just_another | [Open - Gathering

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[Open - Gathering - Baby Shower]

They're actually having a baby shower.

Joel is fairly certain his mother wouldn't have let them get away without something, even if he had insisted it be small and consist only of family, but for some reason he and Spencer have allowed themselves to be talked into a real shower. With invitations and food and little baby themed games to play. It's sort of strange, looking at it from his position, given that Erin is the one who's going to be giving birth and therefore is the one in the glowing pregnant woman position at this entire gathering.

She'd sweetly agreed to attend and had even whispered to Joel that she would take the brunt of the attention if she could manage it. He had whispered back that he knew they had picked her for a good reason.

But here they are. Several weeks have passed, the invitations have gone out and the decorations have been put up all over Joel and Spencer's living room. He had agreed to lift the enchantments on the house for the extent of the party, which means that anyone can open the door to their guests, they don't all have to be invited in by either Joel or Spencer, and it makes him a little nervous, but he understands the usefulness of others being able to answer the door. At least for today.

It's the decorations that keep getting to him. Sweet little ducks and zebras and monkeys, little jungle animals all over the walls. The bottle and rattle shaped cookies are pretty cute, but those aren't going to be left when the baby gets here. The animal theme, though, is fairly close to the nearly finished nursery Joel has been working on upstairs and he can't help but grin at the decorations.

Spencer, on the other hand, can't stop coming back round to the center of the living room to stare at the enormous sign that's been strung up above a table already stacked with gifts when a majority of their guests haven't even arrived yet. He'd been worried this morning that the day would overwhelm him, that knowing so many people would be coming into their home would be daunting when just a year ago, he'd never even once invited company over before meeting Joel; but so far, he feels calm, in spite of having had to watch Joel remove the enchantments that act as their security on the house. If someone wishes to crash a baby shower--which he doesn't imagine will happen anyway--then they'll have to face not only the wrath of a room that will be filled with witches and sirens, but the wrath of his mother- and sister-in-law, as well. That's not a sight Spencer thinks would be very pretty to witness.

Still, he feels light, perhaps a lingering effect of the having the chance to fall in love with Joel a second time during the spell that had taken over the town. Certainly, a great deal of his contentment has to do with the fact that he won't have to worry about losing his husband in a crowd but even beyond that, he's excited.

So much has changed in the course of the past year and weeks from now, they'll be holding their newborn in their arms for the very first time without another care in the world but for who they've been looking forward to meeting since they'd decided to take this journey together. There's something a bit strange about realizing that it's all coming to a head, that the waiting will soon be over and they'll be fathers at last, but when the first knock on the door comes, Spencer can't help but smile.

[Baby shower for Joel and Spencer's wee one. Erin, their surrogate, is present and is currently 31 weeks pregnant. If you're even a little friendly with either of them, Joel's mother sent an invitation, but the enchantments have been taken off the house for the event and so it's not an impossible party to crash. If anyone wants to crash a baby shower...]

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"So, I'm going to just come out and say it and risk my sister's wrath, but having a brother turned out to be a lot less dramatic," he says when he's close enough to Caden. He's close enough to Charlotte, too, apparently. A tiny plastic bottle gets chucked at him from nearby and it bounces off the side of his head before it lands on the floor.

"I suppose I should just be glad she emptied the apple juice first," he says, rubbing the place where it's hit him.

Well, it definitely serves to break the ice.

Caden turns to Joel with a smile, pleased that he brought it up at all, and then he finds himself laughing when the bottle hits him. He leans over to grab the bottle before someone steps on it and sets it on the table, looking over at Joel almost shyly.

"As someone who also has a little sister, let me just say that I agree with you." He laughs again and looks over at Joel's sister for a moment, and then turns his gaze back to Joel with slightly wide eyes. "And may the two of them never meet."

"If yours is anything like mine, I'm fairly sure this entire town would burn to the ground," Joel says and he had thought Charlotte was out of earshot at this point, but he's suddenly hit with a particularly vivid mental image of her burning down the bookstore. He knows she never would, but he shoots her a dirty look all the same.

"I just pray you don't have a magical psychic connection with yours, because that gets old fast, too," he says, though he doesn't mean it at all. It's been useful in the past, for knowing exactly what Charlotte needs of him and when she needs it.

"Hearing about my sister's exploits is enough. I can't even imagine being inside her head." Caden laughs, but at the mention of magic his expression goes a little more serious. Joel isn't exactly secretive with the fact that he's a witch and Caden is going a little crazy not talking to anyone about it.

"Hey, can we talk sometime? About magic, I mean. I, uh. I have some questions." He bites his lip and then smiles reassuringly. "I don't want to take away from your day or anything, but maybe we can get lunch later this week?"

"Yeah, of course," Joel says, looking at Caden curiously. "For something you're writing or..." He leaves it open ended, letting Caden say as much or as little as he wants on the subject. Joel really isn't worried about anything taking away from his day, not when he's awkward about parties in the first place and already feels out of place in his own home. A distraction might actually be good for him at the moment, but he's happy to leave it for a conversation over lunch as well.

