FIC: Another Stage of Life
Aug. 25th, 2009 12:03 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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shelter_dinerHi Everyone! This is my first fanfic. I hope you like it.
Title: Another Stage of Life
Author: girggc
Pairing/Characters: Shaun/Zach, Gabe, Cody, OC
Rating/Genre: R for language
Notes/Warnings: This is told from Shaun's POV and takes place after the movie ends
Another Stage of Life
Shaun looked at Cody, who was happily eating cotton candy, and felt several different emotions wash over him all at once. He felt genuine love for Cody, but at the same time felt sadness that Cody wasn’t his. He and Zach were doing their best to adopt Cody, but for some reason, Jeanne, who was more than happy to make Zach Cody’s legal guardian, would not give up her parental rights. Shaun also felt a little jealousy of Zach, not that he would admit it. Zach had been there for Cody from the very beginning and therefore Cody was really bonded to him. While Shaun knew that Cody liked him a lot, Cody didn’t quite see him as the parental figure that he saw Zach as.
“Hey, Buddy, it’s time to go. You can finish that in the car.”
“Okay,” replied Cody.
Shaun knew that if it was Zach that had told Cody that it was time to leave the amusement park, Cody would have protested. The thought made his sadness deepen a little since Cody’s reaction confirmed Shaun’s feeling that Cody did not yet think of him as his father. “Yet,” was the key word, Shaun reminded himself. With enough time, Cody would gradually see him as more than his buddy.
Shaun couldn’t help hoping, however, that this trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain would help speed that up. This was the first time that Shaun and Cody had spent a full day together without Zach. It wasn’t that Shaun didn’t want Zach to come with them, but Zach had a full day of classes today and it was a teacher training day at Cody’s school. Shaun felt that today would be a perfect time for him to get some quality bonding time in with Cody and he didn’t want to waste it by having Cody spend the day moping in front of the television.
Zach was on the phone when Shaun and Cody came home. Shaun was a little disappointed that he couldn’t plant a kiss on Zach’s lips after not having seen him all day. Much as he loved having that quality time with Cody, Shaun had missed Zach terribly. Shaun quickly decided that he could wait until Zach was off the phone for his kiss.
“Jeannie, that’s a lot to ask.” Shaun wondered what Jeanne was asking for now. Either way, it probably wasn’t anything good.
“Jeannie, I’m not saying no… No, don’t do that; just let me talk it over with Shaun first… Jeannie, I’m not going to decide right now… I promise, I’ll let you know by the end of the week… Goodbye, Jeannie.”
“Fuck,” said Zach after he hung up the phone.
“What’s wrong, Babe?” asked Shaun as he gently pulled Zach into a hug. In his mind, Shaun went through all the possible things that could be wrong. Maybe Jeanne had broken up with Alan and wanted to move in with them. Maybe Jeanne had said she’d give up her parental rights if they gave her a certain amount of money. Maybe Jeanne had said that she wanted to be more involved in Cody’s life and that if they didn’t move to Oregon she would take Cody back.
At that point, Cody came into the room and asked “What’s for dinner?” The question made Shaun smile because Cody had eaten 2 hotdogs, 1 candy apple, and the cotton candy. Shaun knew it was not the most nutritious day for Cody, but he figured that Cody would survive.
“Dinner?” asked Shaun, “You still hungry after the hotdogs, the candy apple, and the cotton candy?”
“Yup,” replied Cody.
Later that night, when Cody was sleeping, Shaun and Zach sat on the balcony sipping wine. Shaun was looking at Zach, thinking about how lucky he was to have him in his life, when he noticed that Zach looked upset. “What’s wrong, Babe?” asked Shaun.
“Jeanne,” replied Zach. “Shaun, there’s something I have to talk to you about.”
Shaun was a little disconcerted by Zach’s sober tone of voice. “Okay. I’m listening. What is it?”
“Jeanne got herself knocked up again. She wants me to take the baby, same arrangement we have with Cody. She says if I don’t take the baby, she’s getting an abortion. Shaun, I don’t think I could live with myself if I’m the reason she gets an abortion. I also don’t know how I’d do it. I can’t saddle you with a baby. I don’t want to drop out of art school to take care of a baby. Not to mention that I can’t afford a baby.” At this point Zach started to sob.
Shaun put his arms around Zach. He didn’t really know what to say, there were so many thoughts going through his mind. Finally he said “I know this isn’t an option for you, you’re going to take the baby. And what do you mean you can’t saddle me with a baby? Whatever happens, we’re in this together.”
“Shaun, you didn’t sign on for this.”
“I know I didn’t, but we’ll get through this together. I don’t want you to drop out of art school.” Shaun knew that if Zach allowed Jeanne to get an abortion, Zach would regret it for the rest of his life. Shaun also knew that he didn’t want to lose Zach, not for anything in this world.
“Shaun, do you even like babies?” Zach’s question made Shaun think. It was true that he had practically no experience with babies. On the other hand, he had always dreamed of having his own baby. This was not a dream that he had shared with anyone, not even Zach.
Shaun looked in Zach’s eyes. “I don’t really know much about babies, but…” Shaun swallowed. He wasn’t quite sure how to say this. He decided just to spit it out. “I have always wanted one of my own.”
“Seriously?” asked Zach.
“Seriously. But Babe, I don’t want the arrangement we have with Cody. I want us to adopt both the baby and Cody.” Shaun had shocked himself by what he said, but at the same time, he genuinely felt that he was ready. Shaun looked in Zach’s eyes again and said “I mean it. If we can’t adopt Cody and the baby, then we won’t take it. It’s all or nothing. Or at least I think you should tell Jeanne that. I just don’t want to bond and then have it taken away. Same with Cody.”
“What if Jeanne says we can’t adopt? Then what? Because I won’t let her get an abortion. It’s family.”
“I know, Zach. That’s one of the reasons why I love you. I love how loyal you are. I really admire that. Let’s do it.”
“You mean it?”
“Absolutely!”
The next morning, after Cody had gotten on the school bus, Zach said “Shaun, I’m going to call Jeannie now. Are you sure about this?” Shaun thought it was admirable that Zach was giving him another chance to back out. He also realized that Zach needed him right now to be strong, so he nodded.
Zach took out his phone and dialed. When Jeanne picked up, Shaun heard Zach say “Hi Jeannie… Yes, I’ll do it, but on one condition, that you let me and Shaun adopt both Cody and the new baby… No, Jeannie, I’m not fucking with you… What do you mean? ... Jeannie, Alan doesn’t want them anyways, so what does he care? ... Jeannie, listen, now is the time to decide! Don’t leave them in my care and then in a few years come and take them back! You either want them or you don’t! … Well it’s a good thing that Shaun and I do! … Yeah, I’ll call you.”
Shaun couldn’t quite figure out the outcome of the conversation just from listening to Zach, although he had his suspicions. He looked at Zach with bated breath. “What did she say?”
“She says she’ll do it.”
Shaun felt a rush of emotions. First he felt shock. Then he felt happiness. Then he felt nervousness. Then he felt happiness again. He looked at Zach and smiled. “I don’t believe it. This is awesome!”
“Shaun, do you know what this means?”
“Yeah, of course, Babe; it means that we’re going to be Cody’s Daddies and Cody is going to have a little brother or sister to boot.”
“Uh, Shaun, I’m not sure you know what you got yourself into.”
“What do you mean? Cody is great! Another one could only be even better!”
“It is great. But it’s not as easy as you think. There are a lot of sleepless nights and dirty diapers at first. Have you ever changed a diaper?”
“No, but you can teach me.” It suddenly occurred to Shaun that Cody would need to know about this. And they’d also have to come up with names for themselves. “So when do you think we should tell Cody? And what should he call us?”
“I think we should tell Cody that he’s being adopted as soon as possible. I think we should hold off on telling him about the baby. And what do you mean ‘What should he call us?’ He knows our names.”
Shaun, who was in the middle of a debate in his own head about weather he wanted to be “Daddy” or “Papa,” was a little surprised at Zach’s question. “Well, after we adopt Cody, I want to be called ‘Daddy’ or ‘Papa.’ I haven’t decided yet. Cody calling me ‘Shaun’ makes me feel like his step-dad.”
