I nudged his chin with my nose, and he obliged, lowering his face to kiss me.
“Daddy?” Payton called from inside, and we could hear him starting to open the door.
Crew went to move, but something had me tightening my grip.
Then my son burst out of the cabin, all bed head, sleepy expression, and Mr. Raven under his arm.
“Oh!” He came to a stop next to us. “Why is Crew on your lap?”
It was funny, in a way, that Payton didn’t call him Uncle Crew. Pretty much everyone else was Aunt or Uncle by now.
“You know how sometimes when adults like each other a lot, they want to date?” At Payton’s serious nod, I continued, “Well, I really like Crew and he really likes me, so we’re dating.”
Payton frowned, his gaze in middle distance as he pondered this over.
“If you have any questions about that, either I or Crew can answer them,” I promised.
I glanced at Crew, knowing I’d thrown him under the bus a little, but hey, trial by fire, right?
Payton took a deep breath. “I think… honestly, Daddy, I think it’s a bit too early for this conversation.” Then he turned around and trudged back inside, closing the door behind himself.
Crew’s jaw dropped. I buried my face against his neck and laughed my ass off as silently as I could.
“What the fuck just happened?” he whispered.
Between muffled hiccups, I managed to reply, “My son happened. Holy shit.”
“Do you think he understands? Is he going to be okay?” Crew’s tone was filled with worry.
That made me pull away a little and cup his face. “He’ll be fine. He knows what dating means.”
“Does he know you’re bi?”
I chuckled. “I think he’s a bit young to understand the concept. But he knows anyone can love anyone else regardless of gender. He also knows that there’s more than two ways to express gender.”
Crew let out a quiet “huh” and then kissed me. “Okay.”
The door to Russ’s cabin opened and Bodhi and Russ stepped out.
Crew got off my lap and pecked my lips once more. “See you at breakfast?”
“I think I’ll make sure Payton is okay and we’ll be there a bit later. We have breakfast things here.”
“Okay. Text me or come find me if you need me.” It was clear he was a bit worried, but he joined his brother and Russ on their walk toward the house anyway.
Sighing, I got to my feet and went to find my child.
As I’d expected, Payton was fine with everything. He understood the situation and all he said was that he really liked Crew. And that he wanted to be the ring bearer if we ever got married.
Jesus.That seemed like ages away, if it would be in the cards to happen at some point. Instead of going into a discussion about how adult relationships and timing worked, I told him that he could definitely carry the rings.
Just like that, the discussion was done, and I made sure he was sufficiently fed before we started the day.
When we made it to the main house, I could hear excited chatter from the inside before Payton opened the door. I followed him more sedately, and saw that everyone but Bodhi, Fern, and their parents were gone already.
As Payton bounced to give Jenn a morning hug, Bodhi made quick eye contact with me, looking a bit wild.Ah.
“Mal, did you meet our eldest yet?” Mike asked, clearly happy as can be with Bodhi being at home.
