X-Sammii-X, thank you for your review. I thought Ethan should guess some of what Cal was hiding from him so it wasn't just Cal making revelation after revelation - I'm really glad it worked! I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

20BlueRoses, I think you'd probably feel cheated if I ended this story without Ethan knowing everything! You'd probably also feel cheated if Ethan took it well. I just hope you'll like where I'm going with this. Thank you for your review.

Gillian Kearney Fan, that's a good point - it would be an interesting twist if Cal was trying to tell him and Ethan decided he wasn't going to listen anymore! That would be really difficult to write but very interesting. Thank you for your review.

tracys dream, thank you for your review - I'm so glad you're enjoying it. There will probably be three or four more chapters after this one.

Tanith Panic, thank you so much! That's a massive compliment to say I'm doing justice to the scriptwriters' ideas. It does put the pressure on, but I'll keep trying my best. Thank you for your review.

It was a while before Ethan was calm. A while before he even relaxed, his body falling backwards against Cal's as he cried. Cal turned him around and held Ethan against his chest. "It's okay, Nibbles. It's okay. I know it's a big shock and I'm afraid there will be more shocks, but I'm here, okay?" He rubbed Ethan's back. "You cry as much as you need to."

Ethan cried for a little while, then he lifted his head from Cal's shoulder, sniffling. "I'm sorry, Cal. I didn't mean to do that."

"It's fine," said Cal, still hugging him. "You've still got a way to go before you catch me up. Shall we sit down?"

Ethan nodded and they sat down on the floor together, Cal's arm around Ethan's shoulders. Cal didn't doubt that Ethan would shake it off once he knew anything, but Cal would offer comfort for as long as Ethan was willing to accept it.

Ethan emptied all his pockets before finally wiping his nose on his sleeve. "Sorry. I haven't got a tissue."

Cal smiled comfortingly. "Since when do I care about things like that?"

Ethan tried to smile back. "At least Mum didn't see. She would have…" He stopped.

Cal recognised every single emotion that passed across his face as Ethan's world was rocked again.

"Is it like that every time?" said Ethan shakily. "You start to say something or you start to think something and then you remember she's not your real mum?"

Cal nodded sadly.

"Does it get easier?"

"Not yet," admitted Cal sadly. "But maybe it will be like when Mum died. At first, I just expected her to be there. I kept wanting to say things to her. I even drove to the nursing home. But eventually... you know."

"I'm surprised you knew the way to the nursing home," said Ethan, but then he shook his head. "I'm sorry, Cal. I shouldn't have said that."

Cal thought sadly that he probably deserved it. "I actually drove over there quite a lot. It's just I very rarely made it as far as the car park, never mind got out of the car."

"It was really difficult," allowed Ethan.

"I never did have your strength."

Ethan took Cal's hand in his. "Well, you've got it now. Because I'm here. Whatever the truth is about our biological mother, we're going to face it together. Okay?"

Cal couldn't look at him. It was one thing for Ethan to say that. He didn't know what Cal already knew. "Okay," he said, knowing Ethan wanted an answer.

Ethan wiped his eyes on his other sleeve. "You will tell me everything this time, won't you?"

Cal sighed and nodded. "Everything, Ethan."

"Then we'll be okay."

Even now, Cal was thinking of ways to get out telling Ethan the full story because that was what he always did. He realised that Ethan would have to know about the Huntington's now, but maybe Cal wouldn't have to admit that he already knew. Obviously, that would mean contacting Emilie and asking her to pretend she'd never met him, but she seemed like an understanding person.

But then reality intruded. Cal knew he had no way of knowing if she would agree. She was understanding, but that didn't mean she was prepared to be dishonest. It was one thing for her to conceal something upsetting from her adopted sons who might not know they were adopted; it was quite another to ask her to tell a lie to Ethan which she'd have to maintain for the rest of her life. It wasn't fair to ask her that.

