"Did Alex told you why he wanted all of us together here?" Ellen asks as they gathered around in the Austin lake house that weekend. It has been more than a week since Alex and Henry in London and his family missed them a lot.
"Not really, when I asks Henry he just said to wait for the big news when they got home." June replied as she took a sip from her ice tea. Henry and Alex has been home for three days now but none of them are allowed to see them. "Well whatever it is I'm sure everything is fine. Henry sounds happy on the phone so I assumed the memorial went well." Oscar said and Ellen sighed.
It was probably around after lunch when they saw Alex's car pulled up at the driveway and they all went out to greet them back home.
"Welcome home darling!" Ellen opened her arm wide and Alex went to her embrace. "Sooo, what's the big news?" Nora asks and Alex could see Pez in the middle of Nora and June holding them by their shoulder. "Well. I guess it's time for you guys to know then." Alex says before he step aside revealing Henry out from the car holding something in his arm.
They barely could see it cause he wrapped it around a soft blue blanket and soon gasped when he revealed the blonde hair baby in his arm. He was awake with his eyes wide and those fucking eyelashes, Henry was right, it was like Alex's.
"OH MY GOD!!!" The girls screamed as they jumped and ran towards Henry but accidentally scared little Arthur in his arm. He cried as Henry pulled him away from them and tried to calm him down. "Great job you guys, really welcoming." Henry said shaking his head in disbelief.
"Oohh I'm so sorry sweetheart." Ellen says as she hugged Henry and kissed him on his cheek.
"I can't believe you guys finally decides to adopt a kid?" Nora says and Alex smiled. "I thought Henry didn't want to -" she was interrupted when Alex shook his head at her signing her to shut up. They are practically cooing over him when he finally stops fussing and Ellen took him in her arm.
"Ma, Dad. Everyone." Alex starts before wrapping his arm around Henry's waist. "I want you guys to meet our newest family member, Arthur Oscar Fox-Claremont-Diaz." Alex says and Oscar turned his gaze towards him, "You named him after me and your dad?" Oscar asks with his eyes glistened in happiness and Henry smiled widely nodding at him.
"You are the closest thing I have for a father. Now we get a chance to be one and I hoped we would be the best dad for our son, just like you did for Alex." Henry says and he could see Oscar starts to tear up when he says it and when he looked to his side, so does Alex.
"Thank you boys." He says as Ellen pressed a kiss on his cheek.
Turns out, Arthur loves all the attention that was given to him by the rest of the family. They couldn't stop hugging him and kissing him. Henry couldn't help overshadowing him and kept turning his glances at him every time he was passed around and even when he was in the kitchen his eyes still maintained at him.
"You're gonna cut yourself if you don't focus." Oscar told him as he was cutting the fruits for snacks when he was startled by Oscar. "Sorry, can't wrapped my mind at this just yet." He says as he put the chopped fruits in the bowl.
"He's fine, he's with his family, el esta en casa con su familia." Oscar says and Henry smiled. He nods agreeing with him, he is home, with his family and thanked god to Alex for teaching him a little bit of Spanish.
Oscar took the knife away from Henry and helped him cut the fruits since he could obviously see Henry is nervous. "What's on your mind?" He asks as Henry sighed leaning against the kitchen table. He stared into their living room as his son being smushed into kisses by the girls.
"I still can't believe he is ours." Henry says and Oscar smiles. "He is, I know you are worried about him but hey, that's what parenting is all about." Oscar says as he continued to cut the fruits. "Does it ever goes away?" Henry asks and Oscar turned around to face him.
"That feeling you had will stick there even when they are in their fifty. Some even outlive their kids now that is the worst feeling ever." Oscar says and Henry could feel the heaviness in his chest when he said so. "And when your son is Alex Claremont-Diaz, you just never sleep at night." Oscar jokes and he laughs a little.
"Babe." Alex called was right on time and he saw Henry talking to his dad and the look on Henry's face is quite worrying to Alex. "You okay?" He asks and Henry nods. "What is it?" Henry asks.
