[Samuel x Roman]

e d e n​

"okay," Eden said but still watched as the others got their blanket and things out first.

Eden couldn't help but feel a little iffy about Harper, an then moment later also Stella just throwing everything downstairs, because Papa didn't always like when they did that, but he was also pretty sure it was safer than trying to run down the stairs with everything as well so he didn't comment on it. Instead he just shook his head at Harper asking him if he needed help and went to his room to get the comforter and pillows. He also grabbed his Doggy and Kitty. He knew he was getting too old for them but he didn't wanna build a pillow fort without them.

He hesitated a little before throwing all the things down the stairs, except for the stuffed animals. And then looked at his siblings to see if anyone else was still fetching something but it seemed like Letha and Hugo too had gotten their things and thrown them down to the first floor so they all made their way down and began to pick everything up again to get them to the living room. Well there Eden asked Harper, "now what?" because he always preferred having some instructions to follow. It was more structured that way.
 
h a r p e r
Soon, everyone had gotten their blankets and pillows down to the ground floor of the house, and they were ready to start constructing their pillow fort. "Okay, let's move all the couches and chairs," Harper suggested. It was only natural that he took charge of the proceedings, since he was both the eldest child there and the one responsible for the idea.

The Hemlock-Ortega living room featured several large couches, all made of comfortable material and in colours that fit the scheme their daddy had decided upon. They had one of those L-shaped couches and two smaller three-seater ones, as well as two armchairs that matched the rest of the configuration. Under Harper's instruction, the five children moved the coffee table, pulled out all the couches and armchairs and spun them around so the backs of the items were facing a large space in the middle.

"Okay, now we get the blankets and stuff and hang them length-wise over the backs of the couches,"
Harper instructed. He hopped up on one of them, a blanket in hand, and tossed one end over to a couch opposite. "Edie, can you get that and make sure it's sitting over the back properly?"
 
e d e n

Eden once again felt little hesitant about just moving all the couches like that but he didn't protest and helped everyone with doing it. He didn't want to ruin the fun by complaining a whole lot, and he supposed he wouldn't have any fun by doing that either so it was better for everyone if he just tried not to worry to much about things.

The turned the couches and armchairs and started to set up the blankets, Harper threw one his way, it laded over the back of the couch and upon being requested to do so Eden made sure it laid nicely and removed one of the couch cushions and placed it down again so that the blanket wouldn't fall as easily. Once he felt good about his work he gave Harper his thumbs up and they all worked together to get all the blankets set up and soon enough their blanket fort had a nice roof.

"This is turning out cool," Stella decided. They had honestly done forts similar to this a bunch of times when they were younger, only they always asked for their dads' permission and most often got help from them, so it was turning out pretty cool, if only because they were doing it themselves. Maybe that was just part of the fun, "Let's make the inside cozy too," she then decided, Eden nodded ut also looked over at Harper to confirm that that was what they were doing. Stella didn't seem to complain about it this time though, probably just happy Eden was on board with this at all.
 
h a r p e r
"Yeah, we should set up all the cushions and stuff so we can face the TV," Harper suggested, since that was how they had arranged the couches, so there would be an opening they could see through. Under his direction the group of children got all their pillows and spare blankets, and set up a comfortable den inside the fort they had constructed.

They used their spare blankets and big pillows as a floor of sorts, attempting to make it as comfortable as possible, then they used the smaller cushions off their beds and the one off the couches to make seats they could lean against them. They had just finished setting those up when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Hey, kiddos, we're going to get KFC for dinner because I'm lazy and I don't want to -- what the heck?" Their dad's surprised voice caused them all to freeze, and for a moment, Harper was worried they'd get in trouble. But then Roman appeared at the opening of the fort, and he was grinning. "Wow, this is really cool, guys. SAMUEL! COME LOOK AT THIS!"

And then, their daddy crawled in with them. He hardly fit because he was so big, but he managed to squeeze his long frame inside. He ended up sitting next to Eden, whom he gave a sweet kiss to the forehead. "Hey, sweetie, how're you doing?"
 
e d e n

When Eden first heard Daddy's voice he froze up a little and was scared they were all going to be told that they had done something wrong. But when he appeared at the entrance of their little fort it was with a big smile, even calling for papa to come look and that made Even calm down a little. Daddy even came to sit down next to him and sked how he was doing.

