บท 60: May-December | Chapter Thirty
They had moved into the townhouse after New Year's Day with no problems. A bulk of the furniture was stuff they had moved from Chaska's house. The remainder of it were privies they had snagged from a thrift shop outside town.
Otis had liked his room, but he had cried when he realized the separate bed and bedroom meant being on his own. Kyle has fixed the situation by suggesting that he slept alone on school days and slept with them on weekends. Otis wasn't pleased but he blinked back his tears and nodded his head at his father's offer.
It was weird at first—getting used to the fact that they would wake up next to each other every day.
"It feels weird, doesn't it?" Kyle asked one morning as he poured out the eggs he's finished making into a plate. He had watched Chaska from the corner of his eyes as the man had looked through the fridge for a quick bite before work.
They had gotten up a bit late and were scrambling about to eat breakfast and do the needful before they had to head out.
"What's weird?" Chaska had asked, stuffing a muffin into his mouth before pulling on the roll of paper towel for something to dust crumbs off with. "Eating a muffin?" Chaska had asked after he swallowed the food in his mouth, making Kyle laugh.
"No, having so many things to think about when you wake up," the mad had said, watching as Chaska, and smiling a bit when the younger man nodded in agreement.
Taking care of Otis without Kyle's grandmother, tending to the cats, and having a place bigger than an apartment to clean and upkeep by themselves has been tiring but fulfilling.
The narrow hallways, the cramped layout of the house, and the three cats that wandered about made the house seem lively. Even more so when Kyle's mother came to visit occasionally like she had promised she would.
Amongst many of the things the duo was doing together; Chaska and Kyle had started working on building a chicken pen in the backyard. The younger man had plans of starting a little garden and raising chickens so that groceries wouldn't be a bit less expensive. It didn't matter that they were working on two salaries now—they had more expensive commitments to address.
Since it was nearing February, it got colder, and the snow stuck around after short drizzles and night storms. At least the air wasn't thin and dry, and men didn't have to worry about the toddler coughing. There was a thin sheet of white on the ground, and Otis reminded the two adults about it by running in and out of the house with his wet shoes as he chased the cats or bothered one of their neighbor's dogs.
They hadn't made enough to cover it yet, but Chaska and Kyle were working towards getting him to see a therapist. Anastasia was helping and trying to see if she could get them on her insurance.
The woman and Chaska had grown to like each other. At first, it had been odd having her call to speak to Otis every day, but it was something they grew used to. The boy looked forward to their discussions with his mother, and Chaska grew to be less insecure about their relationship. They weren't fighting for his affection. The boy loved all of them. Chaska still wasn't over how good it felt to have the toddler refer to him as his father.
Settling down meant getting used to the area, their neighborhood, and the house itself. Their neighbor to the left was a young woman unmarried woman in her twenties, and their neighbor to the right was an older woman who was always happy to see Otis out playing in the front yard. She and Chaska had grown a little close through discussing food recipes and the garden she had right in front. He kept asking her for tips, and he couldn't wait for when he could grow his own plants in the spring.
They still had not found a solution to Otis and the cats littering the house with toys. The rocking chair they got him for Christmas stayed in the living room, and a handful of his stuffed animals found their way to the kitchen and bathroom.
Despite how annoying it was, it reminded Chaska that there was a little human in the house.
"Do you think the flowers would have dried out yet?" Chaska asked as he poured out a cup of juice for Otis.
Kyle shook his head. "No, buried in snow, yes." The man lifted Otis from the floor before handing him the cup Chaska has poured out for him. The younger man had fasted a sippy cup top to it, so Otis could drink without fear of spilling grape juice all over the place.
"Yeah, you're right," Chaska said, thinking about what his mother's grave would look like now. It was probably buried under snow. He hadn't had the finances to get a headstone for her grave, and it was a miracle in itself that he had put together enough to get the woman her own grave instead of having her share a mass one like most people who died without relatives did.
Kyle did visit Chaska's mother's grave with him. The younger man had cried in the car when they were heading back home, but there were tears of relief versus tears of sadness and distress. Chaska didn't talk about his father, and Kyle felt it was better to leave it at that, but if sometime in the distant future Chaska decided that he would like to forgive the man, Kyle made it clear that he would support him.
It was late in the afternoon noon now, and the trio was in the living room together watching cartoons. The reality of the scene made Kyle's chest swell with delight.
It was cozy and laid back. It was nice to take a break between running about fixing things here and there, and work. Monday was in less than twenty-four hours, and Kyle didn't want to think about having to drive out of town for remote work.
He still took those. There was a lot he was saving up for with Chaska. He didn't have massive big dreams like he did when he was younger, but he did want his family to be healthy and comfortable.
"Don't hug the blanket," Chaska complained, adjusting the yellow duvet that they had brought downstairs with them. The new house's heating was still a bit wonky, but the two men were working on it.
"Is it that cold?" Kyle asked, rubbing his fingers through his fiancé's hair. Chaska hummed, snuggling closer to Kyle on the sofa as he closed his eyes. Kyle guessed that the pink cartoon pig snorting on television wasn't doing much in the entertainment department.
"Yes, we should really hurry up and fix the heating downstairs," Chaska sighed, opening his eyes to look at Otis who was sitting on the floor beside the sofa. "Are you cold?" he asked the little boy, reaching down to touch his hair.
"No," Otis responded before getting up and crawling up the sofa as well. He found his way under the blanket between the two men, before popping his head out so that he could keep watching the cartoon on T.V. A cat meowed in the distance, and one of them walked past the sofa, staring up at the trio.
"There's no space," Kyle said, watching the pet walk away after licking its paw. Chaska laughed, giving Kyle's jaw a quick peck before looking back at the television in front of them.
"Do you want to go kickboxing sometime this week? It's been a while," Chaska asked a few minutes into their watch time. Kyle thought about it for a bit before nodding his head. It had been a while. They had been spending so much time moving and fixing up the house that they hadn't had time to go to the gym. Kyle's brows came together in a small frown as he thought back to the first day that he boxed with Chaska in the ring. The man cuddling up to him was completely different.
Chaska's demeanor was what had attracted him, but the vulnerability underneath his thick skin and his stern look were what had made Kyle fall in love with him.
"Why are you smiling?" Chaska asked, poking the man's cheek. "Are you thinking about something?"
"Just you," Kyle answered, making Chaska's face warm up. Kyle wanted to kiss the man, but it was a good idea to limit physical affection around Otis to brief kisses and gentle shoulder squeezes and the like. It was a lot of work explaining that two people who loved each other, kissed briefly, and held hands, and it would be harder to explain what French kissing was.
Chaska was the first to look away. "You know, I wish we were alone," he mumbled just high enough for Kyle to pick up. The older man laughed, adjusting the collar of Chaska's shirt before the two of them tried to pay attention to the cartoon Otis had forced them to watch.
Kyle zoned out, not really interested in the 2D animals on screen. He retreated to his mind, thinking about how he had first met Chaska. He had arrived in Newfront when the ground was wet, and the rains were frequent, and somehow Chaska had completely become a part of their lives after the proposal in December.
People tended to associate the winter months with stagnation and a lack of life, but these winter months had been wonderful to Kyle. He'd gotten all the things he never knew he had wanted or carved until he was back in his childhood town.
Kyle was back at Newfront.
And he didn't have plans of going back.
THE END.
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