Author's Note: Almost done!

(23) Unreality

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'Hey, Jack!' Ralph called as he returned to the kitchen, having realized that the other's conversation with his mother was over. 'What's this?'

Jack emerged from the kitchen a moment later, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw a slip of paper in Ralph's hand.

'Hey! You finally got it!' he exclaimed. 'I slipped it into your mail slot before . . . you know . . . we made up and whatever. It's an acrostic poem of your name.

Ralph read it.

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Romantic

Awesome

Loving

Pleasing

Hysterical

Mine

Athletic

Clever

Prince

Handsome

Emotional

Remarkable

Stubborn

Original

Noble

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'It's beautiful!' he said gleefully. 'I can't believe you did this for me.'

'Yeah, you ruined it, though,' Jack said absentmindedly, having glanced over his lover's shoulder to read the poem as well. 'You must have stepped on it yesterday when you ran into the house.'

'Or I may have just missed it and you stepped on it when you ran into my house,' Ralph retorted. 'There's always that possibility as well.'

'Although with lower odds.'

The two glared at each other . . . then burst out laughing!

'Heh! I can't stay mad at you long, baby,' Jack said, embracing the other teen.

'Neither can I,' Ralph admitted. 'Not anymore.'

'However, I do know that I can most definitely get pleasure from you,' Jack said, winking.

And just like that, something that the twins had once said returned to Ralph's mind.

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'Our point is that you saw the long-term results of our actions. Jack only lived for the present, for those brief moments of pleasure.'

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Needless to say, Ralph suddenly felt uneasy.

'What's wrong?' Jack asked, having immediately noticed the other teen's change of attitude.

'Nothing,' the latter responded, but his actions said otherwise, for he had pulled out of the other's embrace

'Yes, there is. Was it something I said?'

'No,' Ralph said, avoiding his lover's gaze.

'Ralph . . . Talk to me . . . please?'

'. . . You really had me fooled, huh?'

'Huh?'

'Is that all that you were after? Am I just another notch in your belt?' he asked, unable to keep the pain from lacing his voice.

'What are you talking about, Ralph? If I recall, you were the one who wanted to carry through last night.'

'Pleasure . . .' Ralph said slowly, ignoring the other's outburst. '"I can most definitely get pleasure from you", that's what you said.'

'And I meant it,' Jack said seriously. 'What? Is that wrong?'

'I can't believe this!' Ralph exclaimed, going off at a tangent. 'We just got back together and we're already arguing.'

'I don't define this as arguing unless we both know what's going on,' Jack said, raising his voice slightly, 'so tell me, Ralph!'

'Pleasure! Is it one of your sick, little perversities to sleep with every virgin you meet, or what!'

'Well, at least now I know what you're talking about,' Jack muttered. 'But you have it all wrong.'

'Oh, do I?'

'Yes! It's true that I could get pleasure from you, so I'm not going to take back what I said. But, Ralph, I didn't say what kind of pleasure!' Jack raked a hand through his bed-disheveled hair.

'What?'

'The pleasure that I get from you goes far beyond physical pleasure,' Jack explained. Then he placed his hand over his heart. 'I know that this'll sound cheesy, but I really believe that we have a connection! "You are my heart", remember?'

'"You are my heart",' Ralph repeated slowly. 'Yes, I remember.'

'And that's something that I really believe in,' Jack said. 'Don't you believe in us?'

Having realized that he had been jumping to conclusions, Ralph allowed a small smile to grace his face.

'Would I be here with you now if I didn't?' he inquired. Then he sighed. 'I am so sorry, love. Can you forgive me?'

Now it was Jack's turn to smile.

'There's nothing to forgive . . . I love you, Ralph, and that love is where I find my pleasure.'

"Hmm . . ." Ralph thought as they embraced once more. "The twins were wrong. Jack has changed so much since we were rescued from that island. He has . . . matured." He closed his eyes, savouring the feel of having his loved one hold him closely. "I was wrong, too. I guess that Jack does understand the meaning of love."

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And I swear

By the moon and the stars in the sky

I'll be there

I swear

Like the shadow that's by your side

I'll be there

For better or worse

Till death do us part

I'll love you with every beat of my heart

I swear (1)

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After sharing a heart-filled kiss, the pair returned upstairs to peacefully sleep the rest of the night away. They both knew that they could not live without the other . . . so why bother trying?

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Ring.

Startled out of his nap, Mr. Macpherson looked about accusingly to find out who had disturbed the relative peace of the airplane. He was currently flying home in the company's private plane, having completed his business trip the day before. They were to arrive in Britain by mid-afternoon.

