Head Over Heels Âœ“ 31 / the luckiest

december, age 22

The soft December sun rose at eight o’clock, casting a gentle glow over two sleeping bodies, Lucas’s and Asher’s limbs tangled together in the hotel bed. As winter deepened and darkened, the nights grew longer and colder and when temperatures had dropped below zero last night, the two boys had wrapped up under the heavy duvet and splashed out on room service and a cheesy film. Up north, they felt the cold so much more than the city that they had called home for over a year now but that had only served as an excuse to get even closer, entwining their bodies as one when the weather had turned.

Asher’s twenty-third birthday had come at the perfect time for a relaxed weekend away. After graduating with a first-class honours degree in illustration, he had complete a summer internship at a graphic design company down in Brighton, building up his already impressive portfolio before joining Lucas at the city’s branch of Chess House. Although he had been hesitant to work for his mother’s company, the job had opened up without her input and he had applied for the position of junior illustrator before telling her.

The company was good to its employees. Although Ishaana had toned down her involvement in the company, throwing herself into raising her daughter and enjoying life with her husband, she was insistent that the values remained. It was a family business after all, one that she hoped her children would take over when she could no longer rule at the helm. Asher and Lucas were in a good position to do so, working their way up the ladder of their own volition.

As much as it helped to be the director’s son – and her surrogate son, in Lucas’s case – the two of them played the Ishaana card as little as possible, loath to set themselves apart amongst their colleagues. They hadn’t needed to go to her to ask for a little extra time off over Christmas when that was a bonus most employees were entitled to: two weeks off for the holidays, or pay and a half for those who chose to work.

Ordinarily, Lucas would have been tempted to take the pay and a half, padding his bank account for a rainy day, but living with Asher had him loosening the purse strings a little. The two lived in each other’s pockets, sharing everything: money was no exception. In all but the legal sense, they were a married couple, even working at the same company.

After completing the year-long internship scheme, handling a wide range of tasks to prove his competence and dedication, Lucas had landed the role of copy editor. He was one of only three to continue at the firm, out of seven interns who had helped to build up the Sussex office, and he already had his sights set on rising the ranks to become a senior editor within ten years. The future no longer scared him: the company already felt like home and he had no intention of leaving, mapping out his life around his career and his boyfriend.

After a solid three and a half months of working, the two of them had taken the two weeks off to head back to Farnleigh for the run up to Christmas to spend some time with their families until the new year. Finishing on a half day on Friday, they had kicked off the holiday with an eight hour drive up to Edinburgh, only stopping a couple of times along the way for Asher to refuel himself and the car. Although Lucas had never been a fan of coffee, he had drunk a couple of mochas along the way to keep his boyfriend company. The caffeine kick was totally new to him, never having even had an energy drink in his life. They had made the most of his inability to sleep last night.

Saturday had been a day of celebration and exploration, living it up in a new city though they needed nothing but each other to have a great weekend. Lucas had baked a cake before the trip, smuggling it up to the hotel without Asher noticing until he had been presented with the orgasmic chocolate explosion when they had returned to the hotel that evening. Despite plans to go out, staying in bed with too much food had been preferable.

*

Lucas awoke first on Sunday morning to the calming sight of dust specks floating through the rays of light that poured through the window. They had forgotten to close the curtains last night after admiring the star-speckled sky but on the fifteenth floor, that hardly mattered. His face was pressed against the back of Asher’s neck having ended up as the big spoon last night, his leg hooked over his waist, and he was still wearing his socks. His feet always got cold at night: he could make Asher jump just by grazing his skin with a chilly toe.

With a yawn, he closed his eyes again and nuzzled his nose into the nape of his boyfriend’s neck. He smelled of sleep, warm and musky. Lucas breathed in deeply, a sense of utter peace washing over him. They had nowhere to be, nothing to get up for just yet. Checkout wasn’t until midday: they still had three hours to lounge in the cosy queen-sized bed. Most of it was empty, the two of them coiled together right in the middle.

