New Arrivals in the West Village Part I.
As Tim and Wes unpacked the cases from South Dakota, down in the kitchen Nick was taking advantage of the privacy to relay to his husband exactly what had happened whilst they were there, not leaving out even the smallest of details. Jeff was silent until he finished, and then said, "I still cannot believe that places like that can still exist in these current times! It is as if the last century did not happen! I bet that virtually all of the people that you saw whilst you were there were of the same skin colour as us too. They call themselves good Christians, which means that they should adhere to the Gospel of love and charity that he preached, but I bet they think such things do not apply to anyone of a different race, creed or sexuality. I just wonder how many other boys there are growing up in towns like that who are being constantly bullied simply because they do not fit perfectly the stereotype that the town expects them to adhere to?"
Nick sighed, and replied, "Dozens, I would imagine. Unfortunately, you can't go into places like that and try to force an immediate change in attitudes, because all that creates is resentment at best and at worst, a hardening of their prejudices. People like that think that they are the ones living the true American Dream. They are exactly the sort of people that a certain former President could count upon to vote for him without a moment's hesitation. It is so simple to put the blame for all your troubles on people who have different ideas and values to your own. They think the old ways failed because of them, because it is harder for them to accept that maybe those old ways were wrong, and that most of the issues that are besetting them were actually caused by people like them, all across the nation. They find it easier to blame those that are different and those outside this country. It is the same story across the nations of the West that once manufactured so much, but now make very little. The consumer wanted cheaper goods in the shops, but they failed to see that those imported goods would put the factories they worked in out of business, as they were too expensive and not productive enough. They turned to other things as well, but let's be honest; nobody forced them to do anything, and nobody is forcing them to keep doing all those things that blight their communities."
Jeff nodded and said, "People just don't like looking in the mirror and seeing their true self staring back at them. They want to think that everyone else in the world is at fault apart from them. We can be guilty of that ourselves, but fortuitously, the next generation appears to be much more sensible."
Upstairs, Tim had dried his eyes and placed the precious photo on his nightstand. Wes had already made a mental note to see if there was some way to contact the man that had taken the photo and see if he still had access to it, so that they could have at least one more copy made for Tim; that way he could have one at Dalton and one here in the West Village. There was always the risk with it travelling backwards and forwards that it might end up damaged, or worse still, lost. He also wondered if there was some way to access the Cloud and retrieve any images that the Harts had stored there as well, as that would allow Tim access to them all and not just the handful that had been printed up as physical photographs. He decided to ask his Uncle David, as he knew so much about computers…
He carried on assisting Tim with his unpacking, making no comment about the battered teddy bear that was in one case, knowing that his own was stored away in the closet in his room. He admired Sugar's china when Tim briefly opened the box it was packed in, and then moved some items off the lower shelf so that it could be stored there with the greatest of care. The books he had brought from his father's study were also placed there for now, although in time Wes was certain Tim would transfer them into the bookcase. With that done, all that Tim owned was now in the room. The way it was laid out would do for now, but both of the young men felt that the walls could do with new paint, as the colours weren't exactly Tim's favourites. On top of that, there were a few other minor tweaks that would just make it more of a home for him…
The next two weeks would end up being busy ones in the Sterling-Duval household. Nick and Jeff had no issue at all with redecorating the room that Tim would now call his own, and on Thursday morning Jeff and the boys headed out to the local hardware store to choose some paint for the walls. Tim wanted a colour that would blend in with the colours of his parents' old comforter, and with help from the assistant in the store, they soon located a combination of paints that would be perfect on the walls and on the mouldings. Fortunately, it was in stock and so they return to the beginning their task straight away. Jeff decided it was best to invest in coveralls for the three of them, as Tim did not have any 'old' clothes so to speak of; he also included hats in that purchase as he fully expected to find paint flying everywhere.
