Charlie fixes the throw pillow on the couch one more time. This will be his fifth time adjusting it as he has flipped it in every way you could imagine. He groans and flips it again like it would make a difference from how it looked the last time, but hey, it'll look good eventually...right?
Nick emerges from the spare bedroom and sees Charlie adjusting the pillow.
"Just because you flip it a certain way doesn't mean it's going to change its look Char", Nick laughed.
Charlie turns to him with a bit of annoyance on his face. "You think I don't know that?" He takes another look around the living room. "Something is wrong, I just know it."
Nick hugs him from behind and the hair from his beard tickle Charlie's neck a bit. "I think we'll be fine."
"I hope you're right."
The doorbell suddenly interrupts their silence and Charlie goes to open the door. He does a big inhale before pulling it open.
At the door stood an older woman with her hair in a bun so tight that you could almost see the white tips coming out of her scalp. Her thick, rounded glasses covered most of her face and she wore a brownish tan skirt suit that was stiff from the starch. Though she hadn't spoken a word yet, Charlie can tell that this lady meant business.
"Is this the Spring-Nelson residence?"
"Y-yes! Please, come in!"
The interviewer stepped in and looked around at the decorum. She walks deeper into the couple's home. Her face stays stone cold.
Charlie couldn't stand that he couldn't tell what this lady was thinking. Is this house good enough for a baby or not?
Nick emerges from the kitchen and greets the lady, handing her over a cup of tea.
The interviewer takes a sip of the tea and hands it back to Nick. "Hmm," she hums to herself and scribbles something on the clipboard.
What just happened? Did they do something wrong?
"How long have you two been married?" she asked in a flat voice.
Nick clears his throat. "It's going to be a year this month."
"Interesting," the interviewer says, and she scribbles something on her board.
Nick and Charlie exchanged worried looks.
The interviewer clicks her pen, "Show me where the child will be staying."
"Right this way." Nick begins to lead her upstairs as Charlie followed closely behind.
"This is where they'll be staying," Nick said.
The room was rather spacious and had a large window that showed an amazing view.
The interviewer walks in and studies the room closely. She went to the window and slid two fingers along the windowsill. Her eyebrows slightly raised in shock when she saw little to no dust on his fingers.
She clicks on her pen again. "The room is very fit for a child."
A spark of hope pinned in Charlie and Nick. Will this finally be it? Will they get their baby?
"Let's go chat somewhere for a bit," the interviewer suggested.
"Yeah, I have tea on the stove. Let's go to the kitchen." Nick said.
They walk back downstairs and enter the kitchen. Charlie holds out a chair for the interviewer to sit and Nick prepares cups of tea for everyone.
Charlie holds his breath as Nick walks over with the tea. He still has a bit of anxiety from their first failed interview when Nick tripped and spilled hot tea all over the interviewer. Charlie chewed him out badly that day they got the letter that they failed the interview process.
Nick knows better now and walks calmly when handling the tea. He gets the tea to the table and not a drop was spilled.
Charlie exhales and Nick flashes him a small smile before sitting next to him.
"So we already established that you two a newlyweds. How about work?" the interviewer asks while looking at them over her glasses.
"I work in publishing as an editor and my husband's a sports reporter," Charlie answers.
She nods and writes on her clipboard.
"What were your childhood homes like?"
"My parents were divorced so my mother was the one who was mostly home and our relationship was great. Still is. Me and my brother got along okay," Nick says as he tried to think back on other things.
"Just okay?"
"I mean, we did have a few fights here and there, but what sibling doesn't?"
The interviewer looked at him in silence. Nick quickly sits up straight. Uh-oh, did he say something wrong?
She writes on her clipboard. " I guess you're right. My sister and I used to brawl like WWE wrestlers all the time."
Nick let out a small laugh and relaxed a bit when the interviewer was able to relate.
"And you, Charlie?"
"My family life was fine, though my mom could be a bit dismissive sometimes. My dad wasn't well at communicating as well, but he made up for it. My siblings and I are very close and I'm especially close with my older sister. I could tell her anything."
The interviewer nodded. "Nice."
Charlie nodded at her. He began to tug and twist at the end of his shirt as she wrote.
Nick grabs Charlie's hand and rubs his thumb over his knuckles. He gives Charlie a warm smile, and Charlie does a small smile back.