Lucas’s morning quiet was nothing compared to Asher’s silence. Ever since his second surgery six months ago, he was still growing used to life with bilateral cochlear implants and his total deafness without them. Night was silent, and morning too. Lucas had been wary of those hours at first but now he had learnt to love those times when he could say everything that was on his mind, murmuring to Asher when he couldn’t hear a word, whether he was awake or not. It was like his own personal therapy time, lazy mornings when he woke up before his boyfriend and let go of everything that weighed down his mind.

He pulled the duvet up around his shoulders and kissed Asher’s neck, feeling the steady beat of his heart against his palm. The sun warmed his cheek, a hazy glow that bathed the room as though it had been dipped in honey, and he let out a long sigh of satisfaction, wrapping himself tighter around Asher as he drifted off again. Ordinarily he lived by the rule that he had to get up whenever he woke up, seizing the day regardless of whether his alarm had gone off. Asher hated that rule, much preferring to lounge in bed as long as he possibly could. There were so many ways in which the two were chalk and cheese, but like a pair of magnets, opposites had attracted and there was no letting go.

The sun was higher and the sky was a tad brighter when Lucas opened his bleary eyes for a second time. His skin was warm and sweet, the comforting state of sleepiness that he inhaled when he yawned, stretching out his body and rolling onto his back. A moment later, Asher grunted and shuffled under the covers before he shifted onto his side and smiled at Lucas. He wordlessly cupped his cheek and kissed him, a slow and lazy kiss as he inched closer.

“Morning,” Lucas said when they parted. Asher’s eyes lingered on his lips and he smiled when he read the word.

“Morning, handsome,” he said. His voice was lower than usual. He had become painfully self-conscious about talking when he couldn’t hear himself, his words hardly louder than a murmur when he was paranoid that he would yell.

Lucas stroked his hand over Asher’s chest, slowing walking his fingers up to his jaw before brushing through his thick hair and coming to a rest against the warm crook of his neck. Asher reached for his processors, bringing his ears to life when he switched them on.

“I don’t want to move,” Lucas said.

“We don’t have to,” Asher said. He grabbed his phone. “Not for another … two hours.” He dropped the phone back onto the bedside table and nudged Lucas’s thigh with his knee. “I know something we can do in that time … a lot.” His hand slipped south, grazing over Lucas’s crotch, and an easy smile slipped over his lips. “What d’you say?”

“Do you even have to ask?” Lucas swallowed an involuntary groan when Asher touched him. Sunday morning was increasingly his favourite time of week, when neither of them had a care in the world after a relaxing Saturday, when he woke up with his boyfriend beside him and they could enjoy every minute that they were in each other’s company.

“I always ask.” Asher dipped his head forwards and pulled Lucas’s bottom lip between his teeth before he took control, rolling Lucas onto his back and straddling his waist, looming over him to kiss him. Lucas fidgeted, trying to take off his socks without his hands until Asher stopped him with a wink and said, “Leave them on.”

*

Asher lay horizontally across the bed with his head on Lucas’s stomach, the two of them idly staring at the ceiling. Lucas played with Asher’s hair, his other hand behind his head, and he relished in the winter sun that fought to break through the mist outside.

“Love you,” he murmured. Without his glasses, the room was a blur of colours that melted into each other like a watercolour. When he closed his eyes, a pinkish red hue settled over his eyelids, the light undulating as pale clouds passed across the sun.

“Love you too,” Asher said with a sigh. He reached out for his phone, squinting in the light as he fumbled to unlock it. With a groan, he rolled over so his cheek was squashed against Lucas’s sternum and showed him the phone, the time filling the screen. Lucas brought the world into focus when he put on his glasses and he winced at the screen.

“Ugh.” His chin met his chest when he looked up, holding his glasses in place. “We need to go.” He glanced around the room with a grimace at the mess they had managed to make in just two nights. Last night’s room service cluttered the desk and their clothes were strewn over the floor, jeans crumpled in a heap beneath the pyjamas that had joined the pile a couple of hours ago.