Ring.

"Shut the bloody hell up!" he screamed mentally. "Some of us are trying to sleep here!" Then he shifted slightly in his seat to get more comfortable and closed his eyes once more. It was not all that early in the morning, but Mr. Macpherson was still fairly exhausted from his immense workload. That, in addition to jetlag, was definitely taking its toll on the man.

Ring.

Just then, one of the stewardesses came over and tapped his lightly on the shoulder.

'Excuse me, sir,' she said politely.

'Yes'm?' he asked tiredly.

Ring.

'Sir, I believe that is your cell phone ringing.'

Mr. Macpherson flushed.

'Huh?' He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone.

Ring.

'Well, I'll be,' he muttered to himself. 'Who could be calling me in these . . . circumstances?' He rubbed at his eyes to clear the last remnants of sleep from them before finally answering the call. 'Macpherson here,' he said professionally, flipping his cell phone open. 'Is that you, Joe?' he asked, assuming it to be one of his colleagues. 'Listen, if it's about the M.S.C. invoices, I'll have Charlotte fax them to you on Monday. As for me, I am officially a free man as of today, remember?'

There was a pause at the other end, as if the listener needed time to regain his bearings. Either that or there was no one there to begin with.

'You quit your job?' the other asked, crossing the latter possibility from Mr. Macpherson's mind.

'Yes, Joe. Really, if you didn't have Emily to write down all those memos for you, you'd forget your own name.'

'But I thought that you were on a business trip.'

'I was just tying up some loose ends.'

'. . . You are Macpherson, correct?'

'Yes, Joe.' The man sighed impatiently. 'Stop fooling around.'

'Um . . . I'm not Joe.'

Mr. Macpherson paled slightly.

'Who are you? I demand that you tell me who you are!'

'A friend,' the other said. 'And I need to talk to you.'

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Ralph awoke late the following morning to the sound of his mother's rather shrill voice echoing from downstairs.

'Ralph, dear!' she called out. 'I'm home!'

The teen's eyes widened in horror.

"SHIT! HOW AM I GOING TO EXPLAIN—!"

'Jack!' he heard his mother exclaim in surprise. 'I hadn't expected to see you here.'

"SHIT!" Jumping out of bed, Ralph hastily ran down the corridor, intent on giving his mother a proper explanation for the other teen's presence. Translation: he was going to bullshit his way through and hope that she didn't notice. He had just reached the top of the stairs when he heard Jack's reply.

'It's good to see you again, and I apologize for intruding, Mrs. Macpherson,' he said politely. 'I just arrived an hour or so ago and, I must say, seeing you this early in the morning has certainly brightened my day.'

Then Ralph heard his mother giggling.

'Stop it!' she said, still giggling. 'You're embarrassing me, dear. What would my husband say if he were to hear you talk to me like that?'

'He would probably agree with me,' Jack said confidently.

She laughed again. Then asked, 'Where's Ralph? What kind of a host is he to leave you alone like this?'

'He . . . He . . .' Jack stuttered, obviously searching for a reason.

"Come on, Jack," Ralph urged silently. "You're doing to great so far."

'He's changing,' Jack finally said. 'Yeah. You see, I wanted to surprise him, so I didn't tell him that I was coming. Unfortunately, I came so early that I woke him up, so he . . . he wanted to change his clothes.'

'But you said that you arrived an hour ago,' Ralph's mother reminded him.

Ralph froze in place, and he had a strong feeling that Jack had done the same.

'Are you saying that he was walking about in his nightclothes since then?' she asked.

'Er . . .'

"Uh-oh," the brunet thought worriedly.

Then she suddenly laughed.

'Never mind, Jack. You don't have to tell me. He probably just forgot about his attire when he saw you.'

'Heh! Maybe,' Jack replied.

Ralph breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whew! That was a close one!"

Realizing that he was unneeded, the teen returned to his bedroom to hide any remnants of Jack from it. Then, of course, he changed before going down to meet two of the people he loved the most.

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Hours later, after having shared stories and, in the Macphersons' case, food for lunch, the trio was joined by another.

Ding dong.

'Who could that be?' Ralph asked aloud.

'Maybe it's your father,' the teen's mother said, 'but that's silly. If it was him, then he would have used his house key.'

'Whoever it is, we should probably answer it.' He started to get up, but Jack placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

'Don't worry. I'll get it.' The latter winked. 'You know, just in case it isn't your father and is a door-to-door salesman. I know how to deal with those guys!'

'But it's Sunday!' Ralph reminded him. 'And what makes you think that I don't know how to deal—?'

