Connor woke first the next morning. He checked the clock; it was nearly eleven in the morning. Thankful that Mikey wasn't expected until after one, Connor turned to face his husband. Jude was lying on his back; his chest and stomach were exposed to the warm room, with the comforter lying tantalizing low across his waist. His left hand was draped over his head, his fingers unfurled toward Connor. Connor propped himself up on one elbow. He didn't want to disturb Jude; he just wanted to stare. Connor loved him. Connor loved him so much.

It was hard to stare at him and think about the first morning that he had spent alone in his apartment, far away from his husband and his son.

(-.-)

His alarm started to go off. Connor groaned and went to sit up – Jude hated it when he left the alarm going for too long and, since the clock was on Connor's side, it was his responsibility to turn it off. He waited for the jab in the side of his ribs and he nearly paused to see if Jude would whisper 'snooze this morning', as he did after late nights.

But there was no Jude and Connor shouldn't have paused. He and Jude hadn't been sleeping together recently and he shouldn't have thought that Jude would be there now. He opened his eyes, thinking of Mikey, before realizing that his son, this morning, wasn't his concern. He and Mikey didn't live in the same house anymore. He wasn't responsible for helping to make sure that he was fed and dressed and able to leave the house with lunch.

He was faced with a small bedroom, the walls all white and adorned. There was an empty dresser in the corner, next to the empty closet. His suitcases sat unpacked all across the bedroom floor. He was alone. He was going to be alone forever now. He was in his own bed; he'd never lay next to Jude in their bed again.

He slammed his hand down on the alarm clock and bent forward as far as he could go, trying not to cry. The world as too cold. The room was too cold. His whole life was too cold. No longer would he get to see his son every day and hear about what he'd done at school. He looked down at his left hand and his wedding band was so bright and gold and shining that it hurt. His husband was gone; his husband was well on his way to being an ex-husband. For the first time since he'd met Jude Adams-Foster, Connor sincerely felt completely alone.

And he just couldn't take it.

(-.-)

Connor stared at Jude, trying not to lose himself in painful memories that were so far away now, though he was desperately losing the battle. He was more and more tempting to wake Jude up by simply grabbing him into his arms, but it wasn't necessary. His simple staring must have been a disturbance, as Jude began to wake. He opened his eyes slowly, smiling as he saw Connor.

"Good morning, husband," Jude said.

Connor rolled on his stomach and into Jude's side, pushing the past away. It didn't matter in the here and now, where they had the rest of their lives to be together – really be together. He kissed Jude's left hand, gently turning the ring. "If I knew the sex was going to be great enough to make you change your mind about everything …"

Jude laughed lightly. "It was time for everything."

Connor nodded. "Yeah, it was. No regrets, then? Nothing you want to take back before we talk to Mikey."

"No. I don't regret anything. How could I when we ended up here again?"

"That's a good way to look at it," Connor agreed.

Jude kissed his cheek, and Connor pouted.

"No real kiss?"

"Morning breath," Jude said. "I don't feel like dealing with it."

"Oh, that's not fair," Connor whined. Jude began to sit up. "Where are you going?"

"Well, I was going to brush my teeth and shower … You should probably come with me."

"Oh?"

"Your morning breath sucks and I know you're not exactly … clean."

"And you think a shower will help with that?"

Jude started tugging at his hands, pulling Connor out of bed. "I'm hoping not."

Connor gave in and happily followed his husband into the bathroom. Their shower ended up taking longer than either of them anticipated, and they just had time for a quick coffee and lunch before Mikey skipped merrily into the house to join them in the kitchen. He didn't even say hello to either of them; he just launched into a full explanation of everything that they had done the night before.

"And we all stayed up late enough to watch the countdown on TV, even though Chris almost slept through it but JP wouldn't let him! And then we slept in late this morning and Andrew made us eggs and bacons and hash browns for breakfast!"

"It sounds like a fun night!" Connor said.

"What did you do?" Mikey asked.

