Work Text:
Paul wakes up early for work, going through the motions of his morning routine. Brush his teeth, take a shower, get changed into fresh clean clothes, make coffee, wake Richie up, make breakfast while Richie is getting ready, eat breakfast with his nephew, put on shoes, drive Richie to school, go to work.
He’s currently on his “Eat breakfast with his nephew” step of the morning, and said nephew is practically bouncing in his seat and Paul smiles.
“Excited for school?” Paul asked and Richie grinned brightly up at him.
“I’m gonna say hi to Pete.” Richie informed. “And I’m gonna ask Ms. Lüden if he can sit in the back with me, we can talk about pokemon more.”
“Not during class, I hope.” Paul teased and Richie took a giant bite of his cereal, not answering him and Paul laughed. “So Pete is your friend now?”
Richie straightened up very seriously, looking determined. “I’m gonna ask him today if he’ll be my friend.” Richie said, because apparently it’s a very serious ordeal to ask someone to be your friend. “I’m going to ask him during recess and everything. I’ll draw him Spider-man too so he’ll have to say yes.”
Paul laughed again at leaned over, ruffling his nephew's hair and the kid squealed, trying to squirm away from his hand.
“Can he come over after school?” Richie asked after he successfully dodged Paul’s hand.
“I’ll have to talk with Ted.” Paul said. “And you have to promise to do all your homework.”
“I get it done during afterschool!” Richie said and puffed out his chest. “I never skip homework! I’m Ms. Lüden’s best student.”
“I know, I know,” Paul said. “She gave you a sticker and everything for never missing an assignment. I’m just making sure you don’t start now that you have a friend.”
“He’s not my friend yet! I have to asked!” Richie said, shaking his head.
“Well he’ll say yes, I just know it.” Paul informed and then put his empty plate in the sink, checking the clock. “Okay bud, hurry up or we’re going to be late.”
Richie sighed dramatically. “You say that every morning and we’re never late.” He grumbled but quickly swallowed down the last few spoonfuls of cereal.
“Because you always listen!” Paul shot back and Richie jumped down from his chair and ran to his room to go grab his bookbag. Paul grabbed and washed Richie’s empty bowl and then grabbed his keys, wallet and office ID badge, slipping his shoes on as Richie came running back. He was gripping the straps of his bookbag and jumping excitedly in place, smiling so wide.
Paul can’t remember the last time he’d been this excited to go to school, and he doesn’t mention it lest Richie stop smiling.
“Aright, shoes,” Paul said and Richie shoved the sneakers on, not bothering to untie them and then rushing over to the door, pushing it open.
“I’m gonna tell Pete he’s coming over today, he’s gonna be so excited.” Richie said as he skipped to the car.
“No, you have to let me ask Ted first, okay?” Paul corrected. “They might have plans already after school.”
“I’ll ask Pete if he has plans and if he says no then I’ll ask.” Richie decided and Paul sighed with a fond smile.
“Still no,” Paul corrected. “Pete might not know if he has plans or not. I don’t want you to get Pete’s hopes up if it turns out he can’t come over, okay?”
Richie groaned as he climbed into the backseat of Paul’s car, crossing his arms and pouting. “Fine!” He decided and Paul got into the driver’s seat. Richie’s grumpiness only lasted a few seconds. “Can you put on the Naruto theme song?”
The drive to school is short, they only lived a few streets away from the school, and once Richie is dropped off, the car is so quiet in comparison it makes Paul a little sad.
He goes to his jo and works on some reports for a while until Ted comes out of his office around 10 to start bugging everyone around the office.
It was part of the man’s routine, Paul didn’t know exactly what it was Ted did for CCRP, just that it resulted in the other having a lot of down time around the middle of the day and he used it to terrorise the office.
At the current moment, his chosen victim is Bill, who looked over at Paul’s cubicle for help and Paul is pretending he can’t see the look.
“Come on Billy Boy.” Ted is saying, pulling Bill’s wheeled chair back and forth and Bill has given up on attempting to work. “Take me to go see the show, no one else wants to go anyway.”
