Dalton Affairs, Fall 2032 to March 2033.

In time, all three members of the Sterling-Duval family adapted to their new living situation. Wes was still a little teary on his second day at Dalton, but soon he found plenty to keep himself occupied and his friendship with Tim Hart quickly deepened as well; it felt to them both as if they had both known each other for years. When in an unguarded moment Wes accidentally admitted that he had seen his illustrious namesake on a few occasions, he had paled as he realised that Tim would be able to work out that he hadn't even been conceived when the former Head Warbler had passed away. He was more than relieved when Tim said that he had met him too, but that he had seen much more of Blaine and Kurt back home…

The fact that they also had the ability to see angels as a shared experience further deepened their bond; soon Principal Lefevre would remark that having them in the school was like having Niff back on the premises; wherever one of them was to be found, the other would not be far away… Thad and Sebastian had been the people she addressed her remark too and they had glanced at each other knowingly, the latter now almost certain that Wes and Tim would be more like his two fellow musketeers than anyone else imagined as yet. To add to that, both of the boys had auditioned for the Warblers and had been successful; Sebastian was relieved to discover that Tim had inherited his father's vocal talents and not his mother's…

It also turned out that both of the boys had a talent for lacrosse, despite the fact that neither of them had ever played the game before. It had been Sebastian that had suggested that they try out for it as their main sport at Dalton, and he was overjoyed to find they were good at it; as he had now offered to help coach the team as a favour to the busy sports' staff, he was able to pass on all of the tips and tricks he had learned in his own playing days. As a result, in their respective Zoom calls home, both boys were able to show their parents that they were happy and on numerous occasions, side by side as they talked…

In the West Village, it had been Jeff that had noticed his son's absence most keenly at first. His routine no longer revolved around the timings of the school day, and he no longer had to fit in the two walks to the school and back he had done for so long. He once again found himself losing track of time as he worked away up in his studio; that meant that he and Nick had to have takeout for dinner, not that Nick made too much of an issue of it, as he understood all too well what was going on…

To help out, Nick planned extra night's out for himself and his husband, going to concerts and to local theater shows to help fill the void that not having their son at home had left in their lives. He urged his husband to try and find other things to fill in his time as well, but it was harder for the blond, as he had a whole day to fill. Eventually he did contact the Dean of his old art school to offer and give a talk, as his gallery owning friend had suggested, and he had been warmly welcomed back for that talk. He found that the one event that he had intended to stage in which he talked about his work and his inspirations was vastly oversubscribed, and he agreed to repeat it the following day…

After that first talk, he was approached by the Dean and asked if he would be prepared to do more; as he had enjoyed doing that initial talk, he agreed almost at once, and thus became the third member of his small group of Warblers to embark on a teaching career. He found himself standing at the front of the lecture hall and addressing those rows of seats that he had once occupied. What surprised him most was that he no longer felt the nerves he once had about public speaking, his confidence given that essential boost by the round of applause he received as soon as he stepped out onto the platform…

He decided to follow them on with hosting some seminar classes, where he talked to smaller groups and gave advice to young people that were now in the position that he had once been in. Of course, this was not a regular weekly event, as he was now joining Nick on many of his trips abroad. He found a lot of inspiration in the calm world of Geneva, seeing the beauty of the city, of the serene countryside that surrounded it, and of course in the lake. On their first trip, Nick had gone one better and had arranged a side trip to the Cote d'Azur, where he had sketched away happily in the still bright light of fall at the side of the Mediterranean Sea, as countless other artists had done over the years…

For Nick himself, it was the little things that he missed the most in having Wes at Dalton. He also had to make adjustments to the amounts of food he bought and indeed to what he bought at both the supermarket and the Union Square market. There had always been certain foods that Wes had enjoyed that neither he nor Jeff were that keen on. He missed his son's cheerful chatter about his day at the dinner table each evening, and how he had asked him questions about his own work as well…

Then there was the fact that, somehow, they now seemed to see less of their neighbours, especially of Drew. That was down to the fact that there was no longer a shared school run to do and also partly due to the fact that as his daughter was now approaching adulthood, he was going into the office more than before as he no longer needed to stay home to look after her. Ethan was also more elusive as the offices of Mackenzie Inc were further away than those of his former employer, and his working day also seemed to have increased in length.

