by Toni Aleo
“Mom, what are you doing here?”
“You needed me,” she said, patting his arm as she walked in. “I’m livid with your father, so I took a shot of vodka and got on the train that came into the city because I’m not driving in this awful town.”
Matty smiled as he shut the door behind her. “You took a shot?”
She shrugged. “That’s what Seth said to do. He even told me to bring the bottle with me, but I wouldn’t dare. I don’t want people knowing I drink.”
Matty smiled as she took his hand, leading him to the couch. Patting the back of his hand, she smiled up at him. “Seth wanted to come too, but he’s in some meeting or something, I don’t know. Plus, you’ll see him this weekend when Avery and Ashlyn are here.”
Matty looked away. “I didn’t think I’d be invited.”
She waved him off. “Of course you are. You’re a member of this family, no matter what. It was always your choice not to come to dinner when we’d meet up with Avery.”
“I wasn’t invited then.”
She held up a finger. “That isn’t true. You were, you just chose not to come.”
“I didn’t feel welcome.”
“Because you didn’t allow yourself to be.”
Matty cleared his throat nervously. Maybe she was right, but it was pointless now. “Dad won’t let me in the house.”
“Yes, he will,” she said with more confidence than he had ever seen her display. He wasn’t saying she was weak, but she sure wasn’t vocal when it came to going up against his father. She was the family caregiver, not his partner. At least, that’s how Matty always saw it. “You are our baby, no matter what.”
As he held his mother’s gaze, his eyes started to cloud with tears. “It was awful.” Wrapping her arms around him, she kissed his cheek as he cried into her shoulder. “He said no one would support me or love me. Avery and Seth already said that was shit, but I was so worried you would feel that way.”
She scoffed as she pulled back, cupping his face in her hands. “Oh, my sweet boy, don’t you know that I’ve known you were gay since you were in middle school? So this is no shock to me.”
Matty’s mouth dropped open. “What? How?”
“Oh, honey, a mother just knows. Unlike your brothers, you never seemed interested in girls. But I saw the way you looked at Caleb when he’d come over for Avery. I knew, and it killed me that you wouldn’t admit to it. I figured you’d come out in your own time, but no matter what, I was going to love you. You’re my baby boy.”
Swallowing hard, he looked away as the tears spilled over. “Why can’t everyone be like you? Laurence was a jerk, and so was Dad.”
“Well, they’re the same person. They see homosexuality as a weakness. Avery, Seth, and I don’t see it that way. It’s who you are, and honey, we just want you to be happy.”
“I want that too,” he admitted, looking up at her. “Why can’t I just be happy?”
She smiled. “Because you got stuck with the worst qualities of both your father and me.” She paused, lacing their fingers together as she tapped the back of his hand. “Your father has to be in charge of every aspect of everything that he gets his hands on. He knows how something should be, and that’s final. Then you have my tendency toward overthinking and my habit of caring way too much about what people think.”
He nodded his head ruefully. “That’s all me.”
“Yes, but, Matthew, you also have such passion in you, and such kindness when you allow it to be seen. You have this drive, this ability to beat the odds. And boy, do you fight. You have a powerful confidence when you need it, but there are times when you don’t use it. And that’s not good, honey. You need that. You need to be you. Because you’re good. Yes, you’ve done some not so good things, but you’ve also done some great things. That’s why the people who love you, love you with everything inside of them. That’s why it was so hard for Avery when you were so awful to her. Because she loved you, and you couldn’t accept who you were, so you lashed out against everyone.”
“If you knew, why didn’t you stop me?”
“Because I didn’t know how bad it really was, and I believed you’d figure it out. I had to let you fall because when you did, you learned how to get back up.”
Her words wrapped around him like a warm blanket in a snowstorm. Everything she had said had already been expressed by Wells. Wells constantly told Matty how amazing he was, how he loved both the good and the bad, but Matty couldn’t see that when he was freaking out about his dad. He should have been more self-assured.
