Making it Official(Moreaus and Jameses)

[Rhys Moreau]

Matthew and Rhys had known going into this situation that adoption could end up on the table. In fact, they had wanted it to be on the table. They'd spoken with people and gotten paperwork, pamphlets, information sheets. It was overwhelming, but they had a good team of people who had built up over the past few years, and though they hated that the process could take so long, they also knew it was common. Now, though, there was little more prep they could do, which meant it was probably time to actually talk about it. 

"Rhys, I can't read all this again, if we missed something, we missed something," Matthew said, leaning back in his chair. They sat in the kitchen, once again checking everything through, though Matthew thought they could have a while ago. Months, even, but Rhys was anxious. 

"But-"

"No more buts." He leaned forward to take Rhys' hand. 

Rhys forced himself to breathe. "Okay," he said. "You didn't want kids in the beginning." It had taken time to bring Matthew around, but little real effort. 

Matthew shrugged. "No, wasn't the time. We've been together a while, been through some sh~t, and I've been ready for a long time. I mean, we were looking at surrogacy, that's not something a guy does when he doesn't want kids." 

Nothing Matthew hadn't said before, but Rhys needed to hear it again sometimes. The past few years had been filled with ups and downs that came naturally from suddenly doubling their family with a pair of strangers. Arguments, of course, a couple that had escalated or been heading that direction before someone backed off to gain perspective. But more good times, many more. Like when Tam had called them dad for the first time, or when they'd seen Andy's reaction to the remodeled bedroom. 

"It's time to talk to them," Rhys said after a few moments. "Hypotheticals aren't enough, anymore." 

It was all Matthew had been waiting to hear. "Then we will." 

[Andy Moreau]

During all that time, Andy had sunk into having his own life, not having to constantly look after his brother, and not having to work to get Tam to tell him what had happened over the day. There was no abuse to get him to admit happened, and to be honest, Tam was so happy that he spilled everything of note he could remember every time he saw his big brother.

Andy tended to stay at school, though. He knew his brother was safe, and though the Moreaus had done nothing but good for them, it felt safer to be scarce. People only had so much room for love, and Tam deserved it.

Andy liked the Moreaus. The few times he'd desperately needed to talk about something, they'd listened without judging and given him what advice they could. He liked them, and he trusted them, but he kept a safe distance from everyone. Even, increasingly, Tam. He liked them, but he'd still been counting down the time until his seventeenth birthday.

He was torn. He'd always intended to take Tam with him the second he could. It would be them against the world, and only he really understood the hyperactive little boy who smiled through everything.

But the Moreaus were so nice.

Part of him felt like it would be wrong to take Tam away, but Andy knew he'd rather be on his own, and he wouldn't leave Tam behind.

It was another random weekend when he visited Diagon Alley. He felt comfortable there, like a second home when the first was Hogwarts, but he still tended to throw his favorite things into his backpack whenever he left school. It was a deeply ingrained habit, and not something he really thought about.

As he got to the top of the stairs, he pulled his backpack loose, but stopped entirely at the heavy feeling in the room. Both straps went over his shoulders, and he turned toward the bedroom. Faces that serious meant trouble, and he wanted his brother now.

[Rhys Moreau]

"Hey, welcome home," Rhys said, even as his heart leaped back into his throat at the sight of the boy. Mag pulled himself up to trot over to greet him. They hadn't sent an owl, though they'd planned to. What would they have written in it, anyway? The last thing they wanted was for Andy to get the wrong impression from a hey, come home, we want to talk to you about something letter. "It's good to see you."

"Yeah, we were actually hoping to talk to you." Matthew set aside the tablet he'd been messing with and gave a smile. "It'd be a good time now before Tam latches on and starts." He loved the boy, but the kid could keep up a one-sided conversation with a wall for hours if he wanted.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy would not cry. No matter how much it hurt, and no matter how friendly a face they tried to put on, it always happened. Just a little longer! "You don't even have to say it," Andy said. "I'll get Tam and I'll leave all the crap you bought." Which meant emptying his backpack almost entirely.

"Go away, Magnum. Go to bed."

[Rhys Moreau]

"Whoa, no, no, it's nothing like that," Matthew said, shifting forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "It's nothing bad, I promise." It hurt his heart to see Andy's response, which was an assumption they'd hoped to avoid.

