Zach didn't want to have a huge party for Nadya when her first birthday came around, but he wanted to celebrate with those closest to them. So he invited his family, Kali's family, and a few of their friends, like Daniel and Brielle, though he really invited them for Brielle. And of course, Diego was invited to join too, since he spent so much time with Nadya and lived in the house. Zach commissioned a little princess dress in pink and purple for Nadya to wear, while he dressed up as a prince, though he told everyone else they could dress casually or business casual for the party.
The two things Zach sprung for was a cake, with a little smash cake for Nadya, and a photographer to capture the important moments. At one point, they had music playing and Nadya was on the ground crawling around when she grabbed Zach's pant leg and held out her arms to ask him to pick her up. He grabbed her hands to pull her upwards and then onto his hip where he danced around the room with her, making her giggle and smile at him.
"That sight always makes my ovaries want to burst," Brielle said to Zayne, Diego, and Brinxton as they watched Zach dance with his daughter.
Brinxton recoiled away from her jokingly, "Ew, not here! I just had this shirt pressed!"
Brielle stuck her tongue out at him while Zayne laughed and said, "Yeah, fatherhood really suits him. I'm pretty sure he would take a bullet for that little girl."
Diego, meanwhile, had been looking back and forth between Daniel and Brielle and the rest of the party, as if trying to decide what to do with information that might not be meant for mixed company. That's when it occurred to Brinxton that he may not know about Daniel's arrangement with his wife. Brinxton leaned into Zayne's ear conspiratorially and pointed this out to his love.
Zayne smirked and then looked over at Diego. "Oh, have you met Daniel and Brielle? Brielle is Brinxton's little sister, and Daniel is her husband."
"You're who corrals the tiny little mademoiselle every day, aren't you?" Brielle asked, and she also had a slight smirk on her face. "You know, Zach talks about you a lot."
Diego's eyes literally boggled briefly before he nodded and confirmed that he was, indeed, that person. "Zach talks about all things Nadya-adjacent quite frequently, so I'm not surprised. How did you two meet?"
"Oh, Daniel and I run in the same circles and eventually ran into each other," Brielle explained. "He asked me on a date, and I gave him a hard time for a bit before I said yes, and the rest is kind of history."
"AKA, they both come from money and she wants pretty babies," Zayne joked and Brielle laughed at that.
Brielle gave a wistful look and looked over at where Zach was with Nadya. "He won't ever be like that with any of his children, though. Maybe I married the wrong person in this group."
Brinxton smirked, mumbling to himself, "I could have told you that..."
Brielle chuckled at him. "I know, I know. One on one he can be so sweet and caring though." Then she remembered that Diego was there. "Oh dear, we probably look like we had an arranged marriage or something, don't we?"
Diego looked askance at her as he mumbled, "Or something."
Zayne snorted at that. "Brielle isn't the overly sentimental, romantic type. Her marriage is more practical. Out of curiosity, did Daniel try to pick you up in one of the clubs?"
Brielle turned her attention back to Diego, her eyes sparkling with what looked like humor. "Did he? Did he make a bad impression while doing so too?"
Diego snorted. "He did, on both counts."
Brielle chuckled. "He's very polarizing. Otherwise the guys love him or hate him. There doesn't seem to be a lot in between. I'm sorry he made a bad impression. I can admit he can be a real asshole sometimes."
"Did you tell Zach about him doing that?" Zayne asked.
"Are you trying to get my husband killed?" Brielle joked, causing Zayne to laugh.
"Zach was there," Diego responded. "He tried to pay for my drinks as an apology for Daniel's behavior but I didn't really feel like it was his responsibility."
Zayne and Brielle both looked at each other in surprise, like they couldn't believe that was all that happened. Finally, Brielle said, "I'm a little shocked my husband didn't end up laid on his ass, but..." She glanced at Zayne, who looked like he had some ideas as to why that didn't happen before she continued. "Well, Zach may not owe you the apology, but my husband likely won't give it. If you'd like though, your next night out with your friends at any of the gay clubs can be on us. In particular, Daniel. Just tell the bar it's on the Brielle Special. They know what that means."
Zayne smirked. "Of course they do."
"Hell, take Zach with you," Brielle added. "I'll just give him the cash straight from Daniel's account. Daniel will be annoyed but he won't fight me."
