A/N: QUICK UPDATE! Hehe. This is chapter 6! WEEEE! Only 2 reviews this time, but I guess that's to be expected when you upload a new chapter the day after. REVIEW PLEASE!
xoxoxo
Calico Avangi: I'm sorry you had to endure that kind of sick prejudice. I can understand completely. I felt it my responsibility to show that not everything is happy happy for a gay couple. There's problems that arise from ignorant people. But, I'm glad you liked the chapter! You get to meet Drake's sister in this one, and yet another plot twist.
MoonstarSR: When you said update fast, you didn't think it would be the next day did you? –giggle- YAY! I love writing this fic. Hope you like this chapter as well as the last. Enjoy!
xoxoxo
Chapter 6:
"For Christ's sake, Drake! PUT THE MOP DOWN!"
JJ made a wild lunge for the cleaning tool and was able to grab onto the plastic handle with two hands. Unfortunately, Drake was still gripping the other end and holding on for dear life.
"You're... becoming... obsessive... COMPLUSIVE!" JJ grunted out as he pulled the mop free from Drake's fingers in one quick tug, "Stop cleaning! You're scaring the crap out of me! You don't even put your dirty clothes in the hamper and now you're mopping INSIDE THE PANTRY?!"
"It's dirty! And my sister's coming!" Drake shot back with vigor, "I haven't seen her in five years and she's coming OVER TODAY!"
Rubbing his temples with his fingertips, JJ took a deep breath and counted to ten, "If you don't stop yelling, you'll wake up Kallie." He stepped over the soapy water bucket to stand next to his stressed out boyfriend. Placing a soft kiss on his sweaty neck, he rubbed his back affectionately, "Listen, go take a shower and get dressed. Don't run yourself ragged before she even gets here."
"But there's still the-"
"No buts. Go, whatever needs to be done, I'll do it. You've got to chill out," JJ chuckled as he shoved Drake towards the door, "There's plenty of time for anxiety later. Like say, when you tell her you sleep with men now." Drake had refrained from letting his sister know about his current lifestyle over the phone because he wanted to tell her in person. It was better that he knew she was sitting down in case she fainted.
Drake shuddered for a second then reached out to open the swinging door, "That's not entirely true. I sleep with one man now. Singular." He flashed a smirk at the lavender haired man before disappearing into the adjoining room.
A few moments later, JJ heard the familiar sounds of water being pumped through the shower head. Damn right you only sleep with one. And luckily it just happens to be me. Ugh, I'm starting to feel nervous now, my stomach is twisting in on itself. What if she doesn't accept us? What if she doesn't like me? What if she thinks Drake's just going through a phase?
Mentally slapping himself, he set to work dumping out the dirtied water into the drain. Stop being pessimistic! We need at least one person to be tranquil tonight and I think that's going to be me. One step at a time...
He turned to give the gleaming kitchen a quick once-over. Everything was shining so brilliantly that you could see yourself in the counter. Deciding that it was acceptable, JJ wandered over to where Kallima was napping in the other room to wake her. There was only two hours till the set arrival, six o'clock, and she would have to be dressed in something besides her pink onesy.
oOoOoOoOoOo
The apartment went into a deadly silence when both detectives heard a firm knock on the door. This was it. This was the time when Drake would have to tell his family the truth. No more hiding from what was inevitable. And he was terrified. Trudging to the front maple door and dragging his feet to prolong the small distance, he suddenly wished he was anywhere but where he was at that exact point in time. With a quick intake of air, he turned the knob and met his sister.
"Hey Stephanie."
"DRAKE! It's been so long! And you look good! How have you been?" his sister cried as he flung her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug. Smiling at her eagerness, Drake embraced her back, glad to see that she was just as enthusiastic as the day he had left.
"I've been good. Well, great actually. Come in, come in... there's someone I want you to meet," Drake said as he ushered her into the hallway, taking the bottle of wine she had brought with her.
"Oh really now? You've finally met a girl you could hold down for more than a month?" Stephanie grinned as she waited for her brother to take her coat and walk her through the apartment, "Wow. I'm impressed little bro! It's a great flat you've got here."
"It's not really mine though," Drake commented as he led her by the arm to the living room.
"What?" she asked looking up, confused, "I don't get it."
"You'll see," replied the younger sibling, "Steph, I want you to meet JJ Adams."
JJ held out his hand cautiously, trying to suppress the shaking in his limb. Drake's sister was beautiful. Maybe the same height as the taller man, she had wavy, dirty blond hair down to her mid-back and the same hazel eyes as his partner's. She obviously worked out to keep her body in shape and this made younger man feel self conscious.
