Chapter Text
4 YEARS LATER
Neil yawns, blinking awake, wincing at the sunlight streaming through the window. He glances over to Andrew’s side of the bed, sighing heavily when he sees that it’s empty. He’s accustomed to Andrew waking before him, but he loves the days that Andrew can stay in bed and Neil could wake up to his adorable bed head and growly voice.
He smiles to himself, stretching as he gets off the bed. Ambling over to the bathroom, he relieves himself and brushes his teeth. He shrugs on one of Andrew’s comfy sweaters that are too big for him and sweatpants, pushing a hand through his hair as he leaves the room.
The house is suspiciously quiet. He walks over to Maddox and Asher’s rooms, knocking lightly and poking his head in. Neither of them is in their bed, and Neil sighs, yawning again, wondering if Andrew took them out.
He lopes down the stairs, King streaking past him in a blaze of orange, and Neil chuckles. He first fills the cats’ bowls with food and water before going to the kitchen. He wraps his arms around himself, frowning when he realises that there aren’t any notes left for him to let him know where everybody went.
He sighs again, pouring himself a steaming cup of coffee, going to search for his co-inhabitants. The TV room and dining room are empty, as well as the boys’ study room. Neil feels too lazy to walk back up the stairs to see if Andrew’s in his office, deciding to check outside in case the boys somehow managed to coerce Andrew into playing Exy at an ungodly hour in the morning.
It was less rare these days to see Andrew on the court, especially after Neil had started giving the boys Exy coupons to play with their father every Christmas. Andrew had also allowed Nicky to be a joint partner in the company, so he could spend more time at home with his family. Even though the kids were both four years older, their love for the sport just got deeper as the time passed.
Neil sighs, drinking half of his cup, feeling decidedly more awake as he shoves his feet into soft slippers that his boys had chosen for him, shuffling toward the door leading out to the back.
As soon as he opens the door, he jumps when there’s a loud yell of “surprise!”. Neil’s eyes widen when he sees a crowd of people standing there, the entire backyard decorated with streamers and a large sign that says ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY!’
He laughs delightedly, realising he’d forgotten his own birthday as he places his cup down, accepting hugs from everyone. Nicky and Jeremy and their husbands are there as well as Kevin and his wifey, Wymack and Abby, Dan, Allison, Matt and Renee. Their kids were there as well, looking excited as they give Neil big hugs.
Neil looks around for Andrew, a warmth filling him when he sees Andrew’s standing to the side near a pile of gifts and a large birthday cake, arms folded and expression contented.
“Daddy didn’t let us buy all thirty-two candles,” Asher pouts. Maddox grins evilly and Neil narrows his eyes in suspicion, waiting for the other ball to drop.
“But he said we could slap you thirty-two times!” Maddox cries, charging at Neil and whacking him. Neil laughs, trying to run away from the two preteens who are trying to beat him up, escaping toward Andrew and hiding behind him. Andrew glances back, raising an amused eyebrow at Neil and Neil grins. “Save me?”
Andrew huffs, rolling his eyes as he turns and pulls Neil into a gentle kiss. Neil melts, almost forgetting the two boys chasing him until he hears their synchronised “eeew”.
Neil blushes, pulling away from Andrew, and Andrew murmurs, “happy birthday, Neil.”
Neil bites his lip, smiling hard as he looks over to Maddox and Asher. Maddox is covering Asher’s eyes with his hand, shaking his head at Neil in mock-disappointment. Neil laughs, reaching over to grab Maddox’s face, planting a kiss on his cheek while Maddox squirms.
“Oh, how the tables turn,” Neil teases Maddox as the twelve-year-old tries to run from Neil’s motherly love.
Maddox huffs, and he looks so like Andrew at that moment that it makes Neil laugh. He shakes his head fondly, walking around a bit, talking to everyone and sharing out more hugs.
Kevin sighs as he comes up to Neil, looking disdainfully at the iced cake on the table. “I tried to get them to buy a vegetable cake,” he says regretfully, and Neil scoffs, rolling his eyes as he hugs Kevin. Over the past few years, he and Kevin had gotten surprisingly closer, and now he was Kevin’s assistant coach for the PSU Foxes after Wymack had retired a couple of years prior.
“We never even entertained the thought,” Nicky promises Neil as he stands next to Kevin, shaking his head in disappointment. He’s gently holding the baby that he and Erik had adopted a few months earlier, a gorgeous baby girl they’d named Aryn. Neil coos at her as he takes her from Nicky. She was half asleep, so he lays her gently on his shoulder, rocking her slightly as he talks to Nicky and Erik.
