Of Love (14 page)

“Yeah?” Kent pressed close, snuggled against his shoulder. “Any good-sized ones?”

The houses he found were all pretty big, with the odd exception. They were a good-sized price too, but he knew money wasn’t really an issue for Kent. The man owned this building and wouldn’t have a problem renting his awesome condo out.

“Oh wow, look at this one.” Dex made sure Kent could see.

Taking up two and a half lots, it was a large older home with a huge fenced-in yard and a well-maintained front garden. “It’s got five bedrooms, four and a half baths, an updated kitchen, finished basement, and three fireplaces.”

“Oh wow. Wow. Think of the runs we could have along that path that the place backs onto, huh?” Kent said.

“Yeah, I run along there now and then, but it would be super easy access from there. Look, it says the street ends in a cul-de-sac too, which means there wouldn’t be any through traffic.” That would be good for kids, fewer cars.

They scrolled through the inside shots. The place was all renovated but done tastefully, all the wood gleaming, built-in bookshelves lining the fireplace in the main room. The kitchen looked enormous in the picture, with a big walk-in pantry and a breakfast nook that was all windows. The back porch was enclosed and more like a sunroom than a porch. The rooms on the top floor, while small, were charming with sloped ceilings, one boasting an amazing window seat.

“This would make a great master,” Dex noted, pointing to the rooms in the attic space. “And you could turn the little half bath into a full en suite and knock out the wall to this second little office, really give the master a nice roomy feel.”

“Oh wow. I. Come see it with me? I mean, please?” Kent reached for his hand, squeezed it. “I want…. Oh, it doesn’t matter. Come see the house?”

“Yeah. Yeah. Let’s go.” The place was empty, so as long as the agent could swing it, they should be able to see it today. Dex hit the phone number, leaving the phone on speaker.

In minutes they had an appointment to see the place in a half hour, which would give them enough time to get there and walk around the neighborhood a little, just to check it out, and before he knew it, they were in Kent’s car, heading for the river, hunting a place to park.

“What do you think of the neighborhood?” Kent asked.

“I like it. I like how close to downtown we are, and to the running paths, and yet it feels like an old, genteel neighborhood. Man, look at the sizes of these trees.” Dex pointed at the huge elms that lined the streets.

“Yeah. It feels grand, but not stuffy, not cold at all.” Kent parked and took his hand. “Can I tell you something?”

“Anything, sweet.” He meant it too.

“I really want to ask you to move in. I won’t, because I know how you feel about a built-in family, but if I slip up, it’s just because it’s a dream of mine, to be a family together. You’ll have to forgive me.”

Dex squeezed Kent’s hand hard. “I have to admit that I chose this house from the listings not because it looked perfect for you, but because it appealed to me. The things we could possibly do with the master especially….” He wanted to say he’d come around to the kids thing, but the thought of being responsible for three little lives… that scared the fuck out of him.

“Yeah.” Kent kissed him on the corner of the lips. “Let’s go look. Who knows, we may hate it.”

“Yeah, could be.” He snorted. The place was going to have to be seriously misrepresented, full of rats, and need millions of dollars’ worth of repairs for that to happen.

They headed down the street, the sun pouring down on them, the day seeming to just bless them both.

“Look how well-maintained these houses are. People in this neighborhood care.” There was a shaft of excitement going through him; he didn’t just want this for Kent. He’d maybe fallen in love with the house from the pictures.

“I love the way you can hear the water too.”

“Yeah.” He nodded, listening to it as they made the way toward the house.

The front garden was breathtaking, and he imagined the whole place lit up for the holidays. Between the two of them they would be able to afford the house and a ton of renovations.

A silver Buick pulled up and a lady in a pink blazer, a ton of makeup, and a hairdo out of a sixties magazine got out. “Hello, darlings! You’re here to see the house, hmm?”

“We are!” Kent walked right up, held his hand out. “I’m Kent McMann.”

“And I’m Dex Lochland.”

She shook their hands. “You two are a lovely couple. And this is a great area to start a family. I’ll give you the key, and you can look around on your own to start with, and then I’ll be here to answer any of your questions, okay?”

Dex took the key. “That sounds great.”

“Thank you.”

They headed up the stairs hand in hand, and Dex handed Kent the keys. “You do the honors.”

