by B L Morticia
“Give me your tie.” Jonas held out his hand.
I cocked an eyebrow. “My tie? This is a Burberry special. I will have you know−,”
“Dammit, Myles, come on. I need it for his hands, okay? If he wakes, I want to make sure he’s still tied up. You can buy another five just like it.”
Although that statement was true, I didn’t want to hand it over. I scoffed and loosened it before giving it to Jonas.
After snatching it, he grabbed me quick and crushed his mouth atop mine, nearly make me fall over.
Like a boy scout, he tied an intricate knot around Karl’s wrists. Then he took off Karl’s belt and wrapped it around his ankles.
“Call the police. That’s the only way we’ll make sure he confesses.”
“Yes. I already have the confession on the phone. I’ll dial them now.”
“Good. Tell them to hurry before I use him as a human punching bag.”
I smirked at that and dialed 911. “Yes, hello? Can you send a squad car to 16 Northway? There is a young man you need to pick up for sexual assault. And yes, he will confess to his crimes.”
Chapter Thirty
Santiago
Once Jonas and Myles returned, we spent a little time together with him, Macy, and Sarah before saying our goodbyes. I hated to leave Macy at all, but the day had been filled with so many bad memories, I wanted to leave.
Myles tried to convince us to stay one more evening, but Jonas reminded Myles of his job. I could tell Myles was chomping at the bit about the whole situation, but it couldn’t be helped. Jonas had promised the chief he would do the late shifts in exchange for more time off to attend Myles’s mother’s memorial. He had to make good on that or he might not have received special favors again.
Without little Macy in my arms, I was more than a little sad. We walked into the house together, both begrudgingly, knowing our daughter-to-be wasn’t there with us.
“Only a matter of time,” Jonas said, hopefully.
I shrugged. “January he says, but he’ll be down to visit.”
“Yeah, he filled me in when we left that asshole’s place.” Jonas said, pulling me to the couch that sat on the floor. He yanked me into him and kissed my head. “I love you.”
I looked up at him. “I love you too. What you guys did…”
“Yeah. It might get us into a little trouble. He better be glad I didn’t strangle his ass.”
I patted his chest. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t. I need you and so do Macy and Myles.”
“Yep, that’s what I kept telling myself,” Jonas said smiling. “Anyway, how about a little loving?”
I rubbed his taut abs through his shirt. Even with all the soothing I’d received from Sarah, I couldn’t pull myself together to do it.
“Babe, I…”
“You can’t. It’s okay, love. I’ll take a rain check. Can I hold you though?”
“Of course. Let’s go to bed.” I kissed him on the lips and we both got up from the sofa. We walked to our bedroom which thankfully didn’t have the crib in there. If I hadn’t moved it, I’m certain I would’ve cried profusely.
Jonas stripped down to his boxers and crawled in bed. After I undressed, I did the same, snuggling up to his warm body and laying on his chest. With us huddled together, I stroked the line between his pecs and kissed one. “Jonas. Did Myles talk to you about living elsewhere?”
“He mentioned it. I told him I wasn’t ready to make that kind of decision. I also told him when he comes down here he has to stay with us. End of story.”
“Yep, I agree. Not like there’s four star hotels down here, anyway. All we’ve got is inns.”
“And they’re more like two star.” Jonas chuckled. “We may not have four star accommodations for fancy pants, but we have what he wants more.”
I looked up at him, grinning. “Is that your nickname for him?”
“Well, I figured I had to come up with something. I call you Santi and him Fancy. He called me Jo Jo earlier.”
“Did he?” I laughed and hugged him tight. “I had no idea.”
Jonas bowed his head once. “Yeah, well. I thought it was cute, so I told him.”
“It is. Fancy sounds like a good nickname.”
“I think it’s perfect.”
“Me too, babe. He likes the best of everything so why not? As far as our living arrangements, I’m on your side with staying here in Cobalt. I’ve been doing some thinking for the past couple of days. I want to quit being a firefighter and take that job with my dad if he’ll have me.”
