"I've had Gary over at my place all week, John. Avocato loves having him over, but your boy misses you dreadfully. It isn't easy for a child his age to be without his parent figure during a difficult time like this," Zavocato said, shooting a glance at the children across the room. Gary had managed to climb up onto the bed to snuggle next to the Greytrexian, careful not to touch any of the cords.

"Jack is his parent, too," John argued, following the other man's gaze. It broke his heart to see Gary curling close to the unconscious man. Neither one of them deserved this.

"I know, John," the Ventrexian captain sighed, "but staying at the hospital every day isn't helping your son or Jack. I want you go home tonight and take a shower. Spend some time with the boys. Then you can bring them both back to the hospital for a short visit tomorrow. Oh, and Trishika, Jack's pilot friend, has offered to stay overnight on Saturday. You NEED more rest."

Jack was still unconscious, and the doctor had recently informed him that the Greytrexian's left eye might be permanently blind from the collision. No one knew when… or if he'd wake up.

John groaned and stretched as he got up from the rather uncomfortable hospital chair he'd dragged over to the bed, his mind drifting to the hot shower that was awaiting him at home. Zavocato would be back with the boys from their little trip to the cafeteria soon, and then the other captain would be taking the night shift at the hospital.

A groan from the bed cut through his thoughts. "J-J-John?" The man's voice was dry and raspy from disuse.

The captain sat down quickly, immediately reaching out to grab the little alien's hand. "Jaxxtrixxriiandraneek… you're awake."

"That… that's my full name. You never call me by my full name," Jack whispered, his single golden eye focused on the human sitting in the chair next to him.

"Trishika's has been teaching me," the captain admitted, chuckling nervously.

"Trishika?" His voice trailed off into a sudden fit of coughing, and John rushed to find him a glass of water. The Greytrexian chugged it down.

"What happened? I feel… sore. My head hurts, and I can't see well," the little man whispered, his free hand reaching for his face.

"You were in a collision, Jack. You've been unconscious for nearly a month," John informed him, refusing to let go of the other man's hand. He needed to touch him to be sure that this was really happening.

"Unconscious? I don't remember…" The alien's gaze landed on him again, this time appraising him. "John, you look horrible. When was the last time you slept?"

John's lip quirked up into a smile as he said, "Off and on for the last few days. Zavocato and Trishika have been ganging up on me. They make me go home at least twice a week to sleep in a real bed."

"Are they both here?" Jack asked, glancing around the room.

"Zavocato took the boys to the cafeteria for a snack. They're supposed to be back soon. By the way, do you know how hard it is to sleep when your soulmate is injured?" John stated, throwing a half-hearted glare at the man on the bed.

Jack sucked in a trembling breath, his gaze dropping to their entwined hands. "You know about that?" he whispered, clearly uncertain about the news.

"Your full name is on your hospital forms. Why didn't you just tell me?" the captain asked, hurt evident in his voice. Silence stretched between them, thick enough to cut with a knife.

"Tell you what, John?" Jack finally answered, his voice taking on a condescending tone. "Tell you that your soulmate is a little MALE alien from another planet?"

"Do you think I would have cared about that?" John asked, his eyes narrowing at the other man.

"Yes." Golden eyes rose, piercing him with a firm glare. "You were always talking about meeting HER. SHE'S going to be amazing, SHE'S going to have a perfect figure, SHE'S…"

"I get it," John couldn't help but snap, rubbing his forehead against the oncoming headache.

"You never wanted someone like me," Jack said, his voice dropping to a hopeless whisper.

"Jack… I'm sorry for making you feel unwanted," the captain said, pulling the little man's hand closer, so he could press his lips against the soft green skin. Jack winced at the movement, but his single eye was wide from the unexpected kiss. "You've gone out of your way to be there for me, even when you didn't have to. You moved into my house, helped raise my child, and put up with my idiotic ways all these years."

"You're not an idiot, John," the Greytrexian said, shaking his head.

"I AM an idiot, Jack. I should have figured it out. In all this time, I never once asked about your language. That was rude of me. I just… I want a chance to start over," the human sighed, his dark eyes meeting the little alien's golden ones.

"I… I would like that," Jack admitted, smiling back at him.

How had John never realized how adorable his little soulmate was? And not just in the 'he's so tiny and huggable' kind of way. His mind drifted back to the beginning part of THAT dream. Yes, he would like to wake up to Jack in his bed someday. He'd like to cuddle the little green man close, and press kisses to his soft-looking skin. Trail his fingers down to his cute, pudgy belly, and tickle him until he laughed. God, that was a sappy thought. He'd never once considered any of that with the women he'd dated over the years.

"You're lost in thought, John," Jack suddenly announced, pulling the human from his thoughts.

"Sorry. Look at us, we're practically an old married couple already. Unless you'd rather be the sexy maid, of course. I'm sure I can find a cute costume for you to wear when you're cleaning around the house," the captain purred, wiggling his eyebrows.

Jack's entire head went bright pink, and he pulled his hand away so he could attempt to hide his face. "You're horrible. Such a dirty mind."

