Helping Brothers

The weekend after Marley's near accident was the first that Dante would spend with Lachlan in their new place. The plan was that he would head over early on Saturday with his bag, and then they would prepare an early lunch together. After that, they would both have to head to work, with Dante being the first to finish for the day; he would then head back to their little garden apartment to prepare them a light supper, his aim being that it would be ready to serve the moment that his boyfriend returned.

He was keeping it as a surprise, and had asked that Lachlan not be allowed to spoil his appetite by eating during his shift, or having something when he finished. Dani had agreed to his request, but she did wonder how feasible it would be, as he would no doubt ask why he couldn't, and the only way to stop it would be to ruin the surprise and tell him the truth.

The next day would see both of them working again, but they would finish up at the same time, so their plan was that they would head home and cook together, before an evening curled up on the sofa, and then back to the bed that they would be sharing. Dante would then return his bag back to his bedroom on his way to school the next morning, having more time than Lachlan, whose classes started two hours before his boyfriend had his first. It was not of course the first time they had spent a night in the apartment, but on that occasion they had not been so domestic, with no cooking involved, and their breakfast had been cereal they had purloined from the Rosenfelds' kitchen.

On the sidelines, two sets of parents were watching everything with interest, wondering how it would all end. They both had to admit they admired the boys for the cautious way they were behaving, taking their time to ensure it was all going to work out. Their body language after that first night had suggested that they had not encountered any serious issues, but nonetheless, they would be watching them closely on Monday; it would be interesting to see if the longer time they had spent together, and the cookery, had made any impact on how happy they felt afterwards…

It also happened on that Saturday night that Ty had been invited to have a sleepover at a friend's home, along with several other kids. Like most young men of his age, he was a big fan of video games, and as the friend in question was proposing a gaming marathon as entertainment, Ty was only too keen to go to the party. Beats and Elliott had met the parents of the girl that was hosting, and agreed he could attend, knowing that he would be safe. With both of their sons therefore out of the house, it would be the first time in years that the two husbands had had the place to themselves on a Saturday night. They had therefore planned a relaxing evening, with candlelight, a nice meal, and then some quality time alone with each other…

Beats was only too keen to share the details of his plan for the following night on the Friday in a conversation with Flint, and the latter had been happy on the phone for his friend. However, the moment that he ended the call, he had sighed and shaken his head sadly. Izzy was just coming into the room as he did so, and on seeing the expression on her husband's face, and the actions, the colour had drained from her own face…

On seeing that, Flint burst out laughing, and said, "It's okay; my actions are not due to my mother making an unplanned visit - although I realise that by saying that, I have probably tempted fate! No, Beats was just telling me how he and Elliott have a son free night tomorrow, and they have romantic plans…"

Izzy laughed then, the colour back in her face, and said, "At 10-1, an unexpected visitor than outstays their welcome; at 5-1, a work related crisis only they can deal with; and on Evens, a sick or upset son returning home…"

"I would take the wager, but it would be an immediate loss; something is bound to come along and ruin their plans…"

"Which is why when we ever want a child free evening, we go away for the night to our special place…" replied his wife. Flint smiled at that, thinking of once of the little cabin in the woods near Grahamsville, on the edge of the Catskills, with no landline phone and poor cellphone coverage. It was one of his favourite spots in the world, and they were heading there in just a few weeks…

In the end, had Flint been silly enough to accept the wager, he would have owed his wife $10 for each one she bet. Elliott had come home from work on Saturday afternoon to find his husband in the middle of cooking. This wasn't always a good thing, but on this occasion everything smelt alright, and on closer inspection, the stew that was simmering away actually looked heavenly….

"It's goulash," said Beats proudly. "I asked Nick for a recipe that was idiot proof, and this is it. He even made a video of himself cooking this for himself and Jeff for me to watch, and before you say it, no, he did not make this one for me to reheat."

"Oh, I believe that, because Nick would never have made all of this mess!" said Elliott, his eyes having just caught sight of the amount of dishes and tools in the open dishwasher, and the state of the worktop beside the sink.

