He was still getting the hang of having two other people inside his mind. They had melded together pretty well over the last few months, but there was no mistaking some of the personalities and quirks that the brother's refused to let get lost in the mess.
For one, Caleb's soul had made Cadon absolutely obsessed with fish. They already had four tanks around their living room and had used one of those to upgrade the home of the little feeder fish that Taylor had bought for him awhile ago.
It now had a few other goldfish as tankmates, and plenty of plants to swim and hide around.
"Cay! Did you remember to put the chicken strips in the oven?" called Taylor from their bedroom.
Oh, right.
He'd gotten too caught up in watching the fish... again.
Grinning, he hurried to the freezer and got their lunch set out on a baking pan, then slid it into the oven, not bothering to wait for the preheat function. He added a pan of french fries after that, then set the timer for twenty-eight minutes. He was more a fan of softer food, but Taylor loved crunchy stuff, so he would gladly cook them a bit longer to make him happier.
With that done, he walked over to the chalkboard still hanging on the wall between the kitchen and their bedroom and picked up the chalk.
The fish are doing great and I'm so glad I got to have ramen again last night.
Beneath that he added;
Thank you for buying the caramel candies.
Once he set the chalk down Cadon shook his head a bit, then took in a few deep breaths before smiling and reading over the sentences.
"They really are doing well. You're a great teacher. We'll get real ramen from the place downtown sometime soon, Kay. I'm sure you'll love that even more."
He glanced down at what Nikolai had managed to write and allowed his smile to widen a little.
"Anytime, man. They were delicious."
Sometimes one of the brothers would just be so present in his mind that he could actually let them control his body just a tiny bit. Most of the time they moved as one, with him having full control of just about everything. The brothers did have a say in things, of course, but they rarely stepped out of their comfortable coexistence they had going on to bother. Besides, their souls were practically already melded together, so a great deal had already been changed with his likes, dislikes, interests, and so on.
At the small chalkboard was the one time either brother, or rarely both, requested to voice their individual thoughts. If he felt the nudge to do so, he gladly let them pick up the chalk and write out a message. Sometimes they were meant for Taylor and sometimes they were meant for him.
"You're such a sweetheart," came Taylor's teasing voice as he squeezed his way beneath Cadon's right arm and hugged him as he looked at the chalkboard.
"Spoiling them, huh?" he said as he looked up with a smirk.
Cadon chuckled and leaned down, stealing a quick kiss before leaning back and looking past Taylor and into their bedroom.
"I like it," he said, acknowledging the hard work his boyfriend had done in rearranging stuff so that both of their things could fit nicely into the large room.
He had actually just moved in with Taylor recently. Of course, he'd been over just about every night the past few months, work permitting, but he'd come to learn that his boyfriend really loved having his own personal space and wasn't the best with physical attention being constantly thrown at him. He didn't used to be so physical, but once he'd taken on both brothers, his want to love on his boyfriend had grown exponentially.
That's why he had been so relieved when they'd finally talked about it, because he kept getting insecure when Taylor would want attention sometimes, but other times he just wanted to be left alone or to not be very physical.
They had a perfect understanding now and if there was ever anything wrong, they talked about it immediately.
Looking back down at the guy still hugging him, Cadon smirked and abruptly lifted him up! Taylor scrambled to wrap his arms and legs around him, then scowled as Cadon tried to hold back a chuckle.
"I got a text from the lawyer we'd hired while I was cleaning," Taylor said as he got himself comfortable and Cadon settled his hands beneath his backside to hold up his light weight.
"Oh? How did things go?" he asked as he brought Taylor over to the sofa and sat down, loving that the guy was in the mood to cuddle.
"The judge had already ruled that their parents are getting life in prison, but now their assets have officially become yours, too."
Hell yeah.
He'd already contacted a realtor and advised them of the situation. Now all he had to do was get ahold of the official documents, then toss them a text and get their parents' house sold.
They had considered moving into the much nicer four bedroom home with a pool, but neither him nor Taylor wanted anything to do with the property, so they had already decided that if they got ownership of it, that they'd sell it immediately.
The brothers' parents had also owned a dog, which had been placed into boarding for the time period of the trial, but since they were now going to be locked away permanently and none of the family had shown any interest in taking the dog after he'd called the boarding facility, him and Taylor had decided to adopt it. They had just been waiting on the verdict to be finalized so that they could get the ball rolling on that.
