“You’re telling me all this happened under my roof without my knowledge and YOU didn’t even inform me until JUST NOW?!”

“I was trying to diffuse the situation. He wasn't in a good state to begin with, and I thought that would make things worse.” 

Teeran hated leaving out information, but he knew Dean would be crushed if he found out that Moses didn’t even want him knowing about what happened. Teeran was a fixer by nature. He wanted to take care of things and make things better at all times, especially when it concerned the people he cared about most. When he learned that his boyfriend had a son, he was overjoyed by this news. He’d always been the type of person who was on board with just about anything, and he loved making people happy. It wasn’t for him or some sort of satisfaction he needed to fulfill either. Teeran just loved people. He loved bringing light and joy into the world. And at this moment, the joy he’d worked so hard to create was being destroyed. He didn’t blame Moses for these things, of course, it wasn’t his fault, after all, but he needed to fix this, just like he fixed everything else.

“I’m his dad! I have a right to know things about my SON!!”

Teeran felt a burning pain in his heart. He knew how important this was to Dean, and he knew this was devastating to him, but he simply could not compromise the fragility of this situation.

“Please don’t yell in the house,” Teeran put a hand on his lover’s shoulder, “they can hear you, love. We should talk about this somewhere private.”

Dean nodded, his stance softening.

“Let’s go out to the shed.”

The men trudged to the tool shed, a ramshackle tin hut that contrasted greatly with the home they had built. Teeran flipped the lightswitch on, and Dean sat on the makeshift workbench he’d renovated from a broken pingpong table. Teeran decided to stand, closing the door behind him.

“Look,” Dean grunted, “I know you thought this was the best thing for you to do for him, and I know this was not easy for you, but I have a right to know these things. He is in my care and I’m his dad.”

“He’s scared, Dean. He is learning to trust people because he never felt like he could. You can’t just ignore that. He’s in the most vulnerable situation.”

Dean balled up his fists.

“Ya think I don’t know that?! I will be sorry about the way my actions have affected my son for the rest of my fucking life! I will always have to sit up at night wondering if I will EVER be able to do the right thing! I’m freakin’ out! I don’t know what to do. He’s hurting himself! He’s hurting himself because I failed him by not being there! Do you know how shitty that makes me feel!? Do you know the guilt I always carry inside me?”

Teeran stepped forward, wrapping his arms around his man. He felt the silent sobs wracking up in his chest. Teeran wanted to say he was confident. Wanted to say he could be the brave one in this equation. He was the fixer. He was the responsible one. But he was just as scared as Dean was. He saw a lot of himself in Moses, especially his younger years. The anger. The hurt. The willingness to destroy yourself to qualm any residual feelings that are left from being disappointed time and time again.

“Remember how we met?”

“God, I was a mess,” Dean let out a dry chuckle, his voice coming out hoarse, “and YOU were a disaster.”

“I know. We’re both fucked.”

“I don’t want my kid endin’ up like me.”

“I know,” Teeran ran his hands through his shaggy hair, “I really love that kid. And I really love you. We can help him, Dean. We have to try.”

Dean squeezed his waist.

“I love you. I love you so much. I’m sorry.”

“Me too. I should’ve talked to you last night.”

Dean sighed deeply into Teeran’s side.

“No, you were right. I just….I hate that he’s suffering like this.”

Teeran cupped his face, lifting his head and looking into his amber eyes. Moses really did look just like his father. A younger, wilder version of his father with longer hair, but they were a spitting image of one another.

“You know,” Dean leaned closer, “I dunno what I’d do without you.”

“I could say the same to you.”

Teeran kissed his man, bringing his arms around his neck. Dean pulled him into his lap and the bench creaked underneath them. Teeran pulled away, startled.

“You’re gonna break this rickety thing!”

Dean rolled his eyes, pulling Teeran closer on his lap.

“Dean! You’re being childish.”

“Who cares? You’re the older, more responsible one anyway.”

“That’s not a good excuse when you’re 37.”

“It is if you’re 39.”

Teeran playfully swatted his chest, planting a kiss on his cheek. As Dean opened his mouth to say something else, the bench actually did collapse under their collective weight. Teeran instantly went into protective mode, checking Dean over for scratches and splinters.

“God, Tee. I’m fine! I get cut up at work all the time. Are you good?”

Teeran nodded, and went to work picking up the fragments of the broken bench. Dean got a bin for the broken pieces.

“Tee, you go back inside and check on the boys. I’ll take care of the rest of this.”

“You sure?”

“Yea, I got this.”

Teeran kissed him and walked out of the shed, starting for the house.

***

Teeran gently opened the door of Moses’ room, careful not to stir him from sleep, surprised to find Mal sleeping next to him. He’d suspected that something had been going on between the two of them, but this confirmed it, not that Teeran would judge. After all, in his mind, they were kind of perfect for one another, perfect in the way that Dean and Teeran were. He felt the smile form on his face before he could stop it. He shook his head and closed the door, trying to stop himself from thinking nonsense. Right now, I just need to get things in order. He decided to close the bakery for the day so that he could focus on this issue, and Dean had called off work. It was still early in the morning, about 6 o’clock, so Teeran started making breakfast and coffee for all of them. He wasn’t sure when the boys would be up, but they could always reheat things if they needed to. As he was getting coffee beans from the cupboard, he felt Dean’s firm body lean against him, his strong arms squeezed around his waist.

“How are they,” he whispered.

“The boys are fine. They’re asleep.”

Teeran debated whether or not he should tell Dean about what was going on between them. He’d find out, probably sooner rather than later, so he elected to tell him.

“There’s something you should know.”

“They slept in the same room again, didn’t they?”

Teeran quirked his eyebrows in surprise.

“C’man, Tee, I’m not clueless. I’ve seen the way they look at each other.”

“They look like…”

“Us, I know.”

“Do you think they know?”

Dean held him tighter, resting his chin on the top of his head.

“I may sound heartless right now, but part of me hopes not. Moses doesn’t need relationship drama right now. And Mal has plenty of his own issues to work out.”

“Says the guy who started banging his sponsor the second month of AA, and is now getting married to him.”

“Hush.”

Teeran turned to face him, reciprocating the embrace.

“I think you’re right, though. They need to be better than us.”

“Ain’t that the truth.”

Teeran nuzzled his head under Dean’s chin.

“I want Moses to start therapy.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“And I want him to actually go out. Meet people. Have friends.”

“He could work with me.”

“You’d be ok with that?”

“Sure I would. He’s good company, and I need the help right now. Brittany quit because she found out I was marrying a man.”

“Bitch. Does she KNOW who you are?”

“She’s not very observant.”

“Obviously! You are the gayest guy in this city.”

“Other than you, of course.”

Dean chuckled, playing with Teeran’s hair. Teeran wrinkled his nose.

“You’re so obsessed with my hair all the time.”

“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s fucking beautiful. It’s gotten so long since we met.”

“Whatever you say. I gotta make coffee.”

Dean pouted like a sad puppy, pulling away from his man.

“Ok,” he muttered pitifully.

“Oh, don’t be like that. I’m still obsessed with you.”

“You better be!”

Teeran grinned, and his chest felt lighter now than it had before. They could work this out. They were a family, and it would be alright, he was sure of it.