Archive of Our Own ^beta

1. Techno

Philza Craft is a very interesting and successful man. He was a very successful doctor in his wonderful city of L’Manburg (though he often traveled to help at other hospitals) and he had lots of great acquaintances and friends. Everyone who met him would describe him as kind, warm, and oddly popular with the crows in their area. 

One thing he didn’t think he would ever be known for was taking in kids. It wasn’t that he didn’t want kids, he just didn’t think he had time for them. But somehow in the time frame of 3 and a half years, he managed to adopt 5 gremlins that he wouldn’t trade for the world. 

Life just had a funny way of working out like that. 

His first kid was someone he considered family but was never actually related to. He had two friends at his job that had a kid they often brought with them because he got out of school a few minutes before they were scheduled for work so instead of them being late and dropping him home, they would bring him with and let him chill outside the NICU to do his homework and look at the babies.

That’s how they met, actually. Phil had been helping the nurses down in the nursery and bringing babies from the NICU to their parents rooms so that parents could meet their kids or check in on them.

He always loved seeing the way the parents looked at their kids with admiration and love and how some of them would tell stories of the siblings and pets they had waiting back at home. 

The then 26 year old would smile as he left the kids in their room and then head back to the NICU to bring another. One time he returned though, he noticed a child sitting in the viewing room. He figured that the nurses had it down here and went to go check on him since kids shouldn’t really be by themselves in a hospital.

He went to the door of the NICU and waved to a familiar blonde kid in passing before turning back and going in.

“Hey mate,” He said. 

The kid turned to him with a startle and Phil decided to move a bit away from the door but not too close to the kid so it didn’t look like he was trying to kidnap him or something.

“Uh hullo,” the kid tentatively greeted. 

“Mind if I sit?” Phil asked motioning to an empty spot on the bench he was sitting on. The kid shrugged and Phil sat on the seat furthest from him to give him space.

“What are you doing in the NICU all alone? This place doesn’t usually see kids over a few months old,” Phil wondered.

“I’m not lost or anything,” the kid explained, probably having been asked this question many times before. “My parents work here and they let me sit in the NICU until one of them goes on break and can bring me home.”

Phil nodded trying to think if any of his co-workers mentioned having a kid and nobody to watch them. When he came up empty he decided he would keep the kid company until someone needed him.

“I like your hair,” He said pointing to the pink mop that rested on the kids head. 

Apparently that was the right thing to say because the kid perked up. “Thank you. Most people tell my parents I’m too young to have dyed hair but I think it looks cool,” the kid informed with a firm nod. “I’m Techno by the way,” he held out his hand towards phil.

The man smiled and shook it. “I’m Phil.”

The kid cringed when he said his name. “You have such an old man's name,” he said. Phil narrowed his eyes at the child. 

“I’m 26 mate,” he grumbled amusedly. 

Techo’s face scrunched up even further. “You even have old man vocabulary. Who calls people ‘mate’ in every other sentence besides old people?” He teased.

“Oh? And how old are you?” Phil inquired.

“Twelve,” he said proudly. 

Phil sighed and rolled his eyes light heartedly. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. 

Everyday Techno would be in the NICU and every day Phil would come say hi and if he had time, they would stay and have a conversation. Sometimes Phil would tell Techno stories and sometimes they would talk about books they’ve both read. 

Sometimes they would look through the viewing glass at the babies in the NICU and guess what they would be when they grew up based on how Phil vaguely remembered them acting when he worked with them.

They acted like two old friends and Phil wondered how a 12 year old of all things could be one of the most interesting people he’s talked to in a long time. 

Phil looked forward to seeing Techno. He was there everyday without fail. Until one day, he wasn’t. At first, Phil didn’t think anything of it. Kids get sick all the time so he just assumed Techno had a cold.

Then another day passed. And another. And before he knew it, he had gone two weeks without seeing Techno.

It was strange. Techno was always here and he hadn’t heard of anyone getting a schedule change. He decided he would ask around.

“Hey Puffy,” he called to the passing head of their department. She stopped and turned to him with a smile.

“What’s up Phil?” She wondered.

“Have you seen the pink haired kid that used to always sit in the NICU?” He asked, describing him as best he could since he doubted many people would know his name.

