i'm only a few minutes late and technically its still the 22nd in some timezones so suck it. happy midam 2 year wedding anniversary i thought for sure i'd get this finished in time but rude awakenings galore so take a small part of midam proposal ft girlverse <3 the lore is increasingly intricate
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The buzz of Kitty’s toothbrush cuts out and leaves behind—not a silence. Their house is never silent, not with three kids and a cat and a bubbling fish tank, but there’s a sense of contentment that falls over the white noise. It’s a feeling Adam’s familiar with now. The realization always guts him, just a little bit, comparing it to the everything of the cage. He was used to that, too.
But it’s quiet now, until he catches snippets of the bedtime story Michael’s telling Liv, until Kitty and Bunny start arguing about which nightlight to use tonight—the princess one Kitty likes, or the special one that casts constellations onto the ceiling that Bunny likes—until the cat skids around a corner, until a fish thrashes suddenly in the fish tank with a splash that always makes Kevin think it’s escaped.
And it’s like—Adam knows that this is forever. That he and Michael fought to have this life together, that they’re not giving it up anytime soon. But still. There’s something delicate about it tonight.
He pokes his head in Kitty and Bunny’s room. Bunny won the nightlight argument, and he catches her flouncing from the wall to her bed in her little nightgown that’s been shedding sequins for weeks but she refuses to replace.
“Stars tonight?” he whispers.
“Duh,” Bunny answers, gathering a half dozen stuffed animals into her arms.
“Princess tomorrow,” Kitty mumbles, half asleep in her own bed. “I brushed my teeth.”
Adam raps a knuckle to the doorframe gently. “I know,” he says, biting back a smile. “Do you want a story?”
“Dad said he’d tell us about the stars,” Bunny says. “You can read tomorrow.”
“Oh, may I?” Adam teases. “I know you like his stories better.”
“I like Uncle Gabe’s stories best,” Bunny says. “He’s real good at talking.”
Because Adam is a grown man, he doesn’t say unlike you to his six year old daughter. Time and place for sick burns, or something like that. Instead, he raps on the doorframe one more time and says, “Goodnight, then. I love you both.”
He gets a chorus of I love you goodnight back and it will never fail to get him just a little choked up. Knowing they love him like he loves Kate, knowing Michael loves him—
It sits with him, as he gets ready for bed. Pajamas, toothpaste, acne cream because somehow having a handy archangel doesn’t do anything against adult acne which is really just rude. He listens to Michael tell Kitty and Bunny his story about stars, and is still in the bathroom when he wanders in, shrugging on a pajama shirt.
“Bunny needs a new nightgown. I think there are sequins in my hair,” Michael says, but Adam’s eyes and attention are glued to the way he buttons his shirt, nimble fingers working up his chest because he always starts from the bottom like a weirdo, but that’s not what Adam’s thinking about.
Suddenly, all he can see is Michael in a pressed white shirt, maybe black if he wants to be sleek, or another color if he wants to be fun, the details aren’t important except for the fact that the shirt is nice and meant to be worn under a suit jacket. He’s watching Michael button it from the bottom up and reach his throat, where he’ll loop a tie around his neck and do some ridiculously complex knot just to show off.
He’s watching Bunny flounce around in a different dress, dropping petals instead of sequins. He’s watching Gabriel stand in front of a crowd and show off his good talking skills while giving what will probably be a really weird speech.
But he blinks, and Michael’s standing behind him in the bathroom, head tilted just so as he meets Adam’s eyes through the mirror. His left hand stretches around the last button and his ring finger is so empty and all of a sudden, Adam wants.
“We’ll go to Target tomorrow,” Adam says, and doesn’t realize he’s spoken until the words echo just this side of too loud between light blue tile. “For a nightgown, I mean.”
Michael nods. “Okay.” He extends a hand, and Adam spins to take it. “Bed?”
As they climb into bed, Adam listens to the cat, the fishtank, the fuzz of Liv’s baby monitor, Kitty snoring like an eighty year old man. And he can’t shake the thought.
Michael, of course, knows something’s up, but he waits until they’re settled, curled up so they’re nose to nose, before he whispers, “What’s on your mind?” into the inch of space between them. Adam can taste his toothpaste, bubblegum instead of mint because he doesn’t like the cold, and the ferocity of his want shouldn’t be so surprising. It is anyway.
“Maybe we should,” he whispers back. “Get married, I mean.”
The faint line of moonlight creeping through the crack in their curtains illuminates the smile that quirks on Michael’s lips. “Are you proposing?” he asks, and sounds amused.
“Maybe.”
Michael hums. “I hear that proposals are supposed to be romantic.”
“What, is this not romantic enough for you?” Adam flicks at an old baby puke stain on the frayed collar of Michael’s shirt. Michael retaliates by poking a cold finger through the hole in the shoulder of Adam’s shirt, made by an unfortunate arts & crafts incident.
“I have standards,” he says.
Adam can’t help it—he laughs. It’s a ridiculous, giddy sort of joy that bubbles up inside, too bright for the softness of the night. “Ouch,” he says, and knows he’s grinning. “Okay, feedback duly noted. I’ll try for romance.”
“You better,” Michael says. Under the covers, their hands find each other and hold on tight.
As much as he complains about having to sleep while holding the girls’ grace, Michael drifts off easily. Adam watches moonlight dance across his face, listens to his breathing, pulls their hands to his chest. He gets this forever. It’s been years and years since they escaped the cage, years since they’ve had something breathing down their backs, but he doesn’t think he’ll ever get over the relief of getting him like this. Getting their life, as it is now, as it will be forever.
Adam falls asleep and dreams of the morning.
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