[Samuel x Roman]

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"Ooooooooooh, Coke icy poles, yes please," Roman said excitedly. "Okay, that is first thing on the agenda when we get home. Coke icy poles, then an ice cream churner."

Roman grinned and shovelled a few more forkfuls of lasange into his mouth, allowing them to both actually eat for a little while before they started talking again. Roman loved eating almost as much as he loved his husband, so he didn't mind what they did while they sat at their table in that cute little restaurant. Roman could honestly just sit in a room and stare at the wall with Samuel and have the time of his life.

Roman gently kicked his husband's knee under the table. "Hey," he said, as if they had just greeted one another after a long day of being separated or something of that nature. "What if Chelsea has her baby while we're here and I'm not the first one to hold them like I was with Allison? I'll have to shove the baby back in and have her redo the whole thing."
 
"Roman, no don't say things like that it sounds fucking gross," Samuel protested, although he was laughing just a little bit, he was excited about the future addition to the family, but less excited about the birthing part, although, he would probably be seated in the waiting room just like he had with London, so that was okay, "Besides, I'm pretty sure Brooklyn's going to want to hold it before you,"

Samuel leaned forward and grabbed a bite of Roman's lasagne, he always stole food from Roman when they were eating, whether they were home and eating the same thing, or out at restaurants where it made sense so he could taste the different food. Samuel just kind of liked doing it, it felt nice knowing they were close enough to do things like that.

"I know it's hard for you, but sometimes you gotta wait your turn," Samuel said in a joking tone and put the lasagne in his mouth. It was really good. He knew there was truth to the joke too, obviously Roman would have some trouble with waiting with his ADHD but that didn't mean they couldn't laugh a little about the fact, plus Samuel thought his impatience and hyperactivity could be pretty cute, so he wouldn't ever complain about it. Too much, at least.
 
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Roman scowled, both at the suggestion that he would have to wait to hold the baby and at Samuel stealing a forkful of his lasange. Of course, he didn't actually mind if his husband nicked a bit of his food, but he was going to pretend that he did. He took the plate and pulled it close, leaning back in his chair so it was out of Samuel's reach. He then took his fork and loaded it up with as much lasange as he could fit on it, as if to claim it as his own.

"Fuck you. I am God, I have to wait for nothing," he proclaimed, before shoving the forkful of pasta into his mouth. He chewed energetically, as if to make a point, before swallowing and taking a sip of his vanilla milkshake. "And Brooklyn's a squeamish little bitch, I doubt he'll even be in the delivery room."

That was a joke, of course. Brooklyn had changed a lot over the years and that was something that Roman was very happy about. Brooklyn had evolved into someone Roman was actually proud to call his brother, and he knew that the older man wouldn't miss the birth of his first child for the world. He was tending to Chelsea and making sure that her every need was taken care of, and also carried her quite a lot so she didn't have to walk on sore feet. It was honestly really sweet. Roman couldn't wait until his little niece or nephew was born.

Soon, he and Samuel had both finished their main courses and it was time for ice cream. The waitress came, seeming astonished that Roman had finished all of his food and that he seemed willing to eat some more.

"So, lovely husband, what sorbet do we want?" Roman asked his lovely Samuel, letting him make the ultimate decision, because he was sweet like that.
 
Samuel laughed a little at Roman calling Brooklyn a little bitch, knowing he was joking. Samuel was happy Roman was on good terms with Brooklyn again, they had been for a while now, but it really did beat them hating each other, mostly because Samuel knew it had been hurting Roman so deeply. But now everything was good in the Hemlock family.

They finished their foods at about the same time, proving that despite their differing eating habits they truly were compatible. Roman ate fast but a lot, and Samuel ate slow but an average amount, meaning they often finished around the same time, which was nice.

The waitress came back, meaning it was ice cream time. Samuel thought about the choice of flavour for a moment. He knew Roman had wanted the raspberry one and it sounded really good, but there was also one with mango, and Samuel really loved mango a whole lot. Of course, had it not been for Roman's eating habits they could have gotten both, so maybe it was fair if they got the mango. He of course also wanted to give Roman what he wanted, because he always wanted Roman to be the happiest he could.

