‘Hey, could you turn the TV off? I need to talk to you.’
‘Of course. Is something wrong?’
‘No, nothing really wrong, but there’s something I have to tell you.’
‘Tate, I’m pregnant.’
‘…Oh.’
‘Yeah. I didn’t expect it, either.’
‘How did this happen?’
‘Well, probably when you ejaculated in me-’
‘No, I mean, your pills? Didn’t you take them properly?’
‘I thought I did, but nothing's ever 100% safe. I didn't deliberately mess anything up. You’re not blaming me, are you?’
‘Sorry. No, of course not. I’m just surprised, that’s all. We’d been careful.’
‘I know. These things happen, though… it didn’t take you long to get me pregnant when we were actually trying.’
‘That’s very true. I’ve always been fertile.’
‘How do you feel? It’s certainly not your first time, and you’re quite old to be becoming a dad again…’
‘Oh, nonsense. It doesn’t matter, as a man. And I’m as fit as ever! It’s not an issue.’
‘So… you don’t mind keeping it?’
‘I can’t say I was expecting another child right now, especially so long after the triplets, but now one exists, I’m not going to object.’
‘That’s how I feel, too… I’d feel too bad to get rid of it.’
‘And it’s not like we can’t manage. Far from it! We’re well-equipped to deal with another child.’
‘Yeah, you’re right. I’m glad you agree.’
‘I don’t think we should tell the kids just yet. You can’t be very far gone, surely?’
‘I don’t think so, no. We’re better keeping it quiet until I’ve seen the doctor and dated it.’
‘Great. I wonder how the kids will feel, anyway.’
‘Surprised, probably… I hope they don’t get jealous.’
‘They might be a bit jealous, but they’re also old enough to feel protective over it. I’m sure they can easily be sold on the idea of being responsible big brothers and sister.’
‘That’ll be nice.’
‘Hey, come in.’
‘Thanks for inviting me over. I really needed to get out. And I really don’t feel like revising.’
‘Good job I finished mine for the day, then.’
‘Hi, honey.’
‘Hi, Maria! Good to see you as always. How you doing?’
‘Not bad at all. What about you? I hear you’ve all been practising a lot.’
‘Oh yeah, we’re doing great. The minute we leave school, I’m gonna start trying to line up gigs for us.’
‘Good luck. Wow, it’s not far off now, is it? I can’t believe where all the time has gone.’
‘You’re not gonna get sentimental, are you, Mum?’
‘But you’re all grown adults now! How can I not get sentimental? My baby’s eighteen now.’
‘Yeah, Logan, let her have a moment. I’m sure I’d be the same if I had a kid turn eighteen.’
‘I can’t imagine you with a kid.’
‘Me neither, but that’s beside the point.’
‘Anyway, we’re going to the mall, if you’d like to come with us.’
‘Oh, sure, but I didn’t bring much money.’
‘That’s okay, Heath. Actually, I want to buy your suit for prom.’
‘What? Oh no, you don’t need to do that.’
‘I want to, honey. I don’t like the idea of you missing out on prom when all of your friends are going.’
‘I’d feel bad about you paying for me, though.’
‘You are a dear family friend to us. Don’t feel bad about accepting anything from me. I’m all too happy to give it.’
‘Yeah, man, let her help out.’
‘Well… thanks, Maria. I don’t know what to say.’
‘You boys just have a good night at your prom. That’s all the payment I need!’
‘In that case, I’ll buy a ticket first thing tomorrow!’
The next day…
‘Hey, do you think it’s worth it for me to try to ask someone out?’
‘’Course I do. You know I think you make a great catch.’
‘But… do you think a straight girl could ever be interested in me?’
‘It depends.’
‘I don’t see how. I’m straight, and I don’t know if I could like dick, even if it were attached to a woman. I’d try, at least, because I wouldn’t want to discount someone of the basis of being trans, but…’
‘It’s hard to answer, ‘cos I like both. I can’t imagine being repulsed by anyone’s genitals. But it’s not like you can’t find other ways to please a woman. Toys exist, don’t they?’
‘And me? Would she want to touch me?’
‘All you can do is ask. Now, I don't mind hearing you out at all, but is there a reason this conversation keeps coming up?’
