"Let me help you," Arthur took Eames's favorite pajama out of the dresser, oh how he'd missed that.
"Thank you," Eames plopped down on their bed and took a deep breath, he was so tired.
"You look like shit," Arthur huffed.
The forger raised a brow, "Look who's talking," he chuckled.
Arthur pouted while he helped Eames to change, "When was the last time you had a decent night's sleep?"
"I don't know."
"Milk and honey?" The younger man offered.
"No," Eames laughed. "Just you," he added lovingly.
Arthur caressed Eames's cheek before he got rid of his clothes and searched for his pajama trouser, he couldn't find his shirt. "Where is my pillow?"
Eames blushed furiously, "What makes you think that's not your pillow?"
"There is a little tear in the fabric, close to the third button. It's your pillow."
"I.."
A huge smile appeared on the point man's face, "Does that mean you can't sleep without me Mr. Eames? So where is my shirt?"
"I tell you once you tell me where my jumper is," seemed he wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep without at least the scent of his lover.
That statement coaxed an awkward cough out of the young man, "What makes you think I have it?"
"What makes you think I have yours?" Touché.
"I couldn't sleep the night before I left and I realized that it was easier to sleep with your smell around and your jumper lay next to the bed. I couldn't steal your pillow so I decided to take the jumper," he sighed.
"Great minds think alike," Eames took Arthur's shirt out from under his pillow.
"I never had trouble to sleep alone before I met you."
"Does that mean you missed me even before you moved in with me?"
"Yeah," Arthur said, Eames was his world. "But it was different though. I missed you, mostly, and it was okay for me but after you taught me what it meant to care for someone, truly care, it changed. During my trip to Spain I learned the hard way how much I need you to be close."
"I missed you too," Eames pulled Arthur closer. "Some time apart makes you treasure all the small things even more. The soft breathing next to you, the small movements during the night, the familiar smell, the warmth radiating from the body next to you. It was cold and lonely without you."
Arthur rubbed his cheek against Eames's strong chest to make himself more comfortable ,"I missed all that too, I even missed our fights."
"You did?"
"It's better than no contact at all," he put an arm around Eames's torso and rolled half on top of his lover. "Like I said, a week once in a while but more would border on torture."
"Remind me to wear my jumper the day before you leave," Eames smiled gently.
"Remind me to wear my shirt and leave it behind for you," he was surprised he forgot to take the shirt with him to Spain in the first place. Eames had given him the shirt a few years ago, it was meant as a joke but he couldn't throw it away even though the thing was dark red with a yellow McGyver print and the lettering 'What would Arthur do?'
"I just swipe it from your bag again," the blond grinned.
"Ahaaa," Arthur looked up, "and I thought you're a forger and not a pickpocket."
"Actually I'm both," Eames remembered how he stole bread for lunch once in a while. "I'm an expert to obtain food for dinner."
"You had to steal your food?" Arthur's eyes widened, he knew Eames had been poor but that was new.
"My mother was angry the first time, and the second, and the tenth time but I could see it in her eyes that she was grateful to have more than a slice of cheese and a can of vegetable for dinner. She gave the little food we had to me, I think she thought I believed her when she said that she had eaten and I could finish the rest. But it was hard not to notice how thin and sick she looked sometimes. It was easier after my father left. We had more money without all the alcohol."
"I feel guilty," Arthur confessed, "I was born into a rich family."
"Love you anyway," Eames smiled. "Tell me if I'm wrong but I think I got by far more love than you did."
"Everything I got was money, my mother spends all her time with charity projects. Not that it is a bad thing but her motives aren't pure. It's a matter of prestige. Her goal is it to be the perfect housewife, the perfect mother figure, the perfect person. She would never get her hands dirty for someone in need. She just talks big and flashes her smile to raise money for the poor. The credit for the real work behind all that should go to the social workers, volunteers and all the others.
I had to be a model child, intelligent, well-educated and pretty. I hated the balls I had to attend. My mother tried to set me up with her friends daughters. You have to choose a girl with our status , she said. I hated her for that. She knew damn well I don't like women but she ignored it, she still does.
I think I joined the army to spite her and to find my own peace of mind."
"Now I'm pitying you." Eames caressed Arthur's back, his lover's childhood wasn't funny either, "How does your sister cope with it?"
"She's like her. There was a time I thought she found her own way but I was wrong. She turned into our mother."
"She might find her luck one day," the forger mused, "I think I turned your world upside down while I tried to woo you."
"That's an understatement." Arthur couldn't deny that it was hard to adjust to someone like Eames, "but I'm glad that I got the chance to make you my family."
