Saturday had passed by in a blur of cuddling and sex. Shane and Zach hadn’t left the bed save to get food and drink, and when they weren’t making out or getting each other off, they were curled up binging things on Netflix. Zach couldn’t have imagined a better way to spend the day.

Thankfully his editor hadn’t been too upset by his late submission. It wouldn’t be the first time they were sneaking things in last minute before they were sent off to the printers, but he still felt a little guilty. It didn’t stop him from enjoying his time with Shane, though.

Unfortunately, Shane didn’t have the things needed to stay another night comfortably, and also reluctantly admitted he had papers to finish grading before Monday. So that evening they parted ways after one last long make out session.

Zach had spent the rest of the night feeling like he was walking on air. He went to bed humming love songs and daydreaming of Shane holding him as he slipped into a peaceful sleep. When he woke, he couldn’t help but pout towards the other side of the bed, which now felt far too empty.

He laid in bed for a while, letting his mind wander. It replayed the events of the last couple of days, fixating on moments where Shane said a particularly funny joke, or gave an especially adorable smile. Or the way he moaned when he climaxed, a unique melody that felt like it was just for Zach’s ears…

His little fantasy bubble popped when his phone rang.

With a groan he rolled over, fumbling for the cell that was resting on his nightstand. He brought it close to his eyes to squint at, checking the time—dang, it was nearly noon—before focusing on the name on the screen. His mom was calling.

He laid back and accepted the call, putting it to his ear as he stared at the ceiling.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Hey, sweetie. You sound tired… I didn’t wake you up, did I?” she said in her warm voice.

He chuckled embarrassedly. “No, no, I’m just laying around being lazy. What’s up?”

“That’s what Sundays are for.” She laughed as well before her tone shifted to something more serious, but still fond. “I just finished looking at the paper. I read the article you wrote about the school.”

He smiled. “Yeah? What’d you think?”

“Oh sweetie, I think it’s incredible. What you’ve done for those kids is amazing. I just want you to know me and your dad are behind you one hundred percent. A lot of others, too. It was all Cora could talk about after church this morning.”

“It’s good to hear that, Mom… But I can’t really take all of the credit for it. It was one of the teachers that asked me to write it. I mentioned him in the article—Shane Howard. None of it would have happened without him.”

“Well, if you talk to him sometime, tell him I think it’s great too.”

“Um, well.” He chewed at his lip nervously, grabbing a pillow to hold against his chest. “We’ve actually been seeing each other a lot, lately…”

She instantly caught on to that hidden meaning. He heard her gasp softly in surprise, then make a delighted sound. “What? Really? Are you two dating?”

“Um. Maybe? Kind of. It’s still new and all. We’ve mostly just been hanging out. But… I really like him.”

“Is he being good to you?” she asked, her voice more stern.

He couldn’t blame her for being overprotective. It hadn’t taken her long to realize Noah was bad for him. Sure, things started off fine. They had been friendly to each other at first, but as time went on Noah would throw a fit if she was around too much. Zach suspected he was maybe jealous of him having parents that were so supportive and loving. Noah had his mom, but she was just as manipulative and narcissistic as he was, and their relationship was very hot and cold. Or maybe Noah just knew Zach’s mother would realize how toxic he was for her son, and would have spoken up more. It was hard to say now, but he sure wished he would have listened to his mother’s concerns back when he had asked Noah to marry him.

Hopefully she and Shane would get along a lot better. He certainly couldn’t see Shane trying to keep him from his family like Noah had, at least.

“Yeah, mom… He’s being really good to me. He’s an amazing guy. Really sweet and kind, and funny as heck,” Zach assured.

“Hmm. Well, you certainly sound like you’re getting twitterpated, so I’ll give him a chance. You think he’ll be free to come to Christmas dinner?”

Zach blushed at the thought of introducing Shane to his family so soon. “Um. Maybe? He doesn’t have any family here, so I don’t know if he’d have any plans… Or if he’d want to.”

“If he doesn’t have any family to have dinner with, then I insist he come. You know it ain’t like we’re gonna run out of food, sweetie.”

“Yeah, I know you cook enough to feed an army.” He snorted softly. “It’s just really soon. Meeting family is a big thing. But I’ll ask him.”

“I don’t think it would hurt. You need a man that loves a mama’s boy, anyway. If he gets too up in arms about meeting us, then maybe he’s not the right one. We’ll put him to the test.”

“Mooom…” He groaned.

“Oh hush, you know we’ll be nice. Treat him like he’s our own, so long as ya’ll are together.”

His mother always did have a tendency to adopt people he was close to. Heck, she basically was a second mother to Andre while they were in college, even before they had dated for a while. Hopefully Shane would enjoy that sort of treatment, rather than be bothered by it. The thought of Shane missing his own mother on Christmas made his heart break, so maybe this could help soothe that a bit. Or at least distract him.

Zach rubbed a hand through his hair as he sighed. “I know, I know. I promise I’ll ask him, okay?”

“Good. I love you, sweetie. I’ll let you go so you can get back to your lazy Sunday.”

He smiled again. “Okay, Mom. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye, hun.”

The call ended, and he let the phone rest on his chest as he tried to play through the idea of bringing Shane to meet his family. He wasn’t worried about him getting along with his younger sister, Annie. She’d always been the sort to enjoy a good laugh, and he could see them sitting around and joking around with each other like old friends. His father was a more quiet person than the rest of his family, but still kind. He’d probably accept Shane easily enough, so long as Zach was happy. His mother, on the other hand, would probably be mother-henning them both to make sure Shane wasn’t going to end up like Noah. 

He didn’t want to scare Shane off. But his mom also had a point—he didn’t need to be with someone who would keep him away from his family. Maybe it’d be worth the risk. 

Hopefully Shane would appreciate Zach’s love and commitment to his family, though, having lost his own. Shane didn’t seem like the jealous type, at least. 

He just needed to find the right moment to ask Shane to spend Christmas with him. Which wasn’t likely to be today. He knew Shane was already stressed as hell about the article coming out, and he didn’t want to risk making that worse. 

Zach lifted the phone from his chest to unlock it again, then tapped out a text to send to Shane. 

Zach: Good morning! I hope you slept well and have a good Sunday, even if you’re stuck grading papers. Try not to be too stressed. Everything will be okay. You can get through this. :) 

He smiled at the screen, and, satisfied with himself that he’d hopefully brightened Shane’s day, he rolled out of bed to get dressed.