We headed for Gideon’s truck. The whole time to his parents’ house, I stressed out about the sign. “Why is micromanaging such a bad thing?”
“Do you like it when people do it to you?” Gideon asked.
“We’re not talking about me.”
He laughed. “Point proven. They’ll do a great job. If we have an issue, they’ll do it again.”
Everyone was already in the backyard when we arrived. Jacob was three now. He and I weren’t sure about each other, but we were making it work. That’s what family did.
Heather was pregnant again. We wanted them to keep having all the babies so no one asked us about them.
Kris and Orlando were building a sandcastle with Jacob and Aria, Kris and Megan’s little girl.
“Snacks!” Orlando waved.
“Be nice to my boyfriend,” I told him.
“Yeah, be nice to Milo’s boyfriend,” Gideon added.
“Unca Gid! Unca Lo!” Jacob climbed to his feet and ran over to us. Apparently today was a good day between us. He was even more finicky than I was.
“What’s up, little man?” Gideon scooped him into his arms. It was totally adorable but not enough to make me want to adopt kids of our own. I liked being able to spend time with them and then give them back if they were too loud or hyper. It was a good gig.
“Hello, Jacob.” I shook his hand. It was our thing. I possibly liked him more than I wanted to admit. I was the first person to have said hello to him, after all.
“Milo, I made a new vegetarian recipe. Come taste it,” Annemarie said. She was always trying to make new things for me, which was really sweet.
I kissed Gideon’s cheek just as his dad came over. They’d gotten closer over the past few years, making it a point to spend time together, just the two of them.
I said hello to him, then went over to taste Annemarie’s new creation. It was a cauliflower cake with a kick of spice. “I approve.”
She laughed. “I’m glad. How’s your mama doing?”
“Good. She’ll be here next month.” She’d bought a small, one-bedroom house on the island. While she still lived in California, she spent about three weeks here, three times a year. Gideon and I went to California to see her too.
Grandpa Gene had told her she could stay with him, but Mom was funny about things like that. They spent a lot of time together every visit, though, and even when she was in San Diego, they talked on the phone at least once a week.
I didn’t know how much longer he would be able to live on his own, so Gid or I stopped by to check on him every day. I didn’t want him to go to a home, and we’d actually talked about moving into his house to help take care of him, though no decisions had been made.
Also, Mom had forgiven Grandma. I still loved calling her that. Wilma had become Grandma to me the day Gene became Grandpa. Anytime someone annoyed me and I wanted to stay mad at them, I thought about Grandma and how she had died before I got the chance to get to know her. Life was too short to hold grudges.
Lunch was good, with lots of laughter and nitpicking, but it wasn’t long before I needed some space. Before I had the chance to mention it, Gideon said, “We better head out. We need to go see Gene for a while and then check on the store.” We’d invited him, but he hadn’t been feeling great.
I loved that no one argued or asked why we were leaving so early. I hugged Megan and Heather, then told the kids goodbye, including, of course, baby Penelope in Heather’s belly.
It was a quick drive to Gene’s. We knocked, then opened the door. “Grandpa?” I called out. I still couldn’t believe sometimes how much my life had changed. I had a grandpa and a boyfriend and so much more family.
“Out back,” Gene replied.
He was sitting on the swing I’d built him in Grandma’s garden. “How are you today?”
Grandpa smiled at me. “Feeling a bit better. Life is good. Just wish she were here to enjoy it with us.”
“Me too,” I replied, and Gideon squeezed my hand in support.
We spent about an hour there with him before heading home. Everything was good at the store, and the sign was right, which helped me relax.
Later that night, we were home, naked in bed, after Gideon had fucked me. We didn’t use condoms now, and I still couldn’t swallow, but I was okay with him coming inside my ass, which we both liked a lot. It was really hot.
“We should get married,” I said. I’d thought about it, but hadn’t planned on actually saying it to him. I didn’t regret it, though. Using the words out loud just told me how much I wanted it.