One of the taller of the three boys was carrying a box of cereal and I smiled when I recognized what it was.
“Here, Aleks,” the boy said as he shoved the cereal at him. “Pop-pop says you like Trix.”
“Thanks, Matty,” Aleks said as he leaned down to hug the little boy. I saw two men come through the door and I could see the tell-tale sign of a gun at the larger man’s back when he shut the door behind him. I didn’t recognize him, but I knew who he was just the same.
“Matty’s fathers,” Aleks whispered to me. “Hawke,” he nodded at the bigger man with the gun. “And Tate.”
“Hi,” Tate said as he reached out to shake my hand. “You must be Vaughn.”
“I am,” I said. I shook his hand, then Hawke’s, then looked at the three boys who were all watching me with curiosity.
“You’ve got lots of hair on your face,” the boy in the middle said. He was as tall as Matty but had black hair, whereas Matty’s was brown.
“And you have no pants,” I said. “You must be Leo.”
The kid looked down at his underwear that had some kind of superhero I didn’t recognize on it. “We had to get here fast because Pop-pop said Aleks was hungry,” Leo said as he eyed me like his comment should make perfect sense to me.
I chuckled and said, “Got it.” I looked at Matty. “So, you’re Matty. That must make you” – I looked at the smallest boy who looked like he was a couple years younger than the other boys – “Jamie.”
Jamie nodded but remained silent.
“Guys, this is Vaughn,” Aleks said.
“Is he your boyfriend?” Matty asked.
“No—” Dante said.
“Yes—” I responded at the same exact time, not bothering to look at Dante.
“Matty,” Magnus called. “Guess what MawMaw and I are doing today.”
Leo suddenly whispered something into Matty’s ear. Matty nodded and spouted, “Cleaning the bathroom again?”
Aleks, Hawke, Tate, and I all burst into laughter as we looked at the two men on the other side of the kitchen island.
Magnus looked at a flushed-looking Dante. “I guess our secret’s out, babe.”
“Jesus,” Dante muttered, then he went around the island and knelt down in front of Matty and his little friends. “No, your Pop-pop and I are getting married.”
“Can we throw your flowers?” Leo asked excitedly.
“Oh, well, we don’t actually have any flowers,” Dante said as he looked around the room.
“We can use this, MawMaw,” Matty said as he grabbed the box of cereal.
“Sounds like a plan,” Magnus said. “But Leo, buddy, you’re gonna need to wear pants for the wedding. Isn’t that your dads’ rule?”
Leo’s face fell, but Matty grabbed his arm. “I’ve got my CaptainAmerica pajamas here!” he exclaimed and then all three boys were off like a shot.
“Hey, this cereal doesn’t have any fruit and flower shapes,” Aleks said as he studied the bright red box of cereal.
“The company discontinued the shapes last fall,” Hawke said as he went in search of coffee.
“I’m not going to ask how you know that,” Dante murmured.
“Well, MawMaw, when you have your own kids, you’ll get to deal with that day when your child discovers that his favorite cereal looks different and even though you try to explain that the taste is the same, you feel so damn bad that you decide to do something about it.”
“What’d you do?” Dante asked. “Threaten the company or something?” he asked jokingly.
