When they finally get married, it is at The Huntington and they are both wearing sharp, black suits made of jacquard. It’s a decision that Will does not regret—even though it’s a little tight around his waist—because Johnathan looks so fucking sexy.
The other part was because Callum had insisted on planning the wedding and he refused to organise a rushed wedding even with a baby on the way. With the suit, Will’s baby bump was still obvious, but not so obvious that anyone who saw would simply think he was chubby. He’s already five months along by now.
The Huntington’s weather is perfect for their outdoor wedding. Which was good, because Johnathan didn’t think sweating in layers of thick fabric would be appealing to him or Will. Either way, Will looked beautiful, and Johnathan was only not crying out of sheer willpower.
A few of the traditions had been fudged for this, given that they were both men. They walked down the aisle with arms linked, Will smiling so brightly that Johnathan could hardly look away. Fortunately, he didn’t have to as Hua Yulang, their mutual friend and wedding officiant directed them to read their vows.
“John,” Will starts then stops, eyes teary and sniffling. “No, never mind. You go first. I can’t talk like this.”
Johnathan nods. He feels like he can barely speak either, but Will has asked him to go first and between the two of them, John is a little less eloquent. “Will, I love you. I did not believe in love at first sight until the moment we met and every second with you has felt like a lifetime and yet not enough. Thank you for loving me too.” He wipes the tears from Will’s cheeks, his soon-to-be husband doing his best to sob silently so he can hear John’s words.
Will takes a deep breath and composes himself, still sniffling. “John,” he tries again with a croak. Will giggles wetly. “Sorry.” He clears his throat. “John, I love you. I’ve always believed in love at first sight, but I didn’t think I would be lucky enough to have it. I think I may be obsessed with you because everything you do makes me fall in love with you a little more. And I hope that I get to do that for the rest of our lives. Together.”
“Together,” Johnathan agrees. He’s crying silently. They both are. And if they were paying attention to anyone other than each other, they would know that their audience was sniffling along, Charlotte providing Callum with a copious amount of tissues.
“I pronounce you Husband and Husband,” says the grinning Hua Yulang. “You may kiss.” And they do.
After, Henry and Uncle Quentin had personally flown them to The Maldives for their honeymoon. Johnathan is eternally grateful that his family is so supportive, though his uncle is largely looking forward to his grandnephew.
~
Unable to deny Will anything, Johnathan does end up having very enjoyable and very sandy sex on the beach. It is quite private, so no one is there to ogle his husband when he wears only swimming trunks and showcases tanned skin and a swollen belly.
Johnathan, on the other hand, gets to glut himself on the glorious sight. He admits that half of the sex they end up having is initiated by him. He finds he cannot resist a Will who is attractively confident in his element.
Will goes swimming a lot. He wants to see everything, especially the corals and the colourful fishes. He gasps when he touches a pufferfish, and it blows up like a balloon. The fish floats away on the water surface until it deflates and swims away.
“It feels furry,” Will giggles. Johnathan kisses him right there in the ocean.
Swimming is a bit of a strong word for what Will does in the crystal-clear waters of the Indian Ocean. In their regular check-ups at the gynaecologist, they had been advised against overexertion this late into the pregnancy. Will, usually a very strong swimmer, was currently only allowed to float around. A thing that Will surprisingly did not protest very much against.
When he caught Johnathan’s look he explained. “Oh, I definitely want to go free diving, John. But I’m pregnant with our baby and it’s probably too dangerous for that. Besides, we can always come back again!” Will tells him cheerfully as he floats circles around Johnathan in his inflatable donut.
Will is impossibly cute like this. Chubby from putting on padding around his hips and thighs and grinning with bright eyes at Johnathan. Johnathan is enjoying himself immensely. Yes, Johnathan thinks. They should come back when their son is born. He hopes their child is like Will. Cute and clever.
~
Simon, their beautiful, baby boy is born on a sunny day on the 8th of August, his prescribed delivery date, via C-section. Will would have attempted to give birth naturally, but he was a Carrier, and it was safer to have the baby born this way. Johnathan would never begrudge him and his son that.
Johnathan is incredibly proud of his husband and their tiny baby. Simon is slightly premature and small as a result, but Johnathan has every faith that with care and love, he will grow up to be a healthy, wonderful boy.
Will is very drugged with anaesthesia at the moment, and can’t feel anything waist down, but he is awake enough to cradle their son against his chest. “Baby,” Will whispers reverently. Johnathan kisses his hair.
“Beautiful,” he says.
“He is, isn’t he?” says Will with wonder in his voice.
He is. And Johnathan affirms it. Will is too high to do much more than coo over their baby tiredly.
~
He is kept in one of the hospital’s private maternity wards for a few more days of observation. Simon sleeps in a cot by Will’s bed. And Johnathan uses the private room’s facilities to wash up when he needs to. He refuses to go home without his husband and son.
They get a steady stream of visitors during the day. Callum is the first to arrive. He brings with him clean sets of clothing, taken from their apartment, previously just Will’s. Will nudges Johnathan with a big smile when he sees Callum wiping his eyes as he looks at the baby in the cot. Johnathan takes Will’s hand.
Charlotte joins them later, with a huge bouquet of lotus blooms, Lenny and Peter. All three of them admire the latest addition to the family and Lenny pokes his cheek. Simon blinks.
“Mummy, baby,” Lenny says.
“Yes, he is, Lenny. That’s Simon, your cousin,” she coos at her son.
“Cousin,” Lenny says. And stares at Simon with great fascination. “Small.”
Simon is still very small and wrinkled now. He is as ugly as newborns tend to be, but Johnathan doesn’t care. He loves his tiny, wrinkly potato-looking infant son. Will laughs at him when Johnathan tells him that. And says that Simon looks more like a radish if anything.
Henry shows up with a small sack of soft toys for Simon later. He looks inordinately pleased with himself and neither Johnathan nor Will can tell him that Simon can’t have them all or he’ll get smothered by all the toys.
They let the nurse do it instead.
Henry is not too disheartened when he finds out. Just sheepish.
“Ah, I suppose I might have overdone it,” he admits with a smile.
“I understand,” Johnathan tells him solemnly. He does understand, Johnathan thinks. He, too, would like to smother his son with his love. Will just laughs at them like he knows what Johnathan is thinking. He supposes Will does. No one has ever seen Johnathan like Will.
He still kisses Johnathan very sweetly. “Honestly,” he sighs. “You guys are hilarious and I love you very much, but you are so weird.”
They have both taken paternity leave for the next two months. For Johnathan, this time is meant for him to care for Will and Simon, and to set up his home office where he will now work as CFO of Azure Airways. Brother had been supportive, though understandably reluctant in his moving out.
For Will, this period is mostly for him to recuperate. But Johnathan knows better. They had broached the subject of retirement for Will. And when Johnathan had expressed concern about Will’s career, Will had waved away John’s concerns and told him “I’m just there because Callum needed me. He doesn’t anymore. And it’s not what I would have chosen as a career anyway.”
Johnathan doesn’t press the issue then. He thinks Will would like to become a stay-home father. He also thinks he might enjoy that himself. But since Will seems to be planning on giving up his career and Johnathan does actually like his job at Azure Airways—plus he already gets to work from home most of the time—it’s probably not a big issue.
But he thinks he might understand Will’s reluctance to continue working. Their son is such a sweet baby. He barely handles the separation himself. How could he expect Will to bear it then? Johnathan thinks to himself and nods. Yes, he and Will are doing appropriately well at adjusting to this drastic change in their lives.
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