Tiago
"Can you see them?"Vítor asked.
"No, not yet."
"For goodness’ sake, how long does it take to ask a question?" Vítor's frustration was so cute I had to turn around in his arms and kiss him. It also served as a good distraction. His excited tension disappeared as he melted against me.
"Thanks, Tiago," Mário said from his place under the gazebo, "I was just about to throw an orange at his head."
I gave Mário the thumbs up without needing to stop kissing Vítor, because if I had my way, I'd never stop kissing him.
Mário chuckled and Teresa told him off.
Considering how long the brothers had been apart and how much hurt had been caused by their father, I was surprised at how they'd settled back into their roles of younger and older brother.
In the last two months since Vítor had come back to me and they'd reunited, Vítor had spent a lot of time with his family. It took more than one family dinner to catch up on twenty-eight years, of course. Sometimes I'd join them, others I'd stay at home reconnecting with my own brother.
We'd also spent many nights wrapped around each other with Vítor asking me questions about David and telling me everything he'd learned from his brother.
Despite everything, Mário had been the closest thing to a father figure to David growing up, which was why on the day he was asking Joel to marry him on the beach they used to frequent as children, Mário was the one in charge.
Vítor’s role as his real father was to walk him down the aisle on his wedding day, so he’d been happy to leave his brother to care for the son he raised as his own. Thinking about the day Vítor had told me that David had asked him the question still got to me. Vítor had been beyond happy and proud.
It was a hot afternoon and the cloudless sky was making it almost unbearable, but Mário had managed to source a gazebo to keep all the food for the celebration under the shade, and Joel's family had brought enough umbrellas.
Afonso was helping Mário, and I was so proud of him for playing his part in the celebration and also because he looked comfortable around such a large crowd of people. He'd been working in Pedro's snack bar all summer, and he loved it. Sometimes he came home exhausted, but he'd grown more confident. I'd seen some mail at home for online courses, but he hadn't mentioned anything, so I was waiting for him to come to me and let me know what was on his mind. I wasn't worried, because I knew he would.
"Hey!"
I jumped up from the beach towel where I was sitting against Vítor's chest and ran toward the voice. I hadn't seen Isaac in months, so I only stopped when we were hugging.
"I missed you, man."
"Missed you, too," I said.
I heard two sets of coughs, and we both chuckled as Max pulled Isaac into his chest and I was pulled back into Vítor's.
"Vítor, this is Isaac and his husband, Max. Max, this is my boyfriend, Vítor."
They shook hands and Isaac winked at me and mouthedhot silver fox.
I couldn't agree more.
"So, has he done it yet? We were afraid we were late because someone, cough, Max, was too sleepy after the flight."
"If you hadn't—"
Isaac put his hand on Max's mouth to stop him from ending his thought and then replaced it with his own mouth for a quick kiss.
"I see the honeymoon period isn't over yet," I teased.
"Never," they said at the same time.
I laughed and grabbed Vítor's hand and walked him toward the water.
"Come on, let's go in the water because David and Joel are going to take forever and I've got a hard-on for you."
"I'm not going to give you a hand job in the water in front of the family," he said.
