For a few second Brendan wasn't sure what had woken him up. It was still too dark for it to be morning, and there were no sounds from outside their street. Then his brain started to register his surroundings, and he became aware how rigid Steven's body was against his and how sharp and quick his breaths were. Brendan instantly turned so he could circle Steven in his arms and press him against his chest.
"Shh, baby, it's alright." He kissed the top of Steven's head. "I'm here, it's alright."
Brendan could feel Steven relaxing. He wasn't sure had he even woken up properly, but he was still calmed down by Brendan's touch and soon his breaths were returned back to his steady puffs which Brendan could feel against his skin. He kept stroking his thumb behind Ste's ear which he knew Steven liked and hoped that by morning he wouldn't remember having any disturbing dreams.
It seemed like a long time since Steven's last nightmare. After they had moved to their new place his bad dreams had lessened and he had only woken up twice since, sweaty and disoriented until Brendan managed to calm him down. But Brendan wasn't surprised he had one now, after the newspaper article had brought all those things back up again.
Their new place, named Baile which in Irish meant home, had opened up almost a month ago with great success. People had been giving them great reviews and there had been a steady line of customers wanting to have something to eat or simply get drinks after work. Both Steven and Brendan had been tired after each day, but in pleasant way, and Steven had been having a focused but happy look on his face every time Brendan had saw him working. But today, or yesterday judging by the time of the early hours of the morning, someone had left bunch of papers on the kitchen counter with critiques reviews and articles of the place. All of them had been good, and Brendan would have personally hunted down any food critic saying Steven's food wasn't the best, but one magazine hadn't just written about the food and the place, but Steven's history too. There had been a full spread with text and pictures, and even when the article itself was this growth story of Steven getting where he is now, it also featured the events with Walker. There had even been a picture of him with long explanation about police investigations. Brendan was sure Steven hadn't read the whole thing – he wasn't much of a reader – but just seeing the picture made him go pale and shaky. He had been unusually quiet through the evening every time Brendan popped in the kitchen to see him, and once home he had clinged on Brendan like he was drowning while Brendan had done his best to fuck his thoughts away. He had gone to sleep looking satisfied and relaxed, but it seemed that during his sleep the memories had found him again. Brendan wished he could somehow get inside Steven's head and fight away all those dark thoughts tormenting him.
It sometimes scared him how protective he felt over this lad.
Brendan must have fallen back to sleep because next thing he knew was Steven stirring again, but this time there was more light in the room and the sounds of the street told it was morning. Brendan watched Steven to blink his eyes slowly for few times, then yawning and stretching before his gaze focused on Brendan's face.
"Morning." Brendan cradled his face and kissed him softly despite their morning breaths. "Did you sleep okay?"
"I think so. There was... Did I wake you during the night?" Steven frowned as he tried to remember.
"Slept like a baby." Brendan kissed him again before sliding his hand down Steven's side under the covers and gave his bum a squeeze. "Ready to enjoy your proper first day off?"
They both had been working pretty much each day, even when Steven had been off few nights so they could have the kids over he had still been on the kitchen during the early opening hours just to make sure everything was running smoothly. Now they both felt everything was established and the staff knew what they were doing, and Steven felt confident to leave his sous-chef to handle the kitchen for a few days when he and Brendan had a little break over the weekend. Declan and Paddy were coming to stay with them for two nights, and this would be the first time they met with the kids which made Brendan bit nervous. He hadn't been the best father to his sons and he worried how they would feel to see him with new set of family, but at least through the skype calls Declan seemed eager to meet his step-siblings in person.
"Mmm. I'll enjoy this first." Steven's hand wrapped around Brendan's dick, and then Brendan was on his back, Steven half leaning on top of him and they kissed deeply while Steven's fist was getting Brendan hard. Brendan sneaked his arm around him and stroked Steven's bum, found his hole and toyed with it. Steven was still bit lose from the sex they had before sleeping and he didn't seem to want to waste any time. After he was pleased of how hard Brendan was he quickly squirted some lube on him, straddled him and sunk down on his cock with a mighty sigh. He held on the headboard while he rode him with great enthusiasm, and Brendan kept stroking his hairy thighs and flat belly with his palms before taking hold of his hips and enjoying the view of seeing himself disappearing inside Steven as he moved up and down. When Steven's cries started to get higher Brendan took hold of his dick and stroked it roughly, until Steven came all over Brendan's chest. When his body had stopped shaking Brendan wrapped his arms around him and flipped them over, fucking him hard on the mattress. Steven's hands were around the small of Brendan's back, scratching the skin there while every push Brendan made forced a breathy moan out of him. Brendan was aware of his own grunts and the roars he made when he was coming. After all these months he had been fucking Steven Brendan was still hit by the feeling of coming in him without anything between them, like he was filling Steven up and how vulnerable it made him to lose himself like that, yet he had never been as safe than he was when wrapped in Steven's long, skinny limbs.
