A New Chapter Read online

  “No one’s snoot-punching,” Chad said. “Unless I get to do it first.”

  “Get in line,” Rom said. “I have dibs.” After Rom brought Clayton another glass of water, he stood off to the side, arms crossed over his chest. “We’ll go on Tuesday. I want to leave early in the morning. We can be back by late Tuesday night, as long as they don’t fight us on this. We can go to a bank and pay a notary there to witness them signing whatever Ed gives us for him.”

  “Please don’t make me go back to them,” Clayton said.

  “We won’t,” Colton assured him, “but legally, they could come after any of us right now. You’re a minor. Besides, we need to get you enrolled in school.”

  “They didn’t have me in school there. Mom was supposed to be homeschooling me but she wasn’t.”

  * * * *

  Just when Rom didn’t think he could feel any angrier, they hit a new bottom. “Wait a minute. You haven’t been in school? For how long?”

  “No, sir. Not since last year. When they moved and changed churches, and the pastor told them they should homeschool me.”

  Rom exchanged a dark look with Chad and was pretty sure his older brother’s thoughts mirrored his own—that he really wanted to have a talk with the supposed parents of this boy.

  Who were also the parents of his boy.

  Oh, boy.

  This had just infinitely complicated their life, but no way would Rom turn his back on Clayton.

  He was family.

  “I’m going to go down and get your stuff from the office,” Rom said.

  “I’ll go with you,” Chad said.

  They weren’t even halfway down the stairs when Chad said it. “We’ll take him. He can have your old room.”

  “Bro, I appreciate it, but he’s Colton’s little brother. He needs to live with us. We’ll turn the office into a bedroom for him, so that’ll take us a day or so.”

  “We’ve got the room, Rommy. He can live with us.”

  Rom stopped and turned to face him. “I know Ina wants more kids, and I love you to death for the offer, but Colton and Clayton literally just found out about each other. They need time together to bond. They told Clayton that Colt was dead. They need each other.”

  “I’m just saying, the offer stands.”

  “I know. And I appreciate it. I’ll definitely want your help going to get his stuff. We’ll rent a truck or trailer or something. Just remember that bail is expensive.”

  Chad finally laughed as he shook his head. “Why can’t things ever be easy?”

  “I don’t know.” Rom resumed his trek downstairs. “Let me know if you figure that out, bro.”

  Chapter Two

  Well, there goes our Monday plans.

  Colton hoped it didn’t make him a shitty person or brother for thinking that, but there it was. They were supposed to go file their marriage certificate tomorrow, and then had planned to come home and literally spend the rest of the week naked and mostly horizontal.

  It figured that he’d finally found the love of his life, married him, and his parents still managed to fuck up his life, without even showing up in person to do it.

  Worse, they’d fucked up another boy’s life.

  A little brother he’d had no idea even existed.

  “This is good, thank you,” Clayton said as he ate.

  “Yeah, Rom’s a good cook.” He reached out and stroked the boy’s hair, amazed how much like him he looked, almost to a spooky amount. “I need to teach you Grammy’s recipes.” He choked up. “I wish she was still here. She never knew about you, either.”

  Clayton looked at him. “Grammy?”

  “Mom’s mother. She died four years ago.”

  His eyes widened, tears once again filling them. “They told me she died in the same accident you did.”

  Holy shitballs.

  “What?” Ina gasped. “They told you she died, too?”

  Colton wasn’t sure if he should laugh, cry, or rage. He slowly shook his head. “I guess that explains why they didn’t come to her funeral when Aunt Roberta reached out to them.”

  Ina handed the boy more tissues as he cried again. Colton took the plate of unfinished food from him and set it on the coffee table so he could once again fold Clayton into his arms and hold him.

  “She would have taken you in, just like she took me in. She would’ve loved you and supported you.”

  “Mom always said she hated her. She would never tell me why. Neither would Dad. I wasn’t allowed to ask about her.”