She was so well behaved, and a wonderful addition to their family. Maddox and Asher loved her as well, playing with her every time they got a chance.
“Neil,” Asher says urgently, poking his shoulder. “You need to open your presents!”
Neil laughs at him, shaking his head. “You just want cake, don’t you?” he asks, smirking at Ash, who shrugs, trying to look innocent.
“Here, let me take Aryn,” Thea offers, and Neil hands over the sleeping baby as Andrew comes to stand near him. Thea carries her away from the crowd, rocking her gently as she talks to Dan and Jeremy.
Everyone else crowds around the table, singing a botched chorus of Happy Birthday after the candles are lit, and Neil simply is unable to stop beaming happily. He closes his eyes to make a wish and is unsurprised when he’s unable to think of something because he has everything he needs right now.
After blowing out the candles, he allows both Asher and Maddox to cut the cake for him, laughing when they both manage to get icing on his nose while trying to feed it to him. The cake tastes delicious, and Neil decides to go ahead and cut the entire thing in slices, sharing out to everyone.
“Open presents,” Asher repeats urgently, chocolate smeared across his mouth, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Neil laughs, leaning against Andrew, heart fluttering when Andrew’s hand slides around his waist, holding him gently. Andrew pulls Asher close, wiping his mouth and ruffling his hair.
Neil opens his gifts with help from Asher and Maddox. He saves the kids’ and Andrew’s presents for last, opening the others and loving everything he gets, ranging from clothing to cool techy devices. Andrew’s present (‘for now’, he whispers in Neil’s ear, making him blush) is a gorgeous leather jacket. Neil falls in love with it immediately, leaning over to give Andrew a gentle kiss as he hugs it.
“That’s gross,” Maddox declares, he and Asher taking their box off the table and placing it in front of Neil, pushing him to sit. Neil chuckles, allowing them to manhandle him as they place a large box in his lap.
“Open it,” Asher orders, and Neil laughs, complying. He takes off the lid, gasping when a bunch of balloons float out. They’re light blue glittery balloons, tethered to the base of the box. The box is filled with tons of tissue paper, and Neil shuffles through the shredded paper, feeling around and drawing out a flat rectangular board.
On it is written ‘WILL YOU BE OUR DAD?’, and Neil stares at it incomprehensibly, his heart racing. He drags his stare to the two eager preteens standing in front of him, swallowing hard.
“We want you to adopt us,” Asher declares, looking proud of himself.
“And be our legal father,” Maddox adds in. “The third one.”
Neil’s shell-shocked to the core. Against his will, he bursts out in tears, hearing the boys sounding confused, wondering what they did wrong.
“No,” Neil choke out, grabbing them and hugging them tightly. “No, I’m happy, I promise. Thank you so much.”
He lets them go, wiping his tears away. His heart eases when Andrew’s hand slides into his hair, stroking his head gently.
“I’d love to be your third legal father,” Neil whispers, sniffling softly and the boys cheer. Neil almost jumps out of his skin when party poppers go off all around them, showering them with confetti.
Neil tries to console himself, but he’s so goddamn happy. He wraps his arms around Andrew’s waist, pressing his head against Andrew’s abdomen trying not to cry as Andrew continues stroking him comfortingly.
Maddox and Asher, the traitors, get distracted when Kevin says something about Exy, which results in the three of them ending up on court. Neil doesn’t even have the heart to tell them to change into their gear first. He shakes his head fondly at the little junkies; at least they’re wearing their helmets, and if they got injured, Kevin knows Neil would murder him.
Neil sighs happily, standing and hugging Andrew, holding onto him as he tries to sift through the multiple emotions storming through him.
“I’m so happy,” Neil chokes out, trying not to cry as Andrew rubs his back gently.
“You deserve it,” Andrew murmurs into his ear, before kissing Neil chastely. Neil smiles so hard it hurts.
“Where are we going?” Neil asks, glancing around as the scenery whips past. At the end of his birthday party, the kids and their pets had gone over to Kevin’s to watch Exy games, and Andrew had all but ordered Neil to pack a bag and get in the car.
Neil had obeyed, confused yet eager, and now here they were, shooting past buildings and town signs.
