Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

-^*^-

hellooooooo, 

i missed doing prompts and the fandom doesn’t have many of these types of fics so i will be taking in any prompts for you all because i wanna write more 

i will be updating ‘Childs Play’ very soon, this week I’m just a bit busy so i will update when i can :) 

a few rules/guidelines for the prompts: 

- no sexual things involving the kids. 

- no abuse towards the kids or Queen. 

- i would like to keep this as fluffy and hurt/comfort as possible please 

- do not send this to the actual actors.. that’s just awkward. 

- have fun! 

Hope they helped,

bye beans! 

-^*^-

Chapter Text

Everything was going well. The kids were playing outside in the garden lodge backyard together, some sort of tag game, whilst the adults were sitting just on the porch, talking amongst each other whilst also keeping an eye on their little monsters. They were normally angels when separated but all four of them together.. demon spawns. They once got into the top cupboards in Brian’s house where Gwilym knew the candy was hidden and got Joe to get onto the back to grab it. That was how they found the boys snacking on the sweets and chocolates in the bathroom (Gwilym was in the bath, Ben was laying on the carpet with chocolate smeared all over his face, Joe was standing on the toilet lid trying to open a wrapper, and Rami must’ve been placed into the sink because there’s was no way he could’ve got in there by himself easily) 

So yes, they were demons all together, but angels when they wanted to be. 

“How has Rami been settling in?” Roger asked  softly, turning his gaze from his blond little boy to the other adults, who were still looking at their kids fondly. 

“Good,” Jim replied “He’s getting better at English too” Rami has been adopted when he was 3, as it was an emergency foster and Jim and Freddie had taken him in. After those months were over, they couldn’t bare to give the toddler away, so they decided they should adopt and it was the best idea they had ever had. It took a while for Rami to warm up to the couple, but he soon started to love his new dads hugely. Jim and Freddie were proud of their boy, who had gone from hiding himself into any small place he could, to willingly giving them a hug when he just felt like it. Rami was definitely a big cuddlier , that could be proven as he hugged onto Joe, who laughed and hugged him back before they had to keep running again from Ben, the chaser at the moment. 

“That’s good, He seems to get along with the boys” Brian said and nodded slightly to himself, keeping an eye still on the hellions. 

But then, Ben was just about to get Joe to tag him when the kid suddenly took a tumble, his foot getting caught on the rock or stone, making him fall straight onto his front. The boys all stopped and gasped 

“Shoot, Joe?!” Gwilym crouched down in front of Joe, whilst Ben his Rami’s face into his side so he wouldn’t see anything. Ben knew Rami wouldn’t like to see Joe hurt and would probably through a fit because of it if he did catch a glimpse. 

“Oh shit” Freddie said worriedly, all the adults getting up and rushing over to their kids. John was the fastest though, he went straight to Joe and turned him over gently, whilst Gwilym stepped out of the way 

“Hey, baby, it’s okay-“ John couldn’t finish his comforting as Joe started to wail in pain, clutching his arm to his chest in agony. Rami whined at the sound, whilst Freddie picked him up and bounced him gently. 

“Deaky, it looks broken” Brian said quietly “Want me to call an ambulance?” John nodded at the question and soon enough, both Gwilym and Brian were off to the phone. 

“Joe, baby, I’m gonna pick you up now okay?” John spoke his actions to Joe so he had time to prepare for what was happening. Joe nodded and John picked him up Bridal style, rocking him gently. 

Meanwhile, Ben tugged Rogers sleeve, making him go down onto his knee so Ben could whisper in his ear “Should I get Joe’s dinosaurs to cheer him up?” Roger smiled and nodded, so Ben rushes off in search for his friends prized possessions. 

Chapter Text

Rami knew enough English to keep a conversion flowing, but that didn’t stop him from sometimes slipping back into his native language. The other boys, obviously, didn’t understand how that worked. 

They were sorting out some sort of game, Gwilym deciding on teams 

“Me and Rami, versus Joe and Ben, we good with that?” 

“Yeah! Me and Ben are the best team!”

”Hell Yeah we are!” 

“Ben uqsim“ Rami said quietly. 

“What?” All three boys turned to Rami, who looked at them confused. The toddler didn’t know the boys didn’t know Arabic like him. Jim and Freddie knew a bit, why didn’t they?

“Ben.. swore” he pointed to Ben with his tiny finger, looking at them like they grew two heads. Why were the boys acting like that? 

“Yeah but.. what did you said before?” Ben said, shaking his head 

“oh, uqsim“ He said with a toothy smile. All three older boys weren’t smiling though, they looked between each other in confusion 

“is Rami possessed?” Joe stage whispered to the oldest who shrugged. Rami pouted his lip out in annoyance. He wasn’t possessed - whatever that meant - he just was speaking Arabic, wasn’t that obvious? 

“Arabic” Rami said, hoping that cleared it all up 

“Ohhhh” all three of them said at the same time 

“what else can you say?” 

“A lot of stuff” Rami smiled

“Can you say swears?” 

“Joe!” 

Chapter Text

Freddie wasn’t a tall guy, most people knew that. He was 5’9, but for a 4 year old who was already quite short for his age, he seemed like the tallest man on Earth.. that was until he met Brian but we don’t talk about that. Let Freddie have his moment with his son. 

So, here was the ‘tallest man on earth’ with a little boy sitting on the sink with Freddie’s arm wrapped around his side whilst they were getting ready for bedtime. Rami was looking up at Freddie fondly, when Freddie looked down and smiled at him 

“What are you doing, buddy? You gotta brush your teeth” He shook his little hand that held the kiddie toothbrush. It was the ones that had the dinosaur clip that went around the head to keep it clean. 

Rami giggled and put it up to his face “Help?” He said the word in his normal quiet voice, but the happiness was evident as it laced in his words.

”Sure honey” Freddie picked him up and placed him back down on the sink side, just now he was more in the centre so Freddie could do his teeth better “Say cheese” 

Half way through, Rami had to spit, and Freddie let him. Then, he looked back up at Freddie and said “Do the thing” with a big smile on his face 

“What thing, darling?” Freddie kisses him on his nose, making Rami squeal 

“the thiiing! You do it at shows” he said and hid his face in Freddie’s chest 

“Ohh” He laughs amen oars his head gently, playing with his curly hair softly “And are you gonna say it back?” Rami nodded to the question “Okay” 

Freddie took an exaggerated cough, and then “Ayooo” 

Then, came a small response “Ayo!” They both blaughed at each other, Rami comming out of his place in Freddie’s chest and looking up at him happily 

“Again again!” He kicked his little leggies gently 

“We have to go to bed and have a story, remember?” Freddie laughed out fondly. He knew Rami was sleepy, but the boy knew what he wanted.

”Please one more, daddy?” He asked with a little pout, pulling out the puppy dog eyes. He was a master of it and he knew it. Everyone else were the ones who didn’t know they caved for it easily, but Rami knew and he wasn’t gonna tell. 

“Fine fine” he sigh then smiled “Ayooo” 

“Ayoo!” There were two responses, one from Rami and the other from Jim, who was leaning on the doorway with such a fond look in his eyes. The man really did love his boys. But.. “I hate to break this up but we have Snow White waiting for us” 

“Daddy down! Snow White” he said to Freddie, who smiles at him, kissed him on his head, and picking him up, taking Rami into his bedroom with Jim following. 

“Who’s reading tonight, little man?” Jim asked as he pulled his covers back, whilst Freddie put Rami into the bed and tucked him in 

“Daddy” he said with a yawn, rubbing his eyes with his fists. 

“I told you my voices are funnier” Freddie said cheeky and stick his tongue out at Jim, who fake-rolled his eyes. 

“You dont know that” Jim responded and sat down in the rocking chair Rami loved so much. 

“Can you make.. one of them say ayo?” Rami said in a tired voice and Freddie nodded 

“I would do anything for you, my love” with that, Freddie started the story of Snow White and the seven dwarves (and one of them says ayo, daddy, don’t forget)

Chapter Text

“Rami we have to make a tall tower so the dinosaurs can climb up” Joe said the sentence like his life depended on it, at too the two youngest of the group, it did. They had to make a tower that was taller than Brian so they could play their game. So they got all of their pillows and stacked them up, put it wasn’t tall enough apparently to Joe. Rami thought it was, but but Joe said ‘your small anyway so everything is big to you, Rami’ amen rami just gave a soft ‘oh’ and a nod, because Rami would follow Joe’s thoughts and ideas if it meant being with Joe. It was no doubt the ginger boy was Rami favourite, their ages being closer meaning they could play together more. The parents were concerned when Joe was slightly older if they would stay best friends, and if they didn’t it would probably make both of them sad. They would say to worry about it around nearer the time but they didn’t know to drop it or not. 

Then, Brian came into the living room to check up on them “You boys alright?” He smiled at the two softly, especially at Rami when he gasped at the voice behind him and turned around, hiding slightly behind Joe, who gaurded him even though he knew Uncle Brian wouldn’t hurt them. It was just to reassure Rami. 

“We need this taller” Joe pointed to the pillow tower, that was just slightly shorter than Joe “Help please?” 

“Hmm, okay I can try” Brian sat down on the floor just next to the boys. Even sitting down, Brian was taller than Rami, but not Joe, so he hoped he posed less of a threat 

“We need to make a tower” Joe started to pace, and Rami followed with his tight grip on Joe’s shirt, looking up at Joe and nodding along to what he was saying. 

Then, it was like a lightbulb moment, when Rami gasped slightly and looked at Brian with a smile, all thoughts of the fear from earlier gone 

“We can use Uncle Brian as a tower”

”Good thinking Rami!!” 

So, that was how Brian May found himself rushing around his own living room with two little boys on each shoulder, laughing and giggling and squealing as Brian spun around and ran around the room. 

And that was also how John got a photo of it happening and was stuck up on Joe’s door with some blue tack. 

Chapter Text

“Do you mind pissing off? This is a band discussion” Gwilym copied his dad from earlier, who was talking to Paul... Also known as the snake between the 3 kids and toddler. It was Rami’s idea to call him that, after he mumbled snake then decided to hiss at him when the man tried to grab his daddy’s arm. Rami may have also bit Paul once when he tried to reach for him the other day at the studio, but he didn’t get in trouble because it was Paul. If anything Rami got a lot of praise that morning from mainly Roger, very glad that his nephew was the one to draw the snake out of the room. 

But back to the present, the boys were in the studio with all the buttons and what not, looking out the window to see their dads recording whilst Miama was looking after them so they could get on with what they needed to do, when Gwil decided to repeat what his dad said, making the others laugh. Even Miama stifled a laugh, knowing he should tell Gwilym off for swearing but come on, it was about Paul. That made it okay. 

“Gwil swore” Rami laughed out as they all giggled at each other, with their cheeky little grins. Rami was sitting on Joe’s lap on the big spiny chair that could’ve fit both of them next to each other and not on but they always sat like that together. Rami kicked his legs slightly as he giggled and watched as Freddie and Roger argued, making Ben and Rami looked at each other, Ben jumping down from his spiny chair and going over to Rami, taking him out of Joe’s lap and putting him on the floor and pretending to fight him. 

Rami laughed and went along with it, hitting Ben gently (which was probably as hard as he could) whilst Ben didn’t put all his force into the punches, knowing Rami would get hurt very easily. 

The other boys laughed and went along also, Joe pretending to be John and play air-bass (because like he would be able to actually hold a real one, so an imaginary one it was) and be all annoyed at the three of them, whilst Gwil tried to break the two up, all four of them laughing as they did. 

Again, Miami knew he should actually break it up, but it was comical watching the smaller boys imitate the older ones, so he left them too it and tried so hard not to laugh at them. 

Chapter Text

Frankie came bursting into the living room, towards Ben instantly who had his arms out in excitement. Frankie was only a puppy, a gift for Bens 7th birthday. He had been asking and asking for a puppy but Roger wasn’t so sure if they had time, what with the band and everything going on, how would they look after a puppy? But, Roger thought his boy deserved it and he was sure they could get a dog sitter or a friend to look after Frankie whilst they were away. 

And so, after school everyday, Ben comes home and the first thing he does in greet his pupper. 

Frankie normally practically pounds into the room, her tongue out in excitement as she jumps into Ben’s arms. Ben had taught her that the day they got her and he was very proud of himself. He also taught her how to steal the sweets from the cupboard and they were, sadly for Rogers part, getting better at being more sneaky each time. Those were the times he regretted getting the dog. 

But right now, he didn’t regret anything. Seeing the happiness of Bens face as he takes the puppy into his arms and scrunches his face up at all of the licks he gets, Roger didn’t regret one thing. 

“Come on, Frankie, lets go eat homework!” Then, the kid went rushing off, the pupper still in his arms. 

“Ben no-“ 

Nevermind, he regretted it 

-^*^- 

Rami knew he was allergic, but did you really think that would stop the four year old from climbing out of his bed, sneaking down the hall into his daddies’ bedroom and getting Oscar and Delilah to pad their way into his room? No, it didn’t stop him. As now, here Rami was, sniffling and trying to hold back sneezes as his allergies made him tear up because of the fur, with the two cats on his bed, snuggled up all together on the other side of the bed, so Rami’s little feet were resting on his pillow and his head was were his legs should normally be. He knew he shouldn’t be up, it was dark and dada and daddy were asleep already, but it didn’t stop him. He wanted the play with the cats, and so he would. 

If it was day and he wanted to play with the kitties, Rami would be given his medicine (that did not taste nice thank you very much.) before, but he had taken it today (..yesterday?) and it had now worn off. 

So, Rami suffered through the night, not bothering to go to sleep, and that was how Jim and Freddie found him the next morning. Rami, with bags under his eyes, playing with the cats with his building blocks. 

They knew they should’ve scolded him, but it was cute, so they let him off. Plus it meant they had a tired toddler the whole day, who just wanted to cuddle. He was a bit cranky, but they made do with it. 

Chapter Text

“We must protect the prince!!” Joe yelled in his best ‘man voice’ as he called it. They were playing knights again, they all loved the blasted game so that was all they had been playing during their time together in the studio. Normally, you would think Joe would yell princess, but Rami (Who was always the Prince) was a boy, therefore, Joe altered his speech. 

Ben and Gwilym were also knights, sometimes on the same team or if they wanted a battle, they would be on their own team, whilst Joe and Rami fought them. Ben and Gwilym had to decide if they were too let the youngers win or not, and this time, they were putting up a fight. The used sticks as their swords, so they were very effective with actually hurting people, which was good. 

The game worked fast, for the four of them anyway. They took it seriously, meaning if you dragged for one second, you would be ‘dead’. The game could get heated sometimes, especially when they were in the middle of ‘battle’, they sometimes forgot that they weren’t actually fighting, but in the corridor close to the recording studio their dads were in. Meaning, When Rami ran up to attack Ben, he forgot that he has very little legs, meaning he was very clumsy, which meant that as he was running, he little foot got caught around his own ankle, making him fall straight first, the stick thankfully being let go of as he fell and not lodged in his eye. 

The game stopped, Joe gasping and running over so quickly. “Rami! Rami are you okay?!” Joe crouched next to him, scared of what to do. Then, Rami’s lifted his head slowly, blood dripping down from his nose. He let out a wail at the fight of the blood, looking up at Joe and putting his arms out for him to take him. Joe complied, lifting Rami up into his lap no rocking him.

”I will go get dad!” Gwilym yelled, rushing into the studio, his stick forgotten. 

“Dad! Rami’s bleeding! He fell!” He yelled at the adults, who stopped what they were doing instantly and rushing outside, Freddie first. Jim was at his work, meaning he couldn’t look after them, and Miami wasn’t busy with the adults and the album and what not. 

Freddie took Rami from Joe’s arms instantly, much to the little boys annoyance. He thought he was doing perfectly well with helping Rami. 

Freddie bounced Rami slightly, who kept wailing as he hid his face into the crook of Freddie’s neck. Freddie could feel the blood from Rami’s nose go onto his neck and it was not pleasant. He gently pulled Rami’s head away from his neck to inspect the damage of the boys nose. It looked broken, if Freddie was honest, but he wasn’t about to say that in front of Rami. 

“Get the hospital on call. Tell them we will be coming soon.” Freddie turned to Brian and said, then rushing out of the studio. Joe went to follow after Rami and Freddie but was stopped by Ben 

“He will be okay, don’t worry” he smiled reassuringly. Joe just shrugged and huffed, hugging Ben tightly. He already missed his best friend. 

Chapter Text

“Okay just.. too the left a bit- no the other left!” Joe called from atop Bens shoulders, who was standing on the kitchen counter, with Gwilym behind him on the floor ready to catch the two boys if they fell, Rami was babbling to himself about something as he stood next to Gwil swinging his arms around in his own little world until he was needed. Their original plan was to hoist Rami up into the higher cupboards but the boy didn’t take too well to the plan, and the boys had to calm him down before he went running to Freddie and Jim in fear of being practically yeeted (where Joe learnt that, John wasn’t completely sure) into a small, dark and dusty space. So, plan b was that Gwil would help Ben and Joe up onto the counter so Ben could lift Joe onto his shoulders and climb into the cupboards and receive their well earned prize.

That was if they weren’t caught, because if they were caught they were all sure too be grounded. Other than Rami, he was too young to be grounded like the other three, so he would probably just had a stern talking to by Jim or Freddie, possibly both. But too the four year old, even that was hell, Rami hated confrontation, thinking he was always a bad boy when it had to be done, which led to Fred and Jim having to tell the four year old he wasn’t bad, just did a naughty thing. It was a long cycle sometimes.

“Your heavy! Hurry up, dumbo!” Ben complained, slightly whacking Joe on the leg in annoyance.

“Ow! Your agreed to this, that’s your problem!” How stuck his tongue out at Ben as he looked down at the blond. Ben just stuck his tongue back.

“Could you stop yelling in front of the baby and get the damn sweets, we getting hungrier and hungrier down here!” Gwilym cut their argument short, also getting annoyed at the time being wasted. When coming to the boys’ ‘missions’ (Rami dubbed them ‘mittons’, the double s being too hard for the boy to pronounce) Gwilym was almost always the leader, as he was the oldest which meant he knew a lot more stuff than all three of them, and he knew how to keep track of time a lot better than normal kids his age, so he was dubbed leader after Joe tried to lead and ended up with the boys getting grounded + a stern talking to all of them, not just Rami. The boys agreed that day that when Rami cried during the talks that they now understood why. They all hated them.

Gwilym huffed, turning back to the youngest boy who was standing next to him “Some people, am I right?”

Rami startled slightly then smiled at Gwilym, nodding once and putting his arms out for a hug from him. Rami was very tactile with the boys and his fathers, probably the most cuddliest from all the boys, which their uncles and own fathers found the cutest thing. Rami would always hug the boys and the adults, he trusted, whenever he wanted too/felt like it and Gwilym was okay with that. The baby gave great hugs.

Gwilym picked the boy up from under his arms and held him on his hip the best he could, to mimic how he saw Jim and Freddie carry him. He held the boy close too his chest, basking in the little boys affection whilst the other two ‘middle children’ suffered up on the counter.

Rami smiled up at Gwilym so fondly it made Gwil feel all soft and gushy in his tummy. Gwil lifted his finger up to Rami’s nose and gave it a little boop. Rami giggled and did the same to Gwil, making a noise in the back of his throat that somewhat resembled the oldest boys actions. Rami’s voice sometimes went all baby like, with the babbling and incoherences after a big cry like he had done before about the cupboard situation, but Freddie and Jim reassured the boys that that was how Rami calmed himself down after a sad moment. The two husbands had also said Rami went silent after a big big cry, and you weren’t too coax him too talk but you had to let him find his own voice, which was okay in the boys’ minds. Sometimes people just needed to go silent for a while and figure stuff out in their heads and hearts.

“Got it!! Gwil help us down” Joe called as he slid the sweets and chocolates jar out from the cupboard and set it down gently on the counter. Ben helped Joe get off his shoulders safely and they smiled at each other, then looking at the jar

“Dibs the teasers!” Joe called and pointed to the chocolates, Ben also pointing to a different chocolate “I want the Mars Bars!” They both looked at each other and giggled.

Gwilym smiles and rolled his eyes at Rami fondly before putting the baby down and grabbing a chair and pushing it too the counter, so the other two boys could get down from the counter. Rami babbled more and clapped his little teny tiny hands together as he watched the two other boys climb down and rush over to Rami to give him a hug. Ben took the jar with him as he got down and rushed over to Rami

“Which one do you want, RamRam? I’m having Mars Bars, Joe is having the teasers and Gwil- Yeah he can decide later” Ben shrugged at the last bit, making Joe laugh and Gwil cross his arms.

Rami smiled up at Ben and put his arms out for a hug. Ben groaned fondly and passed the jar to Joe and hugged the boy. Of course he would want some huggles.

“Come on, quick! We gotta hide in the bathroom!” Joe declared as he rushed off with the Jar, Gwilym following. Ben put Rami down and held his hand as they rushed at their own pace (at Rami’s pace, he had to go a lot slower because of his little leggies) after the other two. Ben would’ve carried Rami but Rami was slightly too heavy for him, Gwil was really the only one who could somewhat carry the boy, apart from their parents obviously.

The four boys rushed into the bathroom quickly, making it past their laughing and chit chatting parents (probably about boring stuff like taxes or something) in the famous Brian May living room. Gwilym had to open the door, Joe being unable to do so because of the jar in his small hands. Once Rami and Ben caught up and rushed inside the room, Gwilym closed the door and sighed, leaning up against the door and sliding down slowly, making Rami giggle quietly and grip Bens hand tighter slightly as he looked around the bathroom.

“We made it.. and we got the treats” Gwilym said, out of breath from the run. ‘Make sure your parents down see you run inside the house’ should be an Olympic sport in Gwilyms views, because he was sure all the boys would win a medal or a giant fire torch the people on tv held a while back, but maybe a smaller one for them each.

Joe was already digging for the teaser chocolates as he nodded at Gwilyms little speech, then passing the jar too him “Here you go!” He grinned and climbed up onto the closed toilet lid and started to unwrap- or try too- the teasers.

Gwilym rummaged through the sweets until he found a few Lolly pops for himself and passed the jar too Ben, who took it and started to show Rami all the sweets. Ben got a ring-pop for Rami, slipping the diamond shaped ring onto Rami’s tiny finger and lifting him up into the sink, setting him down in it as Rami started to suckle on his new treat, making a noise in the back of his throat, as he was propped up in the sink, that resembled a thank you if you listened hard enough but either way Ben kissed him on the head and climbed back down to munch on all of his treats he dibs-ed earlier.

Around 20 minutes later, the jar was starting to run out. Rami was sound asleep, the ring pop in his mouth like a dummy/pacifier, Bens hands and face were covered in chocolate, Gwilym was on his third lolly pop and Joe was starting to look a little sick with the amount of chocolate he had consumed. Thankfully, before anyone was physically sick or developed any cavities, all five of the dads came barging into the bathroom, waking up Rami with a startle and big confused green eyes, Ben gasping over at the adults and Joe and Gwilym sighing in defeat, knowing they would so be grounded for this.

But it really was worth it.

Chapter Text

“Whoever made that movie, I’m going to sue. How dare they make my son feel this way.” Freddie ranted to the adults as he carries his wailing baby out of the cinema. They all decided to go watch the new hotel whatever movie, about the monsters, and the boys did not like it. Sure it had it’s funny moments, but the prospect of monsters just in general spooked each of the boys. Rami was the first to start crying in the movie, Freddie having to move him onto his lap after the boy didn’t stop for five minutes straight of crying silently and sniffling pathetically. Then, it was Gwil, who looked up at Brian with sad blue eyes and put his hand out for Brian to hold it. Gwil knew he was too old to be on his dads lap like Rami was but he stilled wanted to hold Brian’s hand, for support. Then, Ben and Joe went at the same time, having been sitting next to each other and when they both got too spooked to hold it in, they grabbed onto each other, hiding in each other’s bodies. It was then that the adults knew they really had to leave, and of course Freddie had a big argument with the person at the counter (because “How dare you let children see that!”) whilst John held Rami in one arm and Joe in the other, trying to cheer the both of them up and block out the sounds of a very angry and protective Freddie Mercury. It was slowly getting dark, it being winter and the sun going down at four-ish, which didn’t help Rami’s situation as he started to also get tired and cranky, his brain thinking it was later than it was and was already wanting to sleep. Brian and Roger cheered up their own children, checking in on Deaky occasionally as having two children to comfort was probably harder than one. Once Ben and Gwilym calmed down, they went over to Joe and Rami to help also. They made funny faces at both boys, making both of them successfully give a small laugh, although it didn’t help completely with Rami’s grouchy ness and as soon as he saw Freddie, he wriggled all he could in Johns arms to get to his daddy, wanting to be in his and only his arms.

“Hey hey, baby calm down, daddy’s busy” John bounced him slightly, trying to get Rami to cheer up. But John knew it wouldn’t do much, having gone through cranky-Joe a lot of times when he was that age.

Rami just whined louder practically in Johns face and wriggled more, kicking his little legs frantically, his little light blue shoes flying around the place as he unintentionally impressioned a frantic worm.

“None of that please, mister.” John sighed and Brian took Joe out of Johns other arm so he could keep a better hold on Rami. John seemed okay with it, still talking to Ben and Gwilym from ‘up here’ whilst the two oldest were ‘down there’ (“Helloooo down there!” Was called a few times, always replied with giggles from down there).

“Rami, can you look at me please?” John tried, but Rami started screaming then, so cranky and tired and his emotions so over-stimulated that he didn’t know what to do. John sighed and held Rami close in a hug “Shh Shh, baby calm down, it’s okay, he will be here in a moment.” John patted the boys butt gently and rhythmically, remembering how that normally helped Joe calm down after his emotions went haywire around this age. Rami, thankfully, did stop screaming, but didn’t stop sobbing or crying, reaching a hand out too where his daddy was still arguing to the man.

Brian sighed and looked over at Freddie, deciding enough is enough and that they couldn’t keep Rami away from Freddie too long until he got even more cranky and threw a complete temper tantrum (Apparently the boy had once, over something neither Freddie or Jim still don’t understand, and it was absolute hell)

“Fred.” Brian called sharply. The name being said making Freddie turn his face to his family and seeing his baby boy so miserable. He looked as if he deflated as he ignored the man yelling back at Freddie from whatever he said a while ago, rushing over to his baby and taking him out of Deakys arms, cradling him in the way he knew Rami just loved and looked up at Freddie, putting his hand on the mans cheek as he kept wailing, but not so violently now that he got what he wanted.

“Lets go home” he mumbled to his baby, giving him a kiss on the head and then looking at the others and giving them apologetic smiles. They started making their way home.

-^*^-

Freddie wouldn’t put Rami down. He absolutely refused to put the baby down for more than a millisecond. Only when Rami showed more signs of being ever so sleepy did Freddie finally cave in and put the boy on one of the spare beds in the spare room so he could help the boy change into one of Gwilyms old pyjama shirts that looked like a dress on Rami’s small body. Freddie stayed with Rami until he was definitely sure the boy was completely asleep and at ease

Roger and John put Ben and Joe to bed a few minutes after, then asking for a nap in the spare room in Brian’s house, to which Brian gladly agreed too allow and Freddie informed them too not be too loud to wake up the baby, which Ben and Joe nodded very seriously about the task, knowing waking up Rami would only result in crying and Freddie probably not putting him down for another hour or two like before.. maybe even longer.

When it was Gwilyms bedtime, he asked to sleep in the spare bedroom too, in the same bed as Rami. Freddie gladly agreed, telling Gwil to keep Rami safe as he bid the guitarists son goodnight.

-^*^-

“Gwil..” a little whimper woke Gwil up with a groan, rubbing his eyes as the sounds of the clashing thunderstorm hit his ears. He tall boy gasped, looked at Rami who was fiddling with his hands absentmindedly as he looked at the storm also, a whimper in the back of his throat. Gwilym snapped out of it after a bright strike of white flashed through the sky. “Quick, hide!” Gwilym whisper shouted and pulled the baby under the covers with him, keeping the small form close by as more clashes and f danced in the sky.

There were hands on the sheets covering the baby and the oldest making the former scream and hide himself even more in Gwilyms chest. Gwil stifled back a scream and was glad he did when he heard Ben and Joe talking, saying how it was only them and not a monster. Gwilym pulled the covers down and saw the two boys in question. He dragged both of them under the covers of the giant bed also, all of them now huddled under the covers in a heap.

“I’ve got a batman torch” Ben mumbled and dug around in his trousers pockets, having the boys been expecting a nap and not a full on sleep, they kept their little jeans on “I got it at the cinema earlier, on them weird surprise balls things” Ben pulled the torch out and put it on, making all the boys’ fearful but hopeful faces been seen under the covers. Rami was practically on Gwils lap whilst Joe and Gwil held hands tightly. Ben grabbed Joe’s other hand and used his other too hold the torch. Rami gripped onto Bens sleeve in a small but tight grip, showing each other that they were all there for each other.

Chapter Text

It’s that time of the term, towards the end of it, and all parents from reception to year 3 are being called in after school to have a parent-teacher meeting with their students parent/s. Like most other children, the four little boys hated these night, for a starter they had to go back into school after an already tiring long hard day of hell, and then they had to listen to their teacher talk on and on about them, which just annoyed the four boys in the same way. Also, the pressure of getting grounded (or a stern talking too) afterwards was hell, knowing that if you did bad you would be in a lot of trouble once you got home. Sometimes, teachers don’t let you in, which sucks a lot, because normally when your in there with them you get to know what they are saying and time fly’s faster being in the meeting than out of it.

Gladly for Gwil, they normally started with the youngests, seeing as they have an earlier bedtime than the older ones. But sadly, that wasn’t a good thing for Rami. After school, the baby of their group would be just a bit cranky and if he had to go somewhere straight (or what felt like straight) after school then he would be even more cranky. The only time Rami had complained about being cranky in public, was when the whole ‘movie’ fiasco went down, but that was somewhat understandable at the time. Rami was deathly shy, that was obvious to anyone who met him, and so when his teacher, Mrs Green, started with that, Freddie chuckled and nodded.

“Yeah, I know, little guys always been shy” He says fondly and looks down at the 4 year old in his lap, who was fiddling with his plastic cat head that if you flipped it would turn into a mirror.

“I can see that, but he is a lovely little boy to be around, although I am concerned about his social skills” Mrs Green went on, her face falling from the fond looking smile at the father and son before.

“What makes you say that? RamRam is perfect with my friends’ kids” and Freddie couldn’t emphasise how much he meant that statement. All the little bits fit together perfectly, they were so close they acted like blood brothers, always at each other’s sides when they needed them or just for the sake of it.

“He hasn’t really got many friends in his actual class, he sits on a table with other children but he never seems to actual converse with them, and at lunch and break time Rami doesn’t eat with the children his age, he goes to sit with the older boys” Mrs Green explained “His work though, is incredible” She thought she would add in, sliding over a quite detailed drawing for a 4 year old, made out of crayons. Rami still didn’t look up, flipping his mirror around in a steady rhythm.

Freddie took one look at it and then bounced the boy in his lap gently, praising him for his hard work. The boy giggled quietly and looked up at Freddie in adoration.

Freddie calmed down and then looked back at Mrs Green “So what do you suggest to do too help?”

“Well I say we try to help Rami make some new friends his age and see how it goes from there” she smiled, and Freddie smiled back.

“That sounds great”

Chapter Text

“All we hear is.. radio Gaga” Freddie and Jim both mumbled in a soft singing tone as their son slowly drifted to sleep in Jim’s arms. Rami had just had a bath, which could sometime soon be a struggle and other times the best time of the toddlers life, and the boy was already so tired even before the fluffy towel was wrapped around his small body, so as Freddie slipped Rami’s pyjama bottoms onto his legs, Jim and Freddie started to sing so the boy could go to sleep easier, knowing if they kept him up more it’s would be harder to get him to sleep because he would get cranky.

As Rami fell asleep completely and Freddie finished dressing him, Jim gently laid him down into his bed, pulling his covers up to his chin and double checking if the boy had his stuffie and sippy cup next to him. Jim kissed him on his head, then followed by Freddie who also did the same, and then they both left.

But, as soon as Freddie was about to shut the door, they heard a small murmuring and two soft claps. Freddie peaked into his sons bedroom and watched as his little darling softly sung the lyrics they were singing to him earlier, but added in his own soft claps when needed. Freddie’s heart melted at the sight, and he beckoned Jim over to watch also, who lets out a soft ‘aww’ at their babies antics. Once they had decided the boy needed to actually get some sleep, Freddie popped his head through the door

“What are you doing up Ram-Ram?” He cooed “You were asleep a while ago” He stuck his tongue out at the boy and went over to him, tucking him in more as the boy softly giggled and slid down into the covers, looking up at Freddie with adoration

Freddie smiled back down at him just as fondly, kissing him on the feeling noisily and then putting a toy on his face, making the boy squeal quietly and push it away, only to be interrupted by a yawn. Freddie nodded to himself understandable

“Go on, real bed time now” He kisses him again, even more gently than before “Ni night, baby” And then properly, Rami fell asleep peacefully as Freddie left the room once again.

Chapter Text

They were just playing really, sure maybe a bit tougher than their dads would’ve liked but Joe knew Rami’s limits, and was sure the little baby would tell him when he wanted Joe to stop. They had been chasing each other around the house for what felt like hours to the two youngest in the house, being mindful to not run past any of the room their fathers were in because they knew they weren’t supposed to be running in the first place but to a four year old and a five year old, rules didn’t matter to them! They were having fun and that was what mattered most!

But, the fun instantly stopped as Rami tripped as he was chasing Joe, and of course the little boy instantly went to grab the back of Joe’s shirt to secure himself, but as Joe was still running, Rami just pulled both of them down by accident. Joe went tumbling, hitting his face on hard wood whilst Rami hit his face on the carpet that laid on the floor, obviously not long enough to catch Joe from a less-harsh fall.

Rami sat up, as did Joe with a groan, and instantly started screaming when Joe looked at him to ask if he was okay. Joe looked terrified as Rami screamed at him, and hoped he wasn’t angry at Joe for also falling and not catching Rami. It was then that Joe saw it:

His tooth was on the floor, blood covering it’s ends and going onto the wood. Joe picked it up and screamed also, feeling his mouth for a gap- there it was. One of the front ones, and it was dripping blood just as the tooth did.

Then, their dads burst through the doors, rushing to their respective sons, Freddie scooping Rami into his arms and checking for any injury’s, but the boy kept pushing him off, pointed at Joe, who was being lifted into Johns arms and coddled as he took the tooth from Joe’s grip.

Freddie nodded understandably, watching you best friend loose a tooth must’ve frightened him, but he also knew that Joe actually loosing the tooth was probably worse for Joe than Rami. Freddie bounced Rami as John spoke to Joe

“Hey, Joey it’s okay, you have another set coming anyway” John said softly, kissing the side of the boys head gently and keeping him close to his chest. Joe just sniffled and wiped his eyes, looking up at John with glassy eyes

“Really?” He said hopefully, and John nodded

“Of course darling” and with a kiss to his head, all was well again.

Chapter Text

Ben rushed too the door, Frankie following him at his feet as Roger chuckled and watched his son practically run to where the knock was sounded from. Roger had told Ben about Gwil coming over earlier today, and the blond was ecstatic. Gwil and Ben got on so well, they probably got on better than Roger and Brian themselves did. Gwil and Ben called themselves the ‘older ones’ of their little group, because they were the older ones. They had the same age gap between Rami and Joe did: one year, and they had dubbed themselves the older ones in a little meeting they had when their dads were working on a song together at Gwilyms house. The two were inseparable since baby Gwil saw the sleeping, blond baby swaddled in a blue blanket. Although, Gwilym didn’t remember any of that, and neither did Ben. But the two boys just knew deep down that they had been together since they were both so young.

So, as Ben opened the door (with a bit of a struggle, having to go on his tip-toes) and looked at Gwil, he recognised something instantly wrong. Gwil had these round.. black things around his eyes, curling around his ears and disappearing behind them from Bens view

“What’s that?” He cut Gwil off from his enthusiastic ‘helloooo’ as he normally said when someone opened the door.

“What’s what- oh, my glasses!” He grinned and Brian smiled down fondly at them, having said his hellos to Roger as Ben spoke to Gwil. Gwilym pulled the glasses off and handed them too Ben “Here, wear them” He said enthusiastically, waving ten slightly in Bens face. Brian led Gwil inside the house and helped him take off his coat

“Gwil, I told you that you can’t share your glasses with the boys, it might hurt their eyes” Brian said as he took the coat and hung it up next to his own, kissing his son on the cheek and going to talk to Roger, knowing the boys would be alright on their own

“Oh.. Sorry Ben” He smiled sheepishly

“‘s fine.. wanna go play lego’s?” Ben grinned and grabbed Gwils hand, pulling him along to his bedroom eagerly. Gwilym nodded happily and gripped Bens hand as they rushed upstairs, getting a call of ‘Stop running up the stairs’ only to be called back by both little boys ‘Your not the boss of me!’

Chapter Text

His daddies said that him still wearing pull ups was okay, and it wasn’t like Rami had them on all the time, just when they went out to Gwilyms or Bens or Joeys house late at night, Rami would go in his pyjamas. Jim and Freddie had told him it was okay, and that it wasn’t normal for him to wear them. At first, as in at least a few weeks staying at Garden Lodge as their foster and not real son, Rami didn’t believe them. Thought that it was weird and wrong and stupid to still wear them. There was once an incident were Rami tried to keep taking it off during the night, Jim and Freddie getting woken up by ‘Jimmy help’ as he tried to pull his pyjama bottoms over his head instead of down, only for Jim having to put the boy back to bed 4 more times before Rami started to scream about it.

Freddie and Jim told the others about his problems with wearing the pull ups so that if they weren’t around to change him into a new one then one of the other band members could for them. They agreed, because Freddie and Jim had done a lot of quick changes on their own children when they were busy with something else, and because they weren’t going to let their mini-nephew get a rash, knowing how ansty toddlers could be around that age when they got a rash.

So, when all the boys were at Deakys house for a sleepover so the band could talk about the band together whilst the boys were asleep, and because it wasn’t so late Rami had his pyjamas on already as it wasn’t so close to his bedtime, when Rami lifted his arms up for a hug from Uncle Roger, his pull up showing wasn’t a big of a deal to the adults. But boy did it confuse the younger ones

“Rami’s wearing a nappy!” Ben said and laughed, pointing to where the soft tan tummy and sticking-out pull up was

“That’s not a nappy it’s to small” Joe said, rolling his eyes “It’s a pull up, duh” he crossed his arms, looking at it. Rami, the poor baby, hadn’t realised the boys were talking about him, still waiting for his pick-up from Roger.

“Could be a nappy still.. Rami is small” Ben shrugged, all three of the taking a closer look by leaning in slightly.

“It’s a pull up, see!” Joe shouted a little bit to loudly, making the baby looked at them, then down at his riding up shirt. He went almost beat red, pulling the shirt down so far it probably could’ve stretched into a dress if he tried just a little bit harder, Making a whining noise loud enough for Freddie and Jim to hear, in the back of his throat.

“Hey, Shh shh, what’s wrong Bubba?” Freddie cooed, scooping his darling into his arms and holding him close

“We saw Rami’s pull up” Joe said bashfully, looking down and scoffing his slipper on the rug. Ben elbowed him and Gwil elbowed Ben for elbowing Joe. Rami, deep down, wanting to elbow himself for being such a disgusting freak.

“Oh..” Freddie and Jim both looked at each other “Oh” they both said

-

It took a while before Rami stopped trying to pull the pull up off from around his hips, only with help from Brian that Rami caved into the tallest members words, hugging the boy tight and changing his pull up for Freddie and Jim so they didn’t have to have a struggle with that also.

In the other room, the three little boys were being told why Rami wasn’t so upset, and they couldn’t help but blame themselves. They hadn’t meant to upset Rami, thy all were just curious of it. But now they knew what Rami was like with the topic and knew not to mention it again.

When Rami came back out in Brian’s arms, his thumb tucked into his mouth and his face red with tear tracks, they rushed over to him and spoke up at the baby, only when Brian our the bot down at his request did the three of them hug Rami tightly in their arms, watching kissing him on the forehead before they all went to bed together in Joe’s bed. Rami was laying on top of Gwil whilst Ben and Joe were on each side of Gwil, Ben’s hand on Rami’s small back and Joe’s hand tucked into Gwils hair as the second youngest drooled all over his respected pillow.

Chapter Text

Rami wasn’t sleeping. Whatever they did, the little by refused to sleep in his own bed. It was to be expected for the boy to have a least a few off nights, but on the fourth night of Rami either crying into Jim’s shoulder or hiding somewhere the other three (Including Phoebe) couldn’t find him until he was caught on the run to his next place. Which would make screaming rush through the house like a loud alarm waking up probably the whole neighbourhood and their dog.

This night was filled with crying and Jim rocking side to side gently, his big hand gliding up and down the tiny boys back as it quivered under his hand. Freddie sighed and looked at Phoebe beggingly, who yawned and shrugged sympathetically

“Baby, calm down, it’s alright” Jim cooed and laid down onto his back, keeping Rami close to his chest. Freddie waved Phoebe off to sleep, which he thankfully did, and laid next to Jim and Rami. He gently stroked his fingers through the babies curls as said baby practically screamed in Jim’s ear.

Freddie sighed sadly and teared up, kissing the boy on the cheek and wiping his tears off his damp face

Then, Freddie started to hum good company, one of Brian’s songs that Rami classes his favourite from the whole Night At The Opera album. The boys tears slowed ever so slight, and his screaming did come down a notch. An improvement at last

Jim caught on quickly, patting Rami’s back to the beat to make him feel more including in their song/hummming

Rami stopped screaming all together at that, his little whimpers and sniffles the only noises from the boy as his tears stopped. He wasn’t asleep, but god did he look like he needed it. Better yet, he looked on the verge of it, his greenie-blue eyes slowly closing then snapping open again, only for them to go down once again and open a little slower that next time. As Rami started to our his thumb into its rightful place, his mouth, it was intercepted by Freddie with a pacifier, knowing the boy was a bit to old for them but knowing it was better for his teeth for him to suck that instead of his thumb. So a pacifier it was, and Rami took it gladly, falling asleep almost instantly when he had something to suck on for the night.

Both Jim and Freddie sighed gladly, Freddie pulling the covers over them at an awkward angle so Jim didn’t have to move Rami to his own bed and start the screaming again. They were sure one night with Rami in their bed wouldn’t hurt.

-

The next night, Rami followed both Jim and Freddie into their room when they announced bedtime at 6 for the boy. No crying, no screaming, just small smiles and ‘Uppy’ arms at the babies foster dads at the moment for him to be put into the big bed with promise that both Freddie and Jim would sing to him until he fell asleep. And even when the baby did fall asleep, pacifier in his mouth firmly, neither did move, not wanting the boy to wake up and see Jim and Freddie not there.

Jim and Freddie knew, as they watched their foster son sleep so peacefully in their giant bed, that they would do anything for him.

Freddie was the first to speak up about it, rather quietly might I add as to not wake the sleeping bundle of baby under the blankets “I want him”

Jim nodded “Me too..” they looked at each other and both said

“I’ll call the agency tomorrow” with a laugh

Chapter Text

The four adults were in the studio together recording a new song when Miami burst through the door, out of breath. Freddie was about to complain about him being interrupted when Miami got there first, panting out

“The boys are hiding..”

And Freddie was probably the first out of the room to run around the studio frantically

-

“Rami! Baby where are you?” Freddie knew not to worry, the boys probably playing surprise hide and seek on their dads, but it still worried him

Freddie looked everywhere, the large spaces, the small spaces, the locked rooms, the unlocked rooms, the rooms the boys did and didn’t know about, but when he got to a storage room, he heard a little giggle come from one of the boxes

The box itself looked tampered with, as if it had been pulled out of its normal spot by someone

Freddie knew that giggle anywhere. He started to play along at that, knowing now where Rami was made the game a lot easier to play

“Ohhh.. I wonder if my baby is in here?” Freddie cooed, looking through some other boxes “I gotcha-.. no.. hmm” he looked over at Rami’s box and rushed over to it, making the box scream a giggle and the small being inside it shuffled away into the corner as the boxes flaps were pulled open, making Rami scream more in delight

“My baby!” Freddie laughed and scooped his baby up, tickling the boys sensitive sides when he was secure in his own arms “How dare you run away from uncle Miami” Freddie stuck his tongue out at the boy as he laughed uncontrollably at the wriggling fingers attacking him

“Nohoho dahahadyhyyyy” He drew out, kicking his little shoes so widely he almost kicked Freddie square in the nose. Freddie stopped his attack at that, knowing the boy probably would kick him on accident if he kept going with his tickling

“Okay okay, stop squirming you little worm” He nuzzled the boys cheek, who got over his giggles slowly and hugged Freddie close, Freddie hugging back

-

“Come back here, Bennie boy!” Roger yelled as he ran after his blondie of a son, who ran around and around the studio like the flash. Ben has been hiding in a closet, jumping out when Roger had his back to him and running past him laughing, making Roger turn around and watch as he ran off and then quickly started to run after him

The boy was fast, Roger would give him that. As he practically zoomed across the floor so fast fire could probably start under his feet, Roger thought W would never catch up to his son and would be on a constant loop for the rest of his life trying to catch the seven year old

Until Ben slipped up on a corner and fell face first into the floor. The sight of Ben getting hurt the one thing Roger could ever run faster at than he already was

“Ben, are you alright?” Roger said as he caught up and crouched next to the boy, a hand on his back as he rubbed it gently and helped the boy stand up quickly but gently so Roger could have a look at Bens face

Although he didn’t see the tears he expected, he saw a spot of blood from the boys nose and yet a giant smile

And then he heard the laugh, making Roger chuckle fondly and shake his head, letting out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding

“Your a little bugger you know that?” Roger said quickly and pat the boy on the cheek “C’mon, let’s get you a tissue for that nose” Roger said as he stood and took the still laughing boys hand in his own

He loved his son but he could be a little shit sometimes

-

Joe laughed as he put on the wig he found in a room he had never been in before, putting it on along with stepping into his fathers shoes and walking around in them, knowing his dad would be looking for him because that’s what Gwilym said their dads would do when Miami realised the boys were gone

And John did find Joe, the little boy popping behind his father and jumping him with a loud “Hello!” In a really bad what ever accent that was supposed to be

John jumped and looked at his son, who looked up at him with a wave “Joe” John laughed and came down to the boys level

“Joe? I don’t know a Joe! I’m... Sarah” he giggled as he blew away a fallen strand that hung in front of his eyes annoyingly from the wig

Joe chuckled and picked the boy up, the wig falling off as Joe went down to reach for his shoes that he knew would fall off when he was picked up. He looked up at his father when the wig fell off with a shocked face

“My identity!” He yelled dramatically and dropped the shoes, doing a drama reenactment if someone dying

“Alright batman, lets go find the others” John kissed the boys cheek gently and bounced him, making a once-dead Joe laugh and grip onto Johns neck in fear of dropping “I got you Joey” he smiled so sweetly down at Joe it would’ve made an overlooker sick

-

Gwilym wasn’t hiding, or dressing up, or running away from his father like the other three boys. No, he had a plan

As Brian burst through the office door, Gwil swivelled the office chair around to look at his father like everything was normal

“There you are” Brian let out a giant breath, putting a hand on his chest “You four gave us a right scare” Brian chuckled slightly and stepped closer to Gwilym “Let’s go find the others, Gwil” He put his hand out for his son to take

Gwil, just smiled and raised an eyebrow “I don’t know what your talking about father, I have been here the whole time” Gwil shrugged slightly and smiled cheekily up at Brian who laughed and rushed forward, hooking his son up by the underarms and spinning him around

“You little minx, you planned the others running away as-well didn’t you?” He shook the boy gently and playfully, making Gwilym laugh even more than he already was

“I didn’t do anything!” He yelled out happily once he had stopped laughing, only to start laughing once again

Brian grinned at him and kissed his cheeks repeatedly “You” kiss “Are” kiss “So” kiss “Cheeky!” And another kiss “Did you get that from your mother?”

“No you”

“Hey!” Brian laughed and threw his son up into the air slightly and catching him “Rude” He kissed his cheek and smiled “I love you”

“I love you too”

Chapter Text

“And then dad comes in and is like ‘who ate all the apple slices’ and I’m like ‘It wasn’t me!’ and he’s like ‘Then why is there a trail of apple slices coming to your room’ and I’m like, thinking it not saying it, ‘What the hell am I gonna say to that?!” Gwil paced the living room, ranting his problems to his little cousin, who was on his tummy, happily munching away on some apple slices (conveniently), drawing his masterpiece with a few crayons Brian had pulled out just after Freddie had dropped him off for the day. Gwilym and Rami were having a play date, the oldest and the youngest having been close since they first met.

Rami nodded as he passed an apple into Gwils hand the next time he paced past the toddler, then picking up his blue crayon again and going back to drawing his sky

“What would you say Rami?” Gwil said as he sat in front of Rami and chewing his apple slice

Rami shrugged slightly and looked up at Gwil “Say sowwy” He said around an apple slice

Gwil groaned “Of course you would, you can’t be grounded” He stuck his tongue out at Rami, who giggled and ducked his head, going to his crayons once again. Gwil smiled back and kissed the baby on the head, standing up and climbing onto the coffee table

“When I’m older, me and you will be able to have all the apple slices in the world!” He grinned and looked back at Rami, who was standing and giggling, then toddling off towards Gwil who helped the boy up onto the coffee table

“When we are older, we will be the princes of the land” Gwil said confidently, and Rami just baby gurgled in response and nodding. Gwil just nodded like he understood Rami “Yes and that too” He cooed at Rami and ruffled his curls like he did with Joe (It was what Brian did to him sometimes but he wasn’t ready to admit that), which made Rami squeal and jump down off the coffee table, tripping slightly and landing on both his knees, feet and hands, only to grab an apple slice and rush off to Brian.

Gwil chuckled and followed after him, rushing into the living room to see Rami on Brian’s lap, Brian cooing at him and making the baby squeal and cover his face with his hands bashfully

Gwilym laughed at them and jumped into Brian’s lap also, climbing up onto his other leg and waving at the both of them

“Helloooo” Gwilym laughed, making Rami laugh also. Brian shook his head fondly

“Hello Gwilly” Brian bounced both of them, making both of them giggle

Chapter Text

They were playing one of Rami’s favourite games: Prince and knights, yet the baby of the group didn’t seem all that into it. As soon as Freddie put the little boy down to play and Joe was running up to him excitedly, Rami just whines and turned around, hugging Freddie’s leg desperately and looking up at him with sad eyes. Both Freddie and Jim were worried, the boy never passed down an opportunity to play with the other boys. This was so unlike him..

Freddie had frown down at his baby and picked him up again, subtly checking his pull up to see if it was dry or wet, but it turned out to be dry which meant that wasn’t the cause of his problems

Roger saw Freddie’s confused and sad face and tilted his head slightly “What’s up Fred? Rami good?” He nodded his head once towards the baby who’s head was tucked right under Freddie’s chin, away from everyone

“I don’t know..” he pulled Rami away from his chin and looked him in the eye “What’s wrong, my darling?”

Rami just whined and kicked to be let down, which Freddie hesitantly did. He wasn’t sure if he should be let down to play but he did what the boy asked

As Joe had seen Rami get put down, his hugged the boy gently and they had their own little conversation in quiet, a little quirk the two of them learnt weeks back

“Fred, I’m sure he is okay” Brian said and pat Freddie on the back gently, having heard what Roger and Freddie said earlier “We will keep the door open if they need us and will only be in the other room, it will be okay. Our boys will protect him” Brian nodded his head downwards to their own sons hugging Rami gently and asking what was wrong (Sadly getting no answers). Gwil even picked Rami up slightly yet so gently as they moved towards the middle of the carpet with the toys Brian kept whenever Rami visited and started to encourage him to play with them

That was around 20 minutes ago, and Joe and Ben half way through that time decided to play their own game whilst Gwilym stayed on the floor encouraging Rami to play. It was a bit darker now, but not so dark that it was Rami’s bed time (they weren’t good on time, they used the suns placement to determine when Rami goes to sleep, the seasons changing that didn’t help their predicament much though)

Gwil has just passed Rami a blue crayon when the baby started to cough deeply, like it was in the back of his throat. Both standing little boys stopped their play at that, turning around quickly and watching as Gwilym hesitantly rubbed the boys back in hopes of helping whatever was happening

Ben, thankfully, knew what the deep coughing meant “He’s gonna be sick-“ but just as he was about to go running for their fathers and a bucket, Rami puked up the whole of his lunch, which thankfully didn’t consist of anything chunky or thick, all over the carpet

Both Ben and Joe ran up to Rami, kneeling down next to him, mindful of the sick, and cooing at him as he started to sob and hold onto his tummy by wrapping his arms around it

Freddie, Brian, Roger and John burst through into the living room at that, in that order. Freddie quickly running to Rami and picking him up desperately, putting the boys head on his shoulder and rubbing his back, looking at the sick to check if there was any blood, just to be sure. No blood, thank the lords, but still sick.

The others picked up their own respectful sons as they ranted on together about what happened. They nodded, and thanked the boys for trying their best to help Rami when they could

“I’m gonna gonna go change him, alright?” Freddie said as he felt the little boys forehead, it was boiling “I think he has a fever..” he looked at the back of the boys head the best he could and kissed him on the side of it

“Sure Freddie” Brian nodded “You can use the spa-“

“Use my room!” Gwilym interrupted “He knows my room better, and I have a few toys if he wants some to calm him down” He smiled sympathetically at Rami, who didn’t see it as his eyes were scrunched closed as he sobbed

“Thank you Gwil, thats very kind of you” Freddie smiled and ruffled Gwilyms hair, making him smile and pat Rami on the back when he was close enough

Freddie took Rami into Gwilyms room, rubbing him back and trying to just calm him down a tiny bit as they got into Gwilyms room, Freddie grabbing the little boys non-used bin and using that was a sick bowl for now

“I know baby, I know” Freddie cooed as he laid the boy down onto the bed, the baby holding Freddie’s thumb in his hand in desperation. Freddie sighed and shook his head “Let’s get Brian to come in a help, huh baby?” He kissed Rami on the head gently and covered the little boys sensitive ears as he called for Brian.

Said man came in in no time, opening and closing the door softly “Need a hand?” He asked sympathetically at Freddie, who nodded

“Please.. could you just help me undress him? And pass me another pull up?” He said and held Rami’s other hand to guide the boys arms up when Brian started to lift the shirt. Rami didn’t kick air try to fight the actions, but he still was sobbing, and it was breaking Freddie’s heart to see his baby in pain, but he had to get undressed first because of how hot he was.

Brian was amazing though, talking to Rami when he had to check the boys pull up, this time it wasn’t dry, and change him into a new one, making the baby stop sobbing (thankfully) and just whimper and cry silently, which was still heartbreaking but not as bad as the sobs had been

Thy decided to keep Rami in just his pull up and put a thin blanket over his body, knowing the covers would be way to warm for him. Freddie stayed in the room all night, until Brian came in and told him to go in the spare room to get some sleep (Gwilym was sleeping in Brian’s bed with him, not putting up a fight at all when it was said that Rami was sleeping in his bed. Brian was so proud of his boy), which Freddie did reluctantly and kept double checking the door was as wide as it could be and that his door was also at least slightly open so he could hear if Rami called out for him

The boy didn’t, the next morning, Rami was up and playing with the stuffed animals around the room with Gwilym, the blanket thrown onto the floor. Freddie wasn’t sure if Rami woke Gwil up or if the oldest woke the youngest, but knowing the two of them it was probably Rami.

Freddie smiled as he watched his little boy, in just in pull up might he add, playing freely with Gwilym, laughing along to each other’s jokes like they were the funniest thing in the world.

He was so glad his baby was back to normal

Chapter Text

“Rami, this is Lucy, she’s Gwilyms age” Freddie said softly, putting the boy on the floor and ruffling his hair as he hugged his leg shyly and looked up at him beggingly. The little girl, in the baby blue dress standing across from the toddler, was equally as shy, playing with the ruffles of her dresses skirt as she glanced at Rami through her eyelashes. Mary tutted fondly and pushed the girl gently towards Rami, who made a small noise in the back of his throat and tried to shuffle closer to Freddie, the boy almost tripping over his fathers feet

“I’m sure they will wrk up to each other soon enough” Freddie said quietly as he picked his baby up and rested his head on his chin, patting his boys back gently

Mary sighed and nodded, taking Lucy’s hand as they started to walk along the side walk together, having stopped for their children to meet at a bus stop where Freddie came to pick up Mary and walk her back to his house. Mary and Lucy had been on a trip, some work trip or something (Freddie wasn’t sure, honestly) and Freddie promised he would pick Mary up, he also decided that then was a good time for their children to meet.

Alas, their plan failed, as both Rami and Lucy were almost equally as shy as the other

-

Back at Garden Lodge, Rami was sat peacefully on Freddie’s lap, playing with his fathers fingers as he babbled quietly to himself. Lucy was watching him from her own mother’s lap, her short body being light enough still to get away with sitting on Mary’s lap without being too heavy (Gwil was getting like that, Brian had said, the boy growing so rapidly that as his height increased so did his weight, not that he was getting fat, he was just so lanky than normal 8 year olds). Lucy watched and tried to decipher what Rami was saying as he spoke his own nonsense that he seemed to understand. She knew he wasn’t a baby, he was 4, yet everyone still called him the baby of their family. She had expected Rami to act more like Joe and Ben, open and loud, yet he was the exact opposite, closed and very quiet. She wanted to be his friend, she had decided. She liked how he was quiet and not so jumpy like the other three older boys.

So, Lucy got off of her Mummy’s lap and went over to Rami, who looked at her with those big blue-greenie eyes in confusion and wonder. She smiled at him and took him out of Freddie’s lap, holding him close to her chest and skipping off to the play room. Freddie and Mary watched, then shrugged at each other as their went along. Rami didn’t cry, so Freddie didn’t take him away from Lucy, knowing the boy would throw a fuss if he disliked what was happening

-

In the play room, they were both drawing.. well, Lucy was drawing a pretty house with her mummy and daddy and Rami’s was just more shapes and lines of all different colours. But that was alright, Lucy thought it was still nice.

