Joy for Tike, a Future for Seth.
As Nick and Jeff were sharing lunch with the royal family at Windsor, the very idea of food was the last thing on the mind of Tina. She normally had very robust health these days, which had helped to make her the star employee at the veterinary practice she worked at; when one of her colleagues called in sick, she was always able to be counted on to be available to cover. That had earned her high praise at a time when a new boss had come in, with the original senior partner in the firm having retired. The lady in question had a no nonsense approach, although she was still sympathetic to a degree with her staff, as long as the work of the day got done. She had no issues with giving Tina time off to see Mike's performances, although they both suspected that the fact that he was able to get her discounted seats might have helped there….
The last few days had however been a struggle for Tina; she had felt very tired, and was almost constantly nauseous. She had tried to keep the fact that she was feeling unwell from Mike, so he didn't worry, and in any case, there was nothing that he could do to help her. On the morning of Palm Sunday though she felt worse than ever before, and she had crawled out of bed reluctantly. She had headed to the kitchen and had made herself some oatmeal, but as she did so the wave of nausea hit; two spoonfuls of breakfast had her running to the bathroom to vomit. Her race to get there nearly ended in disaster as an unsuspecting Caleb got in her way, but he managed to dart to one side at the last second. He glowered after her for a moment, then with his tail held high in indignation, he had stalked up the stairs to make his complaint with the human in the house that he had known the longest…
Much as Mike loved Caleb, the sudden presence of the cat at his side, on the pillow, miaowing loudly in his ear had made him jump; not enough to bounce the cat off the bed, but enough to earn him another enraged miaow. "I'm sorry Caleb, you startled me!" said Mike, reaching out to stroke his little friend, who purred as he did - he always forgave Mike at once, particularly as he was the only human that had not deserted him. The screen on which the other two humans appeared periodically was not adequate, and he would let them know when, or indeed if, they deigned to return…
Mike's keen ears then picked up another altogether more human sound. He climbed out of bed, and then cradling Caleb, headed down the stairs, and paused outside the cloakroom where he could hear his wife being sick. He was about to knock and enter when he heard her moving, and then the toilet being flushed. He headed instead into the kitchen, and noted the bowl of oatmeal, and the hastily abandoned spoon that was leaving a mark on the place mat. He was concerned as Tina was so very rarely sick; he sat down, and waited patiently for her to come back, with Caleb taking the opportunity to nestle on his lap. She walked back into the room in a daze, and picked up the bowl and the spoon without even seeming to see him there at the table. He let her take them over to the sink and set them down on the counter before he spoke.
"Did I just hear you being sick? I would hate to think that something like that was caused by oatmeal…"
Tina jumped, then spun round. "Mike… I didn't see you there. No, I wasn't being sick…"
"Don't lie, I heard you Tina. Is this the first time, or have you been feeling this way for a while?"
Tina sighed, then said, "It is the first time that I have actually been sick, but I have been feeling ill for about a week, mainly in the mornings; by the time that I get home from work I am okay again."
Mike fell silent, a look on his face of wonder. He could only think of one reason that his wife would be suffering from those symptoms… "You don't think that you could be…"
"It has crossed my mind, but I didn't like to say anything in case it was just a bug…"
Mike gently lifted Caleb from his lap, and sat his wife down. He made her some toast, which she ate at his insistence without butter, and drank a glass of cranberry juice. He then made his own breakfast, ensured that Caleb was fed too, then headed upstairs to dress. He saw Tina into a bath, then popped out to the drugstore, hoping that no-one that he knew would see him picking up the pregnancy test; if she was going to have a baby, then he wanted to keep it to themselves for a little while.
