A New Beginning

Ch. 8-Six Month Anniversary

Alek was at work when he looked at his calendar. It was August and his six month anniversary; he quickly dialed a number into his phone and walked outside to make some reservations. When they were made, he went back inside to his desk. For the rest of the day, he looked out the window and thought about what he should do with Auggie after dinner.

When he walked into the house, he had a bouquet of roses and lilies; he took them to the kitchen to find a vase, next, he took the vase into August's bedroom and placed it on his nightstand along with a note. An hour later, August came home with Pandora. He went to his room to change and noticed the bouquet on the nightstand. He picked up the note and read it to himself out loud,"My dearest Auggie~, wear your fourth best suit and meet me at your favorite date restaurant. Also, the neighbors said that they would watch Pandora while we were gone. Love, Alek K." He smiled a little and turned the note over to check if anything on the back. The back read,"Please be there by 5:30 :)"

At exactly 5:30, August arrived at the restaurant. He saw Alek waiting for him by the doors and walked over to him. Alek grinned as he opened the door for his man. They soon got their table and ordered drinks and food. While the couple waited for their food, they talked about their days. Alek eventually said,"I'm really in love with you. You've helped me to accept myself and taught me how to be a good parent, so thank you for everything you do." August smiled a little and blushed,"You're welcome. I should be the one to thank you, though. Without you, I would have been in the closet even longer than I already was. Also, you've helped teach me how to cook." Alek blushed a little as he tried to cover his slight smile with his hand. Eventually, their food came and they ate. After Alek paid, he took August to the park and sat on a bench. The two sat in silence for a few minutes until Alek said,"If you hadn't stopped by this bench six months ago, we wouldn't even know each other." Snow started to fall as Auggie turned to face his partner. He asked,"Has it really been six months?" They both sat in silence and tried to do the math. August finally said,"So, we met on August 7th, which was Pan's first day of school and now it's January 7th" So, yeah, it has been six months since we met." Alek smiled and said,"Sooo, we never did get to have a New Year's kiss, did we?" August replied,"You're right. Because you were off in another country for work, right?" Alek nodded and leaned in for a kiss, but Auggie blocked his face with his hand as he said,"Wait until midnight, love~." The black haired man nodded slightly and leaned back as he placed an arm around August's shoulders.

For most of the evening they talked about life before they had met and how they had changed each other's lives. When midnight came, Alek leaned in and kissed August lightly at first, but deepened it as August returned the kiss. When they broke apart for air, August stood up and held out his hand for Alek. Alek took it as he stood up and they got in the car and drove back to the house. August went to get Pandora from the neighbor's, while Alek went to change into pajamas and waited for them to come home.

Minutes later, Pandora and August walked through the door. Neither one knew where Alek had gone, so Auggie made his way into the kitchen and found Alek baking muffins. They smiled at each other before August went to his room to change. Pandora soon came to say good night and hugged Alek. He smiled softly and ruffled her hair before she scampered off to her room. August called to Alek from the living room,"Hun, you wanna watch a movie?" Alek grabbed a muffin that was fresh from the oven and walked over and sat next to him as he asked,"What movie?" August shrugged, so Alek suggested,"What about The Babadook?" August looked up at him as he nervously asked,"Isn't that a horror movie?" Alek nodded and replied,"If you get scared, we can change it or you can hold on to me." The smiled at each other and Auggie started the movie. When it started to get spooky, Auggie buried his face into the side of Alek's arm as he held on tight. Alek tried to distract him by saying,"Ya know, the Babadook is a gay icon." August looked up at him with wide eyes,"R-really?" Alek nodded,"Yeah. He came out of the closet and spooked everyone." They both laughed loudly until August covered Alek's mouth and said quietly,"We're gonna wake Pandora up," Alek then smiled a little as he handed a piece of the muffin to his significant other. Auggie ate it and soon fell asleep while leaning on Alek, who just put an arm around him and started to drift off to sleep, but he was awoken by Pandora running into the living room while crying. Alek looked at her with worry in his eyes as he softly said,"What's wrong, Pan?" She whimpered,"I-I had a nightmare..." He managed to escape the grip of Auggie and sat on the other side of him, so Pandora could sit and talk about the dream. She eventually fell asleep leaning on him and Auggie had moved to lean on him again, so Alek was trapped. He soon fell asleep, though. Before he fell asleep, he smiled and said to himself,"This was a great anniversary....".