Beats smiled, glad now that he had ignored Nick's instruction that he should tidy as he went about making the meal. He carried on speaking. "Of course, all of this meant there was no time for me to make dessert, so I settled for popping over to Gowanus and Four and Twenty Blackbirds…"

Elliott's eyes widened, and a look of anticipation came across his face. "Are you saying that we have a Salty Honey Pie, my all time favourite dessert, from my all time favourite bakery, in the house?"

"We certainly do, my love - oh, and a Coffee Custard Pie too, your second favourite, just in ca…" Beats got no further as he suddenly found himself being pressed into the kitchen counter by a husband that seemed intent on ravishing him, and so he decided it was best to allow him to do so. Eventually, when he was able to actually speak again, he said breathlessly, "So it is true; the way to a man's heart is through his stomach…"

And then, the door buzzer went…

Beats and Elliott looked at each other, then sighed in unison. "We could just ignore it, pretend that we aren't here," whispered Beats. "It's probably just a salesperson, or a survey, or the Latter Day Saints…"

The buzzer went again, which lead Elliott to reply, "Or it could be the NYPD, to tell us that something has happened to someone that we love. We kind of have to answer it…"

Beats huffed, then said, "It had better be something like that, because if it turns out to be some uninvited half-witted idiot, I am not going to be pleased or polite!"

The buzzer sounded a third time, and Elliott headed to the intercom, leaving his husband to mutter something about inpatient, half-witted moronic cockblockers. He switched on the monitor to see who was there, and saw his brother Josh. He immediately opened the speaker, as he could see he was turning to go. "Hey Josh, sorry we were busy up here! Come on up!"

As he pressed the button to open the door at street level, Elliott turned to see Beats standing in the doorway, tidying his clothes. "Your brother! I mean, it is always nice to see him, but why couldn't he have rung up first?"

"I don't know, but I am not turning him away, as for him to be here, it must be important. Go and put the goulash down to a simmer, and hide my pie! It is one of his favourite things too, and even if he is my flesh and blood, he is not having a single crumb of it!"

Beats chuckled, and giving a mock salute, he headed back to the kitchen to do as he had been bid. All he could hope was that whatever errand had brought his brother-in-law here, it would not turn out to be a lengthy one…

He would enter the living room a few minutes later to discover that Josh was still standing, despite his brother's entreaties to take a seat. "No, I won't, I can't stop as I need to ger back home. I was actually just going to call, but then I decided, given that there is a big ask coming, it is better if I do that in person…"

"Okay, so that explains why you are here. Right, I might regret this, but what kind of big ask are we talking?" said Elliott.

"You know how Scott and I have been developing a device that will revolutionise the field it is in? The thing we have been working on for a while, on and off, and finally managed to get a prototype made a few months back?" Elliott and Beats both nodded, even though if they were honest, they had no idea what it was except that it was connected to computer science, and could perform its functions at a far faster rate than any device in that area had ever done before. Other than that, they were pretty clueless about the whole thing. "Well, we got a call about two hours ago, and well, it was from one of the major electronics firms in Japan; they saw the prototype last month, and well, now they want to manufacture it and put it on the market…"

"Oh my, that is wonderful news!" exclaimed Elliott. "I always had faith that the two of you would achieve great things, and now you have had your product snapped up by the big boys…"

"I still can't believe it, Ell, and well, nor can I believe that they have given us a multi million dollar contract," whispered Josh, and that made both of the other men in the room gasp. "However, there is one small fly in the ointment, and that is why I am here…"

"Do NOT let them have the rights, or the patent, however much money they offer. You and Scott have to ensure that the design remains your intellectual property," said Elliott bluntly, assuming that was what was coming.

"That isn't the issue, trust me. We have the deal, and the product remains ours. The problem is that they want us to go to Japan for six months to oversee the first stages of the manufacturing process. It is a big adventure, and well, it has to be both of us for the whole time…"

"Well, I am sure that they will treat you like royalty, and you will not want for anything," said Beats, who was feeling just a little jealous of the younger man, if he was honest.

