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Wakefulness draped itself over Robert like a thin blanket. It would have been easy to fall back into slumber, if not for the press of lips and the scratch of beard against his jaw and chin. Robert groaned low in his throat, and he felt his beloved husband’s mouth curve up in a smile.
He hadn’t even opened his eyes before Aaron’s lips were on his own, drawing him into a deep kiss and further from the arms of sleep. Robert went willingly, opening his mouth to Aaron’s tongue.
Aaron pulled back, but then dove in for another quick peck against Robert’s smiling mouth.
‘Mmm,’ Robert sighed. ‘Good morning.’
‘Happy birthday.’
Robert blinked, then frowned. ‘What? Birth—are you sure?’
Aaron snorted. ‘Y’know, even if I hadn’t seen the date circled on the calendar in the portacabin, I still wouldn’t believe that little act.’ He grinned and leaned in for another kiss. ‘I would’ve remembered without the nudge.’
‘I know.’ Robert shrugged. ‘It was just so that you remembered to take the day off work, more than anything. So, Mr Sugden,’ he rolled on top of Aaron and grinned down at him. ‘How do you plan on spoiling me today?’
‘Spoilin’ you?’ Aaron turned his mouth down in that way he did: the way that both infuriated Robert, yet endeared him as well. ‘No, sorry. No spoiling today.’
Robert pretended to pout. ‘But it’s my birthday,’ he whined, rolling his hips against Aaron’s until his husband moaned. ‘You woke me early for a reason.’ Without waiting for an answer, he pressed his lips to Aaron’s again. Lazy and in love, they kissed. It was the kind of kiss Robert could only have dreamed of having years ago, in the long lonely months before he and Aaron had tried for a proper relationship. He never thought he’d have this; never thought he’d want it. But god, did he want it. He wanted Aaron. Would always want him, no matter how many years passed.
They had started to build up to something promising, when there was a knock at the door.
‘Breakfast!’ Liv hollered. ‘Whatever you’re doin’, stop it!’
Robert and Aaron both looked at the closed door as if their little sister would suddenly materialise through it. Robert held himself above Aaron regardless of the yell, and Aaron didn’t try to move him. They waited until they thought Liv had left, and then Robert’s lips kissed down Aaron’s throat, his chest—
‘I said breakfast!’
This time, Robert collapsed onto Aaron, both of them laughing. Aaron pushed his husband off him gently. ‘Later, yeah?’ he said.
Robert kissed his cheek. ‘I’ll hold you to that, Baby,’ he said, to which Aaron only smiled.
****
‘About time. This stuff almost went in the bin.’
As far as birthday greetings went, Robert reckoned Liv really needed to work on hers, but he’d take it over anything else. He grinned and pulled her in for a hug, which she put up a token struggle against. ‘I knew somewhere under that grumpy, feral exterior you actually liked me.’
She shoved him away, but he caught the smile pulling at her lips nonetheless. ‘Here.’ She put two plates on the table, each one with two slices of toast and jam, and then two mugs of tea on the table. ‘Sit down then.’
Robert and Aaron exchanged curious but impressed glances, and took their seats. They were still looking at Liv when she sat at her own place at the table, along with her own mug (‘I’m smiling because you’re my sister. I’m laughing because there’s nothing you can do about it!’) and plate laden with toast.
‘What?’ she said.
The two men were quick to shake their heads. ‘Nothin’,’ Robert assured her. ‘Just… didn’t expect this treatment.’ He smiled at her and bit into his toast. ‘It’s nice.’
‘Yeah well, don’t get used to it.’ She nodded at Aaron. ‘I only did it ‘cause he promised me a tenner out of it and a night at Gabby’s.’
‘Liv!’ Aaron kicked and his sister yelped. Then he turned to his amused husband. ‘She doesn’t mean that. She wanted to do this for you.’
Robert grinned and shook his head. ‘I don’t care about her motivations. I’m just happy to spend my birthday with my family. It’s been a while since I’ve had this.’
Aaron ran his knuckles down Robert’s arm soothingly, even as Liv frowned. ‘You must have had birthday breakfasts with the Whites,’ she said. ‘Bet they had smoked salmon and those eggs Benedict things as well.’
‘Well, fancy food doesn’t equal family.’ Robert’s voice was firm. He sipped his builder’s tea from his mug (‘You’re a twat but you’re my twat’ complete with little red love hearts). The toast was a little burned, but it was still perfect. ‘I’d have this any day.’
