Page 36 of This Time Around

“What’s going on?” Milo asked. “Are they upset with me? Is this an intervention to talk some sense into you?”

“Hardly.” I snorted. “My mother called you Milo Miracle-Mason today. I don’t think she’s trying to scare you off. I think she’s going in the opposite direction, and she’s brought in the big guns to help her.”

“I’m a sucker for your grandparents,” Milo said, smiling.

“They still ask me about you every time I see them or talk to them on the phone,” I told him. “It’s going to be okay. We better get inside before Mom sees the time. I don’t want to go last in the food line.”

“Always focused on your stomach,” Milo teased.

“I can think of an organ that’s a lot more demanding at times.”

I escorted Milo into my parents’ house and smiled as he was hugged and greeted warmly. I was expecting the same greeting, but Faith grabbed me by the ear and dragged me down the hallway before I could say hello.

“Listen, Andy. Don’t fuck this up.”

“What happened to Switzerland?” I asked.

“You’re my brother, and I love you dearly, but I can’t help that we’re family. Milo is my chosen family, Andy. If you hurt him again, there will be no place you can hide from him, and our familial DNA won’t save your ass from me. Are we clear?”

“Crystal.”

I stayed in the hallway grinning like a loon after she left. I truly felt at home for the first time since I returned.

At first, I was nervous after seeing that nearly all of Andy’s family was present for dinner. Were his aunts, uncles, and cousins on the way over too? But then Andy told me that his mom had tacked his last name onto mine, and I got nervous for a totally different reason.

Andy and I were nowhere close to taking a big step like that. Did I hope that it would happen? I’d been dreaming of the day for as long as I could remember. For the better part of my life, I didn’t allow myself to believe it would happen though. Same sex marriages weren’t performed or recognized in Ohio until the Supreme Court ruling in 2015 stated that same-sex marriage bans were unconstitutional. I celebrated and cried with my family that day, but there was still a part of me that remained a little sad. The man I had dreamed of sharing a future with had disappeared from my life, so the victory was bittersweet. Little did I know at the time, but his return was right around the corner.

Still, hearing that Andy’s family approved of us reconnecting made me feel so much better. Andy’s parents, Wendy and Andy Sr., and their parents, Janice, Norm, Dave, and Doris, all smiled happily when we walked through the door. It was like no time had elapsed when I greeted and hugged his parents and grandparents while Faith dragged Andy down the hall for a private chat. I saw the determination in her eyes and knew her decision to be Switzerland was over. It warmed my heart that they truly were happy to see the two of us together.

I thought I had remembered every little detail about Andy Mason, but it seemed that a few things had slipped my mind, such as his love of barbecue ribs. I’m not just talking about a mild passion, I mean he tied a little plastic bib around his neck like you sometimes get in restaurants and went to town. He didn’t lick his fingers or act in a disgusting fashion, but he mowed through his plate like he was in a contest. Wendy Mason’s ribs were delicious, but they couldn’t hold a candle to mine. I decided to bide my time to reveal that particular skillset to Andy.

I ate my dinner at a more leisurely pace and enjoyed a conversation with his family while Andy grunted his responses. Truth be told, his food grunt was very similar to his I’m-gonna-fill-you-up grunt, and my dick started to get ideas.

“Are you still performing, Milo?” Janice asked me. Her big brown eyes looked huge inside her horn-rimmed glasses.

That pulled Andy’s attention from his dinner. “Huh?” he asked around a mouthful of food.

“Um, no.” Fuck! I didn’t expect this to come up over dinner and was ill-prepared.

“That’s too bad,” her husband, Norm, said. “You were something else, kid.”

“Thank you, sir. It was something fun to do while I was in college, but I don’t have much time for it now.”

“You should make time,” Doris added. “You could be on that one show? What’s that called, Janice?”

“America’s Got Talent?” Janice asked.

“Not that one,” Doris replied. “The one where there’s singing and dancing.”

“Thereissinging and dancing onAmerica’s Got Talent,” Doris countered. “Do you meanAmerican Idol?They don’t really dance on that show, do they?”

“Not that one either. It’s on a cable network. I just can’t remember the name of it.”

“What’s this all about?” Andy asked me after wiping his face with a napkin. “Why are you blushing like that?”

“It was nothing, really,” I said, trying to discourage his interest. “Just a little something to pass the time and keep me from missing you.” Andy rolled his eyes because he thought I was trying to distract him. He wasn’t completely wrong.

“The host’s name starts with an R,” Janice said. “Big tall fella.”