CHAPTER 43: THANKFULNESS, UNLESS YOU’RE A NOVOTNY OR A PETERSON!

JFK AIRPORT – WEDNESDAY MORNING

LINDSAY

He’s not calmed down since he got served. His mood has not been helped by the fact that nobody is returning his calls.  I don’t quite know why he thought that they would.  And on top of that – my ears are still ringing – Kinnetic is closed until the 10 December, which of course he doesn’t believe saying it’s a message just for him!

“Come on our flights have been announced.”  Grady states, grumpily.

He’s also pissed off because we’re going with him.  As weary as I am getting of Michael, especially his reluctance to deal with my parents, I don’t want him to make the situation worse.

PITTSBURGH AIRPORT – HANGER 5

MAC, THE PILOT

I love flying this family.  They’re not like some rich people who look down on other folks.  When I’m doing internal flights, they always put me in a nice hotel near the airport.  But when it’s international like this, they put me in one of the finest hotels and give me a bonus, especially if it’s over a holiday.

There’s a knock on the cockpit door and Faal sticks his head in.  “Hey Mac, can you do me a favour?”   

“Is this where you tell me that one of your passengers has a deep need to learn the controls of a plane and can I please show him or her when we get to a safe flying height?”

“Yes.  And this would be Zander.  Zander this is Mac, she’s been flying us for what... 6 years now?”

“About that.  Okay, I suppose just this once I can do so.  Nice to meet you Zander.”

“Likewise.”  He smiles at me and heads back to his seat.  Faal settles in the co-pilot seat and puts on his headphones.

“Ready to rock and roll?”  I ask and he nods. Twenty minutes later, we’re taxiing out and on our way to Italy.

CAB RIDE, PITTSBURGH – WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

MICHAEL

I can’t believe it!  Kinnetic is actually closed!  I slowly get back into the taxi and direct him to mom’s house.  Forty minutes later, I am back in the cab as she’s not there either and still nobody is answering their phones.  I can’t remember the addresses in Squirrel Hill or the Brownstone.  So I try their house.

“Ben!  Open this fucking door!  You and I need to talk!”  I hammer on the door and lean on the doorbell.  Then almost jump 20 feet in the air when someone taps my shoulder.

“Michael what on earth are you doing?!”  Eli yells at me.

“I want to speak to Ben about something private!  So go away; this is none of your business!”  I snarl at him, going back to leaning on the doorbell.

He yanks my hand away.  “Well he’s not going to hear you in Italy so you are leaving now or we shall call the police?!”

“Italy? What the fuck is he doing in Italy?”

“That is none of your business!”  He retorts and starts pulling me away from the door.

“Monty, can you call the police?!”  He yells and Monty nods.

I wrestle my arm out of his grasp.  “I can’t believe you are treating me this way after all I did…”

“To be condescending and rude!  Yes it’s such a shocker that we wouldn’t want to know you now!”  He stands in front of Ben’s door like some kind of bouncer.  “Most people have a welcome to the neighbourhood party.  We threw a thank fuck he’s gone party for you!”

I was about to say something when I notice other doors are opening and my former neighbours start coming towards us.

“The police are on their way.”  Monty informs us.  “Shall we hold onto him, you know like a citizen’s arrest?”

“You fucking cunts!”  I exclaim.  “I’m going!  You’re going to regret this!”  I stalk to the cab and get inside, directing him to the hotel.

MONTY

“A thank fuck he’s gone party?  Now that was just bitchy darling.”

“Bitchy?  Moi? Yes, I know and it was almost true!”  Eli chortles.  “Come on you need to call off the cops.”

“What cops?”  I demur, batting my eyes at him.

“Oh and you say I’m a bitch.”  He scoffs, swatting my backside as I walk ahead of him.

“No, I said you were bitchy.”  I throw over my shoulder.  “I, however, was hoping to get him in a semi choke hold for all the times he’s been rude about us. Once again, he ruined our fun!”

“Oh I wouldn’t say that.  Start running, I’ll give you a ten second head start!”

“Eli!”  I squeal and take off.

