Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
Tuesday, November 19, 10:15 A.M.
“Looking good, Walt.”
Madoc huffed a soft laugh. Every time he thought that ridiculous nickname had faded from the crews’ collective consciousness, it came back to surprise him.
“Thanks, Chen. You’re looking sharp, too,” he replied.
Madoc and Paramedic Regina Chen were in their dress uniforms, white shirts and gloves bright against their dark brown jackets and trousers while they waited for the ceremony to begin. Thirty-four Academy recruits would graduate and six department promotions announced that morning in Historic Faneuil Hall, while the mayor and Commissioner of Public Health looked on and someone special to each graduate or promotee pinned their badges to their uniforms.
“My wife’s nervous about the badging,” Chen said. “Which is funny considering she’s a lawyer and stands in front of judges all the time. Is your kid badging you?”
“Yes.” Madoc grinned. “She got to skip school for this, so it’s a big deal for her, especially with Gus being promoted at the same time.”
“Aw.” Chen’s smile turned indulgent. “That’s really sweet. I’ll bet you and Dawson have the biggest cheering section out there today.”
“We could have the loudest,” said a voice on Madoc’s left and then Gus was there, eyes crinkling at the corners with his smile and so gorgeous in his uniform with his eight-point hat under one arm. “Madoc’s girl and my ma are going to clap for everyone,” he explained to Chen. “They know some of us can’t have family here today and don’t want anyone feeling left out.”
Madoc took Gus’s hand. He hadn’t made a big deal about coming out at work. He’d simply been honest with Connor, Olivia, Stark, and a few others about who Gus had become to him and why they’d gone undercover at first. But Madoc didn’t take moments like this for granted, very aware of how lucky he was to have the freedom to be open about who he was.
At 10:30 A.M., the doors at the front of the room were thrown open and Madoc, Gus, and the other promotees led the way into The Great Hall with the recruit class marching behind, their boots thumping against the hardwood floors. A market and meeting place since 1742, The Great Hall had seen the beginnings of the War for Independence and hosted impassioned speakers over the years ranging from presidents to abolitionists to women’s suffragists. Today, however, its rows of wood seats on the main floor and second-story seating galleries were filled with the families and friends of the Boston EMS crews and the mood in the air was festive.
Madoc recognized faces on his march down the long center aisle to the stage, including Olivia and her son with Connor and Judah, and Bobby Stark with Guzman and a pack of Gus’s firefighter buddies. But Madoc’s pulse picked up when Valerie waved at him from her seat in the second row where she was flanked by Tarek and the Dawsons.
A cozy feeling wrapped around Madoc’s heart as he watched Valerie whisper excitedly to Gus’s ma. He was a big fan of Layla, Steven, and Donna, all of them as funny, smart, and loving as their son and loyal to their core. They doted on Valerie and Madoc, and knowing he had them in his corner—that he was safe being himself around them—still blew him away.
For a second, Madoc wished he was among the audience looking on as the promotees and recruits filed into rows of reserved seats at the front of the room and the honor guard followed behind, solemn as they bore the Massachusetts state and Boston EMS flags to the front of the room. He loved that Valerie got to be a part of this. That all the effort Madoc had put in to restarting his career was about to be recognized while he stood beside Gus, the person Madoc wanted to share everything with: his endeavors and passions, his struggles, successes, and home.
Madoc knew they were headed that way, though he and Gus had agreed not to rush into anything, both mindful of the emotional ups and downs they and Valerie had endured over the last couple of years. So, Gus had hung on to his studio, using it mostly as a study place now that he’d gone back to school. He spent the majority of his off-hours at Madoc’s though and made sure the Walters saw him every day, knowing they wanted him there with them.
“History has been made in this room,” Mayor Cesario said now as she surveyed the crowd, “and I’m delighted to know we’re making it again here today. With thirty-three recruits, this is the largest graduating class in over a decade, more than half of whom are women, and we’re recognizing two double promotions, a number I’m told is unprecedented.”
Madoc smiled when Gus pressed the side of his knee against Madoc’s.
“People who work in EMS often say that the work you all do is a calling,” the mayor continued. “And as EMTs and paramedics, I know you step into difficult, often dangerous situations every day and meet people who are at their most frightened and vulnerable.”
Setting her hand over her heart, Mayor Cesario looked along the rows of recruits and promotees. “You don’t hear it enough, but I want to thank you on behalf of the citizens of Boston for caring so well for your patients while also preserving their dignity each time you put on your uniforms and ride out into our city.”
