Life's Complex Moments.
A few days after his visit to the hospital with Thad, Seth found himself summoned there again at the behest of the Head Warbler's brother. There was an urgency in his voice that made Seth drop his plans for the day and head in. True to his word, Ollie only spoke to him, and no-one else; as he sat the young man down and gave him the initial results, stressing that the diagnosis was not definitive until they had carried out a few more invasive tests, he ignored the little voice in his head that told him he should maybe have insisted that he bring someone with him to the meeting. As he uttered those words, the inevitable happened and Seth broke down, though as Ollie would discover, it was not from his diagnosis - Dr Google had predicted it - but at the cost of all of those additional tests and the potential treatment. He had long ago been left off his parents' insurance plan, and although he had taken a plan out himself, it was the most basic, as the cost of the premiums had been prohibitive to him. It had been hard enough to afford them and the cost of college, and now it seemed as if he would be bankrupt in a matter of days.
Ollie was sympathetic. As soon as the worst of Seth's tears had subsided, he said quietly, "I am assuming that like so many other people of your age, you do not have the kind of cover that will pay out for all of the necessary treatments, and the minute that I confirm the diagnosis, you will find it impossible to find any sort of scheme that will accept you, let alone cover you? I had my suspicions that might well be the case from the moment that Thad brought you in here, so I made the decision then and there to place you on the list of participants in the little scheme we have here. Basically it involves you being a case study for our medical students, and they will follow you through all the stages of treatment from now on."
"I don't know if I want that; to be prodded and poked at by a lot of people," Seth replied.
"There isn't any of that; I just use you as an example. You become patient X so to speak. You will be used as a discussion point; we give them all the information that you gave me, and see what they think, what they would recommend if they were the first doctor to see you. In return for that, the hospital covers all the costs of tests and treatment. I know it isn't the nicest of things, but basically it gets you free treatment for something that could otherwise land you a hefty bill in no time at all."
Seth sighed, then said, "Well, as long as I have complete anonymity, I guess it would be helpful…"
Ollie nodded, then carried on. "Right, so we need to schedule the other tests as soon as possible; after all, we are looking at the worst case scenario here, and it could be something as basic as a set of badly trapped nerves…" Seth nodded, as Ollie began to look for dates, but in his heart he knew that was not what it was. He knew, as he had always known, that he was in the early stages of Motor Neuron Disease…
In the first week of June, Sebastian returned from his trip to Europe, and returned to rehearsals. By that time, the tests had been completed, and Seth had official word that the diagnosis was correct, delivered with so much apology by Ollie, who knew how much the news would affect his brother and the young man's friends when they found out. However, Seth decided to tell no-one what was going on. Thad asked of course, but he lied, and told the Head Warbler that it was just a series of trapped nerves, which might require some simple surgery at some point in the future; in the meantime he had been given an exercise regime that would make his hand more supple, along with medication which would help to alleviate the pain from the spasms and make them less severe. That much was indeed true, but he couldn't yet bring himself to admit that it would only work for a short time, and that in a few years, if he was lucky, the affects would no longer be controllable, nor would they be restricted to his hand…
He also knew that he would not be able to work at his chosen profession for long, so he began to move away from the idea of a career in the practical side of the discipline and into the idea of helping to teach others; he offered his services to his professors as an assistant, and was gratified when they agreed that might be were his niche lay. They had noticed the deterioration of his practical pieces, but they knew he had the theory. They asked no questions as to what had prompted his decision, although one of them had an idea, and had felt so bereft as the young man had walked out of his office that day…
He had had time to come to terms with the fear of the disease for so long that actually finding out he had it was nowhere near as horrendous as it might otherwise have been. He found a strange sense of calm, and he returned to his old self almost overnight, much to the relief of his friends. However, one of them noticed something that did concern them. As long as he had known Seth, Skylar had watched him as he made his models; delightfully detailed and intricate constructions, fashioned with care from card using careful cuts and folds. He was returning laundry to his friends room one day when he noticed that all of his craft knives and kit had vanished from their usual spot, and from then on, no new models appeared. That was so out of character and Skylar immediately suspected that something was wrong, and he just wished that he knew what so he could help…
In the middle of the month there was an announcement that came as a surprise to everyone, including Nick. Jeff sent out invitations to everyone to come to his first art show since leaving college, an event that was to be held in one of the most prestigious art galleries in the city. Nick had been just a little put out when his husband had informed him only 24 hours before he told the rest of the world, but when he thought about it, he realised that all the signs had been there for him to see; in fact, little Wes had been talking about the 'gawalay' during his bath time for the last few weeks…
"So, what is the show about?" Nick asked, pleased for his husband that he was getting the opportunity.
