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Punz blinks his eyes fuzzily, blinking his world back into focus as he feels a soft hand caressing his hair backwards.
A weight sits heavy on his tongue as his eyebrows scrunch up, and he rolls backwards, kicking his feet out in front of himself and hitting against wood.
He turns his head for a better look, but notices he's locked inside Bug's crib once more with Karl hovering over him.
He blinks up at the boy in confusion, rubbing his fist against his tired eyes and spitting whatever was in his mouth, out, before finally sitting up slowly.
He clears his throat out, remembering everything that brought him to this moment.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, eyes down casted.
He rolls the hem of his shirt between his fingers, legs crossed over as he waits for Karl to open the side up.
He feels a burn behind his eyes, clearing his throat once more and trying to force the tears away.
"Hey," Karl whispered, tilting his chin up to meet eyes, "Let's not worry about that right now."
Punz nodded his head very slowly, eyes unable to fall away from the other man.
"Me and Dream made you some breakfast, we can talk after if you want."
"Okay," he agreed softly, head dropping once the fingers were off of his face.
Karl unlatches the side, letting it slide all the way down to the ground. He takes Punz's hand and helps the boy get off of the bed and onto his feet, steadying him out when he wobbles a little.
Punz follows behind Karl out of the nursery, light flickered off as the door was shut. He walked with quiet feet, eyes locking at the back of Karl's heels so he wouldn't walk into the other.
Neither of the say anything more as they enter into the kitchen, Dream already sitting in one of the seats with three plates of food set out.
Punz looked around the room expecting Sapnap to at least be there, expecting so without him being in the crib with him still.
Maybe he left early?
"Where's Sap?" he asked, just to fill the silence.
"Sap and George went out for a couple of hours," Dream hold him, pushing a chair out for him to sit it.
"Oh," he said, a bit bitterly as he took the offered chair.
Dream and Karl held a silent conversation as Punz dug into his food, he forgot how good real food tasted.
Heaven's lied out in front of him.
Punz sits on the couch, legs crossed over as his back is pressed against the cushions, hands once again fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
He frowns down at himself as he waits for the other two to be finished in the kitchen, both of them cleaning up after they finished eating breakfast.
Dishes clink in the sink, water drips onto the floor as they finish them up, heads turning backwards every so often to check that Punz is still okay.
The words spoken between them is a low whisper, words already stated earlier that morning but used as reminders.
The men finally pad in the living room, hands running over Punz in comfort as they both sat on the other couch adjacent to him.
"We need to talk about it," Dream started, going in headfirst.
"I know," he whispered, tracing his right hand against his thigh for comfort.
Dream picks himself up and moves beside the boy, large hand running up and down his back. Punz lent back in the touch, stabling his breathing out as they sat together in the silence, the only sound being Dream's hand running against his back.
Karl takes a deep breath, moving towards the end of the couch to be closer to the boys.
"What caused you to show up?" Karl asked
Punz swallowed roughly, hand going up to scratch the back of his neck as he shifted a little awkwardly.
"Umm..." he started with no idea where to go.
"We can talk about it later if that makes you more comfortable," Dream reassured with a soft smile.
"No, you both deserve an explanation. I just don't know if I can explain it right."
"You have time. Again, it doesn't have to be today."
"I know, but I want too."
Neither of them said anything else, just giving the boy the space he needs to talk freely.
Punz taps against his legs, channeling his energy into something different for a moment before taking a deep breath and speaking again.
"I hate regression..." he stopped for a moment, chest overfilled with warmth when he thinks about the most recent times he regressed, "I hated it, but I couldn't stop myself from doing it and I got hurt..." he trailed off again.
Karl's and Dream's eyes soften with sadness, listening as he speaks.
"But, when I remembered being with you guys, everything just felt warm and I wanted it back."
"Is that why?" Karl ask, wanting to clarify everything.
"No, not really. I just knew I couldn't be alone anymore and wanted to be with you all."
"What broke the camel's back?"
"A dumb nightmare..." he whispered, shaking his head as if he'd been cursed to remember it again.
"Do you get nightmares often?"
"Only when I'm little... and alone."
Dream's hand picked up in pace a little, both offering their sadden smiles.