  “I’m sorry you never got to meet her.” He gently rocked Clayton. “Why’d they move? Did they move a lot?”

  “Dad’s job. And Mom had to go to work.”

  “I thought she was homeschooling you?” Ina asked.

  He snorted. “Usually, she left me with a woman from her church who made me sit and read the Bible all day,” he grumbled. “Until a couple of months ago. Then they had me go work for the pastor on his dairy farm not far from where we lived. He’d pay them cash for the work I did, and they usually gave most of it right back to the church.”

  Fuck.

  Rage was setting in again. Every time Colton thought he was getting a handle on it, he realized, nope, he wasn’t.

  “Maybe we should call the police,” Ina suggested.

  Colton shook his head. “No. Not until we talk to Ed. I don’t want them putting him in foster care. He belongs here, with me and Rom. Once I have signed papers giving me custody, then yeah, if Ed says we have a case, absolutely.”

  Rom and Chad returned from downstairs. Rom carried a duffle bag and a backpack, and Chad carried a small, battered rolling bag, a carryon size.

  Clayton had calmed down a little, and Ina coaxed him into starting to eat again.

  “While I’m here,” Chad said, “I’ll help you move what you need to.”

  “If you can help me carry the mattress upstairs,” Rom said, “that’d be helpful. At least then we can put that in the room for him tonight. Colton and I can move the bed frame up there tomorrow once we shuffle stuff around.”

  “Sure.”

  The brothers headed downstairs again. Once Clayton finally finished the food on his plate, Colton took the plate from him. “Did you want more?”

  The boy seemed reluctant to admit it, but Colton reached out and touched his shoulder. “If you’re hungry, please say so. I want you to eat.”

  Eventually, he nodded. “I’m still a little hungry.”

  “Don’t be bashful around here,” Ina said with a smile. “We like to feed people. You’re family.”

  The boy froze, as if that thought finally made it through to his brain. Before Colton could rise to take the plate to the kitchen to get Clayton a refill, Ina stood. “I’ll get it for him. You stay here with him.”

  Clayton looked into Colton’s eyes, and Colton saw the same hazel and green flecks in his brown gaze that he saw every day when he looked in the mirror. As his emotions vacillated between anguish that he was denied being a part of his brother’s life—and that they’d discarded Clayton, too—and rage over those same thoughts, Colton remembered Grammy’s words to him so long ago.

  Being angry is okay as long as you let it pass. Holding on to it only hurts you, not them. It also lets them win.

  He took a deep breath and let it out again before speaking. “We’re going to get our attorney to draw up papers,” Colton gently said. “To give me and Rom custody of you. As soon as we have that, we’ll get you enrolled in school, and we’re going to move forward as a family. Okay?”

  Tears welled up in the boy’s eyes again as he nodded.

  Colton held him. “You’re going to be angry,” he said. “That’s okay. You’re going to be angry, and sad, and grieving. You’re going to wonder if you should have done something different, or if you did anything wrong. You’ll even wonder if something’s wrong with you.

  “But there’s not a damn thing wrong with you, buddy. There’s something wrong with them, something’s brok
en inside them. Because the only people in my life who thought there was something wrong with me was them. You’ve got me, and Rom. Aunt Roberta, and you haven’t even met Uncle Mike yet. Chad and Ina, and a whole bunch of adopted aunts and uncles who are going to love meeting you and telling you stories about Grammy.”

  “I shouldn’t have told them,” he hoarsely said. “But we were at church earlier. The sermon was about God being perfect and humans not being perfect, and loving what God created. So I thought maybe if I admitted it then that they’d accept me. I mean, I’m their son.”

  “I’m so sorry I wasn’t around to help you out.” He sat back so he could look down at his little brother. “But hey, think of it this way—they made not one, but two gay sons. And from what I’ve been told, I’m pretty damn fabulous.” He smiled. “I have a feeling you’re pretty damn fabulous, too.”

