Smitten With Him [Editing]

Bonus Chapter #1 - Eli & Vince

"days will pass and turn into years, and I'll always remember you with silent tears."
~ unknown

--- --- ---

July 24th, 1996.
Central London, England.

"Eli, this is amazing." Vince said as he awed at the preparation of the pride parade. The parade was yet to start but the pair came early along with all the children from the foster home and all of the carers as well as all of the children that had been adopted and their foster parents.

Eli smiled and pecked his boyfriend on the cheek before looking down at his arms and cooing at the tiny baby. Eli couldn't get over how blue the baby's eyes looked, like an ocean. He was absolutely gorgeous and it was painful to think that anybody would leave their baby in the foster home not even a few months after being born. The real parents of the baby just handed him in like a parcel and moved to Canada.

"Let's just hope this parade counts, it's awful to think people like us aren't allowed to marry or adopt, or even join the military." Elliot sighed and glanced down at the ground in disappointment.

"I know but we're here today to prove that love is a human right." Vince thought optimistically. Jace started crying, no wonder, it was incredibly noisy and very hot outside. "Here, let me hold him."

Elliot diligently placed the tiny baby in Vince's arms and in a heartbeat, Vince was grinning and looking down at the baby with so much love, Elliot saw this and felt as if his heart was exploding, but in a good way. Seeing Vince and Jace together was definitely a sight to see, it was absolutely adorable, and the two looked like they had a extremely strong bond, as if Vince was Jace's biological father. Vince wasn't though, he was just a very good nurturer.

Jace stopped crying but he kept fidgeting so Vince shifted his blanket around until he stopped moving so much.

"You know, it truly does look like you and Jace belong." Eli smiled to his boyfriend who smiled back and gave him a kiss on the lips and replied with an agreement. Vince had thought this over many times, when it's legal, Eli and Vince could adopt Jace, they were basically already raising him. It would be an incredible thing for the two to start a family together. The only question that wafted around he air was how long was he meant to wait?

Vince was turning thirty next month and Eli had only recently turned twenty four; he still had his life to live. They can't just be beating around the bush, Vince was not that type of person and that is what Eli feared.

Eli gulped down a bit of bile that had risen up his throat and took a few discreet, calming breaths. He turned around and smiled from ear to ear upon seeing all the children from the foster home. They were each carrying rainbow flags and had plastered similar grins on their faces.

Eli loves children, he really did, but could he grow to resent them if they just so happened to adopt together? What if the stress gets too much? He was young, still discovering himself, he wasn't ready to settle down. Vince on the other hand felt like the world was collapsing, he wasn't gay, nor straight, not bisexual. Who needed labels anyway?! He could settle down with a woman and have children together like a common couple would and it was awfully tempting.

Sometimes, sacrifices had to be made and a huge sacrifice for him would be to end his relationship with Eli because it didn't look like it was going to get anywhere if they're just being restricted. Love isn't meant to have any boundaries and even though he didn't know what love was, he guessed that he would eventually fall in love with Eli and then things would spiral out of control because the anti-gay laws could be overturned whenever, he could be forty by then.

A big group of people walked past them and they looked at them in awe. Some of them were cross dressers and Vince thought that they were extremely brave. The same group of people involved a bunch of teenagers, holding hands and being all affectionate. The plot twist was that some of them were holding hands with someone of the same gender.