EVENT: First time spending a night away from home without parents.
JASON: Nine years old
When the doorbell rings, Jason is the first one to make his way towards the door.
One hand's holding his over-night bag and the other it zipping up his jacket.
"Hold on Jason." Conner chuckles at his son's excitement as Dick walks over to open the door.
"Richard, nice to see you." Conner hears the familiar Irish accents and sighs, knowing that in a few moments, Jason will be on his way into the wilderness with Charlie and his father for a camping trip.
"Nice to see you too Bryan." Dick answers with a smile.
"Jason!"
The three parents can't help but smile as their sons hug and start chattering away happily.
"I'll be sure to keep Jason safe this weekend." Bryan says after Jason and Charlie run towards the elevator to their apartment building.
"I'll keep you to that." Conner says as he makes himself seen beside Dick.
"Conner. I haven't seen you in months." Bryan smiles and Conner returns the favor.
"We'll pick Jason up on Sunday night." Dick says as Bryan moves to leave.
Once Conner and Dick are alone again, Conner has to hold his husband for an hour in order to calm him down.
Dick had been reluctant to let his son leave without them but had agreed after Jason had begged and pleaded with tears in his eyes.
Even though he'd given Jason the okay though, Dick was still a worried mess.
… … … … … … … … … … … … …
On the way to the campgrounds, Jason and Charlie spoke happily in the back seat of Bryan's Armada.
Charlie had long ago broken through his shell of shyness and had no problem speaking with his best friend.
Although not as loud and spontaneous as Jason, Charlie was still a hyper fourth grader.
"We'll go fishing after our hike." Charlie says happily, his accent not as strong as his father's but still slightly there.
"We can make s 'mores at night." Jason adds and laughs.
Needless to say, Jason and Charlie's weekend was filled to the brin with good and bad experiences.
… … … … … … … … … … … …
Sunday afternoon, Dick made sure to have Jason's favorite foods prepared for his arrival.
"He's coming home from a trip Dick, not form war." Conner says calmly as Dick rushes through the kitchen trying to finish his apple cobbler in time for their son's arrival.
"How are you so calm about this?" Dick asks with a frown. "Jason's by…baby! I don't like letting him out of my sight for too long."
"You're going to have to let him go eventually Dick. Momma bear has to recede back to the cave once her cub finds their spouse."
"Momma bear will stay present even when Jason's all grown up."
"What about when he gets married? He'll have kids and a wife and…a life!"
"Why do you assume he'll have a wife?" Dick asks with a small smirk.
"Alright, what aren't you telling me?" Conner demands with a raised eyebrow.
"How did you know?" Dick asks in shock.
"That's your 'I know something that you don't' smirk!"
"Alright, alright! Tuesday after I picked Jason up from his Gymnastics class…he said something." Dick says, his cheeks heating up.
" What?"
"Jaime, his instructor, was walking him towards the car. Once we were leaving I asked him…what he thought of him. I meant for Jason to answer with a simple 'He's nice' but he answered with…'He's pretty'."
Conner only stares at his husband with wide eyes.
"That doesn't mean anything. The kid does look like a girl with a pixie cut." Conner shrugs.
"Kon!"
"What? It's true." He laughs and watches Dick roll his eyes.
"What if he does…like boys?"
"So what if he does? We do. It won't matter." Conner shrugs.
"And if he likes girls?"
"Then the girl he chooses better be worth his attention." Conner states with a smile.
When Conner and Dick knock on the Anderson's door, the first thing they hear is laughter.
Not five seconds later, Bryan answers the door with a smalls smile.
Conner can hear his son giggling with Charlie not too far away and makes sure to make eye contact with the other man when he greets him.
"Papa!" Jason's voice rings through the air and Dick hugs his son tightly once the boy hugs his father tightly.
"Jason." Dick mumbles with a smile.
"Thanks for taking him with you. We appreciate it." Conner tell Bryan with a small smile.
With that, they leave and head home.
The night is filled with Jason speaking of his fun time.
He tells his dad of how he caught a fish. He tells his Papa of how he helped Charlie's father cook said fish, and even went into depth of the feelings his got as he hiked with Charlie.
Jason was a ball of happiness the whole time and when he finally crashed, he collapsed onto his Dad's shoulder while the three of them were watching a movie.
Halfway through Ice Age 7, Conner stood up with his son in his arms.
Dick follows his husband over to their son's room and watches as Jason's tucked into bed.
For the first time since Jason was six, both parents kiss their son goodnight.
Dick smiles lovingly at his son and Conner sends his son a pride filled grin.
Both fathers were proud of their son.
Both fathers were eager to keep watching him grow.