Family Always Has Your Back - 4. TC4 — Chapter 4: Answers to Unasked Questions

“Dad, I thought you said they ransacked the house?” Robert looked around the front room of the house. “I know you had someone secure the place, but nothing looks missing to me nor broken.”

“It wasn’t in here.” Adam put his arm around his son’s shoulders. “They confined it to Michelle’s room, her home office, and your bedroom.”

Robert trembled. “Did they… what did they do?”

Duncan, Giles, Jeremy, and Travis moved further into the house to give father and son space to talk.

“As far as the lawyer, our cousin Carol sent, could tell, some of your mom’s jewelry was taken from her room, someone tried to force their way into her office computer and tossed both rooms looking for something. In your room, it was tossed too, we thought they took nothing, but they broke some of your trophies.”

“Do they know who did it?” Robert had tears, but his voice held anger in it.

“At first, we thought it was Michelle’s family, but a cat burglar was caught in the area a few days later. The police found some of Michelle’s office stuff in his possession.” Adam led Robert further into the house where the others were sitting on couches and chairs. “Alright, Son… where would you like us to start?”

Robert cleared his throat. “Um… I’ll start in my room with Giles and Trav. I think you, Dad, should work in mom’s office, and daddy Duncan and Jer can work in her bedroom.” He smiled at everyone sadly. “Let me show you where everything is.”

~.~

After Robert showed them around the house, they broke up into teams to work on the different areas. Giles brought in the folded boxes, and other supplies, from the PODS to the front room. Travis put the boxes together and took some to each of the rooms. They worked diligently getting the house sorted.

~.~

“Hey Giles, can I get you to give me a hand in the bonus room?” Jeremy had walked into Robert’s old room where the other boys were.

“Sure. I thought you were helping Duncan?” Giles dusted himself off and walked over. The pair left the room, headed for the staircase that would lead to the bonus space over the garage.

“I was, but he and Adam are talking in the office. He told me to go work in the bonus room, getting Rob’s weights put together and take them out to the PODS.” He followed Giles up the stairs and shut the door behind them.

Giles was on the other side of the room, where several boxes were sitting, next to some loose light equipment. He turned when he heard the door shut.

“Jer, why did you shut the door?” There was a puzzled tone to his voice.

“Giles, I’ve wanted to talk to you for a while, and this is the perfect time for us to do so.” He walked over to the free weight bench and sat down.

“Okay, what do you want to talk about?” Giles sat down on a stool near him.

“I want to know what your problem is with my boyfriend.” While his tone was neutral, he locked his eyes on Giles. “You can’t deny you have an issue with him. I’ve seen it, Trav has seen it and can tell you when, and Rob has seen it too.” He paused. “I’m not mad, I’ll not fight you, but I want to understand what the problem is. And before you ask, no, no one knows I’m asking you about this.”

Silence played out between them as they looked at each.

“You really want to know?” Giles' voice was soft, and he hung his head down.

“I want to understand.”

“Okay… I told Rob the cause on Saturday.” Giles told Jeremy about what James did to him. “I lied to your brother, and he’s forgiven me.” He wiped his eyes. “But it was because of that I had the night terrors for almost two-years. Like what you’re having now, and the reason I wanted to help you when your brother told me.”

He paused and let out a calming breath. “Travis reminds me of myself during that time. It scared me, I was having awful dreams, I didn’t trust people. When you’ve all seen me giving him weird looks, I’m seeing me in him, and I hate remembering that time. I thought I had gotten over it, and I haven’t told Rob this part, but the frightful dreams are back. They’re just not as bad as before.”

“So, you’re taking your issues out on my boyfriend?”

“Not intentionally. I genuinely like Travis, he’s a brilliant guy, I’m happy to know him, he’s a hard worker, and I want to help him with his issues. With everything we’ve heard in the car this morning, me and him will be brothers-in-law one day. I’m finding it hard to talk to Trav about it. Well, all of you really. I’ve already fucked up once with Rob, by lying to him… I don’t want to keep fucking up.” Giles looked up with sincerity in his eyes. “I’m sorry Jer, how can I make this right?”

“I forgive you, Giles.” Jeremy stood up and gave Giles a quick hug, surprising him with the rare physical contact. “To make it right… Tonight I’ll bring Trav over to yours and Rob’s room, and you need to explain this to Trav and Rob. They need to know, so we can all sort out our problems.”

“I will Jer, I promise.”

The two of them boxed up the light equipment, disassembled the weight bench and free weight shelf. Travis joined them a few moments after their talk, and several trips up and down the stairs to the PODS saw the bonus room cleared out of exercise stuff that Rob was keeping.