"It is called Modern Families, and it is basically a series of portraits of myself, Caleb, and all the other people I see as members of my family. I always asked people when I drew their picture if they would mind if I exhibited it one day, and no-one has ever said no. So as well as pictures of you and little Wes, there is a whole section devoted to my Dalton family - and before you ask, no, I am not exhibiting the picture of us all naked. It is in there, but I redrew it with all of us safely in Dalton uniform, and then coloured it in like The Judging Angel. It isn't quite life size, but it is much bigger. I also removed the guys that were in that drawing but didn't go to Dalton; Cameron and Mitch are back in, the younger boys are there, and I even managed to get in Gabriel, Connor and Louis."
"It does sound pretty impressive, I have to admit," said Nick with a grin.
"There is a life size one of the two of us with little Wes though; one of Cooper all in costume as Charlie Price; one of Mike with Caleb… I guess the theme is that family is no longer just the people we are related to, but all the people that make our lives special."
"I can't wait to see it; I will be so proud to stand there at your side on your opening night."
"I will be just as proud to have you there, my love - and I want little Wes and Caleb there with us."
As Nick tried to imagine how the cat would cope in an art gallery, when even gatherings of people that he knew here in their home had him scurrying for cover, he also felt such a sense of pride in his husband. He had after all managed to set up his own exhibition, with what seemed like little or no help, whilst taking care of their son, working at the Spotlight Diner at least twice a week, and producing all of his illustration work. He had also managed to prefect his guitar playing; Sam's lessons had been a good start, but it hadn't been long before he had told Nick that Jeff did not need any more. As Sam had put it, he had the raw talent there in his artistic fingers, and once he had been shown the basics, all of that had been released. He could play so many child friendly songs that made little Wes laugh and smile, but he could also play the songs that had been hits in their shared youth. Nick smiled as he realised that since Rachel and Sam's wedding, Jeff had learnt a whole book of Lady Gaga songs, and then recalled the promise that he had made to her, that he would send her an invite to his next show…
The only thing that concerned him was that there would be a lot of expectation on him and that it would be successful. It was a lot like that apocryphal second album; to create it must have been harder than the piece that had made him his name in the art world. All that was going to be on show would be held in comparison to that one masterpiece… His train of thought was broken as Jeff handed him one of the flyers he had created for the show, which had a new self-portrait of his husband on the front. He smiled at the likeness, and then saw the date of the opening. He looked up at his husband, and just stared…
"I know what you are thinking, Nicky, but it was the best choice of date. Before he was born, you and I were a couple; the moment he was here, we became a family. As a result, it seemed very apt that the opening should take place on Wes' birthday." Nick nodded, but that made the need for the show to be a success all the greater. If it wasn't then their son's birthday would always be a reminder of a failed enterprise…
Jeff's announcement that there would be portraits of all of the people that he considered as family in his show did make them all wonder exactly who would be picked. Everyone knew that the Warblers would feature strongly, and the former members of the New Directions immediately assumed that Mike would be the most featured of their ranks. Over the course of the next two days, the artist made time to call up those that were to be most prominently featured himself. Cooper felt an immense amount of pride, but at the same time, he hoped that people would realise that he was wearing those high heeled, red patent leather boots for a stage role, and not because he was a secret cross dresser. Grace for her part hoped that her brother-in-law had chosen a flattering image of her, and not the drawing he had done when she was in the latter stages of her pregnancy; a portrait she loathed as she was much larger than normal in it. Mike was worried as well, and he hoped that Tina would be featured somewhere, and not just him. It would make his home life a little simpler. He knew that there would be a drawing of him with Caleb, and he also suspected that as there was to be one of Cooper in costume, then the drawing Jeff had done of him in his full costume and make up for Swan Lake would also be on show.
