"Yeah, well, I wasn't the having-kids kind, either," he says, kissing the top of Flo's head. "And now look at me." He shrugs again, glancing out at the water, because the look on Tom's face is making him want to laugh, though not with any mocking. Which is probably exactly how Tom would take it.

"We live together," he says quietly. "We have the tattoos. The girls call you 'daddy', for God's sake, and it's just a matter of time before that's all they call Neil. And I know... I know I wanna be with you. Both of you. However long I got left, and if that's a lifetime, that's more than I coulda hoped for."

He looks back at Tom, and the smile on his face feels almost shy. "Seems to me like we're already most of the way there even without the ceremony."