“Whatever, Dude. But I want to be called ‘Daddy.’”
Shaun laughed at Zach’s quick change of mindset. Zach shoved him. They wrestled for a little bit. The wrestling turned Shaun on. He kissed Zach and ground his groin into him. He was disappointed when Zach pulled away. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to be late for class.”
Shaun smiled at Zach while he silently cursed the clock.
That evening, at dinner, Shaun thought it would be a good time to tell Cody. So he said “Codester, Zach and I have something to tell you.” Shaun saw Zach practically choke on his asparagus and mouth the word “Now?” Shaun nodded.
“What is it?” asked Cody.
Shaun wasn’t sure how he should proceed, but then he noticed that Cody was not eating his asparagus and had an idea. So he said, “Eat your asparagus, Cody.” Cody looked shocked. It was always Zach who insisted that he eat his veggies, never Shaun.
“Why are you telling me to eat my ‘sparagus?” asked Cody.
“Because I got to practice,” said Shaun. Shaun looked at Zach, who was smiling.
“Practice what?” asked Cody.
“Practice being your father,” said Shaun. Shaun saw that Cody looked confused. So he said “I need to practice being your father because your uncle Zach and I are adopting you.”
Cody still looked confused, so Shaun looked over at Zach and mouthed the word “help.”
“Codes, what Shaun is trying to say is that we are going to be your daddies.”
“But you said Roy is my daddy. And how can I have two daddies?”
“Yes Cody, Roy is your daddy, just as Jeanne is your mommy. But that’s going to change. You see, you and me and Shaun are going to go to court and a judge is going to say that Jeanne is no longer your mommy and Roy is no longer your daddy, and that Shaun and I are really your daddies.”
“But how can I have two daddies?”
Shaun wasn’t sure how to explain that one. Luckily, Zach came to his rescue by saying, “You can have two daddies because you’ve got two guys who love you and want to be your daddies.”
Cody seemed to accept that so Shaun let out a sigh of relief.
The next few weeks crawled by. To Shaun, it felt like time had never moved slower. Finally, the court date was set. Time seemed to move even slower still. The day before the court date, Shaun panicked when he realized that neither Zach nor Cody owned a suit. Luckily, it was 9:00 am so there was still time to go suit shopping.
Shaun was surprised that Zach was more reluctant to go suit shopping than Cody. Although Shaun suspected that Zach’s trepidation stemmed from the fact that he was also nervous. “Shaun, I have some khaki pants, I’ll borrow one of your ties. It’ll be cool.”
“Zach, it’ll be okay, I promise.” Shaun hugged Zach understandingly.
The big day finally came. Shaun’s stomach was in knots, he was so nervous. Luckily, the adoption proceedings went as planned. Cody was happy when the judge gave him a teddy bear.
After court, they went out for ice cream to celebrate. However, one thing still bothered Shaun. Shaun decided to remedy the situation, so Shaun said to Cody “Now that we’re your fathers, you can call Zach ‘Daddy’ and me ‘Papa.’”
“Okay Shau- I mean Papa.”
“You know, Kiddo, this means you’re stuck with me forever.”
“Forever and ever,” said Cody happily.
That night, in bed, Shaun started thinking about how much his life had changed today. He now had a kid. He couldn’t believe it. It was the most incredible feeling ever. He said to Zach “This is so incredible.”
“What is?”
“We have a kid. It’s surreal. It fucking blows my mind.”
Shaun looked at Zach and saw Zach smile at him. He smiled back. Zach playfully punched him. Shaun punched him back. They playfully wrestled for a few minutes until Shaun ran out of breath.
“You sure you’re ready for another one, old man?” asked Zach.
Shaun just smiled at Zach. Then something occurred to Shaun, so he asked “When is Jeanne due? I don’t think you ever told me.”
“In about 6 months,” came Zach’s reply.
“Well then it’s a really good thing that our lease runs out in 3 months.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because we’re going to need another bedroom,” said Shaun thinking of a nursery that they currently had nowhere to put. “You know, for the nursery.”
“Shaun, can we afford that? It’s not that big a deal if we can’t. I mean, I shared a room with Cody for five years.”
“Babe, there’s something I never told you. I was saving up to take you to Europe. It was supposed to be a surprise. But since it doesn’t look like we’re going to Europe anytime soon, we can use that for a bigger apartment.”
“I’m so sorry,” said Zach.
“Sorry for what?” asked Shaun.
“I’m sorry that I’m burdening you with all this. I don’t want you to put your dreams on hold because of me.”
“Babe, it’s not a burden!” When Zach didn’t look convinced, Shaun said “Listen, I’m living the dream. Europe is nice and all, and yes, it does have some amazing art, but you know what? I’d much rather have you, and Cody, and the baby, then any trip to Europe. I’ve always dreamed of having a family,” Shaun said, tearing up, “and now I’ve finally got one. Believe me when I say that I’m living the dream.”
“I believe you.” The way Zach said that made Shaun’s heart fill.
“I think we should tell Cody in the morning.”
“Okay.”
The next morning, at the breakfast table, Shaun heard Zach say “Uh, Codes, there’s something we have to tell you.”
“What is it?” asked Cody, who was clearly more interested in playing with his scrambled eggs than what he was being told.
“Buddy, we’re going to move.”
Cody looked up from his eggs, and started to cry.
“What’s wrong, Buddy?”
“I don’t want to leave Papa! He said I was stuck with him forever!”
“Cody, it’s okay, he’s coming with us!”
“Really?” asked Cody, brightening up considerably.
“Really,” said Zach.
“Why are we moving?”
“Because, Buddy,” said Shaun, before Zach could say anything, “You’re going to have a little brother or sister.”
“I am?” asked Cody.
“That’s right,” said Zach.
“What will it’s name be?” asked Cody.
That was not a question Shaun had expected, so he decided to take the honest approach. “We haven’t quite figured that out yet.”
That night, at dinner, Cody had hardly touched his chicken nuggets and Shaun and Zach had nearly finished their dinners. Something was clearly bothering Cody, but he had no idea what it was, so he asked, “Cody, is something bothering you?”
“No,” denied Cody.
“Well you hardly touched your dinner. What’s wrong, Munchkin?”
“Ryan, at school, says I can’t have a little brother or sister because I have two daddies and it takes a mommy to make a baby.”
Shaun groaned inwardly. He supposed he should’ve expected something like that. Come to think of it, he was lucky that Cody had yet to ask what “gay” meant. He really didn’t know what to say. He looked at Zach with panic.
Zach turned to Cody and said “Yeah, Buddy, it does. Jeanne is going to have a baby, and then we’re going to adopt the baby, just like we adopted you.”
“That’s cool,” said Cody, who then proceeded to attack his chicken nuggets.
The next night, at dinner, again Cody was upset. So Shaun asked him again what was wrong.
“Ryan says that his mommy says that gay men shouldn’t have children.”
“This Ryan sounds like a real punk,” said Shaun, “We have you and we love you. And we’ll love your little brother and sister just the same. Don’t listen to Ryan.”
“Okay,” said Cody. But clearly something was still bothering Cody.
It was Zach’s turn to ask what was wrong. “Daddy, what does ‘gay’ mean?”
“Gay means that either two guys, or two girls, really love each other and want to be with each other and live together.”
“Oh, cool, when I grow up, I want to be gay with Will.” Will was Cody’s best friend.
“Well, Cody,” said Zach, “When you grow up you may be gay. You might even be gay with Will. But Buddy, it has to do with who you fall in love with. Shaun and I both are gay. But Gabe isn’t. Gabe falls in love with girls.”
The next afternoon, when Shaun met Cody at the bus stop, Cody was crying. Shaun knelt down and hugged him and then asked “What’s wrong, Kiddo?”
“Daddy lied to me. You and Daddy don’t love each other.”
Shaun thought that this might have something to do with Ryan, but he decided to get the full story out of Cody before taking any action, such as calling Ryan’s parents. “What do you mean we don’t love each other?”
“You two can’t love each other because you are both guys.”
