just_another | [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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"Think of me fondly," Caden says with a laugh. He sets the coffee on the table and claps Joel on the shoulder, smiling warmly and then letting go before coming over to Spencer and the baby. "So is this the little prince?"

He looks at Joel with a wink and sits down next to Spencer, resting an arm on the back of the couch and leaning in close to look at the baby. "Aw, hello Dane. You're a handsome little guy, huh?"

Caden heaves out a huge, dreamy sigh and looks at Dane for a long moment before looking up at the proud papas. "Oh man, I feel a children's book coming on."

"He is pretty perfect, isn't he?" Joel asks and he can't seem to stop smiling. Eventually he's going to start irritating the people closest to them, he's sure of it, but he just can't imagine this feeling going away. Dane is so small and so beautiful and even when he's screaming, even when Joel thinks he might need to shove wadded up balls of cotton in his ears just to block out the sound, he's perfect. In every single way.

"We're going to get so annoying," he says as he sinks down into a chair across from them, though his grin brightens a little further when Caden speaks of a children's book. "You should. We would certainly buy it. We could have another event at the store." He isn't supposed to be thinking about work right now, Charlotte and Brian are taking care of the store for them, but it's hard to completely separate from that mindset after being in that store nearly every day for the past decade.

"Get annoying?" Spencer scoffs, though his grin is wide and teasing. He tilts his head down to gaze at the baby, to shift Dane in his arms just enough so that he can press a gentle kiss to the top of his head and take in that newborn smell that he's read so much about but couldn't really imagine until he'd held his son for the first time. One article had mentioned a study in which it was found that the smell of newborns actually triggered dopamine release, and Spencer doesn't think he could really argue with that.

Every time he's near the baby, he becomes deliriously happy, almost always on the verge of either tears or hysterical laughter over the fact that this is what they've been waiting for the past eight months and now that Dane is here, Spencer is in awe of how much more incredible it is to be a parent than he'd even been expecting. There's nothing quite like it, no way to explain it, and he hasn't attempted to try yet. All he knows is that Joel is right, their baby is perfect. Dane will always be perfect to them, no matter the circumstances.

"We'd keep the book fully stocked for the rest of eternity if it's a book starring Dane," Spencer adds, and he's only half joking because as far as he's concerned, Dane should be the star of everything. "But yes, if you ever do get tired of being a renowned author of novels for adults, just know we will fully support any effort you make to venture into the world of children's literature."

"Adult paranormal horror to whimsical children's book seems like an easy enough leap," Caden says with a laugh. He sits down and holds out his arms in a display of just how great he is at holding babies. A lot of his friends have kids and Caden has always been great with them, even if he doesn't yet have any great desire to have children of his own. "Can I hold him? I need to get in some quality honorary uncle time before I have to head out to L.A."

"You'll have to see if Spencer is willing to give him up," Joel answers with a laugh. "It's really hard, as it turns out." He loves just being able to hold his son and even when his arms get sore and tired, he doesn't care. He's spent the last decade hauling boxes of books, but holding a baby works entirely different muscles and he's equally as determined to hold Dane as often as he possibly can no matter how much his arms ache.

"You're going to L.A.?" he asks, his tone interested. He's never been to California, he's never been sure it's the sort of place he would enjoy, but after New York he's found himself a little more willing to stretch himself. "Just for a vacation?"

Spencer is just in the process of hiding a yawn against his shoulder when Joel says his name and his head snaps back up as his cheeks flush at being caught. "Oh," he says with a soft, sheepish laugh, glancing down at the baby for a long moment before taking a steadying breath and nodding, "yeah, of course. Of course you can hold him, just-- just keep him like this, being on his back this morning had him fussy."

He gently sets Dane in Caden's arms and crosses his own over his chest, unsure of what to do now that he doesn't have that added weight with him, and that seems to have become a regular occurrence over the past few days. He trusts Caden, it's obvious their friend knows what he's doing and has had experience with babies before, but Spencer still feels a tightening in his chest that he knows has nothing to do with worry that anything bad will happen. It's more that in the brief few seconds that he's let go of Dane, he feels a little empty, it's the same way he feels when he and Joel go to the store separately and they kiss each other goodbye.

It's the distance, however small, and Spencer knows it isn't rational but then again, there seems to be little about what he feels as a parent so far that's strictly rational.

Caden nods at the instruction and gently takes the baby, immediately sniffing at his head and gently patting his back. "Nice to meet you, baby Dane. I'm gonna buy you so much crap."

He grins up at the happy parents and then looks over at Joel as he rocks the baby back and forth gently. "Nope, for work. Production's starting on Harbinger, and they want me to serve as a producer as well as consultant. So I'm about to go full Hollywood."

Caden is a little nervous about it all, but mostly excited. It's always been a dream of his to see one of his books brought to life, and he really trusts the team that's been put together. "But I'll be back in a few weeks or so, just in time to see this little guy double in size, I bet."

"Wow," Joel says and he's known all along that Caden's books are a big deal, but sometimes it's still so strange to realize he and Spencer are friends with an incredibly famous author. It's so far removed from the life he's always had and he can't help but grin, imagining all the glitzy things Caden will find himself doing. He knows being a producer isn't going to be all glamourous, but it's not like he knows what it does involve and he can imagine all sorts of things.

Then Caden says Dane is probably going to double in size in just a few weeks and he lets out a soft laugh. He knows it's true, but that doesn't stop it from being a little startling. In these first few months, he's going to grow so much that they won't quite know what to do and he's already grateful he's been taking so many pictures.

"It's hard to imagine him getting bigger, but..." He trails off and sighs, still smiling.

[open - baby meeting!]

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