"Oh, it will be - five star all the way - but they want us there a week on Monday, and at first we will be in a hotel, and well, that is not the ideal environment for the twins… Scott's parents are in Europe on vacation right now, and we did talk to them about the problem. They have no issue with taking the twins whilst we are away, but the issue is that they won't be home from Europe for another three weeks, which leaves a gap…"

"And that is the big ask," responded Elliott as his younger brother paused. "You want us to look after your twins in that period…"

"Yeah. When I say three weeks, it will actually be 15 days. I know that it is a huge ask, given how busy you both are, but it is the only way that we can go, because there is no way I am entrusting the care of my two year olds to a stranger that I do not know or trust," said Josh, pleading with his eyes as he spoke. "Look, I know you will need to think about it, and discuss it, so I will go for now…but the fact is, you are my only hope, and if I can't get it sorted, the whole deal might fall through…"

Beats went back to the kitchen as Elliott showed his brother out; he was glad to see that his goulash had not been spoiled by the extra cooking time, but he realised that the mood of the evening had been. Josh had said he was giving them time to think, but that was a complete misnomer. He knew that Elliott would say yes, because of the fact that if they could not go, then the whole deal would collapse, although in all honesty, he thought that was an exaggeration. He could not blame his brother-in-law for using the emotional blackmail, because if he was in the same position, he would have done exactly the same. The fact was that in just over a week, they would have two toddlers running about, because Elliott would never say no…

And then it struck him; maybe they wouldn't have two toddlers here. It would be far more practical and sensible for Elliott to move into his brother's home for the 15 days and keep the children in their familiar surroundings and own space, at least until Scott's folks returned and took over the job…

Beats dished up the meal, now certain that in a few days time, his husband would be moving out for two weeks. He could not go with him, but would need to stay here in Manhattan, because it would be impractical in the extreme to move Ty over to Williamsburg for such a short length of time during the academic year, and Dante could not be expected to look after his little brother full time when he had his own education to consider…

All Beats could do was decide that they needed to make the most of that night if he was going to be deprived of his man for 17 days; he would also need to arrange something good for when his husband returned home…

With the meal now plated and on the table, Beats went to summon his husband from the living room, but ended up bumping into him in the kitchen doorway. Elliott smiled and kissed him on the cheek, and Beats felt his cheeks redden for a moment, as his husband went on to take his seat at the table. "This smells absolutely wonderful; I only hope that the delay hasn't ruined it, even a little…"

"On the contrary, if anything the extra time will have made the meat more tender. I decided to put out the candles though, as our carefree night of romance has gone…"

"If you hadn't, then I would have," admitted Elliott sadly, then proceeded to pour the wine. Beats joined him, bringing with him some bread rolls straight from the oven. They did not talk for a moment, as they ate their first mouthfuls of the goulash. "Well, this is beautiful," Elliott eventually said. "I can recall a time when your culinary skills revolved around a microwave and a toaster…"

"Don't forget the kettle for the boiling water for the ramen," joked Beats, with a smile. "I think as you get older you start to appreciate good food more, and well, you realise that knowing your way around a kitchen is no bad thing. People used to see cookery as a woman's thing, but the fact is, the most celebrated of chefs have been men for a long time. I will never be cordon bleu standard, nor even a Nick, but I do actually enjoy making a meal that people will savour and enjoy. Now all I need to work on is being tidy as I do so…"

"Even just wiping down the surfaces after you stack the dishes in the dishwasher would be a start. I do wonder what the kitchen will be looking like over at the boys place right now though. I mean, Dante is not the greatest either…"

"He knows a lot more than I did when I was his age. Times are changing now, thankfully, and no boy now leaves school being unable to cook at all. We no longer live in the fifties…"

"I agree; the days of a willing wife or a helpful staff for a man have long passed…"

Beats would wait until the main course was completed before he finally posed the question that he already knew the answer to. "You will be saying yes to Josh, won't you? I mean, he does need our help, or the whole deal that they have worked so hard to get could be off…"

Elliott smiled, and replied, "You know me so well. Of course I will, but it isn't something that I will be doing with great pleasure. I have to say one thing, and that is that my brother is much braver than I ever was, because in his position, I would definitely just have called and asked; lit the blue touch paper from a distance to avoid being burned by the potential fireworks…"

"Practically, of course, it does mean that you will need to move to Williamsburg for the time that you will be taking care of the twins. All of their things are there, and they will have the familiarity that they need when their fathers are gone. Bringing them and all that they require here for 15 days would be silly, and let's be honest, we really do not have the space!"

