That morning...
John didn't dream very often. Sure, he would have the occasional nightmare, but usually, his nights were quiet, still, and dark as he slept. Of course, the one time he has a good dream, it's interrupted by an alarm the moment it starts to get interesting.
John reached over to his bedside table to shut off his alarm. This task was surprisingly difficult, considering John's husband, Alexander, was still laying on his chest, fast asleep. John smiled just from looking at him. They had been together for about two decades, but John still felt that child-like rush of love anytime he saw his husband.
"Alex," John whispered, brushing Alexander's long, dark hair away from his face. "Alex, wake up." Alexander groaned, nuzzling his face against John's bare chest. John sighed. "Alex, come on."
"Noooo..." Alex tightened his grip around John's waist, keeping his eyes shut tight. "I'm tiiiired."
"It's not my fault you stayed up too late to work."
"But your idea to get me to stop working just tired me out more."
John smirked. "That was the point, Alex." Alexander groaned again. "Come on, we need to go to work."
"Nooooo..."
"The kids are already up."
"The kids are morning people."
"Alex-"
"I don't wanna work today."
"What?" John gasped. "Alexander Hamilton doesn't want to work? Who are you? What have you done with my husband?" John felt Alex smile against his chest.
"I ate him."
"You fiend!" Alex giggled as John attacked him with tickles. John flipped them over so that he was straddling Alex's hips. Alex's hair was tangled and spread out behind his head like a fan. John smirked as he pinned Alexander down with his hands next to us head and hovered above him. "This is familiar."
"Shut up!" Alex snickered. John hummed as he kissed Alex, moving his hands down to grip Alex's waist. This, of course, was a fatal mistake, for as soon as his hands were free, Alexander grabbed a pillow and hit John in the face with it. John yelped and fell back onto the bed, and Alex scrambled up to hold John down instead. Alex glared at him in tired frustration until John pulled him down into another kiss.
"I love you, Alex," John mumbled.
"I love you, too."
"Mmm...we still need to get up, you know. We'll be late."
"Yeah, I know..." Alex sighed. "But I still don't want to."
"I know."
"Hercules..." Someone gently poked Hercules in the face, but he didn't move. "Heeerculeeees..." He still refused to get up. "Mon amour. Mon chéri. Mon coeur." Herc just rolled over. His husband sighed. "I made breakfast." Herc's eyes shot open, and he sat up, moving so fast that he nearly hit his head against his husband's. "Good morning, Hercules."
"Morning, Gil," Hercules responded. He leaned in for a kiss, but Gil backed away.
"You can go kiss your breakfast if you wake up because of it instead of me." Gil slipped off the bed and headed for the door, but Hercules was up in a second. Herc grabbed his husband by the waist, spun him around, and kissed him passionately, making him gasp. The gasp soon turned into a sigh of pleasure as Gil wrapped his arms around Hercules' neck and kissed him in return. Gil was a bit dazed when they parted, but he was smiling, and that was all Hercules wanted.
"I was just messing with you, you know," Hercules said quietly.
"I know," Gil murmured.
"I love you."
"I know. I love you, too. Now, put on some pants and come get breakfast."
Peggy woke up to hear her wife saying, "I don't want 'by the end of the week.' I need the files done by tomorrow." Maria was already up and dressed in a black, white, and red suit. Her long hair had been pulled up in a bun, she wore simple makeup and glasses, and she was talking on the phone. Peggy slowly sat up in bed, her poofy hair in front of her face. When Maria saw that Peggy was awake, the stressed-out look on her face softened a bit. She stepped over to the bed and gave Peggy a swift kiss. "Morning," Maria whispered, covering her phone with her hand.
"'G'morning," Peggy yawned.
"I've got to get to work. I already woke up Stephen for you."
"Thanks, babe. I love you."
"I love you, too." Maria pecked her wife on the cheek, then gathered her things and waved as she left. Peggy waved back, then flopped back onto the bed, sighing.
The problem with being married to someone who is so high up in an important business is that she is always working. Maria didn't always have time to spend with her family, but Peggy knew that she at least tried. That was enough.
And then we skip to the end of the day because why not?
As soon as John walked into his house, he kicked off his shoes, shrugged off his jacket, and tossed his keys onto the kitchen table. He sighed and rubbed his face.
Philip walked into the kitchen and got a glass of water. "Hey, Dad," Philip said.