‘…I don’t wanna risk ruining our friendship.’
‘…You mean Saraya, don’t you?’
‘Yeah. Pretty obvious, right?’
‘Yeah, and you know what else I find obvious?’
‘What?’
‘She likes you too, idiot.’
‘Hey, that’s not obvious at all!’
‘Yeah, you’re a guy, alright.’
‘Now that’s just sexist.’
‘I’m just saying, aren’t we meant to be bad at picking up on signals? Took me a while to realise Lisa was into me — until she wasn’t, since I liked dick — but that’s irrelevant! I think Saraya fancies you.’
‘Damn, I really hope you’re right…’
‘And she knows now about you. So if that had changed anything, she wouldn’t be getting so flustered around you. Hell, she called you good looking!’
‘So have you and I’m pretty sure you’re not out to bang me.’
‘She doesn’t have our bromance, though. And she’s not the type to walk up to you and tell you she wants to sit on your face, is she? I know, I’m not the kind of person you want romantic advice from, but I really think you’d do fine.’
‘I might joke, but you’ve had more experience than me at this point.’
‘Let’s not go wild. It was only making out.’
‘I’d love to get that far. Anyway, do you think I could ask her out at prom?’
‘Why, are you planning on having one of those cliched prom nights where you drag her off to a cheap motel? Fairly sure the Windfall’s been shut down for years…’
‘Um, no, that’s way too much too soon. Anyway, if I were gonna be really cliched, I’d have to knock her up.’
‘Ooof. I bet her dad would be pissed about that. That’s another thing about all this…’
‘I’d be more worried about her sister, honestly. Aria’s nice, but she can be scary.’
‘Yeah, good point. Anyway, sure, try it at prom. It’d be… romantic, at least.’
‘Exactly. But… what if I get shot down? In public? That’d suck.’
‘Hmm… Go somewhere quiet? Then nobody’ll see, and she’s not the kind of person to make a big deal about it.’
‘You’re right.’
‘But you’ve got this. She’d be crazy to turn you down.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Hi! Thanks for coming out and meeting us.’
‘No problem. I figure you’d rather not look after four kids on your own.’
‘The others are coming along later. They just had some errands first, so I offered to go on ahead. Anyway, all we have to do is watch from a distance.’
‘Ooooh, it’s Raya’s friend!’
‘…Or not.’
‘Hi!’
‘Hey, nice to meet you.’
‘I should introduce this lot. This is Carmella, and the boys are Tristan, Zeus and Charon.’
‘Is he your boyfriend, Raya?’
‘Um, no. He’s just a good friend.’
‘Aww, that’s a shame. When are you gonna get a boyfriend?’
‘Probably not any time soon… Why does it matter?’
‘Because it’d be really sweet! Aria said she’s never getting one, so that means you should.’
‘No way! If she gets a boyfriend, she won’t spend as much time with us!’
‘Hey, I’ll always have time for you lot.’
‘C’mon guys, I wanna go skating.’
‘Yeah, why don’t you do that? We’ll watch you.’
‘Alright! Last one to the skating rink smells of poo! And Zeus smells of poo anyway!’
‘You’re such a jerk, Tristan!’
‘Be nice to each other!’
‘…Wow. I bet they’re kind of a handful, huh?’
‘They sure like to bicker.’
‘Are you gonna skate at all?’
‘Well, I could, but I might fall flat on my face.’
‘Hey, I’d catch you if that happened.’
‘Haha, I’ll hold you to that.’
‘So what are your plans for after school? You didn’t apply to uni, did you?’
‘No, I didn’t. Edward’s a bit disappointed, since Aria didn’t either. He thinks we’re wasting our potential.’
‘Well, you’re obviously smart to be in the top classes at school.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Why aren’t you going, then?’
‘Same reason as Aria. I guess I’m afraid to move out of the area and not be near the triplets.’
‘It’s your life too, though. You can’t put it on hold for the triplets, even though you do care about them. That’s what their mum’s for.’
‘It’s not their mum I’m worried about.’
‘…Raya, if you think he’s badly hurting them, don’t you think it needs more than just you sticking around?’
