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It’s around five in the afternoon when Alexander rushes into the room, startling George.
“George!” he says excitedly, jumping onto the couch, phone in hand. He bounces a little. “George you’re not going to fucking believe this!”
George can’t help but smile at how happy his boyfriend is. “What is it, darling?”
Alexander smiles wider and doesn’t reply, instead showing him his phone screen. He hits play on a YouTube video. Something about it seems familiar. And then he sees Emily Blunt in an unmistakable costume and he realizes what’s going on. He gets a bit excited himself. When the movie trailer finishes playing, Alexander hums and puts his phone down.
“It’s coming back! They’re making a Mary Poppins sequel!”
“I see that,” George replies, kissing Alexander. He hasn’t seen him this excited in a while. “I think that lamplighter looks a bit like you.”
Alexander hums. “Maybe.” He lays across George’s lap. “I love Mary Poppins a lot. I watched it all the time as a kid. And now they’re doing a sequel and I’m just so happy!”
George cards his fingers through Alexander’s hair. “I’ve seen the movie a couple times, I think, but I can’t remember anything about it for the life of me. Except for something about a spoonful of sugar?”
Alexander giggles and starts humming the song. “I could explain it all,” he suggests hopefully once he’s done humming.
“I’d love that,” George replies.
It’s as if Alexander lights up even more. Such a thing doesn’t seem possible. “Okay, so it all starts with these two kids, Jane and Michael Banks....”
And George lets him talk. He lets him talk the entire afternoon, through cooking and dinner, occasionally asking questions that would launch Alexander in another direction completely. He listens, loving the sound of his boyfriend speaking about something he enjoys so much. He asks him about the upcoming movie; what he knows, what he expects, what he hopes for and theorizes about it. It’s only when they get in bed and Alexander is mumbling tiredly and slurring his words that George sees fit to end the conversation.
“Get some sleep, darling. You can tell me more about it tomorrow,” he says softly, kissing Alexander’s forehead.
Alexander yawns and snuggles closer to George. “Okay. Good night, George.”
“Good night, love,” he whispers, pulling the blankets up a bit more.
Several months later, Alexander is moping. George wonders why, so he asks him.
“The movie comes out on the nineteenth,” Alexander says. “We have that meeting all day and all afternoon about budgeting bullshit.”
George kisses Alexander. “I’m sorry, darling.”
And he is. So he reschedules the meeting for after the first of the year and keeps it a secret from Alexander.
A couple weeks later, George is in the kitchen cooking breakfast when he sees Alexander walk in, head down, and cling onto him.
“What are you doing?” he asks sleepily. “It’s almost eight. We have to be at the office in an hour, we don’t have time for all of this.”
“Yes we do, darling. I rescheduled the meeting and gave us the day off.”
Alexander’s head snaps up, and George has never been more satisfied in his life.
“Are you serious?” Alexander asks, his voice full of hope and disbelief. “George you can’t do that!”
George laughs and kisses Alexander’s forehead. “Actually, I very much can. And I did. Today is all about you, and making you happy. Let me finish up with breakfast. I think you’ll find something to occupy yourself with in the living room.”
Alexander looks towards the doorway of the kitchen, then at George, then back at the doorway, curious and slightly suspicious. He slowly lets go of George and bolts into the other room.
“George Washington I absolutely love you!” he yells from the living room.
George chuckles and finishes making breakfast, plating the food and taking it into the living room where he sees Alexander fawning over what he got him: all eight of the Mary Poppins books, and the 45th anniversary edition of the original movie. He sets the plates on the coffee table, and Alexander immediately pulls him in for a hug.
“I love you, I love you, I love you!” he says. “Thank you.”
“George kisses him. “I’m glad you like it. We’re going to spend the morning watching the first movie, and then we’re gonna shower and get dressed. After that, I’m taking you out to lunch, and then we’ll catch a showing of the sequel. And then I think, from there, we’ll come home and have dinner. That sound good?”
Alexander smiles wider. “Sounds perfect,” he says, kissing George. “I’ll put the movie in while you get drinks.”
“Okay,” George says, heading back to the kitchen.
George spends the rest of the morning sitting right next to Alexander as they eat and watch the movie. After it’s over, Alexander moves through his regular morning routine of getting dressed and ready to go fairly quickly, practically vibrating with excitement. George watches him check the clock every five minutes smiling and rocking on his heels.
“I’m thirty,” he finally says as they’re walking out the door. “I shouldn’t be this excited for a kid’s movie.”
“Bullshit,” George replies, taking Alexander’s hand. “You should be as excited as you feel. You should be as excited as you want to be. You love this, so enjoy it.”
Alexander smiles and leans against George. “Okay. Thank you,” he says softly.
They get to the car, and Alexander sees a small wrapped present in his seat. “George?”
“Open it,” George says, starting the car.
Alexander rips off the wrapping paper and gasps. “You didn’t,” he says, holding up the CD case. It’s the Mary Poppins soundtrack.
“I did,” he replies. “Go ahead. Play it.”
Alexander laughs and takes the CD out of its case. “I could’ve just played the music off my phone through the aux cord, you nerd,” he says. “But thank you. Again.”
“You’re welcome, love,” George replies.
The ride to the restaurant is filled with the sound of Alexander signing and humming along to the Mary Poppins soundtrack.
Lunch goes great. It’s light, Alexander making sure to leave room for snacks at the theater. They make it to the theater with time to spare, getting popcorn and candy and soda, and then finding their seats. Alexander leans against George as he munches on popcorn, watching trailers for future movies play as other people enter the room. Most of them are children accompanied by parents, jumping up and down and running to their seats. There are a few older people that come alone or in couples and groups.
The theater is loud, what with all the children, until the lights dim. It gets a bit loud again throughout the movie, laughter ringing out, and some kids trying to sing along to the songs. George can see Alexander mouthing some of the words from the corner of his eye.
Alexander does his fair share of talking once the movie is over, gushing over all of the characters on the ride home. He and George discuss the movie over dinner, most of the conversation consisting of Alexander insisting Jack was gay, and George can’t say he disagrees.
“I felt like I was five again,” he tells George later, when they’re in bed, holding each other tightly. “Thank you so much for today. It meant the world to me.”
“I know,” George replies, kissing Alexander. “Which is exactly why I did all of this. Because you mean the world to me.”
He’s quite sure that he’s never seen Alexander so happy.