Part 6 - Confronting

Don was sitting at a table in the corner of a small, sparsely populated restaurant, turning a cup of coffee between his hands, when Will walked in. Don didn't call out, just watched Will's alert eyes sweep the room, like a sniper checking out sight lines and escape routes, then alight on Don. It was amazing that, after all these months, Will's eyes meeting his still sent a little electrical thrill through Don.

Will smiled, a little warily, and came over. The waiter appeared as Will sat down and took Will's order for a light beer.

After the waiter left, Will looked at Don and asked, "So, what's up?"

Don set his coffee cup on the table and sighed. He wanted to kiss Will and at the same time punch him. He couldn't really do either in public like this, so he settled for doing it verbally. He leaned close to Will and said, "I love you, you goddamned idiot."

Will blinked. "What was that for?"

"Talked with Colby today," Don said.

"Okay," Will said cautiously. "How'd that go?"

"Alright. He wants us to come over to the house tonight because 'there's stuff that needs to be said.'"

"Sounds ominous," Will said, still looking at Don uncertainly.

"Yeah, I'll tell you the details in a minute," Don said, then grabbed Will's hand and gripped it tightly. "But answer me this. Did you, on some level, deliberately set up a fight to drive a wedge between me and my family?"

Will stared at him. "Of course not, why would you—"

Don gripped Will's hand even tighter. "Because I know you, Will Stevens. You've been expecting me to walk away from you since the day we got together. And you keep trying to make it happen. Throwing every temptation at me you can think of, testing me over and over, like with Coop. Don't think I haven't figured it out."

Will pressed his lips together and looked down at the table, down at his hand gripped so forcefully inside Don's. It had to hurt but he made no move to pull away.

Don continued, "Now, you've got a new tactic. You think it's gonna come down to some situation where I have to choose between you and my family, and I'll choose my family. Of course, I'll choose my family, you idiot."

Will's eyes flashed up to his and Don saw uncertainty in those dark eyes. Will Stevens, strongest man Don had ever known, was still just treading water in his endless sea of fears.

Don loosened his grip and his voice was gentle. "I'm never gonna have to choose between you and my family, Will, because you are family."

Will blinked, obviously startled. Don sighed at the surprise on Will's face. He felt like he was banging his head against a brick wall, trying to get Will to believe him. Well, it was a good thing he had a hard head, because a little bit of the wall chipped away each time.

Don shook his head. "Aein, this is no one-night stand, no until-I-find-someone-better, no Mr. Right-Now. I'll never leave you, even if I'm dead. I'll come back from the grave and haunt our bedroom and keep you up all night."

The corner of Will's mouth twitched.

"I'm never gonna leave you," Don repeated, for what felt like the thousandth time. "When are you finally gonna accept that?"

Will's eyes looked suspiciously moist and he turned his head away. His voice sounded ragged as he whispered, "Someday."

"Better make it soon, Stevens," Don said with forced cheerfulness. "I'm running out of friends."

The waiter arrived with Will's beer, giving Will a chance to recover his equilibrium while they ordered lunch.

When the waiter left again, Don said, "So, tonight. We've got to talk to our family." He recounted his conversation with Colby while Will sipped at his beer. Don finished with, "Megan has given us a chance to get through this with the family still intact, but we've got to seize the opportunity. You are going to apologize like hell and take whatever punishments and restrictions that Colby places on you."

Will's eyes flashed with defiance then grew thoughtful. After a long moment, Will nodded in acquiescence. Don was a little surprised that Will didn't argue more, but perhaps he was starting to see sense. Don could only hope.

"Good," Don said. "And don't you dare have to work late tonight."

Colby left work a little early that afternoon and went to Charlie's office. He pushed open the door and watched Charlie for a moment. His lover was in full "Charlie-the-math-god" mode, head bobbing to some unheard beat from his headphones while he scrawled indecipherable math across the chalkboards. Colby glanced at the math briefly, before deciding he wasn't mentally up to trying to figure out even what field of mathematics Charlie was working in.

Colby moved into the room and shut the door. He sat down on the edge of Charlie's messy desk and waited for Charlie to notice him. There was something they needed to talk about, but Colby was happy to put it off for another few minutes.

