by S. Allen
“Ro, you didn’t have to get me anything.”
“I know, but I wanted to. It’s cheesy, but these things are to show you how I feel. You brighten my day like a flower and are sweeter than any dessert. I’m sorry I let you down yesterday. I was in shock and that’s no excuse. I should have been angry and reacted instead freaking out and doing nothing, but I swear she’s lying.”
Julian set the gifts down and sat on the couch. Ro quickly sat next to him in the hopes he’d be welcomed. His nerves encouraged him to continue rambling until Julian forgave him, but it looked like Julian was gathering his thoughts for a response so he kept quiet.
“Help me understand. I want to trust you. In my heart I do, but she’s so sure. How did she know about your birthmark? When would she have seen you naked?”
“I’ve never been naked with her, ever.” Ro took Julian’s hand in his as he racked his brain desperately trying to figure out how she knew about his birthmark. “Wait, I know how she knew. It was this summer when she first got hired. Vinnie and I had some stupid bet about something equally stupid and I lost. He knows I’m not comfortable with my shirt off so, he made me wear a white t-shirt and a speedo on a Saturday and water the plants at the nursery for an hour. Once the hour was up the staff assaulted me with water balloons. It was humiliating.”
Julian smiled and then began laughing, full belly laughs.
“Hey, it’s not that funny,” Ro defended but smiled anyway. He was just happy to hear Julian laugh even if it was at his expense. “I bet Vinnie has a picture and everything.”
Julian leaned into Ro. “Thanks, Ro. For the gifts, for coming here, for believing we’re worth fighting for.”
Ro kissed Julian’s temple and wrapped his arms around the man. “I don’t know what Darcy has planned, but she’s not through.” As much as he didn’t want to interrupt the quiet truce they had made, he needed Julian to stand by him when shit really hit the fan.
“Yeah, I agree. She’s planning something. She was way too sure of herself, especially when taking your DNA sample.”
“After I left your place last night I went to Pete’s. I told him about you and crazy-ass Darcy. He suggested that maybe her whole intent was to upset you by accusing me in front of you.”
Julian sighed. “My mom would do stuff like that. She was a drama queen with a capital D and Q. Anytime she actually found herself dating a decent guy she’d create some problem or lose interest in him. It was like if things were going smoothly then something wasn’t right in the universe. I mean, she wasn’t the world’s worst mother or anything. I know she loved me but emotional stability wasn’t something in her power to give me.”
Ro listened to everything Julian said and to the things that were left unsaid. It made sense as to why he’d put up with all the terrible things his ex had done to him. Okay, so maybe terrible was an over exaggeration, but in Ro’s mind Julian deserved only the best. Ro could picture a young, eager Julian happy to have a steady boyfriend—even if mostly secreted. He wondered if he’d had any siblings if maybe Julian would have been more selective in his partner choices. “So, you don’t have any brothers or sister?”
“No. But it wasn’t for a lack of trying. I don’t think she ever purposefully intended to get pregnant, but she wasn’t that careful either. It’s amazing what adults say when they assume children are watching TV. She had several miscarriages. I always wondered what it would have been like to of had a little brother or sister; if maybe a new baby would have helped my mom settle down.”
“Where is she now? You don’t talk about her that often.”
“She died of ovarian cancer a year before Greyson died.”
“I’m so sorry, Jules.” Ro wrapped his arms around him and hugged him. He could picture a saddened Julian crying over the death of his wayward mother and holding on tightly to his cheating boyfriend for comfort.
“Enough of the emotional sharing. Let’s find a comedy or something funny to watch and order pizza.” Julian looked at Ro and cupped his furred cheek. “Thank you for coming over and listening and just being you.”
They shared a kiss and settled in for a day of TV watching and cuddling.
***
Julian arrived at the nursery fifteen minutes early for Jim’s wreath making class. Ro had been talking about how successful the classes had been. In fact, there had been such a demand for more classes that they’d added several more.
“Hi, Julian,” Vinnie called out. “Ro’s in the office and Jim is setting up for the class.”
