frogs_of_war (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
frogs_of_war) wrote2012-06-03 05:34 pm
frogs_of_war) wrote2012-06-03 05:34 pm
Entry tags:
Uninterrupted, Part 3
When my husband and I were in the room, my daughter read aloud post about a lesbian couple who took a hetero-normative relationship survey for a friend . The purpose of the survey was to see how many yes-no questions both members of the couple answered the same. The woman who wrote the post said the worse thing was how boring the survey was, so she came up with some questions with allusions to comic books and other geeky things like: if you were sent to an alternate universe, the first thing you’d do is find your significant other? Even if this was an evil mirror universe and your significant other was evil? Stuff like that.
I asked if your significant other had an analogue, then did you have one? I believe if you get together with someone who was dating someone else, even if that other person was your analogue, then it’s cheating. My husband agreed with my thought before I could articulate it properly. So I think we are doing well couple-wise.
Title: For an Uninterrupted Date
Status: Part 3 of 10
Universe: (A Balance of) Harmonies Portland
Genre: m/m romance, family, city life, businessmen, kids
Content: carrying, clothes, changing, a mirror, good friend, a solution
Length: about 1,300 words
Master List
Diemen looked at Em then at all the stuff in the car’s trunk. How many trips back and forth would this take with a toddler? Maybe Diemen should only bring the grapes in for now.
Em clapped her hands and reached into the truck. Diemen rooted through the bags for something small enough for Em to carry. Condoms did not sound like a good idea, but the pillow cases might work. Diemen handed Em one. She bounced in his arms, but Diemen couldn’t put her down in the parking lot. He set one pillow on top of the car, closed the trunk, and tucked the pillow back under his arm.
As soon as they got to the sidewalk, Diemen put Em down and guided her to the stairs for his building. He adjusted the pillow and then carried Em upstairs. And this was just the first trip.
By the time he was done, he was exhausted and it was time for dinner. Em dug into her boxes of clothes. Courtney had packed two boxes, one for girl’s clothes and one for boy’s. Diemen found his smallest laundry basket and stuck a selection from each in it and then dumped the other clothes together and took them into the laundry room. The bedding and the towels he’d picked up at the first place he’d shopped needed to be washed.
Courtney said that since Em changed clothes several times a day, she just picked though the boxes everyday for the dirty stuff, because even a toddler couldn’t dirty everything he put on. But Diemen wasn’t so sure about that. If he did one load of Em stuff every day, Em would never run out.
Em took off her clothes and handed them to Diemen. He put them in the washing machine with the others. “What would you like to wear now?”
Em ran back into the living room. He chose a frilly shirt that buttoned up the back, overalls, and a skirt of sweat shirt material. Diemen help Em into the clothes. Of Em changed as often as Courtney said, then why wasn’t the box full of clothes Em could get in and out of himself?
Em ran down the hall. Diemen followed her. She ran into the bathroom and crawled onto the toilet. Diemen added cleaning the toilet more often to his list. Once a week wasn’t going to work with how much of Em touched the outside of the bowl as she climbed up. From the toilet Em climbed onto the counter. Diemen caught and lifted her before she could put her weight on the toilet paper roll. He sat her on the counter. She twisted back and forth as she looked at herself in the mirror and said a word that might have been “pretty.”
“You always look pretty no matter what you are wearing.” Diemen picked Em up. “Would you like to see a different mirror?”
Em leaned against Diemen. He carried her into the spare bedroom and closed the door. A mirror hung on the back of the door. But that wasn’t a safe place to have it with a little kid in the house. He carried Em into the laundry room and got out his tool box. He had one of those briefcase ones used by people who only needed tools to hang up pictures and tighten screws. But that was all he ever used it for.
Em insisted on carrying the toolbox, but in order to lift it off the floor, she had to hold the handle right under her chin and her little knees bumped into the hard plastic case with ever step. But she was entertained and that was the most important thing.
The hammer didn’t want to come out of its compartment. It wasn’t a tool Diemen used very often so he had to help Em pull it out. She was too small to weld a hammer, especially around glass, so he designated her hammer-holder and then mirror-holder with his discrete assistance as he nailed the tall thin mirror horizontally at Em eye level.
Once the mirror was in place, Diemen put all his tools away and got out the glass cleaner. Em turned out to be an expert spritzer, as long as Diemen held the bottle and aimed. She enjoyed cleaning the mirror, so Diemen took her around the house and they cleaned the glass together.
