Chapter 1 A Kid And A Conversation

Ben woke from sleep, his green eyes flying open quickly. He glanced over at Kevin as the crying continued, slightly muffled as it was down the hall a ways. "Kev, would you-"

"No. It's your turn. I did it last night."

Ben sighed heavily, resigning himself to it as he crawled out from under the warm covers of their bed reluctantly and pulling on a pair of his boxers. "Fine, but you owe me tomorrow night…"

"Oh?" Kevin purred softly, grinning at him. "What do I owe you?"

Ben laughed, flashing his husband of six years a seductive smile and licking his lips slowly to get Kevin's attention. "Oh, I'm sure I can think of something that we can do together…"

Kevin blushed at his words, even after all this time, and Ben loved him all the more for it, grinning as his lover groaned unconsciously. Ben growled as he turned and left the room, knowing that Kevin's black eyes would be fixed on his boxer clad ass with intense interest.

He continued down the hall quickly, knocking on the door quietly with his knuckles. "Jaymie? Can I come in?"

There was a moment of silence, then the sobs continued, still muffled as though he was trying to hide the fact that he was crying. "O-okay… Come i-in…"

Ben opened the door, shutting it behind himself before moving to sit at the foot of the bed on the large toy box that was there. "Jaymie? What's wrong, honey?

"I h-had a nightmare," the small five year old answered, trembling as he continued to cry. "C-can I sleep with you, uncle Ben?"

Ben sighed, moving to sit on the bed next to him, reaching out his hands to brush the tears off his nephew's tiny face gently.

"I'm sorry, Jaymie, but you know that uncle Kevin doesn't like that. Besides, you're perfectly safe here. We have a security system that would put the White House to shame. And we don't even need that except to wake up me and uncle Kevin so that we can arrest whoever broke in ourselves. You'll be going home tomorrow, you know. Your mother and father miss you, Jaymes Tennyson, so cheer up, okay? Everything will look better in the morning, I promise. I'll see you then."

"Okay, uncle Ben," Jaymie said, grinning as Ben tucked him under the covers again, kissing the little boy's forehead reassuringly. He was glad that he was comforted and no longer crying.

He turned off Jaymie's small lamp, leaving only his silver and black striped motorcycle night-light to shine in the darkness. He squeezed the boy's fingers gently as he left, heading back to his and Kevin's room quietly.

Gwen showed up on time the next morning to pick up Jaymie, surprised when Ben pulled her aside for a moment. "Kev, will you watch Jaymie while I speak to Gwen for a moment, please?"

"Fine, but you owe me tonight," Kevin teased him, laughing as Ben blushed and smiling at him before taking Jaymie by the hand and outside to the backyard miniature park that Ben had designed and made for the boy himself.

"What's wrong, Ben? Did something happen with Jaymie?" Gwen asked in concern.

Ben sighed, shaking his head in response. "No, not really. But I'm not sure that he should come here anymore. Or, at least, not overnight. He always seems to have nightmares when he sleeps here."

"He does?" she asked in surprise. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know. I should have, but… I just… I thought that they would stop once he got used to being here, but they haven't stopped. We like having him here, Gwen, but not if this keeps happening. It's not fair to Jaymie. Could you maybe talk to him about it? See if you can find out what he's afraid of here?"

"Alright," Gwen promised, nodding in agreement. "I will. I'd better get going now, Ben. Blake is waiting in the car."

Ben frowned at the mention of Gwen's husband's name, his green eyes darkening with hurt. "What's with him, anyway? It's like he thinks that Kevin and me are contagious or something. He's not going to become gay just from being around us. Anymore then we are going to grow breasts because we are."

"I know that, Ben. It's not- It's not what you think. Blake is complicated, okay? Don't you dare tell him that I told you this, but he was in a relationship with a man before me, and… Well, it didn't end very well. That's why he doesn't come in with me, and why he doesn't want to be around you two. It's painful for him. He love me, I know that he does, but… Elijah was his first real love, and his first time. The wounds are deep, Ben. So deep… Give him time, okay? He'll get better, you'll see."

"Oh.. I didn't know. I'm sorry if I sounded like a jerk. I just want to know him, for your sake if for no other reason."

"I know, Ben, and thank you. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Okay. See you and Jaymie later, Gwen…"