In the early hours of the morning, Gage flipped his blinkers on and turned off the quiet country road onto a familiar gravel driveway. Bo, who’d been asleep in his car seat, stirred. The crackle-snap of his lungs grew louder and changed pace, audible over the murmur of the radio and the crunch of the gravel beneath the tires. Gage checked the rearview mirror to find Bo had lifted his head. The change in velocity and the new noises had to have woken him.

“Hey, baby boy,” Gage said. “We’re almost there. It’s okay if you wanna go back to sleep.”

“Where?” Bo asked. His voice was small and tired.

“We’re going back to a place I lived when I was your age.” Gage followed the driveway across the property, his headlights the only terrestrial creation standing in opposition to the night. Overhead, the stars lit the sky, but the moon was gone. It didn’t matter. If he’d needed to, Gage could have taken the driveway without any light at all. He’d been born and raised here, and even though he’d moved out to live on his own, his body still remembered every dip and bump along the way. “We’re going to meet your grandparents.”

Bo sighed. It was a withering, defeated sound that would have made Gage laugh if it hadn’t rattled in Bo’s chest like it did.

“It’s going to be okay,” Gage promised. “It’s late at night. One of your grandpas is going to be at work, and the other is probably going to be asleep. We’ll get to the house, crawl into my old bed, and worry about saying hello to everyone tomorrow morning.”

Bo made another, somewhat resigned sound, then protested no more. He pushed his head back against his car seat, his gaze focused on the darkened scenery outside the window.

The car rocked as it passed over a bump. Gage counted down the seconds, starting from ten, and by the time he hit one, the driveway curved, and his childhood home appeared on the horizon. In the distance, off to the right, was the old barn he’d sneaked Aaron into their first summer together when the house was too busy to offer them any privacy. A lump rose in his throat, just as it had every time he’d come home since having Bo. He missed his fathers and his older brother, but he’d been strong, just like he’d been asked.

Now he had to be strong in a different way.

It was time to tell them the truth.

The car rolled to a stop not far from the front door. Gage pulled off to the side, steering partially onto the grass to make sure the driveway was still accessible. There was a bag of emergency supplies for Bo wedged in the foot space of the back seat, which Gage tugged free and carried out with him as he opened the door. He stepped out of the car, put the bag on the roof, stretched, and was about to get Bo from his car seat when the porch light flipped on and the heavy front door opened. The door sweep dragged on the floor, its sound ushering Gage home.

“Gage?” The screen door opened. Its hinges creaked. Light poured out from inside the house, and Gage turned his head to see his omega father, Gabriel, standing in the doorway. He was wrapped up in a black bathrobe, his arms crossed over his chest as if to protect himself against a chill. His golden-brown hair was mussed from sleep, and there was wonder in his eyes, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Hi, Dad,” Gage said. He left Bo in the car and crossed the gravel driveway to approach the front door. As he did, his father rushed to meet him and swept him into his arms. Gage dissolved in his embrace. Nostalgia overwhelmed him. In just a few more minutes, he wouldn’t have to miss home so much. There would be no reason to stay away from his family again. “It’s really me. I’m home. And there’s someone I want you to meet.”