I sat down and waited wordlessly for him to produce the Tupperware. He didn’t fail me. Instead of rice, there were noodles and veggies and meat. I thanked him and shoveled food into my slathering food hole, not knowing or caring what was actually in my meal, because Leaf had earned my trust over the few months I’d known him.

About food and in other ways, too. He was the most considerate guy I’d ever met.

Morgan and Erin sat with us, Morgan carrying their shared lunch tray. She’d recently shorn her hair off above her ears and dyed it lime green, creating a stark contrast with her red hair. Part of me envied the bareness of her neck beneath the buzz. Sure, I’d have looked like Mrs. Potato Head similarly fashioned, but she was likely much, much cooler than me, buried beneath a couple pounds of black curls as I was.

“What’s shaking,” Erin said, reaching for food.

“My mother and grandmother want to meet Leaf,” I replied. “They’ve decided if he’s going to be near Cass, he needs to meet their approval. Which is valid, I guess.”

“I’d love to,” Leaf replied, his hand squeezing my knee beneath the table. “When?”

“Saturday night? They invited you for dinner, but if you can’t—”

“Looking forward to it,” he interrupted.

“You are?”

My surprise birthed his. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Your food rules,” I admitted. “I wasn’t sure if you could eat out.”

“Oh! Some Rom might not, but that’s the more insular type. I follow tradition when I can, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a night out. You’re sweet to consider my feelings, though,” he said, brushing a kiss to the backs of my knuckles.

“Yeah, like gag-me sweet,” Morgan said. “You’re making me look bad, dude.”

Erin snorted. “No, he’s not. We’re as bad as they are. Maybe worse.”

“Well, yeah, but what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t give them loads of crap.” Morgan winked at her before turning her head my way. I noticed that, along with the hairdo change, she’d swapped her earplugs from her trusty reds to rainbow colored ones. “Also, hey, the kid’s name is Cass? You hadn’t mentioned that before.”

I hadn’t? I could have sworn it’d come up, but maybe that was only with Leaf, who had been true to his word about not spreading any of my news to anyone else without explicit permission.

See previous comment about most considerate guy ever.

“Yeah. Cassiopeia. Like the constellation.”

“Huh.” Morgan chewed thoughtfully. “Cass is gender neutral-ish. That’s cool. Also can go to Cash in a pinch pretty easily. Not that you were, like, thinking along those lines but.”