He eased out and collapsed next to Steven, and then they were both laughing breathlessly, rolling to face each other so they could kiss and kiss.
"That's a good way to start a day." Brendan smiled when they were settled back to breathing.
"I know I won't be getting any while the lads are here so I must make the most of it." Steven grinned. His hand was stroking Brendan's beard. "I love you."
"Love you too. Are you able to move yet? Wanna share a shower?"
Once in there they took great care washing each other up. Steven was half hard again by the time Brendan was done with him, and he took a hold of Brendan's hand and slid it down his crack, kissing his throat keenly. Brendan was more than happy to oblige, pushing his fingers in Steven's hole. He felt Steven flinch against him.
"You sore?" He was about to remove his hand but Steven pushed closer.
"Don't stop."
So he fucked him again, slowly, Steven's arms and legs around him as Brendan held him up against the glass wall of the shower cubicle. Steven's moans had sharper edge on them but any soreness he was feeling just seemed to make him more keener, his nails scraping on Brendan's back, complete opposite of the soft kisses they were sharing and Brendan's slow and tiny movements inside him. When Steven came he bit down on Brendan's shoulder and the sharp bang of pain made Brendan come too. He washed Steven again afterwards, gently, like he was a delicate treasure.
They got dressed up, changed their messy sheets for clean ones and whipped up a quick breakfast.
"How long do we got?" Steven asked while chunking down his coffee.
"Coupla hours before I need to get to the airport."
"Right. So. I was thinking, should we go to Amy to fetch the kids so they'll be here when you come back with the lads? Or should we give them some time to get settled first? Only the kids have to be in bed early so they might not have enough time to get to know each other if we go and get them on the afternoon. What? Do I have something on me face?"
"No, just listening you on a roll, that's all. I think it's good idea to get the kids now, they need to get back to their mum anyways so the lads have time to settle down when they have gone."
They decided to walk as the weather was nice and the distance wasn't so long. Steven was chattering on that way of his, running through different ideas of things they might do with the lads and the foods he had planned on making them. When they reached Amy's place they didn't even have the chance to ring the doorbell when she was already opening the door for them.
"I saw you coming from the window." She explained. "Come on in, the kids are excited. Is it warm outside?" She threw a questioning look towards Brendan.
"It's not, this one just seems to be immune for the cold." Steven smiled at Brendan's frown. Steven was wearing his thick coat to protect him from cold spring wind but Brendan had only threw on his thin leather jacket on top of his T-shirt. He shrugged is off now when they were inside and helped Steven to get rid of his when the kids came to greet them. They were full of beans, excited to meet their new brothers for the first time, and seemed disappointed that the lads weren't with them already.
"We're gonna walk to our place and then you two can help me to make them something nice to eat while Brendan goes to pick them up from the airport, yeah?" Steven explained to them and the kids seemed pleased with that. "Oh blimey, Ames, who's got you flowers?" Steven had just spotted a massive bouquet of lilies on the kitchen counter.
"Lee sent them to mum." Leah explained while Amy blushed.
"He's on a work trip and sent these." She tried to sound like it was no big deal but if Brendan knew anything about women he would say she was pretty impressed. Maybe it was things like these which had made her to fell for the guy, those few times Brendan had met him he had seemed like a funny little fella with tons of jokes but nothing too deep on him. "I was just about to put them on a vase, I was getting the stool out when I saw you coming."
"I'll get it." Brendan offered, as the vase she was pointing was on top of the shelf and neither she nor Steven wouldn't have been able to reach for it without any help. He stretched to get it when he heard Amy's gasp behind him. He turned with the vase on his hand. "Alright?"
