Safe Harbor

by Welch, HJ

  “Mom,” Robin protested. Dair wasn’t sure whether it was in response to the pet name that had slipped out or her calling Dair handsome, but Dair enjoyed it all the same.

  “Bobbin?” he asked as they trailed up the porch steps after her.

  “Kill me now,” Robin moaned. But the big smile on his face suggested he perhaps didn’t mind as much as he was making out.

  They left their bags in the trunk to take to the motel later. For now, Dair allowed Robin and Smudge to lead him into the house.

  His first thought was that there were photos everywhere. Hanging on the wooden walls, standing up on the furniture. There was even some sort of wind chime they passed on the porch that looked like it contained several baby photos. Dair knew there were five children, but as the photos were of them all at every age possible, he was still none the wiser as to what they all looked like.

  Except Robin. He was the only redhead, his auburn hair shining in every picture. As there were so many of him with another black-haired boy of the same height, Dair guessed that might be his twin, Jay. But the rest were a mystery.

  There were lots of well-worn rugs on the wooden floorboards and almost as much terracotta pottery around as photo frames. The smell of roast chicken floated through the air, making Dair’s mouth water, even though they’d stopped for burgers and fries.

  “I’m afraid your sibs are mostly still at work, but your dad’s tinkering in his workroom. And Kes – KES!”

  She absently hollered upward through the house as she bustled into the large open kitchen, not looking to see if Dair and Robin were still behind as she realized a pan was boiling over on the stove.

  “Jiminy Cricket!” She yanked the pot from the flame and held it aloft while the water inside calmed down.

  Dair found himself in a spacious kitchen that instinct told him was the heart of the house. The counter wrapped around the walls in an L-shape, and a freestanding island divided the space between the kitchen itself and the dining area. A large wooden table with thick, twisted and gnarly legs stood proudly with a large bowl of colorful pebbles in the center. At a glance, Dair surmised from the mismatched shapes and hues they weren’t store-bought rather rescued from beaches unknown. Each probably held a family memory.

  Once he’d turned eighteen and left for the Marines, it had felt too painful to try and deal with the sale and emptying of his parents’ home. He’d packed a couple of boxes to put into storage, then left his aunt and uncle to unravel his folks’ lives while he went off to basic training.

  In years to come, he’d realized how selfish that had been. Not only that, but he’d lost the right to any keepsakes that he wished hadn’t been distributed amongst extended family members or simply taken to Goodwill. If he had more tangible items from his childhood, would he feel less disconnected from it now he was an adult? He guessed he’d never know.

  “Are you burning the house down again, Mom?”

  “I never – that was one time,” Mrs. Coal protested with a huff, dropping the pot back on the stove.

  A teenage girl with a pixie haircut grinned as she flounced into the kitchen, phone in hand. Then she jumped and clutched her heart in an exaggerated fashion at seeing Robin sitting at the kitchen table next to Dair.

  “Jesus! We’re being robbed!”

  “Ha-ha.” Robin rolled his eyes as he stood to greet his sister with a hug. “Nice to see you too, Kes.”

  “It’s Kestrel,” she corrected pointedly, pocketing her phone. But she was soon distracted. “PUPPY!”

  Just like her mom, she threw herself on the floor to be voluntarily mobbed by Smudge, who’d been released from his leash. She even went so far as to roll onto her back and let him climb onto her chest.

  “Oh, you’re such a good puppy, aren’t you? Yes, yes, so adorable.” She paused in their wrestling to look up at Robin and Dair. “And who’s this mountain man you’ve let wander in after you?”

  “Kes!” her mom snapped.

  Robin lightly nudged her twig-like arm with his foot. “Be nice,” he growled. Dair hadn’t been aware that Robin could growl. “This is Dair.”

  Dair waited a beat before waving down at her. If Robin was too shy to be the first to tell the white lie, Dair would do it for him. “Robin’s boyfriend. Lovely to meet you.”

  Kestrel harrumphed and rubbed her nose against Smudge’s. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you to treat him well or I’ll push you into the lake, but…treat him well, or I’ll push you into the lake. Understood?”