But he also really loved mango.

"Can we get the mango then?" Samuel asked sweetly, almost as if he was a kid asking a parent, but in reality, he just wanted to make sure Roman was a hundred percent okay with the flavour choice. Roman was the picky eater, after all, Samuel never cared too much about the flavour of things since he thought most of them were good.
 
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"I am partial to mango," Roman agreed, turning to the waitress with a pretty smile. And even if she was very weirded out by his eating habits, she was still a teenage girl, so Roman's gorgeous smile dazzled her for a moment. "Could we please get four scoops of the mango sorbet?" he asked her sweetly.

"S - Sure," she stammered, jotting down the order before leaving with a slight pink blush to her tanned cheeks.

Roman watched her go before he turned his bright green eyes back to his husband. It didn't matter how many pretty girls and hot guys fell over one another to get to him -- Samuel would always be the one for him, and that was never going to change. He loved his husband more than life itself and wouldn't trade him for the world.

"See, I couldn't be a teacher like you, because all the teenage girls in my classes would just stare dreamily at me and I'd get fired for being a distraction," he joked. He felt like it was okay to joke about that to his husband. It wouldn't incite jealousy because there was nothing to really be jealous over. "Wait, isn't your laptop homescreen a picture of me with all the pets? How do they handle it when you put the screen on the whiteboard?"
 
Samuel, of course, saw the light blush on the girls cheek, but in this instance he wasn't jealous, because once again, she was very young, and thus he didn't care, just like he didn't care when half his female students drooled over Roman the moment that cute picture of him with all their pets appeared on the whiteboard. They were kids, it'd be silly to make a fuss about it. So he ran with Roman's joke.

"They don't, you ruin my classes on a daily basis," Samuel joked, it was true that plenty of the more talkative girls would blurt out things like "your husband is cute," to which he'd tell them "I know he is," it was always fun, at least for him, on occasion it earned him and the girls a couple of groans from the macho hetero fourteen-year-old boys. It was pretty hilarious too. Samuel loved his job a lot, "But honestly, you know who they love more than you?"

Samuel made a small dramatic pause and looked at Roman intently, "Lola." He said firmly, "The kids fucking love her, Some of them literally looked you up on Instagram to find more bunny pictures, how does it feel to be outshined by a bunny?"

Part of Samuel knew that might have been an excuse to get Samuel to share his husbands Instagram account with the class so they could find picture of Roman, but he also liked to believe in the innocence of the children and was pretty sure that at least the twelve and thirteen-year-olds were more excited by the cute little animal.
 
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"You know what? I can live with being outshone by the bunny. I love that bunny a lot." Roman nodded to himself and pretended to wipe away a tear, as if the mention of Lola herself was enough to break the dam in his eyes. It obviously wasn't, but still, Lola was indeed very cute and Roman didn't mind sharing the spotlight with her a little.

Their sorbet came pretty quickly -- Roman guessed it was because it took a lot less time to simply scoop out a bit of dessert from a tub than it did to actually prepare a dish. The waitress set it on their table along with two spoons. Roman thanked her and she blushed again, but he did not comment on it.

Once she left, Roman turned to Samuel. "Wait, did you give out my Instagram name to a bunch of tweens? Is that why I got a sudden boost of new followers when term started this year? Damn, I thought it was because of all the sexy ribs in that one shirtless picture I posted over summer." Roman clicked his fingers as if it were truly disappointing. "I'm gutted. You've gutted me. You're lucky you're cute."
 
"If it makes you feel better I'm pretty sure most of them came for the bunny but stayed for said shirtless picture," Samuel admitted the truth, all while feeding his husbands ego a little, he could never get enough of feeding Roman's ego, "I like that picture a lot. It's very nice, I rate your sexy ribs eleven out of ten,"

Samuel gave him a ridiculous flirty wink, that was mostly meant as a joke before digging into the orange coloured ice cream, or rather, Sorbet. Samuel was right away reminded that sorbet simply was the superior frozen treat. It tasted just the right amount of sweet and sour and mango-y.

