"Noel"
My eyes opened wide with a smile on my face at the feeling if Noel's warmth. I looked over his bare shoulder and saw my ring on his finger and felt this tremendous amount of joy bubbling up from deep inside. On the side of his neck was a passion mark that I had left last night. I didn't want to pull away but I was hungry and I knew that Noel would be as well so I gently slid out of bed and quietly found some shorts and a tank to wear then opened the door walking to the living room where Amar was sleeping with the television on. He had developed a fear of the dark and would wake up in the middle of the night and go to sleep on the couch with the television on. It was already nine in the morning so he had missed two hours of class. It would be best to just let him sleep.
Walking to the kitchen I made one of my few successful meals toast infused with an egg. I placed bread on the pan with butter then added a beaten egg with spices on top and let it cook evenly on both sides. It wasn't much but it tasted good and was filling.
"Dad I want one," Amar said walking up to me. I grabbed him a plate and placed a single slice of toast on it before handing it to him. I loved that he saw me as a dad because I definitely cared for him in the way a father cares about a son.
"Do I have to go to class today," he asked me.
"No it's late and your Daddy's birthday, plus guess what," I asked him.
"I don't know," he responded.
"I gave your daddy the ring and he said yes so we're getting married soon," I said and he smiled wide. I didn't tell him about the adoption part since I felt that it was a discussion we should all have together.
"So you guys will be together forever," he inquired.
"That's the plan, how about we go play some football while Noel sleeps," I asked with a mouth full of food which didn't set a good example.
"Sure...Why were you and Daddy making weird noises last night," Amar asked me and I almost dropped my food on the floor.
"Umm Noel was yawning...go get dressed," I said to him and he shrugged before running off to his room.
"Happy birthday Daddy. You and Dad are getting married," Amar said and I turned to see Noel walking up in some cloth shorts that hung on his hips and his shirt was worn to the point of being see-through in some areas.
"Good morning and happy birthday baby," I said meeting him for a kiss. I knew he was expecting a normal kiss so I amped it up by lifting him by his thighs and placing him on the counter so I could freely feel on my fiance's body. He pulled away and smiled at me.
"You look sexy as fuck today. I'm going to take Amar to toss the football around but we will be back later I know you enjoy alone time," I said to him as he looked over to the side.
"You need to learn how to cook. I'm not talking about barbeque because that's seasonal. I'm talking about the basic healthy meal for Amar. I don't want to have to cook for him all the time and you know I'm going to be working weird hours," he said to me.
"First of all your man throws down in the kitchen," I lied.
"Yeah right," he retorted.
"Anyway, I will see you in a couple of hours and let you catch up on Sister Wives," I said walking away and getting dressed in our room. Noel loved TLC shows for some odd reason.
Amar met me at the door and we walked to my car than I drove to this park not too far away and there where people were walking dogs or going for Friday morning jogs. Luckily I got the day off to spend with Noel and Amar.
"Go long lil man," I said to him and he ran as fast as he could. When he was about twenty yards away I threw the ball at him and he caught it and celebrated. He had to run up closer to throw the ball back to me but he had a good arm. We continued the routine for about half an hour before we stopped and I took him to get some water which I should have gotten before the drive to the park.
"Alright since I proposed to Daddy I no longer have a gift for him and neither do you," I said turning to the back seat to look at him. I drove first to a florist and purchased a bouquet of wildflowers than we went to the mall. Amar picked out some shoes he said that Noel was looking at but didn't buy so I got them in his size then I bought chocolates and clothes that fit his style. I had gotten my first check a week ago and it put my last check from the station to shame. Also, my student loans weren't due for payment for another month so I decided to splurge. When I felt comfortable with the bounty we had gotten I drove us both home and carried the bags to the apartment.
"That's too much," Noel said as we entered.
"Actually it's not enough."
"Yeah daddy it's not enough."
He smiled at Amar repeating me then smiled as we watched him open bags and smell the flowers I got him.
"This stuff is so nice," Noel said with a smile, TLC playing in the background.
"It's your day what do you want to do? We can go out to eat as a family than come home and have a repeat of last night," I said with a flirty smile.
"I want to spend tonight with you guys. I ordered some Italian when I was waiting for you two so that should come and we can watch some TV," he responded.
"Alright then," I said.
"Amar let's go change out of these clothes then we're going to watch TV with your dad," I told him but he was already in his room. I shrugged and walked to the bathroom and took a quick shower and put on some pants and decided to stay shirtless since it was a little warm in the apartment. Walking back to the living room I sat right next to Noel and he leaned on me as he watched his boring show. It went on for hours to the point where I was actually interested in what was being portrayed on the screen.
"I'm tired," Noel said finally getting up off the couch food trays around us. I got up and picked them up and placed them in the trash while the TV went off and Amar chatted with Noel.
"Can we play sleepover," Amar said meaning he was scared to sleep in his bed as I was about to tell him no in a gentle way so when Noel said yes I looked at him in surprise since he said he wanted Amar to learn to cope with fear on his own.
"Just for tonight, we have something to discuss with him anyway," Noel said grabbing Amar's hand and leading him to our room. After making sure everything was clean I walked into the room where Amar was speaking about some cartoon and Noel was laying there listening intently to his every word. I smiled as I got on the other side of Amar who was still talking.
"Hey, Amar do you know what adoption is," Noel asked him when Amar took a breath.
"No some of the kids at the home talked about it," he said his attention now on what Noel was saying.
"Well, adoption is when two or even one parent really wants a child in their family but can't have children or just want to bring in a child in need so they look all around the world or in the foster care system and find a child that fits into their family. Well, you see me and Austin are going to become a legal family and we want you to be a part of that. Isn't that right Austin," he asked bringing me into the conversation.
"Yeah, it's just us making you our child legally so when you call us Dad or Daddy it actually means we're your father's as far as the world is concerned," I said to him. He looked like he was in deep thought.
"What about my first mommy and daddy. Do they stop being my mommy and daddy," he asked us.
"No not at all, your mom will always be your mom even while she's dead and your dad will always be your dad. If you ever want we'll even take you to see him," Noel said and I wasn't sure I was too keen on the idea but I didn't want to disagree in front of Amar when we had made great effort to present a united front so he knew that he couldn't put us against each other.
"If you adopt me I won't ever go back to that home? Oh, can we get a puppy the families on tv have dogs?"
"Even if you don't want us to adopt you we won't let you end up back in a home. We'll have to talk later about getting a puppy," I assured him.
"Okay well I want to be adopted so I'm adopted now," he said with a smile. I chuckled and so did Noel," that's not exactly how it works but yes you're getting adopted now."
Noel looked at me with a smile before opening his mouth to speak, "Goodnight little and big man," he said turning around.
"Love you guys," Amar said getting comfortable meaning he already started kicking me on my side but I wouldn't have life any other way.
"Love you too."