Hey. Sorry for the late reply. I was busy helping a friend, and I wasn’t paying attention to my phone. I’d like to see you again. How about you come visit me at my studio? It’s in the same building the exhibition was at… the little room that we got to know each other in, if you remember. Tonight?Seven?
Now, he waited. Laurence was likely at work. As a corporate slave, he toiled away during the day doing whatever it was he did. Alex didn’t expect a reply until after the work day was done, but that didn’t stop him from checking his phone every now and then to see if Laurence hadreplied.
He needed to put an end to what he was feeling before it got any worse. He’d told himself that he’d harden his heart again, hadn’t he? Laurence didn’t deserve his kindness. Alex needed to ruinhim.
“Never grow up, baby,” Alex whispered against the fine hairs on Bo’s head. Gage’s own mini-me. “Life is easier when you don’t have to worry about how the world is going to treatyou.”
“You can say that again,” Gage whispered. His voice crackled from disuse. “Morning,Alex.”
“Good morning,Gage.”
“Is Bo stillasleep?”
“Either that, or he’s become a show-stopping actor overnight.” Alex glanced into Gage’s eyes to find that yesterday’s sorrows had gone. Gage was back to normal. “He cuddled up to me while he was sleeping, and I didn’t want to wake him, so I haven’t been able to move. You might be able to escape without incident. You wanna go find something to eat forbreakfast?”
“Yeah.” Gage rolled out from beneath the covers and stood. Bo remained asleep. “I’ll get some more medicine ready for when he wakes up. If we can keep him calm, maybe he can sleep itoff.”
The rattling noises Bo made didn’t sound like they could be fixed by over-the-counter medicine, but Alex wouldn’t argue. Keeping Bo calm was imperative to his wellbeing. Treating the symptoms wouldn’t fix him, but it would at least let him get somerest.
While Gage busied himself with making breakfast, Alex lounged in bed with Bo and tried to mentally plan his day. He was due back at the studio regardless of whether Laurence showed up or not, but since he’d committed to seven, he’d aim to arrive around two or three—if he could focus, it’d give him enough time to get some work done on his painting. That meant that he’d have the rest of the morning to focus on Gage and Bo, and what he was going to tell his mother when he asked her for money so Gage could take Bo to see thedoctor.
In the kitchen, Gage set a pan on the burner. The clash of metal against metal caused Bo to squirm. He pushed back from Alex, then opened hiseyes.
“Good morning, little man,” Alex said softly. He lifted his arm from Bo to give him space to move around. “Did you sleepwell?”
Bo opened his mouth to reply, but when he drew in a breath to speak, he winced and clutched at the front of his shirt. He made a strangled, pained noise, then buried his head against the pillows and started tocry.
“Hey, now.” Alex set a hand on his back. “No crying, okay? Your dad and I are going to make sure you get all better. Plus, you know what’s awesome about beingsick?”
Bo didn’t look up from the pillows or otherwise acknowledge that he was listening, but Alex knew better. Selective hearing wasreal.
“The best part about being sick is that you get to spend all day watching TV. What are your favorites? We can watch as many of them as you want while your dad does adult stufftoday.”
There would be ice cream, of course, but Alex wouldn’t say that until Bo had already eaten somebreakfast.
“Mmmrr,” Bo mumbled against thepillows.
“What’s that?” Alex slid off the pullout bed and went to root through Gage’s small collection of DVDs. There were some great classics he’d picked up for cheap. “You want to sit in with Blue and Steve for awhile?”
From the corner of his eye, he saw motion from the pullout bed. Bo had pushed himself up into a sitting position, and he watched Alex from where hesat.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling down for someBlue’s Clues. Do you know how long it’s been since I last saw this show? I wasn’t much older than you are rightnow.”
Alex hit the button on the ancient DVD player and opened the tray. He slotted the disc into the hollow space, then pushed the button again. Soon enough, the copyright info popped up on the screen and the ads began. Alex crawled across the floor and hoisted himself onto the pullout bed. Bo, who was staring at the screen, enchanted, scooted over and leaned heavily against Alex’sthigh.
All things considered, he was kind of cute. If Alex was pregnant, maybe having a kid wouldn’t be so bad. He was technically cousins with Gage, so that meant that any offspring of his had to be just as cute. That was definitely how genetics worked. It didn’t matter that Gage was only his cousin through marriage—cute babies ran in thefamily.
Alex threaded his fingers through Bo’s hair and petted him, imagining what the future might be like if he kept the baby. Sleepy mornings on the couch, restless nights, copious amounts of caffeine… it didn’t sound all that different from how he was living life right now. Would it really be sobad?
“Blue,” Bo muttered. He was hoarse. “Blueku.”
“Blue’sClues.”
“Kuu.”
Alex snorted. He lay back on the bed, and Bo draped himself across his thighs, eyes still glued to the screen. When they were through the ads, Alex selected thePlay Allbutton and let the television do thework.
He checked his phone again. This time, a message from Laurence waswaiting.
