Baby Business

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh leaned into Chuck's side, arms brushing as they walked Max through the local park. It felt like things were finally going their way for an extended period of time. Chuck had finishes his degree and gotten a low key job that he loved, working with people who forgot he was a war hero in favor of debating mechanical engineering with him on a weekly basis. Raleigh taught martial arts at the kwoon Mako had opened once the PPDC converted to a world emergency response unit. He enjoyed working with the kids and determined adults that showed up, but it still left him time to cook, and keep track of the small handful of hobbies he'd finally picked up after nearly getting arrested. He loved this, spending time with Chuck when they were both having good days. It was peaceful and precious. Something he'd never thought he'd have.

A ball rolls across the path quite a ways ahead of them and Raleigh watches it go, until he's distracted by the shrieking toddler chasing after it, and the father after him. The kid picks the ball up when it hits a tree and the dad swoops in and picks the laughing kid up swinging him in a practiced way around in the air until he sitting on his shoulders, bopping the ball on the dad's head and laughing up a storm.

Raleigh gets that weird twist in his gut he's been getting when he looks at kids and finds himself looking for the mom. She's stretched out on a picnic blanket watching as the dad approaches victoriously with their baby on his shoulders and Raleigh's hit with a rush of how much he wants that. He wants to be able to grin at Chuck while Chuck carries their kid.

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[suicidemission]

These are the days Chuck enjoys most, the days when they’re not fighting with each other, when they’re not lost in memories or nightmares or flashbacks. He loves this, just walking with Raleigh, being able to go outside and stroll through the park with Max and just sort of be.

It’s nice. Chuck’s enjoying himself.

He watches the little display in front of him with a detached sense of amusement; kid loses ball, kid chases ball, dad collects kid and takes back to mom. Nothing he hasn’t seen before, though he’s looking more curiously at Raleigh’s face than he is the scene that’s finishing playing out in front of him. He bumps Raleigh’s arm with his, and cocks his head.

“You alright, mate?”

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh turns, smiling at Chuck.

"Yeah, why?"

It's not a lie. He could finish his life out with Chuck by his side, no kids in sight ever and he would have no regrets. Seeing how Chuck had already deflected the subject, Raleigh was pretty sure that's how it would happen and he was happy with that. Kids were another path, but not necessarily one he wanted more than what he already had, just different.

[suicidemission]

Chuck shrugs, and keeps walking, Max's leash loose in his hand.

"I dunno. Y'keep staring at peoples kids like a creep. Still thinking about it?"

It's Chuck's way of bringing it back up, because being direct about something like this -- Chuck just doesn't know how to be.

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh's eyes narrow, but he's still smiling.

"I'm not a creep. I was watching the family, not the kid."

He shrugs, leaning further into Chuck, and wrapping their arms together. He surprised Chuck's bringing it up, he hadn't wanted to talk about it all before when Mako'd open the door Raleigh'd been staring down for a half a year on and off.

"Nah, it was just cute."

[suicidemission]

"I'm teasing, Becket. Calm down." He tips his head against Raleigh's though, jiggling the slack in the leash idly as the walk.

"Was just noticing you look a lot. Want kids real bad, don't you?"

[thelastbecket]

"No."

Raleigh hopes Chuck can hear the truth in that, as well as what he continues on to say.

"But yes, too. It's not-I love you and what we have. I don't have any regrets, wouldn't have any if we kept going like this forever."

He turns his head and brushes his lips against Chuck's cheek.

"It's not really the kids by themselves. It's the family thing. Thinking about a mini-version of you waking us up too early or asking ridiculous questions like why the grass is green. It's us together with a kid. Which is why I'm just as happy with us, and Max of course."

[suicidemission]

"...Huh."

Chuck's not really sure what to say, how to feel. He's never thought about kids, mainly because he didn't think he was going to be alive long enough to have any. And then Pitfall was a success and the Breach is closed and they never really crossed his mind until it had been brought up a few months back.

He still couldn't tell you if he did or didn't want them. They were a pretty Big Deal, and he's settled quite nicely into his life with Raleigh. Kids would disrupt everything they'd set up - in good or bad ways, depending on how one looked at the situation.

"Could adopt," he finally says, fingers flexing around the leather leash. "Toddler, or something."

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh smiles at Chuck and kisses him again, because he can and because he knows if he pressed Chuck would do this for him. Would let their life be invaded by crying and diapers and other ridiculous things.

