[Samuel x Roman]

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Hearing Harper say he was allowed to be upset was a big relief. All these months he had walking around feeling like a bad person because he had gotten upset by it. When in reality maybe his feelings were completely valid and okay. He still wasn't completely sure, because he knew Harper would want to make him feel better so maybe he was just saying that, but he did trust harper.

He snuggled a little closer as the tears kept coming, in the back of his head, he couldn't help but think that the people making fun of him would have a field day if they knew he went crying and hugging his older brother. But mostly Harper was doing a good job making him feel a little better. The mention of their dads made Eden a little unsure again.

"No, I... I didn't want them and Stella and Letha to think I think being a girl is a bad thing," he said, somewhat weakly, "And I know you have to deal with mean people like this too sometimes, but I didn't want to upset you when you were sad about Laila"
 
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Harper didn't like knowing his little brother had felt that he couldn't speak to him because he was upset. He had been devastated about Letha, it was true. But that didn't mean he couldn't help his siblings when they needed his support.

"Eden, you can always come talk to me, about anything," Harper told the younger Hemlock-Ortega son softly. He meant it, too. It was his responsibility as an older brother to take care of and nurture the younger, their parents had taught him that inadvertently. He didn't want Edie to forget.

"I think you should tell Dad and Papa, though," Harper repeated. "I know it might be scary but Papa is a teacher at the school. He can step in, he can get it to stop. And if you don't want him to interfere you should at least tell them since I'm sure they've noticed you've been feeling down and they probably want to know the reason."
 
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Eden was quiet for a moment. Thinking about the options he had. He knew Harper couldn't really do anything, well maybe he could tell the people harassing him to stop and they'd be scared because Harper is older and also pretty popular from what Eden had gathered. Or Harper would just tell their dads for him. The other option was to tell Daddy and Papa, who could probably help, but they'd probably get involved in school and maybe that'd be embarrassing and make it worse.

But the final alternative was to do nothing and ask Harper to do nothing and Eden was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to handle that, especially because he was afraid things would end up worse in the end.

Finally, he rubbed away some more tears and took a deep breath and said, "If I were to tell Daddy and Papa, could you come with me?"
 
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"Of course, Edie," Harper promised, running his fingers through his little brother's hair briefly before standing up and helping him off the bed. "I'm always there for you. Come on, I think they're downstairs."

Indeed, their parents were in the kitchen, Papa marking some schoolwork and keeping Dad company while he made dinner. From the smell of it it seemed Dad was making ravioli -- it would be beef, most likely, but with some vegetarian options for those who wanted them -- his delicious creamy sundried tomato sauce. He could hear Stella and Letha both watching TV in the living room but they weren't of concern in the moment.

Harper stood in the doorway and cleared his throat. Dad looked up inquisitively and his eyes widened when he saw that Eden was upset. "Oh my God -- Edie, what's happened?" he asked worriedly, turning the stove down before rushing around and dropping to his knees so he could wrap Edie in a hug.
 
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Eden was glad Harper came with him, because he was sure he would have just been too scared and gone to his room otherwise but now he was already downstairs and Harper made sure to get their dads' attention and they could, of course, tell he had been crying.

When Daddy came hurrying over Eden wrapped his arms around him and pressed himself into the hug and let out a small sniffle. Papa was just as quick up his seat and joined them, and the hug. Eden could feel his and gently stroke his hair as he asked, "Edie what's wrong,"

For a moment Eden said nothing and just sniffled, he had cried to Harper too, and that had helped, but as much as he loved his brother getting affection from their dads was different so he couldn't stop himself from crying a little more, "I just-- I -- People at school are being mean," he finally got out. Even though hugging his dads gave another sense of comfort, it was a little harder to tell them than to tell Harper.

"What?" Eden, what's going on?" Papa said, sounding horrified that he didn't know. Eden just shook his head and snuggled closer into his dads' embrace. So Samuel turned to Harper, "Harper, did he tell you what's happening?"
 
