Later that afternoon, they almost have everything they need from the mall. They only need a few small things and then they can go home.
Liz is trying out her new stroller, and fell asleep the moment Ben put her in it.
While Joe is talking to Lucy and Rami a little bit in the back, Ben is pushing the stroller while talking to Gwil. But suddenly he stops, earning a questioning look from Gwil.
"Everything alright mate?" The tall boy asks confused.
Ben shakes his head and waits until Joe, Rami and Lucy have caught up with them. "Joey, look behind me. He has seen us." The blond says.
Joe looks at his boyfriend in confusion, noticing the panicking look in his eyes. But a few seconds later he understands.
"Who is that? He coming this way." Rami says.
Ben swallows. "That's Corey." He says softly.
Rami's eyes widen upon hearing the name. He remembers that name all too well.
"Joe what are we gonna do? Looks like he's coming our way." Ben says.
Joe gives him a helpless look, not sure what to do.
"Maybe he just wants to talk. Let him have his say, maybe he'll fuck off after that." Gwil suggests.
Lucy and Rami carefully nod as a sign they agree.
Joe shrugs and looks at Ben.
The blond sighs and nods. "Yeah, okay. But we gotta be careful, since Liz is also here." He says as he looks at the baby girl in the stroller.
"Don't worry, we're with five. We're not going to let him come too close." Lucy says reassuringly.

"B-Ben?" A voice says behind them.
Ben and the others turn around. "Hi Corey." The blond says, trying to mask the fact that he's pretty anxious right now.
Corey starts fiddling with his hands. "I uhm... I never really got the chance to apologize to you and Joe. And... well, I know I did awful things. I don't want your forgiveness but I still wanted to say sorry." He stutters as he is avoiding eye contact with the five friends.
Ben looks at Joe, and sees the quite pitying look on the ginger's face. He and Joe quickly exchange some looks, and don't need any words.
"Well, of course the things that happened weren't a very nice experience. But people do weird things in weird times. Your brother died, I kinda get it." Joe says.
Corey swallows. "I- I'm so sorry I poisoned you. I don't even remember doing it." He says ashamed.
Joe giggles softly. "It's okay, don't worry about it anymore."
A small smile appears on Corey's face. The boy is clearly relieved that Joe forgives him. Then he turns to Ben. "I'm sorry your parents kicked you out of the house because of me." When Ben starts smiling he gives the blond a questioning look.
"Oh I should thank you for that. My parents are horrible people. And because of them kicking me out, I met Joe. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have been together." Ben says, grabbing Joe's hand in his own and intertwining their fingers. He grins when he sees Joe blush slightly.
Corey lets out a nervous chuckle. "Well at least I did something good." He mutters, looking at the boys holding hands with a smile. "Still, the things I did weren't okay. I needed someone to blame for Allen's death, and that became you. You can't really blame the person who died, you know."
Ben nods. "That makes sense, I guess."
Joe smiles and nods in agreement. "You're not as bad as you think you are. We're cool."
When Liz starts to cry in the stroller, Ben carefully takes her out after a failed attempt to shush her. Once the girl is on Ben's arm, she stops crying and just nuzzles into his chest. The blond smiles. "You just wanted some attention, didn't you?" He says to the little girl.
"Have you started babysitting again?" Corey asks Ben.
The blond shakes his head. "No, I haven't. This is our daughter." He says with a smile. He looks at Joe, and can feel his heart explode.
Corey immediately smiles. "Really? Whoa that's so cool." He says.
Joe smiles proudly. "Thanks. But we're gonna go, if you don't mind. We still need some stuff." He says with his eyes on Liz.
Corey smiles and nods. "Yeah. Thanks again for hearing me out." He says before walking away.

"That went surprisingly well, didn't it?" Gwil says with a smile as the friends walk on.
Both Ben and Joe smile.
"Luckily it did." The blond says relieved.
Joe nods in agreement. "You know, I think he's actually very nice. Losing his brother just changed him. I know how losing a family member can change you." He mumbles.
The others nod in agreement.
Ben takes Joe's hand in his own when he sees the boy swallow.
"So, do you almost have everything? My feet are getting sore." Lucy asks with an innocent smile.
Rami giggles, and with a smirk he lifts her up.
A few yelps escape her mouth, and she clasps her arms around Rami's neck.
"We only need a few sets of clothes for her and then we're done." Joe says. With a smirk he looks at Rami and Lucy.
Ben nods in agreement. He carefully puts Liz back into the stroller. The girl slowly closes her eyes, contently sucking on her pacifier. 
"There a store close to Brian's with cute baby clothes. We can go there?" Gwil suggests.
The others nod and they all make their way to the store.

