A/N: First attempt at a B&S fic, just a little idea that came into my head and pretty much wrote itself. Set somewhere between 5.09 and 5.11, hope you like.

…*…

Scotty sighed and threw the dish cloth over his shoulder as he watched his husband cram almost an entire croissant into his mouth, spraying glazed flakes across the counter he had just cleaned. He flicked the dish cloth at Kevin who caught it, guiltily using it to wipe his face before brushing up the crumbs.

'Kevin, honestly, that's your third croissant this morning, not to mention that half a box of chocolate cereal you thought I didn't see you eat.'

'You saw that?' Kevin now threaded the cloth through his fingers as he spoke. 'I didn't think you saw that.'

'Well, as usual, you managed to spill a load across the floor. And you left your bowl in the sink.'

'Oh god, I better clean that up,' he crossed over to the sink to retrieve the bowl, but Scotty had already dealt with. He flicked on the tap and rinsed out the basin for the third time instead. 'Is everything else clean? Did I clean everything else?'

'We're all set.'

'What about-,'

'Kevin, seriously, you're turning into your mother.'

That stopped him in his tracks.

'Right, okay, yeah, everything's clean, mom didn't raise messy children. Except Justin. I still feel like I should be doing something… Have we got any more of those cupcakes you made the other day?'

Scotty slipped the cloth out of Kevin's hands and used it to gently nudge him under the chin before pressing their lips together in a soft kiss.

He pulled back, folded the cloth and placed it by the sink. 'Now calm down, didn't you learn anything from the brownie incident?'

'I suddenly remembered a lot more of my high school Spanish than I thought I knew.'

Scotty leaned back against the counter and folded his arms. 'Kevin.'

'Don't remind me. And great, now I want a brownie too,' Kevin continued, one arm waving and gesturing as he used the other to rifle through a cupboard, pushing unwanted food aside, 'that last one was strangely moreish.'

'Gee, I wonder why.'

'Aha,' Kevin's eyes lit up as his fingers felt the smooth foil of a pack of chips at the back of the cupboard. He pulled them out only to have them quickly snatched away again. 'Hey!'

'Enough is enough, Kitty's going to be here any minute to reassure you that we've got everything we need all organised for the social worker because apparently you don't believe me that we have.'

'I do believe you,' Kevin reached out for the chips but Scotty tucked them behind him, trapped between his body and the counter. 'It's just, Kitty's done this before-,'

'And that went down so well.'

'At least neither have us written a book which comes off highly incriminating of her character when taken out of context. Well I haven't. Have you?'

'Yes, I sent off the final manuscript to my publisher yesterday, but he's more interested in the sequel about my husband the all-snack-food-consuming control freak.'

'Sounds like a good read.'

'Yeah, I think you'd really connect with the central protagonist.'

Kevin opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the sound of the doorbell.

'Now I'm going to get that,' Scotty said levelly, 'don't eat anything while I'm gone.'

He left the bag of chips he had confiscated from Kevin on the edge of the counter and crossed to the door, which he opened to reveal a smiling Kitty.

'Morning Scotty,' she said, reaching up to press a kiss on his cheek. 'How're you feeling? Nervous?'

'Me? No, probably not more than the usual amount. I think we've done this right and there's not really anything else we can do.'

'Exactly. You two are perfect for foster adoption and the social worker will see that.'

'Thanks, Kitty.'

She smiled again and handed her coat to Scotty who had offered his arm out to take it. 'Thanks. Now, what about my brother, how's he holding up?'

The distinct jagged ripping sound of a packet of chips being opened made all the reply Kitty needed. She turned to see Kevin, cheeks already puffed out with the sheer mass of potato chip he was attempting to chew.

'Kevin,' Scotty sighed in exasperation.

''m not sorry,' was mumbled through the mouthful.

'He's comfort eating.'

Kevin swallowed. 'I am not comfort eating! It's anxiety eating, or nerve eating, or -,'

'Oh god, Kevin, no,' Kitty interrupted, now taking her turn in stealing Kevin's food from him. 'This is why you were fat in high school, remember?'

The bag of chips was quickly dropped.

…*…

Kitty didn't stay too long, just enough time to reassure Kevin that he had done everything she had done when she was expecting her social worker to visit, minus the obsessive baby-proofing.

Kevin collapsed onto the couch next to Scotty, leaning his head onto his husband's shoulder. He closed his eyes.

'Feeling better?' Scotty asked quietly, his words causing the short ends of Kevin's hair to blow from side to side.

Kevin exhaled deeply. 'Yeah. A bit.'

'I don't know how many times Kitty had to tell you that we don't live in a known flood risk area.'

'I wanted to be completely sure.'

They sat in the silence of each other's company for a few minutes, both eyes shut, the only sound was their breathing, just slightly out of sync with one another.

Kevin opened one eye and checked his watch.

'The social worker will be here in an hour.'

'Mmhmm.'

'How much do you think could possibly go wrong in an hour?'

'Nothing if we just sit here,' Scotty mumbled, his eyes still closed.

'But what if-,'

'There's a flood?'

'I was going for earthquake actually.'

Scotty opened his eyes and pushed himself up from where he had been beginning to slide down the couch. Kevin straightened up, giving him more space.

'Kevin, if you're nervous about the adoption, or anxious or whatever, you need to tell me.'

'You're not nervous?'

'Of course I am, but not to the levels you're taking it. So if there's something that's really getting to you, or you think this isn't going to work, or…. Something. Something that's making you so all over the place, you need to tell me.'

'No, no, it's not any of that. I mean, yeah, I'm nervous about the idea of getting a kid and starting a family, who wouldn't be, but I'm definitely more excited about it than anything else. It's… I'm – I'm scared in case it goes wrong again, Scotty.'

Scotty said nothing. He reached out and took Kevin's hand between both of his.

'What if we never get the chance to be parents?' Kevin continued.

'We have to have hope, Kev, that it can happen someday.'

'Yeah, we can have hope, but we had that last time and it still went wrong. And look what that did to us.'

Scotty broke Kevin's gaze and went to withdraw his hands but Kevin stopped him with the addition of his other hand to the pile. Scotty glanced down at their four hands, intertwined, then back up at Kevin who was staring at him intently and squeezed gently.

'I think- I think we're stronger for it now. And I've promised you nothing like that will ever happen again.'

'I know, and I trust you, I do, it's just… Scotty, I don't know if I can handle it if it doesn't work out this time. I was a mess.'

'You were, yes, but you had hundreds of other reasons why you were struggling. And one of those is because we forgot we had each other and we do, right?'

He lifted their hands.

'We do.'

'See how this whole talking thing helps?' Scotty teased.

'Yeah…' Kevin smiled softly. 'It's not fair, how come you're right more often than me?'

'Clearly wisdom doesn't come with age.'

'Oh god, don't remind me, I'm getting old too.'

Kevin took his hands back as he said this, using them to hide his face, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes.

'Kevin, you're not old.'

'I found a grey hair this morning,' Kevin groaned, face still hidden.

'You've got more than a grey hair, I can see them from here,' Scotty replied frankly.

'What?' It was the fastest Scotty had seen Kevin move in a long time as he jumped up and across the apartment to the nearest mirror. He struggled to get a good look at his own hair, twisting from left to right. Scotty stood and walked over to him, wrapping his arms around him from behind and resting his chin on Kevin's shoulder.

'It's okay, I like it, you're really pulling off that kinda sexy dad look.'

Kevin admired their reflection in the mirror.

'I think I like that look.'

'Definitely,' Scotty agreed.

Kevin turned in Scotty's arm and kissed him.

'I love you,' he breathed.

'Only cos I'm always right.'