“Why wouldn’t he? Bo already works there.”
“Yeah, but, I don’t know how he’ll take the news of us being in this threesome.”
“Throuple,” I corrected him. “It’s a throuple.”
Jonas snickered and patted my shoulder. “Okay, throuple. I’m not sure if he’ll approve. When I went to Bo’s house I kind of hinted at it and both him and Gloria told me I was nuts. By the end of our discussion they said they’d be my family no matter what.”
“Well that’s good. Your dad is a good man. I have every hope he’ll still accept you and give you a position at his company. You don’t want to be a fireman anymore babe?”
“No, it’s not that. I want to be with Macy, you, and Myles all the time. If I’m working four twenty-four-hour shifts in a week, I’m gonna miss out on a lot of moments with all of you. By working like nine to five, I’ll be around more.”
“Myles actually said he’d do the same thing.”
“He told me and that solidified my decision as well. It showed me we’re all willing to work at this and raise Macy.”
I sighed and nodded in agreement. “Well, I guess that only leaves me. Although Myles says he’d like to bring Sarah, I still want to be here for Macy most of the time. I think I’ll quit my job then. Since everything’s back to normal at the library, I haven’t been getting that many hours, anyway. I’ll volunteer. Perhaps I can take Macy with me and we can take time to read with other children.”
“I think that’s a great idea. Then you can write full time which I wanted you to do, anyway.”
“Yeah, that’s true too. I’ve kind of stalled on this second novel, but my agent says I’m on the right track with the first one. He’s pushing it to publishers as we speak.”
“Good. You’re a natural at that, Santi. You have a lot of stories to tell.”
I kissed him on the lips and settled into his arms. “Thanks, babe. Now I’ll have even more with both men I love by my side.”
* * * *
Jonas
The day had been relatively quiet at work and I kept myself busy by shining the engine, yet again. I’d already cleaned the kitchen along with the fridge, the bathroom in the firehouse which by the way was hella disgusting, and the rec room. I thought it best to keep to myself since I knew the moment I’d be asked questions, I’d probably blurt everything out. Not that I wanted to keep it a secret, but since I’d decided to leave, I figured I’d save myself the grief of figuring out how to tell everyone. Stanley was my closest friend anyway, and once I told him, I’d find out if we’d still be friends after that.
By the time four o’clock rolled around, I’d tired myself out, so I laid on the futon in the rec room with a book. Just when I was getting to the good part, I heard footsteps along with Stanley’s voice.
“Hey, Twinkle. The guys say you haven’t been talking a lot.”
“Yeah. I had cleaning to do.”
“Is that all?”
I shrugged and went back to reading my novel. I wasn’t sure if this was the place to talk to Stanley about Santiago, Myles, and I. Truth be told, I was a little nervous regardless of the trick I tried to play on my mind.
“Hey man. Something’s bothering you, isn’t it?”
I sighed, knowing Stanley wouldn’t give up until I told him. I put the book down beside of me and sat up straight. “Nothing’s bothering me, but I have been doing some thinking.”
“Oh?” Stanl
ey took a seat across from me. “You wanna talk about it?”
“Yes and no.” I folded my hands on my lap and took a deep breath. “I’m leaving soon.”
Stanley looked genuinely surprised. “What? Why, man?”
“Well, I was telling you I wanted to work for my dad and I want to spend more time at home with my − my partners.”
“Your partners? As in two? I thought it was only you and Santiago?”
“Yeah, well. There’s someone else too. Remember the little girl I brought here a couple of weeks ago?”
Stanley grinned. “Yes, I do. She is the cutest little thing.”
“Yeah. Well, she’s gonna be my daughter soon. Her uncle is my other lover.” I closed my eyes and exhaled the moment those words flew out of my mouth.
When I opened my eyes again, I noticed Stanley staring at me like I had three heads.
