Last night was a very special Valentine’s Day. Nick and Charlie proposed to each other after almost 10 years together. It was almost a disaster after Charlie thought Nick’s stunned silence after he proposed was a rejection, but everything turned out ok and when they went home that night, they made slow and sweet love together.

Last night was also the night that Olly proposed to his boyfriend David. It wasn’t what you would consider a traditional proposal, but it was so perfectly them, much like the rough and passionate night they enjoyed together when they got home to David’s apartment.

The four boys decided they would all go together to tell Sarah about their engagements. They wanted to start off with the one person they believed would be happy for them. They knew the conversations with Charlie & Oliver’s parents, and Nick & David’s father were not going to be comfortable ones. Jane Spring was never happy with anything her children did, and Stéphane Nelson didn’t understand Nick’s sexuality and still didn’t know about David’s, so that was going to make that conversation extra interesting.

None of them had told Sarah they were visiting, they knew she would always be happy to see any of her boys, and she included Charlie and Oliver in that, whether they visited with her sons or not. Nick & Charlie arrived a few minutes before David & Oliver and waited in their car for the other couple to arrive.

“Do you think it’ll be ok?” Charlie asked his fiancé while toying with the hem of his jumper, a nervous habit that he started back in school.

“Yeah, I think she’s going to be so happy for us Char,” Nick smiled taking hold of Charlie’s hand, “She already loves you like a son, now it’s just going to be official.”

“You know that makes us sound like brothers,” Charlie teased.

“Do you think we’re like brothers after what I did to you last night?” Nick gave Charlie his best flirtatious smile causing Charlie to blush. Nick leaned in and started kissing Charlie’s neck, teasing soft moans from Charlie, the way he’d learned Charlie loved from years of exploring every inch of his body.

The pair were startled from their embrace by a tap on the window. Nick looked up from his spot nestling in Charlie’s neck and David & Oliver were standing outside the car. Nick groaned, “Our brothers are here.”

Charlie took hold of Nick’s hand, “Come on love, we need to go tell Sarah our news.”

Nick groaned again, “But kissing is so fun.” Charlie chuckled and gave Nick one more kiss before reaching to open his car door. Nick climbed out too and walked round to the greet David & Oliver.

“Didn’t you two get enough last night?” David teased his brother.

“Like you and Olly can ever get enough each other either. You literally had sex in the restaurant bathroom last night,” Nick teased right back.

“It wasn’t sex, I just gave him a blowjob,” Olly chipped in.

“Too much information little brother,” Charlie pretended to gag.

“Come on, lets all go inside before Mum sees us through the window and wonders why we’re loitering out here,” David suggested. The couples walked up to Sarah’s front door, the home were David and Nick had grown up, the place Charlie used to run to when life at home with his own Mum got to be too much. Nick used his key to open the door and called out, “Mum, we’re home.”

“Nicky? I wasn’t expecting you and Charlie today,” Sarah called from the Kitchen. “Would you boys like some tea?” she added still out of sight. Before any of the boys had a chance to reply, she walked into the hall and was surprised to see it wasn’t just Nick & Charlie that had arrived. “Oh, David, Olly I didn’t realise you were here too. What have I done to deserve this unexpected treat?” Sarah was smiling seeing all her boys together.

Just a few years ago it had felt like she was always trying to keep the peace between Nick and David, the two brothers always clashing with each other. At one point it was so bad she wasn’t sure if they’d even be able to spend Christmas together as a family. So to see them together now, with smiles on their faces made Sarah so happy.

“Can’t we just pop in and visit our lovely Mum,” David asked.

“Of course you can darling,” she said pulling each of them into a hug. After making everyone a cup of tea they all settled on the sofa in the lounge. David and Olly were sat next to each other on the sofa, David’s arm instinctively wrapped around his boyfriend. Next to them Charlie was sat in Nick’s lap, while Sarah sat opposite them in an armchair.

After taking a sip of her tea, Sarah was the first to speak up, “While you are of course always welcome to visit, it’s not like you all to turn up together so either this is an intervention or somethings happened,” Sarah teased.

“Yes Mum, this is an intervention, we’re really concerned about you,” David deadpanned causing Olly to hit him in the side.

