In-Laws

Part 6

Ethan bounded down the steps of the private jet and ran across the tarmac into Luke’s outstretched arms. 

“Hey, buddy, I missed you.”  Luke was clearly the most caring older brother any of his younger siblings could hope for.  Reid wondered for at least the hundredth time if Ethan, Natalie, and Faith truly appreciated having Luke in their lives.

“Reid, I hear you’re finally gonna make a legally honest man out of my big brother.  It’s about friggin’ time!”

Grabbing Ethan and swinging him around, Reid laughed.  “Who told you to say that cheesy line?”

“Who do you think?”  Ethan jabbered on.  “Duh, Katie!  But I added the friggin’ part.”  Ethan wiggled out of Reid’s arms and spun around, looking toward the top of the staircase exiting the airplane.  “Look who came with me.  He let me use his video camera.”

“I see Mr. Mayer is about to join us.”  Even after so much time had passed, Reid instinctively clenched his jaw at the sight of Luke’s ex.  Almost immediately he spotted another young man, an extremely attractive brunet, exit the plane.  He waved to Luke as he began to slowly make his way down the steps.  “Who’s Noah’s friend?”

“Holy shit.”  Luke whispered as the color drained from his cheeks.

“Luke, are you okay?  I know the doctor did a few precautionary tests, but she seemed satisfied with your condition.  Do you feel sick?”  Reid was beginning to panic.  He noticed Luke shove his shaking hands into his jeans pockets.

“I haven’t seen him in years.  What’s Noah doing with him?”

“Luke, time to communicate.  I could use a name here.”  Reid put an arm around Luke’s shoulders and his other hand rested on Ethan’s back.

Chiming in, Ethan pointed at the good looking stranger.  “That’s Kevin, Noah’s friend.”

Reid ran the name through his mind, trying to tick off a list of every person he’d met since he arrived in Oakdale nearly six years earlier.  There seemed to be an endless list of Snyder and Walsh relatives, but he was sure Kevin wasn’t one of them.  Reid had finally met Luke’s older brother Aaron at their commitment ceremony.  The guy wasn’t too bad and it was obvious he loved his brother -- that was all Reid gave a damn about anyway.

Yet the name Kevin did ring a bell.  Shit!  He was supposed to have a photographic memory.  Why couldn’t he remember?  Where, and in relation to what, had he heard this guy’s name mentioned?  Somehow Reid kept returning to thoughts of Luke’s kidney and finally he remembered.  Drinking, first crush, drinking, coming out, drinking, homophobic jackass, drinking, election, drinking, a cease fire, but still Luke continued to drink -- everything ultimately resulting in his expulsion from college.  Although he’d never said it to Luke, when Reid heard the account of Kevin’s reaction to Luke coming out, the first thought that crossed his mind was, Me thinks he doth protest too much.

When he’d worked in Dallas he’d treated a head trauma case where a teen came out and another classmate beat the crap out of him.  When the kid decided to flee the long arm of the Dallas police, it wasn’t long before the nurses in the hospital were whispering about the attacker running to San Francisco to be one of them too.

As Kevin and Noah approached, Reid tightened his grip on Luke.  He whispered in his ear, “You’re both grownups now.  Let him tell you why he’s here.  You’re strong; you can handle it.”  Shaking his head he recalled one of the frequent descriptions of Noah as ‘sensitive’ -- Reid and Luke were getting friggin’ married -- how could a sensitive person bring along someone who used to drive Luke to drink?

“Luke!  It’s great to see you.  You’re looking good.”  Kevin offered his hand and Luke pulled one of his from his pocket to shake it.  That was his Luke, always polite and socially correct.

“Kevin, I’m surprised to see you.”

Good thing he didn’t tell him he was happy to see him or I might have intervened with an honesty check.  Reid refrained from sharing his own thoughts for the time being.

“It was the craziest thing.  After I graduated with a Poli-Sci degree, I got a job as an aide for a senator in California.  I met Noah there about two years ago when the production company he worked for was hired to do a campaign spot.  We’ve been hanging out ever since.”

