Capítulo 57: May-December | Chapter Twenty-seven
Otis was sitting in the center of the living room with Chaska. They were coloring in dragons and cartoon castles.
"Chaska, do you know where Otis' puffer jacket is?" Kyle's mother asked, walking into the living room with a basket filled with clothes. She was going to do laundry, and after that Chaska would make her a cup of tea before taking over with chores.
"It's at my apartment," Chaska said, looking up from the coloring book. "Kyle and I will be doing one last look around and pick up tomorrow, sorry."
The old woman smiled. "It's no problem. I can't wait for you all to live together so things aren't miles apart," she said with a sweet laugh before walking away.
Chaska smiled at that before looking down at the picture Otis was trying to get his attention to see.
It was a Friday afternoon, and Christmas holidays were starting early for the kids in school, so Chaska had free time to spend with Otis and his grandmother. Kyle has a client to work for today, so he wouldn't be back until sometime in the evening.
In-between work, taking care of Otis and doing basic house chores the two men had managed to move most of the furniture in Chaska's place over to the townhouse. They had put his clothes in boxes and bags, and they were going to pick those up tomorrow. The cats were still at his apartment, but Kyle and Chaska planned on bringing them over to Kyle's mother's place for the time being by tomorrow
The plan for the holidays was to spend Christmas and New Year's Day together in Kyle's mother's cottage before leaving for their own house sometime in January. Everything was happening fast, but Chaska has been able to keep up so far. He was excited about the change in his life, and he was happier than he'd ever been in his whole twenty-two years.
"Can you draw the house?" Otis asked, making Chaska come out of his thoughts. The young man blinked before staring down at the blank corner of the coloring book the toddler was pointing to. "The new house," Otis went on, giving Chaska a pencil.
"Okay," the dark-haired man said, trying his best to draw a simplified version of the red brick townhouse he has Kyle has gotten together. They talked about moving in together and the house a lot in bed, so it was natural that Otis picked up on it. Even his grandmother mentioned it quite frequently.
"The cats will live with us?" the child asked, as their small mouth made a shocked 'o' as they clapped their hands. Chaska nodded, drawing the third cat as a stack of circles with a wriggly line as the tail.
"Daddy," the boy laughed, staring down at the stick drawing that Chaska gave Kyle's new fuzzy scruff. The taller stick figure standing beside it took a while for Otis to figure out but the soon did. "Chaska!" he said, pointing at the long lines for hair.
Chaska nodded, picking up the boy before placing him in his lap. The boy said Chaska like 'chess-car' but he never bothered to correct him. The British cartoon accent was here to stay it seemed.
"Is that me?" the boy asked, as his eyes stared down at the shortest stick figure.
"It's you!" Chaska said, putting on a cute voice before picking the book up so that the two of them could see the drawing better.
Chaska ruffles Otis's blond hair as the boy smacked his lips and stared at the drawing.
"What about mommy?"
Chaska's face became pale at the boy's words. "Your mummy is working," the dark-haired man said. "See," he added, taking a pencil to draw a woman at the other end of the paper.
Chaska was worried about Otis' reaction, but the boy seemed satisfied.
"And grandma?" he asked, making Chaska Chile before getting to work drawing a hunched back stick figure. It seemed the boy was just curious, not sad. He was happy about that.
He had an urge to tell Otis that it was okay to call him daddy too, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.
Soon. He thought, reminding himself that transitions like that took time for children. Also, it was just a title. For all intents and purposes, he was already acting like Otis' father—he was one of Otis' parents.
Kyle came back just in time for dinner. He went up to the attic to change out of his work clothes before coming downstairs wearing a pair of loose shorts and a tank top. The evening dinner was nice. It was homely and the food tasted nice. The men talked to the woman about moving, and she went on about how she was going to be lonely again by herself.
"We'll come to visit a lot," Kyle said. "I promise," he added, earning a smile from the elderly woman who poked at her food with her fork. It was evident that she was worried Kyle would disappear again, even though he would just be a few miles away.
"I would love that. You can always come and borrow anything you need," she said. The woman looked over at Chaska. "You're dropping off your keys with your landlord tomorrow, right?"
Chaska nodded. "Yes." He poked a pea. "I even spoke to the person who'll be living there soon the other day."
The table became quiet for a bit until Kyle let out a little 'oh' and everyone turned to look at him.
He shook his head, waving a hand over his head. "I forgot to say something," he said before looking from Chaska to his mother. "Anastasia said she's coming over on Christmas day if that's alright."
