by Ana Newfolk
It was still dark when I woke up. Unusually, I was facing away from Isaac and he was wrapped around me. His breath was warm on the back of my neck and the pulse of his heart rate steady against my back.
I couldn’t remember how or when we’d fallen asleep, but somehow, we’d changed the dynamic. Maybe it was an unconscious move or perhaps Isaac had decided I needed to be held tonight.
I reached to grab my phone. It was just after three in the morning. My mind was still deciding if it was late the night before or early the day after, so I unwrapped myself from Isaac and got up to get a glass of water.
The apartment was so silent it was deafening. Maybe if I listened carefully enough, I’d realize Lucy wasn’t across the hall in the spare room, and that last night I didn’t really find out that not only had my dad cheated on my mom for years he’d also brought home the child from his mistress after I wasn’t good enough to be his son just because I was gay.
There was no chance of that because when I walked to the kitchen via the living room I noticed the small body curled up on the rug in front of the fireplace.
“Lucy?”
She stirred and then opened her eyes wide like a deer in headlights. She stood up like I had caught her doing something wrong.
“Why are you sleeping here?”
“I didn’t want to mess up your room.”
There wasn’t much light coming through the window thanks to the heavy curtains, but there was enough that I noticed she was holding her arms around her waist and looking down to the floor.
“It looked really neat and clean. I haven’t showered in a few days.” She looked embarrassed.
“There’s a bathroom attached to your room. Have a shower. There are towels in the closet. If you leave your clothes outside the door, I’ll get them in the wash and they’ll be all clean by the morning.”
“Oh no, that’s okay, I can wash my clothes. You don’t need to do that,” she said.
“Lucy, I’m awake now, and won’t be able to get back to sleep. It’ll give me something to do, okay?”
She thought about it for a moment before agreeing with me and walking back toward the spare room.
I made myself a coffee and sat at the breakfast bar. Despite everything that had happened when I was a teenager I knew I’d been very lucky. I just had to remember I was an adult now. What they did was in the past and I’d got over it. I had to focus on Lucy and figure out why she’d run away from home.
“You’re not on your own, you know?”
I looked up from my coffee to stare at the beautiful rumpled face that was my safe harbor in this thunderstorm. He smiled and walked to me. I turned so he could sit on my lap. He pulled my head to his chest and ran his fingers through my hair, making me feel better instantly.
There was silence for a moment until I heard a small cough.
Lucy was standing a few feet away, her long curly hair down and wet from her shower. She was holding her dirty clothes and wearing the bathrobe I had on the back of the bathroom door for when Joel came over. It made her look so small and vulnerable and my heart felt like it was being squeezed.
“I’ll take care of these for you. Go get some sleep, yeah? Don’t worry about messing up the bedsheets.” I held out my hands to take the dirty laundry from her and winked. “Isaac is the best at making beds. If you make him cold chocolate milk in the morning, he’ll make your bed for you.”
“I heard that,” he said from the stool I’d been sitting on as he took a sip from my coffee.
She smiled and turned back toward the bedroom. “Thank you, Max. Thank you, Isaac. Goodnight.”
When we saw she’d closed her bedroom door, I refilled my coffee mug and got one out for Isaac.
“This is going to be a long day. I should call the hospital and take tomorrow off.”
“I agree. With calling the hospital, I mean. As for the long day, why don’t you come back to bed? We’ll sort the clothes out in the morning before she’s up.” He put his arms around my waist and reached up for a kiss.
“Hmm, sounds like a great idea,” I said, melting into his mouth.
“Nuh huh, none of that, you will get back to your duties as my big spoon and we’re going to sleep.”
“If we must.”
When I woke again daylight was streaming from a small gap in the curtains, but I didn’t need the light to know I was alone in bed. My phone told me it was nine thirty. When did I ever sleep until so late?
I got dressed and left the room to find Isaac. I could smell freshly brewed coffee, so I knew he would be in the kitchen. Lucy came out from her room at the same time as me. She was still wearing the bathrobe.
“Morning,” I said and was happy to see a small smile.
We walked to the kitchen together. Isaac must have gone out before we were up because there was a full continental breakfast on the table together with fresh bread.
He smiled wide when he saw me and Lucy by the archway and then gave me the sexiest wink.
“Lucy, here are your clothes. They’re all clean. Is this all you have?”
“No, I have a suitcase in a locker at the train station.”
“Right, well get dressed then.”
She took the clothes and disappeared toward the spare room. She was back less than two minutes later. Her rucksack in hand.
“Do you drink coffee, Lucy?” Isaac asked, not noticing she seemed ready to leave.
Lucy paused but then nodded and placed the rucksack by the stool she sat on.
I put a coffee in front of her and she took it, adding sugar and cream.
“You Americans are weird,” Isaac said, “adding cream to coffee.” He shook his head and shuddered like it was the most horrendous thing ever.
“Where are you from?” Lucy asked.
“I’m from Portugal.”
“My mom’s parents were from Puerto Rico but she was born here, like me.”
“Do you have any other family?” I asked.
