Obstacle Number Two.
With Ethan's words still ringing in Drew's ears, they headed inside. The Mackenzie house was every bit as grand inside as it was out, with all of the period features intact, and furnishing that resembled those that were amongst the most highly prized in museums around the country. Drew had not really noticed that before on his few visits in Ethan's company back in their school days, but now he was observing it with more mature eyes, and he could see that the house was literally a treasure trove. Their hostess had obviously told her son which rooms they had been allocated, as she left it to Ethan to take them upstairs. Drew recognised the corridor the moment that they stepped into it, and recalled that Ethan's old room was at the far end of it, so it was no surprise that he and Evie were being given separate rooms adjacent to it.
When Ethan opened the door to the room that his mother had told him was Evie, he froze for a moment and let out a gasp. That surprised Drew momentarily, until he too looked in, and he saw why his friend had reacted the way that he did. There were toys on display everywhere, none of which could ever have belonged to Ethan, and on the four poster bed there was a pink cover… Drew suddenly became aware that his daughter was silent, and he turned his attention to her. She looked back at him, then said in a whisper, "This is a princess' bedroom, it can't possibly be for me…"
"It is for tonight at least," replied Ethan, "and you even have your own bathroom too." He chuckled as the little girl ran in to make a closer inspection, and waited for the moment she opened the door to the en-suite bathroom, knowing that there was an old claw foot bath in the room, and that she would love that more than anything else…
With Evie settling in, and Drew shown to his own slightly less opulent room across the hall, Ethan decided to bite the bullet, and head down to talk to his father on his own. If he was going to be short tempered or grumpy, as he was prone to be, then he could be so with him alone, and not upset Drew or Evie unnecessarily. He headed for his father's study, knowing that he would be in there even if he was supposed to be taking more of a back seat workwise these days. It would also give him a chance to say hello to Miss Bonnar, his father's secretary. He had always seen less of her than of Mrs Hargreaves, but she had still been a more visible presence in his life as a child than either of his parents.
He walked into the little room before his father's study, and sure enough, the lady in question was sat at her desk. On seeing him, she smiled and said, "It is good to see you home, Ethan. You are looking well, and happy, so obviously something in New York is agreeing with you. My guess would be someone small, beautiful, and the apple of her father's eye?"
Ethan laughed quietly, then replied, "I should have known that you and Mrs Hargreaves would have talked about everything when you were co-ordinating mum and dad's diaries. Yes, Evie does make me happy, and you will get the chance to meet her later and see why. Just now I would like a word with dad on my own, if he is free to talk?"
"Oh, he is; since his heart attack he really has slowed right down. He has nothing scheduled for the next 35 minutes…" Ethan laughed again as she rolled her eyes just a little at her final sentence, but he knew it was a big change. Before his dad would barely have been able to spare five minutes between appointments, even on a weekend… "Anyway, he knows that you arrived, so just knock and go in…" It was her turn to laugh then as Ethan's eyebrows shot up at what he had just been told to do, once a cardinal sin in the old days. "Those days are over now, Ethan. He won't yell at you to get out any more. In fact, I would go as far as to say that he has been looking forward to seeing you…"
Ethan took her words in, but nonetheless as he knocked on the door then headed in, he expected to hear a verbal rebuke. Instead he heard, "Ah, Ethan, my boy, come in and sit down. How are you? How is New York?"
"I am good thanks, dad," said Ethan as he sat down across from his father. "Life is good, and so is work. How are you?"
"I am good, adapting to the slower pace most of the time. I am pleased to hear that life is treating you well. I know at one time my desire was that you should come and work for us in the firm the moment you left college, but now I am glad that you have gained experience of working elsewhere, rather than immediately being seen as a boss because of who you are. I know that I have never said it, and I regret the fact now, but I am very proud of you, son. I do keep my ear to the ground, and your name is being mentioned in my circles for the soundness of your judgements and the dedication you have to your role. Now, there is something else that we need to discuss, isn't there? Your mother has told me a few things I did not know in connection to your living arrangements, and I want to verify what I have been told from you."