"I know that I should've called or said something. I'm sorry for just showing up out of nowhere, I won't do it again after I go back home."
Dream scoffs slightly, head turning towards the side before looking back at him with a face that said, 'are you serious right now?'
"What?" he asked confused.
"You really think we're gonna send you back after you tell us that?"
"Yes?" He asked puzzled.
"Punz," he sighed, holding the boy's hands, "While yes, letting us know of your arrival would've been nice, that isn't what matters to us right now."
"What matters to you right now then?"
"You do, idiot," he laughed.
"Dream's right, you're the only thing that matters. We signed up for this job twice already, truthfully, I've been hoping you'd become our third since we found out."
"That's too much to ask for." He refused, shaking his head even as the thought warmed him up farther.
"Punz, we've signed up for this. We're offering it to you."
"You'd willingly be my caregivers?"
"We want to be them, if you'll allow us."
Tears flood his eyes from a moment he never thought would happen, he figured they kick him out as soon as possible and never want to see him again. He figured he'd be too much work for them to handle.
Karl and Dream smile brighter this time, happily looking at the boy.
"What do you think Punz?"
"Yeah," he nodded his head, trembling hands reaching out to grab Dream, "I wanna."
Dream wrapped his arms tightly around the boy, holding him close as Karl decided to sit behind him. Karl rubs his hand up and down the boy's back, smiling up at Dream because he finally has his third baby.
Punz twists around and hugs Karl next, the boy squeezing him tightly.
His eyes become watery in the best way possible as he lets out a happy little sigh, sitting back how he was before.
"I'm still gonna have to go back and pack up my apartment." He sniffled slightly.
"Of course," Karl nodded, understanding from doing the same, "I can go up there with you if you're worried about regressing and being away from us."
"We all could go and help," Dream suggest instead, causing Karl to shake his head.
"No, that wouldn't be necessary. One of the two of us is plenty without taking all four of us."
Dream nodded, realizing how hell it would be to take two babies on a plane and take care of all three once there.
"Punz can chose who goes with him."
"Me?" he asked unsurely, both men nodded their heads, "Dream can go with me," he smile shyly.
They could agree on that.
"Also, we need to set up quick boundaries." Dream reminded, Punz pulling back again with an unsure face.
"Um, well, I don't know. I think I'm comfortable with whatever Sapnap is," he tried, trailing off a bit.
"I don't know Punz, Sap's okay with a lot." Karl said unsurely, causing Punz's face to scrunch up.
"Is there anything you aren't okay with?"
Punz has never had anyone to care for him before, he just doesn't know.
"Bottles, baths, changing, diapers?" Dream began to list off, to help him.
Punz really didn't see the issue, if it helped little him, then who cares?
"If Sap's okay with it, then I am," he said again.
Dream's mouth opened, ready to say something, before Karl stopped him.
"We can cross that bridge when we get to it."
Neither off them really liked that idea, not wanting to accidently hurt the boy, but figuring that's better than stressing him out over it.
"Okay," Dream caved.
Punz blinked at them a couple of times, eyes glazing over as he tried to push the feeling away. Dream took notice, taking the boy's hand and rubbing soothing circles into the skin.
It wasn't long until the boy began to slip, tried eyes blinking up at his new caregivers.
"Hello Button," Dream cooed at him, his chest exploding in warmth.
"Dweamie," he smiled, making grabby hands at the man.
Dream chuckled a little, pulling the boy into his lap with a laugh. He pressed a kiss to the side off his cheek and his entire world melted in the cuteness of the baby's laughter.
He holds the baby a little tighter.
Button had gone down for a nap when Sapnap had ran inside the front door excitedly, eyes glowing in wonder as he found Karl doing laundry.
"Karl, Karl!" He yelled, running towards the other.
"Yeah?" he asked, giving the boy his full attention as he put the towel he was folding down.
"Look what me and George found," he said, pulling a bottle out of a white plastic bag.
He shoved the bottle into Karl's hands to look at, the man slowly reading the label and flickering his attention between that and Sap.
"Is this, blueberry shampoo?" he asked, doubling checking to see if he read that correctly.
"Yeah, we thought Button might like it," his words slowed down into something more shy, the boy looking down at his feet as he did.
