Chapter 17
Chapter seventeen
“Uncle Sergio! Wake up!”
Sergio’s eyes open quickly. He turns and braces himself for Henry’s typical morning slam into his balls. But instead, he sees Henry stopping in his tracks, skidding on his heels on the carpeted floor.
“What’s Jeremy doing here?” Henry asks with huge, mind-blown eyes.
“I was trying to get some much-needed sleep,” Jeremy says, reaching his hand out from under the covers to ruffle Henry’s hair.
“But you sleep in the barn,” Henry says. His head tilts to the side. Sergio can practically see him doing the mental math of how Jeremy ended up in Sergio’s bed instead of his own above the ice rink.
“Told you we should have gone back to your place last night,” Sergio mumbles against Jeremy’s neck.
“At least he didn’t wake us with a kick in the balls,” Jeremy whispers to him.
“Thank god.” They both chuckle, and Sergio lifts his head off the pillow. He takes his attention to Henry, who looks like he’s still genuinely confused. “Let me guess,” he says. “Breakfast is almost ready?”
“Yeah! How’d you know?”
“Just a hunch.”
“Did you wake up your Uncle Adrien yet?”
“Nope. You first!”
“Because I’m your favorite?”
“No. Because I like to let Uncle Adrien sleep more.”
Jeremy stifles a laugh with his hand, and Sergio lays his head back down on the pillow. “That’s fair,” he says, then lifts his head back up quickly, remembering that Adrien is also not alone in his bed. “Maybe knock on Uncle Adrien’s door instead of bursting through.”
“Okay!” Henry yells and runs out of the bedroom with two very enthusiastic thumbs up held high over his head. His footsteps thunder down the hallway.
“You were right,” Jeremy says, spinning in Sergio’s arms to lie face to face with him. “We should have at least locked the door last night.”
“Yeah, but then we wouldn’t have gotten to see his face.”
“Those wide eyes. I can’t with him,” Jeremy says as he nestles in a little closer to Sergio.
“He is awfully cute.” Sergio brings his hand to Jeremy’s face and cups his cheek with his palm, letting his thumb swipe slowly across his cheekbone. “But he’s not as cute as you.”
Jeremy rolls his eyes. “Oh, shut up. You already got me in bed with you. No need to keep being a sap.”
Sergio laughs and leans in closer. He brushes his nose against Jeremy’s. “I’m afraid that might be my default now.”
“I guess I can get used to it,” Jeremy says and kisses him as a slight rumbling comes from the space between the pillows and the headboard.
“Jeremy? Are you purring?”
“No.” Jeremy laughs against his lips. “That’s Gus. He always sleeps with me when I spend the night.”
Sergio’s eyes shoot open again. Even larger than they were when Henry announced his morning arrival. “Gus? As in Rose’s assassin cat, Gus?”
Jeremy reaches a hand above them and pets the cat lodged and resting somewhere within the mass of pillows. “He’s no assassin. He’s sweet.”
“Easy for you to say. This is the first day I’ve ever woken up here where he didn’t hiss at me and then fly out of the room like a bullet.”
“That’s hardly an assassination attempt,” Jeremy points out.
“Give it time. He’ll try to trip me before the day is through.”
“He’s checking your reflexes,” Jeremy says and extricates himself from Sergio’s hold to sit upright in bed. Once there, he pulls Gus into his lap and the cat immediately curls into a ball, purring even louder.
“I’ll take your word for that,” Sergio says, trying not to be jealous of the cat. However, since Gus isn’t hissing at him or even giving him his usual cat side eye, Sergio will take that as a win.
Getting out from underneath the covers, Sergio gathers his clothes from the floor.
Thankfully, Henry didn’t get more of an eyeful than he needed.
Not that Sergio or Jeremy fell asleep fully nude, but Sergio figures seeing your uncle and his new boyfriend—no matter how familiar Henry may already be with said boyfriend—isn’t exactly the best way for a five-year-old to spend their New Year’s morning.
Sergio shrugs on his shirt, then digs in his bag for a clean shirt and a spare pair of sweatpants for Jeremy to put on.
“Here you go,” he says, tossing them onto the bed beside Jeremy.
“Thanks,” Jeremy says as he puts on the shirt then gives Gus one last scratch to the space between his ears before rising to put the pants on. He pulls the drawstring tight to cinch them to fit his slimmer frame. “What do you think Holden made for breakfast today?”
Sergio steps into a pair of sweatpants as well. “My guess, pancakes and bacon. Maybe some sliced fruit as well.”
“That does seem to be his specialty.” Jeremy smiles, steals a kiss, then walks out the door.
Gus jumps off the bed and follows behind him before Sergio has a chance to get his feet moving.
There is, after all, a part of him that is still amazed he’s finally woken up here on New Year’s Day.
He was pinching himself all night after he finally saw the clock move past midnight.
He clutched Jeremy at his side for the rest of the party, worried if he let go for even a second, the time gods—or whoever it was that reset his day every day for the last ten months—was going to snatch his future away once again.
A future he desperately wants to begin today.
“Wait up!” he yells and runs to catch Jeremy at the stairs. He grabs his hand so they can walk down together.
“Be careful,” Jeremy says on the first step. “I hear there’s a murderous cat around here.”
“He usually tries to murder me in the kitchen,” Sergio explains.
“Ah, more sharp objects. I see his thought process. Though I must admit, the staircase makes for a better explanation of an”—he brings his free hand up to make one air quote—“accident.”
“Well, he is a cat after all. We can’t fault him for not having the best thought-out murder plots.”
“Yeah. That’s my job,” Adrien says from the top of the stairs where he and Daphne have appeared.