PITTSBURGH HILTON, DOWNTOWN

MICHAEL’S ROOM

GRADY

“No Michael.  You can try Britin, The Treehouse or wherever but I, well I hope, we are going back to New York.  I’m not prepared to spend Thanksgiving, which is tomorrow by the way, schlepping all over fucking Pittsburgh for or with you!”

I pick up my bag and head to the door.  “Lindsay, are you coming?”

Michael stares smugly at me but that is soon wiped off his face.  “Sorry Michael but I want to have a nice Thanksgiving in New York.  It was hard enough getting Medea and the boys to shop for us and I’ll be damned if I don’t get to eat it.  Come on.  Come back with us.” Lindsay wheedles before stating what we know to be true whether he wants to admit it or not. “It’s obvious they’re not going to talk to you until they’re good and ready.”

“Fine!”  He picks up his bag and follows us out.  “But there is no fucking way they are in Italy!”

PLANE TO ITALY

MAC

“Ladies and gentlemen, I have now switched off the seatbelt sign.  Feel free to move about the cabin and Zander you can come in now.”

I hear the door open and watch Faal settle him in and put on the headphones.

“You can hear me okay?”

“Yes.  Wow that’s a lot of controls!  How long have you been a pilot?”

He looks like a little boy in Santa’s grotto.  “About 12 years.  So what do you want to know?”

“Everything!  Absolutely everything!”  He smiles at me.

“Okay, let’s start with the thing between your legs…”

The snort he lets out is undignified but funny.

BRIAN

I’m looking around and although it looks the same, it’s not.  I know it was dark when we took off but there is definitely something different about the plane.

“It’s bigger!”  Debs gasps.  “Are you telling me you have a new plane?!”  She looks at Zee, who ducks down in her seat.

“Family grew so…”

“So what are you going to do with the old plane?  Which still looks brand new, by the way.”

“Well we’ve been thinking about that.  We’re going to keep them both but have one in Pittsburgh and the other in New York.  And when we’re not using the one in Pittsburgh, we thought we’d loan it out.”

This gets everyone’s attention.  “Loan it out to whom?”  Ben asks.

“Charitable organisations.”  She looks at Gus and jerks her head.  “Go on. It was your idea.”

Gus has gone pink.  “Sonny boy?”  I prompt.

“People like from the Vic Grassi House and other places like that who have never been anywhere.  But, say like, want to go to San Francisco, the gay capital of America for one last wish…”  He trails off and looks at the floor.

“Sonny Boy.”  I clear my throat.  “The Kinney men don’t…ouch…sorry... the Taylor-Kinney men don’t look down when they’ve done something awesome. So stand straight and take the accolade, well done.”

“So when’s the first trip?”  Debs wipes her eyes.

“Well that’s what we want to talk to you and Aunt Kiki about.  We thought we could use the money from the auction to take a trip to New York, just to see how it goes.”  Gus is bouncing on his toes, just like his papa.

“Okay, well first we need to make a list of everything we might need.”  Ever practical Debs is searching in her bag for a notebook and pen.

“All of which can be done after Thanksgiving, Red.”  Carl stays her hand.  “As soon as we’re back in Pittsburgh, you and Kiki get together and…”

“I want to help too.”  Tucker interrupts.  “And Jennifer.  And I’m sure Bernie and Millie will want to join in as well.”

I spot the look on Gus’s face and look at Justin. He would say this better than me.  “Let’s talk about this when we’re back.  But remember, this is Gus’s baby so he’s in charge.  So nobody is to ride roughshod over him.  Or I’ll let Brian talk to you.”

“Message received.”  Tucker replies and sits back down.

“And whilst we’re on the subject of messages...  Let’s get any non-Thanksgiving discussions done here, because once we land it is going nothing but fun, okay?”  Faal looks round.

“So what about Rudyard Garages?”  Zeus asks.  “How the hell are we going to find his garage?”

We hit a stumbling block in that Rudyard registered the customer by garage number and only had an email and nothing else, though he did have a list of contents.   Basically he was a lazy ass bastard!  And it is going to take forever to try and find the email address.