~.~

Walking into Michelle’s office for the first time, Adam looked at where the cleanup crew had picked everything up and placed it on shelves and the desk in neat piles. Robert had stood outside the door and pointed at the bookshelf that would swing open with a hidden closet behind. He opened the closet and saw that it remained untouched. Keys to the house, her car, the shed outback, and her filing cabinet, among others, were hanging on the wall all labeled. Travis dropped off some boxes, while Adam was in the closet.

Adam sat down in the office chair and started packing with the file cabinet first. After about thirty minutes, he found an enormous box that took up the entire bottom drawer. He sat back in the chair, still able to see the box cover. Written on it was his full name—Adam Randall Smith—and addressed to the house in Tampa on Harbour Island.

He typed out a message on his phone. “Duncan come to the office, please. It will be a bit, so send Jeremy to do something.”

It wasn’t long before Duncan walked in. “Is something wrong, babe?”

Adam nodded and pointed towards the box.

“What the hell. That’s our address in Tampa.” He looked over at his husband, and then down at the box. He leaned down and pulled up a yellow sticky note. “She asked whoever found this to mail it to you.”

Adam ran his hands down his face and let out a groan. “I don’t know what this is, but can you wait in here while I open it?”

“Sure, hun.”

They took the box out of the drawer and set it on the desk. It looked like a paper-case box, with a removable lid that was taped shut. Using a pair of scissors, Adam cut through the tape and removed the lid. Inside were several envelopes, from normal letter sized to the tan package envelopes. They filled the entire box, and all of them had his correct address for Boston or Tampa. The top one, written in bold red, was “Open Me First.”

Duncan laid a hand on his husband’s shoulder. He could feel the tremble going through him.

“Let’s see what she has to say.” Adam took up the letter and opened it up. It was handwritten, in Michelle’s flowing script. Duncan pulled up a chair and read over his shoulder.

Randell,

Even after all these years, I can’t bring myself to write your first name. If you’re reading this, then I will have died from ovarian cancer, and hopefully your son Robert Randall Turner lives with you. I first must ask you to forgive me for hiding him from you. At first it was out of spite, I was mad and being selfish, and then it turned to shame. I can understand if you don’t forgive me, but please I beg you not to take it out on your son. He is innocent in all this.

I know that my selfishness has caused you a lot of pain and robbed you of a significant amount of time in our son’s life. I hope what is in this box will ease that pain. If you haven’t noticed yet, all these letters and packages have your address in Winchester or Tampa on them. I’ve always known where you were, but too ashamed to come forward.

You might wonder how I knew. I worked part time in my father’s State Attorney’s office and used the systems in the SA’s office to find you. Once I found out where you were, we moved to Apache Lane. I hoped to unite you two. With the diagnosis of terminal cancer, I went to contact you, but you had already left Boston. Randell, I wish I had contacted you, so Robert wouldn’t have to rely on my family.

I’m hoping that Robert’s Uncle Seth Campbell will take him after I’m gone until you can come get him. Even with him married to my homophobic sister Kimberly. I fear my parents and sister will turn their backs on Robert, if they learn he is gay, like you are. While they’ve been loving Robert, my parents and sister have shared their opinion of you laced with homophobia. It disappointed my parents that I became pregnant with your child. To quote them, “It would have been better if you slept with someone of color. We could have used that.”

If there is one redeeming quality to this family, it would be Robert’s uncle Seth. Seth loves Robert as if he was his son. He knows you are the father; he knows I know where you live, and he disapproves of me hiding Robert. He always tried to convince me to contact you. Seth is the only other person in the family that knows Robert is gay.

The letters and packages in this box are some of Robert’s childhood things. Pictures he drew in kindergarten, school pictures, family photos, etc. I also left a thumb drive that has videos of Robert when he was first learning to walk, ride a bike, starting to talk, learning to ice skate, and every hockey game he has ever been in. He’s a right-winger like you but can play defense and center.

Randall, I was wrong. I should have not made love to you when you were drunk. There are no regrets I have with the son we share. Robert is the one outstanding thing I have in my life. Please, give Robert a solid, loving home. Please be there for him. I know you will love him, he’s like you in a lot of ways. He has a good heart, like you, has a desire to help others, and loves others freely.

My love goes out to Robert and to you, Adam.

Michelle

Adam leaned back in the office chair and looked over at his husband.

“That was a lot to process, hun.” Duncan rubbed his husband’s shoulder. “Should we tell Rob about this now or wait till later?”

“He needs to know now. We can’t hide the box, I’m not putting it in the PODS, and he’ll eventually see it either in the car, or one hotel we’ll stop at, or when we unload at home. We have to tell him, and the sooner the better.” Adam fished out his phone and texted Robert. “This will be bad.” He let out a frustrated breath. “Michelle royally screwed up.”

