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Henry sits in the stands, the hum of the crowd in his ears and his heart resting somewhere in his throat. The air in the aquatic center is humid and the now familiar smell of chlorine wafts into his nose as he waits nervously. He holds Arthur tightly on his hip, rocking back and forth anxiously as he keeps a close eye on the action near the pool.
Arthur, only two years old, doesn’t seem too concerned; his head is swinging from side to side, taking in all the different colored flags and all the various people in the stands. Even Gabriela, who’s just turned four, is calmer than Henry. She keeps grabbing his free hand and pointing at all the other swim team members that she recognizes while she waves her little American flag.
Henry takes a deep breath and tries to calm his heart rate. He’s become accustomed to sitting in the stands and watching his husband compete, but the anticipation and anxiety never truly gets easier. Especially when there’s a gold medal on the line.
He met Alexander Claremont-Diaz poolside a couple of Olympics ago, and his life has never been the same since. Henry can’t help the small smile on his face as he thinks back to that moment. He’d been in the midst of an interview, answering another mundane set of questions, when he had been distracted by the most beautiful man getting out of the pool in a swimsuit doing its utmost. To this day, Percy still gives him a hard time about how his jaw had dropped open and how he had stopped talking midsentence, his stupefied reaction caught for posterity on camera.
Then, a couple of days later, Henry was one of the presenters at a medal ceremony. The very same medal ceremony where Alex received his first gold medal. When Henry had placed the medal on his neck, they had bantered back and forth. And luckily for Henry, Alex had been intrigued by the glimpse of Henry’s personality and had wanted to see more.
Now, years after their first encounter, Alex and Henry are at their third Olympics and married with two children. He’s no longer a Prince wearing a stuffy suit, in the crowd but not really a part of it. Now, Henry is in the stands, in comfortable clothes, a wedding ring on his finger and a part of the throng of people in the stands, ready to cheer at the top of his lungs.
The voice of the announcer comes over the speakers and the lists of the competitors’ names are displayed on the large screens hanging above the pool. Henry catches his breath as the names of each swimmer are called, his eyes zeroed in on the entrance.
Alex’s name is announced and he walks out of the tunnel, his beaming face is shown in bright technicolor on the screen. When Gaby sees her father, she can’t hold back her excitement. She pulls on Henry’s hand and points to the screen. “Look, Daddy!” she exclaims, her dark curls bouncing. “It’s Papi! It’s Papi’s turn to swim!”
“You’re right, love,” Henry answers his daughter before turning to his son. “What do you think, Artie? Do you see Papi?” Henry points at the screen. It shows Alex waving at the crowd. Artie giggles and waves back at Alex, his small hand almost catching Henry in the nose.
Ducking out of the way of Artie’s small but lethal hand, he grins and looks over at Nora and June, both decked out in Team USA colors. June smiles back tightly, looking almost as nervous as Henry is, even though she’s been cheering Alex on for years at this point. Nora is focused on the scoreboard, eyeing up the different times posted. She is, without a doubt, evaluating Alex’s competition and the probability of him ending up on the podium.
Henry looks back to his husband as Alex walks towards his lane. Alex starts stretching, before adjusting his cap over his curls and goggles on his nose as he stands beside his starting block. Henry takes a deep breath and notes how focused Alex is, his gaze determined as he gets into his race mentality.
Henry feels another tug on his hand, and he looks down at his daughter. “Oui, oui, mademoiselle? How can I help my dearest darling, Gabriela the Great?” He teases and Gaby laughs, throwing her head back the same way Alex does, a mirror of the full-bodied joy that he exudes into the world.
“You’re so silly, Daddy,” she tells him, giggling. “Papi’s gonna start swimming soon, so we have to cheer, right? We’re on Papi’s team! It’s on our shirts!” Gaby proudly points to the picture of Alex’s face on the front of her white shirt and then to her brother’s where, in big red and blue letters, it says TEAM ALEX.
“Yes, we need to cheer Papi on,” Henry agrees. “We can be as loud as we want, and we need to shout so that he can hear us. It helps him swim faster remember?”
“I know! Papi said that he can hear us through the water!” She shouts and dances a little where she’s standing, the excess energy and excitement needing somewhere to go. Just another little bit of Alex in their daughter that always makes Henry melt. She turns back to face the pool and Henry grins at the writing on the back of the shirt that exclaims THAT’S MY PAPI! Alex is going to be thrilled when he sees it.
The swimmers are taking their places, climbing on to their starting blocks. Henry shoots a look at June, and she wordlessly holds up her hand, her fingers crossed. He mirrors her but presses a kiss to the pads of his crossed fingers, pointing them in Alex’s direction. It’s Henry’s small good luck ritual and it hasn’t failed them yet.
The athletes are poised and ready when the starting chime goes off. Eight swimmers dive into the water and Henry’s heart jumps back into his throat. He doesn’t take his eyes off of Alex, his arms cutting smoothly through the water, his powerful legs working in tandem to propel his body faster and faster. Henry hears Gaby cheering and the dull roar from the rest of the crowd. It feels as though time stretches out as Alex races, as Henry watches him put all his training and hard work to the test.
When the swimmers make their final turn, heading towards the finish line and Henry takes only a second to check on Alex’s position. It’s a close race, but Alex is in the lead. Henry’s heart skips a beat in his chest.
