Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Meeting Eames's Father

In all honesty Eames had been so caught up in Arthur and what the other teenager had revealed about his mother earlier that the hugeness of introducing Arthur to his father didn't occur to him until his boyfriend was holding his front door open for him so that he could wheel himself inside, some dim light in the back of his brain finally getting the jolt it needed to properly turn on and make him realize that he was about to introduce his first boyfriend ever to his father.

His dad wasn't a homophobe, and thank all the stars in the sky for that, and Eames was out to him, and had been for a while now, so that wasn't an issue either. No, the problem Eames now faced was the fact that while his father was aware and accepting of his sexuality, his dad was also uncomfortable with the idea and it showed if you paid attention, which Arthur did. And Eames desperately didn't want Arthur to be offended by his father's sure to be cool reception of him, particularly when his boyfriend's own father was a bastard to begin with.

But apparently his dad had been listening for their arrival, or just had military superpowers, because Eames had barely opened his mouth to warn Arthur about his father's possible reaction to meeting him when the man in question appeared before them, effectively making that a no go.

"Hello, Sir. It's good to see you."

"Tom." Coming over Captain Thomas Eames, never Tom or Tommy if you wanted to live, gave his son a small smile when he reached him, holding out his hand for the manly handshake Eames had known was coming. "Your grandmother stepped out a few minutes ago to get some groceries for dinner. She wanted me to tell you."

And knowing his manners, Eames took a hopefully not too noticeable calming breath before making the introductions. "Thanks. And Dad, this is Arthur Cobb. My boyfriend. Arthur, this is my father, Captain Thomas Eames."

"Sir. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"And you. My wife speaks highly of you." Taking the hand Arthur had offered Eames's father shook it, Arthur's handshaking abilities apparently meeting his father's standards since the man shook back properly before letting go. "Thank you for the work you've been doing preparing Tom for his last term, he's always been a good student when he applies himself."

Thanks, Dad.

"That is the crux of the problem with teaching anyone anything, especially in this day and age." Arthur agreed, the hand he set on Eames's shoulder a small show of support that had Eames smiling up at him. "If students paid as much attention to their teachers as they did their phones and other electronic devices one can only imagine what our race would be capable of now. Not to mention how much the world in general would improve with more intelligent people in charge."

"Quite right." Eames's father nodded in complete approval. "And kids today don't know how to work anymore. They think things should just be handed to them or should be available with just a push of a button. The Western world has gotten fat, stupid, and lazy, and the rest of the world more hungry and willing to do anything to survive."

"Eames mentioned that you recently visited Russia." The look Arthur aimed in his father's direction made it clear that he didn't doubt that the man's time there had further cemented his opinions about the world in general.

"Fucking Putin."

"Language, Tom. But yes, it wasn't an enjoyable trip. Especially since the individuals my team were overseeing wanted to visit Ekaterinburg."

Since he'd never heard of the place, and talking about his father recent travels meant they weren't talking about his relationship with Arthur and his father's feelings on the matter, Eames asked what was special about Ekaterinburg and where was it, anyway.

Arthur surprised him by being the one to answer. "It's where the FUBAR that was the execution of the Romanovs took place. Many people visit the area, which is in the Urals, for that reason. The house no longer stands, but tourist can visit the site as well as the original burial sites."

Knowing his father would be fine with the FUBAR statement since it was a military term even if it did stand for 'Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition', Eames focused instead on satisfying his own curiosity. "How was it that bad? I mean didn't the revolution blokes just shoot them and dump their bodies in shallow graves on the side of a road somewhere?"

"No, Tom."

"The Bolsheviks were beyond incompetent in all things, Eames. What would have taken trained marksmen to accomplish in approximately thirty seconds took the Romanovs' executioners twenty minutes. And while the Tsar and Tsaritsa did die fairly quickly, their children and servants were made to suffer inhumanely, especially since the jewelry they'd sewn into their clothes prevented many of the bullets and bayonets from finishing them off. And afterwards their bodies were thrown into a mineshaft that wasn't deep enough, so the bodies had to be brought back up, after being soaked in water, and they were eventually buried in shallow graves in a fit of desperation after all their other disposal plans failed. And that's just a brief summary of how many mistakes were made from start to finish."

"Well that's just fucked up."

Eames's father agreed enough not to censor him this time for using the F word, thought it helped that Arthur asked what other parts of Russia Eames's father had visited, this leading to his father suggestion that they head into the front parlor to sit while they talked. He'd seen quite a lot while he was there apparently, and liked Arthur well enough to want to talk about it in some detail.