“Yeah, I’d rather just not see the show than go with you.” Bill said and turned to try and smack Ted’s hands off the chair but Ted is quicker, sliding his hands down the side and continuing to push the chair back and forth. Paul tries to smother the smile he can feel forming, lest Ted see and think Paul is encouraging him.
“Oh, you’re such a liar.” Ted said. “You’ve been dying to see this show for weeks, just take me dude.”
“No.” Bill said and tried to smack Ted’s hands again. Ted once again is faster and slid them back to the top. “And stop it with my chair, some of us are trying to work.”
“Hey I’ve done my work,” Ted defended and didn’t stop rocking the chair. “Not my fault you work at a snail's pace.”
“I’m not the only one still working,” Bill shot back. “Paul is still doing his weekly reports.”
“No he’s not , he’s playing solitaire.” Ted said and as Bill and Ted turned to him, Paul closed out his solitaire tab and gave them both a look as they stared him down.
“Paul, tell Ted to leave my chair alone,” Bill said as he gave up on getting Ted to stop on his own. Paul raised an eyebrow at him.
“What makes you think he’ll listen to me?” Paul said and Ted laughed and shook Bill’s chair even harder, almost knocking Bill out of his seat.
“Paul, tell Bill to stop being a stick in the mud and let me go to the show with him.” Ted said and Bill groaned loudly. Paul rolled his eyes and pushed his own seat back a little so he could look at them better, crossing his arms.
“Okay, fine, Ted quit it with Bill’s chair,” Ted’s hands fly away from Bill’s chair at Paul’s steady tone. “Bill, you have been wanting to go to this show for ages and we all know you don’t like seeing things alone, just take Ted.”
Bill groaned, but nodded a little as he pulled his chair back into its proper place.
Bugging Bill over, Ted leaves Bill’s space and comes over to Paul’s cubicle, leaning over Paul’s shoulder and clicking to open the not-so hidden solitaire tab. Paul’s face flushed a little at being caught and Ted gave him a shit-eating grin.
Ignoring the look, Paul shoved him back a little from his computer and turned to look at him properly.
“Richie wanted to know if Pete could hang out after school, by the way.” Paul said and Ted’s grin softened into a genuine smile. “He hasn’t stopped talking about how cool Pete is.”
“He needs to get a new definition of cool,” Ted joked but nodded. “I could drop him off after his piano lessons if that works with you.”
“What time does that end?” Paul asked.
“I think like 5:15? It’s part of his after school program. I can’t pick him up until after work so he take up extra curriculars.” Ted explained and Paul nodded.
“That works perfectly then. Richie is in an after school babysitting thing, they watch kids whose parents can’t pick them up right away.” Paul explained.
“Oh shit, those exist?” Ted asked. “Should get Petey in those, he hates piano.”
Paul nodded. “I can give you the number for the girl who runs it, she’s a saint. Give’s them snacks and makes sure they get their homework done and everything.”
“Hell yeah.” Ted said and Paul turned, grabbing a sticky note and writing it down quickly, giving it to Ted. Ted nodded at the note. “Thanks, trying to arrange after school shit for him has been hell most days.”
“He can’t go home? Are your parents not there?” Paul asked. Despite working with Ted for almost a decade, Paul admittedly didn’t know much about the man’s family life. He could assume they weren’t very close, Ted always offered to work in the office during holiday breaks, but at the very least couldn't Pete's parents watch their own kid.
Ted averted his gaze from Paul and his mood notably darkened a little and Paul frowned.
“Told you, it’s complicated.” Ted keeps his tone casual, but Paul can tell there’s a lot more to the story than just complicated. Paul could relate to that at least, and as if reading his thoughts, Ted gives him a pointed look. “Why does your nephew live with you, by the way, what’s with his parents?”
It’s Paul’s turn now to turn away and he looked back at his computer.
