"Definately just a cold" -Merperson puberty? (Ala The Thirteenth Year)
Warnings: Sickness and rashes
Summary: Logan is the Stepfather of two boys, Janus and Virgil. And his Husband, Patton, might have been keeping some secrets about the boy’s father that are about to come to light. The question is, how should Logan respond?
Characters: Logan, Patton, Virgil, Janus, and mentions of Remus.
“It’s just a cold, Patton,” Logan said softly, trying to stay calm as his Husband panicked in the background. He was standing in front of the oven, stirring a large pot of tomato bisque. He could hear his twin stepsons from their rooms, both of them coughing hard. “They probably just caught something while they were swimming the other day. It is no reason to worry. A terrible way to spend their birthday though.” Especially since this was the first one that Logan was going to spend with them as their stepfather. He had had so much planned to. Hopefully, the two of them would be fine with a bowl of tomato bisque and a glass of flat ginger ale instead of a dinner at their favourite restaurant.
Patton paced behind him, chewing on his thumbnail anxiously. “Right,” he muttered, staring at the ground. He looked distracted like he wasn’t fully listening to what Logan was saying. “Definitely just a cold. As long as we can get past today then,” he cut himself off, his jaw closing with a click.
Logan gave him a frown over his shoulder. “It is not that bad of a cold, Love. Just a bad cough.”
“They have rashes,” Patton muttered. “The exact same rash on their necks. How do you not find that strange?”
“I wouldn’t call it strange,” Logan said, turning to face him, crossing his arms over his chest. “We’ve already had a doctor over and they are very mild. It’s probably either a very mild allergic reaction - which we have EpiPens for - or, most likely, stress. You know how stressed the two of them have been lately.” He stepped forward, putting a hand on Patton’s shoulder. “Darling, they’re both fine. Hardly happy about spending their thirteenth birthdays in bed but medically? They’re two very healthy boys.”
But Patton didn’t seem to take in his reassurances at all, shrugging off Logan’s hand and wringing his own anxiously. “I should’ve known this would happen, I should’ve! Remus told me that this would happen!”
“Remus?” Logan felt a headache looming and had to fight the urge to sit down. “Your ex-husband?”
“Do I know any other Remus,” Patton asked sharply, spinning around on his heel. The two of them stared at each other with mirror expressions of surprise, Logan at the tone Patton was using and Patton at just how sharp his voice was. “I’m sorry,” Patton whispered, taking a step back. “I’m sorry, I just-”
“It’s alright,” Logan said gently, uncrossing his arms and leaning back against the counter. “Patton, it’s okay. But I feel as if I am attempting to complete an equation but have only been given one number with an equation full of variables. You have to tell me what’s happening. What exactly did Remus tell you?”
Patton hesitated for a long moment before shaking his head and grabbing two empty bowls from the cupboard. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Patton-”
“It doesn’t,” Patton said firmly. “Like you said, it’s just a cold.”
Logan watched Patton closely, seeing how tense Patton was standing and how he was glancing at the two seashells on the counter. The last and only gifts that Remus had left for his sons before they had even been born. The gifts that Remus had apparently made Patton swear to wait until Janus and Virgil were thirteen to give them. Patton was hiding something. “Remus is their biological father,” Logan said gently. “It could be that he knows of a health issue in his family. Should we bring them to a hospital for a second look?”
“It’s not a medical issue,” Patton sighed, turning to Logan with two full bowls of bisque. “You have to trust me on this, Lolo. It’s... it’s something from Remus’ side that he said would show up on their thirteen birthday. I never really believed him about it but... all of this...”
“What is it, Love?” Logan leaned down and cupped Patton’s cheek, smiling when Patton leaned into his hand. “Please tell me.”
Patton hesitated. “You’re gonna think it’s crazy. Heck, I don’t even believe it. Before now, I thought it was just another one of Remus’ crazy stories. But there are too many things that line up here.”
Logan chuckled. “My Love, life is full of mysteries. You could tell me that Remus said that those boys would grow horns today and I would just focus on cutting holes into their hats for them. Let me in on this secret, Darling.” He gently rubbed circles into Patton’s cheek. “Please?”
There was a long silence. “... Tails, not horns.”
Logan blinked in surprise. “I’m sorry?”
“He said that they’d grow tails,” Patton whispered, gaze drifting down to the ground. “And gills. Or sharp teeth and long talons. Or all four. He told me that he was... um, well, not exactly a Mermaids. He said his mother was a Mermaid and his father was a Siren. Apparently, he took after his father and his twin took after his mother. So, Janus and Virgil have-”
“Human, Siren, and Mermaid blood in their DNA,” Logan hummed, hand falling from Patton’s cheek. He tapped his chin thoughtfully, pursing his lips. Well, that was... that was just utter nonsense.
Patton continued talking, wringing his hands nervously. “He told me that half Mermaids and Sirens come into their blood on their thirteen birthdays. I don’t know if they’ll come into their Mermaid blood or Siren blood but from the way things are looking, they’re going to come into one and I don’t know what to do,” he cried, eyes pooling with tears.
Logan stared at Patton, expression softening with every second. Utter nonsense... that his Husband believed. Well, that was that then. “Then I suppose we should prepare then,” he hummed, taking the bowls from Patton and turning to put them into the microwave.
“What,” Patton asked dumbly, staring at him in confusion. “Prepare?”
“Of course. I will go and get the truck warmed. You go and bring the boys down, along with some blankets to keep Janus and Virgil warm. I’ll grab some firewood and my matches. We can start a fire on the beach,” Logan explained, grabbing the truck keys from the counter. “We have hotdogs, correct? That shouldn’t upset their stomachs much.”
Patton stepped in front of Logan, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Love, what are you talking about?”
Logan arched an eyebrow. “Getting the boys close to the beach, of course. On the chance that you’re correct then we’ll want to make sure that they’re close to saltwater in case they grow gills. And if they get through the rest of the day without growing gills then it will just be a good story about how we threw them an impromptu birthday celebration on the beach.” He shrugged. “I’ll admit, I find the whole thing about Sirens and Mermaids hard to believe. However, I’d rather be safe than sorry. For now, let us just get things-” he stumbled back as Patton surged forward, cupping Logan’s cheeks and pressing a passionate kiss to his lips that Logan slowly melted into.
When he pulled back, there was a large grin on Patton’s face and the tears in his eyes were from relief rather than helplessness. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you so much.”
“Anything for you,” Logan whispered, a smile tugging at his lips. “Forever and always, My Love. I will always do whatever I can to help you and our boys. And now, let’s go get ready for our beach celebration. And to throw our boys into the sea if it comes to that.”
