Page 23 of Abbott’s Lost Spoon

I met Soren at the ice-cream shop at the end of his day. I’d taken to doing that on the nights he stayed later instead of having his employees do it. It was nice to see him in his element. Access to great ice cream was also good. Besides, on his late nights, I didn’t want to wait until he got home to see him.

I got there later than I planned, thanks to an issue with my computer at work, but it all worked out. He was just finishing up the paperwork.

“Let’s grab a quick bite on the way home,” he said.

“Thai?” A new restaurant had opened up on the corner that we’d been talking about trying.

We walked hand in hand to the restaurant and had some of the best food we’d eaten in a long time. We’d definitely be back.

“I know we were going to your place, but can we stop at mine first?” Soren placed his card on the tray with the bill.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” I didn’t see any reason not to.

I suspected he was up to something by how nervous he was acting when he asked, but there was no doubt left when we arrived. As soon as we got there, he didn’t wait for me to turn off the car and walk in with him. Nope. He raced inside. And when I knocked on the door, he opened it, but he didn’t smile.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Only he said it in the way that let me know it was absolutely something.

He took my hand. “I want to show you something. Close your eyes.”

I did.

I half expected to go into the kitchen to discover a new ice-cream bowl or possibly a new hook on the bathroom door that would work well with my pajamas. Instead, he led me to the spare bedroom.

When he opened it, my jaw dropped. This wasn’t just a spare bedroom anymore. In fact, it wasn’t a spare anything. It was a little’s room. It had a sticker wall even larger than the one I had, and mounted on the wall next to it was a basket filled with stickers.

There were shelves with books and toys on them. A couple of baskets on the floor held blocks and cars. One of those human dog beds was on the floor. A small table with a rolling cart next to it held craft supplies. And in the center, a huge rug had dinosaurs all labeled with what kind they were.

“You made this for me?” I choked up. How could I not? Everything in here was tailored to me. This wasn’t generic by any means. It was mine. “When did you do this?”

“I’ve been working on it,” he admitted.

“Why now?” It wasn’t my birthday, and there were no holidays coming up.

“Well, I’ve been thinking. You have some clothes here. You have some of your food here. You have some of your little things here, but what you didn’t have was a place that was your own. And I thought if maybe you had one, you might consider being here all the time.”

“Are you…are you asking me to live here?”

He took both my hands. “I love you, Abbott. I love waking up beside you. I love falling asleep with you in my arms. I love coming home to you.”

He kissed my forehead.

“Right now, in some ways, you’re a guest. And when I’m at your house, I’m a guest. I thought maybe when your lease is up, you could be here always.”

I chuckled.

“Did I say the wrong thing?”

“No. You said all the right things. I’ve been thinking about this recently too—that I wanted to be with you all the time. But I didn’t want to go too fast and scare you away or, worse, make you feel awkward.”

“So, what do you think?”

“Of course it’s a yes, Daddy.” I threw my arms around him and held him close. “It’s an absolute yes.”

Epilogue

Soren