Devil's House

Jealousy From the Other Side

It was chilly outside, and for once, Ryan was okay with that. It was December, after all, and even though it wasn't snowing, the cooler temperature meant that he was in a sweater and Julien was, too. He smiled down at his son, who was babbling and rocking back and forth on his stomach as he reached for a squishy block toy. Juliens' sweater was green with a snowman on the front. Ryan's was straight black. The contrast didn't bother him as he leaned forward on the couch. "Buddy, I gotta tell you, if we were going to a cute Christmas sweater party, you'd totally win."

Julien looked over at the sound of his dad's voice. "Ba, ba, baaaa," he babbled, slobbering all over the place.

It made Ryan laugh as he reached for the nearby spit rag and crouched down to wipe his son's face. "Eventually you'll stop being a drool monster," he told the baby. "And all your nonsense will turn into real words. If your first word is fuck, I'm having a serious conversation with your Uncle Chazzy."

The thought of Chester made Ryan glance at the clock on the wall. It was getting late. Jason had finished with work almost an hour ago and was currently in the shower. "Speaking of which, your Uncle Chazzy is late," Ryan whined to the baby before sitting back down on the couch and pulling out his phone, just as his stomach rumbled. "Hear that? Dinner is late, for you and me."

He pursed his lips as he looked at the time and his silent text thread with Chester. Usually Chester would have already danced through the front door by now. Normally he'd be in the kitchen, cooking up something that smelled delicious for their household.

But tonight, the kitchen was empty. There was no Chester, no dancing around in socks or swatting Ryan away from his work space or Mike away from the food. "Maybe we should text him," Ryan said out loud, just as Julien started to fuss at the red squishy block. His baby grunts were quickly amping up to wailing. Ryan could tell, and he was on his feet, plucking Julien from the floor. "I know, it's past time for your dinner, too."

He looked at the clock on the wall and frowned. "Let's go ask Uncle Mike if he's heard anything and then we'll get your dinner at least." Ryan hiked the baby over his shoulder, which for the moment, kept his cries of hunger in check as they headed down the hallway. Mike was still on Christmas break from his classes. It had been nice to have more company in the house, even though Ryan could never predict where Mike would end up at any time during the day. Sometimes he'd hang out in the living room with him and Julien. Sometimes he'd hide out in the bedroom to draw or read. Sometimes he'd linger back to Jason's office for ten minute intervals. Ryan could only imagine the deep conversations about spreadsheets and day planners going on.

He rolled his eyes, just as he got to Mike and Chester's bedroom.

He wasn't totally shocked when he stepped into the open doorway to see Mike sitting on the bed, a book in his hands, his hair in his eyes, and Cheese sleeping next to him. It made Ryan smile. Since their foursome experiment a couple of weeks ago, things in the house had returned to normal on a day-to-day basis. Soft touches and occasional lip kisses were the only things shared between the four of them, like the gang bang and voyeurism hadn't happened. All of which Ryan was fine with. He knew it could return at any moment, and that was exciting. And until then, he was very happy and satisfied going to bed every night with his husband, who he adored like the sunshine.

"Mike," he called, just as Julien started to fuss again. "Have you heard anything from Chazzy? It's past dinner time already." He nodded to Julien. "I'm going to have to go ahead and feed this guy."

Mike hadn't even heard Ryan and Julien come down the hallway. He was absorbed in the novel he was reading for fun, not for studying. He laid the book down on his chest and glanced at his watch. It was a shock to see it was a half hour past when they usually ate dinner, which meant Chester was almost an hour and a half late. "No, I haven't. That's weird," he said with a guilty glance at Ryan while he rolled on his side and reached for his phone. There were no notifications. "Let me text him."