Wherever the Wind Blows [joncer, pg-13, standalone]
Title: Wherever The Wind Blows
Author: silver_etoile
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Jon/Spencer [Greta/Bob]
POV: Third
Disclaimer: Not true.
Summary: Spencer's starting to get the parenting thing down, after four years and a lot of advice from Greta and Bob, but even that can't prepare him for everything. Coda to The Fickle Friendship of Fate.
A/N: written for schmoop_bingo prompt of "kidfic - first injury". See my card for master posting.
*
Spencer sighs, snuggling back into the comfortable bed, but he sits up when Jon comes back in the room, wearing only a pair of boxers and with two mugs of coffee in his hands. He hands one to Spencer, meeting Spencer’s smile as he crawls back in the mussed bed and leans in for a slow kiss.
“Isn’t this great?” Jon asks as he breaks away, settling down and clinking his mug with Spencer’s.
“I’m sorry,” Spencer replies as Jon takes a sip. “I couldn’t hear you over the blessed silence.”
Laughing, Jon sets his mug on the nightstand and Spencer breathes his in deeply, savoring the time, the silence, the way Jon’s hand moves to his thigh. “Who knew we’d get the chatterbox.”
“I swear he’s as bad as Brendon some days,” Spencer says, rolling his eyes slightly, and he takes a sip of his coffee. He’s really missed just being able to sit in bed on a Saturday morning and do absolutely nothing except see how many times he can make Jon come.
“We should have playdates more often,” Jon says, hand creeping higher up Spencer’s bare thigh and Spencer sighs contently, eyes drifting closed as Jon nuzzles his neck softly.
“Every weekend,” Spencer mumbles in agreement. He manages to set his mug down before Jon pounces and pins him to the bed, climbing over him, and Spencer only smirks. “But I don’t think we can pawn Cameron off on Greta and Bob that much without some sort of repayment.”
“We’ll take Cam and Reese to the park next week,” Jon suggests, already wriggling down, and Spencer doesn’t reply, hands flying to Jon’s hips, pressing into the bruises already forming there from earlier, from last night, from this morning, from half an hour ago. “For now…”
Spencer meets Jon for a slow kiss, taking his time mapping out his mouth in a way that they haven’t really been able to do for months, maybe years now.
Having Cameron has been both amazing and extremely tiring, and ever since he learned to walk and talk, Spencer has hardly had a minute to himself, let alone with Jon.
Sliding his hands into Jon’s hair, he moans softly, pushing his hips up, silently asking, and Jon doesn’t refuse him - Jon has never refused him.
“I love you,” Jon murmurs against Spencer’s skin, mouth trailing down his jaw to his neck, brushing kisses against the bruises from earlier, the ones dotted down his collar bone where they’ll be hidden under shirts and jackets and none of Spencer’s students can ask impertinent questions.
Spencer’s mouth curves into a smile before he can even really think and he closes his eyes. “Love you too.”
It’s gloriously quiet in the house, and outside, only birds can be heard cheeping down in the backyard. Jagger barks once but then is quiet, and Spencer hums contently as Jon works his way down his body, slowly but steadily.
“Jon,” he breathes, barely a word, and fuck, it feels so nice to just relax. He stretches out, hand sliding across the freshly laundered sheets that he barely changed the day before and everything still smells crisp. He could stay like that forever.
But the phone rings.
“No,” Spencer moans, closing his eyes tighter as Jon stops and he can feel him pause. Sighing, Spencer opens his eyes to see Jon looking at the phone as it rings again. He reaches down, pulling Jon up and pressing a kiss to his chin. “Don’t answer it.”
“Spence,” Jon only says, a smile in his voice, like he knows Spencer doesn’t really mean it as much as he wants to.
“It’s probably just a telemarketer,” Spencer mumbles into Jon’s neck, but he doesn’t stop Jon from reaching over to the cell phone on the table and glancing at the screen.
“It’s Greta,” he says, and flips it open before Spencer can say anything. “Hello?”
Sighing, Spencer doesn’t flop back, and Jon pushes himself up slightly as he listens. Spencer runs a hand through Jon’s hair slowly, waiting impatiently for him to get off the phone and finish what he started. He presses a kiss to Jon’s bare shoulder as Jon doesn’t speak on the phone, though his eyebrows come together slowly.
