Flare (25 page)

“Dad! We’re having so much fun,” Hugo heard before he headed into the kitchen to put the sizzling sausages on paper towels to degrease. He sprinkled some cheese on the already plated scrambled eggs and covered the entire thing with another plate so the internal heat would better melt the cheese.

Leaning against the kitchen counter, Hugo watched Kevin laugh and smile as Brooke talked. After several minutes, he talked to Finn as well, though Finn refused to hand the phone back to Brooke or hang up, from what it sounded like on the outside of a two-way call.

“They’re both having a good time,” Kevin said after finally disconnecting. “Finn misses us, you in particular, it seems.”

“Oh, hush,” Hugo said, joining Kevin on the couch and handing him a refill of coffee. “He misses us both.”

“I’m not nearly as fun as you are, I think,” Kevin said.

“But they sounded happy?”

Kevin nodded, cheeks rising with his closed-mouth smile. Just then, Kevin’s phone pinged. Summer had sent him a message.

They are honestly fine and Tasha and Kyle aren’t being assholes at all. In fact, they’re quite sweet.

Hugo read the message and looked at Kevin skeptically.

“They used to be super nice to me. I always said I had the best in-laws in the world. People would complain about things their wives’ parents would do, and I didn’t get it. Sure, they tried to spend more time here than Erin wanted, but they weren’t intrusive in the way some people are. There was no one rearranging the kitchen or criticizing us on how we put Brooke down to sleep as a baby. None of that.”

“They just saved up all their bad qualities for after their daughter died and when they tried to take your kids from you?” Hugo challenged. “Is that what you’re saying?”

“I don’t know what I’m saying. They never showed
me
their bad side, but they certainly let Erin see it. I’d eventually hear about something that was said or done, and I knew about the bad shit that went down when Erin and Russell were kids. For the most part, I gave Tasha and Kyle the benefit of the doubt to keep the peace. So the people I knew were different than the ones you met last year at Christmas. Tasha was overt with her feelings and cruel then. But you have to admit, the setup we had here, with me living with my sick wife at the same time I had a lover, that’s not exactly
normal
.”

“I didn’t say it was,” Hugo said in a gentle way.

“It’s far outside of their norm. So far, I think all those shitty stereotypes they’ve heard in their social circles have more truth to them than the reality of our situation. How often did they see us all together?”

“Twice? Three times, maybe,” Hugo offered.

“They’ve never had the chance to see all of the good we offer the kids, so they believe the skewed, scary stuff. That’s what we were up against, Hugo.”

“Doomed to fail.” He kept his responses short because Kevin seemed to be finding some comfort in talking like this.

Kevin nodded. “What I eventually figured out after years of thinking they were decent people misunderstood by their own kids is that Tasha was masterful at hiding her true thoughts and feelings behind passive-aggressive masks. She just turned it on me this time. Thankfully the law was on my side.”

“I don’t get why they need to be so sneaky about things.”

“You’re honest and straightforward, Hugo. Sometimes that gets you into trouble. You know that.”

Hugo agreed. Kevin was right. That passive-aggressive bullshit just didn’t fly with him. Hugo hated it.

“Erin distanced herself from her parents for a lot of reasons. You know how feisty Erin was,” Kevin said with a chuckle and Hugo nodded but kept quiet. “When she believed in something, she
passionately
believed in it, so you can just about imagine some of the phone conversations she had in those early years with her parents. I stayed out of it and often left the house, deciding I needed to mow the lawn or shovel the snow all of a sudden. But after she’d hang up the phone, she would go off about what her parents believed.”

“So you saw it from an outsider’s perspective,” Hugo said. “That’s why you thought Erin and Russell were just misunderstanding them?”

“Yeah. It was confusing at first, but once I saw how quickly her parents jumped on the bandwagon with actual scripted words from who-knows-where spilling out of their mouths, I saw why she got frustrated.”

“They have their opinions, or at least they have someone’s opinions,” Hugo said with a chuckle.

“That’s what pissed Erin off so much. They weren’t their opinions at all,” Kevin said. “So I worry about more than just what happened with the custody thing. I worry about the tripe they’ll try to put in my kids’ heads.”

