When Opportunity Knocks - 10. Chapter 10

Kyle was quiet as he got ready for work. The tiredness that had seeped into his bones over the past few days was still there, but was manageable. Megan was sound asleep in his guest room and he didn’t want to wake her. They stayed up until nearly midnight. The conversation had probably been the most meaningful that they had ever had. He and Megan had always been close, but the past few years had been busy for both of them and their time together was usually spent with their parents. It had been good to sit down and talk, really talk. They aired out some of their emotions surrounding Kim’s revelation. They had also reminisced about the past and shared their future hopes and dreams. He realized what an amazing woman his sister had grown into. Like so many brothers, Kyle tended to see Megan as his ‘little sister’, even though she was an adult. That and the fact that up until a few months ago they both thought she was a year younger.

Kyle sighed as he pulled up his black scrubs and tightened the drawstring. After pulling on the top, he shoved his feet into his work shoes and tied the laces. Rosie wagged her tail, eager to start her day. Kyle envied his dog; her biggest worry was how many belly rubs she was going to get on any given day.

Tuesdays were his day to cover the walk-ins for the clinic. This mostly consisted of dogs and cats who had gotten into something they shouldn’t have or had some sort of accident. Major traumas were handled by the first available vet. Kyle had seen his fair share of dogs and cats who had been hit by cars. He hoped today would be busy, it would keep his mind from dwelling on the current drama in his life.

Kyle grabbed his keys and headed for his truck, Rosie right beside him. She was such a good dog. He got her buckled up and then himself. The drive to the clinic wasn’t long and pulling into the lot he saw a few cars of employees who were already there. They officially opened at seven for surgical drop-offs, the main clinic opening at eight for regular appointments and walk-ins. Kyle liked to get there by six when it was quiet and he could get paperwork done. He was later than usual this morning because he had been up so late last night.

He went in the back door and greeted Rick, one of the other vets.

“Feeling better?” Rick asked.

“Sort of, just tired now,” Kyle answered.

Rick had been with the clinic since Kyle was a kid. It wouldn’t be too many more years before he headed off into the retirement sunset like Kyle’s dad. Their third vet, Carter was covering surgery today so he was in the pre-op room setting up for his first case. Kyle waved at him through the open door. Carter called out a greeting. Carter was closer to his own age, just a few years older. He and his wife had moved to the area when his wife was transferred to her company’s Baltimore office. She was an investment broker with Legg Mason. Kyle hoped that Carter would work out and eventually buy out Rick’s share of the clinic when the time came.

Someone had made coffee and Kyle poured himself a cup and settled in at his desk in his office. He went over some of the financials for the previous month and approved the supply order that had been left for him by his office manager, Carol. He started going through various emails and before he knew it, Carol was knocking on his door jamb.

“Morning Boss. You doing better today?”

“Yeah, I had a sort of mental shock this weekend and needed to process some stuff. So what’s on the agenda for the week?” He normally had a quick meeting with her each Monday, just to touch base and make sure that there were no pressing matters that needed attention.

Carol was in her mid-forties and had been with the clinic for over ten years. She was a true gem. She ran the day-to-day operation like a well-oiled machine.

“You have a light schedule for surgery tomorrow, on Thursday I set up an appointment with the rep from Animedco. I’ve been researching their equipment and I think they might be a good option for replacing the x-ray machine and maybe even upgrading or replacing the MRI. Shawn is going to do his sales spiel on you at ten. Billing for the month is going out today and we only had six accounts go to collections. Chelsea has all the appointments for the next two days confirmed and she’s leaving early this afternoon, so I’ll be covering the front for the last hour.” Carol was efficient as usual.

“Great. Can you schedule a staff meeting during lunch one day next week? With Dad going into full retirement, I want to make sure all of the staff is updated as to who is going to handle what and what our future plans look like. Also, can you order more uniforms for me? See if anyone else needs them too. Mine are getting a little worn.” Kyle stated.

Carol nodded and headed out to the front to get their day started. Kyle lucked out and was busy all morning. He was just finishing up with a pet cat that had its tail caught in a door when Carol poked her head in and said, “Jett’s here.”

Kyle smiled and replied, “Tell him I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He finished giving the cat’s owner care instructions. They had been lucky and the tail wasn’t broken, but the cat wouldn’t want anyone near its back end for the next few days.