Ethan made himself a little more comfortable in his seat, then said, "I am living with my best friend from Dalton, Drew, and his daughter, in a house that we rent from another old friend, Jeff Sterling-Duval. You may have heard of him, as he is making his name as an artist of renown. It is an arrangement that suits us both, and it stops me from being lonely in the big city."
His father nodded, then said, "I see; so you are still asexual I take it?" Before Ethan could speak, his father shook his head, and said, "Ignore my stupid question. I mean, they do say that sexuality is fluid, don't they, so I just wondered if there had been any change in that respect…"
"I still feel the same way as I always did. I have no need or desire for romantic love or intimacy of that kind, and I don't think that I ever will."
"Right, so tell me a little more about Drew; to my shame, I know next to nothing about him, despite the fact he has been a visitor to this house more than once. For a start, how did he end up living in New York with you? Where is his wife, and for that matter, where is the mother of his child?"
Ethan took a breath, and then sat and told his father the whole story, all the information that his mother already knew; how his best friend had fallen for a woman that had major personality issues of her own, problems that he had believed he could help her solve. How his reward for that love and empathy had been punishments and beatings, the removal of contact with his friends and family, until the end, he had nobody left but his abuser. How Evie had come into the world as a reward for his silence when she had been about to be discovered, and how she had been such a source of joy to him, but also someone he would need to shield and protect in the end. How only a chance meeting on the street with another former Warbler had brought him back in touch, had seen him drop everything to fly to London, and how less than 48 hours later, he was home with his friend, making him safe at last…
As he spoke, Ethan's father said nothing, his face registering emotion only briefly, as it always had done. It was only when he finished that his father responded. "When your great grandmother established her charitable trust, she would never have imagined the day when we would talk of battered husbands; her generation would never have conceived of such a thing happening, such men existing, but they must have done. Even now, although we acknowledge it, we live in a society with women's refuges, but what exists for a man that finds himself in that position? Nothing, alas… Maybe that is an area that the Trust could take a lead on, establish such things for the future. I have to commend you on what you did; all of your actions on this were right. In my opinion, your swift action probably saved Drew and his daughter from a terrible fate. The one thing that is wrong in all of this is that Dr George is still out there, at large, so to speak…"
"Wait? How do you know her name?" interjected Ethan, recalling that he had not used her surname in all of his retelling.
"Son, although I have never been the most demonstrative of fathers, I have always had your best interests at heart. When you told us that you had a new roommate, we did a little bit of investigation into his background, just as we did with Mr Wilson before him. It is relatively easy to obtain access to marriage records, and from Drew's, we were able to get the full name of his spouse. Then we proceeded to make in depth investigations into her. It would appear that she has a new man in her life, another doctor, younger than she is. It would also appear that he is possibly being subjected to the same treatment as your friend was; a list of minor injuries and short absences being recorded by his place of work, which is where she is also employed. As was the case with Drew, he has not made any sort of approach to the police, nor has anyone at their workplace made the connection yet. It might be the case that someone needs to tip off the authorities anonymously…"
Ethan felt a little conflicted at the notion that his father had been spying on him, had been checking up on the past of his friends, because he assumed that Beats at least had also been investigated from when he shared the place in Princeton with him and Flint. However, he knew that it had been done with good intentions, so he decided to let it slide. As for what was now happening to Lucy's new man, well there was only one thing that needed to happen now. "I agree that someone should let the authorities know what is happening, sow the seeds so to speak, but we can never let Drew know about any of this…"
"That is no problem. I will set the wheels in motion over the doctor," replied his father. "Now, on to the other reason I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to have a chat about young Evie. Your mother has already met her of course, whilst she was in New York for the charity ball? It is the only real reason that I can think of for the amount of cash spent at American Girl Place from our joint bank account…"
"She did, yes. It was inevitable, given just how much a part of my life Drew and Evie are now, dad. They are the nearest thing that I have to a sibling and a niece."
