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On occasion, Robby snores during his sleep. It's a discovery Frank made early on in their relationship, and it's something he teases Robby about until this day.
The snoring doesn't bother him, not really, but he does have a lot of fun pestering Robby for being old and chastising him to get a sleep apnea test. There's something about the way his brows twitch when Frank teases him, trying with an immense amount of effort to appear annoyed. Robby's eyes are always his tell, it's impossible for Frank not to see the fondness that pours out of them when he listens to Frank’s quips.
Gun to his head, Frank finds the soft snores that drift out of Robby's sleeping frame soothing. It's strangely domestic, laying in a quiet dark room listening to his lovers snores. Given their profession, sleep is often few and far between. Throw in an energetic golden doodle, a toddler who inherited her father's sass, and a six year old who has more energy than the dog and his father combined, it makes sleep all that more difficult to come by.
Before Frank and Robby decided to move in together, Frank always insisted that Robby needn't spend his days off with his screaming children and bouncing puppy. Frank always got the same response: Oh shut up, Langdon.
They never discussed it properly, welcoming Robby into their family. He just kept showing up to outings, to dinners on weekends that Frank had Tanner and Haley. They didn't even get a chance to properly announce their relationship to the kids, Tanner took care of that for them one evening over dinner. He looked over at Robby, blue eyes narrowing like he was sizing the man up as a threat.
“You kissed daddy last night,” Tanner said with the heavy weight of skepticism. “I saw it. You can't be Uncle Robby if you're kissing daddy … that's gross.”
Frank's pretty sure he's never laughed harder in his life. Robby choked on a fork-full of mashed potatoes.
That evening the title of “Uncle Robby” was switched quickly to “Pops”, even though Robby had insisted that Tanner could just call him Robby. The five year old was adamant that Robby wasn't good enough.
Robby cried that night, big wet happy tears coating his cheeks as he pressed his lips to Frank's once they were in the privacy of their bedroom. Frank got a little misty eyed himself, but he'd never admit it out loud.
There were times that Frank was convinced he'd never feel happiness again, that things would never smooth out for him. The first ten months of what he now jokingly calls his ‘recovery journey’ were dark, damn near hopeless. Returning to work had only proved to be more difficult, especially when he found out that Robby was leaving for three months upon his return, that he hadn't planned on crossing paths with Frank in the first place.
Shit between them was tense for a while. It took time before either of them worked up the courage to speak to each other about the resentments they were carrying, to shine a light on all the hurt. They both like to run from their problems and they knew it too. Unfortunately– or fortunately, now– Frank had been working through his baggage enough to bite the bullet and kick off the much needed conversation they had both been avoiding.
It hadn't been easy, working it all out. Frank truthfully hadn't expected to be anything else but Robby's coworker and maybe occasional friend once they had ironed out all the wrinkles in their relationship. The more time they spent together when they weren't scratching for each other's throats the more the two of them realized that there had been a spark there, something faint and smoldering for the last few years that took off into a wildfire once they got their heads out of their asses.
Now, as Frank stands in the dimly lit living room, looking at Robby where he sits on his reading chair, it's hard to remember anything before this.
He had just finished putting Haley and Tanner to bed, reading each of them a bedtime story before pressing a soft kiss to their foreheads. He lingered in Tanner's room for a moment, anticipating the shuffling of Robby's feet down the hallway that never came. It's routine nowadays, for Frank to read his kids a quick bedtime story to kick off the nighttime routine, and for Robby to follow close behind, ensuring that everyone is tucked in tight and given a goodnight kiss. Robby never showed up though, and Tanner already had his eyes shut and mouth open, tuckered out from a long day at the zoo with his dads.
In search of his partner Frank moved to the last place he had seen Robby, the livingroom, only to find him passed out where he had left him. His glasses were perched dangerously low on the bridge of his nose, head tilted backwards against the back of the armchair, mouth hanging open, soft snores pouring out. Dixie is curled up at his feet, chin resting on the top of Robby's slipper-clad foot, the dog snoring away in time with Robby.
Frank knows that eventually he has to wake Robby up, that sleeping for longer than thirty minutes in that chair is going to wreck havoc on his back, but he finds himself stuck standing still. He looks so peaceful like this, his brows relaxed from their typical furrowed position, all the tension removed from his shoulders. It doesn't help that Dixie is cuddled up with him, it only makes it more difficult to move Frank from his spot. So he takes a few moments to admire the sight of his partner resting well, listening to Robby's quiet snores with a smile on his face that would be impossible to tamp down.
At the beginning, Frank found it nearly impossible to find anything to be grateful for. His sponsor– Al, an old timer with twenty-some years of sobriety under his belt, who didn't take any of Frank's bullshit– had told him to write a gratitude list back when he was working through the first and second steps or the twelve step program. It had been a short list at the time, his children being the only real things that he could think of that didn't feel forced or performative. Nowadays his gratitude list has increased tenfold. He's able to find it in small moments like this. Frank is grateful that he has his kids this weekend, that Robby was able to accompany them to the zoo, that he was able to cook dinner for his kids and his partner, that Robby lives here with him now, that Robby is getting some much needed rest, that Robby snores.
