First Day of the Rest of Your Life (Boys and Moreaus)

[Andy Moreau]

Andy nodded and bent to pick up his wand. There was only a spark of that pleasurable feeling, but he still held it out quickly, glad to be rid of it. When he was alone in the bathroom, He stood uncomfortably for some moments before hanging the towel back up and turning on the water.

Is Andy okay? Tam asked. Did he break the bathroom? What happened? He'd managed to be distracted by his own floating underwear, but seeing Matthew reminded him what had been going on before.

[Matthew Moreau]

"He had a bit of an accident, but he's okay," Matthew said, dragging his friendly expression back into place. He ruffled Tam's hair on his way by to check on the contents of the oven. Andy's wand was safely tucked away in a drawer of Rhys' computer desk. Who would have thought that bit of furniture would be so useful? When he stood from the oven and closed the door, he locked eyes briefly with Rhys, who seemed to understand they could talk about it later.

[Andy Moreau]

A meek and quiet Andy joined them a brief time later, dressed in an old pair of sweats that were too long for him and a shirt with a faded church group's logo on the chest. He went to the laundry area and dropped his clothes and some soap in like Matthew had shown him, but that was as far as he could get without magic, and he wouldn't ask for his wand back. If he still had one.

Andy! Tam crowed, and hugged his brother around the waist as though they'd been parted for ages instead of twenty or thirty minutes.

[Rhys Moreau]

As Matthew set Tam's clothes to drying and Andy's to cleaning, Rhys offered a reassuring smile to Andy. During the brief time between Matthew's return and Andy's, the couple had disappeared to change into more comfortable knit pajama bottoms. Matthew had given Rhys a short overview of what had happened before they'd returned to the kitchen. "We all can eat whenever you two want, assuming you didn't completely ruin your appetites with tasty, tasty ice cream," he said, trying to keep the mood light with Andy's return.

[Matthew Moreau]

"Yeah, everything's ready whenever. According to Mr. Kitchen over here, I didn't quite ruin anything, so it shouldn't be too bad," Matthew said. The tease earned him a gentle jab in the ribs. Hopefully, trying to keep everything easy-going would help Andy relax again.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy didn't go for it, but Tam was completely oblivious. The five year old declared a desire to eat now, if not sooner, and dragged his brother along with him. He pushed his plate over to Andy to cut things up, and though the teen wouldn't make eye contact with the adults or speak any more than absolutely necessary, helping Tam out relaxed him enough to lose the beaten-dog look he'd been wearing.

[Matthew Moreau]

Matthew and Rhys tried to stay light and easy throughout the meal, making jokes and ignoring Mag's puppy dog eyes and gentle begging. "So I'm standing there in the middle of the park with my jeans 'round my ankles because Mag grabbed hold of them. And there's this woman off a ways, older lady, you know the ones, with the blueish curly hair, and she makes a huge show of pretending to faint. Like what, she's eighty years old and never seen boxers before, eh?"

[Andy Moreau]

Andy couldn't help chuckling, though he'd tried to keep a straight face. There was proving your sorrow by being miserable, and there was attempting to hold it against an onslaught of increasingly humorous stories. The only one who didn't laugh was Tam, whose head had finally drooped too low over the remnants of his supper and landed cheek-down in a bit of meat juice.

Andy actually managed to glance up, his eyes sparkling at that last tale, before reaching for his napkin. He nudged his brother, and when there was no response, he began the awkward task of lifting and turning the boy's head enough to wipe at it. Tam let out a little snore of appreciation.

[Matthew Moreau]

Matthew and Rhys both chuckled, then they both stood. Rhys started clearing things away, taking empty dishes to the sink and setting leftovers aside to be saved, and Matthew rounded the table. "Need some help, Andy? I think he said he wanted to sleep on the couch but ah...to be honest we probably won't be heading off to bed right now." Trying to stay quiet while a young boy slept in the living room would be just a tad difficult.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy looked at his brother, thinking a moment, before he finally nodded. "Thanks," he said. He really wasn't strong enough to carry a limp, sleeping five year old. The best he could do was piggy-back rides, and that required a Tam who was awake to hold on.

[Matthew Moreau]

"I'll take him to the bedroom," Matthew said. Of course, then he was faced with trying to figure out how exactly to pick up the sleeping Tam without waking him. He hesitated for a few seconds, weighing his options. After a couple of false starts, he bent slightly to slip an arm beneath the boy's knees and another under his shoulders. Tam was small, so hopefully that would be sufficient. "Would you go in front and open the door for me?" he asked Andy.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy nodded and fought to keep down a smile that wanted to form at the sheer awkwardness of an adult being unsure about picking up a kid. He managed a straight face as he pushed the door open, and only then realized that he'd be alone with Matthew and Rhys, unless he claimed to be wiped out, too. In which case he'd probably lay in bed for two or three hours bored, worrying, and listening to Tam breathe.

[Matthew Moreau]

"Pull back the blankets...yeah," Matthew said softly, then put Tam on the bed as gently as he could. Pulling the bedding up and settling it around the boy's tiny frame brought back memories of his own parents doing the same. It had mostly been his mum, with a guest appearance from his dad now and again. He resisted the urge to brush the boy's hair, or to sit there watching in fascination as his little torso moved with his breathing. It took a few moments, but he managed to pull himself away and leave the room.

He drew in a breath once in the living room, then glanced back at Andy. "Does he usually pass out in his food? I'm sure we could rig up something to keep him from dirtying up his face in gravy every night."

[Andy Moreau]

Andy laughed a little and shook his head. "He just had a big day," he said. He shifted his weight awkwardly, wondering if he should ask about the laundry so he could get his panties back, or if he should just pretend nothing had happened. He'd cleaned up what he could of the bathroom before coming out, so his wand box was tucked away again, however empty it might be.

[Matthew Moreau]

Matthew's eyes flickered toward the kitchen, where he could just faintly hear a bit of music and clinking of dishes, then he turned his attention to Andy and put a hand on the teen's shoulder. "Hey, I'm not pissed off at you, okay? I'm...frustrated, and I can be a little intimidating at times, according to my husband, but I'm not pissed. You'll go to school, and you'll learn how to control your magic. Maybe it's a little later than other kids, but that's okay. Rhys had a bit of a late start, you know? He dropped out of school once. Now he's doing better than ever."