“Oops.” With a splatter, the half-baked pancake hit the floor, and, in a flash, Maggie was at Hank’s feet, swallowing it down in one go, licking her snout, chewing exaggeratedly. If Hank didn’t know any better, he thought he recognized smugness in her brown eyes, but that would mean giving the pup too much credit. Like her cousin Louis, she was cute as could be, but with a pea-sized brain.
“That wasnotan accident,” Hank squeezed Finn’s right butt cheek warningly.
“So was,” Finn pouted, the tip of his pink tongue appearing between his lips.
“Don’t lie, baby. Bad little boys who lie to their Daddies get spankings; you know that. Doesn’t matter how darn cute they are.” Finn shivered in his arms, his ass flexing in Hank’s solid grasp.
“Uhhh, Maggie May. Daddy woke up a grumpy bear this morning. Didn’t you sleep okay?”
“You know I never sleep well when you ain’t home,” Hank grumbled crankily, pulling Finn’s front flush against his own chest and stomach.
“We can nap later. When are they coming?” Finn placed the final pancake on top of the towering stack and turned off the stove. Hank looked at the large sage-colored ’50s-style wall clock Finn had bought at a junk sale during a trip to Ogallala last spring.
“Any minute now, so you might wanna put on some clothes,” Hank nibbled at Finn’s neck, sucking the skin into his mouth, careful not to leave a mark. Finn automatically rubbed his thighs together, savoring the dull sting from the marks that Hank had refreshed on his inner thighs yesterday morning in the shower.
“Yes, Daddyyyy,” Finn sighed, resembling a puddle of goo in Hank’s arms. “Will you put the napkins on the tray? I already set the table. The ones with the cupcakes.”
“Cupcakes?” Hank huffed.
“Well, yeah. It’s a party, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Now get goin’.” He gave Finn’s left butt cheek a soft pat as he leaned in and pressed a quick kiss against his forehead, breathing in the sugary scent of butter and vanilla. Scampering out of the kitchen, Finn turned around halfway down the hallway and blew Hank a kiss over his shoulder. As soon as he’d disappeared into their bedroom, a succession of loud knocks sounded on the front door. Immediately after, the door swung open, and Louis blasted inside, whirling down the hallway, and vacuuming the kitchen floor for any traces of leftovers.
“Here comes your buddy.” Hank jumped to avoid being swept off his feet by Louis and Maggie, who decided to do a couple’s polka in the middle of the kitchen. It wouldn’t be long before the Rottweiler pup outgrew her Labrador cousin. “Now, get outta here, will ya?” He quickly opened the door to the back and shooed out the dogs.
“You decent?” Colton’s deep bass boomed through the small cabin. Looking around the kitchen, his nephew offered him a broad smile and his left hand, since his other arm was wrapped securely around Gracie, Colton’s three-year-old foster daughter. The little girl had made a habit out of clinging to Colton for the first twenty minutes or so whenever they were out, occasionally peeking out from his shoulder, her head of black curls done neatly into small braids.
“How ya doin’?” Hank smiled back, poking Gracie in the ribs teasingly. “Hey there, Gracie Grump.”
“You’re the grump, Uncle Hank,” she lisped, smiling shyly before she once again buried her face against Colton’s neck.
Right behind them, Henry was chattering eagerly with a teen boy about God knows what. Last week at Tilly’s, they’d had an animated discussion about what had caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. The thirteen-year-old Kesi was Gracie’s older brother, and they’d been living with Henry and Colton for nine months now since their parents died in a car accident. Gracie was too young to remember anything, of course, but the first couple of months had been rough, Kesi battling so much anger over what had happened. However, with Colton’s endless patience and Henry’s sunshine persona, they appeared to be over the worst. They were in the process of trying to adopt the children and their lawyer in Chadron gave them pretty good odds since they were financially independent and married.
“This is new,” Colton spoke, taking in the display of three framed photos adorning the wooden shelf next to the door to the living room. In the middle was a photo from Henry and Colton’s wedding the previous year, the four of them in navy suits, outside Tilly’s, where the intimate wedding had been held. To the left was a photo of Hank and Finn from a visit to Oregon a few months prior when Cara had given birth to her second child, a little baby girl. Fenn was sitting on Finn’s shoulders, theocean behind them, their faces sun-kissed and their hair wild and unruly. The final photo was of Eugene, a rare moment that Hank had caught him unaware, looking out over the creek, deep in thought.
“Looks good,” Henry smiled, his blue eyes blinking a couple of times.
“It does,” Hank nodded, his eyes stinging just a little like they usually did when he thought of that day. It was their last day of untainted happiness. The next day, they’d driven into Chadron, where a biopsy had confirmed their worst fears: that Eugene had pancreatic cancer.
“You’re here!” Finn’s lofty voice drifted towards him. “That’s great timing. The pancakes are ready.” He looked quickly at Hank and mouthedyou okay?Nodding, Hank exhaled, a slow smile spreading across his face. Yeah, he was okay. Now. “Then we’re good to go. I’ll just grab the coffee and what about you guys?” He winked at the children. “You want juice, cocoa, or Scotch?”
“Let’s start with juice,” Henry chuckled as he led the way into the living room, pressing a soft kiss against Colton’s cheek as he passed him. “Kesi, you wanna sit next to me?”
“Sure,” the kid smiled, taking in the colorful table, a large vase of wildflowers in the middle of it, the pale pink tablecloth matching the cotton napkins. “Yum.” He rubbed his hands together, looking at Hank. “You made brunch?”
“Finn did,” Hank said, his chest expanding with pride and happiness as he took in his family.
“Well, I was up anyway.” Finn shrugged, brushing Hank’s fingers with his own.
“Gosh, you must be tired.” Henry shook his head, taking in the plates filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, fruit, and homemade biscuits.
“Nah, it’s okay,” Finn shrugged. “Shi—shoot, I forgot the coffee.” They’d all started paying attention to their language after the kids had become part of the family, though it took a little longer for some to adjust.
“Sit down, baby, and I’ll get it.” Hank squeezed Finn’s shoulder, pushing him down in a chair.
In the kitchen, he poured the coffee on a thermos and put on another pot while he was at it. Grabbing some milk from the fridge, he turned, heading for the living room. As he passed the row of photos, he couldn’t help smiling at how his past, his loss, was no longer something that he hid away, but something that was now a part of his present, too. In many ways, Finn had taught him that. How there was still a place for Eugene and that he deserved to be remembered and not hidden away in a box in the attic.
Reaching out, he trailed his fingers along the glass, tracing the outline of Eugene’s face on the photo. Closing his eyes briefly, he steadied himself, exhaling deeply.
