Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (JoeMazzello!JohnDeacon fanfic)

ninety two

Everyone adapted well to life on the road and surprisingly, Arthur was one of the first to find himself in a new sleep schedule but both John and Roxanne assumed that it was just because he was a baby and seemingly could adapt to anything. 

Keeping him occupied, that was a little harder. Especially when they could be cooped up on the bus for hours at a time and with him now walking, it was a getting harder to keep track of him. Thankfully though, wherever they stopped, there was always plenty to do; zoos, aquariums, shops to visit and parks to walk through. 

But of course, sometimes the young parents needed a break and both of them were so thankful that they had the friends they did; everyone was always happy to take Arthur - whether it be for a few hours or a whole night. 

Almost two months into the tour, they found themselves in Florida and at any other time, Roxanne would have been thrilled to be in the same state as Disneyworld, today, was a different story. It was Arthur's birthday. 

Her baby was one. 

Now, no one outside of their hotel room would ever know this but last night, after a few glasses of wine, Roxanne may have cried to John about how she wasn't ready for him to grow up, that it was only seventeen years until he would be off to university.

He'd put her to bed after that. 

Now, it was morning, officially Arthur's first birthday and when she wakes, she sees that he too is awake, standing up and holding onto the sides of the crib that the hotel had provided. 

He realises that she's awake immediately and starts bouncing on his feet as he babbles excitedly. 

Looking over her shoulder, Roxy sees that John is still sleeping and so she gets up from the bed and moves to stand by the crib. 

"Morning," she coos, lifting him up into her arms, "And a very happy birthday." 

She kisses his hand when he pats her cheek gently, looking at John again when he turns onto his stomach, "Do you want to wake daddy up? Hm?" 

Arthur claps his hands, making her giggle, "Da!" 

"You're so close," she praises, rubbing her nose against his tiny one, "You're almost there! But please, feel free to say mummy first. No pressure." 

Last week, she was convinced that he'd said it but John (and everyone else) had said she'd imagined it. 

"Da!" Arthur cheers, reaching for John once more and Roxy can't help but roll her eyes fondly. 

"Alright." 

She sits him down on her side of the bed, laying back down herself as the baby -oh god, he was a toddler now- turns all of his attention to his father, crawling over to him so he can wake him up." 

Roxy has a sneaking suspicion that John was already awake because he opens his eyes far to quickly to have been roused from a deeper sleep and Arthur squeals in delight as he lets out a quiet groan.

"Morning," he yawns, stretching his arms out under the pillows before he's grinning at his son, "And just like that, he's one." 

"He's a toddler, John," Roxy frowns, closing her eyes as Arthur cuddles up to her, "Can't we keep him this small?" 

"If only it were that easy."

++|++

It was still rather early when the three of the venture out of the hotel room, both Roxy and John holding one of Arthur's hands so he can walk between them, down to the hotel's restaurant which was empty except for an older couple who were in one of the corner booths.