Chapter Five
CHAPTER FIVE
Finn
As was the norm for a Sunday lunchtime, my mothers’ house was the personification of chaos. I loved them more than anything, but my siblings wouldn’t know what being quiet meant if their lives depended on it.
There were six of us in total, five boys and one girl, and although I was only related to two by blood, I’d never considered any of them anything less than my siblings. Perhaps it was because I couldn’t remember my life without them in it. I hadn’t been quite three when my mother, who we all called Mimbles, had confessed her love and moved in with her best friend Miranda, who we virtually all referred to as Mum, and created a giant blended family in an old cottage in the middle of the Lincolnshire countryside. Then Miranda’s ex-husband, Terry, had bought the house next door and added his partner, Paul, and since my own father had died when I was very small, Terry and Paul had been happy to step in as surrogate dads as we’d grown up. They’d never insisted that Oscar, Jules, and I call them that unless we were comfortable with it, but since Terry had been around for as long as Miranda had, I’d always called him Dad because I’d never seen him as anything else. In fact, the only one who didn’t was Oscar, but that was because he still had strong memories of our father.
It meant I’d grown in up this enormous queer family, who showered all of us in love and support, but it could be a tiny bit smothering at times.
Currently, I was seated at the kitchen table while Paul and Mimbles were out in the garden talking about plans for their shared vegetable patch, despite the fact it was only January. Mum and Richard were upstairs looking for something, I’d missed what, and Dad, Jules, Lewis, and his boyfriend, Jason, were all in the living room watching Labyrinth . I knew I should go and join them, but I was enjoying the rare moment of quiet. Also, I’d volunteered to put the potatoes into the oven, which gave me an excuse to lurk in the kitchen and finish reading through the book I was due to start recording towards the end of the week.
The front door slammed, and I heard the exuberant call of my brother Eli. He was probably the loudest of us all, and the most dramatic, but he was also the one who wildly encouraged me in everything I did and bought every single audiobook I narrated, even if they weren’t to his taste.
“Hello? Where is everyone? Are you avoiding me?”
“Yes!” I heard Jules call. “Fuck off.”
“Charming! I shall find someone else who loves me then,” Eli said as he stuck his head around the kitchen door. “See? Finn is here. He loves me.”
“Do I?” I asked, looking up from my phone and smiling sweetly at him.
Eli gasped dramatically, clutching his chest. “You wound me, dearest brother. And after I thought you were the only one I could trust.” He walked over to me, wrapped his arms around my neck and kissed my cheek loudly. “Never mind. I shall forgive this hideous betrayal.”
“Who betrayed you?” asked another voice, this one belonging to Eli’s boyfriend, Tristan, who’d appeared in the doorway. Looking at them, you’d never have seen a couple more mismatched. Eli was a brash, demanding drag queen with wild curls and a sharp streak a mile wide, dressed in ripped skinny jeans, an old AC/DC t-shirt, and a vintage shearling coat, while Tristan was a quiet and careful Prince Charming in jeans and a green fleece, looking like he’d just stepped out of Country Life magazine. But I’d never met a pair of people more suited to each other. Tristan’s solid presence tempered Eli’s fire while Eli sparked new life in Tristan.
“Finn. I don’t think he loves me anymore,” Eli said, not letting go of me.
“Oh well,” Tristan said with a wry smile. “I’m sure you’ll live.”
“I might not. I might expire on the kitchen floor. The only solution is Finn telling me he still loves me.”
I sighed, half tempted to tell Eli I didn’t just to see what happened. But I didn’t because it wouldn’t be the truth, and I didn’t like lying. “I do.”
“I knew it!” He kissed me again, then released me so he could slide onto the bench next to me. “Did you hear the terrible news?”
I raised an eyebrow. “It depends what you consider terrible news.”
“Dick is going to ask Ruby to marry him,” Eli said with the most horrified expression I’d ever seen him produce. “I’m going to have to go to a straight wedding! It will be terrible! There will be boring, straight people everywhere talking about boring straight people things like… I don’t know… the stock market or when Ruby will get knocked up.”