Kyle washed his hands and went straight for the conference room where he and Jett usually ate. The aroma of smoked pork hit his nose as soon as he opened the door. Jett had stopped at a local diner and picked up their lunch special, slow roasted smoked pork loin with roasted potatoes and mixed vegetables. The smell made his mouth water.

Kyle went over and tilted his head up for a kiss. He loved how Jett towered over him. “Hi! Thanks for bringing lunch. It smells fantastic.”

“Mmmm, can’t really say the same about you,” Jett teased. “You roll in something that you shouldn’t have?”

Kyle looked down at his clothes. Sure enough, a smudge of something stinky marred the bottom part of his scrub pants. They had a neglected stray brought in by the Humane Society. The poor dog had been matted so badly that they had to sedate him in order to shave off all the grossly matted fur. It’s not always possible to stay clean in this business and you got used to the nasty smells.

“Lemme go change real quick. I’ll be right back.” Kyle left the door to the office open as he grabbed a clean set of scrubs from his closet. He turned his back to the door and made sure to stay within sight of Jett as he stripped off the offending pants and shirt before donning the clean set. He enjoyed teasing his boyfriend.

When he turned around, Jett was right there, having snuck up behind him. Jett grabbed him and playfully smacked his ass before leaning down and kissing him. Kyle kissed him back just as fiercely until he heard Jett’s stomach rumble.

Breaking apart they went back to the conference room and sat down to enjoy lunch. Kyle had just taken a bite when Jett told him he was looking into Marc Green’s records. “My captain texted me earlier, he has a dossier ready for me when I get back to the barracks. Do you want to stop by on your way home from work?”

“Wow, that was quick,” he said. “Um, yeah, I’ll stop by. I guess it’s better to start preparing now huh?”

Jett smiled sympathetically. “Okay then, enough of that subject. I’d rather leave that until tonight. How’s your day been so far?”

Kyle was grateful for the change in subject. Work had kept him distracted all morning and he hoped to keep it that way for the remainder of the afternoon as well. He and Jett talked about their day while they ate. Jett seemed truly interested in his dealings with mischievous dogs and cats, plus the occasional turtle or parrot. The only creatures that Kyle didn’t handle were snakes. It wasn’t that he didn’t like them, but rather he had only had basic training in vet school. He hadn’t pursued the advanced level courses because he wanted to focus on mammals. Carter was their resident reptile and amphibian expert. He got the snakes, lizards and frogs.

All too soon Jett was out the door and Kyle was back to his daily grind. The rest of the afternoon flew by. Kyle enjoyed his work and was able to stay distracted from the current state of discord that had entered his life.

Kyle finished up his charting at the end of the day and made sure his clothes were stink free before driving straight to Jett’s house. Rosie was happy to see the big German Shepherd and Kyle was happy to see the big human. Jett kissed him soundly once he was inside. Kyle returned the favor.

Kyle sniffed the air as they pulled apart. “Something smells good.”

“I thawed out some jalapeno popper chicken. I figured we could have sandwiches while we went over the files.”

Kyle pulled the lid off of the warming pan that the chicken was residing in. The shredded chicken was liberally mated with a concoction of chicken broth, jalapenos, cream cheese, shredded cheese, and ranch seasoning, all perfectly blended together to create a spicy wonder for the taste buds.

Jett had a couple of sourdough rolls toasting and there was a store-bought salad to go along with the sandwiches. When the rolls were ready, Kyle scooped out a big helping of chicken on each half of the roll and left it open-faced. He dished out some salad and sat at the table while Jett fixed a similar plate. They enjoyed the spicy sandwiches while they sorted through the folders.

“So, what do you have so far?” Kyle asked when Jett had finished his sandwich and separated the piles of papers and folders on the table. As much as he dreaded the conversation, it was time.

