"Sunday afternoon there's something special. It's just like another world."

[nickthewarbler]

Who: Nick Hinton-Matheson and Jeff Hinton-Matheson
What: Catching up
Where: Bella Vita Galleries, Manhattan
When: Sunday afternoon

It was easy for Nick to get lost in his art, and today was no exception. He had come to the gallery on the day he was supposed to be at home to be here to give one of his commission pieces to the client, and they had been over the moon. Nick always preferred to hand his work over in person rather than through an employee, especially when the client was paying as much as this guy had because his great grandparents had been Italian and wanted Nick to paint an original piece from a childhood photograph he had. It had been one of his favourite jobs, and he was sad to see it go, but when the guy promised he would wholeheartedly be back for more, that made it all worth it.

But he had gotten distracted then and made the mistake of going into his studio for a little while. That had been hours ago, and he only thought to even check the time when he stared to feel sleepy. He grabbed his phone to check the screen and it told him it was after five. "Shit, crap!" he cursed in surprise and was just getting up off his stool from in front of his easel when Jeff came into the studio. "Shit, babe, I'm really sorry. I just got wrapped up and lost track of time. I should have been home hours ago!"

Comments

[warble_on_jeff]

Jeff nodded. "If," he repeated, realizing as he spoke that this was something that he would need to get used to... the idea that Nick really may not ever want another child. Their family might be as big as it was going to get, and that was something that he really needed to work on accepting, because Natalia was going to school soon, whether he was ready or not, and his life really was going to change. That might not be for the worst, though. In fact, as Nick spoke, it hit him, too, just how little time they'd spent together since Nat had been born. Granted, there was nothing in the world they would've taken for the experience of being fathers, and the joy that Nat brought into their lives every single day. But their alone time had fallen by the wayside pretty often in exchange for all the time consuming things that came with being fathers. "I can definitely vouch for not enough sex," Jeff agreed, watching his husband quietly. "In fact, I was kind of hoping for some more of that myself. I even talked to my supervisor about getting the same day off every week so that he and Nick could try and plan some more quiet down time while Nat was at school. All of this was new for them at this point, and he really didn't want to rush through any more of their lives and miss the parts they already had.

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "No, it's not that I'm nervous about the job, or working or anything. I'm sure that my job's going to be great. It's an amazing cause, and I'm honored for the chance to work there. It's just... It's the whole baby thing... I want that again one day. I do understand what you're saying though. I do. We're just getting to a point where we can slow down a little and enjoy everything we worked so hard for together... And Nat's happy, healthy, safe... All the things that we hoped and prayed she would be." He paused, listening to Nick, and nodded. "We could do with a vacation. And more sex for sure." He paused, taking a long look at his husband. "What say you wait until I tuck Nat into bed tonight, and let me have that bath with you?" It really had been far, far too long since they'd really gotten their romance on, and they needed it before it was too late and they were one of those couples who slept in separate rooms or something awful like that. Their relationship and their daughter were the most important things in their lives. And there was only so much for most important before something got bumped by something else. And when Nick put it that way, it didn't seem like the end of the world not to have another kid right now anyway.