just_another | [open - baby meeting!]

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[open - baby meeting!]

Dane has been home for exactly thirty-seven hours and a few minutes, give or take, when Joel looks at the clock on the wall as he paces the length of the library, the baby in his arms. He's been fussing today, more than he has yet, and he and Spencer have been taking turns walking with him around the house once they've established that he doesn't need to be changed and he isn't hungry. They've been given their space after the initial invasion, his parents choosing to stay at a hotel for the duration of their time here rather than taking over the house. As much as he loves having his parents here, as much as he's loved seeing them with their grandson, he's also extremely grateful for it.

Ellie, though, had called that afternoon and suggested Joel try flipping Dane over onto his stomach. She'd said something about colic, told him that holding the baby on his stomach might help, and since then Joel has been carrying a peaceful Dane around the house, his little cheek resting against Joel's wrist. He's fast asleep for the time being and Joel can't imagine putting him down. He's a warm, comforting weight on Joel's arm and although he's tired, although he knows there's still a lot of adjusting to be done, he's also never been this happy.

Spencer is napping. At least he hopes he is. Joel had all but forced him to go upstairs and lie down. They sleep when Dane sleeps, that's the way their lives are meant to go now, and now that Dane actually is sleeping, Joel is debating heading upstairs and joining Spencer. The thought of crawling into bed with his husband, settling Dane comfortably on his chest and just lying there for a little while is somehow even more appealing than actually getting to sleep.

If he sleeps, he's bound to miss something, and Joel doesn't want to miss a moment of this.

That's exactly what Spencer is thinking as he lies wide awake in their bedroom. He'd tried more than once to close his eyes and keep them shut, force himself into a sleep that just won't come, but for once he's not being kept awake because of the nightmares he fears might plague him; it's because he knows that just downstairs are the two people he loves more than anything else in this world.

It's only been a day and a half since they've been allowed to bring Dane home, since they'd been overly careful in placing their baby, their tiny, beautiful baby, into his car seat for the drive home while Erin and her husband tried to hide their laughter behind their hands as they'd watched.

"Definitely brand new parents," her husband had commented, and it hadn't been with any ill intent. Spencer had only smiled and shrugged, as if there was nothing that could be done about it and really, there can't be. He's a father now, he's partly responsible for someone's life for the rest of his own, and as daunting as that may be, Spencer has never been happier. The only comparison he could possibly make would be to the day he and Joel had gotten married, and it's with that thought that he finally gives up and rolls out of bed to join his family.

They'd texted friends earlier in the day to mention when a good time would be to drop by to meet the baby. It's getting to be just after noon now, and he's absolutely exhausted, but the promise of getting to see Dane again gives him a burst of happy adrenaline. He'd be happy to stay this way for the rest of his life, at home with just his husband and their child; but he supposes having company over wouldn't be so bad.

After all, there's something appealing about being able to say that today, he and Joel are going to be introducing their son.

[Time to meet the baby. Tag Joel or Spencer or BOTH, but just indicate in your tag what you'd prefer. If both, the order will be your pup, Joel, Spencer.]

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"Gee, thanks," Joel says with a surprised laugh, passing his free hand over his face. He hadn't thought he looked that bad, but he hasn't shaved since the day before Dane was born and he can feel the hair creeping up his cheeks. His beard probably looks a little ragged and he hasn't been sleeping a lot, but he figures he's dressed in clean clothes, which is more than he expected of himself at this point.

"But yeah, it's good," he says. "We wanted people to meet him. This is Dane."

"Welcome to being a father, dude. A lot of people are going to recognise you as a parent now, especially the ones you want to avoid. I didn't bring you guys anything."

Is Bach nervous? What, why? "Damn, he's ti- I guess my brain knows from which age it's safe to curse or not. Sorry, baby boy. I'm sure I'll the be only foul one around." He meets Joel's eyes. "How are you doing? How is everyone doing?"

"We don't need anything, it's fine. We just wanted people to come meet him," Joel says, rocking Dane a little when he starts to fuss again. It doesn't take long before he's quiet, his eyes closed, his cheek against Joel's wrist. "We're all doing really well. Erin's gone home with her husband. She went into labour a little early, about three weeks, so they kept everyone in the hospital for a few days, but he's fine. He's a little on the small side, but he's all developed properly. Healthy as he can be."

That's really the only thing that had mattered. Erin had insisted he would be fine, it wasn't too early, but Joel had done all the reading and it wasn't until he'd heard Dane crying that he's been able to relax at all.

"How's the milk thing going to work? Is she going to deliver or is it powder from now until he can eat? And is she in as the parent or are you guys never seeing her again? I know these things now, can you imagine that I would ever know about such things. Because I still don't, I only knew about how to prevent getting to the part that you have to know about measles and sugar free diets."

He follows them inside. "Damn, I never saw Isaac so small. You should have your cameras ready. I borrow one from time to time, because they just ..well, you know. Quicker than you can imagine."

They're not quite the questions Joel expects, but he supposes he shouldn't be too terribly surprised. It's not like he knows many people in Siren Cove who have used a surrogate. "No, she'll bring some for us when we see her," he answers. "And we are seeing her again. She won't be Dane's mother, not in that sense. She's not going to be involved in parenting by any means, she has her own sons to worry about, but I think Spencer and I have decided to make sure Dane is aware she exists as soon as he can understand."

He's going to have questions, after all. It doesn't take much for a child to realize two men can't have a baby together, and Joel wants him to know right from the start exactly what the situation is. And at least part of why he knows they'll keep in touch with Erin is that he's already fairly certain he and Spencer are going to want another baby and she's the best possible surrogate they could have hoped for.

He laughs then and shrugs. "My phone already has a Dane folder with well over two hundred pictures. I'm going to have to start picking the best and deleting the rest."