Jett slid a thick folder marked “post-trial” over to him. “These are all of the documents and information that my Captain was able to get for me that relate to Greene’s time in jail since his incarceration. Overall, he’s been pretty much a model prisoner. Early on there were a few incidents of altercations with other inmates, but that’s to be expected. He was in semi-isolation for a while when he first got there. That’s pretty normal with high profile cases, especially child molesters. Once the hoopla died down, he was integrated into gen pop and has pretty much kept his nose clean. I’ve only read through the docs pertaining to the first five years, but they all are pretty similar. Regular appointments with the prison shrink, job assignments which change every so often. The only regular visitor was his lawyer, no family or friends. I have a feeling that the reports that I haven’t gotten to yet will be similar. This guy seems to know how to play nice in the sandbox when it comes to making things look good for him. The only thing we can’t get access to are his medical records, including his psych notes, due to privacy issues or some shit.”

Kyle nodded as he scanned a few of the pages. “I don’t want to sound all goody two shoes here, but, should you even be telling me any of this? I mean aren’t these records private or something? I don’t want you to get into trouble.”

Jett gave him a lopsided smile. “Technically, I shouldn’t even have access to half this stuff. Most of the pre-trial and trial information I got through our internal records, so I won’t catch any heat for accessing them. The post trial stuff is where it gets tricky. My Captain was able to access nearly all of it. He did have to go through some other channels to get copies of his behavior reports. Let’s just keep all this information between you and me and leave it at that okay?”

Kyle could read between the lines. “My lips are sealed.”

“Oh, baby, I hope not. That would be a real shame.” Jett chuckled as he leaned over and kissed him, his tongue licking along the seam of his lips, which opened readily, giving Jett access to the spicy taste that lingered.

Kyle pushed him away playfully. “Later. We’ve got work to do. So how much of this are you going to let me have access to?”

“You have access to all of it.” Jett smirked, knowing that Kyle thoroughly understood his double meaning.

They spent the next couple of hours skimming through documents, all of it similar. Other than the occasional spat with another inmate, Marc Greene had done a damn good job of laying down the foundations of creating the appearance of a model prisoner. It seemed every aspect of his incarceration was text book, right down to regularly scheduled visits with his lawyer. Jett still couldn’t shake the feeling that they were overlooking something.

By eight o’clock Kyle had had enough. He neatly stacked the files he had already looked through and pushed the unread pile to the side. “I’m done. I don’t think these are really going to give us much more insight. As much as I’d love to stay, I’ve got a few things to take care of at home. Plus, Megan has a tendency to wreak havoc in my kitchen if I leave her alone too long.”

Jett copied Kyle and stacked his read section and added the unread files to Kyle’s. He was a little disappointed that they hadn’t really found out any useful information. He had a sneaking suspicion that they wouldn’t come up with anything either before the parole hearing in January. The next couple of months were going to be tough, knowing what lay ahead. Kyle was determined not to let it put a damper on the upcoming holidays. He really was looking forward to seeing Noah again.

Noah, now there was a Skype session that needed a couple of hours blocked off. His best friend had always had a way of balancing Kyle and vice versa. He missed the goofball. Kyle was looking forward to meeting Jett’s brother too. Bo sounded like the perfect counterbalance for Jett.

Kyle made sure to give Jett a proper goodbye kiss. Damn that man could kiss! Kyle licked his lips as he made his way to his truck. The voice in the back of his mind yelled to the voice in the front that he needed to move forward in their relationship. Kyle tried to keep his cock under control as he pictured Jett pounding his ass. Whoops! Time to go, those thoughts would have to wait until the weekend. Kyle knew that he was going to need Jett’s attention after his dinner with his parents on Friday. Saturday couldn’t come soon enough.

Even though Saturday was still four days away and Friday stood in the way like a twenty car pile-up on the interstate during rush hour, his week went by fast. Megan was good company in the evenings and they reconnected and re-established their bond that they had growing up. By the time Friday finally came, they both felt ready to tackle what lay ahead.

Kyle left work early on Friday, went home and showered and waited for Megan. She breezed in, packed up her stuff that she had strewn around and put it in her car. She needed to get back to her life and both of them were back on an even keel emotionally. They had decided to put their judgements aside and listen to whatever their parents had to say. They were adults and needed to act like it.

Kyle still felt a wave of apprehension and nervousness wash over him as he pulled into the driveway of his childhood home. Megan pulled in beside him on the wide driveway. They each took a deep breath, clearing their heads and making their way inside.

Kyle’s mom and dad were in the kitchen working together on dinner. It was a scene that was so familiar. Jim and Lynn Benton were in their early sixties. Both had salt and pepper hair, Lynn’s having more salt than Jim’s. Kyle’s parents had always been a little reserved, but seeing the tight look of uncertainty on their faces when he and Megan greeted them tore at Kyle’s heart. For all of their misguided flaws he truly did love them.

