Summer 2033, Norris-Occonor Residence: Los Angeles, California
"No."
The teenager wailed, plopping herself on one of the accent chairs before standing up again with a huff, stomping around the room as she glared at her perpetrator.
The named perpetrator didn't move a muscle as she did, silently laughing with his blue eyes glued to the news playing on TV. Apparently, a Florida man accidentally sat on a pistol and shot himself in the penis.
"But it's-"
"Nope."
"But I'm not even-"
"Absolutely not."
Crossing her arms, Evie shot her brother a warning look. "Ian," she said, pointing at the man who's deliberately dragging her away from a once-in-a-lifetime chance to socialize at night while her mother's not around. "Can you please talk some sense into this guy?"
"I don't know, Evo," Ian shrugged, chucking the dirty knife into the sink before facing his sister. "You made the mistake of telling him."
"You're not going to that party alone, Evelyn," Bryce muttered expressly, lips curling down in a frown as he pointed at himself. "And excuse me, 'this guy'?"
"Um, I have friends," Evie retorted, eyes wide with the intent to persuade and maybe piss the blonde out of Bryce's hair. "Besides, I'm not going to do anything crazy! All my friends are going, I just don't wanna be left out!"
"If you don't wanna be left out, invite them to spend the night over. We'll even go to brunch in the morning," Bryce pointed out, beaming as if he's confident that he's talking the fifteen-year-old out of this party. "I mean it's basically the same, minus the booze and teenage pregnancies."
"Oh really?" Evie raised a brow, as if challenging the blond to a duel. "'Cause that's what you two did when you were fifteen? Go to brunch?" She dragged a finger between the couple.
Ian snorted, making Bryce scowl at his apathy.
"You know, I kinda miss the good old days when you couldn't talk," Evie heard him counter.
She made a face in response, flinging her purse on the couch before stomping upstairs, not saying anything but a frustrated whine.
There was an abrupt silence before Bryce heard Ian's quiet laughter. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he turned to the brunet before opening his mouth.
"How could you not care? That's your sister," he said.
Ian let his shoulders relax, washing his hands before making his way to Bryce who was sitting in the living room.
"Babe, she's fifteen," Ian told the blond as he began squeezing Bryce's tense shoulders. He leaned down to kiss his temple before going on. "I think she can handle a few hours a couple of blocks away from home."
"It's 11 p.m.," Bryce articulated, fumbling his left hand over Ian's.
The brunet hummed and took a moment to look at it, focusing on the silver band wrapped around both of their ring fingers. He smiled. He couldn't for the life of him remember what it feels like to not have it; this, not that he wants to.
"Please, when were you ever home at 11 p.m. when you were fifteen?" the brunet rebutted, gently tapping his husband's face. "Or fourteen? Or thirteen?"
"And do not say it's because she's a girl."
Bryce threw him a deadpanned look. "I'm not."
As soon as he said that, a loud voice yelled from upstairs."I hate it here!"
The two looked at the ceiling, Bryce rolling his eyes while Ian shook his head in concern. "Plus, you want Adia to talk to you like that when she's fifteen?"
Bryce's eyes automatically darted at the floor, the spot that once held their coffee table was now surrounded by pink and blue plastic fences, its interior littered with a bunch of animal stuffed toys and little bolster pillows. In the middle was a pillow castle, which really was just a bunch of couch pillows Bryce stacked himself.
Inside the makeshift castle was a very happy little girl, looking up at her parents with a wide-eyed (four) toothy grin.
After arguing between Agnes (which was a little too Elizabethan for Ian's taste) and Madison (which was the name of the girl Bryce used to frolic with at overnight camps), the two eventually asked Emery to help them settle with a name.
Adia, short for "stop calling people in the middle of the night you selfish jackasses".
Even though Bryce and Ian may never get over the fact that a hot-headed ginger gets to take credit for their daughter's name, Adia was the best thing that ever happened to them apart from each other. The little girl first caught the couple's hearts on their trip to Europe a few months ago. They'd already talked about having kids for a while then, but the plan kept being put on hold because due to busy schedules. Ian instantly fell for the little girl, so the two wasted no time filing a petition for adoption, filling out all those forms, and going through numerous interviews for their daughter.
Despite jumping through all hoops and hurdles, Bryce and Ian were able to take Adia home no more than a month later. Olivia in particular was the most excited, saying that it's been a while since she held a baby and that best of all she missed taking care of one, especially now that Evie's growing up.
Adia got multiple gifts from her aunts and uncles upon the announcement of her adoption. Emery had his mom send Ian's favorite teddy bear he left in Emery's room a long time ago, since he couldn't make it there himself. Isabelle, Cate, and Allison got her pairs of pajamas they collectively sewed themselves, which Ian undeniably found the most adorable of all gifts.
Meanwhile, Cameron and Marcus went all in, mostly Marcus, who bought his niece sets of possibly every toy in the world a child could possibly have. Cameron barely lost for a few bucks after buying a full-sized dollhouse.
Asher, on the other hand, drove all the way from Oregon to meet her while Blake, for some deranged reason, bought her a drone.
"This is not child-friendly," Bryce had blankly told his best friend.
Blake blurted, "What? It's not like she's gonna ride it."
All things considered, these people are more likely to spoil Adia than Adia's parents themselves.
"Oh, she's never turning fifteen. I won't let it," Bryce told Ian, pulling his pants up as he stood to take his daughter out of the baby fence. Adia let out a giggle as her dad began showering his face with kisses, making Ian smile as he did.
"Daddy won't let you grow any taller than a foot and a half, no he won't," Bryce cooed, wiping Adia's mouth before giving his husband a look. "See? It's already working."