"Oh god this is good," Samuel said, he immediately scooped up some more but rather than to eat it he held the spoon out for his husband, as if he wasn't capable of just getting some sorbet, on his own spoon and eat by himself. Feeding your loved one some food was cheesy and romantic and Samuel honestly loved cheesy and romantic things so he was going to do it, "Here taste it, it's like a twelve out of ten and that's more than your sexy ribs, so you know it's good."
 
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Roman opened his mouth and allowed his husband to feed him the sorbet, as he always did when Samuel wanted to feed him something. He was more than capable of feeding himself but like Samuel, he honestly found it pretty cute and did not mind it at all. So, he took the offered sorbet and his eyes widened a little when he was met with the taste.

"Holy shit," he said. "That's amazing."

They ate the sorbet together, sharing it evenly because even if Roman ate about three times as much as Samuel, even he knew where to draw the line and he didn't want to get sick due to eating too much dessert. Once they had finished their meal, they went inside and paid for it and left the little restaurant holding hands as they always did.

They didn't get far, however. The British buskers who had been performing when they had arrived were still there, only now, one of the girls was speaking into the microphone instead of singing. "Do we have any musically inclined people in the house tonight?" she asked in a cheery voice. She was a pretty dark-skinned girl with gorgeous natural hair and deep purple lipstick. "Anyone want to come up and sing?"

Roman's eyes lit up and he turned to Samuel. "Can I, can I, can I?" he asked, like an excited child asking their parent if they could play on the playground.
 
They finished the sorbet without complaints. Roman ate the most of it as expected, Samuel ate what he felt like a normal amount and after an entire pizza and some Sorbet he was feeling really full. Samuel had no idea how Roman's body worked, had he eaten his husband's meal he would have probably been in the bathroom throwing them back up by then because it was way too much.

After eating and paying they were just about to go on their merry way when the buskers asked if anyone wanted to join. Samuel knew even before Roman had even excitedly asked that his husband would be up there singing within a couple of minutes.

"Of course you can," Samuel gave Roman's back an encouraging little pat that was more a gentle shove in the buskers' direction, "Go and sing your heart out," he added in an amused tone.

Samuel would never know how Roman did it, how he had the confidence to just walk up to a bunch of random people willingly and sing. He was happy for him though, he deserved that kind of confidence because he deserved the best and Samuel knew having low confidence was a struggle, and to add that on top of Roman's anxiety would have been horrible. But that's not how life was and Samuel was happy for his husband.
 
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And so, Roman skipped up to the group of buskers, introduced himself and told them all of how he was a singer and could play a variety of instruments. They were very nice and happily allowed him to sing with them. After a few more minutes of discussion, Amelia, the dark-skinned girl who had invited the spectators up before, picked up the microphone and addressed the crowd once more.

"Okay, everyone, we've got someone to perform with is, this is Roman Hemlock-Ortega from Australia. He's on his honeymoon right now, and will be singing a song dedicated to his husband Samuel."

The crowd who had gathered to watch clapped as Roman took the microphone from the lovely lady and took his place in the centre of the small area the buskers had claimed as their stage. Of course, he was already getting adoring looks from female spectators and some males before he had even opened his mouth. But when he did, he had everyone's attention securely captivated.

"Okay, as Amelia said, this song is dedicated to my lovely husband Samuel. This is Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran."

He paused, and the guitar player behind him began to strum out the rhythm. Roman counted himself in, lifted the microphone to his lips, and began to sing.

"When your legs don't work like they used to before ... and I can't sweep you off of your feet ..."

If his speaking voice alone hadn't captivated his audience, his singing voice certainly did. The perfect notes issued from his mouth and into the microphone and everyone in the vicinity who hadn't already been looking at him certainly was now. Roman held the mike with one hand and held the other to his chest, as if he was singing from his heart, which he honestly was.

He faced Samuel and looked at him steadily, ignoring everyone else because his husband was the only one he could see. "And darling I ... will ... be loving you ... till we're seventy ..."

