by Rowe, Nicki
Gabe's eyes tracked Lorenzo as he made his way through the crowd to where August and Jayson were cuddled up by the drink station and August was rubbing Rex's head. Lorenzo said a few words to them and then grabbed a beer.
“And then I nursed an elephant!” Viola said outrageously.
“You did not nurse an elephant,” Gabe said, turning his attention back to her. “You're full of shit.”
She giggled. “Just seeing if you are paying attention.”
A girl had followed Lorenzo into the party. She beelined for Viola and wrapped her arms around her from behind. The girl was pretty with brown hair, brown eyes and a piercing through her lip.
“Gabe, this is Gigi.” Viola giggled as Gigi whispered something in her ear. “My girlfriend.”
Gabe raised his soda at Gigi in greeting. Not long after that Viola and Gigi disappeared. Gabe saw his mother and Greta talking by the food table, but Gabe avoided them, he had talked to them earlier and did not feel like having another hour long conversation about his life choices. He walked over to where Lorenzo was sitting in the corner by himself.
“You came,” Gabe said, sitting in the chair next to him.
“You asked me to.”
Gabe smirked. He knew he had a certain way of getting people to do what he wanted. All he did was turn the charm up to eleven and wink. He got his way every time.
“I didn't think you actually would,” Gabe said honestly.
“Why?” Lorenzo asked, looking at him out of the corner of his eye.
Gabe shrugged. “Dunno. You just don't seem the type to like parties.”
Gabe looked at Lorenzo's outfit. He was wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and converse. Yep, he was definitely not the type to like parties. If Gabe had to guess he would describe Lorenzo's style as laid back and nerdy. He probably spent his nights at home watching movies and playing video games.
“This isn't really a rager,” Lorenzo said with a laugh. “It's more of a family gathering.”
Gabe shrugged again. “Whatever.” He saw Dustin watching them. He flipped him off. “Did you eat?” He asked Lorenzo.
“You and Dustin are really close, huh?” Lorenzo said, watching them goof off from across the room.
Gabe looked at him and saw him smiling. “Yeah. He's my best friend. When we were eleven he came to live with us. He had a shitty home life. My mom wanted to adopt him, but he had gone to live with his grandma. We have been inseperable since I pulled a bully off of him in second grade. He's like my brother.”
Lorenzo's smile grew bigger. “That's nice that you had that. I never had any siblings.”
“I have two,” Gabe said, chuckling. “You can have one.”
August overheard what Gabe said and bopped him on the back of the head. “Dick.”
“You can have this one,” Gabe said. “He's kind of an asshole, but we love him anyway.”
August smiled down at his brother. Jayson stood behind August, shaking his head at the pair of them. Billy had come up with one of the kid's from daycare named Olivia. She had a thing for eating sand. Her mother was talking to Dot over by the T.V.
“Olivia made a unicorn!” Billy said, showing them a picture of a circle with different colored lines. It definitely did not look like a unicorn.
Billy's speech was getting better. He was forming words he couldn't before, and was forming complete sentences better than he had only a few months ago. He even leanred how to say August's name correctly.
“That's awesome, Liv,” Gabe said leaning over and placing Olivia on his lap. He took the picture from Billy and looked at it with Olivia. “What's his name?”
“Billy!” she said, sticking a finger in her mouth.
They laughed. Billy smiled. They ran off to Billy's room again.
“I can't believe he is going to be five,” Jayson said.
“How do you feel about smushing both Gabe's party and Billy's party together, baby?” August asked with a smile. “What do you say Gabe? You want a dinosaur themed party?”
Gabe and Billy's birthdays fell on the same day. He would be turning twenty-one in two weeks. He told August and his mother that he didn't want a party, but knowing them, they would be planning something.
“Fuck, yeah. Who wouldn't want a dino party?”
Chapter Three
Lorenzo
“Thanks for inviting me,” Lorenzo said.