“What’s your favourite colour?” Lucy asked as he kicked her legs back and forth, laying on her stomach with her drawing in front of her, her hand resting on her cheek to keep her head up

“Blue.. you?” Rami said quietly, picking up a red crayon to make another line

“Pink!” He grinned and grabbed the crayon, drawing her in a pink triangle dress

They had been at this for a while, sharing things back and forth between the two of them.

Once they were finished with their drawings, they went over to their parents, hand in hand, and showed them their masterpieces

Chapter Text

Rami hadn’t meant to press play, his finger just slipped and now suddenly his fathers and the other dads voices were screaming bad things at them through the record player. Ben was desperately trying to stop it, whilst Gwilym kept Rami in his arms to calm him down from the appending tears yet to come, and Joe was yelling instructions at Ben on how to fix it. Stuff like ‘Press that!’ Which was followed with ‘But that didn’t do anything!’ and an annoyed groan from Joe and more instructions were being yelled once again. Their dads were outside, the boys being instructed to go inside when it started to get too hot for them. They had done some exploring, and now when Rami called ‘What’s this?’ And he literally climbed onto the record player, only to be startled off and into Gwilyms arms when he pressed one of the buttons.

“Should we get dad-“ Joe started, but Ben beat him to finishing

“No we can do this!” Ben fiddled around with more dials, making it speed up, slow down, change it to a different song, all of it.

When it went higher, Rami gave out a chocked laugh, sniffling as he wiped his eyes and smiled softly

“Sound funny, Gwilly” Rami pointed up to the record player, and Gwil laughed, nodding

“They do! Ben do that again!” Gwil yelled up to Ben, who nodded and made the pitch higher, making their voices go faster and squeaky

All four boys laughed at that, Rami even slipping out of Gwils arms and having to hold his stomach he was laughing so hard. Joe was as red as his hair, wheezing for breath as he listened to the fast music, and Gwil was on his knees, having fell as soon as Rami got out of his arms

Then, their fathers came in, very confused as their voices sound so... weird? Why was it like that- oh the record-

Chapter Text

The longly awaited ‘Rami Temper Tantrum’ chapter

They were eating dinner, or just about to. Jim was putting the plates down on the dining table as he called his husband and son (basically a giant child and his actual child) that their food was ready.

Freddie heard Jim and smiled at him through the open dining door from where he was sat on the living room floor with Rami. Rami, in question, was playing with some soft mesh blocks, a few stuffed animals and a toy truck, merging one big game together.

The game didn’t have one set plot, the little boy changing it whenever he wanted to really, and his daddy would follow along easily, sometimes chuckle and the boys talent of hanging conversation easily.

Freddie knew Rami wasn’t his biological son but Freddie still likes to say that Rami ‘inherited’ most of his little quirks and talents from him. Too which Jim would tut, pick the boy up into his arms and get Rami to say how amazing Jim was. It was a mutual battle between the husbands to see who Rami ‘favoured’ at that time.. Mainly around people so Freddie could show off, as he so liked do with things he loved so much. Yes, Freddie was that dad that would interrupt you with ‘yes but my beautiful son can-‘ and proceed to tell how Rami made a macaroni art work that it now framed and on the fridge. Yes, framed.

But other than framed macaroni art, Rami’s game hadn’t been disrupted. The boy still babbled to himself, grabbing the stuffed animals gently and putting them safely into the toy truck together, then driving them over to the blocks that served as pedestals for the animals big show that would be performed to the truck later on.

Freddie smiled at the boy so fondly and kissed the boy on the side of his head, practically on the curls there “Bub, dinner” Freddie stood up, then putting his hand out for the boy. But said boy didn’t want to stand, apparently, as he just shook his head so slightly you would’ve missed it with a blink, and kept playing with his trucks.

Freddie frowned. Rami wasn’t a bad kid, he rarely said ‘no’ about stuff he didn’t really have a say in (like dinner, for example). Sure, he and the other boys were cheeky little devils but that had never done something really terrible (Other then get high on sugar with that team-efforted, rather-impressive sneak attack in the kitchen cupboard last week). So his baby boy, saying no to such a thing as dinner, was very off.

Freddie furrowed his eyebrows and tried again “We have to eat, Ram’s, Papa made spaghetti” He said enthusiastically, trying to get his son at least a but interested. But no, the four year old, just shook his head again, just more vigorously now. This wasn’t like Rami at all..

“Rami, come on, dinner” Freddie’s voice went a bit harsher, not mean enough to scare the boy, just to get him to understand

But said boy wasn’t up for it, he just sulked more and threw the toy onto the floor, then crossing his arms and whining in the back of his throat. Freddie was dumbfounded, his baby acting like this? This was totally new. He understood children could be bratty or cranky sometimes but Rami just wasn’t. Well.. he never had been

“Whoa, what’s that about?” Freddie crouched down in front of the boy, going eye-level with him. But, said boy huffed and scooted away from Freddie.

The older of the two sighed, shaking his head and turning Rami towards him on his bum “Baby,” he started softly “Dinner, please?” He grabbed onto Rami’s hands gently, rubbing the backs of them with his thumb

Then, Rami kicked him. Not harshly, but enough to hurt for a while. Freddie winced and held onto his shin, were Rami had hit him.

“Hey, we don’t hit in this house mister” Freddie scolded and let go of one of Rami’s hands, then lifting his up gently to just take him to dinner then talk to him, although being pulled up more only made Rami whine and kick more, shaking his head rapidly

“What’s this about hitting?” Jim, who had come into the living room to check all of the commotion, asked as he walked into the room and stood next to Freddie, giving Rami a look which only made him still in his tracks of kicking and whining like there was no tomorrow

“Well Rami here just kicked me in the shin” He also gave Rami a look, which must’ve pissed off the boy more as he started up his whining and kicking again, trying to pull his hand out of Freddie’s soft but firm grip on the boy

“Rami, Stop it” Freddie warned, and Jim just shook his head and picked the boy up swiftly, taking him into the kitchen and sitting him down in his usual space

“Eat, we will talk about this after” Jim said as both Freddie and Jim himself sat down. The boy huffed for about 5-6 seconds then picked up a handful (not that much to everyone else) and threw it at Jim. Then, the throw was accompanied with a bout of screaming, kicking and mini fists banging the table.

Both Jim and Freddie were shocked, looking at the boy confused and somewhat scared of how the boy was acting all of a sudden. This wasn’t their son, they knew Rami. Rami was the sweetest one of the group, the baby still and always, the one that cried when Joe accidentally stood on an ant. Not this whining, kicking and screaming child.

“Rami. Stop that, now” Jim warned, grabbing the boys teny tiny wrists and holding them gently “Stop kicking and screaming or you will go on the naughty step” Ah, that struck a nerve. Rami stopped dead in his tracks, looking at Jim with confused and apprehensive eyes

“Naughty step?” Rami asked tentatively, his screaming forgotten about completely as he looked up at his daddy

“Yes, for 4 minutes” Jim didn’t show emotion, getting his point across to Rami that he would be going there if he continued to act like he was

“...okay” Rami said quietly and grabbed his fork, eating silently. Both Freddie and Jim shared a look, shrugged and went to their meal.

When they tried to ask Rami what happened, the boy just stuck a giraffe in Jim’s face, making him snort and kiss his baby on the head with a fond sigh. They would ask another time

Chapter Text

Freddie and Jim knew something was ‘up’ so to speak. The fact that Rami went non-verbal half the time, flapped his hands when he got excited or upset, or the fact that Rami despised certain textures so much he would scream and curl up into a ball, rocking on his heels and getting even more worked up when someone touched him during one of his ‘fits’. Phoebe suggested that they get Rami tested for autism, to which Freddie took that the wrong way and yelled at Phoebe for a while for insulting his son (Both Jim and Phoebe has to explain that he hadn’t meant it in that way, and that Phoebe meant good will towards the boy and nothing else)

After that argument, Jim called a child’s doctor and get the appointment for the next day, wanting to get it over and done with

So here they sat in the waiting room, Rami on Freddie’s lap as he played with the buttons on Freddie’s jacket, and Jim sitting next to them, rubbing the boys back gently. There were a few people also there, probably do sick to actually realise that it was Freddie Mercury and his husband and child in the same room as them, or did realise and respected the threes boundaries. Nobody wanted to be bombarded with fans in a waiting room, that would just be so disrespectful (Or they had seen the body guards near them and knew not to mess with them)

“Rami Mercury-Hutton?” A Male, blond doctor called from the hallway, making all three of their heads turn. The doctor smiled and beckoned them over “This way please”

Freddie and Jim stood up, Freddie putting Rami onto his hip easily and both walking to follow the doctor

They went into a kiddies room, with pained animals on the walls and ceilings and colourful cabinets on one wall above the sink and what-not

“Hi, I’m Doctor Knight, and you must be Rami” The Doctor Smiled at Rami “If you could sit there, please” he gestured to a comfortable looking (ish, Freddie had standers) hospital bed that Freddie sat down in with Rami on his knee. Jim sat on the chair across from them, smiling at his baby when Rami looked at him uncertainly

“Hello, Rami. I’m going to be your doctor for today, now I just wanted to go over some tests with you if that would be alright” The doctor said kindly, and Rami nodded slightly and hid his face in the crook of Freddie’s neck “Alrighty then, lets get to it”

-

A few minutes later, The Doctor had started to shine a light into Rami’s eyes and ears for the normal check up process but got interrupted with Rami whining and trying to hide his face away from the light. They got back on track with in a few minutes afterwards though. After the check up came the questions

“Does anyone in your family.. or the surrogates family have autism or is on the spectrum?” He asked, assuming Rami was somehow related to either of them and had a surrogate mother. He wasn’t homophobic, not at all, he just assumed to quickly

Both Jim and Freddie chuckled at that, Freddie shaking his head as he said “Rami’s adopted, we don’t know anything about his bio family, really” Freddie thought that over. Did they really not know that kind of stuff? Should they?!

“Ohh, my apologies, next question then, does he have trouble speaking? Going non-verbal at times?” Before he could finish the question, Jim was nodding

“All the time” Jim sighed and smiled fondly at his boy, making the boy duck his head and fiddle with Freddie’s hand

“Right.. well judging by what you told me and how this session went, I would diagnose Rami with autism” He said and looked over some notes, mainly giving Freddie and Jim some time to think about it.

An autistic child. They both knew how people took to autism now, just how they took gay people. They both knew Rami’s life was going to be harder now than it already was, the whole having-two-dads a touchy subject for some.

But did this really change anything? No, not really..

-

They went home, had dinner, talked to Rami about how he was feeling, and gave the boy a big bubble bath like they always did on Wednesday and Saturday nights. During bath time, Rami would normally speak, if he wasn’t too tired. Thankfully, the boy wasn’t tired at all (or maybe unthankfully...)

“Daddy~” Rami drew out, looking up at Freddie with his big Blue-greenie eyes as the father scrubbed the boys body gently with a wash cloth

“Yes, my baby?” Freddie said, not looking around from getting each and every spot of the boys body- oh his upper back! How could Freddie forget?

“What does Autism’s mean?” Rami said as Freddie moved to wash the boys back, Rami turning his head to look at Freddie shoulder, never in his eye

“Autism, darling.. it means that your brain is different from mine and papa’s, but that’s alright” He smiles and kisses the boy on the cheek “Now turn back around so I can finish your back” Rami giggled and turned back around, playing with the water and splashing the bubbles with his hands, Jim coming in to put more bubbles in the tub and once they had fully appeared, he put them all over Rami’s head and face, mindful of his eyes.

Then, Rami decided that he would make Freddie have a bubble beard, with no prior warning what the boy was about it do. Instead, Freddie almost inhaled half of the bubbles, making all three of them laugh.

All was well, in Mercury-Hutton household

Chapter Text

When Jim and Freddie put Rami to bed that night, they didn’t give him a pull up. They wanted the boy to start not wearing them as much, which was slowly becoming a success, but this was the first night where Rami was going without.

Rami didn’t put up any fuss, probably didn’t even realise the padding was gone that night as he slept sound fully like he normally did.

But in the morning, Jim and Freddie both woke up to small knocks on their bedroom door, it must’ve closed by accident that night as the two dadsTM always kept it open for Rami

Jim got up and opened the door, only to be greeted with a squirming Rami, bouncing from side to side

“Need to go!” Rami complained, putting his arms up for Jim to take him into his arms

“Alright, Buddy, lets go” He picked the boy up and took him to the bathroom, let him do his business and helped wash his hands (stay safe)

“Good boy for holding Ram-Ram” Jim kissed the boy on the cheek, and he nodded and went babbling off as he ran to Freddie, who was still in bed. Rami climbed up into the bed and jumped onto Freddie’s back, yelling in his ear excitedly

“Oh hello munchkin, didn’t hear you” Freddie said with a grin, whilst Jim rolled his eyes

“How could you not hear him? He’s probably woken up all the cats” Jim said fondly and shook his head, getting back into bed

Freddie, at the mention of his cats, perked up instantly, along with Rami. They both turned to each other and yelled “The cats!” And ran off to go feed them, Jim laughing at them the whole time

Chapter Text

“I wasn’t Mary’s kid..” Rami, 25, dressed up in his fathers old black and white leotard from the 70’s, gripped the new Bohemian Rhapsody script in his hand, looking over at the much older Joe Mazzello also

“Wait what- what page is that?” Joe, 26, in his fathers 70’s hair wig, long and somewhat notted, fumbled through the script in his hand to find the scene where Rami was essentially ‘born’ by Mary Austin “Ah found it-.. what the hell” Joe laughed “Does your dad know about this?”

“No I haven’t showed him the new script yet” They had to change it half way through filming when Singer was finally fired (that god awful man finally being gone from their lives was a blessing)

“He’s not gonna be happy about this..” Joe mumbled as Rami went into the kitchen of Garden Lodge, also where John, Freddie and Jim were sat together talking about god knows what “Dad, look, I’m Mary’s kid now” Rami snorted as he entered the kitchen, Joe rushing to Johns side to show him also

“What? When?” Freddie and Jim both looked just as confused, until they saw the script and... were more confused

Rami burst out laughing at their faces “How do you get something like that wrong?” He shook his head but kept snickering, Joe also giggling across from Rami

“Tell them to change that, darling. Adopting you was a big part in our lives. I don’t care if the rest of the movie is inaccurate I want that to be the truth” Freddie said and handed the script back. Rami just smiled down at him in awe, then nodding and scurried to get his phone to call Dexter, Joe rushing after him, also going over the problems with the new script

“‘Adopting You was the best point in our lives’, huh?” Jim said kindly and kissed his husband on the cheek

“It wasn’t for you?” Freddie said cheekily

“I never said that, thank you!” Jim laughed and shook his head, and the conversation went on once again

Chapter Text

Gwilym wasn’t happy, that much was obviously to the other two children and toddler. He kept sniffling and just didn’t want to play with them, even when Rami held out a soft mesh block to Gwil, the tallest of them all didn’t take it, making Rami tilt his head to the side in wonder. He wasn’t upset or angry at Gwilym for not taking the toy, knowing sometimes you just didn’t wanna.

Ben had told John and Freddie about Gwilyms mood, his own father and Gwilyms being out at the moment so John and Freddie were babysitting for a while until they came back to Freddie’s house. The boys had dubbed the babies house the best, as Freddie had his cats there, Jim’s garden was beautiful and Rami had so many toys it was unbelievable. The joys of having a spoilt best friend (Freddie’s fault). Sure, his toys were a tad babyish to the older three but still enjoyable, especially when Rami came up with the best game ideas, always mixing toys together to make the games even funner for them all. Gwilym would normally love it, but at the moment he really didn’t love anything. As Gwilym sat on the sofa crossed legged, sulking and moping, he didn’t take part in the games being played by Joe and Rami.

Although, Rami kept looking back over his shoulder that held his overall strap, and back at Gwilym with confusion. Just as Rami looked like he was about to speak, Freddie, John and Ben came into the playroom, making Rami give out an excited gasp and look over at his daddy and rush up to him for a hug.

Freddie pulled Rami into his arms and bounced him gently, talking to him privately whilst John went up to Gwilym and sat next to him, Joe not paying his dad any attention as he was so immersed in his game. John put a hand on Gwilyms knee gently and ducked his head to catch the boys gaze

“What’s wrong, Gwilym?” He said softly, patting his knee in encouragement

“It’s just-“ the boy started to speak, but was cut off by his own sob, covering his face with his hands embarrassed that he was breaking down in front of the younger ones. He was supposed to be the older one, the smartest one, the one that protected the younger ones-Especially Rami, the toddler being so small he could get hurt so easily that it was Gwilyms job to make sure he was safe at all times.. but now he was just crying in front of each one of them, his dad not even around to help as he was out with Roger.

John quickly pulled the eight year old into his lap and rocked him gently, patting his back softly and shushing him like he did with Joe. Freddie put Rami down at the boys request, and as soon as the babies little legs touched the ground he went running to Gwilym and climbed up on the sofa to hug him.

Gwilym let go of John and hugged Rami close to his chest, preferring holding onto something smaller than trying to keep his arms around John and not being about to rescan his hands together. He stayed on Johns lap though, because even though he was eight he still wanted at least some cuddles from his uncles.

Rami pat Gwilyms back with his small hand gently, like he knew his daddies did for him when he was upset. He looked up at Gwilym, who had his eyes closed but tears still falling out. He wasn’t about to judge, the older ones had seen Rami cry before, and the youngest knew how embarrassing it could be to cry on your own like that.

So, Rami started crying himself. Not a small cry, one of his big cry’s, to help Gwilym calm down knowing he wasn’t the only one crying. And it helped, because Gwilym started to calm down quicker than everyone else thought. As soon as he stopped crying, Gwilym sniffled and started to calm Rami down, the thought of having someone to look after was pleasant to Gwilym, the kid was the protector anyway.

Freddie looked like he wanted to go over there, but he knew his babies thinking and decided not to (even though it kind of did hurt that his baby was crying and he wasn’t helping him) but he also knew after a big cry like that, chosen or not, he would go nonverbal, or at least babble, for the rest of the day, or more, which was okay but sometimes hard to understand Rami’s needs when he couldn’t ask for them.

Gwilym saw no problem in this as the youngest started to calm down and wipe his eyes, leaning into Gwilym and going slack like he was worn out

“How’s about a nap?” Freddie offered as he came closer to Rami and tried to pick him up, but was interrupted by Gwilym

“I’ve got him, we can go together, I’m tired anyway” Gwilym said quickly, picking the youngest up the best he could (almost dropping him a couple of times) and got off the sofa “I’ve got him-“ He said as Rami started to once again slip from the boys arms, making him whine and try to catch himself.

John chuckled and gently pried Gwils hands away from Rami’s shirt and picked Gwilym up whilst Freddie got his own baby. Freddie bounced Rami slightly, and the baby looked up at him with big joyful eyes

“Nap time with Gwil, baby” Freddie kissed Rami on the head as John started to talk to the other boys, telling them that they would be gone soon “John pass me him and you stay with them”

“You sure? You got both of them?” He said as he handed Gwilym to Freddie, who took him into his other arm, so he had both children on each side

“Of course, I can carry Delilah around and this little one at the same time, it’s a skill” He winked cheekily, making all the little boys giggle and laugh at him, Ben even trying to imitate the wink with failure but with Joe laughing at him from where they stood on the floor together

“Alright then” John chuckled and kissed both the boys goodnight, giving Freddie a look that said ‘we have to tell Brian what happened’ and Freddie gave a silent nod as he walked up the stairs to Rami’s room to put them both down for a nap together.

Chapter Text

“Alright, Rami all tucked in?” Brian asked as he checked over Rami one again. Freddie and Jim were trusting Brian with their son, probably their most prized ‘possession’, for one night as the oldest and youngest wanted a sleep over together after Ben and Joe were bragging about their own sleepover (‘They has marshmallows, dad! We have to beat that!’ ‘Cookies?’ ‘Good idea Rami, we need a lot of cookies’ they had a lot of cookies, might I add). Brian was probably overreacting, he could tell by Rami’s giggling that he thought so, but he couldn’t help it. He wasn’t this worried since Gwil didn’t stop crying when he was a baby (oh god that boy could scream at two am and would). It was probably because this was Rami, The baby of the group, and everyone knew not to hurt Rami, didn’t want to hurt Rami in the first place. He was so lovable and cute and small and oh his little hands and feet and his little clothes were adorable- yeah, baby of the group.

Butcanbrianjustsayramislittlesockswerethecutestthinghehadseensincegwilymwithahedgehog.

So, as Brian triple checked the baby had his milk next to him on the side table, and was fully tucked into Gwilyms bed (the older one giving his dad a confused look as he acted so different around the youngest), Rami couldn’t help but laugh at him. His dads weren’t as worried about him as much as Brian- well... maybe Freddie was more like Brian on bad days...

Brian chuckled at the youngest and kissed them both goodnight “Okay I get it I’m worrying to much, I know” He pinched the youngest and oldest cheek “Look at my babies” He cooed jokingly, making Rami giggle excitedly and Gwilym to grin and try to push his dad off of both of them

“Dad stop, goodnight” Gwilym acted as if he was a moody teenager, making Brian laugh and shake his head

“Alright I’m going, goodnight.. for real this time” He said with a smile as he went downstairs to watch Tv with Anita whilst the others ‘fell asleep’ (it was a sleepover, the kids never sleep at a sleepover)

>

Later that night, when Brian and Anita were tucked up in bed, just about to fall asleep, there was small thumps of small little feet rubbing down the hall, scared shaken breaths going about with the thumping noise.

Brian knew who it was, and had an idea why he was awake. Brian got out of bed, opened the door gently and watch as Rami, down the hall, looked back at him and ran up to him

“Brian..” he whined as he ran with his arms up towards him, a small dark spot between his legs on his Pyjama bottoms (that had cats on them, yes Freddie brought them)

“Oh baby, it’s alright” he brought the boy into his arms and shushed him, making sure not to get anything on himself “Come on, you can were something of Gwilyms”

>

“Ah..” Brian said as Rami stepped into a pair of Gwils pyjama bottoms, only for them to instantly slip back down, making Rami pull the up embarrassed

“Maybe try..” Anita trailed off, looking through more of Gwils older clothes that had yet to been thrown out yet “These might work” She smiles softly and helped the boy into another pair, these ones a lot smaller and actually fit this time.

Rami grinned up at Anita “Thank you Ani’a” Rami had dubbed Anita the nickname when they first met, having taken to the women quickly like she was his own mother. (Mary wasn’t to pleased about it, but she didn’t show it to the others, only Freddie)

“Your very welcome, Lamb” Anita had her own nickname for the boy after he was put into a lamb outfit by Freddie and Jim as a joke. The little boy had loved it, which made it even more cute “Now back to bed for your sleepover” She picked the younger one up and laid him back into the bed, Gwil jumping onto her when she bent down to tuck him in.

Brian laughed and then and also jumped onto the bed, grabbing Gwilym and pulling him into his lap to tickle his tummy, making the older of the children laugh madly and kick his legs, Anita giving Rami the same treatment as his giggles started sounding through the house also.

Chapter Text

“Ben- would you please stop running around the house?” Roger called as he watched Ben go around the kitchen isle again for the 15th hundred time, Frankie barking with her tail wagging behind her as she ran after the blond boy.

“No way, butthead!” He called behind him as he went running into the living room again. Frankie following along as her tail knocked everything over that got in its way of its vigorous wagging

“What did I say about that word!” Roger shook his head and gripped his hair, going insane as the boy kept testing his nerves for the past week or so. It wasn’t Bens fault, not completely, with having to stay inside because of that bloody illness going around and not being able to go to the park or meeting the other boys, Roger could tell Ben was getting ansty and this was the boys way of coping. But calling his own father a butthead was just wrong, to Roger at least.

“Sorry!...” Ben called, but Roger didn’t respond, knowing to stay silent because Ben had this thing that if he was being told off and said sorry he would always follow it with- “Butthead” quietly.

Roger groaned and stood up “Ben get your butt back here!” He called and went rushing up to his son, the blond already ahead of him, the dog getting the way between the two

“You said butt!” Ben called behind his shoulder with a laugh, and Roger couldn’t help but grin at his behaviour

-

In the Deacons household, something very similar was going on “Joe, please could you just stand still for a moment?” John said as he tried to wipe the muck off of his sons face and hands. Apparently playing with paint wasn’t a good idea, as now Joe’s whole body looked like a rainbow.

“But the rag is cold” Joe said as he tried to pull out of Johns arm wrapped around his wait to keep him in place, and run off. But to no evale.

“For five minutes, please?” John tried ones again, wiping and scrubbing at the boys shirt that held a blob of black paint he just couldn’t get off. As John looked over to see how many more splotches of paint there were, he saw- “How the hell did you get it on your shoes?!” John said shocked, looking up at his son with a confused face

Joe just burst out laughing at his face “They are a different colour now!” He giggled and pointed down at them

“Your mothers gonna be so angry..” he mumbled, in fear for both their lives. Joe stopped laughing at that

“We gotta clean up!” Joe rushed to the kitchen table to start cleaning it up

“That we do” He said with a slightly pale face, helping to clean the table. They would get to the pain covered clothes in a moment.

-

Gwilym was just sad, really. He wanted to see the others. He had probably read every single book in the house (excluding Brian’s science books, knowing how precious they were to his dad and how much he loved them) and now had nothing to do. He moped around the house, sneaking some chocolate from the fridge and hoarding it in his room and eating it under his pillow fort he made that had a light that reflected stars onto the ceiling sheets.

He thought how much Rami would love the blanket fort, touching all the different blankets in the fort. He thought about how much Ben and Joe would love to use it as a kingdom or cave for one of their games, or using it as a base for their secret-snack-planning they always tried any time they were together (They were getting better).

He sniffled as he turned the next page of the book he had read many times now

-

Rami didn’t understand any of it. why couldn’t he go see Frankie and Ben anymore? Why couldn’t Joe come over for a play date anymore? And why couldn’t he go to the park with Gwilym anymore? They had been to the park together a few times and it was so much fun to play at, the slides and the swings being Rami’s favourite.. Although it wasn’t fun on the baby swings alone. His daddies had said he was to old for the baby swings but because of how small his frame was, Freddie put him in out of fear of Rami jumping off the big swing when he saw Ben do it. The good thing about the baby swings though was that Gwilym had climbed into the other one next to Rami, almost getting stuck and having to be pulled out of it by both Brian and Jim. Miama had come along one time, and Rami wanted him to help him go up the rainbow climbing frame (He just picked Rami up and the little boy just pretended he was climbing it himself. Miama had left Rami hanging on one of them, keeping his arms just a tiny bit under Rami so if he let go he would be caught quickly, but the boy didn’t fall, he just hung there like a monkey, making the others laugh (Even though Rami saw Freddie glare at Miama when he first saw his son acting like a monkey). He wanted to be a monkey again, it had been so much fun and yet they couldn’t.

He didn’t understand any reason why, last time he checked he was alright, and so were the boys and his uncles so why couldn’t they go?

“Daddy” Rami whined up at Freddie, who was waiting for Rami’s pop-tart to toast (that was the boys fixation recently)

“What, baby?” Freddie leaned down the scoop the boy into his arms from under his armpits, putting him on his hip “Whats’a matter?”

“Why can’t we go out?” He whined, kicking his socked feet gently and looking up at his daddy as he watched his face fall

“We might get sick” Freddie said quickly, kissing the boys tiny hand and turning to the pop tarts that had finally popped from the toaster

“Why?” He asked, yet was ignored, making him sigh over dramatically (he learnt that from Freddie) “Daddy, why?” He asked again, and was just placed in his chair with his pop tarts on the plate. He groaned again, throwing his head back (another thing from Freddie) “Daddy!”

“Whaaaat?!” Freddie whined back at him, mimicking the babies voice, making his giggle

“Whyyyyy” He drew out his words like Freddie did, making his laugh also and kiss the boy on the head

“You Shh and eat” He pushes the plate towards him again, and Rami did start eating. He planned on asking ‘whyyyy’ again later.

Chapter Text

-au kinda-
It’s the 70’s, all the boys are living in the same apartment and it’s the smile days, just before Queen. It’s really cramped with 8 people in a 4 bedroom apartment. Jim is together with Freddie but he doesn’t live in the apartment. Rami is Freddie and Mary’s kid in THIS ONE ONLY.

“Has anyone seen Tart?!” Freddie called as he ran out of the washing room, a grumpy looking Rami bouncing along on Freddie hip as he ran around the apartment

“No.. have your tried the washi-“ Brian started talking as he was helping Gwilym with his buttons on his shirt. The older four had a concert today, and the four boys were staying with their mothers (Rami was staying with Jim, Freddie’s new boyfriend)

“Yes I tried there! I don’t know where Tart is!” Freddie said frantically and quickly, looking around the room quickly as he could to find the missing polar bear toy

“Want Tart” Rami mumbled tiredly as he rubbed at his eyes with his fists

“I know baby, I know” he kissed his head a couple of times to keep him happy for a while

“I saw Tart in the bathroom!” Joe called as he went running off in that area

“Oh john your child’s a life saver” He said thankfully to John as Joe came back with the teddy, giving it to Rami and kissing the toy on the cheek playfully

Rami took the toy and almost at once the boy was asleep

Chapter Text

“He’s so.. tiny” Joe said as the three of them watched the new addition to the family sleep on Freddie’s lap. They had all just finished lunch at Garden Lodge when Rami had decided to take a nap in Freddie’s arms, Freddie not having the heart to wake the boy up when he realised his baby was asleep. They had all come over to meet Rami, at different times to not overwhelm the little boy. Freddie told them that his social worker wasn’t... the best of people, the had practically dumped Rami at their door with a mumble of his allergies and giving the little boy the medication before she just went back to her car and drove off, no talking about the boy or his past.

They had to look at Rami’s files to see everything. Apparently, the boy had a younger twin brother, but they were separated when they both went into emergency foster care after their parents and older sister passed in a car accident, the boys both being at a friends house during the crash. Rami hadn’t mentioned his brother, Sami, during his time at Garden Lodge and Jim and Freddie didn’t know if it was a curse or a blessing.

Freddie smiled softly at Joe then looked down at his foster son in his lap, nodding his head “That’s because he’s a toddler, Joe” Freddie said kindly. All three of the boys kept staring at him like he was an alien from outer space, even Gwilym who had seen the other two even younger than Rami was. He had seen Joe when he was a newborn, but he didn’t remember him being that small when he was three, and he remembered Ben when he was Rami’s age because of how fluffy his blond hair was getting. But Rami was just tiny! He could probably fit into Peter Rabbits house under the tree!

“I wasn’t that small when I was a baby” Ben said with a proud grin, knowing he was a fast grower (not as fast as Gwilym but their heights were close)

The adults chuckled, Roger shaking his head and kissing the boy on his cheek “You were that small when you were a proper baby though” Roger kept his voice low and quiet, knowing how fussy a toddler could be if woken from a nap

“Yeah but not a toddler” Ben grumbled and looked back at Rami “I wanna hold him” Ben said with a grin, putting his hands out for Rami to be magically placed in his arms

The adults shared a look, as if they were having a silent conversation

“Me too!” Joe called gently, putting his hand up like he was in school asking for the teacher

“And me” Gwilym grinned “I should go first because I’m the oldest and know how to hold babies” He had that dazzling Grin only the May’s could pull off, obviously learning it from his dad or mum “Please” He said, looking at Freddie with happy eyes. Gwilym always enjoyed holding the younger ones when they were babies, he had always wanted to be an older brother and when he got two ‘younger brothers’, he was over the moon and now with a third he was even more than happy about it- and this one was so small!

Jim and Freddie looked at each other before Freddie nodded and stood up, carefully holding Rami as he moved

“Be careful with him, he’s really small remember, and hold-“

“Hold his head, I know” He grinned up at Freddie “I got this” He nodded triumphantly and Freddie snorted back at him, shaking his head and slowly starting to pass his foster son over to Gwilym

Once Gwil had him in his arms safely, he took in the little boys sleeping face. He was cute, Gwilym had to agree to the adults, and he was very light, lighter than the they two at this age for sure. Rami whined slightly at the change of arms and twisted, Gwilym having to move his arms so the toddler didn’t fall

“Shh shhh, I’ve got you Rami” he said quietly, patting the toddlers back gently to calm him back down to sleep.

John quickly got a photo of Rami in Gwilyms arms, his face scrunched up in annoyance of being moved from his foster dads lap, and Gwilym trying to gently calm him down. Oh they were going to be best of friends, All of the adults were sure of it.

Chapter Text

Gwilym was hundred percent, that much was obvious. The boy wouldn’t run around with the other three, and when he did try earlier you could tell running physically hurt him, so he stopped after that. Brian kept trying to get the boys attention, but every time he did he was needed somewhere else. It was a painful experience

Just as Gwilym was about to go up to his dad, a wave of nausea fled over him, making him gag and his mind went on autopilot as he ran to the bathroom, Brian quickly following behind him when he saw his son running. When Brian burst into the bathroom, he saw Gwilym head dead in the toilet, puking his guts and lunch up. He crouched down next to the boy and rubbed his back gently, shushing himself and telling him it was alright.

When Gwilym stopped, he looked up at his dad as he started to wipe his mouth “‘M sorry..” he mumbled and rested his head on Brian’s, said lanky guitarist pulling him close and petting his head gently

“It’s okay, I could tell you weren’t well” He shushed him gently, picking him up and going to the worried adults with their also worries kids “Gwilyms ill, we are gonna go home now” He said gently to the others, who nodded understandably. Jim took the kids into the playroom so they were out of the way so Brian could get Gwilym’s stuff without fear of tripping over Rami and Tart.

“Sit down, Ive got it” John said as he and Roger went off to find Brian’s shoes and book bag he took with him

Freddie stayed put, wrapping Gwilym up in one of Rami’s blankets so he wouldn’t catch a chill on the way to the car “I know it’s close darling but he might get even more sick so just swaddle him in this” Freddie said, a panic in his voice. Fred always panicked if one of the kids were sick or injured in the tiniest way, even before Rami.

Brian chuckled and shook his head “He’s eight, Fred, you can’t swaddle an eight year old” He grinned at the other father, whilst said dad just nodded and wrapped it around Gwilyms shoulders instead

“Just- keep that on him, yeah? Oh gosh what if it’s flu-“ Freddie was panicking more than Brian was about his own child. Brian guessed that was what having a four year old was like.. those where the days

“Freddie it’s probably a stomach bug alright? He’s gonna be fine, it’s Gwil” He grinned and looked down at his son, his face changing to fond in an instant as Gwilym brought the blanket closer to himself “I know, Baby, I know” He kissed him on the forehead gently. So what if Brian called his eight year old his baby... he still was his baby until he said so (so always basically)

“Shoes, and Rogers put the bag in the car” John said as he lifted the shoes up to show that he had them, then crouching down by Gwilyms feet and putting them on him himself. Brian just nodded to John in thanks, then standing up once again, Gwilym tucked tight to his side in Rami’s blanket, and Brian made his way to the car to tuck his baby into bed for a long nights rest

Chapter Text

Breaktime was boring now. Little eight year old Rami sat on the outside bench with his packed lunch in front of him, the cat-shaped box opened yet not touched. Ben and Joe were sitting on the opposite side together, like they normally did, playing slaps on each other’s hands, a game they made up on Joe’s first day of school. It was simple really, Joe would slap Bens hand, then Ben would slap Joe’s slightly harder, then Joe slapped again. It was a contest to see who would give in first and whoever gave in shared their sweets at lunch (Each Of the Queen dads put sweets for their boys in their lunchboxes). Rami and Gwilym didn’t play the game, normally playing tic tac toe or Rock Paper Scissors together. But sadly, Gwil wasn’t here anymore.

He was gone up to high school with Lucy, now in year 7 whilst the others stayed in 6, 4 and 3, which wasn’t fair on Rami because he was probably closer to Gwilym than the others were, although they were all close. Rami sniffled as he looked at the empty seat next to him.

Joe looked up at the boys sigh and shook his head, putting a hand on Rami’s smaller one “He’s not really gone, we will see him when he comes over, y’know” He tried to give a reassuring smile, but Joe missed Gwilym too, the older ones just being easier at hiding it

“I know but.. he’s not here” He gestured to the whole building with a shake of his head

“I know, RamRam, but.. here, have my crisps, yeah?” Ben said as he passed over his Space-Raiders. Rami just huffed and pushed them back

“I don’t want them! I want Gwil” he whined and crossed his arms over his lunch and hiding his face in them

Ben gasped and caught the crisps before they fell to the ground. Joe just pat Rami’s head gently, not sure what to do to cheer him up

“Y’know, Gwilym wouldn’t want you to not eat lunch” Joe said gently, seeing that lunch was almost over and the boy hadn’t touched his food. His break-time snack wasn’t even eaten, and Joe knew the boy loved his bloody pop-tarts.

He knew it might not work, Rami was a smart kid after all. But maybe..

When Rami lifted his head up slightly so he could peak at Joe past his arms, Joe knew he won

“You think?” He said quietly and hesitantly, looking at his sandwiches and apple slices, the same apples Jim had grew years back and had started to produce ripe apples

Joe nodded “Of course he would!” He nudged Ben, who also nodded

“He definitely would” Ben said with a determined voice, knowing now that Gwilym was gone up to the bigger school, he would be the oldest now. Which meant protecting Rami.

“...okay” Rami thought about it for a second before taking his wrapped up sandwich and unwrapping it from the foil, then nibbling on it

Ben and Joe high-fived under the table, Ben wincing from his hands being still sore from their game earlier

Chapter Text

It was shocking how much the three biological sons looked like their dads. Gwilym definitely inheriting Brian’s face shape and jaw, Ben having Rogers blond hair, and Joe with Johns small frown and squinting eyes that he normally had. Obviously Rami didn’t look as much like Freddie and Jim as the other three did with their fathers, that was to be expected. But Rami had the same aura around him as both Freddie and Jim combined. The little boy had a way around him that told you he was kind but mischievous, not a brat but not perfect either (every kid had their bad days, that was normal). Obviously Freddie and Jim thought Rami was perfect, biologically related to either of them or not.

Gwilym inherited the brains also, apparently. The eldest of the boys reading Rami a book about the planets that his dad obviously got him. They were all at the park, Queen needing some time to themselves for a few hours (Have you met these four? They can’t not get into trouble), and Miami being more than pleased to look after the Mini’s (He had dubbed them that in his head) for a bit.

Ben and Joe were on the seesaw on each side, trying to go as high as they could. He was shocked one of them hadn’t hurt themselves or each other yet, knowing how reckless those two could be together.

Rami suddenly looked over at Miami, and he gave the boy a soft smile. Rami stood up, Gwilym nose to deep in his book to realise the toddler was off, and walked over to Miami with his arms up for him to pick him up. Apparently, the boy decided he wanted hugs now.

Miami smiles softly and sat up from the bench, walking over to Rami and lifting him up from his armpits and into his arms, the little boy squealing in joy at the action.

“You alright?” He said kindly to the toddler, who nodded with a babble and snuck his head in the crook of the adults neck and sighed contently.

Miami shrugged and patted the boys back, going over to check on Ben and Joe

“You two okay?” He said with a laughed as he watched Joe fly off his seat then land back on it from Ben jumping on the other end of the seesaw “Whoa careful, Ben” He said gently as he grabbed the boys shirt sleeve and gently pull him back down to sit “You gotta sit down, not jump” He said fondly, going back to patting Rami’s back when the boy started whining. He ‘inherited’ the neediness from Freddie then

“‘S funnier” Ben mumbled with a shrug, going back to jumping on his butt, Joe following along the action on the other side

“I know bud, but for safety reasons” He ruffled the blond head of hair, electing a groan (he was practically a teenager) from the owner of the blond head

Miami chuckled and shook his head, going over to Gwilym and sitting down next to him on the picnic mat, the same Place Rami had been sitting earlier

“You alright, big guy?” Miami said kindly, looking over at the tall lads page in wonder “What’s that?” He pointed to one of the planets on the page

“Jupiter” Gwilym said absently, not turning to look at the image he was pointing at, to immersed in the book to care.

“Cool” Miami said fondly “Where did you get the book?” He said as Rami turned to look at Gwilym and his book, then climb out of Miami’s arms and into Gwilyms lap so they were chest to chest, Rami’s little arms not being able to reach all the way around the eight year olds back. Gwilym let him, not taking his eye of his book

“Dad, birthday gift” He said as he turned the page, also speaking absently to Miami. It seemed that he was getting no where with having a proper conversation with the boys.

But, when Miami looked at the basket of food they had brought along just in case any of them got hungry Miami called “Lunch, boys!” To Joe and Ben, who shot up and off the seesaw and ran towards the picnic mat, sitting down eagerly next to each other

Both Gwilym and Rami turned with an excited gasp to, Rami climbing out of Gwilyms lap to sit next to him. Miami grinned at his achievement

-

Miami watched the boys eat contently in a normal silence. Nothing seemed awkward as Ben scoffed down his marshmallows, Joe ate his cheese sandwich, Gwilym ate his baby bell and fiddled with the wax in the other hand, and Rami nibbled in those bloody pop tarts, the chocolate flavour obviously as that was the newest flavour the boy had tasted and was not his favourite (for the time being until he had the strawberry ones again or found a different flavour)

“I’m done” Rami said happily as he thrusted the wrapper into Miami’s face with a happy grin, that same grin being covered in the chocolate jam from his lunch

“Rami, you got a bit of chocolate.. everywhere” Joe said with a laugh, making the others laugh at the joke to. Although Rami stopped laughing when Miami brought a cloth to his face to clean him up

“There, squeaky clean” He grinned at the toddlers annoyed scowl as he crossed his arms and mumbling something or other that only the younger ones heard as they started to laugh at him

Miami could only guess what he said.. he hoped he wasn’t picking up on Freddie’s swears.

Chapter Text

Taking in a three year old wasn’t how Jim and Freddie thought their night wouldn’t’v gone, but here they were, Freddie trying to calm down the wailing tot as Jim tried to go over any of Rami’s medical history or anything else about the boy other than ‘his parents had died and he hasn’t stopped crying since’, which is all that the social worker had said to the husbands before trying to make her leave

“Baby Shh, it’s alright, darling, it’s okay” Freddie soothes as he bounced the tot who had his head over the mans shoulder as he gripping his night-shirt tightly in his fists

Jim came back into the living room with a huff, shaking his head and he put the medicine they were given for Rami down on the coffee table. He watched sadly as Freddie bounced the tiny baby in his arms as he made his way around the living room, hoping the feeling of movement would calm the boy just a bit. Apparently, the feeling of just sitting on someone’s lap was to boring for Rami, who was wailing even louder when he was stationary.

Jim sighed and took Rami from Freddie, bouncing the little boy and pacing the same way Freddie was so the shorter Male could have a break.

Not an hour in of knowing the little boy and already they know they would do anything for him

Chapter Text

Rami giggled as Frankie licked his face happily, her tail wagging excitedly at the small human. Rami gently grabbed Frankie’s ears and played with them, giggling still as he let the puppy lick his face. Freddie and Jim has brought Rami over to Roger’s house so he could have a play date with Ben for the day. Normally, Frankie would stay away from Rami, Freddie and Jim not sure how their baby would react to a puppy or if he was allergic to them too, like he was with cats. But Ben had been talking about the dog to Rami all day, getting the boy all excited and desperately wanting to meet the pup. So, here Roger was, with his arm firmly wrapped around Frankies collar so she couldn’t bombard the boy out of excitement and could be pulled away if Rami got displeased.

But, the boy was having the time of his life, the puppy giving him kisses over and over again as he pet her with giggles flowing out of his mouth and echoing around the living room. Freddie and Jim were pleased to, happy to hear their baby giggle so much.

Ben was next to Rami, an arm around the three year olds tiny waist as he also pet his dog happily, always happy to see Frankie.

“Dad let her off” Ben grinned, the gap of one of his front teeth showing, as it had fallen out just the other day “She wants to run” He said informatively

Roger shook his head with a smile “She might overwhelm Rami, Benny” Ben nodded at that, not throwing a fit because he didn’t get what he wanted as he didn’t want to be bratty near his best friend, especially since he was the baby and Ben couldn’t act like a baby around the baby... y’know?

“Daddy I want one” Rami said with a grin, baby teeth all on show as Frankie licked at his cheek happily, Rami still having a gentle hold on the dogs ear

“We have ten cats, darling” Freddie said with a laugh, shaking his head “You love Oscar and Romeo”

Rami only shrugged and turned back to Frankie “But I wanna puppy”

“We don’t have room, baby” Jim said fondly, shaking his head and patting Rami on the head. Rami’s bottom lip quivered, letting go of the puppy’s ear with a pitiful whine, probably getting ready to fake-cry (He was getting good at that.. Jim suspected Joe taught him, Joe always doing it when the ginger boy was Rami’s age)

“Hey,” Roger interjected, smiling at Rami “Why don’t we go take her for a walk?” He said the W-word quietly, making sure Frankie didn’t hear it and get excited

Rami’s bottom lip went back into place as he grinned and nodded enthusiastically. Freddie, Jim and even Ben let out a breath they didn’t realise they were holding

Chapter Text

something where because Gwilym's so tall, he has to wear larger sizes, so maybe he spills something on his clothes and ends up stuck in something from one of the other boys?

“Uhm.. dad” Gwilym said quietly, pulling on his dads shirt lightly at the hem. Brian turned around to see Gwilym, with Rami’s Apple juice all down his shirt “something went wrong with Rami’s sippy” he said sheepishly, Brian now noticing Rami behind Gwilym holding the sippy cup that somehow had no top lid anymore.

Freddie and Jim looked over to, then gasped as they saw them

Jim was the first to speak “What happened?!” He said quickly and walked over to the two littles boys, standing next to Brian and looking down at them “Gwil your soaked”

“We wanted to see if we could open it..” Rami said guiltily, holding up the cup without its lid “Gwilym got it open”

“I can tell” Brian said in disbelief, looking down at Gwils shirt that was starting to stick to him. He quickly picked his boy up and turned to Freddie “You got anything he can wear?”

“I’ll look” Freddie said quickly and went out of the living room and up to Rami’s room to see if he had something Gwilym would actually fit in

Jim picked Rami up, talking to him quietly about what happened. Brian spoke to his son aswell

“Sippy cups aren’t supposed to be opened, you know that” Brian said in disappointment, a trade-mark ‘dad head shake’ going along with his words, his curls following

Gwilym nodded shamefully, not meeting his dad in the eye “I know, but he wanted to open it so he could fix the straw and I was gonna fix it for him because it moved at an awkward angle” Gwilym explained

Brian nodded “Ah, well, you could’ve asked me, or Uncle Jim and Freddie” he proposed

“Yeah.. I know” Gwilym said in the same tone as before

Freddie came back into the living room with a small t-shirt in hand “It’s the baggiest thing on Rami, it should fit on him”

It didn’t. It was probably the most tight thing on Gwilym, but it was either that or no shirt at all, which Gwilym didn’t not approve of at all. So, Gwilym went the rest of a few hours until his shirt was finished in the wash and he hadn’t gotten changed as quickly as he had then

Chapter Text

Joe screamed in joy as John held the back of the bike and held the actual thing up for Joe as he peddled happily

“You got it Joey! I’m holding on!” He grinned happily and listened to his son yelling his approval joy. Then, he did the old trick of letting go of the bike “Still holding on!” He lied, like a dirty liar that he was now, letting Joe keep peddling along on his own now across the field

But then, Joe did the bad idea of turning around to look at John and once he realised he man was lying, the magic was gone and he started to struggle, then eventually falling to the side with a thud

“Oh shoot” John said as he rushed to Joe’s side “You okay, Joey? No scraps?”

Joe lifted his head with a groan, looking at John with a scowl “You liar” He practically spat, and John couldn’t help but grin

“Oh your fine, you were doing it on your own until you realised” He said as he pat Joes knee, helping the boy up onto his feet again and standing the bike up once more

“... how long did I do it on my own for?” Joe said with a questioning eye, not moving towards the bike until he got his answers

“Oh hours, Joe, you were doing it on your own for ages!” He grinned and pat the seat of the bike

Joe grinned, finally stepping up to it and hopping back on “Alright then? Let me do it again on my own!” Joe said as he put his feet on the peddles again, holding onto the handles “Ready?” He grinned at his dad, his helmet a bit wonky from when he fell earlier

“Ready.” He smiled and fixed the helmet, kissing his son on the cheek and holding onto the back again, but intending to let it go in a while “Remember to steer where you want to go”

“Got it” Joe threw a thumbs up over his shoulder, preparing himself for the ride

“Three.. two.. one.. go!” John counted down, Joe starting to peddle again and John rushing behind him with the hand on the back of the seat

“I’m doing it!” Joe called happily, keeping his eye in front of him, thankfully “I’m doing it dad!”

“Yeah you are buddy!” At that moment, he started to let go, slowing his own running down to let Joe go on his own “Keep going!” He yelled and cupped his hands around his mouth, watching Joe as he stopped completely

Joe kept grinning as he peddled, steering to the right when he almost met the end of the field. When he turned his bike, he saw his dad standing there cheering him on. Joe grinned and called back happily, peddling over to his dad and stopping the bike when he got to him

He hopped off the bike, throwing his helmet off to the side and running up to his dad with his arms open for a hug

“I did it!” He called happily “I actually did it! And turned!” He laughed and watched as John got onto his knees with his own arms open in joy. Once they met, John wrapped his arms around Joe, hugging him close as Joe hugged back

“You did it! Good job, Joey! I’m so proud!” He kissed his boy on the cheek repeatedly “The others are gonna be so proud!”

Joe laughed as he looked up at his dad with adoration sparkling in his eyes

Chapter Text

The four little boys watched, with their ear-defenders on their small ears, as their fathers sung and played as hard as they could, Freddie dancing around the stage, also winking to Rami when he got closer to him which always made the little boy giggle, Roger glancing at Ben with a smile on his exhausted yet happy face anytime he could, John and Joe dancing together even with the divide between them and Brian mouthing words to Gwilym when he could, Gwil always mouthing back stuff like ‘I love you dad!’ and ‘Keep going dad!’

Jim held Rami on his hip, laughing at his husband as he sung and danced and frolicked around the stage happily, bouncing Rami and pointing to Freddie as he called ‘That’s daddy!’ With a grin on his face, the littles boys grin always being ten times as bright when he watched Freddie on stage. The other three boys were surrounded by Jim’s legs, Ben keeping a grip on his trouser leg as if to support himself with the loud noises that muffled from the defenders. Joe was still dancing away, tripping over so many times now that Jim lost count, and Gwilym was bouncing his head along to the music, air-guitar playing at each guitar solo his dad performed.

It was getting to the last song, Freddie finishing up just as phenomenally as he last time he did it, along with Rogers banging of the symbols and Brian and Johns guitars mixing together in a way that it gave you a buzz.

“Thank you!” Freddie called onto the microphone once he stopped singing, bowing along with Brian, Roger, and Deaky. Of course, the ending made Joe want to run up to his dad and give him a big hug, which he did before Jim had the chance to catch him

“Daddy!!” Joe said with arms open, running up to him and hugging his legs. John stumbled slight then looked down at his son, getting down to his knees and hugging him close, the crowd cheering and ‘awwh’-ing at the two. After Joe came Ben, running up to Roger also with a grin on his face. Roger watched as he came up to him, putting his guitar sticks to the side quickly and also hugging his own son to his chest, lifting him slightly off his feet fondly

Gwilym stayed back, looking back at Jim who sighed and nodded his head towards Brian, who had his arms open and a warm smile ready for Gwilym, who bounded off to get to Brian as quickly as possible. Once there, Brian brought the boy to his side, kissing him on the head, just past the we defenders and asking him questions

Freddie watched fondly at the three, then turning to Jim and Rami with a tearful eye, lifting his arms up for them

“Daddy down! Daddy needs us!” Rami said with a small kick of his feet, pulling away from Jim’s neck and shoulder

Jim laughed and put the boy onto the floor under his request, running as fast as his little legs could take him as he giggled and made his way to Freddie, who lifted the boy up into the air and caught him once again, being him to his chest and rocking him playfully. It was the first time that the boys would be seen a concert, and they were sure the press would go mental tomorrow on the paper. They had just started letting photos of Rami be on the tv and newspapers, after a year-ish of the boy being with them

“Did you enjoy the show, baby?” Freddie said into his babies curls, kissing him on the temple over and over again playfully, the adrenaline from the show still pumping through him

Rami nodded and pointed to the sky “High?” He said happily with a kick to his little legs

Freddie laughed and nodded, throwing the boy back up and catching him as he squealed happily “No more, your daddy’s gonna kill me” He said happily as he spun the boy around playfully, keeping him giggling with the playing

“Fred, we gotta go” Roger called to him as he held his son up on his back, hands on his ankles in a gentle grip. Roger nodded towards the way the boys had come running in from and Freddie nodded back, bouncing the baby as he waved again to the audience, who were stu screaming and cooing at the father’s

>>

“He’s gonna sleep like an angel” John said fondly to Jim as they all watched Freddie chase the kids around the room. They were all seated in the shared green room together, having been there since after the show to calm down.. well, four of them were calming down, the singer and the four children on the other hand..

“Who, Freddie or the boys?” Jim grinned, making the other Queen members laugh as they watched them “No, yeah, Rami definitely is gonna sleep well, and hopefully Freddie too”

“Y’know how Freddie gets, he doesn’t sleep after shows, never has, never will” Roger said with a fond shrug as Ben came running up to him to hide in his side whilst giggling “Ben, honey, He can see you still”

“No he can’t!!” He called and laughed, squirming deeper into Rogers side to hide more

“Whatever you say, blondie” Roger said as he pat the boy on the back

“Rog, I think your kids weirder than mine” John said fondly, watching as Ben came out of his hiding spot when Gwilym called him

“Your kids obsessed with dinosaurs, I think I win” Roger grinned back, teasing John gently

“Gwilym got him into them, don’t blame me!” John poked at Brian’s hair, making him slap his hand away with a fond scoff

“Not my fault my kids the smartest here and knows all the types of dinosaurs” Brian shrugged happily as he downed his drunk in one and leaned over to pour himself another

“Well.. my kids cuter” John grinned, crossing his arms and leaning back as he watched the twos reaction

Both of them gasped, Roger replying first with “The lady’s love a blond!” Roger chuckled

“They love a cute nerd, actually” Brian said in his ‘professor’ voice, pretending to push up nonexistent glasses from his nose

“Actually,” Jim broke their feud, making Roger, Brian and John turn their heads to watch as Rami came running up to Jim with a sniffle

“Daddy, huggies” He said tiredly, putting his arms up to his second dad as a tired whine elected from his throat

“Alright bub, c’mon” He pulled the boy up onto his lap from his armpits, Rami sitting on his lap so they there stomach-to-chest, Rami’s arms falling at his sides as one hand made its way to his lip so he had something to occupy himself with for the time being before he eventually fell asleep

Jim gave a pointed look to the other three members of the band, making the same members sigh and flop back

“Yeah, Rami wins” Brian said as he sighed

Chapter Text

how the four are at a sleepover together, maybe the oldest and youngest falling asleep early, with Ben and Joe waking them up, which can be stressful for a toddler. Rami is overstimulated and tired, ending up crying, and the adults quickly make them all go to bed.

There first real all-together sleepover didn’t go as well as they had hoped it to. Sure, during the day they had all the fun in the world, not one ounce of crying all day from either boy, and not once tantrum from either of them, it was a successful day. Until bedtime came around of course. Because these boys just had to make a perfect day turn into a bad night, it was their jobs to be trouble makers.

“Ni night, boys, we will be downstairs if you need us” John said after he finished kissing each one of the head. They were at Rogers house, all snuggled up in one of the guest room beds as they wouldn’t be able to fit in Bens actual bed. All five dads have given their good nights to their own and each there’s child, and John was the last one to give his kisses and then turn off the light.

“Alright, dad, we get it” Joe pretended to moan, making the other boys giggle sleepily at him.

“Okay cheeky, sweet dreams boys” John said as he rubbed the back of his finger against Rami’s small cheek before standing and turning off the light, then leaving the room.

As soon as John had left, Rami and Gwilym had wriggled to lay more comfortably between the two of them, Gwilym ending up sprawled everywhere as Rami stayed close to his side, his hand sprawled out on Gwilyms chest where it was gripping him earlier before he fell into a slumber.

Ben and Joe on the other hand, they were wide awake, both bursting out of bed happily with a giggle and jumping down from the high bed with a small struggle

“What should we do now?” Joe said happily as he bounced on his feet, looking around the guest room to see anything they could do

“Uhm..” Ben looked over at the armchair that held all of the pillows, then looking at Joe with a cheeky grin that the ginger didn’t notice. The blond ran up to the pillows, grabbing one in each hand and hitting Joe with it with a loud smack

“Pillow fight!!” He yelled happily, hitting his friend with the cushions over and over again as he laughed loudly

The laughter and Joe’s screaming at being attacked obviously awoke Gwilym and Rami, who both startled awake and sat up, Rami clutching to Gwilyms side as he pulled him closer, looking around in the dark to see Ben go at Joe ruthlessly with the pillows. He scowled and looked down at Rami, noticing the boy seemed spooked still. He groaned and looked back up at Ben and Joe angrily

“Would you shut up?” Gwilym scowled at them, making Ben stop and step off of Joe, dropping the pillows to the floor as he looked down at the ground in shame, Joe starting up and fixing his pyjama shirt from where it had been crumpled by the attack

“Sorry, Gwilym” Ben said with a low voice, not daring to look up into the blue piercing orbs

“Hmf” Gwilym only responded, pulling Rami back down to the mattress and pulling he covers over them again, shushing him gently as he calmed him back down into sleep, the taller of the two following shortly after

Once the two other little boys saw that they were back asleep, they grinned at each other again and started to push at each other playfully, roughhousing together like they had hours ago during the same day. Then, on a particularly hard push, Ben fell to his butt, making Joe laugh at him and also fall to his knees.

Again, they playing so loud that-

Rami’s wail was louder. His crying was much louder.

Rami and Gwilym were both sitting up now, Rami wailing as his sleep was interrupted once again. Gwilym looked furious, but definitely not at Rami, no, the anger was directed to the two boys across from them on the floor roughhousing at whatever time it was!

