The next morning, Connor's phone began to vibrate before his and Jude's alarm went off. Slowly, Connor sat up and turned the alarm off. In their sleep, Jude had managed to toss himself to the other side of the bed, although his legs had remained on Connor's side. Connor smiled as he turned off the phone alarm. He carefully stood from the bed, doing his best not to disturb Jude, and he went out into the hallway. As he softly closed the bedroom door behind him, he heard Mikey's voice.

"Dad? It's not time for school is it?"

"Shh," Connor said, turning around to face Mikey, who was standing outside his bathroom door. "No, it's early. I'm going to make Father a special birthday breakfast."

"Can I help?" Mikey asked, whispering now too.

"Sure, downstairs. We have to be quick!"

Mikey bounded down the stairs and Connor followed him downstairs as quickly as he could manage. Mikey turned on the kitchen lights.

"What are we making?" Mikey asked.

"Chocolate chip pancakes, but we have to be quiet, okay? We don't want to wake Father until everything's ready."

"Okay! What can I do?"

"Do you want to get the chocolate chips from the bottom cupboard?"

Together, Connor and Mikey were able to mix the pancakes quickly. Connor was worried that Jude would wake up and hear them but they were able to finish without waking Jude up. Connor arranged the pancakes on a plate and poured a glass of juice. He fetched the small card that he'd gotten for Jude – the first of today's surprises – and put it on a tray. He transferred Jude's breakfast over and then nodded his head at Mikey.

"Time to go wake Father."

"Okay!"

"Go first and get the door for me, okay?"

"Okay!" Mikey repeated.

They walked back up the stairs, at a much slower pace this time. Mikey opened the bedroom door but Jude hadn't moved.

"Windows," Connor whispered to Mikey.

Mikey ran over to the big windows and opened the blinds. The morning light streamed in and Jude shifted slightly. Without prompting, Mikey raced over to Jude's side.

"Father? Father!" He placed his small hands on Jude's forearm. "Time to wake up."

Jude's eyes opened slowly and he focused on Mikey's face. "What time is it? Did we oversleep?"

"No! It's breakfast time!"

"Breakfast?" he murmured. He sat up slowly and then he saw Connor holding the tray.

"We made you a birthday breakfast!" Mikey announced. He clambered up into the bed next to Jude, taking over Connor's side.

"Thank you," Jude said as Connor placed the tray on his lap. "It looks really good."

"Happy birthday, Jude," Connor said sweetly.

"Thank you," Jude repeated, meeting his eyes for their briefest moment.

"I helped!" Mikey told him proudly, draping his himself across Jude's shoulder.

"Are you going to help me eat it too?" Jude asked.

"Yeah! There's chocolate chips in them, Father!"

"Well, then, I'm not going to let you help me," Jude teased.

"We've got extras downstairs," Connor assured Mikey. "You keep Father company and I'll go get breakfast for the two of us."

"Okay!" Mikey agreed, pulling the comforter around his legs. "Your bed is warm."

Connor headed downstairs quickly and piled the rest of the pancakes on an extra plate. He hooked the syrup bottle around his little finger, grabbed two juice boxes because they were easier to carry, and rushed back up the stairs. Mikey and Jude had started sharing pancakes already anyway.

"Does this mean I don't have to go to school?" Mikey asked as Connor gently sat the plate down on his lap.

"No," Jude and Connor said together.

"But it's Father's birthday!"

"School is important," Jude said.

"I know," Mikey sighed.

"Why have you been trying so hard to get out of school lately anyway?" Connor asked him. "You're only in the first grade!"

"All the teenagers on the TV shows complain about school."

"You're not a teenager," Connor pointed out.

"Practically," Mikey told him.

Jude laughed into his glass of juice. "You're six!"

"I'm halfway there!"

"You have seven years to go."

"That's almost the same as six."

Jude kissed his temple. "Don't grow up too fast. You're still just our little boy."

"You and Dad used to be little boys."

"Yes," Connor said. "And we wanted to be grown-ups when we were little. But it's not all it's cracked up to be. You grow up a little more every year."

"Well, I'm proud of you, Dad," Mikey said.

Connor raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

"You've grown up a lot," Mikey said. "Last year you didn't even talk to Father on his birthday."