They answer question after question to their best abilities.
"Everything seems to be looking well for you two," the interviewer says.
The couple exchanged looks of hope. This was it. This has to be it.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Charlie, it was brought to my attention last minute that you were in an institution ?" the interviewer asks.
Charlie's heart dropped. Oh no.
"Y-yes. I had problems with eating."
Oh no.
Where is this question coming from and who was the narc that found it?
Nick tightened his hold on Charlie's hand.
"Hmm. People with eating disorders tend to have other mental health issues as well. Any history of anxiety? Body dysmorphia? Depression? Have you ever relapsed?"
Oh no.
Charlie all of a sudden couldn't speak. He looked down at his lap and tugged on his shirt with his free hand.
"Charlie?" Nick says as he scooched close to him and begins to rub his back. He looks back at the interviewer. "I'm sorry. Your question must've put him in a bit of shock. We never had that question before."
The interviewer pressed her lips tightly together. She scribbles something on her clipboard. "Sorry for taking you guys by surprise. It's just something my other coworker found while background-checking you guys. I didn't know other adoption companies were skipping over that."
She glances over at Charlie who was still silent and facing the floor. "Sorry if I brought up any bad memories."
The interviewer then scribbles something else on her clipboard. "That'll conclude our interview for today."
"Oh..." Nick drags out. "Let me walk you to the door."
Nick slips his hand out of Charlie's to get up and as soon as his grip loosened, Charlie used both hands to cover his face. Nick could feel his heart breaking looking at him.
Nick followed closely behind the interviewer.
When she walked out and Nick was about to close the door she stopped it with her foot.
"Listen, I am very sorry for doing that to your husband."
Nick gives her a small, but hurt, smiles and closes the door behind him. "The question was just so unexpected."
"I mean, if other agencies looked over it, that means he must be doing good, right? If his mental health was still in the danger areas, we wouldn't be considering you guys as parents."
Nick stayed silent.
The interviewer presses her lips into a thin line. "I have to turn in my reports from today, but trust me, I'll put in a good word. That room deserves to belong to a child."
"Thank you." Nick walks back into the house.
He goes back into the kitchen to find Charlie, but to his shock, Charlie is no longer there.
"Char?"
Nick begins to look all over the house for his other half. He finally finds him on his second look around in their bedroom when he noticed Charlie's skinny frame under the blankets of their unmade bed. Nick lays beside him and pulls him close to his body. He could feel Charlie shivering from holding in his cries.
"Charlie... it'll be okay. I promise."
Charlie lifts the blankets off of himself and lifts himself. His face was beet red and his eyes were swollen. His cheeks were still wet from all the tears. "It's not okay, Nick. It's not." He cried. "These failed interviews are because of me! This whole time!"
Nick sits up and puts his hands on the sides of Charlie's face. "That's not true! Don't say that!"
"But Nick-"
Nick pulls Charlie into his lap and gives him a tight hug. "It's not your fault. Don't talk that way."
Charlie buried his face deep into Nick's jogger. "I'm sorry."
Nick kisses Charlie on the top of his head. "Don't be."
They stay huddled up like this till Charlie falls asleep.
Nick lays Charlie down and pulls a blanket over him. He gathers a t-shirt and some sweats and leaves to go take a quick shower.
While the hot water rushes over his body, he thinks back to the day that they decided they'll have kids.
It was February of last year.
They had gone to visit Tara at the hospital as she had just given birth to a baby girl.
Darcy was ecstatic. She hardly put the baby down or let anyone hold her.
When their daughter finally got to Nick and Charlie, something changed in Charlie. Was it because Tara and Darcy's daughter was just so cute or maybe a placebo effect from everyone talking about having kids that made them want to have one or two? Who knows. But at that moment, he just knew that he wanted one of his own.
What did it for Nick was how Charlie looked holding the child. Something about Charlie with a kid just looked right. He looked so happy with the baby in his arms. The way he cooed at her, rocked her, and talked about all the things he would buy her was just too adorable.
When they got home, Charlie just blurted it out. "Nick, let's have one."
Nick looked back at him. "Have what?"
A slight blush washed across Charlie's face. "Ya' know...a baby."
Nick looked at Charlie with surprise. "A baby?"
