Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Darryl Wilson is pretty sure his son is gay. He’s not an idiot, after all. He knows what those blushing cheeks and furtive glances at his friends mean. But where he falls short is what to do about it. Frank was a good dad. A great dad, even. But he didn’t prepare Darryl for this. 

That’s how Darryl finds himself standing in front of his neighbor’s house. No, not the woman who just remarried and her son, or the single dad whose house always smells like pot. “The hippie freaks” as Carol calls them. And Darryl can’t say she’s wrong exactly. They are a little out there, and their kids are pretty rambunctious at the soccer matches, but they’re also proudly displaying a little rainbow flag in their rock garden out front and, well, Darryl is desperate. 

He steels his courage and knocks on the door. A warrior cry echoes from inside the house. The door opens soon after. In front of him is a man who he’s definitely seen at the soccer field, but he’s currently covered in a red liquid. Darryl can feel his head get woozy. Blood is not his forte. The man looks at him expectantly.

“Hi, I’m Darryl Wilson,” he hesitantly sticks out his hand to the bright red one of the other man. “If now’s a bad time I can come back later. This was probably a bad—”

“Well geez hi Darryl! Now’s a great time, I was just making some raspberry pie and the boys are doing one of their empowerment roleplays. What’s up?”

Darryl realizes he did not think this far ahead. “I uh—can I come in?” 

The slimmer man leads him into the house. It’s an assault on Darryl’s senses. There’s paintings on every inch of wall space. He has trouble telling what the paint underneath even is. The floor is littered in toys and art supplies and animal hair. It’s so different from Darryl’s tidy and organized space. But more than all that, it just feels alive in a way his house never has. 

They walk into a kitchen that’s similarly decorated, and on the countertop sits a pie, with a beautiful crust like Darryl’s mom makes. The image is marred by the crust sticking up at an odd angle, like it’s been overstuffed with sticks. Henry notices too, and with a chuckle pulls a large kitchen knife out of the red gooey filling. 

“Boys, what did I tell you about putting weapons in food?”

In dual unison Darryl hears from somewhere else in the house, “To not to,” followed by a fit of giggles.

Henry simply laughs to himself and mutters “my beautiful boys” as he deposits the knife in the sink. 

"So what was it you wanted to talk about Darryl?" 

Darryl shifts his weight and looks at everything he can that isn’t Henry. If he didn't know what to say at the front door, he certainly doesn't now. He figures there's no sense in beating around the bush, and the kids' screaming was starting to give him a headache. "I think Grant's gay," he blurts out. 

Henry pauses in his movement for only a moment, mid-bending down to put the pie in the oven. He carefully slides it in and closes the oven door. He turns around to Darryl. "Oh?" he says, in as neutral a voice as possible.

"Yeah," Darryl says self consciously. "I love him so much and I want to be a good dad and I'm not sure Carol will be okay with it and I saw your little flag out front and I thought— I don't know. This was a bad idea. I'm sorry for wasting your time." Darryl turns the way he came. 

Henry is beside him in an instant, his hand surprisingly firm on his bicep. "Hey, no, Darryl, it's okay. I think it's sweet that you want better for your son. What do you need? I'll do what I can to help." 

Darryl scrubs a hand over his face. “I don’t even know. I just—My dad taught me how to be straight, right? And so that’s all I know how to teach a boy to be. But I don’t want him growing up thinking that how he is isn’t okay or that I don’t accept him.” Darryl is mortified to hear his voice crack. “I feel like I don’t know the right thing to do anymore.”

Henry still hasn’t let go of Darryl’s arm. “Listen, man, I can tell you love your son, and that’s what matters, okay? I can teach you the rest, but nobody can teach that. Why don’t you come back in about an hour, I’ll be done with the pie and the boys will be at their grandparents for a few hours, and I’ll have a little presentation ready, how does that sound?”

“Oh I don’t know that a pre—”

“Nonsense, I teach geology for a living. I make presentations in my sleep! And if you pass the final exam I might show you the ep I made my last year of undergrad.” Henry winks.

As he ushers Darryl out the door, he hears a muffled “There’s an exam?” and he chuckles to himself.

He pulls out his phone and calls his wife. “Mi amor, change of plans.”

Mercedes Oak-Garcia sounds shocked. “What? Why?”

“Well, you know our neighbor, Darryl?”

“The hot one?”

“Mhm, he thinks his son is gay and wants me to… I don’t know. Give him gay lessons? But you should have seen him, he looked so lost.”

“Mmmm,” Mercedes hums into the phone, “you know I like that look on a man.”

Henry gets lost in thought for a moment. “That I do,” he says finally, unable to hide the huskiness in his voice. He shakes his head. “Anyway, I’m going to have to postpone our passionate lovemaking session for later. I told Darryl I’d give him a presentation then. I think the boys overstimulate him some.”

“Or maybe he was just distracted by how nice your ass looks in an apron,” she murmurs.

Henry can feel the heat rising to his face. “I… don’t think so,” but can’t stop the little whine that escapes him at the thought. “Anyway, I’m sorry, mi amor.”

He can hear her faux-pout even on the phone. “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re helping. I guess you’re just going to have to make it up to me next time.”

A shiver runs down his spine at what all that could mean, “Yes ma’am.”

“Go create that presentation for your boy toy, mi amor.” 

She laughs at his protest and hangs up the phone.

Carol’s out to brunch and Grant is content to just play video games in his room, so Darryl’s not sure who he’s calling out to when he says, “I’m bringing some cucumbers over to the neighbor’s house!”

He’s also not sure why he changed clothes in the intervening hour, or why his nerves are ping-ponging around in his body. He takes a steadying breath as he walks down the sidewalk to Henry’s house. 

He knocks on the door again, and Henry opens the door almost immediately. Gone is the man in a small black apron, covered in flour and raspberry juice. Instead, he’s… well, Darryl wouldn’t say cleaned up , per se. But he looks much more put together in a fitted black tee and cargo shorts than he did an hour prior

Henry leads him into a room he hasn’t been in yet, set up with beanbags and a big projector already beginning to cast images on the wall. Darryl awkwardly tries to sit down, and then remembers the cucumbers in his arms. “Oh,” he walks over to Henry and holds out the grocery bag, “these are for you.”

Henry looks at the bag full of phallic-shaped objects in the dim light of the projector. “Oh, thank you! What… is it exactly?”

Darryl can feel the heat rising to his face as he realizes. “Oh! They’re cucumbers I grew in the garden. They’re heirlooms from my great-grandmother.”

Henry’s face breaks into a big smile. “Oh, that’s awesome! Thanks Darryl, I’ll be sure to put these to good use.” He gingerly sets them on a side table and then goes back to fiddling with a laptop. 

Darryl finally lowers himself onto a cushy looking beanbag and waits for the presentation to start. 

Soon, a giant rainbow flag is showing on the projector. When Henry begins speaking, he’s transformed. Darryl’s never seen him this in his element. 

“The first thing you need to know is that, just because Grant likes boys, doesn’t mean he’s gay.”

“It doesn’t?” Darryl is ashamed of the relief coloring his voice.

Henry frowns a bit and nods but continues on. “There are many sexual and romantic orientations that include same-gender attraction.

“But that might be a little too in the weeds for a 14 year old, so we’ll just start with the basics.” The screen changes to show a giant L. “L, in the acronym stands for lesbian. It’s generally understood to be women who are attracted solely to women, but there are non-women who are lesbians, and there are lesbians who are attracted to non-women.”

Darryl’s mind is reeling. He raises his hand. Henry smiles. “Yes, Darryl? I was joking about the exam, you can just ask questions.” 

Darryl lowers his arm sheepishly. “Henry… am… am I a lesbian?”

Henry lets out a big belly laugh. “I don’t think so, buddy. Ah shoot, I think I skipped a step in here. I forget you’re new to this.” He goes back to the first slide. “You’ve probably been taught there are men and women, right? And that’s all there is?”

Darryl nods. “But there’s Caitlyn Jenner, right? Trans something or other?”

Henry winces but nods. “There are binary transgender people, yes. But Caitlyn Jenner’s just a woman. Also kind of a piece of shit, but a woman nonetheless.”

Henry glances at Darryl to see if he’s getting it. Darryl nods slowly, so he continues on.

“But there are people who aren’t men or women, like, you know that Yeet kid? He’s nonbinary, that’s the word for someone who’s not fully a man or a woman.”

“Like, children?”

Henry chuckles again, “Not quite. It just means they don’t really fit into the guy box or the girl box.”

Darryl nods. He thinks he gets it as much as he’s going to right now. “Okay, yeah.”

“So,” Henry continues, as the projector again shows the L slide. “When I’m talking about non-women, I’m not just talking about men, but all of the range of people who aren’t women, does that make sense?”

Darryl nods again. He’s starting to feel like a bobble head. “I think so. So I’m not a lesbian then. Got it.”

Henry chuckles under his breath. 

The projector now shows a large G. 

“G, in the acronym stands for gay, generally referring to a man who is solely attracted to men, though again there are gay non-men and gay people attracted to non-men. Gay is also used as a slang for the umbrella of the whole community.”

Darryl breathes a sigh of relief. He understands this part. He gestures for Henry to continue forward.

The projector then shows a large B. “B, in the acronym stands for Bi, generally referring to anyone attracted to two or more genders. This is what I was telling you about Grant not necessarily being gay. He could also be bi or pan, which we’ll get to in a second.”

Darryl thinks for a second. Two or more? But then he remembers about the people who aren’t men or women. Right. Okay. That makes sense. “So Grant could still like women? Or… other people?”

Henry cocks his head to the side. “I mean, it’s possible. You’re going to have to talk to him about it though. There’s no way to know except to ask.”

Darryl nods his head. “Right, yeah, that makes sense. Okay.”

“T, in the acronym stands for Transgender, or simply ‘trans’. A trans person is a person whose gender is different than the one they were assigned at birth.”

Darryl raises his hand again.

Henry chuckles, “Yeah, I figured I was going to have to expand on that some. So, when a baby is born, the doctor takes a look at their down there bits and declares, ‘it’s a boy!’ or ‘it’s a girl!’ right? Well, in simple terms, that’s gender assignment. Not the parts you’re born with, but what the doctor declares when you’re born, and what you’re subsequently raised as. So, for example, I’ve never asked, but I assume, Darryl, that you were assigned male at birth, right?”

Darryl nods. 

“So, as a cis man, you looked at that assignment you were given as an infant and went, ‘yeah that’s more or less right’. A trans person, on the other hand, looks at the assignment they were given and says, ‘this doesn’t fit me’. Does that make sense?”

Darryl thinks for a second. He understands not fitting sometimes, like he didn’t with the Chelsea Boys for a while. He nods. 

“Q, in the acronym, stands for both Questioning and Queer.” Darryl’s brow furrows, but Henry continues forward, “Questioning is fairly self-explanatory. Some people take some time to figure out who they are. Some people never figure it out. That’s what Questioning is for. Queer is an umbrella term that encompases the whole community, as opposed to Gay which tends to only indicate sexuality.”

“I didn’t know people were calling themselves that now.”

Henry nods. “We’ve been calling ourselves that for a long time, but a lot of people don’t like it because it’s a rejection of respectability. That’s why some people use it pejoratively.”

Darryl nods, “Kind of like how people used to call people nerds, but now people call themselves that.”

“Sorta! That’s the idea at least.”

Darryl raises his hand again. 

“Yes?” Henry asks, still bemused. 

“How much longer is this going to last? I don’t mean to complain but this is… a lot and I told Grant I was just dropping the cucumbers off.” 

“Oh! No problem. Why don’t you let me finish up the acronym and then we’ll finish the rest later.”

Darryl nods.

“I, in the acronym, stands for intersex. An intersex person is someone whose body doesn’t conform to what we consider the ‘male’ or ‘female’ boxes to be when they’re born.”

“Are these people…. What did you call them? Non-woman?”

“I think you’re thinking about nonbinary, someone whose gender isn’t man or woman. There are some intersex people who are nonbinary. There are also intersex men and women. Just like perisex or non-intersex people.”

Darryl thinks he gets it. Maybe. He needs a Charleston Chew. He nods for Henry to continue. 

“A, in the acronym, stands for asexual or aromantic. These are people who aren’t attracted to anyone, generally speaking, though there can be exceptions.”

I think that’s Carol , Darryl thinks to himself. She hasn’t been interested in me for a few years now. Not that I mind of course, I still love her.

He nods.

“P, in the acronym stands for both Pan, and Polyamorous. See, I told you I’d get to it!” Henry lets out a dazzling smile. “A Pan person is generally understood to feel attraction regardless of gender. And I don’t think I need to explain polyamory to you,” Henry says with a knowing glance. 

“Wait, what? Why?”

“Well, because you know, you…” Henry gestures vaguely.

“Oh!” Darryl lets out a big belly laugh. “Henry, we’re Catholic, not Mormon.” 

Henry smiles uncomfortably, “No, I know that , and polyamory is different from polygamy, but you're, you know…"

"I do?"

"Well I mean like, you can use whatever terms make you comfortable, but…"

"But what, Henry? Stop beating around the bush."

Henry huffs out a big breath. "Most people would consider you being married to Carol while Carol dates Darnell to be a form of polyamory, or at least non-monogamy.”

Even in the dark room, Darryl’s vision goes white. “I think I misheard you, buddy,” he says flatly, forcing a smile, “I could have sworn you said that Carol was dating Darnell.”

Henry's first instinct is to plow forward, "I mean yeah, every Tuesday morning you leave like clockwork and—" 

He watches as Darryl's face crumples.

Henry puts his hand over his mouth, “Oh my God you didn’t know. I always thought that since he always came over while you were gone that you had some kind of arrangement… Darryl I’m so sorry. I had no idea if I did… “

“No, no it’s not your fault…” Darryl rises to his feet. “I should have… I should have known and at least,” he lets out a bitter laugh as tears begin to streak down his cheeks, “the truth will set you free, right?” He chokes out a sob. Henry is frozen in his spot, unsure of what to do. Darryl finally makes eye contact with him, brusquely wiping his cheeks, “Are you sure?”

“I mean, I think so. He always shows up to the door with flowers or a bottle of wine or…” he winces.

“Or what, Henry. I’m a big boy. I can take it.”

“Or a bag from the sex shop down the street. Or the adjoining...intimate wear store.”

“Shit,” Darryl whispers.

Henry can feel tears welling in his own eyes. “I thought it was sweet. If I had known—”

Darryl walks up to Henry and firmly places his hands on the other man’s shoulders. “Hey, you didn’t do anything wrong here, alright? I appreciate you telling me, even if I’m not happy about the news. But I do think I’m going to need to postpone the rest of the lesson. I still care about and want to help my son, but I think, for right now, my marriage needs me more, okay?”

Henry nods, overwhelmed by everything, “Yeah, yeah of course, man. Go do what you gotta do.”

“Thanks,” Darryl heads for the door. 

“And let me know if there’s anything I can do!” Henry yells after him

For the second time today, Henry finds himself calling his wife. “What is it mi amor? I decided to get a pedicure since you were busy.”

“Mi amor,” Henry lets out a sob.

“What is it?” her voice is suddenly alert and more serious. “Did he hurt you? Is he a bigot? Oh, I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him alone with you…” 

“No,” Henry chokes out. “He… he was great. I really feel like I made some progress. It was me. You know how we were talking last night about how cute Carol and Darnell are?”

Mercedes Oak-Garcia curses under her breath. “He didn’t know?”

“No,” Henry says tearfully, “And I just mentioned it offhand because I thought surely…? I mean, every Tuesday morning? Why else would he leave? But he had no clue. He’s heartbroken.”

“Shit. Well, I’ll be finished up in a few minutes and we’ll figure it out together, okay?”

Henry nods and plops himself in a beanbag to wait for his wife to get home.

Chapter Text

Darryl gets home to find nothing changed. It’s only been about 15 minutes. Carol won’t be home for another hour and a half. Grant’s still in his room. But Darryl feels like he’s aged several years. He sits down on the couch and tries to think but, well, what’s there to think about? Carol’s cheating on him. Does he get a divorce? Can he get Carol to leave Darnell? Can he ever trust her again even if she says she does? Darryl doesn’t want to be suspicious of his wife’s every move. He wants to go back about 30 minutes when his biggest concern was that his son was gay. He laughs to himself now. That’s such a small concern compared to the scope of his wife’s betrayal. He wants to call Henry, to ask how long it’s been going on because he’s sure he can find his number on the soccer phone tree, but he’s already done so much. Darryl doesn’t want to bother him. 

He can’t keep sitting here. He already nervous-cleaned the kitchen before going over to Henry’s. He’d usually clean the bedroom next but he can’t make himself go in there right now. The idea that… he can’t think about it. 

But… Grant is still probably gay. He can’t fix it, but if his parents are about to get divorced, he sure as hell can make sure his son feels like the most loved kid in the entire goddamn world. 

He nods his head determined. Darryl walks out of the house and notes with idle curiosity that the sun is higher in the sky than before. He marches to Henry’s front door and knocks resolutely. 

A beautiful woman opens the door. 

“Oh, hi!” Darryl is not prepared for this. “Can I um, can I talk to Henry? It’ll just be a second.”

She nods and soon Henry’s at the door. “Hey Darryl what’s up?” His chipper tone clashes conspicuously with his red eyes. 

“I ah—right. That rainbow flag, you said it stands for the whole community, right?”

Henry nods slowly, “Yes…?”

“Good. And where did you get that one?” He points to the one displayed proudly in the front yard. 

“I ah—well, don’t tell anyone this, but we got it at walmart.” He blushes. “It’s so embarrassing. But they only carry them during pride month—”

“There’s a month?” He really does need to finish those lessons. 

“In June, yeah, but you should be able to find them at this cute little shop downtown any time. Ah, here, let Mercedes Oak-Garcia give you the directions. She’s much better than me at that kind of thing.” Henry steps to the side and calls for Mercedes, who joins them not long after.

Darryl listens intently as Mercedes describes the route he’ll need to take, and commits it to memory. He can do this. It’s for his son.

Darryl finds himself in yet another place he’d never imagined himself before. It’s an old factory a bunch of artists have taken over and turned into studios. He’s seen more piercings in his 10 minutes here than his entire tenure at Catholic school. He can tell that everyone else knows that he doesn’t belong here, but he shakes it off. This is for his son. And, well, maybe he’d been too quick to cast judgements before. 

He makes his way through the art-covered hallways, filled with paintings he doesn’t understand or have time to figure out, exposed brick, and the remnants of workplace safety signs. He finds himself at the door of a quaint little shop, decorated to look like an old soda bar. Over the door reads “Flagg’s” and Darryl chuckles to himself.

Inside he sees much more than the rainbow flag in Henry’s presentation. He’s pretty sure he hasn’t even seen most of these, much less know what they mean. But he sets his sights on the person lounging on a bright pink wingback chair behind what he assumes is the cash register. They look at him guardedly. 

Suddenly, Darryl’s not sure what he’s doing here at all. What if Grant doesn’t like flags? 

“Um, hi!” He waves awkwardly and can feel the heat rising to his face. He considers leaving. But he puts the image of his son in his mind and stays firmly rooted in place.

“Hi,” they say in a practiced customer service voice, “what can I get for you?”

“Well, um, I think? My son is gay? Or bi? Or… shit. What was the other one?” he mutters under his breath.

The cashier’s smile turns genuine. “Pan?” they offer helpfully.

Darryl snaps his fingers. “Yes! That’s it. Thank you. Anyway. I’m not sure which one he is yet because I don’t want to ask because I don’t want him to think it’s like a trap or something? Because we’ve tried to raise him to respect everyone but I’ve never made it, ah, explicit.” He can feel himself tripping over his words but soldiers on. “So, I thought I’d get him the rainbow one because my friend told me that’s for everyone, right?” Henry is his friend, right? He’s certain that right now they’re more than neighbors. He rubs the back of his neck and looks at them, embarrassed at his incompetence in the face of someone clearly better versed.

They nod. 

“Good. So yeah, I’d like one rainbow flag, please. A big one, if you have it.” He shifts his weight. He hopes it’s not too obvious that he has no clue what he’s talking about.

The person at the counter is smiling widely and looking up at the ceiling, and it takes Darryl a second to understand why. They hastily wipe tears from their eyes and look back at him. “That’s like, really sweet. I’m glad your son has a dad like you. But I think we can make that work.”

They help him pick one out, and after a substantial contribution from his pocketbook, he’s walking back through the winding hallways, the soft woven flag in hand. He worries briefly about being seen with it but, well, no one he knows is going to be here anyway. And why should he be ashamed? Henry isn’t. And his son is gay, and he’s basically the coolest kid in the world. 

Darryl finds himself knocking on a lot of doors today. He stands in front of Grant’s room, holding the flag behind his back. He knocks gently, “Grant, buddy? You in there?”

After a few seconds the door opens a bit and Grant steps in front of him, bags showing under his eyes, “What’s up dad?” 

“Can I come in?” Grant looks so tired. He’ll have to have a talk about how much sleep he’s been getting.

“Uhhhhh, suure? Is everything okay? Sorry it’s such a mess, I’ll clean it up soon.” Grant kicks a dirty pair of pajama pants under the bed.

Darryl steps into the room. “No, it’s, it’s okay. Everything’s fine. Well,” he winces, “everything’s going to be okay. But, there’s no need to worry about that right now. For right now, I just wanted to show you this,” and he pulls out the brightly colored cloth from behind his back. 

“What…?” Grant’s face looks stricken. He looks up at Darryl in confusion.

“It’s a rainbow flag. I’m not sure this is the right thing to do and now that I think about it I probably should have let you do this in your own time and I don’t know much but I’m learning and. I just love you a lot, okay Grant? And that’s never going to change. And I wanted you to know that I’m proud of you, no matter what.” Darryl rubs the back of his neck. What if I royally screwed this up? What if Grant hates me? Darryl mentally shakes himself. He can’t go there right now.

“I—”Grant dives toward Darryl and wraps him in a hug. 

Darryl holds him tightly, like he used to when Grant was little. As he feels tears soak through his shirt, he begins rocking slightly on instinct, and rubbing soothing circles on Grant’s back.

After several minutes, Grant whispers, “Thank you.”

“Of course, son. I love you.” He gives his son a kiss on the head and grabs a nearby tissue box and holds it to where his son can see.

“I love you too, dad.” Grant wipes his face and sits down on the bed.  Darryl sits on the gaming chair that had been his Christmas present a few years before. “I wish I had… some sort of answer for you. I like Yeet a lot. And a few of the boys in my class. But I… I just don’t know.” He plops backward and stares up at the ceiling.

“Oh!” Darryl exclaimes, excited to share his newfound knowledge. “That’s what the Q is for! Questioning! And… Queer,” The word feels awkward coming out of his mouth, but he feels a strange sense of pride in having done it.

Grant looks like he’s been slapped. “Yeah… it is. Dad, where did you learn all this?” 

Darryl shrugs sheepishly. “I… may have asked for help. From the Oak-Garcias. You know, the neighbors?”

Grant nods. “The annoying twins who distract the goalies?”

Darryl nods back. “I’m sure you’ve seen their little rainbow flag out front. I—I thought they might know what to do.” He shifts uncomfortably, the chair creaking under his weight.

Grant groans into his hands, “Dad, you can’t just go around asking people to teach you about gay stuff.”

“What? I tried googling it and all I got was porn sites. And anyway it worked out. Henry had a whole presentation and everything.” Darryl smiles at how eager Henry had been to help him. He’s pretty cool.

Grant peeks out from behind his fingers, “No shit? Uh, I mean, for real?”

Darryl frowns. He’s never heard Grant this relaxed around him. What else doesn’t he know about his son?

“Yeah, it was kind of… wild, as the kids are saying.” He smiles to himself as Grant groans again. He is still his dad, after all. 

“So, you said things weren’t okay a minute ago. What’s that about?” Grant looks worried again.

Darryl winces. “I… shouldn’t have brought that up. Your mom and I are just having some trouble. Adult stuff. Nothing for you to worry about.” He slaps his knees and grabs ahold of the flag as he stands up. “What do you say we get this hung up, hm? What about above your bed? I think it’d look nice, don't you think?” 

Grant smiles at his dad’s attempt at redirection, but relents. “Yeah, I think I'd like that.”

It was nice having some time with his son, and feeling like he was doing something right for a change. But now he’s back downstairs, Carol will be home in 30 minutes, and Darryl Wilson is way too in his head. 

So, for the fourth time today, he makes the trek down the sidewalk to Henry’s house and knocks on the front door. 

Mercedes opens the door. “Oh, hey Mercedes. Can I come in? I think I need to talk to Henry.” Darryl can feel the desperation coloring his voice but finds he has trouble caring. He just needs… something. Someone to talk to maybe. He wishes again that his dad was here. He’d know how to handle all this and probably say just the right thing.

She studies him for a moment, and he struggles not to fidget under her gaze. “Sure, no problem. Is everything okay?”

Darryl is tired of holding it together. He lets his shoulders slump and looks at his feet. “No. Not really. I just really need to speak to Henry.”

Before he knows what’s happening, he’s wrapped in a brief hug. “Oh, honey, Henry told me the news. I’m so sorry. If I had known… here, why don’t you come sit down, and I’ll make you some tea, okay?” She takes him by the hand and gently yet firmly begins leading him towards a large, plush looking leather sofa.

Darryl doesn’t have the energy to do anything more than nod. “I think I’d like that.”

As she walks towards the kitchen, Henry bounds down the stairs. “Oh, hi Darryl, I didn’t know—” seeing Darryl’s stricken face, he drops the cheery tone and sits next to him on the couch. “Darryl, I’m so sorry. Whatever you need, we’re here for you, okay?”

Darryl looks at Henry, and then hands. He can feel the tears welling in his eyes. “How do I face her? Fuck, how long has this been going on?”

Mercedes comes into the room carrying a tray with 3 steaming mugs on it. She and Henry share a concerned look.

“We’ve been noticing for about a year or so,” Mercedes says softly. She places a hand briefly on his shoulder.

“Fuck. A year?” Darryl closes his eyes tightly against the information.

Henry lays a hand on his bicep. “I’m so sorry, Darryl. I know that kind of betrayal must hurt.”

Darryl runs a hand through his hair, and resists the urge to pull on it. “She’s going to come home in about 20 minutes and I have to, what? Go over there and pretend everything’s fine? Ask her to explain a man who isn’t me buying her wine and sex toys? Act like things will ever be okay again?” He feels his voice crack and tears begin making their way down his cheeks.

“Hey hey hey hey hey.” Henry moves to kneel below him on the floor, making direct eye contact with him. He holds his gaze. “I know this hurts now, but no matter what, things will be okay again, alright? And what you do next depends on you.” 

“What do you mean?” Darryl can’t handle anything less than concrete steps right now or the intimacy that Henry’s gaze brings. He looks away and the tears start welling faster.

Henry locks eyes with him again. “What do you want, Darryl?”

“I don’t know!” He bursts out in a sob. He takes a second just to breathe. They don’t deserve his outbursts. “Well, I do.” He laughs bitterly. “I want my wife to not have cheated on me and I want my son to trust me and I want my dad to not be dead. He’d know what to do.” He looks at his hands morosely.

“What I think my darling husband meant was,” Mercedes speaks up, “where do you want to go from here?” She begins rubbing slow circles on his back.

Darryl thinks for a moment. There’s so much that has to happen, and soon. But not until Carol gets home. He takes a long, slow breath. “I think,” he says carefully, “I want to drink some tea. And take a moment to think about just about anything else.”

Mercedes smiles. “I think we can do that.” 

Darryl’s never had tea like this before. He’s shocked as the sweet and spicy drink rolls over his tongue. Grandma’s sweet tea was good of course, and the tea Carol makes, nuked in the microwave for 3 minutes, will do in a pinch if he’s sick. The only other kind he’d ever tried was some health green tea that made him shit like no tomorrow and weaker than a newborn kitten that one time Carol had convinced him to try to lose weight. 

But this is something else entirely. He looks up to see Henry and Mercedes share a small contented look. That’s nice. He hasn’t had that kind of closeness with Carol in a long time. Maybe never. He takes another sip.

Darryl clears his throat and sets down the tea on the tray for a moment. “‘S good tea,” he mumbles.

“Let me know if you need more honey, Darryl. Mercedes never puts enough in for my liking.” Henry smiles at Mercedes as he sips his own tea.

“Oh, you just like your tea to taste like the inside of a candy store,” she quips back good naturedly.

“Listen, it’s not my fault that a million years ago our predecessors survived by eating wherever their tastebuds lead. It’s simply my evolutionary mandate,” Henry retorts with faux-smugness.

Darryl can tell they’ve had this conversation a couple hundred times now but Mercedes still chuckles and gives her husband a peck on the cheek as she rises to go back to the kitchen.

He takes another sip of his tea. “What kind of tea is this? I’ve never had anything like it.”

“Oh, cinnamon and peach, with honey for sweetener,”  Mercedes comes back in, drying her hands on a dish towel.

“She’s being modest,” Henry admonishes, looking at her lovingly. “She makes this blend herself, and has won a bunch of contests with it.” 

Mercedes smiles and walks over to sit on the arm of the couch next to Henry. She kisses him again, but this time it’s not a quick peck like before. She grips his chin and tilts his head back, seemingly wanting to savor all of him. They aren’t making out or anything, and Darryl is fairly certain they’re not even using tongue, but he feels heat rise to his face and he’s not sure where to look. Fuck, that’s the hottest thing I’ve seen in a long time, and it was just a kiss. Maybe if Carol divorces him then he’ll be on the market again and he can find someone to love him like that. He shakes his head mentally. He shouldn’t be hoping for the downfall of his marriage! How terrible of him? But she did cheat on him and he’s just not sure how he could ever—

Darryl hears the telltale sound of the only non-default ringtone on his phone. Grant. He looks at it stricken. What if he hates him for not being able to satisfy his mom? For tearing his family apart? For imposing or assuming or or or

“You should answer that,” Henry murmurs, seeing the screen.

Of course. It’s his son. He can handle whatever it is. He hopes.

He flips open the phone. “Hello?”

“Dad?” Grant sounds hurt on the other line, like he’s been crying, and hard. “Where are you?”

“I’m next door what—” Darryl’s already to his feet.

“I thought you said having the flag up was okay. Why would you buy it and put it up if it wasn’t okay? Was this some kind of trick?” Grant’s voice wavers, trying not to cry.

“Woah woah woah of course it’s okay. Back up. What’s going on?”  Darryl doesn’t know where to look or what to do. He closes his eyes and hopes against hope this is some kind of misunderstanding.

“Mom kicked me out,” Grant whispers.

Darryl feels his heart freeze in his chest. “What?”

“She-she didn’t believe me when I said you bought it for me and—and she said it went against her traditional val-u-u-ues,” Grant sobs. 

“Grant? It’s gonna be okay, alright bud? We’ll figure it out. Where are you right now?” Darryl is already headed towards the door.

“I’m in front of the house. Mom took my keys. I called you first thing—I didn’t know—Dad, I’m scared,” he whimpers.

“Look, it’s okay to be scared alright? But I got you. I’m just next door. I’ll come get you, we’ll have some tea, and we’ll figure this out together, alright?” Darryl hopes his terror doesn’t show through his voice. He needs to be there for his son now.

Darryl looks over at Henry and Mercedes and they both wear concerned looks on their faces and nod eagerly in agreement.

Darryl rushes to the door, intent on getting his son, and is surprised to hear two sets of footsteps behind him. He glances over at them. Henry puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes, “We’re here for you, man. Let’s go get your son.”

Chapter Text

They find Grant hunched over on the curb, the pieces of his favorite skateboard on the ground in front of him. Darryl’s heart lurches in his chest. He kneels down on the ground next to his son. “Hey buddy. This is Henry and Mercedes, our neighbors. Why don’t we go over to their place and rest for a little bit, okay?” He speaks softly, terrified of startling him any more.

Grant nods. “Mom broke my skateboard,” he states in a daze.

“I’m really sorry buddy. It seems like I haven’t handled this right at all. And you were caught up in the crossfire.” Darryl sits on the curb, willing himself not to groan as his joints protest.

Mercedes carefully grabs the pieces and inspects them. “My uncle’s a carpenter. We’ll see if we can get this fixed up for you, okay?”

Grant nods tearily. He awkwardly leans over and hugs Darryl. Darryl shifts to hold his son better. The house behind him is silent, unmoving. 

Darryl takes a big, sturdying breath. “Okay, are you alright to get up?”

Grant nods and hesitantly moves his arms back to his sides. He does not look at the house.

“Then why don’t we get out of the street and go have some tea, yeah?” He struggles to find the easiest way to stand. Mercedes puts her hand out to him and he takes it gratefully. 

“Okay,” Grant says hoarsely. 

“It really is going to be okay. After we get you settled, I’ll go talk to your mom and we’ll figure it out from there, alright?” He and Henry help Grant to his feet.

Darryl keeps his arm around him as they walk towards the Oak-Garcia house. He marvels at how it could have been foreign only a few hours earlier. 

After they get Grant settled on the couch, a large blanket wrapped around him, Darryl hugs him tightly and then heads towards the kitchen. “Yeah, uh, can I help? I’d love to see how y’all make this stuff.”