Andrew doesn’t answer him, and Neil sighs, relaxing and looking outside as the world whooshes past. He’s so ridiculously happy, and it’s an overwhelming feeling. When Andrew finally stops, Neil gasps when he sees that they’re outside of a fancy, well-known hotel.
“Happy birthday, Neil,” Andrew leans over to kiss him warmly before they get out. Andrew tosses the keys to the valet, linking his and Neil’s hand and leading them into the lobby.
There’s a restaurant adjoined to the hotel, and Andrew tugs Neil over to the huge, fancy doors. The doors are opened for them and Andrew tells them he has a reservation. They’re led over to a secluded corner that’s blocked off from the rest of the dining room.
Neil can’t stop looking around in wonder, at the tall ceiling and beautiful chandeliers, gentle music wafting through the air. He allows Andrew to order wine and food for him, groaning when he tastes the delicious meals, ignoring Andrew’s amused face.
He savours the food as much as possible, knowing that this couldn’t have been cheap, but also knowing that it probably didn’t even dent Andrew’s bank account.
“This is so amazing,” Neil tells Andrew as he wipes his mouth while chewing on a chocolate cake that was so exquisite, Neil almost cried. “I love this, Andrew, thank you so much.”
Andrew smiles at him, picking up his half-empty wine glass. “Would you like to do a toast?”
“Shouldn’t we have done this before the bottle almost finished?” Neil asks cheekily, and Andrew rolls his eyes. “Fine. To continued happiness with the most wonderful family ever,” he murmurs, clinking glasses with Andrew.
“So,” Andrew says as Neil sips his wine. “Maddox has a boyfriend.”
Neil chokes on the alcoholic liquid, sputtering as he coughs, trying (and failing) to glare at Andrew who looks smug as hell. “He’s twelve,” Neil says hoarsely, blinking wetly as he grabs the napkin, dabbing his mouth.
“So is Dave,” Andrew responds casually, and Neil’s jaw drops open, eyes widening as he stares at Andrew.
“Are you messing with me?” he asks suspiciously when he finally gets over the shock. Andrew smirks, shaking his head. “Holy shit! Maddox and Dave?” Neil whispers. “At least Dan’s our friend now. You might be family with her one day!”
“We might be family with them one day,” he corrects and Neil blinks, staring at him, trying not to read between the lines and failing.
“Andrew,” he warns, feeling tears rapidly approaching and he takes a deep, shaky breath. “There’s only so much my heart can take in one day and the kids already asked me to be their adoptive father and oh fuck-”
His voice chokes out when Andrew’s hand digs in his inner jacket pocket, pulling out a small velvet box and placing it on the table.
“I hate you,” Neil whimpers, attempting once more to glower at Andrew. “This has got to be the worst proposal ever.”
Neil buries his face in his hands, trying to control his emotions and heart, which is currently trying to beat its way out of his chest. When he moves his hand from his face, Andrew’s on his knee in front of Neil and Neil almost dies. “Oh, fuck you,” Neil mutters, tears dripping from his eyes.
“If you want,” Andrew smirks and Neil’s eyes widen.
“I hate you so much,” he laughs, shaking his head and leaning down to capture Andrew’s lips in a gentle, warm kiss. He presses his forehead against Andrew’s, trying to sort out his intense emotions.
“We’ve come a long way,” Andrew says quietly, and Neil pulls back, blinking rapidly, causing tears to cascade down his face. He doesn’t wipe it away, doesn’t move, because Andrew’s going to monologue.
“I hated myself for saying yes to you on that first day,” Andrew admits, and Neil’s eyes widen. “I was attracted to you and I knew I was letting it cloud my judgement.”
Neil bursts out laughing, and Andrew just glares at him. “You’re so fucking gay,” Neil snorts and Andrew huffs.
“Are you going to let me do this?” Andrew asks, raising an eyebrow, and Neil immediately shuts up, zipping his lips. “But you were great with the kids. They loved you from the second they met you and I couldn’t have raised them alone. I didn’t know what the fuck I was going to do with two children, but I just knew I had to keep them out of the system, no matter what. You made that easy and now you’re their father and it makes sense getting married because I want to make sure that if I die, they have somewhere to go.”
Neil huffs out laughter, tears spilling down his cheeks. “You’re the fucking worst at proposing,” he whispers, kissing Andrew again and cradling his face. “You’re also terrible at monologuing,” he murmurs lovingly against Andrew’s lips, and Andrew just kisses him harder to shut him up.