He could only tell Ethan the truth. He would have to tell him he'd met Emilie already. He'd have to admit he'd known about her illness since Christmas Eve.

Cal closed his eyes and held Ethan's hand more tightly, trying to draw on some of his strength. He was going to need it.

They both would.

"So, obviously you've found out who she is," said Ethan slowly, as he released Cal's hand. "And you must have looked at the birth records if you know we're both her sons." He looked up at Cal with a mixture of wariness and curiosity. "So, what's her name?" A thought seemed to strike him. "Oh gosh: what are our names?"

"Stephen and Michael," said Cal. This part of the truth was easy. "Her name's Emilie. With IE at the end. Emilie Groome. With an E. I actually don't know how Stephen is spelled."

"Michael Groome," said Ethan wonderingly. "Dr Michael Groome." He laughed a bit hysterically.

"I know," said Cal. He even smiled.

If only it could be like this forever. Laughing over the strange moments and never admitting the terrible ones.

But there was no way out. Cal had promised – and Ethan now knew enough to find Emilie for himself.

"How did you find out?" asked Ethan. "I thought it would take months." His expression darkened. "Oh God, Cal, please don't say you've known about it for… no, you couldn't have done. You only found out after the paternity test." He frowned. "All the same, that's a long time."

"I know," said Cal quietly. "I'm sorry, Ethan. I'm going to tell you everything now."

He only wished he had even the smallest amount of confidence that Ethan would still be speaking to him when he got to the end.

"How about we go home?" suggested Cal, and received a glare from Ethan. "I'm not saying that to put off telling you. It's just it might take a while and it's going to be pretty emotional. Maybe it's best if we come out of the lift so people can use it again. I promise I'll tell you as soon as we've got home – and this time, it will be everything."

There was suspicion on Ethan's face, but then he nodded. "Perhaps you're right." He put his glasses on and went over to the lift controls. "Cal, how come the lift hasn't moved?" he said in sudden confusion. "I thought I started it up again."

"Well, you did give it a few good punches," said Cal. "If you hit it an even number of times, then it would be stopped. Unless you broke it."

"Oh my goodness: I hope I didn't break it," said Ethan worriedly. "I'll pay for it to be fixed, of course, but it might be out of action for weeks."

Cal didn't care too much about the lift. All that mattered now was Ethan. "It's not your fault."

"It is." Ethan ran his hands through his hair. "I suppose I did go a bit crazy."

Cal's eyes held his. "You had every reason to go crazy." The trouble was, Cal was about to give him every reason to go crazy again. "But before you start stressing, how about you just press the button again and see if it works?"

Ethan stared at him for a moment, then his lips twitched just slightly in acknowledgement that Cal was being the sensible one for once. He pressed the button and a moment later, the lift moved upwards. Cal saw the relief on Ethan's face. When the lift stopped at the next floor, Ethan sent it down to the ground floor again.

The doors opened to reveal Charlie. "So, it's you two." His concerned gaze took in Cal's appearance, then Ethan's. "We thought the lift had broken."

"I'm sorry," said Ethan. "It was my fault. We needed to talk and I didn't want Cal to run away."

Charlie looked from Ethan to Cal and back again. "Have you finished talking?"

"Not yet," said Cal. "It could take a while, so I thought we should get out of the lift."

Charlie nodded. "I think you should both go home. It's not long till the end of your shifts anyway and I can see your heads aren't right for work. Off you go: I'll square it with Connie for you."

"Thank you," said Cal, with deep gratitude, and Charlie nodded, understanding. Ethan echoed Cal's words. They got changed in silence, then Cal drove them home. He still felt upset and wrung-out, but he knew Ethan was feeling much the same and he wanted to take responsibility for Ethan and be the big brother for once by driving home.

He knew he might never get the chance to be Ethan's big brother again.

Once they got to the flat, Cal offered Ethan tea, but Ethan shook his head, a reproving look on his face. "No more delays, Cal. Just tell me."