No, he didn’t think so...was he? Again, he’d been in monogamous relationships before. Relationships I knew wouldn’t last forever... Yet, with Wes, he wasn’t sure he could say the same thing.

“I don’t, if that’s what you’re asking,” Coop said. “I don’t want anyone but him. What’s there to miss when I have what I want?”

Braden nodded as though Cooper could see him. “I don’t know what I’m thinking or why I asked that.”

“Well, you didn’t technically ask, and it’s because you’re thinking about getting serious with someone for the first time. If you haven’t already.”

“Shut up,” Braden teased. “We’ve had too many of these heart to hearts lately. What’s up? What are you guys doing for Christmas?”

“Not much. Hanging out with the dogs, I guess. Noah wants to try and cook a turkey. Neither of us have ever done it before. Should be a good time.”

Braden chuckled.

“How’s shit at work? Fred still being a bastard?”

Was Fred ever not a bastard? “He’s being himself, which is a yes. It doesn’t bother me, though. He can fuck off for all I care. He avoids me and I avoid him.”

“He’ll be doing that with both of us when I go back next month. Good thing I don’t give a shit, either.”

Braden pushed to his feet, grabbed his bag, and headed for the living room. “You guys want to come to my parents? They’ll love it.”

“Nah, that’s okay. You need the time with your man,” Cooper teased him. The bastard.

“Your loss. I need to get my ass off the phone, though. I gotta grab Wes and Jessie so we can get on the road.” As soon as he opened the front door, Jock ran out with him.

“Have fun. Drive safe. Merry Christmas.”

“You, too.”

Braden was about to hang up when Cooper said, “Hey. You won’t regret it if you go there.”

Braden opened his truck and put his bag in. Jock jumped into the backseat and laid down with a thump that matched the one hitting Braden’s gut. He wasn’t so worried about himself. Not really. It was Wes he worried about. Wes he wasn’t sure would ever take that next step.

***

Jessie talked enough for both herself and Wes as they drove to Braden’s family’s house. He guessed that was a good thing, because he wasn’t sure what he would say, anyway. It hadn’t been like this for the past two weeks since he’d decided to go, but then, they’d both been busy. He’d covered some extra shifts at the hospital because of time off, which they usually didn’t give around the holidays.

They were together on Wednesdays, when Braden stayed for dinner now, but most of the past two weeks Wes had spent with Jessie because of Christmas break. When Braden hung out with them, they had too much fun to really let Wes’s mind wander.

This was different. This was the enclosed space of Braden’s truck as they drove to spend five days with Braden’s family.

He was being a fucking pussy.

“How many kids is there?” Jessie asked for the third time.

“Six,” Braden said as Wes replied, “Are. How many kids are there.”

They both ignored him and Braden continued talking. “But my sister is pregnant. She’s due next month. Maybe the baby will come early and there will be seven before we leave. Plus you, Squirt. That would be eight of you guys.”

Jessie giggled in the backseat and stroked Jock’s head as it lay in her lap.

They spoke off and on for the rest of the ride, and before he knew it, Braden pulled off the road and onto a long driveway lined with trees on either side. Snow covered the ground and colored trees as they slowly made their way toward the house. It wasn’t long until the trees opened up to a huge chunk of snow-covered land with a large, ranch-style home with red shutters.

“My parents built her from the ground up. Drew their own plans and everything.” Braden pulled up in front of the house and killed the engine.

“It’s incredible,” Wes told him, and it really was. It was large without being overdone. Homey and somehow modern, but also like it had been around for years.

“Thanks.” Wes turned to Braden when he spoke, and the man winked at him before looking into the cab. “There’s tons of space for you and Jock to play here. There’s an old fort I built when I was a kid. I’ll show it to you.”

“Yay!” Jessie bounced in the seat.

Despite the awkwardness Wes felt, he reached over and squeezed Braden’s leg, hoping Braden knew it meant he appreciated all he did. He appreciated how good he was with Jessie, the fact that he invited them out here in the first place and also dealt with Wes’s moodiness.