Archive of Our Own

Some would say, it was the consequence of their own actions that led them here. And while they would be technically correct, Neil likes to think of it more as a… Happy Accident?

Neil and Andrew were starting their fourth and fifth years at Palmetto State, respectively. At this point, Neil had the routine down. He was excited for Exy to start back up. Interested in all the classes he would be taking this year. And planning on making their last year in school together the best he could.

But there was something very different about this year. The fact that they had two 4 months old twins…

Joseph and Danica Josten-Minyard were born on April 6th.

The circumstance in which they came to be is a wholeeee different story. One that Neil can’t quite think about right now. Third years was a rollercoaster and while he wouldn’t change a thing, he also doesn’t want to relive it.

Move in day this year was August 15th.

Neil and Andrew were excused from summer practice for, obvious reasons. And since Neil played Exy unknowingly until he was three months pregnant, it’s been almost nine months of him off the court. He’s still fit, he’s not worried about that. Neil exercised throughout his pregnancy much to Andrew’s chagrin. And since being postpartum he’s back to running his personal best and has been introducing weight training again.

Andrew didn’t want him to come back to Exy. To be fair, he didn’t want either of them to play.

“Why the fuck would I play stick ball when I could spend my time with our children?”

Neil, personally, said he’d rather chew through his own bone than give it up.

Neil said Andrew was free to do what he wanted but at the end of the day they both decided Exy wasn’t going anywhere. Andrew looked physically pained at the verdict, but he had all the choice!

The three months spent alone at the Columbia house was complete bliss. Joseph and Danica were the sweetest babies ever. They didn’t cry much, they slept well, and they fed even better. Neil didn’t have much experience with any other babies, really none at all, and he might be a little bias but he had to say that his babies were probably the best in the country. And the cutest. Definitely the cutest.

Joseph was the spitting image of Andrew. His hair was curly like Neil’s, but that blonde was an exact shade match to Andrew. His eye’s a chocolatey brown which Neil would look at and understand why parents would say they could ‘just eat’ their children right up. And Joseph had Andrew’s slight hooded eye shape. His skin was pale which, as he was the first twin out, Neil will say he was a bit worried he birthed two stark white children. But thankfully Danica has a bit of his coloring. Everything from Joseph’s chubby baby fat cheeks to his jaw, to his nose, it all screamed Andrew.

As for Neil… he would have been fine if both babies came out looking nothing like him. He’s been transparent about not appreciating his father’s features. His skin came from his mom, so he was glad to pass that on. But then Danica was placed in his chest, and she opened her eyes. And Neil understood why everyone was always so obsessed with his natural color. On her, it was beautiful. She had a light smattering of freckles on her cheeks and the cutest little button nose.

While both children favored one parent greatly, Neil still saw a lot of himself in Joseph. And Andrew in Danica. Joseph had his freckles, and Danica had Andrew’s scowl which was hilarious to see on a four month old.

When it came to housing for the new year, Palmetto had a great program for families living on campus. Kevin called them and asked them if they’d still be rooming together… Andrew and Neil just blinked at him.

“C’mon! I could be like— live in help. Like a free babysitter.”

“What makes you think we would leave you alone with our children? You think I want their first word to be Exy?”

“Neil is their father, that’s highly likely with or without my influence.”

Damn, he had a point. So, reluctantly, they agreed to let Kevin room with them.

Which brings them to move in day…

MOVE IN DAY

Neil and Andrew pulled up to Fox Tower in their brand new four door Cadillac. The Mas was sitting desolate in the garage at the Columbia house. It wasn’t suitable for two car seats. So Andrew googled best family vehicles and then of course, because he’s Andrew, had to get the flashiest thing on the market. It came with heating and cooling seats, so Neil wasn’t complaining.

Neil turned around in his seat so he could look at his precious babies.

“We’re here!” He says to the twins in German.

They decided to go with the OPOL method for raising bilingual children. One Language, One Parent. German was the obvious choice as it was the family language. Since Neil was most fluent he was the assigned as the ‘German Parent’ while Andrew speaks English with the kids. The method also recommends extending this to certain sides of the family, but since they only have one its only Nicky who speaks German 100% of them time with the twins. Aaron is stuck with English since they don’t want to confuse the kids.

All of their books recommend they start narrating the world to the kids. So, Neil describes everything as move in.

“This is Fox Tower! This is where all the athletes stay, and here’s our dorm. This is our room, that’s Kevins room. Jesus Christ it’s already a mess. There’s daddy. Joey, try and say daddy. Da-da. Go on Da-da,” He knows it’s entirely too early for them to start talking. Most books say the earliest is 9 months but Neil can’t help himself.

So far they’ve both met all their milestones. They can push themselves up, they know their own names, and they can recognize Neil and Andrew. Joseph grasps like a champ, Neil knows this because he had to cut his hair a bit shorter so it was out of the child’s reach.

Despite Neils efforts to make them baby geniuses, Joseph simply looks up at his dad and babbles. Spit dribbles down chin and suddenly something is very funny because he starts laughing himself into a fit. That’s another thing about their children; they are incredibly giggly. And once Joseph starts going Danica is right behind him. She erupts into giggles, her baby fat belly jiggling against his ribs. They were still small enough that they could easily be held at the same time by either Neil or Andrew.

Andrew stands up from where he was unpacking some or their stuff and walks over to them. He grabs Danica with a kiss on her cheek.

“Hi baby,” He says in English. Neil smirks. Before they had the twins Andrew hated when Neil called him baby. The same way he hates Neil in general of course. Whenever Neil would call him baby, Andrew would retaliate by biting his lip, or pinching his hip, or smacking his ass… Anyway, now that he calls the twins ‘baby’ Neil has to fight to hold his tongue. He supposes it’s fair. Considering that they are literal babies.

“What’s so funny huh?” Andrews asks, bouncing Danica on his chest.

“Is that everything?” Neil asks Andrew.

Andrew nods, pressing his nose into their daughter’s wild curls so he can smell her head. “There’s only one crib. I’ll call to get a second.”

Neil hum and the pair of them gently sway as their children calm down. Just when Joseph is starting to suck on the neckline of his onesie, Kevin comes crashing in.

“Babies!” He shouts. Kevin has a, weird, fascination with the babies. Ok, it’s sweet. But seriously, he is obsessed with them, probably more so than anyone else. Even Nicky, and that’s saying A LOT.

“JD, my man.” He scoops up Joseph before Neil can even protest. “Oh, look at that, he’s gotten so big!” Kevin holds Joseph out by the armpits and watches as the baby scrunches his legs and giggles.

 Andrew scowls at him. “You saw him a month ago. Stop manhandling my son.”

“He’s like, the size of a football.” Kevin says and Neil swiftly grabs back his child.

“Ok yup, that’s enough Kevin time. Do not punt our children.”

Andrew whips his head to his partner. “I’m surprised you know any football terminology.”

“My knowledge ends about there.”

They three of them— technically, five— finish unpacking and settling in. It doesn’t take long for knocks to come at their door.

Dan graduated last year, but Matt’s still here so it’s no wonder when both of them show up together.

The babies love people. It’s another way in which they’re so different from their parents.  They soak up the attention like little Allisons.