David and Charles have also come along and have now been caught up.  Charles is going to work with Ephraim on the case.

The kids are in the back room talking when suddenly Gus curses and pulls Phil out.  “Tell them!  Tell them!”

“Okay ba…I mean Gus, just calm down.”  Phil blushes at his slip up.

“Rudyard Garages is quite well known in the geek/comic book community.  It’s one of the few companies that has garages underground.  They’re pretty cool actually. I’ve been to one in…”

He notices that the entire plane has gone quiet.  “Where?  Where are they?”  Ted is trying to remain calm.

“Portland, Philadelphia, Scranton, New Jersey and…”

“Scranton?”  Blake gasps.

“Yeah it’s built in one of the old coal mines.”  Phil is now looking very nervous.  “Have I said the right thing?”  He whispers to Gus.

“Oh yeah!”  Gus grins.  “See if you pick the right comic book geek, it reaps its own rewards…oh um Uncle Ben I didn’t…”  He has the decency to look embarrassed.  “Sorry.”  He adds in the face of Justin’s glare.

“Don’t worry Gus.  But thank you for the apology.”

“Found it!  I think I’ve got it!”  Zephaniah shouts.  “Let me just double check.  Contents; car and other effects.  Registered to Astro Ladd.  The email address is, oh you have got to be kidding, captainastro-mcnovotpitts@yahoo.com

“Premeditation.”  Charles sighs.  “The fact that it is not registered in his own name says he meant to hide it.”

“Right and that’s that.  When we get back we figure a way of confirming that it’s his.”

“Oh that’s easy.”  Cynthia pipes up.  “Just send an email to everyone telling them about the new owner.  And mention there’s been a change in administration and all renters have to provide a cell number and a home address.”

I try not to smirk when Zeus gives her a kiss that turns her pink.

TALON’S CONDO – WEDNESDAY EARLY EVENING

KITCHEN

LINDSAY

I pick up the note from Medea and check the fridge.  I am so relieved though not looking forward to cooking the turkey as I don’t think I will be getting much help from the two of them.  Michael has stomped upstairs to his room and Grady is in the bathroom having a soak.

I wince at the stabbing pain in my abdomen that has been coming on and off for the last couple of days, which, of course, is due to the stressful conditions in here.  I take another Aludrox and wait for it to kick in.

Twenty minutes later, I’m feeling much better and help myself to a glass of wine.  Grady makes an appearance as I’m mixing the ingredients for the marinade for the turkey that Medea left me.

“You okay?”  He wraps his arms round me.  “You didn’t look so good earlier, though you’ve got some colour back.”

“Fine.  Just a bit of heartburn, that’s all.  Fancy giving me a hand?”  I nod in the direction of the turkey.

“Do I have to stick my hand in there?”  He looks queasy and I have to laugh.

“No, I’ll be brave and do that.  You can zest those lemons, finely chop the garlic and mix with the butter and roll it into a log.”

Forty minutes later, we’re still in the kitchen but it’s nice until Michael comes pouting in.  He looks in the fridge and sighs.

“So what’s that lot for?”

“Thanksgiving dinner.  Can you help do the potatoes?”  Grady nods in the direction of the small pile.

“Suppose so.”  He looks at pile but doesn’t actually move.

Grady and I exchange looks; he’s now at his breaking point.  “There is no suppose about it. You either do it or you don’t eat!”

“Fine, I’ll order take out!”  He snaps and walks out.

“Tomorrow is going to be so much fun!”  Grady sighs as he heads to the potatoes.

“I’m determined it’s going to be.”

PASTA PALACE, TUSCANY

ZEE

Justin and I exchange looks.  “C-castle.”  Justin growls out.

“With separate forts…four separate forts.”  I look at Faal, the smirk falls from his face.  “This was not what you showed me!”

“So can we have one of the forts you know just for us kids?”  Gus looks hopeful.  “Parental units can have the next one to us…”

“Okay.”  Mel nods.

“Dibs on that one.”  Debs points excitedly.  “Jen want to share?”

“Oh yeah.  Come on guys.”

