The End of an Era Part III

With the farewell party now past, the next few days were extremely busy for both Dave and Sebastian. They had decided, after a last minute change of heart, not to sell their house in Maplewood after all. Given that they were moving to an already fully furnished house in Ohio, they did not need to move the contents of their own home, aside from a few selected items. They would not have to buy a new place, nor would they be paying rent, just the bills and upkeep on the Smythe family home. It meant that they could leave their current home in a furnished, ready to move into condition, and whilst that would make a sale easier in some cases, it also facilitated the concept of renting it out. Sebastian had witnessed first hand the difficulties that Russell had experienced in finding a temporary home whilst he had been appearing alongside him on Broadway, and the place that he had ended up settling for was corporate, compact and costly…

He had heard all about Adam's accommodation woes as well, and that had made him curious as to whether there would be any sort of demand form the theatre community amongst others for a family home to rent in Maplewood, surrounded by so many others in the industry. He had put the question to his agent, and he had responded keenly that there definitely would be. Dave had heard the same answer when he had hinted at it to the manager of his former football team. They had brought the idea up with Julian and Isabelle, and the former had offered to keep an eye on the place for them if they did decide to rent it out; of course, his decision was influenced by the thought that they would still have a place in the area if they had to return to New York one day for good…

The decision made, it had taken them a matter of hours to find their first tenant; a young British actor who had been contracted for a minimum six month engagement on Broadway, and would be bringing his wife and two young children with him. He had been despairing at the size of the apartments he was being shown in Manhattan on their budget; to him, the house in Maplewood was nothing short of palatial, and he already knew that the Jersey town was a great hit with the Broadway community. The best thing was that he would arrive in the States on the Tuesday after Sebastian and Dave left, which meant the house would not be empty long…

The two men dedicated the Monday after the party to packing up most of their personal items, their books, clothes and of course, the knick knacks acquired over the last few years. For the actor, that included carefully taking down all of his framed posters and playbills, wrapping them carefully in bubble wrap, then packing them into stout, well constructed wooden crates, the sort the British would call Tea Chests. With the task completed, Sebastian found himself washing down the painted walls, as the frames had inevitably left marks. Looking round after, he realised how bare the room was without them, and he made a mental note to find some cheap framed prints that he could hang up in their place.

He made light work of the rest of his packing after that, leaving out only what he would really need for the next few days. Then it was time for dinner, a simple family affair, prepared by the indispensable Mrs Carr. She knew that they would both be out for most of the following day. Dave would eb sending much of the day with his old team mates at the stadium, saying all of his farewells. Sebastian was now heading into New York, as he had been asked to spend the day with three of his French friends before they headed for home the following night. He was actually looking forward to spending a day with Jean-Marc, Luke and Anton, catching up properly with the men that had been so influential in shaping him into who he would become in his early teens in Paris.

François had already departed for home, his work commitments dragging him back; he had been happy to point out though that he had seen Sebastian several times in recent years, unlike the others, and he would also see him again in Paris in eight months time, when they would celebrate his wedding to Yves. He had decided that he would take his French visitors to the Spotlight Diner; it would be a wonderful experience for them to have, and of course, now that he was free of any show commitments, he might even be tempted to jump up on stage and sing with the rest of them…

That afternoon at the Spotlight Diner would become one of those events that people would talk about for years to come, just as Sebastian's first Broadway performance had been. Sebastian gave a performance that would go down in the annals of history; he took requests from the floor, and at the behest of his French visitors, gave his best Piaf rendition of Non, Je ne Regrette Rien, a performance that stopped the entire diner, and saw him given a standing ovation. Naturally, someone had recorded it on their phone, and Elliott was quick to put it on Youtube; it was soon earning dozens of hits, and far more thumbs up than down.

That lead to two phone calls that would amuse Sebastian no end. One was from Russell, who wanted to know why he had never been told of his co-stars hidden talent, and the other was from Bette, who wanted to know why she had never seen that side of him either. It transpired that both of them were nearby, and so he informed them both that if they came down to the Spotlight, they would be able to see him perform as the little sparrow for themselves… Within twenty minutes, the two of them were sat beside the three Frenchmen, and for them, Sebastian sang La Vie en Rose.