“Where are you?” he asks finally, and Spencer pauses, glancing up. Jon looks concerned now. “But how did this-never mind, we’ll be there right now.”
Jon is already pushing himself off the bed before the phone is even shut.
“What?” Spencer asks as Jon heads to the dresser.
“Cam’s in the hospital.”
“What?” Spencer shrieks, and in those four words, his heart has shot into his throat. He scrambles out of bed, tripping over the sheets and ending up in a pile on the floor. He’s up before Jon can even take a step over to help. “What-what do you mean? The hospital? What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Jon mutters, pulling on a shirt and his pants from the day before that are lying wrinkled on the floor from where he’d left them last night. “Greta said he broke his arm.”
Spencer is hardly paying attention as he struggles into a shirt, probably backwards and inside-out but he doesn’t care. He can’t understand what’s going on. This is not supposed to happen!
“Fuck, what, I-” Spencer can’t talk and Jon just shoves jeans into his hands, already heading out of the room.
Hopping around on one foot, Spencer tries to follow and get the pants on at the same time.
“Careful!” Jon says as Spencer nearly falls down the stairs. “We don’t want two people in the hospital.”
Spencer stares but jerks the pants up, pulling up the zipper and clattering down the stairs after Jon. Jon already has flip flops on and is waiting for Spencer to grab whatever shoes are downstairs.
“What if he has to get surgery?” Spencer demands, a wave of panic crashing over him as he yanks on his shoes and Jon waits impatiently by the door, already fidgeting and glancing at his watch. “What if it won’t heal? What if he’s a cripple for life? Jon!” Spencer scrambles up, mind racing with thoughts of what might be happening at that very moment. “Greta and Bob never told us about this! What are we supposed to do? He could be unconscious in the hospital right now! And why did it take so long for them to call? What’s going on that they couldn’t pick up the phone?”
“Spencer,” Jon says, giving him an almost pleading look, and Spencer bites his lip at the worry, the concern in Jon’s voice. Eight years together and Spencer is still the one doing most of the freaking out. It shouldn’t surprise him, after all.
He grabs his wallet off the table instead and stuffs it in his pocket. “Sorry, let’s go.”
Jon doesn’t say anything as he grabs the keys and shuts the door behind Spencer.
*
The hospital this time is barely a twenty minute drive, and by the time they get there, Spencer has worked himself up with a frenzy of crazy ideas (each crazier than the next) of how bad Cameron’s injuries are. Jon hasn’t said much, only placed his hand on Spencer’s as they drove, and Spencer had clung to it.
Cameron has never been hurt aside from the normal kid-falling-down stuff. This is more terrifying than Spencer ever imagined as they hurry inside the emergency room. Looking around wildly, Spencer spots Greta first, standing over by the uncomfortable chairs and seemingly talking with Bob quietly. Greta looks up, though, and spots them.
“Spencer, Jon!” she says, sounding relieved.
“Where’s Cameron?” Spencer asks immediately. “Is he okay? What happened? Is there a doctor somewhere? Holy shit.”
“Spence,” Jon says soothingly as Spencer has to stop for breath, and he’s pretty sure he’s going to have a heart attack. Thank god they’re in a hospital.
“Cameron is fine,” Greta assures him. “They’re taking x-rays. The doctor does need to talk to you; he’ll be back in a minute.”
Nodding, Spencer takes a deep breath and tries to calm down as Jon rubs circles on his back. He knows he looks a mess and he just sinks into a chair. Jon glances at Greta and Bob.
“What exactly happened?”
“The boys decided they were flying squirrels,” she says, crossing her arms and turning a cool gaze on Bob, who immediately shrugs in defense.
“I swear! They were there and then two seconds later, they were up in trees! They’re like monkeys.”
“Squirrels,” Greta corrects with an arched eyebrow, but there’s a hint of a smile at her mouth, and Bob shrugs helplessly again.
“I’m so sorry, guys,” Bob says sincerely. “I swear I was watching. But you know.”