“Five more minutes,” Asher pleaded with huge, dark eyes, to no avail. Lucas rolled him off and sat up, stretching his back and pulling on a fresh t-shirt from his bag.

“We have to be downstairs to check out in ten minutes,” he said, folding clothes back into the case before he threw out a couple of condom wrappers and a handful of tissues, and he straightened out the room. When Asher reluctantly got out of bed, Lucas immediately stripped it and fluffed the caseless pillows, smoothing out the duvet.

“You’re so cute,” Asher said, gazing at his boyfriend with doe-eyes. He pulled on a tight t-shirt that highlighted his sculpted body, the muscles that he honed for several hours each week. “Are we gonna go and grab some brunch, cutie?”

“Yup. I found somewhere online that does about ten different types of eggs and bacon in every way possible.”

Asher’s eyes slowly widened. “There’s more than one way to do bacon?”

Lucas shrugged. He disappeared into the bathroom to collect the detritus of their stay, organising everything into its assigned place in his packing. “I guess there’s normal bacon, crispy bacon … bacon lardons? Maybe pork scratching too. I don’t know. But it looked cute and the reviews were good, so as soon as we’re packed up, we’ll go.”

They made it to checkout with two minutes to spare. It was only once they had thrown their things into the car, setting off to walk the ten minutes to brunch spot, that Lucas checked his phone for the first time since yesterday. He had been out of contact for more than twelve hours now, not having touched his mobile since he and Asher had had supper at eight o’clock last night.

“Oh my goodness.” He stopped in his tracks, jerking Asher to a halt when he didn’t notice until a step too late.

“Jesus, put your brake lights on!” He frowned when he registered Lucas’s expression. “You ok? Has something happened?”

“No,” Lucas said. “Well, yes, but nothing bad.” His shock turned to joy when he showed Asher what had startled him: a text from his mother. “Audrie’s in labour.”

Asher tapped the screen. “You realise you got that text last night, right?” He squinted at the time stamp. “That message is, like, fourteen hours old.”

Lucas looked up. “Do you think she’s had the baby?”

“I’ve got no idea,” Asher said, “but fourteen hours is kind of a long time isn’t it? I mean, she probably has.” He took Lucas’s hand again and squeezed it. “You could be an uncle right now.”

“Oh my goodness,” Lucas said, letting out a long breath. He started to walk again, holding his phone to his ear when he hit dial on his mother’s name. “Do you mind if I call Mum?”

“Not at all,” Asher said with a laugh. “This is exciting! When was she due?”

“Next week,” Lucas said. He’d had the date engraved on his brain for months now, counting down the days until the one that would turn his sister into a mother. It had felt even more real once she had begun to show, though her body hadn’t changed much with pregnancy. As fearful as she had been of how different she would look, she had ended up disappointed when she’d had such a small bump – albeit relieved that the baby hadn’t taken after its father.

“Oh my God, this is crazy,” Asher said, swinging his hand with Lucas’s. “I can’t believe Audrie’s going to be a mum. Like, today.“

Lucas impatiently waited as the phone rang, itching for his mother to pick up. After what felt like forever, she did,

“Hi, baby.” She sounded shattered, her voice dripping with exhaustion.

“Hi, Mum. I just saw your text. How’s it going? How’s Audrie?”

“Not quite there yet,” Sarah said. She yawned loudly. “Sorry, baby. I’m so tired. I haven’t slept in more than twenty-four hours. I’m in the hospital right now.”

“She hasn’t had the baby yet?”

“Not yet. It’s going slowly, poor girl. I know how she feels. I wish I could help,” she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. “How’re you? How was Asher’s birthday? Have you had a good weekend?”

“We’re great. Just heading out to brunch and then we’re coming home.”

“That’s lovely, hun. I can’t wait to see you.” She yawned again, prompting another apology. “Hey, Lucas, baby, I’m going to pass you onto Truman. He knows more than me.”

