Returning Home.
The early hours of the morning after the funeral of Her Majesty the Queen saw farewells being said. Miss Frobisher was up early to bid her two house guests a safe journey home, and the first thing that they both noticed was that she was in colourful clothing; the period of national mourning was now over, and the monochrome shades that she and so many others had been wearing for the previous twelve days had been consigned to the back of the wardrobe. She pulled both of them into hugs as they headed for the front door, thanking them once again for coming.
"Having the two of you here helped to keep my mind occupied; it meant that I did not dwell on the feelings of loss and grief constantly, particularly when I would have been here on my own in the evenings. I feel quite fine now, and I am assured that Charles III will be a good King for this country. He has had a very long apprenticeship, and has learnt much from watching his late mother, but he will also be the one that is able to make the tough decisions and modernise the monarchy where it is necessary. His eldest son and daughter-in-law will make for a very fine continuation too. Many people in this country have had their doubts about the ability of Charles to be our monarch over the years, but his concern for the environment and his work with the young people of this country have been the correct things to have done."
She paused then, before saying, "As for his first marriage, well that was forced upon him in so many ways by the meddling of his grandmother and Diana's too. Camilla was always the love of his life, and had he been permitted to marry her in the first place, then so much heartache could have been avoided… Of course, all of that is mere speculation, and we would not have had William and Harry had that first union not taken place; what I am pretty sure of is that Charles might well have had a happier life…"
It was an interesting observation, and one that many people did privately share, but this was not the time for that. Miss Frobisher changed the subject then, as she had a busy day ahead of her with the classes at her kindergarten back to normal. She also knew that there would be a lot of questions asked about the events of the previous day by her young charges, and she was looking forward to it all. A touch of normality was the best way to get over a loss after all….
In Surrey, Adam and Sebastian had said their farewells to Joan the previous night, and she had threatened to arrive in New York sometime during the summer. Adam had laughed, but there was a part of him that felt that she might actually be serious about it on this occasion… They now found themselves saying goodbye to Mr Crawford, with great formality in the case of Sebastian, but with a strong amount of paternal pride in the case of Adam. They headed outside and placed their cases in the trunk of Annie Crawford's car, before climbing in, but with the difference that Adam headed into the back seat on this occasion.
"You have been good and silent the entire trip, taking the back seat all the time, but I can tell that in mum's car at least it is a tight squeeze for you, so I am going to let you have the extra legroom in the front this time. Of course, it gives me the added bonus of having just a little longer with her when we get to the airport, given how little time we get at the drop off point…" said Adam with a grin.
"Hmm, and I guess that whilst you are hugging her, I will be taking both of our cases out of the back of the car?" quibbled Sebastian in mock anger, which made Adam's mother laugh as she took the driver's seat.
"I will want to hug you too, Sebastian, so my son will not get quite as long as he was anticipating," she said, which made the young man in question smile.
Their drive through the dark January morning was a swift one as it was still early, but they all knew it would be a different story for Mrs Crawford in the opposite direction, as she would be caught up in the morning rush hour, which would turn the M25 into a slow country lane. She had put on the car radio as they drove along, and it was tuned into BBC Radio 2; they all noted that the presenter's tone was lighter, and the music they played was less sad. Sebastian reflected on that as they headed along, and he knew that it was all down to the fact that a funeral brought closure with it. Life went on as the world kept turning; having done the late Queen proud, the nation had to carry on…
They arrived at the drop off point in good time and as Sebastian fetched the bags from the back of the car mother and son hugged for a long time. "Be sure to call me as soon as you arrive home. You know that I still worry about you, even if you are in your thirties. No mother can ever stop worrying about her children," said Annie Crawford.
"And no child ever stops loving their mother; we've seen ample evidence of that in the last few days. Now drive safely and send me a text the moment that you arrive home," replied Adam, which made his mother laugh.