Nick and Jeff did continue to volunteer to babysit the younger children on the street when their parents needed help, as they had all helped them out when Wes was that age. They loved every moment of it, but it wasn't the same as having their own boy present. As a result, Nick found that he was counting down the days to Thanksgiving that year, something he had not done since he was a boy; that day would bring his son back home after all…

It came as little surprise to anyone when Wes asked if he could bring Tim home with him for the holiday. The young man's parents could not afford to fly him back home for a couple of days at Thanksgiving and then do the same for the longer holidays at Christmas…

"Uncle Thad would see that he wasn't alone, of course, but he has been such a good friend to me that I would feel guilty about leaving him here alone when he could so easily come with me and enjoy the holiday with us…" Wes had asked over Zoom, with puppy dog eyes that made Nick chuckle…

"If Joe and Sugar agree to it, then of course he can come and join in the madness here, but I do need to speak to them first and suggest it…" Nick replied, then his voice trailed off as he saw that his son was trying to look innocent and failing quite dramatically. "Wesley, have you already asked Tim's parents if he can come without having the courtesy to ask me and your papa first? If I was a bad father, this would be the point when I told you that he couldn't come, but that you need not worry about him being alone, because you will be staying at Dalton with him for your bad behaviour. Luckily for you, I am not that kind of dad. I will still be calling them as soon as we finish, and if I discover that you told them that you had already spoken to me and I had agreed, then your Thanksgiving meal might be bread and water…"

Fortunately for Wes, he had not made such a statement, and he was able to enjoy the hearty Thanksgiving meal that his dad had prepared, with all of the traditional foods and even an English trifle for afters, the latter of which was a completely new experience for Tim, who enjoyed it immensely.

Tim had of course never been to New York, save that one time when he was still a baby at Artie and Kitty's wedding, so they arranged a quick tour of all the main sights for him and also got tickets for a Broadway show, something that he enjoyed greatly. It was what Nick noticed about him on his visit that set the brunet thinking; he had seen for the first time the way that his son looked at Tim whenever he was speaking, and he realised that he had seen that look before. That previous time had been on Jeff's face whenever he had been speaking at Dalton. He knew then that his son had a crush on Tim, just as Jeff had had a crush on him. He just hoped that his son would be as lucky as his papa had been and that if he was not and his feelings were not reciprocated, then he hoped that Tim would let him down gently…

As all of that was happening in New York that Thanksgiving break, Thad found himself sitting alone in his apartment at Dalton. He had initially anticipated that he would have a substantial number of students to entertain, but in the end, there was no-one; as with Wes and Tim, those boys that had been destined to stay at the school had been invited to accompany friend's home by families that welcomed an extra person to the table.

Sebastian had a houseful of his own family to entertain, the Carmichaels had headed to the home of Aaron's sister down south and Dylan, Jeff's cousin, was heading to Vermont with his family. Principal Lefevre had asked what Thad was intending to do once she knew that there would be no boys on the premises, and she had believed him when he said he would be spending the day with David's mother. That was not the case, as the lady in question would be in Boston with her son and his family…

If truth were told, Thad was actually quite glad that he would be alone and that he would not have to face a large meal, as recently his stomach pains had seemed worse than ever; in fact, they had been so bad on the day before Thanksgiving itself that he had given in and driven himself to the Emergency Room on the other side of Columbus, as there was no-one there that would know him. The doctor he saw had been concerned and had told Thad that he needed to go and speak to his own MD as a matter of urgency.

