Our Boys

The Real Angels

Simon glanced over to JJ who was holding a squirming Ethan under one arm. "Material witness, huh?"

JJ grinned back. "Rachel Davis didn't have a problem with it. At least not until Tobi managed to sweet talk her into it."

Simon glanced to his nine year old son in surprise. "Tobi?" The boy was renowned for liking his privacy and wasn't fond of change.

The young boy straightened himself up self-consciously. "I just wanted to help...like you helped me, I thought you could help them," the boy mumbled. "They're so little..."

Simon smiled in pride. "You're a good man Tobi." The youngster beamed back at the praise.

JJ smiled too. "Being old school friends with a social worker has its benefits as well."

"Does that mean Josh can go riding too?"

"Yeah kiddo, he can ride too but not until he's well."

"Yay!"

...

Ouch Ethan. Why'd he always have to make so much noise so early in the morning? Josh growled and peeled one hazel eye open to glare at the boy.

"Well, look who decided to wake up to see everybody."

"Is it my imagination, or does that grumpy morning look remind you of someone else we know?"

Josh blinked in surprise as he took in the room full of strangers. And not just people filled the room. Everywhere he looked there was a balloon or a toy or some brightly coloured card.

"Josh's awake! Josh's awake! Were you dreaming of angels?"

Just as the first twinges of panic were starting to set in, Josh felt a hand wrap around his and looked up to find Simon smiling down at him. The promise he saw in those blue eyes made his heart race. "Nuh-uh, Ethan. I didn't dream about any angels."

"Oh." Ethan looked disappointed. "So you didn't learn any secrets?"

"No. But that's okay. If I had seen angels Simon said I was to tell them where they could stick their fu..."

"Uh, yeah," Simon quickly interrupted the child much to the amusement of his friends and the doctor. "I didn't really tell him...I mean I thought he was...don't you have some videos or something to do?"

"Nope. Not today, babe." JJ perched himself on the edge of the bed and gave Josh a broad wink, while kissing the blond man on the shoulder. "Got the whole weekend to get to know you."

"It'll be fun!" Tobi stretched himself out on the unoccupied bed, fiddling with the controller. "I was gonna see my friends but I'd much rather spend time with you!"

Deji and Cal found themselves places to sit while Dr. Gamble left with a laugh to finish his rounds.

Never one to lose gracefully, Simon grabbed the bed control from Tobi's hand and hauled the boy back to his feet. "Fine. But we get to share the bed. And which one of you idiots is going to buy me some breakfast?"

Josh looked about the room filled with laughter and smiles and hugged the small toy cat tight to his chest. No, he hadn't dreamt of angels, but that was okay because he was awake now and had a whole room full of them.

The present day...

"And that was how me and Josh got to meet our dads!" Ethan exclaimed, as the story came to a close. He grinned at the two men who'd been listening closely, laughing, smiling and occasionally blinking away the tears as the two recalled their memories of the time.

"Not quite the usual adoption story is it?" Josh added with a smirk. "But then they never like to follow by the rules."

Four year old Vik stared at his older brothers in awe. He'd never imagined that the two, who always seemed so happy in his eyes, had such a dark past.

Crawling forward he wrapped them both in a tight hug with his tiny arms. "I'm glad Daddy and Papa broke the law to find you," he said seriously.

A pause. And then the boys were laughing, quickly followed by the others.

"Yeah we are too," Josh said firmly, picking up the little boy and returning the hug, while looking Simon directly in the eyes. "We are too."

Simon winked back at him. He was proud his twelve, nearly thirteen year olds, had found the courage to share the story with their two younger brothers, or at least a fairly child friendly version, leaving out the scarier details of how bad things had been when they'd found them in the shopping centre. It was all part of the healing process.

Of course, the two hadn't revealed everything. There were certain parts that would be too upsetting for Harry and Vik's ears and were private between the fathers and the boys...