Of course, this time the news had spread, and the Spotlight was packed out, every available square foot filled with those that wished to see this most quirky of New York moments. Elliott had also had time to post on the diner's Facebook page that he was going to perform again, and this time, it would be live streamed… Thus that second Piaf song was watched by most of his friends and family as they worked, or sat at home; it was even watched in the Senior Commons at Dalton, all pretence of Warbler practice abandoned. His performance was not just great because he captured the singer's voice, but also the gestures that she had made in the old filmed performances. The place was silent as he sung, even the sidewalk outside grinding to a stop, but the moment he was over, the applause and cheering began. With that, Sebastian took a bow, convinced that he had just sung in public in Manhattan for the final time…

The next few days flew by, and before they knew it, the day of their move had arrived. They had made plans, of course, and contingency plans should those not be possible for any reason. The idea of travelling to Ohio by air, or by train, had been discussed, even just Mrs Carr and the children making the trip that way. However, they wanted to take their cars with them to Ohio, all three of them, and there was the time difference between the journey by road and by air to consider. In the end, a solution was found that would assist their travels. Julian had taken the Monday off work, and he offered to be the one that drove Mrs Carr's vehicle to Ohio for her, as he could easily make the return journey by air. It increased the amount of space that they had at their disposal for last minute luggage, and having driven up to Ohio, Julian could pay a visit to Peter at Dalton before he headed back to Maplewood…

It only fell then to decide how they would all arrange themselves between their three vehicles. In the end, it made most sense for Mrs Carr and the two children to travel in the main family car, which would be driven to Ohio by Dave. Sebastian would rive in his own smaller car alone, and Julian would do the same in Mrs Carr's. They could stay in touch during the journey on their cellphones, but the idea was that either Julian or Sebastian would reach the old Smythe house in Westerville first, given that they had the keys and knew their way around; that allowed Dave to travel at a more leisurely pace, which was sensible given the precious cargo he would be carrying, and the fact that they would need more toilet stops potentially…

They had considered making a rendezvous at some point for lunch together, but they had dismissed the idea in the end, as road conditions could make that an impossible dream. So, after an early breakfast, they were all assembled and ready to depart outside the Maplewood house at 8am, the last of the boxes stowed safely in the car. There was just time for one last check of the house to see that nothing had been left behind before, with Dave at his side, they locked the front door for the final time…

He handed the keys over to Isabelle, who had joined them for this moment, after she had hugged Dave and her niece and nephew. She smiled at him, then pulled him into a hug as well. "Now, see that you take good care of yourself; find something to keep that mind of yours occupied; you will do that in no time at all, of that much I am certain. Give my love to the people that I know there when you see them - and most importantly of all, don't be a stranger!"

Sebastian nodded, then turned back to the car, to see that more people had arrived to see them off. He had fully expected Brittany and Santana, and would have been disappointed had they not been there, but what he had not expected to see was a forlorn looking Jeff at their side. Even more surprisingly, he was alone, and that was a turn up for the books, as Niff were usually joined at the hip…

He headed for Santana first, who held out her hand for him to shake, then changed her mind at the last moment and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "I am going to miss you a heck of a lot, meerkat," she whispered, "but if you tell anyone that I said that, then I will have to end you, and that's a promise, not an idle threat."

"I would not have expected anything else from you, Satan," he whispered in response.

He moved on to Brittany, who just hugged him sadly, a little upset to be losing one of her birdies. He could have sworn that Santana was blinking back tears as he let the blonde go, but then his arms were filled with a Jeff, who clung to him as if his very life depended upon it. He could feel the blond's tears on the side of his face as he held him close, and h let him cry for a moment, before gently pulling himself out of his arms. "I trust that Nick knows where you are, because there wasn't a phone call to advise me that you would be here…"

"I asked him not to tell you, although I kind of expected that he would call you anyway. He told me to tell you that he sends his love and best wishes, and his sincerest apologies for his crazy fool of a husband…"

Sebastian chuckled at that, then replied, "Deep down, I think that I knew you would be here; and trust me, you are not a bit crazy. You are just a very kind, talented and loving young man, who I am very proud to call a friend…"

Jeff nodded, then said, "You will call and let us know that you got there safely?"

