“You loved them too, but you always gave me yours,” I said. “Trick-or-treating was the only time all year we got candy, which was your favorite thing on earth.” I took a king-size pack out of the box and handed it to Lark as I told him, “You were such a good big brother.”
“Don’t you do it.” His dark eyes shone with tears, and he shook his head. “Don’t you make me cry in front of Hal and Lucky. They don’t know I’m a total sap.”
“It’s your own fault for being this thoughtful,” I said with a smile.
I might have been able to hold it together, if it wasn’t for the last gift. Lark had painted a wooden frame with stars and rainbows. It held a picture of Owen and me, surrounded by Lark and Dylan, and Yolanda and JoJo, and Kel and Eliot. JoJo’s photographer friend had snapped it the month before, when she was taking engagement photos of the fiancées in the backyard.
At the top of the frame, glittery letters spelled out the word family.
As tears stung my eyes, I grabbed my brother in a hug and whispered, “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Logan.”
It took us a minute or two to get our emotions in check. After we finally let go of each other, I looked around the room at my housemates and said, “I want to thank you not just for today, but for opening your home and your hearts to Owen and me. Given the way I grew up, the idea of family always carried a lot of pain and mixed emotions. But you’ve shown me what a family is supposed to be, in the best and most beautiful sense of the word. I’m so glad all of you are a part of my life, and I’m incredibly grateful that my son gets to grow up surrounded by this much love, kindness, and acceptance.”
Eliot took off his glasses and wiped his eyes. Then he got up and told us, “I’m just going to say this once. I love all of you. Now I fully intend to get drunk, so who wants to help me make a giant vat of Bloody Marys?”
Hal jumped up and said, “Hell yes, let’s make two,” and they hurried to the kitchen.
I reached up and put my family portrait in the center of the fireplace mantel. Then Lucky drew me onto his lap. He was so sweet. He held me and rubbed my back while I curled into him.
While the conversation around the room turned to lighter subjects, I whispered, “I didn’t expect this to be such an emotional day.”
He kissed my forehead before saying, “I think it’s wonderful that you live in a home with so much love.”
* * *
Lucky spent another couple of hours with us before taking off. I told him he was welcome to stay longer, but he said he wanted to give me a chance to spend some time with Hal since I didn’t get to see my best friend very often. Before he left, he kissed me and told me how much he was looking forward to coming back for the wedding the following weekend.
Later on, when Hal and I were by ourselves in the kitchen, he asked, “So, now can we talk about the gorgeous man who’s totally crazy about you?”
“You think he’s crazy about me?”
My best friend stared at me like I’d just sprouted a second head. “Duh! Don’t tell me you’d somehow failed to notice.”
I started fidgeting with the baby monitor as I shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s incredibly nice, and a very affectionate person. I can see how that might look like he’s into me.”
Hal dragged both hands over his face as he muttered, “Oh my god.” Then he met my gaze and said, “Logan, that man is smitten. And I think you are, too.”
“It doesn’t matter what I am. In a month, he’s moving as far away as possible without actually leaving the continent.”
“And what are you going to do? Just wave goodbye and never see him again?”
“No. I’m planning to stay in touch, because we’re friends.”
He sighed at that. “Friends. Yeah, right. You and I are friends, Lo. When was the last time you made out with me, or sat on my lap, or gazed at me longingly across a crowded room?”
“Um, never?”
“Exactly, because friends don’t do that. Boyfriends do!”
“Which one of us gazed longingly across the room?”
“Both of you. When the party was in full swing, you’d look around every few minutes, and as soon as you saw Lucky, this expression that said, ‘my god, I totally fucking want that man’ would cross your face.”
I asked, “Did I really do that?”
“Repeatedly. And holy hell, the way he looked at you when you weren’t watching! Do you know what I’d give for my boyfriend to look at me like that?”
“Like what, exactly?”
“Like you’re the most beautiful, amazing, wonderful thing in the entire universe.”
“Really? He did that?” When Hal nodded, I asked, “So, what am I supposed to do? You and I already talked about this. Lucky has to go to Miami because he made a commitment to his dad, and Owen and I need to stay here with our family.”
“I know. But now that I’ve seen you two together, it just breaks my heart.”
I sighed quietly and admitted, “It breaks mine, too.”