Marshall's Park, The Complete Series . 01-2014 Read online

  Aiden glared at his aunt, then at his sister, who was hanging onto the kitchen counter, tears rolling down her cheeks. He yanked the coffee jug out of its housing in the percolator and filled it with water. “I don’t know what you’re laughing at, Twinkle-Toes. Keep rolling that pastry, you’ve still got three pumpkin pies to go.” He glanced up at the clock and frowned. He’d been so caught up in everything he hadn’t even noticed the time. Finn was late. He’d promised he’d be home by one and it was twenty-five after. Aiden ran a hand through his hair and tried to concentrate on making the coffee Patti ordered, but unease settled in the pit of his stomach. Where is he?

  “Hey.” Aiden smiled down at Meredith as she slid an arm around his waist. “He’ll be here.” She stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek and then walked back to the counter where she was working.

  Aiden took two mugs down from the cupboard and swallowed hard. He’d better be. Or I’m gonna kill him!

  V

  “He’s gonna kill me!” Finn paused in his pacing and jabbed a finger in Chris’ direction. “This is all your fault!”

  “My fault?” Chris spat back. “Do you know how many sessions of therapy it’s gonna take to get over what you did? I have to sleep with a fuckin’ night light because of you! I’m twenty-nine years old and I have to sleep with a fuckin’ night light! If it’s anybody’s fault it’s yours!”

  “You’re the one who spiked my drink, you asshole!” Finn couldn’t believe Chris was still trying to weasel his way out of it.

  “You threw the first punch!” Chris countered smugly, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall behind him. “That led to the many punches that got us here. Ergo, your fault.”

  Finn gazed around at here. A holding cell in the local police station. On Thanksgiving.

  “You did call him didn’t you?” Chris asked—again.

  “Yes, of course I called him.” Finn sank onto the bunk opposite Chris, sighing heavily. He’d have crossed his arms just like Chris, but it was harder to do when you were wearing a meerkat. The officers who’d arrested them at the park had laughed so hard all the way back to the station, that Finn was surprised they hadn’t ended up nose to nose with a tree. Although considering Chris was dressed as Pocahontas, complete with moccasins and headdress, Finn wasn’t sure which of them gave the two men the most amusement. Finn glanced at the clock on the wall. “He should have been here by now.”

  “He wouldn’t leave us here… would he?” Chris’ mouth opened on an ‘o’ of surprise, as if the thought had only just occurred to him.

  It hadn’t to Finn. If he was honest, after the heavy silence at the other end of the line when he’d told Aiden where they were, he’d be more astonished if his boyfriend did show up. “No,” he said, in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. “Of course he wouldn’t.”

  Another twenty minutes passed with grunts being the only communication exchanged between the two men, until Finn put his head in his hands.

  “He’s left us here.”

  “Not quite.”

  Finn looked up at the sound of Ben’s voice. “Ben! Thank God. Am I glad to see you.” He looked behind Ben, searching for, but not finding Aiden. There was, however, a tall, thin boy with a rather nervous expression on his face and one of the arresting officers. “Aw, crap. He didn’t come with you?” Ben shook his head. “How mad is he? On a scale of one to ten?”

  “You get thrown into jail on the first Thanksgiving he’s ever hosted. The one he’s been planning for weeks?” Ben said conversationally. “How mad do you think he is?”

  “I think I’m never getting laid again.” Finn’s heart sank to his stomach. All he’d had to do was get through the show and go home, but somehow he’d managed to fuck it up. Well, in truth, they’d fucked it up. He glared at Chris. Stupid moron and his need for revenge! Then turned his attention back to Ben. “So, can we go home?”

  Ben nodded. “I spoke to the desk sergeant and they’re happy to let the pair of you off with a warning, on the proviso that the squirrel and the squaw promise not to brawl again until the New Year.” His lips twitched and Finn scowled at him.

  “You are enjoying this way too much.”

  “Enjoying it?” Ben snorted. “Are you kidding me? This is shaping up to be the best Thanksgiving ever!”

  “I hate you.”

  “I know.” Ben turned to the officer. “Thank you, sir. You can let them out now. I think they’ve learned their lesson.”