Sebastian was glad that he had so far declined Jeff's requests to draw him in his costume for Cabaret as it was much less conservative than those he had worn before. His anxiety was heightened though, as was that of the other members of the Warblers, when mention was made of a group portrait of them being a key element of the show. The only one that any of them knew of was the infamous one in which none of them wore a stitch of clothing, and the mortification of that being on display would be too much to bear for any of them. Of all of them, only Trent suspected that Jeff would have redrawn the piece with them all in their uniform, just as in the original photograph on which it was based. He said nothing though, just enjoying the discomfort of the others for a while. What Trent did not know was that he and Sebastian would be together in at least one other piece, which Jeff had created from a still photo of the two of them together in their costume from Book of Mormon…
Before all of that though came another opening night, one in which for the first time two of their number appeared together. If either Santana or Sebastian were nervous about the show, they did not show it. They had done an interview together in which the interviewer had made them feel so comfortable that they had forgotten they were being filmed for television, and they had called each other Satan and Meerkat with affection. They had both regretted it the moment the words were out, but the genie was now out of the bottle, and the interviewer was not going to forget them.
With a sigh, Sebastian looked at Santana; she nodded, and then he spoke. "When he first met each other, back in Ohio, the dislike we took for each other was instant; it stemmed from the fact that we came from very different backgrounds, and the fact that she is fiercely loyal to her friends. I had hurt one of them, and so I was the enemy. It was easy to turn Santana into Satan, though if I recall I believe I initially referred to her as…"
"Something he will never repeat," said Santana with a glare, but a smile too. "I called him the Meerkat because he had this habit of popping up where he was least expected; because he was tall and lanky; and because he was just a bit of an annoyance with his smirk and CW hair. However, when we lost two people that were mutual friends in the worst possible way, we were thrown together, and in our grief we came to realise that we weren't all that different in many respects after all. We had our share of regrets, of things we had done that we shouldn't have. And we also realised that we could deal with our common enemies much better as a team. The names that started of as jibes are now terms of endearment. He is not just my co-star, he is one of my best and truest friends."
Sebastian blushed, then added "She is right about what those names are now, and I would like to put it on record that she is easily my best female friend. If I am honest, my life would be quite dull without her in it…"
In private, after the interview was over, Santana gave Sebastian the surprise of his life by pulling him into a tight hug. "You are kind of my best male friend too, by the way, although if you should ever repeat that, I will deny it and dance on your grave."
Sebastian laughed, then said, "It is just as well that I am, seeing as the two of us might be united by a child in the very near future. Do you think we would ever have been drawn this closely together if Hunter had not done his worst?"
Santana thought about it, then said, "I sincerely doubt it. In fact, let's be honest; if it wasn't for him, neither of us would be within a million miles of a Broadway stage right now. I would probably be a waitress in some dive of a diner, and I don't mean the Spotlight; after all, it was only thanks to Blaine that I was able to invest in that place. As for you, you would probably be crunching figures for a living in London or Paris and detesting every single minute of it. Still, I would give all that I have now up for those three to still be here…"
Sebastian nodded, noting that she did not mean Wes, whose demise had been nothing to do with the Dalton scandal, then replied, "Me too… When did you and I get so kind and mature?"
"I have no idea, dearest Meerkat, but I am kind of glad that we did. It is so much simpler, and Brittany much prefers me like this. So, do you really think that we will bring the house down on opening night? I know that the public are loving us right now, but that does not mean that the critics will; they might all just be itching to see the two of us fail."
