Jesus, this guy is unhinged.
“What in the actual fuck is your problem with me? I did my job! Saving that contract was my job!” I growl.
“Yes, and it damn well shouldn’t have been!!” He seethes, “It should have gone to my nephew! My straight, married with two children, pillar of the community nephew. Your kind disgusts me, you take decent jobs from decent people, all because it’s politically correct to have diversity on the staff.” He sneers as he finger quotes the word diversity, “Well, homosexuality is not diverse, it’s down right perverse!”
“H-hmm,” a throat clears behind us, and shocked, both William and I look towards the sound, not realizing someone else had walked into the room.
“Sorry I’m a little late William, but my aide wasn’t feeling well and went home, so I decided to keep this meeting myself. I think that may have been fortuitous. This way, we can also discuss your, shall we say, sudden decision to take an early retirement? Yes, that sounds right, don’t you agree?”
Holy fuck! Roger Chadwick, the long serving and beloved Mayor of Plantain had just heard our whole argument. More importantly, William’s hatred had been exposed, his outburst seemingly torpedoing his own career, and the Mayor looked in no mood to negotiate. I note that as I come to terms with this epic turn of events, William’s face is Casper the fucking homophobic Ghost white, and his mouth is opening and closing like a goldfish out of it’s bowl.
Shifting toward me, Mayor Chadwick holds out his hand for me to shake, his other hand gripping my shoulder. “Thank you for getting the gymnasium project back on track Mr. Harrington, particularly in light of the obstacles it would seem you were unknowingly up against at the time. Your work ethic has been noted and it’s greatly appreciated. You’re an asset to the City of Plantain, Rupert.” He nods his head as if finalizing the pleasantries, “Now, if you would leave us please, I’ll come by your office before I leave the building.”
“Of course, sir. And thank you.”
Closing the door behind me as I leave William’s office, I realize I’m glad the Mayor will be stopping by. Not because I want to rehash all the shit with William, although I know I will have to answer questions at some point, and certainly not to hand him my resignation. Actually, as it turns out, I have a huge favor to ask.
******
Shaking the hand of our newest member of council, a forty-something woman in a bi-racial relationship, wouldn’t that piss William off, I make my way to the side exit leading to the backstage area. I’m half way there when I see Evan coming back from the bar, a glass of iced sparkling water in his hand. I’ve never seen Evan in a suit, and while it looks sexy as hell on him, I can see that he’s counting the hours until he can take it off. My guess is that the jacket and tie won’t make it past the walk to the car when it’s time to leave.
“Evan,” I say, smiling at him and shaking his hand, “How’s Irys feeling? It’s good to see she could make it.”
“Much better, thank fuck. It kills me when I see her sick or in pain,” he says, the relief evident on his face.
As he’s talking I catch sight of Nolan, standing across the room, and my heart moves from its place in my chest, right up into the back of my throat. He’s the picture of masculine perfection, the face of a God and the body of a Viking, but it’s the whole package I’m drawn to.
Stubborn, loyal, passionate, sarcastic, patient, vulnerable… it’s all of these things and many more that light me up from the inside out. He’d texted me this morning letting me know the construction site had reopened, something I’d already known, but I recognized the text for the olive branch that it was. Letting my eyes roam over his face, I’m lost to my memories of his touch, his smell and his taste.
“He’s been pouting.”
Shit. I was talking to Evan and had clearly tuned out.
“Huh?”
Tipping his head slightly in Nolan’s direction, he repeats, “He’s been pouting.”
Not taking my eyes from their caress of Nolan’s face, I announce, “I love him.”
“Figured.” Man of few words, Evan says all that needs to be said.
“He’s mine.” It’s not just a statement it’s a declaration.
“Figured that too.” Evan says, “You doin’ anything about it?”
“Yup. Right fucking now.”
******
I’m so nervous my palms are sweaty and I can’t stand still. I think I’ve walked the same path on the parquetry floor so many times; I’ve made a track.
