Unto Us the Time Has Come (4 page)

“I work a lot.”

“So the kids were telling me.” Chris looked like he had more to say, but he kept his mouth shut.

“Yeah. I know. I don’t know what to tell you. I’m trying to find something full-time, but I don’t have any marketable skills and I’m not desperate enough to give blowjobs for cash.” Jesus, had he said that out loud?

“That’s not even funny, babe.” Chris took a long drink of his wine. “And you’re supposed to be making art.”

“I know. That was crass. It’s been a shitty day.” He didn’t acknowledge the whole art issue.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. That kind of thing shouldn’t happen to anyone.” Chris squeezed his hand, the touch warm and almost his undoing.

“Yeah. Sorry for bothering you. I just worried the kids would need me and not be able to call.” Liar. He’d just needed to hear a friendly voice.

“You weren’t a bother. You should be able to call me when you’re in trouble.”

“I know.” He did know that, and he believed it.

“I’m glad.” Chris looked like he really meant it too.

“I…. Thanks for the plate. I hadn’t even thought about supper yet.”

“No, you tend to get… focused.”

“Hey, pot. I’m kettle,” he shot back.

“I never denied it.”

“No. No, you didn’t. I worried for a long time that you were having an affair, but you would have just said so.”

“An affair?” Chris looked honestly surprised. “Why would I have an affair when I had the man I love more than anything?”

“You just…. You were never here.” And Kenn had been lonely.

Chris nodded. “I see that now.”

Kenn blinked.
Oh.
“You do?”

“You’re at work all the time, you’re running ragged, you don’t have the time for the kids that you used to—that you should. You haven’t worked on any art in I don’t know how long. Yeah, I see myself in that.”

This time it was Kenn who reached out and squeezed Chris’s hand, intending to…. Kenn didn’t know… empathize? Apologize? What came out was “I miss you.”

“Even though I was never home enough?” Chris asked.

“That didn’t make me miss you less.”

“Well, the truth is I miss you too.” Chris leaned toward him. “I’m rattling around in this big house all by myself.”

“This is your chance, though, to find someone more interesting, to go and do and be free of me.”

“I don’t want anyone else or to be free.” Chris stared right at him, held his gaze. “You’re still the only one for me.”

Kenn nodded. He had to. That was exactly what he thought.

“So move back in,” Chris suggested. “You and the kids don’t belong in that shitty apartment.”

“Hey, it’s my shitty apartment.” God, he wanted to come home. More than that, he wanted his husband back. He wanted his family whole again.

“You don’t belong there. Our babies don’t belong there.” Chris met his gaze, dead on. “Come home.”

“Do you… I mean, do you want me here? We haven’t… we have shit to work out.” He couldn’t look away. He wanted Chris to fight for him.

“You bet we have shit to work out, but I can’t bear to think of you in that place, working two jobs instead of being creative. I want my family back. I want you back. I. Want. You. Back.”

Kenn couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything but reach for Chris.

Chris stood and grabbed his arm, tugging him up against the broad chest. “Please, come home.”

“Oh God.” Say he wasn’t bleeding out in the alley and just imagining what he wanted more than anything. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Chris said the words against his lips, breathing into him.

Kenn pushed into Chris’s arms, ignoring how he smelled like a coffee shop, how tired he was, everything.

Chris held on to him like he was never going to let go. “Come to bed, babe. You’re exhausted.”

“Yeah? You mean it?” His cheeks were wet, but he wasn’t crying, right? Not just shattering.

“I mean it,” Chris said. “Let me start making things right.”

Chris walked him up to the bedroom and began to strip him down. It wasn’t sexual at all, just calm and close and so necessary. As soon as they were both naked and on the bed, Chris tugged him in close. “Oh my God.” Chris took a hitching breath.

Kenn’s own breath sobbed out of him. “Chris.”

“Right here. Shit, Kenn, I should kick your ass for actually leaving.” Chris wasn’t doing that, though. Chris held him tight, almost too tight. Almost.

“You let me go. I never thought you’d let us leave,” Kenn admitted out loud for the first time.

“I didn’t think you’d go. I was calling your bluff.”

“For a brilliant guy, you can be stupid.” He hid his face in Chris’s throat and sobbed.

“Shut up.” Chris stroked his back. “Please don’t cry, babe. I hate it when you cry.”

“Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m just… I got my ass handed to me today.”

“Shh. It’s over. You’re here now. You need to sleep, okay? We can deal with everything else in the morning.”

Kenn nodded, not even knowing when he had to be at work in the morning. It didn’t matter right now, though. Now Chris had him.

C
HRIS
WOKE
when he heard the kids beginning to stir, and he gasped when he realized he had Kenn in his arms. Last night came flooding back to him. He’d told Kenn to come home and Kenn had.

He wasn’t fooling himself into thinking they were just going to pick up where they left off last Christmas, but this was a hell of a start. He wanted to stay in bed and hold Kenn for days, but the kids would come bursting in soon, and he didn’t think finding them naked in bed together was ideal.

Hating to do it, he nonetheless slipped out of bed, threw on his pajama pants, and closed the door behind him.

“Da! It’s Christmas Eve eve!” Sarah bounced up, all smiles. “Can we go see Daddy today?”

He smiled. “You can definitely see Daddy today.”

He figured Kenn was supposed to work today, but he wasn’t planning to let that happen. Kenn had worked enough. His husband, his lover, his fucking best friend was going to stay home and let Chris love him. They were going to be a goddamn family again.

He grabbed Sarah, picked her up, and hugged her tight. “Is your brother in the kitchen already?”

Micah had proudly made breakfast every morning they’d been here.

“Uh-huh. Making oatmeals.”

Chris headed down to find Micah holding the landline, frowning. “Dad’s not answering. I need his help.”

Chris took a breath. What was the best way to tell them? “He lost his phone yesterday, but you can still get his help.”

“Yeah? Cool. How?”

Just lay it out. “He’s upstairs, but he’s sleeping, so maybe we can wait a bit to wake him up, okay?”

“Oh.” Micah looked at him, then frowned. “Like upstairs because he’s spending Christmas or upstairs because we’re moving back home?”

“Daddy’s here?”

“Daddy’s here because you’re moving back home. Nobody has to stay in the apartment again. You’re all coming home.” He had no qualms in telling them that because he was not letting Kenn, or them, go again. He’d taken that job Jordan had offered him, and he was willing to put in the work on their marriage, hash it all out with Kenn. He wasn’t losing his world. He’d been a stubborn fuck and he’d done everything wrong, but he wasn’t stupid. Kenn loved him. His pride had nothing on his family.

“You promise? Like you promise to God?” Micah stared him down, and Sarah started wiggling to get out of his arms.

“I do, Micah. I promise to God, and I promise to you and your sister.” He let Sarah down.

“Daddy!” Sarah ran toward the stairs, and Micah ran to him, hugged him and sobbed.

Chris blinked and held on. He hugged Micah tight. “It’s okay, son. I’ve got you.” God, his idiocy had hurt more than just Kenn and himself. They’d both screwed up big time, and the kids had paid for it. He closed his eyes and prayed he could make it up to all of them.

“I want both of you here. I promise to be good.” Micah didn’t let go.

“This isn’t about your being good. This is about grown-ups being idiots.” Kenn had Sarah in his arms, a pair of Chris’s sweats hanging on his hips. “I was supposed to be at work an hour ago.”

“Micah’s making oatmeal, though!” Sarah insisted.

“Dad, what happened to your face?” asked Micah.

Chris looked over.
Jesus.
Kenn’s face had been a little red the night before, but he’d put it down to the cold. Now he could see that Kenn had been smacked but good. Chris wanted to growl and go beat someone up.

“A bad man took Daddy’s phone and money. And hit him. You should have told me, babe. We could have put the peas on it.”

“It wasn’t sore last night.” Kenn turned to Micah. “You’re making oatmeal? You want help?”

“Yeah. Yeah, Dad. Cool.”

Kenn handed him Sarah and went into the kitchen.

Carrying Sarah, Chris followed Kenn and Micah. His whole family was here. It was a little stunning. He squeezed Sarah tight. “Is this the best Christmas Eve eve ever or what?”

“The bestest, Da. The very bestest.”

“Yeah, I think so too.” He set her down. “We should do our part and set the table.”

“Okay. Bowls and spoons!”

Kenn made coffee and brought him a mug, fixed up like he wanted it.

“Perfect. Thanks.” Their fingers slid together as he took the cup, and it was nice not being the only grown-up. It was even nicer that the other grown-up was Kenn.