"Sorry love but your mother is an idiot," Arthur was surprised by Eames harsh words, "A mother should treasure her child no matter what. Homosexual, transsexual or whatever, it's okay. It's nothing to be ashamed of, being poor is nothing to be ashamed of, being less smart than others is nothing to be ashamed of. She has to learn that humans are individuals and not perfect little robots."
"We should write that on the Christmas cards this year," Arthur chuckled, he loved it when Eames got protective.
"Better not or she'll sue me and I love our house."
"God I missed you," Arthur sighed delighted and closed his eyes, that was the Eames he remembered.
Eames huffed in surprise, "You should thank the therapists next time we see them."
"Oh, I will. I'm so proud of you I can't put it into words."
"Then say nothing at all and show me," a little wicked grin graced his lips.
"Sure you're up to it," Arthur said slyly while his hand wandered down Eames's body, "because I love you very veeeery much."
Eames nodded eagerly as the warm sensation running through his body stole his words away.
::::::::::::::
"What is that?" Eames held a letter in his hand. Arthur had returned two weeks ago and their relationship wasn't what it used to be. For the first time in ages they were really and truly happy together. The feeling of guilt lessened, the shame for being different was less pregnant.
Arthur got up and took the letter. "The broke finally found a buyer for the house," he said while he read.
"I thought your house was already sold?"
"My aunt left me her house after she died. It's a huge mansion and it was difficult to find a buyer."
"You sold your aunts house?"
"Yeah, I don't like the house and kept it out of sentiment, Saito get's the money for the house," he lifted a finger and motioned at the ceiling.
"I thought it's already paid."
"It is but I don't like the thought that Saito gave us such an expensive gift," Arthur confessed.
"How much belongs to us?"
"With the money I get for my aunt's house 80 percent. The house belongs to us, but Saito sponsored the lift, football pitch, basketball court and playground."
"Why?"
"To help me build our future," Arthur beamed just a little nervous.
"Children?" Eames asked hopeful.
"You are a great person and I admire your courage to help the children which live in the slum. So I thought we could offer shelter to them. Do you remember Tyler?"
Eames nodded, the young man was green and blue under his shirt. I pissed her off, it was my fault, he had said.
"I want to give them a new home, without violence, alcohol and drugs. We don't have to if you don't want to. It was just an idea," his nervousness grew.
"I fell in love again," Eames took a deep breath to steady his racing heartbeat. "I'd love to," he pulled Arthur into a tight embrace, "You know me so well, it's a little scary at times."
Arthur chuckled in relief, "Of course I know you, I love you, silly."
"Is it what you want?" Eames had to make sure.
"I do. I want to give them a home. It won't be easy but it's worth it. I don't want to work on the wrong side of the law anymore, at least not so often, and I don't want to spend months apart. Returning into the business would end with different jobs on different continents with different schedules..."
"We will be a hell of a family," Eames interrupted Arthur's nervous rambling, "thank you for dreaming. I lost my place in life and my dreams but you just gave my life a whole new meaning. I'm not your crippled side-kick. We are equals again."
"You thought we weren't equal?" Arthur chided, "You lost a few abilities but not your mind. Of course we're equal."
"I realize that, I surrender," he held up his hands in defense, smiling like a child in a candy shop.
"Geez," Arthur rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Mr. Eames you're the devil."
"I know," he said smug, Arthur sight deeply while he shook his head. He wanted to reply as his phone rang, "Hello?"
Eames gasped in surprises as Arthur held the phone as far as possible away from his ear "What were you thinking?" he heard someone yell, a woman.
Arthur looked at Eames in annoyance while he waited for the woman to stop yelling, "Who?", Eames mouthed.
Arthur rolled his eyes. "That Mr. Eames is my lovely mother," he chuckled as he saw the flabbergasted look on Eames face.
"Come to an end?!" Arthur held the phone close again, "I can't understand a single word when you're ranting... I know I'm sorry mother it wasn't my intention to be mean... Sarcasm? I'm not sarcastic... What do you want?... It's my house I do what I want... What do you mean you had plans?... Mom I am gay... I will not settle down with the governors daughter and I don't want to live in aunties house. I don't like it there... Homosexual mom, ever heard of it? ... Love you mom," he hung up not waiting for her to stop talking.
"Bloody hell," Eames said in disgust, "Love I really, really pity you right now."
"Thank you," he threw his phone onto the couch. "That's why my dad got divorced. He knew what was best for him."
"I'm impressed you stood up against her."
"Me too," Arthur laughed hysterically. "It's the first time since I was a soldier that I spoke to her this way. It's your fault," he gave his lover a mock glare.