  The officer opened the door with a metal grind and Finn let out a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the cell. Thank God. He turned and raised an eyebrow at Chris, who still sat on the bunk, his black wig now slightly lopsided on his head.

  “Well don’t just sit there,” Finn said, his tone frustrated. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

  Chris frowned. “You still want me to come? You know… after?”

  “After you were a complete asshole?” Finn asked with a rueful shake of his head. “Don’t worry, I’m used to it. Now come on. I’m starving.” He grinned and then winced as the movement split his lip again and he tasted blood on his tongue. He pushed Chris in front of them. “And walk slow, ‘cause your ass looks good in that dress.”

  “Dick,” Chris muttered, but threw a smile over his shoulder.

  Finn smiled back. It had been incredibly bad-timing, and he could have done without the black eye and the split lip, but he was fairly confident the air between them was now clear and they were good. His smile widened. Until he finds that picture of him in that gimp suit last Halloween I’m gonna post on Facebook when I get home.

  At the car, Finn clambered into the back seat and Chris and Ben pushed what parts of Monty insistent on staying outside, inside, then Chris climbed in after him. Ben slid behind the wheel and pulled out into the street when Finn realized the slightly nervous looking young man from the jail was riding shotgun.

  “Ben?” Finn asked, keeping his tone conversational. “Are you going to introduce us to…?”

  “Who?”

  “Your friend, doofus,” Finn said in exasperation. “You wait ‘til I tell Mom college has made you forget your manners.”

  “What do I care. I’m her baby. You could tell her I’m the next unabomber and she wouldn’t believe you,” Ben replied, eyeballing Finn in the mirror. “And this is Jamie, my….”

  Finn frowned as Ben paused. “Your what?”

  “I’m his roommate,” Jamie interjected, half-turning in his seat and holding out his hand to Finn. “It’s good to finally meet you. Ben talks about you all the time.”

  Finn pulled his hand out of Monty’s giant paw and shook Jamie’s hand; but not before he’d seen the look Ben threw at Jamie when he’d introduced himself. But then espionage had never been Ben’s strong point. Finn let his gaze wander over Jamie, measuring him up. Cute. Firm handshake. Polite. I like him. Roommate my ass.

  “It’s good to meet you, too, Jamie.” Finn tightened his grip on Jamie’s hand. “So, how long have you and the pain-in-my-ass been roommates?” He emphasized the word, trying to keep his expression neutral.

  “Um… since the start of the semester,” Jamie replied. Finn tried not to laugh as Jamie’s Adam’s apple bobbed nervously in his throat when Finn tightened his grip a little more. “We’ve been… roommates… since the start of the semester, yeah.”

  Finn nodded thoughtfully, meeting his brother’s stormy gaze in the mirror. “Interesting word… roommates. Can be used to describe all sorts of relationships.” From the look in Ben’s eyes, Aiden wasn’t the only one who was going to kill him. “It can mean actual roommates, you know, two buddies sharing a room… platonically. Or it can mean—”

  “Alright, alright!” Ben exploded in the driving seat. “He’s my boyfriend, my partner, my lover and whatever else you want to call him! Now let him go before he throws himself out of the car!”

  “Seriously?” Finn shouted, letting go of Jamie’s hand. “Jesus, Ben. Since when?”

  “Wha
t do you mean since when? Since forever.” Ben pulled over and turned around to glare at Finn. “Are you pissed?”

  “Hell yeah, I’m pissed,” Finn replied.

  “You’re pissed I’m gay?” Ben’s jaw dropped open on its hinge. “You are pissed I’m gay?”

  “No, you dickwad,” Finn said, slapping the palm of his hand to Ben’s forehead. “I’m pissed ‘cause I’ve gotta give AJ a hundred bucks.”

  “What?”

  “AJ bet me a hundred bucks you were gay,” Finn explained.

  “When?”

  Finn thought about it for a moment. “When you were eight and we caught you doing the YMCA in front of your bedroom mirror wearing nothing but your toy hard-hat.”

  “You bastards,” Ben hissed.

  “Do Mom and Dad know?” Finn asked. What was supposed to be a quiet first Thanksgiving together was turning into an episode of As the World Turns.

  Ben shook his head. “I was going to tell them today.”

