The Moore the Merrier

by Alex Miska

  “That’ll take three years!” Dean moaned.

  “Two and a half,” she argued. “It’ll fly by.”

  It so wouldn’t fly by.

  “What are the chances I can talk to you tomorrow?” she asked.

  “Amelia will have her phone back,” Logan said. “But the boys will be at the bakery with us, so she’ll hand the phone right over to them. Oh, sorry, I’m Logan, Chester’s boyfriend. I’ll be living with them, if you don’t mind.”

  “Do you love Chance?” Gigi asked.

  “Of course!”

  “Then why would I mind? Now, can you take me off speakerphone? I need to talk to our big brother alone.” Jackson and Dean groaned simultaneously, and Chance grinned at them before taking the phone into another room. Gigi was probably going to give Chance the third degree and then tell him all of the twins’ secrets. Jackson sleep-walked, Dean was the messiest guy on the planet, neither of them were morning people… the list went on and on. Well, at least Chance wouldn’t have many unpleasant surprises after this.

  Dani took them into the other room and sent Logan downstairs. She put a hand on each of their shoulders and looked at them hard. Here it was: the third degree. Or maybe not.

  “As you know, I became friends with your brother as soon as he moved here, so I have some idea of all the crazy places your minds will go,” she said. “I can tell you this as many times as you need to hear it: We want you here. You are family. If you run away, we’ll find you and bring you back home where you belong. You will always have a home with us. Even if you develop a meth habit, start robbing banks and turning tricks, and cover your bodies with tattoos and weird piercings, we are still going to love you. So there.”

  Jackson especially liked the ‘so there.’ This family was full of surprises and, so far, all of the surprises were frighteningly wonderful. He gathered his wits, trying to put into words just how he felt when his obnoxious twin said, “I’m insulted! We’ll be high-class escorts, not rentboys.”

  “Diesel…” Jackson warned, but Dani just laughed.

  “I’m glad you have some class, Dean. And Jackson?”

  He couldn’t help himself from joining in and said, “Heroin is far more likely than meth.”

  Dani ushered them downstairs and they sat down with the whole family. Their new grandma put semi-healthy munchable food in front of them, and Dani showed them pictures of Chance at their age (he almost could have been their long-lost triplet) while everyone shared the most embarrassing stories about Chance that they could think of. Even Logan’s parents joined in the tattling. To Jackson’s horror, Dean looked up from the dogs to join the conversation, sharing similar embarrassing stories about Jackson. Traitor. So of course, Jackson did the same to his twin. As conversation went round, Jackson finally started to understand that most of this extended Moore family didn’t see them as an unfair burden; they were a huge number of people who wanted to love them. It was kind of amazing, and Jackson had a hard time wrapping his mind around it. Up until now, their real family had just consisted of the twins and their sister.

  At some point Chance had come back into the room, squinting his eyes warningly at the twins and began whispering with Logan. Jackson had a good idea what that was about; even if Gigi hadn’t brought it up, Chance would have noticed when he picked up their birth certificates. As soon as there was a break in conversation, their brother said, “So, you turned fourteen yesterday.”

  Everyone gasped and Jackson hung his head. “Yeah, we kind of decided finding our brother would be our birthday present to each other.”

  A chorus of ‘awww’s met his statement, and Logan said, “We’re going to have to have a birthday party for you next weekend.”

  “You really don’t have to do that,” Dean said. He hated being the center of attention even more than Jackson did.

  “You really, really don’t.” Jackson agreed, his eyes starting to water. Luna and Cassius both snuggled up to the boys, as if sensing their heightened emotions. “You already got us clothes and phones and… and a home and a dog and two cats and a whole family. You have no idea…”

  “I do,” Chance said, giving Jackson and then Dean yet another hug. “I just wish I could have given it to you sooner.”

  Character Guide

  When everyone sat down to dinner, the boys retreated behind their perfectly-behaved masks. They looked a little overwhelmed by the fact that they’d have to serve themselves, but Chance noticed immediately. “Try a little of everything. If you want seconds, you don’t need to ask. And if you don’t finish everything or don’t like something, you can always give it to Greg, who’ll eat anything.”

