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Lance sat on the counter and kicked his legs as he licked the fudge bowl. It was Lance gets away with everything week, a biannual holiday that only happened during his birthday and Christmas time, and he was taking full advantage. The ten-year-old was on his third bowl of the day considering Christmas was right around the corner. His mother could only laugh as his scrapes alongside the edge slowed the fuller and more sugar happy he got. Her attention, however, was split between her work, her son, and the conversation on the phone.
"You want to what? … Veronica, you really should have called and let us know earlier if you were going to be bringing people home for Christmas." There was a pause on Rosa's end as she listened to her daughter. She smoothed the top of the hot fudge and sealed off the glass pan with plastic wrap.
"Is sis trying to bring home her boyfriend?" Lance teased. His mouth was full of chocolate-covered wooden spoon, so the words sounded more like garbled nonsense.
Rosa rolled her eyes, pulling the spoon out of her son's mouth with a whispered "Don't talk with your mouth full, mijo," before returning to her conversation.
"No, I will not tell him that. Leave your brother alone… alright, alright, you can stop begging. I'll prepare a room for them. It'll be yours since we don't have any extra because of the family. You'll be bunking with Lance."
Lance heard a high pitched screech come from the phone. An evil grin spread across Lance's face as he heard his eldest sister protest.
"No, no, no! You do not get to complain!" Rosa said. "You were the one who didn't warn us ahead of time, so you deal with the consequences… oh, he will not! Lancito is an angel!" She turned to pat him on the head and he replaced his devilish smile for an angelic one. "Oh, hush! You just need to be nicer to your brother! Now I need to go. I have two more mouths to feed this year it seems and will need to make more fudge."
Lance blinked and looked down at his stomach. He was going to regret this next bowl, but it was so worth it.
The day came for Veronica and her friends to be home. Lance was sitting under the tree, discreetly shaking a few of the presents marked for him to get an idea of the contents. So far, he suspected clothes. It didn’t please him at all, but there was nothing more he could do about it than grumble until the actual day of reckoning. He had three days to wait.
Lance almost dropped one of his boxes when a heavy knock on the door startled him. Veronica usually tapped out a rhythm on the door with a different one each time for Lance to guess, so the two thuds were definitely not her. He cautiously put the present down and tiptoed to the door, sneaking a glance through the gap in the window curtain net to the door. His heart stopped when he saw a tall, muscular man standing at the door, peering through the peephole.
“¡Mamá! ¡Hay un hombre extraño en la puerta!” Lance yelled. His mother darted out of the kitchen with her spatula and pulled him behind her. She checked the peephole, chuckling to herself, and opened the door.
“Welcome home, mija !” she cooed, opening her arms out for a hug. Lance looked up to see Veronica’s head pop over his mother’s shoulder and immediately relaxed. She reached around their mother and ruffled his hair.
“ Mamá, this is Shiro. Adam is back at the rental grabbing his things.” She stepped back and let the man, apparently called Shiro, greet their mother.
“Shiro! I’ve heard so much about you. All good things. Well, a few things about you and Adam and how you two keep Veronica up at night, but mostly good things!” she said, taking his outstretched hand. She held it tight and patted it a few times. Shiro flushed, and Veronica yelped in the background.
“I-it’s,” Shiro cleared his throat, “it’s a pleasure to meet you. I will apologize on Adam’s behalf for keeping Veronica up.”
“Good! She needs her beauty sleep, you know.” Mamá halfheartedly wagged her finger at him. Veronica protested again but was quickly hushed. “ Mija, go help your friend unpack your rental. Shiro, you come inside and sit down. It must’ve been a long trip for you.”
Mamá lead Shiro inside, motioning for him to sit on the couch. Lance stuck close behind her, trying to make himself as small as possible. She eventually pulled him out from behind her and told him to keep Shiro company until Veronica and Adam were finished unloading the car. Lance shuffled on his feet, avoiding eye contact with Shiro. He watched his mother strut back to the kitchen before sitting down on the floor near the tree once again, half-facing their guest. He plucked at the red strings tying his brothers’ gifts together, wishing he brought his DS down with him that morning.
