Oh, How Lovely~ Lams

4.

"Alright, baby. Go play." Alex smiled, letting go of his daughters hand as they entered the park. It had become a routine to come every Sunday, ever since the interaction with John and Philip a few weeks prior. Frances was becoming friends with Philip and to Alex's surprise, he was actually enjoying John.

Frances giggled and nodded, running to the swings.

Alex smiled, moving and sitting on the bench and watching Frances. He tended to get nervous looking away, scared something bad could happen.

"Aight, Lil man. Go play." John said, sitting him down on the sidewalk beside the play area.

"Okay, Papa!" Philip giggled before rushing to the play area. John smiled, watching for a moment before looking around for Alex. Once he spotted them, h walked over, sliding right in to the spot next to him.

"Aye, shawty!" John smiled.

"Hello, John." Alex said with a slight hum, moving over a bit to give John more room. "You look quite tired."

John nodded. "Shit yeah- I didn't sleep until like four." He laughed. leaning back a bit in the bench.

"God- I hope you didn't keep Philip up that late." Alex laughed a bit.

"Nah, lil man stayed with my mama." John yawned. "I had to work late and then had a chick come over for a hook up."

"Oh." Alex said, feeling a slight tug on his emotions. "Are you thinking of dating her?" He asked, keeping an eye of the kids.

John laughed and shook his head. "Nah, Lex. I don't really date." He explained. "The only relationship I was ever in was Philip's mom. Since then, I just do hook ups."

"Oh," Alex said once again, nodding gently. "I haven't slept with anyone in almost a year."

John looked at Alex as though he just killed someone. "A year?! Shit shawty- how do ya live?"

Alex laughed a bit and shrugged. "I don't have the time. Between Francis and work, I can't just sleep with whoever I want." He laughed.

"Yeah but a year is a long time" John pointed out. "You ever get the time, hit me up, Lex. I'll tap that ass any day, any time."

Alex rolled his eyes, trying to hide his flustered cheeks. "I most likely won't." He mumbled, watching the kids, especially since the park was starting to get quite busy.

"Yeah, we'll see about that, baby Lex." John smirked a bit. The two sat in comfortable silence, watching the kids.

Eventually, Philip started to get overwhelmed by all the people and went up to John.

"Papa! I wanna go home!" Philip whined, hugging John's leg so he'd pick him up.

"Aight, your call lil man." John smiled, picking him up and kissed his head. "Bye, Lex." He hummed as Philip waved.

"Bye, John." Alex smiled. "Bye, bye Philip." Alex smiled to the toddler.

"Bye, bye Alex!" Philip said, putting his thumb in his mouth.

John went to leave but turned back. "Oh and really, Lex, text me for a hook up." He smiled before leaving with Philip.

Alex smiled, rolling his eyes and looking down, flustered once again.

"Aight, lil man. Whatcha Wanna do now?" John said, walking down the busy streets of the city.

"I wanna go home!" Philip said, sounding as though he was gonna cry.

"Woah, woah, okay, lil man. Do you want your headphones?" John asked, frowning and rubbing Philip's back.

Philip let out a sob and nodded. "I want Dino!" He started to cry and tug at his hair.

"Okay, Pip, okay." John moved Philip's hands gently and put on his headphones, knowing he was getting overstimulated from both the amount of people at the park and the crowded streets. It wasn't uncommon for this to happen but John felt like this was gonna get really bad if they didn't make it home soon.

"We're almost home, baby boy." He said, trying to rush through the streets. He held him close, keeping his head in his shoulder and keeping the noise cancelling headphones on. Luckily, John made it to the apartment and quickly unlocked the door. He kept the lights off, taking the headphones off of Philip.

"It's okay, Pippy. You're home." John said, putting him in the crib and giving him his pet dinosaur.

Philip sobbed loudly, holding his dinosaur.

John let out a small sigh of relief, glad they got home before Philip started to thrash around and really get bad.

"Papa!" Philip cried softly after a while, standing up in his crib, dinosaur in hand.

"Come here, lil man." John said, moving from his spot over to Philip. He picked him up gently, holding his son close.

Philip held onto his father, sucking his thumb and holding his dinosaur close, sniffling softly. John went to the kitchen, fixing Philip some macaroni and cheese. Philip only ate a few select foods: chicken, plain noodles, macaroni and cheese, fries, pizza, cookies, and cake.

John rested his head on top of Philip's gently, not putting pressure that would hurt him. He finished the Mac and cheese, putt Philip some in a bowl as well as one of his plastic spoons.

He put it in the freezer for a moment, not wanting the lunch to burn Philip's mouth. He waited, closing his eyes for a moment as he rested his head on top of Philip's. After a minute or two, he opened his eyes again, not wanting to fall asleep.

He opened the freezer, getting the food out. "Here, lil man. Papa made you some lunch." John said. He didn't get a response.

"Lil man?" John asked, looking down at his soon, who was dead asleep on his shoulder.

John laughed quietly, putting the food in the fridge before going to his bed and laying down with Philip, both of them needing this nap.