“No. No, you found it. You open it.”

“Yeah?” He took the keys from Kent, looking down at them. These could be the keys to a whole new life. One with a lover and his kids. Was Dex actually thinking about this? Kids tended to dislike him, and he always felt awkward around them. On the other hand, Kent’s nieces had seemed to like him.

He’d never wanted kids. That wasn’t even really true—he’d never even considered kids before. It had never, ever come up in any of his relationships, and his mom sure wasn’t looking for grandkids.

Dex put the key in the lock, then, smiling at Kent, turned it.

“Look at this place….” Kent walked in, eyes wide. “It’s… it’s totally different from my flat, but…. Look at this place, honey.”

He just nodded, taking it all in. The pictures hadn’t done it justice. And it felt…. Shit, walking in with Kent at his side felt like coming home. Honestly and truly, and he couldn’t imagine himself settling anywhere else or with anyone else.

They wandered from room to room. There was a media room, a huge office, a place for everything.

“There’s even room for a nanny slash housekeeper, for the kids,” Kent pointed out.

“You can get help with the kids…?” Dex had never even thought of that.

“God, yes. I mean, I don’t want to be one of those hands-off dads, but I’ll need help.” Kent shot him a look. “You don’t think that’s bad, do you? To hire someone to help?”

“I think it’s the most amazing idea I’ve ever heard.” Grinning, he pulled Kent to him and kissed him. “Let’s go see the top floor. I want to see if we could renovate it like I’ve envisioned.”

Kent nodded, looking dazed, flushed, gorgeous. Utterly gorgeous.

Bending, he brought their mouths together, kissing Kent hard. This was their home, he didn’t need to see the potential master to know it; Dex could already feel it.

“Let’s buy it together.” The words blurted out of him, straight from his heart.

“Dex? I. You mean it? You want to be a family?” Kent’s eyes were wide, and he looked like he was holding his breath.

“You already are my family, Kent. I can’t imagine a life without you in it. If that means kids too, then I’m willing to give it a try.” Scared as hell he was going to fuck it up, but he was certain he had to try.

“Two little boys and a girl,” Kent said.

Dex nodded, heart thumping hard. Three babies. Three. Was he crazy to be doing this?

“She’s going to be seriously outnumbered,” he noted.

“I bet you’re going to be her favorite.”

Dex snorted. “They are all going to adore the hell out of you.” He’d be happy with them just not hating him.

“I hope so.” Kent stopped on the stairs on the way up to the master. “Are you sure, love? That you want to be a dad with me?”

A dad. Still scary as fuck, but as Dex looked up at Kent, he knew he would try his absolute best if it meant being with Kent. “I’m sure that I want to be a dad. With you.”

“Oh.” Kent sat down on the stairs, hard. “Oh God.”

“Kent?” Had he done something wrong? Did Kent not want him on this journey? “What’s wrong?”

“I… I prayed and hoped and wanted. You just gave me everything I ever wanted.”

“Yeah? I think the lady with three babies inside her is contributing a lot.” He had to tease, had to try to diffuse the intensity a little.

“Yeah. You haven’t met her yet. She’s the size of a house.”

“Yeah, well you put
three
babies into her. She should probably hit you or something.” He kissed Kent. “Come on. Let’s go make plans for our master bedroom.”

“Yeah. Yeah, sounds great. Our master. Wow.”

He laughed and kissed Kent. “This feels like a dream.”

“Then maybe we won’t wake up.”

“God, I hope not. I truly do.”

Scary as fuck but also the right decision. Dex could feel it, deep down in his soul.

“I BOUGHT
a house with Dex, Mom.”

There was a moment of silence, then a happy scream. “Oh my GOD! I’m getting a son-in-law!” She almost sounded more excited about that than she had about grandchildren.

Kent looked over at Dex, knowing he had to have heard. Dex was chuckling, shaking his head.

“Tell her I’m a brat, and she might regret that.”

“Dex says he’s a brat.”

“Nonsense. Can you boys come for supper, tell us all about it?”

He passed the request on to Dex.

“Oh man, the grilling is about to start, isn’t it?” Dex said.

“Welcome to having a bigger family.” When was he going to meet Dex’s mom?

