The Light in Your Eyes

By Tinnean

Chapter 11

"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."

"H'llo."

"It's nice to meet you."

"Come on, come in!" Marti ordered.

"Hold on a minute, guys." A tall, good-looking blonde wearing shorts and a tee shirt that read, 'Because I'm the Mommy, that's why!' tugged off their Star Wars and Sponge Bob tee shirts. She had a figure that belied the fact that she'd given birth to twins twice. "Okay, you can deal with your shorts yourselves." She seemed a little out of breath.

They kicked off their sandals, peeled off their shorts to reveal their swim suits, and grinned and jumped into the pool, all of them obviously comfortable in that element.

I recognized the man strolling across the lawn and toting an ice chest from the framed photograph in Wills' apartment, although he'd worn a tux in that and was now dressed more casually. His shorts were denim cut-offs, and across his tee shirt were the words, 'I'm with Beautiful.' The light blue tee brought out the color of his eyes and hugged muscular arms and a well-defined chest.

I figured those muscles must run in the family.

Harry Matheson dropped the ice chest and engulfed Wills in a bear hug. "Hi, cuz!" He was a couple of inches taller than Wills.

"My ribs, Harry! My ribs!" But he laughed and hugged him back, then let him go. "I'm getting you wet."

"Doesn't matter. I'll get soaked once the kids come out of the pool anyway. It's good to see you again. It's been too long."

"You know how it is with work. Hi, Brynn. You're looking good." He kissed her cheek.

"Thanks. That's nice to hear. Harry tells me that all the time, but that's his job." She grinned, then turned her attention to me, her fair eyebrow raised.

"This is Theo Bascopolis." Wills twined his fingers with mine. "He's… mine."

I blinked in surprise. I hadn't expected him to be so open about it.

They both looked from my lover to me and back.

"Mrs. Matheson." I held out my hand.

"Oh, please, call me Brynn." She took my hand but stepped closer to kiss my check as well. "Otherwise I'll think you're talking to my mother-in-law." She was almost as tall as her husband.

"And I'm Harry. Aunt Jill mentioned something about Wills having a surprise for us. I'm glad it just isn't another scar."

"Brynn. Harry, I understand you're responsible for the scar Wills has on his… butt." I watched my language. There were children around.

Harry shook my hand, his grin rueful. "Am I ever going to live that down?"

His pretty wife laughed. "Not likely, Ha. How you could think Wills was making a play for me… "

"Well, if you hadn't been so beautiful… "

She laughed and pinched his chin. "I'm not, you know, but I love that you think so." There were shouts from the pool, and she gave a distracted smile. "I'd better go watch my demons." She stripped off her shorts and tee to reveal a sarong-style two-piece bathing suit covered in vivid splashes of red and orange.

"Hey! Those are my children you're talking about like that!"

"Right." She grinned. "My demons, all of you." She brushed a kiss over his lips and crossed to the ladder, climbing down sedately.

"She's pregnant again."

"Harry, that's awesome!" Wills hugged him.

"Yeah. She's hoping since Uncle Jack gave Aunt Jill a little girl, I can do the same for her."

"Twin girls would be so cool."

"Yeah, they would." He turned to me and studied me carefully. I was glad the suit I'd chosen to bring was plain – staid and fully lined instead of the low-rise trunks or square cuts I usually wore. "So you're with Wills?"

"Yes."

"Well, he always did have a weakness for redheads." He noted my raised eyebrow and grinned, a hard twist of his lips. "Break his heart and I'll break your neck."

Wills touched his arm. "You don't have a problem with it, Harry?"

"Idiot." He cuffed Wills' shoulder. "I don't have a problem with Uncle Pete, why would I have a problem with you? The only thing that surprises me is that it wasn't Michael. You and he were always so tight."

Michael? That was the second time that name had come up today. I sent a glance Wills' way. He sighed and looked away, but not before I saw the sadness in his eyes.

"I guess you might say I wasn't Michael's type. He liked 'em blonde and curvy. Or brunette and curvy. Or… "

It still hurt him that his friend had preferred girls to him. I squashed down the stab of jealousy. He was with me now, and that's all that mattered, I assured myself.

"Ah. Got it. Smug prick." His cousin obviously didn't think much of this Michael, whoever he was. "I know he's dead, Wills, but that doesn't change the fact that I never did like him very much."

