Close To Home IV

Chapter 10

“Honey, I’m home,” Brian called as he came through the laundry room door.

“Mmm,” a voice said.

“What the…!”

“Hello, you must be Brian,” said the woman who was raising herself from a prone position to a sitting position on his sofa.

“I’m Brian, and who the … who are you?”

“I’m Marcia Hodges from next door, Dougie’s mother,” the woman said blushing deeply.  “I … I must have fallen asleep.  I…  Oh, my God, where’s Ellie?  Where’s my daughter?  She was right here on this afghan,” Marcia said, her eyes darting from the afghan on the floor to the kitchen to the front door.  She looked like she was about to scream or bolt out the door … or something that Brian had yet to think of.

“Justin!” Brian cried, panic evident in his voice.  What the fuck had happened to his peaceful house while he was at work?  “Justin!”

“Where’s my baby?  What happened to her?” Marcia wailed.

“It’s all right, Marcia,” Jasper said rushing in from the hallway.  “Justin has her in his studio.  She woke up a little while ago and Justin gave her a bottle.  We thought we’d let you sleep.”

“Jasper what the fuck is going on?  What have you two been up to?” Brian demanded.

“Let me get Justin,” Jasper said quickly, seeing that Brian seemed about to blow a gasket.  He quickly went to the studio while Brian and Marcia stared at each other waiting for Justin to appear.

After a couple of minutes Justin came down the hall carrying a little bundle that Brian assumed was the missing baby.  Marcia rushed over and took the sleeping baby from Justin.  She pulled the blanket away making sure the baby was all there, and then held the infant to her chest.

“Hi, Bri,” Justin said cheerily.

“Don’t Bri me!  What the hell’s going on?”

“Have you met Marcia?  She’s Dougie’s mother.”

“She introduced herself just before she started screaming that her baby was missing,” Brian said with a glare.

“I’m really sorry, Brian,” Marcia said.  The look on his face made her alter her words.  “Um, I mean Mr….”

“The name’s Kinney,” Brian said testily.

“Mr. Kinney, I’m sorry I made such a fuss,” Marcia apologized again.

“Brian,” Justin said.  “There’s no need to be upset.  I took Ellie into the studio with me so she wouldn’t be around the paint Jasper was using.  Marcia had fallen asleep and she didn’t know where her baby was.  That’s all that happened.”

“I see,” Brian conceded his voice dropping in volume and his face softening.  “Is this Ellie?” he asked indicating the sleeping baby.

Marcia nodded.  “Would … would you like to hold her?”

Brian looked to Justin for reassurance.  When Justin nodded, Brian said, “Yes.”  Marcia handed him the baby.  Brian gazed at the sweet little face.  “She looks a little younger than Gus,” he said.

“She’s a little over a month,” Marcia supplied.

“Gus is almost three months,” Brian said with a smile.  The baby continued to gaze up at his face like she was studying it and filing it away for future reference.  “You’re a very good baby,” Brian cooed.  The baby kicked her feet inside the swaddling and gurgled happily.

“I don’t know what you people have done to Ellie, but she’s been so contented this afternoon.  I can hardly believe she’s the same baby.  I can’t thank you all enough for the break.  I guess I should get home and…  Oh, my God, what time is it?  Dougie!”

“It’s almost six,” Brian said having come home from work early so he could see how Justin and Jasper were doing with the windows.  “What about Dougie?”

“He … he would have come home from school hours ago, and nobody was home.  Oh no, where could he be?” Marcia cried.  Her voice rose as all the terrible possibilities that could have befallen her son came to her.  “Something must have happened to him.”

“Let’s go see,” Justin said.  “Brian will watch Ellie.”

Justin, Jasper and Marcia ran out of the house.  Brian gently rocked the baby hoping that Dougie was at home waiting for his mother.  He would hate to see anything happen to the little boy.  After a couple of minutes everyone returned with a smiling Dougie in the middle of them.

“Hi, Mister Brian,” Dougie said with a big grin.

“He was waiting patiently for me at home,” Marcia bragged squeezing Dougie’s shoulders as he stood in front of her.  “He used his key and went inside like the very good boy I know he is,” Marcia gushed.  She gave her son a hug.  “I better take the baby and go home.  I’m sure we’ve worn out our welcome.”  She walked over and took Ellie from Brian.  Brian gave the baby a chuck under the chin eliciting a little giggle or the nearest thing to a giggle that a baby Ellie’s age could make.  “She’s really taken to all of you,” Marcia said gratefully.

“We kinda like her too,” Justin laughed.  “You’re welcome here anytime,” he added.  “You, Dougie and Ellie.”

“Thank you so much for this afternoon, Justin and Jasper.  I really needed the rest.”

“No problem,” Justin replied.  “I’d be happy to look after Ellie if you want me to.  Brian will as well, right, Brian?”

Brian looked shocked, but he managed to say that he was at work all day and wouldn’t have much time to look after a baby.  Marcia responded graciously and was about to leave when Dougie decided he had something he wanted to say.

“Will you play catch with me after dinner, Mister Brian?” he asked.

“Catch?” Brian replied with a frown.

