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Nolan and Bryce look at Matt, both raising their eyebrows like they’re waiting for something. Matt nods quickly. Even smile a little. Nolan and Bryce look back at us, smiling too. “We’re in.”
“What about me?” Max asks, his voice trembling. I feel slightly guilty that I forgot he was even in the room. Then again, most of this hasn’t been relevant to him. “Do I go back to Ronan or…?”
My heart breaks for him as I realize the trembling isn’t from fear or anxiety. It’s from hope. “No, Max. I’m sorry. Ronan is - you can’t see him until he’s done with his operation. But you’re more than welcome to come live with us.”
“And when he’s done, Ronan will be able to come to the house for me?”
“Yes.” I mean, I can’t guarantee that’s Ronan’s plan, but I’m not going to say as much. “Of course.”
“Okay.” Max looks away from all of us, picking fuzzies off his socks. “I’m in too, then.”
Travis and I exchange a look before I glance over at Dr. Singh. He seems to be able to sense that we have no idea what to do next, giving me a sympathetic smile. “Does anyone else need anything from Travis or Jake?”
There’s a long stretch of silence where everyone takes turns looking at each other. When no one speaks up, Dr. Singh asks, “Travis, Jake, do either of you need anything?”
“No, I’m good,” I say before Travis adds, “Thanks for letting us talk with you guys.” I nod, agreeing with the thanks.
“Then if you two don’t mind, we’re going to finish up this session just survivors. But thank you for being willing to give them this.”
“Yeah, thank you,” Nolan chimes.
Bryce just eyes us skeptically. Matt is still smiling ever so slightly, though his eyes are far away like he’s thinking about something else. Probably cats.
I’m going to spoil the absolute fuck out of those cats.
And spoil the absolute fuck out of each of these boys. Starting with my own. I walk over to the couch, leaning down to press a kiss to the crown of Casey’s head. Then I leave him behind with his friends and head to Ace’s office.
We have a house to buy for our family.
Epilogue
Jake
I can’t help but smile when I enter our new home’s pool room, the familiar scent of chlorine and sound of a body splashing in water making me too damn happy. Or maybe it’s just the boy I associate those things with. Casey pushes away from his friends, his hair wild and half-plastered to his face. He does a little hop when he sees me, adorably excited. “Daddy!” Yeah, it’s definitely the boy.
“Hey, little fish.” I get as close as I can without falling in and squat down, smiling at him as he swims up to me. I love that he calls me that so freely now. Despite all of our friends knowing that it was a part of our dynamic, the first time he slipped and called me that in front of them he nearly melted right into the floor. But no one made fun of him - or me - and soon after he started slowly letting it come out more and more. I’m still Jake to him sometimes, too. Usually when he’s being serious or is feeling extra-Casey - his words, not mine, but I completely understand what he means by them. Interestingly enough, I usually become Jake in bed whenever he rides me. But mostly I’m his daddy. And I fucking love every second of it.
“It’s almost bedtime. You still need a bath, too.”
He glides through the water before settling with his arms on the lip of the pool, his head tilted back. His eyes are huge as he gives me his best pouty lip. “But daddy… everyone else is having fun.”
“They’ll all be going to bed soon, too. Won’t you, boys?” I ask, lifting an eyebrow at them.
“Yes, Casey’s daddy,” Bryce teases.
“I’m actually getting out now anyway,” Nolan adds, swimming toward the stairs and exchanging a looking with Maison. “Night everyone.”
Bryce and Casey call goodbye while Matt waves and Maison stands up to join Nolan in his exit. I left Ace upstairs with Keats, the two of them having slipped into boring talk about technology and hacking that always gives me a headache. Travis and Carter already left for the night to their apartment.
“See?” I nod toward the door where Nolan and Maison just disappeared. “Everyone’s going to bed. Let’s get going.”
“Five more minutes?” he asks, bringing the big eyes and pout out again. “Please, daddy?”
I smile, far too weak for my boy. “Five more minutes.”
With a squeak of excitement, he pushes onto his toes to kiss my cheek and hurries off to his remaining friends, laughing when Bryce tries - and epically fails - to do a handstand underwater. I leave them to it, already knowing I’m going to be naughty and let him stay down here longer than five minutes. I still need to wash the dishes that have been soaking in the sink since dinner and take the garbage can to the end of the dirt road. It's not like he has a strict bedtime or anything. It's more that he had a nightmare last night, so he didn't sleep great, and I'd still like to spend some time lazily fucking him and then reading to him tonight. If he really wanted to tell me no, he could. We have a code for that - like a safe word. But he's only used it once, when Nolan was having a hard time I didn't know about and he didn't want to leave his friend alone.
The night air is crisp as I bring the garbage out, a stillness to it that usually means snow is coming. Casey isn't as excited for winter as he was for autumn, but Nolan is plenty excited to make up for it. He's already sneaking Christmas decorations into each room despite us all telling him he can't decorate until after Thanksgiving. He's hard to say no to. They all are. Not that any of us mind too much.