  “He really will,” Dani said with an exaggerated shudder.

  Chance handed a bowl to Dean, who grinned and spooned out a generous portion before handing it to Jackson. Xander knew his friend was scared to death of screwing up, but Chance was exactly whom the boys needed. The more Xander learned about the Blevins family, the more impressed he was that these kids and his friend turned out so normal. Well, not normal exactly, but close enough.

  “I have an idea,” Andrew (their new Grandpa) said to the boys. “We all have questions for you, and you probably have questions for us. For every question we ask you, you can ask someone –anyone– a question. Don’t worry about being nosy or rude or silly, we probably will be too.”

  They got the twins laughing again as questions went round. Whenever Jackson and Dean weren’t answering questions, they were shoveling food into their mouths as though they hadn’t eaten in days while sneaking nibbles to the dogs. Xander remembered how wonderful it had been the first time he’d shared dinner with the Moore family and could imagine that the boys’ happiness and relief was a thousand times greater.

  Xander felt tears prickle his eyes and wrapped an arm around his fiancé’s shoulders. “I wish Kendall and Marcus could have joined us tonight.”

  “I don’t know what happened to Kendall, but I hate her family with the passion of a thousand suns. Maybe Kendall and Marcus can spend the holidays with us? Or have sleepovers with the boys?” Julian asked. “We need to get them out of there ASAP.”

  “If anyone can convince Kendall, you can.” But they both knew she had never ventured more than a few feet outside Safe Harbor. It would take a lot of effort to even convince Kendall to visit, and Marcus wouldn’t leave her behind. Xander wasn’t willing to risk her safety, but there were enough people in this family to protect her on special occasions until she was legally theirs and no former-guardians could take her away.

  When every morsel of food had been devoured, the boys flew out of their seats and began gathering plates. Sara, in a moment of brilliance, said, “Thank you, boys. Okay, let’s all bring in our dishes and take some time to digest before dessert.”

  With that one innocuous comment, the new Grandma had told Jackson and Dean they were just two more members of the family; they weren’t guests, nor did they have to earn their keep for the right to live with Chance. Xander laughed as Jackson asked Logan about dessert. The kid was a bottomless pit who’d just eaten his weight in pasta. When Logan asked Dean if he’d rather have freshly-baked bread and butter, the boy grinned and hugged Logan as though he’d just handed him a million dollars.

  As soon as everyone sat back down in the living room to watch the boys digest their meals like those snakes that unhinge their jaws to eat prey whole, questions about wedding plans began to bounce around and Xander ran to the SUV to grab his binder. When he returned, he found Julian with a similar binder that he must have retrieved from his childhood bedroom. That was when things began to get complicated. The men had four weeks to plan a New Year’s Eve wedding and would have to make decisions quickly.

  Julian and Xander had always agreed on décor and clothing. In fact, he’d picked out Julian’s outfit for more than one important occasion, so Xander hadn’t really considered that he’d have to make significant concessions when it came to planning their weddi
ng. Yes, he’d known Julian would choose purple for their color scheme, but the tone of the swatch Julian pulled out of his folder was too red.

  “Nope. Absolutely not.”

  “Purple is the color of royalty,” Julian argued.

  “Not that shade of purple. I was thinking something more like this.” He pulled out a more appropriate, nearly indigo swatch.

  “That’s too blue.”

  “How about something in the middle?” Dani suggested, thumbing through Julian’s folder and pointed out part of a flower that was in just the right shade.

  Then Julian insisted on matching purple vests, while Xander preferred white brocade. But they weren’t ‘ice cream men’ and ‘something needed to match,’ and eventually Xander gave in if they did a deep purple (that way, even if the brat did swap the shade on him, at least it would be too dark for Xander to resent wearing it). After ten minutes of arguing over ties, Xander suggested they set the clothing discussion aside until they went shopping together.

