Chapter Text
It started on a Tuesday.
Day was sitting on the nursery floor, back against the crib, laptop open on his knees. Danais lay on the playmat beside him, kicking his legs, chewing on a stuffed dinosaur.
On the screen:
Rings.
Day scrolled.
Paused and looked at Danais.
"What do you think of this one, champ?"
Danais looked at the screen. Looked at Day. Blew a raspberry.
"You're right. Too flashy."
He scrolled again."This one?"
Danais sneezed. "I agree. The band is too thick."
He scrolled again.
"This one?"
Danais started chewing on Day's sleeve.
"Very helpful. Top tier consultation."
Day had moved operations to the living room couch. Danais was on his lap, one hand playing with Day's pen, the other reaching for everything in reach.
Day's phone was open to a jewelry website. He'd narrowed it down to three options.
"Option one," Day said, holding up his phone so Danais could see. "Classic"
Danais grabbed the phone.
Day retrieved it.
"Option two. A little more detail."
Danais looked uninterested.
"Option three. Rose gold. Warmer tone. Less traditional."
Danais grabbed the phone. Refusing to let it go. (A/n:Never let me goooooo~~~~)
"Okay." Day said carefully taking it back from him. "We're leaning toward option three. Noted."
Danais reached for it again.
"You can't hold it. You'll drool on it, Little one."
"Dada."
"Yes my little champ??"
"Dada."
"No phone for you right now, Sweetie."
"DADA."
"Your vocabulary is limited and I still understand you. That's really concerning."
Danais gave up on the phone. Settled for Day's pen instead.
"This is serious work," Day told him. "We're planning something important."
Danais chewed on the pen cap.
"I appreciate your focus, Sweetheart."
By Thursday, Dream was involved.
"Let me get this straight," she said, sitting cross-legged on Day's living room floor, Danais in her lap, phone in hand. "You want me to help you pick a ring. For Diesel. The man who once told me he'd rather eat glass than get married."
"He said that?"
"Multiple times."
"He was sixteen."
"He was twenty-one two years ago and still said it."
"People change and he did too."
Dream studied him for a moment."Okay. Show me what you're considering."
Day handed her his phone.
Dream scrolled.
"This one."
"That one?"
"Rose gold. Warmer tone. Simple but not boring. Diesel hates flashy things but he'd appreciate something that feels intentional."
Day looked at the ring. Then at Danais, who was currently trying to eat Dream's choker."What do you think, buddy?"
Danais looked at the phone. Reached for it.
"That's the same reaction he had yesterday. I'm taking it as approval."
"His approval process is just grabbing things."
"It's consistent."
"That's... actually fair."
Dream looked between them. Day and Danais. The calm director and the baby who was currently destroying her necklace.
"You two are ridiculous."
Dream stared at them.Then she looked down at Danais.Danais looked up at her and immediately reached for her earring.
"No champ," Day said, gently removing Danais's hand from the earing. "You shouldn't grab things."
"He's already a menace."Dream shook her head. But she was smiling.
"Fine. Rose gold. I'll call the store tomorrow and check if they have it in his size.
Day walked in with Danais in the front carrier, a diaper bag over his shoulder, and the specific confidence of a man who had consulted extensively with a nine-month-old and was now ready to make a financial decision.
The store was quiet. Elegant. The kind of place that had velvet displays and employees who assessed your net worth before greeting you.
"Good morning, sir," the woman at the counter said, her smile professional, her eyes dropping to Danais with a flicker of surprise. "Can I help you?"
"Yes. I'm looking at this one." Day showed her the photo on his phone. "Rose gold. Size eight."
"Wonderful choice. Let me pull it from the case."
She disappeared into the back.
Day stood there. Danais on his chest. Looking at the displays. Trying to appear calm.
"You're being very mature about this," Day murmured to Danais.
Danais chewed on his own fist.
"I agree. We're completely composed. Not nervous at all."
Danais made a sound.
"Okay. Just a little nervous. But that's how humans are."
The woman returned with a small velvet box.
"Here we are."
She opened it.
The ring sat inside. Rose gold. Simple band. Warm tone. The same one from the website. The same one Danais had grabbed toward. The same one Dream had approved.
Day stared at it.His throat went tight.
It was real. Looking at it in person was different from looking at it on a screen. On the screen it was an option. In person it was a promise.
"What do you think?" Day asked Danais quietly.
Danais looked at the ring.
Reached for it.
"That's a yes," Day said softly.
"We can resize if needed," the woman offered. "And we offer engraving."
Day paused. "Engraving?"
