Chapter Text
Sock padded feet trot down the stairs, almost slipping on the tile floor. Sapnap freezes once he hears voices coming from the living room and he spots brunet curls. He inches forward, listening in on their conversation.
“So, Karl, after hanging with us for a few days, who’s your favorite?” Dream questions, bouncing Idalia on his leg. Sapnap furrows his eyebrows at such a silly question, but a part of him burns. Surely, Sapnap is Karl’s favorite, but after last night, can he even dare to argue with the others about it? What if he oversteps?
“Oh, come on, we know it’s me,” George replies, a smirk on his lips. Karl’s mouth opens to speak, but he quickly stops himself. The younger one steps forward, coming to be right behind Karl, and answers for him, “It’s me. Plain and simple.”
His Texan accent slips out as he says it, and he immediately flushes after. Karl jerks his whole body around to look at the man behind him. His eyes are wide as he meets Sapnap’s green eyes. Sapnap gulps, licking his lips, and makes his way to the kitchen as fast but seemingly normal as possible. He grabs a glass from the cabinet and turns on the faucet to pour him a cup of water when someone clears their throat behind him. Sapnap cranes his neck to look at the person—of course, it’s Karl—while he fills up the glass. He starts to speak, but Karl beats him to it with a simple, “Hey.”
“Hey, uhm, how’d you sleep?” Sapnap asks, easing into the conversation. He scratches an invisible itch on the back of his neck with his free hand, then takes a sip as Karl responds. “Oh, uh, good. Good. How about yours? I see you didn’t have to get Idalia up.”
“Oh, it was good too. Yeah, sometimes they do that,” Sapnap replies. He bites his lip and nibbles on it as he tries to think of what else to say. His eyes drift to the floor, but Karl’s stay on him. The amber-haired man decides he should just mention what happened last night so they can get through it. He opens his mouth to speak, but then gapes like a fish. Karl’s eyes widen, his arms folding in on himself. He holds up one hand to point to the living room with his thumb. “Okay, uhm. I’m gonna go,” Karl says, walking out of the room.
Sapnap stands with his glass of water, his eyes locked onto the back of Karl’s skull. He turns and pours out the glass, then walks into the living room. “Hey, uh, I’m going to chill upstairs in my room for a bit. Do you guys have Idalia?” he asks, his eyes wandering from Karl to Dream and George.
“Yeah, dude. We’ve got her!” Dream answers, showcasing Idalia’s bright smile. Sapnap sends them a thumbs up before walking up the stairs and to his bedroom. As soon as he reaches his door, a hand wraps around his forearm. Green meets blue again as their eyes meet and Sapnap can’t help but frown. Karl mimics him, his eyes sending the younger one a message of don’t give me that look. “What is it?” Sapnap finally asks.
“Can we talk? In your room?” Karl requests, letting go of Sapnap. He stands up straighter and crosses his arms, waiting for Sapnap to answer. The amber-haired man sighs and nods his head, opening the door to let Karl walk through. Hesitantly, Karl sits down on the bed. Sapnap sits down further on the bed so he can rest against the headboard and prop his feet up. He waits for Karl to speak first. After a lot of fiddling with his fingers, Karl apologizes, “I’m sorry for running away, what is it? Three times now?”
“Last night, why did you run away?” They’re both caught off guard with how brave Sapnap is. Karl shifts on the bed, turning to face Sapnap the best he can while not getting onto the bed fully. He takes a deep breath and exhales shakily. “I think… I was scared.”
“Of what?” Sapnap inquires, tilting his head slightly as he stares at the brunet. Karl sighs, picking at the skin beside his fingernails. He licks his lips before answering, “Kissing you means… a lot.”
“Yeah?” Sapnap breathes gently. Karl chuckles, shaking his head. “It means a lot in the sense of liking each other and what that turns into.”
“Like it turning into us dating? Being boyfriends? Is there a problem?” Sapnap questions.
Karl stares down at the floor as he answers him, “There’s no problem, but you have a whole ass kid, Sapnap. Where does that put me? Do I… what do I become?”
