Shea figured it was now safe to get back in the pool; plus, he wanted to talk to Christian to find out if he was okay. The way Quinn had practically carried him inside earlier had him really worried. Shea got in by the stairs and made his way over to where Christian was lounging against the wall in the deep end. Shea swam up and clung to the wall next to him.
“Hey,” Shea murmured.
Christian gave him a soft smile that made Shea’s heart flutter every time he saw it. “Hi.”
“Are you doing okay?” Shea asked, wishing so bad that he could touch Christian.
Christian nodded and moved closer. “Quinn knows,” he whispered.
Shea flinched as if slapped. “What?” he asked dryly, not sure he heard Christian right.
“I told Quinn, he knows.” Christian smiled.
Well, shit. “And?” Shea prompted.
Christian closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if he could breathe for the first time ever. “It’s fine. He doesn’t care, he’s actually happy for us,” Christian murmured, opening his eyes.
The look in Christian’s eyes made Shea have to choke back tears - he saw peace. For the first time in his life, Christian wasn’t worried or anxious, he was just calm and relaxed and full of joy.
“I want to kiss you so fucking badly right now.” Shea breathed.
Christian smirked. “Not yet, let me tell the rest of my family before we start doing that in front of them.”
“When?” Shea asked.
“Another day. I want Quinn and Margot to have their fifteen minutes of fame.”
Shea nodded. “Okay,” he agreed.
“Thank you,” Christian murmured, his eyes sincere and full of love as they bored into Shea’s.
“For what?” Shea asked, confused.
“Pushing me,” Christian replied. “I don’t think I would have ever told any of them if you hadn’t said what you said.”
Shea smiled softly. “You can thank me later if you’d like.”
“Oh, I plan on it,” Christian rasped.
Shea had to stifle a shudder at the promise in Christian’s tone.
“One, four, three,” Christian murmured.
Shea cocked his head. “Huh?”
“It’s the number of letters in the words I want to say, but too many people could read my lips if I actually say it,” Christian muttered, rolling his eyes.
“Oooh,” Shea said, understanding. Then he laughed and gave Christian a playful shove. “You’re so corny.”
Christian snorted. “Why do you think I rolled my eyes?”
“One, four, three, three,” Shea whispered with a stupid grin on his face.
Christian chuckled.
Shea really wanted to kiss him, badly, but he would refrain until all of Christian’s family knew. He was glad Christian told Quinn. He was surprised, though, at how fast it happened. He expected Christian to procrastinate and wait until the very last day of Shea’s threat to tell his family. This was great, though, went even better than Shea had hoped. Shea was so afraid that Christian was going to tell him to go fuck himself, that he wasn’t going to tell him family, but his ultimatum didn’t backfire on him. Thank fucking god!
That night, when they were getting ready to leave, Quinn grabbed Shea and pulled him into a hug. Shea “Oofed” and hugged Quinn back, giving him a couple of pats on the back. It was really weird, this new Quinn that hugs.
“Treat my brother right or I will beat the shit out of you,” Quinn whispered in his ear.
Shea smiled. It was a good sign if Quinn was threatening him with bodily harm if he didn’t treat Christian right. “I will, I promise,” Shea replied.
Quinn let him go and gave him a fond, brotherly smack on the face before smiling and winking at Shea. Shea rolled his eyes and followed Christian out the door. Shea got into the driver’s side and sighed.
“That party went much better than expected,” he said.
“Mmm hmm.”
Shea looked over to see Christian with his head back and his eyes closed. Yeah, Shea was beat, too. Being out in the sun and playing in the pool with the kids all day was exhausting. Shea had no idea how Henry and Sebastian kept up with those maniacs they call children. Just one day with the four of them was enough. The kids were all over him, constantly calling, “Shea, Shea, Shea,” that he was ready to change his name by the time they all crashed in the living room on the floor and couches. By this time next year, there were going to be five kids in all, once Quinn and Margot have their baby, and who know who else is going to get pregnant again by that time. Shea figured it was kind of a good thing that Christian and he couldn’t have babies, because with the amount of sex they had, he couldn’t even begin to imagine all of the kids they would pop out.
~Chapter 8~
Shea jumped when his cell phone started to vibrate his ass. Luckily, he wasn’t in the process of using a saw or something, because that could have gone very wrong. He did, however, have a bunch of screws in his mouth since he was in the middle of putting up drywall. Shea dug his phone out of his pocket with one hand and looked at the screen. Christian? Why was Christian calling him? He knew Shea was working late today. Shea hit the answer button and put the phone to his ear.