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The sound of silverware lightly tapping against a crystal champagne flute quiets the packed reception room. All eyes turn to Asher, the eldest (by five minutes) son of Magnus and Alec Lightwood-Bane. He is standing at the end of the head table where his fathers are seated. He clears his throat and looks at his twin brother, Myles, who is standing beside him. Myles is a couple of inches shorter than Asher, has been since they were about two.
Asher speaks into a microphone as he asks with a laugh, “Hey Myles, remember when we parent-trapped our dads?”
“How could I forget?” Myles replies with a huge smile.
Both boys - no, men, both pushing 40 by now - look at their fathers, who are looking at each other like they are newlyweds, even though they are currently attending the party celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.
Their Dad groans as his face turns a deep shade of red. “Please don’t tell that story. Everyone here already knows it," Alec begs.
A heckling yell of “No we don’t!” comes from a table close to the front of the room. All eyes turn to find Lorenzo, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Andrew, his husband and one of Alec’s best friends, was blushing beside him and mouthing the words “I’m sorry” to Alec. The rest of the room hums with laughter.
Alec waves away all the laughter and comments. “Fine, go ahead,” he tells his son with a resigned smile. Magnus smiles at his blushing husband and pats him on the back.
Asher continues. “For those who don’t know (or just want to see how red Dad can actually get), let’s go back to where it all went wrong...before Myles and I made it right.”
Myles waves his hands up and down in front of him in a wave pattern, wiggling his fingers while singing “doodley doodley doodley doodley.”
“Nice one bro.” Asher gives his brother a high five as Myles beams proudly at his side.
“I knew letting them watch Wayne’s World when they were young and impressionable was a bad idea,” Magnus rolls his eyes and whispers to Alec. Alec can only laugh at his sons. He’s so proud of both of them, the idiots.
“So, now that we’ve flashed back...” Asher looks at his brother and winks, pointing finger guns at him, “Thanks Myles", he turns back to address the room, "...it's about 35 years ago. Dad and Papa had both been promoted to CEO of each of their companies. For the first year, things seemed to be going well, then Dad’s company bought out Papa’s in a hostile takeover. The stress of the drawn out transition, both of them bringing home bad feelings and issues from work for over a year and trying to raise twin toddlers had been too much for them.
“Eventually, they resented each other and weren't willing to try to make their marriage work, so they divorced. We were three years old. Dad kept me and we moved to Manhattan to be near Aunt Izzy. Papa kept Myles and they stayed in Brooklyn.”
Myles chimes in at this point. “Yeah, and in their infinite wisdom, they decided to cut all ties “because it would be less painful” and never tell us about each other. Evidently they thought Manhattan and Brooklyn had enough people in them that the chances of us running into each other anywhere were slim to none.” His tone drips with undisguised sarcasm.
“We’re sorry!” Magnus and Alec yell to their boys in unison.
“Annnyyyywaaaayyy, as I was saying,” Myles continues, “Boy were they wrong! Explain how wrong they were, Asher.”
“Okay I will,” Asher says with a smirk. “We're 12 years old and our schools had each planned a last-day-of-school field trip to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. We’re in the Hall of African Animals, both in awe of the African Elephant display that dominates the center of the room. Myles is walking one way around the display (clearly not watching where he was going)...”
“Hey! You ran into me!!” Myles defends himself.
Asher rolls his eyes at Myles. “Whatever.” He waves off the continued protests he can see coming. “Agree to disagree.” He clears his throat, “As I was saying, Myles is going one way, I’m going the other, both immersed in the museum and BAM!, we run right smack into each other. His forehead connected with my nose, which began to bleed and Myles freaked the hell out.”
Myles is miffed. “I did NOT freak out. Why do you always say that?”
“What would you call crying and screaming for the teacher?”
“Getting you expert medical assistance by calling attention to the fact that you were bleeding.”
“Yeah, well, to your credit, you didn’t leave me. Stayed right by my side the whole time. Even held my hand. It was during those moments that we realized we look exactly alike.”