“You don’t have to be anything you don’t want to be right now, K. You can just be my boyfriend,” Sapnap reassures, patting the bed beside him to get Karl to join him further on the bed. The brunet turns to crawl up the bed, but he doesn’t sit beside Sapnap. Instead, he plops himself onto the younger one’s lap. Sapnap tilts his head up to look at him, and his breath hitches. Softly, Karl asks, “So you still want me as your boyfriend?”
“I’ve never known anyone like you,” Sapnap breathes gently before he pulls Karl’s head down to connect their lips. The kiss starts off sweet, a gentle caress of each other’s mouths. Gradually, it builds, the fires from their bellies burning bright. Butterflies flutter around their stomachs, hitting against the sides, causing them to yearn for more. Tongues dive into mouths to fight and lips swell and turn as bright as their cheeks. Sapnap’s lips drag down to pepper kisses down a smooth, pale neck and across a golden chain near pointy collarbones. Teeth sink into skin, Sapnap claims Karl as his.
“Sap, you, uh, never answered me,” Karl pants as Sapnap marks every inch of pale skin he can. Sapnap pulls away to press their lips together in another heated kiss. “Do you really not have your answer?” the shorter one asks.
“Please,” his breath hitches at teeth sinking into a certain spot near his collarbone. Sapnap laughs and pulls away to admire his work, a smirk planted on his lips.
“Well, you, my boyfriend, look divine.”
—
“I want to go to the zoo,” Karl says once they’re both awake and coherent. Sapnap immediately groans, slapping a hand over his face. Karl’s bottom lip pokes out and his eyes soften as he rolls over to face the amber-haired man. He pokes his arm, signaling for the shorter man to face him. He rolls over, his eyebrow raised. “Why did you groan?” Karl questions.
“I’m worried about Idalia. What are we going to do about her?” Sapnap replies, a frown planted on his face. Karl hums as he thinks of a solution. After a few minutes of thinking, he gasps, “We could just say she’s family that we are babysitting for the day. We don’t want any pictures posted for her privacy. It’s believable.”
“She looks just like me, K,” Sapnap states, defeated. Karl bites his lip and attempts to shrug. “They’ll take your word over it. C’mon. Please, baby.”
“Fine, let me go talk to Dream and George,” he says, tugging on a random shirt. He grabs the baby monitor and walks out of the room, finds Dream and George to get them on board, then reports back to Karl in his bedroom. “They’re getting ready, I’ll be just a few minutes, then I’ll get Lia ready.”
After 10 minutes, everyone is downstairs in the living room, ready to walk out the door. Dream sets up the carseat in Sapnap’s matte black Tesla, then Sapnap buckles her up in it. They pile into the car—Sapnap driving with Karl in the passenger seat and Dream and George in the backseat with Idalia—and Sapnap drives them to the zoo. Once they’re there, Sapnap parks and immediately gets Idalia out. They pay for their tickets, grab maps, and begin navigating their way through the zoo. They start at the African Birds habitat and make their way to the wishing well. Karl pulls a coin out of his wallet and steps up to the well. “You’re going to make a wish?” Sapnap questions, adjusting Idalia on his hip.
“No,” Karl answers, flipping the coin into the wishing well. Sapnap furrows his eyebrows as he watches Karl get back onto the path. He walks up to be beside the brunet and bumps into him. Karl suspies, “I already have everything I want in life. Got one last night.”
He sends a wink as he says it and Sapnap flushes red. “Hey, there is face painting. Want to get Idalia’s face done?” Dream mentions, pointing over to the area.
Sapnap nods, walking over to the face painting area. They wait in line and then Sapnap sits down and situates Idalia on his lap. The painter paints a butterfly on her cheek while Sapnap tries his best to hold her and her head still. After face painting, they walk down the path to the Barnyard Buddies where the llama, alpacas, and goats are. Idalia points at the fluffy animals and Sapnap helps her feed the goats. They leave Barnyard Buddies to go see the wreathed hornbill and cougar. The path wraps around so they can admire the tortoises, peccaries, and warthogs.