“I told you two to shut-“ Gwilym started, only to be interrupted by another wail and a harsh but frantic kick to his leg by the little boys smaller leg “oh baby” Gwilym cooed and brought him close, laying back down and stroking Rami’s back in the way he had seen Uncle Freddie and Uncle Jim do “Its okay, they are gonna be silent now, go back to sleep” He kept trying to calm him down, kissing him on top of the head gently

Then, their parents came bursting into the room, Freddie in front of them all and the first to get into the room. Freddie took his son from Gwilyms arms and held him close to his heart, bouncing him gently and trying to get him to calm down as the other dads spoke to their own children

“What happened? Why aren’t you two in bed?” Roger asked as John glanced worriedly at Freddie and Jim, their body’s hiding Rami from Johns eyesight

“We-“ Joe started

“They were being to loud and woke us both up” Gwilym called tiredly, Brian pulling the boy to rest his head on his shoulder as he sat on the bed next to his son and rubbed his arm, knowing the eight year old was just as tired and annoyed as Rami, but the oldest of the four knowing how to show his displeasure in a different way to Rami

Roger and John both have their boys pointed looks “Your both in so much trouble when we get back home” John said with a shake of his head

“Your not sleeping in the same room together, no more sleepovers for you two” Roger punished, making the slowly-growing-tides boys scoff and grumble at the repercussions

“Is RamRam okay, dad?” Gwilym said as he rubbed at his eye with his fist and yawned tiredly. Brian looked over at the slowly falling asleep baby and nodded

“He’s calming down now, son, don’t worry, just go to sleep, okay?” He asked rhetorically, patting the boy on the arm as he slowly went limp in Brian’s arms. He picked his eight year old up and held him to his chest, standing up and gesturing to Rami once Jim caught his eye

“He gonna be alright?” Brian double checked before he left to put his boy to bed in their now shared guest bed

Jim nodded with a sad smile “He’ll pull through” He turned back to Rami when he started shining for Jim

Brian nodded and went back to bed, tucking his boy in before falling asleep himself. No more sleepovers for a while then

Chapter Text

After the concert, just like they thought, the press were doubled. Yelling at the band and their children as they were escorted to the car they would be driving to Garden Lodge in. Half of them were taking photos of all of them, whilst the other half focused on Rami, Freddie and Jim. Especially Rami, who had his face tucked into Jim’s neck as he whimpered at all of the flashing lights, Jim rubbing the boys back gently as he kept his head down and got to the car as quickly as their bodyguards allowed them to.

Brian was just behind the husbands and their adopted son, gripping Gwilyms hand as he rushed along beside him, the oldest being the most used to the press and paparazzi than all of them boys. Brian kept a hand on Freddie’s back, grounding him, knowing his anxiety was over the rough with all the people yelling at his son and taking photos of him. It was dangerous how close they were getting to the bodyguards to get photos of the baby, knowing their bodyguards would fuck them up if needed, having seen it so many times before, sadly.

Gwilym looked over at Rami, who was facing him with his tears falling down his face and Jims shirt curled up in his tiny fist. Gwilym smiled at him sadly and gave him a thumbs up, trying so desperately to cheer the baby up, not liking the sight of tear tracks all down his small cheeks. Rami didn’t stop his wailing, but he did keep an eye on Gwilym, liking the distraction of the overwhelming surroundings.

Gwilym made funny faces at him the whole time until the got to the car, Rami being taken off Jim to be put securely in his car seat whilst Jim and Freddie were led in the car on their own sides. Brian and Gwilym where getting in the same car to, Gwilym being sat next to the crying Rami and Brian being put next to Jim quickly by the bodyguards.

Once in and the doors were locked, the paparazzi were still at the window, trying to snap photos of the blacked out glass in hopes of getting a photo of Rami, who could still see them and just kept wailing at it all in displeasure.

Freddie was sitting next to Rami on the other side of his car seat, trying to calm him down and get his baby to look at him instead of the mean people at the window.

Gwilym was in shock himself, in all the years of having to run past paparazzi, that coming from an eight year old was rather odd out of context, he had never seen them so aggressive before. They certainly weren’t this rude when he was Rami’s age, of anything they respected his privacy even at four years old, and still did. He would have to ask his dad later

“It’s okay baby, look at me, look at daddy, c’mon baby” Freddie said gently as he took Rami’s face in his hand and pushed his head softly to look at him, smiling when the boy put his teary eyes on him “There you go, it’s okay, they will go soon” He rubbed his cheek with his thumb gently “It’s alright, we are going now” At that, the driver called for the all clear to drive, and one of the adults called the affirmative to go, the sounds of the yelling paparazzi quietening down behind them as they drove off

Although, Rami’s crying kept up, the toddler kicking his legs and all around screaming now. He was obviously tired and cranky, and his actions were slowly turning into a tantrum than a meltdown. Freddie kept trying to calm him, Jim and Brian also stepping in to help now whilst Gwilym took Rami’s little hand and rubbed the back of it gently with his other hand, shushing him gently underneath the adults soothing but firm talking

Once Rami started to slowly calm down, rubbing his eyes with his fists and yawning as more tears, yet silent now, fell from his green eyes, he started to slowly nod off, going limp in his car seat and his breathing going back to slow and gentle

Once they all were 100% sure the baby was asleep, the adults relaxed, all falling back into their chairs with a heavy sigh. Now, Gwilym could ask

“Dad, why were they so mean? They weren’t that mean when I was a baby” Gwilym said as he looked up from Rami and to his dad, who shared a look with Freddie and Jim, like a silent conversation

Brian turned to his boy and smiled “Well, you know how Freddie and Jim took Rami into their home one night?” Gwilym nodded, he remembered eavesdropping on his parents talking about it in the kitchen after Brian had got a call from Uncle Roger about it “Well, he didn’t come with his mummy and daddy did he, and it was all a big surprise to all of us, and those people-“ Brian was explaining, until Freddie interrupted him

“Those people want to know about the new surprise so bad that they will do anything to get photos of him to tell other people at the surprise” He said coldly, not towards Gwilym, but towards the paparazzi for scaring his baby so badly

Gwilym nodded “Oh.. well they should back off” Gwilym said as he crossed his arms and laid back in his seat

Jim chuckled and nodded “They should, Gwil, your right”

Chapter Text

When Gwilym first got his glasses, he wasn’t to happy. It wasn’t that they didn’t suit him, the colour of the frames fit him perfectly, he opposed to them because of Roger.

Roger hadn’t said anything directly to Gwilym, but he had heard his uncle say once to his dad that his own glasses were ‘Disgusting’ on him. Gwilym was only young when he said it, probably around Rami’s age now, but he still remembered it.

So he stopped wearing them, in get of his own glasses looking disgusting on himself. He took them off as soon as he got into his bedroom, stuffing them under his pillow with a huff and a rub to his left eye. His blurry vision could effect him that much.. could it?

>>

It could. Gwilym couldn’t see the blackboard anymore, his grades going down drastically in tests because he couldn’t see.

Brian worried, asking his son many times what was wrong, but the eight year old just shrugged and easily changed the subject of conversation

Brian, stupidly, didn’t notice the lack of glasses on the boy, and was stuck in wonder as he thought over and over why the boy wasn’t acting normal. But, thankfully, when Roger came over, he got his answer

Roger was coming over just to pick something up that Ben has left the other day, but as soon as he saw Gwilym, his eyebrows furrowed

“Hey bud, where’s your glasses?” Roger said as he nodded his head towards the boy, who looked down and fidgeted with his hands

Brian gasped shortly “Thats what it is!” He called mainly to himself, then turning to his Gwil “Where are they, Gwilly?”

Gwilym just shrugged and tried to rush off, Brian catching him on the shoulder before he could escape

“Gwilym, why aren’t you wearing them, they help you” He said steadily, not angrily as he wasn’t angry at the boy

Gwilym sighed and pointed to Roger “He doesn’t wear his ‘cus they don’t look nice”

Oh

“Oh”
“Oh..”

“Roger put your glasses on” Brian said as he stood up properly and nodded his ear towards the blond

“Uhm..” He hesitated as he scrunched up his nose, Gwilym watching them

“Rog please” He nodded his head towards Gwilym subtly

The blond caught on, taking his glasses out of his back pocket and putting them on

“See! He looks great in them! And you do in yours!” Brian grinned as he picked the boy up and put him in his hip

Gwilym watched as Roger smiled and pushed them up his nose when they fell slightly

“Huh.. they do!” He grinned then looked at Brian “I need to go get mine,” he turned to Roger again “So we can match!” He wriggled on his dads hip, Brian putting him down with a huff and a chuckle, patting the boys was as he ran off

“See, you do look good in them” Brian said fondly to Roger, who shrugged and caught the boy running up to him, now with his glasses on

Chapter Text

Like most habits, nobody really remembers how they start. And in this scenario it was the same, Jim only noticed it when it was probably to late. It was dinner, Rami was happily eating his pasta with his hands and not his fork, much to Jim’s disappointment.

“I’m done” He grinned and pushed the plate away slightly with a nudge, grinning up at Freddie who smiled back at him and gently ruffled his curls, making the boy giggle as he-

Put his thumb in his mouth, hold on when did that start

“Rami, darling no” He gently grabbed the boys wrist and pulled the thumb away from his mouth, making Rami look at him with a confused expression “We don’t suck our thumb, baby, it damages your teeth”

Rami just gave him a look that said ‘what are you talking about?’ “You’ve seen me do it before” He explained like it was obvious, pulling his wrist away slowly “You never stopped me then” He was developing Freddie’s cheek and Jim wasn’t to happy about it, he loves his husband to pieces but he couldn’t deal with a cheeky toddler

“No.. no I haven’t seen you do it” He said as he shook his head and stood up, taking his plate and Rami’s over to the sink

“Yes you have!” Rami jumped off his chair and followed him, grabbing his trouser leg as he explained “You always see me do it, and you never tell me off for it”

“Rami, I would know if I saw you doing it” He said with a fond smile and pat the boy on the head, stopping at the sink and putting the plates in to soak so he could wash them up later

“Obviously not...” he mumbled and pulled his long sleeves over his hands and holding the ends in his fists, then rubbing the sleeve to his bottom lip to stop himself sucking his thumb like he would gladly be doing if his daddies weren’t there

Freddie came up behind the both of them and kissed Jim on the cheek as he put his own plate in the sink also, then reaching down to pick the toddler up and putting him on his hip dramatically

Rami giggled and kicked his legs as he was lifted, calming down once sat on Freddie’s hip “Have you seen me do it, Daddy?”

Jim rolled his eyes at the two of them as he turned around and leant on the counter, watching them with a fond smile. Of course Rami would go to Freddie to get back up for his point

But Freddie wasn’t going to pick sides so quickly “No, darling, I haven’t seen you do it” He shrugged, and Rami sighed dramatically and threw his head back. Jim, the worry parent he was, quickly put a hand on the boys back to steady him whilst Freddie laughed at the boys actions

“You laughing at him doing that encourages that, y’know” He tried to sound serious, but a smile did curl slightly at his lip as Rami started to laugh back, both at Freddie laughing at him and Jim’s poor excuse at a scold

Freddie shrugged and smiled “Have a bit a’ heart Jim, better than him sucking his thumb” He then turned to Rami “Which I haven’t seen you do” He added in the boy slowly stopping his laughing and sulking again about his point apparently being fake

“Well.. you have” He said and started to wriggle again, Freddie putting him down under the boys silent request. Then, he went running off, his arm suspiciously reaching up to his mouth

“Don’t suck your thumb!” Jim called, tutting as he just heard more giggles from down the house, again Freddie laughed at the boys antics

>>

Although Jim hadn’t seen Rami suck his thumb before, he did when they were watching Disney movie together. Freddie was at the studio with the boys, Rami not wanting to come to the studio so he could stay with Jim for the day at Garden Lodge. Rami was sitting on Jim’s lap, chest to stomach as Jim slowly rearranged the blanket over the boys shoulders as he slowly fell asleep, with his left cheek smushed to Jim’s chest and his hands also rested there, the tiny right hand slowly making its way to the boys mouth and surely his thumb was being suckled gently as Rami slept

Jim sighed and gently pulled the hand away, electing a whine from the boy as he stirred, Jim shushing him gently to get him to calm down once again

“It’s okay, shhh, sleepy time now” He patted the boys back gently and kept pulling the wrist, electing more tired whines

Then, green eyes were open and Jim could see the displeasure on the boys face

“Lemme..” he whined tiredly, trying to pull his wrist back in annoyance. Jim held onto his hand in his much bigger hand, patting the boy on the back still

“Yeah, sure kiddo, go sleepy time now” He dismissed him and kept patting his back

Soon enough, the green eyes fell close again and small snores were heard, along with the soft speaking of Bambi on the tv

>>

The nap incident didn’t put a stop to Rami’s behaviour, sadly. The boy still continues to do it in and out of sleep. One time for example would be when the boys and their fathers were out on a picnic together.

The boys were playing some fairytale game, no rules or plot really imbedded in the game because rules suck or whatever 4, 5, 7 and eight year olds thought daily.

The game so far had Gwilym doing rolley-pollies on the grass not to far away from where the set up picnic was, the red and white blanket laid out in a shaded area under one of the bigger trees in the fields. The other little boys were laughing at the oldest, who stood up once again with grass all in his head and dirt smudged on his hands and face, the state of their friend being so funny that Joe fell onto his butt laughing, which made Ben laugh so much more that he went tumbling down onto his front, both arms wrapped around his stomach as it probably started to hurt from his incessant giggling.

Rami, somehow, didn’t fall over laughing, but that didn’t mean the youngest wasn’t tearing up at his cousins antics.

Gwilym was laughing at himself as he looked down at his hands, and seeing his two cousins on the floor in pieces made him laugh all that much more. It was an endless loop for them, really. The more they laughed, the more they laughed at each other laughing more than the next person, and so forth

John watched with a fond smile as he sat down on the blanket after getting one of the food baskets opened and emptied to the right plates for the boys. He was going to call for them, but decided to let the boys calm down before they came running for food whilst probably still laughing and therefore choking on their food. John had been through the scare of Joe choking on food when he was a baby, and it was a terrifying experience

Once he noticed the boy’s laughter turning to giggles, the two middle children sitting up properly and giggling at each other cheekily, he decided that they wouldn’t have a choking hazard if he called them over.

“Boys! Lunch is ready!” The words worked like magic, the boys snapping their heads to where their parents and uncles sat on the blanket together, all but John talking as they ate quickly before their own boys could steal their foods from their plate, something they had picked up after seeing it on one of Bens cartoons.

They came running over like a stampede, Ben taking Rami’s hand in his own to help the little boy keep up with their longer legs, before letting go as Rami dropped himself to Freddie’s side, Ben sitting by Rogers whilst Joe and Gwilym day by John and Brian’s in front of their plates and like starved animals they dig into their food, only pausing to breathe or take a sip of their drinks, Fizzing lemonade in an actual cup for Rami that Freddie always helped hold for the boy incase he tipped too far like last time.

“Daddy” Joe said expectantly to John as he thrusted his cheese string in Johns face, effectively hitting him on the nose with a soft thwack as the boy just went back to his crisps and ripped them open so violently they almost went everywhere

“Alright then” John said as he opened the packaging and pulled it down for the boy, not giving it back until he took a bite of it himself, which Joe didn’t even notice as he took it absently as he tried to read the back of his crisps

“Gwil, what’s a car-.. carbo.. carboheedrat?” He said as he took a bite of his cheese string, passing the packaging to Gwilym as he beckoned it closer with his hand

Gwilym took it as he took a bite of his sandwich “Carbohydrate, that’s how you say it” He said the word without problem, passing the crisps back to Joe who nodded and took them, not even asking what they were because he barely understood the word

Rami and Ben during their conversation were having a drinking contest. Yes, a drinking contest between a 4 year old and 7 year old. They both chugged their lemonade as quickly as possible, Freddie having to hold it up for the toddler incase he dropped it. Jim did not look pleased, muttering something about how it was a ‘bad influence’, but Freddie and Roger were way to into it to actually listen, which one day would kill either one of the boys or themselves, or possibly both, but Jim was somewhat hoping for the second option at this very moment as he had to watch his four year old chug his drink down as quickly as his little body allowed

They, surprisingly, didn’t say a winner, just said ‘Again!’ To their dads and lifted their cups, and on the third round Jim saw what they were doing, and he had to give it to them, these boys were smart little things

“Okay that’s enough” He said as another cup was filled, Rami about to reach for it when Jim took the boy from his father’s lap and into his own “Enough now” He said as he stood the boy up on his lap, the boys little fist resting on his thighs, effectively making him slightly taller than his father. Jim pat the boy on the back as he leaned on Jim, playing with his hair absently

Again, surprisingly, Ben and Rami, the actual children, weren’t the ones sulking that they were caught out in trying to get more lemonade, it was Freddie and Roger who were sulking like they were the children being caught out. Ben has just changed his attention to his other two cousins and trying to decipher what word could mean what on the back of the packaging

“We were having fun” Freddie mumbled, laying on his back on the grass and looking up through the trees leaves and branches

Roger nodded with a huff, takin his own drink and taking a sip, then clearly over it as he saw Ben sneak a crisp from Joe’s packet and scold him for it.

Jim grinned down at Freddie, then laying down himself, Rami still over his chest as he squealed as he felt his body fall back along with his dads upper half until they were laying all together on the green, grassy, ground. The press would have a field day with this, Freddie Mercury caught actually getting himself dirty willingly, and knowing the evil people behind press, something along the lines of new photos of adopted son Rami Hutton-Mercury, because the boy was apparently as famous as the Royal family now

“We were having fun, right RamRam” Freddie groined at the boy who had his face smushed up to the love of his life’s cheek, the same older mans hand resting on the boys tiny back. At that moment Freddie saw all that he could ever want, he saw the two people he always wanted to protect the most in front of him and he would lie if he said he didn’t want to cry and hug them both until the end of time, then he would know they were safe in his arms

Rami nodded happily “Right” He grinned with a small giggle, wrapping his arms around Jim’s neck as the man scoffed playfully

“Why are you always trying to go against me,” He spoke quietly, knowing Rami’s ear was close to his mouth and he really didn’t want Rami to get a headache from his too-loud voice for him, not that Jim was ever really loud, the gardener preferring to be quiet, Freddie the same when off stage, and Rami being naturally quiet just added to the quietness of their little family “Why me, RamiLami”

Rami burst into giggles at that “RamiLami” repeated as his body shook with laughter “Daddy, daddy said RamiLami” His little hand on Jim’s chest pointed to Jim’s chest, the hand itself not moving, just the boys fingers really

“I heard baby, that’s a silly one” Freddie said happily and brought his own hand to Rami’s little head, running his hands through the boys chocolate curls atop his head

The action was obviously appreciated by Rami, the boy humming happily once his giggles calmed and snuggling closer to Jim. This time, as he saw the boy calm down, he watched his hand, that either absently or not went slowly closer o the boys mouth and soon enough suckling sounds were heard

Freddie watched in shock, having not actually seen it even since that dinner the other night, that being weeks ago

“Jim he’s doing it again” He nodded his head once towards the boy, who was still making the little noises. Jim smiled sadly and nodded, as cute as the little boy looked, he knew the problems it would cause the boys teeth, and Jim knew how bad Freddie would feel about himself if his own son had ‘messed up’ teeth ‘just like him’.

Jim knew he felt like that because it was one of the things they had once discussed when drunk, before Rami had even came into their lives. Freddie himself hadn’t gotten properly drunk since the boy had been dropped off at Garden Lodge a little around a year ago. It was shocking that was how long it had been now.

Jim gently, once again, did the old trick of wrapping his fingers around the boy’s wrist and pulling his hand away, the boy whining as he always did at the action.

“Who wants an ice cream?” Brian called quietly yet happily, knowing Rami was asleep and knowing never to wake a sleeping toddler. Ever, whatever you do, don’t. A cranky toddler is worst than a cranky baby. And since Rami was both in their eyes, it was double the trouble

The three boys all grinned and rushed over to the cooler, having all moved over to Joe to get a better look at the wrapper. They made sure to save Rami one when they saw their youngest was having a quick nap.

Chapter Text

Rami was having a nap on the sofa, as was the dog on her fluffy bed by the fireplace in the same room. The little boy was laid out on his back, sleeping peacefully as Freddie gently draped the boys blankie over his small body, then sitting down by the boy and continuing his conversation with Roger. Ben was sitting next to Frankie, gently stroking her as Rami napped.

Frankie herself, wasn’t actually asleep. She had sulked off to her bed when Freddie had taking Rami, her newest and tiniest friend, away from her licking to put him down for a nap, which she wasn’t happy about at all. She was playing and then her playmate was taken away! But, she understood that tiny humans needed more naps than bigger ones, and Rami was really tiny, meaning all the boy probably did was sleep.

But she was bored, and as good as Bens scratches behind her ears are, she wanted to go see Rami to check up on him. She got up from her bed, stretched her back with a yawn and went over to the sleeping human on the sofa. She sat down next to him, right in front of his face and resting her head on the end of the sofa, sticking her tongue out gently to lick him on the cheek. Rami stirred slightly, his face scrunching up as he gave a tiny whine only she probably heard.

She lifted her head then, watching as Freddie shushed him and rearranged his blanket. She heard a scold from Roger, but she didn’t care.

“Shhh, it’s okay, sleep now, that’s it” Freddie said softly as he patted down the blanket and rubbed the back of his finger over Rami’s small cheeks

No, he had done it all wrong. The blanket should’ve been more to the right. That was how Ben liked it, anyway. With this thought, she grabbed the end of the blanket gently, with her front teeth, and pulled it towards her slightly, then resting her head on Rami’s hand under the blanket.

“Frankie, off” Roger reprimanded as he started to get up to pull the dog away. She hadn’t been with Ben when he was this young, having gotten her when he was 6, and they didn’t know how well she would deal with toddlers, and although she was being nice now, Roger wanted to make sure, just in case.

“No, darling look,” Freddie reassured, nodding his head towards Rami’s small smile that grazed his lips in his sleep “He’s happy, she’s not hurting him” He smiled and rubbed Frankies head. Although Freddie was a cat guy, having ten of them kind of made you not even have to second guess he was, he did appreciate the dog helping his son.

At that moment, Frankie she has now adopted Rami and Ben as her pups, regardless of the human thing going on.

Chapter Text

Rami and Lucy climbed up the rope of the play-slope, Lucy getting there first and helping Rami up the rest of the way.

“You got it!” She called as she practically dragged him up the slope as he gave those cheeky, throaty giggles as he smiles brightly up at her, his little hand gripping onto hers as she heaved him up onto the top “There!” She said as he collapsed onto her back, taking a few extravagant breaths as Rami kept giggling at her as he sat on the floor next to her. Rami and Lucy were having a play date at the new kids attraction play area place that had just opened up. Mary and Freddie were sitting down together the parents area, sipping their tea and spilling all the gossip they had whilst their children ran off to play together.

“Up now Tee-Tee” he grinned and shook the blonde girl by the arm excitedly as he started to stand and grab her hand, trying to pull her up with fail. Rami whines when he started to not find the jokes funny anymore, wanting to go explore more of the adventure pen with his Tee-Tee (That was Lucy’s nickname to Rami now)

Lucy sighed and sat up, knowing if she didn’t, Rami would get whiney and cranky and run down to Freddie to sulk on his lap “Alright Alright” He stood and grabbed his hand, just in case

Rami grinned and started pulling her towards one of the holes for the smaller slides. To their right, there was a net area that you could climb through to get to bigger slides. Lucy saw it first and grinned happily

“Rami look! Bigger slides” she pulled gently on his hand, and he gasped happily and shortly when he saw it. He looked between the two, obviously wanting to go on both but not knowing which one to go on first

Lucy saw this and came up with a solution “If we go on the smaller one now, we can come back around and get to the bigger slides next!” She suggested, to which Rami nodded and they went their original path back to the shorter slide.

Lucy helped Rami get ready to slide down properly, then sitting behind him comfortably after she got him to grip the sides so they could go down together. She wrapped her arms around Rami’s waist and looked through the netted ‘fence’ around the higher parts of the play area to see if she could find her mummy and Uncle Freddie so they could watch them come out the other end of the slide. She spotted them and grinned, covering Rami’s ears as she yelled “Mummy! Uncle Freddie!! Come watch us!” She grinned as she caught their attention, then talking to each other as they watched. Mummy gave her the thumbs up so she let go of Rami’s ears, the baby of the family not noticing the change

“Ready, Rami?” She grinned and Rami nodded happily with some nonsensical words as she gently took Rami’s hands in her own and pulling them away from the sides of the slide so they pushed off with a little nudge from Lucy

Then, they went going down, both squealing happily as the slide bounced a few times. Rami was grinning happily from ear to ear as he giggled, Lucy screaming ‘weeee’ as they went with giggles pouring out of her mouth also as she screamed.

They got to the end of the slide soon enough, both children still laughing as their eyes adjusted from the red light to the normal lighting. Rami quickly slid off of the end of the slide, running over to Freddie as he called his name. Lucy was just behind him, trying to fix her hair as she chased after the younger boy.

Freddie brought Rami up into the air and into his arms once he was close enough, being skill-full  enough to put the tea gently back onto the small plate just before he lifted the boy. How he was so fast was something nobody could understand, and they all doubted Freddie knew himself that he did these little things. As Lucy ran to her mothers side to receive a kiss to the head as she watched fondly at the father and son as she absently fixed her daughters hair

“We went- down the slide and- and it’s was s-so cool Daddy-y you shou- come down one” Rami panted out the sentence, still happily giggling and grinning as he sounded as if he was having an asthma attack. Freddie gently rubbed him back to help him calm down a bit

“I’m too big for that, darling, but I did see you at the end, and you looked like you had a lot of fun!” He grinned as the boy started to calm down, his breathing going steady again as he calmed

Then, Rami reached over to Freddies tea and brought it to his face, taking a few giant gulps before Freddie could pull it away from the boy. Once he came to his senses, he tried to pull it but the boy just kept on gulping down his daddy’s drink, only letting the man take it once he had finished the whole thing

Rami grinned at Freddies shocked expression, looking over at Lucy and Mary laughing at them, then turned back to Freddie to pat him on the cheek a few times before jumping off his daddy’s lap and taking Lucy’s hand “Thanks daddy!!” He called over his shoulder as they made their way towards the way they first went to start their track to the other, bigger slides

“He stole my tea...” Freddie said in disbelief, Mary only laughing at him more as she saw that the cut was literally emptied out by the four year old “He’s going to be buzzing, later” He said regretfully, knowing even after this that the boy would be bouncing off the walls and Jim and Freddie would have to deal with it for the rest of the day. He loves his son to pieces, but stealing Freddie’s tea was a big no no in his books.

>>

“The big slides!” Rami called as this time, once they got over that darn slope again (when thinking of the plan earlier she forgot that meant having to help Rami up the slope again, and as light as he was, for a child he was kind of heavy), Rami pointed to the monkey-like-walk-way as he rushed over to it, Lucy by his side as always

Rami got to the start and looked through it “We can fit” Lucy decided, getting a nod from Rami.

Then, Rami stepped aside and allowed Lucy to go through it first, getting all shy out of the blue. She looked through it and then looked down- ah, yeah that was kind of terrifying. It looked like a thousand feet drop to the kids, making Lucy shiver at the thought of dropping, but by the look of how much rope there was tied around the floating beam you walked on she guessed they wouldn’t be falling. She turned to Rami and smiled gently

“You can hold onto my shirt if you want, not the tutu, you might rip it” She said the last part seriously, because it was. A friend from school came over once and accidentally got the tiniest bit of dirt on one of the little girls’ tutu’s and she had screamed bloody murder.

Rami nodded just as seriously back, gripping her shirt (not the tutu) tightly as she started to go, Rami having to go soon if he didn’t want to stretch so far to hold onto her. He tentatively took a step forward onto the beam, keeping his head down so he could be careful of his footing - he really didn’t want to be clumsy right at this moment - the whole way through. Lucy enjoyed the experience, having been able to actually see it and not having the need to keep her head down like the little boy behind her

Once they got to the end, Lucy brought him into a hug that he responded to with his own personal special hugs that only the closest people (and the cats) got to experience. Lucy pulled back after a while to look at the bigger slides than before. She gasped and went over to them, looking down them. There were three slides, longer and bumpier than the one they rode earlier, the sides were red, blue, and yellow. Sadly no pink, but red would be best. Hopefully Rami would go on the blue, but he probably wasn’t ready to go on his own

Just before she was about to sit on the red slides top, she looked over as Rami called to her with a point of his grubby finger (there were so many germs at this place their parents were sure to give them a bath) “What?” She asked as he sat again and rushed to him, looking at what he was pointing at with a confused expressio-oh my god.

A giant giant slide, known as the ‘waterfall’ judging by the way it was painted, with the beautiful waves all over the slide and how it had its name in an obnoxious font in front of the beautiful waves

“Hmmm, no” Lucy said as she put her hands on Rami’s shoulders and brought him over to the slides they came there for. Rami shook his head also as they went

Chapter Text

Little baby Joe was probably the chubbiest of all the boys. When Gwilym was 1, he was so skinny yet so big that Brian worried about his sins health, and when Ben was 1 he was deemed an average weight when a baby. But Joe, gosh he was the chubbiest, cutest thing on earth. It wasn’t that John over-fed him, he made sure he didn’t, it was really just baby-chub, and if anyone came up to him and told him otherwise he would gladly throw hands.

The family gushed over his chubby-ness all the time, especially Freddie. Freddie was just so good with the children that it was a shame he probably wouldn’t have one of his own. Freddie’s baby-skills proves themselves once again when Joe was sat up on Johns lap, gurgling away as he ate his Cheerios with little help, getting them everywhere but still somehow eating them. Freddie was cooing at him as he ate, making the baby smile with his two front teeth.

When suddenly, Joe made harsh coughing noises, his tiny hands going into little fists as his body wracked with coughs. Freddie’s smile fell, as he quickly stood up and got closer to John and the baby on his lap slowly going purple.

John, in question, turned the baby so he was sitting on the side of his leg, facing Freddie as he panicked-ly patted the boys back to help him clear his airways

“Oh shit” Freddie mumbles as he watched the baby’s face go more and more purple by the second “John pass him here!” He yelled over the coughing noises, completely panicking now.

John let Freddie take him, standing and watching as Freddie put the baby over his shoulder and gently hit his back, not enough to hurt him but enough to clear his clogged throat.

The baby in question just kept coughing, doing all of his might to fight the lodged cheerio in his throat. He had tears coming out of his eyes, and if he wasn’t so busy digging to breathe he would’ve been wailing if he could.

Suddenly, after a particularly harsh hit the cheerio came out of the boys mouth, John quickly taking it off of Joe’s chin before it ended up down his throat again, and into the bin.

Once that was over, Joe started to wail, his tiny fists coming to his eyes as his face went back to a normal shade. Freddie kept patting his back, only this time a lot more gentle than before. He felt bad practically hitting the baby, but he had to do it.

“Joe!” John quickly took the baby from Freddie’s arms, cradling him close as he rocked his body to soothe the baby “I know, that was scary, your alright now, Uncle Freddie saved you” He gave Freddie a look, the man looking still so terrified. John lifted his free arm open for a hug, and Freddie rushed into it, wrapping both arms around John and Joe, who’s wails were slowly calming down.

“It’s alright.. he’s okay” He said to Freddie, patting his back as he practically melted into his touch. God was that terrifying.

>>

Now, watching Freddie hold Rami’s sippy cup not so high that he could chug his apple juice out of it, John smiled sadly at the memory of the day. Obviously Freddie was still terrified of his boy, or any of the other boys, choking, as any parent was.

Rami whined as he pulled away from the cup his dad was holding, then pouting at said man “Let go of it” He whined out with a kick of his little legs (They all gushed over Rami’s tiny Velcro-shoes)

“Hmmm, no” Freddie grinned and kissed the boy on top of his head “Are you done or ate you taking a whining break?” Freddie teased, making Rami whine again and push the cup away

“Gonna go play now” he said absently as he slid off his chair and rushed off to the living room to go find the other boys

Freddie looked up at John and saw his smile, Freddie only smiled back softly and shook his head “Oh hush, darling, you did the same” he pointed out

John chuckled and nodded “Yeah, maybe I did” He shrugged and watched as the four boys came running past, Rami on Gwilyms shoulders and Ben and Joe chasing after them with the toys from the drum stick set Ben had taken along to Freddie’s house for their play date

Chapter Text

Freddie swiftly took the baby from his husbands lap

“Mine” He grinned and stood away from Jim with the baby cradled to his chest, said baby still giving throaty giggles from being moved so quickly. Freddie grinned down at him fondly and kissed him on the head gently, then looking back up at Jim who was now standing also, crossed arms and all the sass in the world shining through his eyes

“You’ve had him all day, at least let me hold my son at least once” He said with a grin, his face melting to a fond and loving one as the baby just locked eyes with him, his gummy smile showing when he smiled

“Our son, and no, I missed him” Freddie grinned and hoisted the baby up, making him squeal in joy “Who do you love him, daddy or daddy?”

“How is he supposed to know which is which-“ Jim said as he tilted his head slight to the side in thought, only to be cut off by Rami

“Daddy!” He giggled, making both Jim and Freddie look at each other with a look

“He meant me” Freddie informed like Jim didn’t know it, Jim only took offence

“No, he definitely meant me, I feed him his food” Jim shrugged with a grin, making Freddie gasp over-dramatic like and placing a hand over his heart

“And I let him play with the cats” Freddie challenged

“And then we learnt he was allergic” Jim put in

“Ah... yeah” Freddie said as he looked down at the boy staring up at him happily “Still, he loves me”

“I never said he didn’t, darling” Jim smiled and went over to his boys, kissing them both on the cheek. Rami looked over at Jim and put his arms out for him, effectively breaking Freddie’s heart completely and electing a happy grin from Jim as he took the boy from Freddie’s arms

“Oh hello my baby, I’m your favourite aren’t I?” He cooed and kept the boy to his chest. Freddie just tutted and crossed his arms, mumbling something or other whilst the baby in Jim’s arms cooed and babbled back to his daddy “Yes yes, I know” He grinned and looked up at Freddie “Oh stop your sulking, dear” He shook his head fondly

Then, there was a knock at the door, the two adults and the baby looking over startled at the sound. Then, Freddie clicked his fingers “The boys!” He said in realisation as he rushed to the door. Rami whined as he watched him go, and Freddie quickly rushed back and took him in his arms

Jim let him, chuckling fondly at the two “You give in so easy for him”

Freddie stuck his tongue out at that “Like you don’t” He retaliated, rushing to the door with the happily babbling Rami in his arms. Freddie opened the door with one hand, the other wrapping around Rami’s body to keep him close to his chest

“Evening, boys!” Freddie grinned happily, Rami squealing as he saw his uncles and nephews appear out of nowhere to him. He clapped his hands happily as the adults said their hellos, then starting to coo at the baby

Roger was the first to snatch him away, taking the baby into his arms and hugging him happily as he giggled and kicked his legs and drooled

“My baby boy,” Roger cooed, patting the boy gently on the back “You missed your favourite uncle didn’t you?” He asked rhetorically as he bounced Rami as he giggled

The others were being let into the house properly by Jim, who herded them in and kept up a conversation as he helped the little boys with heir jackets and hung them up on the hooks Freddie had someone put up for when the younger ones came over (now it had a fourth hook, right next to Joe’s)

“Your baby boy?” Freddie said in a shocked tone as he gently rubbed the boy’s cheek with the back of his finger “He’s mine”

“Ours!” Jim called as he happily picked Joe up into his arms at the boy’s request

“Yeah yeah, you shush” Freddie waved his husband off with his hand, making the adults and the children laugh at him, even Rami laughed at Freddie’s actions

Freddie was pulled out of his loving trance at Rami at a pull to his trouser leg. He looked down to see Gwilym and Ben grinning up at him happily

“Boys!” Freddie grinned and hugged the both of them. Although he had his own baby now, that didn’t mean he didn’t love the other two either “How are my two oldest nephews?”

“We are good!” Ben nodded once, happily, looking over at Joe and Jim “Joey splashed us in the puddles on the way here and got our shoes wet” He giggled and gave a little snort, melting Freddie completely

Gwilym nodded to confirm the situation that happened “He did! It was so funny!” He laughed along with Ben, and Freddie found himself unable to not laugh along with them. Then, Gwilyms eye caught Rami, who was being softly spoken to by Brian over Rogers shoulder, the baby resting his head there comfortably

“I wanna hold the baby” Gwilym practically whined as he lifted his arms up “He likes me the most”

“Nuh-uh!” Ben stopped laughing at that, looking positively offended by Gwilym accusations “He likes me the best!”

“Actually,” Joe started from Jim’s arms, something he had obviously caught on from John “He prefers me” He grinned happily with his front tooth missing, it having fallen out a while back in an incident at the park

“Ehem,” Jim grinned, looking over at Freddie who gave him a warning look “He prefers-“

“Me!” Freddie said quickly, pointing to himself “He prefers me! I’m his favourite daddy” He grinned and looked over at Rami and out his arms out for him, closing his eyes frantically “Roger put my baby who-prefers-me in my arms please” He said expectantly, opening his eyes when he heard Roger and everyone else snicker. What he saw was Rami, fixated on Brian’s curly hair as he gave little ‘oh’ noises when he found out it could be moved or even springed

Freddie gaped at the tallest member of queen and the tiniest baby in the bunch bond over the guitarists hair.

Jim grinned “Well that settles that,” Then “Tea anyone?”

***

“Uncle Freddie?” Joe asked as he fiddled with the dinosaur toy in his hand. They were sitting at the dining room table, the adults talking in their own little groups or together and the children talked amongst themselves about whatever the children of Queen talked about. Rami was happily sat on Brian’s lap, trying and thankfully failing to eat his foot

Freddie turned to Joe with a smile “Yes, my ginger child?” He grinned at the little boys giggled at the nickname

Once over his giggling, Joe continued “Can Rami walk yet?” He asked curiously as he reached for the baby over the table and said baby grabbed his hand with a gurgle.

“No, sweetie, his too tiny now” He kissed the baby on the head, but said baby was too occupied with his foot being suddenly tickled by Brian, well.. not suddenly, Brian has been using the tactic for ages now but the baby wouldn’t learn that if he even tried to reach his foot up he would get attacked by the tickle monster. He let out throaty giggles, looking up at Brian with his happy rosy cheeks, and Brian just stuck his tongue out at the boy, making his squeal and- try to eat his foot again, does he learn?!

“Actually,” Jim butted in, having been in a trance of watching his husbands best friend and his baby being just so cute it was unbearable “We might wanna start teaching him, at least to waddle” Jim shrugged at Freddie, who thought about it then declared:

“Right! We are all helping Rami to walk and we won’t stop until he does!” He stood up and took Rami out of Brian’s arms, much to the guitarists displeasure. Freddie put Rami onto his hip and rushed out of the dining room and to the living room, keeping a hand on the boy’s head in case he somehow got into an accident.

The others watched in wonder and silence until John broke it

“Giving that man a child was a bad, yet adorable, idea” He said easily, the others nodding whilst the children giggled

***

Teaching a baby to walk. It sounded easier than it was. First of all it didn’t help that there were five people trying to call a 10 month old baby over to themselves as said baby tries to keep steady on his feet (Because yes, thank you very much, he could stand on his own.. with a lot of effort). It salt doesn’t help that Delilah had decided she watched to help by rubbing her body up to Rami’s side, her fur from her tail especially being ticklish shockwaves through Rami’s body as he fell onto his butt as he laughed. It was a cute sight, but this wasn’t going anywhere.

The kids were sat off to the side, watching and trying to coach Rami along to ‘Take a step! C’mon Rami!’ ‘You got this, baby!’ ‘Go Rami! Go Rami!’ From Gwilym, Ben and Joe respectfully. But their cheering only distracted the baby, who would start to clap happily along. There’s really were getting no where

“Yeah, this isn’t working” Roger said with a sigh “I don’t remember it being this hard!”

Brian shook his head “Me neither, he’s a stubborn little thing”

“He gets it from Freddie” Both John and Jim said at the same time, the two highfiving after. Freddie just glared at the two of them then turned his attention back to the baby who was sat on his butt and reaching-

“Rami don’t eat your foot!” Freddie called as he lunged forward for the boy, who giggled as he watched them panic at Freddies sudden shouting “You are a handful, aren’t you” Freddie stood the boy up again and kissed him on the head “You do get it from me” He said fondly and stood next to the others

“Brian your tickle technique doesn’t work” Freddie said mock-accusingly

Brian just tutted and rolled his eyes fondly “And you have a better plan?”

“Yeah, make him wear shoes” Freddie shrugged

“He doesn’t have shoes because he can’t walk, Freddie” Jim said as he gave his husband a look

“Wait what? He doesn’t have little tiny shoes yet?! We are failures Jim! My baby needs cute little shoes!” He rested his head dramatically on Jim’s shoulder, like a dame in an old play

“We will get him some when he learns to walk” Jim shook his head happily and kissed his husband on the head

“Well I want him to wear shoes so let’s teach him” Freddie said as if it was easily, but he knew it wasn’t.

“Sure darling, sure” Jim rubbed Freddie’s back gently

Whilst all of that was going on, the three littles boys jumped down from their comfy places on the sofa and over to Rami. Gwilym picked the boy up happily, making his giggle and look up at the blue-eyed eight year old

“Ram-Ram we are gonna teach you to walk” Gwilym said it like it was the most excitable thing on earth. Rami gasped happily and nodded, looking over at Joe and Ben who both nodded happily, making Rami squeal and clap his hands

“He wants to! Put him down” Ben said happily as he helped Gwilym put the baby down. Gwilym, Joe and Ben went a bit further away from Rami and Gwilym put his arms out for him

“C’mon RamiLami!” He said happily, beckoning the baby over “Baby, c’mon’er!” He cooed, making Rami’s cheek go all blushy and he giggled.

“Babyyyyy, c’mon!” And at that coo, Rami lifted his leg ever so slightly and ever so slowly, Joe and Ben calling for their parents and respectful uncles to watch. Rami’s foot barely lifted from the ground but it did just the tiniest bit and then landed, then barely-even-a-step step knocking him onto his bum as he lost his balance after

They all cheered for him, Freddie and Jim rubbing up to the boy and scooping him up into his arms happily

“Oh Rami, we are so proud of you!” Jim cooed, kissing the boy on head side of the head as the others all cooed and cheered the baby on, making said baby blush and hide his face

“Well done baby,” Freddie cooed, then looked down at the beaming Gwilym “And thank you for teaching him that!” Freddie scooped the eldest boy into his arms also, hugging him and Rami close now “Well some Gwilly, and Rami” he kissed them both on the side of the head, making Gwilym let out a ‘eww!’ And Rami letting out a giggle

They may have ‘over-reacted’ over ‘one tiny little step’ but it was amazing to them and that was all that mattered

Chapter Text

Rami’s first interview was more clam than you would think it would be. Jim, Freddie and said little boy arrived at the interviewing place with barely any press to try snap photos of the boy like that tried to like that one night. It was pleasant, to not see press getting to close to their son, who happily held both Freddie and Jim’s hand as he skipped along in between them. He had insisted on walking, much to the fathers heart break.

They got to the door and they made their way up the stairs, Rami and Freddie pretending to heavily pant on each step as of it pained them to take one step up (Flash back to Freddie climbing on top of a speaker and almost falling at a show one time, thankfully before they had Rami because Jim didn’t need two crazy monkeys around the house). Their little stair game made them almost late, and Jim wondered if that was what Freddie wanted so Rami would be just like him in his time-management too

Once they actually got to the door, the interviewer, A blond man smallest at the three of them and beckoned them over. The room was a lot more child friendly, with colourful walls instead of the normal white or beige Freddie and Jim were used too.

“Hi guys” He said softly and smiled back the three as they entered and said their own hellos, walking up to the sofa across the man and sat down, Rami climbing in between the two and gently pushing Freddie’s hands away when he went to pick him up and put him in his lap. Ohhh, He was was trying to keep his public appearance good. Freddie respected that.

He ruffled the boy’s hair, who smiled up at him then turned his attention back to the man, trying his best not to come off as too shy

“Well you must be the famous Rami I have heard so much about” The interviewer started with a smile still on his face. He put out his hand for a handshake and Rami gladly took his hand into his, shaking it with a giggle “Please to meet you, Im Dylan”

“Nice to meet your Dylan” He said shyly with a bashful giggle, making Dylan silently ‘awww’ at Jim and Freddie who grinned happily at their sons politeness.

“Okay so, we will ask a few question and all of that, anything you aren’t okay with him being asked?” Dylan said to the two parents, smiling at them contently

“Nothing about school or his life before” Freddie said, looking over at Jim who nodded “That’s pretty much it”

“Okay, got it” He said and smiled, gesturing over to one of the camera men behind the camera, as he started to count down from three and Dylan started his intro

“And here with us tonight we have, the famous, cutest kid around, Rami Mercury-Hutton!” He said as the camera moved over to the little boy, who had his tongue stuck out at the camera once it panned over to him, making the adults laugh

“Very flattering, so Rami,” Dylan started “How has living with a rockstar been so far?” He Smiles at the boy, who grinned shyly at Dylan and started to speak

“‘S good, Daddy has a lot of cats” He looked up at Freddie, who smiled down and him and nodded his head for him to continue “And Daddy gardens, ‘nd he lets me help” He looked up at Dylan with that cheeky smile that was just so adorable

“Oh wow! That must be fun! Do you enjoy playing with the cats and gardening?” Dylan asked friendly, he must’ve been trained to work with kids because he was actually really good

“Mhm, but I’m aller- allerg- they make me feel not nice when I go near them, so-so I have to take med’cine” He gave a grossed out face at the mention of his medicine, making Jim chuckle at the memory of Rami shaking his head as soon as the tiny spoon was brought to his mouth

“I don’t like taking medicine too, don’t worry” He chuckled “Who’s your favourite cat?”

“Hmm... umm..” At that, Rami looked up at Freddie and whispered “Who’s your favourite again?”

“Delilah, darling”

“Delilah!” He turned back to Dylan “Delilah, definitely”

The next day, the news papers headlines was ‘Mercury child: the cutest of them all’ and it was the most true thing ever said by the news.

Chapter Text

It was all going well, the eight year old catching onto the swimming quickly.

Brian smiles at his son, watching from the pool chairs as he pushed off from the side and started to swim, stopping just before he got to the deal end to walk back over. He was getting better, that classes he took him too obviously paying off.

Brian went to reach for his drink, effectively knocking it completely onto the concrete floor. Thankfully it wasn’t glass and didn’t make a mess, yet the tea still spilt all on the floor. He tutted in annoyance and sat up, turning away from Gwilym for just five seconds as he picked the cup up and out it back

He turned back around, standing up as he went to call to Gwilym that he was going to get some paper towels yet when he looked, all he saw was a struggling lanky boy in the deep end, and Brian knew instantly who that was

“Oh shit!” Brian called as he ripped his shirt off and dives straight into the pool, swimming over to his struggling son as quickly as the water would let him.

It took him longer than he wouldn’t liked to finally reach his boy and wrap an around around him, swimming up to the top with a gasp from both men.

Brian made sure Gwilyms head was above water as he swam over to the edge, hoisting the coughing and gasping boy up onto the concrete and climbing out himself

“Gwilym?!” He called out through a cough, spitting up water to the side as Gwilym coughed it up harshly. Brian rubbed the boy’s chest gently, supporting him through his coughs “It’s okay, Bud, get it out” Hw rolled the boy to his side so he could spit up the water. Once he was done and was now just gasping, Brian hugged him closely to his chest “What happened?” He said as he subtly checked the boy over for any cuts

“Pushed too far,” a cough “Thought it was shallow..” wrapped his arms around his dad, the small arms barely meeting. Brian shushed him gently, grabbing his towel from the beach chair and wrapping it around him

“Okay, it’s okay, it’s not your fault” He hoisted the boy up into his arms as he stood, taking him into the house to warm him up.

The stain on the concrete from the tea that was left out spilled until Anita came home was like a scar to that mishap

Chapter Text

It wasn’t common for the boys to go to the studio, but when they did it was always fun. The boys would stay with Miami whilst Queen did what they needed to do for their newest album and try to make Miami life a living hell. Because if your going to be babysat your going to want to make it as hard for him as possible.

So now, Gwilym was yelling the words of his newest book that he had brought to the studio play date that day as loudly as he could, Ben was running around with his shoes on his hands, Joe was ripping up plain pieces of paper ‘because it’s fun!’ And Rami was sitting off in the comfy chair, watching the ruckus as he sucked on his thumb happily (He only did it now to annoy his daddies, and now in this case, Miami).

Miami was slowly starting to get a headache, with Bens screaming and Gwilyms yelling and the annoying sound of paper ripping constantly behind him. At the moment, he was trying to catch Ben any time he ran past him, but by god that boy could run. Ben knew what he was doing and was purposely running close to Miami and then sprinting off again when the older man would try to reach him.

Rami laughed behind his thumb each time it happened, and Miami was this close to glaring at the kid.. but he really didn’t want to get caught by Freddie. He wanted to keep his job.

The laughing only spooned the blondie on, which really didn’t help Miami’s case, but it looked like these boys weren’t on his side at the moment at all

“Uh Miami,” Johns soft voice came through the speaker, and Miami groaned and went over to it, pressing the button to talk back

“Yep?” He said fake-cheerfully

“Freddie’s misses his baby” John said in a way that explained everything. Rami must’ve understood because the small gasp he made as he pulled his thumb out of his mouth and started to try climb down the chair said as much

“Alright, hold on” Miami grumbled and picked the little devil (now angel) up and into his arms before he hurt himself getting down the chair.

At Rami being moved, all three other devils stopped their acts and dropped their stuff to the floor, following after Miami and talking to Rami as they went.

Once they got around to the studio room, Rami was swept out of Miami’s arms and in to Freddie’s as he didn’t miss a beat with his rant to the other queen members.

“-and that’s why we don’t need another guitar solo” He said with a sigh and shook his head, looking down at the boy grinning up at him happily in his arms “Hello, Rami” He kissed him on the cheek and walked over to Jim “Go say hi to daddy, also” He set the boy in Jim’s lap, who cuddled into the sitting, and tired-looking man. Apparent they had gotten into one of their argument over the song whilst Miami was dealing with their children just in the other room. Now he had eight children to deal with.

“Hi baby” Jim’s voice was heard as Rami cuddled into his chest happily, Freddie going off into another rant to Miami this time whilst the boys ran up to their respective dads to get their hugs and kisses

“-dont you agree?!” Miami realises he wasn’t actually listening to Freddie, so he just nodded silently, which was obviously the good thing to do as Freddie nodded appreciatively and walked back over to his husband and son

Then, Miami was pushed out of his place by the doorway, stumbling forward and Freddie catching him by the shoulder quickly

“You okay?” John called, looking over at the man now in the room. Oh. What the hell was he doing here?

“Paul.” Roger growled as he pulled Ben behind him. None of the boys trusted their children near that snake. And obviously with the new addition to the Queen children he wanted to meet him.

Jim pulled Rami closer to his chest, standing up protectively next to Freddie as the man’s head snapped up to the snake.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Freddie sneered, his fists bunching at his sides. Rami watched with wide, shocked eyes. He hadn’t seen his daddy angry, yet he knew he was now. Very angry.

“Seeing the new kid” He said the sentence like it was nothing. Like he didn’t screw Freddie and his relationship with his best friend over years ago.

Paul reached towards Rami with his hand, the boy cowering into Jim’s chest with a kick of his legs. Jim pulled him closer if at all possible, stepping back quickly. Freddie, the one standing between the two, whacked Paul’s arm so hard he gave out a scream

“What the fuck was that for?!” He yelled, looking up at Freddie in anger

But Freddie’s anger had no match. He got right up close to the man, looking taller and shorter than the man at the same time

“You don’t ever fucking go near him or my family every again” He growled, spitting the words out like venom onto Paul’s face.

For once, the man took the hint, looking between the others and kissed his teeth, putting his hands up and slowly out of the room, Miami following him close behind him, practically pushing him outside the room when they got near enough and shutting the door

Rami, still squirming in Jim’s arms, gave a whimper as his ace scrunched up in displeasure

Freddie snapped out of his angry glaring at the door, turning around and taking the boy into his arms, shushing him and gently bouncing him to calm him down.

The others rushed over also, somehow ending up in a giant group hug all together, the children hugging the adults’ legs.

Chapter Text

He left the boy alone for 10 minutes to get them both a drink, and upstairs he heard the faint noise of the symbols being hit over and over again

Roger grinned slightly and took the drinks back up, watching from the doorway of the drum-room in their house as Ben tried to play. The little boy hadn’t realised he was being watched.

Roger stepped into the room, making Ben gasp and grin at him, waving the drum sticks at him

“Dad look! I’m playing!” He said with a grin, then whacking the symbol as hard as he could, making Roger wince slightly

“Okay let me teach you” He made his way towards the drum kit and and behind it, lifting Ben and sitting down on the stool, putting Ben on his lap “You might hurt your hands, so be careful” He wrapped his hands around Bens, Ben holding the sticks and helping the boy hit the symbols and drums.

They played for about an hour, before Ben declared that he was hungry and wanted to had a snack. Roger agreed, and they both nibbled on fruits together at the kitchen isle

Chapter Text

Rami was wailing. He kicked and screamed whenever Jim, Freddie or Phoebe tried to even touch him. Currently, he was gripping his car seat as he shook his head vigorously. You would think the boy was going to get his hand cut off or something, but it was a just a check up. They had just recently adopted Rami, and they had to check up on his health to see if he had any illnesses that the useless social worker had forgotten to mention.

“Rami, darling, please calm down” Phoebe said softly, reaching towards him again but he just started to scream bloody murder again. Phoebe sighed as he looked back at Jim and Freddie, who were rubbing their heads with their cold hands to soothe their pounding headaches.

Jim steppes forwards towards the car and ducked his head in, watching as Rami’s tiny body quivered in the car seat and locked eyes with his adopted dad.

“Rami, I’m going to pick you up, and take you into the doctors so they can check you up, okay? No buts, and no more screaming, okay?” Jim warned gently, the little boy slowing his wails to soft cries and little sniffles. Jim smiles softly and nods, unbuckling the boy and lifting him out of the car seat and onto his hip. Freddie smiled and went over to the two of them, leaving Phoebe to sigh happily as the little boys wailing almost completely stopped as he got back into the car to wait for the three after the check up

Freddie kissed his boy gently on the cheek, the little boy giving a tiny smile that curled on the end of his lips. Freddie mentally cooed at the boy as they started to walk towards the doors of the doctors.

Freddie himself hates the doctors, despised the place as much as he despised showing up early to places, but throwing his own tantrum whilst Rami was throwing his own wouldn’t help anyone’s case, so he sucked it up and ‘put on a brave face’, or whatever the saying was, for Rami.

Rami cowered into Jim’s neck when they opened the doors and stepped inside. There was a few children in the small playing area who looked over at Rami as they saw him, but quickly brought their attention back to their toys. It was hard to tell if they were older or younger than Rami because the boy himself didn’t look his own age, so Freddie didn’t bother trying to guess.

He heard a few ladies going ‘aw, bless’ when they entered, as Freddie automatically guessed it was towards Rami. Once he glanced over to the two ladies looking at the boy with sympathetic eyes, he instantly knew it was them.

He tried not to smile as they watched in awe and pity at his son, proud as if they were saying the stuff to him. He felt a wave of passion rush through him at seeing his boy with soft attention.. did that make sense? Was this normal for parents?

Freddie was torn out of his thoughts when Jim started talking to the receptionist, the singer looking over at the lady smiling softly as she put her phone down and looked up at the three of them

“Names?” She said kindly, glancing between the two of them with a look of ‘you look familiar’ in her eyes, yet she was kind enough not to ask

“Rami Malek, he’s our foster son at the moment” Jim gently pat the boy’s backside comfortingly, rubbing his back softly through his way-too-big t-shirt.

“Okay, hold on..” She went through some paper son her desk and smiled when she found it “Ah here, could you please sign this? It’s just to confirm everything, then we can get through to the check up”

Freddie tilted his head “How did you know we are here for a check up?”

The woman at the front desk chuckled “I answered the call for it” She grinned, and Freddie made an ‘ohhh’ sort of sound, Jim snickering at him

“You idiot. Okay, done” He passed the paper and pen towards Freddie, who now realised his husband had written with one hand, the other being around Rami. Wow, he had married a god.

Freddie shook himself out of his thoughts.. again.. and signed the paper quickly, being used to signing photos and shirts and what-not quickly so autograph-forgers couldn’t steal it. He passed the paper to the woman behind the desk a bit too fast than he should’ve, yet the woman either didn’t notice or didn’t comment about it. She was rather nice, Freddie felt the need to repay her.

Rami whined as he move positions in Jim’s arms, moving so his body was chest to chest with Jim and had his chin on his shoulder, facing Freddie with teary eyes as he wrapped his arm around the opposite side of Rami’s head around Jim’s neck, not completely reaching.

Freddie gave him a wink, making the boy smile slightly again, yet not fully. The little boy barely laughed, barely played with the toys Jim and Freddie had worried about for hours in the toy-shop whilst Rami was asleep and under Phoebe’s protection (They barely trusted anyone with their new bundle of joy, barely even the boys, or the boys’ boys for that matter, so going out at 8pm wasn’t what they really wanted to be doing when they could’ve been watching him over themselves). So seeing Rami smile just the tiniest bit was a blessing from the heavens themselves.

“Alright thank you, your dr is Dr Howard, he’s great, trust me” She smiled “He will call Rami out when he is ready, whilst that you can just sit in the waiting area”

Jim and Freddie said their thanks, going over to the uncomfortable looking chairs and sitting down on them next to each other, Rami staying in his place on Jim’s chest, wrapping his legs around his waist to sit comfortably like a little baby koala.

Jim wrapped his hands over the boy’s tiny back, his hand covering the whole of his tiny form. Freddie leaned down towards the boy and gently squeezed his shoulder

“Thank you for not screaming anymore” Freddie teased gently, making Rami give a silent jerk of his body as if he laughed, Freddie chuckling at him and squeezing his shoulder again.