“Thanks, Vinnie. I’m pretty excited about getting a spot in one of Jim’s coveted classes.”
“Hey, Julian.” Jim walked out of the room they were going to be using. “I’m really glad you decided to come down. You know that even if we were full I would have squeezed you in or even had you come down for a one-on-one session. Well, that sounded bad, I don’t mean any personal one-on-one that’s all Ro’s business as far as you are concerned, but I would have shown you how to put a wreath together. Follow me. I’ll show you around and then leave you to say hi to Ro before our class gets started.”
Julian listened to Jim as they walked through the nursery. The final stop was the office Ro was holed up in.
“Jules.” Ro stood up from his desk with a huge smile on his face. He quickly walked over and gave him a hug and kiss. “So did Jim talk your ear off?”
“Hey! He still has his ears. See?” Jim pointed out not even slightly phased by Ro’s teasing.
Ro kissed Julian one more time before sending them off to the classroom. Julian was thrilled at Ro’s constant affection no matter where they were or who was around. An hour later Julian emerged with his handmade wreath. Jim was a great instructor and Julian was quite proud of his creation.
“Have you made one yet?” Julian asked Ro after showing off his wreath.
“Not yet. Yours came out pretty good.”
“Jim is a really good teacher. I wonder if he’d be interested in it as a profession.”
“What? Working here isn’t good enough?”
“Stop fussing. You know what I mean. He’s got to leave the nest eventually.” Julian put his hand on Ro’s arm. He knew how much Ro cared for the man and would miss him once he moved on.
“Oh, isn’t this sweet,” a female voice sneered.
“Darcy.” Ro took a step protectively in front of Julian. “What do you want?”
“Just to rub this in your face.” She pulled an envelope from her purse and waved it triumphantly. “I’m going to take you to the cleaners.”
“No way. That’s impossible!” Ro shouted drawing the attention of several people around them including Jim and Vinnie.
“Steve.” Darcy turned to the same man that had showed up at Thanksgiving and snapped her fingers at him. He looked uncomfortable in his skinny jeans and hoodie. He hadn’t said a word at Thanksgiving nor did he say anything now. He simply nodded and looked longingly at the exit and handed her a folder.
“What hospital did you go to for the testing? What percentage is the DNA match?” Ro demanded. He obviously wasn’t going to be railroaded by her again. Julian snatched the envelope from Darcy and read the contents.
Darcy thrust the folder at Ro. “I hope you have good medical insurance. There’s all the baby’s doctor bills so far. Oh, and I expect pocket money for maternity clothes, baby stuff and food. I think two grand should get me through the next month.”
“Fuck no, I’m not giving you one cent. I don’t know how you did it, but I’m not the father and you goddamn know it!” Ro was seething.
“Ro, calm down.” Julian tried turning him so his back would be facing her.
“Yeah, sweet cheeks. Listen to your boyfriend. Not that he’ll be around for much longer. Who wants to deal with a baby that isn’t theirs?” Darcy laughed evilly.
“Shut up!” Julian snapped.
“Whatever. Do what you need to do. I’ll be back for my check in a few days. If you could get me cash instead that’d be
great. Later losers.” She grabbed Steve’s hand and walked out of the nursery.
“Julian, why don’t you take Ro home and I’ll get things smoothed out here,” Vinnie suggested.
They were silent on the entire way to Ro’s. Claire meowed when they walked inside, but she seemed to sense the mood and wound around Ro’s legs a few times before abandoning them for her water dish.
“Julian, I swear it’s not true,” Ro pleaded.
“Come here.” Julian was seated on the couch and held his hand out inviting Ro to sit next to him. “I believe you.”
Ro sank into Julian’s arms. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”
“We are in this together. I have no idea how she managed to fake positive results, but we’ll figure it out.” Julian could feel the relief pouring off Ro and didn’t feel an ounce of regret for his declaration.
“I feel like there should be an audience chanting ‘Jer-ry, Jer-ry’ followed by a slue of women I’ve never met that will be paraded out of the coat closet and start accusing me of being their baby daddy too. It’s all just so ridiculous.”
