by S. Allen
***
“Pete invited us over for dinner tonight. Do you want to go?” Ro asked as they sat in the Caffeinator.
“Of course,” Julian answered. He knew how important this was to Ro. He may not have a biological family, but this was the family that had loved and raised him into the amazing man he was today.
“Thank you. I know it’s last minute and all, but I really want you to meet them.”
“And I want to meet them. How much time do we have until dinner? Should we bring anything?”
“We can pick up a pie or something for dessert on our way out. And we have enough time to maybe catch a movie and then head over or whatever.” Julian knew Ro was hinting at wanting to see the new comedy that was just released last weekend.
“Sure. Let’s see the movie and skip the popcorn so we’ll still have room for dinner.”
Julian was able to ignore any nervous thoughts about meeting Ro’s family while the movie played, but now that they were driving over, he couldn’t help the thoughts running through his head. He knew Pete was nothing like Greyson’s father. Julian had barely managed enough approval to be Grey’s roommate and that was only because Grey had argued for him. There had been a huge argument about them moving in together after graduation, something about his father saying how could Greyson find a good woman when he was living with an unaspiring man or something. It was one of the reason he had let all his fun and colorful stuff be boxed up and put in the garage in a misguided attempt to gain both Greyson and Greyson’s father’s approval.
“I should have changed,” Julian muttered while looking down at his bright green sweatshirt. It read Real Men Love Cats. Since meeting Ro and Claire, he’d been picking up cat inspired clothing.
“What?” Ro settled his hand on Julian’s knee. “You look fine. It’s not like this is a formal dinner. It’s just food and family. You could be dressed as a duck and no one would say anything, in fact I think Kennedy would be thrilled.”
“A duck, huh? Well, as long as foie gras isn’t on the menu I could get into my duck costume. I keep it in the trunk for emergencies.”
“Then too bad we’re in my car.” Ro laughed. “I might have a cowboy costume back there if you really feel the need to dress up.”
“Does that mean you get to be the horse or the sheriff?” Julian quipped.
“Well, I do believe my cowboy will need a horse to ride and trust me, I’ll give a nice hard bucking.”
“Are you supposed to be a horse or a bull?”
“Why? You want to tangle with my horns?”
“You only have one horn I want to get impaled on.” Julian leered playfully.
“Alright, that’s enough. We’re almost there and now all I can think about is getting you naked.” Ro slowed and turned into a driveway. Once parked, he leaned over and took Julian’s chin between his thumb and forefinger and kissed him deeply, thrusting his tongue through Julian’s parted lips.
Julian moaned loudly and attempted to get closer but was thwarted by the seatbelt still across his chest. “You drive me crazy,” he growled in frustration. “Let’s go in before I demand we go home and I take a ride on your horn.” Julian nipped Ro’s bottom lip before sitting back and unbuckling his seatbelt.
“Fine. I’ll get the pie. Let’s go.”
Julian followed Ro up the porch and into the house. He had knocked once and then opened the door shouting their arrival. A little girl ran to them and excitedly began chattering at Ro.
“Did you bring Claire? Last week at school Ms. Taylor brought in a different animal each day for us to pet and learn about. First she brought a bunny and then a rat and then a snake, but none of them were as soft as Claire.” Her ramble ended once she noticed Julian standing next to Ro. She quickly wrapped her arms around Ro’s thigh and tried to hide behind his leg.
“Kennedy, are you going to be shy? This is Julian, my boyfriend. He’s really nice, I promise,” Ro spoke softly to her and playfully tugged on her ponytail.
Julian squatted down and pointed to his shirt. “I like Claire too. See, I got this shirt with a picture of a kitty on just because of her.”
Slowly, she released Ro’s leg and stepped closer to Julian and reached out to touch the image of the cat on his shirt.
“Kennedy, why don’t you take the pie Ro brought into the kitchen?”
“Okay, Pete.” She carefully took the pie in both her little hands and headed into the kitchen.
