They'd shown up at the adoption agency on a bit of a whim. They'd thought about adopting many times before, but life had always gotten in the way.

Now that they'd been married for a year, perhaps it was time to think about it more seriously.

They'd seen an A-frame sign on the sidewalk advertising an adoption event and scarfed down the rest of their ice cream cones before stepping inside.

Truth be told, Ignis let Gladio finish most of his. He was feeling a little sick.

He'd always wanted kids, but the truth was, he wasn't good with them. He was far too serious and not nearly playful enough, and he simply didn't understand the things kids wanted. Maybe they should've thought this through more.

He clutched Gladio's arm as he started to walk towards the door.

"'Maybe we shouldn't. Are we really prepared?"

"Well, we'll never be prepared, right? And besides, it's not like we're going to adopt a kid today. We'll just meet a few, see what it's like."

His smile was reassuring and Ignis nodded.

The room was chaos when they arrived. There was one very harried-looking woman trying to manage around ten unruly children, though Ignis kept seeing more as his eyes panned the room, one shoulder-deep in a cubby hole, one dancing on top of a table. For goodness sakes, children were insane. He took Gladio's arm again.

"Perhaps we should come back later," he whispered. "When they've settled down."

Gladio just chuckled as a delightful little boy with crimson cheeks and tiny freckles threw his arms around his leg.

"Carry me around!" the boy demanded with an infectious grin.

"Hi," Gladio smiled. "What's your name?"

"Prompto! I'm four years old!"

Gladio grinned at Ignis.

"So will you?" Prompto asked expectantly, suddenly looking nervous.

"Of course," Gladio said, staring to walk around the room with Prompto squealing as he clutched onto his leg.

Ignis smiled. It was very cute, but as they walked away, he started to feel very out of place.

He looked around the room helplessly. Should he try to talk to one of these children?

The one dancing on the table seemed far too energetic for him, but then he noticed a boy sitting just behind him. He had shoulder length, dark hair, and he was intent on his coloring book, completely ignoring the pandemonium around him. He looked older than Prompto, though Ignis was not good at guessing children's ages.

Ignis approached the boy, still a little nervous and kneeled beside the children's-sized table.

The boy looked up at him, blushed, and went back to his coloring. He was very charming and sweet, wasn't he?

"Hi, I'm Ignis. What's your name?"

"Noctis," the boy responded, barely glancing up from his book, even though his hand had stopped moving.

"How old are you, Noctis?"

"Six."

"Ah, and what are you coloring?"

"It's a bicycle," he said, lifting up the book and turning it towards Ignis. "I've always wanted a bicycle," he blushed.

What was happening to his heart? It was pounding hard, and he felt sweat arise in his palms as he delicately accepted the drawing.

His coloring wasn't very good, but he supposed six year olds weren't know for being talented. It was sort of sweet though. At least he tried. He handed it back.

"It looks really lovely. I think you've done an excellent job," he complimented.

The sweet and proud smile Noctis offered back warmed his heart, and he felt moved by the stirrings in his chest as though some unknown force were compelling him towards this child.

He wanted Noctis to have the bicycle.
More than that, he wanted him to have parents.

Gladio needed to meet his boy.

He turned to find Gladio throwing Prompto in the air. The boy was giggling, red-faced as Gladio caught him. Then Prompto made eye contact with Ignis before glancing at Noctis.

"Hey, that's my brother!" Prompto announced.

"What?" Gladio asked turning around to see the two of them. They walked over, and Gladio kneeled across from Ignis at the table as they watched Prompto wrap his arms around Noctis's neck from behind. Noctis blushed with the hint of a grin and looked at Ignis again, and Ignis felt as though he could read his thoughts.

I love my brother, but he's a little embarrassing, isn't he? Cute though.

But maybe this was all in his head.

"Our parents died," Prompto announced dispassionately, and Ignis noticed how Noctis flinched, frowning once more.

Ignis looked at Gladio who appeared as distressed as he felt.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Gladio offered, and Prompto hugged him from the side.

"Maybe you could be my dad?" Prompto asked tentatively.

Ignis saw the way the two of them connected in that moment, the way Gladio looked as though he might be about to cry but smiled instead.

Gladio looked at Ignis to confirm or deny the hopes and dreams of this small boy.

Ignis looked at Noctis who was still blushing and frowning, studiously avoiding eye contact.

He turned his eyes back to Gladio and nodded.

The smile that crept to the corner of Gladio's lips was all the affirmation he needed to know they had made the right choice.

Ignis had spent years researching the pros and cons of adoption, the struggles of same-sex parenting, how to choose the right child, and yet in ten minutes he had made the most important decision of his life, and search as he might, he could feel no regret. There was no compulsion to second-guess as he did with everything else.

This was right. This was destiny. Somehow, he just knew it.

"Soooo?" Prompto asked.

"Yeah, I'll be your dad," Gladio affirmed.

"Really?" Prompto asked clutching his hands together.

Gladio nodded, and Prompto attempted to knock him over with another hug.

"That means he'll be your dad too," Gladio noted, pointing to Ignis.

Prompto eyed him warily. How was one supposed to charm a child again? It had been so easy with Noctis.

Aha!

"We're going to buy you each your own bicycle,"Ignis offered.

"Hooray!" Prompto exclaimed, doing a jump twirl towards Ignis and hugging him as well.

Ignis looked at Gladio whose eyes were fixed on Noctis.

"What do you think of all this?" Gladio asked.

"Seems too good to be true," Noctis answered a little morosely. "No one else has wanted to adopt us. They think we're too old, and they don't want both of us."

Gladio kneeled further, putting his elbows on the table so he was at eye level with the boy.

"Well, I hate to say it, but I'm glad no one else adopted you because then we couldn't."

This prompted a very deep look from Noctis as his gaze met Gladio's, as though the boy were feeling him out, trying to gauge if he was telling the truth or not.

Then his eyes turned to Ignis.

"You really want to adopt us?"

Ignis nodded. "Yeah, we really do."

The smile on Noctis's face was all the reassurance he needed.

Ignis made eye contact with the harried-looking woman. "Can you help us please? We'd like to adopt Prompto and Noctis."

Hope you enjoyed the fluff! This is the cutest family I could possibly imagine.