The Return of the Prodigal: Part VIII
As the appointed hour approached on Wednesday, Ethan could see by the look on Drew's face that he was worried. He could understand why he felt like that; he was about to meet his peers again, people who had been his closest friends, people that he had shut out of his life at the behest of a woman that he had believed loved him deeply and merited his help and trust. It had turned out that he had been a fool to do so. She did love him in her own way, but that love was not enough of a reason to have disowned all of his friends so callously. There had to be a part of him that feared that when he came face to face with all of them again, some of them would walk out and ignore him. Yes, Beats had not condemned him, but the younger boys Ethan could not be sure of, and both Flint and Sebastian could be judgmental if they chose to be. He couldn't help but feel that Drew might think he deserved that kind of bad response in a way. That would not make things any less hurtful if that was indeed what occurred.
Then there was the other factor in the whole affair; a person now approaching four years of age that none of them knew about. She was the only good thing that had come from all of Drew's time away from them all. Her presence in the apartment would stop there being any real unpleasantness he guessed - but was that a good thing? Maybe in some ways it would be better for Drew if they got everything out in the open with the others; if they were all able to speak their minds, without the presence of their friend's daughter in the room…
By the time that five minutes to five came, Drew was in a state of tension that had become more or less unbearable for him. He suddenly stood up, and left the room, pausing only to tell Ethan that he needed him to get the others in and then introduce him at a later point. Before Ethan could respond, there came a knocking at the door, and he too left the room to greet whoever had arrived first; in all likelihood Beats. In their mutual haste, they had both neglected the fact that Evie was sitting quietly on the couch, reading her book…
Ethan opened the door, and was startled to find that all of his invited guests were waiting on the threshold. "I'm sorry about this, Ethan. I was running a little late in getting here - and no, it wasn't one of my trains, Sebastian! - and when I did get here, Sebastian and Flint were outside, about to head in, so they followed me in," Beats said apologetically.
"And we were all in the house, watching and waiting, so it just made sense for us all to hurry out and come in with them," said Skylar. "After all, it saved us all from buzzing you, and you having to get up and come to the door so many separate times."
"Now at this juncture, I should also remind you that I am on the clock; I have a show to perform tonight," interjected Sebastian.
"Unfortunately I have to go and pick up a shift too," said Colin. "Someone has called in sick, and my boss was desperate, and I couldn't really lie to her and say I was tied up all night when I wasn't."
"Okay, so this isn't a bad thing," said Ethan, half to himself. "Okay, so why don't you all come in and head to the living room; that way we can get all of this done in as quick and as seamless a fashion as possible." He stood to one side and let them all file in, six curious faces and one that looked like the cat that had got the cream as he knew what was going on… He nearly laughed at Beats' expression, but all thoughts of that were stifled as he closed the door and suddenly recalled far too late that the living room was not as empty as he had thought. Cursing himself for not sending them to the kitchen, he hurried behind them, and entered the room to find his seven guests regarding the little girl on the couch with curiosity; she in her turn was looking at them with something akin to fear….
On seeing him enter the room, Evie got up and virtually ran to his side, trying to hide behind him from the looks from the seven strangers. "Who are these men, Uncle Ethan?" came a little voice.
"Uncle Ethan? I didn't know you had a niece!" said Flint quietly, but then he checked himself as his brain clicked into gear, and continued, "Wait, you can't have! You're an only child! So unless one of your parents has confessed a long ago infidelity, or that you did have an older sibling that they put up for adoption, she can't possibly be…"
"Flint, we had kind of all worked that out for ourselves!" said Sebastian with more than a hint of sarcasm. "I am sure that Ethan will tell us all what is going on in just a moment…"
Ethan ignored them all however, and got down on his knees to speak to Evie. "There is no need to be scared; all of these men went to school with me, or with friends of mine. So, in no particular order, these men are like me, your uncles. So, this is Skylar, Seth, Sebastian, Edward, Colin, Flint, and last, but by no means least, your Uncle Beats, who just happens to live upstairs…"
"Ah, that explains it! She is the daughter of one of our Warbler brethren then," said Edward. "Who though? Judging by her age… Wait, did Gabriel's girlfriend return from Europe with a surprise that he knew nothing about beforehand?"
"No, she is my daughter," came a voice, and at it they all spun round to look at the door. There was an almost collective gasp from the guests, Beats alone not getting a shock.
"Drew!" exclaimed Sebastian, his eyes wide, and his show forgotten.
