Mitch and Noah

Mitch~ It's Decided

The time before and with Rose had flown by with ease, but the last 15 minutes before arriving at the DHS office in Kansas seemed longer than any of the trip so far.

Noah seemed to be feeling the opposite, as his face looked more excited with each mile closer they got. Mitch's chest felt like it just might explode from anxiety, and he realized in that moment he he'd only picked up a car seat, which was stuffed in the trunk, but not any other baby supplies whatsoever.

"Shit. I forgot I was going to stop on the way here and pick up baby stuff. We don't have time right now I think."

"That's O.K. We can go shopping with Rowan! Most babies love the store. If not there's always ordering like a pick-up order, or you could go inside while I wait with Rowan in the car, if you're comfortable with that."

The excitement in his voice and the way he said we so casually, as if Mitch and Noah were already a couple and going shopping was just something they did, had his heart swooning again for the man he knew he would do everything in his power to make his.

After witnessing him with Rose, and after seeing how vulnerable he was, Mitch couldn't stop himself from feeling the need to keep him close and protect him from whatever it was he feared so much he couldn't even speak of it.

The large two-story brick building was easy enough to find, though once they'd parked Mitch felt almost ready to throw up as he opened the trunk and stalled as best he could by doing in that moment what he could have at any other time.

Putting in the car seat.

"What the hell. I put together my practically 600-piece bedframe in just under 5 hours, but can't figure out a damn baby seat?"

Noah's chuckle from behind had him ready to spin and kiss him, the temptation so strong Mitch had to clutch hard to the car seat to force his mind and body to stop hyper-focusing on everything else as a distraction from the inevitable.

"I can do it, if you want. I can show you how to do it later. Like a car seat class or something."

Mitch stood out from the car and shrugged in defeat.

"I tried."

Noah bent inside and fixed it expertly before rising in triumph.

"Now, to Rowan."

"Yes."

Mitch spoke and stood still, his legs like lead.

Noah didn't say anything, just grabbed for his hand, which Mitch took gratefully, his legs finally moving to follow the man of his dreams inside the life changing building.

The atmosphere was calmer than Mich would have expected, as for some reason a room full of unruly, screaming children had been in his imagination. Instead, it was a calm waiting room of sorts, where a security guard checked them in by asking them questions and checking their bags for weapons.

Mitch's eyes were immediately drawn to a woman with stringy, shoulder length, brown hair that was sitting across the room and holding a sleeping child in what looked to be a t-shirt and diaper.

Their eye's locked, and the woman immediately brightened in her demeaner, smiling and waving, as if she recognized Mitch as long-time friend.

Mitch felt rooted to the spot he didn't realize he'd stopped in, unable to do anything but stare at the boy asleep in her arms. He could only see the back of his head, but his heart leaped at the sight, his resolve instantly telling him that the boy was his.

How or why, he couldn't comprehend, as it was all happening so fast, as if being hit by a freight train, with the influx of emotions and decisions he had made in under 5 seconds.