by Aiden Bates
"How is Vinny, anyway? Is he still in Honolulu?" Luke smiled at Jay as she continued to scribble on her notepad. "Extra sauce, please ."
"Like I'd forget. Vinny's my big brother," she told him, rolling her eyes. "He's in Greece right now, trying to 'find himself' or something. Papa just about killed him because he wouldn't come to Rome to see him ."
"I'd like the chicken Parmesan," Jay said, letting the gossip flow over him. When they'd first started coming here, he'd tried to keep it all straight. Now, he knew better; even if he did remember the story, he was going to hear it from all three members of the family .
"Already put the order in," she said, winking at them. "I'm just killing time until that couple at table seventeen stops sucking face ."
"What if I'd wanted the meatball marinara today? What then?" Luke asked, his hands on his hips .
Mia grinned. "I'd have checked your temperature, and then Dad would have come out and checked your temperature, and Papa would have called Uncle Robert and made sure that you weren't replaced by a pod person." She skipped away from the table as Luke tried to swat her, her shoes clicking against the tile .
"Brat," Luke called after her. "Shit, I forgot to have her bring us some wine. Let me go grab some out of the kitchen ."
"No," Jay blurted. "It's okay. I think I'm dehydrated." He made a show of drinking his ice water, hiding a wince as his head ached from the cold .
"Did you run out of water in your studio? You should hire a service to restock that basket of yours. There's one that caters to all the office break rooms in downtown that I could recommend." Luke pushed his glass of water to Jay's side of the table .
Guiltily, Jay traced his fingers through the smear of condensation left on the table. "I haven't really painted much lately because of the house search. I was at the gallery this morning," he said truthfully, "talking to Bonnie about the show she's putting together for this spring ."
"You're not going to be short on paintings, are you? You've still got a couple months, and you had a bunch of finished canvases last time I went by." Luke frowned, reaching across the table to catch Jay's hand .
The warmth of those fingers threading through his made Jay realize how cold he'd gotten. "I should have enough, but she's setting it up a little differently this time because I'm putting in some watercolors and maybe acrylics," he said carefully. Luke wasn't completely clueless about the art world, and he almost hoped that the alpha was able to read between the lines so that he wouldn't have to spell it out .
"Oh?" Luke said, attentive, but unconcerned, and Jay was tempted to pout. "I've always found it interesting how artists get inspired to try different mediums ."
Jay opened his mouth to say something, he wasn't sure what, when Emilio appeared next to their table, popping into existence without crossing the intervening feet to the kitchen. He set their food down in silence, and Jay felt compelled to fill the silence .
"Thank you. It looks wonderful ."
"The plate is hot," Emilio said, keeping his head down. "Don't burn yourself ."
"We'll be careful, zio," Luke said, and the omega turned to him with a glare .
"Don't you speak to me, you rat. You leave a nice omega sitting alone in my restaurant, and then smile like your charming face is going to get you out of trouble? If you were my Vinny, I would take you over my knee and swat you until you remembered how to treat people ."
Muffling laughter in his napkin, Jay watched Luke stammer an apology. Emilio was tall enough to loom over the tables, but like his daughter, he was so slender that he looked like he could snap in half at any moment. The sheer force of his personality had Luke curling in on himself repentantly, despite that .
"I'm keeping my eye on you, you hear me? I'm gonna watch you like a hawk," Emilio snapped. Jay flinched a little when he turned to his side of the table, but the omega just nodded. "You need anything, you tell me, and if this one leaves you waiting again, you call. I'll take the ruler to him, just like Papa used to ."
"Will do," Jay said, watching him stride back to the kitchen with his back ramrod straight. He couldn't hide a grin as he watched Luke straighten back up in his chair, his ears flushed a bright red .
"It's not that funny," Luke muttered, stealing his glass of water back to take a sip .
"It really is," Jay said before he remembered what he was here for. He cleared his throat, trying to think of a good way to open the subject. "I'm still not sure about whether to try watercolors or to stick with acrylics." Frustrated, he glared at the potted plant hanging off the shelf over their heads. "Watercolors have such a bad reputation, but I really love the different effects you can achieve." No, no, no. He narrowly resisted groaning .
"They're more difficult, too, aren't they?" Luke asked, picking up his fork. "I remember Liam talking about how hard it was for his artist friends to get used to not being able to just cover up mistakes when they had to stop using oils while they were pregnant." He took a big bite of his lasagna, oblivious to the way Jay stared at him. "I always liked watercolors. It's a pity more artists don't use them. I can't wait to see what you come up with ."
Picking his jaw up, Jay stuffed a piece of chicken in his mouth to keep from just blurting it out like he had with Marcus. He was going to do this right this time if he could figure out what 'right' was. "Liam had friends who worked in watercolors ?"
"Only while they were pregnant," Luke said, sounding genuinely disappointed. "A few of them were really good, but they went back to oils as soon as they could take the smell. What made you decide to try them out?" He held out a piece of lasagna for Jay .
