Chapter Text
Jedediah is used to confrontation.
He’s spent most of his life justifying his choices, and by now he’s pretty damn good at arguing his side. He’s had plenty of practice defending himself, whether it was from asshole teachers who told him he would never amount to anything or his own father - who still insists that bisexuality isn’t real, and he needs to, quote, “hurry up and pick a side.”
He’s always been able to fight his own corner. He should have no problem doing it now.
But he does, he does. This is something completely out of his hands. The reality is, he can abseil down mountains and ride horses bareback without a single tremor in his bones, yet he can’t even bring himself to look into the eyes of his own husband when they’re having a domestic.
Probably because he knows he’s definitely in the wrong this time.
‘I wish you would tell me what the hell you were thinking.’ Octavius’s voice is composed yet bordering on furious.
Jed doesn’t respond. He busies himself getting Julia ready for bed, buttoning up her Hello Kitty onesie, sighing when he realises that it’s inside out and starting over again. He wonders if he should give her another bottle before she goes to sleep. He’s been told it will help settle her before bed, but last time it gave her hiccups –
‘Jed, I’m talking to you.’ Octavius cuts back into his thoughts. ‘It’s not rocket science. You know a garage is no place to take a child. Or did you figure she would be content enough sitting around and watching you fix cars all day?’
Jedediah feels his jaw click in irritation and pops the last button on the onesie into place. ‘Would you quit gettin’ your knickers in a twist, Octy? We’ve been over this. The babysitter cancelled. I didn’t have the car to take her to daycare. Unless you wanted me to leave her alone in an empty apartment all day, I don’t know what else I was supposed to do.’
It’s Octavius’s turn to go quiet.
He wordlessly strides over to the couch and lifts Julia out from underneath Jedediah’s nose, holding her close as if terrified someone will run over and snatch her away. Jed takes a deep breath, trying to fend off the rage still simmering in his gut, pushing all the angry thoughts out of his brain so they can both have a rational conversation instead of a screaming match.
‘You could have called Ahk.’ Octavius says at last, not even flinching when Julia grabs hold of his glasses with one tiny hand. ‘Or Lance, or Amelia, or anyone. Anything would have been better than taking her to work with you. What if something had happened to her?’
‘Like what?’
‘I don’t know. Someone could have…dropped a spanner on her.’ He frowns deeply as Jedediah snorts in response. ‘It’s not funny!’
‘You’re bein’ ridiculous, she was absolutely fine. Larry and Wea kept an eye on her while I was dealin’ with the customers, and when they weren’t spoilin’ her rotten, she was asleep. You know I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her, so quit makin’ mountains out of molehills.’
Octavius’s brown eyes narrow dangerously, though he’s careful not to raise his voice near the baby. ‘It may seem ridiculous to you, but it isn’t to me. You could have at least sent me a message, told me she was there.’
‘Well, I didn’t, okay? Like you, I had a job to do.’ Jedediah feels heat pool into his face, scorching his cheeks. ‘I know it’s not some fancy, schmancy office job like you have, but I take my work seriously. Forgive me if I was too preoccupied to let you know that I was lookin’ after my own daughter for the day.’
‘I wasn’t trying to-’ Octavius pauses, biting down on his lip. ‘All I’m asking is that you consult me about these sorts of things in the future. If anything had happened-’
‘For the last goddamned time-’
‘Jedediah-!’
‘-nothin’ would have happened! I wouldn’t have let it happen! I thought you trusted me!’
‘I do trust you-’
‘Then maybe you should start actin’ like-’
‘I’m your husband, Jedediah.’ Octavius’s voice finally cracks, struggling to maintain its earnestness without becoming too loud. ‘Remember? We got married. We’re supposed to make these decisions together – or were you not listening during the ceremony?’
This is a red rag to a raging bull and Jed takes the bait like a fish. He’s never really allowed his temper to get the better of him before, save for the moments when he’s really lost it with his father’s bigotry. But right now, he’s pissed off beyond belief, and Octavius is the one to answer for it.
‘No, I must have dozed off halfway through. I don’t recall the part of our vows where I swore to put up with this sort of bullshit for the rest of my life. If I had known that I would be condemned to this, I would have gotten out of there faster than a road lizard!’
Octavius stares at him. He opens his mouth to speak and immediately shuts it again, dumbfounded.
Jed feels his own mouth go dry, replays the words in his head and realises how horrible they were; his brain desperately searches for a way to take it all back, but Octavius walks past him before he can speak, heading for Julia’s room.
‘Condemned, are you?’ Octavius says over his shoulder, his voice eerily calm, the baby almost asleep against his shoulder. ‘Condemned to having a husband and child who love you to the ends of the earth? My heart bleeds.’
He leaves to put Julia down to sleep. Jed only just manages to say, ‘I didn’t mean-’ before the door is closed in his face.
It appears the couch will be his bed for the night.