“There’s my girl, Dan Jr.” Dan gushes, picking up Danica from where she was having tummy time on a mat. Once she’s close enough, Danica wraps her hand around Dan’s hoop earring. “Oh—! Dang, talk about some grip. Can’t wait to get a racket in her hand.”

Andrew from his place on the couch is obviously restraining himself from kicking her, since she’s holding his daughter. Neil finds it all quite funny. He walks over and helps Dan get her earring free.

Matt’s priority is Neil.

He captures the smaller man in a hug and lifts him off the ground. “Oh Neil! I’m so happy to see you! And the babies, of course— but you’re my baby!”

“I’m a full grown man,” Neil reminds him. Though the point is a little moot when he being flung around like a rag doll.

“Matt.” Andrew clips and Neil is set on his feet.

“Sorry, sorry. I just missed you so much. Tell me everything. Are they walking yet? When do babies walk? How are you feeling? What’s your schedule look like? I’m happy to babysit if we have—“

“Matt!” Neil interrupts with a laugh. “One thing at a time.”

The five adults sit around the coffee table. Kevin somehow got his hands on Joseph again and he’s currently trying to get him to sit up on his own. That’s a 4-5 month mile stone they’ve been working on.

Neil glowers. “I swear to god Kevin, if the first time he sits up by himself is with you. I will strangle you.”

Kevin makes a show of covering Josephs ears. “Neil! Don’t you think it’s bad to teach them such violent things?”

“No. It’s better the get desensitized to it now. I would know.” Neil jokes.

“That way when we kill you, we’ll have two little helpers.” Andrew adds.

“Four, count me in Matt in.”

Kevin squawks. Neil is glad he can joke about it. The fact that his kids will never see the atrocities he grew up with. They will never now that kind of fear. Not as long as he’s around.

Practice doesn’t start till Monday, but Neil and Andrew will probably head over to Abby’s house tomorrow to see coach. Wymack and Abby are the kid’s unofficial grandparents. Joseph’s full names is Joseph David. Abby was there all throughout Neil pregnancy. Holding his hand and explains things to him, no matter how many times he repeated a question. Neil had a hard birth and while typically only one person is allowed in the room, usually a spouse. Neil begged for Abby in his drug induced state and her being a nurse granted her access to into the room. Even if it was only to hold his hand. So, Danica is Danica Abigail. Abby cried when he told her in the hospital. Wymack did that macho act of pretending there was dust in his eyes, but it couldn’t hide the tears that were rolling down his cheeks. For the remaining month and a half of school last year, the new family stayed at Abby’s house.

The fact that they both played a role in Neil and Andrew getting together in the first place also adds to the grandparent status of course.

Allison barges in without knocking, Renee on her heals. Allison also graduated last year, and she supped to be starting on the Tennessee Cannons, so he has so idea what she’s doing here.

“Aly, shouldn’t you be in Tennessee?”

“Ughhh, why does everyone keep asking me that?” She complains. Before Neil can come up with any sort of reply, Allison is stealing Joseph. “Move Kevin. Aww, hi baby. I had to see you before I left. Yes, yes I did.” she coos in a dramatic baby voice. Neil and Andrew don’t really do the baby voice. Sometimes Neil voice will raise an octave or two. And his tone is always soft and playful when talking to them. But he’s not nearly as bad as Allison.

Joseph bats his hands at her shoulders until he successfully grabs are hand full of her long blond hair. He works on shoving his hair into his mouth like Allison tries to untangle herself. “Oh, Joshy gross. That doesn’t belong in your mouth. Fuck he’s strong, what are you two feeding him?”

Neil looks at her with a raised eyebrow. He doesn’t want to say ‘my tits’ out loud, but thankfully she gets the message.

After rubbing her face all over his head and kissing his cheeks Allison holds her baby out to Dan, “Ok switch. I only have so much time and I need to see my girl.”

Dan laughs as they switch. “Ah, damn. What’s the science behind babies smelling so good?” She inhales greedily.

Neil gets it 1000% so does Andrew. The babies smell so god damn good you can’t help but just sniff their little heads all the time. Unless they shit. Then they smell very bad. But coins always have two sides. He’s just glad he’s not alone in the baby smelling epidemic.

“We should ask Aaron and Katelyn maybe they now. When are they getting in?” Matt asks. Aaron spent the last month in Montana with Katelyn’s family. Andrew had to practically kick him out of the house. Nicky’s flight from Germany just so happens to get in at the same time.

“Tonight, I’m picking them up in the dad-mobile,” Kevin grins.

Andrew glowers at him. “It’s a four-wheel drive three row Cadillac with a sun roof. It’s costs more than a house and you could live in it. Stay broke.”

Danica falls asleep on Allison shoulder, steadily drooling into her shirt but the blonde doesn’t seem to mind. Still Neil declares that it’s bedtime and all of them start clear out.

“It’s only seven,” Dan complains. Both her and Allison leave in the morning.

“Babies need 15 hours of sleep,” Renee provides helpfully before Neil has to explain. She smiles softly and doesn’t even ask to hold the kids. Obviously understanding that they’re too tired for anymore. She’s probably the best out of all the foxes.

“Great to have you both back,” She says before leaving with the rest of them.

Kevin goes to his room promising to be quiet. Andrew and Neil take a child each lay them down. A second crib was delivered sometime during the hangout so Neil sets it up with one hand while holding Danica in the other.

Both of them are great sleepers. Once they’re down it’s honestly concerning how long they can stay out of it. Once Neil got scared, so irrationally scared that he woke them up. They of course immediately started screaming bloody murder and Neil felt so bad. But it was a lesson he had to learn. Still, it’s hard not to watch them like a hawk as they sleep. He feels a bit like his mom. The thought sends a shiver down his spine.

He’s been thinking about his mom a lot more day. Obviously. It’s hard not to. It took him a while to fully admit just how bad of a mother she was. He’s always made the excuse for her that that she did the best she could. And he still believes that. It’s just, her best wasn’t good enough. Last year he entered this phase where, for the first time in his life, he hated her. All he could feel when he thought of her was rage. And maybe it was the hormones. Or maybe it was just a belated phase he should have gone through as a normal teenager. But he truly couldn’t feel anything but disgust towards her. It was just a violent turn of the tides, from the regard in which he’s held her his whole life. It practically gave him whiplash. But then his own kids were born. And he hates to fucking say it, but it gave him prospective.

Mary was young when she had Neil. 21 years old. The same age Neil is. He’s not exactly sure the specifics of her and Nathan’s relationship. He can’t remember them ever being lovey-dovey. In fact, whenever they were together they spoke like two business partners. He’s come the conclusion that it was an arranged marriage. He could ask Stuart but they’re not exactly close. Anyway, having a baby at 21 trapped in a loveless marriage is something Neil will never have to understand, partly thanks to her sacrifice. He is the same age she was, but he has partner. A partner who supports and loves him. The difference and the similarities between them are something that he constantly tosses and turns over. She had no one. Neil has a whole family.

Even members he doesn’t necessarily want.

Nicky was the one who told Neil he should tell his uncle that he’s got a great niece and nephew. Neil sent him a photo of the twins in the hospital and received a thumbs up emoji back. Of course the next week they were greeted with a hefty wire transfer in their bank accounts along with a memo that simply said, ‘Congratulations.’ They used barely half to buy the Cadillac. All to say, they don’t talk. Sometimes though he does wish he could ask his uncle about his mother and how she ended up with Nathen.