Ian chuckled, shaking his head before going back to the kitchen.
. . . . .
A few minutes later, Evie heard the door to Adia's room creak open, followed by the scent of homemade dinner that almost smelled as good as her mom's, but not quite. Ian shut the door behind him quietly before leaning against it.
"Hey..." he muttered as Evie hummed. "Dinner's ready."
The first thing he noticed was the blue dress in Evie's hand, it was one of the many hand-me-downs she lent for Adia, including half of what made up his daughter's toy box.
"You know that's the first dress Adia's ever owned."
"I know," Evie said, her lips curling up before it eventually turned into a slight frown. "I can't wait for her to grow up so we can hate her meanie old dad together." She stopped as soon as she realized that she's talking to meanie old dad's husband. "I didn't mean that."
"Hey, as long as you're not talking about me," Ian joked, making his sister chuckle. "He's just protective of you, y'know."
Evie sighed. "I know..."
Ian's mouth stretched in a weak smile before he took the seat next to his sister. "You probably don't remember much but you guys were inseparable even when we'd only started dating," he said, Evie looking at him as he did.
The teenager smiled. "I've heard."
Ian hummed. "When you were three, Mom decided to sign you up for swimming lessons," he added, laughing as he recalled. "Bryce had to skip his first day at college 'cause he didn't trust your instructor."
"Wasn't Coach Garr his...?"
"Yeah."
Evie shook her head, not being quite able to keep herself from laughing at Ian's next story.
"He hates the mall," he told her. "But you loved watching people skate in the ice rink as a kid, and he could never say no to you."
"I remember," Evie grinned at the memory. "He bought me my first figure skates when I was twelve and taught me what ice hockey was."
The siblings murmured at the same time, "Mom was so pissed..."
The two shared a laugh, the room becoming much brighter as Evie slowly started getting less pissed with his brother's husband.
"He literally cried the first time you told him 'I love you'," Ian spoke incredulously while Evie snickered. "Snot everywhere."
Finally giving in, Evie let out a long sigh. "Fine..." she said, a small smile lingering on her face. "I'm gonna go apologize."
Before she could detach himself from the chair, the door swung open again, revealing Bryce carrying Adia in his arms, his lips pressed in a smile of surrender. He was about to say something but was interrupted by two voices coming from the living room.
"Eve? It's Jamie and Lila!"
Bryce glanced downstairs before returning Evie's expectant gaze. "I called them," he said. "You should put a password on your phone."
"Really?" she asked, eyes twinkling with excitement.
"Yeah," Bryce nodded, fingers toying with his daughter's foot as he let himself inside the room. "Now go before I change my mind."
Hearing this, Evie was quick to jump out of her seat, grinning happily as she raised her arms before running towards Bryce, engulfing the man in a tight hug.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she squeaked, hopping up and down as she pulled away. Ian watched them with awe as he folded the sheets on Adia's crib. "I love you so much."
"I know," Bryce murmured, grabbing Evie's wrist before the teenager could walk out of the bedroom. "Wait."
"Keep an eye on yourself, kiddo. I promised your mom I'll take you back in one piece," he said.
"You got it," Evie beamed, pinching Adia's cheek before kissing her head. "Bye-bye, Adia."
"What do you say?" Bryce murmured next to the baby's ear, helping Adia wave her small hand goodbye as she cooed excitedly. The blond smiled kissing his daughter's temple. "That's my girl."
Upon noticing that Evie is staring at him, Bryce narrowed his eyes at her.
"What?"
"Just you know, thanks again," she answered, giving him a goofy smile for the last time before skipping down the stairs.
Before he was out of his sister's earshot, Ian yelled out, "Don't get into anybody's car, do you hear me? Unl-"
"Unless it's Joe Manganiello, I got it! Loud and clear!" Evie yelled back, making his brother laugh before joining her friends down and out of the house.
Bryce grinned as he watched the front door close before the sound of the girls' laughter faded into complete silence.
"I'm proud of you," he heard Ian's voice whisper beside him, followed by the brunet's arms wrapping around his waist.
Bryce rolled his eyes, smiling. "Shut up."
"You know, if you're gonna be this uptight when we send Adia to college, you're gonna need a lot more practice than that," Ian told him, cooing as he pinched Adia's nose. "I love you," he mouthed, making her giggle.
"She's not going to college either."
Ian laughed, crossing his arms at Bryce's response. "What?"
"Yeah, no she's never leaving this nest," the blond clarified, hoisting his little girl up before grinning. "You're never leaving the nest, are you now, babe?" Adia bubbled, reaching for her dad's face. "No, you won't."
"She's so cute," Bryce beamed holding Adia so their faces were side to side as he beamed proudly at Ian.
"I know," Ian smiled, walking over towards them as he fixed his husband's shirt. "Hey, the guys are coming over tomorrow. Emery finally convinced his boss to give him a temporary leave..."
"Mhm," the blond hummed, still focused on his daughter, laughing whenever Adia giggles and shows off her baby teeth.
Ian continued, watching them both with adoration. "So they can all officially meet her..."
"Okay..."
The brunet smiled as he ran his hands up and down Bryce's arms. "We're getting old, baby."
"Speak for yourself," Bryce responded, finally looking at him. "I'm hot as ever."
Ian chucked, guiding the blond's face towards him. "I love you."
Bryce smiled, leaning down to give Ian a kiss. "Love you, too."
Their kiss was cut short by Adia's gurgling, curious wide eyes staring at her parents.
Ian scrunched his nose at her, laughing as the blond did.
He cooed, "Yeah, yeah okay we love you, too." Pushing Bryce to agree as the latter murmured, not taking his eyes off his husband.