"Yes, thank you." She quickly took the vase from him and turned to put the flowers in, avoiding Brendan's eyes. Steven looked bit embarrassed but shook his head when Brendan caught his eyes and opened his mouth to ask what was going on. Once the flowers were on their place Amy turned to the kids. "Right, you two, get your jackets and shoes!"
She left the kitchen to help them find their stuff, and Brendan leaned to Steven. "What was that about?"
"Nothing." Steven said but Brendan kept staring at him. "It was just, when you reached for that vase your shirt rose up from behind and there's... You know, from before."
Jesus. Brendan could feel the sting from Ste's scratches all over his back and bum but he had no idea what that would look like. He didn't have time to reply when the kids were on them, demanding them to move along too. Amy seemed to have collected herself and when she said her goodbyes she was back to normal, even when Brendan could have sworn there was something in her eyes when she looked at him.
Steven had promised the kids fifteen minutes on the swings in the park which was between their houses, and soon as the kids had sprung ahead Brendan used the opportunity to talk more privately.
"What do you think Amy's thinking about us now?"
"What do you mean? Oh because of the markings?" Steven quickly stroked his hand down Brendan's back. "Don't worry about it."
"It's just... I don't want her to think all sorts." Brendan knew Amy had her reserves towards him. She wasn't going to easily forget the way their relationship had started, and Brendan knew she had been worried he was taking advantages of Steven's situation. He hoped he had proved himself to her by now but he still felt like he had to be on his best behaviour with her.
"She won't. Okay, look. She knows that we like things rough, okay. She's not going to think badly of you because I have scratched your back."
"How does she know about it, eh?" Brendan watched Steven squirming with embarrassment. "Steven, how does she know?"
"She saw some bruises on me, okay. Ages ago. But she started to freak out and think all sorts so I had to tell her how I got them. She understood, I made sure she did. I much rather have her know bit too much about what we do in bed than have her think you're hurting me against my will." Steven looked at him. "Okay?"
"Alright." Brendan wasn't sure he was fully on with Steven's reasoning, but he guessed it made sense. He tried to be careful not to bite or bruise Steven on visible places but sometimes he got too lost with it, and it sounded possible that they had been too careless and Amy had seen the signs of his desire imprinted on Steven's skin.
It was surprisingly easy to get the kids away from the play sets now when they were eager to meet Declan and Paddy. When they walked the rest of the way Leah held on Brendan's hand and talked so much Brendan had hard time believing she wasn't biologically Steven's, she was so similar to him in many ways.
"...And I drew a picture about them in school during art class, but I forgot to take it with me now." She pouted.
"It's okay, sweetheart, you can show it to them tomorrow." Brendan comforted her,
"Why can't we sleep at your place today?" Leah asked.
"Because we don't have enough beds." Steven explained. "Paddy and Deccy will need places to sleep and they will borrow your beds for few nights or they have no where else to stay. But you'll see them today and tomorrow, yeah?"
Kids seemed to settle with that and soon after they had reached home Brendan had to leave for the airport.
"Drive safely." Steven kissed him for goodbye. "Love you, see you in a bit."
"Love you. And you kids better help your dad with the food, there will be three starving Irishmen coming back soon." Once in car Brendan called Cheryl to let her knew he was picking the lads up. She had been excited for their arrival but Brendan hadn't heard from her in few days. It took so long for her to pick up that Brendan almost hang up. "Chez? Is this a bad time?"
"No, no, I just left my phone on the other room. What's up?"
"Just on my way to pick the boys from the airport. We have the kids to stay over today but maybe we could pop around your place tomorrow so you could see them?"
"Oh gosh, they come today? I completely forgot, I have been so busy with everything! How about I'll come to yours this evening, just for a short while?"
"You're always welcomed but we can save you the drive and come around tomorrow." Brendan offered.
"No, my place is a mess right now, if you don't mind I'll come to yours later." There was something on her tone which made Brendan bit uneasy.
"Everything okay, Chez?"
"Yes, of course! I'm just, middle of all the planning and you know me, I never seem to be able to keep this place tidy, good luck for Nate for marrying me, eh?" Her tone was cheery but Brendan thought there was some edge on it too. Maybe she was nervous about the wedding plans, even when the date was still few month away. "Honestly I would love to get out for a few hours so you'd do me a great favour for having me for a cuppa tea."
"Alright. Come when ever it suits you. Is Nate around?" He could hear some faint noises on the background.
