Chapter Twenty-Seven

“THIS is the most understocked kitchen I have ever seen,” Blake said with a sigh as he opened cabinets and drawers at Thane’s house the next night. “You have this amazing space with beautiful counters and new appliances and not a thing to actually prepare food with.”

“I have a couple of pans,” Thane replied defensively. He’d been a bachelor living alone until six months ago. He hadn’t needed anything more than a pan and maybe a skillet.

Blake rolled his eyes at him. “Tomorrow we are going shopping to buy you some actual cookware. For tonight I’ll make do with what you have here. Where are the boys?”

“Probably playing video games,” Thane said. “Why?”

“Because it’s high time you all learned how to cook,” Blake declared. “They’ll be going off to college soon, and not being able to follow a simple recipe is ridiculous. If nothing else, they can use it to impress their dates later on.”

“Is that what you’re doing?” Thane asked, taking a step closer to Blake.

Blake shot him a reproving glare. “No, I’m feeding you so you don’t end up getting takeout again,” he said. “Go get the boys while I decide what I can make with what I have here. I knew I should have brought some things from home.”

“We can go back and get them. Your apartment isn’t that far away,” Thane offered.

Blake puttered around the kitchen a little more, finally pulling out a black pan from the drawer beneath the oven to go along with the frying pan and small pot on the stove. “No, we’ll make do for tonight. Go get the boys.”

Thane stepped to the kitchen door and hollered for the boys. Kit and Phillip tumbled into the kitchen a few moments later.

“I need help with dinner,” Blake announced. “Wash your hands and come over here.”

“Aww, Mr. B.,” Phillip whined.

“You’re both more than old enough to help in the kitchen,” Blake said, “and given that you plotted to get your uncle and me back together, I think you can call me Blake when we aren’t at school.”

“Really?” Kit asked.

“The first time you slip and call me that at school, I’ll have you both in ISS for a month.” Blake shook the knife in his hand at them for emphasis. Thane muffled a snicker at the way they blanched. He wouldn’t ever have to worry about discipline problems with Blake around.

“We won’t,” Phillip said quickly.

Blake smiled. “Good. Wash your hands and we’ll get started.”

Both boys went to the kitchen sink. Thane slipped an arm around Blake’s waist. He was tempted to nuzzle Blake’s neck, but Kit and Phillip were right there, even if their backs were turned, and he didn’t know how Blake would feel about him being affectionate in front of them. He hoped they’d get there eventually, but he wasn’t going to push so soon after getting Blake back. “You’re so good with them.”

Blake shrugged. “It’s my job. Wash your hands too. You’re not getting out of helping either.”

Thane washed his hands obediently and came back to stand next to his nephews, who were looking at Blake expectantly. He handed Phillip a knife and a head of broccoli. “Cut it up into bite-sized pieces. It’s better for them to be a little small than too big. We don’t have a cutting board, so you’ll have to cut it on the counter. It should be fine as long as you don’t drive the knife directly into the surface.”

Phillip nodded and set to work carefully cutting one section of the broccoli at a time.

“Kit, you’re going to work on the corn. Let me show you.”

He peeled back the husks on one ear, washed it, and wrapped the husks back up. “Wash them all and then we’ll steam them in the microwave.”

“I can do that,” Kit said.

“What about me?” Thane asked.

“You’re going to help me with the pork chops,” Blake said. “We need to mix up some breading to dredge them in and then we’ll fry them lightly in the pan.”

“In English,” Thane joked.

Blake swatted his hip. Thane grinned and swatted back… right on Blake’s ass. Blake flushed but didn’t scold Thane or pull away. Good.

“Get the package over there that says bread crumbs and a plate,” Blake said. “Is that simple enough for you?”

“I can handle that.” He got the package and a plate and then watched as Blake poured some onto the surface and added a pinch of this and a spoonful of that. “What are you mixing in?”

“Spices,” Blake said. “That’s an advanced lesson. We’ll start with cooking the meat, because you can make it without all the different extras. And different people like different spices, so that’s a trial-and-error thing, not something set in stone. Now, I need a bowl to put the egg in.”

“What’s the egg for?” Thane asked as he got a bowl out of the cabinet.

“We have to have something sticky so the breading will stick to the pork or else we’ll just have browned chops, not breaded chops,” Blake explained. He cracked an egg into the bowl and beat it with a fork. “Get a pork chop out of the package, dip it in the egg, and then coat it in the breading.”

