by Jerry Cole
“Right,” Jan said, shielding his eyes so he could look at the enormous house. “And, I mean, obviously, if you were being harassed, you would just have been able to retire to your quarters and get your servants to fetch you food.”
Morgan laughed quietly. “Obviously. Though no, not really. We did a lot of cleaning.”
“Who?” Jan asked. “The servants recruited you?”
“Very funny,” Morgan said, rolling his eyes. “No, my brother, my sister and me. We did a lot of cleaning because the house is so big and Mom only likes having a cleaning lady once every week or so.”
“So, who cleans it now?”
Morgan looked at him then snickered. “Servants, I assume. My mother never really would do any of the housework herself. That’s what children were for, I guess.”
“Your mother is a clever woman,” Jan replied.
“I like to think so,” Morgan said. “Anyway, you’re going to get to meet her in about a minute.”
Jan nodded, then cleared his throat. Morgan parked in a shady spot near the trees, but not very close to the house. Jan cleared his throat again once Morgan turned the car off, so Morgan looked at him, his brow furrowed. “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to ask you if I looked okay,” Jan said in a small voice, feeling very stupid about it suddenly.
“You don’t just look okay, babe,” Morgan said, stroking his cheek. “You look wonderful.”
“I’m scared, Morgan,” Jan said quietly. He loved Morgan’s name, he loved using it. It felt like every time he used it, he claimed Morgan a little bit as his own. Morgan didn’t seem to mind, so he intended to keep doing it, at least for the foreseeable future. “What if they don’t like me?”
“Not that that’s going to happen because they’re going to love you, but what do you think would happen if they didn’t like you?”
“I don’t know,” Jan said. “I don’t think you’d stop loving me all of a sudden or anything, but I just… maybe you would start to see me clearly. Not as this amazing person that you think I am, but as who I actually am.”
“What if what I see is both?”
“I’m serious,” Jan said.
“So am I,” Morgan replied. Then he grabbed Jan’s hand, brought it to his lap and squeezed it. “In the very unlikely scenario that my parents do not fall head over heels for you, that would absolutely not change anything for me. Maybe it would just mean taking things a little more slowly when it came to family stuff, at least on my side, because I still want to meet your mother. But that’s all that it would mean.”
Jan swallowed. “Really?”
“Yes,” he said. “Of course really. I mean that. But seriously, your worry is moot. They are going to love you.”
“I want to believe you,” Jan replied. “I really do. I mean, it’s not like you have to worry about my mom liking you…”
Morgan chuckled. “What about your brother?”
Jan looked away from him. “Yeah,” he said. “Okay. Good point.”
They both were quiet for a few seconds until Morgan touched him lightly on the shoulder. “C’mon, sweetheart,” he said. “Let’s go in.”
Epilogue
Jan watched the sunrise from the window of Morgan’s room, wearing only boxers and a thin white blanket wrapped around his shoulders. After meeting Morgan’s parents, which had gone incredibly well, they had spent the evening socializing, playing cards, as well as having a few drinks. It turned out that Morgan’s parents were sweet, cultured people, and the whole thing made him both sad and happy in equal measures.
It made him happy for Morgan because he obviously had an amazing family who accepted him and loved him for who he was, but it also made him miss his own family intensely, especially his mother. He was sure Morgan’s mother and his mother would have gotten along extremely well and now that never would get to happen. He had only spoken about his mother’s condition briefly, but Morgan’s parents handled the conversation with more maturity and aplomb than he ever had encountered before. They had made him feel extremely welcome, as though he always had been part of the family. In short, Jan wasn’t sure if he had impressed them, but he was sure they had impressed him. He was going to get to meet his boyfriend’s brother and sister today. He was looking forward to that now that he was feeling a little bit calmer after discovering how lovely Morgan’s parents actually were. Morgan was incredible, too, and he spoke highly of his siblings. So Jan was sure they would be awesome, too.
Morgan stirred as he sat up on the bed and Jan turned to look at him. “Hey,” Jan said. “Good morning.”
“You’re already awake? We were…”
“Very busy last night, I know,” Jan said, winking at him as he remembered the incredible and very long-lasting sex they had the night before in Morgan’s childhood bed. There was something to be said about being in a house so big that it was almost certain no one could hear them fucking. And Jan had still been super turned-on about Morgan telling him that he loved him. So, in between love bites, nibbles, fingers and scratches, they had made love over and over again until Jan had been so tired he couldn’t even get up to clean himself. “But there’s something about this crisp country air. I feel like my lungs are full, and I don’t think I’ve ever actually taken a breath that good before. Maybe I’m a country boy at heart.”
Morgan smiled at him. “I think it’s so cute that sex makes you chatty. I keep forgetting that’s a thing, and then boom. Next thing you’ll start talking about is the Moors.”
“Sex does not make me chatty,” Jan replied, rolling his eyes, but walking over to where Morgan was on the bed and sitting down next to him. “Okay, maybe it makes me a little chatty. But I think it’s the country air thing. And don’t knock the Bronte sisters, okay? Otherwise, we’re going to have our first serious problem.”
