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"Bye Lex, bye Wimie" said Evie Rose waving to her uncles from the car.
"Bye, honey, have fun" Alex replied, hugging Willie to help him balance due to his broken leg.
Luke had zero experience babysitting, but when Evie Rose was just born and he was still living with Alex, he used to help him with a few things, like putting her to sleep or changing her diaper. Reggie, on the other hand, was an expert on children, not for nothing he was a pediatrician, and in recent months he had learned a lot about the girl, so he felt prepared to take care of her throughout the night.
Evie Rose was in the back seat singing the songs that Luke played, which impressed Reggie since they were all songs from the eighties and he did not understand how such a little girl knew songs like Bohemian Rhapsody. When Reggie rested his hand on Luke's leg, Evie Rose looked at them confused.
"Are you boyfriends too?"
"What do you mean 'too'?" asked Luke curious.
"I think my Uncle Wimie is my Uncle Lex's boyfriend, but whenever I ask they start laughing" she replied with a certain sadness in her voice, as if it bothered her that her uncles laughed at her questions.
"And what makes you think they're dating, Rosie?" Reggie asked, watching her from the rearview mirror.
“My Uncle Wimie is hurt so now my Uncle Lex spends all day with him, they even started sleeping in the same bed! My parents slept in the same bed because they were dating."
Reggie and Luke started laughing when they heard Evie Rose, which reminded her of her uncles' reaction when she talked about it. Why is it so much fun for adults to talk about love?
"But that doesn't mean they're dating, Rosie, that just means Alex loves Willie very much and that's why he's helping him to get better" Luke explained.
"Like when I get sick and Uncle Lex lets me sleep in his bed?"
"Exactly."
They were silent for a few minutes until Evie Rose spoke again.
"So you are boyfriends or not?"
"You're more curious than usual, little one" laughed Reggie "Yes, Uncle Luke and I are dating."
Evie Rose frowned and crossed her arms, remaining silent until they reached Reggie's house. When Luke opened the back door to help Evie out, she turned around. He turned to see his boyfriend and realizing what could be the reason why the girl had reacted like this, he asked him to enter the house. When Reggie entered their home, Luke sat next to Evie Rose.
"Are you angry?"
Evie responded with a "hmm", turning around even more.
"Didn't you like that Reggie and I are dating?"
"No." the girl replied dryly.
"Evie, you know you're still my favorite, right?"
"I don't speak with traitors"
"Am I the traitor? A little bird told me that you hold hands with a boy from your kindergarten, is that true? "
“But he's not my boyfriend! Boys are ugly! " she said, turning around concerned.
"I'm a boy too and you said I was the cutest in the whole world!"
"That was when you weren't a traitor" Evie Rose replied, crossing her arms again.
"So I'm not cute anymore?"
"No, not anymore"
"At least I'm still your prince, right?"
"No."
"No? Too bad, I had a surprise for you in there but since I'm not your prince anymore... "
"I lied, I lied!" she said hugging Luke "You're still my prince, uncle Lukey"
"Will you forgive me? I promise you, next time I'll ask you before I have a boyfriend, okay?"
"The next?" asked Evie Rose, confused "How many boyfriends do you plan to have?"
"If I'm lucky, Reggie will be last."
Luke spread his arms with a big smile and Evie Rose threw herself on top of him, hugging him lovingly just as she used to hug her uncle Alex's leg.
When they entered the house, Evie Rose listened to music that sounded like the one from the princess movies she used to watch. She ran to the place where the music came from and found a room decorated like the inside of a castle, with mattresses thrown on the floor, a movie about chickens on television, and a plate full of honey cookies on the table.
"Do you like it?" Luke asked, laughing at Evie Rose's surprised face.
"It's super wow" replied the girl jumping up.
"There's another surprise, look who's coming there"
Reggie appeared disguised as a prince and hiding something behind his back.
"Who is Evie Rose?" asked the pediatrician, pretending not to have seen the girl.
"Me, Uncle Reg, me!" Evie Rose responded excitedly.
Luke laughed fondly and walked over to Reggie, giving him a kiss on the cheek before going to his room. Reggie feigned surprise at receiving the kiss, making Evie Rose laugh.