"Yeah..." Charlie trailed off.
Nick didn't know how to respond and just continued to stare at Charlie with his mouth slightly agape.
An awkward silence quickly filled the air which sent Charlie into a frenzy.
"Uh! Never mind, that was stupid," Charlie said as he ran up the stairs trying to hide the fact that his face was turning even redder.
"Wait! Charlie!" Nick called out as he chased behind him.
When they got to the room. Nick picked up Charlie from behind.
"You know you can't get away that easily!"
"Argh! Put me down!" Charlie screamed between laughs.
Nick threw Charlie on their bed and then laid on top of him.
"Nick! Get off me you sack of rocks!"
Nick hugs him and kisses him on his neck. He then lifts his head and looks at Charlie. "You want kids?"
Charlie puts his hands on the sides of Nick's face. "Yeah. I mean-, don't you wanna?"
"Of course I do."
"Really?"
Nick buried his face into Charlie's neck, trying to hide the blush creeping on his face. "Yes, Charlie."
Charlie wraps his arms around Nick. "After the wedding."
Nick lifts his head and looks at Charlie. "After the wedding?"
"Yeah. Let's adopt one after the wedding."
Nick smiles. "Yeah...I'd like that."
Charlie then pulled Nick into a deep kiss.
Nick walks back into the room while drying off his hair with his towel. He looks over at the bed and sees that Charlie was still asleep.
Though he was asleep, Charlie still carried a troubled look on his face.
Nick got in bed and pulled Charlie close to him, hoping that Charlie wouldn't let this bad interview get to him.
Charlie was sitting on a couch with a weighted blanket looking out the big window that took up most of the wall in their living room. He watched as the heavy spring rain poured from the sky as he pet Daisy's head over and over.
Nick walks down the stairs fixing his tie. He walks over to Charlie and kisses him on the cheek. "No work for you today?"
Charlie shook his head. "I'm not in the right mind to be at work today," he said as he continued to look out the window.
Nick gives him a sad look.
It has been two weeks since the last interview and Charlie was still sad about it. Though no letter had arrived to tell them if they'll proceed further with the adoption process or not, he has gotten quiet and can hardly hold a conversation. Nick has noticed that he hasn't been eating much either.
"You want to eat lunch with me today?"
Charlie looks over at him. "Lunch?"
"Yeah. We can go to the café down the street that you like so much," Nick suggested as he stroked Charlie's hair.
Charlie thought about it for a bit. It probably would do him some good to leave the house. "Okay."
Nick smiles at Charlie and pulls him into a kiss. The quick smooch suddenly becomes longer, as Charlie grabs Nick's face and deepens the kiss. He then wraps his arms around Nick's neck and tries to pull him on top of him.
'Where's all this energy coming from?' Nick wondered. He uses one hand to hold himself up on the couch and the other to squeeze Charlie's cheeks and pull away. "Stop it," he says between giggles, "You'll make me late for work."
"Call out sick," Charlie chuckles while brushing his thumb over Nick's bottom lip.
It was nice to hear Charlie's laugh after days of practical silence.
"It's an important interview today. I can't."
Charlie twisted his face in annoyance and turned back to look outside.
"Oh come on! Don't be like that!" Nick laughed.
Charlie looked back at him. "Come home quickly, please."
"Of course, baby."
Charlie blushed at the nickname.
Nick quickly pets Daisy on the head, "Watch after your dad while I'm gone?"
Daisy barks in response.
Nick grabs an umbrella at the entrance and exits the house.
Nick enters the studio and everything was just so chaotic. Everyone rushed left and right preparing for the rookie soccer player that was about to enter soon.
"Jesus Christ..." Nick mumbled to himself.
A younger male with curly dark brown hair approaches Nick. "SN! They want you in hair and makeup."
"Yeah. Jason, do you have my-"
Jason rips some papers from his clipboard. "Here are the questions."
Nick does a relieved sigh. Where would he be without Jason keeping tabs on everything? "Thank you."
Nick walks to hair and makeup with Jason following close behind him to tell him about his schedule. Jason continues to read off the schedule as Nick gets beat with powder and his hair pulled by a comb. Nick walks to the stage and stands off to the side waiting for the signal to get on as Jason finally finishes his report.
Jason sighs. "I'm gonna go get a donut." He walks off to the snack table, leaving Nick to wait for the signal.
