Toby and Chris’s love story began with a poke.

“Embarrassingly, when Facebook first started you used to be able to poke people,” Chris recalled. “I poked Toby and then we met up for a drink.” Fourteen years and a wedding later, their love story continues on.

“Growing up knowing that I was gay in a time where you couldn’t even talk about it at school with your school teachers — to be then able to legally be married, it was overwhelmingly emotional,” Toby reflected.

The two share a home in Charlton, England, along with their dog, Beryl. (I’m not kidding.) They also share a love of cooking. In their early years of dating, Toby cooked Chris a coq au vin, a French stew of chicken braised in red wine and brandy that Toby has termed a “meal of love.” It was a dish he remembered his grandmother cooking often during his childhood.

Now, it’s a staple of their shared household, with Toby cooking and Chris taking on the difficult task of peeling and preparing the shallots. It’s a dish they make for each other and for the people they love.

“Cooking is very much a gift, isn’t it? That you gift to people,” Toby said. It’s also a way for them to decompress and reconnect.

“It does help nurture your relationship because you are spending time with each other, creating something together,” Chris explained.

“People can drift apart,” Toby added. “Cooking kind of keeps you together.”