He arrived home as Tina emerged from the bathroom, and he solemnly handed her the drugstore bag without a word. She looked at him for a moment, then nodded, and headed back into the bathroom. The next few minutes would be some of the longest in Mike's life so far; he sat on the floor by the bathroom door, joined almost inevitably by Caleb, who seemed to know almost by instinct when Mike was in need of his company. Then the door opened, and she was standing there. She did not speak, but held out the test in front of her, showing it to Mike. He immediately saw that it showed all the signs of a positive result…
His initial reaction was joy; he had watched as around them all of their contemporaries had started families of their own, but he had said nothing to Tina about the growing sense of jealousy and indeed broodiness that had begun to feel inside. The fact that several of those families were now made up of multiple children or had expectations of another one soon had ramped up the feelings. He also knew that both sets of parents, whilst staying silent to Tina's face, were also desperate for a grandchild. However, he also respected the fact that she had wished to cement her own career firmly in place before she embarked upon motherhood. It was the least that he could do, give that she had waited patiently for him to propose until he had made his own place in the competitive world of dance….
That was why he did not show those feelings of joy as much as he craved to at once; he had to wait until he saw how she was feeling at the prospect. The fact that she was standing there in silence was not helpful at all, and he suddenly feared that she might be waiting for him to speak first, which would not be helpful. Eventually though she sat down on the floor beside him, and spoke. "Well, this was not exactly part of the plan at this precise moment in my career, but honestly, I am not unhappy about the fact that it has happened now. Of course, these tests can produce false positives, so before we get too excited about starting to grow our little family, I think I should go and have a proper one done by a doctor." Tina stopped for a moment, and took Mike's hand in hers. "You were probably expecting me to be quite negative about all of this, and I admit had this happened a few months ago, I would have hated the very notion that I could be in this condition. However, when I was called in to a meeting with the new senior partner, I talked about wanting to start a family soon, and she said that it would not be an issue; that they would even give me some paid time off when this happened…"
"Even so, they probably weren't expecting it to happen right now," said Mike.
"Well, it has, and you are going to be a wonderful dad. I am much more concerned about how good a mom I will be."
"In my opinion, you will be an excellent one. Of course, this will change everything for us, but together, we will handle anything it throws at us."
Tina smiled, then said, "So I think that there is a centre at the hospital that Ollie Harwood works in that does testing, even on a Sunday; we could head down now and see whether the test result was correct, or we could wait until I can get an appointment with my usual doctor…" She stopped and started to laugh as she saw that Caleb was on the floor, Mike was on his feet, and he was offering her a hand to help her up. She would have been forced to admit though that she was just as desperate for confirmation too…
It would be a late lunch for Mike and Tina that day, just after 2pm, but they ate it knowing that the result on the home test was accurate; she was indeed an expectant mother, but still in the very early stages of pregnancy, with a due date towards the middle of November being suggested. As it was still very early days, they had agreed that it was too early to tell their families, although they both knew that they had to share their news with somebody. After a very short debate, they both agreed exactly who it should be; two very close friends who had the added advantage of currently being thousands of miles away, and therefore much less likely to accidentally spill the beans before they had a chance to tell people themselves. They decided not to put off telling them, and fortunately, it was a Sunday…
The Skype call came at 4pm, as it did every week without fail; Mike was already sitting in front of his laptop, with Caleb on his lap. Jeff would always be the first to appear on screen, and he would immediately talk to his cat, but as time had gone on he has seen Caleb becoming more and more indifferent to his appearance, and he suspected that the day would come when he would just glance at the screen then walk away…
After a good few minutes of Jeff just talking to Caleb, who seemed to have regained an interest in him that day, Nick appeared, and the humans began to talk about their respective weeks. Jeff sat and told the tale of that day's lunch at Windsor Castle, as Mike and Tina just listened in awe; they had never expected that the couple would meet royalty, and that they had done was a surprise; that they were now sharing a private Sunday lunch was just mind-blowing. Then Tina looked at Mike, and he smiled, before casually asking of Nick and Jeff could keep a massive secret for them; the fact that Tina was pregnant. Jeff squealed in delight, and Nick's smile threatened to tear his face apart…
"That is just the most marvellous news! You are going to be so good for that child, the most wonderful parents," exclaimed Nick. "Better still, we will actually be back in the States when they come into the world."
"That is great, because I think that Mike will need his two best friends around to support him through the early days, and I would also appreciate you being around too," replied Tina.