"Yeah, that's him. Listen, I better go, we're going for a lunch and you need to focus on driving, so I'll see you later, okay? Bye for now." She quickly ended the call. Brendan was bit stung, it was usually a task to get her end the call and now she didn't seem to finish it fast enough. But after Nate had dropped the question, probably after getting inspired from Brendan and Steven getting engaged, she had seemed even more all over the place than usual. She seemed determined to get married first, because she and Nate had been dating longer, as she had jokingly explained to Brendan, so it would be only fair to say "I do" first. Truth be told Steven and Brendan hadn't much talked about the wedding yet, only that neither of them wanted anything big and quick visit on magistrate would be enough, but they had decided to wait until Cheryl would have her big day.
Brendan reached the airport just when the boy's flight was supposed to land, and by the time he had made his way inside and found the right gate the lads were already coming through it as they only had their large back bags and no luggage's they would have had to wait for.
"Hi dad." Declan came in for a hug and Brendan kissed the top of his head.
"Alright? Good to have you here. Alright, Padraig?" He hugged Padraig too, and even when he didn't much reply to it he allowed his dad to held him for a while. Brendan tried not to feel too bummed about it – he knew that to Padraig he was almost a stranger, someone who he had hardly seen while growing up. Just to have him join Declan to come and visit them was good enough.
"Ste's not here?" Declan asked looking around.
"He's at home with the kids. They'll looking forward for seeing you two. And auntie Chez is coming to see you later too. You have everything? Wanna get on, then?" Brendan guided the boys through the mass of people and then trough the parking lot to his car. He and Declan got on the small talk, Brendan asking about the weather and the flight. "This is a new place for you, eh, Padraig, you've never been here before." He said once they were driving and Padraig was watching curiously from the car window.
"Mum finally though he would be old enough to travel with me." Declan explained, like Padraig's not visiting before was only because of his young age. "And even now she walked us to the gate, you should have heard her talking to the staff like we were babies, 'Please look after me boys' and all that. But we survived, didn't we, Paddy?"
"Yeah, it was fun. Are we close yet?" Padraig asked.
"About twenty minutes or so. There should be some food ready if you guys are hungry. So how's school and all?" Brendan desperately tried to keep the conversation flowing and thankfully Declan took care of the talking, telling him about his courses and after school hobbies and Padraig piped in few times too. Apparently he was very into music and played drums in the school band, but Eileen didn't let him get a set of his own because of the noises.
"Here we are, this is our neighbourhood." Brendan said when they finally reached their area. Boys were both looking around curiously, so far they had just heard about the place and seen pictures of their house but never seen it themselves. Brendan drove to their street and parked his car to his spot. "That's ours, on the left, the one with little tree on front."
"Cool." Declan said and they got out. "Looks nice. Bit smaller than ours but nice."
"Yeah, well, we don't need that much space when it's just the two of us." Brendan felt rush of jealousy towards Eileen and her new bloke, getting to keep the lads with them. "Wanna go in and meet Leah and Lucas?"
They walked to the front door and Brendan could hear the excited shrieks through the door before he opened it. Leah and Lucas rushed to meet them, but soon as they saw the boys behind Brendan they went all shy.
"Hey you two." Brendan greeted. "Wanna come say hi to the boys now?"
"Aw, bless, they have gone shy!" Steven had followed the kids from the kitchen. "They have been waiting you so eagerly. Hi Paddy, hi Deccy! So glad to see you again!" Steven gave both of them a quick hug. "You can leave your bags on the stairs for now, we can sort them later. So, this is Leah, and that's Lucas, come on, you've seen the boys on skype before, say hi." Steven stroked Lucas's hair when he was half hiding behind him.
"Hello." Leah said playing with her hair. "You're taller than in the computer."
"I guess I am, yeah." Declan smiled. "It's good to see you for real, now."
"We made you some lunch." Steven said. "Some vegetarian lasagne, if it's okay. Don't give me that look, Brendan, it's really good, trust me."
"Good thing I'm marrying a chef, eh, he can make even the rabbit food taste good." Brendan joked and Declan rolled his eyes. "Kitchen's that way."
"How was the flight?" Steven asked from Padraig when they made their way through the kitchen, and it didn't take long from him to get the boy talking. Brendan was amazed the way Steven was with the boys, just like he admired the way he was with his own kids. He knew how to talk to them and how to listen to them, and made it all seem so easy and natural. Brendan always felt like he was trying too much, but he did his best to learn from Steven's example.
