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Surrounded by trees brimming with yellow, orange, and pink, the six laughed, glasses in hand. The sun was strong and too white, but not even the heat or the insects trying to get near the tablecloth of food and drinks bothered them.
Violet and Caitlyn shared the story of a troublesome neighbor that resulted in the police interviewing the entire building — apparently, he had stolen a car or something like that, but Viktor wasn't sure because he wasn't paying much attention. Ekko and Jinx listened with such enthusiasm that they interrupted the two from time to time, telling their own problematic neighbors cases.
While admiring his friends' happiness, Viktor rubbed his own belly.
Cait looked very elegant in her short navy blue dress, matching her wife's blue pants. Violet had recently cut her hair and proudly showed off the dragon tattoo on the nape of her neck — a red design that descended to her strong arms, visible through the black tank top she wore. In contrast, both Jinx and Ekko wore shorts that looked like skirts, in black and moss green, with matching shirts in light fabric and earthy colors. An interesting color palette for a Saturday afternoon.
And there was Jayce, beside him, in khaki shorts and a black tank top, highlighting his bit of belly and thick arms.
Jayce, his husband. His beautiful, soft and genius husband.
“Ew. Ew, ew, ewwww—is there sugar in this?!” Jinx spat out pieces of sandwich, ignoring Ekko's protests that it was disgusting to do that in front of everyone.
“Stop exaggerating, it can't be that bad,” Violet glared at her sister.
“I’m not exaggerating! Eugh, it even made me want to throw up…”
“It could be something else then,” Cait insinuated, to which everyone laughed, but Viktor's cheeks flushed while Jinx argued with the fact that the nausea definitely wasn't from pregnancy.
In Jinx's hand, the sandwich Viktor made.
It wasn't his fault that he'd already been having strange cravings. And that he was so nauseous when it came time to make his part of the picnic that he got confused when adding the spices. Well, he usually made that mistake, but surely this time there were more excuses, and Jinx could be exaggerating…
“Is it that bad?” Viktor saw Jayce's face contort in doubt, the bite on his cheek still unswallowed. “You can be honest.”
“It's… different, my love. Jinx just doesn't know how to appreciate what's good.”
“So you can eat your whole piece, hm?”
Viktor chuckled at the neutral expression Jayce tried to maintain and took the rest of the food from his hand, muttering, “It's okay, nobody's obligated to eat what they don't want.” To replace it, he grabbed two cookies from the food pile, one for Jayce and one for himself, and put them in his mouth.
“Oh.”
It was very good, to the point of making one envious of their husband's culinary skills. While Jinx and Cait discussed the legalities of what they could do if they saw a neighbor committing a crime (nothing actually legal, apparently), Viktor couldn't stop staring at Jayce — his full beard, his wide smile, his attempt to continue eating Viktor's terrible sandwich as if it weren’t hurting his taste buds — until Jayce returned the gaze, pupils fixing directly on him, dilating immediately.
“Hm? What is it, babe?”
“When?”
They looked at the group together, calculating the right moment to reveal it, as if they could read each other's minds about the answer as if they were one. Well, not just one, because otherwise Viktor would be having the same mimosas Jayce was having.
“Whenever you're ready.”
“I'm ready when you are,” Viktor murmured back, searching for his husband's fingers.
Inside him, the whirlwind of thoughts gave way to a strange emptiness. They were among friends, trusted and old ones — they were fine. The other park visitors were also in their own bubbles of fun, enjoying the pleasant weather and the colorful nature around them. Caitlyn had brought apple pies, Violet suggested board games, Ekko and Jinx had chosen some music to play in the background on the speaker, rhythmic and tranquil melodies. It was a fun picnic, ideal. So why was Viktor so nervous?
Jayce held his wrist; his thumb caressed the throbbing vein, in a slow rhythm and at a point Viktor had once researched and found out that helped with anxiety. Then he nodded, a “it'll be okay” that they recognized from each other through mere body language.
