Tangerinesmooch - Tangerinesmooch

Reblog to give him a kiss on the forehead

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL BOOBS

I just... the thought of your young son coming into your room on Father's Day morning with one of Levi's cravats like "I wanna be Daddy's daddy for Father's Day because he's a good daddy and I want him to know what it's like to have one!" 😭

I AM GETTING SO MANY DADVI ASKS & I AM ABOUT TO COMBUST FROM THE CUTE 🥹

***

Your son has always been an inquisitive child, asking you both about anything and everything.

Levi insists he takes after you with the annoying, shitty questions as your eyes roll and his playful smirk breaks across his features.

You both have been taking his simple, yet relentless questions with ease even though they’ve caused a few headaches here and there. But he’s brand new to this world, and you meet him in kind. He deserves to reveal the world’s secrets.

Maybe this whole parenting thing won’t be as difficult as you both thought.

That is until your son asks you both a question that has you and Levi desperately pleading for the other to take control on the eve of Father’s Day.

“Daddy, how come we never see your mommy and daddy?”

Levi’s eyes dart to yours in one final desperate plea, but you squeeze his hand under the table in reassurance with a nod.

He always seems to find the strength with you.

“My mother isn’t with us anymore, but don’t worry…She…she’s at peace now.”

Your son knows Levi’s resolute tone all too well, and even though he doesn’t understand how a person could be so near and far away, he accepts his father without another word. His Daddy always tells the truth even if it’s hard. Mommy always say so.

“But Daddy, what about your daddy?”

“I, um,” he bores into the table, searching for the words, “I…didn’t have one.”

You watch on as your son’s face of utter shock drops into a deep frown and you marvel at the uncanny resemblance the two share with their shared expression. His brow furrows even further and his eyes begin to widen with tears gathering in his lash line as uncontrollable hiccups bubble forth. He bites back his sobs, trying to keep his composure the best he can to be strong in his Daddy’s presence.

Your partner just got really good at hiding it, but if the silly questions come from you, your son’s bleeding heart comes from Levi.

Levi has a hard time finding the words, but when his son falls apart like this, he melts and always knows exactly what to say. Pulling from his pain, his solitude, his isolation as a child when he only had himself to soothe him.

“Shh…don’t cry, baby,” Levi whispers into the air between them, “It’s okay to be upset now, but don’t carry this with you. Daddy’s okay now, alright? I promise. I have you and your mother to take care of me now.”

He can’t stand to see another tear fall down his son’s cheek, and he slides the backs of his hands across the table with palms open wide before him. Head low and eyes turned upward, searching his little face.

His baby places his tiny hands in his father’s weathered palms. Levi’s hands gently close over top, squeezing him in comfort.

“I’m not going anywhere, okay my love? You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll always be right here.”

The boy blinks back tears and a small smile begins to form at his father’s tender voice. Daddy never lies and he always has a way of putting things plainly, so that he can understand, speaking to him as an equal.

Your son reaches upward towards the white fabric draped over the worn wooden table hanging from his father’s neck. His fingers run through the soft cravat and then travel further upward to his father’s cheek, stroking him in comfort.

Levi turns into his tiny palm and plants a kiss that slips into playful nips after his retreating fingers, sending your baby into a fit of giggles. A smile sets on both of their faces with a glassy look in their eyes as they hold each other’s gaze in their own little world.

You look on in wonder as his strength never seems to surprise you. See Levi, I knew you could do this. Your musings slip into the air between them both.

Your son’s fingers return back to the neck tie.

He never wanted to sleep with a stuffed animal or blanket, but would only accept the humble cloth as a companion in the night, the fresh smell of linen and tea leaves lulling him to sleep.

You don’t know when the love of the tie began, but it had to have begun when Levi would rock him to sleep at night against the warmth of his chest when he was just a baby.

Tucking his son into his covers, he slips off the cloth again, draping it over his baby. The boy nuzzles into it, taking it into his hands.

“See, my love? I told you, I’ll always be right…,” he whispers and presses over his heart through the fabric, “here.”

He looks up into his father’s eyes and knows he means every word, but the impending loneliness from today’s revelation continues to eat away at him deep into the night. He has to make things right.

***

Levi wakes with the dawn and can feel your warm embrace with your arm draped lazily around him.

Puffs of air fan out over the back of his neck as you slumber on. He melts into your touch behind him as your chest presses into his back with each breath.

He can see the morning light creeping in underneath the room’s door, and then, something entirely new…

He spots two little feet nervously padding up the door and two tiny knocks sound against the wood.

“Baby, are you okay?” Levi gently calls out to his son.

“I…I, um,” Levi chuckles internally at his stammering.

“It’s okay, just come in,” and as the door opens you rise to look over Levi’s shoulder. The sight before you has you gripping Levi’s waist, hiding your smile in his neck.

It isn’t that your little boy brushed his own hair and dressed himself at 5 years old…It’s the anxious, downcast eyes over the white fabric hanging from his neck…Levi’s cravat tied clumsily around him.

“Happy Father’s Day, Daddy!” He beams and you look over to Levi to catch his expression with the biggest shit eating grin on your face.

Levi is at a loss, lips slightly parted with an unreadable look.

It causes the boy to retract his excitement just a little with eyes shifting down, “Sorry, Daddy…S’not as good as yours, but I…” He bravely looks back up to his father, “I know you said it’d be okay, but I wanna be Daddy’s daddy for Father’s Day because he’s a good daddy and I want him to know what it’s like to have one!”

Levi’s jaw closes immediately.

A beat passes and he covers his eyes with his hand, running his fingers through his hair with his head tilting back. A shaky sigh leaving his nose.

Looking up at the ceiling he whispers, “Come here.”

His son takes tiny steps forward and his anxiety blooms in his chest.

“M’sorry, Daddy…If you don’t like i-“

“-Stop, saying sorry…” He drags his hand away from his eyes and the boy gasps at tears threatening to spill over his dark lashes.

“Daddy, don’t cry…I’m right…” He pokes at his father’s heart, “here, remember?”

Levi takes his little hand in his again lifting it to his lips for a kiss.

“Of course, baby…I remember.”