“No, I think my grandparents died before I was born. I only have Dad now.” She paused. “Well, I guess you’re my half-brother so you’re family, right?”
“Right.” I nearly choked on a piece of bread. “You said you found those documents two weeks ago. Did you run away from home?”
“Yes. I didn’t run straight away. He’d been worse than before so I was trying to find money in his office. That’s why I was there.”
“What do you mean he’d been worse?”
“Dad used to ignore me, just like his wife, but after I turned sixteen, he started picking on everything I did. The first time it happened I’d been studying in my bedroom; I forgot about dinner and then had a shower before going straight to bed. I had a test the next day and was nervous about it.”
“The first time what happened?”
“The first time he hit me.” She looked down at her half-eaten food and it was then I realized where her bruises had come from. I dug my nails in my palms to stop myself from smashing something.
“It had been such a long time since I’d heard him raise his voice.” I knew what she meant. It had been a long time since she’d heard him and her mom argue.
“He told me I had disrespected his wife’s household and didn’t appreciate what they did for me. My room was messy, and I was just like my mom, a waste of space.”
I reached out to her and held her hand. Despite everything, my heart broke for her. She was the innocent party in all this mess.
“What happened after that?”
“He would find any excuse to hit me. He always did it in a way the bruises wouldn‘t show. I saw a change in his wife too. She still ignored me but seemed happier. They even went on vacations together and weekends away. Those were good. I used to spend the whole time cleaning the house to make it really nice for when they came back. The nicer the house looked, the longer it would take until I did something wrong again. Why weren’t you living with them?” Her change of subject took me by surprise but I guessed she probably had as ma
ny questions about me as I did about her.
“They kicked me out when I was fourteen after I told them I’m gay.”
Her eyes widened in shock but then there was understanding. She knew they weren’t good people. She’d lived through that. In a way, I was lucky to have been kicked out.
“Do you have a problem with me being gay? With me and Isaac being together?” It didn’t matter what she thought but morbid curiosity made me ask the question.
“No.” She smiled and then blushed. “I think you’re really cute together.”
“Aww, baby, see? We’re cute together,” Isaac said in a cutesy voice so I threw him a piece of bread.
Lucy laughed. It was the first time she’d looked her age since I’d met her yesterday.
“Right, back to serious business. So you found out about me, and then what?”
“I asked Dad. He got really mad and this time he hit me so bad there was a big bruise.” She touched her face where I could see the yellow coloring of the fading bruise.
“I’d already taken pictures of the documents on my phone so one night when they were out for dinner I packed a suitcase with some clothes and school stuff and left.”
“How did you find me?”
“I recognized you from some photos dad’s wife had hiding in a drawer. You were the person from a newspaper article she kept with the photos. It was something about volunteering with LGBTQ youth. I used to think you were just a relative but after I saw the documents, I knew you were their son. I looked you up on the internet found out where you worked.”
“You followed me home?”
Lucy’s dark skin went a cute shade of pink. “Yes, sorry.”
“That’s okay.”
“The first night I saw you I didn’t know what to say so I watched you from across the road,” she said.
“What was different last night?”
“I don’t know, I guess I couldn’t wait any longer.” Listening to my half-sister telling her story made me feel so proud of how smart and brave she’d been. I still didn’t know what to feel, but I knew I couldn’t leave her to fend for herself. There was just one more question left to ask.
“What were you hoping to find when you were looking for me?”
“At first I hoped you’d help me with some money so I could take a bus somewhere. The first night I was on my own I stayed at the train station because it doesn’t close. The second night I ran when a policewoman came to ask me some questions. That’s when I realized I’d been stupid to think I could get help from you.”
I wanted to interrupt but Isaac put his hand on top of mine where it was resting on my shaking leg and squeezed it.
“I mean, you didn’t know about me. Why would you help? What if you had your own life and family? I decided I would figure out a way to get a job and earn money so I could leave the city but then I found you.”
Lucy got up and picked up her rucksack again.
“Lucy, there’s a lot we have to figure out but I would like it if you would stay with us here for now.”
“Why?”
“Because I know what it’s like to live on the streets. I was very lucky but not everybody is. There’s enough space here and I… we…,” I said, looking at Isaac who nodded, “we would love it if you stayed.”
She came around the table and gave me a hug before going over to Isaac and doing the same.
“Thank you so much. You’re not going to regret it. I’m going to be really good; you won’t even know I’m here.”
Isaac caught my eye and simply nodded. We could let the idea settle and then talk about the detail. Fuck, I hadn’t even discussed it with Isaac before I offered Lucy the spare room.
He mouthed “I love you” as Lucy got busy clearing the table. I mouthed back “I loved you more.”
Chapter Sixteen
Isaac
It didn’t shock me that Max had offered Lucy the spare bedroom until they figured out what to do. What was interesting was that Max seemed shocked with his own decision as displayed by his recent behavior.
He’d come home after work and stare at the three-place setting on the table. More than once I caught him putting one plate back in the cupboard and had had to remind him that Lucy would join us for dinner.