“What are you doing?” Thane asked as he followed Blake’s instructions.

“Heating up the pan with a little olive oil so the meat doesn’t stick,” Blake said. “When you’re done, set it in the pan.”

Thane set the meat in the pan gingerly, not wanting to mess anything up or get burned. Blake laughed at him, but he didn’t say anything as Thane moved on to the next one and the next until the whole package was cooking.

“What do I do with the broccoli now that it’s cut?” Phillip asked, drawing their attention.

“We’ll toss it with a little oil and salt and put it in the oven,” Blake said. “Nothing fancy, but it’ll get a little crispy and have a nice flavor to it.”

He helped Phillip get the broccoli in the oven and then checked on Kit’s progress with the corn, and Thane thought he’d died and gone to heaven. This was what he’d dreamed of having. This was what he would have now that Blake had given him a second chance.

THE boys disappeared somewhere after helping with the dishes, leaving Thane and Blake alone in the kitchen. “Want to watch a movie and make out on the couch?” Thane asked.

Blake laughed, as Thane had no doubt intended, but he wasn’t quite ready to go that far. “I’ll watch a movie with you, but if you want to make out, we have to go to my place. I don’t have any desire to get interrupted again.”

“They know we’re back together,” Thane said. “They aren’t stupid. They’re going to guess we’re having sex. If not tonight, then soon.”

“I know,” Blake said. “It’s just….” How to put his concerns into words? “I know I’m not their principal anymore now that they’re officially juniors, but I’m still a principal at their school, and there’s only so much I’m comfortable with my students knowing about me.”

“My guess is that they’ve gone back to play video games and that they have their headphones on so they don’t have to worry about hearing anything,” Thane said. “Because unless kids have changed a whole lot in the past twenty years, the last thing they want to think about is their old uncle and their principal getting busy.”

“You aren’t old,” Blake blurted.

“And you aren’t their principal here,” Thane reminded him. “You’re their uncle’s boyfriend and maybe eventually a surrogate uncle yourself, if you want that role. You told them to call you Blake. How many other students have you invited to do that?”

“None,” Blake had to admit. “I hear what you’re saying. I just need a little more time to wrap my head around it. Can you give me that?”

“Whatever you need,” Thane replied. “I’ve missed you, and that includes taking you to bed, but I’ve spent the past several months reminding Phillip about the definition of consent now that he’s started dating. I’m not going to pressure you into something you don’t feel comfortable with. It’s just….”

“Just what?” Blake prompted, charmed at the idea of Thane stumbling through a sex talk with Phillip. Then again, as blunt as Thane was, maybe he hadn’t stumbled at all.

“I want it all. The house, the kids, a life together as a family,” Thane said. “I know that’ll take time to work out, especially with the way I screwed things up, but I want to reach a point where we can talk about you moving in here or the four of us looking for a new place of our own. I want to laugh with you over dinner every night and have more cooking lessons. I want Kit and Phillip to have everything you can offer them. I’m not cultured. I’m not educated. I haven’t really traveled. I spent all my time until recently building a business that could support me. You’re all those things, just like Lily was. I don’t want them to lose that because she’s gone. But part of you moving in is being able to be affectionate, even intimate, while Kit and Phillip are around.”

“You aren’t really an exhibitionist, are you?” Blake asked, just to see if he could fluster Thane. To his surprise, it worked.

“I don’t mean like that,” he spluttered, “but I don’t want to have to wonder if I should kiss you because they’re in the room. I don’t want to ask myself if it’s okay to whisper dirty things in your ear and lure you to bed while they’re home. Our relationship isn’t something to be ashamed of, and I won’t act like it is.”

“No, it’s not something to be ashamed of,” Blake agreed, “but it is something private, and that’s not something I share well. Give us all time to get used to the adjustments that go along with being the family you described. It’ll come in time. And for the record, I may not be ready for you to lure me to bed when the boys are around, but I don’t mind if you kiss me. A nice, family-friendly kiss. Not a ‘prelude to dragging me off to bed’ kiss.”

“Can I kiss you that way when the boys aren’t around?” Thane asked.

Blake paused for a moment to listen for footsteps in the hall. When he heard nothing, he grabbed Thane’s hair and pulled him down until their lips were almost touching. “I’ll be very upset if you don’t.”