Jeff opened tabs, alternating between the options laid in front of him. He found an option stating it could add relationship from apparently creating someone out of thin air according to a list of criteria. It was definitely making him curious, but it felt lacking in romance, or something. Plus, he didn’t quite enjoy not remembering who he used to be, and wouldn’t wish it on his new stepparent, however unaware they were.
As he skipped from Calum’s profile to Scott, one of the lines gave Jeff an idea. Scott had been divorced for years now, and Jeff never wondered about it. There was an heterosexuality index. Out of Chuck, Bill and himself, Scott had the lowest score at 59%, then it jumped to 71% with Mr. Minucci. Mike and the other Bill were at 84% and 87%, whereas Mr. Martinez, Ray and Calum were above 90%.
Scott might also feel lonely, Jeff thought, and would probably enjoy having someone in his life. He was more active on this aspect, his children being more independent than Sarah, and occasionally talked about his dating life, but nothing seemed to stick. Wouldn’t that be great to be in love with your bro ? The romantic student was about to change Mike and Scott marital statuses when he realized something. This would probably mean vaster changes, such as Scott moving in, or them moving out. It could also affect their relation with Calum, who might feel like he was third-wheeling. There was not much time to find the perfect fix, as the minutes were passing, Jeff hadn’t had breakfast nor helped Mike, and Scott would eventually be here. He went to Calum’s profile and modified his relationship information.
Calum’s Relationship(s):
Poly-amorous relation with Ellen Porter (Main partner, happy marriage), Michael Evans (Secondary partner) and Scott Leboeuf (Secondary partner).
Jeff always liked Ellen, and he remembered admiring her lasting marriage with Calum. He didn’t want to have to break it, or cause her any form of harm. Hopefully, the program would work something out that would keep their couple working well. He then pulled out Mike and Scott’s profile, adding each other and Calum in relationship. He also thought it would be so cute to make them long-time flirts.
Scott’s relationship(s):
Poly-amorous relation with Calum Cooper (High-school crush) and Michael Evans (High-school sweetheart).
Divorced with Jermaine Jones
Michael’s relationship(s):
Widow of Mary Evans
Poly-amorous relation with Calum Cooper (High-school crush) and Scott Leboeuf (High-school sweetheart).
Jeff double-checked everything, especially that reality alteration was on and that the awareness was only on for himself, as the Chronivac user, before hitting apply. A pop-up appeared, indicating a short list of adapted stats. Mainly, their heterosexuality index dropped by 1% for Scott, down to 67% for Mike and down to 78% for Calum. Jeff pressed enter and got up to take the book he was reading from the bookcase he made with Scott a few years ago. By the time he got back to his computer, a new popup indicated the changes were complete. Jeff closed the software, and accepted to save the current opened files for later use. Cool feature, he thought to himself before turning off his computer and heading downstairs.
"Good morning ... Son." Mike had paused to look above his shoulder. Weird, Jeff thought as he answered back and joined his father to the kitchen. The speaker on the windowsill was playing the sports news. Mike liked to keep up to date on a variety of sports, whereas Jeff was only keen on football.
"Victory omelet!" piped Jeff as he saw what Mike was cooking. It had been a tradition for years now. The morning after the game, Mike would cook some meal breakfast (nothing simple like toasts, cereals or eggos) and would call it either victory- or defeat-whatever-it-was. That seemed to be a lot of eggshells for two people, but it didn’t seem to disturb Jeff, somehow.
"You know it, kiddo. Scottie should be back from his jog soon. I see you’re already prepared to take care of the shed. We could do it just after brea..."
Mike was interrupted by a creaking in the staircase. "Morning, sleeping handsomeness", he teased Calum as the usually dependable turned the corner, looking awfully hungover. Jeff narrowed his eyes. He remembered helping Chuck get Cal into his car, but now he also remembered Chuck helping him bring Cal to Mike’s king-sized bed. Right, it made sense, after all. And as Mike was stronger, he helped bill take care of the taller and heavier guy rather than his boyfriend.
"Morning, Cal!"