"I'm okay," he said with a slight grin. He was. He was having a good time with his siblings and now he had no reason to worry.

Soon enough Papa poked his head through the entrance, "whoa kids, I haven't seen you make one of these for years, this is awesome," he said before crawling inside.
"So it's alright that we made it?" Eden asked, papa didn't seem mad, but he was usually a little stricter than daddy.
"yeah of course it is, as long as you all are having fun-- and clean up afterwards," Samuel nodded and Eden nodded back with a smile. the papa clapped his hands together and said, "so who wants KFC" and there was a little cheer among the kids, "well drop by the grocery store and get some veggie nuggets too," Samuel added to Eden and at that he beamed like his siblings did.

Their dads left and left the kids to have fun by themselves for a bit. Eden felt happy and no longer worried, he turned to Harper and said, "this was a pretty good idea,"
to compensate a little for how he had protested when they started to build the fort. He was happy he had siblings who dragged him into things sometimes, he was sure he'd miss out otherwise, and now he didn't and that was great.
 
h a r p e r
"I'm so fucking sick of this shit," Harper mumbled under his breath as he stood up from the bench.

Soccer was meant to be fun. Soccer was meant to be enjoyable. Soccer was meant to be the reason Harper got out of bed in the morning. But it couldn't be any of these things when there were certain people on the team who made it into a place of tension and of anger.

It had all started when Harper had decided to come out to his teammates. It hadn't been a big deal, really, he had just been sitting on the oval while they were eating oranges at training and he had said it. "I'm bisexual." Most people hadn't cared. Most people hadn't even reacted, because most of the guys on the team were Harper's close friends. But some people hadn't liked it, even if it was 2041 and homophobia was almost extinct. No one had said anything or made a big deal out of it but Harper wasn't stupid and he had noticed the tension from those certain teammates since his little announcement.

It didn't help that one of those teammates was the second best guy on the team, and the guy Harper was being constantly compared to. Who would win Best Player that season? Who would score most points in a specific match? Who would get to be team captain? It was a constant battle between Harper and this one other guy, even if it was universally (but privately) agreed that Harper was marginally better. He was getting sick of this stupid rivalry, and he was getting sick of the homophobia he had to deal with.

"Alright, guys, I've split you up into two teams, so we're going to play a practice game,"
the coach said, and Harper sighed as he put on his green sash and stepped out onto the field. Of course, his arch nemesis had been put on the other team. Because how the fuck else would it go down?
 
j a c o b

A slight smirk appeared on Jacobs face when Coach announced the split of teams for their practice game. Practice games weren't really that serious, just a part of any other soccer practice, but knowing that he was playing against Harper was always good. He'd take any chance to show him that he was just as good, if not even better at him. Especially recently.

A while back, Harper came out to the team. Jacob had always been kid of annoyed with him because he was the one guy on the team who possibly was better than him, the excelled in slightly different things but it all evened out and constantly they were pitted against each other. But Harper always seemed to be the popular one, the one than always scored one more goal. And when he came out there was no trouble. It was just another thing that made perfect and nice and good looking Harper Hemlock-Ortega unique and interesting. And that on top of the fact that he wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that Harper liked guys made him feel even more annoyed with him lately. It was just weird.

He wasn't like a homophobe or anything, but it was different because Harper was on their team, and changed in their locker room. And he didn't get why barely anyone else was bothered by it. It was just like how they wouldn't want a girl walking around the looking at them while they were changing. Had Harper not had anything to do with them it would have been fine, people he didn't know could do whatever they wanted, it didn't affect him. But Harper did affect him and he had a right to be annoyed about it.

"Hey, Harper, good luck, don't get distracted" He said with a smug grin as they stepped out on different sides of the field. He wouldn't throw out a slur just for no reason, that'd be pretty fucked up, but the distracted thing wasn't the first time he said and Harper would know he referred to one point in time when he had complained about Harper not doing a good job because he was distracted by being surrounded by a bunch of objectively good looking guys. He didn't see any harm in that, it was true, if he was into guy why would running around among a bunch of muscular soccer guys not be distracting.
 
h a r p e r

Jacob's comment was met with a small chorus of 'oohs' from the other guys, and Harper scowled at him from across the field. Jacob was just a little shit, honestly. Harper couldn't stand him half of the time, but the fact was that he was a good player and therefore he was valuable to the team. So Harper just had to live with him. He hated it to no end, though.

