Rockabye

Somebody Loves You

"Gwil, this view is fantastic," Joe commented from where he stood on the fire escape.

Gwilym has invited Joe and Ben over to celebrate the finale day of pride from the comfort of Gwilym's apartment. After he and Allen moved in together they decided to find a place that was more suited for two grown men and that just happened to be right in the middle of Union square.

It also happened to be in perfect view of the festivities that Pride had to offer. Joe and Ben agreed to take the kids out when the craziness ended and the heat settled down. Ben sat back on the couch, feeding baby JJ his bottle while Clara stood beside her father on the fire escape, watching the fun from so high up.

"One of the many perks." Gwilym mentioned from the door way, sipping gently form his wine glass. "The stairs are a bi-" he paused, looking down to his feet where Clara was. "A pain on the knees but the view is worth it."

"Daddy! Balloons!" Clara shouted as a man walked by with a bundle of rainbow colored balloons.

Clara herself was decked out in rainbow; a perfectly puffy tutu and a shirt that read "raised by two rad dads" in sparkles. Her strawberry blond hair was growing long now and Allen had put it up in pig tails with colorful bows to match.

Joe had never been one to celebrate pride. Being bisexual usually went forgotten by most people and half the time he was single during the events. Sure that should have been enough to make him want to go out and celebrate and maybe go home with someone but Joe never found a reason.

Until now.

Now he was married and a father. Now he had someone to always go home with. Now it was worth celebrating. They had celebrated in their own way when Clara was just a baby, but now that she was older and they had another child, they wanted her to be a bit more involved.

"Confetti!" Clara cried out. "Papa! Come see!"

Ben laughed from inside the room, adjusting JJ on his shoulder so he could rise up from the couch. He took his pregnancy and c-section like a champ and had completely snapped back from it. Aside from the fading scar across his stomach nobody would have known a thing.

"Well isn't that festive." Ben mentioned, poking his head out to see the confetti that was being thrown all around.

"And messy. Certainly hope they hire a cleaning crew." Allen mentioned from where he sat on the fire escape, nursing his beer.

"Oh come on. It's all in good fun," Gwilym mentioned sweetly.

"Daddy can we please go now?" Clara asked gently, her sweet little accent making the words she spoke sound even more adorable.

"What do you say? Ready to check it out?" Joe asked looking back to his husband.

Ben turned to JJ, who answered with a pleased burp. "Lemme just change this fella and we'll head out."

Clara squealed with excitement, running off to get her shoes on. Ten minutes later they were down in the street, the three year old happily running among the confetti. Any other time Joe would be highly against his daughter touching anything that was on the ground, but even he had to admit the piles and piles of confetti looked tempting.

"He's still got a few months to go before he sees color," Ben mentioned as JJ blinked at the pieces that continued to fall around them.

"That's all right buddy. You'll get to have more fun next year," Joe mentioned, rubbing the babies back smoothly.

"Papa! Look!" Clara giggles madly as she ran in a circle, kicking at the piles around her. Ben passed JJ off to Allen, going to scoop some of the confetti off the ground and toss it in the air, allowing Clara to spin around as it fell to the ground.

"Funny isn't it? Ten years ago, this wasn't even imaginable." Gwilym admitted somberly. "Gay marriage was barely a thing and now there are literal children dancing in the street. Happy and carefree."

"It's insane. How the fuck did we get here?"

Clara wouldn't know a world where gay people couldn't marry or were treated so differently. She grew up with two male carriers, who had blooming careers and well known names. She was privileged up the ass, yes but Joe was a selfish white man sometimes and he was happy for the chances that his daughter and son would be given. A good world, even if it didn't exist everywhere.

Joe laughed as Clara spun around again, pulling out his phone. "Clarie! Look at daddy!"

Clara turned, smiling as her father took pictures of her. She laid down, letting him take a boomerang of her making snow angels among the confetti piles.

"Oh that's unsanitary," Allen mentioned, yelping as Gwilym threw a handful in his face.

"Hey hey! Infant on board!" Joe cried, pulling JJ out of his friends arms so the two grown could have their confetti fight.

Taking the opportunity, Joe took a selfish with his son, happily getting a smile out of the baby. While neither men decided to dress up, they did go out of their way to get JJ a onesie that read "First Pride" on it. Maybe one day when the kids were older he and Ben would dress for the occasion but for now their polo shirts and khaki shorts were enough.

Ben scooped up the toddler, popping up behind them so get in for another selfie. Allen took their phone, snapping pictures of the whole family as they played along the colorful papers. Ben came to hold Joe from behind, kissing JJ's blond head as they watched their daughter play.

An old Betty Who song began to play off in the distance, prompting Allen to come and take Clara by the hands and twirl her around. Joe swayed back against Ben, the echoing of the music just loud enough for them to hear.

"It's a good day." Ben mentioned, resting his chin on Joe's shoulder. "Happy pride,"

"Happy pride indeed," Joe replied, smiling as JJ cooed softly, nuzzling his chubby little cheek against his shoulder. "Happy pride to you too, little man." 

Gwilym came up, taking JJ from his arms, slowing Ben to take Joe's hand and pull him into the street, dancing joyfully. Joe wrapped his arms around his husband, singing the song loudly and proudly.

What a happy pride indeed.