Chapter Text
Knock
Knock
Knock
Neil nervously chews his lip as he waits for the door to the temporary guardians' home to finally open.
"Stop it."
"Leave me alone, I'm nervous."
Neil waves his husband off and the door swings open. There are two people standing on the threshold. At first glance, they look like an ordinary couple. Only Neil feels uncomfortable under their gaze and frowns.
"Hello."
"Well hello!"
The woman pulls mockingly and steps aside, letting them into the house.
"We're Neil and Andr..."
"Yeah, yeah, we know. Two gays who want to take these crazy kids."
The man laughs and Andrew's gaze darkens at his words. Neil has to take his hand so that he doesn't do anything.
"Shh, calm down."
Neil whispers and takes a deep breath. Andrew repeats after him and tries to let go of the offensive words. He hears worse at work every day.
"Come in."
Tyler runs out to meet them, trips on the carpet and almost falls, but grabs the wall in time. He smiles at them and awkwardly shrugs one shoulder.
"Oops! I have two left legs."
"You'll have a hard time with this one."
The woman says dismissively and her husband nods in agreement.
"Exactly. He doesn't give a damn about anyone."
"I think we'll figure it out ourselves."
Holding Andrew's hand, Neil squeezes out of himself, trying not to tell them off right away. Kevin would be so proud of him.
"As you like to. Two little ones are in the yard. But just for you know they're both crazy too."
The woman twists her finger at her temple and Neil wants to break her entire hand and stick that finger so deep...
"Thanks"
He says sarcastically and smiles tensely.
"Okay. Have fun. We're going to the store."
Neil watches them leave in surprise and looks at Andrew.
"Can we really be alone here?"
"If their guardians don't mind."
Andrew answers. Tyler quickly shoves the things lying around under the couch and smiles awkwardly at them when they look at him.
"Hi!"
Neil greets with a wide smile.
"Hello, Tyler."
Andrew nods more reservedly than her husband.
"Hello, Mister and Mister Josten-Minyard?"
Tyler greets with a slightly narrowed, questioning tone. Neil snorts.
"Just call us Andrew and Neil, okay?"
Andrew nods.
"Double last names are too long. And we don't really like formality."
Tyler breathes out in relief.
"Good. And it will be easier for the twins to remember. I swear, I taught them the last name Maxks for two weeks."
Tyler shakes his head and cuts himself off, looking back at them.
"And I'm Ty. Tyler, actually, but everyone calls me Ty. Although of course you don't have to..."
"If you like Ty. We'll call you Ty."
Andrew says calmly and the guy breathes out.
"Good. Good."
Ty points to the door through which his foster guardians have left and says as if making excuses.
"You have to forgive them."
"Oh, don't worry."
Neil smiles good-naturedly.
"Yeah, they're weird. I'll miss them."
Ty glances at them worriedly and quickly corrects himself.
"Unless you're...?"
"Oh, what are you saying, we'd be happy to take you in!"
Neil exclaims and Andrew nods.
"You don't have to worry about that, Ty. That's why we came, to get to know each other better."
"Yeah! And your brothers too!"
Neil adds cheerfully. Tyler nods quickly several times and waves his hand at the small yard behind the house.
"They're playing in the yard now if you want to...?"
"Yeah! Of course we do!"
Neil happily agrees and looks at Andrew, mouthing: "Wow". Andrew rolls his eyes and nudges him forward as if to tell him to go first.
The back yard doesn't look like a place for children at all. Old junk is scattered everywhere, making the small space feel even smaller. Neil glances worriedly at the children running towards them. What could they possibly be playing with here?
"Chris, Jim!"
Tyler yells, calling his little brothers over to him. He looks back at them.
"They prefer short names too. If that's okay?"
"Sure. Like I said, if you prefer that, we'll call you that."
Andrew confirms, looking around at the terrible conditions for children in this house and making a mental note to build a playground in their backyard.
Two boys with identical haircuts and the same clothes that are too big for them, making it clear that they are taken from someone else, run up to them. Tyler bends down and wipes dirt from the pale face of one of the twins.
"Boys, meet Neil and Andrew."
