Instead of shaking it, however, he seems unsure of what to do with himself. I don’t think he knows how to regard me in what I’m wearing. Perhaps he’s a little unnerved by my imposing size, I’m not sure. He fidgets for a moment before clearing his throat, taking my hand, bringing my knuckles to his lips, and then kisses them.
My eyes go wide.
Lauren snorts, breaking out into a laugh, unable to contain herself. Caleb follows suit right after, soundlessly laughing his ass off. Danny’s cheeks flush red almost immediately. I actually feel second-hand embarrassment for him because, hell, I’m not so sure I’d know what to do with me either in this instance.
“That was hella cute, Danny,” I say, making sure my tone is thick with levity. “Pay no mind to the hyenas in the room.”
He grins. “Sorry. I, um…” he trails off, unable to get the words out that he wants to say. Probably nervous about offending me somehow.
“It’s okay,” I reassure him. “I’m totally fine with it. It’s not everyday you come across a big man wearing a dress, I know.”
“You’re slaying it though,” Natalie pipes back up, giving me another once over.
“It’s almost like he had nothing to worry about,” Caleb adds, shooting me aha, told you solook.
“Kids!” Ned suddenly shouts, scaring the shit out of me. “Get your butts out here! I’m starving, and this turkey looks magnificent!”
“You haven’t even given my potatoes asinglecompliment, Grandpa,” Cameron quips when he steps into the kitchen, his tone laced with amusement.
Ned gives Cam a side hug when he steps over to the table. “Won’t take me but a minute to, though, once I get a mouthful of ‘em. How ya been, Cam? I heard you went down to visit your papa recently. How’d that go?”
Everyone gets seated while I dive into carving up the turkey. Plates are being passed all around and I’m breathing a heavy sigh of relief that the main focus of the dinner table discussion isn’t about my outfit of choice; mine, Lauren, and Caleb’s relationship and how "unnatural" it is to be polyamorous; or even about me and Caleb’s past split-up. It’s about the future, it’s about our plans to take back Aaron’s POA and to bring him here.
Maria gapes at Lauren. “So you say Aaron actually responded to Caleb?”
Lauren beams. “Yeah, he, like, smiled a little bit and cried when I was interpreting for Caleb, telling him everything he wanted to say out loud but couldn’t, and then, when Caleb asked him to, he blinked… twice!”
“Oh, well, if that’s not fate hard at work, I’m not sure what else to call it.” Crinkles form around Maria’s eyes as she smiles softly. “I bet Aaron could sense your hopeful energies.”
The corners of Cameron’s lips turn down as he looks down at his plate, moving the food around with his fork. “Yeah, but he didn’t respond to anything else like that the rest of the time I was there. The nurse said it could have been a fluke.”
I watch as Lauren’s hand covers Caleb’s thigh, stroking lightly. “Well, we both know what we saw. Right, babe?”
Caleb nods, but he doesn’t look as convinced as Lauren is about Aaron’s reaction being purposeful.
“Doeshe speak at all?” Natalie asks.
“Nothing coherent, if he does,” Cameron tells her. “Mostly, he just makes noises. Grunts, groans, moans… that kinda stuff.”
Ned glances up from across the table, eyeing his son whose own eyes are downcast. He clears his throat. “Caleb, it’s not your fault.”
Nana Wilmot lets her fork hit the plate with a clatter. She fixes Caleb with a pointed look. “Who told you that accident was your fault?”
“No one,” I assure her. “He blames himself.”
“And who here has told him that’s complete bullshit?”
“Nana,language,” Natalie hisses, but raises her hand anyway. In fact, nearly everyone around the table raises their hand, aside from the four youngest.
Brody looks up from his plate and stops chewing. Suddenly, he gets up from his seat and nudges his way in between Caleb and me, sitting right on Caleb’s lap. My eleven-year-old son looks my partner dead in the eye and says to him, “Caleb, I’m going to tell you what my mum tells me all the time. Sometimes, shitty things just happen—”
There’s a collective gasp around the table from just about everyone aside from Caleb, who can’t; me, who is not surprised by her use of crass language with Brody at all; and Lauren, who is pinching the bridge of her nose and shaking her head.
Brody just smirks before carrying on. “Bad things happen, and there’s no rhyme or reason for it sometimes. They justdo. But Mum also tells me that sometimes not all those terrible things have bad outcomes. Lots of times, there are silver whinings—”
“Linings, babe,” Lauren interjects. “Silverlinings.”
Brody’s brows pinch in confusion right before he shrugs. “Whatever. Like, rainbows after a real bad storm or somethin’. Yeah, it sucksreal bad what happened to Cameron’s papa, but he’s still alive, right? That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