“Ok.” He laced his fingers with Asher’s, clutching the phone to his ear so he didn’t miss a thing. There was a shuffle as things were passed around on Sarah’s end, her weak voice replaced with a stronger tone.

“Hi, Lucas,” Truman said.

“Hey,” Lucas said. “How’s Audrie doing? What’s the news?”

“She’s a trooper,” Truman said with a dry laugh. “She and Cooper have been here since seven o’clock last night but her labour’s going slowly. I’m not sure the baby wants to be born. Hopefully it won’t be long now. I’m amazed she’s got any energy left at all.”

“I can’t believe it,” Lucas breathed, his words quiet. “You’re going to be a grandad. That’s crazy.”

Truman laughed. “I can’t believe it either. I can’t wait. Are you and Asher coming home today?”

“Mmhmm. We’ll be home this evening,” he said. “Hopefully it’ll be over by then!”

“I hope so! Poor Audrie.”

“She’s a fighter,” Lucas said. Truman hummed his agreement.

“That’s my little girl,” he said. “Oh, hold on a second, Lucas.” His voice went distant, his words indistinguishable as he talked to someone.

“How’s it going?” Asher asked, sensing the break in conversation. “Is she ok?”

“She’s still in labour,” Lucas said. Asher pulled a face.

“That’s shit.”

“Yeah.” He grimaced, wishing he could be with his sister if only to support her, though he knew there was nothing he could do. He had been in the hospital when his mother had given birth to Charlotte, though his presence had been entirely useless: his mother hadn’t wanted her children to see her in labour, banishing them from the room. He and his sisters had spent hours exploring the hospital.

“Lucas?” Truman returned to the phone. “I need to go.”

“Is everything ok? Has something happened?”

“The baby’s a bit distressed,” he said. “They’re taking Audrie into surgery.”

Lucas’s heart dropped. Those were two words he didn’t want to hear. “What do you mean distressed? What kind of surgery?”

“A caesarean. It’s ok, don’t worry. It’s routine. It’ll be fine: it’s time.” He laughed, the sounded laced with relief. “At last. I need to go. I’ll call you later, or your mum will. You and Asher have a great day, ok?”

Lucas nodded hard, shaking with sudden nerves and anticipation. “Send our love to Audrie,” he said. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Lucas,” Truman said. “I’ll talk later. Bye!”

“Bye.” Lucas hung up. Asher pulled him to a stop, imploring him for every detail, He recounted everything his stepfather had told him, his hands shaking. A wobbly grin made it onto his lips. “It’s happening. It’s really happening. She’s about to have the baby.”

Asher pulled him into a tight hug in the middle of the street. “This is so exciting,” he said. “Oh my God. I’m so fucking excited!”

Lucas laughed. “You just like babies.”

“I fucking love babies,” Asher corrected. He had always cooed over Lucas’s younger siblings, all of whom attached to him as though he was their brother. When Sadie had joined the family more than six years ago, she had gravitated towards Asher as though she had known him her whole life, though that was the first time they had met. Children seemed to take to him naturally, as though he emitted some kind of signal.

“I’m going to be an uncle,” Lucas murmured.

“You’re going to be the best uncle.” Asher squeezed his hand and stroked his cheek, kissing him. “You are the best.”

*

The brunch was incredible. It really lived up to the reputation that Lucas had read about online with the creamiest egg yolks and a variety of brunch meats, from crisp bacon to juicy sausages, and all the trimmings to go with it. But as delicious as it was, he struggled to focus on the food when all he could think about was his sister.

“You alright?” Asher asked once he had paid. It was a clear-cut sign that Lucas wasn’t a hundred percent present when he didn’t try to stop him from paying the bill. No matter how long they had been together, no matter the fact that they shared everything, he still played the charade of trying to pay.

“Yeah, yeah,” Lucas said, snapping out of his thoughts. He finished off his water and pursed his lips. “Just thinking about Audrie.”

Asher’s smile grew. “You’re so adorable,” he said. “Audrie’s so lucky to have you as a brother. And I’m even luckier to have you as my boyfriend.” He reached across the table, his hand over Lucas’s. “You’re my best friend. How many people get to say that their best friend is the love of their life, the only person they ever want to be with?”

