Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (JoeMazzello!JohnDeacon fanfic)

eighty six

so this chapter is a little later than i had planned but i got a -second hand- Nintendo switch and i stg its the best purchase i've ever made. animal crossing has taken over my life and i'm not even mad

++|++

Roger was starting to think that he's made a mistake in letting Roxanne help him out with his proposal plan. She wasn't exactly subtle and he was really starting to worry that somehow, Rebecca would walk in on their discussions or overhear them talking.

That's why he'd banned all talk of it if there was so much as even a chance of Rebecca being around. John and Roxanne's house? Not safe. Becca and Roger's flat? Nope. The studio? Definitely not.

So eventually, when he had a day off from the studio, Roger invited his cousin out to try and find a suit for him to wear. He had somewhat of a plan forming; he wanted the proposal to be simple and romantic so he was going to take her to dinner.

Was it cliché? Yes, but he didn't care. He just really wanted to marry the woman he loved.

Roxanne is on one side of the store while Roger is on the other, browsing through the suits on the rack with baby Arthur strapped to his chest in one of those baby carrier things that they had.

"They're all pretty good, aren't they Artie?" he murmurs, inspecting the closest one, "Like this one. Do you think Auntie Becca will like this one?" He looks down at the baby to see that he's sleeping again and he can't help but laugh quietly, "Am I that boring?"

"Rog," Roxanne says as she comes to stand beside them, holding up a light grey suit, "What do you think of this one?" 

He looks it over, "I'm not sure, Nessie. Don't really like the colour, I prefer the darker ones. They make me look better." 

"Oh, it's not for you," she hangs it up on the hanger in front of her so she can step back and look at it better, "It's for John." 

"John?" he repeats, "Rox, we're here to find a suit for me, not your husband." 

"I know that," she rolls her eyes, "But we've got our first night out since Arthur was born on Friday and I thought that he could wear it." 

"You do? Where are you going?" 

"He's taking me to Elementairé," she grins, deciding to get the suit anyway. He doesn't have to wear it if he doesn't want to but it's there for an option. 

They decide to go try another shop, one that's just down the street and passed Roger's car, which Roxanne puts the suit into so she doesn't have to humph it around should they choose to go somewhere else. 

"Who's watching Arthur on your big date night?" Roger asks as they head towards the other store, "I'm assuming that you'll be busy the whole night?"

Roxy flushes red but she shrugs, "Who knows where the night will take us, Rog." 

"Don't give me that bullshit, Rox. You'll be-" 

"To answer your question," she says loudly, "Brian said that he and Kayla would take him for the night." 

"What?" he stops and Roxanne has to laugh at the offended look on his face, "Brian? That's not fair." 

"What?" she laughs, "Roger, don't take it personally. It's just that Brian offered when John brought it up." 

"But he's my nephew!" 

"And Brian's his favourite." 

Gasping, Roger protectively shields the baby with his hands, "You take that back!" 

She giggles - he always takes the bait.

"Anyway, family trumps favourite so, because of that, I feel like I should be the one to-hey, what's this?" 

They'd stopped by a place that did weekend getaways and there, on the window, there were numerous advertisements. 

"It's for Rockfield!" 

"The farm?" Roxanne asks. 

He nods, "Yeah! They're letting people book the farmhouse for weekends."

Roxanne gasps as she gets an idea, "Wait, didn't Becca say that she loved it out there?" 

Roger nods, "Yeah. She enjoyed how quiet it was, loved going for walks in the fields and watching the sunrise in the mornings. Why? What are you..." He trails off as he gets the same idea.

"You should propose there!" Roxy grins, "It would be so romantic! Whisk her away for a romantic weekend, wait for the sunrise and then, when she least expects it, get down on one knee and then bam! Propose." 

He grins when he feels Arthur starting kicking his little legs against his lower stomach as if he can sense the excitement exuding from his mother. It was perfect.

++|++

When Roxanne and Arthur return home, John's just finished prepping for dinner and he washes his hands before moving through the house to greet them. 

"There he is!" he grins, taking Arthur from her, "Did you have a good time with mummy and Uncle Roger? Did you?" 

Arthur let's out happy babbles as John tickles under his chin and John looks at Roxanne.

"How'd you get on with the papoose? The carrier?" 

"I didn't get a chance to wear it," she admits, "Roger took him the whole day." 

"Really?" 

She nods, falling down onto the couch, "Yeah, he loved it." 

"I'll admit," John says, pretending to throw Arthur up on the air, making her smile, "I can't imagine Roger with a baby strapped to his chest." 

"Quite suited it if I'm honest." 

"How'd it go? Did you manage to think of anything?" 

Roger had told the band his plan of proposing yesterday while they were at the studio -the only people who didn't know (other than Rebecca) were Mary and Kayla and that was only because Mary didn't come around as much anymore and Kayla, well, Brian had been the one to say not to tell her. She wasn't the best at keeping secrets. 

"He's going to take her back to Rockfield," Roxy tells him with a smile. 

"Rockfield? Where we recorded?" 

She nods and gets up so she can go get changed and as she climbs the stairs, she hears John start a game of peek-a-boo.

She remembers the suit she bought for him on her way back down but before she peeks into the kitchen to see what he's making for dinner - pasta primavera, one of their favourites. 

"I got you something," she announces when she steps back into the living room; John's still playing peek-a-boo with Arthur but he does look up at her. 

"You did?" 

She grins and holds the suit up for him to look at, "I thought you could wear it on Saturday?" 

Sensing that the baby is getting bored of his attempt of playing, John gently lowers Arthur into the crib that they keep in there before turning to his wife, "That's a good idea." 

She nods and hands it over to him so he can have a better look, "If you don't like the colour, we could always go back and change it."

"The colour is fine, love. You know that I prefer the lighter ones." 

He hangs it up on the back of the door, looking down when Roxanne wraps her arms around his middle, "I reckon you'll look really handsome." 

"Yeah?" 

She nods, "I won't be able to keep my hands off of you all night." 

He turns in her arms; a bright, toothy grin on his face as he leans down to kiss her. 

He doesn't think he'll mind that at all.