Ten
OWEN
When the buzzer from the lobby door comes at twenty to noon, I smirk.
Not only am I right about them being later than Orson said they’d be here, but I’m pleasantly surprised it’s before noon.
Without using the speaker, I buzz them up and then wait by the door for them. It isn’t long when the knock comes.
Opening it, I’m greeted by one of my very favorite families in the world. Right in front are the three best kids ever.
“Uncle Owen!” Jasmine says, as she practically leaps into my arms. I catch her and hug her tightly, squeezing her just a little.
I love these kids and how I’ve been in their lives for almost all of it (I have been here for all of Coraline’s life) and nothing means more to me than being their uncle.
I’m especially close to Jasmine. She asked to be pen pals last year, so we’ve been exchanging snail mail for almost thirteen months now.
She’s a smart kid. Her latest obsession is her heritage, so she’s been telling me all sorts of things about Cuba. It is only a matter of time before she asks about mine, so I’ve been doing a bit of research, too.
Jasmine sits back in my arms and grins widely. “Can we spend the night here?”
“Jaz,” Orson says. I see him shake his head over her shoulder.
“You can but I only have one bedroom and I’m not sure how all your daddies are going to fit into a single queen size bed. We’ll make you three forts in the living room,” I tell her.
“I can stay in the hotel,” Vulcan says quietly.
Before I can respond, Zvi wraps his arms through one of Vulcan’s. “Don’t be silly, princess. You’re wherever we are. It’ll be fine.”
I look back at Jasmine and raise a brow.
“Yes!” she exclaims, twisting to look at her father.
I kiss her nose and set her down. Then I have Coraline hugging me as she says, “Hi, Uncle Owen.” It’s playfully bashful, as if we don’t video chat all the time.
“Hello, sweetkins.” I kiss her cheek as well.
She runs by me to follow her sister. Destin hugs me too. “Hey, Unc.”
“Dess. Why the hell do you all keep growing?!”
He huffs, rolling his eyes, and moves around me. When I stand straight, I come face to face with the adults. “No seriously. It’s been a month since I saw you lot at Christmas. I swear, they’ve all grown an inch.”
“You’re telling me,” Orson says. They’re all currently chucking off their outdoor clothes. I spy their new man, Vulcan. He’s hard to miss since his head practically reaches the top of the doorframe. Much like Coraline, he gives me a shy smile.
He wasn’t around much for Christmas when I flew out to California. Since our breaks for the holiday are short, I didn’t have time to stick around. I’ve met him via video calls, though. It’s easy to see how much my brother and his men love him already.
Orson gives me a hug, his hand gripping the back of my hair. We are close, something we kind of keep from our parents since we enjoy messing with them. I love having a brother. I’m not sure if I would have always appreciated it growing up, but as an adult, I truly enjoy it.
“Good to see you,” I say.
“Mm,” he agrees. “We don’t have to stay here. We have a perfectly good suite booked.”
I chuckle as he takes a step back. “You know I don’t care at all if you stay. I have conditioning tomorrow, practice the following two days, but games don’t start again until the first.”
“I know,” he says, smirking. “That’s why we came out here when we did.”
“Your schedule is pinned to the fridge alongside our kids’ artwork,” Luca says. “Complete with highlights of your local games and gaps where you have more than a day or two off.”
Placing my hand over my heart, I give Orson a sappy look. “I’m touched.”
He rolls his eyes and bypasses me. Luca smirks, hugging me too. I hug Wren, but Zvi has always been a little hesitant, so I’m pleased when he gives me a quick one as well. That just leaves their pretty in pink bear.
Vulcan gives me a shy smile as he gets closer.
“Want a hug?” I ask.
His eyes glance between his men before he gives me a bashful nod. So I hug this sweet man and squeeze him as tight as I can. “Welcome to the family, man. I’m really happy you’re here,” I murmur.
The smile he gives me when he pulls away tells me all I need to know about him. He’s soft, with a huge heart. The glimmer in his eyes tells me he’s sensitive.
I turn to look at the way all four men practically have hearts in their eyes.
If it wouldn’t be putting Vulcan on the spot, I’d tease them mercilessly.
That’ll have to wait until Vulcan’s more settled.
I’ll remember in the years to come. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll forevermore be a part of our family.
“Lunch will be here in ten minutes,” I tell them as I move through the condo. “Then we can go.”
“You didn’t have to get us lunch,” Luca says.
“Yes, well, I know you lot. You’re always late when on vacation and I’m always hungry. Since I didn’t know when you scheduled food stops and I can get quite hangry when I’m not properly fed, this felt like the safest option.”
Orson snorts as we step into the living room. The kids are on the couch with the television on, scrolling through the different apps.
“There aren’t parental controls in place,” I remind Orson.
“I got it,” Wren says and drops onto the couch, practically in Jasmine’s lap. She laughs and tries to push him away with the characteristic child dramatic draw out of his name, “Daaaaaaad!”
“Uncle Owen, can we turn on the fireplace?” Destin asks.
I wave at it. “Go for it. You remember how?”
He flashes me a smile and gets up to flip the switch and set the fire. It’s one of those long thin fireplaces set within the wall where you can program it so the flames look ridiculously real, or they can be an array of different colors. Destin enjoys the black and white flames the most.
We adults arrange the rest of the furniture to sit near the windows so we can talk without getting in the way of the television or being in a separate room.
My condo isn’t made for this many people, but we do alright when Orson brings the whole family over.
After adding Zvi to their ranks, they’d stopped spending the night, though.
I think they realized they grew out of the bed.
