Part 4
He is strong and pain is worse to the strong. Incapacity is worse.
- Robinson Jeffers
Chapter 25
1425 Hillcrest Ave
Pasadena, CA
11/12/05
Spencer
They were taking the red-eye back to DC tonight. It had been a long week, but it had been worth it. With all the hearings and meetings at least he was going back knowing that his family would be safe at Galois House, protected by the University until he could come retrieve them next summer. He could go to work with a clear head knowing that they were safe.
Right now Morgan was downstairs with Stevie and the social worker, cleaning out Stevie's closet under the supervision of the lawyer's representative, and he and Thom and Milly were in one of the attic storage spaces, going through the things Mark had brought from England so long ago with his music collection playing in the background. They'd had precious little private time over the past few visits, and they needed it, badly. "I still can't believe he knew." Spencer said, scooping the hair back from his eyes. "Unless someone from the school told him. Is this Peter Gabriel?"
"Yes, it is." Milly confirmed. "Get used to it, I get his music collection."
"The observations the USC people make are kept strictly confidential." Thom pointed out. He'd brought up a notebook and pen, of course, but he set those aside to help them shift boxes. "Granted he was also a trained observer, a good lawyer would have to be."
"And we thought we could hide things from him." Milly sighed. "We were really that stupid."
"No." Spencer corrected her. "I think we were having a…a moment of being adolescents." They all had a chuckle at that one. "What are we doing up here anyway?"
"I wanted to find great-grandma's trunk before Sharon could get her mitts into it." Milly shoved another stack of boxes. "Most of this is crap left over from the last however many times Sharon hired a decorator. I think that might be it."
"Is Sharon not living here anymore?" Spencer asked as he helped with the box shuffling.
"Nope, apparently after our meeting, Gary took possession of the house and changed the locks. She was only going to be allowed to live here if Stevie was living with her and since he refused she was out on her ass. Now we all get to pack up our things and move out and then the house and the contents will be sold and the money put back in the trust. Ooff!" That box must be heavier than it looked.
"And you're not upset about losing your childhood home?" Spencer asked. "Stevie's not?"
"With all the crap Sharon pulled here? He's looking forward to it. I'll be more upset about leaving the Langham, that's where all the good memories are." Milly gave one more shove. "No, I plan to go buy the oldest house in DC that I can, some place that's quaint and inefficient and has some real history. And a big kitchen."
"So there's no chance of Sharon wandering in here?" Thom wanted to be sure.
"No, I have a restraining order and she's only allowed supervised visits with Stevie. Gary and her lawyer worked out a schedule of when we can be here to pack. I'm taking the week off to get it done, with the company of a social worker just in case. Once our rooms are cleared she can take what she likes, most of it was stuff she picked out anyway. Also…" She looked over at Spencer. "Remind me to take Derek out for a nice dinner or something. I am so glad he and Stevie have hit it off, you have no idea."
Spencer had an idea, Milly had been her brother's support through all of this but even she needed a break and some support of her own, and having Morgan step in was probably a huge help. "I will. What are you going to do with everything that you don't need at the House?"
"I don't know. I need to go through it all but I won't have time to do it before it's boxed."
"Have whatever you won't need before next summer shipped to DC. I'll put it in storage there and you can go through it before the next school year starts."
She sighed. "That would be perfect, thank you. Okay, here we go." They'd reached the trunk at last. She wiped off the name place. "M. Lyden-Bennett. Yep, it's locked."
"Just give me a minute." Spencer had brought his lock pick kit, now he went to work.
"Did he ever tell you about her?" Thom asked. He'd found a spot on the floor to watch, and sketch if the desire arose. They didn't mind, they knew how much of a comfort it was for him.
"No. Dad said his father was raised by relatives after the war, she pined away after losing her husband Peter and…and their friend Henry Lyden in the Blitz." She smiled as she finally realized what it all meant. "He said no one ever talked about that branch of the family, they were terribly bohemian."
"Well if my mental math is correct she would have come of age in the Edwardian era, right before World War I." He smiled up at her. "La Belle Époque, isn't that right around the time the Free Love movement hit its stride?"
"While the phrase free love is often associated with promiscuity in the popular imagination, especially in reference to the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s, historically the free-love movement has not advocated multiple sexual partners or short-term sexual relationships." Spencer pointed out. "Rather, it has argued that love relations that are freely entered into should not be regulated by law."
"Including the laws against polyfidelity?" Milly asked. She closed her eyes and groaned a little. "I can't imagine her losing both of them."
"Good point. Got it." One twist and the lock popped. He lifted the lid an inch and recoiled. "At least you don't have to worry about moths, or losing us."
"Good thing." Milly stepped over and lifted the lid. All they saw at first was a carefully folded sheet, but when she unfolded it…"Oh!" It was a long, delicate gown trimmed in laces and ribbons, all aged to the color of pale cream. "It's beautiful!" She carefully lifted it out and held it up to her body, and Spencer felt his mouth go very dry. "You know, I think it might fit."
"Want to try it on?" Thom asked.
"Not without a seamstress on hand, just in case." She replied, "And not in front of the groom."
"There are other ways." Thom found his notebook. "Stand there a minute."
Spencer pictured himself slowly peeling her out of it, in front of a mirror in a room with a big, soft bed. "Does this mean we're still going through with it?"