“Yeah, I could come over after dinner.”  Dougie said hopefully, smiling at Brian trying to encourage the man to accept.

“It would make a nice break for you, Brian,” Justin offered.  “You could always use the exercise.”

Brian shot daggers at Justin.  “Okay, Dougie, just for a few minutes,” Brian gave in.

“I’ll come over as soon as I’m done eating,” Dougie promised.

“Don’t hurry on my account,” Brian said.

Dougie merely grinned and followed his mother to the door.  Soon the Hodges family was gone and Brian was staring at Justin and Jasper.  “It’s not safe to leave you two alone,” he griped.  “I go to work in a normal household, and when I come home there’s a strange woman sleeping on my couch, and then she starts screaming about her missing baby.  And the next thing I know I’m being offered to babysit and I’m playing catch with a seven year old.”

“Yep,” Jasper said looking far too smug.

“That would be about right,” Justin agreed.  “Just the way things are meant to be.”

“Fuck,” Brian said shaking his head.  “When did I lose total control?”

“Um, that would be the day we found each other,” Justin whispered loud enough for Jasper to hear.

Jasper laughed.  “I better finish up that last window I was working on, and get home before the wife takes a strip off my hide.”

“You’re done?” Brian asked.

“Yep,” Jasper said proudly.  “I was able to work around the sleeping beauty and the baby.  The windows are all painted, except for the one in your exercise room that I still need to finish.  Most of them feel dry, but I’d leave them alone until tomorrow night.  That way you’ll know they really are completely dry.  We don’t want any more problems like the one I had to fix today.”

“That’s great, Jasper,” Justin said.  “I need to straighten up in my studio and then I’ll dream up something for dinner.”

Jasper went down the hall and disappeared into Brian’s exercise room.

“Yes, I better eat quickly before my date arrives,” Brian said, but there was only humor in his voice.

“Asshole,” Justin said elbowing Brian in the chest.

“Hey, you go clean up, and after I change, I’ll see what I can drum up for dinner.”

“You’re going to cook?” Justin said with a smile.  “My hero.”

“I should be making you do everything after what I went through when I got home.  I’m not used to having women screaming at me.”

“What about Debbie?” Justin asked with a laugh.

“Well, she’s a category unto herself.”

“Get changed,” Justin ordered.  “I want to be served my dinner pronto.”

“Before my date arrives,” Brian repeated.

Justin gave him the finger as he headed down the hall.

*****

Brian decided to change into some shorts since the weather was so beautiful.  Having done so, he found the two steaks that Justin had thawing in the fridge.  He knew they would be having barbecued steak and some kind of salad, depending on what he could find in the fridge.

He started the barbecue which the former residents had thrown in as part of the sale.  It started immediately which pleased Brian greatly.  He hated fighting with mechanical things.  While the barbecue was heating up, he raided the fridge for whatever lettuce and vegetables he could find.  While he was chopping said vegetables, Jasper came out carrying his paint cans. 

“I’m done for today.  Leave everything where it is and I’ll come back early in the morning to make sure everything is all right and all the windows are in working order,” he told Brian.

“Make sure you bring the bill.  I’ll leave a check with Justin.”

“Thanks, Brian.  Have a good night,” Jasper said as he left through the front door.

When Justin finally came out of his studio, Brian was about to add his own steak to the one that was already sizzling on the barbecue.  The table was set outside by the pool and a bottle of wine was open in the ice bucket.

“Wow!” Justin said as he surveyed what Brian had accomplished.

“You should do this more often.  I could get used to having you cook.”

“You haven’t tasted it yet,” Brian warned, but he smiled at his lover.

“My grandmother used to say that food always tasted better when someone else cooked it.”

“Your grandmother was very smart.”

“I know,” Justin said as he poured a glass of wine for each of them.  He handed a glass to Brian.  “To good food, good friends and good neighbors.”  They clinked glasses and took a drink of their wine.

“So, how did Marcia Hodges end up sleeping on our sofa today?”

Justin chuckled.  “I shouldn’t laugh, because it’s not really funny, but…”

“But what?” Brian asked with a frown as he plated the steaks.

“Jasper went to go get some paint for the windows and he heard her crying.  She was sitting out on the porch with the baby.  The baby was crying too.  When he asked if he could help, she blew him off.  So when he came back from getting the paint, we could still hear the baby screaming while we unloaded Jasper’s truck.”

“And you had to go over to see if you could help,” Brian said as he cut into his steak and pronounced the nearly raw meat to be excellent.

Although his steak was much better cooked, Justin had to admit that Brian had done a great job with the meat, and the salad was equally good.

“I did make that pie for her,” Justin said by way of explanation.  “Anyway, I talked her into coming over for lunch.  By the way, she’s not homophobic, she’s just exhausted.”

“How do you figure that?”

“She told me that the baby has been crying all the time, and she never gets any rest.  The reason she’s been keeping Dougie at home is so he can help her with the baby.”

“Is that so?” Brian asked.  He still sounded skeptical. 

