Blaise is Gay?!

"Brenda... she..."

Blaise frowned in concern. "Did she dump you?"

"Well, no. She's... pregnant..." Xander admitted, feeling like he'd just confessed to a secret so deep that it knocked him 200 feet underground, and then pinned him down.

"Oh..." Blaise murmured in understanding, having NO IDEA how to respond to that.

"She... She..."

"She what?" Blaise prompted, frowning and seriously concerned that Xander was going to vomit on their shoes.

"She almost didn't tell me! She said she was just going to have an abortion and never let me know!" Xander started babbling in a still very much panicky voice. "But then her mother insisted that she tell me, and she said that she actually wanted me to go with her and hold her hand and pay for half and all that, so she finally decided to tell me. So I just spent the last half an hour in a near shouting match because I CAN'T LET MY BABY DIE!!!"

"Is your family Prolife?" Blaise asked, even though it was so not important at the moment.

"Well, no. We're all Prochoice - I guess. It's just... MY baby... I can't let MY baby die..." Xander mumbled, still very much looking like he was going to vomit.

"So... she's adamant that she's doing it?" Blaise questioned hesitantly, honestly having no idea how he could help his friend get through this.

"Um... I think I managed to talk her out of it," Xander said, taking purposeful breaths. "I swore up and down that I would take the baby and raise him myself, and after a lot of argument, I think she agreed to it."

"Ohhhhkaaaaay..." Blaise drawled, a little confused now. "So... why are you so panicky?"

"BECAUSE I'M GONNA BE A SINGLE DAD! I'M GONNA HAFTA FIGURE HOW TO KEEP A BABY FROM DYING AND I CAN'T KEEP HER IN MY DORM, SO WHERE WE GONNA LIVE?! AND ***HOW*** AM I GONNA TAKE CARE OF A BABY WHILE I'M STILL IN COLLEGE AND WHAT ARE MY PARENTS GOING TO SAY?!?!?!?!"

"Okay, breathe man," Blaise advised, rubbing his back and subtly aiming him at the ground in case he vomited after all. "I've got four extra bedrooms, so that's one less worry. As for the rest of it, you'll figure it out. I mean, if she's still early enough to have an abortion, then you must still have months before you have to have everything ready, right?"

"Months?" Xander parroted, sounding shell-shocked.

"Yeah, months," Blaise confirmed.

"Months..." Xander repeated, taking a deep breath and calming down ever so slightly.

"Yep," Blaise confirmed again.

With another deep breath and a sigh, Xander finally managed to wrap his head around what was going on. "Months. I have months to get this all figured out."

"Exactly!" Blaise cheered encouragingly. "You can do this!"

"Alright..." Xander murmured, feeling a little better now.

Xander and Brenda argued quite a bit over the next few months, but mainly because Brenda was of the opinion that giving sole custody to Xander was exactly like adoption, and she didn't like that at all. She had always promised herself that she wouldn't have kids until she was ready to take care of them, and then when she was, she was going to be there for them every step of the way. Since she was in college to become a Lawyer, getting to a point where she could be home with them as much as possible would probably take YEARS. Well into her 30s. So having Xander raise her child felt like a betrayal of her beliefs.

Still, she wasn't going to give up her dreams of a better life while dooming herself and her child to the same poverty stricken life she'd had growing up. So, she eventually stopped arguing and gave in.

When their daughter was born, despite crying so hard she couldn't even see, she signed the paperwork giving Xander full custody. Then she kissed the newborn girl goodbye and promised to see her whenever she could. It was the hardest thing she'd ever done, but she had to believe that this was the best choice. For now.

That said, she couldn't bear to keep dating the man raising her child. Especially not now that she was in the really busy part of her coursework. It would feel like the straw that broke the camel's back to go to school, keep up with her 8+ hours of required studying each day, work when she could because she still needed to eat, AND have a relationship in which spending time together would involve taking care of the child she'd given up all rights to.

It just... was too much. She couldn't do it.

And so, Xander really did find himself a single father who - at first - tried his best to stay in college. However, in order to make sure he could afford diapers and formula, not to mention clothes, he'd started working part time as a construction worker. The more he got into it, the less he could keep up with school, until he had no real choice but to drop out and focus on his job.

***

Blaise held up Gabrielle and made a bunch of funny noises at her. "Are you going to be working late again tonight?"

Xander shrugged. "I hope not, but since we're still a little behind schedule, I might."

