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o.
"Because I love you, that's why," Aaron said. There was a storm raging in Robert's chest. Part of him was floating on cloud nine because this boy, this boy who he had wanted from the moment he'd met him and who he'd grown absolutely smitten with no matter how hard he tried to hide it, was in love with him. Another part of him was devastated because he was supposed to be marrying Chrissie today and this thing with Aaron was never supposed to get to this point. "And I think you feel the same.”
For a moment, Robert thought about arguing. He thought about insisting that Aaron was confused about his feelings and didn't know what he was thinking. He thought about convincing Aaron they could continue after he got married and going to meet Chrissie at the alter.
Then he looked up and met Aaron's eyes. He looked up and saw the tears falling down Aaron cheeks. He looked up and saw how close to breaking Aaron was and one single thought broke through the haze he was feeling.
I don't want to lose him, Robert thought. I can't lose him.
Robert took a step towards Aaron, a step away from Chrissie and everything she stood for, and put his hand on Aaron's cheek.
Aaron let him guide him, pliant and trusting and giving, and Robert felt his heart clench in his heart.
How could he ever have considered leaving this behind?
"I do," Robert whispered, tipping their foreheads together. "I do love you, Aaron."
"Then don't marry her," Aaron said. His fingers curled, holding onto Robert's arm. "Please, please don't marry her, Robert."
He let his eyes shut, focusing on the sound of Aaron breathing and the feeling of Aaron's tears under his fingers. "Yeah, okay. I won't marry Chrissie."
He heard Aaron let out a sharp, shaky exhale.
Roberts fingers twitched at the realization that Aaron was so clearly relieved, that Aaron was so clearly surprised. He'd expected, on some level, for Robert to choose Chrissie and it felt like a kick to the teeth.
They stayed there for a moment, just breathing each other in, before logic managed to break through Robert's thoughts.
"Aaron," he murmured. He stroked his thumb against Aaron's cheekbone until Aaron opened his eyes and he knew he had his attention. "We can't stay in Emmerdale. Not if we're going to be together. Lawerence is going to destroy my whole life when I don't show up to marry his daughter. He might not like me, but he's not going to let me get away with breaking her heart. Katie would never leave us alone and your mother hates me just as much as she does. We'd be under constant fire."
Aaron sucked his bottom lip between his teeth. His eyes darted down and then around, like he was looking for something.
"Hey," Robert murmured. He reached up and tugged gently on Aaron's bottom lip until he let go. "Don't hurt yourself."
"Ah. Yeah, sorry," Aaron said, his voice quiet and rough from crying. He focused his attention back on Robert, looking at him for a moment before nodding. "Okay. Let's leave then."
x.
Diane was sitting behind the front desk at the B&B when she heard the bell above the front door go off.
She was focused on a book that Chas had recommended for her, squinting as she tried to read the small print, so she called out, "I'll be with you in one second, love."
"It's alright," answered a distinctly male voice. Something about it was distinctly familiar, but she couldn't put a face to it right away like she could with most of the villagers. "We can wait a bit."
"But daddy," a small child whined. It was high-pitched in the way that all young children's voices were, but distinctly male as well. "I'm hungry."
"I know, buddy. We'll go get something to eat as soon as we're checked out, okay?" the man answered, his voice a little softer. Diane smiled a bit even as she tried to finish her paragraph. It was always nice to see the family's that came through Emmerdale.
"Promise?" the child requested.
"Pinky."
Finished, Diane looked up from her book and felt all the breath rush out of her lungs.
His blonde hair was a little longer then the last time she'd seen him, curling around his ears the way it had when he was a boy and they'd waited too long to cut it, and though he'd hardly been a child the last time they'd seen each other his face had lost some of the pretty-boy roundness. He was wearing a white undershirt with a dark blue button up over it and jeans which molded themselves to his body. The sleeves of the second shirt were rolled up to his elbows.
More noticeable than his physical appearance, though, was the small boy in his arms.
The boy had the same coloring as Robert, all pale skin and dirty blonde hair. The one difference was that while Robert's eyes were a curious mix of blue and green, the boys eyes were a shade of deep green. Even if Diane dismissed their coloring, it was hard to miss the similarities in the curves of their jaws and crooks of their noses when Robert was holding him.