But Jack was already on his way to the front door.

'Hellooo?' Jack inquired playfully, sticking his head out the door.

'Erm . . .' The man standing on the step looked at him strangely. Then he rubbed his eyes before looking at him once more. 'Sorry,' he apologized. 'I must have been gone longer than I should have been. I could have sworn that this was my house. Sorry,' he said again, turning away.

Jack read the name on his briefcase as he turned.

'Mr. Macpherson?'

The other man turned around.

'Ah, so this is the right house!' he exclaimed. 'I'm a bit tired right now.'

If Jack was an anime character, he knew that he would have sweat-dropped right about now.

'Am I right to assume that you are Jack Merridew?' He held out his hand.

Jack took it and shook it firmly.

'The one and only, sir . . . at least, I think that I'm the one and only.'

'Ha! I knew that it was you right from the start! I just wanted to see if you'd play along!' He winked.

'Um . . . Right, sir.'

"Strange," Jack thought. "You'd never believe that this guy was such a successful businessman. He seems more like the kind of person who cracks jokes at parties and lights his farts on fire with a lighter."

'It's good to finally meet you, sir,' the teen said, easily meeting his eye. 'I've been looking forward to this.'

Mr. Macpherson returned his gaze evenly.

'So have I . . . Although, now that I think about it, I believe that I had a brief glimpse of you back in London. Am I right?'

'Yes, sir,' Jack responded. 'I was there when you and your family moved out of your house.'

'Ah, yes. I apologize, for it must have slipped my mind.'

'That's understandable. I know that you are a very busy man.'

'I was a very busy man,' Mr. Macpherson said.

Jack nodded understandably.

'Of course. But when are you going to tell Ralph?'

'Today,' the man replied. 'And I thank you for not telling him that you knew. I do not wish to be rude, Jack, but I had never intended for you to find out the truth before he did.'

The teen nodded again.

'I have told not told my wife either,' Mr. Macpherson added. 'Have you made mention of it to her?'

'No, sir, and I'll understand if you wish for a private moment with your wife and son now.'

'Thank you, but that is not necessary, Jack.' He clapped the teen on the shoulder. 'I do not think that anyone will mind, especially since Ralph has already made it clear to us what an important person you are to him.'

Jack blushed.

'Uh . . . No, really, sir, this is a family situation. I don't wish to intrude. I'll just wait in the corridor.'

'All right,' he sighed. 'If you insist.'

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'Father!' Ralph exclaimed in disbelief when he saw his father walk into the living room; Jack did not follow.

'Darling! You're back!' The woman rushed over to plant a welcoming kiss on her husband's cheek. 'Why didn't you use your key?'

'I was hoping that you would be the one to answer the door,' he said. 'I have something for you.' The man smiled at her and pulled out a small box from his pocket. 'I love you, dear,' he said, placing the box into her hand.

Her eyes widened as she opened it. Inside laid a beautiful diamond pendant in the shape of a fleur-de-lis, her favourite flower.

'Oh, you didn't!' she exclaimed giddily, only calming down long enough for him to drape it around her neck.

'It really is lovely,' Ralph said, admiring the necklace from across the room.

'I don't think I can even remember when you last got me something like this!' his mother said happily.

'Well, I wanted to celebrate,' his father said with a shrug.

The other two Macphersons' froze, albeit they were not entirely uncomfortable.

'For what?' Ralph asked.

'I resigned.'

Surprisingly, the pair acted very calmly about the situation and a tranquil silence fell upon the group.

Then the teen quietly asked, 'Why?'

His father sat down and indicated for his wife to sit down beside him, which she did after a moment.

'They wanted us—me—to move again.'

'Oh,' was all that Ralph could say.

'The agreement that I made with you and your mother was that if I was to be relocated again, then I was to leave you behind.' He looked his son in the eye. 'I . . . I couldn't do it, sport. I don't want to have to leave you behind. I know that I haven't always been there for you, and I know that you've had many difficulties in your life because of me, but . . . if you'd let me have a second chance, I'd really like to . . . to try and be a good father for you., Ralph'

'And what makes you think I'd let you?'

His mother uttered a soft gasp, but it was unheeded by the two.

'Nothing,' the elder male said honestly. 'I know that you really have no reason to, but I'm here to stay in case you ever change your mind. Of course, I'm going to get another job so that I can support us, but I will not work anywhere that will take too much of my time away from you.'

His wife entwined their hands together, offering him her silent support.

'Before I left on my business trip, I had a conversation with my boss and a . . . a revelation, if you will, entered my mind. The amount of time that I spent at the office was double the time that I spent with my family. Sure, I'm glad that I can send my son to the best schools and allow my family a chance to travel around the world, but what use is that if my son hates me?'

