A few days later, on the eighteenth of December, Mark had decided to Skype his mom and brother before the Christmas holiday came along. He already knew he'd be seeing them soon since he was going up there a few days before the holiday actually hit, but he figured that if he Skyped them now, they could get to meet (more like talk to) his boyfriend.
He'd been meaning to introduce them to each other for a while now, but it'd slipped his mind often, until now.
Mark had called Seán and told him to come over to his house so they could spend time together, but he hadn't told him that he'd basically be meeting his family. Currently, they were both sitting on his couch, Seán's legs laying over Mark's lap and his head on the arm of the couch. The elder was tapping a rhythm onto his boyfriend's shins, focusing on the side of his face as the other watched the television. He had wanted to say something for the past few minutes now, but could only bring himself to do so when he'd persuaded himself enough.
"Hey, love?" he questioned, stopping his tapping.
Seán picked his head up, looking towards Mark with curious eyes and a gentle smile. "Yeah?"
Mark's eyes suddenly widened and his mouth stopped in its tracks, hanging wide open. "Uh..." He didn't know if he should just be blunt with his question or not--he didn't want to startle his boyfriend. When he had finally settled on what he wanted to say, he asked quietly, "Do you mind if I introduce you to someone?"
Seán frowned, sitting up further. He pulled his legs from Mark's lap, crossing them Indian-style on the couch. "No, of course not." He leaned closer to Mark out of habit, eyes widening slightly. "Do we need to leave, or..?"
"No, we don't," he answered, leaning forward towards the table in front of him. He grasped his laptop in both hands and brought it to his lap, opening it up and signing in. "I'm just gonna Skype them, if you don't mind."
"I don't." The younger scooted closer to Mark, their knees pressing together and the faint smell of whatever shampoo his boyfriend used wafting into Mark's nose. The man's lips upturned, finger moving across the trackpad to the name "thomasf0728". He clicked on it, sitting back and reveling in the fact that his boyfriend looked very curious from what he could see onscreen.
The ringing from his laptop suddenly shut off and a familiar face--to Mark, anyway--showed up onscreen, a wide grin taking over both Mark and the lookalike's faces.
"Hey there!" the man on the other side of the screen cheered, waving lightly.
"Hey, Tom," Mark responded, grin still plastered on as he waved back. "How's it been goin'?"
"Great, man! How's it been goin' with you?" Before Mark could respond, however, the other male held his finger up to stop him. Mark could see as his eyes flickered to the right of his screen, a confused frown taking over his features. "Hey," he said, waving once again. "Are you Mark's friend, or...?"
Mark turned his head to glance at his boyfriend, whose eyes had widened and eyebrows had raised. He chuckled as Seán spoke up, "No, I'm..." He suddenly looked to Mark, a worried look on his face. The man nodded, telling him to continue. Seán looked back, continuing, "I'm his boyfriend."
The other man's eyes widened, his jaw dropping. "No way! That's awesome, bro." He gave a bigger wave this time, smiling politely. "I'm Thomas--nice to meet you."
"Seán," he said, smiling as well, "it's nice to meet you, too." He then tilted his head slightly, bumping into Mark's knee with his own. "Are you related to Mark, then?"
He nodded. "Yep, I sure am. I'm his brother." At Seán's shocked look, he continued, "What? Has he not told you about me?"
"Well, I mean," he shrugged, "he's mentioned you before; just never really talked about you." Seán then turned toward Mark with a fake glare, causing the man to back up slightly and his eyes to widen. "Why didn't you tell me about your own brother?"
Mark's cheeks reddened. "Um..." He glanced back and forth in between his boyfriend and the computer monitor, nervous about both of their glares. "I..."
"I'll get you back for this, bro," Thomas retorted, a slight smirk lifting his lips. "You better watch it; Seán and I are plotting something now."
The younger laughed, fixing his glasses on his nose and continuing to glare at Mark. "Yeah, you better sleep with one eye open, Mark," he teased, smacking Mark's leg with his palm, "or else your hair won't be pink anymore."
"No!" he cried, reaching up and tangling his hands in his hair. "Not the floof!"
