by T. M. Smith
Posture rigid, Mannie squeezed his hand tight. All but dragging Mannie over, Blair leaned across the table, hand extended, “It’s very nice to meet you in person, Mrs. Dean.”
She shook Blair’s hand, grip firm. “Blair, yes, though I wish it were under better circumstances.”
Quiet as a church mouse, Mannie sat stiffly in the chair Blair pulled out for him, staring at his mother as if she were a ghost. The silence stretched to the point of discomfort, even the waiter seeming to sense the tension hovering over the table when he took their drink orders. “Junior, darling.” Priscilla reached across the table, grabbing Mannie’s hands. Blair was actually a bit shocked he didn’t jerk back, as tense as he was. “My sweet baby boy, I owe you an apology, many, in fact.”
“Here you go.” Their server handed out the drinks, setting a plate of warm bread still steaming from the oven in the middle of the table along with a small bowl of butter. “Are you ready to order?”
“Give us a few more minutes.” Blair waved him away.
“I was pretty messed up for a really long time, Son.” Mannie’s mom stared at the tablecloth, reaching for her water, gulping the liquid down. Inhaling a deep breath, she exhaled slowly, eyes imploring when she faced her son again. “I was young and naïve when I married your father. I didn’t realize until many years later that our marriage was nothing more than a façade for appearance’s sake. Instead of being there for you, protecting you, I found solace in a bottle of pills and did my best to fade into the wallpaper. Until I found out I was pregnant with the twins.”
Just the mention of his siblings caused a visible reaction, some of the tension in Mannie’s posture dissipating. “How…” Fidgeting, Mannie picked at the tablecloth. “How are they?”
Reaching into her handbag, Priscilla pulled out her cell, running her finger over the screen before sliding the phone over to Mannie. There on the screen was an image of a preteen boy and girl sitting on the steps of a house, smiling up at the camera. Pale blond hair, cornflower-blue eyes and facial features showed they were definitely related to both Priscilla and Mannie; the resemblance between the four of them was uncanny. “God, they’re so big.” Mannie stared at the picture, mesmerized by the twins. “Are they here?”
Nodding, Priscilla smiled at her son. “They’re at the hotel with their stepfather.”
“Can I see them?” Mannie whispered, tension straining his voice.
“Of course you can, Junior, but we need to finish this conversation first.”
She waited for him to respond, his answer a clipped, “Okay.”
Resigned, Priscilla seemed to have to convince herself to start talking again. Blair felt for the woman and hoped Mannie would find it in his heart to forgive her. He really needed his mother and the twins in his life, but it would ultimately be Mannie’s choice to make. “To tell you everything would require a very lengthy conversation, Junior. The long and short of it is that your father is a very cruel man, still to this day. Despite the divorce and losing custody of the twins, he’s a vindictive bastard. He was emotionally and physically abusive for the majority of our marriage. I myself turned to alcohol and prescription medication to survive in that fucking prison disguised as a house and unknowingly put you in harm’s way. Even when I realized he’d begun abusing you, I was too scared and beaten down to fight back, to fight for you.”
Chin quivering, Priscilla pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped her eyes. Blair stole a glance to his left, studying his lover’s posture. Jaw tense, Mannie sat stoic and silent, but he hadn’t bolted yet. When she spoke again, her voice was distant, tone melancholy and resigned. “I remember one afternoon in particular, standing in the bedroom door, looking across into the bathroom, watching him beat you with a belt and the names…the foul things he called you. I’ve had nightmares about that day, the way you looked at me, eyes imploring, begging to be saved, to be protected by your mother, and I shut the door. I closed the fucking door and dove into a bottle of vodka to wash down a Xanax and let him hurt you, baby. God, I’m so sorry, Son.…I’m so sorry.” Head down, Priscilla wept openly.
Before Blair could blink, Mannie was out of his chair, walking around the table, and crouching beside his mother. “Mom, don’t cry.” She melted into his arms, body still trembling. Hell, Blair had to wipe his own eyes; the raw emotion radiating from Mannie and his mother was heavy and somewhat jarring. “I’m sorry too, Mom. I didn’t know he was hurting you too. I thought neither of you wanted me, so I didn’t think you’d miss me.”
“Is…everything okay?” Their server looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.
“Yes.” Blair nodded and ordered several appetizers.
