Raising Riven

Declan

It′s you.

He sat across from Declan, feet dangling off the bed, an adorable milk moustache circling his lips. For a fleeting moment, Declan felt the urge to lean in and brush off the milk with his own lips. He shook the thought.

″I declare these pancakes,″ he announced, doing a drumroll on Hayden′s lap. He looked up excitedly, those stunning blue eyes softening Declan′s gaze. ″... perfect.″

He beamed, that brilliant, bright smile of his. Like a kid on Christmas. ″Here comes the choo-choo train,″ he laughed, bringing a forkful of pancakes, syrup, butter and bacon to Declan′s lips. Grinning, he let Hayden feed him.

Knowing Hayden, his next move would′ve been to feed Riven a bite, but as the ankle-biter was still too young to eat solid food, he′d added a spoon of maple syrup to his milk instead.

Their baby lay in a bundle of sheets between them, sound asleep. As Declan began chewing the bite, Hayden pulled the fork from his lips, accidentally trailing a strand of syrup.

″Oops, I got it,″ he said, not missing a beat. He leant in, thumbing over his lower lip and chin. Declan swore, he stopped breathing for a second. Then, Hayden did what he always did.

Only this time, as he licked his finger, Declan was fully aware of where that syrup had just been, of the way Hayden′s smile tugged upwards a little more when he tasted it on the tip of his tongue.

Declan found himself ogling other minute details, like the dampness of the accountant′s hair, the tiny droplets of water that dripped from his earlobes onto his t-shirt. Declan′s t-shirt.

Damn, thought Declan, when he noticed the boxers.

″Ahem.″

Declan looked up, eyes met by Hayden′s adorable, questioning smile and arched eyebrows. ″Sorry,″ rushed Declan, heart hammering. Why was his heart beating so fast? It′s not as if he′d never seen Hayden in his clothes before. ″Is that my ... ?″

″Oh.″ Hayden blushed. ″I just grabbed the first thing I saw.″

″Oh, cool. I mean, no problem.″

No problem? More like, Can you strut around in my boxers more often?

″How was work?″ he probed, desperate to change topics. Instantly, Hayden′s smile fell. Declan was alarmed. ″What happened?″

He seemed to swallow a lump in his throat. ″I, um. I got fired.″

Dubious, Declan echoed, ″Fired?″

He nodded. ″Retrenched. Whatever Fergus calls it. They let go of me.″

At this, tears started to brim in his eyes. Instinctively, Declan set aside his plate and wrapped his best friend in a hug. ″They′re stupid,″ he said, blood somewhat boiling.

He rubbed the other man′s shoulders soothingly. ″No, it′s not,″ Hayden choked. ″What about Riven?″

″What about him?″

Declan breathed in the fresh, lemony scent of his friend of nineteen years, feeling their baby stir on the pile of sheets between them. ″How are we going to pay for ー″

″Shh,″ Declan whispered softly. He felt that now-familiar swell in his chest every time he was around Hayden. It nearly left him speechless, that his one and only concern was the baby they shared. ″Don′t worry about that.″

″But ー″

And without thinking, Declan kissed him. On the lips. On those beautiful, pink lips he′d been dying to have against his own. Hayden′s sobs halted immediately, replaced by a tiny, longing whimper.

He didn′t stop to think, didn′t pause to even ponder the consequences of his recklessness. Most unforgivable of all, not one thought of his girlfriend surfaced. Perhaps, that was because the only person he ever thought about when they kissed was, in fact, the person he was kissing right now.

As their lips briefly parted, Hayden′s tender voice gave Declan clarity. ″What about ー″

″Don′t worry about that, either,″ Declan cut across, hazels melting his blues. ″I′ll handle everything. I′m your man, and I′ll do anything for my boys.″

Then he kissed him again. And again. And again.

I found my way back to this story after a million years. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I love you.