Roommates & Soulmates

Ch146: Magnus's Teasing

"Do old married couples still have to go to fancy restaurants on Valentines day?"

"Depends how old and married we are talking," she replied. "Also if they have kids."

"No kids," Magnus answered. "Been married since April."

"Oh hell yeah they do!" she exclaimed. "That's still the honeymoon phase. Best to pull out all the stops."

"Hmmmm," Magnus replied. "Thanks." He held up the latte she'd just handed him. Magnus looked closer to see her name tag before adding, "Karla."

"Anytime," Karla laughed. "That's why I'm here. To sell lattes, and give relationship advice."

"Well, you do a fine job of both," Magnus told her with a smile.

Still smiling, Magnus left the cafe, his mind focused on his husband and a certain saint Valentine. Alexander hadn't dropped any hints that Magnus had been able to pick up on about what exactly he wanted to do on February the fourteenth. Alec wasn't usually a subtle person, so Magnus was starting to wonder if his husband wanted to do anything at all.

"You know you could always ask him," Magnus chastied himself as he got into his car.

Wasn't the whole point of being married that you didn't have to deal with all this uncertainty anymore? Then again, Magnus was pretty sure Alec had actually been jealous of that crazy lady at his parents New Years party. Married or not, it seemed love was love either way: messy, insecure, unpredictable, uncontrollable, and beautiful.

Magnus arrived home to find Paige sitting on the couch watching their tv. After taking a deep breath in, he no longer cared to ask her what she was watching.

"Did you bake something?" Magnus asked eagerly.

"Scones," Paige answered.

"You know, sometimes I love you," Magnus told her.

"Mom always told me the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach," Paige laughed.

"Well, if this man wasn't already taken, you could consider his heart very reachable via baked goods," Magnus chuckled.

"I do hate it when mom's right," Paige replied.

"Are they ready?" Magnus asked.

"Just came out of the oven," Paige answered. "Help yourself."

"Awesome," Magnus replied, changing direction to claim a buttery pastry for his own.

So far there hadn't been a single downside to inviting Paige to take their spare room. It was simply nice to have a third income contribute to the household, but on top of all that, she baked and was generally the most pleasant human Magnus had ever had the good fortune to know. Also, they had a in-house cat sitter on hand now, which had come in very handy during the holidays.

One scone devoured with what was left of his own latte, Magnus went in search of his husband. He found Alec sitting at the table pouring over books and papers, looking extremely frustrated at something.

"Good morning darling," Magnus smiled, handing over the other latte.

"Caffeine," Alec said eagerly, reaching for the drink.

"Good morning to you too, Magnus," Magnus mocked his husband. "Thank you so much for the latte."

"Huh," Alec turned, his eyes clearly glazed over.

"Nevermind," Magnus laughed. "How's the homework coming?"

"It's not," Alec groaned, pushing away from the desk and standing up.