Jess smothered Gunner in smooches, getting happy cooes from the baby.

"I will be out late, gentlemen," she handed the baby to her husband, giving him a passionate kiss, "You three have a good day together."

Miguel was not left out as she gifted him with playful nosies and smooches.

"I will keep the house standing. You have fun," Virgil saw her out as she jumped in the car with her friends, "Well boys, I think we can have a nice night in," he sighed contently, "So you know what that means," He gave Miguel a wicked smirk.

Within moments daddy had both of his boys in jackets, and the infant in his baby carriage. They decided to take a walk and enjoy the vibrant fall colors. Miguel watched the leaves fall through his red tinted sunglasses.

"Is this your favorite season?"

"I like fall," Virgil agreed, "It's a headache cleaning up the leaves, but it's so nice. Pumpkin spice everything, sweaters. It's cozy and romantic, don't you think?"

He nodded, "You like pumpkin?"

"Not an overwhelming amount, but it's pretty good," he nodded, "Have you ever been apple picking?"

Mig thought back. He may have taken his late daughter, but he wasn't sure, "I don't think so."

Virgil looked at his watch. It was slightly past noon. And it wasn't going to be too long until naptime.

"How about we go?" he squeezed Miguel's chin, "Pick a few apples, get a pumpkin and I can teach you how to make pumpkin doughnuts, and I bet when mommy comes back she'll make dipped apples. But I'm a little impatient so we'll buy our own too."

Mig looked at the man's warm smile and melted, nodding.

"Ok, let's go get GG's bag and we can be picking apples in a few hours."

X

The smells of the orchard were intoxicating. Clearly this was a popular pastime judging by all the families there.

"This way," Virgil took his taller child's hand, leading him off to get their bags, "Have you ever had snow sweet apples?"

"I don't think so."

"You're in for a treat!"

They spent hours walking about the fields and riding the trolley. It was super fun and relaxing. Miguel hadn't known the names of so many apples.

"Do you want to do the corn maze?" daddy asked, checking his watch.

"Can we?" Mig asked excitedly. He blushed at how childish he sounded, clearing his throat, "It could be fun."

"Right. Well, bathroom first, gotta change Gunner," he led him along.

X

"Do I have to be in here too?" Miguel blushed, holding the baby.

"You're a little too sizable to change in the car," he pulled at Mig's pants, checking him now that Gunner was fresh and being used as a distraction, "You didn't go yet? I haven't changed you since before the drive."

"I don't want to do that here," he complained.

Virgil sighed, zipping Miguel up and buckling his belt, "You can't hold it in just because we're in public."

"But…Someone might notice," he virtually whispered.

"See this," he pointed to the table they were in, "This is for little and big babies." He pointed to the wall nappy dispenser, "Big and small diapers." He made a point to read out the weight limit on the table, "Up to 500lbs. You seeing a pattern, Bubba?"

"It's…for an invalid?"

"Your situation isn't unique to our home," he shook his head, "You need to stop holding it outside the house. Now come on. I'd appreciate it if you went now, so after the maze we can enjoy a little bite to eat before going home. Doesn't that sound nice?"

Miguel shifted for a minute, gazing intently at the wall.

"You want me to not look, ok, I won't look," Virgil teased, taking the baby from his hands, "Let me know when you're ready."

Mig shuffled again. Outside of when he was fighting, this had always been a conscious decision to use the nappies. But now it felt weird, knowing that someone was waiting for him to go. Ugh, it was like when Jess started making him use them all over again.

"Uhm…I…went," he whispered.

"Perfect! Let's get this taken care of," he had already put Gunner in his back wrap.

X

"Come now," Virgil shook his head, pouring shampoo on Mig's head, "You love bath time, what's up?"

"I want Jess to wash my hair," he complained.

"She isn't here, you know that," he scrubbed his scalp with his fingers, "And she didn't wash your hair yesterday or the day before, it has to be washed today."

"I'll wait until tomorrow then," Mig grabbed at the man's hands and turned his head away.

Virgil took him by the chin, turning him to face him, "Now what's all this? You had a fun day with daddy, didn't you?"

Mig stared into the man's brown eyes, his own widening at the stern look, "Y-yes."

"So why are you suddenly fussing so much?" his brow bore hard. He waited a minute for a response but there wasn't one. Mig just looked to the water, ashamed, "Now stop all this, let me wash your hair," Virgil grabbed the scalp massager and continued to suds him up, "Knew I shouldn't have let you skip out on your nap."

Miguel was quiet and still the rest of his bath and the rest of his bedtime routine.

X

"Am I getting the silent treatment now?" Virgil asked, tucking him in.

"No, I don't have anything to say," he mumbled.

"What's wrong Bubba?" he pat his head, "Daddy isn't angry with you, but there is a way to behave in the bath and that's not it."

Mig bit his thumb, "I'm sorry."

"Stop biting your thumb," daddy tapped his hand, "Get some sleep, and I will see you in the morning," he kissed his forehead and walked out, leaving the door slightly ajar.

2099 watched the man go and sighed, hugging his llama. The galaxy lights danced on his ceiling, slowly lulling him to sleep.

X

Mig awoke with a gasp, sweating and shaking. It took him a few moments to remember where he was and to calm himself. He whined, turning on to his side. The cold, wet feeling in his loins led him to groan. Not this again.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes. As he stood from the bed and prepared to go grab a change from his dresser he could hear Virgil in the nursery. The footprints got close to his room, leading him to panic and jump back into bed and pretended to sleep.

Virgil stretched, walking into the bedroom. Mig couldn't see what he was doing but could hear him moving things around. The father pulled his covers aside. Mig had kicked his pants off in his sleep so he was easily able to slide a finger into the leak guard.

"Really wet," he shook his head, grabbing Miguel's changing things, "Did you have a bad dream?"

Mig bit his thumb, nodding.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Virgil unsnapped the cover. A shake no, "You sure?"

Miguel covered his face, "I'm sorry about earlier."

The man's brows furrowed together, "Are you still upset about that? I'm not mad or upset, I promise."

"I..I don't know, I'm just sorry."

With Miguel cleaned up, and Virgil's hands washed, he returned.

"Make room," he climbed in bed with his tallest child, rubbing circles in Miguel's back, "My boy is upset, and won't tell me. But Daddy is right here."

Miguel's eyes watered. He let go of his pride and turned, sobbing into the man's side.

"There, there. I'm right here," Virgil spoke softly, rubbing his hair back as the galaxy continued to twirl above them.