Jon shrugs slightly, and Spencer is staring at his fingers. He doesn’t think he’ll be okay until he can see Cameron and make sure he’s really okay.
“Yeah,” Jon just says, and Spencer knows he’s just as worried as him. “So which one is the doctor?”
Greta directs him to the nurse at the desk and Bob sinks down in the chair next to Spencer.
“They said he’ll be fine,” Bob says and Spencer blinks slowly, stirring from the staring contest with the tile.
“Yeah,” he mutters. “I’m just-this is the first time that I couldn’t do anything. Was he hurt really bad? Did he cry? God, he must have been scared.” Spencer buries his face in his hands, shaking his head. Somehow he feels as though he should have been here sooner. His fingers are trembling slightly as he sits there, heart thumping wildly from the panic of before, and he’s trying to calm down. Everything is going to be fine.
“Well, he took it better than Reese,” Bob says, sitting back and stretching out his legs. “Reese was a basket case for a while there, thought he’d killed him.” Bob glances around and leans over, lowering his voice. “He gets the hysterics from his mother.”
“I heard that.” Greta had returned from the desk with Jon, and Bob sends Spencer a guilty smile.
Spencer meets Jon’s eyes. “Well?”
“They said he’s in x-ray, a broken arm. He’ll need a cast.”
Sighing, Spencer rubs his face tiredly. So much for his relaxing Saturday morning. He feels better when Jon takes the seat next to him and wraps an arm around his shoulders.
Greta exchanges a look with Bob.
“Do you guys want some coffee? You look like you just got up.”
Spencer doesn’t laugh, and he lets Jon answer for him, instead leaning in against him and wondering when he’ll get to see his son. He doesn’t like being stuck on the outside.
“No, thanks,” Jon declines simply, pressing a kiss to Spencer’s temple and dropping his voice so Greta and Bob won’t hear. “It’s gonna be okay. He’s a strong kid.”
Spencer knows. He knows that Cameron is a strong kid, robust. He doesn’t cry when he falls at the park, doesn’t get mad when other kids steal his crayons at preschool, doesn’t throw tantrums when Spencer says no sugar before dinner. He’s a pretty good kid all things considered, except perhaps the tendency to be overly chatty and move from one obsession to the next with all the attention of a hamster.
“Yeah,” Spencer murmurs, and it’s more sincere than the one he just gave to Bob.
It seems like hours, although it’s probably not, before Jon and Spencer can see Cameron. He’s been out of x-ray and already put into a cast when they enter the room. Spencer has a momentary shock as he thinks how small Cameron looks sitting on the exam chair, sandy brown hair messy over his blue eyes, and in his free hand he’s clutching a red lollipop and his eyes brighten excitedly as Spencer enters and pulls him into a hug.
“Cam, are you okay?” Spencer asks, pulling back to let Jon hug him, and he inspects the bright pink cast on Cameron’s right arm.
“Daddy!” Camera says, bouncing up a little. “Daddy! They took rays of my arm! And it was all dark and I wasn’t scared at all!”
“That’s great,” Spencer tells him, trying not to show how terrified he’d been earlier. “Did you get to choose what color you wanted for your cast?”
“Yep!” Cameron nods decidedly, and Spencer brushes his hair aside, kissing the top of his head. He meets Jon’s eyes for a relieved look. “I choosed pink because Papa likes pink!”
Spencer shoots Jon a look and Jon just shrugs.
“It’s a manly color.”
Rolling his eyes, Spencer just turns back as Cameron continues, talking excitedly about the x-rays and how the doctor gave him a lollipop for being brave.
“Red is my favorite kind!” Cameron says loudly, and the nurse in the room gives him a fond smile as she takes his chart and leaves them alone. “What kind do you like, Daddy?”
“I like red,” Spencer agrees, surreptitiously checking over the rest of Cameron as he rambles on about lollipop flavors.
Aside from a few scratches on his arms and face, he looks fine. The cast looks too big for his arm, but Cameron wears it well. The little boy is clearly overexcited by all the attention he’s been getting at the hospital.