"You better watch the floof," Thomas said. His eyes suddenly widened and he held a finger up. "I'll be right back." He then left off the screen, calls of, "Mom!" following after him.
Mark's eyes widened. "Oh no." He face-palmed. "He's going get my mom. Shit, this isn't good."
Seán chuckled. "Why not? I bet your mom is really nice."
"She is," he responded, picking his head up and looking at his boyfriend--he had an innocent look on his face and a light flush to his cheeks, which Mark loved, "but she's also really invasive with questions."
The younger frowned, folding his hands in his laps. "How so?"
"I..." he started, but was left empty. He eventually just went with, "I can't explain it. You'll see, I promise."
Thomas soon came back, sitting down in the desk chair he'd been in before and smiling cheekily at his brother. A small woman came up to his shoulder, leaning over to look at the monitor.
"Told you he had a boyfriend," Thomas retorted, looking to who could only be his and Mark's mother.
"Oh, it's true!" she cried with an awed look on her face as she raised her hands to her face. (For some reason, Mark loved that you could tell she was Asian not only because of her looks, but also her accent--it was one of his favorite things about her.) "And he cute, too!"
"Oh," Seán said shocked, cheeks burning. "Thank you."
"Are you Irish?" she asked, eyes suddenly flickering to Mark's side of the screen. "Are you dating Irish boy?"
Mark nodded, grin slowly invading his face. "Yes, I am."
"That is good," she responded. "It good he cute, too; the only cute one you dated."
"Come on, Mom," he said, rolling his eyes as his boyfriend laughed. "Jess was cute, too."
"Yes, but not cute as him." She pointed to the screen, although it was hard to see. "He cutest."
He shrugged, looking over to his boyfriend, who was staring down at his twiddling fingers with a grin on his face. His eyes shone and his cheeks were still red, and Mark could agree with his mom--he definitely was the cutest. "Yeah, you're right," he said, earning a soft grin from said boyfriend and an over-exaggerated, "Aww," from his brother.
And then came the all-invasive question he'd been waiting for this whole time, right on-schedule for the Awkward Train. It wasn't even the fact that she'd asked it that was the problem--it was the fact that she'd asked it in front of his brother.
"You two have sex yet?"
Mark spluttered, whipping back to his screen. His cheeks caught aflame and his jaw dropped, eyes following Thomas as he raised his hands in surrender and left the room with a loud, "Nope."
"Mom!" he cried, eyes surely the widest they'd ever been. He heard a sudden cackle and turned--just in time to see his boyfriend fall off the couch with his mouth wide open and hands thrown in the air. He shook his head. "You can't just ask something like that, especially with Thomas right there."
"What?" she asked innocently. "Honest question. I don't mean harm with it." She suddenly looked to the bottom of the screen, coincidentally looking towards where Seán had fallen off the couch. "He okay?"
Mark looked to his boyfriend, who had tears running down his cheeks. "Yeah, he's fine", he replied, looking back to his laptop.
"Good. So, seriously," her smile flattened into a serious look, "you two have sex?"
"No, we haven't," Seán responded as he stood back up, plonking himself next to Mark. He fell into the man's side, wiping away the remaining tears from his eyes.
"Okay, so no babies. Got it."
Mark's eyes widened and his cheeks reddened for the umpteenth time during the call. He didn't exactly know how to respond, but apparently his boyfriend did, because he replied with a gentle, "No, none any time soon; I can promise you that."
"Okay." She suddenly turned her head, yelling, "Thomas, come back!" Said Thomas soon appeared onscreen again, sitting himself back in his seat with an embarrassed look on his face. "How long you two been dating?"
Seán smiled, grabbing onto Mark's hand out of sight of the camera. He leaned into him more, saying, "A little over a month."
She nodded. "You two know each other before you start dating?"
"Yes ma'am," the younger responded, nodding. "We'd met some time before."
"That sweet." She smiled softly. "This one polite, Mark. Keep him."
"Uh..." Mark chuckled. Keep him? He's not a pet. "Okay then. I mean," he shook his head rapidly since his hesitation could've come across wrong, "I will. I'll try my hardest to keep him, if he'll keep me," he said, looking over to Seán. The other had a gentle look to his face as he stared back at Mark, lips upturned ever-so-slightly and eyes soft.