“Buddy, I’m telling you, that has nothing to do with it.”
“But you can’t get married.”
Shaun wanted to swear, but he couldn’t in front of Cody. How could he explain to a little kid that the reason that he couldn’t marry the love of his life was because the voters of California had passed proposition 8? Then he had an idea. “We may not really be married, but we’re married in our hearts.”
“But you’re not really married. And people who aren’t really married can’t love each other.”
“Why’s that, Codes?”
Cody shrugged. “I don’t know. But Will said that his mommy said that if you don’t love each other you can’t be married.”
That figured. Shaun knew that Will’s parents were in the middle of a messy divorce. Will’s mother had probably tried to explain why they were getting a divorce as best she could to her son, but apparently something got lost in translation when Will repeated this to Cody. “Dude, it doesn’t work that way.”
“It doesn’t?” asked Cody.
“Some people who are in love get married and some don’t. But you definitely can’t be married if you don’t love someone. But just because you aren’t married doesn’t mean you don’t love someone.”
Time went by. Now it was June. Something was bugging Shaun. He decided to talk to Zach about it. “Hey Babe?” asked Shaun casually one night while he lounged on the bed and Zach was studying one of his paintings.
“Yeah?” was Zach’s distracted reply.
“You know that it’s June, right?”
“Uh, yeah. So?”
“Do you know what that means?”
“Yeah, it means that Cody gets out of school soon and we should probably start packing because our lease is up at the end of the month.”
“It means its gay pride month. I think we should go to the parade.”
“Why?” asked Zach. “I thought you said that was just a bunch of guys in bikini’s, dykes on bikes, and drag queens.”
“I think Cody will enjoy it. Besides, I don’t think he gets enough exposure to gay people.”
“What do you mean? He lives with us! How much more exposure does he need?”
“I mean that I don’t think he knows any other gay couples.”
“What about Mark and Jeff?” Mark and Jeff were friends of Shaun’s from college. And while they did live together, they were in no way exclusive.
“Babe, I hate to break this to you, but Mark and Jeff are friends with benefits. They have an open relationship at best. I think Cody needs more exposure to gay couples like us. Couples that are in committed relationships. Preferably couples with children.”
“And you think you’ll find this at a parade?”
“Hey, it’s a place to start. And maybe sometime this summer we can go to Provincetown.”
“A parade is one thing. Provincetown is all the way in Massachusetts. How can we afford that?”
“It’s a lot more affordable than Europe. Besides, Erik owns a house there. I’m sure we could stay with him.”
“Erik?” asked Zach, sounding confused.
“You know, I told you about him, he was the guy I was supposed to meet up with in Barcelona. I met him when I first moved to L.A. He reminds me a lot of Gabe, except that he’s gay.”
“How come I never met him?”
“That’s because a few months after I moved to L.A., he moved to New York for some job.”
“Okay, then. Let’s take Cody to the parade and Provincetown.”
Cody loved the Pride parade. One of the drag queens, who happened to be throwing beads, made a point of handing some to Cody and Cody said “Thanks Lady!”
Zach was still laughing when Shaun said “That was no lady who gave you those beads. That was a drag queen.”
“What’s a drag queen?”
“A drag queen is a guy who dresses up like a girl.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know Codes. I guess he thinks its fun.”
Moving day was very hectic. It didn’t help, in Shaun’s opinion, that Zach decided his primary job was to keep Cody entertained, leaving Shaun and some friends to do all the heavy lifting. At least Zach was willing to massage Shaun’s aching muscles. Zach was doing just that when Cody came into the bedroom.
“Hey Buddy,” said Zach.
“Hey Daddy. Hey Papa.”
Shaun opened his eyes and looked at Cody in his dinosaur pajamas. “What’s up, Kiddo?”
“Can I sleep with you tonight?”
Shaun heard Zach sigh. He knew this was because Zach was hoping to break in the new bedroom in a way that they couldn’t do with Cody around. But Shaun knew that Zach also would never turn down Cody’s request to sleep with them. Shaun took the initiative by moving over, pulling over some of the covers, and said “Climb on in.”
After awhile, when Cody was asleep, he whispered to Zach “Did you ever imagine that it would feel this good?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that I’m in bed with my loved ones. I just never imagined it would feel this good to lay here with my lover on one side and my kid on the other.”
The next day, while Shaun was in the middle of unpacking, and Zach had just left to take Cody to the dentist, Shaun’s phone rang. A quick glance at the caller I.D. told him it was Gabe. Shaun wondered why Gabe would call him considering that last he heard, Gabe was off in Aruba with his latest conquest whose name Shaun could not remember.
“Hey, Bro!” said Gabe when Shaun picked up the phone.
“Hey,” replied Shaun.
“Dude, Mom told me you moved to a new apartment.”
“Yeah, we did. How’s Aruba?”
“I left early.”
“Why?”
“Because Jen broke her leg.” Shaun was glad that Gabe saved him the trouble of asking the girl’s name.
“Oh, that sucks, Dude,” said Shaun sympathetically.
“Yeah, it does. Anyway, we flew into L.A. and I thought I’d pop in to give my bro a visit. What’s the new address?”
Shaun told him and said “There’s one thing, bro.”
“What’s that?”
“The apartment is on the second floor and the elevator is broken. How do you expect Jen to get up here?”
“No worries. Jen dumped me as soon as we landed.”
“I’m sorry, Man.”
“It’s all good. I was gonna dump her anyways.”
Half an hour later, the doorbell rang. Shaun opened it up and saw Gabe standing there. After they hugged, Shaun said “Come in, Bro.”
“Oh, Shaun, I brought a surprise!”
Gabe’s surprise turned out to be a calendar with lots of pictures of naked guys. Shaun knew that Gabe meant well. In fact, a couple of years ago he had owned a very similar calendar. But now he couldn’t hang this sort of calendar. He had a family now.
While Shaun stood in the living room with Gabe’s gift in his hands, Gabe went to the bathroom. Shaun had just decided he would have to have a talk with Gabe about the appropriateness of his gifts, when Zach and Cody walked in.
“I have no cavities!” said Cody excitedly.
Shaun quickly set the calendar down on the coffee table and said “That’s great, Codes. Good job with the teeth brushing. Keep it up!”
“Oh, and I got a sticker too! I’m going to go put it in my room!”
“Okay.”
After Cody ran off to put his sticker in his room, Zach said “I love you, so I got you these.” Somehow, in all the chaos, Shaun had failed to notice that Zach was holding a bouquet of red roses. It was such a sweet gesture; Shaun could not resist planting a tender kiss on Zach’s lips.
The kiss deepened a little. Shaun felt Zach wrap his arms around him, flowers and all. And that’s when he heard “I will never get that image out of my head! Ever!”
Shaun and Zach quickly broke apart. Shaun saw Zach blush and mouth to “What is he doing here?” so he said “Zach, I didn’t get to tell you, Gabe decided to surprise us with a visit. And he brought us a present.” He fetched the calendar off the coffee table and handed it to Zach.
Zach looked at the calendar and scowled. Then he looked at Gabe and said “Dude, what were you thinking?”
“What?” said Gabe. “You both like dudes so I brought you a calendar with dudes in it! I thought you’d like it!”
“Well thanks for thinking of us,” replied Zach, “but, you know, we don’t really want our kid to see these things.”
“Your kid?” asked Gabe, incredulously. “Don’t get too attached. You know how Jeanne is; next thing you know, she’ll want him back.”
“Dude, that is so not gonna happen,” replied Zach.
“Well, you never know. I’m just saying don’t get too attached.”
At this point, Shaun decided to interject. “Nope. Not gonna happen. We adopted him.”
“This is too weird,” said Gabe. “First my big bro and my best friend hook up. Now they have a kid.”
“And another one on the way,” said Shaun, as he started putting the flowers in water.
“What are you talking about, Bro? I know how it all works, and it’s just not possible for one of you to knock the other one up! And if it is, I don’t want to know about it!”
“Chill,” said Zach, “It’s nothing like that. Jeannie’s got herself knocked up again and wants to give us the kid.”
