At first, he just drove around with no destination. But soon found himself in front of the facility that Mr. Degas was at. Shutting off his car, he sat and thought. Even if he was miserable on Christmas Eve maybe he could be there for Mr. Degas for more than a few minutes.

Mr. Degas wouldn’t think he was too dull or pathetic. Even if he did it wasn’t like he would tell Ted that. No he would lay there and listen. Just as he was about to get out of the car he heard a whimper. Turning around in his seat he looked in the backseat. He saw a small red sneaker on the floorboard. Leaning over more he saw another sneaker, and the little boy attached to it. He was holding a smaller boy in his arms.

“Gus? Tommy?” He was shocked to see the little boys with worried expressions on their faces. They didn’t look scared but they didn’t look happy.

“You lied!” Gus accused.

“What?” Really, what?

“You said our presents were in your car, there’s no presents,” Gus pouted.

Ted bit back a laugh. “I was joking. Your presents are in the bag at Grandma Deb’s.”

“Oh,” Tommy said, looking crestfallen.

“I need you call your parents. They need to come get you.”

Both boys nodded and climbed up into the backseats. Ted pulled out his phone and considered calling. He really didn’t want to talk to any one of them. He sent a quick message to Lindsay telling her to tell Brian that he had both boys. He gave the address of the facility. It was getting cold in his car and the heat wasn’t the best when the car wasn’t moving. Not wanting to risk the boys’ safety, he decided to take them inside with him.

“Come on boys, we’re going to see a friend of mine.” Can someone be a friend of a coma patient they never met before?

“Are they nice?” Gus asked.

“Well, he’s sick; so he’s sleeping. One day he might get better though. We wouldn’t want him to spend Christmas Eve alone would we?”

“No, I hope he’ll wake up so we can meet him.” Gus said. Tommy was being his usual quiet self. It took him a while to warm up to Ted each time they saw each other.

He got out of the car first and let the boys out. Grabbing a hand of each boy, he walked them inside building. The front entrance had a receptionist and large sitting area. Soft Christmas music was being filtered into the lobby.

“Mr. Schmidt, back again to see Mr. Degas?” the short red-haired receptionist, Beth asked. She had just been starting her shift when he was there earlier.

In the week Mr. Degas had been there he had gotten to know most of the staff. It always felt wrong to leave him there. What would have happened to him if he had no name? He had been lucky that he was found in his apartment. God knows what would happen if he had been found like Mr. Degas was.

“I’ve just brought my nephews to see him, is that alright?” He bit his lip, hoping there would be no problem.

“Strictly speaking children under the age of twelve aren’t allowed after six in the evening. But I can make an exception for such a handsome man as yourself.”

Ted inwardly groaned. Why was it that straight women found him attractive? She wasn’t a bad looking woman. But unfortunately for his mother, there was no attraction for the opposite sex from him.

“I’ll make sure they don’t make any noise.”

“It’s not a problem, Mr. Schmidt. On Mr. Degas ward it would be near impossible to wake them. And if you did, you’d be a miracle worker not a nuisance.”

The boys were very quiet as Beth buzzed them in. Each boy held on to his hand like it was a lifeline. He gave them a reassuring smile before heading in the direction of Mr. Degas room.

Right before they stepped in doorway Gus pulled him to a stop.

“We don’t have a present for him,” he said, a look of horror on his face.

“I told you, he’s sick. You know how Sleeping Beauty was asleep until the prince came and kissed her.” Both boys nodded. Thank God for Em because Lindsay and Mel would never read a fairytale that had that kind of message. “Well Mr. Degas is kind of like her.”

“Waiting for prince?” Tommy asked.

Ted hesitated before answering. Usually he wouldn’t lie but he didn’t have the heart to tell them that Mr. Degas would probably never wake up. “Yes, he’s waiting for his prince to come.”

“You his prince?” Tommy asked.

“No, stupid, he’s with Erik,” Gus said

“Hey, don’t call your brother stupid. It was a very smart question.” Then he looked at Tommy. “I’m no one’s prince, I’m sorry.”

“It okay. You Dopey,” Tommy said with smile.

“Dopey?”

“Yep. Daddy calls you that.”

This time Ted did groan outwardly. Brian and his fucking putdowns. It didn’t matter that they were almost friends at work. No, he still had to show his dominance over people by knocking them down to where he thought they belonged. Fucker.

“Okay, let’s go in.”

There were four beds to the room. Two were taken and the other two empty. A curtain was pulled around Mr. Degas bed. The only other man in the room was a man that couldn’t be younger than a fifty. When he talked to the nurse a couple of days ago he found out the man had been there since they opened. Twenty-seven years ago.

It broke his heart when Shelia, the nurse told him no one ever visited him. It was like he had been forgotten by the world as a whole. Which was one of the reasons he was a little mad at Erik before the lies came out. Erik hadn’t come to see Mr. once Degas since the baby was born. Would that happen to Mr. Degas? Would everyone forget that he lived? Would his daughter grow up and not know about him?

“Mr. Degas?” Gus asked, pointing at the older man.

“No, that’s Mr. Keller. He has been here a very long time. Maybe we can visit with both of them.”

Both boys nodded their heads. Ted walked over to the curtain and pulled it back. Revealing Mr. Degas, sleeping.

“PA!” a loud shout sounded through the room.

Before Ted knew what was happening Tommy had run to the bed and started to climb. Jumping into action he reached for the boy.

“Tommy, you can’t be getting up on the bed. Mr. Degas is sick.”

“PA!” the boy screamed when Ted picked him up. He was fighting to get out of Ted’s arms. Suddenly, he felt small teeth bit down on his hand. He dropped the boy back on the bed, and on Mr. Degas. “Pa,” Tommy said again, wrapping his little arms around the man in a coma.

Brian and Lindsay headed towards the address Ted supplied to them in a short message.

“I’m going to kill him,” Brian muttered.

“It wasn’t his fault they snuck into his car. Do you check the backseat every time you get into the car?” she said, trying to play peacemaker.

“No, but I do lock my damn door. They could have been killed if he got into a wreck.”

“You need to calm down. Both boys are fine. You aren’t mad at Ted. This is how you’re dealing with the news about Justin.”

He grunted instead of answering. When they realized the boys were missing everything else stopped. Thankfully, Ted’s message came in not long after the first cop Carl called came. While he was busy putting Gus’ car seat into his jeep along with Tommy’s, Erik took the baby and left. When Brian found Ted he would make sure to find out where Justin was, Ted had to know.

Once they pulled up to the building he called Ted.

“Hello,” Ted’s sheepish voice said.

“We’re here. Where are you?”

“Inside. Room 43, tell Beth you’re with me.”

Brian scoffed. “Fine.”

After getting buzzed in and directed to the room that Ted was, he made his way. Lindsay had opted to stay in the car. Places like this freaked her out. It reminded her too much of the nursing home they placed her beloved grandmother in. Brian didn’t have any beloved grandparents. His father’s parents were dead when he was born and his mothers were tyrants. Grandmother Delahey and Grandfather Delahey, the most horrid people put on God’s green earth. No wonder his mother married the first man to look at her.

“I love you,” he heard Tommy say from inside the room.

Walking into the room what he found shocked him. Ted was sitting in a chair with Gus on his lap looking at Tommy. Tommy was on the bed of someone Brian couldn’t see, holding on tight. He kept kissing the man’s forehead.

“It alright, prince will come,” he said, giving the man another kiss.

“What the hell is going on?”