“Dougie’s coming over tonight, isn’t he?”  Brian nodded.  “His mother didn’t make an issue of that, did she?”  Brian shook his head.  “She got some rest today, so things are improving.  She didn’t say no to us babysitting Ellie.”

“Us?  When did this babysitting thing get to be us?”

“You know you liked holding Ellie this afternoon.  We could have her over when Gus is here some weekend.”

“Do I sense matchmaking?”

Justin laughed out loud.  “How do we know Gus is straight?  Hell, Ellie could be a lesbian.”

Brian shivered dramatically.  “Please, they’re too young to contemplate such things.”

“Then don’t accuse me of matchmaking,” Justin laughed good-naturedly.

“Pardonnez-moi,” Brian said tongue in cheek.

Justin smiled.  “Getting back to more serious matters, this is one tasty steak, and the salad isn’t half bad either.”

“I think the correct term is delicious.”

“Yes, I think you’re right,” Justin was eager to agree.  He leaned over for a kiss, just as a little voice was heard.

“Mister Brian, are you ready to play catch?”  Dougie was standing at the corner of the house looking at them.

“I always catch what I’m after,” Brian said with a wink to Justin.

Justin smiled and replied in a whisper, “Behave yourself.”  Then he said to Dougie, “We’re just finishing eating.  I think there’s a small piece of apple pie left.  Would you like that while we finish our steaks?”

“Sure!” Dougie said enthusiastically.

Justin went inside to get Dougie his pie.  Dougie pulled a chair over to the table and set his baseball glove and the tennis ball down beside it.  Then he got up onto the chair and sat staring at Brian, while Brian finished up his steak. 

After a minute Brian felt compelled to ask, “So what’s new, Dougie?”

“Nothin’.”

“Nothin’?”

“Nope,” Dougie declared.  “But it was nice at dinner tonight.  My mom said she felt so much better after her nap this afternoon, and Ellie wasn’t crying.  She had her dinner, from my mom’s breast, and then she went to sleep.  Mom and me got to talk.  She said she was really glad I went into the house this afternoon and stayed there.  I think she was really worried about me, don’t you?”  Brian nodded.  “Anyway, Mom was so much happier at dinner.  I think she was really tired before.  Ellie cried all the time and wouldn’t stay asleep.  I hear her sometimes in the middle of the night, and my mom gets so upset.  I try to look after Ellie for her but she won’t do what I want her to do.  Do you know how Mister Justin got her to sleep?”  Brian shook his head.  “If I knew that, I’d know what to do, so Ellie would sleep and then my mom could too.  It would be really good.”

“Here you go, Dougie,” Justin said as he set the piece of pie in front of the boy.  “What were you two talking about?”

“Nothin’,” they both said.

Justin looked at the two of them and they grinned back.  He wanted to ask what was going on, but he decided maybe the best thing was to finish his dinner.  That didn’t take long, and Brian and Dougie finished up what they were eating. 

Dougie said he really liked the pie and that his mom used to make pies before Ellie was born.  He hoped she would make some again soon. 

“Let’s get this round of catch started,” Brian said.  “It will be dark soon, and we won’t be able to see.”

“Sure, Mister Brian,” Dougie replied with a big grin.  He put his chair back where it was before and picked up his glove and tennis ball.

“You guys go ahead,” Justin said.  “You cooked so I’ll clean up.”

Brian nodded appreciatively and wheeled his chair away from the table.  Dougie threw his ball to Brian who caught it deftly and lobbed it back.  As Justin was moving the dishes inside and then cleaning off the barbecue, he kept an eye on Brian and Dougie.  The boy was talking a blue streak, and Justin had to wonder if he got much chance to say anything at home.  With only an upset mother and a baby sister it didn’t seem likely that he would.

After a bit Brian asked Dougie if he was ready for a hard ball.  Dougie assured Brian he was.  Brian threw a hard strike at Dougie’s baseball glove.  The boy almost caught it, but didn’t close the glove fast enough, and the ball bounced off and rolled back over towards Brian.

“I’ll get it?” Dougie called running over to Brian. 

“I have arms, you know,” Brian reminded Dougie, as the boy scooped up the ball and handed it to Brian.  “It’s my legs that don’t work.”

“Yeah, I know,” Dougie replied.  “I like doing stuff for you.”

Brian smiled and threw another ball to the boy, this one not quite as hard as the previous one.  Dougie caught it quite efficiently.  “Good boy.  Let’s see if you can pepper one back to me.”

Dougie grinned and threw the ball as hard as he could.  His aim wasn’t very good and the ball hit Brian in one of his legs, and then caromed under Brian’s chair.  “Sorry,” Dougie said.  “I’ll get it.”  He ran over to Brian and got down on his knees to reach under the wheelchair to get the ball from where it had ended up.  As he stood up, his face sobered and he frowned.  “Mister Brian…”

“Yes,” Brian said seeing his reaction.  “What is it?”

“What’s wrong with your leg?  Did I hurt you?”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a funny red place on your leg,” Dougie said.

Brian frowned and lifted his useless leg, turning it to look at the side and back as much as he could.  His face grew pale.  “Justin!” he called.  “We need to go to emergency.”

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