With the furniture pushed away from the walls and covered in dust sheets, they began their task, using rollers to paint the white walls with the new pale copper hue that Tim had selected, a colour which blended with the autumnal colours of the patchwork comforter. By the time that Nick came home from work, the room was fully painted, the mouldings now a bronze colour. There had been no disasters or spillages, and although it would not have been Nick's first choice of colours, Tim clearly loved it and that was what mattered most.
Of course, Tim had to sleep in the guest bedroom that night, as even with the window having been opened for good ventilation, the smell of new paint was just too strong to let him have a comfortable night's rest. Wes was able to stay in his room, however, as they had kept the door shut to the shared bathroom. It was whilst Tim was lying in the guest room bed that night that he felt a draught, and then one side of the bed sagged down a little. He looked over and saw two angels sitting there, looking just as he remembered them. As he greeted his parents there were tears on both sides; they did not reveal the exact circumstances of their death to him, sticking to the tale of the car crash. They were more open with Nick later that night, telling him the whole truth as he sat in his study; how they had been driving along happily and then the sky had suddenly seemed to darken as they passed under the fated overpass…
Joe and Sugar would visit several of the former New Directions over the next few days, but the only other angel that anyone saw was Blaine, who came to see how everything was at the Sterling-Duval house. He brought the news that Wes and Thad had been to Australia, New Zealand, and India so far, and were now heading to Egypt to see the Sphinx and the Pyramids, as well as the mighty River Nile.
"As far as I am aware, they will then be heading on to Greece, Italy, Czechia, Denmark and Scotland, at the very least; there was some mention of the Arctic Circle and Iceland as well… after that it will be back to the grindstone, with the two of them administrating the whole of the collections organisation for Ohio together. It sounds really complex but in reality, it is just all about the scheduling; people do not realise that with just a stroke of his pen, Wes can add a few minutes to someone's life, or vice versa, so that they can be collected in an unhurried way. Of course, being Wes, he usually tries to do the former. Thad had a turn at the process under the watchful eye of Seth before his own funeral and it turns out that he is a natural. He has already managed to find ways to make everything even more efficient that even Elizabeth admitted were a complete game changer," he said to Jeff, who smiled broadly. "They are also both more than pleased about the idea of your new drawing…"
"I am too and I think I have even found a way to unite the two images by matching things in the background, so that it will seem that Thad is working at a desk that is right beside Wes; a desk that was just out of sight before…"
Blaine nodded, then replied, "I also must tell you that news of your next work has reached the ears of a certain Queen, and as a result she has requested regular updates as to your progress with it. She has also been introduced to Thad now and she described him as exactly the kind of man that she could have imagined Wes being with for all of eternity…"
The news of Wes and Thad's travels would not be kept to themselves by Nick and Jeff; they shared it with all of the other Warblers and their closest friends. The news was brought to Ollie Harwood, however, by Seth, who came to visit him one morning at his office in the hospital. He had been chosen to visit the doctor as he was the angel that he knew best. He had listened in wonder as Seth had spoken, then with a smile he had said, "I bet that they went to the Taj Mahal; Thaddie always said that when he went to visit it on his long trip to India, the thing that made him most sad was the fact that Wes was not at his side. I am so pleased that they will now have seen it together. Tell me, do angels bungee jump and the like, or is the fact that they are able to fly more than enough for them?"
Seth was momentarily startled by the question, but then responded, "I am not entirely sure about that, but I suspect that there is no way in the world that Wes would agree to do something like that, not even if Thad put on his best puppy dog eyes and begged."
Ollie laughed at that, then went on, "I know that my brother managed to convince David to do a bungee jump with him once and he said much the same…"
"That was on that legendary trip across the country on Route 66; I believe that the location for the bungee jump was the Grand Canyon. For the record, it is not something that I would ever want to do either. In any case, I think that your brother's liking for that sort of thing will have lessened greatly now that he is an angel and with Wes all the time. He will be much more the content and domestic man that he always was deep down. He has the love of his life by his side and needs nothing more…"
Seth would leave Ollie smiling and anticipating seeing more angels around him that he could talk to from time to time; he was already seeing plenty of them during his working day in the busy Emergency Room of the hospital.
