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Christian joined us a couple of minutes later and smiled when he saw Cooper reading to the chicken. He snapped a photo on his phone and said, “Shea needs to see this,” then sent his husband the picture.
“Cooper’s a special little kid,” Gabriel said.
“He really is.” There was so much love in Christian’s eyes when he said that. “He was dealt a truly shitty hand in life, but he’s so strong and resilient. He just has this unshakable optimism, and he finds joy in whatever he’s doing. I think I learn as much from him as he learns from me.”
“Well, life certainly dealt him a great new hand when he found you and Shea. You’re both amazing dads,” Gabriel said.
“Thanks. I know we don’t always get everything right, but we’re trying our best.”
Gabriel asked, “Do you think being a dad has changed you?”
“Yeah, in some ways. A tangible change is that I paint my murals on big canvases now, instead of on buildings that don’t belong to me. Before, getting arrested only affected me, but now it could jeopardize the adoption and Cooper’s entire future.” Christian grinned and added, “I probably should have outgrown the graffiti outlaw thing by now anyway, even if Cooper hadn’t come into our lives.”
I asked, “What does Shea do for a living?”
Christian immediately took out his phone again and beamed with pride as he pulled up a photo. “He’s a brilliant comic book artist. Check it out, this is the gay superhero series he’s been publishing for the last six months. It totally sold out its first and second runs. We’re thinking about going to Comic Con in San Diego next year to promote it. Cooper says if we do that we need to plan a family costume, and his top choice is to go as a trio of Ewoks. God help me.”
I took a look at the photo of a professional-looking comic book cover and said, “Okay, it’s official. All of Gabriel’s friends are the coolest people ever.”
Christian smiled at me as he returned the phone to his pocket. “Make sure you tell Cooper that. He thinks Shea and I are dorks.”
I said, “He’ll be right if you wear those Ewok costumes,” which made him laugh.
When we turned back to Cooper, his eyelids were heavy, and he kept listing toward the book. Apparently all that chicken chasing had worn him out. Christian went into the classroom and said, “It’s about time to head home, buddy.”
The kid immediately got teary-eyed and exclaimed, “No! I want to stay with Loco!”
Christian gently set the book aside and picked up the boy, who was hugging the chicken. “How about asking our new friend Harper if we can visit Loco again sometime?”
“Tomorrow!”
“Okay. Let’s go see.”
As we followed them back to the main part of the building, Cooper started to nod off, but before he did, he muttered, “Dad, can we get a pet chicken?” He fell asleep a moment later.
When we reached Shea, his brow creased with concern as he asked his husband, “Is everything okay?”
That was when I noticed Christian’s eyes had filled with tears. “He just called me Dad,” he whispered, “right before he fell asleep. I didn’t realize just how much I wanted to hear that until he finally said it. I’m sure he’ll revert back to my name tomorrow when he’s wide awake, but that felt amazing.” I barely knew these guys, but I was overjoyed for them.
Over the next few minutes, everyone packed up the leftovers and did a quick clean-up while Christian and Harper exchanged numbers and set up a playdate for the chicken. Then we headed out as a group, being careful not to wake the sleeping kid. Thank yous and goodbyes were exchanged as Shea locked the main door behind us. Then Christian and his family headed out in a black SUV, and Phoenix offered to drive Harper, the chicken, all of the chicken’s belongings back to Harper’s car. I thought it was a good sign that Phoenix was willing to offer that olive branch.
Meanwhile, Gabriel and I squeezed into the backseat of TJ’s vintage Mini Cooper. As we pulled away from the curb, Zachary turned around in the passenger seat and asked, “Did you guys remember your rabbits?”
I’d actually forgotten about them, but Gabriel pulled two from the pocket of his cardigan. I recognized mine because the ears were wonky and leaning to the left. He asked his friends, “What do you guys think, is the class a go?”
“Definitely, with some minor modifications,” TJ said. “We’re going to try to source slightly bigger parts and assemble some of each kit ahead of time, to make it easier for the kids.”
Gabriel said, “I think it’s great that you decided to teach kids how to make your artwork.”
“We’re so lucky to be able to make a living doing something we both love,” Zachary said, as he rested his hand on TJ’s thigh. “Call it karma or whatever you want, but it just feels right to give something back after being given so much.”