"We were just boring," Jude said. "Uhm, Mikey … Can you come sit in the living room with us, please? There's something that we have to tell you."

"Oh no," Mikey squeaked, hugging the doorway of the kitchen. "Oh no."

"We're hoping it's not a bad thing," Connor said, but this only made Mikey's eyes pop.

"You don't know if it's good or bad?" He sat down on the kitchen floor. "Oh no."

"Let's go talk, okay, Mikey?"

Mikey didn't even stand up, he just monkeyed himself into the living room and sat down on the couch. Connor moved the coffee table back so that they could crouch down in front of him. He looked anxiously back and forth.

"Is Dad moving out again?" Mikey asked.

"No." Connor shook his head. "Not … quite."

"Is Father moving out?"

"No, definitely not."

Mikey huffed loudly.

Connor and Jude exchanged glances, but Jude nodded at Connor. Connor took a deep breath.

"Mikey, this might be a little hard to understand at first, so we want you to know that we're going to tell you the whole and total truth and it's okay to ask as many questions as you need to."

Mikey frowned. "You know you already told me that you're getting a divorce, right?"

"We know. That's why this is hard," Jude said.

"Mikey, we're not getting a divorce."

Mikey blinked rapidly, looking back and forth between his parents. "But. But. But. You said … You said you were. You said you didn't love each other."

"We know," Jude said quickly. "And we weren't lying to you when we said that. At the time, we didn't know anything other than what we told you."

"CHRIS SAW YOU KISS!" Mikey shouted, standing up on the couch cushions. "I WAS RIGHT! YOU'RE LIARS!"

He went to jump off the couch but Connor caught him. "No, no, you're not allowed to run away again."

"Let go!"

"We need to talk to you about this. We know it's hard but running away and yelling isn't the answer. We love you very much and we don't want you to be hurt."

Mike slumped down in Connor's hold. He planted himself back on the couch, pulling his legs up to his chest and folded his arms around his legs. He stared at Jude.

"We didn't lie," Jude said. "We didn't want to hurt you. Can you understand that? We didn't want to tell you anything until we were sure because it would hurt you if we went back and forth."

"It's like the situation you told me about with Uncle Brandon," Connor reminded him. "Do you remember what I said?"

Mikey nodded and he puffed out his cheeks. "I don't like it."

"What part?" Jude asked.

"The lying," Mikey said. "I don't … what was the truth?"

"Well, Father really is sick and I didn't move back in because we were lying to you. And we haven't been working on our relationship since the very beginning. It took us some time to figure out that we really did still love each other and that we were better together. We're doing this for you too, Mikey."

"We're happy together," Jude said. "But we know that it will be better for you, too, if we live together and are there for you in the same house. We love you very much and we want to raise you with both of us in the same house. You said you liked us being together, didn't you?"

"I … I like you both being here," Mikey agreed. "I like that I get to see you both all the time instead of only seeing Dad some days and only seeing Father some days. I like that we do things together and that we feel like a family."

"Those are all good things," Jude agreed.

"What's on your mind, Mikey?" Connor asked. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know."

"That's okay," Jude assured him.

"What if you change your mind again?" Mikey asked.

"We won't," Connor assured him.

"But … but … how do you know?"

"We love each other and we're very determined to make this work. But that's part of the reason why we didn't tell you sooner. We were giving each other time to change our minds and not have to put you through something emotional and confusing again," Jude said. "But we didn't change our minds. We love each other and we love you and we chose this family and having a life together."

Mikey hung his head.

"Is there anything we can do right now?" Connor asked. "Can we help? We know this isn't the easiest thing to process."

Mikey shrugged. "C-can …" he stuttered and then he stopped completely, holding his breath. He slowly released it and he didn't say anything else.

"Talk to us," Jude encouraged. "We understand if you want to yell at us a little bit. You're allowed to feel."

Mikey looked unsure. "But … What if I want to talk someone else?"

