The Fox in the Hen House

Chapter 6

Hunter paused at the front door of the log cabin.  He thought he knew what he was going to say to Michael, but he wasn't sure it would work.  He looked to the sky hoping for divine intervention.  When he received none, he knocked on the door.  There was no answer, so he knocked again.  When no one came, he began to wonder if he had made this trip for nothing.  He was about to turn and leave when the door opened.

"Hunter!" Michael said in surprise.  He pulled the young man into a fierce hug.  "I'm so glad to see you."

"Glad to see you too."

"Come in," Michael said pulling Hunter into the log cabin and shutting the door.  "Can I get you something to drink?"

Hunter studied Michael for a moment.  His 'father' seemed okay at the moment.  He had expected Michael to be sad or belligerent or ... something.  "I'm good," he said as he followed Michael into the living room.  Hunter decided not to beat around the bush.  "I just came from your mother's."  Hunter waited for the reaction.  That might tell him how to proceed.

"What, did she send you to convince me that I shouldn't object to her adopting that little shit without even telling me about it?"  Michael crossed his arms on his chest and glared at Hunter.

"That about sums it up," Hunter said, being perfectly blunt.  Sometimes that was the only thing Michael could understand.

Michael snorted.  "Figures, she got to you first."

"Nobody got to me, Michael," Hunter said gently.  "Grandma asked for my help.  She doesn't want to fight with you."

"I don't want to fight with her either, but she could have at least told me what she was going to do, so that I didn't get blindsided in front of everybody."

"I can see where it would hurt you that Grandma didn't talk to you about Peter first."

"Hurt me?  I'm not hurt.  Why does everyone think I'm hurt?  I think she's making a huge mistake.  That's what I'm ... worried about," Michael said forcefully.  "She knows nothing about this kid."

Hunter knew that Michael was hurt, but it made no sense to argue the point with him.  "She probably knows more about Peter than you knew about me when Ben brought me home."

Michael gasped.  "There's no similarity between the two cases ... at all."

"I seem to remember that you thought Ben was making a big mistake too."

"But you really needed help ... and look at how you turned out."

"Peter needs help too, and we don't know yet how he might turn out."

"He might be an axe murderer," Michael said.

Hunter shook his head.  "It was more likely that I would be an axe murderer than Peter.  He hasn't even been out on the streets from what Grandma tells me."

"He could really hurt Ma."

"Yes, he could," Hunter said carefully.  "But at the moment it's making her feel good to help him.  Carl's on board, and he'll make sure that everything's okay."

"I hope so, but there's no guarantee that Carl can prevent Ma from being hurt."

"There are very few guarantees in life."

"Death and taxes."

Hunter chuckled.  "Yeah, I guess those are pretty definite."

"Yeah," Michael said with a small, sad laugh.

"Are you going to make up with your mother?"

"I ... I don't know."

"She was really hurt by what you said," Hunter informed him.

"What ... What did I say that hurt her?" Michael asked.  His brow furrowed as he tried to remember.  He walked over and sat down beside Hunter on the couch.

"You told her to choose between you and Peter.  That you wouldn't be back until she got rid of the kid."

"Well, I meant it ... then."

"She's not going to get rid of Peter, so you better get used to it.  In fact, she could probably use your help with Peter."

"My help?" Michael asked in bewilderment.  "What can I do?"

"She's still learning about Peter.  You know a lot about comics and superheroes and other stuff that Grandma knows almost nothing about.  Maybe you could show some of your stuff to Peter.  He would probably be interested.  Grandma's trying to find things that will set him on the right track, get him interested in a better life."

"That's true," Michael said, perking up at Hunter's words.

"So maybe you could help?"

"Maybe I could."

"But first you need to make up with your mother."

"Was I really that awful with her?"

Hunter nodded.  "She's very upset."

Michael stared off into space for a minute.  He had been thinking only of himself.  He had made a big mistake.  "I ... I was hurt too," Michael finally admitted.