“Dude, seriously?” Stanley asked incredulous.
I nodded and chuckled nervously. “Yeah. I’m falling in love with him so −”
“Whoa. Is that what you gay guys do?”
I shook my head and grimaced. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, I thought you were committed to Santiago and suddenly, you want another man in your bed?”
“Hey, straight people do it too.” I sneered.
“On reality shows like Sister Wives, yeah, but that rarely happens in real life.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, man. I’ll be doing some research on poly relationships really soon. Besides, I love my man too much to choose between Macy and him so I picked both. If you can’t accept that, it’s fine. We’ll be okay.” I got up from the couch and walked towards the door.
“Hey, Jonas, c’mon. Wait.”
Stanley’s footsteps followed mine. He stopped me and held my arm.
I turned to face him, waiting for more insults to come my way.
“Look, I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. You’re right, people do it, sure, but I guess I didn’t expect it from you, knowing how crazy you are about Santiago.”
“I’m crazy about Santiago and Myles. He’s become a big part of my life over the past month or so. I can’t say I’m in love yet, but I know I’m falling for him.”
“And where did you meet Myles?”
“Myles is Santiago’s ex-boyfriend.”
“Wow! Wha…” Stanley laughed, sounding as if he was in disbelief. “Well damn, how does that work? The ex-man and the current?”
“I don’t know if it happened before, but it is now.”
“And how do you know it’s gonna last?”
“I don’t. I’m willing to take the chance though because he’s a great guy. And I adore Macy. She’s the main reason I want this between us. I feel like she’s my daughter already.”
“Understandable, but… well damn, man, I just figured…” Stanley shrugged. “I don’t know what I figured.”
“Okay. Well, I know it’s a shock, but it’s happening. I hope we can still be friends after I leave.”
“Dude, of course. It’s your life and I ain’t one to judge, believe me. So, uh, when are you gonna give Chief notice?”
I opened my mouth and the fire alarm sounded, meaning there was a fire we’d have to put out.
“Well, I’ll answer that later on over a couple of root beers or something, since you’re on duty,” I laughed. “You game?” We both ran to the pole.
“Yep, I am. Too bad it can’t be alcohol, but I’ll take what I can get.”
“All right.” I slid down and ran towards the wall where all our coats and hats hung up. I put on my gear and jumped on the truck, ready for anything because it had been at least two weeks since we’d been called for a fire.
“All right, men. There’s a blaze near fourth and Charley downtown.” Chief said.
“Fuck, that’s by Branswick Center!” I screamed in anguish, knowing that was another place Santiago loved to visit, especially in the winter.
“Yep, Twinkle. Let’s go and see if we can try to save it.”
The other men yelled and jumped on the truck, heading to downtown to save a town treasure. I only hoped to make it before the place burned to the ground, destroying anything left of Cobalt’s past.
Chapter Thirty-One
Myles
When Jonas and Santiago left, I sensed a part of me being gone. I loved Santiago with all my heart and I was feeling the same about Jonas. Call it stupid. Too quick or whatever you want, but I feel our chemistry could not be matched. With that in mind, I paid Garrett another visit because we seriously needed to get this timeline moved up or I’d be working more remotely than in person. Macy missed my men and so did I. I looked forward to uniting with them this coming weekend.
After Garrett kept me talking for about another hour, I begged him to let me go home. It was however getting late, and I didn’t wish to be out with her after sunset. Sure, it didn’t get dark until eightish, but I was also trying to avoid the kids returning home from school who wanted to take over the playgrounds. They could be a rowdy bunch, even near the Lakefront where adults lived and worked nearby.
Once I stepped off the elevator, I walked to my car parked in the reserved for president section. I eyed the plate and knew after a while I’d have to give this prime parking space up. Not that it mattered because I wouldn’t be coming in regularly, anyway. Let’s just say losing the “top dog” spot niggled at me, but I knew it was all for the best.
