Flare (27 page)

Kevin came hard, his whole body getting in on the act, curling and tightening as he shuddered and shook from the effort. He let out a strangled sob and whispered “Thank you” as he squeezed Hugo’s hand. It was only when he flopped back, loose as a wet noodle but panting, that Hugo sought his own release. He did so as Kevin slowly started to work his hands over Hugo’s shoulders and chest. Kevin reached and palmed Hugo’s ass, pulling him tighter against himself, taking back some of that control, but in a healthier way now.

Hugo collapsed on Kevin’s chest as he came. He buried his face in Kevin’s neck, and waves of pleasure continued to pass through him for long pulse-pounding moments. Kevin wrapped Hugo up in his strong arms and rolled, forcing Hugo onto his back as Kevin devoured his mouth. He licked in deep but would then pull back for ticklish kisses before plunging in again, as if he couldn’t make up his mind about what kind of kisses he really wanted. Hugo didn’t care. He loved this out-of-control passion from Kevin, even if it meant that Hugo’s cock slipped out of his favorite place in the whole wide world.

The laughter that bubbled up from Hugo’s chest was a happy sound, even to his own ears. Kevin paused and looked at him with curiosity.

“I don’t know,” Hugo said with a shake of his head. “I’m just happy right now.”

“Me too,” Kevin said as he trailed his nose around Hugo’s nipple. “I’m so very, very happy.”

“Geez, I love you.”

“I know. I know you do. Thank you for that.”

Hugo smiled and traced Kevin’s bottom lip with his thumb. “Let me see your wrists. I need to make sure your skin is okay.”

“My wrists are fine.”

“Let me look.” Hugo studied the skin and gently pressed on his wrists to make sure there wasn’t any tenderness. He was fine.

Kevin looked thoughtful.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on in your head?” Hugo asked.

After a deep breath, Kevin said, “I feel relieved. I was scared at first, but you just kept touching me and looking at me to make sure I was okay. You knew what I needed better than I did. I guess that’s what I’m really thinking. Maybe I can try to let go of some of those other things I think I can control that I really can’t.”

Hugo shrugged. “If not, don’t forget about this, okay? I’m willing to play from time to time.”

Kevin smiled into another kiss and then settled against Hugo’s chest with a contented sigh.

Kevin’s pensive mood still showed up over the next days, but it was fleeting. Laughter and genuine smiles happened more than right after the kids had gone. There were no more plastic smiles. Hugo did all he could to keep those happy moments sustained, and he found the smiles lingered a little longer when he held Kevin’s hand.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Diamonds & Promises

T
HE
RELIEF
on Kevin’s face when Brooke and Finn walked in the door was remarkable. He got down on his knees and scooped them into his arms, breathing in their scent and giving them tons of kisses all over their rosy-cold cheeks. Hugo couldn’t help but laugh, walking out to the driveway to help carry in luggage so the kids could continue their reunion with their dad in peace.

Summer was beaming, near the trunk of the car, and she held out her hand, a glittery diamond shining on her finger.

“Are you kidding?” Hugo said, bright smile tearing across his face. “Congratulations!” He lifted her in a huge hug and twirled her around several times. “Oh, sweetie. I’m so happy for you.”

Somehow, Hugo ripped himself away from his best friend in the world and found Russell, shaking his hand and then quickly pulling him into a tight hug as well. “You couldn’t have asked a better woman. I’m telling you.”

“I know, Hugo. I know that.” Russell looked into Hugo’s eyes and then uncharacteristically leaned forward, and gave him a kiss on the cheek before stealing another hug.

Hugo laughed at the gesture. “You’re a tad giddy, I take it.”

“Yeah, just a little. She said yes! Of course I’m giddy,” Russell said with a laugh.

“Get in the house,” Hugo directed. “Screw the luggage. We need to open a bottle of champagne so we can drink to this.”

“I think we can manage all the kids’ stuff in one trip,” Summer said with a shake of her head as she started doling out bags and pillows. It was fucking freezing out there.