Luke glared at Noah. 

Good, make Mr. Mayer sweat. 

“Funny, how he never mentioned it once since we’ve been back in touch.”  Reid wasn’t sure, but he could swear he heard Luke grind his teeth.

Noah was all smiles.  “I figured this would be a fun surprise since neither one of us have been able to come visit Illinois until now.  When we arrived and found out you were away, both of us were really disappointed.”

“Why?” 

Go Luke.  Handle them both with one word.

Noah was clueless -- still all smiles.  Had he ever really paid attention to Luke when they were together, or had it always been about how everything affected Noah?  Reid had given him the benefit of the doubt in the past; they had been young, barely men.  But now there was no excuse for thinking Luke would want Mr. Bad Influence anywhere near him, let alone this week.

Staring directly at Luke, Kevin grinned.  “I wanted to see you... with Noah.  It was me that told him not to tell you about us, even when he started emailing you again.”

“Us?”  Luke looked from Kevin to Noah and back again.  “You’ve got to be kidding.”  Lowering his head, Reid sensed Luke going weak in the knees and gave him another tight squeeze of support, helping him regain his composure.

“I knew it.  I just knew it,” Reid mumbled.

Ethan looked up at Reid.  “What’d you know?”

“Nothing kid.  Just thinking about an old case in Dallas.” 

“Kevin told me he was best friends with Luke when they were in high school and now he’s going out with Noah.  Isn’t that cool?”

Luke was frozen in place.  Reid remembered the adolescent pain of having a crush on someone and finding out he was unquestionably straight.  This was a new one for him.

Kevin gently touched Luke’s arm.  Reid was sure his partner would have jumped out of his skin if he hadn’t been holding him steady.  “I know, it’s crazy isn’t it Luke? It took me until I moved to LA to realize I liked to switch-hit.

“So you’re bi?”  Luke glared at Noah.  “And you, knowing everything you know about him, you’re okay with that?”

“We’re exclusive, Luke.  Nothing else matters.  You know how important loyalty is to me.”

Reid huffed and Luke had the decency to bite his lip.  It was better than biting off anyone’s head in front of the kid.

“Mr. Mayer, a piece of advice... from everything I’ve ever heard about your boyfriend, I wouldn’t stop buying those cond--” 

Luke slapped his hand over Reid’s mouth.  “Reid!”

“Just giving out some free, and probably extremely useful, medical advice from a health professional.” 

Ethan got between Reid and Noah, neither of whom was smiling anymore.  “Luke texted to tell me we’re having lunch with your mom today.  I finally get to meet my third grandmother.”

Rolling his eyes, Reid patted Ethan on the shoulder.  “Yeah, kid.  That’s where we’re heading as soon as we grab the luggage.”  Reid watched as Luke silently picked up Ethan’s duffle, unmistakable as it had patches from a variety of different breeds of horses, a passion he shared with his older brother.  “You two can manage your own bags, can’t you?” Reid tossed over his shoulders toward their adult visitors.

Rather than chastise him for getting sarcastic with their guests, Luke suddenly wrapped his arms around Reid and crashed their lips together. 

When they parted, Reid ghosted his fingers over Luke’s cheek.  “You’re welcome.”

*~*~*~*~*

Having arranged for a small limo for the remainder of their stay in Boston, the foursome were dropped off at an Italian restaurant in the North End.  They arrived at the same time as Miriam Oliver.

After making the introductions they were quickly seated at a round table near the back of the dining room.  It was already getting far later than it should be for lunch so everyone placed their orders quickly.

Mrs. Oliver leaned close to Reid.  “I’m trying to be sensitive, son, but I get the feeling this is not as welcome a visit as I thought it would be.”

Reid whispered back.  “It’s about as welcome as learning you need a tooth extraction.”

“I see.  They seem polite and they work with important people in California.  Why are they here?”

Reid rolled his eyes.  “Because of Noah.”

