When You Least Expect It
Making Plans
"Why can't you take a hint, Garret? I'm over you, I've moved on, and I'm happy. I want nothing to do with you!" Paul nearly shouted as the other man continued pestering him.
Life had been smoothing itself out for Paul. He'd reunited with his boyfriend, started taking clients for massages, and even started to get things ready for the kids' birthday party—which Billy and Sue so kindly offered to hold at their house. Things were going amazingly well compared to what he'd been dealing with a month ago, but he knew it was only a matter of time before the other shoe dropped. And today as he watched the kids play on with other kids at the park, the other shoe dropped and Garret appeared.
"You're not even listening to what I have to say!" Garret shot back, running a hand through his slightly shaggy light brown hair.
He honestly hadn't expected to be flat out refused by Paul, so this was more than any minor setback that he'd anticipated. Part of him wondered idly if he'd failed to anticipate how close Paul and that other guy had grown in the time since he'd begun planning his ploy to knock one in with Paul Lahote.
It'd been pure chance that they had run into each other on that cool Fall morning: Garret out for another jog, while Paul and the boys decided to take a trip to the park. But now, all Paul wanted to do was get rid of the annoying man before either of his sons noticed that he was even there.
"What is there to listen to?" Paul snapped, all of his frustrations pushing to the forefront of his mind. "I've moved on; regardless of how much of a fuck-up your little stint turned me into, I've managed to move on. The fact that I haven't managed to fuck things up with each time I've tried pushing him away amazes me every day. I love him Garret. And he loves me and my kids."
Paul paused for a moment to let things sink into the other man's mind. He really didn't want there to be any kind of misunderstanding this time. Whether or not things worked out for him and Jacob—though he was sincerely hoping they would—he wanted nothing to do with Garret after this moment.
But in true Garret fashion, the man shrugged this off as if it meant nothing.
"Paulie, c'mon now dear. Don't be unreasonable!" He cooed softly as if he were scolding someone Brady or Peter's age. "I'm not asking for things to go back to how they were," he pointed out with a devilish curve to his lips trailing his fingers around the collar of Paul's jacket, "all I'm asking for is maybe we go out for a night, get a drink…and then see what happens."
Anger suddenly flooded Paul, but he managed to stay calm to avoid bringing attention to him, "So, all you want to do is become friends…with benefits?"
"Yes!" The dark haired man was openly grinning, sitting up straighter at the thought of Paul actually agreeing to have some fun,
Instead, Paul scoffed and stood from the bench, "You're disgusting."
Garret attempted to reach out and stop him from moving away, but Paul was too fast, avoiding his outstretched hand and speeding up. With a sigh, he leaned back against the back of the bench. Another time, then, he thought to himself with a wry grin.
Paul
To think, earlier in the day I had just been thinking about how amazing my life was going. But now, with Garret's proposition hanging over my head like a rain cloud, things were definitely dimmer.
"Daddy!" Peter tugged my pant leg, drawing my attention away from stirring a pot of mac-n-cheese.
"What's up, my love?" I asked with a smile as I looked down at the wide toothy grin and sparkling chocolate brown eyes.
"Guess what's gonna happen soon!"
"Hmm…" I hummed with feigned thoughtfulness while stirring the pot absently, "Can you give me a hint?"
"Just guess!" He said with excitement.
I knew what he was hinting at. I hadn't mentioned my plan for the small birthday party at Billy and Sue's house, but Peter knew I was up to something. I'd done as much as I could for every birthday so far, and even though they couldn't remember every event, Peter still knew that something was going to happen. Better yet, he knew he was getting a gift—a big gift that I allow myself to splurge on for every birthday—and between the two of my sons, Peter was the one that loved tearing through gift wrapping to get the surprise beneath it all.
"I have no clue what could possibly be coming up soon, papa. You're gonna have to tell me so I can know too." I smiled wide at his son's sudden exasperation.
Just as Peter opened his mouth to speak, Brady ran into the kitchen shouting, "Jake is here! Jake is here!" only to be followed by the man himself a few seconds later.
