Ian sat at the table, Rodie in his lap, staring into the bottom of the pool. The silence of the early night was broken by a sharp voice from across the stonewall.
“Vonda Kay Jarvis, you get your behind back in this house!” Ian heard his friend yell.
“But Daddy! Ralphie just…” Came the whining retort.
“I don’t care if Ralphie twitched his nose and made you appear out here. You don’t leave the house without letting someone….”
Ian chuckled to himself and stopped listening to Billy’s scolding. “Me thinks there’s a little blond rug rat in some hot water.” Ian stroked the cat’s back, making her purr even louder. “Guess we’ll have another little one to worry about around here soon.”
The familiar slap of happy paws on the staccato made Ian look up and smile. “Ralphie! Have you come to visit? Come, join the party.”
Ralphie put his front paws on the table and gave Ian’s face a swift lick. Ian scruffed Ralphie’s ears who panted happily and them gave Rodie a big lick as well. The cat stopped long enough to tolerate it, going back to softly purring as Ralphie danced in a circle for a moment and then plopped at Ian’s feet, nose in what was left of his lap.
“I see the Ian Justyn Fan Club Fur Ball Division meeting is in full swing.” The familiar voice coming toward the entwined group said. “I shaved earlier, but can I join in any way?”
Looking up, Ian smiled. “Colton, join us any time.”
Colton Shores nodded his head, pulled out the chair directly across from Ian and took a seat. The two simply smiled and stared at each other a moment.
Not knowing quite what to say, Ian finally managed. “I had a nasty tasting Q-Tip rubbed all over the inside of my mouth today. Thank you for that post Father’s Day gift.”
The older man grinned. “I’m glad you liked it. I had a matching one myself.” Colton looked down at the table. “They say they’ll have the results in about two weeks.”
Ian nodded his head and looked down at the two heads in his lap he was stroking. “Thank you…and I’m sorry.”
“You’re welcome and what for?” was the reply.
“I feel like I should be jumping up and down for joy and kissing everyone. Instead I’m kind of sitting here trying to get the ping pong balls in my skull to settle down long enough to concentrate on every possible emotion at once.”
“Does it help to know that I don’t really need to know the results to know the truth?” Colton looked his newfound son in the eyes.
Ian smiled. “Oddly enough, I really don’t need some lab tech to confirm it either.”
“Looking back over the last few months, and believe me I have TiVo'd every moment, it all makes perfect sense. There was this odd connection from moment one. I do connect quickly with people, but you there’s always been this sense like I had the moment I first looked into Reese and Jesse’s eyes, a keen awareness of responsibility.”
“Colton…” Ian wiped the sweat from his forehead a moment. “I am happy about this, honestly.”
“But?”
“But for the past twenty four hours I’ve had this clock going off in my head every hour on the hour and instead of chimes it’s a sock full of rocks whapping the left side and then the right side.”
“For that I’m sorry.”
“It’s not the fact that I’ve found my father, Colton or the fact that I’m about to become a father again. I want so badly to put it into words, but all I can think of is…” Ian verbalized a series of diphthongs that made no sense.
Colton smiled. “Don’t think, Ian. Just answer this question with one word.”
Ian nodded and Colton asked, “How do you feel?”
“Manipulated.” Ian’s eyes went wide as he heard himself say it. His body almost shivered with relief. “Colton, doesn’t it feel sort of some how arranged that I just happened to buy the house next door to the man who is the father I never knew? I’d love to say it was good karma or whatever finally dealing a hand in my favor and maybe I could have had that same karma allowed the stork in one heck of a bad mood to dump a load before I had a chance to savor the first news.”
“Ian, I swear I had no idea.”
“I believe you.” Ian wiped his brow with his sleeve. “And I even understand Jesse’s struggling with how to deal with the knowledge he had given the circumstances.”
”Jesse feels awful. He just wasn’t sure how to…”
Ian interrupted. “I’m not upset with Jesse, and as soon as I get the chance to speak with him I’ll make him understand I probably would have reacted exactly the same way. Granted, I plan on kicking his butt, but that’s what big brothers are supposed to do to little brothers, aren’t they?”
Colton grinned. “Yes. Yes, son. They are.”
“Look, there is so much off with the timing of everything right now. This whole hello I’m your neighbor and your father welcome to the family is actually the best thing I’ve got to deal with right now. Please understand…” Ian grabbed his tea and slugged down most of the glass. “Crap, I can not get used to California heat…”
“You’re sweating an awful lot. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
“A little overwhelmed, and we’ve cut back on the dosage and times of my meds, so maybe I’m going through a little withdrawal. I’m physically doing fine. Mentally, I’m six explosions past the train wreck at the beginning of ‘The Fugitive’”.
Colton nodded as Ian tried to get his mind back on what the whole point was. “What was I trying to say? Yes, please understand the priority I have to deal with right now I Clare and the baby. You and me, we’re ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ complete with cement pond and critters that’s not an issue I need to worry about. Okay?”
“Okay.” Colton nodded. “Now, what can we…what can I do to help with Clare?”
“I wish there was something. Unfortunately, this is my bed and I screwed up in it. If I could just get Clare to calm down long enough to talk sensibly maybe this whole irrational extreme wouldn’t seem so hopeless.”
“Are you at least happy about the baby?”
“I want to be.” Ian looked so desperately into his father’s face. “I so want to be. When Taylor was pregnant with Ronnie, it was such an emotional roller coaster I promised myself that the next time, if there ever was a next time it would all be so different.”
“Would it help if I told you that’s how all father’s feel with their first?”
“Only if you told me it was even more of a nightmare for the second.”
“Well, usually for the second you’re a little more prepared than ‘Happy Father’s Day, you knocked me up you bastard.’ At least, this time you’re more financially solvent and more mature.”
“Yeah, well, I’m nor so sure about either of those. Clare claims she broke and seems determined to make sure I end up that way, too. If she thinks I’m gonna pay her to sue me, she’s got another thing coming.”
“She’s still determined it’s her way or nothing.”
“Just a few minutes ago, I let her know that unless she’s willing to compromise we have nothing to say to each other except through our respective lawyers. Fortunately, I already have meetings scheduled with mine, as well as with my accountant tomorrow.”
“Your accountant?”
“He’s finally got my portfolio together for me to look at. The timing is prefect. I can now see in black and white what my assets are before Clare starts to chip away at them.”
“Welcome to Hollywood.”
“Yay!” Come out of Ian’s mouth as sarcastically as possible. “Colton, there is one thing you can do for me.”
“Anything.”
“Tell me about my mother, if it doesn’t hurt too much. Please tell me something good.”
“You really don’t know much about her. Do you?”
Ian sighed. “Just what a kid hears the town saying thinking a kid staring directly in their face can’t hear or understand what they’re saying, and my Uncle Nate who referred to her as the Black Haired Devil Whore.”
“What about Jude?”
“Jude has so much pain and guilt. He tries so hard but every time the subject comes up I can see that tremendous smile holding back an equally tremendous tear. He loved her. You loved her. Tell me about the woman two of the greatest men I’ve ever known fell in love with and then broke their hearts.”
Colton looked at the tabletop and then back up to Ian. At first there was nothing in his face until he nodded his head. Then for the first time when someone thought about his mother, Ian saw this warm gentle smile. It was love. It was truly love.
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