“We actually did have something we wanted to tell you Mum,” Nick started.

“So, something happened last night,” Charlie nervously continued causing Sarah’s face to change to one of concern.

“Oh babies, oh no, what happened,” Sarah sounded worried.

“No, no, Mum it wasn’t bad,” Nick reassured her, “so, Charlie and I,” Nick started looking at his fiancé with love his eyes.

“We got engaged,” Charlie finished for him, the pair held up their hands to show off their rings.

Sarah got up and wrapped her arms around Nick and Charlie with tears in her eyes, “Oh babies, I’m so happy for you both.” After they finished their embrace Sarah held both their hands to admire their engagement rings.

After she returned to the armchair Sarah asked, “So who asked who?”

Nick and Charlie told Sarah about their joint proposals, and the almost disaster in the restaurant. They all laughed at how silly it all was, and Sarah was so happy that it all worked out for them both. All the while Olly and David kept quiet beside Nick and Charlie, knowing that soon they’d have to share their own news.

Olly was starting to feel nervous; Sarah had always been so welcoming to him, but he was worrying she’d think it was too soon for them. He knew they hadn’t been together as long as Nick & Charlie, but he knew that David was it for him.

David hadn’t said anything to Olly, but he was nervous too. He knew she’d be fine with Nick & Charlie getting engaged, it just made sense after they’d been together 10 years, they already lived together, this was the natural next step for their relationship. But for him and Olly, their relationship was so much newer, at least that’s how it looked to everyone else. He had no doubts in his own mind that he wanted to marry Olly, he loved him with every fibre of his being. He just wanted to wake up every morning next to him for the rest of their lives.

After the conversation of Nick & Charlie’s engagement had come to its natural conclusion, Olly & David knew it was their turn now. Olly looked up at David and gave him a loving smile of encouragement.

David turned towards his Mum, “So Mum, Olly and I had a pretty eventful Valentine’s too.”

“Don’t tell me you got engaged too,” Sarah joked.

Olly and David looked at each other before turning back to Sarah, “Well,” David paused before showing his own new engagement ring. Sarah’s hand shot up to her mouth which dropped in shock at her oldest son’s announcement.

After the shock had sunk in, she rushed over and squeezed David & Olly to her in the same way she’d embraced Nick & Charlie a few moments ago. “I’m so happy for both of you too,” Sarah said with more tears in her eyes.

“So I’m guessing you asked David then Olly, as I don’t see a ring on your finger,” Sarah commented.

“Yeah, I just love him so much and I didn’t want David doubting that,” Olly smiled up at his future husband.

“Aw, that’s so sweet, did you get down on one knee?” Sarah asked and if David had been drinking at that moment Olly was sure he would have been spitting it out.

“Yeah, I did,” Olly tried to say without smirking, “he was so shocked when I asked him that I had to repeat the question 3 times before he said yes,” Olly fondly remembered how David was sill dazed from his orgasm at the time he’d proposed to him. David felt like his face must have gone bright red now, as he remembered their antics from the night before. The boys stayed for lunch and David was grateful Olly kept the full extent of what happened during their proposal out of the conversation. After lunch the boys knew they couldn’t put it off any longer, they had to go and tell Charlie and Oliver’s parents, a visit that none of the boys were looking forward to.

After saying their goodbyes to Sarah, the boys decided to walk round to the Springs’ house. Oliver and Charlie were both grateful for the extra time to mentally prepare themselves for seeing their mother. Jane Spring never really understood any of her children, to her Tori wasn’t ‘feminine’ enough, Charlie was too ‘fragile’ to make his own decisions and Olly was still just a baby in her eyes.

Things had gotten a little easier for both Tori and Charlie when they moved in with their partners, but they still tried to minimise the number of times they visited, keeping to the lowest number they thought they could get away with. They both knew if they didn’t occasionally show their faces that it would just be another compliant for their mother to add to the long list of things that made them bad offspring in her eyes.