Blaise held the five month old out toward her father. "Say goodbye to your daddy!"

Xander gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Daddy loves you! I miss you so much when I'm at work!" Then he pouted a little. "Can you say daddy? Come on, say daddy!"

"I think she actually can. Sort of," Blaise said. "Watch." He turned Gabrielle back so that she was facing him again. "Come on, say daddy so your dad can go to work all happy. Say daddy."

"Dah! Dah!"

"See!" Blaise exclaimed in joy, turning her to face Xander again.

"Say daddy," Xander begged.

But rather than comply, Gabrielle seemed to get mad and scrunched up her face.

"Oh! Hey now, there's no need to cry," Blaise assured her. "Your daddy's just going to work. He'll be back later!" He turned her and placed her against his shoulder so that he could sort of dance her into a better mood.

"Dah! Dah!"

He paused to look at her with a frown. "Is it just me, or is she calling ME her dad?"

Xander laughed softly. "You know, I don't really mind. You're the one who ends up caring for her the most, since I have to go to work during the day. It only makes sense that she'd think of you like a dad too."

"Sorry," Blaise apologized. "I'm not trying to make her think that."

"No really, it's alright. We can always correct her later on, when she's old enough to actually understand," Xander pointed out. Then he gave Gabrielle another kiss on the cheek.

"Well, if you DO end up working late, then I'll bring Gabi over to my Aunt's when I go to work," Blaise informed him. "So don't forget to pick her up!"

Xander laughed. "Oh trust me, I NEVER stop thinking about her! Oh wait, before I go, when I told you I had tomorrow off, you said that you might not be home; is that still true?"

"Yeah," Blaise confirmed. "I made plans to go to a friend's house after work tonight, and I might not actually come home tomorrow night either."

"Alright, but if that's the case, can you please be back in time for me to go to work?" Xander asked.

"Yep, no problem!" Blaise promised.

"Alright then, I'm off!" Xander announced as he turned to walk out the door.

"Have a good day at work! See you in a couple of days! Love ya!" Blaise called after him.

Xander simply gave him a wave before shutting the door.

Blaise held up Gabrielle again. "Maybe I should try teaching you to say Uncle.

***

For Gabrielle's first birthday, Xander and Blaise held a small party for her. Brenda came, as did a few of her family members. Also, the moms in the neighborhood brought their kids - as did a couple of their college friends who also had kids. All in all, it was a fun and playful Saturday.

The next day, Xander brought his daughter to his parents' house, where they had another party for their family. He had originally intended to stay the night, but Gabrielle - who was now in a stage that when she fell asleep for the night, she stayed that way until she had to wake up - well, she had played so hard for two days in a row, that she passed out around 8PM and stayed that way no matter how much they passed her around.

So, feeling a bit antsy, Xander decided to just drive her home. Actually, if he was damn lucky, Blaise would be willing to watch her for a bit so that he could go out to a bar and find a woman for a one night stand. Between work and raising a daughter, it had been a while since he'd last gotten laid. In fact, he now completely understood the beauty of apps that allowed one to hook up with no strings, because he just didn't really have time for a relationship at the moment.

When he got home, he carefully carried Gabrielle in, deciding to leave all her presents in the car for now. As he gently set her in her crib, he heard voices down the hall. Curious, he went to investigate.

"There! Fuck! THERE!"

"God! You're getting so tight!"

"Don't you dare stop now! HARDER!" Blaise cried out.

Xander rested against the wall for a moment and wondered why he always seemed to hear Blaise whenever he had sex. Well... probably not EVERY time he had sex, but enough by now that Blaise was well aware that Xander had overheard him more than once. In fact, it had been a bit of a relief when Blaise realized that Xander must know he was gay.

After all, Blaise and his friend for the night (it never seemed to be the same one twice), had come out of his room one morning, sounding like they were trying to be sneaky, and Xander had simply greeted them and offered coffee. Exactly like ANY roommate would when a booty call was leaving the next morning.

Or at least, Xander was pretty sure that any decent roommate would be friendly and offer coffee. Because why wouldn't he be friendly? Well, maybe if he wasn't a morning person and they'd loudly kept him up all night, but even then, he personally would probably still be friendly.

In any case, at that time, it had become so normal to him that his best friend was gay that he didn't even feel awkward about it. His utter lack of drama had relieved Blaise so much that he'd hugged him and kissed his cheek. Which let Xander know that Blaise really had been agonizing over it. And so, life went on as normal.

