Page 100 of Out of My Mind

“Yeah, sometimes I do.”

Mac put down his ice cream and listened closely to his answer.

“Have you ever done something because you thought you liked it, but you realized you only did it because it seemed like the right thing to do?” Gideon asked. “Like getting drunk on your twenty-first birthday. I wonder how many people actually want to get trashed, and how many do it just because they think that’s what they’re supposed to do on their twenty-first birthday.”

“Huh,” Delia said. “Heterosexual intercourse. The ultimate peer pressure.”

Next to her, Seth clutched his stomach and leaned over. “Hey Seth, you okay?” Mac asked.

“I don’t feel so well.” He lay down on the chaise.

Delia hopped up. “No, no, no. I double-checked the pizza, the beer, and the ice cream. No gluten, no nuts. You are fine.”

“I don’t think so,” he said through controlled breaths.

“I love you, man, but you are not throwing up on my couch.” Gideon went to get him a glass of water.

“What is it?” Delia held her boyfriend’s hand. Their love was quirky and unexplainable, but something to behold. Mac wondered if that were true with all relationships.

“I think…” Seth knew how to amp up the drama. “I think I might be lactose intolerant.”

Gideon burst out laughing. Delia fell back onto the couch.

“Nooo!!! Sweetie, you can’t do this to me! I can’t live a life of only eating dark chocolate and celery.”

“I’m sorry.” Seth drank some water. “I love you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Pretty soon, the only thing you’ll be able to eat is me.”

Φ

Three weeks later, Gideon and Mac drove up to Westchester so he could hang out with his new nephew. Mac watched Gideon rock the baby back and forth. He was a natural. And naturally, Gideon’s mom asked them if they were planning to have kids. She had no segues when it came to these types of questions about their relationship. She just spat them out.

He and Gideon were miles and miles away from kids, even marriage, although the thought had crossed Mac’s mind. He smiled to himself whenever he thought of little Mac back in West Virginia, deep in the closet and hating life. One day, he would find love and actually have a shot of marriage.

“He’s adorable,” Mac said to Noah. “He has your eyes.”

“He’s going to be a ladykiller. Or a dudekiller. Is there a gay version of ladykiller?”

“Manwhore.” Gideon said.

Noah tickled the baby’s neck. Nothing was cuter than a baby smiling. “Doing good, uncle brother.”

Gideon continued rocking the baby, like he never wanted to let go. His mom watched the scene from the corner as she gave Christina diaper changing tips.

“Is he sleeping?” Mac asked.

“For the most part. We’ve been lucky, because we’ve heard that some babies just cry all night. This guy has been a cool dude. We have a secret weapon, though.” Noah motioned for Mac and Gideon to come over to the crib.

“The Big Bird mobile.”

Mac’s face was a cloud of red. Big Birds spun around in the mobile above the crib.

“Big Bird is awesome. I don’t know where we’d be without him. What’s so funny?” Noah asked his brother.

Gideon was crying from holding in his laughter. He had to give Mac his nephew so he could cover his face and wipe away his tears.

“What’s so funny?” His mom asked.

“Nothing. It’s a great mobile.” Gideon laughed and cried into his hands. His whole head was a tomato. Mac joined in the giggles, too, until his stomach hurt. The baby smiled at them.

Everyone in the room gawked at them as if they were high. Mac and Gideon shared a look. They were oddballs, but oddballs together.

“You loved Big Bird as a little boy, Gideon,” his mom said.

“And he loves him just as much as an adult.”

THE END