Miriam’s eyes narrowed as she glanced at Luke’s distant ex but kept her tongue for the moment.  Ever the organizer, she continued aloud, “I spoke to Judge Parker.  Reid, do you remember him.  He was your father’s Bridge partner for years.”

Reid shrugged.  “I wasn’t at those Bridge games, how should I know who he is?”

“Well, he’ll be the one marrying you and Luke tomorrow... if you’re still going through with it.”  She kept looking toward Luke.

Finally sitting up straighter and taller in his chair, Luke returned the woman’s gaze.  “Of course we’re getting married.  Nothing’s going to stop me, especially now that I have Ethan to stand by my side.”

“I was just the ring bearer the first time around -- with Jacob.  It’s about time I got promoted.”

“You are quite a forthright young man.  You do seem to say whatever comes to mind.”  Mrs. Oliver tilted her head.

“Reid told me never to censor myself -- so I don’t.”

Kevin laughed; it irritated Reid to even hear any sounds from him.  “I guess Reid didn’t tell you about being politically correct.”

“He told me being PC was for cowards.  I’m not a coward.”

Luke smirked and rested his hand on Reid’s thigh under the table.  “He did, did he?  I think that’s excellent advice.”

“Do you, dear?”  Mrs. Oliver seemed to stiffen.  Reid assumed she knew something was brewing, he just hadn’t had a chance to tell her.  “Sometimes silence is golden and less is more.  I tried to teach that to Reid when he was younger.”

Noah laughed.  “I don’t think those lessons sunk in.”

Reid decided to ignore the jab since it was based on old, long worn out jealousies he was trying to rise above himself.

Still smirking, Luke glared at Kevin.  “So, Kev,” the named spilled out of Luke’s mouth accompanied by as much venom he could muster, “now that you’re playing for our team, do you have any regrets about what an asshole you were in high school?  Because I’ve gotta say, coming here may rival the nerviest thing you’ve done to me yet.”  He quickly turned toward Miriam.  “Sorry, Mrs. Oliver.  I normally try to be more polite and lean toward the politically correct, but some people don’t deserve it.”

All eyes were on Kevin.  Reid was surprised to see Noah not holding his boyfriend’s hand or supporting him in any visible manner.

“Luke, can’t we leave the past behind and just forget about it?”

“Let’s see Kevin, I nearly didn’t make it through high school, and you know why.”  Reid was glad Luke refrained from using the words nearly died in front of Ethan.  “I got kicked out of college because of the emotional baggage I was still carrying as far as you were concerned and the way it impacted my decisions.  And now, you show up, having converted to the dark side and dating my ex, who despite some stupid choices on both our parts, I think deserves a lot better, because I don’t think he can trust you, or your motives.”

Reid placed his hand over the one Luke still had resting on his thigh and squeezed, for once, choosing to remain completely silent.  This was Luke’s show.

Clearly, Ethan didn’t agree.  “Did you screw around with my big brother?  He’s the best, you jerk.”

Luke brushed his hand through Ethan’s hair.  “Thanks for the back-up, Eth, but I can handle this one now.  What he doesn’t know is that when I grew up and met Reid he helped me become a better person.  A lot better than he’ll ever be.  And I’m much better at who I select for friends now.”

“Like Chris, Katie, and Jacob?”

Reid couldn’t help himself.  “You’re related to Katie.”

“Doesn’t mean we have to like her.”

Chuckling, Reid nodded.  “True, kid.”

Smiling genuinely at Ethan, Luke nodded.  “Yeah, like Chris, Katie, and Jacob... and Noah.  He’ll always be a good friend.  Others have to earn our trust.  Never forget that, Ethan.”

The waiter brought everyone their meals and silence blissfully reigned over the table, but Reid suspected Luke and Kevin needed to hash this out before the appointment with the judge the next day.  It was refreshing to see Noah staying calm and keeping his fists in check.  He didn’t think his mother could stand anyone getting punched in the nose over perceived territorial issues.

It was going to be a long day, and for the first time in years, Reid was glad his mother was in the picture.  A grin crept across Reid’s face as an idea formed.  She just might come in handy after all.

[TBC]

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