Brody chuckles. “Okay, fine. Let’s go!” he signs back, and they both go traipsing down to the water together.
Having gotten his and Cam’s tent set up already, like a seasoned pro, Caleb has taken on the task of setting up a little skunk run for Pepper. He stands on the picnic table, looping a length of cable around on itself. Marcus and I both gaze—practically drooling, actually—at the dimples of his lower back that peek out when his shirt rises.
I nudge my hubby. “You like what you see over there?”
He snorts. “You were gawking too, don’t lie,” he whispers.
“You two were awfully guilty looking when I asked why you were late grabbing everything from his house. Anything you want to tell me?”
I watch as heat creeps up Marcus’ neck, blooming on his cheeks. He tugs nervously on his lower lip with his teeth. “We, um. Well, we fooled around a little bit…”
He peers over at me nervously, likely expecting a scowl, but all I can do is grin like a loon. “Oh my god, you did?! Was it good? Oh hell, what am I even saying? Of course it was good. I mean, look at him… look at you! That’s so awesome, baby,” I exclaim, honestly excited over this.
“You’re not upset?” he questions me.
“Why would I be? I have been gunning for this, Marco. I just never brought it up again because I was too nervous that you thought the notion of it was shit.”
He sighs. “I don’t think it’s shit, Lo. I’m just worried because we’re venturing into uncharted territory here. Big time… What if we get lost?”
I fix him with a look. “What if we find everything we’ve been searching for instead? You don’t think I’m not worried about the same thing? I totally am. Petrified, really. But when I sit in my thoughts and try to envision what wecouldbe, I truly like what I see.”
“And what does it look like to you?” Marcus asks me.
“It looks like me really learning how to trust again, knowing I’m safe enough with him—much like I am with you—to open myself up more. It looks like you finding more comfortable waters to swim in so you can finally be a freer you. It looks like our family growing and where everyone within it speaks a common language so we’re all fully heard and understood. Doesn’t that sound, I don’t know, kinda perfect?”
It suddenly strikes me just howfatedthis feels, giving credit to Caleb's beliefs for a moment. Seriously though, what are the odds that we all connected somehow via our shared ability to communicate by signing? I mean, I'm not going to go out and waste my money on a lotto ticket today or anything—I'd never bethatlucky—but us finding each other the way we did feels oddly serendipitous in ways which cannot be explained logically...
Marcus nods. “It does, actually. But that doesn’t severus,does it?”
I shake my head. “No, not at all. Why would you think that?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. Just a stupid worry I’ve had, I guess.”
“No worry is a stupid one,” I tell him, pressing my forehead to his. “You’re allowed to be concerned, to feel any feelings you want, really. But I don’t think anything about this potential relationship dynamic will diminish what we have at all. If anything, the differences in our individual relationships could help strengthen our bond.”
“I don’t want to lose you, Lo,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss on my lips.
I grin. “Marco never loses Polo, my love.”
Suddenly, Caleb flashes his hands, catching both mine and Marcus’ attention. “M, could I get a little help with the other end? I need your height.”
“Thought you’d never ask,” Marcus gloats. “Been waiting on you to stop being stubborn and just give in.”
My husband saunters on over and bends so Caleb can climb onto his shoulders. Once on, Marcus snickers. “I could so easily headbutt your balls right now.”
Caleb threads his fingers through Marcus’ curls and gives them a little tug, tilting his head back. “No,” he signs, snapping his index and middle fingertips to the pad of his thumb with a scowl on his face. “Bad boy.”
“Oh, come on,” Marcus teases. “You can’t tell me that, after this weekend, you’re going to want more kids.”
Caleb shakes his head. “No, I certainly am not. You acting like one is plenty enough for me.”
“Fucker.” Marcus chortles, walking them towards the other tree Caleb wants to hang the skunk run from. “Keep making fun of me, and I could drop your ass and make it look like an accident.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Caleb signs, looking more playful than I have ever seen him.
God, don’t I love seeing them and the ease at which they get along now. It’s a wild contrast to the way they acted around each other the first time I saw them in the same room together. I guess working together has really strengthened their bond in that they're actually flirting with each other now. Well, flirting and then going so far as to act on their buried chemistry.
Marcus hops, jostling Caleb on his shoulders. “Wouldn’t I? Shall we test that theory?” my husband asks, arching a brow up at—gosh, I don’t know what to call Caleb… my boyfriend?
