Forever - Chapter 1

-O-

DISCLAIMER: I am not connected to Emmerdale and its characters, which belong to ITV

-O-

There was a nip in the air that December morning. Aaron wrapped his hoodie jacket around himself as he sauntered along the main street in the village, heading for the scrap yard. Robert was still in bed at their home in Woodbine Cottage. He smiled to himself as he thought about his husband. Aaron had left him sleeping soundly: so soundly in fact that Robert had not roused when Aaron had stuck a post-it note to his bare chest.

As he clumped up the metal steps to the cabin, he fished the key out of his pocket so that he could unlock the door. He knew that Adam would not be in as his best mate had arranged to drive into Leeds for a meeting with a scrap contact, leaving his pregnant wife Victoria at home.

Aaron filled the kettle with water as soon as he arrived. The cold morning air had chilled his marrow and he fancied a hot cup of tea straight away to warm himself up. As he sat drinking his beverage, he looked down at his left hand and smiled as he studied the gold band on his third finger. He sometimes found it difficult to believe that he was married. When he had first realised that he was gay, marriage had been the last thing on his mind, but he had come to accept both his sexuality and the fact that he had fallen deeply in love with a bisexual man. He almost chuckled at the memory of his mother telling him that he never made life easy for himself. She had hated Robert at first, but had come to love and respect him after he had proved his devotion to her son. Robert Jacob Sugden had made Aaron blissfully happy and that was good enough for her.

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Robert stirred, stretched and reached out his hand, expecting to feel Aaron's firm, muscular body against his fingertips. But his husband was not there and he suddenly realised that he had something stuck to his chest. He pulled the note away from his skin and held it in front of his face, still blurry-eyed from sleep and as he focussed on the top line of Aaron's note a grin crept across his handsome face.

"Good morning, you lazy bugger!"

Robert knew that the greeting was the closest that he would ever get to a romantic message from his ever-loving, but he did not mind one bit. In fact, he would probably have been disappointed with any other comment. This was the Aaron that he knew and loved with all his heart.

The note continued, "Don't make any arrangements for tonight. I've booked a table at a restaurant in Hotten."

Robert retrieved his mobile phone from the bedside cabinet and he texted his husband straight away, "Good morning monkey, what's the occasion?" Robert often used 'monkey' as a term of endearment, as it harked back to the time when he and Aaron first met and he had called him a "dirty little grease monkey".

A text reply quickly appeared, "I knew you'd forget our anniversary."

Robert scratched his head. It was not their wedding anniversary, so he was a little lost.

"Fourth of December," he mused, "What's that an anniversary of?"

He knew better than to ask Aaron the question as he was obviously supposed to know the answer, so he just texted back, "I haven't forgotten. Love you xx." He would have to try to remember before the evening. He smiled as a little reply came back, "Love you too xx."

Robert often had these little unexpected displays of affection from Aaron. He knew that his husband was not good with words of love, but that was all to do with Aaron's personality. It was part and parcel of the very special man that he had fallen in love with and he would not have it any other way.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts, "Robert, are you awake?"

"Yes, come in!"

As the door opened and Liv appeared, "Aaron was going to take me into town later but he's got an appointment and he can't give me a lift now. I don't suppose you can take me?"

Robert smiled, "There are some vehicles that go into town quite regularly: I think they call them buses."

Liv curled her lip: she was used to Robert's sarcasm. Her expression reminded Robert so much of her older brother, "I should have known better than to ask you... skinflint!"

Robert laughed, "You never will get it when I'm winding you up, will you? Of course I'll take you."

"Don't put yourself out on my account," Liv replied in a hurt tone.

"I said I'd take you, providing I've got enough petrol in the car."

Liv really wanted the lift, so she knew that being cheeky to Robert was not going to help matters, "Okay, ta! For a minute there, I thought you were going to pretend that your car was out of action."

Liv left Robert to climb out of bed, which he did once he was alone. Then, it suddenly dawned on him, this was indeed an anniversary. Three years previously, he and Aaron had shared their first kiss on the roadside, when Robert had pretended that his car had broken down. Liv had unwittingly reminded him about the anniversary: although it amazed him that Aaron had remembered and wanted to mark the occasion. But then, that was his Aaron: full of surprises!

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Robert met Aaron outside their evening venue. Aaron had gone into town on an errand and asked Robert to meet him there. As they took their seats at a table, Robert looked around the restaurant that Aaron had booked. His husband had done well: it was plush and a glance at the menu confirmed that this was a high-class establishment.

"You haven't got a clue have you?" Aaron teased.

"About what?" Robert knew that Aaron was referring to the occasion, but played dumb.

"This anniversary."

"It was three years ago today that I pretended that my car had broken down. I'm surprised that you remembered though," Robert gave Aaron a little, self-satisfied smirk that his husband knew so well by now.

"I always remember," Aaron smiled back, "you were so horny and up for it! But then you shied away and started pissing me off!"

Robert chuckled, "Yeah, I was really stuck to the back of that closet then, wasn't I?"