He sang the rest of the pre-chorus like that, facing Samuel, and when he finished the first chorus and started the second verse, he began to slowly move towards Samuel, the crowd parting for him as he went. The cord connecting the microphone to the speaker was very long, so he was able to do it without difficulty.

"When the hair's all but gone and my memory fades ... and the crowds don't remember my name ... when my hands don't play the strings the same way ... I know you will still love me the same ..."

By this point, Roman had reached his husband and was smiling as he sang. He carefully reached down with his free hand, took Samuel's and squeezed it gently to make up for putting him in the spotlight.

"'Cause honey your ... soul ... will never grow ... old, it's evergreen ... And baby your ... smile's ... forever in my mind and memory ... I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways ... maybe it's all part of a plan ... And I just keep on making the same mistakes ... hoping that you'll understand ..."

Roman's high notes were impeccable, as always, and kept the audience hooked. At this point, he began to walk back to the stage, but never broke eye contact with Samuel and also kept his hand in his own. He sang the chorus while they walked and when they reached the edge of the crowd, Roman kissed the back of Samuel's hand, let it go and made his way back to the middle of the stage during the musical break. Then, when his vocals started again, he sang the chorus, but his voice was a whole key higher and sounded amazing.

He never broke eye contact with Samuel.

"So, baby, now ... take me into your loving arms ... kiss me under the light of a thousand stars ... place your hand on my beating heart ... I'm thinking out loud ... baby, we found love right where we are ... baby, we found love right where we a-a-are ... baby, we ... found ... love ... right ... where we are ..."

Roman trailed off, and the musician behind him finished as well. There was silence for exactly one second, before the audience began to clap and cheer and drown Roman with applause. Many people also threw money into the buskers' hat. Roman smiled and bowed a little, but ultimately gazed at Samuel the most, the lovely man he had dedicated that song to.
 
Samuel waited excitedly with the rest of the crowd as Roman started talking with the buskers. He was the only one who really knew how good Roman was though, all other people would be in for a real surprise. And that's what they got because Roman started singing and everyone was in awe. Samuel too. He would never get tired of hearing Roman sing. Especially not when it was a song he loved, and a song about love dedicated to him.

Samuel noticed all the looks Roman was getting as usual, and now they weren't just from teen girls, however because Roman was singing to him and him only, Samuel couldn't be bothered to care about those random people.

When Roman started walking towards him and then finally standing it to stand close to him he successfully brought the attention over to where Samuel were standing. Samuel couldn't help but to blush and look down on his feet a little as all eyes now were directed at the both of them rather than just Roman. But he was smiling, and when Roman squeezed his hand Samuel looked up again, focusing on his lovely husband, his fantastic voice and the lovely words he was singing.

Then they slowly started walking closer to the buskers again. Thanks to Roman keeping his eyes locked with his Samuel was feeling just fine and he didn't worry too much about the people around them. Roman was singing to him and it was absolutely lovely.

When Roman let go of Samuel's hand to join the buskers again he brought most of the attention with him, he was a captivating guy and his singing was amazing. Way better than a lot of the singers you heard on the radio, yet he was just this guy passing by on the streets of Barcelona, so of course people were intrigued.

Once the song was over and people had clapped and cheered for a good couple of minutes Samuel decided to be a little braver than usual and walked up to Roman, places a hand on either of his cheeks and pulled him down for a kiss. It was a quick small one, nothing outrageous, "that was amazing," he whispered when he pulled back. Then he placed another chaste kiss on those lovely lips of his before backing of a little and smiling at the busker girl Roman had been speaking to, "thanks for letting him sing with you guys,"
 
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Roman happily let his husband kiss him once he had concluded his performance. He was just glad that Samuel had liked it, because he knew that he was a little shy sometimes and could have disliked the attention. But, no, Samuel did not seem to mind too much and Roman was immensely pleased.

"Yeah, thank you," Roman said to Amelia, turning to her and handing her the microphone.

"No, no, thank you for performing," Amelia said brightly, happily taking the mike. "You were amazing, holy shit. Where did you learn to sing like that?"