Back in the house, Hugo finally took his turn greeting Brooke and Finn, hugging them each tight to his chest and telling them he was so glad they were home. Finn nearly climbed him, scaling up his leg to his waist so he could be held on to a little longer, kissing Hugo’s cheeks and eyelids saying, “Papa, Papa,” again and again. Brooke stood beside Hugo while Summer and Russell shared their news with Kevin, holding Hugo’s hand and resting her head on his chest. Automatically, Hugo’s hand went to her hair, finger combing it.

Champagne and sparkling cider were pulled from the fridge, but before Kevin could pour it, Hugo stopped him and went to the pantry to pull out a bag of cotton candy. He’d seen this online and had wanted to try it for ages, so he filled each glass with cotton candy and then allowed Kevin to pour the festive drinks. Bright-pink bubbles rose to the surface as the glasses were passed around and Kevin cleared his throat. “I don’t know exactly how this happened, how two couples separated by years and years could find each other again and still fit so perfectly together. And yet, we’re all connected. To a small world.”

“A small world,” they all echoed—including Finn who didn’t fully understand the toast—as the melodic tones of crystal clinking together rang through the room.

They joked about who would get married first, and Hugo was surprised when Summer said she really and truly didn’t want a big affair, sharing that they’d even considered going to Vegas. Hugo scrunched his face in distaste.

“I’m so sick of traveling,” he whined, being so much more dramatic than he actually felt.

“Fine.” Summer threw up her hands. “We’ll just get married here then.”

“Local wedding. Yay!” Hugo clapped his hands in delight, pulling laughter from Kevin and Russell.

After hearing how Russell popped the question and another rendition of how Hugo proposed as well, Summer asked if she and Hugo could talk alone for a few minutes. He readily agreed, setting down his empty champagne flute and also taking Summer’s barely touched glass. That was odd. She loved champagne. Maybe she didn’t like the cotton candy in it.

They slipped out of the room, heading to the sunroom where they sat next to each other. Lulu had slipped through the door and snuggled beside Summer, demanding to have her belly rubbed. Summer easily gave in to her, and if Hugo allowed himself a few silent moments to stroke her silky fur, no one cared.

“What’s going on?” Hugo asked, seeing the seriousness on Summer’s face.

“I just wanted a chance to talk to you alone.” Summer looked over Hugo’s shoulder back into the house. “Oh good. Kevin got the kids occupied. Russell wanted to talk to him.”

Hugo looked through the glass in the door and saw that Brooke and Finn were no longer in the great room but had probably gone either up or downstairs.

“Okay, you’re officially freaking me out,” Hugo said with a shake of his head.

“I was wondering if you’d stand up for me, be my man of honor?”

“Of course I will. Not maid of honor? Are you sure? Can’t I wear a dress?”

Summer pursed her lips and snorted a laugh. “Because that would be amazing to see Tasha and Kyle’s faces when they saw that?”

“Oh yeah. Forget I ever mentioned it.”

“We’re going to be getting married sooner rather than later. Like weeks, I think,” she said with a quick squinch of her face.

“You’re pregnant,” Hugo said, grinning from ear to ear.

“No. That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.” She looked so uncertain, so Hugo scooted closer, holding her undecorated hand in his.

“Talk to me.”

“Russell can’t have kids. At all. Not even with all the medical advances that have happened in our lifetime.”

“Okay…?” Hugo felt foolish for not knowing how to react, but Summer didn’t seem to notice his unease.

“His body doesn’t produce sperm. But he’s
so
the one for me. I love him so much.” Hugo could see it in her eyes alone.

“I didn’t know that about him, but then again, how often is sperm count talked about?” Hugo laughed.

“Not often. He’s not exactly open about it with most people. His parents don’t even know. Erin never knew either because he knew how sad she’d be for him for never being able to have his own kids. He’s known since he was in his early twenties, though.”

“How’d he figure that out?”

“He needed to make some quick cash, so he tried to sell his sperm. The sperm bank called him back and told him there was nothing there. So.” She rolled her eyes and circled her hand to show it was a long story. “Anyway, he went to a doctor and eventually a specialist when he got a little older, and it’s this thing nothing can be done about.”

“And you want kids,” Hugo said. “Badly.”

“I do. We’ve been using no birth control from the start. He told me almost right away so I’d leave and just get it over with.”

“Not even a day late?” Hugo asked.