"You didn't know him."

"Did you?"

"I thought I did. Michael was my best friend from the time we moved here when I was twelve," Wills told me.

"I take it something happened to him?"

"He died of autoerotic asphyxiation."

"He scarfed?" I didn't say how stupid I thought that was, but the disapproval must have been clear in my voice. Harry nodded in agreement, and Wills raised an eyebrow in surprise. "There are other ways to make yourself feel good. Besides, it's too easy for things to go wrong."

"He was my best friend. Even after we graduated from college I still considered him my best friend. Maybe if I'd been… I don't know, more of a friend to him… "

"More of a friend to him?" Harry cuffed the back of his head. "You hauled his ass out of hot water more times than I can remember!"

"That's what friends do."

"Did he do the same for you?"

"There was never any need for him to."

"Well, then would he have?"

"Sure he would." Wills sighed, then shrugged. "I'd like to think he would. I let him push me away, Harry."

Jealousy reared back up. I didn't want to hear this. It tore me up inside. "I'll get you a beer, okay, babe?"

"Uh… "

But I was already on my way back to the house. I stopped by a chaise and grabbed a towel, which I wrapped around my waist, then climbed the steps to the screened-in porch and crossed to the back door.

Jack Matheson was alone in the kitchen.

"Oh. Mr. Matheson. Hello."

"Bascopolis."

"I was just getting Wills a beer."

He opened the fridge and took one out. "Here you go."

"Thanks. Uh… " I scrambled for a topic of conversation. "That's a lot of buns."

The table was loaded down with hotdog and hamburger buns, bottles of ketchup and mustard, a large wooden bowl filled with salad greens.

"I doubt there'll be any left over. Once my brother Jake gets here… "

"Harry and Brynn are here."

"Harry's his son."

"Wills mentioned them. Something about Harry shooting him in the ass with a nail gun."

He laughed, looking so much like Wills that it almost took my breath away. "We managed to keep it from Jill for the longest time, and when she finally found out, I don't know which pissed her off more, that it had happened, or that we hadn't told her."

"You've got a great family, Mr. Matheson."

"Yes." He sobered. "I'd… uh… I'd like to talk to you."

"Sure." I felt myself tense up. This was where he told me to get the fuck out of Dodge.

"I understand you're unemployed." His stance was less aggressive than it had been when we'd first been introduced earlier in the day.

"Actually, it's more like a sabbatical, Mr. Matheson. I was in public relations… " Just a little white lie. Charming people had been part of my job. I should be able to charm my lover's father. "… until recently, and… Well, there are only so many ways to kiss ass. Sorry." I gave him an easy grin. "I have a degree in computer accounting, and I'll be putting that to use as soon as we get back to DC."

"I see." He relaxed. "So you are planning on working."

"Of course. I never had any intention of sitting around the house watching Jerry Springer and eating bonbons."

"How people can air their dirty laundry on national television like that… " He shook his head. "My son tells me you have a… healthy portfolio."

"Yes, sir. My partners and I own shares in Microsoft, Google, Dell, a number of other corporations." Including a certain blue chip one. "We also rent out three of the floors of the house we own in DC. That covers the mortgage and maintaining it."

His eyes widened. "So one might say that you're… comfortable."

I grinned at him. "That's how I always looked at it."

"Hmmm." He relaxed even more. "You understand why I'm concerned?"

"Of course I do. And if I had a son, I'd be just as concerned about his happiness. As a matter of fact, I'd be ready to neuter anyone who made him unhappy."

"Do you have children, Theo?"

It was the first time he'd called me by my first name. "No, Mr. Matheson. I've always been gay."

"Whereas Wills has only recently come to this conclusion himself. This comes completely out of left field for me. All the girls he dated… Every time I turned around he seemed to be seeing someone new."

I made a noncommittal sound. The way my lover sucked cock proved he'd had at least one boyfriend, but I didn't want to consider his past lovers – male or female – and I certainly wasn't going to discuss them with his father.

"If it makes you more comfortable, you could always consider him bisexual. Scientists are propounding the theory that we all started that way to begin with."

"That's true." He sighed. "Wills is very good with children, you know – his brother and sister, their friends, his cousins' children. By choosing this lifestyle… "

"Excuse me for interrupting, Mr. Matheson, but this isn't a lifestyle one chooses, any more than you had any choice in being heterosexual."

