In-Laws

Part 11

“Why does he want to see me now?”  Luke looked in the mirror, adjusting his tie.  “Can’t it wait until after the wedding?”  He couldn’t seem to get his tie just right so he unknotted it and started again.

“I’m just relaying the message.  As far as I’m concerned it’s entirely up to you whether you see him or not.”  Reid’s tie and collar were perfectly aligned, but Luke gently ran his hands over the collar to ensure everything was in place.

“How did he seem on the phone?  Was he nervous, on edge?”

“Not nearly as uptight as you are right now.”  Reid took Luke’s hand and guided him to the living room sofa.  “Look, I haven’t spoken to Noah on the phone since he was my patient.  You’re the one who tried to maintain a friendship with him.  I’m not sure I ever had one.”

“Does it bother you that I want to have him in my life -- as a friend?”

Tenderly cupping Luke’s chin, Reid softly kissed him.  “Not at all.  In case you don’t remember, even when Noah was still in Oakdale I always felt secure in our relationship, once it finally got going.  And after you told me you were in love with me, I knew exactly where I stood.”

“You amaze me.”  Luke smiled.  Reid had his vulnerable moments over the years, but none of them ever had to do with jealousy, or concern that Luke would leave him.  Even more surprising, Luke knew he could count on Reid.  Despite any roadblocks and bumps life sent their way, the one thing Luke would always have is Reid by his side.

He knew there would be a time, sooner rather than later, when he’d have to have another kidney transplant.  His name had recently been entered on the active list.  Reid remained cool even though Luke was fully aware it was eating him up inside.  Unfortunately, even the great Dr. Reid Oliver couldn’t completely cure Luke’s health problems.  But what he could, and would, do was make sure the surgery was done perfectly, and by the best doctor in the world, thus ensuring that Luke would have every chance to be as well as possible, given his medical history.

Knowing Reid was in his life gave Luke a reason to wake up every morning and he planned to make sure his spouse knew he was deeply appreciated. 

“Reid, this meeting with Noah.  Please tell me you don’t mind.”  If there was the slightest bit of apprehension, Luke had no intention of going through with it.  Reid came first and he had to make that clear.

“It’s okay.  You’re marrying me today, not Noah.  Although I think five years ago, Mr. Mayer might have tried to coax you away from me, I would venture to say he’s acutely aware of how we feel about each other now.”

“It doesn’t matter whether he’s aware of how much I love you or not.  Nothing he could say would ever cause me to leave you.”

“I figured.”

Luke chuckled.  “You did, did you?”

“Just a hunch.”

Wrapping his arms around Reid, Luke held on as if his life depended on it.  “I wouldn’t be who I am today without you.”

“You sound very emotional, Mr. Snyder.  You may want to pace yourself.  It’s going to be a long day.”

“I never have to pace myself where you’re concerned.  There’s always more to give.”

Reid rolled his lips inward and subtly nodded.

Before either man could say another word there was a knock at the door.  Reid’s eyes widened.  “My guess is that’s for you.”

“Promise me you’ll wait in the bedroom.”

“You sure?  I can leave the room; take a walk.”

“No.  I want you close.  Please.”

Reid raised his hands in surrender.  “Okay, but you tell Noah.”

Opening the door, Luke gazed at Noah.  He looked handsome, dressed in his suit and tie, hair gelled just right.  It reminded him of the New Year’s Eve after Noah helped him regain use of his legs -- the night Metro opened.  “Come on in.”

“Hi Luke.”  Noah glanced across the room.  “Reid.  I didn’t think you’d be here.”

“My partner must think I’m going to fly the coop.  He asked me to stay in the other room.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t concern yourself.  I’ll wear my headphones and catch up on some emails from work.”

Noah lowered his head.  “You don’t have to do that.  I trust you won’t be holding a glass to the door.”

Offering a half smile, Reid left the room, closing the bedroom door behind him.

Looking at the leftovers from their earlier breakfast, Luke turned toward Noah.  “Would you like some coffee?”

“No, I’m fine.  I don’t want to keep you too long.  We don’t want to be late getting to the Judge’s chamber.”

“So you’re not here to tell me I’m making a huge mistake and it’s bad enough Reid and I have a domestic partnership agreement, not to make it legal too?”

Noah huffed.  “There’s no point in wasting my breath, is there?”

Grinning, Luke relaxed a bit, walked over to one of the armchairs flanking the sofa, and sat down.  “No point whatsoever.  Care to have a seat?”

Nodding, Noah sat at the end of the sofa closest to Luke.  “I had a good talk with Reid yesterday.  He gave me some sound advice, and he wasn’t his usual acerbic self.”

“He’s getting mellower with age, although he looks like he hasn’t aged a day since I met him.”

“My guess is you have a lot to do with keeping him young.  You’re always so full of life, Luke.”

Getting impatient for the day’s events to get underway, decided Noah had long enough to get to the point.  “Noah, why did you want to talk to me this morning?”

Taking a deep breath, Noah placed a hand on Luke’s knee.  “I’ve done a lot of thinking and made a few phone calls yesterday when Kevin went out to pick up some dinner for us.”

“Kevin.  I still can’t believe you’re actually with him?  Talk about shocking revelations.”

“Well, here’s another one -- I don’t think we’ll be together much longer.”