“... It’s complicated.” He echoed back and Ted hummed, leaning on the back of Paul’s chair and watching over his shoulder as he resumed his solitaire game. There’s a strange layer of tension laying between them both not that they’re both intentionally ignoring in favor of focusing on the computer.
Paul messes up his game and started a new one, Ted reaching over and grabbing his mouse once to undo a move he did and changing which card he moved before leaning back and Paul let him.
The silence draws out for a long time, and despite the tension, it’s not uncomfortable. After a bit, Ted rested a hand on Paul’s shoulder.
“Beanie’s?” He asked and Paul is standing up before the word is even out of his mouth and Ted grinned.
Later on, as they’re both getting ready to leave for work, Ted came over to his cubicle again.
“What exactly is the plan again?” Ted asked. He looked ready to go, leaning against Paul’s cubicle as Paul puts his desk back in order.
“I’m going to pick up Richie from afterschool, you go pick up Pete.” Paul informed. “You come drop Pete off around 5:30? That gives me time to get Richie settled and make sure his room is actually cleaned. And then the two of them can do whatever it is kids do until like 8.”
Ted nodded and clicked his teeth. “Sounds good, Petey likes to stay up late so he might try and bargain somehow.”
“Noted,” Paul said and then turned to Ted. “You could stay over while they’re playing if you’d like.”
Ted’s brows raised up in surprise for a second before he grinned. “Can’t get enough of me, can you Matthews?”
Paul rolled his eyes and raised an eyebrow at Ted. Ted’s grin faltered a little and Paul smiled.
“I just figured it’d be easier instead of driving to drop him off, sitting around doing nothing for two hours and driving back.” Paul said. “But maybe I’ll reconsider my offer-”
“No!” Ted said a little too loudly and some of the other stragglers turned to look their way and Ted cleared his throat. “No, no, I’ll come over. Would be nice, I don’t think I’ve seen Petey interact with a friend in... ever.”
“They were having a ton of fun yesterday,” Paul smiled at the memory. “Didn’t stop laughing the entire time.”
Ted softened a little. “I’ll stay over for a bit then,” Ted said and then hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “Gotta get going if I wanna get the little nerd in time though, he’ll yell if I’m even a second late.”
They dispersed then and when Paul picked up Richie, the boy was smiling ear to ear.
“Pete said he’d be my best friend!” Richie informed before Paul could ask how school was. He was jumping in place, hands opening and closing in excitement at his side and Paul smiled widely back at him. “ And Ms. Lüden let him sit next to me in class and he ate lunch with me! We traded snacks cause I always get the stupid school lunch chips but apparently those are Pete’s favorite chips so he gave me his brownie instead! Except I had to give him some when he felt woozy.”
Paul smiled at Richie’s excitement and knelt down before him. “Sounds like you had a lot of fun today.” Paul said and Richie nodded. “Maybe too much fun, you look like you’re going to burst right in front of me, maybe I should tell Ted to leave Pete at home...”
He’s messing with him, and Richie gasped so loudly, shaking his head so hard Paul was slightly worried he’d manage to concuss himself somehow.
“No! No! Not enough fun!” Richie screamed and grabbed Paul’s arm, shaking it desperately. “Let Pete come over! I wanna show him my movie collection!”
Paul laughed and stood up, pulling Richie up with his arm (shaking a little under the weight of the 8 year old) and Richie screeched, clutching onto his arm tighter.
“Okay okay, I won’t tell Ted to cancel.” Paul said and Richie cheered loudly, beginning to swing back and forth on Paul’s arm. Paul slowly lowered him before Richie managed to injure himself. “I’m going to make pasta for dinner, and you’re going to clean your room before they come over, okay?”
“I already cleaned!” Richie protested and Paul tsk’ed.
“ Actually clean,” Paul said and Richie groaned. “Come on, it’s not that hard and once you do, I won’t bug you about cleaning it again for the rest of the week, okay?”
Richie pouted for a second, mentally debating it before he sighed heavily.
“Okay.” He mumbled and Paul smiled.
