[Spencer]

[just_another]

He's not really sure what possessed him.

Maybe it's that things have been relatively quiet recently, maybe it's that he and Spencer have lived in relative peace for nearly two years now. Maybe it's simply a celebration of their children both growing up, each of them exhibiting new and interesting traits as time goes on. It had been a bit of a surprise to discover Dane was half-siren -- I thought you knew! Erin had exclaimed when asked -- and Joel is just waiting for the day when Rose's powers reveal themselves, but even that hasn't really changed anything.

They have friends who are sirens, after all, friends who will be able to teach both their children how to control their powers. For now, Joel and Spencer just have to make sure they're very firm with Dane when he starts to demand something.

So maybe it's just that he's happy and wants to take up some kind of new hobby, but after the pool table is moved into a room near the back of the house, Joel realizes he doesn't actually know how to play pool. That's not a big deal, really, he knows everyone has to learn at some point, but he imagines most people don't buy themselves a pool table before learning.

It had been second hard, refinished, not as expensive as some of the others he's seen and he's glad of that, but as he looks at it, at the brightly coloured balls sitting in the square triangle -- the rack? -- he realizes he doesn't know a damn thing about this and Spencer is going to realize it, too, the first time he sees Joel play.

This is going to be embarrassing, he thinks, especially if Spencer turns out to be some sort of billiards master.

Comments

[just_another]

Joel is very aware of what they'll do in here together if they put their children to bed and start to drink. He arches an eyebrow at Spencer's assessment that they can learn together, reaching out to curl his fingers over his husband's hip as he leans in for another kiss, keeping his eyes open so he can see Spencer's face and the splay of his lashes against his cheek. Everything in his life has changed since the day he met this man and Joel doesn't know if he'll ever be finished marveling at the differences in his life between then and now.

And then Spencer continues speaking and Joel lets out a loud laugh, because he'd been thinking exactly the same thing. They're certainly in tune and he's never going to not be pleased by that knowledge.

"It can't possibly be as sturdy. I made that table," he reminds Spencer with a grin, then a wistful sort of sigh. "I miss that table." But it had simply been far too heavy and too large to get out of the apartment. Besides that, Charlotte loves the damn thing and so he can't very well take it away from his sister now.

He's leaning in for another kiss when Dane comes into the room with his ball and Joel grins, pressing his mouth to Spencer once swiftly before he nods to where his phone is sitting nearby. He knows that look in his husband's eye and he leaves Spencer to grab his phone for pictures while he sets the pool cue aside and then reaches down to scoop Dane up, ball and all.

"Let's see that," he says, plunking their son on the edge of the pool table. "What colour is it?"

[doublethepain]

"I miss it, too," Spencer admits, resting a hand over Joel's chest, enjoying the warmth of the contact and the feel of the steady heartbeat beneath his palm. "If there was any actual chance we could get it out of there without having to take it apart first, I'd say we should just tell Charlotte we had sex on it so she'd give it up."

He grins up at his husband, knowing Joel will understand he's teasing, because neither of them would ever want to relive the horrors of Charlotte having any more knowledge whatsoever about their sex life. It'd been bad enough she'd walked in on them once before, though Spencer supposes it's a small mercy Joel had only been naked from the waist down behind the counter. He hadn't been able to look at her directly for some time after that, blushing furiously every time he'd accidentally made eye contact. It's funnier now that time has passed, of course, Spencer doesn't feel the same rush of embarrassment he had then; but that doesn't mean he's interested in experiencing anything like that ever again.

Which means they'll have to be extremely careful if they ever get up to anything in this room. If Dane were ever to wander down here looking for them, only to find them naked... God, Spencer doesn't even want to go there. Not now, not ever.

As it is, they're not naked when Dane comes in, and Spencer rushes for Joel's phone, quickly punching in its passcode so he can snap pictures of his husband picking up their son and setting him on the pool table. He switches the camera mode to shoot video then, smiling giddily as he moves closer to stand next to Joel, one reaching out press against the small of his husband's back while he keeps the camera focused on their son.

"Blue," Dane says confidently, swinging his legs. "Blue ball. Blue, blue, blue."

"That's exactly right, Junebug," Spencer tells him, "and what should Daddy do with the ball?"

Dane grins happily, showing his teeth as he holds the ball out toward Joel. "Cash!" He throws it then, and the ball gets just high enough to give Joel room to catch it. "Daddy cash ball!"

[just_another]

Joel darts his hand out with a laugh, getting it under the ball just in time to catch it before he tosses it very gently back to Dane, making sure his son's arms are out so the ball can mostly just land in the circle he's made. It's such a small thing, being able to toss a big blue ball to his son, but he can't believe how much he enjoys it, how fun he finds these simple little tasks. Playtime with a child Dane's age isn't exactly difficult and Joel remembers trying to play with Charlotte when she was little and always getting terribly bored, but this is different. Dane is theirs. As far as Joel is concerned, every single moment spent with him is perfect.

"Good catch," he encourages, wanting Dane to feel he can do anything he sets his mind to. He's read a lot of parenting books and knows there's a fine line between encouragement and insisting to your child they're utterly perfect and Joel wants Dane to know it's alright to fail, too. That just because he can't do something the first time doesn't mean it's not worth trying again.

There is so much more than goes into parenting than he's ever realized before and he's spent the last year and a half reading every possible book and article he can get his hands on. He and Spencer often talk late into the night about different parenting techniques. It's good they can talk so freely and he feels very lucky to have a partner in this who's so open to discussion and who wants to really hear things out before deciding to try or to dismiss them.

"What do you say we catch the ball more in the kitchen while we get lunch ready?" he asks, figuring they can leave the subject of the pool table until both kids are in bed for the night.

"Your sister will wake up soon and we should make sure we're all ready for that," he says with a laugh, casting a glance over at Spencer. Rose is utterly perfect in every way, but she's still a baby and there's still so much work that goes into raising her. Joel thinks everyone in the house needs a good meal before she wakes up again.