Page 66 of Love Unlimited

Sure, Ash agreed.

I’ll get the kids to help, Lena added.

Are they old enough for that? Zhong had to ask. There were a lot of breakable dishes.

Yep. Matt can carry potato chips or whatever, and the older ones will be fine.

Zhong would just have to trust her on that. The kids certainly looked excited enough to get their very important jobs.

That left just Dustin and Zhong by the grill again.

Dustin was holding the dripping marinade brush, but instead of using it, he was watching the parade of people bringing out the food. He looked introspective.

What are you thinking? Zhong asked him.

Just about families. Dustin sighed. I had this assumption about Lena’s family, that they were… I don’t know. Lena explained that they’re all pretty driven. Like, her parents both had full-time jobs and raised six kids, but they always had to make it look easy. So I thought they’d be… I don’t know. Cold and removed, maybe? But they’re really affectionate.

Zhong watched the group. Lena said that her parents had mellowed over the years. It probably wasn’t easy raising all those kids. And people can still be affectionate but not have time for all of their different kids’ needs.

Yeah, Dustin agreed thoughtfully. It’s just different, seeing how fully they accept everyone in the family and how much they enjoy being together. And Ash’s mother, too. You can see how close she is with them.

Zhong wrapped an arm around Dustin’s back. I’m sorry your parents didn’t have enough time for you. It had been a sore point for Dustin in college, but as far as Zhong knew, it just wasn’t relevant to him now. He described his feelings for his parents as being pretty similar to distant relatives—they just weren’t a meaningful part of his life.

Dustin shrugged. Yeah. It’s one of those things that I don’t think affects me until I come up on some weird assumption from my childhood. I think I believed that busy meant uncaring. But clearly they’re not the same thing. I think I feel guilty that I’m working so much because I don’t want to be my parents.

You’re not. Far from it. There was a whole lot to unpack there. You’re loving and generous and affectionate. Nothing like them.

Thanks. Dustin gave a wry smile. It’s just that family stuff kind of… sneaks up on you.

Zhong sighed. Believe me. I know. He still needed to figure out when he should introduce Ash to his parents and whether it should be before or after his sister’s wedding. He had two pages going on it in his notebook already.

Dustin touched Zhong’s shoulder, turning him until they were looking straight in each other’s eyes. He looked serious and intense. You were the one who taught me what a family was. Did you know that? I don’t think I would have had any idea what to do with a relationship or even a friendship if it weren’t for you. But mostly you taught me how to be a family.

Zhong felt his eyes getting misty. Dustin pulled him into a tight hug, which was good because otherwise he felt like he would have just floated away. It seemed like there was something really big in that statement.

He’d always said that he and Dustin were like brothers, but he’d used it more to explain that their friendship was close but not sexual. Now he knew that they also had some sort of romantic relationship that had been there for years.

Yet being Dustin’s family felt like more than everything else put together. Or maybe a way to describe how everything fit together. Friendship and love and commitment and home, all rolled into one.

You’re my family, too, Zhong told him when he finally pulled back.

Dustin blinked a few times. God, they were having this moment while the kids scampered around them and a whole crowd of people they barely knew were settling down to eat a few feet away. Zhong realized belatedly that he should close the grill so the chicken could cook.

So, that’s what I was thinking, Dustin concluded. That I want a family.

Zhong looked around. Lola, Lena’s niece, had just squirted ketchup on her shirt and her little brother was standing precariously on the picnic bench trying to reach a bag of chips that was far past his reach. You mean kids?

Dustin looked startled. Kids? No. I mean… I wasn’t thinking about kids unless it was something that Lena wanted, and then we’d have to discuss it. He turned back to Zhong. I was just thinking that I wanted words for us. He gestured vaguely around the yard, taking in Zhong and maybe the house. Maybe Lena and Ash, too. I want you to be my family again.

I’d like that. Zhong’s smile was so wide his cheeks hurt. I mean… does that change anything?

Maybe you could come over more often? You and Ash?

Wow. That sounded kind of amazing. Especially since they’d already stayed over three nights this week. Any more than that and it would almost be like moving back in.

Yes, he answered. Because, of course he wanted to. And Ash mentioned all the time how they enjoyed being here.

It was still a lot to process.