We Got Like 3 Minutes Of Screen Time With Wayne But We All Know That Man Loves Eddie With All His Heart - Tumblr Posts

“Are you sure you don’t want a hand?” Eddie says as he watches Wayne at the sink. “I’m pretty sure it’s bad hosting etiquette to make your guests cook dinner and wash up after.”

“Family don’t count as guests.” Wayne fends Eddie off with a surprisingly sharp elbow when he tries to step in. “You’ve got more'n enough on your plate as it is. So how ‘bout you let me feel useful and help you out in peace?”

Grinning, Eddie holds his hands up in surrender. “Shit, if you insist, dude.” He grabs a dish towel and starts drying, ignoring the dangerous look Wayne levels at him for it. “I gotta say, though, it’s weird as shit you begging me not to wash the dishes.”

“It’s plenty weird you actually wanting to.”

They stand there together in Eddie’s cramped kitchen, a comforting echo of so many evenings back in their trailer, though this time instead of the radio it’s the sound of soft cries that fill the room. Eddie glances back towards the open door of the apartment’s tiny second bedroom, watches Steve rock their newborn son in his arms as he gently shushes him.

Wayne’s watching with a crinkly-eyed smile as well when Eddie finally manages to tear his gaze away – though it’s unlikely he has quite the same appreciation for the view as Eddie. “You want me to stick around,” he says, “let you two get some rest?”

“Nah, you go on home. You need all the beauty sleep you can get.”

“Laugh all you want, punk; this’ll be you before you know it.”

Eddie’s taking a step to follow Wayne out towards the apartment door when his eyes land on the document sitting on the kitchen counter. “Hey, Wayne?” he says. “Would you sign this for me?”

“What is it?”

“Adoption papers.”

Wayne pauses, his hand still outstretched to take the papers from Eddie, and he looks back up in surprise. “Don’t tell me you boys are taking on another one already.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ, no,” says Eddie. He can still hear Steve in the nursery, a hint of desperation in his voice as he tries valiantly to lull Sam to sleep. He shoots Eddie a pained look when Eddie glances over to him.

He doesn’t want to even think about having another kid until the sleepless nights and exhaustion have turned into nothing more than a hazy, rosy-coloured memory.

“No,” Eddie says to Wayne. “These are, uh – these are for me.”

Wayne takes the papers from Eddie’s hand – just as well, since he’s about five seconds from crumpling them beyond recognition with his anxious fidgeting – and gives them a long, close look. There’s some complicated expression on his face when he meets Eddie’s gaze again.

“You sure about this, son?” he says, voice barely more than a whisper.

Eddie nods.

“I mean, only if you want to, obviously,” he adds quickly. “It’s not a big deal or anything. I just thought–”

But before he can backtrack, play the whole thing off like some dumb joke and not something he’s been thinking about more and more over the past few months, Wayne’s pushing past him to head back into the kitchen. He snatches up a pen and signs his name right there next to Eddie’s.

The pen falls onto the counter with a decisive clatter.

Eddie just stands gaping in the doorway. He’s not sure he’s actually taken a breath since he broached the subject, so there’s a good chance he’s gonna pass the fuck out any second now.

Shit, maybe he already has.

“Nice to make it official,” says Wayne. His voice is unusually tight. He looks back at Eddie with a watery smile. “But I never needed no piece of paper to tell me what I already know.”

Eddie nods. He has to bite his bottom lip to keep it from wobbling. His eyes are misting up too much to make out Wayne’s expression, but he can hear him sniffing.

“You all right, Wayne?”

“Allergies playing up is all,” he says brusquely.

“Yeah.” Eddie scrubs at his cheeks with the back of his sleeve. “Mine too.”

He’s barrelling into Wayne then. Wayne’s already braced for impact, open arms ready to pull Eddie in close and hold him tight. Eddie buries his face in Wayne’s shirt, and the floodgates open.

They’re still clinging to each other when Steve finally steps back into the main room. He looks between them, both red faced and snotty and sobbing, with a smile.

“So that’s a yes, huh?” he says, once they eventually break apart.