Nate has been a single dad raising his baby ever since his wife left them three months ago. An is the gay pediatrician who lives three doors down in Nate’s new apartment building. Neither of them are looking for love, but that doesn’t mean that love–and family–won’t find them anyway.

The first time An met his new neighbor, it was raining and he had forgotten his umbrella. The sunset had just begun to paint the sky in bright pink and purple strokes half an hour before, and An was so busy getting ready to pick Dai up he didn’t notice a mass of clouds overtaking the colors in the sky, turning everything into a somber gray. By the time he stepped out of the elevator, rain pounded outside on the pavement.

He rounded the corner to the right to check his mail and stall for time. Maybe the rain would let up by the time he came back out; An hated the slow elevator ride up the 23 stories to his apartment. He didn’t want to go back up just for an umbrella. He really should make a habit to bring one down regardless of how clear the skies looked from the apartment window. This was Hawaii, after all; the weather was apt to change at a moment’s notice.

A man stood by An’s mail cubicle, one hand attempting to shove his key into the lock of the box three units away from An’s, one holding onto the handle of an infant car seat. He wore faded blue jeans that clung to muscled legs and a high-visibility t-shirt with DARWIN D KEIS MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION CO emblazoned on the back. The shoulders framed by the neon yellow shirt were broad and as well-muscled as his legs, and his brown hair, worn in a pony tail at the center of his neck, was wavy. It looked soft enough to touch.

“Do you need help?” asked An, the words out of his mouth before he could stop himself. The tall man glanced over and An had to check the deep exhale that almost escaped him: vivid hazel eyes flecked with green, a square jaw and a confident chin tempered the softness of his full, almost heart-shaped lips. Pretty, An thought.

…

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