“All of you, Seth, Laurence, Avery, and you, are so resilient. I wasn’t the best mom, I tried so hard to be your father’s partner that I forgot I had four kids who needed me. But you four had it. You figured out life all on your own, and now I have four beautiful and successful kids who are self-made. I’m proud of that. But letting your father, someone who was never really there for you, knock you back down… I can’t let that happen. So I came, despite my fear of traveling, to remind you that you have the strength to get back up. That you can do anything you put your mind to.”
Matty blinked a few times before he blew a breath out of his nose. “Did Dad tell you about him? Wells?”
“Nothing productive, or even true, I’m sure. We aren’t speaking currently. I’m very upset with the way you and Wells were treated. I’m upset with Laurence too.”
Matty nodded. “He’s perfect, Mom, Wells is.”
She smiled, leaning in as her blue eyes sparkled. “Is he handsome?”
“Beautiful,” Matty gushed, his heart beating so hard. “I love him. I love him so much it hurts.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful. I want that for you. For all of you. Avery found that early with Jace, and it pleases me to no end now that you have found it too.”
He looked away, guilt flushing through him. “I’m scared of what people will think when it comes out.”
“Matty, come on, does it really matter? At the end of the day, who are you really worried about? Them or Wells?”
The answer was easy. “Wells.”
“Then why are you even entertaining what other people could think?” She smiled, patting the back of his hand. “You’ll learn with age that no one matters more than the person who knows everything about you and still loves you.”
“He does,” Matty answered after a moment. “He loves the good and the bad.”
“Then why in the world are you worried?”
That was a great question.
He just wished she had been the one to find them instead of his father.
Because Matty might have fucked everything up.
But maybe, just maybe, he could fix it.
Twenty-Six
The Haverbrooke home was just as big as Wells remembered it.
And though his hatred for the home was great, he still couldn’t help but admire the beauty of it. He knew it wasn’t a love-filled home like his and Wren’s parents’ home, but he appreciated that it had molded Matty into the man he was. Wells was curious on the inside. Would it be cold and sterile, or would there be little bright spots? He wasn’t sure, but he desperately wanted to know.
Which surprised him a bit.
Pulling his gaze from the home, he looked back down at his phone where he was playing a game. He had already been waiting a couple of hours for Matty’s parents to return. According to the butler, Mr. Haverbrooke went out to get Mrs. Haverbrooke, and they would be home soon. Soon wasn’t fast enough, though, not that he was leaving until he spoke with them.
And boy, was he nervous.
That wasn’t something he felt often. He was a pretty confident guy, but he was taking his father’s advice, and he wasn’t sure how that would be received. He wanted to show that he was a stand-up guy and that he loved Matty greatly. But as this was the man who had called him a faggot at least three times in a span of ten minutes, it was easy to say he was a bit unsettled. Sucking on his lip, he tried to pop a bubble that held pandas, but just a
s he was about to win, his phone rang.
Groaning, he answered, “You made me die. I was catching pandas!”
Wren apparently didn’t care. “You’ll be fine, and you can save them later. I need you to call your best friend and talk some fucking sense into him.”
Wells’s brow rose. “Huh?”
“This guy thinks we’re renting a car and driving, Wells. Driving home to Tennessee! That’s like a twentysomething-hour drive! With a newborn!”
Wells made a face. “That’s insane? Why?”
“Because he doesn’t want anyone breathing on our son on the plane. He’s insane! I told him we can go first class, but no, he and dad have planned the whole thing. Which means I’ll be in the fucking car with our parents for twentysomething hours.”
“Oh, my.”
“Exactly. Stop them! Now!”
When the phone went dead, he smiled as he shook his head. These people. Matty thought his family was nuts, but Wells’s was right there with them. Going to his favorites list, he called Jensen.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Wren called me.”
He laughed. “She did? Is she bitching?”
“Yes, she does not want to drive home.”
