Sam gave a wave of departure to Eret as he exited the castle. That was the last person he visited to see if they were going to this mysterious banquet. He had been seeing friends & acquaintances if they knew anything about it. A few of them knew about it and some were thinking of attending, like Hbomb & Eret. As he visited them, it made him feel like his paranoia was unnecessary and Bad was really trying to turn over a new leaf like Puffy suggested. Even if they would go to the banquet, who would watch Tommy? The list was easy to make when it came to who could be trusted but it was having to tell them that's where the real problem lies. He was told that he was too blunt or got physical too quickly when he couldn't find the proper words. Puffy was better with communication and compromising with others than he could ever be, but he didn't want to stress her out more than he already has. He'd just have to talk to her when he got back to her house.
As the creeper hybrid arrived in the town of Snowchester, he spotted a familiar figure coming out of a nearby shop. It was Foolish, he was carrying bags of groceries and other supplies. Sam waved as he approached. The brunet demi-god turned his attention to him with a wide grin on his face.
"Sam, hey!" greeted Foolish, walking up to the creeper hybrid.
"Hi Foolish" said Sam, nodding his head towards him.
"What are you doing out so late, it's almost sunset" asked Foolish, fixing his hold on his bags.
"I could ask you the same question" replied Sam, extending a helping hand.
"Well Puffy wanted me to pick some stuff up from the shop since she can't leave the house" shrugged Foolish, giving some bags to the creeper hybrid.
"Oh, do you know why?" questioned Sam, nervously.
"Cause of Tommy. Have you seen him? Well you probably have since you were the one to bring him to Puffy. He's so small, I mean he has always been small to me but he's much small" rambled Foolish, nodding his head side to side as he spoke.
"Puffy told you already?" inquired Sam.
"Yeah and she explained everything. I went to visit her today and found Tommy in the kitchen, all tiny & stuff, by accident" shrugged Foolish.
"I see," breathed Sam.
"You are taking this really well, to be honest, Foolish" he added.
"Puffy said the same thing. I never had hard feelings for Tommy but wished I got to know him better before he, ya know" stated Foolish, whispering at the last statement.
"Yeah, I know," mumbled Sam, nodding sadly.
"But besides that," started Foolish, changing the subject.
"What did you do today? Puffy said she sent you to run an errand" he asked.
"Oh um, well Hannah delivered an invitation to a party being thrown by the Eggpire. An apology banquet basically. We weren't sure if it was just us going so I went out to ask some of our friends about it" explained Sam, reaching into his pocket.
He pulled the red paper and handed it to Foolish. He seemed to scan over, humming to himself.
"Looks similar to the one Punz delivered" remarked the demi-god, handing the letter back to Sam.
Yeah, wait-,You got one too" exclaimed Sam, bewildered.
"Yeah! Punz dropped some off when I was at the kinoko building site with Sapnap & Karl yesterday. Sapnap said he wasn't going to go, so he gave his invite to George" nodded Foolish.
"Well then I have to go then if George is" stated Sam.
"Then who's gonna watch Tommy? Puffy said she's going since I'm going" expressed Foolish, concerned.
"I don't know. We'll have to talk with Puffy about this once we are back at the house" sighed Sam, crossing his arms.
"Good thing we are here then" smiled Foolish, looking up at the house in front of them.
"Oh" said Sam, kinda surprised.
Foolish laughed a little before heading up the stairs. Sam followed behind and knocked upon the door. There was a muffled greeting before the duo haired woman appeared at the door. Her hair was tied up and she had smudges of dirt on her face.
"Welcome back you two" smiled Puffy, stepping back to let the duo in.
"Hello Puffy" waved Sam.
"Hi Puffy" greeted Foolish, leaning down to give her a headbutt.
"Didn't expect you two to come back together" addressed Puffy.
"Sam saw me leaving the market and we ended up chatting our way back here" nodded Foolish, as he headed towards the kitchen.
"Yeah, we talked about the invites to the banquet and a bit about Tommy" included Sam, following after him.
Ah, so you know" hummed Puffy, peeping into the kitchen.
"I do, but I think we would have ended up telling him first" nodded Sam, as he sat bags on the table.
"Though where is Tommy?" he asked, looking around.
"He's in his room. I had to clean up the house so he is in his crib" remarked Puffy, as she started taking things out of the bags.
"You can go see him, but take off your armor and wash yourself up. I already gave him a bath so he's as clean as a whistle" she added.
"Yes ma'am" nodded Sam, saluting.