They didn’t have to wait long, the waiting area not being that filled, Thank god. They didn’t need people fanning over Freddie with Rami around. They, Jim and Freddie, agreed that their child wouldn’t be in the spotlight as soon as they came into their life, and Rami being an emergency foster didn’t change that pact. The boy was definitely not ready to be the front cover of the newspaper.

“Rami Malek?” Dr Howard popped his head through the open doorway to the hallway that led to different doctors offices, smiling at the people until Jim and Freddie stood with a ‘Yep, that’s him’ as Jim rearranged the little boy in Jim’s arms to a more comfortable position as he stood “Great, please follow me” He smiled and disappeared down the hall, the husbands following quickly.

They got to his office and sat down, Rami being passed over to Freddie so Freddie could sit closest to the Doctor with Rami on his lap facing Dr Howard.

The dr smiled as he took his own seat at his desk, popping up the boy’s records before turning to them with a smile

“And why do I have the pleasure of meeting mr Malek today” The dr said in an ‘official’ tone, making Rami give a little smile as he looked up at Freddie with a look that said ‘he’s silly!’

Freddie pat the boy gently on the knee and looked back up at the Dr, answering for the baby on his lap

“Just a check up, Rami’s our foster son at the moment” He said happily, pleased to be able to show of the little boy as his own.. well, not officially, Jim and Freddie hadn’t talked about it yet, but it was obvious they both wanted the same.

“Alright then,” Dr Howard turned around to grab a lollipop stick, turning back around and rolling his chair towards Rami and Freddie “Rami can you say ‘ahhh’?”

At that, Rami fiddled with his hands on his lap, whining slightly as he looked up at Jim with pleading eyes

Jim understood instantly “He’s not a big talker at the moment” he looked between Rami and Dr Howard, who thankfully nodded once in understanding

“That’s okay, can you just open your mouth instead and stick your tongue out?” He smiled without a problem at Rami, who glanced back at the Dr and did just that “Perfect, Rami! Well done!” He put the lollipop stick on Rami’s tongue and pressed down gently, the normal check-up procedure really

Rami whined slightly when he wanted to, which somewhat helped the Dr in inspecting the boy’s throat, but either way Freddie gently shushed him and kissed him on the top of the head gently, settling him down before tears could start

“And we are done with that! You did amazing Rami!” He praised and pulled the lollipop stick away and into a bin “Now we are going to check your ears” He smiled, yet Rami just whined and pushed his body to the left, Freddie having to hold his side so e didn’t fall completely put of Freddie’s lap

“Oh I know, it’s so mean of me, I’m sorry” Dr Howard said pitifully, grabbing a tiny torch and going closer to him “Just keep him like that for a moment” He said to Freddie, who nodded as Jim started to try to call him down from his whining

“It’s okay darling, your not going to be hurt, I promise, it’s just a little light that goes in your ear, nothing else” Jim said as he crouched down at Freddie’s left and rubbed the boy’s cheek gently with the back of his finger “Your okay, I promise, we wouldn’t let anything hurt you, would we? No, not at all” Freddie started to rub the boy’s back in soothing circles

“Okay now the other side” Dr Howard said quietly so Rami didn’t hear. Jim gently moved the boy’s face and held it still in a very light hold, Freddie repeatedly kissing the top of his head. Dr Howard was quick with the examination, being no less than five seconds before he turned the torch off and pulled it away, putting it back in his place in his draw with a thumbs up to the two husbands

“There you go, shhh, it’s okay” Freddie said quietly at the boy as he gently played with his curly hair “See? It’s all over, your okay, your being as dramatic as me!” He gently teased, making the boy give a tiny giggle as he wipes his eyes and calmed his breathing. Honestly, he was just as dramatic as Freddie now. Was that a good thing?

“And we are done! Everything’s okay, his medical records say he is up to date with his jabs, no past illnesses, but he is allergic to cats, do you need medication for that or were you given it?” Dr Howard had to ask, it was procedure

“No we were given some, although we might need more” Jim said, Rami and Freddie to preoccupied in being too cute together to realise the Dr was talking

“Okay, I’ll write this prescription and you can go to the pharmacy just across the road from here,” He Smiled, passing a written (Squiggles. The writing was not even English, Jim was sure)note to Jim then turning his attention to Rami “And you little man, get a lollipop” He grinned and pulled one out from a separate draw. “I really shouldn’t but you were just so brave!”

The little boy gasped happily and took it, Freddie helping him with the wrapper when he thrusted it towards his face

“Tayoo” He said quietly with a smile as Freddie gave it back to him, either to Freddie to Dr Howard, they didn’t know

“Your very welcome, little man” Dr Howard said with a smile, shaking Jim’s hand when he gave his own thanks in a more formal way

When leaving, Freddie threw his own thank you over his shoulder as Rami tried to climb between Freddie-to-Jim as they walked out and to the pharmacy.

Chapter Text

Rami - 5
Joe - 6
Ben - 8
Gwilym - 9

The bullying has been going on for months now, Rami telling the older boys at break time tucked under Gwilyms arm, crying. He had pointed out the boy’s, and now, at lunch, Rami was looking down at the ground to cover his tears from his bully’s as they sneered and picked on the little boy. The other three took notice, and started to take action instantly.

“Hey!” Ben called as he ran up to one of the older boys, pushing them to the floor “Get off of him!” Whilst Ben was being the muscle, Joe and Gwilym rushed to Rami’s aid, Joe pushing the other boy when he went to hit Ben. The boys were 5, Rami’s age, yet the 6 and 8 year old didn’t really care if they were picking on younger kids. They were picking on Rami first, they deserved it.

Gwilym shushed Rami gently as he (somehow) lifted the boy so he could wrap his legs around the tall 9 year olds waist

“Leave him alone, got it?! Or we will get our dads to tell on you with your dads and you will be in a lot of trouble!” Joe warned, pouting between the two in a way he had seen John do before to the other members of Queen during and argument at the studio

Both younger bullies nodded their heads quickly, probably now realising these boys were older than them and should be feared. They scrambled off, Ben and Joe grinning and high-fiving as they watched them run off, then turning back to the two boys and grinning

“Your knights in shining armour were here to save the day!” Ben grinned

“They don’t bother you anymore” Joe also grinned, Gwilym cheering happily as Rami hopping out of the tallest arms and giving the middle children hugs and sloppy kisses on the cheek

Chapter Text

Rami had a booboo on his elbow, and Freddie being Freddie worried sick about the boy. Because oh god his baby had a superman plaster on his elbow, the life was going to end!

Freddie wouldn’t let Rami out of his sight with his ‘injury’, and in turn Rami enjoyed the attention, as any four year old would.

And also as any four year old would, he milked it for a few days. On the days when he didn’t want to get up it was “Daddy my booboooo” being whined out across the house, and on other days it was “Daddy I need kissies, my booboo still hurts” and he would be granted with his kisses

Gwilym saw right through him though, knowing Rami way to well to know that it didn’t hurt. If he taking a tumble on the so-called injured elbow wasn’t enough proof (He didn’t cry or whine then) then he didn’t know what was.

Gwilym knew better than to call Rami out on it, he was still only four after all, and Ben and Joe at that age were little terrors themselves, so he watched as his uncles grew more and more in concern with the boys booboo’d elbow

“Maybe it broken..” Freddie mumbled to Brian and Jim as he watched the boy eat his pasta messily

“It’s not broken” Gwilym rolled his eyes fondly “He’s milking it” he finally opened up the truth to them, grinning as Rami started to giggle as he gave a cheekily little look and hopped off the dining table chair and rushed off, giggling as he went. Jim, Freddie and Brian went after him at that, all laughing as they chased the baby

“Idiots” Maybe Gwilym finished off their plates when the adults were playing their wild goose chase with the cheeky little boy, but you didn’t hear that from me.

Chapter Text

Warnings for: R-slur, stimming

Rami looked over the daisies in wonder as his hands flapped on their own accord. Rami had been playing before he came up to Brian and Roger, but after he had been tagged a few times he decided he didn’t like it and trotted off to the adults to stay with them for a while, who gladly let him have a bit of timeout time for a bit.

Jim and Freddie were out have some ‘husband time’ without Rami (although it pained the two of them to be away from their little angel, they just needed a day together without him for a bit) so John was looking after him for the day, and what better way to look after your best friends kid by bringing the whole family along to the park for some time together. They were lucky the boys loved each other so well, as they couldn’t get enough of each other’s company. You would think they were brothers at least because of how close they were. It was rather sweet.

When Rami has decided he wanted to get up and walk around for a bit, he did just that: got up, flapped his hands a few times and walked off over to the patch of newly growing daisies in the ground, crouching next to them as he kept stimming his hands happily. The adults watched with a close eye at the boy, also keeping an eye on their own boy’s playing together.

“It’s sweet, I think” Roger said softly as he watched Rami stand and go to another patch of daisies, hands still doing what they did best

Brian nodded with a fond smile, keeping an eye out for Rami and watching as people walked past him. He knew how people thought of autism, how people thought it meant something was wrong with a child or adult, and he knew that some people were so cruel that they would say their opinions to a child. You couldn’t blame him for being extra careful as people walked past Rami

Speaking of the little boy, he sat up again from the daisies and was now gently hitting his head as he walked back over to the adults. They all smiled at him, John letting Rami climb into his lap again like he had before

“Hey bud, gently” John said softly as he saw Rami start to hit his head a bit harder. It was the only stim Jim and Freddie didn’t like to see the boy doing, scared he would hurt himself one day

Rami didn’t respond though, he just kept stimming as he watched the boys play. John sighed and gently grabbed Rami’s wrist, pulling his hand away from his head, which only made the boy whine and try to pull it back to his head

“Rami, no, listen to me now, you have to stop hitting your head, okay? If you stop doing that we can play with Tart, how does that sound?” John offered as the boy kept whining and shaking his head. He started to rock on Johns lap and John had to let his wrist go. They needed to stop that one stim before it got worse, sure, but they knew the signs of a meltdown, having been told by Freddie and Jim and had seen one before

There was suddenly a shade over the boy and three adults, who looked up from their place sat on the picnic blanket to see a tall, broad man looking down at Rami as he started to hit his head with his fists

“So, your kids a r*tard then?” The man sneered down at him “Why don’t you just hit him? Y’know, beat some sense into him or something?” He said in that god awful tone of his, making the three adults gasp slightly as they felt their blood boil. Roger was the first to stand, along with Brian. John would’ve loved to through some punches himself, but he had Rami on his lap and he really didn’t want to leave him alone at that moment.

“You, can fuck right off. How fucking dare you come over to us and say that god awful stuff about him” Roger glared, getting right up into the man’s face. He was slightly taller than him, yet Brian was definitely taller. He was probably around Jim’s height if he had to guess

“Oh you know it’s true, that boy is just a r-“ He was just about to say the word again, when Brian suddenly socked the man right in the face, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and pulling him towards him, sneering down at him with so much anger

“You. Fuck off, now. We don’t want to see you near us ever again, you hear me?!” He yelled, spitting in the man’s face in fury. The man nodded his head fearfully, not so tough now after he got what was coming.

Brian let go of him with a push, making the man scramble off to wherever he came from. The two stranding watched him go, then turning when the other boys came running up to them

“Dad what happened?!” Gwilym called as he ran to his dad, hugging him and grabbing his hand, that now had blood on it from the punch “what did he do?”

Ben ran to Roger, asking the same thing, whilst Joe went to John and sat down next to him, asking quietly if Rami was okay, who was now not-so-quietly humming as he tried to distract himself from everything going on

It was if by magic that when he heard Joe speak he had a lightbulb moment. Roger quickly rushed over to the basket they brought to their mini picnic and passed over one of Rami’s fidget toys to Rami, who took it and started to fidget with it, and slowly his rocking started to calm down

Brian sat back down on the blanket, explaining quietly what had happened to Gwil (Because he knew the boy wouldn’t let it go until he got his answered) and watched as Rami continued to fidget with the toy, his leg kicking from time to time on its own accord

John smiled in thanks to Rogers quick thinking, who only waved him off and pulled Ben towards him, giving the blondie a kiss on the cheek

When Rami had calmed down enough, Joe gently tapped him on the shoulder, making the boy look over to him. Joe smiled and put his arms out for a hug, the younger boy leaning into it happily.

Jim and Freddie would be furious at what had happened, yet they knew the fathers deserved to know

Chapter Text

Joe and Ben were play fighting on the floor again, which was no new news to John. The two boys always roughhoused together when they were together. Which was the exact opposite of Rami and Gwilym, who normally liked to read books together or play with their stuffed animals together, which is what they were doing now, ignoring the two fighting just to their side.

John kept a close eye on the two mini wrestlers, making sure hey didn’t go to far with each other and hurt themselves or the other, also making sure they didn’t roll to close to the oldest and youngest and accidentally hit one of them. Thankfully, although the boys were in their own world as they fought, they knew not to get too close to the others, being aware of where they rolled.

John shook his head fondly as they played, tutting when Rami and Gwilym glances over to them with questioning looks, as if they had just now realised what they were doing

“Alright, break it up ladies” John said with a smile as he scooted off the sofa and pulled the two apart, who were grinning and panting like they had just run a marathon

“Ladies?!” Ben fake gasped, making Joe, Gwilym and Rami laugh at him, Ben wearing a proud smile as he got the three others to laugh

“We are booooys” Joe continued, making Ben snicker as Rami and Gwilym kept laughing

John couldn’t help by chuckle himself, patting the boy’s on their small shoulders gently, then standing “You two are crazy, who wants an ice cream?”

All four boys shot right up, Rami even putting his arm up happily as they all yelled “Me! Me! I do! Me!”

John laughed and took Rami’s hand in his “Then let’s go then! To the kitchen!” John said in an announcers voice, making the boys laugh and repeat him in the same tone as the three oldest ran to the designated area, laughing the whole time. John walked quick enough so Rami wouldn’t feel left out, although he didn’t need to run, his legs being a lot longer than the kids’ ones, he didn’t have to take it so fast

Chapter Text

It had taken weeks for them to finally found the home Sami was in. They knew what happened to their parents (fatal car crash, drunk driver, the boys were at a friends house at the time, thank god) and how they were separated when Rami came to them. They tried everything they could to find Sami then, but having an emotionally distraught toddler in your house took up most of your priorities, so they set finding Sami to the side until Rami was settled in. He was now, having been properly adopted nearly a year ago, but they had completely forgotten about their past plans to find Sami. Until Rami mentioned it at breakfast

The little boy was babbling to Delilah, who was peering up at him from her place on the floor by his chair, eyes begging for some bit of his pancakes like she normally did. Rami had taken his medicine that same morning, so he wasn’t sneezing and tearing up when she came close.

“Here you go” Rami said quietly, ripping off a corner of the pancake and dropping it for Delilah to eat, who did just that. He giggled and kicked his legs slightly, looking up to see Freddie and Jim not noticing his actions “Daddy?” He asked Freddie, reaching over to try to touch his arm, yet he couldn’t really reach so he just waved his hand slightly until Freddie turned to him with a smile

“Yes darling?” Freddie said as he took Rami’s little hand into his head and gave the back of it a gentle rub with his thumb

“Where’s Sami?” Rami said as he used his other hand to pat Freddie’s, asking the question absently and not realising both Jim and Freddie stilled and looked at each other. He did look up eventually and see the two of them having a silent conversation, making him furrow his eyebrows and tilt his head “What?” He asked “Did I say something wrong?”

And now here they were, at the doorstop of a lovely looking flat, with planted flowers around the entrance. Rami bounced happily in Freddie’s arms, reaching over to press the doorbell when he was close enough.

“Darling,” Freddie said before he could reach the button all the way “You know Sami lives here now, right? He won’t want to come home with us” That was sort of a lie. They had found out that Sami was still in foster care, his first family having not adopted him like Freddie and Jim did with Rami.

Rami seemed to deflate at that, his smile falling completely as he looked at Freddie with the most heart broken eyes it pained Freddie and Jim to see their son look so sad

“But he..” He sniffled “He’s my brother, and we look the same! You can’t keep two people away from each other if they look the same!” He explained as if it was common sense.

Jim sighed and both Freddie and Jim hugged he boy, said boy not breaking down yet but his sniffles were increasing

“Let’s just see him first, okay?” Jim said as he pulled away from the hug, kissing Rami on the cheek and pressing the button near the door. As soon as the doorbell went, there was barking from what sounded like a big dog and a person shushing then as they came up to the door and opened it.

The person was a lady, who was smiling happily at the three of them as she greeted them and led them inside

“Hi! Come on in, it’s freezing out there” the woman said kindly, stepping out of the way as they quickly came inside and took their shoes off “You must be Rami” The lady said kindly as Freddie set the boy down so he could take his shoes off. Rami smiled shyly up at the woman, staying still so Freddie could take his (tiny) shoes off and put them with their own “Sami has said a lot about you!”

Then, there was the sound of socked feet running down the hall, said boy being almost a carbon copy of Rami, yet slightly taller and stockier. The boy stopped in front of them, just next to the woman’s side

“Rami?” Sami said gently, the other little boy staring back at him. Then soon enough, they went running to each other, hugging the other just as tight “You’ve grown!” He grinned, making Rami giggle and nod his head where he had it resting on Sami’s shoulder

“You did too!” He practically bounced where he stood “I missed you! So much!” He pulled away to look at Sami’s face “You look different..” he squinted his eyes as he looked at Sami’s face

“You do too, it’s not just me!” He stuck him tongue out at him cheekily, making Rami squeal and push his shoulder gently, making Sami laugh and push him back

“Hey, you two, settle down a bit please” The woman said kindly yet scoldingly, making both boys look down slightly ashamed, and mostly to hide their cheeky smiles

They had been together for hours now, playing, catching up, chasing each other around the house whilst Freddie, Jim and the lady (who they learnt was called Carol) chatted in the kitchen

“He’s so sweet” Carol said kindly as her response to Freddie’s question of how Sami was “He’s got a good heart, and yeah he was shy when he first came to me but now he’s just lovely” She smiled and watched as the two twins passed the open kitchen door, running hand in hand with each other as they yelled about something or other “He’s got a few weeks left here until he goes onto a new family, but honestly I don’t think I can give him up”

“Then adopt him” Freddie said simply, making Jim elbow him in the side

“Freddie, that’s rude” Jim shook his head, turning to Carol to apologise

Before he could get his words out, she waved him off with her hand “No it’s fine, I was honestly thinking about it”

“Then do it!” Freddie smiled, ignoring Jim from earlier “We adopted Rami and we were his first house he went too, and it was the best decision we made!”

Jim couldn’t argue with that one, it was true. Adopting Rami was probably the best thing they had ever done, besides getting married, of course.

“Honestly,” Jim started, Freddie grinning at him when he realised Jim was agreeing with him now “If you love him that much to think about it, I’m sure you won’t regret it”

Carol nodded “I’ll talk to him first, I promise” both Freddie and Jim smiled softly towards her at that

“Bud, time to go” Jim said softly to his son as the tired looking Rami and Sami came into the kitchen, still holding hands “Can you say bye bye to Sami?” Jim said softly whilst Freddie and Carol exchange information

Sami whined and hugged his brother close “You can’t take him” He shook his head “It’s not my bedtime so it isn’t his either”

Rami smiled tiredly at that and nodded as he rubbed his eye with his fist. Jim snorted and shook his head, picking up both of the boys into his arms, making them squeal and laugh “Who’s the oldest here?”

Rami pointed to himself as he gave a yawn “Me”

“Not what I meant but okay” He bounced the both of them, Carol seeing them to the door once she and Freddie has stopped their conversation. Once at the front door stop, Jim out Sami down

“Wrong twin” Rami called as he was actually put down on the floor, Sami giggling as he gently pat Jim on the cheek cheekily

“You almost took home the wrong child, Jim” Freddie giggled out, trying to muffle his laughs as Rami was already asleep on his lap. Crystal was driving them home, smiling at the thought of Jim taking Sami home instead of Rami

“Oh shut up, there are identical! You can’t blame me” Jim whisper-shouted, also aware of the sleeping twin, the correct twin thank you very much, on Freddie’s lap

“Oh I love you” Freddie kissed Jim on the cheek noisily

“I love you too” Then he leaned down to kiss Rami on the head “But I love you more”

“Stop the car and throw him out, Crystal!” Freddie called, making Crystal downright laugh, Jim shush them and gently whack his husband and Rami stir in his sleep

Chapter Text

As Freddie opened the door, his parents and younger sister said they’re hello’s, hugging him and Jim tightly. They entered the house completely and started to take off their coats and shoes when Rami came rushing from the living room to hide behind Jim’s legs, peering up at the family shyly.

Jim felt the tiny arms around his legs and reached down with a chuckle, picking the boy up and putting him on his hip

“Guys, this is Rami” Freddie said proudly as the boy smiled shyly at them all and gave a tiny finger wave to the three new comers

“Oh Freddie, he’s so cute!” Kashmira cooed instantly, stepping closer towards Jim and Rami and smiling softly at the shy little boy “Hello Rami! I love your little shoes” She said as she took the (probably expensive, knowing Freddie) tiny sneakers into her hands

Rami smiled more confidently now “They are blue!” He pointed out happily, pointing to them just as enthusiastically

“That they are, Ramram” She gave the boy a kiss on the cheek, making him giggle and hide his face in Jims shoulder, making the family laugh fondly at the tiny boy

Chapter Text

Gwilym lifted his arm with a short-cut gasp, looking under them as if looking for something. He checked the other, yet what he was finding was not found. He looked up at the adults, who were engrossed in their own conversation, with fear on his face

“Where’s Rami?” He had been curled up to his side whilst the adults sat and talked in the green-room after their performance. And now, the little boy was gone as if he had just puffed out of existence. He would’ve felt Rami moving, right?

Their heads, along with Joe and Bens, snapped to Gwilym, then looking around the place frantically only seconds later when they realised Rami wasn’t there. Why wasn’t he there?! He couldn’t’v gone far, management and the bodyguards wouldn’t allow him too. And if they saw him trying to escape they were too bring the boy straight back here. But Rami didn’t seem like the kid to run away, being clingy and crying for hours on end when he had to leave Freddie and Jim. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t, either. The boy was just so small, he had to know if he did run away he wouldn’t be able to defend himself for long, right? The kid was smart. Of course not as smart as Gwilym, who had a literal genius as a father, but Rami could hold his own for his age.

“Oh god Jim” Freddie said as Jim and the others sat up to look behind sofas, closets, and even behind the radiators (that were stuck to the wall, mind you) “What if we can’t find him? What if someone-“

“Shh, Fred, it’s gonna be okay, I promise” Roger got there first, taking Freddie’s hands into his own and giving them a soft kiss “We will find him,” He reassured, glancing back at Jim who smiled at Roger in sad thanks and continued his own search “He cant’v gone far, you know that”

“It’s okay uncle Freddie” Joe said softly yet in his cheerful tone as he sat on the sofa next to Freddie and give him a hug that his arms barely reached around the mans waist

“Yeah, we will find him” Ben smiled, sitting on the other side of Freddie and hugging both Joe and his uncle, Freddie hugging them both also, like a big mini-group hug, as he sniffled and nodded his head

“Of course we will” Freddie said, to himself or to the kids and to reassure or not was unclear to Roger. Either way he pat Freddie on the knee and went back to his searching. After five minutes, Freddie sat and started to help too. Soon enough, they had checked everywhere in the green room, lamps and tables flipped or gently sat to the side, the curtains drawn open, and the cushions on the sofa were pulled out... just in case he somehow was swallowed by the sofa creasing.

“I say we try check the hall-“ Brian was about to begin, when the door slammed open and in came a bodyguard holding the crying Rami on his hip. He looked exhausted, but Rami beat him in that contest as he rubbed his tired and red-swelling eyes with tiny fists and kicked his legs every once in away to show his discomfort

“Oh my baby” Freddie cooed as rushed to the boy and took him in his arms, hugging him so close to his chest it could’ve hurt either of them. Jim rushed in, hugging them both just as tight as the other “Where did you go, my darling? We were so worried about you” Freddie openly sobbed as he said the words

“I saw a-a feather drop from- from a-a-a c-costume” Rami stuttered our through his cries, dissolving into more cries and childish-sobs as he kept rubbing his eyes that were slowly going redder by the second “I-I wa-need to g-give it ba-ck t-to the l-ady” His breath was hitching as he explained his points, hiding his face in the crook of Freddie’s neck once he was done

Freddie hugged him, of at all possible, closer, gently rocking the three of them.. because Jim was holding on too tightly to the two of them for him to not get moved too

Brian, Roger, and John smiled softly at the sight, waving off the bodyguard to go as the mini family had their moment, so glad they (well.. not really ‘they’) found the boy and said boy was healthy and well. Expect for his exhaustion, that much was evident

Chapter Text

“I hate it here” Freddie mumbled to Jim, leaning over to rest his head on his husbands shoulder whilst their son played with the small toy box in the corner of the waiting room. It was a dentist, somewhere Roger loved and Freddie hated. He had had bad past experiences with dentists, the dentists when he was a kid always were rude about his teeth and told his parents when he was older he had to get them removed, no excuses. Obviously he didn’t, because he would risk being insecure for his work.

“You’ll be fine” Jim kissed Freddie on the head gently, being able to do it because nobody else was around, and their bodyguards were somewhere around if they were to be harassed. “And we are here for Rami, not you, silly” Jim smiled softly as Rami came running up to them, a plastic animal clutched in his hand “What you got, bub?” Jim said kindly as he lifted the boy onto his knee, said boy shoving the plastic toy in his face

“A kitty!” He giggled and showed Freddie too, not being able to shove it in his face because he was too far away

“Oh thats lovely darling” Freddie actually smiled, his fears going away just for a second “It looks like Tiffany!”

Rami nodded happily and slid off of Jim’s lap without a word, obviously bored of the parents and going off to do his own thing again. Jim chuckled at that, helping him get down incase he hurt himself.

“Rami Mercury-Hutton?” A dentists assistant popped her head around the corner, smiling happily at the family only in the waiting room

“That’s him” Jim said happily as he and Freddie stood, Freddie going instantly shy as Rami ran up to him to be picked up. Freddie did with ease, putting the boy on his hip as he pat Freddie’s cheek gently and lean over to talk to Jim about his playtime. Jim nodding when appropriate.

They followed the assistant to the dentists room, and as soon as they were in there Rami went shy. He obviously had Ben to a dentists before, just not with Freddie and Jim, and his dentist when he lived with Mama and Dada were very different from this one. He didn’t knew the two ladies who smiled at him as-

Freddie put him down?! On a weird blue, uncomfortable chair?! How dare he?!

Rami whines and tried to sit up again, reaching his arms up to Jim and Freddie

“Daddy, I don’t like this!” He whined, kicking his legs in annoyance

Jim tutted, whilst Freddie tried to reach for him and pick him up. Jim stopped him, sitting Freddie down and crouching next to Rami’s side “Baby, it won’t be long, the dentist is going to check your teeth with a bright light and that’s it” He promised, Rami still whining as he turned his head to the other side in annoyance to Jim not helping him

Jim stood and nodded to the dentist as he stood next to Freddie, who gripped his hands tightly. He smiled sadly down at their hands and gently pat his. He knew how dentists could be for Freddie, and he didn’t want Freddie to be panicked otherwise Rami would be panicked.

Whilst the teeth-examination went on, Rami didn’t make a peep. Staying completely still as he closed his eyes from the harsh light. He could understand that though, as a kid even for Jim he thought that bloody light was as bright as the sun. Although he complained about it all the time, Rami did not.

Once done, the dentist declared them a-okay, no cavities or anything wrong with the growth of the teeth, and that they were fit to go, which Freddie sighed relieved at and scooped Rami up, much to the boys pleasure. At the reception, the receptionist gave both Freddie and Rami a lollipop, Jim laughing the whole way home about it.

Chapter Text

Rami and Ben ran around the house screaming, their sweets clutched in both hands. They were running around the sofa for the fifth time when Roger and Freddie caught them, scooping them up into their arms as they screamed and giggled, kicking their legs out happily

“Where did you get all of those?!” Roger exclaimed in fake anger, gently shaking Bens fist that was tight around his treats

“The sweet jar” Ben giggled, whilst Rami kept on laughing

“How did you even get them?” Freddie chuckled and bounced Rami, who just kept laughing, Ben smiling over to him when he saw he was making his youngest cousin laugh so much

“Ninjas!” Rami laughed out, gripping his tummy as he laughed so much, Ben laughing also

Ben and Rami wouldn’t stop giggling as they hid behind the sofa. They had been there for a while now, taking Rami’s crayons and some of the stuff from Rogers make-up kit behind the sofa exclaiming that “only Joe and Gwilym are allowed!” And Rami giggling and nodded as he said “No parents allowed!” “Or girls!” From Ben, and Rami giggling and nodding again at that

They, the parents and not-hiding kids, were talking when suddenly Ben and Rami jumped out from behind the sofa. They were both dressed as their fathers, Ben wearing some of Rogers hair extensions that he had brought just in case he was having a bad hair day, whilst Rami had a drawn on moustache with black crayon. They were holding hands as they both yelled

“Tadaaaa!” They giggled, the parents and children looking over at them and laughing

“That’s the best thing I’ve ever seen!” Him laughed out, sliding down his chair slightly as he laughed, Freddie snickering into the palm of his hand as Ben tried to pick Rami up bridal style to spin them around, singing some lyrics from one of their songs (The people laughing at them were deafening their singing out so hard they they didn’t understand their own lyrics)

“I wanna be my dad!” Gwilym yelled as he ran to go get the Red Special whilst Joe ran after him to get Johns bass

Chapter Text

Like most things, Rami explained his thoughts at dinner, twirling his fork in the spaghetti as he said casually

“I want a brother” As if it was just the weather he was talking about

Jim choked on his water whilst Freddie spat out his pasta, making Rami giggle cheekily as Jim slapped him on the arm for making such a mess

“Darling.. what?” Freddie said as Jim stood to grab something to clean the pasta now on the table “But you have your cousins, and the cats, and Frankie and-“

“But they aren’t a brother” Rami whined, crossing his arms “It’s no fun here all on my own”

“I-“ Freddie started

“Excuse me? We play all the time!” Jim said, slightly offended at being called ‘boring’ of all the things “You like gardening, don’t say you don’t”

“‘You dont’” Rami said cheekily, yet still sulked “The cats don’t speak”

“Romeo always meows, that’s a lie” Freddie mumbled as he only then started to help Jim clean up. Once they were done Jim put away the towels and sat back down

“Rami, are you sure you want a brother?” Jim said seriously, Rami peaking up at him through his dark eyelashes

The boy nodded, then kicked the underneath of the table in annoyance and just because he could

“Hey, none of that, we will think about it, okay? Having a brother isn’t like getting a new toy” Rami nodded at that “Good, now eat your food” Jim nudged the Winnie the Pooh fork towards Rami slightly then going back to his own food

“Am I actually that boring?” Freddie started again, making Rami giggle at Jim slapping Freddie’s arm again

“Oh please don’t start this up” He groaned

“Be my brother, Joe” Rami said as he grabbed the ginger haired boys hand in his own, pulling him gently towards his little play area

“We aren’t brothers, we are cousins” Joe giggled “But okay!” He grinned and nodded, letting Rami pull him to the blanket fort John had made them earlier

Weeks of endless “I want a brother!” being yelled through the walls of Garden Lodge got Freddie, Jim and Rami to the adoption centre Rami was sent to (He was only there for a few hours, before being sent to Garden Lodge and the rest was history) and all three of them sitting in the waiting room for an interview before they were allowed to see the kids. Rami had wanted an older brother, “Around Gwilym’s age!”, so here they were.

Jim and Freddie did a lot of talking, with Rami and without. They set up one of the spare rooms, just having it plain like they did when waiting to adopt the first time. So their new foster son could decorate it however he wants to.

The interview went smoothly, telling the nice lady about how they were with Rami, and why they wanted to foster again. They ‘passed’ and were led to the 8-10 year olds section of the foster home. The room was colourful, almost blinding to both Freddie and Jim. The walls had stuck-on pictures of drawings, some of rainbows, some of people and others just squiggly lines (Obviously to Rami those looked the best, as that was his own art style)

The children in the room didn’t spare a glance at Freddie and Jim, some talking to the adults there, other talking to each other or playing a game. There were a few that were sitting alone, and obviously Rami went to the boy sat on his own in the arts-and-crafts area. The little boy rushes off before Jim or Freddie could have a say about it, letting go of their hands and rushing to the shy looking boy. He looked around 9-ish, and was around the same height as Gwil was. He had slightly chubby cheeks and a long sleeved red jumper that had seen better days, yet wasn’t so bad that the boy would feel cold in it. The sleeves were tattered at the end, and judging by the teeth marks on them, it was evident the tatters were the boys doing.

“Hello!” Rami grinned, putting his hand out for the older boy to take “Be my brother?” He said up front, the boy looking up at him in shock as he studied Rami’s face “Please? My arm is getting tired” he held his arm, at the elbow, up with his other hand

Jim and Freddie got their quickly, Jim picking the boy up and reprimanding him gently about running off like he did. He understood the boy was excited, but the husbands would always worry about their sons wellbeing.

Freddie smiled softly down at the boy whilst Jim and Rami spoke between themselves “Hello,” He said gently “I’m Freddie, that’s Jim, my husband, and the little boy trying to shake your hand was Rami, our son” He explained gently, knowing how scared Rami was the first time he met them.

“I’m.. Aaron” He smiled slightly “And it’s alright, I understand he is excited” The boy said nicely, his tone of voice soft and didn’t seem annoyed at Rami being so upfront “Nice to meet you Freddie”

He had the sort of same accent as Jim, an Irish tint to his words. It was like how Rami’s tone was almost identical to Freddie’s. Once Jim thought he was talking to Freddie, until Rami had laughed and he had been so shocked he double checked with Freddie that he wasn’t talking to him about three times.

Speaking of the older Irish man, he put his son down onto the floor and smiled at Aaron “Sorry about that, I’m Jim” He put his hand out for the boy to shake, who shook his hand happily as he said his own hello, Jim beaming when he heard his accent.

They stayed for hours, talking and playing with Aaron I tilt he visiting hours were over. Rami, being Rami, obviously didn’t want to leave, hugging Aaron’s arm as he whined about “Leaving his new brother”

Jim sighed as Freddie finally got Rami off of Aaron’s arm. Jim kneeled down in front of Aaron and smiled, asking “How would you feel if we came back tomorrow to see you?” He said gently, getting ready for a no if he decided he didn’t like them

Although, Aaron just pulled that shocked face again and pointed to his chest “Me? You wanna see me again?” He asked, then nodded his head happily and hugging Jim around the neck “Yes yes! Of course!”

Jim chuckled and pat the boy on the back “Great! We will see you tomorrow!” They said their goodbyes, and soon enough they were leaving out the door, Aaron waving at Rami through the glass doors, Rami waving back until he couldn’t see Aaron anymore

The next day went as pleasant as the other, yet this time Rami was accidentally pushed too the floor by an older kid, the boy apologising then running off the way he was going. Jim and Freddie were getting them drinks at the time, so they didn’t see the action take place. Although, Aaron did, said older boy rushing to Rami as he started to sniffle as he held his bare knee, his short-all’s not doing much to cover his fall

“Rami! Are you alright?” He plopped onto his own knees as he gently pulled the boys hands away from his knee. There was a tiny scrape, and a little bit of blood coming from the graze, yet Rami was still whimpering as he saw it

“I got pushed” He whined out, grabbing Aaron’s hand in a tight grip as he used the back of his own hand to wipe his tears

“I know, I saw, it’s okay, I promise” He kissed the knee gently, looking up to see Rami smiling slightly at the action

“Thank you Arry” He hugged the boy, the pain going away with the kiss. When Jim and Freddie turned around to see Aaron helping Rami up and giving each other a big hug, he knew that Aaron was their boy.

When they asked Aaron if he wanted to come home with them, he had cried with happy tears, making Rami cry also in happy tears, which set of Freddie and soon enough Jim was crying. They all hugged, Aaron smiling softly knowing he had found his home.

Chapter Text

Rami and Gwilym were on the slide together, Rami sat on Gwilyms lap as they slid down for the 10th hundred time together. Aaron, Ben and Joe were playing some sort of sword fight with the sticks they found on the field near the park area. Lucy, who her and Mary had been visiting for a few weeks to come meet Aaron, was picking flowers and making daisy chains for all of the boys as she sat on the picnic blanket.

The parents watched fondly as the boys and girl played nicely, the sounds of Ben’s “Pew Pew!” noises from his pretend gun and Gwilyms laughs as Rami cried “Again again!” To go down the slide once again.

“How’s Aaron?” Roger smiled, watching said boy try to help Joe climb a tree stump to get ‘high ground’ for their game

“He’s good, yeah, settling in well” Jim smiled and nodded mainly to himself “Adores the cats”

“Isn’t allergic?” Brian joked, making Jim and Freddie chuckle as Freddie shook his head

“No, thankfully, loved the garden though” Freddie said as he nudged Jim’s side, who beamed happily and nodded

“Yeah, it’s like we have our own mini me’s now, it’s great, we planted a tree sapling the other day so we have to wait for that to grow” Jim explained happily, always enjoying talking about gardening and the boys

“Are they getting along?” John asked, nodding his head towards the two brothers that waved at each other happily, Aaron getting play tackled by Ben at his moment of weakness, Rami looking a bit worried until Gwil reassured him he was alright

“Yeah definitely, they do love each other” Jim smiled

“They wanted the same room” Freddie said as he tutted fondly “Bunkbeds, also” Freddie waves his head “Like hell they are keeping each other awake like that”

The other fathers laughed at that. They were so lucky their boys got along so well.

Chapter Text

Roger burst through the studio, Bens hand tightly in his own. He looked angry, probably not at Ben as the boy didn’t seem scared or worried, just confused.

The others looked over at them, just as confused. The three little boys grinned and ran up to Ben, yelling his name happily and hugging the boy, Roger letting Ben go

“Ben met someone at school yesterday” Roger practically spat out, the others tilting their heads to the side

“Uhm.. okay?” Freddie said confused, then going back to his piano and messing with the keys

“I’m not done. He met someone- Ben, come here a minute” He pulled Ben closer to him, putting his hands on his shoulders as he let the boy face his uncles “Tell them the boys name that you met,” He leant down then whispered something in Bens ear, which made him cringe

“Well, I was walking to the car, when this boy came up to me and starts saying this mean stuff about Rami-“ The keys stopped instantly as Freddie turned back around with fury in his eyes, Rami whimpering as he rushed to his daddy, having not been listening to Ben talking and suddenly seeing him so angry. Freddie picked him up with ease, seemingly the boy on his lap so he was hugging the boy so Rami’s chest was to Freddie’s stomach

“And.. I found out his name and it was Allen Prenter” Ben said quickly, holding in a breath as everyone else gasped “So I pushed him onto the floor and ran to the car as quickly as I could”

“Shit.” Brian mumbled, the boys not even looking at him like they normally did when one of the adults swore “So.. Paul’s got a kid”

“Mhm” Roger said, the fury in his eyes burning in his blues

“What did he say?” John asked gently, Freddie effectively covering Rami’s ears

Ben shuffled his feet and shook his head “I ain’t repeating it” He mumbled

“Okay, that’s okay Ben” Freddie smiled softly and beckoned Ben over as he pulled his hands away from Rami’s small and pointy ears “How about we all play the piano together so your dads can cool down a bit, alright?” Freddie smiled at the boys, then glancing over at his own boys and winking at them, the adults leaving the room silently to talk as Joe and Gwilym rushed over to the piano.

Chapter Text

Brian was bouncing and cooking at the little bundle of blankets in his arms, patting the boys back gently when he started to stir. He had been napping on Jim’s lap, when both Freddie and Jim were needed by Phoebe, and the little boy was (hesitantly) passed over to Brian. Obviously because Brian had him, the flock of children rushed to him also, Gwilym and Joe at Brians left and right, whilst Ben stood in front of him and rested his hands on Brian’s knees, all watching the baby intently.

When he started to stir, they gasped collectively “Dad he’s waking” Gwilym whisper shouted to inform him, making Brian chuckle and nod his head

“I know, Gwilly,” Brian bounced him gently when he whined, obviously not liking the fact that he was waking up “Shh, your okay” He pat the boys back gently, who slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head, looking up at Brian and obviously not expected him and his giant dark curls

Rami instantly reached over to grab a curl, investigating it before pulling it gently, making the other boys snicker as Brian tried to untangle the boys fist

“Rami, let go” Brian chuckled as he got the boys hand off of his hair, patting his back when he whined and tried to reach for it again “No, darling, you can’t have that”

“Rami look!” Joe said excitedly when he brought up one of the boys blanket that had a little teddy’s body sewn into it. Rami gently took it with a quiet ‘ta’ and instantly put the corner into his mouth, settling back down on Brian’s chest happily

When Freddie and Jim came back and saw Rami was awake, Freddie scooped the boy up gently, hugging him close to his chest as if he hadn’t seen him in years (it was 20 minutes at most)

“Was he okay?” Jim said as he hugged Ben, who had demanded a hug when he came back into the room

Brian nodded “As good as gold, only just woke up” he smiled over at Freddie and Rami, who were babbling to each other as if they were having a real conversation

“That’s good, he normally sleeps a bit more though, he’s probably go to bed early then” Jim said quietly, so the prospect of ‘going to bed early’ wasn’t heard by the other children

Rami then rested his head on Freddie’s shoulder, looking at Brian with a little shocked face

“Da..” Rami said, pointing to Brian and gently slapping Freddie’s face with his other hand to get his attention “Da look”

“What, baby? What’s wrong?” He turned around, manuvering Rami so he could also see Brian still “That’s your uncle Brian, darling” He kissed the boy on top of the head gently

“Bu’ he tall” He said as he lowered his hand looked at Freddie “Than you”

Jim burst out into laughter at that, Brian trying to hide his snickers with his hands as Freddie’s face fell. Rami didn’t see the mans reaction, yet pat his hand gently and repeated it

“He tall than you” He said with a little kick to his legs, smiling with his baby teeth at the two laughing

“Oh baby, most people are taller than Freddie” Brian snickered out, stroking back Rami’s curls teasingly, making him giggle and push his hand away

“But he’s really tall!” Rami exclaimed, throwing his arms up as if to show

“Maybe to you, baby” He grinned as Freddie scowled

“Stop putting nonsense into my baby’s head, you leave him be” Freddie literally stormed out at that, with the baby giggling as they went, the adults laughing still

Chapter Text

“Guess what we did” Aaron whispered in Rami’s ear as he passed his younger brother, who looked up at him confused

“I was gonna day if you finally fixed your stupid haircut, but by looking at it, it’s obviously your didn’t” Rami grinned and shrugged, turning back to his homework. He was sat at the dining table, when Aaron came in and grabbed a drink of water

“Okay, ouch Ram’s, that hurt” He our a hand over his heart to mock it, making Rami giggle at his stupid jokes as Aaron sat down next to him “But seriously, guess what me and the boys did”

“You went out with the boys without me?”
Rami said, kind of offended that he wasn’t invited to going out with his own cousins

“Well it was during school hours, I couldn’t’v taking you out of school to skip with us” Aaron grinned, Rami gasped at what he head

“You skipped school?!” He yelled, only for Aaron to clamp a hand over his mouth

“Hey, shut up! Dad’ll hear!” He pulled his hand away and nodded “Me and Ben skipped, Gwil downright refused and we didn’t want to take you and Joe heavies your just so so yoooooung” Aaron teased, grabbing Rami’s cheek as if he was a grandma and mushing his face “Your just so cute and small, we couldn’t let you get in trouble”

Rami laughed, batting his hands away with a grin “Stop it, I get it, I wouldn’t wanna come anyway,” Rami stood and put his homework away “What did you do then?”

“Your gonna hate me” Aaron grinned

Rami squinted at him “Why? Where did you go?”

“McDonald’s, without you” Aaron laughed evilly and rushed off, Rami chasing after him

“Your cruel! You should’ve took me too!” He laughed, tackling Aaron onto the sofa when they got into the living room

“Whoa what’s all that about?!” Jim broke them apart “Take five with the fighting, and what’s going on?”

“Aaron-“

“If you snitch, I’ll eat you for breakfast”

“.... nothing” With an innocent smile, they turned and walked away and out of the living room

“Next time, take me too” Rami mumbled

“Nuh uh, your too young” Aaron grinned and ruffled his hair again. Rami just grumbled and followed him up to Aaron’s room

Chapter Text

“We miss Ben” Joe whined up at John as he asked why the ginger boy had been sulking for ages now

“Ben? He’s coming back, Joey” John chuckled as he lifted the boy up and kissed him on the cheek, taking him into the kitchen whilst the other two played happily together in the deacons living room. He knew he could trust Gwil for five minutes to look after Rami

“Still” He whined as he kicked his legs “I miss him loooooads”

“So much that you can’t wait at least ten minutes for him to be back here?” John teased

“Yes! That’s too long!” Joe crosses his arms and sulked

“Well, why don’t you go and play for a bit and you might forget about Ben for a while? You’ve been away from him for longer than ten minutes” John kissed him on the cheek and then set him down “Go on, go play”

Joe just groaned and sulked his away to the living room to see Gwil and Rami.

Only five minutes later, the three came running into the kitchen, Joe clutching someone to his chest as they yelled over each other

“Whoa whoa, calm down” John chuckled, kneeling down to their level “One at a time, I can barely hear any of you when your screaming like that”

“Meet cardboard Ben!” Joe turned around the cardboard to reveal the boys had tried to draw Bens face on it “Tadaaaa!”

Rami giggled and pointed to the cardboards hair “I draw the hair” He said proudly

John was stood in shock, looking at it for probably longer than he should’ve before bursting out into laughter, the other boys laughing also

“Cardboard Ben, I like it” John chuckled out, ruffling the boys’ hair happily “You have to show Roger and Ben when they come back-“ The doorbell ‘ding donged’ down the hall, all three boys gasping as they turned around, then running as fast as they could to the door as they yelled over each other once again

Chapter Text

“I’m going to die” Rami said as he gripped the water pipe. The teenagers had been planning on going out together during the night for weeks now, and now that the time had come, Gwilym had quickly rushed to Garden Lodge to pick up Aaron and Rami whilst Ben, Joe and Lucy went together.

They were going to meet at the park a few minutes away from Bens, and had planned their own ways of getting out of their houses. Gwilym personally had gone just through the front door, whilst Aaron and Rami had decided to climb out of the window. Unfortunately, when planning, they obviously didn’t think about Rami being scared of heights, and once Aaron got down first, only then did they see Rami practically hugging the pipe that he was supposed to slide down on like his brother did

“Oh shoot” Gwilym mumbled, putting his arms up for Rami “Ram’s, it’s okay, I’ll catch you! I promise!”

Aaron nodded, standing next to Gwilym and putting his arms up also so they could both catch him “It’s okay, bubba, we promise to catch you!”

Rami shook his head, sniffling as he looked down and his whole body shivered, locking eyes with the two oldest and shaking his head again “I- I can’t...”

“Yes you can! Trust us! We will catch you!” Aaron encouraged “Just think of it like your that superhero you like!”

“... Ironman?” Rami said quietly, looking down at his feet that they thankfully small enough to fit on the outside window sill

“Yeah him! Remember how he flies? In the suit? Well, just think of it like your flying in your own iron suit, yeah?” Gwilym smiled, beckoning with his hands “C’mon you can do this” they were running out of time, either Phoebe or Jim and Freddie were going to hear them yelling if they didn’t hurry soon

Rami nodded slightly, closing his eyes as he tried to steady his breathing “Just like Ironman?”

“Just like ironman” Gwilym nodded, Aaron smiling at him in thanks. Rami nodded also, again, slowly pulling his body away from the pipe and trusting to grip onto something else as he shuffled closer to the centre of the window sill

“Just like Ironman... just like Ironman.. okay, I got this” He mumbled to himself, preparing himself to jump

“Big jump, Rams” Aaron encouraged. Both Gwilym and Aaron sharing a look before quickly turning back to the small teen

“Okay.. here I go..” He said quietly again, but loud enough this time so the oldest could hear him “I’m gonna go!”

“Okay go!” Aaron chuckled, making Rami smile slightly as he closed his eyes, positioning his foot on the wall to push himself off. He jumped with a scream, going father than they expected with his push-off, thankfully, Gwilym and Aaron both backed up, catching the boy in their arms once he was low enough.

They went tumbling back, both Aaron and Gwilym having a grip on Rami’s tiny arms. They covered the youngests’ fall, who opened his eyes with a smile

“I did it!!” He grinned, climbing off of the oldest’s bodies, who laughed and pat him on the back

“You did, bub, well done” Aaron grinned as he stood, then helping Gwilym up with a hand

Once standing, Gwil hugged the boy tightly, lifting him off his feet slightly as they all laughed “Iron man would be proud, bud!” He set the boy down “But we do have to go soon, they might hear us

“Yeah after that scream” Aaron teased, ruffling his brothers hair as he laughed and pushed his hand back gently

“Alright let’s go, the others are probably waiting” Gwilyms grabbed his bag that he had set down earlier and put it on, Aaron wrapping an arm around Rami’s shoulders as thy started to rush to the park

“Ahh! They have arrived!” Ben beamed, using a presenter voice that had Rami giggling at him “Ah my favourite cousin!” Ben hugged Rami gently “You good?”

Rami nodded happily “Yep! I jumped out of the window” he said proudly, making Ben fake gasp and look up at Aaron and Gwilym, who were smiling at the two

“How dare you let my favourite cousin almost die! Shame on you!” Ben said jokingly, then ducking his head down to Rami’s height and putting his forehead to the younger boys “Your not hurt are you?”
He said seriously, the youngest shaking his head and Ben smiling “Good, Oh, Lucy wanted to show you something, she’s just over there” Ben pointed to wear Lucy was standing next to Joe who were both grinning at them, happy at their arrival. Rami nodded and ran over to the blonde and ginger, hugging the blonde happily as Joe ruffled his curls happily as they started to talk. Ben turned back around to look at Aaron and Gwilym

“What took you both so long?” Ben asked as he hugged the two of them

“Rami doesn’t like heights” Aaron explained “Kinda forgot about it until it was his turn to jump off a ledge”

“Oh lord” Ben snorted “You gotta love him, anyway, Joe brought sandwiches is your hungry, and I brought all the sweets”

“Oh knowing you you probably got crap ones” Gwilym jokingly rolled his eyes, squeezing Bens shoulder happily

“Excuse you? I got the best ones, thank you very much!” Ben pushed Gwilym in the chest gently, but harsh enough to make him stumble backwards as Aaron laughed at the two of them

After Gwil and Joe had stopped arguing and they were all sat around in a circle together with their flashlights as they talked to each other happily, Lucy brought something up

“Guess what” She grinned, everyone turning to her

“Allen died?” Gwil joked, making the others laugh

“No, I don’t think he did anyway, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about” She cleared her throat, then grinning “Mum’s getting me a puppy!” She rushed out excitedly, the boys all yelling excitedly

“Wait really?! Like, a dog puppy?!” Joe yelled, Rami laughing at that

“Yes, a dog puppy, he’s a little sausage dog, and we named him Elton” She grinned

“Oh my god, that’s the best name ever” Aaron smiled “When are you getting him?”

“I’m a few weeks, he’s still too young at the moment, so not now, but soon”She smiled, pulling up a photo “Here he is-“

Suddenly, they were caught off by the sound of police sirens and the flash of Blue and Red down the road leading to the park

“Holy shit-“ Ben called, sitting up quickly

“Aaron-“ Rami whimpered as his older brother pulled him up to stand and grabbed their bags

“We gotta go!” Joe called as he passed the flashlight he has burrowed back to Gwilym

“Pack the stuff!” Gwilym yelled as he stuffed his back up again and put it over his shoulders

“Shiiiiiit” Lucy mumbled as she put her phone back into her pocket, scooping her bag up and helping the others who needed help

Rami whimpered again, looking up at Aaron with fearful eyes. Aaron shushed him gently, rubbing his shoulder as he looked up at the others

“Guys hurry up we have to go!” The sirens and colours were getting closer, and if they were caught oh god were they going to be in trouble. They could see it on the front news paper now ‘Queen children - Too rich to abide curfew?’ Which is something their parents didn’t really need

“Okay, I’m ready, let’s go!” Joe yelled as he quickly put his bag on. They all started to run, Aaron gripping Rami’s hand tightly as the boy cried.

They ran down the streets as quickly as their legs could take them. They ran for what felt like hours, was probably just five-ten minutes. Rami had stopped crying, vocally, three minutes into the run, only breathing heavily now. Soon enough, all the teens were panting, the adrenaline rush slowly starting to wear off.

They turned a corner and rushed down an alleyway, clinging their backs to the wall as the police car passed them. Aaron kept his arms around Rami who was pressed up to his brothers stomach, facing forward as he huffed out as quietly as he could, silent tears still falling down his face.

Once the police car had passed and they couldn’t hear it anymore, Joe let our the breath he was holding, Rami letting out a sob as he turned around and hugged his brother close

“Shh shhh, it’s okay, we are safe, we weren’t caught” Aaron gently rocked him, the others giving him sympathetic looks

“I wanna go home” Rami sobbed out, gripping Aaron’s shirt tightly in his tiny hands, his knuckles going white

“You did what?!” Jim screamed, Rami huddling behind Aaron as they stood at the front door. They were in for it now “Come inside, now” He opened the door more, Aaron and Rami huddling into Garden Lodge

Freddie came running down the stairs, his robe keeping him covered as he ran and hugged his boys tightly, crying out nonsensical words as they were smushed to his body

“I thought you both died, or were kidnapped! Where did you go? What happened? Were you safe?” Freddie rambled on, pulling away from the hug to check both Aaron and Rami’s faces, seeing the tears on his youngest’s cheeks “Oh my baby” He hugged him again, Rami breaking down on Freddie’s chest as he hugged the man back. Freddie easily lifted the young teen, patting the small boys back and taking him upstairs

Aaron was about the follow when he felt a hand on his shoulder “Living room, now.”

Oh he was in for it.

Chapter Text

He could do it on his own. It didn’t look that hard. Just kick your legs a bit and don’t breathe in the water. Simple. Right?

Wrong. The boys had just gotten out of the pool to get the drinks their dads were handing out to them. Once Rami had had his drink he easily slipped out of the crowd of his cousins and brother to go over to the pool. The parents were too busy with the other four of chattering children to realise the fifth wasn’t there.

Rami stood on the edge of the pool in his swimming trunks that Jim has used a safety pin on the sides so they didn’t fall and his blue goggles on his forehead. He didn’t need them, he could do it on his own. He looked down at the water and took a breath, bending his legs and jumping into the water with a splash. Oh no..

The others all looked over at the sound of the splash, turning their attention to the boy that was struggling in the water.

“Jim!” Freddie screamed in terror, as Jim pushed through the little kids first, the other parents following soon after

Jim knelt down at the edge of the pool, dipping his whole arm in and grabbing Rami’s flailing arm and pulling him up to the surface as the boy gasped and coughed. He pulled the boy up and into his arms, rocking and patting his back as he coughed up the sea water

“Brian go get towels” He heard one of the other parents say, Freddie kneeling down to hug both Jim and Freddie as he cried

“Don’t you ever do that again, you got it?” Jim said harshly yet kindly as Rami stopped his coughing slowly. A towel was put to his side, and Aaron came up to them quickly and helped wrap his little brother into the towel. Said little boy was shaking as Jim lifted him into his arms and up and taking him into the living room, everyone following to help.

Chapter Text

“What does misfire even mean?” Freddie heard as he walked past Aaron’s room, the two boys obviously listening to their dads and uncles albums like they had been doing for the past few nights. It gave them something to do together, and Jim and Freddie were so happy that their sons got along so well.

Freddie tried to hide his laugh as he heard the confusion in the younger teens voice “Uhmmm...” Aaron said, unsure “Ask dad” He pushed the responsibility onto the husbands, that little-

“But I wanna know now. What’s it about?” Rami said stubbornly, something he had most definitely inherited from Freddie

“It’s uhm..” Aaron sounded so unsure, the poor boy “Ask dad!” He tried again, but obviously Rami was Freddie’s son, and no son of Freddie’s would give up so easily

“Tell me!” He whined, Freddie snickering behind his hand “I wanna know!”

“Ask dad!” Aaron broke into laughs at that “Go Ask dad if your so desperate to know” Aaron teased, and the light sound of slapping was heard from the bedroom “Oi! You short little-“ Then, Rami’s scream as there was a faint thud coming from Aaron’s bedroom floor, followed by the both of them laughing “Thats for hitting me!”

“I’ll do it again!” Rami warmed happily, the smile evident in his tone

“Like to see you try, your like 4’3” Aaron teased back

“5’4!” Rami yelled, the pout now evident as he called

“Oh yeah suuuure” Aaron kept up his teasing. Then, Aaron was the one screaming “No wait Rami no- ah!” The older teen came running out of his room “Get away you short gremlin!!” He yelled over his shoulder as he ran down the stairs, Rami chasing after him as he laughed

Chapter Text

Rami came running into the husbands’ bedroom that morning, yelling about something or other as he jumped onto the bed and in between the husbands. Jim groaned as he heard Freddie laughing tiredly as another body slammed between them, obviously Aaron as the boys snorts and laughs filled the air along with Rami’s screaming

“It’s too early, what do you two want?” Jim groaned as he scooped Rami under the covers to lay next to him “Why are you two awake this early?”

“It’s Father’s Day! Happy father daaaaay!” Rami giggled as he hugged Jim tightly, Aaron climbing over Freddie’s back

“Aww, baby, thank you” Jim said tiredly yet happily, kissing the boy on top of the head noisily “Now let’s go back to sleep”

“Nooo” Rami giggled as he kicked his legs happily

“Dad I made you cheese on toast.” Joe said happily as he put the plate that held the brown bread and the packet of cheese on it in front of John, looks down at it and started to tear up

“Oh Joe it’s beautiful” He lifted his son up onto his lap and hugged him tightly “I lobe it so much”

“I don’t know how to cook it, so I tried my best!” Joe grinned and picked up the packet of cheese, unraveled it and went to take a bite

“Joe mo your lactose intolerant-“

“I made you a card, dad!” Ben waved the card in front of Rogers face “Happy Father’s Day!”