"I thought so, and ... I also know that you didn't really mean it.  After all the things you did for me, I know you have a huge heart.  You wouldn't deliberately hurt Grandma.  You were lashing out because you were hurt yourself."

"You are such a brilliant young man," Michael said pulling Hunter into a hug.

"Thanks to you and Ben and Grandma and so many others.  That's what Peter needs now - support and understanding."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"I knew you would."

Michael released his son and looked into his eyes.  "I ... I was really hurt.  It was like Peter was taking my place.  I didn't like it."

"I can understand that.  It would be great if you could help Grandma with Peter.  And you're going to make up with her, right?"

"I'll try ... if she'll let me."

"She'll let you.  And now I need to get back to work," Hunter said standing up.

"You should spend some time with us this summer," Michael said hopefully.

"Count on it," Hunter called out as he left the house.

*****

Michael took the long walk that really wasn't that far, up the lane to the thatched cottage.  He pondered what he could say to his mother.  He was sorry he had tried to make her choose between Peter and him.  It was nice to be asked to help with this kid.  That was really all Michael wanted - to be needed and included.  He knocked tentatively on the door when he arrived.  It opened immediately.

Michael stared at Debbie and Debbie stared back at him.

"I ... I'm sorry, Ma," Michael whispered.

"Me too."

She held out her arms and Michael walked into them.  All was forgiven.

*****

“Hellooo-ooo,” Emmett called out as he entered the new cottage via the sun porch door.  He had come to visit the new neighbors at the B&B only to discover that they were supervising the finishing touches to the new cottage.  Drew had driven back into Pittsburgh to pick up Richie and Candy.  They were planning to stay at the B&B for a couple of weeks.  Richie’s old room at Emmett’s cottage was a little too small for the couple.  Emmett was toting a large basket filled with all sorts of treats, fruit, and other good things for hungry hard working men.

“Bedroom!” Emmett heard Glen reply.

“Living room!”  Emm assumed that was Alex.

“Hi, Auntie Emm!” he heard from Gus and Patrick.

The new cottage was abuzz with organized chaos as Patrick, Peter and Gus were handling the manual labor of painting the walls under express instructions from John.  And when the walls were dry, the young’uns were going to set up the furniture which was currently stored in the sun porch out of harm’s way.

Emmett was making his way through the furniture, drop cloths, and paint buckets trying to find the humans that went along with the voices.

“Oh my!” Emm gasped as the first person he came across was Gus.  His shirtless physique reminded Emmett of a young Brian.  Not that Brian’s body had changed all that much over the years.  Brian took impeccable care of himself, but Gus was impressive.

“Easy there, Auntie Emm.  You wouldn’t want Pop to find you ogling his baby boy now would you?” Gus said as he continued painting the wall.  Emmett fanned himself with his hand.  “And how I got roped into painting walls, I’ll never know.”

“Honeycutt, hands above the waist!” Brian growled, scaring out a startled scream from Emmett as Brian’s head popped up by an open window. 

Brian had come by to check the window boxes.  He wanted to install a simple automatic watering system for each flower box and to be a gopher.  The new kitchen wasn’t stocked with too many refreshments.  At the very least the worker bees needed water. 

“Sonny Boy, you just wanted an excuse to show off those gym bunny muscles of yours,” Brian snarked as he moved on to another window box.

Hauling paint buckets was Patrick.  He was also changing wall socket plates to match the trim the guys had picked out.  He wasn’t shirtless but he might have been.  Patrick was wearing a clingy tank top that showed off his well toned athletic upper body.  Emmett couldn’t help himself but to get a good long look. 

“You do know he’s a minor and Uncle John will string you up by your…” Gus began. 

He was quickly interrupted by Emmett’s, “I get the picture." 

"Be still my heart,” Emmett mumbled as he rushed into the safety of the kitchen. 

Glen rolled in looking for something cold to drink.  “Are you all right? ” he inquired.  “You look a little flushed.”

“These Kinney men are going to be the death of me,” Emmett grumbled as he began to lay out his goodies on the kitchen table.

“What do you mean?” Glen asked innocently.