Jude's fork dropped against his plate and Connor felt his stomach turn.

"What?" Jude whispered.

"I remember 'cause last year we had Father's birthday at Grandmas after his real birthday and on his real birthday I was waiting for you to say 'happy birthday' so I could give him the card I made but you didn't say anything at all and so I had to wait until we were at Grandmas."

"Oh, Mikey," Connor whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"But you're doing much better," Mikey said, reaching out and rubbing Connor's arm like Connor had done to him a hundred times. "Father just woke up and you already said it once!"

Jude was staring down at his plate. He moved one of his few remaining pieces of pancakes through the syrup on his plate. Neither he nor Connor knew what to say. Mikey, however, picked up the conversation.

"What's in the card Dad gave you?"

"Let's find out." Jude picked it up and ran his hands along the thick envelope. "What's in here?"

Connor shrugged. "Open it up."

Jude opened the back of the envelope and pulled out the card. Connor had gone for a generic 'best wishes on your birthday' card because it was easiest. On the inside, however, he had included a homemade book of home coupons. Connor had a lot of little things lined up for today; things that he knew Jude would appreciate. For the home coupons, Connor had made sure that they were all for things that Jude had once asked him to do that he had never gotten around too. He watched Jude's eyes soften as he flipped through the coupons, reading some aloud.

"Do the dishes, good for five cups of coffee, let Jude sleep in … I like these," Jude said. "It's very thoughtful."

"This one says 'make supper'," Mikey said, reading over Jude's shoulder.

"I like that one too," Jude said. "Thank you, Connor. I'll make sure to put these to good use."

"You're welcome," Connor replied.

"For my birthday," Mikey told them both, "I want one that says 'do Mikey's homework for him'."

"I'll make you some for your birthday but they might not be that exact one."

"But that exact one is what I want, Dad!"

"We'll see what your birthday brings," Jude cut in diplomatically. Then, to distract Mikey, he asked, "How are your pancakes?"

"Really good! Dad makes really yummy breakfast."

"He does," Jude agreed. "Are you full?"

Mikey nodded, his hair flopping around.

"Do you need a haircut?" Connor asked before Jude could speak again.

"No. I think I want to grow my hair to my butt," Mikey said. "What do you think, Father?"

"I think we'll need to get you a brush instead of just your comb if you want to do that," Jude said. "But you still need to get it trimmed to keep it healthy."

"Hair gets sick?" Mikey exclaimed, squinting at Jude. "What doesn't get sick?"

"The sun," Connor replied. "Why don't you go get dressed for school?"

"Fine!" Mikey exclaimed. He slid his plate onto Connor's night table and then did a haphazard summersault off the side of the bed. He shut his bedroom door loudly and that was when Connor knew it was safe to talk.

"Did I really not speak to you on your birthday last year?"

Jude wouldn't look up at him. He just continued to play with the remainder of his pancakes. "I don't remember."

"I'm sorry."

"It was a year ago."

"But it must have hurt you. I'm sorry."

"It did," Jude snapped suddenly. "But you spent so many days not talking to me and I spent so many days not talking back that they all just blur together! I missed you."

"I missed you too," Connor said. He rubbed the length of Jude's leg under the comforter. "I'm sorry. I know it was hard for you then and I don't think I realized how hard. I wasn't there for you at all."

"Don't leave me now," Jude replied. "And I won't leave you."

"You kicked me out, you didn't leave me."

"Don't leave me and I won't kick you out," Jude amended.

"That sounds fair."

"Now kiss me before Mikey gets himself dressed."

Connor leant forward over the breakfast tray. He had to cut the kiss short because he knew how little time it took for Mikey to throw on a pair of jeans and a mostly clean t-shirt.

"You taste like syrup."

"I like your pancakes," Jude said. "Thank you for my birthday breakfast."

"The first of many things. Now, get dressed. We have places to go after Mikey gets on the bus."

"Places like where?"

"You'll see. Get your shoes on."

"Jeans too? Or do you just want me in shoes?"

"Well, we're going out in public and I don't want anyone trying to steal you so … jeans, please." Connor stood up from the bed and lifted the tray. "I'll meet you downstairs."

"You know, a man who forgot to put coffee on my tray doesn't have a lot of room to boss me around."