The older blond had been sat at his drum set for a while now just messing around when Ben has let himself into the mini studio in their house to give him the red card

“Thanks, Benny” He kissed Ben on the cheek happily and opened the card “To dad, I love you the mostest, signed Ben and Frankie, Oh that’s beautiful Ben, thank you so much!”

“Frankie helped” Ben said as he pointed to the little bite mark in the top corner

“Oh lovely, tell her I said thank you too” Roger said, and Ben went running off as he called for his pup

“Uhm dad” Gwilym said shyly and he gently pulled on Brian’s sleeve, who was talking to someone “I got you something”

Brian looked down happily and crouched in front of his son “What’ve you got me, Gwil?”

“I got you this snow globe! It’s got a badger in it” Gwilym pulled said snow globe from behind his back “I was saving up for it for this Father’s Day!”

Brian grinned so widely that he cheeks almost started to hurt as he took the globe into his hands and shook it “Gwilym it’s lovely! Thank you so much!” Gwilym ran into his arms for a hug, being careful of the snow globe “This is the best Fathers Day gift ever”

Chapter Text

“Look daddy, I’m daddy when he was younger!” Rami exclaimed as he threw open his arms to show the glitter glue and sparkles all over the boys onesie, hands and in his soft curls. Jim gasped as he turned around, taking in what the little boy had done. Jim, who he now noticed, was snickering behind Rami with a bottle of pink sparkly glue gripped in his own sparkly hands. That would explain why the parents had heard all of the excited squealing and laughing coming from the living room. They left for three seconds...

“What?” John said quietly in shock, looking between the two glittery boys. Rami in particular as he literally looked like something you would hang on a Christmas tree

“I’m daddy from the seven-teens!” He giggled and looked over his shoulder and at Joe “Joey helped me” He grinned and turned back to look at them “Now I’m all pretty!”

Freddie, who had been silent until now, burst into laughter, almost crying as Joe and Rami started laughing too. John was still in shock, and Jim looked like he was about to hit Freddie with the wooden spoon he was holding for making the boys think this was all alright

“Freddie, shut up” Jim sneered quietly, then sighing when he just kept laughing. He turned to the two giggling boys, watching as Joe wiped more glitter over the front of Rami’s grey bear onesie- oh my god the stains-

“Alright! Bath time, both of you” Jim put he spoon down, hearing the two screams and the sounds of running little feet going down the hall, Jim sighing and running after them

Chapter Text

“Dad, we are on the front of the papers again!” Aaron yelled from the kitchen, over his little brothers shoulder as the youngest sat at the kitchen table, holding the newest newspaper in his hand as he looked at the photos of the four oldest leaving the party Gwilym, Aaron, Lucy and Ben were invited too. The two youngest were having their own sleepover that night at Joe’s, not even knowing there was a party going on, as their years weren’t invited. Well... until now

The news obviously got out that the children of the all-too famous band Queen were going to a party, and of course the paparazzi just had to get photos of them leaving. Could they not have some peace and quiet at least once?

“You went to a party without us?” Rami said in fake-shock, grinning up at his older brother

“You were having your sleepover with Joe that night” Aaron explained as he ruffled the youngest hair, making him grin “And you wouldn’t’v been able to come, anyway”

Rami gasped and whispered “Did you drink?” He looked over at the doorway just to be sure their dads wouldn’t hear

“That’s for me to know, and you never to find out” Aaron reader back, sitting next to him as their dads finally got to the kitchen and went towards them

“Oh god what have they put now?” Freddie groaned, kissing Rami on the temple as he gently took the newspaper out of his hands, who then went back to his bowl of cereal he was eating before he got the newspaper

“The party we went to,” Aaron took one of Rami’s Cheerios from his bowl and ate it “They for photos of us leaving, and before you ask, no we weren’t high, we were drunk”

Rami gasped again “There were drugs there?!” He dropped his spoon onto the table in shock

“Finish your Cheerios, Rami” Jim pat his head gently, looking over Freddie’s photo to see the picture “Do the others know?”

Aaron shrugged “I was gonna ask them-“ Rami, once again gasped, as he shot off his chair and rushed to his room

“I’ll talk to Joe to see if he knows!!” Rami rushed out as he went to look for his walkie-talkie, the one that connected to the one Joe had. The two always said goodnight to each other through it

Chapter Text

Jackson was nice during the winter, the first day of snow was something the people there could be happy about. The kids would always play together in the play area, leaving the adults to help shovel the snow out of the gates opening. Brian and Roger at the moment we’re on patrol, meaning Gwilym and Ben were staying with Freddie and John. Rami and Joe were perfectly alright with it, the four thankfully being so close. They were as close as brothers, barely arguing and always having each others’ backs when they needed them. Of course the adults wondered what their life would’ve been like for the kids without the apocalypse, if they had a normal life without monsters haunting them. They were lucky to live if Jackson, the four adults being friends with one of the builders, so they had helped whenever they could, and years later, Jackson was finished. The population was so much bigger when they started, and they were running out of food. They always had stuff and extra now, and it was a lovely fact for helping the adults’ anxiety’s. They wanted everything and more for their children, and had always worried they couldn’t provide that.

Right now, Rami and Gwilym were looking out the window, watching as the harsh snow landed on the ground. They had been playing outside, before Freddie and Jim called them back inside the cabin house when they saw the boys were slowly starting to get could in their winter coats.

“I wanna go back outside” Rami said as he smushed his face up on the window, trying to get as close to the outside world that he had been taken away from oh so rudely.

“The wind would push you over!” Gwilym giggled, ruffling Rami’s hair gently as the younger pushed his hand away and shook his head

“I wouldn’t! I’d hold onto you! So you fall over!” They both laughed at the image of them both falling from the strong winds, flopping onto their backs and possibly drowning in the deep snow. The snow piles were getting bigger and bigger, now becoming taller than the eight year old. Rami would’ve drowned if he went out in them.

“Rami, get your face off the window, you will make a mark” Jim scolded fondly from the living room doorway, the two adults having been in the kitchen making their dinner. They were hoping to let the boys have an early night, as they had been playing all day and Rami decided not to nap earlier. So, early bedtime. Which meant early dinner.

“But I wanna go out” Rami whined yet pulled his face away from the window. Rami was the only adopted boy in their bunch, having been one of their neighbours-in-Jackson’s kids who hadn’t come back during their time on patrol. Rami had been babysat by Joel, who lived in Jackson with his daughter Ellie, and then passed to Freddie and Jim where Joel realised he couldn’t look after the three year old for the rest of his life. So, Freddie and Jim had gladly taken the little boy in, and sure it took a while for them to get used to a three-turning-four year old but they got by. Rami had settled in well enough now, which is all they could ask for.

“I know, baby” He kissed the youngest on the top of his head and ruffled Gwilym’s hair fondly, who grinned up at the adult “But it’s way too cold, and dinner is almost ready”

“Still..” he mumbled and shrugged slightly, turning back to the snow outside, his eyes practically glistening with awe.

“It’s okay, Rami! We can go out tomorrow! There will be more snow then” Gwilym, always the saviour, told Rami excitedly as he jumped down from their space on the windowsill

“Yeah, there you go, you can go back out tomorrow” Jim said enthusiastically as he helped Rami off of the windowsill by picking him up under his arms and lifting him up and blowing a raspberry on his cheek, making him squeal and kick, trying to bat Jim’s face away from his own. Jim chuckled and put him back down on the floor, Rami then grabbing Gwilyms hand and then running off to the dining room as Freddie yelled that their dinner was ready.

—

Ben yelled triumphantly as he whacked his stick against Joe’s, the two of them playing their knights game and were currently sword fighting around the house. The Deacon household wasn’t close to the Mercury-Hutton one, and because of the snow the four boys hadn’t been able to meet up together and play. So, Ben and Joe had to play their game with just the two of them. And when those two played, Jesus Christ did they go full out. Joe already had a slowly growing bruise on his leg when Ben has whacked him with his stick they picked up from outside, and Ben had gotten a tiny nose bleed earlier when Joe has pushed him onto the hard floor in the kitchen. The two were used to it though, always laughing the pain off, because ‘haha you almost broke you nose!’

“Boys be careful!” John called from the sofa, looking up as Joe, once again, fell onto the floor, then bouncing back up with an over-exaggerated scream and whack to Ben’s arm “Or don’t” He mumbled and turned back to his letter he was writing.

The two played for a while longer, a string of ‘Take that!’ And ‘High-Ya!’ coming from the two as they fought. Then, he felt a small hand tap on his knee, making him look up from his paper and smile at the two boys

“Can we go see Rami and Gwil?”” Joe asked with his ‘please daddy!’ eyes, Ben also smiling innocently at John, who sighed fondly

“No boys, not in this snow” John shook his head “And it’s probably dinner for them, we can see them tomorrow”

Joe huffed, looking down as he sulked and crossed his arms. Ben just sighed, which is something Roger did, and John suddenly saw how alike the two were now

“Tomorrow, Alright?” He ruffled both boys’ hair, standing up and going into the kitchen to look for an envelope

“But daaaad” Joe whined as he rushed to follow his dad, Ben following the both of them “We need to see them!”

“You need to, huh?” John teased as he didn’t stop his search, opening draws to find one. He swore they had one...

“Yes!” Both boys yelled at the same time “Otherwise we might die!” Joe said dramatically, making his father turn around and give him a look

“You have more of a chance of dying by that snow than having to wait a few hours to see Gwil and Rami” John rolled his eyes fondly and turned back around, finally finding an envelope and folding his letter to fit

“Please uncle Deaky?” Ben tried, making John sigh. These boys would be the death of him

“I’m sorry boys, but it’s way to late, and that snow isn’t safe at the moment” Then, as he put his letter in the envelope and sealed it, he had a lightbulb moment “Why don’t we finish the rest of those cookies we made instead?” Sue him for bribing the two boys, they were persistent as hell

“Yeah!!” And at that, the thought of going to see Rami and Gwilym was gone

—

The next day, As John promised, he took the two to Freddie and Jims house, making sure the two stayed nearby and kept their coats on and zipped up as they predicted, the snow was ten-fold at the moment.

Both boys knocked on the cabin door, the small sound of pattering bare feet coming from inside could be heard before Freddie opened the door, smiling at the three behind the door. Rami was stood behind Freddie, still in his pjs as he chewed on the spout on his sippy cup, bouncing on the spot when he saw his ‘cousins’

“Benny! Joey!” He squealed, hugging Joe as the ginger rushed inside the house, Ben following after him as Freddie let John in “I missed you!” He giggled as Ben joined in on the hug, then, another pair of arms were around them, Gwil having come from the kitchen with his half eaten toast on his hand as he wrapped his arms around almost all three of the younger ones

“Gwil!!” Ben yelled happily, kissing the older boy on the cheek like he had seen their dads do to each other “We can all play now!”

“We gotta finish eatin’ first” Rami said from the bottom of their group hug, looking up at the other three

Gwilym nodded and showed them his toast “We will be quick though!” He grinned took Rami’s hand, the two of them rushing off to finish their breakfast. Ben and Joe obviously followed, going into the dining room and sitting at the table also. Joe sat on Rami’s side and Ben sat at Gwilyms

“Oh, hi boys” Jim said as he smiled at the two new boys that had just sat down, Joe and Ben saying their hellos “You two hungry?” Of course, the two nodded happily, Jim going off to get them both some toast. Extra toast in the morning couldn’t hurt “Rami baby, please eat your fruits” He said as he looked at Rami’s plate, that still held his banana slices that he had been refusing to eat all morning.

Rami grumbled something, that had Joe giggling as he was the only one who heard him, Ben and Gwilym giving them both confused looks at their sudden laughter.

The youngest and oldest finished their food, Joe eating his banana slices for him because friends will be friends, and they hopped off their seats and upstairs to get dressed for the day, Ben and Joe staying downstairs and talking to the adults enthusiastically when they came back down, Rami in a shirt and jeans too big for him, whilst Gwilym already had his coat on.

“We are ready!” Rami happily said as he jumped off the last step, opening his arms our wife as if to show that he wasn’t lying, Gwilym copying him but had more control over his actions.

The adults chuckled at the two of them, whilst the other boys giggled at the youngest and oldest in their group.

“Alright, come’er you little poser” Freddie said fondly and beckoned the youngest over, Rami rushing towards him as he babbles on enthusiastically at him.

“Oh really? Wow” Freddie nodded as if he could understand, which he probably couldn’t, and sat the boy on his hip as he went to get his jacket, John and Jim staying with the other three.

“Alright, is.. this you coat?” Freddie held up Jim’s coat, grinning as the little boy burst into giggles and shook his head.

“No daddy! That one!” He giggled and pointed to his little coat, not realising his own slip. The title had been slipped a few times but most of the time the two husbands were still ‘Freddie and Jim’, which made the slip ups adorable to everyone who heard.

Freddie tried not to melt on the spot for his baby, and distracted himself from the urge to coo at the three year old by picking up his own coat “This one? It’s a bit big don’t you think?”

“No!” He laughed and shook his head, kicking his tiny legs out happily as he kept pointing at his own “That one!”

“No?” Freddie actually looked over where he was pointing and gave a “Ooooh, silly me, of course it’s that one! It’s the right size for you!” Rami threw his head back in laughter, Freddie panicking slighting and putting an arm on his back incase he fell.

Rami was almost in tears of laughter when Freddie picked the coat up and tried to move his arms into the arm holes, having to stand the boy up on the floor to put him in it, which only made the boy throw his body onto the floor in laughter, making Freddie laugh also at the little boy.

Rami started to calm down after that, giving little giggles here and there when he felt like it. Freddie thought he had the boy calmed down when he picked him up again, but the sight of the coats brought his laughter back up, making him remember the joke, that honestly shouldn’t’v been that funny to anyone else, back into his brain.

—

The boys were ecstatic out in the snow, staying nearby the cabin as they scooped up snow into their tiny hands, cupping it into snowballs and throwing them at each other, the silent rule of ‘not above the chest’ was put in place between them to minimise the chances of injury. Their sweet laughter went through their road in Jackson, the neighbours smiling at them as they walked past. Everyone knew about the four boys, they made it impossible for the people in their road not to know them, what with their big personality’s and the ability to somehow raise their voice rather loud when they played, as most children did. Also, they were all just so cute it was impossible not to remember their little faces.

Currently, the two were making forts for their teams, Ben and Joe together in one and Gwilym and Rami in the other. They were making barriers for them to hide behind, the occasional ‘We are gonna win!’ being throw from each side of the front garden area of the lodge.

They were just about to start playing when horse galloped past them, wearing their saddles yet no people on their backs. The four boys were instantly distracted, watching as the white horse and the black spotted horse rushed past them, the sounds of the people yelling to call them back as they chased them down the road followed after the horses.

The boys shared a look between themselves, then turning back to the horses and suddenly, they were running after them, trying to catch up with the adults and horses, who both had longer legs than them all, meaning they barely had a chance to actually help. But that didn’t stop them.

The boys yelled as they tried their hardest to lend a hand, Gwilym being the fastest of the four what with his loner than average legs

“Don’t loose them, Gwil!” Ben yelled behind him, starting to slowly get out of breath from the run. They were probably out of their road now, and if they didn’t stop soon they would probably be lost

“Keep going!!” Joe yelled behind Ben, the ginger already out of breath yet trying his hard to follow the two in front.

Rami behind him was huffing already, going faster than his little legs could carry him. He slowly started to slow down, his legs starting to ache at trying to keep up with the three, along with his small tummy heaving in pain.

Then, Rami felt his body being scooped up, his little legs coming off the ground quickly. The sudden shock made the little boy scream and kick in fear, not knowing who had picked him up so quickly. The other three turned around and skidded as they quickly turned around to help Rami with more yells

“Get off of him!” Gwilym yelled, the three oldest trying to pull Rami out of the persons arms “Get off!” He yelled again as he gave a harsh tug

“Whoa whoa, kids it’s me!” The person, Joel apparently, pulled his arms back from the tugging boys, Rami stopping his creams as he realised who had picked him up “Its Joel! Alright? It’s me” He flapped his arm in pain as he looked at the boy in his arms and then down at the three standing as he spoke “Now what in God’s name have you four been doing? Runnin’ after loose horses isn’t yous’ job” He tutted and bounced Rami gently in his arms

“We wanted.. to help” Joe huffed out, grabbing his stomachs in pain as they panted from their run “The horses..”

“Yeah, well that ain’t your job, so c’mon, let’s get you guys home” He sighed and put his free hand out for one of them to take, all three of them instead grabbing onto a few of his fingers “Alright then” He mumbled to himself and took them back to Freddie and Jim’s cabin

“Why were..you out?” Ben panted out, coughing slightly from the cold as he inhaled the freezing air in, the back of his throat getting that annoying cold feeling as he inhaled the air greedily. Jesus Christ how far had they ran?

“I was helpin’ Ellie with some stuff, when I saw you four rushin’ by without your dads and I knew somethin’ was up” He grinned at the youngest boy as he gave small pants and rested his head on his shoulder. It reminded him of when Sarah was younger and she used to refuse to nap if she wasn’t being held when she fell asleep.

“What were you helping her with?” What Joe didn’t miss with having kids was the ‘why?’ questions being thrown left right and centre, and of course at the age of three Rami was in that phase.

“Stuff,” He bounced the youngest gently “None of your business” Rami have a tired little giggle as he gripped onto the older mans shirt in his tiny hand

“Why?” Gwilym chimes in, making the other three giggle at the oldest’s cheekiness

Joel groaned “It’s adult stuff, stuff that you four don’t need to worry about”

“W-“ Ben was about it say when Joel interrupted

“If you say ‘why’ again I will feed you to the horses” Joel threatened with no meaning behind his words, making the four laugh at the thought. Then...

“Why?” Came a chime of all four boys, making Joel groan again and roll his eyes

“That’s it!” Joel turned around quickly with a grin, scooping the three up into his arms and holding them to his chest “You are staying like that until we get you back home”

“Joel no!!” Ben laughed out as his place smushed to the older mans chest, making his chuckle as the tried their best to move in a comfortable way. Joel made a dull note not to squish Rami to much, yet kept him in the little smushed up group as they he took them back home

Chapter Text

“Rami c’mon, you’ll be alright” Freddie cooed as he stood knee deep in the sea, the others further out already. They were at the beach for the day, having a day off of finishing the stressful record, and what better way to destress than going swimming in the sea?

Apparently, Rami didn’t agree, as he was whining from the shore of the sea, barely getting his little feet wet as he held up his arms for Freddie to come pick him up. He, and Joe for that matter, had their little floatys on around their upper arms, so they didn’t... drown.

“Oh Alright then, hold on” Freddie, always the one to cave into his youngest sons demands, made his way out of the sea, picking up the whining boy up and then making his way back into the sea, much to Rami’s displeasure as he started to whine and kick his little legs “Oh I know I’m so mean, aren’t I” He grinned as he walked towards where the others were. They didn’t want to go out to far incase the kids got washed away or something, But Gwilym and Aaron were swimming on their own, Ben sitting on Rogers shoulders, whilst Joe was floating in front of John, who kept a hand on the little boys hip just in case

“There we are!” Jim grinned as Freddie came next to Jim, Rami decoding he had enough of Freddie and putting his arms out for Jim, who took him into his own arms as he tutted “Did he bring you in the water, baby? How rude of him” Which made Freddie stick his tongue out at his husband

The other kids started giggling at the two, then suddenly, their was a splash from Joe that had the other kids, and the adults splashing back at each other, a party from Jim and Rami, as Jim was keeping Rami away from the evil splashes of water

“Take... that!” Rn said as he slapped his hand in the water, effectively just splashing Roger in the eye

“Ahh, Ben!” Roger said as he held a hand up to his eye as Ben giggled cheekily

“You just blinded uncle Roger” Aaron grinned, the other kids giggling also now

“I hate having kids” Roger groaned, earning a gentle whack from each kid, Even Rami turning his head to glare at the blonde “Wow.. if looks could kill”

They stayed in the water for a while longer, Rami starting to actually enjoy the water as started to splash it gently with his hands from time to time whilst the other boys played and the adults talked amongst themselves. The boys were playing a game where they would dunk their head under until they drowned... because almost drowning is funny apparently to kids nowadays

Then spontaneously, Rami just decided to jump out of Jim’s arms, his floatys around his arms saving him from also dying as he tried his best to make his way towards the other boys, who cheered him on as he came closer to them and into Aaron’s open arms, who held his little brother on his hip as he had seen his dads do

And so, Rami joined in on the ‘let’s see how long we can hold our breath before we die!’ game, much to their adults’ displeasure.

Chapter Text

The four boys burst into laughter as they saw their parents in their outfits, Tami almost falling over as he threw his head back to laugh, Joe falling forwards onto his hands and knees as he clutched his stomach with his arm, Ben pointing at them as he tried to get out his words, and Gwilym helped steady the two youngest without falling over himself

“Is- is that wh-at your we-wearing f-for the vide-o?” Ben got out as he started to wipe his eyes from the tears of laughter

Brian grinned and nodded, looking down at the pink dress that, if he was being honest, he thought he suited quite a bit “Of course!”

“It’s drag!” Freddie exclaimed as he manoeuvred the fake breasts on his chest, making the boys laugh even more “What? You don’t like it?” He teased

“Should I call you Mama now?” Rami, the cheeky devil, grinned as he put his arms up for Freddie, still giggling as the man (women?) picked him up and rested him on his hip, bouncing him gently as they talked between the two of them

Then, Ben looked up at the blonde women standing next to their Uncle John, giving her a confused look. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t put a name to her. Instead, Ben turned to John, who was talking to Joe and Gwilym, and gently pulled on the mans leg

“Yeah Ben?” He asked as he turned to the blonde

“Where’s dad?” He asked, watching as all of the adults’ heads snapped to the blondes mini me “What?”

“Ben” The women said, making the blonde and all the kids’ heads turn to her “I’m-“

“Dad!” Ben suddenly yelled, smiling “That’s you!”

Roger didn’t think the other adults would let him live that down.

Chapter Text

“Why can’t I come?!” Rami whined as he tried to push open the door Aaron was pushing up against on the other side, keeping the boy locked into the kitchen “Open the door, Aaron and let me come with you!!” He whined, going so far as to give the door a kick, which probably hurt him more than it did to make the door budge

“It’s a 16! Dads would kill me and the others if they found out! Just- just call Joe okay?! He’s probably angry too, y’know! Talk to Him about it” Aaron yelled as he moved from holding the door handle to pushing the door with his back and effectively his whole body

“So?! I watched that one movie with you and Ben the other day! And I was alright with it!” He whined, keeping up his fight as he kept banging on the door. God it was a wonder how Freddie and Jim hadn’t heard the two brothers yells. Sure, everyone thought the two were the closest siblings could be, and they were, but like any siblings of course they had their bad days when all they wanted to do was throttle the other Tonight seemed to be one of them

“Yeah then you had nightmares for a week, you big baby!” Aaron knew he was being mean, but as the older brother that was literally his job

A gasp sounded from behind the door before the pushing completely stopped, making Aaron groan as his back finally got a rest, the oldest brother leaning up against the door for a moment “Rami..,” he called after a while “I’m so-“

Then, the door was whacked open, Aaron being thrown to the side as the door flung him into the wall, the oldest falling onto the floor after the bounce off the wall

Rami landed onto his stomach, his arm tucked under him, probably having running with his arm up to open the door. He shook his head as he lifted it, looking behind him to see his older brother clutching his head, the front and back of it

The youngest grinned and suddenly went over to him, jumping onto the oldests stomach, making him groan and go to push him off, but the youngest just gripped his shirt as he laughed

“Get off of me, you gremlin!” He yelled pushing the youngest off of him and unclamp his fingers on his shirt, shooting up and running off to get his bag before he left, Rami chasing after him as he went

“Aaron come back I wanna come with!!” He whined, trying to reach his hand out to grab his older brother shirt to keep him from going without him. Sadly, his arms weren’t long enough to reach, and his legs were too short to keep up with him, but he did try. He inherited the stubbornness from Freddie

Sadly, Rami’s attempts failed as his older brother was rushing out of the front door as soon as he grabbed his bag, pushing the door closed before Rami could escape and follow him out the door

“Aaron!” He yelled, banging on this door instead, a repeat of earlier

“Look, Ram’s, I’ll be back as soon as it ends-“

“I wanna come!”

“You can’t, and you know it!”

“... save me some popcorn at least”

Aaron smiled softly and opened the door slightly, smiling at his little brother softly “Of course”

“Salted. Don’t get me that gross sweet stuff” The younger teased gently, making Aaron chuckle nod

“Of course” He nodded slightly “Cover for me?”

“Always” He grinned confidently with a nod

“Thanks bud, see you later!” At that, Aaron closed the door, waiting a while to hear Rami rush into the back garden to explain that Aaron had gone out

Chapter Text

The twins were having a brothers day down the park, Jim and Freddie looking after Sami so his fosters could have a bit of time to themselves for a day, and Rami couldn’t’v been happier with his twin brother

“R-Sami!” Freddie yelled as he saw whichever twin that was try to climb the tree again (Yep, definitely Sami. Rami wouldn’t dare)

Sami giggled as he started to climb down, rushing over to Rami, who was crouched by the little flower patch in the field and watching the bumble bee do it’s little dance in the flowers, and grabbing his hand happily and pulling him to wherever he wanted to go (The swings this time)

“I don’t know how their birth parents did it” Freddie groaned as he buried his hands in his hair, gripping it in tired annoyance. He loved the two dearly, but god when the two were together were they little demon spawns

“I thought you said they were identical?” Aaron quipped, smiling over the book he was reading. Gwilym lent it to him for the week so they could talk about it the next time they all had their weekly play dates with all the boys

Freddie and Jim gave him a look “They are!” Freddie yelled, shocked “Can you see a difference?”

Aaron nodded and pointed to the two “Rami is smaller, and his head shape is a bit different from Sami’s, because he’s taller”

“I-...” Jim squinted at the two “Huh.. I see it now”

“I don’t” Freddie grumbled “Looks like yin and yang to me”

Jim burst out into laughter at that

Chapter Text

A scream came from the living room, making the adults run quickly to them. When Freddie slammed open the door, he saw something he would never forget. Rami was looking down at his hands, as they slowly turned into.. dust? His big sad eyes snapped to Freddie and he burst into fearful sobs. Aaron was screaming as he watched his small arm turn to nothing but brown flakes in the wind

“Daddy” He whined, Freddie and Jim running closer to him and dropping to their knees, Jim hugging Aaron as the oldest boy silently cried. Freddie looked over the boys body, hugging him close as he kept wailing. Soon enough, Rami’s face was turning to dust, his eyes bearing into Freddie’s sole as he was pulled away just at the last moment, disappearing completely from Freddie’s arm to...

“No.. no nonono!” Freddie screamed, looking down at his arms that were coated with the dust from his youngest son. His pride and joy, his baby was gone

His baby was gone

Then, the sound of a short gasp was heard from Freddie’s side. All of them turning their attention to-

Gwilym.

“Gwil!” Brian yelled grabbed the boy and picking him up “No no stay with me!” Brian’s eyes pierced with tears, shaking the boy as he held him like he was a dead limb body. Gwilym looked up at Brian with a small, tired smile, his slowly disappearing hand grabbing onto Brian’s own, patting it gently as his whole body disappeared, going off to see Rami whoever he was

“No..” Brian cried, wrapping his arms around himself as he screamed up to whoever damned him his child

John and Roger were busy clinging their own children close to themselves to move up to help Brian. The fear flashing in Joes yes as he watched Aaron grip Jim’s shirt as he silently sobbed into his chest, The quivering of Bens body as he watched two of his best friends disappeared into nothing

What were they going to do now?

—

Rami awoke with a gasp, shooting up from his laying position on his back with a scream as he looked at his surroundings. There was nothing, just a soft glow of yellows and reds mixed into each other. It wasn’t warm or cold, it wasn’t loud yet it wasn’t silent, it wasn’t windy yet not boiling. It was... peaceful, in a way, but not.

Rami whined as he looked around him endless land he had turned up in, looking down at his - full, complete, not dusty - hands for a while. Then, he realised the floor was made out of water, yet wasn’t wet. Huh, weird. Where even was he?!

Then, suddenly, a man appeared from the distance, the man walking up to him slowly. Rami stood quickly and watched as the man stopped in front of him, not too close, with his hands out in a defenceless way, showing Rami he was no harm. He looked familiar, his hair and eyes- not to mention the metal arm- wait

“Are you.. Bucky Barnes?” Rami asked gently as the man smiled softly at him and nodded

“Yeah kid, that’s me,” He kept his soft smile as he asked “You a comic book fan?”

“Seen you on tv” He mumbled slightly, trying to hide his awe at the man. He knew what people thought of him, and although Rami didn’t understand the whole story, because how was a 4 year old supposed to know what Hydra was and how evil they were, yet he looked up to the man. He was always his favourite whenever they were on tv

He chuckled “Nice to know your a fan” He necked the boy over with his head, his long hair swishing gently “C’mon then, let’s get you back to your dads”

Rami gasped slightly as he stepped forwards “You know my daddy’s?”

He nodded with a grin “Of course I do. Everyone does,” Rami thought that he would’ve known him from Daddy’s singing, but a lot of people didn’t know his other Daddy... maybe they knew Me Barnes personally! “Hey, y’know who sent me here to get you?”

Rami shook his head as he stepped a few steps closer, resting his small hands on Buckys bent knee as he leaned on him

“Y’know Doctor Strange?” He asked, and chuckled at Rami’s delighted gasp and quick enthusiastic nod “He sent me here! Isn’t that crazy?”

“Very crazy” He parroted, grinning as he made Bucky laugh more “I’m Rami by the way” Suddenly remembering his manners

“James Buchanan Barnes, But you can call me Bucky” He put his non metal hand out for the boy to take, and Rami did with both his hands, shaking the mans hand with his own happily “Now,” Bucky said as he stood and took the boys hand into his own, the metal one this time. He held his hand gently, a lot more gentle than some would with a real hand. That was okay though, he probably didn’t want to hurt Rami “Let’s get you home”

Rami nodded, then gasped, looking behind him as he suddenly remembered “My friend! Gwilym! He- he disappeared too! I gotta go get him!” He pulled on the mans hand as he tried to pull the adult along. Rami had heard a few things before everything went completely black for a could of seconds, and he had heard Brian’s cry’s for Gwilym and he had instantly guessed the same for the oldest

“Hey hey, it’s okay, he’s fine, Strange told my friend about him, he’s going to go get him, y’know Sam Wilson? The falcon? The one that flies with us on the missions?” He said softly, kneeling down again to soothe the child’s worry’s. Rami looked back at him with determined yet scared tears in his eyes, the little boy giving a small nod as he sniffled

“The one with the wings?” He asked with a quiet, scared voice, the same voice Steve used to use way back when, when they were just a bit older than Rami himself and Bucky was defending Steve from the big mean bullies

“Yeah him, he went to go get your friend, he’s safe at home now” He smiled gently and pat the boys arm gently “You wanna go see him?”

Rami sniffled and nodded again, putting his arms up in the universal ‘pick me up’ signal, which Bucky caved into and picked him up, walking the way they were going earlier, into the obis

“Are you sure it’s this way, Bucky?” He said as he looked up from trying to give Bucky hair a small braid

“Yeah kid, I’m sure it’s this way, just need to look out for a circle looking portal and we can get you back home” Bucky said as he bounced the kid gently “So, who’s your favourite from the team?”

“You” He grinned “But my second favourite is Captain America, then Iron Man, he’s Joeys favourite too” He rambled on, Bucky nodding when needed, sometimes giving little ‘Oh’s or ‘Of course!’ s when he felt fit

“Bucky, do you think I could join the team one day?” Rami asked softly as he stopped braiding the mans hair. They, Bucky, had been walking for a while now, no portal in sight

“Of course, you can take my place” He grinned at the boy, patting his back gently

“No, I wanna work with you! So we can be on the same team! Together!” Rami whined, grinning at the end of his sentences

“Yeah kid, we can fight together if you want” Bucky said, tearing up slightly as he looked down at the boy now resting his head on his chest

Then, when Bucky looked up, he saw the portal leading to the Avengers compound, where Freddie, Brian, Roger, John and Jim had quickly gone to once everything was safe enough. He saw Dr Strange at the end of the portal, smiling slightly as Bucky stepped out of it, setting the little boy down on the floor as Stephen closed it

“My baby!” Freddie cried as he saw Rami standing there, the little boy gasping and running to him quickly and into his arms, hugging the man tightly “Your okay! They got you back too!” He cried, gripping the little boys shirt in his fists, not letting go anytime soon. Rami then felt another pair of arms around his body, the toddler looking up to see Jim’s smiling, tearful face. They looked a bit different, but Rami didn’t really notice anything else. That was until he saw Ben and Joe grinning at him from behind his dads

“Benny? Joey?” He asked quietly, letting go of Freddie and Jim and shuffling out of their arms to rush over to the two of them “Your bigger!” He said, shocked

“Yeah bud, you two were gone for a while” Joe said gently, wiping his tears as he picked the boy up into a hug, Ben hugging them also

“Wait, where’s Gwilly?” He asked as he was set down by Joe, the now-older ginger pointing to his right, the four year old turning to see-

“Gwilym!”

Gwil was so caught up in talking to Sam that when he heard the youngest’s cry he snapped his head to him and grinned so brightly

“Rami!!” He yelled excitedly as they ran up to each other, hugging each other tightly “I missed you so much I- I thought you were gone when I saw you go and-“

“You did go! I heard you!” He rested up, the two of them pulling away as they smiled slightly at the other “I thought I...”

“Your here now kiddo, it’s alright” Bucky called from his place next to Sam “I know how scary it is, we dusted too and I’m sorry you had to go through that”

Rami smiled tearfully up at Bucky and gave a little nod in thanks. Yeah, Bucky was definitely his favourite superhero now

Chapter Text

Rami ran around the sofa, babbling as he went and shook his blanket in his grip, his arms lifted up as he screamed. Freddie groaned as he flopped onto the rugged sofa, not even trying to stop his hyper active son. His two had been at their mothers, and of course Mart had to hype the youngest on sugar before he picked him up.

Now, he had passed out ten year old in bed, and a hyper active three year old soon too pass out from sugar rushed.

“Uh Fred..” Brian said as he dodged Rami running straight into his legs, the little boy still babbling loudly and screaming, giving everyone a headache “Aren’t you gonna..”

“Nope, he can let it out on his own” Freddie groaned, digging the palms of his hands into his eye sockets

“Alright then” Brian quickly caught the lamp that almost fell when Rami knocked the table holding it. Brian set the lamp down and watched as Rami suddenly slowed his running, falling straight first onto his front as he passed out on the floor

“See?” Freddie grinned slightly, looking down as Rami started to give tiny snores, his blanket, his most treasured possession, still clutched in his hand

Brian snorted fondly as he reached down and picked him up, making sure the little boy didn’t startle awake again. He took the boy into the boys’ room and set him down in his toddler bed, tucking him in and rushing back to Freddie in the living room, only to find he had also fell asleep whilst he was gone. Brian smiled slightly and pulled a blanket over his friend, leaving him in the living room and going to his studies in the kitchen.

>>

“Daddy” Rami whined with a wail as he tried to reach over for Freddie from his place on Deaky’s hip “Daddy, please” He cried out as he threw his body forwards, trying his best to reach for his father, but only flopped forwards as John caught him before he slipped out of his arms

“Maybe I shouldn’t go..” Freddie complained as he watched the other kids at Johns feet try to console the youngest “I can just ask Jim if I can cancel-“

“Nope. Nope, your going to that dinner date and Aaron and Rami will be fine. You know that” Roger said as he fiddled with Freddie’s jacket, trying to make him look a bit decent in the not so decent clothes they had to wear “Trust us, he will be fine, he’s just melodramatic like you” Roger teased, making Freddie grin slightly and whack him gently on the arm “Go have fun”

Freddie nodded, glancing once back at his youngest and then leaving, thankfully Rami hadn’t seen him leave as he was being distracted by Brian offering him a cookie, which led to the other four getting one just to be fair

>>

“So your a dad?” Jim asked with a smile, leaning his hand on his chin that was contented to the arm resting on the table

“Yeah, two boys, Aaron and Rami” He smiled fondly as he talked about his two pride and joys “Aaron’s nine, and Rami’s three”

“So you have your hands full most of the time?” Jim teased gently, making Freddie give a chuckle and a nod

“Yeah, although they aren’t naughty, just have to keep eyes on the back of my head is all,” He snorted “My roommates have kids too, all boys, so there are five boys along with us in our tiny apartment” Freddie sighed “It’s not the best but it works”

“Hm,” Jim hummed “I’d love you meet them, your boys and your roommates’”

“Yeah, you would love them honestly, Rami is-“ Freddie went into a monologue about each of the kids and their little quirks, Jim smiling and listening intently as he spoke so fondly about them each

Chapter Text

“Rami wants to wear that bow” Joe said, pointing to the red ribbon bow in his Lucy’s hair “He also said you look pretty in it” He grinned, the sound of Rami whining in embarrassment at Joe as he hid his face in Gwilyms arm, who was helping Ben with the bow tie they had stolen from Jim and Freddie’s bedside table. They were having a mini-tea party at Garden Lodge, and Lucy had insisted that all the boys wear the proper outfit for their very formal party, please and thank you very much

“But he’s a boy! Boys can’t wear these” Lucy explained, crossing her arms. But, looking over at Rami, with his heartbroken big blue eyes and quivering chin, she sighed and pulled the ribbon out of her hair, letting her mane of blonde locks falling out of their once neat look and passing it too Joe “Don’t rip it!” She called as Joe grinned and rushed off to show Rami

—

By the time their parents get back from outside, probably helping Jim with his gardening (Aaron obviously tagging along too because maybe the Garden Lodge sons had their favourite dads), they saw that Lucy was trying to teach Joe how to hold a plastic tea cup with his pinkie up, Rami next to the blonde almost falling asleep, his head bopping down then up in a startled manner, before his eyes started to droope again, Ben and Gwilym were between the two tired and confused youngest playing tic-tac-toe together, but not slapping and waking Rami’s up with the loud noises, because they knew they would get in a lot of trouble for waking the youngest up and sending him into a meltdown over it all

“I can’t believe I missed this” Aaron tutted jokingly, Jim and Freddie bursting out laughing, Rami thankfully not waking, as they all turned their heads to the adults, who were grinning at them happily as they took in the sight

Freddie made his way over to Rami and picked the boy up, letting him rest his tiny head on the mans skinny shoulder as he pat his back “How long have you lot being playing?”

“Uhm..” Joe looked down at his hands, counting whatever it was he thought he was counting

“We don’t know” Ben shrugged, Gwilym snorting at him as he nodded along, the two still playing tic-tac-toe, probably on round 1000 by now

“Wait, What comes after 38 again?” Joe asked, looking up between the adults

“A good song” Brian snickered, making the other adults grown, and the other children still sitting asking ‘what does that mean?!’ from their place on the carpet

“Wait, Jim are those your ties?” Roger asked, pointing his head to the boys and Lucy’s ties. Gwilym has his neatly around his neck, Ben’s pushed out so it hung around his neck loosely yet still tied, Joe’s was wrapped around his head like a bandanas, and Rami still had the red ribbon tied up in a bow definitely down by Joe as it wasn’t nearly as near as Lucy’s had been. Speaking of the girl, she was using her tie as her own ribbon, having tied it into her own bow

“Huh, yeah I guess they were, now they had kid germs on them” Jim grinned, getting a look from Freddie over his shoulder as he rocked their youngest gently to sleep completely, the littlest boy sucking his thumb absently in his sleep

“Hey” Aaron whined from his place standing by his dads legs, his arms still crossed in annoyance

“Sorry bud, you don’t have germs, only the younger ones” Jim winked, making Jim giggle

It was Joes turn to complain about that now, seen as the actually youngest was fast asleep in dreamland.

Chapter Text

“I was born to love you!” Freddie screamed as he ran around the living room, Rami chasing after him like a little duckling. Freddie had been at the studio all day, meaning Rami was with Jim whilst Aaron went to a friends house. That meant Rami had been snuggling, napping, and helping Jim with planting outside all day, but the second Freddie got home, Rami had gotten so excited he tripped over at least a few times to get to his dad at the door. Rami had rambled and rambled about what they did today, only taking a breath when Freddie started to talk about the studio. He told him about the new song he was singing, and now here they were.

Freddie pranced around the living room the way he always did, singing and dancing as Rami followed after him, his blanket gripped in his hand, his soppy cup of milk in the other as he giggled at any little thing Freddie did, sometimes trying to imitate the easier things, like spinning on the spot.

“I was born to take care of you!!” He sung, Rami squealing when Freddie pointed at him, rushing over to him and lifted him up into his arms and spinning them both around in a controlled, yet less than careful way “Every single day, of my life!!” He kissed Rami on the cheek repeatedly in between singing, making the little boy laugh that bit more, letting out snorts of laughter as his legs kicked in joy.

Jim watched with a look that he knew was betraying his intentions. Rami really should be asleep by now, it being way past his bedtime even before Freddie had gotten back, the little boy only allowing Jim to change him into his pyjamas, and the little boy had been this close to nodding off before he heard the lock of the door click open, waking him up completely once again. He knew Freddie likes to ‘wear them out, Darling!’ Before bed, because yeah maybe that tactic worked with Aaron most of the time, but Rami was different.

Rami didn’t like a lot of noise most of the time, but when it was Freddie, he basked in it. He basked in the attention that Jim apparently just didn’t give him (Cut to Jim carrying around a sleeping Rami over his shoulder as he made himself and Aaron, a tea)

Jim could tell Rami was getting really tired when he wiped his eyes with his blanket gripped in his right hand, and he could tell that Freddie noticed too. He skipped a few verses, getting towards the end and callings him spinning down slowly to a soft rocking as he hummed the rest of the few notes, Rami snuggling up to his chest with a little smile on his lips as he fully passed out and succumbed to the sleep land

Freddie looked up at Jim and grinned “See darling, that’s how it’s done” He pat Rami’s back gently and kissed the top of his head, stepping close to Jim to get a peck on the lips from him

“Yeah yeah, you old sop, give me the baby, I’ll put him to sleep” Jim held his hands out, going to reach for Rami’s under arms to lift him into his own arms

“No,” Freddie stepped away, holding Rami that hit closer to his chest as he held him protectively “You has him all day, it’s my time” He grinned, going upstairs swiftly to put him to bed

“Whatever you say, darling” Jim said, following behind him so he could tuck Rami in also, and check if Aaron had woken up from Freddie’s singing and dancing

Chapter Text

Rami pattered down the steps carefully, one hand gripping the banister of the stairs and the other over each end of the blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He had a cold, and as any ten year old with a cold, he had been miserable all week. But now, being woken up by his dads and brother yelling at god knows what time, he wanted to go investigate. He hoped there was a real reason why he had been woken up so early! He was tired!

Rami successfully made it down to the last step and plopped down successfully. He had once fallen of the last step and got a few bruises in his knees, he didn’t tell anyone because it wasn’t really that bad, but when Freddie saw he had a meltdown about it, hugging Rami close like he had lost an arm or something.

He pattered off to the living room, the light from the fireplace that had been lit shining through into the floor. He watched the figures of his brother and and daddy yell up at each other about god knows what. Aaron was waving his hands around in annoyance as he screamed, but Jim stood with his arms crossed, yet no less angry.

Rami stood in the centre of the open doorway, glancing between the three of them. From this angle, he could now see Freddie sitting away from the others, by the piano. He had his hands in his hair, his elbows resting on the piano as he gave a long soft whine in response. One of the cats, Tiffany, definitely, was sat perched up on his lap, and Rami couldn’t help but feel a little jealous that most people could play with kitties and not have to take yucky medicine before. It was definitely not fair.

“-hy would you think that?!” Aaron exclaimed, Rami only now taking in what they were saying “I’m not gonna do that!”

“Well how am I supposed to know?” Him yelled right back at him “You snuck out, took Rami with you, and also got the other boys in trouble!” Jim stepped away in annoyance, shaking his head before coming back, poking Aaron in his chest “What would you have done if you got kidnapped, or if Rami got kidnapped, or if any of you got hurt? Hm?” He didn’t get a response “Exactly. You didn’t plan anything, Aaron! You put everyone in danger, including- Rami”

Jim, Aaron and Freddie turned to the doorway, to see Rami and his massive shadows behind him from the fire. He sniffled slightly and stepped closer, gripping his blanket more “Why you fightin’?” His voice slurred from sleep.

“Oh baby, lets go back to bed” Freddie cooed, getting Tiffany off of his lap, ignoring the fluffy white cats mew of annoyance, and went over to Rami, picking his tiny son up and placing him on his hip, just like he did when he was a baby “Say ni night” Freddie grinned, glancing over at Jim and Aaron over his back so Rami could say his farewells, but by Jim’s look, his smile deflated “...Jim”

“No Fred,” Jim put a hand out “He’s old enough to be punished too, now” The words Freddie had been dreading hearing since Jim had first made the rule.

They had a small rule, when Rami was so little and he didn’t do any good with confrontation, they decided to do talks, but now, Rami was ten, and they couldn’t baby him forever, as much as Freddie would so love that). But Jim had a point, Rami did go with Aaron and the others, and he need to be taught that what they pulled last night was completely wrong.

“But Jim,” Freddie whined “He’s tired” He bounces Rami slightly, who did indeed have that tired area about him. But...

“Rami, come here, stand next to your brother please” Jim said, looking away as Freddie poured and reluctantly put the boy down, who went over to Aaron, and the older boy wrapped an arm around his shoulder-covered-blanket

“Right, so you two snuck out, you know that, which was really wrong, might I add. So, as punishment, Aaron you won’t have your telephone for a week, and Rami you..” Jim furrowed his eyebrows, glancing over at Freddie who was sat at the piano again, and just shrugged “shoot.. Uh..” Jim was in a predicament, how do you punish your ten year old that has never been punished before, at least not have something taken away from him. Jim thought, and tried to do it quickly because Rami and Aaron were giving him cheeky looks and Jim hated how much they got that from Freddie “Rami no comics for the week”

Their faces fell, Freddie hitting a wrong key, Aaron gasping audibly, and Rami just froze with his mouth open in silence. Jim was pretty sure one of the cats meowed in shock, it was probably Delilah. She was always so vocal.

Then, all hell broke loose.

“What do you mean no comics?!” Rami exclaimed in annoyance, jutting his arms out, his blanket tumbling down onto the floor in a heap that one could mistake as a crying person all curled up under there “That’s so not fair!”

“Yeah, Dad that’s cruel, give the kid some entertainment” Aaron, who just wanted the stir the pot that bit much, because hello, he was annoyed too.

“Decisions final” Jim finished it up, walking out of the living room and to the kitchen with too annoyed boys following after him... and a few cats as they wanted to be included too.

Chapter Text

“We are gonna die” Joe warned, bucking his seatbelt in quickly as Ben fumbled with the keys in the drivers seat. They had all been at the studio, their dads recording some new songs for their album that was soon to be released, and they were slowly getting bored. Miami had trusted Gwilym and Aaron in charge whilst he went off to talk with the band members about what-not, which was a terrible idea because although they were both the adult, that wouldn’t stop Ben from nabbing Rogers keys from his coat pocket, hoarding Rami and Joe to the carpark and getting them in the car without being caught by the others.

“No, we are gonna have fun!” Ben grinned at them as he messed about the the seats position to get it comfortable for himself “Right?”

“No” both Rami and Joe said at the same time, giving Ben the same look of uncertainty.

“‘Ahh, we will be alright!” Ben waved their concern off with a hand gesture, turning the key and starting the car completely “There we go!” He grinned

Rami just made a noise in the back of his throat, buckling himself in quick and watching Ben as he looked over the dash “Are you sure we aren’t going to die?”

“Uhm.. well, maybe-“

“Ben!” Joe exclaimed as he clamped hands over Rami’s pointy ears as he let out a slight gasp “Don’t say that!”

“He wanted the truth!”

“Yeah but-“

“Hey!” There was an annoyed call from outside the car, making the three youngest turn their heads quickly to the two other teenagers, Gwilym getting into the passenger side and Aaron getting into the back, Rami moving over to the middle as he quickly unbuckled himself “You going without us?” Gwilym grinned, Aaron nodding as he put his seat belt on and held Rami’s hand to give it a squeeze, the youngest grinning before turning to Ben as the blonde laughed

“We really doing this? Your not gonna snitch?” Ben checked in, one last time, glancing between the two of them quickly

Both of the oldest shook their heads, Ben then turning to face the front

“Let’s fucking do this”

—

They went to McDonald’s first, obviously, and all got happy meals and swapping the toys when they got the ones they didn’t like.

“Ew, Iron Man” Gwilym joked as he pulled the figure (that shot little pellets out of his hands!) out of the packaging, making both Rami and Joe gasp in shock

“You did not-“ Joe started, a hand over his heart in mock offence

“I’ll swap! I got a guitar!” Rami yelled, waving the packed blue toy guitar in Gwilyms face as he leaned over, Gwilym taking it to replace it with the Iron Man toy. The little hand was snatched back with a ‘Thanks!’ And the two youngest dissolved in their own commentary about the toys descriptions.

“If only it was red” Ben said with a grin, popping a few fries in his mouth as he fished out his own toy “I got a-... Aaron you’ll want this!” The blonde threw it over his shoulder without looking back, but it missed Aaron completely, making it land into Joe’s arm with a small noise, the two youngest looking up, in shock from the attack and dissolved into giggles as Ben made an ‘oops’ noise.

Rami grabbed it and passed it to Aaron, who smiled in thanks and-

“Oh wow. Hilarious.” Aaron deadpanned, looking at the plastic flower pot toy, that came with a tiny little shovel

“That’s so cute!” Rami grinned, pointing to the shovel “But why would you need a shovel for a planted flower?”

“Ah, Jim taught you both so well” Ben grinned, making Gwilym and Joe laugh at his comment

“No, Only I was really taught, Rami would just run around with Dad on the other side of the garden” Aaron butted in with a grin as he ruffled his younger brother’s curls “They didn’t want to get all dirty, if I remember right”

“It’s mud” Rami shrugged with a giggle, Aaron chuckling with a fond shake to his head. He reached down into box and pulled out the packaging

“Ben do you want a... what is this? Mini hairspray bottle?” Aaron looked at the toy confused

“Always, mate” Ben put his hand out behind him, which Joe leaned over to high five with a cheeky giggle, and Aaron put the toy in his hand. Ben pulled his arm back and opened the blue and white mini hairspray “I love it” He kissed it, making the others make a noise

“You don’t know where that has been” Gwilym said as he pulled a disgusted face

“Oh shoot yeah” Ben looked down at it “Thanks Aaron! I’ve probably caught something!”

“I didn’t tell you to kiss it!” Aaron threw one of his fries at Ben’s head, it just knocking straight off of him and falling onto the front of the car

“You gave it to me!” Ben complained back, leaning over to slap Aaron on the arm, but missing completely, making him look like he was just flailing backwards, making Rami and Joe laugh so hard they almost started choking on their food

“Alright, calm it down, before we do die, and not even from Bens driving” Aaron said gently with a smile, patting Rami on the back as he almost started to choke, Joe calming down a bit faster than the smallest of their group

“Joe, what did you get?” Gwilym asked with a grin, Joe lighting up like a light bulb and reaching his hand into the box, pulling out-

“A dinosaur!” Joe grinned, showing it to Gwilym happily

“Holy shit” Gwilym laughed out “Thats so weird to me”

“I swear to god they planned this or something” Ben grinned “They must’ve known! This is way too accurate”

“Does anyone know the time?” Aaron asked from the back, him and Rami having been having a private conversation for a bit before just finishing now

“Uhhhhhmmm...” Gwilym said as he checked his watch “6, why?”

“Shit” Aaron’s face paled

“What? What’s up? You two alright?” Ben asked worriedly, glancing between the two brothers quickly, catching Rami glancing up at Aaron quickly, his mouth slightly parted in shock

“Dad’s finish at 5:30” Rami said, not taking his big blue-green eyes off his older brother

“Holy fucking sHIT!” Ben, and all of the others for that matter, scrambled to get their seatbelts back on, Ben bumping the gas as soon as he had his own on and not wasting anytime to get back to the studio.

—

“Where are they!” Freddie yelled, rushing down each hallway with the other three band members following behind them “Holy shit what if they are hurt? Oh god my babies”

“Fred, I’m sure they are fine” John, ever the life safer, placed his hands on Freddie’s arms gently “They have probably just gone out, y’know how cheeky they can be together”

Freddie nodded, cracking a tiny smile at Johns comforting words.

Then, Miami came bursting through the door, heaving

“They...”

“You found them?!”

“In Rogers car”

“What?”

—

“Brace yourselves,” Ben said as he parked the car, sighing in defeat as he leaned back heavily into the drivers seat “For a one year grounding”

Joe groaned in annoyance, looking down at his dinosaur McDonalds toy “This is your fault” He mumbled to the toy

Gwilym finished his fries quickly, but passed the last few back to Rami as the youngest looked like he was about to bury with anticipation, gripping Aaron’s hand in one hand and gripping the leather seat in the other. Aaron took the fries for the youngest, and ate them himself. Because free fries, duh.

They watched as the studios doors were slammed opened, their dads rushing out quick. Rami looked like he wanted to burst out of the car, but him being in the middle meant he couldn’t.

Roger, the first to get to the car, knocked on the window on Bens side, the blond just rolling down the window to give the drummer a sarcastic grin

“Welcome to McDonald’s, what would you like to order?” Ben joked, Joe Gwilym trying his hardest not to laugh. Rami and Aaron looked up at him in shock, Joe still having an inner monologue with his dinosaur

“Get out, Ben” Roger warned

“We have happy meals” Ben picked up his box from earlier “No food though, we ate it all” That made Gwilym burst out into laughter, Aaron grinning and Rami snickering, Joe glanced up at them in confusion

“Ben I swear to god, just get out of my car”

“Sir this is a McDonald’s” Ben grinned, his face going slightly red as he tried to hide back his laughter.

Nothing stopped the others though, they all burst out into laughter at that, Ben glancing behind him to wink at them before turning back

Roger sighed “I hate kids” He mumbled, putting a hand over his head in exhaustion

“Hey!” They all yelled in unison at the offence.

Chapter Text

“Aaron’s gonna snitch” Rami said worriedly through his Walkie Talkie. The two youngest got them for Christmas a few years back, always talking to each other through them when they weren’t busy. But right now... “He’s so gonna snitch if he finds out!”

“If you keep yelling about it, he’s gonna hear, and then he’s definitely gonna snitch!” Joe, who was quickly packing the rest of his comics that he could fit into his already half-full backpack, yelled back through his Walkie Talkie, looking over his shoulder to check if the door was closed - it was, thankfully.

“Okay okay!” Rami huffed from the other end “Where we meeting up again?” He said quietly

Joe picked his up and brought it closer to his face so he could speak quieter “The park, next to the sweets shop down the road from mine” Joe grinned, looking over at his backpack, now all filled with what he needed to bring for the night.

They were sneaking out, just by themselves, for the first time ever. Someone in Joe’s year was having a party, and Joe didn’t want to go alone, so he asked if Rami was allowed to come and the person had said yes, so now, they were sneaking out. They could’ve just asked their dads to drop them off, but the thought it would’ve been more fun to take some risk on their own for once. So, sneaking out.

“You got everything?” Rami said through his Talkie, the sound of a bag of some sort being jostled, probably Rami putting on his bag to get ready.

“Heck yeah” Joe grinned “See you soon! Over and out!”

“Over and out!” They both turned their Talkies off.

—

Rami stepped down the stairs as quietly as he could, the soft piano keys being played from down the hall echoed through Rami’s ears like a spell. He almost turned back to his room, called Joe to say he wasn’t coming, and go cuddle up to Jim and Aaron in the living room to watch Tv for the rest of the night. But then he remembered how much fun it would be too sneak out with the elders of their groups help.

He made it down the Taurus without being noticed, hefting his bag up slightly as it started to slip, and walked down the hall and too the door, opening it as quietly as he could, then stepping out, and closing it just as light as he had before.

He got down their drive, and only then let out a relieved sigh. He had done it, he snuck out all on his own!

Oh god what were they doing?

—

“You made it!” Joe grinned, rubbing up to the younger and giving him a big hug, Rami melting into it easily. It had started raining, so Rami had zipped up his black hoodie and put up his hood, Joe doing the same with his red one, which matched his hair in a way.

“Heck yeah I made it, dude! We got a party we are sneaking too!” Rami grinned, giddy on the adrenaline of the adventure. He still kinda couldn’t believe they were doing this.

“Who are you and what have you done with my sweet little Rami?” Joe teased, making Rami push him back on the chest

“Shut up,” he giggled “We gotta get there!”

“Of course! It’s down here, not that far” Joe hefted his bag up, and they made their way through the quiet streets together. There were barely any cars, no paparazzi, nobody stopping them with ‘Your the kids off the newspapers!’ like they got at least a few times a week. Gwilym was telling them during this one school lunch that he and his dad were making a ‘sweat jar but for how many times they were recognised’ and how Brian had come home only to put at least 50 pennies into it. They had all laughed at it, but then a fight had broke out between Aaron and Allen and they had to intervene. It was a long day.

“Here” Joe said with a smile laced into his words, going up to the houses door and knocking a few times, stepping back to stand next to Rami with a grin.

The door was opened to reveal a blue-eyes boy with floppy hair that looked like it needed a haircut. It was probably slicked back before, judging by the way it kind of stuck together in some parts, but it still was in desperate need of a chop.

“Joe! And you must be Rami! Come in, come in!” The blue eyed boy stepped to the side, grinning between the top as they entered, wiping their feet off on the mat just to be polite “We haven’t met before, but I’m Martin, Joe’s friend from Maths” He put a hand out for Rami to shake, which the younger did with a grin

“Nice to meet you!” He said politely, looking around the place at all of the people, talking or dancing or singing together, some privately on their phones, tapping away, or others... french kissing. Rami averted his eyes at that, because, ew.

“I’ll let you to get on, but I’ll be over there with Christian if you wanna talk or need anything” He smiled, before jogging off to go talk to his friend, who Rami guessed was Christian.

“Soooo,” Joe said as he looked around, making a face at the people with their tongues down their throat, turning back to Rami quick “Wanna get a drink?”

