Pixies and Encounters.
The next morning in the Harper-Gilbert house was subdued. Breakfast was a silent meal until finally Dante spoke. "I am not working until 1pm today, so that means that I can be here all morning, and take care of Ty. That would let the two of you head over to Uncle Josh's place together. It will be good for the twins to see you both, and well, in the event that there are tears, then they will both have an uncle to hug…"
"Well, that does make sense," replied Elliott. "You don't mind staying home this morning?"
"No, it will give me a chance to get my college work done undisturbed whilst Ty does his homework. In any case, Lachlan is busy all morning, as he is going to temple with his parents…" Beats nodded, knowing that there was some important commemoration taking place at the synagogue that morning, something that would also see Flint and indeed Izzy in attendance.
Thus it was that after saying goodbye to their sons, the two husbands found themselves headed in the direction of the 'L' train. It would convey them across to the borough of Brooklyn, dropping them off within walking distance of Elliott's temporary home. They would sit next to each other on the busy train in silence, hands touching; like an old married couple, they did not need to use words to communicate to each other exactly what they were feeling.
They would arrive at Josh and Scott's apartment early, but this would turn out to be a blessing in disguise. As they waited in the hallway for the door to be answered, they could heard the sound of children's tears. They looked at each other in concern, then turned back to face the now opening door. They saw before them a frazzled looking Scott, his hair a mess from hands being pulled through it in frustration.
"Oh, it is so wonderful to see you both! Truth is, we have a major crisis on our hands. The kids have been so okay with everything, so unfazed by the idea that we are going away, and we stupidly thought all was well. So stupid that we thought it would be okay to leave our passports out on a low table. The result is that whilst mine was there, Josh's has disappeared, no doubt hidden somewhere. We have two little angels, both of whom know absolutely nothing about it, but so happy that daddy can't go now. And before you say anything, mine is now firmly tucked into my inside pocket."
Beats and Elliott glanced at each other, both thinking how reckless the two younger men had been; it was such a schoolboy error! The former then cleared his throat, and said, "I hope that before you put your passport in there you checked that it was still intact, and that there is no unwanted graffiti inside, like something added onto the photo page?" By the way that the colour immediately drained from Scott's face, it was clear that he hadn't done so….
Leaving Scott pulling his passport out of his pocket, they headed inside to find Josh in the kitchen, leaning over the table and taking deep breaths. On seeing them, he said, "I don't know what I can't believe the most; that we were so stupid as to leave our passports out, or that my children would do something like this!"
"They are at that age; they're two," said Elliott, in a matter of fact tone. "Where are they now?"
"They are in their respective bedrooms, both of which we searched in every conceivable spot first, then we searched everywhere else, to no avail. Of course, the little angels will not talk," said Josh in reply.
"Okay, what say that the two of us have a try? It can't do any harm, and it will allow you to think and work out if there is anywhere you've omitted to check on the grounds it was too unlikely. Look on the plus side; none of your windows were open I presume so it can't have been posted out to fall nine storeys into the East River or the street."
"No, and the balcony was locked too. I have also checked the trash."
"Right, let us see what two uncles can do. Firstly, we will get them into one room, and talk to them together, so that if one of them accuses the other, they will know and be able to react…."
So it was that a small girl was shepherded into her brother's bedroom, and made to sit next to her brother on his bed, as their two uncles sat on the floor in front of them. "Do you both know why I am here?" Elliott began.
"Yes, you are here because daddy and papa go, but now they can't," came the response of his nephew.
"Oh, but they can still go, but the problem is, without that thing that vanished so strangely, your daddy can't ever come back," said Beats, who immediately felt Elliott's glare upon him for saying something so unkind.
"Never, ever?" squealed their niece, as her brother went pale.
