To Mr Blaine Anderson,
We, at the Holy Oaks Support Home, regret to inform you that your Great Uncle Richard Arthur Greaves has passed away. He had a will in his personal effects that was found in his wooden chest, that has been handed to the right authorities, who would be contacting you to discuss it.
From what he told us, you were the only relative he wanted to inform of his death. Many commiserations from us all.
Blaine had been stumped when he read it. He didn't remember an uncle called Richard, at all, not even a great uncle. His first call was to his brother, but that just turned up with the same result. Cooper had no idea who he was either. So Blaine had to bite the bullet and call his parents.
Since he was 17 the relationship between himself and his parents had been strained, his father didn't acknowledge him at all, ever since he came out the year before and his mother, through all of her best efforts, tried to keep the peace between them.
But it didn't work. There were many nights in his teen years where he and his father would fight and call each other names.
He sighed as he reached for his phone. Time to get it over with. One two three rings...
"Hello?"
"Hey mom."
"Hey sweetie, everything ok?"
"Yeah mom, everything's fine. How's things with you?"
"Good, everything's good here, but you're transparent baby you know that? What did you really want?"
His mother could always see through him.
"Did I have an Uncle Richard Greaves?"
"Yes, your Great Aunt Helen married him, nana's sister, why darling?"
"Oh, I erm...got sent a letter telling me that he died."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, and it said he only wanted me informed of it."
"Really?"
"Yes. And it says someone will be contacting me about a will, why would he even know who I am, doesn't he have any family?"
"No, sweetie, your Aunt Helen couldn't have any children, and Richie seemed quite taken with you when you were a baby, I think you were his favourite."
He sighed again, running a hand over the back of his neck.
"I guess, I'll have to wait and see what it says then?"
"You'll let me know right? Don't keep things bottled up Blainey."
"Yeah, ok mom."
"Have to go sweetheart, your father's home, love you."
"Love you-," He started but she had already hung up, "too."
He placed his phone down and messaged Cooper back about Uncle Richard, and then got up to get himself a beer. He had no memories that he could recall about his Great uncle, nothing. He sipped at his beer and ignored his phone as it vibrated with a text.
He wondered about what could possibly be in the will. Money? Personal items? Jewellery? He had no idea what his uncle did or where he lived.
His eyes shot over to his phone, but he rolled his eyes as it flashed up Cooper's name, before ignoring it and grabbing his keys.
He whistled loudly.
"Budge, come on boy!" He called out and his dog appeared from the bedroom.
Blaine grinned at him as he wandered to a stop by his feet, and then he reached out to grab his leash off of the hook on the wall, and the dog became excited.
"Walkies boy!" He said as he clipped the leash onto the wriggling dog's collar, shushing him to try and calm the excitement, before pocketing his keys and opening the door.
He left his phone behind, he couldn't deal with it right now.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
He should not have had those beers the night before. His head was pounding. A nice reminder of his error of judgement.
He groaned as he opened his eyes to face his clock, it was still early, so he pushed the covers back over his head and tried to sleep some more. Which was impossible once his phone began to ring. He lifted the covers to look at his nightstand, where his phone was flashing and vibrating loudly against the wooden top, and sighed.
He reached for it and answered without bothering to check caller id.
"Hello?" He said as his voice cracked a little.
"Hello, could I speak with a Mr Blaine Anderson?"
The harsh and formal tone, instantly made Blaine's groggy brain pay attention.
"That's me, who is this?" He asked as he sat up in the bed, placing one hand over the pounding part of his skull.
"My apologies for calling so early Mr Anderson, but my name is Frederick Newton, I was your Great Uncle Richards lawyer and estate manager, and I believe you were sent a letter informing you of your Uncle's death, correct?"
"Yeah that's right."
"I knew your great uncle well, and I'm sorry for your loss. I actually request that you come to my office today, to discuss the will and assets involved."
"When?"
"Today if you could make it?"
