Jack spent the rest of the day worrying himself into an early grave. He hadn’t been late for work, and he hadn’t forgotten to do anything before he’d rushed out of the front door, but he kind of… might have… forgotten to wear a condom.

It wasn’t his fault, really. If anything, it was Alex’s fault. If Alex hadn’t gotten up early… if Jack hadn’t promised that they would be able to play if Alex got up early…

No matter how he looked at it, it was definitely his fault. Even if it had been Alex’s fault, all the blame was automatically transferred onto Jack. He was the daddy, after all. Daddies need to know how to handle, like, every possible situation, especially those that involve their baby boys. Even first-time daddies.

Of course, like every other daddy, Jack knew that he had to fix it. Which couldn’t be too hard, right? It’s not like Alex had even noticed as the come dripped out of him or anything… surprisingly… and the sheets hadn’t been ruined, and all evidence had been washed down the drain in the shower that Jack had made them take together. Now he just had to think of a way to get Alex to take some sort of ‘Plan B.’

That was going to be the hard part.

Alex hated taking pills, and there wasn’t a single doubt in Jack’s mind that he’d put up a fight over taking not one, but two. Was there a liquid that Alex could take? No, that’d probably end up being a much more difficult course of action. It’s not like he could even admit to his mistake. He wasn’t that stupid. Alex trusted him to know basically everything there was to know about anything. If he said that he’d made a mistake, that’d be like saying he wasn’t fit to be a daddy.

And where would that leave them?

Alex’s trust would be gone, and he’d probably leave and find a daddy who was better suited to take care of him, and—

The phone on Jack’s desk began to ring before he could even finish that thought. He’d missed the other two times it had rung, so maybe it was for the best that he’d heard that one. After all, you need a job to take care of a baby boy.

A moment was taken to compose himself before he answered. His thoughts were elsewhere as he discussed some customer’s order… or was it a coworker saying they needed him to run an errand for them… before he was finally allowed to go back to his thinking.

It was with utter reluctance that he decided to just… leave it. Surely one time wouldn’t be the end of the world, right? Hell, maybe they wouldn’t even be able to have kids. That was just as big of a possibility, wasn’t it? They’d never talked about it before, so maybe… maybe Alex just couldn’t, or maybe Jack just couldn’t. There were all sorts of possibilities. They would be okay.

At least, that’s what Jack was able to convince himself.

Everything would work out in the end. It had to, didn’t it?

They’d be fine. He just… he needed to forget that it ever happened, hope for the best, and move on from it… and never forget to use a condom again. He’d gotten lucky with Alex not noticing once, but there was no way he’d be off the hook a second time.

He just needed to focus on his work and giving his baby boy the best that he possibly could. He was still a good daddy, and one little slip wouldn’t cause that to change.

---

By the time the end of the week had come around, Jack had completely forgotten about his little slip. Everything seemed to be so easy around the household, as it normally was, and it wasn’t difficult to believe that it all just moved on like nothing had happened. In Jack’s mind, it hadn’t. Alex was still blissful and oblivious, work was just as mundane as ever, and everything was just… it was fine.

It was near the middle of the third week when Jack awoke to the sound of gagging and sobbing at an ungodly hour in the morning—just a half hour shy of when he was supposed to wake up. It didn’t make sense at first. He was more than half asleep and partially delirious from it, and for a moment, he wondered if someone had broken into their house and was sexually assaulting Alex (a thought that had him stumbling from the bed faster than he could even blink), and he was relieved to see that the poor boy was just choking his guts up in front of the toilet.

He wasn’t a bad daddy. He really wasn’t. He was just relieved, is all.

“Hey, sweet boy,” he murmured as he moved forward to sit on the ground behind his baby. “What’s wrong, my little prince? What happened?”

“I don’t wanna, daddy,” Alex whimpered as he coughed harshly. He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand before leaning back against Jack’s chest. “Hurts real bad. Make it stop.”

“What hurts, sweet boy?” the younger asked, keeping his voice even and quiet. His words were puffed gently into the elder’s ear, and that seemed to help him relax as one hand reached up to push his bangs from where they stuck to his forehead and the other rubbed soothing circles against his bare stomach.

“Hurts here,” he said around a sniffle, placing his hand over the one that was still pressed to his torso. He seemed okay for a second or two after that before he was once again sitting up in order to throw up some more of the previous night’s dinner. That, of course, just had him crying harder, and Jack figured that probably wasn’t helping how he was feeling. Like, at all.