Olly hadn’t yet ‘officially’ moved out of their parents’ house, but these days he spent most of his time at David’s, they practically lived together in all but name. Jane still wasn’t happy about his relationship with David, she didn’t view him as being suitable for her son because he was ‘too old’ for Olly. So although David had asked him several times to move in with him, Olly had been resisting so that it wasn’t something she could hold over David as another reason they shouldn’t be together.

Sensing Charlie’s anxiety building as they got closer, Nick pulled him in tight to his side, giving Charlie something else to focus on and ground him in their happiness rather than his anxiety. While Nick didn’t hate Jane Spring, he certainly hated the way that even the thought of her affected his fiancé. Nick was a natural protector, he would fight fiercely to protect anyone and everyone that he cared about, and that instinct was at it’s strongest when it came to the man he loved.

Olly was also nervous about seeing his parents. He didn’t know how his father would react, but his mother would most likely be furious with him and David. He just hoped that David would remain calm and not get riled by her reaction. Unlike Nick who spent many of his teenage years visiting the Springs’ home, David had been spared too many encounters with Jane so far and had yet to experience the full force of Jane Spring’s wrath.

When the Springs’ house came into view, David instinctively reached down and took Olly’s hand in his own. He gave it a reassuring squeeze to wordlessly let him know that he was by his side and nothing was going to change that.

None of them had spoken since they left Sarah’s, and when they arrived at the house Nick turned to Charlie and asked, “Ready Char?”

Charlie let out a long breathe before giving a silent nod to his partner. Nick turned to David & Olly who had been walking behind them, “Ready guys?”

David and Olly looked at each other and Olly was the first to speak, “David, I just-,”

David held his finger up to Olly’s lips to interrupt him, “Olly, I love you, nothing that happens in there is going to change that, so if you’re about to apologise before anything has even happened, save it ok?” Olly thought in that moment he fell in love with David even more than he already did. They shared a chaste kiss and turned back to Nick to say they were ready.

After one final deep breathe, they approached the front door and as Charlie was about to ring the bell in an attempt to give them a few more seconds to compose themselves, the door opened and their sister Tori was standing there.

“How do you do that?” Charlie and Olly asked in unison.

“Older sister magic,” Tori stated without a change to her usual solemn expression. Tori stepped aside so her brothers and their partners could move inside the house.

“How come you’re here today?” Olly asked his sister.

“Jane called saying she absolutely needed me to clear out my old room today so that she could turn it into a guest room,” Tori said before sipping lemonade through the jet black straw sticking out of the top of her glass. “I don’t know why, she hates having people stay,” Tori added.

“So you’re here to tell them then?” Tori asked Nick & Charlie having seen Nick’s post on Instagram, Charlie just nodded knowing his sister would understand how he was feeling. Tori then turned to Olly and David and stated, “You got engaged too didn’t you.” There was no question in her voice, just a statement of fact. Unlike their brothers, David & Olly hadn’t posted anything online about their own engagement yet, choosing to keep it for themselves a little longer.

“What? No, Shut-up” Olly tried to act as if Tori had made a ridiculous suggestion, but she always knew, he didn’t know how but neither he nor Charlie could ever get anything past their sister.

“Nick, David, I didn’t know you were coming over today,” Jane questioned as she walked into the hall.

“Nice to see you too Mum,” Olly muttered under his breathe, if Jane noticed she didn’t say anything.

“We thought it was time we visited you and Dad,” Charlie said while shooting his brother a look trying to tell him to not rile Jane the second they arrived.

“You could have called first,” Jane snarkily replied before leading them into the lounge. David couldn’t get his head around why she wasn’t just happy to see her boys, his own Mum was always thrilled to see him and Nick whether they called in advance or not. He chose to bite his tongue rather than say anything, for Olly’s sake, but he knew things were only going to get worse before they got better.

Julio Spring was sitting in an armchair reading a paper when they walked into the lounge, “Hi boys, this is a nice surprise,” he greeted his sons and their partners as he put his paper down on a table beside him. Unlike at Sarah’s, Nick and Charlie didn’t sit on each other’s laps they just squeezed in side-by-side on the sofa alongside David and Oliver. Jane sat next to her husband in the other armchair while Tori stood in the doorway still drinking her lemonade.

