"The guy's here to pick up the couch," Kase yelled across the apartment as he shifted Aidan from one hip to the other. He wasn't really into the whole
packing Matt's apartment
thing but he was nailing the
keeping Aidan occupied and out of Matt's way
. Each had their own value.
Hilary rushed to the door and met the guy who'd responded first to the ad. Matt was just going to donate everything but Hilary told him in no uncertain terms that he would do no such thing. She then proceeded to take pictures and post everything on various neighborhood apps. She brought the guy in and showed him the sofa, collected the money, and helped him and his friends navigate it out of the apartment. Once they were gone, she waved the money in the air. "That makes twelve-hundred. I can't believe you were going to give all this stuff away."
Like the sofa that he'd just gotten three-hundo for, Matt had gotten most of his stuff for free, so re-gifting it wouldn't have been a loss, but twelve-hundred was a nice profit.
Kase swayed Aidan back and forth. "I have to take Laura to work. Want me to take him with me?"
The apartment still had a long way to go before it was finished. Hilary was the type of person you wanted on your packing team. She had the whole place organized and had organized time slots for people to show up and take the rest of Matt's stuff. Aidan and Kase on the other hand were in the way more than anything.
"Sure, could you grab a pizza on the way back?"
Hilary gave Aidan sixty dollars and made him promise to get something good. Matt tossed Kase the car keys and watched as Aidan waved the money gleefully as they left.
When the door closed, Hilary was strategically tossing empty boxes around the apartment. "Finally, now we can actually get some work done."
They spent the next ninety minutes going through Matt's bedroom, boxing stuff up, setting other things to the side to sell, and letting strangers in so they could pick stuff up. By the time Kase and Aidan got back with pizza, they were up another five-hundred and most of the apartment was emptied or boxed up.
"What are you going to do if Seamus doesn't want you to move in?" Kase asked as they stood at the counter and ate over the pizza boxes. Hilary punched his arm, making the athlete grimace. "I was just joking. Obviously he wants Matt to move in. Geez."
Matt took a bite of pizza and watched his friends with much affection. Kase was still holding his little buddy and Hilary was...well, Hilary was...
"What?" she said as she swallowed her food whole. "I worked hard today." Kase and Matt looked at each other and laughed. Hilary wiped pizza from her face and pointed at her friends. "You know you both owe me. Don't forget I'm moving to Atlanta in August. Be prepared.
And they were. They already planned to take time off to help her move. Matt was looking forward to the road trip. A last college hurrah with his friends. They knew Hilary was far more nervous than she let on and they planned to make the transition as smooth as possible.
When the pizza was gone, they got back to work. Hilary and Matt finished stacking boxes in the living room and deep cleaning the empty spaces while Kase entertained Aidan. The two brunettes had really bonded in the last year. Kase was always the one who scooped Aidan up anytime they swung by the café.
"Well, that's that." Hilary wiped the sweat from her forehead as she took in the room.
The friends stood in the living room of a mostly empty apartment. This was it. They all knew this was the first domino to drop in the long line to come. Things were changing. Such was life. Next was graduation, Hilary moving, Kase moving, etc.
Kase put his arm around his friends and sighed. "I guess we better get used to this feeling."
****
"Okay, I got my gift for Moose. Now it's your turn. What do you think he'd like?" Matt lifted Aidan out of the cart and set him on the ground.
The first surprise after picking Seamus's up from the airport was going to be a little birthday celebration. Matt wanted to make Seamus feel special so he took Aidan shopping. Why he thought Aidan would be any good at it when he couldn't even behave at a cemetery, Matt would never know.
But he followed the toddler around the store and watched with great fondness as he ping ponged between one fascinating thing and another before excitedly handing the newest and best thing to Matt before ponging off again.
"This isn't a shopping spree. You actually have to think '
what would Moose want?'
And then you get
that
thing."
Aidan stopped, grabbed a container of peanuts with both hands. It was heavy but he held it like he found the most perfect gift in the whole wide world. He proudly handed it over to Matt then pinged off again. With Aidan good and occupied, Matt returned the peanuts to the self like he'd done with all the other items.
Aidan finally found something that kept his attention for more than two second.