During the lunch kids got over their shyness and then there was no stopping them, Leah kept asking all kind of questions from the lads and Declan was patient enough to reply. Lucas was chattering too but he was still so small that it took a lot of focus to try and follow his train of thoughts when he jumped from one subject to another.
"Can we show them our room?" Leah asked once they had finished eating.
"Of course you can. You can show which beds they get to borrow tonight and where to put their stuff." Steven smiled at her. "I'll come too and show you the bathroom and stuff."
"I'll clean away the plates." Brendan offered and Steven gave his bicep a quick squeeze before following the kids to upstairs. Brendan stuffed the plates in the washing machine, spent few minutes pondering how the hell it was supposed to go on and after he finally succeeded he went to the living room. He heard someone coming down the stairs and it was Declan who joined him.
"It's a nice house," He said again, "and the kids are fun."
"Glad you finally got to meet them."
"You have lot of photos." Declan had spotted the pictures they had spread on top of the fireplace and on their bookshelf. "This is the one we took while you came to Dublin. And... Dad, is that you?"
"Yeah." Brendan took the photo frame Declan was looking at and handed it to him. "I'm maybe five or six. And that's my ma holding me."
"Wow. I don't think I ever seen a photo of her." Declan studied the picture. It was old and bit unfocused but there were only two pictures of her that Brendan had. Steven had found them from one of the boxes after they had moved in and had suggested to get them framed. "Do you have any of granddad?"
"No." Brendan quickly wanted to change the subject. "Maybe we get one with you two and the kids tomorrow, yeah?"
"It's kinda weird to think they are my step-siblings." Declan put the picture back on the self. "Not bad weird but, you know. I kinda thought I'd only get ones if mum gets married and have babies, not that one day I'd have some which are already so big. But its cool." He threw a studying look for Brendan. "When are you getting married, then?"
"We haven't decided the date yet. We don't want anything fancy so... But I'll let you know if you'd... It would mean a lot if you'd like to come."
"Of course." Declan smiled. Then there were noises on the stairs when rest of the family came back down. Leah and Lucas wanted to play some game with the boys, and even when all their games were pretty childish the lads did a good job showing some excitement while playing them.
It was around four when Brendan's phone rang and it was Cheryl.
"I'm close of your neighbourhood and thought I could drop by now, if it's okay?"
"Sure. We'll be here, the kids are too still, before we need to get them to their mum, but you get to see them all now."
Five minutes later there was knock on the door and Brendan went to let her in. She looked bit flushed like she had been rushing.
"You alone?" Brendan kissed her cheek. "No Nate?"
"Oh, no, he's at home, you already have a full house so... Where are my boys?" She went to the living room and all four kids were excited to see her. There was lot of hugging and talking, and Brendan escaped to the kitchen to make some tea. She followed him few minutes later.
"They seem to come along well. You must be so pleased."
"I am, yeah, I think part of me was fearing the worst but it's been going really well so far. Want some tea?"
"Yes please." She took the mug from him and there it was again, some sort of distance in her in the way she kept staring the tea.
"You okay Chez?" Brendan asked and she gave him a thin smile.
"I am, just so much on my head right now."
"Is there anything I can do?" Brendan stroked her arm.
"Thanks but..." She took a deep breath. "I, I think I'm pregnant." She said in a whisper.
"What? Chez, that's great!" Brendan gave her a one armed hug, careful not to spill the hot tea.
"I did the test and it was positive but it's still so soon and I'm really worried something goes wrong and -"
"Does Nate know?"
"Yes, I told him yesterday. But him and you are the only ones, please don't tell anyone yet, not even Ste. I would hate to see people's pity if I'm mistaken or something goes wrong." She looked stressed.
"I won't. But I'm sure everything will be fine. Chez, I'm so happy for you." Brendan kissed her forehead and she finally smiled.
"I try not to be too excited but it's kinda massive, isn't it? I'm having doctors appointment on Monday and I'm trying to keep it toned down till then." She looked like she would burst. "Maybe your lot will have a little cousin soon!"
"Auntie Chez!" Paddy called from the living room and her smile grew wider.
"Better go and see what they're on about now."
They went to the living room and Declan and Paddy were showing some photos and videos from their phone to the kids and Steven, and there was something they wanted Cheryl to see too. Brendan leaned on the door frame and watched his family all bundled up together, smiling and laughing.