He would look at me like I was crazy and then he’d laugh it off. Lucy hadn’t noticed, but I was getting increasingly worried about Max and even more concerned about how it would affect Lucy.
To add to it, he canceled the plans we’d made to have dinner with Joel and David before they returned to Portugal. I understood why he hadn’t wanted to tell Joel about Lucy straight away, but I couldn’t deny it hurt that he hadn’t shared that part of his life with me. Especially since I’d shared what had happened to me.
How had he survived and coped all those years without telling anyone? I didn’t know, but I understood and respected his wishes to keep both lives separate.
My shift at the Center finished early so I met Max at the hospital. He’d done a night shift but had sent a text to let me know he was staying longer because of a major incident locally, which meant they needed all the help they could get.
I bought a coffee from a nearby coffee shop and waited outside for Max. I’d forgotten my gloves that morning and my hands were freezing. I still hadn’t got used to the New York cold weather, and when the sky was bright blue in the morning I always forgot that unlike Portugal it didn’t mean it would be a milder day.
Fortunately, I now had a new coat that kept me warm.
“Hey, baby.” Max came out of the ER doors and put his arms around me, not caring that I was holding a hot cup of coffee.
“Hi. Good day?” I asked, readying myself for the kiss I knew was coming.
“It is now.” When his lips touched mine, it was like fireworks going off in my belly. I really hoped it would always feel like this for us. A whistle came from inside as the automatic doors opened.
“Hi, Shelly.” I waved back at Max’s friend and then kept my arm around his waist as we walked.
“Baby, I had an awesome idea,” Max said full of excitement.
“What’s that?”
“I think we should go to the Hamptons for the Thanksgiving weekend. I’ve swapped my shifts so I’ll be off all four days. We can see the Christmas lights and get cozy under the blankets,” he whispered suggestively, pulling me even closer to him.
“That’s awesome! Lucy will love it.”
“What?” He stepped away to look at me. “She’s not coming. This is for us, so we can spend time together.” His voice was only a tad short of whiny.
“Max, Lucy is sixteen, and she’s been through a lot. I don’t think it’s right to leave her on her own for a whole weekend. She’s only been with us a week. It’s too early.”
I wanted to say what was on my mind but I’d have to bite my tongue until we got home. Max didn’t know it yet but Lucy was spending the night at a friend’s house so we’d have the apartment to ourselves. I was planning to wine and dine him before we got serious. I hoped that plying him with either wine, hot chocolate, or cookie dough would get him to open up.
“Fine, we won’t go then. All I wanted was to spend a freakin’ naked weekend with my boyfriend.” He was now stomping a few feet ahead of me and picking up pace.
Despite his outburst I still got all giddy when he called me his boyfriend.
I sped up to catch up with him. “Hey, boyfriend.”
He turned to face me, not caring that he’d suddenly stopped in the middle of a Manhattan street, which by all accounts was almost illegal. A few people swore at us, complaining we shouldn’t just stop like that on the street.
He came closer until he was face-to-face with me. It was like we merged into one person living in slow motion with everyone else moving around us at super speed.
“I’m sorry, Isaac.” He brought his hands up to cup my face. I closed my eyes as he traced my eyelids, my cheeks, and my lips with his thumbs. “You are so beautiful, you know?”
“You’re not so bad yourself.”
“Sometimes I’m just so scared of the future I forget to live in the present.”
“What are you scared of?”
“Waking up in the morning and realizing I’ve only been dreaming of you.”
How did I show him I was here to stay? How did I prove I was absolutely head over heels in love with him? After all, I moved all the way from Portugal to be here. Why was he afraid?
“I’m here, Max.” Was all I said before I crashed my mouth into his with all the strength I had. Since we were right in the middle of the sidewalk I kept it brief but made my intentions known. “Now, look to your right.”
“Oh, baby, I love you so much.” He gave me another kiss and pulled me into our favorite store.
Ten minutes later we left with a bag full of containers of cookie dough and the promise of a very sexy evening.
“Earth to Isaac…”
“What?” I asked Rich absentmindedly. He was one of the volunteers at Liberty Center who’d been a lifesaver from day one because he seemed to know everything.
“Man, you look so blissed out. Whatever you’re taking I want some.”
I chuckled. “You can’t have him, he’s all mine.”
“Oh yeah, of course, the sexy nurse.” He gave me a knowing look. “Anyway, just wanted to let you know Diogo and his uncle are coming up to see you.”
“That’s great, thanks, Rich.”
I tidied the paperwork on the desk and noticed the Christmas decoration Max gave me last Christmas sitting there by the computer monitor.
Somehow my work space didn’t feel complete without that little reminder of Max and our time together last year. That brought back memories of last night when he’d tortured me in the best of ways.
“Oh fuck, fuck, fuck!” I’d screamed.
“Isaac, baby, you taste so fucking good,” Max had said before he’d spread more cookie dough on my hole and licked it clean. “Hmm, I love the taste of your bare skin, your musky smell, all man, and all mine.” He’d pulled my hips up so my ass was higher in the air and I’d groaned at losing the friction I was getting from the bedsheets.