“It’s not alcohol is it?” Rami asked, glancing over at the people swaying rather like an intoxicated person would

Joe shrugged “I hope not, let’s go see” He grabbed Rami’s upper arm and they made their way over to the table filled with foods and the drinks. They had to go through boards of people to get there though, people dancing in groups, other just two people slow dancing to one of their Dads’ songs (How do you slow dance to Fat Bottomed Girls without giggling, they didn’t know, but those people obviously did, so they just tried not to disturb them as they went past)

“Oh look! It’s just apple juice” Joe grinned, filling a cup filled with the juice for himself and taking a sip of it

Then, someone came up to them with a confused face “It’s not apple juice, it’s alcohol”

Joe spat his drink out back into the cup, Rami choking on his own, the girl snickering and then proceeding to going about her way once again.

“That’s why it tasted so gross” Rami said as he wiped his face with the back of his sleeve

“Your telling me,” Joe put his cup into the bin, Rami following along “I’m never having apple juice again”

“Agreed”

—

The rest of the night went past in a happy haze, they danced together, they sung a few of their Dads’ songs, Joe even doing his famous air-bass guitar whilst Rami jumped up onto the table as he belted the words to Hammer To Fall, which everyone watched and cheered for him straight after, making the youngest blush a bright furious pigment which caused Joe to burst out into laughter.

They were outside now, sitting on the trampoline together and going through their comics to calm down from the pure embarrassment and the laughing fit Rami and Joe just had, respectfully.

“Hey, you two were great” A boy, Christian from what they remembered from earlier, said with a smile, unzipping the trampoline and climbing in. He had a jacket that could only be described as a homeless mans, with the words ‘Mr. Robot’ on the corner on the patch. He was Joe’s age, by definitely taller than the ginger, which most people were in his year. The ginger hated standing next to Ben and Gwilym, but loved it when he stood next to Rami, because he just reached the ginger boys’ neck with his fluffy curls.

“Thanks man” Joe grinned, punching Rami on the shoulder gently, making the smaller slap him on the hand gently with a fond, yet annoyed grin.

“Thank you” Rami, always the polite one, still smiled though.

“Hey, I have these comics too” Christian smiled, pointing to one of the strips “In this one Iron Man gets-“

“No!!” Rami and Joe both yelled, doing what could only be classed as frantic jazz hands to shut Christian up “We haven’t finished this one!” Joe yelled, Rami nodding along

“Oh, shoot, sorry” Christian grinned “But it’s really good, if you are an Iron Man fan”

“Are we?!” Rami said rhetorically, making Joe laugh out loud at how much he sounded like Freddie.

—

They talked to Christian the rest of the night, going home around tenish to get home at around a decent enough hour. They said goodbye to Christian and Martin, who waved them off at the door, and as soon as they were far enough away from them, they started to run in their hassle to get home as quick as they could.

They really hoped they hadn’t been caught.

Joe and Rami got home around the same time, Joe going through his window, and Rami sneaking through the front door again, thankfully not getting caught by any of the other members of the house.

Rami climbed into bed as quick as he could, quickly saying goodnight on his Talkie, turning it off once Joe responded, and fell asleep.

“So, Rami, Joe, you gotten up to anything recently?” Gwilym asked the next day at the studio, their dads working on their songs as they always were, preoccupied enough that they didn’t notice when the boys went off to sneak themselves some ice cream from across the road.

Joe and Rami glanced at one another, and then burst out laughing, the others demanding what was so funny.

Of course they didn’t tell them, it was their secret.

Chapter Text

Freddie was in charge of Rami’s costume, and Aaron had the help of Jim. They had decided a small competition between the two that whoever could better dress their respective child would win. Jim should’ve known that he was screwed the second Freddie proposed the deal, as he momentarily forgot his Husbands way with outlandish costumes. Oh Jim...

Freddie and Rami went out shopping for bits and pieces for his costume the night before Halloween, which helped the farmers anxieties as he came to the conclusion that they weren’t prepared. Why else would they go out to the store to finish, right?

Wrong. So very wrong.

Aaron and Jim had come up with the idea of Aaron going as a skeleton, Jim learning how to do the cool looking makeup that made your whole face look like a skeleton, whilst Aaron pieced together a costume that would work so well if he stood in the pitch black. They were proud of what they had managed to put together, and it was a fun experience none the less.

Aaron knew about the bet, but he just enjoyed spending time with his dad in some other way than gardening (Not that Aaron hated it, he loved gardening, but it was fun to change things up every now and then)

Rami and Freddie hadn’t gone as simple as a Skeleton though. Not even a cat. Oh no, they went full out.

“I’m Daddy from the seventeens!” Rami yelled as he jumped the last step, flourishing his arms open to reveal the exact replica of the red, sparkly leotard Freddie used to wear, but smaller. Aaron and Jims’ jaws fell to the ground, Rami giggling as he held the REAL microphone in his hand, looking over at Freddie, who winked at him and put his thumbs up, making the littlest boy even more giggly than he was before.

Upon further expecting, Aaron caught note of the red eyeshadow and glitter filling Rami’s curls until he could be used a disco ball.

Jim turned to Freddie “You win”

Freddie just grinned like a cat that got the cream.

—

“Dad! I don’t know what I’m being!” Ben whined, almost smallish his head onto the table top. He had been breakfast, when Roger had reminded him that they were to be going out with his uncles and nephews to trick-or-treat together.

“Maybe a car, I don’t know” Roger shrugged “It’s up to you really, Benny”

Ben sighed all dramatic like. He had been spending too much time with Freddie...

“I know!” Ben yelled with a smile, lifting his head up quick “I’ll be Frankie!”

“Sure Ben, you do that” Roger grinned and shook his head. This kid...

Ben went rushing off upstairs, yelling for Frankie to follow him up to his room for ‘important ideas!’ and by the sounds of the click-clacks on the floor, the obedient pup followed, knowing full well she wasn’t technically allowed up there.

—

“I’m a dinosaur” Joe grinned up at his, with the green and the blue face paints all over his hands and face, some in his hair. He was waiting his favourite dinosaur T-Shirt and was wearing his T-Rex tail that clipped onto the waistband of his jeans, and the gloves with the claws on the top

“I can see that, Joey, now smile for me!” John crouched down slightly and smiled as he snapped the photo of Joe, standing on his tippy toes, his hands making claw marks, and his face making a ‘grrrr’ sort of grin “Beautiful! Absolutely amazing, Joey!” John ruffled his sons hair, grinning when Joe smiled back up at him

“You ready to go meet the others?” John asked, because knowing this kid he’s probably-

“-forgotten my bag!” Joe called, rushing up the stairs quick to grab his ‘candy bag’

John sighed fondly and started to get Joe’s coat ready, putting his own on before Joe got back down.

—

Gwilym, who was definitely raised by his father, ever the brainiac, went as a mad scientist ‘Specifically one that looks at space dusts’ because they apparently all had been spending so much time with Freddie recently that they developed his sass. Little sh-

“Shhhh! I’m listening” Joe shushed the others with a wave of his hand as he listened on to Brian telling them about a story he had when he had gone trick-or-treating-at their age. It ended with Brian getting sick, and Joe laughed. Laughed. Gwilym tried to scold him for it, but he kind of found it funny also, so it was a struggle for him not to laugh also.

Rami grinned as Joe leaned into him as he laughed at Brian’s not-joke, his sparkly outfit and hair shining in the dark as they started to get ready for trick-or-treating.

—

They went to about 15 houses before Rami started to get cranky, demanded to be picked up by any adult close enough to him. He had come running up to John only to complain about his tired legs because both Freddie and Jim were talking and not listening to him, so, John.

“That outfit give you his attitude from the seventies, too?” John asked as he easily lifted Rami under his arms and onto his hip, patting and rubbing the boys back as he gave a tired whine “Oh alright, we will get you home soon I promise” John smiled and kissed Rami’s curls, forgetting about the glitter and almost choking on it, but covering himself well lest he wake Rami up. Oh god no, John didn’t have a death wish.

Once Jim and Freddie had stopped talking, John went over to them, hoping either Brian or Roger had an eye on the other three rascals whilst he was busy, and motioning to the youngest’s tired, slumped body in his arms. Jim gave a sympathetic smile and a nod, Freddie reaching over and taking the boy into his own arms, only to notice that Rami had completely fallen asleep in Johns arms, glitter and red leotard all tuckered out.

—

They went back to The Garden Lodge, Freddie putting Rami to sleep, and coming back covered in glitter that it reminded the three of their actual days of the Seventies, the days when Freddie would secretly talk to Brian about his dreams of having a baby of his own, with Mary at the time, and how he would spoil them rotten.

Roger could t help but smile that Freddie got what he had always dreamed of. A happy, spoilt family, with beautiful children and a lovely spouse and huge house. He got what he had been deserving since the days of busting their asses for shitty pub performances.

Chapter Text

Ten cats. Ten cats hoarded around the little boy as he toddled around the house along with them. Delilah stuck the closest to his side, rubbing her face up against Rami’s arm or tummy whenever she felt fit, and Rami would giggle back excitedly and start toddling off again, Delilah hot on his heels. The others would occasionally follow them, Goliath staying a few steps behind the two yet always following. Tom and Jerry, the two peas in a pod, sometimes followed, and other times go distracted by the other. Tiffany, whenever Rami sat down, would rush to lay her fluffy body onto his lap, purring loudly as she claimed the little boys lap as her own napping area.

It was a funny sight to see, a tiny little boy with a ball of white and grey fluff settled neatly in his lap, whilst Delilah circuled the two happily, along with the other eight of Freddie’s children around or close by.

Jim stumbled in on them all one morning, Rami, sat on the kitchen floor, in his kitten pyjamas, with all ten of the cats meowing at him happily. Rami kept meowing back, as he stroked Tiffany’s fluffy fur with his tiny little hand, the biggest cat sleeping peacefully in his lap. Delilah was curled up to Rami’s side, not asleep, just cuddling up close, whilst Goliath stretched his back off to the side and Oscar and Rami were talking to each other happily. Rami’s eyes had gone puffy, and he scrubbed them with his fists occasionally, yet didn’t dare to move the cats away from him.

“Looks like your all up early” At the sound of Jim’s soft voice, Rami and all of the cats looked up at him: The cats excited they were to be fed, and Rami excited because his daddy was awake “Good morning, sweetie” Jim said as he made his way towards the boy, picking Tiffany off his lap to lift his littlest boy into his hip

“Mornin’” Rami smiled, then looked down at the sound of Oscars meow “He likes me the most” Rami giggled, before meowing back. Now that Jim could see them, his eyes were definitely puffy, and his nose was running. Allergies had been set off then.

“Oh really?” Jim asked absently as he made his way towards the cupboards, opening them and getting out Rami’s medicines “Can you talk to him?”

Rami nodded his head excitedly, being placed down on the counter. Oscar leaped up, taking the chance at being closer to his new best human friend, and stood next to Rami on the counter, his front paws needing at the boys skinny legs.

“We talk lots” Rami, giggling at the feeling off the soft paws needing into him. Jim tutted and shooed the cat off, making Rami pout “But-“

“Open wide” Jim interrupted before Rami could get whiney, the boy huffing and opening his mouth to take the disgusting, absolutely awful medicine

Rami took it, and gagged, Jim tutting once again as he pulled his over dramatics. He put the medicine away, turning for a few seconds, only to find that nth Oscar And Delilah has jumped up once again, Delilah licking Rami’s cheek happily and Oscar cuddling up to his side. The others on the floor, meowing up at them. They were all obsessed with the little boy.

“That’s very naughty, Rami” Freddie sighed, pointing to the walls. The littlest boy had decided that paper was boring to draw on and that the walls were so bland that they needed some colour. Freddie had caught him in the act, and as much as he hated telling the little boy off, he needed to know that this wasn’t okay.

However, the cats decided that Rami was innocent. Rami looked up at Freddie with his big sad eyes, pleading for forgiveness. Be strong Freddie, you can coddle later.

“I’m very disappointed, you know better than to do this, Rami” Freddie felt evil. Rami sniffles and gave a small nod.

Then, a soft meow was heard. Delilah was sat just by Rami’s feet, looking up at Freddie, staring into his soul. Rami’s little hand came down to pet her head, and she turned around to give his finger a lick. Rami smiled softly and gave a watery giggle

“Are you sticking up for him, Delilah” He grinned, kneeling down to pick Delilah and Rami up into his arms “Alright then,” He said softly, turning to Rami and bouncing him gently “You learn your lesson mr?”

Rami nodded happily, wiping his glassy eyes as he reached over to pet Delilah gently.

“Great! Cookie?” Freddie asked, which, okay maybe he shouldn’t be he just looked so sad

Rami nodded excitedly, “Yeah! Please” He added quick, making Freddie chuckle and kiss his curls gently. He Delilah down so she could follow them into the kitchen.

If Freddie saw Rami sneaking her crumbs of the cookie that he wiped onto his floor for her, Freddie didn’t say anything

Chapter Text

Freddie, holding Joe’s hand in his own, Ben climbing over his shoulders as he yelled happily, and Gwilym standing on top of the table to talk to him about whatever it was the boy felt like he needed to say, looked at peace.

Freddie was amazing with the kids, they all adored him and he adored them. It was no secret of Freddie’s desire of his own to have his own little ones running around the place that weren’t his cats (He loved his cats, to absolute pieces, but the thought of having a real baby, not a beautiful fur baby, made him giddy with happiness). He and Jim had spoke about it a few times, whether to adopt, foster or even get a surrogate for them. But they couldn’t decide. They had rules off having a biological baby between the two of them, because that literally wasn’t possible, and they weren’t so phased about it, it was just the ‘what to do next’ that they were stuck on, really.

Would having a surrogate be the best option, to feel more connected to their child? But that sounded awful to think. That they wouldn’t be as close as they would’ve been to a biological child than a foster child. They felt awful, but they still had their doubts. Would adopting be better for them? Or even fostering was an option.. until Freddie realised they would’ve gotten too attached and it would’ve pained them to see the child they had practically raised or spent their lives with just up and leave to the next house without any knowledge of if they were to be okay-

Conclusion: Fostering was ruled out. Completely.

Or.. that was the plan. They had been all set up for the Adoption system in their local orphanage, system place. They were to find a kid they deemed ‘fit for them’, which both Freddie and Jim hated (it was too formal talking about kids!), and they were to meet the child a few times before deciding that yes, they would adopt the kid.

But then Rami came along.

The frantic call of the Systems office lady would be one that stuck in Jim’s head.

Freddie was on the piano, stroking the keys before they were to go head off to bed for the night, all snuggled up and warm next to the other. The phone rattled, Freddie huffing in annoyance at his disruption, and Jim had grinned fondly, kissing him on the temple gently before standing from the piano stool in front of the expensive item then proceeding to going off down the fall to answer the phones rattled screaming.

“Garden Lodge,” Jim said as happily and politely as he could, but the tired did seal in that small amount. Because damn it, he was only human “Jim Hutton speaking”

“Hi Jim, it’s Mary,” Not Freddie’s Mary, although Jim had done a double check of the ladies voice to be sure “From the agency”

“Ah! Hello Mary, what causes you to call at this hour?” Ah, it was Agency Mary. Jim asked politely, because his Mother told him to be polite to the people who deserve it.

“We have a little boy- an emergency case and nobody is willing to take him in on the Foster system and I knew you two aren’t on the fostering-side but I have nowhere else to put him for the night” Mary rambled, the sounds of screaming and whimpering sounding from under her voice almost pierced Jim’s ears “And I- oh darling don’t do that, you’ll hurt yourself!” The phone was dropped for a second, and then she came back “Sorry- I-

“We will take him” Jim had decided, then and there. They had talked, he and Freddie, and they agreed that if any emergencies came up they would take anyone in, no matter the case, the child, or the time of day.

The caseworker lady, was no help. At all. When the knock on the door sounded, and they both scrambled their way to answer it: The boy was standing, on wobbly, toddler legs, just at the door by the women’s feet. His red, puffy eyes stared back at the two adults, tears spilling as he chewed on a finger to self soothe as his tiny body shivered in the cold. It was freezing out, and the poor boy had nothing but a blanket and pull-up on.

“Finally,” The lady huffed out with an eye roll of annoyance “He’s been a brat the whole ride here”She practically sneered down at The boy, who glanced up at her at the mention of his body and he whimpered our fearfully “Oh shush” This women was a witch, Jim had thought in anger.

Freddie, beautiful, small, Freddie, knelt down with his arms out for the boy, who stumbled into the house, big, grand, expensive, on his uncoordinated feet. He didn’t walk straight into Freddie’s arms, just took his time stepping into the building, and Freddie leant forward to take the boy into his embrace, circling his arms around the boys tiny, quivering, freezing body and lifting him up gently. The tot didn’t meet his eyes, didn’t dare, just stared down at Freddie’s chest, the finger in his mouth being chewed on ravenously by milk teeth.

“Medicines are here” The lady, the Witch, broke the moment. Slapping a bag of bottled medicines wrapped in a few pieces of paper explaining what the medicines did “Allergies, I think” The With, who Jim couldn’t believe had the audacity to do, shrugged “I’m heading off. Have fun with him, he can scream bloody murder when he wants too” And with that she had started to take off, back into the freezing cold winds and leaving Jim dumbfounded.

He glanced back over at Freddie and the tiny boy in his arms, Freddie shushing him gently as he bounced him rhythmically. Jim had contemplated running after the lady, at least asking his name, his details, anything else other than the slurs she had called him, but he hadn’t. He shut the door with a gentle slam, because the boy obviously didn’t need that at the moment, and turned to his husband.

“Uhm..” Now what should Jim say. His husband had a still crying boy, practically still a baby, in his arms, and Jim was standing there with medicines in a bag. For what, he didn’t even know “Are you hungry?”

Freddie and Jim watched as the little boy munched quietly and clumsily on his cereal. It was all they had. He sat on a few pillows to prop him up, because the boy really was tiny. He couldn’t climb up into the chair on his own, which Joe had been able to do at three. They questioned how old the boy was, because they didn’t know. He couldn’t’v been older than three, surely.

“So, bud,” Jim spoke up again, because Freddie was still struck in awe as the little boy with the big greenie-blue eyes glanced up at them with the spoon of half spilling cereal going back onto the plate, even some spilling onto the table “What’s your name?”

Great Jim, amazing question.

“Mh..” Rami mumbled as he twisted his body in what neither Freddie or Jim understood at the time “Rami..” Like a whisper in the wind, the boy responded with his name.

“Rami,” Freddie smiled, and Jim grinned “That’s a lovely name”

And then, the most amazing thing happened. Rami giggled.

It was a high pitched, beautiful noise sounding from the boys back of his throat and he looked shocked that he could make the noise anyway. Freddie clamped hands over his mouth in joyful shock and Jim grinned a beaming grin. That was the cutest little noise they had both heard. Ever.

Chapter Text

Rami wasn’t very happy today, everyone could see it. As soon as Rami had woken up, he was in a bit of a state, crying silently as Freddie picked him up from his bed and shushed him gently. He had stopped crying, but he was still so sad. Whatever had gotten the boy upset, must’ve hit him hard.

“My baby, what’s wrong? Won’t you tell me, darling?” Freddie cooed as he played with Rami’s soft curls. The little boy just sniffled and whined, covering his face in Freddie’s chest “Alright, my baby, that’s alright”

When Freddie had to go out with the boys to the studio, and Jim was left to look after Rami and Aaron, the youngest still wasn’t very happy. He had been whining and sniffling all day, even making Aaron worries for his baby brother. Rami had slumped up against Aaron earlier, and the oldest thought he had died and panicked. Rami has just looked up at him with his big glassy eyes and whimpered. Aaron has hugged him for an hour straight and had refused to let go. And still, he was so upset.

Jim was sat on the sofa now with the little boy on his lap, who kept giving sad whimpers every now and then. Aaron was sat right up close to Jim’s side, gripping Rami’s hand gently as the littlest one stared ahead at the tv with a quivering lip the whole time. Jim kept two arms around each of them, honestly feeling like a bad parent. He was allowing Aaron to get upset about Rami being so upset with no cause.

Rami, whimpered again loudly and, from his place laying on Jim’s chest, looked up at him and started to sob. Aaron startled, and Jim was slightly in shock before getting his bearings.

“Oh, my baby” Jim quickly twister Rami around in his lap “What’s wrong, Ram’s, you gotta tell us” Jim pulled Rami close, his his curly head of hair was resting on Jim’s chest comfortable as his body wracked with sobs

Rami just shrugged from his place on Jim’s chest, the feeling of Aaron’s hand coming to grab Rami’s hand in s tight yet gentle hold

Jim rubbed his back gently, and hoped whatever troubled Rami would not be around much longer. They all missed their bubbly little baby.

Chapter Text

“Tell me!” Rami complained as he tried to nab at the Polaroid picture Aaron was showing to Gwilym. The oldest had been showing everyone, apart from Rami, the picture, and he still was the last to see it. And boy was he pissed “Aaron!!” He whined, going onto his tippy toes to reach up and nab at it again like he was imitating a crab on the beach

“Oh no Ram’s, your too young for this” Gwilym snickered and licked eyes with Aaron for a moment, who howled out at whatever was supposed to be funny

“Joe saw!” Rami complained again “I wanna see too!” Aaron took the photo away from Gwilym, who kept snickering, and the oldest ruffled the youngest’s’ curls teasingly, making his way straight past John and Roger, who were talking on the other side of the room, the others in their own little bubbles. Aaron made his way into the kitchen. Rami was right behind him

“Let me see” He deadpanned, looking up at Aaron with an annoyed frown plastered on his lips

“No” Aaron chuckled, rushing around the house quickly. He rounded the table a few times, trying to shake the youngest off his case

“Let me see!!” He whined, rushing up straight behind his older brother to effectively kick Aaron gently in the shin

“Ow!” The oldest complained out of shock “You little-“

“What are you two yelling about now?” Freddie asked with a smile, coming into the kitchen to gather Delilah into his arms and hoist her up gently “I hope you two are playing nicely”

“We are” Aaron grinned

“Aaron’s being annoying!” Rami yelled, pointing up at his older brother

“Oh?” Freddie teased gently with a smile, stroking the top of Delilah’s head gently “And what’s he doing, my little love?”

“Not showing me a photo” Rami said with a scowl, glancing up at his older brother, who stuck his tongue out at in him annoyance. Little f-

“Oh, that photo, ah, right, well..” Freddie snorted gently “Best you not see it, my darling”

“Wha-“

“For once, he didn’t take your side, that’s shocking” Aaron grinned at his younger brothers shocked face

“But-“

“I’m only saying it because your to-“

“I’m fifteen!!” Rami yelled, flailing his arms open wide as if to show his age by uncrossing his arms

“Oh don’t remind me, you two grew up so fast,” Freddie glanced at Rami “Maybe not so much you dear”

Rami scowled and crossed his arms again in teenage angst at that. How dare his own dad, his favourite dad for that matter, bring up his height. How rude

“Dad just owned you” Aaron laughed, patting his younger brother on the shoulder gently and followed Freddie out of the room as they were all called by Jim. Rami huffed, and followed after them a few steps behind

“You’ve seen the photo, haven’t you?” Rami asked Joe from their place on the sofa. They were watching tv, Spider-Man obviously, and the adults were talking amongst themselves, as were the other kids, so Joe and Rami had decided that they didn’t wanna be sociable for a while, and decided that spending the evening with Peter Parker was better than talking to family. Which, okay, it probably was

“Hm?” Joe startled and looked up at Rami, the chocolates that were half way to his mouth falling into the gingers lap “Aaron’s? Yeah, I saw it” He snorted “Have you?”

“No!” Rami exclaimed “Why? What is it? Is it bad?” He bounces on his seat slightly. Joe would tell him!

“Uhm.. I can’t tell you” Joe, his faithful Joey, his ginger knight in shining armour, betrayed him “Your too-“

“I swear to God if someone says I’m too young I think I’m gonna kill myself or something! Your a year older!” Rami yelled a bit too loud, and everyone turned to them “Uhm.. sorry”

Everything went back to how it went before their disruption.

Joe snorted “Over dramatic much? And it’s not worth the trouble, it’s boring” Joe shrugged, grabbing another chocolate and eating it

“Still.. ‘wanna see” Rami sulked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back into the sofa with a huff “Can’t you tell me?”

“Nope,” Joe grinned, popping the P “Aaron would kill me”

“Then sacrifice yourself for me” Rami grinned cheekily

Joe gave him a look “Rami what the fu-“

“Boys!” John called, giving Joe a glare

“Sorry dad”
“Sorry Uncle Deaky”

“Gwilly!” Rami yelled, hugging around Gwilym waist, who chuckled and spun around quick, somehow managing to heft the youngest teen into him arms and hold him up like simba

“What, my tiny friend?” Gwilym grinned up at Rami as the youngest kicked his legs slightly

“Put me down,” Rami complained, and Gwilym popped him back down onto the ground “What on the picture Aaron has?”

“Ah,” Gwilym ruffled his curls gently in apologies “Sorry bud, no can do” He shrugged “Aaron doesn’t want you too see it”

“But I-“

“And I understand why, you are so young after all-“

“Oh my god!” Rami complained and ran off, out of the kitchen. He ran back to the doorway of the kitchen, though, to say “I’m fifteen!” Then ran off again

“Exactly!” Gwilym yelled, Rami grumbling in annoyance as he ran to his room and shut the door.

Delilah was laying on his bed, looking up at him with her big intensive eyes

“I hate all of them, Delilah,” He huffed and sat next to the cat “Every single one of them”

“...”

“Yeah, your right, I don’t really hate them” Rami sighed as he stroked under the cats chin gently

“Guys look at this picture of-“ Aaron’s voice echoed through the house

“Except Aaron. I’m going to kill him” Rami rumbled, flopping backwards, the cat crawling her way up onto Rami’s chest, who gave a soft sneeze from his allergies

Chapter Text

The blondie yelled happily as he ran around the house, gripping onto Frankie’s leash tightly in his hand. The pup followed after him, barking up at him as he laughed and giggled.

“Ben!” Came an echoed yell from upstairs, and Ben stopped on his tracks, skidding slightly on the floor. Roger, from all the way upstairs to his own room, was yelling “It’s five in the morning! Go back to bed!”

“Can’t dad!” Ben grinned, yelling back. Frankie have a mighty bark at all the noise and her tail wagged happily behind her “We are on an adventure!”

“At this time?!” Roger yelled, annoyance on his tone. Ben giggled and didn’t respond, just going back to running and yelling

He was a little spawn of evil, Roger was sure of it.

Chapter Text

Phoebe smiled brightly as Aaron grinned at the camera. He had just got the camera out, and of course the oldest little boy had to get in the first few shots.

“Oh, very marvellous Aaron” Phoebe chuckled as Aaron did a little dance from his space stood on the floor “Wheres your dads, Ari?”

“Kitchen,” Aaron leaned up onto his tippy toes “Are you gonna film them?”

“Of course! Is Rami in there too?” Phoebe asked as he ruffled the boys hair fondly, who batted his hand away in joy and nodded along to his question

“Yeah, he’s still eating” Aaron smiled, happy to be talking about his baby brother “I wanna come film them too!”

“Alright, but we have to sneak up on them, okay?” Phoebe said, and Aaron nodded.

The camera cut too zooming in on Jim and Freddie kissing for a moment, before a whine was heard, and the two were chuckling, walking out of frame to whoever had protested their love. The camera moved for a moment, to reveal Jim, Freddie and now Rami snuggled between the two’s chests, giggling happily up at them with sauce all over his face and down his shirt.

“Daddy!” Aaron rushed in, hugging Jim’s hips tight with a laugh. Rami was looking down at him with a grin and a finger caught between his milk teeth, and Freddie turned his head towards the camera with a yell of laughter

“Caught you dear!” He laughed, and Phoebe laughter echoed from behind it also.

The camera cut again to Rami and Aaron looking at a photograph from their place sat on the floor. Rami was practically in Aaron’s lap, and the oldest had his arms protectively wrapped around his waist. They were talking quietly, and behind the camera this time, was Jim.

“Show the camera what you have, dears” Jim’s smile was evident in his voice, and they both glanced up excitedly to Jim. Rami scooted out of Aaron’s lap and crawled over to Jim, to lazy to use his wobbly legs at the moment, so he worked his way around using them.

Rami came up close to the camera, the sounds of his snuffly breaths sounding from above it as off camera, he showed the picture.

“Ram’s, you gotta move so the camera can see too!” Aaron directed, and Rami followed along. Soon enough, Rami’s face popped into screen with his big blue eyes and his tiny button nose. He didn’t have sauce all over his face anymore though, probably washed away by Jim or possibly even Freddie.

“Look, Daddy” Rami said as he showed the picture too the camera “It’s daddy from before” He gave a small grin, and looked at the photo for himself. It had been a photo of Freddie from the seventies, wearing one of his famous leotards up on stage, singing his hearts content

“Now where did you two find that, huh?” Jim teased, and Rami’s face scrunched up in giggles as he held the photo close to his heart “Have you two been sneaking around?”

Rami kept giggling as he shook his head, twisting his body away from Jim so he could keep the photo for himself

“No~” He laughed, all throaty, and toddled back to Aaron, effectively plopping himself back into his brother’s lap, making the older one laugh and try to steady the tot

“No? You stayin’ with Ari so he can protect you?” Jim asked as the camera was moved around slightly, only for another voice to sound from the side

“There you all are!” Freddie sounded happily from above “Silly boys, all three of you” Freddie laid down on the carpeted floor, and both Aaron and Rami jumped straight onto him with yells of incoherent speech

Jim laughed as he watched his husband get jumped onto by their children

The camera cut to black.

“Rami, you were the tiniest little by ever” Joe grinned, nudging the blushing man in the side

“Oh quit it, I’m a twin! Twins are normally smaller!” He justified with a grin

“Still,” Gwilym came up behind the sofa and wrapped his arms around Rami’s chest once he had leaned down “You were so smaaaaall, like a tiny cupcake”

“Get off me!” Rami giggled, trying to push Gwilyms arms off of him “Gwil!”

“Why are you all acting like he still isn’t small now?” Ben teased, patting Rami’s knee gently

“Oh I swear to go- Aaron! Come save me!” Rami didn’t know why he bothered calling his brother, he knew he would only be teased more by Aaron than the others would ever dream of.

Chapter Text

Freddie and Jim were saying their goodbyes to their two boys, who were staying at Brian’s for the day so they could have time to themselves for the day off, and they were getting to the part where Rami would normally start to tear up. They were at the door, smiling and giving hugs and kisses on the foreheads with promises of being good and then they stepped out of the door and-

“Bye dads!” Rami grinned, stood between the two teens and grinning brightly at them. Freddie glanced at Jim, who was staring rather rudely with his mouth open like a fish “What?” Rami asked gently “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, baby, just, well, goodbye boys!” Freddie hurried, looping his arm with Jim’s and they made their way back to the car, Brian shutting the door behind them. Normally, Rami would’ve cried for a bit, hugging Gwilyms waist gently as he weeped about his dads never coming back but now-

Rami stepped back and went straight to his bag, that he had put down near his shoes, and pulled out his walker talkie. Brian, Gwilym and Aaron stared in shock, watching as Rami, smiling and happy as he tuned into the right stations, wasn’t crying. Huh.

“Alright then,” Brian smiled slightly “I’ll go make sandwiches, your dads said you hadn’t eaten” With that, the tallest went into the kitchen all smug like.

“So, Ram’s, what do you wanna do?” Gwilym asked, and Rami just glanced up at the two, then shrugged

“Don’t really mind” He presses a few more buttons, before grinning “Do you know if Joes still home?”

“I don’t think he said otherwise” Aaron shrugged, and Rami gave a nod, walking into the kitchen absently and sitting on the sofa comfortably, barely taking any room with his small figure. The two teens followed.

“Are you alright?” Gwilym asked “Your normally..”

“Normally what?” Rami said and looked up at them, frowning “I’m fine, are you two alright?”

“...peachy” Aaron said quietly, then sat next to his brother, Gwilym sitting on the other side.

They watched Tv for the rest of the day.

“Wait, let’s watch that movie again!” Rami beamed brightly as the cover for the latest marvel movie flowed up onto the screen.

Ben groaned “We watched that twice!” The blond turned to the smaller, who was laying on his stomachs comfortably, his comics strewn out in front of him, half read “Lets do something else, yeah bud? Like, aeroplanes!”

Rami gave him a look “Ben, I’m not a kid anymore, I don’t wanna play that anymore, please? Just this movie, one more time, okay?” He gave those eyes, and although his said he was older now, he still had that younger look to his face, and it still worked Ben around his finger.

“Fine,” He groaned “Once, though”

“Thanks Ben” He grinned.

Normally Ben was ‘Benny’, not just Ben.

“Rami! Action figures!” Joe panted through the walkie talkie, Rami startling from his place at his desk where he had been doodling iron man pictures and the other avengers “Store- down the- road- from m-mine!” He panted, and he sounded like he was running

“Joe!” He yelled, and fumbled over his chair, falling face first, but recovering quick, and leaning up on his bed to grab the talkie from the side table “Where? Which one? Are you running?!”

“Yeah I’m going to- yours- I got some-“ The panting stopped for a second, and then there was a knock at the door “I’m-“

“Here!” Rami grinned and rushed down the hall. He stopped at the end of the stairs and looked at the banister. He decided, then and there, that he was too jump onto the side of it, swing his legs around and slide down, jumping off at the end. He didn’t land as gracefully as he wanted, and ended up rolling onto his side. He stood up quick, and came face-to-chest with Jim.

“Rami! What was that-“

“Can’t talk!” He rushed and ran to the door, swinging it open with a grin. Joe was revealed, leaning on the other door with his elbow and panting heavily “Which ones did you get?!”

“Hello to you- too”

“Joe,” Jim said from behind Rami, putting a hand over his sons shoulder gently “Does your dad know your here?”

No answer

“Right inside, both of you”

“You slid down the banister?!” Aaron yelled with a grin “You!”

“Yes me, and now I’m grounded for the week” Rami huffed, crossing his arms. He had marched straight too Aaron’s room when John had come to collect Joe, and Jim and Freddie had told him that he was grounded for being caught doing something ‘so dangerous! Baby, you could’ve hurt yourself’ (Thank you, Freddie)

“Wow, you really are growing up” Aaron sounded as if he was tearing up, and the oldest stood from his place on the bed, his arms spread wide open “Come ‘ere, my big baby brother”

“No, Aaron no! Go away! Aaron!” Rami’s voice was muffled by Aaron’s chest. The

Chapter Text

“Uncle Freddie!” Ben came running down the hall and bursting into the kitchen “Uncle Freddie, Rami needs you!” The blond look distressed, and Freddie shot up instantly, moving quick past Ben who rushed to Roger to explain to him what was going on. Brian and Jim followed after Freddie a step behind, and John stayed with Roger to help calm down his boy.

The three running went into the living room, to find Rami laying on the floor, unblinking. His chest was heaving, and the other three little boys were sat watching in fear. Joe was gripping a few building blocks, and Aaron held Gwilyms shirt tight in his own hand. They looked as if they had been backing away from Rami.

“Baby,” Freddie cooed gently, kneeling down on the floor, not close to Rami but close enough “Rami look at me, darling”

Brian gently herded the three boys out of the room and took them too the kitchen, Aaron going reluctantly as Jim stayed standing by the door frame.

Rami, didn’t respond. He had done this before, after a particular bad meltdown, Rami had just shutdown completely, throwing himself onto the floor and staying still, staring right ahead and not blinking. Jim had quickly called the doctor whilst Freddie had shushed the boy gently, not knowing what to do. It took a few minutes before he had come out of the shutdown state, and Freddie cradled him close to his chest.

Now though, even now that they knew what to do, they didn’t know how long Rami would be shutdown for. Freddie shushed him gently as he leaned over and grabbed one of Rami’s comfort items, his favourite stuffed animal, into his hands.

“Here darling, it’s okay, it’s just me, I’m going to come closer now, and you can have your toy, and we can go upstairs together and lay on the bed for a bit, okay?” Freddie used his softer tone as he gently placed the toy into Rami’s hands, who gave a tiny whimper, but fell silent at the soft, familiar shushes.

Freddie, ever so gently, with cautious hands, lifted the boy up and into his arms gently, holding him bridal style and slowly making him way upstairs to one of the spare rooms. Jim had gone to the kitchen to tell Brian where they would be, and the curly haired one was nodding when Freddie walked past them.

Freddie went up the stairs, and opened the door to one of the spare rooms. The blinds were already closed, thank god, as Rami didn’t like bright lights when he was in a state like this. Freddie gently laid the boy down onto the big bed, and Freddie took a seat on the arm chair just by the bed, giving soft “shhh, I’m here baby” and “don’t worry, sweetie, you come back when your ready” along with “I’ll protect you, it’s okay”

Chapter Text

Ben came into the studio giggling, Joe and Rami looking up from their comics, Gwilym looking up from one of the books he had borrowed from his dad, and Aaron glanced over his shoulder from fiddling with a few of the knobs in the studio.

“Guess what” Ben grinned, sitting on the sofa, his grin all smug

“You punched Prenter?” Aaron guessed
“Your severely ill and dying?” Gwilym joked
“Uncle Roger got you that drum set?” Joe asked eagerly
“You fell in love?” Rami smiled happily

“Bingo, Ram’s- Also What the hell Gwil” Ben was grinning, until his smile fell

Gwilym shrugged

“Who are they?” Rami grinned happily, shooting up and jumping to Ben’s side

“A lovely girl named Olivia” Ben grinned “She’s so pretty, you’d love her”

“What’s she like?” Rami said excitedly, so happy for one of his cousins to have a crush

“Oh stop it,” Aaron grinned, pushing Rami back by his shoulders “I bet she doesn’t exist”

“She does!” Ben yelled

“I bet she does!” Rami yelled up at his brother, then looking at Ben “I believe you, Ben”

“Thank you, Rami, at least someone does” Ben did a fake bow, and Rami giggled slightly

“Alright then,” Joe came up to them “How hot is she?”

“Joe!” Most of them yelled, but Ben just laughed

“Hotter than anyone you’ve ever seen!” Ben yelled excitedly, waving his arms around frantically, the other day hanging off of his every word

“That’s not possible” Joe crossed his arms “Your such a liar”

“I’m not, I would never lie to you my favourite ginger” Ben joked, squishing Joe’s cheeks gently. The ginger slapped his hand away and the others laughed “Ow, ass-“

“Language!” Aaron yelled

“Oh we all know what it means!” Ben complained, and Rami giggled with a nod

“Oh Alright then, go talk about your new lover” Aaron waved his arms and stepped back, sitting back in the spiny chair and watching the boys as they fawned as Ben spoke about his new crush, who most likely didn’t exist.

Chapter Text

“I hate you both so much!” Rami, the normally quiet, shy kid, yelled so loudly it echoed through the studio. He slammed the door so hard the room rattled with it, and the skinny boy went running down the hall. He turned a few corners, wiping his tears as he went, his vision going partially blurred as he wiped his sleeve roughly against his eyes

Rami kept running, until he collided straight into someone’s arms. The arms wrapped around his chest and held him close to the owners stomach-to-back, and Rami yelled, pushing and elbowing until the person let go.

“Ram’s, Rami, it’s me! It’s uncle roger!” The person -Roger?- said calmly, loosening his hold and pushing the boy forwards gently to turn him around. Roger knelt down, and caught Rami’s gaze as the youngest teen heaved.

“Uncle.. I-“ Rami gasped out, giving a whine as he covered his face with his sleeve-covered hands again

“Hey bud, it’s okay, deep breaths for me” Roger said calmly, placing a gentle hand on his upper arm and rubbing gently to help soothe the boys breathing back to a normal pace

“I just.. I got into an argument with... dads and...” He heaved, coughing on choked up tears as his back quivered.

“Alright, lets go talk about this outside for a moment, okay? Just ‘round the back, get you some fresh air” Riger explained, and Rami nodded, Roger taking the curly haired boy under his arm and guiding him down to the back gardens exit way. Roger held the door open for the boy, and Rami exited to lean up against the wall with a sigh as he levelled his breathing.

“You alright now?” Roger asked gently, and Rami nodded “Good, now what’s this argument about that you were telling me about?”

“They just.. their so annoying sometimes!” Rami complained in teen-angst “Like- I don’t know to explain it, they just annoy me!” He threw his hands up in a rather Freddie-like way, which demonstrated exactly which son he was.

“I get that, I hated my parents at your age too” Roger grinned slightly at the memories.

Rami stilled, his hands fiddling in front of his chest “I don’t.. hate them.. they just, y’know”

“Yeah kid, I know,” Roger smiled softly and ruffled his curls gently “I know exactly what your feeling, I got into all types of arguments with my folk when I was 14”

“I’m 15”

“Same thing” Roger shrugged

“It’s not-“

“Shh, let your uncle remember” Roger hushed rudely, but teasingly, and Rami gave a watery giggle.

Their moment was broken by the door slamming open, Freddie and Jim both bursting out, tripping over each other. Jim didn’t look pleased, and Freddie looked flustered. Roger caught the roll of Rami’s eyes when Freddie started to coo at him, whilst he barely took a second glance at Jim’s Look. Roger didn’t blame him, that Look looked deadly.

Chapter Text

Rami watched as Joe and Ben sneered at each other, holding a blue block in one hand and a red one in the other. Aaron and Gwilym weren’t in a better situation, just next to him, they were arguing over something that was spelled or pronounced in one of Gwilyms books. Rami sniffled, and looked between them all.

“Guys.. come play” He said quietly, almost sounding like a question as he lifted his blocks up slightly to at least catch their eye.

But nobody looked. Nobody turned backwards to say ‘Of course Rami! Let’s go play blocks, all happy and friendly and no fighting!’ Like Rami wanted them to say. They just kept yelling, not sparing a glance at the youngest that sat alone in the room. Rami sighed, and tested up slightly. He didn’t like being ignored.

He whined, and stood up on his clumsy legs, debating whether to go to Gwilym and Aaron, or Ben and Joe. Scratch that, he was going to daddy.

Rami darted our of the room, rubbing his eyes with a fist, the one holding the red block, and made his watch through the house to go see his daddies.

“Daddy” Rami whined as he rushed up to him, wrapping his arm around his leg with a whine “Uppy daddy”

“Oh baby,” Freddie cooed from above him, lifting the boy up onto his hip and kissing his wet cheek gently “What’s wrong?”

“Arguin’ daddy” He whimpered “‘n I don’t like it” He kicked his legs slightly in agitation, thankfully not kicking anyone in the side.

“Oh baby, that’s alright, they will sort it out, whatever it is” Freddie set Rami on the counter and kissed his forehead gently with a loud ‘mwah!’ to make Rami smile. He did, and Freddie grinned.

“Do you want me to go sort it out, love?” John asked from behind Freddie, and Rami nodded his head slightly. If it was going to be anyone to help sort their arguing, it was going to be Uncle John.

“I’m sure they are probably just arguing about silly stuffs, Ram’s! Big boy stuff” Brian shrugged, helping the boy feel better whilst Roger went with John to sort the others out.

“I’m a big boy” Rami said confidently, with his building blocks in each hand a tear marks streaming down his cheeks.

Both Freddie and Brian chuckled, Freddie nodding “Oh of course you are, darling! The biggest boy in the world!”

Rami felt a pang of annoyance at Freddie “Don’t tease” He said as he crossed his arms in front of his stomach

That sent Brian into howling laughter, and Freddie just looked in shock at his sons attitude. He definitely, one-thousand percent got that from him. Definitely.

Chapter Text

“I’m fifteen!” Rami yelled as Freddie tried to cut up his food into micro pieces so he ‘didnt choke’ “Dad!”

“Alright! Alright! Just trying to make sure you don’t die, darling!” Freddie dropped the knife and fork, and threw his hand ups in mock surrender, sitting back down in his seat.

Rami groaned and started to eat quick. His finished he food in record time and stood up quick

“Excuse me, young man,” Jim said in that tone, and Rami had to turn back around to look at them all staring at him “What’s this all about?”

Rami sighed “Nothin’” He fidgeted with his longer sleeves “I just-“

“‘You just’? ‘You just’ better come sit back down and wait for everyone else to finish also” Jim said, looking away form Rami and going back to his plate, as did everyone else. Apart from Aaron, because he was annoying, and had to keep staring at him with that look that screamed ‘Dude dads gonna crucify you’ as he went back to his seat, and sat down again, his head hung low.

“So, Rami, How was school?” No. No way. Dad did not get to act like everything was alright after he was just so rude and annoying!

“It was great, thanks” He almost spat it out, but he reframed. Although, his tone wasn’t the best, and Jim did give him a look for it. Rami grinned, all sarcastic, and Jim sighed

“Aaron, what did you do today?” Rami’s blocked out the conversation after that, huddling down in his chair to hunch comfortable in it, arms still crossed as he stared at a lone pea on the dining table.

“Dad!” Rami yelled, kicking his foot backwards and away from Jim’s hands as he tried to tie his shoes the next morning. He was still salty, so what, he was annotated at him, and was going to show it.

“What? I’m helping” Rami hates the way Jim sounded. He was smiling, he could hear it.

“I can tie it myself!” He complained, dropping his bag, and tying them quick “There, See? Done”

When Rami looked up, Jim was grinning at him, chuckling slightly when Rami gave him a confused look.

“What?!” He yelled as he stood up straight, Jim doing the same

“Nothing, bud, go to school” Jim said as he went to ruffle his hair- no. Nope no way, not today.

“Okay goodbye dad!” Was thrown over his shoulder as Rami ducked the hand quick, grabbed his bag and rushed to the door, pulling it open with force “Goodbye!”

“Bye, Ram’s, have a good day” Jim yelled half with a chuckle, Rami trying so hard not to hide his little grin.

“I’ll try” He complained, and out the door he was.

Chapter Text

“Dads..” Rami fidgeted at the doorway, glancing between both Jim and Freddie. The two of them, from their place on the sofa, looked up in confusion at their youngest boys hesitance. Was something wrong?

“I uh..” Rami glanced back down at the ground, unable to look his parents in the eye anymore

“You punched someone?” Freddie guessed, wincing at Jim’s bump to his side “What? What else could it be?”

“I-“ Rami tried again, but his mouth went all sticky and and gulped to help ease the rock down his throat

“Your failing a class? Is that it?” Freddie guessed again “If that’s it darling, we don’t mind, we can help if you want, grades aren’t everything-“

“I have a boyfriend!” Rami yelled, slapping a hand over his mouth as he took in his parents’ faces. He went silent. They went silent. It was unbearable, the echos of absolute silence from the abyss, he couldn’t take it. Rami backed up a few steps, and legged it up to his bedroom, the sounds of both Jim and Freddie yelling for him being silenced by the slam of his door. Rami panicked, and hid under the bed.

“Rami, darling” Freddie sounded from behind his door a few hours later, the knocking sound coming to Rami’s ears. He had been under the bed for a while now, not moving from his place. Maybe he was getting s but uncomfortable, and he was definitely going to have some sort of back problem after this, but he didn’t care. He was too in fear to move from his place.

“I brought up your dinner, your favourite” Freddie called again, and Rami just curled up tighter and gripped his ears.

“Go away!” He yelled, his voice most probably muffled from his place under the bed

“Baby, please.. it’s okay” Freddie said gently, a sadness laced into his tone as the sound of the door clicking gently was heard, and Freddie entered. Freddie padded over to the bed, and soon enough, Freddie’s head was peaking under from where he had gone on all fours to see him.

“Go..” He whimpered, shutting his eyes tight and trying to keep the sobs at bay.

“No baby,” Freddie put his arm under the bed, and gripped Rami’s wrist gently “Come out now, please” He gave a slight tug on the boys wrist and he grinned when Rami didn’t pull away.

Rami sniffled, and climbed out slowly, a snails pace really, and once he was out and sitting cross legged in front of Freddie, warm arms enveloped him into a soft, yet grounding chest. Rami’s body was whacked with silent sobs as he gripped Freddie’s shirt gently.

“It’s okay, baby, we really don’t mind, you know that, right? It’s okay, shush now, your alright” Freddie lifted him off of his feet, his legs dangling uselessly as Freddie held him up in his arms.

Rami snuggled closer, and the corner of his lip perked up slightly. Safe.

“Dads, this is Charlie,” Rami said quietly, gesturing to the much taller boy stood next to him. He was a blondie, grey steel eyes that pierced through anything they gazed at “My..”

“Boyfriend” Freddie grinned at the two of them, Rami blushing, and Charlie grinning.

“It’s nice to meet you both” Charlie stuck his hand out politely for both Jim and Freddie to shake, and they did so with a grin. Freddie was all smiles and giggles, Jim on the other hand...

“How old are you then, Charlie?” Jim said, and although Rami knew his dads voice was very mono-tone in the first place, with his thick accent and hard stone face half the time, he still felt a bit sick just thinking abut his Dads not liking Charlie.

“Sixteen, oldest in the class” Charlie smiled, not letting any emotion show that the two would’ve displeased of. Charlie stood next to Rami again and smiled at him gently with a flash of his perfect teeth. Oh, he had fell hard.

“Alright then,” Jim crossed his arms and gave a look over the boy “You drink?”

“Dad!” Rami yelled, snapping his head to Jim, and Freddie slapped him gently on the arm

“Oh darling leave him be, c’mon boys, dinner is ready” Freddie teased Jim, and turned back to the boys, beckoning them into the kitchen with a smile. Charlie, ever the pro, linked his arm with Rami and they followed Freddie, Jim right behind them, with a lack of smile still.

Charlie helped set the table, and soon enough Aaron was rushing down the stairs, ruffling Rami’s hair gently and taking his seat. Rami moved from his seat next to Aaron, normally, to the two extras on the other side to sit next to Charlie. Jim and Freddie on either end.

“So, Charlie, you work at all?” Aaron asked, smiling as they started to tuck into their food.

“Paper-round, kinda boring” He shrugged and grinned, bumping Rami’s side gently with his elbow, who grinned up at him as the tension flew from his shoulders that tiny bit.

“Nice,” Aaron grinned “Rami would never”

“I would” Rami turned to his brother and grinned “But the position has already been filled” He shrugged, and Charlie gave a laugh, Aaron chuckling. Good, it was going great.

But, when both Rami and Charlie were going to go upstairs, Jim had called.

“Keep that door open!” Which made Rami choke on saliva and almost fall back down the stairs in shock. Charlie laughed and caught him, helping him calm down as they stood on the last few steps upwards.

“Dad we aren’t-“ Rami yelled over Charlie’s laughter, his hand gripping his slim shoulder in his broad hand.

“I don’t care, door open!” Jim yelled back, and Charlie almost died as they stepped up the few last steps, and he collapsed forwards onto the floor in a fit of laughter

“Oh shut it” Rami gently kicked him in the side, and Charlie grabbed his foot and yanked him down along with him, the two squirming on the floor as they got into a heap of tangled limbs together.

“Now we are stuck” Rami grinned, looking down at his arms, which had been wrapped around Charlie’s torso. Charlie was gazing into his eyes, and got a soft kiss on the cheek, which made Rami squeal gently and kiss his cheek back.

God they were such nerds.

Chapter Text

Rami sighed as he looked at all of the books, papers and highlighters strewn around the place. ‘Highlight the important parts’ they said, so Rami highlighted half of it.

He groaned and contemplated throwing his book at the wall, then jumping out the window just to feel something that wasn’t annoyance and anger at his fucking maths assignment.

Whoever likes maths is a fucking weirdo.

“You alright, kid?” Aaron asked, and Rami did throwing a highlighter over his own head and hoped to hit Aaron. He missed, completely. And fuck, it was his good highlighter.

“Fuck. You.” He groaned, hiding his face in his hands “I hate everything and everyone”

“Maths, huh” Aaron sighed gently, coming over and setting his highlighter back onto Rami’s desk “Lemme help”

“You hate maths” Rami grumbled, yet pushes the sheets of paper closer to him so his brother could see.

“It can’t be that bad- oh fuck ratio” Aaron groaned also, flipping through the papers “Jesus how- Joe much did they give you guys?”

“Only I get this shit” He whined “Because I’m just ‘so smart’” Rami grumbled in a mocking tone of what had to’v been a female teacher.

“That ain’t fair” Aaron shook his head “Did you tell Dads about this?”

“Nope” He shook his head “Because they think I can handle it too”

“Nah man, if you talked to them they can help” Aaron pushes the paper back and went to the doorway “I’ll talk to them, Kay?”

“‘Kay, thanks, Ari” Rami smiled slightly, and Aaron smiled back

“No problem little bud”

Chapter Text

“Jim!” Freddie giggled as his husband came up behind him, giving him a big hug around his chest and a kiss to his cheek. Freddie smiled brightly, and wrapped arms around Jim’s own, allowing Jim to kiss him all he wanted.

However, at the sound of the ruckus, Rami came storming in, his socked feet padding down the hall and to the living room, whining as he went.

“No nonono!” Rami whined, stopping by Freddie and Jim’s feet, looking up at them with an angry scowl on his face “Stop”

“Oh? What’s wrong, baby?” Freddie asked gently, Jim squeezing him gently, so more giggled escaped.

“Stoooop!” Rami stomped his foot, and out his arms up “Uppy” He demanded, which Freddie took mock offensive too.

“In a moment, baby” Freddie turned to a spin, and spun around to face Jim and give him a kiss on the lips. Rami, did not enjoy that at all.

“No!!” He yelled, whining out all grumpy like as he kept his arms up “Mine, Uppy now please”

“Oh? Yours?” Jim teased, although Rami looked as if he was more than displeased

“Yes mine! Daddy Uppy now!” He whined, turning back to Freddie “Now now!”

“Hey, don’t start with that” Freddie scolded gently, snuggling into Jim more “Me and your dad are having dad time”

“No dad time!” Rami yelled “Baby time!”

Jim chuckled, and leant down to pick Rami up, but the boy quickly dodged his father, to go to the next, hugging Freddie’s legs with an innocent grin. Freddie lifted the boy and held him on his hip.

“Baby time” Rami stick his tongue out all cheeky like at Jim, and he took mock offence, a hand over his heart in fake offence.

“Without me?” Jim said with a shock, and Rami just gave throaty giggles and snuggled his cheek into Freddie’s chest

“Without you” Freddie answered for Jim, and he took Rami off and upstairs so they could go read a book or something together until Rami fell asleep, and he and Jim could have time alone together. He loved their children, so much, yet he still sometimes needed time alone from them. With Jim, together.

He really hoped his plan wouldn’t fail.

Chapter Text

“Oh, Rami I’m so sorry-“ Jim said as he chased after his youngest, who went through each packaged box in a haste to find what he needed. Jim had done some cleaning, separating things from the stuff they no longer needed and could either sell or bin. Rami had come home not just a few minutes ago, looked for his comics and-

“-Gone! They can’t be gone!” Rami sniffled as he ripped open the box, throwing everything out to look for his comics. This couldn’t be happening. He was collecting for a few years, and now it was... gone.

“I know baby, I’ll help look as well okay?” Jim said, a million unsaid apologies flowing through his tone “Dads so sorry, Ram’s, so sorry”

Rami didn’t say anything, just sniffled with a wipe to his nose and he rushed off to the next box, not bothering to clean up the last box he had destroyed. Jim wasn’t going to reprimand him though, not when he was in such a state.

Jim opened a box, a lot neater than Rami’s tactics, and pulled everything that wasn’t the comics out. He pulled out a blanket, that definitely belonged to Aaron at some point, a few children’s-style old tea sets, and some of Freddie’s expired makeup. But no comics.

Rami had gone through three boxes in the time it took Jim to go through the one, and he was hyperventilating as he stood in the centre of the room, surrounded by the mess he had made in his struggle to find what was needed, and tears were streaming down the boys face. So many tears, he was sure to have a headache later tonight.

“Oh baby,” Jim went over to his youngest, gathering him into his arms as he silently broke down “I’m so, so sorry, I honestly am, it was the biggest mistake I made? I’m so sorry” Jim fretted, patting Rami’s soft curls gently as he looked around, taking one last look around before turning his attention to his son once more.

Dinner was silent, and Rami barely even ate. Jim had informed both Freddie and Aaron of the incident, and Freddie had hugged his youngest for at least an hour as soon as he saw him, and Aaron had tried to make his little brother feel better by telling a few jokes, which didn’t do much to help the boys tears.

It was heartbreaking, to see their normally happy boy not talking so excitedly about his day that he was bound to spill or knock a drink over with his fumbling hands. Now, he just sat there, staring at his food, with old and fresh tear tracks splotched on his cheeks.

Jim felt awful. He was the cause of this. He was the cause of his youngest child’s silence, his out-of-ordinary behaviour.

When, and one when the others finished, Rami ran upstairs, Aaron running after him. Jim testing his hands into his head, and Freddie hugged his husband gently.

Upstairs, Rami slammed the door straight on Aaron’s face. In any other circumstance, he would’ve felt bad. But he couldn’t. He felt horrible. His comics. All of them, gone.

“Ram’s, c’mon man, let me in” Aaron pleases desperately, and Rami, even knowing that Aaron couldn’t see him, shook his head with a quivering breath. Rank glanced around for a moment, before locking eyes on his closet. He rushed over, threw the door open, and jumped straight into it, curling up and sobbing silently as he mourned.

Aaron was still calling for him after Rami had calmed down after his attack.

Chapter Text

“I’m...gay” Rami rushed out, squeezing his eyes shut as he sat on Gwilyms bed, legs crossed, arms wrapped around his torso in protection. He knew Gwil would be okay with it, he knew Gwilym wasn’t homophobic, but the fear of him shunning him away, the dread of being pushed out the room, of the family, shunned out like the queer he was-

“Oh,” Gwilym turned around, by the sound of his socked feet padding slightly on the carpet in their haze to turn around “You think so?”

“I don’t.. know” Rami shrugged “But I-.. I don’t feel-“ He sniffled, wiping his nose gently, tears stinging his eyes, even with them shut so close to the world around him.

“Hey,” Gwilym was next to him now, the bed dipping gently from Gwilyms knee. It almost sent Rami tumbling, if Gwilyms arms around his own hadn’t been holding him up right “It’s okay, I’m not mad” A smile was evident in his tone.

“R-really?” He dares to open his eyes, glancing up at his oldest cousin with glassy blue-green eyes. His arms still around his middle section, shoulders scrunched upwards for protection.