"Pleasure," she called cheerfully as she firmly shook JJ's hand, "I'm Stephanie Dalrym, Drake's oldest sister. Are you one of Drake's friends?"
Visibly paling, JJ waited for Drake to say something. The moment had come at last, but their carefully thought out conversation was lost to the both of them.
"Uh... yes and no," Drake stammered finally, "He's... well, he's... it's just that."
"I'm his boyfriend," JJ pronounced swiftly, determined to maintain eye contact even though he wanted nothing more then to crawl in a hole.
Drake's sister appeared not to be phased for a moment, "Oh... OH!" Her eyes widened in shock as she put her hand over her mouth when she gasped.
"Yeah, um... Steph? A lot's changed since I left California," Drake uttered swiftly.
"I... I can see that," his sister answered, looking JJ over once again in a whole new light.
"I know I should have told you. Here sit down," Drake placed his hands on her shoulders and tenderly pushed her onto the couch, "It must be a shock, I know. But listen, this is what I really want. I've been so happy for the past two years. It means so much to me that you still love me."
Stephanie opened and closed her mouth several times before decisively shutting it again. Looking deeply into her little brother's eyes, she saw all the desperation and hope that he felt. He really did desire this, whatever this was. He had never been so openly emotional before.
"Please say something Steph," Drake begged with a note of worry in his voice. JJ hadn't moved from where he was standing. He COULDN'T move. All the memories of his parents' reaction were flooding through his mind, the anger, the disappointment, the screaming, the crying, and the final disownment. Drake doesn't deserve that. It'll kill him...
The woman ultimately stretched her hands towards the kneeling man to hold his face between them, "Stupid, I'll always love you. That will never change. You're the little squirt who I picked on for decades and never once complained. And... and if this is what, I mean, who you are now... what am I supposed to do but love you even more?"
Drake drew his sister into his arms and held her close, squeezing his eyes shut to fight back the tears that were threatening to surface, "Thank you." Stephanie just smiled warmly as she returned her brother's hold, letting him hug her until he was in control of his emotions again. She guessed that it didn't matter who he was with anymore, as long as he was proud of his actions.
JJ turned away from the caring sight, too overcome by what had occurred. He felt grateful, relieved, happy, nostalgic, and jealous all at the same time. It was such a different scene from when his own father had slapped him across the face. 'I won't have a faggot for a son! If I have to beat it out of you, I will! What made you think that this sickness was acceptable!' His heart panged whenever he reflected on that night almost eleven years ago, how he had to crawl to his own room and lock himself in his bathroom. The very next week he was living in an apartment on the other side of the city. My love for them just wasn't enough...
"JJ, are you okay?"
He turned around wiping the redness from his eyes, "Yeah, I'm fine Drake. It's all right."
"Is JJ short for something?" Stephanie asked curiously, clearly in the mood to get the ball rolling.
"It's my first and middle initials, stands for Jemmy Jonathon."
"Hey! My son's name is Jonathon! What a coincidence," she beamed, "Well let's eat, I'm starving! You better have made something good Drake."
Shaking his head, Drake showed her to the kitchen, "Same hungry beast as always. Hey JJ? Grab Kallie and let's have dinner."
"Sounds good," JJ responded. He let his shoulders relax and let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Here goes...
"Who's Kallie?" asked Stephanie.
"She's the baby we've been taking care of."
Raising one of her elegant eye brows she added, "Maybe you should start from the beginning..."
oOoOoOoOoOo
Dinner was an enjoyable affair. Stephanie wasn't a shy person in the slightest and had the talent of keeping a conversation moving. JJ could now see why Drake had once referred to her as "the chatterbox", she simply had too much to say in a short amount of time.
"Mom has been really upset that you haven't come out to visit. She threw a complete temper tantrum last Christmas and Dad isn't much better. We really miss you since you transferred from the L.A.P.D. And Sandra had another baby, a girl this time, and she's only thirty-two. Only God knows who many more she'll bring into this world. Hopefully it isn't more than eight. Do you have any siblings JJ?"
The smaller man didn't say anything as he took in her last string of words. He didn't even know if she breathed during her onslaughts, "I'm an only child."
"Oh, well that's too bad," she replied, "Making fun of Daisy Boy here, used to be my entire world of entertainment."
Drake shot his sister a warning glance before JJ questioned, "Daisy Boy?"
"He didn't tell you about that?" she smirked.
"No, I didn't and you better keep your mouth shut," Drake growled from across the table.
"I think not," Stephanie said with a teasing air, "I was saving up this story to tell your fiancée, but since this is the closest you're going to get..."
"Say one word about that incident and you'll wish you never had," Drake threatened.