Kyle gave his mom a quick kiss on her cheek and Megan hugged their dad. After the initial greetings there was an awkward silence until Lynn broke it, “OK kids, let’s get this food on the table and then we can talk. It’s way past time to clear the air don’t you think?”

Kyle and Megan both grabbed plates of food and settled in at their usual spots at the table. By unspoken agreement, dinner conversation centered around neutral topics. Kyle was barely aware of even eating. He never could quite remember what his mom had served.

When they were finished eating, Jim cleared his throat. “Why don’t we go sit in the family room. Clean up can wait.”

Kyle and Megan followed their parents into the well used family room. So much time had been spent there, watching TV, playing games, doing homework, and just plain hanging out. It was neutral territory for all of them.

The way things currently stood, Jim and Lynn had dropped the adoption bomb on Kyle and Megan and the siblings had pulled back for the past six or seven months, both trying to bury their heads in the sand and not deal with it. Once they became aware of Kim’s connection to them, they knew it was time to pull their heads out of the sand and face things head on.

Kyle started. “Mom, Dad, first of all I’m sorry we pulled away from you for the past several months. I can only speak for myself, but I was really hurt that you lied to us.” Kyle held up his hand to stop his dad from interrupting. “Before you say anything you should know what Megan and I found out.”

Kyle spent the next half hour explaining everything he knew about how he and Megan came into this world and how they were adopted. His mom sat stoically, tears falling silently down her cheeks when she heard what Kim, Nikki and Heather had endured. His dad looked crestfallen. Megan interjected at the end, letting her parents know that they weren’t mad at them, but they were confused. There were still some missing pieces of information they needed to have filled in.

His parents looked thoroughly contrite when Kyle was done speaking. Jim’s eyes held a world full of sorrow and when he spoke his voice was rough with emotion. “Kids, let me start by telling you both how sorry we are. Your mom and I made some poor decisions regarding your adoptions and we realize we should have handled things so much differently, even more so now in light of what you've just told us.”

Kyle saw his mom reach for his dad’s hand before she spoke. “We really are sorry. We were young and had so much going on in our lives with our careers that we didn’t stop to think. I’ll admit though, in the back of my mind, I did question the doctor’s request for secrecy, but my heart was willing to ignore that because I wanted children so badly.”

“So why all the secrecy?” Megan asked, giving voice to the huge elephant in the room.

“It’s not really complicated,” Jim said. “Dr. Greene obviously lied to us. He told us that he knew who the father was of both of you. He claimed it was a high ranking politician who was related to one of the girls. He never gave us a name, but said that the scandal would have ruined this person’s career. He also told us that the politician was the one who suggested that Megan’s birth certificate be changed and not to tell our families right away. Then he suggested that it was ‘in our best interest’ to follow these suggestions. He insinuated that this so-called politician had the means to hurt our families and destroy our careers and reputation. We believed him. We felt like we had no choice but to do as he told us to.”

Kyle caught his mom’s eye and she gave him a wane smile. “When the story broke after those two girls escaped, Kim and Nikki?” Kyle confirmed the names with a nod. “Well, we put two and two together and came up with the right answer. By this time you were in kindergarten and you were ours. Your dad suggested that we come forward, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t take the risk of having you taken away from us. You were ours, our sweet babies. We spent five years taking care of you, feeding you, changing diapers, walking the halls, rocking you when you were sick, playing with you, watching you grow and thrive. Loving you. You belonged with us. I couldn’t, I still can’t love you both any more than if I had given birth to you myself. I truly hope that neither of you ever feel the despair that comes with not being physically able to bring a child into this world when you so desperately want to.”

Kyle felt like a weight had been lifted. He understood better why his parents had kept everything from him and Megan. Fear is a major motivator. He couldn’t imagine how scared they must have been when they realized their children could have been taken from them, not to mention the threat hanging over their families and careers. The pressure that Greene had put on them must have been incredible. Just the thought of losing everything that he had caused a shudder to ripple through him. His parents had to deal with the additional threat of losing the babies they so desperately wanted. Everything made more sense now. It still wasn’t right, but without being put in their shoes, it wasn’t fair to judge them harshly.

