4. Dinner with the Andrews

~ Josh

I nearly dropped the vegetable platter I was holding when the doorbell rang. Thankfully, Leo steadied both me and the tray, so nothing fell. They were here, already. I wasn't prepared mentally for this dinner at all.

Kyle was just about to leave the kitchen when we all heard the sound of the front door opening. All four of us looked at each other as we listened to Ashley greet our guests. She wasn't supposed to do that, but none of us seemed to be able to move.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully.

It must have been Suzanne who chuckled. "Hi sweetie. Aren't you adorable? Is your Daddy home?"

"They're in the kitchen making a big dinner. But my Daddies told me not to talk to strangers. And I don't know you. So don't tell them I told you that."

Kyle quickly rushed out of the room to properly welcome the Andrews into our home. I still couldn't believe they were actually here. My biological parents. I had those now too.

I had called my mothers this afternoon and filled them in on everything. I know it must have been hard for them to hear, but they supported my decision to get to know them. I still loved them as my parents, though, and nothing the Andrews could say will ever allow them to replace the twenty-seven years I've had with my mothers.

Placing the tray on the counter, I quickly made my way to the entrance-way. Kyle was just taking the jackets of Suzanne and the man who must be Martin. It was eerie how looking at him was like looking in a mirror that ages me thirty years.

When his eyes landed on me, he gasped. "My God, Suzanne, you were right. It really is him."

Suzanne turned towards me, a smile on her face. "Josh. It's good to see you again."

Martin stuck out his hand and I shook it. "Hi." Was this just as awkward for them? "You already met my husband, Kyle, who is now walking away with your jackets. Okay, um, there's a couple other people that you are going to meet, too. Why don't you come in, please?" Definitely probably more awkward for me. This was awful.

I had just started leading the couple further inside when Martin spoke up. "Who else are we meeting, son?"

A shiver went down my spine and I stopped walking. "I'm sorry, but can you please not call me that? I know it's true and everything but-"

"Of course," he said quickly. "I apologize. I didn't mean it quite like that."

"Everything alright, love?"

I spun around to the sound of Leo's voice as he walked down the hallway towards us. I heard Suzanne and Martin muttering behind me, probably wondering why a man, who wasn't the husband they just met, was calling me love.

Grabbing Leo's hand and pulling him closer to me for support, I looked at the couple again. "You sure you want to get to know who I really am, right?" They nodded, definitely confused. "This is Leo, my other husband. You'll meet my third one in a minute."

I watched the array of emotions cross over both of their faces. Shock, confusion, disgust. All of the usual ones. Leo wrapped his arms over me and I leaned my head back against his chest with a sigh. We knew this was a possibility.

Looking up at him, I asked, "Do you mind grabbing their coats, babe? Kyle took them into the guest room."

He nodded before starting to walk away, but Suzanne stopped him. "We're not leaving, if that's what you think. Why would we leave? Just because you live a lifestyle that we were not expecting doesn't mean we don't approve. We've waited so long to find you, Josh, we're not losing you again."

Immediately, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. Twisting my body so that I was hugging Leo, I tried to hold back the single tear that wanted to escape out of relief.

Leo laughed lightly. "You don't know how much this means to him," he said. "To all of us. So thank you."

"Of course," I heard Martin say. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

~ Jackson

I had just walked back into the kitchen after placing the plates out on the table. There were voices coming from just around the corner, Leo's and Josh's I recognized and another man's voice who I didn't recognize.

A second later, Josh came running into the kitchen, throwing himself into my arms. "They approve," he whispered against my shoulder. "Oh my god, Jackson, they approve."

I didn't have to ask what he was talking about. Instead of answering him, I leaned down and kissed him square on the lips. the kiss was cut short when someone cleared their throat, making us realize that we were no longer the only two people in the room. Looking up, I saw Kyle and Leo watching us, along with a couple who could only be Suzanne and Martin, the people who gave Josh life.

Martin broke the silence first, extending his hand. "You must be husband number three."

I chuckled, having not expected him to word it quite like that, as I took his hand in a firm handshake. "I guess I am. I'm Jackson."

We eventually all moved out into the dining room, which had a lot more space for us to be comfortable in. Josh disappeared pretty quickly into our conversation, which mostly revolved around how we ended up together and the introduction of our children to the couple, more than what Ashley did when she opened the door for them.

Josh had been gone for a few minutes, and I was starting to worry about him, especially because he was the one who should be out here getting to know his birth parents, not just us, so I went to go find him. I found him in the kitchen, holding onto an empty bowl in the kitchen, staring at the wall. Him staring off into space didn't ease my concern for him at all.

"Josh? You okay?"

