In-Laws

Part 10

Reid grabbed the phone from the nightstand.  He was the Co-Chief of Staff and there were a number of qualified neurosurgeons on call at any given time, yet it seemed he was always the one they called in the early hours of the morning, it never failed.  “Dr. Oliver here, what’s the emergency?”

“Excuse me, sir, this is your wake-up call.  You requested to be awakened at--”

“Oh, right.  Thank you.  I’m up.”  Reid hung up the phone and scanned the room, realizing where he was.  Hotel, Boston, wedding -- holy crap!  He and Luke had stayed up far longer than planned and now he needed coffee if he was going to be awake and alert enough to get any enjoyment out of the day ahead.

Realizing he was alone in bed, he wondered where Luke had gone.  He couldn’t hear the shower running, although it might have been nice to start their day off with a steamy shower.

Ethan.  Ethan was in the next room.  Had the kid had a nightmare?  Reid sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, remembering the nightmares the kid had practically every night when he first moved in with them.  Although they were rare, dreams of his parents’ death still haunted him from time to time. 

Reid hurriedly threw on his sweatpants, which were still lying on the floor where they had been discarded the night before, then quickly made his way into the living room of the suite. 

Luke was sitting alone on the sofa. 

“Where is he?  Is he okay?” 

Holding up a note, Luke smiled, his hair still a mess from the previous night’s activities.  “Apparently, he’s fine.”  He waved the paper in his hand.

“What are you talking about?  Where is he?  And what’s all this?”  Preoccupied with concern for Ethan, Reid hadn’t noticed the spread on the coffee table.

“I believe it’s our pre-wedding breakfast.  There’s coffee, juice, croissants, and danish.” 

Reid ran his hand through his hair.  “I can see what it is, but what’s it doing here and where’s the kid?”

Luke chuckled.  “Relax.  Take a seat.”  He patted the spot next to him on the sofa.  “I’ll read you the note.”

“I can read it myself,” Reid grumbled.

“You left your reading glasses in the bedroom, unless you’re hiding them in your sweats.”

“I don’t need those things.  I don’t know why you made me get them anyway.  My vision is perfect.”

“Unless you have to sign something with small print.”  Luke smirked.  “I’ve heard it all before, Peter Pan.  Now sit next to me and let me read the note so you can stop freaking out.”

“Fine.  Read away, Mr. Snyder.  I could use a cup of coffee anyway.”

“No kidding.  You can pour me one too.”

Reid nodded, trying to leave his grumpy morning personality behind.  “So, who sent us this breakfast, and where’s the kid?”

Luke sat back against the cushions, his coffee in one hand and the note in the other. 

Morning Luke and Reid.  I can’t wait to see you two get married for real.  Totally cool.  Grandma Miriam is going to help me get dressed.  She insisted on buying me a suit.  It itches, but I’ll deal.  It made her happy.  She’s not so bad.  Look what she helped me do for your wedding day for when you guys woke up.  We arranged to have the breakfast brought to your room two hours before we leave for Judge Parker’s office... oh yeah, chambers.  Grandma also helped me pick out the flowers for your suit jackets.  I wanted blue flowers because you’re both guys, but she thought white roses would be classier.  She reminded me of Grandmother in the way she was lecturing me on selecting the proper accessories for a groom.  Finally, my last gift for your wedding is in the newspaper.  Check out Section D.  Grandma Miriam knew someone at the paper otherwise it wouldn’t be in today -- it would have been submitted way too late.  She’s pretty cool.  Oh, and get ready for this, she wants to come visit us for Christmas this year.  I bet I’ll get a great haul!  Happy wedding day.  See you later, Ethan

Reid glanced at the note.  “He needs to work on his penmanship.”

“Coming from a surgeon whose handwriting is illegible, that’s a pretty hypocritical criticism.”

“When he graduates from medical school I promise not to comment on his handwriting.  He also needs to learn to use paragraphs.”

Luke leaned over and pressed his lips tenderly to Reid’s.  “Leave the grammar lessons to his teachers and keep drinking your coffee.  I’m sure you’ll be feeling human again soon... hopefully before the ceremony.”

Reid rolled his eyes, but didn’t argue since Luke was right.  “So what’s in the paper and what the hell is Section D?”

After taking a few sips of his coffee and a big bite of a croissant, handing the rest to Reid who happily gobbled it down, Luke picked up the newspaper.

