by Aiden Bates
I snorted, but Oliver quickly elbowed me. “Your Mami’s name, Mami! It’s good. It’s strong. It has character. It’s a family name. I like it!”
In response, Mami clapped her hands together softly and beamed down at our daughter who now bore her great-grandmother’s name.
Marcos raised an eyebrow at me, and I shrugged. Roughly, that translated to “Really?” and my reply of “Yeah, but Charlie’s gunning for number one in-law now, and it had to be something big to dethrone Oliver. Plus, Charlie is all into comics and stuff, so off-the-beaten-track names are kind of normal to him, anyway.”
It was amazing what could be said in a few gestures.
“Carrie,” Marcos said, tapping his foot against mine discreetly and speaking as quietly as he could so I could hear him but Mami couldn’t. “We’ll get her used to Carrie.”
Over the next hour, Mami told us stories about the original Mami Incarna, Marcos updated us on how the Acosta-Munoz-Thompson “quadruplets” as they’d become known were doing, and Papi quickly calculated that with Juanito, the Quad Squad, and our brand-new twins, there were finally enough players for an Acosta seven-a-side team.
“Soccer?” Charlie guessed.
“Futbol,” corrected every single one of us in angry unison.
After everyone had finished congratulating us, making plans concerning the babies, nostalgically remembering the babies’ namesakes and just making general conversation, Marcos’s omegas started side-eyeing each other. They seemed to get on the same page about something—syncing up as Marcos called it—and then started yawning and complaining that they were tired, and they probably had to go take the Quad Squad off of Bennet’s hands. Charlie seemed to sigh with relief, as he really was having a hard time staying awake, and though Mami didn’t necessarily want to leave, she recognized that Charlie needed his rest.
We hugged, we kissed, Mami looked at the twins one last time before leaving, we mutually promised to visit as soon as we were all recovered from all of this until, finally, finally, they were gone.
“Well, that…went better than I thought,” I said, finding my seat next to Charlie after I was sure everyone was really gone.
“What, the visit?” Charlie asked with a real yawn, not a fake yawn like Mitch and Oliver’s. “Why would it have gone badly? Were you expecting something to go wrong?”
“No, not the visit. Just…everything. We made babies. And there wasn’t a complicated surgery, or someone almost dying. It was just…easy,” I said, shrugging.
“Speak for yourself,” Charlie said as he twisted to look over his shoulder at where the babies still slept in their little cribs. “They are my best work so far, aren’t they?” He looked back at me with that warm, liquid-honey expression he had.
I nodded, unable to hide the smile that was spreading over my lips, too.
“It’s going to be a lot of work,” I said.
“Yep.”
“We’re not going to sleep for a while,” I said.
“Yep.”
“It’ll be a lot of stress. Just when they said to avoid more stress. It’s going to be lots and lots of stress,” I said.
“Yep,” Charlie repeated for the third time. “But we’re not going to be alone. We’re going to be together. We’re going to be together. And we’re going to have all of the Fort Greene family. Your family. My family. Our family. And yes, they’re overbearing, and nosy, and melodramatic, and rough with each other sometimes, but—”
“But, we’ve lent them a hand.” I sighed and prepared to admit what I should have already known. “So it makes sense to let them give us a hand, too. Sometimes.”
Charlie smiled even more broadly and kissed my hand as a reward, which really was all the reward I needed.
“You know, it’s weird,” Charlie said, sounding like he was changing the subject. “I think that oxygen gas mix I took while in labor gave me the weirdest dreams.”
“Mm?” I was too moved and too warmed by the moment to say much else.
“Mm-hmm. I was outside, almost like at the edge of town. Except it wasn’t like the real edge of town, right outside of Fort Greene or anything. I could see Fort Greene, but it was like I was standing in the desert. I just kept thinking of how much I wanted to be home, and how much I loved home and everyone in it and how much I needed to keep moving toward home. I—” Charlie shook his head gently, as if clearing mental fog away. “I think Jason might have been there. It was weird. I dreamt of him all the time right after it happened, but I hadn’t in a while.”
My heart skipped a beat at hearing Charlie talk about his dream, and I think I must have looked like I was having some kind of lapse.
“What? What is it?” Charlie asked with concern.
“Keep walking. It might not be easy, taking those final steps, but you have a job to do, ranger. So, don’t stop until you get there. Not for anything, do you hear me? Keep walking.”
“Are you alright?” Charlie blinked quickly and looked almost ready to press the button that called the nurse over.
“Yeah! Yeah. I’m fine. It wasn’t a lapse… I’m okay. Better than okay, actually.”
“What was that?” Charlie asked, a touch suspiciously.
I smiled and squeezed his hand.
“Nothing. Everything’s perfect. I was just thinking about all the promises I’ve made to everyone I love and all the promises I mean to keep.”
31
Charlie
Putting a first birthday party together was chaos.
Putting it together for two one-year-olds was impossible.
“Where do you want Alverita’s tamales?” Mitch asked, bursting through our door without even knocking.
“Bless you, Mitch, I could kiss you.”
“Wouldn’t be opposed to seeing that, but hardly appropriate fare for a baby birthday party, don’t you think,” Oliver said, coming in right behind with another pot of what promised to be macaroni salad.