Which was A okay with Eames, especially since he didn't have to talk much at all as the two got into a discussion about Russia that had them both occupied and meant that he could just enjoy being around them without having to referee or redirect questions to head off disasters. Excellent.

)

Over the course of the next couple hours Arthur and Eames's father because fast friends, which amused Eames quite a bit while Arthur had lost a few points with Mimi since she was currently not on the best of terms with her son in law. But the two in question were highly intelligent, well-traveled and read men who enjoyed talking about politics, history, and the world in general, but didn't have nearly enough opportunities to discuss those topics with people who were as knowledgeable as themselves. Arthur, in particular, was probably a bit starved for that sort of mental stimulation, Eames figured, and so he was glad his boyfriend was having fun with his dad, especially since Arthur had been left out of his own family get-together earlier.

Though he was a tad jealous, Eames was willing to admit, but the sexiness that was a lit up and engaged Arthur helped push back those less than appealing thoughts. Not to mention the fact that it wasn't like he and his dad could go outside and kick around a football while catching up on each other's lives the way they had always done in the past. They would again, when he got out of his bloody chair for good, but until then, well hopefully his father was planning to hang around long enough for them to work in some bonding time.

And when the sounds of his mum's car pulling in reached their ears, Mimi had returned with groceries and then headed outside to garden a while ago, Eames's father excused him to go out and see her, Eames wishing his father luck while Arthur settled for a small wave.

"She didn't know he was coming, so they'll have 'words' outside where I can't hear them."

"Do they fight a lot?"

"Yeah, though not in a bad way, really. They're just both really stubborn and bullheaded. Plus he just doesn't know how to grovel, which is what he really needs to start doing or he'll dig himself into a hole he can't get out of with her." Eames didn't like the idea of his parents divorcing, of course, since they did really love each other, but at the end of the day his father had been overseas or away on missions all his life. So yeah, it wasn't like not living with the man was anything new. Plus he'd be out of the house for good soon, which was one of the reasons why he'd prefer they stay together. He didn't like the idea of his mum not having someone to grow old with.

"It's good to fight sometimes. My parents were too obsessed with being perfect and ignoring their problems to fight. At least to the best of my knowledge."

Thinking to lighten the mood a little, Eames asked Arthur what he thought they'd argue about.

Arthur's lips quirked a little in amusement. "I'm sure we'll find out sooner rather than later." A slight wrinkling of his brows. "And my apologies, by the way, for monopolizing your father's attention like that. I didn't realize until we'd stopped talking that we were sort of leaving you out. It wasn't intentional."

"No worries, I didn't know much about what you were talking about anyway. And he had a lot of fun talking to you."

"Still, he's your father, who you haven't seen in a while. I shouldn't have monopolized his attention."

"Darling, as my boyfriend I really want him to like you. Which he obviously does, so it's all good."

The way Arthur studied Eames's face made it clear his boyfriend wasn't just going to take his word for it, though his sincerity must have shone through because Arthur relaxed and asked him what he and his dad did like to talk about.

"Football, definitely, and we both read a lot. You'd never know it to look at him, but he loves videogames as well, and oh, I'll definitely have to take him to Himiko's dad's restaurant soon. He'll love it there. We could take mum and..." Eames trailed off at the sound of the front door being opened again, Eames's father rejoining them moments later while Eames's mum just stuck her head in the room long enough to tell them she'd be back in ten, after she'd showered. It had been one of those days.

"So what were you two talking about, then?" Eames's father asked once she was gone from sight, Eames getting the hint that his father could use a distraction from whatever words his parents had had in the driveway.

But Arthur got there before he could. "Football. Eames was just reminding me that his favorite team will be playing in a couple of days. Are you a fan as well?"

His face lighting up, Eames's father immediately launched into a speech about how not only was he as much a football fan as Eames was, and Eames's father congratulated his son for finding someone of American parentage who knew the right name to use, but also how completely and utterly their shared favorite team was going to decimate the Spanish team they'd be up against.

And because Eames was literally incapable of not talking about football when the opportunity presented itself he too jumped in explaining how their team was so much better than the other team, disagreeing with his father only when it came to who was the best player on their team, which led to a long discussion of stats, past injuries, and the seasoning of their favored player while Arthur asked the occasional question that seemed designed to start them off on another rant.

Which it probably was, Eames realized at one point, remembering Arthur's worry that he was being left out. And now they were talking about something Arthur knew he knew more about, and that his father and he could talk about for hours.