  Kestrel probably weighed a third of Dair’s body mass and had spindly legs poking from her shorts like a giraffe. A stiff breeze would most likely knock her down. But she shot him a look that could have frozen hell over. If Dair had ever been lucky enough to have his own kid sister, he imagined her being exactly like Kestrel.

  “Understood,” Dair repeated back to her with a grin.

  “Oh, for goodness sake, Kes. Stop showing off.” Mrs. Coal checked the oven, the delicious smell of roasting chicken wafting into the room.

  “Kestrel,” Robin’s sister corrected without looking up from her new best friend, who was licking her ear.

  “Sorry,” said her mom patiently. “Kestrel. Please go tell your father to wash up. Dinner won’t be long and the others will be back soon.”

  Kestrel gave a dramatic sigh and reluctantly put Smudge back on the floor. But before she went to get her and Robin’s father from wherever he was, she turned back to where Robin had sat back down, draping her arms around his neck.

  “I’m glad you haven’t forgotten where we live.” She kissed his cheek, then skipped off out of the room.

  Dair looked at Robin just as he turned to glance at him. As they held each other’s gaze for a moment, Dair reached out to squeeze his friend’s hand. It was crazy how quickly that had become an easy habit.

  He gave Robin a look that he hoped conveyed how he was feeling. Their worries had been unfounded, at least so far. His family was delighted to have both him and Dair here. They had even made Dair feel at home right away. There were still other family members Dair was yet to meet, but he was getting a very good vibe already.

  Robin responded with a small smile and a relieved sigh. Dair couldn’t help but feel he was still holding something back, but for now at least, the homecoming was going as well as Dair had hoped it could.

  They just had to get through a whole week of this, and they’d be fine.

  6

  Robin

  “I thought we had an event tonight?” Robin said by way of greeting when his twin walked through the front door.

  Jay grinned, used to Robin being as blunt as a spoon. Robin tried to mask it with other people, but why bother around Jay? They could read each other like books.

  “I missed you too, bro.” Jay threw his arms around Robin and squeezed so tight he lifted Robin off the floor an inch. They were the same slim, small build, but Jay had always been the more confident of the two. Robin was sure it wasn’t true for all twins in the world, but in their case, the older twin was certainly the more dominant.

  “Yeah, yeah, of course I missed you,” said Robin, patting him on the back. “Now get off me.”

  Jay laughed loudly and tickled him. Robin wasn’t kidding. He’d missed his twin like he’d miss a limb.

  To anyone looking closer it was obvious they were brothers, despite their different hair colors. They had almost exactly the same facial features, subconscious mannerisms, and were even both left handed. But that was where a lot of the similarities ended.

  Robin loved being around Jay because it gave him a sense of completion. Like he could never truly be calm unless his twin was there to balance him out.

  It had been a shock to them both when Robin had upped roots and relocated to Seattle.

  At the time, Robin had been so blindsided by getting into his first choice of school he’d sort of simply assumed Jay would come with him. After all, you could do teacher training almost anywhere. But Jay had insisted it would do R
obin the world of good to go out on his own. For a while, Robin had been left feeling hurt and abandoned, even though it had been him who had split them up. But ultimately, Jay had been right. Of course. Robin needed space to breathe on his own without relying on Jay or without Mac strangling him.

  Robin may have flourished out in the big wide world, but Jay was still the extrovert to his introvert. During school, Jay had shone in the drama club, actually making it cool for a few years as everyone wanted to get on stage with bright, talented, hilarious Jay Coal. Robin had been to every play, sitting in the front row brimming with pride. But heaven forbid the spotlight should ever turn on him.

  Robin liked being the quiet one, watching from the shadows. People were such hard work to him. He never had the easy patter Jay did in groups, where he was effortlessly entertaining. Too long in social situations drained Robin completely within a few hours, leaving him unable to do anything else but run off to hide somewhere to recharge. Preferably with a loud video game so he could shoot lots of aliens.