“Oh Techno?” 

He stands corrected. “Yeah,” he muttered.

“His parents died in an accident a couple of weeks ago. They were working with a patient and somehow caught whatever they had and died a few days later. It’s a miracle he didn’t get it too. Last I heard he was being prepared to be put into foster care,” she recalled.

Phil felt his heart drop. He couldn’t let Techno go into foster care.

The more he considered it the more he realized he had an extra room for Techno and he had the salary to take care of the kid. His mind was made up in an instant.

“How can I contact his social worker?” He asked. Puffy smiled at him and wrote down a number on a paper before handing it to him.

“Call there and make sure your house is clean enough for an inspection,” she said.

He nodded and ran off, telling her he would be calling out the rest of the week. He was out of ear shot before he could hear her say, “I figured as much.”

By the end of the week he had somehow gotten everything he needed in order for Techno to come stay with him. All he needed was the kid to want to be there with him and he was good.

They apparently hadn’t told Techno that Phil was going to adopt him yet so Phil was pacing around his front door area waiting for them to arrive.

Maybe he was overthinking this. Techno would probably say yes but Phil was scared that he might say no. He loves the kid and the kid definitely deserves more than what Phil thinks he could ever give him.

He’s probably in way over his head. He doesn’t know the first thing about raising kids. He never had any of his own. What if he couldn't help Techno. The kid did just lose his parents. He realized it was too late to think about that when he heard a knock on his door.

He took a breath and walked over, peeking through the peak hole to see a woman on his porch with Techno. After taking another deep breath, he opened the door. “Hey Mates,” he greeted with a stressed smile.

Technos face scrunched up in confusion. “Phil?”

Phil waved and motioned for them to come in. Once they were both inside, Phil closed the door behind them and turned to face them.

“Why am I here?” Techno wondered. “Not that I don’t wanna see Phil, I just thought I was being placed somewhere,” he quickly explained.

Technos social worker motioned for Phil to explain and he took a deep breath before kneeling to his height so they were looking each other in the eyes. “I heard about your parents and I wanted to know, if it's okay with you, if I could adopt you.” 

Techno froze. 

It was quiet for a few minutes, Phil growing increasingly more anxious as the seconds went by, before Techno threw himself into a hug with Phil. 

“Yes! Yes thank you Phil,” He muttered into his shoulder. Phil smiled up at the social worker who gave him a thumbs up.

“We’ll have the adoption papers to you by the end of the week. Congrats to the both of you. I would stay a little bit but your house has already been approved and I’m needed back at the office,” she said, checking her watch and walking towards the door.

“Techno if you ever need me for anything, which I doubt you will, just call me,” she emphasized. He nodded, pulling away from the hug and she smiled, satisfied with his answer, and left.

Once the social worker was gone Techno stood back away from Phil and let the man stand up.

“Are you going to start taking in strays now or something?” He joked. 

Phil laughed and shook his head. “Nope. This was a one time thing,” he promised.

“Okay if you say so,” Techno shrugged. “Once an only child, always an only child.” 

Phil nodded firmly. “Exactly. Now let's talk room designs.”

2. Wilbur

“The roads are my home, the horizon's my target. If I keep moving, never lose sight of it,” Phil heard a familiar voice sing as he walked down the street from the hospital to the mall nearby. 

“Treating my memory of you like a fire, let it burn out, don’t fight it, and try to move on,” He decided he would go hear the song out.

He took a familiar turn down the street and found himself on a familiar corner. There was a crowd around like there always was and he excused himself to get closer. 

“It’s been sixty weeks since I saw Vienna. A bandage and a wide smile slapped across my face. I’ll pick up my hiking boots when I am ready and I’ll put down my roots when I’m dead,” a familiar kid sang softly.

Phil smiled and dropped 50 bucks in his guitar case, like he always did, before blending back into the crowd. He saw the kid noticed him and gave him a quick smile then going back to his song. Phil smiled back at him. He loved listening to these kids' songs.

He assumed his parents let him sit out here and try to earn extra money. Phil didn’t mind seeing him everyday. He could listen to the songs all day long and never get tired once.