With a kiss to a sweat-sheened back, Jack was pushing himself to his feet again. “Stay here for a second, baby boy. Daddy will be right back.”

Alex didn’t answer, nor did he look up, and Jack left without another word to head downstairs. He still had work, but he had to set things up so that Alex would have everything he’d need for the rest of the day. He probably wouldn’t be going back to sleep anytime soon at this rate, and Jack would feel a little more comfortable if someone was there with his baby, just to be sure nothing serious happened while he was away.

That was how he found himself on the phone at a little past six-thirty in the morning, stood in his kitchen and getting a cloth ice pack (one that looked like a little, blue robot) and some liquid medicine for Alex to take.

After nearly two minutes of ringing, a groggy voice finally answered with an emotionless, “Hello?”

“Hey, sorry, did I wake you? Anyway, look, Alex is sick, and I was just wondering if you or Jordan could come spend the day with him since I have work,” Jack rushed out as he made his way back upstairs and toward the bathroom.

“I have work, too, jackass,” Zack grumbled, but shuffling and mumbling could be heard in the background before another, quieter voice was giving a similar greeting to the one he’d been given before.

“Hey, Jordan, look, sorry for waking you guys up, but Alex is really sick, and I can’t miss work today. Do you think you could come spend the day with him? He won’t be much trouble, I would just feel better if someone was here to watch him, is all,” Jack explained. The bathroom was reached as he finished his sentence, and he squint against the harsh light as he stepped over the threshold. “I understand if you have something else already, but I’d really appreciate it. I’d be willing to, like, pay you for the day, too. It’s not much or anything, but fifty dollars and you can help yourself to whatever food you want in the house.”

There was silence on the other end of the line as Jack moved to sit down on the floor behind his partner once more. Then, it was broken with a puffed sigh.

“Yeah, I mean—yeah, fine. When should I be over?” he muttered. Either he wasn’t happy about the arrangement (which was pretty damn plausible) or he was already almost back to being asleep. Or, y’know… both.

“I have to leave for work in a little over an hour, so if you could be there around then, that’d be great. I’m gonna try and get him a little cleaned up now, so I’ll just talk to you when you get here, alright?” A hum was received before Jack mumbled a quick ‘thanks’ and hung up.

“Daddy?” Alex asked. He sounded pitiful, and the way his voice echoed in the disgusting toilet bowl really didn’t help that at all.

“Yes, my handsome boy?” Jack inquired as he set his phone onto the bathroom counter and attempted to seat himself once more.

“Who was that?”

“That was Jordan,” the younger explained as he finally plopped himself onto the ground and reached out to card his fingers through sweaty hair. When Alex looked over to him, eyes bleary and drooping shut, he held up the cup of medicine he’d filled in the kitchen. “He’s gonna come stay with you today, alright?”

“He doesn’t like me,” Alex mumbled, clearly less than enthused about… well… the entire situation. He didn’t like being sick, and he didn’t like having to take some disgusting medicine, and Jordan didn’t even like him.

Jack shook his head as he lifted the ice pack and pressed it gently against the back of Alex’s neck. “He just doesn’t know you well enough, baby boy. Give him a chance, alright? After today, I know he’ll love you. You don’t even have to talk to each other if you don’t want to. I’ll get out some coloring books and your crayons for you, just in case. How’s that sound?”

Alex gulped the medicine down, shivered from the cold of the ice, and nodded at the same time before slumping back over the toilet. It didn’t seem that he had anything left in him, but he was clearly exhausted after it all. Jack couldn’t blame him. Who even knows how long he’d been in there before Jack had heard him.

“Think you can move for me? I’ll get you set up on the couch and put on some Steven Universe or something.”

There seemed to be a moment of contemplation before the blond shook his head. “Can’t move,” he mumbled, as though to emphasize his point. “Carry me? Please, daddy? Can’t move.”

That wasn’t the first time Jack had been asked to do that (and he already knew it sure as hell wouldn’t be the last), but he still let out an internal groan before standing and bending forward to scoop Alex into his arms. The elder cuddled against his chest, and it did take a good deal of struggling before he was in a comfortable enough position for both. Then, the fun began—getting down the stairs.

They didn’t even make it out of the bedroom before Jack was setting Alex down. “I can’t carry you like that, baby boy. Come here, sit on the bed and wrap your legs around me, okay? That’ll make it easier.”

A miserable nod, another few struggled movements, and then they were off again. That time, they made it downstairs without needing to stop. The only true problem arrived when Jack had to set Alex down again. There really was no way to do it gently, and he had to brace himself in case something happened.