“Ro, even if we have to get on a trashy talk show in order to have another paternity test done legitimately; we’ll do it.” Julian ran his finger through his lover’s hair wishing he could make this whole situation disappear. No matter what he had to do, he was determined to prove this bitch wrong.
4. Broken hearts and the truth.
Julian had spent every evening after Darcy’s visit with Ro. He was currently on his way to the nursery to simply hang out until Ro was finished for the evening; then they’d grab dinner and shoot over to Julian’s. It had been almost a week and the witch had yet to come in demanding her check. Julian could only think it was some elaborate scheme to make Ro’s life even more miserable. Maybe she was just sick or couldn’t get a ride to the nursery or maybe she miscarried and then had the fetus burned and was planning on suing, claiming the stress over the paternity dispute caused it. She’d show up dressed all in black and then dramatically dump the baby’s ashes out in front of them. Sighing, Julian parked and walked into the nursery. At least nothing would be more ridiculous than his wayward worries.
“Julian, I’m so glad you’re here.” Jim immediately caught him before he could get more than two steps inside. “I really need to talk to you, Ro and the V-man.”
“Hey, Jim,” Vinnie greeted as he came around the corner. “What are you doing here? Isn’t it your day off?”
“I found some stuff out. Some real interesting stuff, but I don’t know what to do now. Where’s Ro, we gotta talk,” Jim answered cryptically. He headed towards the office with Vinnie and Julian trailing behind him.
Ro looked up in surprise as everyone crowded into the office. Vinnie went to his desk, Julian pulled an extra chair next to Ro’s and kissed him hello and Jim paced nervously. “Anyone want to clue me in to what’s going on?” Ro asked.
“Ask Jim.” Vinnie lifted his hand in Jim’s direction.
“Okay, Jim, what’s got you all up in a twist?” Ro spoke in a calm manner obviously not wanting to spook the man any more than he was. Julian reached over, placed his hand on Ro’s forearm and tried not to imagine what Jim could possibly have to say.
“So, you know when bitch-face came here and to your place she was with that guy, right? Steve? Well, I know him. I mean like not really, we’re not friends or anything but we ran in the same circles back then, you know? The car thing and stuff before here. Anyway, he’s not a bad guy considering. He’s too shy to be a big player, but he’s slick on the computer, real smart. So, after last week I went looking for him. Not sure why, but I wanted to talk to him, see how he’s tied up with Darcy.
“I caught up with him at the deli by his work. I wasn’t really stalking the guy, but I wanted to talk to him away from anyone. He was pretty tense until I played real nice to him. He recognized me from here and thought I was going to start yelling. I offered to buy him lunch and then just talked to the guy. He’s real sad. Man, he’s in love with her and thinks he could have been the baby daddy. In fact, he was sure of it until she started spouting off about sleeping with all sorts of other dudes, broke his heart.”
“That sucks.” Vinnie shook his head.
“So, he’s trying to get out of the life and got himself a decent job working in the IT department of the hospital. He’s even taking night classes, trying to get a better life and all.”
“Hold up.” Julian stopped him. “So, he’s in love with a cheating, lying whore and as a way to profess his devotion to her, he went into the computer files and falsified DNA records?”
“No. Well sorta. He switched out the sample. Darcy knows exactly who the father is and got a sample from him and had Steve switch it out so it’d come out positive. Apparently, Steve thought they’d be using his DNA and when she laughed and gave him someone else’s swab he was devastated. I think he’s ready to come clean and rat her out.” Jim finally sat down. His shoulders rounding forward, exhausted from explaining everything he’d learned.
“Wow. I almost feel bad for the guy.”
“No. He went into this whole scheme with his eyes open. He had no remorse about ruining your life until his heart was broken. And besides, he should be thrilled to not be tied down to a lying, conniving woman.” Julian railed at his boyfriend.
“Calm down, Jules. You can’t help who you fall in love with and if he’s willing to help us, then I’m willing to overlook his poor choice in women. Everyone deserves a second chance.” Ro squeezed Julian’s hand.