“The distance is futile. Come on, don’t be hasty. You’ll get that feeling deep inside your bones. I’ll be gone then, for when you must be alone,” He finished off with a nice tune and everyone in the crowd clapped, Phil perhaps the loudest.

Once he announced that he was taking a break, the crowd dispersed. Phil went up to the brunette. 

“Hi Phil!” He exclaimed, turning to him. 

“Hey Wilbur,” Phil said fondly, smiling at the 13 year old. 

“I made like 200 bucks today,” He said smugly. Phil couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride.

He remembered when Wilbur had just started out when he was 11 and barely got any attention from the passersbys. Now everyone loved to stop and hear him sing. 

Phil had gotten him a new guitar for Christmas a year ago. He knew exactly which one he was saving up for but Phil wanted him to keep the money he was earning for a car or his college tuition so he bought it himself and gifted it to him. Wilbur had cried for like 10 minutes afterwards. 

Phil had never seen Wilbur miss a day on this corner in the two, going on three years he’s been here. Rain, snow, or shine he could always count on seeing Wilbur.

He suspected his parents were neglectful. The kid wore the same shoes and clothes for months at a time and he looked dirty sometimes. He was trying to build a case against them but Wilbur wouldn’t give Phil his parents names or his last name which Phil respected but he couldn’t help but wish he would.

There were some days Wilbur would be playing his music out in the rain or snow and Phil would get permission from the hospital to have him play quietly in the lobby or to the kids in the kids section so that he wouldn’t get sick.

Usually Phil would have stayed and talked more but he had to get the orders and get back to work before Puffy put him on clean up duty until he was needed. 

“I would love to stay and talk Wil, but you know how puffy is when anyone is late with the pizza,” Phil explained.

“If you work in the hospital, why not eat that food?” Wilbur wondered. Phil chuckled a bit but quickly devolved into full on cackling. “What’s so funny?” Wilbur asked, confused.

“Hospital food is shit mate. Even the cooks don’t eat it. It’s made a certain way to account for certain types of injuries and diseases to keep everyone able to digest it. Us workers don’t eat it unless we’re really short on time,” he explained.

Wilbur chuckled a bit. “Sounds kinda mean,” he pointed out.

“Eh,” Phil shrugged. “I guess that all depends on how you look at it,’ He hummed.

Wilbur chuckled and nodded. “Well go get your pizza Phil! I’ll be here whenever you get back,” He called.

Phil smiled and ran off back to the main street to get to the food court and bring the people their food. Once he got to the pizza place, it was all packed and paid for so he just showed them his ID, grabbed the pizza, and rushed back.

He got to the hospital with 2 minutes to spare but a few of the doctors and nurses were in a panic running around. 

“What’s going on?” he asked one of them as they passed. He was really hoping nobody he knew had died. 

“The kid that sits on Syndicate Street passed out earlier and everyones looking for you. We were trying to check him out to see what was wrong with him but he said he only wants to see you,” she said. 

It took Phil a second to process what she said but once he did, he promptly put down the pizzas and rushed to the elevator quickly asking what room he was in as he did. 

“Room 492!” The doctor shouted. Phil nodded and clicked the button to the 4th floor. 

He practically ran to the room to see a couple people standing outside talking to Puffy and hardly whispering.

“-’t care about the pizza right now. Get me Phil,” Puffy said.

“I'm right here,” he announced. Puffy turned to him with a relieved look on her face.

“I assume someone has filled you in on our little friend here?” Phil nodded and she looked even more relieved than she previously had.

“He’s a good kid. Please figure out what’s going on,” she whispered, not wanting the obviously eavesdropping kid to hear. Phil nodded and turned to the door, knocking once then waiting a few seconds before coming in. 

“Hello again Wilbur,” he greeted, coming in and sitting next to his hospital bed. 

“Hi Phil,” he said sheepishly. “How was the pizza?” 

Phil chuckled at the attempt at small talk. “I didn’t get to eat it. I heard you were in here and rushed to get to you as soon as I could,” he said matter-of-factly.

Wilbur made an oh face and tried to sink himself into his hospital bed feeling bad that Phil didn’t get to eat lunch because of him.

“What’s going on mate?” Phil asked, trying to distract him from the guilt he was obviously feeling. 