“Oh,” said Gabe, “Well do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
“No,” said Zach, “Jeannie doesn’t want to know and we’ll love it just the same, so why push the issue?”
“Have you thought of any names yet?” asked Gabe.
“Yeah, we have,” said Shaun, “Nathan for a boy; Emily for a girl.” He was glad that he and Zach had come to that agreement a few days ago. He wrapped his arms around Zach and kissed him.
“Enough with the kissing, already!” said Gabe. “I’m glad you two are happy, I really am, but I really don’t want to see it so much. Get a room.”
“Um, Gabe, this is our apartment” Shaun gently reminded his brother. Shaun thought that Gabe was being a hypocrite since he made out with girls pretty much everywhere, but he let that slide. And just to torture his brother some more, he planted a big one on Zach’s lips.
“So Gabe,” said Zach, “Would you rather crash on the sofa or on Cody’s top bunk?”
“I have a better idea,” said Gabe, “Why don’t I crash in your room with one of you, and the other one could take the couch or the bunk bed?”
“Nope, not gonna happen,” said Shaun. To drive the point home, he kissed Zach again.
“Okay,” said Gabe, covering his eyes, “I’ll take the couch.”
The next morning, Shaun, Zach, and Cody were eating breakfast at the kitchen table when Gabe walked in. “What’s for breakfast?” asked Gabe.
“Pass your uncle Gabe the Cheerios,” said Shaun to Cody.
“Whoa,” said Gabe, “I am not yet ready to be an uncle.”
“Dude,” said Zach, “I was an uncle when I was seventeen; you’re twenty-four!”
“So, like, does this mean I have to take Cody everywhere with me? Because I am totally not ready for that!”
“No, Gabe,” said Zach, “Unlike Jeanne, we are responsible parents.”
Shaun decided that a change of subject was in order. So he asked “Anyone want to go surfing?”
“I do!” said Cody excitedly.
“We’ve been teaching him to surf,” said Shaun.
The trip to Provincetown was interesting. Zach had only been on a plane a few times, and Cody had never been on one. After they landed in Boston, there was a mix-up with Cody’s car seat. They had checked the car seat because they didn’t need it on the plane, but they did need it for the rental car. When they did not see it in baggage return and they asked about it, they were told it was in the lost-and-found. Meanwhile, Cody was protesting that he was too big for a car seat. Shaun and Zach were not convinced, having seen a news report a few days ago about a child Cody’s age dying in a car crash because he was not in a car seat.
After the drive to Provincetown, which took them five hours thanks to traffic, Shaun introduced them to Erik. He felt himself beaming with pride as he introduced his family. He looked at Erik and thought he saw the shadow of jealousy lurking in Erik’s eyes.
They had a great week in Provincetown. Cody built plenty of sandcastles on the beach. But best of all, Cody got to meet lots of other children with gay parents. Ironically enough, one of the children they met was two months older than Cody, lived two blocks away from them and even went to go Cody’s school. The fathers agreed that they would get together regularly from now on.
The nursery was done and the bags were packed. All they were waiting for now was for Jeanne to call and say she was in labor and Shaun and Zach would be high-tailing it to Oregon. Shaun even got their new friends that they met in Provincetown to agree to watch their dog and Cody for them while they were gone.
Then, one day, in the middle of the night, Zach’s phone rang. It was Jeanne. “Are you in labor? … Well then why are you calling in the middle of the night? … You couldn’t have called earlier? … Yes Jeannie, we’ll be there in time.”
Shaun saw Zach turn to him and asked “What?”
“Jeannie’s doctor wants to induce her labor tomorrow.”
“Oh my God,” was all Shaun could say.
They gathered up the bags, the dog, and Cody.
“Don’t forget car seat,” Shaun heard Zach remind him, “They won’t let us leave the hospital without the car seat.”
After they dropped of Cody and the dog, they made their way to the airport and bought tickets for the first plane to Portland, which was boarding in half an hour.
They arrived in Portland at 4:30am. They promptly checked into a hotel since Jeanne wasn’t even due to be at the hospital until 8:00am. Despite their sleepless night, they couldn’t sleep. Finally, at 7:00am, they left for the hospital since they weren’t sure where it was. It was a good thing they left early because they did, in fact, get lost on their way there.
When they arrived at the hospital and explained the situation, they were showed to Jeanne’s room. When they got to the room, they found Jeanne was crying because Alan wouldn’t even drive her to the hospital; she’d had to take a cab. Shaun found it odd that Alan wanted no part of the birth, but then, he never liked Alan to begin with.
Labor progressed slowly. Finally, twelve hours later, Jeanne was ready to start pushing. Shaun was both nervous and excited, but mostly excited. Pushing took longer than Shaun expected, about half an hour.
When the baby crowned, Shaun and Zach looked through the mirror with Jeanne to see the baby’s head. Finally, Shaun heard the baby cry and the doctor say “It’s a boy!” He felt his eyes well up with tears; it was such an emotional moment.
Then he heard the doctor ask “Who wants to cut the umbilical cord?”
Shaun looked at Zach to see if he wanted to. Zach said “You go ahead, I cut Cody’s cord. It’s your turn.”
“Hey there, Nathan,” said Shaun gently to the squalling newborn that had been placed on Jeanne’s belly. Then he turned to the doctor and asked where to cut. As Shaun cut the cord, he couldn’t help but think how lucky he was.
After the cord was cut, Shaun got to hold Nathan for the first time. He was overwhelmed with emotion. He also felt like he was going to break the baby, so he passed Nathan to Zach. Shaun heard Zach as Jeanne if she wanted to hold the baby; but Jeanne no interest in holding her son. The thought saddened Shaun that Nathan’s mother didn’t even want to hold him. Nathan was damn lucky to have him and Zach in his life.
Shaun and Zach spent the rest of the night in Jeanne’s room taking care of Nathan. As Shaun stared into his newborn son’s eyes, he said “Daddy and Papa love you.” While Shaun couldn’t think of anything he’d rather be doing right then other than holding his baby, he still felt bad that Cody wasn’t around for this, even though he knew it would be traumatic for him to see Jeanne again.
The next day, Nathan was circumcised. Zach said he couldn’t watch, but Shaun wanted to. Shaun felt so bad when poor little Nathan screamed in pain. He felt so guilty for tormenting this poor little baby with so much pain, but he knew that it was better this way.
To take his mind off things, Shaun called Cody. Cody was excited to learn that he had a new brother. Cody wanted to know if the baby’s name was Spongebob. When Shaun said no, Cody informed him that he would call his brother Spongebob anyway.
That afternoon, the lawyer came to the hospital to deal with the transfer of parental rights. After the signing of the paperwork, they were free to take Nathan back to the hotel, but were told they were not to leave the state of Oregon until the adoption paperwork was accepted in both Oregon and California.
The drive back to the hotel was nerve-wracking to Shaun, who was doing the driving while Zach sat in the back with Nathan. Zach said that Shaun was lucky that Nathan slept the whole way back to the hotel; he remembered that when he drove Jeanne and Cody home from the hospital, Cody had screamed the entire time.
When they got back to the hotel, they set up the pack-n-play they had brought with them. They took out the bottles and formula and put it in the kitchenette part of their suite. Shaun looked at Nathan, who was still sleeping peacefully in his car seat, and then at Zach. “Do you think we should wake him up?” he asked Zach, “He hasn’t eaten in two hours.”
“The student has become the master,” said Zach. “Rule number one, never wake a sleeping baby. If he’s hungry, he’ll let you know.” Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, Nathan woke up screaming.
The next few days passed both quickly and slowly for Shaun. While he glad to have this time to bond with the baby, he missed Cody terribly. It didn’t help his mood any that neither he nor Zach felt comfortable making love in a room they shared with a baby.
Finally, they were given the all clear to go home. As they were packing up their stuff, Shaun looked at Nathan. He said “Well Squirt, we’re going home. You’re going to meet your big brother, Cody.” And he felt so filled with happiness that he started to cry. Zach came over and wrapped his arm around him and said “We’ve reached another stage of life. Now we have two kids.”
The End.