Gwilym, perfect Gwilym, grinned watery, with a small nod of his head “Of course not, why would I be?” He gently rocked the two of them. Side to side, rhythmically.

“I just..” A sob, a coughing, dry sob, left his lips harshly, and he practically threw his head into Gwilyms chest, tears coming out in floods, down his cheeks to the others shirt “Thought you might hate-“

“Don’t. Don’t even think that for one second.” Gwilym tightened his hold, his voice become deadly serious as his chin rested on the soft, black curls upon the youngest’s head “I could never, ever, hate you for this. You hear me, Ram’s, never”

Rami nodded gently, and he wrapped his own arms as far as they could reach around the oldest’s back. Gwilym rocked them again, and Rami felt more at peace in his arms.

Rami looked at the magazine and almost gagged. The cover of a magazine that featured a girl, in a rather provocative pose, staring right at the camera, effectively into Rami’s soul, had been passed around his school, and finally he and his cousins were seeing it. Ben and Joe laughed a bit, but stopped when they saw Gwilym and Aaron’s anger. They hadn’t let Rami see, until he caught a glance of it.

He wanted to be sick. He felt violently ill. He hated everything about the photo, the pose, the face, the fear in her eyes. He hated it. He wanted to be sick, rip it up and gauge his eyes out all at the same time.

An unwelcome feeling bubbled in his stomach, and out came his lunch, all down the floor, where he had somehow managed to lean over the bench that could’ve been a safety hazard for splinters, and spew up all the food he ate that day. He glanced at it, glanced back up, caught a second of everyone else’s conceded and shocked looks, until he blacked out.

He had woken up in the hospital wing, Aaron gripping his dainty hand in his bigger ones, until their dads came rushing in, Freddie somehow managing to swoop his youngest up into his arms and literally carry him back into the car, both Jim and Pheobe right behind the two of them, looking so very concerned as Rami’s blurry eyes barely took in anything around him.

He woke up at home, probably from having fallen asleep in the car, with both Delilah and Goliath cuddled up to both of his two sides. He stroked them both, and reframed from rubbing his eyes.

He had his cats to protect him from that ghastly photo.

Ben was talking about his girlfriend, again, and Rami didn’t feel well again. The same feeling he felt during that one lunch break came back, and he really didn’t want to be sick again. He wanted to get away, run to escape from the feeling dragging his insides up and twisting them about until he threw up again. He needed the cats, they could protect him. Or dads, maybe just one of them would be enough, yeah, either Jim or Freddie could protect him.

But they weren’t here. They were in an important meeting, in the office at Garden Lodge. All of the members were there, Dad, Brian, Roger and John, all in the meeting. The boys were too engrossed in the story to see his unease, which really didn’t help.

He needed to escape. Rami glanced a The door, open, wide open, an escape route, and slid down the sofa quietly. He always was good at sneaking around. He slid onto his knees, crawled for a moment, before pelting it out the door, down the hall, into the kitchen, straight in Pheobe’s back-

Wait.

Rami bounced straight onto his butt, shaking his head gently to see Phoebe turn around and start apologising left, right and centre, helping him up with gently yet strong hands. He was easily lifted back onto his feet, and Pheobe brushed him off gently.

“-so sorry, dear, are you alright? Not hurt? No cuts or bruises?” He fussed, and normally Rami would’ve giggled and answered politely but now...

Now he was stuck on the spot, his feet glued to the ground, breathing heavy. The nausea kicked in again, grabbing his lunch’s this time and squeezing hard. It almost hurt.

“Uhm..” He said, placing a delicate hand over his dainty chest, rubbing to slightly ease off the pain. Stop it, please, stop now.

“Oh heavens, my boy, your terribly flushed!” Phoebes hand went from dusting his shoulder to feeling his cheek and forehead “Are you feeling well?”

“N-..no” Better then to lie. Right?

“Oh dear, well, why don’t you head off to bed for now, I’ll tell the boys, and I’ll bring up a sick bowl if you need it, alright?” Perfect Phoebe. He never questioned anything, didn’t accuse you of telling fibs. Perfect Phoebe.

Rami slugged up the stairs, gripping the banister tight every time the thought of Ben’s story came to mind.

When Rami laid in bed, he realised something. The story wasn’t dirty, not in the slightest. It was about Ben and her kissing. Just kissing. Why should that make him feel oh so terribly ill?

He realised something was definitely up when it happened again. Only this time, it wasn’t the bad sort of nausea. Charlie Hunnam, the blond, steel eyed, pretty boy in his science class, had been assigned his partner for their group project... and Rami felt sick again.

Charlie was nice, he wasn’t one of those pratty, I’m-Better-Than-You, kids. He was kind, and he and Rami had had a few conversations over their time in the same class together, but nothing that stuck. But now, now the pretty, blond boy, was now his partner. Who he had to talk to. Like, have a conversation with. He was bricking it.

“Hey Rami,” Charlie had smiled, and took a seat in the bastard, uncomfortable chairs that gave you at least ten knots in your back “Ready to learn about the plant cell?”

Rami had grinned, thankfully not puking up his guts again, and said, “I’d never been more excited for it”

He hadn’t been sick, and they had talked, and talked, and the nausea turned to blooming flowers in his stomach. Along with butterfly’s fluttering about, a whole garden had emerged, and he could not have been happier.

Charlie and his first kiss was... awkward and completely by accident. It was only a few weeks since they started, whatever it was this was, and they had been kissing on the cheek, and then they both moved their heads at the wrong time and-

A peck on the lips. Rami pulled away, with a shocked expression, and Charlie has gone pale.

“Uhm..” Charlie said, his big frozen “Shit I’m.. sorry?”

Rami, who didn’t feel sick anymore, burst out into laughter, eyes twinkling as he hugged his boyfriend - Boyfriend - into his arms tight.

They had laughed the night away.

Chapter Text

Freddie, who claimed he loved his sons equally, definitely had a favourite: Rami.

Aaron knew it, Jim knew it, Phoebe knew it, maybe Rami knew it, but Freddie didn’t. He definitely didn’t see it himself, but the others saw how he favoured his youngest over his oldest. Aaron was alright with it, as he knew he was Jim’s favourite son anyway, but it still made it sweet to see Freddie and Rami together.

Rami, who was slaying on his stomach, eating a bit of cut up fruits dipped into the melted chocolate Phoebe made for them earlier, kicked his legs behind him as he rambled with a smile.

“-and honestly, I was sat there like, that’s literally a hate crime” Rami joked, Freddie throwing his head back to laugh, Rami giving giggles past his food, with a hand over his mouth just in case.

“That’s amazing, darling, honestly,” He snorted “Now, let me tell you about my day”

Rami sat up eagerly, listening close

“Well, I got into the studio, and guess what I get?” Freddie complained, and Rami thought for a second

“Uhhhh, a pie to the face?” He asked, and Freddie gave him a look

“No dear, I get ‘your late again, Fred’” Freddie said with his best Brian impression, which sounded so off it was unbelievable. Rami burst out into laughter, hugging his stomach to stop it from hurting.

“And I’m all like ‘Yes well some of us try to put time and effort into looking good!’ And oh was that the wrong thing to say to a grouchy Brian” Freddie rambled on, stopping a few times to allow his son to breathe through his laughter.

“Brian then, like, gets up and is all, complaining, and the like, so I just pushed him away on the shoulder” Freddie gently nudged the boys shoulder, making him giggle as he dramatically fell back “and That’s exactly what happened! He fell! Straight backwards! And I just couldn’t not laugh at him”

Rami was giving hiccuping laughter now, throaty giggles escaping into the air to fill the peaceful silence that dared to return with the two of them in a room together. Freddie, tears in his eyes at the memory, Judy laughed also, trying to finish his story without eating interrupted by his own laughter, which failed completely.

They both ended up laughing, laying on the floor, their chocolate strawberry’s and like forgotten for a moment or two.

Chapter Text

“Ram’s,” Aaron whispered from Rami’s doorway, and the youngest looked up at him with bloodshot eyes “Go to sleep”

“I will,” He sulked, and took a beat “Go away” Annoyance laced in his tone, he didn’t look as if he was about to move from his crossed legged position on the bed, covers draped over his lap, comics surrounding him, one in his hands.

“I’m serious,” Aaron replies blearily, rubbing his eye with a fist “Dad might catch ya, and you’ll be grounded”

Rami, who honestly couldn’t care less, shrugged “So?” He shoo’d his brother away with the flick of his wrist “Go, please”

Aaron, obviously annoyed, huffed out a breath, throwing up his hands “Fine, but if you get caught, don’t blame me” With that, he turned and padded down the hall, into his room with a soft click of his lock.

“I won’t” Rami whispered to himself, so confidently, and turned back to his comic.

He got caught in the morning. Jim had noticed how tired he was, put two and two together, and grounded Rami straight on the spot. Rami had reframed from calling him something he would’ve regretted, and sulked upstairs instead.

Rami, who had been tired all day, sulking straight after school when he remembered he wasn’t allowed to talk to Joe on the walkie talkie, or have a late night again. Jim told him, go to bed early, as if he was trying to be nice, get your rest up. Rami hated that.

But, Rami quickly found a flaw in his dads punishments. Rami, who was going to bed early like the good child he was, cracked the code easily.

More time to read comics, no?

Rami had read his few favourites, most of his old ones, and only when he started a completely new one, did he realise the time. Whoopsies, three am on a school night. He glanced between the plastic wrapped comic, the art of his favourite characters, battle positions, ready to fight, then glanced at his pillow, soft, comfortable, peaceful. He rubbed his eyes gently, and looked down at the comics.

Sleep or comic? That was the question really. Did he risk almost falling asleep in science again and staying up to read the newest addition to his massive collection, or did he go to sleep now, be a little less tired, and maybe not pass out onto Charlie’s shoulder.

You know Rami chose the comic.

It wasn’t a good idea, because as soon as he got home, he felt dizzy with exhaustion. He almost fell up the stairs twice, thankfully nobody hearing him struggle, or god forbid see it, and he went straight to his room, to flop face first onto his bed. He fell asleep with his whole school uniform on, including the shoes.

But at least the comic was good.

Chapter Text

“Rams, I’m gonna be honest, none of us are listening” Aaron said with a grimace, making Rami looked up at his brother with heart broken eyes.

The youngest glanced between the others, noticing their discomfort also and nodding slightly, sliding out of his place of the sofa and rushing out of the room in embarrassment.

Freddie caught him though, hugging his arms around his youngest and lifting up slightly with a yell and a grin, gently placing him down afterwards.

“What’s all the rush about, dear?” Freddie was smiling, until it dropped off completely as he took in his sons sad, upset eyes “What’s wrong, darling?”

“They.. they didn’t-“ Rami cur himself off with a sniffle, leaning into Freddie and wrapping his arms around his torso sadly, crying into his shirt gently.

“Oh my darling, it’s alright” Freddie held him back just as tight, yet gentle enough for it not to hurt “Your alright, my darling boy, your alright” He pat the boys back gently, and Rami just sniffled.

Although Freddie didn’t find out the cause of his youngest sons crying spell, he still felt anger at whoever had made him feel so bad.

Chapter Text

Rami, who had been sat on the carpet, playing with some of his building blocks, glanced up at Gwilym, who sat comfortably on the sofa, and stood, not bothering to brush himself off before climbing up onto the sofa.

“Hiya Rams” Gwilym grinned, and lifted him up by the under of his arms, and getting Rami onto the sofa safely. The youngest gave a tired, snuffly giggle and flopped his curly head into Gwils lap, giggling gently as he got his body comfortable “Oof- Alright then”

The gentle, quiet boy smiled up at him, now laying on his back, his head rested comfortably in Gwils lap. He gripped Gwilyms hand as tight as his tiny toddler fingers allowed, and babbled nonsensical words gently.

Gwilym nodded slightly, and rubbed his thumb across the backs of the baby’s hand “Yes, well, hello to you too”

Rami snuffle-laughed, and gave his legs gentle kicks in excitement. Although, he was rudely cut off by an unwelcome yawn, making the boy whine when he stopped swallowing the world.

“Oh, big yawn,” Gwil grinned, and gently ruffled the tots jet black curls, wiping a few strays from his forehead “Go sleepy, Ram’s, I’ve got ya’

Rami nodded, and nodded off completely, dead to the world until he had to arise.

Now, Rami, an adult, was cuddled up into Gwilyms lap, head resting where it had all those years ago, blanket draped over his body. Today had been stressful, Freddie having been ill, Aaron and Jim taking to take care of him, Rami unable to because of filming times for his newest project. He couldn’t afford to get ill, and so he was staying at Gwil’s for the few weeks until his break started and he could head back to Garden Lodge to help his dad and brother nurse his other dad back to health.

Gwilym, like the past, gently fondled with Rami’s curls atop his head, making them go this direction and that, and as always, it sent the younger into a light, yet peaceful slumber almost too easily.

Anytime he stirred, Gwilym was ready to shush him back to sleep, and glare at anything that might awake him.

Chapter Text

Ben and Joe were having an arm wrestle, again, in the middle of a restaurant when Freddie caught Rami’s mumbles.

The younger boy huffed out, looking downwards at his feet that dangled slightly off the high-seared chairs the restaurant held “*Fucking idiots*” He murmured under his breath, in Arabic.

Freddie, slightly taken aback by the boys use of language, leaned closer to his youngest, their shoulders touching gently “*Language, Young man*” Freddie scolded gently back in his sons mother tongue.

Rami looked up at him shocked for a moment, a cut off gasp escaping his lips “I-uh-“

“*Don’t think I never bothered to learn Arabic, darling, I took to learning it as soon as you started speaking to us*” Freddie said fluently back to the boy, who gave a small grin in happiness.

“*Well, I guess you know what I mean when I’m calling you a pig headed, snotty nosed-*” Rami went on, until someone, rather rudely in the father and sons opinion, interrupted their teasing.

“What’s going on?” Jim asked fondly “Who are you talking about?” Jim, with his normally hard, out upon voice, said kindly, glancing between the two with a knowing look in his eye.

“Dad,” Rami said before turning back to his drink for a moment, acting all innocent as he took a sip “Saying about how he’s so-“ Rami sucked his teeth as he turned to Freddie, a cheeky smirk on his lips “Lovely, To is all”

“Oh you little-“

“Freddie, don’t throttle your child in public, the press, dear” Jim joked with a gentle hand to Freddie’s arm as he went to playfully grab the youngest boys rather smart looking shirt.

“Just the press?! What about my life?!” Rami exclaimed dramatically, showing exactly whose son he was really.

“Shush darling, your mother is speaking” Freddie waved his son off with an over-the-top hand gesture, a flick of his wrist that clipped the boy gently on the nose, who made a face at the contact before giving a soft ‘ow’.

Later, in the car, Rami leaned into Freddie’s side, who cuddled his youngest close whilst Aaron and Jim huddled into the car themselves.

“I’m not grounded, am I?” Rami asked gently with a yawn, rubbing his eye with a closed, lazy fist.

“Of course not, dear,” Freddie gave the girls a soft kiss “I would never ground you”

And he wouldn’t, Freddie didn’t really have the backbone to say no to his kids, especially Rami. The youngest could’ve asked for the moon and Freddie would’ve gave it to him somehow.

Chapter Text

“Darling, your hitting the wrong key” Freddie said, for what felt like the twelfth time in the last hour or so.

Rami wanted piano lessons, wanting to learn an instrument to be just like his dad, but it wasn’t going very well so far.

“I know! I just- I don’t know what other key you mean!” Rami yelled, frustrated, gripping his ear and pulling on it gently in frustration.

“Hey, stop that,” Freddie grabbed the smaller’s wrist into his hand and pulled it away from his ears “You’ll get it darling, I believe in you! Truly!”

Rami just groaned in annoyance, laying his head on the piano keys to give off a mix of different notes that yelled out of the piano.

“I hate this, I literally can’t do it...” He complained “How did you get so good?!” Rami’s head shot up quick, curls thrown back and head rush definitely rushing to Rami’s head.

“Whoa, steady dear,” He our a gentle hand on the boys shoulder “Too answer your question, I honestly don’t know... practise?” Freddie shrugged gently.

Rami just sulked “I can’t practice if I don’t know which bloody key is which in the first place!” He complained as he scooted off the shared piano stool, making his way out the room and down the hall as he yelled his complaints.

“Dad! Dad, I’m a failure” Rami complained as he buried his face into Jims chest.

“Oh?” Jim put down whatever it was he was holding “Why’s that, Rami?” The older man hugged the boy gently.

“I can’t do anything right” Rami explained “Can’t play piano, cant play guitar, definitely can’t dance” Rami listed off in a muffled tone from his position.

“Why don’t you try gardening with me and your brother?” Jim offered.

Rami, displeased, sulked “I’m never gardening! I’ll probably be shit at that too!” Rami pushed himself away from Jim and into the kitchen “I’m gonna die an untalented man”

“You’d probably like it!” Jim called to Rami as the boy had turned the corner, probably to go raid the cupboards again.

“Like my ass, I would like it!” A call came back from Jim’s youngest.

“Don’t use that language!” Jim yelled, which was a saying he had been yelling for years now, and it never stuck, with either Aaron or Rami.

“‘Don’t use that language’” Rami, although whispered, his mocking response to Jim’s statement, making his voice go high to pick fun.

Jim sighed, took a deep breath, and turned back around to pick up what he had put down. He didn’t have the lifespan to deal with a teenager anymore.

Chapter Text

They really should have thought first about their game of ‘how high can we all jump at the same time’ before Rami went hurling off the side when he jumped too late from the others, effectively making his normal tiny jumps so much bigger, scaring the boy, he hurtled backwards and landed-

Straight on his arm. A deafening crack hearing from underneath him. He had somehow flipped around in the fall, and his arm had taken the damage.

The others stood shocked for a second, still standing on the trampoline as they all looked down at the four year old who lifted his curly head,

Only to give an ear piercing screaming.

Ben and Joe both instinctively covered their ears, Aaron and Gwilym both yelled Rami’s name as they hopped down the trampoline safely.

“Rami! Oh god, oh god” Aaron yelled, dropping to his knees to lift his baby brother around and inspected his arm.

Rami held the arm close to his chest, his face a mess of dirt, tears and snot as he screamed in pure agony. His arm, small and frail, looked flushed with bruises, and he had a scrape on his elbow, but they guessed it definitely wasn’t just a scratch this time.

“Oh Rami, thats probably broken..” Gwilym said sympathetically, rubbing the smaller boys back gently, giving him a gentle hug when his sobs picked up and his legs kicked out in agony “Dad!!” Gwilym yelled, before pulling away from Rami’s small form and facing towards the door.

The back door, which should’ve been open anyways, was slammed open, the boys all rushing out. Freddie, like always, was first to get there, the one to slam the door open, and the one to rush to his baby’s and scoop the youngest up into his arms

“My baby,” Freddie himself practically wailed “What happened?” He turned to the others

“We-“

“We wanted to jump together, but-But he fell and-“ Joe called from on the trampoline, holding onto Ben’s hand tight

“Alright,” John came over to took both the ginger and blond into his arms “He’s gonna be okay”

“Fred, he needs to go to the hospital” Brian said from above Freddie, trying to peak over to see Rami, who had submerged his face into the crook of Freddie’s neck

Freddie nodded slightly, and Jim took his husband by the arm, the other strong hand on Rami’s tiny and quivering back, and took him away, Aaron hot on their heals whilst Brian went over to his own boy to comfort him.

Chapter Text

“Okay, you all know your teams. Ben, Joe and Lucy, your red, Me, Aaron and Rami are blue, the best team obviously,” Gwilym snickered to the two brothers, who giggled back behind their water guns, the other team scoffing in annoyance “We have our bases. Those with ribbons, your the ones your team members need to protect. No going inside, only in the garden. No cheating, if you get hit twice, your out. Got it?”

The others all nodded, called out their respectful ‘yep’s and ‘got it’s and the game started.

Blue team went further down the garden, Red team went to hide down in the greenery.

Rami, with his little legs, and blue matching shoes, sported a lovely blue band on his upper arm that matched well with his blue eyes, whilst Joe had a red one, matching his hair. The two youngest had giggled about it before getting into their teams.

Gwilym lead his team, crouching in front of the two brothers, water gun ready and armed. He was peering over each bush carefully, Rami toddling behind him with his smaller water gun, whilst Aaron kept a steady hand on his younger brothers back, also crouched.

They heard a rustling, and they stopped still. A giggle echoed from their left, and all three heads turned there.

“Shh.” Gwilym said quick, putting a finger to his lips to signal. Rami dropped to the ground in fear, a cut gasp escaping his lips. Aaron perched himself by Gwilyms side, over Rami’s tiny body that sat on the floor in hiding.

“Did you hear that?” Gwilym whispered to the oldest, who nodded back shortly.

“Down there” Aaron stated, Gwilym nodding in confirmation.

“Guys,” Rami sounded from the floor, the two other blue team members looking down at him. The youngest was pointing down the stoned path “Look”

There lay a red water balloon, the ones Ben was adamant about using instead of a gun. Gwilym gasped and turned to them.

“Run!!” He yelled, hefting Rami up whilst Aaron went running. The youngest swiftly got onto the oldests back and gripped on tight, looking behind him at the army cry from Lucy, Joe and Ben emerging from the bushes. Gwilym took off running, whilst Rami watched as they ran after them in fear.

“Gwil! Quickly!” Aaron yelled, beckoning his team members to follow into the green house. Rami, still perched on Gwilym back, started shooting his mini water gun at them, his aim... terrible, and the shoots not being so far.

“Rami! Take mine! Be careful with it, it’s heavy!” Gwilym yelled up to the younger, somehow managing to lift his hand that had been gripping the gun and the little boys ankle that rested by his sides, to pass him his own gun.

Rami took it with a curt nod, changing his mini gun to Gwilyms bigger one, that helped him get Lucy out after shooting her twice on the arm, watching as she stopped her running to complain, yet kept cheering the two boys on as they kept running after their opponents.

“Yes!” The youngest grinned, almost falling off Gwilym’s back when they took a sharp turn. He gripped the gun and Gwilym’s shirt tighter, and soon enough, they were in the green house.

The air was musty and warm, like it always was, and Aaron was helping Rami off of Gwilyms back when Ben’s smudged face appeared at the window, pulling a funny face with his tongue out, trying to distract from Joe at the front door, close to getting through.

Rami started giggling at the blond whilst Gwilym and Aaron rushed to the door and pushed their backs onto it, pushing Joe out quick and slamming it shut. Aaron pulled one of the clear tables to the door, and rushed back to his baby brother to swiftly pick him up. Gwilym tookthe gun from the youngest’s chubby hands, and held it to Bens face outside the door.

“Eat slugs, Ben!” Gwilym yelled before spraying the window, making Ben jump back none the less in reflex.

“Nice one, Gwilly!” Aaron said over Rami’s curly head of hair, who was giggling and clapping his hands excitedly in agreement.

“Thank you very much!” Gwilym smiled, before quickly redoing the ribbon around Rami’s upper arm, it almost slipping off from their run earlier. Or, Gwilyms run, and Rami’s attack.

“We have got to get out of here, they table won’t keep them out forever” Aaron observed as they watched the red team talk to their dead opponent, who had caught up to them just now.

“Up!” Rami called excitedly from Aaron’s arms, and Aaron ruffled the curls gently.

“Your already up, buddy” Aaron said softly, looking around for a way to escape. Maybe a crack in one of the glass pains? No, Jim kept the greenhouse in tip top shape, not holes anyway.

“Up!” Rami yelled again, and Gwilym shook his head this time.

“No buddy, your up” He explained again, also looking around. They had to get out of here! There had to be another way!

“Up!” Rami yelled again, more anger laced in his tone as he pushed his little arm upwards.

“You are-“ Aaron was about to complained, but when he looked up, he saw an open window pain, right at the top of the green house “Up”

“Oh” Gwilym said “Heh, whoops” Gwilym shrugged, and Aaron snorted as he set Rami down onto his feet, who gripped his little water gun in his hands and toddled off “But how are we gonna get up there? We can’t jump..”

“Maybe.. uhm..” Aaron looked around frantically, turning a few times to observe.

There was a clanking from their side, and their heads snapped to see Rami standing on a few of the tables, a few knocked over plants surrounding his feet, effectively getting his shoes dirty. He had a bit of dirt already on his hands, but he didn’t seem phased for once.

“Rami, your a genius and I love you!” Gwilym yelled, and Rami giggled happily. The others outside were still talking, so both Gwilym and Aaron took the chance to escape quickly.

Aaron got to the top first, getting to a table high enough that allowed him to heft his body out onto the glass and slide down to the other side quickly. Gwilym helped Rami slide down with him, once they climbed up to the top together, Gwilym sat Rami on the edge of the open pane, whilst Aaron at the bottom kept an eye on the other team, who were still effectively distracted. Gwilym also got to the top, and situated Rami between his legs, and they side down together. Aaron caught Rami almost silently, whilst Gwilym landed on a packaging pile of whatever and climbed down himself, and they ran back down the garden.

They walked for a while, keeping an ear out once they heard the others realise they were gone. They didn’t split up, staying together through all of it. They had learnt from Scooby-Doo that splitting up was never the way to go, so, they stayed as a team the whole time.

That was, until, Rami disappeared.

“Where’s Rams-“ Aaron asked, and, suddenly, they were ambushed, Gwilym getting hit straight on the back with-

A red balloon.

“Ambush! Go go go!” Gwilym yelled, gripping Aaron’s hand as they went running, dodging any balloon they could. They ran down the stone path, almost tripping a few times, went around the raspberry bushes, and down to the fruits.

There, they found, Rami was sat, alone, in a pile of mud, his face all dirty with snot and mud. He looked up at the two oldest with big, teary eyes and lifted his arms up for a hug.

“Oh Rams! We are so sorry! We didn’t realise you left and-“ Gwilym rambled as they both rushed to grab the youngest, Gwilym lifting him and hugging him close. They heard the sound of footstep rushing behind them, and both Aaron and Gwilym felt the impact of four hits from the water balloons each. Ben and Joe started laughing, and they turned around, miserable.

“Okay, you win. We suck.” Aaron admitted, feeling so bad for leaving his own brother without realising.

“So much for best team! You left Rams alone!” Joe yelled with a cross of his arms, all of the attitude a sex year old could hold. He rushed over and took the four year old into his own arms, bouncing him gently “Rami is on our team next round” He grinned, Ben and Lucy both smiling.

“Fine,” Gwilym said in mock sadness “Take our baby away! Be cruel!”

Aaron laughed, but played along “Oh how we will miss him so! Our poor baby!” He wrapped an arm around Gwilyms shoulders “Oh, my wife, how will we cope?!”

“I don’t- wait wife?!” The other pushed him away “Why am I-“

“Boys! Lucy! Lunch!” Brian called them from the door to the house, a smile evident in his tone “C’mon, it’s getting cold now!”

“Dinner!” They all yelled together, and Ben took Rami from Joes arm to take him inside, whilst Gwilym and Aaron put their argument to rest for their lunch.

Next round, they were going to beat them. They were sure of it.

Chapter Text

Rami, Joe, Ben, Lucy, Aaron and then Gwilym went speeding past Brian, who caught himself on the wall as the boys, in that order, almost swept him off his feet. They were yelling, because when weren’t they, as they seemed to be chasing the youngest, who looked as if he had something gripped in his hands.

“Be careful!” Brian yelled, but sighed when his efforts were brushed, the boys probably yelling louder. Brian took a step to go back into the kitchen, but was tripped up by a few of the cats, who gave a mewl in annoyance.

As Brian landed straight on his ass, he questioned his existence for a moment, before he found himself taking in a lap full of screaming, hyperactive toddler.

Rami, who had landed chest first into Brian’s lap, screamed out his babbled explanation, his hands still gripping an unopened, poorly wrapped Christmas gift. The sounds of the others running down the hall was heard, and Brian gave a sigh before fighting the tot sprawled out on his lap.

“Alright, yeah yeah, hush for a second” Brian groaned as he lifted the boy from under his arms and helped him stand in front of him, keeping a hand under the boys arm to steady him as he grinned cheekily and gripped the present tight “What’s this? Why are you running around, huh bud?” He asked fondly, but tiredly, because one of these days these boys were going to give him whiplash.

“Is a- present” He heaved from excitement, giving toddler huffs of pure joy.

“Oh? Who for?” Brian gently poked the boys tummy, who giggled and covered it with the present. At that moment, the boys, and Lucy, came running around the corner, sliding on their feet around the side, yet regaining their steps and running after the tot, who squealed so high Brian had to cover his ears, taking his hand off of Rami’s side only for the boy to go pelting off again.

The others, once again, ran straight past him, only this time, Gwilym stopped in front of him.

“What did he say?!” His son interrogated, gripping the sides of Brian’s arms and shaking him gently “Tell me, old man! Tell meeeee!”

“Okay, first of all, old?!” Brian said astounded, pushing his boy off of him gently with a smirk “Second of all, Why are you chasing Rams? And how have you not caught him? His legs are so-“

“So small, yeah, we knew, but he’s fast and-“ Gwilym looked him over, head to toe “You are... kinda, y’know, old-“

“Oh that’s it,” Brian exclaimed before throwing the kid over his shoulder and walking fast after the others still running around the house “Boys- and Girl- would you just-“

They stopped in their tracks and turned quickly to take sight of Gwilym, annoyed and thrown over Brian’s shoulder. Then, Ben let out a cry of revenge, and they all charged the other way, straight into Brian. The guitarist quickly set his bit down and ran as fast as he could away from the devil children.

He ran past the other band members, who watched as Brian tried to call them to grab their evil children, who were right at Brian’s feet, ready to attack at any moment now.

He somehow managed to hide behind Jim and Freddie, who gave him an odd look from their places huddled together, arms wrapped around each other’s waist and hips respectively.

“Our children are evil” He panted out, sucking down as the boys, and Lucy, ran past quick, not noticing Brian was just to their left, not straight on.

Freddie shrugged “They’ve had too much sugar, someone let them have too much” Freddie threw a look to Jim, who scolded fondly

“Oh, don’t go all mother hen on me now, dear, your normally the problem” Jim grinned and gave Freddie a peck.

Brian, annoyed, although he did love the thought that Freddie was loved so dearly, rolled his eyes and snuck into the next room, still on his quest to get away from their hyped up army children.

Later, at the end of the party, when he was looking for his own respectful son, he found them all huddled up together in the broom closet, in a pile of sleeping cubs, Brian smiled, and thought that maybe they weren’t so scary really.

Chapter Text

Management came to the adults first, telling them about the job offer for the boys. A commercial, a small tv gig for each boy to be apart of together. The parents had thought it was an amazing idea, and so had the boys.

“We are gonna he movie stars!!” Ben yelled, hugging them all together in one big group hug, the others all laughing in joy.

“It’s a commercial, I don’t think you’ll be winning an Oscar anytime soon,” Brian chuckled, patting Ben gently on the back “But, I bet you’ll all do great”

“Wait, what’s it even about?” Joe asked, all heads turning to the adults, who suddenly where under the intense gaze of five teens.

“Cereal” John said happily, and then there was a beat of silence, until they burst out laughing.

“Cereal!!” Rami yelled out happily, giggling as he looked up at his older brother “We are gonna he famous over cereal”

“Gotta start somewhere, Bud” Aaron grinned and hugged Rami gently, turning to the others who were giggling about something else.

The set was a zombie apocalypse, of all things. The plot was the boys were zombies, but were to be turned back to humans once they are the cereal. Weird, yes, but like Aaron had said, they needed t start at least somewhere, even if it meant zombie cereal.

Hair and makeup was so much fun, apparently. Gwilym, Aaron and Rami had a trailer together, Ben and Joe with each other in the one next door. The makeup ladies were lovely, so very kind. They let the boys talk excitedly about their new small roles, and they were as polite as could be.

Rami could barely sit still, the youngest was so pumped up to just start the filming. He almost rushed upwards a few times, and his personal makeup lady had laughed and gently set him back down. They got their fake blood and matted hair done quick, and they waited for the others until they were done also. They didn’t take too long, so they made their excited way to set.

Set was a rundown old town, with fake tumbleweeds and a pristine table in the centre of the road, where the cereal was held. The director looked almost as excited as the boys, and they started filming quick.

They were good, Rami had heard someone mumble to someone else with a clipboard and suit, definitely not someone apart of set. Rami wondered who he was before they started the scene again.

It went past smoothly, everyone congratulating the boys afterwards with back pats and hair ruffles. Their dads came to pick them up after, looking so pleased for their boys.

Of course, Freddie and swooped Rami, zombie makeup and all, into his arms and kissed him repeated on the cheeks, making Rami giggle happily as he tried to escape.

“Dad, stop!” He laughed out happily, but they were interrupted by the director coming to congratulate them.

“Oh, and boys, there was a casting agent here this whole time,” The director smiled as the boys all gasped “Dont worry, he loved you all, and he even considered bringing you pot back for an actual job”

“What!?” Rami yelled “An acting job?!”

The director winked at him with a shrug “Who knows, maybe one of you will be winning an Oscar soon”

“Holy fuck!” The boys all yelled with a smile and a laugh

“Language!” The parents yelled back, but didn’t wipe their excited grins off their faces as they made a massive group hug together.

Chapter Text

“Bye dad! Have fun!” Rami smiled happily as he pulled away from the hug, watching as Freddie walked away with the other bands members, who spoke happily, hyping themselves up for their concert tonight. This was one of the last they would be doing for the tour, then they would be taking a small break, then back to the studio, and the boys were so excited. Normally, Jim or one of their mothers would keep an eye on them, but tonight they wormed their way into the parents hearts to allow them to stay together, without any adult supervision, during the concert. Although they had rules (Stick together, don’t go on stage, don’t get into trouble, stay in the green room) they fully intended to have as much fun as possible. And fuck staying in the green room, that place was boring. Of course they were going to go and adventure.

Hands slapped his shoulders harsh, and Rami looked up to see Ben, who was grinning madly, his hair tousled and... lipstick stains smudged across his lips.

“Ready to have fun, bud?” Ben asked gently as he shook the youngest vigorously, who pushed his hands off his shoulders quickly, less his get head rush.

“Really Ben?” Rami tutted, so much like Freddie it was odd “They’ve been gone for five seconds and your already making out with every girl you see”

Ben shrugged “I’m a womaniser, what can I say” He roughly took Rami under his shoulder and led them both to the others, who were down the hall

Rami fake gagged as he looked up at the blond “I hate that you just said that”

Ben only snorted, walking up to the other boys. Lucy didn’t come on tours anymore, so it was just the boys.

“Hello, my amigos!” Ben grinned happily, pushing Rami away roughly, but jokingly, to go to Joe. Rami stumbled, but was caught quick by Gwilym “I have returned!”

“Oh my god...” Aaron grumbled with a small grin. Ben only winked at him, and Aaron flipped him off with a smirk.

“Jeez Ben,” Joe shook his head, but his teasing was evident “Who’s the lucky lady?”

Ben only winked at him also, and Joe snorted as he pushed the blonds chest, who pushed him back by the shoulders as he egged him on.

Meanwhile the fight was breaking out, Gwilym and Rami were happily chattering together.

“I saw a food hall down there” Rami nodded his head down the hallway “I say we raid it” He suggested with a cheeky smile.

Gwilym grinned straight back at him “Rami, I’m thinking the exact same thing” He nodded and took Rami’s arm quick, and they rushed down the hall swiftly, looking at each door name as they went, leaving the others to their own devices.

They turned a few corners, and almost went into the woman’s bathrooms a few times before they found the small hall with the platters of different snack foods. Their mouths were watering before they stuffed down the mini chocolates and mini sausage rolls.

“Rams, catch” Gwilym threw a strawberry over his shoulder, and Rami quickly turned to catch it into his mouth, looking as if it didn’t phase him.

“We have to get the others to see this” Rami offered as he grabbed a hand full of those fuzzy strawberry laces that gave you a sugar high for around ten hours after, shoving them into his mouth and trying to to cringe at the sugar fizz.

“Do we? Can’t we just keep this all to ourselves?” Gwilym offered with a snort, and Rami silently laughed over his mouthful of rotting teeth.

Then, heavy footsteps sounded from the doorway, and he boys turned panicked eyes to each other as the footsteps grew closer, echoing to their ears from behind the door.

“Fu-“ Rami spluttered out, swallowing the sweets quick before Gwilym slapped a hand over his mouth.

“Under the table, quick” The older practically dragged him down, pulling the white sheet down as they huddled close in hiding.

The door was opened, and footsteps were heard. They grew closer, and closer, until there was a sound of deafening silence. Gwilym still had a hand over Rami’s mouth, and the youngest made a tiny whimper as Gwilym drew him closer in silent comfort.

Why was it that Everytime they sneaked around they almost got caught by-

The footsteps started again, but they went straight to the door and it was closed with a small click.

They were smart enough to know not to come out yet, so they waited another moment before Gwilym moved on all fours to the end of the table, pulling it up slower as he felt a gentle hand grab his ankle for comfort. Gwilym lifted it slowly and-

They were alone.

“Holy fuck” Gwilym let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding, and Rami made a small noise of relief, his body sagging to lay onto his back as he breathed heavy. Gwilym turned around with an exhausted grin, the adrenaline from almost being completely busted waving over him.

Rami, who was still panting, brought a hand into his pocket to reveal a few chocolates, which he stuffed into his mouth as if to calm himself down.

“That was close” The youngest said with a smile, looking over at Gwilym who snorted at him happily

“C’mon, lets get back” Gwilym said before climbing out from under the table, giving Rami a hand when he emerged from under the white cloth.

Obviously before they left they snuck a few more chocolates into their pockets because they obviously deserved them after all of that.

Chapter Text

Surprisingly, the first daemon to settle out of the boys was Ben’s. Although most of not all of the parents expected Gwilym’s daemon to settle first, Ben’s had settled, unfortunately when the boys had been in the green room whilst their parents performed with their mothers and Jim respectfully, meaning Roger missed the moment completely. Ben had been holding Girni right in his arms whilst the other boys worried silently over their multiple toys gifted from fans, and the blond had suddenly looked up at his mother, Girni in a Hawk form moving to stand on her humans shoulder, and grinned so bright.

“She settled” Ben grinned, and the other four boys gasped and watched as Girni happily flapped her permanent wings, and his mother looked so over joyed and the other mothers, and Jim again, congratulated the boy proudly.

“Congrats Benny!” Rami has come rushing, carefully to not touch Girni for it was strictly forbidden for one to touch another daemon, and hugged his blond cousin so tight and so proud.

“Thanks Ram’s” Ben has thanked him happily, the Hawk looking over the unsettled daemons with a sense of pride for herself for being the first. Although Ben tried to keep humble, it was nice to know he was the first to have settled out of their group, especially over Gwilym and Aaron, the two oldest’s.

When Roger and the other father’s came and heard the news of the settlement, Roger hugged his son so close his daemon gave a squark of annoyance to put him down as the annoyed feeling transferred to her and slowly became too much.

“I can’t believe I missed it” Roger practically breathed into his sons neck, sighing with tears in his eyes as he smiled so bright and proud.

“Don’t worry,” Ben reassured. “It wasn’t very exciting”

Roger gave a chuckle and set his son down “Not for them. But for you, it felt amazing, huh?” Rogers own daemon, Bronwyn, nodded her arctic wolf head towards the Hawk as a sign of acceptance for her new form. Girni nodded her Hawk head back, and a silent conversation was made between the two.

Ben nodded, holding out his arm so Girni could flap onto the outstretched limb and nuzzle her new beak into his cheek. “It felt unexplainable.”

And Roger hugged him, and the other boys watched in awe. They couldn’t wait for their own daemons to settle.

Gwilym came next, not long after Ben did. He and Kena has been lounging about in their back garden with a book on animals on his lap when it happened.

“Kena,” Gwilym has asked with a low voice, because that’s all his body allowed him to give out for a second. “If you settled now. Do you think it would hurt?”

She gave a small shrug, transforming from dog to leopard as she sat up and gave her bones a nice stretch to let Gwilyms feel the same. She gave a small lick to Gwilyms cheek and gazed down at the book. “It didn’t hurt Ben, and it didn’t hurt your dad.”

“But what if we are different?” His breathing quickened, and he couldn’t help but let his eyes stare at the leopard on then picture. “If it hurts, I don’t want Rami to settle. Or Joe, or even Aaron.”

“Gwilym..”

Then Gwilym looked up at Kena, and they locked eyes, and they knew.

“Oh..” He stared right back at her as she did him. They were one, a completed soul now. “That didn’t hurt at all.”

“Let’s go get your father” She purred out gently, and he slammed the book shut and went off into the house to find his dad and tell him the news, Kena right at his side the whole time. Gwilym kept a hand in her fur, and she sent a positive feeling through to him in response.

When Gwilym told Brian, he and Kasey, a black and white badger that normally took place on Brian’s shoulders, fell to their knees and paws. Brian brought Gwilym close, and Kena licked Kasey gentle on the side for a moment to not freak Gwilym out. They hugged, and Brian had been so proud for the form Kena took.

Aaron’s settlement came after Gwilym’s own. It seemed that the news of Gwilym’s settlement set something off in Adana. She pestured Aaron daily about their settlement and what he hoped they would be, getting so happy about it that it became hard for Aaron to sleep most nights because of the rapidly changing daemon laying next to him on the pillows each night.

The settle came during the night, Adana waking Aaron up at around two am with excited squeals and prods of clawed feet’s. When Aaron awoke to those claws on his chest digging in annoyingly, he saw the happy face of a Falcon that Aaron just knew was Adana from her aura.

“You’ve...” Aaron felt the tingling, the feelings of unexplainability that both Gwilym and Ben had spoke about just the week before. It went from Adana to his heart and then his whole body. The invisible string attaching the two was so very tight yet so comfortable. Before, Aaron didn’t realise how soft and weak their bond had been. Now, something sacred and unknown filled the link and made it stronger.

“A Falcon. That’s so cool, I’m- you’re- We are a Falcon!” We. Adana exclaimed, and if Aaron weren’t so tired he would’ve ran to his brothers room to show the boy that this is what settling felt like, and allow him to be encouraged to do it. She wanted to show his little brother that now he was a man and would protect him and Camellia, both he and Adana would for every dying day.

But he was tired, and hugged Adana tight and promised them both to tell their dads tomorrow morning, and both went to sleep with their strong bond around them.

When Aaron finally told his dads, and a rather sleepy looking Rami at the time, about the event, Jim and Freddie both cried, and their respectful daemons Avail and Atsina took their eyes off of sleepy Rami and Camellia, then in kitten form in Rami’s pyjama pocket, to wrap their bodies around Adana.

The cat and the lioness laid on the ground around Adana and welcomed the settled Falcon with only gentle paws on each of her claws, touching for a moment before pulling away and not allowing the newly settled to get over stimulated.

Of course the last two to settle were Rami and Joe’s Camellia and Ankie, years later from their older brother and cousins.

A rare occurrence happened between the two peas in a pod: their daemons settled at the same time. The whole day of their play date they had been keeping close to one another. Of course, the two being so close before hand, the parents didn’t realise the odd signs of the occurrence before it started, and during the boy’s playing outside in the massive gardens of Garden Lodge, their settlement happened.

It started with a simple question from the ginger oldest. “Ram’s?”

“Yeah, Joey?” Replied the brunette youngest, picking daisies in the way of the grass path as they sat in the centre of it, just outside the pristine greenhouse. Their bags lay untouched leaning against it, and it held their comics and snacks.

“If your daemon settled, what would you want her to be?” The question would’ve been odd if the two hadn’t been so close from so young.

Rami looked at Camellia, and she looked back in her mouse form. She transformed into a lioness, and stood proud. Joe giggled lightheartedly, and Rami followed the soft noise with his own.

“I don’t know,” The brunette replied with a look back to the ginger. “Something.. maybe not small like a butterfly y’know like Lucy’s.. and definitely not big like a polar bears or something like that.. maybe...”

And Camellia turned into a brown rabbit without either of them seeing, to busy caught up in their thoughts.

“You?” Rami gave up on thinking, going back to pulling the daisies and trying to make a chain for Camellias head.

“A dinosaur would be cool, but I don’t think daemons can do that.” Joe shook his head, then turned to Ankie. “A fox?” She gave him a look and a stomp of her rats foot from where she sat on Joes knee in anger of the very notion of becoming a fox. “Okay then.. maybe.. a wolf? Or something.. maybe not large but bigger than the average, maybe...”

And Ankie decided herself and turned into a white and grey husky dog, one bright blue eye whilst the other mismatched with a brown one. Joe stared at her as the same time Camellia hopped onto Rami’s lap, and the two humans stared at their respectful daemons and got that feeling.

They looked up at each other, read their faces, and hugged. They hugged so tight their bones ached, but Camellia and Ankie sniffled each other happily and made no protest at the dull ache they gave. They pulled away soon enough to hug their daemons, and they did for longer than they hugged each other, but got up soon enough and ran to their parents with the excitement, bags forgotten for the moment.

Again, Freddie and Jim cried as their daemons fawned over Camellia whilst John and Pheda, a meerkat, embraced person and daemon happily.

“I’m so proud of you,” John said as he held Joe’s head close to his own, looking down from his ginger son towards the settled daemon sticking to his side “Both of you. So much. I’m so- happy you finally did it” John choked, and Joe would’ve rolled his eyes and pushed him away if it weren’t for Ankie’s enjoyment of the moment sending a positive ideology towards his own heart. His dad was being embarrassing, but at least he wasn’t smoothing his cheeks in kisses like Freddie was to Rami.

Chapter Text

Life sucked. It absolutely, positively sucked. Not only was the surgery stress inducing, and the recovery was even worse, but now that he was still in his early days of recovery, Joe wasn’t allowed outside. At all. And it sucked.

The surgery was minor, just a tooth extraction (What five year old had a wisdom tooth? Joe did.) that he had to be put under general anaesthetic for, but that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t suffering. Hearing the others playing outside whilst he was cooped up in his room like some old sickly grandma was torture.

The boy’s had their parents had come over a few days after the surgery to see Joe, and Rami had to be pulled away from Joe’s bedside because the youngest was so worried for his ginger cousin. He was distracted with a game of tag outside by Gwilym, but as the oldest and youngest left, Ben stayed behind to give the bed bound boy a tight hug (Being wary of his swollen face of course), with the promise of sneaking back up to sit with the boy.

But now, as he heard the other boy’s scream and giggle in the garden, Joe was depressed.

The ginger sighed, and risked it all by throwing his covers to the side and pulling his legs over the edge of the bed to heft himself up to his feet. He was wobbly, and held his dinosaur plush extra tight in his grip as if it would steady him better, and shuffled towards the window. He sat on the window seat, or more flopped onto it, and gazed out the window to watch the others ‘have fun for him’.

Ben was tagged, which was a danger in itself because the blond was probably the strongest out of all of them and could push quite hard when he wanted to... or when he undermined his strength by accident and sent someone almost flying off the edge of the sofa (No, it definitely wasn’t Joe who was pushed and definitely not Joe who almost broke his nose).

Joe watched as Gwilym backed away quickly, almost bumping into Rami who had foolishly stopped to observe a bumble bee on a flower before he was whisked away by the eight year old with a scream. Gwilym practically threw Rami over his shoulder and ran, Ben laughing behind them as they ran out of view into the bushes. Joe found himself smiling at his cousins, but at the longing in his chest to join them reminding him of his predicament, his smile fell and he sulked once again in self-pity.

Life truly sucked.

Joe was about to return to bed after a while of staring down at the dinosaur in his hand accusingly, as if it was the dinosaurs fault he had to get the surgery in the first place, before he heard a muffled yell come from down in the gardens below.

“Joe! Joey! Down here!” Joe’s head shot up to the grass outside the window, and saw Rami jumping up and down with his arms waving rapidly above him with a bright, baby-toothed grin on his face.

Joe grinned back, and waved happily. He hadn’t been forgotten about!

Joe pushed the window open happily, giggling as he pushed his head out the window to see Rami better before giving a wave of his own.

“You still dyin’?” Rami asked with a head tilt, lowering his arms to his side instead of standing with them up by his head like an idiot.

“I ain’t dyin’!” Joe yelled with a laugh, and Rami giggles back with a snort. “I’m recoverin’! I got attacked by a dinosaur!” Joe said it as if it was obvious, and Rami gave a gasp in shock.

“Really?” His eyes were wide, and Joe forgot that Rami was probably a bit too young to understand that what he said wasn’t exactly true, but ran with it anyway.

Joe nodded, holding the plush dinosaur up in his hand to show Rami. “Just like this one, but big and real!”

“Like... livin’ real?” Rami asked with another gasp, putting a hand over his eyes when the sun came through the clouds and almost blinded the two of them.

“Yep! It came back from the dead!” Joe yelled, making growling noises as he sat up on his knees on the window seat and hefted the dinosaur out of the open window and almost hit Rami on the head.

“It will get you too!” Joe laughed, as did Rami as he picked up the dinosaur and inspected it for a moment before trying to throw it back to the boy in his bedroom... but the throw was too weak to reach the ginger.

“Oh...” Rami said with pity, and they both burst into laughter. Joe beckoned Rami to come up without another word, and the youngest nodded before grabbing the dinosaur and rushing into the house.

Joe rushes to his bed, as fast he could on his wobbly sea legs, and waited for the secret knock only he and Rami knew so he could call Rami to enter. The youngest did with a baby-tooth grin, and closed the door behind him before climbing onto the bed.

“Anyone see ya?” Joe asked as he pulled his covers up and let Rami into the bed by his side. Rami scooted in, barely taking up any space, and gave the dinosaur back to Joe with a shake to his head. “Good.”

“Expect maybe Gwilly and Ben.” Rami shrugged, and Joe thought that that was alright, at least either of their dads didn’t see.

“That’s chill,” Joe smiled and held the dinosaur up for them to both look at. “They can come if they want.”

“So you ain’t dyin’?” Rami asked, and Joe snorted.

“No, but I almost did! A big dinosaur, like, big big, came and it tried to eat me and my dad but I defended us!” Joe reenacted the ‘big big dinosaur’ attack with his plush, and Rami was giggling at the noises Joe made in his play.

“Why was it at your’s?” Rami asked with a grin, looking up his older cousin with awe.

“Because it wanted... Dad’s bass! Yeah, and it- it tried to cut the strings with its little T-Rex arms!” Joe exclaimed, and Rami gasped at the story.

“It was a T-Rex?!” He exclaimed loudly, and Joe nodded.

“But it’s dead now, I killed it and we ate it for dinner!” Joe yelled, throwing his dinosaur up to the sky and they both covered their faces as it landed on Rami’s chest in case it landed in their eye.

Rami picked the toy up from his chest and sat up as he pushed it into Joe’s own chest. “How’d it taste?”

“Like dinosaur, duh!” Joe said it as if it was obvious, and the two both went silent as the sounds of the stairs creaked in use, and they both gasped at the increased sounds of steps came close to Joe’s room.

“Hide!” Joe exclaimed, pushing the plush under the covers as he pushed Rami’s shoulder gently to him moving.

Rami panicked for a moment before rushing to Joe’s closet and hiding inside after moving some of the clothes in hangers and shoes at the bottom. Rami closed the door behind him, and if Joe squinted he could see Rami holding his mouth with a small hand through the small gap between the two doors of his closet.

There was a knock at the door, and Joe all but flopped into an... odd position to fake his sleeping. John opened the door, and neither boy could see what he did before calling out.

“Alright, Rami out. Joe, I know your not sleeping.” John said with a find tone, and watched as Joe sat up slowly to watch Rami slowly exit the closet with a guilt-ridden face.

“Sorry uncle John...” Rami said with a fiddle to his fingers by his lap, and Joe gave a sigh as he gave an annoyed look to his dad.

Rami was led out of the bedroom, but Joe gave him a wink and a mouth of ‘Come back up later, okay?’ that perked Rami up enough to give a happy nod. John closed the door behind them, but Joe wasn’t as sad he used to be.

He tucked himself back under his covers, getting into a better position to sleep in, and smiled softly as he waited for Rami to sneak back up so they could play some more.

Recovery be damned, Joe was going to tell Rami all about his dinosaur attack.

Chapter Text

Whoever thought it was a good idea to let the teens of Queen leave the studio unattended to go to an amusement park in Rogers car that they hijacked was an absolute idiot. Oh wait, it was Ben’s idea!

Although none of them could’ve predicted what had happened, they couldn’t been at least a bit more cautious than how they were. First of all, Ben stealing Rogers car only led itself to them all being grounded for a month last time, so why the blond thought that this time would be different was stupid.

“He won’t find out because they are busy today!” Ben reassured with a grin, wrapping an arm around Rami’s slender shoulders as he held the paper advertising the amusement park an hours drive away.

“Are you sure?” Gwilym asked, ever the worrying one. He glanced down at Rami’s excited face before looking back at Ben. “What if they go and break and try to find us, and none of us are there? They would flip! You know how Freddie worries about-“

“We’ll be fine!” Rami brushed off his oldest cousin, drawing out the last word with ease as he grinned up at Ben. “Ben’s a good driver, he’ll get us there safe!”

“Ben doesn’t have a drivers license.” Gwilym said monotone, trying to hide his hurt for the youngest brushing his concern away like a bit of dirt on his shirt. Rami had grown up so much that it almost pained Gwilym.

“Doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to drive.” Rami shrugged, and Ben squeezed his shoulder in agreement.

Then, Joe and Aaron entered the hallway, having been in the bathroom before they inevitably left for the amusement park.

“What’s this?” Aaron asked as he stood next to his younger brother, who pushed himself up against Aaron instead of Ben, and the blond fought an offended look.

“Gwilym’s being a mum. Again.” Rami shrugged, and Aaron gave a chuckle as he ruffled the youngest curls.

“I’m not!” Gwilym exclaimed, and everyone gave him a look that had him sighing. “I just don’t want to be grounded again.”

“And we won’t!” Ben exclaimed, gripping Gwilyms hands as they looked into each other’s eyes. “Trust me, yeah? I’ve stolen dad’s car enough times to know how to do it without being caught, so leave it up to me!”

“You steal your dads car a lot?” Joe asked with a grin up at the blond, who nodded proudly. “How come we aren’t invited on these joy rides?”

“Because.” Ben shrugged, before turning to the others “Either way, we all in favour of going? I don’t want any snitches.” He gave a glance to Gwilym at that, and the lanky teen sighed in annoyance.

“I was twelve and stole a chocolate bar, let it die!”

“Never.”

~

After stealing Rogers car keys with ease, the teens found themselves in Rogers car happily. Ben driving, obviously, and sat next to him was Joe who looked out the window with a smile as the passed the other cars. In the back sat Gwilym, Rami and Aaron in that order. Rami sat in the middle, being the smallest, meant he was stuck between Aaron and Gwilyms chattering whilst he observed the newspaper he had found the amusement park in.

“They have a carousel!” Rami said in awe, looking at the grainy photo in joy as Gwilym looked over his shoulder at the paper.

“So they do. I’ll probably be sick on it, knowing me.” Gwilym joked, and Rami game gagged with a grin.

“If they don’t have cotton candy I’ll sue.” Joe declared with so much seriousness it sent the whole car into fits of laughter.

“Or a hotdog stand!” Ben yelled, and the others nodded.

“It does say that they have a foods section, not a hotdog stand or cotton candy stand specifically...” Rami looked over the writing by the photo.

“How are not getting sick from reading in the car?” Joe asked as he turned around to look at the youngest, who shrugged as he continued reading.

“He reads comics on road trips. Like, five hour road trips. It’s really weird.” Aaron supplied, and Joe felt sick by the very thought of it.

“Your weird.” Rami replied, and for a shove to the shoulder in response by his older brother.

“Guys, stop fighting. We are here!”

~

They were smart and decided not to eat first unless they got sick on the rides, and decided to go in the carousel first. Rami and Aaron shared a horse, as Rami was just under the height limit to go alone, and the youngest wasn’t too happy about it at first but when the carousel sped up, he forgot all about it.

Joe and Gwilym shared a horse also, as a joke. Joe begins Gwilym and gripping the olders waist in fear of falling. Ben took his own, and bright blue horse that had the name ‘Taylor’ and felt it fit.

They did a few rollercoasters before Joe started to feel sick, so he decided to sit a few out whilst the others went on them without him, and he chose to sit near a bench nearby with a pale face and spinning head. He wasn’t ideally affected so badly by the rides, and wasn’t usually sick so the almost sudden nausea hit him worse than he thought it would’ve.

As he sat, he could feel himself starting to sway harsher than the breeze, and as he watched the others climb out of the water-ride all soaking and laughing, Joe saw black spots before his swaying became his head hitting the floor, and then nothing.

~

“Holy shit he’s dead!” Someone cried out, the sounds of actual crying behind heard off in the distance as Joe started to come too. He felt the sun blaring down on him, and a cool cloth over his forehead that was more comforting than he would’ve imagined. There were other voices around him, unfamiliar ones but his brain only recognised the ones he knew.

“This is all my fault. I shouldn’t taken you all, I should’ve just said no and now Joe’s gonna die- oh shit, he’s waking up!” Ben, who was in near tears by the sound of him, gripping Joe’s shoulder and gave it a small shake to help him wake up faster.

“Joe? Joe, it’s Gwil, can you hear me? Joe?” Gwilym sounded from his other side, and the sobbing from the distance stopped for a moment to replace sniffling that got closer to Joe’s still aching body.

“Joey? Are you dead?” The small voice, who definitely belonged to Rami, brought Joe to open his eyes, a light blearing into his eyes above and he couldn’t help but groan.

“God?” He asked, and a few snorts followed.

“Oh thank fuck.” Rami sounded so very relieved, and Joe put a hand up to cover the sun above as he slowly came to his senses to sit up properly and look over his cousins.

“Language.” Joe joked, and Rami gave him a slight shove (more like a gentle nudge) in retaliation.

“I literally thought you died, mate.” Ben sighed out with a small smile, all of their hairs still wet from the ride they had been on previously. There clothes weren’t too damp, so Joe concluded he hadn’t been out for too long and that the others just worried too much.

“It was heatstroke, not death.” A paramedic sounded from their side, and took the cloth off of Joe’s head to replace it with another that Joe held in place with a hand.

“Same difference.” Aaron grinned, and the others and the paramedic snorted.

