Chapter Text
August 2023
The ocean breeze lifted a few of the curls that had been resting on his face, the late afternoon sun filtering in and out of the shifting clouds. He opened his eyes and took a sip of the beer they’d snuck onto the beach in capri sun packs (Mac’s idea). There was still a hint of the fruit punch in left in the pouch, leading to an odd but drinkable beverage, nonetheless. Dennis’ gaze strayed to the beach and the small group that was tossing around a football on it. He watched Mac tackle Charlie and smiled faintly at the thought of the both of them being forty-five and forty-six respectively, but still having the ability to act like children.
He closed his eyes again, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing against the beach and the seagulls that were flying somewhere nearby (probably in hopes of nabbing one of Charlie’s many snacks, something that hadn’t changed in over twenty years).
After a few minutes, a shadow fell over him, forcing him to open his eyes to see what was blocking out the warm rays of sunlight.
September 2006
“I just don’t see what the big deal is,” Dennis stated, matter-of-factly as he washed the dishes, brow lowering as he scrubbed furiously at a spot on the pan he’d used to simmer the vegetables he’d used for his spinach linguine dish. “I was only gone for less than an hour, Mac. And the video store clerk wasn’t even attractive. So, I’m not sure why you’re so upset.” His lips quirked to the side when he didn’t receive an answer from the other man. “Dude, are you seriously tuning me out right now?” he asked and turned around. “Mac?” The shorter man’s name left his lips in confusion.
Mac looked up at him from his position on the floor, one knee bent while the other leg held him up. “Dennis Reynolds, I have loved you for a very long time, pretty much since the day we met, but of course, I waited to tell you because I didn’t want to come across as too creepy. We’d just met after all,” he added with a grin, warm brown eyes sparkling as he spoke. “That love has only grown stronger each day. I wake up and I see you next to me and can’t help but think that I’m the luckiest man to have ever lived. Like, ever,” he added, gesturing wide, ring box still precariously gripped in his left hand. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I know you’re not a fan of labels, but Dennis, will you do me the honor of becoming my partner in life…for good?”
Dennis felt his mouth drop open, and the sponge he was using splattered to the floor, hot water still running in the sink behind him. He blinked and finally nodded. “Yes, Mac, of course,” he replied, and Mac slipped the sapphire encrusted ring around his finger, hands shaking as he did so. He stood up and Dennis kissed him, splaying one wet hand on his cheek while the other rested on the back of his neck.
After a year and a half of saving and planning, they (along with Charlie, Uncle Donald, Artemis and a few other friends), made the six-hour drive to Duxbury, Massachusetts and had a small ceremony on the beach (with Agent Jack Bauer as ring bearer, no less).
They ate cake, danced and drank until early in the morning; it couldn’t have been a more perfect day.
March 2017
Rain pounded against the windows, thunder rumbling so strongly, it made the glass shake in the pane. Dennis scratched the back of Jack’s head as he peered out the window, the senior cat basking in the warmth of his lap and the blanket he was currently curled up on top of. Dennis picked up his phone, brow lowering when he saw that Mac still hadn’t returned any of his calls or text. “Where the fuck is he?” he muttered just as the front door swung open, Mac’s wet boots squelching along the floorboards. “Where have you been?” Dennis asked, remaining on the couch as Jack continued to purr from his lap.
Mac paced back and forth in front of him, drops of rainwater pattering to the floor in his wake.
Worry snaked through Dennis’ veins; Mac hadn’t acted like this since…since…
“We need to talk,” Mac said and sat down next to him, uniform completely soaked and making the couch wet as well.
Dennis’ fingers stilled their ministrations, the action causing Jack to pop open one in annoyance. “What’s wrong?” Dennis asked, gazing over at him.
Mac swallowed thickly and raised his eyes from the floor to meet Dennis. “You know how we’ve always said that we might want kids one day?”
Dennis blinked, head tilting to the side in confusion. “I do recall a few of those conversations…Why? You’re not pregnant, are you?” he deadpanned, and Mac pouted though Dennis could see the corners of his lips raising hesitantly.
“Den, I’m serious,” Mac scolded him, and Dennis let out a breath.
“Okay, okay. Why are we talking about this now while one of the worst storms in awhile is flooding the city?” Dennis went back to running his fingers through Jack’s fur, the cat’s eyes closing in turn and his purrs growing louder.
Mac took a breath and ran his hands over his knees. “There was an accident tonight, a bad one. It involved a woman and her son.” Mac’s voice took on a serious tone, brown eyes becoming shinier by the second. “The woman was a single mother with no family. She-she didn’t make it, but her son survived with only a few lacerations to his face. The kid’s extremely lucky to be alive,” Mac added, gaze flitting from his hands to Dennis’ curious blue eyes. “Dennis, I-I think we should adopt him.”