"Don't worry, Jake, you're playing so there's nothing to be distracted by," Harper called back out scathingly. His comment was met with an even louder chorus of 'oohs', but Harper had no time to respond because the coach blew the whistle to indicate that the match had begun. As always, Harper lurched forward and took possession of the ball almost immediately. And as the game progressed, all thoughts of Jacob leaked out of his mind as they were replaced with endorphins produced by playing his favourite game.

Harper scored point after point after point for his team, but so did Jacob. There was a reason they were considered the two best players on the team. At the end of the match, Harper directly intercepted the ball from Jacob, skidded by another couple of opposing team members, and easily sent the ball flying into the goal. He turned around and met Jacob's eye, and he couldn't help but give the other boy a sarcastic little wink before jogging off as coach blew the whistle.
 
j a c o b

The moment Harper decided the bite back Jacob could feel the annoyance bubble up and he couldn't come up with a good comeback before the game was starting. He'd just have to channel his annoyance into winning. He knew all his focus shouldn't be on Harper when they played, but it was hard not to focus on him when he was just being so annoying. Every time Jacob scored Harper did as well, or he'd gett the ball from him and their shoulders would bump into each other and another surge of annoyance would rush through him, and he'd make sure their shoulders bumped the next time he took the ball back.

Harper made one last goal in the last minute. Of course he did. Even if he hated to admit it it sometimes felt like Harper was always one tiny step ahead of him. And as if to rub salt in his wounds Harper had the audacity to wink at him. Fuck him. Jacob felt his face grow a little warmer in humiliation but didn't give him the satisfaction of expressing his annoyance more than glaring at him as their coach was wrapping up practice.

When the gathering of sweaty teen boys had been disbanded most of them started to head for their bags and then the changing rooms, some went off the field to make their way home and shower and change there. Jacob was one of those that day, he had taken the bike, seeing as he might as well get the extra exercise in while he was at it, but when one of his closer mates on the team asked, "are ya coming?" motioning towards the locker rooms he shook his head and said, "not when Harper's there too, don't want him creeping, 's fucking weird," knowing well that Harper was just a little bit away and could hear it well. That was the point. Harper seemed to have everything so perfect, he was fantastic at soccer, he always had top tier soccer shoes because his family seemed to be loaded, everyone liked him and even his stupid freckles suited him. So maybe a snide remark or too was needed to put him in his place.
 
h a r p e r
Normally Harper could handle the snide remarks he got because of his sexuality. He definitely didn't like them, and whenever he heard them he felt the need to defend himself or say something back. But normally, he had the self-control to bite his tongue and let it roll off his back. As his dad liked to say, like water off wings. He had better things to do than waste his time on people who didn't want to change.

But sometime, certain comments from certain people just irked him too much and he couldn't stop himself from firing up. This was the case now with Jacob, who clearly wasn't bothering to hide his remarks, and who Harper couldn't stand to begin with. You had to be a special kind of dickhead to just go for the jugular like that. Harper sighed through his nose, crossed his arms over his chest, and turned to face Jacob.

"You know, Jake, if you're curious, you can just say so instead of trying to get my attention by being a complete and utter wanker to me. You know that the whole 'treat them mean, keep them keen' thing is completely fucking stupid? But I guess that type of idiocy is up to par with your intelligence levels." You couldn't say sass was genetic because Harper had definitely learned it from his dad. If Roman were there, he would be proud.
 
j a c o b

It took Jacob a moment to really grip what Harper had said, not because he was as stupid as Harper claimed he was but because he hadn't expected him to fight back, not on this. He had just wanted to say his comment and go on his way, maybe see if Harper had an annoyed look on his face. Next to him his friend had let out a snicker at Harper's comment, he hated how everyone always seemed to take Harper's side when Jacob wasn't even doing anything particularly wrong. He had ll right to express discomfort over changing in the same room as Harper. Why wouldn't he.