"Well, we happen to know where they work if they do take us down… with your razor blades and my cutting barbs, we will soon have them cut down to size. On top of that, Carmen would probably throttle them."
"Yeah, she is a far bigger badass than the two of us put together," agreed Santana with a smile.
Sebastian's parents were once again able to put their differences aside and even sit next to each other on his opening night. Julian and Isabelle were there too, along with Peter of course; little Sienna was at home with Julian's mother, who had no issue with babysitting her adorable granddaughter. Dave was sat next to Bette, now as much a part of the extended Smythe family as anyone. Nearby, Santana's mother sat beside her own mother; when she had extended the invitation, Santana was not sure that her Abuela would wish to come to this show, being that it was much more risqué, but after she had watched a DVD of the film version, and on realising that Santana was stepping into Liza Minelli's shoes, she had decided that she had to be there. The fact that the other ladies at her club would be jealous again was a major plus point. Brittany and Carmen were seated alongside them. Elsewhere in the auditorium assorted friends sat in eager anticipation of the show; Nick and Jeff sat with Trent and Rory, the latter couple having confirmed to the world that day that they would soon be fathers, just as the man they were waiting for on stage would be. Beats and Elliott arrived sharp, having been on one of their course days for becoming foster carers, and found their seats next to Flint just as the lights went down. He had been fussing over Izzy in a way that was both lovely and frustrating to her. Just as Beats arrived, her temper, already shortened by the rigours of pregnancy finally snapped, and she turned to her husband and hissed, "Will you just stop! You are as bad as your mother!" Flint looked mortified, and Izzy immediately felt guilty and contrite. She could not have said anything else that would have been so cruel…
Before either of them could speak, the lights were down, the curtain went up, and the opening bars of the score were being played. Sebastian literally popped up out of nowhere, dressed in the costume of Emcee; behind a desk initially, he looked so smart above the waist in his black jacket and bowtie. Then he stepped out from behind it, and revealed he was wearing a pair of leather shorts and socks held up with garters below the waist. Of course, his face was over made up, with copious quantities of rouge on his cheeks. "Wanky!" came a voice from the front, and everyone in the know knew it was Kitty…
Up in the box, Peter's eyes had already widened as Sebastian began to speak in his best German accent, camping it up more than a little. Beside him, Julian began to wonder if he had done the right thing in allowing his son to come, as he now began to predict the questions at the interval; questions like "What did Uncle Bazzy mean by Ladies, Gentlemen, and those somewhere in-between" for one thing. Santana impressed them all as well from her entrance, taking the well known songs in her stride, and performing the intense choreography flawlessly…
Their performance of Money, Money brought back memories for some of a sad November day that had ended in unbounded joy. For those in the close circle of friends that had not witnessed it before, like Beats and Flint, it was majestic and hysterical at the same time, and the degree of co-ordination between two people that had once been at each other's throats all the time was something to behold. The standing ovation that the two of them received at the end of that song was well deserved. Their worries about the critics would be unfounded, and they would praise the show to the hilt, most of them singling out for special praise the haunting way that the song Tomorrow Belongs To Me was performed, the choreography showing Sebastian being pushed out of the way by a new, nasty regime…
June was a quiet month that year apart from the opening of Cabaret for most people. For Flint however, the month was marked by the increasing irritability of his wife; it got to the stage that he considered whether he should book in for a vasectomy to avoid ever having to endure future mood swings from his beloved Izzy as her hormones went crazy in pregnancy. Admittedly she had did have her advantages when she was in that state; they would never have to worry about cold calls again after she had screamed down the line at one poor hapless soul. She had also managed to reduce two young missionary men to tears however, and that had made Flint feel quite guilty. The night that she bawled out his mother on the telephone was also memorable for all the wrong reasons, as he had been forced to make a grovelling apology on her behalf later that night.