Then they both heard a cough and turning round they saw Sebastian standing there, his arms held open, waiting for a hug. Mrs Crawford duly hugged him and then, conscious of the time limit set by the airport on parking, she quickly got back into her car and drove away. Adam waved as she did so, and she blew her horn, before turning the corner and disappearing from sight….
"Well, I don't know about you, but I am getting cold standing out here, so what say we get ourselves inside and see if Jeff and Drew have arrived yet," asked Sebastian, placing an arm around Adam's shoulders. "I did send Jeff a text, but he hasn't replied, so either his phone isn't switched on, they're in a tunnel somewhere on the Piccadilly Line, or…"
"…standing right behind you, not wanting to waste money in sending you a reply," said the man in question, which made Adam laugh out loud. "I mean, why are we still standing here prevaricating? We should be inside already! We can get ourselves checked in, then see if they have breakfast available in the lounge, as they did when we arrived…"
"Don't ever change, blondie," replied Sebastian fondly, which made all of them smile…
There was indeed breakfast, and they all agreed that it would be a shame to waste what was there on the buffet, as there was a more than ample supply of a variety of dishes. "What is even more important is the fact that if we have a good breakfast, we will not start binging on snacks on the plane, most of which are unhealthy in the extreme," Jeff pointed out as he helped himself to bacon, sausages and eggs, and there was some truth in that statement…
The television news was on again as they ate, but it was being presented by people in colourful clothing once more, the formal black consigned back to the wardrobe again. They listened to the news with half an ear, but they noticed something else, and they made a point of casually strolling over to where the complimentary copies of that morning's newspapers were stacked. They all took copies of a few of them, as each one came with an extensive colour supplement filled with images from the funeral the day before. They did not read them there and then, just folded them up carefully before stowing them in their carry on bags, a souvenir of the events they had just been witness to…
Then came something that made Jeff and Drew look at each other in shock; both Adam and Sebastian headed back a second time and helped themselves to another set each of the newspapers. Seeing their friends' stare at them, they looked at each other, before Adam spoke first. "I am taking a second set to give to Lawrence to pass on to Nurse Crane. I have a feeling that she will appreciate seeing the way the newspapers here handled the event over the coverage in even the most illustrious of papers back in New York."
"I am taking these for Thad; he has been telling everyone at Dalton that they are living through a crucial pivotal moment of world history, so he will value having a copy of today's British newspapers to help teach his students. He will then place them in the school archive for use by future generations."
Drew nodded, and said, "That is true, he will do that. As for me, my copies will be something to show Evie's children, and to illustrate the fact that I was there…"
"Of course, Drew, you and I are at a disadvantage over our friends here; Sebastian and Adam will have video footage of their interviews to show that they were really there; all you and I will have is a few stills captured from the livestream of the Lying in State at best. That is all we will have to indicate that we earned a place in history," remarked Jeff.
They ended up boarding their plane a few minutes after Annie Crawford sent a text to her son to say that she was safely back home, a little later than planned, but she had stopped off at a supermarket to avoid the worst of the rush hour, and had completed her weekly main shop. As they took their seats, they switched off their phones, conscious that it was before 5am in New York, and therefore much too early to call their loved ones back home. That fact did not stop Jeff sending an e-mail to Nick instead, knowing that they did not cause his husband's phone to ring, vibrate or buzz…
By the time that Nick was awake to read the mail, they were already in the air; once airborne, they all sought out things to keep themselves occupied individually. Whilst the other three watched films or boxsets, Adam chose to listen to music instead; this was after all his fourth transatlantic flight in three weeks, and he had watched most of the films he wished to. He wondered how his reward point total was doing, given that he had made each flight with the same airline; his account had probably been upgraded.
He tuned out of the world for a while, lost in the sounds of his favourite bands, only coming back when it was time for lunch, which in the cabin they were sitting in was a four course affair, with a tablecloth, proper silverware and real crockery. The food consumed and enjoyed, along with a glass of excellent wine, he retreated back into his music, which allowed his mind to clear a little. One thing that he did dwell on was the private conversation that he had enjoyed with his grandmother the previous day when they had arrived home from central London.