“You’re Lance, right?” Shiro's voice made him jump and whipped his head around. Lance nodded meekly.
Shiro gave him one of those small, warm smiles that you'd give to a stray cat you wanted to pet. Lance wasn't sure of how to feel about it but didn't outwardly protest.
"I'm Shiro," he said as if Lance hadn't heard the earlier conversation. "It's nice to finally meet you. Veronica has told us a lot about you."
Lance tilted his head, narrowing his eyes a bit.
"All good things!" He added hastily. "She says you're a very bright boy and that you'd be a great match for the garrison."
A spark of excitement lit in Lance's chest. He had dreamed of joining the same school as his eldest sister but was told it was hard to get in. That's why Veronica was the only one to make it. Not even Marco with his top grades stood a chance. Shiro must’ve seen the excited glint in his eyes, and followed up his question with another.
“What do you want to be when you’re older, Lance?”
Lance turned on the floor and sat up tall. “I want to be astronauta .” He then had a thought and stood up, racing over to Shiro’s side. “I have rocketships on my pajamas.” He tugged at the legs of his pants, showcasing the red and white rockets on the baby blue fabric.
“I see,” Shiro laughed. “I bet you look up to your sister, huh? She’s a great pilot.”
“I want to be a better pilot!” Lance declared, punching a fist in the air.
“Competitious aren’t we,” Shiro said with a smile.
Their conversation was cut short when another tall, but more lanky man joined them. He hopped on the couch next to Shiro, wrapping his arms around him.
“Takashi, have you already adopted our first child?” the man asked. Lance wrinkled his brow, mouth twisting with question.
“No, Adam. This is Veronica’s youngest brother, Lance,” Shiro answered with a smooth motion in Lance’s direction. That same hand then lightly gripped onto the arm wrapped around his torso. “We can’t adopt him.”
The man called Adam huffed, plopping his head onto Shiro’s shoulder. His glasses slid off his nose slightly and he removed an arm from his grip temporarily so he could fix them.
Lance stared at the two in awe. In all his 10-year-old life, he hadn’t seen a man be so affectionate with another man, and it really bowled him over. His father wasn’t even as affectionate with him or his brothers. Part of him was shocked, but the other part was relieved to see this. It was a form of validation he didn’t even know he needed or understood.
“Lance,” Shiro said, breaking the tension and the silence, “this is Adam Wright. He’s my partner.”
“You can call me the other Mr. Shirogane,” Adam said as he gave his hand to Lance.
“Adam, we’ve only been dating for three months.”
“Kills two birds with one stone! When we’re married he won’t have to remember the name change.”
“Adam.”
Lance blinked, taking Adam’s hand and giving it the strongest shake he could muster. His dad did teach him how to be a man after all, and he for some reason felt the need to prove himself at that moment. He didn’t want the two professionals (in his mind) to see him as nothing but a kid. He was more than that.
He found himself zoning out of the conversation the three of them were having- or, well, the two older men were having that he was watching. He forced himself to snap back to reality and focus on his two guests in front of him. They had switched topics and were now discussing something else.
“-seriously brought that with you.”
“Well, Dr. Holt wanted me to test it.”
“She has two children of her own. Why doesn’t she have them test it?”
“Because she asked me?”
Shiro was holding something in his lap. It was a small, gray, rectangular box, one which he probably pulled out of his jacket while Lance wasn’t paying attention. Lance was intrigued by the seams in the metal and was mid-scan when Shiro asked him a question.
“Do you like video games, Lance?”
Lance snapped his head up and nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! I like lots of video games. I have this one for my WiiJump where you play as a rebel soldier for this alien alliance! You get this really cool looking blaster and you shoot the bad guys.” Lance held up his hands, pretending to hold an alien rifle. He squinted his eyes like he was peering through the sights of a rifle. “I like playing the sniper!”
“Oh, he’s dangerous!” Adam said with a gasp. “He’s definitely yours.”
“Adam,” Shiro laughed with a bit of frustration. Adam grinned back. Shiro shook his head and refocused on Lance. “Have you ever played as a pilot? Good training for flying in space.”