August and Jayson had gone to get more food, and Lorenzo finally had Gabe to himself again. Surprisingly, he was having fun. He thought he would be miserable, but being in the company of others had made him momentarily forget about Max.
Watching Gabe interact with his family was like watching a comedy where all the characters are lovable, but obnoxious. Lorenzo knew August as a prim and proper man who showed up to work on time, loved hazelnut coffee and had a kind heart, but when he was around Gabe, August riverted back to a boy. He joked around with his brother and even caused his mother to go over to where they were standing to scold him. When Gabe and August were around each other they seemed to forget that they were twenty and twenty-seven; they acted like children. The friendship between Dustin and Gabe was fun to watch. They messed around and called each other names, but there was no denying the love there. August even called Dustin his brother, and Elizabeth called him her son. It showed that the Marks loved Dustin as if he was one of their own.
“I'm really glad you came,” Gabe said.
Lorenzo found that he liked Gabe's brutual honesty. Gabe seemed to say whatever was on his mind, no matter if it offended anyone. Lorenzo found it refreshing, Max had always been trying to lie to Lorenzo and skirt around what he was really trying to say so he wouldn't hurt Lorenzo's feelings. He hated it. Lorenzo may look small and young, but he was tougher than he looked. He had a thick skin. Not a lot of people believed that about him.
“I'm really sorry about what happened with your boyfriend,” Gabe said, swirling the contents of his cup around in his hand.
Lorenzo felt his heart clench. He was beginning to realize that him and Max breaking up was probably for the best. They had their issues, and they fought all the time. Lorenzo had flaws that Max couldn't get over, and Max treated Lorenzo like a child. It was only a matter of time before they broke up, but that didn't mean it hurt any less.
“And I'm sorry for bringing it up.” Gabe looked down at his shoes. “Damn, I really am a dick.”
Lorenzo went to tell him that he didn't think Gabe was a dick, but Jayson was hitting the edge of a knife against a glass to get everyone's attention. Billy was standing with August. They were watching him with smiles; August's smile was confused and Billy's smile was happy.
The buzz of conversation died down.
“Hello,” Jayson said in his Texas drawl. He ran a hand over his beard, and Lorenzo realized he looked nervous. “Thank ya'll for comin'. I planned this party tonight for two reasons: One, I just wanted to have our friends and family gather together to celebrate my Nana's birthday, and two, I wanted to ask the man I love something.”
“Oh, fuck,” Gabe said beside him.
Jayson walked over to August and looked at Billy. “Okay, Billy, tell August what we wanna ask him.”
Billy smiled and turned to August as Jayson got to his knee. August sucked in a gasp, Lorenzo heard Elizabeth gasp from across the room. The room was so quiet, Lorenzo swore he could hear his heart beating.
“Daddy and I love you so very much, August,” Billy said. He was saying the words as if he had practiced them, or as if Jayson had told him what to say. “We want you to be part of our family forever and ever. Will you marry my Daddy?”
August knelt and swept Billy up in a hug. He looked over Billy's shoulder to Jayson. Jayson's eyes were misty and August reached out to cup his cheek.
“Oh, baby,” August said on a whisper. “I love you. Of course I will marry you.”
Lorenzo sucked in a breath, he could feel himself getting misty eyed. He heard Gabe cuss next to him again. The room burst into applause.<
br />
~ ~ ~
The proposal had been sweet, but it made Lorenzo miss Max. He missed having someone to hold him, and he missed waking up to the feeling of an arm draped over him. He had gotten so use to being a 'we', he had forgotten how to be alone.
He returned to his empty apartment, half hoping that Max had returned. The apartment was dark and lonely. He had redecorated since Max left. The couch was now over by the window and the T.V. was on the opposite wall. He had gotten rid of all of the things that reminded him of Max; too bad he couldn't afford to replace all of his furniture. He had removed the pictures from the walls that he and Max had taken together. He had thrown out the jacket that Max had given to Lorenzeo on their third date. His apartment felt empty without the pictures on the walls and the subtle hints of another person anywhere, but at least he still had his movie posters from his teenage years to cover the blank spots on the walls.
