Rowan #2
Riley gave a very Ruben-like smirk. “How unfortunate. So did I.” She turned to Milo, her expression softening. “Would you like to grab something to drink before the chaos starts? I was going to get some lemonade.”
Milo looked to Rowan, and he tried to give his best encouraging smile. “Go ahead. I’ll be right behind you.”
Riley turned and headed down the hall, and with one last backward glance at Rowan, Milo disappeared after her. Rowan spent a few final moments of peace arranging his things, using the toe of his shoe to slide Milo’s bag next to their bed so they wouldn’t trip on it the next time they came in.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he could just barely hear Riley asking Milo about thrift shopping before the front door flew open. The door handle slapped into the rubber stopper Ma had installed when they were kids to try and keep Ruben from doing exactly this and destroying the wall.
“You’re right, darling, we definitely should have stopped for snacks. I’m fucking starving,” Ruben said, dropping his backpack on the floor by the door. “My moms usually have lots of food, though. You’re welcome to anything in the house.”
Ray was clutching a small duffel bag, and they looked back and forth between the discarded backpack and Rowan. “Should we…take our things upstairs first?”
“Nah, we’ll come back and grab it after we say hi to everyone and get some food,” Ruben said, taking Ray’s bag and much more gently setting it down next to his own.
“Hi, Rowan,” Ray said, giving him a small wave as Ruben dragged him towards the kitchen.
Their voices blurred with Riley and Milo’s into a steady din.
The poor acoustics of the house meant that anytime more than two people were in a room, the sound would carry throughout the house.
In a way, Rowan had loved it. His childhood had been full of noise and commotion, even when his parents were gone.
That all stopped when Ruben left for college.
The house had been almost painfully quiet, echoing with Rowan’s soft footsteps as he dealt with his parents’ frequent absences.
That silence settled over the house now, as the others presumably went out to the backyard.
He took his time walking down the hall, wondering if Riley had stopped and allowed Milo to examine the many family photos lining the walls.
Ethel had been sure to show Rowan the few photos she had of Anabelle on her flip phone and had instructed Milo to go retrieve the ones from her room.
Maybe they’d be able to take a few new family photos today. Rowan would make sure to get Milo and Ethel a copy.
Lost in thought, Rowan wandered into the kitchen and nearly jumped out of his skin when he found Milo standing at the island. A mostly drunk cup of lemonade sat in front of them, along with a napkin holding an untouched cookie. The second Milo saw him, they scooped up the cookie and glass.
“I thought I’d wait for you so we can make our own, not so grand entrance,” Milo said, tipping their head towards the sliding glass door.
Rowan’s moms, Raina, and even Riley were all surrounding Ray. Their mom had her arm around his back, holding him tightly to her side, while their Ma had a hand on Ruben’s shoulder.
“We could always make a break for it,” Milo said, circling the island to stand next to Rowan. “I bet if we left now, we could be across the state border by nightfall. We could change our names, not tell anyone where we’re going.”
Rowan snorted, and their hawk bobbed his head. The prospect of a life far away from here with Milo was appealing, but deep down, he knew that wasn’t actually what he wanted.
He wanted to be teased by Riley, interrogated by Raina, pestered by his moms, and even annoyed by Ruben.
He wanted Milo to get to stand right next to Ray, basking in his family’s love and attention.
Milo deserved that, and that alone spurred him to put one foot in front of the other, emerging into the backyard with Milo by his side.
As they had learned to do over the years, his family gave him a wide berth.
No one approached him for hugs or back pats, but that meant that no one approached Milo, either.
When they reached the circle, Riley took a step to the side, welcoming them in, and Rowan was able to catch the tail end of whatever Ma was saying.
“And no matter what, I trust that you won’t let this deter you from your goals,” she concluded.
“I don’t really have any goals other than to play good music and maybe do a little more traveling for fun,” Ruben said, taking a large bite out of one of the three cookies he was holding. “As long as that works for Ray’s schedule, I don’t see how my relationship could ‘deter’ anything.”
“I just don’t want you to lose focus,” Ma said, her fingers wrinkling Ruben’s t-shirt as she squeezed him before letting go and turning to Riley. “Speaking of focus, have you made any progress on your merger?”
Riley stood up a little straighter. “I just received a response to my letter of intent. I’m meeting with my auditor on Tuesday, and the plan is…”
Rowan had heard the front end of the merger details at their brunch a few weeks back, but he had also been wondering how it was progressing.
