The Visit

Chapter 5

“Luke!”  Katie ran up to Luke, but instead of giving him the overwhelming hug he expected she immediately kneeled in front of the double stroller.  “You two are growing bigger and cuter every minute.  We’ll be having you over for play-dates before the year is out.”

Smiling broadly, Luke listened to both Bobby and Miri giggle as Katie spoke to them in her warm loving tone as she tickled their bellies.

Looking up, Katie grinned.  “How about all five of you come over this weekend?  We can have a barbecue.  I’ll even convince Chris to let Reid help cook the hamburgers.”

Luke snorted.  “We definitely don’t want a repeat of the last picnic.  I thought those two were going to start throwing ground beef at each other over the best way to form and then grill a burger.”

“Chris still grumbles about Reid’s technique and keeping it in the operating room.”

“Maybe you and I should do the cooking and leave those two to take care of the kids and make sure Jacob and Ethan don’t kill themselves doing cannonballs into the pool.”

Katie finally stood up and gave Luke a peck on the cheek.  “I still can’t believe the boys decided to go to summer school.”

“In Ethan’s case I think it has more to do with hanging out with Andy, since he needed some catch-up classes when he moved here, than with motivation to learn.  It also gets him out of half a day of work at the farm.”

“And in Jacob’s case, it’s a way to continue keeping up with his older cousin while getting the added benefit of impressing his father.”

Luke furrowed his brow.  “Does Jacob still have problems with Chris?  I thought they were a great father and son team now.”

Katie squeezed Luke’s shoulder.  “They are, but Jacob still has issues whenever he sees Chris play with our little angel.  He has some problems understanding that the fact that Chris is not his biological father makes no difference to Chris, that he loves Jacob just as much.”

“He should watch Ethan and Reid more closely.  I sometimes think my little brother is closer to Reid because he really thinks of him as his father now.  At first it hurt.”

Katie’s eyes widened.

“Not in a jealous way, but it reminds me how little Ethan remembers our dad.”

“I know what you mean.  Even though I still have a picture or two of Brad displayed in our home, and we don’t censor old videos, Jacob can’t possibly remember him.  It must be even more difficult for you since Ethan probably does still have some tiny bits of memories but he’s not as determined to hold onto them as you wish he was.”

Nodding, Luke picked up Bobby to keep him from pulling his sister’s hair.

“When did he start that?  They’re a little young to be fighting.”  Katie snickered.

“My guess is he sees the waves whenever she moves, and he’s attracted by the ridiculous velcro bows Reid insists I put in her hair so no one mistakes her for a boy.”

“How could anyone mistake her for a boy?  She’s always in dresses.”

“Ask Reid, I’m just the nanny when it comes to these big decisions.”

The two laughed together, knowing how vigorously Reid would deny his involvement with the babies’ wardrobes and hair styling.  Luke suspected Reid also tended to focus on Miri’s blonde hair.  It was already becoming more and more obvious which baby had Luke’s DNA and which baby had Reid’s.  Miri’s hair was a mirror of Luke’s as a young child and Bobby’s sprouting soft, auburn curls were a dead giveaway.  While both father’s treated the children equally, Reid seemed to be far more attentive when Miri cried.  Luke found it heartwarming, but he wasn’t foolish enough to ever point it out to his husband.

“Although I love having you all here, my guess is this visit wasn’t intended as a pleasant surprise for me.”  Katie looked directly at Luke.

“It’s not, but I will take you up on the offer for the weekend.  I might have to pry Ethan away from Andy for the day, but knowing it’s to visit with Jacob will help.  He gets a real kick out of his cousin.”

“Good, but that still doesn’t explain your visit.”

Not wanting to reveal anything Noah may not have already shared with Katie, Luke was careful with his words.  “We’re here to visit with Noah.  He mentioned just yesterday that he wanted to see his godchildren so I figured today would be a great day to bring them.”

“Oh, I bet he’ll love the treat.  He just finished directing a difficult scene in a special we’re doing about drug and alcohol abuse in the middle and high schools across the Midwest.  Did he tell you about it?”  Katie bit her lip.

“Don’t worry.  Not only did he tell me about it, but I was one of the consultants on the project.  Let’s face it, I know more than Noah about the subject, in a way he never could.”

“You’re a good sport, and a good friend.”

“I guess making amends never really stops, and in a selfish way, I’m hoping it’ll help Ethan.”

“That’s not being selfish, it’s being loving.”  Katie gave Luke the hug he expected when he first entered WOAK.  “I think Noah’s in his office.”

“Excuse me, Mrs. Hughes.”  The receptionist interrupted them.

“Yes?”

“Mr. Mayer already has a visitor.  He signed in about thirty minutes ago and was waiting for him in his office.”

Luke knew he should get to the office quickly, hoping Noah was handling the situation better than anticipated.  “I’ll just stop in for a moment and if we’re disturbing Noah and his visitor we’ll leave.”

“Certainly, Mr. Oliver-Snyder.”  The receptionist smiled and resumed tapping her fingers on the keyboard in front of her.

“I’ll talk to you later, Katie, when I get a firm time for the weekend from Reid and Ethan.”

