Page 65 of Love Unlimited

Lena’s brother Joseph wandered over to the grill, eyes watching the small tablet in his hands even as he walked. He had a neat haircut and a scruffy beard. He was wearing a Pikachu shirt and blue sweatpants, which he apparently had in many duplicates because he refused to wear anything else. That was another pleasant surprise about Lena’s family. Her brother was autistic, and all of her family members went out of their way to include him in everything without ever making it feel like a burden or pushing him toward more neurotypical behavior.

Zhong sometimes wondered if he were somewhere on the neurodivergent spectrum himself. There were a lot of things it would explain, but some things it wouldn’t. He’d asked someone at his high school about it and again in college. They’d both told him that he wouldn’t qualify for a diagnosis—but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. At any rate, he figured that neurodivergent meant that there was a lot of diversity. So he felt a bit of kinship for folks like Lena’s brother. Zhong could usually see emotions pretty clearly when he was looking for all the signals, but sometimes they snuck up as a surprise.

Joseph carefully put the tablet down on the edge of the picnic table and turned most of the way toward them, but he didn’t look up from somewhere around their chests. Did you put spices on any of the burgers? he asked in slow SimCom, his lips moving as he pronounced each word.

Zhong looked at Dustin, who’d shaped the patties.

There’s seasoned salt in the mix, but not a lot, he answered, equally slowly. It doesn’t taste like spices.

Oh, good. I don’t like spices. What about cheese? Did you melt it on the top?

Nope, Zhong answered. If you want cheese, you get to pick your own slice and put it on the sandwich yourself.

Good. I don’t like cheese.

Neither do I, Zhong agreed. It wasn’t quite true, since he did enjoy it, but he’d been raised to think of it as an occasional treat in small doses.

Joseph flashed him a small smile, eyes still fixed on his chest. I like you. Will you be my friend on Instagram?

That was sweet.

Lena’s sister, Maggie, jogged over, signing fluently behind Joseph’s back. If you have an Instagram account, he’d love it if you joined him. But he mostly re-posts memes and some of them are offensive. You don’t have to write back to them—just getting likes is a good connection to him. Then she stepped around where Joseph could see her.

That sounded easy enough. Sure, I’ll be your friend on Instagram, Zhong told him. Lena can give me your information. I don’t use it much, though.

That’s OK. What do you like to post?

I used to post food that I made. And I’d post pictures when I went on trips. What do you like to post?

I take pictures of my Pokémon cards. And I share jokes.

Hence Maggie’s warning. There was a lot of offensive stuff on Instagram that was probably hard for Joseph to make sense of. Cool. We’ll be friends. Zhong started to take the burgers and buns off the grill.

Can I have one? Joseph asked, looking up again for a moment.

Sure.

Zhong handed him a plate even though the rest of the food still needed to be brought out.

I think there’s ketchup inside, Maggie told him. Do you want me to look for it?

Thank you, Joseph signed quickly, and then turned away with his plate and tablet.

Maggie headed into the house while Dustin helped Zhong juggle plates to get all of the burgers and buns off the grill. Zhong opened another package of hot dogs and Dustin started putting on rows of marinated chicken.

Ash was looking around the yard, so Zhong waved them over. Even after the impromptu soccer game, they still seemed to have plenty of energy. They raced over to the grill and snuggled up under his arm. He’d meant to ask them to help carry out the food, but he wasn’t going to turn down the affection if Ash was comfortable with it in front of all these people.

It still amazed Zhong sometimes that Ash was actually his. A real partner in a real romantic relationship. It wasn’t something he’d even considered as a possibility until a year ago, and now he had the sweetest, most adorable partner, who miraculously wanted to stand next to him and let everyone know that they were a couple.

Maggie pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of them. I’ll send this to you, she told him. And I want to get a picture of you and Lena, she told Dustin.

Zhong realized then that he had dozens of pictures of Ash, but none of the two of them together. It hadn’t even occurred to him, yet Maggie had done it automatically.

Dustin called Lena over, but when Maggie suggested a couple’s photo, Lena pulled all of them in together. Well, that was even better, all of his favorite people there at once. In fact, he might want to get it framed.

Ash rubbed their tummy. Those smell soooo good. Can we eat yet?

Zhong ruffled their hair. Ash hadn’t said anything exceptional, but he liked knowing that he was still their Daddy, even if it was subtle with other people around. You can eat when we carry all the food out from the kitchen. Do you want to start bringing it out?