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“I don’t know. He seems like he’s been bummed out ever since we picked him up from school yesterday.”
Marvin leaned against the kitchen counter, glancing across the room to Jason’s bedroom door. They’d all gotten up late today- it was already 11. Whizzer wasn’t wrong- normally, Jason was decently excitable, always filling his father and Whizzer in on the events of the past week. Marvin would have expected Jason to have been happier than normal, seeing as Friday had been an early dismissal day, but Jason barely talked on the drive home, even when prompted about the upcoming ball season or whether or not he thought he’d go on the class trip to the science museum. Jason had shrugged, shifted in his seat, and put his head against the window.
Marvin sighed. “You’re right. I’ll do something to cheer him up. He usually gets excited for movie night.”
“He gets excited for movie night as long as you aren’t the one picking the movie,” Whizzer corrected him, cracking an egg onto a pan. He glanced up at Marvin, a small smile on his face. “And I have to say that I’d agree with the kid on that front.”
Marvin scoffed lightly and bumped shoulders with Whizzer, turning when he heard the toaster ding. “Maybe he’d want to go for ice cream,” Marvin guessed as he started to butter the toast absentmindedly.
Whizzer wrinkles his nose a bit. “Isn’t it a bit cold out for ice cream?”
“He’s thirteen. I really don’t think he’d care.” A light creak offered a new sound in the conversation, and the two men turned to see a sleepy, somewhat disheveled-looking Jason, promptly taking his seat at the dining table. Marvin brushed the crumbs off his hands before folding his arms. “Morning, Jase.”
“Good morning, dad. Good morning, Whizzer.” Jason tugged on his shirt, playing with the salt shaker.
“Good morning, Jason,” Whizzer sent back in a cheery tone. He finished plating eggs as Marvin held out dishes for him, bringing his and Jason’s over to the table. “Long half day yesterday?” He asked, sliding Jason’s plate in front of him.
Jason took a bite, not bothering to swallow before responding. “I guess I didn’t sleep as much as I want. I have some homework I need to do, too.”
Whizzer swallowed his bite of toast and propped his chin on his hand, some of his bangs falling onto his face. “Middle school is rough. It’ll go by fast, though. Soon you’ll be in college for med, or law, or-“ he sipped a glass of water. “-or whatever brainiac field you end up going into. What’s the assignment?”
Marvin ate silently, watching the two converse. He was jealous of Whizzer; Jason and Marvin’s relationship had improved immensely, sure, but the two always seemed to have such a good, easy relationship, as if they were peers, rather than son-and-dad’s-boyfriend. If it wouldn’t have been for Jason’s partial semblance to Marvin, he’d be sure that Whizzer would be the one who looked like Jason’s dad.
“It’s an essay. Two and a half pages,” Jason muttered, as both the men chuckled at Jason’s disdain. He reached for the glass in front of him, downing a few gulps. “I’ve been trying to start it in my head since she told it to us, but I can’t.”
“How fun,” Marvin said, dully. “Well, how about this- after breakfast, we can go to the shops, and we can get things to have a movie night tonight.” Jason grinned, pushing another forkful into his mouth. “But, you have to work on the essay first. At least get it halfway done.”
Jason let out a little sigh. “Can we at least buy more popcorn?”
Marvin couldn’t help but feel a grin form on his face. “Yes, we can buy more popcorn.”
“Deal.”
---
“No, you hold the lid on-” Marvin lifted an eyebrow at Jason, who quickly reached back to the pot’s lid to secure it. “I swear, if it’s a repeat of last time-” Jason grinned, still thinking that the time he and Whizzer had both left the popcorn unattended while Marvin was in the other room was one of the funniest incidents. It would have been funnier if his dad hadn’t gotten so mad. Whizzer patted the kid on the shoulder, pushing himself up to sit on the counter.
“It’s only popcorn, Marv,” he teased. Marvin stopped in the doorway, turning and giving a half-agitated, half-amused look to Whizzer.