He pretended not to see the little pleased smile that crossed Liv’s mouth.
As soon as the last bite of toast was in Robert’s mouth, Liv whisked away the plates. She complained a lot that he was always the last to finish eating, but he noticed that instead of voicing her disgruntlement this morning, she just sighed a lot (which was just as annoying, but it was progress). Aaron huffed a little laugh at her, but followed her into the kitchen; but not before running his hands through Robert’s hair and pressing his jam speckled lips to Robert’s own.
Left alone for five minutes, Robert checked his phone which had vibrated on the bedside cabinet this morning. It was a text from Vic wishing him a happy birthday, complete with smiley face and a nonnegotiable invitation to dinner tonight with her and Diane.
R: Thanks, sis :) Sounds good. You gonna cook mum’s shepherd’s pie?
He heard a series of crashes from the kitchen, and he rose from his seat. ‘What are you two doing in there?’
‘Nothing!’ came his husband’s quick answer. ‘Stay there!’
Robert frowned but left them to it. If they made a mess, they’d clear it up; it was his birthday and he didn’t plan on lifting a finger.
V: Can do. As long as you promise to come ;)
R: Blackmail?? Yeah see you later x
V: Love ya! x
Liv and Aaron emerged from the kitchen then, with a chorus of ‘Happy birthday!’, and in Liv’s arms was a small homemade cake. They put it on the table, smiling at him and at each other, clearly pleased with the product. It was covered with chocolate spread (he had wondered why two tubs of the stuff had appeared in their cupboard yesterday) and on top in bright yellow icing were the words ‘Happy birthday fossil’.
‘Liv did the piping,’ Aaron pointed out, though he was smiling so the wording had clearly been discussed and agreed by them both. Robert grinned, even as a small lump of emotion gathered in his throat. What an idiot he had been to think that he could have lived with the Whites with their M&S cake and their mid-morning posh brunch. The love and affection that he, Aaron and Liv shared for one another shone out of every pore; from every detail in this bloody cake which Robert wanted to take photos of and keep forever. It had been years since he’d had anything like this. How could he have thought he could have lived without it?
Robert nodded and cleared his throat. ‘You certainly went to town on it, eh?’
He tried to be unfazed, but his emotion must have been too noticeable—or at least too noticeable to the man who knew Robert too well—because Aaron stroked his arm softly and kissed his cheek. ‘Happy birthday, Darlin’,’ he murmured against Robert’s skin.
Candles were lit by Liv (‘Carefully!’ Robert warned) and Robert leaned over the cake, taking a moment to form a wish in his mind before he blew them out.
‘What’d you wish for?’ Liv asked, as Robert cut the cake.
‘Can’t tell you that. It won’t come true will it?’
Liv scoffed but she didn’t push Robert for an actual answer.
****
He had unwrapped his gifts from them—becoming overwhelmed again at the amount of time they must have spent shopping for something just right and wrapping it. Aaron had shifted uncomfortably when Robert opened his.
‘It’s not much. I mean, it’s not like a rolex or whatever.’
‘Baby.’ Robert put a hand on the inside of Aaron’s thigh. ‘You took the time to look through my book collection and listen to me when I talked about what was missing from it. That means more to me than some expensive watch.’
Aaron nodded and smiled though he still looked unconvinced. Robert kissed him lightly and vowed that tonight he’d kiss that doubt right out of his husband.
When all the paper had been carefully folded and put to one side for recycling (Liv had rolled her eyes at her brother-in-law because apparently he was disregarding one of the best parts of unwrapping gifts, which was making a mess with the paper), they devoured their cake.
‘This is really good,’ Robert said around a mouthful.
‘It’s one of Lisa’s recipes,’ Aaron said. He pointed his fork at his sister. ‘It was Liv’s idea to slather it in Nutella.’
Robert grinned at her. She shared his love of all things sugar.
When the plates were wiped clean, Robert leaned back on the sofa with a satisfied groan. ‘That were a lovely piece of cake.’ Then he grimaced. ‘God, I sound like my Dad!’
Liv giggled. ‘What were your birthdays like when you were young?’ she asked. ‘Like, younger than me.’
‘Liv,’ Aaron said. There was a warning note to his voice.