JJ's curiosity was piqued however, "No, go on. I want to hear this."
"Well, when Drake was seven he used to help our mom work in the gardens on our front lawn-"
"Steph..."
"-and he used to think that they were his friends-"
"Stephanie..."
"-so when a group of teenage boys came and stomped all over them-"
"Stop..."
"-he sobbed for weeks on end, saying that they had hurt his best friends' feelings-"
"Quit talking!"
"-The only way to calm the thing down was to have a funeral for every single one, each of them having a name-"
JJ was giggling silently at the thought. Drake didn't seem the child to care much about plants, but there was still a lot he didn't know. It as endearing to imagine him as a second grader, burying flowers because they "were murdered". Surprising but not unpleasant. Drake's face was so red that it was almost purple, apparently he didn't think his fanatical love of flowers was cute at all.
"Aw, Drake, that's adorable," JJ cooed.
"So we called him Daisy Boy for the rest of the year," Stephanie smiled, "But maybe it would have been more appropriate if we said fairy boy?"
"Stop embarrassing me!" Drake said, an octave higher than his voice usually was.
"What kind of a sister would I be if I didn't tease you hmm?" she answered as she reached over to ruffle his blond hair, "Well, I better be going. I told Fred that I'd be back by ten."
The sounds of chairs scraping against the floor and dishes being stacked was the only noise for a couple minutes. It had been a wonderful night after all. Drake's family seemed to be everything JJ had hoped it would be, spunky, talkative, loving, and most of all open minded.
"I'll call you okay?" Stephanie exclaimed as she put on her leather jacket, "Just to tell you that the news goes over well and all."
"Yeah, do that," answered Drake as he gave her one last hug.
"Come down this Christmas," she nodded before she looked over his shoulder, "And we'd love to have you too JJ."
JJ couldn't find the words to reply. No one had ever asked him over to a family gathering before. Drake seemed to get the message though.
"We'll see, sis. Safe flight back okay?"
"Absolutely. Love you." She walked to the elevator at the end of the hall, and waved goodbye before the silver doors closed together.
"I love you too," whispered Drake before returning inside the condo, "Whoa, JJ what's wrong?"
The smaller man just shook his head, too choked up to reply. He didn't even know what had brought on all these feelings, or what these feelings were. But the way Drake had said goodbye touched him in a way he didn't expect.
"I... don't know," JJ cried as he let Drake put his arms around him, "I'm not sad... I don't know what this is."
"Shh... it's okay, it's okay," Drake fussed as he crushed JJ to his chest, "It's all right."
The only response he received was JJ clasping the back of his shirt harder, hiccupping occasionally. Drake swayed his partner back and forth like his mother used to do for him. The movement pacifying all his pressure and worries. Murmuring kindly every few minutes, he continued to rock side to side.
'RING RING RING!'
'RING RING RING!'
"Hey JJ, you stay here, let me answer this really quickly."
"Sure, go ahead," sighed JJ as he leaned against the wall.
Drake paced over to the telephone and picked up, "Hello?"
"Is that you Drake?" said Janet from the other end.
"Oh, Janet, yeah... what's up?" he wondered.
"I, well, I found, uh, Kallima's stuff," she declared shakily.
"That's fantastic! It's what we've been waiting for! We might actually get in touch with a prep now."
"Drake, there's a reason why I couldn't find her birth certificate right away..."
"Does that really matter? We found it anyways... oh wait here while I get some paper."
"Drake, DRAKE, WAIT!"
But her shouts were in vain as Drake raced to a nearby desk, yanking a drawer open and taking out a large yellow notepad. Two great things happening in one day. This was too good. They would finally know who Kallie was, what her real birthday was, her records, her circumstances...
"Okay shoot!"
"Parker! Listen to me.."
"Just give me her stats Janet."
"Fine, her name, Heather Webber. She was born on May the fourth in Memorial Hospital to John Webber and Candice Smith, but Drake..."
"Heather huh? Well it's better than Gertrude at least."
"SHUT UP! I'm not done yet. I didn't get this information from her birth certificate Drake."
"What?" Drake queried, not sure that he heard right, "What do you mean"
"I... I found her... death certificate. Look, Drake... she died the day after she was born, May the fifth."
Drake's receiver fell to the floor with a loud 'thunk'.
A/N: Wow! I loved writing that chapter! I love Drake's sister! I always envisioned that as the kind of people Drake grew up with! And OOO... PLOT TWIST! DUN DUN DUN!!!
Review for me please. Just to make sure I still have a following of people willing to read. And tell me what you think is going on... I'm curious as to what you believe is in the future!