Tyler says, pointing at each of them in turn. One of the boys tugs at his shirt sleeve and Tyler leans down so the kid can whisper in his ear. Tyler listens attentively and shakes his head.
"No, you can call them Neil and Andrew, that's what they told me themselves."
Neil nods and waves hello to the kids.
"Right! Who needs these long addresses when everything can be short. Yeah? Hi!"
The boy who had been whispering before hides behind Tyler, who smiles tensely, watching their reactions.
"Hi."
Andrew says hello and sits down in front of the braver child. Andrew remembers what they were told about the twins in care and takes a risk.
"You must be Chris, am I right?"
He is right. Neil can tell because the child's eyes light up the moment Andrew simply guesses his name.
"How did you know?"
The child exhales and Tyler immediately reminds him.
"Manners."
Christopher nods and quickly corrects himself at his brother's behest.
"Excuse me, please tell me how you knew my name?"
So many years have passed and Andrew has long been accustomed to the fact that at work and everywhere around people are repeating this word all the time. But even after all these years, it still brings up disturbing memories from the past. Andrew winces slightly, but Neil sees Chris notice this and take a startled step back while Tyler steps forward, now hiding both of his brothers behind him.
Andrew remains crouched, not standing up, to make himself smaller and safer in the eyes of the children. He notices their reaction to simple displeasure too.
"It's okay."
Andrew finally speaks slowly and looks at Chris, who is peeking out from behind his older brother now.
"It's okay. I just don't like this word."
"What word?"
Tyler asks quickly, as if he's eager to learn all their rules as quickly as possible.
"The "P" word."
Andrew speaks.
"But it's a good word."
Christopher objects, growing bolder and peeking out from behind his brother a little more.
"That's true."
Neil nods, joining the conversation.
"It's a good word to ask for something politely. But in our house, we want everyone to be comfortable, so we respect other people's wishes. Andrew doesn't like that word and it would be polite to respect it, what do you say?"
Chris thinks for a moment and nods.
"Maybe. Will I be punished if I say it?"
"Chris!"
Tyler cries out and babbles apologetically.
"That's not what he meant at all. It's just..."
"It's a normal question."
Andrew shrugs and shakes his head at Chris.
"No, Chris. No one will punish you for that, I'll just be very upset to hear it."
Christopher nods in acceptance and returns to the question everyone has already forgotten.
"So how did you know who I am? No one ever knows because Jim and I look idnti...idencal..."
- Identically.
Tyler prompts and looks at them defiantly.
"They look alike, but they're different."
Neil nods in agreement and explains.
"We understand it. Andrew has a twin brother too."
"You do?"
Chris perks up, looking at Andrew with increasing interest.
"Yes, I do. And I know how to tell two brothers apart. For example, I could tell by your eyes."
Chris laughs.
"You're weird."
Andrew ignores Tyler's warning hiss and shrugs.
"That's right. And what about your brother? Will he come out to say hello?"
Tyler runs his hand gently through James's hair, who is hiding behind him.
"He's very shy. And... and sometimes he's silent if he's really nervous."
Andrew stands up straight and exchanges glances with Neil. At university, Neil often had selective muteness during and after panic attacks. Betsy explained to them that it was called selective mutism¹. And none of them were scared by this unexpected news. They knew from experience how to cope with it, but Tyler interprets their views differently.
"He's not mute! Just closed."
He defends himself and Neil nods.
"We understand. It's okay if you don't say anything, Jim. We just want to get to know each other."
Neil addresses Jim directly and he turns slightly, pressing his lips so tightly that they become white from the strain.
Neil slowly raises his right hand to his forehead and makes a salute. Jim stares at him and Neil continues. He places his right palm on his chest and then taps the index and middle fingers of both hands together. Neil doesn't have a short nickname given to him by the deaf, as it should be, and he sign James his name letter by letter, fortunately there are only four of them.
Jim looks at his older brother with embarrassment and he shrugs.
"You don't know sign language?"
Neil asks in surprise and lowers his hands. Jim is expectedly silent and Tyler answers for him.
"No, he doesn't know that."
"How do you communicate?"
Neil asks and Tyler answers again instead of James.