"Of course. Now, dry those eyes of yours, blondie, and wave us off on our way…"

Sebastian waved once to them all as they drove away, having asked Isabelle to ensure Jeff was okay, and would get back to New York unscathed. He did so as he did not want to dwell on the sadness that he was beginning to feel. Reality was always a great shock to the system, and no matter how prepared for an event you felt you were, the real thing was always ten times harder that you had predicted. He was determined though that he would not cry, and although a few salty drops did accumulate in his eyes, in a blink they were gone. By the time that he reached the Interstate, he was doing his best to remain positive. He was returning to Ohio with a family, reunited with his older brother, reconciled with both his parents, a success in his own right. He had achieved so much, and nobody would ever take that away from him. He would also be with the man he loved, a proud family man…

He drove on, making good time, deciding that he did not need to stop for lunch as he passed the place they had considered making their halfway rendezvous. Dave had understood when he had told him that much, knowing that he just wanted to get to their destination; a stop halfway was a temptation to turn back. The house they were heading to had string memories for him, and not all of them were pleasant. He would need a short while to dismiss those bad thoughts; a moment of privacy to get past all of the hurts that he had suffered as a teenage boy, unwelcome and unwanted in his father's home…

Sebastian fully intended to fill the old house with new, better memories; to erase all the bad by making it a joyful, happy home, filled with love, music and laughter. That was the only impetus he needed to drive as quickly as he was allowed, passing over the state line which in his mind marked the transition that he was making to a very different way of life…

Back in the city, Jeff arrived home to find the house empty. There was a note from his husband on the hall table, informing him that he and Wes had gone to do the grocery shopping, would be back soon, and in the meantime, he was to help himself to what was sitting on the kitchen table. He knew what it would be; a plate full of freshly baked cookies in his favourite varieties, made with love by his one true love, the man that completed him and made him whole. He headed down, and went to the fridge first, pouring himself a glass of milk, the headed for the couch with it and the plate of cookies.

Change was not something that Jeff liked, and with the departure of Sebastian, things felt a little off. It would be odd not to be invited to an opening night every year, to see Sebastian doing what he loved the most… Deep down, of course, he knew that nothing could stay the same forever; their time on earth was limited, and they could not live in a vacuum. In no time, Wes would be off to high school, possibly to Dalton, and then off out into the world. People would continue to come and go into the little world around him. It would be insanity to even expect things to be otherwise…

It was then that he felt the weight in his lap, the sound of contentment that followed it announcing the presence of Caleb there. Almost as if on auto-pilot, Jeff reached down to stroke the fur of the animal that was now settled into his own happy place, the lap of the blond human that he owned. Caleb was smart enough to be able to spot that he was feeling sad, and he knew that this arrangement would see them both feeling more content with the world. However, he also had to admit that the leap up into his lap was not as easy as it had once been, but then, his mind told him that such things happened as a cat aged. He allowed himself to purr deeply as his head and back were gently stroked, and the noise made Jeff a lot happier too…

It would be just after 5pm, the sky more or less dark again, when Sebastian drove up to stop outside the front door of his childhood home once more. He had paused to eat eventually, but only briefly, so he could get there first, and he knew from the phone messages that they had been swapping that his brother was about thirty minutes away, and that the rest of his family would be about the same length of time behind him. He parked up carefully, then headed up to the front door. It had been repainted in the summer, bet even one Ohio fall and winter had left its mark, and he found that comforting…

He unlocked the two mortice locks, then placed his key in the latch; the door opened to the sound of the burglar alarm activating. He hastened over to type in the code, hoping that it had been reset to the one that he had given to the caretaking company two days before. The alarm did shut down, but it would need to be programmed with a new code in the next day or so, to something that he, Dave and Mrs Carr all agreed upon. He closed the sturdy front door now, and stepped into the house proper, his nose immediately assailed by the scent of beeswax polish as he did so…

He turned on the lights, and although the paint was fresh, the room combined with the smell of polish was enough to transport him back to the days when he lived here as a moody, rebellious teenager, resentful of the fact he had been dragged back to Ohio from the joys of Paris; it had not helped that his father had resented his return every bit as much. He stepped on into the drawing room, and switched on the light in there too; he smiled appreciatively at the fact that there was a fire, so to speak, set up and ready to light in the hearth. He lit it, and watched for a moment as the flames began to spread and grow. Placing the stout guard in front of it, to remove the risk of sparks and to keep young people away from it, he headed out of the room once more…