“Don’t forget.” 

A page for Katie came over the loudspeaker requesting her presence on set.

“Gotta go.  Don’t forget to call.”

Luke nodded, put Bobby back in the stroller, and headed to Noah’s office.  He was pleased to hear two men’s voices without any yelling.  That was a good sign -- he hoped.

Barging in unannounced, Luke plastered a smile on his face as he made eye contact with Noah.  “Hey, Noah, I just thought you might want a visit from--”  Luke turned toward the other man in the room, pretending to be surprised Noah wasn’t alone.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t know you were in a meeting.”

“I’m not.”  Noah put an arm around Luke’s shoulder and gestured toward the third adult in the room.  “Luke, this is Mason.  Do you remember him from Oakdale University?”

“Mason?”  Luke took a moment to appear to be recalling the past.  “Mason!  This is a surprise.”  Ever the polite gentleman he was raised to be, Luke offered his hand and Mason took it.

“It’s good to see you, Luke.  It’s Snyder, right?”  Mason grinned.  It was all Luke could do to hold down his breakfast.

“Actually it’s Oliver-Snyder.  I’m married.”

“Switch hitter, huh?”  Mason chuckled.

“No, I married Dr. Reid Oliver.  I don’t play games.”

“You changed your name?  That’s pretty daring, especially since your marriage isn’t legal.”

“In several states other than ours, it’s quite legal. And included in that list of other states is the State of Massachusetts, which is where we said our vows, so our marriage is legal, as is my name change.”  Luke looked at Mason.  He hadn’t changed much in the decade since Luke had last seen him.  There was some grey hair at the temples and sideburns, a scarf still hung around his neck, but other than that he looked pretty good.

“I see.  I understand Noah wanted to tie the knot too, but he stayed in neutral territory; no trips to legal land for him.”

“No, instead Noah signed, and filed, every legal document possible tying him to the man he loves.”

“Which didn’t turn out to be you after all, Luke.  Maybe I did you both a favor all those years ago.”

“I don’t know.  Noah, did Mason do us a favor?  I guess in a weird, convoluted way he may have.  If it wasn’t for him, I may have never met Reid.”  Luke snorted.

“Hey, and then he would never have brought Mark to town.”  Noah turned toward Mason.  “I guess maybe we do owe you one, but that’s about all.”

“We’ve been enjoying all these niceties, but don’t you want to know why I came?”  Mason grinned from ear to ear.  Luke hoped he or Noah could find some way to wipe that grin off his face.

“Actually, you’ve come at a very busy time.  I’m tying up an important documentary.” 

“But you’ve finished shooting for today.  I checked with your secretary.”

“Yes, but as you see, I have some very important guests here.”  Noah pointed to the babies.  “I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like, and today I’d like to take them, and their father, out to lunch.”

“By the way, Reid might join us.”  Luke winked at Noah.

“Great!”  Mason piped in.  “I’d love to get to know your friends, Noah.”

“Mason, these aren’t my friends; they’re my family.”

“Even better.  Then I can fill you all in on the fabulous opportunity I have for you.”

“I have a life, a good life, in Oakdale, with all the opportunities I could possibly want.”

“Then just humor me and let me share this one before I leave town.”

Luke rolled his eyes.  If it was possible, Mason seemed even cockier that he had all those years ago.  He also noticed Mason avoided all eye contact with the twins.  It was as if he couldn’t bear admitting Luke had a better life than anyone had ever expected him to have.

“Noah, before we leave, I’d like to feed the babies.  Would you help me?”

“Sure.”  Noah quickly took Bobby out of the stroller and accepted a bottle from Luke.  Luke then lifted Miri out of her seat and the two men sat on the sofa and began to feed the children.  “Mason, you can stay, or feel free to freshen up in your hotel room and meet us in about an hour at Al’s.”

“Still slumming it at the local dive.”  Mason laughed, trying to make a joke, but Luke wanted none of it.  All the reasons he couldn’t stand Mason came rushing back in huge crashing waves.

“Actually, the food is good at Al’s, and we enjoy the atmosphere, we’re not out to impress anyone with where we eat, we eat there because we want to. Should we ever wish to impress someone, we would take him or her to the Lakeview. But we aren’t out to impress anyone today, are we?”  Luke smirked.

“Of course not, Luke.”

“So Al’s it is.  Good.  See you in an hour.”

Mason left the office without saying another word.

“Noah, why the hell is he here?”

“I still don’t know.  He’s been sticking to small talk and compliments about my achievements the entire time he’s been here.  It’s kind of creeping me out.”  Noah looked at Bobby as he continued to gobble down his formula.  “Thanks for coming, Luke.”

“Reid wasn’t thrilled with the idea of using the babies as support or decoys or whatever, but he knew I wanted to help you.  He wants to help Mark, so he really will be joining us for lunch.”

“Mason and Reid at the same table.  This should be interesting.”  Noah shook his head.

“Just be glad Mark had a long surgery today otherwise I think he’d be joining us too.”

Noah nodded as the two continued to feed the twins, with the hope they would fall asleep, before their lunch at Al’s.

[TBC]

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