Charlie decided it was best to rip the plaster off and share the reason for their visit straight away, hoping to get out of there as soon as they could and back to their own home, their safe space. “Mum, Dad, we have some news,” Charlie started pausing to take one final deep breathe. “Last night, Nick and I, well,” he looked to Nick who was looking back at him with nothing but adoration in his eyes, “we got engaged.”

There was silence for a moment before Jane started, “Are you sure you’re ready? What with your health issues and everything. I think it might be too soon.”

“We’ve been together 10 years Mum, it’s not too soon,” Charlie replied choosing to ignore her comment about his ‘health issues’, it had been years since he’d had any major setbacks with his mental health.

“Marriage is a lot of work. You and Nick are young and might not be able to handle that,” Jane said really digging in on her thoughts that Charlie was mentally unstable.

“Mrs Spring, I love your son and we take care of each other, through good days and bad,” Nick responded this time, trying to ease the pressure for Charlie.

“I’m sure you do Nick, but Charlie isn’t like other boys-“ Jane continued before Tori interrupted her, “Charlie is fine Mum, and as you seem to have forgotten, Nick was there for him when he was at his worst and he’s still here.” Charlie & Nick were so glad Tori was there to fight their corner for them.

Before Jane had a chance to say anything more on the matter, Julio stood up to cut her off and walked over to Nick & Charlie to shake their hands saying, “Congratulations boys,” as he did. Jane glaring at his back in annoyance.

One down, one to go, Olly thought to himself, it was his turn but nothing could prepare him for what happened next.

“So, erm, I’ve got some news to share too,” Olly shakily started once Julio had returned to his armchair. David squeezed Olly’s hand between them before Olly continued, “David and I, well, we,” Olly paused dreading what he thought was about to happen, “we got engaged too.”

“Called it,” Tori chimed in from the doorway.

“No, no you didn’t,” Jane said as if it was a matter of fact.

Slightly confused by her reaction Olly responded, “Yes Mum, we did. We’re getting married.”

“Don’t be silly Oliver, you’re far too young, I forbid it.”

“Forbid it? I’m not a child, I’m 22.”

 “You are too young to make a decision as big as this Oliver. I don’t care what notions he’s been filling your head with,” Jane stated while waving her hand in David’s direction, “but this fling will not last. He’s far too old for you. You’ll find someone much more appropriate for you when the time is right.”

David’s hand that wasn’t holding onto Oliver balled into a fist, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He didn’t care what Jane said about him, all that mattered to him was what Olly thought, he considered stepping in and saying something but before he could a voice shouted from beside him.

“MORE APPROPRIATE! My brother would give his life for your son. They are so in love and you have the cheek to dismiss what they have as a fling,” everyone turned in shock towards Nick, who had stood to shout at Jane Spring. David felt tears forming in the corners of his eyes, he’d never felt as close to his younger brother than he did in that moment.

In an attempt to try and calm the situation Julio started to speak, “What I think your mother means is-,” but he was cut of by Jane who was also now standing, “OLIVER JONATHAN SPRING while you live under my roof you will not be marrying this man!”

Rather than rise to her outburst, Olly calmly turned to his partner and asked, “Is that offer to move in still open?”

David gave Olly a loving smile, “Always my love.”

Olly smiled back before standing, not realising their hands so that David had to get up to his feet with him. He turned back to Jane and coldly said, “I’ll go pack my things,” before leading David out of the room and up to his now former bedroom.

While they were packing up Olly’s stuff, Nick kindly offered to get David’s car from outside Sarah’s house and drive it round to the Springs’ so that they wouldn’t have too far to carry everything. David and Olly worked to gather up everything that Olly wanted, his clothes, a few pictures and a couple of mementos from his childhood including a small metal toy tractor, the only one that he had left after Jane had declared he was far too old to still have childish toys (he was only 13 at the time).

Olly was quiet on the journey back to David’s their apartment. David didn’t think he’d ever seen a time when he didn’t have something to say. But what had happened was a lot for him to process and Olly just wasn’t ready to talk. He knew his mum would take it badly, but he didn’t think expect it to be as bad as it was. Olly fully expected that now they were engaged, that he would finally say yes to moving in with David properly, but this wasn’t how he wanted it to be.

