Holiday Weekends Prompt Snippets!

[rsadelle]

I didn't cobble together enough holiday spirit to send cards this year, I'm feeling a little stuck on my current writing projects, and I have a few days off for holidays this week and next week, so it seems like a good time to do prompt snippets.

Leave me a prompt by the end of the day Saturday and I will write you something by the evening of January 4. (If there are a lot of prompts or circumstances change, posting may extend beyond this date.)

Fine print/guidelines: One per person. Lurkers and anonymous commenters welcome. If you're posting anonymously because you don't have an LJ account but I know you elsewhere and you leave me your name, I will do my best to write something catered to your tastes. Generally first come first served, although things may jump the queue depending on inspiration and what can be written at work. I will write hockey, but not Patrick Kane, Drew Doughty, or the Avalanche. I may write other fandoms; feel free to ask if you want something else. I may veer from your prompt. I will take lyric prompts, but be forewarned that I'm not necessarily good at them. This is for new story ideas, not sequels or timestamps. I make no promises about length, but in the past prompt snippets have tended to be 300-3000 words.

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Drop a coin into the sea (4/6)

[rsadelle]

Jeff goes on a road trip that doesn't even last a week, but when he gets home, Arnold greets him at the door and Mike's clothes aren't doing anything to hide his belly anymore.

"Hey, buddy," Jeff says to Arnold, and "Hi," to Mike.

"I was lonely," Mike says defensively. He has his arms crossed over his chest above his belly.

"I didn't say anything," Jeff says. "He can be here." He moves carefully and gives Mike a quick, gentle hug.

Mike follows Jeff up the stairs and talks his ear off - he really was lonely - about everything from getting Arnold down here to how much the baby is kicking him.

"Right into my ribs," he grumbles. "And my back hurts and I still have to pee all the time."

"Sorry, bud," Jeff says.

Mike makes a face at Jeff like he thinks he's being humored.

Jeff puts his hand on Mike's shoulder. "Didn't you have a doctor's appointment? What'd they say?"

Mike leans into Jeff's hand the way he didn't lean into his hug earlier. "They said Junior's doing fine, and that all of this shit is normal."

Jeff shifts to rubbing Mike's shoulders. "That's good." He drapes one arm down across Mike's body. "Is it okay if I?"

"Yeah," Mike says. "You might be able to feel him kicking now." He leans back against Jeff while Jeff lets his hand rest on top of his stomach. "There," Mike says, and Jeff sucks in a breath, because he felt that.

It's a little overwhelming to feel such clear evidence that Mike is carrying a baby who's going to become a person. Jeff presses his cheek to the top of Mike's head. "Wow."

Mike leans into him a little more and turns his head so his cheek is resting on Jeff's shoulder. Jeff breathes him in for a moment, waiting to feel the baby kick again.

"Mike," he says softly, and it's so easy for Jeff to dip his head down and kiss him.

Mike kisses him back, he does, but only for a moment before he twists away from Jeff.

"We're not," he says.

"We could be," Jeff says patiently. "We have before."

"And look how that turned out," Mike snaps.

Jeff barely restrains himself from rolling his eyes. "Yeah, it sucked being apart and you decided we were done."

"We were," Mike says. "We are. And it's not even your baby."

"You're sleeping in my bed," Jeff says flatly. "And so what if it's not mine? It's yours. That's enough."

Mike gives him a look that Jeff reads as both scared and startled, and then he says, "I'm taking Arnold for a walk."

"Everything happens for a reason," Jeff calls down the stairs after him.

That probably could have gone better.

*

Mike avoids Jeff for a while. He still sleeps in Jeff's bed, but he's scarce otherwise. Jeff gives him his space.

It doesn't go unnoticed.

"Hang in there," Justin tells Jeff with a bracing clap to his shoulder. "These things go in stages. You'll be having fun again soon."

