"Family reunion time," Josie excitedly sang, adjusting Eros's shirt for him, "and Aunt Arabella's coming, I literally can't wait."

"And I'm meeting your grandfather for the first time."

"No worries, Abuelo is a cool guy," she said, smiling up at him.

I bit down on my lip, tapping my foot rapidly. Zach was late, and I was really wanting him to be here when Abuelo and Abuela got here.

"Hey, maybe this time, I won't collapse and nearly die," Hero joked, clasping his watch on his wrist as he shrugged.

Mom smiled and wrapped an arm around his neck. "Let's hope not."

"Hey, Aunt Lex, congrats on the engagement," he said, "again. Are you planning your own wedding?"

"Actually, no," Mom said, drying her hands off on the nearest towel, "I'm letting someone else take the reigns."

Hero snorted, lifting an eyebrow.

"What's that for?" Mom scoffed.

"Aunt Lex, I love you," he said, "but you letting someone else be in charge of something so huge? Yeah. No."

"Haha," she said, rolling her eyes, "I've learned to let others lead."

Fran and Brian walked in the kitchen, making Brian let out a heavy sigh. "That smells so good, Mrs. King."

"Charlie, I'm not kidding," Thomas said, "please give me my phone back."

"Hey, Charlie and Thomas, you're at a nine, I need you at, like, a three," Uncle Jo said.

"Yes, sir," Charlie said, holding Thomas's phone out to him.

I smiled down at the pair. They were cute, and from what I'd heard, this was a big change for them. Someone actually caring.

"Hey, Charlie, come here," Hero said, picking him up, "smell this. Doesn't it smell great?"

"Aww, look at my boy, already practicing being a daddy," Eros said, cocking his head over.

Hero lifted his eyebrows for a split second and placed Charlie on the counter, making Uncle Jo clear his throat.

"Rule number one, you don't leave a child sitting on the counter."

"He's, like, grown," Hero said, looking over at him.

"He's, like, seven," Uncle Jo deadpanned.

Hero grabbed Charlie and placed him on the ground, and I turned to face the door when it opened.

"Hey, there you are," I said, smiling as soon as Zach walked in.

"Hey," he greeted, closing the door behind him, "sorry, I'm a bit late. Mom insisted I bring a pie."

I pressed a kiss to his lips, leading him into the kitchen.

"Oh, Zach!" Mom said, "hi."

"Hi, Mrs. Lex," he greeted, "a pie, courtesy of my mother."

"Oh, how sweet. Good in-laws," Mom said, shooting me a grin.

"Mom," I said, tilting my head over.

Zach chuckled, looking over at Uncle Jo. "Hey, Mr. Fred."

"I'm Mr. Jo, but hi," he greeted, smiling.

"R-right, I'm sorry."

"Hey, my boy Zach," Dad greeted, smiling a broad smile, "what's up?"

"Nothing much, just getting you and your twin confused."

"It happens," Dad said, patting Zach's back.

"Hey, man," Hero greeted, "dude, you're getting jacked."

"Thanks," Zach chuckled, "between swim and training with Henry, it's kinda hard not to."

I smiled an accomplished smile, trailing my eyes down Zach's physique that had certainly changed. Not that he needed it, but it was an interesting change. Zach was a completely different person when I'd met him — the notorious nerd, as everyone referred to him as. Now, he was becoming a different version of me. Joining the swim team, making changes to his body.

I liked him before all of those changes, too, though.

"So, E," Dad said, "what's new with school?"

"Um, U-Dub is really pushing," he said, bracing his elbows on the counter, "like, seriously. They want me to go later in the summer for some camps and some of their training they do for pre-season."

"Well, that's good," Mom said, "I'm surprised Josie hasn't applied there."

Josie smiled. "I have my heart set on UCLA."

"I know," Mom said, "which is still way too far from here, just saying."

"Zach, what about you?" Mom asked.

"I'm, uh, figuring it out," he said, nodding, "I actually wanted to study abroad for the majority of college."

I looked over at him, knitting my eyebrows together. I hadn't heard that before. And I hadn't taken a life without Zach into consideration, definitely not recently.

I knew my distaste was obvious, and everyone could see it.