----
Asher sits on the cool floor of the nurse’s office in the museum, leaning against the wall, head back with an ice pack on his nose. Myles is sitting beside him, holding his hand, nervously watching him. “Are you okay?” he asks.
Asher takes the ice pack away from his face and answers, “Yeah, I'm alright. Pretty sure it’s stopped bleeding."
“I really am sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” Myles gasps suddenly. “Oh no. I just realized, they’re gonna tell my papa! And then they’re gonna tell your mom and dad. Ugh, I’m gonna be in so much trouble.”
“We’re both to blame. I wasn’t watching where I was going either. My dad will be cool about it. It was an accident. He’ll just be glad neither one of us was seriously hurt.”
“What about your mom though? Will she be as cool as your dad?”
“I don’t have a mom, just a dad.”
Thinking his mother must have passed away, Myles frowns at Asher, “Oh, I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. I’ve never had a mom.” Asher shrugs. “My aunt told me I had two dads when I was little but they divorced. I don’t know where my other dad is now.”
“Oh.” Myles stands from the floor and starts to pace the room, wringing his hands as he walks.
“What’s gotten into you?” Asher asks.
“I might know.”
“Know what?”
“Know where your other dad is.”
“How would you know?”
Myles stops pacing and reaches into his pocket for his phone. He unlocks it and starts swiping. As he does he asks Asher, "Have you noticed that we look alike?"
"Yeah, I guess, kinda."
Myles kneels down, then turns the phone screen towards Asher. He exhales and says, “This is my Papa.”
Asher gasps. He stares at the photo then reaches tentatively for the phone, which Myles gives him willingly. Finally Asher says in a quiet, astonished voice, “That’s my other dad.”
“How do you know that’s your other dad?” asks Myles.
“When my aunt told me about him, she showed me a picture. It was older than this one but that’s definitely him. He’d be hard to mistake for anyone else.”
Myles asks shyly, “Do you have a picture of your dad?”
“Oh, yeah.” Asher gets his phone out and scrolls until he finds a good picture. He gives the phone to Myles, “That’s him. That’s my dad.”
Myles has the same reaction of astonishment as Asher did. He looks up from the phone with wide eyes and says, “That’s my other dad. I saw a picture of him on my Papa’s best friend’s phone and she told me who he was.”
They stare in wonder at each other for a few moments. Finally, Myles breaks the silence, “So does this mean...we’re…”
“Brothers?” they say in unison.
Asher says, “It would explain why we look exactly alike.”
----
Asher continues the story to the crowd at the reception, “We spent the rest of the day in the museum together, learning about each other and our fathers. We have the same birthday...twins!; My favorite color is green, Myles’ is purple; Myles had a cat named Chairman Meow; my aunt’s name is Izzy. We also talked about our fathers. We had always wanted to meet our other dad so we came up with an - if I may say - ingenious plan.”
Myles chimes in, “It’s true and you should say it.”
Asher smiles at his brother. “We decided we were going to switch places for as long as we could and live with the dad we had never known. We told each other all of the important things about our home life with our father and about school. We exchanged phone numbers and planned to be in contact at all times in case there was a question about something and to give each other updates.”
Myles picks up the story. “Our scheme began when we switched clothes at the museum, everything except our shoes. Asher was just enough taller than me that we couldn't wear each other's shoes. We boarded each other’s bus back to school and prayed that our fathers wouldn’t notice the difference when they picked us up that afternoon. Thankfully, Dad was on his phone with work when he picked me up. I got a smiling glance in the rearview mirror and a quick ‘Hey, Asher’. All I could do was smile all over myself and stare at him. I couldn’t believe I was actually with him.”
----
Alec ends his call then looks back at Asher in the rearview mirror again. “How was the museum? See anything interesting?”
Myles just laughs. ‘Seeing something interesting’ is a funny way to say he saw his long-lost twin brother and took his place. “The Hall of African Animals was really great,” he smirks.
“That’s wonderful. Your aunt is waiting for us at home,” Alec tells him. “And don’t worry, she’s not cooking,” he says with a laugh. “She’s picking up takeout from Taki’s. You can tell us both everything about your day over dinner.”