A buzz rose from the crowd when it came time for the badging, the Superintendent of Boston EMS walking onstage with two captains who would assist with the proceedings. The promotees gathered on the left side of the stage and those pinning them on the right, and as each name was read out, Madoc imagined he heard Valerie’s and Layla’s cheers among the applause, their commitment to ensuring every promotee and recruit got some love going strong.
“Promoted to the rank of Paramedic, Madoc Walters,” the captain at the podium said, “to be badged by his daughter Valerie Walters with assistance from Tarek McKenna. Paramedic Walters is also a member of the recruit graduating class and the first of today’s double promotions.”
There were whoops and applause as Madoc crossed the stage to Valerie and Tarek and God, he was so proud of his confident girl, the practice she’d put in for this moment with Madoc, Gus, and Tarek on full display. Valerie shook hands with the officials, then received Madoc’s badge, and she was impossibly grown up when she turned toward Madoc. She looked heartbreakingly pretty, her curls falling loose over the shoulders of her scarlet dress, a soft knitted number Gus’d helped Madoc pick out that boasted a pattern of teeny cat faces.
There were murmurs and cameras clicking as Madoc took a knee, the presence of a former NHL star by Valerie’s side perhaps generating some added excitement. Madoc didn’t care about any of it though, too wrapped up in the pride he read on his family’s faces.
“Congratulations, Daddy,” Valerie whispered, badging him with a big smile. “Me and Uncle T and Gus are wicked proud of you.”
“Thank you, honey,” Madoc whispered back. He opened his arms so she could step in for a hug. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
He kept her close when he rose to hug Tarek and shake hands with the officials, and they posed for the department’s official photos before heading off the stage, just making it off as the last promotee’s name was announced.
“Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, August Dawson, badged by his parents, Layla and Steven Dawson. Lieutenant Dawson is also promoted to the rank of Paramedic today and is the second of our double promotions.”
Cheers and whistles rang out, and Madoc quickly scooped Valerie up so she could see over the crowd and clap loudly for them both, her hands over her head and her smile broad.
Gus’s face was easily visible above Layla’s head, shining with a delight Madoc felt from across the room as she badged him. Lots of cameras flashed for Gus too because he was a little bit ‘famous’ among the EMS ranks. But then he stepped back and looked past his ma and pops and everyone else, searching out Madoc and Valerie. He smiled when he found them, his gaze locking with Madoc’s and holding, all the pride and love Madoc felt for his man reflected right back at him.
“Proud of you,” Madoc mouthed, and grinned when Gus did the same.
After the ceremony, the Dawson and Walters parties journeyed to the Seaport where they met up with more friends at the BBQ Shack on the water, and as Gus glanced around, his chest swelled with satisfaction.
His sister was sharing a basket of sweet potato fries with Felipe, Connor, and little Titus, while Judah and Lucky Guzman talked movies with Gus’s pops. Gus’s ma and Olivia were at the next table with Tarek, Ian, and Ian’s boyfriend Tris, the group talking about Tarek’s days playing pro hockey. And Madoc and Valerie were just returning from feeding money into the jukebox, the pair of them so fucking cute Gus could hardly stand it.
“Hello, my honey!” Valerie said brightly as she sidled up to Gus. “Are you having fun?”
“I’m having a blast, Valley Girl, and thank you for asking.” Shifting slightly, Gus slipped his arm around her. “How about you?”
“I love this day.” Valerie helped herself to an onion ring from Gus’s plate and bit deep. “The ce-re-mo-ny for you ’n Daddy ’n everyone else was super cool,” she said past her chewing, “especially the part with the radio.”
Gus met Madoc’s beaming expression over the table. Every graduation ceremony capped off with the recruit class being officially acknowledged via a formal radio communication with dispatch, an old-fashioned gesture that Gus had always loved.
“All units, please stand by for a special announcement from Command 4,” the dispatcher said. “Command 4, go ahead.”
An expectant hush hung over The Great Hall, every eye on the superintendent at the podium with his radio. Gus’s attention shifted to Madoc though, who was watching the proceedings with rapt attention.
“Command 4,” the superintendent said solemnly. “Dispatch, please log on the graduates of Recruit Class Two, 2024. They have completed their assignment at the academy and are assigned to field operations at Boston EMS. We wish them good luck and godspeed.”
The briefest of pauses followed before the dispatcher replied with equal gravitas, “Message received, Command 4. Congratulations and welcome to the department, Academy Class Two, 2024.”