This time his feet took him upstairs, and he glanced into each of the bedrooms as he passed. The master suite would now be the room that he and Dave would use, and he had requested that it be redecorated in a modern style; it was now an almost faithful recreation of the room that he and his husband had shared in Maplewood, albeit larger. He checked the rooms that had been prepared for his children, and then went on to look into the one that would be for Mrs Carr. She would be living in, naturally, and by judicious use of the old back staircase, and some minor renovations, they had created a suite of rooms for her private use, including a sitting room and kitchenette, with access from the back door for some privacy. Sebastian fully expected that she would move out in due course, when she became the new Mrs Karofsky, but until then, she would have the best of everything.

His footsteps had now brought him to the room that had once been his, and he stepped in. He realised that even now, there was still a slight odour of the fish he had hidden there in revenge for his stepmother turning his room into a gym the moment he had left. He sighed, knowing that they would need to get that sorted out, or he would be constantly reminded of his youthful rage; but then again, maybe they should leave it that way, as a reminder of his past stupidity… The fact was the house was now his home, and he could do with it as he wished, within reason. A second sniff made him realise that he did need to get the issue dealt with; they would need the room to accommodate guests, and he had already paid for all of the errors of his youth…

"Ugghh! It still reeks of rotten fish in here!"

Sebastian nearly jumped out of his skin on hearing those words, and swiftly turned round to see his brother standing there, still holding his own set of house keys. "Never do that to me again!" he growled tetchily. "I didn't even know that you still had a set of keys for this place."

"When father threw me out of the house because I refused to get rid of the baby we now know as Peter, he did it in such a hurry that he never asked me to return my front door keys. As he was also a skinflint, he would never have thought once he realised I had them to get the locks changed. it wouldn't surprise me if your maman still had a set of keys somewhere…"

"I know that she doesn't. One of the few things I can recall clearly from our hurried departure to Paris when she left him was her throwing her keys in a trash can at the airport… I was actually thinking of getting a set of keys made up for Peter, so that he could come and go as he pleased. I mean, Dalton is a wonderful school, but in a world full of teenage boys, it can sometimes be hard to find a quiet place to study. I will ask Thad's permission that Peter be allowed to leave the school grounds and come here whenever he needs that silence."

"He will be a lucky young man to have that opportunity," said Julian with a sigh. "I wish that I would still be able to just pop in and visit.." He came over to Sebastian and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "I wish so much now that I had been a kinder to you when we were younger. I was so cruel and vindictive, and you were the last person that deserved that."

"It's all water under the bridge now, Jules - and trust me, had the positions been reversed, then I would have been just as bad, if not worse! It's not as if things were all that bad between us anyway; plus you saved Bugs for me, which makes you a bit of a hero still in my eyes. It was all down to the actions of dad at the time, but as we've both forgiven him, we have to forgive each other as well. After all, I might well need you around to help out when Francis enters his angry phase; you, me, Peter, we have all been through our resentful moments of rage…"

Julian did not get a chance to respond, as they both heard the sound of a car horn, a signal that the rest of the family had arrived. Sebastian swiftly turned to his brother, and said, "I am going to miss you every bit as much as you will miss me, you know", before pulling him into a tight hug, instantly reciprocated by the older man. They held each other until they heard the front door open, and the voice of Mrs Carr calling out in greeting. They pulled apart, and headed to the hallway, where the lady in question was still waiting for them.

"The children are asleep in the car, and so is your husband," she said, smiling at Sebastian. She saw the look on his face, and she continued, "Before you start to worry, we pulled in at the last rest stop on the Interstate to swap places, as he was starting to feel a little tired. The children were already asleep, so when he nodded off too, it was no problem. It seems a shame to wake them all up just yet. I also thought that the two of you might need a few moments alone…"

"We did, and we've had it," replied Julian, with a grateful smile. "Now, why don't you and I head to the kitchen and make a start of dinner whilst Sebastian goes to wake up his family, then shows them round their new home?"

The plan was a good one, and Sebastian headed out to the car alone, to see that Dave had just woken up, but was still looking a little bleary. On seeing Sebastian, he said quietly, "I did not mean to doze off, but the heat was on, and I thought I would just close my eyes for a moment…."