  “Well, I’m right behind you, dude,” Finn said, ruffling Ben’s hair. “All I ask is you wait until after dinner. Dad’ll be too full to kill Jamie by then.”

  Jamie’s head whipped around and he stared at Ben, wide-eyed and terrified. “What!”

  Ben rolled his eyes at Finn and patted Jamie on the thigh reassuringly. “Ignore him. Nobody’s killing anybody. Although Aiden may do Finn some serious damage. Which I will be only too happy to hold him down for.”

  Finn sighed heavily as Ben rejoined what traffic there was on the road, sending up a silent prayer to whoever was listening that Aiden would at least let him have a bite out of a turkey leg before he beat him to death with it.

  VI

  Aiden tensed when he heard the front door slam and the women cleared out of the kitchen as if their asses were on fire. They probably don’t want to get blood on their clothes. He heard Finn greet his mother and, a few moments later, the squeak of Finn’s sneakers on the kitchen tile behind him. Aiden whisked faster, taking his anger out on the bowl of cream until he could trust himself to speak.

  “Today?” Aiden finally managed to croak. Not even turning around to face him. “You pick today to get arrested?”

  “I’m sorry, baby.” Finn couldn’t have sounded sorrier if he tried, although Aiden wasn’t calm enough yet to care.

  “What happened?” Aiden whisked harder.

  “You know how Chris said he was over the zombie thing?” Finn coughed and Aiden knew, without looking, that he was running his hand through his hair—a classic Finn nervous tell. “Well, it turns out he wasn’t as over it as we thought.”

  “What did he do?” Aiden’s wrist was beginning to ache. Idiot, if I’d used the blender I could have just turned it up!

  “After the show, he handed me a bottle of what he said was iced-tea. It wasn’t.”

  Aiden’s shoulders slumped and the whisk hung loosely in his fingers. “Go on.”

  “He spiked water with cayenne pepper.” Finn’s tone had gone from sorry to petulant teenager in two seconds flat. “It was his fault! I swallowed down half the bottle in one go. I threw it up all over the locker room.”

  Aiden shook his head in disbelief, still staring down at the white peaks of the cream in the bowl. “And…?”

  “And… I may have, kind of, sorta punched him.”

  “And…?”

  “And… he may have, kind of, sorta punched me back. Several times.”

  Aiden turned on his heel, his eyes widening at the sight of Finn’s very sorry face. “Finn!” he groaned, dropping the whisk into the bowl and then striding across the kitchen to where Finn stood by table. He brushed the hair from Finn’s forehead then cupped his chin, moving Finn’s head from side to side so he could study the bruising around his right eye, along his jaw and the split in his lip. “Jesus. Are you okay?”

  Finn smiled weakly, “You should see the other guy.”

  “Oh, I will, don’t you worry,” Aiden replied. “I hope he’s in as bad a shape as you are—at the very least.”

  “I can hold my own. He punches like a girl. Dresses like one, too.”

  Aiden raised an eyebrow. “A really big girl by the looks of it.” He sighed heavily and shook his head in disbelief. “What am I going to do with you?”

  Finn looped his arms around Aiden’s waist and pulled him closer, although the Monty suit was a bit of a hindrance. “You could always kiss me.”

  “Yeah,” Aiden leaned in slowly. “I can always do that.” After a very satisfying kiss that shouted I’m sorry and please don’t make me sleep on the sofa, Aiden smiled. “Go and get changed and then get your ass back down here. Dinner’s almost ready and you’ve got to carve the turkey. Anything else I happen I should know about?”

  “Nah,” Finn said as he headed for the door, where he paused. “Oh, Ben’s gay and his roommate is his boyfriend, but I’ll tell you about that later.”

  “What?” Aiden stared, open-mouthed, at the empty doorway that had been filled by Finn moments before. He wandered back to the counter and his bowl of cream, staring down into the white peaked depths, flummoxed. “Ben’s gay?”

  “What!”

  Aiden gulped. He hadn’t heard AJ come in. “Shit.” Did I say that out loud? “No, forget I said anything.”

  “No way, man,” AJ said as he grabbed a box of beer from the fridge and hoisting it onto his shoulder. “Finn owes me a hundred bucks!”