Jay took a deep breath, setting his fork down and squaring his shoulders. Pushing the forkful of lasagna aside, he caught Luke's hand and tried to smile. "I puked my guts up when I went into the studio yesterday ."
It took a moment for the words to sink in. Luke frowned, his lips forming a concerned question, but the only thing that came out was a strangled squeak as his brain caught up. His eyes lit up, delighted for a brief moment before he shook himself a little. "You should get checked out by a doctor," he said, his voice calm. It was all an act, his hand trembling in Jay's grip .
"I went to a clinic right after," he said, his voice gentle. He'd expected Luke to be happier about this, but now he felt like he was walking through a minefield. "I'm due in July ."
Luke's grip was tight enough to cut off the circulation in Jay's fingers, but he might as well have been carved from stone for all the reaction that got. "Congratulations. Are you... Do you..." The mask faltered slightly, and he cleared his throat. "If there's anything you need, just let me know." He seemed to realize he was still holding on to Jay and jerked his hand back. "Excuse me a moment ."
"Luke..." He couldn't get out of the booth fast enough to stop him from fleeing to the bathroom. "Shit." Pulling out his phone, he hit the speed dial and got a busy signal .
"SOS —Jay "
"On the phone with him now. Call Teddy. —Marcus "
Leaning back in his seat with a groan, Jay waited for the call to connect .
"I'm supposed to tell you not to panic," Teddy said. "Also, congratulations ."
"I knew Marcus couldn't keep his damned mouth shut. Kurt better not know," he said, picking up his fork. His appetite had completely vanished, but his stomach was rumbling ominously .
"He didn't tell me anything," Teddy said, his voice wry, "but I can do the math. Don't ask me to babysit, please. Babies terrify me ."
"I'm not exactly an expert myself. How's
Marcus doing ?"
"I don't think he's getting anywhere. What? Oh. I'm supposed to lie and tell you that it's going great ."
Jay laughed and took a bigger bite of his food. "Thank you for being honest ."
"You're welcome. Luke will come around eventually. It took us almost a month to convince him that it was okay to use the kitchen at night, but we did it." He hummed thoughtfully. "If all else fails, we'll sic Cody on him ."
"Let's leave that as a last resort," Jay said. "I like him with all his limbs." He tried to smile reassuringly at Mia as she walked past, headed for the kitchen. "Do you know what Luke is saying? Is he... not happy about this ?"
Teddy was quiet for a long time, and Jay could hear Marcus in the background, his voice a soothing rumble. "He's not unhappy," he replied after a moment .
"That's not reassuring," Jay said, his sweaty fingers slipping on his fork and making it clatter against his plate .
"Sorry. I'm bad at reassuring. Let me try again." He actually paused to clear his throat, and Jay had to swallow a laugh. "He's really happy, but he doesn't want to be. It's a Luke thing. Things that make him happy have a bad habit of being taken away, you know ?"
Heart melting in his chest, Jay nodded. "Yeah, I know ."
"Oops. I think he just hung up on Marcus. Good luck. Let me know if we need to send Cody in ."
The line went dead, and Jay barely had time to tuck his phone back in his pocket before Luke slid back into the booth, his collar damp where he'd obviously splashed water on his face .
"Sorry about that." He picked up his fork and stabbed his lasagna with force .
"It's okay," Jay said, smiling reassuringly. "It's big news. I can't expect you to take it in all at once. I still haven't fully processed it, myself ."
That was the wrong thing to say, Luke's fork scratching across his plate unpleasantly. "Keep me apprised of your decision," he said like this was some legal brief he was discussing. His voice was too calm, too even, for the way his hands were shaking. He licked his lips, swallowing hard like there was something jammed in his throat .
It was the language that made it click, and Jay almost smacked himself. "I thought we'd make those kinds of decisions together," he said firmly. "If you'd feel better with some kind of legally binding contract, we can work on that..." He tried to remember what else Cody had told him to watch out for .
"Marry me ."
"What?" Jay's fork slid out of his hand and tumbled to the floor .
There was a bright red flush sneaking up Luke's neck, and he looked like he wanted to snatch the words back, but he set his jaw and nodded. "Marry me ."
He could think of a hundred reasons that was a terrible idea right off the top of his head, but he understood the impulse. "You hate marriage," Jay said, his voice trembling .
Luke looked away, shrugging. "Maybe I won't hate it with you ."
"That's an awful lot to risk on a maybe," he said .
Mia sidled up to the table with a replacement fork, and he gave her a wan smile. She didn't linger, and he was grateful .
"It's not a risk," Luke said. "Even after ten years, I still couldn't stay away from you ."
It was the sweetest thing that Luke had ever said to him, but Jay shook his head. "If you can honestly tell me that you didn't think of asking me in the last ten minutes, then I'll consider it." Luke ducked his head, picking at his lasagna. "Exactly. I'm not going to mess up both of our lives by rushing into anything,” Jay continued. “What if things went south? I don't want our kid to be stuck in the middle of that ."
