Ted feels sluggish as he processes what was just asked of him.
"A date?" He repeats, and Henry nods. He seems nervous, as Ted continues to stare at him with his mouth slightly ajar.
After a few moments, where he's trying to figure out if the other man is as serious as he seems, Ted nods. "I'd like that. Does Saturday sound good? I'll make sure Lex or someone can watch Hannah."
Henry seems to instantly regain his confidence. "Saturday sounds perfect," he says. "How about dinner at Olive Garden?"
Ted nods again. "That sounds good to me. I like Olive Garden."
After a few more minutes, Hannah comes into the dining room with Peter on her heels. "Daddy, I'm ready to go home now," she says.
"Of course, Pumpkin," he murmurs, glancing at Henry and smiling. He picks her up when she yawns.
Henry glances down at the watch on his wrist. "I had no idea it was nearly seven," he admits. "I should've offered you dinner. Are you hungry?"
Hannah nods, laying her head on her father's shoulder. "Wanna go home, though. We have mac and cheese there."
"Lex might be waiting for us," Ted adds. "We should get going. Hannah, what do we say to Henry and Peter?"
"Thanks for letting us come over," Hannah says shyly, waving to both of them.
"You know you are welcome here any time," Henry says warmly, and waves back. He looks back to Ted. "I'll see you Saturday, then?"
Ted grins. "Does five o'clock sound good to you?"
"It can't come soon enough," Henry sighs, sounding a little wistful. He goes and opens the front door for them, and he and Peter wave goodbye.
Ted buckles Hannah into her car seat, then gets in the driver's seat and starts up the car. He drives them home in relative silence— the only sound being Hannah's occasional giggle. When they get home, Ted carries her inside. Lex is already home, and there's no sign of Ethan or their friends. It looks like she's only just gotten home herself.
"How'd it go?" She calls from the kitchen, where she's making herself a sandwich for dinner.
"Hannah barely talked to the professor all afternoon," Ted says, setting the five year old on the couch before going to join the seventeen year old in the kitchen. "She spent the whole time with Peter. Was that your plan the whole time?"
Lex smirks mischievously at her father. "Maybe... did it work?"
"Henry and I have a date on Saturday," Ted says flatly, hiding his amusement well. "You better be available to watch Hannah, or you're grounded."
Lex just laughs. "I was just gonna hang out with Ethan at his house. He won't mind me bringing Hannah along."
"He better not," Ted grumbles playfully. He knows how much the kid adored Hannah. "He can come here, though, if you want."
"Nah," Lex scoffs, smirk still on her face. "I'd rather not be around in case your date goes really well, if you know what I mean."
Ted's eyes practically bulge out of his head. "Alexandra!" He scolds, but she just laughs again.
"Relax, Dad," she says. "I'm just teasing... mostly. Hannah and I will be taken care of, out of the house. Don't worry."
"I'm your father, I always worry," Ted admits.
Hannah comes in and asks for dinner, so Ted fixes her the leftover mac and cheese from last night and sits her down at the kitchen table with it. He watches as she chows down, and decides to fix some for himself.
—
The next two days pass slowly, but soon enough, Ted finds himself standing in front of his dresser, trying to figure out what to wear. This was Olive Garden. He'd been there in his Sunday best and in ratty jeans and a teeshirt. He doubts this is an occasion for either of those ends of the wardrobe spectrum.
He turns around when he hears a knock at his door. Lex is standing there, leaning against the doorframe, a smirk on her face.
"Want some help?" She asks, and Ted doesn't hesitate to accept.
"Yes, please," he sighs. "I have no idea what the hell I should wear..."
"Where are you guys going?" Lex asks, coming forward to pick through his closet.
"Olive Garden," he says. "At five."
"Is he picking you up, or are you meeting him there?" Lex pulls out two different button-downs, comparing the two to her father, and puts one back.
"Meeting him there."
Lex lays the shirt out on his bed, then starts going for pants. She pulls out a pair of khakis and sets them out, too. Finally she goes for his ties, and picks out a plain, pale blue one. Ted has to admit it looks good with the gray button-down she'd picked.
"Put these on," Lex instructs, and heads back out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Ted hurriedly gets dressed, checking the alarm clock for the time. He still has half an hour before he even needs to leave. He checks himself over in the mirror, nodding to himself, before opening the bedroom door again. Lex is waiting in the hallway, and smiles at him.
"How do I look?" Ted asks nervously.
"Fantastic!" Lex says cheerfully. "Put on your belt and shoes and go get 'im!" Ted chuckles at her enthusiasm, and goes to do just that.
—
Henry finds himself at the restaurant almost twenty minutes early, and resigns to waiting for the reserved table he'd requested to be available. He brushes himself off a little, and takes a moment to admire his own clothing choices again. Peter had helped, of course, but the final decisions were Henry's. Gone were his signature khakis and black turtleneck. In their place, he was wearing olive pants and a blue-and-white striped button down shirt.