“And the doctor said, he said that I fell a long ways from the tree. But I was a squirrel! Squirrels can fly, right, Papa?” Cameron is asking Jon as Spencer sits down on the chair with him, brushing his hair out of his eyes. They need to get it cut soon. Cameron has a dotting of freckles over his nose, and he’s got a small beauty mark just behind his left ear that’s kind of shaped like a Chinese dragon. Spencer runs his thumb over the spot but Cameron doesn’t seem to notice. “I was a squirrel and Reese said they could fly.”
Cameron is staring up at Jon with his eyes wide, almost begging him to confirm what Reese said was true. Spencer smirks as Jon breaks almost immediately, ruffling Cameron’s hair that Spencer just tried to fix.
“Of course they fly,” he says, “Flying squirrels can, but you’re a boy, Cam.”
Cameron frowns, little nose scrunching up in his confusion as he stares up at Jon. Spencer knows Cameron is about to be upset if Jon doesn’t rectify the situation.
“And boys do something much better,” Jon continues, and even Spencer is curious as to what Jon is going to say.
“They do?” Cameron asks, tone slightly doubtful, and Spencer wonders for a second if he’s been hanging around Ryan too much. He reminds himself to tell Brendon to make Ryan at least pretend to be optimistic when Cameron is around.
“Oh yeah,” Jon says confidently. “They grow up into men and they can be anything.”
Cameron’s eyes get wide in awe. “Anything?”
“Anything,” Jon confirms, but leans in, lowering his voice like it’s a secret. “But you have to wait until you’re older. You’ll figure it out as you go along.”
Cameron looks decently impressed, and Spencer is trying not to laugh.
“What are you, Papa? And what is Daddy?” Cameron asks curiously, glancing between them, and Jon smiles at Spencer.
“We’re happy,” he replies simply, and Spencer smiles back. Before Cameron can ask a question, Jon leans down and scoops him up. “Hey, come on, what do you say we get ice cream on the way home?”
“Yay!” Cameron cries happily as Jon sets him down. Jon turns to Spencer, who stands slowly from the chair.
“We’ll get you ice cream too,” he says, and Spencer laughs, sliding his arm around Jon’s waist as Cameron takes Jon’s other hand, and together, all three of them leave behind the hospital and all its unpleasant memories to make better ones.
*
FIN.
Author: silver_etoile
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Jon/Spencer [Greta/Bob]
POV: Third
Disclaimer: Not true.
Summary: Spencer's starting to get the parenting thing down, after four years and a lot of advice from Greta and Bob, but even that can't prepare him for everything. Coda to The Fickle Friendship of Fate.
A/N: written for schmoop_bingo prompt of "kidfic - first injury". See my card for master posting.
*
Spencer sighs, snuggling back into the comfortable bed, but he sits up when Jon comes back in the room, wearing only a pair of boxers and with two mugs of coffee in his hands. He hands one to Spencer, meeting Spencer’s smile as he crawls back in the mussed bed and leans in for a slow kiss.
“Isn’t this great?” Jon asks as he breaks away, settling down and clinking his mug with Spencer’s.
“I’m sorry,” Spencer replies as Jon takes a sip. “I couldn’t hear you over the blessed silence.”
Laughing, Jon sets his mug on the nightstand and Spencer breathes his in deeply, savoring the time, the silence, the way Jon’s hand moves to his thigh. “Who knew we’d get the chatterbox.”
“I swear he’s as bad as Brendon some days,” Spencer says, rolling his eyes slightly, and he takes a sip of his coffee. He’s really missed just being able to sit in bed on a Saturday morning and do absolutely nothing except see how many times he can make Jon come.
“We should have playdates more often,” Jon says, hand creeping higher up Spencer’s bare thigh and Spencer sighs contently, eyes drifting closed as Jon nuzzles his neck softly.
“Every weekend,” Spencer mumbles in agreement. He manages to set his mug down before Jon pounces and pins him to the bed, climbing over him, and Spencer only smirks. “But I don’t think we can pawn Cameron off on Greta and Bob that much without some sort of repayment.”
“We’ll take Cam and Reese to the park next week,” Jon suggests, already wriggling down, and Spencer doesn’t reply, hands flying to Jon’s hips, pressing into the bruises already forming there from earlier, from last night, from this morning, from half an hour ago. “For now…”
Spencer meets Jon for a slow kiss, taking his time mapping out his mouth in a way that they haven’t really been able to do for months, maybe years now.
