#aiden pike

[ice-creamforbreakfast]

Keely didn’t get much of a chance to talk to him after that. The two of them were quickly swept up by the room. Everyone eager to meet the newcomers and share their own stories.

Jesse ended up deep in conversation with Aiden, who, it turned out, was a trans man like him. Meanwhile, Keely found herself chatting with Jade, Celese, and Gina.

Maya and Kale seemed nice too, though significantly more focused on the free pizza.

[obigem]

"Alpha," Cordie scrutinized the far corner of the tree. "Shouldn't there be more ornaments on that end? It's looking kind of sparse."

"Of course, Ms. Cordelia." Alpha added more at lightning speed. For she, the least complicated Flecher of the bunch, was just happy to be there.

With the tree trimmed, the only thing left to do was to round out their Trimming Day Traditions by singing Winterfest songs and drinking cocoa by the fire together, but an unearthly stench stopped them all in their tracks.

"Ugh," Cordie made a face, "Mama I think Droby or Brick pooped their pants."

The two smallest of the Fletchers were dancing away without a care in the world.

"UhUhhh!" Andros sing-songed. "I don't poop my pants anymore!"

"Me neither!" Brick chimed in.

But Dre's Mom nose knew best

"Droby's right, that poop is definitely a signature Brick poop. I'd know it anywhere." She scrunched up her nose

"I've got a great idea. Cordelia should handle cleaning it up. That way you won't have to after a long day at work, Mama." Millie smiled

"According to the parenting books I've been committing to memory, 15 is an adequate age to begin learning child care techniques as Ms. Cordelia's enters her prime fertility age."

"See, Alpha agrees." Millie just couldn't help herself sometimes.

"What?! Do I have to?" Cordie was caught between feelings of the ick and wanting to throttle Millie for suggesting this.

"No, Mama's got this one. I'll spare you the woes of dirty diapers till you have little ones of your own."

"Little ones, plural? Yeah, I don't think so!"

"I have way too many things I want to accomplish, so I won't be having any babies till way, way, way, WAY in the future. And even then, maybe just one."

"You say that now," Dre laughed, "but you'd be surprised how easily love, marriage, and a family can sneak up on you."

"I knew a girl with best laid plans once upon a time. Didn't quite work out for her that way." Dre smiled to herself as it was certainly clear to her how easy it can be to go from a young woman smitten with a cute guy, to a woman in love with a budding family.

It happens so fast.

"Yeah, well, that's you. Don't start putting things out into the universe and giving the Watcher ideas. It makes me nervous."

"Relax, baby girl. I'm certain the Watcher will be very kind to you and let you experience life to the fullest before giving you babies."

"Hey, how bout we stop talking about something that it won't be a possibility for my little princess to have for a long time since she won't be doing that act till she's 50, and sing Winterfest carols instead? Fwingle Zibbs, anyone?" Cameron interjected.

"Carols?" Aiden made a face. "Ya know, I think it's getting kind of late. I may just have to turn in early. You know, early morning drill duties and all." Singing wasn't exactly his favorite pastime.

On the flipside, Cordie loved carols, but she figured she should call it too.

Any other Tree Trimming Day, she'd be right there to finish out the night with the family singing songs and drinking cocoa.

But she had a late night phone call calling her name. And she didn't want to be late for it.

[ice-creamforbreakfast]

Keely had to mentally check herself as she arrived at her first meet-up at Celeste’s.

Despite her best efforts, a few uncomfortable stereotypes had crept up on her. She caught herself wondering what a room full of trans people would look like, and immediately hated that her brain had gone there.

To her surprise, the room was just full of… people.

Different ages, different styles, some with partners, some alone. Just ordinary lives happening in one place.

And somehow, that was the most comforting thing of all.

[obigem]

As the homegoing ceremony reception wore on, Cam decided to take a quiet moment to himself.

It felt so strange to be in his dad's house surrounded by so many happy pictures of him, in contrast to the reality that he was gone.

"If a funeral is good for one thing it's fancy free food. It's just too bad I can't eat any of it."

"Huh?" Cam looked up to find Aiden in front of him. "Oh, wow, I'm sorry, Aiden. I didn't even think about making sure there were vegetarian friendly options."

"I'll have Dre order something. Anything you want. It's on us."

"Cam, it was joke. I guess I failed at lightening the mood." Aiden gave a half smile.

"Oh. Sorry, I guess it went over my head."

"It's OK. You're allowed." Aiden got serious. "I really am sorry for your loss."