  “You can’t see my tux before the wedding!” Julian gasped.

  “How else will we know if we’re wearing the same shade of white?” Eggshell, cream, ivory, ecru… there were so many different shades that even white by the same designer could look completely different.

  “The tailor can show you a swatch or let you sneak a peek at a sleeve,” Greg suggested.

  And on it went. The conversation felt more contentious than it actually was; they agreed on musicians, food, and the limited selection of available banquet halls, thank the Lord. There were very few rush-order engraved invitations to choose from, so that wasn’t too contentious either. Xander was permitted to choose the photographer since photography was his hobby. They had too many friends and family, and the rest of the guest list was so small that they limited their wedding party to the two of them and Cassius, their ring-bearer. And they eventually settled on potted orchids for each round, eight-person table surrounded by candles (but decisions on the rest of the décor were set aside to be argued about later).

  “How do you want me to decorate the cake?” Logan asked innocently, as though he hadn’t just witnessed the hour-long battle of wills. Xander quickly flipped to that tab in his binder, but Julian had been just as fast. Logan took one look at the dueling grooms and suggested, “You know, we could do two grooms’ cakes or an assortment of mini cakes and petit fours.” Both Xander and Julian made disgusted sounds in the back of their throats.

  “Okay, okay!” Amelia shouted, and everybody turned to look at her. In all the ruckus, nobody had noticed the arrival of Amelia and Trip (except maybe Dean, since Trip’s pug Frankie was lying belly-up in the boy’s lap). In the surprised silence, she took cake sections from both binders and said, “Logan will look at your suggestions and come up with some ideas, how about that?”

  Xander and his fiancé both muttered under their breath, but agreed, and then Amelia and Trip introduced themselves to the boys. Amelia swooped in for hugs. Trip, on the other hand, told them they’d probably had enough hugs for the week; the way in which the twins relaxed made it clear Trip was correct in his assessment.

  “Want me to officiate?” Trip asked, and Julian and Xander quickly agreed. Finding someone to do a same-sex wedding had seemed impossible, especially at the last minute. They’d completely forgotten that Trip had gotten ordained for his sister’s wedding. Of course, Trip had told Joy it was through the ‘Universal Life Church,’ but the church had given him a Jedi Knight ordination. Xander wasn’t sure if Julian knew that little detail, but a Jedi marriage certificate sounded awesome.

  “The groomzillas have argued enough for one night!” Dani announced. “Julian, didn’t you want to take Dean upstairs and try out his new look?”

  Julian and Dean eagerly ran upstairs, Cassius on their heels. Xander had planned on playing dress-up with them, but he was exhausted from all that bickering. Instead, he stayed downstairs with Jackson, who looked a bit overwhelmed at being left alone with everyone.

  “Do you want us to pay attention to you or ignore you?” Trip asked bluntly.

  “Maybe… pretend I’m just one-tenth of the people in this room?” Jackson asked. Xander, Chance, and Trip beamed at his casual use of mathematics in everyday conversation; another mathlete had joined their ranks.

  “Okay, and please ignore Frankie’s staring. He does that a lot.” Trip’s pug was staring at Jackson extra-hard from barely a foot away. Luna climbed into his lap, as if staking a claim on her new boy.

  “Oh, it’s no big deal. I’m used to it. He visits the center with Julian sometimes,” Jackson said with a disconcerted expression that belied his words, and he pet Luna distractedly. “But usually Frankie isn’t so intense.”

  Xander wasn’t sure what to make of Frankie’s behavior. Maybe he was confused by seeing Jackson somewhere new? When Xander’s fiancé dog-nannied before starting his new job, Julian had taken Frankie and Cassius everywhere with him. They’d all hoped Frankie would be a little less odd after all that socialization, but apparently not. In fact, Frankie now insisted on being carried everywhere in that ridiculous baby backpack, so the weirdness factor had actually ratcheted up a notch.