"Never, ever," said Beats. "I mean, you do want daddy to come back, so if you happened to see where that thing was put by whoever put it there, you have to tell us, so that we can be sure that your daddy can come home. Nobody will be mad with anyone about it, because the person that moved it will be far, far away now…"
Elliott was still glowering at his husband when he finished, but then he saw his brother's two children turn to each other, whispering in each other's ear, before they both nodded, and turned to face them again with the most sweet and innocent of expressions…
It would be Elliott that made his way back to the lounge, where he found Josh and Scott in the process of removing all of the books from the bookcases, and giving them a good shake, just in case a document had been placed between them or inside their pages. "Okay, you can stop doing that, firstly because I will be the one that has to put them all back, and secondly because it isn't in there. I have it on the best of authority from two eyewitnesses that the person that moved your passport was a naughty pixie, but a very organised one nonetheless. A pixie that knows where things are meant to be kept, and tidies them away look a good child should. I take it that you had a chat of that nature with the twins?
"Yes, I told them that they should put their toys back in the toybox or the cupboard when they had finished playing with them, and that books should go back on the shelf when they have read them. They were leaving them lying everywhere," replied Scott. "However, the toybox and their bookcases were the first places that we checked though…"
Elliott smiled, and said, "You are missing the point. You didn't put your toy away, you left it lying out, so the pixie put it away for you in the place that it belongs, which is also the last place you would ever look in the circumstances…"
Josh was on his feet again in a moment, charging across the room to the study area that opened off it one side, closely followed by his husband and brother. Elliott found it impossible not to smile as his younger brother pulled an old cigar box out of the bottom drawer of the desk, lifted the lid, and sighed with relief. As he extracted the passport from the box, he shook his head in disbelief. "Well, all I can say is that the pixie was really smart. You are right, Elliott, I would have pulled the entire house apart before I ever thought of looking in this box. So go on, how did you get them to speak up?"
"Oh, it wasn't me that achieved the breakthrough, it was all Beats. I can't say I approved of his method, though, as he got them to speak by using a threat. Basically he told them that you could still go away without it, but that you would never be able to come home. Brutal, I admit, but it turned out to be a highly effective method this time…"
The eventual moment of departure was tearful, both for the children and their two fathers. The twins both required reassurance that both daddy and papa could come home now, which was given. Of course, there was a big issue that had not been addressed with the children, as far as Elliott was concerned, and would not be mentioned that day, and that was Christmas. What Josh and Scott had not said to anyone was that the deal did include some limited vacation time, and with the benefit of the time zones and the date line, they could leave Tokyo on Christmas Eve, and arrive back at JFK on Christmas Eve, theoretically only 5 minutes after leaving. Even being back in town for a couple of days, as would be the case, would be enough to ensure a happy holiday for parents and children alike… Of course, there would be no such trip for Thanksgiving, but that was a lesser holiday for younger children, so it could be endured.
Those farewells done, two parents headed down to the street and into the taxi that would convey them to the airport, their entire lives for the next six months packed in two large cases and a carry on each. Back upstairs, tears were being dried, and it fell to Beats to keep the two children amused, as his husband began to unpack his bag in the master bedroom, as his brother had instructed him to do. The logic behind that decision was flawless.
"If the twins do wake up in the night, they have started to come looking for us rather than crying out, and they know the way to our room. It is only logical that they continue to head there in an emergency."
When Elliott returned to the lounge, he brought drinks, but after they were finished, a glance at the clock told him it was time for his husband to head back to Manhattan to relieve Dante from his duty caring for Ty, so that he could go to his shift at The Strand. They hugged and kissed as they parted, and then of course the twins needed Beats to hug them too. He asked them to take care of their Uncle Elliott as he did, and then took his leave, not lingering in case he became unable to leave, and desperate to stay. He headed back to the Bedford Avenue station, and in no time was on an unusually quiet 'L' train back to the West Village. It was not a long journey, but with every turn of the wheels, he was being taken further away from the man he loved…
He arrived home in good time, and found his two sons hard at work, the silence almost deafening. He rustled them all up some lunch, and they ate together, as he told the boys about the pixie and the passport, which had them all laughing. Ty had finished all but one of his homework exercises, and was therefore happy to agree to Beats' suggestion that they head out for the afternoon, heading uptown for a stroll through Central Park, something that they both enjoyed. Dante agreed it was a good plan, realising that Beats just wanted not to be at home where he was reminded of who wasn't there…
They spent a couple of hours just wandering through the park on a crisp autumnal day, and were on the point of heading back home, crossing Fifth Avenue when Beats' phone rang. He answered it on seeing it was Flint; when his old friend heard exactly where they were, he immediately invited them over to his home nearby for some afternoon tea. "Izzy is back at work; she was supposed to be off, but there was an emergency. You coming round would be doing me a big favour. In fact, you should stay for dinner; Izzy won't be back in all likelihood, and there will be roast chicken and all of the usual sides that will still need to be eaten."