“You must be Julian.” Pete stepped forward and gave Julian a loose hug followed by a pat on the back.
“He’s a hugger, should have warned you.” Ro chuckled before getting his own hug.
“Hugs are good no matter how big you get. I’m Pete, just in case you didn’t get that already.”
Julian nodded, stunned by Pete’s friendliness. Ro laughed at his expression and gave him an exaggerated kiss on the temple.
“Gross,” a gangly teenager commented from the staircase next to them.
“Dennis, get over here and meet my boyfriend.” Ro snatched the teen’s wrist. Julian tried not to cringe as the teen came closer. The last thing he wanted to do was start any conflict if Dennis wasn’t accepting, especially since he was part of Ro’s family.
“Hey man, you play basketball?” Dennis eyed him up and down.
“Not really,” Julian answered uneasily.
“What, you think I’m not challenging enough for you anymore and you need more competition?” Ro teased.
“Nah, but you are getting old.” Dennis ducked before Ro could cuff the back of his head and ran into the kitchen laughing.
“Teenagers.” Pete huffed through a smile.
Dinner was a lively event filled with conversation and laughter. Julian never felt left out as Ro constantly touched him, a pat on the thigh, hand on the back of his neck or simply a shy smile just for him. Julian volunteered to help with the dishes, but Marlene wouldn’t hear of it and shooed him out of her domain. He walked out back to where Ro and Dennis where playing basketball. He politely waved off the invitation to play and sat at a picnic table to watch them. Pete sat across from him.
“You don’t want to play?”
“Not really my thing,” Julian admitted. He didn’t go into how he was a much better football player. No need to brag about past accomplishments. He got razzed enough by his poker friends who still called him Johnny Utah from Point Break.
“Thank you.”
“What?” Julian had no clue what Pete was talking about.
“For loving my son. He’s had a hard life and despite having a huge heart he’s never been one to let a lover in.”
“He makes it easy.” Julian looked over at his lover and watched as he wrapped his arms around the young man he was playing against and picked him and twirled him a circle. It was amazing to see Ro turn a cold teenager into a warm, laughing child.
“No, he doesn’t. He’s great with kids, but not with potential partners. I don’t know if it’s a trust issue or if he doesn’t believe he’s worth someone else’s love.”
“It’s trust,” Julian blurted out. He shouldn’t have said it, but it was the truth. He had felt unlovable and he’d been honest with Ro in order to earn his trust.
“Well, I’m glad you earned it. He looks happier than I ever remember seeing him. Please, continue to take care of him.” Pete stood and squeezed Julian’s shoulder before joining the basketball game.
* * *
Ro woke to soft kisses along the scars on his chest. He loved how accepting Julian had been. There’d been no pity when he’d told him of his past. He knew all those months ago that the man in his bed was special, but he didn’t know this would be the one he fell in love with. He hummed in contentment wondering if it was too soon to declare his feelings out loud. He was pretty sure Julian felt the same, especially after last night. Julian had touched him with so much emotion, gently taking him; he’d made love to him.
“Hungry?” Julian asked softly.
“Definitely rea
dy to raid Vinnie’s coffee pot.”
“Think if we call him he’d bring it to us? I’ll even forgo the cream in favor of delivery.” Julian rolled on top of him and framed his face with his hands.
“Jules, you make me so happy.” Ro watched a shy smile grow and Julian lean down and kiss him. Of course his cell began ringing. Julian rolled over and grabbed the offending device and shoved it at him.
“Jim, what’s up?” Ro answered after he read the caller ID.
“Man, you gotta get down here. Darcy’s here with the cops.”
“Did you just say what I think you said?” Ro couldn’t believe this was happening. “I’m on my way. Will you call Vinnie?”
“Sure thing. See you soon.” Jim hung up before Ro could answer.
“Julian, Darcy’s at the nursery with the cops.” Ro said as he was getting dressed.
“What the fuck is that crazy bitch doing?” Julian seethed.
“I don’t know, but I have to get down there.”