Robert was balancing the boy on one hip, one arm settled under his bottom to keep him up while he held the pinky finger on his other hand out. The boy had one arm wrapped around Robert's neck while he hooked his pinky with Robert's.
There was a look of pure fondness on Robert's face as he looked at the boy, his son, which Diane hadn't seen him wearing in a long time.
"Robert," Diane said, her voice coming out quieter and more shocked then she meant for.
He looked up from his son and met her eyes. He smiled, most of the fondness he'd shown his son was gone but his smile was still soft in the way it always was when he looked at her, and greeted, "Hi, Diane. I didn't know you were running the B&B now."
"For about eight years," she said, still a little dazed. "I sold my share in the bar a little while after you'd left."
"Oh. Who bought it?" Robert said.
"Gordon Livesy." There was a flicker of something along Robert's face - panic or alarm -, but Diane barely noticed it. She continued speaking, mouth running mostly on instinct, "But he died a few years ago. Cancer. Chas couldn't run it herself though, so she sold half to Charity Dingle."
"That's good," Robert said, nodding a bit. "That's really good."
Before Diane could say anything else, the door opened again.
A girl, and Diane uses that term pretty firmly because she couldn't more than sixteen or seventeen, stepped inside the room with an even younger child asleep in her arms. The girl herself had dark blonde hair, brown roots peeking out at the nape of her neck, but the child in her arms had dark hair that fell down her back in a carefully plaited braid.
"Liv," Robert greeted as the girl moved to his side. Diane felt ice forming in her chest at the clear familiarity between the two. This girl was too young to have two children, much less two children with Robert who was so much older then her. "Where's your brother?"
"He's right behind me," the girl, Liv, said. The girl in her arms stirred a bit at her voice, rubbing her face against Liv's collar before settling back down. "He was locking the car. He said he'd grab the bags later."
"Mm okay." Apparently satisfied by either her appearance or the conversation, Robert stepped up to the front desk. She trailed behind him, glancing around as she did so. "Do you have two rooms, Diane?"
Before Diane could make up her mind to answer his question or yell at him for shacking up with a girl who was barely more then a child herself, the door opened and Aaron Livesy walked into the B&B.
She hadn't seen him in eight years either.
Aaron had disappeared the same night Robert had, but it had never occurred to anyone that they'd have left together.
As far as anyone knew, they'd been barely more then business partners.
Diane barely had time to process that before the boy in Robert's arms began to squirm.
"Daddy, put me down," the boy said, sounding as commanding as was possible for a boy his age. "I want Papa."
"Well, you clearly have a favorite," Robert grumbled as he bent over so the boy's feet touched the ground.
Liv laughed. She nudged an elbow against Robert's side as she teased, "Maybe if you had a third, you'd finally get to be the favorite parent."
"I already have three," Robert said. It made Liv duck her head, her smile going a little softer. "And the oldest is such a pain in my ass that a fourth would literally kill me."
"Hey," Aaron said as he slipped up to the counter, the boy in his arms. "You got us rooms yet?"
"No, I barely managed to ask Diane if she had any free rooms before you came in to steal my kid."
"Uh oh," Aaron said. The tiny grin on his face as he looked at the child in his arms was one that Diane had never seen on his face. "You hear that, bud? Your my kid now. What's you do to hurt daddy's feelings?"
"He decided he liked you more," Robert said. He was leaning against the front desk, one arm up on it while his body was turned to face Aaron.
"Well, obviously," Aaron said, shrugging one shoulder in an almost dismissive gesture.
"You're a prat," Robert said. The words were more fond than anything else, though, and he followed them up by leaning over to press his lips to Aaron's.
Everything suddenly made a lot more sense to Diane.
The clarity came with a soft "oh" before she fainted, having been shocked one too many times in the past ten minutes.
xx.
Victoria leaned against her cart as she strolled through the grocery store. She had her phone in her hand with the grocery list pulled up on the screen.
She lifted her eyes as she turned down the breakfast aisle, not wanting to bump into anyone, and stopped when she saw Robert already there.
Everyone in the village had heard about Robert and Aaron coming back into town a few days ago, together and with three kids in tow.
