“I'm proud of you, and I love you," Blay said yet again, that old, familiar voice cutting through all of those years of rejection and judgement, giving him not just a rope of acceptance to hang onto, but a flesh-and-blood hand to lead him out of the darkness of his past... And into a future that didn't require lies or excises, because of what he was, and what they were, was both extraordinary--and nothing out of the ordinary. Love, after all, was universal.”

“Blay said yet again, that old, familiar voice cutting through all of those years of rejection and judgment, giving him not just a rope of acceptance to hang on to, but a flesh-and-blood hand to lead him out of the darkness of his past… And into a future that didn’t require lies or excuses, because what he was, and what they were, was both extraordinary—and not hing out of the ordinary. Love, after all, was universal.”

“Love, after all, was universal. Qhuinn closed his fist up tight, and knew he would never, ever take that ring off. “Always,” Blay murmured. “Because family is an always kind of thing.”

“Scrambling through the drifts, Blay rushed over and landed on his knees. Qhuinn was sprawled on the ground, his long, heavy legs stretched out, his upper body in John’s lap.The male just stared at him with those mismatched eyes, unmoving, unspeaking.“Is he paralyzed?” Blay demanded, looking over at John.“Not that I’m aware of,” Qhuinn replied dryly.I think he’s got a concussion, John signed.“I do not—”He went flying off the hood of his car and hit this tree—“I mostly missed the tree—”And I’ve had to hold him down ever since.“Which is pissing me off—”

“What brings you onto my property?" Rhev said, cradling his mug with both hands trying to absorb its warmth.Got a problem"I can't fix your personality, sorry”

“And what do you know, John's hands flew through the positionsof ASL in various l-got-this combinations."Is he deaf" the guy behind the cash register asked in a stagewhisper. As if someone using American Sign Language was some kindof freak."No. Blind.""Oh."As the man kept staring, Qhuinn wanted to pop him. "You goingto help us out here or what?" "Oh ... yeah. Hey, you got a tattoo on your face." Mr. Observantmoved slowly, like the bar codes on those bags were creating some kind of wind resistance under his laser reader. "Did you know that?"Really. "I wouldn't know."''Are you blind, too?"No filter on this guy. None. "Yeah, I am.""Oh, so that's why your eyes are all weird.""Yeah. That's right."Qhuinn took out a twenty and didn't wait for change-murderwas just a liiiiiittle too tempting. Nodding to John, who was also measuring the dear boy for a shroud, Qhuinn went to walk off."What about your change ?" the man called out."I'm deaf, too. I can't hear you."The guy yelled more loudly, "I'll just keep it then, yeah?""Sounds good," Qhuinn shouted over his shoulder.Idiot was stage-five stupid. Straight up.”

“I'm glad you like him," he murmured, his hands tugging up her shirt. "Because the two of us are yours. For as long as you'll have us.""That would be eternally," she said as she let herself go. And reveled in all the love.”