  *

  Thirty minutes later everyone was seated in the dining-room, the wine had been poured and the food served. Aiden sat at the head of the table and sank into his chair. He’d done it. He could finally relax. Finn made a toast and cries of Happy Thanksgiving echoed around the room as glasses chinked together. Aiden smiled as Finn sat down and the skirmish for the biggest biscuits and most yams began. His gaze swept the table. Was there anything better than this? He didn’t think he’d ever been happier than he was right now.

  Meredith sat between Aunt Patti and Kaylee, chatting animatedly with Dan who sat opposite her. AJ and Ben were fighting over a bread roll and Jamie was deep in discussion with Molly. And then there was Finn, beside him, pouring thick, rich gravy over his turkey. Aiden swallowed hard against the sudden lump in his throat. If anyone had told him at the beginning of the year that he would be surrounded by these wonderful people on this day, he would never have believed them. But here he was. The love of his life to his right, their daughter to his left and assembled family, brought together by a misunderstanding and an arrest. He huffed out a laugh. Today certainly held a note of déjà vu.

  Ben suddenly tapped a knife against his glass. “Um, can I have your attention? I have something I want to say.”

  Aiden almost felt sorry for him when, before he’d uttered another word, Finn reached into his pocket and held out a hundred dollar bill to AJ, who took it with relish and winked at his baby brother.

  Only almost, because Aiden was too busy laughing with everyone else when Dan immediately passed another bill to Molly, who tucked it into her ample cleavage.

  Ben’s gaze flitted from one member of his family to the other and he shook his head. “I hate you. I hate you all.”

  Finn erupted beside Aiden, high-fiving AJ with one hand as he tossed a bread roll at Ben’s head with the other, tears of laughter rolling down his cheeks.

  Aiden’s breath caught in his throat. How he loved this man. This beautiful, big-hearted man who’d taken on him and Kaylee without a second thought, filling their world with his exuberance and his unconditional love. They had been together for such a relatively short time, but life without him was unthinkable.

  “What?” Finn’s laughter had reduced to a soft, hiccuping chuckle and he studied Aiden’s face as he stared at him. “Are you okay?”

  “Never better,” Aiden replied softly and took Finn’s hand. Without a word, Aiden stood up and pulled Finn with him, his gaze never leaving Finn’s. The silence that fell on the table was palpable as Aiden sank to his knee in front of Finn and looked up at
him. He cleared his throat, feeling the sting of tears behind his eyes and hoping he could manage to say what he wanted to say before he lost his nerve.

  Finn’s gaze widened and Aiden could see his pulse fluttering in his throat. “Aiden?” His name was a whisper on Finn’s lips.

  “I told you last night that I have so many things to be thankful for. But, surrounded by the people we love and who love us has made me realize there really is only one thing at the top of my list.” Aiden tried to swallow past the lump in his throat and failed miserably. “You, Finn Thomas. You make the sun shine for me, even on the darkest of days. You make me feel safe, cherished and I fall in love with you a little more every day. You make me whole. I love you, Finn. Will you marry me?”

  Fresh tears rolled down Finn’s cheeks, but this time he wasn’t laughing as he pulled Aiden to his feet and into his arms. He leaned in until they were a breath apart and then he smiled softly before he kissed him and said, “Yes.”

  They were engulfed in a crowd of arms and whoops and catcalls as their family congratulated them, hugging them tightly. It took a while for everyone to return to their seats, but the hope that their food wasn’t cold was quickly chased from Aiden’s mind when Kaylee suddenly asked loudly;

  “Do I have to call Finn mommy?”

  I

  The soft warm breeze lifted Finn’s hair from his forehead, and the sun cast dappled shadows through the leaves of the apple tree, beneath which Aunt Patti’s gazebo had been resituated. The perfume of the intertwining red and white roses adorning the makeshift altar assaulted his senses every time the wind whispered gently through their velvety petals.

  Could this day be any more perfect? Finn didn’t know how. Their family and friends were assembled to share in their joy and, in a few moments, Aiden would join him in declaring their love and commitment to each other. He swallowed hard as the music started and he turned to watch Aiden’s approach. Tears stung Finn’s eyes. Aiden looked so handsome in his tux, his smile wide and happy, contentment shining in his gaze as Kaylee and he walked down the aisle hand in hand.