Cards on the Table - 34. Chapter 34 Queen of Spades

Cards on the Table

Chapter 34

“Babe, I think I should call Dad to see if he can recommend a lawyer for us. We need those papers drawn up for Candy to sign, and we need someone to handle the house-buying stuff… I meant to ask him today, but I forgot in all the excitement.” Michael had entered the kitchen, fresh from their second shared shower in the last hour, and Kendall’s heart sped up a little bit at the sight of him. They had just rocked each others' world, and he could still feel Michael’s body beneath him as if they were still connected, and still gyrating in rhythm.

“Great idea. It slipped my mind too. It’d be nice to get all of this taken care of sooner, rather than later.” He smiled at his sexy partner.

“Are you blushing? Why are you blushing?”

“What? I’m not blushing… I was just remembering, that’s all, and I think I’m red from the hot water in the shower.” He turned away from Michael to hide the now deepening color change.

It didn’t work. “You are so fucking cute… you are blushing. Is it because of all those naughty things we just did?” he teased.

“Shut up, Michael. And they weren’t naughty… they were hot. You just caught me daydreaming about your ass, if you must know.” Kendall grinned a little shyly as he turned his head to meet those dark blue eyes with his.

Michael wrapped his arms around his partner and turned him fully around to face him. “You better be careful. If you tell me to shut up again, we’ll have to have another go-round,” he said. “My ass and I are ready anytime you say… I can still feel your tongue there, tiger.”

“Oh, God… tiger?”

“That’s what you were, and if the shoe fits?” Michael laughed as he watched Kendall’s receding blush return full-force. “So how about it? You game?”

“You can’t be serious, after what we just did? I think I need a little recharge time, and I’m not talking about my dick.”

“What are you talking about? What else needs recharging?”

“My heart. It came pretty close to exploding."

“That’s funny, because it was your dick I felt exploding. It sure made a hell of a mess all over me.” Michael laughed outright, and Kendall joined him. “And that wasn’t a complaint. I fucking loved it!” he practically shouted.

“Well, you do have a point,” Kendall said, continuing to laugh. “And to be honest I was thinking about how I’d love to still be in the bedroom with you, but we have other things to take care of. You know, it’s occurred to me we said we were going to invite Janine and Lanny over for dinner soon. What do you think about asking them over tonight?”

“Way to change the subject, Babe,” Michael pouted. “It’s fine with me, as long as we make a date for later.” He leered as sexily as any man could, sending a shiver through Kendall, “but isn’t it a little late to ask them? It’s ten after seven.”

“Maybe, but there’s no harm in extending the invitation, and I have an ulterior motive. I have to admit I’m curious about whether Janine has heard from Candy.”

“Yeah, and you want to see if Lanny and Janine are finally getting it on, don’t you?” Michael was giving Kendall a hard time about his need to match-make, but Kendall knew he was teasing.

“I just do what needs to be done,” Kendall responded smugly, earning a lingering kiss from his big guy.

Michael returned from the den, where he’d called his father from, to find Kendall still on the phone, sitting quietly with it plastered to his ear, looking like he was listening intently. He gave Kendall a questioning look.

Kendall explained quickly to Michael that he was waiting for Janine to come back on the line, and how it turned out she and Lanny had just gotten home from watching a hockey game… she hadn’t had dinner yet and was just about to fix something for herself, but she was running to catch Lanny after Kendall invited them to dinner. Kendall filled his depleted lungs back up with air, which clued Michael in to the fact he’d said all that in one breath. He continued by saying that Lanny had gone out the door a second before Kendall called. Michael shook his head, and chuckled at Kendall’s fast explanation and his eager look. Despite Michael’s amusement, Kendall saw pride, even a bit of awe, as well. It made him feel good that his partner understood and enjoyed this part of who he was.

When Janine came back on the line, she apologized for the delay, explaining how she had missed catching Lanny and had to take the elevator down to his apartment. She accepted the invitation for both of them, saying Lanny was pleased to be included. When asked, Janine assured Kendall Chinese food was fine, but that while Lanny liked big shrimp, he hated anything with little shrimp in it. He’d complained they looked like curled-up grubs, and Kendall and Janine shared a laugh over Lanny’s little quirk before he hung up.

