“Hey guys,” I said to the boys. “Thanks for coming.” Jeremy clung to his dad’s leg. Zachary wasn’t as reluctant, but he still hesitated before walking into the room. “Thanks for bringing the twins.”
“Couldn’t get a sitter,” Amber said. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“My mom is going to love you. She’ll take the kids. Just watch.” I took Zachary by the hand and escorted him to my mother, who was sitting on the couch in conversation with Suhail. “Look who I found,” I said. “This is Zachary.” Jeremy toddled to my side. “And this is Jeremy. Can I leave them with you for a moment?”
“Of course!” my mother said, ready to pinch their cheeks. “Who’s their Mommy and Daddy?”
“Ryan and—” I stopped mid-sentence. “Stacy...” I breathed.
“Ryan and Stacy,” my mom repeated.
“No,” I said automatically. “I meant, um, Ryan and Amber. Excuse me.”
Was I hallucinating? I could have swore that Stacy was standing in my kitchen. But that couldn’t be right. She said she would think about coming, but then she hadn’t called back. That couldn’t be Stacy... and that little head of brown hair couldn’t belong to Charlotte. And that other little girl couldn’t be Evelynn! Just look how big little Evy had gotten... the last time I saw her she only weighed twenty pounds!
“Stacy,” I whispered when I got closer.
“Hi Chris. We showed up.”
“Yeah.” We were both stating the obvious. I blinked and looked at Tim, who was holding the baby. “Hey Tim... look how big she’s gotten.” My voice was reverent. “I haven’t seen her in months.” That line probably made me sound jaded.
Tim shook my hand and I blinked back tears.
The fight was over! We were coming back together! I knew it! I never had any doubts! Never!
I gulped. “We’ve got all kinds of drinks. And gluten-free food. Sorry, it’s still pretty good. I have an ice cream cake because gluten-free desserts take some getting used to.”
I was beginning to babble as the happiness flowed. Mark hovered up to my side and shook hands with Tim. He nodded his head to Stacy who nodded back.
Haha! Look who was right, sucker! Booya, booya, booya.
I shook my booty and bounced it into Mark’s hip, then wiggled my eyebrows when he looked at me. Told ya, told ya, told YA! I grinned like I was so much superior to him—he, the man who had doubted Stacy and I could work through our slight hiccup.
Haha! Wrong! He was so wrong! Dunce. And I never doubted, not once... I swear! I’ll never tell! Sure, I wondered why it was taking longer than expected...
I was positively glowing as I kneeled beside Charlotte and thanked her for coming to my party. I had taken to calling myself ‘Uncle Chris’ while I stayed at their house, but I was much too self-conscious to do it just then. “Do I get a hug and kiss?” Do you remember me?
Charlotte jumped into my arms on command, like a perfectly trained dog. She kissed me sweetly on the cheek and I nearly bawled.
“Thank you,” I said. “We have a few kids in the living room if you want to play. I’m sure we can set up tea time.”
“I love tea time,” Charlotte explained to me with a bossy voice.
“You do? I know just the person that would love to have tea with you.” I looked into the crowd and focused on my mother. I asked Tim if he minded me setting Charlotte up to play. He said he didn’t so I left Tim and Stacy to chat with Mark.
I wanted to be everywhere at once! I wanted to be playing with Charlotte, but also talking to Stacy, but also holding Evelynn. I wanted to be confident enough to sit and have a real conversation with Stacy, but a party wasn’t the best time for one-on-one conversations... especially since it was my party.
I deposited Charlotte in my mother’s care. The twins had abandoned her so she was overjoyed to have another small child to terrorize. She was born to play with grandkids, I swear. She gets so much joy out of it.
I walked towards Stacy and shook out the stiffness in my shoulders. The surprise was out of my system and I was ready to deal with this new variable. I hadn’t expected to see them... maybe ever again.
“Are you doing alright?” Mark asked. “Too many people?”
“Of course not,” I said. “I know everybody here. But it was such a surprise to see Tim. I saw Charlotte first and her long brown hair and I thought, that can’t be Charlotte. If that was Charlotte, then Stacy would be here.” I beamed. Booya, booya, booya!
