Page 21 of Painting Together a Family
He dried his hands on the dishtowel and made his way out to the front hall. “Hi, guys, come on in.”
“They’re already in, Daddy!”
He rolled his eyes, and Dev laughed. The man had a great laugh, and it made him feel good inside. Not to mention Dev was as good-looking as he remembered. Maybe even better looking, in fact. He gave Dev a warm smile.
“Wanna see our room?” Dylan asked the girls, and the four kids took off down the hall just like that.
“Thanks for coming,” he said, leading Dev back to the kitchen.
“Hey, thanks for having us. It smells good.”
“Roasted chicken and cheesy broccoli. It shouldn’t be too much longer.”
“Oh, score on the meal. Marley will be over the moon at that.”
“I want you all to like it.” He wanted Dev and the girls to like him, and he figured feeding them the food they wanted would make a good start.
“I’m sure we will. I’m hopeless in the kitchen, but if there’s anything I can do to help…”
Bryan laughed. “It’s pretty much all done. The table’s even set.” He’d wanted to get everything out of the way so he and Dev could spend time together without him being distracted by the details of setting the table or finishing off the meal. “So you’ve never learned to cook?” Bry’s folks had made sure he could make fried eggs for breakfast, mac ‘n cheese for lunch, and cook burgers and spaghetti for dinner. He’d learned to do more from there. And the internet was his best friend for everything from cooking times to recipes and step-by-step how-to videos. He loved that he didn’t have to leave things to chance and hope for the best; if he wasn’t sure, he looked it up.
“Never had to.” Dev shrugged. “My mother was very traditional and always cooked, and then I was always more interested in my studio, in making art.”
“That’s cool. I have absolutely no artistic talent whatsoever.” His brain was definitely of a pragmatic bent rather than artistic.
“Oh now, I don’t believe that.”
“No?”
“Nope. Everyone has some creativity in them.” Dev said it like he really believed it.
“You say that now, but you haven’t seen my attempts at drawing people.” He really did have no talent in that area. And it wasn’t just the stick figures he passed off as people that told him that. Any time he sat to draw with the boys, his efforts were… painful, really.
“Just because they don’t look like people, doesn’t make it noncreative,” Dev insisted. “You’ll have to join me in the studio one day and we’ll create stuff. You’ll see.”
“Or you will.”
Dev laughed. “Let’s put a pin in it until we can test each of our hypotheses.”
“I can do that.” Dev didn’t have to believe him. He’d see when Bry tried to actually paint or draw or whatever Dev wanted to throw at him. But he really liked the fact that Dev was talking like they were going to be seeing each other again. More than just the date for next weekend that he’d mentioned at the zoo yesterday.
His timer went off, and he grabbed the oven mitts and checked the chicken. The thermometer said it was over 185 so he knew it was ready.
He took it out and covered it, then turned the heat on under the broccoli and set the timer for ten minutes. Then he leaned against the counter and smiled at Dev.
“Did you want a tour of the place? We’ve got ten minutes before supper’s ready, but the tour won’t take that long.” Everything was on the same floor, and it wasn’t large by any means. It fit them perfectly, though. When the boys were older, he might need to find someplace with another bedroom sothey didn’t have to share, but at the moment, they were happy together.
“Sure.”
“Well, this is the kitchen.” He waved his hand around, showing it off. It wasn’t huge, but there was a good amount of counter space and a teeny table, which had three chairs squeezed around it. He’d grown up eating at a formal dining table for every meal, and he’d made a choice not to do that when he had kids of his own. The table was small, but it kept their meals informal and fun.
“It’s bright and clean,” Dev noted, then winked at him. “I’m not worried we’ll get salmonella.”
Bry laughed and led Dev out across to the dining room. He had a large table there, and usually it held his laptop at one end and a space for the boys to do homework, color, or other crafts at the other end. This evening, it had been cleared off and was now set for six. The four formal chairs would be augmented by two of the chairs from the kitchen table. There was an old sideboard that held all of the boys’ craft supplies, Lego kits, puzzles, and the like.
“I usually use one end of the table as my office.” He nodded at the short file folder drawer in the back corner of the room that held his clients’ paperwork.
Dev ran his fingers along the table. “It’s a lovely table. Beautiful wood.”