"My bio dad is kind of the worst, so it's probably shitty to say this, but I don't know if I'd even go to his funeral. But Henry always seemed like he really cared a lot about all of you. I'm sorry you lost that."

"Yeah, he did." Cam stood. "I think I'm gonna make the rounds."

He appreciated Aiden's kind words, but he didn't want to spend his quiet moment having people tell him how sorry they felt for him. It was bad enough he was still grappling with the fact he had no parents left. He didn't want the constant reminder of that.

Unfortunately, there was no shortage of people around him who were sorry for his loss.

"Cameron," Raymond approached him as he tried and failed to make it to the restroom.

"Oh, Raymond, how are you? Er, I guess that's weird to ask."

"No, it's fine." He waved him off.

"All things considered, Shelly and I are doing just fine."

"Thats...that's great to hear." Cam was running out of steam to stay in conversation.

"Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something important."

"Oh?"

"Your father, he was a good man. I'm glad I got to know him."

"It's no mystery to me that he was loved by so many, by you, the grandchildren, everyone."

"Listen, Raymond—" Cam tried to interrupt.

"What I'm trying to say, Cameron is, Henry had spoken to me about how hard losing your mother hit you both. He missed her dearly to his last."

"He'd mention so many times how ready he was to go, so he could be with her, but what held him were the grandchildren, and you. I told him that he should cherish the time he has with you now while he has it, so he did, but I also made him a promise."

"I promised him that when his time finally came, I'd look after the grandchildren and you."

"Me?"

"He worried about you, that you would feel alone once his time came. I know I can never replace him, I may not have long myself, but when you married Andrea you became family."

"As dear to me as Andrea is, you are too, like a real son. So if you'd like, I wouldn't mind if you decided to call me Dad from now on."

"Oh, umm, wow. I....don't really know what to say."

Raymond telling him to call him 'Dad' wasn't exactly on his bingo card for the day.

[obigem]

She wanted to be upset, but it's not like Jai was stopping her from going. He was practically pushing her away. What was she doing wrong? Why didn't he want her?

Dejected she followed Aiden to the kitchen where it quickly became obvious he didn't need help with anything at all.

"So? What do you need?" Cordie said impatiently.

"Oh, nothing, just giving you a bit of a time out before you implode."

"What are you talking about?"

"That boy, you like him don't you?"

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell me you got yourself a boyfriend?"

"What makes you so sure he's my boyfriend?"

"Alpha made a leg of lamb for dinner and Cam and Dre look to be entertaining his parents. All earmarks of a what are your intentions toward my daughter type of meal."

"Oh, right."

"So he is."

"He is."

"So why are you so nervous?"

"Well...I dunno. Just am I guess." There was no way she could tell Aiden it was because she wanted him to kiss her and he just wasn't getting the message. Aiden would just make fun of her.

"Hmm. Well, he likes you, right?"

"I dunno."

"He has to. He wouldn't be here to face the wrath of Fletcher if he didn't."

"Maybe. Or, let's say he lost interest and now he's just tolerating this whole event for my sake. What then?"

"Cordie, you're a horrible overthinker. Just like Mom."

"Just like Mama, huh?"

"Yes. And just like her you're so blind to your best attributes. I bet he's crazy about you."

"Really? What makes you so sure?"

"Cause there's a lot about you to like." Aiden smiled at her hoping to lift her mood.

"Well, if that's the case, stay for dinner."

"I think I might need you there to remind me of all those things about myself that are likable."

"Normally I'd love to, but I have plans."

"Plans? What, like a date?"

"Why, you jealous?" Aiden smirked but when he saw Cordie's face fall he instantly regretted it.

"That...was a joke. You know that, right?"

"Yeah. Of course. I don't care if you have a date or a girlfriend or whatever."

"It's not really a date and she's not really a girlfriend, but it is something important."

"Right." She didn't even know why it bothered her.

"Hey, chin up, OK? I'm sure the dinner will go great. Just be yourself and that'll be enough. I guarantee it. And if that doesn't work, it's not you. He's just a fool."

"Right."

"I'm going to head out. But good luck, Cordie Coaster. I'm sure you'll impress."

As Aiden took his leave, Cordie couldn't help but have a sour look on her face.

Why did the thought of Aiden going out on a date bother her so much? Now that she had Jai, she couldn't still be crushing on him, could she? What was wrong with her?

She had to get it together.

[obigem]

"Do you think it's gonna come down?"

"If it does, do you really wanna be standing under it when it happens?"

"I didn't realize you could throw them like that."

"I thought you said you were good at this game?" Billie teased.

The spot she selected wasn't what Aiden expected.