The couples continued to chat for a while until Nick excused himself to go and carry out a few final tasks before he headed to bed; Tina decided that there were things she needed to do to, which left Mike on his own to chat with Jeff. With neither of their partners now in the room, Jeff could speak to Mike candidly about an issue that was much closer to home. "Mike, how is Seth?" asked Jeff quietly. "No-one is saying anything other than he is okay, but I don't think that David is being entirely honest with me, and neither is Luke…"
"I wouldn't say they were being dishonest," began Mike. "Seth is a very private person, as you already know, and he seems to have closed down all the more since Skylar got round to proposing to Julia. Having said that, there is a certain person that does seem to be going round to their house more often since Thanksgiving, and they usually do it when the majority of the household will be at work, or indeed school."
"Who?" asked Jeff, instantly intrigued.
"Elliott… You don't think that he is aware of something that the rest of us aren't? That he might have seen something that casts doubt in his mind on just how well Seth actually is?"
"It is possible, indeed likely in my opinion… That brings me on to what I wanted to ask you to do, for me, just in case. There is a box in my studio labelled Manet, and in it there is an envelope with a set of plans for the conversion of the bottom house at the end of the row next to our own into two separate apartments; the one in the basement level would be accessible. They have been approved by the city planning authorities, and there is a note attached to them with the name of the approved contractor that would be able to complete the works. I want you to get hold of that envelope, call up the contractor, and tell them I have given the go ahead to start the conversion. In an ideal world you would get the envelope when David isn't around - possibly when there are only Simon and Roderick in the house?"
"Okay, I can do that for you… I take it that you think we might be reaching that stage with Seth now?"
"I hope that we aren't, but I do know that the big house is going to be very much emptier in the near future, and it would be good to have somewhere smaller ready for Seth to move into."
"That much is true," admitted Mike, and then he grinned. "Of course, if you get the works started now, then by the time you and Nick get back home, there should be no noise to bother you…" Jeff said nothing, but the attempt at innocence on his face told Mike that he had hit the nail right on the head…
Jeff's hunch that the big house would be much emptier very soon was of course correct. He knew already that Luke and Duncan intended heading back to Vermont just a couple of weeks after he and Nick would return home from London. His cousin loved the life in the city, but he missed the comfort of the steady way of life that they could have back home with their families. They had learned new skills and gained qualifications in their time in New York that would stand them in good stead as they helped to run the family business. Another consideration was that both wanted to start a family, and they had agreed that they wanted to give their child a country upbringing like their own…
As for Edward and Colin, Jeff knew that they too saw their future as being away from the city, and that they had been looking around to find their ideal home. What only the two young men in question knew was that they had agreed on the purchase of the business that they had seen in the Hudson Valley, and would sign the necessary paperwork on Monday morning, with a moving in date in August for the house, and then a gradual takeover of the pharmacy and the dental surgery before they took over for good by the end of October. That they were able to do so was partially down to the generosity of Dalton for the suffering that they had endured, and also down to Jeff, who had given them such a low rent that they had been able to save the money that they would otherwise have been forced to use for housing costs. That freedom also meant that they had not informed their parents of their purchase yet, and they had decided that they would only find out on the day after they graduated from their respective college courses…
They had also decided not to tell any of their friends either, at least not until the whole deal was signed off. This decision was mainly for the benefit of Seth and Skylar. The former seemed healthy enough just now; he seemed to be having far fewer attacks, although Colin was certain that could be attributed to the inordinate number of pills that he took daily. Finding out exactly when they were intending to leave could cause him to feel worse, as he knew that he would be more dependant for help on those outwith the house. As for Skylar, he too was in the midst of his finals, and had been for a series of interviews with firms, a couple in the city, but the majority in Ohio. Indeed on the following day, he would be on the early flight to Columbus for a second interview for a position that he coveted highly. The problem for him was that as much as he wanted the job, he was torn by the idea that taking it would mean leaving Seth to fend for himself…
On the outside, Seth did his best not to appear concerned at all the upheaval that he knew was ahead. Thanks to the fact that he was the one of the housemates that was at home the most, he had known that the two married couples would be leaving sooner rather than later for some time, and he was at peace with that notion now. He would miss them all, but he was determined that just because his own world was falling apart, it would not mean that the lives of those around him would too. After his collapse at the Spotlight, Ollie Harwood had been keeping a very close eye on him, and Elliott was now a constant visitor, coming over often, but fortunately, if at all possible, when he was certain that Seth would be alone. At the start of the year he had been summoned to see Ollie urgently, and that had filled him with dread; however, the news that he gave him made him happier than he had been for a while. He had managed to get Seth onto a trial of a new drug that had been developed in the Netherlands, which could give some relief from the worst symptoms of MND. It was another pill to take, rather than a replacement for any of the others, but within a week of starting to take it, Seth had had a day without any episodes….
