by Andria Large
I shake my head. “I was just trying to talk to him, say hello, nothing crazy. He told me not to talk to him then stormed out.”
Ezra sidles up behind me, wraps his arms around my waist, and drops his chin to my shoulder. “He’s obviously still pissed.”
“Obviously,” I scoff.
Ezra gives me a squeeze. “It’s nice having you here when I wake up.”
I grin. “Yeah, I thought the same thing.”
Ezra kisses me on the cheek then lets me go so he can go to the fridge to get out the creamer for me. We both get our coffees then go into the living room to watch some TV. It’s all so normal and easy. I glance over at Ezra as he sips his coffee and laughs at something on TV, and I know that, without a doubt, I am completely in love with him.
+
EZRA
It’s been a few days now since Spencer walked in on Ferris and me messing around on the couch, and he is still refusing to talk to either of us. He’s also been spending a lot of time after school with his friend, Jesse, so he doesn’t have to be home for dinner when I’m here. This shit stops tonight. Ferris is coming over for dinner, and I’m going to force Spencer to sit with us and talk this out. He’s being completely ridiculous.
Ferris walks into the kitchen at around 5:30 pm. He comes over and gives me a soft kiss on the lips. “Hey, babe.”
“Hi, honey,” I tease.
Ferris gives me a crooked grin. “How was your day?”
“Busy, had a couple of walk-ins on top of what was already scheduled. You?”
“Meh, it was pretty uneventful. Do you need help with dinner?”
“No, I’m good. Thank you, though.”
He gives my ass a swat. “Anything for you.”
I chuckle.
He moves to lean his ass against the counter next to where I’m chopping up veggies for a salad. “Has Spencer talked to you at all today?”
“Nope. I’m done with it, though. He’s pouted long enough.”
We talk some more while I continue to make dinner. Then my phone vibrates in my pocket. I wipe my hands off on a towel and pull it out to see who is texting me. I make an aggravated noise when I see it’s Spencer, who is up in his room, texting to tell me he’s going out. I don’t bother texting him back. I just walk out of the kitchen, making it to the front door as he hits the bottom step.
“No, you are not going out. You are going to have dinner with Ferris and me,” I tell him firmly, making sure he understands that he doesn’t have a choice.
He gives me a defiant look before he turns and reaches for the front door. Anger rises swift and hot. I grab him roughly around the top of his arm with one hand and yank him away from the door. He yelps as I drag him toward the kitchen.
“Ow, dad! You’re hurting my arm!” he cries, stumbling as he tries to keep up with my long strides.
Once in the kitchen, I swing him around and shove him down into a chair. “Don’t move,” I bark.
Spencer gives me a dirty look as he rubs his arm. When I turn to go finish making dinner, my gaze connects with Ferris, who is watching everything that’s going on with eyebrows high enough to almost reach his hairline.
“He was going to walk out the door after I told him no!” I tell Ferris, explaining my actions.
Ferris sighs and looks over at Spencer. “Really? Come on, dude.” He murmurs, his disappointment as clear as day.
“Don’t talk to me like you’re my dad, cause you’re not,” Spencer snaps at Ferris.
The hurt that flashes in Ferris’ eyes is what has me losing my shit.
“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?!” I bellow, making both Spencer and Ferris jump. “And who the hell do you think you are, treating us this way?! We’ve done nothing but be supportive of you and love you, and this is the thanks we get?! All because you’re mad that we didn’t tell you that we’re in a relationship?! My god, Spencer, did you ever stop and think for one second that we had our reasons? That just maybe we wanted to protect you from getting hurt in case things between Ferris and me didn’t work out? Did you ever think of that?!”
Spencer’s eyes grow glassy as he shakes his head.
“No, of course not! Instead, you were too busy treating us like shit! I thought this was what you wanted? Didn’t you want me to be with Ferris? Didn’t you want him to be a part of our family?”
Silent tears roll down Spencer’s flushed cheeks as he nods.
