"You know, I've always liked diners," Johnny remarked as they sat down at the table and the waitress handed them their menus. "Sue worked at one when she was high school. I was only twelve, so when practice was over for the night, I'd go over there and hang out until her shift was finished."
"You know, Matchstick, I wonder about your judgement on a lotta things, but this ain't one of 'em," Ben replied fondly. "Somethin' chamin' about diners, you know? Like a little slice of Americana. And there's no better place to get breakfast, either."
Johnny and Ben were in San Diego, finally free after days of merchandising negotiations. Now that they had finished, in a short while they would go to rendezvous with Sue and Reed for some interdimensional exploration, but right now their main concentration was their meal.
To Ben's relief, most of the customers left them alone apart from a few wide-eyed stares when they first walked in. But one in particular, girl who looked perhaps sixteen, kept glancing back over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of them, before turning back to the two other occupants of the booth, a pair of little boys that shared her sleek dark hair and bronze complexion.
Finally, just before the waitress delivered their breakfast, the girl rose from her table and approached them.
"I'm so sorry to bother you," the girl began, looking very nervous and self-conscious. "I know you're just trying to eat breakfast. But my little brothers wanted to know if we could get a picture together? When you're finished eating, of course," she added hurriedly.
"'Course not," Ben said genially. "Send them over right now. We don't mind." Out of all the people who stared at him, little kids bothered him the least. They were too young to know any better and tended to be more curious than insensitive.
"Yeah, anything for a fan." Johnny gave her a charming smile, one that Ben had seen him use on various occasions to put both the public and the paparazzi at ease.
"Oh, thank you!" Obviously relieved, the girl motioned to the two little boys, and they rushed over, grinning like they'd just won the lottery.
After posing for a picture together, the girl shook Ben and Johnny's hands and quickly ushered the boys away, obviously not wanting to risk intruding on their breakfast. Johnny watched them go with a speculative expression on his face.
"Have you ever thought about kids?" he asked Ben casually.
Ben almost choked on his coffee. While he and Johnny had been dating for almost six months, the topic had never been brought up by either of them before.
"Uh, um, have you?" Ben deflected when he was able to answer.
"I mean, it's occurred to me as an option," Johnny responded with a shrug. "But it was never really something I seriously considered. I was just wondering if you had."
Searching for the right words, Ben didn't reply immediately. Since he was old enough to consider the idea, he always knew he wanted a family. While he'd only had one sibling, an older brother named Daniel, Ben had hero-worshipped him throughout his childhood and thought he must have been the luckiest kid in the world to be related to someone as incredible as him. And when Daniel died when Ben was eight years old, abruptly killed in a gang fight, Ben couldn't help but feel that a part of his spirit had been snuffed out alongside his brother's life.
But after the radiation accident, his dreams of a family had seemed impossible. He looked like a monster, a freak, and what was even worse, he felt like one. People gasped and stared at him on the street; there was nowhere he could go in public where he wasn't a walking sideshow attraction. When Debbie had silently placed her engagement ring on the ground and walked away without a moment of hesitation, she had not only shattered Ben's confidence, but also his hope of having a life together, of marriage and kids.
Now, here he was, discussing starting a family together with the one person he had absolutely never anticipated even dating. It was almost unbelievable.
"Yeah," Ben managed gruffly. "I'd like kids. You know, some day. But marriage first," he tacked on hurriedly, lest Johnny get the wrong idea.
Johnny smirked. "Yeah. I figured as much, with you being the old-fashioned type."
"Nothing wrong with that," Ben defended himself.
Johnny laid a placating hand on Ben's arm. "Of course not. Besides, our honeymoon would just give us more time to come up with a really good story about how we met." Johnny's blue eyes sparkled with mischief as he looked at Ben. "After all, we wouldn't want our precious kiddies to know how mean you were to me during flight school."
" 'Mean'?" Ben sputtered. "I was perfectly justified in every one of my decisions regardin' you, and you know it! You were the one bringin' in unauthorized civilians for parties and trying to impress them with NASA equipment you didn't even have access to!"
"You have to admit, it was pretty ingenious how I was able to keep sneaking into those restricted areas," Johnny said proudly. "You know, we should highlight that when we lie to our kids about our first meeting. After all, we want them to think it was our best qualities that helped us get together, so whatever we tell them should focus on how suave, cunning, and brilliant I am."
"I thought we wanted this story to be believable," Ben remarked.
"Oh, be quiet." Johnny arched an eyebrow. "And what exactly do you want our future kids to think about you?"
Our future kids. Johnny said it so easily, so casually, like it was completely typical subject. He treated the idea of having kids with Ben as if it were totally normal, as if Ben were totally normal.
"Jus' . . ." Ben trailed off, almost overwhelmed at the realization that his dream was still possible, that he could still have the family he'd always wanted. He moved to gently grasp Johnny's hand. "Jus' that I love them, and I love you."
"C'mon, big guy, could you get any sappier?" Johnny playfully rolled his eyes at him. But he also squeezed Ben's fingers in return.