It was not a miracle cure though by any stretch of the imagination. It would slow down the ravages of the condition, but it didn't stop it eventually progressing to its conclusion. For Seth though it was like a rewind button; that first day when he felt normal was followed by others, and what attacks came seemed less severe. In secret one afternoon he had taken a craft knife in his hand for the first time in what seemed like forever; he had then scored, cut and produced a box. It was not as intricate or detailed as his models had been, but the fact that he had managed to create it, unaided, made his heart jump for joy. He knew that it was just an Indian Summer, a period of peace before the storm began again. He knew that it would, but if he could just hold out until Skylar was in Ohio, with Julia as his wife, then all would be well…
Skylar had already left for the airport when Seth woke up the following morning. He knew at once that this was not destined to be one of the good mornings; his hands were giving him pain already. He slowly got up out of his bed, dressed in clothes that he could fasten easily, then headed down the stairs for breakfast. He decided on toast and jelly, although that proved to be a challenge; his hands made it difficult to open the jar of fruit preserve, and once he had, spreading it was difficult as he could hardly hold the knife. He managed though, and then proceeded to make some tea…
He had just sat down at the table when Edward appeared, smartly dressed. "How are you this morning?" he asked, as he did every day.
"I'd say that at the moment it is a 7 out of 10 day, but it will get better," Seth replied. "So, you are looking very dapper this morning - do you have somewhere important that you need to be?"
"Well, yes; between you and me, Colin and I are signing the papers this morning for what will be our future life. It is extremely nerve wracking but so good at the same time. We just knew that the Hudson Valley was perfect, so we have gone for it."
"I am very pleased for the two of you; maybe one of these days we can go up as a group and see where the future life of Edwin will lie. The weather will be getting warmer soon, and I hear the Hudson Valley is very beautiful."
"That would be nice actually," remarked Edward. "We could get a picnic together and all head up for a day or relaxation. It is on the Metro North, so it is very easy to get to once you are at Grand Central… Look, Seth, the two of us moving away like this doesn't mean that we don't want you to stay in our lives. We are brothers, almost, what with Dalton and then living together for so long. Whatever happens, we will be there for you when you need us…"
For lunch that day Seth had a date with his best friend's fiancée. Julia had become a very good friend to him, and he could tell her things about the state of his health that he would never dream of saying to Skylar and the others. That had initially been an issue for Julia; she had wondered if being in such a position would make her feel awkward, given that it meant she was keeping secrets from her husband to be. She resolved that by seeing Seth as a patient first and a friend second; what was said to her by a patient could not be repeated to anyone after all…
"So I had cramps in my hands this morning; bad ones, for the first time in a while. Ollie always said that the trial drug might only bring me short term relief, and of course, now I worry every time the pain comes back that this might be the time that the pain will not fade away…"
"I can imagine that must be the hardest thing of all to come to terms with," mused Julia, taking Seth's hand in hers gently. "That is why I still need to persuade Skylar to get married sooner rather than later, isn't it?"
"I think that it would be for the best, yes. The thing is, if the job he has gone back for another interview for today does turn out to be his, and I am quietly confident that it will be, then you will have a very good excuse to get him down the aisle as quickly as possible, and move back to Ohio with him…"
"And what happens to you then?" asked Julia with concern.
"I find myself a smaller place for a start, and let a new generation of young Dalton men live in the big house. I will not be short of support from the others that will be in the city, so I will be able to cope alone for quite some time I hope."