“You can’t still be out for my blood after yesterday, can you?” Sergio asks. “I fired you and flew your girlfriend out via private jet to spend the rest of the holidays with you. Surely I’ve earned a reprieve.”
“You’re my brother. I’ll always be trying to murder you.” Adrien sneaks up behind him at the bottom of the stairs and pushes himself and Daphne past. He looks over his shoulder at Sergio. “Lovingly, of course.”
“Of course,” Sergio agrees, laughing and glad to see that after everything, he and Adrien are back to how they should be. Brothers who tease but love each other unquestioningly, no matter what.
“Brothers are so weird,” Jeremy says, shaking his head as they all step into the kitchen where Holden is toiling away at the stove with Henry watching intently from a step stool.
“Aren’t they, though?” Rose agrees, then takes her attention from the coffee she’s pouring to the group as they enter.
She starts blindly passing out full mugs, one of which Sergio notices is full of tea instead of coffee, which she hands directly to Jeremy.
“Do you have any siblings?” she asks Daphne.
“I have three sisters. All we do is share clothes,” Daphne says with her thick French accent.
“I wish my sister and I were the type of sisters who share clothes,” Rose says with a sigh before she takes a sip of her coffee.
“I guess those are the only sibling options then, huh?” Adrien says thoughtfully. “It’s either murder siblings or clothes sharing siblings.”
“Well, looking at these two,” Rose pauses and gestures at Sergio and Jeremy. “Whatever Sergio may have missed by not having a clothes-sharing sibling, he’s making up for now by sharing with Jeremy.”
“Am I ever.” Sergio smirks like the devil and pulls Jeremy into his arms for a quick kiss in front of everyone. He playfully pats Jeremy on the butt when they pull away. “Besides, he does fill them out nicely.”
“You’re disgusting,” Rose says and gestures for everyone to take a seat at the table that she’s already set.
As they all sit down, she moves to where Henry is and picks him up from underneath his armpits, swings him around a bit to his glee, then places him in his seat.
She goes to the fridge and grabs a bottle of champagne and a pitcher of orange juice, then stops by Holden to give him a kiss on his cheek.
He beams. His smile is like sunshine as he grabs a giant, covered serving plate of what he’s been cooking for breakfast and brings it to the table.
“What do you have for us today?” Sergio asks, then takes a sip of his coffee.
“I thought I’d try something new this morning.” He holds the platter out in front of him, then removes the lid with a flourish. “Eggs Benedict!”
Henry pulls a face. “What’s eggs bend-a-dick?”
The whole table bursts out laughing, even Daphne, who tries to hide it by bringing her hand to her mouth. Her eyes crinkle with happiness.
Holden brings another plate and places it down in front of Henry. “Don’t worry, champ.” He ruffles Henry’s hair. “I made pancakes just for you.”
“Uh, Henry,” Adrien says, leaning in towards him. “Want to trade?”
“No!” Henry yells at the same time Holden yells, “Hey!”
Adrien starts laughing again.
“I’m not sure if I should be insulted or not.” Holden brings his hand to his chest.
“You do make excellent pancakes,” Sergio says.
“The best,” Jeremy agrees.
“And I’m sure your eggs Benedict are good as well,” Daphne says.
“I knew I liked her,” Holden says, pointing at Daphne as he takes his seat.
Adrien leans into her and loudly places a kiss on her cheek. He’s grinning as he pulls away, his eyes admiring her profile. “Damn right, you do,” he says. “We all do.”
As everyone begins to fill their plates with food, Rose pops open the champagne.
She pours them each a mimosa, except for Jeremy.
She gives him a champagne flute full of orange juice, and Henry gets his juice in a little glass.
Once everyone has their drinks in hand, Sergio raises his into the air with one hand and puts his other arm around Jeremy, pulling Jeremy into his side.
“I’d like to propose a toast,” he says, then looks at each of them one by one.
His heart swells at the sight of all of them together around the table on this morning of new beginnings.
It starts to rise into his throat, causing a lump he swallows down.
He settles his gaze on Adrien first, then begins to speak again.
“When our parents died, I remember thinking that that was it. That I’d never have another family because the one I’d always known was gone and couldn’t be repaired. That Adrien and I were utterly alone.”
“You do know toasts are supposed to be uplifting?” Adrien jokes, but he’s wearing a soft smile, and his eyes portray a solemn hint of understanding.
“I’m getting there.”
Holden claps Sergio on the shoulder. “I’m with you, buddy.”
“Thanks,” Sergio says to him, then continues.
“Now, as I was saying, at the time, I never could have imagined this.” He lifts his hand from Jeremy’s shoulder and gestures at the table.
“Honestly, up until yesterday, I never thought my life could be so full. Or that Adrien and I could have so many people around us who accepted us as theirs. It’s been me and Adrien against the world for so long that I missed the fact we had managed to create a whole new family.
It started with Holden, and then he brought in Rose.
Together they gave us all Henry.” Henry beams with a mouth full of syrupy pancakes.
“And for whatever reason, Daphne stuck with that one” —he points at Adrien—“despite his innumerable charms.”
“He does have a lot of charms,” Daphne agrees and kisses him on the cheek, causing Adrien to glow.
“He does,” Sergio says, then turns his attention to Jeremy.
“And then there’s you. Jeremy, I should have incorporated you into this makeshift family years ago.
Luckily for me, Rose and Holden brought you in instead and gave us the chance to pick up where we started.
” He leans in and gives Jeremy a kiss, then turns and raises his glass a little higher.
“To the seven of us,” he says. “May we always keep the faith in each other and never forget that a family can be remade and built stronger than ever before. Happy New Year.”
“Happy New Year,” everyone at the table says in unison.
Even Gus lets out a meow from somewhere underneath Sergio’s feet.