He walks in the kitchen to see Henry pouring hot water out of an unfamiliar glass contraption into 4 separate mugs, all containing odd metal balls. 

“Hey, listen, I’m really sorry to ask this, but is it okay if Grant hangs out here? I don’t want to subject him to what’s probably about to go down,” Darryl asks quietly.

Henry gives him a quizzical glance. “Of course,” he says, as though it were obvious. “And I really hope you get everything worked out with your wife, but if you don’t, we have a spare bedroom. Two of them, actually, if you count the presentation room. For you, too. If you need it.”

Darryl feels a sense of relief wash over him. He hasn’t felt this supported in a very long time. “Thank you,” he whispers.

Henry only nods. He points to the glass contraption and intentionally makes his voice louder. “That’s our kettle that Mercedes’ friend hand-blew for us.” He points to the little metal balls, “these are tea infusers. We don’t generally bag up our blends unless we’re sending them to folks.” He places the kettle on the back burner of the stove. “I boiled the water in the kettle and then poured it over the tea. This blend takes about 4 minutes to steep.”

Darryl nods and matches his tone. “Thanks. I’ve never seen it done like this before.”

Henry smiles. “First time for everything, right?”

Darryl nods again. Henry removes the infusers, dumps their contents in a trash can marked “compost”, and places them in the sink. 

Henry begins to carry the tray towards the living room. “Honey?” Darryl inquires.

“Yes, love?” Henry answers automatically.

Darryl can feel the heat rise to his face. “No, ah, you mentioned you like honey. In your tea. I just thought…” 

Henry flushes as well and stops in his route towards the living room. “Oh! Right. No you’re totally right. These still need honey.”

He brings the tray over to another large glass contraption, much bigger than the one before, containing a deep amber liquid. “Mercedes’ friend is also a beekeeper,” he says by way of explanation. He turns a nozzle and rich honey comes flowing out. Without missing a beat, Henry places each mug under the stream for a practiced amount of time, and then turns the nozzle off. He pulls out a spoon from a nearby drawer and stirs one after the other, inspecting his work as he goes. He smiles to himself and Darryl can barely hear him whisper, “I never miss a drop.” Darryl is not proud of the way his body reacts to that.

They head towards the living room, where Mercedes is telling a story that has Grant smiling and laughing. Darryl’s never been more grateful for another person in his life. 

Darryl sidles up to his son and reaches for a mug. He thinks he knows what’s coming this time, but as he takes a sip, he’s once again surprised. Instead of a spicy fruity flavor, he’s hit by a wave of mint and something that reminds him of Christmas. Entirely different, but no less enticing. 

“This is really good, Mercedes,” Darryl says appreciatively. Grant nods in agreement.

“Oh, I can’t take credit for this one.” She smiles. “This is all Henry’s doing, and no less award-winning, might I add.” 

“Wow,” Grant pipes up, and Darryl’s surprised to hear him speak. “You made it? Like, the tea part?”

“Well the plants did most of the heavy lifting,” Henry jokes. He takes a sip and hums happily.

Mercedes rolls her eyes but smiles at her husband. “Yes, we mix our own tea blends.”

“Oh, neat,” Grant says weakly. It seems for a moment like he had forgotten why they were here. 

Mercedes gets a phone call. “I’ll be right back,” and she walks into the other room. 

The three of them sit silently, sipping their teas at different intervals. But it’s not awkward like it sometimes is with Carol. Darryl doesn’t feel the need to prove himself or be interesting or search for Henry’s approval. It’s right there on his face, for all the world to see.

Mercedes strolls back into the room. “So, that was my uncle. He said he doesn’t know the first thing about skateboards, but I forgot that my cousin owns a little shop downtown, and my uncle went ahead and called them and they said that they could definitely get you fixed up. How does that sound?”

Grant’s eyes look hopeful. “Yeah? That’d be awesome.”

Mercedes smiles. “Awesome. Why don’t we go do that while your dad figures stuff out at home. Henry, you can stay here in case the boys get home early and hold down the fort, okay?”

The trio nod in unison. Grant looks at his dad. “As long as that’s okay?”

Darryl nods. “As much as I’d like to have you close to me right now, getting your skateboard fixed seems like a great first step. And I trust Mercedes to keep you safe.”

The two head out, and then it’s just Darryl and Henry. 

Darryl puts his face in his hands. “I don’t know what to do,” he admits. 

Henry pats his back. “I’m sorry you’re going through this, man. I’ll be here, if you need anything though, okay? I wish I could just swoop in and fix everything but—I think you’re going to have to do this on your own.”

Darryl nods and looks up slightly. “I do. I know you can’t do it for me. I just. God, what do I say?”

“Healthy communication is a skill not a lot of people have,” Henry says. “Start by talking about your feelings. Those sentences shouldn’t be longer than 4 words: I feel blank . And then talk about your goals, rather than your methods. So instead of telling Mercedes Oak-Garcia that I want her to rail me into next week, I might say, ‘I feel touch starved. I’d like to feel loved and cared for.’ That way we can work together on how to achieve that goal, instead of arguing about competing methods. Does that make sense?”

Darryl nods. “I feel betrayed.” He practices slowly. “I want to know that I can trust Carol and that our son feels safe being himself.”

“That’s great! Do you think you’re ready to go over there?” Henry looks at him worriedly.

Darryl nods again. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” He stands up unsteadily and heads towards the door. 

As he walks down the street, tears already begin welling in his eyes. He’s not sure he can go back to the stark walls and emptiness. But he has to. For his son. 

He walks in the front door. He’s not sure why. 

“Carol?” he calls out, steeling himself.

She storms out of his office. “Are you cheating on me?” She holds up wads of financial documents in her hand. 

“Woah what? No, of course not.” Darryl’s never seen her like this. He takes an involuntary step backwards.

“Don’t lie to me. I saw you with that hippie bitch from next door in our front yard,” she snarls and begins advancing on him. 

Darryl takes a breath and holds out his hands. “I’m not lying. Mercedes is a friend. We do need to talk about infidelity, but not mine, Carol. Yours. I know about Darnell.” He does his best to speak calmly. Yelling won’t help anything.

The color drains from her face. “Well, Darnell is a friend too!” she retorts.

“That brings you wine and sex toys every Tuesday for a year? That you never thought to mention to me?” He laughs dryly. “Look, that’s not even the worst part. You threw our son out of the house! He was so upset. And for what? Being gay? Grow up Carol.” He begins pacing.

“You really support that ?” Her voice is deadly quiet. 

Darryl stops and looks at her. “Yeah, Carol, I really do. I love my son. It should never be more complicated than that.” 

“I knew it was that hippie bitch you’re friends with,” she snaps with air quotes. “She’s confusing you with her mind games about ‘love’ and ‘peace’,” she says mockingly.

Darryl takes another moment to breathe. He remembers what he practiced with Henry. “Look. I feel betrayed. I want to know that I can trust you and that our son can feel loved in who he is.”

Carol laughs again. “She teach you that too? Grow up Darryl. God, Darnell would never talk about his feelings like some kind of woman. That’s enough. I want a divorce.”

Darryl hangs his head. “Okay,” he says simply. What is there left to say? 

The triumphant smile on her face falters. “What?”

“I said okay. I don’t have the energy to fight you, Carol, and after all I’ve learned about and seen from you today, I’m not sure I want to.” He looks up at her, suddenly exhausted.

“Well,” she says, recovering her triumphant tone, “ I’m taking the house.”

“You’re not,” Darryl replies flatly, walking towards his office. 

“Oh yes I am!” she sneers at his back.

“You’re not,” he repeats. He keeps walking.

“You just wait for me to take your ass to court you little—”

“Listen,” Darryl makes himself turn around to face her. “You’re not. My mom owns the house, remember? She’s been letting us live here for years without rent because she wants to keep it in the family.”

She falters again. “Fine, but, good luck supporting yourself as a single dad because there’s no way I’m taking the brat with me.”

“I’ve had offers from several local bars to distribute my beer. I turned them down because you thought it was improper. That’d be more than enough to sustain us. Mercedes knows a glass blower. I bet she could make some awesome looking bottles for it too,” he’s mostly talking to himself now, dreaming about what life will be like. 

Carol huffs behind him indignantly, but he pays her no mind and walks into the office. It’s a mess. It looks like that time Lincoln smelled a rat in here. He’ll clean it up later. He boots up the printer, does a quick search, and types for a minute, then hits print. He can feel Carol’s eyes boring into the back of his head.

While the papers print he checks his phone. Two texts from Grant and two from a new number. He open’s Grant’s. dad!! this isn’t “a little shop” this is the place I’ve been begging you to take me for two weeks! this is awesome!!! And then, they’re giving me a tour while they fix my board. everyone is super chill. hope everything’s okay over there. The texts from the new number only reads, “ Everything okay? ” and then, “This is Henry.” Darryl smiles at his phone. This only cements his certainty in his decision. They are going to be okay.

He picks up the papers, flips through them to verify they’re correct, and then pulls out a crisp black pen. He signs where he needs to, and then hands the papers to Carol. “You can read over it, if you want. This gives you the right to half of our assets and gives me legal custody of Grant. More than fair, I think, given most of that is what I’ve saved from doing odd jobs in the neighborhood. We’ll go stay at the Oak-Garcia household while you move out what you want.” He walks towards the door and turns to face her one last time. “But I’m about to go take meticulous pictures of Grant’s room. And I swear on all that is holy Carol, if even a single mote of dust is out of place, I’m taking you to court.” He takes a steadying breath. “I’d like those papers to be signed by the time I get back downstairs. That should be plenty of time. Courthouse closes at 4 and I’d like this done by the weekend.”

He grabs the camera he bought for that photography class he never got to take, and heads up to do just what he said.

Henry opens the door to find a steely-faced Darryl. “Hey… how’d it go?” he asks gently. 

Darryl laughs dryly. “Well, these are my divorce papers.” He holds up the paperwork, Carol’s signature still drying, “I hope you were serious about being able to let me stay over because I can’t be there while she moves out.” His voice wavers slightly at the end.

“Oh,” Henry expected this day might come, but not today. “And of course man, you’re always welcome.” He ushers Darryl inside.

“I hate to ask more of you but, do you think—” He pauses in the doorway.

Just then, Mercedes Oak-Garcia pulls into the driveway, and a beaming Grant bounds out of the small car. “Dad, look at how cool this is!! The flames change colors in the light!”

Darryl smiles and mouths, “Thank you,” over Grant’s head at Mercedes. She waves him off.

He looks between Mercedes and Henry, then to Grant. “That’s very cool! Hey Grant, buddy, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Grant’s face falls. “Yeah, sure.”

“Why don’t we go inside?” says Henry. Darryl nods. They walk in the house silently. “Hey, Darryl, I have a friend who does a little law work. Why don’t you let me see those papers and call him just to make sure you’re in the clear.” Darryl nods again and hands them off. 

Mercedes follows him into the other room, leaving Darryl and Grant alone in the living room, sitting together on the couch. Darryl can feel the tears welling in his eyes. “Buddy, I’m so, so sorry how poorly I’ve handled everything today. If I could go back and change it maybe—It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you were hurt. Because of me. And, well, now I’m afraid I have more bad news.” Darryl takes a fortifying breath. “Your mom and I are getting a divorce. The papers Henry’s looking at are the paperwork for it. I really wish I could have—”

“Oh thank god,” Grant interrupts flopping back against the couch. 

“What?” Darryl’s brain has a hard time processing the interruption.

“I thought it was going to be something like, bad or something. I thought best case I’d live with Henry and Mercedes.” Grant shrugs. 

“Oh, buddy no! I’d never—no. We’re getting a divorce. Your mom’s been cheating on me. For a long time apparently. But her treatment of you was the last straw. I love you so, so much kiddo.” Darryl puts an arm around his son’s shoulders.

“I love you too, dad.” Grant leans into him.

Darryl hugs his son. 

“Hey dad?” Grant says from Darryl’s shoulder. 

“Yeah?” Darryl braces himself for what’s about to come.

“Can we hang out with Henry and Mercedes more? They’re cool.” Grant sounds hopeful.

Darryl smiles into his son’s hair, giving him a kiss. “Yeah, I think I’d like that too.”

Chapter Text

Darryl is exhausted. He plops down onto the roll out mattress that the Oak-Garcias left in the presentation room. 

The sheets are surprisingly soft, and it’s really dark in here, but Darryl can’t get his brain to slow down. He’ll need to go back to the house and get some of his things before Carol thinks to trash them. He’ll need to change his emergency contact at...everywhere basically. But to who? His mom? Grant’s not old enough. Despite the warm blanket, Darryl shivers. For the first time today, he feels really, truly, alone.

His eyes pull closed, but his mind just keeps motoring on. 

Darryl’s back in his room. Carol’s in the nighty she wears when she wants to have sex. She climbs on top of him and begins grinding on his still-covered dick, and kissing him. “Are you gay, Darryl?” she whispers breathily in his ear.

“Wha—?” he says, barely coherent.

“I asked are you gay , Darryl.” She responds more harshly. The movements against him begin to chafe. “I see how you are with Henry ,” she says in a mocking voice. “Maybe you turned our son gay. Maybe that’s who you’re cheating on me with.”

“No, no I’m not. I’m not gay. I’m not cheating on you.” Her weight on him is suffocating now and he desperately tries to buck her off. He doesn’t want her anywhere near him.

Suddenly she’s no longer on top of him but at the end of the bed, holding Grant’s new flag with a lighter underneath. The flames are already starting to lick at the delicate cloth. “I want a divorce!” she yells. The sound echoes around him, amplifying and distorting each time.

Past her, he sees a young Grant, bawling his eyes out. 

“Fine!” he yells back. “You have it! We went… we went to the courthouse already. The paperwork is already filed…” The flames surround him and start to suffocate him. It’s too hot. He can’t breathe. He needs to—

And Darryl wakes up. 

He throws off the blanket to find he’s covered in sweat and freezing. And, most disturbingly, his cock is rock hard. 

He needs… something. Getting out of this pitch-black room is a start. He stumbles into the living room, where he just sits and breathes for a minute. There’s so many things to look at in here, paintings, photographs, sculptures. And it helps. But he still feels itchy. He needs to move. He needs to do… something. He looks at the floor and has an idea. He finds two baskets labeled “toys” and “art supplies” and carefully portions each item on the floor to their correct place. Then he searches until he finds a broom closet and begins sweeping. He notes how nice their broom is, how easily it gets up the animal hair and other various dirt off the floor. He’s not sure if it counts as compost, so he leaves it in the dust pan to ask about tomorrow. With pride he observes his handiwork. And now he could really go for some of that tea. He goes in search of Henry and Mercedes.

They had given him a house tour before he passed out, so he figures he’ll start at their room. He knocks on their bedroom door and waits for a moment as he hears shuffling inside.

When Henry swings the door open, Darryl notices a few things, all at once: it’s well past midnight, he’s only in his underwear and some basketball shorts, Henry is covered in lipstick and other red marks, and his cock is still uncomfortably hard. 

“Uh, hey Darryl! Everything alright?” Henry holds the door mostly closed as he peers out into the dark hallway.

“Shit. Henry, I’m an idiot.” He can feel the blood rushing to his face. Only way out of this one is through. “I had a bad dream and so I tidied up the living room and then I thought ‘hey, some tea would be nice, I’ll go see what Henry and Mercedes are doing’. I didn’t even consider that you’d be uh, busy and I’ve already inconvenienced you two enough… I’m sorry.” He turns to go back downstairs.

Mercedes comes up behind Henry, wrapped in a silk robe. “Darryl? Are you okay? You sound pretty shaken up. Here, why don’t you come in, the kids are asleep. We can talk in here.”

“Right. Shit. I’m sorry I’m not usually like this…” He follows the two into the intricate room, covered in purples and velvets and a bunch of things on the wall he doesn’t have time to think about right now. 

Henry shuts the door behind them. They lead him to a dark purple chaise at the end of their bed. It feels plush beneath him.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Henry murmurs quietly.

Darryl shakes his head. “I don’t think so. I don’t know. It’s just. It’s been a lot, you know? I’m worried about Grant. And about how we’ll get by. And, as bad as it sounds… I’m worried about Carol.” He hangs his head in embarrassment.

“No, that makes sense. Our hearts don’t just stop loving people just because they hurt us,” Mercedes says. They each put an arm around his shoulders and it feels really, really nice. “Hell, I remember one time one of our girlfriends called us—slurs and we had to keep each other from calling her for a month.” She lets out a bittersweet chuckle.

Darryl’s racing mind takes a moment to catch up. “Henry?”

“Hm?”

“You never did tell me what polyamory meant.” He can feel his face warm.

“Oh, right.” Henry looks at him a little confused and still a little dazed. “Polyamory just means that some people have romantic and/or sexual relationships with more than one person at a time, with all parties aware and consenting.”

“So, it’s not cheating?” Darryl feels his breath hitch.

“No, it’s not cheating,” Henry confirms. He looks at Darryl seriously. 

Darryl thinks on this for a second. “And you two are—”

Mercedes nods. “We prefer non-monogamous. We like to share, generally.”

“Huh.” Darryl sits stunned for a moment.

“Does that… bother you?” Mercedes asks hesitantly.

Darryl cocks his head to the side. “I don’t think so. Just as long as everyone knows what’s happening and is okay with it.”

Henry and Mercedes share a look. Their arms tighten around him and he feels safe. Held. 

“Then…” Henry begins hesitantly, “you should probably know something else.” He takes a steadying breath. “We’re both trans.”

Darryl needs another second to process. “Oh shoot. Have I been calling you the wrong thing? I’m so sorry.”

They both chuckle; the tension melts out of their bodies. 

“No,” Mercedes says, smiling at him. “We came out in college. I’m a woman.” She takes a deep breath. “And I have a girl dick.”

“Oh! Hm. Okay. Yeah. Yeah I think that makes sense.” He looks at Henry. “And so that means you have…?”

Henry laughs. “What I have going on is a little more complicated. Maybe if you ask real nice, I’ll show you.” He winks. 

“I’d like that,” he says without thinking, and turns red.

“Would you?” Mercedes asks. And suddenly her grip feels… different. More possessive. 

To his horror, Darryl finds himself nodding honestly. 

“Because I cannot get the image of you making out with my husband out of my mind,” Mercedes states matter-of-factly. 

Darryl’s cock is hard again but this time it’s not accompanied by the sick feeling from his dream. He wants this. Kissing Henry would be pretty hot. He bets Henry is a good kisser, especially since he’s had so much practice.

“I…” He’s not sure what to say, despite his eagerness. 

“If this is too fast for you Darryl, or you’re not into this at all, that’s totally fine,” Henry interjects. His anxiousness is palpable. “Just know that nothing that happens here affects our offer for you to stay with us, or our support of you and your son.”

Darryl finds his voice. “I really appreciate that, Henry,” he turns to face the other man,  “but I would really like to kiss you, if that’s okay.”

Henry lets out a little moan, and Darryl feels Mercedes’ hand make its way to his hip.

“Just to verify, Darryl, this is okay?” Mercedes’ voice is getting huskier by the moment. “We’re kind of a package deal. If it’s not, we can go to the living room and have some tea and forget this ever happened.” She smiles softly.

Darryl shakes his head. “I don’t want that. I want this. I want both of you. I—I don’t really know? What I’m doing? But I want it. All of it.” He feels heat rise to his face as he expresses himself so wantonly. 

Mercedes lets out a husky laugh. “Well, I don’t know if we can manage all of it tonight. But we’ll do our best to have a good time and work our way up from there. How’s that sound?”

Darryl nods and looks between the two of them. “Is that enough reassurance? Henry, can I please kiss you now?” he asks impatiently.

Henry nods, places a hand on his shoulder, and kisses him. Henry’s kiss is gentle and careful. Darryl’s not sure what he expected, but it wasn’t this. He doesn’t remember the last time he’s been kissed this carefully. He can hear Mercedes moan behind him. “Baby, he’d be so pretty tied to a bed while you kiss him like that.”

They let out twin groans into each other’s mouths, and Mercedes’ hand slips into the back of Darryl’s shorts. She touches him gently, tenderly, and yet intentionally, seemingly desperate for any contact at all, just running her hand under the band of his underwear but not venturing any further. Then she leans into his back and begins leaving soft kisses on his neck and shoulders, sending a shiver down his spine. He whimpers slightly.

Henry’s assault on his mouth intensifies, and he doesn’t recognize the whine that escapes his throat. Mercedes’ hand and mouth leave him and he begins to make a noise of protest, but just then Henry slides his hand up his thigh, under his shorts, and begins fondling the edge of his underwear and it turns into a gasp of anticipation. 

Darryl feels something sturdy press against his back and feels Mercedes’ hand delving into his short hair, scratching his scalp in a way Darryl never would have thought could be sensual. But the added sensation makes his nerve endings come alive. Darryl is suddenly very aware that he hasn’t touched either of them yet, and that needs to be rectified. Now.

He reluctantly pulls back from Henry’s kiss and holds out his hands impotently. “I—I don’t know what to do.”

They both get a soft look in their eyes and suddenly his face is being held on either side by two very different, but still strong and soft hands.

“You’re doing great,” Henry starts, stroking his thumb across Darryl’s cheekbone. He can’t help but lean into the touch.

“If there’s something we need or want you to do, we’ll tell you, alright?” Mercedes continues.

“And if you want to do something different or there's something else you need, just let us know, okay?” Henry looks at him seriously.

Darryl nods slightly, unwilling to dislodge the comforting hands from his cheeks. “I want to touch you. Both of you.” He looks between them and a shiver runs down his spine. Henry leaning so close to him, a glassy look in his eyes, his breathing heavy, Mercedes sitting on the bed, her feet resting on the chaise, one leg behind him, one behind Henry. The sight makes his cock hard and he can feel his underwear wet with pre. But he expects that. What he doesn’t expect is how his heart swells, how the love that he used to only feel for his ex-wife seems to pour out of him at these two. He’ll think about that later, he decides. “But I imagine you’re both uh. Different. Than what I’ve interacted with before. Is that the wrong thing to say?” He winces.

They both smile at him again. “No, Darryl, it’s not wrong at all,” Henry says softly. “Here,” he takes one of Darryl’s hands into his smaller ones, “I’ll put your hand where I want you to touch me, alright? Just do what feels good.” Darryl nods. “Is it okay if I kiss you some more?”

Darryl’s not sure why his voice is hoarse. “Sure.” He clears his throat. “Yes. I’d like that a lot.” 

Mercedes takes his other hand, and as Henry leans in once more, instead of placing it on her body like he expected, like he so desperately craves, she flips it, palm side up, and begins drawing soft, intricate designs there. He can’t help gasping in Henry’s mouth. Then Henry places his hand on his bare hip, underneath his robe, and Darryl groans. The skin is soft yet firm there and the knowledge that Henry’s completely naked under the robe drives him crazy. He strokes his thumb over Henry’s pelvis bone, making Henry gasp into his mouth in anticipation.

Without his hands to support him, he relies on Mercedes' strong leg at his back to hold him up, and it stays steady as he leans into Henry’s kiss. He can’t keep the little sounds in the back of his throat from escaping as Mercedes continues to tease his palm and then ventures to the sensitive part of his wrist.

His back starts to strain from sitting at this angle, and he doesn’t want to appear weak to them but… well, they said to tell them, right?

He reluctantly breaks the kiss again. “I’m okay for right now but is there any way we could… adjust? Or something? My back is not a fan of this angle.”

Henry smiles at him, nods, and briefly rests his hand against his cheek. “Thank you for telling me. Here.” He grabs Darryl’s thigh and begins to move it with surprising strength. “Why don’t you move your leg to the other side like this, and then I’ll—” Once Darryl is comfortably situated straddling the bench, Henry sits on top of him, bare chests pressed together, his legs wrapping behind his ass, and close enough contact that Henry can grind against Darryl’s cock. “This okay?” Henry asks, breath quickening, eyes wide with attraction.

His back stops complaining and the bare skin contact is bliss. He nods. But once they start kissing again and Henry begins writhing against him, his mind is transported back to his dream. He knows this is Henry and not his ex-wife. He knows that he’s here, that he has options, that he can say no. But his mind is still drawn to the memory like a moth to a flame, despite the pleasure rolling through his body. 

He pulls back again and winces. “Actually, sorry, would you mind if I took off my shorts and underwear? Bad dream keeps coming back.”

Henry pulls a concerned face. “Oh, yeah, of course. Jesus, Darryl. We’ll unpack that later.” He’s already hopped up and helping Darryl to his feet. 

Darryl makes quick work of his shorts, briefs, and socks, and then sits back on the chaise like before. “Alright. Sorry about that.” He squeezes his eyes shut and has a hard time looking at either of them. They must think he’s such a wimp.

The couple share a look. Henry wraps himself back around him but doesn’t start kissing him again, instead he grips his face gently and Mercedes runs her fingers through his hair again.

“Darryl, hey,” Henry says gently, “I don’t know what sex has been like for you before, but that’s not how it is with us, okay? We like knowing if you’re uncomfortable or excited or even just bored, okay?” He gives Darryl a gentle smile of encouragement.

Darryl snorts. He doesn’t think he could ever be bored with these two. He nods.

“So there’s no need to apologise when you need to say something, okay? I like hearing your voice, and I like knowing that you’re as comfortable as possible.” Henry smiles. “Me and Mercedes have been doing this for a while, so we have a sense of what we need, but you’re new right now. We won’t know until you tell us. Someday we’ll know you that well but for right now, I need to know you’re comfortable speaking up, okay?”

Darryl likes the sound of “someday” and a shiver runs down his body. He nods again. “Okay,” he replies hoarsely. He leans into Henry and Mercedes. He didn’t know it could be like this.

Mercedes bends down and gives Henry a long, sensual kiss. “You do such a good job of taking care of him, baby.”

Henry flushes. “I do my best,” he mumbles. 

As Henry sidles closer to him in earnest, Darryl feels the first direct contact on his dick in a long time. He throws his head back in ecstasy and lets out a long moan, leaning into Mercedes’ leg as he does so. She stays steady.

Henry takes the opportunity to give him little nipping kisses on his neck and shoulders and the moan deepens. In the back of his mind he remembers the kids and tries to quiet himself.

Mercedes chuckles. “Room’s soundproofed,” she murmurs, running her hands through his hair still.

At that moment Henry finds the spot on his neck that makes him go wild, and he doesn’t know how to replicate the sound that comes out of him then. He involuntarily jerks his hips and Henry lets out a whimper of pleasure.

“You look so pretty on his lap, baby,” Mercedes rasps. She takes Darryl’s hand, and finally, finally places it on her girl dick.

He takes a moment to explore, his tongue in Henry’s mouth somewhat hindering his rate of progress. But he’s encouraged on by Mercedes’ gasps and sighs. 

He experimentally runs his fingers over the tip and smiles into Henry’s mouth as she lets out a moan. Darryl decides he’d like to hear that again. He grips the base and she hisses out a breath. “Careful, honey. There’s a reason she’s called a girl dick, not quite as rugged as what you’ve got.”

He nods into Henry’s mouth and loosens his grip some.

“Mmm,” she hums, “Good boy.”

As he finds a rhythm with his hand, Henry begins writhing against his dick, sending waves of pleasure rolling through his body. He can’t get much traction in this position, but he makes every movement count rubbing up against his shaft and head in a way that makes him afraid he’s going to embarrass himself.

He doesn’t realize they’re leaning over (or maybe Mercedes moved?) until his cheek is pressed against Mercedes’ thigh, and her girl dick is right at the place where his mouth meets Henry’s. They continue to make out, getting lost in the pleasure of it all and grinding against each other, but now glancing off occasionally to lick and suck at Mercedes. 

Eventually, Henry turns his attention back towards his neck and collar bone, so he grabs ahold of the base and looks up at Mercedes. “May I?” he pants, his eyes dark with anticipation.

She smiles wryly, “Be my guest.”

Darryl knows enough to keep his teeth covered, and he remembers what she said about being gentle, but beyond that he’s at a loss. He puts her in his mouth hesitantly and flicks his tongue out for a taste. The taste is… not bad but he’s rewarded by her loud, low groan. 

Henry looks up from his ministrations on his collar bone. “Oh fuck,” he moans, bucking against him. “Darryl, you look so hot sucking my wife’s girl dick. Fuck. That’s the sexiest thing I’ve seen in a long time.”

Henry attaches his mouth to the spot he’d found on Darryl’s neck and sucks there, long and hard, bucking wildly against his cock. Then he detangles himself from Darryl’s lap and his warmth leaves him. Darryl lets out a frustrated whine. 

“He’ll be right back, honey. He just has to prepare himself for you.” Mercedes runs her hands through his hair and gently urges him forward, which he’s more than willing to oblige. His heart hammers at the implication of what she said. 

He can hear Mercedes turn her head and talk to the left side of the room. “Hurry, baby, he’s so desperate for you. I can feel it.”

He can hear Henry’s soft footfalls get closer, all while he keeps up his eager ministrations on Mercedes. 

Henry groans. “I probably,” he gasps, “should have started,” another gasp, “earlier,” gasp, “but,” moan, “he feels so good, mi amor.”

“Mmm,” she hums, “I can tell that from right here.” Darryl can feel her shift underneath him to place a hand on Henry’s cheek. “You haven’t been this into someone we’ve been with in a long time.”

Henry lets out a big breath. “He’s different,” he whispers.

Mercedes tightens her grip in Darryl’s hair, her nails digging slightly into his scalp. He’s not sure why he likes it. “He is,” she says with finitude. She pauses for a beat. “Are you okay to keep going?”

Darryl can hear the smile in Henry’s voice. “Definitely. There’s no way I’m stopping now.”

She chuckles.

Darryl feels her pulling on his hair slightly and he reluctantly pulls away. “Was I doing something wrong?” he asks with a wince.

“Oh, no, not at all. If I had my way I’d cockwarm in your mouth for the rest of the night.” She smiles deviously. “But my husband wants you to fuck him, and I think we’d all be more comfortable on the bed,” she explains.

Darryl’s not exactly sure what all that means, but his body reacts anyway and he figures he’s got the gist. 

He hops off the chaise and looks at the two of them expectantly. “So, where do you want me?”

Henry chuckles, “We don’t have time to go through all that, but for now, why don’t you hop up on the bed and sit up against the pillows to start with.”

Darryl nods. He can do that. As he gets situated, Mercedes kisses him for the first time. It’s entirely different than Henry’s kisses, but somehow still familiar. She reaches over and grabs his dick and they moan in unison. 

“Baby you’ve already gotten him so wet, I don’t even know if you needed any preparation,” Mercedes pulls back only slightly to murmur.

Darryl closes his eyes and tilts his head back. He doesn’t think he’s ever felt this wanted in, well, ever. He looks back to see Henry kneeling on the bed between him and Mercedes. Henry looks at him seriously. “Condom or no?” He holds up a box of trojans.

“I’m good,” Darryl says, “but whatever would make you comfortable, I’m good with.”

The couple shares a look and winces in unison. Henry finally speaks up. “Darryl, are… you sure?”

Darryl’s heart sinks for a moment. Oh right. He got divorced today. But still, he nods again. “Dad always said to get everything checked at your yearly checkup. Just had mine a month ago and it was clear.”

Mercedes furrows her brow, “And you haven’t… ?”

Darryl shakes his head. “She’s not generally in the mood and I’ve been worried about Grant.” 

Mercedes lays a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry we had to bring it up, Darryl.”

“No, it’s good. I—I care about you. I want to make sure you’re safe, too.” He can feel heat rise to his cheeks.

Henry straddles him and hugs him, and Mercedes slides closer and wraps her arms around him too. Darryl closes his eyes and soaks it in. “I—we care about you too, Darryl,” Henry speaks up eventually. “But we can figure out what exactly that means later, okay? When we’re not so worked up.” Darryl nods. 

“We’re clean too, Darryl, just in case it wasn’t clear,” Mercedes adds. “You’re sure you’re okay with not using a condom?”

He glances between the two of them. “I assume ah… pregnancy? Isn’t on the table?”

Henry laughs. “They said I’d want more kids once the memory of childbirth wore off, but my beautiful boys are enough for us to handle. I got all that taken out for their 3rd birthday.” He places a hand on his cheek. “Thank you for looking out for me, though.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that was—huh. Okay. Well, good. Then, yes, I’m comfortable with not using a condom.” Now is not the time for an anatomy lesson, Darryl decides.

Mercedes smiles brilliantly at him. “Good. It would have been fine either way, but if my darling husband here doesn’t get fucked raw at least once a week he gets pouty.”

Henry scowls at her good naturedly and turns a shade of bright red. Mercedes chuckles to herself.

Henry lowers himself down, steadying himself on Darryl’s shoulders, and Darryl’s hands instinctively go to his hips. Henry continues to grind against him like on the chaise, but on his knees he has much more range of movement. Darryl’s fairly sure he’s dead-set on making him lose his mind. He can’t stop the whimpers and moans that escape him. Henry feels so good, and the anticipation for what is to come mounts. 

Soon he realizes there’s only been one set of hands on him for a while now. He reaches towards his left side. “Mercedes,” he mumbles. 