"Wanna head home soon? Think Arthur's tired." Alex says and Henry nods agreeing with him. They are quite tired from all the travel and Henry just wanted to take Arthur home so he can sleep.
"Alright, come on buddy." Alex says lifting Arthur up from Nora's embrace and she pouted at him. "Promised you let us babysit more." Nora says and June also had the same looks on her face. "Whatever it is, meemaw got the first dib." She says as she kissed Arthur's cheek in Alex arm. "You're all welcomed." Alex says and Henry agreed with him.
They went home that night bringing Arthur into their room and placed him in the same bassinet that Phillip gave them. He fell asleep in the car ride all the way home and he doze off as soon as he is placed in the bassinet. "We need to start working on the nursery." Henry says and Alex put Arthur down in the bassinet and he fell asleep immediately.
"Yeah, I agree but we need to start thinking on themes, colors and we need to start cleaning up the room if we want to start on the nursery." Alex rambles on as Henry took off his clothes and left only in his brief. He walked closer to Alex staring as Alex starting to take off his clothes leaving him only in his pants.
"We can talk about it tomorrow. Tonight you are mine." He says as he leaned to kiss Alex on his bare chest and his finger starts to unbuckle his pants. Alex smirked seeing Henry slowly got down on his knees as he pull down his pants and he kicked them to the side.
Henry slides his hand up Alex's thigh and rested his palm over his bulged brief. Slowly his finger hooked into Alex's waist band and he rolled them down till his ankles. They locked eyes as Henry grabbed his length and starts kissing the tip.
Alex moaned tilting his head up and Henry could see his throat gulping harder as he swallowed deeper. Alex runs his finger over Henry's blonde hair and gripped it harder when he went deeper into his throat. "Mhm, baby. That felt so good." Alex whispers and Henry couldn't help went a little harder and deeper.
Alex gasped when it hits Henry throat and he swore he could come right here right now if it wasn't for his self control. He grabbed Henry's head in his hand and brought him back on his feet before kissed the life of him.
Alex lifted him and wrapped Henry's leg around his waist and carried him to their bed. He bounced when his back hits the soft mattress but soon stopped when his eyes went to the white bassinet by the foot of the bed, worried if their bed creaks too loud and woke Arthur up.
"Shh, he's asleep." Alex whispered into his ear as he slides on top of him. "We have to be very, very quiet." Henry says before Alex lips found his and they breathes into a same breaths and exhaled. Alex slowly kissed Henry's neck leaving obvious mark on him and trailed his kiss down on his chest and his solar plexus. Henry moaned in pleasure and his head fall back on the bed when Alex starts kissing the dip of his hip.
Alex pulled his brief down and let it fall on the floor before he pulled out a drawer on his side and take out a bottle of lube and a condom. Henry eyed his movement staring on how Alex's body curve when he moves. The way his abs tightened at his each breaths especially when Henry licked it. He take Henry's legs and placed them over his shoulder with a smirk plastered on his face.
He tear the condom with his teeth before he rolled on his tips then squirted the lube in his hand and starts pushing his fingers into Henry's entrance. He gasped on contact but Alex shushed him as he pushed another finger in. "Ahh." Henry clutched the sheets into his hand as he tried to ease the feeling inside of him. "Shh, breathe baby." Alex whispered.
Alex pulled out his finger and starts teasing Henry's entrance with his tips before Henry raised himself on his elbow. "Stop teasing." He hooked his hand around Alex's neck and brought their lips together before Alex pushed inside of him.
Henry moaned in Alex lips as he pushed deeper and Henry nods when he felt ready. After all these years, Alex had studied Henry's bodies well to know whether or not he is ready for him and if he doesn't Alex would never forced him. He knew better not to force Henry cause this is intimate for them.
He was at verge of his coming and Henry looks so sinful to be under him looking like that. With his eyes closed and his mouth gaped apart, Alex can't help getting lost in his expression. He wrapped his hand around Henry's jaw and pressed his thumb over his lips when it caught him by surprised. Henry sucked his thumb down and bite the tip making Alex a complete mess.
"I'm coming." Alex says and Henry nods before these two locked eyes again and he can't help going a little harder into him. It wasn't until a sudden cries broke them and Henry pressed his palm over Alex's lips muffling his groaned and they both stopped.