Eventually, Charlie saw him, jumping a little and pulling off his headphones. "Hey! What's up?"

Colby wanted to tell Charlie he both loved him and thought he was a complete idiot. He wasn't sure of his voice, so he settled for doing it physically. He grabbed Charlie and gave him a deep kiss, then moved back and poked Charlie hard in the stomach.

"Oof," Charlie said. "What was that for?"

"I hope you know what the kiss was for," Colby said with a wry smile, then he sobered. "The jab was for never telling me your concerns about guns and Nena."

Charlie grimaced guiltily. "You guessed, huh? I had concerns, but I didn't know what to say about it. I mean, you're her dad and I don't have the right to—"

"Bullshit," Colby snapped with sudden anger. "You're either her dad, too, or you're not. You don't get to be 'Daddy' just when it's fun stuff and only a bystander when it's tough. You're either part of raising Nena or you're not."

Charlie blinked and stammered, "I thought … I mean … You, but … And we …"

When it looked like Charlie wasn't going to get anywhere, Colby sighed and said, "Look. I'm not good at this single dad thing. Yeah, I know in theory Jenny is doing her part, but who knows what Nena learns from her. I need you to help me, point out my blind spots. I'm depending on you and Alan and Don and even Will to do this parenting thing with me. I might be mad as hell at how Don and Will went about it, but at least they tried to help."

Charlie flushed with anger. "You think because they took Nena to a gun range that they're doing more for Nena than I am."

Colby let out a deep breath and sat with a thump in a nearby chair. He rubbed his eyes. "That's what it sounded like, didn't it." He looked at Charlie and reached out a hand. Charlie frowned but slowly came close enough to take Colby's hand. Colby tugged Charlie closer and took Charlie's other hand in his, looking up into Charlie's face. "I talked with Don today. I asked him and Will to come over tonight to talk." Charlie tensed but Colby continued, "Don told me about that agent who lost his son to a gun accident two years ago. It was Neal Jackson. I went and read the case file."

Charlie's eyes widened. "Agent Jackson? That's the guy? He always seems so … joking."

"He does. But he's a changed man. Jackson's career was going somewhere before his boy died, but since then it's been only black marks. The thing that hit me the most was reading the transcript of the interview between Don and Jackson. God, it was terrible. Jackson hated himself so much." Colby was embarrassed to feel tears coming to his eyes and blinked quickly. "Don was so gentle with him, but somehow still asking the questions that needed to be asked. I just kept thinking, what if that was me in that interview? I honestly think I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to Nena."

Charlie squeezed his hands silently.

Colby squeezed back. "Angel, I know it's not something you ever expected, but I need you to be my full partner with Nena. If you have concerns, we need to talk about them."

Charlie grimaced and Colby could sympathize. Both of them tended to avoid difficult conversations. But that wasn't a luxury they could afford as parents.

"Anything else about Nena that you've been worried about but haven't told me?" Colby asked.

Charlie frowned thoughtfully. "I've wondered if we should have Nena in preschool."

"Ah, school," Colby said with a nod. "We need to talk about that, and soon." He tugged Charlie closer. "But, right this second, I need you."

Charlie looked like he was going to protest, then just pressed his lips together and let Colby pull him into his lap. Colby held Charlie, his cheek against Charlie's shoulder, and gathered himself back together. The last twenty-four hours had been a series of shocks to his settled little world. He hadn't realized how safe and contented he'd felt until that world was jeopardized. Nena's world had been upset as well. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel uncertain about her home, about the love of those around her. There had to be a way to keep her safe from Will's commitment games with Don, but still allow 'Uncle Will' to have a place in her life.

Colby inhaled Charlie's familiar scent – warmth, love, home – then gently pushed Charlie off of his lap. "Sorry I interrupted you," Colby said, waving at the chalkboard. "I'll see you at the house later."

Charlie shook his head and turned off his music. "It's nothing that can't wait. Should I pick up dinner?"

"That'd be great," Colby said tiredly and tilted Charlie's chin up for a soft kiss. He smiled and ran his thumb across Charlie's lips. If sheer love could make a haven for Nena, he had enough and to spare. "See you at home."