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“Annabel, slow down!”
Charlie struggled to stay upright as his daughter dragged him toward the picnic table. Despite being only five, Annabel was already proving to be quite strong. She must get that from Nick.
“Daddy!” When Charlie laid eyes on Nick, he let go of Annabel’s hand and grinned as she sprinted towards him. Annabel's long limbs swiftly covered the short distance and knocked Nick slightly backward as he pulled her into an embrace. Now that she got from me.
As Charlie approached, Annabel crawled up on Nick’s lap, the two of them all smiles and freckled faces. “Hi.” Charlie leaned down over Annabel’s head of dark curls to greet Nick with a quick kiss.
“Hi. Thanks for picking her up today.”
“Of course. She couldn’t miss out on this very special occasion.”
“Can we get milkshakes now?” Annabel whined.
Charlie chuckled at his daughter’s impatience before waving her and Nick off. “You two go, I’ll hold our table.”
“Split a chocolate one?”
“Perfect.” Swapping places with them, Charlie sat down on the bench and watched as they walked toward the milkshake stand, smiling when he realised it was the same van from when they first visited here many years ago. Looking around, Charlie was surprised at how little had changed since then. Although things had certainly been replaced and painted over the years, it still felt the same to Charlie - the array of picnic tables, strings of pom poms hanging from the canopy, all in bright colours. The memories came easily, surprisingly vivid despite the years.
Charlie wasn’t sure how long he sat there before a tiny squeal jolted him out of his daydream. “Milkshakes!” While Annabel scrambled to sit next to Charlie, Nick came up behind her carrying two glasses, setting one down in front of Charlie and the other in front of Annabel.
As Nick moved to the opposite side of the table, Charlie eyed Annabel’s glass suspiciously. “What flavour did you get, sweetheart?”
“Bubblegum!” Charlie whipped his head over to his husband. “You put her up to this!
“I swear, I didn’t!” Reaching across the table, Nick grabbed the milkshake in front of Charlie and took a long sip before sliding it back. “She chose that all on her own, look. She loves it.” Following Nick’s gesture, Charlie was mildly horrified to see Annabel happily sipping on her milkshake.
“Still think it should be a crime,” Charlie muttered, taking a sip, choosing to ignore his husband’s stifled laughter. “Remind me to give Tori a hard time for not passing down the Spring family tastebuds.”
“Probably not a good idea to complain to the woman who carried and birthed our child. Especially when that woman is Tori.”
“We named our daughter after her, aren’t we even now?” At Nick’s knowing look, Charlie let out a sigh. “Fine, fine. Let’s just hope Annabel at least gets mine and Tori’s musical ability or something.”
“I’m just happy she got your curls.” As Nick held his gaze, Charlie’s stomach fluttered. Something about being here made him feel fifteen again.
The three of them sat at the picnic table for a while, Charlie and Nick pleading with Annabel to slow down before she got a tummy ache. Once she was done, Annabel asked to go play on the nearby playground, and Charlie and Nick agreed. Charlie moved to the other side of the table so he and Nick could both easily keep an eye on her.
Leaning his head on Nick’s shoulder, Charlie tucked his arm under Nick’s and reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers. “Can you believe it’s been twenty years?”
“It doesn’t seem possible. I remember it so well.”
“Our first date.” After a moment, Charlie peered up at Nick. “Can you imagine if someone told fifteen-year-old me we’d be together this long?”
Shaking his head, Nick chuckled. “No way, you never would’ve believed it. We made out on your bedroom floor less than twenty-four hours before our first date, and you were still worried I wouldn’t want to go on another one.”
“Well, I’m not worried anymore.”
“Glad it only took two decades.”
“Only one! When we adopted Daisy, I figured you would stick around.” Elbowing Nick gently, Charlie leaned in closer. “You’re nothing if not loyal to your pack.”
Nick rolled his eyes, but the corners of his mouth betrayed him, pulling up into a smile. “If only the golden retriever jokes faded with time too.”
“Nope, it was either let the jokes fade or my fear of you leaving. I don’t make the rules.”
“Fine, I guess you made the right choice then.” Nick huffed, but Charlie could see that he was grinning as he watched their daughter take a turn on the yellow plastic slide.
“Lucky for you, I make good choices.”
Nick gently kissed Charlie’s temple before turning back to the playground. “Lucky me indeed.”