Work Text:
Armie wakes up to the soft rays of sunlight coming through the window of their bedroom; wind breezing softly, making the curtain flutters and sending the sweet scent of summer roses on the patio into the room.
It’s heaven, he thinks.
He can hear his kids’ laughters somewhere in the house. Smiling, he rolls to his back, takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for a while. Embracing the sense of peace that, honestly, he never knew he could ever have before. That he deserves to be this happy and content, and it’s not selfish. It’s anything but selfish.
Armie rolls off the bed, stretches his long limbs lazily and walks out of the bedroom to find the rest of his family members.
“Daaaddyyyyyy!!!” Harper jumps to his arm when she sees him, wounding her tiny arms around his neck in a deadlock, “happy birthdaaaaayyyy!!!” Armie laughs heartily when Ford copies her sister’s moves and latches himself on Armie’s leg.
Picking up Ford so both kids are secured in his arms, Armie starts dancing around the living room, with the three of them laughing and singing birthday song for him.
“Where’s Timmy?” he asks the kids.
“Timmy is busy...” Harper tells him in a whisper.
“Hmm? Doing what?” Armie frowns, “and why are you whispering?” he asks in conspiratorial whisper.
“He’s baking a cake. He said it’s a surprise”
“Well I am surprised” indeed he is. The last time Timmy cooked something, he cut his fingers instead of the veggies and cried for the rest of the cooking that Armie took over. He smiles at this memory. Well, it’s not Timmy if he gives up that easily.
“Timmy said he’s baking blackforest cake...” Harper looks unsure.
“And...”
“Looks more like black-burnt cake to me”
Armie laughs out loud, and Harper frantically puts her hands on her daddy’s mouth, trying to make him quiet. Armie walks them to the dining room, where they can clearly watch Timmy in the kitchen, doing something to a... lump... in front of him.
“What is he doing now?” Armie squints his eyes.
“He’s covering the cake with lots of buttercream” Harper tries to explain, “said it’s plan B”.
“Is it even edible?”
“Fordie says so...” both of them look at Ford, who has eyes only for the cake, a bit drooling already, “he eats everything tho, so I’m not sure”.
“I can hear you guys, you know!!!” Timmy shouts from the kitchen. Mocking a glare with both hands on his waist, but can’t hold it for long and start laughing, “come here, babes”, and putting candles on top of whatever that thing is.
Armie puts down the kids on top of the counter, and light the candles. His smile is brighter than the sun when he looks at Timmy, holding him close, “thank you, baby”. Timmy holds him back, standing on tip toe to kiss him, “I love you... Happy birthday...”
The kids cheer when they kiss, and start singing happy birthday over and over again until Armie blows the candles in one go, “do I have to eat this?”
“Nope” Timmy says and put the cake in the trash can. Making Armie and Ford scream in unison, “noooooo!!! Whyyyyyy!??”
“We’ll go out for real cake and ice cream. Daddy treatssss” Timmy exclaims happily and everybody agrees.
***
Later that night, after putting the kids to bed and just the two of them cuddling on the patio couch, Armie starts counting the stars... also his blessings so far. Doesn’t realize he goes very quiet until Timmy traces his fingers lightly along his jawline and pulling his face towards him, “one penny for your thoughts...” he says.
Armie smiles softly, kissing the top of Timmy’s nose, “me. You. The kids. Us. Life...” and suddenly full of emotion he chokes on his words, “I feel so blessed, Timmy. My life’s so full, my heart’s too, and I keep on thinking if this is a dream please don’t wake me up...” he buries his face on Timmy’s neck as he hugs him closer.
“This is not a dream, Armie” Timmy rubs circles alongside Armie’s back to soothe him. Lets him face his emotions as much as he needs without any judgement. After a while, “I like this, Armie...” Armie smiles at this, and looks up at Timmy. “You mean us?” He plays along. “Mmmhh... it’s not bad...”
Armie chuckles, “not bad? Really, hmmm...” and tickles Timmy, making him squirm, “treguaaaa!! Treguaaa!!!” Timmy laughs and tries to escape the attack. They both fall in heaps of laughter and a lighter mood after that.
“Thank you”, Armie says.
“For what?”
“For loving every part of me, even the ones I can’t seem to love myself. Thank you for looking at me... really looking at ME, and not seeing only broken things that need to be fixed”, he paused. “I’m still a mess, Timmy. I might be a mess for the rest of my life...I...”
“You’re a beautiful mess”, Timmy cuts him mid-thought, not letting Armie self-deprecating himself more. “And I love everything about it that makes you... human. We’re not perfect, Armie, nobody is, nothing in life is. But I won’t trade you, and the life we’re living now -however messy it is now and gonna be in the future- for anything else.”
Teary eyed, happier than he ever felt in a very long time, Armie looks at Timmy with all the love he’s got in this life, and the next, “in the future...”
“In the future...”
“Does this mean a yes??” Armie mock a surprised face.
“What yes!?” Timmy plays dumb, knowing exactly what it’s about.
“The thunderstorm proposal! Us making a baby brother for Ford!!”
Timmy howls with laughter and smacks Armie’s face with the cushion, “shut uuupppp”, he almost falls from the couch if not for Armie catching him in time.
“But, you say in the futuuuureeee, Teemeeee!!”
“Propose to me for real, you dorky bear. Then we’ll talk”, Timmy stands up to get inside, and halt his steps when Armie grabs his wrist, “is that a challenge?” Armie asks. Still laughing, Timmy turns back and smooch Armie’s forehead, “happy birthday, my love”, he says softly and runs inside.
The smile on Armie’s face might be a permanent feature now. He stays on the patio for a while, gazing at the stars, and feels the same way as when he woke up this morning.
It’s heaven.