Summary: Sloane and Corbin are at the phase where they want to be independent and keep secrets. This leads to a meet-up.
Sorry this one took a while! Had a break for Christmas (to focus on uni work) - hopefully this slightly different one makes up for it!
Roman and Patton met in the first day of college after being dorm mates, entered a whirlwind romance soon after, and married the day after their graduation. They were hopelessly in love and proud of it - and they wanted to extend that love by adopting a baby when they actually had jobs and a good house. Sloane was the cutest little puffball the pair could ever have. Now Sloane was eleven years old and preparing for his teenage years.
"Ew Dad how have you put so much saliva into that kiss?" Sloane wiped his cheek as he packed his schoolbag for the upcoming school day. His fathers were beside him, giving each other and their son soft kisses as they prepared for work.
"Don't forget your script kiddo!" Patton ran up to Sloane with a folded piece of paper the preteen had been obsessed with the previous night. Just like his father Sloane was a dramatist and enjoyed the drama society at his local middle school. And Patton and Roman were super supportive of their boy's interests. Tonight was Sloane's big day as he was performing in front of his entire school as a semi-main role that was designed for the middle schoolers even though it was technically a high school play.
"Good luck kiddo." Roman gave his son one final hug and picked his up before he had to run off for the school bus. He wished he never had to let go of his little boy and watch him grow up. "I'll see you shine tonight."
Sloane skipped off to the bus enthusiastically - he loved school and had many friends. Patton and Roman would never regret adopting their little sunshine. Sloane grabbed his phone as soon as he reached the bus stop and started texting his... friend.
*****
Corbin was in the back of the car with his fathers driving him to school (getting the bus was not a good idea for the local nerd with two dads). He was adopted in kindergarten by two librarians and loved unconditionally by them, but being in middle school he had to be cautious about who to talk to. Luckily going to private school also helped him blend in a little compared to his public elementary school.
"I managed to steal some math textbooks for your mathletes competition." Janus threw an algebra textbook in Corbin's direction. Tonight would be an interesting night for Corbin - it was his first ever mathletes competition. What his parents didn't know was that he called in sick for that evening and was instead visiting the local public school to watch a performance of Romeo and Juliet.
"Don't stress about it though Corb, it's all meant to be fun." The second father, Logan, spoke softer than his husband that had stolen from their workplace. He reached out for his husband's hand and smiled through the windshield. Maybe this might be the time to reveal his real plan for the evening...
Corbin took a deep breath and fiddled with his glasses before speaking. "I've actually forgot to sign up for the competition tonight Dad."
"Oh, shall we pick you up at 3pm then?" Logan seemed unphased by the new information and just continued driving. Janus raised an eyebrow in Corbin's direction but he knew that was just because the pre-teen was lying rather than any sense of disappointment.
"No, I'm actually going to see a friend at the public school downtown." Sloane was actually more than a friend, but Corbin's parents didn't need to know that. He knew they'd be supportive of course but Corbin wanted a private life too and his parents accepted that. The parents nodded and continued driving, only short conversations between them about when Janus was going to return the math textbooks to the library and whether he paid for them.
*****
Patton and Roman excitedly snuck backstage to see their child after the Romeo and Juliet performance. But when they saw their son outside of his dressing room they spotted a dark skinned young boy also standing beside Sloane and swaying shyly. "Oh Ro look! A friend came to support him too!" Patton chirped in a whisper at his lover, kissing his cheek. Roman smiled back but stayed quiet with an arm around his waist. The two fathers were hidden and peaking over, watching the two pre-teens talk and trying to guess what they were saying.
So they were definitely surprised when the darker teen kissed Sloane's cheek which made both of them burst into a smile. And Patton screamed. "LOANIE HAS A BOYFRIEND! OH MY GOD HE'S SO SWEET AND SO ADORABLE AND HE'S GROWING UP - OH WE'RE SO OLD GOD HELP ME WHEN ARE WE PLANNING THEIR WEDDING?"
Sloane and Corbin laughed together and Sloane quietly apologised, holding Corbin's hand and kissing his cheek back. After a few minutes of screaming Sloane was bombarded by his hugging fathers and squished against the wall. "What's your name kiddo? Welcome to the family!" Roman eventually remembered Corbin's existence and gave him a hug too.
"Corbin Croft-Kant... I'm surprised there's people more hyper than Sloane." Corbin's voice was miles quieter than the family he had found himself near, his eyes were plastered on Sloane's hyper voice telling him about his boyfriend. The boy was dressed in a white button-up and a loose blue tie, he also held a blazer under his arm.
"Do you go to Sloane's school? He hasn't told us about any boyfriend yet." Patton chirped, still choking his son in a hug but that allowed Corbin to speak (Sloane usually spoke for him).
"No, actually. I go to Saint Sanders... The private school." People sometimes judged Corbin for his luck in terms of education, but judgement seemed impossible for these fathers. They brought Corbin into a hug like he was their own.
*****
"Honey we need to let Corbin be independent." Logan was sat in the dark car, book in his lap as Janus was beside him with binoculars staring into the high school they were in the car park of. The husbands were waiting for their son to emerge to find out who he was with - they just didn't want their son to make mistakes.
"We will. Middle school is too young for rebellious behaviour Lo." Janus constantly worried about his little boy - he was such a good dad. Logan was lucky to have such an amazing husband.
After a while Logan was leaning on Janus' shoulder with his book, and Janus screamed. "Found him!" He shouted, throwing the binoculars over his shoulder and into the back of the car. "It doesn't look like he's with dodgy people." The harsh faced librarian observed as Logan raised his head, also looking in the direction Janus found their son at. Corbin was with one boy his age and two adults. The adults kissed softly as they walked. "Good, it's gay. I'm going to go check on him." Janus escaped out the car with Logan following close behind. Corbin smiled as soon as he spotted his parents.
Before Janus reached his son he was stopped by a man in a red jacket shaking his hand. "Hi! Are you Corbin's Dad? I'm Roman, one of Sloane's Dads. He seems like the best boyfriend to my little boy out there. You raised him well."
"Boyfriend?" Logan chirped, tilting his head. Roman smiled wide seeing Logan put a hand on Janus' shoulder.
"Well that's why Corbin's been raised so accepting. But yes, your boy has his first boyfriend! It's so cute isn't it?" Corbin had taken this interruption to stay with the teen next to him, holding his hand and kissing his cheek with soft whispers. Yeah, it was cute.
Janus had his arm around Logan and watched Corbin for a moment. He did look happy, happier than he was with any of his private school friends. "He mentioned he's part of the mathletes - that's how they met in fact! Maybe next year he can join the high school mathletes right here." Roman pointed at the school behind the families. Janus and Logan were planning to keep Corbin in private school for as long as they could, but since he had a good friend - boyfriend - in public school now maybe they should consider it.
"Do the boys want to extend the date at ours? We'll make sure they stay safe and happy of course and cook them dinner." Both middle schoolers looked so excited hearing that request from Janus. The other fathers agreed and they agreed a time of pick-up, exchanging addresses and numbers before both boys climbed into the backseat of Logan and Janus' car.