Hoots and hollers rang through The Great Hall, the applause joyful, and abruptly, Valerie was there with Gus and Madoc, having scooted past the knees of the people in the row behind them so she could squeeze her way into a group hug with an arm around each of their necks.
Gus found himself blinking back tears. Technically, Madoc had graduated months prior and received his badge and certificate in a much less formal ceremony held at Station 1. But the day still felt special to Gus, his chest swelling with pride for his guy. His own graduation had been profoundly bittersweet, his pride in his accomplishment shadowed by the losses of his firefighting career and Beni while his relationship with Ian hung in tatters. Gus had only happiness in him today though, particularly with Valerie there to share in her daddy’s success.
After lunch, Gus and Madoc hugged their friends and fam goodbye, then walked back to the apartment with the Bug and Tarek, making plans to meet up for dinner and a game night in a few days. Tarek headed off to prepare for a new client, but he made a point of congratulating Gus once again with a friendly, genuine smile.
Things were much easier between Gus and Tarek these days, Tarek having stopped with the snotty remarks while Gus worked at not bristling if the dude so much as breathed. It had to be weird for Tarek being around the person who’d stepped into the space his sister had chosen to leave behind, doubly so seeing as that person was male and Tarek wasn’t quite cool with the gays. But Noelene checked in on the family often and, with the help of her therapist, was feeling more grounded, enough that Tarek had begun to move on himself.
Princess Lemonade Small Void Kitty, however, remained steadfast in her attempts to murder Tarek with her glares.
Gus bent now so his furry rebel could hop up onto his shoulders, and Madoc closed the apartment door behind them while Valerie sprinted off to her room. She surprised Gus with a quick return though, holding a flat package wrapped in rainbow glittery paper aloft like a prize.
“I have a present for you, my dear Gusberry!” she sang. “And I want you to open it!”
Gus raised his eyebrows at her. Together, they’d gifted Madoc a new tie bar bearing the city’s seal and an engraving on the back to mark his promotion. But Gus hadn’t expected any gifts for himself and said as much while Valerie herded him to the couch.
“The present isn’t for pro-mo-tions,” she explained when he was seated and had handed Lemonade off to Madoc. “It’s for Tuesday because that’s one of my favorite days of the week.”
“Well, all right then.” Gus chuckled as she laid the package on his lap. “And you’re sure you want me to open this now?”
“Yes!” Boosting herself up onto the cushion beside Gus, Valerie waved at Madoc to get comfortable on her other side. “Daddy did the wrapping paper so it would look fancy.”
“The idea was all Val’s, though,” Madoc said. “I just did my best to help.”
“Nuh-uh, Daddy. You helped a lot because I told you what needed to happen.”
Gus grinned at the banter as he unwrapped the package, which was sized and shaped like a school notebook. Under the glittery paper, however, was a pale green hardcover volume unlike any Gus’d ever seen.
Twelve Facts I Know About A Wild Gusberry
The title was bold and purple with grinning creatures Gus immediately recognized as drawn by Valerie gamboling on and around the words. Spangled ponies kept company with ladybugs, honeybees, and butterflies, while a small black cat looked on from atop the ‘s’ in ‘Gusberry’.
Astonished, Gus stared wordlessly at the book for several seconds before looking to Valerie. “Did you make me a coloring book?”
“I made you a story book,” Valerie clarified. “And it’s all facts I know about you! Daddy helped me get all the spelling right an’ I did the drawings,” she said. “Then we put everything in a box and sent it away to the bookmaker people!”
“To a shop out in Northampton, really,” Madoc said when Gus glanced at him. “They turn kids’ art into keepsakes and were stoked to work with Val on her project.”
“I colored you in on every page, Gus.” Valerie leaned over and opened the book for him. “Because I know you don’t like to draw yourself.”
Gus smiled at her, but his throat was so thick it took him a second to reply. He could tell a great deal of thought and work had gone into this project and that significant time spent drawing and writing before the pages were organized into a package for printing.
“Thank you, hon,” he said when he could. “This is one of the coolest gifts anyone’s ever given me.”
Valerie preened a little, then turned her eyes to the open page. “Fact One,” she said. “Gus’s favorite drink of all time is coffee.”
A laugh immediately rose in Gus’s chest. “I can’t argue that.”
Nor any of the facts that followed. From his ice cream of choice to his favorite rainy-day activity, each captured a detail Valerie had learned about him. That Gus liked to box and play basketball. Sometimes jumped around when he watched baseball games on TV. Made up silly songs while he did housework.