"That's good!" Kyle's mother said, grinning from ear to ear. "I've never seen the person that made this boy face to face before," she said, reaching out to pinch Otis' cheek.
"Mommy?" the boy asked with wide eyes and Kyle nodded.
"Just for a few hours," he told Otis, before turning his attention back to the adults. "She said she's passing through this route for a business trip and asked for the address so that she could stop by."
Kyle's mom hummed, nodding her head, and Chaska forced himself to smile. He didn't know Anastasia personally, and if anything, he was a bit thrown off by the announcement. He knew Kyle has ended things with her, but he was a bit panicky. What if the two saw each other again had hit it off? What of Kyle decided that he had made a mistake?
The thought scared the younger man.
"I'm going to wash off the dishes, and start early on the chores," Chaska said, getting up from the dining table and excusing himself. He wasn't sure how long he could put up the fake smile, so he had to leave.
Kyle and his mother noticed something was wrong, but it seemed like Chaska needed space, so they let him be.
The man went up to the attic room after he washed off the plates and squeezed the napkins until they were no longer heavy with absorbed water.
Kyle didn't come upstairs until a good hour later, and when he did Chaska was already in bed, buried under the covers. Kyle sighed, changing out of his clothes before climbing into bed with Chaska. The mattress sinking told Chaska that the blond man had come upstairs, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to look at him. Chaska's throat was clogged, and he felt like he would break down of Kyle said the wrong thing. So, the man shut his eyes and tried to stay quiet.
"I know you're awake," Kyle said after a while, raising a section of the duvet before sliding under it so that he and Chaska's bodies were touching and sharing heat. Chaska remained silent, but he opened his eyes and stared at the blue blanket as Kyle's hand found its way to his waist.
"Is this about Anastasia?"
Chaska thought about lying, but he decided it wasn't worth it. "Yes."
"Did I do something wrong by saying she could come over?"
Chaska felt his eyes sting. "No."
"Are you sure? You sound like you're going to cry," Kyle sighed.
"It's not your fault, I'm just being very insecure," Chaska mumbled. "I know Otis would like to see his mum, and it makes sense that your mother would at least like to see the person you were married to," Chaska said.
"So, don't worry, it's just me being nervous," Chaska stressed.
Kyle sighed, and his breath fanned the younger man's neck. "What are you nervous about?"
"You two getting back together," Chaska admitted, swallowing the excess spit in his mouth. "I don't know, maybe you'll change your mind when you see her—"
"I won't." Kyle's voice was firm, and so was his grip on Chaska's waist. "I won't," he repeated, getting the younger man to turn and face him under the dim lighting of the room.
Chaska opened his mouth, but he couldn't get words to come out, so he closed it again. He snuggled closer to Kyle, letting himself feel the rise and fall of the man's chest.
"I think both of you will be good friends," Kyle said, and Chaska remained quiet. "She loves her son, she'll be happy to find someone taking good care of him," he added as he ran his fingers through Chaska's hair.
"Do you really think so?" Chaska asked.
"Yes." Kyle pressed a kiss to Chaska's forehead.
"Where's Otis?" the younger man asked, wondering where the boy was. He had been so packed with nerves that he didn't notice their regular third was nowhere in sight.
"He's with his grandma," Kyle said. "I wanted to talk to you, also I didn't want him to see you sad. He would get sad too."
Chaska chuckled. "Yeah, kids are like that. They can be very sympathetic."
"Yes, but it's a lot worse with people they like," Kyle asked.
Chaska licked his lower lip. "Well, I guess I'm Otis' favorite teacher."
Kyle hummed. "Nah, you're his favorite person."
"Even more than his parents and his grandma?" the younger man asked.
"Yes, you are god-tier to him," Kyle said. "He should start calling you God," the man joked but Chaska didn't laugh.
"Well, I would like it if he called me dad or something like that." Chaska could hear his heart pounding in his ears. "I didn't care before, but the more I think about it—"
"I'm sure Otis would like that," Kyle said, cutting Chaska off before he could ramble on about everything and nothing. "Though, he already calls me daddy," Kyle muttered.
Chaska remained silent.
"Well, he can call us both 'daddy', he'll find qualifiers himself," Kyle said. "I'm afraid I'll be 'okay daddy' and you'll be 'better daddy', and now that I think about it that would hurt my feelings."
Chaska burst out laughing, and Kyle held him tight, happy that he had been able to raise the man's mood.
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder