The Next Stage - 35. Opportunities

“I don’t understand why I can’t just wear condoms for the rest of my life.” Flynn complains, staring out the window.

Jasper rolls his eyes. “Because you also complain about having to use them. Once it’s done, you’ll never have to ever think about it again. You’ll just know you’re not gonna have any surprises and you don’t have to worry about me punching you for not doing the right thing and causing another issue for Grace.”

“I know. I know. I know.” Flynn groans. “The truth is, I’m not good with surgeries.”

“It’s a minor incision, dude.”

“On my balls. It’s an incision on my fucking balls.” Flynn states with emphasis. Jasper rolls his eyes, pulling up into the car park of the facility. “I know it’s selfish but I don’t want to do this.” Flynn whines.

“Fine.” Jasper pops his seatbelt off and opens the door to get out of the car.

“What are you doing?” Flynn calls out, surprised.

“I’m man-ing up and getting a vasectomy.” Jasper shrugs, slamming the door behind him. Flynn is out of the car following him in.

“You are not.”

“Do you doubt that I’m petty enough to do that just to prove a point to you?” Jasper asks, holding the door open for Flynn.

“You can’t just walk in and ask them to do it. They have to make an appointment.” Flynn states.

Jasper looks around the relatively empty waiting room and shrugs. “Watch me.” He strides to the reception desk and when he’s asked if he has an appointment he simply asks if there’s any chance they can fit him in. He steps away with a grin on his face, paperwork in one hand and a specimen jar in the other. “Your turn.” He says as he passes Flynn, taking a seat in the waiting area and filling in the paperwork. Minutes later, Flynn is beside him doing the same thing.

It’s... Interesting? Being in a small room with a sign on the back of the door stating the Wi-Fi password and suggesting multiple legal porn sites. Nothing feels less like a natural environment to jerk off in, but he’s got half an hour and this jar in his hands with his name and details on it might become another baby one day if he changes his mind about being done.

“Hey. Are you alright?” Ryan answers the phone after only a few rings.

“I’m extremely horny and I’d like your help.” Jasper states.

There’s a pause. “Did you call me for phone sex in the middle of the day?” Ryan asks with an amused tone.

“That’s exactly what this is.”

“Well, our child isn't home so you could always come home and...”

“Come on, Ry. Be adventurous with me. Give me your dirtiest fantasy and go heavy on the details.”

It’s not the most casual feeling, walking over to a receptionist and handing them a jar of semen. It’s definitely up there with one of the most uncomfortable things Jasper’s ever done. The woman says ‘thank you’ and Jasper is mortified to hear himself say “you’re welcome,” like he’s just done her a favor. He makes the gesture at least of pumping sanitizer into his hands, though even that feels somehow embarrassing and dirty.

It’s not long before he’s called into the doctor’s office. He’d imagined he would be straight on a bed with his pants down, but instead he’s sitting across a desk while the doctor clicks through something on the computer.

“So you’ve just come in for a vasectomy?”

Seems obvious. “Yep.”

“The success rate of the procedure is over 99%. A reversal may be possible and usually carries a success rate of around 95% depending on a number of physiological factors. I’ve just got to run through some information with you to ensure you’re well informed and happy to proceed.” The doctor says then chews his lip. “Do you have any biological children?”

“I have a child by surrogate, but I’m not the biological father.” Jasper answers.

“So you’re aware of your fertility issues?” The question hits Jasper in an unexpectedly hurtful way.

“Uh?”

“Low sperm count. Poor quality movement and functionality of sperm.” The doctor states very matter of fact.

“Right.” Jasper nods slowly, unable to shake how oddly insulting it is to hear.

“The reason I say this is that your chances of conceiving are extremely low and a vasectomy may not be the right choice for you if you intend to try for a biological child in the future,” the doctor turns to Jasper with a sorrowful expression then his face lights up. “Oh my goodness, your name didn’t even click. Here’s me thinking I’m delivering awful news to a straight man. So sorry.”

Jasper fakes a smile back, then gives a shrug. “Yeah, it’s not really that big a deal to me,” he says, though truthfully feeling a little unsure now.

“Well, if you’re happy to continue, we can go ahead with the procedure. But hey, I’ll send you home with a couple more jars because, even with the vasectomy, it takes roughly 15 ejaculations to be sterile. Usually the first two or three will give you the highest sperm count, especially because you'll have to abstain from ejaculations for one to two weeks while you recover, so if you collect those first few samples and return them, we’ll freeze all the samples just in case you do want to have a kid in the future because like I said, your results aren’t that promising. The more you provide, the better the odds, you know?” the doctor places three more jars on the desk and starts placing ID stickers from Jasper’s chart before him, on each one.

“You’re not allergic to anesthetic?”

“No.”

“Not on any blood thinners or aspirins?”

“No.”

“Alright. Well, come on through to the surgical room.” The doctor stands up and opens a door, gesturing for Jasper to go in.

**** 

“How’d you go?” Flynn asks when Jasper comes out.

“They are still numb, so I’m fine. How about you?” Jasper asks.

“I didn’t go through with it.” Flynn shrugs.

“You fucking asshole!”

Flynn laughs. “Got ya. I feel like I’ve been kicked in the balls.”

Jasper glares at him untrustingly.

“I did. I swear.”

“Don’t fuck with me, Flynn. I’m not in the headspace to have someone fuck with me.”

“No shit, you just got a vasectomy to prove a point. Is everything alright?” Flynn asks, still smiling but trying to sound sincere.

“My therapist keeps telling me I need to ground my emotions more and they are discussing with my doctor whether I need to switch to a higher dose of medication now because my mental state has changed.” Jasper sighs. “How’s your week going?”

“I got my brother’s ex pregnant, then chopped my balls off. Do you think you need to change meds?” Flynn asks.

“I would really rather not. Adjusting sucks and also, I know the problem is that I’ve been quite paranoid about Jazzy, but that ‘something is wrong’ feeling felt like paranoia and is the reason my daughter is still breathing. So, I don’t want to medicate myself to a point where I don’t feel that. But then every other time my brain has told me something is wrong lately, it’s been a false alarm, and it’s messing with me. I’m struggling to enjoy anything because I’m constantly stressed. Like right now, I’m feeling anxious, again. I can’t live like this either.” Jasper says, taking out his phone and sending Ryan’s mom a text asking for a photo of Jasmyn. Being out of the house and away from Jasmyn is something he’s trying to get comfortable with before his trip overseas later in the week with Luke and Fi, but the compulsion to constantly text for updates is never silent. How he’s going to survive being in a different time zone on the other side of the planet is who knows?

Jules texts back a photo of Jasmyn sitting on her lap with the creepy doll in her hands, a line of drool coming from her mouth as she smiles. ‘Still watching Bluey. I think she’s addicted.’

Jasmyn is fine. But no matter how many times she is fine, he can't help worrying.

“The thing that sucks is kids do scary shit all the time. Atticus had a knife the other day. A knife. And we had to be calm and ask him to put it on the floor carefully so we could pick it up. When Bailey was like 11 months old and started to walk, I once listened to her sook from another room and I called out for her to come find me but she didn’t and after a while she stopped sooking. When I finished with Ellie’s homework, I went to find Bailey and she had fallen asleep with her head stuck in the bathroom cupboard. Welcome to parenthood, your kids are gonna turn you grey within a few years. It’s their whole specialty.” Flynn teases, messing up Jasper’s hair.

“I don’t think any of that was the reassurance you wanted it to be.” Jasper laughs to himself as he unlocks his car, grunting with discomfort as he climbs in. Lucky for Flynn, he seems equally pained when he slips in the passenger seat.

**** 

Jasper gets home to an empty house that echoes as he walks through it to the kitchen. He finds the medicine and pops some pain killers before setting to work on everything else he had to do today.

A house warming party is a sweet way to move past their scary experience with Jasmyn, and switch their focus to all the good coming their way.

Jasper is buzzing with energy, mostly because he and Beth had agreed that Ryan was getting an announcement of her pregnancy. Everyone was getting an announcement, but they had something planned for him first. Today was going to be great.

While Ryan is out, Jasper gets to work moving Jasmyn’s cot into the room he’d set up for Beth, complete with the onesie Flynn had given him with ‘Little Badass’ written on it, placed in the cot. His next job is assembling the toddler bed he and Ryan had bought for Jasmyn’s second birthday. Obviously, she’s getting it early.

Beth comes over early, presenting Jasper with an unnecessary amount of positive pregnancy tests. They place them around the onesie in the cot as if Ryan’s not going to understand the very second he sees the cot in the spare room.

Something about the excitement of presenting Ryan with news of a baby has Jasper feeling confused and conflicted. He’s absolutely sure he doesn’t want any more kids, but the joy of anticipating Ryan’s reaction to this baby news makes him kinda wish he could surprise Ryan with baby announcements all the time, forever. Just an endless supply of ‘guess what!? There’s another one coming for you to love!’

The thought of it is so heartwarming and soft that it brings Jasper almost to the verge of tears as he looks down at Jasmyn’s old cot, about to be used for another much loved little person. Their baby was growing up. Their excitement and announcement was years ago and though in so many ways, the memory was etched into his heart and mind and he could get the same tingles picturing that moment now as he did standing backstage with his friends and family and hearing it for the first time. That feeling happened. It was past tense for them.

He’d not really had any intention of more kids after the struggle of so much responsibility in the first year of Jazzy’s life. And while he understands that people with multiple kids love all their kids, he can’t imagine himself having the capacity to love someone as much as Jazzy. He couldn’t split his heart and love her with 50% of it. But how people’s hearts grow to accommodate so many people to love all at once just blows his mind. He couldn’t even fathom having space in his heart to love his baby back when he thought Ryan took up every single atom of his ability to love.

But he knows he’s going to love Beth’s baby so much. It’ll be like loving his own all over again, because Beth is practically the platonic third in their marriage, anyway.

By the time Ryan gets home, the cot is decorated with the onesie, a dummy, 5 positive pregnancy tests, and somehow streamers got involved and were now wrapped around the rails and leading a pathway to the cot from the door. Jasper and Beth could keep going if they were given any more time, so it’s lucky for everyone when they hear Ryan’s car pull up.

“Hey. So, I’ve got 8 of the kids from the hotel turning up in just over an hour to start food prep for the party. Leo’s caterer friend will be here to watch over them and everything. I haven’t told them about her, because I don’t want them to get too in their heads or anything, but we need to be really supportive and encouraging so they can impress her and hopefully get some work in her company.” Ryan explains as he heads through to the kitchen with a couple of grocery bags so heavy they were making his muscles look extremely good in his tight shirt. “What time are the guys getting here?”

“Luke should be here soon.” Jasper shrugs, glancing at his watch. “Are you busy?”

Ryan looks up at him with a smile on his face but also like Jasper has just asked the world's most unnecessary question.

“I just need you for like, 5 minutes.” Jasper says, walking over to Ryan with his arm outstretched, wanting Ryan to take his hand.

“5 minutes, huh? Don’t sell yourself so short.” Ryan winks.

Aware that Beth is likely listening in from the door of her room, Jasper doesn’t reply, telling Ryan that the way they are going, they’ll need a trip back to Fuck Island. All that work painting a room naked as some kind of cruel foreplay had been forgotten between a sick baby, a hospital trip and living back at Beth’s house while frantically trying to get their own place ready to live in. God knows how bad it’s going to be after waiting for Jasper to recover from today’s impulsive procedure. They would need more than 5 minutes to make up for the pent-up sexual energy between them.

“Shut up and close your eyes.” Jasper states.

With a smirk, Ryan does as he’s told, letting Jasper drag him from the kitchen and over to the door. He gives a warning knock before opening it and, with his heart pounding, he excitedly tells Ryan to open his eyes.

The instant gasp and heart melting expression that takes over Ryan’s face is everything.

“Oh, Beth.” Is all he manages to say as he looks at her standing beside the cot, holding the onesie across her belly with one of the pregnancy tests in front of it. “How long have you know?” Ryan turns to Jasper.

“A few days.”

“You bitch.” Ryan says, slipping his arm around Jasper and pulling him in for a hug and placing a tender kiss on his cheek.

“I made him promise not to tell you yet.” Beth grins.

“Congratulations, gorgeous! I can’t believe it. Another baby in the house!” Ryan lets go of Jasper and goes to hug the mother-to-be.

“I’m not moving in.” Beth laughs as she hugs him back just as hard.

“I know. But I hope this will always feel like a second home to you and your little one.” Ryan sighs, pulling back and looking over her. “You’re glowing already.”

“I’m way too early to be anything already.” Beth says, but Jasper can’t help agreeing with Ryan. She’s happy in a way that finally breaks Jasper. In all this time, Beth could smile and it seemed real, but she’s glowing because since losing Blake, this is the first time her smiles haven’t carried her sadness.

“Hey.” Ryan goes back to Jasper, wrapping his arms around him and Jasper is overcome with feelings of relief at seeing the world finally give back to Beth, some of the joy she so deserves.

“I’m so happy for you.” Jasper tells her through tears.

“I know.” Beth replies, her eyes filling with tears too.

“Family hug.” Ryan reaches an arm out and Beth gives a small laugh before joining them.

**** 

Once the three of them pull it together enough to stop making each other sob happy tears, they get back to work on preparing for their housewarming party.

Leo’s caterer turns up and Jasper is fairly sure the connection is that they’ve slept together. She’s gorgeous and bossy, which seems to be the one thing everyone Leo sleeps with has in common. Regardless, when Ryan’s catering kids turn up, she’s gentle though assertive as she instructs them with their jobs.

Luke turns up with Fi and after a brief discussion about their upcoming trip overseas, Jasper steals Luke away to his recording studio.

“Aren’t you nervous about living this close to the ocean?” Luke asks, staring out towards the sea as he waits for Jasper to punch in the security code for the room.

“It’s a small stretch of beach. Unless there’s a tsunami that randomly hits us, we have nothing to worry about.”

“You know there're sharks out there, right? Swimming past every single day.”

“Yeah, so? They stay out of my kitchen, and I stay out of theirs. Can you focus on being impressed by my studio?” Jasper demands as he opens the door and flicks on the lights, stepping inside.

“Woah.” Luke’s eyes go wide as he follows him in.

“Woah is one word for it.” Jasper nods proudly, crossing his arms and grinning at his own space like he can’t believe he’s finally got it.

“This is stunning. Does it all work?” Luke asks, eyeing the line of equipment along a desk before the sound proof recording room.

“I have no idea. Wanna find out?” Jasper grins excitedly, striding over and turning on all the equipment, watching all the lights come up on the varies dials and boards.

“I suppose we better test it all out.”

The two mess around with everything kids a couple of kids on Christmas morning learning all the tricks with their new toys. Jasper sends Luke into the studio, and sits at the mixing desk, having the best time playfully recording some vocals and exploring how it all sounds. He’d just about finished his study now and the thought of recording music properly thrilled him.

When Luke comes back out and relaxes on the lounge behind Jasper, he can’t stop smiling.

“So, what’s the plan for you? Music producer?” he asks.

“Who knows? I’m not giving up being a musician anytime soon, though.” Jasper shrugs, spinning around in his chair and looking over at Luke. “I miss touring. I miss the band.”

“Yeah.” Luke sighs. “It’s funny how when you look back, it seemed like that was the best time of our lives. When, for the most part, it was shit.”

Jasper laughs. “Oh god, remember working for Chris? Fuck. I wonder if he’s paid off all his debts yet.”

“I wonder if he’s gotten over the fact you globally humiliated him, yet.”

“The fans screaming and cheering for us so loudly we could barely hear the music in our headsets.” Jasper grins, closing his eyes as he drifts back into the memories.

“Surely we’re not old enough to be reminiscing.”

