Page 11 of The Surrogate Omega, Part Two

“The casserole!” they both say at the same time.

“Oh, fuck,” Logan mutters as they both take off running to the kitchen.

The casserole? I follow them in, and that’s when I notice the smell of something burning. Logan rips the oven door open, takes the two dish towels on the counter, and pulls out a glass tray of . . . something.

He drops it onto the stove top without ceremony. “Fuck. I’m sorry, Lake.”

Lake’s looking at the black crusty block that’s supposedly a casserole with a passive look on his face. Smoke is coming off the top, and I can’t for the life of me figure out what it’s supposed to be or why they were making it. I love my guys, but they are not cooks.

After a long moment of silence, Lake blinks. “Experiments fail sometimes. Next time, we will have to be more diligent with observing it while it cooks.”

Logan wraps his arms around Lake from behind and kisses the side of his head. “You’re right. We’ll get it next time, Little Bird. In the meantime, how about I order pizza?”

Logan glances at me over the top of Lake’s head. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but there’s more meaning than just a burnt casserole.

“Pizza sounds good to me. I gotta tell you what went down at work today, and I think pizza and beer will hit the spot.”

“Alright, I’ll go order. You think you can take care of this?” Logan gives me a meaningful look when I nod and then walks out.

Lake is still looking at the dish with a blank expression. Walking over to him, I wrap my arms around him and kiss his ear. “What’s going on, sweetheart?”

“I tried to make that for you.”

My heart warms as I look at the monstrosity on the stove, finally understanding the situation.

“You did?”

“You deserve for us to take care of you occasionally. You always take care of us.”

Oh, my sweet, sweet Lake. I pull back far enough so that I’m looking Lake in his eyes. “Lake, I love you so fucking much. You and Logan both. I’m so fucking grateful that you tried to cook for me, but you know I love cooking for you guys. And taking care of you. And both you and Logan take care of me in your own way. I’m so fucking lucky.”

Lake smiles hesitantly, his expression still a little doubtful. “Truthfully?”

I grin and kiss his lips. Lake immediately melts. When we break apart, his hands unconsciously find his still flat belly. He’s been doing that more and more often lately. I love it.

I cover his hands with mine. It won’t be long until we feel movement in there, a little miracle kicking away and driving their surrogate daddy crazy.

“Truthfully, Lake. I love that you tried to do this for me, but please, don’t feel like I expect that. It’s the highlight of my day, cooking for you guys.”

Lake is staring at our joined hands but looks up at my words. “Good. Because I think it might be a while before I try that again.”

I laugh and kiss him again. “Come on, I want to get changed. Let’s see how long it is till the pizza gets here.”

I take Lake’s hand and lead him out of the kitchen, leaving the ruined casserole to deal with later.

After forty-five minutes, we’re all back on the couch, this time with pizza and wings, watchingDie Hardand cuddling. Lake has never seen it, which, honestly, should be a crime. So of course, we had to put it on for him and are now trying to prove why it’s a Christmas movie.

“C’mon, Little Bird. They’re at a Christmas party. How could it not be a Christmas movie? Anyone who says otherwise is lying.”

Well, I’ve never seen a more perfect segue than that.

“Speaking of Christmas parties, I’d like the two of you to come to mine at my job.” There, it’s out there. I don’t know why I’m so nervous to invite them. If they don’t want to come, no big deal, but part of me wants them there. After all the bullshit I dealt with today, I really want them by my side and to show them off. I also understand how much Lake hates social situations, and besides, they both may be working. I’m not even sure why I asked. I should have just let it go.

Lake goes absolutely still. It’s almost like he stops breathing. Next to him, Logan freezes mid-bite, his mouth wide open and a slice of pizza inches from it.

Logan recovers first, while Lake is still doing his best impression of a statue. It would be kind of impressive if I weren’t so concerned.

“Is that ok? I mean, like, both of us going? Would we be going as your friends or—”

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