"We could. If you want to. But the point of this is to do it together, I don't want you to do something just because I want to."

[suicidemission]

"Hey."

Chuck pauses, stopping Raleigh as well and wrapping his arm around his waist.

"Wouldn't bring it up if I didn't want it, yeah? Kids are a big fuckin' deal, mate -- not something I'd just do cause you wanted it."

[thelastbecket]

"I know, but I wanted to say it. You didn't want to talk about it before. What changed your mind?"

Raleigh returns the embrace, hooking his arms in a loop around Chuck. He knew Chuck had to have been thinking about this more than he let on to actually be have a rational conversation with Raleigh about it now.

"What are you thinking?" He peered into Chuck's face trying to see some kind of clue.

[suicidemission]

Chuck keeps Max's leash in his free hand, but the other squeezes Raleigh tightly, fingers fisting in his shirt.

"Dunno. Might -- be nice, yeah? Before, hadn't thought about it. You know me, mate -- can't just throw shit like that at me outta the blue."

Or at least, Mako shouldn't and she's known him long enough she should know better than to pop quiz him in front of someone.

"Threw me off guard. Needed time to think about it."

[thelastbecket]

"Yeah, well, Mako was apparently tired of me fumbling and not being able to bring it up."

Raleigh shakes his head a little with a smile.

"But yeah, it--I think it would be nice. Max might get jealous, though. Talk about our options, do some research."

He runs his hands up Chuck's side smiling.

[suicidemission]

Chuck snorts a little.

"Max -- he's used to being the boss. He'd get over it though, 'm sure."

He squeezes Raleigh with his free arm.

"...Not doing anything right away though, yeah?" It's taken him months to even discuss this without freaking out and leaving the room. He's gonna need to warm up to the idea of someone else in the house, taking up his Raleigh's time.

[thelastbecket]

"No, we'll take our time. Do it at our own pace the right way for us, and if we decide it won't work out that's good too."

Raleigh's overwhelmed with how much he loves Chuck and how this can be their life for a moment, and he leans in, pressing their foreheads together.

"I love you so much."

[suicidemission]

"...Thanks."

Chuck tightens his hold on Raleigh, sliding his hand up his back and into his hair, eyes closing briefly. Chuck has a hard time vocalizing the words 'I love you', mainly because he feels like they're overused and that when he says it, it sounds...cheap.

He expresses it in other ways, like how he kisses Raleigh deep and thorough in public, the way he slides his fingers through soft blond hair, or the way he snarls at anyone that looks at Raleigh in any kind of way.

"I know, babe."

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh watches Chuck's face from the odd angle, feeling Chuck's reciprocation even though he knows it's more difficult for the younger man to say what he means most of the time. He leans forward and kisses Chuck lightly. He's tempted to deepen the kiss and pull Chuck closer right there on the path, but something bumps into his leg and he looks down to see the red ball, toddler close behind right there at their feet.

He gently extracts himself from Chuck's arms and kneels, holding the ball out to the toddler with a soft smile. The kid takes the ball and totters around, returning to his watchful parents not far away.

[suicidemission]

Chuck does deepen it a little, but Raleigh pulls away and kneels before Chuck can get really dirty with him.

Probably for the best.

Max would very much like to follow that kid, but Chuck's got a tight grip on his leash, and the other hand is light in Raleigh's hair when he kneels, toying with the strands. Watching Raleigh's expression is priceless, and there's a twinge in his gut that makes him that much more convinced that it's something they should do.

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh grinned up at Chuck, petting Max while he was down there some and taking shameful advantage of the way Chuck was playing with his hair.

"Ready to walk home, Max?"

It would cut the distance of their usual walk a little short, but Raleigh kind of wanted to get Chuck home and work on the baby-making, even if they wouldn't actually be producing a kid that way.

[suicidemission]

Max wags his stubby tail happily, and Chuck rakes his nails over Raleigh's scalp before dropping his hand so that he can get up if he wants.

"Looks like it," Chuck comments, grinning down at the two of them, shifting his weight to rest most of it on his good leg.

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh stands up, linking his arm through Chuck's again and pressing his nose into his cheek for a second.

"C'mon, Hansen. I've got plans for you."

He turns them around on the path, heading back towards the way they came from.

[suicidemission]

Chuck smirks at him, and lets Raleigh turn them around on the path.

