Page 273 of Seasons of Love
They shook hands, and I saw something pass between them. I looked at Vítor discreetly and noticed he saw it, too.
From the gazebo, Afonso was staring in our direction, looking confused.
"Hey, Flea. Come over here," I called. "There's someone I want you to meet."
He walked up to us slowly, like he was afraid to approach. His eyes locked on Mateus, but then he looked at Fred and dropped his gaze like he was feeling guilty. Vítor tightened his arms around me, which told me he hadn't missed that, either.
"Afonso, this is Mateus, Vítor's son. Mateus, this is my brother, Afonso.
Mateus gave my brother a hug. Afonso froze in Mateus' arms for a moment before he returned the hug with a "pleased to meet you."
"Er, I have to go help Mário. See you around. Well, I guess when you come to get food. We have drinks, too. Whatever you want." Afonso ran to the gazebo without looking back once.
Fred excused himself, too, to go see Isaac and Max.
"So, where are the grooms to be?" Mateus asked.
"We haven't seen them yet," I said.
"This is such a cool idea. And Joel doesn't have any idea that his family is here?"
"Yup, he doesn’t know Max is here, either. They grew up together in America."
"Great, I might go introduce myself to them, but I'm going to say hi to Teresa first. She'll never forgive me if I don't go straight to her."
Vítor turned me to face him and ran his hands through my wet hair.
"I don't know how this is my life now, but I'm not going to complain."
I saw Mateus engulfed in one of Teresa's mom hugs and smiled.
"It never ceases to amaze me how easily he makes friendships," Vítor said as I leaned on his chest, his still-cool skin against mine.
"He was raised well by his dads."
"Oh look, there they come."
David and Joel were beaming as they approached the party. The first ones to get to them were Filipe and Joel's little cousins who were only eight, ten, and eleven. After the rest of the family joined them with hugs and congratulations, the happy couple came over to where we were.
"Congratulations guys. I'm so happy for you," I said as I gave each a hug.
David looked at Joel as if for reassurance and then said, "Vítor, I er… I was wondering if I could call you dad."
Vítor's hand trembled in mine. He'd mentioned not long ago how much he hoped that David would one day be ready to call him dad instead of using his first name.
Emotion caught in my throat. I could only imagine how my man was feeling.
"Of course you can, son," Vítor said. "Nothing would make me happier."
"Does that mean that Tiago is your stepdad?" Joel joked.
"He's going to be our daddy," Mateus said, giving David a congratulatory pat on the back. "Come on, food is ready."
Mário already had the food ready to go and buckets of drinks on ice. Afonso looked busy and eager to do his job.
"I'm so happy for them. David has changed so much since Joel came back. He's so much happier now," I said.
Vítor kissed my forehead.