"Sure, the poor English are at fault," Eames mocked.
"Not the English, just you," Arthur gave him a peck on the lips. "It's alright. She has to understand that I have my own life."
"So she's trying to set you up with the daughter of a governor?" Eames said in a cheeky tone.
"Yeah, she's rich, pretty, well-educated and shallow like a puddle."
"Sounds lovely." Eames grimaced, "I think you should stick with the ill-mannered Englishman you like so much."
"Hmm, should I?", Arthur initiated a loving kiss. "Yeah," Eames breathed against his lovers lips.
Arthur smirked before he kissed his Englishman with passion.
::::::::::::
Two days after the phone call his mother appeared on their doorsteps.
"Can I help you?" Eames opened the door because Arthur was still in the shower.
"I'm looking for Arthur," she studied him from head to toe, he could see that he didn't pass. "Who are you?" Eames grew impatient, he didn't like her and a heavy sense of foreboding spread through his body.
"I'm his mother," she said haughtily. He winced, "Come in," he motioned her to follow. A second person followed her, he didn't see her before. Arthur's sister, he mused.
They sat in the living room, the silence was unbearable, "Hey Eames, who was on the...", Arthur became silent. He heard the doorbell and thought Dom or Yusuf might be in England but he didn't think of his family.
"Mother," he said as polite as possible.
"Nice house," she looked around.
"Thank you," he slumped down on the second couch. "Why are you here?"
"Can't a mother visit her child?"
"No, first I didn't give you my address, second you never paid me a visit before," he rested his head on his palm.
"I'm here to take you home," she ignored Arthur's glare. "You should be able to afford a decent estate with the money you get for this," she waved her hand around, not sure how to describe the old building. "And I'm sure we will find someone who will employ your charity case over there," she pointed at Eames. The forger's eyes widened, was she for real? He seethed inwardly and glanced at Arthur. Oh-Oh, he cursed inside his head.
"What did you call him?" Arthur sat ramrod straight, his eyes glittered dangerously.
"You can take him with you if you must. Sophia is a generous woman, she will treat you well," the last part was meant for Eames. Arthur was a ticking time bomb, Eames realized and tried to find a solution as fast as possible. "I will remain here, thank you," the forger said sweetly.
"The next owner might not need your service," she mused aloud.
"Don't worry," Eames flashed her a smile, "I will be fine."
"When you say so," Mrs. Andersen frowned, at least she tried to. Eames would have found it funny how Botox could ruin a face if she weren't so dangerously close to get murdered.
He wanted to say something as he realized he didn't know her name, what was Arthur's real surname? He told him once Andersen would do, "Arthur," Eames warned. The younger man was too silent for his liking and his body language spoke volumes.
"He calls you by your first name?" His sister had the brass to actually look offended.
"OUT!" Arthur had enough, he tried to take deep breaths, count to 100 and whatever crossed his mind but it was impossible to calm down, "LEAVE!"
"Arthur," his mother chided. "We are guests and you have to treat us as such."
"You got the nerve to show up at my house, uninvited by the way, and demand that I come back to the states to marry this girl and you want me to be a first class host?" Eames put a hand on Arthur's knee to offer some comfort.
"News flash mom I want to live here," he pointed with both his index fingers to the ground, "and I do not like girls, I am happily married and I will not get divorced so you can shove that little bitch in my direction."
His mother's eyes widened, "She is a honorable woman."
"She has fucked half the upper-class before she hit 20," Arthur stated calmly, some of his anger fading.
"He's right," his sister confirmed.
"We will find someone else then."
"Mom, he is married. Have you listened to him at all?" She chided her mother for ignoring the facts.
She frowned repeating Arthur's words in her head, "Who is your... partner?"
Arthur buried his face in his hands with a groan and Eames used the chance to piss off his mother in law. He smiled broadly and waved at her.
"He's your... you are... him...?" She saw her social status shatter into pieces, "He's a cripple."
"Thank you very much," Eames mocked.
"How shallow do you think I am? I don't stop loving him because of an accident! I loved him before and I love him even more now. I almost lost him and I will be damned if I ever let him go again."
His speech brought tears to his sister's eyes, "Mom it's time to accept that he does not fit into your perfect little world."
"There are many man who try to be normal," Mrs. A. said.
"I am normal," Arthur stressed, "I am not abnormal or sick. I am your son and I love you and it pains me to know that you can't accept my choices, that you can't see that normal is just a word dependent on society and person."
"I can't accept that," she shook her head, "It's not normal."
