Page 200 of Should the Sky Fall

“Sex,” Chloe repeats, then Leia joins in.

Dawson gives Olivia an unimpressed look. “Really?”

“What? They’ll have to learn, eventually.”

Dawson shakes his head. “Anyway, we’ll be right back.” He steers Cal away.

“You should totally have sex in a public place!” Gabe calls after them, making Dawson flush bright red.

“Why did we invite them again?” he asks.

“Because we love them.”

“Not right now, I don’t love them.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He gives Cal a shy smile. “I have something to show you.”

“I’ve already seen all the paintings,” Cal reminds him, but lets himself be led wherever Dawson wants him.

“Not this one, you haven’t.”

Dawson leads him to the other room, and they stop in front of a painting Cal decidedly hasn’t seen before.

It’s him. Dawson paintedhim. Kind of.

The painting has a supernatural quality to it. The right half of Cal’s face looks normal. Dawson even managed to get his eye color spot on. The other half, though…

The left side of Cal’s face has no skin. It’s just a human skull, blended perfectly with the rest of his face. Someone who doesn’t know their story might find it morbid, but Cal gets it. He gets what it symbolizes.

“It’s incredible. Although, I should tell you reapers don’t actually look like skeletons,” he says with a chuckle.

“That’s not you,” Dawson says, smiling softly. He steps towards the painting and points to the right side—the human side. “This is you. This is how I see you.”

“Oh.” He hadn’t expected that. “So, the other side is…”

“Yeah.” Dawson’s gaze drops to his feet, and he rubs the back of his neck. “It’s not for sale, but I wanted to include it anyway. It’s…it’s important to me.”

Cal prompts him to look up with a finger under Dawson’s chin. “I love it. I loveyou.”

Color rises to Dawson’s cheeks. He blinks rapidly, flicking Cal’s hand away. “Stop it.”

Cal grabs him around the waist, pulling him in. His smile feels too big for his face. “Nuh-uh. Never.” He kisses Dawson, pulling a soft, delicious sound out of him.

“What am I going to do with you?” Dawson wonders when they break apart.

“I’d say you could marry me, but that ship has sailed.”

“Hmm. We’ll have to think of something else.” Dawson bites his lip, his gaze uncertain as he peers up at Cal. “How about kids?”

“Kids?”

Dawson nods. “Would you have kids with me?”

Cal would have anything with him, no question about it. But does Dawson really think Cal is fit to be a father? He’s still figuring out how to be a human. Being a dog dad is hard enough.

“Would you have kids withme?”