"I didn't forget," Connor said. "Don't doubt me, Jude."

"I don't," Jude said, smiling. "I really don't."

Connor shut the bedroom door behind him and descended into the kitchen. He glanced at the time and realized that he would have to get Mikey out the door as soon as he came down the stairs. He packed some quick snacks into Mikey's lunchbox and tucked in some lunch money. He checked that Mikey's backpack had everything he would need for the day and he held it out as Mikey hurtled toward the front door.

"Bye, Father. Love you!" Mikey shouted.

"Love you too!" Jude called back.

"Bye, Dad!" Mikey said, grabbing his bag with one hand.

"Zip up your jacket!"

"Love you too," Mikey said, and bolted down the driveway.

Connor watched him from the front door. Mikey had a minute's pause by the garbage box and zipped up his jacket as Connor had instructed. Then he jumped through the school bus's yellow doors. Connor was so entranced with this small slice of his son's morning that he didn't even realize that Jude was behind him until Jude was leaning against his back.

"You know, all this talk about me getting dressed and you're still in your pyjama pants," Jude murmured.

Connor bit down on his bottom lip as Jude's hands dropped into the pockets of Connor's pyjama pants. Connor turned his head to kiss the side of Jude's neck.

"Do I need to take them off for you?" Jude continued.

"Would you?" Connor asked, knowing full-well what Jude would say.

"No, but I want you to be thinking about it."

Connor laughed. "Tease."

"A little," Jude agreed. "But it's my birthday so I'll do what I want."

"I'm the one with the plan for today," Connor countered.

"Then you should be dressed."

"I'll go and get dressed, then."

"Can I watch?"

Connor laughed. "Well, it is your birthday."

"And you're talking to me!" Jude tightened his arms around Connor's waist.

"Right. Which reminds me, while I was making breakfast, I realized that there was something I needed to talk to you about."

"Uh-oh."

"No, no, nothing like that. We went to bed so quickly last night that you never showed me your side."

Jude let go of Connor and Connor frowned. He hadn't thought this whole comment through. He wanted Jude's arms around him again. He spun around to see Jude lifting up his t-shirt, exposing his old self-inflicted wounds. It only took a moment for Connor to confirm that there were no new scars.

"I'm not hurting myself again."

"I believe you. I just worry about you. Let me care."

"Well, if you caring includes compliments and breakfast in bed, then I guess I should let you do what you want."

"I want you," Connor replied immediately. He saw the look on Jude's face and had to add, "But I can be patient."

"I just know you're worth the wait," Jude replied. "And doing things right."

"I'm going to make sure I'm good enough for you this time," Connor told Jude. "Really."

"I have to deserve you too," Jude said. "You didn't create this mess all on your own."

"I know, but it's your birthday, so I want to make sure you feel flattered."

"First, go get dressed so we can get going. I'm curious about what you planned!"

"I'm going, I'm going. I'm glad you're excited, though."

Jude leant forward and kissed Connor's cheek. "While you're upstairs I'll make coffee."

"No." Connor gripped Jude's shoulders and steered him into the living room, sitting him in the armchair. "Sit."

"You have about half an hour before I get a caffeine headache."

"I won't need half an hour." Connor went to walk away to get dressed but then he saw Jude staring at him and he kissed his forehead. "Sorry. I've just been missing you physically a little more lately."

"I've noticed. I'm thirty-seven, not senile." Jude reached up and took Connor's hand in his own. "It'd be too much too fast."

"I know. I'm just telling you how I feel."

"And I appreciate that. But, you know, you can kiss me whenever you want."

Connor ran his hand through Jude's thick hair. "Even when you've got a caffeine headache coming on?"

"Almost anytime you want," Jude amended. "Now go, go! You have about twenty-six minutes before I get a caffeine headache."

Connor dressed quickly in casual clothing and he brushed his teeth quickly. It took him twelve minutes to get completely ready and then he was leading Jude out to the car. He held the passenger door open and Jude stared at him suspiciously as he sat down.

"What?" Connor asked, leaning on the door.

"Where are we going?" Jude asked.

"You'll see. Keep your fingers out of the way."

