Tony had finally cried himself into a state of exhaustion but still was not tired enough to not get into his father's bed. He'd eventually fallen asleep to Zoro's shushes and stroking of his son's hair but he wriggled too much in his sleep and the bed was far too hot to be comfortable now and Zoro was at the end of his tether because it was three in the goddamn morning and he still hadn't caught a wink of sleep. Not that it mattered, Tony wasn't going in for the last day of school that morning on account of his injuries and Zoro had planned for them to sit at home and finally decorate the tree in the living room. But still, Zoro was completely and utterly knackered.
He hadn't the time to text Sanji between getting Tony dressed in his pyjamas and getting ready for bed himself and he couldn't exactly text at this time. The teacher had had to leave the hospital by himself a little early lest he be late for his last day of teaching before the half term break for two weeks, but Zoro had seen that he'd left reluctantly and that surprised him- Sanji had been genuinely concerned for Tony. The more time they'd spent together, the more obvious it was that Sanji was different from other men who'd been interested before. Sanji didn't see Tony as 'extra baggage' or a reason to label Zoro as something he'd rather not get involved in; he was loving and caring and his heart seemed to stretch out to encompass anyone who needed it. Zoro felt like he must have dreamt Sanji up but after last night's activities on the sofa- how close and how intimate they'd been- he couldn't doubt the teacher's existence now.
One thing troubled him at the back of his mind though. What had Robin been talking to Sanji about?
Robin, though a good friend, was a devious person by nature and she could weasel information out of someone very easily, no matter how personal the secret. In the past, Robin had helped Zoro avoid a few potentially nasty relationships by relaying the information that they were not keen on having Tony around to him after she had subtly interrogated them. But she'd yet to tell him anything worrying about Sanji so Zoro could put his mind at rest knowing that she couldn't have found anything bad on him- she usually sent a message within an hour of her findings.
After finding a more comfortable position and relenting all of the duvet to his snoring son, Zoro was beginning to doze off; his eyelids heavy and his limbs weighted to the soft mattress. He closed his eyes and yawned deeply when his phone buzzing on the bedside cabinet jerked him into wakefulness and he snatched the offending object up to glare at the screen.
Luffy.
He answered, knowing that if he didn't then Luffy would keep calling until he did. He tried to snap at him but it didn't really work with his sleepy voice, "What, Luffy? It's three in the damn morning…"
"I know!" Came the reply, far too bright and bubbly for three in the freaking morning and the sound of it made Zoro want to punch his best friend in the face really, really hard. "But I wanted to know if you are still coming to the Christmas party! You didn't reply to the invite."
"Shit, I forgot…" Zoro groaned, lowering his voice to a whisper when Tony stirred slightly, "Yes, me and Tony are still coming."
"Great! I'll see you there! Also did you that if you-"
"Luffy!" Zoro hissed, "It's three in the fucking morning, can you tell me this later?"
"Whoops! I forgot!" Luffy laughed, "Okay, I'll see you later! Goodnight, Zoro!"
"Goodnight, Luffy."
He ended the call and put the phone back on the side and no sooner had it left his fingers than Luffy started to call again. Zoro turned the phone off. No. No more phone calls. He was so fucking tired right now that he was liable to drive over and beat Luffy with his own mobile if he had to answer another call at three in the morning!
He wrapped his arms under the pillow and buried his face in the soft plush of it. He was absolutely shattered and he had a Christmas tree to decorate with an excitable eight year old later that morning.
He needed all the sleep he could get.