"Yes, but… Theo, the possibility of Wills having children of his own if he goes this route becomes exponentially diminished."

I'd never ever allowed myself to consider having children, but the thought of Wills and I raising a family… "There's always adoption or in vitro fertilization. Other gay men have done that."

"He could leave you for a woman. How would you feel about that?"

If Wills left me, it would destroy me no matter who he left me for. "Mr. Matheson, he could just as easily leave me for another man. That's a chance I have to take, that I'm willing to take."

"I'm not saying that Wills would do that. He's a good son, a devoted brother, a fiercely loyal friend. I assume he's told you about his friend Michael?"

"Only that Michael was his best friend while he was growing up. It was obvious that talking about him was painful, so I didn't push."

"They met just after we moved here; they were in the same 6^th grade class. Michael was… I always worried that he would be a bad influence on William, but thank god it didn't turn out that way. William would come home with a skinned knee or a bloody nose, acquired while getting Michael out of some crackbrained scheme of his, but more often than not it was William who kept a rein on their escapades. My son told me once he couldn't understand how Michael could think his parents didn't love him. I asked William if that had ever worried him, especially after I married Jill and we had JR and Marti."

"What did he say?"

Mr. Matheson laughed softly. "He said, 'Don't be an ass, Dad.'" The smile left his face. "I regret Michael's passing, as I would the senseless loss of any life, but I can't say that I regretted it when he and Wills seemed to grow apart."

If I'd had a friend like Wills when I was growing up, I imagined my life would have taken quite a different turn, but I could hardly say that to his father. And I'd have moved heaven and earth to keep him in my life.

"I… " I licked my lips. "I feel you should know that I've asked Wills to move in with me."

"Making an honest man of him?"

More that his son was making an honest man of me. I smiled but said nothing.

He sighed. "Wills has always been a good son. You might not be aware of it, but he's the child of my first marriage."

"Wills mentioned something about his mother being killed in an accident when he was five. That had to have been devastating to you both."

"Yes. I never thought… I've been blessed with two loves in my life, Theo. Wills' mother was the first, and Jill the second. I didn't have as many years with Sophia as I would have wanted, but, god willing, I will with Jill. The last thing I want to do is… "

"What are you two talking about so earnestly?"

I jumped. "Wills!" He had been so silent in entering the kitchen I hadn't even heard him come in. I did hear the tension in his voice, see it in the lines around his mouth. I had a suspicion he knew what we'd been talking about.

"You were so long getting my beer, I thought you might have gotten lost, Theo." He went to the fridge and took out a beer. "Here. Have a Michelob, Dad." He took the beer from my hand, unscrewed the cap, and brought it to his lips. I watched his throat ripple as he swallowed, and I swallowed myself and licked my lips.

"Your dad and I were just chatting. He was telling me about your Mom."

"Yeah?" He relaxed.

Mr. Matheson opened his own beer. "Wills looks a good deal like her."

"She must have been a beauty, then."

That seemed to startle him. Did he think I didn't appreciate my lover's looks?

"How… er… how did you happen to meet my son?"

"Now, Dad. You know Jill told you I met Theo when he was visiting a friend in the hospital."

"Yes, Wills, but what I don't understand was what you were doing in the hospital at the same time. You… " Jack Matheson was suddenly pale. "It wasn't your back, was it?"

My lover put down the beer and hugged his father. "No, Dad. My back's been fine. My boss is a friend of Theo's and Paul, his business partner. I needed to bring Mr. Vincent up to speed about a job I had just finished troubleshooting, and since we were short on time, he suggested I come to the hospital with him."

"Wills? What's wrong with your back?" I asked.

"Thanks, Dad. Now I'll have the both of you worrying about me. Nothing is wrong with my back, babe."

"He was in a serious car accident a few years back. We… we thought we were going to lose him."

"Wills." I felt myself turn cold.

"But you didn't lose me," he said patiently. "I'm fine, and all I have to show for it is a scar."

"And a kidney with a fraction of its usual function."

"It works well enough, and the other one works fine. There's no need to make a big deal over it."

I smacked him on the back of the head.

"Hey!"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I told you."

"Not that it had almost killed you!"