They got back to their apartment and managed to carry everything from the car upstairs in one trip, but as soon as they walked in the door, the pent-up emotions that were swirling inside of Olly finally broke free. He dropped to the floor and started sobbing uncontrollably. David kicked the door closed behind them, put down what he had been carrying and wrapped himself around Olly, holding him close to his chest and just allowed him to cry as much as he needed to.

Olly turned and tucked his face into David’s neck, allowing the comforting smell of David’s aftershave to wash over him, he smelled like home. David carefully lifted Olly off the ground and carried him to their bedroom, he laid him down on the bed before laying down next to him. Olly crawled back into David’s embrace, nuzzling into his neck as the tears continued to fall. At some point Olly cried himself to sleep, but David just carried on holding him, not wanting to disturb his poor sweet man.

When Olly finally stirred from his slumber he looked up into David’s eyes, “Hey sleepyhead,” David cooed as he placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

“Hey, sorry I fell asleep on you, you should have woken me,” Olly groggily replied still clinging on to David’s body, fearing if he let ago he’d lose him too.

“It’s ok love, you needed it,” Olly saw nothing but love and concern in David’s eyes.

“Yeah, but I’m sure you didn’t need a big snotty mess clinging to you like a limpet,” Olly joked but David noticed his smile just wasn’t quite as big as usual. The tears still threatening to break through and start all over again.

“I like you clinging to me,” David tried to reassure his fiancé even though his own heart was breaking for him.

“I love you, and I can’t wait until you’re my husband,” Olly said looking up into David’s eyes.

“I love you too,” David replied simply. The pair stayed holding each other a while longer, neither in a particular rush or feeling they needed anything more than the occasional soft and tender kiss. Only when Olly’s stomach started growling at them did they decide they had to get up to find something to eat.

Neither of them felt like cooking that night, so they ordered from Olly’s favourite Vietnamese restaurant and then curled up on the sofa with Olly resting his head on David’s lap while they waited for the food to arrive. David gently stroked Olly’s curls while he laid in his lap, not entirely sure if he was doing it to comfort himself or Olly. As Olly lay there he finally spoke, “I knew it would be bad, but I didn’t think it would be like that,” David didn’t know if Olly expected him to respond but before he could think of the best words to say Olly was continuing, “I’m so sorry she said those things to you David, you have to believe me when I say you did nothing to pressure me into proposing.”

David was confused, why was Olly apologising, it’s not like he was the one who said those things. “Olly, look at me,” Olly turned his head so he was looking up at David. “You have nothing to apologise for,” David said firmly, “Jane has never liked me, we both know that, but all I care about is you. You are my sunshine on a cloudy day, my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. You are chaotic and brilliant and caring and wonderful Oliver. My life before you had been dull and grey, and now you’re here, I cannot imagine a life without you by my side to hold my hand. I want to share every single day with you, through the good times and the bad.”

“You’re such a sap,” Olly smiled cheekily back at David causing him to smile. David pulled Olly’s face up to meet his, “but I’m your sap,” David replied before tenderly kissing his sweet lips.

Still reeling after everything that happened with telling Charlie and Oliver’s parents, David and Nick decided it would be best to wait a little before they had to approach their own father with the news. A couple of weeks went by and David and Nick were discussing how best to approach Stéphane.

“We could just call him up, leave a message on his voicemail telling him we’re getting married and leave it with him to approach us,” David suggested.

“He’s still our dad, we can’t just tell him in a voicemail message,” Nick scolded.

“Well it’s not like he ever answers his phone.”

“No David, you know what I mean. We should tell him in person, like we did for Mum and for Olly and Char’s parents,” Nick ever the optimist.

“And look how well that went,” David reminded Nick. Nick gave him a sympathetic smile, “How is Olly doing?”

David sighed, “Mostly ok, I guess, we talked a little about it, right after it happened, but then he clammed up and is just pretending they don’t exist.” Nick reached for David’s shoulder, “Give him time.”

“I am, I just,” David paused but Nick finished his sentence for him, “you just wish you could make everything better. Sounds familiar.” David nodded.

“We should go to Paris,” Nick suddenly announced.