Roman shrugged. "Practice, I guess?"

Another busker, this one a fair-skinned guy with a hipster beanie and a scruffy beard, walked over with a large chunk of the money that had just been thrown into the hat. He tried to hand it to Roman, but Roman immediately shook his head. "No, no, don't be silly, you keep it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course."

The buskers smiled and thanked Roman again. He smiled back, said goodbye and then lead his husband through the crowd of spectators and back out onto the open street. Once they were free, Roman dropped a kiss to the top of the other man's head and nuzzled his soft hair.

"I love you."
 
"I love you too," Samuel murmured happily and pressed his forehead to Roman's chest for a moment. He really did love him a whole lot, but that was no secret to anyone.

They spent the rest of the day continuing to explore barcelona, there was a lot to see and even if there hadn't been because just spending time with Roman was one of the best things in the world.

They went back to the hotel pretty early though, tomorrow they'd finally be meeting some of Samuel's relatives and he had expressed to Roman that he felt nervous and wanted a good night of sleep.

And so the next day, after a night of Samuel clinging close to his husband, they were on their way to a random parking lot not to far from the hotel where Samuel's cousin Marìa along with her husband and kid would be picking them up so they could drive to their home further out from town.

Samuel was less nervous about this particular meeting though. He talked with Maria over the phone regularly. No, he was more nervous about meeting Marìa's parents who would be over at Marìa's house and then possibly going with them for dinner over at their grandmother's place. He and Roman were invited but he wasn't sure if he wanted to go yet.

But first they'd meet Marìa so it was okay. They made it to the parking lot without any problem really. Samuel had made sure to pick his running shoes again because they were the comfiest, and then also a dark red t-shirt, a pair of tan chinos and a pair of blue and white striped socks. It was pretty plain, not that he usually wasn't but he wasn't wearing any floral socks like he had a couple of days ago.

When they got to the parking lot the little family of three were already there. Marìa seemed to recognize her cousin instantly as she right away shouted, "Samuel!" Using the Spanish pronunciation of the name, while running up to them. She kissed both of Samuels cheeks before giving him a big hug.

"God you're all grown up," she exclaimed in Spanish, "but it's so nice to finally see you again,"

"It's nice to see you too," Samuel replied in the same language. Marìa leaned back a little to properly look at him and Samuel did the same. She was a very beautiful woman, long black wavy hair, tan skin and the prettiest of smiles.

She then turned to Roman and when she spoke she switched over to English. She had a clear accent, but her English was close to flawless otherwise, "and you must be Roman! You really are tall, and handsome, just like Samuel described." She laughed a little but tippy toed in an attempt to do the cheek kisses again, Samuel doubted Roman needed any reminder to do it. Samuel knew the custom by heart due to all the cheek kisses he had gotten greeted with from his family growing up, but Roman was way more comfortable socially and knew how to read situations well.
 
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Today was the day that they were meeting Samuel's relatives, and Roman was admittedly slightly nervous. This was Manuel Ortega's side of the family, the family of the man who hated Roman and had severely hurt him in the past. Roman was nervous, but he countered that nervousness with the knowledge that Samuel would never knowingly put him into a dangerous situation. If he was taking him, it meant that Samuel felt comfortable enough around the relatives they were meeting. That was enough for Roman.

Samuel had dressed rather plain that day and Roman had attempted to do the same but still looked pretty alternative. He wore his favourite cherry blossom jacket with a pastel pink T-shirt that had the outline of a PAC-Man ghost on it. He also wore black skinny jeans, his black high tops and had painted his nails black the night before. All of his piercings were black. He had gone simple with the makeup that day, sticking to only a black winged eyeliner look and a blinding white highlighter. He had wanted to do a full face that day, but he knew where to draw the line.

Now, they were meeting Samuel's cousin Maria and her husband and child. Roman had seen pictures of Maria so she was easy to identify, and he stood back with a smile on his face as Samuel reunited with his favourite cousin. In the meantime, Roman smiled at Maria's husband and their little child. Then it came to his turn to greet Maria.

