Chapter Twenty-Three
Marco
Lou meowed at my feet, then jumped up onto a cardboard box to take a nap. Grayson’s apartment was half-packed, and Demir was measuring furniture and taking notes. I held up a small golden tile, with sparkly bits at the top that looked almost like disco lights. “Ohhh,” I cooed. “This one is lovely.”
“Keep it,” Grayson said. “It was just an idea. I never actually got to make that project, beyond the sample piece.”
“Thanks!” I tucked it in my pocket and made a mental note for when we installed the bathrooms at the store. “Should I start packing some of these papers, or will you want to sort them yourself?”
“Should be sorted already,” Grayson answered. “You can go ahead and pack those up.”
Demir barked a laugh from the seating area.
“What?” Grayson asked.
Standing up, Demir crossed his arms over his chest. “Just thinking. Whatever kid we would raise together would be exceptionally hardworking.”
I grinned. “Maybe! I wouldn’t be surprised if one of us ended up being a permissive parent.”
Demir, Grayson, and I all looked back and forth between each other, then started laughing.
“Demir,” Grayson and I both said, earning a laugh from him.
I wandered over into the seating area, ready to take a break. Grayson had poured a few cups of tea that we hadn’t even touched yet, and they were probably getting cold anyway. I sat down on the couch beside Demir and pushed my hair back, surprised at how exhausting moving could be.
“With three parents around, I guess our kid would always have plenty to do,” Grayson said as he joined us on, dropping into the armchair. “I think I would have found a way to have a kid on my own, if you two weren’t interested, but parenting with two other people sounds a lot more manageable.”
“We might even get to sleep,” Demir joked.
I thought for a second, trying to figure out the right way to ask the question I had been wondering about since Demir and I decided we were open to being parents. “Would we adopt?” I asked tentatively. “Would any of us be a biological parent?”
Grayson lifted his tea. “Well, in theory, I could stop taking testosterone, and my body could do some of the work. But honestly, I’m not interested in doing that. Some trans guys even carry their kids, which is amazing, but I know that would feel too intense to me.” He took a sip of the tea, then set it down with a shrug. “I didn’t freeze my eggs or anything when I started taking testosterone, but I don’t think I would really care if I had a biological connection to the kid or not, anyway.”
Demir nodded. “I feel similarly. I’d be just as happy to adopt.”
I let out a puff of air, relief washing over me. “That’s great. I know it’s silly, but I just started thinking about adopting a baby and how it would feel to bring someone into our home who needed a family…”
“If we decide to do this,” Grayson reminded us with a chuckle. “But yeah, it’s exciting to think about, and I would be so happy to adopt.”
I smiled to myself, proud to hear him say it and proud that Grayson and Demir both saw me as someone to raise a child with, even if I was still learning to see that myself.
“Wow, there are really a lot of ways to be a parent,” I said. “I suppose I always knew that, but the more I think about it, the more I see the possibilities.”
“Trips to the art museum, sports, summer camps, craft activities at home, movie night…” Grayson said, his eyes wide and bright, then laughed to himself, almost giggling. “A very well-dressed child with a fine sense of business.”
Demir chuckled. “A spectacular dancer who also happens to be the quarterback on the football team.”
“And,” I added, “she’s a fantastic cook.”
Grayson laughed. “All the gay aunts and uncles at middle school graduation!”
“We’ll definitely set a new standard for embarrassing families. Can you imagine having Alex sobbing in the audience and waving a handkerchief in the air every time you win an award?”
Demir scoffed. “Alex? We’ll all be crying.”
Grayson pushed his hand through hair, shaking his head back and forth. “What a lucky kid, to get to be loved by both of you. If I’m in the stadium crying, it’s not just going to be because I’m proud of our kids. It’s going to be because I’m proud of our whole family.”
I hummed with satisfaction. “Amen to that,” I agreed.