"I speak for him. I know what he needs and I can take care of everything."
Andrew purses his lips, but doesn't argue.
"Are we going to live with you?"
Chris asks and Andrew nods.
"If you want, then you will all live with us together."
"And we had an idea. What do you say if we draw for a little? Do you like drawing?"
Neil asks and Chris nods almost instantly, empathizing with them. Jim doesn't even move and if it weren't for his chest rising evenly, Neil would think that he wasn't breathing.
"So, Jim, do you like to draw? This is how you can say "yes" in sign language."
Neil raises his right hand, folded into a fist at chest level, and makes a gesture twice as if he were knocking on a door.
"Like this."
And again. Jim is silent, but watches his hand with interest.
"He does."
Tyler answers a little nervously and nods at the far table. More precisely, a long board thrown over some boxes.
Andrew hands out a piece of paper to everyone and pours out a huge pack of markers of all possible colors, bought especially for this, into the middle of the improvised table.
"What are we going to draw?"
Chris exclaims impatiently and Andrew sits down next to Neil and explains.
"If you want to live with us, each of you will have your own room. And Neil and I thought that you should decorate it yourself."
"Yes. So draw everything you would like to see in your own room and we will try to bring it to life."
Neil smiles at the children when they grab markers and start drawing. He looks at Tyler and nods at his sheet of paper.
"If you want, you can write everything you want to see in your room or sketch it."
"Are you... are you serious right now?"
He asks incredulously and Andrew nods.
"Remember what Neil said?"
Andrew asks.
"We try to make everyone at our home comfortable. And this is your bedroom. You should like it."
Tyler frowns, but picks up a marker and begins sketching out the outline of the room and bed, coloring the walls green.
Andrew tries his best not to smile at his choice of color scheme. Neil, however, is not so reserved and kicks Andrew under the table, making big eyes and nodding at the drawing. Andrew rolls his eyes and thinks with pleasure that Tyler will like their house. Andrew also likes green. He looks at Neil, who is smiling happily next to him, and can't believe they did it.
...
Neil and Andrew return home, inspired with happiness after their first successful meeting, and immediately send their repair crew the final instructions for renovating the children's bedrooms.
"They are amazing, huh?"
Neil cries out excitedly, watching as Andrew closes the chat with the workers and opens the online store, choosing one large black suitcase and two smaller colored ones.
"What are you doing?"
Neil asks, looking over his shoulder at his phone.
"They'll need suitcases for their stuff."
"What makes you think they don't have any?"
Neil frowns in confusion and Andrew sighs.
"You know how you can tell when a kid is in foster care? They carry everything in trash bags."
"What?"
Neil gasps and Andrew shrugs.
"Unless one of the compassionate foster parents is willing to shell out the cash. Cass tried to buy me something, but I just couldn't... I couldn't take those things with me. Anyway, I didn't have a bag or suitcase until I turned 16."
"When Nicky took you and Aaron into foster care?"
"When Nicky did take us into foster care."
Andrew confirms, grinning as he remembers the distant past.
"It was kind of awkward when I came out to him with a trash bag in my hands, although it was some kind of fun."
Neil gently runs his hand through his hair.
"I love you, you know that, right?"
Neil whispers and Andrew catches his hand, kissing his palm.
"I know."
Neil leans a little closer and whispers languidly.
"You know, there aren't many nights left before we take the kids home."
"Mmm?"
"We won't get to be alone together much later."
Neil pulls his shirt over his head and Andrew looks at his bare torso with a greedy gaze.
"I'm going to take a shower. Are you going with me?"
Neil whispers and goes upstairs, taking off his jeans on the way.
"How corny."
Andrew gets up after Neil, unbuttoning his own shirt and following his husband.
...
Of course, the cats are the first to greet them. Both Sir and King jump out at the same time as soon as they turn the key in the lock.
"Meow! Meow! Meow!"
Neil chuckles and leans down to scratch the meowing King behind the ears.
"Kitten!"
Chris squeals with delight and rushes forward. Tyler catches him by the hood, stopping him.
"Ask first!"
Andrew nods in agreement with Tyler and puts the new children's suitcases with things on the floor.