'I don't hate you,' Ralph said softly. 'It's just . . . I don't care about that stuff as much as you seem to. All those years, all I—we—' he corrected, glancing at his mother, '—wanted was for you to be together with us, like a family should be.'

'We can still be that family.'

'Can we?' Ralph challenged. 'Whenever I talk to you, I open up my heart, too. I take a leap of faith that you won't bring me down. But . . . I don't know if I can take that leap this time. It's like a gorge! How am I to know that the hopes that you are raising now aren't going to be the same ones that you cast down later? For the longest time, I wanted the three of us to be a family, but I don't think that I even know what a family is anymore. I don't know how to react around you, father. I don't know who you are! You don't know who I am!'

'Then I'd like to find out!' his father exclaimed, rising to his feet. 'Please, Ralph, just let me find out who you are, what a fine man you've grown up to me. You opened up to me when you told me about Jack, so—'

'That was one thing!' Ralph interrupted.

'But that one thing was a start!'

'But what if I can't do as you expect?'

'I don't expect anything from you!' his father exclaimed. 'I don't expect nor want anything from you except a chance!'

'Please, dear,' the woman said quietly, tugging at her husband's sleeve so that he would sit down once more. 'That's enough.'

It was clear from an outsider's perspective that she wished to remain neutral on the topic, but the pleading look in her eyes when she glanced at her son proved otherwise.

'I'll think about it,' he finally said, looking at the ground.

'Erm . . . Excuse me?' a timid voice said.

The three Macphersons turned to see Jack huddled in the doorway.

'I'm sorry for interrupting, but I couldn't help overhearing,' the teen said.

'That's not a surprise,' the woman said. 'With the manner that these two were carrying on in, the entire neighbourhood would have heard them.'

The two males actually had the grace to look guilty.

Jack, on the other hand, appeared unsure whether he should laugh or not.

'Um . . . If it's not too much trouble, may I speak with Ralph for a moment?'

Ralph nodded. He followed the other teen out of the room and down the corridor, where his parents—hopefully—would not be able to hear them.

'What?' he asked once they had reached their destination.

In reply, Jack slammed his hands down on the wall on either side of Ralph's head and leaned in close.

'Do you not see the opportunity that you have here, Ralph?' he demanded harshly, although in a hushed tone. 'Your father quit his job for you! To spend time with you!'

'So?'

'So that's a really big deal!' Jack explained lamely; however, the emotion behind it was not lost on Ralph. 'Your father sincerely wants to be your father. He wants to be able to know his son.' A faraway look appeared in his eye. 'I don't know my father. I don't know anything about him, Ralph, except that he prefers beer to wine and his favourite pastime is beating his wife and son!'

Ralph winced.

'You have a chance to get to know your father, Ralph, a man whom is much kinder than my own father is. Don't lose this chance. I don't want you to have to endure the pain of regret.'

'But what about . . . us? If I get closer to my father, where would that leave you?'

'I'm not going to disappear, Ralph,' Jack said, apparently confused.

'I mean, what if he doesn't accept us? He knows about our relationship, but he's never actually told me what he thinks about it.' The teen sighed. 'If I get closer to him and he tells me that I can't see you anymore, I don't know how I would react to that. If I get closer to him, I wouldn't want to have to make the choice that would either hurt him or you.'

'Is that what you're worried about?' Jack chuckled.

'That is hardly a laughing matter,' Ralph said coldly.

Jack planted a light kiss on his lover's cheek.

'He'll accept us, Ralph. No worries,' he said confidently, releasing the latter from his makeshift entrapment.

'How can you be so sure about that?' Ralph inquired.

As Jack walked away, he tossed a casual reply over his shoulder.

'I already asked him.' He turned around and winked at Ralph. 'You gotta love how your mum leaves those lists of phone numbers for you.' Then he returned to his place on the stairs, where he had been sitting and waiting while the family conversed.

Smiling slightly, Ralph walked into the living room, where his parents were waiting.

'Do you have your answer already?' his mother asked him, apparently surprised.

In response, Ralph went over to his father and embraced him.

Because of Jack, they had become father and son once more. Ralph's father had resigned from his job in order to give his son the one thing that he'd practically been depriving him of for so many long years: love. Now Ralph had the love of two men—one familial and the other intimate. Now he was finally happy.

And that's when an unreality became a reality.

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(1) Mini-Disclaimer: "I Swear", John Michael Montgomery

Author's Note: Don't go yet! There's still an epilogue!