Walking back to the campsite, Fitzgibbon felt lighter than he had since the knock-down drag-out fight on Tuesday. It felt like he had his friends back again. He hadn’t realized until that moment how lonely he’d been without them. Now that things were back on more solid footing, he felt like he could finally tell Ronan and Jude what was going on with him and Jace.
“I see one of you is starting to get into the spirit of things!” a familiar voice laughed from behind them.
Fitz turned to see the campers from earlier in the day. All three were naked as jaybirds and pointing at Ronan, who was wearing a sodden pair of boxer briefs, which left nothing to the imagination. He carried the rest of his clothes and his waders.
“I fell in the river chasing a fish,” Ronan said with a grin.
“Well, I hope you caught him seeing as though your campsite is in a bit of a mess. Didn’t anyone teach you not to leave food out? This is bear country, boys. You’re lucky something else beat them to the punch. The general store’s got sammiches and hot soup. Catch ya later!” The man saluted Ronan and walked back to his waiting friends.
Taking off at a dead run, Fitz booked it toward their campsite. Tall, dark, and naked wasn’t wrong, their campsite looked like a tornado torn through it. The trash can was knocked over with its contents strewn about. The food cooler lay on its side. All that was left in it was quickly melting ice. A mama racoon sat back on her hindlegs munching on a raw hotdog, while her three little ones were chowing down on barbecue potato chips. The animals looked almost human eating with their delicate little fingers like a toddler with Cheerios.
“That’s my meat he’s got in his mouth!” Ronan moaned when he caught up with Fitz.
“I’m not sure you want him to give it back,” Fitzgibbon said.
“What the hell do we do?” Ronan asked.
“Shoo, asshole!” Jude called from behind them.
“Us or the raccoons?” Fitzgibbon asked with a grin.
“Them.” Jude pointed as the small family of racoons ambled off. The mother had another hotdog clamped in her teeth. She turned around, as if to say, “Gotcha, suckers!”
“Since I’m the only one who’s still dry, I’ll run over to the store and grab dinner,” Jude offered.
“Double portions,” Ronan said. “After all this, I feel like I could eat a horse.”
“Same,” Fitz agreed. “But, I’ll have turkey.” He tossed the SUV keys to Jude and headed for his tent. Thankfully, the racoons hadn’t figured out how to unzip the flaps. Climbing inside, he shut the entrance and changed out of his wet clothes, grabbing a fresh pair of jeans and a New England Patriots hoodie, which smelled like Jace’s favorite aftershave. He’d been wearing it last night when they’d had another discussion about their little situation.
Laying back on his sleeping bag and pillow, Fitz stared up at the top of the tent. It was made from dark blue nylon, but the top was transparent. Above him, he could see dark clouds rolling in. He didn’t remember there being anything on the news about thunderstorms. He supposed the weather was different up in the mountains than it was back in Salem.
Despite the unsolved issue with Jace, he missed his husband. Friday was pizza night. They’d order from Greek Life, mushroom and pepper for Jace and pepperoni with bacon for himself and Aurora. After dinner, they’d settle on the sofa in their favorite spots, Fitz in the middle with his husband on his left and his daughter on the right, wrapped in her favorite Sleeping Beauty blanket. Aurora always picked the movie, almost always a Disney film, and put up a bit of a fuss when the movie ended and it was time for her bath.
Everything in their lives was perfect just the way it was. He and Jace had worked long and hard to get to where they were now, not just at their jobs, but with each other. Their relationship hadn’t always been rock solid and Fitzgibbon was afraid Jace’s stance on this particular issue could possibly be the finish of them as a couple.
“Fitz, Ronan, I’m back!” Jude shouted.
Startling himself out from his head, Fitz unzipped the tent to see Jude unpacking a mountain of food. “What’s all this?”
“Turkey subs and bowls of chili. There are potato chips for the sandwiches and corn bread for the chili. I also grabbed whoopie pies for dessert. “Dig in, guys. I don’t like the looks of that sky.”
“Same,” Ronan agreed, grabbing a sandwich and bag of sour cream and onion chips. He took a huge bite of his sub and turned to Fitzgibbon. “Okay, Cap, spill it. There’s been something wrong with you for a while now. I noticed a while ago, but we weren’t exactly in a good spot to talk about anything.”
“I’ve noticed it too. Let us help,” Jude urged before slurping up a mouthful of chili.
“Like you both helped meintothe river this afternoon?” Fitz asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No,” Ronan chuckled, “our advice will be muchworsethan that.”
“God awful,” Jude agreed cheerfully. “Now talk.” He pointed his pickle spear at Fitz before eating half of it in one bite.
Fitzgibbon sighed. These men were the best friends he’d ever had in his life, even if the last week or so had been rocky between them. “I’m afraid of what you’ll think of me when I tell you what’s going on.”
“We’re your friends, Fitzy. Jude and I are on your side no matter what.” Ronan snorted. “Unless you need advice on growing a patch of cauliflower. If that’s the case, you’re on your own.”
“Jace wants to have a baby,” Fitz said. When there was no outward reaction from Jude and Ronan, he continued, “he wants to have a biological child like you did with Everly and Ezra.”
“And you’d rather adopt” Ronan asked.
