Page 72 of Touched By Destiny

“It’s scary,” Gabriel confided, tugging Eric into his arms. “But it’s always going to be scary. I don’t…I don’t like this halfway thing between us either. You deserve better. We deserve better. I want to sleep with you in my bed. Or talk to you for hours. Shit, I want to say whatever I’m thinking to you without wondering if I’m giving something away. No more pretending.No more lies. I want to move forward and not be stuck in the past.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am,” Gabriel said, meeting Eric’s gaze again. “But I want you to be prepared. They may need time to adjust to this, okay? It’s a lot to take in, and they’re going to have to process it. I fear you’re expecting a celebration or something, and it might not happen immediately.”

Eric kissed him softly. “No matter what happens, I can handle it. I promise.”

After an unsteady breath and with his heart pounding, Gabriel forced himself to let go of Eric. Then he laced their fingers together. “Okay, ready?”

“If you are, yes.”

The walk to the dining room wasn’t long enough for Gabriel’s pulse to level out, but he had to face Rosalind and Clark at some point.

“There you two are,” Rosalind said when she spotted them. Her blue gaze skittered down to their joined hands, but her smile didn’t falter. “Everything okay?”

“Um…yes. Yes. I, uh…we…wehave something to tell you,” Gabriel said, his normal self-assurance teetering for a moment. He closed his eyes, counted to three, and forced his tense shoulders to relax. Eric squeezed his palm, and Gabriel found some sense of peace. He locked eyes with Clark and said the words that would forever change his life, “Eric is my soulmate.”

The silence in the room was deafening. No one moved. Gabriel wasn’t sure anyone but him was even breathing. Then Rosalind shoved Clark out of the way and charged across the room. She came to an abrupt stop in front of Gabriel and Eric. With a thick swallow, Gabriel braced himself physically and emotionally for the next few minutes.

He reminded himself that often people said things—sometimes terrible, hurtful words—when they were in shock. Hopefully, they wouldn’t interfere in his relationship with Eric and they’d still trust him to guard their youngest son. The one thing Gabriel wouldn’t be able to handle was even less time at his side.

“Fuck,” Rosalind shouted, then she threw her arms up. “I don’t know who to hug first.”

“Definitely Gabriel,” Eric replied.

“What?” Gabriel asked with a scowl as Eric released his hand. Rosalind embraced him and held him so tight his ribs ached.

“I know it’s not because of me,” Rosalind said. “But I tried damn near everything to put you two together. Oh, you guys have had me so worried. This is such a relief. Congratulations.”

“Come on, Rosalind, move on to Eric so I can give Gabriel a hug,” Clark insisted.

Stuck in a daze, Gabriel didn’t know what to think as Clark squeezed him even tighter than Rosalind had.

“And here, everyone thought we were done with prezzies today,” Richard drawled.

“Nothing tops this,” Rosalind exclaimed. “Nothing.”

“We should have some champagne,” David suggested.

“I’ll grab a couple of bottles,” Maribeth volunteered and dashed out.

“She’ll forget glasses,” Richard said, following his cousin from the dining room.

David moved forward to hug Eric, then Gabriel. “Congratulations.”

“You’re not mad?” Gabriel asked, dumbfounded. “Why isn’t anyone mad?”

“Mad?” Rosalind asked, surprised. “Gabriel, why would anyone be mad? Eric’s been enamored of you forever, and wewere pretty sure you returned some of those feelings in the past couple of years.”

“Wait, what?” Gabriel asked, relieved when Eric slipped his hand in his again.

“I might not have been convinced of it if you hadn’t stalked into my office after each of Eric’s dates to bitch about it,” Clark mused. “Rhonda and I were both wondering if you knew you had feelings for Eric.”

“Rhonda? I-I didn’t even know I felt that way at first,” Gabriel muttered.

“Yes, well, sometimes things are more obvious to observers,” Clark said. “This is such a relief. We’re so happy for you both. As soon as I heard about that first night in the club, I was concerned. The last few months, we’ve been worried about you both. Rosalind and I were terrified that we’d lose you, Gabriel, when things fell apart between you and Eric. Our family wouldn’t be the same without you.”

“Wait, I didn’t tell Mom we had sex after a night at the club,” Eric replied.

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