‘I don’t think he’s hurting them. He’s nicer to them than he ever was to us, I know that much. But they need someone to come to if that changes. Someone who understands. And nice as Roxxi is, she buried her head in the sand when we came to her with… the truth.’
‘Yeah, good point… How can she stay with someone she knows treated his older kids like shit?’
‘I think she’s trapped, Logan. Ellis said she was really worried about being on her own. Her parents wouldn’t support her. And I believe it. I met them, they were weird. Nobody normal happily marries off their nineteen-year-old to a man in his forties.’
‘God… he’s kinda gross, isn’t he?’
‘Tell me about it.’
‘Sorry, Raya. I didn’t mean to upset you.’
‘It’s fine. But it explains why I don’t feel comfortable going. Besides, there’s opportunities here, I’m sure of it. I’ll just look for other local courses and jobs. I like cooking, maybe I could find something related to that. And plenty of jobs can be a career, right? With promotions, and stuff.’
‘Yeah, good point.’
‘So what about you? You applied, didn’t you?’
‘Yeah, but… well, I also applied to the fire service.’
‘The fire service?’
‘…I’ve always thought it’d be good to be a firefighter. It’s a really necessary job. I’ve been working a lot on my fitness. So if I get in, it’ll be a great opportunity.’
‘Well, good for you. That’s really brave…’
‘Thanks. I might not even get it, but hey… Are you alright?’
‘I won’t lie and say fire doesn’t terrify me. And the thought of you being in that position terrifies me even more. But if it weren’t for firefighters, I’d be dead, so…’
‘…Y’know, you called me brave, but I think you’ve been just as brave.’
‘I wouldn’t willingly go into another fire, though.’
‘Nor should you. I’m just saying, I couldn’t begin to imagine what it was like. And maybe I’ll be able to prevent people going through what you did.’
‘Logan… I’m glad people like you exist.’
‘Well, thanks. That means a lot to me.’
‘…Maybe none of it’ll matter anyway, if your band makes it big.’
‘Oh, yeah. That’d be the best thing!’
‘Though I’d miss you guys if that happened. Always going away on tour.’
‘Well, if that happened, we could just take you with us on tour. As a caterer, or something. If you ignore the whole triplets situation, anyway.’
‘Yeah… it’s a nice thought.’
‘It’ll all work out. We’ll find a way to stick together. If it’s uni for me, I’ll still be local. And if it’s the band… By then the triplets might be all grown up anyway.’
‘Good point. I can barely believe they’re nearly ten.’
‘Besides, it takes a long time to break into the music industry, if you ever do manage it. It won’t be the end of the world if we don’t. It’d be great, but having the band just as a side gig would be fine.’
‘It’s good to have a realistic backup plan.’
‘Hey, sorry we’re late. Are they behaving?’
[
‘About as much as normal.’
‘So, mostly, then.’
‘Yep.’
‘Go on, we’ll take over. You two go off and do something fun.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yeah, go on.’
‘Maybe we should try that skating after all.’
‘Well, it’s either that or dancing, which I’m not great at either. And I’m not going to subject anyone to kissing me at that booth, so…’
‘I’m sure someone like you doesn’t need to pay someone to kiss them…’
‘Oh, thank you… Alright, let’s skate, then.’
‘He seems a nice young man.’
‘Yeah, I think so too. Good job, really, because I think he quite likes her, and if he wasn’t, I’d have to come after him.’
‘I think she quite likes him, as well.’
‘Looks like it.’
‘Bless her. It’s weird to think she’s rapidly approaching adulthood. Where did all that time go?’
‘I wish I knew.’
‘It feels like life is passing me by, sometimes. But what time do I even have, after work and childcare?’
‘You do have time, you just spend it online. Whether that’s a good use of it, only you can decide.’
‘It’s easier to connect with people on there… They’re usually into the same things as me, and I don’t have to explain to them about being a single dad.’
‘God, why am I saying all of this? Sorry, I’m coming over all gloomy.’
‘I understand, though. I know what you’re saying. But look on the bright side: at least one of us is gonna be well-adjusted.’
‘Yeah, and I’m really grateful for how mature she’s turned out. I just hope she hasn’t aged too prematurely. God knows the girl needs to have some fun now and again.’
‘She’ll be fine, Ellis. We’ll make sure of that. We always do.’
