by N. J. Lysk
“Where’s Esti?” Uri asked, toeing off his shoes.
“Kitchen!” came the answer from presumably that location.
The scent hit Thomas’s nose the moment he crossed the doorway, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from moaning. When he met Uri’s eyes and saw his smirk, he realised he probably hadn’t kept it off his face all that well.
Esti was wearing an apron across her generous middle and a bandana to keep her afro back from her face as she cooked. Her smile was pure welcome. “Finally, I was starting to think you weren’t real.”
Uri groaned but didn’t otherwise object, and Thomas impulsively stepped forward. Esti’s smile grew brighter and she drew him down into a hug. She was small and soft in his arms, her scent a combination of flour and frying onions that had his stomach growling.
She made an exaggerated face at him when they stepped away. “Warning you now, Uri’s the jealous type, you don’t want to be making those noises around other people.”
He hacked out a laugh, knowing he was blushing a little and not caring.
“I promised him pletzaleh,” Uri intervened, “not torture.”
“Nothing’s free in this life,” Esti replied. It sounded like a well-used phrase, and the looks on her wife’s and son’s faces confirmed it.
“Is David coming?” Uri asked in a transparent attempt to divert her attention. Thomas and his sisters were experts at getting their parents to focus on whoever wasn’t present to listen to them moan.
Esti waved a hand but it was Ruth who answered. “If the stars align with Mars just right and the fireflies cross the Arctic circle before dawn in the southern hemisphere...”
Thomas stared at her, and Uri gave him a look and shook his head. “David’s a surgeon; he’s allowed to miss family reunions to save lives.”
“Is that you complaining of favouritism?” Thomas teased, stepping closer for no particular reason. Uri just looked different here in his home territory. Because this was definitely his home, no matter how long he’d lived at his flat. Uri turned his way, leaning into Thomas’s hold on his arm.
“I save lives too,” he pointed out a little grouchily.
“’Course,” Thomas agreed. “But major festivities are public holidays, aren’t they?”
“Sure, but, like, I could miss today for work,” Uri argued, sounding strangely petulant.
Thomas liked him like this; possibly Thomas liked him like any which way—he had to get his face under control before his sisters showed up. “You could,” he whispered, leaning close enough Uri would feel his breath. “But then I would set Colleen on you for ruining dinner with a philosophy teacher she admires.”
“I don’t get how she even knows—”
“You lovebirds want some bread?” Ruth asked from where she’d, for all Thomas could tell, teleported to a seat at the kitchen table.
“You’re not meant to eat it hot,” Esti said, placing a plate of round, slightly flattened bread on the table before going back for the kettle and wooden box full of tea samples. “But I have never been able to resist,” she added with a shrug. “Thomas, or do you use a nickname?”
“Thomas is good,” he said, taking the seat she pointed to on her right.
“Thomas is it, I’ve never liked Esther,” she explained. “Anyway, I can do coffee if you want but I’d save that for dessert if I were you.”
“Tea’s great, can’t disrespect the homeland’s drink, after all.”
“The homeland? Is Kiau an English name?”
He smiled, choosing a fruity variety of green tea and adding two sugars. Most people felt it was rude to ask, or maybe they just didn’t care. Esti was obviously interested, he thought both in the name’s origin and in Thomas himself.
“Great-grandfather,” he explained. “He was from Indonesia but got the British nationality back after the Great War.”
Esti nodded but her gaze quickly darted to her wife. Thomas looked down at his tea, not wanting to intrude, but Uri leaned close to fill him in. “David’s got this theory that nobody is really white all the way,” he whispered. “Because Europeans couldn’t stay on their own continent.”
“Probably true.” He took a sip of his drink, trying to convince himself it didn’t need more sugar. “Although I’d have to ask my dad about his family a little more. As far as I know they are pure Irish.” He caught their hesitation like a change of temperature in the room. “Just an excuse for our names,” he added quickly. “He loves having an exotic last name. Feels all special.” He rolled his eyes to make clear how absurd he thought that was.