Steven smiled at him and then made his way to his side.
"Alright?" He asked quietly and Brendan threw his arm around Steven's shoulders, pulling him closer.
"Everything's perfect."
::::::
Cheryl left them when it was time to get the kids back to Amy's, promising she would try and make time to come in for a dinner the next day with Nate. The lads wanted to see the neighbourhood and have some fresh air, so they all got their jackets and headed out. The kids were excited to show their brothers the parks and playgrounds they walked past, and they stopped at Amy's long enough for them to show off their room and Leah could give her drawings for the boys.
"They seem like nice kids." Amy said to Ste while they listened the happy chatter from the kids room.
"They are, yeah, it's great to have them and them all to get to know each other." Ste felt like he hadn't stopped smiling all day. Then Brendan came in the kitchen. "Should we get going then, the lads can't stay up very late either, can they?"
"Deccy can stay up a bit longer but I think Paddy needs to get in bed too in few hours. And they must me tired from all the... I go and get them." Brendan disappeared to inform them that it was time to go.
"Listen, Amy, about the morning..." Ste started but she was already shaking her head.
"No, don't, it's not my business what you do." Neither of them had touched the subject they had talked during their night off weeks ago, and Ste wasn't sure how much Amy remembered from that night – his own memory was bit foggy but he still knew he had said more than enough. Sometimes he had caught Amy looking at them with curious expression on her face or seen her throwing glances towards Brendan's groin when he was standing or sitting in that way of his which practically inviting people to look there. She always seemed embarrassed from looking and quickly turned her attention towards something else, and Ste could remember her shocked face when she had learned the whole might of Brendan's size.
"Okay." He nudged her arm and they looked at each other, like two school kid with shared secret.
"Alright?" Brendan had come back with the boys and Steven said his goodbyes to Amy and the kids.
They took another route back to show more about the area for the boys, and once back in it seemed they were all still pretty full up of the lasagne so Ste warmed some soup and made grilled toasts to go with it. The lads were clearly tired, and they watched some telly after the dinner before Paddy asked if he could have a bath before bed. Ste went to show him how the tub worked and left him to it, and found Declan and Brendan talking about some old film they had found from the telly.
"Actually, Deccy, I was wondering would you be more comfortable on the sofa?" Ste asked during the commercial break. "I mean I didn't thought properly how tall you are, Leah's bed might be a bit of a squeeze for ya."
"He has the Brady genes, eh." Brendan ruffled his hair. "We are all tall ones."
"I think the sofa might be better," Declan admitted.
"We better get the beddings before Paddy goes to sleep, and say him goodnight at the same time." Paddy was already getting to bed when Ste and Brendan got up. "Alright Pad, got everything you need? Just give us a call if you need us, okay? Sleep tight, see you in the morning."
"Good night, Padraig." Brendan gave him a quick hug and they left the door on a crack when they left him be. Ste touched his back.
"You are doing great." He whispered and Brendan kissed him softly before they went down to Declan.
They didn't stay up long, just finished the movie and then made the bed for Deccy on the sofa, got back upstairs and took their turns in the bathroom before cuddling together in bed.
"How is it, having them both here?" Ste asked quietly when they laid facing each other.
"It's good. Of course there's still... I used to be a bad father, always away so I know that will be there, me leaving them and I just have to try and make up for it."
"You do. I have seen you, you try so hard, and they can see it too." Ste stroked his beard. "You are here for them now, that's what matters."
Brendan leaned to kiss him, and they went on and on, sucking each others tongues, getting filled by their man's taste. Ste was still feeling sore from before, but he couldn't help how much he wanted Brendan when they were like this. He didn't try anything because he knew what Brendan was like when they were other people staying, but it seemed Brendan needed the comfort from him just as much. He scrambled on top of Ste and pressed their groins together.
"You gotta be quiet, okay?" And then he leaned down to kiss him and swallow any noises Ste was making. He could feel Brendan's hand sliding in his boxers and pulling his dick out, and then Brendan's cock pressed against it when Brendan took them both in his hand and rubbed them together. He broke the kiss just enough to spit on his palm before returning to stroke them both with spit as lubrication.
