The Pick Up

by Allison Tempe

  “Do you have to go to school today?” she asked as she finished her second pancake. There were blueberries and syrup smeared on her chin.

  “Not today,” he said. “I’m on summer vacation, like you.”

  “Then will you watch Princess Amazonia with me?”

  Adam was about to respond when he heard a door opening. He turned toward the hall in time to see Kyle’s dad walk through the front door.

  Kyle had all of about thirty sleepy seconds to enjoy the soft sounds of Adam and Caroline chatting in the kitchen before they were followed by the most terrifying thing he had ever heard.

  “Hi, Grandpa!” Caroline’s voice was clear despite Kyle’s closed bedroom door and the floor between them. His dad’s voice was less clear, but its deeper rumble was enough to send Kyle’s heart into overdrive as he tried to teleport from the bed to the kitchen.

  “Mr. Hathaway slept over last night.” Caroline’s words were still distinct, despite the roar of blood in Kyle’s ears.

  “No, no, no.” He frantically struggled to get out of bed. The sheet was wrapped around his ankle, and he nearly banged his head on the dresser as he fumbled for clothes. He barely had his sweats up over his hips before he flung the door open and ran for the stairs like the house was on fire.

  The scene in the kitchen was a perfect mix of domestic bliss and terror. Pancakes and juice on the table, with Caroline and her bunny looking up at her grandfather adoringly, while the older man was looking at Adam with pursed lips, and Adam looking at Kyle with naked fear while he gripped the back of a kitchen chair like he might need it to tame a lion.

  “Dad! Good morning!” Kyle skidded to a breathless halt. Adam’s face was slowly turning bright red.

  “Good morning,” his dad said.

  “Daddy!” Caroline launched herself across the kitchen, and Kyle scooped her up, kissing her until she giggled.

  “Bean! I missed you so much!” He squeezed her tight. Over her head he glanced at Adam, who was still staring at Kyle as if trying to communicate telepathically.

  Kyle hesitated, unsure how to play this. If he stuck to the truth—that it had been too late for Adam to drive home safely—he might be able to let his dad make his own assumptions about where Adam slept. The problem was Kyle didn’t know how long Adam and Caroline had been awake, and how much detail she would fill in if he started blurting out explanations. It was impossible to know how many awkward questions she had asked Adam before Kyle’s dad came home. Some mornings, she only talked about her busy princess’s social calendar. Others, she’d have given Adam the third degree about what he was doing in their house.

  And in Kyle’s bed.

  Oh god.

  “It was too late for Adam to drive home,” he said at the same time Adam said, “I made pancakes.”

  “Pancakes?” Kyle’s father raised an eyebrow. Somehow, in Kyle’s panicked mind, the question almost sounded like an innuendo.

  “Blueberry ones. I helped!” Caroline wiggled back down to the ground and went to finish the last bites on her plate. That left the three men standing in the kitchen.

  “Would you like some?” Adam gestured to the stack at the center of the table. As his dad’s eyes followed the motion, Kyle chose that moment to move. He crossed to Adam, wrapped one arm around his waist, and kissed his temple softly. But despite Kyle’s best attempt at a reassuring squeeze, Adam didn’t seem to be able to tear his eyes away from Kyle’s dad. It was a relief when he grunted and sat at the table, helping himself to a pancake.

  Kyle kissed Adam again. “Sit down. I’ll handle this,” he whispered, as he placed one hand on the small of Adam’s back and led him to the table. Not that Kyle had a plan, but that was working for him again these days, so he was going to go with it.

  Adam blinked rapidly as he sat down, with Caroline on one side and Kyle’s dad on the other, leaving Kyle to sit on the far side of the table. He tried to give Adam a supportive smile, but stopped when he caught his father looking between them.

  “Can you pass the syrup please?” Kyle asked. Adam nearly knocked the bottle over as he lurched forward to hand it across the table.

  “Did you have a good trip?” His dad stabbed at his pancake with his fork, maybe more aggressively than necessary.

  “It was okay. I missed you all an awful lot though.” He tugged at a strand of Caroline’s hair, making her giggle. “I even missed Mr. Hathaway.”

