Read part 1 here.

“I am so sorry,” the taller man apologized as he scooted into the booth next to the other older man. “I overslept and nearly caused a wreck by speeding to get here. Also, I apologize for not taking your calls. I do hate answering the phone while driving.”

“I know, and it’s okay, you still made it in one piece, and that’s all that matters,” said the father, smiling at the taller man. He reached over and took the man’s hand, intertwining his fingers with the other man’s own.

The son smiled and sat his half-eaten burger down. “It’s nice to meet you finally!”

“You too!” replied the taller man. He looked over at the father, who looked up at him lovingly. “Are you going to introduce us, Steve?”

“Sorry, where are my manners? Son, this is my partner, Dave. Dave, this is my son, Lucas.” Steve looked from the taller man, Dave, to his son, Lucas, and smiled. “I’m so glad the two of you are finally getting to meet each other.”

“Sorry again that it took me so long. I hope the two of you weren’t waiting forever,” Dave said. He gestured towards Lucas’ plate. “I see you went with the house burger, good choice. The jalapeno ranch is amazing.”

“It’s very good,” Lucas agreed.

The waitress came over, happy to see that her third customer had shown. She took his order, the same house burger with the same jalapeno ranch sauce, and once again headed back towards the kitchen. 

“So, how did the two of you meet?” Lucas asked, getting the conversation going again.

His dad spoke up first. “A local bar, as cliche as that sounds. We were both frequent customers.”

Dave chuckled and looked over at his partner. “It was love at first beer.”

“I don’t know about that,” the father said laughing, “but it certainly didn’t take long for either of us to realize that we had a good thing going.”

“We started by simply meeting up twice a week at the bar, then getting lunch together on our breaks at work, and then it evolved into, well, what it is now.”

“How long have you been together now?” Lucas asked.

“Right at a year. In fact, this weekend is our one-year anniversary,” Dave said, looking over at Steve. 

“Oh, don’t worry, I didn’t forget,” Steve said, smiling. “I’ve already bought you a gift.”

“Oh, I got a gift? Good, because so do you.” Dave leaned over and kissed Steve’s forehead, and Lucas took a bite of his burger to give the two of them their moment.

Dave’s food showed up minutes later, and the three men quieted themselves to enjoy it. They spoke intermittently, but most of their concentration was temporarily focused on the delicious meals in front of them.

Before long, the food was gone, the table cleared by the waitress, and the bill paid. Dave paid the bill, but not without the other two being insistent that they could cover their own first. 

“I know you can, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you,” he said with a chuckle, setting his credit card into the waitress’s hand. She came back with the card moments later, and Dave wrote in a generous tip on the receipt before signing it and giving it back.

The three men stayed seated at the table, chatting and laughing and generally having a good time for a while afterward. They had nowhere to be, nothing needing their time or attention, no work to be done other than to catch up with each other.

“So tell me a bit more about your school,” Dave said to Lucas. “What classes are you taking right now? What is your major?”

“Well, I’m going to become a football coach, but I’m still working on my prerequisites at the moment – biology, composition, stuff like that. I’m excited to eventually take more science and health classes, though, and learn more about sports injuries,” Lucas replied.

“He’s a great student,” Steve said, looking from his partner to his son. “He has a full scholarship from doing so well in high school and has a football scholarship on top of it, so the college is paying him to go there instead of the other way around.”

“That’s honestly incredible,” Dave replied. “You won’t have to deal with student loans at the end of it all.”

“You’re right, and the money that I’ve been getting back from my college refund checks has been going into savings. I’m working part-time on campus and making enough money to buy whatever essentials I need, so once I’m done with school, I’ll have a pillow of money to fall back on until I get my first job. After that, I’ll probably even have enough to cover rent and utilities for a year if need be.”

The featured image is by Hans Vivek via Unsplash.

Lucas’ father smiled, happy that his son was doing so well in school. He himself had been a scholarship student at the same college, so having his son follow in his footsteps meant the world to him.

The conversation continued as more and more customers came in and out of the small diner. All three men were having a great time catching up and chatting and simply enjoying the presence of each other. The clock ticked away, and before they knew it, the lunch rush was upon them, at nearly one o’clock in the afternoon.

Soon their words died down, and once they had run out of things to talk about, Steve reached into his pocket and pulled something out, which he kept hidden inside his hand. It took a moment for Lucas and Dave to notice, but they both grew silent once they did.

“Dave, I am so happy that you and my son are getting along so well. I’ve been nervous for this day for a while now, but honestly, it’s obvious I had no reason to be. I think we’ve talked about pretty much everything under the sun at this point, but I have one last question to ask you.”

Dave’s eyes locked with his partner’s, and he glanced down to the now open hand that contained a keyring with two keys on it. He looked curiously over to Lucas to see if the boy held any hint as to what his father was doing, but Lucas simply smiled and shrugged slightly.

“Dave, we get along so well, you and I, and I love you more than I ever thought possible. Will you move in with me?” Steve asked, now dangling the keys by their keyring.

“Oh my god. Yes, yes I will!” Dave answered, taking the keys from his partner. He smiled at Steve, then at Lucas, and looked down at the keys. They weren’t anything special to anyone else, but to him, they meant absolutely everything.

Steve sighed a happy sigh and took a deep breath. “I was so nervous you’d say no.”

“Oh, honey, I love you way too much to say no to an offer like this,” Dave replied. “Plus, you and I both know my house has seen better days. I needed an excuse to sell it and move anyway.”

Lucas looked from his dad to his dad’s partner and back to his dad, smiling the whole time. “I’m so happy for the two of you!”

“Do you think your mom would have approved of him?” Steve asked Lucas suddenly, changing the mood to a more somber one.

Lucas nodded. “Mom would have adored him. I think she’s looking down on the two of you right now, very proudly.”

Steve nodded and smiled at his son. “I think you’re right.”

The three men slowly took to their feet, gathered their things, and left the restaurant, thanking the waitress again as they headed out the door. They then congregated in the parking lot as they said their final goodbyes. Lucas was heading back to his college, nearly an hour away, and the older two men were heading over to Dave’s house, which was local. Steve would spend the night and go home the next day. There was a lot of discussion to be had about how and when to move all of Dave’s belongings to Steve’s house, but for now, the two of them would simply enjoy each other’s company.

“We’ll have to do this again soon,” Lucas said. His father agreed, as did Dave. “I really enjoyed catching up with you, Dad, and meeting you, Dave. Let me know when you’ll both be in town next, and I’ll bring my girlfriend, Sadie, next time.”

“That sounds like a plan, son,” Steve replied.

Hugs were given, and the younger of the three men got into his car and left, headed back towards his college town. The older two got into their vehicles, and Steve followed Dave to his house, leaving behind the diner just off the interstate.