"They also made quite the impression on your mother. She came back here with a broad smile, and has been talking about little else other than that young lady to Mrs Hargreaves. The thing about your mother is that she has always had a strong wish and desire for a grandchild; a little girl for her to spoil is probably the most ideal situation she could have wished for. We had of course resigned ourselves to the possibility that we would never have any…"
"I know that you had, although it was always my intention to find myself an heir somehow, either by adoption or the use of a surrogate. I know that you and mom had spent too long building the business up into what it is today for it to all be thrown away when I passed on. The problem was that it never seemed to be the right time for me to embark on any of the processes required…"
"Well, maybe the simplest of solutions would be for you to adopt your friend's daughter. Your mother is quite smitten with her, and so are you. Drew's character and family background are impeccable, so that would be a solution to the heir issue that I would have no problem in agreeing to, as long as she is all you think to me when I actually meet her face to face."
Ethan's reaction to his father's last words was just to sit and stare at him for a moment, completely flabbergasted. He had come back to Ohio after all expecting to have a difficult conversation in which he broke the news that he was considering adopting Evie to his father, then had to fight a torrent of objections. Instead, his father had now just made the suggestion to him. His father looked at the expression on his son's face, then laughed.
"Since she came back from New York, your mother has been talking about Drew and Evie in every conversation we have, and then would move on to talk about the future, and how we needed to have someone to pass the firm on to, and then a line of succession, as if we were a monarchy… My heart may not be as strong as it once was, but my brain is still functioning perfectly, and I know exactly how your mother's works too. I am guessing by the look on your face that the idea of adopting Evie is something that you and Drew have given some consideration to, quite possibly at his instigation? That was the reason that you then introduced that little girl to your mother, hoping that she would fall in love with her, and then have her on your side if I objected? I can't say that I exactly approve of what you did there, son, but from what I have discovered, and what I see both from you and your mother, bringing the two of them into the family would make things better. I still reserve my final judgement until I have spent time with the girl, and have had a chat like this with your friend, but you should look into starting all the necessary processes as soon as you possibly can…"
"I don't know what to say," Ethan said in reply. "I was expecting you to lay down a whole series of objections to my adoption of Evie as a co-parent. I guess that the main one that I foresaw was that she would not be a blood relation to me, and that if I was seeking to have an heir, I should use a surrogate, one that had been approved and vetted by you."
"Your grandfather would certainly have insisted upon that; to him, blood was everything, but that fact was what made him miserable. It was his father's motto as well," said Mr Mackenzie, then he took a breath. "I can still recall the day, quite clearly, that you told us at the grand old age of 13, that you were not interested in girls. We did not discuss the subject further at the time, because at that age, most boys have very little interest in the opposite sex. Then you went to Dalton, and when you came home for those first holidays, it was suddenly Drew this, and Drew that, and yes, we did think that you were gay, that it had skipped a generation…"
Ethan's eyes widened at those final words, and he broke in to disrupt his father's speech with the words, "Skipped a generation!? Are you saying…"
"My father, your grandfather, was gay. He never told me in his lifetime, but after he had passed, my mother told me the unvarnished truth. She married him even though she knew that he was in love with her older brother, and that love was reciprocated. At that time, McCarthyism was still rife; being homosexual equalled being communist in many people's eyes and if he was one, not only was he breaking the law, then he was a threat to the American way of life. To be blunt, had the fact ever emerged in his lifetime, then Mackenzie Inc would not exist in any form now. Quite how I was conceived I do not know, nor did I wish to, but along I came nonetheless. My father was distant towards, like I have ended up being to you, but one thing that I do recall is that, when I was ten years of age, he had a breakdown. At that time, it was put down to stress, but I have since found out that it happened when he discovered that my Uncle Lance, the man he loved so much and wanted to spend his life with, had become one of the first people to be infected with a new virus, one that we now know as HIV. I had never met him, but I know that his illness and subsequent death destroyed both of my parents. It also soured my father's relationship with my grandfather completely at the same time…"
Mr Mackenzie paused, and Ethan noted the sadness on his face. It had to have been hard to be still a boy and watch as your parents' lives fell apart… Then his father started to speak again. "The one thing that came from all of this was that I had a much more enlightened attitude to the world than my grandfather; the world has changed, and I embraced it. Your mother and I were therefore quite prepared to have an openly gay son - but then you told us that you were asexual, and we found ourselves on a new learning curve… The truth is that the most important thing to both of us was that you were happy, which is why we agreed to let you go your own path, take a job outwith the business and learn new things as you built a career. The problem was that as time went on, we realised that you were not happy; had my heart attack not intervened, we had concluded that it was time to have you join us in the family business."
