Dolphin Dreams

by Jules Jones

  “Yes.” George gently took the old man’s hand between his own. “Grandfather, we didn’t know you lived there, that you didn’t just find the gate. We never knew who you were, where we might find you. Only that you were not one of us, but you never told -- and you never came back.”

  The old man smiled down at him. “Obviously runs in your line, to go chasing strange men on land.” He stroked George’s head. “Grandfather. You know, after all these years ... I think I like that.”

  “Come home to us, Grandfather.”

  He shook his head and tapped the cane leaning against the chair. “I’m too old, boy. I haven’t been able to make it down those stairs for years, or maybe I would have come back.”

  Patrick went to him and kissed his cheek. “Then we’ll come to you. Dinner here or at your house. Whenever you want.”

  Mr Parker put his arms around both of them and looked up at Martin. “When your friend came asking me about the old summerhouse, I never dreamed it would mean seeing the dolphins again.”

  “I’m sorry we gave you a shock. But it never occurred to me that anyone knew.” But in hindsight, it was obvious.

  If he’d ever mentioned to George and Patrick why Mr Parker had left the house, and not just his family, they might have made the connection. If they’d ever told him what their grandmother had been doing in the cave, why she’d been only once or twice after the first visit and then abandoned it, he might have made the connection. Mr Parker had never been able to mourn for his lover, but not just because his lover was a man. Because his lover had been one of the dolphins that walked like men.

  But at least they knew now. And he knew that family meant a lot to all three of them. Blood kin they weren’t, but the tie was there. He was glad for them, all three of them, and his only regret was the waste of the weeks they might have had together.

  Simon walked into the room, took in the scene, and stopped dead in his tracks. “What’s going on?”

  “You and I aren’t the only ones who know about dolphins that aren’t. He knew their grandfather.”

  “Jesus Christ.” Simon pulled out a chair and dropped into it. “The cave. You lived here; you must have met their grandfather in the cave.”

  “He knows as well?” Mr Parker asked.

  George winced. “He found out by accident about a week ago. We were careless and left the quarry door unlocked.”

  Mr Parker looked up at Martin. “And you were so bloody careful not to let on. If I’d thought about it, maybe I’d have realised ...”

  “I’ve just been kicking myself over the same thing.” But they’d all had good reason to hide the truth. “Now what?”

  Simon said, “We sit down and talk about it over dinner.”

  Mr Parker grinned. “Now there’s a practical man.”

  After dinner, Martin took Mr Parker for a walk around what had once been the garden, leaving the other three to do the washing up. The old man was slow and had to stop to rest every so often, but he managed the walk quite well. He pointed out where various things had been and talked about how the garden had looked when he’d been a child.

  “George will be very pleased if you can tell him about the vegetable garden,” Martin said. “He seems to have ambitions to be a market gardener.”

  Mr Parker laughed. “Well, it’s one thing he can do without worrying too much about all the paperwork that goes with the modern age.”

  “That’s what worries me about them. They’re content enough just pottering around, but they need a safe way to and from the sea. We thought the house was a godsend.” He looked at Mr Parker, marvelling that they had found him. “I never dreamed they’d get family out of it as well.”

  “Speaking of the sea, let’s go around to the front to look at the view.”

  They made their way to where they had a good view. As they stood and looked out to sea, Mr Parker said, “Have you thought about how to handle what happens to the house if anything happens to you?”

  “I’m not sure what to do. How do they prove who they are? Where do they get the money to look after the place?” At least now he had someone he could talk it over with, without worrying about awkward questions. “Simon’s offered to help, but it’s still going to be complicated. My own family would have a reasonable interest in what happens to my estate.”

  “If you’ve got money, there are ways of providing for embarrassing relatives, my boy. Even in this day and age.” Mr Parker leaned heavily on his stick. “I know the plan was for you to buy the property in a year’s time. I’ve got a better idea. There’s a family trust. David’s boys aren’t legally my grandchildren, but given some of the shenanigans that have gone on in my family, if I want to informally adopt the grandchildren of my lover I can make it stick. Spin off a separate trust for those two, put the house and some money in it, and make you and Simon trustees. The agency can handle most of it, so there’s backup if anything happens to either of you.” He sighed. “If it’s already up and running, there aren’t likely to be embarrassing questions about who they are once we shuffle off this mortal coil.”

  Martin didn’t know what to say. It was an enormously generous offer, the outright gift of not just the house, but enough money to look after it. “But ... your nieces ...”

  “They’ve enough money of their own, and they’ll get the rest of mine.” The old man cackled. “And they know about David now, even if they don’t know everything. Wormed it out of me a few years ago, when I was drunk and bitter one night. They think it’s terribly romantic.”

  “So they’ll support you if you want to give the house to David’s grandsons.”

  “Yes. Your real problem with them will be them wanting to meet the boys, especially with George looking so like his grandfather.” Mr Parker was silent for a moment. “I never even had a decent photograph to show them, you see.”

  “I don’t know whether George and Patrick will want to, but maybe the family connection ...”

  Mr Parker nodded. “They’re a strange people. There are so few of them that they take family very seriously. Anna wanted me to take a part in raising David’s daughters, even though I wasn’t one of them. I couldn’t face it, then. I tried to go back later, but the passageway was blocked, and then I had my accident before I thought to go out in a boat to look for her.” He straightened up and said wistfully, “I wonder if she’s still alive?”

  “We can go and ask them.” It wasn’t clear from their few mentions of her, but he thought that she might be. “Would you like to go in now?”

  “Yes. Don’t tell them about the trust, not until I know we can get away with it. There are other ways around it if necessary.” Mr Parker turned back towards the house and stood looking at it for a moment. “It’s good to see it as a family home again.”

  Martin carefully laid his hand on that fragile shoulder. “Your family as well.”

  “Maybe even both halves of my family. If you don’t mind visitors.”

  “It’s your house.” It was Mr Parker’s house. Even if they’d never found the truth, if he’d bought it outright, there would always have been the knowledge of the family that had been there before.

  But as he walked through the door into the kitchen and saw the way George and Patrick greeted the man they saw as their grandfather, he knew that there was no division between old family and new. It was still the same family, with ties of love rather than blood. There would be more family dinners in this kitchen, and one day perhaps more people sitting at the table.

  They were telling Mr Parker that their grandmother was still alive, if very elderly and frail. That they too were in possession of a niece, and David’s line went on beyond them. And that yes, they would like to meet his nieces, in a little while.

  Martin sat in his chair in his kitchen and watched his friends and his partners talking to each other, and dreamed of the day in the near future when there would be more than five around this table.

  Jules Jones

  Jules Jones is a materials scien
tist, whose publications from the day job are probably of interest to at least three people. Following the principle of "write what you know", most of the erotic romance books are science fiction and fantasy, and even the contemporary romance and erotica often features scientists and engineers.

  Jules has several m/m romance books available from Loose Id. They're a mix of standalones, series, and things that weren't intended to be series but seem to have decided that they are. The Syndicate series, a fluffy BDSM gay romantic comedy in space, is co-written with writing partner Alex Woolgrave.

  You can find Jules online at http://www.julesjones.com, along with excerpts, sample chapters and free short stories.