Title: The Etiquette of Man Hugs
Fandom: 24
Characters: Michelle Dessler/Tony Almeida
Prompt: Hugs and Cuddles #09. Manly Hugs
Word Count: 548
Rating: PG
Summary: He loved his son more than anything in the world and he'd jumped into fatherhood with both feet... A post day 4 AU.
Author's Notes: I'm sorry once again for my lack of posts these last few days. This week was incredibly hellish. We're almost halfway done, though! Thanks again for sticking with me.
She was almost ashamed to say she'd been worried when he'd volunteered to let her rest. Scratch that, she was ashamed of that moment of concerned, no matter how tiny it had been. He was one of the fiercest yet sweetest people she'd ever met. He loved his son more than anything in the world and he'd jumped into fatherhood with both feet, despite the lingering uneasiness in their own relationship. (Getting pregnant right after getting back together was neither her idea of a good plan nor his, but it'd happened and here they were.) She had no business worrying about them while she caught up on a couple hours of desperately needed sleep.
They were fine when she emerged from the bedroom, rubbing the last bits of her hard sleep from her eyes. Of course they were fine. They'd been fine the whole time. Beyond the occasional gentle rumble of Tony's voice, she hadn't heard a peep from them. Definitely not even the tiniest sound of distress from her baby.
They were also damn adorable. She saw their identical dark heads first, both turned toward the TV watching whatever baby learning show Tony insisted was the best for their boy today. Whatever it was, he was enthralled; his dark eyes were trained on the TV and not even Tony's quiet explanations on – of all things – the best approach to a manly hug were distracting him.
"Manly hugs, sweetheart?" She spoke out of sheer amusement, breaking their stillness. Judging by the lazy grin that spread across Tony's face, he didn't mind so much.
"Uh huh. There's an etiquette to man-hugs, Michelle."
"Is there now?" She slipped by them to dart into the kitchen for something cool to drink. Napping always left her thirsty for some reason.
"Course there is. No man wants a wimpy man hug. That's like a wimpy fish handshake."
"Of course not, honey," she hummed indulgently, giving herself the time to take a few sips of water before joining them on the couch.
Her son's eyes settled on her, but he made no motion to leave his father's warm embrace. His little lips puckered as her thumb slid over his cheek.
"Hi handsome, is daddy being good for you? Do you know what he's talking about with this manly hug silliness?"
That earned her a delighted baby grin. Oh he knew his father was crazy too. As long as they were all on the same page.
"It's not silliness, Michelle. It's a life lesson. In fact, we're manly hugging now. Not too hard, not too soft. Just enough ta say you care without making a big deal about it."
"Oh is that it?" She nudged him to make room for her to stretch with them. She wasn't still tired, but she wouldn't turn down the chance to cuddle with them both.
"Yup. That's it. The hug shared between men."
She grinned, kissing him softly. He did have somewhat perfect logic, she could give him that. It was silly logic, but it was still somewhat perfect.
"Well don't let me ruin your man hug. I'll just stay right here, waiting my turn."
"Well lucky for you another man hug rule is to always let mom join in."
Now that was logic she definitely wouldn't argue with.