But a bowling alley was unexpectedly what they both needed.

It had been a while since Aiden was able to just chill and have fun with adults only rather than with mixed company at family functions. And Billie's rough day she was still tight lipped about required some unwinding.

"You're right, I'll end up with a concussion if it comes down on my head, and knowing my dumb luck—"

"You're liable to get beaned any second now!" Billie laughed. "Move over, himbo, let me show you how a master bowls."

"Alright, sensei, show me how it's done." Aiden smirked.

"It's all in the wrist." Billie got into position as Aiden observed her form from behind. From his perspective....it looked good. But just as Billie geared up for her turn, the ball slipped from her grip.

"Are those the moves I'm meant to be picking up?"

"Not another word!"

"Alright, from your turn I think I've learned what 𝘯𝘰𝘵 to do." Aiden geared up and this time threw the ball down the alley instead of up in the rafters. "Hey, not bad!" Aiden cheered for himself as he knocked over a few pins.

"Beginner's luck." Billie yawned.

"Says Ms. Gutterball!" Aiden eyed her as Billie wound up for another go and was sadly met with a Sad Clown ending.

Despite her shaky start, Billie slowly began to show her skill, and the two of them continued to take jabs at each other. It was the pure dumb fun they both needed.

Ultimately, Billie's familiarity with the game won out and she took the victory in the end.

As their original wager, loser bought drinks and fries, which was much welcomed after the appetites they both built up from the game.

"You know, if you wanted to buy me dinner, you could've just said that. Getting your ass kicked at bowling is one heck of a way to go about it though."

"Oh, ha ha." Aiden laughed. "I've humored you plenty now, so what's up? Why were you so bummed?"

"I'm a black, queer woman in a white, male dominated world. I'm always bummed."

"Be serious."

"That is serious."

He looked at her hard.

"I finally had all my gallery artists set, only for a well connected male to steal them away and offer to give them back if I slept with him."

"You're kidding." Aiden wanted to laugh, but when he saw the look on her face, he knew there was nothing to laugh about. "You're serious? Billie—"

"Walk me home?"

"That's a long walk from Strangerville."

"So that's a no?"

"That's a I'll call you a cab, and I'll ride with you."

[obigem]

"You know if you weren't such a terrible flirt, you could be an OK friend."

"I'm an amazing friend. I invitied you over, we watched a movie, we karaoked. What else could you want?"

"You know you can be serious sometimes. It's OK for us to have deep conversations."

"You know about your feelings, your hopes your dreams...what's bothering you?"

Aiden took hold of her hands and then kissed them. "You're very beautiful, and those topics are less so. So you can imagine they aren't things I exactly want to talk about." "

You don't trust me?"

"Well....maybe I want to and just haven't gotten there yet."

"Well, then next time let's work more on the trust part and less on the flirting."

"Maybe at my mom's pool party tomorrow? Come. I want you to."

"I'll think about it. Goodnight, Aiden."

"Goodnight, beautiful."

As Aiden's night drew to a close, it felt as if he'd figured something out, whereas by the end of Cordie's night it felt as though she still had so much to figure out.

But she was out of time. Tomorrow was the big pool party, and once that party rang in, it was sink or swim.

[obigem]

Speaking of Aiden....

They made it about an hour into the film before Billie got bored and wanted to try something else, so Aiden fired up the karaoke machine and the two messed around with some duets, of which Aiden was sure to stink up the room with his awful voice 😅

"Those are some lungs on you. Have you always been this awful at singing?" Billie smirked.

"Only since the day I was born."

"You get those pipes from your mama or your pops?"

"Neither. My dad's actually a musician. A failed one. But even in failure he has an aptitude for it."

"And your mom?"

"Pretends to be bad at it, actually. She doesn't know I know she knows how to really sing. She fakes it for my sake."

"What's the story behind that?"

"A long one probably. She's never fully told me, but I could guess the reasons behind it."

"Oh yeah? Somehow I feel like your story is just as complicated."

"Ya think?"

"Isn't it? You don't really talk about yourself much. Just surface stuff."

"What else is there to know except how studly I am? That's what's most interesting, no?"

"Are you always this dumb?"

"Depends."

"On?"

"If I'm looking at something beautiful."

"Right. OK, smooth talker, that's my cue to leave."

"So soon?"

"It's late, and you have work early, don't you?"

"I do. But you could stay the night. I sleep better with someone else in my bed."

"See me out before I smack you."

"Smack me where?"

"Will you just shut up and show me out?"

"Of course, I am a gentleman, after all."