Confounded: Part II - 38. Chapter 38

CHAPTER 38 --==Taylan’s POV==--

I was about to settle into major heavy handed parenting mode when his previous comment seeped into my brain. Not while Jay’s there.
Closing my eyes for a second, I sighed, groaning inwardly. Dammit.

“Back off,” I heard Kit whisper to Tom.

“No. No Kit, he’s right. Tom, I’m sorry, that was thoughtless of us; we didn’t think that through. You’ll have to make some sort of arrangement with your dad about that. Consider that one open for negotiation…”

“Promise?”

“I promise,” I answered, nodding and sending him an apologetic smile. “Other than that; I think we’ve covered just about all of it. You know how it works around here, now. Just follow the rules of the house, respect our decisions, but we’re always willing to make allowance, if your objections are founded. And if we’re not, believe me, you’ll know.”

“That’s it? No curfew, no bedtimes, no…”

“Tom, this would be your home; not a jail. I know what happened in the recent past, but it’s exactly where it belongs; in the past. You know very well how to behave, you were raised to a standard I know very well. And if not, you’ve got your own jailor,” I pointed to Kit, “who will whack some sense into you.”

“Ahuh,” Kit answered, sending my nephew a toothy grin.

“So when’s dad gonna be here?”

“Around 8:30.”
He looked at his watch and blanched. Roman would be here in about an hour.

**********

It didn’t go quite the way I expected. I expected there to be a stilted greeting but that wasn’t at all how it went.

Tom stood in the living room, stiff backed, more than a little trepidation eradiating from his still form. He’d quickly changed into a fresh pair of black jeans and equally black shirt, no doubt dreading the moment his dad would step into the room. He got another surprise instead; it wasn’t his dad who came in first, it was Dana, closely follow by my brother.

As soon as he saw his mom, Tom’s face contorted and he looked way. But not before I’d seen the moisture gathering in his eyes as he hung his head. To be honest, I hadn’t expected his mom to come along either, but thinking about it, I could very well understand that she had; she hadn’t seen her son in weeks. Hadn’t spoken in longer than that.

Dana didn’t say a word. All she did was go over to where he stood and took him into her arms, hugging her son like there was no tomorrow. It was all that she needed to do, really. I saw Tom’s shoulders beginning to shake as he buried his face against her neck.

“Shh, it’s okay. Oh honey, it’s alright…”
She glanced up and sent me a watery smile as Roman joined them.

Sensing their need to be alone in that threesome, I remained where I was at the entrance of the kitchen. Beside me, Kit fidgeted and when I looked up, I could see he was aching to get over there.
Like Tom, he’d also changed, wearing dark pants and a light-blue shirt, open collared with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

I sent him a shake of my head, silently telling him that way that this was not the time to be a knight in shining armor, to go and rescue. They needed this.
He understood but clearly didn’t like it. He shoved his hands deep in his pockets.

“What if they say they wanna take him home, anyway?” He whispered, craning his neck when Tom disappeared in a parental group-hug.

“Then we’ll have to accept that,” I answered, adding “but I doubt they would,” when I saw his nostrils flare. “It’ll be fine, Kit. Relax.”

He didn’t like it one bit. I actually had to use some real strength to get him to reluctantly follow me into the kitchen.

**********

It took the better part of an hour before Tom and his parents appeared. I took it as positive when I saw Roman and Dana both had their arms around their sons’ shoulders.
Tom’s eyes were suspiciously red, though, which made Kit perk up, frowning. But then so were Dana’s, who used a hanky to quickly remove some make-up smears. She smiled, when she met my gaze.

“Sorry about that,” she said, “that took a little longer than we thought.”

“That’s alright. I hope it cleared the air?” I asked, winking at my sister-in-law.

“Oh yes. I just wish this stubborn kid would’ve come to us sooner.”
She gently elbowed Tom, then her gaze sobered.
“It seems we have some serious issues with our eldest.”

“We sure do,” Roman piped in, tersely but resigned at the same time. “But we will not let that interfere with tonight; that’s for later. For now, I’d like to thank all of you for taking care of Tom. I’m glad he found the space here to finally open up.”

“Not so sure about the space,” I sniggered, catching Tom’s eye. “We’ve had to be…strict, sometimes. And that’s putting it lightly.”
He sent me back some attitude, clear defiance in his eyes, but a lopsided grin appeared, negating it.

“Well, what can I say,” Roman replied, some humor in his gaze. “You seemed to be the best choice to send him to; I recognized a lot of you in him, when you were younger. And you were trouble with a capital T.”

“Hah!”

“I believe it,” Mitchell piped in. Kit was nodding as well.
Deserters.

“Tom, get over here; it’s a plot against us little people,” I motioned to him.