Duncan nodded. “That she did, hun. This is a big shit sandwich, and we all are going to have to take a bite.”

Adam snorted a chuckle and was about to respond, when Robert walked to the door. “You wanted to talk, Dad?”

“We do, Rob. Can you come in, please, and shut the door behind you?”

“Do I have to, Dad? I really don’t want to go in there, just looking in is painful.” There was a tremble to his voice. “If it wasn’t for Giles, and the others, I’d be losing my shit out here.”

“No, you don’t have too.” Adam gave him a sad smile and motioned at the box. “Michelle left this box addressed to me. It was to be mailed, by whoever cleaned the house out, to our address in Tampa.”

“How did Mom know our address, Dad?” Robert looked puzzled and soon turned to foreboding. “Dad, I don’t like where this is going.”

“I know, Rob.” Adam let out a quick sigh. “We’re telling you now, Son, so you won’t be surprised by this later.” He stood up and walked over to Robert and lay a hand on his shoulder.

“What’s in the box, Dad?” He was hugging himself now, fidgeting.

“Your mom packaged some of your childhood stuff and intended to mail them to me…” Adam let out a nervous breath. “She addressed them to my old house in Winchester, and our home in Tampa.”

“She knew where you were…” It was barely above a whisper.

“Yes. She used the databases in your Grandfather’s office to track me. In the letter she left, you two moved to this house to be near me. To introduce us, but it never happened because she couldn’t bring herself to and I moved to Florida.”

Robert’s lip quivered as his cheeks glistened. “All these years… she knew… FUCK!” The shout expletive was clearly heard around the house.

Robert turned and pulled away from Adam’s hand. He briskly walked away from the office, into the living room. The shout brought the other boys running.

“What’s wrong, babe?” Giles ran over to his boyfriend. “Robert what’s wrong?”

Robert grabbed Giles and buried his face into his chest as he sobbed uncontrollably.

“It’s ok, Rob. I’m here, we all are here…” Giles looked up as Adam and Duncan walked in. “Adam what’s going on?”

“Sit with him on the couch, Giles.” Adam sat down near them on the wrap around sectional couch.

Giles held Robert as they sat down onto the couch. Robert clung to his boyfriend as he cried on his shoulder.

Duncan returned from the kitchen where he grabbed some water for Robert. He sat the glass on the coffee table within reach of Giles and Robert. Duncan joined the two other boys and headed out of the living room.

“Adam what happened?” Giles looked pleadingly. He rubbed his boyfriend’s back and gave him a peck on his cheek.

“We found out Michelle knew where I lived all these years.” He let out a frustrated breath with a shake of his head. “She left me a box of stuff from when Rob was younger.”

“Oh, shit, that’s not good…” Giles whispered soothingly to Robert, getting him to calm down. It took him a few minutes, but eventually Robert calmed down enough to control his emotions.

“I’m sorry Rob, that you found out this way.” Adam moved closer to his son and Giles. He rubbed his son’s back as Giles held him.

“I know, Dad.” He took some tissues and sniffled. “I’ve been on the verge of crying all morning, and that was the last straw.” He let out a long calming breath and quickly kissed Giles’ lips. “I’m feeling like I did when I first moved down. Pissed at Mom for keeping us apart and feeling like shit for hating her.”

“Michelle loved you Rob, she said she had no regrets having you, and you were the one wonderful thing she had in her life.” Adam pulled his son and Giles closer to him, to where he was holding both teens in his arms. “Thank you for taking care of him, Giles.”

Giles smiled and nodded to him. “He’s my other half. It hurts me to see him hurt.”

Adam squeezed Giles’ shoulder, giving him a smile. I need to talk to him later.

“Rob, I want you to hear this. When you were finally released from foster care and came home where you belong, I felt it deep into my soul, that I loved you unconditionally.” He paused, keeping his anger in check.

“It aggravated me what Michelle did, and then what her parents did using the legal system of Massachusetts. It’s been a low, burning rage over the last few months, and now I’m beyond pissed off.” Adam paused. “She left a letter that explained why. At first, she was mad and was being selfish out of spite. Then it turned to shame and was too ashamed of herself to correct her error.” Tears dripped down his cheeks into his trimmed beard.

“I have every right to hate Michelle for what she did.” He wiped the tears that flowed and exhaled. “But… I will forgive her. Clinging to that hate is poisonous and serves no purpose. I can’t force you to not hate your mom, or even to forgive her. But I urge you to do it. More than anything else, Rob, she loved you.”

