Thanksgiving Day has started off with an exhausted bang. Jamie had woken up at half past four in the morning to start his cooking. He had been named responsible for the Turkey, since his always turned out the best. And he was making his homemade rolls, along with a pumpkin pie.

Suffice to say, Jamie was exhausted, but somehow still energized, by the time he made it to Luca's.

The door was unlocked when he got there, and he allowed himself in. The house is already teeming with activity. Maris is in the kitchen with his dad, both of them chatting and laughing as they cooked, music playing throughout the house. Veronica was in the living room playing with a wide-awake Noelle, while his Papa is nowhere to be seen.

"Let me get those from you," a familiar voice says to Jamie.

Turning, he notices Luca coming down the stairs, his sister following behind him. She already has a glass of wine in her hand, and Jamie thinks that is a brilliant idea, despite it only being eleven in the morning.

"I got it," Jamie says, but Luca doesn't even allow him to protest, just taking the dishes from him anyway. "Fine, fine, don't listen to me."

Luca rolls his eyes at Jamie's antics, before walking into the kitchen. Cally looks over at him, an eyebrow raised as her eyes rove over her body. "You look good, Jamie." Her smile turns sly. "Now if my brother would just not get his panties in a twist-"

"No," Jamie says, letting out an exasperated sigh, but he can't stop the smile on his face. "Cally, I'm gay."

She just gives him a cheeky grin. "So am I, hun, but that doesn't mean we couldn't have fun for a night."

Luca walks back into the room then, and Jamie is quick to walk over to him, subtly trying to move his friend in front of him. "Luca, control your sister."

He lets out a bark of laughter. "Like that's possible."

Papa comes walking in from outside then, arms full of freshly split wood. "Luca, good to see you, son." His eyes shift over to his daughter, squinting marginally. "Are you still trying to convince him to date you, Calliope?"

Her eyes are widely innocent. "Yes, dating, of course." She takes a sip of wine to hide her smile.

His papa just squints, obviously trying to catch her meaning, but the Noelle is crying, and all of our attention is drawn to the small baby. Papa takes the wood into the living room, cooing down at the baby before sitting down to start a fire.

Veronica is attempting to quiet Noelle down, but the little girl is going strong. Luca steps forward, but Jamie steps around him, moving over to the playmat in a few seconds.

Leaning down, Jamie carefully picks up the baby, kissing her cheeks before cuddling into his chest. She relaxes instantly, and it makes warmth grow in his chest. This little girl is one who makes the love he feels a physical ache. In that sense, she is much like her father.

"Oh, my peanut," Jamie coos, pressing another kiss to her dark hair. "Did you miss me? I missed you."

"She has," Luca says, eyes never straying as he looks over his best friend. Jamie meets his gaze, the warmth so strong and unnerving that he has to turn away so that he doesn't blush.

Blush!

Jamie doesn't blush. If anything, he is the one who makes people blush. But that look in his friend's eyes is fanning the coals inside him that he has been desperately trying to put out. But no matter how many dates he does on, they refuse to die down.

It has been making it difficult to be around Luca. And even though it causes his heart to physically ache, he hasn't allowed himself to truly visit with his friend. Sure, he has brought around meals, but he always manages to slip away before the conversation can move past simple pleasantries.

Suffice to say, he has been feeling a little extra lonely lately. And if his arms have felt empty, well, has taken to carrying Arry around whenever he is home. She doesn't mind, while Dragon runs away whenever he tries to pick him up.

His Papa looks up at him. "I thought you were helping him out since Becca left."

"He has," Luca says, quick to placate. "He has been a huge help."

"Then how can Noelle be missing him?" Cally says, and never one to blunt her words, she continues. "It's not like she sees him as a parent or something."

The words cause a knife to go through Jamie's heart. At that moment, he wants nothing more to say something equally harsh back to her, but he restrains himself. Instead, he just holds the baby tighter to his chest.

Luca's face is stormy as he looks over at his sister. His brows are drawn together, and his lips are turned down in an ugly frown. "Don't you dare."