“There’s still no guarantee Dad will see us. You know he’s always had better things to do than spend time with us.”

“That’s why we should go to Paris,” Nick said as if his reasoning was obvious, “then even if we don’t manage to see him, at least we get to take our fiancés to the city of love,” Nick smiled proudly as if he’d jut had the best idea ever. David thought about it, and he couldn’t deny that the thought of taking Olly away for a romantic break had its appeal.

A few weeks later, when the easter holidays arrived at Nick’s school, David and Nick were boarding the Eurostar at London’s St Pancras station to take their partners to Paris. Charlie had asked Nick if they planned to see Stéphane when they were there, but Nick had just waved him off with a “we’ll see.” Charlie knew from their previous trip to Paris when thy were still in school, that trying to meet up with Nick’s dad was a mission in itself. He hoped, for Nick’s sake, that Stéphane would make the time to see his sons. No matter what feelings he had about his own mother, at least she wanted to see her children, even if you she was awful to them when she did.

The journey to Paris was spent laughing, joking, and enjoying the onboard bar facilities. They’d decided not to drive so that if everything went badly, Nick and David could drown their sorrows safe in the knowledge that the train would get them home safely.

“Mesdames et Messieurs, nous arrivons maintenant à Paris, Gare du Nord”, was announced through the trains PA system || “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now arriving at Paris, Gare du Nord”. As their train approached the station, the boys made sure they had all their belongings for their long weekend and prepared to leave the train.

Their hotel was just a short walk from the station, when they arrived at reception David spoke to the woman behind the desk, “Bonjour, j’ai réservé deux chambres au nom de David Nelson.” || Hello, I booked two rooms in the name of David Nelson.

She typed David’s name into the computer in front of her to locate their booking, “Deux chambres doubles? Mais vous êtes tous des hommes? Nous avons quelques chambres doubles disponibles si vous préférez.” || Two double rooms? But you are all men? We have some twin rooms available if you would prefer.

Charlie felt Nick tense up at his side, but as he didn’t speak French he didn’t know what the woman had said. He placed his hand at the base of Nick’s back to try and ease his tension with his touch.

Unperturbed by the receptionists response, David calmly replied, “J’ai réservé deux chambres doubles, c’est ce que nous voulons.” || I booked two double rooms, that is what we want.

The woman gave the boys a look that Charlie could have sworn was one of disgust before she placed two sets of key cards on the desk in front of David and walked away from the counter.

“Quelle salope!” Nick muttered || What a bitch!

“In English please Frenchie,” Charlie teased his boyfriend.

“Oh, sorry, she was just really judgmental about us having double beds and erm,” Nick paused, “she tried to get us to change to two twin rooms instead.”

“What a bitch,” Charlie replied which made Nick laugh, “that’s what I said.”

As the boys rode up in the lift to their floor, Olly whispered in David’s ear, “Maybe tonight you can talk to me in French while you’re inside me,” causing David to blush.

“I heard that,” Charlie told his brother.

“Shit,” Olly said.

“Aww, it seems you’re not the only Spring sibling to like it when the Nelsons speak French mon armour,” Nick teased, now it was Charlie’s turn to blush. That night in their rooms though, the Nelson brothers did both whisper sweet affections in French while they were each inside their lovers.

The first couple of days they were in Paris they hadn’t managed to get hold of Stéphane, instead they spent their time exploring the city and having romantic dinners together reminiscent of their joint Valentine’s meal. They all went up the Eiffel Tower, but this time Nick & Charlie finally got to kiss at the top, unlike on their previous trip to Paris when Nick was still in the closet.

The day before they were due to head back to England, they finally got the call they had been waiting for, Stéphane was free to meet them today at his apartment. As they were heading across the city, Olly was starting to feel nervous. He still felt bad about what had happened to David with his own parents and now not only was David going to be telling his dad about them, but he was also actually coming out to him so that he could do that. David had tried to reassure him that it would all be ok, but it didn’t help with alleviating his thoughts.

Sensing his brother’s anxiety, Charlie came over and took Olly’s hand in his, “Listen, everything will be ok. David is doing this as much for him as he is for you. He loves you Olly and nothing is going to change that.” Olly let out the breathe that he hadn’t realise he’d been holding.