"Of course, we know now why you were unhappy, and making you join the firm then would only have compounded that. It was your mother's decision that you should step into her shoes at the Trust; that has been a part of the family's enterprises that you have taken to and enjoy doing. I have also heard nothing but good reports from your employer from the day you joined them. Our decision to send you to Dalton was a good one, and they have taught you well, making you into a man with a keen intellect, good manners, and a love for your fellow man that I admire. Even now, I have recommended the school as an ideal place for the sons of so many of the people we do business with, and several have attended. You have made us both proud."
"Then we heard a report that you had left work early, taken a last minute flight to London, and then returned less than two days later with two guests, and that was when we did quite a lot of checking up. I hope that you do not see that as interference in your life, but just as parents looking out for the best for their son. Now, we want what is best for Drew too; dealing with Dr George once and for all will be part of that, not that you left much undone yourself. I believe that should she be accused of domestic abuse now, then the question that were raised over Drew in Oxford will resurface, and people will draw the correct conclusion. Her career will be damaged, if not ended, but the good thing is that no-one will be able to attribute that to you or your friend."
"Now, I can trust that you are aware that what I told you about your grandfather cannot leave this room, even now; in fact, you cannot even tell your mother, as she is unaware. It will be a secret between a proud father and his son. Right, I think that it is time that we made an appearance before the rest of the household wonders were we are. Your mother is probably highly concerned that I am reading you the riot act…"
Ethan smiled, and replied, "As for Drew, he is probably absolutely convinced that he is breaking up our family, and he has already stated that he will not stand for that. On top of that, it is almost dinner time, and punctuality has always been important here…"
Father and son walked together through the house in the direction of the drawing room, and as they reached the final stretch, they could both hear Evie chattering away without a care in the world. "You go in first son, and prepare your friend. Let him know that so far, everything is going more or less to plan…"
Ethan nodded, and headed in, immediately feeling two pairs of eyes studying him for any clue as to what was going on. He smiled, then made a thumbs up sign, at which Drew sighed audibly in relief, whilst his mother just smiled.
"Uncle Ethan, did you get lost in the house, because it is so big!" came Evie's voice. "It is also full of toys!"
"No, I didn't get lost; I had to go and talk to my dad, and tell him all about the princess that I brought to meet him. He will be here very soon, and he is really looking forward to meeting you." As Evie nodded and smiled, he realised that she was the only person in the room that did not know exactly how important what happened in the next few minutes would be to all of their futures…
As his father had suggested, Ethan then headed over to where Drew was sitting on his own, looking as nervous as a kitten. He sat next to him on the sofa, then whispered, "There is no need to look quite so stressed; it is not as if you were heading to your own execution, or anything like that."
"I can't help it… There is so much riding on what happens today. Anyway, I have decided that if your father doesn't approve, then we will drop the whole idea, and I want no arguments on that. In fact, maybe this was all a bad idea right from the start, and we Evie and I should just leave now, and forget this was ever mentioned," Drew whispered back.
"I wouldn't advise that; in fact, my father actually told me to tell you that he already had an inkling as to why we were coming here today, and that he has no major objections to the idea. Yes, he does still want to meet Evie first, and yes, he does need to see that the two of you pass muster, so to speak, but at this moment, he can see no reason to disapprove of our plans…"
"He guessed? How on earth…?"