“Then start acting like it!”
+
FERRIS
Damn! I’ve never seen Ezra blow up like that. Right now, he’s back to making dinner, but he’s banging around the kitchen, slamming cabinet doors, and tossing stuff noisily into the sink. I’m surprised he hasn’t broken anything yet. I can tell by the bulging jaw and tight thin lips that he’s still fuming. And it’s understandable. Spencer has been acting like a little turd the past few days.
Speaking of Spencer, he is still sitting in the chair that Ezra pushed him into. He is sniffling with his arms crossed over one another on top of the table, his chin resting on his forearms. Wow, shit needs to calm the fuck down in here.
I sidle up next to Ezra. “Hey, is it okay if I take Spencer out back so I can talk to him?” I whisper to him.
Ezra gives me a curt nod. I give his shoulder a squeeze before pushing away from the counter and making my way over to Spencer. Stopping next to him, I drop my hand to his slender shoulder.
“Hey, Bud, come with me?” I say to him.
Spencer sits up straight and glances over his shoulder at his dad. “But, Dad said…”
“Go with Ferris,” Ezra grits out without turning around.
Spencer quickly gets to his feet at his father’s tone. I slip my arm around his shoulders and lead him out the back door where there is a nice-sized deck. I gently shut the door behind us, motioning for Spencer to have a seat at the table that’s out here. He goes and sits down, taking up the same position that he was in at the table inside. I pull out the chair next to him and sit down.
“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner, Spence, but your dad was right when he said we were trying to protect you from getting hurt. How do you think you would have felt if we told you right away, getting your hopes up that this was going to work, and then a couple of weeks later, we decided to break up?”
“It’s only been two months. You guys can still break up,” Spencer mutters.
“There’s always the possibly, yes. But your dad and I are very serious about each other. We are really happy together and can see a future together. We wanted to have that before bringing you into the mix, so you could have the security of knowing that we are planning to be together for a very long time.”
A small smile pulls at Spencer’s lips. “So am I supposed to call you dad now, too?”
I bark out a laugh and give his shoulder a little shove. “Shut up, you little jerk.”
Spencer snickers.
“Now, I think you owe your dad an apology for your behavior these past few days.”
Spencer nods solemnly.
A knock on the full-length, glass, back door startles us. We both look over and see Ezra standing there. He still looks angry, but he motions with his head for us to come in. I give him a nod, and he turns away from the door.
Spencer and I both stand. Before I can turn toward the door, Spencer wraps his arms around my waist. “I’m sorry, Ferris. I’m glad you and my dad are together.”
I wrap my arms around him and press a kiss to the top of his head. “It’s okay, Stretch.”
I catch Ezra watching us through the window of the door as he puts dinner on the table. His features have softened, and the anger has seemed to diminish from his eyes. Good. I hate seeing him so angry and upset, especially when it’s directed at Spencer.
As soon as Spencer and I walk inside, he goes right to his father and hugs him around the waist just as he did with me. “I’m sorry, Dad,” he croaks.
Ezra sets the plate that is in his hand back on
the counter so that he can hug Spencer back. He looks at me over Spencer’s head and mouths a thank you. I give him a small nod and a wink. I take a deep breath and have a seat at the table across from Spencer’s seat, which is adjacent to Ezra’s seat at the head of the table. It’s much more relaxed in here now that the tension has dissipated.
Spencer sits down across from me while Ezra sets a few more bowls down on the table. Looks like it’s make-your-own-salad night. Me likey! There is a big bowl with spring mix lettuce, and then a bunch of smaller bowls filled with everything from cherry tomatoes, diced green peppers, and cucumber, to slices of hard boiled eggs, chickpeas, and pickled beets. When Ezra sits, we all dig in, making our salads to our liking.
“So, Dad…you’re not exactly straight then, right?”
Ezra shakes his head. “Bi, always have been. I just never had the balls to act on my attraction for guys until everything with you went down. Plus, I never expected someone like Ferris to come along.” He shrugs.