“Ok.” Myles was worried there for a second. He remembers Asher telling him that Izzy was a horrible cook but she always tried to cook for everyone anyway. He’s relieved he doesn’t have to go through that on his first day.
Izzy greets them when they come through the front door. “How are two of my favorite people today?” She crosses the room and gives Alec a hug and kiss on the cheek.
“I’m gonna go change then we can eat, alright?” Alec says to her after he returns her affections.
“Yeah, sure,” she says as she watches Alec until his bedroom door closes. She turns to Myles. She gathers him up in a bear hug as well, which he returns with a tight squeeze of his own. She smells so good and gives the best hugs. He doesn’t want to let go but she pulls away just slightly, keeping him at arm's length while she studies him. “You okay Asher? You seem...off.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Just had an eventful day and I’m a little bit tired,” Myles answers, wishing that she doesn’t press for any more info. He doesn’t get his wish.
“Are you sure?” She looks him up and down quizzically. “I could have sworn you were wearing your black boots when I dropped you off at school this morning.”
“Oh, yeah, I, uh…” Myles’ mind is spinning. It’s not that obvious that he’s not his brother, is it?? He blurts out the only excuse he can think of, “...the weirdest thing happened. I was walking through the museum and the sole just came right off, made me trip and fall. One of my classmates had an extra pair of sneakers in his backpack so he let me borrow these.”
Izzy is still looking at him with a questioning gaze but she doesn’t press any more. “That was very nice of them. You’re alright aren’t you? Didn’t get hurt when you fell?”
“I’m alright. I was more embarrassed than anything.”
“Well, things like that can happen. We just have to brush them off and move on, head held high. I’m glad you’re alright.” She puts an arm over his shoulder as she stands beside him and says, “Come on. Help me get dinner put out.” They walk to the kitchen together and Izzy wonders how he shrunk two inches over the span of one day.
----
Asher takes up the story from his brother. “I had a similar experience to Myles’. Papa was texting someone when I got in the car. He didn’t even look back at me, just said, “Hey buddy. How was your day?”
----
Asher could only muster a curt, “Good,” as a response because he was so flabbergasted. The pictures didn’t do Magnus justice. He was much more fabulous in person, even from behind. Asher was in awe.
“Well, that’s nice but I hope you’re more talkative this evening. It’s game night, remember? Catarina and Madzie are coming over after dinner?”
“Oh, yeah, uh, I’m just kinda bummed we had to leave the museum before it closed. We didn’t get to see everything.”
“Maybe we’ll go back someday and we can stay as long as you like.”
“That’d be great.”
The rest of the car ride home is quiet. When they enter the loft, Chairman is curled up on the couch in a beam of sunlight that is pouring in through the large French doors that lead to the balcony. Asher has always loved cats (his dad would never let him have one), so he heads directly across the room to pet Chairman Meow. Chairman cracks his eyes as Asher sits down on the couch next to him, as soon as Asher reaches out to pet him, Chairman raises his head, hisses and swats at him. Asher pulls his hand back quickly.
“Chairman!” Magnus admonishes. “What’s your problem? It’s just Myles. You love Myles.”
Chairman takes a moment to consider Asher, whines in protest and jumps down off the couch.
“Crazy cat. He can be so crotchety sometimes,” Magnus says as he shakes his head. “He didn’t scratch you did he?” he asks Myles in concern.
“No, he didn’t,” Asher answers quietly. “Guess I just surprised him.”
“Well, how about we eat real quick then get ready for game night?” Magnus asks. “The girls will be here shortly.”
“Yeah, sure, that sounds good,” Asher answers.
They have leftovers for dinner and as soon as they have the kitchen cleaned up, Catarina and Madzie arrive. “Cat, Madzie, welcome,” Magnus says as he opens the door to let them in. Magnus gives Cat a kiss on the check while Madzie gives him a hug around the waist as he pats her back. “You all go on into the living room. I’ll go get the games.”
