Kith and Kin by Kris Ripper

Author:Kris Ripper [Ripper, Kris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay, asexual, adoption, Religion, cult, family, drama, lgbtqia+
ISBN: 9781942083665
Publisher: Brain Mill Press LLC
Published: 2017-06-20T05:00:00+00:00

29

Singer

59 days with Miles

It started in the bedroom.

Singer had given the kitchen a cursory once-over after they got home from Carey and Alice’s while Jake put Miles, already asleep, in his crib. They’d reconvened in the bedroom.

It started with Jake saying, “Maybe we should think about surrogacy. I mean, I never considered it as an option, but I don’t know. Maybe it is.” Then he’d looked over, with that sweet, goofy smile on his face that made him look younger, and added, “Seriously, the thought of a kid with your genes is kind of amazing, you know?”

My genes. Singer turned away, trying to shield his expression so Jake couldn’t see how the idea made him squirm. He started brushing his teeth, but Jake’s reflection in the mirror straightened up, as if he could sense how uncomfortable Singer was, as if he could scent it, like a predator.

“What?” Jake’s voice was flat. “You don’t want to try surrogacy?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Yeah, newsflash, Singer, you don’t say anything lately. At least not to me.”

He finished with his teeth and leaned against the sink, a safe distance away. “We talk all the time.”

“Jesus. We really don’t, and I know you’re doing it on purpose, so don’t you dare act like I’m making this up.”

“We spent the whole day together.” It was a lie. Singer’s guts twisted, thinking about all the times he’d avoided Jake lately.

“Don’t bullshit me, dammit!”

“Please keep your voice down—”

“I am keeping my voice down.” Jake glanced at the baby monitor and stood up. “We need to talk. The living room would be farther away from Miles’s room.”

“But—”

Jake was already out the door, baby monitor in hand.

This wasn’t good. Singer’s legs felt unsteady as he followed, and when he sank into the sofa he could feel the strength leave them.

Jake paced back and forth in front of the coffee table, shoulders set. “We used to be able to talk about things. God, Singer, you talked about—about everything with me. I thought that’s what we did.”

“Tonight, though? We need to have to talk about this tonight? I’m don’t see why it’s suddenly urgent—”

“It’s not ‘suddenly urgent,’ it’s urgent the way something gets urgent when you don’t want to talk about it ever!” He spun to walk back in the other direction, fists clenching and releasing at his side. “I can’t figure out if you’re pissed, or upset, or— Is this about having another kid? Are you saying you don’t want that now?”

“No, I’m not, but I don’t know how, with everything that’s happening right now, you can even think about having more.”

“I don’t know how you can look at Miles and not think about the future. Do you really not think about anything? You don’t think about what it’d be like to drop him off at school? Or what we’ll do if kids make fun of him for having gay dads?”

Singer realized his hands were knotted in front of him so tightly he could feel all of his bones. “I can’t do that right now.

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