Flint started to shake his head, and stalked towards the door, striking fear into Ethan's heart. As he got there though he burst into tears, and pulled Drew into a tight hug. His tears seemed to start everyone else off. "It is so, so, so good to see you," whispered Flint. "Are you back amongst us for good, or is this just a visit?"
"For good. I failed in my task, and now I have come back home," said Drew, blinking back his own tears.
"Thank God for that!" exclaimed Sebastian as he walked towards the two at the door. "Okay, so stop hogging him, Wilson! We all need to hug him!" Flint laughed, and shaking his head, let Sebastian in to take his place as the others lined up behind him.
"Uncle Ethan, why are they all crying," Evie whispered to the man that was still kneeling at her side.
"I guess they are crying because they are getting to see an old friend for the first time in a long time, and that can make you very emotional."
"But their tears are happy tears?" asked Evie, as she reached up to wipe the tears off Ethan's own cheek.
"Yes, the very happiest, because the brother that they had all thought was lost to them has finally come home."
What all of the visitors had anticipated being a quick meeting swiftly turned into an event after that. With the exception of Sebastian and Colin, they all dropped the plans that they had made for the evening, or at the very least delayed them for as long as they could. Sebastian was the first to break away from the throng that had gathered around Drew to head over to where Ethan still sat with Evie. "So I guess that is where you vanished to at short notice last weekend; Beats told us that you had had an emergency, and that he had been asked to keep an eye on your place. I take it that Drew got in touch and asked for help in getting home?"
"No, he kind of bumped into a certain blond musketeer, and his husband set about doing all that was needed as soon as he was told," replied Ethan.
Sebastian couldn't help but smile at that news, glad that the two members of their little circle that were so far away had been involved. He knelt down then and offered his hand to Evie. "It is a great privilege and honour to meet you, young lady. I hope that your Uncle Ethan has been taking good care of you."
"He has; he came and saved me and daddy from the wicked queen, and then he gave me my grandparents - and he has shown me so many nice kinds of sweets too. He says that he isn't a prince, but I think that he might just be in secret," said Evie.
"Well, it does take a prince to rescue a princess from a wicked queen," replied Sebastian in all seriousness. "However, we had best keep that as a secret, just in case he needs us to." Evie nodded, and then seeing her daddy beckoning her over, she ran off towards him and her other new uncles. "She is a lovely kid. I am guessing that she takes entirely after her father and I would also surmise that the wicked queen had no part in bringing her into the world…"
"To my immense relief when I found out about her, you are quite correct in that assumption. She went too far with him one night, and he ended up being hospitalised. Alarm bells started to ring, and to prevent her exposure, she allowed Drew to have his daughter with a surrogate… Anyway, that chapter of his life is over for good now, and he is starting afresh. He is going back to Ohio at the weekend to stay with his folks."
"He will be back though?" asked Sebastian.
"I hope so, but honestly, he has changed a lot Sebastian. I used to be so close to him that I knew what he was thinking and how he felt about things, but now he is a closed book. Whatever he decides to do, at least I know that he is safe now…" replied Ethan. Sebastian could see the pain in his eyes, and it tugged on his heartstrings. He could only hope that when he was ready, Drew would return to the city and his best friend; indeed, to all of them. After all, Ethan was not the only one that had missed him over the last few years.
Later that night, after the apartment was empty of all the guests and Drew had put Evie to her bed, tired but excited by her day, Ethan found himself being asked by his friend to set up a Skype chat with seven other people. It wasn't an easy task for him to complete, but he managed to get them all online, only after begging and pleading for just a few minutes with Trent, who was busy writing a keynote speech for the President. By that point David, Thad, Mitch, Cameron, Jasper and Brad were already online, with their cameras open. With Trent also on, Ethan opened his own, his face filling almost the whole screen as he leant forward. "Hey guys, thanks for joining me online at such short notice, but it was very important that I talked to you all right now. You see, I have a house guest at the moment that needs to say hello to all of you…"
With those words he sat back, allowing the person sitting next to him to become visible on the screen. He tried not to laugh as seven faces lit up, as Trent squealed in delight to see that the plan had been a success; as Jasper and Brad, sat side by side, high fived each other; as Thad forgot himself and let out a whoop of joy… Evie was in bed of course, tired out by her busy day, but he told them about her, holding up a photo, and that made the smiles even broader. In the end the five minute call lasted for fifteen, but no-one had any objection now to the disruption of their evening. Thad however, did not sign off at the end, but remained online. "So you are going to be in Ohio from Saturday… If you feel up to it, then it would be good if you could head down to Dalton one day. The Carmichaels will be pleased to see you, and meet your daughter if you chose to bring her. They can even look after her whilst we have a one to one chat - not a bad one, just a check up one…."