“Okay,” Cat says. Magnus goes down the hall and she and Madzie head into the living room, where Asher is waiting.
“Hi Myles,” Cat says with a smile as she makes her way over to him.
Asher stands from his seat and leans in to her when she hugs him. ‘This is nice,’ Asher thinks to himself. Cat releases him and he turns to Madzie to hug her too. He bends down so he can wrap his arms around her and rest his cheek on top of her head. (Myles had told him that they were really close friends, even though she was several years younger.)
Madzie lets go of him and frowns, “How’d you get so much taller than me? I was just starting to catch up a little bit.” She had been so proud of herself, growing up into a big girl.
“Oh, huh, um, growth spurt, I guess?” Asher answers her nervously. He gives her a friendly tap on the shoulder. “But, you know, don’t worry, you’ll start catching up with me again soon.”
Cat and Madzie both look at him with suspicion in their eyes then look at each other. They can both sense that something seems different about Myles, and they can’t put their finger on it, but they’re going to figure it out before game night is over.
----
“I survived game night,” Asher says. “Barely. Between Catarina and Chairman Meow, I didn’t think I was going to. But, after that first night, both Myles and I really got into the swing of things.”
“For about a week and a half,” adds Myles. “The one thing we didn’t think about doing was trading phones. In the end, that’s what did us in.”
Asher nods in agreement and continues, “You see, Dad had a policy, I could have a cell phone, with the caveat that Dad could and would monitor everything that I did on it.”
“You were only 12!” Alec yells in defense.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Asher says as he waves off his dad’s protest. “Myles had left his phone on the kitchen counter one night. Dad saw it and decided that that moment was a good time for a phone review. He turned on the screen and entered the passcode, but it didn't work. He tried two more times with the same result.”
Myles takes over the story from his brother. “Yeah, so there’s a perfunctory knock on my bedroom door and Dad comes in, my phone in hand.”
----
“Why doesn’t the password work, Asher?” Alec asks Myles in annoyance.
“Oh, uh…” Myles scrambles for a reason as to why the passcode for that phone doesn’t work. He can’t say ‘because it’s my phone, your other son, not Asher’s’ so he quickly lies and says, “I changed it because it’s important to change your passwords on a regular basis.”
Alec smiles with pride because he’s preached that to his son for as long as he can remember. “That’s correct. What’s the other part of that rule?” he questions.
“Ummm....” Myles racks his brain, trying to remember if Asher mentioned anything about cell phone rules. He can’t think of anything, his mind is blank.
Alec answers for him, “That if you change the passcode, you tell me what the new code is. Right?”
“Oh, yeah, right. Sorry.” Myles answers in relief.
“So?” Alec prompts. When Myles just stares at him he asks, “What’s the new code?”
Myles doesn’t see a way out of this predicament. His dad is staring at him, waiting for him to give him the passcode. He can’t avoid it so he says, “1234.”
“Really?” Alec asks, appalled. “You heard the part of my lecture about changing passwords but you missed the part about ‘Don’t make it simple’??” Alec just shakes his head. “You’re gonna change it to something different after I’m done.”
Myles hangs his head and quietly says, “Okay.”
Alec leaves the room once he has the phone unlocked. Myles paces the room nervously, trying to figure out what to do. He gets on the computer and sends a DM to Asher on every platform he can think of. There’s no reply. His heart drops down to his stomach when he hears his dad yell, “Asher, come in here. Now!”
He slowly makes his way out to the living room, where his dad is standing, phone in hand, scrolling. “Oh no,” he thinks. “The jig is up.”
Alec looks up when Myles enters the room. “Can you explain this?” he challenges.
“Explain what?”
“All of these pictures.”
“Oh, um…” How can he answer that question?? Does he just confess everything now? He wishes Asher would have responded to him in time! He paces as he waits for his fate to be determined.
While Alec is waiting for a response from Asher, he’s distracted by the pictures of people he knows, but from long ago, another lifetime really. Catarina, Ragnor...Magnus. Finally it clicks into place in his mind. This boy in front of him, the one nervously pacing, is not his son, Asher...but his son, Myles.