His worst fear, and one that seams most possible, is that he’s a child born from assault. The reality that his mom was married off from one mafia family to the next then forced to have a child when a man she barely knew at 21. It makes him sick. And it also makes him think, about the resentment she probably held for Neil. A small kernel of loathing that he can’t blame her for, because she died to protect the very thing that ruined her life. She cared about him. She loved him. He knows these things are true. But he’s coming to terms with the fact that she also hated him and she was a bad mother.

He looks at his daughter sleeping soundly in her crib and his nose starts to sting. Neil would burn down the world for his children. He would do absolutely anything in order to protect them. He doesn’t have to imagine being a young parent, that’s a reality he shares with his mom. But even if he had to do it alone, even if they had to go on the run, even if they had to learn new languages and become different people. He would never even think of treating them the way she treated him. It calms something in him to know, that no matter how deep he searches, he doesn’t have even the tiniest kernel of loathing for them. He knows he’ll do better.

Andrew’s hand wraps around Neil’s back and comes to rest on his hip. “Let them sleep,” He whispers, gently tugging Neil away.

Neil wakes up on Sunday to crying.

He shoots up in bed, but Andrew is already up and bending to pick up Joseph. “Shh,” He soothes and rubs the baby’s back. He turns to Neil. “I think he’s hungry.”

Yup. That checks out. Joseph is on a mission to suck Neil dry. He’s already two pounds bigger than Danica. Neil sits up and positions a pillow against the wall so he can sit back against it. He pulls his shirt up and over one shoulder so it’s only half on. Andrew hands him Joseph, the baby making grabby hands at Neil chest. Danica, of course, sleeps unbothered by her brother’s cry’s.

Joseph latches on and Neil lets his head fall back on the wall, closing his eyes. He thought breastfeeding would be dysphoric. Before giving birth they discussed formula and pumping. But Neil has always been fairly unbothered by his chest. His tits are small, before pregnancy they would completely flatten with just a sports bra. It’s probably the only gift he got from growing up malnourished. And he discovered quickly, as soon as Joseph latched on for the first time with the help of a nurse, that he feels pretty euphoric getting to breastfeed. Now his tits, which have always been just a minor inconvenience, serve an actual purpose! He isn’t sure how long it will last, and the end goal is to still one day get top surgery. But for now, he’ll take feeling comfortable in his own body for as long as he can.

Neil isn’t sure how long they sit there feeding, he’s pretty sure he falls asleep. He opens his eyes when he feels Joseph let go and looks down to see his son promptly fall back asleep. Neil smiles and rolls his eyes. He’s probably going to wake up crying again when he shits himself in an hour.

Without prompting, Andrew takes Joseph and burbs him before putting him back in his crib, even though Neil could have done that himself. Andrew hands him a wet wipe for the dribble and drool on his chest then kisses his forehead.

“Go back to sleep.”

Of course Neil protests this, “I’m already up. We have things do to let—“

“They’ll be down for at least another hour. Sleep. I’ll make breakfast,” Andrew leans in to kiss him softly. He crowds over Neil in a way that makes the red head have to lay down. Andrew isn’t slick, Neil knows exactly what he’s doing. But he is tired.

“Fine. Just an hour. Wake me up,” Neil orders, snuggling down in the bed.

When he does wake up again, the babies aren’t in their cribs. He walks out into the common room/kitchenette and sees them in their bouncers. Andrew’s back is to him as he cooks something.

“Made you an omelette,” He says without turning around. Neil could swoon. Actually, he does.

“Mmm, thanks babe,” humming as he comes to kiss Andrew on the cheek. Andrew plates it up for him and Neil sits down.

It’s nine. Early for the twins, but late for him. Thankfully he was smart enough this year to not sign up for any early classes. Once he’s done he feeds Danica then the four of them get ready for the day.

First stop is Aaron, Nicky, and Matt’s dorm. Andrew and Neil each have a kid strapped to them knowing today will probably be long. Katelyn opens the door.

“Ah!” he squeals and half hugs Neil, avoiding crushing the baby. Katelyn and Neil have become friends by complete happenstance. Andrew is great. Perfect even. Neil sometimes think they were actually made for each other. That being said no one understands the struggle of dating a Minyard boy. Katelyn is Neil’s only solitude in that, and vise verse. They also, coincidentally, have a few shared interests.  Katelyn is a science nerd and Neil is a math nerd. Where do they meet? A little show called Dr. Who. Katelyn showed it to him last year and he’s been slowly binging his way through the entire series.

“Ok, where are you at now?!”

“Redhead girl just showed up.”

“In a wedding gown or a cop costume?”

“Cop costume.”

“AH!! Amy Pond! You’ll love her, actually, she’s kinda like you,” Katelyn starts to prattle as she lets them in.

Nicky jumps up from where he was rotting on the couch. “All four of my babies!” The redeye he took from Germany is written all over his features.

“Can I get a hug? Pleaseeeeee,” It’s progress that he’s even asking, so Neil indulges him. He moves Joseph to the side in his carrier and opens his arms for Nicky. When Nicky pulls back he bends so he can gush over Joseph, poking on the baby’s neck rolls. “Awwww, what a sweet baby! Hi Josh, do you remember me. Your daddy shipped me off to Germany, kicked me out of my own house. Yes he did, yes he did.”

Andrew rolls his eyes.

Once school let out for summer, everyone followed them to the Columbia house. Andrew held his tongue for a week, longer than Neil bet on, till he finally told everyone to fuck off and not bother them for the rest for summer. The only exception was Aaron, who ended up staying the full first month of summer then, promptly, fucking off. Neil was grateful for it. The four of them needed that time to be a family. But he is grateful for the ‘village’ he has, as all the parenting books put it. Honestly Neil never imagined he’d have so many people to call family. It’s nice to know they want to be involved in his kid’s life.

“Where’s Aaron?” Andrew asks.

“Shower. He passed out before we even crossed the door. Speaking of, I’ve gotta go. I haven’t even been to my room yet.” She brushes the back of her finger lightly down Danica’s cheek, both of them smiling. “See you guys later. Text me Neil.”

Aaron comes out a little while later looking fresh as ever. A small smile plays at his lips when he sees them. Him and Andrew both nod in greeting, Aaron walks up to him. “Can I?” Motioning to Danica.

Andrew nods and shifts the layers of fabric so he can get her out. He hands her over to Aaron. Danica looks between her dad and her uncle and starts laughing. At this point both the twins can recognize Neil and Andrew as their care givers. Neil figures Danica can’t tell the difference between Andrew and Aaron. He wonders when either of them will be able to tell the two men apart.

“Is there a science behind babies smelling good?” Andrew asks, unprompted.

Aaron looks at his brother like he’s crazy. Andrew simply jerks his chin towards the baby. Danica’s giggles have turned into a blabber as Aaron dips his head, putting his nose to her crown. “Shit, that’s good. What the hell?” He sniffs again like he can’t believe it and Neil starts to laugh. “Damn, I’ll ask Kate. She always knows random shit like that.”

Nicky bend so he can smell Joseph but really it just puts his face in Neil chest. Neil is laughing when Andrew clamps a hand on his cousins shoulder and pulls him back.

“So have you figured out a babysitting schedule?” Aaron asks.