"With all that you have told me about your current symptoms and how long you have been suffering with the pains, I feel that you need to undergo a series of tests to establish just what it is that we are dealing with," she had said, her tone quite blunt. Thad had responded with a series of questions of his own, and then had asked what she felt the worst-case scenario might be. She had responded with what he himself had suspected, saying that in her honest opinion, that was the most likely cause of what he was suffering over such a long period of time…

By the time he woke up on Thanksgiving, Thad was feeling much better, so he resolved that he would not bother his MD until he had another really bad attack. He half expected that Wes would join him for lunch, but then he heard on the news that there had been a major pile-up where the I-70 met the I-71, he knew that his husband, as head of the Ohio section, would be kept much too busy dealing with the numerous casualties that would be arriving in the heavenly realms…

In the end, he had ended up eating dry toast and saltines for his Thanksgiving repast, eventually managing a little of the cooked roast turkey he had bought in advance the following day on a sandwich. It was hardly the great feast that all of his friends and neighbours would have enjoyed, but his stomach had been able to cope with it. However, his initial resolve not to see his MD wavered as he could almost hear Wes telling him to go and see them every five minutes of that Black Friday. With great reluctance he made an appointment to see the Dalton school doctor in early December at his office away from the school. He knew that all that passed between them would be in strict confidence, but he was definitely not seeing him conveniently on school premises. Such a visit would garner him much too much attention, and he did not want that at all, especially if it actually turned out to be nothing…

When he arrived home for his Christmas vacation, Wes was surprised to discover that the Christmas tree in the hallway was not decorated at first, but then he saw that the boxes of decoration were waiting beside it, and he instantly knew why. Every year since he was old enough, he had assisted his papa with the task and that was one tradition it seemed his papa was determined to keep. He had a cup of tea first and a slice of chocolate cake from the tin, then he returned to the hallway with Jeff and between them they trimmed the tree and decorated the entire room. As they worked, Wes couldn't help but wonder what Caleb would have made of the tree being there in the room without any fairy lights or other decorations; he suspected he would have questioned the sanity of his humans even more than usual! There was a brief pause in their task as Jeff headed down to the kitchen to place a casserole in the oven, but then it was all hands to finish their job…

They had just finished when Nick arrived home from the office. Wes noticed two things at once as he hugged his father; one, there were quite a few grey hairs now emerging in his dad's brunet locks, and secondly, his most recent growth spurt had now brought him more or less equal in stature to his parent. Being taller, Jeff had failed to notice that Wes had shot up in the space of a month; it was only when he saw them side by side that he realised just how tall his son now was. He joked that Dalton must have put him through a mangle; Nick laughed at his husband, then realised his son was looking confused. He therefore did his best to explain what a mangle was to his boy, a child of the 21st century…

The casserole they enjoyed that evening was one of Wes' favourite meals and was served with doughballs as well as the usual vegetables; then there was a peach cobbler for dessert. The food at Dalton was good, but in the eyes of the young man that was back home, there was nothing quite as good as his father's home cooked meals. He was as delighted to be home as his dads were to have him home. Over dinner they discussed how his schooling was going naturally; not just his academics, but also the achievements of the current group of Warblers that he was a member of, and of course, his newly discovered prowess at the game of lacrosse…

"I am only good at it because I have strong support on the field from Tim; we always play alongside each other, and we seem to know instinctively what the other is going to do in any given situation on the pitch. Uncle Sebastian is very pleased with both of us, so that is a bonus," Wes said with a grin, then his tone changed a little as he went on, "It is going to be strange to be away from Tim for a few weeks, because he has quickly become one of the most important people in my life."