"Right, it's better to ask before petting unfamiliar animals. And before touching someone, you also need to ask. Do you understand?"
Tyler nods, already realizing that these two are strange. Chris also agrees without taking his eyes off the cats. Neil grins and beckons Chris to him.
"This talkative one is called King, and that quiet one over there is Sir."
"Actually, no."
Andrew pulls mockingly and Neil groans.
"What?"
Tyler asks and Neil smiles.
"Actually, their full names are King Fluffy and Sir Fat Cat McCutterson."
Tyler bursts out laughing, covering his mouth with the hand. Christopher can't help but laugh along with Neil and pet King between his fluffy black and white ears.
"Silly names!"
"That's why we don't allow Neil to name animals anymore."
"Hey!"
Jim takes a timid step forward and Neil gives him the sign "cat". The joint of the thumb and index finger looks like he's stroking the whiskers.
"Do you want to pet them? Don't be afraid. Hey, Sir, come here and say hello!"
The tabby cat meows softly, responding to his name, and also runs closer, allowing the timid Jim to pet him. He sits down on the floor next to his brother and Neil and gently, barely touching, runs his fingers over the tabby fur.
Andrew watches them for a moment and then turns his gaze to Tyler, frozen on the threshold.
"How do you like the house?"
Andrew asks. Tyler looks around the house and nods.
"Very... green."
Andrew snorts, but agrees with this statement. Tyler allows himself a slight smile and explains.
"Green is my favorite color."
"Mine too."
Andrew nods. Tyler frowns, gesturing at the man sitting on the floor.
"What about Neil?"
"And Neil loves his aesthetically obsessed husband very much, so he loves green too."
Neil says, standing up and sending Andrew a grin.
"But to be fair, I was also given a hand in choosing the design. For example, I chose this sofa and the chandelier in the kitchen."
Tyler chuckles.
"And that's all?"
"Trust me, that's all I could do."
Andrew says, closing the house behind them. Now everyone is finally home.
"Christmas tree!"
Christopher shouts, noticing the fluffy and still unadorned fir tree in the corner of the large living room.
"So Santa Claus comes to visit you?"
Chris asks hopefully, while Jim approaches his brother and tenderly touches the green branches.
"Yes, of course. Every year."
Andrew nods at him seriously.
"We didn't decorate it ourselves. We thought you'd like to take part too?"
Neil smiles at the twins.
"YAY!!"
Chris shouts and even Jim's face breaks into a slight smile. Tyler whistles as he walks on and looks around.
"So you're rich?"
Neil looks embarrassed and shrugs.
"Well, not exactly rich, but we're not complaining either."
"Neil plays for a professional Exy team, and I'm a family lawyer."
Andrew nods at one of the walls separating the kitchen and the living room, where they've hung shelves with trophies and photos.
"So you are rich."
Tyler concludes and picks up the cat purring at his feet as he approaches the wall of fame.
"What's this? Do you really have Olympic medals?"
He exhales, looking closely. Neil nods proudly as he approaches.
"I play for the Hawks and we went to the Olympics games twice and won gold twice too."
"Wow!"
Andrew rolls his eyes at Neil's satisfied expression.
"Here."
Neil takes a picture off the wall and hands it to Tyler.
"This is our college team when Andrew was playing too."
"You... you played Exy too?"
Tyler looks at the picture in surprise.
"Yeah. The best years of my life and I gave it all to Exy."
Andrew makes a distasteful face and Neil bursts out laughing.
"Ha, you weren't lying about the twins thing."
Neil leans over Tyler and points at the people in the picture.
"Right. Andrew was a goalkeeper, so he's the only one in white. These are his brothers Aaron and Nicky. And our friends. Kevin lives nearby. You'll see the others later. They can't wait to meet you."
"What about this guy?"
Tyler asks and Neil falls silent.
"This is Seth."
Andrew speaks instead.
"He died."
"It was my first year on the team. After he died, we came together and became a family, who we are now."
Neil whispers, upset.
"Oh."
Tyler hands over the photo and Neil hangs it back on the wall.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"It's okay. It was a long time ago, but we don't want to forget him."