“I mean, just look at them!  I’ve known Brian practically my whole adult life.  He’s, he’s…”

“Gorgeous?” Glen supplied.  He was amused at the way Emmett was working himself up into a tizzy.

“Yes!  Now don’t get me wrong, I haven’t had the honor of knowing Brian in the Biblical sense.  One of his silly rules, he doesn’t do friends.  Except for Ben, but that was before they were friends,” Emmett revealed as he rattled on.  “But I have seen Brian naked countless times.”  Emmett felt the need to wipe his brow with a cold towel.

“Really?” Glen said hoping for more details.

“And then he goes and finds a brother who’s practically a twin and just as handsome.  And has the nerve to have a son who’s just as gorgeous.  And then there’s young Patrick.  I mean come on!” Emmett squeaked.

“I gather Gus is gay.”

“Very.  Of course, he’s had his little experimentations.”

“Haven’t we all,” Glen agreed nonchalantly.

“But he’s settled down with a very sweet, smart young man who’s a lawyer and who also works for Kinnetik.”

“And Patrick?  He’s the spitting image of John except for that hair.”

“Well, there’s a story.  John is the biological father of Patrick but Bobby is also biologically related.  Bobby’s sister, Rachel, you’ve met her, such a wonderful woman; she was their surrogate.  Red hair, hazel eyes and another gift from the gods.”

“And is he gay too?”

“Hmm, no pinging on the gaydar with that one and he did take a girl to the school dance.  Maybe he’s just a late bloomer.  John was, so we’ll just have to wait and see.  Now, what do you think of this?”  Emmett held out his arms indicating all the food on the table.  “Do you think there’s enough to feed our hungry he-men?”

“Them and the fifth army!” Glen exclaimed as his eyes popped out of his head.

“Good.  Would you do the honor of calling them in while I see if I can rustle up some coffee.” Emmett flitted back to search through the cabinets as if he owned the place while a very amused Glen did what he was told.

*****

“Hey, aren’t you hungry?” Alex asked Peter.  Alex had heard the call to lunch.  The young man was concentrating on “cutting in” around the windows and trimming in the bedroom.

“Starved,” he replied.  “But I really want to finish this.”

“You’re doing an excellent job.  I wish you were around when Glen and I were redecorating our apartment in Pittsburgh.  We hired a painting company on recommendation of friends.”

“What happened?”

“They charged a lot of money for horrible work.  We hired another company to do it all over again then sued the first company.”

“You sued them?” the boy asked.  His eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

“You bet your ass we sued them.  Then we found out they cheated a bunch of people.  When faced with the potential of several more lawsuits, they decided to settle out of court.  All we wanted was our money back.  And we got it,” Alex stated smugly.

“So if you don’t do good work…”

“The moral of the story is, it pays to do it right the first time.  Now even though you want to finish cutting in that wall, I’m sure your blood sugar is dropping and you need to replace fluids.  I know all about these things.  I am a doctor,” Alex said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“But I thought you were a psychiatrist.”

“I am.  But unlike psychologists, I went to medical school then specialized in mental disorders,” Alex explained.

“Oh.”

“And this doctor says it’s time to eat!”  Alex waved Peter out of the room and toward the kitchen.

*****

While the younger generation plowed through the food Emmett brought, their elders were picking at the healthier choices of fruit and whole grain muffins.  The conversation was light.  Glen and Alex were beaming; within two days they should be able to occupy their new cottage.

Brian was nibbling at the fruit bowl Emmett had placed in front of him.  Brian half-heartedly glared at the queen who was drooling all over his son.  Gus was having fun blatantly teasing Emmett.  Patrick was snickering but stayed well out of the way.  Every once in a while Brian would sneak a small piece of blueberry muffin off of Gus’ plate.  As he did he caught Glen’s eye.

Glen flicked his eyes toward Peter.  So did Brian.  The kid looked relaxed.  He was trying not to laugh out loud as Gus teased the man they called Auntie Emm.  Peter was still trying to work that one out for himself.  He hadn’t built up the confidence to fully engage in conversation but the short time living with Debbie and Carl had produced obvious changes.