"That was very sweet of you Sap, I'm sure the baby will like it." He reassured, putting it down so he could finish the laundry.
Sap stepped over beside him, offering help without needing to be asked as they folded laundry in silence.
"Karl?"
"Yeah?"
"Is Punz staying?" he asked quietly, voice hardly above a whisper.
"Yeah, I think he is. At least for the time being; we are going to have to figure out where he sleeps when he isn't little. Surely he doesn't want to keep sleeping in the crib."
"He can sleep with me, like you use too." The boy offered.
"Punz will need to agree to that," he told him.
Sap nodded his head as they turnt back to the last pieces of laundry left to do.
Button bounce very gratefully when Karl showed him the bottle later that night.
The baby had woken cranky from his nap, hungry too, but everything that they tired to feed the boy he'd refuse. They settled on trying a bottle instead, the baby perking up at the sight of it and reaching out for it.
Dream pulled him up onto his lap, holding his head up with his arm as he feed the boy.
The baby was a gentle drinker, in no type of rush like Bean and Bug always seem to be. He wasn't even reminded once to slow down.
A bit of milk dribbled down his face as he sucked, eyes slowly opening and closing as he stared up at Dream.
Their attention was pulled away from each other when Karl came in with a blue bottle, walking up to them with a smile on his face.
He told them all about Sapnap and George finding the bottle and the scent; Button pushed the bottle away from him just so he could smell it.
His eyes lit up in excitement as he bounced, "Baf?" he asked, blue eyes big and round.
"After you finish your bottle." Dream told him.
Button nodded his head, laying back down to drink the remainder.
Dream's mouth was already open, more than ready to tell the boy to slow his drinking, figuring he'd speed up to get done faster. The baby doesn't do that; he drinks the same speed as before, just eyeing the bottle of shampoo.
Once he drank the last drop, he pushed it away again and looked up at Dream.
"Now baf Papa?" Dream's heart swarmed in happiness, no denying the boy anything.
"Yeah, bath now baby," he agreed, standing up with the adorable little on his hip and going towards the bathroom.
Button is a lot like Bug; he loves to take his clothes off.
His shirt's already off in the time it takes Dream to set the water right, looking back to find the baby struggling with his socks.
Dream helped him out of the rest of his clothes waiting for the water to fill.
He pulled the bath toy basket out of under the sink, placing it in front of the baby. Button pulled out something new, a set of bath crayons for the littles' to draw all over the bathtub walls, the only walls at that.
Dream makes sure he knows they're for the bathtub only, Button nods his head and crawls towards the tub.
He bends over it a little, squealing as it leaves his marks on the wall.
Dream smiles at the boy, turning the water off as he does then puts the baby in the bubble filled bath.
Button takes some time to slap the bubbly water, squealing in even more delight as he does.
Dream gives him all the time to draw on the walls and slap bubbles before beginning to wash his hair.
He tilts the boy's head back, rinsing the hair out with soapy water.
Button tilts back, just letting Dream run the shampoo in as he messes with the crayons even more, drawing a photo of all of them together.
He shows off his drawing when Dream washes the shampoo out, causing a bright smile to cross the man's face.
Dream can't help but press a kiss onto his cheek, then probably a million others causing happy squeals.
"I love you pumpkin," he whispered towards the baby.
Button picked up his, soggy, prune-y hands and held Dream's face sweetly, looking up at him with bright blue eyes.
"Love Papa," he smiled.
Dream could've died from the sweetness of it all, pressing even more kisses onto the baby's face before deciding he'd been in the bath for long enough.
He dried the boy off, wrapping him up in an old hoodie and pair of basketball short after he did.
The baby's eyes dripped closed, rubbing sleepy hands against his eyes as Dream decided in was bedtime.
Dream didn't have the heart to put the boy in the crib alone, instead placing him in the middle of his shared bed and curling up beside him.
He snuggled close to the baby, even as Karl crawled into the bed beside them.
Button's tired eyes looked at him a little, smiling up sleepily.
"Ni Baba," his tired voice spoke before he was asleep.
"Night baby," Karl smiled back, pressing a kiss into the boy's cheek.
Their family just keeps becoming more and more complete, they wouldn't have it any other way.
This is love.