Cally looks up at him in surprise. "What?"

"You are barely here, you don't know anything about what she could be feeling." His hands are tightening before unclenching at his side, his anger shining through. "So why don't you take your wine and go and bother someone else."

Her mouth is dropped open, her shock evident. Papa just looks at the siblings with raised brows but doesn't say anything.

And Jamie...

The words Luca had just said are fanning the coals inside him, and a small flame is starting to spark.

Cally stills looks shocked, but indignation crosses her face. "Fine," she snaps, leaving the room in a huff as she goes to join those in the kitchen.

Papa doesn't say anything, just hums slightly before turning back to the fire he is still trying to make.

Luca looks over at Jamie, the tension still in his body. Jamie bites his lips before walking over to his friend and grabbing his clenched fist. Luca doesn't hesitate to follow him, and together they walk up the stairs to his bedroom.

He is practically vibrating by the time Jamie guides him to sit on the bed. "Luca, everything's okay."

He shakes his head. "I-I can't believe she had the audacity to say that."

Gently, Jamie sits down next to his friend, leaning into his side. The heat of Luca's body has him relaxing into his friend, making it easy to tell that the tension is leaving Luca as well.

"Well," Jamie's voice is soft. "It isn't like she is wrong."

Luca turns then, and Jamie can feel the other man watching him. Readjusting the baby in his arms, he knows that he can't avoid his friend's gaze.

The words had hurt to say, but they were true. In all honesty, Noelle most likely did not know who he was. He held her every day, but she was still so small. She probably didn't even notice when he held her or when he was gone.

But that didn't make the pain go away.

He was getting in too deep. Noelle wasn't his daughter, no matter how much he may have wanted it. She was Luca's and Becca's. He would always just be her uncle.

And didn't that hurt.

A hand settles on his thigh, drawing his attention from his thoughts. Slowly, Jamie looks up at Luca. His friend's blue eyes are penetrating, and the strength of the gaze makes it impossible for Jamie to look away.

"They weren't true. Not at all." The hand on his thigh gives a gentle squeeze. "Most nights, Noelle is just crying all night long, no matter what I do. But as soon as you come over in the morning, with your breakfasts and hasty hellos, she just calms down. She has her longest bouts of sleep when you are holding here."

He gestures at where Noelle is currently fast asleep against Jamie's chest, and suddenly the weight of her becomes more pronounced. "Just look at her now. You're the only one who can calm her down, get her to fall asleep. And it isn't just a magic touch. She loves you already."

Luca's words have his heart clenching, the flame inside him spreading.

"You're part of her family, of our family, Jamie, no matter what anyone says."

The air catches in Jamie's throat, and it's like his body is acting on its own, not needing his direction. His eyes flicker away from Luca's falling to the other man's lips. The plushness draws him in, and he wants nothing more than to press his own against their softness.

He has always known that they were family, but more in the sense of friends being family. But the words that Luca had just said altered his thoughts completely. Pictures flash before his eyes, ones with him and Luca raising Noelle, of her calling him Daddy, of maybe having another little baby someday.

A voice calls out to them from downstairs. "Jamie, Luca, get down here. Dinner's almost ready."

And everything comes rushing back to him at once, the pictures in his mind dissolving away. He is left with nothing but the stark reality of what is truly happening.

Luca still sees him as a friend, someone to be there when he needs him, and a part of his family. Yet, never like Jamie desires, never as he craves.

He takes a long breath in, forcing his eyes away from Luca's lips, and instead presses a kiss against Noelle's head.

"Here," he murmurs, before handing the baby to her father.

Luca watches him with steady eyes, something that Jamie can't decipher shining in them. He takes his daughter with steady hands, pressing a kiss where Jamie had done the same thing only seconds ago.

Jamie turns to leave but hesitates. Slowly, he turns back around to face Luca. "You're my family too. Both of you."

With that, he turns around and walks out of the room, forcing himself to not look back.