Henry focuses his attention back on Alex. It’s almost like his husband finds another gear, as he swims even faster with the end in sight. Alex has managed to gain ground on his nearest competitor and is now almost a full arm’s length ahead of him. “Go, Alex, go!” He chants over and over, volume increasing with each repetition, until he’s yelling louder than he thinks that he ever has before.
He feels the exhilaration race through veins like lightning and is emotional at the thought that Artie and Gaby are here with him, watching their father accomplish something so amazing. He’s holding Artie as he claps his small hands together and Gaby jumping is up and down, waving her flag as she cheers “Go, Papi! Go the fastest!”
Henry holds his breath as Alex’s hand hits the wall, biting his lip as he waits for the times to be posted. He bounces up and down, hearing Artie giggle with his movements. Gaby’s hand finds his and he gives it a small squeeze, glancing down at her with tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Her dark brown eyes sparkle as she grins up at him.
“Papi was the fastest, Daddy,” she tells him. “We shouted for him so hard! He heard it under the water, and it made him go so fast!”
“You did such an amazing job, darling,” Henry answers, his voice thick with emotion. “I’m sure that you helped Papi swim faster than he ever has before.”
There’s a loud cheer from the crowd that draws Henry’s attention away from Gaby. The scores have been posted.
Alex won. By an impressive margin, in fact.
Henry feels his heart burst with happiness, and he can’t help the sound of joy that he makes. He yells excitedly, looking over at June and Nora and finding matching expressions of pride on their faces. June wipes tears away, her smile blinding and Nora is shouting “I knew that you could do it, Alejandro!”
He crouches down. Gaby’s hand is still clutched tightly in his and Artie is perched on his hip, gurgling happily despite the noise all around. “Papi did it, love,” he tells his daughter. “Papi won the race!”
“He did?” Gaby says, astounded and she turns to look at her father down in the pool. Alex has taken off his goggles and cap and is smiling so big that Henry has no problem seeing the happiness in his expression, even all the way up in the stands. He emerges from the pool and is surrounded by the other competitors as they congratulate him on his medal.
Gaby looks back at Henry, her face glowing. “It’s because we helped him. Because we’re a family,” she says with conviction.
It’s all Henry can do to nod, his throat tight with emotion. The next half hour goes by in a blur and then it’s time for the medal ceremony. He’s still a wreck and feels impatient to get his hands on his husband, to give him a kiss and to tell him how proud they all are.
But Alex is standing on the podium, his hair damp and curling, a delighted smile on his face. Alex bends down as the gold medal is placed around his neck, and he’s given a small bouquet of flowers. When the presenter steps away, Alex waves the bouquet in the air and the cheering gets louder. But his eyes are searching the stands and Henry knows that Alex is looking for his family.
Gaby must figure this out too because, when the crowd noise dies down, that’s when she chooses to shout. “That’s my Papi!” she shouts, as she jumps up and down.
Alex must hear his daughter because his head turns in their direction, and he spots them in the crowd. Gaby waves her flag and Henry watches Alex wave back at her, making a heart with his hands and blowing kisses in their direction.
“My Papi’s the fastest!” Gaby yells. Alex seems to hear Gaby and while Henry can’t hear Alex’s laugh, he can see his shoulders shake with mirth. When their eyes meet across the crowd, Henry crosses his fingers, kissing his fingertips and points them towards his husband. Alex reaches out and catches his good luck kiss, bringing it close to his chest.
When the medal presentation is over, Alex is brought closer to Henry and the rest of his family for an interview. The reporter asks him questions about the race and his training regimen as well as if he has plans to compete in the next Olympics. When the reporter asks Alex what his favorite part of the Olympics has been so far, he looks up into the stands and his eyes meet Henry’s, a soft smile on his face.
“My favorite part of this Olympics is that my family is here,” he tells the interviewer. “I’ve been at my happiest since I met Henry – did you know that we actually met a few Olympics ago? It’s been awesome to be able to race in front of my family. Feeling their support has been absolutely amazing and I –“
“We helped, Papi!” Gaby shouts at Alex. “I cheered the loudest and you heard under the water, and it made you go fast!”
Alex laughs. “Absolutely, you did, mi chiquita,” he calls up to his daughter.
When the interview finishes, Henry and the rest of the family finally make their way down the stands to congratulate Alex. June and Nora envelop him in a hug at the same time and Alex grins from ear to ear, an arm wrapped around both of them. As predicted, Alex loves the kids’ shirts, laughing at his picture on the front. He takes Artie into his arms, brushing his blonde hair off his forehead to drop a kiss there. Gaby is mesmerized by Alex’s new “necklace” as she calls it, and Alex promises to let her wear it soon.
When Alex turns to him, the noises of the crowd soften and fade away, and it feels like Henry’s heart, already so full, grows a few more sizes. Every time Henry thinks he’s felt the most love and happiness he’s ever felt, somehow, Alex always shows him more.
Like the first time Alex told Henry that he loved him. Or the day that they got engaged – when they both had a ring in their pockets, but Henry asked first. Their wedding – a small ceremony and reception, and the taste of buttercream in their kisses after they cut the cake, surrounded by their closest family and friends. The day that they brought home Gabriela and then, a few years later, the day they brought home Arthur. It’s all those big days and all the little ones in between, all the memories and the moments that Henry holds close to his heart.
And here, today, another memory that will be a part of the history of their life together. Alex smiles and holds his hand outstretched. The gold medal gleams where it sits on his chest. “Hey,” he says, his voice soft and low. “We won.”
Henry’s hand slips into Alex’s, and he smiles back at his husband. “Yeah. We won.”