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It’s a lazy summer day in Texas, a visit to Jake’s sister and her wife before Javy’s next deployment starts. The week is only half-over, and yet Jake still feels the time slipping away too fast, Javy’s future absence looming over his head.
So he does his best to cherish the now. Enjoy the time with family, the time with his boyfriend. Late mornings in bed, lazy kisses on the porch swing, pool time when the heat gets too much, games with the kids, and laughter with his sisters. And at night, Javy and him, faces burned and smiles wide, fall asleep to do it all again the next day.
It couldn’t be more perfect.
It’s the middle of yet another day, the whole crew getting ready for a few more hours out in the sun.
Jake hears the steps before he sees them, his hand still in Javy’s when the little clumsy feet get close enough to match the quiet giggles. He feels little arms wrap around his legs, and little shrieks as he falls forward with practiced dramatics.
“I’m hit!” he cries. “You got me!”
Javy laughs, and wisely drops Jake’s hand as the other tumbles. His knees hit the ground first, and then there’s little arms grabbing at his biceps to drag him to the floor. He lets them, falling forward with a loud yell, lifting his arms for the resistance they crave. His face hits the carpet with an oof .
“Babe, I’m down,” he groans, and there’s two wriggling toddlers, his sister’s kids, on his back, their laughter echoing off the halls as they crawl on him and try to pin him for good. “Save me! They’re too strong!”
“Oh, no,” Javy laughs, shaking his head and leaning against the wall, hands up. “This is Seresin family honor right here.”
Judging by the weight on his back, Jake can tell his niece and nephew are both sitting on top of him. He plays dead for a second, sinking so his palms can go flat, and then with a roar, he lifts into a push-up. “I’m down, but I’m not out!”
Their delighted giggles make his heart soar. He grins up at Javy, who looks down at him with a fondness that never fails to amaze him. He’s the luckiest man in the world, face-planted into the carpet, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He lowers again, then pushes up, and the two kiddos slowly slide off of him to try and knock him down again.
“Pin him, get him down!” Javy shouts, his laughter smothering his words as the twins cling to his back. “Show him who’s boss!” Jake drops and lifts once more in perfect push-up form, if only to show off for the man above him, before there are two pairs of arms around his neck trying to drag him to the floor.
“Oh, Christ, okay, not like that, choking, you’re choking me. Arms off the neck, arms off the neck,” Jake groans. His air is cut off, and Javy leaps into action, squatting to lift the two tow-headed kids and set them carefully back on the floor.
“Oh, sh– okay, guys, okay, let your uncle up, c’mon,” he says, and there’s still a hint of a laugh as Jake once more lowers to the ground. When Jake looks over, Javy’s still in a squat, hands in the kids’ as he looks at them with a smile. “Hey, why don’t you go see if your mom has your snacks ready for you, and we’ll meet you outside?”
A couple of cheerful “okay, unca Javy, ” and there’s more footsteps as the two run away. Javy smiles at them as they run, before looking down at Jake, whose eyes have wandered from his face to his ass more than a couple of times. Javy’s brow raises at him, and Jake’s smile stays wide, especially as Javy shakes his head and offers his hand.
“See something you like, hotshot?”
“Every damn day,” Jake replies, pleased at Javy’s laugh before he reaches for the hand and gets hauled up to his feet. The casual show of strength makes his head spin more than going upright, and he stumbles for a second, eyes widening before he falls forward into Javy. Their noses brush, a little huff from Javy as he steps backward, letting the wall catch their shared weight. They both chuckle at the tumble and Jake lets his mouth push forward to graze Javy’s cheek, his free hand lifting to cup his jaw before he kisses him against the wall.
When they break apart, Jake’s hand doesn’t drop from Javy’s cheek. Relishes the touch, the way he’s warm against him, lets his thumb trace over his skin.
“You ever want any of those?” Jake asks. Nodding towards where the kids ran off to. If he tears his focus from his boyfriend, he can hear more laughter, a song being sung from the family down the hall. “Kids?”
Javy hums, eyes scanning Jake’s face for a moment before he glances where the twins disappeared out of view. When he looks back, there’s something in his eyes, something that Jake can’t quite read.
“I’ve thought about it before,” he admits, raising a brow. “Starting a family.”
It’s noteworthy, the neutral response. Jake tilts his head for a second before squeezing Javy’s fingers. “Recently?”
“Maybe.”
“With a handsome aviator?”
It gets a chuckle. “Once or twice.” But Javy’s look remains guarded.
Jake’s hand on his cheek lifts, runs over Javy’s hairline, before moving down to ease the furrow between his eyebrows. There’s a nervous feeling in his stomach, but he pushes on, does his best to self-soothe before speaking. “You can be honest, if not,” he says finally. Keeping his voice low. “Really, Javy, it’s okay if it hasn’t crossed your mind.”
“Jake…”
“I mean it. I don’t want to pressure you –”
“ Jake –”
“Or make you think that you have to want kids right now –”
“What?”
“Or even with me!”
“Hey, Seresin? Stop talking for a second.”
Jake’s mouth clicks closed. Javy sighs for a moment, glances over to make sure they’re alone. When he looks back, he has his lower lip caught between his teeth. “I have thought about it. And I’ve thought about kids with you , dumbass. You’re a good guy, a great one, and if there’s any starting a family, I’ll want it with the man I love.”
The sigh of relief comes unbidden, but Javy doesn’t stop talking. Squeezes Jake’s hand as he continues. “But the fact is soon I’m gonna be on the other side of the world. And I just – I just want to be sure this isn’t you worrying about me leaving. Or worrying about me not coming home to you. A spur-of-the-moment thing.”
Jake’s chest tightens at the reminder. At the thought of watching Javy’s back as he boards a plane to nowhere safe. At sporadic phone calls, undeliverable texts, nothing but a hope and a prayer as he waits, and waits. And if Jake gets an assignment, too –
“... Jake?”
He comes back to the present. To Javy’s hand in his, to Javy’s eyes staring into his own. To a different future, to one he craves rather than dreads. Of little feet running around a house all their own, of Javy leaning down to help out with first steps, of tee ball and holding a child in his arms that calls him and Javy dad .
“I… am worried,” he says slowly. “But it’s because I want a family with you. Because I want us to have a future, Javy, and I want you to come home to that future safe and sound. You have me to come home to, as your boyfriend. One day soon, your husband. And one day, a little further out, maybe there'll be a kid, too. But there’s nothing spur of the moment about this. About us.”
Javy’s lower lip is caught again, and Jake’s hand drops to pull it out from his teeth. To lean forward and kiss him, to feel him kiss Jake back.
“Okay,” Javy says. The furrow gone, that fondness back in his eyes. Jake smiles at the sight, before pushing forward and kissing at Javy’s cheek and neck, making him squirm and laugh as he tries to push him away. “Okay! Okay, you damn menace. Okay.” And then he grins, and the sun rises for the second time that day. “But don’t think I missed it. Did I just hear you say you were gonna propose sometime soon ?”
Jake’s eyes go wide. His cheeks flush red. And Javy’s grin grows, and grows, and grows.
“I think my sisters are calling me,” he finally says, trying to extract himself from Javy’s hold.
“Oh, no, you don’t –”
“No, really, I can hear their voices! Coming, guys!” He starts to squirm away, and then Javy pulls out the winning hand.
“Sarah, Hunter! Come help, your uncle is escaping!”
Little feet come sprinting towards him, and Jake lets out a yelp as arms wrap around his legs. But his laughter isn’t missed as he falls to the ground once more, Javy leaning against the wall as he watches the man he loves and a glimpse of the future they have.