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“Cool. I wanna see Renzo on a horse.” Joe grinned as they made their way in that direction.
“That I want to see.” Renzo’s dad, who was apparently Joe Senior, made a rare comment, showing an even rarer smile that was identical to Renzo’s and Joe’s.
They made a lengthy detour at the castle to explore. It had been years since Canaan had done Disney, and it was really fun seeing all the stuff he’d forgotten about. After the carousel, they had lunch at a nearby eatery styled like an old-fashioned tavern with lots of long wood tables and big pint jars for glasses.
Canaan got a chicken pasta dish, and had to joke to Renzo, “This is good, but the chicken you made was better.”
“Renzo cooked? For you?” Gina’s eyes got wide, and Canaan wondered if he’d revealed too much.
“And my grandpa. It was really good. You taught him well.”
“You always were a good little helper.” She reached over and patted Renzo, who was turning several shades of pink.
“It was nothing. Your stuff is better,” Renzo told her. “Wish Canaan could have your Sunday gravy.”
“Maybe he can,” Joe said brightly. “You could bring him to visit.”
Canaan’s throat ached at the suggestion, making him swallow hard. Damn, but he’d like a future like that, meeting the rest of Renzo’s family.
“Maybe,” Renzo said weakly, quashing some of Canaan’s hopes with his lack of enthusiasm. Perhaps things weren’t going as well as Canaan thought. But he couldn’t dwell on that too much as they continued their way through the park. They got a picture of Joe with a fairy princess.
“You used to have such a crush on her,” Renzo’s mom remarked to Renzo.
“Long time ago,” Renzo mumbled, eyes turned down like he wouldn’t mind the cobbled street swallowing him up.
“I think it’s cute,” Canaan whispered to him when Gina had returned her attention to Joe. Maybe Gina had meant it to remind Renzo that he liked women too. But since it wasn’t like Renzo and the princess were gonna run off together, Canaan simply enjoyed the glimpse at Renzo’s younger self. If either Gina or Joe Senior had a problem with Canaan being a guy, they did a pretty good job suppressing it, and Canaan wasn’t going to waste time worrying about their long-term approval.
Obviously, that approval meant something to Renzo, but Canaan couldn’t really control their reactions, so he tried to focus on the things he could do to help like making Joe and Renzo laugh by trying on silly hats with them and clowning around on the teacup ride. Joe got tired in the late afternoon, so they relaxed at one of the live action shows so he could recharge.
“Is he going to be okay for the parade’s lights?” Canaan asked Renzo in a low whisper at dinner at a jungle-themed place.
“Yeah. He’s on pretty strong medicines for the epilepsy. Generally lights aren’t a trigger for him, and Ma will make sure he has enough rest before doing more tomorrow.”
It took them a while to make their way to the part of the park where the light parade took place, and Joe wasn’t the only tired one—Canaan was definitely looking forward to getting his feet up too.
“You doing okay?” Renzo surprised him by tugging him close as they waited for the parade to start.
“I am now.” He relaxed into Renzo’s embrace. They weren’t the only same-sex couple—he’d seen more than one set of rainbow ears during the day, and down the block from them, two guys wearing Mr. & Mr. T-shirts were holding hands. Renzo’s father had finally pocketed his phone, and he was holding Renzo’s mom’s hand as they stood behind Joe a little ways down from them.
Renzo dipped his head to whisper in Canaan’s ear. “I checked. Our room’s on a different floor.”
“Right on.” Suddenly Canaan was wide awake again and counting down the minutes until he got Renzo alone.
“I’ll help Ma get Joe settled, but maybe you can watch TV or something while you wait for me.”
“Or something.” Canaan had plans.
“No turning me on while we’re supposed to watch the parade.”
“You’re no fun.” Canaan desperately wanted to kiss him, but that might be pushing the PDA Renzo was comfortable with, so he contented himself with enjoying the closeness.
The parade was every bit as magical as he’d remembered as a kid, more so maybe because he had Renzo at his back, arms lazily wrapped around Canaan’s front as the lights streamed by, each float and illusion more spectacular than the last.
“Hey, it’s your princess,” he teased Renzo as one of the illuminated floats went by.
“I don’t need a princess.” Renzo squeezed him tighter, making warmth spread out from Canaan’s chest.
As the parade wound down, Renzo released him so that he could push Joe back to the entrance, where they turned in the wheelchair. After a day spent sitting, Joe was rather unsteady, and Renzo tenderly took his elbow to lead him back.