Diego laughed at the exchange and excused himself to check on Nadya. Zach was still holding her while she munched on a sweet roll. She gave a big toothy grin at Diego as he walked over to them. She hadn't quite gotten his name down, and had fallen back on calling him "Eggo" most of the time, which Zach thought was adorable. She tried to give part of her roll to Diego. She liked to feed her people.
"Careful," Zach warned him. "That roll might be a little soggy."
"They always are," Diego said as he took it with a smile and popped it into his mouth, much to Nadya's delight.
Nadya pulled off another piece and fed it to her dad, who was looking at Diego with a tight but amused smile before he accepted the piece of roll his daughter was offering him. "Mmmm, yummy. Thank you, sweetie," Zach said, though his face slightly betrayed the truth in that. Nadya didn't seem to mind though as she went back to chewing on the roll.
Zach gave Diego a sympathetic look. "You look like you're trying to wrap your head around ridiculous rich people shit and failing right now."
Diego smiled weakly, "Is it that obvious?"
"Not to everyone, no, but I recognize the look," Zach explained. "Kali had it on her face a lot. She called it 'Richie Rich Shenanigans', which really isn't a bad description of it. I know it can all seem a little out there for regular people."
"I've just never been exposed to this much unmitigated gall. How rich does someone have to be to not give a shit about social norms this much?" Diego asked quietly.
Zach gave an apologetic smile. "I think sometimes social norms are different depending on how much money you have. What is acceptable in High Society is different from what the middle class and the working class views as acceptable. Buying your way out of problems, for instance, is the norm in my world. I'm sure someone from the working class can't do that though.
"Morals differ depending on class too. Sometimes I think being part of the queer community, or being in an open relationship is more acceptable in lower classes, whereas in my society, it's highly frowned upon. That doesn't mean we don't push that envelope or anything, but it gets talked about a lot, you know? I get it's jarring though. Kali always said it was, especially when she was the one being gossiped about."
The look on Zach's face became sincere as he added, "You never have to socialize with us if it makes you uncomfortable. It's not part of your work responsibilities or anything."
Diego blushed a little and looked away briefly, subconsciously checking on Nadya as a distraction, "I don't mind. It just takes some getting used to."
"I promise, we're not all completely out of touch with reality," Zach said, shining one his characteristic smiles that seemed to light up the room. "Just most of us."
Diego smiled back. "That Daniel guy really needs a reality check, though. He's going to catch a case at some point."
Zach's eyes shifted over to where Daniel was, a frown furrowing his eyebrows. "Or a fist, yes. Though he's taken one of those to his face before and it hasn't changed him much. It was damn satisfying though. Luckily, he'll probably leave you alone knowing you have no interest in his shit. And once you finish your schooling, you can mostly leave people like Daniel behind, other than as parents of students."
Diego winced. "Not really. This country is growing an ever-widening divide between people in your position and people in mine and sticking closer to the rich is the best way to survive it, honestly. Whether I like it or not, even with my degree I will have to deal with the culture we find ourselves in, so it's best that I try to understand it."
"Ah, thus working for people in my position, then?" Zach asked with a raised eyebrow, but his lips were trying hard not to turn into a smirk.
Diego's face expressed his automatic internal response that he felt that the question was ridiculous and redundant before it dawned on him that Zach was playing with him. He playfully smacked Zach on the arm before pulling his hand back as if he had burned it and exclaimed an apology.
That caused Zach to finally laugh, his eyes twinkling with mirth. "You're only allowed to apologize if you hurt me. Either way, though, I'm glad you're still going to have to put up with my ilk if it means you'll still be around." Then he seemed to realize what he had just said before he added while stumbling over his words a little, "I mean...for Nadya's sake, obviously. We're...She's very attached to you."
Diego looked somewhat surprised by something that just occurred to him but before he could say anything about it, the uneaten remainder of Nadya's roll bounced off of his face accompanied by the most adorable giggle ever. He stooped to pick it up, smiling, and turned to pay attention to her. Nadya reached out, practically trying to jump out of her dad's arms to get into Diego's, who scooped her up before she could knock all three of them onto the ground.
The rest of the party went well, with Nadya covered in pink frosting later before Zach took her into the master bathroom where he got into some swim shorts before he jumped into the big tub with her to wash her off. She was tired by then, and fell asleep on her dad's chest in the bubbles and water. He carefully extracted them and got her dressed before he got her into her car seat so Nana and Papi Lennox could take her over to their house for the night so they could take her for a fun day out with the grandparents the next day.