He tried to listen in, but his hawk was shifting restlessly, forcing him to continually glance between Ray and Milo.
Ray seemed to be doing fine, his cheeks pink and his nose scrunched up like he was trying desperately not to let his whiskers out.
While Milo appeared to be doing okay, the longer they stood there, the tighter they clutched their glass.
Finally, Ray turned to Milo and quietly asked, “How’s the lemonade? I forgot to grab myself something to drink, and that looks good.”
“Do you want some?” Milo asked, holding out the glass to Ray.
Before Ray could respond, Raina and their mom turned to look at Milo.
“I’m sorry, we should have done introductions. I’m Rowan’s mom, and this is Raina. And you are?”
“I’m Milo,” Milo said, juggling their cup and cookie so they could extend a hand to Rowan’s mom.
“And this is the Milo, right?” Raina asked, grinning widely as she accepted Milo’s hand.
“The one and only,” Milo said, but their voice came out sounding small.
Their mom scrunched up her brow. “That doesn’t really tell me much.”
Despite being the tallest person in the family, Rowan had spent most of his childhood feeling small.
He had shrunk back from his family and tried to avoid being noticed at school.
The distance had been at least partially of his own creation, but he didn’t want to do it anymore.
He especially didn’t want to do it if it would mean forcing Milo to shrink themself or keep their distance, too.
He could do this. He would introduce Milo to his family as his fated mate and the love of his life.
It didn’t matter that his ma still hadn’t even turned to look at them yet, or that his mom’s attention already seemed to be straying back to Ruben and Ray.
If he made a big enough scene, like Ruben, they’d have no choice but to pay attention, right?
His hawk puffed up his chest and unfurled his wings, ready to finally—
“He’s Ray’s best friend,” Ruben said, filling in the awkward silence that Rowan had left.
Ruben pulled out of their ma’s grasp and shooed their mom aside so he could thread his arm around Ray’s back.
“Oh, that’s nice. Did you meet Rowan through Ray then?” Mom asked.
“No,” Raina said. “You met them at the movies a while back when Ruben was over an hour late, right?”
“And it’s a good thing I was, wasn’t it? It’s thanks to me that they met,” Ruben said.
“So…Rowan met Milo, and then…?” Mom said, her eyes narrowing as she looked between her sons.
All Rowan had said in the group chat was that he was bringing someone along for the weekend. Maybe he really should have just said it over text.
“And then Ray and Milo and me and Ruben all happened to be at a club at the same time, and that’s where I met Ray,” Ruben said.
Raina let out a sharp laugh. “So, in other words, it’s all thanks to Ruben being late that he eventually met his fated mate.”
“Maker of your own destiny, as always,” Ma said, stepping around Ruben and Ray to put an arm around Mom.
Everyone shifted to make room, and Riley had to step right up next to Rowan to remain in the circle. His hawk flapped his wings, a few stray feathers falling out as the back of Rowan’s head prickled.
“Either that, or a victim of fate,” Riley said, and Ruben glared at her.
“I would say I am a proud recipient of fate’s attention. It’s not just you anymore, sis,” Ruben said, going so far as to stick his tongue out at Raina.
“Yeah, yeah, but what are you going to do with that attention, hm?”
Ruben’s eyes flicked to Rowan. This was clearly the perfect opportunity for Rowan to step in…so why did his tongue feel glued to the top of his mouth?
There was an awkward beat as Ruben said nothing, and Rowan said nothing.
Finally, Ray was the one to break it. “We’re hoping to mate later this week.”
A flurry of excitement spread around the circle, and even Riley looked excited for them.
Rowan’s hawk was just below the surface, threatening to come out if he didn’t do something soon.
“Are you planning on having a large mating ceremony? Do you have a big family, Ray? Hawk culture doesn’t dictate when the ceremony should be, only that there must be lots of dancing,” Mom said, the same dreamy look on her face that she always got anytime she mentioned her or any of her children’s mating ceremonies.
Raina’s had been admittedly quite beautiful, but planning it had seemed incredibly stressful. Rowan hadn’t even broached the subject with Milo yet. He had no idea if Ray and Ruben had talked about it or not.
Ray looked desperately at Ruben, then at Milo, so Rowan figured they probably hadn’t.