“Took the both of you long enough,” Ezra’s mom said. “Wasn’t sure I’d live to see this.”
Rolling his eyes, Ezra stuck his tongue out at his mom, who only laughed in response. She seemed happy.
He’d ask her about her Christmas, later, but he was thinking it’d gone well.
Maybe next year, the four of them would be sitting around a table together. Him and Mike, his mom and Julie.
And then the two of them would head off to the sanctuary to be with theirotherfamily, because it was just as important. Ezra’s mom had always understood that, the need for him to have a family of his own.
“Day one, though?” Mike asked, raising an eyebrow, apparently having gotten over the embarrassment of being in his underwear for this conversation. “Really?”
Ezra turned to look at him, and a part of him wanted to tease back, but he stopped himself. No. He could be honest now. He could tell Mike everything, anytime.
“It’s always been you,” he said. “Always.”
Mike’s whole face softened, his eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree.
“And now it'll always be you,” he murmured, reaching out to take Ezra's hand under the table.
Ezra ignored his mom's excited little clap, and leaned in for a kiss.