  Which was why Robin was eager to know what they’d be doing that night. Jay hadn’t said, and when he’d knocked at the door, Robin had raced to let him in so they could have a moment to themselves. He realized belatedly that had left his mom alone with Dair, but they seemed to be getting along well enough. Smudge was still there to act as a buffer, if necessary.

  Even though it didn’t mean anything as Dair wasn’t really his boyfriend, Robin was still pleased that his mom liked him already.

  “You’re safe,” Jay assured him, closing the door and ruffling Robin’s hair. “Tonight is just a family dinner. I thought you might nope out if you realized we’d all be here to meet your new man, so I might have let you believe there was something official planned for the reunion.”

  “Asshole,” Robin grumbled. He supposed it wasn’t too bad, but it was a lot for Dair to deal with at once when he wasn’t even getting the advantage of a girlfriend in return.

  “Speaking of which…” Jay raised an eyebrow and fixed Robin with a stern look. “Boyfriend?”

  Robin did his very best not to squirm. “Yeah, boyfriend,” he agreed, hoping he didn’t sound as defensive as he felt.

  “You never mentioned any hint of a boyfriend before.”

  “Well, because I knew you’d get like this, didn’t I?” Robin waved his hand up and down Jay’s frame as he crossed his arms. “I do date, you know. It’s just all the other guys were terrible and I ditched them pretty fast. Or well, you know, they ditched me. But that’s not the point.”

  “And what is the point?” Jay asked in amusement at Robin’s rambling. Jay never rambled.

  “The point,” Robin said firmly, scrambling around for a point to make, “is…that Dair is the first guy to stick around long enough to warrant mentioning. And I happened to be coming to the reunion. So…ta-da!” He waved his hands in a weak attempt at jazz hands. “Now you know I have a boyfriend. No big deal.”

  “No big deal?” Jay repeated. They both knew that was bullshit, but Robin wasn’t going to let Jay dwell on it.

  “Yeah. He’s already met Mom and Kestrel.”

  Maybe his dad had come in by now. Robin didn’t know. But their older brother Swift and younger sister Ava were still at work, hopefully coming home soon. Robin didn’t want to be hanging around waiting for them to have dinner. It gave everyone else more time to interrogate Dair, and that was dangerous for their charade as well as Robin’s nerves.

  Jay narrowed his eyes. “What’s he like?”

  Robin rolled his eyes and threw open his arms. “Boyfriend shaped,” he cried in exasperation.

  “Well, come on then.” Jay practically danced down the hall, leaving Robin to scurry after him. He trusted Jay wouldn’t do anything mean or upsetting to either him or Dair, but Robin was still anxious.

  The last time they’d met a significant other of his had been Peyton, his best friend. But she’d been more than spunky enough to handle several Coals at once. The only boyfriend he’d ever had was Mac, and that was a long time ago. They’d always been respectful of him at the time, but they hadn’t held back in their disdain of him after. It made Robin embarrassed to think he’d put up with Mac’s nonsense for that long.

  Robin shrugged that off. He would prefer it if his family liked Dair, as Robin fully intended on staying friends after this week. But at the end of the day, they weren’t really boyfriends. So whatever happened, it would be okay.

  Right?

  Jay was already giving Dair a hug by the time Robin got back to the kitchen. Maybe he should have warned Dair that his family was so tactile before they’d arrived, but Dair appeared to be coping just fine standing from his chair every five minutes. Another flare of pride rushed through Robin until he reminded himself that this wasn’t real. He needed to be careful he didn’t let his family get too invested in Dair if they were just going to ‘break up’ in a couple of weeks’ time.

  “Wow.” Jay stepped back and lightly slapped Dair’s thick, muscular arm. “Swift is going to love having you around. Finally someone who can talk bench-pressing and protein shakes.”

  Dair looked a bit uncomfortable and Robin could have smacked Jay. He was only kidding, but Dair was desperate not to come across as some dumb jock.

  “Dair can talk about lots of things,” Robin blurted out firmly. “He likes old Hong Kong action movies, and he’s always cooking Thai for us, and he fixed tanks while he was in the Marines. As well as Smudge, he’s got another rescue bulldog and three cats. Oh, and he almost beat me at the latest Far Cry the other week, which you all know is very impressive.”