Dex pulled out his phone. “There isn’t a night I’m not eating for racing for the next few weeks, but tonight or tomorrow night I’m the most flexible.”

“Okay, Mom. We’ll be there tonight. Call Sis?”

“Sounds great. I’m so excited for you both!”

Dex was laughing again when Kent hung up, shaking his head. “We’re going tonight, huh?”

“Yeah. Have… have you told your mom about me?”

“I did. I spoke to her around Christmas. I guess I should call her about the house and babies, eh?” Dex leaned forward, took his hand. “Don’t take it personally when she’s not excited like your mom is, okay? Our relationship isn’t like your family’s.”

“I won’t. I want your excitement, that’s all.” Maybe a little excitement from Dex’s mom.

“You think we should be married?” Dex asked him.

“Do you want to be married to me?” What an odd conversation.

“Well, your mom said I was her son-in-law. I’m not really, though, am I? If we’re not married. And would it be easier for the kids if their dads were married? It’s recognized now, legal. It’d be like a political shout-out if we did.” Dex touched his cheek. “I don’t care if we’re married or not, though, Kent. I just want to be yours, and I don’t need a ceremony to know we belong together.”

“I’d love to be yours legally.” Was this how it was supposed to happen? Casual, quiet?

“Oh.” Dex blinked a few times, then laughed, his whole face lighting up, and he fell off the couch onto his knees and took both of Kent’s hands.

“Kent McMann, will you marry me?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I most totally absolutely will. I mean, I do. Yes.”

Laughing, Dex leaned up and kissed him.

“Are we engaged?” Kent asked as they rested their foreheads together.

“We are. I still feel like I’m dreaming,” Dex admitted.

“Wait until we’re moving, getting ready for the babies.” It was going to be so fast.

“Don’t remind me. The renovations start in two weeks. Do you think they’ll be done in time for the babies?”

“They’ll have to be. Triplets tend to be early, but she’s doing great so far. I want you to meet her.”

“Okay. Whatever you want. And I’ll ride the contractor, make sure things get done on time.”

“I guess I have a question—What do you think about Melody for a little girl’s name?”

DEX WAS
making terrible time, he just knew it. He couldn’t find his rhythm, couldn’t clear his head and just go. He’d been middle of the pack for the swimming and the biking, and now he was just trying to finish the running, period. It probably shouldn’t have surprised him; there was so much on his mind.

The wedding. Meeting the in-laws on a terribly regular basis—Mom wanted them over for supper every damn week, and while he liked Kent’s folks, he wasn’t used to all this family togetherness.

Then there were the renovations. They were actually on time so far, but they were so over budget it wasn’t funny. Every day there was another phone call about some surprise that had been uncovered and would need more money thrown at it to fix it.

And the babies. God. Dex was trying not to think about them, about being a father. They had lists and lists of stuff they needed to buy, a nanny to find, and then on top of it all, he didn’t think Elizabeth liked him. Plus she was feeling sick all the time.

He just couldn’t deal with it and run.

Dex pictured Kent’s face in his head, his lover smiling, laughing, rubbing him down after the race, and he ran. Finally, finally his head cleared of all the thoughts chasing each other, and he felt himself click into that rhythm. He was so into it that he didn’t realize he’d crossed the finish line until someone threw a blanket around his shoulders.

Then he heard it, someone cheering his name. No. Someones cheering his name. Kent and his entire family and a huge group of friends cheering for him.

He waved, grabbing a Gatorade as it was handed to him, and headed for the cheerers, still jogging lightly.

“Go Uncle Dex! You did it!” The girls’ voices made him grin.

“I did.” His eyes moved to Kent. “How did I do?”

“Not your best time, but given the stress, you did great.” Kent looked so proud.

“Cool. I really need to keep walking so I don’t seize up.”

“I’ll come with.” Kent walked with him, handed him a towel.

“Thanks.” He drank down more of the Gatorade. “I can’t believe your whole family came out.”

“The family, Elizabeth’s husband and kids, some of the guys from Tech for Life.” Kent shrugged. “You’ve a lot on your mind. I thought you could use a boost.”

He stopped them and kissed Kent. “You’re so good to me.”

“I love you. Hell, I intend to marry you and start a family. I ought to be.”