“Oh, honey don’t worry about me,” she says, touched, “I don’t always need to be in the mix, and for this, my favorite role,” he can hear her smile, “is to watch.”

The men moan into each other’s shoulders at the thought. 

Chapter Text

Henry’s still grinding against him and it still feels heavenly, but the anticipation has become too much. He needs more . “Henry, please,” he gasps, “can I fuck you?”

Henry only nods and grasps him at the base, breathing heavily.

“Oh, he’s so big, baby. You’re going to have trouble taking him aren’t you?” Mercedes murmurs, a teasing smile on her lips.

Henry groans as he lowers himself onto Darryl.

“Henry, fuck,” Darryl’s not really sure what he’s saying anymore, “you feel so good.” He’s so warm and wet for him, squeezing him tightly at their first meeting.

“Ditto,” Henry replies with a gasping laugh, his face buried in the crook of his shoulder.

Darryl uses his hand on Henry’s hip to slowly urge him lower, and Henry’s moans deepen. 

“‘S ‘kay?” he asks breathlessly.

Henry moans again and nods vigorously. “The feeling of you forcing yourself inside me,” he gasps, “is the hottest thing I’ve felt in a long time.”

“Not too fast?” Darryl checks.

Henry shakes his head with equal vigor. “Just right. Just right,” he mumbles, getting lost in pleasure.

After a little more coaxing they fall into a slow, steady rhythm. Darryl’s mind goes blank. All he can think about is the beautiful man riding his cock. He guides their movements with his hand on his hips, and each stroke causes Henry to let out a loud moan. He wants to hear more of that. He wants to see Henry come undone on his lap.

“Can I touch you?” he asks.

Henry bites his lip and nods. Darryl uses his hands on Henry’s hip to stop their careful gyrations and holds him steady with his cock only barely inside of him. Then he begins his careful investigation, removing one hand from Henry’s hip, and using a gentle finger to explore. He’ll start at the back, he decides, since (at least he thinks, he notes to ask Henry later) everybody’s got that. Henry shivers as he passes a gentle caress over his puckered asshole. He decides he likes that so he does it once, twice, three times.

Henry lets out a lound, frustrated groan, and Darryl pauses.

“He’s got me held so tightly I can’t even buck against him, mi amor,” he whispers, eyes closed against the pleasure.

Darryl hears Mercedes moan loudly as she runs a hand through his hair. “Good boy,” she murmurs.

Darryl takes this as permission to keep going. He abandons his early post, noting that he’d like to revisit in earnest some other time, and continues forward. He explores Henry’s taint, and Henry starts whimpering into his shoulder. He stays there for a while, noting where exactly makes him moan the loudest. 

Mercedes groans beside him. “Baby you should see the look on his face. He wants to pleasure you so badly.” 

Henry moans into his neck and lightly bites down on the spot he had found.  At Darryl’s answering moan and slight, involuntary jerk of his hips, Henry groans loudly and desperately attempts to buck against him. Darryl holds him firm, and his moans turn into little whines.

“Stay still handsome,” Darryl murmurs as Henry continues to attempt to ride him and he tightens his grip to hold him steady.

That stops Henry’s movement cold, and Darryl chuckles. He ventures forward. There, he finds where he and Henry are joined. He teases around Henry’s hole, and he’s disappointed to find that Henry’s back to only labored breathing. That’s okay , he thinks, they can’t all be winners . But as his hand glances off his cock as he continues forward, he feels a jolt of pleasure. Just do what feels good , Henry had told him. So he decides to do just that. He grips himself at his base and does one, two, three passes as pleasure rolls through him. He can’t help the loud groan that comes from him, and Mercedes follows soon after.

“He’s pumping himself into you, baby,” she whispers, and Henry lets out a high whine.

Darryl starts feeling the urge to seat himself fully inside Henry again so he stops, intent on finishing his exploration. He continues forward.  

He reaches a spot that makes Henry lurch, but as he goes to make a second pass, Henry pants, “Be careful. That’s sensitive, but not like. Sexy sensitive.”

Darryl nods and gives Henry a kiss on the temple. “Thank you for telling me.”

He decides for now, he’ll continue forward, eager to finish his journey. 

For the first time, he’s shocked at what he finds. “Oh! Hello there little buddy.” It’s a little penis, like he’d seen that one time his dad had taken him to the lodge and convinced him to go into the sauna. It’s standing proudly, and big enough that he’s surprised he didn’t notice before now. 

He gently explores the length, and finds that the more he explores, the more there is to explore. He smiles as Henry begins to moan again.

“I can explain,” Henry pants, “if you want.” He buries his head into Darryl’s shoulder and moans again.

“Nah,” Darryl says, unable to hide the smile in his voice. “I’m not that dense.”

And with that, Darryl firmly strokes Henry’s cock and finally, blissfully, plunges into him. 

Henry screams.

Mercedes is up behind him in an instant, her hand covering his mouth. “Baby, the soundproofing isn’t that good,” she murmurs into his ear.

Henry nods against her hand, takes a steadying breath, and nods again. Mercedes nods and removes her hand from his mouth and moves to sit back down. 

Darryl looks at them sheepishly. “Sorry, I probably should have—”

“No,” they say in unison. Mercedes settles in next to him, returning her fingers to his hair, and Henry raises a shaky hand to cup his cheek.

“That was, by far, the hottest thing I’ve seen in a very long time, Darryl Wilson,” Mercedes murmurs. 

“I wouldn’t trade that moment for the world,” Henry adds. 

Darryl flushes and leans into Henry’s hand. “Okay, I’ll get better about the apologizing some day.”

Mercedes chuckles beside him. “We’ll talk later about how that was also an apology. But for now,” she says, touching herself and nodding to them, “I believe you were in the middle of finally fucking my husband before I interrupted.” She closes her eyes in ecstasy, a gentle smile forming on her face as she moans.

Darryl looks at Henry, his face so close to his, flush with pleasure. “You okay to keep going?”

Henry locks eyes with him, “God. Yes, Darryl, please,” he groans desperately.

So Darryl sets out a slow, steady pace, one hand on Henry’s hip, the other on his dick. Too soon, though, he finds himself approaching the edge. He tries to hold off, savoring Henry's ever-increasing moans, but with how Henry’s tightening around him and moaning desperately in his ear and Mercedes’ eyes on them, his climax is fast approaching. 

He pauses and winces. “Can we… take a break? I just need a minute, I’m way too close.”

Henry lets out a whimper of excitement and his hips jerk against him. “We can take a break if you need to, but I’d like nothing more than for you to come for me right now, Darryl.”

“But I haven’t even—”

“We’re not done, honey,” Mercedes interjects, her hand still on her girl dick, and Darryl flushes. 

“You really want me to—?” Darryl’s never come first, the gentleman that he is. He’s not sure how to handle this.

Henry locks eyes with him again. “Come inside me Darryl. Please. I’ll beg if I have to. It’s all I can think about.” He whimpers at the thought and closes his eyes. “Please,” he whispers desperately.

Darryl feels a chill run down his spine as he resumes his earlier pace. He begins stroking Henry intently, determined to give him as much pleasure as he can, going slowly to draw out the pleasure. Henry whimpers loudly, kissing and sucking at Darryl’s shoulder desperately.

Before long, he’s at the edge again and is unsure how long he can hold on. “You’re sure?” he whispers, strained.

“God, yes please, love, come for me,” Henry pulls his mouth from Darryl’s shoulder by only a hairsbreadth to pant. 

“For us,” Mercedes amends with a moan.

“God, yes, us, us, us, please,” Henry chants, riding him harder.

As Darryl begins to roar out the hardest climax he’s had in his life, Mercedes places a muffling hand over his mouth and presses her body against him. 

As he feels the orgasm roll through him, he seats himself in Henry fully, and Henry’s fingers tighten, biting into his shoulders as he again bites down gently on that spot. Pleasure overtakes him and he isn’t sure where he is, he just knows that he’s safe and he never wants to let this go. He loses himself in it, in the pleasure of Henry’s body.

Henry can’t help the involuntary “Mine” that slips through his lips and Darryl comes inside him, still bucking gently even as he stays fully seated. He feels a wave of possessiveness wash through him as he holds him tightly.

“Ours,” Mercedes corrects. 

Henry’s heart tightens. That feels so right. The only person he could share with. “Yes, Ours.” He shifts to hold Darryl close as the orgasm begins to die down, wanting to have all of him, Darryl stil moaning and jerking occasionally. He begins to give him small kisses, on his forehead, eyebrows, nose, cheeks, and then ventures towards his ear, which he’s delighted to find makes Darryl let out more small moans.

Darryl comes to with Henry still on top of him, still joined, holding him gingerly, and Mercedes pressed against his side, her still-hard girl dick pressing into his hip. Henry stops his assault of a thousand kisses and looks at him with a dreamy, pleased look in his eye. “You doing okay, love?”

Darryl sucks in a breath and his heart skips a beat. There’s that word again. He thought maybe he was hearing things the last time. But he nods. “Yeah. That was… awesome. But we do really need to talk. About this. At some point.” He gestures between the three of them.

Henry seems to have heard himself for the first time. His eyes are wide with concern and… is that fear? “Is this… okay?”

Darryl nods. “More than okay. If I don’t watch myself I could get addicted to this,” he adds under his breath. He feels a shiver run through him with hope and fear. He doesn’t want to lose this after he’s just found them.

They share a look and hold him tighter. He feels so safe in their arms. “We’ll talk more later,” Mercedes promises, “but for now, just know that nothing’s off the table, okay? We can have it all, if that’s what we want.” She gives him a comforting kiss on the temple.

Darryl’s heart soars and another shiver runs through him. “Okay,” he whispers, voice suddenly hoarse. He’s never wanted anything so badly.

They lay like that for a while, the couple giving him soft kisses and gentle caresses until he comes down from his orgasm and… whatever that was. 

After some time, he looks at the two of them. “You said we weren’t done? So what’s next? I’m better now, sor—I mean, thank you. I really appreciate it.” They smile at him and give him one final squeeze. 

“Here, baby, why don’t you lay down for me?” Mercedes says, placing her hand on Henry’s shoulder, her voice husky.

Henry’s eyes are wide, “You mean you didn’t—?” 

She shakes her head and smiles. “No. I got so close but you two were so hot that I had to edge myself.”

Henry groans loudly, detaches himself from Darryl with a whimper, and eagerly positions himself underneath the waiting Mercedes. 

Darryl is shocked to find himself content to watch, to see these two captivating people move together, but he still holds out his hands. “Is… is there anything you want me to do?”

Mercedes thinks for a moment and then smiles wickedly. “I want you to finger fuck my husband’s mouth.”

Darryl’s not sure how that works. 

Mercedes, seeing his confused look, kneels over Henry and begins carefully positioning him. “Here, on your side, like this. Start out with your thumb and then work your way up to two fingers. More, if you feel like it’s right.”

Darryl nods resolutely. So it’s just what it sounds like. He can handle that. 

Mercedes repositions herself over Henry, and Darryl gingerly slips his thumb between Henry’s lips. She sets up a pace much different than he had, opting for fast, short strokes that makes Henry make high, whimpering whines. 

Darryl expects when he starts gently pumping his thumb in and out of Henry’s mouth that it’ll turn Henry on. What he doesn’t expect is when Henry begins gently sucking and running his tongue over the sensitive pad of his thumb, that it’d make his almost-dormant cock spring back to life. Darryl can’t help letting out a low moan as the sensation combines with the sensual scene in front of him.

“Do you hear how loudly you’re making him moan baby?” Mercedes pants, clearly less aloof than she had been a few minutes prior. “You’re doing such a good job of sucking him.”

Henry lets out a low moan around Darryl’s thumb, and he swears he can feel it in his cock.

“I’m getting close,” she whispers, and Darryl switches to two fingers, remembering her instructions. 

She looks at Darryl briefly. “Don’t stop.” He nods. 

“Do you want my cum?” she whispers into Henry’s ear.

And suddenly Darryl understands. With his fingers in his mouth, Henry can only barely nod his head and make increasingly desperate, muffled whines. 

“Hm… I don’t know,” she teases, but her voice hitches at the end. Darryl can tell that she’s very close. 

Henry is full on whimpering now, begging, and Darryl finally understands what he had meant earlier. His cock stiffens further.

“Hmmm… you have been very good, taking care of our boy.” She nods her head in faux-resolution. “Okay.”

She plunges into him, letting out a low moan, and begins pumping her hips almost imperceptibly. Henry lets out a contented whine and wraps his arms around her.

Darryl’s not sure this is the right thing to do, but he’s doing what feels good, so he removes his fingers from Henry’s mouth, and moves closer to hold them both. 

They share contented smiles as they look at him, eyes still glassy from pleasure.

“Is this okay?” he asks, just to check. 

In answer, Henry wraps an arm around his shoulder, and Mercedes wraps an arm around the small of his back, both of them pulling him closer.

Darryl feels himself falling asleep, and he fights it desperately. “Can’t… sleep here.”

“What, why?” Henry looks at him concerned. 

“Grant,” he mumbles. “Told him I was sleeping… downstairs. Don’t want to tell him until we talk. Way too tired to talk.”

The two nod tiredly at him and he gets out of bed and starts putting his clothes back on. He notes with a sense of sleepy satisfaction that his shorts and underwear smell like Henry now.

He turns back to tell them… goodbye? thanks? goodnight? He’s not sure, but instead of finding them still crumpled in a sleepy, enticing pile, they’re standing up and picking pillows off the bed and putting on clothes. “What?”

Henry looks at him like it’s obvious. “You need to be downstairs for your son. We don’t want to leave you in this vulnerable state. If you really just want space, just say so but, if not, we’re coming downstairs with you.”

“It’s like a queen sized bed,” Darryl states dumbfounded.

“So, we’ll cuddle,” Mercedes retorts. She stands in front of him, fastening her robe. “Listen, Darryl, we told you we’d be here for you, and we are. And after all you’ve been through, it’s understandable that you don’t believe us yet, but we’re going to keep being here for you until you do.”

“And past that,” Henry adds, and she nods in agreement. 

Darryl is way too tired to deal with the emotions rolling through his body. “Thank you,” he says simply. 

They nod in agreement, and then follow him out the door.

Darryl positions himself on the edge of the relatively small bed on his side and holds out his arms. The couple exchange a glance and shake their heads, exhausted smiles on their faces. 

“I thought you said we’d have to cuddle,” he says, confused. 

“We will,” Mercedes simply replies, coming up behind him on his side of the bed. “Scoot.” 

She keeps guiding him forward until he feels her climb in behind him, and wrap her arms around him. She’s smaller than he is, but that doesn’t change how safe he feels. Henry, content that she’s settled, climbs in front of Darryl, and he instinctively wraps his arms around him. 

“Hm,” Henry says, as he presses his ass against Darryl’s still semi-hard cock.

“Shoot.” Darryl remembers. “You never got to come, Henry.”

“‘S ‘kay,” he slurs sleepily. “Make it up to me later, love.”

“Mmm,” Darryl hums sleepily. He likes the sound of that. 

As he drifts off to sleep, Darryl remembers something. “Henry?”

“Hm?” Henry’s nearly asleep.

“I don’t think I’m straight,” Darryl admits.

Henry laughs, “Hope not.” 

“Henry?”

“Hm?”

“ Now am I a lesbian?”

“No, love. Go to sleep.” 

And so Darryl does.

Chapter Text

Darryl awakes, several hours later, to a knock at the door. “Dad?” Grant says through the door.

Henry and Mercedes are wrapped around him, both foregoing their pillows to rest their heads on his pecs. He’s sure in a moment that will make his heart swell, but for right now he needs to get to his son. “Uh, just a second.” He tries to carefully detangle himself from their sleeping forms. 

As he opens the door, he’s momentarily blinded by the sun streaking through the windows. He hasn’t slept this late since college. He shakes his head and closes the door behind him

“Hey buddy, what’s up? Everything okay?” Darryl asks, concern coloring his voice. They’d both had a rough day yesterday.

Grant looks at him suspiciously. “Did I see Henry and Mercedes in there?”

Darryl flushes. “Sleep over?” he offers hopefully.

“That gives you hickies all over your neck?” he says doubtfully. Shit. He forgot that Grant knew about that kind of stuff now. 

He opens his mouth to explain but Grant holds out a hand. 

“Look, I don’t want to know. I’m happy for you, after everything that happened with Carol, but you’re still my dad, and I still don’t want to know about it.” Grant says insistently with a wince.

Darryl breathes a sigh of relief. “Understood. I just want to make sure you know I didn’t divorce your mom for this.”

Grant winces again. “Please don’t call her that. Her name is Carol. She made it real fuckin clear she doesn’t want to be my mom,” he adds bitterly.

Darryl winces. “Sorry buddy.”

“But no, dad, I get it. Sometimes you don’t control when you like someone. Still don’t want to know about it. Cannot stress how much I don’t want to know about it. But I get it.” He smiles.

Darryl nods his agreement. “When there’s something age-appropriate to tell you, I will. How’s that sound?” 

Grant nods. “But to be clear, what happened last night, whatever it was, will never be age-appropriate. Even when I’m like. Old and wrinkly like you.” He smiles teasingly.

“Hey!” Darryl laughs. “So, I assume this wasn’t what you wanted to talk about. What’s up?”

“Oh, uh, right.” Grant’s demeanor changes. He’s suddenly unable to look at Darryl, opting instead for his tennis shoes. “I made plans to meet Yeet at the skate park and show him my new board. As like? A date? Type thing? I think?” His voice rises continually as his face reddens. “I would have given you more advanced notice, but you’re usually up at 7 am and it’s one in the afternoon. I need to leave in like 15 minutes to catch the bus in time. I know you said you’re okay with… whatever I am but… is that? Okay?” He glances at Darryl nervously.

Darryl blinks. His son is going on his first date, and he’s shirtless and covered in hickies. Great. Grant looks more nervous by the second. “Yeah, yeah of course that’s okay. Just make sure you’re back before… a reasonable time? 9? Or text me if it’s going to be later for some reason. And be safe. And all that. And uh… shit. This is why I needed lessons.” He hangs his head.

Grant is smiling at him. “No, dad, it’s okay. It’s just the skate park. You don’t need to give me The Talk. I just. Thanks.” And Grant hugs him.

Darryl smiles down at his son. “Oh!” he says excitedly. “We’re the same letter now!” 

Grant pulls back slightly and looks up quizzically. 

“Q for Questioning!” Darryl responds by way of answering.

Grant cocks his head to the side and smiles oddly. “Yeah?” Darryl nods. “Well good. You seem good, dad. I’m glad you feel comfortable in that.”

Darryl nods proudly. “Well, I figure if the coolest kid in the world is okay with it, then I can be too, right?” 

Grant rolls his eyes but smiles. “Sure, dad. I’m gonna head out so I don’t have to run, okay?”

Darryl nods. “Sure thing. And if you need anything, call or text me.”

Grant is already headed out the door. “Yep, love you!”

“Love you too!” Darryl yells after him. 

He sighs and walks back through the presentation room door as the front door closes behind him. 

Henry and Mercedes are dressed and sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for him.

Darryl looks at them, suddenly exhausted. “You caught all that?”

They nod, concern written all over their faces. 

He sighs and plops down next to them. “Did I do the right thing?”

“You did great, Darryl,” Henry praises. “Grant’s a growing young man, and he needs to know that you’re there for him.”

Darryl nods. 

“And hey, sorry for making it difficult to get out of bed. Last night it seemed like a great idea symbolically, but… “ Henry rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Maybe not logistically,” Mercedes adds with a smile.

Darryl nods again. “Last night was great. But we should probably talk about it,” his stomach takes the opportunity to grumble loudly, “and maybe grab some lunch, too?”

They laugh, and the three of them head towards the kitchen. 

Henry places a bowl of steaming soup in front of each of the 3 places set at the table. 

"So," Mercedes starts, "talk or eat first?" 

Darryl's stomach rumbles again. "Let's eat at least a little bit. And then we can talk and graze?"

The other two nod. The three stare awkwardly at each other. 

"Darryl do you generally say grace? I want to make sure we respect your religious beliefs." Henry looks at him sincerely.

Darryl shrugs. "Not unless it's like Christmas or my mom's birthday or something. It's okay. But thank you." 

"Oh! Okay well, Mercedes and I have this thing where we hold hands and close our eyes and put our hopes out into the universe. Do you… want to do that with us?" Henry worries his lower lip between his teeth. 

"If it helps," Mercedes adds, "you can think of God as the universe instead?" 

Darryl thinks for a second. He's not really sure theology-wise where he stands right now, but he knows he wants the closeness he feels like this ritual will bring, and Mercedes' justification seems solid enough.  He nods. 

"Great!" Henry says. 

Henry and Mercedes both reach for one of his hands, and he's reminded of last night. They close their eyes and Darryl wills himself not to fidget.

"I'll start," Henry begins with a more reverent tone. "I hope that we will have the gift of clear communication and clear understanding." 

After a moment of silence, Mercedes speaks, "I hope for the gift of compassion and flexibility." 

A beat goes by. And then another. Darryl's sure they expect him to speak by now, but they really got it in two. 

"I hope… that I can be good enough," he says finally, and he feels scalded by his honesty. 

They squeeze his hands as they open their eyes, and Darryl sees that Henry has a tear track running down his face. 

"Darryl, I—" 

"Eating first, right?" Darryl interjects, injecting a positivity he doesn’t feel into his voice. "This is not a good conversation to have on an empty stomach." He smiles softly.

Henry closes his mouth and nods. He reaches over and squeezes Darryl's bicep comfortingly. 

They dig in. Darryl’s pleasantly surprised at how good it is. The tomato and garlic fill his senses and make his mind focus on happier things. At a ding, Mercedes gets up from the table and comes back carrying a basket of croissants. 

Soon enough, Darryl finds that his stomach is sated. He looks up at the two of them with a contented smile. 

“So,” Darryl breaks the silence, “where do we start?” 

They both reach for his hands again, and hold each other’s, seemingly incapable of not being in physical contact with one another.

They lock eyes for a moment, nod, and then look back at him.

Henry says, “Darryl, we love you,” at the same time Mercedes says, “We love you, Darryl.” 

They look at each other and laugh.

“Guess that joint visioning class only mostly worked,” Henry mutters to himself bemused. 

Darryl feels warmth rush through him, hearing something he desperately wanted to hear, but his mind begins racing.  “Surely this is too fast, right? I didn’t tell Carol I loved her for the first 9 months we were together.” He looks around, adrenaline pumping through him.

Their eyes look a little sad and Darryl hates that he put it there. He has a hard time sitting still.

“I can see why you would feel that way, Darryl. You just came out of a relationship that’s spanned your entire adult life. But I’m confident in how I feel about you.” Henry squeezes his hand and smiles softly. “I’ve seen more of your character in the last 24 hours than some people see in a lifetime. I read over your divorce papers. After all Carol did to you, you still gave her more than a fair break.” Henry has tears welling in the corners of his eyes. “And the way you’ve protected your son? How could I not love you?” His voice cracks.

Darryl feels that warmth flow through him again. He takes a steadying breath. He doesn’t know what to say. This feels right. This feels like where he belongs. But his mind still has a lot of questions and a lot of doubts. 

Mercedes locks eyes with him. “How do you feel right now Darryl?”

“I feel safe. I feel at home. I feel loved.” They smile at him. “I feel scared? Because I think I love you too. And I’m not really sure what to do with that. I wish I could just say it and fade to black they all live happily ever after but that’s not the real world. I mean, Grant has a soy allergy. He can’t eat a lot of vegan foods. And I don’t know if you would be okay with me brewing beer around Lark and Sparrow and—”

“Woah, hey, Darryl, hey,” Henry interjects, squeezing his hand comfortingly, “We know this is not the end of the conversation. It’s the beginning. So we can establish a baseline and then go from there. Okay?”

Darryl takes a deep breath. “Okay. Then,” he takes another fortifying breath, “I love you too. Both of you. And that scares the shit out of me.”

“We’re scared too, Darryl,” Mercedes responds softly, “We’ve had boyfriends before, but we usually go a lot slower too. We don’t want to introduce strangers to our beautiful boys until we know for sure it’s a good fit. And we’ve always known, in the back of our minds, that the relationships were temporary.” At that, Darryl feels his stomach drop. Why does the idea of this being temporary scare him so much? He was just worried about the implications of it being permanent.

 “Not like we plan to break up with them or anything,” Henry adds, “but we know that eventually they’ll outgrow us or move on, and we’ll be fine because we’re still us .” They squeeze each other's hand tightly and smile.

Mercedes nods. “But the idea of you packing up and leaving our lives for good makes me feel terrified.” She takes an unsteady breath. “And that’s not something I feel very often. Hell, we’ve never even let a partner stay the night before.” 

“Oh.” Darryl is not used to this. He’s used to sly persuasion and gentle maneuvering. But they’re just laying it all out there. He thinks he likes it, but he has no clue how to respond. This must be the “healthy communication” Henry was talking about. 

“If this is moving too fast for you, Darryl,” Henry adds, “We can put this on hold for a few days, wait until you move back to your house, and start from scratch. Let us wine and dine you, win you over.” He smiles softly and runs his thumb along the back of Darryl’s hand comfortingly.

Darryl thinks on this for a moment. It almost certainly would be the more sensible idea, but… “The idea of going back to sleeping in an empty bed sounds kind of awful,” he admits. “But I do kind of like the idea of being romanced.” His cheeks heat. 

They smile at him and then share a concerned glance. “That’s the other thing,” Mercedes says gently, “we’re afraid that you might just want to be with us because you’re afraid of being independent, and that someday you could come to resent us for not letting you have that opportunity.” 

Darryl shakes his head. “If this is what being in a relationship is like, then I’ve been on my own for a very long time.” He stops, contemplating how to explain himself. “Carol didn’t, ah, participate much in my life. The last few years I’d taken to sleeping in the guest bedroom once Grant fell asleep. We both slept better that way.” He lets out a bitter laugh. “I had just been thinking how much easier it’ll be with her gone. No one to tell me how I do the dishes wrong, or that I should stop singing in the shower or that photography is for women… but it seems like you two make each other’s lives better. I’d like to be a part of that.” His cheeks heat.

They both smile sadly at him. “We’d like that too, Darryl.” Henry cups his cheek briefly. “As for the logistical concerns you mentioned earlier, we wouldn’t expect you or Grant to change your diet for us. It might make mealtime slightly more difficult, but with another set of hands, I’m sure we could figure it out. We’d just expect that you would respect our diet as well.” 

Darryl nods. “Of course, and I’m sure I could learn to grill up food you like too,” he warms at the thought and smiles, making a mental note to look up recipes online.

“It’s about time we had a conversation with the boys about what they’d like to have in their diet too.” Henry muses. “So we’ll accommodate whatever they decide.”

“As for your beer,” Mercedes adds, “we trust that you keep the finished product somewhere that’s not easily accessible?” Darryl nods. “Besides that, I’m sure the boys would love to learn about what all you’re doing. They’re aspiring chemists.”

“Well,” Henry amends, “they say poisoners, but that’s close enough.” 

Darryl gulps. “I’ll be sure to keep the beer locked up tight.” 

They laugh. 

Mercedes squeezes his hand. “What else are you worried about?”

Darryl swallows past the lump in his throat. “Do you want to uh, live together? You just mentioned sharing meals and stuff.”

Henry looks at him. “What do you want, Darryl?”

“I don’t want to go back home alone,” Darryl answers honestly. “But 6 people in this house seems like it could get pretty cramped especially when your boys get older, start wanting their own space…” 

They nod and seem to think on this. “We haven’t seemed to have an issue yet, so we could probably get along fine for a while. And if it becomes a problem we could…” Henry hesitates. “move? Together?”

A shiver shoots down Darryl’s spine at the thought of making a home with them together. His mind begins imagining it against his will. Henry would paint all the rooms crazy colors, he’d help hang up the hundreds of pictures on the wall, Mercedes would fill the house with music as they worked and fill in the intricate details.

“We’d want to stay in the same school district,” Mercedes murmurs thoughtfully.

“And we’d want to make sure we’re still close to the bus route,” Henry adds.

They both seem to get lost in thought. 

“There’s the abandoned house on the corner,” Darryl speaks up. 

They look at him quizzically. 

“You may not have noticed because the estate keeps the lights on timers. Old lady Miriam used to live there when I was a kid, and when we moved back in after college I went to go introduce myself but no one ever answered. She used to make the best snickerdoodles.” He smiles fondly at the memory.

“Oh, I didn’t know you used to live here as a kid, Darryl,” Henry says surprised.

“Yeah, Dad built this house before the developers came in. It used to just be us and Miss Miriam on a little gravel street.” He smiles sadly. “Anyway, the house has been tied up in family disputes for years. It’s marked as a historical site so no one can tear it down and put another cookie cutter McMansion there, and the inside needs a lot of work. Nobody can agree on what to do with it.” He can’t help the hope that colors his voice. “But the woodwork on the inside is a piece of art, and I used to play with Miss Miriam’s nephew when we were boys. Last I checked he still had a stake of it. I bet I could talk to him and see if we could work something out.”

“Wow, Darryl, I had no idea. Why haven’t you done this before now? It seems like you really care about this place.” Henry squeezes his hand.

Darryl sighs. “Carol thought it was a waste of money. And it was only the three of us so it didn’t make much sense to have that much house. Miss Miriam was the youngest of 11 siblings that were all raised in that house, and she kept it once her parents passed away. I’m sure there’s plenty of room for the six of us there.” 

They look at each other then at Darryl. “Yeah, I think that’s definitely worth looking into. I’m sure we could get my uncle’s help fixing it up,” Mercedes says thoughtfully.

“Oh, actually my nephew just graduated from an electricians program. I’m sure he’d help out too,” Darryl adds, getting excited that his idea wasn’t shot down. 

“Anything else we should iron out?” Mercedes asks. “Because I have not gotten to kiss you enough, Darryl Wilson.”

Darryl laughs, giddy. But when he remembers his next concern, that dies down some. “Ah, um, well, you two are married,” he begins uncertainly. “And that’s great and I don’t begrudge that. And I’d never want to come between what you too have. I’m just afraid I might feel… left out.” 

They look at him with gentle smiles on their faces. “Henry is my husband,” Mercedes begins.

“And Mercedes is my wife,” Henry adds.

“And we had a beautiful ceremony a few years after college.” Mercedes smiles softly at the memory.

“And we’re both listed on the boy’s birth certificates.”

“And we share bank accounts and we’re in each other’s wills and we took each other’s last names.” Mercedes ticks them off her fingers as she lists them.

“But legally,” Henry begins.

“We’re roommates,” Mercedes says.

Darryl tilts his head. “Oh, huh.” He’s not sure what else to say. He doesn’t want to make assumptions.

“I guess what we’re getting at,” Mercedes says, “is that we could do all that someday with you, too.”  

“Except for the kids,” Henry amends. “Fresh out of ingredients for those.”

Darryl closes his eyes and the image of marrying Henry and Mercedes pops into his head. He lets out a contented sigh. He opens his eyes and smiles at them. “I think I’d like that a lot.” 

“Anything else weighing on you?” Henry asks. 

Darryl shakes his head. “I don’t think so.”

“I’m sure there will be issues that arise as time passes,” Mercedes notes, “but we’ll figure those out as they come, okay? This isn’t our last chance to talk together and we’re all adults. We can work it out, okay?”

Darryl nods. “Okay. I trust you. You mentioned kisses?”

They smile at him and lead him to their bedroom.

Chapter Text

The door closes behind him with the weight of his body pressed into it by an eager Mercedes. In no time at all her mouth is on his and she’s kissing him desperately, tongue delving into his mouth as her body presses against his, her softness contrasting with the hardness of the door. Darryl instinctually grabs her hips and pulls her to him, equally desperate for any contact at all. Kissing Mercedes is nothing like kissing Carol, she seems intent on taking in all of him, her hands already scrambling with the buttons of his shirt, unwilling to break with him for even a moment to lift it over his head. Maybe Carol had been desperate like that once, when they were awkward teens, but those days are long past now, and Mercedes is all woman. There is of course another difference. As Darryl grinds his erection against her, he feels hers press against him with the same fervor, though her movements are more smooth and less frenzied there, she seems content with simply pressing against him even as her hands still shake with anticipation as she unbuttons his shirt.

She moves away slightly, shifting to the side and he lets out a moan of frustration at the loss of contact. His hips involuntarily buck against the open air, searching to regain any kind of contact. He's soon rewarded when a second pair of hands grip his belt and begin the careful process of unlatching it. He glances down and sees Henry kneeling, his eyes filled with that same desperation, brow furrowed as he focuses on his task. He’s already in his briefs, his eyes growing glassy with attraction. Mercedes breaks his kiss and begins trailing kisses up towards his ear, drawing moans and whimpers from him. Henry breaks his concentration to look up at him and Darryl’s heart skips a beat. He looks so handsome like that, green eyes wide with attraction, his usually messy blonde hair especially unkempt in his hurry to get undressed. He worries a pink lip between his teeth as he looks up at him. “This okay?” he asks breathlessly. 