Looking away from his father to smile at his awesome boyfriend in thanks, Eames reached over to take Arthur's hand and bring it to his lips to kiss the back of it, since a real kiss would be weird with his father watching. Well that and the inherit awkwardness of trying to give Arthur a kiss while in his chair.

The pleased smile he got in turn had Eames grinning back.

A series of beeps that Eames recognized from 'Kim Possible' interrupted them all from saying something more.

"My apologies. That's my sister's ringtone. I need to take this." Pulling his cellphone out of his pocket Arthur rose from the chair and started walking towards the hallway as he answered and asked his sister why she was calling.

)

"We're sick."

Arthur's hope that his sister was just calling to check on how he was or tell him that they were going to be late getting home and their father hadn't wanted to talk or message Arthur himself bit the dust as Phillipa's words registered. Especially since even over the phone he could hear enough in her voice to know that she was serious. They'd been fine at breakfast though.

"What kind of sick? All three of you?"

"Just me and James. We threw up."

Wincing, Arthur reached up with his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, already knowing in his gut what she was going to say to his next question. "Did Dad let you have a lot of snacks today?"

Silence, then a very mumbled and reluctant 'yes' came over the line.

"What have you two had to eat since breakfast?"

The list that followed had Arthur calling his father some very not nice things in Russian, since they had been talking about Russia earlier.

Every friggin time his father did this, spoiling the kids rotten while he was around like that could make up for not being a proper father to them the rest of the time. Like buying them toys, candy, and fattening food was the right way to show that he loved them.

And while it was tempting to remind his sister that he'd told both of them to politely refuse, or at least insist on rationing out the treats so that the sugar and crap wouldn't all hit their systems at once, Arthur held his tongue and instead asked if Phillipa had the ginger candies he kept in the car for when James's got an upset stomach, since James's stomach could be finicky even when he wasn't eating processed crap.

"Uh uh. And Papa got us ginger ale. James's tummy still hurts though. Mine too. Are you at home? James wants you." Phillipa's voice hinted that she wanted her big brother too, but didn't want to say so in her papa's hearing.

"How much longer till you get home?"

"I'll ask Papa." A pause, and then she was back on the line to tell him they'd be home in about twenty minutes.

"Okay. I'm at Eames's but I'll leave now and be there when you get home. Tell Dad to put on the CD labelled 'Help James Sleep'. It might help him nap a little until you get home."

"Okay, Arthur."

Saying goodbye Arthur waited until she'd hung up before pocketing his phone, indulging in a few more choice swear words before heading back into the living room to say goodbye. And his face betrayed his frustration and anger apparently, Arthur realized, since Eames took one look at him and immediately asked if Phil and James were all right, Arthur appreciating the genuine worry on his boyfriend's face.

"Just upset stomachs. My father never listens to me when it comes to not feeding them crap when he's taking 'care' of them. He'll just say that kids should be allowed to have candy and eat fast food and that I'm a food Nazi for depriving them the way I do. Which I don't, I just make them eat that crap in moderation. I mean seriously, did you know that in the United States the percentage of children aged six to eleven years old who are obese increased from seven percent in 1980 to nearly eighteen percent last year? And that if that wasn't bad enough, the percentage of teenagers who were obese increased from five percent to nearly twenty-one percent over the same period? So the odds are just getting higher the older they get. In 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese. Did you know that?"

"Ahhhh…I'm sure Mum's said something along those lines."

"Of course she has, she's a doctor and would agree with me one hundred percent if she was here. I am not a food Nazi. I just want them to be healthy and not grow up with diabetes, high cholesterol, and all the other health problems they could develop." And realizing that he was about to start ranting Arthur winced all over again, knowing that it wasn't fair to rant at them when the person he wanted to rant at was his father. Who he knew wouldn't listen to him. Again. "Sorry. Just frustrated. And now I have to get home to take care of them."

"Sounds like it's your father who should be taking care of them." Eames father commented.

"My father can't take care of himself, much less anyone else. And sorry to leave on a bad note."

And mentally saying to hell with what Eames's father might think, he needed it, Arthur walked over to share a quick kiss with Eames, wishing he could linger but knowing that he needed to get moving. "Thanks for a fun evening. I'll text you later."

"Count on it, Darling."

Shaking the hand Eames's father held out to him, Arthur returned the statement that it had been a pleasure to meet him and that he hoped they could talk again soon. Arthur suggested that maybe they could watch the football game together if he was still in town, which Eames's father thought was a great idea.

Saying goodbye to both of them Arthur quickly hunted up Mimi and Eames's mother to say good night to them and to apologize for not being able to stay for dinner before heading out and driving home.

As the saying went, all good things had to come to an end.