Mannie stood, taking a seat in the chair beside his mother, reaching for Blair’s hand across the table. Bleary-eyed but smiling, Mannie winked at him and Blair’s heart soared. “We’ll figure things out, Mom. This was the first step, right?”
Sharing plates of nachos, egg rolls and cheese fries, mother and son talked for the next hour; Mannie told his mom a very brief and condensed version of Bruce, Tuan, and winding up in Arizona. Priscilla confided in him her struggle with rehab, coming to terms with her addiction, and finding the courage to leave her husband and fight for sole custody of the twins, Nicholas and Nichole. “It’s always been hard for me, not knowing where you were and whether or not you were okay. My gut, mother’s intuition, call it what you will, I just knew deep down you were still alive, and I prayed to God every night that I would find you one day.”
“And here we are.” Mannie leaned into his mother’s embrace.
It was kismet, the director emailing Blair the day he’d come home and found Judge Dredd on his doorstep. His mother had raised him and Rachel with the mantra, “Everything happens for a reason.” Sitting there in the restaurant, watching Mannie laugh, his eyes dancing with mirth, posture totally relaxed while making plans with his mother told Blair that their mutual decision to move to Seattle was the right choice for them.
Even when they made love that night, Blair felt a difference in the way Mannie responded to him. The man was completely at ease and unbidden, as if every jagged piece of the puzzle that was his life had suddenly clicked into place. “I love you.” Skin slippery with sweat and panting, Mannie curled into his side.
“I love you too, babe.” Blair kissed his temple, quickly drifting off with his future wrapped in his arms.
Epilogue
Mannie
December 2017
The three-bedroom fixer-upper in West Seattle that he and Blair purchased a month after moving back to Washington was decked out with garland and lights, an eight-foot pine infusing the air with a wonderful, woodsy aroma. Thank God for vaulted ceilings. Their first few months in Seattle were chaotic and busy, Blair settling into the Seattle office while Mannie spent a lot of time getting to know his siblings and his stepfather. But at night they were always together. There were dinner dates and sightseeing—the city really had changed a lot in the nine years Mannie was in Arizona—and weekends spent renovating their forever home. “Babe, you about ready? Everyone’s meeting us at Pier 57, so we need to go or we’ll be late,” Blair called out from the living room.
“Be right there.” Adding a few more changes to the code of the website he was creating for a client, he saved the content to multiple hard drives before shutting down his laptop. Mannie stood and flipped the light off as he left the office he and Blair shared, smiling at the man standing by the door, holding his jacket. “Always a gentleman, Agent Cummings.” Mannie leaned in for a kiss before taking the leather coat and slipping it on. He followed Blair out to the car parked at the curb, smiling when Blair opened his door for him.
Blair turned the key in the ignition, and the Dodge Charger growled loudly. Rolling his eyes, Mannie shook his head. “The only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys.”
“Well…” Blair reached for his hand and placed it over his dick. “My toy is pretty big.”
“R
ude!” Mannie jerked his hand away, smacking Blair’s arm playfully. “Is that all you think about, sex?”
Cackling, Blair pulled away from the curb. “I don’t recall you complaining last night when I bent you over our couch and fucked you until you damn near passed out. You seemed to like my toy just fine then.”
“Incorrigible, that’s what you are, Agent.” Twining their fingers together, Mannie sighed. “Mom called earlier. She and Rick are taking the twins over to your sister’s house to watch Timmy and Corrinne, so Rachel and Lloyd are going to ride to the Pier with them. What about your folks?”
“Meeting us there.” Blair took the exit onto the highway, humming along to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
Finally in a good place mentally, spiritually, and emotionally, Mannie saw the city in a different light than when he was younger and eager to escape. Everything was decked out for the Christmas holiday, sparkling and bright. In three weeks they were flying to Dallas to ring in the New Year with their friends, and he was excited to see everyone. The triplets had run off to Vegas back in October and gotten married by Elvis in a drive-through, and Claire was fit to be tied. Rand’s little sister was set to receive an engagement ring from Con on Christmas morning, and Con had strict instructions from both Shannon and Mannie to set up a video camera and record the proposal.
“Babe, we’re here.” Blair killed the engine before climbing out of the Charger.