A fortnight to the day after his parents' funeral, Tim found himself summoned to the office of Grace's law firm; at his side were Jeff and Wes, Nick unable to join them as he was in his office at the UN. His boss, Miss Worthington, was on holiday and as part of his development, she had asked Nick to oversee the department in her absence. Tim had no idea why he had been asked to come into Grace's office, but his fear was that somehow the townsfolk back in South Dakota had managed to overrule his parents' instructions and he would soon be heading back there. As if she had anticipated that, Greece immediately stated that although a challenge had indeed been made, the courts had ruled that the law they were attempting to use was out of date and should have been struck from the statute books long ago.
"First of all, I am pleased to be able to tell you that your parents' actual ashes have arrived at Dalton and we can arrange a ceremony to commit them to the ground in due course; possibly that could be delayed until it is time for you to return to school. I also have to report that I have spoken to the insurance firm that covered your parents' lives and they have authorised the payout of the policies without delay."
Tim nodded, knowing how much store his folks had put in such things, always saying that the monthly premiums were one expense that could never be cut, no matter how tight the family's budget became.
Grace continued, "In combination with the compensation from the firm that operated the vehicle that was responsible for the accident, the sum of $1.3 million has been paid into a trust for you…" Tim's eyes widened, and his mouth fell open in shock at that news. "It will cover college fees, your living expenses now and give you a little income as well for those little essentials of life that you might want. Until you start college, your parents wished Nick and Jeff to jointly administer it, but I think that you will find that they will be very fair in doing so…"
Tim was still in a daze as they headed for home; having been brought up to be so thrifty, and to save each and every cent, to suddenly be a paper millionaire was quite a shock. He had told everyone what his parents had always said about the importance of insurance premiums and now he was reaping the benefit of that.
"Your mom and dad well wise people," Grace had said to him. "I have seen many people in your position left with nothing because their folks either did not take out insurance, or decided that they would stop paying the premiums for a few months, during the course of my career as a lawyer, particularly during my volunteer sessions at the law clinic. It is advice that I take myself, as do my brother and his husband. I trust that you and Wes will do the same as you get older, and the purchasing of insurance becomes a necessity in your lives."
With the money already paid into an account that had been set up precisely for that purpose, Tim made a decision. As they passed one of the tech stores in Union Square on their way home, he paused, and then asked if they could go in. "My laptop and phone are both second hand and it would be nice to have brand new ones for a change. I know that such purchases might seem a little frivolous, but it is something that I would like, if that is okay…"
Jeff smiled and nodded, so they headed into the store. He watched as Tim studied all the laptops on display, Wes at his side; that done, he approached the saleslady to ask for her advice. "I am looking for a lightweight laptop that comes with a good package of extras which will assist me with my schoolwork; I would also like a large memory and good audio and graphics. I am not that interested in gaming capacity, which probably sets me apart from most of the other people of my age that come into your store…"
"It certainly does," the sales lady replied, before she escorted them towards of range of laptops from which Jeff had purchased his own latest model; indeed, it was the same range from which they had bought the laptop that Wes had taken with him to Dalton.
When Nick arrived home that evening, fully aware of Tim's new wealth, it was to find him working away on his new laptop, which had all the latest office tools and apps set up on it now after an afternoon of hard work. He noticed too that there was a new printer set up on the study table in one corner of the kitchen, which his husband quickly explained.
"I know that we all used to share your printer when we needed to print something out, but that was not always practical with the three of us, and now we are four… There happened to be a deal where we received 50% off the purchase price of a printer with any laptop, so I thought that it would be a wise investment to purchase another printer so that the boys and I would not have to disturb you whilst you were working. It is a wireless one, so if anything goes wrong with your own printer, you'll be able to use it as well…"
Nick laughed at that, but he had to agree with Jeff that it would make things much easier, even if he intended to carry on using his old printer himself.