  Everyone chatted and teased until Julian reemerged with a completely different version of Dean, attired in yellow skinny jeans, a black v-neck tee, and a floral sheer blouse. His overgrown hair had been styled with product and his face was made up with eyeliner, mascara, bronzer, sparkly highlighter, and lip gloss. They’d even plucked his eyebrows. The entire living room applauded and complimented Dean.

  “You look great,” Jackson said. “Can we have dessert now?”

  When Logan unveiled the cake, everyone was silent for a moment staring at the orange cartoon cheetah riding a monster truck. The twins, embarrassed by yet more attention, blew out the candles Logan had added last-minute. Xander decided he’d have to speak for the group. “I don’t get it.”

  “Axle, Diesel, and Chester,” Logan said. Everyone knew how sensitive Chance was about his name, and most had been told the twins felt the same way, but Logan persevered. “Oh, come on! Our one chance to make fun of the Blevins brothers all at once, and then we shall never speak their names again. Although we do reserve the right to use your birth names if you seriously break the rules.”

  “That’s fair,” Jackson said, Dean nodding next to him. “But now we’re going to have to come up with an equally horrible name for you.”

  “I didn’t doubt that for a second,” Logan said. Xander caught a familiar sly expression on Julian’s face as he no doubt began to dream up new nicknames for his older brother.

  The family dug into the cakes and cookies. Trip, although he usually was a bit standoffish in large groups or with new people, engaged the boys through the entire course while Amelia vied for their attention. When the twins began to yawn, the party broke up, but not before everyone entered the boys’ new numbers into their phones and texted their contact info to each of the twins. Jackson and Dean submitted to one last round of extra-loving hugs before Julian and Xander drove them, Chance, Logan, and the dogs home. This time, the boys eagerly followed Chance and Logan into their new home, and Julian and Xander headed for their condo.

  “It’s all my fault!” Julian said as soon as they pulled away from the curb. “The one time I’m not nosy and look what happens!”

  “What if they’d run away? What if their brother had been someone else? Those boys chose to hide out in a homeless shelter for three months,” Xander reasoned. He knew his fiancé was prone to be hardest on himself and internalize his feelings, and he didn’t want this to put him back in a dark place. Xander hoped saying the words aloud would reassure himself as well. “And let’s put the blame where it belongs. It’s the cops’ fault for not contacting Chance and for letting the boys run away. It’s their father’s and grandparents’ fault for throwing them away like garbage and not even letting Chance know they were coming. You helped them stay safe and happy.”

 
“Okay, fine.” Julian pouted; it was a gorgeous, though well-rehearsed, pout. If Xander hadn’t been driving, he would have submitted to his urge to nip at it. “Should we address the elephant in the room, then?”

  They spent the rest of the car ride and the walk up from the garage bickering about wedding plans. Gold tones versus silver tones, sparkling versus understated, chair covers versus cane-backed chairs… there was no end in sight.

  “This is my wedding! I’m the bride! I’ve dreamed about my wedding since I was a little girl!” Julian cried, stomping his foot.

  “I’m the bride too, dammit!” Xander found himself yelling. Cassius barked, and Xander started to laugh. “And it’s his wedding too! Maybe Cassius has something to say about the flower arrangements, did you ever think of that?”

  Julian opened his mouth to argue and dissolved into giggles, dropping to his knees in front of their dog. “I’m so sorry, Cass. We do want your input. Maybe you can be the tie-breaker?”

  “That’s a brilliant idea, Brat.” Xander actually wondered if he’d be able to find a way to get their dog to do that, but Cass was biased towards Julian, so they might just need to roll a die or play rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock. Xander pulled his future groom back up to his feet and looked into his gorgeous, laughing emerald eyes. “I love you so much, even when I want to strangle you.”

  “Oh, thank goodness. Because that’s going to happen a lot.” Julian grinned and brushed his lips across Xander’s. Xander growled and nipped at his fiancé’s lips. He sighed and nipped back, whispering, “Iceman?”

  “Yes, Brat?” he asked, bracing himself.

  “Baby koala!” Julian leaped into the air and wrapped his legs around Xander’s waist before fusing their lips together.