, his tired brain no doubt trying to work it out. Then his eyes brightened, and he sat bolt upright.
“Oh yeah!” his small voice sounded, probably carrying into the hall. “Work day!”
“Yup,” Adrian nodded, leaning on one of the bedposts. “So, do you want to go with Daddy, or stay with Papa?”
Vinny looked up at him, tilting his head slightly.
“What do you do?”
“Well, I do the laundry, shop for groceries, clean the house…”
Play Bioshock…
“I wanna go to work with Daddy!”
Adrian laughed, partially at himself. If Vinny knew how much in-between time was spent killing splicers, he would probably change his mind about going to a stuffy office all day. Not to say that waiting three hours in a mechanics shop would be all that fun.
Good thing he had his trusty PSP to take with him. What would he do without technology? Be a boring housewife, that’s what…
“Mmkay, you better get dressed buddy if you want to carpool with Daddy. What d’you want to wear?”
“What’s a carpool?” Vinny asked, but then he changed course at the speed of light. “Do I have to dress fancy like Daddy?”
Adrian imagined the nightmarish day that Vinny had last been in a suit. He had been the ring bearer for Maria’s wedding.
“No,” he said quickly, eyes wide. “You can wear your normal clothes, if you want to.”
Just then a head with artfully tousled hair peeked in, followed by the rest of Carter’s body. He was fumbling with the front of his dress shirt, where a very disheveled tie was being incorrectly knotted.
“Uh, I kind of need help with this,” he said, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry.”
Adrian rolled his eyes, but moved over to help anyways. Carter wore a tie every day for the last two months now. One would think he was used to tying them.
“Hey Daddy,” piped a higher voice, and Carter’s blue gaze flitted over Adrian’s shoulder to the small bed. “Do I have to wear a tie and stuff like you?”
Carter smirked, ignoring Adrian’s warning gaze. “Vinny, I’ll tell you this: everyone at my fancy office wears fancy fancy clothes, and you don’t want to be the only one not wearing any, do yo – ow!”
Adrian glared, hoping that smack hurt a lot more than it sounded like. Carter rubbed his arm reproachfully, but Adrian had little sympathy.
“Don’t guilt him into it,” he said sternly. “Vinny, you do what you want. Daddy’s just being a dork.”
A brief silence signaled that Vinny was taking things into heavy consideration. So many tough decisions for a five-year-old. Adrian took advantage of this pause to beat the tie into submission and push it up in a proper knot.
“I’ll wear fancy clothes,” he declared finally.
Adrian turned, seeing a resigned Vinny. “Are you sure?” he raised an eyebrow, leaning on the bedpost again.
His son nodded violently, showing no signs of turning back. Adrian sighed, wandered over to the closet, and searched the back for the small ensemble. At least now there was another use for it, other than to walk a full minute down an aisle. Plus, it did look adorable on him…
Adrian put out the small suit, even the little tie, and gave Carter a look that said ‘you are doing this’. He then returned to the kitchen so as to not set breakfast on fire, leabing his husband to his task.
After a great amount of rummaging and loud conversation coming from Vinny’s room, the two emerged from the hallway. Vinny was wearing the suit with all the right clothing in all the right places. Except the tie, of course. But something else was off, too.
“He said the shoes were too tight, so I just put his sneakers on,” Carter said, laughing. “Kid grows out of shoes like he does clothes. I’m sort of surprised the suit fits still, actually.”
Adrian saw that the black little converse didn’t clash too much with the suit, though they were clearly out of place. At least the slacks were still long enough, and the sleeves of the jacket came down to the right level. Adrian bent down, lifted Vinny up, and sat him on the countertop to be level with himself. Little legs swung idly as he did up the second tie for that morning, though this one considerably smaller and less easy to handle.
“There we go,” he said, smiling down at his son. He hoisted Vinny back down to the floor, despite the child already playing with the perfect knot around his neck.
“Thanks Papa,” he piped before tearing off and seating himself at the breakfast table.
Twenty minutes, four eggs, and thirteen slices of bacon later, his two boys headed off to the office.
“Have fun, guys,” he said, leaning out the doorway.
“Bye Adrian,” Carter said, giving him a swift kiss on the lips. “Say ‘bye', Vinny.”
“Bye Papa!” Vinny reached over from within Carter’s grasp and hugged him briefly around the neck. “I’m gonna go be a fancy worker!”
Adrian laughed, waving as Carter walked them down the front steps.