She hadn't had the chance to see her brother yet, she'd wanted to so badly but she wasn't sure what she would even say so she'd hid behind the fact that her toddler was sick and too fussy to leave the house, but Adam had caught up with Aaron one day and gotten the details on his family.
The older girl that had come into town with them was Aaron's younger sister, Liv. He hadn't told Adam exactly why she was with them, just that Liv had sought them out about a year after they'd left and had been staying with them ever since because of some problems with her mother.
Their oldest child was a four year old boy named Jackson and the younger one was a two year old named Madelyn. They'd used the same surrogate for both kids, but Jackson was biologically Robert's while Madelyn was Aaron's.
Knowing all of that hadn't really prepared Vic to see Robert standing in front of the poptarts. There was a little girl sitting in the seat in the front of the trolley. She was wearing a bright yellow shirt with a flower printed skirt. There was a yellow barrette pinning her dark brown hair out of her eyes. Sitting in the back of the cart, surrounded by food and drinks, was a boy looking only slightly older than her. He was wearing tan shorts with a dark belt looped through then and a white tee-shirt with blue stripes.
She realized two things pretty quickly. First that the children had to be his children. Second was the fact that he had obviously been the one to dress them because both kids were looking pretty smart and Aaron rarely wore anything other than a hoodie and jeans.
"Which one do you want?" Robert questioned, his eyes on his son.
"Only one?" Jackson asked.
Robert nodded, "Only one. Your papa would kill me if I brought home four boxes of poptarts again."
The boy turned to the row of poptarts next to him and examined it with a look of such concentration that Vic couldn't help letting out a small laugh.
The sound drew Robert's attention, him turning his head to look over his shoulder.
"Vic," he said when he spotted her, sounding a bit surprised and caught off guard. He stared at her for a brief moment before his lips spread in a smile. "Hey. I haven't seen you since I got back."
"Yeah, I'm sorry," Vic said, genuinely meaning it. She didn't know why she'd been so afraid to see Robert, but now that he was in front her she realized how stupid she been. She loved him, even when he was antagonizing Andy and being a general pain in the ass. "My daughter's been running a fever and she hasn't really been up to leaving the house. Today's her first day back at daycare."
"Yeah, I heard from Adam," Robert said. "She's feeling better though?"
Vic nodded, "Much."
"That's great," Robert said. "We've managed to avoid it with the little ones so far, but I remember how bad Aaron and I panicked the first time Liv got sick with us."
As if sensing that Robert had mentioned him, Jackson said, "Daddy, I want this one."
Robert sent Vic an apologetic smile before giving his attention to his son. As he looked at the blue box in Jackson's hand, Vic pushed her cart a little closer to his.
"Hot fudge sundae," Robert said, reading the label on the box. "You sure?"
He nodded, "Yup."
"Okay, then toss it in there."
"So," Vic said, speaking up when she was sure Robert was done speaking to his son. "Where's Aaron?"
Robert looked briefly surprised by Vic asking after Aaron before he schooled his expression. He said, "He and Liv went to the cemetery."
"To see Gordon?"
Robert pursed his lips unhappily at the name, but nodded. "Yeah."
"You didn't go with them?"
"No. It was something they needed to do with each other," Robert said, voice quiet and somber. There was a beat before he spoke again, picking himself up, "But that's fine because someone needs to watch these munchkins and make sure we have some food so we aren't eating out every night."
They were quiet for a moment, just looking at each other.
Vic didn't know what Aaron and Robert had been through, be it before or after they'd left, but she couldn't help being a little glad for it. She couldn't imagine the Robert she'd known before ever having children and settling down the way he apparently had. It hadn't even occurred to her when he was engaged to Chrissie.
"Do you want help?" Vic asked, unable to help herself. Confusion settled in Rollers eyes, so she elaborated, "I have trouble getting Jasmine to stay settled when I'm shopping. I don't know if you have the same problem, but if you do we could shop together and I could lend you a hand?"
She thought it was probably a long shot since Madelyn looked half asleep in the front and Jackson appeared to be perfect contently to play with the boxes in the back, but she wanted to at least try.
Robert was quiet for only a moment before he nodded. "Yeah, that sounds great. Let's do it."
Vic didn't know if he was agreeing because he'd seen her intention or because his children were little devils that were just acting nice in the moment, but she was happy either way.