"My mum tended to say that I'm special," Eames smiled at the memory, "God made me special because my soul mate got the same gender and whenever someone said that I'm acting against God's will she used the argument that god does not make mistakes to shut them up."
"She is out of her mind," Arthur's mother huffed, she wasn't a believer.
"True, 'cause she's dead," Eames said, squeezing Arthur's knee.
"I'm sorry," Arthur's sister offered friendly, she liked her brother's hubby a lot.
"Arthur you will come home with us. You will see," she glanced at Eames, her eyes clearly stated that their relationship wasn't meant to last and it would be Eames fault.
"No mother I will not," Arthur was sure.
"Can I talk to you for a moment in private," his sister asked, she was scared of their mother.
Arthur nodded and got up, Eames remained where he was he wouldn't give in.
::::::::::::::
"If you want to convert me to live the right way, don't. Just don't," he raised his hands in defense.
"I want to tell you how proud I am," she meant what she said. "You're strong enough to fight her."
"You were strong enough, too, all those years ago, what happened?"
"I don't know, dad left, grandpa died, auntie died, I fell in love with Richard. I felt like she needs me by her side and Richard was just like her, he wanted me to be like her and I did it for him but I can't leave the role I have taken," a tear slid down her face.
"Stay with us," Arthur offered, "You can stay with us until you found your own way. I know that you're still angry at me for leaving back then and I hope I can make it right somehow."
"I need to think about it and to tell the truth I'm not angry anymore just envious," she put her arms around him. "You're always welcome here, and I want you to know that I love you," he whispered. His heart cheered, he had his sister back.
:::::::::::::
"So Mr. ... Eames, right?"
"Yes," he eyed her carefully.
"How much do you want?"
"WHAT?" He almost fell out of his chair.
"Will one million be enough?" She searched for her checkbook.
"I will not leave him, not for all the money in the world," he glared at her.
"Everybody has a price," she meant it.
"No," he hissed, "I love Arthur and I will not leave him."
"Two million, my final offer."
"Why is it so hard for you to understand that I do not want the money. I have his love that's more worth than money and for your information, I'm not poor either. I worked my ass off to leave the slum and I'm proud of it. I'm an ex-soldier, there I met Arthur the first time. I'm a successful businessman and capable to earn my keep. So put your damn checkbook away and get the hell out of our house," he ordered. She was surprised about so much resistance and the young man seemed, if she wanted or not, to be good for her boy. "Your love is real."
"Yes ma'am," Eames frowned in surprise
"I think it's possible for me to like you one day," she got up and granted him a little nod, honest instead of complacent. He nodded in return and followed her to the door, "Tell Ileen I'm waiting in the car."
"Yes, ma'am," he closed the door and watched it for a while.
"Eames?" Arthur kneeled down next to him, worry in his eyes, "Are you okay?"
He continued to stare at the door, flabbergasted and shocked, "I think I have just, unintentionally, twisted your mother around my little finger."
The siblings looked at each other in surprise. "What have you done?", Ileen asked.
"She offered two million dollar, everything I have to do is leave Arthur," they knew he didn't accept. "And?" She pushed.
"I told her where to get off," the forger frowned before a blinding smile replaced the shock. "I think she toyed with you."
"Huh?" Arthur needed time to understand what just happened
"She waited for the right person to come along," Eames kissed Arthur passionately. "She tested our bond and we passed. I'm not saying she is fine with the fact we're homosexual but I think she might own more depth than we gave her credit for. She might try to adjust."
"Leave it to Eames to charm the pants off of our mother within minutes while we fight for ages to get her approval," Arthur placed a kiss on Eames head. "See, he's perfect," he added for his sister.
"I can see that," she smiled, "I feel even more envious right now."
Eames turned around to look at her, "Describe the perfect man for you and I'll find him."
She frowned and then laughed out loud, "You're incredible Mr. Eames."
"Hey, I mean it," he grinned. "I know a guy with a gentle heart, he's pretty, well-educated, mostly. He's not as rich as you're used to but he's capable of supporting a family."
She rolled her eyes, "I was married to a rich guy a few years back and believe me money isn't everything."
"Great," he stated proudly. "I know I will regret it but... Would you, and your mother, like to stay for a few days?"
Arthur chocked on his own spit, "Eames!"
"Well, you want her approval right?"
"Yeah but she does not have to stay."
"You have to work for it. We just made the first step but we possibly make two steps back when we let her leave."
Arthur groaned. "I hate you," he banged his head gently against Eames's shoulder. "Ileen, could you ask her to stay?"
"All right," she was glad for the offer, curious as she was she wanted to know more about her brother-in-law.