Milly looked over her shoulder at him. "Do you still want to? I mean, it's a formality; I'm keeping both of you. But Dad knew and he still wanted it this way, I'd like to respect that. And..." She blushed, which did not help Spencer's current state. "...okay, I admit, I always wanted to be a bride."
"I still want to." Right at that moment marrying her was the only possible future. That and a wedding night. Okay, this train of thought was starting to ache.
"Leave room at the foot of the bed for me." Thom said abstractly, his nose in his notebook. "Is there a veil in there?"
"We'll need a bed big enough for three." She replied. "I don't know."
"There is." Spencer carefully pulled the delicate lace from the trunk and tucked the comb in behind her ribbon. This just kept getting better. Unfortunately it was also making his pants even tighter.
And Thom, sitting on the floor, noticed. "Problems?" He asked quietly, giving his lover a private smile.
"Shut up." Spencer grinned and went back into the trunk. "It looks like there's only the rest of the stuff from the dress in here, but the main compartment is too shallow."
"Is there anything in the till? Ready?" Milly asked the last of Thom, who nodded. With that she carefully tucked the dress and veil away again. "I always thought…" She stopped, her eyes glistening.
"Shoes." Spencer told her, holding up the delicate ribbon and lace trimmed heels. "You always thought what?"
"That either I'd have to have the most embarrassing wedding ever, so Sharon could shine, or else she'd find a way to ruin it for me." She admitted. "I kept thinking 'we could elope to Vegas, get married before Sharon even knew we were gone, but it would break Dad's heart so I have to go through with it'." She sighed. "I guess I can have what I want now."
"I never knew it was that big a deal for you." Spencer admitted.
"Me neither." Thom replied.
"I didn't want Sharon to know." Milly told them. "She tends to destroy the things she can reach."
"Well we'll have a grand party now, peaches." Thom said. "And Mark will be there, you know that."
"I know."
As she put the dress away Spencer noticed something. "Hold on." Sure enough, there was a hidden latch that lowered the front of the trunk. Beneath the main compartment were three drawers. "I wonder what's here."
Milly closed the top of the trunk, opened a drawer and grinned, "Letters!" The drawer was filled with aged, folded papers, many tucked into envelopes still. And pictures were tucked in as well. The three of them grinned at each other. "Someday someone will find ours like this."
"If they can decode them," Spencer agreed. He opened the drawer on his side, and found three leather bound books. Ever so carefully he picked one out, and cradled the spine as he opened it. "I think these are her journals."
"Now that is a treasure." Thom pointed out. "You can't leave those here."
"I'm not. I keep all my personal papers to the House; these are going back with me." Milly carefully opened the tiny center drawer. Inside were an elegant fountain pen and two holes for ink bottles. One slot held a bottle, but the other held a bit of wrapped up silk. She picked that out, unfolded it and gasped.
Thom had been finishing his sketch, and Spencer had been bringing back a basket he spotted earlier, but at the sound they both stopped and looked. There in the cloth were three rings, three delicately engraved bands, one set with three small diamonds. "These must have been their wedding rings." She realized.
"They're beautiful." Thom agreed. "What are you going to do with them?"
She studied them a moment. "I don't have either of my Dad's wedding rings." She told them. "And given his marriages, the…symbolism there would be very wrong."
"I was going to find an engagement ring when I got back to DC." Spencer admitted.
Milly grinned at him. "Don't you dare." She offered the handful of rings, and he nimbly plucked the one with the diamonds free and slid it over her finger. "As I said, I am keeping the both of you." She said, taking each of their hands in turn and sliding a band over the ring finger. "Done?"
Spencer reached up, cupped her cheek, and leaned in for a long, slow kiss. She smelled of roses and powder and something rich and heady under it all and when she opened she tasted of tea and maple syrup and felt like home and turned his blood molten, "Done."
Thom's cheek was scratchy under his palm, and he smelled of mint soap and spicy aftershave and when he opened he tasted of coffee and caramels and he felt wild and strong and so very safe. "Done." Thom said with a grin.
Spencer watched as Milly turned and accepted a similar kiss from Thom and as always it was the most exquisite thing he had ever seen, "Done." She said.
"Done what?" Morgan asked from the stairs. "I hope you mean done in here because it's time to get going."
Thom looked back at the two of them and held up his notebook in a question. Spencer nodded and saw Milly's nod out of the corner of his eye. "Done with this," he held up the sketch of Milly actually in her grandmother's wedding dress and Spencer felt anything he could say die in his throat. She was everything he had ever dreamed and more.
"God, Thom, that can't be me." Milly marveled.
"Well, I did have to interpret a little to get you into the thing." He admitted.
"Damn," was all Morgan had to say. He looked over at Spencer. "You're in trouble."
Spencer could only nod for a moment. The thought of peeling her out of that dress was going to keep him occupied for… "We just need to clean out these drawers." He told Morgan, as they set to work carefully packing the letters and journals for the trip back to the House.
In the driveway, just after the lawyer's representative had locked the door and driven away Milly groaned. "Oh! I forgot my hair ribbons!"
"You have some." Thom replied. "Sharon isn't likely to make off with those. Get them next week."
"Right."
.
Note: This chapter includes a cut scene, which can be found at the LiveJournal account associated to this story. Just follow the link at the bottom of my profile.