Friends & Lovers

My friends are looking up and opening their eyes and looking around. I love that my friends seem to be opening their hearts to mixed possibilities.

My friends are finding love in many places, in mixed race relationships, in partners, perhaps, their parents wouldn’t have chosen as easily.

Cutting edge love, they say.

Cutting edge, hey?

Asian girls traditionally like Asian boys, so I am told, and white girls traditionally like white boys. Not amongst my friends. White girls are liking Asian boys more and more and Asian girls are liking white boys just the same way. A black guy likes an Irish girl, and she loves him back the same way. 

Their children are usually beautiful, the best of both races involved. It’s practical, you know, mix the genes, make the race stronger, it’s true. For the racists amongst us. Not that me and my mates are adding to ‘it all’ in that way. We’ve only managed one by mistake, as it turns out.

It is a modern world, it is a new time with choices expanding exponentially, it would seem. Why deny yourself. Why? Thank the universe, we all collectively sigh in relief. Barriers are being broken down. Love is expanding. Suddenly, the world is a bigger place. Brighter too for everyone. And better, you know

Aki has been seeing Lachlan, they met at the pub. Aki has been marvelling at how good she feels in Lachlan’s big arms, as she said, but that is just Aki being shy, because what she really likes is Lachlan’s smile and his kind heart and how he smells.

Kaito has been seeing Ava, they met studying architecture, where I met both of them. She loves his handsome face and his muscular arms when he wraps them around her. “He is just so lovely, gentle and kind. He took me to his grandmother’s place and she cooked a feast welcoming me into the family. It was really lovely.”

Lachlan took Aki to a football match with his mates and they ate meat pies and drank beer and Lachlan wrapped Aki up in his jacket when the weather turned cold.

Kaito to Ava on a car rally with his mates. Kaito has a Subaru rally car and he is promising to teach Ava how to navigate.

Aki took Lachlan to her favourite movie at The Astor Picture house. Lachlan said he loved it.

Ava took Kaito snorkelling for abalone at her favourite beach. Kaito said he’d never been snorkelling before.

One day, Aki found herself pregnant to Lachlan quite unexpectedly. She was worried what her mum was going to say, but her mum said she should stay calm and really decide in her heart what she wanted to do.

“Don’t worry about what other people think,” her mother said. “That won’t do you any good. Just find out what is in Lachlan’s heart, that is what is important.”

“I’m in his heart, mum,” said Aki.

“But is the little one in his heart too, Aki?” asked her mum.

“Yes. No, I don’t know,” said Aki.

“Well, my darling that is what you need to think about now.”

Grandma told Aki it was a blessing. “It is a joy and a life long delight to be blessed with a child.”

“But, we’re not married grandma.”

“Oh darling,” said Grandma. “That is not the important bit, the important part is the child and Lachlan. Does he want a child for which to be responsible?”

“He does now,” said Aki.

“That is a good start,” said Grandma. “But you had better find out for certain.”

Aki took Lachlan to the country for a picnic to tell him about the baby. Lachlan was over joyed and said he wanted to be a father. They aggressed the would continue living in their separate house for the time being.

They made love on the picnic blanket in warm afternoon sun.

“I have never had sex in broad day light out in the open before,” said Aki.

“I can’t believe how warm the sun was on my bare arse as we made love,” said Lachlan.

Aki laughed.

Lachlan’s parents were overjoyed at the baby news, saying they couldn’t wait to be grandparents.

Ava and Kaito decided to get married. In the summer, they got married bare foot in a derelict church with a dirt floor, they had bought a year before, less than an hour away from home. There were 50 of their friends helping them celebrate. Aki was 9 months pregnant when she attended Kaito and Ava’s wedding. Ava wanted to feel the earth as she said I do. Kaito agreed to do it too. The whole dinner was in the filed in front of the church. There was no back up plan, and the weather held.

Baby Tao was born at the end of the summer. A beautiful baby boy. “We make pretty good children,” Lachlan said to Aki after Tao was born.

Kaito’s architecture practice started on plans for the wedding church renovation for Kaito and Ava to use as a country house.

“Nothing fancy,” said Ava. “Just a roof and windows to make it water proof.”

“And some heating to make it warm,” said Kaito.

“And a deck on the north side to sit on.”

Lachlan’s law firm gave him parental leave to help Aki who took a year’s leave from her doctor’s practice.

Aki and Lachlan bought a beach house down the great ocean road just before Aki’s 12 month parental leave was up.

Aki and Lachlan, and Kaito and Ava celebrated life on Aki and Lachlan’s beach house deck the next summer. The four of them went snorkelling around the rocks at Wye.

Kaito organised a car rally to the country church house when it was done. Lachlan act as navigator and was so excited by the who experience he said he intended to buy a rally car of his own.

We all take turns in looking after Tao, he has a whole posse of acquired aunties and uncles who take care of him. He is a lovely little boy, easy going, easy to look after.

I looked after him one weekend where I was busy doing stuff, and I put him in one of those baby back packs and took him everywhere I went and he never complained.