Hearing the applause settle down, I know that I’m up next. I hear the host do some banter and the crowd laugh at the appropriate times, but I couldn’t tell you a single word he’s said. He then leads into the next award being presented, and he says my name.
When I asked Mayor Chadwick if I could be the one to present Plantain Construction with their Outstanding Achievement Award, I assume he thought that it was because of everything that had happened with the near derailment of the project. That was only part of it. What I was about to do would hopefully show Nolan once and for all, that I was not running scared, and that I was not afraid to be out in the City of Plantain. Mostly, I planned to show him that I was absolutely, one hundred percent, heart-eyes motherfucker for life, in love with him.
Fuck, I hope this works.
Taking the microphone at the podium and adjusting it up to my height, I look out over the faces in the crowd. Despite the room being full of people, my eyes hit exactly the one person’s I’m looking for. Jesus, those Fredrickson’s give good ‘fuck me’ eyes. Piercing blue orbs are staring back at me, intense and full of love, and I feel it from my heart to my cock. Shit, now I’m getting hard. While it’s inconvenient, I’m also a little relieved. I’d thought in the last few days that the miserable appendage had died.
I speak with confidence about the work of Plantain Construction and their contribution to our community. The room feels electrified, full of an energy that pulses against me as I talk; an energy that I know is coming from Nolan. Shifting back slightly, I pause and wait for the applause to quiet down. Leaning back into the microphone, my voice strong and clear I state, “Ladies and Gentlemen, would you please welcome to the stage, from Plantain Construction, Nolan Fredrickson. The love of my life.”
I know the crowd is applauding, and I hear whooping and hollering from somewhere on the PC table - Irys really must be feeling better - but I only have eyes for the man walking up the steps towards me. Thank fuck he’s smiling, brighter than the sun, and I know in my gut that we’re going to be ok. He reaches out his hand to shake mine, as is customary during an awards presentation, but I push it aside.
“Oh fuck that.”
Grabbing him by the back of the neck, I pull him straight into my body, and with my mouth slammed to his; I kiss the ever-loving shit outta him. Finally pulling apart, we just stare at each other, smiling. My hand is still holding the back of Nolan’s head, while the fingers of my other hand brush down along his tie. The tie. He has a hand pressed to the side of my face, so I turn my head into his palm, placing a kiss there.
“You done?” he asks with laughter in his voice.
“Yeah, I’m done.” I reply, “For now.”
“I love you,” he tells me, kissing my lips gently once more.
“I love you too, but you should probably accept your award before we get arrested for fucking in public. I have big plans for that tie.”
EPILOGUE
TWO YEARS LATER
NOLAN
“Will you grab the diaper bag?” I ask Rupert as I unclip the car seat from the back of our new SUV.
“Got it already,” he tells me, standing by the hood of the car.
As we walk up from the street, toward my parent’s house, he puts his hand on my lower back, his long fingers somehow finding their way under my t-shirt, his fingertips resting just inside the waist band of my jeans.
It’s Sunday dinner and this is the first family event Lukas will be attending. He’s only three wee
ks old, and he’s literally the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen. He looks like Rupert, a poof of dark brown hair spikes in a natural mohawk. He’s just starting to open his eyes and I think they’ll be dark like Rupert’s too.
After the awards, the night Rupert proclaimed his love for me, everything fell into place. The Mayor fired the asshat who’d sabotaged the high school plans and Rupert was given a promotion, along with his admin Beth. It relieved me that his work and PC weren’t affected more than that little hiccup due to narrow mindedness, and truthfully it brought Rupert and me closer together. He moved into my place a few months later, and we decided to get married a few months after that. Nothing major, but both in suits on my parent’s property, a short exchange of vows and boom, we were husband and husband. We didn’t take each other’s last names or anything like that, but I gave him a reworked gold band that my grandpa Sven had given my grandma Missy. I on the other hand had gotten a silver band from Rupert, but only wore it to special events, since I didn’t like to wear it at work. The inside of our rings were engraved with the same letters, letters representing words from both our vows: HEMF4L - heart-eyes motherfucker, for life.
