Pick Up the Pieces

by Tinnean

  “Deety’s Jar’s Lab,” Wills murmured. He could see my confusion. I remembered a character from a Robert Heinlein book, but other than that, I’d never heard of anyone calling a pet that. “DT—Dog Three—Deety.”

  “Am I safe in assuming there was a Dog One and Dog Two?”

  “Yeah.” He smiled fondly. “Dog was Dad’s Lab, and when I was old enough to have a pet of my own, Twoey was mine. Is Deety all right, Jill?”

  “We won’t know until after the holiday. That’s why Alice took Marti shopping. You know how upset she gets when any of the pets are hurt.” As she spoke, she continued to unwrap the gift. “Oh! The first volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” She stroked the cover with appreciative fingers and turned the pages. “A first printing, and it’s been autographed by Julia Child!”

  I was relieved at how happy she was with the book. I’d had to call in a favor to get it, since I was short of time and Ms. Child had moved out to the coast the year before.

  There was a sound behind her, and a taller, fairer version of Wills stood there. “Jack, look!”

  “That was a very thoughtful gift. William, would you care to introduce us?”

  “Dad, this is Theo Bascopolis. Theo, my dad.”

  “Bascopolis.” His blue eyes were cool and measuring, and my stomach tried to tie itself in knots. I might pass muster with Jill, but Jack Matheson was Wills’s father. If he disapproved, would I have to kiss my relationship with his son good-bye? “Jill, take William’s guest up to his room. I’d like to have a word with my son.”

  What made me even more nervous was the tension emanating off Wills. “I’ll join you in a few minutes, Theo,” he said. “As soon as we’re unpacked, we can go swimming if you’d like.”

  “Okay.” As much as I wanted to call Wills “babe,” I had no intention of antagonizing his father. But I did have to say something. I swallowed and met his father’s gaze. “Mr. Matheson, I’d just like you to know that I care a great deal for your son. I won’t hurt him. I think the last thing any of us would want is to see him hurt. I hope you’ll give me a chance.”

  His father gave a curt nod, but his expression remained guarded.

  “Come along, Theo.” Jill looped her arm through mine and smiled up at me. “Wills has mentioned that you cook also.”

  “Yes, I do.” I caught the strap of Wills’s carry-on and grasped mine.

  “We’ll have to exchange recipes.”

  “I’d enjoy that.”

  “Let me help you with that,” she said, reaching for my carry-on.

  “That’s okay, thank you. I’ve got it.”

  “All right. It’s this way.” She led me toward a staircase. As we began to climb, the murmur of voices in the kitchen faded.

  “What type of food do you prefer, Jill?”

  “Oh, all of it! French, Italian, Spanish… I’m dabbling in Chinese now.”

  “I don’t know if Wills told you, but I’m Greek, and I have some recipes my mother taught me. If you’d like, I can copy them down for you.” Ma would probably kill me if she knew I’d given one of her recipes to someone who wasn’t my Greek wife, but since I’d never have a wife, Greek or otherwise, I didn’t think it would matter.

  “That will be fabulous. I’d like that very much.” We’d arrived on the second floor, and she showed me to a room whose door was closed. “This is Wills’s room. When he left to start work at Huntingdon, I teased him about turning it into a sewing room.” She turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

  “It’s a very nice room.” I smiled at her. “It suits Wills.” There were posters of rock groups and movies on the walls, a double bed, a cedar chest in the corner, and a dresser.

  “I’ll leave you to get unpacked. The middle drawer in the dresser is empty. You can use that.”

  “Thank you. Um… Jill, forgive me for asking this, but will Wills’s father give him a hard time about me?”

  She patted my cheek. “You seem to be a good man, Theo. So is Jack. Just give him a little time. He loved Wills’s mother very much, and Wills is precious to him.”

  Wills was precious to me too. “He told me she died in a car accident when he was five.”

  Her expression became sad. “Yes. I was babysitting him at the time. Sophia was a wonderful woman, and I’m grateful for the father and the son she left to me.” She smiled mistily. “Now, I need to get the hamburgers and hot dogs ready. Wills should be up soon.”