"It's okay, I don't blame you for it. It's a long drive, and worse when you have two young people in the car, although they seem to be fast asleep. I think that the best idea might be to try and carry them inside, then wake them up…"

Dave nodded, but although Francis remained asleep as his father carried him out, Ellise woke up as Dave unfastened her seat belt, and blinking at her father, she said, "Are we there yet?"

Dave smiled, and said, "We are. This is our new house…"

His daughter looked out, and gasped. "It's a mansion!" she exclaimed. Dave had too nod in agreement, as the house was certainly much bigger than anything he had lived in before…

The removers would not be coming until the following day with the few items of furniture that they had brought with them from Maplewood; the boxes that they had brought with them in the cars were swiftly brought in by the three men, as Mrs Carr kept an eye on the children whilst she got on with dinner. The cases that contained the bedclothes were the first to be unpacked, so that all the beds could be made up with fresh linens. The house was pleasantly warm, thanks to the caretaking firm that had been looking after the place since Mr Smythe had departed from it to take up more or less permanent residence in the Virgin Islands. Julian had however lit the fire in the dining room, and it blazed as brightly as the one in the main sitting room that his brother had lit on his arrival.

Mrs Carr was given a tour of her new quarters too, and given a chance to unpack her personal belongings. She was a little overwhelmed by the scale of them, and even more so by the fact that they had been decorated exactly to her tastes. She took a moment to call Paul Karofsky too, to let him know that they had arrived, as Julian had done with Isabelle, and Sebastian had done with Jeff.

At first, the children had been eager to explore their new home, but in the end they were content to wait until the morning, as hunger and tiredness overcame their curiosity. In any case, the open fires had them fascinated, but as if be instinct, they seemed to understand that they needed to keep back from them. As they sat down to dinner, it was in the knowledge that the move had been made, and had gone off without a major hitch; hopefully, that was a good omen for the years to come…

As Sebastian and Dave were unpacking their belongings properly in their new home on Sunday morning, those that still lived in the city of New York woke up with the sense that something had changed with their departure. Jeff was not as grief stricken as Nick had anticipated, and that was possibly down to the fact that he had invited Mike and Tina to join them for Sunday lunch, the dancer having the weekend off his current rehearsals. He had not told his husband that they would be coming until the last minute, and thus the look on his face when the guests arrived had made Nick smile. He had prepared his chicken tikka lasagne, and a treacle tart, the latter served with the thick yellow custard that living in London had left Jeff addicted to in a small way. Caleb too had seemed to sense that he needed to be attentive to his blond human, and he spent the day giving him all his affection, even paying scant attention to the catnip mouse that his Uncle Mike had brought him, as was always the case….

On Monday morning, Jeff was up early, and was in the process of making a stack of pancakes when Nick came down to the kitchen, Wes not far behind him. "I felt like having pancakes for breakfast this morning. I have been down for the last couple of days, but now I have realised that whilst Sebastian might not be close by any more, he is more available. He won't be at the theater every night, so we can schedule regular Skype chats, and catch up on each other's gossip in that way. He will want to know how everyone is getting on, of that much I am certain."

"I am sure that is true as well," replied Nick, "However, he still might not be around all of the time, as he will need to settle back into life in Ohio."

"I know…poor Sebastian…" replied Jeff, with only a hint of sarcasm.

"He'll adapt. It is all that any of us can do in this wonderful game called life. Nothing can stay the same forever, however much we might like it to. Time marches relentlessly on, and we humans are powerless to resist it."

"As long as I have you by my side, Nicky, then I don't care," said Jeff, giving his husband a kiss on the cheek. Then he opened the oven, and took out the pile of pancakes that was in there, keeping warm, before carrying them over to the table, where their son was waiting in anticipation, the jar of chocolate spread already open in his hand…

Looking at the two of them, Nick realised that his son was growing up so quickly, and in no time he would be a young man, possibly heading off to Dalton, then flying the nest altogether. He then caught sight of Caleb's bed, where the cat was sleeping as always. He was aging too, and would not be around forever either. When that moment came, it would be traumatic for them all, but especially for his husband… He was forced out of his reverie as the two important men in his life were arguing over the number of pancakes it was appropriate to take at one time. With a smile, and feeling so lucky to have them both, Nick headed over to broker a peace. The here and now was the important thing; what was to come could wait…