“I love you,” Andrew whispers, staring into Neil’s eyes, and Neil’s heart skips a beat. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” Neil breathes against Andrew’s lips, not waiting for the question. “Fucking yes, put it on me and then let’s go to the room and you can put it in me,” Neil grins suggestively, and Andrew snorts, rolling his eyes as he takes the ring, sliding it onto Neil’s finger. “I love you,” Neil murmurs, inspecting the piece of jewellery.
It fits perfectly, a simple titanium band with an embedded diamond and Neil absolutely adores it. Andrew smiles as he stands, tangling their fingers together as he drags Neil out of the restaurant.
“Fuck,” Neil whimpers, clutching Andrew’s hand that’s wrapped around his middle as Andrew presses his cock deep into him. Andrew’s lips are on Neil’s shoulder, his chest pressed against Neil’s back as he fucks Neil painfully slow.
Andrew pushes one of Neil’s thighs up, opening him up so he can get in deeper. They’re on their sides, which is Neil’s favourite position – Andrew spooning him and fucking him at the same time, driving into Neil, making love to him.
Neil sobs as pleasure explodes in his abdomen, his cock hard but he refuses to touch it as Andrew takes care of him.
Andrew’s cock is stroking his prostate at every slow slide and Neil whimpers, clutching Andrew’s hand. Andrew’s thumb is caressing the ring on his finger, continuing to press gentle kisses along Neil’s skin and making him shiver.
After four years, it was still perfect. He loved feeling Andrew behind him, feeling Andrew’s cock moving in and out of him. He’ll never get tired of kissing Andrew or getting fucked by him.
“Andrew,” Neil whispers, leaning back. Andrew hovers over him, eyes like honey. “Fuck me.”
Andrew smiles, leaning down to press their lips together, and pushing Neil onto his back. Andrew repositions himself, sinking into Neil raw, and Neil groans as he’s filled again.
Andrew covers Neil’s body with his, fucking into him with deep, strong strokes. Neil wraps his arms around Andrew’s neck, kissing him hard, moaning as Andrew’s cock hits his spot just right.
Andrew fucks Neil in hard, brutal thrusts, fucking the air out of Neil and leaving him breathless. “I’m so close,” Neil whimpers, pulling Andrew down and pressing his lips against the curve of Andrew’s neck, teeth nipping at Andrew’s warm skin.
Andrew grunts and Neil’s hands roam Andrew’s back, fingers digging in to hold on as Andrew pounds his ass, cock rubbing that perfect spot. It feels so good, Neil’s eyes roll back in his head, seeing stars as Andrew slams into him.
“Fuck,” Andrew curses, leaning down to press their foreheads together. Neil knows he’s close, rocking his hips up to meet Andrew’s rough thrusts, trying to get Andrew to fuck deeper, wanting to feel more of him. Andrew’s cock is perfectly long and thick to stretch Neil, and Neil loves feeling it pressed balls deep in him.
Neil pants, gazing into Andrew’s eyes as he rolls his hips up, Andrew fucking him harder and more desperately as his orgasm rushes in, his muscles tightening as a low moan escapes him.
He can feel Andrew’s heart rapidly beating in time with his, and Andrew groans, body shuddering as he comes in Neil, spilling inside of him and making Neil cry out in pleasure, hole tightening around Andrew and making him shiver.
It had taken Andrew a long time to allow himself to come before Neil despite his reassurances, but once he saw that Neil loved seeing him fall apart, it was much easier.
Like now, Neil lets out a soft cry, his cock leaking precum at the feeling of Andrew’s cum in him, at the feeling of Andrew’s shivering body pressed against his. He reaches up, pressing kisses to Andrew’s jaw as he continues rutting into Neil, cock sliding slickly into him aided by cum.
Andrew slips a hand between their bodies, capturing Neil in a hard kiss as he strokes Neil. Neil sobs as his orgasm rolls over him like a wave, coming hard, spilling onto their abdomens, body alight with wonderful pleasure. It seems like forever before his body stops trembling from the force of his orgasm.
“Fuck,” Neil whispers into Andrew’s mouth, stroking the back of his head.
“Good?” Andrew’s voice is growly, making Neil shiver.
“Perfect,” Neil responds. “Thank you,” he holds Andrew close, fingers playing with Andrew’s hair.
“Shush,” Andrew huffs, kissing Neil again and Neil melts.
He never thought he would be so happy, but here he is, with a ring on his finger, and two wonderful kids waiting at home for him. He couldn’t wait to see what the future had in store for him.