“WE have to get down there. We’re facing her together. Let’s go.” He led the way downstairs and headed to the car.
It was a circus. As soon as they entered the nursery Darcy was screaming at them.
“There’s the no good, pervert of an ex-boss!” Darcy screamed. Steve’s replacement was holding her back as she tried to run at Ro. He was a big guy and had picked her up, one arm under her belly and the other over. It was comical to see her legs making running motions in the air and her hands out stretched like she’d actually reach Ro and Julian.
“Ma’am, I need you to calm down. Is that the man in question?” Officer One asked as Officer Two approached them.
“Sir, we have a complaint filed against you for domestic abuse.” Officer Two spoke calmly as if this was an everyday occurrence—and for him it very well could have been.
“How? I haven’t seen her in weeks and both times it was in front of an audience,” Ro defended.
“Officer, what exactly are the charges?” Julian asked politely.
“Ms. Flores has bruising on her arms and older pictures recounting past abuse resulting in bruising. She also claims that she’s being poisoned to cause a miscarriage.” The officer read off the accusations.
Ro had to take a deep breath before he could respond. Never had he wanted to hit a girl as bad as he did now. She was beyond conniving. Julian had told him about his outlandish worries, but apparently he was closer to her brand of crazy than they could have expected. “None of that is true. How do I go about proving it?”
“We need to take a full statement and then verify your whereabouts during the incidents in question. We will also need a DNA sample.”
“We already got one,” Darcy chimed in. “It proves he’s a lying bastard and the father of this baby he’s tryin’ to kill!”
“I would prefer it if you could take a new sample,” Ro requested to the officers.
“Why? What’re you gonna try to do, spit out someone else’s DNA?” Darcy questioned.
“That doesn’t even make any sense.” Before Ro could say anything else Darcy let out an ear-piercing howl and doubled over with her hands folded over her swollen belly.
“Stop faking.” Julian accused.
“She’s not. We need to get her to the hospital,” Steve’s replacement said. He looked worried and swung her into his arms and headed to his truck.
“Great. Let’s all go to the hospital,” Julian said sarcastically.
“Can you guys grab a DNA sample there to retest her paternity test?” Ro asked.
“Sure. I can call our forensics guy and see if he can meet us there,” Officer One agreed.
Julian drove everyone, including Vinnie and Jim to the hospital. It seemed no body wanted to wavier in their support and felt the need to be there too. They sat in the waiting area as the police followed up with Darcy. The plastic chairs were terribly uncomfortable and the powerful smell of antiseptic couldn’t cover up the underlining scent of vomit.
“How long is this going to take? Do we really have to be here for this?” Ro whined. He rubbed his temples in hopes of warding off the headache that was developing.
“Yes. We need to get this over with and by being here we’ll hopefully get some answers and maybe end this entire fiasco.” Vinnie stood. “I’m going to get us all a cup of disgusting coffee. Anyone want cream?”
“I’ll go with you.” Jim volunteered. After Vinnie nodded he stood and followed him down the corridor to the cafeteria.
“Wow. That’s the least I’ve heard him say, ever,” Julian commented.
“Darcy broke my favorite employee. Remind me again why we’re waiting here?” Ro asked dryly.
“Because you need to provide an untampered with DNA sample and the sooner we know what she’s up to, the sooner we can face it and move forward.” Julian rubbed soothing circles on Ro’s back. He leaned into Julian’s touch grateful for the connection.
“Thank you for being here,” Ro spoke softly. How he ended up with such a supportive man by his side he didn’t know. He did know that he was going to do everything in his power to keep him there.
“We have arrived with the glorious nectar of the Gods. Well, maybe the Gods were really drunk when they declared this sludge drinkable but whatever.” Vinnie handed out the lidded cups. “I brought cream too. I think it’s needed in order to swallow this shit down.”
“Hey, here comes one of the police guys. Maybe he’ll tell us she-devil died on the table or something. Okay, I don’t really mean that, but serious, karma, and that girl has a ton coming back her way,” Jim rattled on.