If there was one thing that he had taken away from the events of the last two weeks or so, it would be that you never knew exactly how long you had in the world, and that sometimes you had to seize opportunities and take a risk. He had told his grandmother what he intended to do, and she had agreed with him that it was the correct decision for him. Now all he had to hope was that Lawrence saw things the same way…
Nick had to admit that the first thing that he had done on the day after the Queen's funeral on waking up was go online and check the status of his husband's flight from London, and when he saw that it was in the air already, ahead of schedule, he allowed himself to grin. He knew that his husband had needed to be in London for the event, but this was the longest time they had spent apart for nearly 15 years. He had travelled to Geneva a few times on his own for work, but that had only ever been for two or three days. He had considered asking to take a day's holiday, but then he had realised that Jeff would probably actually prefer to come home and find the house empty; to welcome Wes when he came home from school, to fuss over Caleb, and then to have dinner ready for him when he came home from the office. That way, it was all back to normal…
Ethan was also going to be heading into the office as normal, and so Mike had agreed to collect their respective children from school and bring them home, possibly to find their two missing parents back in the house when they arrived. If that was not the case, he and Tina would take care of Wes and Evie until such time as they did get back. Nick made his breakfast as usual, the radio on quietly and tuned via the internet to the BBC, the sound being much more cheerful than it had been for the last twelve days, the need for solemnity past. The world had to keep turning after all; in fact, Nick fully expected to discover that his inbox would be full of messages about the resumption of the usual intolerance and human rights abuses this morning…
Trent would also agree with Nick's perspective when he returned to the Oval Office that morning. He had arrived home the night before at a few minutes before 10pm local time, but that was 3am in the morning in London time. He had therefore looked in on his sleeping children, before heading directly to bed. Rory had not been home when he arrived, and he did not hear him come in, so soundly was he sleeping. He woke up to find him lying by his side though in the morning, and yes, they might have been a few minutes longer in bed together that morning than was usual…
Trent had chuckled over breakfast as his husband had told him just how relieved Burt had been to hear that Air Force One was safely back, and even more pleased when the President had arrived back at the White House, as every second that Burt had been theoretically in charge of the nation, he had been terrified. Carole in contrast had been surprisingly au fait with the idea that her husband had been in such a position of power, to the extent that Rory had decided that should the worst happen, he would allow Carole to make the necessary decisions and advise Burt what to do.
They had both headed into their respective offices, and almost as soon as Trent sat down at his familiar desk, having spotted the little love note that his husband had left for him, events started to happen that needed dealt with. A rumour arrived that the previous incumbent of the Oval Office had been taken to the prison hospital, as he had somehow managed to ingest a large cup of Lysol. That was queried with the authorities, and confirmed, and bizarrely, it appeared that he had done so to try and cure a persistent chest infection, as he had thought the disinfectant would kill the germs…
However, there were some in his party that were now claiming that the incident was an attempt by the Democrats to assassinate him, and were demanding an immediate investigation by the authorities, including the FBI and CIA. On hearing that, Trent had rolled his eyes, and said to the President, "Of course, sir, you should give them what they want without hesitation, and you need to make the fact that you are doing so public as swiftly as possible; I think a press conference is called for in fact. I mean, the networks need to be broadcasting this information so that the whole nation can sympathise with the plight of this poor man…"
The President smiled, and continued, "And laugh non-stop at his stupidity at the same time, I believe that there is actually a CCTV film of the man in question actually taking the Lysol from a custodian's storage locker. I mean, the gentleman will be left so humiliated by the fact that the whole world will know what he did, but hey, if that is what the Republican Party wants us to do…"
By the time that the flight bringing those that had been attending the Queen's funeral arrived back at JFK, the story of the former President's misfortune was all over the news, and not just known to a chosen few. The captain of their flight had come over the tannoy and told them all in a deadpan voice that he had some grave news to share with all of them, the feeling of déjà vu for Adam in particular was acute, but when he had relayed the information there had been a ripple of laughter through the plane, and not the tears that had come on his previous flight from Heathrow.