"They include fuckin' me raw, or the other way around?" He murmurs against Raleigh's cheek, entirely unashamed about the things that he says.

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh grins.

"I was thinking the other way around. Seems like that's the first step to kids, right? Sex. Even if that's not exactly where the kid's coming from."

He winks at Chuck.

[suicidemission]

Chuck leans over and nips at his earlobe.

"Not at all where it'd be coming from, but I agree -'s a hell of a start."

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh shivers just a little and elbows Chuck lightly.

"Save it for when we get through the door." He murmurs. "Can't have the whole neighborhood seeing what you do to me."

[suicidemission]

"Least then it'd mean they wouldn't be giving you any kind of look."

He nudges him right back, grinning a little against his cheek.

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh laughs.

"No, instead they just get in their face proof that we're living in sin and you haven't made an honest man of me."

They aren't far from the house now, just about half a block.

[suicidemission]

He presses his cheek to Raleigh's shoulder with a laugh.

"If this is sin, I'm gonna fucking roll in it the rest of my life."

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh laughs loudly. It rolls through him from the bottom of his stomach to his shoulders under Chuck's face.

"You're cute, but that's not what I was referencing as a sin, hot stuff."

[suicidemission]

He squeezes his shoulder and kisses his cheek.

"What do you mean?"

[thelastbecket]

"Nah, I'll let you think about it. You need something new to contemplate since we've started talking about kids out loud."

Raleigh is grinning from ear to ear as he unlocks their door and kneels to take Max's leash off of him. He wasn't about to tell Chuck he'd been teasing him about getting married.

[suicidemission]

"Asshole," he grumbles cheerfully, punching Raleigh's shoulder lightly.

Fucking Raleigh and his riddles.

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh ignores the punch pulling Chuck down the hallway by the front of his shirt.

"I believe you were making me promises, Ranger Hansen."

He pulls at the bottom of Chuck's hem, pushing it up until he can get his fingers on Chuck's stomach.

[suicidemission]

"....I sure was wasn't I."

Chuck grins as Raleigh tugs him down the hall, then shivers when slim fingers graze his skin.

"To bed with you, then."

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh pushes further at Chuck's shirt, forcing it off his head and shoulders so he can get at more of his skin. He presses an open mouth kiss to Chuck's collar bone and looks back up.

"To bed with us."

[suicidemission]

The shirt gets tossed away and Max -- he knows to stay out of the way when the silly humans get like this, and trundles off to flop in his bed and gnaw on a rawhide.

"Mmm. Like how you think. C'mon."

Shirtless and grinning, he reaches for Raleigh's hand, jerks him into the bedroom then gives him a shove towards the bed.

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh goes with the shove, crawling onto their bed, and maybe shaking his ass at Chuck a little before rolling over to face him, lounging on his elbows. His shirt is uneven, exposing a thin strip of skin between it and his pants. He grins at Chuck with clear invitation.

[suicidemission]

Oh, damn. Godammit Becket how the hell is Chuck supposed to combat that?

He can't. It's obvious that he can't.

Chuck pounces, pressing Raleigh back, crushing their mouths together in a bruising kiss, and shoving Raleigh back against the mattress.

[thelastbecket]

Raleigh spreads his legs as Chuck pounces giving him space to land between them and he grabs onto Chuck with his arms, pulling him down when Chuck pushes him back into their bed. He rakes his nails through Chuck's hair and slides his other hand up the back of Chuck's shirt feeling his hot skin and firm muscles.

[suicidemission]

He grins when Raleigh welcomes him, pressing his face briefly against his neck, breathing him before he works at relieving them of their clothing.

Hard to make Raleigh scream with his jeans on, after all.

[thelastbecket]

He lifts his hips when Chuck goes for his pants, letting Chuck push them down before he tugs insistently at Chuck's shirt trying to make him straighten his arms out so he can pull it off him entirely. They can take their time later, right now he was Chuck inside of him.

[suicidemission]

Chuck wants that too.

Like, a lot.

He lets Raleigh tug his shirt off and over his head and it, along with Raleigh's pants, can get tossed to the wayside -- they're in the way, too many barriers between Chuck and what he wants, what Raleigh wants.

He leans in, catches Raleigh in a kiss again, sucks on his bottom lip and he smirks a little, teeth dragging over tender flesh before pulling back in favor of kissing at Raleigh's neck and collarbone.