“Okay.” He led Richie to the car, the kid skipping behind happily.
“I don’t want any sauce on my pasta.” Richie informed as he got into the car.
“I know, I know, you only want salt and butter.” Paul said and Richie nodded.
“Mommy always forgot.” Richie grumbled under his breath and Paul raised an eyebrow as he started the car. Richie hasn’t mentioned either of his parents unprompted since moving in with Paul. Paul tries his best not to react too much as Richie crossed his arms. “She never left any plain for me.”
Paul mentally ran over his next sentence a few times, trying to figure out which version of his next few words were the least likely to upset Richie in any shape or form. He decided You don’t have to worry about that anymore , was probably the least ideal version.
“I promise I won’t forget.” Paul decided and Richie nodded.
“Good!” Richie said and then the topic was forgotten in moments as Richie continued to tell Paul all about his, and evidently Pete’s, day was.
When they get home, Richie throws his bookbag on the ground and ran off to his room. Paul makes sure his homework is done before hanging his bookbag up on the coat hook and then disappeared into the kitchen to make some homemade sauce (for himself) and boil the water for the noodles.
By the time Richie has finished cleaning his room, they finish eating dinner and Paul has finished cleaning up the kitchen, there’s a knock at their door. Paul dried off his hands to answer but Richie launched himself off the couch and ran over before Paul could.
The door flung open and Richie cheered. “They’re here! ” Richie sang and Paul laughed as he finally came over.
Ted is holding Pete out like a cat once more and Paul raised an eyebrow.
“He tried running across the street.” Ted said in explanation. “Was worried that in the past few hours from school Richie somehow decided he hated him and didn't want to hang out.”
“I didn’t say that!” Pete squealed, but his face turned red and he looked away.
“You’re my best friend now!” Richie said, pouting. “I would never hate you!”
Ted set his brother down, and Pete shyly ducked his head.
“Promise?” Pete asked and Richie nodded.
“Cross my heart, hope to die!” Richie said with a wide smile and Pete lunged forward, wrapping arms around Richie in a hug.
Paul tensed, watching carefully and cautiously. Richie hadn’t been doing great with touch since . The social worker had said not to force it on him, but to try and not ignore him with it either. To implement things like high fives or such to Richie’s life, get him used to contact again. Paul himself wasn’t quite a big fan of physical contact and was often pretty bad at actually remembering to initiate it.
The last time someone had hugged Richie unprompted, his grandmother, the poor kid had launched himself into a panic attack and screaming fit.
Even now, Richie goes stiff in Pete’s arms, eyes widening in fear for a fraction and he looked at Paul for help.
“Hey,” Paul put a hand on Pete’s shoulder, gently pushing him out of the hug. Pete didn’t seem to notice any of Richie’s hesitance, thankfully lest the boy think he’s ruined their budding friendship in seconds, and looked at Paul curiously. “Why don’t you go to Richie’s room, he’ll be over in a second.”
Pete looked at Ted, who nodded and he ran off to the back hallway where Richie’s room was. Paul turned to Richie, hands held up in front of him.
“Kiddo, you okay?” Paul asked. Richie bit the inside of his cheek and nodded slowly. He rubbed his arms a little, looking contemplative before he dropped them for a second. Richie then slowly lifted his hands and high fived both of Paul’s hovering hands, making his Uncle smile softly.
“Okay,” Richie mumbled, unsurely for a moment before he shook his head, looking determined and repeating it, more confidently. “Okay.”
“Okay.” Paul said with a smile. “Okay, well, don’t keep Pete waiting.”
“Okay!” Richie said and turned and ran, shaking his arms a bit as he did.
Paul stood up and turned to Ted, who was doing a very bad job at pretending he hadn’t seen all of that.
“So,” Ted began awkwardly and Paul smoothed out his shirt.
“Drink?” Paul asked and Ted relaxed a little.
“Sure.” Ted said and he shook his arms out. That overly confident smile he always wore fixing itself into place as he moved out of the entrance of Paul’s house. “What do you got? You seem like a wine drinker.”