Dennis was silent, still processing everything Mac had just said. Sure, they’d played around with the idea of adopting one day, but that had been awhile ago, way back when they were in their early thirties. Dennis was going to be forty this year, a fact that he still couldn’t quite accept. “What’s so special about him?” Dennis finally asked. He didn’t miss the redness that suddenly bloomed across Mac’s cheeks. “He’s…he’s like me, isn’t he?”
Mac bit his bottom lip and nodded. “His-his name is Brian, and he’s seven. He’ll be eight in a few weeks. I-I wouldn’t have asked but -” Mac’s eyes suddenly became watery, and Dennis gently reached one hand over, interlocking their fingers together. “Even though he’s just one kid, the thought of watching another one go into the system, and he’s got no family, and it just -”
“Okay,” Dennis said simply, cutting him off.
Mac’s eyes lit up. “You-you mean it?” he inquired, tears now actively spilling onto his cheeks.
Dennis nodded, offering Mac the most genuine smile he could. “I mean it. Let’s go for it.”
They wound up converting Mac’s old room (that he’d turned into a home gym) into a room for Brian. After mounds and mounds of paperwork and visits from social workers (to make sure the apartment was fit for a child), they brought him home.
Brian was small for his age and quiet. He wasn’t nonverbal but had made it clear that he wasn’t a fan of speaking. Dennis understood then why Mac had been drawn to the kid.
It was odd that he favored both of them a little bit; his hair was the same shade as Mac’s while his eyes were almost the same color as Dennis’. He loved to do puzzles and binge watch superhero movies with both of his dads; even at his young age, was gentle with Senior Agent Jack Bauer.
They had their moments, as all families did, but they got through them, one day at a time.
August 2023
“Dad?” Brian’s voice cut through Dennis’ thoughts, and he opened his eyes.
Dad…Dad…
It was still an odd thing for Dennis to hear, still not believing it sometimes to be true.
“Dad, can I have one?” the fourteen-year-old asked, standing in front of Dennis’ beach chair.
“Sure,” Dennis replied, reaching into the cooler and pulling out one that was filled with actual fruit punch. He tossed it at Brian, watching as he stabbed the pouch in one try and taking a sip of it.
“Think they’re gonna be done soon?” the teenager asked as he sat down next to Dennis, nodding at Mac and Charlie.
“I’m sure they’ll tire eventually,” Dennis replied, smirking as Mac purposely threw the ball over Charlie’s head, the other man jumping as high as he could and still not able to catch it. “Why, you want to head out of here?”
Brian shrugged, pulling his phone from his pocket as a text notification went off. He quickly typed a response and slipped it back into his trunks.
“Hot date?” Dennis quipped and Brian shook his head.
“It’s just Jared. He wanted to hang out later,” the kid replied as he glanced back at his other dad and uncle, the hand not holding his drink fidgeting with the bracelet that was securely wrapped around his wrist.
“We can head back soon,” Dennis promised and sat up.
It wasn’t long before Mac and Charlie stumbled up from the shore, skin slightly sunburned and sweaty and out of breath. “I told you this trip would be awesome,” Mac declared to Charlie who was now laying flat on his back, chest heaving as he took in gulps of air. “And we didn’t even have to knock you out this time around.”
Brian glanced curiously at Dennis who shook his head and quirked his lips as he began to pack up their things. “You two finished getting all that beer and sugar out of your system?” Dennis inquired and the other two men nodded, still recovering their breath. “Come on, muscle man,” Dennis teased Mac and placed the cooler and some of their other belongings into his arms.
“Hey, I can lift you over my head with one arm, so I don’t want to hear it,” Mac teased back, tickling Dennis in the ribs.
“Are you implying that I’m heavy?” Dennis asked, side-eyeing his husband as he folded up their towels and put them into a bag.
“What? No! I meant -”
“Uh huh,” Dennis cut him off with a pout and before he could react, Mac was picking him up bridal style and kissing him, much to the chorus of ews from Brian and Charlie.
“You just had to prove a point, didn’t you?” Dennis asked as Mac continued to carry him towards the Range Rover (the Jeep having been retired a few years back), leaving Brian and Charlie to begin lugging their belongings up from the beach.
Mac tilted his head to one side, looking like a puppy for a moment before shrugging. “I love proving you wrong because the make-up sex is totally worth it,” he added before planting another kiss on Dennis’ lips while the other man returned it through laughter.
“Go get a room!” Charlie shouted at them from twenty feet back, Brian immediately echoing his sentiment with a look of disgust on his youthful visage.
After roughly ten minutes of back-and-forth banter and arguing over who got to sit where, Dennis pulled off (Mac having finally taught him to drive on his thirtieth birthday), the sound of Steve Winwood reverberating through the speakers.
As he watched the Jersey Shore disappear behind them in the rearview mirror, he thought about how impossible this moment would’ve been had someone told him about it twenty years previous. His life then – before Mac, before Brian, before love - had seemed like some wicked game that God or some other higher power had been playing with him; in the end, he’d won, and he couldn’t have been happier.