thirty six

"I'm not ready for this," Luke sighed as he sat in the passenger seat of Michael's truck.

The older man successfully parallel parked outside the Hemmings' household, it took a solid five minutes, though.

Mike turned off the ignition and stared straight forward at the many cars parked along the street. It was Thanksgiving and Ms. Hemmings needed Luke and Michael there apparently. Mike didn't want to meet the relatives, he didn't want to sit through dinner in a tie that choked him.

He knew all of Luke's relatives would be judging the hell out of the couple, and he wasn't ready for that. He wanted to be in bed, with Luke, eating mac and cheese. Maybe watching TLC. That's it. That's his holidays and that's what he enjoys.

"I know, me either," Michael finally responded with a sigh mixed in. He turned to look at Luke to find the younger boy already looking at him.

Luke admired Michael's outfit—a white button down, a black tie, then a grey sweater on top. The Missouri air was getting cold and dry as the months ticked on. Twenty-seven-week Luke was larger than ever and everything seemed to bother him.

"Can we go home?"

Mike laughed, looking back down at his lap. "No, I don't think we can. We have to at least make an appearance for your mother, I don't need her hating me."

"But, we're gonna leave early, right? We have that key lime pie in the fridge and, holy shit, that's all I can think about." Luke leant back against the seat, turning his head to look at his partner once more.

Michael rolled his eyes, a smile plastered on his face. He unlocked the doors, the interior lights coming on. He stepped out, his dress shoes hitting the pavement with a thump. He headed over to Luke, only to find him struggling to get out.

"You're such an idiot."

"I'm just," he paused, "Big." Luke grabbed Mike's shoulders, getting himself to the grass yard.

Michael closed the passenger door, locking his truck. He put an arm around Luke, getting him to the driveway and leading him up the front steps. "Do your relatives know you're pregnant?"

"We're about to find out," Luke said, his fist knocking on the front door.

It was weird knocking on the door to his childhood home. He hasn't gotten used to not living with his parents. He's still not paying bills or doing laundry, Luke doesn't feel like an adult, he doesn't feel any different.

Luke's mother opened the door, her arms open wide to pull her son into a hug. "Oh, my! You're so big, now!" She said, her voice raised an octave.

Michael has never seen a human being looking so stressed out and over whelmed. Ms. Hemmings looked as if she were about to vomit.

He stepped closer, accepting a less-tight hug. He slid inside their house, putting his arm back around Luke's waist. Michael felt out of place. So many people already knew each other and were chatting over each other. There was no pause of silence or moment to hide away. Everyone was loud and only getting louder.

Luke moved away, grabbing Michael's hand instead. He led him to the living room where more blonde adults were sitting around and chattering away. They all had recessive genes, how was that possible?

Michael took a deep breath and let Luke introduce him.

Michael has never been an extremely social person, but he was never extremely anti-social, either. He was somewhere in the middle where he preferred to stay away but didn't mind chatting.

Mike was overwhelmed the entire night, though. People were touching Luke's stomach without even asking, they were grabbing his left hand and looking at the ring now on his fourth finger.

Michael wanted to stand in front of Luke and protect him from everyone, but at the same time, he wanted to stay behind him and hide from the loud, loud, loud family.

His green eyes watched Luke from across the room, seeing his fake smile begging for an excuse to get out of that household. Luke let hands crawl over his baby blue sweater, asking where the baby was kicking and how far along he was.

Luke never wanted to be within ten feet of anyone with hands ever again due to his extended family.

Dinner came along and Luke and Michael sat at the kids table. The adult were overbearing and asking too much about their personal life. Michael liked the kids who talked about their favorite color and how much they hated Aunt Betty. Yeah, Jonny, Michael hates Aunt Betty, too.

Luke leant into his fiancé a quarter before ten. "Can I fake a stomach ache?"

"Please," he whispered back.

Luke turned to Michael, his eyes glowing. "Be right back." He got up, stepping around little kids shoes and back to the adult table. Luke was technically an adult—he was also about to be a parent—but he would rather not accept that. He was fine with eating dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets and drinking grape juice boxes. That was an ideal night for him.

Michael watched Luke work his magic, getting them out of the rest of the evening. He proudly took his lovers hand, getting them out of that packed house as quickly as he could. They got to Mike's truck, slipping in with giggles and laughter.

"I love you," Michael confessed, leaning over the middle console to grab Luke's face and kiss him like he meant it.

Luke pulled away, laughing as Michael continued to kiss all over his face. "Stop it," he pulled himself away, a shining smile on his lips.

Mike sat back in his seat, turning on the car and preparing to get out of their tight space. "We can celebrate Christmas in bed all day, right? Like, I don't have to do that again for a while?"

Luke nodded. "Yes, we are free from my many, many relatives."

Michael went on about some story from his childhood as Luke fell closer and closer to sleep. It was no surprised that by the time they reached their parking garage, the blonde was in a deep, deep sleep.

Mike couldn't lift him up anymore, his belly was far too big. He hated having to wake Luke up, though.

He looked over at Luke once they were parked. Luke looked so lovely, so peaceful. Michael was glad that they were going to spend the rest of their lives together. He hoped so, at least.

He slowly woke the sleeping boy, leaving a few kisses on his warm forehead. So, so in love.