She said the word friends the way Aspen said calculus. No wonder Noah had been so torn up about friends vs hookups vs partners. If Aspen had spent their whole life with their family cursing friendship like that, they’d probably be a bit mixed up, too.
As they approached the table, Noah’s dad remained seated, which seemed pretty on-brand for him, but Braxton and a woman who Aspen assumed was his fiancé unexpectedly stood up. She had a very sweet-looking baby cradled in her arms, who stared around at them with big, curious eyes.
“What the hell, Mom? You uninvited Aspen?” Braxton asked.
His voice had dropped since the last time Aspen had seen him, and he actually looked very put together in a navy blue striped polo and chinos. His fiancé was wearing a matching navy dress, and they made a strikingly cute couple who had clearly made an adorable baby together.
“It was necessary,” his mom said, waving her hand in the air as if to dispel a bad smell. “Your father’s associate?—”
“I don’t give a shit about Dad’s work buddies. They’re just coming for the office gossip,” Braxton said firmly but at a reasonable volume. Aspen couldn’t help but note that if this had been a few years ago, Braxton would probably already be drunk and would definitely be yelling. Maybe having a baby had changed him. “Aspen has been Noah’s person since he was in college. That’s pretty fu—messed up to uninvite them behind my back.”
Braxton cast his baby a quick glance before turning to look at Aspen. They did their best to wipe the stunned expression off their face, but they weren’t sure how successful they were before Braxton shifted his gaze to Charlie. “No offense to you, dude. I’ve just heard Aspen’s name for years and know how important they are to Noah.”
Charlie inclined his head. “None taken. I’m a more recent addition to Noah’s life.”
Noah snorted and tried to cover it up by coughing into his hand. “If half a decade could be considered recent.”
Braxton’s eyes widened, and he turned on his mother, who held up her hand in a stop gesture. “The only thing I know about a ‘Charlie’ is that he owns a dog shelter. Noah doesn’t tell me anything anymore.”
Braxton snorted in an almost identical way to Noah, except he didn’t bother to cover it up. “I mean, are you surprised by that?”
“Now is really not the time nor place for this,” Noah’s father said, still refusing to stand up, merely casting a withering glare at everyone around the table, including his wife. “Your mother and I set clear expectations that you were to bring a significant other or no one to the wedding. You tried to bring your friend, and your mother told you no. Now you’ve shown up withtwofriends, just to disrupt your brother’s day?—”
“They’re more than just my friends,” Noah said, grasping at Aspen’s hand and reaching for Charlie, who immediately accepted his hand and stepped closer to Noah’s side. “And I’m not disrupting anything. This lunch on a Tuesday afternoon is not Braxton’s day…and besides, it looks like the one upsetting him is you, not me.”
Noah’s mother looked like she’d sucked on a lemon, as did his father, but Braxton was smirking. “It’s definitely not my day. Not that my actual wedding is my day either, so please feel free to bring yourmore than friendsto the wedding as well.”
“That is…just…not possible!” his mother stammered, reminding Aspen of those cartoon characters that had steam blowing out of their ears. “The seating arrangement is set, the caterers have been called?—”
“The caterers said very clearly that they bring an extra five meals, and there’s definitely space to do some tweaking with the seating chart. We can put Abigail’s parents with the rest of her family, as they requested, and you keep seeming to forget, Mother. I’m assuming it’s still not corrected in the most recent seating chart, seeing as how I haven’t been shown it yet?”
Noah’s hand was sweating in Aspen’s, but he didn’t adjust his grip or try to let go. He just stood there, watching his brother, possibly for the first time ever, go to bat for him.
“It is customary for the parents of the bride to be at the table with the groom's family,” his mother snapped.
“I really appreciate that,” Abigail said quietly, a southern accent softening her words. “But my parents aren’t good with crowds or strangers, and it would be much better for everyone if they were allowed to sit with the rest of their family.”
“And I would like to sit with mine,” Noah said firmly.
“You are sitting with yours; that’s not the problem. We’re?—”
“No, I’m not. Every other family member and even some of Dad’s friends got to bring their family with them, and yetyou tried to uninvite my family. To excludemy family.” Noah brought their joined hands up and over Aspen’s head so his arm was wrapped around their shoulder. It was a little awkward, but there wasn’t a chance in hell they were going to stop him. “Aspen and Charlie are my…my partners. That makes them my family, and I have every right to bring my family to celebrate Braxton creating his own.”
Aspen’s little butterfly damn near fluttered right out of their chest. They had never heard Noah talk back to his parents like this. Anytime he tried, he was always shut down, and he usually gave in rather than continue fighting a hopeless battle. Now, his voice was firm, and his conviction was clear. The fact he was using Aspen’s words, that they were a family, nearly brought Aspen to their knees. They would do anything for Noah and for Charlie. They would fly across the country, stand their ground against parents and bullies alike. Charlie had proven he was willing to do the same, and now it was Noah’s turn—and he was doing it. He was standing up for their new, literally day-old relationship, and Aspen had never been prouder of him.
“This is just ridiculous,” his father said, placing his napkin on the table and struggling to get to his feet. Aspen hadn’t remembered the man looking so old, but perhaps all that anger and indignation took a toll on someone over time. “You’re causing a scene, for absolutely no reason.”
“Oh, you want to see a scene?” Braxton said, turning to nod at Abigail. She stepped out from behind her chair, cooing at the baby the whole time, as she walked out to the patio, nodding politely at a server who held the door open for her.
It really was a nice-looking restaurant, with crystal chandeliers, and the entire back wall was made of glass that led out to a patio. The food being served at the table to their right smelled amazing, and Aspen thought they even caught sight ofan entire roast chicken being served across the room. Too bad there was a pretty solid chance they wouldn’t be eating any of it.
Braxton stepped around his own chair and shoved it under the table. Ignoring his mother’s outraged huff and his father’s glare, he walked up to Noah and threw his arms around him.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, just loud enough for the three of them to hear. “I know it’s taken far too fucking long, but Abigail has really helped me see how important family is. Ours is kind of fucked up, but I’m making a new one, and it’s cool to see you are, too.”
Noah pulled his arms back from his two partners and wrapped them around Braxton’s back.
“I didn’t mean to cause a scene,” Noah whispered, and Braxton laughed, thumping him twice on the back.
