Chapter 37

He stepped back and looked at the canvas, scrutinizing his work with a trained eye. He noticed right off the attention to detail, the color and the sharper edges of the picture. A frown of concentration crossed his lips as he dipped his paintbrush into the paint and made careful strokes enhancing the picture, trying his best to bring the image to life.

He stopped when he heard his name being called and wiped his brow with his forearm, causing paint to smear on his face. Placing the brush and the pallet down he glanced at his clock and realized it was already late afternoon. Time always seemed to go fast when he was working on a piece, and he was grateful that Luke understood how important it was to him. Not that he was surprised; they had an unspoken rule; Luke liked peace and quiet when he wrote too.

He had expected time to go slowly, but for the most part the week was moving along pretty quickly. It was already Thursday, and while he missed Robbie immensely, he found it easy to spend time with his family. It was as if he had a month to make up for the fact that he was away from Luke and Landon, and once he was fully recovered he could do the same with his boyfriend.

Thinking about Robbie made him smile. They talked every night since Robbie got to school. His roommate had shown up on Monday, and according to Robbie the guy was definitely a contradictory of terms. He was tall, blond, athletic and very anal about his hair and looking good. On the flipside however he was anything but a neat person. It reminded Laurie of his uncle and his incessant need to leave wet towels on the bed, and shirts tossed wherever he could throw them. Despite that though, Robbie seemed to like Grant though he hadn't quite figured out what the guy's views on gays were.

He could hear the baby laughing as he entered the kitchen and was only partially surprised to see Luke tapping away at the keys on his laptop. The baby hit the table of his walker excitedly as Laurie drew closer, and he bent down to pat the baby on the head, pressing a kiss against his forehead.

"Oh there you are," Luke said looking up from his computer. "I'm sorry, I called you and then had a thought I needed to get down. I just figured we could eat and talk before your uncle got home."

"I'd like that," Laurie said taking a seat at the table. "How is the story coming along?"

"I think I need an opinion," Luke said even as his fingers continued to tap away at the keys. He stopped a few minutes later and turned the laptop around for Laurie to see. "Think you can look at this for me?"

"Me?" Laurie asked surprised yet touched by the offer. "You want me to read it?"

Luke smiled and got up from his seat, placing a hand on Laurie's shoulder. "Don't look so surprised" Laurie watched him walk off before turning his attention to the computer. The document was already at the starting point, and the first words automatically caught his attention.

The first thing I noticed was those expressive violet eyes. You can tell a lot about a person by looking into their eyes, and with one glance I knew all I needed to know.

He was still reading when Luke returned to the table with two bowls of homemade potato soup. His eyes were riveted on the screen, even as the smell of hot food tickled at his nose. He could hear Luke lifting Landon out of his walker, and knew the moment the baby was in his high chair.

It wasn't until he felt Luke's hand on his shoulder that he looked up, blinking back the tears that pooled in his eyes. "What did you think?"

"It's about us," Laurie said stating what he knew to be the obvious. "You're writing a story about us?"

"I was trying to," Luke said a smile touching his lips. "Do you think I got enough of the details right?"

Laurie nodded and leaned forward to pull Luke into a hug. "I love you, Luke. I'm glad you took me in too."

Beside them Landon clapped his hands and gurgled happily. Luke and Laurie pulled out of the embrace after a moment and concentrated on their soup. Luke smashed a potato and gave it to Landon who chewed happily as he listened to his brother and his father talk.

"Your uncle is going to be late tonight," Luke said placing the phone down beside him. He and Laurie were sitting on the couch in the living room, while Landon crawled around the floor, pulling himself up on various surfaces in his attempts to walk.

"Can we have Chinese for dinner then?"Laurie asked.

"Is that what you would like?"

"I promise not to get anything too heavy, but I am craving fried rice and some chicken and broccoli."

"Sounds like a plan to me. You get the menu; I'll go tend to Landon and Lucky."

