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…..
'Now that she's back in the atmosphere, with drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey, hey. She acts like summer and walks like rain, reminds me that there's a time to change, hey, hey, hey.'
"Hey Matt!" Foggy cheered, as he was preparing tea, "It's our song!"
Matt grinned as he ran his fingers over the latest legal documents, "When did we decide this was our song? Because I can't remember." he asked, the soothing sound of the knife rhythmically chopping vegetables calming his mind.
Foggy shook his head and frowned, "You know…I don't remember. I think we just decided it was a few years ago."
The family continued on in silence. Joey was stumbling across the floor, dragging his toy train behind him. He had recently turned a year old and was learning how to walk properly, whilst trying to remember the layout of the apartment.
The radio was kept on top of a small table that stood beside the tatty armchair, and by following the sounds of the music, Joey was able to make his way over to it. He raised up his hand to try and touch what was producing the music and gently brushed his fingers against the radio.
"Papa…Dada!"
Joey had learnt how to say each word separately a few weeks ago…and now took every chance to utilise this new skill. Matt smiled every time he heard it, not because of the words themselves but because every time Joey used them, he would always say both Papa and Dada…never one on their own.
"What is it Joey?" he asked gently, "Is the radio interesting?"
"Maybe it's the song?" Foggy asked, grinning as Joey made a sound of frustration in his attempts to touch more of the radio. As he tried to reach further, Joey over-balanced slightly and fell backwards, onto the floor.
Matt and Foggy held their breaths as Joey frowned in confusion for a few seconds, before twisting around to crawl in a different direction. Matt grinned as Foggy sighed in relief, "I swear Matt, every time he falls, I just want to run over and help! How do you do this, how do you remain so calm!"
"Okay for one, he only fell onto his butt…which is heavily padded with his diaper. He wasn't hurt, mostly shocked and if we ran over and began fussing, he'd just burst into tears because he'd think he was dying or something!"
Foggy paused, watching as Joey crawled over to his play mat and began to squeeze the tentacles of his Octotunes toy. "So…you'd get involved if he'd seriously hurt himself?"
"Yes, then I would probably panic…but for a little fall, there's no point in panicking."
Foggy nodded in understanding, glancing out of the apartment window. "You know…maybe we should go out today…for a walk or something?"
Matt frowned, "It's a little chilly out…is it such a good idea, especially as Joey's just recovered from the last cold?"
Foggy shrugged, "That's why we bought all that winter gear, remember? Especially that thick coat and the woolly hat!"
"…Do you mind if we put his gloves on as well?"
Matt heard Foggy's muscles shift as he grinned, "Yeah Matt…so we're going out?"
Matt chuckled as he slowly got up from his seat, "Yes Foggy, we're going out. I'll get the pushchair sorted out and you try and get him in the coat."
"You say that like getting him dressed is the hardest job?!"
"Joey is a wriggler. One arm goes in and the other comes out…it's a skill he's mastered now. Good luck."
Foggy frowned as Matt laughed, watching as his partner strode over to the coat cupboard. He rolled his eyes, before picking Joey up from his play mat and heading over to Joey's new bedroom. "Come on kiddo, let's prove Papa wrong shall we?"
"Papa, Dada!"
…
"Fifteen minutes…" growled Foggy, as he pushed the pushchair down the street, "…it took me fifteen minutes to get my kid dressed. Ten of those minutes was spent putting the coat on!"
"I warned you!" chuckled Matt, his hand gripping tightly to Foggy's arm, "He's in a wriggler phase."
The pair shivered slightly as a cold breeze hit them in the face as they turned the corner. Foggy swore under his breath as he heard Joey whimper. "I know kiddo. Give me a sec and you can have some warm milk."
Matt frowned in confusion, "We're going back home then?"
Foggy grinned, shaking his head as he pushed the chair into a nearby dip in the buildings, so that he could kneel in front of his son. "I brought a flask of warm milk with me….along with a sippy cup. Hopefully, this should warm him right up."
Foggy removed the said items from his side bag and quickly filled the cup with warm milk. Once given to Joey, the one year old practically inhaled it, grinning messily as the warm milk seemed to do its job.