After Diemen settled Em down in front of a nature show — he didn’t have any kid’s videos — he filled a pot with water and put it on the burner for noodles and then called Autumn. Zan answered and put the phone on speaker because Autumn was two inches from the end of the row of knitting.
“Guess what.”
“The moon really is green cheese,” guessed Autumn.
“You’ve just been elected president,” offered Zan.
“A great uncle you never met died and left you oodles of money.”
“A woman you’ve haven’t seen since high school insists her kid is yours.”
They all laughed at that one. Autumn and Zan knew Diemen was about as gay as they came and that Diego was the first and last person he’d dated. Until Pavel.
“Actually, that’s almost right.”
“What?” asked the ladies together.
“I am a father for the next five days to my cousin’s kid and before today I hadn’t seen her in months.”
The click of Autumn’s needles stopped. “We’re aunts!”
Leave it to them to see everything the way that benefitted them the most. He waited out their mini celebration and kiss. Then Autumn’s needles started again. Zan asked, “And when do we get to meet our newest relation?”
“Actually, I need a favor.”
“We’ll do it,” said Autumn.
“As long as you bring the kid over,” Zan finished Autumn’s sentence.
“Then I need another favor.”
“Anything.”
“Childproof your living room.”
“Ouch,” Zan said. “You don’t ask much do you?”
They each had studio/craft rooms, but at any given time they were working on their projects in the living room. Diemen had come over once to find the coffee table covered in sketches of Zan’s latest project and the couch and Autumn covered in yards and yards of Civil War replica dress held together with hundreds of pins as Autumn hand basted the hem.
Yard of pins and toddlers didn’t mix. Or they did with painful consequences.
“If you can’t…”
“We will,” Autumn said, followed by a thump.
“How childproof?” asked Zan.
“Em is two.”
“Oh,” said Zan. “Give us an hour.”
“Tomorrow,” said Diemen, “after work.”
Em brought him a new outfit. He had gotten all his clothes off except the button up shirt.
“You aren’t bringing little Em over right now?”
“I want to give Em a chance to settle in.” Diemen helped Em into his new choice of clothes.
“Good, good,” said Zan. “Will Em like Mac and cheese?”
“Em likes everything.” At least according to his mother.
“Diemen,” said Zan, “should we read anything into your avoidance of pronouns?”
“You could say that, but I want you to meet Em and make up your own mind.”
“You can trust us. We’ll love Em.”
Diemen knew they would, that’s why they were the first people he called.
“Now,” said Autumn. “What can we do for you?”
Diemen explained Em’s problem with the cart and conveyer belt and Diemen’s trials unloading the car. Once they were done laughing, Autumn promised she had just the thing for both problems.
Diemen hung up. He still had dinner to make.
I asked if your significant other had an analogue, then did you have one? I believe if you get together with someone who was dating someone else, even if that other person was your analogue, then it’s cheating. My husband agreed with my thought before I could articulate it properly. So I think we are doing well couple-wise.
Title: For an Uninterrupted Date
Status: Part 3 of 10
Universe: (A Balance of) Harmonies Portland
Genre: m/m romance, family, city life, businessmen, kids
Content: carrying, clothes, changing, a mirror, good friend, a solution
Length: about 1,300 words
Master List
Diemen looked at Em then at all the stuff in the car’s trunk. How many trips back and forth would this take with a toddler? Maybe Diemen should only bring the grapes in for now.
Em clapped her hands and reached into the truck. Diemen rooted through the bags for something small enough for Em to carry. Condoms did not sound like a good idea, but the pillow cases might work. Diemen handed Em one. She bounced in his arms, but Diemen couldn’t put her down in the parking lot. He set one pillow on top of the car, closed the trunk, and tucked the pillow back under his arm.
As soon as they got to the sidewalk, Diemen put Em down and guided her to the stairs for his building. He adjusted the pillow and then carried Em upstairs. And this was just the first trip.
By the time he was done, he was exhausted and it was time for dinner. Em dug into her boxes of clothes. Courtney had packed two boxes, one for girl’s clothes and one for boy’s. Diemen found his smallest laundry basket and stuck a selection from each in it and then dumped the other clothes together and took them into the laundry room. The bedding and the towels he’d picked up at the first place he’d shopped needed to be washed.
Courtney said that since Em changed clothes several times a day, she just picked though the boxes everyday for the dirty stuff, because even a toddler couldn’t dirty everything he put on. But Diemen wasn’t so sure about that. If he did one load of Em stuff every day, Em would never run out.
Em took off her clothes and handed them to Diemen. He put them in the washing machine with the others. “What would you like to wear now?”
