Raising Anti

11

Jack stood there frozen as he watched Chase and Anti chat away on the couch together. Out of everything he thought could happen, he never expected those two to latch on to each other. However, It did make sense now. Anti needed someone who understood him and Chase needed someone to care for. Jack couldn't hold back the smile he got as he watched Anti curl up against the fatherly ego. Those two were adorable.

There were things to work on though. For starters... Anti needed clothes. They have been giving him old hand-me-downs from Hen's and Chases sons but depending on how long Anti is like this... he needs his own. Then there was his room and... And they really should get Anti tested for some things. Henrik said he won't do it though. As much as Jack doesn't want to go to any other doctor... He didn't want Henrik to treat Anti poorly.

He had to figure things out. The main one though... If Jack could find out exactly what happened with Chase's kids maybe he could help the father to ease up. Maybe then he could be told about Anti and then Jack wouldn't have to be so scared over his reaction.

He was happy though. Chase was smiling and Anti was laughing. The two had gotten so close to each other in the week they'd been together. Chase has pretty much taken to caring for the child. He gets him up and fed. He picks out the clothes, with Anti's help of course. He plays games with Anti and keeps him entertained. He's even started to help Anti with things like speech therapy. Apparently, Trey had a bit of a delayed start with his development, so Chase learned quite a few helpful tricks to help.

The fatherly man even went out and bought some headphones for him for when things get too loud and overwhelming. Anti just has to put them on to help drown everything out. Jack sighed softly as he poured himself some coffee. It was a bit bittersweet if he thought about it. Chase and Anti were so close and cute. It made Jack's heart swim to see their relationship grow as the week went on but... Knowing how Chase feels about Adult Anti and the fact that he doesn't know this kid is the same. It worried him a bit. He prayed when Chase finds out... He doesn't get too angry. Chase and his anger is never a good thing in the end.

"Hey, Jack." Jack smiled as he sat down at the table seeing Chase walk in with Anti close behind him. "It's a bit late to wake up there bud."

"It's only... Oh, shit." Jack laughed as he checked the clock. "It's one. Yeah, I slept in a bit."

"A bit?" Chase just smiled as he helped Anti into a chair before walking over to the fridge. "Ham, bologna, turkey, or peanut butter?" 

"Cheese?" Chase paused for a sec before laughing and pulling out the cheese. 

"Cheese it is? Do you want it grilled?" Anti just nodded happily as he kicked his feet. He had the cutest smile you had ever seen on his face.

"What have you two been doing so far then?" Jack gently nudged Anti's cheek making the small one giggle. One thing that Jack was very proud of was the fact that Anti has started to let Jack touch him. He's been far more vocal at time has gone on. 

"Nothing much, honestly. We just watched some shows for the most part. He's been doing really good with his speech though so I thought we could go get ice cream or something as a treat." The sound of the grilling sandwich filled the air making Anti grimace slightly. "Headphones, Kiddo." ANti nodded as he fixed his headphones onto his head and smiled as the sound melted to silence. "I was even thinking of asking Hen if he wanted to bring his sons over." Jack paled as Chase focused solely on the cooking sandwich. "I know he and his ex aren't together anymore either but he gets to see his kids more so... I just thought it might be nice. The kid doesn't ever leave the house so I just... I just thought."

"Yeah no, that might be nice. Um... The thing is though... Sam isn't very social." Chase laughed as he shook his head. Jack was silently freaking out as Chase pulled a plate out of the cabinet above him.

"That's the point though. He needs to be around other kids to help with that. He'll never truly get over his antisocial ways but it might help him to get used to being around others. Besides... He should really be a kid every once in a while. The poor guys literally stuck indoors."

"I know. I know. It's just..."

"How about this?" Chase carefully set the plate in front of Anti who jumped to eating it as Chase gave Jack this soft look. "Why don't we go to the mall? We can get some more stuff for him... some clothes... and it get's him out for a while. We can even go out for dinner. You know..." Jack's eyes narrowed slightly as Chase smiled. "... as a family."

"Do what as a family?" Marvin popped up in a chair making Chase laugh as he grabbed some of the leftover dishes just sitting on the table.

"I was telling Jack we should go to the mall." Jack shrugged as Chase set everything into the sink for later. "I mentioned maybe going out as a family to dinner or something."

"Would A..." Marvin flinched slightly as he quickly corrected himself. "... Sam be ok with that. The mall's usually filled with lots of people. I wouldn't want him to have a panic attack."

"It should be ok as long as he has his cat and headphones. I'll stick with him though just to be sure." Jack and Marvin shared this look only for both to sigh as Chase sat down with this glimmer in his eyes. "Come one guys. Think about it. It could be fun. Plus I already told the kid we'd go out for ice cream. Why not make a dinner out of it?"

"No. You're right." Jack chuckled softly as he rolled his eyes seeing how Chase lit up. "I don't see a problem with it as long as Sam is ok. If things start to get too much for him..."

"Trust me, Jack." Chase smiled fondly as glanced over at the small boy happily munching away on his toasted cheese sandwich. "The last thing I'd want is to push him."