The Return of the Prodigal: Part VI
When Ethan came running into the check-in area of the terminal building, he immediately saw Jeff waiting for him, and checking his watch anxiously. As he came closer, he also noticed that there was no sign of any bags. Jeff looked up, and smiled. "Hey Ethan, I was beginning to get a little worried that you weren't going to make it here in time…"
"There was never any real danger of that, although I am a little bit later than I would have liked to be. First things first - did you manage to get Drew through security without any problems, and secondly, where are the cases I was supposed to be taking through?"
Jeff laughed. "It seems that your family name counts for a lot with the airline, my friend. The minute that the lady at the check-in desk saw who had booked the tickets, she had no problems with taking your bags from me and checking them in. On top of that, I think she had the staff in the security line prioritise Drew and Evie."
"That's cool. Right, so I had better go and get myself checked in. Thanks for everything that you and Nick have done these last two days, blondie. It was really good of you, and to be honest, if you hadn't thought fast and got his address, asked him to see Nick, then in my opinion, none of us might ever have seen or heard from him again. This was our one chance, and I am so much in your debt now…"
"Not at all. All I did was keep to the old Warbler pledge…"
"Anyway, I will be in touch when I get home. Can you thank Nick for me too? By the way, I take it that it is okay for Drew to come and stay with me for a while?"
"He can stay as long as he likes; be sure to tell him that. There will always be a home for him in the West Village, and if he doesn't want to live with you, don't forget there are those two empty places next to our house. He is family after all…"
"Speaking of that, I really should call his mom, given how much she had been worried about him."
"Get him home first, and then call her. Also, don't forget that she has no idea that she is a grandmother… Right, so the lady at check-in is giving us a kind of dirty look, so you need to go. Remember and call us to let us now you are back, and what is going on. Don't worry by the way, Nick and I will say nothing about this weekend to anyone until he is ready to announce that he is home officially."
Ethan nodded, then after giving Jeff a hug, he headed over to the desk. "Cutting it very fine today, Mr MacKenzie," the lady on the desk said with a smile.
"Yes, I had a major issue to resolve, and then I had to alter my travel plans for getting here a little. Did my friend get through okay?"
"Mr Symons and his daughter are currently enjoying the comforts of the first class lounge, I believe," came his reply. "Well, that is you in; your cases are already in the system, and you are expedited through security. Have a safe flight." She handed Ethan his boarding pass, and he nodded in thanks. As he walked to security, he turned back and waved to Jeff; he had known that the blond man would not leave until he was on his way through, just in case of a last minute arrival…
In the lounge, Drew was sat in a daze. He had been startled to be flying first class in the first place, but the lounge was like heaven compared to the vastness of the normal waiting areas. He had been ushered to the door and found a seat; a colouring book and pencils had been brought for Evie, along with a glass of apple juice and a plate of healthy snacks. He had accepted the offer of coffee and shortbread biscuits, but had declined the offer of a newspaper at first - until he saw another man reading the New York Times. He asked, and one was brought straight over to him, and he was delighted to discover it was that Sunday's edition. He flicked through it idly at first, but then he paused at a photo of the President making a speech in Washington DC; in the background he suddenly noticed Trent, and he couldn't help but smile as he now knew why he was there…
He carried on through the paper, coming at last to the theatre listings, and once again he smiled as he saw the names C.J. Hummel-Warbler, Sam Evans, and of course, Sebastian Smythe. He could actually picture the latter as the Prince of Denmark, and now if he chose to, he would actually be able to go and see him perform. That was of course if his old friends still wanted him there; he had turned his back on all of them, and after so long, he might well have forfeit his place in the circle of friends… That made him realise something else, something that brought a tear to his eye. It was not just his friends that he had cut adrift, but his mother and father too. Would they be able to forgive him for the years of silence, and worse still, for not even letting them know that they had a granddaughter?
Security was slower than usual that day, even in the fast queue that Ethan was in. by the time that he got through, he was left to check his watch anxiously; it was then that he realised that the flight had been called. He headed to the lounge, but it was empty, the passengers for New York already taken to the gate. He ran there, and saw no sign of Drew and Evie; he hoped that they had already boarded, and a check with the staff at the gate confirmed it. He headed down the air bridge, and showed his ticket to the air crew, who directed him to turn left. He heard Evie chatting excitedly to her father as soon as he entered the first class section, and he smiled as he saw he had a seat right next to them.