Sarah was buzzing, totally jazzed about the turn of events. Micah was more cautious, but he kept stealing looks at both of them and smiling to himself.

“You should call your job and tell them you quit,” Chris suggested. Kenn was not working himself to the bone right before Christmas. It wasn’t necessary and Chris wouldn’t have it.

“You mean my jobs. God. I suck as an employee if I do that.” Kenn ran his hand through his hair.

“Would you rather spend the next two days working your ass off? If you called in sick, it would be the same thing, and you’re tired enough you could totally do that and be telling them the truth.”

Sarah gasped. “Da! You said a dirty word!”

Kenn’s lips twitched. “You totally did. You owe Sarah a kiss.”

“Not you?” Chris asked. Man, was he flirting? He was pretty sure he’d totally forgotten how.

Kenn lifted his face for him and Chris’s heart stopped. Oh God. What if they didn’t connect anymore? What if he’d forgotten—

He pressed their lips together, shutting out the worries and just let the kiss happen. Kenn sighed, the sound healing Chris down to the bone, to the very core. He didn’t try to deepen it or do more than just slowly move their lips together. It was perfect.

And Micah’s gagging noises told him exactly when it was time for it to be over.

Rolling his eyes, he ended the soft kiss.

Kenn winked at him. “Okay, you’re forgiven.”

If only Kenn meant for more than just the curse word. “I don’t know that that’s going to work as a detriment to stop cursing….”

“No? I’ll have to work harder at it.”

“Dad? Do I need to stir yet?” Micah asked.

Chris gave Kenn’s ass a pat, sending him toward Micah, then went back to helping Sarah set the table. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this good. Years. God, had he been unhappy for years? Stuck in his job, needing to put in the hours to keep it, but maybe he hadn’t really been happy there. Certainly he’d missed this, time with his family. And he’d been missing them for more than just the last year.

He grabbed Sarah up and hugged her hard. “Good job, sweetie.”

“Silly Da. Silly, silly, silly.” She kissed his nose. “I love you!”

“I love you too. More than my toes.”

“Me too. I love you more than my belly button.” Sarah started giggling.

“This belly button?” He poked his fingers into her belly, making her squeal.

“Daddy! Daddy, Da’s getting me!”

Kenn grinned over, sipped his coffee, and nodded. “He is.”

That made Chris just laugh, the whole agreement without helping her out in any way thing. Man, he felt giddy. “So are you calling to quit?” he asked, once the laughter and fooling around had died down.

Kenn searched his eyes. “You… you think so?”

“I do. You should be home with us. It’s Christmas.” He handed over his phone. “And I think you should do it now.”

“You’re leaving the jobs, Dad?” Micah asked. “That’s cool. Da says we all get to come home.”

Kenn looked at him, one eyebrow lifted. “Well, he’s pretty smart, your Da.”

“I know we have to talk still, but this is where you and the kids belong, and I’m determined to make it work.”

Kenn nodded, then simply took the phone. “Can you help Micah dish up, love? I’ll be back in five.”

“We’ll be here for you.”

He squeezed Kenn’s hand, then turned his attention to the kids, helping Micah get the oatmeal into the bowls, then guiding Sarah through the addition of sugar and milk, making sure she didn’t drown the oatmeal in either one. Micah kept stealing looks, but Chris let them pass. It had been hard for the last year, brutal. It was going to get better. Micah would adjust. And time would prove this was more than just a Christmas special.

He added some sugar to his own oatmeal, then poured in a tiny bit of milk and started eating. “This is great, Micah.”

“Thanks. It’s my first time.” Micah grinned, adding a lot of sugar and a splash of milk.

“You’ve done a great job all week. I’m really impressed. Honest.” He just hoped Micah was doing it because he wanted to and not because he was trying not to be any extra work. Which was totally possible—he’d had his head up his ass for the last year, at least. It was time for his kids to be kids without having to worry about him and Kenn.

“It’s Christmas. You do things special for the holidays,” Micah said slowly, casually.

“You do.” Chris gave Micah a direct look. “You coming home isn’t special for the holidays, okay?

Micah shrugged. “I hope not. I didn’t like it, the whole divorcing thing. It’s not cool.”

“No, it isn’t. And I’m sorry we put you through that, son. It was hard on all of us.”

“Yeah. Is Dad coming with us to Gramma’s?”