We Can't Run From Fate

Jack listened to Alex laugh and smiled, it had been too long since he’d heard that sound. He looked over to see Alex’s wide smile as he cleaned ice cream off Grace’s nose, she was a messy little pup. The court was only that morning but it seemed like forever ago as they sat together eating their ice cream, the grey sky had been replaced with beautiful sunshine and the tears for laughter.
“How did you even get ice cream on your forehead?” Alex laughed as he cleaned the chocolate marks off his daughter.
Grace just shrugged and Alex giggled, actually giggled and Jack had to stop himself from attacking him right then but there were children present.
“She takes after you.”
“Hey! I don’t have chocolate on my forehead,” Alex protested.
“Don’t you?” Jack teased, tipping his finger in his own ice cream and reaching over to Alex.
“No! Jack! Stop it!”
Jack laughed and licked his finger.
“Spoil sport,” he said.
Alex pouted and Jack put his arm around the boy’s waist, pulling him to his side and placing a kiss on Alex’s cheek.
“I’ve missed that laugh,” Jack said.
“Me too,” Alex replied, looking up at him with a smile.

Once the ice cream was finished they left the little restaurant and began walking back to the car, Grace holding both Alex and Jack’s hands as they sung her down the street. The sun was beginning to set and despite the time of year it wasn’t cold, Alex had his sleeves rolled up so his skeleton tattoo was on show. As they got into the car Grace yawned, it was getting late for the little girl.
“Bed time when we get home I think,” Alex said, strapping her in.
“Not sleepy daddy,” she said.
“Of course not,” Alex replied, placing a kiss on top of her head before climbing into the passenger seat.
“Actually we’re not going home quite yet,” Jack said as he started the car.
“We’re not?” Alex asked.
“Nope, I’ve got a surprise for both of you,” he said.
“I love surprises!” Grace cheered from the backseat.
“Jack, what’s going on?” Alex asked, slightly more unsure than his daughter.
“Don’t worry Alex, it’s good,” Jack said, taking one hand off the wheel to hold his boyfriend’s hand.
Alex looked back at him and nodded, he didn’t exactly love surprises as he felt like he’d had enough for a lifetime but well he trusted Jack.

Jack drove for a little while, all of them singing along to the radio until they reached a certain spot and Jack asked Alex and Grace to close their eyes.
“Do I have to?” Alex asked.
“It’s worth it, I promise.”
“Okay, for you,” Alex said and closed his eyes.
“You too Grace, no peaking!”
“I’m not!”
Jack smiled and continued driving. He’d turned off the highway and was now working his way through some suburban streets, ones with big houses and gardens that seemed to stretch on for miles. Finally he pulled up at their destination where he stopped the car and turned off the engine.
“Can I open my eyes now?” Alex asked.
“Soon,” Jack replied.
He hopped out of the car and went round to the passenger side; he opened the door and helped Alex step out, making sure that the boy’s eyes were still shut.
“Now?” he asked.
“Patience is a veruthe young Jedi,” Jack mimicked as he got Grace out her head and carried her round to the front of the car where her dad was waiting.
“Okay, you can open them now.”
Alex blinked his eyes opened, he was standing in front of a house. A big one with a front garden so big it could’ve fit Alex’s living room in it twice over. It was all white with a fence all the way around, it looked like someone’s old family home.
“Jack, why are we here?” Alex asked, he didn’t understand why Jack had brought him to stand outside someone else’s house.
“Ah you see Alex, this isn’t just any house…”
Jack carried Grace up to the door and after pulling a key from his pocket the large door sung open.
“Welcome home.”
Alex’s mouth dropped open, Jack couldn’t mean… Could he?
“Come on Daddy,” Grace called from her place on Jack’s hip, she was just excited to know what was going on.
Alex ran up the long path and stepped into the house. Inside the hall was huge, a long corridor with other doors and a staircase leading off from it.
“Jack?” he called not seeing his boyfriend.
“In the kitchen!” Jack called back.
“Where is that?”
“Straight ahead.”
Alex followed Jack’s voice and wondered down the long hallway, he passed at least three doors leading into different rooms before he reached the kitchen. The room itself was probably as big as Alex’s whole apartment, there was a large white fitted kitchen as one end of the room with an island in the middle that Grace was currently sat on and the other end of the room was empty, like it was waiting to be filled.
“So, what do you think?” Jack asked, somehow appearing behind him.
“I...I…”
“I love it!” Grace cheered.
“Glad you think so Gracey! Would you like to see your room now?” Jack asked.
“My room?” she asked, her eyes going wide.
“Course, come on.”
Jack lifted Grace off the counter and began taking her back toward the stairs, leaving Alex staring dumbfounded after them. After a moment he went running to catch up, he found Jack and Grace standing in a bare white room, she was stood in the middle looking all around her with the biggest smile on her face.
“This is mine?” she asked.
“All yours, you can have it any colour you want,” Jack said.
“Can it be orange?” she asked.
“Whatever you want!” Jack laughed.
Grace ran over to him and hugged his legs.
“I love you Jacky.”
Jack knelt down and pulled the girl in for a hug, brushing her messy hair away from her eyes.
“I love you too Grace.”
Alex just stood there still struggling to find any words.
“How about we leave Grace to her room and have a look at ours?”
Alex just nodded and led Jack take his hand and lead him across the hallway to another room, one even bigger than Grace’s with more doors leading off it to Alex could only imagine where.
“Do you like it?” Jack asked.
“I hmm…”
“I have one last surprise for you, okay?”
Alex could only continue to nod. After picking Grace up out of her new room Jack took them both downstairs, back through the kitchen and to a door.
“Okay, close your eyes again,” he said.
Grace straight away shut hers, squeezing them tight so there was no peaking. Alex gave Jack a skeptical look before closing his too. Jack opened the door and carefully lead them both through, making sure neither tripped on the step on the way out. Alex knew he was outside again, he could feel the coolness against his skin and the pale light against his eyelids.
“Open them.”
Alex opened his eyes to see he was in a garden, standing on the decking of the house looking over a large grass garden. He watched as Grace ran straight out to explore and called out to her to be careful just as Jack’s arms slipped around his waist.
“Is it what you dreamed it would be?” he asked.
Alex wanted to ask Jack what he meant when he remembered, remembered the conversation they’d had what felt like forever ago. Where they’d talked of a dog, a house and a garden to watch it all from.
“Oh Jack… How did you manage this?”
“I hmm sold my apartment, took up a couple of extra shifts here and there, that sort of thing,” Jack replied.
“You never said anything… Where’s all your stuff?”
“Currently taking up most of mum’s garage,” he laughed.
“But this… This is really ours?” Alex asked, as he watched Grace run across the garden looking so happy and at home.
“If you want it to be, though I have already brought it so I hope you do,” Jack smiled.
At that Alex burst into tears, pulling on Jack’s shirt to pull him closer and holding him as tight as possible.
“I love it and I love you.”
“I love you too Alex, more than anything in this entire world.”
Alex sniffed and wiped his face on his sleeve, he’d done enough crying for one day.
“I can’t believe you did this.. We have a house, a proper home where Grace can grow up and we can grow old together.”
“You want us to grow old together?” Jack asked.
“I want forever as long as it’s with you.”
Then it was Jack’s turn to cry, a tear running down his cheek as he leant down to kiss Alex. Butterflies, fireworks and pure happiness all exploding inside of him at the touch of their lips, it reminded Jack of fire he’d felt that moment he and Alex first touched, all the way back on that bus at 2am. Back then Jack had never given much thought to the fact he had a soulmate somewhere, now all he thought was how lucky that his turned out to be Alex Gaskarth.

The End