Kin

"Austin"

He was definitely embarrassed about last night which like most things about him was cute and a little frustrating.

"How long are you going to pretend to be asleep," I asked him. He didn't respond though his eyes were trying hard to remain closed.

"When are you going to stop being shy around me. I mean we're getting married and adopting a kid together it's a little late in the game to still be nervous about being yourself around me," I said before flipping him around and pressing his nude body against my own. His eyes opened up and his undertones were rose colored.

"I love you, now can you stop being so innocent and talk to me about our wedding," I said looking into his pretty eyes.

"We can just set an appointment for the courthouse on Monday," he said and I looked at him as if he was crazy.

"What," he asked.

"We're not going to the courthouse to do this. I want the real deal with family, friends, and a big ass cake that is going to have Amar so hopped up on sugar that we are going to want to kill him. I want to see you walking up to me in whatever color suit we choose and then a honeymoon somewhere nice and not landlocked," I told him unable to hold in the smile just thinking about it.

"Austin I don't have friends, it's just you, Amar, and my siblings. That's all I have," he said not able to look me in the eye.

"First of all, we can have a smaller wedding so it won't be such a big deal. Second, you have a whole network of people who care about you in the hospital. You know they spoke highly of you when you were in the hospitals after the accident. They were always making sure I was treating you right when I came up there. I think you are so blinded sometimes by just your perception of the world that you don't actually step back and see what is going on," I said forcing him to look at me.

"You're kind of a special person who matters to a lot of people. I mean how many people can say that they fostered a kid recovering from cancer," I asked him and he didn't respond.

"We can have the wedding October eight. No more than fifty people and I want to honeymoon where there's some snow," he said after a long pause.

"Deal," I said insanely happy.

"Now can we get dressed I'd like to clean before we have to go pick up Amar," he said pulling away from me to get up. I watched his every move

paying a greater amount of attention when he bent over to get his robe and pulled it on both his shoulders before walking to the bathroom. I could hear scratching at the door and knew that Nemo was awake and looking for us. Getting up I opened the door and he just walked right in and started sniffing around not paying any attention to me. I walked to the dresser and grabbed some underwear then went to the bed stripping it of all its sheets and pillowcases. When Noel came out he went to the closet grabbing clothes and began to get dressed. I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth and could hear him shuffling around in the bedroom. When I was sure my breath smelled minty fresh I left out the room and saw Noel wearing a white shirt that's showed off his lean body along with these jeans that weren't baggy but hung off his hips a little allowing a little sliver of skin to be shown and the label of his underwear was visible even when his arms were relaxed.

"You look good," I said walking over to him just to give him a peck on the cheek before getting dressed in a similar outfit. Then all that was left was cleaning and walking Nemo who wanted nothing more than to lay around and eat. Before I knew it we were in the car heading to Chloe's house to pick up Amar then prepare for the week of classes and work. I loved my job at the firm. Since I was new I was mostly doing research and proving myself which wasn't a problem at all. I was a firm believer in crawling before you walk. It was important to burn the midnight oil going through old cases and preparing for someone else's before you were the big man in the seat.

"Come on," Noel said shaking my arm. I hadn't realized I had been daydreaming but we were parked and Noel was looking at me while pulling his jeans up.

"Sorry," I said getting out of the car and walking behind Noel as he made his way into the building all the way to the door. I reached to knock and he beat me to it. The door swung open quickly to Chloe who had a hand on a hip and her hair held back by a headband.

"He got into the candy, I had to pay him twenty dollars, and one question about hobbies and he takes his shirt off to show me his muscles and won't put it back on. Then he keeps watching Teen Titans, take your son," she said pointing to him in the living room in just pajama pants doing push-ups while teen Titans played on the television.

"Yo Amar," I said and he jumped up looking at us and ran over.

"Time to go home," he asked jumping in place.

"Yeah go get dressed, before that have you been bothering Chloe," I asked. He nodded no but had a mischievous smile on his face. I laughed causing Chloe and Noel to both give me the evil eye. He ran to get his things while Chloe looked at Noel.

"Looks like you two had a good night," she said placing her hand on Noel's neck which had been freshly marked. He blushed and pushed her hand away.

"We picked a day for the wedding," Noel told her changing the subject which seemed to work.

"When, what color are you guys going with, I'm thinking gray, white, and black. I'm also thinking either at a plantation or a nice hall," she said and I could see the wheels turning.

"I'm ready," Amar said walking up to us.

"Thank you again, Chloe I'll talk to you later," I said thanking her. She smiled gave Noel a hug and messed up Amar's hair before we left. Amar was full of energy which I hoped he burned off before bedtime.

"Did you have fun with your aunt," Noel asked him from the driver's seat.

"Yeah, we watched TV then she got mad when I beat her at Monopoly," he said with a smug expression. He was getting healthier and competitive. He went to the gym with me a few times he'd try to lift more or run longer than some of the other kids in the play area.

"Can I get a popsicle when we get home," he asked us.

"Yeah, then you need to put your cars in the middle of your floor away," Noel told him pulling up to our building. We got out and started walking to our apartment but stopped when we saw a man at our front door.

"You know him," I asked Noel.

"No," he said reaching for Amar's hand.

"Can I help you," I asked the wide-waisted white man with salt and pepper hair. He turned around having to readjust his I'll fitting glasses onto the bridge of his nose.

"Yes Noel Smith and Austin Robinson, correct," he asked with a thick southern drawl.

"That's us," Noel said getting closer.

"Hello, I'm Simon Wall with the department of child services. You put on your file that you are open to fostering more children. We have one downstairs that needs to be placed with a family like yours," he said and I knew he meant gay.

"I need verbal confirmation before I can bring him up to meet you and give a full detail of his history," he said to us. I looked over at Noel who looked over at me. The look in his eyes told me that he wanted to say yes. I was not so sure but the way Noel looked got me nodding yes to him.

"We'll take him, we only have one bed but umm we can get a bunk tomorrow and we'll sleep in the living room," Noel said walking around Simon and opened the door allowing Amar in who didn't seem concerned about what was going on but more about finding the step stool to get his popsicle. Simon was texting on his outdated iPhone.

"So what's his name, and why would he need to be put with a family like ours," I asked.

"His name is Ian Copper, five years old, and he's been in the system for about a year now. Both parents are locked up for multiple life sentences for racketeering, drug trafficking, and at least one rape and murder. He got placed in a home with one of our foster parents. She beat him and starved him and had a deal with an ex-member of the department to get away with it for three months. He's scared of women and runs away from any place with a woman in it so... We asked our other gay or single male homes but they are full or won't accept a runner," he said looking up at his phone.

"He's a good kid but he needs a lot of help," he said as he said his phone into the pocket of his tan slacks. I heard the ding of the elevator and saw a man step out with a kid who's dreads were starting to get messy and eyes low. Noel took my hand and squeezed it as they got closer.

"Hello, this is Ian Copper. Ian this is Noel and Austin. You're going to be staying with them for a while," he said and Ian looked up at us eyes wide and dreads on his face...

"How about you guys come in and sit down," I said opening the door not really sure of what was about to happen.