  “Is that why you had a sleepover?” Caroline asked. Kyle’s father and Adam made simultaneous strangled noises, but Kyle kept his attention focused on his daughter. He had earned no Dad Points by leaving Adam to fend for himself with her. He’d make it up to Adam later. Privately. First thing though was to get on Caroline’s good side again.

  “That is exactly right, Bean. I missed him, and it was too late for him to drive home safely.” Kyle directed this last part pointedly at his dad, in case he felt like raising any objections. “In fact, I think we might see a lot of Mr. Hathaway this summer. What do you think of that?”

  Caroline eyed Adam with diligent six-year-old scrutiny.

  “I don’t have to do any homework,” she told him. “There’s no homework in the summer.”

  “No homework.” Adam’s face relaxed into a wide grin. “I promise. After all, I’m not your teacher anymore.”

  The finality in Adam’s voice might have been directed at Kyle’s dad a little bit too.

  “Caroline,” the older man said, apparently unwilling to be put off. “Can you wash your face and hands, and go pick out some clothes for today while I talk to your dad and Mr. Hathaway please?”

  Well, there went Kyle’s human shield. He risked a glance at Adam, who was watching him just as nervously.

  “Someone should go with her,” Kyle said. “She’s going to leave maple syrup on everything she touches between here and the bathroom.”

  “You can clean it up later.” His father crossed his arms over his chest.

  Oh, this was going to be bad.

  “Dad, I can—”

  “Let’s make this quick, because I spent thirty-six hours taking care of my granddaughter, followed by ten hours with Uncle Harry, waiting to see a doctor about a heart attack that turned out to be constipation. I am out of patience for any more shenanigans, so here’s how it’s going to work: I’m going to ask questions, and you—” he gestured between Kyle and Adam “—are going to answer them in short sentences. Understood?”

  Kyle shrugged a tiny shrug, before he and Adam both murmured agreement.

  “How was Richmond?”

  “Good. But, Dad—”

  His father waved him off. “Did they offer you a job?”

  “No. But the conference center did. I’m starting in three weeks.”

  His dad smiled at that, before he seemed to remember he was supposed to be mad about the whole situation. “So you’re going to be staying in town, then? With Caroline?”

  “For the extended foreseeable future, yes.”

  “Are you part of the package now too?” Kyle’s father turned to Adam, who sat up straighter in his chair.

  “I . . . I’d like to be. Yes.”

  Kyle bit his lip and winked at Adam, then blushed when he caught his dad watching again.

  “Should we be expecting you to make us breakfast on a regular basis?”

  Now it was Adam’s turn to blush. “Oh. Well . . . I wouldn’t assume . . . That is, last night was . . .”

  “He’s not much of a catch, you know.” His dad jerked his thumb toward Kyle.

  “Hey!” Kyle said, but Adam’s eyes sparkled as he bit back a laugh.

  “He talks a lot, if that’s what you mean,” Adam said.

  Kyle’s dad leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know where he gets it from. Must be his mother’s side of the family. And he’s completely uncoordinated. He could trip over his own feet in an empty room.”

  “I’m right here!” Kyle said.

  “Oh, I’ve known that since the second time we met. Yo
u should see him try to play basketball.” Adam shuddered.

  “And don’t get me started on the cooking. Sometimes a man wants a pork chop. You have to think about the sort of home he’s going to make.”

  “Oh my god, Dad.” Kyle mashed his hands into his eyes. “Are you going to negotiate my dowry next?”

  Adam was laughing in earnest, and Kyle’s dad’s shoulders were shaking.

  “I can offer you two goldfish or one hamster, on the condition we tell Caroline they’re for her as pets.” Adam wiped at his eyes with the back of his knuckles.

  Kyle made an indignant sound. “I am totally worth a German shepherd! Or one of those hypoallergenic hairless cats!”

  Adam’s laughter reached a howl, while Kyle’s dad smacked a palm on the kitchen table, making the cutlery rattle against the plates with his amusement.