"Prince Ethan!" Evie exclaimed at the top of her voice the minute that she saw him, making the handful of other passengers in the cabin laugh.
"Hello, Princess Evie. I am sorry that I am so late, but I had to vanquish the wicked queen and her minions before I came," he said with a smile as he sat down beside her, noticing the startled look on Drew's face at his words. "So are you ready to fly across the ocean to my homeland, and share my palace for a little while?"
"Yes please… Is this how a Prince usually flies?" asked Evie.
"Oh yes, particularly when he has two guests with him who have suffered so long and he wants them to have the best of everything. Now, did you know that your seat is magic and can turn into a bed? Sometimes a nap in the afternoon is a very good thing, don't you agree?" Evie nodded, and beside her, Drew couldn't help but smile. For the first time in a long time, he felt that he could dare to hope that his life would be happy…
At the exact moment that the flight crew closed the door at Heathrow, the airport security staff were being summoned to the check in area at Gatwick. The arrival of the woman with a look of thunder on her face 20 minutes earlier had not at first drawn too much attention at first; it was only when she started to run from one check-in desk to another, pushing to the front of the queues, demanding that the staff immediately tell her which plane her husband was on because he was kidnapping her daughter that they began to notice. Soon all activity had more or less stopped as everyone began to key in the names she was giving, as all around people began to pity the poor woman who was desperately searching for Drew Symons and Ethan MacKenzie.
It was the supervisor at the British Airways desk that smelled a rat first. She noticed that whilst the woman was constantly repeating the names of the two men, she was not mentioning the name of her daughter. When she asked her for it, the response from the mother was to scream at her "That is not important!" No mother that was desperately seeking her child would react in that way. Undeterred, she waited a few moments and asked again - this time she was given a name, but the name she gave made the supervisor at the Virgin Atlantic check-in next door look up. She did so because it was a different name to the one she had dragged out of her a few minutes before….
The supervisor then asked one of her staff to obtain information as to the child's date of birth and her age; the fact that the alleged mother did not know this basic information set every alarm bell ringing, and she made the call to security. She also called the police, just in case there was a child abduction taking place, and she was part of the gang involved…
As Lucy was surrounded by the security team, screaming at the top of her voice, one of the junior check-in staff approached her supervisor. "I have found them; passengers MacKenzie, Symons, and the child - not Elvira, or Elfie, but Evie. They are booked on a flight from Heathrow to New York. I called them up, intending to ask them to hold the flight until the authorities there could attend, but then they sent me a copy of the little girl's passport; she has no mother listed, just a father. My guess is that Mr Symons is leaving her, for whatever reason, and she is attempting to stop him by making a claim of child abduction…"
"And she was told the wrong airport by someone in quite a neat piece of subterfuge. Call Heathrow, and tell them to let the flight go. Once it is airborne, let me know, and I will go and break the news to her. I will try not to smile as I do…"
It was about the same time that the flight took off that Jeff reached home. He had considered staying at the airport in case Lucy turned up there for a moment, but had then realised that he could barely recall what she looked like. In any case, he wanted to spend some family time with his husband and son before the latter started kindergarten on Monday morning. He headed down into the tube, and settled down for the journey to South Kensington, lost in his own world as the train grew busier around him as it neared the centre of the city. He decided on alighting that he would pop into a couple of the small shops near the station to pick up a few non essential items that they would all enjoy; good cheese from the specialist shop, and some nice ham from the deli that he could use to make the quiche that he was supposed to have prepared for dinner on Friday the next day. He would have the day to himself after all, once he had dropped Wes off, and that would be strange at first. True, he had some illustration work to do, but that would not take the entire day…
The sun was shining brightly as he walked down the east side of Thurloe Square, then climbed up the steps to the front door. He was pleased that everything had gone so well, but he also knew that they had been lucky. If she had seen through the plot, or had been told by the neighbour about Ethan's visit the previous day…
"Or you had been on time, blondie," came an oh so familiar voice…
"I know Wes; if I had been on time, I might just have walked past Drew in the street, and this would never have happened…"
"Yes, it was a good thing that you knocked all those books over, or you would have caught that bus…"
"I still don't understand how I managed to do that; I wasn't even close to them!"
