A/N: This is a mildly late Father's Day fic because, well, why not? It's been too long since I touched on the large LD family headcanon, so... here we go?

Enjoy!

Hey dad!

Might not be able to make it tonight. School crap.

Love you and mom.

Andy grins at the short string of texts rolling in from Victoria at ten o'clock in the morning. It's the earliest he's been up all weekend long, though April is still snoring happily away in bed. He wants to join her again, but he keeps reading those few texts. Every other morning has been a battle of reluctance, and other matters - much more important, exhausting matters.

He doesn't expect much today, and that's probably okay anyways. A nice, quiet day on Father's Day. Compared to the last few years, it might be okay.

"Babe, I'm sorry Jack was too busy to come over," April consoles him after she's sort-of awake. "He was too tired."

"Nah, it's cool." Andy waves her away with a half-smile. "Besides, he's tired. Our boy is tired because he's been drafted. By the freaking Colts."

"I know," April says with a sleepy grin. She's more excited for the two of them at that moment.

"First. Round. Pick." Andy closes his eyes and pumps his fist wildly into the air.

"Yep."

It was going to hurt not seeing Jack today, it really was. So, instead, Andy busies himself with focusing on the fact that his son is a wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts. He could almost die on the spot.

Andy tries to ignore the fact that Robbie hasn't called in a month, let alone just for Father's Day. She probably has too much on her plate, Andy figures. Still, it is a slight bummer. He doesn't even touch the inkling at the question - I thought we were a big, happy family? - so Andy takes a brief walk around the block half out of boredom. It's the same story with Sam, and Eddie hasn't been very talkative since he came out. It's not like they haven't tried either, Andy just wants him to believe that his parents will support him every single way possible. At this point, any conversation will be the best present he could ever receive.

Instead, it will be quiet.

"That'll be cool," Andy says when April voices that exact thought around noon. He knows he doesn't sound very convincing, but neither does she.

"Hey, uh, don't you...?" April trails off, biting her lip and stammering. "Don't you... oh crap. I'm sorry babe, but I really need more coffee. For tomorrow, and the rest of the week and stuff."

"I'll go get some," he says with a genuine smile. Getting up from the couch after a quick kiss, he asks, "You wanna come?"

"Nah, I have... work stuff," April tells him. Another kiss and he's off to a quick trip for some coffee.

The trip is fine. Traffic is merciful with its brevity that day, with only a bit of hassle getting into the grocery store parking lot. Half the time in the store, Andy expects a call from somebody. Was he that bad of a father? It's there, less a thought and more a weight between his shoulders the whole trip. The past two and a half hours have been less than stellar, but they have their own lives to lead now. Even Victoria and Eddie, now. Even their babies.

The coffee is five bucks. Same price as always.

The drive back takes another ten minutes. Ten more minutes of contemplation. When he gets home, Andy takes a deep sigh and bites into the strip of beef jerky he bought for himself. The walk into the house is lonely.

Am I that bad a dad and husband?

"Home, babe!" he yells up the stairs from the kitchen. There's no response. She's probably still asleep.

Then a giggle erupts from somewhere. April rarely giggles. Rarely, he thinks as he takes a step out towards the living room.

"Surprise!" six voices yell in sync, or close enough.

Andy's eyes burn with tears and his lips curl into a smile before he can help it. "You... you're all-?"

"Yep, we're here dad," Robbie exclaims, diving forward for a massive hug that he returns happily. Somehow, she seems even taller now. Or, maybe, he just misses looking someone in the eyes without craning his neck. "Sorry, school's really sucked lately."

"No, I get it. I'm just glad you're doing awesome, bug-"

"Dad," she whines at the nickname. Not without a smile in true Ludgate fashion, though.

"So, how's um... Sarah? What's her name?" Andy asks quietly while the other kids line up.

"Oh, that was just... uh, um," Robbie stutters. She finally burns as red as her dark cheeks allow and says, simply, "Fling."

"Speaking of school sucking," Andy changes the subject deftly, alleviating Robbie, to lean down for a hug with Victoria.

"Sorry for lying," she shrugs her shoulders but Andy just laughs out loud.

Jack is ecstatic, just like Andy is, and Eddie finally gives him a smile with a trembling lip. "Sorry for ignoring you guys," he says and Andy just answers with a kiss on his forehead and a deep embrace. "Love you, dad."

"Love you too," he answers back and finally lets go of his son. Eyeing the new haircut, Andy grins. It looks good on him.

Eventually, after Andy realizes there's a cake and tries to figure out where a knife is, he notices that April and Sam are talking just a bit out of earshot. He doesn't bother to listen to anything, barreling between them and giving his daughter the widest smile he can manage, arms wide open. He tries not to notice the bags under her eyes or how feeble her hug is.

She doesn't say much, and April shrugs when he asks. Instead, they go to the living room and dig into cake and catching up. Truly, Eddie just being around them again is a blessing and the ultimate gift. Not that they weren't accepting. Hell, that was the first thing Andy said when he came out. April was almost crushed by his almost random disowning for the past month, but she pretended that it was just a reaction to being accepted so willingly.

However, Sam doesn't speak much.

When the kids go to leave, Andy isn't sad. Hell, this morning he had wondered what he was doing wrong. In the end it was a surprise party, but one thing bothers him. It bothers him when Sam's the last one to leave, saying goodbyes and giving hugs to everyone fiercely, and it bothers him when he sees her car; it's the same car she's had since she saw the piece of junk and wanted it so badly that Andy couldn't say no.

In the backseat, every bit of her belongings that Sam took with her when she went to "stay with a friend" in New York is stuffed into a messy clump. She fumbles with her keys and eventually drops them, sighing before picking them up.

"Hey, baby, you um... you doing okay?" Andy asks straight.

"Yeah," Sam answers flatly. "Doing great."

"Yeah?"

"Well, y'know." Andy scratches the back of his neck and coughs. "Hey, you know what we haven't done in forever?"

Sam stands up but doesn't turn around. "Yeah, what's that?" she asks dryly, but Andy knows she would have just said her goodbye to him and April if she wanted to go.

"I hear there's a new Death Canoe out, and we haven't ordered pizza in, like, forev-"

He's cut off when Sam turns around and rushes him with a hug. The tears that fell from before well up again in his eyes, and Andy kisses the top of Sam's head. She chuckles against his chest, and the badass leather jacket riddled with patches of bands he's never heard of seems so thin when her heart beats so heavy and she's crying.

April comes out to see why neither has come back inside, and Andy beckons her with a wave. April joins the hug, knowing without having to be told.

Later that night, after it's all been cried out, Andy tosses the rest of the blanket over Sam and April. The three of them are pajama'd up, tucked in, and the movie is just now finishing the opening credits. Andy leans down to take the first slice of Father's Day pizza, and Sam laughs when he nearly burns himself eating the ultra-hot cheese too fast.

Father's Day didn't turn out so bad, he thinks when the first camp counselor goes for a swim without noticing the canoe lurking on the other side of the lake.