Now, Xander couldn't help but listen in a bit whenever Blaise had someone over, and NOT because he was interested in gay sex, but simply because he had so little sex himself that simply hearing it was a thrill that sometimes helped him relieve himself.

So much for going to a bar tonight!

Sighing, Xander stood up in order to go back to his room. Before he could take a single step, he heard: "No kissing!"

"Aw, why not?"

"Because I only want to kiss the man I love," Blaise said.

"So, you'll totally put my dick in your mouth, but not my tongue?"

Blaise laughed. "Yep! Don't get me wrong, it's not like I think kissing is romantic and should only be done with my loved one, it's just that I don't actually like kissing in general. I have oral issues. I just feel like I'd probably give it a good try if the man I love asked me to do it."

"Oh! Okay." There was a slight paused filled with grunting and a somewhat loud slapping noise. "So wait, who's this guy you love?"

"Doesn't matter, you don't know him," Blaise stated.

"Yeah, but... shouldn't you be having sex with him instead?"

"Nah. He's straight and I don't have to have sex with him in order to love him. We do all kinds of other things instead," Blaise explained.

"Oh? Like what?"

"Like watching TV, having dinner, chatting about the latest celebrity gossip. We've gone to a couple of concerts, and he likes to drag me to baseball games, even though I'd rather shove steel pikes through my eyes!"

"HAHAHAHA! What's wrong with baseball?!"

"Just not a fan of sports, although I WILL admit that seeing the players in their tight uniforms is a visual pleasure that almost makes going to their games worth it," Blaise said.

"Mmm... right? Ever been to a swimming competition?"

"No, but MMM! I really might have to!"

Meanwhile, Xander was now leaning against the wall again and frowning. When the hell had Blaise had enough time to go out to concerts and baseball games with someone else??? Seriously! It was all Xander could do to find time for the two of them to go to such events like twice a year! And that was BEFORE Gabrielle had come along and taken up even MORE of their time!

Also, what the hell DID he have against baseball, damnit!

A little bit aggravated now, Xander stalked down the hall towards his bedroom. Just as he reached the door, he heard: "YESYESYESYES FUCK! AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Well, sounds like he's done for now," Xander murmured, wishing he knew a woman he could just call over for about an hour or so. Sighing, he went to bed and took care of it himself.

***

"DAAAAD!" Gabrielle called out from the kitchen.

"I'm in the bath!" Blaise called out in return.

Gabrielle came running into the bathroom. "I was eating an apple and my wiggly tooth got stuck in it!" At six, this was one of the biggest things that had ever happened to her. She held up the apple to proudly show off her slightly bloody tooth.

"Good girl!" Blaise praised. "Are you going to leave it in the apple to show your dad, or are you going to have me clean it up first?"

"Can we take a picture and text it to dad?" Gabrielle asked eagerly.

"Can I finish my bath first?" Blaise wondered.

"Can you hurry up?!" She insisted, bouncing in sheer excitement.

"Well, I suppose I'm done already," Blaise grumbled, since he'd been looking forward to relaxing in the bath for at least a half an hour. Still, he was clean. Standing up, he stepped out of the tub and grabbed the towel he'd set on the counter. It was big and fluffy and felt nice to dry off with. It felt even better to wrap around his waist.

A minute or so later, they were in the kitchen with the apple on the counter, under the light. They were adjusting it just so and taking pictures of it until they had a good one.

"What's going on?" Xander asked curiously as he entered the kitchen.

"Dad! You're home!" Gabrielle exclaimed excitedly as she bounded over and grabbed his hand. Then she dragged him over to the counter. "Come look at my tooth!"

"Wow Gab! Good job!" Xander praised as he took a good look at the tooth in the apple.

Gabrielle excitedly babbled the entire story of how she lost her tooth, until the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" She cried out, running to answer the door with her apple in hand.

Meanwhile, this gave Xander a moment to ask his most pressing question: "Anything planned for dinner?"

"I was thinking I'd make chicken fried rice. I've even got some rice all ready to go," Blaise answered, gesturing to the pot part of the rice maker on the counter.

"Mm, sounds good. I'm starving! Even though I got off work a little early -"

"DAD! You have some friends here to see you!" Gabrielle announced as she ran back toward the kitchen.

"I do???" Xander asked in surprise. All of his friends would know he was supposed to still be at work, so why would they just show up unexpectedly?