"He drank disinfectant to try and cure a cough? This is the man that thought he should be awarded a second term as President whatever the election result was as he was the greatest President they had ever had? The mind just boggles!" exclaimed Sebastian, shaking his head.
"I bet that somewhere up in heaven, the late Queen is having a good old chuckle about this," remarked Jeff. Then lowering his voice, he said, "Strictly between the four of us, she did once say to me when I was sketching her that of all the American Presidents she had met, and she had met all of them since 1952 except one, he was the only one that she could not abide in any way or form; in fact, she stated that she would rather have had to sit and be polite to a lot of the ruthless, murdering dictators she had been unfortunate enough to have had to talk to than be forced to meet him again."
At the United Nations, the news of Trump's misfortune was greeted with shock, but no great surprise. "The man was a certifiable idiot from the day he announced his candidacy for the Presidency; he is nothing more than an egocentric baby who goes into a huff if he doesn't get his own way, and if people say unkind truths about him. Hopefully given that there is video evidence that he took the Lysol himself, nobody will believe the equally stupid members of his party that are trying to claim it was a plot to assassinate him," Miss Worthington remarked to Nick at lunch.
The latter had sighed, and replied, "I'm afraid to say that the most devoted members of his cult of followers are already claiming that the video is a forgery, and that the man shown in it is either a very good doppelganger, or worse, the whole thing is a deep fake that has been produced by the Democrats…" That statement caused his boss to roll her eyes and sigh…
With an early departure due to all of the passengers arriving on time, and favourable winds above the Atlantic, the flight from Heathrow touched down at JFK a good hour earlier than scheduled, but that news did not please Sebastian one bit. As the three former Warblers stood in the line to scan their documentation and re-enter the country, he allowed himself to grumble to Jeff and Drew as the two of them had excitedly discussed the possibility that they might even make it back to the West Village in time to carry out the school run themselves and surprise their children.
"That is fantastic for you guys, but some of us will now have an extra hour to sit around and wait for my connecting flight, if it runs on time, in an airport terminal, which is no fun at all, as you both well know. Now, before you say that I can sit in the lounge and enjoy all of the trappings of First Class for a little while, I will need to make my way to the correct terminal; and my luggage isn't booked through as it is not an official connection. You can't get back into the lounge once you are at baggage claim, and there is no way I am leaving my bags to go round and round on a carousel for an hour!"
Drew looked at Jeff, who shrugged. "Can you not get into a lounge at the other terminal," Drew ventured.
"Not on my ticket for the flight back to Ohio, and there is no pay to enter lounge at that terminal either. I am now doomed to sit on an uncomfortable bench seat for over three hours, having to listen to loud mouthed people talking about how the Democrats have tried to poison President Trump; let's face it, I am travelling to Ohio, so there will be more than a few people like that flying on it. On top of that, there will be flights at other gates that will be heading to states where The Donald is placed on a pedestal like some God or prophet…"
Drew winced himself at the very prospect, before stepping forward to use the scanner. Jeff was already through, and as he joined him on the other side of the immigration gate, officially back home, he saw that the blond was frantically tapping away on his cellphone. As he approached him, he saw a big smile appear on his face. Jeff said nothing as Drew joined him, and they waited in silence for Sebastian and Adam; the Englishman was in a different line, but one that had been moving swiftly…
As soon as Sebastian stepped over, his face still clearly showing that he was not in the best of moods, Jeff pulled him to one side, and showed him his phone screen; a second later and the blond had his phone ripped from his hand by his friend, who began to tap away at the screen every bit as quickly…
"Okay, spill, what did you do?" asked Drew.