"Sure, I guess, erm...maybe 2 hours?"
"That's great Mr Anderson, you will need to bring a copy of your own birth certificate and your I.D with you," he said and Blaine confirmed that he would before the man on the phone rattled off the address, "we look forward to your visit."
As the call disconnected, Blaine groaned again. That's all he needed right now, to have to concentrate and focus with a hangover.
He swung his feet over the side of the bed and wobbled his way to his bathroom.
As he got himself ready for the day, he couldn't help but try to guess what his Great Uncle had put in his will, would it be something huge, maybe a car?
Would it be money? He didn't know his uncle but he knew he came from a wealthy family himself, so he guessed it was something like that.
Maybe it was something else. Maybe his uncle was a spy and he left his weapons and spy gear to him.
Alright that may be a little farfetched, but it made Blaine laugh. He was still chuckling as he left the shower and went to get dressed.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
"Thank you for coming down so promptly, I hope we haven't interrupted your day?" The man in the suit, Frederick said as he shook Blaine's hand, before offering him a seat.
"Uh no, I didn't have any plans today." Blaine replied as someone placed a coffee next to him, and he smiled in thanks.
Blaine sat in his seat and looked around at the huge room he was in, a long mahogany table ran the length of it, at which Blaine was sitting in the middle section, with the man who had greeted him and another man, the one who had given him his coffee, next to him.
"I see, well let's get to it shall we?" Frederick asked with a small smile as the man next to him took out a note book to write things down.
Blaine nodded.
After Blaine handed over his documents of identification to be checked, the man sitting opposite him discussed with his colleague about things before turning back to regard Blaine.
"Ok, Mr Anderson, there are quite a few things for us to go over within your Uncle's will," He said as he placed a folder down on the table in front of him, "first, there are some of his personal items, a pocket watch, pictures, letters, etc."
He handed Blaine the list of the first lot of items, and Blaine skimmed over it quickly with his eyes before placing the page down on the table, as the man opposite produced another folder and handed it to him.
"The second, is a house."
Blaine's eyes widened slightly.
"A house?" He asked quietly as he looked down at the folder, there were pictures of the property inside, from when his uncle bought it, and lived in it, and then a picture of it now.
It was a little run down but Blaine could see that the property itself was huge.
"Yes, it was your uncle's home before he had to be admitted into elderly care, it's been empty for at least 20 years, but it was still in his name. His estate paid off the taxes, which makes it exempt."
"How? I didn't really know him or what he did but-"
"I can tell you that your Uncle was a very wealthy man."
"Wait, so this is mine now?" Blaine asked almost disbelieving and the man tilted his head.
"Of course, that is how your uncle wanted it, he placed me as executor of his testate, and the documentation has already been put into the records."
"Do I have to accept the house?"
"Well whether you accept or not, it has been transferred to you, which you can do with as you please."
"What else could I do with it?"
"We would sell it through the firm here, and send you a check, taking out our fees of course."
Blaine thought about it for a moment, if he took it, it could be good for his work. Being a composer/writer he needed a lot of space for inspiration and creativity to flow, his tiny apartment barely fit any of his essential things. But it would also mean moving back to Ohio.
Ok, it wasn't the Ohio he grew up in, they had long since passed the law for gay marriage and equality, but still, something about Ohio bothered him.
He looked up at the two men, who were waiting patiently for his decision.
"I guess I have a new house."
Frederick smiled at him kindly.
"You should know that it's a non-taxable home, having been pre paid for, for the sum of $5,450,000 at the time of his death. All other assets have been liquidated to pay courts, the funeral costs and other things he wished to be done after his death. Pleasure doing business with you Mr Anderson, if you have any further questions, you can always contact me again."
Blaine nodded, accepting the information.
"So, we need a few signatures, and for you to fill out this form and then we are done." Frederick told him as he produced some forms from his bag, and handed them and a pen across to Blaine.