"Like who?" Connor asked. "We're not asking you to keep this a secret, if that's what you mean."

"Oh." Mikey bounced on the couch. "Can I go play in my room?"

"Sure," Jude said. "We'll be right down here if you need us."

Mikey slunk up the stairs. Jude and Connor heaved themselves up on the couch and Jude took Connor's hand.

"That could have gone worse," Connor said.

"It could have gone better."

"But it didn't go worse."

Jude sighed and agreed, "It didn't go worse."

Connor lifted Jude's hand and kissed his knuckle. "What do you think we should do now?"

"Let's not bother him. Pushing is bad."

"I've learnt," Connor said.

"I was also thinking … what if we called Moms and have them come over for dinner? That way he doesn't feel stuck with us and he can talk to them if he needs to. You know he trusts them."

"That could be good," Connor said. "Why don't you call?"

Jude pulled out his cell phone, lifting his arm and putting it around Connor's shoulders. Connor sat close as Jude spoke to his parents.

"No, no, nothing's wrong. We were wondering if you were doing anything tonight … No? Good. Would you want to come over for dinner? … There's a bit of an ulterior motive … I'll tell you the story when you get here; I want to tell you in person … No, I already said nothing's wrong … I'm fine … I'm not depressed again and I didn't do anything," Jude promised. "Around four? Okay. Thanks, Moms. I love you too. Bye."

They passed the afternoon quietly. They mostly spent it in the kitchen, making sure that they could just throw veggies on the stove for a few minutes before it was time to eat. They only saw Mikey a few times. He ghosted through, looking for grapes and orange juice to take downstairs with him. He was watching a movie when Stef and Lena pulled in the driveway. Jude and Connor met them on the porch.

"Hey!" Stef said, and Connor could see her gaze moving between he and Jude. "What's going on?"

"Well …" Jude said. He leant against the side of the house, while Stef and Lena lingered near the stairs. "Connor and I decided that we aren't going to get a divorce."

"Really?" Lena grinned widely and hugged Connor before reaching for Jude.

"Really," Connor confirmed.

Stef hugged him too. "I was hoping you would work things out!"

"We weren't sure if we would," Jude said honestly. "But we're happy."

"We're worried about Mikey, though," Connor said, cutting right to the chase.

"Oh? Did he not take it well?" Lena asked.

Jude summed up the incident that had happened with Chris and JP. After he had finished, Connor explained the conversation that they had just had with Mikey.

"We're not sure how to handle this," Connor admitted. "We were hoping that he might open up to you in ways that he might not feel like he can to us."

"We'll talk to him," Stef assured them. "Either way, it will probably take some adjustment time."

Jude nodded. "We know. We just don't want him trying to deal with it on his own. If he can't talk to us then we want to surround him with people we know he can and will talk to."

"You're doing everything right," Lena said. "And you're doing the best that you can."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Where's Mikey?" Stef asked.

"He's still down in the basement, I think." Jude opened the front door and let his mothers in.

They made a beeline down to the basement. Stef had just paused to say that they would come up when they were ready. Jude and Connor lingered in the living room, unsure of what to do with themselves. They found themselves back in the kitchen, although there wasn't much for either of them to do there.

"How are you feeling?" Connor asked. "I know this isn't easy."

"I … trying to keep my mind off how stressed out I feel. I want …" Jude choked on his words, but he didn't have to finish the sentence.

Connor saw Jude's right hand rubbing at his left ribs. He pulled Jude into his arms. "You don't have to hurt yourself."

"I know I don't have to but there's something in my head that's saying that everything will feel better if I do."

Connor rubbed Jude's back. "I know it's hard. But we can talk through it."

"Can I back to therapy now?" Jude asked, but there was a bit of a laugh in his voice.

"Next week you start again," Connor reminded him.

"I know, I know."

"And you've been doing really well."

"Thank you. How are you feeling?"

"I'm just worried about Mikey. Other than that, I am completely on top of the world."