  I was left alone in the room that had been my lover’s. Would we make love on that bed later this evening, or would he feel awkward about it?

  “Hey.”

  I jumped. Wills had been so silent I hadn’t been aware he’d come into the room. How did he do that?

  “Thinking deep thoughts, babe?”

  “Yeah, I guess you could say so.” I was about to ask what the upshot with his father was when his brother stalked in. I recognized him from the photo in Wills’s apartment, and also from his blond hair and aquamarine eyes. It was easy to see his mother in him.

  “Why’s he staying in your room?” There was hostility in his voice.

  “JR, Theo is my friend.”

  “There are other rooms, and you only have one bed.” He glared accusingly at the double bed, which was going to be a tight fit for us. Not that I minded.

  “How are you going to explain your way out of that one, babe?” I asked softly.

  “I heard Mom and Dad talking. Is this guy your boyfriend, Wills?”

  “Well, he’s a boy, and he’s my friend, so I guess, yeah, you could say he’s my boyfriend.”

  I was starting to wonder if any of the Mathesons would approve of me dating their son/brother. “That’s a roundabout way of putting it, if ever I heard one,” I murmured.

  “Well, that fucking sucks.” JR scowled, and I felt as if I’d been sucker punched, but then he asked, “How come you can have a boyfriend, but I can’t have a Prince Albert?”

  “Two totally different sets of circumstances, Jar.”

  “They both involve dicks.”

  “Do you really want your dick pierced?” I asked him. Charlemagne had a Prince Albert, and while it had been an interesting experience, the sight of that metal in Chuck’s dick had thrown me off.

  “N-no. It’s just… I’m fifteen, and they treat me like a kid. All my friends have body piercings.”

  “And by all of them, I supposed you mean Patrick?” Wills looked annoyed.

  JR’s face took on a mulish expression, and he didn’t respond to that.

  “Would you mind telling me what part of your body you do want pierced?”

  “My nose.” He pointed to show where. “My friend Pat has this really cool nose ring.”

  “Jesus Christ!” Wills stepped closer and whispered, “This is the kid everyone calls Damien, because he’s like the Antichrist!”

  Like the kid from The Omen? I had to turn my head away and bite back a laugh. I didn’t want my lover’s brother to think I was mocking him.

  Meanwhile, unaware, JR looked into the mirror above Wills’s dresser and touched his nose. “I thought if I told them I wanted my dick pierced, we could… you know… kinda bargain down to the piercing I really wanted.”

  Talk about logic according to a fifteen-year-old. Abruptly I recalled myself at fifteen, and it took me a couple of breaths to get myself under control. “Smart.”

  “But it didn’t work.” He was aggrieved as only a teenager could be. “Dad wouldn’t even discuss it. He said no way, and Mom backed him up.”

  “I had my nose pierced,” I told him.

  Wills turned to stare at me. “You did? When was this?”

  “A few years ago, babe.” It was actually eight years ago, but I didn’t want to remind him of all the years we hadn’t known each other. “I used to wear a quarter-karat diamond stud in it.”

  JR’s eyes became enormous. “Yeah? But… you’re not wearing it now. I can’t even see where the hole used to be.”

  “I stopped we
aring it. A cl—” I caught myself before I said “client” and sent an apologetic glance toward Wills, but he didn’t seem to notice my slip. “Someone I knew told me it looked like a zit. Not the impression I wanted to give. Plus, y’know, if you have a ring instead of a stud, and someone gets pissed at you and rips it out, it’s gotta hurt like a mother.”

  “Well, sh—shoot.” He kicked at the rug. “I hate it when the ‘rents are right.” He peeked at Wills from under his lashes. “Sorry about the ‘fucking sucks,’ Wills. You won’t tell Mom, will you?”

  “I won’t tell her, sport. Listen, we’re going for a swim. You want to join us?” God, he was the best brother. I hoped I’d have been as good to Acacia.

  “You bet! I’ll change and meet you at the pool.”

  “Jar. Mom told me about Deety.”

  “It’s just a broken leg. She should be okay. Don’t you think?”

  “Yeah. Doctor Morse is the best. Listen, give me a call when you know how she’s doing.”

