HOME SWEET HOME

Chapter One: The Night Before The Wedding

Colin Harper tosses his suitcase on the king-size bed and looks around at his surroundings, "This is incredible. I feel as though I'm in some sort of Gothic novel."

The room is large and ornate with heavy brocade drapes, a large canopy bed, an armoire with elaborate carvings, and a large fireplace. It's a very masculine room done in dark earth tones with a couple of stag heads mounted on the wall.

"So let me get this straight. Rory owns all of this?" Colin asks.

"Yep," Owen replies.

"So basically, after tomorrow, you'll own this too?"

Owen shrugs, "I suppose."

"Do you think you'll ever set up house in this place once the old man keels over?"

"Don't know about that. She's never been fond of this house."

"There's nothing a decent decorator won't be able to fix. Get rid of the Jane Eyre ambiance and bring in a bit of cheer is all I'm saying."

"She thinks this estate is too big. Ideally, she'd like to sell it, but Jack keeps telling her to hold onto it."

Colin throws his arm around Owen. "You know something, brother? I like Rory. She's a sharp one. Best of all, I can tell she loves you, too."

"Thanks, Colin."

"Great tits, too," Colin says as he gestures with his hands. "Just the right size and -"

"You know if I catch you so much as chatting her up, I'll murder you," Owen warns.

"Enough said, brother," he replies with a grin. "Just making sure you loved her, too."

xxxx

Kevin Templeton finds his father drinking alone in his dark study.

"They are all settled in," Kevin tells him. "They are just about to leave on their stag night."

"You going with them?" Reginald asks.

"I hardly know any of them, but I did ask Arthur to drive them. I thought that it would be the safest thing to do."

"They'll come back to the house smelling of drink and smoke. Why did I ever agree to let them have the wedding here?"

"Because it's Aurora's house. Bertram and Imogene left it to her," the son reminds him.

"Damn Bertram! Damn Imogene! Damn that awful, little brat! Do you see the way she deals with officers? She doesn't care one jot for ranking and protocol. Calls them all by their Christian names. Salutes them with that silly grin."

"They still respect her talent," Kevin reminds him.

Reginald bangs his fist on the arm of his chair, "That doesn't excuse her for her lack of decorum."

"I'm not having this discussion again," Kevin says. "I'm going to watch a bit of telly and turn in. I'm quite certain that you can survive tomorrows events, father. I, for one, am going to try to enjoy them for her sake. She and I are the future of the company; we might as well get on the best we can."

"She stole your birthright!" Reginald barks.

Kevin ignores him and exits the room. Reginald sits down at his desk. To calm his nerves, he works on model ship. He becomes so absorbed in his work that he doesn't notice Bilis Manger enter the study.

"You know, you're only right about Aurora," Bilis says.

Reginald responds by pulling out a revolver from a desk drawer, but Bilis disappears. He reappears next to the desk.

"You have a right to protect your interests and that of your sons," the time traveler says. "And I can help you."

xxxx

That evening, Owen has his stag party at a "gentleman's club." Ianto and Jack make out feverishly on the plush couch while Andy, Rhys, and Colin cheer on the main show as they pour pints down their throats. Max, a junior engineer who works with Rory, appears to be slightly terrified by the overt sexuality of the place while Owen watches the stripper with mild amusement. He's seen better.

It's not that Owen objects to having naked woman bump and grind before his eyes. The problem is that the club reminds him of sadder events. Here is where he mourned Katie and Diane in a blur of sex and drink in order to fend off loneliness. This is what he left behind in order to find an unconventional happiness. A poker game and a couple of pornos would have been fine by him, but his brother insisted.

A woman wearing a pink wig sashays to him, "Owen, love, haven't seen you in ages? We thought that you'd fallen off the face of the planet."

"Yeah, I've been busy," he replies. Busy as in shagging Rory in every room in her house when he had the time. Busy as in taking her out to clubs where people keep their clothes on because he loves watching her dance. Busy as in spending time with a person he can talk to without having to censor himself. "I'm getting married."

"Aww. I'll have to give you a proper send-off then," she coos.

"See that bloke over there," Owen says, pointing to Max. "Why don't you make his night?"