Brownie says, "Pregnancy can take a toll on your relationship. Even Nicole and I went through some rough patches like that." He also pats Jeff's shoulder. "You know you can come to me if you ever want to talk."

Pears is less tactful, tipping his head toward Mike across the room and asking, "Trouble in paradise?"

Jeff gives noncommittal answers to Justin and Brownie, and tells Pears to mind his own business.

He stays far away from the conversation Kopi has with Mike that has Mike alternately looking up at Kopi and across the room at Jeff. If it's a more serious version of Kopi offering to make up for Jeff not treating him right, Jeff doesn't need to know.

It's after that conversation, though, while Jeff is making dinner and Mike is hovering more than he has since Jeff kissed him, that Mike asks, "Would it really be enough for you? That it's mine?" He has one hand over his belly like Jeff wouldn't be able to figure out what he's talking about otherwise.

"Yes." Jeff keeps most of his attention on cooking so he doesn't scare Mike away. "I'm going to love Junior because he's yours, and it doesn't change how I feel about you."

Drop a coin into the sea (5/6)

[rsadelle]

The conversation ends there for the moment, but when they go to bed, before Jeff can turn out the light, Mike leans over and kisses him.

Jeff kisses back, staying at the same level of close-mouthed gentleness that Mike's using to kiss him.

It's just the one kiss, but when Mike's done with his usual grumbling and settling in around his body pillow he pulls Jeff's arm over him until Jeff's hand is resting on his belly.

*

The team, spearheaded, Jeff surmises, by Toff and Pears, throw Mike a baby shower. Mike and Jeff are involved in the planning only so far as to approve the date.

A caterer comes in with trays and trays of food, there's a bakery delivery of baby-themed cupcakes - Toff was definitely involved with that - and the boys show up with a pile of gifts in pastel paper.

"Ah, fuck," Mike says, "are you really going to make the pregnant guy write every one of you a thank-you note?"

"Make Jeff do it," Pears suggests.

Jeff's too far away to hit him for that, so he settles for flipping him off while everyone else laughs.

It's mostly an afternoon of eating and, for everyone but Mike, drinking, with someone occasionally reminding Mike to open some presents.

The baby clothes and blankets look so small in Mike's hands, feel tiny in Jeff's.

Mike starts to fade around four, his laughter being replaced with complaints about how his back hurts and how he's ready for Junior to stop kicking every one of his internal organs and the way people look at him when he takes Arnold for walks.

Jeff puts his arm around Mike's shoulders. They've been taking things slow - Jeff's letting Mike set the pace for what he's comfortable with - and if they were alone, Jeff would kiss him too. He's not sure where Mike's boundaries are around being like that in front of their team, but Mike leans against him, so at least this far is okay.

The advantage to the party being mostly Toff and Pears' idea is that it means Jeff can put them in charge of cleanup and sit with Mike on the couch while guys take the hint and leave in groups of two or three.

"You doing okay?" Jeff asks when almost everyone is gone.

"Tired," Mike says. "But it was good."

Jeff can hear Toff, Pears, and Joner, the last ones left, arguing over something inconsequential in the kitchen, so he presses a kiss to the top of Mike's head.

Mike lets out a sigh and relaxes into Jeff in a way he didn't while there were other people still in the room. "Everything's so small." He gestures at the pile of onesies and shirts, blankets and tiny jerseys.

Jeff kisses Mike's temple, his cheek. "Hard to believe Junior's going to be that small when you're so big."

Mike laughs and jerks an elbow into Jeff's ribs. "Asshole."

Jeff doesn't bother denying it. "Want to go upstairs for a nap, or should I kick the kids out so you can sleep on the couch?"

Mike shrugs. "Let them keep eating the cupcakes." He pushes Jeff to one end of the couch so he can lie down, curled around a couple of throw pillows with his head on Jeff's thigh.

"Shit," Pears says when he comes into the living room, and then, quieter, "sorry."