He looks up from the phone, “Myles?” he asks, with a tremor in his voice, as he stares at the son he hasn’t seen for 9 years..
Myles stops his pacing and stares back at his dad. After a moment of silence passes between them, Myles sighs, shoulders sagging with the relief that he doesn’t have to lie anymore and says, “Yeah, it’s me.”
Alec immediately drops the phone and takes two long strides across the room to gather his son into his arms. He hugs Myles tightly and kisses him on his head, his temple, both cheeks, his forehead. He takes Myles’ face in his large hands and looks into his eyes, studying him. “How did you get here?” he asks.
“It’s a long story.”
“I’ve got all night,” Alec says.
----
“Dad and I talked until after midnight,” Myles resumed. “I explained how Asher and I had met at the museum then made the plan to switch places because we had both missed having another father ever since we found out they existed. He was kind of mad at Aunt Izzy for telling Asher so much about Papa,” he laughs.
“I’m not sorry!” Izzy yells from the crowd, which laughs at her response.
“I’m glad you did,” says Asher. “I wouldn’t have recognized that picture of Papa when Myles showed it to me if you hadn’t.”
Myles continues, “Dad called Papa the next morning. As luck would have it, Papa was getting ready to call Dad. He had had his own surprise the night before.”
----
The phone on the end table next to him pings once, twice, three, four times in quick succession. It’s Myles’ phone but Magnus glances at the phone anyway and sees the notification previews, all from the same user, ‘Myles2GoB4USleep’. Magnus picks up the phone and takes it to Myles in his bedroom.
He leans against the door jam as he says, “Hey Myles, you’ve got a bunch of messages here from a ‘Myles2GoB4USleep’. Who is that?”
Asher almost panics. He can’t believe what’s happening. That username belongs to Myles! He’s got to play it cool so he shrugs and tries to be nonchalant, “Oh, uh...just a person on the internet.” He mentally chides himself for playing video games all afternoon and forgetting his phone in the living room. He gets up from his bean bag chair, controller still in hand and his headphones still on his head. He reaches casually for the phone, “Thanks,” but his Papa doesn’t make a move to give it to him. Instead he just stares at him.
“Interesting coincidence then that his username has your name in it?”
“Huh, yeah, must be a...coincidence, right,” Asher stutters as he reaches for the phone again. This time Magnus pulls it away from his grasp.
Magnus studies his son. Myles is acting all twitchy under the scrutiny. Finally Magnus questions, “Is there anything else you want to tell me about this person?”
“Um...we play Fortnight together??” Asher offers, hoping that will appease his Papa.
Magnus raises his eyebrows in question. “That’s it? Nothing more?”
“No, uh, not that I can think of.”
Magnus detects a bit of timidity in his son’s voice. He looks back at the phone and actually reads the smaller print preview of the first message on the screen. It’s a Twitter DM that starts ‘Asher! Dad found my phone. He’s gonna know…’
Magnus’ heart sinks, then soars as his mind processes what that message could mean. This can’t mean what he thinks it does, can it? It’s impossible that this is his son, Asher, right? It all starts to come together with certainty. He looks back at his son and appeals, “I really wish you’d be truthful with me….Asher.”
Asher can feel his face pale. He starts to stutter through a lame excuse then gives up. He doesn’t want to lie to his Papa anymore. “The truth is…” he heaves a sigh and bows his head, he can’t look at his Papa when he confesses, “I am Asher and ‘Myles2GoB4USleep’ is your real son, Myles.”
Magnus reaches out so quickly, Asher could have sworn he’d used magic to do it, and grabs Asher into his arms and squeezes him tightly. He kisses his head then looks deeply into his sad eyes. “Oh honey, you’re my real son too.”
“Then why did you leave me and never have anything to do with me for the last 9 years?” Asher sniffles.
Magnus wipes away the single tear that has fallen. “It’s a long, very complicated story,” he says with a sigh.
“I’ve got time,” Asher says hopefully.