"I checked and discovered that there is another flight to Columbus, with the same airline, in 80 minutes time, and that it has seats available. Sebastian will be trying to change his reservation onto that flight, which will get him home two hours sooner than planned…"
"Well, blondie, if he fails to be able to do so after you dangled the carrot to him, then you are definitely on your own," quipped Drew, picturing how much more upset their friend would be if the airline said no…
Adam arrived to join them five minutes later, just in time to see Sebastian dashing off to the baggage reclaim, having thrown Jeff's phone at him and yelled his farewells. The blond explained to Adam what had happened and that Sebastian now had three quarters of an hour to get his bag, change terminals and check in to his second flight, not to mention get through security…
"Ironically, if he had booked a through flight, then he would not have been able to make the change, as his bags would have been allocated to his selected flight by the computer system, and it would state that it was impossible to transfer the bags in the allotted time, so he could not change his times," said Jeff as the three of them strolled down to the baggage reclaim hall, taking time to check the number of the carousel their bags would be on. They stepped into the vast area and were almost knocked down by Sebastian as he hurtled towards the Airtrain that would take him to the terminal for his next flight, although he did see them and wave.
Like Sebastian, they found their bags with ease, First Class luggage being prioritised, and headed for the taxi rank, where for once there was no lengthy queue and even more unusually, a long line of cabs waiting for hire. They found themselves sat in the back of a vehicle that was being driven by a man whose origins were in India, and of course, he recognised Adam's face almost at once.
"You were at the funeral in London yesterday; I saw you on the television. My wife and I watched the whole thing, as did our parents back home. She was never our ruler, the colonial age and the title of Empress of India passing before she came to the throne, but nonetheless we were all brought up to respect her, as she was a wonderful lady. I wonder though if the people will show the same respect for her son? I think that they might, because he has embraced our cultures, he cares for the environment and for the rights and needs of the people. Also there is the fact that he would never do anything so silly as drinking disinfectant…"
The sight of the buildings that dominated the Manhattan skyline in the distance made the returnees smile and a quick glance at their watches showed Jeff and Drew that they might just make it back home in time to be able to run to the school door in time for classes coming out. Hearing that discussion, Adam was the one that made a very valid point. "I am sure that someone else will have been scheduled to collect them, and if it isn't Ethan or Nick, then that person might not be best pleased when the two of you show up to take over. Would it not be better for the two of you to head home and have everything ready for when they step in the front door? Get the milk and cookies sorted, be ready to enjoy the moment of reunion, and of course, deal with all of the inevitable questions in the warm?"
"Adam has a point," admitted Drew to Jeff. "I have a feeling that it will be Mike that is undertaking the school run today, and he will be doing it on his way home from somewhere that he might have left early especially to pick our kids up. That is what has been the case before, and although he wouldn't say anything, deep down he might be a little cheesed off…"
Jeff chuckled at that, then replied, "Suddenly the walk to the school and back does seem like a long and unnecessary one. Home is definitely the right place to head after all…" He stopped and checked his phone that had just buzzed, and found he had two new messages; one from Sebastian, accompanied by a picture of himself aboard his second flight, and one from Nick, which just said that he couldn't wait to get home that night…
They pulled up in the West Village street they called home about five minutes before school ended for the day. As they collected their belongings from the trunk of the taxi and paid their fare, Jeff noticed one of the neighbours across the street at her window, and he waved to her politely; she acknowledged it, then vanished. Adam shook his head at the scene, but Jeff said, "Oh yes, she is extremely nosy, but it is a very effective form of neighbourhood watch. She spots everything from her window, and she would not hesitate to summon the NYPD if she was at all suspicious of someone or something."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "Okay, so back to reality for us all. I have a boy that hasn't seen me for nearly two weeks that will be home soon, looking for his milk and cookies and then no doubt grilling me with his questions. We have paid our respects, and now it is back to the daily routine."