He thought seriously about getting a pet; he had loved playing with Rex at Jayson and August's house. He had always wanted a dog, but his abuela never let him have one. He could barely take care of himself. How was he going to look after an animal?
Lorenzo put his hand in his pocket and found a folded up piece of paper. He took it out and saw that some how Gabe had snuck his number into Lorenzo's sweatshirt when he wasn't looking. He felt himself smiling. He shot Gabe a quick text.
Thanks for the party. I'm happy for August.
Lorenzo shucked his sweatshirt and shoes, and took a shower.
When he returned, he found two new texts waiting for him.
I'm not! Now they're going to be even more annoying. Is it possible to go blind from seeing too much of your older brother kissing his boyfriend?
Excuse me...Fiancé.
Lorenzo laughed out loud. He sat on his couch and typed out a reply. He had planned to watch his favorite movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, but talking to Gabe seemed much more entertaining.
I'll get you a seeing eye dog.
They just asked me to take Billy so they could 'celebrate'. GROSS!
Lorenzo laughed again. He was just going to text Gabe back when he got another message from him.
I don't want to be an asshole, but what are you doing Thursday? I want to take you to lunch. Not as a date, but just as friends. I'm in the market for a new best friend, Dustin's being kind of a dick. He won't let Billy and I eat his apples.
I'm free Thursday. Be nice to Dustin. I wouldn't share my apples with you either.
You two need to take a lesson from the kids at the daycare. Sharing is caring. :) I'm going to try to put Billy to bed. I think he is overloaded on sugar. This should be fun.
Lorenzo leaned his head back against the couch. Maybe being friends with Gabriel Marks wasn't a great idea; Lorenzo couldn't deny the obvious attraction to him. But Lorenzo decided he didn't care if it was a great idea or not. He wanted to see Gabe again.
Gabe
Billy was running around the apartment like a roadrunner on speed. He had jumped on Dustin's bed, pulled the cushions out of the couch and had knocked over the books on the coffee table. Finally, he had crashed out in the middle of the hall.
Dustin looked down at him as Gabe scooped him up and set Billy up in his room.
“I'm going to kill your dads when I see them tomorrow,” Gabe said to the sleeping child.
“Fuck. I never thought he would stop,” Dustin said, fixing the couch. “Remind me to never have kids.”
“Did you ever want kids?” Gabe asked, closing the door to his room enough that it left a small crack so he could hear Billy if he needed Gabe throughout the night.
Dustin shrugged. “Someday.”
Gabe looked at his best friend shocked. When he had told Dustin that he was gay all Dustin had said was: 'Me too, asshole. What makes you so fucking special?' Gabe had known his best friend was gay since they were in middle school. August had even helped Dustin come out to his grandmother in high school, but he had never known that Dustin wanted to have kids.
“This is feeling dangerously close to sentimental,” Dustin said. “Quick, call me a name so I know we aren't actually going to talk about our feelings.”
Gabe shoved him. He picked the books up off the floor. They cleaned in silence and then Dustin went to bed. Gabe took the couch. He laid awake, looking up at the ceiling. He wondered if he wanted children in the future. Sure, he worked with kids all day long and he loved them, but he never thought about having a rugrat of his own. Gabe decided in the next minute that yes, with the right guy he would adopt a few kids and love them more than his own father had ever loved him.
~ ~ ~
Since most of the kids were back in school, Danika didn't need the extra help in the mornings. She and Susie handled the infants and toddlers while Gabe worked on his school stuff. He had two classes on campus on Tuesdays, and the rest of his classes were online. He had tried to get all of his classes online so he didn't have to make the hour long trek into the city, but the school didn't offer two of the classes he needed online. He had decided to go for his associate's degree in early childhood education. With an Associate's degree he could have a job at another daycare or even a pre-school. He loved working with Danika, but he made barely enough money to cover his rent—not that he needed the money, but he liked paying for things with money he earned, not money that was given to him by his parents. He needed something more. Something with better pay, stability, and benefits. He could even take the credits he earned at the community college and transfer them to a four year college and go for his full teaching license. It wasn't something he thought he wanted seven months ago, but the more time he spent with the kids, the more he realized he wanted to work with kids as a longterm career. He liked to think he would make a pretty good teacher.