Grinning at the content noises that Joey was making, Matt gestured for Foggy to continue pushing the pushchair down the street. "Shall we?"
Foggy smiled, "After you my dear!"
…..
"Okay, okay. So what the big surprise?" asked Matt wearily.
He had spent the entire of his patrol last night, trying to avoid Spiderman, who was armed with a camera. The recent sightings of a masked man in black, beating up drug dealers and traffickers, seemed to have attracted the attention of New York's own hero, Spiderman. The webbed menace had taken to following Matt on his patrols during the night in the hope of getting a photo.
Thankfully, due to his enhanced hearing, Matt was able to remain out of sight. Still, it had been an exhausting night. Especially, now that Joey was in the terrible twosomes, determined to make life extra difficult for his parents.
He heard Foggy's heartbeat speed up in excitement, "You're going to love this! You'll have to kneel down…great, now place your hands just about here."
Trying not to sigh, Matt did as he was asked and placed his hand on the door…only to raise his eyebrows in surprise. Low down on the door was a smooth material, probably paper. But what was even more noticeable, was the well-placed dots.
"Is this…braille?" he asked in amazement.
He heard Foggy nod eagerly, "Yep, now that Joey's walking around with purpose, I've noticed that he keeps getting lost. So, I thought that I would put braille labels on the door!"
"But he can't read braille yet, how is he supposed to read them?"
"Well, you're teaching him, right?"
"Just the odd letter here and there."
"Great, because I made sure that each beginning letter was different so that he could tell the difference between them!"
Matt paused in thought, before beaming. "F-Foggy…I don't know what to say."
Foggy placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, "You won't be thanking me when he creeps into our room and wakes us up at six in the morning….honestly, he makes so much noise during the day! How is he so quiet at a time when breathing seems too loud?!"
Matt chuckled, "Well everyone else is quiet, why shouldn't he be quiet as well?!"
"A two year old's logic is a strange thing…you know, I'm so glad we measured his height a couple of days ago, or this might have been even harder to manage!"
Matt smiled fondly at the memory. On the doorframe of Joey's bedroom door was a series of lines and ages that indicted his growth over the last year and a bit. It was one of Joey's favourite things to do, even if he couldn't see the lines for himself. A couple of days ago, Joey had practically squealed with joy when Foggy had led him over to that doorframe, convinced that he was going to be as tall as his Papa.
Foggy glanced at the clock that was hung up in the main sitting room, "Yikes, it's dinner time already! I'm surprised Joey isn't here already!"
Matt was about to answer when they both heard a loud shriek from the kitchen. "Dada! Me hungwy!"
Foggy sighed as he helped Matt to his feet, before walking towards the kitchen. "I can't wait for the day he learns how to say please and thank you."
"He already knows how to say them Foggy…" chuckled Matt, "…he just chooses not to."
Foggy rolled his eyes, "Well isn't that just brilliant!"
Foggy walked over to the cabinets as Matt sat down at the table. He heard small feet patter over to his side, causing him to grin. "Hey kiddo…." He lifted his son up and carefully placed him in his highchair, "…Daddy's just making some lunch now. So, what do you say to him?"
He heard Joey frown, "T'ank you Dada…" he stated sullenly.
Foggy smiled at his son, "Very nice, now do you want a ham and mustard sandwich?"
Joey nodded eagerly, listening as he heard the fridge door open and the cutlery drawer being rattled as Foggy searched for a knife. A few minutes later, Joey heard a plate being placed down in front of him.
"There you go kiddo…" Foggy paused, waiting for the 'thank you' which Joey once again stated before shoving part of the sandwich in his mouth. Foggy and Matt both winced, though for different reasons. Matt found the smell of mustard to be too over-powering, whereas Foggy was wincing at the sight of the mustard oozing out of the sandwich and dripping onto Joey's once-clean t-shirt.
"I swear I do twice as much washing than I ever used to do!"
Matt grinned, "I distinctly remember your Mom warning you before we adopted him, and from what I remember, you didn't believe her!"
Foggy rolled his eyes and shook his head, "I thought she was exaggerating!"
"She's had the experience, she knows what it's like!"
"..Still!" Foggy whined, "We'll need more than one washing machine to keep up with all of this!"
"Let's get started then…"