----
“So…” Myles continues to the group, “after a lot of talking, debating and pleading with our fathers, they decided that we could stay - me with Dad and Asher with Papa - for the summer but we had to change back before school started again.”
Asher tells the crowd. “I loved spending time with and getting to know Dad, same for Myles and Papa. It helped us get closer to our fathers, even though, admittedly, part of it was a reconnaissance mission.”
Myles interrupts, “As you may already know, over the summer, Asher and I stayed in constant contact and we made another plan, this time on how to get Dad and Papa back together again.”
“How’d you do it??” someone yells from the back of the room.
Asher looks at Myles and they share a pleased grin. Asher addresses the group again, “We’re so happy you asked. We found out everything we could about our father’s relationship: how they met; how they fell in love; who proposed to whom; which songs played at their wedding and the reception; anything and everything they would tell us.”
Myles concurs then carries on with the story. “We asked about why they divorced and what their lives had been like after that. We found out that neither one had had a serious relationship over the last 9 years. There had been a few dates here and there and one or two even got close to being called a boyfriend or a girlfriend but nothing ever lasted. Asher and I chose to believe it was because they still loved each other and wished they could go back and make it work.”
“We had all the information we needed to spring our trap so when the summer ended, we were ready to go back home,” Asher admits. “We missed our own rooms and the father we had each grown up with. Once we were home, we talked about our other father all the time. Dad was always so interested in what Papa was doing: How was work going?; Was he happy?; Was he seeing anyone? The list of questions was endless.”
“Same with Papa,” Myles agrees. “I would catch him scrolling through Asher’s social media pages just to see if he posted a picture with Dad in it. It was constant so after a month or so, we decided the time was right to Parent Trap them!”
----
Alec calls Izzy when he arrives at the restaurant. She’s late, of course. “I’ll be there soon,” she says. “Just go ahead and get our table, the reservation is in my name. I won’t be long.”
“Ugh, fine. Hurry up.” He hangs up the phone and the maître d takes him to their table. It’s in the private back room, which Alec thinks is odd, but so is his sister sometimes so he doesn’t question it. Within five minutes, the door to the private room opens and he stands to greet his sister. To his surprise, Catarina Loss walks in, followed by Magnus Bane. Magnus is mumbling something about ‘Cat, why are we sitting all the way back here?’ but he stops his tirade, and his steps, when he sees Alec. The same butterflies he's always felt when he sees Alec take flight in his stomach.
Catarina turns to Magnus. “I think you two should talk.”
Magnus just stands there and shakes his head. He’s speaking to Cat, but he’s looking at Alec. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Cat. I’m sure Alec is waiting on someone else.”
"I was waiting on Izzy but I have the sneaking suspicion that she’s in on this too and isn’t really coming," Alec offers. He's proud that his nerves weren't apparent in his voice . After all this time, he's still overcome with a wonderful nervous energy any time he's around Magnus.
“You’re right,” Cat admits. “She helped to set everything up but she won’t be here in person.”
“See, it’s just a set up. One I’m not sticking around for,” says Magnus. He turns to leave the room but Cat catches him by the arm and pulls him back around.
“You need to talk.” She looks at Alec, “Both of you, and you need to listen to what the other has to say. If you won’t do it for you…” she looks back and forth between them, “...do it for your boys.”
At that moment, Asher and Myles come out of the kitchen door that leads into the private dining room. Magnus stares at Cat in shock. “You knew about this??”
She laughs him off with a smirk. “Of course I did. I had my suspicions on day one. Didn’t take me much longer to figure it all out. Asher made me promise not to tell you though. I agreed because I believed the switch would be good for all of you. And it was.”
She turns back to Alec, “Don’t be too mad at your sister, she knew about the switch too. And for all the same reasons, she kept it from you.”
“Now, we’re both telling you,” she looks back at Magnus, “that this dinner will be a good thing so don’t argue with me and go sit down.”
Magnus regards Alec then his twin boys, together for the first time in 9 years. Hell, they’re all together for the first time in 9 years. He looks back at Cat, “Okay, I’ll stay.”
“Good,” she says. She pats him on the arm and leaves him with his children and his ex.