“I see you called at the right time, Babe. That was a stroke of luck, that they were going to eat separately, and now they’re going to be eating together. Kendall strikes again,” Michael’s eyes were twinkling.

“Oh, sh… never mind.”

Michael guffawed at Kendall’s attempt to cover his little slip of the tongue. “You were going to tell me to shut up again, weren’t you?”

“Maybe,” he said with a grin, “but I didn’t want to turn you on with company coming.” His eyes showed a twinkle of their own.

“Makes sense, Deuce. Save it for later?” Michael’s eyebrows rose.

“We’ll see, horn-dog, we’ll see.”

Michael gave a fist pump and said, “Yes!” while Kendall rolled his eyes.

“So, Babe, I talked to Dad, and he’s calling a lawyer friend as we speak; if a guy named Stuart Barnaby calls, that will be him. He apparently practices family law, and handles surrogate agreements and adoptions as part of his practice. Dad says he’s a smart guy. He’s played golf with him every summer for years.”

“That’s great, but what about the house purchase? Will he deal with that, too?”

“Dad wasn’t sure, but he’s part of a firm so Dad says he’ll know somebody, if he doesn’t do it himself. It’s all coming together, Babe. I’ll be a lot happier when Candy signs off on custody. I don’t trust her in the slightest.”

“I don’t either, Sunshine.”

Lanny was a little nervous, even awkward at first, but Janine and Michael clicked so well, talking and laughing easily, he eventually settled down and became a part of the group. He laughed when Kendall teased him about his aversion to small shrimp, and after that became more animated in the conversation. It turned out the hockey game they’d attended that afternoon was one Lanny, Kendall and Michael’s old team, the Unionville Badgers had played in. When Kendall asked how all their teammates were, Lanny’s answer threw him.

“I couldn’t say, Kendall. They don’t talk to me. They don’t even really look at me. I said hello to a few of them, but they just walked away. They have no use for me and I can’t say I blame them.” The resigned look on his face said it all, and both Kendall and Michael looked at one another.

Michael’s voice interrupted the dead silence. “I haven’t been to a hockey game for a while. What say we all go see a game soon? Maybe one of the next games the Badgers play? What do you say, people?”

“I’m in. I think it would be fun.” Kendall noticed the incredulous look on Lanny’s face but didn’t say anything.

“I’ll go,” said a very pleased Janine. She was beaming as she looked around the coffee table at the men.

That left Lanny, who had put his head down. “I know what this is all about guys, but I deserve to be shut out. I’ll take my punishment, and maybe someday they’ll forgive me… like you two are trying to do.”

“Lanny, we’re not trying anything. I already told you I forgive you, and Kendall does too. This woman here, this beautiful woman thinks you’re something special, so there are three people here that don’t hold anything against you.”

Kendall watched as Michael’s words turned Janine’s face a pretty dark pink color. Lanny’s eyes darted to and away from her, blushing himself, before he settled his eyes back on Michael.

“I understand that, Michael, but I don’t think….”

“Look, Lanny, do you want to be friends, or not? You’re in our home because we invited you. We consider you a teammate, and Kendall and I don’t give up on teammates. So what’ll it be?” Michael asked Lanny softly.

“I would like to be friends… I… I really would. You’re great guys, and even though I was jealous of you, I always knew that.” He lowered his head again.

“Then it’s a done deal. We’re friends… friends that can count on each other, and go to hockey games together,” Michael said with emphasis, “and no more apologies, right?”

“Right,” Lanny said as looked back up to see Michael’s hand stretched out across the table, and with little hesitation he shook it.

Kendall’s reaching hand followed, and the deal was sealed. Lanny smiled at the two of them, while Janine looked on with glistening eyes.

“Now that we have that taken care of, can we please get back to eating?” Michael suggested with a whiny voice, making them all laugh, and relieving the tension. “This is good stuff, Babe,” Michael said while shoving a spoonful of food in his mouth.

Kendall glanced at Lanny to see if he had a reaction to Michael calling him ‘Babe’ but all he saw was a grinning nod of agreement at what Michael said, followed by a groan of approval of his own. Lanny seemed more comfortable now that their friendship had been verified and reinforced.

