“Thanks. I wish I could be on TV, but I just don’t want…. Well, I’m glad I got to meet you, though. I’ve admired your work for a long time, Mr. Hamlin.”
“Call me Nolan. And thank you.”
Grayson had gotten very quiet. Nolan suspected he was thinking about his own traumatic past. Nolan reached over and touched Grayson’s shoulder. Grayson nodded slightly, then turned to Marcus. “You do good work here.”
Ellen left and the rest of the kids showed up. Grayson shook it off and signaled to the camera to start filming. “Are you kids ready to look at your new common room?”
The kids all cheered.
“All right, let’s go take a look,” Nolan said for the camera.
The common room had big double doors, so it made quite a dramatic moment for Nolan and Grayson to each take a door and open up the room. The kids then walked into their new space, filling the room with oohs and aahs and little squeals of delight.
Nolan and Grayson took turns walking the kids through each zone. Grayson was a little subdued, and by the time it was his turn to explain the TV area, emotion made his voice crack. He had to pause for a moment before saying, “I’m sorry. Happy tears, I promise! I’m just so thrilled we could make this great space for you. I wish I’d had something like this when I was younger.”
Marisol stepped forward and gave Grayson a hug, and then all the kids joined into the group hug and pulled Nolan into it too.
“Aw, you guys don’t have to do this,” Grayson said.
“We love the new room!” said Marisol. “I don’t think we can hug you enough.”
Then the kids immediately settled into their spaces. Two of them turned on the TV to play with the game console. Sam found a comfy couch in the reading area and sat down with a book.
As they finished the tour, Marcus carried in a stack of pizzas and put them on the big table in the middle. They brought Travis in too, so the kids could properly thank him for his carpentry work.
“I didn’t think it would matter,” said Marisol while the cameras were still rolling, “but having an LGBTQ team work the renovation was a really good idea. I think you guys understood what we would need better than anyone else would. I mean, the books you brought in, the DVDs you got, the way you organized the space, all this color! It’s so great.”
Grayson had been responsible for a lot of the color choices, but Nolan liked it, too. It was a bright, happy space. Grayson wiped at his eyes. “It was our pleasure,” he said, sounding watery.
“It really was,” said Nolan, getting a little misty himself. “None of you should have to be here—you should all be with loving families—but I hope that you can find a family here. As a gay man, I can speak to the importance of chosen family.”
Grayson nodded vigorously. “My chosen family is everything. And family is important.”
Nolan was hit with a pang, thinking of family. He had good relationships with most of his genetic family, but the friendships he’d developed over the years, as well as the family he’d tried building for himself, were important to him. He thought again about that baby girl who would soon be part of his life. Would Grayson stay? Would they make a new family? It was overwhelming to think about so much change in such a short amount of time. But it made Nolan happy too. He smiled at the kids.
They stayed for dinner and ate pizza and chatted with the group, promising Marcus they’d come back to check in. Grayson also offered to volunteer if the house ever needed an extra pair of hands. He said he thought it would be healing for him to help out.
Nolan realized Grayson wasn’t that much older than these kids. The oldest was twenty-one. Suddenly Nolan felt ancient.
Lord. He’d felt every emotion today, hadn’t he?
Grayson came home with him that night because he didn’t want to be alone.
“Speaking of chosen family,” Grayson said over wine as they sat beside each other on the sofa. “Would it be weird for you to meet my friends?”
“Why would it be weird?”
“I don’t know. I have a hard time picturing you all in the same room, but I don’t know why. Maybe we could all go out together sometime? I was thinking maybe drinks at this bar I like in the West Village.”
“Okay.”
“Next week, maybe?”
Nolan wanted to make Grayson happy, which was a strange thing to realize. Drinks were easy. Nolan had once thrived in social situations; he should be able to again. It seemed important to Grayson to have Nolan meet his friends too, so Nolan would do it, even though he was enjoying the bubble he and Grayson currently lived in.
“Sure, we can do drinks with your friends next week.”
“Cool. I’ve told them I’m seeing someone but not that it’s you. It’ll be an interesting surprise.”