"Looks like we're the proud new owners of a little blue pit bull," he said with a grin that Taylor mirrored.
"I'm glad the officer let us know about her. I've been wanting a dog, anyways, and when we called to ask about her the kennel staff said that she was a sweetheart," Taylor said, earning a nod from Cadon.
"I also heard that someone's business is really taking off," Cadon said as he squeezed Taylor, making the guy squirm and laugh.
Sasha had actually joined Taylor's company as a secretary, but he'd quickly realized that she was a much better asset higher up. He now had an executive assistant that absolutely loved to keep in touch with her ex boyfriend. It had been odd, at first, but when Sasha brought over her new girlfriend, Hannah, things became clear pretty quickly.
"When is Sash going to be over, by the way?" Taylor asked, making Cadon fish his phone from his pocket.
"Around eight. She said that she's finishing up the project you gave her yesterday. Then she'll go pick up Hannah and we can all play Cards Against Humanity and order a pizza."
Taylor nodded against him, then shifted a bit in his lap until he could sit facing him.
"What's up?" Cadon asked curiously.
Taylor absentmindedly buttoned and unbuttoned Cadon's shirt as he seemed to mill around an idea in his head. When he finally seemed to decide on what he wanted to say, he looked up with a faint blush to his cheeks.
"You know, we joked about getting married and everything before..."
Cadon could feel the brother's attention flare up in his mind.
"I remember," he replied with a knowing smile.
Of course, he hadn't been joking, but it had been clear that Taylor definitely hadn't been ready for such a commitment yet. Of course, he definitely didn't blame him and allowed him to totally brush off the proposal with a nervous laugh, but he'd also been waiting for the day that he really would want to take it seriously.
"Well, perhaps we can start actually planning the wedding... i-if you still want to marry me," he said nervously, refusing to look up at him any longer.
You're so darn adorable.
He could feel his entire being beaming with pride over the fact that Taylor had voiced his intent to be with him. He'd actually intended to ask again after a year or so, once everything had truly settled down, but to hear his boyfriend ask him instead? He was in heaven.
To say that he might have squeezed the life out of his fiancé was an understatement. It took everything in him to loosen his arms enough for Taylor to get in a few good breaths of air.
"Hell yes, I still want to marry you!" he chimed as he squeezed him again, then kissed him on top of his head.
At that moment the oven timer went off, making Taylor wiggle his way out of Cadon's arms to go take care of their lunch. He only took a few minutes in the kitchen before he returned with a large plate stacked high with chicken strips and french fries.
He handed it to Cadon, then went back for two glasses of water before plopping down next to him on the sofa.
"You know," Cadon said as he picked up a chicken tender and took a bite.
Taylor glanced up at him but remained silent due to the french fry he was already chewing.
"I think, if you're up for it... I think we should redo the basement with the money we get from their parents."
Taylor stopped chewing for a few moments and looked toward the large hole in the wall. They had hung a long sheet to cover it for the time being while they'd decided what to do. They'd originally intended to just seal it back up after the investigation, but the more he thought about it, the more he disliked the idea.
All of the objects that had been down there were already long gone and the boy's bodies were buried respectfully beside each other in a beautiful grave at the cemetery nearby. It needed deep-cleaned and a lot of work, but he just couldn't see them simply closing it up and moving on.
"I think that's a good idea. Just because something bad happened down there doesn't mean that we should just hide it all and move on. I was actually thinking about having a little shrine in the far corner and a few large fish tanks... maybe even turn it into a quiet lounge area with a little mini cooktop and computer desk," Taylor said, making Cadon nod in agreement.
"I love that idea. We can piece together what we want to do as we go," he said, earning a smile from Taylor.
They also had plans to add a hot tub just outside the back door, and had already bought a few soccer nets so that Cadon could practice his new sport hobby, courtesy of Nikolai.
"I'm looking forward to working on everything with you," Cadon said as he picked up a chicken strip and offered it to his fiancé.
Taylor gladly leaned forward and bit off half of it, leaving the other half for Cadon to plop into his own mouth. They both chewed silently as they relaxed against each other on the couch, staring at the chalkboard on the opposite wall. When Taylor finished his bite of food, he snuggled in a little closer and sighed with contentment.
"I'm looking forward to meaning everything to you," he said quietly, earning a look from Cadon that made him burst out laughing at the same time his boyfriend tackled him to the couch for a tickling session.
You are so corny sometimes, and I don't think I'll ever get enough.