Lance shook his head no, leaning forward slightly in anticipation. Shiro handed him the box, instructing him to open it. Once open, he found that the back, top, and side panels of the box formed a screen, and the bottom held a small joystick. He looked up at the two men, confused.
“This is a game?” he asked.
Adam finally released Shiro, scooting over to put space between them. He patted the couch cushion. “Here, sit. We’ll show you how to play.”
Lance played that game for hours with Adam and Shiro’s help. Shiro knew the mechanics better than Adam, and therefore had more input, but Lance appreciated them both. Before any of them knew it, it was dinner time. Lance was reluctant to let the game go, but Shiro promised he’d get to play it more later.
“I thought you were bringing home a boyfriend,” Marco complained at the table that night. “I was hoping I’d get to pull out the baby pictures.”
Veronica glared at him before stabbing a piece of broccoli off her plate and sticking it in her mouth. “No,” she said, brandishing her knife and cutting into her chicken, “I wouldn’t let you do that anyway. Besides, I had to bring them. They are doing extra classes over winter break, so their families planned things without them. I didn’t want them to be lonely.”
“Roni, we would have been fiiiiiiine ,” Adam said with a drawl. Veronica gave him a disbelieving look.
“I mean, yes, you would. But you’d probably get kicked out for the holidays anyway for keeping the rest of the dorms up.”
Lance felt a spark of tension at the table. While he didn’t exactly understand what it meant- he had a few ideas but it was mostly vague images- the rest of the diners shuffled in their seats either uncomfortably or mischievously, the latter being his brothers and Adam. Shiro covered his blushing face with his hands in an attempt to hide, but Adam sat up proudly.
“The louder the better.” He glanced over at Lance, who was staring at him quizzically. He sent him a wink. “Remember that small one. Don’t let anyone tell you that you are being too loud.”
“Adam, stop being a bad role model,” Veronica chastised him with a smack to the back of his head.
“I am a fabulous role model!”
“You’re not wrong there,” Shiro said, finally uncovering his face.
“Thank you, Takashi.”
“I meant on the fabulous part. Not the role model part.”
“Even better!”
Lance glanced over to his parents, his mother sitting at the head and his father next to her. Mamá watched the three with a fond smile on her face, quietly eating her vegetables in peace. Papí was the opposite, a small frown blotching his face in confusion. He took his time warming up to new people, and new things in general. Lance wasn't surprised.
Conversation continued. Everyone had a chance to speak. Stories were told and laughter ensued. It was quite a night, and Lance particularly enjoyed it. A new energy filled the room, bringing a spark of life that he loved.
"I had to keep them," Veronica said to Luis with a shrug. "They drug me out of the closet. I was half-buried in there by all the straightspectations."
Lance paused his eating, fork half in his mouth and partially chewed food falling from his lips and onto the tablecloth. Mamá quickly scolded him with a short "close your mouth".
"Why didn't you bring your girlfriend then?" Marco interjected. A thought crossed his mind and he added, "And why didn't you see if she had a hot sister?"
"Marco!" Mamá snapped.
"Pffft. Like I'd set you up with either of their sisters. I finally snagged me some pretty girls that liked me back. I'm not about to ruin it." Veronica shot back. She was leaning over the table now, a mischievous air about her. Normally this would be the time Lance, Luis, and Rachel would be backing out of the room slowly, but dinner etiquette required them to stay and watch the eldest sibling fights unfold.
"You have two?!?!" So, that was the angle Marco was taking it. "Okay, that is NOT FAIR. Stop hogging them all to yourself!"
"Even if one of them wanted to date you, you'd perish at their awesomeness. You can barely satisfy your own hand."
"Alright! That's enough you two!" Mamá cut in, setting her glass down harshly. The clanging ring of the impact echoed through the room. Tension sliced in half. Silence befell the table.
"Yes, mamá," Veronica and Marco muttered.
Satisfied, Mamá smiled, placing her fork and knife on her plate. "Now, Veronica, why don't you tell us about your girlfriends. We'd love to hear about them. If everyone who's finished would stack their plates, I'll bring out dessert." She stood from the table, grabbing her and Papí's plates.