“Planning on breaking up?”  Luke couldn’t help feeling good about that.  He didn’t trust Kevin and probably never would.  While Luke made many mistakes as a teen and college student, too many of them were as a result of his unfortunate entanglements with Kevin.  Sometimes guilt by association doesn’t let go.

“I think a break up between Kevin and me is inevitable.  Getting together with him was probably more because he was from Oakdale than anything else.”

“Attachment to home.  Noah, I would have thought by now that LA had become your home.”

Noah shook his head.  “I miss the family.  Although I know it’s really yours, they were the only family I ever knew who genuinely cared about me.”

“They are your family.  You know you can always come back.  Reid and I are a solid couple, and with the addition of Ethan we’re a family.  This isn’t like when you left.  The only difference is, you’ll have to be around us and not let it get to you.”  Luke watched the tension in Noah’s shoulders visibly fade before his eyes.

“I called Katie last night.”

“She called us this morning to wish us the best.”

Noah bit his lip.

“What is it you’re not telling me?”

“We talked for a while and she asked if I was interested in producing and directing at WOAK.”

Luke sat up in his seat and leaned forward.  “You’re kidding?  That’s great.”  Then he quickly backpedalled.  “Did you take the offer?”

“That’s why I’m here.  I want to make sure it won’t make you angry to have me back in town.  I know your foundation does a lot of promotional work at the station.  My goal isn’t to make your life miserable or uncomfortable.”

Wanting to make sure Noah listened and heard him, Luke paused to gather his thoughts.  “Five years ago I told you I wanted to be your friend.  I didn’t want you to walk out of my life forever, just play a new role.”  He took Noah’s hand and held it between both of his.  “It would mean a lot to have you back home where you belong.  I still think about the good times we had.  I miss you.”

“I do too.  I’ve thought a lot about all we’ve been through together.  I can’t believe I wanted to throw it all away because of misplaced pride.”

“Does this mean Oakdale is about to get a big Hollywood director in their midst?”

Noah chuckled.  “No.  It means WOAK is about to get a small-time Hollywood assistant director who now has the experience to work in a station that size and maybe even give it a bump up in the ratings.”

“I bet Katie will be over the moon when you tell her.  And Faith and Natalie will get Uncle Noah back in their lives.”

“They never called me that.”  Noah tilted his head.

“No, but I think they thought of you as a real member of the family -- just as much as Jack and Carly.”

“I’ll tell Kevin tonight, when we head directly back to LA.  No need to spoil your big day with his anger or resentment.”

“Thank you.  I appreciate you thinking of me.”

“I wasn’t just thinking of you.  Reid’s a good guy.  One thing’s for sure.  He’ll take care of you and Ethan with everything he’s got.”

“I know.  He already does.”

Noah nodded.  “Luke?”

The two rose as Luke started to walk Noah to the door.  “Yeah, Noah?”

“When we were young, I loved you as much as a twenty-one year old could love another person.  If we’d met later, when we were older, maybe things would have been different.”  Noah huffed.  “Hell, maybe I still would have been too insecure to ever come out.  I just want you to know, I’ll always love you and the past we shared, but I’m ready to love you as a good friend now.”

“So, you’re not in love with me anymore?”  Luke didn’t want to ask, but he needed to make sure everything was completely clear if he was going to let Noah into his life with Reid and Ethan.

“If things had turned out differently years ago, I probably would be, but no.  I’m not in love with you.  I think it’s time I found someone new.  Someone who cares about me as much as I care about him.”

Luke couldn’t refrain from smiling broadly.  He was thrilled to know Noah would be part of his world again.  They’d meant so much to each other, and been through too much triumph and tragedy.  When Noah left, it was like he took a piece of Luke with him and now he’d finally be complete.  He’d have his Reid... yes, he belonged to him, in the same way Luke belonged to Reid... and now he’d have Noah as part of his family as well. 

Opening the door, Luke remembered something amusing.  “By the way, Noah, there’s actually a gay bar just outside Oakdale, and Metro seems to be attracting more and more same sex couples and gay singles.  The hospital’s critical acclaim and expansion has brought in a much more diverse population from Chicago and the East Coast.”  Luke smoothed down Noah’s lapel.  “I don’t think you’ll be single for long.”

Laughing as he walked out of the suite, Noah turned back for a moment.  “You’re the one getting married today.  Let’s focus on one couple at a time.”

When the door closed, Luke quickly crossed the room to open the door to the bedroom.  “Reid Oliver!”

Reid took the earbuds out and looked up from his laptop.  “You paged me, Mr. Snyder?”

“Yes, there’s an emergency only you can handle.”

Smirking, Reid set aside the computer and stood in front of Luke.  “And what kind of emergency would that be?”

“I desperately need to marry the love of my life.”

Shaking his head, but smiling nonetheless, Reid straightened his tie.  “I can do that.  Let’s go get our kid and get married.”

Luke grabbed Reid’s hand and squeezed, his tone of voice turning serious.  “Noah’s moving home to work at WOAK.”

“And arrange an easy separation from his current beau?”

“It’ll help make the break up easier.”

“You’re not upset, are you?”  Luke held his breath.

“I know I’m the love of your life.”  Reid smiled coyly.

Laughing out loud, Luke straightened his soon-to-be spouse’s collar and tie.  “And...”

“... And ditto for me.”

Giving Reid a peck on the cheek, Luke took his hand as they left their room.  “Then let’s get hitched.”

[TBC]

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