(Quick cute chapter, presented by one of my mom's dogs, Boo.)
I wanna hit that... and that, and that.
Fox walked around the huge amusement park, his eyes wide as he looked at all of the carnival games. Henry had bought him an ice cream cone after lunch while Noah held his hand as they walked. They hadn't done much since they got there besides eat some delicious turkey legs and french fries, but he was perfectly okay with that. He loved spending time with Noah, and didn't really mind taking time out of his actually-busy schedule for Henry, either.
Such a strange world we live in that we appreciate vegetarians over free time.
"I can still hear you, brat. Even though you've been away for a while," Henry said as he pressed his hand a little bit harder than normal on Fox's head, then quickly mussed up his already-messy hair.
Fox looked to the side, then smirked up at him. "Oh no, my hair is messy. What ever will I do."
I doubt my boyfriends would mind.
He was just glancing back at Noah, worried that one of them might have heard that, when something caught his eye and he hurried forward. Well, he tried to. Noah refused to release his hand. It had been annoying at first, since he hadn't let him go since they got there until they stopped to eat, but when Henry sent him a thought about how Noah had had a panic attack when he'd been told about his brother by Owen and Amos, he decided not to be upset about it. He liked holding his hand, and he rarely got to be around the man, so he decided to just enjoy it.
He just forgot that he was doing it sometimes, and that he refused to let go.
"Would you like to give that a try?" Henry asked as they stopped near where Fox had intended to run.
Nodding, Fox walked up to the weight scale on the ground, then looked up at the burly man standing in front of him. He could read the signs around him pretty well now, so he knew what was up. The guy was going to try and guess his weight.
"He'll give it a shot," Henry said as he handed the man three dollars.
The man took the money and nodded, then looked Fox over for a few moments before speaking a number. It was definitely close to his weight, since Owen had weighed him every single week since they'd taken him in to make sure that he was still gaining the weight he needed to.
Hmm.
Stepping forward as Noah finally released his hand, Fox licked his lips, then gave a little hop. When he came back down onto the surface of the scale, he was an adorable little fox.
He heard Henry and Noah crack up behind him and swished his tail, looking up at the game manager with his best puppy-fox eyes as he tucked his ears softly against the back of his head.
"You're kid knows how to do this, huh?" the guy grumbled, but he couldn't hide the smile on his face as he shook his head and gestured toward the wall of massive stuffed animal prizes behind him.
"I haven't had such a fun contestant in a while, so I'll let it slide, kid. Pick out the one you want."
Fox was honestly surprised that it had worked. He quickly squirmed his way into his lower body clothing, then carefully shifted so that he was covered from the waist down. He then grabbed his shirt and stood up to tug it on before looking up at all of the stuffed animals that could almost rival him in size.
Oh my god. I need a me!
He hopped up and down while pointing to the giant red fox that looked like it was pissed about something no one else knew about. Its eyebrows were slanted and it had a scowl on its face.
He's perfect!
The moment the man got it down Fox glomped it, squishing the thing to his chest before turning toward Henry and Noah with a huge grin.
"You're such a dork," Henry said as he put a hand on Fox's back and gently nudged him toward Noah.
The second the man was in reach he took the hand Fox made free.
"It looks just like you," he said, earning a bigger grin from Fox. "Right? That is definitely the face I made when you stunk up the bathroom and I was forced to poop under your bed."
Noah's face turned pink as Henry tried to cover up an abrupt sputter of laughter, but failed.
He thought that he might get reprimanded for his comment, since he'd said it out loud around a ton of people and hadn't thought it, but when he suddenly got tugged into Noah's arms for a tight hug, he blinked up at the man, confused.
"Hey Fox?" Noah said quietly, making Fox frown as he felt Henry gently take his huge stuffed animal. He couldn't quite hear him. It was way too loud around them.
Since he could sense that Noah was wanting to say something serious, Fox started tugging him toward a less populated area. Or, well, at least away from all the carnival game noises.
They ended up stopping at the petting zoo. It probably wasn't his best idea, since the chickens and goats smelled delicious, but he pushed aside the thought and focused on Noah.
"What did you want to say? I couldn't hear where we were at," he said seriously.
Henry walked over to stand next to him, the massive fox stuffed animal sitting on his shoulders like an angry cartoon ghost looming over the man's head.
"Well, um... we've been talking it over for a while now, but we wanted to know what you would think," Noah said as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Henry tapped Noah on the head with the stuffed fox's paw, drawing a nervous smile from his husband before they both returned their attention to Fox.
"Well, we would like to know if you'd like to perhaps, be considered our son?"
Noah looked down for a moment before bringing his eyes back up to Fox.
"Of course, the age gap doesn't make much sense for an official adoption, and your parents might get in the way of that, but we would like to be there for you like real parents."
Fox stared at him with a slightly open mouth for quite a few moments before lifting a hand and pointing at Henry.
"This one, too? Part of the package?"
Henry rolled his eyes, but was smiling the whole time... as was Fox.
"Unfortunately, this vegetarian comes as part of the deal," Henry said.
Fox lifted his hand to grab his chin as he looked between the two, thinking over the proposition. Noah looked so nervous that he might throw up his lunch while Henry tilted his head and narrowed his eyes as he took the fox off his shoulder and held it just out of reach overhead.
"Accept the deal or the fox gets it."
Fox quickly threw his hands in the air, shaking them submissively.
"I take it, I take it!" he half-shouted a second before Noah abruptly picked him up with a grunt and hugged him tightly to his chest.
"What have they been feeding you? I feel like I just hurt my back," he mumbled jokingly right before Fox replied, "fried chicken, way too many vegetables, and no cats... unfortunately."
Noah snickered, shaking his head as Henry looped one of his fingers in the other man's belt loop, then began leading them forward.
"We have quite a lot more to do before the temperature gets too cold," he said, earning an agreeing sound from both of them. Although, Fox was quite content just being carried by Noah as he settled against the man, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and resting his head on his arm. He was already wearing a coat because of the weather, but being in Noah's arms made it that much warmer.
This feels pretty good. I'm a happy fox, with two new dads... two real dads.
It dawned on him then, making him squirm closer to Noah, if that were even possible.
I have two parents now that actually like me for who I am and not just what they want me to be.
"Love, Fox. We love you, you dork," Henry said as Noah chuckled and squeezed him a little.
"Yep. The word is definitely love, Fox."