Work Text:
“Reyes-Strand,” TK whines, pouting. He folds his arms against his chest for extra effect because he really is just an over-dramatic child who sulks when he doesn’t get his own way.
Not that this is about getting his own way. He can’t help it if he’s right.
“TK.” Carlos sighs, exasperated. He flicks over to the next page of his too-big wedding planning folder and tries to ignore his fiancé’s antics because they’ve had this conversation. Okay, yes, maybe it’s a conversation they need to have again because they are getting married soon, and something like a shared last names needs to be decided more promptly than the colors of flower arrangements.
But it’s not Carlos’ fault that they can agree on everything but this.
“What?”
Carlos rolls his eyes, but he wants to smile. Arguing about whose last name is going to go first isn’t exactly the worst thing they could be arguing about, he realizes. In fact, it’s annoying that it’s so endearing, and of course, they both recognize the fact that it’s not all that serious. Even if they make it out to be.
“Strand-Reyes just sounds better, Ty,” he tells his fiancé, and TK just glares at him through narrowed eyes.
As jokey and in jest as this recurring almost-argument is, it’s also a serious topic that they cannot seem to agree on. They decided within two days of their engagement on hyphenating their names instead of picking one—TK likes the way it intertwined their lives together, Carlos likes how it screams married more than sharing one last name, especially to the people who knew him as Reyes previously—but that was as far as they got. Strand-Reyes, Reyes-Strand… Well, they do have to decide eventually.
TK thinks Reyes-Strand sounds better. There are a few other reasons he prefers it, too, but mostly he just argues with a pout on his face and those puppy-like eyes he hopes manage to sway Carlos like they usually do. It has yet to work, though, and he’s wondering if he’s going to need to change tactics to win this one. Not that it’s about winning, of course. In the end, whichever name they end up deciding on, they’re both winners. Winners with husbands.
But on the other hand, Carlos is set in his ways when it comes to Strand-Reyes. He thinks it flows off the tongue better, he loves the thought of having TK’s own last name before his, tying them together in both law and life, and he loves thinking about the people at work who he’ll be able to correct with, “It’s Strand-Reyes to you,” though he supposes that can work both ways.
It’s just, he prefers Strand-Reyes. He’ll marry TK and be called anything because, in the end, all that matters is that they’re getting married, but that’s not to say he doesn’t have a preference he’s going to argue to the ends of the earth for.
Well, so long as TK stops pouting. And don’t get him started on those eyes.
“No,” TK protests then looks back down at his tablet. His eyes light up. “Oh! How about these?” He angles the screen around to Carlos, showing him a photo of a multicolor wedding flower arrangement on Pinterest, partly because he knows Carlos will hate it, partly because he’s thinking it could work as a good distraction from the whole name thing whilst he conjures up his next plan.
But Carlos knows TK, and he takes one look at the photo and immediately knows what his fiancé is doing. Though in TK’s defense, the colored flowers look pretty nice, somewhat stylish, and very queer, which he loves, but he’s got something a little more traditionally white in mind for their wedding. Which they agreed on. White and green and natural because the ranch will look beautiful like that.
(Not that he’s going to tell TK, but he might get a couple of rainbow flower arrangements as a surprise if he can work out where they’ll fit.)
“We can’t ignore the names thing forever, you know,” Carlos says matter-of-factly, and TK sighs.
Locking his tablet, he sets it over to the side. They’re sitting at the dining table, Carlos’ wedding file taking up most of the room on one side in a neat mess, which is so like Carlos it almost melts TK’s heart. He’s been on the tablet, scrolling through Pinterest and a local Facebook group with recommendations for florists. They’ve been here for a couple of hours now, sharing ideas and ecstatic smiles because they’re getting married, but wedding planning is a hell of a lot more work than TK expected. Even when your husband-to-be’s parents are offering their ranch as the venue. There’s catering and flower arrangements, a stupid amount of paperwork and too much boring legal stuff, but at least there’s cake.
And TK doesn’t mind a second of it because he’s getting married to the love of his life.
Carlos, in his true control-freak form, is enjoying it as much as he’s finding it stressful, though he knows it’ll all be worth it when they have the best wedding in all of Texas. It’s what they deserve, after all; it’s what TK deserves.
“I know, babe,” TK replies. “What if we can’t agree, though? Do we call the whole wedding off?”
Though he’s partly joking, Carlos senses the concern in his voice. He leans across the table, uncaring if any of his folder’s content gets leaned on, and takes TK’s hands in his own. “Tyler, I don’t care what name we end up choosing. I don’t care if you want me to be called Carlos Strand”—he quirks a smile—“or if you want us to change it altogether. All I want is to marry you, okay?”
TK nods, trying to blink away the tears in his eyes. He watches Carlos for a moment, squeezing his hands, then he grins. “So does that mean we’re going with Reyes-Strand?”
“Oh my God.” Carlos rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling so stupidly wide because he walked right into that one, didn’t he? “Just for that, no! But babe,” he grows serious, “is there a reason you’re so adamant on Reyes-Strand?” He knows TK just as well as TK knows him.
Frowning, TK leans back in his chair, letting go of Carlos’ hands in the process. He shrugs at first, and Carlos just waits, knowing TK just needs time.
“It’s stupid,” he mumbles after a minute or so.
“I can assure you it isn’t.”
He shrugs again. “I just… I’ve always been tied to my dad,” he blurts out, then blinks at his own words. Slower, he continues. “And I don’t want to get rid of the Strand name completely, but—”
Carlos wouldn’t usually interrupt, but he quickly says, “I wouldn’t mind TK Reyes,” and TK smirks at him.
“I know you wouldn’t. But… Keeping Strand while trying to distance myself from being just the Captain’s son, well, Reyes-Strand does that. Your name is first, and that’s who I really am.” He sends a smile across the table. “And I get to keep Strand, too.”
Unable to waste another minute, Carlos gets up and rushes to the other side of the table, immediately wrapping his arms around his fiancé. “You should’ve said,” he murmurs. “You know I’ll always listen to you.”
TK melts into Carlos’ arms. “I know, baby. I just didn’t know how to explain it until…”
“It’s okay.” He kisses TK’s temple. “We’ll go with Reyes-Strand.”
“Really?”
Carlos leans back to face him. “Really. I love it.”
“I love you.”
He kisses TK just briefly. “And I love you, Mr. Reyes-Strand.”