“He just couldn’t resist all of this,” I joke, using my hand to gesture in a generalized circle around me.
Spencer snickers while Ezra rolls his eyes and smirks.
Spencer then clears his throat uncomfortably and says, “I kissed Jesse.”
Both of our heads – Ezra’s and mine - shoot up to gawk at him.
“And?!” I prompt excitedly.
I know he’s been crushing on this kid for a while now so I want to know what happened after the kiss.
“He said he liked me and wanted us to be boyfriends,” Spencer says with a bashful smile.
“Haha! Nice!” I cheer and hold up my hand for a high five.
Spencer high fives me before glancing over at Ezra, who is watching us in amusement.
“Just be careful, okay?” Ezra says.
Spencer nods and shoves another forkful of salad into his mouth. I point my fork at him.
“That means if you plan on boinking, make sure you use condoms,” I tell him.
His face turns bright red, while Ezra, on the other hand, bursts out laughing. “Boinking? Who the hell uses that word anymore?”
“Shut up,” I huff and chuck a cherry tomato at his head, which whacks him right in the cheek.
He gives me a dry look. “Really?”
Spencer is cracking up across from me, so I’m having a really hard time keeping a straight face. “What? Did something happen?”
“Jerk,” he mutters and goes back to eating his dinner.
I smile. This is what I had always hoped my family would look like, with plenty of love and laughter to go around. I might not have expected to have this picture of perfection at thirty years old, but I wouldn’t trade it in for anything. I love Ezra and Spencer with my whole heart and soul, and they are everything to me.
Ezra catches me staring at him and gives me a small smile and a questioning look. “What?”
I shake my head. “Nothing. I’m just happy we’re all back to talking to each other.”
Ezra nods. “Me, too.”
“Me, three,” Spencer adds with a shy smile.
Ezra clears his throat and glances at me. “So, Spencer. Ferris and I were talking last night, and we were wondering how you would feel about Ferris moving in here with us?”
Oh, nice move, Ezra! Making it sound like Spencer has a part in the decision. God, he’s awesome at this whole dad thing.
Spencer’s face brightens as he looks back and forth between the two of us. “Really? You guys are really that serious that you want to live together?”
Ezra and I both nod.
“Wow. Yeah, okay, that sounds good to me,” Spencer says with a brilliant grin that has my heart bursting at the seams.
I hook my ankle around Ezra’s under the table, which makes him turn those beautiful crystal blue eyes my way. He smiles his perfect smile, wide enough that those sexy dimples of his show.
“Good, because I can’t wait.” I grin, my eyes never leaving Ezra’s.
“Me, neither,” Ezra replies.
+
EZRA
Life doesn’t get any better than this. We all help clean up the kitchen after dinner, then Spencer asks Ferris to play Xbox with him, and of course, Ferris agrees. So they are sitting on the couch playing some military video game, while I’m sitting on the love seat, reading a book. Ferris and Spencer are making all kinds of noises, shouting commands at each other, telling each other where to go, and so on. Luckily, when I read, I tend to block out the rest of the world, so their antics don’t bother me much. I love that they get along so well; it makes me beyond happy. After about an hour of them playing, Ferris calls a time-out to go to the bathroom.
“Hey, Dad?”
I glance up from my book. “Yeah, Bud?”
“Do Grandmom and Grandpop know about you being bi?”
I set my book down. “They actually just found out the same day you did. They stopped by earlier that day, before you got home. I was talking to them in the kitchen, Ferris walked in, called me babe, and said some other things that they probably didn’t want to hear.”
“What happened?” he asks, his eyes wide.
“Well, Grandmom was pretty okay with it. And Grandpop was not happy and did not approve at all. I don't know if Grandpop will ever be completely okay with it. But they love you, Spencer. You’re not going to lose them forever. We just may need to be patient with Grandpop for a while.”
Spencer nods, thinking about everything I just said. “I was thinking about telling my friends.”