“So Menno and I can have that one!”  Sol decides.  “Zeon, Tom you guys want to share with us?”

“Absolutely!”

While they were excitedly picking where to sleep, Justin and I were both glowering at our husbands.

“Now Sunshine, hear us out...”

“Seconds, you have seconds…” Justin answers, his gaze never wavering from Brian.

“Um…uh Faal, you want to take this one?”

“Yeah...”

“Well?!”  I shout, biting my lip and clenching my fists which gets everyone’s attention.

“I knew you were going to be mad... well you both were going to be mad. So I brought a little soother…Alice!”

The castle door opens and the next thing is that we are greeted by streaks of fur, barks and yips.

“Miss Scarlett!”  Emmy scoops her into his arms and buries his nose in her fur happily.

“But you said…”  Justin stammers.

“That we were going away…this is away.”  Alice grins.

“So on a scale of one to fucking furious, where are you?”  Faal slowly approaches with Storm in his arms. She’s wriggling, keen to get to me.  I take her from him and fail to hide my smile.

“I am going to kill you.  Very slowly.  Tonight.”  I reply.

“Can’t wait.”  He whispers in my ear.

“Just…”  I turn to him to find an empty space and no Brian.

Cynthia giggles and points to the car, just as the door closes.

“Okay people, let’s get inside!”  Alice orders, shaking her head.

Two hours later, everyone is settled in the main castle. I still can’t believe this family has a fucking castle! The rooms are beautiful with massive high ceilings and the walls are thick to retain heat.

But it’s the kitchen... oh my God the kitchen!  It makes the one at the Qube look like a pantry.

“Gus you have to offer this place too.”  I tell him and he nods eyes shining.

“I know everyone is tired and over excited, so we made some roasted vegetable soup with the blue cheese and bacon dunkers, for you to take with you to your rooms.”  Alice smiles at the gratitude in our faces.  “Just a heads up though... anyone who doesn’t bring their dishes back in the morning, will be on washing up duty…by hand.”

“Now my lady has spoken, get your food and scoot!”  George orders.

And when George speaks, he’s like Carl, so we listen.

TALON’S CONDO – THANKSGIVING MORNING

MICHAEL’S BEDROOM

MICHAEL

Thank God those fucking puppies are out of here but I can still smell this faint whiff of dog crap somewhere.

I head downstairs and into the kitchen.  There’s something off about the place.  It’s so quiet.  And then I spot the note.

Michael, there’s been a power cut.  Seems to have happened overnight.  We managed to get a room at the 70 Park Hotel for you, and we’re in the Le BelleClaire.  As soon as you are up, take a taxi and call us when you get there.  PS: do NOT open the fridge…seriously!  Lindz and Grady.

I look at the tape on the door and decide for once to take their advice. I run up the stairs and have a cold shower and try and find a taxi.  Almost 90 minutes later, I’m at the hotel and in my room having a nice hot shower.

I decide to eat before meeting up with them.  After having a rather delicious breakfast, I look at what’s on offer and there’s an all-day marathon of Marvel cartoons. I reach for my phone.

“Lindz it’s me, Michael.  I’ve got to the hotel but I’m not sure what I’ve eaten because I feel sick. So I’m going to lie down for a bit.  When I feel better, I’ll give you a call and we can meet up, yeah?  Oh happy Thanksgiving.”

I hang up with a grin and settle down to watch.

TALON’S CONDO

GRADY

“Has everything come back on now?”  I call up.

“Yes!  Oven’s on.  Fridge is running and even better.  Michael is sick so won’t be meeting us until he feels better.”  She pours a generous glass of champagne for each of us.  “So we most likely won’t see him until tomorrow.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Well I checked the listings and there’s a Marvel marathon on.  He’s not going to miss a chance to get his jollies off on that.”

“True.  I knew you were determined but didn’t realise how determined.  Are you sure you’re okay? You got that pain again?”

“Yes but amazingly enough it went without the need for Aludrox at about the same time Michael left the condo.”

“How odd…Happy Thanksgiving Lindsay.”