"You even sound happy," Jude murmured.

"I hope you're happy."

Jude straightened up and Connor leant back so that he could see Jude's face. Jude's hands were large and warm on his back. Connor had only a moment to look into Jude's eyes before Jude bent and kissed him. It was warm and brief and it lit Connor up from the inside.

Someone coughed from behind him. Connor spun around as Jude looked up.

"Hi, Mom."

Stef was grinning in the doorway. "Well, I guess you're both adults now."

"Married adults," Jude corrected and Connor smiled.

They had been married for more than eleven years, but in the past few months, Connor had to force himself to get used to the word 'separated'. He never had, fully. The word had never sat correctly in his mouth and he avoided saying it whenever he possibly could. He was sure saying the word divorce would have crushed him completely. Married was right. They were married.

"Mikey's getting hungry," Stef said. "And … he's not upset, really. He feels a little betrayed, I think, though he keeps saying 'they told me what they could'."

"Yeah, we told him that," Connor said.

"I guessed. He just needs a little more time," Stef said.

"Okay, well, supper will be ready in about twenty minutes."

"Okay, thanks, Jude."

Stef disappeared down the steps and Jude turned back to Connor, shaking his head. "We've been dating since we were thirteen, been having sex since we were sixteen, been living together since we were nineteen, been married since we were twenty-six, and I still get embarrassed about the fact that my mother saw us kissing."

Connor laughed. "What would she say if she saw me doing something like …" Connor let his voice trail as he slid his hands in Jude's back pockets and kissed his neck. "What would she say if she knew what I did to you last night? Or what you did to me?"

"Don't even joke about that!" Jude exclaimed. "I'd never be able to face my family again."

Connor squeezed Jude. "All right, I won't joke, even though you know I'm hilarious."

"Get in gear," Jude said. "Our kid is hungry."

"I'm in gear, I'm in gear."

They put the peas and potatoes on the stove and Connor double checked that ham. They made sure that the sticky-sweet sauce that they used on the ham hadn't crystallized. Finally, Connor mashed the potatoes and Jude set the table. They called Mikey, Stef, and Lena upstairs. Mikey wasn't completely silent as they walked up the stairs; he was giving a few small details about his puppy and was talking about the visit that they would have next week with Rojo. He wasn't cold to Jude as Jude helped him with his plate and he said 'thank you' to Connor when Connor filled his glass with juice.

They sat around the table together.

"Thank you for having us over for supper," Lena said.

"You know we're always happy to see you," Jude replied.

Mikey nodded.

"What do you think of the ham?" Lena asked Mikey.

"It's good." Mikey rolled a pea into his mashed potatoes. "Why did you only talk about Dad and Father when we were downstairs and then when we come upstairs you don't talk about them?"

Stef let out an awkward laugh. "Well, we thought that there might be some things that you didn't feel comfortable talking about in front of your parents."

Mikey frowned. "Like what?"

"Maybe if you were upset about something and you didn't want them to know about it yet," Lena said.

"We wouldn't be upset about that," Jude assured him.

"I don't like secrets. Secrets are the problem! I don't want more secrets!"

"And we don't have any more," Connor said. "You know everything. But if you want to ask us more questions, go ahead."

"Do you still have your apartment?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it still has a few things in it. Father and I are going to clean it out and then I won't have it anymore."

"Will you move out again?"

"No. Father and I are going to stay together."

"Is it going to be like before you moved out?"

"No." This time, Jude answered. "Before Dad moved out, things weren't totally … happy. We're going to be happy. Like how things have been since Dad moved back in."

"Promise?"

"We promise to do our best," Connor said. "That's all that people can do."

Mikey gave a little smile. "Okay."

Stef and Lena smiled at Jude and Connor as Mikey dug into his mashed potatoes. Things would take their time to settle, but they would settle well.