Paul rolled his eyes as they moved into the kitchen and he opened his alcohol cabinet, top shelf, far out of reach from curious and grabby 8 year old hands.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Paul asked teasingly, and gesturing to the contents inside. Ted gives him a knowing grin when it’s revealed a good portion of the alcohol inside is in fact wine.
“You just seem like the kind of guy who drinks wine,” Ted said and began pushing some of the wine bottles away to look at his options. “Even a margarita drinker, perhaps.”
Paul scoffed lightly, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked and Ted just grinned, giving him a cheeky wink before turning to the cabinet and pulling out a smaller bottle of whisky.
“Don’t think about it too hard.” Ted said before leading himself to the living room. Paul rolled his eyes and grabbed one of the opened wine bottles for himself and two glasses before following after.
They both settle down on the couch and poor their drink of choice, sitting in silence for a long moment.
Paul has never been one that was uncomfortable with silence, in fact he tended to prefer it. Before taking in Richie, sometimes he’d just sit on the couch for an hour after work, basking in complete silence. Richie however though continuously needed to be surrounded by sound, he’d panic if he couldn’t hear Paul moving around and such, so Paul had picked up the habit of humming whenever he was idle.
He doesn’t realise he’s doing it now until he sees Ted absentmindedly tapping his foot along with his tune.
Their moment of silence is broken when Ted speaks, having downed half his glass already.
“ Sooo, ” Ted began, awkward and Paul raised an eyebrow, his humming trailing off. “How’re things with uh... Eva?”
“Emma,” Paul corrected and his fingers danced around the rim of his wine glass. “They were going good.”
Ted raised an eyebrow, now seeming more authentically intrigued than he had seconds prior.
“ Were ?” Ted echoed, turning to face Paul a bit more. “I thought you guys were still together, what happened?”
“Well nothing happened ,” Paul said and shrugged a little awkwardly. “I liked her, a lot and it was nice being with her. She just... she doesn’t want to stay in Hatchetfield, she has dreams and places elsewhere she wants to go and I just don’t. I like it here, I like my job, and my house. She was also never big on kids and it’s not something I ever wanted to force her to compromise on.
“We cared about each other a lot, and we’re still friends, I think. Just not... intimate anymore.” Paul said and Ted hummed, nodding a little.
“Might be good,” Ted said. “She seemed a little too intense for you.”
Paul scoffed lightly at that, a small smile creeping on his lips as he settled in his spot some. He gently nudged Ted’s foot with his.
“Well, what about you?” Paul asked. “How are things with... Charlotte?”
Ted sighed heavily, upbeat mood dropping a bit and he looked off to the side.
“Cut things off.” He mumbled and Paul frowned.
“What, why?” He asked, then trying for a joke, “HR finally intervened?”
Ted laughed at that, shaking his head. Once his laugh dies down, he doesn’t say anything for a moment, going quiet and staring into his glass.
Down the hall, Paul can hear Richie cackling hysterically, Pete giggling and Ted lifted his head a bit, smiling gently as he looked at the hall.
He sighed before finally speaking.
“Caught feelings,” Ted said, shrugging like it was no big deal. “It wasn’t fair to Charlotte, I knew she was never in it for the long run. Just to... vent out her frustrations about her asshole husband. I started caring about her too much though, so I cut things off.”
“Oh,” Paul said, because he hadn’t... expected that. If anything, he thought Ted was just hooking up with her for the hell of it, never thought he’d be the kind of person to grow attached.
“Yeah, well,” Ted shrugged, grinning on his lips twitching a little. “What’cha gonna do, you know?”
The mood dipped a bit for a moment as they both take a long drink of their alcohol of choice, silent for a bit before there’s loud laughter coming from the room. Ted smiled softly and turned to Paul.
“I’m kind of glad things didn’t work out yesterday,” Ted said. “With the original sitter?”