“Happy Thanksgiving Grady.”

PASTA PALACE, TUSCANY – THANKSGIVING MORNING

KITCHEN

DEBS

“So it’s agreed, we cook and you and the boys do everything else?  By which I mean, stack the dishwasher, turn it on then empty it when it’s finished and put stuff away!  Walk the furballs, and feed the furballs and everything else.”

“Agreed.”  Carl nods and heads back to the lounge to relay the news.

“You do realise they think they have it easy, right?”  Cynthia asks, rolling up her sleeves.

“Yeah and they are so very wrong.”  I laugh.  “So you and Zeus, that going okay?”

“It’s fine.  Different but fine.”  She mumbles, blushing.

“Different how?”  Jen asks and we both notice Zee is trying not to get defensive.

“Well, he’s not like other guys I’ve dated.”  She pauses and then looks round.  “We’ve not…”

“How come?”  Jenny asks, making the granola.  “Don’t you want to?  You’re not a virgin, are you?”

The expression on Cynthia’s face is priceless.  “Uh…”

“May I make a suggestion?”  Zee asks, handing out mandarin Bellinis.

“Please!”  Cynthia inhales her glass before holding it out for a refill.

“Zeus is one of these rather annoying men in that he’s a gentlemen and he would rather get blue balls than make the first move.  Kissing is different, before you say anything, so just tell him you want to…I vote for the grabbing him by the belt and dragging him upstairs route…”

Cynthia is nodding.

“As in now.”  Zee prompts.

“But he’s with…”

“Seriously, how many times have you walked in on Brian and Justin?”

Cynthia blushes and then bites her lip.  “Seriously you think…”

“He fell for the assertive, whisky drinking hotsy-totsy with great legs.”

“Great legs?  He thinks I have great legs?”  She tucks her hair behind her ears.

“And cute feet.”  Zee adds.

“I’ll, I mean we’ll…”

“Just go!”  Alice snorts.

After she stalks to the lounge, we hear catcalls and the sound of footsteps moving swiftly up the stairs.

I close the kitchen door and turn to Zee.

“Did he say any of those things?”

“With his eyes, yes. Yes he did.”

“Aunt Zee!”  Jenny gasps.

“Oh come on are you a virgin?”  Mel chortles.

“Christ I’ve seen leatherback turtles move faster.”  Leda snickers into her glass.

There’s a tap at the door and Ems pokes his head round.  “Help me!  They are watching football with subtitles!”  He whispers, urgently.

“Five minutes.”  Alice decrees

“You promise?”  He whimpers.

“We promise.”  Alice assures him and he heads back, looking like he is going to his hanging.

“Fuck that!”  I bustle into the lounge and thirty seconds later a grinning Ems is with me.

“Oh thank Liza for that!  So what are we doing?”

“Breakfast is going to be granola, fruits, bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns with Italian sausage and grilled sardines with olive oil, lemon and garlic.  And of course home-made breads.”

An hour later the family, including a sated Cynthia and Zeus, are round the table.  I look down at Carl and see the tears in his eyes. I started off with one lost boy called Brian and now look at what I have.

“What’s this grandmop Debs?”  Taylor points to the caviar on top of the scrambled eggs.

“Caviar honey.  It can be a bit salty so if you don’t want to try it, then that’s fine.”  I call down.

“Papa said I must try everything once…”

“Oh no honey, you can skip this.”  Ben tells her.  “It really is very salty.  Want to swap, I don’t have any on mine?”

“Please?  Thank you papa.”

“So what’s for dinner milady?”  George calls up to Alice.

“Obviously turkey.  And in no particular order; pork ribs with beans.  Lamb shoulders with garlic and honey.  Pumpkin, stilton and kale pies.  Truffled risotto.  Crispy aromatic ducks.  Rice peas and chicken.  Oxtail stew and fixings.”

“And yes, I knew about the menu and Alice being here but not about the furballs.  So we got ahead.”  I tell them.  “Now this will take some time so we’re aiming for about six for eating.   But before anybody says a damn word about the food gap, we also have an assortment of hotdogs with all the fixings to tide you over!”