"No, but Blaine was…" said Wes with a wink, leaving Jeff to stare in amazement, as he pondered just how the whole angelic system worked…
The whole process of take off was new to Evie of course, and like most people experiencing it for the first time, it was a little scary as the engines roared into life, and the plane began to hurtle down the runway at speed, before climbing steeply into the air. She felt safe though as her daddy was holding her hand on one side, and her handsome prince was holding her other. Once the plane levelled off, she quickly decided that flying was not so bad after all. Her seat was reclined fully into a bed with the assistance of one of the cabin crew, and she took full advantage of it to lie flat and close her eyes, not intending to sleep at all…
It would be just over an hour later that her daddy would wake her up, and soon she was sitting up again, eating a hot meal, which as far as she knew was something that none of her friends at school had done on their flights for holidays. She knew deep down though that she would not be able to boast about that to them, as she would never see any of them again. After her meal, she settled back to watch the little television in front of her; there was a film available that she had seen and always wanted to watch again, but there had never been time until now. Maybe now that the wicked queen was gone there would be more time for fun. The big question was whether it would just be her and her daddy now, or would Uncle Ethan be around as well…
It was just after 7pm New York time when the flight came into land, a process which Evie hated more than taking off, what with the bump on the tarmac as the wheels touched down. It was also a moment for Drew, a realisation that he was truly home at last, back in the country where he had been born. It also made him feel worried however. It had been a shock to see Jeff again, and then first Ethan, then Nick; here he would be close to so many of the other young men he had sung with at Dalton, and he knew that they might all clamour to see him once his return became public knowledge. He did not feel ready for that at all. Although he would not admit, and the others would deny it, he was now a bit of a stranger, even in the company of Ethan, the person that he had shared a room with for 4 years, back when he was happy… He did not want the others to see what a wreck he had become, knowing that he had been a fool, deluding himself into believing that he would be able to change someone that was so damaged just by showing them love…
As they waited in the customs line, he decided that he would be best sharing his fears. "Ethan, I need to say this now, and I need you to respect what I am saying, hard though that may be. I don't want any of the others to know that I am back, at least not yet. In fact, I might never want them to know… I know that they will all be desperate to see me, but the honest truth is that I have changed; I am not the boy that they knew at Dalton anymore. I look like him, but inside… Well it isn't just my body that is bruised and broken, but my mind as well. I'd always behaved in a certain way; believed in love and kindness, in hope and redemption, that everyone had a good side, but now… I guess that what little pride I have left couldn't stand to see them all there, pitying and judging me for my choices…"
"You know that they wouldn't…"
"Not to my face maybe, but inside they will be; if they only pity me then that will be ten times worse. I know that it won't be an easy thing to do, given how close you live to the others; and it will be hard for Nick and Jeff too, but please, don't let them know that I am back yet. When I feel ready, then we can tell them, but I might never feel ready for that. I promise you that I will not leave your life, Ethan; I owe you so much, and I wouldn't want to hurt you so much again, but the fact is that I may not be close at hand. It might be better if Evie and I go somewhere that no-one knows me, where I can make a fresh start…"
"If that is what you need to do, then I will respect your decision 110%. All I ask is that you don't make hasty choices. Take each day one at a time for now; after all, you have been living through something very traumatic for a long time…" Drew nodded at his words, then turned his attention back to Evie. Ethan quietly sighed, and began to wonder if the text that he had sent after the one that he had fired off to Nick to say they were back in New York had been the biggest mistake of his life…
With bags collected, they made their way to the waiting car, loading it up with their cases, then settling back for the drive to the city. Ethan smiled as he heard Evie whisper to her dad with concern about the fact that the driver was on the wrong side of the road; he knew that she would need time to adapt to the subtle differences here, in the country that she would now call home. Then he listened to her running commentary, particularly as the skyscrapers of Manhattan came into sight in the near distance…
In no time, the car was turning into the familiar street in the West Village. Ethan suddenly realised that Drew had never seen it, having already been in the clutches of that woman by the time that Jeff inherited it. "I can't believe that Jeff owns all of this!" gasped Drew. "It is like something from a dream, or a TV show…"
"It is, but this one has a happy ending. Now I am going to get the driver to help me carry the bags up to the house whilst you and Evie wait in the car; once that is done, we can get the two of you in quickly and avoid the neighbours seeing anything." Drew nodded, and sat and watched as Ethan headed up the steps of the brownstone building, and took the bags inside one by one; the last one in, it was time for him and Evie to head up. The driver held the door to the building open, allowing Evie to run up the steps, whilst Drew took it more slowly, getting a good look at the street. As a result, he did not seeing the face at the window upstairs on the first floor, the face with widening eyes as they saw him…
Drew was soon inside, and Ethan ushered him through his front door; that was when he heard the footsteps coming down from the house above. Drew's face paled, and he rushed in. Ethan nodded, and pulled the door closed just as the front door to the house upstairs opened and Beats appeared. "Hey, Beats, how are you?" asked Ethan casually.
