“Tulip’s a pretty girl,” the silly bird squawked.
It only took a few minutes to gather our three, but Tae had to say goodbye to all the cats. All thirty-five of them spread across three bedrooms, not to mention the house cats and Tulip downstairs.
“Sweetheart, you’ll be back to help,” I reminded him.
“I know, but they’ll miss me.”
“I’m sure they will, sweetheart.” How could anyone or anything not miss such a sweet, loving boy?
We got the tiny mewling furballs into their fancy carrier and headed toward the cabins. “I think for today, because we have a lot of work taking place inside our cabin, that it would be best for you to keep them in one room or in the tent.”
“Okay, Daddy. I don’t want them to be scared, or get lost, or hurt.”
“Smart boy.”
When we pulled up, Oscar and Trey came out to help us unload. “Boxes in the back go inside the cabin. It’s the new mattresses, linens and some stuff from home we wanted to keep here.” Plus, a million other things we’d ordered online. Having two homes was hard on the budget.
I helped Tae get him and the kittens situated inside the tent. Had to admit, these furballs were adorable, but came with very tiny, very sharp, claws. Prying them out of your pantlegs proved to be quite a challenge. Once they were settled in and zipped shut, I went inside to help get the rooms set up.
“Whoever created these vacuum sealed mattresses is a genius,” Oscar said as he opened the first one. “So much lighter and easier to move than the bulky ones.”
“True and easier to transport. Crap, I wonder if we should wash the linens before we put them on the beds?”
“We have some detergent, let me grab it,” Trey said as he jogged out of the room.
“Betcha ten bucks we find him in the tent with Tae playing with the kittens,” Oscar laughed. “He’s been talking about them all day.”
“Maybe you guys should adopt one of your own.”
“Maybe.” Oscar didn’t confirm nor deny the ‘they’part of my sentence.
“Oscar,” I pulled the mattress into place while he slid the plastic out from under it. “You do know you can talk to me about anything, right?”
He wadded up the plastic and stuffed it back in the box. “I know, I just. Ugh,” he flopped back onto the mattress. “I know, I do. It’s just hard to think of myself and what I want.”
“Oscar, you’ve taken care of others all your life. When is it your turn? If Trey makes you happy then I say go for it.”
“What will Samian and Tae think? They’ve known Trey forever.”
“They’ll be happy for you. That’s all they’ve ever wanted. Besides, Tae thinks Trey’s a little, and if he is, then that’ll give Tae another friend to play with.”
“I hadn’t thought about it like that. We’ve been, um, we’ve been seeing each other for years.”
“And Trey is okay with being kept as a secret?” Seeing both sides of this didn’t make it any easier, but even I knew that wasn’t cool.
“When you put it like that I sound like an asshole.”
“If you and Trey really care about each other you have nothing to hide, especially not from us. You know our lifestyle. You’re a member of the same club. Samian is an adult with a very levelhead. Hell, he played with the other littles at the wedding. I don’t foresee any issues with either of your brothers, but for the first time in your life, you need to consider you first, and if that includes Trey, then you owe it to him to bring your relationship into the light.”
“Fuck man, you’re right.”
“Do you love him?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Then show him that. He deserves to be seen.” Oscar stormed from the room and right out the front door. “Fuck.” Hopefully I didn’t just end our friendship let alone our business venture. I ran out the door, nearly trampling Oscar in the process. “What the…”
“Look.”