  “You bet,” he said again. He hurried out, and Wills started to shut the door.

  “Theo, about tonight. I—”

  “Wills!” A miniature dervish tore into the room and threw herself at my lover. She had the same strawberry-blonde hair as her mother, but she had her father’s blue eyes.

  “Hi, munchkin.” He caught her up, tossed her in the air, and hugged her before setting her down. “Did you just get home? Theo, this is my sister, Marti. Marti, this is….”

  “I know! He’s your boyfriend! Jar told me! Hi, Theo!”

  “Hello, Marti. It’s nice to meet you.” I didn’t know if I should bring up the dog’s condition, but Wills did.

  He crouched down and drew her into a gentle hug. “Mom told me about Deety. Are you okay?”

  “I am now you’re here! I feel bad for Jar, and I’m sorry Deety is hurting, but Daddy promised she’d be fine!”

  Wills frowned. “Did he say that?”

  “Well, not exactly! He said she was in good hands with Dr. Morse! And that’s the same thing, isn’t it?”

  “Marti—”

  “The cousins are coming!”

  “Yes, I know.” He smiled and tugged the long braid that hung down her back.

  “Jar said you’re going swimming! I want to go too! I just wanted to make sure you’d wait for me!”

  “Sure thing. Go get changed.”

  “Okay, but you’d better wait!” She skipped out, and Wills shut the door behind her and locked it before we could be interrupted again.

  “Sorry about that, babe. My sister tends to speak in exclamations.”

  “She’s a cutie. You have a great family, Wills.” And I envied him that.

  “Glad you like ’em, because they’re yours now too.” He laughed when he saw my dropped jaw and wide eyes, obviously tickled to have stunned me. To finally have a family again after all these years….

  He was still laughing when I pounced on him, but once I began kissing him silly, that laugh changed into a breathy moan.

  Chapter 20

  THE SUN was shining, the pool water was warm, and we all went in, joined by JR’s and Marti’s friends, including the ubiquitous Damien, who kept the width of the pool between him and Wills.

  My lover and I had just finished racing each other to the end of the pool, and I swam back to the shallow end and sat on the steps. JR joined me.

  “You didn’t say anything about that.”

  “Excuse me?”

  He nodded toward my chest, and I looked down. Shit. He was staring at my pierced nipple. “Did your mom and dad get mad at you?”

  “I wasn’t living at home.”

  “Oh.” He chewed his lip. “Did it hurt?”

  “You want the truth?” He nodded. “No. Getting my ear pierced hurt worse. But then, I wasn’t drunk when I had that done.”

  His eyes grew huge. “You were drunk?”

  “As a skunk.” I sighed. “I… don’t handle alcohol well.” We’d started partying the day after Christmas and had somehow wound up at a tattoo parlor where the deed was done. Paul handled alcohol only slightly better than me, and he thought it would be a good idea for him to get his nipple pierced too, something he regretted as soon as the fourteen-gauge needle went into him.

  “But you didn’t let this one close up.”

  “After going through all that, I figured I might as well keep it.”

  “Maybe I’ll skip getting anything pierced for a while.”

  “Sounds like a good idea.”

  “I’m gonna get a soda. Can I get you one?”

  “No, but thanks.”

  He climbed out of the pool and jogged toward the cooler, where cans of soda and bottles of water chilled.

  I turned back, catching sight of Wills at the deep end of the pool. He sliced through the water with clean, smooth strokes.

  “Theo?” Marti sidled up to me.

  “Yes, Marti?”

  “I have a secret!”

  “Do you, munchkin?”

  “Wills calls me that!”

  “I’m sorry, was that presumptuous of me?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Would you rather I didn’t call you that, since I’m not family?”

  “Oh, no! If you love Wills—do you love Wills?”

  “Yes.” I hadn’t exactly told Wills, but he seemed to be okay with that.

  “Then you’re family, and that’s fine!”

  “Thank you.” I got a burning feeling in the back of my nose, and I dove under the water, knowing when I came up the grateful tears wouldn’t be taken for what they really were.

  “Can you keep a secret?” Marti asked when I surfaced.

  “Yes.” I’d had to in my line of work, but she didn’t need to hear that.