"Tim would also like a new phone, but he decided that he would study all of the information and articles about them out there on the latest models, rather than rushing and making a purchase there and then. He definitely has his head screwed on; all of those years of his mom and dad scrimping and saving every cent have made him every bit as frugal as they were."
"That is no bad thing when you look at the way that some people are these days. We live in a world where so many people demand instant gratification, never prepared to wait for what they desire. I do think that we should suggest to him that he should expand his wardrobe, however. He doesn't have all that many clothes and quite a lot of what he does have is old and threadbare. I think that the choices he will make will be of good quality material and hardwearing too; I don't suspect he will be into the fast fashion that so many of his generation are…"
As Jeff began to prepare to serve their evening meal, Nick looked across to where Tim and Wes were sitting, and he could not help but notice the way that his son kept glancing at his best friend as he sat beside him at the desk. There was something in that look that made him wonder just how long it would be before those feelings would potentially develop into something more.
Over the next few days, Tim agreed to make a few further purchases - as Nick had thought, he bought classic, timeless items of good quality, things that he would be able to wear for a long time. Jeff wondered why he also insisted that he purchased trousers with a longer leg length than he required, but when he said as much to his husband, Nick smiled and replied, "He can control his waistline with diet and exercise, but he is still growing in terms of height, so he has bought trousers that are too long for him now so that they will last him longer. My grandmother used to do that with my uncle when he was in his teens. It is referred to as a grow hem in some places, where the bottom turn-up hem inside school uniform is much longer than it needs to be, allowing sensible mothers to unpick it and sew it back to lengthen the trouser legs, or even skirt length. I bet Tim bought extra-long shirts as well.
Jeff had to admit that he had and had to admire the common sense of it. "He also discovered some winter coats and jumpers on the discount rail and bought them; even I saw the sense in that, so Wes has a new winter coat as well…"
Nick smiled, knowing that every cent counted for every family. Jeff then changed the subject by telling him that there were now only two residents in the house next door, as the last of the four former Dalton boys that had graduated from college that year had moved on to where he was to be working, in this case to Prague. As he mentioned the city, Jeff smiled, and Nick did too, as that beautiful city was one of their favourite places in Europe.
"Did you get the form submitted for a passport for Tim?" Jeff asked his husband quietly.
"Yes, and it will be expedited in the circumstances. I also booked the extra seat on the planes to and from London and arranged an extra bed in the hotel in Paris. It will be a surprise to both of the boys, and I just hope that it is a good one…."
On Friday, Jeff had a long standing meeting with the owner of the gallery where most of his work was now shown and sold, and he and Nick decided to trust the two boys and leave them in the house alone, although they did mention that the two boys would be at home alone to Drew, who always worked from home on a Friday. He would keep an eye on things, not that the boys knew that. Jeff left at 10am and was not due to return until 4pm at the earliest. The two boys amused themselves with a game of Monopoly at first, then paused for lunch, before finding a book to read with the radio playing in the background.
At a little before 3pm, there came a knocking at the front door; this caused the two boys a slight dilemma, as nobody was expected, and one of the unspoken rules of being left alone was that they didn't answer the front door to anyone. However, when the knocking came from a third time, both of them decided that this might be the one time in which they could ignore the rules, as long as they checked first through the dining room window who was at the front door. Wes had admitted to Tim with a laugh when he first moved in that he could not remember a time when he had had a meal in that room; even on the big events like Thanksgiving and Christmas, the family would gather downstairs in the kitchen.