Lucas’s cheeks went warm and pink, his lips teasing into a smile. “I can,” he said. He turned his hand over so their palms touched, curling his fingers up to lace with Asher’s. The more he thought about Audrie, the more he thought about the life she had, the life that he envied. He was almost there: he had the job of his dreams and his flat was pretty much perfect, and his boyfriend was the love of his life. All that was left was to take the next step. He wasn’t ready to get married, not yet, but it was all he saw on the future. That was all he wanted.

“What d’you say we make a move, head back to Farnleigh?” Asher asked, tilting his head to the side. “You know, Audrie must’ve had the baby by now. Have you heard anything?”

“I haven’t checked,” Lucas said. His phone lived on silent mode. He hated to feel like he was beholden to his messages, though it meant that he missed a lot of them when not so much as a buzz alerted him to a new notification.

“Come on, put me out of my misery,” Asher said with a laugh as he stood and pulled on his coat. He could make anything look stylish and in his grey overcoat and dark jeans, he looked as though he had stepped straight out of a magazine. Lucas felt like he paled in comparison, though his feelings weren’t of envy.

Lucas’s breath hitched when he unlocked his phone to see a few new messages from his stepfather. Asher stood right by his side to read the texts. There were no words, just four pictures. The first was of a tiny, wrinkled baby wrapped up in white. The second was of Audrie, looking a little out of it, holding her child with a delirious, glassy-eyed smile. In the third photo, Cooper was crying as he cradled the bundle that he dwarfed and the fourth was one that he must have taken: Truman held his grandchild in one arm, his other tucked around his red-eyed wife as the two of them gazed at the baby.

“Oh my God,” Asher said quietly.

Lucas held his breath. He swallowed hard to stop himself from welling up, but that was hard when he ached to be with his family, to congratulate his sister and to hold her baby. In all his calculating about when he would become an uncle, he had never thought that the day would come a week early, but it was the perfect end to the most incredible weekend.

“Let’s go,” Asher said. “It’s going to take about five hours to get back.” He shook his sleeve to check his watch. It had just gone two. “If we go now, we should be able to make it to the hospital for visiting hours. I think they start at six.”

“They’re six to nine,” Lucas said. He was well acquainted with the hospital’s visiting hours and its rules, which he and his family had broken too many times. Many of the nurses knew the Langley family quite well by now, the same hospital where Lucas’s mother and his grandmother had given birth to all of their children, and now Audrie had too.

“Perfect. Let’s go meet your … is it a niece or a nephew.”

“I don’t know,” Lucas said. “I don’t care.” He laughed and zoomed in on the photo of the baby, touching his thumb to its cheek before he looked up at Asher. “I’m an uncle. This is real.”

“Realer than real,” Asher said. He slipped his hand into Lucas’s and eased him towards the door, thanking the waitress with a smile and a wave before they headed out into the crisp winter air. The sun had disappeared, the sky clear and white and cold. When Lucas shivered, Asher squeezed his hand.

“Sorry,” Lucas said. “This was supposed to be your birthday weekend.”

“Are you kidding?” Asher barked a laugh. “Lucas! We had an amazing day yesterday and this morning was fantastic, and now we get to go and meet your sister’s baby. This has been an incredible weekend. Thank you so much.” He kissed his cold cheek. That helped to warm him up, blood rushing to his skin as though to meet Asher’s lips.

“You don’t mind?” he asked. “We can stay longer if you want.”

Asher shook his head. “Not at all. You know I love babies. I’ve been so freaking excited ever since Audrie told us she was pregnant. I couldn’t have had a better weekend with you.”

“I love you,” Lucas said. “I love you so much.”

He said the words a lot, though that had never served to make them any less powerful, or that he meant them any less. He had never been one to articulate his emotions too well but he had never struggled to tell Asher how much he loved him; never had he felt as though he said the words too much. After four years, his heart still blossomed every time he heard Asher’s simple declaration, the words that never failed to brighten his day.