His mom pressed her hands to her heart, smiling. "So cute," she said, Thomas reluctantly nodding along.
"Well," Thomas cut in, speaking for the first time in forever, "we should let you two go; we were making chicken and dumplings, so we should probably get back to that."
"Oo, yeah," Mark nodded enthusiastically, lips pursed and eyes half-shut, "definitely get back to that."
"Have you had chicken dumplings, Seán?" Mark's mom asked, leaving him to wonder if Thomas told her his boyfriend's name.
"No ma'am, I haven't," he said, shaking his head.
She frowned. "You make it for him, Mark. I know how much you love it."
"Yeah, I know," he said, sighing. He chuckled. "Well, get back to it before something burns or whatever."
"We will!" Thomas called back, waving. "Bye, love you," he said, their mother following along with the same statement afterwards.
"Bye, love you, too," Mark replied, Seán waving back excitedly with his own, "Bye!" They then hung up the call, to which Mark closed Skype and shut his laptop off. He then leaned forward, placing the computer back onto his coffee table and leaning back into his couch afterwards. He lifted his arm, putting it on the back of the couch; Seán leaned into him right after, head settling near his shoulder.
"They were nice," the younger commented quietly, glancing up at Mark. "If all of your family is like that, I have a feeling I'll fit right in."
"Yeah," the man said, reaching down and pecking his lips over the other's hair, "I know you will." He sighed, bringing his foot up to cross it over his knee. "I'll definitely have to make that for you someday."
"What?" he asked, leaning up slightly. "Chicken and dumplings?"
"Yeah. It's my favorite," Mark said, smiling. He heard a sudden snort, which caused him to frown and look down at his boyfriend, who had a barely-concealed smirk on his lips. "What are you laughing at?"
"Oh, nothing," Seán responded, waving his hand. "I just find it funny that you--an Alpha--can cook and I--an Omega--can't. It's kinda backwards."
"Oh," Mark looked back up, chuckling, "I guess that is true." He thought about this for a bit, frowning back down at Seán after a few seconds went by. "Wait--you can't cook?"
"Hell no. I'd burn the whole place down." He then shrugged. "I normally eat delivery or microwave things." His eyes widened and he sat up slightly, grinning. "I can cook microwave things! That's what I can do."
Mark rolled his eyes. "I don't think that counts, but whatever." He suddenly frowned as Seán moved back to lay his head near his shoulder, a statement from earlier crossing his mind. "No, none any time soon; I can promise you that." Not any time soon, sure--but somewhere in the future? Mark knew it was way too early to be thinking about a possible future with his boyfriend, as they hadn't even been dating for two months--but he couldn't help it.
Could he see himself marrying this man sometime in his life? Maybe, I don't know. Once again: It's too early. Could he see himself having children with this man? Again: Maybe. Not any time soon, however, just as he said. I just don't think I'd be ready for children, even if it's just one child. I don't think I'd be a good father. It's weird to think about... Why am I thinking about this? I have plenty of time before any of that happens--I'll figure it out then.
"What are you thinking about?"
Mark startled. He realized he'd been staring at his coffee table for too long now, and finally turned away to look at Seán. The younger had a curious look on his face, eyebrows raised as he stared at his boyfriend.
"Nothing really important," he lied, pushing Seán's hair back with his fingers. "Just stupid stuff."
Seán nodded, turning back and settling back into Mark's chest.
Well shit. I need to stop thinking about this. He sighed, gazing down at his lovely boyfriend and smiling gently. Maybe later.
*~*
(Finished 7.30.16, 2332 words)
O SHI WADDUP
I just finished this at 2:07 in the morning and I'm really proud of myself. Sorry if it seems like a weird chapter; once again, it's really late/early. It took me, like, two hours to type this. Yo.
Also, I love foreshadowing. Gives me a chance to be a little shit. :3
Also also, if I ever say "PS," it means Past Shay, as in an AN I typed right after I finished writing the chapter. "PRS" means Present Shay, as in an AN I typed right before I posted the chapter. Just so you who read the ANs know. This is a PS. I'll rarely have PRS's.