In the blink of an eye, two months went by. Ethan didn't know how that was possible. But suddenly, it was July. Alan had asked for Ethan's help on the grill which seem like a real cis male heteronormative kind of thing, but Ethan actually really liked hanging out alone with Alan, so he didn't actually mind.

He also didn't mind the fact that Hailey was lying on a float in the pool in a bikini right by the barbecue, so Ethan got to enjoy seeing how great she looked. She was four months pregnant and had just started to show in the last week or so. It was really weird but also really awesome.

"Alright, if we really have to celebrate, you guys can do all the work. Me and Hailey are going to be in the pool," Mom announced.

Both Alan and Ethan turned when they heard her voice. Much to Ethan's shock and discomfort, Mom was wearing a swimsuit, but at least it wasn't a bikini.

"Okay, whatever," Ethan called over to her, shaking his head.

"This was a holiday created by white men for the benefit of white men, so y'all can cater to us, please and thank you!" Hailey said. They all laughed. No one really disagreed with her in this house, but neither of the aforementioned white men really minded celebrating the Fourth of July.

Ethan went to turn back to the grill when he saw Alan standing stock still and staring at the pool. And then he realized Alan wasn't staring at the pool. He was staring at Mom.

"Dude, come on," Ethan groaned elbowing him.

"Hey, if you can stare at your girlfriend in a bathing suit all day, I can stare at mine," Alan countered.

Well, Ethan couldn't really argue with that. He was staring at Hailey. She was so beautiful and he loved her so much. And he missed her.

He shouldn't have missed her, she was right there. They'd been living here for two months, sharing a room and being together all the time. But things had changed between them. How could it not? She was pregnant and wanted to give up the baby for adoption and Ethan still wanted to keep the baby himself. But ever since they'd had that conversation, they hadn't mentioned it again.

It was like they'd just ignored the fact that Hailey was pregnant. Mom took her to the doctor's appointments and got her the prenatal vitamins and stuff, but they otherwise just…yeah, they didn't talk about it. None of them did. Hailey was tired all the time and she sometimes stayed in bed all day, and Ethan didn't want to bother her or make anything worse. He just didn't know what she wanted or needed. She wouldn't tell him, and he didn't know how to ask.

And they shared a bed every night for more than two months—which was more than when they were in school since they hadn't actually lived together before this—but all they did in that bed was sleep. Part of that was Ethan's fault, not really feeling comfortable having sex in his mom's house, but he also had been worried about how Hailey felt about it while she was pregnant. But Hailey hadn't tried to initiate anything either, and that had never been a problem before now. Needless to say, they hadn't had sex since they'd gotten to California. So now, all Ethan could do was stare at her lounging in that bikini and feel frustrated.

"Hey guys, how's the meat doing?" Mom asked, shielding her eyes from the sun and interrupting both Alan and Ethan from staring at their respective women.

"Jesus, Ellie," Alan muttered to himself.

But Ethan overheard and snorted in laughter. He'd never known before coming to live her that his mom had the weirdest dirty sense of humor. This was not the first time she'd made some kind of innuendo. After the initial shock of it, however, Ethan was starting to appreciate it. Mostly because it was obvious she said things like that to rattle Alan. And he never disappointed in giving some kind of exasperated, embarrassed reaction.

Ethan went back to the grill with Alan and asked, "Does it actually bother you when she does stuff like that?"

"No," he answered immediately. "She wouldn't do it if I was actually upset. She thinks it's funny to wind me up since I'm too uptight about things. She's always been like that, trying to loosen me up and teasing me and being silly, and she does it because she wants me to be happy and have fun. And I could never be mad at that," he added with a grin.

It still felt so new to see Mom and Alan together, to see how ridiculously happy they were, to see how madly in love with each other they were. Mom had explained it to him his first morning here, how crazy she was about him. And it was super obvious to see that Alan was basically obsessed with her. They were perfect together. And while some people might find it super weird to see their mother being all romantic and lovey-dovey with a guy who wasn't their father, Ethan actually kinda loved it. It was nice to see them each so happy and in love. Every time Alan said something like that about Mom, Ethan felt all warm inside. And it wasn't just because California was hot as balls in July.

"Here, hand me that plate, I think the hotdogs are done," Alan instructed.

Ethan went over to the side table where the dishes were stacked and grabbed the top plate. He held it while Alan took a meat fork and stabbed each hotdog one by one and dropped them onto the plate.

"Thanks, now put that down over there. The burgers will be done in a minute. I'm gonna flip them again and then put the cheese on to melt it."

"Sounds good," Ethan replied. He put the plate of hotdogs back on the stack and returned to Alan so he could hand him cheese slices.

But all of a sudden, Hailey screamed and Mom shrieked, "Alan!"

Ethan looked up in panic and saw a small group of bipedal dinosaurs run out from the vineyard and hop the low stone wall and steal hotdogs off the plate.

Alan immediately ran towards them, still holding the spatula from flipping the burgers, and waved his arms, shouting, "Hey! Hey, stop that!"

The little dinosaurs dropped the hotdogs out of their mouths and sprinted away.

Some splashing in the pool made Ethan look over to see Mom and Hailey both getting out and wrapping towels around themselves before crossing over to where the grill was.

"What were those things?" Hailey asked, obviously very shaken.

"Compys," Ethan told her. He and Charlie both had learned all the dinosaur names when they were kids.

"Compsognathus longipes. Bipedal theropods," Alan said, walking back over to them. "They're small, but they travel in packs like that, making them a little overwhelming sometimes."

"Most of the big dinosaurs have already been round up and put into protected areas," Mom explained, "but we're still out in a little bit of wilderness here. And the compys aren't really on anyone's list. They've basically become as ubiquitous as squirrels." She bent down to pick up a gnawed hotdog. "Alan, I don't think we should eat these."

"No, they've been on the ground, even if they weren't chewed on by compys," Alan replied in agreement. "But looks like we've got two left. And the burgers should be okay."

Alan checked the grill and seemed satisfied with the burgers. He took them off and stacked each onto the plate. He then told Ethan and Hailey, "If you ever see them, don't try to pet them or anything. Most of the time they'll leave you alone, but if they don't, like now, make yourself big and loud, and they'll scatter."

"But don't be unnecessarily mean. Just like with pigeons or squirrels or raccoons or any other kind of wildlife that interacts with humans regularly, there's no reason to attack any animal just because it's nearby," Mom warned.

Ethan didn't bother to tell them that he knew all that already. It was mostly for Hailey's benefit, since she didn't grow up with all this stuff.

Mom and Hailey went inside to get dried off and put some clothes on before dinner, leaving the men alone again.

"Sorry I didn't put the hotdogs out of reach," Ethan said. "I didn't think."

"I would've done the same thing. Don't worry about it. This is our first summer here, so we didn't know. And now we do. We've got compys," Alan replied, sighing.

But Ethan just smiled. "Well, that was pretty cool anyway."

"Seeing the dinosaurs? They are pretty incredible. I don't think I'll ever get used to it," Alan said with a smile of his own.

"No, they were cool, but I meant you."

"Me?" Alan exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah. Dinosaur Man in action."

Alan just rolled his eyes. "It's been twenty years, and I'm always gonna be Dinosaur Man to you and your brother, aren't I?"

Ethan gave him an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "That's how we like you, Alan."

"There are worse names to have, I guess."

"Yeah, be lucky you're Dinosaur Man and not Man Staring At My Mom's Ass."

Alan laughed at that. "Okay, fair enough." He paused and just looked at Ethan for a minute.

"What?" he asked warily.

"No, nothing, it's just…you're so like her. It's pretty great to see."

Ethan got that warm feeling again.