As at Thanksgiving, there would be no boys in his dorm for Thad to take care of; however, even if there had been, he would not have been there. He had informed Principal Lefevre that he was going to spend the holiday with his family in New York. Ollie and Michelle had not been upset when he had invited himself to join them for the festivities, as his company was always good, plus little Thad enjoyed his 'uncle's' visits immensely too. The obvious similarities between the two Thads were increasing as the boy got older. Ollie had shown his wife a photograph of himself with his family on his 18th birthday, when his youngest brother had been the same age more or less as their son was now; she found it hard to realise that it was his brother in the image and not their son…

It did not take Ollie or Michelle long after Thad arrived from Ohio on the 23rd of December to suspect that there might be an issue with him, as the Head Warbler just seemed to be acting differently to them. He had always been a little stand offish when it came to how he interacted with his 'nephew', not encouraging too much physical contact for a start, but now he was eager to have as many hugs as possible and wanted to spend every moment that he possibly could with the boy that was genetically his son…

Then on Christmas morning itself, he presented his nephew with several expensive gifts, then mentioned to his brother and sister-in-law that he had placed a few thousand dollars into the boy's savings account as well. That revelation was all it took for Ollie to suggest that they took a brotherly walk down to the little bakery a few blocks away that never seemed to close to pick up some pastries…

Almost as soon as they were out of earshot of the apartment building he lived in, Ollie turned to his brother and said, "Okay, what gives little brother? You have been more than generous with gifts for Thad this year, which was bad enough, but then you have put a large amount of cash in his savings account too…"

"I just realised that I had a lot of money sitting around doing very little, so I decided to treat my youngest relative. Also, moving the money to his account is a shrewd move as he will get more interest on it than I would. I guess that I should have warned you, and I would normally have done so, but I decided on the spur of the moment…"

"Well, I guess that it is fine, but perhaps we need to point out to your namesake that such generosity is not going to be an annual occurrence," Ollie responded.

"Oh, trust me, it won't be," said Thad. "Next year he will not get the same from me…"

The topic was closed after that; Thad was able to enjoy being the best uncle in the world and the greatest brother ever for the remainder of the holidays. He threw himself into everything that was going on wholeheartedly, taking his nephew for his first experience of ice skating at the Rockefeller Center, then on to see the Rockettes at the Radio City Music Hall. To the young Thad, that was a great treat, something he said he would never forget…

He spent time with Ollie and Michelle too, both individually and together. One evening he insisted that the play Monopoly together as a family; that game left Michelle and little Thad laughing as they watched the two brothers bicker about virtually every aspect of the game; it was something that they had done as children as well, and they had both laughed uproariously when they realised that some things never change between brothers, no matter how old they become…

Thad stayed a week in the end but refused to stay for New Years. "I'd love to, but I have so much work waiting for me back at Dalton. The truth is that there is a lot that is going to happen next year, and many things will be changing. I need to ensure that everything is in perfect order before that starts to happen. I would like to say just one thing; that was the best Christmas I have ever had, and I don't think there will be another one to top it," he said to his brother with a smile.

"It certainly was, little brother," replied Ollie in a joyful tone.

"Yeah, I will remember this week for the rest of my life," Thad responded, but his smile had faded a little…

As everyone else celebrated the arrival of another year, Thad was hard at work, burning the midnight oil. He had so much to do if he was to ensure that everything went to plan. He had a number of things he needed to finalise before the boys came back to the dorms from the vacation, and that meant he had to spend long hours hunched over his laptop, setting out the way that things were to be done. That New Year he did not even realise that his husband was standing by him and watching his every move until Wes finally cleared his throat, which made Thad jump…

"I came here to wish you a Happy New Year, although I suspect that you haven't even noticed that it is now January," said Wes sadly.

"No, I didn't… I just needed to get all of this done and dusted before the hordes started to return in a couple of days. Happy New Year, my love."

Wes nodded, then said, "Of course, whether that is the case remains to be seen; I think that we are both fully aware that this year might well turn out to be a very challenging one, hence why you are so preoccupied with the work you are doing on the computer."

Thad smiled, and said, "You know what they say; don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today…"

"Well, I am here to tell you that you need to put it off as I need snuggles; it has been as busy as ever in the heavenly realms, it will be even worse in a little while, and right now I need the man that I love in my arms. I will not accept any excuses for you not granting me my wish right this instant!"