Morgan laughed quietly. “As much as I love hearing you talk about the weather and literature, I personally need coffee to function first thing in the morning. So, if we could…”
“Wait,” Jan said as he looked at Morgan, now remembering what he was supposed to tell him. The information felt like it had been lost in a haze of happiness. “Shit, I forgot to tell you something important.”
Morgan raised his eyebrows. “You did?”
“Yes,” Jan said. “I spoke to my supervisor at State Fidelity. She told me that it’s slow, but that they didn’t need me to do what I did anymore, basically. They told me I had fulfilled my duties as an external investigator and I could go back to work as an internal corporate one.”
Morgan looked up at him, his eyes wide. “I… That was quick. I wasn’t expecting that. I should start looking for a different job, shouldn’t I?”
Jan nodded, looking away from him. “I mean, worst case scenario, you have a couple of years. And you’re a genius, so you won’t have issues, no matter what.”
Morgan sighed.
Jan had never intended to make Morgan feel bad. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have told you earlier. I get to keep the salary that I had after this promotion, which means that…”
Morgan took a deep breath. “That you need to get back to New York. I get it. I mean, I’ve never done the whole long-distance thing before.”
Jan wondered what he was talking about. Then he had to resist the urge to smile. “No, I didn’t say yes.”
“You didn’t?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have said yes, but they offered me the option to telecommute,” Jan replied. “I mean, most days. I still have to go there to deal with the big cases and law enforcement and the like, but analysis, trend patterns and stuff? I could do that from New Zealand if I wanted to.”
“So you—”
“I’ve officially given up my gig as a waiter,” Jan said, winking at him. “Though, honestly, I made some good tips.”
Morgan reached out to him, touching his hand. “Are you staying in Danbury because of me?”
Jan considered lying to him, making the situation seem less intense, b
ut the thought was fleeting and barely made any sense to him after any scrutiny. “Yes,” he said. “But I would go anywhere with you. My brother says I don’t do anything for myself or to be happy, so this is what I’m doing. About my mother…”
“I’ll help you,” Morgan said quickly. “Financially or whatever. I don’t know how much it’ll cost to help her move, if that’s what you decide to do, but our combined incomes probably can do wonders for her.”
Jan shook his head, suddenly feeling heat in his cheeks. “No, I can’t ask you to do that. I didn’t even ask for your input on this decision, and I’m certainly not asking you for money. I mean, if this doesn’t work out, then I want it to be on me…”
“No,” Morgan said, suddenly shaking his head. “It’s not on you. I want it to be on both of us.”
Jan smiled despite himself. “Listen, baby,” he said, the word sounding totally natural in his mouth, at least in this situation. “As much as I appreciate what you’re trying to do, it’s not necessary.”
“No,” Morgan said, holding his hand up. “You don’t understand. Stay there a second.”
Jan did as he was told, waiting for Morgan to reach for something in his nightstand drawer. It looked like an expensive piece of cloth, and Morgan started to delicately, very delicately, unwrap it.
“What is that?” Jan asked.
“Jan Van Roy,” Morgan said. It was the first time Morgan ever had used his real name, and as he continued working on unfurling the expensive cloth, revealing two beautiful and simple white gold bands, Jan started to understand. “I know that this is quick, but it’s the reason I brought you down here. I couldn’t stand to live without you for a second longer. Any uncertainty that I might have had about you, it’s all gone, vanished completely. I want to help you with everything that you need help with. I don’t want you to have to feel alone ever again. When it comes to your family, we are a team. And we’re going to take care of them together, okay? Because I want us to be family. That’s what I see you as already, my family. And I was going to hold off on doing this until we were somewhere more romantic, but you just proved to me, once again, how amazing you are. So, Jan, would you make me the happiest man in the world and be my…”
“Yes,” Jan said. “The answer is yes.”
“Are you going to let me finish?”
“Were you going to say husband? Then the answer is yes,” Jan replied, kissing him on the mouth and wrapping his arms around him, their bodies pressed close together until Morgan laughed.
“You know,” Morgan said, once Jan broke off the kiss, “this should probably be a long engagement.”
“Agreed,” Jan replied, laughing. “I mean, you still need to meet my mother. Of course, she has to be there. And I still need to see what kind of men I’m competing against this weekend, when I meet some of your high school friends. And I assume exes.”
“Your mother is going to be there, of course. And I didn’t know my ex-boyfriends were that interesting to you.”
Jan winked at him. “I told you I liked competition.”
“That’s past competition. Sam, my friend at work, says that his friend Jax could call me at any point,” Morgan said, wrinkling his nose. “You know, in case things don’t work out between us.”
“We should invite him to the wedding,” Jan said, kissing Morgan again. “I could introduce him to one of my friends.”
“You’re right,” Morgan replied, smiling at him. “We should.”