Mercedes’ mouth latches onto a place on his neck and he swears the sensation goes straight to his dick. He throws his head back and sucks in a gasp. “God, yes. Please,” he mutters incoherently.

“So polite,” Mercedes murmurs, her breathing heavy with arousal.

He flushes. He’s still not used to this after all, and her praise feels… really good.

Their motion halts. Henry’s hands still on his shorts button, and Mercedes stops her assault on his shirt. They lock eyes, arousal growing.

“We really should have talked about—” Henry murmurs thoughtfully.

“Yeah,” Mercedes responds huskily. 

“What?” Darryl asks, concerned. He doesn’t think whatever it is, it’s bad, but he doesn’t like feeling out of the loop. He also misses their hands on him. He’s all for a good break, but the combination is frustrating. 

“Oh, it’s just sex stuff,” Henry says vaguely. He fondles the button of Darryl’s shorts absent-mindedly.

“That does not make me less worried,” Darryl responds a little indignantly. 

“Darryl,” Mercedes purs, running a hand up his bare chest under his shirt. His breath hitches. “Would you be surprised to learn that Henry and I are into kink?” She looks at him seriously, pressing her body into him more. 

He shakes his head. “That’s what those things are for, right?” He points to the things on the wall he had spotted last night. 

“Mhm,” Mercedes responds, “and we’d like you to be a part of that too, if you’re interested.”

Darryl nods, a little scared but mostly intrigued. He removes his hands from her hips to hold them out to the two.“Okay, what do you want me to do?”

She laughs lowly and Henry nuzzles his thigh as he smiles. “Oh, that’s what we were talking about. We won’t do that with you until we’ve had a nice, long conversation about boundaries. Not in here, and not when we’re this worked up. We’ll have another bowl of soup and talk it out. We were just regretting that we hadn’t already done that yet because I think playing with you is going to be a blast.”

Darryl’s breathing gets heavy. “Oh.” He places his hands back on her hips.

Mercedes chuckles again. “But we’ll worry about that later. Sorry for startling you.” She places her other hand on his cheek.

“‘S ‘Kay,” he murmurs. 

“Good, since we already took a break, why don’t we go ahead and—” she grabs the hem of his shirt and lifts it over his head carefully. She smiles at him as he’s slightly disoriented when his head reemerges from the garment. She steps back slightly to remove her own clothes and Henry takes the opportunity to lower his shorts down to his ankles, then use firm hands to lift one calf and then the other to remove them.

“Underwear too,” she adds huskily. Henry nods and lowers them down as well, carefully repeating the process to toss them to the side.

He’s completely naked except for his socks, and somehow that makes him feel even more exposed. It doesn’t help that Mercedes takes a substantial step back making his hands fall to his sides and Henry falls back on his haunches and they both just… stare at him for a few long seconds. He tries not to fidget. He can see the attraction evident in their eyes. Mercedes even reaches down and runs a hand down her girl dick once, twice, three times, and moans slightly, all while looking directly at him. Henry bites his lip and his breathing gets heavier, his eyes scanning over his body intently.

“Gorgeous,” he whispers with a reverent tone. 

And, listen, Darryl’s never been a particularly self-conscious guy, but he knows what he’s got going on. He’s a former linebacker who never let go of his linebacker diet, even when his exercise routine fell off a long time ago, and it shows. He’s a big guy, and he’s not particularly ashamed of that fact, it just is.

But the way Henry and Mercedes are looking at him makes him feel like he did in his prime, when he could bench press three cheerleaders and a keg. He feels himself go red all over. 

“Absolutely stunning,” Mercedes adds in agreement. 

He knows better than to argue with them on that point by now. But he can’t help how bashful he feels. He looks down at the ground, unable to bear the weight of their gaze.

They both move forward and embrace him, Henry still on his knees, opting to give light, comforting kisses on Darryl’s hip. The bare skin contact is bliss. He whimpers slightly, already feeling better.

“I know you have a hard time believing us right now, honey.” Mercedes holds the back of his head steady, like you do for a newborn. She speaks softly and slowly, the attraction evident in her eyes. “But we’re going to keep saying it until you do. You’re a beautiful man. I hate that you can’t see that. But I hope that someday you will.” Her breathing increases as she takes another look down at his body.

Mercedes begins kissing him again. Her kisses are more slow and steady now, sure and plying. She knows he needs this, needs to know that this is sincere, that she wants him and not some disembodied cock you can’t really see in the dark.  She playfully trails a finger up his chest, venturing nearer and nearer to his taught nipple. He didn’t even realize he was sensitive there, but as she gets closer he finds himself gasping into her mouth. She smiles into him, happy that she can affect him like this. She grinds carefully into his hip, into the soft down found there and moans slightly. Darryl lets out a small whimper as he feels wetness accumulate there.

Henry’s kisses get much less playful. He leaves open mouthed kisses all around his hip and pelvic bone, occasionally pausing to suck, long and hard, leaving bright red marks in his wake. He makes his way ever closer to Darryl’s cock. Darryl holds onto Mercedes’ hips for dear life in anticipation.

Mercedes continues kissing him slowly, carefully, deliberately. His head spins. And then she whispers her index finger over his nipple and a jolt runs through him and straight to his cock. He whimpers into her mouth.

“Mmm,” she hums as she pulls back slightly, “you like that?” She wears a satisfied grin on her face as she looks at him.

Darryl nods. “Yeah,” he gasps out. Even just her self-confident smile turns him on. 

She kisses him for a while more, growing more desperate, but every so often teasing his nipple and making him moan in ecstacy. Henry’s sloppy open mouthed kisses finally make their way near the base of his cock, and he gasps in anticipation. He’s never had this much attention on him in his life, and the way they react to every gasp and moan makes his heart swell. He didn’t know that sex could be like this, that someone could care about his pleasure as much as he cares about theirs. 

The first touch of Henry’s tongue on his cock makes him lurch as Henry carefully begins making his way up his shaft, leaving open mouthed kisses the entire way until he reaches the head. He grasps the base and looks up at him. “This okay?” His eyes are glassy with attraction, mouth glossy with spit and Darryl’s pre.

Henry sucking his cock sounds like maybe one of the hottest things he’s ever seen. “God, yes, please, handsome,” he breaks Mercedes’ kiss to gasp. 

Henry blushes enticingly as he lowers his mouth onto Darryl. He squeezes his legs together, breathing unsteady, his dick peeking out from between his legs. Darryl takes a shuddering breath at the alluring sight.

“He likes that,” Mercedes whispers to him.

He smiles. “I know,” he whispers back. 

As soon as Henry’s mouth is on him, his legs start shaking.  He was sure that Henry’s mouth on his thumb last night combined with the open mouthed kisses from only a few moments earlier would prepare him, but if it weren’t for Mercedes’ strong body holding him up, he’s almost certain he’d fall over. He thinks that maybe once he gets used to it, he’ll be able to handle himself better, but no, every movement Henry’s mouth makes against his cock makes his knees threaten to buckle and he eventually pitches into Mercedes, knocking their teeth together. 

He pulls away from Mercedes’ kiss slightly. “You’re a little bit ahh… too good at that, handsome,” he chokes out. 

Henry looks up at him, a glossy look in his eyes, his cheeks flushed, a contented smile on his face. 

“What do you need?” Mercedes asks breathily into his ear before pulling the lobe in her mouth, making him moan loudly.

“Do you ah,” he moans, “do you think we could move to the bed or something?” he asks, suddenly sheepish now that the action has stopped. “Having a little trouble standing.” He runs a hand through Henry’s hair making his grin widen. He likes that he’s causing Darryl problems with standing. He hums happily at the information.

Mercedes sighs wistfully. “Someday I will have a more, let's say, creative method for keeping you upright,” she tweaks his nipple seductively, “but for now that’s a good idea.” 

Darryl’s mind flushes with what that could possibly mean and allows himself to be led to the bed. They set him up against the pillows, Mercedes half-laying on him on his left, and Henry nestled in between his legs.

Henry goes back to sucking his cock. Even with this, Darryl can’t keep up with Mercedes’ pace as his body shakes and convules against his will with pleasure. She smiles devilishly and moves back to trailing kisses along his ear and neck, finding the places that make him moan and whimper. So Darryl has nothing left to do but watch Henry, diligently and eagerly bobbing his head along his shaft. His face is flushed with pleasure and he lets out little moans as he goes. Mercedes settles her mouth over his nipple and he throws his head back in ecstasy, groaning as the dual contact threatens to overwhelm his senses. Henry places a steadying hand on the base of his cock and pauses with only the head in his mouth, then begins swirling his tongue around it, pumping with his hand at the same time. This new sensation makes pre come streaming into his mouth, making Henry moan with pleasure as his mouth is filled. 

They go like that for a while, Henry alternating between bobbing his head and using his tongue to drive him into deeper pleasure, and Mercedes sucking on his nipples, the almost painful sensation driving him higher and higher. He gets lost in them, feeling more surrounded and cared for than he ever thought possible. He’s unaware of the amount of whimpers and moans he lets out as their mouths continue to suck and kiss and make love to him, but they aren’t. They let out answering whimpers and moans and smile to themselves that they’ve managed to so thoroughly pleasure their new partner.

Eventually, Henry pulls back and winces. “Neck can’t handle that angle for very long,” he says by way of explanation.

Darryl doesn’t mind but tries to nod slightly. The lack of contact is jarring at first, but his focus shifts whatever witchcraft Mercedes is doing to his nipples. She sucks on them hard, then pulls back and blows cool air on them, then brings her mouth back in and bites down slightly, before soothing her tongue over it and starting the process all over again. The careful ministrations are mind-boggling. An hour ago he didn’t know any thing was possible in that area, much less anything erotic. He’d have said that they were vestigial. He’s never been more pleased to find himself proved wrong.

Soon, Mercedes starts moaning louder into Darryl's chest, and he opens his eyes to see Henry's face buried in her full ass cheeks. His cock throbs at the sight. Henry dives in eagerly, only coming up for air occasionally, his eyes lost in attraction but determined to give Mercedes as much pleasure as possible.

Darryl’s transfixed as he watches Henry sit up, grab a glass dildo, and begin filling Mercedes’ ass with long, smooth strokes. She takes to kissing his collar bone in between moans as Darryl can do nothing more than watch and run his hands over her body. 

“You like that honey?” she whispers. 

Darryl nods. That’s one of the hottest things he’s seen in a long time. Henry’s brow is furrowed in concentration, holding the glass firmly, his knuckles turning white slightly. Darryl watches with rapt attention. Henry’s so concentrated, filling Mercedes with long, smooth strokes. Mercedes taking the dildo is no less impressive, moaning with every thrust, her hips meeting Henry’s hand in time. 

“How’d you like for that to be you inside of me like that?” she whispers with a gasp.

A moan slips from his lips. “I’d like that.” He imagines being behind Mercedes, how her ass would feel wrapped around him, as she begins subtly quaking below him. Maybe Henry would be under her and they could–

“Or,” she smiles wickedly, “We could fuck you with our dildo.”

He finally breaks eye contact with the alluring sight to throw his head back in ecstasy. The idea of them working over him, his ass in the air as they drive the clear toy into and out of him makes his cock jump. He didn’t even know he was into that.

“Oh,” she says delightedly, “we may make a bottom of him yet, baby.” 

Henry moans in answer. He doesn’t slow his careful attention on Mercedes' ass. He looks up from his work for a moment to look at Mercedes and Darryl with a pleased smile on his face. “Would you like that?” he whispers, locking eyes with Darryl.

“Yeah,” Darryl chokes out, “I would.”

Henry smiles self-satisfied and turns his attention back towards his work.

Darryl’s pretty sure they could say anything in that tone of voice and he’d find it hot. He finds Mercedes’ mouth and starts kissing her before he embarrasses himself by just their talking to him. 

Eventually she moves to lay fully on her stomach as Henry moves a pillow under her hips, elevating her ass in the air enticingly. Darryl can do nothing but watch with rapt attention as  Henry pumps himself several times and grows before his eyes, and then carefully checks that Mercedes is sufficiently lubricated, and inserts himself into her. They both moan in pleasure at their joining. Mercedes’ head is near Darryl’s hip, her hair splayed out beautifully on the bed, her eyes closed gently in pleasure and her shoulders relaxing. Looking at both of them, it seems like they’ve come home. Darryl once again finds himself content to watch. But after a moment of careful breathing, Henry reaches out a hand to him and begins guiding him behind him. 

“Need you,” Henry gasps, “inside of me.” 

Darryl has never considered himself particularly bright, so it takes him a second to understand what’s happening, but when he does, he groans. “Like this?” he clarifies. He stands on his knees and lines himself up with Henry’s front hole as Henry makes himself still, leaning over Mercedes, still on her stomach. Darryl grabs ahold of Henry’s hips as he waits for the go ahead. The skin is still soft, yet firm there, like it was just last night, but Darryl marvels at how familiar it already is to him. He finds himself glad neither of them are looking at him as he’s overcome with emotions.

Henry nods vigorously. “God, yes, love, please, just like this. This is going to feel so good.” He tries to push his hips backwards to seat himself on Darryl but stops as he realizes he can't move back too far or risk detaching himself from Mercedes. He moans in frustration.

“Go slow honey,” Mercedes rasps, “I’m not sure he can handle much else.” Her face is flush with excitement, her cheek pressed up against the mattress, her hands already poised to grip the sheets in ecstasy. 

Darryl nods and slowly eases himself into Henry. “This okay?” he chokes out. Henry, once again, feels phenomenal, squeezing him and massaging his cock before he’s even begun to move inside him in earnest.

Henry moans as he enters him. It feels just as good as he had remembered from last night. “God, yes, please, faster love,” Henry pleads. He’s incoherent with pleasure. His wife so pliant underneath him, his love behind him filling him up. This is his dream. He’s never wanted anything more than this. But Darryl’s moving at a glacial pace and he needs more . After all of the emotions of earlier he needs a good fuck to center him down, make him sane. He needs to make them both feel how much he loves them, and he can’t do that when they’re hardly moving damnit. He whimpers.

Darryl locks eyes with Mercedes over her shoulder. “I’m following your lead beautiful.” And she is beautiful, dark, piercing eyes that seem to see into his soul, face flushed with pleasure, hair splaying wildly over the bed. He struggles not to plunge deep into Henry just at the sight. He takes a deep breath as he locks eyes with her. 

She shakes her head slightly with a smile. 

Darryl gives Henry a kiss on the shoulder, searching with his mouth until he finds the spot that makes him buck and spasm against him. He moans as he succeeds and Henry tightens around him further. “Sorry, no can do handsome,” he chokes out. “Boss lady’s orders.”

As Mercedes clenches around him. Henry lets out a high whine. “...two are gonna be the death of me…” he mutters under his breath. 

Darryl smiles and continues his tortuously slow pace, drawing moans and gasps from the people below him. He eases slowly into Henry until he’s seated fully, then follows him forward as he seats himself fully into Mercedes, The three of them moan in unison at being fully connected. As he pulls back, Henry follows slightly and then whimpers as he’s nearly disconnected from Mercedes and she tightens around him, trying to hold him in. Then Darryl plunges forward again and begins the process afresh, driving each of them higher with each pass. He does it again, more confident in his movement, gripping Henry’s hips as Henry spasms around his cock and Mercedes begins to lift her hips into them, catching on with his rhythm. 

He desperately wants to go faster, to see how loud he can make them moan, how high they can fly together, but he remembers that the kids are still home somewhere, and he keeps his pace steady, trembling with the effort of his restraint. 

Henry notices. “Please,” he whimpers desperately. “Please, love, more. I need you,” he lets out in a begging sob. He clenches around Darryl and can’t decide whether he wants to plunge backwards or forwards, so he stays in place, rotating his hips slightly in desperation.

Darryl’s resolve breaks for only a second and he snaps his hips forward with a strength and quickness he had forgotten he had, making the three of them moan loudly. “LIke that?” he rasps. That felt too good. There’s no way he could maintain that for long, but his body still begs him to try.

Henry whimpers and nods. God, if Darryl fucked him like that, there’d be no way he could last, but damn if he wouldn’t go down trying. 

Darryl smiles teasingly and gives him a gentle kiss on the shoulder. “Sorry handsome, that’s all we got. Slow and steady wins the race, remember?” He contents himself with the knowledge that some day, he’ll have a redo, and he’ll fuck Henry hard enough he’ll never ask for it again.

Henry devolves into whimpers and becomes incoherent with pleasure as he gives into the rhythm. Mercedes smiles her approval at him and gasps, as she too gets lost in pleasure.

Every gasp, every whine brings him closer until he’s not sure he can hold back any more, even at this leisurely pace. 

His thighs start trembling with the effort. “Don’t think…” he rasps out, “I can hold back much longer.” He tries to slow his motion more, take a deep breath, put his mind on something else. None of it’s working. Making love to them is simply too alluring. He’s sucked into their current and doesn’t want to find a way out.

“Don’t,” they each moan desperately. Mercedes knows how close Henry gets when he’s come inside, and she knows how much his orgasm sets her off. And from this angle Darryl is stunning. She can’t wait to see, hear, feel him get lost in pleasure again.

“I’m getting close too,” Henry whispers desperately, “if you come now I’ll probably—” He whimpers. “Please, love,” he rasps.

“Oh, fuck, just like that baby.” Mercedes buries her head in the soft mattress and then looks over her shoulder at Darryl. “Don’t hold back, honey. Come for us,” she pants. 

And with that, the dam breaks, and Darryl does as he’s asked. He doesn’t recognize the sound that comes out of him, the low, loud groan that rolls through his body that he tries to stifle into Henry’s shoulder and his body lurches forward into Henry’s heat. He feels like pure ecstasy, tightening and tightening around him, milking him for all he’s worth as he gets closer too, and that knowledge makes him seat himself inside of Henry as far as he can, knowing that doing so might just be the thing to send him over the edge.

Henry makes a sound Darryl’s never heard before, high gasping whines, and he feels him tightening around him definitively. He’s so close, he can feel it. He kisses his shoulder again and tightens the hands gripping his hips. “Come for us handsome,” he gasps. 

“Oh god, love, fuck—” And Henry reduces to spasms as he reaches his climax as well, laying fully over Mercedes as his arms begin to tremble with his orgasm. He’s overcome with pleasure, filled with Darryl’s cum as Mercedes moans loudly underneath him. He desperately thrusts forward, trying to give his wife as much pleasure as possible while he can.

Darryl hears only a low moan as Mercedes comes as well, but he feels her push Henry’s hips up against him, seating him more fully inside of him. He lets out a groan as Henry milks the last of his orgasm from him and they all still for a moment. Henry continues to convulse around him, slightly overstimulating but nevertheless worth the sense of closeness. 

His legs refuse to hold him up any longer so he rolls over to the side, breathing heavily. Henry follows his lead, but lands mostly on top of him. Not that Darryl minds, the smaller man isn’t heavy enough to hurt him, but the surprise makes him breathless. Mercedes rolls over and holds them after a moment.

They lay in a comfortable silence, basking in the afterglow. 

Eventually, Darryl speaks up. “We didn’t make it explicit so I just wanted to check, we can keep doing this, right?” he asks uncertainly.

They both reach for him, and he feels instantly at home. 

“Of course,” Henry says huskily. “You mentioned getting addicted to us last night, but I think we’re getting addicted to you, too.”

“Mmm,” Mercedes hums, “in the best possible way.” 

Darryl feels heat rise to his face. “Oh, okay then good. That’s good.” He feels warmth rush through him and decides to say it before he chickens out. “I love you,” he whispers. 

They both smile with tears in their eyes, touched at his vulnerability. “I love you, too,” Mercedes responds, stroking his cheek.

“I love you too,” Henry rasps, giving him a kiss on the brow.

Darryl’s not sure how long they lay there like that. Long enough for his stomach to begin its protestations again, but they don’t move until they hear a small knock at the door.

“Father,” Sparrow says through the door, “Darryl’s brewing equipment is on the curb. Can we have it? We think we can use some of the parts to make knives.”

Darryl groans. He completely forgot about Carol for a few hours. He looks between the two of them, “Do you think you could help me—” 

They’re already jumping up, putting on clothes. Mercedes pulls out her cell phone and begins speaking so rapidly it makes his head spin. He begins getting dressed as well, having to root around to find his outfit. 

“No, you can’t have it, but if you stand outside and guard it or anything else from being taken from the curb, I’ll let you watch that horror movie you’ve been begging to see,” Henry says as he puts on pants.

“Got it, father, we shall protect the things with our lives.” And their little feet patter down the hallway and out towards the door. 

“No I didn’t mean—ugh.” Henry groans in frustration as he hears the little footsteps retreat down the hallway.

“They’ll be fine,” Mercedes says to him.

“I know, I just can’t help but think maybe I sent the wrong message.” He worries a lip between his teeth as he throws on a shirt.

“You’re teaching our boys to stick up for people who need help. That’s an important lesson to learn.” She shoves her legs into some skinny jeans.

Henry slips on his glasses, “You’re right as always, mi amor.” 

After a few finishing words Mercedes finishes getting dressed and looks at Darryl. “I have some cousins who will be here in about 20 minutes to help you move your stuff. We saw the provision that she leave Grant’s room alone, but he might want his things here anyway. I’ve already texted him to ask.”

“You did? How did you—?”

“Mommy magic, don’t worry about it,” Henry interjects.

Darryl figures he’ll get the answer eventually, so he just nods.

His first instinct is to say that’s not necessary, that he’s got it, that he doesn’t need help, but when he looks between the two of them, he remembers that he’s not alone anymore. “Thank you,” he chokes out. 

Henry puts a hand on his shoulder, “I told you, we’re here for you, love. Now, let's get you moved out.”

Darryl nods and they head for the door. 

Chapter Text

The trio, aided by Lark and Sparrow’s encouragement, get the boxes and furniture on the curb into the garage of their house. Darryl’s heartbroken. Boxes of Grant’s awards and paintings from over the years, baby pictures, the quilt Darryl had knitted while Carol was in the hospital with Grant… all of it left out for the trash.

As a minivan full of people with a striking resemblance to Mercedes pulls up and begins piling out of the car, they throw a concerned glance at Darryl and he moves to go introduce himself, but just then their neighbor, the single dad, comes walking up to the group. 

“Ah,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, “Darryl Wilson?”

Darryl looks at him and kind of raises his hand in acknowledgement. “Yeah, that’s me.”  

“I ah, just got a call from the manager of the skate park? Says your son Grant’s there and his phone doesn’t work. Apparently ‘Carol’ disabled his debit card and his phone. Tried to call you, but your line was dead.” He ticks it off his fingers as he lists the information. 

Darryl feels his stomach sink to his knees. He pulls out his phone. Sure enough, it reads “no signal”. He curses. How long had Grant been needing him and he didn’t notice?

He looks between the disheveled man and the van unloading into the driveway. 

“Up to you,” Henry murmurs beside him. “We can move whatever you need while you go get him, or we can go get him while you pick out what you need to move.”

Darryl turns to him. “I need to go to my son.”

Henry nods. Mercedes grimaces. “Darryl, are you sure Carol won’t try to call the cops? That seems like how she’s handling this right now.”

“Oh,” Darryl says, “no, that’s fine. My uncle’s an officer, I’ll call him and tell him not to send anyone out.”

The couple look at each other and share a grimace. 

“Oh, right, I don’t have a phone, can I…?” He feels silly but doesn’t really have a better option right now.

Henry nods and hands his over. Darryl types the number in by heart. “Uncle Dave? Yeah it’s Darryl, well, don’t spread this around too much, but Carol and I are getting a divorce. Yeah, I know it is the darndest thing. But listen, some friends are helping me move some stuff out for a bit while she leaves—yeah she’s not taking it well—and they’re afraid she’s going to try and get them kicked out while I pick up Grant from the skate park. You know that’s mom’s place she’s been letting us stay in, and I don’t want Carol causing them any fuss just for giving me a hand. Yeah, we’ll swing by after things die down and have a few beers and I’ll tell you the whole thing, how’s that sound? Uh huh, yep, bye.” 

Mercedes and Henry look at him dumbfounded. 

“If it helps, he’s my least favorite uncle,” Darryl says sheepishly. “Henry, can I make another call? I’ve got to tell Mom before she finds out through the grapevine.” 

Henry nods still struck. “Yeah yeah of course love, whatever you need.” 

He dials his mom’s number. “Hey mom, it’s Darryl.”

“Well hi pumpkin, this a new number?” He can hear the sounds of dishes clanking in the background.

“Yeah, I’m using a friend’s. Listen, I wanted to tell you in person but—”

“I just got a message from Darlene saying you’re getting a divorce? What’s that about pumpkin?” her voice colors with worry.

Darryl winces. “Sorry, mom, it’s just been a lot to process and I hadn’t really told anybody except the courts and God but I needed uncle Dave’s help. I was going to tell you soon, once it had all been settled.”

She tisks. “It’s fine, ole mom’s the last to know everything.” She sighs teasingly. 

“Listen, mom it’s not like that—” 

“Oh, I’m just pulling your leg pumpkin. Us old folks have to have some fun too, you know. But I’ll be sure to tell Darlene to not let Davey throw out your friends while you go get my precious grandson, okay? And I’ll let you tell the story of your broken heart after you get settled.”

Darryl breathes a sigh of relief. “Thanks, mom.”

“Of course, pumpkin. And tell that son of yours he needs to visit more often.”

“I will, mom. Talk to you later.”

He hands the phone back to Henry. “Thanks, I’m gonna go get Grant and we can finish up whatever we need when we get back.” 

Henry nods. “Go get your son.” He gives him a brief hug. “I love you,” he whispers. 

“Love you too handsome,” Darryl whispers back, and he heads towards his car. 

Luckily, Carol hadn’t thought to damage his car, maybe because she remembered her name wasn’t on it, and he roars off towards the skate park. 

That he has no clue where it is. 

He skids to a stop in the middle of the road. “Anybody know where the skate park is?” he calls out the window with a wince.

They all look at each other. The disheveled man raises his hand. “I do. Sounds like you need a phone with you anyway.”

“Oh, that’s great, thanks Glenn. I think I still have your number from the soccer phone tree,” Henry says. 

Darryl looks at Glenn gratefully. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

Glenn nods in acknowledgement and hops in the van.

They get to the park quickly. Glenn’s directions are surprisingly straightforward in spite of how strongly he smells of pot. 

Darryl sees Grant sitting on the curb, his new board under his feet, his head in his hands. 

“Grant!” Darryl parks and runs towards his son. 

“Dad?” Grant’s eyes are red and he hurriedly wipes tears from his cheeks as Darryl approaches. 

Darryl sits next to his son and hugs him. “I’m so sorry it took me so long buddy, I never thought—”

“I didn’t know what to do. I tried to call you but then I didn’t have signal and so finally I had them call Nick’s number but I didn’t know—” he chokes out a sob. 

Darryl holds him tighter. “I’m so sorry. I should have thought—I’m glad you’re okay.”

Grant sniffles. “Thanks for coming dad.” 

“Of course buddy, I’ll always be here for you.” He gives his son a kiss on the head.

Grant looks down and laughs. “Hey dad? Why are you wearing a shirt that says ‘geology rocks’ on the front?”

Darryl looks down and to his horror sees that he’s wearing Henry’s shirt. He feels heat rise to his face. “I—”

Grant holds up a hand. “You know what, my mistake, shouldn’t ask questions I don’t want to know the answer to.”

Darryl laughs. “Why don’t we get home, huh? Mercedes’ family is there right now moving stuff so your—Carol doesn’t destroy any of it. We could go ahead and get you moved in, if you want?”

Grant looks at him, wide-eyed. “You mean we’re staying?”

Darryl nods. “At least until Carol moves out.”

Grant hugs him tighter. “Cool,” he whispers. 

They stand up and find Glenn standing there awkwardly. 

“Glenn helped me find my way here since my phone doesn’t work,” Darryl explains. 

“Oh, hey Glenn, thanks for the help.” Grant seems to relax when he realizes who it is.

Glenn holds out his hand for a fist bump, which Grant returns. “No problem man. Glad I could help.”

They all climb back into the Honda Odyssey and sit in uncomfortable silence. Glenn looks between the two of them and finally speaks. “So, this Carol chick sounds like a real bitch.”

Grant nods. “Yeah.”

Darryl’s first instinct is to protest but after a second of thought he only nods tiredly. “My ex-wife. Cheated on me with the soccer coach.”

Grant’s eyes are wide. “No way, Darnell?”

“Shit. Sorry buddy, I didn’t mean for you to hear that, I don’t want you to have a bad opinion of him.” Darryl winces. It seems like he can’t do anything right.

“Nah, it’s okay,” Grant says. “He’s a hard ass and a homophobe. I haven’t quit because I like playing.”

Glenn whistles. “That’s a rough gig. She cheats on you and now she’s trying to destroy your life? Good riddance.” 

Darryl finds himself nodding. 

“Plus it seems like you have a good thing going with Henry and Mercedes. Happy for you. When you find love like that you’ve got to hold onto it. You never know how long it’ll last.” With that, Glenn stares thoughtfully out the window. 

Henry gets a call from a number he doesn’t recognize not long after Darryl and Glenn take off.

“Hi, is this Darryl’s friend?” He hears an elderly woman’s voice.

“Yes ma’am,” Henry says, “I’m Henry Oak, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh, huh. You’re a man,” she says and is quiet for a moment. “Well, didn’t see that one coming.”

“I’m sorry—?”

“Oh, I may be old but I’m not stupid. I know what my Darryl sounds like when he’s in love, no matter how many times he calls you a ‘friend’.”

Henry flushes, but he doesn’t want to out Darryl to his mother. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says neutrally. 

She laughs. “Okay, well, you can apologize for lying to me when Darryl brings you over for Sunday dinner, how’s that sound? Just tell me this: did he leave Carol for you?”

Henry considers protesting or something again but decides it won’t help his case. “No,” he says simply. 

She hums happily. “Good. I’m glad he has somebody to watch out for him. Never did like Carol much. But of course, you’re ‘just friends’, so I’m sure you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

Henry can’t hide the smile in his voice. “Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Now I’ve got to give that bitch a piece of my mind for hurting my boy.”

“I didn’t even—”

“Goodbye, Henry Oak. I accept apologies in the form of baked goods.”

Henry sighs defeatedly. “Goodbye Mrs. Wilson.”

By the time they get back, Mercedes’ cousins have left, and the couple are sitting on the couch watching the door nervously. 

As Darryl and Grant wave goodbye to Glenn and then walk through the front door, Henry jumps up like he’s been springloaded. “Darryl, Grant, hey how are you?”

Darryl smiles tiredly at him. “We’re safe, and home in one piece.”

Mercedes and Henry look at each other. “So, ah, we have some bad news. Nothing terrible. Why don’t we sit.”

Grant settles himself in the oversized lounge chair and so Darryl nestles in between Henry and Mercedes. They both immediately wrap an arm around him. 

Grant cocks his head at the sight, then smiles. Darryl is warmed by his son’s nonverbal acceptance. 

“So, the bad news?” Darryl says, feeling much more capable of handling whatever it is than he did a few minutes prior. 

“Right,” Henry says. “We wanted to go ahead and move Grant’s stuff in, but the verbiage in the divorce papers indicates that if either of you disturbs Grant’s room before Carol’s 5 day move out period, you’ll be held legally responsible. We figured it’d be best not to risk it.”

Grant looks disappointed, but nods understandingly. 

“But,” Mercedes adds, “Raxiel, my cousin with the little skate shop? They had some clothes they were taking to the free store down and The Factory and they look like they’d fit Grant.”

Grant’s eyes go wide. “No way. They’re like. So cool. That’s way better than having my old clothes.”

Mercedes smiles and reaches over to ruffle his hair. “Well, when we can go through your room we’ll sort through and you can decide what all you want, okay?”

Grant nods. “This is awesome,” he whispers to himself. 

Darryl looks at Mercedes. “Thank you. And tell your cousin thank you, too. For all… they have done,” he says carefully. Three sets of eyes settle on him and smile. Darryl turns to Henry. “Did I do that right?” 

Henry nods. “We probably need to finish that presentation some time, but you’re doing great.”

Darryl is warmed by the complement and nods. 

He turns to Grant. “I should probably catch you up to speed.”

Mercedes and Henry nod. “We’ll get supper started.” Henry turns to Grant. “Soy allergy. Anything else?”

Grant grimaces. “Never met a carrot I liked.”

Mercedes turns to Darryl. “Darryl? Anything you don’t like?”

Darryl can feel his face warm. “I know this sounds crazy, but I love the way onions taste, but I hate eating them. Biting into one just ruins my night. But I can eat around them, no problem.”

Henry and Mercedes look at each other and nod. “We’ll be right on it. You two take as much time as you need. The presentation room might be a little more private.”

Darryl and Grant settle into the dark room on the bed. 

“So…” Darryl’s not sure where to begin. 

“Like I said before, dad, I’m happy for you.” Grant bumps his shoulder into Darryl playfully.

“You mean you don’t… need an explanation?” Darryl’s shocked.

Grant smiles at him. “No dad, this isn’t my first gay rodeo.”

“Oh, right. I had forgotten—this is all new to me.” Darryl feels heat rise to his face.

