Kyle "Gaz" Garrick x M!Reader

Nineteen

"Hey, big guy!", with a laugh, you picked up Matti and threw him in the air.

Giggling, he wrapped his little arms around your neck and cuddled up against the rubbery surface of your raincoat. The sky had darkened a little, the smell of rain was in the air.

"You're you having fun?", you leaned down to look at Elliot who squatted between some bushes and tore out small pieces of grass. "Whatcha doin'?"

With his little forehead covered in wrinkles, he dismissed your question and kept tearing grass out the ground. As he did so small pieces of soil came out with it, leaving holes all around.

"Helping cutting the grass, big man?", with a grin, Kyle kneeled next to Elliot.

Damp soil and moist grass pressed against the fabric of his jeans, left green marks and stains all over. It must have been uncomfortable but he ignored it to humour the boy.

Matti chewed on his thumb. Gently, you pulled his hand from his mouth.

"Don't do that, sweetheart.", you said gently and placed the tip of your finger on his nose to make it wiggle. "You'll bite your nails bloody."

Chucking, he tried to chase your hand away while his legs wiggled against your torso. For a few minutes you humoured him by pretending to be a monster that wanted to pinch his puffy little cheeks.

"Nooooo! Dad, nooo!", he chuckled and buried his face on your shoulder.

Smiling, you placed a few kisses on his hair. It was curly, quite similar to the structure of Kyle's. Even though both boys had taken after you in many ways there was still the part of their mothers DNA that was unmistakably her.

Which was also the reason why both of them had a darker shade of skin than your (S/C) body. And yet, now that you were standing in the garden, Kyle squatting next to Elliot, you couldn't help but think that you wouldn't be noticeable.

It was an incredibly dump thing to think but Elliot and Matthias would have been able to pass as you and Kyle's kids without problem.

"Jesus...", sighing, you rolled your eyes, took your eyes off your childhood friend and shook your head.

Something was going into the worst direction possible. And you couldn't even explain why. All you managed to admit was that maybe you had missed him more than you should have.

And maybe you thought too close of him than the two of you actually were. Back in the day, maybe. But not after years of not seeing each other.

It was delusional.

And yet.

You couldn't help but create all these scenarios in your head, fuelled by memories and hopes that had no business being this vivid.

So much so that it made your heart ache whenever realisation struck. He wasn't meant to be someone like that. Not to you.

Matthias yawned, showing off his teeny tiny teeth that started to grow bigger by the day. Time really did fly when having kids. You still remembered the awful nights when he had started to grow teeth.

Secretly, you were happy that this nightmare was over. Your eyes wandered down to Elliot.

Still busy with his grass, Elliot kept plugging out all the strands he managed to grab with his little fingers. Gaz had started to chip in, slowly plugging some strands to match the boys pace.

"That enough?", he asked and offered Elliot a hand full of fresh green.

With dedication burning in his eyes the little boy took the grass, turned to look at you and held up the bundle he had gathered.

A little confused but with a smile, you reached down to accept his offering.

"Thank you.", you tickled Matti's face with the tips. "Anything you want done with these?"

Elliot stared at you, his little eyebrows drawn together with full seriousness and shook his head.

"No.", he said and turned back to digging a larger hole that combined all the small holes he had created by tearing out patches of grass. "Shovel. I need a shovel."

In one quick movement he was on his feet and marched straight across the garden to the small shed in which you kept all the garden tools.

His small hands barely reached the handle. As soon as he pulled it down the doors swung open and a broom threatened to hit Elli in the face.

"Woah!", quicker than you could blink, Kyle ran up, grabbed him by the collar and swiped him off his feet, just in time to avoid a disaster. "That almost got you. You gotta be a bit more careful, little man."

Humming, Elliot swing his legs through the air, arms spread while he pretended to be an air plain.

"No survival skills.", Kyle sighed and shook his head.

Gently, he let him back to the ground.

"I wanna be big!", Elli looked at him with serious eyes. "Up! Uuuuup!"

Impatiently, he raised his hands into the air and balanced on his feet while trying to get Kyle to let him ride his shoulders.

With exhaustion in his brown eyes, Kyle looked down on him and sighed. His gaze jumped over to you, your eyes met.

That alone was enough to chase electricity through your veins. But as he smiled you caught yourself sucking in a sharp breath.

"I'll pick him up.", quickly, you walked over and offered him Matti in exchange.

Without complain Kyle accepted, but remained close while Matti debated which of the two of you he preferred. For a brief moment you feared he'd try and complain that he wanted to be carried by you.

But Kyle was slick. And unnecessarily good with kids. With a broad smile, he leaned to the side, closer to you and picked Matti up while distracting him. He didn't even notice how your hand disappeared.

You shifted, but Kyle reached out with his free hand and pulled you close as well. Struck by surprise, your hands shot up to came to a rest on his shoulder.

Kyle chuckled.

"Look, Matti.", he moved so that your son was able to look at your face. "Dad's right here. No need to cry."

And he didn't.