HOME.

23.

Ceres Beau.

"Maybe two more." I tell Derek as we stood in the kitchen grabbing the snacks that had just been delivered, the party was in full swing, my father and Gavin were manning the grill, the rest of my family well the ones that mattered except Hugh and Tyrell since they were with Peyton were either in the backyard mingling and dancing or with my daughter fawning over her.

The news of my coupleship with Gavin had been announced to everyone when we arrived and my father just smiled before taking Gavin over to the grill, I was sure the corn and meat wasn't the only thing being grilled, Harry and Klein were everywhere with their group of friends, turns out they were really popular, and in as much as I hated the idea, Vinnie Forester was their friend meaning Anderson was here, thank goodness his wife wasn't.

Derek had invited Craig to have some company that he could tease and drag to the guest room later to molest, I needed to lock that door later but circling back to the current conversation. "Are you sure he said two more, you guys already have three." Derek asserts trying to understand why Gavin would tell me he wanted to add two more kids to the three we already had.

"My guess is he wants to have kids with me you know, I don't know." I sigh and Derek nudges me by the hip, making me smile. "Cheer up, if he wants kids then have his kids, I mean where will you find a successful, gay man willing to marry for love and have a whole bunch of babies with you." Derek mentions and I found his point valid, there weren't a lot of guys like Gavin, he genuinely wanted a big family and that family with me.

"Look, can anyone win over your dad like that, dude is scarier than Hugh, and yet looks so yummy." Derek pointed out to my father and Gavin laughing by the grill and immediately my heart warmed, it was a beautiful sight, I immediately set down the bowls I held and took a picture. "Please stop fantasizing about my father, you have a whole meat rack over there." I tell Derek who hides his blush walking over to where Craig and Anderson were.

I made my way to Maya who was talking to one of the parents that had come for Klein's birthday. "How are you, how is the party?" I asked my assistant. "The best, you always did know how to pull off a great party, with great food, and oh yeah, meet James Goode, we went to highschool together." She rambled on and I found it adorable. "That's really good, nice to meet you James, which one is yours?" I asked and he pointed to a girl with a french braid and the cutest blue and yellow monochrome dress I had ever seen.

"My little queen, bossy little thing, she insisted we get Klein something sports related." He chortled and I found myself laughing along, my son really needed to pull back on his sporting addiction. "Then she knows him best, thank you for coming." I express my gratitude.

"No not at all, thank you Ceres for inviting us, we recently moved to this neighborhood and I was worried my baby wouldn't have friends, I'm glad I won't worry about that anymore, and I even found an old friend who is now a new one." He replies with a happy chuckle before drinking his juice. "Then I'm glad I could help." I tell him before leaving him and Maya to catch up more. "Nice party mister Beau." Anderson had finally caught up to me.

"Thank you Anderson, enjoying yourself?" I asked and he rubs the back of his neck nervously. "Surprisingly I am, thank you for not excluding my son from this, he absolutely adores Harry and Klein, I know it couldn't have been easy after everything so I'm grateful." He exclaims with a sincere look in his eyes. "They are just kids Anderson, I'm not the cruel monster you painted me out to be in court and I would never keep my sons away from their friends." I say emphasizing my words.

"That's good, I'm sorry about the past and I'm happy for you, he seems like a good man." Anderson responds and I see how hard it was to admit that, I guess he still thought that at some point I would get back together with Drake, his hopes would be crushed if he kept them. "He's a good man, and a good father, I couldn't ask for better." I smile toward him. "Good." Anderson accepts and I turn to leave going toward  a group of kids, I was glad he didn't mention Drake or anything related to him, I didn't want to ruin my child's birthday.