“I didn’t eat this week,” he muttered.

Phil looked away from his clipboard and down at him so fast he was convinced he might have gotten whiplash. 

“This week? Mate, where are your parents?” He wondered.

“I don’t have any,” he muttered. Phil froze. He had never even considered that Wilbur didn’t have parents and now he felt terrible for not noticing the signs. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Phil wondered making sure not to sound mad in the slightest. 

“I didn’t want you to hate me,” Wilbur admitted quietly. 

“Wilbur I couldn’t hate you for something you can’t control,” Phil said.

Wilbur just shrugged. Phil frowned a bit. He vaguely remembered telling Techno he would always be an only child but he had remembered a study that said kids with siblings did better in the world than only kids. 

“How would you like to have dinner with me and my son? And if you like it there, maybe you’d want to stay?” He offered.

Wilbur perked up so fast that Phil had to steady him. “Really?!” 

Phil nodded sincerely. 

“I think I would love to,” Wilbur declared. 

Phil smiled at him. “Great. I’ll get you discharged and then we can go. I’m sure this warrants a couple days off,” he hummed.

Wilbur smiled glad that he could at least get Phil out of work.

It didn’t take long for Phil to get Wilbur discharged. Once he was, they walked to Phils house since Phil had taken the 30 minute walk instead of the 8 minute drive. The whole way there Phil told Wilbur stories about Techno and how he adopted him and how they surprisingly hadn’t driven each other insane yet.

Techno had been chilling in the living room doing his homework and waiting for Phil to get home when he heard the door open and Phil talking to someone. He went to the doorway and froze upon seeing a brunette standing next to him.

“Not taking in strays huh?” He teased.

“Shut,” Phil said, rolling his eyes fondly. “He;s the last one.”

“Mhm,” Techno deadpanned, obviously unconvinced. 

“You wanna see my room new kid? I’m assuming Phils is either going to clean out his office or expand the house for you to fit but until either of those things happen you're staying with me,” Techno guessed.

Phil nodded in confirmation. “Construction team can be done by Saturday. I was planning on expanding anyway. I’ll just tell them to make a bedroom instead of another office.”

Techno nodded. “Good. Come on…what’s your name?” 

“Wilbur,” he supplied, a little confused by how quickly Techno just accepted this.

“Come on Wilbur. I’ll help you design your room. Phil gives you a budget bigger than you’ll know what to do with,” Techno said, grabbing him and pulling him to the stairs.

Once they got to Technos room, Techno let go of Wilbur and pulled out a 20 from seemingly thin air.

“20 bucks says Phil adopts another kid within the next year,” he said.

“What?” Wilbur questioned.

“I’ll fill you in better later and Phil will probably make us have family dinners the rest of our lives so we have all of them to get to know each other. Just place the bet,” Techno deadpanned.

“20 bucks says he adopts a kid in the next 6 months,” Wilbur shrugged.

“You’re on,” Techno smirked.

Yeah. Wilbur thinks he’s going to like it here.

3. Ranboo

Phil was having a relatively good day. After 3 months they had finally finished decorating Wilburs room and Techos 14th birthday had come and passed. 

They were planning to go out for dinner today, maybe try a new restaurant. He wanted to see if he could bring Tommy, one of the kids of some people who were patients here. He knows his boys would love him.

“Phil phil phil!” 

Speaking of the kid, Phil turned to face the blonde ball of energy with a kind smile on his face. 

“Hi Toms,” he greeted.

“Phil guess what!” The 8 year old bounced.

“What?” Phil wondered.

“They said my mom and dad are getting better!” He exclaimed. 

Phil felt a pang in his heart at that. He wanted Tommy's parents to get better but he would miss the kid. 

“That’s great,” Phil smiled.

He wanted to talk to Tommy more but his walkie talkie went off saying that he was needed in room E309. 

“Sorry Tommy, I have to-”

“That's okay!” He giggled, cutting the man off. “Go save lives Philza!”

Phil smiled at the kid. He was really a ray of sunshine. Phil liked to tease and call him his biggest cheerleader. Some days, Tommy took that with pride. Other days he would say he was too big of a man to be a cheerleader but Phil would laugh and ruffle his hair nonetheless.