Grant nods. “That’s okay. Seems like you’re getting a hang of it.”

Darryl nods back and they sit in silence for a moment. 

“Do you love them?” Grant asks quietly. 

“Yeah,” Darryl says hoarsely. “Yeah I really do. And they love me. I—I didn’t know it could be like this.”

Grant smiles. “We both deserved better than Carol, huh?”

Darryl nods. “Yeah, I think we did.” 

“So, do we live here now?” Grant asks, hope coloring his voice.

Darryl nods again. “I think so. Is that okay? You’re my priority, so if you’re not comfortable with it…”

“No, it’s cool. Like I said, I like Henry and Mercedes, and I hung out with Lark and Sparrow this morning while you all were sleeping. They were cool too.” Grant laughs a little to himself.

“Oh, they were?” Darryl’s pleasantly surprised. He hadn’t even considered them, as bad as that sounds.

“Yeah,” Grant smiles, “They started calling me ‘brother’ when I showed them my lock pick set.”

Darryl warms at the thought. He probably needs to spend more time with them, too.

“Oh,” Grant says and winces, “Can I stop going to therapy?”

“Grant, there’s no shame in needing therapy, and since everything with Carol—”

“Yeah, no, I know and I can go to a new one but,” Grant looks at the floor, “this one is… not good. I try to talk about social anxiety and they… they keep talking about how I need to ‘fight the homosexual demons’ in me.”

Darryl’s heart goes cold. “Carol knew?” he asks as he holds himself completely still.

Grant nods. “I tried to talk to her after the first session, but she said—she said it would help.” He lets out a little sob. 

Darryl moves over and holds his son. “Oh my God… Grant I had no clue… I should have noticed or asked or… of course you don’t have to go anymore. I’m sure Henry and Mercedes will know of a better place to send you… I’m so so sorry.”

Grant shakes his head tearily. “No, it’s not your fault, mom told me not to tell you, that if I did you’d—” He starts crying in earnest. 

Darryl holds him, rubbing his back in small circles. “It’s okay, buddy, I got you.” He looks Grant in the eye. “You know I’d never hurt you, right?”

Grant nods slightly. “I mean you’ve never—but the stories I’ve heard, dad. Anything is possible.”

Darryl feels hot tears run down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry.” It’s all he can think to say. “I’ll make it up to you, somehow.”

Grant holds him tighter. “Thank you,” he whispers.

They dry their tears and head into the dining room just as Henry and Mercedes begin setting six places. Darryl’s sure they see their red eyes, but they thankfully don’t mention it. Henry simply squeezes his shoulder. “Everything okay?”

Darryl nods and begins helping portion out bowls and spoons.

Chapter Text

As they eat, they sit in relative silence, Lark and Sparrow waging mock wars comprised of the ingredients in their soup, eating the fallen soldiers as they go. At the end of the bloody battle, with the final survivors dying of consumption, Darryl is surprised to find that while everyone else’s soup contained hearty portions of onion, his did not. He notices, then, that Grant’s bowl hadn’t contained any carrots. He looks at his spouses and smiles, touched at the simple yet thoughtful gesture.

“Father,” Sparrow says as he finishes eating. “We have decided we would like to keep Darryl and Grant.”

Darryl hides his smile by taking another bite of soup. 

“Oh?” Henry says, amused. 

“Yes,” Lark confirms. “Grant knows how to pick locks. And Darryl looks like a worthy opponent in battle.” He smiles widely.

“I see,” Mercedes responds carefully. 

The three look at each other. 

“Well, boys, I have good news. Darryl and Grant are going to stay with us, at least for a while,” Henry finally speaks.

“Forever?” Lark asks.

Henry struggles to answer that. 

“We have no plans to leave,” Darryl says diplomatically. 

“Oh this is great news!” Sparrow says, but Lark gets a pensive look on his face.

“Yes, this is great. However, I do foresee an issue…” 

Henry looks shocked. “Oh?”

“Yes,” Lark nods resolutely, “Sparrow and I have decided that we will need our own rooms on our 13 and a half birthday. Puberty, you know,” he says as an aside, and it’s clear he does not know. 

“And that will leave us no spare room in the occasion that our allies should ever need our aid…” Sparrow continues his brother’s train of thought. 

Henry beams at them. “Well, that’s good looking out boys. We were actually thinking about moving if that ever becomes an issue. You know that big house on the corner?”

“The abandoned one?” they ask in unison as their ears perk up.

“How did you—I don’t want to know. Yes, that one.” Henry confirms. “Darryl knows the guy who owns it and it holds a lot of important memories for him.”

The boys seem to vibrate in place. “Yes! Yes! We’re going to live in a haunted house! We’re going to meet the ultimate opponent, that which has already been killed! Father, may we be excused to our room?”

Henry nods “Of course, I’ve never—”

The boys are already out of their chairs and up the stairs. 

The rest of the night is uneventful. Darryl gets ahold of the phone company and sets up a new account, they make plans to go to the bank and get him his first independent bank account, and they spend a while telling stories and just spending time together. 

And in bed that night, they don’t have any wild and crazy sex, or sex at all, but they carefully strip each other of their clothes and lay in bed, laughing and kissing and reveling in the joy of being together. Darryl falls asleep holding both of them in his arms, and he can’t remember the last time he was so happy. 

The next day, they get up early, and despite his protestations that he can go to the bank himself, the six of them pack into the Odyssey and head towards the bank. While they’re there, Lark and Sparrow whisper to each other their plans for a bank heist involving a bunch of c4 and some sheep, and they transfer the money out of Grant’s bank account and savings so that Carol no longer has access to it. 

When they get home, Darryl breathes a sigh of relief. He hadn’t realized how much that was weighing on him. Darryl and Henry move his grill to the back yard, and he starts grilling up burgers for him, Grant, and Lark, and black bean burgers for Henry, Mercedes, and Sparrow. 

After lunch, Lark and Sparrow present him with a piece of parchment, with intricate calligraphy, challenging him to a duel, the two of them against him. At the bottom is signed Lark and Sparrow in a childish script that clashes with the rest of the document. 

When he looks up, he sees Henry and Mercedes watching him carefully, as well as Lark and Sparrow’s vibrating forms in front of him. 

He glances down at the paper. “Two conditions,” he says seriously.

The boys begin vibrating faster. “Yes?” They say in unison.

“Classic wrestling rules. No weapons, no biting, no foul play.”

“But foul play is the fun part!” Lark whines.

Sparrow nods curtly. “Accepted. And the other?”

“Has to be outside, with no traps or hazards prepared beforehand. We’ll all inspect the playing field before the game to ensure it’s satisfactory.” He speaks carefully.

Sparrow frowns slightly but nods again. “Accepted. Anything else?”

“This is not a fight to the death. It’s a fight to the laugh,” Darryl smiles. “The first one to pin the other and tickle them until they laugh wins.”

The twins look at each other and think. “Accepted,” Lark says. He takes the parchment from Darryl’s hands, crosses out a few lines, adds a few more. It’s the same beautiful script as the rest of the document, and it lays out what Darryl had said. He nods and signs.

“Excellent! Our battle will commence in 30 minutes.” Sparrow’s brow furrows seriously.

“But we were just about to have ice cream,” Henry interjects.

The twins look at each other. “Our battle shall commence one hour after ice cream, to avoid tummy cramps,” Lark amends.

When he looks up, Henry and Mercedes are smiling widely at him. 

“Brother,” Sparrow calls as they run up the stairs, “you must watch us defeat your father in glorious battle! It will be a tale for the ages! We need your intel on where he is ticklish!”

Darryl looks at them bashfully. “I probably should have made sure that’s okay with you two before I agreed to it.”

They shake their heads and Henry sits close to him. “No, you did exactly the right thing. You set clear boundaries and spoke to them on a level they can connect with.”

“We don’t really know how to handle that kind of stuff,” Mercedes says with an embarrassed shrug. “Neither of us were particularly sporty. I’m glad you’re here Darryl.”

Darryl feels himself blush. “I’m glad I’m here too. I heard there was ice cream?”

Darryl can feel himself panting. They've been at this for 20 minutes, following just about the same pattern: the boys bum-rushing him until they latch onto his thighs and him carefully detaching them and depositing them to the ground, only for the cycle to repeat again. He can tell that they’re having a blast, and truth be told, he is too. It's been a long time since Grant liked to roughhouse like this, but he’s getting tired. Finally, the twins lock eyes and nod slightly. Lark goes in to bum rush him again, but as Darryl moves to gently place him on the ground, Sparrow barrels in, pushing him to the ground while he’s off balance. 

They rush to pin him, and Sparrow's brow furrows seriously as he carefully sticks a finger into Darryl’s armpit. “Careful brother,” Lark cautions, “not too hard or it will not work.”

As Sparrow nods seriously, he sticks his tongue out of the side of his mouth in concentration and Darryl loses it. He cracks up laughing at the ridiculous scene. 

The twins look at each other in awe and then run off into the lawn shouting, “Victory!!” Their small arms raised triumphantly in the air. 

Mercedes and Henry move to help him up, laughing alongside him. They begin to dust the dirt and grass off his clothes, and he feels Mercedes’ hand rest firmly on his ass cheek. “Whoops,” she whispers coyly.

Darryl looks up to see Carol standing in the lawn in her business suit, clearly not interested in doing lawn work or anything of the sort. 

He looks between Henry and Mercedes, but doesn’t pull away. Carol is not his wife anymore, and he doesn’t owe her his chastity. 

She stares him down, seeming to issue a challenge. When he doesn’t shy or flinch away, she screams, frustrated, and begins to stalk towards them. 

The twins stop their celebration at the sound and look at the trio. 

“Boys,” Mercedes says with a strained urgency. “I need you to go inside.” 

They begin to protest. 

“Now.” Her voice leaves no room for argument.

They head inside without another word.

The trio stand their ground, waiting for Carol to approach. Mercedes slips her hand into Darryl’s back pocket and he smiles at her as Carol is nearly in front of them.

“I knew you were cheating on me, you little two timing son of a bitch,” she rants loudly. “I told your mother as much yesterday but she wouldn’t believe me. ‘Get out of my house,’” she says in a mocking voice. “Not like I want to live next to a bunch of faggots anyway, you and your faggot son and this faggot relationship and this whole goddamn faggot neighborhood!” Darnell walks out of the house and towards the scene as well. 

“Carol,” Grant says calmly from the back door behind her, “you should go. You’re only embarrassing yourself.”

Darryl notices that Darnell is not approaching him but his son just a few moments too late.

“And what are you gonna do about it you little fag? Gonna cry about it? Gonna run home to your mommy?” He grabs Grant by the collar. “Oh that’s right, she doesn’t even want you. Pathetic.” He throws Grant to the ground. 

“Hey!” Darryl is there in an instant, and he pushes the larger man away from his son with a strength he hasn’t used in a very long time. 

He leans down to Grant to check on him and braces himself for an attack as he furiously searches him for broken bones. 

But the attack never comes. He looks over to see Glenn holding Darnell back as he furiously struggles against the hold. Glenn nods at him. “I got you man, handled enough big drunk idiots in my day.”

Darryl looks down at Grant. “You okay?”

Grant smiles up at him. “Takes a lot more than that to get to me now.”

Darryl helps him up and checks on the scrapes on his elbows. “Head inside, please, I’ll patch you up when I get things figured out here.” 

Grant nods. “I’m sorry if that was the wrong thing to do I just couldn’t—”

“No, you did great. I’m really proud of you standing up for yourself.” He gives his son a kiss on the crown of his head. 

Grant heads inside. 

By the time Darryl looks back around, the neighbors from the other side of the house have also joined the party. The serious looking woman is talking to Carol and Darnell. Whatever she says makes them walk off back towards his mother’s house. Her new husband stands awkwardly and waves.

She walks over to Darryl and Henry and Mercedes. She worries her lower lip between her teeth. “I’m afraid all I could get them to agree to was to walk off for now. It doesn’t seem likely that this is the end of it though.” 

Lark stands just inside the threshold of the door holding a camcorder that looks comically large in his hands. “Mother,” he says, “can I come outside now pleeease?” 

Mercedes smiles. “Sure, the danger has passed.” 

Henry looks behind him in confusion. “Where’s your brother?”

“He’s helping Grant with his wounds. The most important role in battle is the medic, to ensure that the soldiers can fight on another day! But the second most important is messenger, and so—” He gestures to himself.

“What is it bud?” Darryl asks. 

Lark opens up the viewfinder to show the scene that had just taken place. The audio is muffled, but still recognizable and the scene is slightly obscured by a sheer curtain. Darryl looks on, amazed. 

“I don’t think the school board would appreciate a teacher verbally and physically abusing a student, would they?” Lark says slyly. 

Darryl mentally curses. He didn’t even consider Grant having to go back to school in a few weeks and face Darnell. He ruffles Lark’s hair. “Thanks bud, I think this will help a lot.”

“Darryl, that’d probably be enough for you and Grant to get a restraining order,” Henry says behind him. “I’m not sure how much the authorities would do, but having it in writing might be enough to keep her away.”

Samantha nods. “That seems likely. They seem to think that everyone in the world is on their side right now. Any proof to the contrary might just make them move on to greener pastures.”

They say their goodbyes, promising to do a barbeque sometime and walk into the living room. They see Sparrow fluttering around Grant, who’s littered with Thomas the Tank Engine bandaids, all seeping with what is sure to be way too much antibiotic ointment. The places on his elbows are indeed competently patched up, but it appears that Sparrow has ventured far beyond that.

Grant smiles exhausted, but good naturedly. “I tried to explain that my acne doesn’t need covering but—”

“Most battlefield fatalities are caused by infection,” Sparrow admonishes. 

Henry laughs to himself and sighs. “I’ll add bandaids to the shopping list.” 

“I heard what you were talking about.” He winces as he adjusts himself on the couch. “I think it’s a good idea. That way Carol can’t show up to school and make a scene, and if Darnell gets fired a lot of things would get a lot easier.” 

“And you’re okay with this video being spread around? They said some pretty nasty stuff about you,” Henry asks, a frown settling on his face.

Grant nods. “It’s not true, what they said. They were just being rude to make themselves feel better.”

Darryl ruffles his hair again and feels himself getting choked up. “I’m proud of you buddy. You did good.”

Grant smiles up at him. “Thanks dad. You did good too.”

Darryl shrugs sheepishly, looking to Henry and Mercedes and thinking about their neighbors. “Well I had some help.”

He looks down to find himself covered in dirt. He grimaces at Henry and Mercedes. “Sorry. I’m tracking dirt everywhere. I should go clean up.”

Henry and Mercedes smile at him. 

“It’s just dirt,” Mercedes says. “We can clean it up later.”

“But you probably should get cleaned up,” Henry says. “Why don’t you head on upstairs and we’ll put the boys to bed and then help you out.”

“Ew ew ew ew ew!” Grant says, covering his ears. He looks at Darryl accusingly. “I told you I didn’t want to hear about it!”

Henry blushes prettily. “Oops, sorry Grant. Forget you’re a little more aware than the twins.”

The twins look up from their dramatic retelling of the battle with Darryl and the subsequent one with Darnell. “What?” 

“You don’t want to know,” Grant says, covering his eyes. 

They look at Grant’s anguished face. “Got it.” And go back to their recounting. 

Chapter Text

Darryl's never understood the point of big showers. I mean, how much room could you need? he'd thought. 

Now he understands. Mercedes and Henry walk in, already naked, and he can't help but stare. They're both beautiful in completely different ways.

Mercedes smiles softly at him and takes his hand, warm and firm, and leads him into the large glass enclosure. Henry gives him a gentle smile and follows suit. They situate him carefully on a wooden bench. Mercedes stands behind him on her knees and Henry stands in front of him. He begins by turning on the water and carefully rinsing the three of them, washing the dirt down the drain. Then he wets a washcloth and hands Mercedes the showerhead while he lathers it up. Darryl watches with rapt attention as Henry quickly runs the cloth over his body, while Mercedes runs the blissfully warm water over his head, wetting his short locks. She presses into him slightly, her already hard girl dick brushing against his back. She grabs a bottle of shampoo.

Darryl can feel the heat rising to his cheeks. "You really don't have to do this, I can—" 

"You said you wanted to be romanced, right?" Mercedes pours the soap into her hand and then begins working her fingers into his hair. "This is what that looks like." 

Darryl can only lean back into her and nod. 

She lathers him meticulously, careful to scrub every bit of dirt and dandruff, and wash gently around his ears. The tenderness melts him.  

As she finishes rinsing his hair, Henry, finished washing himself, falls to his knees and begins carefully running the wash cloth over his pubic bone, seemingly intent on covering every inch in soap. He moves folds of fat out of the way and Darryl feels the urge to cover himself, protect himself in some way, but Henry looks up at him, eyes glassy with attraction, and that feeling vanishes. 

He moves further down, to the tops of Darryl's thighs, working the leg hair there into a lather, and then venturing between his inner thighs and Darryl begins to moan. He’s so sensitive there, especially now; every part of his body feels more alive than it ever has. Henry's face is still serious and concentrated when he ventures up further and begins carefully massaging Darryl's taint. Darryl's certain he got it clean long ago, but he doesn’t mind. He hadn’t realized how good that feels. Henry eventually moves on to his balls, which he carefully takes in his hand and explores gently, leaving trails of suds the entire way. As he begins to venture upward, towards the shaft, his serious facade breaks and he begins breathing heavily. Still he dutifully runs the wash cloth over Darryl's now-hard cock, and does not stop until it, too, is fully lathered. 

When he completes this, he looks up at Mercedes. "Mi amor, please, I know we said we were going to wait until we finished to have sex with him, but I need him so badly," he pleads. 

"No," Mercedes says simply. "We're going to clean Darryl to show him our love for him. And, if he wants we'll have sex afterwards." 

Henry's eyes get more desperate. "Mi amor please. I need him so badly…" 

"Henry," she says in a firm tone Darryl's never heard her use before, "I said no. If you need to be filled that badly you can finger yourself, but you have to keep up with your share of the washing. We're trying to care for him, remember?"

Henry pouts but nods and begins carefully washing further down Darryl's thighs.

Darryl turns to Mercedes. "I really wouldn't, ah, mind if we—" 

"No," she says again in a softer tone. She grabs ahold of his chin and turns him to face Henry. "Look," she whispers. 

Darryl watches as, while he's meticulously washing Darryl's knees, Henry plops to his ass on the shower floor, legs out in front of him, and sticks three long fingers inside of himself, completely unself-conscious in his movements. He's transfixed by the contradiction as Henry fucks himself with long, smooth strokes and washes Darryl's calves and then feet with careful attention. 

Once Darryl’s entire bottom half is covered in suds, Henry looks up to Mercedes whimpering. 

Darryl can hear the smile in her voice. "You can touch your dick now, but make sure not to come, and make sure we can see you. Our boy is getting so turned on by watching you," she murmurs.

Henry moans loudly and bites his lip. He scoots until his back is pressed against the shower wall, and tilts his hips so that Darryl has a full view of him fucking himself. 

"I'm thinking about riding you," Henry whispers, locking eyes with Darryl.

Mercedes begins running a washcloth over and in the intricate folds of his ears, careful not to get soap inside.

"I'd ride you until you cum, even as the bench began to bruise my knees, but it wouldn't take long, would it?" He whimpers.

Darryl feels his cock jump. "No," he replies hoarsely, "it wouldn't." 

Then she moves to lovingly caressing his shoulders, and draws careful circles on his back, covering the entire area. 

"And then Mercedes would make me clean you up." He gasps.”With my mouth.”

Before she gets too low she switches over to leaning over and washing his chest, and as she lathers his chest hair, Henry inserts a fourth finger, and Darryl moans.

"I hate the way my cum tastes, and she knows that, but she'd hold my head down until you were completely clean to make it up to you." He begins whimpering in earnest now. His eyes flutter open and he makes eye contact with Darryl. He’s swept away. He’s never done anything like this and is surprised by how vividly he can imagine the scene Henry’s describing. He thinks about how pretty Henry’s mouth had looked around him the other night. He moans.

She washes his chest tenderly, under his folds and in the places he can't normally reach or doesn't bother, until she reaches the place where Henry had started. 

"She'd make me spread my knees out while I cleaned you, so I couldn't even keep all of your cum inside me." Henry begins pumping into himself, hitting that place that makes him let out high whines. Mercedes washes his arms with the same attention. Darryl can hear her breathing get heavy as well. It seems she’s not as aloof as she seems.

"But I'd reach down and gather what was dripping down my thighs and put it back inside me." He throws his head back, seemingly unable to bear the image he had created for himself. “I need your cum inside me more than anything,” he whimpers.

Mercedes turns her attention to his sides. She uses steady hands to lift his arms in turn and carefully scrub the area underneath. 

"She wouldn't let me come for the rest of the night as punishment," he whispers, lost in ecstacy. 

Darryl's senses are overloaded. Between Mercedes’ hands on his body and Henry fucking  himself while laying out an elaborate fantasy, he can barely think. Every time he thinks he has a handle on what sex with them is like, they go out of their way to prove him wrong.

And then she reaches his lower back, and his cock perks up in a way he doesn't understand. As she slides the washcloth in between his cheeks, he's reminded of yesterday when Henry had buried his face in Mercedes' ass. His face heats at the thought. 

"You like that?" Mercedes murmurs breathily.

He nods, suddenly breathless. Henry has slowed his assault, his legs shaking with effort as he fights against the coming orgasm. 

"She'd make me clean her up after you come inside her too." He’s barely audible now, just barely able to convey his image to Darryl as his body continues to shake.

"Good." She washes the globes of his cheeks with her wash cloth, but then sudds up her hand and uses her fingers to gently explore the space. He leans forward to allow her more access and moans. 

"And she'd use my mouth as her cum dump no matter how hard I beg her to come inside my boypussy…" Henry devolves into incomprehensible whimpers.   

Soon, she's passing her fingers over his puckered asshole and he lets out a whine. 

"Mmm," she hums. 

"Please," he gasps out. "I need… I need…" 

"Oh, I know you do honey. But I'm nothing if not a woman of my word. But we're almost finished. Why don't we get you rinsed off and dried off, hm?" She gives him a kiss on the temple and he can feel her smile.

He lets out a whimper and nods. Henry has removed his hands from himself completely and moves to help, carefully rinsing where he had previously worked so hard to cover in suds. As he approaches Darryl’s sensitive areas, he turns to make the water cooler and turn down the pressure. 

It feels… decadent. Too good to be true. Mercedes said they were trying to make him feel loved and they overshot that by a country mile. Just thinking about it makes tears form in his eyes. They quickly rinse themselves off, and then they’re gingerly leading him to stand in the middle of the bathroom. The air is hot and steamy but he still shivers as they use two towels and pat all of him dry. 

Henry stands behind him, gingerly running a towel over his hair and back. 

Mercedes kneels in front of him and carefully dries his feet and calves.. 

As Henry begins softly drying his biceps, Mercedes makes her way up to his thighs and lets out a small moan. 

“Baby I can see why you couldn’t control yourself down here.” Her towel ventures closer to his cock and he swears he can feel her breath on the head. “He looks absolutely gorgeous from this angle.”

Henry bites his lip, nods, and lets out a little whimper. He wipes down Darryl’s forearms and then turns his attention to the small of his back. Darryl begins to moan as well.

Mercedes begins slowly, gently, wiping down his cock, and pre leaks out. She looks up at him with a devious smile and puts a finger to her lips. Darryl nods in his agreement. Whatever she wants. 

She wraps her mouth around the head of his cock and swirls her tongue around him once, twice, and then three times. Darryl thinks he’s okay, thinks he can stay quiet like she asked, but when he looks down at her, her mouth stretched wide around him, cheeks red with excitement, he cannot contain the low groan that erupts from him. 

Henry looks up from Darryl’s back and moans as well, though he puts in a good effort to also throw a good-natured scowl Mercedes’ way. 

“Sorry baby,” she rasps, “He was going to get the towel all messy.”

Henry is clearly less bothered than he is turned on, and falls to his knees to begin drying Darryl’s ass with gusto. 

He again flashes back to the image of Henry eating Mercedes out and moans. 

Mercedes stands up and begins drying his stomach and chest, and when she finishes, tweaks his nipples. “You like that, honey?” she whispers.

Darryl can only nod his head. He turns red at the thought of verbalizing his thoughts.

Mercedes grips his chin in her hands gently, urging him to look at her. “What is it?”

Darryl closes his eyes at the intimacy and plunges forward before he can think about it too hard. “Thinking about yesterday… when we were kissing and Henry was… ahh.” Henry passes the towel over Darryl’s asshole. “Licking you. There.” He makes himself open his eyes and look at her. “Think I’d like that. To be licked there.”

She smiles gently and then wraps her arms around him. “Thank you for telling me.” She reaches out a hand to Henry, helps him up, and wraps her arms around him too. 

She kisses his temple. “You okay baby?” 

Henry melts into her touch and nods.

She takes them both by the hand. “Why don’t we go lay down, hm? And then we can go from there.”

They nod and let themselves be led towards the bed.

As soon as Darryl’s body hits the bed, he lets out a long groan. 

Mercedes and Henry share a look. “You okay, love?”

“Yeah, just, ah,” he winces, “need a minute.”

They both look at each other, unsure how to react. Mercedes sits beside him and runs a hand through his hair. “What’s wrong?”

Darryl blushes, embarrassed. “Just used some muscles today that I'm not used to.”

Henry sits on his other side. “Do you just want to go to sleep? I know I got pretty hot and heavy in there, but I don’t want you to feel like you need to or are obligated.”

Darryl shakes his head. “No, um, I’d really like to have sex. I just. Don’t know how much moving around I can do.”

Mercedes smiles and tweaks his nipple. “I think we can manage that. Why don’t you roll onto your stomach for us, hm?”

Darryl nods and does as she asks.

Once he’s settled he feels her knees on either side of his chest, and then her strong, slender fingers begin working on the knots in his shoulders.

Darryl closes his eyes and relaxes into the sweet pain of her touch. She moves from his shoulders to his biceps and as he lifts his arms over his head to give her better access, she hums, pleased. “Good boy.” 

He lets out a contented sigh and she scoots her way down to massage his back, making her straddle his ass and her girldick occasionally glance against him. He moans. 

He opens his eyes to see Henry contenting himself on a different dildo from the night before, this one is fairly thin at the top but has a large knot in the bottom that makes Henry moan as he drags it into and out of himself. Darryl is transfixed by the sight, unable to look away as Mercedes moves lower, massaging the muscles in his ass cheeks, and then lower still to his thighs and calves.

And then she’s guiding his legs apart to settle herself in between them, and he can feel her hot breath against his skin. “This okay?” she asks.

Darryl nods vigorously. “God, yes, please.” He reaches out to Henry, and he stops his movement. “You told me,” Darryl pants, “if I ask nicely, you’d let me look.”

Henry moans as a smile forms on his lips. “I did.”

Darryl steels his courage and makes himself maintain eye contact. “Handsome can I please lick your boypussy?”

Henry throws his head back and nods as he begins moving to accommodate the request. He places the toy on the side table and sits against the headboard so that his legs splay out on either side of Darryl.

Darryl’s suddenly nervous. He’s never really done this before. He tried it a few times with Carol but she complained that it wasn’t proper, and well, Henry’s different. 

Darryl dips his head down for an exploratory taste and is pleasantly surprised. It doesn’t taste like fruit or spice or anything like that, but it doesn’t taste bad, and in a way he can’t really describe, it tastes like Henry. He’s also rewarded with Henry’s moan. And at that moment, Darryl feels Mercedes’ tongue flit lightly over his entrance. He moans loudly and then dives in in earnest, going purely on instinct and sucking Henry’s dick into his mouth. Henry’s hands go into his hair and guide him along. Mercedes’s tongue strokes him more firmly, and Darryl thinks he might just lose it.

Henry’s hips lift up as his hands push his head lower. “I was promised my boypussy would be licked,” he chokes out. 

Darryl nods and begins lapping at Henry there, drawing gasps and moans from Henry, and then begins to simulate with his tongue how he’d like to use his cock, thrusting in and out of him in a way that makes Henry’s moans turn into whimpering whines.

Mercedes laps at Darryl’s hole too, and then slowly begins to push her tongue into him. Darryl moans and begins to suck Henry’s dick again. 

“This okay?” Henry pants. Darryl nods vigorously. This is the best time he’s had in… well probably since the last time they had sex. Henry removes a hand from his head to grab one of Darryl’s. “If you need something, to stop or slow down or ahh.” Darryl smiles as his distraction plan works. Henry places Darryl’s hand on the sensitive part of his inner thigh. “Just pinch here, okay? And we’ll pause and figure it out.”

Darryl nods again, confused but touched by the gesture.

He loses himself in his task, learning just how to suck on Henry to make his legs shake and his hands clench in his hair. “He’s a fast learner, mi amor. I’m getting close.”

Mercedes moans and pivots to inserting a finger into his now-slick hole, watching the scene in front of her. As she plunges into him, Darryl moans around Henry’s dick, and his nerve endings stand on end. He tries to focus on his task, his legs beginning to tremble under Mercedes’ ministrations.

“Please,” Henry whispers, “I need… “

“Come for us baby,” Mercedes murmurs. 

Henry begins bucking wildly against him, and it takes all of Darryl’s strength to hold on, still desperately sucking at Henry, desperate to draw every bit of pleasure out of him that he can. 

When the bucking subsides, Darryl looks up at Henry, pleased with himself, and then rolls onto his back. Mercedes crawls up beside Henry, and he scoots down to lay between the two. 

Henry looks between the two. “Is this okay? I’m good to keep going if you want.” 

Darryl nods as he pulls him closer. “To be honest, I’m kind of exhausted now, but that was awesome.” 

Mercedes snuggles into him, pressing her back against his chest. “Mmm, baby that was so good.”

“And Darryl, you’re okay with not coming?”

Darryl can feel himself drifting to sleep. “Make it up to me later,” he quotes Henry.

Henry chuckles as he, too, drifts towards slumber.

Chapter Text

The next few days pass quickly. He and Grant file for restraining orders, and with that confirmation, Carol and Darnell pack up their things and move. Darryl is surprised by how little he notices. He’s sure some day it will hit him, but it hasn’t yet. 

The day after, Darryl walks in on Henry talking with Grant, and he smiles at the sight. They’re concentrating intently on something, and Henry’s carefully guiding Grant.

His smile freezes when he sees what they’re doing, however. Henry is showing Grant how to paint his nails. Darryl’s skin feels itchy and heat rises involuntarily to his face. He tries to keep a casual facade. “Hey, Henry, can I talk to you for a second?”

Henry looks up from his son’s nails. “Yeah of course Darryl.”

They walk into the bedroom and close the door behind them. “What’s up?”

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to be teaching my son to…” He trails off uncertainly.

“To paint his nails? Would you rather he struggle through it on his own? I was just giving him some pointers I don’t…” Henry says confused.

“No, it’s just.” Darryl runs a frustrated hand through his hair. “I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“Oh,” Henry smiles, “Darryl I’d never do anything to hurt your son. The polish we’re using is organic and non-toxic.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Darryl states flatly.

“Then what do you mean, Darryl?” Henry’s voice becomes more guarded.

“I mean,” Darryl begins to pace, “Grant just got called slurs by his soccer coach only a few days ago, and now you want him to be bullied by the other kids too?”

Henry’s mouth hardens into a line. “If that’s what you think I want, you must not know me very well after all,” he says quietly.

“No, that's not what I—I’m not thinking clearly.” He runs his hand through his hair again and stops pacing. “I’m just so—I don’t know. Henry, I love you, okay?” He places his hands on Henry’s shoulders. “I’m going to go take a bit to cool off before I stick my foot in it again. And we can talk when I get back.”

Henry’s eyes fill with tears and he nods. “I love you too,” he whispers hoarsely. 

Darryl tries to walk calmly out of the house, but as soon as he reaches the front porch, he starts jogging, and by the time he’s down the street, he’s sprinting. Away from Henry. Away from Mercedes. Away from his son. He just needs to go. He’s not sure where. 

He runs for a good while before he reaches a local park. He sits down on a bench, suddenly exhausted. He takes a second to breathe, he hasn’t exerted himself like that in a long time, and feels the regret rolling in. He shouldn’t have reacted like that. Or talked to Henry like that. Or even care that his son is wearing nail polish. But on the other hand, he’s Grant’s dad. It’s his job to protect him. And if the kids at school saw him like that… he shudders at the thought.

His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of his name being called out. When he looks up, he sees Carol, standing only a few yards in front of him. 

Grant looks up from his handiwork as Henry walks into the room and smiles proudly. “Hey, I finally got that thumb done!” He shows off the digit. 

Henry gives it his best shot at a smile, but well, he never was an actor. “That’s great buddy. That looks really good,” his attempt at enthusiasm is equally unconvincing. 

“I was wondering if you could help me with—” He finally notices the tear tracks on Henry’s face.

“Sorry, buddy, not right now.” Henry tries desperately to hide the waver in his voice. 

“Is—is everything okay?” Grant asks, unsure of what to do.