“Good thing Russell and Summer are there,” Hugo said, hearing the real worry in Kevin’s words.

“Yeah. I know Russell will put a stop to anything. He fights harder than Erin ever did because he never had that firstborn need to please like she did.”

Kevin shook his head as his gaze drifted to one of Erin’s photos on the wall, and Hugo’s followed. “I’d forgotten about most of that. It’s been so many years ago. Some of that fire burned out of Erin after we had Brooke. A lot, to be honest. Erin eventually tempered and the discussions with her parents came to a stop. She did more avoidance at that point than direct assault, working hard to show them she was worthy in other ways. Becoming a mom seemed to make Erin want to conform, which was so different to see from her. At first I thought it was because she was focused on being a good mother, but after Finn was born it got even worse. I’ve told you this story before. You know how she pulled away from me.”

“Yeah,” Hugo said.

“I’m just glad I got to see some of that youthful spark in her again before she died.” Kevin smiled. “It wasn’t nearly as bright as it was before the kids, but it was still there, and she stood up to her parents again last Christmas rather than trying so hard to please them. And she stood up again with her journals which helped those beautiful kids stay here with us.”

Hugo sat there in the quiet of the room, watching Kevin as he replayed memories behind eyes that looked sad as they glazed over.

“Sometimes I think of things like that, about how we were when we were first together, so idealistic and ready to change the world. She was so much more ready for that than I was. My dad’s influence was still so powerful over me. I did what was expected, toeing the line and making money as I moved up the corporate ladder. But I lived vicariously through Erin’s passion.”

“Is there something wrong with that?” Hugo wondered aloud.

Kevin shook his head, brows lowering as he turned to look at him. “No, but I need to be the one to fiercely protect my kids now. Erin did it by limiting the amount and type of contact Brooke and Finn had with her parents. Visits were always short, sometimes just meeting halfway for a day. One of us was always there. And what did I just do? I sent them off into the fucking lions’ den without me.”

“Bear cave. Let’s not mix metaphors,” Hugo teased, but quickly saw from Kevin’s expression he wasn’t ready for lightheartedness quite yet. “Hey. You didn’t send them alone. Brooke and Finn are there with two people who will do anything they can to protect them.”

“Yeah. But I think I need to be a bit more proactive.”

“How so?” Hugo asked.

“I’m not sure yet. I need to think about this.”

“There’s no rush.” Hugo reached over and massaged Kevin’s shoulders. More words weren’t going to solve this, but maybe his touch could help Kevin relax some, at least until Brooke and Finn got home.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Plastic Smiles

O
N
N
EW
Year’s Eve, Hugo suggested he and Kevin go to the movies. They’d been invited to several parties, but with Kevin’s pensive mood, Hugo thought socializing wasn’t the best idea. Kevin refused, though. He felt he had to at least make an appearance somewhere, and when Hugo suggested they stay home and watch something on DVR, Kevin shook his head and said, “I need time away from the house. It seems empty. Too big and lonely without the kids.”

So they went to some chichi party with servers carrying platters with rich appetizers and extremely strong shots lined up in perfect rows. Hugo even recognized a few of the hired men from various clubs around the city, giving them a friendly smile of recognition the second they met his eyes.

All the game night people except for Mike and Dena were there, as well as some people Hugo had never seen before. Kevin seemed to know them, though, smiling and introducing Hugo with his arm around Hugo’s waist or shoulders. Hugo could read the façade painted on Kevin’s face. He found it very ill fitting.

Kevin didn’t say much, seeming happy to listen and then chuckle at the appropriate times. When people tried to engage him, he answered in a very minimal fashion, and rather than asking a question back—he was usually so good in this sort of social setting—he seemed content to let the conversation die an uncomfortable death.

They mingled and Hugo did his best to make up for Kevin’s lack of enthusiasm, but he felt very out of place himself. He found he was more comfortable with the help than the guests, so when Kevin left to use the bathroom, Hugo went into the kitchen to find an ice cube to dilute his horridly strong drink to something a little more palatable.

“Get moving,” Hugo heard a woman say. “I want the next round of drinks out there in less than thirty seconds.” She was vicious in her demeanor as she clapped her hands, and her scowl was scary. The servers moved quickly to load their trays as fast as they could, but the woman thought it would be nice to demean them even more. “Twenty, nineteen, eighteen….”

