A Day in the Life of...

A little boy stood near the entrance to the school, snuggled in his jacket, the furr lined hood pulled up over his head like a little eskimo. his eyes looked out at the world ahead of him. Several feet away stood two figures engaged in what had started as a heated conversation was slowly escalating into an argument. He had been told by the tall red haired man to go and stand by the school door and not listen in to the conversation.

Nat had wanted Evander there to keep the little boy company while he yelled at the woman for being a closed minded bitch. Sadly Evander was busy with a patient, and Nat picked up the little boy on his own today. The pair were making their way to the car when the woman had stormed up to them and demanded that they 'cease their unholy ways' and whatnot. She was female, and Nat never hurt women, but this woman needed slapping.

Avery loved both his fathers. When learning to talk, there was a joke between the adults that they tried to get him to say 'mommy' to Evander.

And it had stuck.

He knew they were both males, and when he had first asked the question of "Why is my Mommy like a Daddy?" it had been answered as honestly as they could for a little boy. They told him that the lady that had given birth to him was his Aunt Juliette.

Nat had never pictured himself as a father. A cool uncle, yes, but never as a father. Evander had wanted kids - he was perfect for the role. Evander had an endless supply of maternal instincts while all Nat had was the ability to be the silly uncle for Belle and Anthony. Theodore had found he was father material, but Nat felt like he simply did not have any at all.

But he was willing to look for it for Evander. Juliette suggested she surrogate for them. Nine months passed, and still no sign of those fatherly feelings. Yes, he got the brotherly concern for his pregnant sister, but very little in the way of fatherly adoration was felt for the baby. He loved it, but didn't feel like he loved it like a father should.

Evander had been stuck in traffic when Juliette had gone into labor. Nat was at his little sister's side through the entire thing. When the tiny fingers curled around his own single digit, Nat didn't want to let the little boy go.

When faced with a woman like the one before him, Nat took his role as father very seriously. Biologically, he was nothing more than an uncle. Spiritually and mentally, he was the boy's father. He wouldn't have it any other way.

Finally, it was he who backed down. Telling her that she should take some time to drown in the bathtub, he marched away from her and returned to the eleven year old that had patiently stood in the doorway waiting for him. Blue eyes looked up to him, and Avery smiled.

"What did the lady say, Daddy?"

"It doesn't matter, kiddo," he said, holding out a leather gloved hand to the boy. "Let's go home now, shall we? I'm sorry about making you stand here, but I didn't want you to hear me shouting." Avery's hand fit snuggly in his own now. He gave it a gentle squeeze as he felt the fingers wrap around his own.

The drive home wasn't very exciting. They sang along with the Disney songs playing on the CD in the car (Avery sang, Nat mumbled along, it was Evander that was the one that sang Disney songs). Nat raced Avery up to the apartment, slowly his pace to keep behind the boy and make it seem like he was winning. The boy touched the apartment door first, and chasing up behind him, Nat scooped him up with both long arms, spinning him around, Avery's legs swinging out with the motion. He was deposited behind his father who set about finding his keys once Avery was standing on wobbly legs.

Inside the apartment was quiet. Quite for their home at least. There was the gentle hum of the tropical fish tank that sat between the door that lead off to the bedrooms and the window.

It didn't take long for Avery to shrug off his jacket and hand it to Nat, trotting off to his own room.

"Hey, don't I get a 'thank you' for being your personal slave?" Nat called out after the retreating form.

The light brown head poked out, the cheeky grin inherited by all those possessing the Morhan genes firmly visible on his lips. What made Avery's grin so much more special were the blue eyes that sparkled like the ocean accompanying the grin. His hair was ruffled from where he'd pulled the hood quickly from his head. "Thank you, personal slave" he chirruped before vanishing back towards his room.

Chuckling to himself and shaking his head, Nat ruffled his fingers through the long red strands of hair growing from his head. It was odd being home before Evander, but the school he worked at was on a two week break before the exams started. Usually, he would come and Evander would be there helping Avery with his homework or making dinner. Brown eyes wandered over towards the kitchen.

"No sneaking jellybeans before dinner," he called out to Avery before locating the universal remote and switching on the radio.

Evander came home to the radio on, Avery perched on the kitchen counter while his lover was busy in the kitchen. There was flour in their hair - which was surprising since there was nothing about what Nat was cooking that needed flour.

"Mommy!" Avery called out with a bright grin, skillfully removing the brightly coloured drinking straw from his mouth. There were smudges of flour on his face, dusting over his nose and cheeks.

"What are you cooking?" Evander asked, placing his briefcase down, removing his coat and then making for the kitchen.

"Daddy calls it 'Omelet surprise'," Avery offered helpfully.

"Surprise?"

Nat giggled, giving the boiling pasta a stir. "The surprise is there is no omelet. We're having tomato chicken pasta."

"And the flour?" he asked, licking his thumb and attempting to wipe the smudges from Avery's forehead. The boy whined and attempted to bat Evander's hand away, but the older male continued on. "I'll have to get a cloth," he added, mainly to himself.

"When cooking it is customary to be coated in flour," Nathanael replied, leaning down to kiss Evander's soft lips. "How was your patient?"

"Feeling better, but still far from a complete recovery. The mental process is such a difficult thing to understand."

"Which is why I prefer numbers. They're much easier to understand. The students are just a rogue equation that must be factored in."

Evander chuckled, looping his arms around Nat's neck for another sweet kiss. "I love it when you talk mathematics."

"You make it sound so sexy,"

"You two make it sound so wrong!" Avery added from his perch right next to his parents. "That's maths you're talking about! Maths is evil!"

The pair pulled apart. Evander blushed and Nat turned back to his cooking. "Don't worry, Avvie, when you're older you'll understand," he said before moving off to drain the pasta and add it to the sauce and chicken simmering away on the stove.

"Come on, Avery, lets leave Daddy to finish cooking. We'll go to the bathroom and clean that flour from your face." Taking the elven year old's hand, Evander lead him from the kitchen to the bathroom. Behind them, he heard Nat call out "He's not going to die from flour poisoning!"