"It is also impractical to move Ty over there for the same length of time, and we can't expect Dante to be here all the time as an unpaid child minder either. Of course, our domestic arrangements are only part of the dilemma. It will also impact the Spotlight, as I will not be able to work, so all of the rotas will need to be rewritten. Fortunately, both Michelle and Dani have had their vacation time, but even so, it is likely they will need to work solidly for the whole time that I am looking after the kids."

Beats took his husband's hand, and shook his head. "Well, that isn't quite the truth. I can find someone to cover my weekend work on the one main weekend that is affected, and we can do this; Ty and I can come over to Williamsburg when I finish work on Friday night, and stay until Sunday night, maybe even Monday morning. That will allow you to work during the day on Saturday and Sunday whilst I do the child care duties…"

Elliott allowed himself to smile then, and said quietly, "You really don't mind?"

"I am their uncle too, and well, it also means I get to spend two or three evenings with you at the same time…" They chatted more then, finishing their wine, and then decided that they would clear the table, and enjoy dessert in the living room. "You should call Josh up, and let him know that he has a sitter, so he can start planning for his six months away…"

"Actually, first I am going to call Michelle to let her know the good news, and Dani too for that matter, as a courtesy. My brother can wait until the morning…."

"I guess; he probably knows that you will say yes in any case. You call the two ladies, and I will prepare the coffee, and more importantly, serve up the pie…"

"Decent sized slices…"

"That goes without saying, and of course, the Salty Honey Pie is all yours, my love."

Elliott grinned again, then kissed Beats before heading to make his two phone calls. Beats busied himself making the coffee, handling their sophisticated machine like a pro, making cappuccino, one of his husband's other guilty pleasures. He had them ready when Elliott suddenly reappeared…

"Suffice to say that I am not exactly the favourite person of either of the ladies right now, but at the same time, they understand why. I having a feeling that I will be owing them favours for quite a while though…"

"Nonsense. I doubt that will be the case, as you will still be there on the weekend, so it could be so much worse for them both. Okay, so the subject is now off limits for the remainder of tonight. We have pie to eat, and we have coffee as well…"

Elliott noticed the cappuccino then, and smiled. "I am such a lucky man to have you in my life, Nate. Some partners would not be accepting of this sort of thing at all…"

"If anyone is the lucky one, it is me Ell. Now, I meant it, no more of this sort of thing tonight. We have the house to ourselves, and I fully intend that we make the most of that…" He winked and waggled his eyebrows, which made Elliott laugh out loud. True, it was not going to be as romantic as they had intended, but he was certain it would still be a lot of fun…

On the Monday of the next week, Nick arrived home from work early; he had an unspoken agreement with his boss, Miss Worthington, that as long as his work for the day was completed, and he had worked his allotted hours, he could head for home at an earlier time and thus be there for Wes. It allowed Jeff to spend more time at the gallery whilst he set up for his forthcoming show, saving him from having to constantly watch the clock. Admittedly, he had never been good at that, and there was no point in him setting an alarm on his phone; he had a tendency to look at the alarm, acknowledge it, then get distracted by what he had been doing again…

Nick would be fortunate for once with his trains on the subway, and then, on popping into the little supermarket he passed on his walk from the station to pick up a few essentials, he found it quiet too. He had given up on giving his husband a list of items that he needed to pick up during the day whilst he was so caught up in his exhibition, as it would invariably be forgotten, and he would need to go out himself and pick it all up, or worse; he had needed to borrow milk from Drew the pervious week to actually make dinner, then had been forced to head to the store at nearly 11pm when his husband finally came home…

