Roman woke up at what he considered to be the perfect time to wake up, 5:25 am. Some might consider that time way to early for their liking, but Roman found it the perfect time. It gave him time to shower, eat a healthy breakfast, and still get to his bakery at six o’clock. Not to mention picking a suitable outfit and having perfect hair-care. Yes, his morning routine was tire-some, but he would have it any other way.

Roman got out of the shower, a towel loosely hanging from his hips and his upper half dripping with the still warm water. He took a smaller towel from the cabinet he kept them in and started to dry his hair. As Roman did this he walked across the cold bathroom tiles and to the mirror. He took his hand and wiped the fog of so he could see and pulled the towel away from his head. He looked in the mirror and say his hair standing up in at least forty-seven directions. He got his comb and combed his hair all to one side, deciding not to gel it that day, giving it a fluffy effect once dry.

He walked out of his on-suite bathroom and into the master bedroom he had all to himself. He had a fairly large home, as a result of his successful bakery. He went into his walk-in closet and looked around. He found a nice white t-shirt with red accents and decided it would look nice with a pair of black pants. He walked out of the closet after getting ready and threw his towel in his hamper. He went over to his bedside table and pulled out the ring with the gay pride flag that he bought himself the year before.

Feeling more refreshed than he did when he woke up, He strutted into the kitchen to make breakfast. It was a fairly modern looking kitchen with blacks and whites covering practically the whole kitchen. He walked over to the fridge to see what he had to cook. He decided to make avocado toast with eggs and a berry parfait with a banana and peanut butter smoothie.

Roman got up and smiled thinking about his breakfast. He checked the time and found it to be 5:38 am. He got on his small windbreaker. It was fall in his area so cold but not enough for a heavy jacket. He walked outside and let a light breeze was over his face. He smiled content with the feeling of the wind gushing through his slightly damp hair. He walked down the stairs that led to his driveway. He got into his Porsche and started it. His smile only grew when he heard the engine start.

He drove down the road, now used to the feeling as he takes this route every day to get to his work.

Roman got out of his car after parking it in the parking lot of his well-known bakery. He was excited to start the day like he did every day. He opened the door using his keys and went straight to the backroom.

He made sure to get on his baking apron to make a fresh batch of cookies. While the cookies were in the oven, he started on bread. By the time the bread was set aside to start rising, he remembered the dough he made for bread last night and the cookies. He took the cookies out of the oven and on to a cooling rack. He took the bread dough from the previous night out of the fridge and put that in the oven. He made doughnuts, strudels, turnovers, and even some pie. After he was done it was 7:30 and time to open up the shop.

He walked through the array of tables and chairs he had set up and flipped the switch on the sign that lit up and said ‘Open’. He smiled and walked behind the counter. Not long after his best friend and coworker, Emile walked in.

“Hey, sorry I’m a bit tardy,” Emile said, with a slightly nervous chuckle.

“It’s fine, you’re still earlier than Patton,” Roman said waving his hand as if dismissing the apology.

“Is he late again too?” Emile asked, not surprised in the slightest to hear that their other was late as well.

“Yeah well, you know him, always late for almost everything,” Roman said giving a whole-hearted chuckle.

The boys both went behind the counter talking and laughing, waiting for the third friend to show. Minutes later the doors opened and both boys looked over to see the third of the trio walk in out of breath slightly. The other to boys smiled at him, and he smiled back. They both just assumed that he woke up late but in reality, he was dropping off his husband’s lunch. Then again, only Patton gets to know the truth.

The three boys heard a ding and two turned their heads to the direction of the door. The other boy was in the kitchen baking, not really caring about anything happening in the front of the establishment.

“Hello, how can I help you, ma’am?” Roman said in his most polite voice.

“Hello, can I please has a cherry kolach please?” She said looking Roman in the eyes and smiling. He smiled back, and Emile got the pastry with cherries in the middle for the younger-looking woman.

He handed her the kolach and rang her up.

“Alright, that will be $2.50,” Roman said looking up to see her rummaging through her bag, most likely to find a wallet of some sort. When she did find it after a short time of looking she gave Roman $3.00. He put the cash in the register and gave her back 50 cents. She took the money and put it in the tips jar, earning a smile from both boys.

The morning went by slowly and they just waited for the lunch rush. Like always, at lunch, they were bombarded with a rush of people.

Virgil always felt bad leaving Remy and the other works he never bothered to learn the names of with the lunch rush. It honestly wasn’t his fault though! The boss decided that it was a good idea to put Virgil’s break in the middle of the lunch rush. Everyone was fine with it and understood why though. Virgil had bad anxiety and the middle of the rush is when his nerves kick in badly because of all the people.

Virgil put his hoodie on after taking off his apron. He walked down the street of Townsquare, where his café and many other shops were. He had a satchel and inside he had some money for lunch. He was walking and humming a tune to himself when he came across a homey looking bakery. He shrugged and decided to go in for he was getting quite hungry. He walked in and heard a bell above his head, most likely to signal the workers. He looked at the counter and gave a small nervous smile.

Both boys looked like nice people but one stood out to him. He has fluffy hair that if you saw you would just want to ruffle and a white shirt with red accents. He wanted to get to know the boy better even if he didn’t know him at all. He walked up to him and the other boy. They both smiled and the one that seemed like the mn of his dreams said something.

“Hello, how can I help you?” The man said while leaning seductively on the counter.

Virgil gulped and tried his best not to stutter. “Can I have a chocolate chip cookie?” He asked surprised he didn’t stutter considering the most beautiful man he has ever seen in his entire life was flirting with him.

The man closed his eyes and let out a small chuckle which, in Virgil’s eyes, is the most beautiful thing he has ever heard. Then the man started talking again.

“So something as sweet as you I see? What’s your name Doll?” He said making Virgil’s breath hitch.

“I- um- name? Er- I’m Virgil. Um- you?” He squeaked out, stumbling on every word.

“Heh. You’re cute Virgil. My name’s Roman.” Roman said. After that, Virgil wanted to do one of two things. Past out or kiss him, although he knew neither was a good option.

Roman handed him the cookie and told him it was on the house. Virgil however, refused to let him do that so he gave a $2.50 tip.

Virgil said a quick goodbye and left, making poor Roman nearly collapse. He let out a breath and instantly turned to Emile.

“You gave him your number, didn’t you?” Emile said shaking his head but he was also smiling so Roman knew he was only playing.

“I gave him my number!” Roman practically yelled. He felt like he was on cloud nine and no one could drag him down.

Roman closed the photo album after thinking about the story he had told oh so many times. Then the first time the story was told flooded into his mind.

Roman finished the story and looked up at his two kids. Cenric and Ebonee, he really couldn’t ask for a better life. Cenric thought of the story as cute while Ebonee was pretending to throw up in her mouth. Both kids knew they were adopted but didn’t care much as they still considered Virgil and Roman their parents and each other siblings.

“Dad that is the most adorable thing I have ever heard, but I don’t think my sister would agree,” Cenric said referring to Ebonee.

“Me neither,” Roman said laugh as Ebonee got offended of them talking about her.

Roman looked down at his chest and saw his husband sleeping their peacefully. He kissed the top of his head, on his faded purple hair and smiled. He wouldn’t have this any other way.