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“To the aquarium!” shouted Mikey.
Everyone laughed. “We’ll plan that soon, Michael-Michael-Unicycle,” Elio agreed.
“Welcome to the family,” Ava told them. “Just warning you, you’re ours now.”
James was smiling. Like, really smiling so hard that his face hurt. His kids looked pretty happy, too.
Elio beamed like the sun.
Epilogue
Elio
One year later
* * *
Elio drove down the meandering road to the campsite, though he already recognized the cars and tents set up at three or four adjacent sites. Children darted here and there while adults were setting up camp or lounging around.
“Hey,” James asked beside him, “is this actually the same site we got last year?”
Elio took James’s hand and pressed the back to his lips. “Yep. I thought you’d appreciate that. Though my family always gets B loop if we can.”
“Because it has tadpoles!” Mikey announced from the back seat.
“Yep,” Elio agreed. “I got us the tadpole site.”
It had been a crazy year since the last time they were there. James had waffled a bit about committing to having Elio in his family’s life, but Elio and the kids had ganged up on him. They’d even made it out to a few museums, and Elio had bought a family membership to the aquarium.
Nothing said commitment like a family membership to the aquarium. Or at least that had been Elio’s thinking.
He would take every moment with Daddy and his kids that he could get his greedy hands on.
His reward had been James slowly pulling him into their daily lives, starting with an offer in November to pick up the kids from school every Thursday when James worked late. By December, there’d been an informal assumption that they’d spend every weekend together—whether it was taking the kids out for an adventure, or the alternating weekends when Catherine had them and Elio got to spend some more “adult” time with his man.
They’d kept up the ruse of sleeping in different beds for exactly four nights before Mikey had woken up with a sore throat at two a.m., and now they didn’t even pretend.
Elio knew the three of them weren’t entirely his family yet, but he and James were exclusive, and he told himself that was all the commitment he needed. He’d been all-in since practically the first week, but he could give James time to see if he wanted more.
He knew that James was slower to make decisions, and that of course it was different with kids. So he accepted the jigsaw pieces of James’s time that he got and tried to savor all of them. Having a whole week together right now—with built-in babysitters and some time with the kids—was going to be heavenly.
Maybe it was time to say the big L word. It had been pushing at his lips for months, but, again, he wanted to give James time. James could be wild in bed, but he was still cautious around his children, and around his heart.
Elio pulled into the drive, and the kids were practically running as soon as he shifted into park.
“Mikey! Galaxy!” Elio shouted as soon as he got out. James’s eldest was going by Galaxy these days. “You can play with the cousins, but tell someone if you’re going past the De Luca area. What are the lake rules?”
“No going past the log!” Mikey shouted back.
“Do you think he needs a reminder?” James asked as he came around the car.
Elio shrugged. “Cassidy’s down there with Lila.” That was his older sister and a niece.
They both watched Mikey for a moment as he took off his shoes and actually placed his socks inside. He even asked Cassidy if he could use a cup before grabbing one.
James wrapped one arm around Elio’s waist and rested his head on Elio’s shoulder. “Mikey’s come a long way this year.”
“He really has,” Elio agreed. Adderall was miraculous, but Mikey had worked hard, too. Elio felt his own sense of pride watching him blossom.
