35. Epilogue
Bradley
Seven months later
“ I got the keys,” I shout from Malcolm’s kitchen, as I head out to the living room.
“Where were they?” he asks, running frantically into me.
“On the counter, in between two boxes,” I tell him.
“Malcolm, breathe. Her contractions are still ten minutes apart and the hospital is fifteen minutes away. We’re not going to miss anything.”
“I just can’t believe it. I’m going to be a grandpa,” he says, face beaming with pride.
We had hoped that his parents would've come to their senses so they could be here for the birth of their first great grandchild but they hadn’t.
Malcolm tried multiple times to talk to them, but they refused.
They even cut Henry out of their lives when they found out he was bisexual.
That’s what bothers Malcolm the most. The way they hurt Henry.
Oddly, Alice being with an older man didn’t bother them.
It was deemed acceptable. But Alice, being so much like her mother Paige, stood by her dad and brother.
Until her grandparents accepted them, they were no longer welcome in her life.
Malcolm couldn’t love her more for that.
We rush to the elevator, practically running to Jefferson’s car when we get to the lobby of the building. It took three months of dating for us to decide to move in with each other, and then another four to determine where we wanted to stay.
While I told them I didn’t care as long as it was with them, I didn’t want to get rid of Nana’s house. I could rent it out and have it as a source of income, but I didn’t want the headache of renters. I’ve heard far too many horror stories.
A month ago, they sat me down and told me it was never a question where our home would be. They told me both their homes were up for sale, seeing as Malcolm also owned the penthouse he lived in.
Knowing that they would do that for me erased any doubts I ever had.
“So are you going to have the baby call you G-pa, grandpa, gramps, pop pop?” I ask as Malcolm looks over his shoulder from the passenger seat and glares at me.
“None of the above. I don’t know yet. It all depends on what my little Princess wants to call me.”
When Alice told him she was having a little girl, he cried his eyes out. It led to one of many hard discussions the three of us have had in our short time dating.
Kids? Did we want them? Jefferson and I had none, but Malcolm did. Was it something we wanted?
It was a difficult decision. Still being in my early twenties, I wasn’t sure.
At the moment I enjoyed my freedom, the ability to travel on the drop of a dime.
I’ve also gone back to school to become a social worker.
Helping Malcolm come out about his sexuality made me want to help other people in the same position.
To let them know you should always be who you are.
To love themselves. Most importantly, to know they’re valued and important.
The guys wanted me to quit Foxy’s, but I still needed to work. To feel independent. They compromised with me. Under no circumstances is there to be kissing or sex.
As if I would want anyone else when I had the two of them keeping me perfectly happy at home.
Jefferson pulls up at the front of the hospital and Malcolm jumps out, rushing inside while we park the car.
“I’ve been thinking.” I speak up as he pulls away from the curb.
“About?” he asks.
“Kids.” I pause, swallowing hard. “Not today, but in the future, I think I want to be a foster parent. So many kids need a good home, and there’s not enough of them out there. Do you think you and Malcolm would want to?”
He doesn’t say anything, and I begin to worry.
“I think I’d like that. We have plenty of love to share, and enough money to provide.”
He pulls into a parking spot, and we get out of the car. He makes his way around to me, taking my hand in his.
“Now let’s get inside so we don’t miss the birth of our grandbaby.”
Alice made it very clear. The three of us are all grandparents.
If it wasn’t for Foxy’s, I wouldn’t have met the men who make my life worth living. The men I love and who feel the same as me. But it also made me a grandfather at twenty-two.
Who could ask for a better life.