Devil's House

A Baby Shower

Chester was having a hard time sitting still. When Noah offered to organize a baby shower, Chester had immediately said yes. Babies were expensive, and all the little things they needed were expensive, too. And he and Mike were about to be paying for two of them! So a baby shower seemed like a godsend when the idea was presented a few weeks ago.

But now Chester was having second thoughts. Not about having the baby shower. There were things he and Mike could definitely use for the girls, things they'd put on a baby registry and hoped would be hidden inside all the colorfully wrapped packages that were currently stacked up on their dining room table. All of that, he was fine with. It was the decision to let Noah host the shower here at their new house - in Chester's new kitchen - that he was second guessing.

Right now, everyone was seated in the living room. Between their two couches, Jason's office chair and the chair from Mike's drafting table, along with every seat from the dining room, everyone had a place to sit. But Noah and Amir weren't sitting. They were in the kitchen, pulling together what they had generically called "finger foods" after forcing Chester to leave and go sit with everyone else.

Normally, Chester loved the stories that would go around when they all gathered together. Even though Ryan and Jason were around every day now, and he saw Talinda at work constantly, Chester was excited to see Devon and Caleb and Amir and Noah, Joe and Heidi, along with Jordan. Talinda didn't keep many girlfriends around, but there were three ladies from Score that she was friendly with, and that made for a pretty full house. Chester was just relieved when Noah had asked about the guest list this time. No one from Carnal Delights would be showing up.

But right now, Chester couldn't listen to Devon and Caleb talk about their garden apartment and how they were redecorating their living room. Instead, he couldn't stop watching Noah and Amir in the kitchen. It was hard to not get up and help. It was hard to not shoo them both away and just do it himself. It was hard to watch them open his cabinets and take things from his refrigerator. It was hard to see dishes go up on the bar, and Chester wasn't sure what they were or if they'd taste okay or if Mike would like them.

It was a struggle, and the moment he heard Cheese whine, he could relate. He looked down to see her at his feet, but her attention was on the kitchen, like she was worried, too. Chester scooped her up, and sat her on his lap as he leaned close to whisper, "It's okay, Cheesy Girl. I trust Noah. Mostly." He petted the puppy's small back as they both listened, but kept their attention on the only two people not sitting in the living room.

Mike was sitting right next to Chester in one of their dining chairs that had pink balloons tied to the back. It was one of three seats of honor in the middle of everything, with Talinda on the other side of Chester. He'd been admiring the pale pink, white, and gold balloon arch that was stretched over the fireplace when he heard Cheese's whine, and he looked over at Chester with a reassuring smile. "It's okay, Ches," he whispered, kissing his husband's cheek. "You know how much you'll enjoy cleaning once they're out of your kitchen."

He squeezed his husband's shoulder and then let his arm drape causally across the back of Chester's chair. It was strange to have other people in their house, in charge of everything, but Mike was doing his best to stay relaxed. This was supposed to be a fun day to welcome the twins into their lives, and Mike wanted to take it all in and enjoy it. And there was cake.

He looked over at the cake on the bar. It wasn't made by Chester's hands, but Mike had already made peace with that. He could tell it came from a bakery, and he hoped Noah had picked a good one. He loved cake, and it would be too disappointing if the inside was dry, or the frosting was too thick. Mike knew he'd been spoiled on Chester's cakes, so he was trying to stay open-minded. "I know none of it will be like having your cooking, but it's so nice they're doing this for the girls."