“Your dad and I just had—a little disagreement. Adult stuff. You shouldn’t worry about it. He’ll be back in a little bit.” Henry pats him comfortingly on the shoulder. 

Grant’s brow furrows. He doesn’t heed Henry’s warning and does indeed worry about it. And then he realizes. He turns to Henry. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize he’d—”

Henry shakes his head. “You don’t have anything to apologize for buddy.” His voice fully wavers then, a tear streaking its way down his cheek.

Grant frowns and goes back to finishing his nails while he formulates a plan.

Darryl reacts as though he’s been hit. “What are you doing here?”

“It must be God’s plan.” Carol smiles at him like she used to. She begins slowly walking towards him. “I was going on a walk and found you here.”

Darryl’s not sure what to do. He feels like a scared deer, he knows he should run but he’s frozen in terror, in the blinding light of Carol.

She sits down on the other end of the bench. “Come back to me, Darryl,” she says softly. When he doesn’t respond she continues. “I’ll forgive you your infidelity with…” she takes a breath and seems to require a lot of effort to say, “Henry and Mercedes. And I’ll dump Darnell. I’ll even tolerate,” she grinds her teeth, “our son’s… eccentricities.” 

6 days ago, this was all Darryl had wanted to hear. But now it makes him sick to his stomach. He doesn’t want her. He wants Henry and Mercedes. What is he even doing here? He loves them. 

“We can be a family again,” she urges.

But is this right for Grant? Doesn’t he deserve to live with his mom and his dad under one roof? Is his heartbreak worth his son’s happiness? He takes a second to breathe and finally digests what she said. “Wait, you will dump Darnell? Carol, this man assaulted our son and you’re still with him? And you’ll tolerate Grant? Like you tolerated my baseball card collection until you pestered me so much about it that I finally donated them to the local history museum?”

Her facade drops for only a second, but it’s enough. Darryl sees it. “No, sweetheart I love you and I love Grant and I just want us to be a family again. Darnell doesn’t cook, he doesn’t clean, he doesn’t take things to the drycleaners. It made me realize how much I miss you.”

Ah. There it is. Darryl takes a breath and stands up. “If Grant wants to have a relationship with you, I won’t stop him. But I told you I was done and I am, Carol. I hope the next time you find a kind man you respect him instead of belittling him because of it.” 

As Darryl begins his trek back home, he hears Carol muttering under her breath, “‘If Grant wants’ like some kind of hippie…”

Darryl smiles and does not look back. 

As he’s walking, he sees a text from Grant. can you meet me at the old house? we need to talk. Darryl feels his heart seize up in his chest. Right. He’d messed up. He picks up the pace.

As he walks through the front door, he finds Grant staring out the back window. It’s the first time he’s been in here since Carol moved out. She took the recliners but not the sofa. Grant turns and sits on the couch. He looks up at Darryl. “Sit,” he says simply. His nails are a glossy black and they glint in the light from the window.

Darryl considers reminding Grant that he is still his father, but he thinks better of it. He sits. 

Grant looks at him. “You fucked up,” he states. 

Darryl nods. “I know buddy I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to.” Grant interrupts harshly. “I know that you don’t get this stuff yet, and you probably haven’t thought about it much. But you made Henry cry.”

Darryl winces and closes his eyes. “I did?”

Grant nods. “So you need to figure out now whether you really want him in our lives.” He takes a deep breath. “Because I like Henry and Mercedes. But I won’t have you pulling this macho bullshit every time they help me with queer stuff.” Grants eyes water slightly. “I honestly never thought I’d be around any queer elders. It makes me realize that… that I have a future.”

Darryl stares up at the ceiling, digesting what he’s heard. Finally, he looks at Grant. “I do want them in our lives. I love them a lot. And I want them to be able to teach you and model for you how to be a queer adult. But buddy, I’m so scared. There’s so many people out there who would hurt you. Just for being different. For being who you are. I don’t—”

“Do you think I don’t know that?” Grant whispers as the tears begin falling down his cheeks. “Do you think Henry hadn’t just taught me how to explain my nails at school in case anyone asked? I get it, dad, the world is scary. And it’s out to get me. But Henry and Mercedes made it , and they’re happy and healthy and in love… I know that people are going to be tough on me because I don’t meet some arbitrary standard. I just ask that you not be one of them.”

“Oh buddy,” Darryl leans in and hugs his son. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to make you feel that way. I’m so so sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Grant sniffs and wipes his cheeks. “Like I said, I’m sure you haven’t thought about this much. But take a second to, okay? Henry has been visibly queer for the better part of 30 years. Can you imagine how much shit he got in the 90s? And you essentially just told him it was his fault for being different.”

Darryl’s brow furrows. “I never—”

“Oh you didn’t?” Grant quips. “You didn’t tell him that me painting my nails would get me bullied? Reverse engineer that a bit, dad. If painting my nails causes me to get bullied, then if I get bullied, then it’s my fault for painting my nails, right? If I had just conformed, it wouldn’t be an issue, right ?”

“Oh.” Darryl sits, stunned.

“Yeah,” Grant replies flatly.  

They sit in silence for a moment. 

“Do you think he’ll forgive me?” Darryl eventually whispers.

Grant nods. “He loves you,” he states. 

Darryl looks to his son, realizing how grown up he’s gotten. “Thank you for explaining this all to me buddy. I know that must have been pretty scary for you after everything with Carol.”

Grant smiles and shakes his head. “I know you love me. And I know you love Henry. You just needed some course correction.”

Darryl gives his son a kiss on the head. “Thanks. Now, it seems that I have some apologizing to do.”

Grant ruffles his hair like Darryl usually does before a soccer match and repeats what he always tells him, “Go get ‘em tiger.” 

Darryl finds Henry in the kitchen, filling up the kettle with water. 

“Can I help?” he asks gently. 

Henry nods and points at a drawer. “Tea blends are in there. You can pick out which one you want. I’d like Mercedes’ blend. They’re all labeled.”

Darryl opens the drawer to find about 20 glass jars. He picks out Mercedes blend and then decides on a peach and vanilla blend for himself.

He hands them to Henry who nods and begins portioning the blends into the infusers. They move silently around the kitchen, tense, but despite everything still comfortable in each other’s presence. 

Once they sit down at the table and each take a sip, Darryl speaks. “I’m sorry,” he says softly. “I wasn’t thinking about how what I was saying could affect you or how it expressed some ideas I do not want representing me.”

Henry nods and Darryl feels relief flood through him. “I’m sorry too. I didn’t realize how new all this was to you, and I know you kind of depend on me to guide you through it all, but that felt… really vulnerable.”

Darryl nods. “Grant explained it to me. Henry, I hadn’t even considered all you had gone through to get here. And that was selfish of me. I will do better next time.”

Henry smiles and reaches for his hand. “Thank you.”

“And I’m really glad that Grant has you. I’m not straight but I’m also… really new to this. Obviously. It’s good that he has someone to show him how it’s done.” He smiles at Henry as his heart swells.

Henry nods. “Oh, that reminds me. I need to introduce you to Mick. He’s the one who taught me all of this stuff when I was young.”

Darryl smiles. “I think I’d like that.” 

“Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

Darryl shakes his head and then stops. “Just that I love you a lot.”

Henry smiles and squeezes his hand. “I love you too.” They sit in silence for a moment, drinking their teas at different intervals. “If that’s all, then I have only two questions: how do you feel about cigarette smoke? And, are you interested in a field trip?" 

Chapter Text

Henry knocks on the wooden door of a dilapidated brownstone. “Come in,” they hear a rough voice from further inside. 

Henry opens the door and leads Darryl inside. It smells heavily of mothballs and cigarette smoke. The old paneling is nearly entirely covered with old photographs. 

“Mick, it’s Henry. I brought company,” he calls into the adjoining room. 

They walk into a room with golden shag carpet, more dark paneling, and heavy drapes going up to tall ceilings. 

Mick is hunched in a mauve velour chair that inexplicably rocks back and forth with his movement. He’s wearing a button down adorned with embroidered cats, and his chest sags heavily. 

“Oh, I see, company ,” he says with a knowing wink at Henry. “Well come here, baby, let me look at you.” He holds out his hands towards Darryl, who steps forward awkwardly. Mick grabs a nearby cane and does a lap around him, giving him a once over. When he sits back down he lets out a long appreciative whistle. “Nicest company I’ve had in a long time.” He motions for a nearby sofa covered in a gaudy floral pattern. “Y’all sit, ain’t no fire.” 

They do, Henry looking slightly more at home. Darryl tries not to breathe too deeply. 

Mick looks at Henry. “Where’s your old lady?”

Henry sighs. It’s clear they’ve had this conversation before. “You know she’s allergic to tobacco smoke.”

“Well excuse me, Mr. Fancy Pants. Back in my day we didn’t have all this newfangled ‘testosterone’,” he says drawn out. “We just smoked three packs a day and hoped it either dropped our voices or killed us.”

Henry holds up his hands in mock surrender. “Listen, I’m not passing judgements. I know you did what you had to do, and it’s admirable that you’ve made it to where you are. But I don’t want to have to take my wife to the hospital, either.” 

Mick laughs until it devolves into a coughing fit. “I’m just pulling your leg,” he says once he catches his breath. “Henry’s always been a sensitive one,” he says as an aside to Darryl.

Darryl smiles as Henry makes a sound of protest. 

“So, enough pussyfooting around. What can I help you kids with? Need help figuring out how to do the horizontal tango?” He wiggles his eyebrows. 

Darryl feels his face heat. 

Henry sighs. “No Mick. Darryl just feels pretty disconnected from the family, and I couldn’t think of anyone better to do help with that.”

Mick looks between the two of them. “But you two are fucking, right?”

Henry just puts his face in his hands. 

Darryl clears his throat. “Yes sir. And dating too, if that makes a difference.”

Mick laughs again and claps. “And polite too? Oooooh Henry baby you got yourself a keeper here.” 

Henry looks up with a radiant smile. “Yeah, I really do.”

Mick gets a soft look in his eye. “Mm mm,” he mutters softly. “You got it bad baby. Mercedes know?”

Henry nods. “Of course. She—we—I—uh, we’re all together.”

Mick smiles softly. “Haven’t seen a look like that since I lost my Pam.” He points up to a large framed picture of two young women looking lovingly at each other. One bears a vague resemblance to Mick.

“That’s really sweet,” Darryl says. 

Mick looks at him appraisingly. “I can feel your questions. They’re practically leaking out of you. Shoot.”

Darryl looks to Henry for permission. He nods. 

“Are you a man?” He’s not sure of a better way to ask.

Mick smiles. “Right to the chase. I knew I liked you. No baby I don’t know what I am ‘cept a lesbian if I’m being honest. But family call me Mick and he and that feels just about right.”

Darryl looks between him and Henry. “You two are related?”

Mick chuckles a little bit and pats his hand with his liver-spotted one. “No baby. We mean family . The queens and the dykes and the boy-girls and the girl-boys and the butches and the femmes. The queers. Oh, the GLBD whatever they’re calling us on the television nowadays. You know. Family.”

Darryl nods slowly. “Family,” he repeats to himself. He likes the sound of that. He looks around the room. “Who’s Pam?” he asks after a moment.

“My Pam is the love of my life, and partner of 25 years. She passed on to be with our Lord a couple years ago.” Mick looks longingly at the framed photograph again.

Darryl’s shocked. “You’re religious?”

Mick smiles at him. “We got married at that Episcopal church down the street, but don’t tell the diocese. ‘Course now that new bishop’s been there for about 10 years and he’s all for it. I was raised Methodist. Was there every Wednesday and twice on Sunday. Then I converted to Catholicism, thought I’d try my hand at being a nun, seeing as how I couldn’t make myself even think about a man back then. Met my Pam at the soup kitchen, and we ran off together. I attend the Episcopal services ‘cause they’re real nice to me, but I still consider myself Catholic in my heart.”

Darryl is enraptured. “You do?”

“‘Course. There’s a lot of good stuff worth keepin’. In fact, I knew some of the sisters who were killed in El Salvador back in the 80s.” He pats his hand comfortingly. “They figured out ol’ Oscar had some good points, eventually. I’m sure they’ll figure it out for me too. It’ll just take time.”

“Wait, you were married that long ago? I thought it wasn’t legal until—”

Mick smiles deviously. “It wasn’t. In fact, my Pam passed away before the ruling passed. But we were still married in our hearts and the eyes of God, and that’s what matters.”

"Wow." Darryl’s never heard someone talk about it like that before.

"Seems like there's something else bigger bugging you, son." Mick raises a white eyebrow.

Darryl rubs the back of his neck. "I mean there is, but I don't really know how to put it." Mick's face is unmoved. "It's just, I mean, I've already had a wife and a kid and gone through so much of my life without knowing…" 

"Oh baby don't you worry about that.” He pats his hand again. “That was everybody back in the day. I was a nun for 30 years before I realized, but my Pam was at the soup kitchen looking for a way to stay busy once her kids all flew the nest." Mick smiles at him. "And yet we still had 25 beautiful years together, and I wouldn't trade that for the world." 

"That's beautiful." Darryl's voice has gone hoarse. He gets caught in thought of what it will be like to grow old with Henry and Mercedes. He reaches out and gives Henry's hand a squeeze. "But I just don't know so much and I've already hurt Henry and my son because of it…" 

"Well 'course you hurt each other. That's love. Let me tell you somethin darlin'. How long y'all been together? Couple months? Half a year?" 

Darryl shares an embarrassed look with Henry. "Like a week…" Darryl mutters. 

Mick whistles again. "You do got it bad. But look, every couple weeks I'd get it in my head that we weren't right and I needed to go back to the convent. My Pam'd have to tie me to the bed to convince me to stay. 'Course I knew how to unlock them," he added under his breath, "but that's beside the point. Point is, every 3 weeks for a year I'd start yelling and screaming about how God was gonna damn us to hell and all this nonsense. And every morning after I'd wake up and apologize, and every morning after she'd kiss me and say we'd figure it out together. Wasn't til she found one of them web-logs by a pastor in Vermont that I finally thought we could be okay. Point is, you're probably gonna hurt each other. But the important part is apologizing and learning to do better."

Darryl nods. "That's why I'm here. I want to learn to do better, if you'll teach me. I can help you clean up around here, that's what I'm used to. But I want to learn better for Henry and Mercedes and my son." 

"How old is your son?" Mick gets a soft look in his eye.

"Grant's 14." He’s growing up so fast. It seems like only yesterday Darryl was taking him to his first T-ball game. 

"He family?" Mick asks with a slight tilt of the head.

Darryl nods, "Yes sir." 

Mick sighs with faux long-suffering. "I guess I could handle having a handsome man come 'round every so often." 

Darryl smiles. "I thought you couldn't even think about men?"

"Things change," he replies simply. "And besides, a nice ass is a nice ass, and boy do you take the cake on that one." 

Darryl feels heat rise to his face, and then his phone rings. He checks who it is.

He grimaces and glances between Henry and Mick. "It's my mom. I need to take this." 

Henry nods. "Of course." 

As he walks back into the dusty foyer he hears Mick remark, "And loves his momma? Ooooh Henry baby you gotta keep this one." 

He answers. "Hey mom." 

"Darryl, I'm coming to visit," she says. "After Carol called me I've decided that Grant needs a chocolate cake, and I'm bringing some. I've got bible study at 6 so I won't be in until 9 or so, so I'll be going straight to bed, but then we can talk in the morning, okay?"

Darryl knows there's no point in arguing with her. "Okay mom." 

"Good. I'll see you then." 

"Bye mom." 

Henry looks up from a photo album when he walks back into the room. "That was quick." 

"Yeah, mom just informed me that she's coming to stay the night tonight." 

Henry winces. "Any chance you got to explain…?" 

Darryl shakes his head. 

Mick looks between them. "What's the issue? I only noticed because of my superior gaydar."  He cracks a smile.

"Well," Darryl starts, "my mother will expect me and Grant to be at the house but…" 

Mick looks wide eyed at Henry. "You already moved them in with you?"

Henry nods. "There were… extenuating circumstances." 

"Well, if you three lovebirds are going to fool a woman like that then you better get on." He stands up and begins ushering them out.

Henry nods and they head towards the door.

As the door shuts behind them and they head towards the car, Darryl speaks. “Henry?”

“Hm?” Henry seems to be in a daze.

“I think I know what you mean about non-women now.”

“I’m glad, love.”

Darryl explains over dinner that he and Grant will need to spend the night at the old house. 

“We could come with you,” Lark offers.

“We’re very welcoming,” Sparrow adds.

“Well, that’d be great boys but I’m afraid that’s past your bedtime,” Mercedes says.

“Mother, warriors do not have a bedtime,” Sparrow states.

“But do warriors show up to the dojo sleepy?” Mercedes asks, quirking her eyebrow.

Sparrow frowns. “No.” He turns to Darryl. “Very well. We will have to meet your mother in the morning.”

Darryl nods. “As you wish.”

He and Grant pack up the essentials and Darryl prays that his mother doesn’t investigate too far. We only have to keep this up for the night, he reminds himself, then I’ll explain everything in the morning . 

As she gets in, he does little more than wave at her from the couch. She tiredly rolls her suitcase up to her room, the one she had made a precondition of letting them stay their rent free. He had finally convinced Carol that it was worth it.

The plan goes off without a hitch, until Darryl tries to fall asleep. He had hoped that being in the guest bedroom would make it just like a normal night, but that doesn’t seem to have worked. He tosses and turns and wills himself to go to sleep before he looks at the time. 2 am. He can’t keep doing this. He sends a text to Grant, going back over to Henry and Mercedes. Can’t sleep. Love you.

He grabs his pillow, quietly tries to get dressed, and heads towards the door, keys in hand. He hears another set of footsteps behind him and sees Grant in a similar state, looking exhausted. “You neither?” he whispers

Grant nods tiredly. 

Darryl wraps an arm around his son’s shoulders. “C’mon. Let’s go home.”

They make the short trek up the sidewalk, probably looking ridiculous were anyone out that late. Darryl unlocks the door, stumbles through, kicks off his shoes, and locks the door behind Grant. 

They then carefully make their way up the stairs, mindful of the twins, and part ways in the hallway. He quietly opens the door, shuts it behind him, and then strips to his underwear. As he climbs into bed behind Mercedes, she rouses, but only slightly. “Wha—is everything okay?”

Darryl wraps an arm around her, already drifting towards sleep. “Couldn’t sleep. Okay now.”

She hums happily and leads him towards slumber. 

Henry awakes to the buzzing of his cell phone. He puts on his robe and stumbles sleepily into their large walk-in closet and closes the door behind him. He answers. 

“Good morning, Henry Oak,” says Darryl’s mother on the other line, sounding pleased with herself.

Henry rubs his eyes and yawns. “Good morning, Mrs. Wilson. Is there something I can help you with?”

She hums disappointed. “Well, it seems that you have stolen my son in the night.”

“I have?” Henry opens the door a crack and peeks out into the dark room to see Darryl’s large form spooning his wife. His heart leaps for more than one reason. He closes the door. “Oh.” 

She giggles like a schoolgirl. “So used to him that you didn’t even notice, hm? My my my, you must really love my son, Henry Oak.”

“I do,” he says without thinking. “But, listen, I really think this is a conversation we should have with Darryl. I don’t feel right about doing this behind his back.”

She hums happily. “Well, that’s all I need to know. Anything else can be worked out.”

Henry winces and imagines the image of Darryl’s incredibly Catholic mother learning that he’s already married, and that they’re both dating her son. “Like I said, I don’t think it’s right for me to talk about this without Darryl’s blessing. But,” he grimaces, “be prepared for a surprise.”

“Ooh a cliffhanger. Way to keep me on edge, Henry Oak.” He can hear the smile in her voice.

“Likewise, Mrs. Wilson.”

“Don’t forget about the baked goods.”

Henry nods. “I haven’t.” 

“And let’s keep this between us, yeah? I wouldn’t want Darryl to be cross with you, and I’d like to watch him squirm just a little bit for trying to keep this from his mother.”

Henry lets out a noise of protest. He doesn’t like keeping secrets. But he supposes it’ll only be for a few hours. “Yes ma'am.”

“Goodbye, Henry Oak.”

“Goodbye, Mrs. Wilson.”

Darryl awakes to the smell of cinnamon rolls. 

He glances at the clock and curses. 10 am. His mother is definitely awake and has noticed he’s gone by now. He gives Mercedes a kiss on the shoulder, gets dressed, grabs his phone, and heads towards the closet. 

He closes the door and dials her number. “Hey mom, just wanted to let you know that Grant and I got up early and left. We’re going to have breakfast and then we’ll be back, okay?” He chooses his words very carefully. 

“How early did you get up?” she asks. “I got up at 7 to have my morning coffee. Last time I was here Grant slept until noon.”

“Ah, well, you know, I don’t remember exactly,” Darryl says vaguely. 

“Mhm.” She’s clearly unconvinced. “And you’re just calling me now because?”

“I ah… didn’t want to wake you up?”

“Darryl, I’ve been waking up at the exact same time for the last 20 years.”

Darryl hangs his head and sighs. “I know. Listen, we’ll be back soon and talk okay? And I’m bringing company.”

“I see. Well, have a good breakfast dear. Tell your ‘company’ I said hi.”

Darryl sighs and chuckles to himself. “I will. Talk to you soon.”

“Bye son.” 

Chapter Text

Darryl stands in front of his front door. He used to walk in and out of it every day to grab the paper, but it somehow feels different to him now. Foreign. He takes a breath to steady himself, and looks at Grant, who nods. Mercedes and Henry place steadying hands on his shoulder, and he’s still warmed by his full stomach. Lark and Sparrow vibrate quietly behind them. 

He opens the door and steps inside. “Mom, we’re here!” Darryl calls out. 

They walk into the living room, all standing in a bunch. Only Lark and Sparrow are willing to venture outside of the small huddle.

Darryl’s mom, an older woman with perfectly coiffed hair and an elegant string of pearls adorning her neck, comes out drying her hands on a dishtowel. 

“Oh, Darryl, Grant, I’m glad you’re back! And you brought company!”

Her eyes glance over the party and she seems to do a quick recount and conclude there are approximately 3 more people than she had expected. She freezes in place. 

“Hey mom. This is Henry and Mercedes. And their beautiful boys, Lark and Sparrow.” Darryl gestures to them as he introduces them.

Lark and Sparrow are intently studying one of Grant’s baby pictures Darryl had framed on the entertainment center, and they wave distractedly. 

Henry’s smile is strained and he holds out the glass dish filled with cinnamon rolls. “Surprise?”

They all just stand there, frozen in place for a moment. Darryl can see his mother’s thoughts kicking into overdrive, but she doesn’t speak. After a moment, Grant goes over to Lark and Sparrow. “Hey, why don’t we go outside. I’ll show you my trampoline.”

“And tell us about when you were a cute little baby?” Lark coos.

Grant sighs dejectedly, a slight smile on his lips. “Sure.”

They twins cheer and they head out the french doors towards the back yard.

“Thanks, Grant.” Darryl murmurs.

Grant shoots him a look that says, I don’t want to be here either , and closes the door behind him. 

Mercedes breaks the tension by grabbing the dish of cinnamon rolls. “Why don’t we go sit and have these. And we can talk, hm?”

Darryl’s mom nods. “Oh, how rude of me. I’m Sandra Wilson, Darryl’s mother.”

Mercedes smiles gratefully. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Wilson.”

They walk into the dining room to find Carol took the table. Of course she did. Darryl pulls out a card table from the garage and sets it up, along with four folding chairs. Henry moves to grab a paper towel, wets it, and begins wiping down the soft, padded top. 

And she took the plates. Darryl pulls out a stack of paper plates and shrugs. I guess this is just going to be how it is.  

They each grab a gooey bun and begin digging in, sitting in uncomfortable silence.The chairs creak under their weight and the padding on the chairs had lost any semblance of comfort long ago.  About halfway through Darryl can’t take it anymore. 

“So mom,” he begins. 

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” Sandra admonishes. 

“Like what?” Darryl asks, shocked.

“Like I’m some old fuddy-duddy you’re going to have to explain all this to. I’m hip, you know,” she says indignantly.

Darryl smiles. “I know you are mom, but I know you’re not used to—”

“To swinging?” she interrupts. Henry and Mercedes wince. “Well, of course I am, son. Why, when you would go off to sleep away camp your dad and I used to have Marjorie and Harold over and—”

“Okay, mom.” Darryl rubs his eyes, suddenly feeling a lot of sympathy for Grant.

 She narrows her eyes at Henry. “You told me you love him.”

“And I do.” Henry reaches for Darryl’s hand across the table and .  Sandra furrows her brow.

Darryl looks between the two of them. “I’m missing something.”

Henry sighs and hangs his head. “She called me, after you used my phone to talk to her. I didn’t want to tell her something you weren’t ready for her to know but—” he winces, “—I’m a really bad liar.”

“And I’m incredibly perceptive.” Sandra smiles gracefully. She looks seriously at Darryl. “Listen, Darryl, I don’t mean to be judgemental, and maybe I’m just old fashioned, but I wanted better for you.” Perhaps before he had been with Henry and Mercedes he would have cut her off here, but he lets her finish. “I just think you deserve to be wooed, romanced, loved.”

Henry looks at her seriously. “I do love Darryl. And I love my wife. This isn’t just some fling for us.”

Mercedes speaks up. “And I love Darryl, and I love my husband. They don’t contradict.”

She looks at Darryl. “And you love them both?”

Darryl nods. He can feel tears welling in his eyes. “Yeah,” he says hoarsely. “In a way I didn’t think I could.”

“Oh. Huh.” She takes another bite of her cinnamon roll.

Darryl can feel the tension welling inside of him as she chews carefully. “Is that? Okay?” he asks finally. 

“Well,” she says, wiping her mouth primly with the rough paper napkin. “I always said I wanted more grandchildren from you. It’s not how I expected but,” She smiles warmly. “I suppose it will do.”

They call the boys back in and have cake, which Sandra cuts to reveal has 6 different layers, arranged in a rainbow under the chocolate frosting. 

At Grant’s wide smile, Sandra smiles, clearly pleased with herself. 

Grant hugs her, “Thanks, grandma.”

Sandra pats his back. “You’re welcome dear. I figured between you and your dad, it was sure to be a hit somehow.”

Grant smiles over at Darryl. “Yeah, I guess you were right.”

Darryl digs in and feels tears welling in his eyes. He hadn’t realized how much his mother’s acceptance means to him. 

When they’re all finished, the boys run off, the twins declaring they’re going to “organize assets” in Grant’s room. Grant follows behind them only a little reluctantly. 

Once they’ve left, Sandra looks sternly at Darryl. “You need to keep Carol far away from that sweet boy.”

Darryl nods. “Restraining order’s already filed. She left me full custody in the divorce.” He winces. “Although… she’s already broken it.”

Henry and Mercedes look at him confused. “You never mentioned that,” Mercedes murmurs.

“Ah, right. Well, it was when I went on a run yesterday. Ended up at Grove Park. She was there,” his voice is stilted, his heart clenching with the memory. “Begged me to go back to her.”

He looks at Henry and Mercedes. Henry has a hand covering his mouth in shock. “I told her no, of course. I don’t want to be with her, now that I know what a real relationship is like.” He can’t stifle the bitter laugh that rises from him. “And Grant deserves better.”

Sandra lays a hand on Darryl’s arm comfortingly. “You deserve better too, pumpkin.”

Darryl smiles, bittersweet. “Thanks, mom.”

“Of course, son.” She begins picking up empty plates and putting them in the trash, and Darryl rushes to help. It’s really disgusting in here, and he’d only been gone for a week. He shakes his head in wonder. 

They sit back down at the table, and Sandra addresses Mercedes. “If you ever need to get away from all that testosterone, feel free to come by any time, okay?”

The trio share a secret smile and Mercedes nods gratefully. 

Sandra smiles and looks at Darryl. “So, I’m sure you won’t be needing this house much longer, and I can’t convince Harold to move out here anymore. I guess I’m going to have to figure out what to do with this old place.” She looks around wistfully. 

“Are you interested in renting?” Mercedes asks thoughtfully. 

Sandra sighs. “We thought about it. Just doesn’t seem right, asking for half of somebody’s paycheck for something the Lord provided for us. But we don’t want some stranger off the street coming in either, causing a big mess with no way to back it up.”

Mercedes nods, deep in thought. “Well, if you really are looking for something to do with it, my cousin Raxiel has been trying to get out from under a terrible landlord. It’d be nice to have…” Mercedes takes a second to consider her next words. “It’d be nice to have them close by,” she says finally.

Sandra smiles. “Oh! We have a them down at the church.”

Darryl smiles amused. “You do?”

“Yep.” She says simply. “They always wear the prettiest jewelry, and their little girl is just precious.”

Darryl smiles at her. “Grant really looks up to them. They own a skate shop and I think Grant could use some more positive role models in his life.”

She nods. “We’ll see what we can do. In the meantime, though, isn’t that house kind of a squeeze? This was just fine for your dad and I and you and your sister, and I know that one's bigger, but it doesn’t seem like by much…” She seems genuinely concerned, and Darryl is warmed. 

Darryl glances at Mercedes and Henry. “We’ve actually been thinking about buying Miss Meriam’s place,” he says hesitantly.

“Oh!” She smiles at him. “I was just talking to Paul at your cousin Randy’s wedding. His aunt finally relented, but doesn’t want to let it go to developers. “

Darryl feels his heart stutter. “It’s going back on the market soon?”

She nods, smiling. “I know you’ve always loved that place. I’ll be sure to keep an eye out.”

“I don’t—”

She pats his hand. “I know. But I still will, just in case.”

They’re once again sitting around the table. Darryl’s mom took the kids out to a skate rink, so the house is quiet. Darryl’s nerves are pinging around his body. He trusts Henry and Mercedes, but he has no clue how this works. As he carries the bread over to the table, Henry and Mercedes both lean over to give him a kiss on the cheek. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Mercedes murmurs.

Henry looks at him with a slight smile, “Yeah, it’s just a conversation. No pressure, okay?”

Darryl takes a deep breath and nods. “Okay.”

“But first,” Mercedes pulls out 3 packets of paper and 3 mechanical pencils. She smiles. “Homework.”

When Darryl looks down at the piece of paper, he rubs his eyes and looks again. Shoot. They didn’t make any more sense that time. 

A blush rises to his cheeks as he looks at Henry and Mercedes. “I ah. I don’t know what any of this means,” he whispers.

They look up from their papers, already well on their way to being filled out and reach for his hands. 

Mercedes winces. “I’m sorry Darryl I should have realized… here.” She puts hers aside and looks intently at him. “I can explain, okay? We can go through it together.”

Henry does the same.

Darryl looks down at his feet, suddenly more embarrassed than before. “But then won’t you have to…” He gestures at their forgotten papers.

Henry smiles at him. “Mercedes and I fill this form out once every 6 months to check in with each other. We just did it a couple of weeks ago. We just didn’t want to make you feel singled out.”

“Oh.” Darryl takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry you’re having to teach me all of this stuff.”

Mercedes shakes her head. “No, you haven’t done anything wrong honey. I just forget what’s normal.”

Henry gets a light in his eye. “I have an idea.” 

Darryl finds himself once again seated in the presentation room, armed with a clipboard and the packet of papers.

Henry and Mercedes stand in front of him with the projector finishing warming up, and then Mercedes speaks. “For now, Darryl, we just want you to fill out the experience column, okay? If this is all new to you then you’ll want to take some time to digest it.” 

Henry nods. “And this is a judgement-free space. If you are into something or not into something that’s totally okay, alright? We’re not going to judge you either way.”

Darryl takes a deep breath and nods. “Okay. Just tell you what I’ve done before and learn some new words. That’s not so bad.”

Henry smiles at him. “Good.”

They begin explaining in perfect synchronicity, each picking up where the other leaves off. Darryl finds he could get swept away in the rhythm of them, but he’s pulled back to earth by what they’re describing. People actually like this stuff? Some of the things make his cheeks heat, and others make him hard, but he still doesn’t know how he feels about it. What does it mean about him if he’s into that? What does it mean about their relationship if they do that? 

As they draw their presentation to a close they look at him expectantly. Mercedes’ brow furrows. When he’s still silent, lost in his thoughts, they approach and lean down next to him. 

“Everything okay love?” Henry asks gently, resting his hand on Daryl’s cheek. 

Darryl leans into the touch. This is still Henry and Mercedes. They are still the people he’s in love with. He takes a deep breath. “I don’t know,” he says honestly. He looks at Mercedes. “I think you were right, this is going to take some time to digest.”

She smiles and wraps her arms around him. “Hey, that's okay. And if you don’t want to do any of this stuff, that’s okay too, alright?”

Darryl closes his eyes and takes another deep breath. “Okay. I really appreciate that. For right now, I just don’t know. I think I’m going to go on a little drive and clear my head. I love you, and I appreciate you being patient with me. I just need some time to think.”

Henry smiles at him. “We love you too. Take as much time as you need.”

Chapter Text

Darryl doesn’t know where he’s going until he finds himself knocking on the front door of a dusty brownstone. He hears a “Come in!” from inside.

