Chapter 15 #3
Dad tilted his head at Jeuel’s door, silently asking how he was. Branson shrugged with his eyebrows. Dad nudged Branson’s shoulder with his own, then continued to the new office with his box.
By mid-afternoon, the moving van was empty, and their crew was lounging in the living room with pizza, bags of chips, and bottles of soda, with the radio playing since cable wouldn’t get hooked up until tomorrow.
Gaven and Uncle Braun kept up most of the conversation, while Jeuel picked silently at his pizza slice, showing little enthusiasm for the food or the company.
Branson tried to watch him without being overbearing, and no one made a big deal out of it.
Moving days were always exhausting and stressful, and Jeuel had more stress in his life than anyone else right now.
The case against the men who’d attacked and killed his family was ongoing.
Mr. Paxton had no new information for them, and nothing new had been shared with Chief Constable Lars-Higgs (that he’d shared with Branson, anyway).
Plus, Jeuel’s sire was lingering in a coma and unlikely to ever wake up.
An unexpected pang of guilt struck Branson at the thought.
Not about Uty’s coma. At having spent the day with his own parents, enjoying their company and their freely-offered help moving, while still keeping something important from them.
Life could change in a split-second, by anything from a car accident to a stray bullet, and he didn’t want to have any regrets if he ever (goddess forbid) found himself in a situation like Jeuel.
He quietly asked Dad and Papa to join him in his and Tarius’s bedroom, and he explained—for only the second time in his adult life—who he was and what asexual meant.
His parents listened and asked a few questions, and that was it.
Immediate, complete acceptance. Not that Branson had expected anything less.
Later, when everyone eventually went home, Branson hugged his parents extra tight at the door.
Tarius stored the leftover pizza in the mostly empty fridge.
They’d eaten down what food there was at the old apartment as much as possible, and planned on grocery shopping tomorrow.
Jeuel had already returned to his bedroom, and the occasional bump or creak from behind the closed door suggested he was finally unpacking.
He knew he was truly staying put this time, and being moved again anytime soon.
“Do you think this was a good idea?” Branson asked. “Moving him so soon?”
“I think it was necessary, yes.” Tarius wrapped his arms around Branson’s shoulders and pulled him into a familiar embrace. “He needs time and space. And he can get a lot more of that with a room of his own and a bathroom he doesn’t have to share with three other people.”
“True.”
“How are you feeling about all this? You uprooted your life, too, you know.”
Branson smiled then rubbed his nose against Tarius’s neck.
“I’m pretty good, actually. A month ago, I’d have never imagined being here like this, married and with custody of a new omega brother, but I don’t regret a thing.
” He straightened so he could meet Tarius’s curious eyes.
“Before, I was existing in my life, going to work, and supporting my family. Now I really feel like I’m living.
Like I have a bigger purpose than being a backup system for my parents and siblings. ”
Tarius’s megawatt smile lit up the room.
“You’ve always had a bigger purpose than backing up your family.
We both have. We just didn’t know we were waiting for each other to be exactly where we needed to be for this to work.
Not only custody of Jeuel, but us. Married.
Building a life.” His smile twisted into an expression Branson was beginning to recognize as his uncertain face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Tarius took his hand and led Branson over to the sofa. Sat them side-by-side and kept a loose hold on his hand. “You know, there’s something we haven’t actually talked about in the couple of weeks since we got hitched.”
“Really?” They’d had lengthy financial discussions, shared their thoughts on medical proxies and end-of-life directives, the kinds of decisions spouses might need to make for each other.
They’d even talked about how to decorate and organize the new apartment so it fit both of their styles. “What did we miss?”
“Our last names.”
Branson sat up straighter. One of them changing their name hadn’t even occurred to Branson, even though he knew other beta couples who had taken their spouse’s name, or who had hyphenated both names. The judge who’d signed their marriage license hadn’t even brought it up. “Oh. Right.”