"My mother is not the most subtle of people when she wants something badly enough," replied Ethan with a grin. "She has talked about Evie almost non-stop since she met her, and then she segued into how I needed to have an heir to pass the business on to. Dad is smart, and he put the two together. He even suggested that I look into adopting Evie rather than guardianship. It seems that the clichés have it; great minds do think alike, and of course, like father, like son…"
"He actually said…" began Drew, before his face broke into the broadest of smiles. He had realised that he was no longer in danger of destroying the whole Mackenzie family, and that was a great relief. "Of course, it all comes down to me and Evie then."
"Actually, he might already have done some checking up into your background, and he approves wholeheartedly of what he sees…" Ethan stopped talking as his father walked in, his face a little stern, but then, that was normal for him. He did not speak at first, just stood there and watched the little girl that was playing quiet happily with her doll in front of his smiling wife, the very picture of domesticity. Then, he headed across towards his son and Drew…
"Good evening, Mr Symons. It is a pleasure to see you here again, and hopefully on this occasion, we can actually get to know each other a little better than I was able to do on your previous visits. Ethan, would you mind giving me a few moments alone with your friend? I am sure that you have things to discuss with your mother and young Evie."
Ethan nodded, then got up, letting his father take his place on the sofa. "There is no need to look so nervous, Drew. I know that in the past I might have seemed an intimidating and unapproachable figure, but the fact is, when you have a heart attack, all of your priorities seem to reset. I was never the most demonstrative of fathers, but somehow Ethan seems to have turned out okay. I put a large part of that down to his Dalton family, and you in particular. Now, I am aware that you have had your troubles, and who was the main cause of them. We are all lead to believe that women are the weaker sex; that they are the victims, not the perpetrators, in cases of domestic abuse. Your case is proof that in some circumstances, the opposite can be true, and I have asked Ethan to instruct the Trust to highlight this, and invest in the appropriate charities."
Drew sighed, then replied, "I can't dispute anything that you have said in that regard. As for your son, well I would not be here now if it wasn't for him. He came through for me when I needed someone badly, with the aid of our Dalton family. I would go so far as to say that he saved my life, and that of Evie… I think though that Dalton only nurtured the qualities that he already had. The day I walked into that dorm room and met him for the first time, he was so considerate, so caring, and so modest. All of that came from knowing that he was loved, and having been raised well. He is a credit to both you and your wife…"
Mr Mackenzie smiled back at Drew, knowing that there was an element of truth in that; even as a boy of Evie's age, Ethan had been charitable and kind. He looked across the room to where his wife and son were now engaged together in keeping Evie entertained. Suddenly she caught sight of him looking at her, and said in a less than quiet voice, "Is your dad a king, Uncle Ethan?"
Drew went a shade of crimson at once, which was noticed at once by Mr Mackenzie. "I'm afraid sir that Evie has the illusion that if someone lives in a house like this, then they must be royalty. It's a combination of her English upbringing, and well… She knew what my ex-wife was doing to me, and she was worried. I used to tell her that one day a handsome prince called Ethan would come riding to our rescue one day, and so, when he proceeded to do exactly that…"
Mr Mackenzie laughed, getting a look from his wife and son. "So I must be a King, if my son is a Prince. She has a vibrant imagination, and if there is one thing that I approve of in a child, it is that. A shrewd mind and a head for figures is one thing when it comes to business, but sometimes you need to look beyond the bare facts and imagine the possibilities… What is clear to me without even being formally introduced to her is that she is loved, not just by a father to whom she is everything, but also by my son. I used to worry about him, and what the future might hold for him as she grew older; now I can see that between you and her, and your Dalton family, he will not end up as the stereotypical wealthy but lonely old man. You will always be there, as will she, the child he already loves as much as if she were his own. If what I can gather is true, legally at least that will end up being the case. So far, I can see no reason to veto such a move…"
"Thank you for saying that; my main concern has always been to find someone that will put her best interests to the fore if something should happen to me. I know that it is unlikely, but she is the only good thing that has come out of those years of my life, and I would be willing to give up my own life to protect her if I had to. Your son is the only person that I can be absolutely certain would follow my wishes for her. Don't misunderstand me, I know that my parents would not abandon her or mistreat her, but they would not understand her in the way that I do, nor would they raise her as I intend to. Ethan will, because he and I have a similar outlook and perspective on the world, on the whole. I want her to be brought up to know that money isn't everything, and that caring for others and understanding them is the key to happiness in the long term. I want her to be able to forge her own path in the world, but accept that as she does so, she still has commitments and responsibilities towards others to honour."