"I'll come with you in a bit, I'm gonna help Puffy with the groceries" claimed Foolish, as he started sorting things.
The creeper hybrid nodded and headed back into the main room. He placed his golden armor in the corner of the living room and hung his coat up on the rack by the door. Afterwards, he went down the hall, where the bathroom resides.
His trip was short, only entering to wash his hands and face, before heading back up and cracking open into Tommy's room.The room was neater than when he left it. The toys were put away, the curtains were closed, blankets folded on the chair, and the floor was swept. In the crib,just in the corner, was where the tiny blonde rested. A soft smile curled onto Sam's face as he walked in. He placed his mask on the table and headed towards the cradle.
"Hi Tommy" cooed Sam, leaning to look down at the blonde.
Tommy looked up at him confused but squealed loudly at the sight of Sam. He reached upwards to him, wanting to pick up, which Sam complied to. He scooped the blonde into his arms and brought him close to his face. Tommy giggled softly and pressed his tiny face into Sam's cheek. The creeper hybrid let a purr crawl up his throat at the affection and gently rubbed circles into his back. He moved across the room towards the armchair. He leaned back into it and rested and held up Tommy.
"Heard you met Foolish, How do you feel about him?" asked Sam.
Tommy just bleped and patted his face.
"I think he's a pretty cool guy. Though, I'm biased because I really like him" hummed Sam.
"Though, I think he has a thing for Ponk" he sighed, bring Tommy to his chest.
"They seemed to be getting long swell which I'm glad of since I also like Ponk. It's just he and I had a little falling out a few months ago and he's been upset" he added.
"I haven't spoken to him much lately besides today but he feels so distant. You think I should try reaching out to him?" inquired Sam, looking down at Tommy.
The blonde just stared at him and gave a small headbutt to his chest. The creeper hybrid laughed quietly as ran his fingers through Tommy's hair. It was much shorter but still had curls to it. Sam had noticed faint white streaks dancing across it, which he found weird but assumed it was due to exposure to unknown elements. Sam wasn't all too versed with witchcraft or black magic which is why he didn't believe in the revival book nonsense. Or at least when it used to be nonsense to him. He was a builder and he didn't have divine powers to do what he does. Being a half creeper only made his job harder when he got upset, so he never understood those who sought out being more than they were since it could end as a curse for them. Though, at the end of the day, Sam couldn't control how other people think or do things.
As he descended into his thoughts, Sam was snapped out of his train of thought by knocking at the door. He looked up to see Foolish standing in the doorway.
"Hey!" waved Foolish, nervously.
"Hello?" replied Sam, confused.
"Puffy has started working on dinner so I came in here to hang out with you two out" stated Foolish, closing the door behind him.
Ah, we're doing fine" nodded Sam, as he let Tommy fiddle with his hand.
"Oh wanna see something cool?" asked Foolish, moving to sit on the floor.
"Sure," said Sam.
"Come down here" requested Foolish.
Lifting a brow, Sam moved from the chair to sit on the floor in front of Foolish.
"May I hold the child?" questioned Foolish.
"Are you gonna do something dangerous?" asked Sam, skeptical.
"Of course not, I swear," assured Foolish.
The creeper hybrid looked the demigod up and down before handing the small blonde over to him. Foolish rested his hand under the entire upper half of Tommy's back while the other held him.
"Can fit him in both my hands perfectly" stated Foolish, smiling widely.
"Wow, you can" remarked Sam, a little surprised himself.
"Like me & Puffy were talking a few hours ago and I thought I was gonna crush him in my arms so I just held him in my hands" explained Foolish, gently rocking the boy.
"He's so freaking small" he adored, cooing softly.
"Yeah but still quite a handful" sighed Sam.
"I mean, doesn't that come with territory" claimed Foolish
"No lie there" nodded Sam, resting against the wall.
"Don't you have kids, Foolish?" questioned Sam.
"Yeah, Foolish Jr. & Finley. Sometimes I bring them over to Snowchester to visit Michael while I work on the Beeduo mansion" replied Foolish.
"Who's Michael?" asked Sam.
"Oh, I shouldn't have mentioned him," expressed Foolish, looking concerned.
"Why?" inquired Sam, confused.
"I mean, I already put it out there. Basically, Ranboo & Tubbo have a son named Michael they adopted a few months ago. He's on the younger side but can keep up with the mild chaos of my kids" explained Foolish, as he moved closer to Sam's side.
"Oh," remarked Sam, surprised.