On Neil chest Joseph starts to get squirmy. He pulls him out of the wrap and bounces him in his arms. “We’re heading to Abby’s after this. It’s mainly gonna be her watching them. Andrew and I have a couple staggered classes where one of us can stay with them both then switch.”

Aaron grabs his bag from a corner it was thrown in and rifles around. He pulls out a crumpled paper and hands it to Neil. “That’s my schedule. I’ll take them anytime. I’m serious. I wanna, I don’t know, be involved or whatever.”

“Or whatever,” Neil shrugs, teasing.

Aaron rolls his eyes. “Shut up.”

They say goodbye to Nicky and Aaron and drive to Abby’s. Andrew unloads all the extra things he brought for her.  A tummy time mat, a play pen, two bouncers, and a bag stuffed full of clothes, diapers, and binkies. Everything she’ll need to be prepared for the week. Tomorrow morning, when they actually drop them off, Neil will give her some pre-pumped milk.

Abby swings open the door before they can even knock. “Oh my goodness, there’s my little future Supreme Court justice!” Neil immediately hands over Danica, trusting Abby completely. He’s still got Joseph in his arms, the little fatty’s hand is clutched tightly in Neil shirt at his chest.

Wymack comes trudging down the hall. “Josten, Minyard, Minyard-Josten Babies.” He greets. His face lights up when he sees Joseph.

Where the rest for the Foxes don’t make any sort of bias apparent, Abby and Wymack have turned the twins into their own personal competition. 

“The Olympian!” Wymack announces, snatching Joseph from Neil.

“Mines a supreme court justice.” Abby gloats.

Wymack rolls his eyes. “Name five Supreme Court justices.”

“Ruth Bater Ginsburg, Thurgood Marshall, Sonia Sotomayor, Earl Warren, Louis Brandeis, would you like me to keep going stupid man?”

Wymack has the decency to avert his eyes.

The group of them file into the house. Andrew sets his bags down in the living room.

“Neil you look good! How are you feeling?” Abby asks, unable to keep the nurse and pseudo mother in her at bay.

“Great. Hardly like I gave birth four months ago,” Neil answers. Andrew flicks him in the ear.

Abby smiles. “That’s good to hear. So, I know we just saw you a couple weeks ago but this stage goes by so quickly, any updates?”

Andrew and Neil saw Abby and Wymack the most out of anyone else. David built the cribs in the Columbia house. Abby was something like a guarding angel.

“Umm, they both can keep their heads up for up to 90 seconds.”

“Oh yay!”

“Which one did it first?” Wymack asks.

Neil frowns. “Uhh, I don’t know— we don’t, keep track of, that kind of thing…”

Wymack groans. “Damnit Neil, you need to keep tally!”

“We are not pinning out twins against each other. That’ll give them like a complex or something,” Neil argues, chuckling.

“That’s fine,” he turns to Abby. “Tally starts now.”

Neil and Andrew roll their eyes.

They spend some time chatting with Abby and David. Catching up and discussing schedules. Abby mostly works from home when she’s not at her office during practice. They give her one of the video baby monitors to use so Andrew and Neil can check up on the babies on their phones, wherever they are. Neil is already grateful for that. He’s dreading leaving his babies. Due to their special schedules, neither of them will go longer than three hours away from the babies. Even if it’s just a half hour break in between classes to come check on them.

They leave a little later and it’s a miracle Abby doesn’t shove food down their throats. Classes and practice start tomorrow. The little routine they’ve fallen in to will be broken. So Andrew and Neil decide to treat themselves with a nice dinner of takeaway food from the local diner. They eat in the car, a christening of sorts for the dad-mobile.

When they get home Neil pumps and bags enough milk to get the twins through tomorrow. Thankfully he’s an over producer and he still has enough for their dinners. Anxiety has settled deep in his stomach in anticipation for tomorrow. Andrew grabs Neil feet from off the floor and puts the in his lap. He drags his thumb up and down Neil’s arch, applying gentle pressure. Neil lets his head drop back on the coach.

“They’ll be fine.” Andrew tells him. And that’s part of what Neil is worried about. Is that selfish? Yes it definitely is. He’s worried his babies won’t need him. But then he’s also worried that he won’t be able to leave them. Neil wants two things that contradict each other.

Before they go to sleep Neil hangs over Joseph’s crib lays his hand on the baby chubby belly. He’s warm and mewling in his sleep, clucking his lips and breathing deeply. Neil moves his hand so he can trial his fingers in a featherlight touch down his cheeks. Andrew has to physically pull him away and force him into bed.

Neil barely sleeps.

He’s up first on their first day. He checks the baby’s diapers and kisses Andrew’s forehead before slipping off for a run. When he comes back, everyone is still sleeping soundly. Andrew is slowly roused from sleep by Neil kissing his ear and jaw and nose. He tries and fails at getting Neil back in bed, they’ve got a schedule to stick to.

They shower together, purely for times sake, and Neil pumps a little more as Andrew makes them breakfast. Neil scarfs down his food as Andrew dresses the babies. He check their bags, all three of them, to make sure they’re not forgetting anything.

Joseph and Danica mostly sleep as Andrew and Neil pack them into the car. Abby is ready for them when they get there. Her entire living room is set up like a mini daycare. The babies are asleep again when it’s time Neil and Andrew to leave them.

“Neil,” Andrew prompts.

His finger is clutched in Danica’s small hand. It’s not his fault she won’t let go. “You’ll text me when they wake up, and how much they eat?”

Abby nods happily. “Of course, I can send pictures too.”

“Neil.”

Neil looks at Joseph, clutching on to his fox lovey. How do people do this??

“If they sit up on their own make sure to time it. I think Danica’s close. Joseph is better at rolling over,” Neil tells her. Andrew grabs the hem of Neil shirt and tugs.

“Neil, I know this is hard. I’ve set up the camera so you can see them anytime you want. And you can text me all day if you want.”

Neil chews his lips. He bends over and gives each twin a kiss on the head, breathing them in one last time. “Goodbye loves, I’ll be back,” He promises, whispering with his lips against their heads.

Since being pregnant, he’s cried no less than a thousand times. It’s a fucking nightmare. He’s never been a crier before, even as a child. Now, as they walk out of Abby’s house. Leaving his babies behind. Tears pool in his eyes. He swipes at his face furiously. “Stupid fucking hormones.”

Andrew grabs his hand and squeezes.

Class drones on. Neil keeps opening his phones and staring at heir live footage of his babies sleeping soundly. Until he opens the app, and they’re gone from the bassinet. A text from Abby comes in immediately.

they just woke up, they’re crying pretty bad, but don’t worry! Going to change and feed them, then tummy time :)

Neil breathes in slowly through his nose. Everything is fine. When class finishes he runs over to Abby’s house to spend just a measly ten minutes with them. Then to the next class. Then back again when his next class is over with.

He spends the day running back and forth till practice. Abby is bringing them to the court so Neil dashes home and gets ready as fast as he can. Of course, they still have to drive the rest of the family. He taps his foot impatiently as Aaron and Nicky drag their fucking feet.

Not only is he eager to get back to his babies. But today is his first day as Captain again. For the spring season last year he was to pregnant to really to anything, so they last time he truly captained the team was last December. It’s bad enough that he couldn’t be there during the summer. He will not be late to their first practice back.