“It’s good to hear you, Jim.” Ro chuckled.
“Gentlemen, I just finished speaking with the doctor. Darcy lost the baby but knew the exact toxins that she believed caused the miscarriage. We are sending a blood sample to verify. I’m telling you this information as the named father. Officer Tucker and I will finish taking each of your statements and then you are free to go.” Officer One informed them.
“Wait, I don’t understand. What about all of her allegations? Ro isn’t the father and shouldn’t be held responsible for anything in regards to Darcy except for having the unpleasant experience of having had worked with her.” Julian was getting worked up until Ro grabbed his arm and turned him slightly away from the officer.
“Jules, he was able to tell us about Darcy under the assumption that I’m the father. Also, I’m not under arrest, which leads me to believe they don’t believe everything Darcy’s said, but they have to fully investigate all the accusation in order rule me innocent.” Ro braved a glance towards the officer and received a subtle nod. With everything basically out in the open, the men gave their statements and then headed back to the nursery.
“Vinnie, do you think you could hold down the fort today?” Ro was exhausted even though it was just after noon. He wanted to hole up at home and cuddle with Julian and forget all about today. He was still in shock at Darcy’s accusations. How crazy must she be to have gotten someone to bruise her repeatedly and then blame him?
“Sure thing. Take your man home and try to relax.” Vinnie gestured towards Julian, who was quietly chatting with Jim. Julian called off work as soon as he’d heard Jim’s frantic call earlier that morning.
“Thanks, I owe you.” Ro nodded his head.
“No worries. That’s what family’s for, but maybe buy your own coffee maker on your way home.” Vinnie winked and headed into their office.
Ro walked up behind Julian and wrapped his arms around his waist. He placed a soft kiss behind Julian’s ear and felt the man shiver and lean back into the embrace.
“You guys are too cute. I mean seriously, I want to find a nice girl and have her love me just as much as you two love each other. It’s so oblivious and I’m not even really jealous, I’m really happy for you guys. Jeez, now I’m gonna hafta buy a pint of chunky monkey ice cream and watch the Notebook while I sign up for e-find-me-love-dot-com or whatever when I get off of work or hit a monster truck
rally with a flask of whiskey in my back pocket.” Jim’s cheeks had pinked during his emotional purge.
“Thanks, Jim. Let us know if you need any help filling out your online dating profile. Now, I’m going to take Julian and grab some lunch. Vinnie’s in the office and hopefully nothing will require you to call me,” Ro teased. Jim did a mock salute and then went to check in with Vinnie.
They drove through a fast food joint and settled in on the couch with Claire.
“Are you disappointed that we weren’t able to confront her about the stunt she pulled with Steve?” Julian asked as he chewed the last of his fries.
“Maybe. I guess in a dream world she would have come by asking for the money and then we would have said we know all about her scheme and then she’d cry and say sorry and be out of our lives for good. But realistically she probably would have caused a lot more trouble.”
“Today was unbelievable. I wonder if Steve knew she was getting someone to bruise her up? He was in love with her, but no matter what she had planned I highly doubt he’d be okay with her being hurt.”
“Yeah. And there’s no way he would have been behind her poisoning herself to kill the baby. I have the sneaking suspicion that if she had asked, Steve would have adopted the baby. He would have been happy to be named the father and be a family. Do you think she actually planned on aborting the baby? Or did it just go too far?” Ro put all their food wrappers back into the bag and leaned against Julian. “It’s just so sad. That baby was doomed from the start. I wonder if her other child will be taken away by social services?”
“I sure hope that kid gets another chance at having a decent family. It makes me appreciate my mom. She wasn’t good about bringing ‘Uncles’ into my life, but she did love me. I always wanted a family; a mom, dad, siblings, aunts, second cousins, the whole shebang. I guess I never realized having my mom was more than some will ever have.”
Ro kissed Julian’s temple and grabbed the throw off the back of the couch to tuck around them. “Family doesn’t have to be by blood. We can make our own.”