Forever sounds so simple in songs. That’s because the songs only last three minutes. Real forever takes work. You’ve got to actually be there for it, not just fade out on the chorus.

That’s why I was sitting in the toddler section of Monde Des Jouets, listening to Brutus Parks disagree with Cave over what toys would be right for Jojo, now that he was fifteen months old. The biggest, most exclusive toy store in the country, and they were arguing over a little red wagon. Excuse me, an artisanal little red wagon, each piece hand-made and hand-assembled, the wood coming from a sustainable white oak forest. Isabel sniffed the wheels suspiciously.

“Look, I had one of these wagons when I was a kid,” Cave was saying, “and I turned out fine!”

Brutus shook his head. “They’re developmentally inappropriate. Jojo needs something steadier, where he won’t get hurt when he practices his pushing and pulling motions. If you would just look at the Duck On A String--a team of educators developed the duck after years of research into pediatric kinesiology--”

I looked over at Jojo. He was wavering a little bit on his feet, but I think that was more excitement than any problems with his balance. I came over to him. “What’re you looking at, little man?”

He pointed. “Bah!”

“Sure enough, that’s a bear,” I said. I took his hand, and we walked over to an area that had been decorated like a deep forest. Squirrel and bird toys were set up throughout the dark green canopy above us, with toy raccoons and deer drinking from a stream. But Jojo had his eyes on a big, life-size brown bear, whose kindly eyes made even me want to curl up next to him to take a nap.

Jojo clapped and ran up to him, falling onto the soft fur. I came up and rubbed the bear’s massive paw. “You like this one?” I said.

“Dah-dah,” he said. I glanced back. Sure enough, ever since Cave had started growing out his beard, he’d begun to look more like a forest animal. A soft fluffy one.

“Then he’s the one we’ll get,” I said.

I walked back over to Cave and Brutus. “Jojo has decided. He’s going to buy the big bear over there.”

Brutus frowned. “Children need smaller stuffed animals for their imaginative play--”

Cave just looked at me. “Did you help him pick it out?”

“He ran right to it.”

We joined Jojo by the bear’s side. “Will it even fit in the jet’s seats?” Cave asked, reaching up to touch its head.

“It’s not that much bigger than Brutus,” I said, “and he somehow manages to fit everywhere.”

Cave glanced back at Brutus. “Wow. Do you ever have one of those moments where you step back and think about how our lives have changed? It always makes me feel a little dizzy.”

I knew what he meant, and not just because my new life involved a lot more trips to toy stores.

The label had been concerned at first. That was putting it nicely. The CEO Mr. Stone had been fucking furious at me. I’d gotten an earful. It’s not that you’re gay, son, it’s that you lied! I think he’d been ready to drop me right there, cancel the contract, demand all the money back, he was so mad.

Oddly it had been Toby who saved the day. I wanted to put him on a plane and send him far, far away so that I’d never seen him again, but he’s the one who pointed out to the CEO that they had the power to make my coming out an asset instead of a liability. Did they really want to lose me, right as Get You Back was about to be sung by a bunch of CGI forest animals? I was about to make some label a metric ton of money...it would be a shame if Mr. Stone wasn’t a part of that.

The label sent the word out to the media: The real story here was Ransom Pope’s triumphant coming out. It wasn’t a scandal, it was an inspiration. And they certainly did the job. I was on the cover of every gay magazine, I was being asked to go on talk shows, asked to be the figurehead for human rights’ foundations...it was wild.

I had to admit, as much as I hated Toby, he was good at his job. I’m not saying I forgave him, exactly, and god forbid he and Cave were ever in the same room, or else fists would fly. Anyway, I found a perfect way to punish him: Move him to Oceanside. Now that I was building a house for myself there, with a full studio, it really made sense that Toby would have to come live there too, away from the excitement and allure of the big city. Besides, I needed him there to help manage the big boardwalk restoration project. Yeah, Cave somehow talked me into buying up the old boardwalk, so it wouldn’t be torn down. So now I’m a property developer, too.

On our way to the jet, Brutus behind us trying to carry the huge bear, the diaper bag, and Isabel’s leash all at the same time, I said to Cave, “Let’s go celebrate.”

“Celebrate what?”

“I don’t know...something. Us. Let’s celebrate finding one another again.”

He laughed. “Haven’t we been doing that for three months now?”

“Yeah, and I’m not done yet. I want to celebrate it forever. Look, in a few days I’ve got to go back to work on this new album, and I’m going to be all locked away working. I just want to enjoy myself with you guys a little bit longer before I have to get serious. So name it. Anything you want to do, and we’ll do it.”

I loved the way his brow scrunched up as he thought. I offered some suggestions: “What about skiing? Giselle texted me to say that she and Rhody are over in Lötschental, hitting the slopes.”

“Oh, I don’t know, what if I broke my ankle, who would take care of Jojo?”

“Brutus, clearly,” I said. “That’s why we pay him the big bucks...and listen to his lectures on childcare. But fine, you don’t want to ski...what about Monte Carlo? We could go to the casino, throw down a few thousand on baccarat?”

That made him laugh. “I hate to see you throw your money away like that! Actually...”

“What?”

“No, it’s stupid.”

“No, it’s not, whatever it is. Tell me.”

He paused out on the tarmac and turned to me. “Do you remember the ferris wheel? Back when we first met?”

“Of course I do,” I said. Just the question was enough to bring back the memory of sitting next to him, the mingled fear and excitement of reaching for him. The world had seemed so full of possibility then, with him so close to me.

“I was thinking about the ferris wheel they have in London,” he said. “The big one.”

“The London Eye, I think it’s called.”

“That’s the one. It’s so beautiful at night, the way it’s lit up, and I thought--I mean, I know it’s foolish to even ask--”

“Let’s do it,” I said. “Let’s go.”

“I mean, there’s packing, and I need to make arrangements--”

“Nope,” I said. I put my arm around him and pulled him close. “One of these days you’re going to get used to me taking care of you.”

“But Jojo’s lunch--”

“Can be taken care of by Brutus! Remember Brutus, the guy back there holding the bear?”

Cave finally relaxed against me. “Even when we were kids, it always felt like we were from two separate worlds,” he said. “You had your popular crowd back then, and then when we were adults, you had your celebrity world, while I had my little house in Oceanside. It’s so funny to think after all that time, your world, my world, they were really the same world, weren’t they?”

I took his hand and led him towards the private jet awaiting us. “They were all the same world,” I said, “and the world is ours.”