“It’s okay.” Gage smiled. On the inside, he shook, but there was no reason to be afraid. He’d been a single dad to Bo since Bo had been born—there was no reason he couldn’t take his son to the doctor on his own now that Aaron was back in his life. He was every bit as capable as he’d been when he was alone. “I’ve got it under control. You go in to work on Monday and I’ll take care of everything at home. I’ll call Mal to see what’s going on so I can start to solidify plans.”
If Mal couldn’t come, maybe he could ask Alex. During the day, Alex took care of his daughter, Violet, but unless he had something already planned, his schedule was generally lax. He might be able to swing it.
“No need to call him,” Aaron said. He kissed the top of Gage’s head, waking the butterflies in Gage’s stomach. “He’s already on for Monday night. I’ll just text him and check to see if he’d be available to travel with you and Bo during the day, too.”
“Wait… what?” Gage blinked. He dropped his head back and looked up at Aaron, confused. “He’s going to be here Monday night? Why?”
A playful spark lit in Aaron’s gaze. He winked. “You’re going to have to wait until Monday to find out. I was hoping it would be a surprise, but since it’s out of the bag, I’ll have to trade it in for a little suspense.”
“No way!” If Bo hadn’t been doing his best to dissolve into Gage’s chest and disappear, Gage would have sprung up from where he was sitting. “You can’t tell me something’s going on Monday night, then not tell me what it is!”
“Can’t I?” Aaron winked.
“And where did you get Mal’s number from?” Gage grinned. It had only been a day since Aaron had come back to the States, but he was already going out of his way to prove that Gage was the most important thing in his whole world. “That’s not something you would have had on hand. He’s my dad’s friend, not yours.”
“Let’s just say I have my ways.” Aaron wiggled an eyebrow, then took his leave of the couch, leaving Gage’s heart to race in his wake. “You’re going to want to find something nice to wear on Monday night, by the way. It’s up to you just how nice it is.”
Innuendo lived in Aaron’s words, and Gage ate it up. His racing heart shifted gears, plunging from excitement into arousal. Making sure to be delicate, he lifted Bo from his chest and placed him on the couch. “You can’t just walk away from me!” Gage called, grinning, as Aaron stepped over the baby gate and headed back upstairs. The thrill of young love infused him with energy he hadn’t had a second before and helped do away with some of his heartache over Bo. Young love, Gage was pretty sure, could last forever if they never stopped trying to make each other happy. “I’m going to find you and extract information out of you. I know where you sleep.”
“I guess you’re going to have to find me in bed, then.” Aaron turned once he’d reached the top of the stairs and rested his elbows on the railing. The scorching look in his eyes was rounded out by adoration. As long as Aaron looked at him like that, Gage didn’t have to hear him declare his love—he could read it on Aaron’s face. “But I don’t think you’re going to be able to extract answers from me, no matter how you try. If you’re really good, youmightbe able to extract something else…”
“Oh my god.” Gage covered his face with his hands and sank back onto the couch, finished with the conversation. Behind his palms, he was grinning so wide, his cheeks hurt. “Gross. Bo is right here, you know.”
“What did I say?” Aaron asked with a chuckle. Gage heard the banister creak as he took his weight from it, then heard footsteps down the hall in the direction of their bedroom.
Theirbedroom.
How strange it was to say that.
“I’m going to get in touch with Mal right now,” Aaron said from down the hall. Gage imagined him by the bedroom door, his hand on the doorknob, smirking. On the surface, Aaron was mellow and conducted himself with professionalism, but to his friends—and especially to Gage—he was the best kind of trouble. Gage was glad to see his mischievous side beginning to return. Slowly, life was starting to get back to normal.
Now if only he could get Bo back to normal, life would be perfect. Gage opened his eyes and watched as Bo hesitantly climbed up his legs and draped himself across Gage’s chest.
“You are the sweetest baby koala I’ve ever known, baby boy,” Gage cooed. He wrapped his arms around his son and held him loosely, glowing from all the positive changes that had occurred and that were about to take shape.
Aaron was back, they had a beautiful house to live in, and Bo was going to be better soon. The fairytale Gage had always dreamed he’d live once Aaron returned was already well underway. King and King and Prince. A tale for the ages. To know their happily ever after was still on the way filled Gage with such joy he thought he’d never stop smiling. Only, unlike a fairytale, their story would never end. Monday evening would be the start of something great—with Aaron back in his life, Gage knew to expect nothing less.
15
Gage
On Monday morning, an hour after Aaron had left for work, Bo picked his head up and looked out the street-facing bay window at the far end of the living room. Gage, who’d been busy programming the addresses for the medical offices they needed to visit that day into his phone, looked toward the windows as well. “What’s up, baby boy?”
“Mal,” Bo uttered. He hopped down from the couch and headed for the front door. “It’s Mal!”
A car door shut. Footsteps passed outside the house. Gage picked himself up from the couch and approached the door just in time for the doorbell to ring. There was no peephole on the front door, and no chain door lock to keep him safe, not that Gage had used one for a while—the one on his apartment door had broken three months before Aaron’s return, and his landlord hadn’t bothered to fix it. Still, it was strange to open the door without assuming the worst, even though he knew who was on the other side.
“Mal!” Bo declared. He paced behind Gage impatiently, waiting for him to open the door. “It’s Mal!”
“Let me check to make sure,” Gage said. He squinted through the frosted glass, trying to make sense of the shapes he saw on the other side, then scolded himself for being overly cautious and turned the lock, opening the door. Just as Bo had said, Mal stood on the stoop. He smiled at Gage and fanned his fingers one by one in a playful wave.
“Mal!” Bo gushed. He pushed past Gage and latched onto their guest. “… Hi.”
“Hey, Bo.” Mal’s voice was like gentle sunshine. He scooped Bo up into his arms, his mousy brown hair falling in front of his eyes, then shook his head to clear it away. Bo laughed, then coughed, and wilted onto Mal’s chest. The sight was adorable, but it didn’t stop Gage from wishing that Bo would give his father even a fraction of the same love he gave to Mal. “We’re going to have fun today, aren’t we?”
“Yeah!” Bo exclaimed, although his tone was a little less enthusiastic than it had been before.
“Good stuff.” Mal kept his arms wrapped around Bo, holding him to his hip, while he turned his attention to Gage, meeting his gaze. “Hey. I hope I’m not too late. Traffic this morning was a little more insane than I thought it would be. Are we still going to be on time?”