Even if they were just shopping, it was time she could spend with a brother she hadn't seen in almost a decade and an opportunity to get to know her niece and nephew.
xxx.
Andy knew what he was getting into when Diane asked him over for family dinner. She hadn't even had to tell him for him to know it was her way of celebrating Robert coming back into town.
He didn't really know how to feel about Robert being back. Part of him was still livid at him for everything, for sleeping with Katie before their first marriage and ruining their rings before their second, but for all of his fuck ups Robert was still his brother.
Robert had always seemed to think that Andy being adopted made him less of a part of the family, but Andy had never seen it that way. Regardless of their blood, Robert was Andy's brother and part of him would always want to fix things between them.
Andy had considered skipping dinner, taking time to work out his feelings about Robert's return before anything else, but ultimately decided not to since he knew how disappointed Diane and Vic would be if he did.
Gathering up his courage, he made his way to Diane's on Sunday evening.
He had only just opened the door and stepped inside, having seen Vic's car parked outside next to the glossy SUV he'd seen Aaron driving around town in, when he felt something barrel into his shins before there was a loud thump.
He looked down to see a small girl sitting on the floor in front of him. She was peering up at him, looking just as surprised as he felt.
"Maddie!" Andy glanced away from the girl at the sound of Robert's voice. "Don't run away from me like-"
Robert's words trailed off as he appeared in the doorway.
He looked good, Andy noted. He looked older and more mature, but that hadn't really diminished Roberts good looks any. More then that, though, Robert looked happier.
Andy was glad for that.
Andy cleared his throat, jerking his head down towards the girl, "I take it this one belongs to you?"
"Oh. Yeah." Robert seemed to snap out of his stupor, moving across the room in only a few steps. He scooped the girl up in his arms, tucking her against his chest.
"She ran into my legs," Andy said, because if he'd walked into a room when Sarah was that age and saw her sitting on the floor in front of a man who could hurt her he'd have wanted an explanation.
"I figured as much. Her brother was asking to play outside and she took off for the door," Robert said, sighing a bit. His looked down at the girl as he added, voice reprimanding, "Even though she knows she's not supposed to run away from Daddy and Papa, right?"
Seemingly unaffected by Robert's chiding tone, she giggled and chanted, "Outside, daddy! Go outside!
"Nope," Robert said with a shake of his head. Robert glanced up from her, eyes meeting Andy's for a moment. There was a thoughtful, considering look in his eyes. He looked away after a moment and turned his attention back to his daughter. "Besides, if you go outside you can't meet your uncle Andy."
Andy felt his breath rush from his lungs.
"Unca Andy?" She echoed, voice tripping over the words as a toddler was tend to do.
"Yeah," Robert said. "He's daddy's big brother."
"Big brudder?" She said. She cocked her head to the side, "Ja'son?"
"Yeah. Andy's my big brother just like Jackson is your big brother." Robert had been focused on his daughter, but now he looked up at Andy. He didn't look scared so much as apprehensive and hesitant. "Right?"
"Yeah," Andy said. The words came out a little scratched and rough. He cleared his throat before nodding his head and repeating, "Yeah. Course I am."
"Well that's a relief," Robert said. He cracked a small smile, "I was worried Adam would be their only uncle and his stupidity would rub off on him."
Andy let out a quiet chuckle at his brother-in-law's expense.
He suggested tentatively, not wanting to ruin this new peace between then, "They're quite a bit older, but maybe we could introduce her to her cousins too?"
"Yeah, 'course," Robert agreed. "Sarah and Liv are around the same age. I bet they'd get along."
They stood there for a minute before Diane called from the kitchen, "Robert, what's taking you so long? Is Madelyn okay?"
"Yeah, she's fine!" Robert answered. "Andy just got here and we were talking."
There was a brief pause before Aaron called out, sounding almost bored with the conversation, "Well, if your going to punch each other can you bring me my daughter first?"
It roused a laugh out of both men.
"Shuddup," Robert called out, his voice honey warm with amusement. "We're not gonna get into a fight."
When Robert turned to walk back into the kitchen, Andy followed after him.
For the first time in over a decade, he felt like maybe he and Robert could actually figure out how to be brothers.
xxxx.
