Sanders Sides Parenting/Kids One-Shots

(75) Found Family - Demus (and others platonically)

Summary: Four young boys are waiting for a family to take them in - forever or just until the youngest grows up a little and the oldest gets a high-paying job. The brothers don't expect for anyone to actually love them... But they were wrong.

I also wanted to explore soft Remus who just wants to make people laugh but does it in weird ways - let's see if it works.

Words: 1349

Virgil was trying to get comfortable on his older brother's lap as he played on his other brother's phone. "Mph... Why's your lap so bony?" He moaned and grumbled loudly - but Logan didn't care and seemed more involved with his organic chemistry textbook. Virgil's big purple hoodie was dirty as he'd refused to take it off for a week and his hair was also unbrushed as he had run away from every social worker that tried to help him brush it.

Life wasn't that interesting for the six year old Virgil. He had three older brothers: Roman, almost a sophomore that had the stress of a college student; Logan, although he was a middle schooler he had the maturity of an old person; and Patton who was in elementary school but was more overwhelming than fun. But that's all Virgil had known since he was a small baby. Other children had parents - he had a band of brothers. "I'm bored!"

"Please stop complaining Negative Nancy, you're not a teenager yet no need to be moody." Roman's voice echoed from Logan and Roman's part of the small bedroom, staring down at a notebook he was scribbling on. Virgil knew he was probably trying to write one of his many poems about his life that was his way of processing everything.

Logan ruffled his little brother's hair but otherwise seemed occupied on his reading. Too occupied. "Can we play Uno please?" Virgil tried to do his best puppy eyes and put on the tone of a toddler that always got his older brothers to do anything. Roman and Logan ignored him though in favour of their other activities. "Please?"

"Yeah!" Patton cheered, already climbing on Roman's desk of drawers to get to the board games the high schooler hid from anyone he lived with that wasn't his family. Virgil pouted and got off Logan's lap to help catch the Uno cards when they fell. A yellow sneaker and cat hoodie fell before the cards though.

It was Patton's turn to pout when he realised his two older brothers weren't moving to play Uno with them. "Oh come on! Let's have a family game night!"

"It's not night-time yet Patton it's 10am."

Patton glared at Logan once he said that - he strongly disliked being corrected and Logan had a habit of correcting everyone and everything. This glare was the real persuasion tactic of the family. It even made Logan close his book and stand up to join in the game. Now only Roman sat and scribbled on his notebook - not even looking at them. "Roman..."

"Just this stanza Pat." Roman responded. As both Patton and Logan were a little older than Virgil they could understand what their oldest brother was going through. He was shutting down. It had been three years of this life - Roman taking care of all of them with the help of the occasional social worker. His childhood had to be put on pause and this was the replacement.

As Virgil knew his brother wouldn't be looking up and playing any time soon the first grader wondered out the room and around the house. He liked doing that sometimes - no-one bothered him when he was just walking back and forth.

"Oh but imagine if we have an extroverted high schooler like I was! Or maybe a nerdy middle schooler that hates to talk to people like you! Oh, but I will always be tempted by cheery elementary schoolers - especially if they're almost in middle school as I want to keep that happiness..." Virgil could hear a happy voice blabbering from the head social worker's private office. The office often had people in that wanted to adopt kids but they usually weren't that excited.

Virgil peered into the room by looking through the door window. Inside the office the social worker faced two men... Huh, he never saw that before. Not many best friends adopted children together. One of the men was wearing green and black and had dozens of piercings and tattoos that looked like the drawings Virgil made in kindergarten. The second man looked slightly more formal with a yellow bowtie and a long snake tattoo peaking out of his collar. The green-wearing man kept on chatting to the social worker until his view was blocked by a second social worker at the other side of the window.

"Oh, who's that?" The man with plenty piercings chirped as the door opened so Virgil could be shoo'd away. The man peaked out from the corner of the social worker's silhouette with a smile. He unleashed a powerful throaty gasp as they met eyes. "Hi kid! Jan what the fu... I want that one!"

He was clever for censoring himself so quickly, even Virgil could realise that. "He's not available to adopt alone. He's in a sibling group." The social worker was always stern. It's like she never wanted Virgil and his brothers to leave this place and find a family.

But the man didn't seem to mind the infiltration of the social worker blocking him from this kid. "Who are your siblings kid? Tell me about it!" The man pat his lap for Virgil to come sit on while his snake tattoo friend smiled softly and seemed to examine everybody's behaviour. 

With all the courage in Virgil's small body the young child walked past the stern social worker and kept his eyes on the two men. "I'm Remus and this is Janus." The green man pointed at the snake tattoo man who quietly nodded. "What's your name?"

"Virgil-" Virgil's face was squished as Remus gasped again and turned to Janus.

"Can we keep him Janny please I just want to squish him to oblivion!" Remus didn't let go of Virgil as he blabbered more about how adorable adopting a sibling group could be, how he was surprised they never considered it before, how excited he was to be adopting kids with his... husband?

"Are you friends?"

Janus couldn't help but let out a laugh. Instead of answering straight away the pair of them smiled softly - Remus brushed a hand through the child's knotty hair slowly and gently. Time slowed down when that happened. It was very different from a hairbrush, almost definitely, hairbrushes were cold and hard and made Virgil cringe. This hand through his hair was soft and already seemed to be full of love and the movements were due to people that would never hurt him.

"We're... roommates." Roommates seemed to have more meaning to it as Janus winked at his husband when he said that - but life moved on. "We're two men that love each other just as much as a husband and wife love each other. Is that OK with you?"

Virgil didn't have to say anything but instead he nodded, leaning into Remus' chest to get more of his soft movements. Remus chuckled at this and just held him with adoration lining his green eyes. "Before you fall asleep kid - can you tell us who your siblings are?"

"Patton's 10 and he won't stop talking, Logan's a nerd and he's almost 14, Roman's gonna be 16 early next year and he's really stressed about everything." All Virgil cared about was snuggling into these nice people. He only had vague memories of cuddles from people that weren't his brothers and only now he just realised how much he missed them.

"Virgil!" Roman's voice was screaming around the group home but he stopped as soon as he saw his smallest brother cuddling up to two excited men. Even a soft smile escaped as he realised what that could mean. "Um... Hi?"

Logan and Patton also peaked out from behind their older brother. Both men had big smiles seeing the four of them and Remus was bouncing in his seat seeing who he knew would be his four kids all together. "Hi! Come sit, tell us your story!"

Roman let out a sigh. Finally, after three years, he could unleash his story and not have to worry for once.