“What are your sisters’ names?” Ruth prompted.
“Colleen, Eira, Grace and Valentina.”
Ruth’s face was blank for a moment, then she frowned slightly. “Waited to use the motherland’s name, curious that.”
It wasn’t, of course, because ‘Eira’ was a female name, but Thomas just shrugged. He reached for the bread, more for something to do than because he remembered he was hungry, but the moment his teeth sank into the spongy texture, he started paying attention; the subtle combination of sweet bread and savoury onion hit him next.
Uri’s hand on his arm recalled him back to the conversation. He was smiling like he couldn’t hold it back. “You okay?”
“This...” He raised his eyes to look at the person responsible. “This is amazing.”
“I thought Uri had you try them before,” Esti said, grinning.
“Not the same as fresh,” he said categorically. Then a thought occurred to him. “I feel I should warn you; when my sisters try this, they’ll probably propose on my behalf.”
He heard Uri choke next to him, and Ruth started laughing.
Esti was still watching him, sipping from her own cup like a queen on her throne. “Should we take them up on it?”
Thomas stole another look at Uri. He’d managed to figure out the mechanics of air acquisition, but he still looked a little winded. “Nah,” he told Esti without looking away from Uri’s dark eyes, open to him like he could actually read his mind. “Don’t think we’re there yet, and I got plans for when we are.”
URI WASN’T GOING TO take Thomas’s and his mothers’ combined teasing lying down—especially not with the prospect of David showing up to help them.
Thankfully, Colleen and the other girls arrived first. He’d only met them the once, but after Colleen’s initial faux pas, she’d been as good as her word and provided him with as many embarrassing incidents as she could fit in the eighty minutes they’d spent in Thomas’s flat before the sisters were due back home with their parents. He’d laughed enough to feel comfortable teaming up with them for a little ribbing if he needed to, and he was certainly starting to understand why it was hard to make Thomas blush.
His mothers being who they were, they’d made sure to find out about Thomas’s sisters beforehand—first from Uri, then from the man himself—so Esti was appropriately hands-off instead of going for her usual hugs. Ruth went straight for Colleen, of course. “So you’re the intellectual of the family, they tell me.”
Colleen laughed, shrugging, then pointed a thumb at Eira. “Don’t say that in front of our future engineer here.”
“I’m not sure about engineering yet,” Eira said blandly. Neither of them mentioned that Grace was as interested in science as she was, because Grace would have hated having to talk to a stranger. Thomas had promised it was no judgement on him last time and that, given a little time, she’d come around to babbling to him about science just like she did to everyone else.
“I’m more into the whys than the hows myself,” Ruth explained with a wry smile. “But let’s get to the living room before Esti tells me off.”
“Welcome,” Esti added with an exaggeratedly martyred look on her face for show.
“Thank you for having us,” Valentina said with unexpected gravity, and Uri saw his mum’s eyes light up with pleasure.
“You’re very welcome, young lady. Now, what’s your name?” she asked her,
turning the focus of her attention on her. She knew the answer, of course, but the girl seemed happy to be asked.
IT WAS ONLY THE WAY Val suddenly went silent that alerted him something was off.
“I made the right choice,” Colleen was telling Ruth between bits of flourless chocolate cake. “But if my parents found out I could have been an alpha...” She shrugged.
Thomas scanned for his sisters across the table and met Grace’s eyes, wide and dark, their father’s eyes. {She knows} his sister signed.
“I’m glad you got help in time,” Ruth responded, nodding. “We had a friend and... well, it was hard for him, doing it later. Didn’t present, at least, I think... Well, you’d know.”
Thomas was scrambling for something to say. Someone had to, right? They’d all been trying to protect Colleen from this, and she knew? But if she did, why hadn’t she said? They’d always had her back. Well, Thomas had had her back, and the girls had learned from him that was the right attitude to have towards your siblings. It hurt a little, to think...
“Colleen,” came Eira’s voice, a little tight but nothing dramatic. “Can I speak to you in the kitchen?”