“We’re both married with kids. Pretty sure that means we can reminisce about our lives before we got married and had kids.”

“I found a grey hair and I’ve been having a crisis about it for days.” Luke sighs.

“I’ve got arthritis in my wrist, if you want to compare our old person symptoms.” Jasper shrugs. “Not gonna lie though I’m pretty sure I’m in my prime physically.”

“Yeah, you do look good. It’s a bit surprising seeing you with some muscle definition.”

“I’m a Twunk now.” Jasper nods, and Luke just frowns at him.

“I’m so old I don’t understand your young person lingo.”

“It’s gay person lingo.”

“Right.” Luke nods. “Speaking about people with grey hair and stress wrinkles because of you, is Simon coming to the party?”

“I think so. I almost forgot about the party. We better get back.” Jasper says, getting up and turning all his equipment off.

**** 

“Jasper, hello darling, it’s been too long.” Jules hugs always feel so warm and full of love.

“Hey, how was Jazzy today?” Jasper asks, looking around for his baby.

“She’s just the sweetest little thing. Had a few little tantrums, but Nana’s a bit easy to persuade, unfortunately.” Jules gives a laugh. “She really loves that little doll. Babbles to it all day long. She’s with Ryan, love. Don’t stress. She was fine.” The kind look Jules gives him as she rubs his back tells him he’s looking stressed again.

“I’m gonna go find them. Thanks for having her for us.” Jasper smiles and kisses Jules on the cheek before disappearing to find his husband and daughter. He catches his breath when he finds Jasmyn coasting along her new toddler bed, shouting through babble at Ryan who is pretending to be asleep in it. Jasper leans against the doorframe, just watching them and willing his heart to calm down. The manic energy hadn’t stopped in days, but he was containing himself well. Keeping himself home and busy while he’d felt this heightened.

Ryan opens his eyes and sees Jasper, then leans in and whispers something to Jasmyn. A moment later, she turns and her eyes lock on Jasper, widening as her cheeks rise with a grin. Now she couldn’t care less that her dad was stealing her new bed, she’s power crawling across the room with a fake sook as she gets closer to Jasper.

“Hey baby girl, I missed you.” Jasper crouches, putting his arms out to encourage her to stand for a cuddle. “This house warming party is going well.” Jasper says with a smile, flashing Ryan a smile.

Ryan sighs and gets out of bed. “Is it too early to send everyone home?” he asks jokingly as he walks over to his husband and daughter.

“Probably.” Jasper shrugs.

“Damn.”

“On the bright side, after they leave, we won’t have to politely invite people around to see the place, so we’ll have all the alone time we could ever want.” Jasper smiles.

“I’ll believe that when it happens.” Ryan grins, slipping an arm around Jasper’s waist and opening the door, leading them back out to the party.

**** 

The night goes well. Everyone is drinking and mingling.

Jasper is surprised at just how many people have come along, and he’s fairly sure he doesn’t personally know most of them. Every party they hosted seemed to be more about networking and less and less personal. Still, it’s important for Ryan’s charity that he keeps creating opportunities to show the skills and potential of the kids he cares for, to people who can help finance it or offer them work.

It’s not much of a housewarming, when it’s full of strangers. But Jasper doesn’t care all that much. He spends the start of the night with Grace and Flynn before they head home, being the exhausted parents they are. Then he hangs out with Beth, before she decides she wants to make the most of having an empty home while she can, and leaves. Simon comes, though his interest in this kind of social event has long gone, and he and Jasper have little to talk about these days. Simon just seemed to enjoy that he was drifting from everyone. There are no hard feelings. He just wants to separate his life from all this celebrity noise, and honestly, Jasper can't help thinking Simon has the right idea with that. Luke doesn’t stay too late. They’d planned a performance of one of their soon to be released songs, and he leaves not long after that. Jules seems to be hitting it off with a handsomely dressed man that Jasper’s never seen before in his life. He’s actually not sure whether they invited this man or if Jules invited him as her date, but they look quite cozy with one another and it makes Jasper smile. His own parents weren’t here. They were babysitting Grace’s kids, and had agreed to come over next Sunday night for dinner, restarting that routine.