"Don't flatter yourself, I don't know what kind of blown up ego you've got, but news flash, everyone hasn't got the hots for you," He spat back, "maybe I just find you fucking annoying," honesty couldn't hurt, he didn't need some clever comeback when he could just tell Harper as it was. He was annoying, from being good at soccer and knowing it, to how his hair managed to look nice even when sweaty and messy from practice.

He decided he was done then, and walked past Harper, pumping into his shoulder harshly at purpose, but his cheeks were warm and the grip on his bag hard. He wouldn't have put any thought to Harper's comeback, because he knew he had only said it to stupidly defend himself, if he hadn't had that thought about his hair. It was just hair, how could hair be annoying? Why did he even notice how his hair looked in the first place? It was stupid and it didn't mean there was any truth in what Harper had said and the tingling that he felt in his shoulder had nothing to do with anything like that. Feeling weird touching him was just a part of being angry at him.
 
r o m a n

"I want to die,"
Roman said as he dramatically flopped down onto his and Samuel's bed.

The couple had just gotten home from picking up all the kids, and it had been Letha's first day of high school. They had talked about her day in the car, and had learned that she had had a very pleasant time and that she had adjusted quickly. She said she liked having her papa as a teacher, too, and that she was excited to go back. And that was all fine and dandy.

But was not all fine and dandy was the simple fact that this meant that all four Hemlock-Ortegas had started high school. They were growing up. No longer were they their dads' sweet little babies, they were young adults ready to take on the world as a whole. But Roman wasn't ready for that.

He could hear them all talking downstairs, just going about their day peacefully. Roman laid on the bed, with his face directed to the ceiling, almost unwilling to look away. He didn't explain what he meant to his husband, either. But Samuel would have known him well enough to know without asking.
 
s a m u e l

Samuel let out a small sigh at Roman's slightly over dramatic expression of his feelings. He wasn't annoyed or anything, and by now it seemed to just be part of another kid starting school for Roman to be a little mopey about it. Today was different though, their little baby had started high school now, and they had no younger ones to send on their way to the school for older kids. Letha was the last one. So he couldn't say he didn't feel what Roman was feeling, he just also felt a lot of excitement about getting to teach Letha too. Unlike Roman this meant he'd get to see more of his daughter so he could always be happy with that. And he also just loved seeing the kids grow into good people.

"C'mon Roman, you know I can't handle four teenagers without you," Samuel complained as he flopped down next to Roman. He put his arms around him and pressed a sweet little kiss on Roman's neck. They were joking, but honestly, parenting had always been such a team effort for them, Samuel seriously admired anyone who could do it on their own.

"Aren't you happy Letha seems to be settling in really well?"
he knew Roman was happy about that, he just wanted to remind him of the positive things about today, so that he didn't have to feel sad about the kids slowly growing into adults.
 
r o m a n

Sulking like a little baby, Roman turned into his husband's embrace, wrapping his arms around the other and hiding in his shoulder. "You'll be fine, just lock them in their rooms and then they can't get up to any trouble," he suggested, nuzzling into Samuel a little before closing his eyes and sighing.

Truthfully, he was very glad that Letha was transitioning into high school life well, and even if he was sad they were all growing up so fast, truthfully he wished for them to be as happy and as successful as possible. It was just hard to think that in a few years they'd have all moved out. It was like he was having empty nest syndrome before his kids had even become adults.

"No, I'm not happy," he said adamantly, an adorable little scowl on his face. "I want her to be so miserable that she drops out of school and spends every waking moment at home making cookies and watching Moana with me."
 
s a m u e l

Samuel chuckled a little at Roman's cute scowl, and his expressed want for Letha to continue just do the things they always had done together, "Roman, I'm sorry to break it to you, but there comes a time in every child's life when their favourite thing no longer is baking cookies and watching Moana with their dad," he joked. With the way they had raised the kids he felt like they probably wouldn't grow out of that. Sure they might pretend for a couple of years now in their teens, but all of them valued family a lot so he had a feeling they'd always love those kind of activities, just like how Samuel still loved having dinner with his mum

"They might even get a new favourite movie one day," he teased and gave roman a gentle poke between the ribs, "one for adults, even"

He then placed a soft kiss on Roman's cheek and in a slightly more serious tone said, "But you know it's Letha we're talking about right? She's not going to stop doing those things with you just because she's in highschool, she loves baking cookies and watching Moana. You'll just get to do it with a slightly older version of her who has a little more to say about the world."
 
r o m a n
Roman sighed. He had been through this two other times, one with Harper and one with the twins, but this felt different. Letha was his baby. She was his sweet and innocent little baby girl who had always loved him unconditionally. Of course the other kids loved him too, but with Letha, it was different because she was the youngest, the sheltered one, and the last one he had to let go.