Having Cameron has been both amazing and extremely tiring, and ever since he learned to walk and talk, Spencer has hardly had a minute to himself, let alone with Jon.
Sliding his hands into Jon’s hair, he moans softly, pushing his hips up, silently asking, and Jon doesn’t refuse him - Jon has never refused him.
“I love you,” Jon murmurs against Spencer’s skin, mouth trailing down his jaw to his neck, brushing kisses against the bruises from earlier, the ones dotted down his collar bone where they’ll be hidden under shirts and jackets and none of Spencer’s students can ask impertinent questions.
Spencer’s mouth curves into a smile before he can even really think and he closes his eyes. “Love you too.”
It’s gloriously quiet in the house, and outside, only birds can be heard cheeping down in the backyard. Jagger barks once but then is quiet, and Spencer hums contently as Jon works his way down his body, slowly but steadily.
“Jon,” he breathes, barely a word, and fuck, it feels so nice to just relax. He stretches out, hand sliding across the freshly laundered sheets that he barely changed the day before and everything still smells crisp. He could stay like that forever.
But the phone rings.
“No,” Spencer moans, closing his eyes tighter as Jon stops and he can feel him pause. Sighing, Spencer opens his eyes to see Jon looking at the phone as it rings again. He reaches down, pulling Jon up and pressing a kiss to his chin. “Don’t answer it.”
“Spence,” Jon only says, a smile in his voice, like he knows Spencer doesn’t really mean it as much as he wants to.
“It’s probably just a telemarketer,” Spencer mumbles into Jon’s neck, but he doesn’t stop Jon from reaching over to the cell phone on the table and glancing at the screen.
“It’s Greta,” he says, and flips it open before Spencer can say anything. “Hello?”
Sighing, Spencer doesn’t flop back, and Jon pushes himself up slightly as he listens. Spencer runs a hand through Jon’s hair slowly, waiting impatiently for him to get off the phone and finish what he started. He presses a kiss to Jon’s bare shoulder as Jon doesn’t speak on the phone, though his eyebrows come together slowly.
“Where are you?” he asks finally, and Spencer pauses, glancing up. Jon looks concerned now. “But how did this-never mind, we’ll be there right now.”
Jon is already pushing himself off the bed before the phone is even shut.
“What?” Spencer asks as Jon heads to the dresser.
“Cam’s in the hospital.”
“What?” Spencer shrieks, and in those four words, his heart has shot into his throat. He scrambles out of bed, tripping over the sheets and ending up in a pile on the floor. He’s up before Jon can even take a step over to help. “What-what do you mean? The hospital? What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Jon mutters, pulling on a shirt and his pants from the day before that are lying wrinkled on the floor from where he’d left them last night. “Greta said he broke his arm.”
Spencer is hardly paying attention as he struggles into a shirt, probably backwards and inside-out but he doesn’t care. He can’t understand what’s going on. This is not supposed to happen!
“Fuck, what, I-” Spencer can’t talk and Jon just shoves jeans into his hands, already heading out of the room.
Hopping around on one foot, Spencer tries to follow and get the pants on at the same time.
“Careful!” Jon says as Spencer nearly falls down the stairs. “We don’t want two people in the hospital.”
Spencer stares but jerks the pants up, pulling up the zipper and clattering down the stairs after Jon. Jon already has flip flops on and is waiting for Spencer to grab whatever shoes are downstairs.
“What if he has to get surgery?” Spencer demands, a wave of panic crashing over him as he yanks on his shoes and Jon waits impatiently by the door, already fidgeting and glancing at his watch. “What if it won’t heal? What if he’s a cripple for life? Jon!” Spencer scrambles up, mind racing with thoughts of what might be happening at that very moment. “Greta and Bob never told us about this! What are we supposed to do? He could be unconscious in the hospital right now! And why did it take so long for them to call? What’s going on that they couldn’t pick up the phone?”
“Spencer,” Jon says, giving him an almost pleading look, and Spencer bites his lip at the worry, the concern in Jon’s voice. Eight years together and Spencer is still the one doing most of the freaking out. It shouldn’t surprise him, after all.