Title: Another Stage of Life
Author: girggc
Pairing/Characters: Shaun/Zach, Gabe, Cody, OC
Rating/Genre: R for language
Notes/Warnings: This is told from Shaun's POV and takes place after the movie ends
Another Stage of Life
Shaun looked at Cody, who was happily eating cotton candy, and felt several different emotions wash over him all at once. He felt genuine love for Cody, but at the same time felt sadness that Cody wasn’t his. He and Zach were doing their best to adopt Cody, but for some reason, Jeanne, who was more than happy to make Zach Cody’s legal guardian, would not give up her parental rights. Shaun also felt a little jealousy of Zach, not that he would admit it. Zach had been there for Cody from the very beginning and therefore Cody was really bonded to him. While Shaun knew that Cody liked him a lot, Cody didn’t quite see him as the parental figure that he saw Zach as.
“Hey, Buddy, it’s time to go. You can finish that in the car.”
“Okay,” replied Cody.
Shaun knew that if it was Zach that had told Cody that it was time to leave the amusement park, Cody would have protested. The thought made his sadness deepen a little since Cody’s reaction confirmed Shaun’s feeling that Cody did not yet think of him as his father. “Yet,” was the key word, Shaun reminded himself. With enough time, Cody would gradually see him as more than his buddy.
Shaun couldn’t help hoping, however, that this trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain would help speed that up. This was the first time that Shaun and Cody had spent a full day together without Zach. It wasn’t that Shaun didn’t want Zach to come with them, but Zach had a full day of classes today and it was a teacher training day at Cody’s school. Shaun felt that today would be a perfect time for him to get some quality bonding time in with Cody and he didn’t want to waste it by having Cody spend the day moping in front of the television.
Zach was on the phone when Shaun and Cody came home. Shaun was a little disappointed that he couldn’t plant a kiss on Zach’s lips after not having seen him all day. Much as he loved having that quality time with Cody, Shaun had missed Zach terribly. Shaun quickly decided that he could wait until Zach was off the phone for his kiss.
“Jeannie, that’s a lot to ask.” Shaun wondered what Jeanne was asking for now. Either way, it probably wasn’t anything good.
“Jeannie, I’m not saying no… No, don’t do that; just let me talk it over with Shaun first… Jeannie, I’m not going to decide right now… I promise, I’ll let you know by the end of the week… Goodbye, Jeannie.”
“Fuck,” said Zach after he hung up the phone.
“What’s wrong, Babe?” asked Shaun as he gently pulled Zach into a hug. In his mind, Shaun went through all the possible things that could be wrong. Maybe Jeanne had broken up with Alan and wanted to move in with them. Maybe Jeanne had said she’d give up her parental rights if they gave her a certain amount of money. Maybe Jeanne had said that she wanted to be more involved in Cody’s life and that if they didn’t move to Oregon she would take Cody back.
At that point, Cody came into the room and asked “What’s for dinner?” The question made Shaun smile because Cody had eaten 2 hotdogs, 1 candy apple, and the cotton candy. Shaun knew it was not the most nutritious day for Cody, but he figured that Cody would survive.
“Dinner?” asked Shaun, “You still hungry after the hotdogs, the candy apple, and the cotton candy?”
“Yup,” replied Cody.
Later that night, when Cody was sleeping, Shaun and Zach sat on the balcony sipping wine. Shaun was looking at Zach, thinking about how lucky he was to have him in his life, when he noticed that Zach looked upset. “What’s wrong, Babe?” asked Shaun.
“Jeanne,” replied Zach. “Shaun, there’s something I have to talk to you about.”
Shaun was a little disconcerted by Zach’s sober tone of voice. “Okay. I’m listening. What is it?”
“Jeanne got herself knocked up again. She wants me to take the baby, same arrangement we have with Cody. She says if I don’t take the baby, she’s getting an abortion. Shaun, I don’t think I could live with myself if I’m the reason she gets an abortion. I also don’t know how I’d do it. I can’t saddle you with a baby. I don’t want to drop out of art school to take care of a baby. Not to mention that I can’t afford a baby.” At this point Zach started to sob.
Shaun put his arms around Zach. He didn’t really know what to say, there were so many thoughts going through his mind. Finally he said “I know this isn’t an option for you, you’re going to take the baby. And what do you mean you can’t saddle me with a baby? Whatever happens, we’re in this together.”
“Shaun, you didn’t sign on for this.”
“I know I didn’t, but we’ll get through this together. I don’t want you to drop out of art school.” Shaun knew that if Zach allowed Jeanne to get an abortion, Zach would regret it for the rest of his life. Shaun also knew that he didn’t want to lose Zach, not for anything in this world.
“Shaun, do you even like babies?” Zach’s question made Shaun think. It was true that he had practically no experience with babies. On the other hand, he had always dreamed of having his own baby. This was not a dream that he had shared with anyone, not even Zach.
Shaun looked in Zach’s eyes. “I don’t really know much about babies, but…” Shaun swallowed. He wasn’t quite sure how to say this. He decided just to spit it out. “I have always wanted one of my own.”
“Seriously?” asked Zach.
“Seriously. But Babe, I don’t want the arrangement we have with Cody. I want us to adopt both the baby and Cody.” Shaun had shocked himself by what he said, but at the same time, he genuinely felt that he was ready. Shaun looked in Zach’s eyes again and said “I mean it. If we can’t adopt Cody and the baby, then we won’t take it. It’s all or nothing. Or at least I think you should tell Jeanne that. I just don’t want to bond and then have it taken away. Same with Cody.”
“What if Jeanne says we can’t adopt? Then what? Because I won’t let her get an abortion. It’s family.”
“I know, Zach. That’s one of the reasons why I love you. I love how loyal you are. I really admire that. Let’s do it.”
“You mean it?”
“Absolutely!”
The next morning, after Cody had gotten on the school bus, Zach said “Shaun, I’m going to call Jeannie now. Are you sure about this?” Shaun thought it was admirable that Zach was giving him another chance to back out. He also realized that Zach needed him right now to be strong, so he nodded.
Zach took out his phone and dialed. When Jeanne picked up, Shaun heard Zach say “Hi Jeannie… Yes, I’ll do it, but on one condition, that you let me and Shaun adopt both Cody and the new baby… No, Jeannie, I’m not fucking with you… What do you mean? ... Jeannie, Alan doesn’t want them anyways, so what does he care? ... Jeannie, listen, now is the time to decide! Don’t leave them in my care and then in a few years come and take them back! You either want them or you don’t! … Well it’s a good thing that Shaun and I do! … Yeah, I’ll call you.”
Shaun couldn’t quite figure out the outcome of the conversation just from listening to Zach, although he had his suspicions. He looked at Zach with bated breath. “What did she say?”
“She says she’ll do it.”
Shaun felt a rush of emotions. First he felt shock. Then he felt happiness. Then he felt nervousness. Then he felt happiness again. He looked at Zach and smiled. “I don’t believe it. This is awesome!”
“Shaun, do you know what this means?”
“Yeah, of course, Babe; it means that we’re going to be Cody’s Daddies and Cody is going to have a little brother or sister to boot.”
“Uh, Shaun, I’m not sure you know what you got yourself into.”
“What do you mean? Cody is great! Another one could only be even better!”
“It is great. But it’s not as easy as you think. There are a lot of sleepless nights and dirty diapers at first. Have you ever changed a diaper?”
“No, but you can teach me.” It suddenly occurred to Shaun that Cody would need to know about this. And they’d also have to come up with names for themselves. “So when do you think we should tell Cody? And what should he call us?”
“I think we should tell Cody that he’s being adopted as soon as possible. I think we should hold off on telling him about the baby. And what do you mean ‘What should he call us?’ He knows our names.”
Shaun, who was in the middle of a debate in his own head about weather he wanted to be “Daddy” or “Papa,” was a little surprised at Zach’s question. “Well, after we adopt Cody, I want to be called ‘Daddy’ or ‘Papa.’ I haven’t decided yet. Cody calling me ‘Shaun’ makes me feel like his step-dad.”
“Whatever, Dude. But I want to be called ‘Daddy.’”