He ran off towards the emergency floor before he got too distracted by Tommy. There he saw 3 people being rushed to different rooms. A man, A woman, and a child no older than 10.

“What’s going on?” He asked one of the other doctors.

“Uh they got into an accident and the car flipped. Fire department got there just as the car caught fire. Mom and Dad are facing blunt force trauma, TBIs, and are supporting 3rd degree burns. Kids got whiplash, a broken arm, and a concussion. We’ll do everything we can for mom and dad but we’ve got CPS on speed dial,” She informed.

Phil nodded slowly trying to process what she was saying. 

“Can you deal with the kid? We’re sending mom and dad to have an emergency surgery. Neither are stable yet but Moms had a semi-steady heartbeat and dad flatlined twice on the way here. It’s…it's not looking good Phil,” The doctor, Tina if he remembered correctly, looked really stressed.

“We’ll do what we can Tina. If nothing we can at least save the kid. I’ll get a CT as soon as possible so that we can make sure it's just a concussion and no internal bleeding or a TBI as well,” Phil said.

Tina smiled gratefully at him. “I’m going to go make sure they’re in surgery. Good luck Phil,” she said.

“Same to you,” He sighed.

They both ran in separate directions. He bandaged up the kids broken arm once he got to the room then got him a CT. The results came back and all he had was a concussion.

He waited in the room with the kid for him to wake up and to see if they would get any news on his parents.

The kid woke up after an hour and Phil looked up from his phone when he heard the groaning. He started to go back to sleep but Phil quickly went over to him.

“Hey hey hey, I need you to stay awake,” he said. The kid groaned again.

“I know, but you have a concussion. It’s too dangerous for you to sleep right now,” he said.

“Hurts,” the kid whined.

“What does?” Phil wondered, getting out a clip board.

“Head, neck, arm,” he muttered.

Phil sighed relieved that he wasn’t feeling pain anywhere else. “That's from the concussion, whiplash, and broken arm. Your arm will heal in a couple of weeks and your neck will feel better after you put some ice on it. We should be able to give you headache medicine for that headache soon,” he said.

The kid just groaned and Phil decided he should keep him talking until the last of the medicine they gave him is out of his system enough for him to be awake without Phil needing to keep him that way.

“Can you tell me your name?” Phil asked.

“Ranboo,” the kid mumbled.

“What’s your last name Ranboo?” Phil wondered.

“I…I don’t remember,” he whispered tentatively.

Phil raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise. It was too early to tell if this memory loss would be short term or lasting and he hoped it wasn't the former.  

“When's your birthday?” He asked.

“November 2nd,” he mumbled.

“How old are you?” Phil questioned.

“I don’t remember,” he whined.

Phil hummed. He’d have to look back at the CT scans to see what he missed. 

“Do you remember what happened?” He asked.

Ranboo seemed to think about it. Phil noticed he had one red eye and one green eye. Heterochromia, he realized. Cool.

“I was in the car with…my mom and my dad? And then I was here. It’s fuzzy,” he admitted.

Phil nodded and wrote it down. “Do you remember what your mom and dad looked like? Or what their names are?” Phil wondered.

He shook his head. Phil sighed and wrote it down. He looked over and saw Ranboo was awake enough for him to not have to keep asking him questions so he went back over to where he put the CT scans and checked them over again.

He hadn’t been checking for anything that could give him memory problems, only for other injuries. He didn’t get halfway through looking at the data before Tina burst into the room.

“We couldn’t save them, Phil,” she told Phil.

His eyes widened and so did Ranboos. “We’re going to have to call CPS and until he wakes up-”

“Tina,” he cut her off in a gentle tone, “he is awake.”

She turned to the kid who was in fact awake and looking at her with tears in his eyes. “I am so sorry. We did everything we could kid,” she said.

He started crying and Phil quickly ushered Tina out the room. Thankfully he had two semi-traumatized kids and had dealt with his fair share of breakdowns and panic attacks. Techno was like this for a bit after his parents died so Phil knew just how to calm him down.

It didn’t take long for Phil to get him back down to just silent tears. It was the best he could do here.

“What am I gonna do now, Phil?” He asked tentatively.