  Kyle crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. “You two are terrible. One of you should be sticking up for me right now. Excuse me while I go check on my daughter.” He stood up from the table.

  His father held out a hand. “Wait. I have one more question.”

  Kyle eyed him and then sat back down. “Ask.”

  “Do you love my son?” His dad asked Adam.

  Kyle’s breath caught in his throat, catching the screeching protest that tried to make its way out, which was the only reason Adam had time to go still and nod.

  “Yes.” His eyes were shining. “I think I do.”

  “And my granddaughter?”

  “You said one more question,” Kyle said, but his dad held up a finger to make him wait.

  “It’s kind of hard not to,” Adam said.

  Kyle’s dad grinned and turned toward Kyle. “You love him too?”

  He sighed and smiled. “Yeah, Dad. I do.”

  Adam grinned at him, and Kyle wanted to wrap his arms around him and say all the things he’d been too tired to think of the night before.

  His father laughed softly. “Rebecca said you two deserved each other. Can you hold off on the impromptu sleepovers for now? Until Caroline and I get used to the idea?”

  “Sure, Dad.” Kyle didn’t take his eyes off Adam. There was a perfectly comfortable bed at Adam’s place. They’d simply have to work on their timing a little.

  His father grunted and pushed away from the table. He held out his hand for Adam to shake.

  “Welcome to the family, Mr. Hathaway.”

  “Kyle.”

  Kyle woke up suddenly. His face was smushed against Adam’s shoulder.

  “Is it over?” He smacked his lips. There was a popcorn kernel stuck in his gums.

  “It’s over,” Adam said. The TV screen was dark. Caroline was curled up on Kyle’s other side, dead asleep. He ran his fingers through her hair, then shifted so he could see across Adam’s chest to check on his dad, who was dozing in his recliner.

  “Well, I don’t think Astronaut Kate was a winner,” Kyle said.

  Movie night had been his dad’s suggestion. After Adam’s unplanned sleepover, the first few days had been awkward. Kyle and Adam had been on their very best behavior anytime they were both at the house, until Kyle’s dad had finally told them to knock it off.

  “We’ll never get to know each other if you don’t relax,” he’d said to Adam.

  Unofficially, almost any night in their house could be considered movie night. Princess Amazonia should practically be paying rent she appeared so frequently. But they’d decided that Saturday night would formally be the night they would all get together and watch a family-friendly movie.

  The plan was good, except apparently Adam hadn’t realized how all Amazonia, all the time the movie situation was at their house. He’d watched Caroline’s favorite movie without complaint the first week, and had only raised his eyebrows in surprise when they had put it on again the second week. When Kyle had gone to put the movie on for a third time, as Caroline had danced around the den in her purple dress, Adam had put his foot down.

  “Don’t you guys watch anything else?”

  The truth was, before, it had really only been Caroline who’d watched the movie. Kyle’s father had dozed in a chair, and Kyle had spent most of Amazonia’s adventures wandering the internet on his phone.

  They’d tested other options. They’d tried a classic that Kyle’s dad had picked. Caroline was so upset at Amazonia’s sudden demotion that she’d been hanging upside down off the couch before the opening credits were over, and had hummed so loudly that she’d drowned out the soundtrack. Amazonia had returned for another night. Kyle had distracted Adam with dirty text messages sent from one side of the couch to the other. Adam had practically dragged Kyle back to his place once the movie was over to make good on their texted promises.

  They’d tried a movie about jungle cats. Kyle had hoped the similar setting would distract Caroline long enough to get her invested before she realized the bait and switch. His clever plan was foiled though, when the supposedly G-rated movie had proved so terrifying that Caroline had refused to sleep in her own bed. Adam had gone home, alone.

  Astronaut Kate and the Lost Martians was the latest offering, but it didn’t seem likely the plucky heroine would be making a repeat performance anytime soon.

  “Did Astronaut Kate make it into space again?” Kyle hadn’t meant to fall asleep. It was the first week of school, and Adam had been scarce, after a whole summer of being around as much as he could. Kyle missed him more than he expected to, so he’d curled up against him, as Astronaut Kate and her crew crash landed on a strange planet.