Beats looked at Ty, who smiled, and he knew he should accept the invitation for tea. As they walked to Flint's place, he sent a text to Dante, telling him where they were, and mentioning that they had been invited for dinner. His phone buzzed with a reply half an hour later; Dante told him that he should accept the offer of dinner, as Lachlan was doing the evening shift at the Spotlight, and he would go there and have dinner with him. That decided, Beats let Elliott know where they would be, in case he decided to call home. Then he asked him how things were going. 'Okay, but exhausting' came his reply, and Beats smiled. He had guessed that two toddlers could be that way, even without a pixie around as well…
Dinner at Flint's place would turn out to be quite a treat. After a light soup starter, came a perfectly cooked roast chicken, with all of the sides that they could have imagined and more. Beats suspected that his old friend might actually have prepared the meal with every intention that they would be joining him, and his suspicions were raised further when dessert turned out to be an apple pie, one of his particular favourites, but not something that Flint had ever chosen when he was younger. He said nothing though, grateful that his friend had been so kind as to prepare the meal.
After dinner, with all of the dishes stacked away, Flint excused himself to go and say goodnight to his two children, whose presence had made the whole meal a family affair. He returned to the dining room to join Beats, Ty now sitting in the next room, watching television. He would be joined there by Mirabel, the Wilson's long standing au pair, who was now as much a part of the family as the children she cared for. Flint could see that his old friend was missing his husband, so he decided not to mention the subject, instead imparting news of an event in his own life.
"So, you will never guess who I bumped into yesterday. I had finished up at work early, and as it was such a lovely afternoon, I decided that I would walk home rather than catch the subway. I was almost here, not really paying attention to where I was going unfortunately, when I literally bumped into a man outside the Lenox Hill Hospital. I could see at once that he was a doctor, as he was wearing scrubs, and trying to pick up his stethoscope, but it was only when he turned round and I got a glimpse of his name tag that I did a double take… Alan is back in town!"
Beats looked confused for a moment, wracking his brain for the name, and then it came to him. "Alan that took over from us as one of the Preppyboys? I thought that he was heading back west once he had graduated from medical school?"
"I said that to him as well, and it turns out that is exactly what he did. However, he was then offered the position he has taken at Lenox Hill, and well, it was too good an opportunity for him to turn down."
"I don't suppose you can blame him for coming back then," replied Beats, but then he thought about what Flint had just said. "Wait a minute, he must have been doing something really amazing out west to be headhunted for a hospital job here in New York, and well, at his age, that seems unlikely. I smell a rat…"
"So did I. So he eventually told me the truth. He moved to New York as he was having a few personal issues out west at the time the job came up, mainly involving Callum's wife. It seems that she wasn't best pleased when she came home early from work one afternoon, and caught the two of them together…"
"A wife can't dictate her husband's choice of fri…" Beats began, but then saw the expression on Flint's face, and his mouth just hung open. Then he regained composure, and said, "I guess that thinking back to when we met them, the fact that was happening is not a total surprise. I mean, I had the feeling that Alan was in love with Callum back then…"
"I never noticed, but then I am not the observant at spotting that sort of thing - I mean, I never spotted when my best friend was seeing someone… Anyway, to cut a long story short, Alan was forced to leave town a week later, as she was threatening him with all sorts of things, including lying to the medical authorities there to have him banned from practicing. He told the hospital management that he was taking up a role in Oregon, knowing that would get back to the lady in question; in reality, it was always going to be New York. He chose Oregon as he had a friend back in med school that now works in a management role in one of the hospitals out there, and if anyone asks after him, they will be told he is on the staff there, at least until the heat died down. Now, all of that happened three months ago…"
"I take it that was also the end of his friendship with Callum; I mean, there was no way they could stay in touch after that. After all that they have been through together, it is a sad way to end…" Beats stopped again, as he saw the smile on Flint's face, and then he chuckled. "Am I to assume that there is a happy ending for the people in this story, other than for Callum's wife?"