He grinned and started in my direction but Kit intervened, intercepting him along the way by grabbing him around the waist and pulling him between his spread legs, securing him by tightly wrapping his arms around him, then resting his chin in the crook of his neck.

“Nuh-uh; this one’s with me.”
Tom’s cheeks went fiery red and his eyes flicked toward his parents, who did not even try to hide their surprise.

“Something you forgot to tell us, son?” Roman asked, his eyebrows raised high.
Dana’s eyes just widened.

“You forgot to tell them about us?” Kit huffed, pushing my nephew away a little. “You forgot?”

“I umm…” Tom began, actually visibly squirming, his eyes still flicking towards his mom and dad. “I didn’t think it was necessary to…”

“Seriously?” Kit cut in. “What, you’re ashamed of us now? You weren’t two hours ago.”
Ooooh, ouch.

I glanced at Mitchell, who winked back but shook his head. Right…let them do this…

“Tom?” Roman said, tilting his head inquiringly at the both of them. “Kit?”
His son remained mum.

“I’m sorry, Uncle Roman,” Kit replied, his glare at the back of my nephews’ head promising nothing good, “I thought he told you. We’re…together.”

“Together?”

Kit met my brothers’ gaze, full on, the challenge clear (and quite unnecessary, since I knew my brother well enough), while Tom squirmed some more. He definitely felt on the spot, there. It was rather funny to watch. Tom, usually not lost for words, squirming.

“Yes. Together. As in boyfriend-boyfriend?”
Kit’s tone was a bit too offensive to my taste, and apparently to Mitchell’s too, given the raised eyebrow there; there was no need for him to be quite so aggressive.

“I see,” Roman said, glancing at Dana who had a hard time keeping a straight face and looked away. “Well, Kit; I’d still like my son to tell me these things, though. So if you don’t mind…?”

“Fine. Go tell them. Now,” Kit replied gruffly, shoving Tom into his parents’ direction.
Oh my; he was not too pleased. Furious, even.

And Tom? He didn’t know where to look. He definitely wasn’t getting any help from Kit, that was obvious. He looked to me but I wasn’t in any hurry to see this play out. No, this one was on him. He glanced at Mitchell, who just winked at him; my, was he in a winking mood tonight. So, in the end, it was just him having to own up to his mom and dad. And, as usually, he did it in his own way.

“Yeah, so…umm…mom, dad…I uhh…well…meet the boyfriend. Kit, I think you know these two already.”
To the side, Mitchell snorted.
“What!? He’s going nuclear on me. What am I supposed to do? I forgot, sue me. The whole world doesn’t revolve around him, y’know. I had something else on my mind, god…”

Even Roman, who normally was pretty stable and unperturbed, couldn’t help but smirk. But he held his cool and went over to Kit, extending his hand.

“Pleased to meet you. Boyfriend. Nephew…boyfriend…nah, I’d prefer nephew still.”
Then he grabbed him into a bear hug and laughed.
“You really want that little shit as your boyfriend? You sure?”

“Yeah, pretty sure, although he’s not my favorite person right now,” Kit replied, returning the hug fiercely, his smile somewhat relieved.

“Oh, I’m sure you know how to handle him,” Roman said, sniggering and glancing at his son. “Tom, I think you owe him an apology.”

“Yeah, right. He can go boss someone else around for a bit, thanks,” Tom replied, chagrined. “He’s not my favorite person right now, either, so he can forget about that apology. He isn’t getting it.”

“Trouble in paradise,” Dana piped in, a humorous glint in her eyes. “So soon? My, do you boys have a lot to learn. But I, for one, am very happy to hear it’s you, Kit.”
She joined their little trio and hugged Kit as well.

“Of course,” Tom mumbled, morosely, “he’s the good one, I’m the bad one. What else is new...”

“Tom, come on, be fair,” Roman said admonishingly, reaching out to him, but Tom stubbornly remained where he was, just out of his grasp. “We know now that we’ve been lacking, but you can’t compare Kit to your brothers’ actions. I can only imagine how you feel, but you’re being unfair to Kit. Don’t do him the discourtesy of comparing him to Jay...”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t tell me that; tell him.”

“Not now. He’s popular enough, tonight, thanks. I’m gonna go for a smoke. I’ve had enough of the touchy-feely.”

“Tom!” It sounded from four different directions, but he made himself scarce through the patio doors quick enough. Funnily enough, Mr. Healthfreak didn't react to it at all.

“He smokes?” Dana asked, her face contorting into a disgusted smirk.

“Yeah, he does,” Kit put in, rising from his barstool. “It calms him.”

“And you’re okay with that?”
Kit stalled at the door.

“No. But if it calms him? Yeah, then I’ll buy him a pack, if he needs it.”