6. Luke

6

luke

I swung Miri in the air, her little baby giggles giving me life. Watching her grow up from a little, squishy newborn to this inquisitive toddler had been amazing. The boys had already been older by the time I’d come into their lives, and with Essie, my wife had been so sick at the same time, those first few years had been a blur. It was a joy to experience this part of her life.

River laughed and shook his head as he plopped down on the couch behind us. He had a giant mug of coffee in his hand, even though it was after dinnertime.

I put Miri down just in time for my almost son-in-law, Cooper, to pick her up. “C’mon, sweetheart, it’s bath time. It’ll give you a chance to talk without her climbing all over you.”

“Thanks, babe,” River said with a smile.

Cooper leaned down with Miri in his arms, making her giggle, and kissed the top of River’s head before leaving.

River glanced at his phone. “Lake will be here in two minutes.”

I nodded and took a seat in the other chair. “Alright.”

My son narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“After Lake gets here. I don’t want to have to say everything twice.”

River leaned against the back of the couch and closed his eyes. He was always so tired. Miri was going through yet another sleep regression and it was taking a toll on her dads.

“Why don’t you drop Miri off with me this weekend so you and Cooper can have some time to yourselves?”

River’s head lolled toward me, and he opened one eye. “Yeah? I think we’ll take you up on that. As long as you’re okay with getting zero sleep.”

“Eh, I don’t sleep much anyway. I’d like some time with my best, little girl.”

“Thanks, Dad. For real. I don’t know what we would do without you.”

I squeezed his thigh affectionately. “Of course. I love ya, kid. You know I’d do anything for the three of you.”

River smiled softly. “I love you too.”

Just then, the door opened and Lake walked in with a sulky teenager trailing behind him. My grandson, Ro, had his face in a phone with his hood pulled up and his shoulders hunched.

“Hey, Ro. I didn’t know you were coming too.”

“If Lake let me stay home like a normal teenager, then I wouldn’t . . .”

Lake sighed heavily. “We talked about this numerous times, Roman. You know why you can’t stay home. Now, can you please properly say hi to Luke and River?”

Ro rolled his eyes to the heavens, but he looked at River and me. “Hi, Luke, River. Sorry, I was being an asshole.”

“Didn’t Logan talk to you about language this morning?”

Another heavy sigh. “Yeah, yeah. Sorry.”

River met Lake’s eyes over Ro’s head, and they had one of those conversations they’d been having since I’d met them as young kids. Then Riv smiled at Ro. “Cooper and the baby are upstairs. Why don’t you head up there with them? You know Miri would love to see you.”

That wiped the surly expression right off Ro’s face. He loved his little cousin. “Okay!” All the teenage angst was gone and Ro was booking it to the steps. The poor kid still had a limp and probably would for the rest of his life. His own biological father had sold him to traffickers for a little extra cash, the fucker. He had spent years with them before Logan, Lake, and their team had finally gotten him out of there. It had been about a year since he’d come to be with the three of them, and he was still struggling.

“How’s he doing?” I asked Lake once Ro was out of sight.

Lake sunk into the recliner, looking more frazzled than I’d ever seen him. “He’s . . . been having a hard time lately. Ever since they got the proof that his father was the one who sold him, it seems like he lost a lot of the progress he made.”

“Well, that sounds understandable, right? What did his therapist say?”

“That it’s normal to have setbacks under the best of circumstances, so when something else life altering comes around, it’s expected.”

I started to have doubts about telling them about Cameron now. They both had so much going on, and I didn’t want to add to their stress. But I’d already called them here, so it was too late. I wasn’t a good enough liar to come up with something else on the spot.

“At least we got to see Bodhi yesterday. Those babies always seem to make a difference for Ro.”

I smiled thinking about my surrogate grandson. It had taken us all off-guard when Lake had agreed to be the surrogate for a few of their friends who couldn’t have kids. I’d still been wrapping my head around one of my sons getting pregnant, and then the one I hadn’t been sure would ever even be in a relationship suddenly had two mates and had been pregnant himself. This had been before Ro, and it was still nearly incomprehensible.

The conversation drifted around me for a few minutes before both the boys fell silent and turned to me.

“Okay, what’s going on? Why’d you call us here, Dad?”

“Essie isn’t here, so is it something to do with Seth?” Lake asked seriously. Just hearing that asshole’s name made me want to punch someone. Ro wasn’t the only one with a shitty excuse for a sperm donor. My boys’ biological dad had to be one of the worst. Luckily, he was in jail now, but I thought the boys were always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“No. Nothing like that. This is about Joel kinda.”

“Kind of?” River asked, folding his legs under him.

Shit. How did I even start this? “Um, yeah. Remember how I told you he was dating someone else?”

Lake nodded seriously. “Yes, he’s poly and you were meeting his other boyfriend.”

“Oh yeah!” Riv perked up. “I can’t believe I forgot all about that. This sleep deprivation is getting to me.”

“Yeah, it’s no big deal. It’s just that, um, it turns out I know the other guy.”

Lake raised an eyebrow. “You do? I thought he was a lot younger than you two?”

“He is.”

“Shit, it’s not someone we know, is it?” Riv asked, half joking.

I cleared my throat as my face heated up. “Gods, it really is someone we know, isn’t it?” Riv leaned closer to me, suddenly taking a lot more interest than he had a few minutes ago. “Who is it?”

“Now remember, I have no relationship with him. I-I haven’t even spoken to Joel since that day. I wanted to talk to you to first.”

“Dad, just spit it out. You’re starting to freak me out.”

I groaned. “It’s Cameron,” I muttered into my hands.

Lake’s eyes widened comically large as he stared at me.

“Sorry, Dad, can you repeat that? I must’ve heard you wrong,” River asked.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you didn’t.”

“Joel’s other boyfriend is Cam?”

“Yes.”

Then River did the last thing I ever expected. He started to laugh. Loudly and uncontrollably.

“Oh my gods. I can’t believe that bitch didn’t tell me. He gave me such a hard fucking time for not spilling all the tea about Coop when we first got together, and he’s six degrees of separation from dating my dad and keeps it to himself? Oh, I’m giving him so much shit.”

“So you’re really okay with it?”

River shrugged. “I mean, yeah? It’s kinda awkward, but I think it would be weirder for you than me. It’s not like you’re sleeping with him.”

I thought about the way Cameron had looked today, how I’d noticed his slim waist and his piercing in his belly button, but quickly shook it off. I was letting all this get to me.

I looked over to Lake, who still hadn’t spoken. Even though Cameron was more River’s friend than Lake’s, I still wanted to make sure he was good with it. Lake had a harder time with change and unusual circumstances than his twin ever had, and with so many changes that had happened in our lives over the last few years, I didn’t want to add to the stress he was certainly already feeling.

It took Lake a few more seconds to answer while I waited with bated breath. Finally, he nodded. “I agree with River. I like Joel. You like Joel. He obviously also likes Cam. I don’t really see the issue. Not every poly relationship looks like mine, where we’re all together romantically.”

For the first time since I’d seen Cameron in the restaurant, things started to feel right again. Maybe it was still weird, but everyone was right. I was letting my own preconceptions and issues cause a mental roadblock that didn’t need to be there. I had really strong feelings, like really strong, for Joel and I’d be an idiot to walk away from that.

I hugged both my boys and talked for a little longer, but eventually I had to stop pushing off the inevitable and go speak to Joel. So, after hugging and kissing both my grandkids goodbye, much to Ro’s chagrin, I left River’s house and sent a text to Joel.

Hey, are you busy? Can we talk?

It was less than a minute before the bubbles popped up and he responded.

Joel:

Come over.