Andrew thankfully drives the van like it’s a race car. Everyone is still changing out so he stops by Abby’s office just to lay eyes in his twins for a split second. Visual confirmation is all he needs, then he sprints back to the locker room and changes out faster than the speed of light.

Everyone gathers on the court, Neil and Kevin stand by Wymack as he whistles to get everyone’s attention.

“Alright everyone listen up. Today is Neil’s first day back so no one go easy on him. Captain, anything you wanna say?”

Neil steps forward. “Uh, I know I met all of you during recruits but it’s good to see you again. Sorry I couldn’t make it to summer practice but hopefully none of you wanted to kill yourself left under Kevins supervision.” He hears the striker scoff behind him. “I’m excited to play with you all and hopefully we have a great season.”

number 14—Jack… something— raises his hand.

“Yea, you have a question?”

Jack leans on his stick. “Yea, so what you and Minyard had like a kid together?”

Neil frowns, he’s not exactly sure how that is Exy related. “Um, yes. Did you have a question about Exy or this upcoming season?”

“Yea, I’m wondering how you’re gonna captain us when a baby is using use as its personal spit up rag and you and Minyard are off playing house? You obviously can’t do both or else you would’ve been here this summer.”

Neil makes the conscious decision not to punch this child. Instead, he stand taller and narrows his eyes. “My personal life is none of your business. It’s not my job to explain to you how paternity leave works. The only thing you should be concerned with is if you can out score me. Once you can do that, then maybe I’ll allow you to voice your opinions but until then you need to keep your mouth shut and worry about yourself. I watched all the tapes from this summer. Kevin went easy on you all and that’s a mistake I won’t be making. So, lets starts out with 100 suicides for the freshman, you all have Jack to thank for that.”

The freshman’s eyes go wide with fear, nobody moves. Neil bangs his racket on the floor, “Now! Move!” His voice booms through the gym. They all jump into action. Neil and Kevin stand back with the upperclassmen as Wymack instructs them. Underneath his goalie mask, Neil can see Andrews small, amused smile. It fuels Neil for the rest of practice.

At the end of practice Neil reacquaints himself with all the freshmen. Even Jack, who shifts uncomfortably on his feet. His favorite so far is a striker called Lily. Neil changes out and showers, giving one more ‘lets make this year great’ pep talk in the locker then, finally, him and Andrew head to Abby’s office.

Danica is in the play pin, on her tummy while she plays with soft blocks, really justing grapsing at them more than ‘playing’. Joseph is in Abby’s lap, his eyes growing heavy as she leans over and focuses on her computer.

“There’s my baby girl,” Neil coos as he bends down to pick up Danica. Abby smiles, tearing her eyes from the bright screen.

“How was practice?”

Neil sighs. “Amazing. I needed that.”

“He chewed out a freshman.”

“I really didn’t,” Neil rolls his eyes. He only said what was necessary.

Andrew gives him a wry look and picks up Joseph. Neil chooses to ignore it. “How were they?” He asks Abby.

“Amazing, the morning was a little rough. But they perked up. They’ve both had dinner already but they might be due for a change soon.”

“Thank you Abby, truly.”

“Please Neil, anything for these angels.”

The four of them walk out of the stadium to see Nicky, Aaron, and Kevin all leaning against the Cadillac. The great thing about three rows is being able to fit two infant chairs and three grown men. Neil thinks Andrew looks quite good with a baby of his hip and his Exy duffle hanging from his shoulder.

“Hey Neil!”

Neil turn around to see Lily, his new striker, jogging to them. Her eyes widen when she comes closer.

“Oh, wow are those yours!” Her eyes full of wonder, then she shakes her head. “Or— I mean, it’s not of my business don’t mind me,”

Neil chuckles, “Did you need something?”

Lily plays with her jacket zipper. “Um well in the summer Kevin was saying how he used to train you at night, and last year you trained Marc and… Well, I don’t know if it’s like some special club I have to do something to get into but, I’d really like to train with you, if I could. I just want to be the best I can be and the only way I can do that is by training with you.” She’s stumbles through.

Neil almost wants to pat her on the head. But he’s more concerned with his inner dilemma. He hadn’t even thought about night practice. It probably doesn’t fit into his already packed schedule. And he really likes her ambition.

“It’s nothing special Lily. Kevin trained me because he thought I could be good, I did the same for Marco. I think you could be good too. Night practices will start up in a week or two. I’ll let you know ok?”

Lily nods emphatically, a smile on her face. “Awesome! Ok, alright then, I’ll just… that’s a really cute baby by the way, like, really, but none of my business I know. Ok, see you later!” She skips off.

Andrew and Neil watch her go. Andrew leans over and asks, “I wonder what her damage is.”

Neil can only shake his head and laugh.

Over the next two weeks they adjust to the new routine.

There’s some trouble with the twins and Abby when they get too smart for their own good. The babies realize that every time they go to Abby’s, Neil and Andrew leave. It took a couple days of them crying their hearts out for the adults to come to the conclusion that Neil and Andrew cant visit during the day. It only makes it harder and more confusing for her kids. So, they spend a grueling 6 hours apart. But the babies adjust and Neil knows it’s better this way. Still that first day apart is torture. As the hours drag on Neil feels his heart start to ache. Like a sore muscle. Is it so wrong that he just wants to be with his babies 100% of the time?

But, it does put less stress on him. Since he’s not running back and forth all day, he has more energy at practice. While his heart sits heavy and tired in his chest his body is bouncing back to what it was before. And Neil is sure he can start night practices again.

He pulls Lily aside the next week to tell her and she’s ecstatic.

Classes and practice are in full swing. Everything is starting to work like a well-oiled machine with all of them adjusting to their schedules. The weekends are Neil’s favorite time.

Him and Andrew are slow to wake up. When they’re tangled up like this it’s hard to think of any reason to leave. Then someone starts to cry. Neil groans.

“They only want one thing from me.”

“Don’t we all,” Andrew mumbles into the pillow. Just for that Neil makes sure to elbow him on his way out. He grabs Danica, who is up first and crying. She even cries quitter than her brother.

He’s rocking her and pulling up half of his shirt when Andrew groans behind him. Neil turn as Danica latches on and Andrew chuckles. A small puff through his nose.

“Is it wrong that I find that hot?”

“I’m gonna go with yes.”

Even before Neil got pregnant, Andrew was obsessed with his tits. It was a slow build of making sure Neil felt comfortable with him showing them attention but once Andrew realized Neil didn’t care he unabashedly obsessed over them. Before breastfeeding, it was one of the only times in Neil’s life that he actually almost liked having tits.

Andrew rolls out of bed, stretching like a cat. When he finally stands up he goes straight to Neil. Pressing a chaste kiss on his cheek as he pulls Neil into his chest. His kisses grow hotter as he travels down Neil neck and Neil has to squirm away before he drops the baby.

Thankfully Kevin is awake so he watches the babies Neil and Andrew take a shower. They linger a bit longer in the shower than necessary. Andrews hands travel down the expanse of Neil body while Neil attaches his lips to Andrew’s neck. It’s with a heavy sigh that they force themselves to get out. He misses the Columbia house where there were multiple rooms for private moments like these. There, they could put the babies down in their room then fuck nasty in Kevin’s bed. Ah yes, those were the days.

