“You’re doing what?” my brother Harry asked as he lifted Pollock out of the crib.

“I’m bringing a guy with me to Blue’s wedding,” I repeated, knowing that he heard me loud and clear the first time.

I was sitting in Harry’s apartment in Toronto. He’d moved back from Thunder Bay not long ago and brought back a boyfriend and a baby. I thought I knew everything about Harry until I found out that he was in a serious relationship with a man.

“Why though?” Harry asked, putting Pollock in his high chair, which was next to the couch.

“I think it makes sense. I’ll be able to fit in with you guys,” he said.

Harry shook his head. “First of all, since when did you ever care about fitting in? Second of all, you can’t just pretend you’re gay all of a sudden. It doesn’t work like that.”

“Well, I wasn’t planning to hire a guy. It was a mistake. But I figured that if I have to hire someone anyway, I might as well bring a guy to show my support for Blue and Hunter.”

Harry opened the jar of baby food and stirred it with a spoon. It was the first time I saw him being so gentle with anything. It was obvious how much he loved Pollock. I knew from the way he was constantly checking up on him, even when he was asleep.

“I don’t know,” Harry said. “You can do whatever you want. I just hope you’re not going through some midlife crisis where you think you have to be gay just because your two brothers are.”

“Trust me, I know I’m not gay,” I said. “I am not going through any sort of crisis. I just want to have some fun at my brother’s wedding and show my support.”

Harry laughed. “I thought I wasn’t gay either until I met Carter.”

I found it hard not to judge the shitty apartment that my brother lived in. Hell, even Blue was moving up in the world. Harry still had the same dusty baseball trophies he won in little league all around his place . I was pretty sure half of them were given to him just for participating.

“I’m surprised you both live here in such a small apartment,” I said.

“If you want, you guys can come live with me. I can give you the guest house. You won’t have to pay me rent, so you guys can save a bit of money. I know you can’t work because of the baby.”

Harry shook his head. “We’re happy here. We don’t need much. As long as we have a roof over our heads, we’re happy.”

“Well, as much as I don’t want to admit it, it feels pretty lonely living in such a big house,” I said. “Having Pollock around will definitely add some cuteness to my life.”

I knew how stubborn Harry was. He wasn’t the type of guy to accept help from anyone. But maybe if I framed it in a way that made it seem like I wanted him to live with me, then he’d accept it. I knew I was being slightly manipulative to get what I wanted. I was, after all, a lawyer.

“Maybe, he said. “I’ll have to talk to Carter about it.”

“There’s no rush,” I said. “I’m planning to stay here in Toronto for good.”

Harry’s phone vibrated on the kitchen counter, and he set the baby’s food down so that he could answer it.

I moved closer to Pollock as he stared at me with his bright brown eyes. “You’re a cutie, aren’t you?” I said.

He blinked a few times like he was trying to understand what I was saying. It was the first time I met Harry’s baby, Pollock, and I hadn’t even met his boyfriend, Carter, yet. Seeing as how Harry was much happier, I knew Carter and Pollock were keeping him grounded.

After his phone call, Harry returned to the living room. We watched the game that was playing on the TV.

“It’s nice to see you after so many years, bro,” I said.

“You too, Gray. I know we didn’t get along in the past. But now that we’re both older, I hope we can handle things better.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I know I’ve been super competitive in the past. I hope that if you accept my invitation to live with me, we’ll be able to make up for lost time. You’ll love it. You have your private entrance, and the guesthouse has everything you need.”

“I just talked to Carter. He’s going to be home from work soon. We’ll talk about it and let you know,” Harry said.

“So how did you know you were into...other guys?” I asked.

Harry gave Pollock the last spoonful of baby food and wiped his mouth clean with the bib.

“It happened by accident,” Harry said. “We were friends at first, but then things just kind of happened between us. I guess the best things really do happen when you’re least expecting it,”

“Interesting,” I said. “Well, I have to admit that I was surprised when you told me. I had no idea that you could be gay at all.”

“Love is love,” Harry said. “I learned that after meeting Carter.”

“Aww, since when did you become this sensitive. I like this new Harry,” I said.

“Shut up.” Harry furrowed his brows and punched me playfully in my arm.

“I don’t know if Blue told you yet, but he wants us to plan his bachelor party,” I said.

“Yeah, he told me this morning. I have no idea what we can do for him. I guess we’re going to have to get together one day and brainstorm,” he said.

I didn’t realize how much I missed being away for so long. I wished I could get that time back. Working hard and selling my firm for one-and-a-half billion dollars was nice, but I realized that nothing beat being here with my family. Since coming back to the city and getting to see Blue and Harry, I realized that my two brothers were the best present that my parents gave me.