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"Eden ... Edie says people at school have been being mean to him for being feminine and things like that," Harper told his parents. As he said it he saw his dad let out the tiniest of sighs, but he knew it wasn't to do with Eden being upset about being made fun of due to his femininity, but it was because of the idea of his son being made fun of at all.

"He says people have been calling him Stella, or Stella's sister, when Papa and I aren't around." Harper shot a pained look at the back of his brother's head. He just didn't understand how someone could be so cruel to such a sweet boy.

"Edie ... We're so sorry we didn't know this was going on," Dad said with a pained voice. He kissed Eden on the side of the head and rubbed his back a little more. "Has anything else happened we should know about?"

"...He also says someone shoved him into a locker."

"What?!" Dad was horrified.
 
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God was Eden glad Harper was telling their dads for him, that way he got it said whiteout having to say it himself. Both his dads seemed upset when they heard what had happened. And then when Harper told them t wasn't just teasing but physically hurting him as well they both seemed absolutely shocked and terrified. Eden felt kind of bad, he didn't want to upset them.

"Edie, someone shoved you?" Papa asked to make sure because it was a serious thing. Eden nodded carefully and continued to sniffle into Daddy's chest, "Edie, you need to tell me who is doing this so we can stop them, okay?"

"But I don't want them to make fun of me for telling you," Eden choked out. He didn't. They already only made fun of him when Papa or Stella or Harper weren't around, so they'd just continue to do that.
 
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"Edie, you need to tell us who's doing this to you," Dad murmured softly. He looked incredibly distressed at the idea that his son couldn't tell him what was going on, which just made Harper upset too, because he didn't like it when his family members were at all upset.

Part of him considered not telling Dad and Papa the names of the kids, specifically because Eden obviously didn't want them to know, for whatever reason he had in that strange and beautiful mind of his. Harper didn't want to get into Eden's bad books and have him think that he couldn't trust him with confidential information.

But then again ... if Papa at least didn't learn the names of the boys that were hurting Edie then it was entirely likely that it wouldn't stop and Eden would just start to hate high school more and more and more. Harper didn't want that either. High school was meant to be fun and wonderful, you were meant to enjoy it, even the terrible homework and tests and things like that. But people were making Eden's high school experience unpleasant and they were preventing him from enjoying it fully.

So Harper had to tell.

"Edie said the guy's name was Zeke ..."
 
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Eden didn't even protest when Harper said who had been tormenting him. Somehow it was easier knowing he wasn't the one ratting his bullies out, but then again he had been the one to tell Harper so maybe he had done it indirectly. But still when Papa asked, "Zeke Harolds?" he nodded.

"Okay... Okay, we'll get this sorted out sweetie, I promise," Papa added and Eden nodded slowly. They continued to hug for a while, until Eden was done crying, then Daddy and Papa said they needed to talk a little without them and asked Eden if he'd be okay with Harper for a while. Eden said yes because he understood that they needed to discuss things in private sometimes, even when it involved him. So Eden and Harper left for the hallway where Eden pulled Harper into a big hug.

"Thank you, Harper," he said gently. Nothing was really fixed yet, but without his older brother he wouldn't even have told Daddy and Papa yet, and he trusted them and if they said they were going to fix things, they would.
 
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The first of June was upon them, which meant that Samuel Hemlock-Ortega was forty years old.

This news was incredibly distressing to Roman, not because he thought Samuel was suddenly going to wither with old age and become exceedingly unattractive or anything, but because it meant that he, too, was nearing the age of forty. And that was something that was purely terrifying to Roman Hemlock-Ortega.

He felt like he was getting old and he didn't want that at all. There was still so much to do and see, there were still so many things Roman wanted to do with his life. He felt like everything was slipping away too soon. Also, it was vain, but he was scared of losing his looks. He knew he didn't have to be pretty for Samuel, but with a body that seemed like it was nothing but averse to his happiness in general, his good looks were all he felt he had sometimes.