At the sight of Jacob Black, dressed smartly in a pair of slacks and a white button up shirt, sleeves rolled up to show his forearms, my stomach instantly went into a wild flutter. I hadn't seen or heard from Jacob since last night when he returned to my door only to kiss me sweetly and tell me that he loved me. The revelation had startled me, unsettled me, elated me, but in the end I focused on the positive of it all. Jacob Black, successful and daringly handsome veterinarian, loved me. And honestly, that was a good thing.
See, in the hours since his revelation, I had made the decision to have a more positive outlook on things—namely, my relationship with the aforementioned successful and daringly handsome veterinarian. In the two months and some days that we'd been together, I had had more than my fair share of doubts and more often than not, those doubts had bled through and affected our relationship. Jacob was a good man, there was no denying that—but even saints have their limits and I knew that there was only so much that my boyfriend could handle before he comes to the conclusion that I'm too much to handle and turns tail to run as far as his legs can take him—and judging from the tone and sharp, muscularly chiseled body he had, he would be able to go pretty far.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" my boyfriend asked with a smile, quickly moving to stand behind me at the stove and pull me in his arms.
"Our birthday is this weekend and dad forgot!" Peter announced with a huff and an accusatory finger point in my direction.
Jacob, knowing full well what I was planning, feigned shock and fought a grin, "Well, I'll let you know something…" he trailed off in a stage whisper as he crouched down to look them in the eye, "I didn't forgot. And I actually have a surprise for you guys later."
The boys both ooh'ed and ahh'ed at the sudden mystery that was thrust before them; it only lasted a moment before they both began demanding to know what exactly Jacob had planned for them.
"Nope." He acted as though he were zipping his lips, "Eat your dinner!" He herded them toward the small dining table in the corner of my small kitchen and sat them both in front of mac-n-cheese before turning to me with a wide grin, "Hey."
"Hi." I smiled in return, having become accustomed the warm, fluttering sensation that came with every smile he sent my way. Without thinking about it much we leaned in for a chaste peck on the lips and a long embrace, knowing that we couldn't get too graphic with the kids only a few feet away.
And just like that, as I reveled in the warmth of his embrace, the strength of his hold, all of my troubles from earlier in the day just seemed to up and disappear I didn't think about Garret's sudden persistence to come to me after he'd left me so easily, I didn't worry about all the guilt I felt for accepting Billy and Sue's help with the upcoming party, I didn't worry about doing something wrong, something to push this man away from me. I just craved him and everything he made me feel.
"What's wrong, babe? You're shaking." He whispered, concern lacing his voice just as his arms tightened around me.
But was I shaking? If so, I didn't even realize it, but after a second I realized that he was indeed correct. I was trembling.
I didn't even realize how much this man meant to me until this moment, when the only thing on my mind were all the worries—the same worries that had so easily slipped away in his presence. I had come to rely on him and all that he promised to be with his words and actions.
And just as easily as the realization came to me, the fear that always accompanied such thoughts—the same fear I'd promised myself only moments ago to push away—take grip of my heart and squeeze. So naturally, I did the only thing I knew how to do in such situations; I pushed him away.
Turning my back to him, shrugging his concern off and keeping myself busy with dishing out another bowl of the cheesy dish, I lamely excused myself with a, "Just kinda tired I guess. Are you hungry?"
I knew he wasn't buying it, I could hear it in his voice and the sigh that left his lips before he let out a quick, "Nope." Leaving it at that, he turned all his attention on to the boys.
I was glad for the reprieve. It gave me a chance to berate myself in private.
Jacob
I was frustrated.
Dealing with a stand-off-ish Paul was not the way that I had planned spending our first night together in my house at all.
The plan was to spend the weekend at my house—after two months, Paul was barely coming to my house, ridiculous, I know—and I would take them to see the animals when I went to check in with them at the clinic since it was my turn to make the late-night rounds. After that, we would just spend time together until Sunday—the twins' birthday—where we would take them to the little get together that we had planned with my family and some of Paul's friends. Saturday would simply be spent with together, since Rachel offered to take care of Peter and Brady—both to give me and my boyfriend some alone time, as well as time to put the finishing touches together for the party.