“You’re not the one who cleaned it up. Let me just do these faxes in peace.”
Jason snickered, cautiously moving the pot off its burner when the popcorn was done popping, turning off the stove. Whizzer immediately took its lid off, jolting a bit when there was one final pop and a few loose pieces bounced out. He gave Jason a it-could-be-worse look before scooping them up. “So how’s the essay coming along?”
Jason’s face showed disinterest as he reached into a cupboard, on his tiptoes, to grab a few bowls. “Fine, I guess.”
Whizzer nodded, not having much else to say as a response. He watched Jason pour popcorn into each of the bowls, miraculously not spilling any of it. Jason handed Whizzer one of them, and for a moment, the two just stayed in silence. “What’s it even about?” Whizzer finally asked, sifting through his bowl.
“Well, we just read this story that was about like family, or whatever,” Jason replied, and Whizzer snorted. “So we’re supposed to chose one person in our family and say how we’re like them and what we like the best about them or our favorite memory with them… that garbage.”
Whizzer grimaced. “I can see why you’ve been reluctant about it.”
“Well, no,” Jason sighed, sitting at the table. “It’s not because of all the dumb stuff. It’s not like I have to write about that.”
Whizzer huffed out a breath of air. Dumb stuff indeed, he thought. “Then what’s the issue?”
“I just don’t know who to choose for it. I don’t have any sisters or brothers so obviously I’d have to choose a parent, and there’s my mom but then I have three whole dads- and I know it’s really not that big of a deal I make it out to be, but-”
Whizzer glanced up at Jason, somewhat shocked. “Three?” he asked dully.
“Um, yeah?” Jason gave Whizzer a confused expression. “You, dad, and Mendel.”
Whizzer’s face softened. “I-” he stopped as he heard Marvin’s footsteps coming back. “Your dad’ll really like it if you chose him.”
“Are you only saying that ‘cause you love him?”
Whizzer couldn’t help but laugh as Marvin came back, VHS tapes in hand, looking tired as he always did after doing anything related to work. “What’s the laughing about?” Whizzer shook his head dismissively. “Do I get popcorn?” Jason pointed toward the bowl as Whizzer leaned across the counter to hold it up. Jason hopped up, snatching the movies from his dad’s hands and headed toward the living room, taking the liberty to start the movie on his own. Marvin scoffed, crossing the room to where Whizzer was perched on the counter. “What? What’s with that face?” Marvin asked, addressing the light in Whizzer’s eyes.
“Jason was telling me about his homework, he’s gotta write about family- and said that he had three options to chose for dads.” He set the half-eaten popcorn down, loosely looping his arms around Marvin’s neck. “Kid considers me a dad,” Whizzer said in a sweet tone. Even Marvin couldn’t help but smile dumbly, resting a hand on Whizzer’s knee. “I know!” Whizzer cooed in agreement to Marvin’s change in expression. “I figured that he was going to say something about Mendel, since he’s actually his step-dad-”
“Just because we can’t get legally get married doesn’t mean he wouldn’t consider you his step-dad, either.”
Whizzer sighed. “Well, I know, but-”
“And he’s a smart kid,” Marvin smiled at Whizzer. “Compassionate. He’s got his mind in the right place.”
“I know, but there’s all these awful people in the world. I guess you just assume everyone’s gonna be against you.”
Marvin gave Whizzer a confused look. “I thought that you didn’t care about homophobes.”
Whizzer rolled his eyes. “I mean, no, but you know what they say to kids, and I love Jason.”
Marvin nodding, not responding for a long minute. “And he loves you, too.”
They heard Jason call from the other room, “It’s starting without you guys!”
Marvin smiled, giving a sincere look to Whizzer. He made a small head movement toward the door. “Kid’s gonna get mad if we miss any of it.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Whizzer murmured, moving to hop off the counter, but accepting a kiss from Marvin first. “Coming!” He hollered back to Jason.
They slept soundly that night.