“Wells, I can’t risk Gunner getting sick. People are disgusting on planes.”
Wells knew Jensen had a point, but someone would die if they stuck a new mom with a newborn in a car for twenty-six hours. “This is true, but if you book first class, it minimizes contact with people, and it’s for four hours at the most. It will be quick.”
“I don’t know. I think driving would be best.”
“No, man, I’m telling you. She’ll kill all of you,” he tried, shaking his head, but his lips were curved. “Why don’t you guys get a hotel, chill for a week or so, then fly out? Let the little guy get a bit older before you go home.”
Jensen didn’t say anything for a minute, but Wells could hear his father in the background saying something to the effect that it wasn’t a bad idea. “Okay, that could work.”
But just as Wells was about to respond, he saw a car pulling into Matty’s parents’ driveway, and then Matty’s father getting out. “Yeah, do that. I gotta go,” Wells said quickly before throwing his phone on the seat and getting out. He jogged down the driveway as Benedict helped Matty’s mom out of the car.
“Who told you it was a good idea to drink and ride the train?”
“Seth,” Thea Haverbrooke answered. “And then Matty and I had a few mimosas before I left this afternoon. Riding alone makes me nervous.”
Benedict rolled his eyes before turning and seeing Wells. His brows pulled together, and his face started turning red just as Wells held his hands up. “I didn’t come to fight.”
Benedict sputtered, “I don’t care if you came to give me a million dollars, you are not welcome here!”
Matty’s mom turned, facing Wells, and he could see every bit of Matty in her face. He might have his father’s eyes, but his face was his mom’s. She smiled as she held out her hand. “You must be Wells.”
Wells nodded. “Yes, ma’am. It’s wonderful to meet you.”
She beamed. “So polite. Please come in.”
“Thea! I said no.”
She glanced back at him. “And I said yes,” she refuted as she reached for Wells’s hand. “And since this is my home too, and my son’s boyfriend, I’m welcoming him in.”
Wells held his breath. He knew that Benedict was a dick, but he only gaped, nothing coming out of his mouth as Thea nodded, guiding Wells toward the house. She looked up at him. “Matty was right. You are handsome.”
Wells beamed. “Thank you.”
“You’re older, though?”
“Yes, I’m thirty-four.”
“Good, he needs someone a little older. He’s still somewhat immature,” she said with a wink.
Wells chuckled. “He’s good.”
“This isn’t okay, Thea,” Benedict said from behind them, but she ignored him as she opened the door, letting Wells go in before her.
“And I told you, I don’t care how you feel about this. This is our son’s boyfriend, so we will welcome him.”
Wells waited, looking around the immaculate home that was decorated like something out of the Victorian era. Vintage furniture was everywhere, but what caught Wells’s gaze was the huge oil painting of the whole Haverbrooke family. He saw Matty first. Standing tall and sweet beside Avery, mirroring her as he grinned widely. A smile graced Wells’s lips as he glanced back to where Thea held Benedict’s gaze heatedly. He remembered Matty telling him that his mom wasn’t one to stand up to his father, but she was doing just that, and he was pretty sure that Matty would be proud.
When Benedict looked away, she followed Wells inside before smiling. “Let’s go to the tea room.”
Together, they started through the house as she shot off directions, but when she paused, Wells looked back to where she had stopped as she bit out, “Benedict, I’d love for you to join us.”
He glared. “I don’t like tea, and I don’t like him.”
“Then we’ll have a shot of vodka or brandy. Whatever your heart desires. Plus, you don’t know him.”
“I know he made my son gay!”
Thea rolled her eyes. “The man didn’t make our boy gay. He’s been gay! This isn’t the first man Matty has been with. Now please, come on.” Her words were like a slap to Benedict’s face, his eyes almost coming out of his head.
“Thea!”
