Free Her Two Dads by Ariel Tachna

“Shoot, sorry, Sri. I’ll have to get used to watching my mouth again. I forgot I was supposed to go out with Randy tonight. I can see if he’d mind waiting so you can still get in your run.”
     
    “Don’t worry about it,” Srikkanth replied, leaning down and kissing Sophie’s cheek. “We’ll be fine for tonight. Go enjoy your date. We’ll be here when you get home.”
     
    Jaime nodded, backing out of the room slowly, wishing he didn’t have to leave. When they’d made the date, Sophie hadn’t been in the picture and he’d been looking forward to seeing Beecake at a local pub, but now, he wanted nothing more than to stay home and spend his uninterrupted hour with Sophie. There was nothing to be done for it. Randy was here, and they’d already paid for the tickets and made dinner reservations at the club. He’d just have to cajole Srikkanth into letting him spend a little extra time with her over the next few days. It was Friday. Maybe he could even steal her for a few hours tomorrow, since he didn’t have to work.
     
    “I’ll just be a few minutes,” he called down to Randy. “I’m not quite ready.”
     
    He changed clothes quickly into something more appropriate for a night out than the jeans and sweatshirt he was currently wearing, thinking the entire time how much more comfortable he’d be if he could just stay home. Before he went down the stairs to join Randy, he peeked in Srikkanth’s room again to get one more glimpse of him and Sophie together to hold him through the evening. If that wasn’t a sad state of affairs, he didn’t know what was.
     
    As he suspected, Randy was sitting impatiently on the couch in the living room waiting for him. “What took you so long?” he snapped.
     
    “I was helping Srikkanth with something,” Jaime replied, not really wanting to get into an explanation of Sophie and everything else. She was too special to share, and somehow he doubted Randy would get it any more than Nathaniel did.
     
    Randy huffed in annoyance, but Jaime ignored him. He’d been looking forward to the chance to see Billy Boyd and his band in concert since he’d heard they were coming to town and he refused to let his “date” ruin that, even if he’d already decided he wouldn’t have time for another night out any time soon should the other man ask. Maybe—Jaime hoped it wasn’t just wishful thinking—Randy would be annoyed enough with his tardiness and general uncommunicativeness to refrain from trying to set another date. If not, Jaime had the perfect excuse. He’d simply tell Randy he had to babysit for Sophie.
     

     

     
    When the concert ended four hours later, Jaime had to admit he was glad he’d gone. The pub had delivered on its promise of an intimate setting, only seating about one hundred fifty people total, and the table he and Randy had reserved ended up being about ten feet from the stage. While they were waiting to get in, Billy Boyd had come out front to sign autographs and shoot the breeze with his fans. Once they’d gotten inside and the band came out, the evening had only gotten better. Billy chatted to the crowd like they were close personal friends, even exchanging quips with a group of women a few tables back that had Jaime doubled over laughing. The music had been spectacular, and Jaime had enjoyed every minute of the show.
     
    If only he’d enjoyed the rest of the evening as much. Randy had been pretty much obnoxious except when the band was playing. Jaime wasn’t sure if he’d never noticed before or if his date was worse tonight than before. He knew he was less patient than usual with anything that kept him from home. For the past couple of weeks, he’d caught himself watching the clock at work, feeling the last hour drag like two, his thoughts fixed on Sophie and getting home to see her as quickly as possible. Tonight was no different, the thought of her going to bed without his giving her a good-night kiss almost enough to make him