"I'm fine, but Ethan, was that Drew I just saw? Was it, or am I imaging things?"
"It was Beats, but he needs time. He is tired, and he has been to hell and back over the last few years. Please, I need you to keep this to yourself until he is ready to tell people that he is back. I know it sounds strange, but I am being deadly serious; not a word to Elliott, and especially not Flint. He needs to be able to adjust, to trust people again, and right now, that means he needs his space…"
"Don't worry, I get it. I will keep this wonderful news to myself. Just tell him that I am so glad that he is home, that I've missed him, and that I love him like a brother," Beats replied. Then with a broad smile on his face, he turned and headed back upstairs. On the other side of the door, of course, Drew had heard every word. He was beyond touched, and he couldn't help but smile just as broadly as his old friend…
Ethan stepped inside his home to find Drew and Evie standing in the hallway, surrounded by their cases. "I didn't like to go any further," Drew said quietly. "After all, this is your home, not mine, and I didn't want to just start opening doors."
"Well, this is going to be your home too for as long as you need or want it to be," replied Ethan, opening the door to the lounge on his way past his friend to the kitchen. "Why don't you take Evie into the lounge, put on the television and relax. I am afraid that I don't know what number the children's channels are, so you will need to check the guide. I will get us all drinks, and then we can decide if we are hungry or not…"
"I guess, but it will be Evie's bed time soon, so we will need to sort out where she is going to sleep."
"She can have the room that was Flint's when I first moved in here, and then his cousin Leo's. You can have the guest room. Now if anyone needs to freshen up, then the bathroom is the door opposite the lounge…" Drew nodded, and as headed towards the kitchen, he looked back to see Evie heading for the bathroom as her father headed into the lounge. Entering the kitchen, he closed the door gently behind him, and turned on the kettle. As he heard the television come on in the next room, he pulled out his phone and checked his messages. There was a reply to the text he had sent at the airport, and the reply did make him a little uneasy given what Drew had said earlier, but it was too late now; if there was fallout, he would deal with it in the morning. With the kettle boiled, he made tea for himself and Ethan, and poured a glass of apple juice for Evie. He placed them all on a tray, then gathered up the cookie tin, and at the last moment, a box of crackers. He then found himself yawning, but that was no wonder; he had crossed the Atlantic twice in less than 48 hours after all…
After their snack, they all agreed that they did not want anything else to eat that night, and they should get ready for bed. It did not take long to get Evie settled in her new room; Drew had packed her night clothes, her favourite toys and her duvet cover on the top of one of the cases, so the room quickly looked a little like home. She had a quick bath, and then they got her settled into bed. The double that she was in was much larger than she was used to, and Ethan resolved that they would have to try and get a single bed the following day; he would ask Jeff if he could store the double in one of the empty houses down the street as a temporary measure. She was almost asleep at once anyway, exhausted by her long day. It was after all nearly 3am in British time by now, and even with her nap on the plane, it had been a very long day for her…
Drew had taken out his own night clothes, and once his daughter was asleep, had headed to the guest room. He was exhausted too, but Ethan noticed that he still seemed reluctant to go to bed; it was only when his yawns were coming too often and Ethan was yawning too that he agreed they should both head to bed. They paused outside their bedroom doors, right across the hall from each other at the opposite end of the apartment from Evie.