Shaun laughed at Zach’s quick change of mindset. Zach shoved him. They wrestled for a little bit. The wrestling turned Shaun on. He kissed Zach and ground his groin into him. He was disappointed when Zach pulled away. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to be late for class.”
Shaun smiled at Zach while he silently cursed the clock.
That evening, at dinner, Shaun thought it would be a good time to tell Cody. So he said “Codester, Zach and I have something to tell you.” Shaun saw Zach practically choke on his asparagus and mouth the word “Now?” Shaun nodded.
“What is it?” asked Cody.
Shaun wasn’t sure how he should proceed, but then he noticed that Cody was not eating his asparagus and had an idea. So he said, “Eat your asparagus, Cody.” Cody looked shocked. It was always Zach who insisted that he eat his veggies, never Shaun.
“Why are you telling me to eat my ‘sparagus?” asked Cody.
“Because I got to practice,” said Shaun. Shaun looked at Zach, who was smiling.
“Practice what?” asked Cody.
“Practice being your father,” said Shaun. Shaun saw that Cody looked confused. So he said “I need to practice being your father because your uncle Zach and I are adopting you.”
Cody still looked confused, so Shaun looked over at Zach and mouthed the word “help.”
“Codes, what Shaun is trying to say is that we are going to be your daddies.”
“But you said Roy is my daddy. And how can I have two daddies?”
“Yes Cody, Roy is your daddy, just as Jeanne is your mommy. But that’s going to change. You see, you and me and Shaun are going to go to court and a judge is going to say that Jeanne is no longer your mommy and Roy is no longer your daddy, and that Shaun and I are really your daddies.”
“But how can I have two daddies?”
Shaun wasn’t sure how to explain that one. Luckily, Zach came to his rescue by saying, “You can have two daddies because you’ve got two guys who love you and want to be your daddies.”
Cody seemed to accept that so Shaun let out a sigh of relief.
The next few weeks crawled by. To Shaun, it felt like time had never moved slower. Finally, the court date was set. Time seemed to move even slower still. The day before the court date, Shaun panicked when he realized that neither Zach nor Cody owned a suit. Luckily, it was 9:00 am so there was still time to go suit shopping.
Shaun was surprised that Zach was more reluctant to go suit shopping than Cody. Although Shaun suspected that Zach’s trepidation stemmed from the fact that he was also nervous. “Shaun, I have some khaki pants, I’ll borrow one of your ties. It’ll be cool.”
“Zach, it’ll be okay, I promise.” Shaun hugged Zach understandingly.
The big day finally came. Shaun’s stomach was in knots, he was so nervous. Luckily, the adoption proceedings went as planned. Cody was happy when the judge gave him a teddy bear.
After court, they went out for ice cream to celebrate. However, one thing still bothered Shaun. Shaun decided to remedy the situation, so Shaun said to Cody “Now that we’re your fathers, you can call Zach ‘Daddy’ and me ‘Papa.’”
“Okay Shau- I mean Papa.”
“You know, Kiddo, this means you’re stuck with me forever.”
“Forever and ever,” said Cody happily.
That night, in bed, Shaun started thinking about how much his life had changed today. He now had a kid. He couldn’t believe it. It was the most incredible feeling ever. He said to Zach “This is so incredible.”
“What is?”
“We have a kid. It’s surreal. It fucking blows my mind.”
Shaun looked at Zach and saw Zach smile at him. He smiled back. Zach playfully punched him. Shaun punched him back. They playfully wrestled for a few minutes until Shaun ran out of breath.
“You sure you’re ready for another one, old man?” asked Zach.
Shaun just smiled at Zach. Then something occurred to Shaun, so he asked “When is Jeanne due? I don’t think you ever told me.”
“In about 6 months,” came Zach’s reply.
“Well then it’s a really good thing that our lease runs out in 3 months.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because we’re going to need another bedroom,” said Shaun thinking of a nursery that they currently had nowhere to put. “You know, for the nursery.”
“Shaun, can we afford that? It’s not that big a deal if we can’t. I mean, I shared a room with Cody for five years.”
“Babe, there’s something I never told you. I was saving up to take you to Europe. It was supposed to be a surprise. But since it doesn’t look like we’re going to Europe anytime soon, we can use that for a bigger apartment.”
“I’m so sorry,” said Zach.
“Sorry for what?” asked Shaun.
“I’m sorry that I’m burdening you with all this. I don’t want you to put your dreams on hold because of me.”
“Babe, it’s not a burden!” When Zach didn’t look convinced, Shaun said “Listen, I’m living the dream. Europe is nice and all, and yes, it does have some amazing art, but you know what? I’d much rather have you, and Cody, and the baby, then any trip to Europe. I’ve always dreamed of having a family,” Shaun said, tearing up, “and now I’ve finally got one. Believe me when I say that I’m living the dream.”
“I believe you.” The way Zach said that made Shaun’s heart fill.
“I think we should tell Cody in the morning.”
“Okay.”
The next morning, at the breakfast table, Shaun heard Zach say “Uh, Codes, there’s something we have to tell you.”
“What is it?” asked Cody, who was clearly more interested in playing with his scrambled eggs than what he was being told.
“Buddy, we’re going to move.”
Cody looked up from his eggs, and started to cry.
“What’s wrong, Buddy?”
“I don’t want to leave Papa! He said I was stuck with him forever!”
“Cody, it’s okay, he’s coming with us!”
“Really?” asked Cody, brightening up considerably.
“Really,” said Zach.
“Why are we moving?”
“Because, Buddy,” said Shaun, before Zach could say anything, “You’re going to have a little brother or sister.”
“I am?” asked Cody.
“That’s right,” said Zach.
“What will it’s name be?” asked Cody.
That was not a question Shaun had expected, so he decided to take the honest approach. “We haven’t quite figured that out yet.”
That night, at dinner, Cody had hardly touched his chicken nuggets and Shaun and Zach had nearly finished their dinners. Something was clearly bothering Cody, but he had no idea what it was, so he asked, “Cody, is something bothering you?”
“No,” denied Cody.
“Well you hardly touched your dinner. What’s wrong, Munchkin?”
“Ryan, at school, says I can’t have a little brother or sister because I have two daddies and it takes a mommy to make a baby.”
Shaun groaned inwardly. He supposed he should’ve expected something like that. Come to think of it, he was lucky that Cody had yet to ask what “gay” meant. He really didn’t know what to say. He looked at Zach with panic.
Zach turned to Cody and said “Yeah, Buddy, it does. Jeanne is going to have a baby, and then we’re going to adopt the baby, just like we adopted you.”
“That’s cool,” said Cody, who then proceeded to attack his chicken nuggets.
The next night, at dinner, again Cody was upset. So Shaun asked him again what was wrong.
“Ryan says that his mommy says that gay men shouldn’t have children.”
“This Ryan sounds like a real punk,” said Shaun, “We have you and we love you. And we’ll love your little brother and sister just the same. Don’t listen to Ryan.”
“Okay,” said Cody. But clearly something was still bothering Cody.
It was Zach’s turn to ask what was wrong. “Daddy, what does ‘gay’ mean?”
“Gay means that either two guys, or two girls, really love each other and want to be with each other and live together.”
“Oh, cool, when I grow up, I want to be gay with Will.” Will was Cody’s best friend.
“Well, Cody,” said Zach, “When you grow up you may be gay. You might even be gay with Will. But Buddy, it has to do with who you fall in love with. Shaun and I both are gay. But Gabe isn’t. Gabe falls in love with girls.”
The next afternoon, when Shaun met Cody at the bus stop, Cody was crying. Shaun knelt down and hugged him and then asked “What’s wrong, Kiddo?”
“Daddy lied to me. You and Daddy don’t love each other.”
Shaun thought that this might have something to do with Ryan, but he decided to get the full story out of Cody before taking any action, such as calling Ryan’s parents. “What do you mean we don’t love each other?”
“You two can’t love each other because you are both guys.”
“Buddy, I’m telling you, that has nothing to do with it.”
“But you can’t get married.”
Shaun wanted to swear, but he couldn’t in front of Cody. How could he explain to a little kid that the reason that he couldn’t marry the love of his life was because the voters of California had passed proposition 8? Then he had an idea. “We may not really be married, but we’re married in our hearts.”