  “She did,” Adam said. “And they met a race of peace-loving aliens who taught them important lessons about tolerance and inclusion in the process.”

  Kyle yawned. “That’s nice.”

  “Your family was obviously entranced.” Adam lifted his arm, and Kyle settled against him. He pulled Adam close.

  “They could be your family too.” Nerves caught up with him after the second syllable. He turned his face until it was buried in the soft cotton of Adam’s T-shirt, and wondered if he could hear Adam’s heart skip a beat from here. Were his fingers pressing a little tighter into Kyle’s side?

  “What?”

  Kyle took a breath and opened his mouth to repeat himself, but then his dad let out a half snort, half snore from the recliner. The moment was gone.

  “I’m going to put the Bean to bed,” Kyle said.

  They shuffled and stretched as they stood. Kyle scooped Caroline up and headed to the stairs, with Adam following. She protested sleepily that she wasn’t tired.

  “Let’s just go lie down and see what happens, okay, Bean?” He bumped Adam with his shoulder. “Poke my dad, will you?”

  Adam put a hand on Kyle’s father’s shoulder as they passed, making him startle awake. “What did I miss?”

  “Astronaut Kate fixed the spaceship, and they all got to go home,” Adam said.

  “I want to be an astronaut.” Caroline rubbed at her eyes.

  “I thought you were a princess.” Adam tweaked her nose, making her laugh.

  “Can I be both?”

  His father was waiting near the front door, as Kyle came back downstairs.

  “You haven’t told him,” his dad said.

  Kyle froze. “I will.”

  “If you need another month, I can call the bank.”

  “No, you don’t have to do that.” Kyle put a hand on his dad’s shoulder. “I just haven’t figured out what to say.”

  His father snorted. “That’s never been your problem.”

  Kyle slapped a hand over his heart. “Ouch, Dad. That stings.”

  “I doubt that. I’m going to work. Think about if there’s anything important you want to talk about with that man in there. It was too quiet without him around this week, though I don’t know how that’s possible with you and Caroline here.”

  Adam was sitting on the couch when Kyle returned. They curled up together and stared at the TV as Adam flipped through channels. After they finally settled on a base
ball game, Kyle turned and kissed Adam’s chest through his shirt.

  “Missed you this week,” he said.

  “Welcome to the new normal.” Adam squeezed him. “The honeymoon had to end sometime.”

  Kyle made a noise of protest. He didn’t want it to be over. They needed more time together, not less.

  “I found a place for me and Caroline to live,” he said.

  “You did? Where?”

  Kyle straightened so Adam could see his face. “Not too far from here, actually. It will be easier if we’re still nearby. It’s a nice neighborhood, and the schools are good.” He smirked, and Adam laughed before he pulled Kyle close to kiss him.

  “Does it have princess sheets for Caroline?”

  “I’ll have to provide those myself. But it’s nice. Three bedrooms. Eat-in kitchen.” Kyle yawned and stretched. “Spacious family room.”

  “That’s bigger than you were looking for.”

  “You’re so practical.”

  “When do you move?”

  “I don’t.”

  “What?”

  Kyle flopped back onto the couch and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. “Oh my god, Adam. Maybe you should have taken a nap with the rest of us instead of worrying about Astronaut Kate. You’re a bit slow tonight, aren’t you?”

  “I don’t understand.” Adam’s dark brows knitted over his eyes and Kyle had to laugh.

  “Here! Idiot. I’m talking about here.”

  Adam did a double take. “What? You’re staying here? In this house?”

  “Yup.” Kyle smiled. “Dad and I talked about it. It’s the solution that makes the most sense.”

  “But you—” Adam started, but Kyle leaned in before he could drown in his own confusion and kissed him. He took his time. No matter how often they were together, Kyle never got tired of kissing Mr. Hathaway.

  “Move in with us,” he said against Adam’s mouth. With his eyes closed, and hardly any space between them, it wasn’t nearly as scary to ask as he’d expected.

  “What?”

  “Here. This house. Move in with us.”