Halloween…
Jason
“Mr. Jason! Mr. Jason! I got five whole candy bars!” Lauren beamed with a gap-toothed smile. She’d lost her first tooth just last week. Sarah stood behind her, shaking her head with a wide, indulgent grin. I flashed her a smile then returned my attention back to Lauren. “Well you better get on in here and show me!”
I opened the door wider so Lauren could scamper past. “Where are Sean and Rusty?” I asked Sarah as she passed, following Lauren into the house at a more sedate pace. “They ran into a couple of other boys from their class and decided to stop at a few more houses since the weather’s nice.”
We had lucked out with the weather this year. Temperatures had been in the upper sixties today which was much better than last year, when temperatures had plummeted and porch pumpkins had been covered in a dusting of snow. I’d been on shift that night, passing out candy at the station to those trick-or-treaters brave enough to traipse about in the snow. It was crazy to think how much had changed since then.
“Can I get you something to drink? Beer? Wine?” I asked Sarah as I led her back toward the kitchen where I could hear Lauren talking a mile a minute to Zach, who was just pulling a loaf of beer bread out of the oven.
“A beer would be great, thanks.”
I pulled two bottles from the fridge, and after popping the tops, handed one to her and kept the other for myself. “Most of the gang’s out back sitting around the fire pit if you want to join them. The soup will be ready in just a few minutes.”
“Sounds good,” she said and turned to head outside where Sammy, Will, and Drea were sitting around the fire with Rafi and Mandy’s families. I could hear their laughter floating through the door as Sarah stepped outside.
“Hello!” Mom called, pulling my attention back toward the front door. She was followed by my dad, who was carrying a Crockpot. I hoped it contained chili. “Where’s my little ballerina?”
“I’m right here,” Lauren called excitedly before running over to greet her. Mom had become something of a surrogate grandma in the last couple of months and the two were absolutely smitten with each other. Lauren stopped in front of Mom, doing a twirl with her hands above her head in her best impression of a ballerina. She’d started dance classes at Drea’s studio last month, and was flourishing. Drea had waived the fees, much as Zach had done for Sean’s soccer, insisting every little girl should have the opportunity to learn to dance if they wished. Sarah had resisted at first, but was starting to get used to the idea of accepting help when it was offered, and had relented, but with promises of paying when she could.
“Gigi! Come look at all my candy!” Lauren grabbed Mom’s hand, tugging her into the living room, where she dumped her candy on the coffee table and started sorting it out. Mom tossed a smile my way as she allowed Lauren to pull her along.
While Dad plugged in the Crockpot and organized the other items they’d brought into the kitchen, Zach came to stand next to me, putting one hand around my waist and leaning his head on my shoulder. I wrapped my free hand around him and pulled him close as we watched Mom and Lauren sort the candy from across the room. “Every time I think I couldn’t possibly be happier…”
“You’ve been through a lot. You deserve happiness.”
He tilted his head up and I met his lips with a kiss. “You make me happy,” he said, kissing me once more.
I set my beer on the counter and turned so that we were face-to-face with our arms at each other’s waists. “You ready to tell everyone our news?”
His eyes danced as he looked up at me. “Absolutely. Why don’t you let everybody know the soup’s ready and then once they have their food, we can tell them. I’m just going to run down the hall real quick.”
* * *
Zach
I admired the simple brushed black titanium band resting on my finger, my heart giving a giddy leap at the sight of it, then shoved my hand in my pocket and headed back down the hall where the sounds of laughter and chatter had a grin stretching across my face.
Having nearly all of my favorite people in my kitchen filling their bellies while laughing and talking, had warmth spreading through my chest. I didn’t think I’d felt anything quite like it since before we’d lost Mom.
As I entered the space, I caught eyes with Dad, who must have arrived while I was back in the bedroom fetching my ring. His girlfriend, Suzette, was standing next to him. After years of mourning my mom, he’d finally started dating again over the summer and Drea and I had just met her a couple of weeks ago. I could admit that it had been strange seeing him with someone other than Mom, but Suzette seemed nice, and more importantly, she made Dad happy.