Jude pointedly folded his fingers in his lap and Connor shut the door. Soon, they were driving down the street. Jude was surveying the street, trying to figure out where they might be headed.

"Just give up, you won't guess!"

"I'm not trying to guess!" Jude said. Then he shrunk into his seat and crossed his arms. "Not that I'm giving up right now or anything. You just think you're so sneaky, don't you?"

Connor let out a laugh. Then he reached over to touch Jude's hands. "Are you bitter?"

"No."

Jude clenched his hand around Connor's. "Can you drive okay one-handed?"

"You know I can."

"I just thought that some things might have changed since we were seventeen."

"Oh, please, that was only … twenty … years … ago … You know what, let's talk about something else."

"Feeling old, are you?" Jude teased.

"You make me feel old. How many other couples can say they've been together since they were thirteen?"

"Well, can we really say –"

"Yes."

Jude said, "You know, I love that you know what I'm going to say before I say it."

"You're using 'love' instead of 'annoyed' right now, aren't you?"

"A little. Just because it's obvious what I'm going to say doesn't mean that I like being cut off."

"Okay. I'm sorry. But, on the bright side, we're here!" Connor pulled up the curb next to their destination and watched Jude's face as he looked at the storefront.

"The snobby coffee place!" Jude exclaimed.

"The snobby coffee place!" Connor repeated. "I know you think that it's overpriced and some of the things they do to coffee is ridiculous. But I also know you've been wanting to try it and I know you haven't … At least, you hadn't the last time we talked about it."

Which, Connor belatedly realized, had been nearly a year and a half ago. Time didn't seem quite linear anymore. It was if the time they had been separated and the time right before he had moved out hadn't really happened.

"I haven't been," Jude said quickly. "I … I didn't have anyone I wanted to go with."

"Would you like to go with me, then?"

"Yeah!"

"And that's not the caffeine headache talking?" Connor joked.

"Not entirely."

Jude winked at him and Connor felt his heart skip a beat. Together, they walked through the front doors. It was a sweet little sit down café and Jude and Connor picked a table by the window.

"You know what we should do," Jude said, leaning forward on the table.

"What?" Connor said, leaning forward as well. It felt like they were planning something secret.

"I know it's only, like, eight in the morning and we just had breakfast but there are brownies in the display case that are the size of our faces."

Connor peeked over at the display case and saw the brownies, covered with nuts. His felt his mouth watering just looking at them.

"Yes, we need those."

Jude laughed as Connor flagged down one of the waitresses. Jude ordered something with a lot of whipped cream, which didn't surprise Connor at all, and Connor decided to try something hazelnut.

"You're going to have to let me taste that," Jude said.

"Of course." Connor felt Jude's foot tapping on the inside of his leg. "Now who's being flirtatious?"

"I feel in love," Jude confessed. "It's this perfect mixture of old love and new love. Like … I'm completely comfortable with you but then just looking at you makes me smile and happy and hopeful. You know, a year … even two years ago, I thought of you and I felt tired. When we were, you know, twenty-four and getting engaged it was nice and hopeful to be able to look at our future and know how our life was going to go. After a while, it was like we ran out of surprises."

"Spontaneity, I can do that."

"We," Jude corrected. "I kept waiting for you to do something but I never did anything."

"I wouldn't have realized it if you did." Connor trapped Jude's foot between his own. "I know that and I'm sorry."

"Do you know what I mean though?" Jude asked.

"I do," Connor agreed. "I find in comfort in knowing what we're doing and where we're heading, I won't deny that, but it's not an excuse to get complacent."

"I like having a plan too," Jude agreed. "I'm not saying we shouldn't think about what our future will look like. I just hated the feeling of every day being the same."

"I understand you."

"I wish I could take your hand," Jude said.

"Soon. Whatever you want," Connor added. "I want today to be completely about you."

"It's just my birthday," Jude said. "We've never made this big of a deal out of it before."

"No, I know. I just feel bad about … everything. And I want you to know that I've been listening. I know I wasn't always good at it. But I know you and I love you."

Jude closed his mouth as they had their cups and the large brownie sat in front of the two of them. He picked up his coffee and took a sip.

"It's good. Do you want to try?"

"Sure," Connor said as he took the cup. He nudged his own before Jude and allowed his husband to take the first sips of both drinks.

