“How dare you.”
He tried to cower in to protect himself, and Penelope cursed, striking her hand against something hard in one of the bags.
“That’s what you get,” he told her with a laugh.
She jerked open the handle on the front door of their parents’ house and he pushed her out of the way. She yelled at him as she tumbled into the door frame, and he gave her a victorious smirk before entering the house.
It already smelled like home to him, like the lingering flavors of the coffee his mama had made in the morning and a little bit like fresh fruit and island air. Familiar sounds filled his ears as he stepped into the kitchen, setting the bags down on the counter. Penelope joined him and began emptying them, lining everything up on the counter for Aeliana to have her way with.
“He’ll never admit to it,” Aeliana said loudly from the living room.
“Admit to what?” he hollered
“That you used to wear your sister’s dresses to school.”
Leonidas’s breath caught in his throat and he dropped a loaf of bread onto the counter.
“You’re early,” he croaked, pushing his way past Penelope and heading into the living room.
Sure enough, Andy was there, sitting on the couch with his mama on one side and his nephew swaddled in his arms. Andy looked up at him, eyes like clouds, and he smiled.
“I’m early,” Andy confirmed. “But your family has made me feel quite at home.”
Aeliana stood, using Alexandros’s leg to push herself up, and she walked around the table and scooped Yiorgos out of Andy’s arms.
“There you go,” she said, turning to him, “I like him, by the way.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he said, closing the space between them and hauling Andy into his arms. Andy smelled like oranges, like sweat, and he had Leonidas’s beanie pulled low on his forehead, covering most of his hair.
“Hi,” Andy whispered, looking up with a soft and tired smile.
“Hey.” Leonidas cupped Andy’s face in his hands. “You’re here.”
“I’m here,” he said, dusting a chaste kiss against Leonidas’s shocked mouth. “And I do believe that you used to try and wear your sisters’ dresses to school.”
Leonidas smiled and kissed him back. “They were so pretty.”
Aeliana laughed and sat back down beside her husband.
His mama patted the couch beside where she sat and Leonidas went to her, kissing her cheek before sitting down. Andy came with him, easing back down onto the couch and resting his hand on Leonidas’s thigh.
“Andy was just telling us how you’ve become quite the cook since you’ve been in America,” his mama said, with a proud smile.
Leonidas’s body flushed with embarrassment and arousal, well aware of the few times he had cooked for Andy and what those moments between them had entailed. He looked at Andy, who stared back at him with a placid and calm stare, not at all betraying the intimacy that those memories held for them both.
“Here and there,” he rasped, and Andy’s mouth twitched into a smile.
“Here and there,” Andy agreed, casting his eyes downward.
“Anyway,” Aeliana said, handing Yiorgos off to their mama. “I’m going to go see how badly the two of them did at the grocery store and get started on lunch.”
“We used your list,” Penelope sassed, looking proud.
“We’ll see.” Aeliana rolled her eyes and took Alexandros into the kitchen with her.
“You didn’t tell me you were going to be early,” Leonidas whispered to Andy. “I would have come to get you.”
“I wanted to surprise you.” Andy smiled. “My flights were early the whole trip and I was able to get an earlier one from Paris to here.”
