Chapter 3-2
1012 Words
Lance stared uncertainly at the house in front of him. Maybe he had driven to the wrong address. He knew Michael Lambert was a self-made billionaire, and he had assumed the Lamberts would be living in a palace or someplace even more grandiose. Yet this house, though still somewhat sizable, was rather anticlimactic to say the least. He herded the twins toward the front door, still trying to make sure they had reached the right destination.
He knocked a couple of times, preparing himself to apologize just in case they were at the wrong address. His fear was unfounded, though, when Michael answered the door and Megan smiled broadly when she came to stand next to her father.
Lance was about to greet them when the children squealed and joyfully jumped up and down, hugging one another as if they had been separated for the last century. He skillfully ignored the loud noises and greeted Michael with a nod and a handshake.
“Come in, Mr. Johnson.”
“Call me Lance, please.”
“Okay, Lance. Call me Mike, then. Thanks for coming at such a short notice.”
“No problem. Thanks for having us. Sorry that Adam can’t make it. He’s busy at the store. Your house is…umm, nice.”
The other man laughed. “Too small for a billionaire, huh?”
Lance flushed in embarrassment.
“It’s alright, Lance. I hadn’t counted on adopting Megan a few years ago. I thought I would be a childless bachelor for the rest of my life.”
“Sorry, Mike.”
“Don’t be.”
They made their way into the living room, then Mike gave Megan permission to drag the twins into the adjoining room. Apparently, that was where she kept her toys.
Lance sat on the couch a little apart from Mike after the other man gestured to it. Objectively, he noticed Mike’s attractiveness, but he’d been with Adam for years, and he loved and respected his boyfriend far too much to lose even an ounce of self-control. Besides, it was not as if Mike felt the same way about him.
“No butler, housekeeper, or personal chef?”
He was completely mesmerized when Mike broke into laughter once again. “I have a housekeeper, Cynthia, and a personal chef, Andrew. They’re siblings, but they don’t live with Megan and me. They come by only on weekdays from six in the morning until six in the evening. But if I can’t make it home on time, they stay with Megan until I get here.”
“Adam and I are more fortunate in that regard because there are two of us. However, we’ve been saving up because we intend to buy a large enough building where Adam can open his toy store on the first floor and we can all live on the second floor. We’ve not worked out the details yet.”
“Okay.”
The silence that followed seemed awkward. Lance alternated between staring at his fingers and gazing at his host. He felt flustered when Mike caught his eyes lingering too long on what he could see of the man’s hairy chest and arms, thanks to the unfastened top buttons of his short-sleeved shirt. He couldn’t help it, though. He was faithful, not blind. He might admire Mike’s muscular torso, broad shoulders, and thick biceps, but he would not cross the line.
“So, Mike…”
“Yeah?”
“May I have a tour of the house?”
“Oh, of course.”
Lance hummed and hawed as he looked at the various rooms. There was a master bedroom with an en-suite bathroom that obviously belonged to Mike. Megan’s bedroom was next to it. Both rooms, along with two bathrooms and two extra bedrooms, were on the second floor. The kitchen, living room, and the playroom were all on the first floor.
“What do you usually do on the weekends, Mike?” Lance inquired when they had seated down once again in the living room.
“I’m a workaholic, but I need to change that. I think I’ve been burying myself in my work to get away from my loneliness. I’ve hurt Megan’s feelings unconsciously. I need to be a better father.”
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up over it, Mike. We all learn how to be a better parent as we live through it day by day.”
“Uh, thanks. Sorry for dumping all this on you. You’re not here to listen to my rambling.”
“It’s fine, Mike. Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry, too, for snapping at you last Friday afternoon.”
“Oh, that’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Lance, you were right. In some ways, I’ve been neglecting my daughter’s well-being.”
“Okay, then.”
“Yeah.”
“Cool.”
The silence resumed once again, but it was not as awkward anymore. They smiled hesitantly at each other. At least, they had come to a mutual understanding.
“By the way, Lance, Megan…she…”
“Yeah?”
“Oh, this is so stupid.”
“What is it, Mike?”
“Megan asked me about why she did not have a sibling.”
“What did you say to her?”
“I tried to explain, but she ended up asking if Nathan and Holly could live here with us.”
Lance snickered. “And?” he prodded curiously.
“She wanted to know if we could all live here together.”
“All of us?”
“All of us.”
“That’s…wow.”
“I’ve attempted to make her understand that relationships don’t work out that way. At least, not for the adults. She thinks I should be dating both Adam and you.”
Lance openly gaped at Michael. This was such a bizarre topic of conversation that he didn’t quite know how to respond. He had to wait for his heartbeat to calm a little before he replied. “Mike, are you…I mean…Wow! I don’t know what to say.”
“Yeah, it’s insane, I know. I just…Look, I’m going to be straightforward with you. I like both Adam and you. I’m attracted to both of you.”
Lance stared at him in shock. He had not expected that at all. “Okay…”
“I want to date both of you. Can we at least talk about it?”
“I…I don’t know, Mike,” he answered honestly. “Adam informed me this morning that we’re all going to have lunch together later. Why don’t we discuss it then? No promises, though.”
“Fair enough.”
“Mike, if—and that’s a very big if—the three of us decide that we might be interested in dating one another, Megan would have to be transferred into another classroom. Conflict of interest and all that. I can’t be handling a child when I’m dating the parent.”
“Let’s cross the bridge when we come to it.”
Lance nodded and they proceeded to talk about their children. He also divulged to Mike about his dream of opening his own daytime nursery. He was hoping that he and Adam would find a building spacious enough to accommodate the toy store, the daytime nursery, and an apartment on the uppermost floor. He was grateful that Mike listened attentively. If they did not end up in a three-way, poly-amorous relationship, he hoped they could at least remain friends.
- Writer
