It felt like time slipped away from them.

Mark was growing stronger every day. They were even allowed to hold him now and were encouraged to tuck him against their bare skin. The nurses told them that skin-to-skin contact between babies and their parents not only increased their bond, but also helped the babies improve their health and strength.

Being able to feed Mark from a bottle and participate in other tasks the nurses had handled exclusively up to this point were big events in their lives. From then on, at least one of them was present for every feeding, every diaper change, and every bath.

Meanwhile, the sale of Hunter’s apartment took almost no time at all. Vacancies in their building were rare and despite the high asking price, it was snapped up by eager new tenants almost instantly.

Not long after that, the house was completed and they were able to move all of their stuff to their new home.

Allen threw a housewarming party/baby shower for them. Friends and family alike flocked to their new home, and by the time the party was over they had nearly everything they needed for baby Mark’s nursery.

They were able to put Luke’s apartment up for sale not long after. It too sold for a significant sum. They squirreled nearly all of that money away in anticipation of the hospital bills they would have to pay before too long.

After that, however, the days seemed to crawl by. The doctor had finally given them an end date for Mark’s stay. He had been out of the isolette for a little while now. He was healthy, happy, and fully developed. The only thing left was to try and get him to put on a few more pounds before they let him go home.

That date, however, seemed so far away. They had waited for so long and now it almost felt like he would never come home. Hunter spent almost every day messing with and rearranging the nursery. His mother called it “nesting.”

Whatever it was, it was driving Luke a little crazy. He would wake up in the morning to find Hunter had been up all night moving things around again. Then he would drag Hunter away from the nursery and feed him breakfast, then force him to take a nap for a few hours before they went to the hospital.

Finally, however, the day arrived.

Hunter could hardly believe what was happening as he nestled Mark into the car seat in the back of Luke’s car. Mark was looking around at his new surroundings with wide eyes.

“Maybe I should sit back here with him,” said Hunter as Luke climbed into the front seat of the car. “Just in case he needs anything. You know he shouldn’t be alone. It could be dangerous.”

“You had them show you how to properly install the car seat, right?” asked Luke, glancing back at Hunter. “It’s a short ride. Ten minutes tops. He’ll be okay. Come sit up front. The nurses said he’d probably fall asleep once the car gets going, so you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Hunter sighed. The truth was he really just wanted to spend as much time as possible with his baby. He felt like he’d already lost so much time with him because of the hospital stay. He knew that technically, if he’d carried Mark to full term, he would’ve only been born about a week ago anyway. All the time they’d had to spend apart, however, had been frustrating and aggravating to him.

“Come on,” Luke coaxed. “We’ll be home before you know it. Then you can hold him as much as you want.”

Hunter grudgingly climbed out of the backseat and went around to the front.

“I know you’re not happy about it, but he’ll be fine. You’ll be able to hold him all the time now. In fact, I bet you’re sick of it after a while and you start passing him off to me,” teased Luke.

“Never,” said Hunter with a laugh as they pulled out of the hospital parking lot.

***

IT WAS MID-MORNING on a weekday so traffic was lighter than anticipated. It actually took them less than ten minutes to get back home. Bringing Mark home had already been such a long journey that Hunter was grateful for the short drive. Part of him felt that until his son was safely over the threshold of their home that this day wouldn’t be over.

The exterior of the house always made Hunter feel a little happy. It was the kind of house you could look at and be proud to call home. The distressed brick walls evoked the industrial style that both he and Luke loved. The grass in the front yard was thick and green. The landscaping was finally starting to leaf out and actually look like it belonged instead of like it had just been plopped into the ground. All in all, it was everything Hunter could have wanted to come home to.

As they pulled up into the driveway the garage door slowly raised. Dozens of happy, smiling faces shouted, “Welcome home!” while holding up a hand drawn sign that read “Welcome Home Baby Mark.”

Thankfully, the sound of their shouts were muffled by the car so when Hunter glanced back at Mark, he was still fast asleep.

“You should have told me about this,” Hunter chastised Luke as they climbed out of the car. “The house is a mess.”

“The house is perfect,” said Luke, with a smile. “Just like you.”

“You’re only sweet-talking me because you want to get in my pants tonight,” Hunter accused him with a chuckle.

Hunter quickly retrieved Mark’s car seat, and the three of them made their way towards the happy crowd of people awaiting their return.

Hunter’s parents, Luke’s parents, Allen, Rupert, Tim, and a few others quietly greeted them and cooed over the baby as Hunter carried him inside.

The two grandmothers were the most eager to hold baby Mark when they all reconvened in the living room. Hunter was reluctant. All he wanted to do right now was hold his son.

“Just for the moment,” encouraged Luke. “Remember, they haven’t been allowed to see him before today.”

Sighing to himself, he unbuckled Mark’s car seat restraint and gently passed him off to Melinda.

As happy as he was to see everyone smiling and cooing over the baby, Hunter really just wanted them all to go home. He knew it was a selfish thought, but maybe he’d earned the right to be a little selfish after all they’d been through the last few months.

“Hunter...” Luke called his name and Hunter turned to see Luke approaching him with a multi-tiered chocolate cake.

“What is this?” asked Hunter, watching as Luke set the cake down on the coffee table.

“It’s for you,” said Luke, gesturing for Hunter to go take a closer look at the cake.

“You’re making me fat with all these sweets,” complained Hunter as he approached the cake and knelt down in front of it. There sitting on the very top tier, nestled among several chocolate icing flowers, was a tiny box.

“Go on,” encouraged Luke.

The room had grown silent as Hunter gingerly lifted the box off the top of the cake. Slowly, he lifted the lid. There, shining up at him, was an engagement ring. The white-gold band was sensible, not overly gaudy or delicate, and inset with three small diamonds near the center.

Hunter turned quickly towards Luke, his heart pounding as his face flushed red. Words were caught in his throat and his eyes were beginning to water.

Luke approached him and took the box from him. He removed the ring and held it aloft. “Hunter Kilder, will you marry me?”

Hunter’s breath caught in his throat but somehow he managed to speak. “Yes,” he gasped. As soon as the word left his mouth, overwhelming excitement bubbled through him. “Yes!”

***

THE ENGAGEMENT RING glittered on Hunter’s ring finger as they sat and ate the deliciously moist chocolate cake Luke had prepared. When Hunter had caught him baking the day before, Luke said it was something light to celebrate Mark’s trip home. He’d never even suspected a ruse of this level.

“It took us like ten different jewelry stores before we finally found the perfect one,” said Tim with a nod.

“I would have been lost without Tim’s fashion sense. I honestly didn’t even know where to begin,” laughed Luke.

“Luke...” Luke’s mother, Penny, had been looking over the baby pictures the nurses had sent home with them. There was one for every week Mark had been in the hospital, and another for his birth announcement.

“What’s wrong?” Luke asked as she handed him the announcement card. He skimmed it for a moment.

“The date,” she said softly. “Is that his actual birthday?”

Hunter leaned over and glanced at the date on the card. “April 3rd, Yeah, it is.”

“Luke...” Penny’s voice sounded a little uncertain.

“I know mom,” said Luke after a moment. He handed the card back to her.

“I guess you finally get to know the truth,” said Luke with a little chuckle as he looked towards Hunter. “What are the odds?”

“Odds of what?” Hunter frowned.

“Our son. He shares my birthday. My real birthday.”

Hunter’s face lit up for a moment and then fell again. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“You always said you wanted to do something to take away all my negative memories of that day,” said Luke, leaning in and kissing Hunter’s forehead. “Well congratulations, you succeeded.”