Darryl takes a steadying breath and opens the door. Once inside, he finds Mick walking around with his cane and dressed very differently. Before, he had been dressed in a short sleeved button down, some houseshoes, and sweatpants. But now, he looks all spiffed up. His hair, what’s left of it, is gelled back. He’s wearing some spicy smelling cologne, he’s got on a pair of dress shoes, some slacks, and a crisp black blazer. And around his neck is a rainbow bowtie. 

He looks up. It had looked like he was on his way out, but as he sees Darryl, he changes course and his face lights up. “Darryl, baby come in!” He settles himself on the velour rocker.

Darryl shuts the door behind him and walks into the room. 

Mick makes a show of looking behind him. “Henry let you out of his sights already?”

Darryl nods self consciously.

Mick sits down on his chair and motions for Darryl to do the same. “So,” he says as Darryl situates himself on the couch, “What you need darlin? Ready to take me up on those horizontal tango lessons?” He wiggles his eyebrows teasingly.

Darryl feels heat rise to his face. “Well uh—” He has no idea how to broach this.

Mick whistles low. “I never thought I’d see the day Henry didn’t know how to tell a man exactly what he wants,” he says with wonder.

“No I ah—” He takes a moment to collect himself. “It’s not sex, really. I don’t think? It’s all so confusing. But Henry and Mercedes, they wanted me to um—think about doing ah—kink? With them?”

“Ah, I see, and you’re more of a vanilla guy. I can respect that. I’m sure Henry and Mercedes can too if you just tell them.” Mick leans back in his chair.

Darryl looks down at the ground as heat rises to his face. “No I um,” he finds he can scarcely speak above a whisper, “I don’t think I am? But I don’t know how to deal with that. Being into that stuff.” He looks up at Mick, his elbows still on his knees. “That’s what I came here to ask. How do you do it? I mean reconcile all that stuff. I know that anyone I used to listen to would tell me our whole relationship is wrong. That who my son is, that who I am is wrong.” He feels tears welling in his eyes and clears his throat. “And I know they’re wrong about that. But I don’t know what’s right anymore. I thought—I thought you might know the answer.”

Mick gets a small, sad smile on his face. “Ah, I understand now.” He hoists himself up onto his cane, and makes his way over to a large wooden box on the side table, and opens up the top. He pulls a large, yellowed bible from inside, and begins making his way to the next room. He looks over his shoulder. “You comin?”

Darryl stands up and begins following him into a large dining room decorated similarly to the other, with a large wooden table in the middle, covered in loose pictures in high stacks. Mick flips on the light, makes his way to the table, carefully moves the pictures over, and gingerly lays the bible down. 

Darryl pulls up a seat next to him and tries not to fidget. 

Mick looks at the book fondly. “This is the bible my Pam and me got married with,” he says with a reverence Darryl hadn’t heard from him before. 

Darryl smiles softly. “That’s really beautiful.” He’s not sure why he’s whispering.

Mick pulls out a pair of yellow glasses that are the thickest Darryl’s ever seen. He places them on the end of his nose, and begins carefully paging through the old tome. When he gets to the page he wants, he uses a bloated finger to scan to a particular point. He looks over his glasses at Darryl. “Why don’t you read that,” he says softly.

Darryl feels silly, but he knows better than to protest, and doesn’t want to disrespect Mick. He reads, “ Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ” He takes a deep breath. It’s hard to argue with the logic there. He looks at Mick. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but what if it isn’t love? What if it’s something else? Something wrong?”

Mick cracks up laughing. “You don’t have to worry about being disrespectful of me baby. The first time I read that web-log I was telling you about, I sent that pastor a letter calling him a rat bastard for perverting the word of the Lord. ‘Course then afterwards I had to write him back and apologize. Hardest I’ve ever cried in my life, writing that apology letter. Anyways, I asked myself the exact same thing when I first saw that. Here.” He tilts the tome back towards him and begins again flipping through. He points to another verse. “See for yourself. Tells us right here what love looks like.” 

“ Love is patient; ” Darryl begins to read.

Darryl remembers their careful coaching of his hands on their bodies. He remembers their gentle encouragements as he parented Grant. He remembers only a bit ago when they had painstakingly explained the words on the sheet. He nods his head. They are certainly patient.

“ love is kind; ” he continues.

Darryl thinks back to Henry going out of his way to create a presentation just to help him understand his own son. He remembers the selfless offer to let them stay, even before they were dating. He remembers Mercedes bringing Grant to the skate shop, just to make him feel better. They had kindness in spades.

“ love is not envious ”

He remembers Mercedes’ willingness to watch, and Henry’s. He remembers that they hadn’t begrudged him his wrestling match with their sons, had been glad that Glenn was helping him out, had allowed his mother to take their kids to the skating rink. Darryl can’t imagine what their envy could look like. 

“ or boastful ”

He hears Henry's voice. We got it at Walmart, it’s so embarrassing . 

“ or arrogant ”

He sees Mercedes’ face. She’s being modest. She makes this blend herself, and has won a bunch of contests with it.

“ or rude. ”

He remembers Henry explaining the tea-making process.

“ It does not insist on its own way; ”

He remembered their willingness to move as he broached the subject, and their careful consideration of his consent in the bedroom.

“ it is not irritable or resentful; ”

He thinks to Henry's easy acceptance of his apology.

“ it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. ”

He remembers their genuine concern for him after uncovering Carol’s infidelity, and their commitment to helping him set things right. 

“It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ”

They’ve only been together for a week, so he’s not sure about all things yet. But it’s been a hard week for sure, and their love for each other sure seems that way. 

When he finishes reading the passage he notes that tears are running down his cheeks. Of course this is love. Real, true, holy love. His chest tightens at the idea that he had ever thought otherwise. 

But of course, he hadn’t been doubting their relationship. Not really. He feels something sour in his stomach as he thinks though. He points to one of the lines. “ It does not insist on its own way ,” he reads again. “Isn’t that what this… kink? is? The… dominant insists on their way?”

Mick cocks his head to the side. “Is that what it feels like?” he asks sincerely.

Darryl shakes his head. “No but…”

Mick nods. “That’s ‘cause it’s not. They taught you about safe words, right?” Darryl nods. “Well, that’s their way of not insisting. With that there, everything you go along with, you do it because you want to right?” Darryl nods slowly as he takes a moment to process this. “And that’s what this whole thing is, really,” Mick adds. “If they wanted to insist they’d just, ah, spank first and ask questions later, if you will.” 

Darryl nods again. “I think that makes sense. I just can’t get it out of my head that it’s wrong somehow. What if that’s conviction?”

Mick smiles slightly. “Yeah, everybody deals with that now and again. Tell you what, take a second, think about how it feels when your son gets hurt.”

Darryl squeezes his eyes shut as he thinks of Grant’s anguished sobs. He sucks in a breath and nods painfully.

“Now, that feels bad. Wrong. But that’s different from the feeling you got about this BDSM stuff, right?”

Darryl nods again. “Oh yeah, of course. That’s like, in my gut. It’s somewhere deep that I don’t even know what it is. This other wrongness… is different. More in my head, I guess.”

Mick nods. “Well, that feeling of love towards your son? That’s God. Said it right there in the book. That wrong feeling is because you love your son, and that’s good and pure. That other is shame. And we catholics have a lot of it. But it’s not God. It’s not conviction. It’s just plain ole human bias rearing its ugly head.”

Darryl takes a second to think on that.

Mick looks down at his watch. “Oh, it’s time,” he says, standing up from the table. 

Darryl looks up at him, haloed by the chandelier. “Time for what?”

Mick smiles at him. “Time for you to take me to church.”

===

As they park in the small parking lot, Mick insists that he needs Darryl’s arm to get inside. 

“Oh, just wait til all these old ladies see me with you,” he giggles mischievously. “Can’t keep their hands off me,” he explains. 

Darryl smiles indulgently. “Oh?”

Mick nods seriously. “I’ve told them all a hundred times that my Pam was my only true love but they just won’t stay away from me.” He giggles again. “Oooh this is gonna be great.”

As he walks in, he hears the sound of swelling organ music playing. It’s nice, calming. But as he realizes he’s about to walk into a church with a non-woman, he feels a bolt of panic run through him.

Mick feels him stiffen and only comfortingly pats his arm. “It’ll be alright,” he says under his breath. “They’re real nice here. You’ll see.” 

Darryl takes a deep breath as ushers open the door for them and bring them inside. He intends to head towards the back row, where he could sit unnoticed, but Mick’s surprisingly strong grip urges him onwards, all the way down the middle aisle, until they reach the second row. Mick urges him towards the middle until they’re right next to a couple around his age. The woman lights up as she sees Mick. As the organ crescendos, Mick leans over to him. “See,” he says under his breath, “what’d I tell you.”

Darryl tries desperately to hide his smile.  

As the music changes key, everyone around them begins to stand up, and Mick urges him up as well. They look at the program and begin singing the lyrics in unison. Darryl mostly mouths along with the words, but he hears Mick beside him singing joyfully off key. A procession makes their way down the middle aisle, and the people around him turn and bow to it. Darryl tries to keep up. But as he glances around, he feels his shoulders relax somewhat. There are older ladies leaning on each other, brightly-dressed middle aged men with their arms around each other, teens with brightly colored hair and ripped clothes. All of them look happy and in wonder in this space. Darryl takes a breath. He’d never known there were churches like this. 

The rest of the service is lovely. A priest gives a sermon about sacrificial love, and Darryl nods along but otherwise finds he has trouble paying attention. His mind is on Henry and Mercedes. How much he loves them. How much he wants to care for them. How he dreams of growing old together, raising their kids together. He imagines Grant’s wedding someday, the three of them, older now, in the front row, smiling widely as their son marries the love of his life. He imagines teaching the twins to drive, Henry would be too anxious and Mercedes too laid back. His mind drifts further, to the acts Henry and Mercedes had described. The sick feeling is beginning to subside, and he begins to get excited at the concept, all of the different things they could explore together. He imagines being tied up by the two, their hands running over his body while—

He feels Mick elbow him in the ribs. “Service is over,” he says with a smile. 

Darryl’s eyes focus and he jumps to his feet, embarrassed. He looks down at Mick. “I’m sorry I was—”

“Oh, honey I know that look. I’ve been in love before. I can’t tell you how many masses I missed before I ran away to be with my Pam. But the good Lord will forgive you for thinkin’ dirty thoughts in His house.” Mick smiles. “That’s half the fun.”

Darryl feels heat rise to his face. He decides it's best to stay silent. 

Mick looks at the couple behind him. “Oh, Darryl, I have to introduce you to Darla, my girlfriend.” He gestures to the woman from the beginning of service. 

Darla rolls her eyes and smiles at Mick good-naturedly. She sticks out a hand to Darryl. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she says sincerely. “Are you Mick’s son? We’ve been wondering when we’re going to get to meet his family.”

Mick stretches up to put an arm around Darryl’s shoulders. “He’s family, but not my son. Handsome enough to be though isn’t he?” He cracks a toothy grin.

Darryl returns her handshake. “Darryl Wilson, it’s a pleasure to meet you too.” Her handshake is firm, Darryl notes with appreciation. “I help Mick out around the house sometimes.”

They say their goodbyes not long after. Mick once again wraps his hand around the crook of Darryl’s elbow. It’s slow going as they’re in the front, Mick’s pace is leisurely at best, and people keep filtering out of the pews and waving to Mick. He introduces all of them to Darryl, of course, but the names and faces all blur together into one giant mass. They’re all nice to him though, and don’t make any faces about him escorting Mick to church. 

As they finally, blessedly, make their way to the back of the sanctuary, the flow of people matriculates into some sort of line. “Usually I’d skip this,” Mick says as Darryl sees several people slip past the line. “But you need to meet the priest and his husband. I think that’ll do you good.”

Darryl first nods, dazed. This whole experience has been a lot to process. But then he takes a second to hear Mick’s words. He looks at Mick incredulously. “Your priests are married ?”

Mick chuckles. “Forgot you were all new to this. Yes baby, our priests have been marrying for a long time.”

Darryl thinks for a second again. “And they’re… gay married?”

Mick smiles. “They still just call it marriage honey, but yeah. The priest’s a little young but he’s family.”

When they get near the front of the line, Darryl sees the priest who gave the sermon earlier talking sincerely to a small girl wearing a bright pink dress and pigtails. 

Darryl feels his anxiety grow as they slowly approach, but when they’re right in front of them, Mick speaks casually. “Hey Chuck, hey Sam. This is Darryl. He’s family.”

The priest sticks out his hand. “I’m Charlie. I’ve known Mick since I was a boy.”

Darryl returns the handshake. “Darryl Wilson, it’s a pleasure to meet you. That service was lovely. I’d never experienced anything like it.”

The other man, not wearing a collar, holds out his hand as well. “Sam. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Sometimes it’s too close for comfort to… other more harmful services. I’m glad you could connect with Spirit today.”

Charlie shoots a teasing glare at his husband as Darryl returns his handshake. “Get your Quakreisms out of here,” he says with faux-sternness. 

Sam smiles back widely. “You know I always did wonder if the organ might have an allergic reaction…” 

Charlie gives his husband a kiss on the cheek. Darryl smiles at their banter. He can’t wait to have that with Henry and Mercedes someday. 

Mick tugs on his arm. “Alright, let's get you out of here loverboy. I’m sure Henry and Mercedes are eager to have you home.”

Darryl nods and lets Mick lead him to the parking lot.

He drops Mick off, ushering him inside, and then makes his way home. He smiles to himself. He really is at home with them. He didn’t think that was possible.

Chapter Text

Darryl comes in the door to see Henry, Mercedes, the kids, and his mother sitting down to dinner. Henry looks up as Darryl comes in. “Oh, hey Darryl! We weren’t sure if we should wait on you or not. I tried texting and calling and you didn’t answer,” he says with a touch of worry. 

Darryl looks down at the phone in his hands. Sure enough, there are several unread messages and missed calls. He grimaces. “I’m sorry, I got caught up and didn’t look at my phone for a while.” He walks towards the dining room and settles into his seat.

Mercedes looks concerned. “Is everything okay?”

Darryl smiles widely. “Yeah. Yeah, they are. Mick took me to church and it was… nice.”

Mercedes nods with understanding. “That explains the cigarette smoke, then.”

Darryl winces. “Sorry. But yeah, he really helped me see things differently.”

Sandra looks up from her plate. “Mick?” she asks simply. 

Darryl nods. “Henry’s family. I’ve been missing dad a lot recently, so Henry introduced me.”

She smiles softly. “I’m glad.”

They have an uncharacteristically quiet meal, as Lark and Sparrow are nearly falling asleep in their seats, so tired out from their excursion.

As they finish, the kids go to their rooms and Sandra gets a phone call. She grimaces as she answers and walks away from the table. “Hey, Jan, thanks for getting back to me…” She walks into the next room

Darryl winces then looks between Henry and Mercedes. “That’s Miss Miriam’s sister. Should I go… stop her?”

Henry shakes his head. “I mean, it’s just a conversation, right? More information is always helpful.”

Darryl chuckles. “I forget you don’t know mom very well yet.” He sobers. “I know this is really fast. But I’ve been wanting this for a really long time.”

Henry and Mercedes look at each other and then back at him. “I mean, it’s not really any faster than you moving in with us, and if having that space would allow things to flow smoother…” Mercedes begins thoughtfully.

“And we could keep our current place for a few months and move slowly. That way we have a trial period and don’t get in any rush…” Henry continues, equally contemplative. 

Darryl feels his heart leap in his chest. “And it’ll probably take a good while to get it fixed up anyway, so if…” he winces, “things don’t work out, I could probably buy you two out and Grant and I could live there.” He gets a little sad at the thought.

They’re smiling sadly at him. “That’s a good idea,” Mercedes murmurs. 

“Hope for success, plan for failure,” Darryl quotes his father.

They both nod thoughtfully. They don’t say anything else, and Darryl tries not to get his hopes up, but he can’t help but start imagining what they’d do with the place. The floors would need to be refinished at least, and probably replaced in some places. He hopes they hadn’t let any water damage progress with that old roof... He pulls out his trusty pocket pad of paper and begins sketching out plans, mumbling to himself.

He glances up briefly and sees Henry and Mercedes smiling widely at him. He feels heat rise to his face. “What?” he asks bashfully. 

“You’re cute,” Mercedes states, putting a hand on his arm. 

Darryl feels his face turn redder. It’s been about 30 years since anyone’s called him that. He looks down at his notes. “Sorry,” he mumbles, “just got excited.”

The pair exchange smiles and then Henry looks at him seriously. “You have nothing to apologize for. We just haven’t ever seen you this animated about something.”

Darryl smiles slightly. “Oh.”

His mother comes walking back into the room, hanging up the phone. She sits back down at the table and addresses Darryl. “It’s been decided. You will buy the house for the price they’ve been paying to keep it up all these years, and if you all help me get this place cleaned up for Mercedes’ cousin, I’ll pay your down payment.” She smiles, satisfied with herself.

Darryl looks at Henry and Mercedes, stricken. “Mom we didn’t—”

“Oh, I know you weren’t planning on moving this fast, but I can tell, there’s no way you and Grant can live there anymore, no matter what happens, and now you have options,” she states.

Darryl nods to himself. He turns to Henry and Mercedes. “We can put something together that after a year we’ll transfer ownership, does that sound okay?”

 Henry and Mercedes nod at him. “That probably makes things less complicated,” Mercedes murmurs. 

Sandra claps definitively. “Good. I’m glad you have that settled.”

Darryl shrugs at them. “Did I mention mom was a real estate agent?”

The trio see Sandra off next door, and put the kids back to bed. They all sit back down at the table steaming mugs of tea in front of them, and Henry materializes the papers on the table again. 

He looks at Darryl hesitantly as he sets them back down on the table. “You’re sure you’re okay with this Darryl?”

Mercedes lays a hand on his arm. “We realized after you were gone we moved too quickly. We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

Darryl shakes his head. “No, no you were fine. I just needed some time to process, but I really am good now. Mick and I talked and he helped me work through some things. I want to do this. I… I appreciate that you care enough to ask what I think.”

Henry and Mercedes get a sad look in their eyes. Henry puts a hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, of course Darryl. I’m sorry you’ve ever experienced anything different.”

Darryl nods. “That’s the past though. I want to think about our future together.” He takes a deep breath and looks down at the piece of paper. This time, it doesn’t make his head spin. He starts at the top, and begins working his way down the sheet, remembering the description Henry and Mercedes had provided. He still feels a flush rise to his cheeks, and some of this stuff still doesn’t sit right with him, but he’s still able to consider it and come to a conclusion, unlike before. He flips back over the sheet to check his work and hands the stack off in their direction.

Henry smiles indulgently at him. “We aren’t letting you off that easily. Why don’t we go through each section, and you can give us the highlights.”

Darryl feels his face flush. Okay. He can do this. He flips to the first page. 

Mercedes speaks. “This one should be fairly straightforward,” she says with a smile. “We’ve already had sex.”

Darryl takes a deep breath. “I ah. In this category I’m pretty good with everything.” Henry’s brow furrows. “Except,” he takes another breath. “I don’t want to have sex with anyone but you two.” He squeezes his eyes closed for a minute. “At least for now. When I feel less new and… insecure… maybe then.”

When he looks up, Henry and Mercedes are smiling widely at him. They each put a hand on his arm. 

Darryl takes another deep breath. This part’s going to be harder. “And I um. I’m not sure what… ah boundaries? I’m allowed to set? But I’m really uncomfortable with the idea of you two having sex with other people while I’m not there too.” He looks down at the paper. “Is that? okay?” he whispers.

Henry’s smiling sadly. “Hey, yeah Darryl of course it’s okay. We love you, and your comfort is really important to us.”

“Just because we aren’t monogamous doesn’t mean we’re any less committed,” Mercedes murmurs. “Honestly, I’m not comfortable with bringing another person into the equation either at this point.”

Henry nods. “And that’s totally okay. And just because that’s something I would be comfortable with doesn’t mean I’d go off and violate your trust, okay? I love you too much for that.”

Darryl nods. “I also really like it when Mercedes runs her fingers through my hair,” he adds hoarsely. 

Mercedes smiles at him, pleased with herself. “Are you ready to move on to the next category? This one might be a little more… challenging. Take your time, okay? I know this can take some practice to verbalize.”

Darryl reads the heading. Bondage . Right. Okay. “I like the idea of being told to stay still or in a certain position. I think that would be… fun. At least for a little bit. And when Mercedes mentioned tying me to a bed or against the wall, I liked that too. I wouldn’t want to use anything that’s uncomfortable or would leave visible marks, because of Grant… and not for a really long time either. I’d be okay with you two doing more than that while I’m there, but if you looked really uncomfortable I don’t think I could be into that. And I’d need some guidance before I felt comfortable tying either of you myself.”

Henry and Mercedes both nod along. Henry has a small smile gracing his lips and Mercedes seems lost in thought. 

“And um, this wasn’t on the sheet but,” he’s horrified to hear his voice already wavering, “I figure this goes here? I know it’s really specific but I don’t like having my hands pinned over my head while someone rides me.” Darryl swallows hard then plunges ahead before he loses his nerve. “Sometimes I’d wake up and Carol would already be on top of me and I’d just want to go back to sleep and she’d…” He tries in vain to stifle a sob. 

They’re by his side in an instant. Mercedes runs her hands comfortingly through his hair and leads him to lean his head on her chest. Henry awkwardly wraps his arms around his midsection and holds him tightly. 

They stay like that for a long time without saying anything. 

Eventually, Henry looks up at Darryl. “Are you okay?” he asks, concern written all over his face.

Darryl wipes the tears away from his cheeks and nods. “I’m okay. It’s dumb to be upset about anyway.”

Mercedes looks down at him, her brow furrowed. “Darryl, you were routinely raped by your wife. That’s plenty of cause for distress,” she states softly.

Darryl instinctively shakes his head. “No, that’s not—I mean, I’m a man! I may not have felt like it at the time, but I wanted it. I should—I should want that! I should—right?” He chokes out another sob

Henry has tears streaking down his cheeks as well. “No, Darryl, your gender? Your body? It doesn’t negate the need for your consent. I’m so so sorry you went through that. If I’d had any idea maybe I could have—” He buries his face in Darryls chest and begins crying in earnest. 

Darryl feels a chill run down his spine. Henry’s right, of course. He’d never want anything like that happening to him or Grant… He closes his eyes and holds them tighter. “Oh,” he whispers.

Eventually, Mercedes pulls away slightly. “We don’t need to keep going,” she whispers hoarsely. “We can put this off until later.”

Darryl wipes his face with a nearby napkin and shakes his head. “No, I want to keep going.” He takes a deep breath. “We’ve already got the hard part out of the way, right?” He attempts to crack a smile. 

Henry looks up at them. “We could move to the couch?” he suggests. “I promise to be on my best behavior.” He holds up a 3 finger salute and cracks a smile.

Mercedes thinks on this. “We don’t normally do that but… this relationship isn’t how we normally do things.” She nods resolutely, then looks sternly at Henry. “But I’m serious about you being on your best behavior.”

Henry nods his head. “Yes ma’am.”

They move over to the couch, Henry and Mercedes nestling under each of his arms and looking intently down at the packet of papers. 

Mercedes looks up at him, and she looks beautiful like this. “Is that all you wanted to talk about from this section?” she murmurs. 

Darryl thinks, and his cheeks heat. “The idea of being put in a chastity device for a day before we have sex is pretty hot,” he says finally. “I wouldn’t want to use it long-term though,” he adds hurriedly. Mercedes smiles deviously. 

Henry looks up at him too, his eyes finally starting to clear from earlier. “Anything else?” he asks, smiling. 

Darryl shakes his head. “Not right now, I mean, you can read what I put on there.”

Henry nods and studies the page for a moment. 

Darryl takes a breath as he reads the next section. S&M. “So, if I’m being honest, a lot of this section is really um… new? And a little scary to me.”

Henry nods and looks up at him. “Like we said, you don’t have to be into any of this, just because we are, okay?”

Darryl nods. “I know. But I think there’s a few things I’d like, too.” He takes a breath and his cheeks heat. “That first night, Henry, you bit my neck, and I liked that a lot.”

Henry’s eyes go wide. “I did?”

Darryl nods. “I liked it a lot,” he reiterates. 

Henry blushes prettily. “Oh. whoops.”

Mercedes looks up at him. “Anything else?”

He looks at the sheet for reference. “Yeah um, the idea of you scratching my back… like in sex? And leaving marks?” He takes a shaky breath as the image fills his mind. “I think I’d like that.”

They lock eyes briefly and smile contentedly. “What else?” Henry murmurs. 

“I don’t like the idea of being around anything um, unsanitary? Like blood and stuff.”

They nod thoughtfully. 

“I think that’s all for that section for now.” He can’t help but wince. “Sorry.”

They shake their heads. “No, it’s—no,” Henry says. “This is a really expansive list, that covers more or less all of the things someone could be into. It’s not a list of all the things we’re into.”

“Though maybe we should have started with that,” Mercedes muses, “it might have been less overwhelming. I’m sorry if that wasn’t clear Darryl. There’s a lot of things on here we’re not into either. The only difference is we’ve tried a lot more of them.” She smiles.

“And, just so you know, if you try something and decide you don’t like it, just tell us, okay? This isn’t a contract or anything,” Henry says seriously, “It’s just a tool for communication.”

Tension flows out of Darryl’s body. “Oh.” He nods. “Okay then.” He flips the page to move onto the next section. Power Play . “I like it when Henry begs,” he says as heat rises to his face. “And I really like dirty talk. And I ah, I like the idea of symbols. Jewelry and stuff, but also, maybe something more permanent Someday..” 

Mercedes hums happily. “That is a good idea. What else?”

“Nothing public or obvious that Grant could pick up on. And I guess I’ll reiterate my stance against unsanitary things.”

They nod. “Yeah, of course. The kids aren’t involved in this at all,” Mercedes says.

Henry looks at him. “What’s next?”

“Roleplay. Prison and parent kid stuff wigs me out. And cuckold also doesn’t feel great.” He winces. 

They both nod. “Understandable,” Mercedes murmurs.

“The ah, religious scene sounds interesting. Ever since I read that I can’t get the image of Henry in a priest’s collar out of my head.” He can’t believe he said that so brazenly. He feels heat rise to his face.

Henry nods thoughtfully. “I have never thought of doing that, but we could probably work something out. I usually prefer the other kind of collar.” He smiles teasingly.

Darryl feels heat rise to his face again. “Oh.”

He flips to the next page. Fetish. “I wasn’t really sure what to do with any of this. Most of it doesn’t sound bad, except for the unsanitary parts, but it’s also not really my thing. It seems like pretty normal stuff, really. Piercings, for example. I like Henry’s but that’s because I like Henry. Or lingerie. That’s cool, and it’d be neat to see Mercedes in some but I’m not sure what it's about beyond that.”

“What about on you?” Mercedes murmurs.

“Hm?” He doesn’t quite understand.

“Would you like to be in lingerie?” she asks, drawing circles on his chest with her fingertips.

“Oh.” He takes a moment to think. “You said it didn’t have to be like lace bras and things, right? It could just be something that made me feel sexy?”

They nod, looking up at him without judgement.

“I think… I think I might like that. But I don’t know what that’d look like.” Darryl can’t imagine feeling sexy in his body, but as he imagines it, he discovers he wants it desperately.

Henry hums happily. “I’m sure we can figure something out.”

They open up their packets and give him a rundown of what they like and don’t like, and he tries to commit it to memory. He finds that their lists, while longer than his, aren’t appreciably so, and he’s excited by the prospect of what they can try together. When he says as much, they smile and lead him towards the bedroom.

Chapter Text

They lead him into their closet.

He’s not sure how, but Henry seems inexplicably taller as he begins speaking. “To start, I want all of your clothes off,” he says with an authoritative tone Darryl’s never heard before.

He and Mercedes move to comply, and Henry, too, begins stripping. When he finishes, he looks at Darryl, standing awkwardly in the middle of the small space, and smiles slightly. “Stay there love. I’ll get to you in just a second.”

Darryl’s cheeks heat and he struggles not to fidget as he sees Henry walk over to Mercedes, take a collar off of a shelf, and carefully affix it around her neck. Mercedes whimpers slightly. 

He grips her chin gently to make her look at him. “Now,” he says in a low murmur, loud enough for Darryl to hear, “you’re going to get in your position, and you’re not going to move or make any noise unless I tell you to or if it’s to say your safeword, okay?”

Mercedes’ whimpering stops and she takes a big, shaky breath, then lowers herself to the ground, sitting on her knees and holding her hands behind her back. 

“Good girl,” Henry murmurs with admiration as he watches the sight.

He turns around to Darryl, who’s still struggling not to fidget. Henry grabs the back of his head and kisses him, hard. Darryl forgets where he is and loses himself in the kiss. Darryl groans into it and he hears Mercedes’ breathing pick up beside him.

Henry breaks the kiss, breathing heavily. “What color are we at, love?” he whispers, still holding Darryl’s head tightly.

“Green,” Darryl rasps out. This is intense. But he’s pretty sure he likes it. At the very least, he wants to see what happens next.

Henry hums happily. He pulls back and gently guides him to face the wall next to Mercedes. He reaches up and grabs a pair of soft leather cuffs. He holds them up for Darryl to see. “This okay?”

Darryl nods vigorously. “Yes, please.”

Henry smiles confidently. “Good.” He grabs Darryl’s wrist and begins drawing careful designs on the sensitive skin there, drawing gasps from Darryl. He smiles and continues his assault, lighting up Darryl’s senses in a way he didn’t think possible. All of his attention is focused on that single spot. 

He looks down and sees Mercedes, already glassy-eyed with pleasure, her girl dick standing tall as she intently watches the scene in front of her, but true to her instructions does not move or make a sound. Her breathing picks up when she notices Darryl watching her. 

Henry notices too. He smiles a relaxed smile as he looks up from his work at Darryl. “She’s being such a good girl, isn’t she?” he asks faux-conversationally. He finally wraps the firm, supple cloth around Darryl’s wrist, making him let out a loud moan. “Do you like watching our wife be so obedient for me?”

Darryl feels a whimper escape him as he nods vigorously. “God, yes,” he breathes as Henry picks up his other wrist and begins the process over again. 

Henry hums. “Good boy. You’re being very obedient for me too,” he murmurs as he continues to tease Darryl’s wrists. Darryl moans at the praise.

He can hear the smile in Henry’s voice. “Oh, you like that?”

Darryl nods. “Put it… on the sheet…” he chokes out.

Henry frowns and carefully wraps the cuff around Darryl’s wrist and tightens it a little tighter than the other. He grabs Darryl’s chin and makes him look at him. “I know you did,” he says with restrained sternness, “but I’m going to ask, because it’s our first time together, okay?”

Darryl’s heart skips a beat. Henry’s a little scary like this. He feels a chill run through him. And he likes it. He nods what little he can with his head still being controlled by Henry’s fingers.

Henry smiles at him. “Good.” He leans forward and gently bites down on that spot on Darryl’s neck, and his knees almost buckle. He smiles again. “Now,” he takes Darryl’s left wrist and inspects it, tugging slightly, then carefully lifts Darryl’s arm over his head and hooks the cuff on an O-ring anchored securely in the wall. He watches as Darryl takes an experimental tug. “That okay?”

Darryl bites his lip and nods. He considers asking a question, but closes his mouth. He trusts Henry.

“You’re not going to tear it down,” Henry murmurs, “If that’s what you’re worried about. Both Mercedes and I have had our full body weight on it at the same time and it didn’t budge.” He places a hand on Darryl’s cheek. “I got you, okay? I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”

Darryl whimpers and melts into the touch. Henry smiles. Mercedes lets out a shaky breath on the floor next to them. Henry looks down at her. “I’ll get to you in a second, my good girl.”

Mercedes takes a steadying breath and continues watching the men together with glassy eyes. 

Henry inspects the cuff on Darryl’s right wrist and then clips it onto the ring as well. He takes a step back to admire his handiwork and smiles. He rubs his hand over Darryl’s strong shoulders comfortingly. “This okay?” he murmurs.

Darryl gasps at the contact. “Yeah,” he rasps.

“No bad memories?” Henry continues to run his hands over his body. 

Darryl shakes his head. “No. No. Only good. Want you.” He’s not sure what he’s saying now. He’s never been particularly eloquent, but this is on another level. He feels himself melting into the cuffs. He trusts Henry. 

Henry smiles. “I know.” He inspects Darryl’s arms. They’re bent pretty significantly to accommodate the cuffs. He hums thoughtfully. “We’ll need another one that’s tall enough for you. But for now this will suit my purposes just fine. Here,” He begins leading Darryl’s hips backward until he’s leaning over at an angle, his face pressing against a plush panel, and his ass sticking out towards the middle of the room. His legs are splayed out in a position that would be way too vulnerable normally. But he trusts Henry. Henry smiles. “Perfect,” he whispers.

He moves forward to place a hand on Mercedes’ shoulder, who closes her eyes in bliss. “Look at me,” Henry murmurs. She does immediately, her eyes snapping to his. Henry smiles softly. “Good girl. I want you to move over in front of Darryl. Nod if you understand.”