After Pollock finished eating, he went right to sleep in his crib. Harry and I watched the game like we did back when we were teenagers. Baseball was the only thing at the time that’d let us set aside our differences.

“Crap, Carter’s coming home soon. I still haven’t made dinner,” Harry said.

“Since when did you cook for someone else, let alone yourself?” I asked.

“Since I’ve been the designated stay-at-home dad...I do contribute to my family, you know.”

I smiled at him. “I know. I know. I’m just teasing you. Just surprised that you’d miss the end of the game for anything at all.”

Harry got up off the couch and went to the kitchen. “Want to stay for dinner?”

I looked at the time and realized that I should probably get going. I had a few meetings tomorrow. But I thought about eating alone in my empty house and decided to take my brother’s offer.

“Sure, as long as I don’t get food poisoning after,” I said.

Harry rolled his eyes and started prepping the food. When the game ended, I decided to go see what he was doing.

“Need help?” I asked.

“Can you chop the onions?” he asked.

“Because you want to see me cry?”

“If I want to see you cry, I’d just make a joke about how old you are,” Harry said with a wink.

I pulled one of the knives out of the wooden block so that I could chop the onions. “Careful with what you say,” I said.

Harry laughed as he continued sautéing the mushrooms in the pan.

“I haven’t cooked in forever,” I said as I diced the onions.

“That doesn’t surprise me at all. Did you always go to restaurants when you were living in Hong Kong?”

“Most nights I went out for dinner with my clients or colleagues. But otherwise, I had a chef who prepared meals for me.”

“What? You had your personal chef?” Harry turned away from the stove and looked at me with his bright green eyes. “Since when did our lives become so different?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Are our lives really that different?”

“I’d die to have a personal chef and go out to nice restaurants every meal,” Harry said.

I put the chopped onion into the bowl and handed it to Harry, who tossed it into the frying pan.

“Maybe I just don’t see my life as being so different from yours. Sure, I have a bit of money, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have my own set of problems,” I said.

I heard someone opening the front door. A man in construction boots walked in. His gray sweatpants were covered in dust and dirt, and he was holding a neon vest in his hand.

Harry stopped what he was doing and went to the door to greet him. “You’re home, babe.”

I watched as they kissed each other. It was the first time I saw Harry kiss another man.

“You must be Gray.” Carter said, greeting me with a handshake.

He was the same height as me, and he had a strong grip.

“And you must be Carter.” I smiled.

“It’s nice meeting you. Wish I wasn’t this dirty meeting you for the first time,” Carter said.

“No worries at all.” I smiled.

“Are you staying for dinner?” Carter set down his lunch cooler next to the counter.

“I am. Wasn’t planning on it but decided to since Harry offered.”

“Great,” Carter said. “I’ll go shower, then.”

Carter left to go into the bathroom.

“Look at you two lovebirds,” I said.

Harry pretended like he didn’t hear me. I saw how happy Harry looked when Carter got home. It was nice to see my brother happy. I looked around at the small apartment, scattered with Pollock’s toys and clothes. A stack of bills was on the counter with a sticky note on top as a reminder to pay them. Harry’s life seemed simple. Had someone filmed our lives for a day, people would probably never guess that we were brothers. I lived a life of excess and luxury. I couldn’t even remember the last time I chopped an onion. I realized how privileged I was.

By the time Carter finished showering, Harry had set the table, and the meal was ready. Harry had prepared chicken in cream sauce over a bed of wild rice. It smelled delicious, and I had been craving homemade food since I came back from Asia.

Carter came into the living area wearing baseball shorts and a white T-shirt with cut-off sleeves, showing off his toned and tanned arms. I seemed a bit overdressed, wearing a blue button-up and gray pants.

“Want a beer?” Carter asked.

“Sure,” I said. “It must’ve been a long day for you.”

Carter opened the fridge and tossed me a bottle of Heineken. “Twelve hours every single day,” he said with a smile. “I’m just happy I get to come home to these guys every day.”

Carter took a seat next to Harry and kissed him again. Their love for each other made me wonder if having someone special in my life would make me happier.

“I was talking to Harry about the possibility of the three of you moving into my guesthouse,” I said. “I know Harry said he was going to talk to you about it, but I wanted to let you know myself.”

“Where do you live?” Carter asked.

“It’s in Forest Hill. You guys should come by and check it out one day and see if you like it. There’s no way I will use up even a portion of the space in my house, and it’d be nice to have little Pollock around all the time.”

Carter nodded. “Yeah, invite us over one day, and we’ll see if it’s a good fit for us.”