"But life has changed recently," Zach said, "I'm figuring it out. Slowly, but surely."

Mom smiled, toggling her eyes between us. "Good. I'm glad to hear it."

Uncle Jo braced his elbows on the counter. "Are you two, like, together together?"

I looked over at him. To be honest, I hadn't really flat out told Uncle Jo. I knew that he knew, but I wasn't sure of his reaction to it.

"We are," Zach said, nodding.

He smiled a warm smile. "You two compliment each other really well."

It was like the earth had been lifted off of my shoulders. Not that I'd expected less from Uncle Jo, but he was exactly that — Uncle Jo. Notorious for being a ladies man, like my father, before they'd settled down, and I just figured he'd expected the same from me.

The door opened and I looked over at it, my stomach doing a somersault at the sight of Abuelo and Abuela.

Be cool, Henry.

"This should be interesting," Zach said, smiling over at me.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"Babies!" Abuela exclaimed, "hi, hi!"

I smiled and watched her embrace Josie in a hug, then Hero, then Fran, and lastly, myself.

"Hi, Abuela," I said, "you look radiant."

"We come bearing gifts!" She said, "so, introduce me to everyone."

"This is Eros," Josie proudly said, wrapping an arm around Eros's middle, "my boyfriend."

Abuelo was obviously sizing him up, peering at him from over the rim of his glasses.

"It's nice to meet you," Eros said, shaking Abuela's hand first, and then reaching his hand out to Abuelo.

"He's a good kid," Dad said, folding his arms over his chest, "got a hell of a head on his shoulders."

Abuelo nodded, shaking Eros's hand. "You treat my princesa right, or else."

"Yes, sir," Eros chuckled.

"Damn, you should've brought Amelia," Uncle Jo said, roughly patting Hero's shoulder, "let everyone meet your baby mama."

"Jo," Aunt Lena warningly said, drying off a dish.

"U-um, this is Brian," Fran said, smiling a sweet smile.

"It's so nice to meet you two," Brian said, "I-I've been hearing about you and your legacy since I could remember. And Fran has all your books on her bookshelf, Mrs. King."

"My baby," Abuela said, "it's nice to meet you."

I bit down on my lip, clearing my throat.

"And who's this?" Abuelo asked, his eyes on Zach.

"This is Zach," I said, "my boyfriend."

I didn't even see Abuelo blink an eye — no surprised expression, no hesitation, nothing.

Abuelo nodded. "Nice to meet you, Zach."

"Yes, sir, you, too," Zach said, nodding with a surprised smile.

"And these two must be the newest additions to the family," Abuela said, smiling down at Charlie and Thomas.

"Damn, our family can't get much bigger," Abuelo said, patting Zach's shoulder as he walked past.

Zach looked over at me, a pleasantly surprised look on his face. "Oh?"

"I'm just as surprised as you."

~*~

"So," Grandpa Mateo chuckled, leaning back in his seat, "Henry, you and Zach are, like, a couple?"

I clenched my jaw, keeping my eyes locked on him. He'd done nothing but rub everyone the wrong way from the moment he'd walked in.

"Yes, Grandpa," Henry said, grabbing the salt from the center of the table.

I took a sip of my water, my eyes meeting Josie's. She mouthed a you know grandpa, making me place my tongue in my bottom lip.

"And when did this happen?" Grandpa asked, a smile still playing on his face.

"Hon," Grandma said, gently dabbing the corner of her mouth.

"A while ago," Henry said, nodding. I could tell he was getting annoyed by Grandpa's constant interrogation.

Grandpa simply chuckled, shaking his head.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, knitting my eyebrows together as I shook my head.

"I'm just... surprised, that's all," he said, looking over at Uncle Fred.

"What's surprising?" Uncle Fred asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"That you're allowing that," Grandpa said, nodding towards Zach and Henry.

"That he's allowing his son to love who he wants to love?" Dad chimed in, "wow, Fred, what a shocker."

"You didn't do much better, you let yours knock a girl up at the ripe age of seventeen," Grandpa Mateo deadpanned, making me chuckle.

"Shut your mouth," Dad said, his jaw taut.

"Bro," Aunt Arabella said, her eyes wide as she looked over at Dad.

"No, he doesn't get to talk about that," Dad said, shaking his head, "it's not your business."