“Oh my God!”

“What is it?”  Reid felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

“It’s the Society Section.  I do so much of my reading online that I forgot those still existed.”

“Welcome to the upper crust of Boston.  Some things never disappear.”  Reid was more relaxed, having finished his first cup of coffee.  “Did my mother take credit for us meeting or something?”

Luke scanned the article.  His face reddened and his lips rolled inward.  “I think I may actually learn to like your mother, especially since she helped arrange this with Ethan.”

“Don’t make me get those damn glasses.  What’s it say?”

“Reid, I think you should put down the cup.”  Reid was beginning to get nervous.  Had his mother embarrassed him, or even worse, Luke?

“Okay, I’m ready.”

Nodding, Luke began to read again.  “Ethan Snyder, of the Walsh and Snyder families of Oakdale, Illinois, is thrilled to announce the marriage of his older brother, Luciano Snyder, philanthropist and business magnate...”

“Clearly my mother did some coaching, along with her friend at the paper.”

“Wait, you have to hear this part.”

“Okay, I’m ready.”

Shaking his head, Luke let a tear escape from his eye as he read on. “... is thrilled to announce the marriage of his older brother, Luciano Snyder, philanthropist and business magnate to his new father, Dr. Reid Oliver, world renowned neurosurgeon, originally from Boston, Massachusetts.”  Luke took a breath.  “It goes on from there, but I think you’ve got the gist of it.”

Pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes, Reid hastily walked back into the bedroom.  He made his way to the vanity, turned on the taps and splashed water on his face.

Just a few steps behind, Luke was soon standing behind him, arms wrapped around Reid’s waist.  “I told you he’d find a way to tell you when he was ready to accept you as his father.”

“He doesn’t do anything quietly, does he?  This must be a Walsh trait.”

“The first time we made love I wanted to alert the media, if you recall.”  Luke rested his chin on Reid’s shoulder.

“I’m glad I convinced you otherwise.”

Luke chuckled.  “Noah was still in town.  That might have incensed him enough to actually switch from fists to his gun.”

“Not funny, Mr. Snyder.”

“I thought it was, Dr. Oliver.”

Reid quickly untangled himself from Luke and made his way to the nightstand, picking up the hotel phone, pushing “0” for the front desk.

“Yes, this is suite 1510.  I’d like fifty copies of The Boston Globe.  Make sure they all have Section D.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Luke reached up to run his fingers over Reid’s bare chest and shoulders.

“If they can have them here in forty-five minutes, I’ll give whoever brings them a fifty dollar tip.”  He slammed the phone down, clasped his hands on the sides of Luke’s beautiful face and crashed their lips together.

“Wow, I’d marry you for a kiss like that.”

“You’d better.  Let’s get in the shower.”

“Together?  Do we have time?”

“It’s our day.  We get to do whatever we want.”

Reid couldn’t help whistling as he quickly returned to the living room, practically stuffing an entire danish down his throat in two bites and then stripping off the sweatpants as he headed for his hot young partner who was turning on the water.  “I’m a father.  I’m really a damn parent.  Not a bad deal -- not bad at all.”

Just before he joined Luke in the shower to enjoy some much desired heat, Reid’s cell phone rang.

Not bothering to look at the caller ID, he picked it up, planning to get rid of whomever it was as soon as possible.  There was much more important business waiting for him.  “Yes.”

“Reid, I’d like to come up in about an hour.”

“Wait, what?  Who is this?”  Reid focused on the voice.  “Noah?”

“Yeah, it’s me.  I’d like to see Luke before we leave for the courthouse... alone.”

“Why are you calling me?  Shouldn’t you be calling Luke?”

“He’ll see me alone if he knows you’re okay with it.  We both know you’ll have the final word on that today.”

“In an hour.  I’ll let him know you’re coming.  The rest of the decision is his.”

“See you then -- and thank you.”

“Don’t thank me.  I’m just the messenger.”

Although tempted to throw the phone across the room after he disconnected, Reid thought better of it and made his way toward the shower... and his partner.  Nothing was going to screw up today.  Everything had started out too well for that. 

Of course when the past comes to visit, it doesn’t always cooperate.  Reid just wished he knew why Noah needed to speak to Luke alone, before they headed off to get married.

[TBC]

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