Troubled Soul (manxman) *Completed*

Twelve: Pete

I bit my lip while glancing around the reception area. The bride and groom were dancing with each other, their guests looking at them longingly. My eyes traveled over to Francine, who was currently talking with the caterer. I then noticed Gabriel was leaning against the wall, a frown on his face. I wasn't too sure what had been going on lately, but he seemed tense. I wasn't sure if him and Reno had gotten into a fight or if something else had happened.

As I walked over to him, I noticed his eyes were watching the flower girl. She was currently running around the dance floor giggling and clapping her little hands together. Her giggling intensified when her father, the groom, suddenly picked her up into his arms. They laughed with each other as the bride kissed both of their cheeks.

"Hey," I said while leaning against the wall next to Gabriel.

He smiled up at me while moving some blonde hair out of his eyes. "Hi."

"You okay?"

He nodded while watching the rest of the guests start to pile onto the dancefloor. "Yeah. I just really enjoyed this wedding, this couple was adorable. You guys did a really nice job."

"Thanks," I said while bumping our shoulders together. "Are you sure you're okay? Is something going on with Reno? He hasn't come around in awhile and wasn't sure if he's been avoiding you."

Gabriel frowned before shrugging. "He might be."

"What happened?"

He then shoved himself off the wall while looking around. "Can we maybe talk somewhere private?"

"Sure," I nervously said as he grabbed my hand and started to maneuver me through the guests. Once we were outside I glanced up at the starry sky before following Gabriel over to a small bench. I started rubbing my thumb over his skin, suddenly getting nervous. When Reno is around I have absolutely no memory which sucks sometimes, especially when I don't know why my husband is upset. "What's been going on?"

He sighed before diving into his story. "Reno got a little upset when I was talking about children. It turned into this fight about me wanting kids but him saying there's no way in hell. I understand where he's coming from, I really do. I know that both you and him know I love you two more than anything. I don't judge either of you, and I never will. But that's me, I'm not going to know how other people will be, especially children." He ran his free hand over his eyes before taking a shaky breath. "It's just... I wanted kids. Having come from the system, I wanted to help a child who had been like me. But I don't want Reno or you to be in that uncomfortable situation."

"Gabriel, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize that this had been going on."

He breathed heavily while wiping his eyes with a lifeless laugh. "That's because I suck at communication. I can't talk to either of my husbands and I hate it."

I frowned while wrapping both arms around him as he silently cried into my chest. "You aren't bad at communication for starters. We talk about everything and I know you talk to Reno the same way. I can see how children would be a sensitive topic for him, since he never had a childhood of his own. He's always had to share everything through my eyes and I know that can't have been easy. But Gabriel," I said while leaning back to look at him. I rested my hands onto his face while wiping away his tears. "You've always accepted both of us which hardly anyone has ever done. I really think you never thought about not bringing up children because our situation doesn't bother you. You think of us as two different people, even if we're in the same body. And I know that you'd love to raise children with us, because to you, it's easy to distinguish between us. And I love you for always accepting us. I'm really sorry about children; I just don't know how we'd be able to make it work if there are three dads in two bodies."

He took a shaky breath while nodding his head. "I know. It's going to take some time to get used to. But you know we can always visit Luna's children and Huck."

"Exactly," I said with a small smile. "I'm really sorry Gabriel. I wish I had been born differ-"

Before I could finish my sentence his hand was covering my mouth. "Don't you dare finish that sentence. I love you just the way you are and I always will. I love Reno just as much and I would never change the way you guys are. Okay?"

I nodded before he smiled. He then leaned forward and kissed me before resting his forehead against mine. "Want to go inside and dance?"

He laughed before saying, "I'd love to."

I then grabbed his hand as we started to walk back inside. "How about we get a cat or a dog? If we get a puppy it'll be almost the same as a baby."

Gabriel laughed as he pulled me onto the dancefloor. "I think you have yourself a deal."

*

After the reception had ended and everything was in order, Francine asked us to come home with her. I wasn't really sure what this was about but it had to be something good if she didn't want to wait until morning. When we walked into her house, voices were instantly heard from the kitchen. When we walked down the hallway I instantly recognized Perry's voice.

He was indeed in the kitchen, talking with Francine and Aaron. When he saw us walk in he loudly yelled, "AAAAAAA!" He got up from the table and ran over to us, wrapping his arm around our bodies as he laughed. "Oh my god Pete I need your expert help! And Gabriel oh my god can you BELIEVE I'M FINALLY GETTING MARRIED!?"

Gabriel laughed as he lightly moved Perry off of his body. "I am standing right in front of you, you don't need to shout."

Perry rolled his eyes while saying, "I'm just so excited! There is a slight problem though."

I gave Gabriel a look as we walked over to the table and sat down. "What's the matter?"

Perry started biting his lip as he glanced over at Aaron. "I've been on the waitlist for years. I could've had it years ago but couldn't afford it quite yet. Their next available slot is soon and they offered it to me."

"How soon are we talking?" I asked while taking a glance over at Francine.

"Ha.. ha okay so don't hate us," Perry said which instantly made me worried. "But it's in a month."

"A month!?"

"That's exactly what I had said!" Perry said as he almost flew out of his chair. Aaron had to wrap his arm around his body to steady him. "They apologized so much but apparently someone called off their wedding a month away. Normally they wouldn't offer it to couples with such a little timeline but maybe they thought two dudes wouldn't need as much time. They're only slightly wrong about that."

I glanced at Francine while asking, "Is that enough time?"

"We'll be able to do it. The venue itself doesn't need much decoration, if any. I mean its beautiful. We will be able to do this, I know we can."

I nodded while glancing over at Perry and Aaron, who seemed so happy. Perry was literally bouncing in the chair as he started talking about wanting a chocolate cake. My eyes then spotted his engagement ring and I couldn't help but smile. Aaron really knocked it out of the park with that one. Speaking of him, he was currently watching Perry talk about the venue with a ghost of a smile on his face. His hand was slowly running up and down Perry's back while he looked at him with a look of pure love.

"Pete?" When I zoned back in I saw Francine staring at me with worry. "Everything okay?"

"Of course. So Perry," I said while taking the notebook from Francine. "Tell me how you want your big day." If we could really pull this off in a month, it'd be a miracle. But the fact that we were going to be helping one of our best friends was worth it.