Try Me (boyxboy)

Chapter 9

Cause I love you guys and Jacinda929 totally reminded me at a great time. Also, I don't edit. I don't know how obvious that has been since I began this story but I just don't.

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"Hey, Richie," Troy whispered as he sauntered into the living room and sat on the couch beside Richie. It was the only period of time when he was quiet, when his murderous-if-woken family was all asleep at the same time. Richie was watching reruns of Seinfield while letting his thoughts run wild when Troy came down.

Richie couldn't fight an affectionate smile though he knew he should be scolding the young boy. "Hey, Troy, why are you up so late? It's way past your bedtime."

"Couldn't sleep," Troy whispered back. He fidgeted with his fingers, throwing sideways glances at Richie.

"What is it, Troy?" Richie asked, scooting closer to him.

Troy asked nervously, "Would you be mad if I said I miss my mom?"

All of the oxygen flew out of Richie's lungs. He felt like he couldn't breathe and his heart ached. "Oh, baby," Richie lifted Troy onto his lap and cuddled him, "Of course not. It's fine to miss your mom."

"But I kind of don't," Troy snuggled into Richie's shoulder, "I like having you around. If my mom came back, would you leave us?"

"No," Richie was appalled by the idea, "I wouldn't do that to you or Venus or Rachel. I love all of you."

"And you want to be our daddy too?" Troy asked.

Richie blinked at him, "What?"

"Dad said that you want to be our daddy too, that's why you live here with us."

"Oh, did he?" Richie laughed, "I guess he's right. I want to be here for you whenever you need me and even when you don't need me."

"I'll always need you," Troy stated irrefutably. "You're my dad too."

Richie felt a sudden wave of tears sting his eyes and hugged Troy tighter. He couldn't trust himself to respond with an even voice.

"Okay, little guy," Tyler appeared at the doorway, "Off to bed."

Troy pouted, "I don't wanna."

"Yeah, you're not going to 'wanna' when you wake up tomorrow morning either. Now get up there. Come on, march." Tyler watched Troy go up the stairs until he was out of sight then sat beside Richie.

Richie immediately fell into the protective embrace of his boyfriend and allowed his tears to stream down his cheeks. He chuckled, "Did you hear that, Ty? I'm his dad too."

Tyler nodded, "I've known that for a while now."

They fell silent, the automated laughter of Seinfield filling the room.

"I want Bonnie."

Tyler's eyes widened as he looked down at Richie.

Richie wiped his eyes roughly with the sleeve of his shirt and muttered, "I want my little girl. She's my daughter too so she should be here."

Tyler froze, unsure of how he should respond. Getting Bonnie back wasn't as simple as picking her up from her grandparent's house. Sarah's parents never even liked him. Thinking back, he was sure that he married Sarah just to spite them and he was almost sure that they'd take him to court for even stepping foot on their property now that he and Sarah were divorced. The most he could really hope for were visitation rights. But...

He looked down at his red-eyed boyfriend and shrugged. He'd give it a shot. Maybe full custody wasn't as far out of his reach as he thought. "We'll take a personal day off tomorrow and go to get her."