But despite his own fears, Roman was determined to make Samuel's fortieth birthday party nothing but enjoyable for him. He had gotten the kids up early to help with breakfast, which was a lot more fun now that they were older because it meant that they could actually help rather than just being nuisances while he tried to make pancakes.

He distributed the things between all the kids and began to sing as he entered the room. "Happy birthday to you ... happy birthday to you ... happy birthday dear Papa ... happy birthday to you!"
 
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Samuel had been awake for a while, listening to his family messing around in the kitchen to get his breakfast done. It was his birthday. And not just any birthday. It was his fortieth one. It almost felt unreal. In a lot of ways he didn't feel different from when he was, say 25, but in so many other ways he felt very different. But the thing was that the changes in his personality had come slowly with age. He didn't wake up that day feeling a little older and wiser, it was just more fitting to think about those things now that it was his birthday.

It was with excitement Samuel waited for his family to come up the stairs. A lot of people dreaded turning forthy, counting it as being practically middle age, you could no longer really be considered young and no one would look at you and mistake you for being in your twenties like they maybe could in your thirties. But Samuel actually didn't mind growing older. Had his life looked different it maybe would. But he was just so happy with where he was at in life. He had what he had always wanted a happy family, a stable income from a job he enjoyed, a dog, a couple of other animals and happiness. Sure there were other things out there, place he wanted to so and things he wanted to go that he would maybe never get to. There were dreams he had had when he was younger that had been put aside and forgotten along the way, he wasn't a soccer player, he didn't have the most typical family, his relationship with both his parents wasn't as good as he would have wished for as a kid. But that didn't matter because his current self-was happy with what he had and didn't feel like he was missing out on a single thing.

Finally, he heard the footsteps of his family start up the stars. He laid down and pretended to sleep. The kids were getting older and they didn't really care if he was already awake, but Samuel still thought it was fun. When the door opened he laid for a moment or two more as the family sang, then he sat and let out a genuine yawn, then looked at his family with a big, but not very surprised smile. He had never really been a good actor.

"Whoa! You guys made me breakfast?" Samuel said, still trying his best to sound surprised, "thank you so much,"
 
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Breakfast in bed was a tradition in the Hemlock-Ortega family. It went down differently depending on whose birthday it was. Roman always grumbled about being woken up early but was happy in the end. Letha was of course a sweetheart and adored it. Harper would complain only if he was woken up from a dream but would of course come around once he realised what was going on. But with Samuel, he always loved it from the start.

"Your acting skills haven't gotten any better since last year, babe," Roman said as he set the tray of pancakes, accompanied with a wide selection of maple syrup, sugar, honey, raspberry sauce and butter, on his husband's lap. He then kissed him on the side of the head. "But we love you anyway, Papa, happy birthday."

"Daddy got you this sunflower!" Letha said happily, hurrying up to the bedside table and placing on it a long white vase with one sunflower in it.

"Dad also said we can't give you your other presents until you 'get your lazy butt out of bed'," Harper added as he sat on the end of the bed after handing Samuel his cup of coffee.

"Oh my God, shush, don't tell Papa I talk smack about him when he's not there," Roman chastised his elder son lightly as he sat on his side of the bed.
 
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"No you kid should tell me all the trash your dad says about me behind my back," Samuel laughed as he received his cup of coffee. The food in front of him smelled absolutely amazing and looked the part too. He was so lucky to not only have a husband who was an amazing cook, but four lovely children who he knew had helped prepare the meal as well. They had since they were little, but now they were of more help and luckily no one seemed to be as much of a disaster in the kitchen as Samuel was, "It's my birthday, so you gotta,"

"But he didn't say anything else," Eden said sweetly as he climbed up in bed, his sisters joining him. Samuel wondered how long this part of their tradition would last, the climbing up and cuddling in bed. One day the kids would be too old for that, and Harper was probably already there. The hardest part about getting older was watching the kids grow up. It was also the best part.