"It didn't… "

"Jesus. You could have died." Uncaring that his father was in the same room with us, I pulled him into my arms and held onto him. I could feel the scar under my fingertips. "I'd have lost you before I'd ever even found you!"

Wills stroked my back. "It didn't happen. Please don't cry," he whispered.

I let him go and dashed the heels of my hands across my eyes and cheeks. "Sorry."

"Oh, babe… "

Mr. Matheson handed me a napkin and cleared his throat. "With a name like Bascopolis, I assume you're Greek?"

"Yes. The name was originally Bascopolous, but when my great-grandparents came over, it was changed on Ellis Island." I'd asked Poppa why Grandpa had never tried to have it changed back, but he'd just muttered something about Uncle Lykaios, the black sheep of the family. I'd been impressed when I'd learned he'd been a hitman for some minor gangster in the 30s, but Poppa had said, 'He brought shame and disgrace on the name. It is better people do not know he is our blood.'

He probably felt that way about me too. I was always afraid to ask my sister if he'd blotted out my name from the family Bible.

"So you met and… er… started dating. What does your father have to say about this situation, Theo?"

"About Wills moving in with me? Nothing. It's none of his business."

"That's cold, don't you think? Are you ashamed of what you have with my son?"

"Of course not! Why would you suggest that?"

"Well, you're not informing your family… "

"I said nothing about not informing my family. I said I wouldn't tell my father anything. I've written to my mother and sister about Wills."

Wills had picked up his beer but paused before taking a sip. "You have?"

"Of course."

He looked so happy to hear that. I wished I could take him to meet them.

His father frowned. "I don't understand."

Or he didn't want to understand. "Mr. Matheson, I've been disowned by my father."

"Excuse me?"

"When my father learned that I was gay… " I shrugged, the pain as fresh as it had been that day more than twelve years before.

"Jesus." He turned to his son. "And that's why you asked if I still loved you? You thought I might… "

"It happens, Dad."

"Not in this family, it doesn't!" He hugged Wills fiercely. His eyes met mine. I could see he was still concerned, but he was also staunchly behind his son. "I don't expect you to call me 'dad,' Theo. But call me Jack. Welcome to the family, son."

"Thanks, Dad," Wills whispered, his eyes bright with unshed tears.

Jill came bustling in. "Jack, your brother is here, and so is his brood. Start the grill, please? The kids all claim they're starving. Alice and I will bring out the potato salad and cole slaw. Get the hotdogs and hamburgers, Wills. Theo, you're in charge of the paper plates and the plastic forks and knives."

"Yes, ma'am." The tableau broke up and we all hurried to obey her.

****

Wills and I didn't make love in the house in Cambridge. He was upfront about it.

"I'm sorry, Theo. I didn't expect to feel so awkward… I'm sorry."

"It's okay, babe." I kissed him chastely. "There are other things we can do. Or I can even sleep on the floor if you prefer."

"No. I prefer you in my bed with me."

"Cool."

After the youngest kids had been put to bed, exhausted from the afternoon in the pool and the evening trying to catch fireflies, after Jar and Marti and the older kids settled in the family room watching videos and eating popcorn, and the adults chatted and drank a last cup of coffee in the dining room, he brought me out to his treehouse.

We climbed to the topmost part of it – "The lookout or the crow's nest, depending on if we were playing Beau Geste or Captain Blood," he told me, and I was secretly charmed at the image of my lover as a Legionnaire or a pirate – where we sat, our arms around each other, and watched the stars winking through the leafy branches of the old oak.

Before we went back down to his bedroom, where we would cuddle and grope and make out until we fell asleep, he took out a penknife and carved into the railing, 'Wills loves Theo.'

I took the penknife from him and carved just beneath it, 'And Theo loves Wills.'

****

I'd met my lover's family, and it had turned out better than I'd had any right to hope. None of them seemed to have a problem with the fact that Wills was in a same sex relationship – if they did, they hid it well enough that neither of us could tell – and they all seemed to like me.

We returned to DC to find Paul and Spike ready to make the move out to California. Paul had originally come from the West Coast, and the taste of Disneyland had made him homesick. Once he'd felt well enough, he'd flown back out, interviewed and got a job at a perinatal center in a prestigious hospital in LA – he didn't want to sit around the house watching Jerry Springer and eating bonbons either – and then found an apartment.