“So, it seems you’re a victim here just like I am,” he comments to Alec as he makes his way to the table.
Alec rolls his eyes, immediately bristly. “Victim’s kind of a harsh word isn’t it? I mean, no crime has been committed against you. It’s just dinner with me.”
Magnus throws his hands in the air. “Why do you always have to be so literal about everything?!? Jesus, I was just trying to ease the tension a bit. I knew this wasn’t gonna work.” He turns again to leave but is stopped by another hand on his arm, Asher’s.
“Magnus,” Asher begins. It doesn’t seem appropriate to call him Papa right now, even after the time they spent together, especially if Magnus isn’t willing to mend the relationship, even into friendship, with his dad. It’ll be easier on Asher later if he doesn’t think of Magnus as his other father right now. “Please stay,” he pleads with unshed tears in his eyes.
Magnus looks down at Asher who is only twelve years old but is acting like he’s forty-five. If Asher can be mature about this, then so can he. Plus, Asher calling him ‘Magnus’ just tore his heart into shreds and he never wants him to call him by his name ever again. He’s his Papa and he’s going to do everything in his power from this moment on to prove it to him. “Okay.”
Asher takes his hand and guides him over to the table. “Now that we’re all here, please take a seat,” he says. All four of them sit then Alec and Magnus look at the boys expectantly.
Myles starts, “Thanks Papa, and Alec, for staying.”
Alec’s heart hurts when Myles uses his name.
“We’ve gathered you here today to give you an ultimatum,” Myles continues.
“Oh, is that right?” Alec asks, as he and Magnus share a look of disbelief. Magnus just shrugs and shakes his head.
“Yes. We’ve come to the conclusion that we want to live together, Asher and I. We’ve spent too long apart, unfairly, and we REFUSE to continue to be separated.”
“Really?” Magnus asks with the same tone Alec has used. “You’ve concluded?”
“Yep,” Asher answers. “Aunt Izzy said we could stay with her and Cat said the same. That if you two can’t figure something out, it’ll be your loss.”
Magnus and Alec just look at each other, knowing they’re going to have to fix this, somehow. They know they can’t keep the boys apart anymore. It would hurt them too much and neither one of them want to hurt their children, any more than they already have. Alec finally breaks the silence, “Fine, we’ll talk.”
The boys jump up from their seats, clapping, while they half-run back to the kitchen. “Great. Dinner will be out in a minute,” Myles calls over his shoulder.
“Don’t you need to eat too?” Magnus yells after him.
Myles just smiles at his fathers. “We ate earlier. This dinner is for you two.” He pushes through the swinging door into the kitchen and is gone.
In a few moments, “War of Hearts” starts playing quietly over the stereo system. Alec and Magnus just stare at each other. Asher breaks the suspense when he brings out their first course, salad.
“Asher,” Alec asks, as he waves his hand around to indicate the music, “what is this all about?”
Asher shrugs, “It’s just some mood music.” That’s the only answer he gives then leaves the room.
They eat for a short time then Magnus observes, “You know, this is the restaurant where you proposed to me. This song was playing when you did it.”
“Yeah, I remember,” Alec acknowledges with a subtle smile. “That seems like a million years ago.”
Magnus nods his head in agreement. “It does.”
As they eat the rest of their salads they actually start to talk about how to make things work for the boys. They think about a six month split - six months with Magnus, the other six with Alec - but decide that that wouldn’t work for any of them.
Myles interrupts the conversation when he brings in the second course, 8 ounce medium rare steak au poivre with roasted rosemary potatoes and asparagus. “Oh, this looks delicious,” Alec says.
“Oh yes, one of my favorite meals,” Magnus replies with a smile.
It gets quiet in between the end of the random song that was playing and the beginning of the next one, which is “I Get to Love You.” No one says anything but Myles watches both of his fathers catch their breath at the sound of their wedding song. He doesn’t miss the look in their eyes either. He smiles to himself and thinks, ‘The plan is working!’. Before he leaves the table, he tells his fathers to “Enjoy your meal” then he makes his way to the kitchen with a satisfied grin on his face.