Thad grinned and saved what he had been writing. "I don't mind bossy Wes occasionally, but I do trust that it is not a side of you that I am going to see too often. I always saw our relationship as being very much a partnership of equals…"

"It is, my little one, as long as we are both prepared to acknowledge the importance of always making time for snuggles when one of us needs them," pouted Wes, with a face that made Thad laugh. He walked over to the couch then and motioned to Wes to join him; that took seconds and soon Thad had his arms wrapped tightly around the man that he loved, all his cares forgotten for a while…

For Wes, that hug made other emotions come to the fore. He believed that no relationship could thrive with too many secrets, but there were times when he wished that he and Thad had some; that he did not see everything that was going on with his husband from his place in the heavenly realms. He had heard things recently that had left him distressed and distraught; the way his husband was now acting was equally disturbing to him. He would not have reacted in the way his husband was, but he couldn't say anything about the things he knew until Thad told him about them. Of course, there was the risk that his husband, knowing that he would know, might never tell him the truth until it was too late…

The winter passed, and the first shoots of spring began to appear. By the middle of March, it was clear in Ohio that winter was over for another year, as the temperature remained above freezing point every day and the snow no longer fell as often. At Dalton, the boys that made up this years' Warblers had once again succeeded in reaching Nationals; this year they would be held in Washington DC, something that pleased Trent no end when he heard. Sebastian had pulled another of his Broadway tricks out of the bag to get them there, and everyone that had seen the performance had been left speechless with delight. Thad had not been amongst those in the audience that year; indeed, he had left Sebastian largely to his own devices, stating that he had a bad dose of the winter virus that was doing the rounds. His friend had taken him at his word, although from where he was standing, he could not see any of the symptoms that came with it in his friend, just that he seemed to be spending an inordinately large amount of time typing away at his laptop or surrounded by documents.

Of course, as a member of staff at Dalton, Sebastian was aware of the rumour that the second Deputy Principal position at the school was about to fall vacant as the current incumbent was about to retire, something that would leave Dylan as the only person under Principal Lefevre. He wondered now if this time Thad had decided that he would apply for the role and that was why he forever typing away and doing paperwork; he was after all the sort of man that would diligently prepare for such an application well in advance…

Those rumours did not only reach Sebastian's ears though; he did not spread them himself, but nonetheless the ruthlessly efficient Dalton grapevine saw them spread from Chicago to Boston, from New York to Washington DC. By the middle of the month of March, every one of the Warbler brotherhood had heard that Thad was going to be applying for the role of Deputy Principal when Mr Franklin announced his retirement officially and that it was of course only a matter of time before Thad would be named as his successor.

Of course, the rumour eventually made its way back to Thad's own ears, and he was most amused by how everyone seemed to have such confidence that he would get the position. He knew the truth of course; knew that Mr Franklin had indeed been considering retiring at the end of the school year, but had come to the conclusion that it was too soon, and he would carry on for another two years at least… Still, the rumour would provide a useful cover for his own next move…

The official invitation to the extraordinary meeting of the brotherhood would drop into every Warblers e-mail inbox on the day that any person with a drop of Irish blood in them celebrated the day of that nation's patron saint. That invite created quite a stir, because in all of years since their little group had been created in the aftermath of Hunter and the death of Wes, there had never been an emergency meeting of this sort convened; worse still, Thad had never stated that their attendance at one of the meetings was mandatory before.

He had scheduled the meeting for noon on Saturday 1st April, firstly to give people time to get to Westerville from across the country, but also to ensure that the time for pranks was well past by the time they met. That was for his own benefit, as he had to ensure that people did not think all that he would be telling them was an elaborate April Fool… He did not want a debacle on the scale of the one that had occurred when Nick and Jeff had decided to prank everyone into thinking that they were splitting up…

Across the nation, his bird brothers read his summons and by and large changed their plans without a word of dissent or complaint; if they were being summoned in this way, then Thad had to have very good reason. The meeting was, of course, no issue at all for Nick and Jeff, as it would give them another opportunity to see their son, and he was equally overjoyed at that prospect, as it so happened that he had a big lacrosse match scheduled for the morning of that day; when he told his dads, they promised that they would arrive early enough to come and watch him play.

