[Samuel x Roman]

s a m u e l

Samuel loved the fact that the kids were old enough to leave alone in the house for a while at this point. Of course it came with the implications that they were growing older and that Harper would be closer in age to an adult than to a small kid next year, and that was always something that left him with mixed feelings. But he did enjoy the fact that he and Roman could go out on the weekend and just spend a day alone together.

Today they had decided to go on a little date. Just because they were in their forties and had been married for ages didn't meant they didn't love each other and wanted to go do things together. So they were going to a little coffee shop in time. There wasn't a time Samuel wasn't in the mood for coffee, nor a time when Roman wasn't in the mood for sweets.

Since it was Saturday and mid-day, the place was bustling, they had managed to get a hold of a small table for themselves though, the only downside was that it was close to a group of very loudly chattering women in their probably early thirties, but honestly, they'd live.

"What do you want? I'll go order for us so no one steals our table?" Samuel asked, not actually having sat down yet, with the intention of doing just this.
 
r o m a n
Roman often said that if he had the choice he would go back in time just to relive the years in which they were small, but of course, he didn't mean it. He loved to see his little angels grow and mature as individuals, and of course, he loved that they were becoming slowly more independent so he and Samuel could do what they liked more often.

Which was why Roman and his husband had decided to go out to a small cafe for a cute cake and coffee date that nice Saturday. Roman was dressed in a simple pair of black jeans and a purple T-shirt. He sat down at the table he and his husband had selected, and smiled at Samuel when he offered to just order while he was already standing up. He was so dang sweet.

"Blueberry cheesecake and a hazelnut latte please, my love,"
Roman said with a sweet smile. He had learned over the years that he could get anything out of Samuel with a smile -- not that he ever really needed to work for anything in particular.

Roman played on his phone until Samuel came back, and put it away when he did. "Did you have to battle anyone to get to the line?" he asked with a playful little waggle of his perfectly arched eyebrows. "Did they charge you an arm and a leg for the food? You're lucky you have such a rich and handsome sugar daddy."
 
s a m u e l

Samuel nodded and went to go get his husband's order. He also ordered a coffee and slice of pecan cheesecake for himself because the place, which they had been to once or twice before, really made the most amazing cheese cake. The cheesecake was sliced up and placed on plates with some fresh fruit and cream and the only thing he really had to wait for was the drink. He sneaked a quick but soft gaze at Roman as he waited. He was his normal pretty self. Most days he looked different from how he used to when they first started to date though, mainly because of the lack of make up. Samuel loved him either way and he knew it wasn't for any bad reason Roman had cooled it down with that hobby so he was never concerned about it. The weird thing about it though was that some days Samuel looked flashier than Roman. Not that Samuel dressed in a very flashy manner all days, but today when Roman was just wearing a plain t-shirt and some black jeans (that suited him fantastically but that wasn't the point,) Samuel's choice of a red and white floral patterned t-shirt stod out more, even though he wore them with a pair of regular blue jeans.

Samuel came back with the food and drinks and sat down with a chuckle as Roman commented on the price, "yeah I'm lucky, I totally wouldn't have been able to afford a slice of cheese cake myself otherwise," Samuel aid with a slight roll of is eyes. The sugar daddy joke was still funny to this day, and if anything it was just getting more funny as they got older because it made it seem even more out of place.

Samuel took a small bite of his cheesecake, it tasted lovely, as expected, he let out a small and short "mm" to signify is enjoyment, Roman would have probably not even heard if the women at the table close to them hadn't stopped chattering so wildly at that point, though Samuel was to focused on the food to realise, and to realise that they were glancing their way. Even if he had noticed though, he would have probably brushed it off, Roman attracted looks all the time, it was nothing new, "this is really good, you should taste this, if I get to taste yours, -- I haven't hade the blueberry one before."
 
r o m a n
Roman, unlike Samuel, actually had powers of observation greater than that of a brick wall and thus he easily noticed the change in the women's behaviour. They had stopped talking as loudly and Roman could almost feel the eyes that had been directed their way. But he didn't say anything or draw any attention to the fact, because quite frankly, he didn't want to open that can of worms with Samuel.

As he reached over to take Samuel's fork so he could get him some cheesecake, he glanced over and realised, to his shock, that the women weren't actually ogling at him. No, they were giggling about Samuel.

Obviously Roman knew how handsome his husband was. Hell, he had married the dude, and while his looks hadn't played much of a part in that decision, they were a nice added bonus. But still, Roman was just so used to receiving more looks than Samuel, even if he wasn't as conventionally or typically attractive. More people just seemed to find themselves drawn to him.

