TOTCF content because my brain go brr

Happy Father's Day

Cale yawned as he woke up, rubbing his eyes with a bleariness and exhaustion. He had been struggling to sleep ever since his children had decided to use their bedrooms. There was an emptiness and a lack of other's body weight in his bed. He missed their presence. He sighed and opened the door from his bedroom. 

Then Cale opened his eyes wide and felt crushed. He blinked at the sheer amount of gifts and flowers that overflowed from his living room. He looked up at his family who stood above him with a cake. Choi Han smiled and pulled his friend up, who was still discombobulated from the landslide of gifts that piled upon him.

"Happy Father's Day!" His family members celebrated in unison. Ohn, Hong and Raon held up a handcrafted banner with the messy childlike writing. They wrapped him in the banner, causing him to dizzily take a few steps back. He shook his head to reconfigure his surroundings. He then picked all of the children up in his arms. 

"What are you talking about?"

"You're our dad, Human." Raon quickly blurted out before hiding his face in Cale's shoulders. Ohn and Hong nodded fast as their faces turned pink. Ohn repeated the last word as her face turned more red. "S-so we're celebrating you..."

Cale's eyes softened despite his confusion. Then a thought made its way into his head. 

"Does that mean you're going to call me Dad now?" Cale's mainly stoic facade had contorted into a smirk. He never called the kids his own as that would be presumptuous of him to assume that they would want that. Besides, he wasn't exactly parenting them was he?

He wasn't exactly the greatest father figure, or role model for children to look up to. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to a good parent. He hasn't exactly got someone to base his parenting off of. But as he asked the question, his heart stirred, almost as if he was wanting this subconsciously for a while. He looked at them expectantly, with sparkling eyes.

"Don't push it." Ohn rolled her eyes, before giggling. She had worried over his reaction for a while. She didn't want to ruin their familial relationship, even if they were a little bit willfully oblivious to how their family worked. She was hesitant at first, not wanting to replace her father with Cale. But this wasn't replacing him, this was allowing other fatherly figures in her life. She was allowed to want guidance.

Cale looked up at the rest of his family who seemed that they were waiting for their turn with him. 

"And why are you all here? I'm not your guys' father."

"You kind of are." Choi Han shrugged as he held the cake.

"What?" Cale looked up at them quizzically. The children jumped down from his arms. 

"You feed us, clothe us, pay for our mistakes, give us a home." Choi han listed off the top of his head.

"You remember our birthdays, buy us presents, listen to us rant, give us allowances." Rosalyn continued as she remembered how he treated them for the last few years. Whenever she mentioned running low on high grade mana stones, he would drop hundreds upon her before she even finished her sentence. 

"Okay that's enough now-"

"Protect us, care for us, look after us when we're ill, save us when we're in any type of danger." Beacrox counted off his fingers, as Ron nodded simply. He reminisced on the time when he had lost his arm, and how it was Cale that cleaned his wounds and got him the prosthetic arm.

"Spend time with us, teach us, be there for us, validate us, believe in us." Dodori went on, from behind Mila. He looked up at her sheepishly, hoping to not get scolded for joining in. Mila gave him a proud look and ruffled through his pink afro as he squawked in embarrassment.

"Alright, I get it, this feels like you're calling me out."

"Tell us when we're being stupid about our perceptions about ourselves." Alberu cut in, remmebering the time where he showed him the Crossman secret. When he was the most vulnerable with Cale when he let out all his insecurites about becoming king, and how despite a miscommunication at first, Cale showed his insecurities to be completely wrong. 

"Give us financial aid, heal us, let us rest and make sure we don't overwork ourselves." Eruhaben's conditions felt to be more specially designed jabs, and Cale avoided his eyes. He respected his parents, but it was obvious that he had his own qualms about some of his teachings. A lecture was bound to drone his ears off after they finished their long, most definitely innacurate rant.

"Okay, seriously, cut it out, surely you can't have more to say."

"Give us attention, physical affection, mental education, a safe space to be ourselves." Eden Miru continued quietly. He played with his boney claws to avoid having to look anyone in the eyes. He felt as if there was phantom blood rushing to his face and wondered why he had even spoke up. Sherrit ran her translucent hand over his bones and whispered a few words of praise.

"You help us with social cues, renew our spiritual connections despite the fact you yourself do not care for it, reunite us with our family members." Jack piped in, and hugged his sister who returned the affection. If it wasn't for Cale, it would have been impossible for him to hold her the way he was now, if he hadn't been gently taught how to surpress his toxic tendencies.

"Even with us, people you care way less for, you treat us better than our own communities." Glenn shrugged as Billios and Bud filled their cups to toast. Bud had a loving community, and his subordinates were like his family, but they would not have been so blunt to suggest burning down his Room of Records. And if they hadn't, Bud wouldn't be drinking here today. Well, unless Glenn would pour one out for him on his grave.

"You guys can stop now." Cale said more definitely. They looked at him with the intentions to continue — no, the determination to continue until they had made all their points. Then they noticed how he was not facing them and how the children froze. 

"Cale?" Choi Han called tentatively, turning him around. Cale moved his face away but he noticed the expression on his face. "Are you... embarrassed?" The children let out their giggles at the funny expression on their father's face. Cale's face burned even more at their laughter.

"Because of us?" Eruhaben laughed at the tomato-faced red-head who dropped his eyes to the floor and covered his face with a groan. Ron's benign smile cracked to be a little bit more amused, and Mila snickered behind her hand. Soon, everyone was laughing at the new expression on their commander's face.

"Why are you guys making me out to be your father? I am younger than the average age in this room."

"You're naturally this way."

"Its your way of showing affection." 

"Does that mean you think I'm a good father?"

"You already are." The children hugged his knees. Cale looked down at them and ruffled their hair before looking up at the rest of the family. They stared at him with a look of longing, flickering between the children and him. He sighed before opening his arms wide and braced himself for the force of his family running into his embrace. 

"Get over here."