They looked out of the window carefully and it was Tim that gasped first, then he ran to the door and flung it open with Wes right behind him. They were both relieved to know that the person at the door was someone that they both knew, but a little surprised to see the person in question there. Wes did not think that even his Papa had expected that they would see Owain arrive so soon to move into the house next door…
When Jeff arrived home, he was surprised to see two suitcases sitting in the hall, and that was before he heard the very animated chatter that was coming from downstairs. Hanging up his coat, he headed downstairs carefully, but then smiled broadly at what he saw as he looked into the kitchen. His son and Tim were deep in conversation with Owain, and it took the three of them some time to notice that he was even standing there. Then the latter saw Jeff, and stood up.
"I am sorry to have arrived so soon, Mr Sterling-Duval. but I needed to get away from my mom's place, and Mr Harwood said that I would be welcome here whenever I needed to move in. If it isn't convenient I can always go to the YMCA…"
"No, it is fine. The single room that you have been allocated next door is free, although you will have the place to yourself, as the two current tenants that would have been two years ahead of you at Dalton are not home right now. They left yesterday morning to take up the volunteer jobs that they have at a summer camp for disadvantaged kids, and they won't be back for a month. I suggest that you stay here right now and have something to eat with us, and then we can take you over and get you settled in after dinner. Of course, if you don't like the idea of being alone in a strange house, then you can always stay in the spare room here until the others get back."
"No, being alone will be fine. I am just glad to be here and out of Ohio. I felt that by coming now I would have more chance to try and get a job fixed up to help pay the bills. I know that there will be a lot of competition for them once a whole host of new freshmen descend on the city…"
Jeff chuckled, and said, "Owain, I can get you a job tonight if you don't mind being a singing waiter. There are always openings at the Spotlight at this time of year as staff graduate and move on to their new careers."
"I did hear everything about the diner from Mr Harwood…" Owain replied.
"Well, I can get you an audition if you would like…"
"I'd appreciate that," said the former Head Warbler.
Nick was just as surprised to see Owain at the table for dinner that night as his husband had been to see him arrive. By the time Nick arrived home, Owain had already moved his belongings into his new room, not that he had brought much with him. He would purchase all of his textbooks, equipment, and clothing that he would require as a medical student in the city from the second-hand stores that surrounded the campus at NYU. He had also made an appointment to see the secretary of the medical faculty in the next day, although he already knew that he would be assigned to the same hospital that Lawrence, Roderick, and Ollie worked in for his training.
"It will be good to know that there are people that I know working there; people that I can ask for advice and even just where certain things are! I know that Lawrence was assigned Dr Harwood as his mentor when he started to attend NYU, and now that he is more or less fully qualified, I am hoping that if I ask, they might assign me to Dr Harwood instead."
"Well, I think that you will be first on his list of potential mentees if there is one; I suspect that even students that are based here in the city will not have thought about such things already, so you have a much better chance…" replied Nick, wondering if he should call Ollie and trying to facilitate things.
He decided that it could do no harm and called Thad's brother from his study after dinner. The good doctor was at home and was stunned that one of the new intake of medical students was already in town. "I will call the medical school secretary myself first thing and tell her that I am more than happy to take Owain under my wing. Thad mentioned him a lot in his last couple of years and what I have seen of the boy impresses me. Some students see a career in medicine merely as a way to make money, but he appears to actually want to help people and care for them, a lot like Lawrence. It also feels like I will be taking on some of Thad's legacy by tutoring him."
"I won't tell him that I have spoken to you, but I am incredibly pleased that he is going to get his wish. Now I just hope that he passes the audition for the Spotlight, as I'm not sure that his family is all that wealthy, and New York can be expensive to survive in, even with the low rent he will be paying to Jeff…"
Nick had arranged to meet his husband and the two boys for dinner at the Spotlight for dinner the following day. Jeff had called Michelle and she had agreed to have Owain come in for a trial shift that day. He arrived at the diner as instructed in black trousers and white shirt, the cargo pants he had chosen being very suitable as he gave him a pocket for the tablet computer that they now used instead of a traditional paper pad to take down the orders. There had been much discussion about taking this step, but in the end the partners had all agreed to the new system, as it would mean that customers will be served more quickly, as the order could be sent to the kitchen before the waiter had even left the table. Of course it also had the function to take card payments, which meant that there was no need for the card to be taken to the register for processing and then brought back to the customer which would also help to speed things up at busier times.