The waitress come over and leads him to his table almost ten minutes early, and offers him the drinks menu. He declines it, knowing that Ted would likely avoid it as well, given his ex-wife's history. And the fact that they'd both driven themselves here.
Henry has to focus to keep his knee from bouncing under the table as he waits. At three minutes till 5:00, Ted sits across from him at the table with a nervous smile.
"Have you been waiting long?" Ted asks, and Henry quickly shakes his head.
"Only a few minutes," he says, not counting the time before the table was ready. Ted's smile goes from nervous to genuine.
"Oh, good," he says, and picks up the menu in front of him. The waitress comes by again.
"Hi, Mr. Foster," she says. "How are you tonight? How's Lex?"
"Lex is fine, Grace," Ted chuckles. "And how are you?"
"I'm good," she replies cheerfully, then goes into her practiced speech about drinks and specials. Ted just orders water, and Henry follows suit. "Soup or salad?" Grace asks.
"Salad for me," Ted says, and Henry agrees with that as well. You can't not order the house salad at Olive Garden.
"And are you ready to order dinner as well, or do you need some more time?"
"I always get the same thing," Henry admits. He orders, and so does Ted. They get different things, but Henry thinks that Ted's choice sounds good, too.
"I'll get the salad and breadsticks right out to you!" The waitress, Grace, says. She flounces off, taking their menus with her.
"Remind me to get some alfredo to-go for Hannah," Ted says, leaning against the back of his seat. Henry chuckles.
"You're a good father," he says softly, and Ted blushes.
"I try my best," he says. "It's not always enough, especially for two girls. They definitely deserve better than they've been given."
"Perhaps in the maternal department," Henry allows. "But they couldn't ask for a better father."
—
Ted doesn't remember a time he felt this... this embarrassed from a compliment. Maybe it was because it was one he wasn't used to hearing, or maybe it was the person giving him the compliment.
He'd been expecting to see the professor wearing his usual attire, but damn if what he was wearing wasn't having an effect on Ted. The blue in the other man's shirt was really bringing out his eyes, and Ted wasn't usually one to wax poetic about that kind of thing. He was reminded of a line from Hannah's favorite movie— he has the damn thing nearly memorized thanks to the five year old's insistence that they watch it at least once a week— Aristocats.
Good God. What was Henry doing to him?
Grace brings out the salad and breadsticks, and tops off their waters. The cheese grater is a good distraction for Ted, as he watches it do its thing. Henry lets him decide when Grace should stop, and there's quite a pile on top of the salad before Ted finally does stop her. She heads off to take care of another table, as Ted and Henry serve themselves.
They talk about lighter subjects as they eat— Henry asks for clarification on what Ted does for a living, and Ted tries to give it. He's a journalist, yes, but he doesn't necessarily do much journalism these days. He works for a software firm. Henry talks about some of the classes he teaches, and Ted tries to keep up.
Grace comes along with their entrees, and takes their salad plates out of the way. Henry gets a bit of cheese on top of his, and Ted gets quite a bit more. He grins at Henry as Grace leaves again.
"You should see the amount Hannah likes to put on hers," he says. "Probably about twice this much— maybe more, if we don't stop her in time."
"Maybe I will see it one day," Henry hums, and Ted smirks.
"Maybe you will," he agrees.
They eat in relative silence, only making the occasional comment or joke. It's a comfortable silence, though, and there's no pressure for it to be any different. The restaurant gets busier and busier, and Grace checks in less frequently.
Finally, she comes to ask about dessert.
"No, thank you," Ted sighs. "But can I get two orders of the alfredo to go? Lex and Hannah would kill me if I forgot."
"Of course— do you want a bag of breadsticks to go with it?" Grace asks, and Ted nods.
He and Henry go back to talking, this time about Peter and how things are going with that. A few minutes later, Grace comes back with the orders in a bag, and a question about how to split the check. Before Ted can even think about it, Henry is reaching for it and paying for everything himself.
"Wha— Henry, no!" He protests, but the older man won't hear it.
"I asked you here, I'm paying," Henry insists. "I'm old fashioned that way— and yes, I'm paying for the girls' dinners, too." Grace giggles as she accepts the payment and goes to process it. Ted's still protesting when she comes back, even though by then it's too late.
Henry walks him to his car, and Ted offers something he doesn't think he's ever offered on the first date.
Twenty minutes later, Ted's home and making sure the extra meals are put away properly. Lex and Hannah are indeed gone— the elder sister's left a note on the fridge explaining that they're actually having a sleepover at Alice's house instead of Ethan's.
That's probably a good thing, considering Henry came home with Ted. Or at least followed him home, when Ted asked him to.
Ted goes back to the living room where Henry's still standing, and kisses him hard. Hands are flying, and feet are shuffling. Ted leads him back to the master bedroom and pins him against the door once they're inside.
Then the clothes start flying.