Owen hands the stripper some money and sends her on her way. He snickers as she coyly introduces herself to Max and proceeds to rub herself in his face. He looks behind him and sees that Ianto and Jack are gone.

"Where do you suppose they've gone?" Colin asks.

"Some dark corner away from prying eyes," Owen replies.

"I reckon they didn't appreciate the show."

"Quite the contrary. They enjoyed it a little too much."

"So you're saying that those two men get so turned on by the strippers that they immediately have to fuck each other?"

"Good thing the music will drown out their moaning," Owen says.

Suddenly, 'Girls, Girls, Girls' by Motley Crüe starts playing as another woman takes the stage. Owen winces. "Good Lord! Do they still play that song?" he rants. He yells to the deejay, "The Eighties called and wants its strip club cliché back."

"I wonder if Rory is having as great a time on her hen night?" Colin muses.

xxxx

"One, two, THREE!" Rory shouts.

She along with Tosh, Gwen, Martha and two other colleagues from her lab woof down a batch of jell-o shots. Tosh - who is a complete light-weight - is already drunk while the other women are slightly buzzed.

"Oh, my God, I love this song!" Tosh cries as the deejay plays a Scissor Sisters song. She puts her arm around Gwen and asks, "Dance with me?"

"All, right, sweetheart," Gwen replies with a snicker.

They head out to the dance floor where Tosh spins round and round while Gwen tries to keep her from bumping into other people.

Rory gets a text message on her mobile:

"Need to hear your voice. - O."

She finds a quieter area and dials Owen's cell phone.

"Aww, are all the large silicone breasts scaring you?" Rory asks.

"They're scaring your assistant. Are you sure he's gone through puberty yet?" Owen remarks.

"Leave Max alone. He grew up in the lab like all dedicated scientists."

"Well, he's getting the type of anatomy lesson that he didn't get at Cambridge," Owen says.

"What about you?"

"I'm feeling lucky that I will never have to pay for a lap dance again."

"Why? Did you win some sort of contest at the club?" Rory quips.

"Shut your face. I'm trying to be romantic here," Owen retorts.

"And I thought you wanted to hear my voice," Rory teases.

"Well, I've heard it."

"Can't wait to see you in a tux tomorrow. I suspect that you clean up nicely."

"Can't wait to see you in whatever monstrosity you picked as a wedding gown."

"I love you," Rory says softly, breaking out of her teasing mode.

"I love you, too," Owen replies. "Bye."

Owen hangs up, but as he is about to re-enter the club, he hears a cat screech which is followed by the crash of falling crates. He can also hear what sounds like a sharp cry of pain followed by grunting. Owen wonders if it could be a Weevil so he pulls out his penlight to investigate, but he quickly wishes he had left well enough alone. Right there in the alley outside the club, Jack has Ianto against a wall. The men pause and stare blankly at Owen with the Captain still deep inside the Welshman. The doctor quickly turns off the light and scampers back inside, trying not to listen to the moans as Jack goes back to work.

Back at the hen night, the club deejay announces, "Paging Dr. Templeton. Paging Dr. Templeton. There's a doctor here who needs a little consult."

With an unenthusiastic sigh, Rory goes to the dance floor where a male stripper dressed up in scrubs and a white lab coat is waiting for her. "Probably doesn't know the first thing about the cardiovascular system," she mutters.

xxxx

Bilis leads Reginald and several servants into the wine cellar of the mansion. Reginald commands his staff to move a heavy wine rack out of the way to get to the small padlocked door behind it. He orders the staff to go back to bed before shooting off the lock. Although the two men have to stoop as they walk down a narrow passageway, they reach a hidden room on the other side. Bilis leads Reginald inside. When he flips a switch, the lights come on to reveal a laboratory. On one side, older equipment has been pushed aside for equipment that dates back to the eighties. Reginald looks around the room in awe and even finds a dusty old leather-bound journal filled with formulas.

"Bertram," Reginald says. "My own brother kept this from me."

"Why do you think he was so interested in this house?" Bilis asks. "But come tomorrow, Aurora will cease to be a problem for you, and the house will be yours again."