  * * * *

  Rom and Chad dug out the mattress from where it was—of course—buried against the back wall. Hell, they hadn’t thought they’d need it, so they’d wrapped it in a zippered plastic case and stashed it upright against the wall, where it’d take up less space and not be in the way.

  Wrrrooooonnng.

  As they were shifting stuff around to get to it, Chad chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?” Rom asked.

  “First, would you like some unsolicited advice?”

  “Hit me.”

  Chad reached out a hand to touch Rom’s shoulder and waited until Rom looked at him. “You’ve just started a new chapter in your life. Both of you have. Doubly so for Colton, since Clayton’s his little brother and sort of his son now. You’re going to feel scared shitless at times. You’ve got the benefit of Clayton being older than you were when I became your dad.”

  Chad shook his head. “I mean, I gotta be honest with you, once the initial shock wore off and I started to process I was now your parent, it fricking terrified me. Be gentle on yourself. You’re not perfect, you won’t be perfect, and accept that now. It’s okay to fuck up. Just own it when you do, and be honest with him about it.”

  As that advice slammed into Rom’s brain, he really studied his brother’s face for a moment. “Wow,” he softly said. “Yeah, you did. I never thought about that before.”

  “Yeah, I did. When I met Ina, I told her from the start that she couldn’t be a dictator with you. I mean, yeah, setting boundaries and stuff, enforcing rules, that’s one thing. But if she messed up, she had to admit it to you. Because your school counsellor sat down with me and talked to me. She said that you would have serious enough trust issues without me adding ego to the mix. And I took that to heart.”

  Rom leaned against his sofa, which was covered with a plastic tarp and had boxes stacked on it. “How do we get him through this? I knew Mom and Dad were dead. How do we help him process that his parents threw him out?”

  “I think Colton will be the expert there.” Chad sadly smiled. “When we meet those jerks, can I rub it in their faces that obviously if they gave birth to two gay sons, who weren’t raised together and didn’t even know each other, obviously it’s genetic?”

  “After they sign over custody, sure.” Rom stood and they resumed the shuffling of furniture and boxes to make room for them to get the mattress out of the storeroom. “I don’t want them to fight us on that.”

  “They threw him out,” Chad said. “You’d think they’d be happy to sign over custody of him. And, hey, if they don’t, threaten to call the law on them.”

  “I want to do that already.”

  “They probably will sign him over. They signed Colton over to his grandmother.”

  “I won’t count on it until it’s a done deal.” He took a deep breath and surveyed the storeroom. “I think I’m still in shock.”

  “Probably.” Chad grinned. “Welcome to parenthood.”

  They finally excavated the mattress from its resting place and carried it upstairs. In Rom’s mind, he was already thinking about what they’d have to do to get the room changed over from a home office to a bedroom, where to move Colton’s office stuff to in the living room and make him a corner desk area.

  Good-bye, nakey nights.

  For only a second—okay, maybe two—he reconsidered Chad’s offer to let Clayton live with them. They had two sons, Jeff fourteen and Allen twelve, so the perfect ages to raise Clayton with. That Chad and Ina were fit parents wasn’t in doubt to Rom, because, hellooo, he’d been raised by them.

  And it would allow them to continue nakey nights.

  No, that’s selfish and wrong.

  Rom never claimed to be perfect, and getting the thought out of his head now was better than letting it sit there and fester, for sure.

  Resentment and anger, however, were rapidly building. Not at Clayton, but at the brothers’ parents.

  Once they sign that damn paperwork, I’m giving them a piece of my mind.

  Chapter Three

  Rom reached inside the second bedroom and flipped the light on while Chad balanced the mattress. As Rom looked around, he realized there’d be more to do than just shuffling stuff to make room.

  “We’ll need to move those shelves to our bedroom. And my dresser.”

  “I’d just add shelves to your bedroom. He’ll need shelves in here. Or even make an IKEA run for some shelves.”

  “True.”

  After leaning the mattress against the doorway, Chad walked over to study the ceramics pieces on the shelves. “Did Colt make these?”