Mr Mackenzie nodded, and said, "That actually sounds quite familiar. We also gave Ethan the freedom to grow himself, to develop into the successful man that he is now. However, he is also aware that the day will come when he has to return to the family firm and take over from myself and his mother…"
"I know," said Drew with a smile, "which is why he did not just go out and commence all the adoption processes without consulting you on it first. He also knew though what he would do if you said no, he could not adopt her, both in relation to her and the family firm…"
"Did he now?" chuckled Mr Mackenzie. "Let me guess - a John Lewis style arrangement? His mother and I have contemplated such things ourselves, particularly given that he is an only child. The problem with such a concept is that it would spell the end of the Trust as we know it. Splitting the ownership of the business means sharing out the profits, which would result in a much lower excess for the charities. That is something that the next generation would do well to recall…."
Mr Mackenzie stopped talking as he saw that Drew's focus was elsewhere. He followed the direction of the younger man's gaze and saw that Evie was now approaching shyly. He noticed too that his wife was stopping a frantic looking Ethan from running after her. He smiled as the little girl came right up to stop in front of him and smiled. "Hello, sir, my name is Evie. Now, I know that you are Uncle Ethan's dad, and I thought that you might be a King at first, because Ethan is a Prince. He says that he isn't, but I know that he is really and is just shy about it…"
Stifling back a laugh, Mr Mackenzie replied, "Well, yes, I am Ethan's dad, and I have been called a King by people before now, so maybe I am a King after all…"
"Really! I knew Ethan was a Prince! Now that I have seen your castle, I knew that I had to be right…"
"Well, my castle might not be the biggest in the world, or the grandest, but we are happy here, and that is what matters. So, are you happy living in New York with your daddy and Ethan? Is it better than London?"
Evie was quiet for a moment, then replied, "Well, I do miss my old kindergarten teacher Miss Frobisher, and she is in London. She was a good friend to me and daddy when we had to live with the wicked witch, but the thing is, she can come here and visit. My home is in New York now, and daddy is much happier here, and if he is happy, then so am I. I have so many Uncles here too, and there is Wes next door to play games with, even if he is younger than me, and a boy. The other reason I like it better here is that I never got to meet the Queen when I was in England; here I live with a Prince and have met a King…"
At that moment, a member of staff appeared to say that dinner was ready, and Mr Mackenzie got to his feet. "Now Evie, would you like to sit next to me at dinner? As a King, I have to ask my guests a lot of questions, especially ones I have not met before, and it is easy to ask them when we are sitting together at dinner."
Evie turned to her father, and asked, "Would that be okay daddy? I would be able to tell all my friends that I had dinner with a King this weekend, and be telling the truth…"
"Of course you can," her father replied. "Just remember to be a good girl, and show all of your manners at the table."
"Oh, I agree; manners are very important at royal banquets," said Mr Mackenzie with a solemn face.
"Do you ever wear your crown?" asked Evie suddenly, which made Drew pale a little.
"Only on very special and grand occasions; like your Uncle Ethan, I don't like everyone knowing that I am a King."
"Oh I understand, plus they look like they must be really heavy, with all of those jewels and other stuff."
"They are, which is the other reason I rarely wear it. Now, we should go and eat, because it is never good manners to keep those serving it waiting."
Evie nodded, then held out her hand; instinctively Mr Mackenzie took it, and together they lead the small party out of the room in the direction of the dining room, where their meal awaited…