But here were these women, looking at Samuel. One of them made eye contact with Roman and he looked away, spearing some cheesecake with Samuel's fork before handing it back and stealing some of Samuel's with his own.
 
s a m u e l​

Samuel just ever so obliviously had a taste of his husband's cheese cake, it had been just as lovely as his own so he might try to sneak another bite before Roman got a chance to inhale it. He was at that point to wrapped up in his own little world that just surrounded Roman and cheese cake to really notice the looks he was getting from the women.

He focused on their date for a while, allowed conversation to flow naturally as they ate and had a generally nice time, Samuel spoke a little about work and inquired about Roman's, they didn't always get a chance to catch up about normal things in their hectic life of being parents of four plus one since they were taking care of Hugo for a bit too.

Eventually though Samuel did notice the women, he stood to go fetch some normal drinking water and passed them again, they had en alternating a little between being louder and quieter and as he passed the got a little quieter, Samuel sat down again and tried to discretely look over at the women to figure them out, they were probably just ogling Roman and when he turned to look he very much confirmed that they had their attention on their table. Samuel turned back to Roman and rolled his eyes a little before lowering his voice and saying, "Don't get me wrong you're pretty and all, but don't people have better things to do?"
 
r o m a n
Over the course of the date Roman was able to mostly forget that there was a pack of women gushing over his husband. It wasn't that he was jealous -- he knew that he and Samuel had a stable relationship and that he had nothing to worry about in terms of cheating.

It was just strange for Roman to not be the one who was attracting the looks. He was so used to being the one who got stared at and admired, and he always had been, since the beginning of their relationship. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel a tiny bit insecure. Was he losing his looks? Was his unconventionally attractive set of features beginning to drift more towards the 'interesting' side of attractive-interesting?

Samuel, being the oblivious sweetheart that he was, didn't seem to notice the looks he was getting at all, and this was just confirmed when he came back and assumed Roman was attracting them. In spite of himself, Roman chuckled and shook his head. Samuel was just so adorable.

"You're cute,"
he said, rubbing Samuel's leg with his foot under the table. "They're looking at you, silly."
 
s a m u e l

"what, the are?" Samuel said sounding really skeptical, he squinted at Roman to see if he was joking but he was his normal self and rally he had no reason to joke about it, "why?" he added to no one in particular.

Throughout life he had never seen himself as particularly special. Always plain and ordinary, he knew he wasn't ugly or anything, and if he believed what other people said he was good looking. But he never really stod out, especially not when he was next to his ridiculously tall and very gorgeous, and significantly more interesting looking-husband. Roman was always the one who got the looks.

The realisation made the women all the more obvious though, Samuel glanced towards them and caught one of them trying to not very obviously look. Still it was he who blushed and turned back, and the shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "This is weird, how don't you feel weird about this all the time?"
 
r o m a n
"... Would it be egotistical if I said I was used to it?"

The answer was 'probably', but it was the truth. Since his glow-up in his mid-teens, Roman had just attracted looks everywhere he went and that hadn't changed over the years. Throughout his twenties and even early thirties he had been dazzling, like he was fresh off the pages of a fashion magazine. And even now, in his forties, he was less stunning but more handsome, meaning he had aged really well. He had always had unique, interesting, slightly ethereal features -- and when he was tired, sick or sad, he straight-up looked like a heroin addict.

But the point was, Roman Joshua Casper Hemlock-Ortega had almost always been the most beautiful person in the room.

Of course, beauty was subjective, and even Roman believed Samuel was more beautiful than him. But it was still sort of jarring to have the attention on someone else, and that probably made him a narcissist, but it was literally just what he was used to.

He could tell that Samuel was uncomfortable, and that gave Roman the cue to do what he had been wanting to do for the past half hour. He turned his head and looked one of the women directly in the eyes, a blonde bombshell who quite honestly looked as though she had had some plastic surgery, and said gave her a pointed look. She blushed bright red and turned away, as did her friends, and after a few more moments they started to pack up to leave.

Roman watched them as they went. "Super Roman, here to save the day," he chuckled.
 
s a m u e l

Samuel let out a soft chuckle at Roman calling himself egotistical. On occasion Roman was, but not in a way that made him not selfless, if that was even possible. It was more that Roman was good looking, he knew it and he would gladly enjoy that fact. And Samuel honestly believed that if there was one person who got to be a little narcissistic sometimes, it was Roman, he had way too much to deal with in regards to his health the least he could have was pride over his good looks.

