“Yes, Sir.” He wasn’t sorry. Not one bit.
Chou just laughed, looking as happy as ever.
M’sieur snorted shook his head. “Where’s my drink, brat?”
“Iced tea for you, M’sieur.” He kissed Isaac’s cheek. “Love you.”
“I love you, too.” Isaac gave him a wink and picked up his spoon and dug in. “Mm. Good.”
“Who gave you the balloon, Chou?”
Neil glanced up at it and chuckled. “I forgot it was there. Mitch tied that there to embarrass me.”
He grinned. “Did it work?”
“Nope. I’m home. I know this isn’t going to be easy, but—shit, it’s easier than being away.”
He heard that. Chou was the man that balanced them, and he wanted them together.
“This is going to be good for all of us. We’re together, that’s the key to everything. The two of you can plot and plan while Alain helps you with your home exercise and fattens us all up.”
“Yes, Sir.” Neil grabbed a piece of corn bread. “Thank you, Kitten. This is perfect.”
His cheeks went hot, and he ducked his head, so pleased.
M’sieur took his hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “I want to do some affirmations tonight. You need your rest, Neil, so nothing physical or lengthy.”
Alain thought that was a good idea, because his Chou was slowing down, visibly tired.
“Sounds good, Guapo. Whatever you know we need.”
“Well, that’s just it. In some ways, I think we’re stronger, and in others, I feel like we’re starting from the beginning. So that’s what we’re going to do for a while. Find our foundation and build it up.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I hear that.” Neil reached out and squeezed Alain’s thigh. “You in, Kitten?”
“Oui. Oui, I am shaking just thinking about us all sleeping together tonight.”
“I can’t lie, I am too.” M’sieur took another bite and reached for more corn bread. “God, this is so good.” After another bite, he picked up his tea and leaned back in his chair. “We haven’t slept with you in a while, Smokey. What do you need?”
“I want to sleep between you, but I don’t know if I can stay still, or stay in bed all night. My schedule is horked.”
“Well, we start in bed, and we’ll see how it goes. Even if we get an hour together it’s more than we’ve had in weeks, right?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Privately, Alain thought tonight Chou would crash and burn, sleep hard.
“You’re going to love that bed. Alain and I feel like we’re swimming in it without you, but it’s comfortable. It’s a little high, so let us help if it’s hard to transfer. We talked about putting in some adaptive equipment, but we decided since your chair is temporary and at least one of us will always be here, you’d be okay.”
“I will be. Mitch says I’ll be done with the walker in a month or two, then I’ll have either arm crutches or a heavy cane.” Neil sighed softly. “We’ll see. I’m pretty damn determined.”
Stubborn man. Lord. Alain didn’t make the comment, even if he did want to, because that would just complicate things.
“Good. I trust Mitch. That sounds like a great timeline to work out this brunch place you and Alain have been talking about behind my back.” M’sieur was joking, his smile was pleased, not mad.
“It’s just a pipe dream, huh? Something we talk about for some day.”
Alain shook his head. “Not so, cher. I been praying on it and wishing hard too. Add that to planning, and we might can do it.”