GlitterDoctor: Pretty sure that spell’s not supposed to conjure a baby into existence
xVerity: You would think that, but it’s actually a surprisingly common occurrence.
xVerity: Might’ve also been a mispronunciation, which wouldn’t surprise me, since Knot had been casting the spell wrong before. It’s important to enunciate. Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo can very easily be misconstrued by the universe as bibbidi-bobaby-boo.
TeenDad2: Which is how Bo got his name
The joke was so on the nose and unlike TD that Damien almost burst out laughing. He clamped his mouth shut to keep from making a sound—no doubt the same jerk chopping onions down the hall would report him to Whitcroft if he so much as snickered. Tension was already too high in the office. Damien didn’t want to poke the bear. Until he had all his ducks in a row, messing with something that could claw his face off was a very bad idea. For his plan to work, he’d need to stay employed for several more months.
After that, it was open season.
KnotMyProblem: I legitimately almost died laughing
KnotMyProblem: But now that you’re here, are you doing okay, TD? I’m sorry that I was the biggest dickwad in the galaxy at your wedding
xVerity: Not the universe?
A smile cracked Damien’s face. Nostalgia gripped him.
KnotMyProblem: Nope. Somewhere out there is a big blue alien dickwad who’s an even bigger asshole than me
TeenDad2: I’m fine. I was bummed that you weren’t there and that we couldn’t celebrate as a group, but I understand that life happens sometimes. I had a good time anyway
It was hard to tell if TD was telling the truth, but Damien chose to take his word at face value. If there was ever a time to air grievances, now was it. The ball was in TD’s court.
KnotMyProblem: All it means is that someday soon we’ll have to get together to make up for it
TeenDad2: Uh, yeah!!
TeenDad2: If you and Matthew are together, that means you’ll be coming back to Aurora more regularly, right?
KnotMyProblem: That’s the plan
Eventually. It was going to take some finagling, but he’d get there.
Gwynning: I hope so
It was a small gesture on Gwynn’s behalf, but it still made Damien smile.
The Single Dads would recover. Their bruised friendship would heal. Damien would keep communication open and learn from his mistakes. In time, life would return to normal. Until then, for his friends, his lover, and his growing family, Damien would strive to be a better man.
36
Matthew
“Daddy,Daddy,look!” Emily planted her hands on the tiny window by her seat, fingers spread lizard-style. “Look, houses!”
Matthew looked between her fingers at what lay beyond the window. Their plane had broken through the cloud barrier on its descent into New York City.
“Some of them are houses,” Matthew agreed. “Some of them are businesses, just like the ones you see when we go downtown. Do you remember those?”
“Yes!” Emily was far more excited about capitalism than a four-year-old had any right to be. “They’re so tiny.”
“We’re up really high, so they look small.”
“I could squish them all,” Emily declared. She unstuck her hands from the window to mash her thumb against the glass. “Grr!Squiishhh.”
The elderly lady sitting in the row behind them chuckled.
