Geir looked them over closely, flipping through the pages. “You’re very talented.”
Declan beamed. He knew he was pretty good, but it was nice to hear it from Geir. “Do you know any of them?”
“No, never saw them before. I’ll remember them, though. I won’t let them hurt you.”
“My hero.” He clasped his hands and batted his eyes, but he was only half-joking.
Geir sat down at the table and Declan didn’t wait for an invitation to settle into his lap. The ups and downs of the past week had been exciting, but right now he just needed Geir’s arms around him.
Geir tucked him close, then held the first bite of pizza to his lips.
Declan smiled, inadvertently smearing the greasy cheese across his mouth before he took a bite. Geir was such a Daddy.
And he was a very lucky boy.
Chapter 17
Declan
After lunch, they lazed around on the porch. The sun was warm, but it was shady on the porch and the breeze cooled their skin and made river music in the trees.
Declan relaxed into Geir’s arms, talking about all the things he wanted to do, but with no energy to do them. He felt like he had all the time in the world right now, for plans large and small.
Geir seemed to agree with everything, from grilling chicken kabobs for dinner tonight to planting a garden to grow vegetables that wouldn’t be ready to eat until the fall. He liked the idea of still being here in the fall.
He talked about painting the mailbox on the highway. It held a special place in his heart, since it had led him to Geir. He also still, just a little bit, wanted to make sure he could find it. Like it was some mirage or secret beacon that would disappear when he wasn’t looking. Or at least when he didn’t have GPS.
Maybe he could paint it with hummingbirds and trailing arbutus. And tentacles. Would that be too much?
Geir just kissed him when he asked.
He was so going to paint tentacles on the mailbox. After all, who would know that it meant anything?
He talked about dreams for having a little studio right here, to do his art. Or maybe just a little closet or shelf somewhere to hold all of his supplies so that he could work outside.
Geir chuckled and explained that he’d need a studio because they’d have a foot or two of snow for most of the winter and tornados in the spring. Geir sounded a little worried about what Declan would think of the weather, but Declan just loved the idea of still being here in another year. When there were storms, they could huddle together inside the house and Geir would keep him warm.
He started plotting out everything he might want in his studio. He’d mostly done pencil sketches and digital design for a while, since Mike didn’t like the smell of paint and didn’t want their apartment to be “cluttered.” He should have noticed earlier that “cluttered” was only a term that applied to his interests.
But that was in the past. All the work that he’d done on Mike’s computer was stored in the cloud, and he could get a newer, faster computer here. And internet.
Geir agreed and made happy noises whenever he mentioned another thing that he wanted to buy or do, so he let himself get carried away. He could paint on larger canvasses, surrealistic landscapes merged with the local flora and fauna.
He’d had a bit of a following before he gave up a lot of his ambitions with Mike. He wasn’t going to let himself dwell on that, though. Geir thought he was talented.
Maybe he could get back to doing portraits. He loved them. People were just endlessly fascinating. He was happy to do commissioned portraits of families, but what he mostly loved was people whose faces told stories.
He wondered if it would be rude to ask the storyteller, whose name he still couldn’t quite pronounce, to pose for a portrait. He would be amazing for a portrait series. Or Ro, when he was talking about Tier, his face a mix of conflicted longing and proud determination. May would be fun to draw, with the way that she was drawn so seriously to her work of playing in the mud. He’d like to capture the sneaky, pleased look on her face when she was stealing berries.
Geir seemed to lose interest when he talked about the people who were starting to become part of his life, though he tensed and held Declan tighter when he brought up Ro. Was he jealous?
The thought was laughable. He and Ro were much too similar to be a couple. And Declan had everything that he needed in the warm bulk sitting beside him right here on their little porch.
He wanted Geir to like his friends, though. He wanted them to have a life together.
He thought back to what the storyteller had said, about Geir being part of the tribe before. Why wasn’t he now? Everyone seemed to be falling over themselves to both assess and welcome Declan just because he was spending time with Geir. They seemed almost protective of him.
That was a bit odd, too, since as far as he could tell, Geir had been making it just fine for hundreds of years, maybe even thousands. Most of the current generation didn’t even know him.
Well, either way, he could start by introducing Geir to a few other people, finding some friends together. Maybe not with big crowds, but he could invite Ro and May over sometimes. Ro seemed to be friends with everyone, especially the kids. It would be fun to have some of the children visit.
Geir grunted when he suggested it, but it wasn’t a no.
As if the thought had conjured it, Declan heard an engine coming down the driveway. He felt Geir’s arms tighten around him, which had pretty much become his barometer for gauging Geir’s moods.
He wasn’t complaining at all.
A truck pulled up, and May leaped to the ground, in kitten form, the second that Ro eased open the door.
“May!” Declan leapt down the two porch steps and knelt on the ground so that she could sniff and climb all over him. She gave him a few licks on his hand with her rough tongue, which hurt a bit but was endlessly endearing.
When May wandered off to do kitten things, he stood and gave Ro a hug. He could hear Geir grunting behind him, which made him giggle. There really wasn’t any competition, which made it kind of funny when Geir got all possessive. In the long run, it wasn’t healthy, but right now it was kind of cute. They’d have to talk about that later.
Declan returned to his seat on the bench and Geir’s arm wrapped around him. Ro took a chair and May padded across the banister, her tail waving.
“How’s it going?” Declan asked.
Ro sighed, then gave May a look and found her looking back at him. It looked like whatever he wanted to say wasn’t meant for little ears. “Things are a bit tense right now.” She jumped onto Ro’s shoulder and he gave a slight wince at her claws. “May and I picked you some beautiful raspberries, though!” He gestured toward the truck. “And I brought a few other veggies you might be interested in.”
“Oh, thank you! May, you’re such a good helper,” Declan praised.
The kitten jumped into his lap, her little claws digging into his bare legs. No wonder Ro had winced. A moment later, he had a lap full of squirming four-year-old trying to give him a hug. “I picked them! Can we do horsey rides?”
“Clothing, May,” Ro reminded.
She pouted.
“When you’re wearing clothes, you can ask Declan if he’ll give you horsey rides.” Ro dug into the backpack and produced a shirt and a pair of shorts which the two of them together wiggled her into.