Since the twins are still too young to go in a running stroller him and Andrew packed up the car to take the babies to the park. They walk around for an hour before stopping at a bench and munching on some snacks Andrew brought. With his foot Neil absentmindedly rocks the stroller back and forth on the pavement. Like he’s said before, his babies are perfect. They seem to enjoy the park, at least from what Neil can tell. It’s still hot in South Carolina, so the shade on the stroller is up and the breeze in the air definitely helps.

When Neil and Andrew return to Fox Tower, they find Aaron in the hallway.

“There you two are! Where have you been, why do neither of you answer anyone’s texts?”

Neil shrugs. Everyone knows he won’t answer his phone.

“I saw the texts. I chose not to answer.” Andrew tells his twin and Aaron groans.

“You’re such an asshole. Come on, we wanna play with the babies.”

Andrew look to Neil, he shrugs again. “They could you some floor time.”

The foxes are gathered in the cousins’ room. Nicky asks what the babies can do and Neil shows him.

“Joey’s really good at rolling over.” He lays Joey on his back and prompts the baby one way. he flips his chubby little body all by himself and everyone appropriately gasps and claps.  They have a bit of a baby show after that. Danica is closest to being able to sit up by herself. Neither of them can push up quite yet so they aren’t crawling, still in the wiggling phase. Everyone knows the death rip both of them have is he doesn’t have to show that off.

“Can they eat yet?” Matt asks.

Kevin nods along thoughtfully. “Oh yea, what can babies have besides milk?”

“Mush?” Nicky provides.

Neil shakes his head. “It’s just milk for them. Their pediatrician says we can probably start introducing them to food in a month, since they hold their heads up so well.”

They spend the rest of the afternoon with the Foxes. Joseph shits himself while on Aaron’s lap and Neil laughs so hard he almost pisses— an occupational hazard of pushing two humans out of your vagina.

The weekends after that look much the same. In September the twins turns five months. They start introducing solid food to them, first with a banana. The twins mainly just play with it and make a mess but that’s fine. Andrew and Neil aren’t going to rush them.

School goes on, Neil find it getting easier and easier to focus in class. He knows his babies are safe and whenever he gets that sick feeling in his stomach, he can just pull out his phone and look at them.

Their first game comes and goes. They win but they aren’t quite unified. Neil isn’t sure what to do about that. They have another game in Palmetto this month but October will be their first away game.

September slips away and before they know it it’s October. Spiderwebs and Jack-o’-lanterns are scattered around the school. Neil and Andrew are presented with a problem.

“What are the twins going to be for Halloween?”

Not only is October the twin’s half birthday, but it’s their first holiday. Neil can’t believe it’s been six months. Holy shit. They’re basically already a year old. Time is slipping through his hands and what is he doing wasting a single second?

He decides that not only will the twins be dressing up, but they will be going as foxes.

On the night of Halloween Andrew and Neil dress the twins in orange and white onesies. Since Danica already has red hair she’s the white fox. Neil slips on the little headbands that Allison made and sent in the mail along with the tiny fuzzy tails. And just like that they have two baby foxes.

The team loses their shit. Of course.

“Oh, my fucking god,” Nicky squeals, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Everyone is snapping photos of them and gushing. Matt prints one off and tacks it to the wall in the foxhole court, taking over Dans job. At the next practice all the freshmen gather around it. Besides Lily, none of them have met the twins.

“There’s two of them?!” Chris yelps.

Elena, a fellow freshman elbows him in the ribs, “Duh the Minyard’s are twins of course they would have twins.”

“Yea but these look like fraternal, Andrew and Aaron are identical.” Bella says.

“So?” Says Elena.

“So its two different things, only one of them is genetic…”

Neil stops listening because it gets boring.

More pictures of the twins are added to the wall and the freshman slowly become obsessed. They are brazen enough to beg Neil to see them.

“Pleaseeee.”

It’s not like Neil is hiding them. Quite the opposite actually considering that the twins are at every single practice. Just, in Abby’s office.

Their first away game is the first real problem they come too. Abby is out of the question because she’s on standby the whole game. Just when they think there’re going to have to get a babysitter (both their worst nightmare) Allison descends from the heavens.

She fly’s in five hours before hand, because she’s Allison Reynolds and she does want she wants at the drop of a hat. It’s complete luck that she doesn’t have any games or practice this weekend. She’s thrilled to be the first one to officially babysit and doesn’t go easy on the gloating.

“Me, Josh, and Dana. The three musketeers,” She says cheerfully, holding one baby in each arm.

Neil repeats his instructions three times before he’s dragged away and shoved onto the bus. Thankfully it’s not an overnight trip. They’ll be back late tonight and the twins don’t even have to leave the comfort of their dorm.

“Hey Cap,” Elena says. “If we win this game can we meet your babies?”

Neil sighs. “Our problem isn’t winning. it’s teamwork. You all play like this is a solo sport. If I see some progress on that front I’ll think about it.”

Andrew pokes him in the ribs. Neil can hear what he’s thinking. Do not pimp out or children for Exy gain.

They win the game and while Neil sees Bella and Lily putting in the effort to work together, it seems no one else got the memo.

Oh well, there’s always next game.

A week later Andrew and Neil are corned by Nicky.

“You two need to go on a date.” He says.

Neil raises an eyebrow.

Nicky, exasperated, continues. “When was the last time you two went on a date since having the twins?”

Neil doesn’t have to think about it. The answer is the haven’t. Him and Andrew have never been ‘date’ people. Whenever they did go on ‘dates’ that was just what they called the marathon sex they were going to be having in polite company. So perhaps to everyone else, it seemed like they went on a lot of dates. Those dates are what got them here in the first place…

“Give us the kids for a night. You two can have dinner without highchairs, maybe go to the house, stay the night… I don’t know!” Andrew was now staring daggers at his cousin.

Neils immediate answer was no. He didn’t want to leave his kids any more than he had to. But then he looked to Andrew, and it looked like he was considering it.

They discussed it away from Nicky’s prying ears.

“Do you want to…?” Neil asked.

Andrew leveled an unamused glare at him. “The last time we went on a ‘date’ we made them,” he jerks his head to the twins.

Neil laughs. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

Andrew steps closer so he can clamp his hands on Neils hips. “I wouldn’t mind a couple uninterrupted hours with you.”

Neil chews on his lip. “It’s just… overnight. We’ve never been away from them for that long.”

“We don’t have to go to Columbia.”

Neil groans and lets his head fall on Andrew’s shoulder. “Ugh, the problem is I want to go. I miss our bed, and all my comfy pillows.”

“Let’s try it. I’ll drive back in the middle of the night if I have to.”

Neil loves Andrew so god damn much.

So that’s how they end up driving into Columbia on a Friday after practice. Nicky kept egging them on about going to a restaurant, having a proper night out. But that was never something they did anyway and they sure as hell weren’t going to start now. So, they head straight for the house.

Neil sighs in relief as he walks in. The first thing they do is take a nap. Both of them trudge up the stairs, Neil throws open the door and they both collapse onto the bed. Still in his jeans, to tired to bother to change.