With the shoulder strap on his briefcase proving its worth once more, he turned into the street with two sacks of groceries in his arms, and decided that he would drop them off at home before he headed along to collect Wes from Drew. He somehow managed to juggle everything so that he could retrieve his keys from his pocket, and then unlock the door. As he closed it quietly behind him, he heard something that made his heart race; there was a noise coming from the kitchen. He knew that Jeff was still at the gallery, and his mind raced with all of those horrendous householder visions that came with the notion that there was a burglar on the premises. Then he heard his son's voice, and those faded, but were replaced with a curiosity as to what was going on…

He headed down the stairs, ready to ask Drew what was going on, but to his surprise he discovered that his son was chatting away to his Uncle Cooper. Seeing his dad, Wes smiled, and ran over to hug him, and then started to tell him what had happened. "When I left school today, Uncle Coop was waiting there with Uncle Drew, and as I have my emergency key, and so much homework to do, we agreed that Uncle Coop would come home with me so I could be at home to start it all. I didn't think that you would be home so early daddy…."

"No, it was supposed to be a surprise," said Nick, walking over to set the shopping down on the kitchen counter. "I am guessing then that you will have had your after school snack, and will have made a start on all of that homework?"

Wes went a little red, and mumbled, "Yes, I have had my milk and cookies, and so did Uncle Coop, but then I got distracted and so I haven't started on my work. You see, I was asking him about the new show, and he was telling me, so I ended up forgetting I had to do it…"

Nick smiled, then said, "Well, I think you should start on it now, if you have a lot…"

He watched as Wes nodded, and headed for his satchel, pulling out one of his folders and extracting two worksheets from it. He then went to the table, passing his father, who was able to see that it was math and English work, and not exactly what he would term a lot, although at his son's age, everything might seem that way…

He started to put away his shopping, as Cooper walked over to join him, knowing better than to try and assist in a strange kitchen where he would only double the workload. "I'm sorry to turn up unannounced like this, but when we were in rehearsals today a comment was made, and well, I instantly knew that you would be the man that could help me with the issue…"

Nick regarded his brother-in-law with curiosity, then replied, "Well that sounds intriguing, but I am at a loss as to what I can do for you in the sphere of performance, if I am honest."

"The comment that was made was that my accent as the Captain was wrong, and well, you can speak German fluently with all of the emphasis in the correct places, so can you teach me how to talk like that?"

Nick said nothing at first, just motioned the other man to take a seat on the sofa as he made a pot of tea for himself and his guest, before heading over to join him. He sipped his tea, then asked, "When you say that you want me to help you talk like that, do you want me to teach you German from scratch, or do you just mean how to talk English with the accent? The latter is easier to do if you have knowledge of the former admittedly, but even learning the basics of German will take up a lot of your spare time…"

"I think that I should learn the language, as I have found that in most circumstances, method acting is the best way to go. If I am going to be a convincing Captain Von Trapp, then I need to act like an Austrian on his generation; eat and speak like he would have done too. I have been reading up on all of the history, both of the actual man and the country at the time, and it was fascinating. I had no idea that Austria was once at the heart of a huge empire. Thinking about it now, I have to admit that I always thought that it was a little strange that a small, landlocked country, with no more than a few lakes, would have had a navy at all, but now I understand. When the Captain was a naval officer in his youth, they had access to the sea, and so a navy was essential. I suppose I always just assumed he had been in the German navy instead…"

Nick smiled, and said, "Whilst I am not well versed on the history of the actual Von Trapp family, and can't comment on that, I do know that Vienna was indeed the capital of a huge empire, with a monarchy, before the First World War. Then along came one man with a gun, and all of Europe was shaken; everything changed, and new nations rose up as old dynasties fell… Well, I suppose I can teach you the basics, although given how time poor we both are, you might also find one of those language courses you can download and listen to a help too. Right, I need to start on dinner, but if you are willing to help me with that, we can start on a few of the basics as we work; useful phrases, and the names of the ingredients for a start…"

Wes would finish his homework to discover his father and Uncle Coop were now engaged in something that he did not quite understand. His dad would say something in a language he knew must be German, and then his uncle would repeat it; not just once, but over and over until his dad seemed satisfied with the older man's effort. Then they would do it again with another phrase. He watched for a while, but then his curiosity got the better of him, so he interrupted. "Dad, why are you and Uncle Coop saying those words so many times? Is it kind of a game, because if it isn't, it does seem very silly to me…"

Nick paused, but in the end it would be Cooper that spoke. "Your dad is trying to teach me how to say things properly in German, because the character I will be playing in my new show spoke German, and if I am to play him right, then I need to have a Germanic accent. Now, you know that your dad has a really good accent when he is speaking German, so I am trying to copy the words the way he says them to learn the accent."

