(COMPLETE) Love Isn't Conditional

Coffee Dads

Hey! Surprise! I felt like giving an extra chapter. I might update this twice a week instead of once a week now as this is already pre-written. Would you guys like chapter updates on Wednesdays and Mondays or Wednesdays and Fridays - or maybe even Saturday or Sunday updates?

Also check out my new analogical book 'Ghosts' if you haven't already!

Logan took a deep breath smelling his cocoa and toffee coffee. Smooth guitar music was playing on a radio in the coffee shop, there was a small amount of conversation from other coffee lovers, and he was alone. He was on lunch break and one of Logan's co-workers was going to get takeaway McDonalds so offered to entertain Virgil while Logan took an hour break at a nearby Starbucks. He was glad he could trust his co-workers with anything, they were all great people, but he did always miss his little boy.

The bell at the entrance to the coffee shop rang, causing the baristas to jump into action again and finish their relaxed conversations with the customers. Customers usually came one at a time, minutes apart, allowing the workers to have a stress free day and have relaxing conversations with anyone who wanted company. Logan was not one of the people that desired that, but he liked the sentiment, nonetheless.

He looked up to see who entered, only to find it was someone he recognised. Red hoodie, dark ripped jeans, short straight auburn hair, happy smile. Virgil's playmate's father: Roman. When they met eyes Logan gave a smile, and Roman sat down opposite him with a fresh cup of coffee.

"Good afternoon." Logan said, giving a soft smile and sipping his coffee again, causing his glasses to cloud up slightly. Roman also gave a smile and sipped his cinnamon coffee. He didn't have the familiar, smiling, cheerful toddler beside him making Logan give a confused glance. "Where's your son?"

"Being babysat by his Grandpas – well I think one of them is at work, so just the one Grandpa for now. Probably being overdosed on caffeine." Roman smiled and chuckled a low and raspy chuckle; his eyes laid on the coffee he was stirring before glancing out of the window at the people walking by. It was unusual to see him without his little ball of energy, he seemed calmer and quieter when out of dad mode. Logan supposed it was the same the other way round, although he had spent so much time with his little Stormcloud he was beginning to lose the concept of his own independent person. "Didn't realise how quiet the world is without my little Puffball."

"This is definitely a place for introspection. Virgil's being babysat too, this is my lunch break..." Logan placed his coffee down, watching the baristas and admiring the architecture of the room, wondering whether he would have become an architect if he ever went to college as that was one of his old career plans. He was happy that he went into work at 18, but sometimes his mind did wonder. There was a comfortable silence between the two fathers while they inhaled their caffeine. The two parents had only know each other for about a week, and all their meetings had been surrounded by their toddlers. This was the first time it was just the two of them. Yet, for Logan, it felt comfortable sitting opposite Roman – like he'd known him for years. There seemed to be no nervousness in their shared aura, just comfortableness like sitting in front of a fireplace in winter. After a while Logan sighed, looking at Roman again. "How... Are you finding things?" He asked, knowing there was an opportunity to talk about Roman's life now they weren't surrounded by kids. He was used to, and happy to, act like a therapist of sorts. "You mentioned something about your ex..."

"Yeah, yeah, just one day at a time." Roman giggled slightly awkwardly, biting his lip in thought and taking a deep breath. "It's... Quite difficult... Yeah..."

"Well I'm sure you're doing well. You love your son and that's all you need to do right now."

Roman nodded, taking a sip of coffee and another deep breath. He gave a small smile and then met eyes with Logan again, his hazel eyes expanding as an idea popped into his head. "Can I complain about my ex? I don't want to upset you or waste your ti..."

"Of course you can, I'm here to listen." Logan smiled wide, leaning closer subconsciously just to seem more approachable. Roman also did the same and fiddled with a pain-au-chocolat he bought, expanding the silence for a minute or two as he thought and the relaxed fireplace aura continued.