However, as her outbursts began to grow in intensity, his own temper began to fray, along with his nerves, and that was how he ended up at Ethan's door one night with a packed bag. He did not want to worry Beats, and indeed he had only come to Ethan as he knew that his cousin Leo was back home in Kansas, introducing his girlfriend to his extended family. Ethan said nothing as Flint walked past him into the house when he opened the door. He followed him into the lounge, and it was there that Flint finally spoke. "Tonight was just the last straw for my limited patience. She started on about a tiny little speck of something on one of the dinner plates, which turned into a full blooded rant about my inadequacies as a husband. I could feel my own temper growing, and so I decided to leave. She knows where I am, and she has already called me up to apologise, but I told her we should spend the night apart to cool off. We will be back to normal tomorrow." Ethan said nothing, but nodded as he looked down at the floor - and at that moment Flint realised exactly who and what his friend was thinking about. "Oh God! I shouldn't have come here Ethan… I didn't stop to think…"
"It's okay… Your situation is nowhere near as bad. I mean, she isn't hitting you or anything, is she?" asked Ethan quietly.
"No, she isn't, and trust me, it will all be okay again tomorrow…"
"Well, I am glad that I can be here for a bolt hole for someone… Right, have you eaten? And if you have, would you like a coffee?"
Flint had eaten, but gratefully accepted a coffee, and he followed Ethan into the kitchen to help him make it. To his surprise, he found that the kitchen table was covered in papers, and on glancing at them, he was a little startled to see that they all had the header McKenzie Trust on them. He knew that Ethan's family was well off, but the fact that they had a charitable trust was a new one on him. Ethan noticed his friend looking, and decided that he should explain. "When my dad has his heart attack, my mom decided that she needed to cut back her workload to help him more, and one of the jobs she gave up was dealing with this stuff. They have wanted me to take a place on the company board for years, and I have always said no; I have no interest in the business yet. This however is different, and to help my parents, I agreed to be the chair of the trust in place of my mother. The problem I now have is deciding who is worthy of receiving a grant within the terms of the trust; in my opinion, every one of these organisations is deserving of one."
"It has to be a tough task; I don't envy you in having to decide."
"Actually, you might be able to help me out. Would you look through the papers with me, and maybe between us we can create a shortlist as to who gets money. We could even narrow it down to one between us…"
Two hours later, and after a lot of friendly arguing, they had both agreed as to where the tranche of money that was available to the trust that quarter should go. They had agreed that the money should go to the organisation that would benefit the largest group of people, and for that reason they would be sending the cash to Great Ormond Street hospital in London, towards the construction of new facilities for the Oncology Department. The submission from the clinical director had made a very convincing argument, and the fact that the investment would lead to better services for the whole of the United kingdom was important.
"So what happens now? Will there be a big ceremonial handing over of a cheque, or are the days of that kind of thing over?" asked Flint.
"No, there will be a cheque, but mom and dad might well be the ones to hand it over; a trip to England might be just the thing to get my dad to break away from work for a while," Ethan responded in a quiet voice. Flint knew why he did so. He knew that if he was the one that was going to hand over the money, so to speak, then he would be mentioned in the media, and that might mean that Drew would see he was coming and turn up, hopefully with a couple of packed suitcases. There was as much chance though that he would not come, and if he didn't, then it would make a painful situation all the worse. Ethan did not want to break his heart all over again, and there was no way he would go to Oxford in search of his friend, so all in all, it was better that he stayed in New York…
"We have definitely made the right choice for the grant though. Cancer is awful, but in kids it is 10 times worse, and if this centre can do something to help cure them, then it will be worth every cent we can send them. Right, now that is done, why don't we go and watch some trashy television for an hour before we call it a night?" said Flint.
"Sounds like a plan," said Ethan with a grin. "I do miss the two of us doing that back when you were here. When Leo gets his own place, and that will be soon enough the way his romance is going, I will have to think seriously about my next step. I don't mind living alone, but all the same, sometimes I do crave company…"