Roman and Remus spend their birthdays the happiest they'd ever been.

TW - Mention of having panic attacks and mention of driving

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About a week after the 'incident' and things had calmed down again. They still had to be cautious with certain things – like how none of the boys could answer the front door if it knocked. Patton was also still quite nervous at certain points in the day. Apparently Mrs Ray-Feliz had told the middle school that there was a legal mix up so the police had no more involvement in their case. So Patton was taken out of the lesson with no suspicion only to have his glasses taken while he was dragged away. He believed she broke them when he tried screaming for help.

Virgil was a great help though. When Patton told the police his story he had his first panic attack with Virgil at his side. Virgil just held him, telling it was healthy to process these emotions and anxiety attacks every once in a while was actually quite good. This was followed by Virgil recounting stories of Logan forgetting or leaving his glasses to bring some joy to his son's panic.

This day seemed like a normal Sunday to Roman and Remus. That was until Roman woke, and not by an alarm. Logan set the alarm clock for his sons each day, 6:45am on weekdays and 10am on weekends or holidays. This was so they could be productive and spend the day together, and the twins didn't mind as they loved spending time with their parents and brothers. Roman turned his head confused, the clock said 10:45. Maybe the alarm didn't work? He checked the clock and no, the alarm did work. The sound of it even made Remus stir, still not opening his eyes.

Roman stood and approached the mirror in his room. Usually if Roman and Remus weren't out of bed by 10:15am Logan would come into their room and check if they were alright while encouraging them to start their day. But he didn't this time. What if the worst happened? What if his mother had some kind of psychotic break and took them to be with the sons she loved? He tried not to panic, stretching his arms and glancing at his bed again. That's when he spotted a small present wrapped in red paper between a few of his school books. Remus had a green present under his bed. He checked the calendar on his phone and then gasped: it was the twenty first of March.

"Remus! Re-Re! It's our birthday!" Roman screamed, jumping on his brother's bed and shaking him. Remus mumbled and sighed, his eyes still closed.

"Happy birthday bro." He said sleepily, turning so he could sleep again. The reality probably hadn't settled in yet, they were so used to celebrating their birthdays by just a simple happy birthday in the morning and then going about their day. On their fourteenth birthday their friends did bring a cake into school, but it had to be hidden in a backpack so it didn't last long. But now, with their Dads, they could actually enjoy the day and get presents and cake.

"Get up you idiot. We got presents." When it sunk in Remus smiled wide, sat up and immediately spotted his present. Roman also got his present and sat on his bed. Remus looked at his brother expectedly, when they were children they enjoyed opening their presents at the exact same time, so Roman counted them down. "Three... Two... One."

They opened their presents excitedly and admired them. Remus smiled softly, holding a green sketchpad and black notebook. He had mentioned to his parents about getting into drawing and creative writing again, he used to enjoy both as a child but then being a Ray-Feliz overtook his time to enjoy those things. Inside the books was a small note – a simple 'We love you – Dad and Papa'.

Roman ran to the mirror with the present he got. A makeup set – he had always wanted to experiment with makeup. Remus did, he always wore eyeshadow to school using their mother's old makeup and no brushes. When they lived with their parents Remus inherited Virgil's eyeshadow set with brushes from college. The makeup his brother wore was not his style though, there was no glitter and it was black. This new makeup set was exactly what Roman wanted. There was plenty of glitter and colours. He sat opposite the mirror and placed all the makeup gently on his face, looking at the swatches, deciding which was his favourite. Showering and getting changed could wait.

When Remus had got out the shower himself his brother was covered in colour. "Am I pwetty bro?" Roman giggled, wiping off some of the makeup so that he could shower. Remus laughed and ruffled his wet hair. He was sixteen. He was officially old enough to get a full time job, join the army, or leave home. Not that he wanted to do any of that now, he was safe and overjoyed with his life now. But when things first started going south in middle school he remembers wishing and praying to be sixteen so he could fully provide for his brothers and escape the people who raised him. But he was at that point now, he had done that all before reaching sixteen. He was safe.

