Family (Pigeon x

[Kotorichan]

"Seriously? I thought you would have lost it by now" Ryan squeezed his hand lightly and stopped walking in front of the grocery store. "I always thought that one of these days I'd end up actually marrying you... But when you left I kinda lost hope about that..." He looked away and frowned. "Sorry, didn't mean to make this sad, I just missed you a lot." The man took a deep breath to calm himself down, trying not to actually think about anything at all.

[meluvcookies]

Drew glanced at Alec to make sure the boy was still there, then turned to look at Ryan. "I missed you too." He lowered his voice. "W-would you still..." Then he averted his gaze and stopped. They had just gotten back together, there was no way Ryan would be ready for such a commitment so soon. Even if the other would somehow still want to marry him, Drew would feel even more guilt, not having told Ryan the truth about Alec. And though the boy didn't seem to actively dislike the man, it would be wrong not to take his feelings into consideration. Alec and Ryan had known each other for less than a day; it was better to wait before even suggesting marriage. Drew had been patient for four years, he could wait for a little more.

[Kotorichan]

Ryan smiled at the sight of Drew's nervousness, it was so cute. He wrapped an arm around the man's waist and pulled him closer for a kiss on the cheek. "I haven't changed my mind, I still want to stay with you forever" he smiled and pulled away again, not wanting to make the man uncomfortable with his affection. "Well, should we get some food? I'm sure you and Alec will want more than just snacks and frozen pizza." He laughed and brushed his hair back out of his face.

[meluvcookies]

Ryan still wanted to be with him.. forever? Drew was almost giddy with happiness. He felt like they'd never been apart and were still in high school. Like he was still a teenager in the throes of his first love. The man chuckled. The latter was still true in a sense. He'd never stopped loving Ryan after all, nor had he ever been with anyone else.

 

When the othe reminded Drew of their purpose there, he beckoned for the boy to come. "Alec! Come on, we're here!" The boy reluctantly left the sleeping cat, casting longing glances back at it while walking towards the adults. Seeing this, Drew smiled and crouched down to the child's level. "I'm sure the kitty will still be there when we go back if you'll be a good boy and help daddy and Ryan at the store, okay?" He ruffled Alec's hair and got up, taking the boy's hand in his before going in.

[Kotorichan]

Ryan gave his boyfriend's hand another gentle squeeze before leading them into the store. He picked up a hard basket and looked around. It was a small place that prided itself in having the freshest food around. "Well then, what do you guys like to eat?"

 

The man wasn't really worried about money, his job paid well and he had a lot in savings. Ryan figured that as long as Drew could at least get a part time job to help pay bills they wouldn't have to worry about things. Well, Alec would never be able to be the kid at school with everything he wanted... But they wouldn't have to cut too many corners

[meluvcookies]

When asked what they like to eat, Alec threw up his hands in an excited gesture. "Pizza~!" Drew sighed, a little exasperated, and explained to the four-year-old why pizza wasn't an option. "We had that yesterday. It's not good to eat junk food all the time, Alec." The boy crossed his arms and pouted, letting out a short disappointed sound.

 

Drew turned to look at Ryan with a small smile. "Anything is fine, really, as long as it's simple to cook. I don't have the confidence to make anything elaborate..."

[Kotorichan]

"We can have pizza again next week" Ryan assured the child. "Hmm... If we're gonna be shopping for the week then I should get a cart..." He put the hand basket down and grabbed a shopping cart. "Do you wanna sit up here Alec?" He offered, patting the seat in the cart. "Maybe your daddy can push you if you don't want me to..." He glanced over at Drew with a smile, hoping the man understood that he was trying to keep the child out of trouble.

[meluvcookies]

Drew prepared himself, fully expecting Alec's trouble making side to rear it's head and make the boy say no before sprinting down the hall laughing. The man almost tripped himself when, instead of running, the boy excitedly made his way to Ryan and raised his arms to be lifted up to the cart. Drew smiled half sad, half amused. The scene had been so natural he'd forgotten for a moment that this was Alec's first time in a grocery store. Of course the boy would want to try sitting in the cart.

[Kotorichan]

Ryan grinned and easily picked the little boy up. He made airplane noises as he moved Alec towards the cart. He gently set the boy down and ruffled his hair. "Don't cause any problems okay? If you're good I'll get you something fun" he turned to Drew and smiled brightly. "Want me to push the cart?" He offered, not sure if Alec would be okay with that.

[meluvcookies]

The four-year old giggled at the airplane act and his eyes widened at the promise of something fun. So Alec nodded to dismiss the unimportant matter of who would push the cart and immediately latched onto the more interesting topic. "What fun?"

 

Drew smiled and playfully nudged Ryan with his elbow. "You're not planning on bribing him to behave every time we go shopping, are you?" he put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes, pretending to be stern, "I will not tolerate it, daddy-in-training." Truthfully, Drew was happy Ryan seemed to like his son. But that didn't mean he would let the man spoil Alec rotten.

