“Wait, really?” Gage’s jaw dropped. “That wasn’t funny the first time, Webb. The coming bovine uprising is no laughing matter.”
“But hearing Webb teach you how to speak cow was hilarious,” Hawk said.
“I think cows speak French anyway,” Porter said, apropos of nothing, from his rocking chair by the steps. “At least the evil, plotty ones do.”
Gage and I exchanged a confused look. Gage shrugged and made a drinking motion with his hand, but I shook my head. Porter hadn’t been drinking, but hehadbeen acting weird ever since he and Theo had brought Aiden and Bear home.
“Is there, ah, any particular reason for that, Porter?” Jack wondered.
“Hmm? Oh. No.” Porter darted a glance through thescreen door, where his boyfriend was helping Marco and Luke prep appetizers. He rocked his chair harder. “No reason at all.”
“Anyone hungry for appetizers?” Luke called. “Marco’s outdone himself in here.”
“Sick, bruh! I’mstarving!” Aiden ran in from the yard, where he and Bear were playing fetch, sensitive as usual to any call for food. “Uncle Porter and Uncle Theo only have seedy wheat bread at their house, and that’s barely even real bread.”
“Didn’t stop you from eating half a loaf of it at breakfast, traitor!” Porter called as Aiden ran past.
Chuckling, I clapped a hand on Porter’s shoulder as we followed Aiden inside.
While the others helped themselves to Marco’s bacon-wrapped dates, hummus with za’atar, and a tray of miniature goat cheese tarts, I caught my husband, wrapped an arm around his waist, and pulled him into the corner.
Luke’s smile was extra radiant today. “You ready for this?” he whispered.
To my surprise, I really was… and that was all thanks to Luke. I’d known for years that our relationship was different from any I’d ever had and that with him, a burden shared truly was a burden halved. Somewhere in my blind panic, though, I’d let myself forget that, and I was fucking grateful that my patient, tenacious husband had reminded me.
It took a special person to let you know when you were being an asshole but make you feel loved and understood while doing it.
“We’ll make the announcement at dinner,” I confirmed. “Five bucks says Drew cries.”
Luke laughed. “I don’t take sucker bets, baby.”
Aiden sat on the kitchen floor with the dog’s head in his lap and a plate of food in one hand, recounting every detail ofhis sleepover to Emma and Knox. “So I was Aragorn, and Uncle Porter was the mountain with the ghosts?—”
“You will not enter here,” Porter called in a deep voice from the counter where he’d been conscripted into helping Marco whip up a batch of his famous potato salad. “You are not of the line of Isildur.”
“—and Uncle Theo was Gandalf… well, until he had to go do an emergency Zoom meeting. And then he put his cape on Bear like this.” Aiden waved his free hand around the dog’s head in a dramatic reenactment of a cape flourish.
“I think you mean I bestowed my mantle upon Bear, son of Barkmir,” Theo said as he sank into a chair at the table with a fresh beer. “For he is wise beyond his kibble and brave beyond his breed.”
Aiden chortled. “Yeah, that. And then Uncle Porter made hot fudge, and Uncle Theo eventually got off Zoom after, like, sixhours?—”
“More like one hour, kiddo,” Theo protested, laughing.
“More like three.” Porter gave the potato salad an exceptionally energetic stir that made Marcotskand push him aside with a sharp “We’re not beating eggs here, Porter.”
“And then we all turned on the movie and ate Sunday sundaes, and Uncle Theo helped me work on my Aragorn voice.” Aiden cleared his throat and sat up straight, one hand resting dramatically on Bear’s head like a battle-worn general addressing his troops. In a low, raspy voice, he declared, “Fight for me, and I will hold your bones sacred!”
Emma and Knox clapped politely.
“Wow,” Luke said, clearly impressed. “Excellent.”
Aiden added in his regular voice, “And then Bear sneezed, which kind of ruined the vibe, but it was still awesome, and we stayed up pretty much all night.”
“Not quite,” Porter and Theo corrected in unison. They shared a look, but Porter quickly turned away to grab something from the fridge.
“See what you’re missing, Em?” Theo teased. “Not too late to transfer from UVM to Hannabury and take my Shakespeare seminar.”
“Oooh, hard pass,” Emma said. “You grade too hard.”