When Remus and Roman finally went downstairs it was reaching noon. Patton was watching TV while Logan and Emile played a game together on the floor and Virgil was feeding Remy in the kitchen. However everyone screamed "happy birthday!" when they saw the twins and Emile and Patton ran over to give their brothers a hug.

"Thanks for the gifts Dads." Roman said, smiling at Logan, wider than he ever had before. "This is the best birthday ever."

"What do you two want to do today?" Virgil said as he walked into the room, patting the boys on the back and then walking over to his husband and holding his hand. "We have more presents, but we want to disperse them throughout the day."

"More presents?" Remus gasped, his eyes wide and a smile on his face. He still held his notebook and sketchpad under one arm while looking at his parents in amazement. "The presents we got already were fine."

"Oh but it's your day boys." Logan smiled as a timer went off, signifying lunch. "I suppose we should announce the plan we got for today." Logan's smile became a smirk as Remus and Roman glanced at each other then back at their Dad. "We're going for a drive after lunch."

"Where are you driving us to?" Roman asked, instinctively grabbing the chicken nuggets that had just finished cooking and placing them on the dining table. Remy jumped on the table and stole one, getting a quiet shoo from Remus who started to set it.

"I'm not driving. You two are." Logan's smirk became wider. There was silence for a few minutes while the twins processed what they were about to do. They were old enough to learn how to drive, and their Dad was offering them to drive his car. The car he drove to school every day, and he was trusting them with it. "I thought we could get a few lessons in before you start Driver's Ed in junior year."

The twins looked at each other than back at Logan, speaking simultaneously. "You trust him?" They giggled, pointing at each other. Their family chuckled but Logan nodded.

The evening soon came in no time. Driving wasn't as bad as the twins thought, Logan gave clear instructions and they didn't kill anyone. Driving was something the boys thought they'd never achieve, they didn't have anyone to teach them before let alone the possibility of getting their own cars. But Logan even mentioned that the cars he and Virgil held now will be given to them once they passed their driving tests. "Virgil and I can walk places or get the bus or buy another car, you both deserve your independence and freedom though. All part of growing up."

They were also gifted many things throughout the day. Patton baked cupcakes for them and got them a stack of Disney movies and Emile gave lots of cuddles and birthday songs. Their fathers also gave the twins new clothes, an Xbox, a Nintendo Switch, new school bags and headphones, hair dye for Remus (he had always wanted a blond streak through his brown hair). Everything they could ever dream of was theirs.

They had pasta for dinner, Roman and Remus' favourite meal. They were just chatting and joking, the only interruption from their meal was when Emile got sauce over his face so Virgil or Logan wiped it off for him and gave him a nuzzle on the cheek. "Thanks so much, for everything." Roman said as he finished his meal. The twins hadn't stopped smiling all day. Virgil had disappeared to the kitchen. The twins had guessed the reason but they preferred to just cloud their knowledge with mystery.

"We haven't given you your last present yet." Logan smiled collecting the plates. Both boys raised an eyebrow. "We may have booked a plane ticket to Disney."

As predicted Roman gasped and clapped. Remus also laughed, Roman was the biggest Disney fan of the two of them but Remus still appreciated the artistry of the animation and the scriptwriting. Patton also gasped. "Is that for all of us Dad?"

"Of course. There's six seats booked for the day after school ends for Easter."

Virgil then brought the cake out, apparently he went to the bakery after work that day and got a custom one made. It was double tiered, one side was red and gold with an edible figure of a prince looking at himself in a mirror while brushing his hair. The other side was green and grey, another edible person on the top holding out a sword and shield facing the same direction as the prince. Along the first layer of the cake 'happy birthday' was written in white. The boys almost felt like they couldn't touch it.

"Tuck in boys, we know you love strawberry cake."

And that is how Roman and Remus' sixteenth birthday went. It wasn't the sweet sixteen in all the stereotypical teenage movies, but it was amazing. They thought they could never feel so much love. Everything was perfect, and they felt ready to tackle the start of adulthood.