He grabs his wallet off the table instead and stuffs it in his pocket. “Sorry, let’s go.”
Jon doesn’t say anything as he grabs the keys and shuts the door behind Spencer.
*
The hospital this time is barely a twenty minute drive, and by the time they get there, Spencer has worked himself up with a frenzy of crazy ideas (each crazier than the next) of how bad Cameron’s injuries are. Jon hasn’t said much, only placed his hand on Spencer’s as they drove, and Spencer had clung to it.
Cameron has never been hurt aside from the normal kid-falling-down stuff. This is more terrifying than Spencer ever imagined as they hurry inside the emergency room. Looking around wildly, Spencer spots Greta first, standing over by the uncomfortable chairs and seemingly talking with Bob quietly. Greta looks up, though, and spots them.
“Spencer, Jon!” she says, sounding relieved.
“Where’s Cameron?” Spencer asks immediately. “Is he okay? What happened? Is there a doctor somewhere? Holy shit.”
“Spence,” Jon says soothingly as Spencer has to stop for breath, and he’s pretty sure he’s going to have a heart attack. Thank god they’re in a hospital.
“Cameron is fine,” Greta assures him. “They’re taking x-rays. The doctor does need to talk to you; he’ll be back in a minute.”
Nodding, Spencer takes a deep breath and tries to calm down as Jon rubs circles on his back. He knows he looks a mess and he just sinks into a chair. Jon glances at Greta and Bob.
“What exactly happened?”
“The boys decided they were flying squirrels,” she says, crossing her arms and turning a cool gaze on Bob, who immediately shrugs in defense.
“I swear! They were there and then two seconds later, they were up in trees! They’re like monkeys.”
“Squirrels,” Greta corrects with an arched eyebrow, but there’s a hint of a smile at her mouth, and Bob shrugs helplessly again.
“I’m so sorry, guys,” Bob says sincerely. “I swear I was watching. But you know.”
Jon shrugs slightly, and Spencer is staring at his fingers. He doesn’t think he’ll be okay until he can see Cameron and make sure he’s really okay.
“Yeah,” Jon just says, and Spencer knows he’s just as worried as him. “So which one is the doctor?”
Greta directs him to the nurse at the desk and Bob sinks down in the chair next to Spencer.
“They said he’ll be fine,” Bob says and Spencer blinks slowly, stirring from the staring contest with the tile.
“Yeah,” he mutters. “I’m just-this is the first time that I couldn’t do anything. Was he hurt really bad? Did he cry? God, he must have been scared.” Spencer buries his face in his hands, shaking his head. Somehow he feels as though he should have been here sooner. His fingers are trembling slightly as he sits there, heart thumping wildly from the panic of before, and he’s trying to calm down. Everything is going to be fine.
“Well, he took it better than Reese,” Bob says, sitting back and stretching out his legs. “Reese was a basket case for a while there, thought he’d killed him.” Bob glances around and leans over, lowering his voice. “He gets the hysterics from his mother.”
“I heard that.” Greta had returned from the desk with Jon, and Bob sends Spencer a guilty smile.
Spencer meets Jon’s eyes. “Well?”
“They said he’s in x-ray, a broken arm. He’ll need a cast.”
Sighing, Spencer rubs his face tiredly. So much for his relaxing Saturday morning. He feels better when Jon takes the seat next to him and wraps an arm around his shoulders.
Greta exchanges a look with Bob.
“Do you guys want some coffee? You look like you just got up.”
Spencer doesn’t laugh, and he lets Jon answer for him, instead leaning in against him and wondering when he’ll get to see his son. He doesn’t like being stuck on the outside.
“No, thanks,” Jon declines simply, pressing a kiss to Spencer’s temple and dropping his voice so Greta and Bob won’t hear. “It’s gonna be okay. He’s a strong kid.”
Spencer knows. He knows that Cameron is a strong kid, robust. He doesn’t cry when he falls at the park, doesn’t get mad when other kids steal his crayons at preschool, doesn’t throw tantrums when Spencer says no sugar before dinner. He’s a pretty good kid all things considered, except perhaps the tendency to be overly chatty and move from one obsession to the next with all the attention of a hamster.