Em ran back into the living room. He chose a frilly shirt that buttoned up the back, overalls, and a skirt of sweat shirt material. Diemen help Em into the clothes. Of Em changed as often as Courtney said, then why wasn’t the box full of clothes Em could get in and out of himself?
Em ran down the hall. Diemen followed her. She ran into the bathroom and crawled onto the toilet. Diemen added cleaning the toilet more often to his list. Once a week wasn’t going to work with how much of Em touched the outside of the bowl as she climbed up. From the toilet Em climbed onto the counter. Diemen caught and lifted her before she could put her weight on the toilet paper roll. He sat her on the counter. She twisted back and forth as she looked at herself in the mirror and said a word that might have been “pretty.”
“You always look pretty no matter what you are wearing.” Diemen picked Em up. “Would you like to see a different mirror?”
Em leaned against Diemen. He carried her into the spare bedroom and closed the door. A mirror hung on the back of the door. But that wasn’t a safe place to have it with a little kid in the house. He carried Em into the laundry room and got out his tool box. He had one of those briefcase ones used by people who only needed tools to hang up pictures and tighten screws. But that was all he ever used it for.
Em insisted on carrying the toolbox, but in order to lift it off the floor, she had to hold the handle right under her chin and her little knees bumped into the hard plastic case with ever step. But she was entertained and that was the most important thing.
The hammer didn’t want to come out of its compartment. It wasn’t a tool Diemen used very often so he had to help Em pull it out. She was too small to weld a hammer, especially around glass, so he designated her hammer-holder and then mirror-holder with his discrete assistance as he nailed the tall thin mirror horizontally at Em eye level.
Once the mirror was in place, Diemen put all his tools away and got out the glass cleaner. Em turned out to be an expert spritzer, as long as Diemen held the bottle and aimed. She enjoyed cleaning the mirror, so Diemen took her around the house and they cleaned the glass together.
After Diemen settled Em down in front of a nature show — he didn’t have any kid’s videos — he filled a pot with water and put it on the burner for noodles and then called Autumn. Zan answered and put the phone on speaker because Autumn was two inches from the end of the row of knitting.
“Guess what.”
“The moon really is green cheese,” guessed Autumn.
“You’ve just been elected president,” offered Zan.
“A great uncle you never met died and left you oodles of money.”
“A woman you’ve haven’t seen since high school insists her kid is yours.”
They all laughed at that one. Autumn and Zan knew Diemen was about as gay as they came and that Diego was the first and last person he’d dated. Until Pavel.
“Actually, that’s almost right.”
“What?” asked the ladies together.
“I am a father for the next five days to my cousin’s kid and before today I hadn’t seen her in months.”
The click of Autumn’s needles stopped. “We’re aunts!”
Leave it to them to see everything the way that benefitted them the most. He waited out their mini celebration and kiss. Then Autumn’s needles started again. Zan asked, “And when do we get to meet our newest relation?”
“Actually, I need a favor.”
“We’ll do it,” said Autumn.
“As long as you bring the kid over,” Zan finished Autumn’s sentence.
“Then I need another favor.”
“Anything.”
“Childproof your living room.”
“Ouch,” Zan said. “You don’t ask much do you?”
They each had studio/craft rooms, but at any given time they were working on their projects in the living room. Diemen had come over once to find the coffee table covered in sketches of Zan’s latest project and the couch and Autumn covered in yards and yards of Civil War replica dress held together with hundreds of pins as Autumn hand basted the hem.
Yard of pins and toddlers didn’t mix. Or they did with painful consequences.
“If you can’t…”
“We will,” Autumn said, followed by a thump.
“How childproof?” asked Zan.
“Em is two.”
“Oh,” said Zan. “Give us an hour.”
“Tomorrow,” said Diemen, “after work.”
Em brought him a new outfit. He had gotten all his clothes off except the button up shirt.
“You aren’t bringing little Em over right now?”
“I want to give Em a chance to settle in.” Diemen helped Em into his new choice of clothes.
“Good, good,” said Zan. “Will Em like Mac and cheese?”
“Em likes everything.” At least according to his mother.
“Diemen,” said Zan, “should we read anything into your avoidance of pronouns?”
“You could say that, but I want you to meet Em and make up your own mind.”
“You can trust us. We’ll love Em.”
Diemen knew they would, that’s why they were the first people he called.
“Now,” said Autumn. “What can we do for you?”
Diemen explained Em’s problem with the cart and conveyer belt and Diemen’s trials unloading the car. Once they were done laughing, Autumn promised she had just the thing for both problems.
Diemen hung up. He still had dinner to make.