The edges of Brian’s mouth curled slightly upward as he imperceptibly nodded an acknowledgement to Glen.  The kid may turn out okay after all.  All he needed was the unwavering love and guidance from people like Deb and Carl, and the acceptance from peers and friends.

The Silver Fox watched the exchange between his husband and Brian.  He winked at Brian while mouthing the word “magical” as his hand found Glen’s.  Glen leaned over to give Alex a sweet peck on the cheek.

“Awww,” Emmett exclaimed.

“Gag,” Brian grumbled.

The young’uns laughed.     

*****

“So tell me about these weird glass bulby things you’re shoving in my boxes,” Glen demanded as he watched Brian fiddle with a window box.  Glen was following Brian around the outside of the cottage, watching.  Brian did a double take at Glen, snickered then explained the simple workings of the “automatic watering” pretty glass bulbs.

“Once a week check the water level in the bulb.  If it’s empty add more water then stick it back in the window box like this,” Brian said as he demonstrated.

“That seems easy enough.  So easy that I’m sure Alex can handle it,” Glen said with a chuckle.

“John did assure me that you can easily reach the window boxes from the inside of the cottage,” Brian commented with narrowed eyes.

“Of course I can, but considering I cook better than Alex, he can take care of the plants,” Glen replied with a grin.

“Sneaky bastard, aren’t you?”

“Yup and proud of it.  Now what's this I hear about you doing Ben and walking around naked.  When’s the next show?” Glen asked with glee as he rubbed his hands together and waggled his eyebrows.

“Honeycutt!” Brian bellowed as Glen laughed.

*****

“Hey, this is great!” John exclaimed as he came into the bedroom to check out the progress.  The boys had taken their time but the first coat of paint was done.  Tomorrow the second coat would go on the walls and by the next day the latest lane residence should be fully moved in.  “You know I love being an architect.  I studied long and hard to become one.  My mother worked her butt off to help put me through school and I gave up a lot to study to be able to qualify for scholarships, but it was all worth it in the end.  But I have to tell you as much as I love designing buildings, I love getting my hands dirty,” John said with a wistful look on his face.

“What do you mean?” Peter asked.

John walked over to the teen and showed him his palms and fingertips.  John’s hands were heavily callused from years of hard work.

“I enjoy being a part of the building process not only the design process,” John explained further.

“Patrick said the same thing,” Peter murmured almost sadly.  John gently lifted the boy’s chin with a finger.

“You have plenty of time to choose what part of the business you’d liked to go into.  My business partner admits he’s much better at the building part of the business,” John said with a laugh.  “He says he likes to leave the designing part to me because if it was left up to him every building would look like a big box.”

That remark got a smile out of Peter.  John ruffled the kid’s hair.

“You know not everyone wakes up and says this is what I’m going to be when I grow up.  Many people plan on one career then something happens and you go in a different direction.  Do you like computers?”

“Sure!”

“Well, graphic designers combine their artistic creativity with computer technology.  My point, Peter, is that you have time.  No one is rushing you to make any kind of decision regarding a career path now.”

“My dad wants me to go into sales like him,” Peter mumbled.

“Difficult work.  Not only are you selling a product, you’re selling yourself to the client to gain their trust.  Only then will they take the chance of buying the product you’re trying to sell.”

“Huh.”

“Come on, it’s quitting time.  Emmett’s son should be here soon and my brother is planning on barbecuing up a storm,” John said as he led Peter out of the bedroom.  He took one last look around the room satisfied with the workmanship.

“Mr. Brian does like to barbecue, doesn’t he?”

“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” John replied.

*****

“Do you think Michael’s coming?” Justin asked as he arranged the plates, cups and utensils on the long table in the sun porch. 

This was going to be an informal barbecue.  The lane residents were all contributing something.  Brian had also called Tom and Todd to come over.

“Yeah.  He and Debbie came to some sort of truce,” Brian said as he followed Justin with napkins and pitchers of lemonade and iced tea. 