It would be two days before the big match that the lacrosse team had their final practice session, an evening one under the floodlights. At the end of it, Sebastian was more than happy to take a few minutes to show Tim how to carry out a play that he was having some trouble with, leaving Wes to walk back to the dorms on his own. He needed to get changed as the evening meal was starting soon in the refectory; he needed to be there in good time to collect not only his own preferred choice for dinner, but also Tim's meal, at his request. There were always certain dishes that ran out quicker than others.

The corridors of the dorm building were deserted as he headed back to room 36 and quickly changed out of his sports kit and into his official sweatshirt and trousers. He headed back out, but as he passed the door to Mr Harwood's apartment, he heard a moan; he paused and noticed that the door was slightly ajar. He knocked on it, then called out the housemaster's name, before giving the door a gentle push when he got no response…

What he saw had him racing inside, letting the door close behind him as he raced to where his Uncle Thad lay prostrate on the floor. The teacher looked at the boy as he reached him, then sighed. "Are you okay, Uncle Thad?" Wes asked, forgetting the protocol about names as he saw the man that he cared of looking so ill.

"I am not 100%," replied Thad. "Taking a tumble over your own feet is not to be recommended. Do you think that you could help me up as I have a pain in my arm and try as I might, I can't push myself up…"

Wes nodded, all of the first aid training that was a mandatory part of the curriculum at Dalton now coming to the fore. He helped his teacher up from the floor, then supported him as they made their way into the sitting room, where Thad took a seat in one of the armchairs. "Would you like me to fetch the school nurse, or one of the other teachers?" Wes asked.

"No, I think that I will be okay now," said Thad in a firm tone. Glancing at the clock, he went on, "Should you not be at dinner?"

"Lacrosse practice overran a little, but you are right, I really should be getting to the refectory before it gets too late…"

"Okay, off you go – but promise me that what has just happened will remain strictly between the two of us. There has been no harm or injury done here, other than to my pride, so it is best for all of us that you bother nobody else with knowledge of events here tonight. When I say nobody else, I include Tim in that by the way…"

Wes was conflicted by the request, but Thad was an adult and a teacher, so he replied, "If you are sure, Mr Harwood, then I will have forgotten everything before I step out of the dorms." Thad nodded, and waved Wes away… The teenager ran off, hoping that there would still be some of the food he had wanted left for both himself and Tim. Nevertheless, he resolved that he would check in with his housemaster the following morning, just to see that he really was okay…

On the last Friday in March, Thad found himself on breakfast duty in the refectory, supervising the meal as he drank a cup of tea and ate some toast, albeit looking a little tired. That was good enough for Wes, and he was left relieved that his uncle was well, even if he hated the fact that he was having to keep a secret. He headed to his usual table and was soon engaged in the general discussion around the room about the forthcoming lacrosse game, which meant that he did not observe Thad quite as closely as he might otherwise have done. Had he been more observant, he would have seen that unusually there was no milk in Thad's tea, and that the slice of toast he was consuming was dry, devoid of any hint of butter or preserves; furthermore, that Thad had only managed to take two bites from the toast and that he had chewed on each one laboriously…

For his part, the Head Warbler was extremely relived that Wes was so distracted by the other boys that morning; he had dreaded him paying too much attention to him that morning. His stomach pains had been the cause for his collapse last night, not a trip; they had abated somewhat now, but there was no escaping the fact that they were progressively getting worse day by day. He had also observed himself in the mirror that morning and he had not liked the reflection he had seen one iota. His skin was so yellow now and his eyes were now tinged that colour too; he had also lost enough weight that his rib cage was visible…

After tomorrow, things would be very different of course, so he was determined that he would savour the day ahead, the last one that he could term as normal in any sense. His whole world was about to be turned upside down and there was of course a degree of fear in him about that; but at the same time, he was relieved too. He now knew exactly what his future held and also that there was nothing anyone could do to change it…