"Awww, I bet he secretly loves me," Samuel laughed, "But thank you for the lovely sunflower," he said it in a general way, Letha had said Roman had gotten it, but Samuel wanted the entire family to know he was grateful they were celebrating his birthday, "and the food of course," he said that, put his cup of coffee away to taste the pancakes, and god where they as tasty as they looked, "oh my god these are like the best pancakes I've ever had,"
 
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"Wow. On behalf of every pancake I have ever made you, you're a meanie," Roman joked to his husband.

He was glad that Samuel felt happy about turning forty because he sure as hell was not looking forward to it. Roman knew, seeing his husband's touched and sweet expression, that the three months and one day between now and his own birthday would be spent in constant worrying and dread. He didn't want to turn forty, he didn't want to feel that he was getting older and that he was nearing his twilight years.

He watched his kids as they talked with their papa happily and he grew terrified that they would have to see him age and deteriorate. He also didn't want them to get older either. He wanted them to stay little and cute forever. But Harper was almost fourteen. Everything was going too fast.

Roman wasn't stupid. He knew he was going to get older at some point in time. But he wasn't ready for it now.
 
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Evan had woken up that morning with very mixed emotions. All at once he was worried, scared, proud, happy and most prominently, sad. It was over twenty years since his ad London's little baby girl had been born. and the over twenty year that had followed, though extremely difficult at times, had been the best of his life. Some people would always ask if they wished they hadn't missed out of young adulthood like they had, and while he was certain that he would have enjoyed it and wouldn't have been as stressed at that part of his life he kind of didn't want it to have gone over any differences. He, London and Allison was the people and the family they were because of the life they had led together.

But from today on they would be a little less together. Still a family, just not collected under one roof. Allison was moving out.

It had been an ongoing process for a while now, it wasn't like she woke up one day, decided to leave and was out the house the next, even if it felt that way. No, she had been saving up money by teaching dance while she was also studying dance. Then one day she had brought up the fact that she maybe wanted to see what options there were for her living by herself but still not too far off, which had led to all of them looking for apartments for rent. They had found one that Allison liked, it was small, with one bedroom, bathroom, and a combined kitchen/living area, but she wouldn't be struggling with rent and it was a good first home.

The past few days they had packed up Allison's room, and helped to furnish the apartment to suit her taste, all leading up to today. The final day Allison lived with them.

"Mum, Dad? Have you seen my toothbrush, I could have sworn I put it with my bathroom things but I just can't find it?" Allison said, she was coming down the stairs, dressed in comfy clothes fit for moving. They had almost gotten all of her things out to the car now, but Allison was still making sure she wasn't forgetting anything.

"How am I going to feel secure letting you live alone when you've lost your toothbrush?" Evan said, the expression on his face a joking stern one, "I've changed my mind, I don't think you're ready to move out. London!? Change of plans, Allison's staying with us until she's thirty, at least."
 
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The past twenty years had easily been the best in London Johnson's life. She had been happy before she had had Allison, but her beautiful and amazing daughter had just made everything so much more perfect. The timing of the girl's arrival had not been the most convenient ever, but London wouldn't have changed it for the world. Her experience as a young mother was what had made her who she was today. That experience was priceless.

Today, however, Allison was moving out, and although London had known this was coming for a while, she was not at all ready. Her baby girl had definitely grown up way too fast and now London found herself desperately asking where all that time had gone. How was Allison almost twenty-one? It was ridiculous. As excited as London was that her little girl was flourishing as the beautiful young woman she was meant to be, she couldn't help but wish she had some more time to adjust.

London laughed when her husband proclaimed their daughter was not ready to leave and of course she continued on with the joke. "I agree, sorry Allison, you're staying right here."
 
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Allison smiled at her parents joking and played along without hesitation, "well if you're willing to let me stay for free until I'm like eighty I guess I won't complain, let's unpack the car,"

Evan chuckled, they had raised her with a good sense of humour. Evan had always been someone to laugh problems away, not as in ignoring them but as in trying to turn things into positives and having fun even when things got rough. Or when you were sad about your adult daughter moving out so he continued to joke, "free!? Sweetie no, now that we know you're willing to pay it you better pay it. I can't let you use my dad services for free!"