Forty-five minutes later, Luke and Laurie were sitting on the floor with cartons of food between them, laughing and just enjoying each other's company. Landon crawled beside them, pulling himself up on their shoulders, waiting to be fed.

"Are you ready for school?" Luke asked as he fed Landon a bite of rice. "I know what it's like to have to miss school because of a hospital stay. Online classes can be strenuous."

Landon dropped down onto his knees and crawled over to Laurie.

"I think I'm ready," He said handing his brother a piece of broccoli. "I'm looking forward to getting to campus though."

"I know what you mean," Luke acknowledged as Landon toddled over to him looking for more food. He fed the baby another spoonful of rice before focusing on Laurie. "I missed it when I wasn't there anymore. Being on campus can be so much fun."

"Why'd you stop?" Laurie asked curiously.

"Fear mostly," Luke shrugged and focused on his carton of rice. "After the kidnapping I was afraid of everything and everyone it seemed. Being alone was frightening, but being in a crowded room of people was just terrifying."

"Uncle Reid is claustrophobic too," Laurie pointed out thoughtfully. "He tries to deal with it as s best he can, but sometimes he gets overwhelmed."

"I noticed that when we were in the airport," Luke acknowledged. "I don't think I ever would have guessed that about him."

"Well, that's kind of my point," Laurie stopped to feed Landon some rice before taking a bite himself. "You are a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, Luke. I think you are more than ready to conquer your fear of the unknown. Isn't that what you always tell me?" Luke nodded as Landon moved away from him with another piece of chicken in his hands. "Okay then," Laurie continued, you should take your own advice. Come to school with us and take some classes. Get back into campus life, you won't be disappointed."

"I can't do that," Luke shook his head, a slight smile crossing his lips. He liked sitting with Laurie just chatting about anything and everything. It had been awhile since they had talked so openly. "I couldn't possibly live on campus…I have a baby to raise."

"You don't have to live on campus to be a part of campus life," Laurie pointed out. "You know that. There's a daycare on campus, Landon could stay there while you have classes and I think it would be fun. You should really consider it."

"You're right it would be fun…I have to talk it over with Reid first though. But I'll think about it okay."

Laurie smiled and placed his carton of rice down on the floor beside him, before reaching for his drink. "Speaking of Uncle Reid," he said taking a sip of his drink, while simultaneously keeping the carton away from Landon. "I hope you know I am really am happy for the two of you. I think anything that connects me more to you is definitely a good thing."

"James said something like that once to me," Luke smiled fondly at the memory. He leaned in allowing his son to kiss him on the lips before handing him yet another piece of chicken.

"Is he going to be okay?" Laurie asked the concern clear in his violet eyes.

"I hope so," Luke replied softly. He fed Landon another bite of rice before gently pulling the baby down into a seated position, telling him to stay put. "No matter what the result of the biopsy turns out to be we're going to stand by him as always."

"Of course we are," Laurie said with conviction. "I'm just concerned about RJ. I know he's having a hard time with me being sick…"

"He was very worried about you," Luke acknowledged. We all were, and we still are of course. You're going to be fine and so is James."

"I guess we're all a little hypersensitive about things this year," Laurie commented, placing his carton of rice on the floor again. When Landon attempted to move Luke placed a gentle but firm hand on his arm and told him to stay. The baby looked up at his father with sad eyes but Luke didn't budge.

"James has won this battle before," he said turning his attention back to Laurie. "And we both could tell you stories about being in the hospital. He survived being stabbed."

"Wow I don't think RJ ever told me that one."

"It was about a year before Robbie came to live with us," Luke explained. "It was our birthday in fact, and I can still remember him collapsing into my arms"

"That must have been scary."

"It was," Luke frowned. "Noah chased down the guy who did it. James pretty much saved my life that night, and almost paid the price for it."

"I'm sure he'd do it again in a heartbeat though."

"I know he would," Luke frowned. "I don't know if this will sound harsh, but losing Noah was hard…I think losing James would hurt more."

