Page 64 of Private Exhibit
Hayden rolled his eyes. “Daddy, come on. You know I–”
“They gave me money,” Devon mumbled.
Hayden blinked at him. “Sorry?”
Devon hunched his shoulders. “They gave me money. Sent it to me with a letter of apology.”
Hayden shot out of his chair. “They didwhat?”
Before Devon could even think to respond, Thomas was on his feet, towering over Hayden, his jaw tight as he put one hand on the boy's back and the other over Hayden's belly. “Settle down,” the man bit off. “Right. Now.”
Devon tensed as the whole table went still, hearing the restrained fury in Thomas's voice.
Hayden gasped and whirled to face his husband. “Daddy, it's fine. Everything's fine.”
“Hayden–”
“Thomas,” Hayden interrupted him, looking up at him intently. “I wouldneverjeopardize this. Not in a million years. You hear me? Everything's gonna be fine. Youaregoing to be a father, I promise.”
Levi launched halfway out of his chair. “You'repregnant?” he shrieked.
Hayden's eyes went wide. “Oh.” He laughed. “Yeah. Um. Ha! Surprise!”
Noise erupted around the table as everyone congratulated the couple. Devon hunched down and covered his ears, then felt Andy rubbing his back. The touch helped settle him. He slowly lowered his hands, hoping nobody had seen his reaction.
“And for the record,” Hayden said, sitting back down, “no, that's not why we got married in such a hurry. It happened that night. We weren't going to say anything yet since it's only been a week. Daddy's already making me get scans,” he added with a laugh, rolling his eyes.
Thomas let out a low growl through his teeth.
“Hey,” Hayden murmured, giving Thomas's hand a squeeze. “Everything's fine.” He turned to Andy. “You're a doctor, right? Tell him.”
Devon squirmed, seeing the tight expression on Andy's face. What was Andy thinking about? The son he lost? The family he'd never have?
Andy cleared his throat. “Yeah,” he replied. “I mean, there's not much to it this early on. Just some cells replicating.”
Thomas opened his mouth, looking like he was going to ask Andy a question, but Hayden stopped him. “This brunch wasn't supposed to be about us,” the boy said with a laugh. “It's supposed to be a thank-you for all of you being at our wedding.”
The tension in the air shifted, and almost everyone in the room started to blush.
“We know how awkward that must have been for you guys,” Hayden went on, “but I really appreciate it that you all came. I wanted Thomas to have the wedding he never thought he'd get to have, so it means a lot to me that you guys helped make that happen.”
A few quiet murmurs of thanks sounded around the table.
“Alright, enough about us,” Hayden said. “Somebody else share some good news. Please!”
Connor, sitting on Brendan's left side, nudged Brendan in the ribs.
Brendan chuckled shyly and waved his hands. “It's nothing.”
“It's not even close to nothing,” Connor insisted. “Alright, fine. I'll tell it.” He turned and scanned the table with a beaming smile on his face. “Daddy's doing a comeback tour!”
“What?”
“That's awesome!”
“Congratulations!”
Brendan shook his head. “It's not set in stone,” he said, though he had a proud grin on his face. “But the new album just came out and it's doing well. Really well. It's mostly stuff I wrote but never got to record before Frankie–” He broke off and passed a hand over the seemingly empty chair to his right.