A girl with long dark hair and blue eyes begins to approach Nick. Her dimples deepen with her smile as she approaches Nick. "Good morning, Mr. Spring Nelson," she says in a flirtatious voice.
"Good morning, Monica," Nick smiles back.
Monica mics up Nick and hands him his cup of coffee. She then fixes his collar and tightens his tie some more. She looks up at him with her hands still on his tie. "You look very handsome today."
Nick's eyes widen at her. "Mon-"
"SN!"
Nick turns around and sees Jason walking towards him with the donut around his finger.
"They want you on."
"Yes!" Nick says, lightly pushing Monica by the shoulder so she can get out of his way.
Monica stares as he walks away.
Jason then approaches Monica. "Whatever you're trying to do, stop it."
Monica smiles at Jason while tucking back her hair. "I don't know-"
"Don't give me that crap," Jason sighed while rolling his eyes. "Nicholas is a happily married man if you didn't notice."
Monica twisted her mouth and looks back at Nick sitting at the news desk as he spoke to the athlete he'll be interviewing. "I don't care."
Jason narrows his eyes at Monica while turning away from her. "Back off of him. I mean it."
Monica bit her bottom lip and turned to go to the computer room.
The producer then comes in and sits in his chair. He does a countdown from five to one and the cameras pan to Nick as they go live.
"Hello! This is Nicholas Spring Nelson and you're watching the Live Sports News Network!"
"We'll be back with more on this story," Nick smiled at the camera.
He waits for the producer to count down to one before turning off his fake smile. He does a deep breath and quickly looks at the clock on his phone. It's a quarter till one.
"Not you sexting Charlie while you're at work!"
Nick looks up and sees Ruben, one of his colleagues, coming to sit at the desk, as his segment is about to start.
"Don't say stuff like that!" Nick screeched at him while turning bright red.
Ruben chuckled.
Ruben used to be Nick's mentor when he was interning at the studio. Ruben taught him everything he knew and continues to advise Nick here and there. Ruben was also the one that pushed Nick to propose to Charlie on the day of his college graduation.
"How'd the adoption interview go?"
"It went great, up until..." Nick trailed off
"Ah mate," Ruben says while rubbing Nick's back. "I'll give one of mine if you want."
This brings a smile to Nick's face. "Do I get to choose or are you just gonna give me RJ 'cause he's acting up?"
Ruben pretends to look shocked. "You're smoking something if you think I'm going to give you my twins."
Nick and Ruben share a laugh before a producer shows up to tell Ruben that they'll be on the air soon.
"I promised Charlie we'd go get lunch."
"Tell 'em I said hi."
Nick makes his way toward the exit but is abruptly cut off by Monica.
"Monica?"
"Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch with me and the crew," she asked while trying to look as cute as she can.
"I would love to, but I already made a lunch date for my husband," Nick smiled.
Monica held back her anger and disguised it with her best smile, "Oh really?"
"Maybe next time?" Nick walks around her to exit the building.
Monica waves as he leaves. When the door closes, a look of anger and disgust appears on her face.
Nick enters the house and is greeted by Daisy. He squats down to ruffle her fur.
"Charlie, you ready to eat?" Nick calls out, but no answer was returned. Nick stands up and takes off his coat. "Charlie?"
Nick walks to the living room expecting Charlie there, but he wasn't. He turns to go look upstairs, but stops at the opened mail he sees on the coffee table.
"Please don't be what I think you are. Please don't be what I think you are," he constantly repeats to himself.
He flips the paper over and skims through it. His fear came true. Another rejection letter.
Nick begins his search for Charlie. It's still pouring outside, so no way he was out there. He thoroughly checked their bedroom and made sure to look between the blankets. He then looked in the spare bedroom and he saw Charlie sitting along the wall with his head in his lap.
Nick stays silent and sits next to Charlie. He wraps his arm around him and pulls him close.
Charlie looks up from his lap and looks at Nick. Charlie's face was stained with tears.
"I can't do this anymore," Charlie says barely at a whisper.
"What do you mean?"
Charlie looks at the empty room. "We can make this place a gaming room or something right?"
Nick grabs Charlie's shoulder so he was facing him. "What are you saying?"
Charlie stands up and walks towards the window. Nick follows.
