For all of their planning, both Ingo and Emmet had forgotten that young children lacked object permanence-- that it would be impossible for the passengers to tell the difference between two identical individuals, no matter what they wore to distinguish themselves from one another. It should have been obvious sooner, but neither Rael or Kari seemed confused when both of their guardians were in the same room, visibly existing in the same space, and so neither of the elder twins had thought anything was amiss.

It wasn’t until Kari called several of his clumsy “Da”s and whined for Emmet to pick him back up that it clicked.

“I don’t see the problem.” Ingo said, momentarily distracted with removing Archeop’s tail feathers from Rael’s mouth; from its perch on the back of the couch, the raptor amusedly flicked it right back into gumming range. He sighed and, instead, moved the entire child away, to lay on other side of his chest with an arm acting as a safety rail. “You call them your sons all the time; why shouldn’t they reciprocate?”

“That’s different.” Emmet stated, words contrasting against his soft volume; as much as he wanted to argue his point, he didn't want to disturb Kari, who’d happily pressed his little face against his caretaker’s neck.

“How so? Legally, you have the same responsibility toward them that I do.” There was a pause as Roggenrola toddled up, investigating the chubby hands that reached for it, and at that point, Ingo seemed to give up on keeping the Pokemon out of Rael’s grasp if they were so determined to put themselves in arm’s reach.

“My role isn’t the point. I’m happy to be one of their guardians. It’s a matter of fairness.” At that, his twin looked up at him. “You carried them. You’re their father. That is your title.”

Emmet could practically see the rebuttal take form.

“By technicality, you also carried them.” Ingo said mildly, unimpressed by his logic.

Because he’d been so confident where the discussion would lead, he didn’t need any time to answer, “For sixteen hours. You labored for twice that amount.”

It rewarded him with a subtle grimace and, beyond that, a piercing stare as his twin scoured his expression. Much as he loved having someone on his precise level, there were moments like this, where he hated being seen through so readily.

“If you’re not comfortable with such familiar terminology, that’s perfectly fine, but I need you to be honest with all of us.” Without looking, he gently pushed piece of wood Timburr was trying to offer away, and allowed Rael to gnaw on his hand as a substitute. Emmet spared a moment to be grateful for the fact that Kari was content snuggling into his shoulder, sparing him the trouble of fielding that same attention.

“...I don’t actually mind. I just feel that it’s unearned.” He confessed.

There was a beat of silence. “Respectfully, I don’t think that’s anything you need to concern yourself with. Even if they could reliably tell us apart, I believe they’d respond to you the same way they do now.”

The look Emmet shot him was enough to prompt him on, which was good, because Emmet himself wasn’t entirely sure how to vocalize his skepticism just then.

“They quite literally do not know a life without you in it. Even before they were born, they recognized and responded to your voice. From their perspective, you’ve always been there for them.” Ingo broke eye contact just long enough to ensure that the baby and Pokemon were roughly where he expected them, relative to one another, and then looked back with a renewed intensity. “Isn’t that what a father figure is supposed to be? In that sense, it means even more on your part than mine-- you had a choice, after all.”

Emmet had been following up until the last point, which he shot down with a blatant roll of the eyes. Unwilling to acknowledge it, he focused on the original point of discussion. “You truly don’t think it’s a problem?”

With the hand that wasn’t covered in drool, Ingo waved toward Kari. “I don’t think he has any objections, no.”

Asking his brother to elaborate would be pointless-- he’d been told in no uncertain terms, not even five minutes prior-- so Emmet dropped the subject. Where he’d originally been lying with the boy on his chest, Ingo sat up, making room for both of their brothers to join them; as he scooped Rael into both arms, he blew a tiny, playful puff of breath onto the baby’s nose and followed up by pressing a soft kiss to it. Rael… didn’t sneeze, but it was almost like he mimicked sneezing. Was he already developed enough to play pretend?

Ingo blinked at him, and then laughed as he got their son settled.

It was funny to watch him, sometimes. Months ago, he’d been so worried about making a wrong move around the passengers for fear of hurting them, and now he knew exactly how to handle them-- could do it with his back turned, even. Every day was a sequence of the same events, growing more elaborate and silly as the boys got ever-so-slightly older.

It was funny to watch him corral them, yes, but it was also quite heartwarming.

As he and Kari joined their respective brothers, Emmet noticed their shared posture. Kari hadn’t moved in the slightest, but Rael had been bundled up into a position that mirrored them exactly. Ingo was looking down at Roggenrola-- trying to judge its next move-- and hadn’t noticed, so it couldn’t have been deliberate on his part; it was just… natural. The natural way to care for them.

Maybe Ingo looked at him, and saw the same things Emmet was seeing in his twin: all the distance he’d crossed as a guardian.

Emmet wasn’t entirely sure how long he spent lost in his thoughts, but he was roused from them when something tickled his cheek. He looked over, and was dismayed to find that Archeops had never quit his game, after all. He’d just changed targets. Kari tilted his head up, looking at the tail that had landed on top of him, and grabbed for the vibrant feathers that dangled tantalizingly in reach.

As he hastily pinned that tail between his shoulder and the couch cushion, Emmet had to accept things as they were. The passengers, his brother, and the Pokemon alike had all decided he was a dad.