He's not sure how long he's been standing there staring, but Frank finally decides it's time to rip off the band-aid and get Robby into bed. He walks over to the chair which immediately gets Dixie’s attention, the dog's ears perking up before hopping to her feet, tail wagging as she moves to walk circles around Frank's legs. The movement is enough to cause Robby to stir, brows creasing as he shifts in his hair, half snore half groan spilling out of his open mouth.
“Babe…” Frank's voice is soft, the last thing he wants to do is startle him. His hand finds Robby's shoulder, giving him a gentle jostle. “...time to come to bed.”
Robby's eyes open, squinting above his glasses as his eyes meet Frank's. He groans as he shifts to sit up in the chair. “What time is it?” He mumbles the words out, voice still thick with sleep, removing his glasses with one hand and rubbing over his face with the other.
Frank gives a sideways glance to the clock on the wall as he leans in to press his lips to Robby's forehead. “Ten after Nine.” He says against his skin, hand raising so he can rake his fingers through Robby's beard.
Robby draws in a deep breath, taking a few seconds to soak in the affection, before he lets out a long drawn out sigh. “I missed bedtime.” There's dejection in his words and a frown tugging at the corners of his lips. It makes Frank's heart swell.
“You did.” Frank confirms with a gentleness in his voice that he's practiced a lot over these last few months. Robby's more emotional than he lets on, especially after he's been woken up abruptly. The last thing the both of them need is Robby getting in his head about this. “You can make it up to them with pancakes in the morning.” He teases with a smirk, tilting his head down to capture Robby's lips in a kiss.
They both end up savoring the kiss that was originally intended to be chaste. It's so easy for Frank's mouth to mould against Robby's, for him to find comfort pressed against him like this. They kiss for as long as they can before Frank's back starts to ache. Frank doesn't pull back first, though. It's Robby who breaks the kiss apart, ducking his head down as he slips his arms around Frank's waist, hands poking and prodding into the familiar spots that bother Frank the most. The groan he lets out is involuntary as he relaxes under his partners ministrations, eyes still remaining closed as he draws in a deep breath.
“Pancakes, huh?” Frank can hear the smirk on his face through the question. “Are you requesting those for you or the kids?”
Frank laughs, easy and carefree, and he opens his eyes to look down at Robby. “Oh, sue me.” He teases, “Didn't realize it was a crime to like your pancakes.” They were good, and it's not like Haley and Tanner would be upset about the decision. They love Robby's pancakes, it's a challenge to convince them to have anything besides breakfast for dinner when they're over here. “Besides I picked up that maple chicken sausage you like, we can have that with them.”
Something nearly unreadable passes over Robby's face then. Frank has had practice on picking up every little twitch on Robby's face, learned the meaning of every position of his brows and corners of his lips. He's easy to read at most times, wears his heart on his sleeve even though he tries his best to keep it hidden. Whatever this look is, it's impossibly fond, his warm brown eyes widening and his mouth opening into a soft ‘o’. He starts to speak and is immediately cut off by Dixie shoving herself between their legs, head tilted up to look at the both of them, clearly growing impatient with how long it's taking for the two of them to come to bed.
“Alright, alright.” Robby says with an exasperated sigh. Reluctantly he pries his arms from Frank's waist, reaching down to scratch the dog behind her ears. “We hear you, it's bedtime.”
“You were snoring, y'know.” Frank comments with a smirk as he pulls back away from Robby to give him some room to stand. “Surprised it didn't wake up the kids.”
Robby grunts out a laugh as he hoists himself from the chair to stand, reaching out to swat Frank on the ass as he passes behind him. Frank reaches out to shove his arm gently with a pointed ‘hey’ in retaliation as he moves to turn off the light in the living room. Dixie excitedly follows behind him as he moves into the bedroom and hops on the bed immediately, making it a challenge for Frank to pull back the covers. As he settles into bed and under the covers he looks towards their open door. Robby's still not here, and Frank wonders what's taking him so long. His question is answered when he hears Robby's feet shuffle down the hallway.
He's checking on Tanner and Haley.
After a few minutes Robby makes his way into the bedroom, kicking off his slippers so he can settle into bed for the evening. “They're really tuckered out, dead to the world.” He comments with a shake of his head and a chuckle as he situates himself onto his side so he can look at Frank, and Frank's staring back at him like he hung the stars in the sky.
Sometimes Frank wonders if he really had.
“I love you.” The words are rushed out, guttural, propelled forward by the image of Robby shuffling into the kids rooms and pressing a kiss to their foreheads and making sure they're covered up and resting peacefully. For a while, Frank was afraid to do all this on his own, to be a dad on his own. He realizes that he doesn't have to be. He's got Abby, of course, but he has Robby too.
“I love you too.” Robby's reply is easy, and he gets that fond look on his face again as he leans forward to capture Frank's lips in another kiss. “Goodnight, honey.” He whispers against his lips before pulling away, taking a moment to brush away the hair that's fallen into Frank's eyes.
“Goodnight.” Frank replies, pressing a kiss to the tip of Robby's nose because he can. Because it feels right.
Frank falls asleep quickly, and he sleeps soundly like he has nearly every night that Robby sleeps at his side. In the morning they have pancakes over laughter and animated retellings of their experience at the zoo from Tanner and Haley, and Frank has never been more grateful in his life.