Maybe he had noticed Matt taking things out of the cart after all because he wouldn't let Matt near the thing he finally picked out for Seamus. Two things, actually.
When they got home, Matt started wrapping the gifts. Aidan wasn't very excited about that.
"This is how birthday's work. You have to wrap the presents so the birthday boy can unwrap them. It's more fun this way," he explained as Aidan stood on his tippy toes and reached for the gifts on the kitchen table. When Aidan's fingers got a little too close, Matt scooted them away and continued wrapping. "And you can't open it for him. This is Moose's gift."
Aidan grunted and went to the other side of the table and tried again to reach the gifts.
****
Matt absolutely wanted to take Aidan to the airport so they could all have a perfect little reunion. But in a more real sense, he absolutely didn't want to take Aidan to the airport. He wanted Seamus all to himself. No distraction. So, mum was the word. As long as Aidan didn't know where Matt was going, he was happy to run into his grandpa's arms.
Matt was about to vibrate out of his skin when he finally saw Seamus among the horde of people. Seamus tossed his bag down and hugged Matt with four weeks of pent-up emotion. Matt hugged back with equal fervor.
"I'm so happy to see you," Seamus murmured into Matt's neck as he breathed him in. Once he was satisfied with his scent, Seamus grabbed Matt's face and kissed him over and over. "I'm so sorry."
Matt pulled back and shook his head. "We agreed not to go there."
"You agreed not to go there. I needed to say it to your face, so I did. Don't censor me."
Matt chuckled and lightly kissed Seamus's lips. "Okay, you said it, now it's time to move on to bigger and better things." Matt grabbed Seamus's bag and tossed it over his shoulder. "Let's go."
They held hands as they walked. Matt took a moment to appreciate his boyfriend. He looked good, so good. His skin was perfectly sun-kissed and healthy looking. He wore a new Seahawks sweatshirt and his hat backwards. But the best thing he had on, the thing that made him so fucking sexy Matt could die, was the ear to ear smile he wore for Matt.
"Thirty looks damn good on you."
Seamus leaned over and kissed Matt as they exited the building. "Thirty feels good."
****
They ate calzones and cupcakes before opening presents. Brad gave Seamus this gorgeous whiskey decanter that came with four glasses. Seamus was shocked. It was beautiful. A generational gift. The type of gift that had obviously been handed down.
Brad grinned, pleased with Seamus's reaction. "It was my father's. There used to be eight glasses but you know, the years aren't always kind."
Seamus looked at Matt, half expecting him to be upset that his father had given him such a sentimental gift. Wasn't that something that belonged to Matt?
He leaned over and kissed Seamus. Matt didn't care. It was a gift that Seamus would appreciate it more than Matt ever could.
Matt got Seamus a canvas print set for the loft. Huge black and white pictures of Aidan and Seamus at various points over the last eighteen months. One was of Seamus sitting at a table in the cafe working with pre-walking Aidan balancing against his leg, another of Aidan in a bumbo chair on the counter while Seamus did the dishes, and one of Seamus and Aidan holding hands as they walked down the street. They weren't super great pictures, just ones Matt had taken with his phone in secret, but they told a story of a man who loved a boy. And of a boy who loved a man.
Seamus stared at them, then at Matt. He didn't say anything. He didn't thank Matt or gush over the photos. He simply leaned them against the chair and moved on.
But Matt was no fool. He saw Seamus barely hold back the emotion. If Seamus said even one word--
Seamus cleared his throat and reached for the next gift. It was big but not too heavy. He shook it. "Who's this from? Is this mine?"
Aidan shook his head and pointed at his own chest. "Me!"
Seamus frowned. "But it's my birthday."
Again, Aidan shook his head, quite aggressively. "No, me!"
Matt laughed and pulled Aidan to his lap. "You picked it for Moose? Remember?"
Seamus ripped the paper off and gasped. "This is the best present ever!" He held up the big plastic dump truck with Bob the Builder and his friends. Brad started laughing and Aidan quickly slid off Matt's lap and reached for the gift he'd so thoughtfully bought for Seamus.
It was almost too big for the little guy to carry but he managed to get it from Seamus. He even made it a few feet before he dropped it and then tripped over it.
"He picked it out all by himself."
Seamus watched Aidan with so much love. "I bet he did."
"Along with half the store."