"This baby thing. Let's forget about it," Charlie says studying the view. He can't bring himself to look at Nick.
Nick stared at Charlie in disbelief. "You can't be serious."
Charlie stays silent and crosses his arms around himself. "That's our sixth rejection letter. Then we'll get a seventh one, an eighth one." He does a deep sigh. "That baby is never coming."
"But...But you said-"
"I know what I said."
This suggestion made Nick upset. He wanted their family to expand beyond both of them and their dog. He wanted Charlie to stay hopeful with him. "But I'm not ready to give up yet!" He started. "There are other options out there! We can't just-"
"NICK PLEASE!" Charlie shouted.
The base in his voice startled Nick.
"My heart can't take it anymore. I'm not mentally strong enough to get another no."
Charlie looked at Nick through the reflection of the window and saw the hurt expression on his husband's face. He didn't mean to shout or upset him with his decision.
"Nick-"
Before he can get the rest of his sentence out, Nick left the room and closed the door behind him.
Charlie finally turns around. The weight that was holding him in place lifted and he moved and tried to catch up with Nick. He looked down the stairs and saw him putting on his jacket.
"Honey, can we talk?" Charlie asked, walking towards him.
"Um, I have to go back to work," Nick says in a whisper, holding back tears. "Let's talk when I get back home, okay?" He forces a smile.
"But you're upset," Charlie states. "Look, I'm sorry." He tries to reach for Nick's face but Nick backs away.
Charlie looks at him with a shocked expression.
"We'll talk later. I promise," Nick says as he leaves.
Charlie stands there shocked while looking at the door. He goes to the living room and sits on the couch still in shock at what just happened.
Daisy appears and lies next to Charlie, resting her head on his lap.
Charlie begins to ruffle her fur. "What am I to do, Daisy? Your dad is very upset with me."
Daisy lets out a cry.
While Charlie was sorting out his feeling with Daisy, Nick was standing on the porch wondering if he should go back in, but he was just so upset with Charlie at the moment. The best thing for him to do was cool off and talk to him later.
He gets in his car and stares at the window of the spare bedroom for a long time before driving off.
Nick sat in his office, taking notes for the next show before there was a knock at his door. He looks up and sees Jason leaning on the door frame.
"Come in Jason," Nick says while looking at his computer screen.
Jason walks in and sets his coffee cup down on the desk. He pulls up a chair beside Nick.
"What's bothering you?" Jason asked.
"Wha-!"
"Don't deny it SN. I can see it all over your face."
Nick sighs. A few moments pass before he decides to speak. "It's Charlie. He doesn't want to try to adopt anymore."
"Don't tell me another letter came to the house."
Nick leaned back in his chair and massaged his forehead with one of his hands.
"But, you guys still want one right? He's probably just discouraged?"
"I want a baby with him, but I don't know about Charlie anymore. He sounded so ready to give up."
"But there are other options out there."
"I know. That's what I said but I got yelled at," Nick twiddled with his thumbs.
Jason reaches for his coffee. "I'm sure he didn't mean to."
Nick goes back to writing.
Jason looks up a bit. "When Gordon and I decided we'd adopt, it was just like you and Charlie right now."
Nick looked over at Jason.
"It was our third interview and we got rejected. Gordon was a mess. He wanted to stop trying for a kid right then and there." Jason stops for a bit but then continues. "I was upset, but I understood why he felt that way."
"So what did you do?" Nick asked.
Jason turns towards Nick. "We stopped."
"Huh?" Nick raised his eyebrow.
"I decided at the time, my husband's mental state was more important. I waited till he was strong enough to try again...and on our fourth try, we were approved and matched up with a single mother."
Jason takes a sip of his coffee. "Gordon broke down after three, and you and Charlie are on your sixth. Charlie is strong, but he can only take so much."
Nick looks at the photo of him and Charlie on his desk. He picks it up and studies it.
"I guess what I'm getting at is... Be there for Charlie now. Take a break. That baby will come when time feels like it should come. I'm pretty sure Charlie doesn't want to give up. Just give it time okay?"
Nick gets up and collects his things. "I'm going back home."
Jason smiles. "I'll let the others know."
Nick gives Jason a nod of thanks and leaves.
