The house had been quiet for too long. It was meant to hold a big family, to be filled with noise and chaos, and to see fifteen people crowded around the table filled my heart with joy. When was the last time I’d had a Thanksgiving like this? When I was a teenager, maybe?
“Thank you all for coming,” I said. “It means the world to me that you’re here and that the house is full of noise. Maybe we could go around the table and say what we’re thankful for?” There were a few groans, but Tinsley stood up.
“I’ll start,” she said brightly, and I turned things over to her. “I’m grateful for the loves of my life, my son, and for the baby that is, according to my pregnancy app, roughly the size of a cantaloupe today.” She put her hands on her bump for a moment, looking truly at peace, before she sat down and looked to Michael, who was seated to her right.
We went around the table like that, and with each thing to be grateful for, I felt warmth creep over me. It filled every part of me, down to the tips of my fingers and toes. Thomas stood. “I’m grateful for the people in my life,” he said, and his eyes flicked to Alex. “I’m grateful for the love that I get to experience.”
Zach went next. “I’m grateful for this moment,” he said.
Then, it was Alex’s turn, and I held my breath as she stood up. “I’m grateful for a lot of things, really,” she said. “But mostly, I’m grateful for meeting you all. I didn’t have a family until I met you.”
She sat, and there was a moment of silence that would have gotten awkward if not for Ryan sharply clapping his hands. “My dad worked his ass off on the food,” he said. “Let’s dig in.”
We started passing around the potatoes and green beans, and I served turkey from the head of the table. For the next twenty minutes, there was a beautiful sort of chaos watching my loved ones eat, bicker, and laugh.
As we finished up, Ryan hopped up to help me with clearing the table, and we shooed everyone away to let the meal settle before we got into the pies that Alex brought. “So, is this thing with Alex serious?” he asked the second that we were alone.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Of course, Ryan would want to know. The man was one of the worst gossips that I’d ever met. “It is,” I said. “I’m in love with her. Are you okay with that?”
“Would it change anything if I wasn’t?”
If he had been younger, it would have absolutely mattered. We would have sat down and discussed everything, and I would have heard his side of things. But as a grown man? I didn’t want to sugarcoat it for him. “I want you to give me your blessing,” I said, “but I don’t need it. My relationships are mine, just like yours are yours.”
Ryan met my gaze, and a smile bloomed across his face. “I’m glad, Dad,” he said. “I haven’t seen you with anyone in such a long time, and I’m glad that she makes you happy.” He glanced over his shoulder at the din of noise coming from the living room. “She’s with Thomas and Zach too, isn’t she?”
Perceptive little bastard, I thought entirely too fondly. “Yes,” I said, “but don’t spread that around.”
He waved me off in anof course, I won’tkind of way. “Are you all going to take a paternity test when the baby’s born?” I asked, trying to take the focus off me for a moment.
Ryan shook his head without an ounce of hesitation. “I don’t particularly care who the biological father is,” he said. “That baby is just as much mine as Michael’s or Kai’s or Thiago’s. We’re all going to be fathers.”
“How does Lucas factor into that? Does he call them ‘Dad’ too?”
His face scrunched. “No,” he said. “They’re his uncles, and they wouldn’t try to be anything different.”
“I guess I don’t understand the distinction. Won’t he be hurt that the new baby is calling you all ‘Dad’, but he doesn’t get to?”
“He’s old enough to understand,” he said. “He knows that one of us is the biological father—though he uses the word ‘real’, which we don’t really like—but that we’re all going to act as the father. He doesn’t want to call the others his ‘Dad’ because he waited so long to meet me, his words.”
I knew that the subject of Lucas was a little bit of a sore one. Tinsley had her reasons for not contacting Ryan when she found out that she was pregnant, and he had accepted them, and they’d all been able to move on. But there was a part of Ryan that would always lament not being in his son’s life from the very start. “You’re a good father, Ryan,” I said.
“Aww shucks, Dad, you don’t suck either,” Ryan teased, but from the stain on his cheeks, I knew that he was pleased. Just deflecting.
Alex walked into the kitchen then, and my focus automatically shifted to her. “What’s up, baby?” I asked.
She smiled. “I thought I could help with the cleanup before we have pie.”
The counters were littered with plates, serving dishes, and utensils, but I tried to turn her around. “We’re good,” I said. “You were a big help already today.”
“Dad, why don’t you both go take a breather or something?” Ryan said, and I looked at my son. “You’ve been working all day to make things perfect. Let me clean up. Take your girl and get some air.”
I glanced at Alex, who shrugged her delicate shoulders. “We could do that, I suppose,” I said. “Thanks, Ry.”
I quickly refilled both of our wine glasses before I held out my hand for Alex’s, and she entwined our fingers. I led her out onto the back porch. “You can see stars,” she said, pointing up into the sky. They were dimmed by the air pollution, but the blackness was speckled with light.
“It would be nice to be out in the country somewhere,” I said, sipping my wine. “We could see the constellations.”
“Bucket list,” she said.