“That’s hardly an assassination attempt,” Jeremy points out.
“Give it time. He’ll try to trip me before the day is through.”
“He’s checking your reflexes,” Jeremy says and extricates himself from Sergio’s hold to sit upright in bed. Once there, he pulls Gus into his lap and the cat immediately curls into a ball, purring even louder.
“I’ll take your word for that,” Sergio says, trying not to be jealous of the cat. However, since Gus isn’t hissing at him or even giving him his usual cat side eye, Sergio will take that as a win.
Getting out from underneath the covers, Sergio gathers his clothes from the floor. Thankfully, Henry didn’t get more of an eyeful than he needed. Not that Sergio or Jeremy fell asleep fully nude, but Sergio figures seeing your uncle and his new boyfriend—no matter how familiar Henry may already be with said boyfriend—isn’t exactly the best way for a five-year-old to spend their New Year’s morning. Sergio shrugs on his shirt, thendigs in his bag for a clean shirt and a spare pair of sweatpants for Jeremy to put on.
“Here you go,” he says, tossing them onto the bed beside Jeremy.
“Thanks,” Jeremy says as he puts on the shirt then gives Gus one last scratch to the space between his ears before rising to put the pants on. He pulls the drawstring tight to cinch them to fit his slimmer frame. “What do you think Holden made for breakfast today?”
Sergio steps into a pair of sweatpants as well. “My guess, pancakes and bacon. Maybe some sliced fruit as well.”
“That does seem to be his specialty.” Jeremy smiles, steals a kiss, then walks out the door. Gus jumps off the bed and follows behind him before Sergio has a chance to get his feet moving. There is, after all, a part of him that is still amazed he’s finally woken up here on New Year’s Day. He was pinching himself all night after he finally saw the clock move past midnight. He clutched Jeremy at his side for the rest of the party, worried if he let go for even a second, the time gods—or whoever it was that reset his day every day for the last ten months—was going to snatch his future away once again. A future he desperately wants to begin today.
“Wait up!” he yells and runs to catch Jeremy at the stairs. He grabs his hand so they can walk down together.
“Be careful,” Jeremy says on the first step. “I hear there’s a murderous cat around here.”
“He usually tries to murder me in the kitchen,” Sergio explains.
“Ah, more sharp objects. I see his thought process. Though I must admit, the staircase makes for a better explanation of an”—he brings his free hand up to make one air quote—“accident.”
“Well, he is a cat after all. We can’t fault him for not having the best thought-out murder plots.”
“Yeah. That’s my job,” Adrien says from the top of the stairs where he and Daphne have appeared.
“You can’t still be out for my blood after yesterday, can you?” Sergio asks. “I fired you and flew your girlfriend out via private jet to spend the rest of the holidays with you. Surely I’ve earned a reprieve.”
“You’re my brother. I’ll always be trying to murder you.” Adrien sneaks up behind him at the bottom of the stairs and pushes himself and Daphne past. He looks over his shoulder at Sergio. “Lovingly, of course.”
“Of course,” Sergio agrees, laughing and glad to see that after everything, he and Adrien are back to how they should be. Brothers who tease but love each other unquestioningly, no matter what.
“Brothers are so weird,” Jeremy says, shaking his head as they all step into the kitchen where Holden is toiling away at the stove with Henry watching intently from a step stool.
“Aren’t they, though?” Rose agrees, then takes her attention from the coffee she’s pouring to the group as they enter. She starts blindly passing out full mugs, one of which Sergio notices is full of tea instead of coffee, which she hands directly to Jeremy. “Do you have any siblings?” she asks Daphne.
“I have three sisters. All we do is share clothes,” Daphne says with her thick French accent.
“I wish my sister and I were the type of sisters who share clothes,” Rose says with a sigh before she takes a sip of her coffee.
“I guess those are the only sibling options then, huh?” Adrien says thoughtfully. “It’s either murder siblings or clothes sharing siblings.”
“Well, looking at these two,” Rose pauses and gestures at Sergio and Jeremy. “Whatever Sergio may have missed by nothaving a clothes-sharing sibling, he’s making up for now by sharing with Jeremy.”
“Am I ever.” Sergio smirks like the devil and pulls Jeremy into his arms for a quick kiss in front of everyone. He playfully pats Jeremy on the butt when they pull away. “Besides, he does fill them out nicely.”
“You’re disgusting,” Rose says and gestures for everyone to take a seat at the table that she’s already set. As they all sit down, she moves to where Henry is and picks him up from underneath his armpits, swings him around a bit to his glee, then places him in his seat. She goes to the fridge and grabs a bottle of champagne and a pitcher of orange juice, then stops by Holden to give him a kiss on his cheek. He beams. His smile is like sunshine as he grabs a giant, covered serving plate of what he’s been cooking for breakfast and brings it to the table.
“What do you have for us today?” Sergio asks, then takes a sip of his coffee.
“I thought I’d try something new this morning.” He holds the platter out in front of him, then removes the lid with a flourish. “Eggs Benedict!”
Henry pulls a face. “What’s eggs bend-a-dick?”
The whole table bursts out laughing, even Daphne, who tries to hide it by bringing her hand to her mouth. Her eyes crinkle with happiness.