“I had to order some different dishes than usual since our friend here doesn’t like curly grubs, Sunshine,” Kendall teased. “I wonder if Mr. Snuffles likes them? Lanny? Does he?”

Lanny looked like a deer caught in the headlights, and everyone went quiet as all conversation ceased. That lasted about ten seconds, until Michael started chuckling with glee. “Mr. Snuffles? Oh yeah, I forgot about him. Really, Lanny? How in hell did you come up with a name like that?” Michael was so obviously enjoying this.

It was Kendall’s turn next. “Well, I think it’s an adorable name.” Kendall stretched out ‘adorable’, making Lanny wince. “I can’t wait to meet ‘the adorable Mr. Snuffles,” he snickered.

“Guys… come on… it was what I called my cat when I was a little kid, and it was the first name I thought of when I rescued the little fellow,” Lanny tried to explain.

That just got him in deeper. “I’m sure the ‘little fellow’ loves his name.” Michael’s laughter had become full blown, and tears starting wetting his cheeks.

Finally, a crimson-faced Lanny turned his attention to Janine with a wicked smile. “I am so going to get you for this,” he promised her. “I am never going to live this down, am I?” He groaned while looking from Michael to Kendall.

They stared back at him until Kendall said, “Nope… not a chance Buddy,” and gave him an evil grin.

Janine tried to keep a serious and apologetic look on her own face, but then giggled with a little snort at the end, making them all of them lose complete control. Through his own tears of laughter, Kendall saw the adoring look Lanny gave Janine; he contemplated that he had just a little bit of work to do to get these two to admit how they felt about one another. Kendall surmised that Lanny’s temporary infatuation with Candy was the biggest roadblock. When the laughter eventually died down, Kendall saw that Lanny had relaxed even more. It was good to see he didn’t mind being the brunt of a joke. The old Lanny would have.

After a bit more bantering back and forth, talk did eventually turn to the subject of Candy, and surprisingly, it was Janine who initiated it by giving them a warning.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Candy pulls something when it comes to signing those custody papers,” Janine confided in them. “She called me Saturday morning, and asked me why I gave you the information I did.” Janine avoided looking in Lanny’s direction. “So, I told her… she said it didn’t matter because she ended up the big winner, so I assumed everything would go ahead just fine.”

Kendall moved forward in his seat, fighting the sick feeling that was taking over his stomach. “What’s changed, Janine? Why do you think she might pull something?” He met the eyes of an equally concerned Michael, and drew some strength from him.

“I’m not saying she will, Kendall. I just want you to be prepared. It’s just a vibe I got this morning, when she called me again. I think she was trying to feel me out. She was in a bad mood because she’s having a lot of morning sickness, and Candy doesn’t handle discomfort well. She thought it would be over by now, but it’s getting worse.” Janine smiled before continuing. “She complained that you and Michael were getting off too easy, while she had to put up with the pregnancy… said it wasn’t right. She repeated that a couple of times, but I didn’t agree with her. When I pointed out it was her who made the decision to get pregnant, she hung up on me.” Janine didn’t look too upset by Candy’s action, judging by another little smile.

Michael spoke up this time. “Do you think you’ve heard the last of her now, Janine?” He looked more apprehensive now, and that caused a trickle of fear to send tendrils around Kendall’s heart.

“No I don’t. I know it sounds weird, but knowing Candy, she’ll still expect me to be her friend. I’m the only one she has who has stuck by her in the past. I’ll continue to be there for her, at least until the baby is born. I might be able to help you guys in some way, but she knows things have changed between us. She’ll be more careful around me, and she won’t confide in me like she used to, but she has no one else. Most women, except maybe for some of those bar-flies she hangs around with, take a dislike to her pretty quickly. I won’t be surprised if she calls me tomorrow like nothing’s happened.”

Lanny had been sitting quietly, but when no one said anything for a minute, he stated his own warning. “You can’t ever trust her guys. She’s a vindictive bitch, and I can see it so clearly now. There’s a lot of nastiness in that girl, and I’m thankful I’m done with her. I don’t know how she got me wrapped around her finger so fast, but she did. Never again,” he swore, and Janine looked pleased at the conviction in his voice.