“Me too,” Paul said with a smile. “I mean, after everything, Rich has had a hard time talking to anyone. But I mean, he hasn’t stopped talking about Pete for the past 24 hours.”
“Same with him,” Ted laughed a little. “Normally the kid acts more mature than his age, like he’s too old to play around anymore. It feels like Richie has helped remind Pete he’s only 8, it’s nice to see my kid brother actually acting like a kid.”
“They’ll be good for each other.” Paul decided and then nudged Ted’s shoulder, his coworker grinning at him. “Guess we’ll be hanging out a lot, huh?”
“So much you’re gonna get sick of me.” Ted said.
“Who says I’m not already?” Paul asked, tilting his head a little and Ted laughed louder.
They relax into a pretty normal conversation. Paul had been worried the few hours while Pete and Richie hung out were going to be awkward, but talking to Ted was easier than he thought.
For one, Ted can talk for twenty minutes about absolutely nothing, and Paul is more than willing to let him take lead of the conversation and just sit back and listen.
But for two, Paul finds out they have a little more in common than he’d thought. It’s occurred to him in all their years of working they never really talked about things they liked.
Radio stations they liked, movies they liked, if they did or didn’t like sports, holidays they celebrated, hobbies they enjoyed, what they spent their free time on weekends doing.
The only difference they really had was while Paul couldn’t stand musicals, Ted apparently fucking loved them.
It was surprising for Paul, to hear just how passionately Ted defended his love for musicals. Ted talked about the artistry, the talent and time put into the acting, the choreography and how it can change the entire meaning of a song, about the motifs and how just a simple recurring three notes can impact a musical.
It’s enough to almost make Paul want to watch a musical for him.
Almost.
In fact, they talk for so long, they don’t even realise the time until an alarm for Ted goes off.
“Oh shit,” Ted said, turning his phone so Paul could see the time. It was only 8:15, but it was past the time they agreed on ending, and it would take a bit to wrangle both Pete and Richie in.
“Damn,” Paul said as Ted quickly silenced his alarm, grabbing his jacket and messing around with the pockets. “I didn’t even notice, huh.”
Ted grinned as he pulled out a small pill container, carefully covering the label so Paul can’t see, popped a pill in his mouth and washed it down with the rest of his whisky.
“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Ted said and winked at Paul, who rolled his eyes and got up, going to get Pete and Richie.
Paul opened Richie’s bedroom door and for five seconds, can’t find the kids at all and panic races in his chest.
And then he heard muffled laughter and looked down, seeing small feet poking out from under Richie’s bed and Paul couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his mouth.
Deciding to play along, Paul leaned against the door frame.
“Ted!” Paul called over his shoulder. “Come here!”
Ted came up behind him, looking at Paul curiously and Paul pointed at their feet before holding a finger up to his lips.
“Oh no!” Ted shouted, going along with it as well. “The kids are missing!”
“I can’t believe this happened,” Paul said, a little too deadpanned and Ted elbow him. Paul decided to ham it up, being over dramatic now. “What if they ran away?!”
“It’s your fault Paul,” Ted stated with a grin, shaking his head. “I’m gonna have to tell everyone at the office you lost my little brother. You’ll never be invited to another Christmas party again.”
“Not the Christmas parties!” Paul cried and Ted looked like he was seconds away from laughing. “Those are my favorite! I’ll never be able to show my face at the office after this!”
In seconds, a small little body is wriggling it’s way out from under the bed and Richie came running out, hands up and eyes wide.
“No! No!” Richie shouted. “We were here the whole time! You can still go to the Christmas parties!”
Paul’s heart warmed at the sight and he knelt down, picking Richie up in his arms and swinging him in a circle.
“It’s a miracle Ted!” Paul cried and Ted was fighting to hold back his laughter, dramatically falling to his knees.
“My brother!” Ted cried. “He was the last person I loved and he’s gone forever!”
“Gross!” Richie’s bed said and Paul laughed loudly, squeezing Richie tightly as Pete’s head popped out from under his bed. “Ted, you're so gross.”