Drew laughed, and said, "Well, I guess that I could possibly manage that; it will be remembering to drive on the right side of the road that might be the issue…"
By the time that Saturday finally came, and Ethan was loading up the car he had rented for the drive to Ohio, Drew had also met up with Mike, Artie and Kitty, all of whom had also welcomed him back happily. He had not planned to meet up with them, but the previous night he had taken a walk down to the drug store to pick up a few items for the trip the next day, and he had bumped into them on the way home. He had to admit that the street in the West Village was a lovely place to live, and the people that lived there were friendly.
It did feel like home, but he wasn't certain that it was his home. He still had his problems after all; the nightmares had come to haunt him every night, and every night Ethan had woken him, then climbed into bed with him, holding him until he was able to sleep soundly. He needed to get that part of his life sorted out for a start. He could not expect his best friend to do that for him every night for the rest of his life, and ironically, it would be easier to find help and maintain his privacy in Ohio than here in the city. He had to get himself back on an even keel for Evie's sake; he had to get himself a job, make money, and take care of her as a proper father should. After all, she was probably the only reason that he had not taken the easy way out of his life… As Ethan drove them away from the street that Saturday, he did feel much more strongly than he had at the start of the week that he would return to New York sooner or later…
The return of Drew to the fold had come as a most welcome and pleasant surprise to all of his friends who lived in New York, and they were all a little disappointed that he was not going to be around for longer. They could however understand why he would want to return to his parents home; although the exact details of all that had happened to him over the last few years remained hazy, they could all imagine just how bad it had been…
Nick and Jeff of course were just glad that the truth about Drew's return was out there for them all to see, as it meant they no longer had to worry about potentially saying the wrong thing in an online chat and giving the game away. They received messages of gratitude from many of their friends for their small part in bringing their lost friend home, but they also had a few which asked if they had heard anything about what had happened to Lucy since the great escape had taken place. That proved quite elusive, but after a day of searching online by Jeff whilst little Wes was at school, he eventually came across a small article about an unnamed woman that had been charged with several public order offences at Gatwick Airport…
She was the right age, and that inspired Jeff to delve deeper. He discovered that she had threatened a senior check-in supervisor with actual bodily harm; had then knocked several computers off a desk, damaging them beyond repair; and had then spat in the face of a security guard as he approached, before kicking him in the groin to his injury. She had escaped from the check-in area, pursued by police, and had eventually been arrested in a WH Smith newsagent shop, but not before she had caused £561.87 damage to stock and equipment on those premises whilst attempting to avoid arrest…
She had then attempted to do what she had told Ethan she would do, and made accusations against Drew. Unluckily for her, the US Embassy had placed a note on his online file, which stated that he was fleeing from domestic abuse by his spouse, and so her story was immediately discredited. However, she had then pleaded guilty to the charges, and so had escaped the worst possible sanctions. She had promised to seek out professional help to deal with her anger management issues, had paid compensation to all the parties involved, and had even made a donation to charity…
That news left Jeff more than a little upset; effectively she had managed to get away with all that she had done to Drew scot-free, and that did not sit well with him at all. Nick had to agree, but as he pointed out to his husband, her card had now been marked, and in future she would not be able to repeat her actions with someone else. What he did not say to Jeff was that he doubted that she would seek help; she seemed to him to be the kind of person that would say that she was right, and the rest of the world was in the wrong. She had merely done what it took to keep her name out of the mainstream media, and to have her actions reported in one small local website. That however was not to be the end of it, and next day a text came to his husband's phone with a link, framed with the words "Everyone is a movie maker now…" Although her face was obscured, the location was clear, and the title Abusive Cow trashing Gatwick Smith's made it all the more certain that the person involved was Drew's soon to be ex-wife. Nick thought carefully about it, then forwarded Jeff's link to everyone else…
Back in the States, Drew was finding being back in Ohio much harder than he had anticipated. He had been alright on the Saturday night, with Ethan sleeping in the same room of his parents' house, but the following night, on his own, the nightmares had come back with a vengeance. He had been woken up by his mother, her face filled with concern and in the end he had broken down and told her the truth, more or less; that he had been suffering from nightmares on and off for the last three years, and he had become resigned to them, but since he had returned to the United States, they had been less frequent. He did not of course tell her that that had largely been due to the fact that Ethan had been sleeping in the same bed as him every night until then, with his arm wrapped around him…
By the time that the Wednesday of his first week back in Ohio came, he had not had a single night without his dreams again, but he had not managed to disturb his parents again, or if he had, they had not come to his assistance again. His father was at work of course, and his mother was keen to take Evie clothes shopping at the mall. His daughter had quickly become comfortable with her grandmother for company, and there was no need for him to tag along with them, which was a relief, as he hated walking from one clothing store to another. However, it did mean that he would be home alone all day, so to speak, and that was just as unappealing.