Charlie is sitting in the living room watching Nick's interview. "Nick, please come home. I want us to talk," he mumbled to himself.
Just then the door unlocks. Nick walks in drenched from the rain. Charlie walks up to him, but before he speaks, Nick pulls him into a hug, holding him around his waist. Charlie is shocked but quickly wraps his arms around Nick's neck.
"I'm sorry," Charlie said with his face buried in Nick's neck. "I didn't mean to shout. Honest."
Nick runs his fingers up Charlie's back. "I know... And I'm sorry for walking out."
Charlie pulls away a bit away, keeping his fingers laced around Nick's neck. "You don't need to apologize to me. I shouldn't have shouted at you when all you were trying to do is remain hopeful."
"No, when you suggested talking I should've stayed and talked to you. A half day at work wouldn't have killed me."
"But you needed to leave to let some steam off. I made you upset. Your feelings are valid in this situation as well and I was only thinking of mine at the moment."
"Okay, but when I backed away from your touch. That was such a petty move."
"No, that was the right thing to do. I was being such a dickhead!"
"Okay, but-"
The couple kept going on back and forth on how they were wrong. They stop when Charlie gets the final say and Nick laughs.
Nick and Charlie put their foreheads against each other.
"Oh, Charlie Spring Nelson, you make a mess of me," Nick whispers while looking deep into Charlie's eyes.
Charlie chuckles as he begins to blush.
Nick picks up Charlie bridal style and begins to walk up the stairs.
"Nick, where are you taking me?" Charlie asked while laughing.
"Come take a bath with me", Nick suggested.
"But I just showered!"
"Pleeeeaaassseee?" Nick dragged on.
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Okay, let's go."
Nick grins widely and runs up the stairs with Charlie.
After their bath, they cuddled in bed.
Charlie laid on Nick's chest and listened to his study heartbeat while Nick used his hand to play with Charlie's hair.
"You need a haircut, Char," Nick said as he continued to lace his fingers in it.
"Cut it for me on your next day off then," Charlie responds as he continued to make circles on Nick's chest with his fingers.
"I'll do it tomorrow before dinner then."
Dinner? Tomorrow? Charlie lifts his head and looks at Nick. "Tomorrow? But tomorrow is Thursday. You have work and why are we eating out?"
"It's a special occasion and I get special occasions like this off."
Charlie continues to look at Nick confused.
"Charlie, I hope you're joking. Don't tell me you've forgotten," Nick laughed.
Charlie stays quiet.
Nick sits up. "You have forgotten! What kind of husband are you?"
"Wha-"
"Charlie, it's our anniversary tomorrow," Nick laughed.
"What are you talking about? Our anniversary isn't till the 18th," Charlie said reaching for his phone. He turns it on, and to his shock, it's the 17th. "Oh my God..." Charlie drags out as he covers his face in embarrassment.
Nick laughs at Charlie to the point he has to lie back down because his stomach hurts. He pulls Charlie back down so they could continue their cuddle session.
"What a nerdy thing to do," Nick jokingly scoffs.
"I'm sorry. It's just all that baby stuff has been fogging up my mind."
Nick stays silent for a minute. "Charlie?"
"Hmm?"
"When you said you wanted to stop trying to get a baby... you didn't mean it, right?"
Charlie looks up at Nick. "Um, I don't know. I know most of it was out of frustration... but I don't know. Why?"
"Hmm. Not gonna lie, the gaming room sounded like a cool idea," Nick laughs.
"Nick!" Charlie screeches out, joining in on Nick's laughter.
Nick rolls them over so he was on top. He strokes Charlie's cheek as they continued to stare into each other's eyes. Nick then thought about the conversation he had with Jason.
He leans in more to give Charlie a quick peck on the lips. "Let's take a break from adopting."
"But Nick-"
"I know, but what you said earlier was true. You can't take another no."
Charlie leans into Nick's hand some more. "Is that okay with you? I know how bad you want to."
"Of course, Charlie. I'm not going to pressure you into something that you're not all there for."
Charlie puts his hands on the side of Nick's face. "I love you, Nick Spring Nelson."
Nick smiles down at him and runs his finger up Charlie's shirt. "And I love you, Charlie Spring Nelson."
