Mother’s Day wasn’t a holiday Hal and Kyle had really considered celebrating, but Dinah insisted that they qualified, given the circumstances, and were due for a few days off from rambunctious toddlers anyway. So the kids went to stay with Dinah and Ollie for the weekend, leaving Hal and Kyle with a suddenly quiet house.
They agreed that staying home and ordering pizza was a much nicer option than fighting the crowds at restaurants this weekend. Besides, it had been far too long since they’d had time all to themselves, time alone to cuddle on the couch and watch something—without any interruptions—that didn’t feature cute anthropomorphic animals.
“Maybe I should call and make sure they’re not driving Dinah and Ollie nuts,” Kyle said as he put the movie into the DVD player, a random flick they had pulled off the shelf at the video store that promised lots of gratuitous sex and violence and was about as far from Sesame Street and Blue’s Clues as you could get.
Hal had to fight the urge to pick up the phone himself—this was the first time the kids had been away from home, after all—but he managed to call on his willpower to instead say, “You don’t need to call. They’re fine.” Then he opened his arms and Kyle came and sat next to him, and before the FBI Warning had even finished they were wrapped around each other, tongues tangling.
Hal slid his hand under Kyle’s t-shirt as they kissed, pushing it up and off him. Kyle lay back on the couch, pulling Hal down on top of him…
“Ow!” Kyle squirmed under Hal. “Something’s poking me.”
“Something?” Hal pushed himself upright and smirked at Kyle. “I thought you’d know what that was by now.”
“Not you,” Kyle said, rolling his eyes. He reached into the cushions of the couch and pulled out a plastic Batmobile.
“Figures,” Hal muttered. He had lost count of the number of times he had stepped on that damn thing. ‘Uncle Batman’ had sent a huge box of Batman toys to the kids for Christmas. Who said Bruce didn’t have a sense of humor?
He plucked the car from Kyle’s hand and tossed it on the floor, then grabbed the remote from the coffee table and clicked the movie off. He turned his attention back to Kyle, running his hands over his bare skin. He brushed his thumb over the faint scar left from Maura’s birth. He had an identical scar on his own abdomen from Marty, so yes, they were both technically mothers as well as fathers. But it was Kyle who had really stepped into the role. For all the worries he’d had about being a parent, Kyle turned out to be great at it. And now Hal regretted not planning something a little more special than pizza and a movie to show Kyle how much he appreciated him.
He startled when Kyle waved a hand in front of his face. “You all right?”
Hal nodded. “Yeah. Just thinking about you. And the kids. They’re lucky to have you as a dad and a mom.”
Kyle smiled and ran his hand over Hal’s thigh. “You’re not so bad at it yourself.”
“But you’re the one who takes care of them all day.” Hal lifted Kyle’s hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss over the silver wedding band. “You gave up a lot to be able to stay home with them. You do everything a mom would do. And you even pick up after me.” He lay on top of Kyle and kissed him. “I just want you to know how much I appreciate everything you do. And I should have done something special for you this weekend.”
Kyle shook his head and ran his fingers through Hal’s hair. “I don’t want to do anything but spend time with you.” He got a mischievous glint in his eyes and a smile quirked his mouth. “And I’m sure you can come up with some special way to show me how much you appreciate me.” He grinned. “Something’s poking me again and I’m pretty sure it’s not a Batmobile this time.”