Over the next four months, Shea and Christian worked with Quinn, Margot, and the construction company that Shea worked for, Platt and Sons, to rebuild their house. They built basically the same size house, just with a different, more open floor plan. They also made the master bedroom a bit bigger and added a full bathroom to it. They continued to stay with Quinn and Margot until it was finished. Shea actually liked being able to see Margot every day and watch as her pregnant belly grew. By the time the house was ready, Margot was getting very large and very cranky, so it was good that they were moving out when they were. Quinn was becoming afraid for their lives as it was, so staying for another month and a half was not a good idea.
Once the house was completely finished, painted and everything, Shea and Christian went out and bought all new furniture. As soon as the essentials were delivered, like the couches, bed and kitchen table, they moved in. It wasn’t like there was a lot to move in either since they didn’t have much. They chose to wait to buy a lot of stuff until the house was ready. Shea knew that Christian planned to finally replenish his wardrobe with some of the money from Henry, he hated not having all of his stylish clothes; Shea could tell from the huffing and puffing he did every time he got dressed.
Shea was in love with their new house, and a lot of it had to do with the fact that he helped design and build it. Quinn and Margot did a fabulous job making it practical and functional yet updated and modern. It was also completely child proofed since Skylar was now eight months and starting to crawl.
The garage had been damaged by the fire, but not destroyed. Most of Christian’s paintings were able to be recovered in perfect condition, along with his guitar. They ended up tearing down the garage anyway and building Christian a studio where he could paint and play his guitar in comfort. No more musty smell from the dust and age of the garage.
Everything was coming together for Shea and Christian. Shea couldn’t be happier - he had the man he loved and a daughter that he absolutely adored. Growing up, Shea never pictured that this was how his life was going to be. He never in a million years thought that he would be in love with his best friend, who is another guy. He never thought that he would be raising a child with another man instead of a woman. He would not change a thing, though. He loved his family, and that was all that mattered.
~Chapter 13~
Christian read the text he just received from Quinn. They were here. Christian fought back the bile that rose in his throat. Jesus. He’s never been so nervous in his life. Christian spent about a month planning this and there was no way in hell he was going to back out. He signed up for an open mic night and got his brothers to invite Shea. Christian was supposed to be working one of his art shows tonight and Shea would never turn down an invite from his brothers, so he knew that was the best way to get Shea here. He was going to propose to Shea tonight. They couldn’t legally get married in Pennsylvania, but they could always go to New York, Delaware, or Maryland, not that it would be recognized in Pennsylvania, yet, but at least they would know that they were married. And maybe one day, there will be equality.
The manager of the lounge gave Christian a pat on the back. “You’re up, buddy.”
Christian swallowed hard and nodded. He gathered all of the courage that he could muster up and walked out onto the stage with his guitar. The crowd clapped and cheered. Christian spotted his brothers and Shea at a table in the middle of the room, close to the stage. There were maybe forty to fifty people in the room all together.
Shea was sitting with Sebastian on one side of him and Quinn on the other, and Henry sat on the other side of Sebastian. Christian took a seat on the stool that was set up behind the microphone. He glanced at the faces of his brothers to see that they were looking at him with pride, acceptance, and love. Then Christian’s eyes met Shea’s surprised ones. He grinned and shook his head in awe, not seeming to believe that Christian was up on stage in front of him. Good, Christian had wanted that reaction.
“What are you doing?” Shea mouthed to him.
Christian just smiled slightly and adjusted his guitar and mic. “Hi...my name is Christian Beck...I...uh...I’m going to be playing Lucky by Jason Mraz. This is for my boyfriend, Shea.”