  “No. Most of those Grammy made. He put them up here to keep them safe.”

  Chad had been reaching to touch one and jerked his hand back. “Yikes. I’ll let you guys move those. I don’t want to butterfingers them. I’d feel horrible.”

  “If we can move the file cabinet and desk out right now, and my dresser, that’d be great.”

  While Colton and Ina sat and talked with Clayton, Chad helped Rom move the items around, including moving the big dresser in the master bedroom so they could fit Rom’s dresser next to it. Rom saw they’d need to completely rearrange the living room and move the TV and couch to give Colton an office area, but he and Colt could do that later.

  After running the vacuum in the second bedroom to pick up dust bunnies that had hidden under the desk and file cabinet, Chad helped him move the mattress in.

  “That’s perfect,” Rom said. “Thanks.”

  “Why don’t you let me help you move the bed frame up here?” Chad asked.

  “Because we still need to move other stuff around first. It’ll be easier to do that without the frame in the way.”

  “Stubborn,” Chad muttered with a smile.

  “You should know.”

  They returned to the living room, where Rom knew Chad would have a hard time prying Ina out of there.

  “Why don’t you guys come over for dinner?” Ina offered. “He can meet the boys.”

  “Because I think we need to talk to him and let him get settled in, Mom,” Rom teased. “He probably wants to take a shower and needs a nap.” The poor kid looked like he was about to drop.

  It took another hour, but with Chad’s help, Rom finally got her to leave.

  Yeah, Rom could see Ina wanted to try to talk him and Colton into letting her have Clayton, but the boy wasn’t a puppy. Sure, her heart was absolutely in the right place, but Rom was going to be firm about this point. Weekend visits, absolutely, but living with them?

  No, Clayton was going to live here, with them.

  “You go get your shower,” Rom told him. “There’s towels in the cabinet, and there’s shampoo and stuff under the sink. We’ll add whatever you need to the shopping list and go out later.”

  “Thank you.”

  Once he was in the bathroom and they heard the water running, Rom had Colton help him start moving the vases and other fragile items from the office. For now, they could stay on their two dressers.

  “We need to go shopping,” Rom said as he stared at the room. “He’s going to need a desk, and a dresser of h
is own.” Rom still wasn’t sure what he’d do with his own clothes that were hanging in the closet in there, but they could stay there for another day or so. “He needs his own space.”

  “There’s that thrift shop two blocks over. I know they’re still open.”

  Clayton emerged from the bathroom. “Better?” Rom asked.

  “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

  Rom decided to let it go. The kid was polite, at least. If it got to the point it weirded him out, he’d handle it then. “We need to go get a couple of things for your room. Come with us so you can pick them out.”

  It nearly broke Rom’s heart that Clayton looked awestruck they were going to buy him furniture, used or not. Colton knew the store’s owner, because he’d been a friend of Grammy’s. When he heard Clayton’s story, he waved all three of them toward the furniture section.

  “Get him whatever he needs—no charge. And you can borrow my pickup to take it over to your place.”

  “Are you sure, Arty?” Colton asked. “We aren’t looking for free.”

  He shook his head. “No. Roz was there for me when I had surgery. She made sure I had someone with me at home, and helped arrange people to watch the store for me so I didn’t have to close. I’ve been wanting a way to pay her back when she wouldn’t let me. This is the least I can do.”

  Well, shit. Now Rom was crying, too. They all hugged him and Arty even followed them back through the store and pointed Clayton toward stuff the boy probably wouldn’t have picked for himself.

  An hour later, they had carried the new dresser, desk, desk chair, and bookshelf upstairs. Although Rom did make Arty take money for the bookshelf, because they would put that in their room for the display pieces. Rom and Colton also put Rom’s nightstands and lamps in there for him after retrieving them from the storeroom.

  With that handled, the men, with Clayton’s help, dug the bed frame out and moved it upstairs and assembled it. Meanwhile, Clayton unpacked his bags, and set aside the dirty clothes to wash.