The discussion of becoming parents was natural, almost easy, just like everything between me and Rupert had been. We kicked around the idea of adoption, but neither of us fully committed. We wanted a baby, a baby that was genetically ours. One afternoon at Wyatt and Daisy’s she asked us about it and when we told her we were considering a surrogate, she jumped at the idea.
“Are you serious?” I’d questioned.
“Yeah,” she smiled. “Of course. I’ve always wanted to be pregnant, but not a mom…I’d love to do it for you guys, if you’d want me to.”
Rupert and I looked at one another, shocked and about to burst with happiness at the stroke of luck offered before us.
Of course we accepted her offer. But I was concerned about how Wyatt felt. He’d mentioned along with Daisy not really wanting kids, they wanted to travel and he wanted to practice medicine in places untouched with the resources we have in the West.
“I just don’t want you to feel- put out, I guess,” I said as we’d sat on the front porch of our mom and dad’s after one Sunday dinner.
“It’s not putting me out, Nolan. Daisy wants to do this, she’s been so happy since it’s come up and I want her to have this, just as much as I want you and Rupert to have what you want. It makes me proud she can do this for you, brother.”
His words had my heart swelling and the bridge of my nose tingling. Everything felt so right and I couldn’t imagine living any different variation of the life I was in now.
Daisy was artificially inseminated with donor eggs, fertilized with sperm from both Rupert, and me and she was pregnant shortly after. There were four embryos originally, but as the weeks passed, Daisy miscarried and only one remained after the first trimester. I knew it was hard for her and I couldn’t help but blame myself, because she apologized to me repeatedly when the count lessened. She had no idea what an amazing blessing she was providing us, and I don’t think she ever would really understand the gravity of the gift she gave us.
Despite me being the one who worked in construction, Rupert took charge of decorating the nursery and preparing the house for our baby. We happily left planning the shower and all that girly shit to Irys, because, well, she’s Irys. We both took on as much work as we could pre-baby so we could take some time off after he arrived. Which worked for me since Irys had delivered her twin girls, Shine and Missy, and Evan often took time off to be home with his family. By the way, that little Type-A brother of theirs, was finally loosening up a bit, until they’d started teething and drooling uncontrollably and I thought the kid was going to have a stroke. Regardless, he spent a lot of time at our house and prepared us for becoming parents.
The day Daisy went into labor, Rupert and I could barely contain our excitement. She’d opted for a home birth, a hippy birth coach and her mom Skye helping her deliver. Seventeen hours later, and only after I’d thought poor Wyatt was going to pull his hair out at listening to his wife screaming in pain, and our sweet baby boy was born.
His shrill cry echoed through the house, Rupert and I hugging one another tight as we watched him being cleaned off, before both of us held him against our bare chests, We’d read that a newborn needed to bond, and that skin on skin is best. We’d just looked at him, perfect in every way, and I’d known this was what my life was meant to be. It’s funny how everything comes into perspective when you become a parent. How things you used to think were important, suddenly aren’t anymore. All that matters is your child.
Daisy was still pumping breast milk for Lukas and would either come over to drop it off or we’d go to her. I sometimes felt guilty that she’d carried a life for nine months then got nothing in the end to show for it.
“He’s happy being with you and you’re happy with him, that’s my payoff,” she told me.
The love I had for that woman was huge and uncharted. She’d never know how grateful Rupert and I were for her selfless gift.
“You okay?” I ask Rupert, right before we reach the door to enter my parents house.
“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” he says, though I know he’s anything but.
He’s going through an; ‘anyone touches my baby wrong and they die’, phase. At least, I hope it’s a phase.
“They all have experience with kids you know,” I remind him.
“I know,” he shrugs a shoulder, like he’s not going to freak out if he thinks someone’s not supporting the baby’s neck.
Leading the way into the side door, Mowgli comes running up, sniffing the car seat, which I lift higher for him not to reach.
“Ah, the baby is here!” Katie says from the kitchen as she sees us. “Let me get a look,” she says excitedly, and I turn the carrier for her to see our sleeping son. “Oh my God,” she coos, putting her hands to her face.