Henry looked over to his side trying to see if Arthur cries further or he's just fussing. "Should we get him?" Alex asks in Henry's palm and he still kept his gaze towards the bassinet. Seconds later there were total silent and Henry sighed in relief. "We need to let him soothe himself and not jumped at his cry every single time." Henry says and Alex smirked.
"You're getting good at this." Alex says and Henry grinds his hip and it wake Alex's cock back, still inside of him. "Are we finishing or what?" He asked and Alex shakes his head slowly before he slammed into him and Henry gasped. "Fuck!" He whispered as his hand buried into Alex's curls and they both ride into their coming.
.
Months goes by and Arthur grew right before their eyes. He's six month by now and Henry had his check ups today. Supposedly Alex is coming with him but he had to stay for their work and Henry decides to go alone like he always did. So here they are in the doctor's clinic with Arthur on his lap.
"How is he doing so far? Any fussing at night?" She asks as she took Arthur's hand in hers and he smiled his toothless smile. "It's either him or me. But not so much anymore." Henry replied and she smiles before placing a stethoscope over Arthur's stomach and chest. She listened for a while catching Arthur's hands gripped on her stethoscope and tried to put it in his mouth but she caught it quick and stopped him before he could.
"He's starts eating?" She asks and Henry smiled bouncing Arthur in his lap. "Yeah, we experiments on veggies and fruits. Some salmon. Mostly chicken and meat." Henry says and she nods writing on her charts. "But this little guy hates avocado." Henry says with a biggest smile on his face and turned Arthur around and kissed him on his cheek.
"Why is that so funny too you." She asks and Henry hides his smile away. "Tell that to his Mexican dad. Papi cried when his son hates guacamole." Henry laughs again and Arthur laughs with him. "Oh my god! Tell Alex he needs to accept that this is British heir not his side of the family." The doctor remarks with a laughs and Henry nods.
"I don't know about that till his first words later is papi instead of daddy. Alex is forcing into it." Henry said buttoning Arthur's romper back into place.
"Now back at you, how are you? Anymore bad dreams? How are you and Alex doing?" She asks and Henry sighed rubbing Arthur's gold hair. "Only every day. I'm trying hanging there." Henry says and the doctor stares into his tired face. "You know that you did a great job raising him. His body weight is within limit, his healthy. You need to give yourself a better credit. Also you need to rest. It won't get better if you are exhausted. Most importantly, you need to let Alex in and helped. Don't pushed him away."
Henry sighed nodding his head with a weak smile before he stood up carrying Arthur in his arm. "Thanks Sarah." Henry said before he left her room for the day.
They stopped by to grab some lunch and Henry stops to buy some groceries with Arthur in his carrier hanged on Henry's body. He didn't like to use the stroller cause it was too much too carry and he preferred to have free hand when running errands.
When he arrived home later that day, Alex is on video calls talking to one of their sponsors in Germany. He nodded from behind the laptop after seeing Henry walked in with hand full of groceries and Arthur strapped on his body.
"Yeah, we need to continue this some other times, my husband is home with my son. Good seeing you and appreciate what you guys did over there. Hopefully we will visit soon." Alex ended their calls and stood to help Henry with the bags.
"Hey little guy." He unstrapped the carrier and Alex grabbed Arthur from him. "I grabbed some lunch." Henry says and Alex sniffed the bag in delight. "Daddy got me good stuffs today, isn't he." Alex says bouncing Arthur on his waist and saw the stern look on Henry's face.
"How is he? Everything good at the doctor?" Alex ask and tried to lean and kiss on Henry's cheek but he turned so quickly after. "Yeah. Everything's good." Henry says before he exits the kitchen and went upstairs. "Daddy is not himself today is he?" Alex says to Arthur and was greeted by his blue eyes looking back at him.
He placed him in his playpen and went upstairs to check on Henry and he was right, Henry is not himself today. He was by their walk in closet changing into his more comfortable clothes. "Hen?" Alex called and Henry sighed walking out from the closet.