It was going on two when Gabe strolled into work. The elementary kids would be getting out of school soon, and Gabe and Celine had to go pick up those whose parents didn't get off in time to pick them up at school. The school was only a few blocks away so they walked.
Celine was only a year younger than Gabe. She was taking a year off school to 'find herself'. Gabe had done the same thing after high school, but his idea of finding himself included too much booze and a trip to the hospital.
“I heard about August and Jayson's engagement,” Celine gushed. “It's so great that they are finally getting married.”
Gabe rolled his eyes. “What do you mean 'finally'? They've been together for less than a year.”
“Yeah, but they are the talk of the town. This year's hottest couple.”
Gabe felt like he wanted to gag.
“Are you seeing anyone?”
“No,” he replied.
“My boyfriend and I are going to Va Luca's for our three year anniversary,” Celine informed him.
Gabe had to remind himself that he was working and he had to watch what he said. “That's great,” Gabe tried really hard to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. But he failed.
“Right?” Celine said brightly—either she hadn't caught the sarcasm, or she didn't care. “Maybe he'll propose! Jayson and August can't be the only ones getting married.” She laughed.
Luckily they had arrived at the school just as the bell was ringing and Gabe was saved from hearing more about Celine's love life. Kids from grades K through 12 poured out onto the sidewalk. Gabe looked for the usual suspects; the ten kids whose parents didn't get off until later. He counted them as they came forward.
“Uncle Gabe!” Billy came running. Even though Billy was only four he had proved that he was smart enough to start kindergarten early. “We have a class pet and I get to take him home!”
Billy held up a cage with a small gerbil. He was nibbling on something and looking up at Gabe with beady eyes. Gabe squirmed. He hated rats and any small creature that resembled rats.
“What's his name, bud?” Gabe asked, leading the kids back to the daycare center with Celine taking the end of the line.
“Lionel. The class voted on the name!”
Gabe looked down at him and smiled. “Make sure you take good care of Lionel. He's a big responsibility. You don't want to let your classmates down.”
“I know,” Billy said. “I help Daddy and August take care of Rex and Shelby.”
Gabe couldn't argue with that.
The rest of the day meant Gabe spent three and a half long hours chasing kids, changing diapers, and keeping Olivia from eating sand. He had cut up snacks and cleaned up vomit. Finally, at five-thirty when August came to get Billy, Gabe finally went home.
He hadn't heard from Lorenzo all day, and he had asked August about him.
“Just text him,” August had said.
Gabe had wanted to give Lorenzo his space. He knew Lorenzo had just broken up with his boyfriend. He was attracted to Lorenzo, and Gabe didn't want to push him into another relationship/fling. Whatever.
He opened the door and found Dustin fucking som guy on the dining room table. The guy was hot, but not Gabe's type.
“Dude, where we eat?”
Dustin shrugged and continued pounding into the guy. Gabe shook his head and walked right back out of the door.
He walked to the little bakery Jayson owned in the middle of the town square.
The bakery had belonged to Jayson's grandmother, Greta, until recently. She had retired and left her bakery and all of her reciepes to her grandson. Greta's bakery had sort of became the unoffical meeting spot for all the people in town.
The line inside the bakery was short, it was a rare time where Greta's wasn't receiving any special ingredients, so they served their usual cupcakes, lemon bars, brownies, pies and cakes. All still good, but holding none of the novelty of Greta's strawberry tart, her cinnamon buns or her Christmas spice cake.
Jayson was still working. He was closing the shop. He looked exhausted and Gabe wondered how long he had been there. The girl at the counter smiled at him.
“Hey, Gabe. What can I get you?”