I’d thought we might take the bowls outside and take advantage of the mild weather, but everyone seemed content to eat while standing, chatting over each other as they slurped their soup, while Daisy and Goldie sat on their haunches, eyes scanning the room for any hint of a spill. I caught Jason’s eye and he gave me a small nod, but before I could say anything, Will called for everyone’s attention.
“Sorry to interrupt, but we wanted to let you know—” he paused a moment, looking at Sammy, who was smiling softly, some unnamed emotion passing between them,”we finally set a date. We’re getting married the Saturday after Thanksgiving.” The room erupted with our friends wishing them well and sharing their congratulations. Hugs were exchanged and backs were slapped while Jason and I exchanged a look of our own from across the room.
Did we share our news now and rain on their parade? Or did we let them have their moment and find another time to share? Jason shrugged as if to say, It’s your call. I responded with a subtle shake of my head. Not just yet. He nodded in acknowledgement, then stepped forward to pull Will into a hug, murmuring something to him that I couldn’t catch from this side of the room.
A baby cried out from the guest room where Pack-n-Plays had been set up for the babies, and Mandy sprang into action, setting her bowl on the counter and heading in that direction. Mrs. Whitt followed, offering to help, and everyone turned back to their soups and conversation.
Jason quietly made his way over to me and pulled my hand out of my pocket, looking down at the ring on my finger with a soft smile. He turned his attention back up to my face, both of us grinning like idiots.
“Do you think I should take it back off until we tell everyone?” I asked with reluctance.
“No. I like seeing it here.” He spun the ring around my finger, but his gaze remained on mine, eyes burning with intensity. “Frankly, I don’t ever want to see you take it off.”
The possessiveness of the statement had my stomach swooping. I didn’t think I’d ever heard that tone from him before, but damn if it didn’t turn me on.
“Keep looking at me like that, and I’m going to have to drag you down the hall for a moment of privacy.”
“Is that so?” He stepped closer, one thick thigh pressed up against my dick, straining against the fabric of my jeans.
“J-,” I hissed, my eyes darting around the room concerned about who might be watching. “What’s gotten into you?” Not long ago I’d joked about Jason becoming a sex fiend, but the truth was that we’d both become addicted to making each other come. There was nothing better than getting him off in whatever creative way I came up with in the moment. But other than the occasional skinny dipping session—always after dark—neither one of us was much of an exhibitionist, especially with children around.
“Hmm…something about seeing that ring on my fiancé’s hand just does it for me, I guess.” He waggled his brows, eyes bright with a mix of lust and humor.
There was that swooping sensation again. I loved the sound of him calling me his fiancé. “There will be plenty of time for sex shenanigans later. We have guests.”
“Sex shenanigans, huh?”
“Are you two just gonna dry-hump right here in the kitchen, or—?”
Startled, we pulled apart at the sound of Drea’s voice. I quickly shoved my left hand back in my pocket while I willed my erection to settle down before one of our guests got an eyeful.
“What’s up, sis?”
She rolled her eyes. “You guys are ridiculous.”
“But you love us, anyway,” Jason said.
She let out a sigh that held the weight of the world. “Unfortunately, yes, I do.”
Jason grinned and pulled her into his side where she leaned her head on his shoulder with a smile. I was glad their friendship had remained unchanged since my return to Astaire. If anything, all three of us had gotten closer.
The front door opened and we turned to see Sean and Rusty walk in dressed as a vampire and magician, respectively. They held pillow cases, loaded with treats, that they set down on the coffee table, but Jason stopped them before they got any farther. “You better move your candy to higher ground or the dogs will get into it.” The boys dutifully moved their bags into the cabinets next to the fireplace before traipsing into the kitchen to find some soup.
The kitchen had begun to clear out as everyone finished eating and headed back out to the fire pit. Jason and I hung back to do a little clean-up, then headed outside to join them.