[Kotorichan]

"Oh come on, I won't do it every time I take him shopping" Ryan looked at Alec with a bright smile. "That all depends on how well you behave" he gently ruffled the little boy's hair. "Now, let's get shopping" he started to push the cart towards the aisles of food. "Does Alec have any allergies?" He asked Drew as he made his way to the produce section.

[meluvcookies]

Alec lifted both of his hands to flatten the ruffled hair, but oon got distracted by all the things on the shelves. Drew shook his head at Ryan. "Nope. No allergies, but he absolutely refuses to eat pineapple." Hearing the name of his most hated enemy, the boy showed his tongue and made a face. "It's yucky!" Drew sighed. "Yes yes, I know. I'm just happy you eat everything else without complaint." Then the man turned to Ryan. "Since you're pushing the cart, I can gather the stuff. Just tell me if there's something you want me to get..."

[Kotorichan]

"I'll eat pretty much anything, so just pick out whatever looks good to you" Ryan said with a smile. "Although I don't have a lot of time to cook since I usually work at night... So you'll have to pick out stuff you're okay preparing" he sighed and brushed his hair out of his face before starting to push the cart down the aisle. "I guess I'm gonna end up not seeing you two except in the mornings..." He said sadly. It was a disappointing thought.

[meluvcookies]

Drew was thinking about what to cook when Ryan said they'd only see each other in the mornings in a sad tone. "Yeah..." He touched the other man's shoulder lightly and smiled, trying to cheer up his lover. "But that means we'll see each other every day, you know." That was a whole lot better than the previous years with no contact at all.

 

As Drew went to get something from another shelf, Alec suddenly pointed at a box of cereal with a dragon on it. "What dinosaur is that? It has wings, so can it fly? What does it eat?" The boy looked up at Ryan with wide eyes full of curiosity.

[Kotorichan]

Ryan was a little bit shocked by the question. What kind of kid had never seen a picture of a dragon before? He managed to hide the feeling with a smile. "That's a dragon. Its not a dinosaur, its a magical creature that's like a big lizard that can f and breath fire" he picked up the box and held it up for Alec to get a better look. "What do you think?" He made a fake growling sound like a dragon would. "I think they're kinda scary, but your daddy and I can keep you safe. Even from a big dragon"

[meluvcookies]

"I'm not scared of anything!" Alec exclaimed proudly, but after thinking for a second, he continued. "Except thunder. But that doesn't count!" He crossed his arms defiantly, as if expecting Ryan to disagree.

 

Then Drew came back with a few items in his arms. He put the food in the cart before looking back and forth between Alec and Ryan. "What doesn't count?"

[Kotorichan]

"that's right little guy, thunder doesn't count" Ryan glanced at Drew with a wide smile. "He's just telling me that being scared of thunder doesn't count as being scared of anything"

 

He looked over the food in the cart. "alright... what else do you think we need?" he asked, refocusing on the task at hand. The man really did enjoy talking to Alec, even if the little boy didn't seem to like him too much. "you might want to get some sandwich stuff so you and Alec can go out..."

[meluvcookies]

Drew chuckled at the topic of thunder. Of course Alec wouldn't count that when the boy wasn't the only one jumping in alarm whenever a lightning struck somewhere close.

 

"Sandwiches are a great idea! So bread and something to put in them..." Drew looked at the things in the cart, ticking the items off his mental shopping list. "... and milk. I think that'll be all." Suddenly Alec piped up, pointing at the box of cereal once again. "And the dragon!" He looked at his dad with wide eyes. "They breath fire, you know. That means they're cooler than Velociraptors."

 

Drew raised a brow at his son. "Oh? But I though only daddy was cooler than raptors..." He turned towards Ryan and spoke in a playful tone. "What do you think is the coolest: dragons, raptors or me?"

[Kotorichan]

Ryan put his hand to his chin, making a show of thinking deeply about the question. "Hmm... Well.... Dragons are really cool..." He said slowly. "And so are raptors... But I think you win, just by a little bit though" he grinned at the other man. It was somehow fun to just spend time together like this, even though he desperately wanted to get Drew alone and fully talk things over. The man thought that it could wait for awhile longer, Drew must have gone through a lot and needed some time to settle in. Pushing him to talk about things before he was ready could end up ruining everything.

[meluvcookies]

"Good boy, Ryan!" Drew praised the other man. "I think you deserve a reward for that." He was about to lean in for a kiss when Alec interrupted. "I think so too! Why don't I get a reward?" The boy crossed his arms and pouted. Drew smiled at his son and grabbed the cereal box. "How about I'll get you this?" The four-year-old instantly brightened up and reached for the packet with both hands.

 

Once Alec was occupied with his reward, Drew turned back to Ryan and noticed they were in the way of other customers. He shifted with an apologetic smile. "Let's just get the rest of the stuff and I'll give you your reward later, okay?"

[Kotorichan]

"Alright, I can wait" Ryan gave Drew a bright smile and lightly ruffled Alec's hair. "I hope its as cool as your reward" he started to push the cart again, making his way towards the dairy section.

"I'm gonna try to adjust my schedule a little so I won't we working super late all the time..." He said to Drew. "I wanna try to spend more time with you two, and if you get a day job then I'd be starting work around the same time you finished"