"Hi, Philip," John muttered.
"How was work?"
John sighed again. He loved his job, but he hated his job. He worked at a rescue and release center for sea animals. Some days, John had to give simple medical checkups to the sea turtles, which was nice. Other days, however... "Three words: emergency dolphin surgery." Philip winced.
"Which dolphin?"
"A new one. We named her Dr. Pepper."
"Why?"
"She was found beached with a can of Dr. Pepper lodged in her throat."
"Oh."
"Yeah. All the other animals are okay, though. The fish are still swimming, the turtles' shells are healing-Hey, do the turtles still need to be fed?"
"No, Angie fed them when we got home. Shelly is getting along with Eleanor again."
"Good." When Philip was six, John got another pet turtle. Philip had jokingly named her Shelly, and the name stuck. John still had Eleanor, of course, as a reminder of his mother.
When Angie was seven and Philip was twelve, the kids had asked why their pet's name was Eleanor. John had told them that it was his mother's name, but then they wondered why they had never met her before. John had decided "screw it", sat the kids down, and told them. He told them about his mother, his father, his life, everything. The children were so sweet that they both have him hugs after John had explained everything, which made John immediately forget the troubles from his past.
Of course, many people would say that children so young shouldn't hear about things like abuse and suicide, but John believed the opposite. He and Alexander thought that it was best that they knew these things so they not only knew that they were bad, but also because, if one of their parents were to have a panic attatck, they should know what was going on. In fact, they had already learned about Alex's life a couple years prior, when he had suddenly had another PTSD attack.
Besides, Philip and Angie were tough kids.
"Hey, Dad?" Philip called out.
"Yeah?" John replied.
"Um...I'm thinking about going to homecoming this year..." John blinked and raised and eyebrow.
"Really? You haven't wanted to go before."
"Yeah..." Philip blushed a bit. "Adrienne and Georges decided to go, and Adrienne convinced Theo to go, too, but Theo's only going if Stephen and I go with."
"Hmm...so Theo asked you to homecoming?" Philip's eyes widened.
"Dad! N-Not like that!" John laughed at the sight of Philip's bright red face. Everyone knew that Philip had the biggest crush on Theo, including his parents.
"Alright, Pip. I'm just messing with you."
"That's not funny," Philip grumbled.
"Okay, I'll stop." John still had a smirk on his face. "So, you want to go to homecoming, then?" Philip shrugged and nodded. "Okay. You need to get some proper clothes, though."
"Yeah, yeah, okay. But I can go?"
"Sure."
"Cool. Thanks, Dad!" Philip went back to his room.
John smiled, then looked through the kitchen to see what they could have for dinner. Just as he decided on some kind of pasta, Alexander walked into the house, groaning. He continued to make this excruciating noise as he dropped his stuff, came up to John, and hugged him from behind.
"Hey, Alex," John smiled. "How was work?" Alex groaned even louder.
"I. Hate. Everyone."
"Aw, that's not true."
Alex sighed. "Well, I hate the Jeffersons and everyone else I work with."
John hummed as he turned around to hug his husband. "And why is that?"
"The Jeffersons are assholes, and everyone else is an idiot."
"Mhm...okay..." John smirked and kissed Alex on the top of his head.
"What? You don't believe me?"
"No, I do. It's just that you complain about this every day."
"Well, that's because it's true."
"Okay."
"Pop!" Angie called from her room. "This geometry homework es imposible!"
Alex exhaled but grinned. "Sólo un minuto!" He yelled back. "I'd better go help her with that," Alex told John.
"Okay. I'll make some dinner." Alex nodded and started walking down the hall. "Wait, uh, Philip wants to go to homecoming this year."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Theo asked him to go."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Don't tell him I told you that."
"Got it." Alex winked and made a zipping motion over his lips. He then walked off to Angie's room to help her with her homework.
John sometimes thought about how unconventional his family seemed. Two fathers-both with depressing pasts, one with PTSD-two kids who were-not to brag-smarter and tougher than most others, no grandparents, and two turtles. Yeah, they were a bit strange to a lot of people, but to John, they were strange in the best possible way. He loved them.
John smiled.
So, because it took me so long to update, I figured I might as well give you some cutesy, fluffy stuff. (Also I needed a big ol' filler chapter). So, yeah, there you go.