"Two weeks ago there was a knock on the door of the apartment that Alan is renting up in Harlem. He opened it, and there was Callum; he'd managed to get the address from someone at the hospital by pretending he was a family member bringing tragic news. Turns out that he had quit his job and left his wife, the whole works. Fortunately there are no kids in the equation, so it was a clean break."
"The divorce will be a heck of a mess when it comes though," sighed Beats.
"It would be, were it not for the fact that Callum discovered his wife was no angel herself. If all of the affairs she has engaged in came out in court, she would be the one with so much more to lose. The upshot is that Callum is also here to stay, they are now an official couple, and they're both happy. I was thinking that the four of us should get together one night; a kind of Preppyboy reunion."
"Only this time our clothes stay firmly on," said Beats with a wink.
"Oh, definitely. Neither of us is quite as fit in body as we once were…"
Beats could only nod in response to that. He was all too aware that he had gained a few pounds since his days of being a gay bar stripper, his muscle tone was not what it was, and of course his eyes were a constant source of worry too… "It was fun though, and well, it showed me just how much of a friend you were as well. Not many young men would leave their own comfort zone quite so happily…"
Flint smiled, and said, "I will admit that it scared me to death at first, but then I began to see it as my act of rebellion against, well…"
"A lady with appalling taste in millinery?"
"Yes, and all the control she tried to exercise on my life. Then I actually began to like the attention I got too. Let us not forget that in part, I ended up with Izzy because I did the stripping. I will also confess that had you told me that you needed to carry on with the act after we graduated, I'd not have left you to do it on your own," continued Flint.
"It isn't a part of my life that I am ashamed of in any way," replied Beats. "If one of these days Dante finds out about my chequered past, I will embarrass him by telling him all about it in detail."
Flint laughed then, but then added quietly, "How is your sister these days anyways?"
Beats sighed, and said, "Not at all changed. I swear that my parents see more of her kids than she does, given the number of men that she has dated since her divorce was finalised. Every time she gets serious with a new one, she shunts the kids off to my mom and dad. I guess that if I was in Ohio, then I would be the one getting the pleasure, even if she does regard my marriage as a sham. I often envy the fact that you have no siblings…"
"Whereas the truth is that I would love to have a sibling, or several, as I would have someone to share the burden of my mom with…"
At that moment, Izzy arrived home, and talk of their shared past was over for a while. Beats somehow understood that Flint had not told his wife that the two young men that had replaced them as strippers were now living in New York. He could not understand why he wouldn't have said anything, though, as Izzy had never had an issue with that part of her husband's life before now. Still, he knew that people changed as they grew older, and it was possible that all things that alluded to those youthful days were now something she did not want to know about. Perhaps she had the offer of a promotion, and the fact that her husband had been a stripper would not be welcomed by the often stuffy personnel people that made such decisions…
He could see that Izzy was tired after her unexpected time at work, so after a polite interval, he and Ty took their leave, and headed for the subway that would take them, after a change of line at Union Square, back to the comforts of the West Village. Dante was still not home when they arrived, but it wasn't as if it was all that late, and in any case, now that he was a college student, curfew was no longer something that applied. He and Ty headed into the lounge, and sat down to watch television together, being joined by Dante just a few minutes before his old 10pm curfew, which made Beats chuckle to himself. Hot chocolate was made, and then bed beckoned for all of them…
It was only as he climbed into his own bed that Beats began to sorely miss the presence of his husband. True, there were days when, after working the late shift, Elliott would come home to find him asleep in bed, but when he woke up in the morning, his husband would be at his side. That would not happen this time, and when he woke up in the morning, Beats would find the other side of the bed was still cool and empty. 'It isn't forever,' he thought, and wondered if over in Williamsburg, the man he loved more than any other in the world was having the same thoughts. They had agreed not to text each other goodnight, so he did not succumb to the real temptation to do so. However, he found that it took him longer than usual to fall asleep that night, knowing that his husband would not be present at his side….
