Untangle Me.

When Alex got home, it was gone 9pm and he found Zack and Jake both watching cartoons.
"You should be in bed, little man." He said, trying to sound firm but the smile on his face probably gave him away.
At the sound of Alex's voice, Zack jumped up from the couch and looked at him with a concerned expression which turned to confusion at the sight of the older man's grin.
"Yeah, your dad's right, bed time." Zack ordered, watching the 4 year old stand up, tiredly rubbing his eyes.
Alex walked over to the sleepy boy and picked him up, hugging him tightly.

"Daddy, where did you go?" The boy asked with a doe-eyed look as Alex carried him to his bedroom.
"I went to go see a friend, baby." Alex replied, choosing his words carefully.
"Zacky made pasta." Jake said, as Alex placed him down on his bed.
"Did he?" Alex asked, watching at the little boy confirmed it with a sleepy nod. "Was it tasty?"
"No, it was all burnt and gross." Jake replied, sticking out his tongue in disgust.
"Well, it takes a special kind of skill to burn pasta."
"That's what I said." Came Zack's voice from the doorway.
"C'mon, time to sleep now." Alex said, tucking the little boy into bed.
"Night daddy."
"Night baby."

***

As soon as Alex woke up, he knew he'd be bombarded by questions from Zack. The two guys were sat at the table eating breakfast when the questions began.
"So, it went well?"
"Yeah, it went really well." Alex replied, smiling into his mug of coffee.
"And you didn't fight?" Zack asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, we fought."
"But it went well?"
"Yep." Alex replied, popping the "p" sound.
"Right." Zack said, clearly sounding confused. Alex just continued smiling like a kid on Christmas. "You're a douchebag."
"Douchebag." Came a voice behind him and Alex turned around to find Jake stood there with a cheeky grin on his face.
"Jakey, that's a bad word." Alex scolded putting his arms out and pulling the child onto his lap.
"Zack said it."
"Zack's a bad person." Alex replied, shooting Zack a glare.
"It's true." Zack agreed, standing up. "I've gotta go get ready for work."

When Zack left the room, Alex turned to face Jake and took a deep breath.
"What's the matter, Daddy?" The boy inquired.
"Well, I need to talk to you about something serious, is that okay?"
"What is it?"
"Well, you know how you've got Daddy and you've got Uncle Zack?" Alex asked, watching Jake nod. "Well, Zacky isn't really your Daddy, is he?" The boy shook his head. "But just like Oscar, you've got two daddies."
"Where is my other Daddy?" Jake asked, looking confused.
"That's what I wanted to talk about. See, your other Daddy is called Jack and he hasn't been around, but now he's back in town and he'd like to meet you. Would you like that?"
The little boy looked confused for a moment longer as he processed what he'd just been told before smiling and nodding.
"Yeah?" Alex continued, relieved. "Well, that's good. Now, you've got to go to school but when you come home, Jack is going to be here and we're all going to hang out. Does that sound fun?"
"Yes! Can we have ice-cream?" Jake asked, looking excited. Alex hoped he was excited about meeting Jack and not just the prospect of ice-cream.
"We can have whatever you want."
"Zacky, we're getting ice-cream!" Jake shouted, and Alex turned around and noticed Zack stood at the door, now dressed in his work clothes.
"I heard." Zack replied, looking at Alex. "Are you sure about this?"
"I've never been surer." Alex replied.

It was while he was getting ready himself that it hit him. He was sure about this and he was sure about Jack and for the first time in a long time he actually felt like maybe things would work out finally.

Maybe things with Jack would work out finally.