Knowing what he did about Kim and Heather, he knew that Kim wouldn’t have laid claim to Megan back then, but there was a high risk that Heather’s family would’ve fought for custody of him. A part of him would most likely always wonder about Heather’s family, but he had no regrets, nor any pressing need to seek them out.

Kyle stood up and went over to his mom, gently helping her up and pulling her close, hugging tightly. Her shoulders trembled slightly and he felt the front of his shirt get damp with her tears. Megan and his dad joined them and the rift that had been created started to mend itself as they comforted each other. There would always be a scar, but the pain had vanished, healed by a new understanding.

Kyle and Megan helped clean up the kitchen and Kyle braced himself when his mom asked Megan if she wanted to meet Kim.

Megan answered her truthfully. “Yeah, I want to meet her. Kyle and Jett say she’s a good person. She’s not sure if she wants to meet me though. But, I don’t want you to worry Mom, no one could ever replace you. You’re my Mom, always will be.”

Kyle could see the emotions that skittered across his mom’s face. “She is a really nice person. I think you’d both like her. She’s strong, so, so strong. She still goes to therapy after all these years and Jett suggested that if she decided to meet Megan that they do it at the therapist’s office.”

“Your Jett sounds like a smart man. When do we get to meet him?” Jim asked.

“His dog is probably smarter than he is,” Kyle teased. “But I’ll bring them by soon so you can judge for yourself.”

Megan smacked his arm. “I’m telling him what you said!”

Kyle smacked her back playfully. “Like hell you will!”

Megan reached in real quick and flicked his ear. Kyle retaliated by poking her side, hitting the super ticklish spot he knew drove her crazy. Their parents just shook their heads.

“Knock it off!’ Jim ordered, halfheartedly. Kyle smiled at the look of happiness that both his parents now sported. They had hit some rough waters, but had managed to sail through it. Their family may be a little battered, but the damage wasn’t permanent.

Kyle and Megan stayed for another hour. His mom wanted to know all about Jett. Kyle finally had to promise to bring him for dinner soon. It was after nine o’clock when Kyle had to beg off for the evening. He had left Rosie at home. She was acutely attuned to his emotions and he didn’t want her stressed out. She could always sense when he was upset and this past week she had been glued to his side more than usual. He needed to go home and give her some attention. He wanted to call Jett too.

Kyle and Megan said their goodbyes and promised to stop by more often. It really had been a tough several months for all of them. He gave Megan a hug before getting in his truck. He let Megan back out first and then followed her out of the neighborhood. Kyle was happy that the stress and tension between his family was dissipating. He was hopeful that they would be a little closer now. Looking back, he realized that some of his parent’s reticence about being confident as parents was due to the fact that they had this constant cloud of uncertainty hanging over them.

Rosie was happy to see him and tap-danced around as he came through the door. He dropped down to one knee and ruffled her fur playfully. She responded by dropping into the classic ‘I wanna play’ position, her tail swinging furiously. He flipped on the lights in the back, illuminating the yard enough to play with the enthusiastic dog for a little while, throwing one of her many tennis balls for her to chase. After fifteen minutes or so they went back into the warm house. Kyle changed into a soft pair of sleep pants and a t-shirt. November had settled in with a blast of cold air.

Kyle brushed his teeth and got ready for bed. He made himself comfortable with his back propped up by a couple of pillows up against the headboard. Rosie jumped up and circled around a few times before settling in the middle of his bed on top of the comforter. He grabbed his phone off the nightstand and tapped Jett’s number.

Jett picked up right away, his sexy voice kinda growly over the phone. “Hey. How’d it go tonight?

Kyle smiled at the possessive concern he heard in Jett’s tone. “Better than we expected.” Kyle gave him a rundown of the evening and could picture the tension leaching out of his cute boyfriend. He heard Jett sigh in relief.

“So, now that all of that drama is behind me, I can concentrate on other things,” Kyle told him.

Jett’s voice dropped an octave or two. “What kind of ‘other’ things?”

Kyle decided to go all in. “The kind of things that will have one of us bent over like a palm tree in a category 5 hurricane.”

Kyle grinned as he heard Jett’s swift intake of air as the man dropped two sexy words.

“Holy fuck.”