John shuts his alarm off before it can go off. Nobody else is awake yet, so he gets up and finds a blanket to wrap the egg in. Quietly, he opens his door and tiptoes down the hallway to the front room.
He sets the egg down softly on the kitchen table before going to turn on the coffee machine and start breakfast, like usual. By the time he hears Spruce's door open, everything is ready and the egg is now on the couch next to John as he sips his coffee.
Spruce walks out, his tail dragging lazily behind him as he yawns, and his eyes are barely open. He looks over at John Dory for half a second before beelining to the coffee machine.
As he stirs his milk in, Spruce freezes. Then he whips around and stares at the egg in shock. He groans. "Fuck, again?"
John winces. "Looks like it," he says.
"God damnit, man!" Spruce complains. Then he sighs. "I really hoped Floyd was the last one. I'm so done with kids for, like, ever."
John chuckles a little. Clay comes out of his room, a book in his hands as he reads, not looking up until Spruce grabs the top of his head and turns him to look at John. His eyes widen.
Floyd comes up behind him, bumping into him and rubbing his eyes as he mumbles. "What's up, Clay?"
"Dude, there's an egg on the couch," Clay whispers in shock.
"WHAT?!" Floyd's eyes go wide and he looks at John and gasps. "Oh my god!" He rushes over and looks closer at the egg. "Where did it come from? Did you find it, JD? How did-"
"Hey, hey, dude, chill," John laughs, "I'm not sure where it came from, I found it outside on the stoop earlier."
Spruce scoffs. "Typical. Exactly what they did with-" John glares at him, shutting him up.
"Fuck," Clay whispers. "Another sibling. That's... cool."
John smiles at him. "It is cool! We get to be big brothers again and Floyd gets to join us too," he says, smiling at Floyd's big eyes full of excitement.
"Awesome!" Floyd yells, jumping up and down in excitement and his tail wiping back and forth. Then he stops and gasps. "Can I hold it? Pleeeaaase, JD?" He gives puppy eyes.
John shakes his head fondly. "Sure, come here, sit."
Floyd sits next to John and he shows his brother how to hold the egg, making sure he's got a good hold on it before he sits back. Floyd looks up at him in wonder. "It's so pretty."
John tries not to tear up. "It is pretty. Most eggs usually are."
Clay sits on the carpet in front of them, watching Floyd rock the egg back and forth, his own tail starting to wag. "Do you think it'll be another boy? I think it will."
"I do too! I can't wait to have a baby brother, it'll be so fun," Floyd says, hugging the egg.
"Nah, I say it's a girl," Spruce says, walking over and sitting on Floyd's other side.
"I agree." John grins. "How about a bet? Losers do the other twos chores for a week?"
"Bet, bros," Clay responds, raising a hand to fist bump. John meets him while Spruce and Floyd laugh.
Suddenly, the front door opens and Rosiepuff walks in. "Grandma!" Floyd yells excitedly, running over to her with the egg still in his arms. "Look, look, look! JD found an egg outside!"
Rosiepuff smiles down at him. "Did he now?" She looks up at John and he gulps. "Isn't that wonderful, Jonathan? Another little one running around." Spruce narrows his eyes at her tone while John Dory sweats nervously. "I hope you're ready to take care of them."
YOU ARE READING
In The Rough
FanfictionComing back to raise his baby wasn't something John Dory believed he would ever do, but he's going to do his best to raise Branch as well as he can now that he's back. Hopefully everything goes smoothly from here on out. And he really hopes his lies...