“Yeah,” Spencer murmurs, and it’s more sincere than the one he just gave to Bob.
It seems like hours, although it’s probably not, before Jon and Spencer can see Cameron. He’s been out of x-ray and already put into a cast when they enter the room. Spencer has a momentary shock as he thinks how small Cameron looks sitting on the exam chair, sandy brown hair messy over his blue eyes, and in his free hand he’s clutching a red lollipop and his eyes brighten excitedly as Spencer enters and pulls him into a hug.
“Cam, are you okay?” Spencer asks, pulling back to let Jon hug him, and he inspects the bright pink cast on Cameron’s right arm.
“Daddy!” Camera says, bouncing up a little. “Daddy! They took rays of my arm! And it was all dark and I wasn’t scared at all!”
“That’s great,” Spencer tells him, trying not to show how terrified he’d been earlier. “Did you get to choose what color you wanted for your cast?”
“Yep!” Cameron nods decidedly, and Spencer brushes his hair aside, kissing the top of his head. He meets Jon’s eyes for a relieved look. “I choosed pink because Papa likes pink!”
Spencer shoots Jon a look and Jon just shrugs.
“It’s a manly color.”
Rolling his eyes, Spencer just turns back as Cameron continues, talking excitedly about the x-rays and how the doctor gave him a lollipop for being brave.
“Red is my favorite kind!” Cameron says loudly, and the nurse in the room gives him a fond smile as she takes his chart and leaves them alone. “What kind do you like, Daddy?”
“I like red,” Spencer agrees, surreptitiously checking over the rest of Cameron as he rambles on about lollipop flavors.
Aside from a few scratches on his arms and face, he looks fine. The cast looks too big for his arm, but Cameron wears it well. The little boy is clearly overexcited by all the attention he’s been getting at the hospital.
“And the doctor said, he said that I fell a long ways from the tree. But I was a squirrel! Squirrels can fly, right, Papa?” Cameron is asking Jon as Spencer sits down on the chair with him, brushing his hair out of his eyes. They need to get it cut soon. Cameron has a dotting of freckles over his nose, and he’s got a small beauty mark just behind his left ear that’s kind of shaped like a Chinese dragon. Spencer runs his thumb over the spot but Cameron doesn’t seem to notice. “I was a squirrel and Reese said they could fly.”
Cameron is staring up at Jon with his eyes wide, almost begging him to confirm what Reese said was true. Spencer smirks as Jon breaks almost immediately, ruffling Cameron’s hair that Spencer just tried to fix.
“Of course they fly,” he says, “Flying squirrels can, but you’re a boy, Cam.”
Cameron frowns, little nose scrunching up in his confusion as he stares up at Jon. Spencer knows Cameron is about to be upset if Jon doesn’t rectify the situation.
“And boys do something much better,” Jon continues, and even Spencer is curious as to what Jon is going to say.
“They do?” Cameron asks, tone slightly doubtful, and Spencer wonders for a second if he’s been hanging around Ryan too much. He reminds himself to tell Brendon to make Ryan at least pretend to be optimistic when Cameron is around.
“Oh yeah,” Jon says confidently. “They grow up into men and they can be anything.”
Cameron’s eyes get wide in awe. “Anything?”
“Anything,” Jon confirms, but leans in, lowering his voice like it’s a secret. “But you have to wait until you’re older. You’ll figure it out as you go along.”
Cameron looks decently impressed, and Spencer is trying not to laugh.
“What are you, Papa? And what is Daddy?” Cameron asks curiously, glancing between them, and Jon smiles at Spencer.
“We’re happy,” he replies simply, and Spencer smiles back. Before Cameron can ask a question, Jon leans down and scoops him up. “Hey, come on, what do you say we get ice cream on the way home?”
“Yay!” Cameron cries happily as Jon sets him down. Jon turns to Spencer, who stands slowly from the chair.
“We’ll get you ice cream too,” he says, and Spencer laughs, sliding his arm around Jon’s waist as Cameron takes Jon’s other hand, and together, all three of them leave behind the hospital and all its unpleasant memories to make better ones.
*
FIN.