Charlie pulls Nick in and kisses him. What started as small, repetitive pecks become longer and more sensual. Nick adjusts himself so he is more on top of Charlie. He stops the heated kissing session for a quick moment and sticks his thumb in Charlie's mouth so he would open his mouth a bit wider. Nick sticks his tongue in Charlie's mouth and their tongues roll over each other. Nick pulls away and begins to kiss Charlie's neck. When he gets to his collarbone, Charlie gasp and arches his back.
Nick pulls back and begins to tug at the elastic waist of Charlie's pajama bottoms. He leans into Charlie's ear. "Can I undress you?" he asked, almost like he was desperate.
Charlie nods and Nick swiftly pulls off Charlie's bottoms. He then pulled Charlie's top off and threw it in some random corner of the room. Nick begins to undress while Charlie looked in their nightstand drawer for a condom. When Nick is done undressing. He goes back to kissing Charlie and begins to prepare him.
Nick then takes the condom from Charlie's hand and puts it on. He rolls Charlie on his side and lifts his leg. "Can, we do it this way?"
"Yes, Nick," Charlie says breathlessly as he looked back at him and wraps his arm around Nick's neck.
Nick moves closer and starts making his way in. Charlie lets out a loud moan with every movement and Nick continued to leave more kisses on Charlie's neck as he moved.
They're so engulfed with each other that they don't realize that it went on into the early morning.
The bright sun wakes up Nick from the deep sleep he was in. He sits up and looks over at Charlie, who was still sleeping. Nick can't help but smile at his husband.
He leans over and gives him a small peck on his forehead. "I love you," he whispers in Charlie's ear.
He grabs his phone and makes his way to the bathroom to freshen up.
While Nick brushed his teeth he quickly made a separate group chat of everyone that was going to attend the dinner and asked them if they could refrain from asking about the adoption.
Tao: aww I'm so sorry Nick:( how's he taking it?
Nick: He's pretty upset about it
Darcy: THIS IS BULLSHIT! Fuck them for not being able to see that you two would make great parents
Elle: We'll do our best to not mention it 👍
Nick smiled at his friends' words. He put away his phone and finished his morning routine.
When Nick walked back into the bedroom, Charlie had just woken up and was stretching.
Charlie looks over at Nick and grins at him. "Hey."
Nick smiles back and sits next to Charlie on the edge of the bed. "Hey."
Charlie pushes the blankets off of him and goes to hug Nick. "Happy anniversary."
"Happy anniversary," Nick says, tightly hugging him back. "You wanna do anything today?"
"Not really, I just want to lounge around till dinner."
"Let's at least eat some breakfast, okay?" Nick says while pulling away a bit from their hug. "And we need to cut that hair of yours."
Tao stands in front of the restaurant on his phone waiting for Nick and Charlie to arrive. He hears heavy footsteps approaching him and when he looks up he sees Nick and Charlie.
Tao crosses his arms. "Tuh! Took you two long enough."
"Sorry! We couldn't find parking anywhere," Charlie explained.
"Where is everyone?" Nick asked.
"Everyone is inside waiting . Our table's ready."
They walk in and maneuver between table after table before they finally get to theirs.
"HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!" everyone at the table cheered.
At the table was Elle, Tara, Darcy, Sahar, Tori, her boyfriend Michael, and Oliver.
Charlie ruffles Oliver's hair. "You ever gonna chop this hair of yours?"
"Hmm!" Oliver hums and puts a finger gun under his chin. "The girls at uni dig it."
"Oh, God! Charlie, don't get him started," Tori groaned.
The anniversary dinner continues as normal. Everyone is eating, drinking, and having a good time.
Charlie gets up. "I'm going to the bathroom."
"Yeah, I'll come with you," Tao says.
When the two of them leave, Tara starts to speak. "Hey, Darcy told me what happened."
Nick sighed. "We'll be okay. We talked last night, We're gonna stop trying to adopt for a bit."
"And Charlie's okay with that?" Elle asked.
"For now, yeah, but I think he's still pretty upset about it."
"Maybe you should start looking into surrogacy?" Elle suggested.
"Yeah, but Charlie was so against it when we first started taking the kid discussion seriously. He said something so crazy. He was all like, 'What if the surrogate looked put together when we meet them but it turned out in secret she did hardcore drugs and we end up with a drug-addicted baby?' "
"What?" Oliver laughed.