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, his eyes snapped to mine. When he realized it was just the two of us in the kitchen, he placed the bowl on the counter with a sigh. "It's just a bit overwhelming, this whole thing."

I crossed the room, wrapping my arms around his thin body. "Do you want me to ask them to leave?" I whispered.

He shook his head. "No. I want them here, and they want to be here. It's just... I don't know. I keep thinking about how my whole life is changing now, but at the same time, I keep thinking of things that don't even matter and I don't know where those thoughts are coming from. I'm so confused about what's going on in my head right now."

I kissed the top of his head. "Everything will be okay. Sure, it'll be weird for a while, but we'll make it work. Promise."

Josh stood on his toes and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Now, are you ready to head on back out there and get to know your parents?"

"God, don't call them that, please." He turned to look at the timer on the oven. Only two minutes left before the chicken would be done. "Almost done cooking. Then we can bring everything out and dinner will be served. Okay, we can do this."

"No, I got this. Suzanne and Martin came to know you, babe, and as much as you enjoy hiding out in here, you should really talk to them."

He nodded. "Yeah, I know. I just... No, I'll be fine. You sure you got this?"

"You can send Leo in, unless you want them both out there with you for a buffer. But I'm good, really."

As soon as he left the kitchen, the timer on the oven beeped. I quickly turned it off, pulling the tray of chicken out. The moment I placed the tray onto the counter, Leo walked in, asking, "What do you need me to do, love?"

The two of us moved around each other easily as we got the meal ready to be served. Five minutes later, we were bringing out the food and placing the platters in the center of the table.

"This smells absolutely delicious!" Suzanne exclaimed as Leo and I sat down with everyone else at the table. "Who cooked? Or was it a collective effort? I'm curious."

"I'm not allowed to help," Kyle said with a laugh. "The three of them banned me from cooking pretty much since before we got together. But they all are very good cooks, so I don't complain."

I laughed, giving him a smile. "If we didn't cook for you, babe, you'd starve yourself." He rolled his eyes at me. "Either that or burn the house down."

"Our son, Paul, is just like that," Suzanne said. "He can't cook to save his life. Thank goodness his wife can."

Josh looked up at her, curiously. "Wife?" I was thinking the same kind of thing. This was Josh's brother, it would be good to get to know about him a little bit too.

It was Martin who answered. "Lovely girl, that Teresa. Better than the first girl he married. Thank God she's out of our lives."

We talked for a while about Paul. Apparently his ex-wife cheated on him about eight years ago or so. They had only been together for a few years when that happened. Then he met this new girl, Teresa, and married her five years ago. They had a son together, but he died as a toddler from some disease or something. They didn't go into that much detail, probably not wanting to think too long on those memories.

I wouldn't even know what I would do if we lost one of our children. They meant too much to me, I couldn't imagine them not being here anymore. I didn't want to imagine it.

I looked over to where the two of them were sitting. Ashley was playing with her food again, but not too badly where we needed to tell her to stop like last night. Logan, who was doing much better and even went to school today, was quietly picking at his dinner. Neither of them were really paying any attention to the conversation going on around them. But they were here and healthy. That's all that mattered to me.

After dinner, the Andrews stayed for another hour or so. I could definitely tell that Josh was related to them, not only by their appearances, but they had some of the same mannerisms. Honestly, it was creepy how similar they were.

When they did eventually leave, it was time to put the kids to bed. Leo and Kyle went to get them ready while I kept Josh back to talk to him.

"How you holding up, babe?" I asked.

He put his hands on my waist and smiled up at me. "Better than I expected to be doing. Honestly, it still doesn't even feel real, like it's a dream. Or maybe a nightmare, I can't tell yet." He chuckled, but it seemed a bit forced.

I was about to reply when Leo did, walking into the room behind me. "Not a nightmare, love. Trust me on that."

Josh let out a small gasp before stepping away from me to look at him. "I never even asked - did you have another one last night, or was it just the one?"

Now I was confused. I had no idea what they were talking about. Was Leo having nightmares? Is that what I'm hearing?

Leo shrugged. "Yeah. I have a feeling I'm going to have another one tonight, too. But it's fine. I'm fine."

"Are you saying the nightmares you had years ago are back?" I asked, finally remembering about the ones he used to have.

He nodded. "A bit more gruesome, but yes. I'm sure it's nothing. Really."

"Maybe you should talk to Quincy," Josh suggested. "He'll be more than willing to help you, I'm sure."

Leo nodded again. "Yeah, maybe. I'll think about it."

With that, he walked out of the room again. For some reason, he gave me the impression that he really wasn't doing okay with these nightmares, and that worried me slightly.