(-.-)

Connor waited anxiously on the front porch, checking his watch time and time again. It was nearly noon. Jude and Mikey had both gone back to school today; the little boy had been grumbling about the fact that Jude only had one hour of class today. Connor checked his cell phone again. Jude hadn't called or texted but it was nearly time for him to be arriving soon.

He looked up, drummed his fingers on the railing of the porch, and then he saw Jude's car. He made himself stay stationary on the porch instead of going out to meet him. Connor knew it would be embarrassing for them both if Connor were to admit how worried he had been about Jude going back to school.

But Jude got out of the car smiling.

"How was class?"

Jude pulled Connor down on the front porch swing.

"It was so weird to be back in the environment," Jude admitted. "Although, you know, I kind of miss the notebooks rather than just typing on my laptop."

"I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that before," Connor chuckled. "How'd you do?"

"Good, I think. We talked about the colours of the rainbow."

"Let's hear them."

Jude took a deep breath. "Um … Rojo … Naranja … Amarillo … Verde … Azul … Índigo … Violeta."

"That's impressive. Was that all you talked about for an hour?"

"No. We also talked about greetings and stuff. So I know how to ask 'how are you'."

"So, ask."

"Como estás?"

"How do I answer that?"

"Bien."

Connor repeated it. Then he asked, "Do you like your professor?"

"He seems really nice! He's kind of old, though."

"Older than you?" Connor teased.

"Even older than you," Jude teased back. "Did you make me lunch?"

"Is that all I'm good for? Doing whatever you want?"

"That's why I married you!"

"I thought you married me for the right to make fun of me."

"Can't it be both? I married you for more than one reason."

"Oh, good. I'd hate to be a one trick pony."

Jude kissed him. "That's only in bed."

"Hey! Wait a minute!"

Jude laughed and left the porch swing, darting in the front door before Connor could get another word out. Connor chased after him, cornering him in the kitchen.

"You did make lunch!" Jude said, peeking in the oven.

"It'll be done in ten minutes. Now, are you going to talk to me or not?"

"Talk to you about what?" Jude asked cheekily. He leant against the counter, turning to face Connor.

"You said I was boring!"

"That's not exactly what I said …"

"Do you think I'm boring?"

"Not in those terms," Jude said.

"Mean!" Connor pushed Jude against the counter.

"Now who's being mean? You're such a bully."

"I'm going to get even meaner," Connor promised. He grasped Jude's hips. "I'm going make you kiss me."

"Oh no," Jude said, melting against Connor. "Whatever will I do? You're so mean."

Jude kissed him first. They made out in their kitchen until the oven timer went off. It was a nice day, so they ate outside on the back porch. Connor told Jude about what he had done for work, although there wasn't much to tell. Work actually was boring. They eventually circled around to talking about Mikey and Rojo. After lunch, they went back up the office. Jude put on a TV show and curled up. Every so often, Connor would hear him murmuring Spanish words under his breath; words that, no doubt, he had learnt today in class.

Mikey came home with a shout. "FIFTEEN DAYS UNTIL ROJO COMES HOME!"

"Fifteen days until Rojo comes home!" Jude confirmed.

Mikey burst into the office. He looked at his two parents and then sat down by the pile of toys on the floor. Jude and Connor exchanged glances; Jude moved on to asking Mikey how his day at school went. Mikey answered normally, but Connor still worried. It had only been a few days since they had told him about the fact that they were calling off the divorce and he hadn't seemed any different. Although, he hadn't seen things be different either. Jude and Connor let life continue on as it had before; they didn't really need to change anything. Things were working and they were happy.

After they asked questions about each other's days, Mikey asked if they could have nuggets for dinner. When Jude said yes, he excused himself down to watch TV. Connor watched him go and then he sighed.

"I don't know what else to say to him," Connor said. "I know he's not acting upset but he's not exactly accepting either."

"Time," Jude said. "If it took us months to accept it then it will take him some time to. I don't really think we can do anything else."

"That's true," Connor said. "Should we just leave him downstairs for now and give him some space?"