Bob was wiping down the counter top when the bell above the cafe's door went off.
He glanced up to see Robert walking in with Liv. Robert was wearing dark wash jeans and a blue shirt with his leather jacket thrown over it while Liv wore light jeans with a red and black plaid shirt.
Bob knew she was Aaron's sister, but with their matching dirty blonde hair and blue eyes it looked as though she was Robert's sister. Maybe even his daughter.
"Hey," Robert greeted Bob, nodding his head in his direction. "Can I get an Americano, a caramel mocha, and-" He stopped and looked over at Liv, "Do you want something to eat?"
"Why? Are you trying to fatten me up before sending me to the slaughter?
"Stop being dramatic," Robert said with a roll of his eyes. To Bob, he said, "An Americano, a caramel mocha, and two cheese and bacon breakfast biscuits."
"Sure thing," Bob agreed. "To stay or to go?"
"Go," Robert said. "We've got a meeting at the school. We've gotta get Liv enrolled."
"Or we could not," Liv argued. "We could stay here and eat instead."
"You're in your last year," Robert said. "You aren't dropping out now."
"I'm not really in my last year though, am I? I'll have uni after this."
"Fine, your last year of secondary," Robert amended. "Either way, you're going back this week. You've already had two weeks off while we were moving."
"Rob-"
"I don't know why you're even arguing with me about this," Robert interrupted. "I'm the only reason you got the week before the move off. Aaron wanted you to go right up until we left."
There was a momentary pause before Liv said, sounding more resigned then disappointed, "I don't like it when your right."
"Well, that's something you have in common with your brother," Robert said, voice amused.
Bob had heard a lot said about Aaron and Robert since they arrived back in Emmerdale, most of it centered on Robert, and he couldn't understand why.
They'd been gone for eight years. They'd admitted that they'd been having an affair behind Chrissie's back and told everyone that they'd been living in France, but that was about it. Back when he'd been with Chrissie, Robert had never shown any interest in what was going on in Lachlan's life but here he was playing an active role in parenting Aaron's sister. Not only that, but Bob had seen him with the whole family. Robert was absolutely settled and happy and calm in a way that Bob had never seen him be. Whatever had happened in those eight years they'd been away had changed Robert - and Aaron for that matter - and Bob didn't think it made much sense for everyone to be judging these two boys when they didn't know them any longer.
"Here you go," Bob said, turning to set the cups of coffee on the counter. He reached for the breakfast rolls and pulled them from the display. He slipped them into a to go bag before setting them onto the counter. As Robert pressed his card against the machine to pay, he said, "Good luck at the school."
Robert gave a snort and a dry chuckle. "Oh yeah. I'm sure this whole process has gotten more exciting since she first started living with us."
xxxxx.
Katie was sitting at the bar counter, talking to Chas, when she heard the door open.
She turned her head to see who it was and felt anger rise to her throat when she realized it was Robert.
She'd seen him around the village since he'd gotten back, but had avoided him thus far. As much as she disliked him, she wasn't going to seek him out and listen to whatever he had to say about her and Andy divorcing again.
"You know," Charity said as Robert settled onto a stool at her side of the bar, "I think this is the first time since you got back that I've seen you without one of your kids."
"That's because this is the first time I haven't had one of them with me since I moved back," Robert answered. Sighing a bit, he reached up and ran a hand through his hair.
Katie hated herself for noticing how good he looked when he did that. He had always been good looking, but right now he was wearing a nicely cut suit and radiating a low level of happiness that managed to make him even more appealing.
That was followed by another wave of anger. Why was it that Robert Sugden, who had made a habit of ruining people's relationships, got to live in some kind of domestic bliss while she had been divorced three times now?
"What's the occasion then?" Charity asked. She moved around Chas, who stood in front of Katie's stool, to pull Roberts pint.
"I had a meeting while they were at daycare today, but it ran a little bit late. Since she was gonna have to pick them up anyway, Liv said Aaron and I should take a few hours for ourselves. He's gonna come over once he finishes up at the scrap yard." Charity set his pint in front of him. He took a sip of his drink before adding, "I'm glad she did, honestly. Aaron and I usually go out once a week, but Liv's been busy getting used to a new school so we didn't want to leave her with them."