"I'm fine." He says and Alex knew that word by hard, "No, you're not, or you won't be starting with that line." He says and Henry tried to walk past him but he grabbed Henry by his waist and pulled him back instead. "Talk to me, please?" He asks and Henry just shakes his head with a weak smile. "Nothing, I'm just tired. Arthur is hungry, I need to feed him." He says and walked past Alex again leaving him in the bedroom alone.
Henry went downstairs and starts making Arthur's lunch. He took few boiled broccoli's and carrots that mashed into a puree with potatoes and he shredded some meat in them. He grabbed him from his playpen and seated him in his baby seat before tying a bib around his neck and took a seat next to him.
"Come on buddy. Open up." He says and soon as he saw the spoon before him, Arthur gulped it down hungrily. "You're hungry aren't you." He says and Arthur continues to babble in his own words when Alex came into the kitchen.
He took out their take out that Henry bought and starts placing them in front of them. Henry bought them some Thai food from their local store in town and smelled of the pad thai brought hunger in his stomach.
He placed the fried rice on a plate for Henry and put them right in front of him. "Here, you eat, I'll feed him." He tried to take the bowl from Henry's hand but he won't budge. "It's fine I got it. You go ahead and eat." Henry says pulling the bowl away and kept feeding Arthur.
"Okay, we need to talk. Did I do something wrong?" Alex asks and Henry shakes his head. "Drop it, I'm not in a mood to talk and it's not about you, it's me okay." Henry says and Alex dropped the fork on the plate made a loud clanked.
"Then TALK to me damned it! Tell me so I can fix this!" He yelled and Arthur startled in his seat and soon cried a wailed cry. "Happy now?" Henry dropped the bowl on the table and carried Arthur in his arm. He bounced him up and down trying to calm him down but Arthur is not cooperating.
"It's okay, it's okay, papi being an asshole right now." Henry says as he paced around the dining room. "Oh I'm being an asshole right now?! Good to see you're turning our son against me!" Alex snapped and Henry clenched his jaw tighter.
"I told you I don't want to talk about it! Why you always pushing me into talking?!" Henry yells back and this time Arthur cried even louder. Henry hushed him by rubbing his back softly.
"How ELSE am I supposed to know what's wrong Hen? You don't want to talk, and I CAN'T STOP talking! Because you are driving me crazy here!" He yells and Henry didn't say anything else. "SEE! This is what I meant. We can't work if we don't talk with each other." He tried to reason with him and Henry shakes his head.
He placed Arthur back into his seat and went back to feeding him leaving Alex standing like an idiot. "Fuck this!" He says and pushed the chair harshly against the table and left the house in anger. Arthur sobs again and Henry coaxed him in tears.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did that." He whispered to Arthur and he knows he supposed to say it too Alex. He wiped the tears from Arthur's face with his finger before feeds him another spoon letting his own tears drowned him.
Alex stormed out the house and drove his car in anger. He didn't wanted too but he was frustrated knowing how Henry can really pushed his button. He only had one place in his mind to blow off his steam and it's his parents house.
He parked his car at the driveway before he went towards the back of the house stripping off his clothes and literally jumped into the lake with no care for the world. He needed silenced and his world is kind of messy right now and too loud for him.
.
"Is that Alex's car?" Oscar asks when he saw his son car parked in the driveway and alerted Ellen as he did so. "Did he tell you he was coming and visit? Is Henry and Arthur here?" Ellen asks as she stood beside Oscar by their front door.
"Nope. Henry told me he has Arthur's appointment today at the hospital." Oscar says and he knew something is wrong. Since Ellen retired from being a diplomat, they both resides here in Austin closer to her grandson. Oscar followed her few years later and it was the best decision they made.
"I'm gonna check on him." Oscar says as he went towards the back door, "I'm gonna call Henry and find out what happened." She says and grabbed her phone.
She called Henry few times but he didn't answer and starts to get worry but soon distracted when she saw Alex swimming back towards his father. She decides to leave those two for now.
"What the hell is going on? Coming in hot like that? Where's Henry and Arthur?" He asks as soon as Alex climbed the banks and on to the ground. He laid down trying to catch his breath. He had been swimming for a while now and his muscles all aches.