"We don't want you to leave," Rhys said as Mag looked up at Andy in innocent confusion. "Quite the opposite." No, they wanted the boys to stay, to be a permanent fixture of their family. "Please, sit down, let's talk."

[Andy Moreau]

Andy didn't trust them right now, and it showed. He thought he'd had every kind of you're leaving there was, but that didn't mean there weren't others. And the Moreaus were so nice they'd probably sugar-coat it anyway.

"I'm talking to Tam first." He wanted to make sure his brother was here and find out what had been going on. Had Tam said something that tipped things over the edge? Was it because Andy was so close to being legal? "You aren't taking him away from me. Mag, go to bed!"

[Rhys Moreau]

"We aren't taking him away from you, and we're not giving the two of you up, and neither of you are getting taken away," Rhys said. Beside him, Matthew pulled out his wand and summoned a folder stuffed with papers while Rhys continued. "We've been looking into adoption, Andy, we want both of you to stay." It wasn't how they had intended to drop the bomb, but it looked like it would be best to get it out in the open sooner rather than later.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy's world stopped, and all the panic, all the anger, had to go somewhere. He wiped a sleeve fiercely across his eyes, smearing eyeliner into his fringe. "No, you don't." The words were soft and held no conviction at all. People wanted Tam. Tam, with his bright blue eyes and constant smile. Andy had done everything in his power to protect that smile, to shield his little brother from the worst of everything, to explain it away, to distract from it, but he'd been older than people liked when he entered the system, and he'd learned fast that his one redeeming quality was Tam.

[Rhys Moreau]

Matthew laid the folder aside, the little collection of all their information about the process, and stood. He summoned tissues and took a few steps toward Andy to offer them. "Yes, we do," he said as Rhys disappeared into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. "We knew it was a possibility before we ever invited you to stay with us. Will you sit?" It would be easier to talk that way.

Rhys reappeared and sat the glass on the coffee table, available without the need for asking in the middle of the conversation. "I swear there aren't any lies, we've wanted this for a while," he said.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy eyed Rhys a moment, then looked up at Matthew from under his lashes before gingerly accepting the tissue box. Another glance at Rhys, and Andy watched Matthew carefully as he rounded the man to sit in one of their giant, squishy armchairs. He pushed off one shoe slowly with the other foot, still testing the air, but made it all the way to sock feet curled up in front of him. He wrapped his arms around his knees, ready to listen.

[Rhys Moreau]

The two men settled back on the couch, then leaned forward to rest elbows on knees and bring hands together in matching postures they didn't even notice until it was done. They glanced at one another, then Rhys was the first to speak. "The process has been slow, I know, I wish we could have done this a long time ago. You two fit so well with us, you know?"

"Yeah," Matthew said. "We love having Tam here, and it's even better when you're here, too." It was wonderful having the full flat busy with what was likely too many living beings. Maybe they would have to finally expand, yet another thing they had been considering that hadn't come to fruition.

[Andy Moreau]

How? I don't do anything for you! Andy looked at his knees and shook his head. Nothing was better with him around. Tam was doing so well without him! Tam was spoiled without being rotten, was obviously loved, and had learned so much he was already better at reading and math than Andy. They bought Andy about everything he wanted too, and they were nice on top of more nice, but Andy had never understood it, even as he'd accepted that it was happening.

[Rhys Moreau]

"You really have made our lives better," Matthew said to back up Rhys. "Whether you believe it or not. We'd wanted kids for a while, then the two of you fell into our lives." It had been a rush of a day that was simultaneously crisp in his memory and like a dream. Beside him, Rhys was silent, but nodded along in agreement, nerves still tight.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy's gaze grew harder, until he was glaring at his knees. The two of you. He was just an extension of Tam, part of a set they'd accept if it meant getting the one they wanted. He wanted to tell them he wouldn't let them have Tam, he was almost seventeen and then they'd both be gone, but he didn't dare. He was almost seventeen. If he could just hold on a little longer, they could stay in this safe place until he got a job instead of being sent off somewhere to start all over again.

[Rhys Moreau]

When Matthew glanced aside at his husband, Rhys took in a breath before speaking. "Andy, you aren't any less, if that's what you're thinking," he said, and he had a feeling it was. The first thing Andy had said was that they couldn't take Tam from him, not to mention the bits and pieces they both had picked up over the years. "It's been brilliant being able to help you, to welcome you into our family, to love you."