I tapped my key fob to unlock the doors. Just as I was about to get in, I sensed someone in my general vicinity and I turned around, noticing my sister Myrna.
“Myrna, what the hell are you −” I gasped when I caught full sight of her.
“Myles. P… puleeze, I… I need your help.” She stuttered.
Myrna appeared to be bleeding from her mouth and head. Her dress looked ripped from the seams and her hair resembled a bird’s nest.
I walked closer to her, but not too close because I wasn’t sure I could trust my own sibling in this state.
“Myrna, you’ve got to get yourself together. Don’t you ever want to see your daughter again?”
Myrna laughed and choked, sounding as if she were coughing up a lung. “I can’t even take care of myself, let alone no child! You might as well do it with that faggot boyfriend of yours!”
Hearing her spiteful words, I grimaced and held back from saying anything just as crude. “At least I’m taking care of her. Anyway, what do you want?”
“I need money, Myles, I need −”
As she talked, footsteps approached from behind. Then, before I could react, a heavy object slammed into my head. I dropped to my knees, crying out. Before I could do anything more, a kick to the center of my spine drove me to the pavement.
“Get up, you cocksucker!”
It sounded like the same guy who’d yelled when my sister called me that last time. Pain surged to my temples and my vision blurred from the blow. When I tried to stand, a foot landed on my right shoulder.
Despite my anger, I tried keeping calm. “Please let me up and tell me what you want. I won’t fight back.”
Again, I tried getting up, and then I felt a foot on my neck, keeping me pinned.
“Give me your money, asshole! I want everything. Cash, credit cards, watch! Myrna, take it all. I fucking want it all!”
Pinned to the ground, I tried to calm my ragged breathing as the red heels clicked onto the pavement coming closer. My sister, Myrna, slipped my wallet out of my pocket, looking at me through dead eyes. As though I meant nothing to her.
In shock, I laid still, waiting to see what they did next. I prayed silently to the gods they wouldn’t hurt me. I had too much to live for now.
“You have everything… now let me go.” I struggled to form that sentence, feeling my throat tightening. I couldn’t believe my own sister. My own flesh and blood was here robbing me so she could get a fix.
“You’re not going anywhere until I’m ready to let you go. You got eve
rything?”
I suppose she nodded yes, and he turned me over on my other side. Right then, I felt weight on my chest as if someone sat on it.
The minute I tried moving, he caught my hand and punched the left side of my jaw. I attempted to cover my face, but then I felt hands grabbing mine, pinning them behind me.
“Ahaha, good girl!” He screamed.
Since he had clear, undefended shots, he got in plenty of jabs on my face and my neck. When he finally got up, my face ached from my forehead on down to my chin.
“Yeah! Not so tough now, huh?” He sneered, then gave me a kick or two to my ribs just for good measure.
“All right that’s enough, Don. We gotta go!” Myrna said, finally releasing my arms.
As I fought hard to open my eyes, again the clicks of her shoes sounded.
“Damn, sister girl, your brother is loaded. We might have to come back and pay this man another visit!”
“Told you!”
“Let’s go then. We got some shopping to do!”
After that comment, I heard two sets of footsteps going in the other direction and eventually fading into nothingness. I closed my eyes tight, not wanting the blood to run from my head into my eyeballs.
“Ugh. Fuck!” I spat and rolled to my side so I could get to my phone. I had to call Garrett to come downstairs and call the police to inform them of my assault. I didn’t care about the money, my watch, or cards because that could all be replaced. I was only concerned about my identity being stolen since the losers didn’t even throw my ID back to me.
When I finally dug my hand into my pocket, I plucked my phone out and held it up. I could barely raise my arms after this ordeal.
“Call Garrett…” I said. I attempted to straighten up, but I didn’t have the energy to.
“Hey man, missing me already?” His cheery voice came on the line.
“Ga − Garrett, I need help. Please. I can’t get up right now. I was attacked.”
“Oh, my God, Myles. Are you serious?” I heard him moving which was a good thing.