An adorable drawing accompanied the facts, a cute, smiley cartoon Gus with a nicely detailed prosthesis looking red-cheeked over breakfast in Fact Six ( Gus puts spicy ketchup on eggs so his face catches fire ), shaking the paw of a huge gray Hank in Fact Five (Gus makes friends with giant dogs) , and bearing an ink-colored fur ball on his shoulder in Fact Ten (Gus tamed a wild kitty who needed a home) . A square-shouldered, equally smiley Madoc also appeared in some of the drawings, as did a spritely, pigtailed Valerie whose expressions bore an uncanny resemblance to her real-life versions.
“Fact Eleven,” she said now, turning to a drawing of the cartoon Gus and Valerie seated aboard a train car underground. “Gus is a really good listener because he always waits for his turn to talk.”
Gus ran a hand over Valerie’s hair. He’d come to regard the conversations they’d shared on their way to and from school as a turning point for them both. Valerie had learned that Gus didn’t expect her to put on a happy face for him if she wasn’t feeling it. And Gus’d started to fall in love with the Walters without ever meaning to.
He was falling all over again now, dazzled and truly moved at the way this child had depicted him, all bright colors and strong lines, little face wreathed with sunny expressions. Happy, because that was how Valerie saw him.
Seeming to sense the change in Gus’s mood, Madoc slipped his arm around Gus’s shoulders and gave him a squeeze, a comforting touch he leaned into as Valerie turned the page to reveal a drawing of the blanket fort, three figures inside it and Princess Lemonade with her stuffed banana curled at their feet.
“Fact Twelve,” Valerie said, her gaze no longer on the book at all but on Gus, and her smile the slightest bit shy. “Gus makes my family happy, and I love him a lot.”
Gus’s breath caught. He’d experienced some wicked highs today. Watched stars light Madoc’s eyes as they’d helped each other with their uniform jackets. Shared Valerie’s pride as she’d badged her daddy. Seen joy in his ma’s and pop’s faces as Gus’d presented himself to them on the stage.
Valerie saying she loved him, though … that was the most incredible high of all. Gus already knew his Bug loved him because she did a dozen things every day that told him so without words. But this little girl had been through a lot and hearing her speak the words aloud—knowing she trusted Gus to care for her heart—was a gift he would never take for granted.
“I love you too, Val, and I love your daddy.” Gus willed his voice not to shake. “Every day that I know you, I’ll always be glad to have you in my life.”
Gus went in to hug her at the same time Madoc pulled Valerie up onto his lap so she could embrace them both, and they ended up in a big group squeeze that was very much them, filled with elbows and laughter and murmured ‘I love yous’.
Much later, after dinner and Valerie’s bedtime, Gus locked the bedroom door behind himself and laid Madoc on the bed, his blood buzzing with the good feelings he’d soaked up throughout the day and Madoc’s kisses.
“You looked fucking hot in your uniform today,” Madoc muttered against Gus’s lips. “That hat, oh my God. Wanna suck you while you’re wearing it.”
Gus chuckled. “That can be arranged,” he said. “But only if I get to blow you beforehand.”
He grabbed the lube from the nightstand, then spent time taking Madoc apart, his lust bound up with an overwhelming tenderness. Barely six months ago, simply admitting that he was bi would have sent Madoc spiraling. And now he was here with Gus, so much love in his eyes. His body practically melting into the mattress as Gus fingered him, though he kept a tight hold on Gus, like he couldn’t bear to let go.
“More,” Madoc murmured, his breath shuddering when Gus curled his fingers. “Oh, Jesus, Gus, please.”
“Okay,” Gus said with a smile. “I think you’re ready.”
He eased his fingers out of Madoc, then soothed his groan with more kisses, stroking Madoc’s hip as he helped Madoc roll over onto his stomach. Gus moved his hand to Madoc’s ass cheeks then, massaging and fondling the muscles while Madoc clutched a pillow to his chest and arched into the touch, his soft groans so fucking sexy.
“ Gus .”
“I’m here.”
On his knees, Gus lubed his cock, then nudged Madoc’s legs wider as he lined up their bodies, his own body aching for release. He teased a few moments, tracing his cockhead around Madoc’s rim while Madoc’s pleas became increasingly desperate. Madoc loved being fucked, his need to surrender control intertwined with a desire to watch Gus take it. Gus faltered slightly when he finally pushed forward, however, the incredible heat and pressure of Madoc’s ass around him almost too much.