“I love you too.” Asher’s voice was low and steady, sincerity in his depth. His grip was strong and reassuring: everything about his presence made Lucas feel safe, as though nothing could hurt him.

*

The drive was long and tedious, only made better by good company and a few of Asher’s expertly constructed playlists. His creativity extended beyond the pencil, seeping into his ear for music. Although he could no longer appreciate the tunes the way he once had, missing some of the more subtle notes, that had only made him more determined to find songs he liked. His cochlear implants made it difficult to hear lyrics, struggling to understand songs he didn’t already know inside out, so he had begun to build an extensive collection of instrumental pieces he enjoyed.

Lucas loved the soundtrack to the journey, the wordless songs allowing him to seamlessly slip into his own thoughts as he gazed out of the window. Asher tapped along on the steering wheel as he drove, perfectly content to sail down the motorway without a word to disrupt the flow of the music. Each playlist was painstakingly put together, pieces that transitioned so smoothly it was as though they had been made for each other, each song chosen to fit the mood.

“I love this music,” Lucas said halfway through the drive, signing his speech. With the music and the background noise of speeding down the motorway, Asher’s hearing suffered even more. It had forced him to try even harder with his lip reading and his signing, which was constantly improving. Although he had never taken any of the exams that Lucas had learnt for, he had surpassed the equivalent of a level four, creeping towards fluency.

“Thanks,” he said. “This is one of my favourite playlists.”

“Mmm,” Lucas hummed. “I love it.”

It wasn’t much but he knew how much it meant to Asher when his music choice was complimented, one of those little things that brought a genuine beam to his lips.

“It’s good driving music,” he said, “though it kind of makes me want to speed.”

“Don’t,” Lucas said, his voice stern. “I want to get to the hospital but not in a body bag.” He glanced out of the window when he saw green sign on the roadside, telling him how far they were from home. “Nearly there,” he mused.

“Fifty miles,” Asher said, glancing at the sign. “We’ll be at the hospital in an hour. Did you text Cooper?”

“I’m just about to.” Lucas took out his phone to compose a message to his brother-in-law, who had already given them the go-ahead to visit him and Audrie. He sent off a quick message to let him know they were on the way, receiving an almost instant response. Even over text, Cooper sounded over the moon, from his speedy reply to the number of exclamation marks he used. It tickled a smile onto Lucas’s lips.

The hour dragged exactly to the minute, the sixtieth ticking down as they turned into the hospital car park. Asher parked as close to the doors as possible, though that was a good ten-minute walk from the entrance, and he pulled on a pair of gloves when the car’s temperature gauge told him that it was minus three degrees outside.

Inside was a hive of activity, the hospital filled with people in every stage of every emotion from despair to glee, worry to relief. Lucas tried not to look at anybody as he walked the path he knew directly to the maternity ward. He blocked out every sound as he made a beeline for Audrie’s room, dragging Asher along as his pace increased. The anticipation was almost overwhelming, his heart thudding so hard he felt as though he might pass out.

Audrie was in a recovery room with a handful of other women and their newborn babies somewhere a little more peaceful away from the drama of the rest of the ward. Lucas gently knocked before he pushed open the door, holding Asher’s hand even tighter. Cooper was on his feet to greet them, a tearful grin on his face.

“Hi,” he said, pulling Lucas into a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you guys. Audrie’s been asking when you’d get here.”

“She has?”

He nodded. “She really wants to see you,” he said, stepping out of the way and nodding over to the bed where Audrie lay behind a curtain for privacy with a bunch of pillows propping her up in a semi-sitting position. Her hair was scraped off her face in a rough ponytail, her cheeks blotchy and her eyes red, but she was a vision of beauty with her child in her arms, gazing down at the baby she had waited so long to meet.

“Hi,” Lucas said, the word hardly louder than a breath. His mouth hung open in wonder as he walked over to his sister’s side, his eyes fixed on the baby.