Hand in hand they walked toward The Fisherman’s Restaurant and Bar where they were having dinner, all four parents along with Rachel and Lloyd waiting for them just inside the door. Conversation flowed easily between them, but he definitely missed Sharon and Tony. Though he’d just seen them when he and Blair spent a week there for Thanksgiving, Mannie missed the daily interaction with his Arizona family. “You okay, babe?” Blair leaned into him, his voice and unique scent alone calming Mannie instantly.
“Yeah.” Nodding, he giggled when Blair kissed his cheek.
When the bill came, there was a tug of war between Lloyd and Blair over who was paying, Lloyd winning out in the end by telling the server that Blair’s credit card was stolen. “Asshole,” Blair quipped, grinning.
Assuming they were heading home after dinner, Mannie started walking toward the parking lot, Blair pulling him in the other direction. “Come on, let’s take a spin on the Ferris wheel.”
“Oh yes, let’s!” Rachel clapped, grabbing his mom’s hand and her mother’s, the three women skipping toward the ticket booth.
Climbing into the fully enclosed gondola behind Blair, Mannie was a little disappointed that they had to sit across from each other. The view was spectacular though and quickly distracted him. From their spot, perched at the end of the pier with the dark night sky their backdrop, it looked like they were floating on water.
“Hey.” Blair reached for him, taking Mannie’s hands in his. “I love you so much and I thank God every day for bringing you into my life. Before I met you I was content with the life I had. But now, I could never go back, I could never live without you, Mannie. You blew into my life like a summer storm, anxious and unruly but determined.” Blushing, Mannie glared at his lover. Why the hell was Blair laying his heart at Mannie’s feet on a Ferris wheel ride with their family sitting right next to them? Looking over, he saw six pairs of eyes watching them intently.
Head snapping back, he looked at Blair. Wait, is he…? “Oh,” he gasped when Blair kneeled on the floor of the gondola. But, fuck, the depth of emotion in he saw in Blair’s baby-blue gaze when their eyes met was all-consuming, both unnerving and absolutely fantastic at the same time. Everything around them melted away, the deep blue of the sky dotted with vibrant white stars wrapping around them like a cocoon.
“I know it won’t always be sunshine and roses, but I promise you I’ll be there with you, for you every damn day of forever. I need you by my side, babe, always.” Their protected little moonglow bubble burst when Rachel tossed a small, black velvet box to her brother. Blair sighed, shaking his head as he opened the box, presenting it to him, a simple platinum band sitting safely in a pool of black silk. “Marry me, Mannie. Let me take care of you.…No, let’s take care of each other from now until the end of time.”
Throwing himself at Blair, his lover chuckled with a wince when his back hit the seat behind him, the gondola swaying side to side angrily. “Yes, yes, yes, yes.” He peppered Blair’s face with kisses. “God, I love you, so much, of course I’ll marry you.”
As soon as Blair slid the ring onto his finger, Mannie grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him into a kiss that went from, Our parents are watching, to Oh goddamn, get naked now! rather quickly. “Hey, save that for the honeymoon,” Rachel joked, holding her phone up. Mannie was confused until he saw Zoe, Pete, Sharon, and Tony all smiling at him from the brightly lit screen.
Heat filled his cheeks, but Mannie didn’t care. This was the first day of the rest of his life, and he was starting it on his own terms with a man that truly loved him.
A note from the Author…
I’ve been with this motley crew of characters for nearly three years. And while I’m sad to bring the stories full circle, simply because I kind of have to say goodbye to them, I’m over-joyed that everyone got their happy ever after. While this is the final book in the Survivor trilogy, it’s not necessarily the last story in this universe I’ve created. There are a few secondary characters that readers have expressed the need to see where their story leads (Brody, the Director, Con and Claire). And I’m not promising who, what, when or where… but I will say that I do have a couple of side stories brewing in my brain. Be sure to follow me on social media to stay on top of new releases. And, thank you all for supporting me on this chaotic journey I’ve chosen to take.
Tams
TM Smith
Author bio and links:
A military brat born and raised at Ft. Benning Georgia; TM Smith is an avid reader, reviewer and writer. A Texas transplant, she now calls DFW her home. Most days she can be found curled up with a good book, or ticking away on her next novel.
Smith is a single mom of three disturbingly outspoken and decidedly different kids, one of which is Autistic. Besides her writing, she is passionate about Autism advocacy and LGBT rights. Because, seriously people, Love is Love!
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