“I know, Dad. I still love her, but I’m hurt that she lied even more now. She hid that she knew where you lived, like she hid her cancer from me.” Robert used a tissue to wipe his eyes and blow his nose.

“There at the end, she was in Hospice for a week. I was in the room, with her parents, my bitch aunt, and Uncle Seth, when she passed away. Mom was pretty drugged up, but she told me she loved me, and I was the one wonderful thing in her life. Her parents and sister didn’t like that. And that I shouldn’t be ashamed of being gay. It sounded like she wanted to say something, and that's when she took her last breath.” Robert wiped his eyes. “I believe she didn’t realize the rest of the family was in the room, when she said all that.”

“And we know the rest of the story from there.” Adam rubbed his son’s arm. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.” He released a calming breath and wiped the remaining tears from his eyes. “So, what would you like to do? Do you want to stay and finish, or head back to the hotel?”

“Let’s finish and go from there. I’m feeling a lot better now.”

“Alright, Son.” Adam smiled at him and Giles. “Sometimes you just need a good cry.”

The three of them got up and met with the others in Robert’s old room.

~.~

With the six of them working, they finished the rest of the house over the course of the afternoon. They loaded everything that Robert was taking back to Tampa into the PODS, and the company came and picked it up before they left.

~.~

The evening at the hotel was a low-key affair. The suite’s chef fixed a delicious dinner for them, and then they watched some tv together in the media center. The door to the media center was on the south wall, and a large wrap around sectional was against the east and north walls. The large 4K resolution flat screen tv hung to the west and was hooked up to a stereo surround system. A stand in the corner held DVDs, and other electronics for the media center. The room was soundproofed to the outside.

At 9:00 pm, Adam and Duncan retired for the night. A few moments later, Giles got up and made sure the media center door was closed and flipped the lock.

“Giles, why did you lock the door?” Robert looked at his boyfriend.

“Want to talk, just the four of us, and it’s something I don’t want your dads involved in.” He sat back down to snuggle with his boyfriend and used the remote to turn the volume down so they could hear each other.

Jeremy laid stretched out on his back across the sectional, with his head in Travis’s lap. “Go ahead Giles, I think we’re all listening.” He purred some as Travis played with his hair and massaged his scalp.

With a quick breath and a nervous hand through his hair, Giles started. “I need to apologize to you, Travis, for treating you unfairly. I talked to Jeremy earlier, and I made a promise to him to explain myself.”

Without interruption, Giles told Travis the story of what happened to him by James. He then told them what he and Jeremy discussed.

“And that’s it and the entire truth.” Giles looked nervously at the other three. “I hope you can forgive me, Travis.” He kissed Robert on the cheek and whispered to him. “I hope you can too, that I kept that part from you.”

“I do… we’ll talk when we’re alone.” Robert whispered back and kissed Giles on his lips.

Travis nodded. “I understand what you’re going through. We’re good, Giles… I knew there was a tender side to you.” He looked at each of the others. “We’re a bunch of broken souls. While we each have our own reasons that caused it, and how it’s affecting us, we need each other.”

“We do.” Robert glanced around. “Let’s just be honest with each other from now on. Like Jeremy and me, let’s not have any taboo subjects between us. We can talk about anything and everything.”

Jeremy piped up. “Especially since we’re all going to be brothers. Once the adoption of me and Rob goes through, and Travis marries me, and Giles marries Robert.”

“I think it’s way too soon to talk about marriage, Jer. But I get what you’re saying.” Travis squeezed Jeremy’s hand. “Yeah, I can do that Rob.”

“Me too.” Giles kissed his boyfriend.

“You already know I’ll do it and make things awkward when it happens.”

They all shared a laugh and went back to watching tv. 11:00 pm found the four boys headed back to their rooms.

~.~

The rest of the night passed uneventfully. Adam and Robert had set alarms to awaken them early Tuesday morning, so they could get to their 8:45 am appointment. Adam and Duncan spent a passionate night before going to bed. They talked before falling asleep about the change in plans they would need to make, Ian’s letters, and what they will need to do once they get back to Florida.

Giles and Robert had a passionate time making love—both aggressive like Giles wants, and slow and steady, which is Robert’s preference—before lying down to sleep. They were spooned together in the center of the bed, Robert behind Giles, and fell into a deep slumber.

Jeremy surprised Travis by crawling into bed with him unclothed. He told his boyfriend to do the same, and Travis quickly slipped off his boxers. While nothing sexual happened between them, Jeremy curled up on Travis’ right side, and lay his head down on his shoulder. He kicked his right leg over Travis’ and stretched his arm across his boyfriend’s chest. With a soft kiss, they drifted off to sleep.