Thomas saw Esti and Ruth exchange a look from opposite sides of the table. “You can go into the guest room,” Esti suggested.
Grace had followed Eira to her feet, naturally, and when Colleen excused herself, Valentina did as well, making sure to put on a show of extra charm for Esti’s sake.
Thomas was still hesitating when Uri put a hand on his lower back. Thomas turned to him and saw his raised eyebrows. “What are you waiting for? Go sort that out.”
He swallowed, feeling so fragile for a moment he couldn’t move at all, then he nodded, leaning in to brush a kiss against Uri’s cheekbone, relishing the rasp of stubble against his nose. “Be right back,” he promised.
It became immediately clear that the guest room was actually Uri’s or David’s old bedroom: there were posters on the walls still and enough photos that if they hadn’t been arranged so neatly, it’d have felt a little crowded.
Not that Thomas had time for dimples and ridiculous haircuts, he’d barely closed the door when Eira asked, no longer so calm, “You knew?!”
Colleen was staring at her. “Yes,” she said simply. “Didn’t realise you did, though.”
“I— We were looking at inheritance and—” She cut herself off.
“What’s happening?” Val asked. “Why—”
“Val, be quiet,” Eira hissed.
Thomas stepped forward, hands up. “Parliament!”
Eira huffed but went quiet, shooting him an annoyed look.
“May I explain?” Thomas asked her, letting his gaze travel Grace’s way too. There wasn’t much point, Grace’s own gaze was stuck to her lap where she sat on the single desk chair available. Eira gestured for him to get on with it, so he focused on Colleen. “A while back Eira and Grace were doing some research and they figured you’d have presented alpha if you hadn’t taken the blockers.”
“And didn’t tell me,” Colleen pointed out sharply.
She wasn’t meant to interrupt until Thomas said he was done, but then Grace responded, “We thought you’d be sad.”
Colleen sighed, she was a sucker for Grace’s softer side. “No, it was... I knew, the doctors told me, back then.”
“Dad and father know?” Thomas asked, adrenaline hitting him like he’d been punched.
“No, the doctor didn’t have to tell them that. Wasn’t relevant to treatment,” she said. “I... I think they wanted to help me and they could tell dad wouldn’t agree to the blockers if he knew I’d present.”
Thomas took a wobbly step forward and let himself sit heavily on the bed. He exhaled, covering his face and breathing in and out a couple of times. His hands smelled of fish and wine. He knew it was Colleen taking a more cautious seat by his side without looking. “Hey,” she whispered. “It’s okay.” Her voice faded a little when she continued, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys, I didn’t... I don’t know. I’ve known for most of my life, and I just— I knew it had to be a secret from them, so...”
“We can keep a secret,” Val said a little moodily.
“Oh, sweetie, I know you can,” Colleen said, shifting on the bed. The addition of Val’s body to the bed made Thomas take his hands off his face so he could keep his balance. Colleen was almost rocking their little sister on her lap by the time Thomas looked up again.
Eira and Grace were standing side by side, Grace’s head pressed to Eira’s arm. {You good?} he asked.
“I need a hug,” Eira admitted in a tone someone might use to express she’d forgotten her umbrella.
Thomas snorted out a laugh, then extended the arm he could. Eira shot their little sister a look, then took a step forward on her own. Grace stayed put as Eira negotiated sitting on Thomas’s lap—he was way too large for him to hug her any other way while sitting—but she was only a step away by the time Eira had looped her arms around his neck and let herself relax against him.
“You can sit next to me?” Colleen offered, but Grace didn’t move. Thomas understood what she was thinking, but Colleen spoke first, “Oh, in the middle?” She turned to Thomas. “Okay, hop to the side, bro.”
They shuffled towards the sides of the bed—and Thomas was really hoping it could handle them all without breaking—until there was enough room for Grace to sit in the middle. She was quite snug, but it wasn’t a hug, so it seemed to work. “Thanks,” she told no one in particular, but Thomas decided to take it since she was resting her head against his side now.