Samuel didn't particularly like attention in this way though, and didn't really need it, so he was glad when Roman basically just told them off with a look, catching them in what they did. Not wanting to be confronted, the women stood and left, clearly having been done for a while now.

"Why thank you my hero," Samuel smiled when they were gone, he reached over the table and intertwined his fingers with Roman's, "And to think that I've always gotten jealous when people look at you. If only I had known you were actually saving me from looks, it would have spared us a lot of arguing when we were younger," Samuel chuckled again, it wasn't that clear cut but it was kind of funny to think about it in that way.
 
r o m a n
Roman chuckled. With the ego-bruising women gone, he felt a lot lighter -- not that he hadn't enjoyed himself before. But it was just nice to have the distraction of a couple of women checking out his husband, and not him, gone.

Roman squeezed his husband's hand and kissed his knuckles sweetly. "Yes, you're very ungrateful. If I wasn't as dazzling as I am, then you would have been stared at twenty-four seven, and we both know how little you like that." It was true that Roman was a bit of an attention whore and Samuel hated it, so really, it had just worked out in their favour like that if they really thought about it.

The taller of the pair of husbands gave a soft and sweet sigh as he looked at Samuel. Sometimes Roman adopted a look in those bright green eyes of his that just radiating with adoration and love. He looked at his sister like that, his nieces and nephews, his children. But most of all, it was a look Samuel received on a daily basis, and Roman didn't think that bright light would ever fade from his eyes when gazing at his husband.

"I love you more than life itself, you know that, right?"
Roman murmured, the corners of his lips tugged up into a gentle smile.
 
s a m u e l

Samuel smiled as Roman gave him that one look that always made his heart melt. It was always directed towards the people he loved the most and whenever Samuel was on the receiving end of it he just felt so happy and content with life. And like there was absolutely nothing that stood between their love. And in this case, there was no chance some random women checking one of them out could stand in the way of it.

"You've told me once or twice," Samuel said voice soft, "And I love you too,"

Things had taken a warm and affectionate turn and for while they just sat there and enjoyed each other's company like that, hand in hand, gazing into each other's eyes as if they had just fallen in love. And then a little while later they fell back into conversation before it was time to go home so they could get dinner started for the kids. As lovely as it was that they could go out like this, spending time with the family was just as amazing, just different kinds of amazing, and Samuel was glad to get both that day.
 
r o m a n
"... I'm very proud of you, Harper. It takes a lot of guts to come out. I love you so much."
"This doesn't change anything? You don't think of me any different?"
"Of course not, baby, why would I do that?"
"I ... I don't know."
"Harper, unless you do something terrible like decide you don't like KFC, there is nothing in the world that could make me think of you differently or love you any less. Now, do you want to tell Papa? Or do you want me to tell him?"
"...Can you tell him? I kind of only wanted to tell you because you're bi too and you know what it's like ..."
"Okay, sweetie." Roman kissed his son on the top of the head. "I love you."
Bleary-eyed, tear-stained Harper smiled and hugged his dad tightly, and Roman hugged him right back. He would be lying if he had expected the words 'I'm bisexual' to come out of his son's mouth. Harper had always just seemed so confidently heterosexual, but that was just proof that looks could be misleading.​
Roman was honoured that Harper had trusted this information with him. Of course, it was likely largely to do with his own sexuality and how similar they seemed to be, but Roman knew it was also partially to do with their closeness and the foundation work he had put in when Harper had been a small child.​
He gave his son another tight squeeze, before he stood up, smiled, and made his way up the stairs to the bedroom he shared with his husband. Samuel was working at the desk, probably grading papers or something of that nature. Roman walked up behind him, gave him a kiss to the neck and nuzzled him on the shoulder, then sat on a clean space of desk and looked down at Samuel with a small, affectionate, and mildly proud smile on his lips.​
"Harper," he said, his tone playfully matter-of-fact but still respectful, "just came out to me as bisexual."
 
s a m u e l

Samuel had just been correcting some papers when Roman came to take his attention. It wasn't at all uncommon for him to do that and Samuel expected any of the usual stuff, some sweet and spontaneous I love yous, a cup of coffee, complaints about the fact that he was working instead of paying attention to him.

He got none of what he expected though well except for some affection. The moment the words "Harper just came out to me as bisexual" left Roman's mouth the papers, or nothing else really seemed to matter and he just stared at Roman for a moment as he absorbed the news. Harper was bisexual. Harper was bisexual.