He hadn’t realized how tired he was. Between classes, and practice, extra practice, and trying to keep alive two now 6 month olds… Neil didn’t really have the chance to feel tired. Its been go-go-go since school started. And now it’s catching up to him. Andrew is a grounding weight at his back, keeping Neil from floating off into space. His arms are thrown around Neil and he is snoring softly into his shoulder.

Neil wakes up to Andrew pressing kisses down the back off his neck. To his shoulders, then down on his blade. he rolls around to face Andrew. A lazy smile splits his face when he sees how magnificent the other man looks, disheveled by sleep. His blonde hair is sticking up every which way and he’s got a bit or drool crusted on his lip. For a split second it reminds him of their babies, slobbering all over themselves.

“That was good. We should do that more often.” Andrew notes.

Neil raises his hands so he can play with the blonde’s hair. “Sleep for more than one uninterrupted hour?”

“Precisely.”

Andrew bends down so he can kiss Neil. Soft and warm. When they pull apart, Neil can’t help himself. He licks his thumb and drags it over the corner of Andrew mouth.

Andrew grabs Neils hand while his thumb is still on his face. “Yes or no?”

Even in the dark Neil can see Andrews hungry eyes. It’s been two months. The quickly discovered how impossible it was to be intimate when sharing a shoe box with your children. Two months is a long time for them. Even when Neil was 30+ weeks pregnant, Andrew was still eating him out. Now they’re lucky if they have time for a blowjob in the shower.

“Yes.”

This time when Andrew kisses him it’s like he’s a starving man.

********* (smut skip if you want)

Things progress from there. Neil claws Andrew’s shirt till the man takes the hint and rips it off. Neil’s shirt goes next. Andrew makes a minute — more like five— to worship Neil chest. He drags his nose down Neil’s sternum, his hands cupping Neils tits. Neils nipples are extra sensitive now, so when Andrew puffs hot air against them, then licks a stripe over the bud, Neil can’t help his little moan.

Andrew moves down Neil body until he’s pulling his pants off, jeans that neither of them bothered changing out of. Neil is now completely naked while Andrews just shirtless. he imagines it would feel unbalanced with anyone else, but Neil loves the way Andrew looks at his bare body, so he doesn’t mind being exposed.

His hands cover his thighs and pry his legs apart. One of Andrew’s calloused fingers brushes against Neils clit. He shivers.

“Drew…”

Andrew uses the pad of his thumb to rub Neil in circles. A finger presses at his already slick hole. Neil remembers being embarrassed the first time Andrew stuck his hand down Neils pants and felt just how wet he made him. But then Andrew threw him on the couch and ate him out till his legs were shaking and he couldn’t complete a sentence.

Now, Andrew presses two fingers into Neil without any resistance. Andrew fucks his fingers into Neil until he’s shaking his head and blabbering.

“Drew— nygyhh… I need you Drew.”

Andrew can never deny Neil anything. He places a kiss to Neil’s inner thigh, then kisses all the way up his body. Stopping to pointedly kiss the newest scar to Neil collection, one on his stomach. As soon as he can Neil wraps his arms around Andrew’s shoulders.

Neil legs are splayed out, inviting for Andrew. When Andrew finally does line himself up, Neil hums with anticipation. But of course, Andrew drags his dick up to Neil clit, then back down. Coating himself in Neil slick.

Neil is growing impatient. “Fuck me Drew, c’mon. I want to feel you inside of me.”

Andrew snaps then. He pushes into Neil, still slowly, but steadily. Till he’s buried fully inside Neil.

“Oohh—” Neil moans, relishing in the burn from how Andrew stretches him. “Move, Drew, I’m good,” He breathes.

Andrew rolls his hip, pulling out to the tip before plunging back in. He start slow, as always. No matter how many times Neil reassures that he won’t hurt him. Andrew waits till Neil eyes are glazed, and his body plaint, to pick up the face and fuck into like he could actually split Neil in half.

The bed creaks and the headboard bangs against the walls. Neil screams and moans and babbles incoherent praises.

“Fuck Drew— Just like that—! Ughh- Oh!”

Above him, Andrew watches with reverence. “Let me hear you.”

Neil doesn’t hold back from telling Andrew how good he feels. How good he’s making him feel.

Andrew grabs Neil legs from where they were barely hanging on to his hip. He folds Neil in half and the next trust hit his sweet spot like a bullseye. Andrew abuses that spot inside of him and Neil’s orgasm hits him without warning. He shouts.

“Fuck Neil, you look so fucking beautiful when you’re coming on my cock,” Andrew brushes Neils sweaty bangs away and fucks him through it.

“Open your eyes,” Andrew whispers. Neil hadn’t realized he closed them. When he opens them Andrew looks at him like he’s hung the moon, then ducks down to connect their lips.

Neil can tell Andrews close. “In me,” he begs. He had his tubes tied after giving birth. Neil knew himself and he knew he loved feeling of Andrew fill him up too much to risk another surprise down the road.

Andrew’s eyes turn wild, like a wolfs. All he can do is nod as he gives his final few damn breaking thrusts. With one final push, he snaps. Neil feels warmth rush inside of him, filling his stomach up. Andrew stills, shivering as he empties himself inside of Neil. His face is buried in Neils neck, his breath coming out in little puffs from his nose that tickle on damp skin. Neil wraps him arm around Andrew’s neck and kisses his head, whatever’s closet.

They sit there and catch their breaths. Both of their chests jumping. Enough time passes that Andrew softening dick starts to slip out and Neil whines.

Andrew finally peels himself off of Neil only so he can sit back in his haunches and pry Neil’s legs apart. Cum drips from Neil’s cunt in white globs, he whines again, hating that he’s empty. Andrew uses two fingers to catch some and bring it up to Neils mouth. His lips falls open and he accepts Andrew’s fingers, greedily sucking on them. Andrews fingers have barely left Neil’s lips when he takes him back with a kiss. Neil feels Andrew’s hand traveling down but still gasp when his finger plunge into his hole, fucking his cum back in.

*********(end of smut)

They lay in bed for longer than either would like to admit. Neil is pretty sure they both fell asleep again. The sweat on their skin has dried and made them uncomfortably sticky, so they get up and shower. Andrew washes Neil hair when he can barely keep his eyes open. As a reward Neil gets on his knees in the water and lets Andrew fuck his face. He swallows down Andrews cum happily.

By the time they’re back in bed it’s around three am. If Neil gets to sleep with Andrew for five whole uninterrupted hours, he’ll be happy.

Andrew grabs him from behind and drags him across the bed so they can be flush together. Neil feels so warm inside and out that he has no trouble falling asleep.

When they finally leave the bed the next morning, it’s around 11. Technically, Neil woke up around nine. Then he woke Andrew up… And for reasons that only really need to be discussed by them, it took them three hours to get up.

Andrew drives them to Sweeties and orders himself a stack of pancakes and shake. Neil rolls his eyes and gets himself something more nutritionally dense.

He’s feels more rested than he has probably since before the twins were born. He feels like he could run a marathon. Well, he always feel like that, but know he feels like he could run it and not kill himself in the process!

Andrew and him spend a couple more lazy hours in the house since they promised Nicky they wouldn’t come home before five. He isn’t sure why he even agreed to that but either way, before four him and Andrew hit the road.

His leg bounces up and down restlessly by the time they’re pulling up to Fox Tower. The car is barely in park when he jumps out. While he’s grateful for the rest, now that he’s thinking clearly he can’t believe he left his babies with Aaron, Nicky, and fucking Kevin. Obviously his sleep deprived brain wasn’t thinking clearly.