If Kendall wasn’t so worried, he had been pleased at this little advancement he saw happening between them. “Janine? Do you have Candy’s father’s phone number? And maybe the army guy’s?”

“What are you thinking, Babe?” Michael looked worried.

“I’m not sure. I just want to be prepared. We may have to fight fire with fire though. I have to admit this is scaring me. So have you got those numbers, Janine?”

“I’m sorry for scaring you guys, but I thought you should have a heads-up, just in case. I don’t have Lionel’s phone number, but I have his email from something Candy forwarded to me a week or so ago. I’ll email it to you when I get home. I’ll send Reverend Kilroy’s number too.”

“I’m glad you said something, even if it is just a vibe you’re getting. Thanks, Janine, you’ve been a great friend in all this, and we appreciate you going out on a limb for us like you have.” Kendall smiled at her sweet face, and stood up to hug her, with Michael following suit.

When an embarrassed but pleased Janine sat back down, Kendall asked, “So who wants to hear about our new house?”

It was 3:30 the next afternoon when Kendall got home from work. It had been a tiring day that had followed their busy weekend, and Kendall was looking forward to a relaxing evening with just him and Michael and the television. When he walked into the apartment, he was surprised that Michael didn’t greet him at the door with his usual welcoming hug and kiss. He called for him, and received a response from the bedroom.

“I’m in here, Deuce.”

Kendall walked down the hall after putting his coat and shoes in the front closet, and when he went through the doorway, he knew something was wrong. Michael was sitting on the side of the bed, hunched over with his head in his hands. When he walked towards him, Michael raised troubled eyes to look at Kendall, obvious distress emanating from him. He stood as Kendall approached him and held out his arms.

“C’mere, Babe.” Michael wrapped his arms around his partner like a drowning man. Kendall returned the hug and held Michael tight, not sure what was going on, but sensing Michael needed this.

“What’s wrong, Ace?” Kendall asked once he felt Michael start to relax, his embrace loosening.

A sigh from Michael became a groan. “That fucking bitch is refusing to sign the papers giving us custody.”

“Oh, God, Janine was right. I’ve been wondering about what she said to us, all day. You look wiped out. Get on the bed and tell me what happened, okay?”

Michael nodded and they both sat against the headboard, holding hands. “That lawyer friend of my dad’s called a couple of hours after you left, and agreed to represent us. Stuart’s his name.”

Kendall nodded that he remembered his name.

“So, I sent him the email you’d drawn up about what was to go in the agreement with Candy; he called me back after he got it, and said it would be done by the end of the day. He also said I could inform Candy that it would be ready to sign tomorrow morning. So I did,” he grimaced. “I should have called you first, Deuce,” he looked regretful.

“Never mind that,” Kendall said softly to his partner. “Just tell me what happened.”

“When I called her, she said ‘hold on’ and I could hear her puking, so she must have been in the bathroom. I thought she’d forgotten about me, but she finally came back on the line. I asked her if she was okay, and she screamed at me something like ‘Why the fuck should I care?’ and then she called me a lying bastard, and hung up on me. It freaked me out quite a bit, and I guess I should have called you then.”

“Why didn’t you? I mean I’m not saying you should have, but maybe I could’ve helped.” There was no judgement on Kendall’s face. Looking at Michael, he felt bad he had to deal with Candy alone because he just knew the story was going to get worse.

“It was stupid, but I’m always bothering you at work, and I know how much you have to take care of in a day, so I didn’t want to ask you to rescue me,” he said dejectedly. “I thought I could smooth things over by myself.”

“Michael, you never bother me when you call me… not ever. I’m the boss, remember? I understand you wanting to handle this yourself, but we’re a team, right?”

“Right. I just hope I didn’t screw things up too bad.”

“What happened after she hung up?” Kendall steeled himself for the rest of it.

“I waited a while, and then I called her back. there was no answer, so I called back again. She answered that time, but wasn’t very receptive. I told her I was sorry she wasn’t feeling well, and I really tried to be nice to her, Deuce. I told her the papers would be ready tomorrow morning for her to sign and that we put in everything she wanted.” Michael stopped talking, and Kendall could see his reluctance to continue.

