Kitten

“Brendon?” Ryan began in a small voice, arms wrapped around his boyfriend’s neck.

Brendon hummed under his breath and kissed Ryan’s forehead. “Yeah, Kitten?”

“Why do you always call me that?” Ryan asked, gazing up at Brendon with large, adoring eyes. “What’s so special about a kitten?”

The younger boy closed his eyes and smiled. “When I was … oh, six, I think, I found an abandoned kitten in the rain,” he said. “I brought her home and begged my mother to let me keep her.”

And did she? Ryan asked silently, not wanting to interrupt the story.

“And she did,” Brendon continued and opened his eyes to meet Ryan’s gaze. “And that kitten … I guess … she was the first thing I really loved. You know?”

“Yeah,” Ryan nodded his head. “I do.”

Brendon smiled. “Someday,” he told Ryan, “I’m gonna hear those words coming out of your mouth in a very different situation.”

Ryan was startled, and more than a little bit confused. “What do you mean?” he asked wonderingly.

“Close your eyes,” Brendon ordered him and the older boy obeyed. “And hold out your hands.” Ryan did and a cool metal band was slipped onto his ringer finger. “Now open your eyes.”

Hazel eyes opening, Ryan looked down to see a simple ring and Brendon’s hopeful face.

“Will you marry me?” Brendon asked breathlessly.

“Do you really mean it?” Ryan asked, blushing.

“I do.”

This time it was Ryan’s turn to close his eyes and smile. “Not yet,” he murmured. “It’s too soon. We’re too young.”

“But someday?”

Ryan opened his eyes and looked straight into Brendon’s eyes. “Someday.”