They barely acknowledge that Myles has spoken, both entranced by the song’s lyrics. Alec sighs as he listens to the chorus. “I didn’t do a very good job with that, did I?” he asks sincerely.
“With what?”
“I promised that ‘whatever may come, your heart I will choose’. I didn’t do that. When it came down to it, I was blinded by ambition. Focusing solely on my own success. I was so selfish...to you, and the boys.”
Magnus sighs. “So was I. I didn’t hold up my end of the promise either.”
“How so?”
“I promised that ‘I’ll never leave when love’s too heavy to carry’.”
Alec gives Magnus an apologetic smile. “So I guess we’re both to blame, huh?”
“We are,” Magnus admits. “Neither one of us were successful at not bringing work home, physically or emotionally and we’ve caused our family a lot of pain because of it.”
Alec grimaces, “Yeah, we did."
“Well,” Magnus says to change the subject, “that’s all in the past. Let’s eat this lovely dinner and discuss what we can do about the future.” Alec concurs and they discuss more options of how they can make some kind of custody/visitation/living arrangement that will work for everyone.
The conversation continues easily and the next thing they know, the boys bring out dessert, tiramisu, Alec’s favorite. By this time, both Magnus and Alec have a suspicion as to what is really going on here. “You know boys, this meal was the exact meal we had here when we got engaged. You two wouldn’t know anything about that right?” Magnus inquires.
Asher shakes his head. “Nope, must be a coincidence.”
“Right, it’s a very common dinner here,” Myles adds and they bustle away back to the kitchen. Unbeknownst to their fathers, they stay right inside the door where they can hear and see what happens next.
Magnus and Alec can only shake their heads in amazement and disbelief at all the work the boys had done to put this evening together.
“Even with everything that happened, we’ve raised a couple of pretty good kids,” Alec declares.
“We really have.”
Alec frowns. "I'm so sorry, Magnus. For everything. If I could go back in time and change things, I would,” he confesses.
"So would I, Alec. I'm sorry too for...all of it," Magnus replies sincerely. He starts to think about the last 9 years and how much he’s missed Alec.
Alec is reflecting on how much he’s missed Magnus, since the day they separated. His rumination is cut short when “What a Wonderful World” starts playing. He’s immediately transported back to the dance floor of their wedding reception, as the song plays for their first dance together as husbands.
Alec regards Magnus and decides to take a chance when he hesitantly reaches out his hand and lays it palm up on the table. Magnus doesn’t hesitate to take it. Alec smiles at him shyly. “You know, I never had another serious relationship after you. It never felt right.”
“And I haven’t been truly, utterly happy for a single day since the divorce. I used to be that happy...with you Alexander.”
“Me too. I think we can have that again, if you’re willing to give me another shot.”
“Only if you’ll give me one too.”
They beam at each other and are both startled when hoots and hollers come from the kitchen as the boys burst through the doors and run to them. They stand to meet the boys, who land in their arms in tight bear hugs. They hold on to them, and each other, as if they’ll never let go. And they won't.
----
“So here we are now, 26 very happy years later,” Asher concludes. He smiles at his Papa and his Dad, both still enamored with each other after all these years, and so very deeply in love. His dad is red as a beet now, after the telling of that whole tale, and his eyes are wet with tears. One or two escape down his cheeks but Papa is there to wipe them away as Dad does the same for him. They smile at each other, foreheads resting together, and share a chaste kiss. "I love you's" are whispered between them.
Myles turns toward the crowd, “Everyone, please raise your glasses to the best parents we could have asked for.”
Everyone lifts their glasses in cheers. “Here, here!” they all shout then take a sip of their drink.
Asher clears his throat before speaking again. “Myles and I, we just want to say, Happy Anniversary, Dad...Papa. To our Fathers!” He salutes them again with his glass. “It may have been a rocky and eventful start, but once we set you back on the right track, it’s been smooth sailing for the last 25 years. May you have many, many more. Thanks again for being the best fathers in the world. We love you so much.”