"It's good," Jude repeated. As they switched their drinks around again, Jude made sure their fingers brushed together. "You know, I love you too."

Connor's heart felt like it swelled. He picked up one of the little forks they had been given with their brownie and Jude grabbed the other one. They clinked their tines together in celebration and dug into either side of the brownie. They both had mouths full of their first bites when they heard their names called. In sync, their heads turned to see Coach Roberto approaching them.

"Coach!" Connor said, swallowing the brownie quickly. "Isn't school in session?"

"Early dentist appointment," Coach explained, walking up to them. "I should have headed right over but I love cinnamon in my coffee and this place does it the best. What are you doing here?"

"It's Jude's birthday," Connor explained.

"Happy birthday!" Coach exclaimed. "How's your health?"

"My hea –" Jude started, and then he remembered himself. "I'm getting better every day, Coach. Thanks for asking."

"Always. Well, I've got to get back to school before it gets too late. I'll be seeing Mikey last block."

"Nice to see you, Coach," Connor said.

"Have a good rest of the day," Jude said.

"You too!" Coach said and they waved him off.

"I think he's my favourite of Mikey's teachers," Jude said.

"He's a gym teacher."

"Still a teacher!" Jude countered.

"Okay, okay. I do like him. He's a very sweet man," Connor agreed.

"One of my favourites," Jude agreed. He took another bite of the brownie. "Okay."

"Okay what?"

"You're not allowed to have any more of it."

"Hey!"

"It's my birthday and I do what I want to!"

"But it's a brownie!"

"But it's my birthday."

Connor felt Jude's toes on the inside of his leg.

"No way. There's walnuts on this thing. You don't get everything you want, Jude."

"I have Mikey," Jude said quickly. "I have you."

"And we have you," Connor added. "Don't we?"

He was relieved when Jude smiled.

"Yeah. I'm not going anywhere, Connor."

"Good. We wouldn't want you to."

Jude took a long drink of his coffee and when he moved the mug away from his mouth, he had a whipped cream moustache. Connor laughed and handed him a napkin. Jude self-consciously blotted at his upper lip and Connor couldn't help but say, "You're going to look cute when your hair goes white."

"At least I won't go bald."

"I'm not going bald!"

"Eh."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Eh," Jude repeated, laughing. His face went somber for a moment. "There's one more thing I'd like for my birthday."

"What makes you think I don't have something else planned?"

Jude shrugged. "But …"

"But?" Connor repeated. "What do you want?"

"I want to stop the divorce. Legally, I mean. Call the lawyers and put everything on hold. I … I know we can't be sure, but, Connor, I love you and I don't want the divorce to get any further along because I have hope."

Connor smiled. "Absolutely. We'll call tomorrow or something, okay? I love you too."

Jude smiled and ducked his head.

"All done?" Connor asked.

"Only if you get away from my last bite of brownie."

"Okay, okay!" Connor surrendered the last bite.

When Jude was done, they paid the waitress. Jude went to head back to the car but Connor caught his upper arm, directing him away. He felt Jude giving him a suspicious look but since Jude didn't ask, Connor didn't answer. They walked down the street, which wasn't overly crowded. Most people were at work or in school; there were only several retirees and stay-at-home parents milling about and trying to get their errands done. They walked in silence for longer than Connor had thought Jude would let them, and then he heard his husband's voice.

"This has been a really good birthday morning."

"We're not totally done yet."

"What do we have left?"

"Guess."

"I have no idea," Jude admitted. "You've been surprising."

"Well, I thought a little walk would do us good," Connor admitted. "We spend a lot of time at home. Which isn't bad or surprising. But, you know, trees."

"Trees," Jude cackled as they entered one of the few nature paths around their area. "You're such a romantic. "

"I'm a little rusty, give me a break."

"You've been doing a really good job to make this a good birthday. Don't sell yourself short, Connor."

"I'm glad you like it."

In the quietness of the nature trail, Jude reached out and took Connor's hand. They didn't need to speak as they walked. Connor smiled and took deep breaths of the fresh air. The whole world was happy and peaceful. Jude swung their joined hands as they walked and, near the end of the trail, Connor heard him humming under his breath. This, most of all, made Connor's heart light. He knew that depression wasn't something that could be thought of as curable, but he didn't think that Jude was anywhere near the dark place that he had been in during September and the months beforehand. Connor lifted their hands and kissed Jude's knuckles.

