Chapter 28 #2
“Of course you don’t.” Adele laughed as she went up on tiptoes to kiss Jace’s cheek. “I’ve had a lovely chat with your handsome young man, and now I’ll leave you to go see if the boys ate all the cake.” She hugged Cindy as she went inside.
“She’s quite something,” Jace said, smiling as Cindy stepped into his embrace.
“She sure is. I hope she didn’t threaten to beat you up, too.”
“Nah, she told me I was welcome here with your family, which was very sweet of her. It’s been a long time since I was part of a family—and never one quite like this one.”
“I’m very glad to have you here with mine.”
He waggled his brows at her as he kissed her. “Today’s been one of the best days of my life, and it’s not over yet.”
John bided his time, waiting until his grandparents said their goodbyes and headed toward their cottage behind the main house. He slipped his arm through his grandmother’s. “I’ll walk you home.”
She laughed. “It’s right there, Johnny boy. I think we can find it.”
“That doesn’t mean I can’t escort you, does it?”
“Happy to have you,” Russ said.
“I was hoping I might talk to you guys about something,” John said, his full stomach turning a bit. He’d been on edge all day, anticipating this moment.
“Are you all right?” Adele asked.
“I’m fine. It’s nothing bad. At least I hope you won’t think it’s bad.”
“Come in,” Russ said when they reached the cottage. “And take a load off. You want a drink?”
“I won’t say no to that.” John sat on the comfortable sectional sofa Adele had wanted so there’d be plenty of room for visitors.
His grandfather made him a gin and tonic with a twist of lime and handed it to him.
“Thanks, Pop.” John took a couple of sips of his drink while he waited for them to get what they wanted and join him in the living room.
“What’s going on?” Adele asked.
“I shared some news with the rest of the family recently, and I wanted to tell you guys about it.”
“Okay…”
“I came out to them.” John forced himself to say the words quickly, to push past this last frontier on his way to living an authentic life. “As gay.”
“Oh,” Russ said. “We knew that.”
Adele nodded. “Yep.”
Astonished, John stared at them. “Since when?”
“Always,” Adele said. “It was just something we understood about you. No biggie.”
“I, uh, well… Needless to say, you guys continue to surprise me.”
“We like to be unpredictable,” Adele said, grinning. “Please tell me you weren’t worried about talking to us about this.”
“I was a little worried.”
“We love you,” Russ said. “We want all the best for you.”
“Tell him the rest, honey,” Adele said to her husband.
“The rest of what?” John asked, his gaze darting between them.
Russ gestured for her to do the talking.
“Pop had a younger brother named Andy. He, too, was gay, but in those days, he had to keep it to himself. Pop knew, but no one else did. The sneaking around and the secrecy took a terrible toll on him. One day… Russ came home to find him hanging from the rafters in their garage.”
“Oh God… Pop…” John blinked back tears. “I didn’t know.”
“Because I never talked about it with anyone,” Russ said. “Even your mom doesn’t know how or why Andy died. I made up my mind that I’d tell you the truth if this subject ever came up. I told your grandmother I wouldn’t let history repeat itself.”
“I’m so, so sorry you lost him.”
“Thank you. You understand why I wanted you to know, right?”
“I do, and it means a lot to me that you shared it with me.”
“Thankfully, things have changed since then,” Russ said. “For the better.”
“Yes, they have. Thank you for accepting me for who and what I am. I love you both so much.”
“We love you, too, honey,” Adele said. “Always.”
Jace led Cindy and the boys into the house and let Burpy out to pee.
While the boys got ready for bed, he packed their lunches for the next day and got bowls and spoons out for breakfast. If you asked him, he was slaying this fatherhood gig and was enjoying every second he got to spend with the boys.
His phone rang with a FaceTime call from Seamus. “Hey. How’s the patient doing?”
“Better, thankfully,” Seamus said, looking exhausted. “How are the lads?”
“They’re doing great. I’ll get them so you can say hello.” He went to the hallway. “Boys, Seamus and Carolina want to say good night.”
They came running and took the phone from Jace. Their animated chatter and questions about Carolina’s injury amused him. Would she have a scar? Would it be gnarly (their new favorite word)? Did the cast itch like Billy Jones’s cast had itched? Was the hospital cool?
After about ten minutes, they began to get silly, so Jace took the phone from them. “Go brush your teeth—and I’m gonna smell your breath.” His mother used to say that to him and Jess.
“You’ve already figured out all their tricks,” Seamus said.
“I remember that one from when I was their age.”
“So, um, Jace…”
Why did Seamus seem pained?
“What’s up?”
“The thing with Ms. Deavers from the state has caused a bit of grief.”
“How so?” Jace asked, genuinely confused.
“She has a file on the boys, and when you told her who you are, she recalled that you’re on parole. She’s questioning our judgment leaving the boys with you.”
Jace was so shocked that for a full minute, he couldn’t think of a thing to say.
“Look, we both know this is total bullshit, but we need her to sign off on the final paperwork for the legal guardianship. We can’t take any chances with her making this into a federal case. Carolina’s son, Joe, will be there tomorrow, and he’s going to take over with the boys until we get home.”
Cindy came out of the bedroom, changed into pajama pants and a T-shirt. She stopped short in front of him. “What’s wrong?” she whispered.
“I, um, whatever you want,” Jace said to Seamus. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry, Jace. Please tell me you know this is nothing personal. After everything is signed and legal, we won’t have any hesitation asking you to stay with the boys if we have to be away.”
“Yeah, I get it. I’ve, ah, got to check on the boys.”
He ended the call and stuffed the phone into his back pocket, emotion threatening to overtake him.
“Jace? What is it?”
“A lady was here earlier,” he said haltingly. “From the state. She’s making an issue of them leaving the boys with me. Carolina’s son is coming tomorrow to take over.”
“Oh no. Jace… That’s ridiculous!”
“Seamus said it’s BS, but they can’t take any chances on the guardianship getting messed up so close to the finish line.”
Cindy put her hands on his chest.
Jace took a step back. “I can’t. Sorry. I just… I’m going to go check on them.”