Abuelo leaned back and rubbed his eyes, sighing. "Mateo, keep your mouth shut."

Grandpa sighed, letting out a quiet chuckle. "Just surprised you're not more concerned about continuing the family legacy, Fred. That's all."

"Which legacy are we talking about, Mat?" Uncle Fred asked, "are we talking about Dad's billion dollar empire legacy, or your drug dealing gone wrong legacy?"

"Damn," Aunt Arabella choked, a small giggle escaping her, but she quickly covered it up by sipping on her wine.

"Fred," Grandma scolded, looking over at him.

"Don't worry about my son," Uncle Fred said, pointing at Grandpa Mateo.

Grandpa folded his arms on the table, looking over at me. "Are you at least healing nicely?"

"Excuse me?" I deadpanned, cocking an eyebrow up at him.

"From when you freaked out," he said, "you know, at the last family function."

"Wait, what happened at the last family function?" Aunt A asked, looking over at me.

I felt like a ton of bricks had been thrown at my chest — no one had flat out mentioned it.

Everyone was completely silent; Dad didn't even freak out on Grandpa, as I figured he would. He simply looked at me, his eyes soft, yet worrisome as to what was about to come next.

"What the hell kind of question is that, Mat?" Uncle Fred snapped, breaking the complete radio silence.

"A genuine-"

"I'm healing fine," I said, "I've got a lot of motivation now to turn my life around."

"Yeah?" Grandpa asked, "what's that?"

"My kid," I said, nodding, "I didn't just knock some girl up. That girl, whose name is Amelia, and I are raising that child and giving it a great life."

A surprised look on his face, he nodded as he cut into his steak. "Glad to hear you won't be a deadbeat."

I kept my eyes locked on him as I took a sip of my water, and the awkward silence that encased our entire family held enough tension that it couldn't even be cut through with a knife.

"Is anyone ready for dessert?" Aunt Lex finally asked, rubbing the back of her neck as she scoped the table for empty plates.

"Ooh, yes ma'am," Charlie said, making me grin over at him.

"Okay, kiddo," Aunt Lex said, "I'll be right back."

"So, Jo," Grandpa Mat said, making me let out a sigh and lean back in my seat. How was he going to stick his foot in his mouth this time?

"What?" Dad asked, taking a sip of his wine.

"You're adopting these two?"

"We're fostering right now," Dad said, "but we'll see what the future holds, am I right?"

Thomas excitedly nodded, wiping his mouth. "I love living with Mr. Jo and Mrs. Lena. They're, like, the parents we never really had."

Abuela cracked a small smile, tilting her head over. I could sense the warmth behind everyone else's smiles, but I could sense Brian's discomfort from a mile away.

I stared at him until his eyes met mine, lifting an eyebrow. I mouthed a simple you okay, and he nodded and went back to eating.

"It's been good catching up," Grandpa Mat said, making me look over at him with a look of disbelief on my face. Judging everyone was Grandpa's ideal way of catching up?

"Sure has," I said, nodding with an obviously sarcastic smile.

"You're just like your dad, you know," he said, playfully punching my arm, "glad to see one of you boys is taking after your dad."

"Screw you," I said, knitting my eyebrows together.

"Hero," Mom adamantly said, her eyes locked on me.

"No, go be a fucking homophobe somewhere else," I said, "no one wants that shit here."

"Period," Aunt A said, leaning back in her seat with a proud smile on her face.

Henry looked over at me, and I saw the smallest of smiles on his face. Henry's silence throughout dinner had let me know that he didn't particularly feel welcomed, and I'd promised him that if anyone gave him shit, I'd give them shit right back.

"Hero, language," Dad said, rubbing his forehead.

"He's right," Uncle Fred said, nodding as he looked over at me, "if you're going to be in my house, you're going to respect everyone here. Specifically my kids."

Abuelo lifted an eyebrow and fought a proud smile, resting his chin in his palm as he awaited Grandpa's response.

"Got it," Grandpa said, taking a sip of his wine.

I looked over at Henry, winking as I shot him a subtle thumbs up.

"You guys really have each other's backs, don't you?" Aunt Arabella asked, wrapping her arms around my neck from behind as she got up from her chair.