“Well you’ll probably go into foster care until someone adopts you,” Phil said honestly.

Ranboo sighed. “I can’t even remember them Mr.Phil,” he mumbled. 

Phil frowned and left the room. 

He found where Tina was on the phone with Social services and stopped her. “What’s up Phil?” She acknowledged, telling social services to hold for a second.

“Could..” he cut himself off with a sigh knowing his sons were going to bully him relentlessly for this. “Could I adopt him?” 

Tina chuckled. “Didn’t you just have your house expanded because you adopted Wilbur?” She wondered.

“Well I was going to have them try again to build a new office but I think I’ll just have them put in 4 extra rooms,” Phil sighed.

“Four?” Tina questioned.

“Office, a room for Ranboo, and two guest rooms just in case,” he briefly explained.

Tina chuckled at the just in case and went back to the call with social services.

“There’s someone here who would like to adopt Ranboo. Philza Craft,” she said. After that, it didn’t take much convincing. They could have all the necessary paperwork ready by the end of the week, all Phil needed was for Ranboo to say yes.

He went into the hospital room to see the boy fiddling with his cast. “Hey mate,” he announced his presence.

Ranboo looked up at him. “Hi Mr.Phil,” he greeted dejectedly.

“Please, just call me Phil. If my sons heard you call me Mr.Phil, I would never hear the end of it,” he joked. 

Ranboo smiled at the mention of his sons. He wondered what it was like to have siblings.

“So we just got off the phone with social services and I wanna know how you feel about coming to stay with me,” He suggested. 

Ranboos' jaw dropped. “Really?” 

Phil nodded with a soft smile. 

“Yes yes yes yes! Thank you M- Phil. Thank you Phil,” Ranboo exclaimed.

“You’re welcome mate. You’ll have to stay in the hospital overnight so they can monitor you but tomorrow morning, you get to come home with me,” Phil told him.

Ranboo didn’t sleep at all that night. Sure, he wasn’t supposed to but even if he had the option he doesnt think he would be able to. He was too excited at the prospect of getting a family. 

The next day he couldn’t sit still in the car ride to Phils house. He only settled down once he got to the front door and realized he was going to be getting brothers. What if they didn’t like him?

As if reading his thoughts, Phil put a gentle hand on Ranboo’s shoulder. “They’ll love you mate,” he said. 

Ranboo nodded. “If you say so,” he muttered.

Phil smiled and opened the door. He heard two quick sets of footsteps coming down the stairs. 

“Why did we get to stay home from school today Phil?” Someone shouted. 

“I bet you he got us a dog!” Another voice said.

The footsteps came to a halt when he came face to face with a brunette and someone with pink hair.

“Actually,” Phil said, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. “I got you a little brother.”

It was quiet for another second until Techno groaned and Wilbur cheered. “Ha ha! Pay up bitch!” Wilbur exclaimed.

Techno huffed and gave him 20 dollars. 

"You bet on me bringing you a dog?" Phil wondered curiously.

"Nope!" Wilbur smirked, pocketing the 20. 

"We bet on how long it would take you to adopt another one," Techno huffed. "Clearly you have no self control if it took you three months."

Phil chuckled startledly, not having expected that. “You little shits,” he spat affectionately.

“And don’t you forget it,” Wilbur quipped. 

Phil just sighed fondly. “House is getting 4 extra rooms by the end of next week. Who wants to let the new kid bunk with them until he gets his own room?” 

Both of them immediately raised their hands. Seeing the way Ranboo flinched, Techno immediately calmed down and kneeled to the 8 year olds level. Wilbur originally thought he was trying to bribe the kid but he noticed the way he was breathing a little heavily and backed off a bit to let his brother do his thing.

“Do you wanna stay with me, Wilbur, or we can both share a room and let you take the bigger of ours until you can get your own room,” Techno offered.

Ranboo frowned a bit in thought but eventually pointed to Techno signifying that he wanted to stay with him. Techno not so discreetly stuck his tongue out at his brother.

“Can I carry you?” Techno offered. 

Ranboo nodded and Techno hoisted him up onto his shoulders. “Time for a house tour!” Wilbur exclaimed, coming up beside them. Ranboo chuckled and the three kids were off disappearing down the hallway.