“Then what happened?” Kendall coaxed. “What did she say about the papers?” He was holding his breath.

Michael sighed. “She said she wasn’t going to sign them. I was shocked, so I got upset and told her we had a deal. Maybe I yelled that.” He looked guiltily at Kendall.

“That’s understandable. Then what happened?”

“I asked her why the fuck wasn’t she going to sign them, and she said she wasn’t going to go through all this and then hand the baby over to us fags for a paltry twenty grand. It’s about money. That fucking bitch wants double that now. Can you believe her? Since when is $20,000 paltry? I freaked out. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help it… she was such a bitch and she pissed me off so much… I think I fucked things up pretty good. I told her she was despicable and I wasn’t going to barter for a child that was already mine. She said to suit myself, and if I changed my mind to give her a call, but it had better be soon. I think she was threatening to have an abortion if she doesn’t get what she wants. I hate that fucking bitch.” At that, Michael’s eyes welled up. “I’m sorry, Kendall… I should have called you first. You’re better at this stuff than I am. I lost my fucking cool again, just like last time. I didn’t learn a fucking thing,” he chastised himself.

Kendall fought down the terror he felt at the word abortion. This wasn’t an abstract thing to him. This was his child… their child, but Michael needed him to figure this out, and to put his mind at ease. He knew damn well his partner was experiencing the same fear, only his was compounded by that unwarranted guilt Michael was prone to lately.

“Ace, listen to me. Candy’s playing us again… the same way as before. This is a fucking game to her, and she figures it’s worth a try. You did not fuck things up. You’re just not as evil as she is. It wouldn’t matter what you said or how you said it. Trust me on that.”

“Yeah? You think so? I should tell you she said if we can afford a fancy house, we can afford to give her more money to carry this baby for us. She must have called Janine this morning and found out about the house. I told her the house and our money was none of her fucking business.” He returned to looking guilty.

“It still doesn’t matter,” Kendall said as he mustered up a smile. “She wanted to antagonize you, so in a way, you were still playing the bad cop. We need to decide how to approach this, and beat her at her own game.”

“So, you think you can fix this, Babe?” It was Michael, the little boy asking, and Kendall wanted nothing more than to reassure him, so he ignored his own fears for his partner’s sake.

“First of all, you didn’t break anything… this is Candy being Candy, and I have no doubt we can get her to sign those papers. We may have to bargain a little, and let her think she won something, but we are not paying her $40,000 for our child, and it’s not because of the amount… greedy people don’t stop,” Kendall said with conviction.

Michael looked relieved, as his trust in Kendall took over. “You’re right about that, and I’m sorry I didn’t call you. I thought you’d be mad at me.”

“Oh, Michael, I’m angry, but not at you... not in the slightest. Don’t apologize for not calling me, or for anything else. It wouldn’t have mattered what you said to her today. That bitch started this and we’re going to finish it. If she hurts our baby in any way, we will ruin her sorry ass.”

“I’m all for that. Are you going to call her back now, before she does anything?” Some of the worry had reappeared on Michael’s face.

Kendall didn’t want to make a mistake, but his instincts were in high gear. “I don’t think so. I know you’re worried, and I am too, but we can’t play her game. When she screamed at you and hung up the first time you called her, I think that was her setting the stage, just like not answering the first time you called her back. She wanted you off-balance. That’s why nothing worked with her. If you trust me on this, I think we should wait it out, and not talk to her until tomorrow. I’m sure she expects us to call today, but my gut tells me we should let her stew for tonight. And… I think we should get our lawyer’s opinion on our approach. He might be able to advise us on how to handle this. I’ll call Jeremy, and get him to cover me for tomorrow, and see if we can get an appointment with Stuart as soon as possible.”

“You’re amazing, Babe, and of course I trust you on this. You’ve thought so much of it through already. I think it’s the right thing to do… to wait until tomorrow, now that you’ve calmed me down. Thank you.” He managed to deliver up a weak smile for his partner.

“Calming you down is in the job description, right at the top of the fourth page,” Kendall joked, and got a bigger smile in return this time.

“How many pages are in this job description, Babe?”

“I don’t know, Ace. I haven’t finished the book yet, but it's pretty thick.”