“It just makes me so mad, you having to go through all of this,” Julian said softly.
“I think this revelation has come as a relief, but now we need to figure out how to use this information.” Vinnie gestured towards the men holding hands. “Why don’t you two go home and we’ll talk about this more tomorrow after everyone’s had a good night’s sleep. Jim, thank you for investigating and coming to us with the information.”
“You guys are my family.” Jim looked away embarrassed by his admission.
“You’re right we are,” Vinnie said firmly. “And if there’s anything you ever need, you know we will do whatever we can to help you too.” He walked over and grabbed him in an awkward hug. Jim blushed but didn’t try to move away.
“Thanks again, Jim.” Ro and Julian left the other two and headed to Julian’s car.
“I need to feed Claire. Do you mind dropping me off in the morning? I really don’t feel like driving.”
“Sure.” Julian felt the same way. It wasn’t actually about driving; it was that they didn’t want to be separated during the drive home. It was a relief to have someone confirm that Darcy’s a fraud, but now they had to prove it. They didn’t speak much on the ride to Ro’s and quickly fell into their routines. Ro fed Claire while Julian got their dinner prepared and changed into a t-shirt and sweats. They’d each established a drawer at the other’s so they didn’t have to keep packing an overnight bag.
When Ro had first shown him that he’d made space for his clothes and toiletries, Julian had been shocked. He wondered if they were truly at the place in their relationship for them to sort of cohabitate. Once they had some of their belongings at each other’s it just felt right. Seeing Ro’s stuff with his, his dirty socks piled next to his own, was their new normal. He was beginning to cherish the ability to fall asleep in Ro’s arms at night. Maybe after the new year they could talk about fully moving in together.
“What’s got you smiling?” Ro nudged his shoulder.
“Just thinking about you.”
“Oh, yeah? Is it my rugged good looks? Or maybe my sparkling personality? Or maybe the way my beard feels when I kiss you?” Ro leaned forward and lightly dragged his beard along Julian’s jaw and down the column of his neck.
Julian shivered at the sensations and reached his hands under Ro’s shirt.
“Roman, you drive me crazy.”
Ro blew a raspberry on the side of his neck. “Nope. But way
to ruin a moment.”
“It hasn’t been ruined, Mr. Dramatic. I see you smiling. Let’s go to bed.”
Ro got up and turned the house down for the night before climbing into bed with him. He slid under the covers and reached for Julian finding miles of naked skin. “Sleeping in the buff tonight?”
“I hadn’t planned on sleeping,” Julian murmured as he pulled Ro’s shirt off. He slowly kissed his way down Ro’s chest to the waistline of his pants. He mouthed Ro’s hip before slipping his pants down and nuzzling his sac. Julian carefully took each ball into his mouth, tonguing their roundness and pulling lightly.
“Jules,” Ro’s voice was heavy with lust. Julian’s tongue trailed up his hard length before swirling around his crown. “Suck it, do it.”
Julian chuckled briefly before swallowing Ro’s erection. He slurped up and bobbed back down leaving a sloppy trail of salvia. He felt fingers grabbing at his hair pulling in excitement. It was heady knowing he could affect Ro so much.
Julian teased a finger around Ro’s tight entrance and slowly pushed in. Ro was arching his hips by the time he had two fingers in and was about to add a third.
“Grab the lube. You’re almost ready.” Julian watched Ro clumsily reach for the bottle on the nightstand and throw it towards him. He slicked himself up and reared up for a kiss before entering his lover’s inviting body.
“Ro,” Julian whispered in awe as he watched the varying expressions flitter across his face with each slow push and pull. He increased his speed with each cry that escaped Ro’s lips until he was whimpering in the aftermath of his climax.
Julian thrust deep and let his orgasm wash through him. The strength in his arms gave out and he gracelessly fell on top of his lover. He sighed contently as Ro gently skated his fingers up and down his back. He felt connected to this man, body and heart. Julian was in love with him.