Jeff shrugs, and points out the cups still sitting on the coffee table and the pile of wrapping paper that hasn't been thrown out yet. The noise level in the kitchen goes down after Pears goes that way, and it stays low.

"I think we got everything," Toff says quietly when they come into the living room to say goodbye to Jeff.

"Thanks," Jeff says. "And thanks for the party."

"We wanted to do it," Pears says.

Toff, Pears, and Joner are careful not to disrupt Mike when they hug Jeff goodbye.

Drop a coin into the sea (6/6)

[rsadelle]

"We should've had sex," Mike grumbles at Jeff. "Like, months ago." He's in the process of going to bed, which means he grumbles about whatever he's annoyed about and shuffles around trying to get comfortable.

"We still could," Jeff suggests. He's been jerking off thinking about it, about what it was like before, when they were in Philly, and how it would be different now. Different place, different considerations for how he would have to touch Mike.

"No," Mike says, "because the last thing I feel like doing now is having sex. But we should've, before this."

Jeff waits until Mike gets settled in before he leans over and kisses him. "We can have sex later, after Junior's born."

"Maybe," Mike says darkly, "if we're not sleep-deprived all the time. I've been reading about that."

Jeff tries to keep his chuckles silent, but doesn't quite manage it, and Mike hits his arm for it.

"We'll make someone else take Junior for a night," Jeff says, "so we can get enough rest to have sex." He tucks his arm around Mike and kisses his neck. "I promise blowjobs are not a thing of the past."

Mike laughs. Then he stops and says, "Sorry I'm the reason you're not getting any either."

"I really miss sex," Jeff says, "but you're carrying Junior. That's pretty important." He nuzzles at Mike's neck. "Those blowjobs aren't going to be just for you."

*

Jeff sits next to Mike and lets him hold his hand so tightly it hurts while the doctor cuts into Mike's belly to deliver the baby.

"Okay?" Jeff asks.

"It's weird," Mike says. He's staring at the drape keeping them from watching the surgery. "What if Arnold doesn't like him?"

"Arnold's going to love him," Jeff says. He has no idea if that's true, but Arnold adores Mike, and will probably follow Mike's cues when it comes to the baby. "We're all going to love him." He uses his free hand to brush Mike's hair away from his face. It's getting long, and it curls over Mike's forehead.

Mike turns his head into Jeff's hand. "This is really weird," he mutters.

Jeff bends down and kisses him. "I know."

They hear the baby cry before they get to see him, and then they only get to see him briefly before the nurse whisks him away to the other side of the room to be looked at.

Mike looks longingly after the baby, and Jeff holds his hand tight while they wait for the nurse to bring the baby back to them.

Mike isn't allowed to sit up yet, so they give the baby to Jeff.

"Look at him," Jeff says. He smiles at Mike and at the baby. "Look how beautiful he is."

"Yeah," Mike says, and he's not even pretending not to cry.

"He's going to need a name," Jeff says. They don't have one for him yet because Mike said they couldn't give him a name until they saw him.

"We're not naming him Junior," Mike says. "Or Michael Junior. Or Carter."

Jeff chuckles a little. "Okay," he says. "What do you think?"

"I don't know," Mike admits. He reaches out to touch the baby's cheek. "What's your name?"

Jeff looks down at the baby, at Mike's finger so large against his cheek. "What about Nathan?"

"Nathan," Mike repeats. "Are you a Nathan?" he asks the baby.

"It means gift from God," Jeff says. Mike's refusal to pick a name didn't stop him from looking online for ideas. Nathan isn't the only one he'd liked, but now that he has the baby in his arms, it feels like the best fit. "Everything happens for a reason."

"Nathan," Mike says, and there are tears in his eyes again. "Hi, Nathan." He moves his hand from Nathan's cheek to tug at Jeff's shoulder until he bends close enough that Mike can kiss him, and then so that Mike can kiss Nathan's cheek. "Everything happens for a reason."