Charlie and Nick Fanfic - PG13 Version

Grand Romantic Gestures

Charlie climbed into the front passenger seat of their minivan and promptly shut the door. Unable to restrain himself, Nick unbuckled his own seatbelt and dove over to kiss Charlie.

With a giggle, Charlie kissed him back.

It was chaste at first, but soon, Nick was slipping his husband some tongue and let his hand slowly descend to Charlie's khakis.

Face burning red, Charlie grabbed his husband's hand and whipped his head around to the back seat. Nick couldn't help but chuckle. It seemed that for only a moment, Charlie had forgotten their son, Gregory was usually sitting back there.

At the sight of the absence of Gregory, Charlie focused his attention back onto Nick. "You left him with your mum and Murray, right?"

With a smirk filled with birthday secrets, Nick readjusted in his seat, re-buckled his seatbelt and waited for his husband to do the same. He didn't consciously think about his accident often, but when he did, it came out in safety concerns.

Charlie buckled himself in and away they went.

Excited curiosity was shining in Charlie's sparkling blue eyes and for the first time that day, Nick began to doubt himself. Each year, he always made a grand romantic gesture on Charlie's birthday. Unfortunately, Nick feared he had outdone himself. A grand gesture could only grow so big with each passing year. Maybe all of Nick's romantic ideas were tapped out.

Bucking up, Nick continued to drive, hoping against his fears that Charlie would like his birthday surprise.

To Nick's relief, Charlie's excitement never wavered when they pulled into the driveway of their house.

"Should I close my eyes?" he wondered.

"No need," Nick replied, leading the way into the house they shared.

Then came the disappointment. No friends jumping out to say "surprise!" No banners or flowers or gifts or, well, anything. All that waited for them in the foyer of their home was a sleepy, old feline, Hairy Styles, and their dog.

When Charlie realized Nick was watching his reaction, he smiled and rubbed Nick's back affectionately.

Oh, no. Was that pity?

Pursing his lips and holding his tongue, Nick began to brainstorm how he could make up for this blunder. Why hadn't he just bought flowers and taken Charlie to a nice hotel? Why couldn't he have taken Charlie out to dinner? He couldn't now, plans were already in place.

As Charlie trailed ahead of Nick towards their living room, he asked Nick, "how was your day?"

Before Nick could reply, they were in the living room, where the real surprise waited.

"Happy birthday!" Gregory cried happily as he jumped out from behind a sofa.

From the other room emerged Nick's mum, who had been looking after Gregory while Nick was gone. "Happy birthday," she told Charlie with a hug before bidding the small family goodbye to go home to Murray.

"We made a cake!" their son proclaimed.

"I don't believe it," Charlie teased.

"And poppa (Nick) made your favorite for dinner," Gregory went on. "Twice! He burned it the first time."

"Tattle tale," Nick chuckled. Turning to his husband, he spoke under his breath. "I'm sorry. I should have done better. I just had this idea of celebrating our family, but I ended up planning a boring night in."

"Stop," Charlie protested. "I love it. This is what I wanted, Nick. I just want to spend time with you and our son. That's all I ever want."

Charlie's words eased Nick's mind, just as they always had.

Grand romantic gestures would still be in store in their marriage, that was something that was built into the way Nick expressed his love for Charlie. They would occur less frequently, but they would mean the world. Nick supposed that was a part of growing as a couple. There was a time when Charlie was Nick's only and top priority. That couldn't be the case now.

It had been over three years since they adopted Gregory, who was five years old at the time. He was their family now, and he was as high, or higher a priority than their romance. Lucky for them, their love was that rare, strong love that could endure nearly anything. Having a child never took away from their marriage. If anything, their son was the missing piece to their lives.

Nick was confident that Charlie felt the same way as him. This was the life Nick always wanted. He was the father of a great kid and he was married to the best man he had ever known, the only person he had ever truly loved romantically. There wasn't a thing he would change and he was looking forward to the rest of their lives together. Nick and Charlie Nelson-Spring were truly happy, and today was one of many good days.

The End