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“Did I ever tell you I was born here?”
Tony looked over at his boyfriend, his gaze for the first time in a while torn from the gorgeous sunset(not that his current view was any less gorgeous). It was the end of the last day they’d be spending at the Bluth’s beach house that summer. Frankly, they were exhausted but wanting to make the most of it, Gob insisted they go sit out on the beach and watch the sunset together. They’d talked a little when they first got out there but eventually, they settled into a peaceful silence, content to bask in each other's presence just as much as they were the sun’s.
“No, I don’t think you did,” Tony replied carefully, adjusting in his chair a little to face him more. “Did your mom not make it to the hospital?”
“No, she had me here on purpose,” Gob said after a moment, glancing back at the house. “My mom got pregnant before she and my dad were married and they didn’t want anyone knowing so they got married super quick and after I was born, hid out here for a couple months until it made sense with the wedding date.”
Gob paused and fidgeted with his hands.
“It’s kinda funny, though: I don’t know when my real birthday is,” he said. “After I found that out, I joked that any time from June to August was considered my birthday.”
Tony gasped.
“Oh my god, same! Or…Well, not same same but I did that with my birthday month.”
“Ah- same!” Gob gushed, smiling crookedly. After a moment, though, it faltered back to how it was before, his body following in expressing discomfort.
“But um…Yeah…I was born here,” he said frankly, picking at the chipped paint on his beach chair and flicking off a piece. “It’s one of my mom’s worst memories about this place.”
Gob tried to laugh at the statement, make it lighthearted; it was a bad habit he had during vulnerable moments. Unfortunately, it came out nervous and revealing. He felt Tony take his hand and they took a deep breath. Somehow, he always made the air a little bit easier to breathe in.
“It’s a miracle I haven’t punched your mom in the face yet,” Tony sighed after a moment. “Her or your dad.”
“Yeah,” Gob said, smirking a little. At some point, he can’t recall when, defending his parents had become less of a gut reaction. “You’ve definitely gotten close, though.”
“Oh, definitely,” Tony said, nodding. “That last dinner we were invited to…I’m telling you, if we stayed any longer…”
Gob nodded, thinking back to that night. Tony was stubborn as a mule and getting him to back down was as easy as climbing Mount Everest. And having an equally stubborn opponent made it all the more difficult.
“You really shouldn’t, though, because our family’s lawyer is very good,” Gob added.
“I know, I know…” Tony said with a sigh.
Tony squeezed Gob’s hand lovingly, and for a minute, they were quiet again, just listening to the waves run up, up, up the shore and then trickle right back down.
“But yeah, that’s why we need to vacation here more often.”
Tony turned and gave Gob a puzzled look.
“Because I wanna punch your parents?”
“Hmm? Oh, no, because of the bad memories.”
Tony frowned sympathetically.
“Gobie, your birth isn’t a bad memory. Unless she’s talking about the literal process-”
“She’s not,” Gob interrupted dejectedly.
Tony sighed.
“You…existing; that isn’t a bad memory,” Tony said, rubbing Gob’s shoulder. “I mean, I don’t know where I’d be if you didn’t.”
Gob blushed.
“I’m tryna make a point, Tones,” he whined, his smile and playful shove making it clear he wasn’t actually annoyed.
“Fine, fine, make your point,” Tony said, holding up his hands.
“ Even if you don’t count that memory, there are tons more. Like, sure, there are good ones sprinkled in there but…Overall, it’s just…”
“…Bad?” Tony said softly.
“Yeah…”
“…Which is why…we should vacation here more?” Tony said, raising an eyebrow. Gob glanced over at him before quickly looking away.
“Mhmm,” Gob said shyly. He looked down at his fingers, which he was pulling at absentmindedly. “That way we can make up for them with better ones. This vacation probably made up for, like, 10.”
Tony nodded, chuckling a bit. He leaned over and placed a kiss on Gob’s cheek, which Gob returned with a dopey grin.
“That’s a great idea, Gobie.”
“You think?”
“I do,” Tony said. “It’ll be easy peasy. We’ll turn ‘em to dust, just like that,” he continued, snapping his fingers.
“Yeah,” Gob said, laughing suddenly, reaching for Tony’s arm. “It’ll- it’ll be like, ‘Shitty stuff happened here? Pshh, I can’t- I can’t even rem-remember!’”
“Exactly. Those bad memories don’t stand a chance!” he shouted up at the sky, throwing his free arm up into the air.
Gob beamed and after a moment, he lay his head on Tony’s shoulder and closed his eyes. Tony smiled down at him and gently ran his fingers through Gob’s hair.
“12,” Gob said softly through a warm smile.
“A twofer, huh?”
“Mhmm.”
“Yeah,” Tony said, leaning his head against Gob’s. “We got this in the bag.”