Ted gaped at his little brother, in both fake surprise and also in genuine shock.
“Gross? I’m gross for loving my little brother?” Ted asked and Pete nodded. “Oh, come here you little brat.”
Ted crawled across the floor to the bed, hands reaching under the bed and Pete shrieked, quickly slipping back under and Paul and Richie laugh as they watch Ted try to grab Pete out from underneath.
“It’s late!” Ted reminded as he stuck his arm under the bed. He must grab him because Pete let out a loud yelp. “We have to go home.”
“I don’t wanna!” Pete yelled and then screeched as Ted pulled him out from under the bed by the leg. Pete crossed his arms at Ted. “I like it here. And there’s an adequate amount of space in Richie’s room that I could sleepover.”
“Where the hell did you learn adequate ?” Ted asked under his breath. “Sleepovers need to be planned in advanced, kid, you can’t just come up with them on the spot.”
Ted pulled Pete up by the ankle and the kid screamed as he was swung upside down and Richie laughed like it was the funniest thing he’s ever seen.
“We did plan it in advance!” Pete shouted, trying to swing around as much as possible to get Ted to put him down. Paul’s arms tightened around Richie almost protectively at the rough housing. “I could sleep on the floor, it’s carpeted so it’d be okay. And we could wake up super duper early and plan matching outfits to school tomorrow.”
“With what clothes, genius?” Ted asked and promptly dropped Pete back on the floor, causing the kid to shriek. “You’re like, half Richie’s height, his clothes won’t fit you.”
“I could roll up his jeans,” Pete said and instead of getting up, laid on his back and swung his legs in the air, demonstrating rolling up the pant leg for his brother in case he didn’t understand.
“What about brushing your teeth? Or your hair?” Ted asked, leaning down over his brother. Ted looked around the room quickly before looking back at his brother. “And you can’t sleep without a nightlight, I don’t see any in here, so how would you handle that?”
Pete’s eyes widened a little and he sat up, head whipping around the room to just to confirm and he suddenly got to his feet, wiping himself off and turning to Paul and Richie. Richie covered his mouth and laughed a little and Paul smiled down at the polite little kid.
“We will not be having a sleepover tonight,” Pete informed, as if there was ever any other option in the first place. “I need to be prepared beforehand.”
“And we will plan it,” Paul promised. “You just also have to make sure it’s all clear with Ted and I first.”
“Me and Ted.” Pete corrected and then waved his hand around. “You wouldn’t say all clear with I , you’d say all clear with me. So it’s me and Ted. ”
Paul stared blankly at the kid for a moment and Ted gestured at him.
“Every day,” Ted said. “He does this shit all the time.”
“Language.” Paul said on reflex. He hadn’t corrected Ted the day before when he’d come over, but Paul tried to make an active effort on not cursing around Richie. At least not until he was a teenager and it was slightly more appropriate and also unavoidable for the kid to hear curses.
Ted put his hands up apologetically and nodded.
“Sorry, he does this stuff all the time,” Ted said. “It’s like living with real life autocorrect, it gets annoying.”
“You should learn proper grammar, then.” Pete said and Ted flicked his forehead.
“Alright little nerd, we gotta get going.” Ted said, tapping his brother’s shoulders a few times. Pete went to smack Ted’s hands but Ted is faster, moving his hand to Pete’s other shoulder and tapping there before Pete successfully smacked his hand then. “Say goodbye to Richie.”
Paul set Richie down on the floor and Richie smiled at Pete, sticking his arm out as Pete tried to move in for a hug. Richie outstretched his hand for a handshake and Pete raised an eyebrow, confused but shook it instead.
“Goodbye!” Richie said excitedly. “I had a lot of fun!”
Pete smiled, confusion gone and he nodded.
“Me too!” Pete said and then jumped in place a little excitedly. “I like having a best friend.”
“Me too!” Richie echoed and looked at Paul. “I like having a best friend.” He informed his uncle and Paul smiled widely at him. Richie then pointed at him and Ted, but Pete put his hand down.