"Had a fight with Henry, needed to cool off." Alex says as he rested his arm over his eyes trying to hide the sun away from burning his cornea.
"Wanna talk about it?" Oscar asks and Alex had to laugh hysterically making him more confused. "That is EXACTLY why we are fighting dad! Henry and his fucking mouth! God! I swear sometime he has gold in them and it's hard for me to make him talk sometimes!" He's pissed and Oscar sighed before taking his seat next to him.
"Henry has vowed silenced again huh?" He says and Alex clenched his jaw tighter, hugging his knees to his chest.
"What happened?" He asks and Alex sighed. "I don't know. I honestly don't know. Since we have Arthur, everything changes, Henry is not Henry anymore." Alex starts and he turned his gaze down on the ground.
"Let me ask you something." Oscar asks before he took a breath and exhaled. "When was the last time you see Henry done something for himself, other than you or Arthur? When was the last time he had time for himself? On second thought, when was the last time you see Henry sleep? Like really sleeping." Oscar asks him from the last time they had come and visit, Henry is not Henry. He is beyond exhausted and Oscar is worried about him.
"What are you talking about?" Alex asks and Oscar shakes his head in disbelief. Sometimes he can't believe that Alex is this clueless. "Henry is not himself and you know it. You need to make sure he is taken care off before something happened to him, or Arthur." Oscar told him and it hits him. "I can't! Okay, I can't! He won't allowed me or anyone to help him. He is THAT stubborn that piece of ass." Alex grumbled.
"Well maybe you shouldn't have let him, knowing how stubborn he can get." Oscar suggested. "Like you don't know Henry. He wanted everything be done by himself. He won't accept my help even if I'm there holding my arm out for him." Alex banter and Oscar couldn't help but to snicker a smile but he didn't exactly say anything else.
"What can I do?" He asks and Oscar pressed his lips together. "Take care of your husband before he wither away." Alex stared into his father's eyes not making any senses into all of these. "Well I'm tired too dad. I wish anyone else could see it. He is not the only one who wakes up middle of the night when Artie got colic, I'm there too. He is not alone in this, but he treat me like I'm not even there."
Oscar sighed as he leaned against his arm back on the ground. "You know your mum had the same thing when she gave birth with June." Alex shot his gaze back towards his father. "Yeah, it was hell. She's not sleeping, she's not talking. The only time she left the house was for doctor's appointment. I can't get her to eat. She's not herself."
"Until one day, she almost dropped your sister down from stairs." Oscar says and it shocked Alex to the core. "Wait? How? Did she actually dropped her?" Alex asks.
"I was lucky to be home about five minutes early. Or you would be an only child." He says and Alex exhaled in relief. "Go home to your husband. He needs you now more than anything else." Oscar nudge his shoulder and Alex smiled softly.
.
Henry couldn't stop his tears from running down his face, even Arthur looked at him weird and he is already smudged with his lunches all over his face. Henry could feel how the bib has no sense of purpose at all. He stared at the food on the table untouched feeling the guilt as he swallowed in his throat. He had lost his appetite since Alex left storming out of the house an hour ago.
"Come on buddy, let's get you cleaned up." Henry said before he stood and felt the dizziness overcome him. He leaned against the table and inhaled few times pinching his eyes with his fingers before his vision came back to normal. Arthur looked at Henry like he grew two heads.
Henry shook his head exhaling and picked up Arthur from the seat before they both went upstairs. Henry had the bath tub quarter filled for Arthur as he stripped his son into the tub. Arthur loves his bath time since Henry will filled bubbles and his toys in them. He sat by the tub and splashed some water on Arthur tummy and smiled when he's cackling in laughter over the splashed he made. "Just you and me bud." He whispered.
Henry rested his head over the edge of tub and felt the that same pain he felt for the last few weeks in his chest. He can't figure out that it was his guilt or his own body telling him to stop worrying. But the pain grew stronger and Henry felt his body weakened by seconds and soon darkness welcomed him with faint sound of Arthur's crying distant away.