"Yeah, Evie will be exactly the same," laughed Drew, "as will Ethan in all probability."
"I guess I need to go and call Ms Kudrow, let her know that I am back, and see when they want me back filming – and I suspect that Lawrence will be popping in to see me when he finishes work."
"I think the latter is a definite," replied Jeff.
With that, they all hugged, then headed to their respective homes. Jeff let himself in and headed straight up to the bedroom with his case, but left it there without unpacking; that could be dealt with later. He headed back down the stairs and into the kitchen and smiled at the sight of Caleb fast asleep in his bed. He would never make a guard cat, he thought, unless the intruder happened to try and rob the contents of the fridge. To test his theory, he headed over to the appliance in question and opened the door; he chuckled as immediately a pair of feline eyes popped open. There was a miaow of greeting, then a furry body was rubbing against Jeff's legs, purring away in pleasure to see his blond human back. That sound only grew louder when some chicken scraps that Nick had obviously set aside for Caleb the night before were placed into his dish…
On the school run, Mike noted that his two young charges were walking faster than they normally did that day, both sighing when they had to wait to cross the streets on the way home. They also walked past both the drugstore and the bakery without a second glance, which was unusual. He had to admit that he had thought they might be in a rush to get home that day, which was why he had done the few errands he needed to on the way to the school that day. He had also made a point of checking the flight arrival information for JFK, and when the question had been asked, he was able to say that the plane bringing their respective parents home had landed, and that they would be back in the United States – unless of course they had missed the flight in London…
"You don't think that really could have happened?" said Evie in a disbelieving voice.
"Uncle Mike knows my papa and he can forget to set his alarm or manage to wake up in the morning if he is really tired," admitted Wes sadly.
"I think that someone would have told us by now if they had," replied Mike, "but it is never safe to assume that because a particular flight has landed that the person we were expecting has actually arrived."
The skies were starting to darken as they walked back into the street, and looking up, Mike saw that the lights were on in Adam's apartment, so he quickly sent a text to Tina to let her know that the two children would not be joining them that afternoon. They came to a halt outside the Sterling-Duval house, and Wes looked at Mike for a moment in anticipation. The latter smiled, then said, "I will see you soon. Tell Caleb and your papa that I said hello."
Wes grinned, and ran up the steps to the front door, delighted when the door opened when he turned the handle. A second later, and Evie saw that her father was waiting at the external door to their apartment. She grinned, said farewell to Mike, and then ran down the street to greet him with a hug. Mike could only smile at the reunion he saw before him.
By the time that Nick arrived home from the office, Jeff was feeling exhausted. True to his suspicions, Wes had asked a heck of a lot of questions, and he had initially done his utmost to answer all of them; however, he eventually called time on it, and told his son that he needed to start on his homework. As his son reluctantly did so, he headed over to make a start on their evening meal, which would be a simple dish of pasta with turkey mince meatballs and an arrabbiata sauce. He would make the meatballs himself, but the sauce came from a jar; the Seggiano brand was organic and imported from Sicily, so was tasty and authentic. He chose a conchiglie pasta to serve it with, as it would hold the sauce beautifully. Caleb was fast asleep again, which was as well, as there was no waste with the ground turkey to speak of.
As he was frying the meatballs to brown them off, he heard the front door opening upstairs. That surprised him for a moment when he glanced at the time, but then he realised that his husband would have of course requested to leave the office early so that they could be reunited sooner. He took the skillet he was using off the gas, content that the meatballs were well browned in any case, then waited to see the man he loved enter the room. When he did, he ran over to Jeff at once and hugged him close, as their son observed them from the table where he was doing his homework. He looked for a moment, but then turned his attention back to the task in front of him. In his opinion, there was a better time and place for the mushy stuff that was now taking place – ideally when dinner was over, and he was in bed…