“But you’re not really married. And people who aren’t really married can’t love each other.”
“Why’s that, Codes?”
Cody shrugged. “I don’t know. But Will said that his mommy said that if you don’t love each other you can’t be married.”
That figured. Shaun knew that Will’s parents were in the middle of a messy divorce. Will’s mother had probably tried to explain why they were getting a divorce as best she could to her son, but apparently something got lost in translation when Will repeated this to Cody. “Dude, it doesn’t work that way.”
“It doesn’t?” asked Cody.
“Some people who are in love get married and some don’t. But you definitely can’t be married if you don’t love someone. But just because you aren’t married doesn’t mean you don’t love someone.”
Time went by. Now it was June. Something was bugging Shaun. He decided to talk to Zach about it. “Hey Babe?” asked Shaun casually one night while he lounged on the bed and Zach was studying one of his paintings.
“Yeah?” was Zach’s distracted reply.
“You know that it’s June, right?”
“Uh, yeah. So?”
“Do you know what that means?”
“Yeah, it means that Cody gets out of school soon and we should probably start packing because our lease is up at the end of the month.”
“It means its gay pride month. I think we should go to the parade.”
“Why?” asked Zach. “I thought you said that was just a bunch of guys in bikini’s, dykes on bikes, and drag queens.”
“I think Cody will enjoy it. Besides, I don’t think he gets enough exposure to gay people.”
“What do you mean? He lives with us! How much more exposure does he need?”
“I mean that I don’t think he knows any other gay couples.”
“What about Mark and Jeff?” Mark and Jeff were friends of Shaun’s from college. And while they did live together, they were in no way exclusive.
“Babe, I hate to break this to you, but Mark and Jeff are friends with benefits. They have an open relationship at best. I think Cody needs more exposure to gay couples like us. Couples that are in committed relationships. Preferably couples with children.”
“And you think you’ll find this at a parade?”
“Hey, it’s a place to start. And maybe sometime this summer we can go to Provincetown.”
“A parade is one thing. Provincetown is all the way in Massachusetts. How can we afford that?”
“It’s a lot more affordable than Europe. Besides, Erik owns a house there. I’m sure we could stay with him.”
“Erik?” asked Zach, sounding confused.
“You know, I told you about him, he was the guy I was supposed to meet up with in Barcelona. I met him when I first moved to L.A. He reminds me a lot of Gabe, except that he’s gay.”
“How come I never met him?”
“That’s because a few months after I moved to L.A., he moved to New York for some job.”
“Okay, then. Let’s take Cody to the parade and Provincetown.”
Cody loved the Pride parade. One of the drag queens, who happened to be throwing beads, made a point of handing some to Cody and Cody said “Thanks Lady!”
Zach was still laughing when Shaun said “That was no lady who gave you those beads. That was a drag queen.”
“What’s a drag queen?”
“A drag queen is a guy who dresses up like a girl.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know Codes. I guess he thinks its fun.”
Moving day was very hectic. It didn’t help, in Shaun’s opinion, that Zach decided his primary job was to keep Cody entertained, leaving Shaun and some friends to do all the heavy lifting. At least Zach was willing to massage Shaun’s aching muscles. Zach was doing just that when Cody came into the bedroom.
“Hey Buddy,” said Zach.
“Hey Daddy. Hey Papa.”
Shaun opened his eyes and looked at Cody in his dinosaur pajamas. “What’s up, Kiddo?”
“Can I sleep with you tonight?”
Shaun heard Zach sigh. He knew this was because Zach was hoping to break in the new bedroom in a way that they couldn’t do with Cody around. But Shaun knew that Zach also would never turn down Cody’s request to sleep with them. Shaun took the initiative by moving over, pulling over some of the covers, and said “Climb on in.”
After awhile, when Cody was asleep, he whispered to Zach “Did you ever imagine that it would feel this good?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that I’m in bed with my loved ones. I just never imagined it would feel this good to lay here with my lover on one side and my kid on the other.”
The next day, while Shaun was in the middle of unpacking, and Zach had just left to take Cody to the dentist, Shaun’s phone rang. A quick glance at the caller I.D. told him it was Gabe. Shaun wondered why Gabe would call him considering that last he heard, Gabe was off in Aruba with his latest conquest whose name Shaun could not remember.
“Hey, Bro!” said Gabe when Shaun picked up the phone.
“Hey,” replied Shaun.
“Dude, Mom told me you moved to a new apartment.”
“Yeah, we did. How’s Aruba?”
“I left early.”
“Why?”
“Because Jen broke her leg.” Shaun was glad that Gabe saved him the trouble of asking the girl’s name.
“Oh, that sucks, Dude,” said Shaun sympathetically.
“Yeah, it does. Anyway, we flew into L.A. and I thought I’d pop in to give my bro a visit. What’s the new address?”
Shaun told him and said “There’s one thing, bro.”
“What’s that?”
“The apartment is on the second floor and the elevator is broken. How do you expect Jen to get up here?”
“No worries. Jen dumped me as soon as we landed.”
“I’m sorry, Man.”
“It’s all good. I was gonna dump her anyways.”
Half an hour later, the doorbell rang. Shaun opened it up and saw Gabe standing there. After they hugged, Shaun said “Come in, Bro.”
“Oh, Shaun, I brought a surprise!”
Gabe’s surprise turned out to be a calendar with lots of pictures of naked guys. Shaun knew that Gabe meant well. In fact, a couple of years ago he had owned a very similar calendar. But now he couldn’t hang this sort of calendar. He had a family now.
While Shaun stood in the living room with Gabe’s gift in his hands, Gabe went to the bathroom. Shaun had just decided he would have to have a talk with Gabe about the appropriateness of his gifts, when Zach and Cody walked in.
“I have no cavities!” said Cody excitedly.
Shaun quickly set the calendar down on the coffee table and said “That’s great, Codes. Good job with the teeth brushing. Keep it up!”
“Oh, and I got a sticker too! I’m going to go put it in my room!”
“Okay.”
After Cody ran off to put his sticker in his room, Zach said “I love you, so I got you these.” Somehow, in all the chaos, Shaun had failed to notice that Zach was holding a bouquet of red roses. It was such a sweet gesture; Shaun could not resist planting a tender kiss on Zach’s lips.
The kiss deepened a little. Shaun felt Zach wrap his arms around him, flowers and all. And that’s when he heard “I will never get that image out of my head! Ever!”
Shaun and Zach quickly broke apart. Shaun saw Zach blush and mouth to “What is he doing here?” so he said “Zach, I didn’t get to tell you, Gabe decided to surprise us with a visit. And he brought us a present.” He fetched the calendar off the coffee table and handed it to Zach.
Zach looked at the calendar and scowled. Then he looked at Gabe and said “Dude, what were you thinking?”
“What?” said Gabe. “You both like dudes so I brought you a calendar with dudes in it! I thought you’d like it!”
“Well thanks for thinking of us,” replied Zach, “but, you know, we don’t really want our kid to see these things.”
“Your kid?” asked Gabe, incredulously. “Don’t get too attached. You know how Jeanne is; next thing you know, she’ll want him back.”
“Dude, that is so not gonna happen,” replied Zach.
“Well, you never know. I’m just saying don’t get too attached.”
At this point, Shaun decided to interject. “Nope. Not gonna happen. We adopted him.”
“This is too weird,” said Gabe. “First my big bro and my best friend hook up. Now they have a kid.”
“And another one on the way,” said Shaun, as he started putting the flowers in water.
“What are you talking about, Bro? I know how it all works, and it’s just not possible for one of you to knock the other one up! And if it is, I don’t want to know about it!”
“Chill,” said Zach, “It’s nothing like that. Jeannie’s got herself knocked up again and wants to give us the kid.”
“Oh,” said Gabe, “Well do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
“No,” said Zach, “Jeannie doesn’t want to know and we’ll love it just the same, so why push the issue?”
“Have you thought of any names yet?” asked Gabe.
“Yeah, we have,” said Shaun, “Nathan for a boy; Emily for a girl.” He was glad that he and Zach had come to that agreement a few days ago. He wrapped his arms around Zach and kissed him.
