Rentboy

neck.
    “No, dear, we won’t be like that, but promise me something. If you ever get the urge to cut again,
    come to me first, and we’ll talk about it. I don’t want you to hurt yourself ever again. Deal?”
    “Deal,” Fox said, looking up at Edward.
    “So what were you doing with the knife?”
    Fox indicated the raffia tied in a bow around the flower stems. “I was going to cut it off.”
    He released Edward and cut the tie on the flowers and then placed them with care into a red
    glass vase. “Come on, I’ll put them on the mantelpiece.”
    In the living room Edward sat down gratefully on the couch, watching Fox position the vase so it
    looked perfect. “How’s that?”
    “Lovely.” Edward patted the couch beside him. Fox joined him, leaning into his side. “I’ve
    never had anyone to give a valentine card to before. And I’ve never received one, so this is for you,
    my future husband.” First he handed Fox the card. “The writing might be a bit wonky. I wrote it on the
    train.”
    The grin on Fox’s face when he pulled the card out of the envelope was priceless. “They look
    like us.” The sight of the two men on the front brought laughter bubbling up from them both.
    With the life Fox had led, it always amazed Edward that his man could laugh at all, and yet he
    seemed so free-spirited and ready to have fun at any moment. When Fox opened the card and began to
    read, Edward dropped his chin against his chest. To make it worse Fox read it out loud.
    “Dear.” He looked at Edward with a smile before continuing. “You cannot possibly know how
    very much I love you and how you have changed my life, so I will tell you. I was lonely, and I had
    given up on finding love. Every day was the same, work, home, sleep, work. I thought I would never
    have the family of my own I always wanted. Now I have everything, a family, happiness, and most of
    all, a wonderful man to come home to every day. You are my rainbow in the sky and my pot of gold at
    the end. You are the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. Love, Eddie. XXX.”
    A long pause followed. Had he made a complete fool of himself yet again? Was Fox suppressing
    laughter at his clumsy words? He sneaked a looked sideways and saw tears running down Fox’s
    cheeks, streaking the black eye makeup he wore even at home. “Fox?”
    “I love you so much, Eddie.” He laid his head on Edward’s shoulder, and for a minute they just
    sat together. “You’re the best.”
    Sniffing loudly, Fox got up and returned a second later with a card that had no envelope and
    something else wrapped in a piece of red and gold cloth. Fox never used conventional wrapping.
    “I made this card myself. I didn’t just paint it. I made the paper as well. At college we have a
    papermaking facility.” He sank down beside Edward again on the couch and handed him the card. In
    the middle was a rough rendition of a heart in pink and white watercolors. It was almost like a child’s
    painting, and yet it was clear it was done with skill, every brushstroke perfect. Over the heart Fox had
    written the words, Eddie, here is my heart. It’s yours. Fox.
    “Thank you,” Edward whispered. “My very first valentine card, ever.”
    “And here’s your present.” Edward unwrapped the ten-by-ten unframed canvas. On the front was
    a house painted in oils with a print impressed over the top with all their names—Eddie, Fox, Alder,
    Arden. Beneath it was a series of dotted lines as if someone was left out.
    “Who?” Eddie asked.
    “That’s for the kids we’re going to adopt when we move to the country.”
    “Five of them?” Surely that was too many.
    “As many as will have us,” Fox said.
    “What about Tara?”
    “When mum is recovered, we’re going to find her a lovely bloke. One who’ll look after her and
    treat her the way she deserves to be treated. She’s going to have a real life. She’s going to have her
    very own Eddie.”
    “I don’t deserve you,” Edward said. “You are everything I ever dreamed of in a man.” With the
    back of his hand Fox wiped off the wet eyeliner streaking down his cheeks. He looked at the mess,
    and they both laughed.
    “The painting is unfinished,” Fox said, “because our love story is unfinished. As the years go by
    I’ll add a frame and more details. Maybe other things around the sides. And you will note it’s
    square.”
    “Like me?” Edward asked.
    “Exactly.”
    “Well, this isn’t square.” Edward picked