On a whim therefore he decided to take a trip back to the happier days of his past. His old car from his final year at Dalton was still in the garage, and his parents had kept it maintained, and so it was a simple enough task to jump in it and drive the couple of hours to Westerville. He arrived at the school gates, and stopped; for a moment he wondered if he was doing the right thing, and contemplated turning around and heading home. He took a breath and carried on down the familiar driveway, and parked his car in the visitors lot. He sat there for a moment behind the wheel to gather his thoughts; when he looked up, he was not in the least surprised to see a familiar face approaching, a smile on his face. Drew stepped out of his car then, locked it, and headed towards him.
"I recognised the car as it drove in. Welcome home my boy!" said Principal Carmichael as he approached.
"Thank you sir. I trust that you and Mrs Carmichael are well?"
"As well as one can be as age advances upon us. It is your state of health that concerns me more however; you have been through a very traumatic experience…"
"Which was entirely of my own making - and it was, before you protest. They say that love is blind, and that is true; it hides all of the flaws in a person, prevents you from seeing the warning signs that everyone else did…"
"Love does indeed sometimes make fools of us all; that however is all in the past now. You have returned, and from what I have been told, not alone. I guess that your mother is enjoying the role of doting grandmother as we speak?"
"Yes she is, and by the looks of it, it is a role that she has been wishing to play for a considerable time."
"The fact that you have a daughter that loves and adores you is an indication to us all that good can come out of the darkest of things, does it not? Now much as I would love to stand here and chat all day, my dear wife will never forgive me if I linger here much longer and do not escort you inside to see her right now. You will be taking lunch with us, of course, and I am sure that Mr Harwood will probably find time to join us too…"
Drew fully expected Mrs Carmichael to pull him into a hug the moment that she saw him and he was not to be disappointed. That she was crying as she did so was also not unexpected, and he had to admit that his own eyes started to feel moist back in the familiar room he had been lucky enough to be invited into a few times before. Here at Dalton tears were not seen as a sign of weakness, so he had made no attempt to prevent his own falling. The situation reminded him briefly of what had happened back in New York six days before. Seth had come back on his own to see him on Thursday morning, and whilst Ethan took Evie to the store, the younger man had told Drew his news, the bad thing that no-one had wished to bring up the night before. He had time to compose himself after that, but he almost lost it again when Thad came running into the room, and pulled him into the tightest of hugs…
After lunch, and having promised the Carmichaels that he would not be a stranger whilst he was in Ohio, Thad asked him to come with him on a post lunch stroll; he had some time until his next class was scheduled. Drew had agreed, knowing that this was Thad's turn for the promised chat. They headed up through the school grounds to the quiet spot where on his last visit to his old school, Drew had watched as they buried a casket in the ground. He gawped now at the rose bush that grew there, the one that he knew had been planted but had not seen. Then he saw the simple marker on the spot where Wes' ashes lay, wrapped in Sebastian's blazer, and bowed his head in respect.
"I come up here every Wednesday afternoon I am here, regardless of the weather, just to sit quietly and look at the view. Sometimes Wes is able to come and join me, but his work keeps him so busy these days; there is a rumour that Kurt's mother is due to be promoted to a higher position, and he is first in line for her job… So, how are you really? And trust me, I will know if you don't tell me the truth. I will know in two ways by the way; firstly, as a teacher, you become quite adept at spotting lies. Secondly, Wes or one of the others will tell me everything anyway…"
"Honestly, I am just so glad to be out of there… When I saw Jeff that afternoon, I nearly burst into tears on the spot, but I was scared of getting my hopes up. Then when I saw Ethan at my door the next day… The problem is that I do not know what to do now that I am back here. I thought that I should come back to Ohio, be with my family and safe, but now that I am here, I don't know how long I can cope…"
"Change does that to all of us," Thad replied. "Even when, as in this case, the change is for the better, our minds still rebel against the removal of all of the certainties. On top of that you are back home in a room that you felt that you had left behind almost a decade ago - and it is even longer than that since you were in there for any length of time…"
"That's true - and then there is the whole living with my folks business; I love them dearly, and I know that my disappearance from their lives for so long must have left a void, but it is so hard being around them again. Evie loves it though, and I guess I just have to get through all of this for her sake. My head will fix itself eventually; the constant nightmares will end one day…"
Thad took a breath then said, "I know that this might well be a red rag to you, but have you considered that maybe you will need therapy? You have been subjected to so much for so long; to more than any of us will ever know, and it would be hard to talk about this to any of us. Baring your soul to a complete stranger might be a help in these circumstances."