"How daring! That commoner thinks he can kiss royalty!"
While the girl laughed as if he had told the best joke in the world, Reggie approached her and crouched until he was at her height.
"Oh Princess Evie Rose, why are you dressed like a commoner?"
"I don't have a dress" she answered worriedly.
"Well, we can figure that out" Reggie said, showing the dress and the crown that he had hidden behind his back.
He helped the girl to place the dress over her clothes and then placed the crown on her. Evie ran to the large mirror they had and admired her costume for a few seconds, before Luke appeared again in the room, also dressed as a prince.
"My princess, I finally found you!" Luke exclaimed, lifting the girl into the air.
Alex and Willie had been very clear: at eight o'clock Evie should have dinner and before ten o'clock she should be in her bed sleeping. But Alex and Willie weren't there, and those who wore the crowns at that time were Reggie and Luke, so they set their own rules. They ate fast food for dinner and inadvertently ate all the honey cookies Luke had made. Evie Rose's energy seemed inexhaustible, but at twelve o'clock she fell asleep into Reggie's arms.
"Don't get this wrong" Luke said taking a picture of Reggie and Evie "but we would be good parents"
Reggie carefully set Evie Rose down on one of the mattresses on the floor, preventing her from waking up. After tucking her in, he walked over to his boyfriend. They had been together for a short time, it was barely winter and they met in the summer, but something in their relationship made it seem like they had known each other for years.
The shorter one hugged Luke around the waist and nuzzled his jaw before leaving a small kiss there.
"We can adopt two or three after we get married" Reggie replied with a big smile.
"Two or three?" asked the young hazel eyes surprised "Honey, don't you think that's a lot? I meant one, we will be good parents to one Patterson"
"We will be excellent parents to two or three Peters"
"Patterson"
"Peters"
"Patterson-Peters"
"Peters-Patterson"
"You are a petulant prince" said Luke taking his boyfriend's face in his hands before kissing him "and I love you anyways"
Reggie's eyes sparkled at the same time Luke's eyes widened, realizing what he had said. Without letting him correct what he had said, Reggie spread several kisses around Luke's face, concentrating mostly on his lips.
"I love you more, otter" Reggie replied without stopping his kisses.
"Why otter?"
"Otters sleep hand in hand because in that way they won't get lost" Reggie explained "Since I've known you, you have held my hand and I have never felt lost again"
"I wish I had something equally romantic and intellectual to say to you, but right now I can only think about compliments about your buttchecks"
"Luke, you're such a himbo"
"I'm not a himbo" he said, offended.
"Yes you are" Reggie replied giving him one last kiss "Now let's go to sleep or tomorrow we'll be very tired"
"Will we sleep holding hands?"
"Better hugged, it's cold tonight"
"Honey, you say the same thing every night"
"And is it okay for you that I have to repeat it every night? By now you should already know that at night we must sleep hugging"
"We could do other things at night but Mister Church Boy wants to wait" Luke complained.
The very next day, they took Evie Rose back to her house. Alex and Luke went to the kitchen so they could talk alone.
"So… why are you smiling like that, Mercer?"
"I kissed Willie, finally, and it was so freaking good"
"I knew it! I knew you two were gonna end up together!"
"Oh, shut up" Alex laughed "What about you? Did you tell him?"
"Kinda" Luke sighed "I told him that I love him but I haven't asked the big question yet"
"Wait, you told him 'I love you' for the first time yesterday and you were already planning to marry him since last week?"
"We're gay, Alex, our clock move so much more faster"
"No, it doesn't"
"Yes it does, while straight couples wait a whole year to say I love you, we gays say I love you, buy a house together and get married in about… six months"
"Who's getting married?" Reggie asked, walking into the kitchen and hugging Luke.
"The gays" Luke answered, laughing.
"Oh, congrats Alex, when's the wedding?" Reggie teased.
"Your boyfriend is gay too, why did you assumed I'm the one getting married?"
"Luke and Reggie are getting married?" Evie Rose asked "No! You promised me that when I grew up you were going to marry me!"
"Here we go again" Luke said, palming his face.