"Morning, kiddo." The groggy man smacked a kiss on Jeff’s forehead, in a paternal way that was suddenly very natural and annoying to Jeff. He was in college, after all! Calum then went to kiss Mike on the lips. "Morning Michael. I guess I completely lost it yesterday, I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t snore too much." In fact, Jeff now recalled that he did.
"Don’t worry about it, hon. You’ve got a couple of stressful weeks at work and needed to unwind. I texted Ellen that you were staying. I think she assumed you would, from her answer."
"Right, thanks. So, do I smell..."
"Victory omelets", both Evans man cheered simultaneously. Calum seemed to warm up a bit before excusing himself. He needed headache tablets as much as he needed to relieve himself.
"So, yes, the shed right after breakfast works for me, dad." They would have more time to work on their project meticulously this way and, perhaps, could even add some features that were not discussed prior to this day.
"I’ll be happy to help my builders" Mike joked. He was always quite helpful when it came to carrying stuff around, as he was still stronger than his son. The middle-aged man also liked to flex his manliness that way. Scott also relied on Mike’s opinion quite a bit. And a lot more, in Jeff’s newest set of memory. He hugged his father, happy to be working together and to have a good relationship.
As Jeff decided to help Mike with the breakfast, contributing by throwing hash browns and asparagus in the oven, they fell silent, listening to the radio. Jeff was actually thinking about the last chapter of his book and wondering how the protagonist would get out of the sticky situation the evil prince put her in.
Calum broke the silence, as he addressed Jeff who was setting the table for four. Four! That was so exciting! It felt way more like a family than the usual three plates for Sarah, Mike and him.
"I saw the magazine under the sink cabinet. Are you still planning that trekking trip in the Italian Alps?"
Jeff answer with enthusiasm, retelling information he just found recently online or in said magazine. They chatted for a few minutes until the front door opened and a sweaty Scott joined them.
"Did you ask anyone to go with you? Or someone?" he teased Jeff. Of course he confided into his stepfathers, but they were apparently very aware of his little crush. The student shrugged, trying to look unaffected when he was in fact nervous. He’d been planning to discuss his plan with Eli for a few months, but the occasion never rose.
"Happy to see you’re alive, stud."
Without missing a beat, Scott squeezed the thinner man’s butt, and the blond immediately turned red and went to sit at the table. "I hear the breakfast is ready", he grumbled. Mike came to his defence, play-scolding Scott.
"Scottie, you know he doesn’t like it in front of the kids."
"Or anyone else", shrugged Scott, "At least you’re not a prude." He pulled Mike by the belt to kiss him.
Jeff joined Calum, serving both of them with a portion and everything as they tried to resume their conversation. Calum kept glancing at his partners, visibly turned on, whereas Jeff tried to look as little as he could in the direction of the extensive demonstration of affection. Finally, Calum cleared his throat and matter-of-factly mentioned that the food would get cold.
More confortable with the teasing and the loving banter, Jeff observed the dynamics between the three men. He knew, from many recollections of memories now, that Scott and Mike secretly dated in high-school, trying to keep it from Calum, and kept an on-and-off relationship for a while. They also had crushes on Calum, whom experimented with both of them without telling the other, in their off-times (which he didn’t know about). Jeff remembered his mother laughing at it, calling their hide-and-seek games worthy of soap operas. Calum and Mike each fell in love and got married young. Jeff’s parents had fertility issues, explaining why Jeff was younger than Cal’s kids. Scott dated around until one of his dates got pregnant. They married and had another kid and lived together until she discovered that Scott had slept with both his best buddies, before even knowing her. When she left him, he could count on his best friends and their wives to help him around. As Mike became a widow, old emotions surfaced and they started flirting again. This time, Calum and Ellen caught up on it and, realizing her husband was jealous, she reminded him that their relationship used to be open. It was a complex nest of relations, and Jeff now felt closer to the next generation of Coopers and Leboeufs. A relationship closer to step-siblings than cousin as they used to feel to him.
Jeff smiled to himself, happy of his good deed, as they filled Calum on the plays he missed the day before. At some point he mentioned that it’d explain Sam’s text message he got, and everyone laughed.