“Aaron was just telling us about how he also games, and now I need to know why you have kept this information from Head Office,” Lucas said, narrowing his large brown eyes.
“I have to say, Team Jacob,” Oscar replied, trying and failing to contain his smirk, “Philip looks more Head Office material than you, so it’s to him I must report, I’m afraid.”
Philip beamed, white teeth flashing as his eyes began to sparkle.
“Don’t get too torn up over my demolition now, husband,” Lucas said, mock gritting his teeth at him.
“Head Office doesn’t tolerate backtalk,” Philip tutted. “We urge you to lick away the foam at the corners of your mouth,husband.”
Oscar couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of him. For all his juice-pressing, kale-drinking, non-fiction readinghabits, Philip seemed like a great deal of fun, and Oscar wished he’d met him before.
“So maybe we can all play together sometime,” Aaron suggested when the laughter quieted down on both ends of the call. “It could be fun.”
“I do have to confess I detest modern video games,” Philip said.
“Of course you do, you neolithic rock.” Lucas bent over to the side, disappearing for a moment, before returning with a glass of something amber on ice. This wasn’t one of his green juices.
“I do like Mario Kart,” Philip said, casting him a sidelong glance and rolling his eyes at the camera when Lucas turned away.
“Maybe we can have Mario Dates,” Oscar replied. “Luigi would certainly approve!”
“Luigi! Where is he? Pspsps!” Lucas said, making kissing sounds as he leaned from side to side, as though he could see beyond the field of view.
Oscar patted the bench and drummed his fingers on the surface of the table, prompting Luigi to leap off the arm of his couch and head over. Lu climbed into Aaron’s lap, one of the favorite places he shared with Oscar, and lifted his butt for a scratch. Aaron obliged, and Oscar knew this was a forever kind of thing between them. He wanted to grow old beside Aaron and however many cats they had.
In the meantime, Lucas cooed and fussed over Luigi, Philip admiring him quietly while he sipped his own drink, which was indeed a green juice. The ebbing was soft, a retreat into the cushions that had Lucas’s arm curling around Philip’s shoulder, a warm familiar thing that felt almost too intimate to perceive.
“Alright, alright. So…Mario double dates when we return from our travels,” Lucas said.
He glanced at Philip, gaze smoldering like precious stones in sunlight as he leaned in to press his nose to his husband’s cheek, murmuring something in Spanish. Oscar had been surprised when Lucas had told him about Philip learning Spanish just so he could better understand his culture. He supposed now it wasn’t all that strange. Although he couldn’t knit to save his life, Oscar had learned the names of every stitch pattern, had started to understand the differences between types of yarn, had learned to instinctively pick which needles Aaron would need for whichever project he worked on.
In the end, Oscar would learn any language that spoke to Aaron’s heart. So it was no longer a surprise when Philip responded in warm fluent Spanish, smiling and giving Lucas a slow nod.
“So, we’re going away for a while,” Lucas said, tilting his head to rest it on Philip’s shoulder. “We actually wanted this call because we have something big to share.”
“Well?” Oscar asked when the pause grew too long.
Philip’s hand squeezed Lucas’s in the space where their thighs met, Philip’s chinos brushing against Lucas’s jeans.
“Tell me, old man!” Oscar said.
“We’re having a baby,” Lucas replied. “We’re adopting a little girl.” The announcement dripped from Lucas like syrup from a stack of warm pancakes, and Philip was the plate, gathering his joy. He caught it secondhand, eyes on Oscar’s friend, smiling, hand squeezing once again.
“Congratulations!” Aaron said, clapping his hands. “This is wonderful!”
“Thank you, Aaron,” Philip replied.
“Hon, I think we broke Oscar,” Lucas said, glancing from Philip to the screen again.
Oscar wished he could send him a bucket of reassurance, that he could take the charging cord and plug it into his brain to show Lucas that his speechlessness was nothing short ofwordless joy. He hated the nervousness that crossed Lucas’s eyes while he waited for his response.
Aaron’s hand slid over his thigh, thumb tracing a line up and down the cording on his pants. His touch was like flint, striking a light that brought Oscar back to life.
“I’m just so happy,” Oscar mumbled at last. He didn’t mind that his words came out a little choked, that his voice was thick. If Lucas was having a child, then Oscar already loved her. And Lucas melted in front of him like hot blown glass, curving into Philip’s side, their two halves merging into a whole. “Shit, Luke. This is brilliant.”
“Well, that means a lot to me, Spike,” Lucas said. Through the screen, Oscar watched Philip squeeze Lucas’s thigh, as though to say,See?and Oscar wondered how nervous he’d been to share the news.
“Does this mean you’re going to stop running those ridiculously long marathons now? Will you be getting your exercise in at the park?” Oscar asked.
