This Is Who We Are

“Mr. O’Callaghan isn’t available right now; If you’d like, I can have him call you back at his earliest convenience.”

John hears his secretary on the phone just outside of his office and he cringes, glaring at the phone on his desk that has more than one red light blinking. It’s Friday. Apparently, Friday is a really popular day to file for divorce. And, as a divorce lawyer? It’s kind of John’s job to deal with it. If they hire him to, of course. And they usually do. He’s one of the best. John’s not sure what that says about him – good at dealing with divorce?

His secretary, Amanda, has been rejecting his calls for him all day, telling clients he’ll call them back when he can. It’s not that he’s busy with too much it’s just…Alright, he’s got a lot on his mind and if he answered the phone right now, his clients would think he was some uneducated joke of a lawyer. And that would ruin business. So, he’s ‘busy’ and working on files and figuring out what the hell to do about the crazy psycho Mrs. Henderson who wants her husband to split custody of Brandy and Charlotte. Their dogs. John can’t make these things up. There is an actual custody battle over dogs. Sometimes his life doesn’t make sense even to him.

The only thing that does make sense, all the time, is the one thing that he’s freaking out over. His boyfriend. Alex. John proposed yesterday, and today Alex was supposed to tell his family and friends and shit, if that doesn’t make him nervous enough. He wants Alex to be happy. And while he knows that he’s happy with John, he also knows that his family’s approval is a huge part of it too. John just hopes everything goes well and when he drops by like he’s supposed to, he’s smiling and bringing good news and relief, not bad news and more stress for John to pile on.

John absently flips through the pages of the files on his desk, attention more focused on the door to his office than the content on the pages. Alex should be here soon. Hopefully. John’s too anxious for this. He flips the folders shut and pushes them away from him, knowing that tomorrow he’s going to have to get up early and work, despite the fact that it’s Saturday and he sort of already has plans to take Nicholas to the park and play catch. That is, if Nicholas still even wants to play catch with him. Who knows how he’s going to take his father telling him about his new engagement to John.

The thought of the five year old has John smiling for the first time in a few hours. His eyes land on the picture frame on the corner of his desk, the one that holds a picture from last year – Halloween, to be specific, with Nicholas dressed up as a pumpkin and John holding his hand. It’s John’s favorite picture, hands down. Well, tied with the one of him and Alex from that very same day. There’s just something about Alex and Nicholas that tug at John’s heartstrings, that make him feel like the luckiest guy on the planet to have them in his life. And the fact that they met completely by accident in the local supermarket? Just makes the whole thing even better. John doesn’t believe in a whole lot of things, but fate? Definitely.

The phone is back to ringing again and John can hear it from his office even with the door closed. He makes a mental note to see if he can try and lower the volume a little bit on it right when his office door is pushed open and Amanda’s voice floats in from the front desk, telling the client that Mr. O’Callaghan is not available.

Alex stands on the other side of the door frame, smiling gently at John. There’s a five year old with his arms wrapped around Alex’s legs but Alex doesn’t seem to notice. “Hey. Just dropping in like I said I would. Brought you coffee,” he says softly as he holds a paper Starbucks cup out in his hands.

“Thanks – I desperately need caffeine,” John says as he stretches his arms above his head, trying not to be concerned about the way that Nicholas is hiding behind Alex. He hasn’t done that since the day he first met John. Three years ago. “How’s your guys’ day going so far?”

“It’s only ten in the morning,” Alex laughs, bending down to his son’s level. “Why don’t you go give this to John?” he asks him, holding the cup in front of him.

Nicholas’ huge brown eyes widen and his tiny hands take the cup as carefully as he can. “It’s hot,” he says quietly, looking down at it, but he still holds it still, not tipping it the slightest bit to the left or right.

“As long as you don’t spill it won’t burn you,” Alex assures him, giving him the slightest nudge forward. “Go on. If John doesn’t get his coffee fix within the next minute, I have a feeling he’ll turn into the Hulk. We don’t want that, right?”

Brown hair falls in front of brown eyes, Nicholas shaking his head quickly, a small smile forming. Well that’s a decent sign, at least. He finally meets John’s eyes and he’s suddenly not shy and nervous anymore, slipping into his usual comfort and confidence that he feels around John. He grins when he makes it to John’s desk without spilling any coffee on himself – or the carpet – and stands on his tippy toes to place it on the edge in front of John.

“Thanks buddy,” John says, carefully meeting Alex’s eyes. Alex nods, giving him all he needs to know. “You wanna come up?”

He really doesn’t even have to ask because Nicholas is reaching his arms up before John even finishes the sentence, signaling his want to sit with him and John doesn’t hesitate to lift him into his lap.

“Spoke to my parents this morning after you left,” Alex says quietly, sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk as Nicholas curls himself up and leans into John’s arms, resting his head on his shoulder. “They flipped – couldn’t be happier. And I told them they could tell everyone else. I was so not in the mood to make fifty other phone calls.”

And John can understand that – Alex has a huge family. So many aunts and uncles and cousins and…God. They’re all so intimidating. “I’m glad they approve,” he says, but that’s not even what he really cares about. And Alex knows that.

“And this guy…well. Clearly he took it well.”

John can’t help but smile even more and hug the five year old even tighter. He’s been angsting over this whole thing for months – before he even proposed. He wasn’t sure how Nicholas would take it – how he would feel about his dad marrying another man but he really shouldn’t have worried about it too much. He’s been with Alex for three years, has been able to bond with Nicholas so well that the five year old kind of already looks at him like another parenting figure. That’s what Alex tells him at least. Still, he couldn’t be positive about it. Five year olds can be unpredictable. He’s been able to learn that first hand.

Nicholas knows he’s being talked about, and he sits up a little bit and looks up at John with bright eyes and that trademark smile he gets from Alex. “Are you going to be my other daddy now? For real?”

“Only if you really want me to be,” John says, glancing up at Alex again and shooting him one more smile – just in case he couldn’t tell just how much this has improved John’s day.

“I think I want two daddies,” Nicholas says after a few seconds of thinking, wrapping his tiny arms around John’s waist and pressing his face into the stiff material of John’s white shirt. John can’t stop smiling – can’t stop his heart from pounding in his chest – because this is exactly what he’s wanted for the past three years, and now he’s finally officially going to get it. He presses a kiss to the top of the little boy’s head and when he looks up, he finds Alex with his arms crossed and a blindingly bright smile. The silver ring on his finger stands out against his skin and just looking at it makes John happier, if that’s possible.

“So. He’ll finally have a real family again,” Alex says softly, “John, Alex and Nick. I think our names go pretty well together.”