“Enough with the kissing, already!” said Gabe. “I’m glad you two are happy, I really am, but I really don’t want to see it so much. Get a room.”
“Um, Gabe, this is our apartment” Shaun gently reminded his brother. Shaun thought that Gabe was being a hypocrite since he made out with girls pretty much everywhere, but he let that slide. And just to torture his brother some more, he planted a big one on Zach’s lips.
“So Gabe,” said Zach, “Would you rather crash on the sofa or on Cody’s top bunk?”
“I have a better idea,” said Gabe, “Why don’t I crash in your room with one of you, and the other one could take the couch or the bunk bed?”
“Nope, not gonna happen,” said Shaun. To drive the point home, he kissed Zach again.
“Okay,” said Gabe, covering his eyes, “I’ll take the couch.”
The next morning, Shaun, Zach, and Cody were eating breakfast at the kitchen table when Gabe walked in. “What’s for breakfast?” asked Gabe.
“Pass your uncle Gabe the Cheerios,” said Shaun to Cody.
“Whoa,” said Gabe, “I am not yet ready to be an uncle.”
“Dude,” said Zach, “I was an uncle when I was seventeen; you’re twenty-four!”
“So, like, does this mean I have to take Cody everywhere with me? Because I am totally not ready for that!”
“No, Gabe,” said Zach, “Unlike Jeanne, we are responsible parents.”
Shaun decided that a change of subject was in order. So he asked “Anyone want to go surfing?”
“I do!” said Cody excitedly.
“We’ve been teaching him to surf,” said Shaun.
The trip to Provincetown was interesting. Zach had only been on a plane a few times, and Cody had never been on one. After they landed in Boston, there was a mix-up with Cody’s car seat. They had checked the car seat because they didn’t need it on the plane, but they did need it for the rental car. When they did not see it in baggage return and they asked about it, they were told it was in the lost-and-found. Meanwhile, Cody was protesting that he was too big for a car seat. Shaun and Zach were not convinced, having seen a news report a few days ago about a child Cody’s age dying in a car crash because he was not in a car seat.
After the drive to Provincetown, which took them five hours thanks to traffic, Shaun introduced them to Erik. He felt himself beaming with pride as he introduced his family. He looked at Erik and thought he saw the shadow of jealousy lurking in Erik’s eyes.
They had a great week in Provincetown. Cody built plenty of sandcastles on the beach. But best of all, Cody got to meet lots of other children with gay parents. Ironically enough, one of the children they met was two months older than Cody, lived two blocks away from them and even went to go Cody’s school. The fathers agreed that they would get together regularly from now on.
The nursery was done and the bags were packed. All they were waiting for now was for Jeanne to call and say she was in labor and Shaun and Zach would be high-tailing it to Oregon. Shaun even got their new friends that they met in Provincetown to agree to watch their dog and Cody for them while they were gone.
Then, one day, in the middle of the night, Zach’s phone rang. It was Jeanne. “Are you in labor? … Well then why are you calling in the middle of the night? … You couldn’t have called earlier? … Yes Jeannie, we’ll be there in time.”
Shaun saw Zach turn to him and asked “What?”
“Jeannie’s doctor wants to induce her labor tomorrow.”
“Oh my God,” was all Shaun could say.
They gathered up the bags, the dog, and Cody.
“Don’t forget car seat,” Shaun heard Zach remind him, “They won’t let us leave the hospital without the car seat.”
After they dropped of Cody and the dog, they made their way to the airport and bought tickets for the first plane to Portland, which was boarding in half an hour.
They arrived in Portland at 4:30am. They promptly checked into a hotel since Jeanne wasn’t even due to be at the hospital until 8:00am. Despite their sleepless night, they couldn’t sleep. Finally, at 7:00am, they left for the hospital since they weren’t sure where it was. It was a good thing they left early because they did, in fact, get lost on their way there.
When they arrived at the hospital and explained the situation, they were showed to Jeanne’s room. When they got to the room, they found Jeanne was crying because Alan wouldn’t even drive her to the hospital; she’d had to take a cab. Shaun found it odd that Alan wanted no part of the birth, but then, he never liked Alan to begin with.
Labor progressed slowly. Finally, twelve hours later, Jeanne was ready to start pushing. Shaun was both nervous and excited, but mostly excited. Pushing took longer than Shaun expected, about half an hour.
When the baby crowned, Shaun and Zach looked through the mirror with Jeanne to see the baby’s head. Finally, Shaun heard the baby cry and the doctor say “It’s a boy!” He felt his eyes well up with tears; it was such an emotional moment.
Then he heard the doctor ask “Who wants to cut the umbilical cord?”
Shaun looked at Zach to see if he wanted to. Zach said “You go ahead, I cut Cody’s cord. It’s your turn.”
“Hey there, Nathan,” said Shaun gently to the squalling newborn that had been placed on Jeanne’s belly. Then he turned to the doctor and asked where to cut. As Shaun cut the cord, he couldn’t help but think how lucky he was.
After the cord was cut, Shaun got to hold Nathan for the first time. He was overwhelmed with emotion. He also felt like he was going to break the baby, so he passed Nathan to Zach. Shaun heard Zach as Jeanne if she wanted to hold the baby; but Jeanne no interest in holding her son. The thought saddened Shaun that Nathan’s mother didn’t even want to hold him. Nathan was damn lucky to have him and Zach in his life.
Shaun and Zach spent the rest of the night in Jeanne’s room taking care of Nathan. As Shaun stared into his newborn son’s eyes, he said “Daddy and Papa love you.” While Shaun couldn’t think of anything he’d rather be doing right then other than holding his baby, he still felt bad that Cody wasn’t around for this, even though he knew it would be traumatic for him to see Jeanne again.
The next day, Nathan was circumcised. Zach said he couldn’t watch, but Shaun wanted to. Shaun felt so bad when poor little Nathan screamed in pain. He felt so guilty for tormenting this poor little baby with so much pain, but he knew that it was better this way.
To take his mind off things, Shaun called Cody. Cody was excited to learn that he had a new brother. Cody wanted to know if the baby’s name was Spongebob. When Shaun said no, Cody informed him that he would call his brother Spongebob anyway.
That afternoon, the lawyer came to the hospital to deal with the transfer of parental rights. After the signing of the paperwork, they were free to take Nathan back to the hotel, but were told they were not to leave the state of Oregon until the adoption paperwork was accepted in both Oregon and California.
The drive back to the hotel was nerve-wracking to Shaun, who was doing the driving while Zach sat in the back with Nathan. Zach said that Shaun was lucky that Nathan slept the whole way back to the hotel; he remembered that when he drove Jeanne and Cody home from the hospital, Cody had screamed the entire time.
When they got back to the hotel, they set up the pack-n-play they had brought with them. They took out the bottles and formula and put it in the kitchenette part of their suite. Shaun looked at Nathan, who was still sleeping peacefully in his car seat, and then at Zach. “Do you think we should wake him up?” he asked Zach, “He hasn’t eaten in two hours.”
“The student has become the master,” said Zach. “Rule number one, never wake a sleeping baby. If he’s hungry, he’ll let you know.” Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, Nathan woke up screaming.
The next few days passed both quickly and slowly for Shaun. While he glad to have this time to bond with the baby, he missed Cody terribly. It didn’t help his mood any that neither he nor Zach felt comfortable making love in a room they shared with a baby.
Finally, they were given the all clear to go home. As they were packing up their stuff, Shaun looked at Nathan. He said “Well Squirt, we’re going home. You’re going to meet your big brother, Cody.” And he felt so filled with happiness that he started to cry. Zach came over and wrapped his arm around him and said “We’ve reached another stage of life. Now we have two kids.”
The End.
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no subject
Date: 2009-08-25 05:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-25 01:34 pm (UTC)As for another story, I have to think of another plot first. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-25 02:18 pm (UTC)give us more gifts like that!
ana
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Date: 2009-08-25 09:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-26 04:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-26 06:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-27 02:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-27 11:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-01 10:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-08 06:58 pm (UTC)