Papí, after sitting quietly for most of the dinner to let Lance's siblings have the floor, decided to speak as he handed Mamá his plate. "We're really excited that you've found happiness, Veronica, and we completely support you. However, I do have some concerns about-"
Mamà cut him off with a napkin to his mouth, seemingly cleaning some sauce out of his mustache. "We will ask personal questions and for clarification after dessert," she told him.
Papí always listened.
"Lancito, will you help me in the kitchen?"
Lance hopped out of his chair, taking the plates stacked at the head of the table. He heard the remnants of the conversation as he followed his mom into the kitchen.
"So, Wendy's on a family cruise, and Kelly is playing the virgin Mary in her hometown nativity. I offered to play Joseph, but they said I was too pretty…"
With the dishes soaking in the sink, Lance and his mom made up the dessert plates. They tag-teamed it with Mamá cutting the pies and fudge and plating each piece and Lance adding the whipped cream on top.
"So, why weren't you talking at dinner mijo ?" Mamá asked. "I've never heard you so quiet."
Lance didn't know how to answer. At least, he didn't know how to say he was busy staring at Shiro and Adam the entire time, hanging onto every word they said. The more the two talked about their adventures, the more Lance realized how much he wanted to be the next Garrison prodigy to come out of the family.
"Mamá, do you think I could make it at the Garrison?" He asked, shaking the can of whipped topping hard.
"Focus, mijo, you don't want to drop it."
"Veronica is one of the top kids in her class. Adam said she might even get a spot in their national communications department. Do you think I can be like her?" Lance forgot what he was doing. He looked at his hand with the whipped topping and gave it another shake for good measure. It slipped out of his hand and ricocheted off the floor and into the bottom cupboard of the counter.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry-” Lance jumped to retrieve the can, but his mother stopped him with a soft smile.
“I have it, mijo . How about you start handing out dessert? Remember, the guests first.” Mamá patted him on the back and pushed him towards the counter. He did as told, grabbing two plates and making his way to the door.
The kitchen wasn’t directly connected to the dining room. A small hallway linked the two, so Lance heard the current conversation before he entered the room. He stopped in his tracks just behind the corner. Papí was speaking, his clear voice stunted with a bleak emotion.
“Well, Shiro, we could pool our funds to send him, but I don’t think it’d be worth it.”
“ Papí , are you sure?” That was Veronica, strained.
“He’s a bright boy, you and I know this, Veronica, but think realistically. He’s unfocused. His first thought when he comes home isn’t his schoolwork or the farm. He jumps on his videogames your mother bought him and forgets there’s a world out there.”
“He’s just a kid, pops,” and there was Marco, “don’t you think you’re being a bit tough on him?”
“Maybe so, but you all weren’t like that at his age. Rachel loved helping your ma around the house, and you boys always were out in the field with me. Lance, he- he seems to avoid all responsibility.”
“Dad he’s ten,” Rachel added.
“But that doesn’t mean your mother should baby him like she does. He’s not going to grow up at this rate.”
A blur. Numb limbs, shaking hands. Lance dropped the plates, the clatter cutting through the air and silencing the room. The door to the kitchen rattled open, but Lance was moving before his mother could reach him. He raced through the dining room and to his shared room, tears falling freely as he slammed the door shut and locked it.
“He won’t even let me in,” Rosa said with a sigh. She sunk down onto the living room couch next to Veronica. Her eldest grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. She welcomed the small bit of comfort. Her youngest inconsolable in his room, having to send her husband out to the barn, and all just before Christmas and in front of guests? The stress ate away at her insides.
“I feel like I need to apologize,” Shiro said. He wiggled in the recliner to get more comfortable, but Adam chose to make him his recliner, so it was a little difficult. “I brought up the question that started thi-”
“No! No, no apologizing. This is not your fault in the least, Shiro.” Rosa wagged her finger at him, and Adam nodded fervently. “This is that man, and his inability to just talk to me about things that bother him.”
“Also just his inability to talk at all,” Rachel contributed from her position on the floor. She had her eyes glued to her phone, scrolling through her Discord chat. “He thinks we don’t like doing farm work, but it’s really how he asks us. If he were a little nicer about it, Lance and I wouldn’t avoid it like the plague.”