My girlfriend saw me with Tao in the back pack that weekend and she said she was sure she ovulated. As I said, he’s a cute kid.

No, none of the rest of us are having kids. We’re all in our 30s and no one else has reproduced yet. We all might say we want kids, but none of us want the disruption.

Ginger has been dating Chaquille for the last 6 years. He continues to make her smile.

“Oh, he’s just so big and strong.” That’s all Ginger has said in her gentle Irish accent. Then she blushes in the cutest way.

Chaquille is a personal trainer and a huge dude.

Ginger just says no if she is questioned about children.

My girlfriend, Xavier, is Italian, of course. Xavier Saverio. Those of you who know etymology, is it? Or is it Onomastics? (I should know this being an English major?) My girlfriend’s name is essentially Xavier Xavier. I make the tomato sauce with her family every year in their second garage in the garage. I’ve been to all the cousin’s weddings. I’ve picked veggies with Papa in his back yard. I’ve driven Ma to many of her doctor’s appointments. She calls me a good boy.

Xavier has her heart set on making partner, and nothing else, to be honest. And I don’t really give a fig, not really. Sure, I’d probably like to see a mini me of myself, but? Aren’t there too many people on the planet already?

Cody and Quinn are committed environmentalists. Quin came here on a GAP year from her Californian home, just on a whim to get as far away from home as she could. She realised pretty quickly she could never return home. If anyone ever anyone criticises America and then looks to Quinn to apologise, her normal answer is, with a shrug, “They are good reasons why I live in Australia.”

“Do you know what sort of life we are inflicting our kids with climate change being what it is?” asks Quinn.

“No, I don’t,” I say.

“No, exactly,” says Quinn. “How could we in all conscience do it to them.”

Besides Cody and Quin are house flippers, and they are juggling enormous financial debt at any given time.

Caitlyn is up front and honest, I love that about Caitlyn. “Fuck know, I’m far to selfish and self centred for that.” She lights another Marlboro. 

Joshua agrees with Caitlyn and kisses her on the side of the head. “I’m with her.”

Caitlyn smiles at Joshua as though he is just the cutest thing and she kisses him back.

Joshua is the cutest thing, of course. He is an English model now walking the runways of the world.

Caitlyn is a highly strung actress, known for that soap, As The World Churns. She does a lot of live theatre, we are all always going to see her in her latest play.

“You know, I would have said the same things as you guys,” says Aki. “But then Tao comes along and changed our lives completely.”

“For the better,” says Lachlan.

“Put me down to baby sit any weekend you like,” says Caitlyn. “And I mean this with all the love in the world, as long as I can give him back.”

“I’m doing a beach shoot in Bali in a month’s time,” says Joahua. “Why don’t you guys come and bring Tao.”

“You are on,” says Lachlan.

“I’ll take him on his first environmental protest,” says Quinn. When Aki screws up her face, Quinn adds quickly. “When he’s old enough, of course.”

“You can put me down for baby sitting duty too,” says Cody. “You never ask me to look after him?”

“You are on,” says Aki.

“You always seem to be too busy on the tools,” says Lachlan.

“Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask you?” say Ginger. “I’m doing a shoot for, um, well, it is for, well, a anti racism campaign, I guess is the easiest way to explain it, now that we are talking about Tao, and I’d like to use him for the shoot.”

“Oh,” says Lachlan.

“I don’t see why not,” says Aki.

And then Lachan looks at Aki like he didn’t agree at all.

You see Ginger has made quite a name for herself as an edgy photographer. The full nudes of Chaquille come into everyone’s mind. Her real name is Saoirse Quinn under which she has becomes quite famous.

“Not nudes,” says Lachlan.

“Of course not,” says Ginger. “But I do want to make a feature of his, and Chaquille’s skin colour.”

She’s called Ginger because Chaquille couldn’t pronounce Saoirse and Ginger has red hair.

“He’d have a full time body guard in Chaquille,” Ginger added, as though that might sweeten the pot.

You haven’t seen Chaquille, his legs are bigger than my torso, if that gives you some idea. Chaquille Ross is a big boy. Intimidating to look at, but the biggest softy under all of that.

“What about you?” asks Aki.

“Me?” says Ginger.

“Yes, you haven’t put you opinion in,” says Quinn.

“My opinion?” questions Ginger.

“Yes,” says Caitlyn. “Where do you stand?”

“Where do I stand?” says Ginger.

“Kids,” says Caitlyn, Quinn and Aki together.

“Oh, with my red hair,” says Ginger.

“It’s a life changing experience,” says Aki.

“I’m not sure I want to change my life,” says Ginger.

“It changes your life for the better,” says Aki.

“Listen to Aki,” says Chaquille. “Listen to what she is saying.”

Chaquille looks at Aki nodding his head. Chaquille is the only one of us who really wants to be a dad.

“How would our kids come out,” says Ginger?

“A black kid with red hair,” says Caitlyn.

“He’d be mocha choc orange,” I say.

“Mocha choc orange,” repeats Chaquille. He laughs. “I’d have a kid in any colour.”