"Oh, now I understand. It is very sensible, and what we do in school when we are learning Spanish; we repeat what the teacher says," replied Wes. "So, what does Guten Morgen Fraulein Maria mean?"

Cooper stared at Wes, then groaned. "Well, that sounded better than my efforts as well!"

Nick laughed, and replied, "You are getting better Cooper, you just need practice!" Then, turning to his son, he said, "It means Good Morning, Miss Maria, which in English does sound a little strange. In German though it is perfect, as the man is being respectful and formal to the lady in question." Wes nodded, then noticed that Caleb was stirring in his bed. He decided to go and lavish his attention on the cat, and left his dad and uncle to what they were doing….

Jeff would arrive home, on time, an hour after that. Cooper was preparing to leave by then, but the blond arrived just in time to hear him say how displeased he was that Maria had dressed his children up in curtains at the top of his voice, with an unusual accent. "Is this a secret rehearsal, or can anyone join in?" he quipped at the two adults in the kitchen as he entered, which made them grin.

Wes ran over to hug his papa, then said, "Daddy is teaching Uncle Coop how to speak like Fritz and his family do when they talk English. I think he has made a good effort, but he will need to do a lot more work to achieve perfection…"

Jeff stifled a laugh at his son's critical words and expression, and reached down to stroke Caleb, who had come over to rub round his legs. "Ah, so this isn't a rehearsal but a voice coaching session instead…"

"I would merely say that it is me helping my brother-in-law to become the best he can be at his new role," replied Nick.

Jeff nodded, although in the back of his mind he seemed to recall reading somewhere that Captain Von Trapp had been born in Dalmatia, which was Croatia, and so for him to have a German accent entirely like Nick's would be wrong, but still, it was what the audience would expect… "Is Cooper staying for dinner?" he asked, as he took off his coat at last, to be hung up eventually.

"Tempting as that idea is, because the aroma in here is beautiful, I'm not. Grace is working late, so I will be eating late at home, although judging by the clock I should be there by now. Changing the subject, how is your show shaping up?"

"It's all coming together nicely. I am finally convinced I have the layout right, and I only have a couple of pieces I wish to display to do the final touches on."

"I am looking forward to seeing the fruits of your labours," his brother in law responded. "I will now bid you auf wiedersehen until we next meet." With that, he brought his heels together sharply, then headed up to the hall to get his coat…

Jeff followed him up, hanging up his own coat, and seeing Cooper out. He chuckled as the older man walked away down the street practicing his accent by repeating the phrases he had learnt. Heading back down to the kitchen, he saw his husband was now plating up their meal, so he went to wash his hands. That done, he took his seat at the table. "I know that method acting is a thing, but isn't he taking it a bit too far? Next he will be chartering a boat and bossing the crew around…"

Nick laughed, as he would not put it past his brother-in-law to do just that. "As long as he doesn't start wearing lederhosen and dressing the twins in clothes made from the dining room curtains, it will be okay. Grace will keep him in check, and Pam for that. I also assume that Blaine would appear and tell him he was being ridiculous if he went too far as well. Changing the subject, how did your day go?"

"Well, it was all rather mundane until the registered letter arrived mid-afternoon. It was from the British consulate, asking when it would be best to come and do the security assessment of the gallery…"

"So you are going to get a royal presence at the exhibition then," said Nick.

"It is in the works, although not yet definite. It still sent everyone else at the gallery into a flap, let me tell you!" laughed Jeff.

"It is a big deal for them. I mean, having the wife of a future king coming to your gallery must be mind-blowing!"

"Well, we bit the bullet, and the assessor will be there first thing tomorrow morning. If all goes well, I expect the official conformation will follow…"