"I hate to say it's for the best, but it's probably for the best."

Jude wasn't looking incredibly happy about it, so Connor slipped from his desk chair. He settled on the arm of the chair and put his arm around Jude's shoulders. He kissed Jude's temple. Jude's arm wrapped around Connor's waist and then he tugged Connor down into the chair with him.

"I'm going to squish you!" Connor protested.

"That's totally fine … Were you going to do more work?"

"Nope."

Connor settled comfortably on Jude's lap, pressing play on the laptop with his foot. They both kept an ear out for Mikey, but they didn't hear his footsteps. Connor went down, at about four, to check on him, but he said he didn't need anything; that he was happy to be on his own right now. Feeling slightly rejected, Connor returned to Jude's side. Even though it probably would have been more comfortable to be somewhere else, they stay in the armchair together until it got late enough to make supper.

They both went downstairs, though it took nothing to throw fries and nuggets on a pan and put it in the oven. Connor did that while Jude started to tackle the dishes that they had let pile up in the sink. Connor sidestepped around the open dishwasher and reached for their speakers. He let it shuffle through their music as he quickly washed the few dishes that couldn't go in the dishwasher. Just as he was rinsing the bubbles off his hands, his favourite song in the world came on.

"Take me back to the beginning,

"When love was patient, love was kind …"

Jude began to sing under his breath. Connor didn't bother to dry his hands; he just grabbed his husband into a dance. Their rings clinked as their left hands clasped and Connor smiled at the sound.

"What kind of a dance is this?" Jude asked, squeezing Connor's hip with his hand.

Connor shrugged; they were certainly holding each other awkwardly. "The fun kind … Here, spin."

Jude spun out and Connor pulled him back in quickly. They ended up in a more traditional dance pose, and Connor flashbacked to several middle school dances where they had ended up like this. Jude pressed their foreheads together and kissed him softly.

"And I love you. I promise I always will," Connor sang along.

"You're off-key," Jude laughed. "I promise I always will."

"You're off-key!"

"You've never been on-key!"

"You're so mean!"

Jude laughed and turned Connor in a spin. As Connor reached the end of his spin, a flash of red caught his eye. He slowed and steadied himself. There was Mikey, peeking into the kitchen.

"Hey," Connor said. "Supper will be ready soon. We thought you'd be getting hungry."

Mikey didn't say anything. He rushed across the kitchen and into Jude's arms. Jude lifted him up and Mikey grabbed onto Connor's bicep, tugging him in close. He stretched between the two of them, an arm around each of their necks.

"Is something wrong?" Connor asked anxiously. "Are you okay?"

Mikey nodded. "I love you."

"We love you too," Jude said.

"Do you love each other?"

"Very much," Connor said. "That's why we made the decision we did. It might not be the easiest thing to stay together, but we both want to."

Mikey sat up in Jude's hold and Connor was relieved to see that he was smiling.

"You're happy!" Mikey announced.

"Very happy," Jude said.

"Are you still sick?"

"I'm getting better. You don't have to worry about me, okay?"

Mikey didn't look completely sure. But he turned to look at Connor. "And you're happy!"

"Yeah," Connor said. "I'm so happy, Mikey."

Mikey didn't hesitate. "I'm happy too!"

Jude squeezed him tightly and Connor wrapped his arms around the two of them.

"I'm glad you're gonna stay married."

"Thank you, that means a lot."

Mikey smiled at Connor's words and rested his head against Connor's shoulders. Jude gently rocked them back and forth. Connor caught his husband's eye and they just smiled at one another. For the first time in months, their family was completely and utterly intact.

It would never shatter again.

Thank you to Roberto for the Spanish translations.

June 5th is the last day to submit songs for the playlist, so, don't forget to send me playlist ideas if you have them! This week's songs are: Nothing Like Us by Justin Bieber; You Tell Me by Terri Clark ft. Johnny Reid; and Come A Little Closer by Dierks Bentley.

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~