"She's got kids of her own? Did you guys pay for he- nah, no, that's probably not a topic for first meetings with babies? Or even ever between us? Let's not talk about that. It's probably private stuff."

Bach's trying to remember where they talked about when there weren't children around. Did they even ever talk about something? Couldn't he talk plainly with anyone besides Hana, that being sign language? This was getting more pathetic quick.
"Give him to me, won't you? Let me hear him. Is he - he's completely human, can I ask that? I never did stuff like this before. Meeting babies."

"Well, I'm his father," he says with a fond smile, looking down at Dane. The baby already has his hair, dark, distinctive curls. "So he's at least part witch. Erin, as far as we know, is human."

But they also haven't asked and he wonders if they should have. He doesn't care, he knows Spencer doesn't care. Human, witch or siren, whatever she is, she's helped to give them their family and for that that'll always be grateful to her. "But we never really asked," he admits.

"Witches aren't that bad." Bach counts in his head to see if he was missing someone. "There's always bitches involved of course, I think the chick with the fairy tale thing was a witch? But at least he won't grow scales or start singing whenever he's angry. Really, I'm just waiting for him to update his musical knowledge because the songs he's taught at kindie.. Ever heard a really angry version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?"

"He's going to be a beautiful man, then. Not dissing your husband, but you know how that lies, right? Did I ever see this Erin? How did - I guess this stuff is more interesting than I thought. Just tell me to shut up when I need to. You know I listen to you."

"Witches aren't that bad," Joel echoes with faint amusement, not entirely sure what to make of that. Things have felt a little strained in town ever since the spell Nerium had cast and there are times now when he wonders if there are people out there who dislike him simply because he's a witch. It reminds him too much of what he'd left behind in Shediac.

And it scares him.

"Erin looks a lot like Spencer," he says, moving past it. "It's part of why we picked her. Blonde, high cheekbones, strong jaw. Hopefully he'll look like both of us and therefore a little bit like Spencer, too."

"Hah." He nods. "I get that, that's smart thinking. I have no clue about Isaac's mother, my mother just called her a demanding brownie bitch. At least that second part is showing clear enough and I'll be fine with the rest never appearing."

"Dane's going to look like Spencer because he's going to grow up with him around, Joel. Doesn't matter if Spencer is going to be the only blond tall guy around, Dane will be visibly his. Manners, speech, everything. Don't worry about that. If you were worrying about that."

"I wasn't really," Joel answers, shaking his head. "I'm not worried about much right now, to be honest. He's here and he's healthy and Spencer and I are happy." And that's more than enough. None of this is the life he ever imagined he would have, but here he is and everything has more than worked out. Somehow. There will be days when he finds things to worry about, when he's terrified that everything he's doing is wrong, but as it stands right now, he's the happiest he's ever been and that's all that matters.

"Like a little family."

Like the family Bach could probably never get to happen because he was so fucking out of tune with the rest of the world that he might be a deaf alien that communicated through his farts. So much for the usefulness of hearing other people when - this was getting far too dramatic. He shouldn't have come, it was all way too domestic and happy for him.

"You're not going to let him go, are you?"

Joel's brow creases at that and he shakes his head a little, as if he hasn't heard properly and needs to clear out his ears. "Let who go? The baby? Or Spencer?" Either way, he doesn't understand where the question has come from.

"I mean, not that it matters, the answer either way is of course not," he continues. "Why would I ever do such a thing?"

"Give him to me so I could hear if there's already a song building? What I asked like ..five minutes ago?" He had heard about pregnancy amnesia, but Joel couldn't blame that for being absentminded.

"If you don't mind, of course. Not getting on your turf. Isaac is enough of a handful. No more children for me."

"Oh," Joel says a second later and the blush that blooms across his cheeks is warm and dark. He's embarrassed, but he shifts Dane gently, offering him out to Bach, still flushing deeply. "Sorry." He doesn't know what Bach might think he can read off the baby, not when he's still so small, but any magic he might have is probably several years from developing. Joel has very clear memories of the first time he was aware of his own magic.

"Don't blush like that, it's too cute."

"Hey, little guy." Dane is soft and small and warm and shit - maybe those people that whine on about falling in love with their kid may have a point. No matter what he missed with Isaac, he already knows he wants to be there for everything else he'll experience. To meet your child this early ..
"Wow."

"I know," Joel says, grinning, meaning the baby, of course. "I know." It's an impossible feeling, one he can't even begin to describe and he thinks Bach might understand. At least a little.

"He's amazing." And he knows he sounds like one of those gushy parents who can't talk about anything but their baby, but he doesn't care.

It is surprisingly easy to forget everything around the little boy. Bach is surprised that even Joel is dimming for him, while he had been so very present in Bach's mind.

"Soft little fella. Never thought about listen-" There's nothing more than a murmur, a soft demand for care and love and it feels like something you could get addicted to. "He is so young. Fresh, really."

"Just six days old," Joel agrees, still smiling. It's funny, he never imagined this would happen, but he feels like he's itching to get Dane back in his arms. Holding his son is like an addiction and he wants so badly for his friends to meet him and hold him, but there's a part of him that never wants to let go either.

"And he was early, too. His due date wasn't until July seventh, but he came on June nineteenth. Nearly three weeks early."

" Does that mean he' s not completely finished yet?" It felt like it, in a way. Not a bad way, just like he wasn't completely closed up to be his own creature yet. Something you have to be extra careful around.

Bach looks up, tears his eyes off the tiny little happiness. "Dude, you're fidgeting. I'm not going to take him home, take him back if it hurts that much. There's nothing more than a comfy help hum anyway. I was just curious, that's all."

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[open - baby meeting!]

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