“Um I have a question…”

“Yes sweetheart there will be dessert.”  Jen smiles indulgently at Justin.

MILLIE & HAROLD’S RESIDENCE

OFFICE

MILLIE

“Sorry Melody, I meant to call you back earlier but you know how Thanksgiving goes.  Oh you have.  How much?!  Wait a minute.”  I put the phone on the desk and quickly make my way to the dining room, I wave at Harold.

“What’s the matter?”

“Melody is on the phone.  You need to speak to her, I’ll hold it down in here.”

Twenty minutes later, Harold is back, a happy smile firmly in place but grim expression in his eyes.

“Let’s just get through this okay darling?”  He whispers.  “I will speak to Ron and Nancy in the morning. To quote Emmy, this shit is going to get real.”

PASTA PALACE, TUSCANY – THANKSGIVING LATE EVENING

BRIAN & JUSTIN’S ROOM

JUSTIN

“You admit it?”  I demand.

“Yes, I admit it!”  Brian groans and pulls at the ties round his wrists above his head. The bars of the canopy bed are bending slightly with his struggle but are still holding up nicely.

“Don’t do that!  You know how good I am at knots, even if they are meant for quick release.”  I crawl on the bed in front of him and slowly undo his belt then whip it out fast out of the loops.

He jerks again and then hisses and I quickly check the slip-knots, adjusting one that is pressing into the bones on his wrist. He wisely doesn’t react to the look of contrition on my face.

“So how many do you think you deserve?”  I purr into his ear and before kissing him deeply.

“As many as you think I deserve.”  He pants as I palm his cock through his dress pants, standing there with lust blazing in his eyes.

“Good answer.”  I walk behind him and slowly undo his pants and slide them down his long legs.

“Commando.  Good boy.  Kick them off.”  I command and he quickly does so and I hang them slowly and properly then put them in the wardrobe.  The expression on his face is worth it.

I walk behind him and palm his cheeks.  “Now be a good boy and relax that gorgeous sweet butt of yours.”

The first swipe is across the middle of his cheeks and he hisses but wisely says nothing.  The second is just above but not overlapping, I’ve learned to adjust just incrementally.  The third is just below and the fourth below that, nearing the join between his thighs and his butt.

“Very good.”  I murmur brushing my fingers gently across the marks and watching his cock twitch and leak.  God I love him like this!

“Only two more.”  I purr.  “Where do you want them up or down?”

“Down.”  He pants.

I apply them swiftly and he arches into the air before settling back down.

“You need salve.”  I murmur, grabbing a pillow and walking behind him.

I kneel on the pillow and slowly lick and kiss each welt whilst jacking his cock.  “Stay still, or…”

He resettles himself and I take an hour to kiss and lick it better. The sweat is dripping off him and his cock feels like hot iron.

“Now you may fuck me.”  I tell him.

He looks up at his bound wrists and then down at me incredulously.  “Oh yes you need help.”

I kneel in front of him and slide the butt plug out and slowly inch towards his rock hard cock and allow just the tip in. The moment he starts to move, I move forward until he gets the message and stays still whilst I back onto him.  My arms and legs are trembling but I keep pushing back until he’s fully seated.

“You may now move.”

I order and grip the sheets as he uses his incredible leg strength to piston his hips into me.  I yelp as time and time again, he nails my prostate and reach blindly for my cock.

“Now Brian, please now!”  I yell, forgetting all Dom rules.

The next thing I feel is his hands on my hips holding me still.  “Little boy should not play games if he doesn’t follow through.”  He growls in my ear, as the next thrust flattens me on the bed.

He starts to jackhammer into me and within a minute, I’m jerking and trembling and begging him to stop as he thrusts through my first and then second orgasm before he finally comes.

“Santa Madre di Cazzo!”  He yells, then collapses on my back.

Slowly he pulls out of me and flops onto his back.  When he’s got his breath back he slides closer and kisses my shoulder, I smile tiredly.

“Santa what?”  

“Holy mother of fuck.”  He grins.  “Well, when in Rome.”