"I mean my OTHER dad, DUH!" Gabrielle cried out as she galloped into the kitchen.

"I do???" Blaise asked in confusion. He looked over to find two men entering the kitchen behind Gabrielle. "... Dillon?"

"Hi Blaise. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Dillon!" Blaise cried out happily, giving him a tight hug. "You're looking hotter than ever, but how did you know where I live?"

"I called your mom and she told me," Dillon replied. "So I decided to drop in and say hi. Also, I wanted you to meet my boyfriend. I'm planning on marrying him and we're going to move back to this state, we just haven't decided exactly where yet."

Still hugging Dillon, Blaise leaned back slightly and looked toward the other man. "Blaise, this is Wyatt; Wyatt, this is Blaise."

"I've heard a LOT about you," Wyatt said, looking Blaise up and down. "And now I think I might need to see what's under that towel."

Blaise laughed and winked at him. "I'd love to show you, but Dillon here hated when I said things like that, so I think he'd probably object."

Dillon turned his head to nod at Wyatt. "Yeah, I basically broke up with him because he always wanted to invite others into bed with us."

Blaise shook his head. "It's not that I wanted to invite others, it's just that I really wanted to SEE it - or probably imagine it. I didn't realize that I have a voyeur kink back then."

Dillon chuckled. "Yeah, I had to struggle with something similar with every boyfriend I had for years before I realized that it wasn't what I thought it was. I thought it was you not wanting me, but actually, it's just a visual kink. When I finally grew up enough to wrap my head around it, I relaxed a LOT, and then I met Wyatt. So I guess it all turned out for the best."

"I'm so happy for you!" Blaise gushed, giving Dillon a kiss on the cheek.

"So... you are married with a kid now?" Dillon asked incredulously.

"Nope!" Blaise corrected. "This is Xander and his daughter Gabrielle. We've simply been living together since before she was born, and since I work from home, I take care of her while Xander's at work."

"Hi, I'm Gabrielle. I showed you my tooth, right?"

Dillon laughed and ruffled her hair, which basically prompted Blaise to stop hugging him. "Hi Gabrielle. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well," Xander greeted, shaking Dillon's hand, and then Wyatt's.

Blaise gave Gabrielle a kiss on the cheek. "Hey Gabi, have you showed Bobby your tooth yet?"

"AH!" Gabrielle shrieked when she realized that she hadn't. "I FORGOT!!!" Without another word, she ran all the way over to the neighbor's house.

Chuckling, Blaise patted Xander on the shoulder. "Go on and get cleaned up. I'll get dressed and make dinner in a little bit."

Xander eyed all three of them. "Let me guess, I should take my time in the shower."

Blaise grinned at him. "Good guess!"

Xander did his best to take a long shower, but really couldn't waste more than 20 or so minutes. As he got out and dried off, he opened the door, just in case his daughter came back from the neighbor's and needed him. To his surprise, since Blaise's bedroom was right next to the bathroom, he once again overheard their conversation.

"DAMN! You have gotten better at that, and you were really good at it to begin with," Dillon praised.

"Ooo, think you can teach me? I'm kinda bad at giving head," Wyatt begged with a bit of a pout.

"Sure, why not?" Blaise agreed, and Xander imagined that he must have quietly demonstrated a few things.

Maybe to stave off an early climax, Dillon decided to talk. "So, how long have you been dating Xander?"

"Oh, we're not dating. He's straight," Blaise explained.

"That probably explains why he has a kid," Dillon observed. "And fuck! That's really good!"

"Mmm, I'm glad you showed me that," Wyatt added before a groan suggested that whatever it was happened again. "Too bad he's straight. He's kinda my type. Looks like he works out."

"Well no, but he's in construction, so his job itself is like a workout," Blaise explained.

"How would you like to blow Wyatt while I bang him?" Dillon suggested.

"That sounds fun!" Both Blaise and Wyatt exclaimed.

"But wait," Wyatt added. "You and I just met, wouldn't that be a bit weird for you. Not to mention, I'm your ex-boyfriend's current boyfriend."

"Yeah, not a problem for me. I hook up with strangers off an app quite a bit - but don't worry, I always use condoms and get tested regularly, so I'm clean," Blaise informed them.

"Strangers from an app?" Dillon asked in concern.

"Yeah, well, I haven't wanted to date anyone since we broke up, but I still need sex, so I have fun with no strings," Blaise said.