"What? Really?" Samuel said, sounding sounding baffled and surprised but also nothing but positive. Roman's tone, despite its playfulness, told him it was true no matter how unexpected it was. Any other set of parents would have probably assumed Harper wasn't completely straight ages ago, but in a household where how you looked and expressed yourself was treated as something individual that didn't necessarily say anything about your dating preferences Samuel hadn't really assumed so. Sure Harper loved very typically feminine things, but he had only ever openly showed interest in girls, so if anything Samuel had done the opposite and assumed he wasn't interested in boys in the slightest.

But as it turned out he was wrong, and that was completely okay. His face broke out into a small smile, a proud one that matched Roman's, "What happened? What did he tell you?" Samuel asked, curious to know about the conversation that had taken place. He of course wished he could have been there but he understood why Harper had gone to Roman. Roman was bisexual, he would understand in a better way than Samuel, the kids just went for them to separate things, if it was soccer or history homework it was to Samuel, if it was art or fashion it was Roman. Had Harper been gay, he would have probably gone to Samuel but that wasn't the case. Harper was apparently bi, and Samuel was both proud and excited.
 
r o m a n
"Well," Roman said, as if he was about to divulge some very interesting gossip. He shifted so he was perched in Samuel's lap, which was more comfortable than any seat or sofa in the world. He wrapped his arms around Samuel's shoulders and gave him a brief kiss to the side of the head, before launching into his retelling of the event.

"He asked me if he could speak to me in his room, which I said yes to. And he was very nervous, so nervous I thought he was about to tell me he'd done something illegal or gotten a girl pregnant or something. But then he told me that he had noticed for a while now that he was attracted to boys -- like, he found himself looking at them as much as he looks at girls, and with some dudes he's been caught so off-guard that he's been rendered speechless."


Roman honestly couldn't believe he hadn't noticed these things from Harper before, but he figured it made sense because Harper had been trying to hide these feelings so well. "And he asked me if that was how I felt when I had been coming to terms with my sexuality, and I told him that's exactly how I felt. So he told me he told Emma-Marie that he's bisexual."

Roman licked his lips as he launched into the slightly less adorable and wonderful part of what Harper had confessed. "And he told me that he had been anxious about it, not because he thinks it's wrong, but because he's worried about how his friends will react if they find out. And ... and how our family will face even more backlash than we already do. But I told him he has nothing to worry about."
 
s a m u e l​

As Roman got seated in his lap Samuel happily put his arms around him so they both could be comfortable as Roman retold what had happened. Samuel Nodded a long with a big smile and occasionally chuckling a little or humming along. It was nice to hear. Samuel didn't really care what sexuality his children identified with, but the good part was hearing about Harper figuring himself out, sharing it with his dad and talking to Emmie. It showed that he was comfortable with them as people and knew that they all would accept him and love him no matter what.

He did not mile though, when Roman revealed the part their son had been anxious about. The fear of judgmental friends wasn't all that surprising to Samuel, Harper had lot of sporty friends and h knew the jock type. What he hadn't expected though, was Harper worrying that his sexuality would make things harder for their family. It was such a Harper thing to worry about though. And Samuel hated that it even had to be a thing, that there were people out there that actually would potentially use the fact that Harper wasn't straight against them.

Roman seemed to have made sure Harper was okay though, so it'd be alright.

"I wish he didn't have to feel that way, but I'm glad he was comfortable enough to tell you now," Samuel said, in a slightly less excited voice than before. He was still happy and proud though, and he didn't want to let people's homophobic views ruin things when they weren't even there, "... Did he ask you to tell me, or should I be expecting the same conversation at some point?" he decided to ask, because that could be good to know.
 
r o m a n
In an ideal world, no one would have to face any discrimination for anything, but unfortunately things didn't work out like that. Roman just hoped that Harper did not face any discrimination, whether it came from his friends or those who wanted to attack their family, when he eventually chose to come out to the public. He was such a sweet and considerate boy, he didn't deserve that at all.

"Nah, he asked me to tell you,"
Roman said with a shake of his head. He nuzzled Samuel's hair a little and pressed a kiss to his forehead, as if to make up for their son not wanting to come out to the both of them individually. "He said that he only really wanted to tell me personally because he wanted to talk to me about it. Which makes sense, I guess. But he didn't say anything about the other kids so don't mention it to them."