"You could have brought them here," Chas said, speaking to Robert for the first time. Katie might have been offended by her best friend sounding even remotely civil with Robert, but she'd already heard how Aaron has threatened not to let Chas near her grandchildren if she kept up with the hostility and rude comments.
Robert glanced over at Chad before shaking his head. "They don't know you. They had a hard enough time with daycare their first day, I'm not leaving them with another stranger."
Katie wasn't sure whether it was the sadness on that flickered across Chas' face - so upset that she didn't know her own grandchildren - or her general dislike of Robert that caused her to snort. "Whose fault is that?"
There was a short pause before Robert turned to look at her and asked, "Excuse me?"
"I'm just telling the truth. If you hadn't cheated on Chrissie, then you wouldn't have had to run away and then your children would know their grandmother," Katie said with a small shrug.
"If I hadn't cheated on Chrissie, Chas wouldn't have grandchildren," Robert shot back. He picked his glass up to take another drink, obviously thinking the conversation was over.
Katie clenched her teeth. Robert had a point, but he wasn't getting the last word.
She forced herself to act more casual then she felt as she said, "Aaron's a nice guy. Someone else would have fallen in love with him. Then his kids would have two decent dads instead of a scumbag like you." She had barely finished her sentence before there was the sound of shattering glass.
She had never been afraid of Robert before, but with a shattered glass in his hands and murder in his eyes she felt a flash of it.
"You can think whatever you want about the person I was before - hell, you can think whatever you want about the person I am now - but do not ever call me a bad father or imply my children would be better off with someone else," Robert hissed, his voice cold with fury. "Do you understand me?"
Katie's throat was tight with fear, so she just nodded her head once.
Robert stared at her for a minute before standing up. The scrap of his chair against the floor made Katie flinch.
Instead of coming at her, he reached for his wallet. He threw the cash for his drink down before turning and stalking out.
Y.
"Hey," Aaron said, speaking in a soft voice. "Are you gonna tell me why you suddenly decided to go to Hotten for dinner instead of getting drinks at the pub?"
He and Robert were lying together in their bed at the B&B. Robert was lying on his stomach with his arm resting on Aaron's stomach and his head pillowed on his arm. Aaron had taken possession of Robert's other hand, playing idly with his fingers.
They'd gotten Liv her own room, but Jackson and Madelyn were sharing a second bed across the room.
Aaron loved his kids, but he really hoped they closed on the new house soon because sharing with them was driving him crazy.
"Mmm..." Robert hummed. "Don't think so."
Aaron gave a soft snort, "I wasn't really giving you a choice."
Robert was quiet for a minute before he let out a soft sigh. His breath ghosted along Aaron's skin. "I just had a very unpleasant run in with Katie."
"Oh." Aaron brought Robert's hand to his mouth, pressing kisses to his fingers . "I'm sorry, baby."
"Not your fault," Robert dismissed. He was quiet for a minute before saying, "She just reminded me how much I hate this village and how much better I am when I'm nowhere near it. Why the fuck did we come back? Why would we want to subject our kids to this hellhole?"
"Because Jackson came from daycare asking you what an aunt was and you started crying because you missed Vic."
"I didn't start crying," Robert said, sounding a little petulant.
Aaron smiled to himself. Petulant was always better then self loathing or defeated.
"Yeah, you did," Aaron corrected. "But that's okay, because I cried when he asked me why he didn't have a grandmom like the other kids at daycare." His gaze drifted to the other bed where Jackson was buried so far under the covers that all he could see was a tuft of blonde hair and Madelyn had her teddy bear in a pretty impressive choke-hold. "We wanted them to know their family and both of our families live here."
Robert said, "This is my family. You're my family."
"Yeah," Aaron agreed because that was an undisputed fact after so long. "But so are Vic and Diane and Andy. And no matter how hard you pretend to hate them, I know you too well to think you don't love them."
There was a pause before Robert groaned. He tried to burrow himself further into Aaron, unwilling to admit Aaron right but knowing Aaron could spot one of his lies from a mile away. He grumbled out, "I hate you."
Once upon a time, it would have gut Aaron to hear that.
Now though, he just laughed and pressed his lips to the top of Robert's head, "I love you too."