“Think he’ll behave himself?”

“If he doesn’t I’ll pop him one in the nose,” Brian groused.

“No you won’t.  The last time you did that, no one wanted to talk to you for weeks,” Justin said.

“He deserved it,” Brian grumbled.  Justin stopped what he was doing to give his spouse a hug.

“I love you,” Justin said as he leaned up on his toes to kiss Brian’s lips.  “I missed you today,” Justin murmured against Brian’s lips as he deepened the kiss.

“Mmm.  Let’s cancel the barbecue and fuck instead,” Brian suggested.

“That sounds like a good idea but I think it may be a bit too late for that.”

“You think?” Brian asked with a smirk as he looked down his nose at Justin’s sweet face.

“Uh huh,” Justin confirmed.  “They’ll be here any minute.  It’s time to fire up the grill.”

“Shit.  Sunshine, the next time I volunteer to grill, stop me.”

“Like I can.  Go on.  Bobby’s going to do the cooking.  He said you all did enough today at the new cottage.  It’s the least he can do is handle the cooking,” Justin informed Brian.

“Yee Haw!” Brian called out as he went out the sun porch door to heat up the grill.

“Hello, anyone home?” Todd called out as he and Tom came through the front door of Brian’s end of the cottage.  Before anyone could answer Bree flew out of her room to greet Tom and Todd.

“Hi, Uncle Todd and Uncle Thomas!” she called out enthusiastically.  She gave each man a hug and a kiss.

“Are we the first?” Tom asked.

“Yup.  Daddy’s putting stuff on the big table and Dada’s heating up the grill.  And Gus is here for a few days but not Ray,” Bree explained all in one breath.  “But guess who’s coming to visit for a while, Richie and Candy!” Bree said before the guys could take a guess.  She grabbed hands to pull them into the porch.

“Daddy, Uncle Thomas and Todd are here!” Bree announced as she dragged the men down the hall and into the porch.  They put the salads and dipping veggies that they brought on the table.

“Hey guys,” Justin greeted the men with a cheery smile.  “Grab some iced tea or there’s beer in the refrigerator.”

“I’m driving tonight,” Tom said as he poured himself some iced tea and Todd went for the beer.  Glen and Alex arrived just behind them so Alex introduced his spouse to Tom and Todd.

Emmett hadn’t arrived yet but Rachel and George had.  The lane family were all talking peacefully about the new cottage and day to day events.

“Christ, it’s like a fucking funeral home in here!” Debbie announced loudly as she, Carl and Peter came through the door with Ben and Michael in tow.

“I’m sure you’ll liven things up, Deb,” Brian snarked.  He got a kiss to his cheek and a cuff to the back of his head.  She shook her finger at Brian then turned toward Justin.

“My Sunshine!” she said with a beaming smile as she gave Justin a big kiss on his cheek and a crushing hug.  Brian just shook his head as he watched his husband momentarily turn blue.

“Hey, Grandmaw!” Gus said as he greeted the woman. 

“Oh look how tall you’ve grown!” Debbie exclaimed.

“Grandmaw, you only saw me last month.  I’m the same height,” Gus said reasonably.  Brian covered his eyes with one hand.  “Ow, what was that for?” Gus complained when Debbie cuffed the back of his head.

“For talking back to me.  Now where is that sweet princess?”

“Here I am, Grandma Deb,” Bree replied as she shoved aside the taller men to get to Debbie.

“My sweetheart,” Debbie said as she sat in the nearest chair to get hugs and kisses from Bree.

“Suck up,” Gus mumbled as he went for a beer.  Brian snickered.

“Hi!  Hi!  Hi!” Emmett called out from the sun porch door.  He was followed by Drew and two other people.

“I’m not sure if y’all have met my son Richie and his girlfriend Candy!” Emmett announced loud and proud.

Peter hung back watching the family greet the young couple.  One female looking person had very pale skin, blond hair, was impeccably made up, and was wearing a pastel sundress.  The other female was heavily made up in dark Goth makeup and dressed all in black.

Peter was definitely confused.