“Hi,” Audrie said. Her voice was small but she made up for it with her smile. “You made it.” She stroked the baby’s cheek and looked up at Lucas. “Do you want to hold your nephew?”

“My nephew?” Lucas held onto the edge of the bed so his knees wouldn’t give way. He couldn’t tear his eyes from the tiny boy.

Audrie nodded. She was on the verge of tears, her eyes welling up. “I have a son.” She spluttered a laugh and sniffed as she handed him over to his uncle. Cooper was by her side in a fraction of a second, his arm around her shoulders. He kissed her cheek, hugging her close. She closed her eyes and let him dry her cheeks, cradling her as though she was the child.

Lucas cradled his tiny nephew, who stared up at him with huge eyes. He already had a thick crop of hair, taking after both his parents. “Hi,” Lucas said. The baby grabbed his finger. “What’s he called?”

“We haven’t decided yet,” Cooper said. “We didn’t want to choose a name and it be totally wrong when the baby came.”

“We don’t even have a shortlist,” Audrie said. She sniffed again and burst into tears, covering her face with her hands. “My baby doesn’t have a name. I’m already a terrible mother.”

“You’re incredible,” Cooper said. “You are so strong, Drie. Look what you did.” He took her hands away from her face, forcing her to look up at her son. “We have a son. You kept him safe all this time and you gave birth to him and now we get to take him home.”

“You’re going home already?” Lucas asked. Cooper shook his head.

“Well, I will be. I’m not allowed to stay overnight, which I hate, but Drie and the baby will be here until … Wednesday?”

“Three days,” Audrie said. “I just want to go home.” Her lips took a nosedive, her emotions all over the place as she struggled to comprehend just how much her life had changed in the past few hours.

“It’ll be good,” Cooper said, comforting her. “The nurses are going to look after you and our son and make sure you’re on top form before you come home. I’ll be right back tomorrow.”

She nodded, gripping her husband’s hand. Lucas was still speechless, swaying slightly with his nephew in his arms. Asher stood with his arm around his boyfriend’s waist, star struck by the perfect little life. Cooper took a photo of the three of them, snapping a few candids, the first photo of Lucas and his nephew.

“How’re you?” Lucas asked, lifting his gaze to Audrie. “You look fantastic.”

“I look like I just crawled up from hell,” she said, a dry laugh escaping her dry lips. Cooper handed her a cup of water that she thirstily drank from. “I’m … I’m ok, I guess. Sore. Everything hurts so much.” One hand hovered over her slightly deflated bump avoiding her painful caesarean incision. “Considering I spent fifteen hours in labour before I had an angry human yanked out of a gash in my stomach, I could be a lot worse.” She winced when she tried to adjust her position, enough to bring tears to her eyes, and she sank back against her pillows.

“You’re amazing,” Lucas said. “I’m so proud of you. You’re a mum now.”

“He’s perfect,” Asher said, utterly spellbound.

“Thank you,” Audrie said quietly. “Can I hold him? I want to hold him.” She reached out for her baby, curling him against her chest when he was in her arms again, pressing her nose to his head and breathing in deeply. “I can’t believe he’s ours,” she said, rolling her head against Cooper’s shoulder.

Lucas leant back against Asher, his knees weak and his emotions compromised. He blinked hard but he couldn’t stop the tears that came. Taking a deep breath, he swiped at his eyes and when Asher turned him around to hug him, he didn’t protest. He sank against his boyfriend, holding him tightly. Asher kissed his head and rubbed his back, soothing him when his newfound title of uncle pushed his emotions over the edge.

“This baby is so freaking lucky,” Asher said. “You guys are going to be amazing parents, and he’s got the world’s best uncle. He’s the luckiest guy alive.”

“Oh, no,” Cooper said. He shook his head. Taking his son in his arms and kissing his wife’s head, he beamed a contagious grin. “That’s definitely me.”  

+ – + – +

i hope you enjoyed this chapter! it feels good to be getting back into the swing of writing this story. sorry it’s such a soppy chapter!