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing, and Eli grinned at me triumphantly. I knew I shouldn’t be encouraging him, but if that was the worst reaction we’d get from him about our oldest brother getting married, then that was an achievement. Eli and Richard had never gotten along, but their relationship had mellowed slightly after an incident last year when they’d had a punch-up in the middle of the lawn.
“I don’t think it will be that bad,” I said. “Ruby’s quite alternative, and I’m sure you can be on your best behaviour for one day.” I looked at Eli and then at Tristan, who was looking at Eli with a mixture of fondness and exasperation. Clearly, they’d had this conversation before. I almost felt sorry for Tristan because he was Richard’s best friend and would probably hear this a lot over the next few months.
“I know. And I will be—for Ruby, though, not Dick. She doesn’t deserve to have her wedding ruined just because she’ll be marrying the most boring man alive.” Tristan coughed pointedly, and Eli sighed. “Which will be her choice, and I’ll be very happy for them. And I promise to be as good as I can and not make any snide remarks to Dick’s face.” He lowered his voice conspiratorially. “I’ll save them up and make them at home.”
“You’re a menace,” I said.
“I know. But a loving one.” He smiled at me, his eyes roaming over my face. “How’re things with you, then? What are you working on at the moment? Tell me everything.”
I began to tell Eli and Tristan, who’d joined us on the bench, about the book I was about to start and what I had coming up after that. In truth, I’d never be able to tell them everything. My side project would always be a secret because, despite how nosy my family was, we needed to have some boundaries. Luckily, none of them had found out yet, although I had worked hard to conceal my identity. There was very little chance anyone who knew me would be able to identify me from the videos, even if they did find them. I never showed my face, I used a different voice, and I always made sure anything remotely identifiable was removed from the background. The fact that most of my work was just audio helped too.
“Tristan,” I said as I came to the end of my point about work and remembered the rest of my week. “I did want to pick your brain about something financial. Not for me. For Gem. He’s looking at potentially opening a small business, and I wondered if you’d be open to helping with some financial planning.”
“Sure,” he said. “I can do that. What sort of business?”
“A game shop. Jay suggested it to him earlier in the week since one of the units near The Lost World has come up for rent, and I think he’s seriously considering it.” I knew Gem was still unsure, although every time we spoke he seemed a little keener, but I was hoping if I could get Tristan to agree to assist, then it might help Gem decide.
I thought the idea was a good one, even if the commitment was sizeable, and it wasn’t what Gem had envisioned for himself. I knew he needed a challenge and something to sink his teeth into. Gem loved working at The Lost World, but games were his passion, and this seemed like the ideal opportunity to combine the two.
Gem seemed to think setting up the shop would mean he could never design another game, but I knew that wasn’t true. I also knew he was stuck in his head about the fact that his last game had failed to launch, and I was worried the longer he dwelt on it, the further he’d sink into a spiral of unhappiness.
I didn’t want to force my opinion on him, but I was sure the shop idea would be great for Gem. I just had to hope he came to the same conclusion, and if necessary, I’d nudge him along a little without forcing him. There was a delicate balance between encouragement and obligation, and I didn’t want Gem to think he had to do something because everyone thought he should.
Which was why I’d made a quiet promise to myself to never offer my opinion without being asked for it.
“That would be amazing,” Tristan said, his eyes lighting up at the idea. “What sort of games? Board games? RPGs? Miniatures?”
“You just want somewhere close to work that will supply you with more minis,” Eli said with a wry smile.
“I mean… it doesn’t hurt just to look.”
“It is your money, Mr. Rose. If you want to fill your office with toy soldiers, you’re very welcome to.” Eli leant over and gave him a soft kiss, and I pretended not to notice the way he squeezed Tristan’s thigh. “Besides, if you do that, you can’t complain about my make-up, shoes, or wigs.”
Tristan chuckled, and it was hard to miss the amount of love pouring out of his gaze. “Done.” He kissed Eli again, then looked back at me. His face tinted as if he’d suddenly remembered they had an audience, and he coughed. “Sorry. Um, yes, I can help you. It’s not my area of expertise, but it shouldn’t be difficult for me to figure it out and make suggestions. Does he have a business plan yet?”