"Hell yeah we do," I said, "and that's never gonna change."

"Well, Fred, Jo, and I have always had each other's backs," Ari said, "so much that any guy that ever gave me a second glance, they nearly killed."

"Well, considering some of the men you involved yourself with..." Dad trailed off, sipping his wine.

"Oh, screw you," Ari said.

"Wait, I want the tea," Josie said, resting her chin in her hand.

"Story for another time," Ari said, patting my shoulders, "just don't ever let anything come between you guys. Got it?"

Henry, Josie, Fran, and I smiled at each other, nodding. "Got it."

~*~

"You guys grew up."

I turned around, smiling at Arabella as she took a sip of her beer.

"Family men," she said, throwing her arms around Fred and I.

"Just waiting to pass the torch to you," I joked, looking down at her.

"Funny," she said, "I love waking up in the morning to the smell of no children."

I looked out across the lawn, smiling a soft smile at all the kids surrounding the bonfire they'd created.

"I don't know what I'd do without them," I said, taking a sip of my beer.

"Same here," Fred said, "those kids fuckin' saved me."

I looked over at him, smiling.

"Sweet," Ari deadpanned, "just not for me."

"I said the same thing," I said, "that might change for you one day."

"Yeah, let's not hold our breath," she said, patting our backs, "I'm going to join the kids. Take it easy on the beer."

I watched her run over to the fire and squeeze between Josie and Fran, making me fold my arms over my chest and sigh.

"Kids aren't for me my ass," Fred said, "those kids are her entire life."

I chuckled, nodding. "She likes these because she gets to give them back at the end of the day."

We chuckled, and I just let out a sigh.

"I wish Dad was closer," I said, "he's getting older, you know."

"I know," Fred said, nodding.

"Who the hell are you calling old?"

I turned around and held up my hands, watching as Dad walked towards us. "Not me."

"No, that was you," he said, "better watch that mouth."

"And he's still got it," I said, stepping aside for him to stand between Fred and I.

The three of us stood in our infamous comfortable silence — we were all looking out into the yard at all of our beautiful creations.

"Charlie and Thomas," Dad said, "they're sweet. And Brian seems like a good kid."

"He is," I firmly said, "one hundred percent. And those kids, man, they're keeping L and I young."

"You need the help," Dad teased, grinning over at me.

"Ha," I muttered, sipping on my beer.

"And Henry and Zach," he said, making me cautiously look over at him.

Fred lifted an eyebrow.

"They really love each other, don't they?" Dad asked, smiling a warm smile.

"They do, yeah," Fred said.

"Josie and Eros," Dad said, "Eros is a little quiet."

"Yeah, well, once he gets comfortable, he never shuts the fuck up. I've known that kid since he was six."

I chuckled, nodding. "Man, these kids are close."

"All of 'em," Fred said, smiling a soft smile.

"Thank you guys," Dad said, looking between the two of us, "for staying close to each other. For giving these kids a hell of a life."

"We learned from the best," I said, looking over at him.

Dad shrugged, taking a sip of his beer.

"Things still hot with you and Ma?" Fred asked, grinning over at him.

"Hey, I may be getting older," Dad said, "but I'll never lose it."

I chuckled, nodding with a proud smile. "Damn."

"And if either of you let your marriages get screwed up again," Dad warningly said, "I'm not too old to knock some damn sense into you."

"Nah, I'm not letting Lena go anywhere," I said, smiling as my eyes landed on her. She had Charlie in her lap, giggling at something that Hero was saying.

"And I'll be damned if Lex ever goes anywhere again," Fred said, "I even proposed again to seal that deal."

"No fuckin' way?" I asked, looking over at him, "and you didn't tell me?"

"It just happened," he said, "I'm taking her ass on a second honeymoon."

"Hey, the kids can stay with me for your guys' honeymoon and then mine can stay with you for mine and L's second honeymoon?"

Fred sucked in a breath. "Rain check."

"Screw you," I muttered.

Dad chuckled, and a silence encased the three of us again.

"We all co-created something beautiful, didn't we?" Dad asked, a warm smile on his face as he admired the sight in front of him.

Fred and I looked over at each other, smiling. "Hell yeah we did."

~*~

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