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Patrick thought that stopping at the Starbucks in Elmdale after making vendor runs would be a good idea. It was the first week in September and he thought that since David seemed to love sugary coffees and all things autumn, he would love pumpkin spice lattes. Patrick was wrong.
“What is that?” David asked when he saw the PSL scrawled on the side of the cup.
“Pumpkin spice latte. They just came out and I thought you’d want one.” Patrick set their drinks on the counter.
“Why- why would you think that?”
“Um.” Patrick didn’t want to offend him further by saying ‘because of everything about you.’ “If you don’t want it, we can toss it and I can go get your usual from Twyla.”
“Well, let’s not get crazy. A bad Starbucks drink is still better than a good Cafe drink. I will try it.” David picked up the cup and fidgeted with it.
“Try it? David, have you ever actually had a PSL?”
“No?” David squinted. “But I still know what to expect.”
“Okay, David.”
David took a tentative sip and his eyes grew. “It’s okay.” He shrugged but drank the whole thing. Patrick was just glad he hadn’t ruined his husband’s entire day with a bad coffee. Again.
///
Two weeks later, they made a Target run in Elmdale. David stopped by the Starbucks to get them drinks while Patrick started shopping for “the boring stuff.”
“Whatcha got there?” Patrick asked when he saw the PSL written on the side of David’s large cup.
“I wanted to see if the first one was a fluke.” David rotated the cup so the writing was no longer facing outward.
“What’s the verdict?”
“It’s good.” He shrugged again, still trying to play it off.
///
A week after that, Twyla was advertising pumpkin spice lattes at the cafe. Patrick didn’t think much of it until David ordered one when they were together.
“What?” David asked at Patrick’s raised eyebrows. “I just want to see the difference.”
“Okay, David.” Patrick was starting to realize that the pumpkin spice thing might be less casual than David was letting on but he wasn’t about to say that to his husband.
Pumpkin spice lattes from the cafe became so regular that Twyla would have to ask Patrick if David wanted his usual or a PSL when Patrick ordered for him.
Still, Patrick didn’t think much of it. David liked the lattes and Patrick assumed that was the extent of it.
///
A few days later, Patrick walked into the house after working on David’s day off and noticed a new scent.
“What is that?” Patrick asked before pressing a kiss to the top of David’s head.
“A pumpkin spice candle I’m testing for the store. Do you like it?”
“I do.” He liked the warm homey tones, even if it was a little too sweet for Patrick’s tastes. Still, he could now tell the difference between a well made candle and bad one and it was a good one.
“Good, because I’ve already ordered them.”
“Okay,” Patrick chuckled.
///
That weekend, Patrick came in from raking leaves and saw various spices strewn across the kitchen counter. David’s phone was propped up, displaying Marcy Brewer’s face.
“What’s going on here?”
“Your mom’s teaching me how to make pumpkin pie,” David said, not breaking his intense concentration on measuring ingredients.
“Oh, she is?” His mom gave him an apologetic look. “Well you two have fun.” Patrick kissed David’s cheek and went to take a shower.
They ate the pie after dinner and Patrick had to admit that it wasn’t bad.
///
Slowly, pumpkin flavored and scented things trickled into their house; everything from cereal to cookies. Just when Patrick thought David had found the last of the pumpkin products, he’d bring home something else.
It didn’t bother Patrick much until he grabbed something without double checking the flavor (he’d had to throw out a few bagels with pumpkin spice cream cheese) or when he kissed David without realizing he’d used the pumpkin lip balm. Their customers were eating up all the new products too and Patrick couldn’t complain about that.
///
One night in early November, Patrick was at Brebner’s by himself when he stumbled upon some pumpkin products that hadn’t made their way into the house. He added them to the cart and tried to keep a straight face for the rest of the night.
By the time they got around to using them, Patrick had forgotten. The way David was going at his neck wasn’t helping him remember either. He forgot until David opened the bedside drawer.
“Why is there a new box of condoms in here?” They didn’t use them often but they came in handy for easy clean up. “And new lube?”
“Look at the packaging.” Patrick smiled openly as David realized that Patrick had bought pumpkin spice flavored condoms and lube.
“I know you’re making fun of me but I’m one hundred percent using this.” David threw the lube on the bed and shimmied down Patrick’s body.
“It’s all the same to me.” Patrick linked his hands behind his head.
///
Autumn wore on and slowly, David noticed that some of his favorite pumpkin spice flavored items weren’t being restocked. David would come home from the store a little down but it was nothing Patrick couldn’t handle.
The day Twyla stopped serving PSLs, David sulked the whole day.
“You can still get your macchiatos. And pumpkin spice will be back before you know it,” Patrick tried to console him.
“I know. It’s just not the same.”
///
Just before Christmas David made one more pumpkin pie to end the season.
Even though Patrick was glad the amount of pumpkin in the house was dwindling, as he ate his pie, he caught himself thinking that he would miss it. Patrick couldn’t wait until the next year when something so small would once again make his husband so happy.