“You’re welcome,” he told her. “Please tell me when five minutes are up before my boyfriend’s mums think we murdered each other or something.”
In the end, it wasn’t Grace but Val who reminded them of the passage of time, getting off Colleen’s lap and explaining, “I didn’t get any cake.”
“Of course.” Colleen snorted, then offered Grace a hand up.
Thomas didn’t bother, just lifted Eira up as he stood, making her squeal. “Put me down!”
He did, grinning at her indignant expression. “I’m not a baby,” she told him curtly. She really wasn’t; with her hair up and her thin glasses, she looked almost fully grown.
“Changed your diapers,” he shot back with a shrug. “You’re always a baby.”
“Ugh,” was all she offered in response. “Get me cake, I’ll need it.”
DAVID ACTUALLY MADE it home somewhat on time. Uriel hadn’t seen him in weeks, maybe even a month and, rivalry aside, he loved his brother.
He stepped forward, ignoring the way Thomas stared at David for a few seconds too long for politeness. He’d never mentioned what his brother looked like, just like Thomas hadn’t described his sisters.
Ruth let go, and David turned to him, not complaining when Uri put his arms around his shoulders—he was slowly accepting the fact that he’d never hit another growth spurt and catch up with Uri’s height. Of course, he’d taken to complaining that Uriel had cheated with alpha hormones.
“Wow,” he commented now, grey eyes flashing. “Did you get blown in the toilet or something? You look high.”
Uri winced at his crass language but rolled his eyes and stepped back further. “This is Thomas,” he introduced.
His boyfriend had recovered from the surprise and offered his hand with a smile. “David, right? Even more of a workaholic than the one I know?”
David laughed and gave Thomas a once over. “He told me about the hockey, so I pictured the muscles, but didn’t know you were pretty too.”
He probably expected to throw Thomas for a loop with that, but of course, all he got was a laugh in response to his own. Then Thomas actually bowed, flexing his arms for show with a flirtatious smile that made Uri stiffen involuntarily.
Thomas was already turning to introduce his own siblings, but David saw it. He lifted his hands in mock surrender. {Hands off} His smirk was as punchable as ever, but Uri at least was mature enough to know he di
dn’t really need to worry; David was a flirt, that was all.
Colleen had no problem dealing with the fact, but apparently blond and cherubic was a bit too much for Eira to handle because she excused herself as soon as David was done kissing her hand like they were in an old-time film.
“She’s fifteen,” Uri hissed, squeezing David’s arm hard enough to be felt.
His brother pushed him away irritably. “I can tell,” he told him with an eye roll. “I was just joking, no need to go all alpha protector on me.”
From anyone else, Uri would have found the comment hurtful; from David it just made him shoot back, “You’re right, I’ll just let her older brother deal with you, shall I?”
David was already nodding thoughtfully, but his comment was more lustful than intimidated. “Mmm... the arms on that one. Damn it, where did you find him?”
“I told you; I met him at Kyeran’s concert.”
David sighed. “Of course, charity is its own reward.”
Uri snorted, watching Thomas tickle Val and make her squeal. “Yeah, maybe you should try it.”
David arched an eyebrow at him. “Because I need help picking up?”
Uri bit his tongue on his answer. There was no point to rehashing the conversation one more time to get to the same place. It wasn’t like twenty-eight was that old to be single, or that there was anything wrong with being single. Except Uriel knew his brother and it wasn’t just passion making him throw himself into his work the way he did; and it was no coincidence he hadn’t really met anyone who could keep his interest since his first girlfriend had stomped all over his heart back in secondary school.
“Your loss,” he said simply, patting David’s back before leaving him behind to go put an arm around Thomas’s waist.
His boyfriend leaned into him, turning his head to meet his eyes with a smile before returning his attention to Esti’s story of the week—for once, it sounded like the mess she’d walked into could get fixed with something within her powers, and from the look on Valentina’s face, Uri would have been willing to bet good money she’d start wanting to be a social worker any minute now.