Rory nodded quickly, but I could tell the idea lit something up inside of him. Nothing comforted him as much as watching an old movie, and he loved sharing those films with someone new. Smiling to himself, he grabbed a bag of popcorn from the cupboard and flipped on the stove.
He looked up to me, the kitchen light reflecting off his glasses. “That was quite a story he told us.”
I crossed to the counter and took a seat at the stool across from him. “It was,” I agreed.
Tension strained the edges of his face, crinkling the skin around his eyes. “Guns,” he continued. “Car crashes. Maybe a guy as young as he is needs more time before he can be in a real relationship and show up for our family in the way we’ll need him to.” He pursed his lips, wrestling with something internally.
“But it’s not just what we need from him,” I said. “He needs us, too.”
Rory nodded. “I know. I guess I’ve always known, but I didn’t quite realize it until now.”
“You always knew with me, too,” I said. “When I couldn’t pay my bills, before I had found any sort of direction in my life. When I was still a kid, lost and confused, you saw something more in me.”
Rory lifted his tea mug, then took a sip. “And now we both see something more in him, don’t we?”
“I can’t help but see it,” I said.
“Me, either.”
I stepped around the counter, and Rory pulled me in for a kiss. I held his side and stroked his back as he took me in his arms, caressing me slowly and firmly. When he released me, it was clear that something had settled between us.
“We can give him more,” Rory said. “I know I want to. Do you?”
I held his gaze, then nodded. “Yes,” I said. “I do.”
A moment passed, and then Rory tapped the counter. “We’ll have to figure out what the damage was from this accident tomorrow. I can help with that. But for now, I’ll grab a movie?”
I nodded. “I can make us all dinner after.”
Rory headed off to his DVD collection as I took the tray upstairs. When I got to the bedroom, Asher was curled up on his side, hugging a pillow to his chest while he gazed across the room. His hair fell loosely over his eyes, and when he looked up to me, he tried to smile.
“Rory put a little more whiskey in your tea,” I said, holding the tray out. “Red mug.”
Asher nodded and pulled himself up on his elbows. “Thank you again,” he said. “For having me.”
I set the tray down, then sat at the edge of the bed. “Don’t mention it,” I said, then gently pushed the hair out of his eyes. “We’re glad you’re here.”
Rory stepped through the door, Marlene still following along. “I’m not sure what you would have seen already,” he said, a few DVD cases in his hand. “But maybeWest Side Story?”
Asher scratched the back of his head. “What’s that?”
Rory stopped in his tracks. Not knowingWest Side Storywas the equivalent of Asher telling me that he hadn’t heard of Superman.
“If you were looking for a relaxing night,” I said. “You might have just accidentally signed yourself up for a two-hour long lecture on shifting cultural norms in the middle of the twentieth century.”
Asher scrunched up his brow. “I don’t know about that…”
Rory chuckled as he popped the DVD in the player. “I promise to keep my mouth shut,” he said. “Most of the time, at least.”
“It’s a musical,” I added. “If he starts to talk too much, we just have to get him singing along instead.”
Asher took another sip from his tea, then nodded. “No, that sounds nice. I’d like it if you told me about the movie.” He pulled himself up a little more on the pillows, then scooched to the middle of the bed. “I think I could use a distraction.”
I nodded to Rory, and we both climbed into bed on either side of Asher. It felt like a treat to crawl under the covers so early and to give some of the evening away to the movie. But as I pulled the blanket up, and as Asher rubbed his foot against my own, I knew the real pleasure in just being together with him and Rory. For once, we weren’t trying to build up walls or place boundaries on what we were doing. I wasn’t fretting about my responsibilities or making myself anxious over Asher’s age.
We were just three people who cared about each other, and that evening, I realized how truly right that felt.
“You knowRomeo and Juliet, right?” Rory asked as he grabbed the remote and flicked on the movie.