Aaron didn't reply. He knew how hard it had been for Robert to admit his bisexuality: it was so easy for him to understand, given his own initial reticence to admit that he was gay. They knew one and other inside out.

Robert looked at Aaron's beautiful face. He was captured by his husband's trusting blue eyes and knew that he could never lie to him about anything, ever again, "Aaron. I have a confession to make."

"What?"

Robert looked a little sheepish, "If I'm honest, I didn't remember about today. Something Liv said reminded me."

Aaron reached across the table and took Robert's hand in his own, "Robert, I'm not bothered that you'd forgotten the date. It's much more important to me that you are honest with me. It proves to me that you've changed, that you've become the man I always knew you could be. I know I don't say this enough, but I love you so much. You've fought your demons and won...that's something I can totally relate to."

Robert squeezed Aaron's hand in his own, "You've changed too. You don't cut yourself anymore and you seem happier now than I can ever remember. I love you too."

Aaron licked his lips, "I so want to kiss you right now, but I can't do it in a restaurant full of people. But you're going to get a very special night tonight, lover!"

They were interrupted by the waiter, who seemed to recognise Robert as he approached the table, "Are you ready to order, gentlemen?"

Robert was taken aback. The waiter was Connor Jensen, a one-time rent boy that he had known when he was still in denial about his sexuality and looking for same-sex liaisons. However, Connor did not let on that he knew Robert. He remained totally professional and took their order.

It was later in the evening, when Robert excused himself from his husband's company and went to the washroom, that Connor finally made his move. He followed Robert and caught up with him by the row of washbasins in the men's room, "Hello Robert, long time no see."

"You've come up in the world, Connor," Robert tried not to sound condescending, but he felt that his remark was a bit of a put-down.

"Well, it beats walking the streets, looking to get picked up by bisexual men, locked away in their sad little closets."

Robert looked at the expression on Connor's face, "Is that remark aimed at me?"

Connor smirked, "If the cap fits! You've picked up a pretty one tonight."

"Do you mind?" Robert was insulted by Connor's remark, "That happens to be my husband," he held up his hand to display the ring on his wedding finger.

"Husband?" Connor let out a chuckle, "I bet that won't last, you don't have a very good track record with marriages, do you?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but we're in love and this is for keeps."

Connor moved close to Robert, standing right in front of him and staring him directly in the face, he ran his hands up Robert's arms, "I bet if I pushed you into that cubicle you wouldn't be able to say no!"

Just as Connor attempted to kiss Robert, the door swung open and Aaron entered. He had come to check on Robert as he had been missing for a while. Connor immediately jumped back but not before Aaron had caught a glance of Connor clutching his husband.

"What the..." Aaron could not believe it, but was prevented from continuing as Robert butted in.

"Aaron! This isn't what it looks like!"

"I thought that you getting your kicks this way was all in the past," Aaron had a face like thunder: he turned to leave the washroom.

"Aaron...wait!" Robert shouted after him and, when Aaron didn't turn around, he ran to catch him up, giving Connor a withering stare as he left. If looks could kill, Connor would have keeled over on the spot.

Aaron and Robert drove home in silence. Robert had protested his innocence but Aaron refused to listen, so Robert gave up trying to reason with him and thought it best to let him calm down.

After they arrived home, Aaron wouldn't let Robert anywhere near the bedroom. He was hurt and upset and retreated into his shell. Robert resigned himself to sleeping on the couch that night. A perfect evening had suddenly turned on a sixpence and had become a nightmare. Robert wept into his pillow. He loved Aaron with all his heart, he had never loved anyone so deeply before.

In spite of everything, Robert slept. He was tired and emotionally drained, so he drifted off to sleep without too much trouble.

Aaron was less fortunate: he tossed and turned for most of the night. He trusted Robert, more than he had ever trusted anyone in his entire life, but his insecurities were never far from the surface. He fitfully wriggled around in the lonely bed: he had become so used to having Robert in the bed with him that it felt wrong to be alone. Just when he would think that he was all cried out, he would suddenly realise that tears were rolling down his cheeks again. Aaron felt things deeply and his feelings for Robert ran more deeply than he had ever experienced before. The possibility of Robert's betrayal cut him like a knife. The thought even ran through his mind about finding the nearest sharp object and turning it on himself, but he resisted. Since he had married Robert, he had vowed not to self-harm anymore and, even in the midst of his current despair, he could not do that again.

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The next morning, Robert had a phone call from Adam at six-thirty.

"Hi Mate, what's up?" Robert knew that something must have happened as Adam was not in the habit of calling him so early in the morning.

"Robert, I'm calling from the hospital. It's Vic, she's gone into labour."

Robert was a bit taken aback. In his groggy state, he was not firing on all cylinders, "Oh...right! Give me a minute to throw some clothes on and I'll be there!"

"What about Aaron?"

Robert climbed the stairs and glanced towards the closed bedroom door, "Oh, yeah! Aaron too...of course."

Robert knew that he would have to ask Aaron to accompany him to the hospital, but, given his current mood, he was afraid to open the door. He did not know how his husband was going to react and he approached the door with trepidation.