It was really not the morning to be thrown up on.

Thankfully, all he got when he moved away was a whimpered groan and a heavy pout. It was enough to make a heart break, it really was, but Jack had so much that he had to do that he couldn’t even let it bother him for more than a few seconds.

“I’m gonna go get something to clean you up with and a bowl in case you start to feel icky again, then I’ll go get some pillows and blankets, and—”

“And Sebastian?”

“—and Sebastian, then I’ll make you some toast. We might have ginger ale somewhere, too. Which coloring books do you want me to get out for you? I’ll just set them on the table in case you want them later. Are there any movies you might wanna watch?” Jack asked as he set about turning on the TV and fiddling with the remote to find old, recorded episodes of Steven Universe.

There was a weak ‘no’ in response, and Jack nodded, turned to press a kiss to his baby boy’s head, and marched himself out of the room. He only had an hour to do a hell of a lot more than he usually did, and he needed to get started on it as soon as possible.

---

“I gave him toast, and he ate all that with a little difficulty. If he gets hungry later, there’re a few boxes of macaroni and cheese in the pantry, and he’ll probably want that for lunch as it is. I already told him that he’s not allowed to have anything sweet, so if he tries to get you to give it to him, just call me, alright? There are a few coloring books in the living room, and all his crayons are there, too. If you get bored or something, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind sharing. Can you also check to make sure he doesn’t have a fever every now and again? He was a little warm earlier, but I think that’s just because of how worked up he was,” Jack explained to his best friend’s boyfriend as he rushed around the front hall, making sure that he had everything he’d need for the day.

Jordan was trying to take as many mental notes as possible, he really was (only because Zack had asked him to please be considerate and kind and try to be as understanding as possible, and how was he supposed to say no to the puppy dog eyes?), but it was still honestly too damn earlier. A few nods of the head would just have to suffice. He could figure all this out as he went along anyway, right? Right.

“Uh… shit, I think that’s it. If you need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to call. I’ll be home as soon as possible if that’s the ca—”

“Daddy?” a small voice called from the room over, and Jack immediately stopped his frantic pacing and rummaging in order to head in the direction it’d come from.

Jordan followed behind, still a little numb from tiredness.

“Hey, sweet boy. Daddy’s gotta get goin’ now, alright? You feelin’ any better?” Jordan couldn’t see Alex from where he was hidden behind the back of the couch, but he did see Jack nod before leaning forward. He guessed there was a kiss exchanged or something. “That’s okay. You’ll feel better soon. I’ll try and get out early today. Jordan’s here, and he’s gonna make sure that nothing happens. If you need me, you tell him and he’ll call me, yeah?”

There were some mumbled words then, ones that Jordan couldn’t hear from where he was stood in the doorway, and then Jack nodded and leaned forward from view again.

“Take it easy today, okay? Daddy’ll be home before you even know it. I love you, my little prince.”

“I love you, too, daddy,” Alex said in response. It was the first thing Jordan had actually heard him say, and it would probably be an understatement to say that he sounded completely wrecked.

Another quick kiss to a forehead and then Jack was standing to duck from the room to grab his things. “I think I went over everything,” he said as he checked to make sure that he had his keys, phone, and whatever shit he’d need for work. “Like I told Alex, I’ll try and leave early today. Thanks so much for doing this. I really owe you one.”

And just like that, he was out the door.

For a few moments, Jordan was sort of at a loss. Was he… was he supposed to do something? Or—or did he just go and sit somewhere until Alex needed him? He immediately regret not listening as closely as he should’ve been.

However, it was a safe bet to say that he could just sit on the couch next to Alex until something came up. This was just like babysitting a sick kid after all, wasn’t it? Granted, he’d never done that, but he was a sick kid once upon a time. It couldn’t be that difficult.

He headed into the living room when he decided that, yes, that would be the best course of action for the time being. Some cartoon was playing on the television screen, one he didn’t really care for (because he was, y’know, an adult), and he dropped his focus to where Alex was curled into the corner of the couch when he moved around the back.

If Alex had sounded bad, then he looked even worse. His hair was stuck in every possible direction, and he looked paler than… well… than Jordan himself. Which, if he was honest, was really saying something.

Nonetheless, the younger man offered a smile and wave (because Zack told him to try to be nice and understanding, and, okay, maybe he did feel pretty damn bad about what he was seeing). Alex stared at him for a moment, as though analyzing him, before he looked back toward the TV without a word or gesture or anything.

Jordan couldn’t help but deflate a bit. He was in for a long day.

Notes