Special Occasion

Placing the keys on the sideboard, he announced, “I'm home,” took off his coat and put it to the other coats and jackets in the closet. While getting out of his black clean shoes, he took a glimpse at his reflection in the huge horizontal mirror hanging above the sideboard. It was a strange feeling to see a collected, self-confident man in an expensive chemise and tamed black hair looking back at him. Not too long ago he couldn't even afford a mirror, let alone one with a golden frame. He would see a poor version of himself in a dirty white shirt and baggy pants in a puddle on the concrete floor of his cheap apartment. But that had changed and here he was; in his very own house in the suburbs, living the perfect life he had always dreamed of.

With his briefcase in one hand, he decided to look for the rest of his family, expecting them to be waiting for him so they could have lunch. Usually, they would eat without him for he couldn't leave work before afternoon and so they only ate dinner together. However, today was one of the rare days of the year that he was able to be home on time for lunch.

It was surprisingly quiet, normally you could hear Christopher playing with his little sister noisily but today was different. Neither in the living-room nor in the kitchen, every room was empty; he didn't miss anything important, did he? Since ever Christopher's birth, he was afraid of being a horrible father, one who missed out on any school events, football matches, birthdays or simply about his son at all, the sheer thought of it drove him insane. And now that he couldn't seem to find anyone of his family, he feared that his worst nightmare was coming true.

Checking every single room upstairs and downstairs, he tried to memorize the conversation he had had with his husband earlier the day, filtering it through in search of any helpful hint. What if he had really missed an important event? He would never be able to forgive himself.

Frustrated, he sat down on the white couch in the living-room, resting his head in his hand. This couldn't be happening, it could only be some real bad joke. His brain was already imagining the damage this would cause and created a slide show of worst case scenarios to play inside his head. It hadn't always been easy and he had come a long way to achieve all this, to have this wonderful family. His husband and he had been through tough times a lot, almost dying in the process of saving their love but they had survived, they had accomplished what they had been fighting for. A house, friends, the perfect jobs and two beautiful children and the possibility to grant their kids a good education. And one stupid mistake could destroy everything they had.

With all his might, he tried to calm down, soothe himself that maybe things wouldn't turn out like that. He sighed and got back up off the couch, maybe a walk would help. When work was getting the best of him, he usually sat by the little pond in the garden and just watched the fishes and frogs mind their own business, the idyllic scenery always refreshed his spirits. They had gotten the pond exactly for that reason; his husband had suggested it would be a great help to calm down after a stressful day at work. And he was right like usual. His husband knew too well what was right for him, simply because he knew him too well and cared with all his heart about him. Up until today, he wasn't sure why a man like him would fall in love with a mess-up like himself.

As he was shoving the glass door leading to the backyard open, he noticed something unusual in the back corner of the garden. From where he was standing, he could make out some figures and a table along with chairs, colorful lights and decoration were visible to him, and a strange feeling took a hold of him. Smiling widely, he walked closer, his heart racing faster with excitement with every step. Just a few steps away, his eyes became wet as the realization finally settled in; his family was waiting for him by the pond, balloons and paper lanterns everywhere, a delicious cake on the table along with some presents on the ground. Though he didn't really know what was going on, he was happy to see his family.

Holding their daughter in his arms, the other man next to the table approached him, a smile on his face. “There you are, we've been waiting for you.” He leaned in to kiss his husband's lips and nuzzle his nose against the other's.

“I didn't expect you to be outside,” he responded, returning the kiss. He stroked over the little girl's hair, placing a soft kiss to her forehead. “Hi, little lady.”

“You know, for the special occasion today, I thought we might have lunch in the garden...,” his husband smirked, “And Emily and Christopher were all fired up for this idea.” Their son jumped off from his chair and ran towards his fathers, smiling broadly.

“Special occasion?” He raised an eyebrow questioningly. So, his assumption was true, he had forgotten about something important. But the hand of his husband that stroked over his cheek, those beautiful brown eyes that were smiling at him, they proved him wrong, that he had messed up.

Looking down at their four-year-old son, his husband chuckled, “Told you he would forget. You owe me one, man,” and received a shook of his little head as response. “You should stop spoiling your son, he doesn't stick to our deal.”

“So, who's the one telling him to have his own mind? You're turning our son into a punk, my dear Chester.” Still smiling, he poked his husband's nose softly, causing their daughter to giggle.

“And that's wrong? I don't want him to become a crybaby like his father,” Chester snorted playfully, now having both children laughing. They often joked around like this, aware how much their kids loved it when their fathers didn't behave like grown-ups for once.

Pretending to be shocked by that, the black-haired man whispered, “How could you?” But before Chester could comment on it, they both started laughing at their immature behavior. When he was able to catch his breath again, he asked smiling, “What special occasion then?”

“I wish I knew why you always forget about it, it's not like they change the date every year,” Chester sighed, hints of annoyance in his voice but he couldn't be mad at his husband, not today. “It's your birthday, Mike.”

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Random idea, probably the best ones I have :) Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think. :) <3