The group takes a right to see the cheetah. Karl spots the butterfly garden and runs up to it, the others walking to catch up with him. Karl extends his finger out to try and catch one, and somehow by pure luck or the gods gracing him, one lands right on the tip of his finger. He turns slowly as Sapnap steps up to him and Karl gently brings his hand down to put the butterfly on Idalia’s nose, but she giggles and it flies off. Sapnap beams, a loud laugh falling past his lips. Him and Idalia sound almost the same as they laugh together, which brings a bright smile on Karl’s lips.
They leave to go admire the giraffes and that’s when Sapnap’s stomach growls. “Can we go get something to eat?” he asks, pointing at the restaurant area.
The rest of the group agrees, so they walk up to the food section. Sapnap glances at Karl, who immediately meets his gaze. “Can you hold her while I get food and eat? You’re not hungry?”
“Yeah, of course, I can. I’m not hungry, no. Go eat,” Karl replies, taking Idalia from the younger one. Everyone except Karl and Idalia eat for a few minutes, and once they’re done, Sapnap doesn’t bother taking Idalia from Karl because he’s giggling at her own light laughter. “Ready to go see the rhinos?” George questions everyone, staring down at his map.
In unison, everyone says, “Yes.” After the rhinos, they head straight to see the lemurs and guenon. They continue down the path to freak out over the North American river otter, then take a right and go to the gazebo that overlooks the dragonfly pond. Dream and George stand together with their arms wrapped around each other as they point out the dragonflies. Karl holds Idalia on his hip and tries his best to show her the dragonflies, but she’s way too giggly to focus on what he’s doing. Sapnap stands back and admires the different pairs, a sense of overwhelming pride filling him. He’s so lucky to have all of them in his life.
Karl turns around to find Sapnap and their eyes lock. Green bleeds into bright blue and once again, Sapnap’s eyes send a message of pure, irrevocable love. This time, however, Karl’s blue eyes part like the ocean as it did for Moses, allowing the message of love to travel through the ocean’s opening and it comes rushing to his head as the seams crash back together.
Downturned eyes soften and a gentle smile forms on his lips. An I love you is passed between them for only them to know.
—
Sapnap wakes up way too late. He knows immediately from the way the sun shines through his window and glares at him. He rolls over to grasp his phone and look at the time, which reads eight in the morning. He groans and jerks up out of the bed, throws open his bedroom door, and jogs down the hall to Idalia’s room.
Carefully, he opens the door and sneaks in, but he quickly freezes once he notices Karl standing in the middle of the room. His eyebrows furrow as Karl turns to look at who has entered the room, and that’s when he also turns into a statue. He looks down at Idalia, who’s taking a bottle in his arms, then gazes back at the amber-haired man.
“Oh, I’m sorry. You didn’t wake up and Dream told me what to do. Plus, I’ve seen you do it so many times already. I thought you could use the sleep,” Karl mentions. Sapnap nods, taking a deep breath to analyze the moment. Reality hits him and he smiles softly. Karl raises an eyebrow. “What? You’re okay with me doing this?”
“Yeah, K. It’s completely okay,” he starts, sucking in a deep breath. “You’re her father.”
The brunet’s face falls. Sapnap can see a gloss form over his bright blue eyes and his throat move as he swallows. He furrows his brows, utter confusion and adoration on his face. “I’m her father? Sap, you don’t know how much that means to me.”
“I’m in love with you,” Sapnap confesses, as if his previous words weren’t enough to express his feelings. He steps forward and wraps an arm around Karl’s waist, pulling him closer to press their lips together. Karl pants as they pull away. He gasps, “You didn’t let me say it back.”
“I already know you do,” Sapnap states, because he does. He once questioned if Karl would love him after this, would love him even after figuring out he has a wonderful daughter named Idalia, but he no longer has to wonder. His family is right here with him.