It's a Hard life | Hardzello♡

59. The adoption

When the two boys arrive home again, they can hear the little Liz scream already, although they haven't even opened the front door yet.
"To be honest I think my sister just called because she needs some help with our little Lizzy." Joe says to Ben with a sigh before grabbing his keys. He opens the front door, stepping aside so his boyfriend can enter first.
In the living room they see John sitting on the couch. "Hey, how was your walk through New York?" He asks the two.
Ben smiles widely. "It was nice." He says.
"Anyways, Mary wanted to speak to you, Joe. She's in her room." John says before focusing on his phone again.
Joe looks at Ben, the latter shrugs to tell the boy he doesn't know the reason either.
"I guess I'll go talk to her then." The ginger gives Ben a short kiss before walking into Mary's room.

In the room Joe sees his sister sitting on the bed with her daughter in her arms.
Mary is rocking the baby girl, in the hope she will stop crying. "Come on Lizzy, don't you see I'm trying? Please." Mary says desperately.
Joe knocks on the wall to let his sister know he's there. "Hey." He walks over to her and sits down on the bed.
"I don't know what's wrong Joe. I just fed her, I changed her diaper, and she just woke up from her nap. She keeps spitting out her pacifier and doesn't want her lovey." Mary rambles desperately.
Joe puts his arm around his sister. "You need to give her some love too, sis. She can feel you're scared." He says softly. He carefully takes over Liz from Mary so he can show her. The ginger presses the girl against his chest as he starts humming softly to her.
It takes her a few minutes, but then Liz stops crying.
Joe gives her a small kiss on her head as he gently rubs his hand over her back. "There we go love." He says with a proud smile. "John said you wanted to talk to me?"
Mary nods. "Yeah. It's about the adoption. Matt and I talked about it, and it has to be someone I trust blindly. And I don't want to cut all contact with her, you know. We talked about it for a bit, and then Matt gave me an idea."
Joe gives her a curious look.
She takes a shaky breath in before she looks Joe in the eye. "Joe I- we uhm- we would want you and Ben to be her Dads."

••••

"What's on your mind ginger? Usually you're never this quiet." Ben asks when he and Joe are lying on their bed later that day.
The ginger is lying with his head on Ben's stomach, and just stares at the ceiling. Of course the words his sister said earlier are on his mind. It's about an hour later now, and he still hasn't told Ben. Maybe because a very small part of Joe is kind of scared about Ben's reaction.
Ben raises his eyebrow when it stays silent. "Joey?"
Joe sighs softly. "Well, Mary told me that they have a couple in mind for the adoption of Liz." Joe says softly as he closes his eyes.
"But that's great, right?" Ben asks surprised when he hears the doubting undertone in the voice of his boyfriend.
The blond is about to say something when he's cut off by Joe.
"Benny, she wants us to be Liz's fathers." The ginger says. He cracks one eye open so he can see Ben's reaction.
The blond boy looks quite shocked, but Joe can also see his eyes twinkle lightly. Which is a good sign most of the time.
"U-us? Becoming parents? But- but how did she come up with us?" Ben stammers confused.
Joe swallows a little when he feels himself being pulled closer to Ben's chest. "Well, her and Matt were talking about it. And then Matt said he wished that they would find someone who loves Liz as much as we do." He says.
"What did you say to her? Did you give her an answer yet?" Ben asks as he nervously starts playing with Joe's ginger hair.
Joe sits up and shakes his head. "No, of course not. I told her that it isn't just my decision and we actually never talked about this serious stuff before. So I don't know how you'd think about having a family one day." Joe says softly. He moves his gaze towards the ceiling, which is why he can't see the smile that is forming around Ben's lips.

"Well, I always figured we would have one. Just... later on. But if we're ready for it now...-" The blond mumbles, saying his thoughts out loud.
Joe looks up, processing what his boyfriend just said. "Does that mean that you'd be up for it?"
Ben chuckles and nods. "I mean, yeah. I think we're ready to have our own little family." He says with a big smile.
Joe can feel his heart glow, and the excitement running through his body. "But if we are really gonna be Liz's parents, that means we can't go out and stuff that much anymore. Are you sure you'd be willing to give all that up? You know, being young?" Joe says. He just wants to make sure Ben really wants it.
The blond chuckles softly. "I don't think I'll miss those hangovers. Plus it will be more than worth it. I'm sure I want to go for this with you."
Joe smiles widely and lies down on Ben's chest again. A brief silence falls, in which Joe just listens to Ben's heartbeat. "So we're really gonna be parents? We're really gonna do this?" The ginger asks with a huge smile.
Ben gives the boy on his chest a kiss on the head and nods. "Yeah, we're really gonna be parents." He says with a big smile.
Joe sits up and pulls Ben into a big kiss. "We're gonna have a family." He lets his forehead rest against Ben's and closes his eyes.
Ben closes his eyes as well, not able to wipe this big smile off his face. "We are. But... how are we gonna do things? I mean, we don't have any baby stuff at home. And are you even allowed to get on a plane with a newborn?' He rambles.
Joe giggles softly. "Don't worry. Knowing Mary, she has already figured out everything. We should tell her the good news tonight during dinner." He says full of excitement before curling up against Ben's chest.
Ben smiles and nods in agreement. He starts to gently caress Joe's cheek, something he knows the boy really likes.
But this time, Joe stops him. "Don't do that, you're gonna make me fall asleep." The ginger mumbles with his eyes closed.
Ben grins, and continues his movements.
Joe yawns and lets out a pleased noise as he snuggles deeper into the blond's chest. "I love it when you do that."
Ben smiles and keeps caressing the boy's cheek while giving him a kiss on the head. "I know you do, baby." He whispers.

○○○○

Later that night, Ben Joe and John are sitting on the couch while Mary is helping Joseph in the kitchen.
While Joe and John are playing a videogame together, Ben is sitting with Liz in his arms. He just gave the little girl a bottle, and now she has fallen asleep in his arms.
When Joe has finished the last round of Mario kart, he has time to glimpse at Ben and Liz. Immediately a big smile appears on his face.
The two haven't told Mary the good news yet, but it won't be long until dinner is ready.
"Okay, I give up. You win every round. This isn't even fun anymore." John says sulking as he puts down his game console.
Joe giggles and shrugs. "Practice is the key John." He says with a smirk.
That's when Mary and Joseph walk in, both with their hands full of plates of food.
Joe scoots closer to Ben and puts his head on the blond's shoulder. For a moment, he just looks at Liz being peacefully asleep. "Should we tell her now?" Joe whispers so only Ben will hear it.
The blond boy nods excited.

"Hey, sis? So, about what you asked this morning...-" Joe starts.
Mary Immediately looks up, allowing Joe and Ben to see the nervous look in her eyes.
"We'd be honored to adopt Liz and become her fathers." Ben says before Joe can finish his sentence.
Mary's eyes widen. "Really?" She asks softly.
Both boys nod with a big smile. "Yes really. There are a few things we need to think through, but I'm sure you have already been working on that." Joe says. When he looks at his father, a very proud look meets him. Joe smiles reassured when he knows his father agrees with their decision.
Even though it wouldn't change anything if Joseph didn't agree, it's good to know they have his blessing.
Before Joe realizes it, he finds himself in his sister's arms. He pulls his sister close and enjoys the hug.

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How happy did I make you with this chapter?

Kinda going through a breakup rn so I can't promise the next update will be soon. But who knows🙃

Kiss from me♡