"I will say though, Michael is their pride & joy and they have already had cases of threatening folks if they harm him" added the demigod.
"I would have expected that from them but atleast are starting to settle down to a calmer lifestyle. Especially after everything they have been through" stated Sam.
"Do they know about Tommy yet?" asked Foolish.
"No, not yet. Puffy and I were originally gonna tell them after it happened but we decided to hold off until we had Tommy settled in before telling people" huffed Sam.
"That makes sense. You guys seemed to have done a great job with that" complimented Foolish, looking around the room.
"Yeah, but um" started Sam, before quietly.
"Hm?" hummed Foolish, looking over at the creeper hybrid.
"Can I confide in you for a moment?" inquired Sam.
'Sure, what's up?' nodded Foolish, resting Tommy into his lap.
"Well, I'm really hesitant to tell Tubbo & Ranboo since there had been a situation with Jack Manifold and Nihachu when we first took Tommy in" sighed Sam.
"I'm gonna assume that didn't go well" remarked Foolish.
"No, it didn't. That's why we held off on telling the boys" stated Sam.
"Are you going to ask them for the Banquet? Unless Niki and Jack aren't going" questioned Foolish.
"There is no way in prime am I letting those two around Tommy. The party is meant for adults, and only adults' ' declared the creeper hybrid, a low growl rising his throat.
"I see," said Foolish, nodding slowly.
"I have a suggestion then" he stated, raising his hand.
"Hm?" hummed Sam.
"Instead of re-introducing Tommy to Tubbo & Ranboo the night of the banquet, how about we do it some time this week. Then, they could get used to being around him and the stress can be lifted off you and Puffy when the party comes around." described Foolish, gesturing about.
Sam went silent for a moment.
He felt very stupid for not thinking of that.
"Do you think it would work?" asked Sam, slightly dumbfounded.
"Most logical thing to me, doing the assignment early is easier than doing it the night before it's due" smiled the demi-god
"True" nodded the creeper hybrid, turning to lean against Foolish's shoulder.
"Besides, Puffy was talking to me about taking breaks when it's obvious you both need one" laughed Foolish, ruffling Sam's hair.
"Yeah" chuckled Sam, nervously.
"Hey Foolish" said Sam.
"Yes Sam?" Foolish replied.
"You are good at conversation" stated Sam.
"I guess I am," shrugged Foolish.
"Wanna help me come up with things to say to the boys?" Sam asked.
"Sure, I can try," nodded Foolish.
Sam gave him a thumbs up before reaching to the coffee table & grabbing the pen and writing pad. Foolish wrapped his free arm around the creeper hybrid as he settled back down. They started brainstorming together while throwing random topics around.
Puffy waved an oven mitten around as she waved black smoke out the window. She accidentally ended up burning the dinner she was cooking. Gosh, she needs to retake Niki's cooking lessons or else she would just be making soup for the rest of her days. A few ravens flew in, settling on the countertops & fridge. The sheep woman cursed under her breath since it was such a pain to get the feathered animals out of her house. Atleast when the sheeps got in, she could just usher them back outside with food. For the birds, she had to get a broom and start calling out sailor insults to chase 'em out. She didn't want to do that now since she was tired so she was going to ask Sam & Foolish if they were okay with soup for the night. She turned off her music player and headed down the hall. Strangely though, it seems quieter than she expected, thinking men would be chatting or playing with Tommy.
"Sam? Foolish? Are you guys alright?" called Puffy, knocking on the door.
There was no response. Concerned, Puffy pushed open the door.
"You guys are surprisingly quiet," she commented, before stopping herself.
Slouched against the back wall of the room, Sam & Foolish sat sleeping on each others' shoulder. Tommy was also sleeping with them but sitting in Foolish's lap. It was quite unexpected but both men had been very busy today so they deserved their rest. Puffy smiled softly, leaning down towards them. She gently shifted Foolish's arm and scooped Tommy away. He made just a little noise but didn't wake up. The sheep woman pressed gentle kisses atop the blonde boy's head as she carried him over to the crib. After settling him in there, Puffy stepped out into the closet of the room. There was a basket over blankets sitting on the floor. She took the top blanket and headed over to where Sam & Foolish sat. She tucked each end of it on either side of them and pulled it till it reached the floor. Taking a step, she looked between them and Tommy in the crib.
"I guess I have to make a big breakfast in the morning," she sighed, with a chuckle.
She walked over to the dresser and turned on the nursery lamp before turning the room light off. She gave one last look at the boys before heading to her own room for the night.