Stacy smiled uncomfortably. I couldn’t hide my happiness. Usually, I wasn’t emotionally invested in small, daily struggles—if something bad happened, it was just another thing to deal with.
This was different.
This was Stacy we were talking about. She knew my weaknesses and had helped me work through my darkest hours. She was what true friendship was made of.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
“Great,” I replied softly. “Never better. Mark and I are doing fine. It was difficult in the beginning, but he’s never wavered.” I sometimes used little jabs like that in public as if to ask him: Are you wavering now? Are we still solid? Do I have anything to worry about?
“And never will,” Mark assured me, as he was always quick to do. His arm was back around my waist.
“I’m still surprised to see the four of you,” I said, smiling naturally. “And look at Evy...” I put my hand in her personal space and she didn’t scream at me. Tim handed his daughter to me and I carefully comforted her. She was a warm bundle of joy and had that ‘new baby’ smell even though she was over half a year old. She smelled like warmth, and like baby shampoo, and like baby burps. Oh good heavens, I was overjoyed. I swayed from side to side while the adults chatted around me. I rubbed the baby’s back and bounced her up and down.
My heart was full to bursting.
“Did Ryan finally convince you to come?” I asked. “I wasn’t expecting Ryan to show up either. I think his kids are going to destroy our kitchen.” I bumped into Mark’s hip.
“They’re a handful,” Tim said with a laugh. “I’m glad we never had twins. Could you imagine, Stace?”
“We always wanted to have at least two so they could play with each other.”
“I know,” I agreed. “Charlotte is a great big sister. At first she thought the baby was a doll, remember?”
Stacy indulged me. “She still doesn’t understand that you have to be careful around the little one. She says that she has to be careful, but she doesn’t really get what that means.”
“I’m sure you’ve caught her teasing the baby. I know I did a couple times, but that secret stays between me and Charlotte.”
“She talks to the baby all the time,” Stacy agreed.
“I’ll have to show you this video I took while babysitting. I was keeping it to put in a Year One video clip thingy for Evy’s birthday.” I swayed with the baby and held her head to my shoulder even though she was no longer an infant and really just wanted to explore the world.
“I’d love to see it,” Stacy said with a tone that ended the conversation.
“Okay. Thank you for coming. What a great birthday present. Make yourself at home... I sure did.” I winked at Mark.
“Yeah,” Mark said sarcastically. “That’s about how it happened.”
Mark and I walked away, but I still had the baby in my arms.
“You know Stacy probably thinks you’re going to snatch her kid.”
“I don’t care. I love these girls.” I kissed baby Evy on the side of the head. “I am her godfather, after all. And playing with Charlotte...” I choked up, then sighed to vent some of my emotions. “Charlotte and I had a lot of tea times... and that helped me get over you.” Somehow, I managed to eke out that explanation. “I invested a lot of my emotions in these two little girls.” I swayed with the baby.
“I’m glad you have them back.”
I bit my lip. “I know.” Told you, told you, told you! Those two words bounced in my head like my brain was doing
the limbo. Da, da, da, duh, da, DA! Told you, told you, told YOU!
I walked past Marty and Claude as they chatted with my father and Ryan. They wouldn’t want to hold the baby.
I walked past my grandpa as he chatted with Mr. and Mrs. Wolff while Amber watched her twins. They wouldn’t want another baby.
My mom was still wrapped up in Charlotte’s cute make-believe world.
Melanie and Suhail were on the couch together.
Perfect.
“I’ve got a kid,” I said. “Which of you wants her?”
“He does,” Mel said.
“Pass,” Suhail said.
“Come on,” I urged. I looked over my shoulder for Mark’s assistance, but he had abandoned me to talk to his parents and my grandpa. “You two lovebirds are sitting on your own and not involved with my party! This little girl’s name is Evelynn... and she is just the calmest little baby. Aren’t you?” I never used to speak in baby voice, but staying at Tim and Stacy’s for so long had spoiled me. Plus, it was kind of cute to pretend to be a baby like that.
