Whole Again - poly!feral boys (DreamSMP)

forty

had to bring back a fan favorite for this little filler chapter :)

also, back to Finley's POV for this one 

A familiar ringtone fills my ears and pulls me out of my sleep.

I have to wrestle my way out of Alex's arms to be able to reach my phone.

"Hello?", I groggily speak into my phone.

Alex lets out a soft exhale as he slowly opens his eyes.

"Who is it?", his voice is deeper than normal as he tries to rid himself of sleep.

"Hey, Finley. Did I wake you up?", I immediately perk up at the voice on the other side.

"Hey, Archer. What's up?"

I'm almost fully awake now, always happy to hear from my brother.

"We leave for our honeymoon tomorrow, and we were wondering if you and the guys would watch Lincoln for us?", he questions.

"You're okay with leaving Linc with us?", I'm so excited if he actually does leave my nephew here.

"Well, it's better than with Mom and Dad. Sam's parents are out of town this week with her sister, so they can't take him with them.", Archer explains.

"I'd love to take him for you guys!", I grin, excitedly patting Alex's thigh.

"Good because we're at the Orlando airport right now. Our connecting flight leaves in an hour.", he sounds sheepish.

"What? Oh my god, what was your backup plan?", I laugh as I jump out of bed, searching for an outfit.

"We had no backup plan.", he laughs.

"Okay, I'll be there soon.", I tell him.

"Text me when you're here.", he requests.

We exchange goodbyes before I hang up.

"What's going on?", Alex yawns, stretching his arms out above his head.

"Archer asked if we'd be willing to watch Lincoln for a week while they're on their honeymoon.", I relay the information with a big grin.

I quickly change into different clothes to attempt to look a little more put-together for the airport.

"Do you want me to drive?", Alex offers.

I nod, gladly accepting the offer.

"Should we wake the others up?", he whispers as he stands up too, only putting on a different hoodie.

"No, they need the sleep. Besides, it might be a lot for Linc if there's five people seconds after his parents leave.", I muse.

I don't want to overwhelm the poor kid seconds after he's put into my care.

"Good idea.", he agrees.

Alex may or may not speed a little more than normal on the way to the airport, and I think that he's just as excited as I am for Lincoln's stay.
We both walk a little faster than normal until I spot the familiar little red-headed boy.

"Linc!", I exclaim.

He spins around and immediately runs in for a hug.

"Mommy says I get to stay with you.", he whispers into my ear like it's a secret.

"I know. Are you excited?", I ask him.

"Yeah!", he cheers.

"Do you want a piggyback ride, buddy?", I ask him.

His eyes light up, and he nods with a toothy grin.

I wave my hand towards Alex, silently urging him to come closer.

I pick up Lincoln and help him wrap his arms and legs around Alex.

"What's your name?", Lincoln politely asks Alex, curiously staring at him.

"I'm Alex.", he replies.

"I like dinos. What do you like?", Lincoln turns into an interviewer all of the sudden.

The two boys chatter while I say goodbye to Archer.

"Have a good time!", I tell them as they start to walk away.

Archer only waves at me in response.

"Make me another nephew!", I yell this time.

Archer flips me off, and I laugh as they head into their gate.

I carry Lincoln's car seat and his suitcase to the car while Alex and Lincoln discuss something about cats.

"Okay, buddy.", I giggle, pulling him off of Alex's back.

I strap him into his car seat before we start heading back to the house.

"Kitty?", Lincoln asks curiously as he looks out the window.

I bite my lip as I try to think how to answer that.

"No, we don't have a kitty.", I reply.

Images of Patches flash through my mind, and my heart hurts a bit as I think about how cute it would be if Lincoln could play with Patches.

"Oh.", Lincoln frowns a little, his blue eyes disappointed.

When we pull up to the house, I help Lincoln out of the car while Alex grabs his suitcase from the back.

I take his hand and lead him into the house.

Before I can even say anything, I'm pulled into a bone-crushing hug.

The tufts of black hair tells me that it's George.

"I thought you left.", he croaks, his cheeks slightly wet from tears.

"I'm here, George. I'm okay.", I promise him.

Lincoln tugs on my arm, and I pull away from George to look at him.

"Why's he sad?", Lincoln asks.

George chuckles a little bit, wiping at his eyes with his hand.

"He just missed me.", I explain, squeezing George's hand with the one that's not holding Lincoln's.

"Oh.", Lincoln seems unimpressed by my answer, but he accepts it anyway.

"Lincoln!", Karl gasps as he exits the other bedroom.

Lincoln runs and gives him a hug, familiar with Karl from the incident at the wedding.

"How are you?", Karl asks the boy.

"Can we have a snack?", Lincoln asks him.

I check my watch, and it is about lunch time.

"Let's go get lunch?", I suggest.

"Ice cream?", Lincoln asks hopefully.

"Ice cream for lunch!", Sapnap agrees with the boy, the last to emerge from the bedroom.

"Okay!', Lincoln grins at all of us.

When we get our ice cream, I snap a picture of all of us holding our ice cream.

All I can think about as I watch the boys all help Lincoln clean his face and the dripping ice cream down his hand is how much I wish Clay was here...