"Yeah, I know," Roman murmured. Samuel was right, Letha would still jump at the chance to spend time with him, which he couldn't honestly say about Harper and Stella because they were quite independent and a bit more mature. "I just don't want them to grow up too fast, you know?"

He sighed again and nuzzled against his husband a little more. "Like ... it felt like as Harper and the twins were getting older, we still had Letha as a little baby and she was sweet and incorruptible. But now she's in the same sort of field as the older kids, she's vulnerable to all these other things, and I'm worried she's going to be led astray?"
 
s a m u e l

Samuel smiled softly at Roman, he understood what he was saying, and he supposed he felt the same under all the excitement about her starting school. Letha was the last one they were letting go of, and it was hard to let go. But it wasn’t like they had to let go of her completely.

“Roman,” he said seriously but softly, “Letha is still our little baby, she’ll never stop being our little baby. She’ll be forty and I know you’ll still ask her to bake cookies and watch Disney and she will still jump at the chance to do it, because she’s Letha.”

Letha wasn’t turning into some other person just because she was starting high school. She was going to grow up a little, and be different in that way, a little more a part of the world. But she’d still be Letha, “And you don’t have to worry, because I’ll keep an eye on her, and so will Harper and Stella and even Eden. They are all just as protective of her as you. Everything will be okay.”
 
h a r p e r
"I swear to god, if that fucking asshole says one more thing to me, I'm going to fucking kill him."

Harper wasn't really the kind of person to say such things -- most of the time. But when he was pushed enough, he came out with such things. And that morning he'd had another run-in with Jacob, and thus, he was pretty livid.

Currently, Harper and Emmie were sat together on the edge of the oval, underneath the tree that had sort of become their tree. It was lunchtime, and thus, Harper had a plastic container of lasagne he had purchased from the canteen, along with a can of Coke. He was laying on his stomach, propped up with one elbow. And he was glaring at Jacob as the other boy socialised with his friends.

"How should I do it?" Harper asked Emmie in a frustrated voice. "Should I stab him? Push him down the stairs? Maybe I can feed him to a tiger or a shark or something. A tiger shark. Right, book a trip, we're going to the middle of the ocean to throw him overboard."
 
e m m a - m a r i e

"Okay Harper I know he's a dumbass but I don't want you ending up in juvie because of him," Emma-Marie tried to calm Harper down a little, lunch was meant to be a break and relax a little, not fume with anger because someone you disliked, no matter for how good a reason, was close by, "Both because I'd miss you and I feel like he'd think he was winning even if he had almost bled to death from a stab wound,"

Emma-Marie let her eyes follow the guy Harper was talking about as she spoke. She had heard a story or two about Jacob and she kind of understood why her best friend was plotting to murder him. If Harper asked for help she might even do so. It was just so infuriating to know that Harper had to deal with some severely outdated homophobe all the time at soccer. She was really proud of him for coming out, she knew how much he had struggled and she knew he probably still struggled sometimes, and then there was Jacob who seemed to only be there to make things worse.

"Did he do something specifically nasty recently or is this just your normal level of murderous you feel when you see him at this point?" she asked, she would have sounded more amused if she wasn't feeling annoyed just by talking about Jacob.
 
h a r p e r
"We had an argument this morning," Harper said, still glaring in Jacob's general direction, "but I'm mostly just pissed because he exists and I have to put up with him every fucking day."

Harper was generally a very friendly and charismatic person and he typically didn't let other people impact his mood. But it was just so hard when someone like Jacob was interfering with what he loved the most. Soccer had always been something full of positivity and happiness for the eldest Hemlock-Ortega child. He didn't like associating it with cruel people who only wanted to make him feel bad about himself.

"Maybe he's secretly gay and he's just lashing out,"
Harper theorised in an irritated tone as he cut up his lasagne into bite-sized pieces. "Emmie, quick, go flirt with him and try to tell if he's into it, it can answer that question and then we can use it against him."