To look at Ryan now, you’d never have imagined his anxiety used to be so debilitating. He’s working the room, talking and laughing and being charming towards everyone he crosses paths with. He’s even the one that leads the ‘thank you all for coming’ speech, while Jasper just stands beside him, smiling and agreeing.

Maria comes up to them, giving Ryan a tight hug and telling him how great it is to see him again.

“I’m surprised you didn’t audition for a part in Cabaret,” she says.

“Oh, I did. But I didn’t get it.” Ryan shrugs. He’d handled that rejection well, but it still sucked for him.

“Well, between you and me, it’s not really been that big of a success. I mean, they are closing shows early and already planning the next big show.” Maria says in a fake whisper. “One which I hope you’ll be auditioning for, because I’ve been requested to choreograph and your name has been dropped.”

“I don’t want to work on a production. It was a good experience, but it’s not my thing.”

“Oh, honey. No. They wouldn’t hire you to be a choreographer. You’re not assertive enough. No, your name has been dropped for a part. You’d still have to audition, of course, but before we cast people, we always have an idea of who we’re looking for. So keep an eye out for when auditions open.” She winks. “Nice to see you again, Jasper. Don’t keep him too busy, please.”

And with that, they are left in anticipation, sharing an intrigued smile at one another.

A few drinks later, and time is finally moving faster. Jasper cherishes the feeling of having Jasmyn fall asleep as he rocks and cuddles her like she’s still a baby. He enjoys even more, the way him holding a sleeping baby and looking exhausted himself is a hint that starts a lot of goodbyes.

**** 

“Get here you.” Ryan says, swiftly slipping an arm around Jasper's waist and bringing him close against his body as soon as the last of their guests have disappeared. The smirk on his face fades to confusion as he watches Jasper grimace. “You ok?”

“I may or may not have gotten a vasectomy this morning.”

An expression crosses Ryan's face that Jasper can barely look at. “You what?”

“Yeah.”

“A vasectomy?”

“Yep.”

“Why the hell would you do that?”

“To guilt Flynn into not pulling out of his appointment.” Jasper shrugs.

“Are you serious?” Ryan steps back from Jasper, looking annoyed now. “Now I get why you called me. Why the fuck is it you never talk things through with me, Jas? Don’t you think I should have been able to discuss that with you? I was hoping you’d father another baby for us down the track one day.” Ryan says, getting choked up as he takes another step back, his shoulders falling with disappointment.

“Well, they sent me home with specimen jars for whatever is still in there.” Jasper shrugs. “But as it turns out, I might be infertile anyway,” he sighs.

“What?” Ryan’s tone is still crushed, but now it’s also empathetic.

“It’s kind of okay, I think. I don’t know. I kinda knew I didn’t want more kids, but it did feel a little shattering to hear that I probably wouldn’t have been able to, anyway. Better to know now, I suppose, than to have been trying and going through the grief of failure for months and months.”

“Jas.” Ryan steps in again and gently hugs him. “That sucks. I wish you didn’t have to hear that alone.”

“Yeah.” Jasper holds down the feeling that he might cry. “I wish I didn’t hear that alone, too,” he admits, closing his eyes and relaxing into the comfort of Ryan’s arms. “I’m sorry.”

“I can deal with impulsive tattoos and piercings. But please don’t make impulsive surgeries another thing you just run off and do. You know I’ll never stop you from doing what you want and what will make you happy, but at least let me be there to support you with that kind of stuff.” Ryan sighs, rubbing Jasper’s back, then placing his hand on his cheek and looking into his eyes. “How sore are you?” he asks.

“I could do with an ice pack.” Jasper says, cracking a smile.

“Guess my plans are out of the window for the rest of the night, since you’re out of action.” Ryan says with a cheeky smirk.

“Mm, I hope you weren’t faking it over the phone to me earlier, because I’m gonna be sore for at least a few days.”

“Wait, you had this done this morning, then came home and moved the cot and built the toddler bed?”