“Thanks Charlie,” Olly smiled at his big brother, “you really are a good brother.” Charlie pulled Olly in for a hug and then returned to Nick’s side.

“He’s right you know,” David leaned in, making Olly jump.

“Don’t do that.”

“It will be ok Olly, I haven’t cared what he thinks of me for years and I promise if he were to say anything nasty about you, we’ll leave and never look back,” David reassured him while holding tight to his hand.

“This is it,” Nick called when they reached Stéphane’s apartment building. As they walked inside the lobby they all looked around at the white walls with sharp black accents and modern artwork adorning them. “Fancy,” Olly said.

When they all walked into the apartment it felt more like a show home than somewhere that anyone actually lived. Everything was spotless and looked like it hadn’t been used before.

“Entrez, soyez les bienvenus, puis-je vous apporter quelque chose à boire, les garçons?” Stéphane offered.|| Come in, welcome, can I get you boys something to drink?

“Pouvons-nous parler en anglais s’il vous plaît papa, Charlie et Olly ne parlent pas français,” asked Nick. || Can we speak in English please papa, Charlie & Olly don’t speak French.

“Bien sûr, of course, my apologies, coffee?” || Of course.

The boys all nodded their acceptance of Stéphane’s offer of coffees and followed him into the kitchen. It was looking more and more like this wasn’t somewhere he spent a lot of time, as their father’s attempts to use his fancy coffee machine were a bit of a disaster. Thankfully Oliver & Charlie both spent their spare time while at university working as baristas so between them they had the machine purring in no time.

Coffees in hand, they all settled around the small table in the corner of the kitchen.

“So how are you boys?” Stéphane asked without directing his question at anyone in particular. David & Nick both replied ‘Good’ in unison in response. This was it, they had to make their announcement one last time. Nick and David had already agreed that sticking to the same order as before made sense as David had more explaining to do than Nick.

Not knowing how long they would have before work would call him away, Nick started, “Papa, so you know Charlie and I have been together for 10 years now. Well,” Nick looked to Charlie and they smiled at each other before Nick continued, “we’re getting married.”

“That’s wonderful news, congratulations boys,” Stéphane smiled as he shook first Charlie’s and then Nick’s hands forcefully.

“Thanks papa,” Nick smiled, none of them had expected that to be so simple, it gave David hope that his own news might not come as the disaster he’d been mentally preparing himself for.

“So David, do you have a girlfriend yet?” Stéphane asked causing Olly to stiffen beside him.

“Well Dad, that’s the other reason we’re here,” David started, “You see, erm,” Olly squeezed David’s leg under the table reassuring him that he was there by his side.

“You see, like Nick, I’m bisexual and I’ve been dating Olly for the last four years and well,” he looked at Olly with love his eyes before turning back to his father, “we’re engaged too.”

There was silence for a few moments, Olly was starting to panic that everything was about to go wrong like it did with his mother. Then Stéphane broke the silence, “Quatre ans?! Et tu viens juste de me le présenter maintenant?” || Four Years?! And you’re only just introducing me to him now?

David burst out laughing, that wasn’t the reaction he was expecting from his father. Oliver looked between the two men, “Erm, what’s going on?”

“Sorry, I was just so shocked that David hadn’t introduced us properly before now that I slipped back into Français,” Stéphane answered, “It’s so lovely to finally meet you properly Oliver. How did you two meet?”

Olly chuckled, “It’s a bit of a strange story really, you see Charlie is my brother.” Stéphane’s jaw dropped, now he looked at the two boys he could see the family resemblance. “Yeah, so David and I met through them and just fell in love,” Olly continued while looking at David who was blushing now.

“Wonderful, and congratulations to you both too,” Stéphane shook their hands the same as he had done for Nick & Charlie.

They stayed and chatted a little longer, Nick and David telling stories of their recent amateur rugby games, before Stéphane’s work beckoned and the boys headed back to their hotel.

“So, that went well, right?” Olly asked, confused at how easy all of that seemed to go. David surprised Oliver by picking him up and swinging him round in the air, “Yes that went well mon chéri,” David giggled as he kissed his fiancé.