"Not harsh, just honest," Laurie said softly. "And I think I get it. Nothing can duplicate the relationship you have with your best friend. You can fall in love again if you're lucky, and some people fall in love many times…but when you lose your best friend…no matter how many friends you have after that it's just not the same."

Luke nodded, feeling there was nothing he could add to that sentiment. "You sound a lot like your uncle," he said a moment later, a soft smile replacing his serious frown.

"Mom used to say that from time to time," Laurie said wistfully. "She didn't talk about Uncle Reid much but, every now and again if I said something she'd get this faraway look in her eye and say 'you remind me so much of your uncle.' But then I would ask about him and she'd change the subject."

Luke remained silent, using his drink as a distraction as he reflected on Laurie's statement. It seemed to him that Eden had loved her brother, and missed him…but he could only wonder why she hadn't reached out to him in the end. Thinking about Reid's family led him to thoughts of his own unruly bunch. It occurred to him that there was a reason they all gravitated towards each other…even with Reid's addition they were all looking for the same thing; acceptance; sometimes it that was just as important as love.

Reid could hear the muffled laughter as he approached the door, and he wasn't surprised to see Luke and Laurie sitting on the floor with cartons of half eaten Chinese food between them. He placed his doctor's bag down by the door and shrugged out of his jacket, hanging it on the coat rack before settling down on the floor beside Luke. He kissed Luke on the cheek while simultaneously picking up the carton of rice, eating from Luke's fork as Laurie and Luke looked on with amusement.

Landon grew excited when he saw Reid and went to crawl over to him, only to be thwarted by Luke. "I told you to sit," Luke said sternly, though his hands remained gentle as he settled his son back in his spot. Tears welled up in Landon's eyes, a pout forming on his face as he looked up at his daddy. "You stay until I tell you its okay to move."

"Has he been misbehaving today," Reid asked conversationally.

"Just a little," Laurie allowed. "Luke doesn't often have to talk to him more than once though."

"This is nothing," Luke said smiling despite his weariness. "You remember what Georgie was like at this age."

"Yeah that wasn't too long ago," Laurie chuckled. "I believe they just want to see what they can get away with."

"That's exactly it," Luke agreed. "Okay, Landon you can go to Daddy," he said running a hand over his son's blond head. Landon tilted his head as if to gauge his father's words before getting on his hands and knees, crawling over his daddy's legs to get to Reid who placed the carton of rice on the floor beside him to take the baby into his lap.

"Are you giving your daddy trouble?" he asked, turning Landon to face him. Landon made some sounds in his attempt to make words and Reid sat and listened, nodding as if he really understood. "Okay, well here's what I want you to do from now on okay. If Daddy or your brother tells you to do something I want you to listen to them. You know we all love you very much." Landon made more noise and nodded his head causing Reid to smile. "Yeah we do, and we only make rules because we don't want you to get hurt. So remember that, okay? It's for your own good. Do you understand? Okay good, now give me a kiss." Landon kissed Reid on the nose and Reid returned the gesture, placing his kiss on Landon's forehead. "Now go apologize to daddy."

Landon crawled back over to Luke's arms and hugged his little arms around his neck, his soft breath hitting Luke's neck as he held him close. "I love you too Lan," he said softly, pressing his lips to the top of the baby's head. He smiled over at Reid, who just raised an eyebrow and placed another forkful of rice into his mouth.

They sat like that for another hour or so, talking back and forth while Landon fell asleep in Luke's lap. He excused himself to put the baby to bed leaving Laurie and Reid to talk amongst themselves. When Luke returned Reid was relaying stories about his days in college. He settled down beside him, smiling when Reid wrapped his arm around his shoulders as he continued to relay the story of the one college party he allowed himself to attend. Laurie's eyes remained riveted, his smile bright as he listened and Luke couldn't help but smile himself. Watching Laurie and Reid together always made him happy. This was what family was supposed to be like. He rather liked it.