Neither of them wanted the baby. “Aha! Travis and Ashleigh are here,” I called over the couch as they walked in. Then I focused on the task at hand before I could greet them. “Here, take the baby for a minute,” I commanded while lowering Evy into Melanie’s outstretched arms. At the last second I changed course and deposited her in Suhail’s lap. “Mark,” I said. “Where’s your camera?”
“You realize how embarrassing you are?” Suhail asked. “It’s just a baby.”
“Hold still,” I commanded. “I’m getting a picture of this. You two get together now. Smile like you mean it.” I snapped a photo. Then I walked to the door and thanked Travis for coming. Ashleigh got a nice hug.
“Smooth,” Travis said. “You could hand Suhail a million babies and he still won’t be ready to have one of his own.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, like an angel. “I thought they looked cute together.” I glanced back to Suhail, who had already handed Evy off to his girlfriend. He flipped me the bird and I gave him a funny face.
THE PARTY WAS A HUGE success as far as I was concerned. It was also probably the best way to introduce my parents to Mark’s apartment. If we’d had a simple sit-down dinner, my parents would’ve been blinded by the scope of the wealth on display. No one in our family had this kind of money. My family was all blue-collar construction workers, diggers, masons, electricians, linemen, truck drivers, auto workers. I had a cousin or uncle in just about every type of blue-collar job.
I was the only creative professional in the bunch. They all thought I was weird and couldn’t understand where my money came from. They assumed it just grew on trees and that I had all this free time to sit around and do nothing when, in fact, I worked almost all day everyday. I had only relaxed my work schedule when Mark came into my life and disrupted so many of my habits and rituals (but in a good way).
The birthday party, and especially the little kids, distracted my parents from their discomfort and, I hoped, inoculated me from getting uncomfortable questions about Mark’s money. I had previously warned Mark that he was never to tease me about being a kept man, at least not in front of my parents. It was a funny thing to say to each other, but the possibility that my parents might overhear us gave me nightmares.
Mark walked me back to the guest room when we were done eating.
“Are you having a good time?” he asked.
“Duh! Did you see Stacy?” Told you, told you, told YOU! I laughed. “I told you they would come around. Told you, told you, told... YOU!” I danced in front of him.
“You shouldn’t gloat. It’s not becoming.” He grabbed my ass so that his finger was over my hole (which he hadn’t done since we had reconnected). “Actually, it’s hot as fuck. I know just what to do to get back at you.” His finger glided up and over my crack.
I closed my eyes and gasped. It was so unexpected—anything sexual was unexpected from my perspective. “Mark,” I whimpered. My good mood was gone. “Stop.”
He stopped. “I love you,” he said. He touched my shoulders but my entire body was tense and I didn’t want to feel him anymore. Why did he have to do that? “I’m sorry. I upset you.”
“Why the fuck did you do that?” I asked angrily. Because I’m your boyfriend. Because that’s what boyfriends do. Duh, Chris. You’re with a gay man. He’s not going to be celibate forever. “I don’t want that tonight.”
“I wasn’t going to pressure you. I’m not pressuring you!” He was defensive. “But the way you were gloating, I had to wipe that smirk off your face.”
“What’s your gift for me?” I demanded.
“That’s for tonight,” he reminded me.
“No. I don’t want to fool around. Not... just, let’s pretend like we’re...”
“It’s not anything sexual,” he promised, rubbing the sides of my arms.
I didn’t believe him for a second. It better not be your cock! That’s not a present!
“And it’s not anything that cost a lot of money,” he assured me.
“A lot for you or for me?”
“Ten dollars is a lot for you,” he countered.
“Was it more than ten dollars? This party was good enough for me. Stacy and Tim showed up. This has been perfect... I really don’t need anything else.”
“I want to get you stuff,” he explained as I twisted in his arms and stared into his deep blue eyes. I tried to beg silently, but I didn’t have that talent like he did.
“I don’t want a necklace,” I told him. “It will just remind me of the last one and then I’ll remember what I did to the last one.”
“Shh...” He held me close. “Fine, no necklace. But you liked the other one after you got used to it.”
