Part 4 – Going to Bed
No one said much after that. Megan decided that she'd given them enough to think about, and started making her excuses. Alan nodded and went up to bed. Colby said goodbye and went to check on Nena. Charlie and Megan stood at the front door and watched Colby slowly climb the stairs. He looked worn to the bone.
When Colby was out of earshot, Megan asked Charlie, "You sort of agree with what Will and Don did, don't you?"
Charlie nodded glumly.
"But you can't say so without hurting Colby," Megan finished.
"No," Charlie sighed. "But I know the statistics. The odds of Nena hurting herself or someone else are just too high. It's not like an old gun that someone keeps in a box in the closet. Colby's gun is daily in evidence, a constant reminder to Nena of something nifty she can't have. Eventually she's gonna give in to temptation. Someone's going to be careless and forget to put their gun away or let Nena see them punch in the combination to the safe."
"It's easy to see it happening," Megan admitted.
Charlie sighed again. "I've had the same worries that Don has about all the guns around. I haven't brought up the subject with Colby because he was so sure that he had it under control." He gave Megan a wry shrug. "Besides, I couldn't think of what else could be done other than forbidding anyone to bring a gun into the house, which would never work. I'm glad that Will came up with a better idea. I just wish … I just wish he'd convinced Colby first."
Megan gave her own sigh. "Yeah."
"And when he ordered Will and Don out of the house tonight, it was just so shocking. I just, I just didn't know how to react. It was probably a good thing that they left quickly, anyway. I think it might have gotten ugly."
"Probably," Megan said. "I'd wondered what you thought about that."
"It's Colby's house, too," Charlie said. He fiddled with the door latch for a moment before asking, "Do you really think Will did this, caused this fight, on purpose?"
"It's a guess," Megan said. "But yeah."
"I don't understand him," Charlie complained. "I've tried, but I just don't get him."
Megan smiled. "He's the sort that makes people like me stay in business, but he's a good person."
"Oh, I don't doubt that," Charlie said quickly. "And he makes Don happy. More happy than I've ever seen him."
"Yeah. Even with little crisises like this."
"Hope it is a little crisis," Charlie said.
Megan nodded in sincere agreement.
"Thanks for coming over," Charlie said, his big eyes serious. "I don't know what we would have done without you." He reached over and gave her an awkward hug. She hugged him back.
"You're welcome," Megan said. "But now I really do have a pint of Chunky Monkey calling my name."
Charlie smiled and opened the front door for her. Megan walked down the sidewalk and got into her car, but after she started it, she sat for a moment, staring at nothing. Then she pulled out of the driveway and, instead of turning towards home, headed for Larry and some comforting of her own.
After Megan left, Charlie checked all the downstairs locks, turned off the lights, and climbed up the stairs. He pushed open the door to Nena's room, to see Colby sitting in bed with her, Nena's head on his lap. He was leaning against the headboard, his eyes closed. He opened his eyes as Charlie stood there and gave him a wan smile. Charlie smiled back, attempting to be reassuring, then shut the door and went to their bedroom.
Charlie got ready, crawled into bed and turned off the lights. He stared at the ceiling for a long time, unable to sleep. His head roiled with too many thoughts and emotions. Guilt for being not wholly on Colby's "side" in the debate. Fear for the future of his family relationships. Confusion at the unexpected vehemence from his father. Sadness at Will's uncertainty and the hard things he'd endured. Anger that Will had also put him in a position of having to choose between his lover and his brother. Anxiety that Colby would decide that living here was bad for Nena and he'd leave Charlie and move far away. His head ached with the barrage of emotions, and he tried to push them back with theorems and formulas. Eventually, the soothing world of numbers allowed him to fall asleep.
He dreamed of Nena walking across a rope bridge, then she was swinging on a park swing with Will pushing her one way and Colby the other. Charlie tried to explain the math of a swing, but Megan kept asking, "But how does it make you feel?" Alan was too busy trying to take a toy gun away from Don, who was running around with a red bandana over his face and a bed-sheet-turned-superman-cape over his shoulders.
Sometime later, Charlie blinked awake as the bed creaked and Colby climbed in beside him. Charlie lay for a moment, unmoving, unsure of Colby's mood, then Colby touched his shoulder and Charlie came quickly into the warmth of Colby's arms.
Colby simply held him, his cheek against Charlie's hair. Charlie cuddled against Colby and fell back asleep.
An hour later, Charlie was woken up again by movement on the bed. Nena was sitting on the foot of the bed, Rocko clutched under one arm.
Colby moved aside, creating space between him and Charlie. "C'mon up, honey," he said and Nena moved quickly to snuggle between them. Colby didn't even bother with his usual, 'This is only for tonight,' warning. He just gave a deep sigh and let Nena curl into his arms, where Charlie had been a moment before.
"Love you, Nena-bear," Colby murmured. Nena turned over once then fell instantly asleep. Colby reached over her to touch Charlie's cheek. "Love you too, Angel. Always."
Charlie smiled in the dark, kissed Colby's hand, and settled into sleep with two of the most important people in the world.