"Well, I'm sure Samuel exaggerates sometimes when discussing my appearance so I'm honestly surprised you're not underwhelmed," Roman joked. He leaned down and kissed both of Maria's cheeks without having to be told or prompted. "It's very nice to meet you, Maria, I've heard a lot about you." And that wasn't a lie.

Roman smiled at the nice woman before he approached Maria's husband with an extended hand. "It's lovely to meet you, my name is Roman," he said to the man.
 
"Javier," Javier introduced himself simply. He was a cool guy, Samuel had looked up to him a lot when he was younger. The guy was pretty tall, him to with tan skin and dark hair, good looking with athletic build. He did swimming, properly, that's is what Samuel had been the most impressed by when he was younger that he was on a team and got sponsorships and all that. A proper athlete, which obviously Samuel's goal at like fifteen or fourteen or whenever it was him and María had gotten together, "It's nice to meet you,"

Javier made sure to shake Roman's hand properly, then moved on to give Samuel a quick hug and smile and they told each other it was nice to see one other again. Javier's English wasn't as good as his wife's but close to, communication would not be an issue.

Then there was only one person left to say hello to, María and Javier's son. He would be around eleven at this point, Samuel had played with him when he was sixteen and then he had been around two. He was obviously a lot bigger now. Still a little short though, and a little pudgy, not enough so he wouldn't grow into it the moment he started growing a little, but it gave him a round and sweet looking face, and he had the most adorable black curls.

"Miguel, this is my cousin, Samuel," María told him, and pushed him forward a little because he had been standing behind his father, throwing very curious glances Samuel and Roman's way.

"Hello Miguel, I've met you once when you were really little, do you remember that?" Samuel asked in Spanish to make things easy for the kid, other than that he was planning on speaking in English so he could include his husband as much as possible.

To Samuel's surprise Miguel nodded, Samuel hadn't expected him to remember, and María came with an explanation in English, "I showed him some pictures of you and him from the last time you were here, he's been really excited to meet you, but he's a little shy, not that you're a stranger to that," María laughed a little and gave her cousin a gentle shove on the arm. Samuel blushed almost as if to prove her point and Miguel who seemed to have grasped at least some of what his mother had said seemed to be doing the same thing as Samuel.

"He's been very excited about speaking English too," María continued and she turned to her son and ruffled his hair, "Don't you want to show how good you are at English, Miguel?"

Miguel shrugged. Samuel smiled at him, he got it, suddenly he was getting a lot of attention, and it wasn't easy to just talk to a bunch of adults in a language he wasn't sure of, so Samuel decided to help him find a natural reason to talk, "Well Miguel, you see this tall guy here?" Samuel patted Roman's arm, and Miguel looked at Roman curiously as he finally got to know who this strange man was, "He's my husband, and he doesn't speak Spanish so maybe you could introduce yourself in English?"

"Husband?" Miguel asked, Samuel, let his eyes flicker up to María for a second, and then Roman, nervously. Samuel looked back at the kid, smile still on his face, "yeah husband,"

"Okay," Miguel said simply and Samuel got a little relieved, he was just a kid so had his reaction not been a good one he could always learn, but it still would have hurt, Samuel was glad it didn't seem to spark anything other than curiosity though, and now Miguel seemed to have gotten enough pushes to want to communicate with the tall stranger, he looked over at Roman carefully, "I—I'm Miguel, What is your name?"

He was obviously sporting an accent, thicker than his parents, but this kid was honestly adorable in Samuel's opinion, there was no better word to describe him.
 
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Roman smiled politely at Javier and then stood back so the two Spanish men could greet one another, and so Samuel could say hello to his adorable second cousin.

Roman loved kids. He smiled as the adults attempted to coax little Miguel out of his shell a bit, he honestly found the shyness very sweet and certainly didn't blame the small boy. Roman didn't mind shyness -- if he did, he would have never been able to marry his beautiful Samuel.