“What? Benny, Matthew was gay the moment he came out of me. It’s no one’s fault. It’s who he is. Now please, come.” He still didn’t move as she turned to Wells. “I’ve heard just all sorts of great things about you.”
He was going to love this woman. That was obvious.
“Drinking makes me a bit chatty,” she confessed.
They shared a grin. “I think it’s awesome.”
She patted his hand once more. “So does everyone except Benny.”
Entering the tea room, Wells pulled out Thea’s chair as Benedict barked at the butler who was setting the tea service on the table. “Bring the TV out. NHL channel, please.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, at least he said please,” Thea commented as Wells sat down. Benedict did the same, glaring at Wells. If looks could kill, he’d be dead. Ignoring him, Wells smiled over at Thea. “Thank you for welcoming me.”
She waved him off. “Of course. I was just with Matty yesterday and this morning. He adores you a lot.”
“I feel the same for him.”
“It’s not right,” Benedict added, and Thea rolled his eyes.
“Why isn’t it right?”
“He wasn’t raised that way, nor is it in God’s word.”
“Oh goodness, because we’re so godly around here? Avery got knocked up at eighteen, before she was married, mind you, and the world didn’t end.”
“I wasn’t happy.”
“No, it wasn’t what our plan was for her, but she’s doing excellent. Jace is perfect to her and that sweet baby of theirs. How do we know this man isn’t the same?”
“He’s almost our age, Thea. He is taking advantage of our boy. We can fix this.”
“There is nothing to fix, Benedict. Nothing. Matty is Matty. You can’t fix that,” she insisted. “The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.”
“I don’t agree,” he shot back, and she rolled her eyes. Wells was starting to worry they’d get stuck that way like his own mother had always warned him.
“And also, his age has nothing to do with it. You may want to be closer in age to this sweet man, but that AARP card in your wallet says different.”
“Thea!”
“I’m just saying!” she spat back. “He’s a good boy!”
Wells probably should have stayed out of it, he was on thin ice already, but he found himself speaking anyway. “I, um, I want to apologize. The situation you found Matty and me in and the disrespect I showed toward you wa
sn’t right. I wish Matty had been able to tell you on his own, not for you to see it.”
Thea looked at Benedict expectantly, but he wouldn’t even look at her or Wells. “He’s speaking to you,” she said.
“I don’t care,” he said simply, shaking his head.
But that didn’t stop Wells. “When I was younger, a teenager, my father walked in on me kissing my boyfriend at the time. He was livid and felt the same way you do. He kept telling me to stop being gay and be a man. He did that for years, and our relationship was strained because of it. It took me intending to marry another man, and for my father to see how unhappy I was without Matty, for him to truly realize that I am who I am. When Matty walked into my wedding and stopped it, begging me to take him back, my father said that was the moment he knew that love was love—no matter gender or sexual orientation. Matty loves me. And I love him, more than I can ever describe.”
Thea glanced over at Benedict as he looked at the table. Clearing his throat, Wells went on, “It took almost fifteen years for my father and me to have a relationship again. The reason I’m here, talking to you both, is because he raised me to be a good man. An honorable one. I never should have disrespected you, but I was mad and hurt. I was worried for Matty because I knew how nervous he was to tell you. He didn’t want what happened to happen. He wanted to sit down, like we are now. And I feel you should give him that chance. You don’t want what happened with my dad to happen with you and Matty.”
Thea nodded. “Benny, it’s no secret that your relationship with our children is strained anyway. You were never home to be there for them.”
He looked up at Thea. “I did my best. I had to support this family—”
She held up her hand. “It’s in the past. What matters now is the future.”
But he ignored her, looking at Wells, his eyes full of such hatred. “You are aware I could ruin your career. One call and you’d be sent to the minors.”
Wells nodded slowly. “Yes, sir. I do know that. But like I said, my father raised me to be an honorable man. For that to happen, I had to come here, explain myself and my intentions with Matty. I don’t want anything but happiness and a complete and good life for him. I love him. Very much.”