There were things you had to accept as you blended cultures together. For us, specifically, one of those things was that Hispanic people saw tamales as significant and therefore wanted them at any sort of once-in-a-lifetime event. Another was that southerners expected at least four types of salad at every single family function. Everyone eventually fell into their assigned salad roles, and heaven help you if you didn’t bring your assigned dish.
“Need I remind you of Mitch’s wine dance at the Quad Squad’s birthday last month?” Oliver and Mitch had gone into labor within a day of each other, and I thought Marcos was going to lose his mind. They were beautiful, and they along with Juanito were more than enough to drive Marcos, Oliver, and Mitch around the bend. And now it was our turn.
Mitch at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed at that, but only slightly.
“That was a gift,” Mitch said. “A gift to the rest of you.”
“Mmm, and you whining and complaining of a headache all the next day, was that our gift?” Marcos asked.
“Impossible. All of you are impossible,” Mitch grumbled.
“You can take the tamales outside, if you want, Mitch. There’s a table set up on the porch.”
After talking to a few publishing outfits, I was able to get “Sirocco” published. It had felt totally invasive to let other people read my brain child, but I was still slightly shocked at the response it had gotten. It had given us enough to buy a small house on the outskirts of Fort Greene with a giant backyard full of old trees that would be perfect for climbing and tree houses one day. Mitch left off in his typical dramatic huff.
“Where’s your caravan of kiddos?” I asked.
“Outside with Pedro,” Oliver replied.
“Pedro’s out there with all five of them? Plus ours? How is it I haven’t heard distress signals yet?” I asked.
“No worries. Silas and Garret are there, so he has reinforcements. And Alverita is there, you know, supervising.”
I chuckled. “Always.”
Eventually, we got all the
food outside. Bennet and Logan came a little later; Logan at first looking unsure about how to blend in, but easing once all the alphas started tripping all over themselves to talk to him. Old habits die hard.
I was distracted for a few minutes, trying to get all the cakes and high chairs and presents where they needed to be when a familiar voice sounded from behind me.
“Well, I never thought I’d see the day when Sarge was in anything lower than business casual. Are those jeans?” Roman asked.
“Roman!” I turned around to give him a big hug before kissing sweet Viola all over her soft cheeks. That must mean…
“Teddy!” I cried.
“Hi, everybody,” Teddy said in greeting before turning to Roman. “Go on. I can tell you want to go say hi to everybody. Between all of us, we’ll watch her.” Roman gave him that same sappy look he’d been giving Teddy for more than a decade now and kissed him before going over to the grill where Logan and Marcos were chatting with Pedro. Viola took off running into the yard as soon as Roman set her down.
“I didn’t know y’all were coming,” I said, giving Teddy a big hug.
“Well, Roman’s contract’s up soon. He’s not reenlisting.”
“Yeah?” I asked. That surprised me a bit. He’d fought so hard to get back into the service.
“No. He only ever did because of Jason, you know.”
I nodded. That did make sense. Roman and Jason had been peas in a pod.
“I think he’s ready to just be home, and I sort of need him to be. Naomi and I are going to start up our own company, and we’re doing it here in Fort Greene.”
“Really! Teddy, that’s great! Oh, that’s going to be amazing for you.”
Teddy blushed, still not used to that much praise even after all this time. “Thanks. Really. So, we figured while we were here, we’d look at some houses.”
We continued talking about all the developments between the two of us, catching up personally what we hadn’t over the phone, when I felt familiar hands come around my waist.
“Angel, I think we’re about ready for the cakes,” Pedro said, kissing the top of my head.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, I figured we might as well get all the photo ops for abuelita out of the way early. That way, if they conk out later, we can keep on eating. You know how Jace gets.”
Jace and Incarna were the light of Pedro’s life. He loved them, loved being with them.
“Alright, you rustle them up and I’ll get this all situated here.”
Teddy watched Pedro leave and smiled. “You know, I wasn’t sure what to make of this when you told me. Don’t get me wrong, your life, your choices. You absolutely deserve some happiness, Charlie. Don’t be mad, but I wasn’t sure I could see it. I think I do now.”
“I know. He just came out of nowhere and—”
“Changed your life?” Silas asked, coming close and handing Teddy and me a drink.
I nodded. “Completely. Like how did he manage that?”
“I wonder the same thing all the time about Roman. It shouldn’t work. It didn’t work first time round. But it does now. Really does,” Teddy said.
“Mmm, do you think we should tell them about that?” Bennet asked, carrying Jace on his hip. Jace was giggling hysterically at the faces Bennet was making at him. “That whole out-of-no-where-perfection-thing?”
“Absolutely not,” Oliver and Mitch said together.
“Agreed. It’d go right to their heads,” Silas remarked.
Pedro came up with most of the alphas in tow, Incarna happily gabbing to her daddy in his arms.