Jaw clenched, Gus slid home with a long, slow stroke, his heart shaking when Madoc keened, low and forlorn. Lust sizzled up Gus’s spine as he wrapped Madoc up in his arms and rocked into him, dropping kisses against Madoc’s shoulders and neck, tasting the sweat that sheened his skin.
Madoc turned his head on the pillow, eyes closed tight and his cheeks and mouth tinted red. He rutted into the mattress, the slack expression on his face wanton and beautiful as he begged for more, for harder and faster, for Gus to please make him come.
And fuck, Gus wanted it all. For the bliss he had with his man to never end. To come inside Madoc over and over. Make Madoc lose it so hard he screamed.
Setting his forehead against Madoc’s temple, Gus set a quick, rough pace that instantly had Madoc pushing back into the thrusts, his begging no longer coherent. When each exhaled breath caught like a sob in Madoc’s throat, Gus knew he was close, so gone on pleasure that he’d be able to come without his cock being touched. So, Gus drove a little deeper, knowing how much Madoc relished the ache of being split open.
Grabbing tight to Gus’s right hand, Madoc dragged it to his chest, his body starting to shake. “Don’t let me go.”
“I won’t.” Panting, Gus pressed his mouth to Madoc’s ear. “I love you, baby,” he growled. “I love you so fucking much.”
Madoc went over the edge with a gasp, his body going stiff in Gus’s arms before slowly relaxing again, frotting his cum onto the sheets. Then he bent his head and pressed an open-mouthed kiss against Gus’s knuckles and without warning, Gus was there too, orgasm crashing through him in a breath-stealing wave. He unloaded into Madoc’s ass, the world around him sliding out of focus as he came and came and came.
It was a minute before Gus’s brain came back online and when it did, he found himself sprawled atop a very sleepy Madoc who grumbled when Gus made to pull out. But Gus soothed him with kisses and cleaned him up, unsurprised that Madoc quickly dozed off, the excitement of the day catching up with him.
Gus still felt too keyed up to sleep though, so he went to the dresser for some clothes and his sketchbook, intent on doing some drawing while his guy napped. But he found the Gusberry Fact Book there where he’d left it and quietly carried everything out into the apartment where he sprawled out on the couch and lost himself in its pages and his emotions.
“How you doin’, my love?”
Smiling, Gus looked up at Madoc, who was clad like Gus in shorts and a t-shirt, his hair mussed up from sleeping. “Doin’ just fine. I was too hyper to nap, so I thought I’d leave you to it. How do you feel?”
“Really excellent.” Pausing to move Gus’s crutches under the coffee table, Madoc eased himself down on the couch cushions beside him, chuckling when Gus closed the Gusberry book and turned onto his side to make room. “Starting to get hungry again and was thinking I’d make some eggs with too much hot sauce.”
Gus’s stomach let out a growl of approval that made them both snort.
“Guess I earned that,” Gus said, then ran his fingers over the Fact Book’s cover. “Still feeling amazed at all the work you and your girl put into this.”
“Honestly, Val was halfway done with the drawing by the time she asked me to help her put it together.” Madoc rubbed Gus’s shoulder with his knuckles. “It got kinda dicey keeping the whole thing a secret when you switched back to nights though, so we took everything up to her old room at Tarek’s and he gave us a hideout.”
A laugh rose in Gus’s chest imagining Valerie and Madoc walking a small truckload of art supplies into the elevator, but it got caught in his chest and abruptly Madoc was frowning, probably because he’d clocked Gus’s reddened eyes.
“Hey.” Taking Gus’s hand in his own, Madoc snuggled in closer. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m … overwhelmed by today.” Gus studied his fingers wrapped around Madoc’s. “Being there with you at the ceremony. Seeing our fam all together. I really didn’t expect to have this.”
“Have what, love?”
“You. Val. Us.” Sighing, Gus looked back at Madoc. “We both know nothing is promised, Madoc. That sometimes you lose people you care about and even the best laid plans just don’t work out. I was in that kind of place in my head when you and I met. Thinking that I might be better off on my own, especially if I wanted a family.”
Humming quietly, Madoc pressed a kiss against Gus’s shoulder through his shirt. “I get it. You know I shut off parts of myself when we moved to Boston and thought being alone was better for me and safer for Val. But my life started changing the second I walked into Station 1 and met you,” he said, such warmth in his eyes. “So, I guess I messed up both our plans.”
“You really did in the best possible way.” Gus smiled at his guy. “And I’m so glad you did.”
The End