Chapter Thirty #2
Two minutes later, Jake, Kai, and Sean came back through carrying bowls, cutlery, and several bags of Chinese food, which they spread out across the wooden coffee table in the middle of the room, opening the foil trays, paper bags, and plastic tubs so we could all help ourselves.
Jake pointed out what everything was, and Sean had brought through a load of large spoons to dish things out with because, as Kai said, most of them might have shared a large amount of bodily fluids during the day but there were limits.
Everyone dug in and soon the conversation turned to general topics like work, family, and life in general.
Wolf’s niece had just started her first year at Oxford, Jake’s brother was getting married and he was trying to plan a stag do, and Austin was looking at buying a house in London with Kanan while also planning their wedding, and everyone agreed how fucking expensive both things were.
They asked about the funeral home and several of them had questions about how funerals worked, whether they needed a will, and various other questions I was happy to answer.
Sean, it turned out, was a tax accountant and he also chimed in on various financial things they should all be aware of in case of emergencies, and it turned into an in-depth discussion about financial planning and what everyone wanted to happen to them when they died.
It was a slightly surreal conversation, but I didn’t know why I was surprised. They were all just normal men leading normal, everyday lives while also pursuing careers some people found shocking, lewd, or scandalous. But at the end of the day, they weren’t any different from anyone else I knew.
“Okay so, slight change of topic,” Austin said as the conversation reached a natural lull. Virtually all the food had been eaten, and everyone seemed content and comfortably full. “But we have a present for you, Theo.”
“For me?” Theo asked, sounding utterly delighted. A strange sense of dread began to gnaw at my stomach because Austin looked far too pleased with himself. “Why? It’s not my birthday or Christmas.”
“Yeah, well, consider this a very late or very early birthday present-slash-we’re all just super happy for you thing,” Austin said with a wave of his hand.
“Here,” Jake said, magically pulling a small gift bag out of a backpack that had been sitting by the door. “This isn’t the real thing, just a placeholder.”
“Don’t spoil it!” Kai said as he smacked Jake playfully, an enormous grin on his face.
Jake handed Theo the bag, and Theo frowned for a second before reaching inside. Then he squealed with delight as he pulled out two small plush guinea pigs. “Oh my God, they’re so cute! Thank you! I love them.”
I stared at them and then at Austin, who was looking at everyone but me, as the sense of dread in my stomach turned into something very real. “Austin,” I said quietly. “Did Jake say placeholder?”
“Er, yeah.” He grinned, looking between Theo and me.
“I knew Theo wanted guinea pigs, but you didn’t have anywhere to put them.
Anyway, I talked to Kane, who talked to Henry, who asked Alex, and he said you had a garden but it needed sorting.
So while you’re here, they’re all getting your garden tidied up for you, and your friend Lane put me in touch with a carpenter who’s gonna install a brand-new custom hutch for you, and then we’re going to get you two piggies for it—since it’s better if they live together.
And ’cos it’s nearly winter and you need to keep them warm, they’re putting a nice shed in too with a hutch inside it so they’ll have an inside and an outside hutch! ”
Theo screamed with excitement, almost throwing his plate onto the ground as he leapt into Austin’s arms. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is the best gift ever!”
“You’re welcome, baby boy. You just have to promise to take good care of them.”
“I will! I’ll spoil them rotten and absolutely adore them!” Theo turned to me as he extracted himself from Austin’s arms. “Did you know about this?”
“No,” I said, working very hard to hide my irritation. “It’s a complete surprise.”
“And it’s the best surprise,” Theo said, hopping off the sofa to hug all the others. “You’re all the best and I love you!”
“We love you too,” Jake said as he and Kai pulled him into a tight squeeze, kissing the top of his head. “And we’re so happy for you.”
“Are you pissed?” Austin asked in a low voice, sliding across the sofa to sit next to me as Theo bounced over to Wolf and Sean. “Sorry, I probably should’ve told you.”
“It would’ve been nice,” I said. From his expression, I didn’t think any of his gesture had been ill-intended. He’d just wanted to do something nice for Theo, and that made all the difference to me. “But… I’ll forgive you because Theo’s happy, and that’s the most important thing.”
Austin nodded. “Alex said you’ve been sitting on that garden for a few years, since your nan passed.
They promised they’d just tidy it and replace the fence, all the basic shit.
They’re not going to completely redo it.
” He gave me a gentle smile. “It’s hard losing people you love, and I don’t want you to feel like we took anything away from you. ”
“It’s been on my list for a long time,” I said softly. “I’ve just never had the energy and then it kept getting worse. Perhaps… perhaps having help is the best thing.”
“Sometimes you just need a push,” Austin said. “It’s what friends are for.” He patted my knee. “I’m glad you two got your shit together, you know. I’ve never seen Theo as happy as he’s been recently. You’re perfect for each other.”
“Thanks.” I nodded and smiled. “I do think your nudge helped, back in May. I think it forced us to both think long and hard about a few things.”
Austin grinned. “Like I said, sometimes you just need a push.”
Theo bounced back over to me, looking so giddy I thought he might actually explode from happiness. “Laurie, isn’t it amazing? Two guinea pigs! I don’t think I can breathe.” He flopped into my lap and kissed me. “This is the second-best day of my life so far.”
“What was the first?” I asked, wrapping my arm around him to pull him against me.
“Meeting you. That was the best day. Every day with you is the best day,” he said. “Nothing will ever come close.”
“Not even guinea pigs?”
“Not even guinea pigs.”
I smiled and kissed his temple. “Now we just have to hope Lane and company survived working with each other for the weekend.”
Theo giggled. “I hope they tell us everything! Lane is so bossy but Alex hates being bossed around, and Will knows about lots of things and he’s the one with the digger. I wonder if they managed to do it or we’ll go home to find them all arguing in the garden.”
“I think if they start arguing, then Noah, Oliver, and Jamie will just get on with it and get everything done before the others realise.”
“Oh, yes. Definitely! Noah and Oliver are definitely the doing type and I think Jamie likes being told what to do.” Theo snuggled deeper into me. “They really are good friends.”
“They are. We’re very lucky.”
“Agreed,” Theo said, then sighed. “Now I just have to decide what to call my piggies… that’s going to be the hardest part.”
I chuckled and listened as Theo and the others began discussing name suggestions, the ideas getting gradually more ridiculous as the evening went on.
At some point it was agreed that everything was only going downhill and they decided to call it a night.
Theo packed up his things and everyone worked out a time to meet up in the morning.
Most of them were staying at the house they’d rented, but Theo had booked the pair of us into a boutique hotel down the road so we’d have our own space, separating our relationship from his work.
We walked hand in hand through the night under the glow of the streetlights, talking quietly about everything and nothing. We shared anecdotes from our day and talked about the garden and Theo’s new arrivals and work for the week.
When we reached the hotel, we slipped quietly into our room, and Theo pulled me into his arms, kissing me softly.
“Take me to bed,” he whispered against my lips. “I want to show you just how much I love you, Laurie.”
I let my mouth linger on his as my fingers trailed down his spine, my heart overflowing with love.
If this was to be my life, then I never wanted it to end.
I knew that was a pointless wish and I had enough proof that it would, but I also knew that every day would be perfection until it did, because I had Theo.
“Of course, my darling. Of course.”