They weren’t toddlers, so Hugo went up to her to stop her countdown. “I was wondering where the ice was. This drink is a little strong for me,” he said with coyness. She reached into the freezer and pulled out a tray, smiling the falsest grin Hugo had ever seen in his life. That was saying
a lot
considering he’d lived most of his life among actors and actresses faking it on stage.

“You’re here with Kevin Magnus, correct?”

“Yes. I’m Hugo.”

She gave him a knowing nod but didn’t offer her name. “Jillian’s mentioned you.”

“Good things, I hope.” Hugo chuckled as he dropped a few ice cubes in his glass with a splash and a clink. He doubted Jillian had said a kind word about him, but he didn’t get to find out. The woman’s attention was drawn away by the sound of broken glass and cursing, so Hugo dashed out of the kitchen. That was about the last place he wanted to be. Jillian was one of Erin’s “friends” who had joked about wanting a household gay like Hugo back when Erin was alive. And apparently she was at the party. Lovely! Hugo rolled his eyes at the thought of seeing her.

“Hey,” he said when he found Kevin again. “How’s it going?”

Kevin looked at him with a plastic smile painted on, and Hugo knew he had to do something. “It’s good,” Kevin managed, but his words were far from believable.

“We should go,” Hugo said.

“No.” Kevin shook his head emphatically while still smiling.

“We should.” Hugo leaned closer to Kevin’s ear and said, “Stop pretending. You don’t have to fake it with me. I know you wanna get out of here. Let’s go home and just be us.”

Kevin looked as if he didn’t know what to do, so Hugo started to slither through the bodies crowding in small groups in the large room to find the closest person he knew so he could make their excuses. Beth.

“Hey,” Hugo said with enthusiasm. “Quite strong drinks, aren’t they?”

“I knooooooow. They’re lovely,” Beth slurred. She was obviously drunk. Not surprising considering the amount of wine she’d tossed back at their own game night. “You having fun?”

“I think Kevin needs to get home. He’s not feeling the greatest.”

Beth gave a quick, short laugh. “I wondered what was going on. He’s been so antisocial and boooring tonight. I thought maybe you’d put anal beads up his ass before you guys got here and he was desperate for the pop, pop, pop!”

“No.”

She eyed Kevin across the room with a playfully dirty look, then turned back to Hugo and giggled at herself for several seconds. Kevin gave a quick scowl, looking as though he was wondering what the fuck had just happened while he wasn’t there. This woman was totally unpredictable.

Hugo gave her a deadpan look, but he refused to say anything more, even after she started to smirk. “You’re no fun. Tell me what he likes,” she pouted, but Hugo wasn’t about to give in.

“We’ve got to go. He’s fighting a cold or something. He needs to sleep.”

Beth rolled her eyes and dismissed him with a hand and a verbal, “Whatever. Go!”

Hugo was more than glad to get away from her.

As soon as he got close enough to Kevin, he said, “Come on, babe. We’re going home.”

Kevin looked at him as if he were crazy. “No.”

“It’s time.”

“No, it’s not. It hasn’t struck midnight. We can’t leave before that,” Kevin said as his gaze darted around the room. It seemed as if he was looking for someone, but he didn’t seem to find them.

“I know, love, but we’ve got to go. I told Beth you weren’t feeling well. With her big mouth, she’ll tell the powers that be.”

“Oh. Okay.” Kevin seemed relieved all of a sudden. His smile at least seemed more genuine as he flashed it at Hugo, but it quickly changed back as they walked toward the door. It was gone by the time they made their way to the car. Hugo grabbed the keys because of how out of it Kevin seemed.

As Hugo drove toward home, Kevin refused to engage in any sort of dialogue, so Hugo found himself just talking. It was tangential at first, but pretty soon his words were whittled to a very fine point.

“I worry about you. I worry that you think you can control everything around you.”

“What do you mean?” Kevin asked as he looked out the window, his gorgeous face reflected in the glass.

“I think you feel better when everything is pinned down like moths or butterflies in a case.”

“Not true,” Kevin retorted.