“It’s rude to point.” Pete informed and Richie nodded and then vaguely gestured at Ted and Paul instead.
“You two have to be best friends now too, okay?” Richie informed and Paul laughed gently while Ted moved fast, wrapping an arm around Paul’s shoulders.
“Yeah little man!” Ted cheered. “Paul and I are already best friends, you don’t have to worry!”
“Good!” Richie said and then vaguely gestured at the door. “Okay you have to go now. I need to get ready for bed.”
Ted laughed loudly and tapped Pete’s shoulder again, earning a glare from his brother.
“Go put your shoes on, I gotta talk to Paul real quick.” Ted said, and Pete rolled his eyes but left Richie’s room to do as told.
Ted gently pushed Paul out into the hall and Paul raised an eyebrow.
“What’s up?” Paul asked and Ted shook his head a little.
“I’ll talk to Pete about the touching thing,” Ted said, gesturing back towards Richie’s room. The kid had closed his door to change into his pyjamas.
Paul relaxed a little at Ted’s words, smiling softly.
“Thanks,” He said. “It’s just- It’s been a lot for him. And he’s not great with touch after... stuff that’s happened. Hugs are overwhelming.”
“I get it,” Ted said. “Pete’s just overly affectionate. He doesn’t seem like the type, but he is. I just have to explain he needs to back off a bit.”
“Richie will appreciate it,” Paul said. “He’s not the best at standing up for himself.”
“Maybe Pete will rub off on him in that area,” Ted said. “All Pete does is speak up for himself, I’m worried he might get punched for it at some point.”
“Pete? Never,” Paul said, shaking his head. “You brother’s great.”
Ted awkwardly scratched at the back of his neck. “He is, I just remember what it was like for me in school,” Ted said and shook his head, slapping a hand on Paul’s shoulder. “Point is I’ll talk to him. See you around.”
Ted pulled Paul into a quick side hug and Paul nodded.
“Yeah, see you.”
Once Ted and Pete leave, Richie came out, all ready for bed and everything and he smiled at Paul.
“Can we watch a movie before bed?” Richie asked and Paul glanced at the time, sighing heavily.
“I dunno if we’ll have time to finish it, bud.” Paul said and Richie bit the inside of his cheek, thinking for a second.
“What if I promise I’ll get up in time?” Richie asked. “I won’t be late or anything tomorrow.”
Paul wasn’t worried about Richie waking up on time, the kid always woke up whenever he needed to be. But he struggled staying awake a lot, often falling asleep during classes. His teachers told Paul it had never been a problem before , and Paul tried to help, but it seemed like something they were going to have to figure out with actual professional help.
Still, Richie looked up at Paul, hopeful with little puppy dog eyes and Paul was never a strong man.
“Fine, what movie?” Paul asked and Richie cheered.
“Spider-man!” Richie said. “I wanna see why Pete likes it so much.”
“Okay, we’ll watch spider-man.” Paul agreed. “You have to promise you’ll make sure to take a nap in the nurse’s room if you feel tired tomorrow though, no more falling asleep during class.”
Richie nodded and held up his pinky.
“I promise!” Richie said and Paul interlocked their pinkies. Richie pressed his little lips to their fingers and grinned up at Paul. “Mommy always locked it with a kiss.” He informed and Paul nodded again.
It was the second time that day that Richie had brought up his mother unprompted, Paul’s sister, and he tried not to focus too much on it, tried to keep his own feelings at bay and smiled at his nephew.
“You go grab a blanket and I’ll set it up for us, okay?” Paul said and Richie nodded.
They both ended up falling asleep on the couch, halfway through the movie, Richie curled up on Paul’s lap and snoring loudly, drooling all over his uncle’s shirt. Paul would wake up in the morning with terrible pains in his neck and back and end up making them both late for school and work.
It didn’t matter though, Paul would take a thousand more mornings like that if it meant a thousand more nights like that.