“No. He’s still not sure whether to proceed or not.”
“That’s understandable. It’s a big investment both financially and timewise. But if he does decide to go ahead, you’ve got my number. Just drop me a message, and we can grab a coffee.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I really appreciate that.”
“Isn’t he wonderful?” Eli asked as he looked at Tristan with a heated look I wished I hadn’t seen. “You can talk to them while I’m on tour.”
“Does that start soon?” I asked, trying to remember what Eli had said about dates. The problem was, since I often booked things very far ahead for work and my diary was almost overflowing, I lived in a perpetual time soup. The only reason I knew what day it was outside of work was because I’d set my Alexa up to remind me about things like lunch with my family.
“Yes! Next week.” Eli beamed. He’d been invited to take part in a variety show tour hosted by a well-known drag queen and had spent the past six weeks flitting between rampant enthusiasm and quiet fretting. The fact that he’d been quietly nervous rather than dramatic about it meant Eli really was worried, and Jules, Lewis, and I had all done our best to reassure him whenever he came to us. It had been hard to get Eli to admit his fears, and I’d discovered the best way to go about it was to approach it sideways and let him get to it in his own time, but eventually, he’d told us about how worried he was that he wasn’t going to live up to people’s expectations.
Despite the fact that Eli gave off a very no fucks given vibe, underneath he cared very deeply—almost too much at times—and all we could do was reassure him of his own brilliance and hope he believed us. But, given the fact that he was practically bouncing in his seat, I assumed today was one of the days he felt very excited about the whole thing.
“Our first two shows are in London next weekend. Then we’re doing Cambridge the Wednesday after, and—”
“Next weekend?” Jules’s head appeared around the kitchen door with a deeply suspicious expression written across it.
“Yes, why?”
“What the fuck, dickhead. I thought it was ages away. I need to look at your car before you drag it up and down the country,” she said. “There’s no way that heap of junk will survive otherwise.”
“Excuse me! It’s not a heap of junk,” Eli exclaimed, even though we all knew that was a lie. Jules had brought Eli’s poor car back to life more times than I could count, each time with progressively stronger mutterings about pushing the boundaries of what automotive engineering was capable of.
“You could take mine,” Tristan said. “I’ll be fine to run around in yours for a few days.”
“You’re very sweet, but it’s fine. Besides Indy and Solo won’t fit in mine, and they’d miss going up to the woods. They’re only two seconds away from moving in with Alexis as it is.” Eli smiled, but the firm set of Tristan’s lips suggested the conversation wasn’t over.
“Did you at least bring it today?” Jules asked.
“We did actually,” Eli said, his eyes dancing, and I had the suspicion he’d planned this.
“I’m going to go get my stuff,” Jules muttered as she turned towards the front door. “Come and open it up for me. Let’s see what you’ve done to it.”
“Could you be any more of a lesbian?” Eli asked as he climbed over Tristan to extricate himself from the bench.
“I don’t know. Could you be any more of a bitch?”
“And that is why I love you,” Eli said, leaning over to give her a kiss. Jules grinned at him fondly, ruffling his curls. The pair of them had always had this snarky, sassy banter, but it was built on a rock-solid foundation of love and respect. They’d snipe at each other, then two seconds later be curled on the sofa eating a mountain of chocolate with Jules’s legs stretched over Eli’s lap while they watched some ridiculous, campy horror movie. “You still need to let me find you a girlfriend. When was the last time you got laid?”
“If you buy a new car, then you can set me up,” Jules said. “On one date.”
“Harsh, but fair.” They continued talking as they walked out towards the front door. Tristan shook his head and chuckled fondly.
I looked down at my phone. There was a new message from Gem.
Gem
You don’t happen to know anything about business plans?
“Tristan,” I said. “About that advice? Do you think we could start now? And perhaps with the basics of a business plan?”
Tristan grinned at me and pulled out his phone. “Okay, so first of all…”