“Antoni, what the hell is this?” I asked exasperatedly. “The cake’s supposed to say ‘happy adoption day,’ not ‘happy adaptation day’! Also, it’s way too small, this is going to feed like 2 people, not twelve! I told you: large vanilla sheet cake, with ‘happy adoption day’ in blue frosting, it’s not that hard to remember!”

Now that Ross had started preschool, Antoni and I set up a schedule where we alternated who had to fly out to meet whom for meetings. This was Antoni’s week to meet me at mine and Ben’s house, we were discussing pre-production for the second half of the first season of Hot Law. The show had been a surprise hit, the winter finale garnered 5 million viewers on a Wednesday night prime time spot. It was the highest amount of viewers that CBS had seen in decades. Antoni was supposed to fly back to L.A. yesterday, but I invited him to stay for Ross’s adoption party — a decision that I now regretted. I tried not to be too mad. Ben and I were now officially Ross’s legal guardians, and that was something to celebrate.

“Honestly Antoni, I don’t know how you plan anything,” I said.

“Micah? Are you still here?” Ben had just picked Ross up from preschool.

“Yeah, I’m in the backyard, I’m still setting up. ” I yelled back. I turned to Antoni. “Did you at least remember to get a tablecloth?”

“That I did,” said Antoni.

“Hey Micah! Hey Antoni, how’s party planning going?” Ben said, grinning. I gave him a quick peck on the lips and wrapped my arm around his waist, leaning into him as I complained.

“Absolutely atrocious, Antoni messed up the cake and now the day is ruined. Where’s Ross?” I asked.

Ben laughed at my overreaction. “I doubt that, it’s just cake. I’ll go to the store and grab something. Ross is upstairs changing.”

Just then, the backdoor opened, and Ross ran outside. “Hi Dad! Hi Uncle Antoni!” he called, waving. He was wearing a flannel and jeans, despite my insistence that he try and look nice for his party.

“Ross, what are you wearing? I bought you that nice dress shirt!” I said.

“It’s itchy,” Ross stated. I rolled my eyes, you think he could have at least inherited my fashion sense but instead he insisted on an endless amount of T-shirts and flannel, much like his larger counterpart, Ben.

“I think he looks fine,” Ben said with a shrug.

“Of course you do! You have that exact flannel,” I said. “Antoni, what are you doing with the cake? Can you even return cake?”

“I’m putting it in the freezer, this cake’s for you dummy. You got the part in Showtime’s adaptation of The Sound and Fury. I got you a celebratory vegan ice cream cake. The cake for the party is in the fridge,” Antoni said starting to laugh at my shocked expression.

“Oh Micah, that’s awesome!” Ben said.

I had been gunning for the part of Quentin Compson for months, all great actors star in at least one adaptation of a classic novel, I was thrilled (and also planning on eating that entire cake sometime around 2 A.M. tonight). Ben started to laugh.

“Were you in on this?” I asked.

“Yeah it was my idea,” he admitted, “I like seeing you freak out.”

“It’s quite entertaining,” Antoni agreed.

I rolled my eyes. “I can’t believe the two of you are co-conspirators now.”

“We have to be, it keeps you grounded,” Ben said with a kiss.