Neil shakes his head, shaking off the sad memories and smiling.
"Hey, do you want to see your rooms?"
Tyler shrugs while Christopher nods, jumping up and down.
"Yeah? Then follow me!"
They start with the twins' shared room. They see they made right choice when Jim visibly relaxes at the sight of the two beds next to each other.
"Wow, is that our room?!"
Christopher shouts, rushing to one of the beds separated from each other by a small partition on which Neil and Andrew put toys. They tried to take into account their wishes and therefore divided the room a little so that both had personal space. Their common room is bright with pastel walls without pictures and two tables. And in the corner there are baskets for toys. And also a cabinet with children's books.
Christopher runs around looking at everything and picking it up. Tyler brings in a large black suitcase and nods at the half-empty baskets in the corner.
"Can I put toy bears in there?"
"Sure."
He pours out the stuffed animals and Neil's eyes widen in surprise.
"Wow, you have so many of them!"
"They give these teddy bears at the court after the hearings."
Explains to Andrew and deserves an interested look from Tyler.
"Andrew was also adopted."
Neil explains and Tyler nods and seems to relax.
"Ty, would you like to see your room?"
Neil asks, overcoming his awkwardness, and Ty nods.
"Sure. Let's go."
"Right here."
Tyler enters his room silently, as if he's afraid to even be here.
"Is that all...?"
"Yours."
Andrew nods and Neil adds.
"We tried to do everything as you asked, but there are always things we can do to improve. Do whatever you want here. Move the furniture or hang posters on the walls. Think about what you want to do and we'll buy everything. Let's go."
Neil nods at the other door in the room and opens it.
"This is your private bathroom."
Tyler is silent, not knowing what to say. Andrew understands. The private bathroom was his idea.
"And there's a lock on the door. It only locks and opens from the inside."
Andrew adds, showing how to use it.
"Why?"
Tyler asks quietly.
"We wanted you to feel safe in your own home."
Neil answers, choosing his words carefully.
"O...okay."
Tyler whispers tremblingly and Andrew takes a breath before speaking.
"You can always come to us for help, okay?"
"Yeah...yeah...okay..."
Tyler says, not believing them. But they don't pressure him.
"Well, make yourself comfortable then. I'll go make dinner."
...
"Hey, Neil? Are you done?"
Andrew peers into the kitchen.
"Yeah. And I've been thinking about our to-do list."
Neil nods at the fridge, where a list of things to do is hanging on magnets.
"I'll go and sign Chris and Jim up for kindergarten in the morning, and you sign Ty up for middle school. And have you seen their shoes?"
Neil asks in a chattering voice, running back and forth and setting the table.
"We need to take them to the shoe store tomorrow. And, of course, clothes."
"Neil."
During one of these runs from the kitchen to the dining room, Andrew catches Neil in his arms and presses him to his chest.
"Take a deep breath in and out."
Neil exhales, calming down.
"There you go. Everything is going well."
"Yeah?"
Neil looks at the stairs leading up and bites his lip.
"Who will do it?"
Neil whispers quietly.
"Do you want to?"
"You do it."
Neil suggests and Andrew throws his head back, smiling and shouting.
"Kids! Dinner is ready!"
"I can't believe you said that! We actually have kids!"
Neil laughs.
"Yes. Three of them."
"OH MY GOD!"
"Haven't you figured it out yet? They're already here."
"Wow, wow"
Andrew kisses Neil tenderly on the lips, pulling away as soon as he hears the sound of little feet on the stairs.
"I'll help with the dishes!"
Chris shouts, hurrying downstairs and dragging his brother by the hand. Tyler is the last one down and Neil waves to him.
"Ty, sit down. We have everything here. I don't know what you like, so I made a little bit of everything."
"You...can cook?"
Tyler asks, looking at the huge selection of dishes.
"Yeah, it's my hobby!"
Neil smiles sheepishly and looks around at his family.
"Well, bon appetit!"
...
¹ Selective mutism, also known as elective mutism, is the inability to speak in specific social situations where a person is expected to speak. Despite the inability to speak in specific social situations, the person is capable of speaking in other situations.