"That might well be true, but finding a good therapist here in Ohio will not be all that easy. If I was still in New York with Ethan, then I would probably be able to find one that actually specialises in the counselling of men that have escaped from abusive relationships…" Drew stopped to laugh at his own statement, then went on. "To be honest Thad, I think what I need to do first is find home. Dalton was home for a while, and because she was never here, she has not tainted it. This was such a happy place for all of us…"
"It certainly is a place that holds the best of our memories, but sometimes what we need to do is confront the places with the bad memories, and erase them by creating new better ones there. You need to keep yourself busy, and not let your mind dwell on the past. You have to be amongst people that know what you are going through; people that get it, if you like. People that know you inside and out, and care. Family are good for that…."
"They are, but right now I feel a little smothered. I do have to keep busy, but here there are so few opportunities for me to get the kind of job I am trained for. There is a big part of me that is saying go back to New York, there are plenty of opportunities there, but…"
"You don't want to be a burden on Ethan, not after everything else you have put him through?" said Thad, completing Drew's sentence. "I will be honest with you; he was left a total mess when you sent that letter to him via Burt; in fact, the day that he discovered on Facebook that you were married, he ended up more or less catatonic for a few days. I saw in him then all the things that I saw in the mirror when Wes died… He never ever gave up hope though that you would be back. I don't think that he would ever see you as a problem; he cares about you too much."
"I don't want to disrupt his life though… in confidence, he was having to share a bed with me every night to stop my nightmares Thad. It was good for me, but it wasn't right; he needs to be free, not tied down by me…"
"Wes used to do that," Thad answered quietly. "I once asked him if he found it awkward, and he said no, because he was just taking care of one of his brothers. That is how Ethan would see what he was doing too, I expect… The bottom line is that you have to do what is right for you and Evie in this situation. You need to get your life back on track. Wherever that ends up being - here, New York, or somewhere thousands of miles away, one thing will never change. You will always have your bird brothers to take your back. We made a vow of friendship that is cemented in that tattoo on your shoulder. As long as we live, that will never fail to be honoured…"
"I have seen that in action already in the way that Nick and Jeff acted; they could quite easily have taken a back seat and left me to my fate, but they didn't."
"The bonds that we have are strong; we have seen the whole range of human emotions, seen joy turn into sorrow in moments. We are not just classmates, we are brothers, and our bond is dare I say it, supernatural. After all, when Wes died, we all felt it instantly. You said that what you needed to find was a home. Maybe, just maybe that isn't an actual place; maybe home is where you can feel those brotherly bonds the most…"
Drew headed back to his parents place later that afternoon in a reflective mood; a lot of what Thad had said to him was true. They did say that home was where the heart is after all, and he had to be honest; his heart was no longer in Ohio. Increasingly he realised that he should go back to New York and forge his new future there, for his sake and Evie's too. He could return to Ohio on a regular basis, and his parents could come and visit them as well, and thus Evie would still have them in her life. He had a whole circle of friends in the city to look out for him and finding a job there would be so much easier.
He was not certain though if he wanted to live in the West Village with all of his friends though. He knew that Ethan would let him stay with him forever but the reality of living together could lead to shocks; friendships could perish when people lived together… Maybe a house in the suburbs would be a better option, possibly in New Jersey, although not in Maplewood. Long Island and the Hudson Valley could be better contenders. Now that he had come to his decision, he felt a strange sense of calm overcome him. Life could only get better from now on. He was free from the big cause of stress in his life now; once the divorce was final, he would have no reason to ever see her name again. He also decided that he would send an e-mail to his old boss in Oxford the following day, to see if he would supply him with a reference. He had studied hard and long for his qualifications, and he was determined to use them. The future for him was no longer a place filled with fear, but one filled with hope…