"No, not for something I'm writing," Caden replies, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. He pauses for a moment and then sighs, wrinkling his nose and looking at Joel curiously. "Uh, remember how in the spell, sometimes weird things with the weather would happen around me?"

He bites his lip and then shrugs again, looking slightly bewildered. "It's happening here too."

Joel considers that for a moment, scratching the edge of his beard as he looks around the party. There are plenty of people here who have some kind of power, those who can heal or summon the elements or manipulate things to their will, but as far as he knows, they've always known about their powers.

"So you're thinking it's you," he says, looking back to Caden. It isn't entirely unheard of for a witch not to know what they can do, but he has to wonder what Caden's family may or may not know. What they may or may not be able to do themselves.

"Yeah, I mean. It started before the spell." He looks around the room and spots April, biting his lip before turning his gaze back on Joel. He doesn't want to tell her business, but it's sort of integral to the story. "April was in danger, and I kept thinking the weather matching my anger and fear was a coincidence, but it wasn't. It was me."

There's other little things, like how he can apparently create waves anytime he wants to surf, or how the air around him heats up when he's turned on, but Joel doesn't need to know those bits. "I just - I got angry, and it was like a hurricane was starting up. I'm a little freaked out. I don't want anything bad to happen. I just don't know how to control it."

Joel blinks, surprised by the revelation, and he thinks briefly of Aoife. For awhile there she hadn't seemed quite able to control her power either and they're similar to Caden's in a way. "Wow," he says, then huffs out a soft laugh. "That has to be something of a surprise."

He can't even begin to imagine. All his life he's known what he is, what he can do, but to never know, to only find out later, it must be confusing.

"Are your parents not... I mean, have you spoken to them at all about it? I'll do whatever I can to help, of course, it just might be a good idea to start there. At the source."

"Yeah," Caden says with a soft chuckle. "I've been writing about stuff like this for years. Imagine my surprise to move here and find out that not only is it all real, but I'm actually part of it."

He watches Joel curiously and furrows his brow for a moment before shaking his head. "It's genetic, then? I suppose that makes sense. My mom isn't magic. She's very open about her life. Way too open, really. She would have told me."

Caden's eyes widen and then he groans, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose while shaking his head. Fucking figures. "My father," he says, dropping his hand and shrugging. "He took off when I was five. It must have come from him, but I have no way of contacting him even if I would want to."

Joel is sure there's someone out there capable of finding Caden's father, but he doesn't say so. Not yet. That's something they might not need to approach at all and he isn't sure if Caden would even want to. Learning to control what he can do is more important than finding out where it's come from anyway.

"We should meet," he says. "You can tell me more and I can bring some books that might be able to get you started on trying to control it. Something like this... the weather..." He trails off and shakes his head. "Well, it needs to be controlled."

"Yeah, that'd be good. Like I said, I didn't want to take away from your day." He bristles a bit at that last part, irrationally, but still. He knows that he can be dangerous, and that's why he's doing this. He wants to learn. "I know it does. That's why I'm coming to you."

He bites his lip and reaches up to rub at the back of his neck, and then smiles and reaches out to grip Joel's shoulder. "But enough for now. You have presents to open, and then many thank you cards to write, by the look of it."

"We'll figure it out," Joel says with a smile. "It can take time, but we will. I'm still trying to understand how to work some of my magic, so I know it can be frustrating, but I'll do whatever I can to help." There are definitely books and he has a feeling his mother might know the best places to begin. Once he and Caden talk more he'll have a better idea of whether or not he can tell anyone else, too, because he knows Aoife had been in a similar situation before. He isn't sure if she'd really be able to help, but it might benefit Caden to talk to someone who understands the power itself more thoroughly than Joel does.

At the comment, he laughs and looks at the party. "It's kind of amazing," he admits. "A year ago I wouldn't have been able to do something like this." And now he's here, not only attending a party, but hosting one in his home.

"I appreciate that more than you know," Caden replies, giving him a genuinely relieved smile. He's been so worried about his burgeoning powers, and he's glad that he has someone he can trust to help guide him. "I know you have a lot going on, so just let me know when is good for you."

He smiles as he watches Joel look around, and Caden is glad that he has such a support system in place. He's a good man, and he deserves it. "I'm happy for you, even though I don't get to be Uncle Caden here in this land."

Caden gives him a teasing wink and reaches out to lightly tap Joel's shoulder with his fist.

"Sure you do," Joel answers, nudging Caden's hand with his shoulder. "Who says we need to be magical prince brothers for you to be Uncle Caden?"

This baby is going to be loved, he's sure of that. This baby is going to have countless amazing people to call his or her aunts and uncles. Blood doesn't make the difference there, Joel is completely certain of that. He loves his family and he knows they're going to be incredible, but he and Spencer have been blessed with amazing friends, too.

Caden grins at that, and he's endlessly grateful that their brief time as brothers has only led to them being better friends. "Thanks, Joel. That means a lot."

He laughs and looks over at the surrogate for a moment, smiling softly before looking back at Joel. "I guess that solves my problem of having way too much money and no baby to spoil."

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[Open - Gathering - Baby Shower]

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