He races up the stairs, Andrew on his heels. Neil can’t believe they left them for an entire night. With the three stooges of all people. His heart feels heavy as he can’t wait to get back to them. It feels wrong being apart.

He gets to their door and lets himself in.

“Neil!” Nicky smiles.

Neil ignores him, walking straight for his babies, who are playing on the ground. He sits down and pulls Jospeh into his lap. “Hi baby,” he coos, before he can grab Danica, Andrew catches up. Sweeping into the room and snatching her up.

“What happened.” Andrew asks Nicky, eyes slightly narrowed.

Nicky gulps. “Nothing, they were great, why’dya think something happened?”

Andrew raises a brow.

“How was your date?”

Kevin surprises them all by asking. Neil frowns at him, but answers anyway. “Great… thank you for watching them.”

Aaron smiles but it looks like a grimace. “Anytime.”

“Where did you guys go?” Nicky asks.

Neil stays on the floor with Joseph as Andrew collects the baby’s things. “Nowhere. We just slept.”

Nicky squawks, “You’re gone for a full 24 hours and you don’t even go on a date?!”

“That was our date,” Andrew says.

“Oh, lovely… unrelated but, we won’t be getting two more niblings in nine months we will?”

The room erupts in various gags.

“EW!”

“Shut up Nicky.”

“Fucking gross, that’s your cousin— my brother! Don’t talk about their sex life.”

Andrew slaps Nicky in the back of the head and looks around for who to hit next. Neil simply frowns. “What the fuck is a nibling?”

“It’s a word for both nieces and nephews.”

“No the fuck it isn’t,” Kevin says.

“Yea it is. I googled it.”

“We’re not talking about this.” Andrew clips.

“I tied my tubes idiot,” Neil rolls his eyes. “No more babies, ever.”

“WHAT?!”

“Well, technically that can be reversed,” Aaron notes.

Micky ignores him. “No more, ever? But what if you guys settle down in like a decade—”

“Settle down? We already have two… and no offense Joey, but they weren’t exactly in our plans, like, ever.” He picks up Joseph by the armpits and holds him in front of his face. The baby boy simply blinks, his tongues poking in and out of his mouth. “Isn’t that right?” Neil asks in a baby voice that borders as bad as Allisons.

Nicky laughs. “I guess that’s true. It’s just you’re so young! What if you change your mind?”

“Nicky, shut the fuck up.” Andrew’s voice is low and dangerous.

Neil just waves his hand in the air. “Doesn’t matter how old I am, I will never change my mind. I didn’t— want sounds wrong, but it’s the truth. I didn’t want this. And now that I know what it feels like to push a human being out of my body, and be sliced open for the other one, yea, that’s never gonna fucking happen again. Besides, why mess with perfection. What’s that saying about striking gold the first time?” He tickles Josephs neck and the baby laughs.

“No more talking about Neil,” Andrew commands, his eyes narrowed. “You three are getting a free pass for being dickheads because you kept our babies alive, and I happen to be in a good mood.”

They linger for a couple more minutes then walk back to their dorm. Neil thinks.

“You don’t want any more kids, right? Like, even in far off future?” They never really talked about it. A doctor asked Neil if that was what he wanted, while he was bleeding out. Neil screamed ‘sure’.

Andrew looks at him. “Fuck no,” After setting Danica down in her bouncer, he grabs Neil by the hips. “You were right, we didn’t plan this. I wouldn’t change anything,” His eyes sparkle when he looks at Joseph. “But I think it’s safe to say we’re done with two.”

Neil leans into him. It’s nice to hear some confirmation, though he was never really worried. Him and Andrew have always been on the same page.

Nearing the end of the first semester has Neil looking back on the last year of his life.

December starts next week which means almost exactly a year ago Neil was sitting alone on the bathroom floor crying his eyes out over a plastic stick until Andrew found him. He remembers first feeling trapped and scared. Like he had backed himself into a corner. Andrew of course reassured him that they had options. But Neil only cried hard when he heard the word “termination”. For the next week he cried a lot over conflicting emotions. Did he want kids? No definitely not. But could he get rid of what was growing inside of him? His heart knew before his brain did; absolutely not.

Then there was the self-loathing, dysphoria, and general discomfort that came with the next six months. The thing is, he had a good pregnancy. The Foxes rallied around him, Andrew showed a new side of himself in taking care of Neil that has only grown since the babies were born. He was basically treated like a baby for six months with everyone making sure he was happy, healthy, and fed. It was a bit annoying but Neil apricated it all the same. It was in his head, lying in bed at night, staring at the ceiling when the thoughts started to creep in.

Towards the end of his pregnancy his thoughts pivoted and he began to worry about how nothing would ever be the same. How would he go to school? How would he play Exy? How was he supposed to live the rest of his life with two humans attached to him? How was he supposed to do anything?

Neil had fought hard for his normalcy and he realized his life would never be the same again. He would never have a normal singular life. And that was scary. Because he didn’t know what it meant to not be alone.

The adage “You’re born alone, you die alone” was something he thought about a lot during this time. Because for him it was true. All his life even when he was on the run with his mother or tangled in sheets with Andrew, he was alone. But Andrew wasn’t born alone, and neither would his kids. Two generations of Minyard twins, then where did that leave Neil? Still alone.  

Then his kids were born and within three seconds he cursed himself for ever trying to compare himself to Mary. On the run him and Mary were two separate entities brought together and dependent on each other by chance. A business partnership was a better way to describe their relationship than mother and son. So when he found Andrew, and he found his Foxes, you can’t blame him for not realizing he was no longer a single lone soul wandering.

He remembers waking up in the hospital and immediately zoning in on Andrew dry but puffy eyes. Neils heart had dropped at the sight because if Andrew had cried —something Neil had never seen before— than that had to of meant something was wrong with the babies. Then he felt lost when Andrew assured him the babies where fine. Because that meant, he was crying over Neil? He shared his confusion and saw the glimmer of anger in Andrew eyes. Though Neil knew that look, it wasn’t anger at Neil, it was anger at himself. Then Andrew brushed his fingers roughly through Neils hair and pressed their foreheads together, the grip on his neck almost bruising.

Neil knows now he was stupid to ever think otherwise, stupid to take as long as he did figure it out, but with the four of them in the hospital room together Neil realized he would never be alone again.

He was still scared. He still is even now almost a whole year later. But Neil realizes that his normalcy did return.

Its normal now to wake up to crying or gentle mewling. Normal to load the entire family up into the car and bicker over who has to sit in back. They go to school, and the play Exy, and they are so incredibly lucky to be able to bring the twins along wherever they go. Luckier to have family who jump at the chance to watch the kids even if just for five minutes so Neil can take a piss. He doesn’t even blink at the routine of washing baby bottle along with coffee cups because at this point Neil is sure this is how life has always been.

There's endless things to be scared about but Neil won’t allow himself to turn into his mother. For now, he’s doing something he never thought he’d get the chance to do, taking things slow. Coming off life on the fast track wasn’t as big an adjustment as he thought it would be. He’s comfortable now. He has a great big family of his own making and much more than he’s scared, he’s so fucking excited for the next 18 years.