“Not my best idea, admittedly.” Jasper nods. "The painkillers are definitely wearing off.”

“Don’t mind me.” Ryan says, definitely not hiding his amusement as he tugs at Jasper’s pants gently, to see for himself. “Oh damn. Take away the pain, but leave the swelling.”

“It’s not that bad, right?” Jasper asks, not sure he wants to see what he’s done to his own favourite body part.

“What’s the rules around all this?” Ryan asks, gesturing vaguely at his husband’s crotch. “I thought now that we’re in our new home, and we have an actual bed... but I’m guessing that’s not going to be an option for a while?”

“They advise against sex or ejaculations for at least a week...” Jasper’s voice trails off as he sees an almost evil look cross Ryan’s face. “Whatever you just thought, please don’t.”

“A week, huh?” Ryan nods. “A whole week where I can get you turned on and you can’t do anything about it.”

“Ry-”

“Oh, don’t ‘Ry’ me, just because this ‘turn you on and leave you hanging’ game is extremely in my favour right now.”

“You wouldn’t be that cruel.” Jasper says, hopefully. He knows he deserves the payback but the thought of it is agonizing.

“It’d be a missed opportunity not to.”

Jasper grimaces.

“It could be worse. I mean, if it’s just ejaculating that’s off the table, I could get you all the way to the edge and then stop. ‘Sorry babe, it’s for your own good that you don’t get to cum’.” Ryan says in a mockingly considerate voice, while Jasper stands there helpless and regretting everything.

“What are you doing?” Jasper asks as Ryan takes out his phone, typing away with a smirk on his face.

“I’m inviting Leo over so we can watch his boyfriend’s porn show and probably get off to it right in front of you.” Ryan shrugs, grinning as his phone buzzes immediately.

Jasper gulps, but deep down, he’s not all that against the idea. He knows Ryan’s going to take pity on him, eventually. There’s no way his husband is going to really spend an entire week horny just to torment him. He’s being opportunistic now, and it’s kinda thrilling to be completely powerless for once. Besides, watching Ryan and Leo jerk off together would not be half the punishment Ryan thinks it’ll be. If that’s what is awaiting him in hell, Jasper would go there by choice.

Ryan tells Jasper he’s got to set the bedroom up ready, saying they’ll have to watch it on the TV in there just in case Jasmyn climbs out of her bed and comes looking for them through the night. So Jasper takes some more painkillers, checks on Jasmyn, who looks adorably tiny snuggled up in her big girl bed. He is in the middle of making himself popcorn so he’s got something keeping his hands busy while he sits back and enjoys this ‘punishment’, when Ryan comes back down, hugging Jasper from behind and kissing his neck softly.

“You know I love you, even though I think you’re an idiot, don’t you?” he whispers sweetly. “I really wanted to spend the night showing you that.” Ryan’s revenge façade is already breaking and Leo’s not even here yet.

“I deserve it.” Jasper smiles, turning in Ryan’s arms and noticing the way Ryan keeps enough distance between their bodies that he’s not accidentally hurting him at all. Jasper’s just about to kiss him when Leo strides up the hallway.

“Well, I thought the plan was to watch porn with you, but this works. Don’t stop on my account.”

“You can go set it up on the TV in our bedroom.” Ryan says, turning away from Jasper to lead the way.

“Seriously?” Leo grins, following him. “Jasper agreeing to watch it with me was one thing, but being invited to watch porn in your bedroom with the two of you is like Christmas.”

“I’m only agreeing to it because Jasper’s recovering from a spontaneous medical procedure tonight, so there’s a rare opportunity for the three of us to watch porn together without any of the potential of it ending in an accidental threesome.” Ryan says.

“Way to ruin a great opportunity, Jasper.” Leo jokes, while Jasper just rolls his eyes.

“Ryan’s just saying that because he wants this to be a punishment for me. There’s no way he’d let us have an ‘accidental threesome’ if I was able to.”

Leo shakes his head and closes his eyes. “Shh. Don't ruin this fantasy for me.”