|||

"Ben? Joe?"
The five friends suddenly hear when they walk out of the store with a pile of cute baby clothes.
They turn around and see Brian standing there with a big smile.
"Hey Brian!" Joe says with an even bigger smile.
Brian immediately hugs the two boys. "I didn't know you were back already." He says pleasantly surprised.
"We took a plane earlier so we were back sooner than planned." Ben explains.
It doesn't take Brian long before the stroller catches his eye. "Who did you bring along?" He asks.
Ben smiles and pulls down the shade of the stroller so Liz appears.
The baby girl blinks a few times because of the amount of daylight, and then just stares at Brian with big eyes.
"Who's this little girl?" The older man asks while admiring the girl.
Rami rolls his eyes with a smile when he sees the two boys glowing of pride once again.
"Well, believe it or not, but we have a daughter now. Her name is Liz." Joe says with a big smile.
Of course Brian also wants to know how they suddenly have a daughter now. So that's why the two tell the story for the third time this day.
After a bit of chatting, they go home exhausted.

///

While Ben is assembling Liz's crib, Joe has ordered them some pizza. The two decided to let Liz sleep in their room until they all get over their jetlags. Plus they agreed it's a little cruel to let the girl sleep alone in a total new room she doesn't know.
While waiting for the pizza, Joe gives Liz a bottle. With his eyes almost falling close, the ginger looks at their daughter. He has to make a real effort to stay awake after this exhausting day.
Seems like he isn't the only one who's tired, because while enjoying her bottle Liz's eyes slowly close. With her eyes closed, a few satisfied noises are heard from her as she keeps on drinking.
After she finished her bottle, Joe places it on the table.
Joe giggles softly when Liz yawns. He gives her a kiss on the head. "I think it's bedtime. Let's see if your Papa is almost done with your crib darling." The ginger carefully gets up from the couch, and walks over to their bedroom.

Ben looks at him and is about to say something, but only smiles widely once he sees Liz being peacefully asleep in his boyfriend's arms. "The crib is ready." The blond whispers as he walks over to the two. 
Joe smiles, and presses his lips against Ben's. "You're a hero." He whispers with a small grin. He walks over to the crib, and carefully puts Liz down.
The girl stretches out and yawns, clearly enjoying her new bed.
Ben hands Joe the girl's lovey and pacifier, and just smiles at the little girl.
"Sweet dreams Lizzy. We love you." The ginger whispers.
Ben turns on the baby monitor before he and Joe leave the room. 
The first thing Joe does is fall into Ben's arms. "We have a family." He whispers against Ben's chest.
Ben smiles widely. "I know. It feels amazing." He says before kissing Joe. "I love you."
Joe snuggles deeper into the boy's chest with a content sigh. "I love you too."

The two plop down onto the couch together.
"God I'm completely worn out." Joe mutters.
Ben yawns and nods. "Yeah, it's been a busy day. But it's good to be home again." He snuggles closer to Joe and nuzzles his face into the collar of the ginger's hoodie. He smiles when Joe starts to give him small kisses onto his forehead.
Joe chuckles softly when Ben lets out a pleased noise. He closes his eyes, listening to Ben's slow breathing.
The blond groans loudly when the doorbell rings.
"There are our pizzas." Joe whispers before escaping from under Ben to open the door.
"I'm starving." Ben mumbles with a smile when the boy returns with two pizza boxes.
Joe nods in agreement.
A silence falls, and the two just enjoy their pizza.
"We should take her to the beach some day, so we can show her the sea." Joe says softly after putting his head on Ben's chest.
The blond smiles and nods. "Agreed. And the stars. Once she's old enough, we'll show her the stars and the moon." Ben adds.
Joe nods enthusiastically. He can't wait for all those moments with his family. He locks their lips together and intertwines their fingers.
"Gosh I feel so incredibly happy." Ben says with his heart glowing in his chest.
"Me too, my love." Joe whispers with a smile. "I don't think I can get any happier than this." 
Ben closes his eyes, feeling the small box with the ring in it burning in his pocket. "Yeah, me neither."

_____________________

Hi guys,

I've been feeling really low lately, and writing is the only thing that's keeping me from collapsing to be honest. But that also means that everything I'm writing right now is rubisch I'm afraid.

If any of you have ideas for oneshots or something, please leave them here🙏🏻 I could use them. (Or just comments in general)

Kisses from me♡