Theo grinned back. “He is definitely the ‘head of the chefs.’ So good at head. And by ‘head,’ I do not mean BJs because we’re in public.”
“Got a vote on this, only-married-guy-we-know?” Erin drew Carver back in. He might not have been a great firefighter, but he was a teammate having a hard time.
“Hey, I was married!” Theo protested.
“Not anymore. You and Williams gonna fight for the title of ‘Widow-guy’?” Aiden said. “Can I be ‘Too-Committed-Guy?’”
Erin returned the focus to the probie. “Carver, tell us the MetroGen eating and mating rituals.”
“Eating in MetroGen is different. Meet in the breakroom mid-ER-shift to grab a slice of pizza, that’s nothing. Buy them coffee, that’s sleeping together. Cook for them, that’s a declaration of soulmates.”
“Aww, guess we’re soulmates with family-style meals and cooking,” Vanessa cooed.
“Except the captain. Though according to this scale, we slept with him yesterday,” Erin said.
Vanessa sat up straighter when something occurred to her. “Wait, Erin—Han Solo spent two days at your place? You fed him!”
“Umm… yes. We ordered pizza a few times and ate Kevin’s Unbirthday cake.”
Kevin saluted her. “Good riddance to that.”
“Now you’re practically married,” Vanessa laughed.
“I promise feeding them does not make you married or engaged,” Aiden said. He turned to Carver and asked, “What is it like?”
“Being married?” Carver asked in confusion.
“Erin and I are children of divorce. Soto never married. Kevin, Vanessa, and Luna break out in hives when discussing commitment. Nobody else here has a clue.” Aiden rolled his eyes. “Yes, Theo, you were married, but I’m kinda more interested in what it’s like being married to a woman.”
“They shave their legs,” Theo said. “So, Carver, tell the heteros about marriage.”
“I don’t think I’m qualified to give marriage advice, especially not right now.”
“Start simple, Obi-wan. How long have you been married?” Erin said. If Carver wanted to be part of the team, he had to share more than MetroGen fun facts. He rarely talked about his wife, despite the shadow she cast over the ER.
“Ten years.”
“That is nine years and six months longer than my longest relationship in any gender, so out with it.” Vanessa said, apparently trying out her ‘Lieutenant giving a command’ voice.
“Marriage… it sounds boring, but being married is about wanting the same things. Being a team, both of you on the same page. Sacrificing something you want to get closer to the same page because it’s a lot less difficult. Having shared goals.”
“Ahh, no wonder it never works for me. I want sex and have nothing in common with them.” Kevin nodded sagely.
“We were ER doctors, working at the same place. It seemed so easy and natural most of the time…” Carver trailed off, turning red.
“We’re all sorry about that… the IVF thing. You must have wanted a baby a lot,” Erin tried to sympathize.
Carver hesitated, then said, “Yes and no. Manika is the one who REALLY wants a baby. It’s selfish of me, but I kept thinking I had more time. I did a big mission trip a few years ago, which I loved but… you sacrifice stuff. She let me join Cleveland Fire, and I agreed we’d have a kid.”
No one moved. This was not what they had expected out of him.
“Don’t get me wrong; I like kids. I thought we’d get pregnant and that would be the end of it. Turns out, once you reach forty, your eggs shrivel up and die. It’s been ten IVF cycles and still no baby.”
“Ouch,” Theo sympathized. “Leonard and I talked about finding a surrogate at one point.”
“We looked into that. It’s an endless pit, and Manika feels like she’s failing at one of her basic functions as a woman. One ER doc has six kids with three different women.”
“At the same time?” Kevin was impressed.