“Hey guys?” Joe perked up, and the others looked at him in question.

“Let’s not tell our dads this happened.”

Chapter Text

Honestly, their performance practice was going so well before Ben decided to be an idiot.

Although it was Joe’s idea too practice a performance to show to their dads and practice on the very back of the sofa, Ben was the one to fling his arm out! Therefore, in Joe’s defence, it was utterly and completely Ben’s fault!

“And now!” Ben had yelled happily “Without further ado, I present to you, the dinosaur slayer himself...” Ben fake punched the air in acting, and Joe, who was curled up behind the sofa and waiting to jump up, giggles at his actions, “Joseph Deacon!!”

Ben grinned happily, and as Joe all but climbed his way up to the sofa, Ben waved his arms around like an idiot. Joe got up, but the second he went to speak-

Smack. Right in Joe’s nose.

“Arg-“ Joe groaned at the impact, and went to step backwards but, to him, as he forgot that he was on the edge of the sofa, the floor had disappeared, and a thud was heard as Joe’s body collided heavily with the floor.

Ben gasped, looking down at his ginger friend with shock before Joe pulled the hand away from his nose and revealed all of the blood trickling down to his chin.

They stared, before Joe finally perked up.

“Do you think I have a concussion now?”

And Ben couldn’t help but laugh.

Chapter Text

Birthday parties were an essential part of growing up, at least in the bands eyes. On every birthday the boy’s had, the band made it their duty to make their birthdays the best one yet. The dads sometimes like to compete in who had the best birthday party, and sometimes took it too far that the kids were more responsible in their planning and decorations than the actual adults in the room. Each year, Roger had been suggesting to rent a field so his son could celebrate, but the seven year old gave him a look that looked so much like his mothers it was almost shocking.

However, even if there parents got so competitive with each other regarding their birthdays, the boy’s always had fun regardless.

However, during this incident, Brian wasn’t sure if Gwilym would ever want a birthday party again.

It started, as all parties do, with the guests arriving. Namely, Ben and Roger.

“Happy birthday, Gwil!” Ben screamed as soon as the door opened, his dad next to him carrying a mountain of presents in his arms and struggling with no help as the youngest Taylor threw his arms around his birthday cousin.

“Ouch- Thanks Ben, But your really squashing me...” Gwilym practically choked out, and Ben let go of him quickly with a mumbled apology.

“Sorry- But I got you presents so it fine!” Ben grinned and Gwilym giggled with a nod as he took the blond’s hand and guided him to the living room with all of the space decorations and ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GWILYM’ banner.

“Hi Gwil...” Roger said as the kids left and he put the presents down to give his arms a rest for a moment. Brian chuckled, and helped with half as they caught up to the boy’s in the living room.

“Gwilym, say hi to your uncle” Brian smiled, and Gwilym rushed over to give his uncle and hug with a yell of ‘Hi uncle!’ before leaving to return back to Ben. Honestly, these kids were inseparable...

But the fun wouldn’t last. Not at all.

The other boy’s came soon after, Rami almost being missed under the pile of smaller presents he was holding (The band made it their duty to spoil each kid every year, and of course Freddie was the best at that.), and then Joe came practically bursting in with a yell of ‘Wheres the cake?!’ which practically sent the boy’s into fits of laughter.

And funnily enough, the cake was the reason Gwilym was in the position he was in now. And Brian was worried.

It had started off nicely, the boy’s and parents singing the famous birthday song with Gwilyms name tied in, Freddie obviously our doing everybody as Rami stared up at him in awe of his voice, and the other boy’s’ eyes were trained on the cake.

“Make a wish!!” Ben yelled happily, getting closer to Gwilym and the cake who sat at the end of the table, and a split second after he blew the candle out, Ben’s hand reached over, grabbed a hand of the cake and smothered it in Gwil’s face.

And everyone went silent.

Holy shit. This was the day Gwilym was scarred by his birthday, though Brian as he couldn’t get the courage to grab napkins for his boy because he was so shell shocked.

But he overreacted, and Gwilym all but burst into laughter before grabbing a handful of the cake also and then smothering it in Ben’s own face, who laugh and grabbed another and threw it at Joe instead.

The ginger gasped, before also laughing and grabbing a bit of his own. All war broke lose, and soon enough cake was flying everywhere, the boy’s were yelling in battles-man anguish, the parents were screaming at the boy’s to stop, and Freddie was pulling Rami under the table to not risk the little boy get caked, who obviously defied everything his dad said and climbed right back up and joined the war with a scream.

Freddie, and the other parents watched in stunned silence as their kids ran around each other with sponge cake in their fists befere all but firing them at each other with screams of joy and cake covering their bodies.

Maybe the parents joined in, but the tabloids didn’t need to know that.

Chapter Text

Even as a kid, Rami had always been a cuddler. The youngest got the most attention from his cousins, father’s, brother and uncles so it wasn’t a shock to anyone when that need for hugging carried on into his teen years.

Jim would already remember the incident when Rami had come home from school in such a mood that the multiple cats meowed at him as if asking about his woes.

Jim had been in the living room, and he heard the door slamming and knew it couldn’t be good. Aaron was out of the house for the week on a school trip, and Jim guesses the youngest was taking his big brothers absents to heart. Plus, the teen had some trouble at school.

Of course the boy who painted his nails and was the son of a literally rock star would get bullied. The kids who bullied him acting through nothing but jealously, and Jim hadn’t despised a group of kids more than he had the bullies. Rami had come home with missing shoes and a dirt smudged face, and Jim had seen red.

But of course, when asked about his appearance, Rami replied with a shrug and the explanation of ‘Fell over’ because when you fell over, you lost your shoes. Of course.

So as Rami gave an ear piercing scream from the door as he all but threw his shoes down to the floor, Jim worried from his place on the sofa. He knew Freddie would’ve loved to rush up to the boy and smother him in his love, and although Jim wanted to do the same, he knew he had to give the teen some space and let him decide what happened next.

But Jim got what he wished for in the end, and a panting Rami appeared at the doorway and stared at his dad with tears in his eyes.

“You alright?” Jim asked gently, looking the boy over. His shirt was rumpled, and his sleeves were dirt covered probably from being pushed to the ground, but he wasn’t missing his shoes and had no visible bruises, which was a win in a sadistic way.

“The boy’s at school say shit... and I don’t like it.” Rami all but huffed out, fists bunched up at his sides as he kept his gaze down to the floor.

“Of course not.” Jim smiled sadly. “Want to tell me what they say?”

“..It’s all about dad. And it-...” Rami trailer off with a shake of his head, all but marching over to his dad and pushing at his shoulder to lean him back so he could easily slip into his father’s lap with a sniffle. He buried his face in his dads chest, and Jim placed his big arms around him in protection.

“It’s alright. I know it’s hard, but it will get better.” Jim reassured like he had for the past month, and Rami nodded slightly against his chest.

“It will get better, I promise.”

Chapter Text

An old opera played for a moment, the singer grand and glorious on the grainy screen before a fuzz overlaid her angelic sounds to mix into sounds from the worlds below, only to be replaced with the clear noises of a giggling child and piano keys playing a melody.

The image cleared, and presented a small four year old holding a blankie embroidered with small kittens holding pacifiers in their mouths as the pattern. The four year old held soft curls, and was leaning up against the sofa with his free hand but didn’t stop in his bouncing dances as he giggled and kept his eyes on a figure at the piano.

“Rami’s having a boogie.” The voice behind the camera came clear through the hustle and bustle out of frame. When the camera moved, a flash of a small group of people were around the piano and singing happily, some laughing at Rami in joy as they belted to lyrics to whatever song the figure played. “And Freddie’s on piano, obviously!”

The figure turned at his name, and stuck his tongue out at Jim behind the camera, but said item caught the way Freddie’s eyes latched onto his baby and his face brightened, if at all possible, more, and he gave a wave to his baby who gave a loud gurgle in response before squealing as the music continued to play.

The camera turned to the boy, and the grainy screen caught the awe and adoration on the littles boy’s face at his singing father, and of course it still captured his bouncing dancing to the piano still playing.

The camera shifted from one scene to another, and suddenly they were all sat at the sofa, and Rami was on Freddie’s lap happily and still gripping the blankie in a tight hold not even a body builder could break. Sat next to him was Freddie’s friend Peter Straker, and Brian on Freddie’s other side. All attention was on Rami, so the camera followed all of the others’ line of sight and kept the little boy mainly in frame.

Freddie had his wrists in a gentle hold, lifting the boy’s arms up and making him seem as if he was dancing as he sung a small song that had the baby giggling and trying to wriggle out of his hold.

“He’s so tired.” Brian said fondly, watching as the little boy all but climbed out of his father’s lap and into Freddie’s own. He took him happily, and rearranged his blankie so it wasn’t caught up in Rami’s short legs.

“He’ll say when he wants to go to bed.” Freddie waved him off with a kiss to his little boy’s crown, turning to Peter to speak to him whilst the camera fuzzed up again to cover their tender moment completely.

Back was the opera singer, before the next capture was years into the future. Through a mirror was those same curls as before,yet longer, and poking out through the top of the too large camera pulled up to the boy’s face.

It was pulled away to reveal a seven year old Rami with a grin as he looked from the camera to the mirror, before a noise was heard from a distance and he turned to yell. “What... No, Aaron ate it!... why would I lie?!” And the camera cut out.

When it came back, it was too closely zoomed into another boy’s face, who was revealed to be Aaron when the person (presumably Rami due to the angle of the cameras shot: lower than Aaron) zoomed out once again.

“Do a dance!” Rami laughed out from behind he camera, and both he and Aaron backed up to reveal the Garden Lodge’s kitchen, and Aaron all but pushed the table to one side to start doing his... odd... improv.

“You look like a dying seal!” Rami heckled with a laugh at his older brother, and Aaron gave a gasp before he was all but running towards Rami with a yell, and Rami’s scream dissolved into the static of the camera changing scene.

Next revealed a simple shot of the garden, two younger teenagers sat in the grass looking over what seemed to be comics through the grainy screen.

“That’s bullshit!” One of them yelled, and the cameraman revealed himself to be Freddie when he gave a laugh at the gingers exclamation.

“Where did you learn that?” Freddie called, and both boys could be heard faintly giggling.

“You, uncle Freddie!” Joe responded with a yell, and Freddie burst into more laughter before the camera was facing downwards and Freddie’s yells of ‘How do I turn this facking thing off?!’ laced with the familiar buzz of the cameras workings.

They lost the camera a year later.

“Holy shit.” Rami, now 26, exclaimed as he opened a box from the attic of his childhood home.

“I haven’t seen this camera in years!”

Chapter Text

In hindsight, Joe should’ve realised that competing with how many sweets Joe could shove into his mouth at once wasn’t a good idea, but the five year old was... idiotic, and now as he curled up in a ball on the sofa, gripping his stomach in pain, he came to the conclusion that this day was the worse in his life.

He groaned as another wave of pain stabbed him in the stomach from the inside, not out, John walked into the living room with a sigh, holding some medication and a glass of water in each hand.

“How are you doing?” John asked sympathetically, setting the medication down and giving the water to the boy and helping him take a gulp.

“I’d rather die that feel this pain...” Joe moaned out, sympathetic for himself as he wiped his mouth of the water.

“That sounds like one of Brian’s lyrics.” John snorted, and Joe gave him a confused look “Don’t worry about it, you’ll understand when your older.”

Joe just shrugged, but was caught off by another stabbing pain “I feel sick.”

“Do you think your going to be sick?” John asked and felt the boy’s forehead after pushing some of the ginger licks away. He wasn’t burning up, but was warmer than normal.

“That’s a stupid question. How am I supposed to know that?” Joe sasses, and John smirked.

“Your going to be fine.” He smiled. “Can I tell the others your feeling better?”

“They know?!” Joe shot up, but crumpled back up in pain as John sat next to the boy and brought his head into his lap so he could rub his back to ease the pain in his boy’s stomach. “The boys know too?”

“Rami saw you at the office when he was being brought in at lunch, he wanted to go up to you but the teacher didn’t let him. He was really worried about you.” John sighed, and Joe’s heart crumbled at the thought of his baby cousin seeing him in pain. He was supposed to protect the youngest, just like Freddie had to his dad when they were younger.

“Was he crying?” Joe sniffles in sympathy for his baby cousin.

“No, but he was upset. He’s alright now, just bugging Jim about you still. So can I tell him your feeling a bit better at least?” John asked, and Joe nodded half asleep from the rubbing on his back.

“Alright bud, I will I promise. Just sleep for a bit, okay?” John said softly, and Joe didn’t have the time to reply before he was under.

Chapter Text

“That’s bullshit.” Freddie claimed when he saw Delilah, the little traitor sat on Jim’s lap and not his own. He all but glared at his husband and the cat on his lap, who looked too smug for his liking. The cat and Jim, at that.

“Oh dear, she’s a cat. She sees a lap and sits on it!” Jim exclaimed with a wave of his hand, and Freddie huffed in annoyance.

“Yes well I bought her, she should love me more!” He all but stomped his foot, and Jim gave a laugh. He reminded him of their youngest son when he didn’t get more time with his dad on the piano. Or, more accurately, when Jim had had enough of the boy slamming the keys and Freddie praising that monstrosity of a headache impending to come and finally decide to take the boy away with a mighty fight.

Speaking of the little boy, Rami came toddling in happily with a blanket in his mouth that he almost tripped on at every step he took. The part he hand in his mouth was all but covered in drool, and Jim winced at the sight of it.

“Ah! A baby!” Freddie exclaimed happily, leaning over to take the boy into his arms, alongside the wet blanket, and sat next to Jim proudly with the boy on his lap. He snuggled closer to his daddy’s chest, and banked something or other in his own made up language.

“See? At least my youngest son loves me.” He grinned, and Jim just had to laugh at the pettiness of it all.

“You could not have said that like I don’t love my youngest son?” He snickered, and Freddie grinned cheekily and shrugged as he looked down at the baby on his chest.

“Oh really?” Freddie said in that voice you use for over excited and incoherent four year olds, and Jim smiled domestically as he watched the two.

“Where’s the oldest?” Jim asked as soon as Delilah jumped off of his lap, now too interested in Rami, who, with Freddie’s help, stroked the cat whilst Jim grabbed the boy’s allergy medication.

“Making pancakes.” Freddie said absently, and then it sunk in that their ten year old was in their kitchen alone and unsupervised, and Jim went running as soon as the fire alarm sounded above them.

Chapter Text

“Snack run, snack run!” The oldest and the youngest chanted as they linked arms down the hallway, making their way down happily as they searched each door they passed. A certain ginger tagging along behind them and laughing, pushing Rami and Gwilym occasionally just to rule them up.

It was tradition for the oldest and youngest to go on a snack run during almost every one of their dad’s concerts that they went to. Joe had asked to come along, and the oldest and youngest weren’t two to decline, so the ginger tagged along on their normal escapade whilst Ben and Aaron stayed to cover incase their moms or Jim came down to check in on them and saw the three missing.

“They better have the good stuff.” Rami grinned, looking over his shoulder to Joe. “They had these sour stuff last time we were here, might have been last year now that I think about it, but that was the good shit.”

“Language!” Gwilym yelled before pushing the younger away from him gently, opening a door and peeing through. “How would your dad feel about his baby swearing like that?” Gwilym snickered before entering the room. “Think this is it!”

Rami shrugged to Gwilym’s question before he and Joe followed the tallest into the room, finding the light and revealing the beloved snack table , filled with all the goods in the world.

“Jackpot.” Joe grinned, and the others laughed before rushing over to the table and digging in.

“Look,” Rami pointed to a bowl filled with rainbow coloured treats “The good shit.” He grinned, and grabbed a handful before all but shoving it into Joe’s face, who coughed slightly as he took them and downed them in one.

“Your right-“ Joe’s face contorted, “They are sour!”

Rami laughed, pointing at his face as he giggled. Joe stuck his tongue out as the sourness hit him worse, and the tallest was engrossed in his own treats to realise Joe’s predicament.

However, with sharp hearing that was almost inhumane, Gwilym heard the approaching footsteps and he instantly grabbed the youngest and second youngest’s collars and all but threw them under the table, getting under himself and putting a finger to his lips to shush them as they went to yell in shock.

“Great.” Rami whispered and wiped his hands on his lap, looking through the small gap the table cloth to watch as someone opened and closed the door behind them, Rami being pulled back by the ankle by Joe when the footsteps got way too close to the snack table for their liking.

Rami slid to his stomach, and Joe climbed to replace him and look under the gap instead. Gwilym watched from his place with stilled breath, his chest not moving in fear as the person stayed right in front of them, unknowingly making their lives so much worse at that moment.

“Joe...” Rami whispered every so quietly, the two others snapping their heads to him with looks of warning. Rami was sat up now, and patting his left pocket with a look of alarm in his eyes. “The picture.”

‘The picture’, the only picture Rami had of his birth parents. He carries it everywhere, if it were to school or concert or snack runs or just sitting in his bedroom, he had the picture close.

And now, when Joe looked under the gap again, he saw it lying on the floor face up. The sight of Rami’s birth parents smiling happily in the grainy photo next to the foot ready to accidentally step on it. Rami let out a whimper, and behind Joe came the sound of Gwilym slapping a hand over his mouth and shuffling closer to hold him.

Joe didn’t bother to look behind himself to know Rami was crying, the youngest always had expressed himself through his tears and got easily worked up to the point of letting the waterworks flow, and anytime he did it pained the family they created.

Joe, on instinct and need to fix the situation, reached his hand over without a second thought, grabbing the picture and pulling his hand back quick.

But not quick enough.

A foot stamped down on his fingers, the foot being accompanied with a heavy boot that had Joe’s hand crackling in distaste and Joe screaming in pain. The person above them yelled, and Joe felt himself be pulled back and a hand slapped over his mouth. Another grabbed the picture off of his now throbbing, red and already bruising hand before those gentle hands encased themselves over the broken hand.

The cloth above them was pulled to reveal the three, and the guy, a technician, gasped at the sight of the three children of three different members of the most popular band at that moment.

Joe felt his hand sore in red hot pain before he passed out.

Chapter Text

The technician, a middle aged man named Tom, who crushed Joe’s hand into a red and throbbing mess ran through the corridors of backstage, Gwilym and Rami following along with hands gripping each other’s and trying to comfort the screaming Joe in Toms arms. Gwilym had took his jumper off to let Joe wrap it around his hand to at least try to dull the pain until they got to a hospital, but it didn’t seem to be doing much from the screams Joe was letting out.

Rami was still in floods of tears by Gwilym’s side, gripping the photo tight in his hold as they followed hurriedly after Tom and Joe.

The tallest teen was flooded with guilt that kept him silent other than the occasional reassurance to Joe. He knew he shouldn’t have taken Joe with them, he knew in the back of his head something would go wrong this time around, but he hadn’t listened. He just thought ‘Don’t be silly!’ to himself, and he put both of the youngest’s in danger. It could’ve been Rami’s hand that got stood on, or his picture could’ve been stepped on. Oh god what if Joe’s hand was fucked completely? So much that they had to cut it off? Or his whole arm? Could that happen? If it could, it was his fucking fault. It was all his fault.

They got to the green room soon enough, bursting through and shocking the once laughing Ben and Aaron who were sat on the sofa. Ben stood up instantly as he took in the sight of some random guy holding one of his cousins, and Gwilyms guilt ridden and pained face, and Joe’s screams, and Rami’s tears-

“The fuck are you holding him for?!” Ben yelled, immediately on the defensive much like his father would. Aaron stood up after him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder as his eyes went from Joe, still screaming, to his little brother.

“He- they were under the table. I didn’t mean to. He was- reaching. I don’t-“ Tom was panting, hoisting Joe up slightly in his arms as h felt him start to slip. Joe was skinny, but still the size of a teenager. And Tom wasn’t a body builder, he was a fucking technician!

“It was my fault!” Rami burst through, coming past Tom and glancing up at Joe in his arms before looking between Ben and Aaron guiltily. “I dropped my photo, and Joe just went to grab it because I was upset and then he-“ Gwilym put a hand on the youngest’s shoulder, but he nudged him off in father of turning and looking at Tom.

“He needs a doctor. A fucking hospital, at that! And his dad!” Rami turned to look at Ben and Aaron with determination in his eyes. He was adamant in getting Joe help, and wouldn’t let anything get in his way. He had had his cry, and he was older now and knew he had to act it. So, his guilt could wait.

(Plus, being the boss and the one in charge was different to Rami, and right now he needed something different to distract himself from his guilt. So, bossy it was).

“What time are they coming off stage?” Rami hurried with a wave of his hand as if it would help them speak faster, and the others had no choice but to comply. If the mood was lighter, and Joe still wasn’t yelling in agony, it would’ve been sweet how much he looked like Freddie. But Joe was in agony, and they didn’t have time to be all sweet.

“They have two songs left, they just started seven seas of Rhye.” Aaron complies easily, Ben rushing over to Toms side when he saw the man hoist Joe up again. Ben took him into his arms easily, and shushed Joe gently whilst the others worked out what to do until they had their dads to guide them.

“Fucking hell, Joe.” Ben groaned as if he could feel Joe’s pain as he huddled his head into his cousins chest as he whimpered. He was gripping the jumper around his hand tightly, and Ben could see his red and purple fingers peaking out trough the fabric.

“Fucking hell...” Ben repeated in shock. His hand looked like it had been run over ten times by five different monster trucks in the span of two seconds.

“I need dad!” Joe yelled out as sob laced his words towards the end, and Ben couldn’t help but tear up himself. He pulled Joe impossibly closer to his chest, and tried to stay strong for his ginger cousin.

Out of the corner of his eye, past Rami bossing the others about with his new found plan, he saw Gwilym looking so very guilty for the incident that was nobody’s fault.

-

They went running down the hall with Rami in front of them all soon after, Rami ordering the others to look in each door as he tried his hardest not to let his tears fall at the sounds Joe was making behind him. He kept subtly trying to make sure his picture was in his pocket every few seconds, but the others still noticed.

Other than Joe, who was stilling whining in agony as he gripped his hand. The pain came in waves, fucking hot and white and horrible waves of pain.

They bumped into Jim soon after, or, Rami did mid order to Ben to go look in the next door they passed for his dad, who he had just walked into.

“Dad!” Rami yelled, and although he longed for a hug, he knew he had to wait. “Joe’s hand got stood on!”

“...what?”

-

Minutes later, the other dads came along, looking pale and sick as they burst through the door of the medical area, John first of course and rushing straight to Joe’s side.

“Oh gosh, Joe!” John all but weeped out, which Joe would’ve laughed at him for if the nurse inspecting his hand wasn’t being so god damn rough on his fingers and making the pain worse. “How in the world was your hand stood on?”

“Rami dropped something important. I had to grab it, dad. I was the closest.” Joe insisted, and John shushed him gently and hugged him close, kissing the crown of his head before the nurse started talking to him about the damage.

They would have to go to hospital, which didn’t shock anyone but made the news no less annoying, but the nurse believed he had broken at least more than a few bones in his hand, but nothing could be determined without x-rays. She gave him some pain-relief pills as she went to go call the ambulance for them, and Joe all but sagged into his dad when he took the medication.

“Im ready to just sleep for the rest of my life. Or die, either one.” Joe joked in that way he does, and his dad gave him a shove but he looked happy enough to see his son back to his ‘normal’ ways, at least for a moment.

-

A few weeks later, with Joe’s cast almost completely filled with signatures from the boy’s and their dads, as well as Joe’s classmates, Joe had a talk with Gwilym and Rami.

Both Rami and Gwilym apologised profusely, and Joe waved them both off with his non-casted hand and a grin.

“Those candies were the shit, though” Joe laughed in between the hug, and it sent Gwilym and Rami off as well.

“Right?!” Gwilym yelled with a laugh, the three of them pulling away from the hug to join the others.

Chapter Text

Rami was going to be sick. Like, actual sick was just going to start wrenching out of his throat like Ben and Joe at the moment, who both caught a bug going around, and it was going to be painful and he was going to cry and then he’d have to call Charlie and say he chickened out on him and then they would break up and it would be horrible and-

“Come in, mini gay!” The crackle of his walkie-talkie sounded from his side, startling Rami from his position of staring at himself in the mirror. “Mini gay, do you read me?”

It was Rami’s school dance for his year, and he was shit scared. His dads had been ecstatic at the news of their youngest deciding that he would go, and even more excited at the idea of him going with Charlie. They had him fitted for a suit that costed more than Rami was allowed to know, and spoiled beyond belief the weeks prior to his dance. It had all been fun and games at first, Rami not getting the slightest bit nervous about the dance, until it all came crashing down on him the night of it.

Rami rushed over to grab his walkie talkie, his shoes still slightly uncomfortable as they hadn’t been broken in completely yet, and he cut Joe off on the other end.

“Should you be in bed?” Rami sounded annoyed, already stressed with Charlie coming over in... not long, and now he had Joe being his usual annoying self.

“I am in bed, silly!” Joe laughed weakly, and Rami couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“Okay, then shouldn’t you be asleep?” Rami cheeked, and Joe tutted in response.

“Not when my mini gay is going on his first school dance!” Joe radiated his grin over to Rami, who had to sigh at the nickname.

“Joe, shut up with that. But thank you, but go to bed!” Rami yelled, snapping the talkie off at the side and sighing, looking back at himself in the mirror and fumbling with his tie. Why did they have to be so tight?

“You ready?” Aaron appeared around the corner, and Rami couldn’t help but groan at the second distraction.

“Nope.” Rami said simply, and Aaron snorted. Rami turned around with a snap, and glared at his older brother. “Don’t laugh! I’m stressed.”

“It’ll be fine! You look great, and if that Charlie guy every dares hurt you I swear to god I will-“

“He’s here, Darling!” Freddie voice cut off his brothers threat, and Rami inhaled a sharp breath before grabbing a mint and chewing on it as he pushed past his brother who followed him happily down the stairs.

“Don’t be annoying.” Rami whispered his threat over his shoulder as he jumped the last step of the stairs.

“I’ll do whatever I want.” Aaron grinned back with a shove to his brothers shoulder towards the door.

Rami stumbled slightly with a glare, and opened the door to reveal Charlie in a blue suit that matched his eyes.

Rami stared, and Charlie grinned awkwardly.

“I’m gonna be lame, and ask if your as scared of this dance as me, because I really need to know if I’m the only one overthinking this.” Charlie started and watched as Jim, Freddie and Aaron peaked their heads around the corner of the door. “Also, hi.”

“I’m so glad I’m not the only one!” Rami yelled with a laugh, Charlie laughing also as he entered Garden Lodge and hugged his boyfriend tight.

“I bought alcohol, at my mums request.” Charlie looked sheepishly between the parents and his boyfriend, and Jim snatched it away with a glare as he looked over the name.

“I’ll be taking this.” He gave a hard look to Charlie, ever protective over the youngest, and Aaron snorted as Charlie shuffled behind Rami.

“But-“ Rami started as he gripped Charlie’s hand.

“Ah. No. Not at this age.” Jim shook his head as he went to put the alcohol in a high up place, Freddie watching him go with an annoyed look.

“Sorry dear,” he turned back to the two youngest in the room. “He’s just upset his baby is all grown up.”

“Like you aren’t?” Aaron perked up, and Rami glared at him in annoyance as Charlie snorted.

“Okay! Enough! We are going!” Rami tried to push Charlie out of the room, but was stopped when he saw his dad holding the camera.

“Oh for fuck sakes.” Rami groaned, and Charlie burst into laughter.

“Rami! Language!” Freddie scolded him with a gasp, making Rami shrink back in on himself slightly.

Aaron was still laughing at the sight in front of him, gripping his stomach as both Rami and Charlie were pushed to take photos together in the garden. Aaron got a few of his own on his own camera after grabbing it from his room, and set the Polaroid’s next to Rami’s beloved one on his pillow.

When Rami left to grab the photo before he left, he went past Aaron’s room and threw the photos of him and Charlie in the garden with a yell of “At least’s get my good side, next time!” With a grin, and Aaron laughed again before chasing him downstairs.

Later, when Rami came back at one in the morning, totally and completely not drunk off his ass, Aaron carried him up to his room with a soft grin, knowing that even as his brother grew up he would always be the baby of Garden Lodge.

Chapter Text

“Okay, round up in a circle! I need to count you all so stay still!” Brian, ever the mother of the group, yelled at the boy’s all screaming and yelling as they entered the gates of the amusement park.

Brian had the boys under his wing for the day, as it was their rare day off from the studio and the other parents all had plans whilst the guitarist had yet to plan anything, So, Brian was left in charge of the kids for day. And although he loved them, jeez were they annoying little sh-

“-It! Your it!” Ben more pushed that tapped Gwilym on the shoulder with a loud squeal, running around Brian’s legs as his son chased after the blond with a grin of his own. Rami cheered them both on with the blanket between his lips whilst Aaron was observing the parks rides from further away.

“Boys- Oh for- Boys!” Brian grabbed each boy’s shoulders, gently nudging them back to start by Rami whilst Brian rushed to grab Aaron by the shoulder and bring him back to the ‘centre’.

“Would you all just calm down for a moment, please?” Brian’s plan had been to pump the boy’s all up on sugar so they would be excitable and annoying when they went back to their parents as a payback for making him have all of the kids with no help from any other adult for a whole day. But it seemed that they always were excitable and annoying, and Brian’s plan of payback was thrown into the trash before it even started.

“Now,” Brian started as he looked over their faces. They were trying not to laugh at him, little shits... “Let me count you all.”

“Gwilym?” The tallest grinned happily to his dad before going back to trying to coax the blanket out of Rami’s mouth.

“Ben?” The blond threw a thumbs up at him before looking around in what Brian thought was wonder.

“Aaron?” The oldest was staring intently at the cotton candy store. A whole store for teeth rotting sweets? They were ignoring that at all cost, he didn’t want the kids all sick.

“Rami?” The youngest was batting Gwilyms hands away from his protective blanket, but let it drop out of his mouth and onto the floor to give Brian a milk-teeth grin.

“And, lastly, Joe?” Brian observed, and silence followed.

The kids all looked between each other in confusion, and Brian’s heart stopped instantly.

“Oh fuck.”

So, cut to Brian, with Rami gripping onto his back, Ben practically hanging off of his arm with frantic threats of violence if his ginger cousin wasn’t found, and Aaron and Gwilym gripped on each of Brian’s trouser legs as they pointed out each ginger that wasn’t Joe, whilst Brian yelled frantically for the missing child.

“Holy fuck.” Brian huffed out, the sound of Rami’s cry’s almost piercing his ears if it weren’t for the desperate ringing he heard deep in his eardrums. “Holy fuck, holy shit. Where the fuck is he? Fuck fuckfuckfuck-“

“Uncle Brian!” Ben let go of his arm with a kick to his shin that caught Brian out of his trance, and he watched as the blond started running towards something with incoherent yells.

“Ben! Come back, right now! Ben! Ben, don’t- Oh, fuck!” Brian sprinted after the surprisingly fast child, who pushed past a crowd of people that cleared to reveal-

Joe, looking up at a booth of rigged games and it’s prizes.

The ginger turned around with a confused look before he was enveloped into a hug by Aaron, Gwilym and Ben.

“What? What happened?” Joe had the nerve to be clueless to Brian’s struggle, and he all but flopped onto his knees in front of the ginger to encase him and the three hugging him into his arms.

“I hate you. I hate all of you, y’know that?” He said with seriousness in his tone, but the four who hadn’t gone missing still let out fond giggles at the insult. “I thought I lost you completely, Joe. You little shit.” He let a fond chuckle escape his insult, and watched as a little hand from his back came to pat Joe on the head happily with a sniffle.

“You little shit.” Rami repeated, and it had all of the others laughing. Except Brian, who rushed to scold the boy before he went telling Freddie and Jim of the new word he had discovered.

Chapter Text

A husky cough sounded from under the dining table of Garden Lodge. The blankets had been thrown over the top to create a fort, and currently Rami was sat under it miserably. He was sniffling and flushed, a common cold breaking down the little boy’s body as he wiped his nose with the tissues held in the many tissue boxes the older boy’s had found around the house.

Currently, the others boy’s were on a hunt to find medical supplies to help cure the youngest. They were taking their role of doctor seriously, and the fake stethoscopes and kiddie-doctor’s coats surely wouldn’t do if they were going to take their roles of doctors seriously.

“I found some pills!” Ben yelled from his place in the high up cupboard, ironically. He kicked it open and sat on the edge of it happily, dangling his feet as Gwilym stood warily on the floor with his arms wide out in case the blond fell. “It says... I don’t even know what this means? Gwilym!”

“Ow, no need to shout, idiot! I’m right here!” Gwilym winced at the volume of the blonds yell, who only tutted and stuck his tongue out to the tallest below him.

“Read this for me, smart-ass!” He giggles and threw the pills for Gwilym to catch, which he did with ease and read the label.

“Morphine... what’s that?” Gwilym looked over to the door as Joe and Aaron popped around the corner.

“Why are you looking at me? I’m five.” Joe shrugged as he struggled to hold a first aid kit too big for his hands.

Gwilym turned to Aaron, who also shrugged. “I don’t know my drugs all that well. But, Joe found bandages and stuff!”

“He’s got a cold!” Ben yelled from his place in the cupboard before he jumped down and all but landed on his face with an ‘oof’. He got up easily, and wiped his now steadily bleeding nose with a grin “He won’t need bandages!”

“You do.” Joe rushed to pull out a bandage fit for somebody’s ankle, and all but pelted it into Bens face.

“Cheers!” Ben grinned and held it close to his nose, Gwilym rolling his eyes at their stupidity as Aaron giggled at them.

“Either way, lets try the morph-stuff and see if it works.” Gwilym offered And soon enough they were back at the table-blanket-fort.

“I want daddy.” Rami whined as they all entered, Aaron sitting next to the youngest and pulling his little brother into his lap.

“They are in the garden.” Joe explained as he put the first aid kit down and opened it to start rummaging through it as he spoke. “And I’m lazy and don’t want to go that far. Plus!” He turned to Rami with a chocolate bar he pulled from his pocket. “I want to be a doctor.”

“We all do, so, your our patient!” Ben grinned as he pulled away the bandage to wipe at his nose and check if the blood was still coming. It was, so he put the bandage back on his face.

Rami stared in horror at Ben’s nose, smudged with red blood that all but dripped onto his lip.

“I’m gonna die.”

“You ain’t!” Aaron reassured with a smile. “We are the best doctors in the world!”

“Got a PhD?” Rami asked with a look and the others all stilled.

“Dad does.” Gwilym shrugged. “I have inherited a PhD. It’s in my blood!”

“That’s how PhD’s work...?” Joe looked between the band-aids and bandages he had in his hold, and Gwilym’s reassuring face.

“In this situation it does.” Gwilym spike like it was obvious, and Joe just shrugged in agreement as he handed out the band-aids and bandages.

“We will give these to our patient after the morph-dine.” He spoke in a ‘professional and grown up’ tone, and the other doctors all nodded in agreement whilst Rami glanced between the with a sniffle.

“What’s ‘morph-dine’?” Rami asked as Ben rushed to grab a glass of water at Gwilyms order, who read aloud the instructions.

“Morph-Ine, Ram’s. And it’s just a pill. We might have to crush it up if Ben can’t get the water, though...” Gwilym spoke aloud, and suddenly Rami wasn’t so sure he wanted these unqualified doctors ‘treating’ him.

“Can I just get daddy?” Rami asked with a whine as he tried to slip out of Aaron’s lap, who looked sad to see his baby brother go.

“But I want to play doctors.” Joe whined, looking to Gwilym as if to make him convince the youngest to let them treat him.

Gwilym sighed and took Rami’s hand “Maybe when he’s not actually sick, yeah Joey?”

Joe grumbled but nodded, getting over his upset quickly to throw the bandages he held into Aaron’s face with a yell before running off as Aaron started to chase him with a laugh.

“Let’s go get you dads, and maybe we can ask about what morphine is!” He gripped Rami’s hand happily and as the sick boy shagged into his side he put him into his hip happily and made his way outside. They collected Ben on the way, so Roger could look at his bleeding nose, and headed outside together.

Of course the parents were shocked to see Rami sick, Gwilym holding a morphine pill bottle and Ben’s face covered in blood, but the kids didn’t really see the problem with it all.

Chapter Text

“What’s up?” Rami said with concern in his tone over the blanket in his mouth. He looked at Gwilym, who sat cross legged on the floor up against the sofa in self pity.

Gwilym shrugged, and Rami sat next to him and snuggled up under his arm with the blanket now resting over the two of them. Thankfully, the wet corner wasn’t on Gwilym’s lap.

“Mum and dad aren’t going to be at home together any more.” Gwilym explained in simple terms, not wanting to delve to much into it with the four year old.

“Oh. Did the house ‘splode?” Rami asked as his eyes stayed locked on the screen of the TV in front of him. I had been playing some sort of ocean life documentary, and Rami’s mind supplied happily, ‘Oh, dolphins!’ And ran with it.

“No. We are at my home, Rami.” Gwilym sniffled, trying to keep his eye on the TV also.

He had got out of bed this morning, expecting to see his mum in the kitchen with breakfast like normal, but was met to his dad smelling of alcohol in the dining room, asleep on the table. He had rushed to call his Uncle Freddie, and for the last hour he and Rami had been here whilst Freddie tended to Brian, who was supporting a strong hangover upstairs in bed.

“Oh yeah.” Rami mumbled over a finger in his mouth, and Gwilym couldn’t help but pull it out with a look of annoyance.

“Germs.” He supplied, and pulled Rami into his lap to hug him tight. Rami let him with no difficulty, body going into a rag-doll slackness as he hugged. He brought his little arms around Gwilym, who held him if at all possibly tighter and teared up.

“It’s okay.” Rami pat him on the back gently as he heard his oldest cousin sniffling. “The house isn’t ‘sploded. It’s okay.”

Gwilym gave a watery laugh, and nodded slightly. “Thanks, Rami.”

“It’s okay.” Rami pat his back more, before turning back around to watch the TV’s documentary.

Gwilym smiled slightly, and both their heads shot up to the ceiling at the sound of someone being sick with a groan.

“Uncle Brians sick.” Rami supplied, and then thy two of them looked at each other to say “Gross...” with matching disgusted looks.

Chapter Text

Waking up to screaming was never pleasant, especially for a parent. And when you have someone else’s child doing that screaming, it’s probably even scarier.

Both Jim and Freddie sat up quickly, Jim turning on the light to watch his husband rush out of the bedroom only in his pyjamas and burst through their youngest’s bedroom door. How he had the sense of which room the screaming was coming from, Jim didn’t know. But, he followed after his husband quickly as he yawned and entered the room after him.

There, on Rami’s bed, laid Joe and a sat up Rami crying and pointing to the ginger doing the screaming whilst Rami sobbed in fear.

It was evident what had happened, Joe had a nightmare and Rami got scared. Freddie cooed over the both of them as he entered and brought both youngest’s into his arms, soothing Joe through his sleep and helping calm Rami down at the same time.

The toddler kept teary eyes on the ginger the whole time, who fell back into a peaceful slumber soon after being placed in Freddie’s arms, the singer just having that effect on the children since the day Gwilym was born and wouldn’t stop screaming until he was in Freddie’s arms again.

“Daddy, Joey okay?” Rami mumbled sleepily, pulling at his dads pyjama top as he yawned widely.

“Big yawn dear.” Freddie said softly before kissing him on the forehead. “He’ll be alright, baby. Go back to sleep, yeah?”

The little boy nodded, and Freddie put the boy’s back under the covers with kisses to each of their foreheads.

Jim watched from the doorway, and couldn’t help but feel smitten.

Chapter Text

“What’s wrong?” Rami tilted his head to Joe as the ginger sat at the their normal lunch spot under the furthest tree of the field away from their high-school. “You haven’t eaten your carrot sticks.” The younger nodded towards them in their ziplock bag with worry. “Are you dying?”

“No. Just pissed I didn’t learn to fight like your dad.” Joe sighed and sat up from where he had been laying in the grass, grabbing his carrot sticks and handing them to Rami. “Eat them for me?”

Rami took the carrot stick bag without another word of them mentioned. “Did something go wrong?”

“Jason Funderberker. My age. He was being an absolute asshole to me about dad. Saying shit about his music and what not.” Joe looked almost physically enraged, and Rami crunched on the carrot sticks in thought.

“He’s jealous.” The youngest concluded, and Joe scoffed.

“Of course he is. Doesn’t mean he gets to almost break my ribs though.” Joe winced and Rami’s eyes widened.

“He what?!” Rami dropped the carrot sticks with a gasp. “The flip did he do?”

“‘Flip’?” Joe asked with a quirk of his eyebrow, but he definitely wasn’t smiling.

“Shut it! Where is he? I’ll give him a piece of my mind! Or, we can get Ben! Or Aaron!” Rami started to stand, but Joe pulled him back down with a fond chuckle, although it was laced with a sad tone to it.

“Don’t. They’ll probably kill him.” Joe grinned at the thought, and Rami sat back down with a grumble of threats of his own. Joe put the carrot stick bag back into Rami’s lap, and he continued to eat them as he glared off into the ground with murderous intent.

“Dude.” Joe snorted, and Rami looked up at him like the ginger broke a trance. He had. “Leave it, okay? I’ll tell dad and he’ll get it sorted.”

“...I’m still telling my dads, though. They’ll have a go to the school for uncle Deaky.” Rami gave, and Joe smiled as he snatched he carrot stick out of Rami’s hold.

“Thanks.” Joe grinned, and before the ginger knew it he found himself running across the field with a half eaten carrot stick in hand as the youngest chased him for it.

Chapter Text

“Treat, please.” Rami grinned up at his dad with a gappy smile, putting his hands up with grabby motions as Freddie looked down at him over his teacup.

“Excuse me?” He asked with a glance to Jim, setting his teacup down and putting the toddler onto his lap. “What’s this about a treat?”

“I want a treat!” He said it like it was obvious, waving a hand in very Freddie-like manner that had Jim choking on his drink at the action.

“Where’s this coming from, sassy?” Freddie bopped him on the nose with a proud smile at his son’s diva-attitude he raised him to have.

Rami sighed, and turned to push at the teacup on the table with a look back to Freddie with his eyebrows raised.

“Rami!” Both Jim and Freddie yelled, and the toddler looked between them with annoyance like they were the problem here.

“I want a treat! Like a cookie or a toy!” He explained with a kick of his foot, Jim going to pick up the thankfully-not-smashes teacup as Freddie looked at him with a look that tried to be scolding but looked amused if anything.

Freddie tapped the boy on the shoulder and beckoned him to lean over with a grin. Rami did and let Freddie whisper into his ear.

“Good boy. I’ll grab you a biscuit.” He smiled, and Rami giggled as he was set onto Freddie’s lap as they left the dining room together giggling and leaving Jim cleaning up the mess.

“Little shits.” Jim grinned and watched as they turned the corner to rush into the kitchen.

But Jim wasn’t all that surprised that Rami had developed Freddie’s sass. The two were so close as father and son that it would’ve been odd to see Rami not act just like Freddie.

Chapter Text

It was break time, and it was a sunny day nearing the start of summer. School was out in a few weeks, and the four couldn’t have been happier. Summer days meant, to them, spending time at each other’s houses and playing in the gardens for hours on end. Sun hats and sunscreen, water fights and long trips to the beaches, what more could four active boys want?

Currently, Rami and Joe were playing with toy trucks underneath a tree for shade during their school break. Rami had a little blue bucket hat on with overall shorts, whilst Joe held a baseball cap on his head and also wore a simple shirt and shorts combo. It was way too hot for anything else.

“Do you think I could sneak in my dinosaurs to play with the trucks, Rami?” Joe asked as he bashed two trucks together with a clanking noise.

Rami shrugged and went to shove the truck into his mouth. Joe stopped him, however, with a hand pulling it back down to the ground, and Rami continued playing with it as intended.

“I think I could...”

All was peaceful, until an unwanted shadow looked over the two cousins happily playing.

“You’re dads in a pathetic band, that’s what my dad said.” A little boy in Joe’s maths class perked up, the owner of the shadow with its hands on his hips and an accusing look down to the ginger boy. Joe gripped the truck he held and gave a sigh out through his nose before speaking.

“Go away, Todd.” Joe grumbled, trying to go back to playing with Rami like his dad had told him to: ignore the bullies, they weren’t worth his time. John has recalled many times to Joe when John himself was bullied at the same age (for his teeth, for his hair, everything a five year old couldn’t really change) and Joe had felt bad for him. He promised to follow his dads advice, but Lord was Todd so irritating.

“He also said the singers a queer.” Todd, the boy taunting them at the moment, sneered out again. And Joe snapped at that, promise be damned. He knew his dad would snap at it too, so that made it okay to go against the promise he made.

“Don’t even start it, Todd!” Joe yelled as he stood up, throwing the truck to the grass and putting his hand out behind him for Rami to take. He felt small fingers grip onto his hand, and Joe squeezed back so the baby wouldn’t feel so alone as Todd was being so rude to them.

“It’s true! He’s a queer, and that’s gross!” Todd yelled. “Plus, your stupid dad plays shitty bass!”

Rami gasped at the bad word.

“I’ll tell on you that you said that!” Joe threatened, and earned himself a harsh pushing on his shoulders.

“Go on then! Do it, you pussy!” Todd pushed him again, glancing to Rami behind the ginger and his quivering lip as Joe bit his own to suppress a fighting instinct. “Like I would care if you did!”

“Fine!” Joe said, and stormed off with Rami’s hand in his own to effectively pull his baby cousin away from the mean boy and his taunts.

“Joey?” Rami said quietly, and Joe patted him on the head as they made their way to Ben and Gwilym instead of a teacher.

“Boys.” Joe said, and both older cousins turned at the sound of Joe’s voice. “Code red alert. All units are go.”

Ben’s as well as Gwilym’s faces hardened, and they gave a definitive nod as Rami glanced between the three in confusion. Whatever ‘red alert’ meant, Rami didn’t want to be around to see it.

For the next three minutes, Gwilym, Ben and Joe collected sticks fit for their impending battle. Todd, with his posy of four other boys Joe’s age who giggled and pointed at the three cousins (unawares they were going to regret it very soon), stood back and watched them. Joe would glance over at them every so often to see Rami, sat nearby in the grass near the three looking for sticks, give them dirty looks that screamed his dad that it was almost comical to watch. But there was no laughter before battle, and so Joe got back to collecting his weapon of choice.

Joe came across the perfect stick, a sharp ended stick with three edged and the perfect handle, and decided that this stick would be fit for the job. Gwilym found rocks to throw whilst Ben found a pointy stick of his own, and they all gave each other markings on their faces with mud before they formed a battle line. (Where the teachers were doing any of this was unsure to any of them, not that they cared in the moment).

“Alright men.” Joe started. He looked down to Rami sat on the floor, looking up at them with so much confusion on his face. “And baby.” He continued. “This will be the battle of our lifetime! No other battle in our future will be as important as this one. Now, when I tell you that this one be our last battle, I mean it. Now, when I yell charge-“

“CHARGE~!” With that, Ben went running as he screamed like a mad man, Gwilym following with his own battle cry as Joe stood in annoyance.

“I wasn’t finished!” Joe complained through a whine, but sighed and turned to Rami to pat his head a few times. “See you on the other side, my cousin.” Before he too joined the battle.

Todd’s army was fighting back, and were doing a pretty good job because they had more numbers on the trio of cousins. However, they hadn’t spent the time taking care of their weapons and choosing them properly, instead just picking up random rocks and sticks and using them to fight back. Gwilym had chosen extra sharp stones, filling his pockets up with them to throw at their opponents with the intention of getting their eyes, whilst Ben and Joe had the pointiest sticks around. They were stretching like anything on Todd’s army’s arms, and they were almost winning when-

“Boys!” When Mrs. Hart had to ruin it all by pulling each army apart, and sending them straight to the nurses office or principle’s office deciding on their battle wounds.

Joe, Ben and Gwilym were all sent to the nurses office (Rami having to come along also because the toddler hated being away from his cousins), and were treated by the schools nurse who turned at Gwilym’s scrapped palms and Ben bleeding knees. Joe almost had a black eye from the punches he had taken. Of course, they were cleaned of their battle markings, and each boy sulked about it tremendously (Other than Rami, who was just happy to be there on Gwilym’s lap).

Only after they were cleaned and healed were they sent to the principles office. Each boy couldn’t stop giggling as they went though, founding the situation quite funny even if they were in so much trouble.

They didn’t expect their parents to be in the office though. Their smiles dropped instantly at each dads’ stern look.

Chapter Text

“Take her.” Rami entered Aaron’s room with puffy red eyes and a sniffle of allergies with Delilah held out in front of him looking around annoyed as she was passed from Rami’s hold to Aaron’s lap easily. Rami turned back to the doorway, and sneezed into his elbow and have a groan of annoyance straight after.

“What happened to you?” Aaron asked as he gave Delilah a scratch behind her ears. She settled herself in Aaron’s lap and flicked her tail in annoyance at her disturbance.

“She happened to me.” Rami groaned, rushing out of the room. “Allergies!” He yelled as he went down the stairs, and Aaron snorted and moved Delilah from his lap to follow his little brother down to grab his medication.

“You’re so weak sometimes.” Aaron joked and pushed at his little brother’s shoulder as they reached the last step.

“Says you!” Rami yelled back and slapped at his older brother’s hand. “Asshole.”

“Hey!” Jim called from the living room as the teenagers passed, and Rami gave a wince as Aaron snorted.

“Sorry, Dad!” He called, and slapped at his older brother again because Aaron deserved it for laughing at him.

“He’s not! He slapped me again!” Aaron yelled again, and Rami turned around to punch him this time instead. “Assault!”

“Aaron, shut it!” Jim yelled back at the two, and Rami grinned in victory. Aaron, on the other hand, just grumbled and pushed the youngest again.

“Go take your drugs.” He grumbled, and Rami flopped him off before rushing into the kitchen, grabbing his meds and running back upstairs as Aaron followed him with yells of threats to the youngest.

At the slam of the door, Jim and Freddie sighed. Honestly, they loved their kids, but if they could just chill out for five seconds, that would be very much appreciated.

Chapter Text

Ben has never been more proud than the shows he wore now. His first pair of lace ups, with blue sides and swirling designs, Ben refused to take them off even around the house. The laces were that same blue colour, and Ben had spent a full five minutes looking at them in the full length mirror in his parents bedroom. Roger wasn’t too keen on the boy wearing shoes on carpet (because how gross was that) but he figures they weren’t dirty yet and didn’t want to have a screaming match with the blond boy about shoes if he tried to take them off him.

But now that Roger thought about it, maybe letting his kid out in the rain with his shoes to go stomp in puddles wasn’t the best of plans.

“Daaaaaad!” Ben called with a scream, Roger wincing in pain as his ears rung from his sons calling.

“What?” Roger yelled back, and in cams Ben running up to him, soaked head to two in rain water and mud. His hands dirty and his hair sogging over his face. “Oh Jesus Christ-“

“My shoes!” Ben screamed, muffled into his dads shirt as he pointed down to the ghosts he wore. They were covers in mud completely, soaked through and leaving a trail through the house from the front door to here. “They’re ruined!”

“That’s what happens when you run around in rain for the better part of an hour, Ben.” Roger sighed, and pulled his son away to pick him up properly and set him on his hip. Ben was heavier than Roger remembered, and made a noise as he got the boy situated. Ben made no notice of Roger’s struggle, instead giving a wild wail in mourning for his dearly beloved shoes.

“That’s a fake cry if I ever heard one.” Roger snorted, and Ben stopped his wailing to whack his dad on the arm with a pointed look, before he threw his head back and kept mourning like a melodramatic actress in old television.

“Gone! But never forgotten!” Ben yelled, and Roger honest-to-God choked at the boys exclaim. Where the hell did he even learn that?

“Oh shut it.” Roger put a hand over his sons mouth and muffled the screams that came coming even with the hands placement. “Shhhh. We can get new ones. Now go into the kitchen and grab yourself a cookie before getting your coat on. We’re going to Brian’s, remember?” Roger said as he set the boy onto his mud stained shoes, that squelched when Ben oUt his weight back onto the floor. Roger grimaced. “And take those off. We’ll get new ones soon, I promise.”

Ben grumbled in mocking under his breath, repeating his dad with a sigh as if to say ‘you don’t understand the extremity of my dirty shoes!’ before he stomped off into the kitchen to grab two cookies (one for Gwilym, of course), and into his room to grab his coat and a new outfit (as this one was completely soaked through from the rain honing down on the midday London. Ben put on his new outfit, with a new red sweater that he thought fitted him quite well thank you very much, and before he left he stuffed his shoes into an old shoe box and placed it under his bed.

He got onto his knees and put his hands together, doing a little prayer for his shoes before he rushed downstairs again to get in the car to go to Gwilym’s house.

——

“And then dad said ‘we can get new ones’ like that would fix anything!” Ben exclaimed over his cheese cracker. Him and Gwilym were at the dining table whilst their dads spoke about whatever it was adults spoke about, and Gwilym gasped at the story.

“He didn’t!” Gwilym said, astounded at the audacity. “Like getting new ones would fix anything!”

“Exactly! That’s exactly what I said! And he was like ‘go upstairs and do as your told’ and of course I had to because- well, just because I did- and new we are here!” Ben said as he stuffed his cheese cracker whole. He stood up onto his chair and put one foot onto the table with a small flank of his and Gwilym’s plates. “When I’m king, and the government, and everything else like that, I’ll have my shoes back!” Ben yelled, and Gwilym nodded happily, then his brows furrowed and he pointed towards Ben’s face.

“You’ve got crumbs on your mouth.” He pointed out, like a good friend, and Ben’s ‘strong-big-manly-man’ composure broke completely as he wiped away the crumbs.

“Left. No, my left. Yeah. Up a little. There, all gone.”

“Thank you, good soldier!” And then, the persona was back. “Let us riot, my friend!” He yelled, and hopped down onto the floor from the chair and went running with a yell.

“Wait wait!” Gwilym called as he grabbed his last two cheese crackers from his plate and too ran with a cry of anguish after his best friend and ‘cousin’.

Brian and Roger watched as their sons ran past them in the living room, screaming bloody murder like they were charging into warfare. The two adults looked to each other with looks of bewilderment, and both then burst out into laughter at the two boys and their antics.

Don’t have children, but if you do, don’t let them be boring.

Chapter Text

Whatever those baby books spat at new parents, what Roger had quickly learnt was that children were annoying as fuck but also the light of a new fathers life.

Ben, as dear and sweet as he could be (only when he wanted something), had been a holy terror all morning. Screaming about his room being ‘tampered’ with (like Roger has had nothing better to do and decided to simply mess with his sons toys for a moment or two before putting them all back in the incorrect places), then kicking off about how he didn’t want his toast in triangles but perfectly neat rectangles that had to have the same amount of butter on each slice otherwise, well Roger made this part up for the dramatic affect, the Queen would die. After that, it turned into Ben becoming extremely clingy, but also despising his dad to his very core.

Now, Ben was sat on his dads lap and had his head buried into the drummers chest. His arms were crossed to prevent him touching his arms around his dad in an embrace, because, ew, and Ben was giving pitiful whines- no, wails- every so often or anytime Roger tried to move.

“Roger... Is he alright, dear?” Freddie gestured to the young blond in his father’s lap. They were at the studio at the moment, John not there as he was home with baby Joe and Veronica. Gwilym was talking animatedly towards his own dad, talking his ear off excitedly as Brian nodded happily as he strummed his guitar. The band appeared to be taking a break in favour of talking to their sons: apart from Freddie, who didn’t have any human children other than his cats back home.

“He’s mad he wasn’t allowed to throw a brick through the window this morning.” Roger sighed, patting his son on the back as he cried out in anguish for his injustice this morning. “He wanted to see how far he could throw.”

“How strong!” Ben corrected, throwing his head back and revealing his red puffy eyes from crying. Ben looked over to Freddie, who watched the young blond with an incredibly fond smile, and then thrusted his arms to the singer with an unintelligible order to be picked up.

Freddie did happily, setting the five year old onto his hip and grinning down to Roger who groaned.

“Why does my own son like you better than me? His own father?” Roger said with a sigh, watching as Ben turned in his waterworks again and gripped Freddie’s shirt as if desperate for justice from the incident that morning.

“I wanted to see if I could hit the paparazzi, Uncle Freddie! Because dad said they’d try to get photos of baby Joe, which can’t happen because they are just so rude!” Ben explained in a yell, Freddie nodding along as Gwilym and Brian turned to the worked up blond. Freddie practically melted at the blonds nicknames for everyone. ‘Baby Joe’ and Freddie’s personal favourite, ‘Uncle Freddie’. All of the boys had called him that since they could first talk, but it never stopped being so sweet for the singer to hear.

“And you’re perfectly right, dear. They are rude and mean and horrible, aren’t they?” Freddie asked, and Ben nodded. “Well, let’s practice throwing here!” Freddie said, and both Ben and Gwilym yelled in joy. Gwilym came running up to his uncle and pulled at his hand, Freddie taking the oldest boy’s hand into his own happily and taking them towards the mini-stage in the studio room to set the two boys down there before taking his shoes and they boys’ off to throw them.

“Freddie,” Brian said, warningly. “Maybe don’t encourage the throwing or shoes to the very impressionable young boys?”

Freddie just tutted and waved the guitarist off. “Oh it’s fine dear. They promise to only-“ Freddie turned to the two giggling boys and winked at them before turning back to their dads. “Throw shoes at the paparazzi. Not you or your dear wives!”

“We promise!” Ben yelled, and Freddie put his hand behind his back to cross his fingers as he nodded also. Gwilym and Ben followed the action.

Brian squinted at them, and Roger snorted as he came towards them to take his own shoes off.

“Fuck it,” Roger said as the boys gasped, as did Brian. “Lets learn to throw our shoes at the paparazzi!”

“Roger, language!” Brian yelled as he put his guitar down.

“Stay still, darling!” Freddie yelled, holding his shoe up with a glint in his eyes. “We need a target!”

The next week, the newspaper read of the ‘rude Taylor’s boy throwing shoes at the paparazzi!’ which featured Ben on the front cover with one shoe on and the other in his hand ready to make the perfect throw towards the rude men behind the cameras. Roger had the photo framed.