Once everyone was there, we brought out the little cakes for the two of them as Alverita got them settled in their high chairs and took her place front row, dead center to take photos, Dad and Papa on either side of her eager for their own photos. I helped Incarna, and Pedro helped Jace blow out their candles, and then they were turned loose to discover the wonders of buttercream and cake. Incarna went in hands first, icing somehow eventually coming to run through her bangs. Jace held back a little, just watching, until he pressed one hand in and brought it to his mouth to lick. Realizing it was quite good, all bets were off, and by the end we had two very happy, very sugary babies.
Alverita and Papa took them to get them washed up and the rest of us settled on the deck to catch up with one another as the kids played. Eventually, eyelids started drooping and the inevitable fussing began. We saw folks off one at a time, the last to go was Marcos and his crew who piled into their seven-seater SUV with as many leftovers as we could give them.
We snuggled Jace and Incarna into their cribs after their baths, and they fell asleep quickly, no doubt from all the excitement of the day.
“Free by seven-thirty. We should have a birthday party every day,” Pedro said from the kitchen. I joined him and saw that he’d put out some more adult snacks and was pouring two big glasses of wine. I stole a nibble of cheese off the cutting board and gratefully took a glass of the rich red he’d poured.
“Yeah, tell me if you still feel that way after we clean up all this mess tomorrow morning,” I said, waving a hand around the kitchen.
“Oh, we’re not doing it tonight?” Pedro asked.
“Well… Like you said, it’s only seven-thirty. I thought we could…you know.” I could feel the blush on my cheeks.
Pedro chuckled, deep in his throat. “Is that so?” he asked.
“Not if you tease me about it,” I said.
“Mmm, no, angel, I’m pretty sure teasing is a central part of the whole thing.”
“Ugh, you’re terrible.”
“That’s not something you’ve ever said to me before during sex,” Pedro said, coming toward me.
“Better get to changing my mind, then. Which I’m completely on board with by the way.”
“But you know if we do it right away, we’ll just pass out afterward.”
“Ah, the joys of fatherhood.”
“And the thing is. I sort of, you know, miss you.” Pedro gave me a shy smile. “I mean, miss talking to you, you know.”
Pedro was so sweet when he wanted to be. “Come on. How about we take this wine and all those snacks to the couch and catch up. Then afterward you can take me to bed and have your way with me.”
Pedro grinned. “Sounds like the perfect compromise.”
Our lounge mainly contained one big sectional and a huge TV so Pedro could watch sports. The sunroom had all the kids’ toys, so we could keep this room relatively child free, and it was here we generally relaxed whenever we got the time. I sank down onto the couch with a sigh and I tucked myself under Pedro’s arm.
“You know, it’s amazing how far we’ve come in a year.”
“You’re telling me. I was still trying to figure out who the president was.”
I laughed. “Yeah, okay. You win.”
“Thank you,” Pedro replied with nod. “I can’t believe how much things have changed though. If someone had told me this was going to be my life a year ago, I would have told them they were nearly as crazy as I was.”
I gently smacked him in the chest.
Pedro sighed and shook his head slightly. “Alright, I could have told them they nearly had a bad traumatic brain injury as I did. But see? It just doesn’t roll off the tongue near as smoothly.”
“You’re right,” I said. “I wouldn’t have ever dreamed I’d ever be this happy. Not again. I didn’t see how. But here you are. Now, we get to be happily exhausted together.”
“No lie, the other day I met Marcos for lunch at Mami’s, and I think both of us fell asleep over our carnitas.”
I laughed, and then took a sip of my wine. “Talking about how far we’ve come, I’ve been thinking about the next comic. I think it’s time to write about Jason.”
I’d resisted when Pedro had first brought up the idea of writing a comic about Jason. I’d wanted to still keep him to myself, to keep the love I’d shared with him something private, just for me. But that wasn’t really fair
. Jason wasn’t just mine. He belonged to everyone. Jason was a hero. He was a wonderful person, and Pedro, Marcos, Garret, and Roman had known him in a way I never had. Their stories really needed to be told, and it would be interesting to see what they’d would be. It would be an honor to illustrate them.
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
“To Jason,” Pedro said holding up his glass.
“To Jason,” I repeated, clinking my glass to his.
I snuggled into Pedro’s chest. “I’m happy, you know. Really happy. You make me feel that way. I love you.”
Pedro kissed the top of my head. “Uh, I love you, too,” he said. Something was wrong with his tone. He sounded foggy, confused. “But who are you again?”
I sat up and pulled away from him. “What? Pedro?”
Pedro laughed and tugged me to him, kissing the worry out of my mouth.
“I’m joking, angel. I’m joking,” Pedro said. “I may forget where I left my keys—”
“There’s a hook for that.”
“Or where I parked the car—”
“I downloaded you an app for that.”
“Or what day it is—”
“Calendars, Pedro. Jesus,” I said.
Pedro shook his head and cupped my cheek. “But I could never forget you, angel. Never ever.”
I kissed him. Softly, sweetly. “You better not. Now, enough of this. Take me to bed.”
Pedro tugged me up, and as I followed him back to our bedroom, I thought, not for the first time that I was the luckiest person in the world.
“Double lucky.”
Yeah, Jason. Double lucky.
Book 1
Heated Manipulations
Kings Of Fort Greene: Book 1
Aiden Bates
© 2019
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