Michelle had expected that she would have to explain the tablet on the system to Owain, but he was actually familiar with such things from his holiday job working in an Applebee's back home. "It was an okay job, but the corporate atmosphere was quite stifling. There was an Applebee's way to do every single little task and mystery shoppers that would check up that staff were conforming to it; they could be quite petty at times."
"Well, we have a few rules, but at the Spotlight we want your personality to shine through and as long as the customers leave here happy and satisfied, we will have no issues…"
She kept an eye on him as he greeted his first table, made them smile and then pointed out all the specials. He fetched their drinks then took their food order, before he quickly moved on to the next table in his section, repeating his actions with the new customers. Michelle had no issue with his waiting skills, but whether he was hired or not window hinge on whether he could sing in front of a crowd of diners in the noisy restaurant….
Nick, Jeff and the two boys arrive just as the singing part of Owain's audition was about to begin; he sang two songs, the first a Tom Jones classic, the sound of his distant Welsh ancestors coming through in his tones which made the song all the more special. Nick notice that the hubbub of conversation ebbed away, and that Michelle and Elliott were both looking on with wide smiles. That Owain then went on to perform a classic Elvis number came as no great shock, Nick and Jeff books suspecting that Sebastian might have encouraged him to learn the notes and lyrics of those songs that were associated with the man they called The King… However, there was also the fact that he seemed to have the correct voice and that made them wonder if Thad, whose impersonations of Elvis were legendary, had also had some influence over the young man.
When Owain finished his two-song slot it was new surprise to anyone that there was loud applause, but it left him blushing as he made his way back over to Michelle. Dani had by now joined her and Elliott, and she was the one that said, "When can you start?" as soon as he was in earshot.
"Let the poor boy take a seat first," scolded Michelle, "but yes, the job is yours and you can start work as soon as you wish."
It was at that table that Nick decided to make an announcement; he had collected Tim's passport from the office at lunchtime and he now handed it to the young man with great ceremony. Tim looked at it for a moment, then back at Nick, confused. "Much as I like the idea of having a passport, I don't see why I need one, unless I am being sent away somewhere…" there was a slight note of panic in his voice as he said that and at his side, Wes looked worried sick.
"You need one because we can't leave you here on your own when we go away on our summer vacation. We hadn't told Wes, but we are going away to London and Paris next month; your seats are booked on the planes, and we have changed Wes' room to a twin in the hotel that will be staying in whilst we are in Paris…" replied Nick.
Tim looked dumbfounded, before he stuttered, "I have never been out of the country, except for a brief visit to Canada one summer when I was in kindergarten. I am pleased to be going, but I could easily have stayed with someone here…"
"Nonsense. You are part of our family now, and where we go, you go. I am sure that Miss Frobisher will want to meet you and we also have some friends that live in Windsor as well, that we might possibly visit…" said Nick, as his husband subtly shook his head at their son, so that he did not mention that those friends just might be a future king and his wife. "We will be in Paris for four days, which is enough time to see all of the main sights and experience a vastly different culture and way of life. It will also be a good chance for you to practise the French that you have been taught at Dalton."
Tim nodded, but both nick and Jeff could see that he looked a little upset, the whole trip coming as a bolt out of the blue to him. Sitting beside him, Owain took the opportunity to whisper to him whilst the other three members of the Sterling-Duval family were distracted. "If you need to talk to someone that is less involved with all of this, then remember that I am just next door. I will be at home all morning tomorrow if you want to just pop round and have a talk." Tim looked at him gratefully and nodded, before returning his attention back to his best friend and his two dads, all of whom were now waxing lyrical about the Apple Pie and English Custard that was part of the menu at the Spotlight diner…