I blushed and cuddled in his arms. “I did. But I’m fine with what I have. All that matters is that I have you.”
“Same,” he added. “Remember what I got you last year?”
“Of course.” I teared up slightly. “That was perfect. It’s still hanging in my bedroom at my parents’ house.”
“Why don’t we move it in here? In your room.”
“My mom isn’t dumb. We don’t have to pretend like we sleep in separate beds.”
“No,” he said while giving me a serious pout. “Why don’t you move in... officially. Like with all your important stuff.” He stared me down. “So this can be your home—”
“This is my home,” I replied, overriding him. “Wherever you are is my home.”
“Yeah, but... just move your stuff, will you? I want to share my place with you and I want you to make it yours. I don’t just want you sleeping in my bed... I want it to be our place.”
“Okay, fine,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I don’t see why this is such a big deal.” I kissed him on the cheek and then pulled away.
“Wait,” Mark said suddenly as I walked to the door.
“What?”
His timing was off and he sounded strange.
“Just... wait a minute,” he implored.
“Are they setting up a surprise for me?” I asked. “You know I hate surprises.”
“You love surprises... as long as you’ve been told in advance.”
“Are they doing something or is there a reason you have me shut in this room? We aren’t having sex.” I set my hands on my hips.
He laughed. “I know we’re not having sex.” He came after me for a slow hug, but I wiggled away. “Will you settle down for a moment? I’ve got something serious to ask.”
“No.”
“No?” he teased.
“No, I don’t want any surprises right now. I’m emotionally fried. Give it to me tomorrow. Better yet, give me a week of gifts instead of one big one. I know you have a big one planned.”
“How did we go from no presents to a present every day for the next week?”
“Make it a month!” I decreed. “And if you don’t know how to take a hint, maybe I should up it to a yea
r.”
“Mmm...” he said thoughtfully. “Will you accept a kiss as payment?” He kissed me.
“I’m easy to please,” I agreed.
“But you sure ain’t easy.” He grabbed my ass.
I grunted, turned around and left him protesting as I returned to the party. I never would’ve guessed that he had a tiny blue box burning a hole in his back pocket... or that I had once again unintentionally thwarted his attempt at a proposal.
THAT NIGHT AFTER EVERYONE was gone, we got to talking about Stacy and why she had finally come around.
“You did what?” I prompted.
“I went over there and gave her an ultimatum. She could either figure out how to work past this or...”
He held me in suspense until I couldn’t take it anymore. “Or what?”
“I let her devious mind come up with the worst punishment possible. That way she—”
“You’re a dunce,” I accused. “Or...” I let his mind come up with the worst comparison possible.
“Or I’m the best husband ever.”
“Oh yeah. You’re my husband alright...” I rolled my eyes, then patted his leg like he was a ‘good boy’. “Thank you for talking to Stacy. It means—” I sighed. “It means the world to me.”
“I would do anything for you,” he promised, reaching for the bedside table. “Speaking of which—”
“Just keep being you,” I interrupted. “I don’t need any gifts. And I certainly don’t need anything else tonight. Just let me sleep in your arms and stuff your mouth with a sock when you snore. I’ll be all good.”
“Just let me—”
“Nope. Give it to me tomorrow. Today was perfect.”
“Just—”
“Nope. Perfect.” I rolled onto my shoulder and bumped my ass into his body. “Don’t ruin it. Goodnight.”
Selling A Boat
THE NEXT TWO WEEKS went by in a bittersweet blur. On one hand, my grandpa was happy to sell his boat; on the other, he was depressed because he no longer had a boat.
My grandpa had bought that Chris-Craft before I was born and had completely rebuilt the engines multiple times. They found the boat rotting on a back lot and bought it for... well, actually, I think my grandpa traded his stack of slate shingles for the rotting mess. The hull had been mostly sound, but everything else, including a few ribs and the front part of the gunnel, were completely rotten. My dad helped him fix everything—it was their third or fourth Chris-Craft rebuild.
The Fiancé (It's Just Us Here Book 6) Page 28