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. You'd look cute in a frilly dress," the taller man said, chuckling. The little Greytrexian only turned and stuck his tongue out at him, cheekily.

John was tempted to swoop down and pull the other man into a kiss. That would teach him a lesson when it came to teasing him like that; but they were interrupted by the sound of the hospital door opening, and a familiar head of blonde hair coming into view.

"JACK! YOU'RE AWAKE!"

Gary thrust the jar in his hands into Avocato's arms. He was across the room and climbing onto the bed a moment later, half-hugging the little alien as he snuggled close to his side.

"Ooof. Careful there, sweetie. I'm still sore," Jack groaned, letting his arm drift around the boy to hold him lightly back.

"I missed you sooooo much! I thought you'd never wake up. Daddy hasn't showered for a long time, cause he's at the hospital a lot," the boy said. He leaned up to whisper, "And he's kinda smelly."

"Hey," John protested, raising an eyebrow at his son.

"He is kind of stinky," Jack agreed, but he tossed the man a smile to take the edge off the words.

"It's good to see you back with us, Jack," Zavocato said, striding into the room with his son at his side.

"I'm glad you're awake," Avocato blurted out, smiling. There was a little green something in the glass jar he was holding.

"I'm glad to BE awake," Jack agreed. He suddenly found himself coughing again, and John quickly handed him another glass of water.

"So… when can we get out of here?" Jack asked, once his breathing had returned to normal. "I'm sure my landlord is wondering why I haven't paid the rent yet."

Zavocato and John exchanged a look. Turning to the other man, John couldn't resist the urge to rub the back of his head as he told him, "I… er, took the liberty of moving your stuff back to my place, and ending your lease. It was pretty stupid of me to kick you out in the first place, and I thought, well, since we ARE soulmates…"

"I… I'd be happy to move back in with you, John," Jack said, his single eye welling up with unshed tears.

"You're my daddy's soulmate! That makes you my mommy!" Gary nearly yelled, hugging the little man tighter.

"Or your other daddy," Zavocato said, resting his hand on his son's shoulder.

"You call him 'pop' and 'papa' all the time," Avocato piped up, his ears twitching.

"OKAY! Papa Jack it is!"

(Bonus)

"This is Mooncake. He's a caterpillar. Daddy gave him to me, cause he said I needed a friend while you were in the hospital. I've been taking very good care of him, and Avocato has been helping me a lot, and someday he's gonna turn into a butterfly — not Avocato; Mooncake will turn into a butterfly, and then…"

Jaxx chuckled at his son's enthusiasm, nodding politely as the boy continued to show off the strange green creature in the jar. HIS son. Warmth spread through his chest as he reached out to pull the boy close, hugging him as tightly as he could, despite his injuries. Gary was truly HIS son now!

"Papa, are you crying?" the child asked, running a hand over Jaxx's wet cheek.

"Happy tears, Gary. They're happy tears. Zelovvahmorvexxanazenunivartriinex, my child," the Greytrexian said, smiling at the little boy.

"Oh, I understood 'I love you'… but what was the rest?" Gary asked, hesitantly.

"Zelovvahmorvexxanazenunivartriinex means 'I love you more than anything in the universe,'" Jack told him.

The child's eyes widened. "The WHOLE universe?"

"Yes, Gary. I love you more than anything in the WHOLE universe. You and your daddy, both," the alien told him, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"I love you, too, Jaxx," a familiar voice interrupted, causing the Greytrexian to snap his head up in amazement. John was standing in the doorway, carrying a tray with two coffees and a juice.

"How do you keep sneaking up on me?" Jaxx huffed, letting go of Gary, so the boy could reclaim his jar. "Wait… what did you just call me?"

"'Jaxx.' Trishika said you prefer to be called that. It's kinda like 'Jack,' I suppose, but with the 'xx's," John said, handing Gary the juice box.

"Yay, juice!"

"I… you…" Jaxx suddenly found himself speechless. There was so much happening at once. John had found out they were soulmates, AND he wanted to continue their relationship, which meant that Gary was his son, and now John was actually using his name...

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," John insisted, sitting down on the chair next to the bed. "I can go back to calling you 'Jack,' if you'd prefer."

"No! No, it's fine. It's just — it's been kind of an overwhelming day with everything…" Jaxx trailed off, his hands clutched in his lap.

"I know. As soon as the doctors discharge you, I'm going to take you home. And then we'll — well, we'll figure things out from there. One step at a time," the captain said, passing a coffee to his soulmate.

"One step at a time," Jaxx agreed. I love you, my soulmar.

"I love you, too, Jaxx," John said, before taking a sip of his coffee.

Jaxx felt his face heating up when he realized he'd said those words out loud. To cover up his embarrassment, he began to chug his coffee down with a gusto.

Note: Yes! I finally got John to call him by name! His preferred nickname, not just his full name. This little bonus just kept writing itself. One last official chapter to go... and a little something extra, cause I just couldn't resist writing it.