"I'm glad you started doing that again," Jude commented. "It's one of those little things that I missed."

"What else did you miss?"

"Talking to you and feeling like you were totally listening. I just missed the feeling of you being in love with me."

"What do you think now?" Connor asked, and he was half-fearful of the answer.

Jude looked over and smiled at him. "Things are good. We're good. I feel cared for again. Sometimes I get scared that it will go away."

"What do you mean?"

"Things are usually good at the beginning of relationships. And this is like the beginning again. The beginning wasn't the problem. It was … keeping it going."

"I think we can do that. We know what not to do."

"Yeah," Jude said softly. "I have hope for us."

"Me too."

They reached the end of the trail and Jude dropped Connor's hand.

"Are we going home now?" Jude asked.

"Unless there's something else that you want to do."

"No, home sounds nice right now."

"All right, let's go."

They walked back to the car and soon they were pulling into their driveway.

"I don't want to do this on your birthday," Connor said as they unlocked the door, "but I have some work that I need to get done."

"That's okay. I want to just curl up and watch TV anyway."

"Are you coming to the office with me?" Connor asked hopefully.

"If I won't distract you."

"I like you distracting me," Connor said as they walked upstairs.

In the office, Connor passed Jude his laptop which had taken to living on a corner of Connor's desk. Jude settled into his usual spot in the armchair and set up his laptop on the ottoman in front of him. Connor perched on the arm of the chair and he felt Jude's head rest on his thigh.

"Are you tired?"

Jude nodded. "This morning was good, really good. But I feel a little drained … Don't be mad."

"I'm not mad," Connor promised. "It's been a busy morning and we ended up talking about some big things. I didn't mean to do that on your birthday."

"I'd rather talk about it right away than wait."

"That's a better plan." Connor rubbed Jude's shoulder. "Do you need anything?"

Jude shook his head.

"Okay. I need you to put headphones in at twelve-thirty if you're in here. I have a call coming in then."

"Kay," Jude murmured, opening up their Netflix page.

Connor eased himself off the armchair and before he had more than turned away from Jude, he felt his husband's hand catch the back of his t-shirt. He turned around again. "Yeah?"

"Can I have another birthday kiss?" Jude asked shyly.

"You can have as many of those as you want."

He leant down and kissed Jude softly. He felt Jude's fingers on the back of his head and he shifted just a little bit closer.

"Okay," Connor murmured against Jude's lips. "I have work to do."

He didn't move his face away from Jude's and he could feel Jude's eyelashes flutter against his cheek.

"I thought you liked when I was a distraction."

"I do. But you like when we pay the bills on time."

"Maybe a little," Jude admitted. He reluctantly sat back from Connor.

"Besides, you know you want to get back to … What are we watching today?"

"The cold case show I was watching added a new season," Jude replied.

"Oh, good, those are my favourite."

Jude settled down to watch his TV show and Connor banished himself to his desk. He sorted through his e-mails first and then turned to the reports that he was supposed to have read before his phone call. His phone call lasted longer than he thought that it would and Jude had to leave the office, closing the door behind him, to go and meet Mikey downstairs so that Connor wouldn't have interruptions.

Connor had to lower his eyes to the floor to keep himself focused, wishing this conversation was over. He forced himself to pay attention to the woman on the other end of the line. He asked her all of the things that his boss would need to know, confirmed another meeting for later in the month. Finally, he was able to hang up his phone and go join his family.

It was exactly where he was supposed to be.

Don't forget to send me playlist ideas if you have them! This week's songs are: I Just Can't Live A Lie by Carrie Underwood; and Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion (reader recommended).

So, on tumblr I'm: we are all of legend now (with dashes between every word). If you want to find my replies to anon reviews, add backslash tagged backslash anon dash replies. If you want to see anything I post about Hand In My Pocket, to my tumblr URL add backslash tagged backslash hand dash in dash my dash pocket. Punctuation is spelled out due to Fanfiction's restrictions. If you're having any trouble accessing the tumblr content please send me a pm and I can format it for you in a different way.

~TLL~