"Before we take you in, and make you as comfortable as possible." Julia said no more than that, but Seth knew that she meant that he would be comfortable when it came to the end…
Seth arrived home from his lunch with Julia in the middle of the afternoon, and the first thing that he noticed was Mike, talking to a building contractor at the end of the street furthest from his own place. He paid the cab driver, and was about to step inside when Mike called to him. He was grateful to see that he was walking towards him with the contractor at his side, as he felt more than a little achy in the limbs, and all he really wanted to do was get into the house and sit down.
"I am sorry to bother you Seth, but I thought that you should meet Mr Shaunessay; he is going to be working on the lower part of the end house, turning it into two smaller apartments. Jeff asked me to get the work started for him…"
Seth nodded at Mike, knowing at once why the work was being done; so that he would have an easier place to live in when he had to leave the big house. "It is good to meet you," said Seth to the builder, who smiled back at him.
"I understand from Mr Chang that you are the person that is intending to move into the lower apartment; if there is anything that you would like to ask, just let me know and I can arrange to pop along and see you. Did Mr Sterling-Duval show you the plans?"
Seth decided to tell a white lie at that point, and replied, "Yes, he did, and everything that he intended was fine by me. After all, it incorporates all that I might need in the longer term."
Mr Shuanessay nodded, and replied, "Well that's good. The one thing that we didn't discuss was a colour scheme, so I suggest that we get together once the worst of the rebuild is finished and decide on it together. We will be starting work on Wednesday, and even with the break for Easter, we should be able to talk about colour schemes by the end of the month. I look forward to seeing you again then."
Seth nodded, and watched as Mike and the builder headed back along the street. He sighed, acknowledging that all of this was just another hint at his future reality. He would eventually get sick, he would be confined to a chair, he would need help with the most basic of tasks. He hated the whole prospect, but he had to be realistic; there was nothing that he or anyone else could do to prevent it…
He ended up taking a nap on the couch for an hour, his eyes closing more or less as soon as he sat down; it was only the sound of Luke talking to Duncan as they arrived home that woke him from his slumbers. He checked his phone, glad that they had not found him sound asleep in the daytime, and smiled as he saw a message from Skylar, letting him know when he would be arriving home and asking if he could have something ready for him to eat as he was ravenous. Seth smiled, and made a note of the flight number; he could then check its progress on line, so that he could guarantee having something ready to perfection the moment that Skylar arrived back…
At that moment Colin and Edward arrived home too, all smiles, and Seth knew that they were now the proud owners of a home of their own and two businesses. He was very pleased for them, and only a little jealous of the fact that they could plan ahead; after all, only the most unexpected of events could derail their plans now. In his case, he could barely even chose what he wanted for dinner that evening without the worry that his own body would throw all of those expectations up into the air…
The housemates began to prepare a joint dinner together whilst Seth checked on Skylar's flight; he was glad to see that it was on time; indeed had arrived at La Guardia a little ahead of schedule. He shared the news with the rest of the houseehold, and they all agreed that they could wait and eat together for the first time in several months. Seth allowed the others to do most of the work in cooking the repast, whilst he set the table. He had a feeling that there would be a few announcements made that night.
Skylar arrived home in excellent time, and the smile on his face as he came in was all that Seth needed to see to know that his interview had been successful. He did not speak, just smiled back as his best friend headed upstairs to change and freshen up. By the time he came back down, the meal was ready and they all took their places around the table, making the usual small talk as they ate. Then as they began to eat the dessert, Edward looked at Colin, and he nodded…
"Well this is a good opportunity for us to make an announcement. We are now the proud owners of a dental practice and a pharmacy in the Hudson Valley, along with a nice house. We have an entry date for the house near the end of August. It is exciting, but terrifying too. We are going to miss you guys a lot, but hopefully when we drag you all up there to show it off, you will understand why we couldn't resist."
"As long as that trip is before the middle of July, we would love to go and see it," said Luke. "We will be heading off to Vermont then; Jeff already knows, and we have a house and jobs up there waiting for us."
"And seeing as we are doing announcements," said Skylar, "I have been offered the associate's position that I really wanted back in Ohio, and well, I have accepted it. It is all that I could have wished for, apart from the start date. They need me to start work at the beginning of June. I have told Julia, and she can easily get a post in Ohio by then too. Thing is, she suggested that we should probably get married before I start work properly, and so we are looking at getting married on the last Saturday in May…"