Blaine felt a strange kind of tingle down his spine as he thought about how different his life could be in a house, in Ohio, with all that space to himself, he could finally take his mother's grand piano out of storage. A smile crossed his face as he signed the papers, actually feeling excitement for this new stage of his life.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
"So, this is where Uncle Richie lived huh?" Cooper said as he dropped the box he was carrying outside the stoop of the house, standing next to Blaine, who was staring up at the big house.
"Yep," Blaine replied, not taking his eyes off of the front of the house, "did I make a mistake?"
"Mistake?"
"Should I have just given this house to the state?" Blaine asked, more to himself than Cooper.
"No way, man," Cooper said as he placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, "look at all of this potential."
As Cooper said potential, one of the railing of the house creaked and fell, and crashed into a pile of wood on the grass. They both stared blinking at it for a moment, before Blaine turned to Cooper with a raised eyebrow.
"So it needs a little work done," Cooper said with a shrug, "who doesn't when they reach a certain age?"
Blaine scoffed at his brother's words.
"Besides, can you just imagine what it would be like when it's all restored?"
"Not really." Blaine said a little glumly, thinking of all the work they needed to do on the house itself.
The house itself was a long rectangular shape, with a pointed roof, and a rounded front which was probably a living room window area. And it wasn't really in bad shape, for being empty for 20 years, just a few roof tiles missing, some of the paint on the front and top part of the house was peeling, it would have to be painted again. And the railings at the porch front were cracked and falling off. It was mostly fine, it was half brick and half wooden, so it should be insulated enough for winter, and cool enough for summer, some windows had been cracked and broken and boarded up. The trees and bushes were overgrown at the side, and shielding some of the house.
But still it was a lot of work.
"Where's your imagination?" Cooper asked feigning surprise and Blaine slumped as he sat on a stoop of the house.
"Back in New York." He sighed and placed his head in his hands tiredly.
Cooper stared down at him for a few minutes, before sitting next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"Hey what's up little man? You can tell me." he said and Blaine pushed his arm off.
"Don't call me little man," he grumped, "and I was just thinking about all that work."
"So what's a little work? If it gets you your dream home."
"Will it?"
"Little brother, I am surprised at this sullen attitude you have," Cooper shook his shoulder a little and Blaine moaned at him, "where's all the sunshine and rainbows, huh? I thought you gay guys exuded them all the time?"
"Cooper that's offensive." Blaine said in a bored tone, and Copper chuckled.
"Not really, I'm just referring to the peppy attitude that you lost somewhere between high school and work life."
"College probably sucked it all out." Blaine attempted a light joke but Cooper just turned to him with a smirk.
"Sure that weren't the guy you were seeing?"
"Cooper!-"
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," Cooper chuckled and dodged a punch in the arm, twisting his body and jumping up from the stoop, "Come on, Blainey days-"
"Don't call me that."
"-it'll be fun to rebuild it, right? Be part of the next stage of your life, by picking it up and building it however you want?"
Blaine looked up at Cooper with raised eyebrows, taking in what he was saying.
"You can make it yours, own it, this stage of your life is supposed to be an adventure, live it, little brother, live it."
Cooper could see the moment his words brought the inspiration in Blaine to light, because the sudden fire in his eyes as he stood indicated it.
"You know what? You're right, Coop, I can't sit on my ass for the rest of my life, I've got to-"
"Grab it by the balls!" Cooper interrupted and Blaine paused as he looked at his brother with confusion, before shaking his head.
"-whatever, and rebuild it how I want it to be."
"Fuck yeah you do." Cooper cheered and Blaine then laughed at his goofy older brother.
"You know Coop, you could be an inspirational speaker."
"I already am, little bro, I already am." He said as he patted Blaine's shoulder and turned to pick up the box he had dropped and the front door keys, before walking up the stoop and into the house.
Blaine shook his head as he followed after his brother with a smile, picking up another box of stuff on the way inside.