"Thank you again for all of this Ethan. I promise it will not be for too long, just until I can get myself sorted out…"
"Like I told you, it is no problem, and you are welcome to stay here for as long as you need. After all, we have a good few years to catch up on; so much gossip…"
"Yeah, I have missed so much," Drew replied sadly. "Goodnight Ethan, and again, thanks. I don't feel afraid about what tomorrow may bring me for the first time in years…"
Ethan smiled, and waited until his friend had headed into the guest room before he made his way into his own. He had to admit that he too felt as if a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders. After all, he now knew that Drew was safe…
It was just before midnight when Ethan was woken up by the noise. He listened for a moment, and then realised that it was a voice, repeating the same words over and over, sounding so fear filled to his ears, what with the occasional whimper… He got up and headed into the hall, fearing that Evie was having a nightmare, but the moment he stepped outside his room he realised that she was sleeping soundly, and the person having the nightmare was her father. He walked into the guest room, closing the door behind him as quickly as he had opened it. His heart broke again as he witnessed Drew tossing and turning in his bed, whimpering like an animal in pain and fear, begging someone to stop, to go away…
He walked over to the bed, and said, "Drew… Drew… you need to wake up. It's just a dream…" He repeated his words, a little louder each time, not wanting to shake his friend awake in case it made his nightmare worse, or that he might lash out as he sprung awake…
It worked eventually, Drew's eyes snapping open, looking all around in fear. "She isn't here, Drew. It was just a bad dream," said Ethan quietly, sitting down beside his friend.
"It isn't the first," said Drew sadly. "Please tell me that I didn't wake Evie…"
"Sound asleep as far as I can tell," Ethan replied. "We just need to get you back to sleep now…"
"It's okay; sometimes I think being awake and tired is much better than going through the nightmares…"
"Nonsense," said Ethan. His mind suddenly recalled something from the past, and he knew what he could do… "Okay, budge up in the bed…" He lifted the covers and began to climb into the bed next to a startled Drew. "Relax. Remember when we are at Dalton, and one of us had a nightmare, Wes used to come and get into the bed with us to help us calm down and to be there if it came back. It was so comforting back then, so it might work for you just now…"
"Things were a little different then, Ethan. We were younger and life was much simpler," replied Drew softly.
"True, but the fact remains that there is something very comforting about having someone holding you when you aren't feeling your best. However, if you think that my being here will make you uncomfortable and exacerbate the problem, then I will go…"
"No, stay, just until I get back to sleep," said Drew, and Ethan nodded, although he had no intention whatsoever of getting out of the bed just because his best friend had fallen asleep; after all, the nightmares could easily return…
"Right, so let's get back to sleep. There are a lot of things that we need to get sorted out in the morning; unpacking for a start, and then a better bed for Evie. She needs some familiarity back; it is all an adventure just now, but this is such a big change for her."
"Yeah…a new set of road safety rules to learn first and foremost; looking left, not right first when crossing a street for a beginning… What if she can't cope with it all though, Ethan? She's lost all of her friends, all that was familiar. It might have been better for me to just change my name and move somewhere new in the United Kingdom or even Ireland. I could have gone to stay with Rory's grandmother…"
"It's a nice thought, but in the end, Lucy could have found you, and you would have been even more alone. Here at least you have a little more security and support… All of this talk can wait until tomorrow though. No more talking; the lights are going out!"
Drew chuckled lightly. "You almost sounded like Wes there… I wonder when he will show up to talk to me? I need to apologise to him, and the other angels. I ignored their presence so many times, and in reality, I should have been paying them all of my attention."
"I'm sure that you are forgiven; now, enough worrying and fretting. Close those eyes. You're safe now. She can't hurt you ever again." Drew sighed, and then closed his eyes. Ethan wrapped an arm around him, waiting for the moment that his breathing became steady and even, which did not take long. With his friend now asleep, he lay awake for a little while deliberately, just in case his friend slipped straight back into his nightmare. However, he too felt his eyelids grow heavy, and with a protective arm still wrapped around his friend, he too fell into a deep sleep…