On Monday, Jeff found Isabelle waiting for him when he arrived at the gallery to continue with the setting up for his exhibition, now only two weeks away. As Nick had surmised, she was only too pleased to agree to cover the private view for the magazine, and had been in touch with the Palace over the weekend to find out what she could in advance. As it turned out, that was not much at all, other than the fact that the two duchesses would be in attendance, and there was an expectation that the Duke of Cambridge might accompany his wife to the party, should his own engagements allow…
That was news to Jeff, and promptly sent the gallery's owner into an even more panicked state than she had been before, given that there was now to potentially be a future monarch on the premises. Fortunately, Isabelle was an expert at calming down people when they were in such a state, and she made a very pertinent point. "Prince Charles will definitely not be here, and he is the actual heir to the throne. He can be a bit stand offish, whereas William is essentially a very well balanced, ordinary person, who just happens to have an extraordinary job lined up in the future. His wife is the same, and so is Camilla. None of them will give two hoots about what you are wearing, and although you will have to curtsey to them when you are first introduced, after that they are just like everyone else; here to see the art."
"That is true," added Jeff. "They all love art, and you have seen the photographic skills that Kate herself has, with some of her work even being used for a cover of Country Life magazine."
"Now, if what is worrying you most is your outfit, then I can resolve that here and now. I am sure that Jeff can hold the fort here for a couple of hours whilst I whisk you downtown to the Vogue offices, and find you something stunning in the closet…" added Isabelle.
"I don't want to put anyone to any trouble…"
"Oh, but you aren't; in fact, you will be helping me immensely. If I dress you from the closet, then when your photograph appears in the magazine, I will be able to tell the readers exactly whose clothes you are wearing…"
In the end it would be three hours that the jaunt down to the Vogue closet would take, but the gallery's owner returned looking much happier. "Not only has Ms Wright found me the most perfect outfit, she has also managed to get me a gratis appointment with one of the best hairdressers in the city for the morning of the opening; they are one of the perks of being the editor of the magazine apparently," she began, before she went on to explain what was in the three bags she now held in her hands.
"I am now the proud owner of a vintage inspired Chanel dress, the price tag on which is almost as much as my monthly rent on my apartment. Then there is the most comfortable yet glamorous pair of shoes I have ever possessed, and a wool coat to wear over the whole ensemble. She even provided me with underwear and accessories to go with it, including a new purse. I did point out that on the day of the opening I would not be carrying one, but she pointed out that it went with the coat, and well, she was right…"
Pulling out her phone, she showed Jeff and the rest of the staff the photos that Isabelle had taken of her in her new ensemble, and they all agreed it was perfect, suiting her to a tee. When one of the assistants went so far as to suggest that she could actually be a model for the magazine, she smiled, and replied, "Actually, Ms Wright said that as well, although I don't see it myself."
"Successful owner of a gallery frequented by royalty, and a Vogue model," Jeff teased. "I can imagine that quite a few of your former colleagues up at Columbia would be jealous of that…"
She chuckled, and said, "They already were when the news that I was hosting your show came out, and that was before there was any mention of a royal visit and a presidential party to boot. However, I do believe that global fashion model is a step too far."
They stopped for lunch then, before continuing to ensure that the show was the best that it could possibly be…