Brianna's first time at summer camp. It was something Drew never imagined possible but always had wished would happen. She had missed out on so much by being in foster care and now, she was going to be gone for six weeks, he'd never dare to admit but Dew was more nervous than she was.
His little girl had gone through so much in her short life and he didn't want her to suffer, but he also wanted her to live life to the fullest.
She had friends now, her friend Katie had gone through a similar experience to Bri's with being in foster care and finding her forever family, they had found each other, and for that Drew was so grateful.
"Drew? Earth to Drew? Are you even listening to me?" Rick's voice echoed in his head and he turned around to Rick's amused face.
"Sorry, I zoomed out there for a sec."
"I noticed, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He mused, moving around the room so they could finish up making the bed.
"Liar." Rick said with a smile. Just as he was about to argue, the baby monitor gave Drew an excuse to go check on Kaden and make his escape.
The house they had managed to buy after they got married, with the picket fence and the dog Rick had adopted while he had been deployed also managed to fit their growing family. Kaden, their nine month old, with Rick's deep blue eyes and dark messy hair had come into the world to make them complete. At first they were a little apprehensive about how Bri would react to the idea of them having a baby, they had considered adoption at first. because just like their daughter had come into their lives, there were so many kids in need of a family, but it had actually been Bri's suggestion they had a baby of their own, she had even done the research on surrogacy, dumping a whole binder on their laps on why they should do it.
She had heard them talk about it multiple times, always in doubt because they didn't want to hurt her feelings, but she was realistic, she had come into their lives at 13 and couldn't live with her dads forever, no matter how much she loved them, they deserved this too, so just like they had come through for her, she would too.
It was a good thing the baby had been a boy though, because she had given it a lot more thought during those 9 months and she wasn't sure how okay she'd be sharing her dads with another girl.
And yet, she loved Kaden so much, he brought so much joy into their lives, he was what had been missing.
"Shh…" Drew picked the little boy up, he'd woken up about an hour before but the bottle had done the trick and allowed Rick and Drew to do a little cleaning before Bri came down. Kaden looked at his Papa with teary eyes as he settled against his chest as Drew rubbed his back. Rick, true to his nature, of course, had come to check on his boys a moment later and entered the room. "He's okay, just trying to make an escape, aren't you Kade?"
"Oh, I thought you guys were still asleep." Came Bri's voice a moment later from behind Rick.
"Nope, wide awake, big day huh?" Bri shrugged but gave Rick a small smile. "It's going to be great sweetie, you'll see."
"Yeah, but I mean all the girls are younger than me, girls my age are supposed to be counselors, not going to camp for the first time."
"We take small steps in this family, remember?" Drew told her. "At our own pace, and plus, you'll have Katie there."
"I guess, I mean, if I don't do it now, I guess, I'll never be able to." Bri admitted shyly.
"You can still not go if you don't want to." Drew said.
Bri stared at her dads for a moment. "No, as much as I would want to, I have to do this, I want to do this."
Drew turned to look at Rick who gave him an encouraging smile. Soon enough they were down in the kitchen, Farmer, their dog kept a watchful eye on Kaden's breakfast as Rick made pancakes.
"So, do you have everything?" Rick asked Bri as he fed Kaden with a skilful hand and tried to eat his own breakfast with the other.
"I think so, I already texted Katie and we each made a list so that if one forgets something, the other won't for sure." Bri said.
"Good, spoken like a true military kid." Drew smirked at her. Their breakfast continued mostly in silence, each of them left alone with their own thoughts.
Bri helped her dads clear up the table after, Drew did the dishes and she dried while Rick got Kaden ready to go out.
They did a last minute check to Bri's list, loaded their truck with everything and made their way to the school where the kids were going to leave from. They were quiet during the drive too, except for Kade's babbles and Bri's playlist playing softly in the background.
Rick could feel Drew's hand squeeze his occasionally, but mostly his husband was focused on the road.
Neither of them needed to speak.
It had been 3 years of a lot of firsts for them and Bri, for them and Kaden, a lot of firsts for their little family.
Rick parked the truck a few yards from the bus and families. "Okay, so are we ready to do this?"
Bri and Drew looked at each other. "Ready as we'll ever be, I guess." The young girl smiled. "What do you think Kade?"
Her little brother stared at her and then at his Papa and that was enough for Drew. "Let's do this."
Rick held Kaden while they made their way through the ocean of families and then spotted Katie and her parents.
"Hi guys." Susan, Katie's mom smiled warmly at them. Katie and Bri quickly found each other as the parents watched the girls disappear into the wave of kids. "Nervous huh?"
"Drew didn't sleep last night." Rick smiled softly.
"Neither did you." He told Rick. Susan smiled.
"Not to worry, it's normal, I've sent a lot of kids to summer camp, it's normal to be anxious, even more than usual because of Bri's situation, but this is a big step for her, and you."
"Oh, we know, but it doesn't make it easier." Drew admitted, earning a light shoulder squeeze from Rick.
"Look at the bright side, it will be a summer of fun for the boys, right?" She said staring at Kaden who kept his eyes wide open curiously from Rick's arms, he then wanted to switch from his Daddy to Drew so he reached to take the baby from him.
Soon enough the kids were ready to go. "So remember if you hate it and want to come home, you just need to say it, okay?" Drew told Bri as he hugged her. Rick rolled his eyes a little, not that he was ready to admit he would have told her the same thing.
"I hope not, but if I need to, I'll call, I promise."
"Good." Bri then said goodbye to her little brother. "And remember that if they miss me too much you just have to be your adorable self and they will be okay, I love you."
Kade gave her an adorable smile and it calmed her a bit. "I love you guys so much too."
"We love you, have fun and know that we are so proud of you." Rick told her as they hugged her one last time.
They stayed there until she got on the bus, with Katie waving and dragging her inside. "So now what?"
"How about the park?" Rick suggested. "It's a nice day out."
"Yeah, that sounds good." He took Rick's hand in his as they made their way back to the truck.
Yep, they were going to be a long six weeks.
I've been watching a lot of Luke Macfarlane content and fell into the rabbit hole of Rick and Drew scenes so, here's me venting because I wanted them to have an actual ending, happy with a family and the picket fence, one that we actually had gotten to see on screen.
Set about two years after the finale. I don't own anything you recognise and also, this is not beta'd so I'm sorry in advance.