Phil smiled fondly and went to call Tina and remember to tell his sons in the morning that this was actually the last one. 

They didn’t believe him.

4. Tubbo

It took about a month for Ranboo to settle in, but once he had Phils house had only become more chaotic. He had to get all three of them to school, convince his nanny, Kristin, to pick up all three of them and watch them for a few hours, and go to more events than he had time for.

He always managed though. He loved his sons and if he had to miss a game night he had been looking forward to for months or cancel the dinner plans that he had finally worked up the nerve to make with Kristin in order to take Ranboo to therapy or Techno to fencing class or Wilbur to practice with his little band, than he would do it with fond exasperation and a smile.

Perhaps the best part of it was getting to spend time with them. Especially Ranboo.

He and Ranboo had developed the habit of going to the park every Saturday from noon to 3 after they dropped off the teenagers at their activities, then going out to lunch, and finally going to pick up the older two and grabbing dinner and having a movie night with the three of them.

He never thought it would lead to him getting yet another son.

One day, Phil had let Ranboo go off by himself to play with the other kids while he supervised from the bench. The kid had come back about 2 hours later dragging a dirty and skinny brunette kid behind him.

“Ranboo! Who is this?” Phil exclaimed quickly, putting his book down and going over to check them both up. 

“Dadza! This is Tubbo! Can we keep him?” He asked.

Phil frowned. Sure he adopted kids a lot but surely Ranboo didn't think he just took kids from their parents, right?

“Where are your parents? They must be worried sick,” Phil muttered. He knows if he had lost any of his kids long enough for them to come back looking dirty and skinny, he would have a breakdown.

“I don’t have parents,” Tubbo frowned. 

Phil sighed because of course he didn’t. He just texted one of his contacts at social services asking them to have the adoption papers ready and cleared his schedule tomorrow to go furniture shopping. 

“Would you like to stay with me then kid?” Phil offered.

Tubbo hesitantly nodded.

“Great! Now it’s about three so we have to go pick up my other sons. Your brothers now I suppose. And I’ll need to take you to the police to make sure nobody has filed any missing persons reports on you before I attempt to take you in,” Phil mumbled the last bit more to himself than the boys but they both nodded along anyway.

It was pretty easy to get them both in the car. Phil was glad he had a minivan and extra car seats. He strapped both 8 year olds to their car seats in the front row and would have to put both Wilbur and Techno in the back and hope they didn’t argue the whole way there.

He pulled up to the convention center that they both were at around this time and saw them sitting on the curb and talking about something before perking up when they heard the sound of a car pulling up.

They both jumped up and raced to see who would get to sit in the front row only to freeze when they found another kid.

“Another one,” Wilbur said, half excited and half annoyed.

“Not a word mate. I’m taking him to the police to see if he belongs to someone or not before I make anything official,” Phil explained.

Knowing their luck, Techno figured that kid wouldn’t have any parents so he just sighed and accepted it.

“Welcome to the crazy house kid. Enjoy your stay,” he muttered climbing into the back seat.

Wilbur followed suit, both of them making bets on whether or not Phil would finally let them start engraving their names into their doors or not.

Of course with Phils luck, the kid didn’t have parents and by the end of the next week, Phil had 4 sons and everyone's names engraved on the doors that they got to choose the color of. 

“I’m not taking in any more strays,” Phil declared the next Saturday as he washed dishes. “I mean it. I’m done.”

Ranboo, Wilbur, and Techno gave each other knowing looks and pulled out their piggy banks where they kept their allowance.

“20 bucks says 4 months,” Techno offered.

“20 more says 6,” Wilbur smirked slapping his 20 down on the table.

“20 more dollars says 9 months,” Ranboo smiled.

They all put the money in one of the extra jars labeled ‘winning container’ and shook on it.

“May Phils self control, or lack thereof, make one of us rich soon,” Wilbur said.

Techno and Ranboo nodded before both going their separate ways.

Phil just sighed and went back to the dishes. Maybe he could take the money when none of them won. Free 60 bucks.

+1. Tommy

Tommy and Phil ran through some of the emptier hallways of the hospital like they did on most days giggling and trying to take Tommys mind off the fact that his parents were dying.