"Dad services like what,"

"Like telling you that you put your toothbrush on the kitchen counter,"

Allison looked surprised, "I did?! Jeez I really thought I packed it, thanks dad," she chuckled and went to go get it.

Soon enough everything was in the car except the family, Evan and London was going with her of course, wanting to spend as much time with her as possible and helping her getting the boxes up to her apartment, but leaving the actual house seemed to be a little emotional for Allison who was just kind of standing there looking at it.

"You know it'll still be there the next time you come to visit, which I expect to be like tomorrow," Evan said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah I know, I guess I'll just miss living here a lot," Allison said with a shrug, she hadn't spent the early years of her childhood there but Evan supposed she still had spent enough time at the house to feel sentimental about leaving it.
 
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London sighed and laid a hand on Allison's cheek. "Sweetie, it's okay, we know exactly what you're going through," London told her little girl, who really wasn't all that little anymore.

"I remember when your dad and I moved out of our homes and to the city. Of course, we were practically living together anyway, but this was the first place we had to ourselves and you and I remember it like it was yesterday. We got the apartment right next to Uncle Roman and Uncle Sammy in Caulfield and we lived there for quite a while. They moved out first, but that apartment was our home for years."

London gave a happy sigh at the memories. "But leaving was hard. I missed my parents like crazy and it was just a huge shift, from always having their help to being on your own. It's not going to be easy, baby. But you're going to have me and your dad and your uncles and everyone to help you. Don't forget that."
 
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Allison clearly listened to her mother's story closely, she even looked a little teary eye because of it, which made Evan teary eyed as well. If there was one thing that never failed to make Evan cry, or at least tear up, it was Allison crying. Even now when the tears were more sentimental than sad.

Once London was don speaking her very wise words Allison pulled her into a hug, "I know, I won't," she mumbled.

Evan waited until she had let go and put on a smile before jokingly saying, "But you should ask me for help more than Uncle Roman, I'm more useful," which caused her to laugh.

"I'll remember that the next time i need a piano piece for my next rehearsal," Allison joined in on the joke.

"Hell yeah you should, It'll be great," Evan continued, he was honestly just stalling at this point.

"I'm sure that's true," Allison said, shaking her head. Then she sighed and added, "We should get going?"

Evan hesitated for a moment before agreeing. They all climbed into the car and drove to Allison's apartment. It wasn't all that far, which meant there was no excuse for Allison not to visit a lot, and vice versa. They unloaded the car and carried Allison's things up to her place, but they didn't unpack them. This was Allison's first home, unpacking the things from her old room was part of her moving and probably something she should do her self. Still, Evan and London stayed for a while, fussing about the apartment and making small talk with their daughter until it undeniably was time to leave and they found themselves in the little hallway.

"Well, I guess this is it, huh, sweetie?" Evan said with a bittersweet smile on his face.

"yeah," Allison said, looking fine one second, then all of a sudden tears welled over in her eyes and she lot out a sniffle, "I'm gonna miss you so much,"
 
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London almost wanted to push a box down the stairs or something to stall for time, anything to avoid Allison moving too quickly. She wanted her little girl to stay with them forever, but that simply was not possible and it was just something London was going to have to accept.

Soon they had everything they needed in Allison's apartment and it was time for final goodbyes. London was not at all ready but apparently neither was Allison, who was crying and sobbing her heart out.

London immediately burst into tears too and pulled Allison in for a hug. A thousand memories were filling up her mind — finding out she was pregnant. Allison being born. Walking with her into their first home for the first time. Her first day of school, her graduation. Everything was happening at once and it was all so overwhelming. But at the same time ... this was amazing.

"This is a big moment in your life, honey, and it's natural to feel scared, it really is. But your dad and I are so proud of you and we're going to miss you so much as well." London's voice thickened but she powered through. "I love you so much, don't forget that. This is just the start of the next chapter in your amazing life."
 
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