Reluctantly, Luke nodded. "That makes sense ."
Jay couldn't hope to guess what he was thinking, so he decided to put his cards on the table. "I'm not saying that it'll never happen," he said, catching Luke's hand again before the alpha could do too much damage to his food. "I just don't think that now is the right time for that. That also doesn't mean that I'm going to let you off the hook. This is your kid, too, so you're coming to all the doctor's appointments and stuff with me ."
"That... sounds great," Luke said, a small smile stretching the corners of his lips .
"Great," Jay said, picking up his fork. "Now, you might want to tell the guys and put Marcus out of his misery. Oh, and Marcello. I don't want to hear the lecture if he finds out you didn't tell him before we left ."
"Are you sure?" he asked, looking for a moment as timid and unassuming as he had back in college .
Nodding, Jay stole a piece of lasagna off his plate. "If you don't, then I will. I don't want Cody to hunt me down and kill me ."
"He's not that scary," Luke muttered, picking up his phone. "I'm going to call Uncle Robert, first ."
"He really, really is," Jay said, waving Mia over. "I'm ordering dessert ."
17
"W hen the hell did you have time to make that ?"
Luke didn't bother to look away from the beautiful crib that Jay was unwrapping as Kurt wrestled with Teddy .
"It only took three weeks," Teddy replied, shoving him off to one side. "The hardest part was waiting for my wood order to come in. It's teak ."
"We've only known about the baby for six days," Cody said from somewhere on the other side of the towering pile of wrapping paper .
"It's gorgeous," Jay said, running his hands over the smooth wood. "Thank you so much ."
"You're welcome," Teddy said, pushing his glasses up on his nose with a pleased smile .
"I don't know where you're going to fit all this," Marcus said, glancing at the gifts stacked around the room. "We probably should have waited for the actual baby shower ."
"All that means," Kurt said, munching on one of the cupcakes that Nikolai had brought from some hole-in-the-wall Russian bakery, "is that we all have a few months to try and top Teddy's gift ."
"It's not a contest," Marcus said .
"Yes, it is," Kurt replied, sticking his tongue out .
Luke had to cough to cover his laugh as Jay and Marcus rolled their eyes at the same time. "Do you know when Brendan and Greg are getting in ?"
"Not till the 29th," Marcus said, helping Jay stack some of the gifts out of the way so that they could all see each other again. "Brendan's sister is coming to visit them for Christmas ."
"That will be nice." He got up, wincing when his back popped, and grabbed a handful of trash. "I'm going to go grab a bag for all this paper," he said, ducking his head to give Jay a kiss .
The omega smiled, flushed and cheerful despite the fact that he'd spent all morning ranting about how horrible his watercolor paintings were. The pictures looked fine to him, but Luke had wisely kept his mouth shut when he picked him up from his studio .
The kitchen was quiet, flour dusting everything despite his hasty attempts to clean up. There were containers of cookies everywhere, labeled for each of the guys to take with them, and then a few more just because he hadn't been able to stop. He was doing his best to keep his panic from showing, but he hadn't slept in a week. Jay was still house hunting, his realtor working hard to find listings that fit his new needs. Meanwhile, they'd held the impromptu party at Luke's because Jay's tiny apartment could barely fit the two of them .
It wasn't that he didn't think Jay deserved to have a house, but every time he closed his eyes, he could see the house in the suburbs with its empty shed. He didn't think he could stand to drive up to a cookie-cutter house every day again without losing his mind .
He would if he had to, though. He wasn't going to be l
ike Harry; his child would never have to call his best friend just to find out where he was that week .
"You okay ?"
Shaking himself a little, Luke realized that he was still standing in the kitchen, a trash bag in one hand and a handful of paper in the other. Jay was frowning at him, one hand resting warm and comforting on his arm. "Yeah, sorry. Just thinking ."
"Anything I can help with?" He held up Luke's phone. "You were ringing ."
"Just trying to decide if I should get a more family-friendly car," he said, the lie resting uneasily on his tongue. He stuffed the wrapping paper into the bag and grabbed his phone. "It was probably Uncle Robert. Give me a second to call him back ."
"Sure." He said it easily enough, but Luke could see him watching out of the corner of his eye .
"Hello, kiddo. Did you like the gift ?"
"The changing table set will be perfect." He shuffled to one side as Jay opened the fridge, pulling out drinks for everyone. "I can get those," he said, setting the trash bag down .
"I've got it," Jay said. "Talk to your uncle." He set the drinks on a tray that Luke had brought back from Costa Rica one summer; it was solid wood, heavy even without half a dozen drinks on it .
"Is that Jay? Tell him I'm sorry I couldn't make it today. I get on a plane back to the States in two hours ."
"Why don't you tell him yourself?" Luke said, shoving the phone into Jay's hands and grabbing the drinks. "I'll be right back." He ducked the swat that Jay aimed at him, swinging the tray around carefully to keep anything from spilling. "Just say hi ."
"I hate you," Jay hissed at him, tucking the phone against his ear. "Hello ?"