“Baby time!” Emily says next, coming in and pulling the same ‘aw’ face as Katie.
“Look at him,” Skye says in that way chicks do when they see something adorable.
Setting the car seat on the counter, both women take turns kissing and hugging Rupert and me, asking us how he’s sleeping and how much he eats.
“Hi, handsome,” my mom says entering the kitchen with Shine on her hip.
I kiss her cheek and then poke the two-year-old in the belly. “Hey you.”
She giggles and bats my hand away.
“How are you two holding up?” mom asks, knowing that the baby hasn’t been sleeping well at night.
“Tired,” I say through a long deep sigh.
She pats my back with a sympathetic hand and I can’t imagine doing this six times like her and dad did. But still, I wouldn’t change it. Rocking with your baby at two a.m. just the two of you, the still of the night, sharing a connection, it’s beautiful.
Irys comes in and immediately lifts Lukas from his carrier while he’s still asleep and I glance at Rupert to see if he’s nervous about it. I smile at his over protectiveness and love him even more for it. We all move into the living room, and while I head for the den to see my dad and the guys, Rupert decides to stay, no doubt to quiz the mom’s for info.
Connor’s sitting on my dad’s lap in the recliner, while Nathan, Smokey, Evan and Joey sit in various locations; all watching football.
“But why does it go so slow?” Connor asks.
“I don’t know, bud,” dad tells him.
“The plays just take forever, why can’t they speed it up, just keep playing through?”
“I don’t know, bud.”
I sit down beside Joey and he gives me a chin tip.
“How’s fatherhood going?” Nathan asks.
“Tiring,” I state.
Grunts come from each man.
“You’ll get used to it,” Smokey tells me before sipping from his beer.
It’s silent as we watch the game.
“I got some blueprints in my
truck I want you to look at,” Evan says and I nod.
“When’s your next project?” Joey asks me.
“Not sure, don’t plan on going back for a few more weeks,” I state.
My dad nods and drinks from his beer. “It’s good to be with family right now, no rush.”
“Where’s Wyatt?” I ask openly.
“Coming later, him and Daisy are meeting with a travel agent for that trip overseas for next year,” Evan says.
Things were changing in Plantain, in our families and I knew not everything would be roses, but everything was perfect for now, and that’s all anyone could ask for.
“I left his bottle in the backseat, can you go get it?” Rupert asks from the hallway, a crying Lukas in his arms.
I nod and get up from the couch, retrieving my keys from my pocket.
“Thanks, babe,” he says as I approach.
Since we’re alone and the sight of him holding our baby just does something to me, I cup his cheeks. Being mindful with my elbows not to pin the baby, I kiss my husband’s lips, savoring his flavor, enjoying the sound of the little moan in the back of his throat.
“You look so damn good holding our son,” I state as I pull away.
He bites his lower lip and Lukas begins to fuss and cry and I split away to get the bottle. I never imagined this for my life. To have a partner, to be a dad and a husband. I would change nothing, even the turbulence Rupert and I suffered at the beginning of our relationship. It was all worth it, worth having the man I’ve wanted ever since I can remember.
Later that night, after feeding Lukas and getting him settled in his crib, I make my way into the master suite, looking forward to bed and sleep. But then I see Rupert lying in bed shirtless, with pillows propping him up against the headboard as he looks through papers. His long, toned legs are outstretched and crossed at the ankle. He’s engrossed in his work and doesn’t seem to notice my entrance. Removing my clothes, I watch him, the bedside light casting shadows along the muscles of his toned body. He’s the most stunning man I’ve ever laid eyes on and I just watch him for a long minute, then his eyes flit up to meet mine, a slow grin spreading across his lips. I give him a look that clues him in on my intentions and he begins to remove the papers off the bed as I approach. Crawling along the comforter as I kiss him and straddle his lap. He kisses me deep and slow, our hands caressing and cupping, gripping and snaking along. Pulling back, I look down at him.
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