* * *
Jason
My life couldn’t have been more perfect than it was in this moment. Sitting around a fire pit on a crisp fall evening, surrounded by friends and family, with my fiancé sitting in my lap. This sort of life had felt out of reach for so long—some days I almost couldn’t believe everything I’d always wanted was finally here. I was a simple guy. I didn’t need flashy cars or trendy gadgets. The love of a good man. Mutual care and respect of my friends and family. Those were the things that would sustain me throughout my lifetime.
“Oh, my god. He sends me text messages rapid-fire, one after the next. So many in a row, my phone sounds like an alarm clock,” Elise was saying while Rafi looked at her with an impish smile.
“Would you rather I send you one big long text that looks like a CVS receipt?”
“I mean…neither? Can’t you just organize your thoughts into one concise message?”
“It’s like you don’t even know me,” he said with a laugh. “There’s no organizing the mess going on up here.” He tapped his temple with his forefinger. “I text ‘em as I think ‘em.”
We all laughed, then Zach chimed in. “It’s not like he’s sending an email. Doesn’t everyone send a few texts at a time?”
“Thank you!” Rafi exclaimed, holding his hand up for Zach to high five. “Ow, man. What was that?” Rafi said, shaking his hand and looking at Zach.
“What?” Zach said, very unsubtly shoving his left hand into the pocket of his hoodie.
“What’s on your hand? It caught me weird and now my finger’s tingling.”
“Nothing,” Zach said, but it sounded more like a question than a statement.
Drea stood, coming over to stand in front of her brother with brows raised. “Hand.”
Zach shook his head.
“You are the worst liar. Show me your hand.”
Zach turned his eyes toward me in question. “I think you better show her. You know your sister’s persistent when she thinks she knows something.”
“Not think. I do know something. Let’s see it.”
Zach held out his hand, which she immediately grabbed and yanked closer so she could see. “Ow. I kind of need that arm seeing as how it’s attached to my body.”
She ignored the comment, studying the ring. Her eyes met his first, then darted to mine, and back to his again. There was a shine to them that had a lump forming in my throat. “Are you guys…engaged?”
At Zach’s slow nod, she yanked him up and pulled him into a hug. Everyone else sitting around the fire pit erupted with questions and congratulations. Drea let go of Zach just long enough to grab my hand and pull me up, hauling us both into a hug. “You idiots. I can’t believe you finally did it! When did this happen?”
“Just this evening down on the dock before everyone came over,” I said.
Mandy stood and pulled Drea out of the way so she could get a closer look at the ring. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”
“We were going to tell everyone, but then Sammy and Will shared their news and we didn’t want to steal their moment.”
“There’s nothing to steal,” Will said. “There’s plenty of happiness to go around. Congrats, guys!”
Soon, everyone was standing, taking turns sharing hugs and congratulations and taking peeks at Zach’s ring. Not long after, folks started clearing out, packing up their crockpots and heading out to their cars.
We cleaned up the kitchen, then headed down the hall to our bedroom. Exhausted, we got ready quickly, then climbed under the covers and turned out the light. I pulled him into me, savoring the feel of him wrapped in my arms, and placed a kiss just behind his ear.
“It was a good night. I think we should make it a Halloween tradition,” Zach said, rubbing his hand up and down my forearm absently.
“I’m game. It will be especially nice when we have little ones of our own.”
Zach let out a contented sigh. “Hopefully sooner rather than later.”
“Well we’re one step closer now.” I took his hand in mine, fiddling with the ring on his finger. “What do you think about a wedding on New Year’s Eve?”
He turned in my arms so he could look at me. The moonlight was streaming in the window, illuminating his features just enough that I could see him in the darkened bedroom. “So soon?”
I shrugged. “We can wait if you want. But I like the idea of heading into the new year as husbands. Besides, we had our first kiss on New Year’s Eve ten years ago. I kinda thought it would be romantic.”
“It’s romantic as hell.” He tilted his head and I kissed him, infusing it with all the love I had for him.
“So is that a yes?” I asked as we pulled apart.
I didn’t need the moonlight to see the smile that illuminated his face. “Let’s do it!”