Would it be horrible to say I'm used to this kind of behavior from him, though? Because unfortunately, it's true. I'm at a loss as to what to do when to get him to trust me. I feel like I'm walking on eggshells sometimes. It's stressing me out, and although it is exhausting, I don't want to give up on him. I want him in my life like I've never wanted anything else but when we really get down to it, he's the one stopping us from progressing. Yes, it's only been two months, but in that two months, I've barely learned about Garret, made love with him, and I was the first—and so far, only—one to say that I love him.
Thinking about it only served to make me depressed and feel a sudden weight, sinking into the pit of my stomach and just sitting there, so I pushed my worries to the back of my mind and focused on the kids and their infectious laughter as they reached the caged of area where a German Shepherd and her new pups were resting. The pups were excited for the contact, while the mother kept a sharp eye on the twins.
This was the main reasoning behind bringing them to visit the animals. I'd helped the owner with caring for and giving the new pups their shots so that they'd be safe to take home and sell. Instead of accepting payments for all the care and medicine we used, he agreed to let me have one puppy of my choice.
I planned of giving that puppy to Brady and Peter for their birthday.
Allowing myself a brief moment of sadness that Paul had decided to skip on the trip, saying he was tired and needed sleep, I stepped forward and helped the twins to let the cage open, watching carefully to see which one they liked best.
Third Person
Charlotte Santos sat in the same chair she'd been sitting in only a few days ago, staring at the same kind faced man, nervously fidgeting with her dark brown hair—a habit from her childhood she'd never been able to shake. In the back of her mind, she knew what she was doing was wrong, and it was only a matter of time before the cat was out of the bag. Eleazar would be furious with her for going behind his back and doing this. But it had to be done.
"So," She began, her Georgia-peach accent thick with nerves, "you're sure this is the correct address? Home and work?"
"Yes ma'am. I'm positive." He seemed like he wanted to go on, but hesitated. Only slightly, though as he went on to say, "I'm glad that you're looking into seeing them before you take any action; for all you know you could be tearing them away from a happy home life."
Hearing this eased the pressure from Charlotte's chest, it helped her to remember why she'd come her in the first place. She knew that her husband wanted to take action now, to file a suit and fight for custody of Brady and Peter; but she couldn't, wouldn't ever pull children away from the only family they've ever known before knowing everything about the situation.
"If my husband calls," she began, speaking every word slowly, "he can't know that I've been here. He can't know that I'm planning to go and see Mr. Lahote and the twins. You understand?"
"My lips are sealed." The detective smiled warmly.
"I'm sorry, for the life of me, I can't remember your name." She blushed in embarrassment.
His deep throaty laugh rang through the room and warmed something deep inside of her, something she felt horribly guilty for feeling.
"Please, don't feel bad. The fact that you care enough to ask is considerate enough." He grinned again, but this time, it seemed different…rakish, deviant, maybe even predatory. "Felix Donahue, at your service."
Suddenly breathless, Charlotte muttered a simple, "Oh."
They stared at each other then, for a long moment, the air suddenly becoming thick with a rush of tension.
As if the devil himself had possessed her mouth, Charlotte found her suddenly blurting out, "I'm married."
That grin came back, accompanied with a raised eye brow. "I know."
"Oh God, I don't even know what—oh my lord, I just, feel a bit…frazzled with all of this." She held up the papers with Paul Lahote's information for emphasis.
"Well, maybe we can work something out. Maybe I can go with you; help you out with…things…to ease the frazzled feeling?"
Deciding, in for a penny, in for a pound, she looked across the desk and put on the flirtatious grin that had all the boys wanted her attention back when she was still a free girl and said a simple, "Maybe."
A/N: Really sorry for the long wait! Really, I just got busy all of a sudden, but I should be back on track now! Things should be picking up from here on out, and also wrapping up in the near future! We'll see! Anyways, again, I'm sorry for the wait! I hope people are still interested in this story! Review to let me know what you think!
Notoriously Yours,
GoinnGaGa