"Um... Well, he was a lawyer, and I was a waiter in a restaurant in the city. I didn't work a lot though, only like an hour or two every other day - I stayed home to take care of Pat. He wasn't a father, in short. He ignored Patton constantly. I mean, Puffball's first steps were towards him and his response was – 'ah, good' – I mean who does that?" The teaspoon hit Roman's cup with a chime, emotions overtaking him but quickly fading. He let out a breath and looked outside the shop again, bottling his anger probably until he was in a more private area.

It was certainly unfortunate, Logan remembered when Virgil took his first steps. He remembered the moment clearly, Virgil was almost a year old when it finally happened. Logan nonchalantly placed his infant son on the floor, surrounded by different baby toys and teething activities to entertain him for a few minutes. He was on the phone doing work calls and kept his eyes on his son before forcing himself to close his eyes to recite a phone number of a certain therapist to the particular patient. He remained on the call until he felt a soft tap on his knee, then a loud mumble and giggle before he realised his son had appeared just beside his father's foot, therefore the only conclusion was that he walked closer. Logan ended the call as soon as possible and picked up his son, giving him a large cuddle and a strawberry milkshake treat with a lot of praise.

Such a null reaction to such a cute moment was psychopathic, although that was a very extreme reaction. "He never took time off for Patton, told me I could deal with it on my own, so after a while - and a lot of arguments - I decided I was going to. And now I'm here..."

"It's a shame Patton and Virgil aren't a little older, they'd see you as a superhero for what you did." Logan continued the earnest eye contact until Roman gathered the confidence to look at his friend again. Once the sentence was processed Roman smiled shyly and nodded in agreement. The pair chatted, Roman talking about his past relationship and processing his feelings healthily and Logan was actively listening and giving reassurance. It felt really nice for Roman to let it all go, venting to a friend without fear of worrying his small child. The two men eventually finished their impromptu therapy session, making a comfortable silence again and landing their eyes to the wide windows and door into the café.

Logan's eyes widened watching the person walk through, a business woman with her infant child and a golden Labrador. He then nodded to himself and looked away, holding his breath. The Labrador was panting, wagging its tail and looking at everyone with large doe brown eyes. When the woman got her coffee she walked to find a seat, focusing on the pushchair that held her baby. The dog greeted the other customers – getting plenty of pats and 'good boys'. When it approached Roman and Logan it received a pat from Roman and a soft smile from Logan. Roman raised an eyebrow and looked over, leaning forward slightly and whispering to his glasses-wearing friend. "Are you alright Logan?"

"I - ach - Sorry..." Logan whispered back, a sneeze interrupting what he was saying as his eyes started to water. Roman tried to calculate if his friend was scared or was having some kind of reaction to something. "Ach... I'm allergic to fur – ach..."

Roman immediately jumped into dad action. Patton had severe hay-fever so he knew what to do in a situation of an allergic reaction quite well. "How severe are your reactions? Do you have an epi-pen? I have tissues." Roman grabbed a pack on tissues from his pocket, handing it to Logan but he paused before grabbing them.

"Is that the hand you pet the – ach - dog with? I get severe rashes at contact after someone pet a... ach..." Roman shook his head which allowed Logan to take them and blow his nose. "And no I don't need an epi-pen... ach... It fades in a few minutes."

"Trust me, if I knew you were allergic I wouldn't have pet that pup Logan. I'm so sorry." Roman smiled, stuffing the hand that touched the fluffy sneezing storm into his pocket so he wouldn't hurt his friend. "I suppose that's why you adopted a baby rather than a pet?" He tried to laugh, watching Logan start to pack away the things he had out into a small bag.

"It's perfectly fine, I'm used to these reactions..." Logan's eyes were still watery but the sneezing had died down. "I should get back to work. See you Ro..." Logan didn't finish Roman's name, not paying attention to it until he paused and watched Roman for a reaction.

"Yeah, see you Lo. We should do this again." And at that Logan left back to work, feeling utterly relaxed and happy with his new friend. A small excitement filled Logan at the thought of having coffee with Roman again without the kids.