“What about Jesse? Does he want to tell everyone?”
“No. But I won’t tell them about us. I just want them to know that I’m gay. I feel like I’m lying to them by not telling them.” Spencer sighs.
Ferris returns and plops back down next to Spencer. “What are we talking about?”
“Spencer is thinking about telling his friends that he’s gay, but not telling them about his relationship with Jesse, because he’s not ready to come out,” I tell him.
Ferris nods. “Okay.”
“I know I’m going to lose some friends, but I feel like I can’t keep it in any longer,” Spencer says.
“Then you have to do what you have to do,” Ferris murmurs, giving Spencer’s shoulder a squeeze.
“And you know you might get some crap from other kids, right?” I ask.
Spencer nods. “Yeah, I know.”
“Kids might even want to kick the shit out of you for it. Are you sure you’re ready for that?” asks Ferris with a frown.
Spencer pulls in a deep breath and blows it out. “I think so.”
“Another issue is if you tell everyone you’re gay, Jesse is going to get lumped in with you because you two hang out all of the time. Even though he doesn’t want to come out yet, he still might get labeled as gay because you are,” Ferris adds sadly.
Spencer sighs heavily and rakes a hand through his hair. “Dang, I didn’t even think of that. I can’t do that to him.”
“I’m sorry, Spencer. This is the world we live in right now, and even though it’s getting better, kids are still mean and will jump on any reason to pick on other kids. You may want to just wait a little longer; at least until Jesse is ready to come out, too.”
“I agree with Ferris. It’s not just about you now; you have to think of Jesse, too,” I say.
Spencer nods. “Yeah, I understand.”
“Please don’t think we’re telling you to hide who you are, but it needs to be the right time,” I add.
“No, I know that’s not what you’re saying,” Spencer replies softly.
“Talk it over with Jesse and see what he says,” Ferris says.
“Okay.” Spencer nods.
“Do you want to play more Xbox?” Ferris asks.
Spencer grins. “Yeah.”
“Okay, let’s do this!”
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN+
FERRIS
Moving day comes a couple of weeks later. I put my house up for sale, but
I don’t have the patience for it to sell before I move in with Ezra. I pack up my most important stuff, and using Ezra’s Range Rover, we make a few trips bringing my belongings over with the help of Spencer and Jesse. I’m selling the house as is, including furniture, so I’m hoping that someone who wants a shore house for the summer will snatch it up.
Ezra is in a really good mood today, like practically bursting at the seams happy, which makes me ridiculously happy knowing that he is excited for this day to be happening. We’re unloading the last of the boxes from the back of his SUV. I hand a box to Jesse, and then another one to Spencer, before bringing one of the bigger boxes in.
“Why do you have so much stuff? It’s not like you brought any furniture,” Spencer huffs, placing his box down by the bottom of the stairs.
“I’m a clothes whore.” I snicker. “Your dad is in for a rude awakening when I take over most of his closet.”
Spencer and Jesse start cracking up, but when Ezra walks in with the last box, they turn it off and look at him all innocent-like. He gives them a sideways glance as he places his box down just inside the front door.
“What are you two doing?” he asks suspiciously.
“Nothing,” Jesse replies. He’s got big dark blue eyes and he definitely has the innocent, it-wasn’t-me look down pat. The kid is pretty damn cute with his blond hair, bright smile, and dimpled cheeks. He also has a great personality and a sarcastic sense of humor. I can see why Spencer likes him so much.
Ezra narrows his eyes at them before looking at me. “So what else has to go upstairs?”
“The rest of these boxes can go up,” I reply.
So, with the help of the boys, we bring the rest of the boxes up to Ezra’s bedroom. As we all start opening boxes and unpacking what's in them, I can see Ezra looking around like he’s trying to figure something out. I bite back a smile.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m trying to figure out where to build another closet!” He huffs then motions to the mound of my clothes on his king size bed. “Where the hell are all these clothes going to go?!”
Spencer, Jesse, and I all burst out laughing.