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“Can I hug you?” I asked in a small voice. “Please?”
Both my sons gracefully allowed me to hold and hug them, and a wave of love filled me. “I’m so grateful I have you two. You’re the joy of my life. I hope you know that.”
“We do, Dad.” Gabe patted my shoulder awkwardly, as if he was getting a little worried about me.
“Good, good.” I turned away, a little more emotional than they’d be comfortable with. “You’d better get your asses in gear so you’re not late for summer camp.”
No way in hell was I attempting to cook for that many people, but luckily, we had Intan. She was an Indonesian woman who’d married an American after falling in love in Bali while he was on vacation there, and she loved to cook. I’d never had Indonesian food before I’d been to a dinner party she had catered, and oh my god, it was the most delicious meal I’d ever tasted. So I’d asked her to arrange an Indonesian buffet for ten people. I could always reheat the leftovers.
She showed up at five, her husband, Owen, in tow, and they carried in tray after tray. The smells made my mouth water. “Thank you so much, Intan. You outdid yourself,” I said when they had brought everything inside. “It smells amazing.”
She beamed. “You and your friends will love it, Dr. Everett. Indonesian food is the best food with family and friends. It’s food meant to be shared.”
“Thank you so much.”
Owen gestured at the three slow cookers, filled to the brim with food, plus two big warming trays. “I’ll come pick those up sometime tomorrow if that’s okay.”
“Just let me know when, and I’ll make sure they’re out on the porch for you.”
Just as they left, the first of my friends arrived, and minutes later, my house was full of people. I’d added a folding table—borrowed from my parents, who’d been delighted to hear I’d be entertaining—to the dining table to make room for everyone, but it was still a tight fit. Tiago and Cas had brought wine, York and Marnin had both showed up with a bottle of whiskey, and Auden and Keaton came with a bowl containing something for dessert.
When Tomás arrived, I expected him to carry something similar, but instead, he handed me a small gift bag. “Happy early birthday.”
“Birthday? That’s not until two weeks.”
He shrugged. “I know, but I figured you’d thrown this party to do an early celebration. You always did that as a kid too ‘cause your birthday was during summer break.”
How had he remembered that? “Thank you. That’s very thoughtful of you.”
I took the tissue paper out of the little gift bag and peered inside. What had he gotten me? It looked like a folded piece of paper. I pulled it out and unfolded it. Wait, what? My mouth dropped open as I read the words. “I’m… You can’t…”
“What did he get you, Dad?” Josiah peeked over my shoulder like the nosy teenager he was. “Oh, wow! Tickets to see U2 in concert. Cool.”
I couldn’t believe it. How had Tomás even gotten his hands on these? When I saw they were doing a Vegas residency, I’d tried to get tickets, but the cheaper ones were sold out already, and the rest were way above my budget. He must’ve spent a fortune on these. I opened my mouth to protest but closed it again. No, I shouldn’t. It might be a lot of money for me, but it wasn’t for him, and if he chose to spend it on a birthday gift, I had to honor that.
So I hugged him. “Thank you. This is the best gift ever.”
When I let go, Marnin was staring at us with raised eyebrows. “I see I missed something.”
“No worries.” Auden slapped him on the shoulder. “We’ll catch you up.”
Dinner was a boisterous affair, the wine flowing freely and the laughter endless. It made me deeply happy. Auden and I knew each other, of course, and I liked him well enough, but we hadn’t socialized much. And Tiago and Tomás had only just returned to Forestville. Somehow this ragtag group of men fit wonderfully well together. Samuel would’ve loved this for me.
My sons spent half an hour with us, then escaped upstairs, and never had I been more grateful for how well behaved they could be. Better behaved than Marnin, who was recounting some wild tale about a foursome he’d done the week before. He and I had never been close, but he’d been Auden’s best friend growing up, and despite his deep affinity for cynicism and sarcasm, I liked him. At least with Marnin, you always knew where you stood.
When he’d ended his story with the expected climax, Marnin looked at me. “What?” I asked.
“Oh, I was waiting for you to make some comment on safe sex or something.”
I snorted. “Then you can wait a long time. If I have to explain to you at your age what safe sex looks like, you’ve been making up all your wild stories all these years.”
Marnin grinned. “Great answer. So you don’t have an issue with foursomes?”
“As long as you don’t expect me to join you, knock yourself out.”
“I hadn’t pegged you for being that sexually adventurous.”
He was goading me, not something new with two teenagers in the house, and I wasn’t even tempted to take the bait.