Ste tried his best to stay silent, his hands were on Brendan's hair to pull his face closer so he could keep on kissing him while Brendan wanked them off. They were both panting hard and Ste could feel his orgasm building up, so he buried his face against Brendan's neck and bit down there, right next to the marking he had left there this morning and groaned against his skin when he came. Brendan's hand got faster and Ste had to look down to see him coming over Ste's belly with a shaky breath.
Brendan wiped Ste clean and then manhandled him so his back was against Brendan's belly when he spooned him. "I love you." He breathed on Ste's skin and Ste said it back, and it didn't took long for him to fall asleep, feeling safe and protected inside Brendan's arms.
They had a massive breakfast in the next morning and Ste loved listening the Irish accent flowing around when the lads talked about school and stuff. Boys wanted to see the town, so they had few hours there before getting the kids from Amy's on their way back. After lunch they headed out again, to an action park which had opened recently. They had to take the bus because not all of them would have fitted in the car, specially with the kid's seats, but everything went smoothly. There was a short trail for Leah and Lucas who were too small for most of the tracks, and Ste rather stayed on the ground watching when the bigger boys and Brendan were getting on higher on the trees. Everyone seemed to enjoy their stay and Ste's heart felt like bursting with joy when he saw Brendan looking so happy and relaxed around the kids.
Cheryl called while they were on the bus on their way home and apologised for being too busy to make it for the dinner, but Brendan didn't seem too bothered with that. Once home they all took part of making the dinner, even if was nothing more like than Lucas washing the spuds, but it still made Ste feel like they were one big family working together. Amy came in for the meal before taking the kids back, and they had lovely dinner.
Kids were sad when it was time for them to leave knowing the boys would be flying away the next day.
"We'll come see you again." Declan promised. "During summer when it's school holidays, we could stay longer then. And we can skype, just like before."
It seemed to settle them, even when Leah did weep a bit during her last hugs.
"They are such great kids." Declan said once they were gone. "Aren't they, Pad?"
"Yeah. They are funny."
"And it's good they now have two big brothers like you two, looking after them." Ste praised them and Paddy looked pleased with that.
They chilled in front of the telly again until it was time for Paddy to hit the bed, and Declan was yawning too so Ste and Brendan left him to get settled in for a night soon after. It was bit too early for them to get to sleep, when they had got used to stay up late because of working hours. Brendan pulled out one of the books he was reading and made himself comfortable in bed.
"Read for me." Ste leaned against his shoulder.
"Do you even know what book this is?"
"No. I just like to listen to you, don't I."
Brendan gave him a soft smile. "Okay." He settled better against the pillow, threw his other arm around Ste and started to read out loud while his hand drew circles between Ste's shoulder blades. It didn't take long for that movement and his low voice to send Ste to sleep against his chest. He woke up briefly in middle of the night, when they had shifted their positions and Brendan was on his other side now, Ste's arm thrown over him. Ste moved so he could better settle himself against Brendan's back, sneaked his arm under his so he could rest his hand against Brendan's chest and feel his heartbeat before falling back to sleep.
There was some quietness in the Brady bunch during the breakfast, the reality of boys leaving hitting them all and Ste did his best to keep the mood light. They didn't have much time before they would have to leave to the airport, so they just chilled the morning. Ste had decided he wouldn't go with them to give Brendan some time alone with his boys. He used work as an excuse, because he needed to go and get some increments from the stores for the evening. He said his goodbyes, gave the boys a hug and waved them off, before getting his stuff and jumping on a bus.
He had gone through the stores and found almost everything he needed, when he suddenly spotted someone familiar looking hanging near the entrance of an pharmacy.
"Chez!" He called and walked towards her. "Hi, nice to bump into you in here!"
"Ste, hi." She looked bit startled and looked around quickly. "Bren's not with you, is he?"
"No, he went to take the boys to the airport. Why? Chez, what is it?" Ste couldn't help noticing how pale she looked, and the nervous way she kept glancing around.
"Nothing, it's just -" And then there was a man Ste had never seen before coming through the pharmacy doors, holding a bag and walking straight to Cheryl.
"Here we are, finally got my pills, the wait was ridiculous. Oh, hello." The man looked Ste curiously. He had a grey hair and some stubble on his face, and a heavy Irish accent. "Friends of yours, Cheryl?"
"Yes, he is. This is Ste, he's my mate." Cheryl seemed to wish the ground would swallow her. "Ste, this is Seamus, my dad."