“So, what’s new with you?” I ask.
I receive a rundown of their lives, which doesn’t vary much between these conversations.
I suppose that happens when you’re faced with the kinds of jobs they have.
Orson hasn’t worked a day in his privileged life.
Something he has no problem telling anyone and acknowledging that he’s very fortunate.
Luca is a body paint artist, so he has new pictures to show me from time to time.
Zvi, the resident adult content creator, just tells me that everything is properly functioning in his job, with an amused smirk.
That leaves Vulcan since Wren is with the kids. I don’t know a lot about him. When they talk about him, it’s about how wonderful and sweet he is. How beautiful and kind. I don’t know any hard facts.
“I have a forge,” he tells me.
We’re interrupted briefly when the food arrives, and I lay out boxes of pizza and cartons of different kinds of side salads on the dining room table. Then we’re back to where we were, now with food in our hands.
“So… forge?” I prompt.
Vulcan nods. “Yeah. I make things out of metal. Right now, it’s primarily different swords for a commission piece.”
“Look at this,” Luca says and hands over his phone. “Scroll right.”
At first I think I’m looking at a museum wall. And then I think I’m looking at a tent at a Renn Faire. It doesn’t take me much past the third picture to know that I’m looking at pieces that Vulcan created. I grin up at him. “Don’t downplay this, Vulcan. You’re amazing. That’s a lot of talent.”
He flushes and shakes his head. “There’s no talent involved. Not really. It’s skill.”
“Call it what you will. You’re really good.”
“I beg to differ on whether there’s talent involved,” Wren says. “I’ve been there a dozen times now and I know you’re just humoring me on how the sword I’m making looks.”
“It’s getting there,” Vulcan says. “Really.”
“It’s a glorified stick,” Wren deadpans.
Luca and Orson try to contain their laughter by stuffing more food into their mouths. I can tell by the way Vulcan’s eyes get big that he’s definitely being very kind. “No. I swear. It’s getting there, Wren.”
Wren rolls his eyes. “Whatever you say, princess. I’m happy to spend all the time in the world with you at your forge until I get it right.”
Vulcan’s smile is beaming. His gaze touches mine before he loses himself in the pizza.
“What about you?” Orson asks. “Any hockey news? Any lover I should know about?” He makes a pointed look around the room.
My breath catches as I imagine Zak in my space again. Just last weekend. Two days ago. I already hate that it’s been so long. Knowing he’s not going to call makes my stomach twist, and I set the slice of pizza back on my plate until it passes.
“Oh, that’s new,” Luca says. I look at him to find he’s watching me closely. They all are.
“Hockey is hockey,” I tell them. “We’re at a 29-15 standing, so we’re looking good for playoffs, which you could look up.
As far as I know, I’m not on the block to be traded anytime soon.
But I could be wrong; things change at the drop of a puck.
” I’m reminded of the sudden trade at the beginning of the year that brought Deryke Schneider to Philadelphia.
That came out of nowhere. Even though I’m somewhat aware of the reason, it was a rather quick and quiet trade.
“Uh huh. Let’s hear about the other things,” Orson says.
“There isn’t anything else to share,” I tell him.
“I don’t believe you,” he says, narrowing his eyes. “Who are they?”
Something I love about Orson is that he never immediately defaults to a gender with me when he insists on talking about my love life. As soon as I told him I’m pan, that was just it for him. He’s never needed a reminder.
I smile, despite this conversation. Since I know I won’t be able to get out of it, I sigh and tell them the very little I’m willing to. “I met someone at a New Year’s Eve party and we’ve gotten together a couple times. However, it’s not going anywhere.”
“Why?” Luca asks.
“You very obviously don’t look like it was a meaningless hookup,” Orson adds.
Far from it .
But that’s too complicated a question to answer right now. Especially since I really don’t know why. “He has my number,” I say, “but for whatever reason, he refuses to use it. He’s left it up to serendipity for a third chance meeting.”
“Fuck chance meeting,” Luca says. “Find him.”
“There are eight million people in the city, Luca,” I remind him. “I could walk by him and miss him.”
“I think you’ll see him again,” Vulcan says quietly. We look at him. The shy look I’d been seeing since I opened my door isn’t there anymore. He looks straight at me, as confident as could be. “You will. I know it.”
I’m not sure I believe it, no matter how much I want to. But I smile and nod. “I hope so. I guess it’s up to fate or karma or… some shit.”
Vulcan tilts his head to the side but doesn’t respond.
“Can we go now?” Jasmine asks.
Orson looks around the room, taking in our mostly empty plates. “Yep. Let’s help clean up, and then we can head out.”
We do that. After requesting two large rideshares, we arrive at the natural history museum, which admittedly is one of my favorite places in any city.
I’ve always been fascinated by the ancient past. American history is all well and good, but my preference is anything before European settlers touched this ground.
I love native cultures before they were polluted by Christian influence.
I love the ancient Mexican lost cultures—Aztecs, Mayans, Olmecs, and other Mesoamerican cultures.
Don’t get me started on everything I’m fascinated about beyond this continent!
The entire time we’re out, I’m looking for him. Searching every face. Watching every person as they turn around. Holding my breath only to be disappointed when someone has the same hair color or body shape, but not his face.
While I pay a lot of attention to my family, I can’t stop looking for Zak. I have to see him again. Short of showing up on his doorstep, I’m not sure how to do that. Not that I truly think the doorstep idea is an option. His name isn’t on any buzzer that I can find.
Unless I learn his last name. There must be a way to do that without becoming overly stalkerish.