“Marco’s out there talking to him about it.” Veronica rubbed circles into her mother’s back. “But I’m more worried on Lance. He usually bounces back by now.”
Adam perked up with a thought, twisting on Shiro’s lap to face him. “Takashi! How about you try talking to him? And take that game box with you. He really liked playing it earlier. It might help little Lance feel better.”
“I guess I could,” Shiro considered the task before raising a brow at Adam, “but that means you would have to get off me.”
“I know you would miss me, but helping a child in need is more important than me being draped over your lap.” Adam wrapped his arms around Shiro’s shoulders, gazing down into his boyfriend’s warm grey eyes.
Rachel gagged. “Grooosssss.”
“Let them be romantic!” Luis shouted at her.
“Romance is gross!”
Later that evening, Veronica took the younger McClain siblings and Adam out for some late Christmas shopping, leaving Marco in the barn with his father, Rosa to ready herself for bed, and Shiro standing outside Lance's door. He was hesitant to knock, worried Lance may be too upset or even nervous to see him. He sucked in a breath and tapped his knuckles against the old wood.
"Lance? It's Shiro. I was wondering if you wanted to talk." He waited by the door, sure the silence he was getting was a "no." After a moment, he moved to leave, but the sound of rustling and squeaking stopped him. The door cracked open, and Lance's bright blue eye peeked through. The pigment glowed against his reddened whites.
"Why?" He asked, a sniffle in his voice.
"Because I'm worried about you," Shiro said with what he hoped what a comforting smile. "Will you let me in?"
Lance deliberated a second then pulled the door wide open. Shiro stepped inside. The hall light illuminated two beds on either side of the room and an old mattress in the middle with a blanket draped over it. Lance crawled back onto the bed next to the right-hand wall. Shiro shut the door behind him and stepped over the mattress to clamber up next to Lance, but his foot caught on the leg of the bed, and he fell face first. The impact made the mattress bounce, which made Lance giggle.
Well, it a start.
The joints of the bed frame squeaked under Shiro's added weight and movement. He sat up, letting out a phew and a shake of his head. He kept a decent amount of space between him and Lance, to not overwhelm the boy, and to properly stretch out in the confined space. Lance pressed his back against the wall, rubbing his eyes and sniffing. Shiro wasn't sure what to do or how to handle the situation. Adam had it in his mind that Shiro was good with kids, but he honestly had no clue what he was doing.
"You know," he started, sneaking a glance at the quiet child beside him for any cues on what he should say, "my parents were pretty strict too. School was top priority in our house. It was pretty stressful."
Lance looked up at him, his fist rubbing his nose. His attention focused on Shiro, despite the minute fidgeting he did subconsciously.
"When we were younger, my brother and I would try to sneak off instead of doing homework, but we always got caught. Our dad would be furious." Shiro looked at his hands in his lap. He smiled at the memories. "I remember hating my work. It was long, boring, exhausting… it did help in the long run, but I always wished there was a more fun way to do it."
" Mamá lets me have snacks while I clean the kitchen after dinner," Lance said.
"Yeah? Makes doing it fun, doesn't it?"
Lance nodded.
"I think," Shiro said, more confidently this time, "you could make it at the Garrison. It's a few years away. Growing up takes time and you shouldn't be in a hurry. There are other ways to prepare for your future that doesn't stop you from being a kid."
Shiro pulled out the portable simulator, holding it out to Lance. Lance's eyes glittered in the filtering moonlight as he grabbed it. He surprised Shiro by scooting closer to him and cuddling into his side. Shiro's heart warmed as he wrapped his arm around him, holding him close. Lance booted up the game system and the two of them played well into the night.
When the team of shoppers sneaked back into the house past midnight, Adam went on a search for Shiro. He followed Rachel and Veronica to their shared room with Lance but paused when they opened the door.
Shiro and Lance had fallen asleep, the game resting in Lance's lap, and Lance's head on Shiro's chest. They both were still sitting against the wall.
"How is that even comfortable?" Rachel asked in a whisper.
"Well it's better than the time Lance fell asleep while riding the horse," Veronica commented.
Adam smiled, his heart fluttering with love.