Roman sighed. It wasn't a bad sigh, it was just one of mild tiredness and contemplation. "I wonder, should we be trademark Protective Dads when he brings a boy home? Will I have to square up with some kid I absolutely would have dated if we were in high school together? Does that make me a hypocrite?"
 
s a m u e l

Samuel let out a soft chuckle, "I think it's more hypocritical to not treat the people wanting to date our kids equally no matter their or the kids' gender than if you would have dated someone like them in high school." Samuel was protective of the kids but he also wasn't one to go into overprotective mode like he falt Roman might do, probably as a consequence of growing up being really protective of his sister, "like no offence, but you weren't really know for your reasoning in high school,"

He pressed a kiss on Roman's cheek to compensate for the teasing just like how Roman had given him a compensatory kiss moments earlier. But then he want back to being a little less joking and more serious.

"Should i go have a talk with him? Not now obviously, but maybe tomorrow or before bed when he has gotten a chance to recollect?" Samuel asked Roman, Samuel of course wanted to talk to Harper about this, and would so sooner or later, it was his duty as his dad to keep up to date with how his kids felt, but it was a matter of when was the right time and Roman was the one who had a feel for what Harper had felt in the moment and was feeling right now, "Or should I give it a rest for a while?"
 
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r o m a n
When Samuel kissed him Roman playfully caught his lips with his own. He just loved kissing and touching Samuel, and he loved that no matter what they were doing, it was just natural for them to share affectionate gestures. He wholeheartedly believed that their level of comfort with one another was indicative of how much they loved one another.

"I think maybe before bed would be a good idea,"
Roman said, tracing little circles on Samuel's shoulder with the tip of his finger. One style choice he hadn't let dwindle over the years were his manicures -- his nails were a couple of centimetres longer than his fingers, filed and sharpened into pointy stiletto tips, and painted a dark purple at this current point in time.

"So it's soon, but not so soon that he gets uncomfortable or overwhelmed,"
Roman said. "And he said that he wanted to tell the other kids, so don't mention anything to them." Hopefully, Harper, with the support of his family, would be able to truly reconcile with his feelings and therefore enable himself to live a happier life.

Roman then cupped his husband's face with his long and slender hands and pressed a loving kiss to his lips. It was a deep and loving kiss, the kind they shared quite frequently, and the kind that often led to other things. "Now, do you need to actually get shit done or can you pay attention to me for a while?" he asked his husband cutely.
 
s a m u e l

Samuel hummed in agreement. He'd talk with Harper before they went to bed, that'd be good. It didn't have to be long, he would just sit down and tell him he was proud of him so that there would be no doubt in his mind that both of his dads were happy to know he had shared the news.

For now though Roman was managing to pull his attention away from the matter quiet successfully though and from work as well. He reciprocated Roman's kiss and against his lips he mumbled, "I mean I do actually have some stuff too do, but if you're demanding my attention i could maybe let it wait a little while," then he lovingly caught his husbands lips again.

That was always the most important part about their family. They all loved each other and would always be there for each other. It didn't matter if Harper was bi or straight or anything else, he had trusted his dads with the information and Samuel had every intention to to be accepting and show him he loved him. He wanted to succeed in where his own parents had failed, because when it came to something like this he knew how important it was to have your kids' backs.
 
e l i s s a
Elissa Harris-Quinn stood in the doorway of her husband's study and knocked on the wall beside it to get his attention. "Matthew?"
If he looked at her, Matthew would be able to tell that she was quite nervous. She was fidgeting with the hem of her sweater and she was biting her lip -- tells he would have picked up from her over their many years of marriage. There was also a slightly troubled look on her face, because only a few moments ago, Elissa had found out something that would change the both of their lives astronomically.​
She was pregnant.​
Their son, Will, was in his early teens, and they were in their forties. It was really quite late for them to be having another baby and she knew that due to her age this would be an incredibly high-risk pregnancy. This had been an entirely unplanned thing -- in fact, they even used protection to avoid additional pregnancies for these reasons. But sometimes, protection failed, and Elissa had the evidence for that in both her womb and the pocket of her skirt.​
She wasn't worried about Matthew being mad, but she was worried about him reacting badly, because in spite of everything, she wanted to keep the baby. She knew the risks, she knew how this would disrupt their entire way of living, and she knew the potential for Will to be affected by the appearance of a sibling so late in life. But in spite of all of that, this was still her child, and when she had found out about the pregnancy, she had been just as happy as she had been when she had learned about Will.​
"Can I come in?" Elissa asked her husband. "I've got something to tell you."