‘No, it’s alright.’ Robert pulled Aaron until he was leaning against Robert’s side. ‘It’s mainly good stuff when I was younger. I remember this one year—I think I was ten, maybe nine… no, no ten ‘cause Vic had just turned two—my parents had decked out the living room with balloons and banners. Mum had made a sponge cake, and she’d made these little models of the ninja turtles. I was really into them when I was ten!’ He decided not to mention that he got back into them in 2003, because his little family had enough ammo as it was against him. ‘We spent the day in one of the fields behind the farm, and me and my Dad kicked a football around for a few hours.’ His smile drifted. Who would have thought a few short years later that Jack would have... Robert shook himself free of melancholy. It was his birthday and he was spending it with two of the people he loved most in the world.
Robert pulled himself out of the memory of blue skies and green grass; his yells of joy as he scored a goal against his Dad, and his Mum laughingly shushing him as she held a sleeping Vic close to her chest.
‘We should do that today,’ he said. ‘Go for a picnic. Take some of that cake, make a few sandwiches.’ Aaron made a face, but it was Robert’s birthday: he was powerless to resist.
****
‘You know, for someone who claims not to like picnics, you definitely have a lot of them,’ Robert teased.
Aaron gave Robert the look: the one Robert knew well, even after just a year and two months of marriage, but what felt like a lifetime between that first frantic kiss and this morning’s lazy but passionate embrace.
‘Yeah, and each one was after I’d met you,’ Aaron said. ‘What does that tell you?’
Robert cast his eyes skyward and pretended to think. ‘That you love me more than you do your butch reputation?’ Their eyes met and all derision melted away to be replaced by pure affection.
They were distracted from each other by a snort a few paces ahead of them. ‘Butch? ‘im?’ Liv laughed. ‘Yeah right.’
‘Oi, you! Enough of that lip!’ But Aaron didn’t remove his arm from around Robert’s waist, or remove himself from his husband’s embrace. ‘And yeah, I had a reputation back when I was your age.’
Liv turned so that she was walking backwards, facing them and grinning. ‘Got something to live up to then, haven’t I?’
They didn’t bother to answer her, whether to humour her or not. She was a good kid really.
They found a spot near the cricket pavilion, and as Liv texted Gabby, Robert kissed Aaron’s jaw, his cheek, and nibbled on his earlobe.
‘We’ll send Liv away later and go into the pavilion again,’ he murmured. Aaron pushed him away, but his eyes were glinting mischievously. Even though the memory had been somewhat bittersweet, jaded as it was by Aaron’s return home from prison, and the secret that Robert had been trying so desperately to keep from his husband, they had managed to look past everything and enjoy particular parts of the reminiscence. What a difference a year and their love could do.
They kissed lightly and lingered against each other for a moment. It was always like this with them, and Robert hoped it always would be: that inability to do anything but be close to each other. It was the kind of love he could only have dreamed of.
‘Oi!’ A crust of bread hit Robert’s cheek and they looked up, startled. Liv had exchanged her phone for another sandwich and was rolling another piece of crust in her fingers. ‘I didn’t come out here to play gooseberry to you two.’
There wasn’t much they could say in retaliation, so they pulled away from each other though their fingers lay linked on top of the blanket, behind the Tupperware which now contained nothing but crumbs.
'Come on then,' Aaron prompted. 'Favourite birthday.'
Robert made a show of thinking about it, though really, it wasn’t even a question of trying to choose. 'This one.'
Aaron smirked and Liv made a face. 'Ugh!' she groaned. 'The cheese!' Robert reached across Aaron and shoved her playfully as she laughed. 'Different answer,' she demanded. ''Cause that one was so cringe-worthy!'
He shook his head, but Robert smiled because it was true no matter how cheesy it was: by far this was his best birthday to date even though his childhood was dotted with some good memories. 'Fine,' he conceded with a sigh. 'The next one then. And the one after that, and the one after that. Any birthday that I get to have you two is my favourite birthday.'
This time, Liv didn't even try: she outright pretended to hurl right then and there. But Robert caught Aaron just staring at him. 'What?' he asked.
His husband smiled. 'Soft lad.' He leaned over their picnic, balancing himself; one hand on the blanket, the other on Robert's thigh, and kissed him.
‘It’s true,’ Robert said against Aaron’s lips. ‘I don’t know what I would have been if it wasn’t for you. You and Liv.’
Aaron kissed him again, lingering a little longer this time, and Liv didn’t stop them even though they could feel her eyes on them. ‘Good thing you’ll never have to find out then, isn’t it?’