"Your brother can get imaginative when he wants to," Nick sighed.
"I think you should have the conversation again when you guys are ready to kid hunt again," Tori smiled. "Hopefully he doesn't still think that way."
"Yeah, I hope so too."
Back in the bathroom, Tao was washing his hands.
Charlie walked outside of a stale. "Why ya' have to follow me, Tao? I came here to cry and I can't cry out loud with you here."
"I know you did, that's why I followed you here silly," Tao laughed. He hugs Charlie. "Don't think about that stuff right now. It's your anniversary and we're here to celebrate you and Nick's love for each other."
"I know, but I just can't help it," Charlie sighs as he went to go wash his hands. "I wanted us to have a baby by now."
Tao stays silent, looking at Charlie's expressions in the mirror.
"He probably wishes he married a girl or someone who isn't a mental case."
"Stop it, Charlie!" Tao pulls Charlie by his shoulder and turns him around. "Nick would never think that! He loves you!"
Charlie stays silent.
Tao gives Charlie one more hug. "Now, you're going to go out there and have a great time with your friends and family, ya' hear me?"
Charlie nods.
They walk out of the bathroom and get to the table.
Charlie sits down and says, "Let's run up the bill and get a round of shots!"
"Yeah!" Darcy and Oliver scream in unison as Tara and Tori give them side eyes.
Nick snakes his arm around Charlie and pulls him close.
"You alright?" Nick asked.
Charlie tries his best to give Nick a confident smile. "Of course, honey. I just want to enjoy our anniversary," he says squeezing his husband's cheeks together.
Darcy was already asking the waiter to bring their strongest drink.
When the shots arrived, Charlie and Darcy were already at it, drinking shot after shot. A new round arrives almost every few minutes.
"This is getting out of hand," Sahar says and she puts a stop to it.
"Boo!" Darcy hollers out.
Tara yanks Darcy by her ear. "I better not hear you complain in the morning." Tara looks at everyone. "I gonna take this one home."
Tao checks his phone. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna head out too."
More of the group agrees to leave together and they all gather their things and step out of the restaurant.
Nick does his best to hold Charlie up while Charlie had one arm around his neck and was talking nonsense.
"Thanks for setting this up, Tao," Nick said.
"Anything for you two," Tao smiled. "Get that one home before he pukes out here."
"Eat my ass, Tao. I'm not even that drunk," Charlie mumbled.
"Oh he's definitely drunk," Tori says.
"He's drunk drunk," Oliver says, fighting off his light buzz.
Charlie turns around and shushes his siblings. "Don't tell Nickie," he giggled.
Nick sighs. "You ready to go home?"
Charlie wraps his arms around Nick. "Mmm... you're so eager to go home," he laughs. He tries to plant a kiss on Nick but Nick stops it.
"Stop it, Charlie. You know I don't like kissing you when you're like this."
"But I'm not even that drunk," Charlie laughs. He pulls himself up so he could whisper into Nick's ear. "Take me home so I can rock your world."
"Oh, that's nasty," Oliver says as he cringed at his big brother's words.
Nick turns around towards the group. A light blush was spreading across his face. "I'll see you all later."
They all said their goodbyes before heading to their respective vehicles.
Tori, Michael, and Oliver get in their car.
Oliver lays down in the back seat while Tori gets in the driver's seat and Michael in the passenger.
"No seat belt, Oli?" Michael asked.
"I just wanna lie down for a bit," Oliver says as he turned on his stomach and buried his face into his arms.
"Okay, but if I have to hard break because some nob decides to jaywalk and you fly out the windshield, don't get mad at me," Tori says, looking at her baby brother in the rearview mirror.
The drive to drop off Oliver starts off silent before Tori decides to speak up. "He drank himself in his feelings," Tori says.
"I know it's not a good thing, but I honestly don't blame him. Charlie's probably a bit sad and stressed out," Michael says as he looked over at Tori.
"I understand that, but that doesn't mean drink yourself half to death," Tori sighs. "I wish there was something I could do to make him feel better."
The silence settles back in before Oliver sits up and leans over to the front. "Hey, Tor... why don't you have Nick and Charlie's baby?"
Moments pass before Tori stomps on her brakes, causing Oliver to almost fly to the front.
Tori looked over at Oliver. "WHAT!?"