She nods her head vigorously. Henry helps her adjust comfortably, placing a pillow under her knees, and then giving her a kiss on the temple. “Good girl. You look so pretty like this.” Mercedes closes her eyes and leans against him ever so slightly.

Darryl swears he can feel her breath on his dick, already wet with pre. He whimpers, looking down and seeing her so close to him. Henry stands up and walks behind him, pushing himself flush against Darryl’s back, reaching around, and pumping his dick. The sudden pleasure overwhelms him. Henry’s warmth and the bliss of the skin to skin contact is almost as blissful as the pleasure flowing from his cock. He lets out a loud groan.  And then Henry’s gone again, and  Darryl looks over his shoulder at Henry to find him smiling, satisfied with himself. Darryl can feel himself begin to drip at the sight. 

Somehow, Henry notices. He tisks teasingly. He leans down to Mercedes and guides her head until her closed mouth is resting at the tip of Darryl’s cock. Darryl groans, and Henry smiles again. He brushes her hair over her shoulder and rests a hand on her cheek. “Snap once for comfortable and twice for needs adjustment.”

Mercedes smiles slightly and closes her eyes. She snaps once. 

Henry gives her a kiss on the temple. “Good. If you need anything just snap, okay? Snap if you understand.”

She snaps again.

Henry stands up and looks at Darryl. “You’re going to stay still for me, okay? I’ll keep a hand on your hip to remind you, but you can’t be bucking against me.”

Darryl takes an unsteady breath. Mercedes’ plush lips pressed against his head is almost heaven. “Okay,” he rasps out. 

Henry smiles and runs his hands down his sides, then grips his hips. Darryl groans. “Good boy,” Henry murmurs, then drops to his knees behind him. 

He begins carefully exploring Darryl’s ass, his tongue making gentle passes at the puckered hole. Darryl groans, closes his eyes, and leans against the wall, the cuffs keeping him in place.

Henry’s attention is unwavering, each pass drawing a moan from Darryl until he can’t take it anymore. “Please handsome,” he chokes out, “need you.” He’s not even sure what he needs, but he knows Henry can give it to him. 

Henry hums and stands up, moving to be in front of Darryl’s face. He smiles softly. “You know I love it when you call me that normally,” he sticks his thumb in Darryl’s mouth and he instinctively begins sucking on it for all he’s worth, making Henry gasp, “but right now,” he removes his thumb and Darryl whimpers, “I want you to call me sir.”

Darryl closes his eyes and lets out a shaky whimper. “Yes sir,” he whispers. He feels the urge to plunge forward into Mercedes but doesn’t. His legs shake with the effort of keeping himself still. 

Henry smiles and runs a hand down his back and in between his ass cheeks. He ventures further and massages Darryl’s taint. “Good boy,” he murmurs as Darryl moans.

Henry gets back on his knees, and resumes his earlier ministrations, running his tongue over Darryl’s asshole. Darryl feels like he’s about to burst. “Please, sir,” he gasps out, “I need you.”

He feels Henry smile against him. His grip tightens on his hip, and then he begins carefully working his tongue into Darryl’s ass, with slow plying movements. The slight pain from Henry’s grip reminds him of his earlier instructions, and it uses all of his willpower to still himself, as Henry begins leisurely fucking his ass with his tongue. Darryl groans loudly and he’s not sure if it’s in arousal or frustration. Henry hums happily and continues his slow pace, driving Darryl wild and making his hair stand up on end. Mercedes takes a stuttering breath and Darryl realizes he’s begun steadily leaking pre onto her mouth. He moans at the sight as he looks down at her, her eyes looking up at him, lost with attraction. 

Henry stops tongue fucking him and he lets out a high whine. He already misses that fullness. Henry moves his mouth forward, prodding at his taint with his tongue until he finds a place that nearly makes Darryl lose it. He lets out a low moan instead. Henry fixates on that spot, seemingly intent to force Darryl into losing his composure. “Sir, please,” he whimpers, “I can’t take much more.”

Henry pauses for only a second to hear him, then hums happily and continues, paying Darryl’s begging no mind.

“Please, please, please,” Darryl begins to beg incoherently, unsure of what he’s even begging for anymore. 

Henry continues, and Darryl devolves into loud incoherent whimpers with each pass of his tongue. 

Eventually, Henry hums happily and continues forward. He drags his tongue over the middle of Darryl’s sack, and then sucks one of the balls into his warm and wet mouth.

Darryl lets out a contented sigh. “Oh,” he whispers, “that feels really good.”

Henry smiles and then pays equal attention to his other ball, warming it and making him melt further, feel safer still. 

Then his mouth leaves him, and Darryl’s not sure what he’s doing until he hears Henry’s loud groan and sees him lapping at Mercedes’ stomach. He smiles up at Darryl. “Your pre has been dripping down our wife and has almost reached her girl dick,” he whispers huskily, “you two are going to have to stay still while I clean her up.”

Darryl moans loudly and Mercedes lets out a stuttered breath. Henry begins by using two careful fingers to gently push Mercedes’ girl dick away from her stomach and then lowers his head to her pelvic bone to begin carefully lapping up the cum gathered there. He moves his way upwards, dragging his tongue against her taut skin and then carefully lets her girl dick fall back into place as he works his way higher. She sucks in a shaky breath as he does so, but he pays her no mind, working his way up, between her breasts, then beginning to lap and suck as he approaches her neck. He smiles up at Darryl as he pulls away for a moment, and smiles deviously. “It’s a lot thicker here,” he whispers. Darryl moans, resting his forehead against the wall to watch. Henry is diligent, working his way up Mercedes’ neck, and her breaths become short, fast pants. 

Henry looks up at her. “You okay, mi amor? Remember to breathe. We don’t want you passing out on us.” He smiles softly

At the reprieve, Mercedes takes a long steadying breath. 

Henry rests his hand against her cheek briefly. “Snap if you need anything,” he reiterates.

He continues his earlier pace, licking and sucking at Mercedes until he makes his way to her chin. He tilts his head to the side and laps there, more pre filling its place almost as fast as he can get it up. He huffs out a breath and looks up to see Darryl watching, glassy-eyed and transfixed. “You like that?” he murmurs, a smile ghosting his lips. 

Darryl moans loudly and nods. “Yes sir,” he chokes out. 

Henry chuckles to himself. “Well, there’s no way I'll be able to keep Mercedes clean at this rate. Here.” He places his thumb on Mercedes bottom lip and pulls down. “Open,” he commands.

She obediently opens her mouth, her lips now only ghosting around Darryl’s cock. He whimpers.

Henry looks back up at Darryl with a devious smile. “So,” he begins conversationally, betrayed by the huskiness in his voice, “I’m going to let you decide how deeply you want to be in our wife’s mouth. Less deep, she’ll be able to taste your pre, and that really turns her on.” As if on cue, she lets out a contented sigh as Darryl’s cock leaks into her open mouth. “Deeper will obviously feel better. But I plan on fucking you soon, so if you choose that option you’ll have to stay very still.” His voice is so husky it’s barely more than a growl at this point.

Darryl’s mind isn’t in a state to make decisions. He whimpers again. “Less,” he rasps out. “Please.”

Henry nods. He leads Mercede’s head slightly forward. Darryl groans. He can feel the heat of her mouth but she’s still holding her lips open. The almost contact is torture. 

Henry runs a hand through Mercedes’ hair. “Close,” he instructs, and as Mercedes closes her mouth around him, his mind goes blank. He feels the urge to thrust into her, seat himself in her mouth more fully, but Henry grips his hip as he moans desperately. “Stay still love,” he murmurs. Darryl nods his head. Henry turns his attention back towards Mercedes, who’s taking in shaky breaths through her nose. Henry carefully gives her a kiss on the forehead. “You’re being such a good girl,” he murmurs. “In fact, you’ve earned this. You can make noise again.”

Mercedes lets out a loud, long moan that vibrates Darryl’s cock in a delicious way. He moans too. 

Henry smiles, pleased with himself, and makes his way behind Darryl. Mercedes whimpers at the loss of contact, but quiets as she watches Henry begin eagerly eating Darryl out, causing him to whimper and moan above them. Henry reaches down and begins pumping himself, making him moan into Darryl’s ass. 

Darryl closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths. “Might be getting close, sir,” he whispers.

Henry hums happily then stops, drawing a whine from Darryl. He stands up and runs his hands over Darryl’s shoulders and then positions himself at Darryl’s entrance. “This okay?” he murmurs.

Darryl whimpers. “Yes. Please. Fuck me.”

Henry smiles and leans down to kiss Darryl’s back. “Good boy,” he murmurs and thrusts into him.

Darryl feels fuller than he ever has. He lets out a long, low moan. Henry keeps a tight grip on his hip, and Mercedes moans as his cock jerks in her mouth, steadily leaking pre. 

Henry begins carefully pumping into him, drawing gasps and moans from each of them with every movement. 

Henry picks up the pace, and Mercedes moans so loudly, he swears he can feel it in his dick. He’s getting close. “I think,” he gasps out, “you’re going to make me come. Would you like that?”

“God, yes, please sir. Please come inside me. I need you so bad,” Darryl whimpers desperately. Mercedes moans again, and the dam breaks.

Chapter Text

Henry pumps desperately into Darryl, letting out a low moan. Darryl whimpers. “I can feel you coming inside of me,” he murmurs. A few weeks ago he would have felt panicked at the thought of a man dominating him like this, but now there’s only euphoria, safety, and pride. 

Henry smiles, satisfied. He pulls out of Darryl and runs a hand through his hair. “Good boy,” he murmurs. 

He grabs a hold of his hips and leads him so that he’s angled closer to the wall, instead of perpendicular like before. Mercedes turns her head to keep up the contact. Henry smiles and runs a hand through her hair. “Good girl,” he coos. 

Then he lowers himself on top of her, straddling her folded knees. He gives her a gentle kiss on the temple, then lines her up with his front entrance. She whimpers in anticipation at the first real contact on her girl dick since they started. Henry takes a second to brush a stray strand of hair back into place and smiles at her trembling form gently. Then he quickly and savagely plunges onto her, a vengeful smile on his face. She lets out a long, low moan around Darryl, and Henry rides her hard, rocking back and forth, his hands gripping her shoulders as he gets into a steady rhythm. Mercedes moans around Darryl and he moans in turn, the sensation along with the scene in front of him sending bolts of pleasure running through him.

“Remember, you’re still not allowed to move,” Henry whispers in her ear before he pulls the lobe in between his teeth, making her moan loudly. She whimpers in agreement. 

“Are you getting close, my good girl?” Henry asks, a teasing smile on his face. “I wonder what you will do,” he muses, though this pace is clearly affecting him too, and he’s beginning to have trouble keeping up his nonchalant demeanor. “Will you hold off your orgasm since I haven’t given you permission yet?” Mercedes whimpers. “Or,” Henry leans in close, “will you let go, fill up my boypussy with your cum just because you know it will please me, and take whatever punishments come your way?” 

Mercedes whimpers sound panicked but she stays still, only sending pleading looks Henry’s way. Henry smiles, satisfied and slows down the pace, slowly raising and lowering himself over her. 

Even at this tortuously slow pace, it seems like he’s still getting worked up. “When you’re close,” he rasps, “you can start sucking him.” 

Darryl moans. Mercedes begins sucking and bobbing her head on his cock immediately. It seems like she’s struggling to get any more in her mouth without moving the rest of her body. 

“Sir, can I get a little closer, please? She looks uncomfortable.” Darryl asks, panting.

Henry shoots him a smile, “Yes, but careful. Not too close.”

Darryl nods and shuffles forward, standing up straighter as he does. 

Mercedes’ whimpers get more desperate and she quakes with the effort it takes to keep her hips still. She forces her head forward and takes Darryl down her throat, gagging and then moaning with pleasure as she comes up for air. Darryl’s never felt anything like it, and knowing how close she is only turns him on more.

“You can come once you make him come in your mouth,” Henry whispers with a smile. 

She begins sucking on him desperately, outpacing Henry in her lap. The sight alone is enough to get Darryl off, but her mouth around him is pure decadence. In any other scenario he’d be mortified to come this quickly, but not here, and not with them.

“I’m close,” Darryl chokes out. Mercedes begins whimpering excitedly and sucking him harder. 

Henry gives Darryl’s hip a squeeze. “Come for me,” he whispers to both of them.

He watches as Darryl’s cock begins pulsing in Mercedes’ mouth, and moments after feels Mercedes’ girl dick do the same inside of him. He hums contentedly as Darryl lets out a rumbling groan and Mercedes sighs contentedly. A few more mind-shattering pumps, and it’s over.  Mercedes relaxes and begins swallowing Darryl’s cum, a smile not quite forming on her lips. Darryl stands up a little straighter and rolls his shoulders a bit.

They all take a second to breathe, and then Henry springs back into action. He whimpers a little as he removes himself from Mercedes’ lap, and stands. He bends down and gingerly removes the collar from Mercedes’ neck and then moves over and reaches up to unstrap Darryl from the soft leather cuffs. He massages Darryl’s shoulders lightly, helping him stand up straight and gently holds Mercedes' head as he pulls away from her mouth. Then he leans down and pulls her to standing on shaky legs. 

He looks at both of them, smiling proudly, and takes their hands. “Why don’t we go lay down, hm?” And leads them back into the bedroom.

They follow him in a daze. He folds back the covers and Mercedes climbs in. Darryl follows her lead, suddenly cold. As he lays down Mercedes scoots into him. He instinctively wraps an arm around her. 

“This okay?” she murmurs, still dazed.

Darryl nods. “Yeah.” He huddles closer to her warmth. 

Henry smiles at the two. He walks to the side of the bed and lays a hand on each of their cheeks. 

His brow furrows as he looks at Darryl. “I’ll be right back, but you might start feeling some intense emotions, okay? Mercedes likes to cuddle when she’s coming down from subspace, but it may take some time to figure out what you need. Just let me know, okay?”

Darryl nods. This feels really nice. Henry gives Mercedes and then him a kiss on the temple. He looks at him seriously. “Are you going to be okay while I go downstairs and make tea?”

“Four minutes,” Darryl murmurs. 

Henry smiles. “Right. I’ll be right back.”

He slips on a robe and some houseshoes and closes the door softly behind him.

Darryl drifts off to sleep.

Not long after, he awakes slightly to a warm wet mouth on his nipple. He smiles. Mercedes. She switches her attention to his other nipple. 

“‘S ‘kay?” she mumbles, also still asleep.

Darryl whimpers quietly as she bites down gently on the peak. He nods. “Mhm,” he mumbles.

Darryl drifts towards sleep again, her ministrations oddly comforting. She alternates sucking and biting and rolling her tongue over the peaks. It feels really nice. Even just her softness pressed against him is a balm to his frazzled nerves. 

Then he feels her mouth wrap around his cock. 

His eyes flutter open and he sees her mouth wrapped around him, looking up at him for permission from under the covers. “Please, beautiful,” he mumbles, and runs a hand through her hair. She begins bobbing her head at a leisurely pace. It too, feels really nice. He just came inside her mouth and now that she has a full range of motion she’s putting all of it to work. She holds the head in her mouth while she swirls her tongue around it and pumps at the base with her hand. Then she goes back to her slow and steady pace, her mouth filling with his pre and she hums with pleasure as she tastes it. He’s not sure how but he’s quickly approaching his edge. “Close,” he gasps out. She smiles up at him and slows down to draw out their pleasure.

He doesn’t notice Henry’s return until he climbs into bed behind him and wraps his arms around his shoulder and middle. Darryl can feel his hard dick pressing into the small of his back. 

Henry holds him tightly. “You okay love?” He whispers, concern coloring his voice. 

“Mhm,” Darryl mumbles, “feels good.”

“Oh, I see,” Henry chuckles. He feels heat rise to his face. “Forgot to mention Mercedes’ oral fixation gets really intense while she comes down.”

Darryl gasps. Even at her tortuously slow pace he can’t hold on much longer. 

“You’re already close?” Henry asks, bemused. 

Darryl lets out a low groan. “Mhm,” he grunts out.

Henry winces. “Your cum in her mouth might overstimulate her. Here.” He rolls Darryl onto his back and Mercedes and Darryl moan in unison as they’re disconnected. 

As Mercedes moves to suck Darryl some more, Henry climbs on top of him, facing the end of the bed, rubbing against his cock and guides Mercedes’ mouth to his dick instead. Darryl moans at the contact as Mercedes hums happily. Henry begins gyrating on top of Darryl as Mercedes sucks his dick. Darryl watches as Henry rocks back and forth over him, sees his dick sliding between Henry’s wetness. Feels how wet and ready Henry is for him.

Darryl can’t take it anymore. He needs more. He scoots upward in the bed until he’s sitting up. He pulls Henry’s hips backwards. “C’mere handsome,” he murmurs. 

Henry obliges, detaching Mercedes and sliding backwards to rest on Darryl’s cock again. Darryl holds it aloft and guides Henry onto him. “This okay?” he grunts. 

Henry moans. “Yes, please.”

Darryl looks down at the foot of the bed, Mercedes pouting at the loss of contact. “C’mere beautiful,” he beckons. “Need you to suck our husband’s dick while I fuck him.”

She smiles and hums, pleased. Darryl spreads his legs slightly so she can nestle between them and have better access to Henry. 

Henry moans loudly. 

Darryl sets out a painstakingly slow pace that makes Henry whimper and moan. Even then, he approaches the edge quickly. “I’m gonna come, handsome,” he murmurs. 

“God, yes, please, love. Need your cum.”

Mercedes takes a break from sucking Henry to run her tongue between his balls, and it’s his undoing. He buries his face in Henry’s shoulder and tries to stifle the loud groan that emanates from him. 

Henry dutifully rides him until the last of the orgasm subsides, then moves to climb off. 

Darryl puts an arm around him to stop him. “Want to make you come like this,” he murmurs, placing soft kisses on Henry’s shoulder. 

“But aren’t you sensitive?” Henry asks, concerned. 

Darryl shrugs, “I’ll deal. We’ll go slow to start. Let us make you feel good handsome.”

Henry whimpers and relaxes into Darryl’s hold. Mercedes’ devious glint has returned to her eye, and she begins sucking on his dick in earnest, drawing gasps and whimpers from Henry. 

Darryl begins moving slowly against Henry, and it is a little overstimulating, but it’s worth it when Henry groans loudly. They both feel some of Darryl’s cum leak out of Henry and slide between Darryl’s thighs. Mercedes notices too, and licks it up with a smile, making Henry groan louder when her mouth returns to him.

Darryl removes one hand from holding Henry and places a thumb in his mouth. “Kids are asleep handsome,” he murmurs into his ear.

Henry nods his head and begins gyrating against him and sucking his thumb, his hole tightening around him deliciously. 

Darryl can feel Henry holding back. “Come for us handsome.” He tightens his arm around Henry, seating himself fully inside him. 

Henry comes apart, moaning and bucking wildly against his spouses before finally resting against Darryl’s strong chest. 

Mercedes lifts up and smiles widely. Darryl scoots down and lays on his side, not disconnecting from Henry, not yet. Henry hums happily and snuggles closer. Mercedes crawls up in front of him and holds them both tightly, a contented smile on her lips. 

They just lay like that for a while, breathing, running their hands over each other, and giving each other gentle kisses. 

Henry hums contentedly and stretches. He looks at Darryl. “That’s not how aftercare is supposed to work.”

Darryl blushes. “Sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. That was… awesome. I could get used to that. But generally aftercare isn’t supposed to just be more sex.”

“Oh. But as long as we enjoyed it, it’s not a problem, right?”

Henry smiles at him. “Right.” He looks at Mercedes. “You alright mi amor?”

Mercedes smiles at him. “Mmm baby you did such a good job. I enjoyed that a lot.”

Henry puts a hand on her cheek. “You did a good job too, mi amor,” he whispers. Henry adjusts his hips and Darryl’s softening cock slides out of him. He whimpers slightly then turns around to face him. “You did a good job too, love. How are you feeling?”

Darryl smiles sleepily. “I liked that a lot.”

“Anything in particular?” Henry draws gentle circles in Darryl’s chest hair. 

“Hmm, all of it.” He takes a moment to think, and looks under the blanket at his hip. Sure enough the red marks of Henry’s fingers are still there. It’s a little sore. Darryl blushes. “I think that might bruise a bit. I like that,” he whispers. 

Henry’s smiling widely at him. “Yeah?” he asks huskily. 

Darryl nods. “Yeah. Every time I move around for the next couple days, I’ll remember what we did.” He takes a shuddering breath. “I like that a lot.”

Henry smiles sheepishly. “That wasn’t my intention going into it,” he admits, “but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t cross my mind in the moment.”

Darryl’s breath hitches. “Oh.” He blushes again.

“Is that… okay?” Henry asks hesitantly.

Darryl nods. “Yeah. I think it is. Thanks. It may just take some adjustment.”

Mercedes and Henry both nod in understanding. 

Henry props himself up on an elbow to look over Darryl. “The tea’s gone cold,” he says with a smile.

Mercedes smiles mischievously. “Whoops,” she says coyly. 

Henry lets out a faux-long suffering sigh and climbs out from between the two of them. “I’ll go make a new batch.” He looks between the two of them with mock sternness. “You two behave yourselves while I’m gone.”

Darryl nods and gives a little salute. “You got it.”

They watch him get dressed and head out the door, twin looks of attraction in their eyes. “Our husband does have a nice ass, doesn’t he?” she muses. 

Darryl nods and then takes a second to think over what she said, what Henry had said in the closet, what he had said only a half hour earlier, and winces. “Is that… okay? I don’t want you to feel like you need to include me, or like I’m intruding.”

Mercedes smiles and shakes her head. “Of course it’s okay. We wouldn’t say something we didn’t mean. You’ve already met my family and Mick, and we’ve met your mom… we’re in this for real Darryl. We’ve never even thought about calling someone else our spouse before.” She takes a big breath and smiles at him. “Like we said in the beginning, you’re different.”

Darryl closes his eyes in wonder and takes a deep breath. “Oh.” He smiles and looks at her. “I’ve told you before, you’re different for me too. I just don’t want to move faster than you’re comfortable with.”

Henry opens the door and slips back inside with 3 steaming mugs of tea. He looks between the two of them worried at their serious expressions. “Everything okay? I half expected you two to be making love when I returned.”

Mercedes smiles and scoots up in the bed. She smiles softly. “Yeah, our husband was just worried about intruding or moving too quickly.”

Darryl sits up as well and feels a pleasant chill run through him at the sentiment. Their husband… he likes the way that sounds.

“Oh,” Henry says, a smile gracing his lips. He sets the tray on the bedside table and hands the mugs over to them before settling himself in the bed sitting up next to Mercedes. “And you reassured him that we mean what we say, and we’re serious about this relationship?” He takes a sip of his tea.

Mercedes nods. “I think he’s going to need more convincing.”

Henry smiles. “I think we can handle that.”

And they spend the rest of the night doing just that.

Chapter Text

Darryl walks through the door of the house and smiles. Henry’s on a tall ladder attaching their newly purchased rainbow flag from the bottom of the balcony overlooking the living room and entryway. Grant’s on the balcony kneeling down and holding the flag steady. Henry wobbles slightly and Darryl rushes to steady the ladder, careful not to lean on the dusty thing in his nice clothes. Grant smiles down at him. “Hey dad.”

Darryl smiles up at his son. “Hey Grant, how’s it going?”

Henry gives a couple more solid wacks with the hammer and then smiles down at him. “Oh, hey love, just finishing up here.” He climbs down the ladder and then they stand back to admire his handiwork. Darryl gives him a kiss on the temple and doesn’t remark that the left side is 2 centimeters higher than the right. It’s perfect.

Grant stands up. “We good?” 

Henry nods. “Thanks for all of your help. The twins can’t quite keep still enough.” 

As if on cue, Lark and Sparrow come bounding down the stairs. “Papa!” Lark declares. “Did your interview go satisfactorily?”

Darryl smiles. “Yeah, I think it did.”

Henry beams at him. “That’s great! What did they say? Did they ask you any tough questions?”

Darryl puts his arm around Henry’s shoulders. “We can talk about it over dinner. I’m going to go get changed before everyone gets here, and check on Mercedes.”

Henry’s eyes go wide. “Dinner. Right. Oh geez.” He takes off towards the kitchen. Darryl chuckles under his breath and begins walking up the newly refinished hardwood steps. 

As he reaches the top he hears Henry call out, “It’s okay, I had a timer set.” And he chuckles in earnest. 

He opens the door to their bedroom. It’s not much yet, just a bed and an old bedspread for when they’re too tired to walk back to the old place. He walks into the newly-built walk-in closet and finds Mercedes holding an electric screwdriver and standing back to admire her handiwork. In front of her is a heavy-duty track, bolted into the studs, holding a shiny new O-ring. He feels a shiver go down his spine as he observes how far up the wall the track goes. She smiles at him as he enters. 

He walks over and gives her a kiss on the temple. “That looks great.” He says. 

Mercedes gets a glint in her eye. “We could try it out before everyone gets here,” she murmurs, “you know I love a man in a suit.” She trails a finger over his ear in a way she knows will make a shiver run through his body, and then kisses him.

Darryl takes a shuddering breath and melts into her kiss. He can already feel himself getting hard. He breaks away. “I’m grilling the main course beautiful,” he whispers, “and Henry is busy cooking.”

She pouts. “So dinner can be a little late, and Henry got you all to himself last night.”

“You were at a business conference and someone needed to stay home with the kids and I had an interview today. And you know Mick has a strict 8:00 bedtime.” 

She throws a last teasing pout his way. But steps away as he begins taking off his suit jacket and tie. “How’d that go by the way?” She moves to help him unbutton his shirt. Darryl doesn’t need it, but he appreciates her closeness anyway. 

Darryl smiles wide. “Good. Really good. I told Henry I’d tell everyone about it over dinner.”

She gives him another lingering kiss. Darryl’s tempted to just do as she asks, let her have her way with him and turn the grill up to high. But he pulls away again. “Sorry beautiful,” he whispers.

She smiles and then lets out a longsuffering sigh. “I suppose you’re right. I need to finish setting up the dining room anyway.”

Darryl finishes undressing and then shrugs on an old t-shirt and jean shorts, but not before Mercedes takes a solid grasp of his ass beforehand. He smiles at her, then heads down the stairs.

Darryl surveys the room and his heart swells. They splurged on a comically large table for the house, and it was moved in not long ago. The dining room itself is a showpiece. Mercedes was able to restore the old pinstripe wallpaper and he’d refinished the intricately carved crown moulding and chair rail and stained them to match the beautiful hardwood. It had been a lot of hard work, but it was worth knowing he’d help keep something beautiful in the world. He carefully sets the foil-covered tray on the table. “Now, this is the meat one. I’ll be back with the veg in just a minute.”

Henry smiles up at him and stands up from the table. “I’ll help.”

Darryl considers objecting, but he knows that look in Henry’s eyes. He’s not actually interested in helping. They walk outside onto the beautiful back porch, made of natural stone cobbled together to make a smooth surface to walk on, and fixed into benches lining the whole area. And the centerpiece of it all is a large gas grill that makes Darryl’s mouth water just looking at it. 

As Henry closes the back door behind him, Darryl looks at him curiously. “Everything okay?”

Henry smiles and uses the belt loops of Darryl’s shorts to hoist himself tall enough to give him a passionate kiss. 

After a few minutes he pulls away smiling. “Yeah, everything’s fine. I just want to be respectful of Grant, and I heard from a little birdy that Mercedes got to make out with you while you changed.”

Darryl blushes. “Oh. We really should get these inside.”

Henry smiles, satisfied. “Yeah. Everyone’s getting along really well. I was worried about how your mom might feel about Mick but that doesn’t seem to be an issue at all.”

Darryl nods and grabs the tray. Henry opens the door for him and they walk back inside. 

They find Ron holding court, telling the last of a story, “... and I said those aren’t my pants!” The table erupts into laughter as Henry and Darryl settle in next to Mercedes. 

Henry clears his throat. “So, we thought it would be nice that before we begin our meal, we could have a moment of silent reflection for whatever spiritual or religious or psychological observances are meaningful to us. Our hands are all clean, so why don’t we all hold hands?”

Darryl holds out his hand to Glenn on his right and Henry on his left. Glenn’s hand is uncertain in his and Darryl gives him a reassuring smile, more relaxed than he would’ve been several months ago. Glenn’s smile is uncertain, but he holds out his hand to Nick, who can’t figure out how to hold someone’s hand in a cool way, so takes his father’s hand and offers his other one to Raxiel, who has their open palm waiting on the table for him. Grant grabs their other hand, with Lark’s small hand in his other. Lark, of course, hold’s Sparrow’s hand, whose other hand is held by Darryl’s mother Sandra. Sandra’s holding hands with Mick, Mick with Samantha, Samantha with Ron, Ron with Terry Jr., and Terry Jr. with Mercedes.

They all close their eyes and Darryl smiles as he takes a few seconds to breathe. He still prays, but he’s found that this, this love, this connectedness, is the purest form of prayer there is. 

They open their eyes and let go of each other’s hands, and Darryl smiles. “Let’s eat!” he declares, and they move to begin passing around the platters. They eat in comfortable silence for a while. 

Henry looks at him expectantly. “So, your interview?” The rest of the table looks at him with interest.

“Oh, I got the job,” Darryl says with a shrug. 

“What?” Henry and Mercedes both exclaim in unison.

Darryl smiles sheepishly. “They said they’d been looking for a reason to get rid of Darnell, but tenure just about made that impossible. They were really thankful that we had given them a good enough reason. And he’d driven off every assistant coach that had come up, so I was really the only candidate. They said I could have the history position too, if I wanted it. Apparently I’m ‘massively overqualified’ with the classes I’ve been taking on the side over the years.” He smiles at Grant. “I turned them down on that front for now. I want Grant to have his space in school without his dad hanging around. I told them if they still needed someone once he graduates I’d reconsider.”

“And you think you’ll be able to keep up with the beer brewing business alongside that?” Mercedes asks, worry coloring her voice.

Darryl smiles. “I’m already pretty sure I’m going to have to bring someone else in on the operation by the end of the year to keep up with all of the bookkeeping and stuff. I’ve never been big on that, I just like experimenting with new brews. And if it’s too much, I can do something else. I mostly just want to be there for the kids, you know?”

Henry smiles at him with pride. “That’s awesome. I’m sure you’re going to be a great soccer coach.” 

They eat the rest of the supper more exuberantly, the kids peppering him with questions. Henry and Mercedes collect the plates and bring them to the kitchen to be washed. They come back with a cake covered in lit candles, and the table starts singing “Happy Birthday.” Darryl feels his cheeks heat. “Oh you didn’t have to—” he looks up at them embarrassed. 

“Of course we did. It’s your birthday.”

“Well, technically it’s tomorrow,” Darryl says sheepishly. 

“But then you would have been suspicious!” Lark declares. 

Darryl looks at their children. “You too?” 

Grant smiles slightly and shrugs.

The song reaches its triumphant end, joyfully off-key. “You have to make a wish,” Sparrow insists. 

Darryl has a hard time thinking of anything else that he could wish for. What do you ask for when you have everything you’ve ever wanted? I want this to continue , he thinks to himself. Then he smiles and blows out the candles. 

He moves to begin portioning out the cake, but he’s stopped by Mercedes’ soft hand on his arm. 

“We’ll have cake in just a minute, but first, we’re very excited to show you your present,” she smiles widely at him.

His heart skips a beat. “Okay. What is it?”

They smile at him and lead him to the garage. When they get close to the doorway Mercedes says, “Close your eyes.” 

He does so instinctively, but remembers where he is enough to not let out the whimper that threatens to escape him. 

He can hear the smile in Henry’s voice, “We got you, just follow our lead. Just a few more steps…” 

They lead him into the garage and point him facing the middle of the room.

“Open,” Mercedes says, covering the huskiness in her voice by clearing her throat. 

Darryl opens his eyes and nearly doesn’t believe it.

On the floor, in a little wire pen with padding on the ground, is the tiniest basset hound he’s ever seen in the world. It yaps at him excitedly and nearly trips over its own ears making its way towards him. Darryl gently bends down and scoops it up, fitting neatly into the palm of his hands. 

“Hey little buddy,” he whispers softly. He looks up at Henry and Mercedes. “This is for me?”

“Well, us,” Henry says. “We’ll help train her and take care of her. But yes, she’s your dog.”

Mercedes looks at him expectantly. “Do you like it?”

Darryl holds the pup close to his chest and beams. “I love it.”

“Do you want to name her?” Henry whispers, running a hand along her body. She’s already fallen back asleep.

Darryl thinks for a moment. The expectant faces of all of the people he loves looking back at him. “Rainbow,” he says finally. “Because it’s what brought me to you, and it’s a symbol of the promise of good things to come.”

Lark pipes up. “We shall train Rainbow to be our warhound!”

Darryl feels a warm trickle run down his hand and arm. “Why don’t we focus on potty training first?”

They still have a lot left to figure out. They’ll get sick, Grant will go off to college, The twins will turn from troublemaking kids into troublemaking teens, but through it all, they’ll have each other, and so they know, deep in their bones, it’ll be alright.