  He laughed and put his hands on his hips. There was a beat of silence.

  Damn. He’d been babbling again. But if they were really dating, it would be okay for Robin to be proud of Dair’s accomplishments, right?

  Jay gave him a look that Robin read as ‘I was just kidding – chill.’ But Dair looked at him with appreciation. Robin tried not to blush. Hopefully Dair didn’t mind him cataloging so many details about him. It was all for the sake of their charade, after all.

  “Aww, you two.” His mom put her arm around Robin and shook him. “You’re adorable together.”

  Robin glanced at Dair, but he smiled warmly, reminding Robin that he was okay with this whole thing.

  Smudge decided he hadn’t had enough attention in the last two minutes, so began chasing his tail and yapping. Everyone laughed and crowded around to fuss him.

  “You guys already got a dog?” Jay asked. Robin didn’t miss the slight note of concern in his voice.

  “Oh, no.” He laughed and waved his hands. “He’s Dair’s.”

  “But Robin’s great with all my little guys,” Dair piped up immediately. “He never forgets to top up their water and walks the dogs when I’m at work and lets Smudge sleep on his bed, even though he shouldn’t.”

  Robin looked at him. He supposed he did do all that stuff. But hearing the way Dair describe it made it sound remarkable. He was touched.

  “Well, will you look who it is?”

  Robin’s heart swooped as their father walked into the kitchen. He was wiping his hands on a dish towel, then kissed their mom on the cheek as he hung it off the oven door.

  “Dad.” Robin rushed over to hug him. Like most of the family, Joe Coal was on the short side and bespectacled. His thinning hair was combed back and kept short. Even though he’d been out tinkering in his carpentry workroom, he still wore a shirt that he’d tucked into his pants over his rounded belly.

  “That’s not your car outside,” he said as he patted Robin’s back.

  “No, sir. It’s mine. Alasdair Epping, nice to meet you.” He shook hands with Robin’s dad as his mom tutted.

  “I won’t have this ‘sir’ and ‘ma’am’ business. We’re Deb and Joe, and we’re just thrilled to have you here, aren’t we, Joe?”

  “You check the oil and tire pressure before you set out?” Robin’s dad asked with a raised eyebrow to Dair.

  �
�Oh, Joe!” His mom whacked him with the towel he’d just been using. “Quit it.”

  “Naturally, sir – Joe.” Dair winced, clearly not comfortable addressing Robin’s parents by their first names.

  Robin huffed. “Dair’s a mechanic, Dad.”

  Jay laughed as he set about fixing people’s drinks. Robin’s mom insisted Robin and Dair sit while she and his father finished up dinner, making idle chitchat asking how Robin’s job was going. They didn’t really understand any of his technobabble, but it touched Robin how much they cared.

  Kestrel reappeared not long after with the oldest of the Coal kids in tow. “I found another one,” she cheerfully announced before sitting straight back on the floor again with Smudge.

  Swift waved to the room at large as he trailed behind his little sister.

  Being a family all named after birds, Swift perhaps would have been better off if he’d been called Cuckoo. As birds who laid their eggs in other birds’ nests, it meant they often looked vastly different from their adopted siblings. Although Swift wasn’t mistakenly part of the family, to anyone looking on, he was clearly the odd one out.

  While the rest of them were small and either delicate or compact, Swift was your all-American hunk. Tall and blond with an overabundance of muscles. He could easily fill the stereotype of the alpha male jock, bullying the other geeky kids. But Swift had made himself his twin brothers’ protector the moment they had stepped into school, then his sisters’ as well. A gentle giant, he was probably the quietest member of the brood.

  Just like seeing Jay, Robin immediately felt comforted as he hugged his big brother. “Swift, I’d like you to meet Dair – my…boyfriend.” He only tripped slightly saying the word for the first time. Hopefully it would get easier from now on. “My boyfriend,” he tried again with more conviction. “I have one of those now.”

  “Hey, man,” said Swift as Dair rose to greet him. They slapped hands before shaking them and nodding.