“Is it ready?” Cormac asked, coming up behind Ashe and wrapping his arms around his husband’s waist, nuzzling against his neck.
Ashe hummed a happy sound; he’d learned to control the moaning when Cormac persisted on hitting his weakest spots even in public. “I’m just finishing up the icing. Is the gift table set up?”
“Decorated and nearly overflowing,” Cormac assured him, laughing when his nuzzling made Ashe’s hands jerk, fudging the icing rose he had been making.
Ashe wiggled out of his grasp. “Shoo,” he commanded, carefully wiping up the ruined rose with his finger. “If you’re not going to be helpful, be somewhere else!”
“Aw, but Ashe,” Cormac whined.
“No, shoo!” Ashe pointed his finger at the sliding glass door that led to their expansive, grassy backyard; it was currently full of rambunctious kids and inflatable attractions, balloons filling the trees and parents gossiping around the pool.
Cormac took advantage of Ashe’s momentary distraction; capturing his hand, he licked the icing rose off Ashe’s finger, and felt the silverette tremble. “It’s almost as sweet as you are,” Cormac said, winking.
Ashe groaned at the awful joke, but couldn’t help laughing as Cormac opened the door and was immediately assaulted by children begging for him to make more balloon animals. The kitchen was quiet again except for the soft strains of a song coming from the speakers that sat atop the cabinets. Ashe hummed along with the song as he finished up the last touches.
It must have taken longer than he thought; Cormac dashed back into the kitchen, locking the door behind him, putting his back to it and giving Ashe a desperate, hopeful look. “Is it ready?”
“You’re lucky I’m done,” Ashe chuckled, setting the nearly empty icing bag down. “It just needs candles.”
“Taken care of!” Cormac said, whipping a pack of blue and white candles out of the pocket of his black slacks. He threw them to Ashe, who caught them easily and started sticking them into the cake while Cormac produced a lighter from the drawer where they kept the junk. Cormac lit them as Ashe put them in, until twelve candles blazed.
“Be careful with it!” Ashe warned. “They’ll never forgive us if you drop it!”
“I know, I know. Come on!” Cormac called over his shoulder, laughing as he opened the door and was immediately bombarded by kids shouting his name. Ashe followed slower, a camera in his hand; he hated to miss picture perfect moments like that, and smiled fondly as he snapped a shot.
“Alright, where are our birthday boys?” Cormac’s voice boomed over the screaming kids.
Two of them pushed forward, identical smiles on their faces. The twins jumped up and down in front of him. “Here, here!” they cried, dark eyes shining with joy.
“Sit down at the table,” Cormac said firmly, balancing the huge cake on one hand so he could point imperiously at the large table set up at the end of the lawn. The children flocked to it, their parents dragging behind and laughing at their children’s antics. The twins took the seats at the head of the table, beaming eagerly at Cormac while he set the cake in front of them. They looked like angels, with their golden blonde curls- dirty angels, their white clothes grass strained and their faces covered in dirt. But it didn’t matter; they still looked perfect to Ashe as he took another picture.
“Everybody ready?” Cormac asked. Receiving a chorus of agreement from the gathered crowd, he raised his hands like a conductor, and led them in singing happy birthday.
“Now blow out your candles, and make a wish,” Ashe said, a hand on each boy’s shoulder as they leaned forward to blow out the candles.
A roar of applause went up, and cake was served. It only served to make the children more hyper, and the party went on until late in the night. The twinkling lights strung between the trees were prettier than the stars, but they were shut off before ten o’ clock.
Cormac and Ashe carefully tromped up the stairs, each of them carrying a sleepy boy in their arms. They deposited the twins carefully in their beds, then stood to leave them to their exhausted sleep. Cormac saw Ashe hesitate in the doorway; smiling softly, he dropped a kiss on top of his husband’s head.
“They’ll be fine,” he whispered, hugging Ashe from behind.
Ashe just smiled, his hands resting over Cormac’s on his stomach. “I know,” he replied, absolutely certain. He spun in Cormac’s embrace, and kissed him quickly before ducking under his arms and heading toward their bedroom.
Ashe smirked over his shoulder, teasing Cormac as he wiggled his rear at him; Cormac growled something about his teasing husband under his breath and lunged forward, scooping his husband into his arms and carrying him into bed.
Door shut and locked, with Cormac hovering over him with a mischievous grin and their twin sons sleeping down the hall, Ashe couldn’t be happier; he knew he had been the luckiest person in the world when Cormac King had walked into his classroom that first day of school, and he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
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