When Miguel introduced himself to Roman, the tall man immediately squatted down to the small boy's level, so they could make proper eye contact and Miguel didn't have to bend his head back. Roman found that children either loved his height, because it meant that he could be used as a climbing frame or for shoulder rides, or they found him scary and intimidating because of it. Roman sincerely hoped that Miguel felt the former about him.

"Hello, Miguel, my name is Roman," said Roman, holding out his hand to the small child. He gave Miguel a reassuring smile, because he didn't want the boy to feel nervous. "It's very nice to meet you."
 
"O-okay," Miguel said, and he smiled back shyly, he seemed mostly curious about Roman, he was staring intently at Roman's face, probably due to the makeup, but he seemed to be too shy to point it out, or maybe he didn't know how to express it in the foreign language, "it is nice to meet you too," he added quietly, before trying to discretely take a couple of steps back to hide behind his dad again.

It wasn't very discrete but no one stopped him, María just shrugged and smiled, and Samuel who had been a shy kid assumed it'd be easier for the child once he had gotten some time to warm up to them and were back to the familiarity of his own home.

"Well let's get going, shall we? There's no point in standing out here," María suggested and she had a point so all of them got seated in the car. With the two extra people, it was a little cramped so they strategically had Roman sit in the passenger seat with Javier driving. Miguel sat between his mother and Samuel in the back and sooner they were on the road.

"So I take it the wedding went as planned?" Javier asked, reminding the couple that they indeed just got married a couple of days prior still. Samuel simultaneously felt like he had been married to Roman forever and like it had happened yesterday.

"Ooh yes! I'm so sad we couldn't actually come to see it, so you gotta send me pictures when you got them, I'm sure your mother took plenty," María obviously remembered Susan as someone who liked taking a lot of photos since even when she had stopped taking them at home she had during their trips to Spain, "but for now you just have to tell us all about it! Was it beautiful and amazing?"
 
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"It was absolutely perfect," Roman said with a dreamy sigh, gazing at his husband affectionately in the rear vision mirror. He'd tell anyone who would listen about their amazing wedding. Roman was also incredibly glad that Maria and Javier seemed open-minded enough to ask about it -- that stood in sharp juxtaposition to the attitudes Manuel would have had about it, if he were still in his son's life.

But this day was hopefully going to be a positive one, so Roman pushed Manuel Ortega out of his mind. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, opened up his camera roll and then opened the folder he had made of the wedding photos that people had taken on their phones. Roman handed the phone to Maria so she could flick through them at her leisure.

"We had it in the woods and our niece, my sister's little girl, was the flower girl and she was the most precious thing, and all the decorations were purple and green and white and we had vanilla candles everywhere." Roman was absolutely elated to be talking about his wedding, and he chattered with delight.
 
"God that sounds nice, I love vanilla, see those are the kind of things you'd only get to experience if you were there," she sighed a little, almost in a longing way, she was probably thinking back to her own wedding day. Samuel had been there, it had been really lovely, a church wedding obviously, but still beautiful.

"That's going to be one of the best days of your lives you know," Javier said, Samuel couldn't see his face from the back seat but he could hear the smile in his voice.

"Yeah, that and getting your first kid," María added and smiled at Miguel, who seemed to have completely tuned out the conversation as he was playing some puzzle game on a phone while leaning on his mother, "Which you totally can get now that you're married, right?"

"Yeah, adopting is easier when you're married." Samuel confirmed.

"Are you adopting then?" Javier asked, "Not… What's it called…?" he trailed off a little and let go of the steering wheel with one hand waved it a little as if that would help him remember the English word.

"Surrogating?" Samuel asked, given the context, it wasn't all that hard to figure out what he had been trying to say.

"Yeah, that's the word." Javier nodded and put his hand back on the wheel, "you're not surrogating?"

It was an oddly personal question to be said in such a casual context after so long time of not seeing each other, but Samuel supposed that was that odd of a question to be asked by someone in your family, especially now that they were married and getting into their later twenties, and Samuel wouldn't have been surprised if people had spared them the questions like this one, about getting kids, before they had gotten married because they knew adopting could be hard if you weren't.
 
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