“I’m not saying either one of us has to change their name.” Tarius rushed the words, as if nervous that he’d brought it up at all. “We just haven’t talked about it.”
“I never really gave it any thought. Maybe if our engagement had been longer, it would have been a thing we talked about.”
“Sure, of course. And I’m not pushing for anything. But Demir sent this to my office yesterday.” He pulled something the size of a credit card out of his back pocket and handed it to Branson.
A gift card to one of the best-rated restaurants in Sansbury, in a dollar amount that surprised Branson. “Oh, wow.”
“It’s a housewarming gift, and it got me thinking about how Demir hyphenated his name when he committed to Brandt and Oliver. It was on my mind, so I brought it up.”
All the tumblers fell into place for Branson, and he smiled.
“Gotcha. That’s a very generous gift from Demir, and you’re right.
We should talk about our last names, and if either of us wants to change it.
” Branson had nothing else to say. He’d never given the notion much thought, because he’d never seriously dated anyone until Tarius.
And then marriage happened so fast… “Do you want to?”
“While I love the symbolism of taking your name, I’ve been a Higgs my entire life. It’s hard to think of giving it up after forty years.”
“I get that. I love my family name, too. It’s a symbol of something powerful that fights for what’s right and never gives up.
Papa brought that name with him when he came here to save my omegin from first-degree murder charges.
He gave that name to me when he adopted me.
He gave it to Caden and Emory, and maybe Jeuel will never want to take the Cross name, but I’m pretty attached to it right now. ”
Tarius nodded. “Then that’s our discussion. No name changes. It’s less common, but it doesn’t invalidate our marriage. We’ve marched to our own beat for our entire relationship, so why stop now?”
“Exactly.” Branson chuckled. “You know, I’m surprised none of our family members have brought it up, especially with Gaven helping today.
When his parents got married, Dex was eager to take Serge’s surname and become part of his family.
But to be fair, Dex was estranged from his biological family, and that never changed. ”
“And both of us love our families very much, so we want to keep our names. Maybe sometime down the road, when everything isn’t so new we could…maybe revisit hyphenating? Cross-Higgs has a nice ring to it.”
“Down the road, for sure.” Branson leaned over, and Tarius met him for a long, promising kiss that said so much without words.
That despite a frantic few weeks, they were in this together, for the long haul.
Their marriage wasn’t just about custody, but about genuine connection and emotional attraction.
A commitment to building a life together.
“What do you say,” Tarius said after they ended the long, leisurely kiss, “we ask Jeuel if he wants to stop unpacking for a while, and we can all watch a movie?”
“I say that sounds like a good plan. I’d offer to make popcorn, but even if I wasn’t still full of pizza, I don’t know which box the air popper is in.”
“No worries, I’m stuffed, too. I’ll make sure the DVD player is hooked up. Why don’t you get Jeuel?”
“Sure.” Branson dropped another kiss onto Tarius’s lips, then stood and walked down the hall. Jeuel’s room was quiet, but the light still shone under the door, so Branson knocked. “Hey, Jeuel? You feel like relaxing with us? We’re going to watch a movie and veg out.”
Silence stretched for an eternity before Jeuel opened the door. His cheeks were blotchy, his eyes red, and Branson’s heart kicked. Had Jeuel been crying?
Jeuel nodded, head bobbing noncommittally. “Yeah, okay. What movie?”
“Not sure yet. Why don’t you come help us pick? I married into quite the DVD collection. Tarius has movies I’ve never heard of. I swear, I saw one the other week that said Zombie Alphas from the Outer Realms.”
“What does that even mean?”
“No idea.” Branson winked at his brother. “Maybe we should watch it and find out.”
Jeuel held his gaze for a moment, and then he smiled. A genuine smile. “Yeah, okay. Give me a minute? I need to whizz.”
“Sure.”
“Cool.” Jeuel ducked into the bathroom across the hall.
Branson chuckled as he returned to the living room, unsure what kind of oddball movie he’d just committed to, and eager to go on this brand-new adventure.
With his family.