Beloved: A Henry Dawncraft Novel |boyxboy| Sequel to Lover for Pay

II - Brother.

Opting for burgers instead of Chinese or German, Henry and Daniel arrived at a grill house at the restaurant district of the shopping center. It was oddly hockey themed to their surprise since the sport wasn't too popular in a place like Texas, but they had to admit that the interior was pretty nice.

They sat down together in a booth and ordered two cheeseburgers with fries and a drink. As they waited for their food to arrive, Henry distracted himself by looking around at his surroundings. To his surprise, Anavrin actually had a hockey team he's been unaware of for twenty-four years of his life, and apparently they were really good given all the trophies. There were a couple signed jerseys framed up on the walls, and while he squinted his eyes to read one of the names, Daniel touched his hand to bring him back to attention.

"You don't really want to talk about this, do you?" the brunette asked. "About having a kid, I mean?"

Henry sighed and took the straw to his drink between his fingers, bending it in half as he seemed to be trying to avoid eye-contact. "I said we would, so let's hear your pros?"

"The pros?" Daniel scoffed, "You make having a baby sound like an occupational investment. The pros of having a baby together would mean you and I could have something even more precious than just ourselves to love and bring up into this world together. Just think about it, we could have this tiny human being, whether it be a boy or a girl, all to ourselves to love and experience the joys of watching them grow. We get to place the second step towards building a larger foundation to our families, hand down our philosophies, Henry. Doesn't that sound exciting?"

"First of all," Henry tore the paper around his straw and plopped it into his drink, "Having a baby might as well be an investment. Raising a kid comes with time, money, attention, patience that I already have little of, and you make it seem like having a kid is all dandelions and sunflowers. Just because Ben, Naomi, Layla, Ozzy, and Joyce are miracle angels doesn't mean there are kids who can't be full-on headaches."

"If you raise them right–."

"Speaking of raising," Henry cut in, "If we have a baby, either one of us or both of us will have to change how we work. Daniel, we're so lucky to make the kind of income we do, and if we have a kid, that's going to have to change. We work what feels like all the time. And I hate daycares. I'm not putting my kid in a daycare for all day shifts forty to fifty hours a week. Someone is going to have to be there for them, and I can't picture one of us quitting our job."

When Henry stopped, Daniel sighed, feeling defeated and he put his head down on the table, crossing his arms under him as well. He wasn't going to lie; those were all good points. The money both of them made at their respective jobs was far better than they could have imagined. Even though the hours were taxing at times, it gave them their beautiful house and all the things they could ever ask for, all the things they could now afford to buy themselves. But Daniel wanted something far more than the collectable anime figures he always ordered online, or tickets to the annual conventions that popped up throughout the year.

He wanted a baby.

"Oh, come on," Henry's hand touched down on his shoulder. "Just listen, I'm not saying I'm against us ever having a baby, Daniel. I think it would be amazing to start a family with the one person I can't live without, but...maybe just not right now. Okay?"

Daniel didn't answer.

"Hello?" Henry nudged him again, "Babe, come on."

A sniffling sound arose from Daniel then and he stood from the booth. There were tears in his eyes, and he almost ran into the waitress coming over with their food. "I'll be right back," he excused himself, hurrying away just when his husband tried to reach out for him.