  “Princess Kimba had a litter of kittens on my birthday!”

  “And when was that?” I’d learned Jill raised American Bobtails, and as we’d come down the stairs to go out into the backyard, two adults followed by three kittens approached us. They were cautious around me, but it was obvious they knew Wills and were pleased to see him.

  “On February twenty-ninth! I’m a leap-year baby! But that’s not what I wanted to tell you!” She leaned closer. “Do you see the calico kitten? That’s Jasmine! We’re giving her to Wills for his birthday! That is, if it’s okay with you? Mom said we had to check with you, since Wills is going to live with you!”

  He was! I had to laugh to myself. Wills’s enthusiastic little sister was rubbing off on me. “That’s fine with me, Marti.”

  She suddenly let out a shriek as Wills grabbed her around the waist. He’d swum up behind her without either of us realizing what he was doing.

  “Gotcha!” he growled playfully, and then he fell backward into the water. They surfaced, and Marti twisted in his grip, digging into his ribs and causing him to convulse with laughter.

  He was ticklish? Good to know.

  Just then I noticed a blue-eyed redhead in her teens peering over the stockade fence that separated the Mathesons’ yard from the one next door.

  “Wills?”

  “Yeah, babe?” He shook hair out of his eyes.

  I nodded toward the fence. “I think your neighbor might like to join us.”

  “Hello, William.” Her expression was wistful.

  “Hi, Patricia. How are you?”

  “Fine, thank you.” She couldn’t seem to take her eyes off him, and I almost expected her to start drooling.

  “Would you like to come over?”

  “Thank you, but no. Mother says it’s still too cold to go in the pool.”

  “Maybe another time.” But it seemed to me he was relieved she’d declined his invitation. “Jill told me you just graduated. Congratulations. Where will you go to college?”

  “Thank you. I had hoped to go to Brown, but Mother thinks it would be wiser to stay close to home, so I’ll be going to Harvard in the fall. I was sorry to hear about Michael, William.”

  “Thank you.”
r />   She sighed and then turned her attention to me, her expression curious.

  “This is my friend, Theo.”

  “Hello, Theo.”

  “Hello, Patricia.”

  “How do you know William?”

  “We met in DC.”

  “Oh. You’re a colleague.”

  Fortunately, I didn’t have to respond to that, because at that moment, the back door of the house next door swung open to slam against the wall, and a woman, a discontented twist to her lips, poked her head out.

  “Patricia! How many times have I told you about hanging over the fence like a common washerwoman?”

  “Yes, Mother. I’m sorry. I have to go,” she said in a soft voice. “Good-bye, William. It was nice seeing you again. Good-bye, Theo.”

  I waited until she turned away and walked toward the house. “Wow. Did the temperature just suddenly drop?”

  “It usually does when Mrs. Herendon is around. They’ve been living here for the past five years, and she’s never said more than ‘hello’ to any of us.”

  “Should I be jealous?”

  “Of Mrs. Herendon?”

  “Ass. Of her beauteous daughter. I saw the way she couldn’t take her eyes off you.”

  “She’s too young for me. Besides, I’ve got the redhead of my dreams right beside me.”

  “Right thing to say, Matheson.”

  “It’s the truth.” He grinned, grabbed me around the waist, and took me under, kissing me while I held on to him. We surfaced seconds later, and I sent a quick glance around to see if anyone had noticed, but apparently not.

  “WILLS! WILLS! Harry and Brynn are here!” Marti splashed to the side of the pool and clambered up the ladder. “Davy! Jimmy! Scotty! Eddie!”

  Four towheads came running across the grass.

  “Hi, Marti! Mom says we can go swimming!”

  “Let’s get out, Theo, and I’ll introduce you to Harry and Brynn. It’s gonna be a madhouse in here anyway. Jar, you’re in charge, okay?”

  “Aye, aye, sir!” He snapped off a salute.

  “Hi, Jar! Hi, Wills!” The four blond boys looked at me, suddenly shy.

  “Hi to you too! This is my friend, Theo. These are Harry and Brynn’s boys, Davy, Jimmy, Scotty, and Eddie. Two sets of identical twins.”