“Nope. Unprotected sex for ten months. We figured we’d give it a fair shot, but his diagnosis all those years ago wasn’t one that could spontaneously resolve itself. It’s not going to happen. That’s what I
really
wanted to talk to you about.”

“Okay?”

“Russell and I have talked about it a lot. I told him what we agreed to in college.”

“Having my baby?” Hugo asked, leaning in to brush his shoulder against hers. Summer was smiling, looking down at their clasped hands.

“Yeah. Are you still willing?”

“Yes. We’ll make a baby.”

Summer finally looked up at him, tears in her eyes despite the smile on her face. She hugged him, pulling him close.

“Don’t say yes yet, okay?” she whispered into his ear. “Does Kevin know about our agreement?”

Hugo sat back and studied her face. “I never told him.”

Summer bit her lip, hesitating. “This is bigger than us now.”

Hugo nodded and took in a deep breath, then slowly let it out between his pursed lips in as quiet a manner as he could manage. “I’ll definitely need to talk to Kevin.”

“But you’re willing to consider it?”

“Yes. I promised you years ago. We’ll have to figure out the logistics of all this.”

Summer squeezed Hugo’s hand and looked through the glass doorway at Russell and Kevin who were laughing.

“Are they talking about this too?”

“Yeah. Russell wanted to tell Kevin about his problems. We figured it might be best to tag team you, leave you alone, and then give you guys time to talk about it.”

“Okay. We’ll talk. How soon are you thinking? I mean, do I have to be ready in a week or are you talking within a year?”

“I don’t want to pressure you to make a quick decision. I wanted to give you time, so I’m thinking if you’ve decided by then, I’d like to try for the first time in the next month or so. If all goes according to plan, I’ll ovulate about February seventh. I’ve got this down to a science thanks to some great online tools I was told about. We’ve been tracking my ovulation for a while, waiting to have sex when I was fertile. Just in case Russell had some swimmers in there, we wanted them to have the best chance possible. Anyway, we’d have to try a few days before and after I ovulate. You wouldn’t believe how well I’ve gotten to understand my basal body temperature changes.”

Hugo let that last comment slide because he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. “And you’re getting married when?”

Summer shrugged. “I don’t know. We really wanted to talk to you about all this before we made any of those plans. Soon. That’s all I can tell you. I don’t really care the order this happens in. Baby, wedding first. Who cares, as long as it happens. I waited long enough to be with him. What’s the point in waiting longer?”

“There is no point if you’re ready. You’re going to kill Tasha and Kyle. I hope you know that.”

Summer laughed long and hard, a very knowing glint in her eye. She was aware of exactly what she was getting into with the Clarkes, and if Hugo knew anything about his best friend, she was completely prepared.

I
N
BED
that night Kevin and Hugo talked. Russell had told his own story to Kevin, who’d also not known about Russell’s condition. Kevin had always thought Russell was afraid of commitment based on the number of men and women he’d dated over the years, but as Russell shared his stories, it turned out that women didn’t exactly like the prospect of not being able to have kids.

At all.

Russell had kept his problem a secret until late in some relationships after a healthy bond had been established with the hope that love would prevail. When that didn’t work, he tried it the other way, telling people right away. Right away turned out to be his modus operandi with anyone he felt he could be serious about after the disastrous results he experienced by waiting until later. Trust seemed to be the most important factor, not love. Better to get the dumping out of the way before he got too serious about anyone.

Kevin and Hugo talked about how the whole making-a-baby-thing would happen if they both agreed. Summer was right, this wasn’t just about her and Hugo anymore.

“I was drunk and twenty when I first made this agreement with Summer. Initially it was going to happen if she was forty and still hadn’t found someone, then we’d try to make a baby together. At the lake the weekend when you and I met up, she wanted to know if the deal was still on. I agreed then too, but what do you think? Circumstances have obviously changed since then.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Kevin said with a proud smile. “Logistically, there are a lot of options to think about.” This was what Kevin did for a living, selling equipment to help people get pregnant, so Hugo listened with great interest. “You can boost your success rate in various ways, especially if you aren’t dealing with any fertility issues on her part.” Kevin caressed Hugo’s cheekbone. “There are ways to do this without huge medical costs or even the intervention of a doctor. I’ll get information from work tomorrow for you to look through. There’s a lot to consider.”