“Right, okay,” Viktor confirmed, swallowing to put the rest of the cookies back on their plate.
He cleared his throat as Jayce stood up to stop the speaker.
“Everyone…” he began, and the difference in the atmosphere was so immediate that Viktor startled. Everyone stopped to look at him, halting their conversation mid-way, attentive and curious. A crumb of pie fell from Ekko's mouth. “I…” He looked desperately at Jayce, who understood the message and returned to his side, sitting down with his arm around his shoulder.
“We…” Jayce finished, stretching out the vowel and searching Viktor for the will to speak. When Viktor didn't continue, he did it for him. “We're pregnant.”
“Yes. We're expecting.”
Everyone stared at them with a few seconds' delay, as if their minds hadn't yet processed what was being said. In an instant, however, chaos erupted, with Violet and Jinx wanting to jump on Viktor, Cait pulling them away so they wouldn't bother him, and Ekko ending up being the quickest to hug him.
“Congrats, man.” He smiled broadly against his shoulder, careful of his torso. “It's clear you're very happy with the decision.” And then a pat on his shoulder. “Whatever you need, me and Jinx are available.”
“That's right, buddy,” Jinx joined in, hugging too and giving him a kiss on the cheek, “I already want to be his bad influence. Or her? Do you guys know what will be?”
“Not yet,” Jayce replied.
“Do you guys have a preference?” Ekko looked at them matching his girlfriend, with the same curious expression Jinx had. It was quite cute to see.
“I don't, but Jayce said he wanted a boy and a girl…”
“Are you already thinking about putting more babies in him?” Cait almost shouted, smiling incredulously, “Jayce!” She playfully punched his shoulder.
“I can't believe my friend finally lost his virginity…” Violet joked, patting Jayce's other shoulder.
Having two lesbians who worked out a lot pressing against him hurt, but the pressure and enthusiasm to tease him gave him a new comfort he didn’t know until then. In the rush of daily life, he often forgot how much he liked all his friends, even if they were confusing, exaggerated, and weird (like him and Viktor, honestly).
“If everything goes well, I wouldn't object to a big family… But we have to see how much work it would be,” Viktor admitted, helping himself to some sweets again.
“They're going to be big nerds just like you guys. Running around the house and blowing everything up,” Ekko stated, helping him reach the cookies. He shrugged and pulled a strand of braid back. “And you'll finally see how much trouble you guys give to everyone, with these copies of yours.”
“Why are we already talking as if we're going to have more than one?”
The group continued wondering about the possibilities; Violet and Jinx argued who would be the favorite aunt, Ekko suggested the games he played as a child that he could teach their baby when they were old enough, Cait mentioned all the tests Viktor had to undergo for a healthy pregnancy. Possibilities abounded, ranging from the absurd to the realistic. Everyone joked about Jayce having a head that was too big and hoped the baby wouldn't have it too, for Viktor’s sake. Jinx asked Viktor privately about his “baby-making night,” to which Ekko said it was too much information but joined in, pretending he wasn’t also completely curious. Violet suggested teaching “the kids” how to fight, and Viktor protested, and they laughed, returning to common and trivial matters, so magical in everyday life.
Jayce admired everything with teary eyes.
“Are you crying?” Viktor murmured, resting his cheek on his shoulder. Having overcome the nervousness of sharing the news, he suddenly felt a bit tired.
“It's from happiness.” He wiped his face, then ran his hand over Viktor's eyes, also teary. “We're going to have our family. We have an incredible support network. It's too much happiness for one heart.”
Viktor took his hand, gazing gently into his eyes.
“Not just one heart. I am… We are” he placed the hand on his own belly “with you.”
They exchanged a shallow — but with a lot of pressure, stories and care between their lips — kiss.
“I love you,” they said together, sighing, bodies so close they looked like just one against the sunlight.
“Get a room!” Violet pulled them both out of their trance.
“No, don't get one! Look what happened to Vik the last time they found one!” Jinx shouted, pointing to her friend's belly.