When Phil had first met Tommy, he wouldn’t leave their side, proclaiming that whatever they had would get better and that soon they could go back to being a family again. Now though, he couldn’t even look at them. 

He loved talking to his parents but he hated seeing them so sad and resigned. He hated that they had just accepted their fate and that he would be alone sooner than he would like to be.

So Phil distracted him as best he could.

They played tag. They raided the kitchens, they made ice cream, the nurses would even let Tommy help make bottles in the nursery for babies who had to stay there for treatment or because their only guardian was being treated.

Tommy loved being at the hospital with Phil. His parents told him at the beginning that they could always come back and visit once they were better. Now though, it was always about the foster family that he hadn’t even had yet and hoping that they would be nice enough to let the 9 year old visit this place.

Tommy didn’t want to think about that though. For now all he wanted to worry about was getting away from Phil since the tall man was always so much harder to catch than he was to avoid when playing a game of tag.

Eventually they both got tired out and laid across the floor taking deep breaths in between sharp inhales and wheezes. 

“I’m turning ten soon Philza,” Tommy informed.

Phil smiled at him. “My youngest son just turned ten.”

The older man chuckled at the way Tommys face scrunched up as he tried to desperately figure out how on earth the teen Phil had adopted had somehow aged backwards.

“I adopted another one mate. About a year ago, Tubbo, remember?” 

Tommy made an oh face and slowly nodded just barely knowing who Phil was talking about. 

“I could bring my family here. Kristin, my girlfriend, has been dying to meet you. She loves the stories I tell her.”

Tommy smiled softly at the thought of Phil telling stories about him to his girlfriend. He continued to melt into a bundle of happiness as Phil and him continued to plan his birthday and the things they could do together since his parents couldn’t right now.

Tommy wished it could stay like that forever.

Of course, all good things must come to an end.

Tommys came crashing down when he saw Sam, one of the other doctors he spent a lot of time with, running down the hallway frantically.

“Sam!” Tommy exclaimed blissfully ignorant to the news he was about to be told by the man. “What’s up big man? Come to hang out?”

Sam frowned and shook his head solemnly. “I have some…bad news,” he mumbled.

He didn’t have to finish for Tommy to know what happened. He knew it was coming, he could feel it in his soul. He just slumped against the walls and was barely listening when Sam told him his parents were dead.

He just sat in silence for a little bit ignoring Phil and Sam asking for him to say something. 

“My parents have been dead a long time,” he finally settled on.

They both looked surprised at the answer.

“Those people in the hospital room were not my parents,” he said determinedly, finally turning to look at their shocked faces. They looked more sad than he was. “My parents would have never been that negative. Not about themselves and not about their future,” he inserted more firmly.

Phil didn’t know how to respond to that so he didn’t. The three of them just sat in silence until Tommy broke it once more.

“What happens to me now?”

The question was barely a whisper but Sam and Phil heard him loud and clear.

“Well you’ll probably go into foster care or to a boarding school until we find someone to adopt y-”

“I want to stay with Phil,” Tommy said with no hesitation, not even letting Sam finish what he was saying.

“Yes,” Phil accepted without thinking. He loved Tommy like he was his own son. He had seen Tommy grow so much over the past 4 years and he was already in the process of becoming his temporary guardian until his parents got better. This just made it official.

He didn’t care how much he would get bullied by his sons (albeit affectionately). For Tommy, he would give the world.

“I had a feeling you would say that,” Puffy said coming out of the elevator. 

“We already had the adoption papers ready,” Sam chuckled softly.

Tommy couldn’t help but hug Phil. 

If he could’ve signed the papers himself, he would have. 

Phil’s been the only family he had for a long time, now it was just legal.

“Ready to go meet your brothers and spend the week listening to all of their ‘expert’ advice on what furniture from ikea would look best in your room?” Phil teased.

Tommy chuckled and nodded. “I’ve never been a brother before,” he muttered shyly.

“None of them were before I adopted them. Somehow, I think you’ll fit right in,” Phil said.

Tommy beamed at him excited to get home and get this over with.

He was pretty sure he would start absolutely sobbing later when he fully processed the news he’d just received a little under a half hour ago, but that could wait. For now, he wanted to live in the present.