"Everything all set?"

"Yeah." Paul gazed around the apartment that had been home for the last ten years. "I'm… I'm… "

"Yeah, Paul." I could feel my throat start to ache.

He cleared his throat. "Thanks for the offer to drive us to the airport," he said to Wills, his words a little stiff. There was still some tension between the two of them.

"Not a problem." Wills had arranged to take a personal day off from work.

"Spike, help Wills carry the bags down to the car, okay? Sweets… Theo… I just want to go through the place to make sure I have everything."

"Sure."

Wills' eyebrow was raised, but he grabbed the handles of the two suitcases with the totes fastened to them and wheeled them out. Spike followed him with a couple of carry-ons dangling from his shoulders.

"Do you want to check your room first, or the living room, or… And promise to let me know if you want me to ship any of your furniture… "

"Theo, I have everything. I wanted to talk to you alone."

"Oh. Okay, Paul."

"I… You know I love you like a brother."

I nodded. "I feel the same way about you, Paul. I always have."

"You could come with us… "

"I don't think Spike would appreciate that too much. He's finally going to get to play house with you. What's he going to do while you're working, by the way?"

"He said something about working in a local drugstore in hopes of being discovered."

"Oh, god, don't tell me he's star-struck!"

"No, I think he was just teasing me. Sweets… Theo… Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Yes."

He blew out a breath and ran a hand over his hair, grimacing at the feel of the buzz cut he'd gotten so the spot that had been shaved wouldn't stand out. "Okay. I hope you are. Just remember, if you ever need me, I'm only a phone call away. And Tim is even closer."

"Thanks, Paul. I appreciate knowing that. I'll be fine though. I've asked Wills to move in with me."

"Yeah. Okay. Just… don't expect happily ever after, okay?"

I recoiled. That was exactly what I'd been expecting. "What are you… What do you… You don't think… Paul… "

"Shit. I'm sorry, Sweets." He pulled me into a tight hug. "It'll work out fine. I'm sure it will."

But I could tell he wasn't sure at all.

"Come on. I don't want to miss our flight."

"Sure, babe."

****

We all cried at the airport. Well, except for Wills, who stood back and let us say our goodbyes. I was surprised when Paul hugged him, until I realized he was whispering something into Wills' ear.

Wills got that cold look in his eyes. "Yeah? So what? He's with me now."

"Paul?"

Paul looked satisfied. "It's okay." He kissed my cheek and waited while Spike did the same. They shook Wills' hand and then went to stand on line for the metal detectors.

"Do you mind if we wait until they go through?"

"I don't mind."

I wanted to slide an arm around his waist and lean into him, but I didn't want to embarrass him in a public place. "Thanks."

"Don't be an ass." He slid an arm around my waist and pulled me against him.

"Babe, what was Paul whispering about?"

He stared across the space to where my friends – the last link to my old life – were standing. For a second I thought he was going to ignore my question.

"Nothing important."

"Wills."

He hunched a shoulder. "He told me that he knew some guy named Tim. He said that this Tim was a real badass, and that if I broke your heart, he was going to sic him on me." He looked into my eyes. "I won't break your heart, Theo. I swear it."

I sniffed hard. "Damn. I hate saying goodbyes in airports. They always make me cry."

"They've gone through. Wave goodbye and let's go home."

****

Wills leaned against me as I gazed around the apartment. "I… uh… " I cleared my throat. "I guess now is as good a time as any for you to move in. Since you have the day off and all."

"I guess it is." He looked thoughtful, but before I could start worrying he said, "I'll need to get my address changed at work and on my driver's license. My library card." He cut a glance my way.

Oh, my fucking god. He was really going to move in with me!

I licked my lips. "Will you have a problem breaking your lease?"

The corner of his mouth tilted in a grin. "No."

We got boxes from the basement – it was dark even with the lights on, and cavernous, and it always gave me the creeps; I never went down there unless someone accompanied me – and went to Wills' apartment to get him packed up. He didn't have much, barely more than Vince when he'd first moved into the attic apartment. His laptop computer, a suitcase and duffle bag, some books and CDs, those photos, his clothes, a cedar chest that held a tool belt, hardhat with 'Twink' stenciled across the front, and that pair of 501 jeans.

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