"Initials. A date. A short phrase."
Day looked at the ring. Looked at Danais.
"What should it say?"
Danais squealed."Papa"
"I'm not engraving 'Papa' on a wedding ring."
The planning continued into the next week.
Day and Danais had developed a routine. Every evening, after Diesel put Danais down for his nap, Day would sneak back into the nursery. Sit on the floor. Pull out his phone. Look at venues. Look at ideas. Look at anything that might make this perfect.
Dream came over twice more.
The first time, she brought cake and a notebook full of ideas.
"Option one: rooftop proposal at sunset. Very romantic and very impossible with a baby."
"Pass."
"Option two: recreate your first date. Very sweet. Very on brand."
"We didn't really have a first date. We just... ended up in the same place repeatedly until it wasn't coincidence anymore."
Dream stared at him.
"That's either the most romantic or the most concerning thing you've ever said."
"Both."
"Fair. Option three: keep it simple. At home. Just the two of you. Maybe Danais in the next room."
Day considered this."He should be there."
"Danais?"
"He's been part of this from the beginning. He should be there when it happens."
Dream looked at him. Then at Danais, who was currently trying to climb Day's leg like a koala.
"You want the baby present for the proposal.Dream stared at them both."You're both disasters."
"We're a team."
"You're a man and an baby planning a wedding proposal over ring websites."
"Effective teamwork."Dream threw a pillow at him.
The second time Dream came over, it was late.
Diesel was already asleep. Day was in the nursery with Danais, looking at the ring in the velvet box, turning it over in his hands.
Dream found them like that. Day on the floor. Danais on the mat. Ring between them.
"You're still up?"
"I can't sleep."
Dream sat down beside him. Looked at the ring.
"You're really doing this."
"Yeah."
"You're not scared?"
Day was quiet for a moment.
"I'm terrified."
Dream looked at him.
"I'm terrified because I know what his answer should be. And I'm terrified because I know what his answer has been in the past. And those two things aren't the same."
"Diesel's not the same person anymore, Day."
"I know."
"He'd say yes."
"I know."
"Then what are you scared of?"
Day looked at Danais. Danais looked back. Reached for the ring box."That he'll say yes and then regret it."
Dream was quiet for a long moment."He won't."
"You can't know that."
"I know him. And I know you. And I know that you're the best thing that ever happened to him. Even when he was too scared to admit it. Even when he pushed you away. Even when he told himself he didn't deserve you."
Day swallowed.
"He's going to say yes," Dream said firmly. "And he's not going to regret it. Because you're not anything Diesel is ever going to regret."
Day exhaled slowly."You're sure?"
"I've never been more sure of anything."
"Okay."
"What do you mean,Okay?"
"Okay. I'm doing it."
Diesel noticed.
Of course he did....
It was hard not to notice when Day and Danais kept hunching over Day's phone like they were planning a murder. Hard not to notice the way they went quiet whenever Diesel entered the room.
"What are you two doing?"
Day looked up. Danais looked up. Both of them wearing the exact same expression of poorly concealed guilt.
"Nothing." Day looked at Danais who just giggled and said "Papa."
"See? Nothing."
Diesel narrowed his eyes."You both are being weird."
"We're always weird."
"You're being EXTRA weird."
"I was reading him a bedtime story."
"At three in the afternoon." Diesel lifted his brows.
"It was a very long story."
Diesel stared at them."You're up to something," he said walking away.
But he was smiling.
He didn't know what they were planning. Didn't know about the ring. Didn't know about the consultations. Didn't know about the secret meetings and the late-night phone calls with Dream and the ring shopping trip where Danais had almost drooled on a ten-thousand-baht display.
He just saw Day and Danais. His boyfriend and their son. Hunched over together.
And something about that sight—the two of them, soft—made Diesel's chest feel full in a way he couldn't name.
He didn't need to know what they were doing.
He just wanted them to keep doing whatever they were doing....
The house was quiet.
Diesel was already in bed when Day found him. Curled on his side. Wearing Day's hoodie. Face half-buried in the pillow.
Day slid in behind him. Pressed his chest to Diesel's back. Wrapped an arm around his waist.
Diesel exhaled slowly."You're here."
Diesel laced their fingers together. Pulled Day's hand closer to his chest.
"I love you," he murmured.
"I love you too."Day pressed a kiss to the back of Diesel's neck.
Diesel's body loosened. The tension draining out of him like water.
And in the quiet of their bedroom, with Danais sleeping peacefully in the next room and the city humming softly outside their window—they held each other.
And that was enough.~~~~